you've profiled mark salter. he was the man who put, i don't know how to say it, who put poetry to john mccain's patriotic soul. talk about both things. >> yeah, first of all, mark salter and john mccain, that's a true a political alter ego relationship as you're going to find. he truly is amused. they nurture each other in all kinds of ways. yeah, mark is -- marks has been right there. he's right there today. so, he's someone that will always be linked to the mythology of john mccain. i think when you talk about just these little anecdotes, what it's like to hang around him, there are few politicians these days, by the way, who let you just hang around. there is a probably good reason for that. john mccain was never great for the age of twitter. some of these pre-twitter campaigns, 2007, 2008, 2000 were much better suited for mccain. 2000 better than 2008, by the way. but he -- it's just trying to remember things and tell stories. first, you try to edit for tv what you can tell and what you can't tell. it's ofte

was to jack kennedy, mark salter was to john mccain. it's one of the most vital literary and political partnerships of the 20th and 21st centuries. so our thoughts are with mark as well. but young john mccain was in the yard outside his parents' house in arlington. when he was 12 years old. and found not one but two four-leaf clovers. and ran in to his father's study, grabbed a book off the shelf, to press the four leaf clovers in. and it was for whom the bell tolls. his eyes fell on it, and you know, as you know, that's an age when books can really leave a deep imprint on a young mind. and he saw in robert jordan there doomed hero, a romantic someone who believed in the cause in the spanish civil war. that figure resonated with the young mccain. and it stayed with him forever. the marvelous line toward the very end of that epical novel is jordan has been wounded, he's about to die. he's died for this cause he believes in. and he says the world is a very fine place worth the fighting for and i very much hate to leave it. but one of the t

. >> his co-author mark salter and former secretary of defense bill cohen, another close friend. >>> standing by their man. with the midterms looming, a new poll shows the president's base is still solidly with him, even after his worst week yet on legal setbacks for his inner circle. >> look, at this point if there's no russia and no goods on russia, doesn't -- base doesn't care. >> and wake-up call in the grim aftermath of the mass shooting in jacksonville. calls are growing louder for more security anywhere that crowds gather. >> we have faced this occurrence all too common. it will require us to continue to do the hard work of public safety to make sure that people are safe. >>> good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. president trump as you just saw announcing a preliminary nafta deal moments ago with mexico, not with canada, though. while here at home, the nation begins a week of mourning today for john mccain. we'll have a lot more on both stories throughout this hour. the flag at the white house is back at full staff today, a break with protocol. the flag at the

i had a fight with mark salter once and salter said dammit nicole that isn't putting country first. i said mark it's a slogan. they were so true to the things they ran on. it was so rare. >> it's the muse that salter is to mccain and the closeness of that relationship. there were other relationships that were not self-evident because mccain did not love some of joe biden's ideas about iraq when he was chairman of the foreign relation committee. they formed a bond over their devotion to foreign policy and to the sold years and with beau biden's diagnosis and that moment when joe biden on "the view" was comforting her shortly after john mccain's last senate vote and he retreated to sedona and was showing the ravages for the treatment of cancer, she broke down and biden got up and hugged her and said john mccain had helped him through so many stages with young beau. he meant when beau was a child and john mccain lost his first wife and he was just coming into the senate and people like john mccain and teddy kennedy and others were comforting him along the way. beau suffered earlier illn

, who is also known as mark salter, welcome. we're so sorry for your loss. >> thank you. >> woodruff: you were also known as his altergo. >> yeah. >> woodruff: incredible outpouring for the senator this week, mark salter, from one end of the wasn't to the other. were you surprised b that? >> yeah, a little bit, and the b family'n very moved by it. maybe an hour after his death was announced, we left sedona for phoenix. the roads were lined, already. ethere was a h crowd at the top of the hill. people alongside of the interstate, overpazs, signs, flags,ands o their hearts, very touching. it's that way, every time t motorcade moved through phoenix, the streets were lined with people. they stood in line to pay their respects in the state capitol in the rotunda for hours and hours 105-degree temperatures, and the mccain children went down there at 9:00 at night and there were still 1200 people in line. very moving. >> woodruff: you wrote a tribute to him where you said he was a romantic about his causes and a cynic about the rld. wh

