then he gets into these fights with russ feingold and john mccain in the senate over the mccain feingold legislation and takes it all the way to the supreme court and is the name plaintiff in a case that he loses. but it's a great example of losing the battle. but winning the war, because a few years later, in the citizens united case, the actual you know, the floodgates opened to both parties for unlimited money. it's interesting, though, because at first i think republicans thought this is going to really favor us and it's turned out to be kind of a zero sum game where both parties have extraordinary amounts of money. and in some cycles, democrats spend more on dark money than republicans as said, this issue of campaign finance put him at odds with senator john mccain. he was also opposing the senators, senator john mccain, on first amendment issue. i want to show our viewers back into the archives what mitch mcconnell had to say from 2016 on his relationship with the late senator john mccain. you and he had a big brawl over the over the first amendment. i think most people may not kno

mark is widely said, then whoever the american people vote for and they get john mccain's, we have john mccain coming in the office. i actually would say no, there may be in a 10 by the a neo con and when i say that i use it in the, the show we say the modern bi partisan sense of the word. it's no longer a truly conservative. but those committed to us a gemini and primacy around the world. they may try to manipulate trump as they quite openly and clearly did. so according to john bolton's memoirs manipulated him back into that position. but i don't think that he sees international relations in geo politics through that prism. in fact, i think he whatever we may think about his uh, conclusions and solutions, i think he's correctly identified. the problem is that the us is suffering from an enormous amount of we might have previously said imperial overreach. now we might say hedge a monic overreach. it can no longer afford to be the what it calls the police men of the world or the military dictate or of the world. and it needs to prioritize and i can come to grips with the world of rise i

we have john mccain coming in the office. i actually would say no, there may be in attend by the a neo con and when i say that i use it in the, the so we say the modern bi partisan sense of the word. it's no longer a truly conservative, but those committed to us a gemini and primacy around the world. they may try to manipulate trump as they quite openly and clearly did. so according to john bolton's memoirs, manipulate him back into that position. but i don't think that he sees international relations and geo politics through that prism. in fact, i think he.

we have john mccain coming in the office. i actually would say no, there may be an attend by the a neo con and when i say that i use it in the, the so we say the modern bi partisan sense of the word it's.

this is not john mccain's republican party anymore. this isn't mitt romney's republican party anymore. the folks who have the courage to stand up to donald trump are gone. and even those who have real concerns are not willing to jeopardize their own political survival and are willing to jeopardize our nation's national security. and it's really sad to be here watching this vote happen. i just vote my cast, my no vote on the floor, you know, and i voted for both of trump's previous secretary of defense nominees and his previous term, but they were qualified to do the job. and pete hegseth is by far unqualified to do this job, and they're just falling in line for him. >> we've never had a defense secretary confirmed in terms like this. depending on what happens with the final vote, it looks like mr. hegseth will be confirmed either with 50 or 51 votes in the modern era. i mean, the actually in history, the closest we've ever had to something like that was chuck hagel in 2013, who was chosen by president barack obama to lead the pentagon.

the senator from illinois defeated john mccain of arizona for the first of his two terms in office.009 inauguration was themed a new birth of freedom in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of abraham lincoln. the weather was breezy with temperatures in the high 20's. our coverage begins with the swearing-in by chief justice john roberts. [applause]

the senator from illinois defeated john mccain of arizona for the first of his two terms in office. the 2009 inauguration was themed a new birth of freedom in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of abraham lincoln. the weather was breezy with temperatures in the high 20's. our coverage begins with the swearing-in by chief justice john roberts. [applause] [applause] >> , barack hussein obama solemnly swear that i will execute the office of president of the united states fully to the best of my ability. the office of president of the united states faithfully and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, defend the constitution of the united states so help me god >> congratulations mr. president. ♪ ♪ [applause] >> it is my great personal honor to present the 44th president of the united states, barack obama. [applause] [crowd chanting "obama!"] president obama: thank you. my fellow citizens, i stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. i thank president bush for his service

john mccain, hallmark channel countdown to christmas. oh, we have this picture of diane sawyer, steven spielberg, and daniel day-lewis. this picture of a snake shedding its skin. oh, 2020s 2020 glasses. andrew. >> is this a going home with you? >> i also found a vhs the other day on how to. >> polka. >> polka? deja vu: it's live with kelly and mark. ♪♪

