if i had won, sara palin energi energized the republican party.ign that mccain never could have. i could write the script as to how it was an inspired choice. it all depends on whether you within win or lose. i do not want to appear as complaining to you, gloria, because i've had the most wonderful life and career that anybody you will ever meet or interview. bar none. no one has had the incredible life that i've had. i think that the run for president made me appreciate how fortunate a person i am. once i got over the 24 hours of defeat, which was not unexpected, i began to be a little receitrospective and appreciate the life that i've led and that i could continue to contribute. that was one very important thing. i said i lost, it's bad, all that, but i can go back to the united states senate and i can still make a difference. so it changed me in that -- that and age have made me appreciate every single day. and it has not diminished my passion, it has increased my passion. >> wonderfully said, it really is. >> it's such an example of how gratit

. >> two moments stand out, one was selection of sara palin as running mate. huge surprise and he felt regret, he felt he opened door to reality tv in american politics and didn't like where it led to. that moment just a few weeks before election day, no, don't have to be scared of barack obama, disagree with him on the issues but he's perfectly capable of being a good president, we need to honor that. that was a powerful moment. first time i interviewed him was in 2000, when i was local reporter. camera man i was working with, jeff pierce, was a vietnam vet. they to the to chatting with vietnam, deployment and units. quickly determined where they both fit in there. mccain turned to him at end of that and said, welcome home. it was a really powerful moment. >> david, thank you. terry moran in sedona, covering what's been happening. you've talked to supporters, final thoughts as we wrap up. >> there's two things that come to mind, listening to my colleagues and looking at magnificent pictures. one, a life lesson, one, a country lesson. resilience, think of how

he also got bad press for picking sara palin. lot of republicans came to believe that she wasn't ready to step into the presidency. joining us now from connecticut is charlie gasparino. some thoughts on john mccain, i know you dealt with over the years and could be a great source and great interview, but also could be testy at times. charlie: i covered him a lot in 2008. i covered the financial crisis in 2008. but the other story was the financial campaign. they were sort of tied together. john mccain, you could see this when you were doing the report being his campaign. he was frustrated because he thought he had a good chance of winning. but then the financial crisis started, and you could see it in the frustration in john mccain that this thing was slipping away. howie: he briefly us spended his campaign and people said that was a misstep. charlie: he looked unhinged. here was his opponent, barack obama, who spent very little time in the senate. he really believed he was the right guy for that job. and he had some massive blow

the surprise pick of alaska governor sara palin for vice president. gained momentum and ultimately defeated mccain in the general election. >> these are difficult time for our country. i pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us with the many challenges we face. reporter: mccain remained active and foreign policy. pushed for democratic reforms in egypt and called for withholding u.s. aid to the egyptian army. he publicly criticized the obama administration for its handling of the september 11, 2012 attack on the u.s. diplomatic mission in benghazi that killed four americans including ambassador chris stevens. >> we are holding the president of the united states responsible. he has given contrasting vergses of events -- contrasting versions of events to the american people. reporter: he became chairman of the armed services committee and pushed for a presence in iraq and syria. >> we need a strategy to win. the strongest nation on should be able to win. >> as the 2016 election candidates began to emerge. he pulled his endorsement

he also got bad press for picking sara palin. of republicans came to believe that she wasn't ready to step into the presidency. joining us now from connecticut is charlie gasparino. some thoughts on john mccain, i know you dealt with over the years and could be a great source and great interview, but also could be testy at times. charlie: i covered him a lot in 2008. i covered the financial crisis in 2008. but the other story was the financial campaign. they were sort of tied together. john mccain, you could see this when you were doing the report being his campaign. he was frustrated because he thought he had a good chance of winning. but then the financial crisis started, and you could see it in the frustration in john mccain that this thing was slipping away. howie: he briefly us spended his campaign and people said that was a misstep. charlie: he looked unhinged. here was his opponent, barack obama, who spent very little time in the senate. he really believed he was the right guy for that job. and he had some massive blowups

his vice presidential pick was alaska governor sara palin.bama gained momentum and ultimately defeated mccain in the general election. >> these are difficult time for our country and i pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to him him lead us through the many challenges we face. reporter: mccain remained active on foreign policy and rallied for military action in libya and pushed for reforms in egypt and called for withholding aid to the egyptian army. he criticized the obama administration for its handling of the september 11, 2012 attack in benghazi that killed four americans including ambassador chris stevens. >> we are holding the president of the united states responsible. he has given contrasting versions of events to the american people. reporter: in 2015 he became chairman of the armed services committee. >> we need a strategy to win. the strongest nation on earth. reporter: he campaigned for his own senate election, he pledged support the eventual republican nominee. he pulled his ma'am nation support of donald trump about hissi

sara pal lynn. she had a rousing speech at the republican convention and it took tina fey putting on a wig, she was really the takedown of sarah palindoing the talent portion? ♪ >> how will you solve the financial crisis being a maverick? >> you know we're going to take every aspect of the crisis and look at it and then we're going to ask ourselves what would a maverick do in this situation? >> one study just out showed sarah palin's favorability rating dropped after viewers watched an "snl" poof of the governor. >> tina fey destroyed that woman's political career. destroyed it. god wlebless her. >> we're doomed! we need a revolution. millions of people on the streets. and we got to do something! and we got to do it now. ah. >> after the first debate, my agent called me on the phone and i started talking like bernie and he said, oh, my god, that's so funny. you should make a video, put it on the internet. hits and all this. i said, it's not -- i don't want to do that. it's more of an sn -- before i got the l out of my mouth, he hung up the phone and ten minutes later, lorne michaels called, and that was it. >> oh, my god. mr. bernie