. >> words of john mccain in his book he wrote with mark salter. i'm chris jansing in for stephanie ruhle. >>> right now, more news with hallie jackson. >> chris, a lovely read from john mccain there. a lovely sentiment. mark, we'll hear more from him coming up on this show. i'm hallie jackson in washington. on the hill, the american flag at half-staff. one of the many ways senator mccain is being honored and remembered. at the white house, the flag back up, raised after midnight, with new reporting about how the president apparently m lly nixe white house statement on the senator. >>> plus, the week-long good-bye to the man known as the maverick. hear from the people who knew him best on this show coming up. >>> it is not just about the void the senator's death leaves behind, but what is next for the seat and congress as a whole next year? details on how republicans are prepping for the worst. an avalanche of investigations. their plan to protect the president if they lose the house. >>> today, americans again asking why. this time, why somebody op

when you hear mark salter talk about that, about the fact that people who, you know, you wouldn't evenhink that they would know who john mccain is, never mind have that kind of -- that he had that kind of impact on them while they were in prison just because he mentioned their name, what does that say to you? >> well, it speaks right to the credibility that he had on issues of human rights, having been a prisoner of war himself, having known what that feels like. it gave him so much greater weight. and the other thing, when you look back at the legislation he sponsored, the foreign policy impact that he had, it all really does come back to basic human rights. he was one of the staunchest defenders of basic human rights and values around the world. and oftentimes that led him and he would be the first to admit, it led him to a maybe more aggressive interventionist style but it was because at the root of what he believed is sometimes we defend american national security best when we defend the national security and values of people overseas. >> he certainly was criticized by the more pac

helped senator mccain write those words, this is his friend and long-time aide and speech writer mark saltero is with us now. mark, good morning to you. i know how close you were so i send our sympathies and our condolences. i know this is such a loss. >> thank you. >> i read a story yesterday and i love the way this washington post writer wrote it, senator mccain bore his brain cancer diagnosis without self pity and i thought that is so him. how were his spirits in the final days and weeks and months. >> they were pretty good. he was in the place he loved the best. his wife put it, he died surrounded by his family, the people he loved most and the place he loved the best. he was stoic but grateful, thankful for all the many blessings and the long, eventful, purposeful life he got to lead in the service of this country. so it was -- he couldn't have scripted a better exit from this world. >> as i mentioned, you worked together for decades. you were his right-hand man. i used to think of you on the campaign as the mccain whisperer. what have we lost when we lost john mccain? >> we lost a grea

i was listening to that and i was reading, so this is from dana, from mark salter. i was wondering you know at what point would senator mccain have thought to have written those words. john salter told me early spring he wanted a statement issued postmortem. we discussed what he wanted to say, did a draft. he took a cull couple of things out, added a few lines and i put it in a drawer until the time came. phil. >> brooke, i think it's important to note with the senator particularly over the course of the last year is how keenly aware he was of the moment he was in and the legacy he wanted to leave. obviously he also wrote a book with mark salter which people have been quoting over the last 24 to 48 hours. there was also that poignant speech on the senate floor where he basically said my friends we are getting nothing done, we are getting nothing done a call to arms for the senate to move away from the divisive nature which move back to a time where people could come across the aisle and work. disagree, no question about it but try to figure out a path forward. it is

he has written books with his long-time collaborator and very, very close confidant mark salter about this very thing, about leadership, about america's place in the world and about his place in the world and one of the final big speeches that mccain gave was in october of last year. he was in philadelphia getting an award and here's what he said. >> it's not been perfect service, to be sure, and there are probably times when the country might have benefited a little less of my help. but i have tried to deserve the privilege as best i can and i've been repaid 1,000 times over with adventures, good company, with the satisfaction of serving something more important than myself. of being a bit player in the extraordinary story of america. and i am so grateful. >> that was also part of a book that he most recently wrote with mark salter called "the restless wave." and, you know, i'm reading and re-reading parts of it where he quotes his love earnest hemming way. a great lover of fiction, particularly earnest hemming way and the character of michael jordan talking about how much he loved l

author of seven books with mark salter. >> he would tell you, the life he chose to live is the most rewarding life a human being could live. >> sam donaldson asking mccain about his first book, "faith of our fathers." >> i believe the overall message is the redemptive powers of a commitment to a cause greater than one's self-interest, even if that commitment is made by imperfect people. >> he is wickedly funny. >> come on, obama's going to have plenty of chances to be president. it's my turn. >> he does not take himself too seriously. but he takes his cause incredibly seriously. >> there's literally no difference between the public john mccain and the private john mccain. what you see is what you get. >> i'm afraid mr. putin might be one of those that wants to make run on time. >> that's one of the great aspects of his political life, was that he walked the walk. he was the guy you could rely on to always tell you what he believed. >> i think we have to examine every agency of government and find out those that are doing their job and keep them and find out those that aren't and eliminate the