-- ham and john mccain had to attend before the situation was finalized. he's try to say obama did not keep up with his initial promises. no. he had to change it. lucky he got in when he did because a lot of these other programs or companies would have been out of business. he took a lot of flak from helping the financial disaster -- financial banks and the automobile dealerships. let me answer this question. i'm trying to hear this ranking -- tired of hearing this reagan stuff and he tripled the debt. guest: what i was trying to say was the impact they had on america. if a republican called in and said what you talk about with fdr? he changed the direction of the country. he increased the power of the state. some would say he threw away america. no one can deny his impact. america was a different place and that is what i was trying to say with reagan. i happen to like reagan. i understand many callers don't like reagan. the fact that he is so agitated about it demonstrates again reagan's impact. no one is agitated about gerald ford, with all due respect t

there was a campaign in 2008, senator, barack obama versus john mccain. we believe john mccain would be the right person to win and we spent more. i'm glad for the record. >> i will ask to be entered into the record, mr. chairman. >> without objection. >> these tax returns are yours. they have your signature. and i'm going to ask that me embers of the committee review them. they're the only documents. i've asked for others. i've asked for the f.b.i. report that would presumably documented and should have documented this kind of financial mismanagement and these are the 990s from that organization by the year of 2011 donors had become so dissatisfied with that mismanagement they ousted you and merged that organization with military families united and thereafter you joined a second organization as executive director. >> in between i went to harvard university for two years and afghanistan. >> i want to ask you questions about concerned veterans for america. again another set of tax returns. 990s from that organization. i ask they be made part of the record

john mccain, the big winner in the state of florida. he captures the republican presidential nomination. >> this, of course, a very difficult night for rudy giuliani. he had been hoping that he would be the victor here in florida, spent more than $30 million here. >> it wasn't just a hard fought but lost campaign. >> it was an embarrassment. >> he thought he was going to be president. a lot of people thought he was going to be president, and he screwed it up. >> i think that was a huge disappointment to him, having been so much a figure of attention, of fascination, of media coverage. i don't think he could bear the thought of losing that, that that somehow was part of his identity. for a politician, you want to be relevant. you want people to care what you think. you want to be able to change people's lives. you want to be able to lead and have millions of americans follow you. so to not be relevant anymore, that is heartbreaking. >> i'm proud that we chose to stay positive and to run a campaign of ideas in an era of personal attacks,

very few people want to come out in the same way that john mccain did eight years ago and not and makenald trump. but despite that superficial support, you can see throughout tons of legislative battles that there are a lot of people who say, i love donald trump, which is why i'm opposing donald trump on this particular issue. yep, yep. >> in your new piece, you also mentioned the senate confirmation hearings this week for several of trump's cabinet picks. what's your reaction to what we've seen so far? and when you talk about the way that someone doesn't want to be the john mccain, the person i'm now thinking of is, does mitch mcconnell want to play that role when it comes to some of these confirmation battles, or does it not really matter since everyone else seems to be falling in line? >> well, you need four republicans to break, assuming all democrats unite. and when it comes to someone like rfk and you might peel off some democrats, you might need five. that said, mcconnell is one of them. you also have lisa murkowski, susan collins, who the last time around were happy to vote aga