it struck me this morning that mark salter, who of course was his sort of co-writer, his longtime speechwriter who knew him so well over the decades, said that decency is what really drove the guy the way mark stater put it. is that what you would say as someone who has covered him all these years? >> well, and let me step back from those moments where i was in the room when those supporters and voters would challenge mccain. one of the things that was part of his brand was taking endless questions from voters. which by its very nature is unpredictable. and being willing to do what is hard to imagine most politicians of this moment being willing to do. and that is to tell someone you're seeking their vote or support. that they are somewhere wrong or incorrect or misinformed. that's a difficult thing to do. i was struck by how that was something for all his bombast and all of his fire, he did it quietly and politely. he also at times would do that when, you know, in politics, at rallies were all these speakers who come before the candidate. occasionally, there would be those who would speak to

i was standing with mark salter who was standing by me when he did that. we weren't surprised in the moment. but half a country away, sarah palin sounded a different tune. he didn't just stand up to the people's whose votes he wanted, he had a different strategy. now, eight years later, a very different view of the direction of the republican party. his voice and his clarity and his instincts were always to knock down something that was wrong about even -- that was his political opponent. he was running against president obama, senator obama. and he couldn't let it stand for a nanosecond. if people saw that, he took the microphone from her. he couldn't correct her assertion quickly enough. he didn't want something out there against his political opponent. it was more important to him to correct the order about then-senator obama than to have a supporter hear something she wanted to hear. so, that was -- that clip is important. it's very much who he was. >> yeah. such a great encappslation ofde. nicolle wallace, host of "deadline white house." thank you, ni

his long-time aid mark salter on today. >> among those paying tribute, joe biden and george w. bush and barack obama. while the current president won't be there. >> what's america like without john mccain? >> what i hope is that john mccain's legacy will rub off on a few people. future politicians who look at this and say, john mccain was the real deal, maybe i ought to follow that model. >> reporter: senator mccain's first stop will be here at the arizona state capital where he will lie in state this wednesday. what would have been his 82nd birthday. savannah? >> peter, thank you. >>> those who knew senator mccain will tell you he could be incredibly kind and wickedly funny but also cranky and crusty sometimes. we all have our moments. but despite that maverick label, he could also be as fiercely partisan as the best of them. what set him apart is decency and what he displayed at moments big and small. cynthia mcfadden on mccain the man and the void he leaves. >> reporter: john mccain was proud to be a straight talker. >> i will not take the low road to the highest office in t

and mark salter, his aide, was remarkable in helping john mccain. john mccain stepped up and made a big difference, many, many ways and many different places. we desperately will miss him. we appreciate his call for the noble call that is the noble call of public service. and he not only answered the noble call of public service, he made sure others could recognize how important it was to give the noble call and to take the call when it came. he was one who would say, get involved. stand up. be counted. don't go along just to go along. go along to make a difference and help people make a difference. >> sir, hang on one second. at the bottom of the hour. andy card with us, the chief of staff with george w. bush. if you're just joining us on msnbc, the sad breaking news we're sharing with you on this saturday. that's the passing of senator john mccain at the age of 81. this is after a battle with a very severe form of brain cancer. and he was announced by his family yesterday, that they were going to stop medical treatment. and the next day, a saturda

his long-time aid mark salter on today. >> the roads were lined with people who spontaneously showed up to wave flags and put their hands over their hearts, it was quite moving. eporter: ahead of celebrations of a statesman that defied party labels amo those paying tribute, vice president joe biden and former presidents former rivals, george w. ansh barack obama. while the current president won't be there. >> what's amica like without john mccain? cc> what i hope is that johnn's legacy will rub off on a few people. young future politicians who look at this week and say w, john mccain was the real deal. maybe i ought to follow that model. >> reporter: senator mccain's first stop will be here at the arizona state capital where he will liin ate this wednesday. what would have been his 82nd birthday. savannah? >> peter, thank you. >>> those who knew senator mccain will tell you he could be incredibly kind and wickedly funny but sometimes. and crusty we all have our moments and despite that maverick label, he could also be as asfiercely partisa the pest of them. what set him apart is dece

in my interactions and i know through others who worked with him every single day, among them, mark saltera good friend and chief of staff for many years and i have known for 40 years. i would say what was always remarkable about john mccain was, he was the guy who wanted to eat, he referred to them as dogs, give me a couple hot dogs. he wasn't about people who come into public service to benefit themselves or to be something. i think he had a love aware with america. i think what you portray is the accurate individual. wasn't a perfect man. i think he regrets some things he did. he opposed the martin luther king holiday, for example, 30 years ago. he mentioned that he regretted that very, very deeply. i think that was a reflection of his recognition of some of the things in his life that he wasn't ashamed to talk about. that was an instance. of course, what you haven't brought up, the charles keating matter. he did nothing wrong, but understood from that that campaign finance reform was essential and he pushed it in a way with senator feingold. there was a gift ban that john mccain pushed