you and i believe john mccain would be the right person to win. and so we spent more from that organization. i'm glad they're in. >> for the record, i'm going to ask to be entered into the record, mr. chairman, without objection, these tax returns are yours. they have your signature. and i'm going to ask that members of the committee review them, because they're the only documents i've asked for others. i've asked for the fbi report that would presumably document it should have documented this kind of financial mismanagement. and these are the nine 90s from that organization. by the year of 2011, donors had become so dissatisfied with that mismanagement, they, in effect, ousted you. they merged that organization with military families united. and thereafter you joined a second organization as executive director. >> in between. senator, i went to harvard. >> i want to ask you questions. i want to ask you questions about concerned veterans for america. again, another set of tax returns, the nine 90s, from that organization. i asked they be made part

caller: john mccain said it himself during the election when he was running against obama. he warned america about antony blinken. tony blinken. listen to the way he talks. he is a communist, you can see it. jack smith, who has a name jack smith? even trump said it himself, i wonder what his real name is. the southern border being wide open, when biden first came in and what he did with our southern border, of course, so what, that guy was in our military that did that, that's a shame, and i'm praying for their families and i will do so for a long time, but what needs to be done is we need to slow down, get rid of our fbi at the top, get the u.s. marshals to take over this investigation because even senator kennedy from louisiana said it himself, and you can hear it between the words that he spoke when i heard him speak, and he was talking about the fbi and about the complete investigation that is done correctly and the american people being informed correctly the way they should be. host: that is roy in florida, our last caller in this first segment of the washington journ

our friend john mccain would say, why so high? why so high? the bottom line is, and i will just tell it from my perspective, when i got to the united states senate, i assumed i would be voting. you would assume i would be voting. america assumes the senate votes. yet, harry reid was the majority leader, and we weren't voting on anything, literally. i mean, finally claire mccaskill called it the heidi insurrection. finally, i just said, i came to vote. i came to do stuff. i didn't come to just sit in the chair and have people, whatever, glorify this job, sitting in this chair down here if we are not legislating, if we are not debating, if we are not talking about the issues of the day, which honestly, everybody criticizes c-span, because they say, it is with the cameras came in, things did not get done. i don't think that is true. when the cameras came in, that is when congress, the institution plummeted in terms of favorability, not because they were doing too much, because all they saw was an empty chamber. all they saw was nothing. corn call

that goes back four decades back when john mccain was chairman of the committee, and i support the chairman in that decision. >> well, that's why it is so notable such a prominent member and other senators are asking to see fbi vetting. do you prefer that the details of that sexual assault be disclosed in a public hearing, or would you support that those private investigative details be shared with members at the discretion of the chairman? >> well, the chairman is going to make that decision, and i support the chairman. i also support pete hegseth. if you take a look at the current nominee compared to who has been in the pentagon the last four years where they had a woke military, where recruitment went down, morale went down, i think pete is going to be terrific in terms of recruitment, in terms of morale, in terms of returning america to a fighting force, which is what the american people really want. they want to make sure if our military is called upon, they're ready to go. that they're ready to fight and with intimidating fire. >> to correct myself, alleged sexual assault. let me ask

fetterman when he was the bernie sanders backing fetterman not the fetterman now who is like what john mccain was the democrats for many years, right? >> the point is we just came off of an election very contentious election between democrats and republicans if people remember. at orientation -- [inaudible] >> we struck up a friendship and do something we maintain. texting, where are y'all staying? were going to take the kids, to want to go? we continue different chip and to be truthful with you when he was courageous enough to say hey, i some mental health challenges and are going to seek treatment, i think that's a moment we should all celebrate. think about how hard it is a to challenging conversations even with the people you love most and love you most and for him to do that in front of the world was a beacon of hope and courage i do think it is an example for others to follow. we maintain the friendship. he asked me to come visit when he was at their -- >> in the hospital. >> yeah. to be trusted not to be in a space i'll thought to be worthy of that trust. with continued a friendship. a