we just talked to mark salter who said you could not keep john mccain on script.e mavericks. we just heard mike barnacle talking about great politicians being politicians that were hurt, that were suffering, and it seems to me there are some parallels between john mccain and bobby kennedy in that way. >> i think the idea of the rebel, the person who was not confined by the traditions or the assumed limit us of what politicians ought to do, you are quite right about that. i was with him for a part of that straighttalk express experience for the 2000 campaign in new hampshire, and the sheer joy he brought to breaking the rules. he would gather the reporters on his bus. he would announce, all right, good morning, i want you to know everything is on the record. when he meant everything, he meant everything. and he barrelled into the small towns in new hampshire, telling the audience what it necessarily didn't want to hear, which was a mark of bobby as well. i was also thinking, you know, one of his favorite writers was hemingway who said that courage is grace under pr

mccain's co-author, speechwriter, and longtime friend mark salter.reign affairs and witional security, before mccain was diagnosed last summer with oage four brain cancer. it immediately became a book of reflections on mccain's life and service. >> whether we think each other right or wrong in our views on the issues of the day, we owe each other our respect, as so long as our character merits respect, and as long as we share, for all of our differences, for all the debates that enliven and sometimes enmean our politics, a mutual devotion to the ideals our nation was conceived to uphold. that all are created equal and liberty and equal justice are the natural rights of all. my country saved me and i cannot forget it. and i will fight for her as long as i draw breath, so help me god. ( applause ) >> there is no doubt that all of us are weak from time to time. i was. refortunately, not all of us can unfortunately, not all of us can emulate john wayne, but i think that overwhelming majority of us did the best we could. te american people don't hold wash

that's mark salter, almost like a son, very close. there's no question that the humanity of his mother and his daughter and the rest of the family watching, but also the tributes that we heard really moving tributes, particularly from paul ryan, talking about the fact that he will take his children to the naval academy to see john mccain and say that this is one of the bravest souls our nation has ever produced. >> it was a very moving moment from the speaker of the house, paul ryan. what did you think? >> yeah, that was an incredible moment. speaker ryan and john mccain have similar streaks and appreciation for debate, decency, honor, integrity. another moment that paul ryan -- a memorable moment for me was when he thanked the family for their service. not just jack and jimmy's military service. i presume for sharing this man with the rest of us, with this town, with the country. as i said earlier, you know, he has been a senator as long as meghan has been alive. so this family has long shared him. to thank them in particular i thoug

in 1988 and sort of accidentally and it was the luckiest day of my life. >> thank you very much, mark salterng me. >> thank you, mark. thinking of you. actor john goodman is breaking his silence on ♪ say my name, say my name ♪ >> actor john goodman is opening up about roseanne barr's departu departure. he thinks her character will be killed off in a spin-off the conners. he played roseanne's husband. she was fired after sending a racist tweet about valerie ja jarrett in may. he was surprised by the response and know for a fact she is not a racist and e-mailed barr to thank her for signing over the rights to the show. i did not hear anything back but she was going through hell at the time and still going through hell. >> there's much more news ahead. pennsylvania's attorney general led a landmark investigation that uncovered decades of aalleged abuse by catholic priests. we'll talk to josh shapiro why his states' laws need to change. >>> a hair extension policy that led to a student being turned away. >> a hospitalized drake fan gets a life saving transplant after a surprise visit by the rapp

his pelongtimeh writer mark salter moved to tears today when recountian a spous tribute from arizoniansg come to terms with the loss of a vital voice in american life. jay gray reports. >>eporter: saying good-bye can be difficult. >> when we left his beloved nch in cornville and made the drive to phoenix, he -- the roads were lined with people who spontaneousl showed up to wave flags and put their hands over thei hearts. it was quite moving. >> reporter: it was the first of what will be a week of tributes to john mccain. >> he was a hero. and one of arizona's finest. >> reporter: a fsoorite mccain will lie in state in the arizona state capitolne way on what would have been his 82nd birthday. followed by a memorial service thursday at north phoenix baptist church wherist joe biden will deliver the yulegy. next the senator will make his last trip to washington where friday he will lie in state in the capitol rotunda. then saturday there will be a full dress military funeral for the war hero at the national cathedral. >> i am mourning thes nation mourning the world is mourning the loss of

. >> john mccain and mark salter showed me the concession speech and i read it with tears streaming downd i said, it is incredible. >> whatever our differences, we are fellow americans. and please believe me when i say, no association has ever meant more to me than that. me . >> it was in that moment in time that it was clear that at 72 years old, john mccain would never be the president of the united states. >> he sent the secret service home the night of his defeat and drove himself home the next day in a pickup truck. and was eager to go back to the united states senate and pick up the work that he had long enjoyed as a senator. >>> coming up -- >> couldn't believe he had said it. >> i felt rage. wait a minute you didn't serve in the military. john mccain did. ve in the military. john mccain did. welcome to the xfinity store. thanks, janet. it's my happy place. you can learn how to switch to xfinity mobile, a new wireless network that saves you cash. and you can get 5 lines of talk and text included with your internet. and over here i'm having my birthday party. dj fluffernutter, hit

he really focused on it, spoke at great length, obviously with cindy and mark salter as he chose theses and psalms and the hymns he wanted at this funeral. many of them are touchstones throughout his life. at the service on saturday, his son jimmy will read a poem by robert lewis stephenson that mccain read at his own father's funeral. so really personal to him. >> it's perfect john mccain too. this is somebody whose life was marked by both the deepest reverence for duty, honor, country, tradition. but also someone who was deeply irreverent too. to start with "amazing grace," that traditional hymn that's a staple of so many funerals, but to end with frank sinatra's "my life" is quintessential. >> it sure is. jill, you are extremely pregnant. >> ten days away. >> you traveled here for this. but you also are wearing john mccain's bracelet, his p.o.w. bracelet. >> yeah, so i'm ten days pregnant, and when i went to my doctor to say i needed a hall pass to get on the plane, she told another doctor in her practice about where i was going. the doctor sent this bracelet to my home. it turns

when we approached mark salter and john mccain, we presented him with this idea, and he immediately said possible. when we got down there, he pulled us aside and he takes everyone first thing he does is that he walks you around his property, and shows you all of the trees and the streams, and he says, i brought you down here this quickly, because this disease is so terrible and i want to get my story are out while i still have my memory. so it was important for him as much as it was important for us to get out his true story, and, you know, unfiltered. he did not want any of the words hidden. so we hit the ground running, and it is usually takes a year, at least a year to do one of the fi films for hbo and this one, we cranked out in just about seven mont months. >> wow. so when he said yes, and yes, while he had the memory, he wanted this done, he wanted to be a part of it. did he have almost like a wish list of these are the areas of my life that i really want to make sure that you cover? i mean, how did you all collaborate and come up with the idea of what to depict? >> you know, he h

you know, a speech writer and person a respect a lot, mark salter, wrote about the dissonance from throughoutthe globe, really. hayes daughter was in the peace cor corps. he said america has my back. i know that because there are people like john mccain. at this time of america first and where there is a lot of retrenchment from the world in this country, mccain was a light for america's ideals throughout the world, standing for freedom and liberty. those are going to be massive shoes to fill in the years ahead, in the hopes that we live up to what he promised. >> tim, i have so enjoyed hearing some of the john mccain stories over the past year. his chief of staff at the service in arizona yesterday had a few great stories. do you have any jaohn mccain stories you can share on television? >> you know, i was a young man, so i didn't rise to the level. the famous john mccain stories, the meaner nastier name he called you if he liked you. i didn't earn a nickname from him. i had a special moment with him. he didn't like to talk about his time in the hanoi hilton in the cells. the campaign strate

he was blessed with a partner in mark salter who helped to tell his story. michael is a great writer as well. it's a story that does, in fact, five years. five years of that stuff, every day, getting beaten up and not cracking. that is a remarkable testament. other p.o.w.s say we all leave in the order we arrive or leave together, but don't go out of turn. >> i have to thank you all at this point. thank you, michael. coming up, the president is up to his neck with legal problems. is now a good time for the impeachment conversation? we'll be back to discuss it. we'll be back to discuss it. hey, no big deal. you've got a good record and liberty mutual won't hold a grudge by raising your rates over one mistake. you hear that, karen? liberty mutual doesn't hold grudges... how mature of them. for drivers with accident forgiveness liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty ♪ i'm ray and i quit smoking with chantix. i tried to quit smoking for years on my own. i couldn't do

someone from a different planet who are these americans, it would be john mccain with an assist from mark salter. he had a romantic view of our nation to his last breath and literally almost the last thing he said to me was i love you, i have not been cheated. he was not cheated. >> so beautiful and so touching, josh, and so -- we also got to hear john mccain's words as i think lindsey graham was alluding to. i guess this whole episode, the controversy about the president struggling to memorialize john mccain, i guess after these two and a half days we can move on? >> i hope so. that's probably up to trump and whether he has more feelings about mccain that he wants to share in the hours ahead but barring that i think it's time to move on to a more appropriate way to remember john mccain. we'll see that as his body sits in state first in the arizona capital then in washington. again i think what gals trump about this episode, he is somebody who experiences life through the medium of cable television and the praise and appreciation from just about everybody frustrated trump because that's how he w