really was so the f bernie sanders backing fetterman, only the fetterman now, is kind of like with john mccainas for democrats for years. >> and the point is. >> is right there with the democrat. >> we just came off p an electin for contentious election. people if they remember. an orientation. >> what would they said about him. >> we struck obese friendship. it was something we maintained texting and where you staying and you know and we go and we continued the friendship and when he was courageous enough to say hey, i have some difficulty challenges not going to seek treatment braided nothing is the moment that we should all celebrate because you think about how hard it is to challenging conversations even with people who you love most in love you the most is over him to do that for the world i think is a big help encourage i think it's an example for others to follow and so we maintained a friendship asked me to come in his human he was there and we trusted enough to ben in that space my was when we were like trust, we continue the friendship. so you know iswi you know he's a big guy and so

i've called a couple times, i'm a john mccain republican converted to independent, but i'd like to remind congress and our representatives that when matt gaetz was still up for nomination, congress decided should be let all this news come out about him or not, i think we need to remind our representatives that it is not a big boys club that they've got going on up there. they are representatives of the united states and me and all the people that vote for whether it is trump or kamala harris, if there is stuff going around in the background of these people, they need to put that stuff out and not decide whether it should be put out or not because it may be detrimental. that's not a big boys club they've got going up there. it is not a private club. and trump doesn't read the daily briefings. he never did, so i think it's pretty important that the people in the cabinet are focused on just what is best for this country, because trump i don't think his priorities are what is going to happen in china, what is going on in russia and all these other countries that are threats to the united stat

-- ham and john mccain had to attend before the situation was finalized.try to say obama did not keep up with his initial promises. no. he had to change it. lucky he got in when he did because a lot of these other programs or companies would have been out of business. he took a lot of flak from helping the financial disaster -- financial banks and the automobile dealerships. let me answer this question. i'm trying to hear this ranking -- tired of hearing this reagan stuff and he tripled the debt. guest: what i was trying to say was the impact they had on america. if a republican called in and said what you talk about with fdr? he changed the direction of the country. he increased the power of the state. some would say he threw away america. no one can deny his impact. america was a different place and that is what i was trying to say with reagan. i happen to like reagan. i understand many callers don't like reagan. the fact that he is so agitated about it demonstrates again reagan's impact. no one is agitated about gerald ford, with all due respect to a de

you had folks in the party, folks like john mccain, jeff flakes, who are very critical of trumpet. those folks are no longer with us and they're no longer part of the republican party. it's no longer the party of ronald reagan. our success has more to do with substance than style. donald trump is different for style to conventional thinking, establish practice. and to stablish ment, tickets, miss bush run for president. she told america it was a dot dangerous place and he was the solution. it won him an election and delivered because texas installs conservative justices an order to america to buff get us that donald trump certainly has appealed populism. and he's created a right, we weren't populism. and it turns out had a lot of cache and appeal amongst the american electorate. he lost in 2020 for many reasons and faced the position from those who argue he is a to a conservative. it doesn't matter. he's modified republican positions winning support across the board, but even after 8 years is perhaps still too early to see if trump has them, or mega politics will sort of 5 and the

leaders like justice sandra day o'connor, governor raul castro, senator john mccain who guided our state and nation. there spirit carries on today. it continues with arizonans like a member of the tribal council. when devastating floods swept through the village last summer and collapsed the surrounding trails, felicia guided more than 100 tourists to a nearby elementary school for shelter. throughout the night, she fielded calls from first responders about people stuck on trails and families looking for loved ones, communicating names and locations to the tribe rangers. her service and heroism show how even in our most devastating moments, arizonans are there to offer hope and a helping hand. felicia, please stand so we can thank you for your bravery and kindness. [applause] thank you. resilient individuals like these and millions of other good hard-working people built our beloved arizona. a special place that values opportunity and freedom. a place where entrepreneurs, mom and pop businesses, farmers and international companies launched their next big idea or provide critical services