somehow though his long time friend and aide and collaborator, mark salter always finds a way to put essence into beautiful prose and did it again this morning writing in the "washington post," he was relent less and quick tempered and he was defiant in defeat and sometimes in victory too. he didn't have sides his mother said, meaning different faces for different occasions. he was all he was all of the time. i've spoken to many of senator mccain's friends and colleagues over the year. here's how they describe him. >> he's like a shark. he can't stop moving, which keeps him who he is and he's -- he's hard to keep up with. all of our international travels he would be the one up reading his briefing book while the rest of us would be passed out sleeping. first one off the plane, first one into a meeting, that's just who he is. >> tell me about his sense of humor. >> there are people really great at funny stories and i don't see john as a story teller as much as i am a one liner and just -- >> just quit wit. >> exactly. he loves to laugh. he loves humor, little known fact about john mcc

mccain's coauthor, speech writer and long time friend mark salter said it was supposed to be a book aboutoreign affairs and national security before mccain was diagnosed last summer with stage 4 brain cancer. it immediately became a book of reflections on mccain's life and service. >> whether we think each other right or wrong on tour views of the issues of the day, as long was share all our differences, for the all the rancorous debates that demean our politics, a mutual devotion to the ideals our nation was conceived uphold, that all are created equal and liberty and equal justice are the natural rights of all. >>> my country saved me and i cannot forget it. and i will fight for her as long as i draw breath, so help me god. [ cheers and applause ] >> there's no doubt that all of us will leave from time to time. i was. unfortunately, not all of us can emulate john wayne, but i think the overwhelming majority of us do the best we could. >> the american people don't hold washington and the people who work there in very high esteem. we need to make sure that we give the american people what

there's a piece that mark salter wrote in the "washington post" today, he talked about these burmeseid was really read out their names and call attention to them. years later when they met, they were in tears because it meant so much that someone like john mccain called attention to what they were going through. >> you know, as the executive director of an institute that bears mccain's name, what did he mean to you personally? >> well, i knew the senator for over 20 years, i worked in his senate office in the '90s and stayed in touch in the years after that. i've been a foreign policy professional my whole adult life so having someone like senator mccain who was consistently standing up for the right values and principles and issue s has really been an inspiration to me personally and to my work. and then in the mccain institute, what we've tried to do is build an institute that is dedicated to advancing those values that he and the mccain family have stood for. particularly, character-driven leadership, leaders who care about serving a cause greater than one's self and also taking a

. >> john mccain and mark salters showed me the concession speech and i read it with tears streaminge and i said it is incredible. >> whatever our differences we are fellow americans and please believe me when i say, no association has ever meant more to me than that. >> it was in that moment in time that it was clear that at clea john mccain would never be the president of the united states. >> he sent the secrete service home the night of his defeat and drove himself home the next day in a pickup truck and was eager to go back to the united states senate and pick up the work he'd long enjoyed as a senator. >>> coming up -- >> couldn't believe he said it. >> i felt it. i said wait a minute, you didn't serve in the military, john mccain did. didn't serve in the military, john mccain did ♪ ♪ [ screams ] ♪ [ laughs ] ♪ whoa, whoa, whoa. your one item would be the name your price tool? it helps people save on car insurance. why wouldn't it save me? why? what would you bring? a boat. huh. play "connection" by onerepublic. ♪these days, my waves get lost in the ocean♪ ♪seven billion swimme

, they were two parting gifts of sorts from mccain and his long time co-author and collaborator mark salterwe learned about the diagnosis, it was important to the film makers and executives at hbo to talk with mccain and talk with his friends and associates about his life and about what his life meant and to have a record -- to have a recording. we've seen that across the media landscape as well with remarkable tributes in the past 15 hours or so. dana bash's incredible documentary that will be reairing, speaking with law milwaukee e makers with both parties about mccain's impact. you might have noticed abc scrambled, able to air a documentary saturday night as well, one hour documentary all about mccain. you just don't see this very often in american politics. it speaks to how unique this moment in time is and what a loss this is. the publisher of mccain's book jonathan carp came out with a statement overnight. he actually edited and published all seven of mccain and salter's books. the most recent one as i mentioned was the restless wave, just came out recently. and the book actually has

i remember sitting in a gloomy time square hotel room with senator mccain and mark salter in august of 2007. so exactly 12 years ago. and basically -- john mccain couldn't -- as joe said, he could barely get arrested. because he had put all of his chips on the fact that he thought the surge in iraq was an essential policy decision and he been very critical of george w. bush on the the other parts of that policy. but he called it as he saw it. and he said, if the surge works, people will give me a second look in this race and we'll go out and test our medal -- we'll test our metal. as if he had something to prove as to his medal. but one of the reasons you're seeing this level of emotion is people appreciate that he had a certain level of common sense. you might disagree with him, but he looked at the fact and made up his mind and this is -- coming at a political time where voters decide what they think, not on the merits of what is being said, but who is saying it. and that is not american. that reflective partisanship and he embodied a reflective partisanship. >> that is one of the re