busy former senator john mccain. so it's a place where where americans do come together to honor those that have that have served in politics is very high levels. so once the ceremony gets underway, the highlight of the ceremony, of course, will be donald trump, taking the oath of office swearing to protect and defend the us constitution. before that is vice president j. the bands will be taking the oath of office, each of them being administered by a different justice of the supreme court in donald trump's case, it will be that chief justice john roberts and jennifer, correct me if i'm wrong. but just for you. i mean, this all looks, this all looks very regimented, very planned, and it is, it is, i'm not saying it isn't. but there's actually, it's, it is only a minimal part of what we're seeing now that is actually laid out into the constitution. and that is the oath of office. i mean the us constitution is a very short document. it doesn't give a lot of details about things. and so most of the, the traditions and t

senator john mccain in 1999. hegseth, 2025 -- let's just get rid of those rules of war. put in place because of the hard-earned lessons of, as senator -- senator mccain said the wretchedness of war. mr. hegseth also talked about going back to the days of illegal waterboarding and ignoring the legal rules when it comes to torture and interrogation, saying that we should again, as he said, ignore those rules, do our own thing. here's what senator mccain said about that when it was debated here in the united states senate. i know from personal experience, senator mccain said, that the abuse of prisoners will produce more bad than good intelligence. i know that victims of torture will offer intentionally misleading information if they think their captors will believe it. i know they will say whatever they think their torturers want them to say if they believe it will stop their suffering. most of all, i know the use of torture l compromises that which most distinguishes us from our enemy. our belief that most people even captured enemies have basic rights which the united sta

÷÷yes, john mccain is no longer around, but you have people like÷÷john curtis who's replacing mitt romneyrate just like mitt romney and you're having these new waves of ÷÷republicans. you have the same people from the first term and some new ÷÷people who could be kind of antagonistic to what he wants, and they're not afraid of him. >> yeah, and reese, what is your sense of what democrats are going to do in this scenario, especially -- i mean, we were talking on the show yesterday about, okay. if there is this one big bill, maybe there will be some democrats who might feel pressure to vote for it. >> i definitely think you could see now -- i don't know for sure -- we would have the see the bill. no one is saying i'm 100% vote for this, but there have been democrats willing to work with republicans on border security like over in washington, and they have been willing and kind of open to be, you know, working with republicans on some of these issues. again, trump winning their districts, and they're kind of these outiers. there are more democrats that might be willing to work wurks if it go

barack obama, who i did not vote for at a campaign for the person who beat me vigorously in 2018, john mccaine '50s and '60s and is all real segregation did people and so what racism looked like with the jim crow laws and data get even as a child, i was optimistic and hopeful that the election of an african-american president be a new day in america for race relations. to be honest with you i thought that in my lifetime as a kid i never thought i would to see that day. there was a part of me as an american can forget that i was republican, i am an american first and i was proud to see our country have been passed judging people by the color of the skin and i thought this is an opportunity for america to move forward. i think barack obama could have been what of the great presidents of all time, but he chose not to be. because what he chose to do was to bring a divisive spirit and attitude to the job of president, the likes of which i've never seen in my lifetime. and today i think we are as divided on race as we've been in decades. i do not believe it is a permanent division, and i believe it

richard fontaine is a c.e.o., long-time policy advisor to john mccain and worked on the senate foreign relations committee. after having published their co-authored book last year, these two strategists decided to team up again for another collaboration, this time on china-russia. this report is significant. it's hefty. it has 226 footnotes and that length of footnote is a signature of any collaboration involving a master. do look at the footnotes. a lot of time went into them. anyway, this conversation will begin in just a minute. it will be moderated by one of our members, one of my friends, bay fong, the president of radio free asia. they spent more than two decades in journalism. also a deputy assistant secretary at the state department. after that conversation, please stay around. we have coffee but more importantly, we have a panel with c.f.r. fellows elliott abrams, liana fix, shannon o'neil. we will discuss the global profile, how are countries around the world looking at this relationship? what are these countries doing in all of thee -- these regions? thank you all for joinin