younger person who said bill, you may not remember this but you recommended me so salter for a job, mark salterf staff and author for a job with mccain and held that job for several years. it was the greatest honor of my life and thank you for doing it. it wasn't the thanks to me but the fact this has gone on to other things and had a long career in washington. a longer one ahead of him but the years he spent working for mccain were special to him and that says a lot, i think. >> you mention the fact that people need to know and the fact there's a big difference to say the least between john mccain and the men currently in the white house and one of the biggest is his unwavering sense of history. one of the things i keep thinking about was after 9/11, and the senate was debating the use of force resolution. he was running around, you know, like he did like sort of as fast as he possibly could with a piece of paper. i asked, it was whatever draft it was they were working on in a bipartisan basis and i said, are you going to vote for that? he goes, yeah the golf of tonken resolution, got us into

he's such a patriot, such a romantic, as mark salter, his long time colleague put it, a romantic aboutca and a higher view of what america is. maybe that would be not a bad thing for people to reflect on today and in the coming days. >> john mccain is still with us and i sometimes think those are the best moments to reflect, these are the moments to go down what i call an internet john mccain rabbit hole, to study his life. there have been moments he's been less proud of and failures in his life that he would be the first to admit. again, taken as a whole, his life to the country, if prison, tortured, his life of love and political sacrifice are something we would all gain from reading a lot about today. bill, good to see you as always, thank you very much. bill cross toll. >>> nbc news has confirmed long time trump organization cfo allen weisselberg has been given immunity by federal prosecutors. he was also treasurer of the donald j. trump foundation. the new york state tax department is investigating that charity. joining me now is martin shield, former irs criminal investigator. ma

i think maybe about a half a dozen books believe it or not with his co-author and close friend mark salter. i want to read a couple of quotes which i think are telling right now, but before that i wanted to share something that the democratic leader, senator chuck schumer, who, again, this is a familiar theme you'll be hearing, a democrat who has the utmost respect for john mccain, has proposed that the russell office building, which is a senate office building where john mccain had his office for decades and oddly so did his friend ted kennedy, they were in the same wing, ted kennedy was on the third floor, john mccain on the second floor, and what senator schumer wants to do is to rename the russell building after senator john mccain, rename that building, which is a really big deal. first of all, the fact that there is a democrat announcing that, second of all, that it means that they would take the name russell presumably away and it's a bit controversial because senator russell fought hard against the civil rights bill and he was a long-time senator and very well regarded at the time,

. >> you know, it's interesting, mark salter, who collaborated on all of senator mccain's books and was a trusted aide, speech writer for him, he wrote a piece in tribute to him in which he said in part, mccain was romantic about his causes and cynical about the world. >> yep. >> and that is such a poignant line because that really does capture mccain, whose words that you just played, yes, they were a rebuke of trump, but really they were bigger. they were a rebuke of the populist politics that are coursing the globe in parts of europe and certainly in russia and even here in the rise of donald trump and the populism on the left and the right that fueled him. so it makes it striking and is a window that mccain himself gave some room to this populism when he elevated sarah palin who was a canary in the coal mine, a decision he regretted to make her his running mate. he has been on these fault lines on american politics and the conservative movement and the republican party for a long time. often unpopular, certainly a maverick, certainly independent. and he had his final words on all of

he kept asking me and others like mark salter and carly how are you doing? you okay?he one with the disease, john. i'm worried about you. but his compassion was really strong, and we greatly appreciate that that's probably one of the things i'll remember most. >> you wonder where he was drawing, whether it was the five plane crashes that lindsey graham talked about today, or whether it was the 5'2" 1/2" years he spent as a prisoner of war. you wonder if that affected his approach to his own mortality, his approach to his final days. >> i think he actually thought he would die a quiet and peaceful death just how he did. he used to say when we would be on these horrific airplane flights during the campaign, getting bounced around in these light aircraft. >> don't worry, i'll never die in an airplane. i guess he was true to his word. he always said i'm going to die in bed. and we always thought that was silly. like the guy was a man of action. he was in every part of the world all the time. he was on his feet constantly. the idea that he would be peaceful was odd to us.