moral authority to criticize that vietnamese for example who tortured pilots like our colleague john mccainif our secretary of defense a single waterboarding is just fine. we wouldn't, in fact our fathers father's will be very much concerned they went down behind enemyf lines they would be brutalized, tortured et cetera and we do not even have a moral objection to it. finally,na my top parties and i state senator has always been nationals security. my colleagues, i hope know this. i do not seek particle winds on all the political spotlight i want to do right by men and women in uniform. i refuse to compromise or cut corners on national security issues. the greatest privilege i've had in my life is to lead soldiers. tope understand and respect the. to do my best by example and leadership so they would have confidence in their best interest was my soul interest. that is not what i heard from mr. hegseth. and that is not what he is going to bring to the department of defense. process is important for nomination of this sort. other than me mr. mr. hegseth which used him as a democrat colleagues

have the moral authority to criticize the north vietnamese who tortured pilots like our colleague john mccain? if our secretary of defense is saying that waterboarding is perfectly fine? we wouldn't. in fact, i think our pilots would be very much concerned if they felt there were no rules to the game. and if they went down behind enemy lines, they would be just brutalized, tortured, et cetera, and we don't even have a moral objection to it. finally, my top priorities has a united states senator has always been national security, and i hope my colleagues i hope noticed. i do not seek partisan wins or the political spotlight. i want to do right by my men and women in uniform and i refuse to cut corners on national security issues. the greatest privilege i've had in my life is to lead soldiers, to understand and respect them, to do my best by example and leadership so that they would have confidence that their best interests was my sole interest. that's not what i heard from mr. hegseth, and that's not what he's going to bring to the department of defense. process is important for a nomination o

bush and john mccain, also of paramount's "the circus," mark mckinnon. great to see nominees. i also want to talk about january 6th and everything that means. this argument about what we saw in new orleans is going to put pressure on them to get these national security nominees, do you think that's true when the rubber meets the road politically? >> i think that's true, but there was also a sense of urgency anyway. there is a marked difference between now and eight years ago. i was i was at the hotel victory night with trump. it reminded me of "the candidate," the robert redford movie. after elected, he turns and goes, "what now?" now, he has a team, a plan, and has been through it before. the matt gaetz disaster cleared the debris and gave republicans a chance to say, look, we took care of the bad company, but now we have business to do. the terrorist attack, again, gives people like lindsey graham and others more urgency to get this thing done. >> mark, let's talk about january 6th. i am interested in your reflections on where we've come to. we've been playing images from th

john mccain suggested cutting that number in half and unfortunately that did not occur. think at the end of the day, a president is responsible for running a complex and large organization that has a lot of responsibilities and most importantly keeping us safe. we need people in those senior jobs who have large organizational experience and especially who will take their experience and use it effectively in the government context. that has been a challenge, and if you look over time at why our government is not doing better, it has more to do with leadership gaps than anything else. and the short-term nature of the leaders and political jobs. they are not around long enough to incentivize a focus on the health of the organizations they are responsible for. that might take us beyond the brief of your question. host: the caller mentioned the vote for the hegseth nomination for secretary of defense. that is scheduled for today, in the senate. you can watch that on c-span2, and that should be at 9:00 p.m. tonight. watch that if you are interested over on c-span2. lexington,

and are we going to return to a mitt romney, john mccain type of republican that was dominant so many years and return to a tea party era or is trumpism the future? no one is canning that question anymore. now we know trump is the future of the g.o.p. he's not going to have to contend in the second trump administration with members of congress out to deinstruct his agenda. since trump won in 2016, 60% of the house caucus, the house republican caucus has turned over which means most of the republicans in office now have been elected during the trump era. everyone who opposed trump strongly has either quit because they didn't see a future or run out of office by voters and helps settle that question. that's going to give him more credibility to give his legislative adefenda through capitol hill. it's not clear it will matter that much. and from the early days of the trump administration, he's not going into office with a legislative agenda but an executive agenda. that's what a lot of democrats are afraid of and a lot of the stuff trump was promising on the campaign trail, i'm draining