. >> andrea mitchell, mark salter his long time aid sort of son from another mother and father in some ways, this was what he wrote in the "washington post" this weekend. mccain was a romantic about causes and cynic about the world. had the capacity to be both things and to live with the contradiction. he had seen human being at their best and worst often in the same experience. understood the world of all it is and thought of a moral failure to accept injustice as the inescapable tragedy of our fallen nature and realistically optimistic i guess. >> and that optimism, that shining city on the hill that you know, of course we think of ronald reagan, i think michael beschloss said last night, if the happy warrior had not been termed -- had not been coined to describe hue bert hum free, that john mccain would be the happy warrior. warrior and a fighter always but always with so much optimism and joy and passion. passion because he believes so much in his country in the people of our country. and he believed in a greater vision of america. >> tom, there's every generation has this handful

i remember sitting in a gloomy time square hotel room with senator mccain and mark salter in august of007. so exactly 12 years ago. and basically -- john mccain couldn't -- as joe said, he could barely get arrested. because he had put all of his chips on the fact that he thought the surge in iraq was an essential policy decision and he been very critical of george w. bush on the the other parts of that policy. but he called it as he saw it. and he said, if the surge works, people will give me a second look in this race and we'll go out and test our medal -- we'll test our metal. as if he had something to prove as to his medal. but one of the reasons you're seeing this level of emotion is people appreciate that he had a certain level of common sense. you might disagree with him, but he looked at the fact and made up his mind and this is coxi-- coming at a political time where voters decide what they think, not on the merits of what is being said, but who is saying it. and that is not american. that reflective partisanship and he embodied a reflective partisanship. >> that is one of the

. >> you know, one more final line from mark salter who you quoted earlier, norah, long time aid of mccainn experience has taught that -- >> the passing of an era, the passing of a time. they were reflective on his service, the importance of service to his country. >> and you can hear more of cbs this morning on our podcast. and other major podcast just when you thought you were done painting... ...you discover paint bleed under your tape... not with frogtape! frogtape is the only painter's tape treated with patented paintblock technology. paintblock reacts with the water in latex paint to form a micro-barrier against paint bleed, giving you the sharpest lines possible. get professional results with frogtape... no messy lines, no paint bleed. for sharp lines every time, frog it! police officers' association will sign an agreement to expand over independent >>> good morning, it is 8:55. i'm michelle griego. today the san josi police officers association will sign an agreement to expand oversight for the office of the independent police auditor. this comes days after the recent auditor resig

someone from a different planet, who are these americans, it would be john mccain with an assist from mark salter. he had a romantic view of our nation to his last breath, and literally, almost the last thing he said to me was, "i love you. i have not been cheated." he was not cheated. >> he was very, very grateful. we talk about senator mccain -- i see a tear in your eye. >> yeah, like, you know, he was five cats, man. he had like 45 lives. he crashed five airplanes. he's a black ace. he's been in five airplane crashes of ours. i cannot tell you, when he speaks, people listen. to stay relevant all those years. his colleagues, he would say the most awful things and later be able to forgive and forget. he's talking to ted kennedy right now -- can you believe what they're saying about me after what i did to them? >> i guess that's why i -- you know, it's funny, because republicans, democrats, i mean, he made everyone mad, but everybody respected him. except for it seems like our president didn't respect him. i mean, let me play you just the sound -- in the oval office, let me just play it for you.

he and mark salter wrote a book with that great insight from the greeks, and his character fundamentally shaped who he was. and what i think -- the role i think he played, and you would know more about this than i would, i think he also tried very hard to be a mentor to people in the arena, saying, look, don't just always listen to your handlers, don't look at the polls all the time. do what you think is right. enjoy the fight because if you don't, what's the point? >> we're going to have senator amy klobuchar on the show. he did cross party lines. it was remarkable. i'm glad you mentioned what it was like to deal with him on a day-to-day basis. if you covered senator mccain, he cherished the role of the press in a democracy, even if he sometimes wanted us to leave him alone when he was walking the halls of congress. >> senator mccain? >> yes. >> two seconds quickly. i'd like to ask -- >> two seconds are up. >> what's the forum for asking the questions, though? >> well, one, huh-uh should take an ink pen and put it to paper and write out the questions and you send it to me. that's one of

he could answer the question who are these americans along with mark salters, the most eloquent expressiono send him off well and continue the legacy. steve: was the last thing he said to you. >> i have not been complete cheated. steve: what did he mean. >> that he lived a life beyond any imagination that he had at 17. report common in military when a mission is complete or an operation is over lessons learned. from the time he was 17 until he passed a way a couple of days ago. what are the lessons learned from this man's life. i was in vietnam with him. we went to the hanoi hilton, taps museum. we are the bad guys in that museum by the way. looking, in you could tell his memory is going really quick, very nostalgic. and there are photos all over the wall of the prisoners sitting in chairs with sunglasses and playing volleyball and all of our minders are there with us. i said john, this doesn't seem so bad. and he smiled and says i don't remember it this way. [laughter] katie: a little bit of a different story. >> we had to get out of vietnam. brian: you have a life. live it he lived it? >