>>> THEY LOOK AT HIM AS IF JOHN CAME FROM ANOTHER AGE, THAT HE
LIVED BY A DIFFERENT CODE, AN
ANCIENT, ANTIQUATED CODE WHERE
HONOR, COURAGE, CHARACTER,
INTEGRITY, DUTY DIDN’T MATTER,
BECAUSE THAT WAS OBVIOUS HOW
JOHN LIVED HIS LIFE.
THE TRUTH IS, JOHN’S CODE WAS
AGELESS, IS AGELESS.
>> WELCOME BACK TO "HARDBALL."
THAT, OF COURSE, FORMER VICE
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN.
HE WAS SPEAKING THIS MORNING
ABOUT THE LIFE, LEGACY, AND
CHARACTER OF SENATOR JOHN
McCAIN, DURING MEMORIAL SERVICE
IN McCAIN’S HOME STATE OF
ARIZONA.
ARIZONA. McCAIN WAS SAID TO BE HEAVILY
INVOLVED IN THE PREPARATIONS FOR
HIS OWN MEMORIAL PLANS,
INCLUDING THE PEOPLE WHO WILL
TAKE PART IN THE SERVICES, FROM
FORMER PRESIDENT OBAMA AND
GEORGE W. BUSH TO AN NFL WIDE
RECEIVER, EVEN A RUSSIAN
DISSIDENT.
DISSIDENT. ACCORDING TO THE "NEW YORK
TIMES," McCAIN HAD CAREFULLY
STAGE MANAGED A FOUR-DAY
CELEBRATION OF HIS LIFE, BUT
WHAT WAS ALSO AN UNMISTAKABLE
REBUKE TO PRESIDENT TRUMP AND
HIS AGENDA.
HIS AGENDA. LET’S BRING IN TONIGHT’S
ROUNDTABLE.
ROUNDTABLE. TARA DOUDEL IS A STRATEGIST,
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS IS A
POLITICAL REPORTER FOR REAL
CLEAR POLITICS, AND HEIDI
PRZYBYLA, A NATIONAL
CORRESPONDENT FOR NBC NEWS.
TARA, I’LL START WITH YOU.
I THINK BACK TO RANDALL REAGAN’S
FUNERAL IN 2004 AND RONALD
REAGAN IS A PRESIDENT, THE
STAGECRAFT OF HIS PRESIDENCY WAS
A MAJOR STAPLE AND THERE WAS A
LOT OF THOUGHT AND A LOT OF
PREPARATION INTO THAT FUNERAL
AND THAT MEMORIAL IN TERMS OF
WHAT REAGAN’S LONG-TERM LEGACY
WOULD BE.
WOULD BE. WHAT STRIKES ME ABOUT ALL OF THE
PLANNING WE’RE HEARING ABOUT
HERE WITH McCAIN IS, YES, IT’S
ABOUT THE LEGACY, IN SOME WAY,
BUT IT’S SO MUCH ABOUT THE
CURRENT MOMENT, AS WELL.
>> WELL, I DON’T KNOW, FULLY,
WHAT JOHN McCAIN WAS THINKING,
BUT I’LL SAY THIS, I THINK IT IS
ABSOLUTELY STUNNING THAT HE DID
NOT WANT DONALD TRUMP, THE
SITTING PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, WHO WAS A MEMBER OF HIS
OWN PARTY, WHO PEOPLE FORGET,
EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE TIMES
WHEN HE REBUKED HIM PUBLICLY,
OVERWHELMINGLY, HE VOTED FOR A
LOT OF THE MEASURES AND POLICIES
AND LAWS THAT TRUMP BACKED.
SO THE FACT THAT HE OPTED TO NOT
HAVE HIM PARTICIPATE IN ANY WAY,
SHAPE, OR FORM AND TO HAVE THE
PREDECESSOR, HIS PREDECESSOR,
WHO WE KNOW, TRUMP IS -- SEES AS
THE ENEMY IN MANY WAYS, AND SEES
AS THE PERSON HE’S TRYING TO
REMAKE HIS OWN -- REMAKE OBAMA’S
LEGACY OR TAKE AWAY OBAMA’S
LEGACY.
LEGACY. THE FACT THAT HE CHOSE HIM AND
CHOSE NOT TO HAVE TRUMP IS, I
THINK, STUNNING.
THINK, STUNNING. AND I THINK IT REALLY SPEAKS TO
THE MOMENT WE’RE IN.
>> TO PUT YOURSELF BACK IN 2009
AND 2010, WHEN McCAIN HAD BEEN
DEFEATED BY OBAMA.
I REMEMBER THERE WAS THAT HEALTH
CARE SUMMIT AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
I THINK IT WAS EARLY 2010,
McCAIN CAME IN, AND YOU COULD --
THE TENSION BETWEEN THEM WAS
PALPABLE IN THE ROOM THAT DAY.
AND I THINK THAT WAS THE DAY
THAT OBAMA LOOKED OVER AT McCAIN
WITH THE CAMERAS ROLLING AND
SAID, JOHN, I WON THE ELECTION.
AND TO FLASH FORWARD EIGHT YEARS
LATER, A REPUBLICAN IS PRESIDENT
AND IT’S OBAMA WHO WILL BE
SPEAKING AT McCAIN’S REQUEST AND
A REPUBLICAN WHO WON’T BE THERE.
>> I FORGOT WHAT McCAIN SAID IN
THAT MOMENT, BUT SOMETHING LIKE,
I’M REMINDED OF THAT EVERY DAY.
>> AND I’M NOT SURE WHETHER OR
NOT THIS EVENT -- IT’S OBVIOUS
THIS HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH
DONALD TRUMP.
DONALD TRUMP. IT’S OBVIOUS THIS HAS SOMETHING
TO DO WITH THE MOMENT.
BUT I DON’T THINK IT’S ABOUT
BARACK OBAMA THE MAN OR GEORGE
W. BUSH THE MAN OR JOE BIDEN,
THE MAN, FOR THAT MATTER.
IT IS ABOUT TONE AND A SORT OF
COSMIC SENSE OF WHAT BEING AN
AMERICAN IS.
AMERICAN IS. I DON’T THINK IT’S ABOUT
ANYBODY’S LEGACY IN PARTICULAR,
OR ELSE, IT WOULD BE A DIFFERENT
EVENT.
EVENT. IT’S VERY MUCH TRYING TO SET THE
STAGE FOR WHAT JOHN McCAIN
WANTED THIS COUNTRY TO BE, WHICH
IS, A COUNTRY THAT WAS VERY
FRACTIOUS EVERY FOUR YEARS AND
THEN FORGETS IT
AND MOVES ON, AND MOVES PAST IT,
AND A UNITED AMERICAN NATION.
AND THAT IS THE TONE THAT I
THINK WAS SET TODAY.
HOPEFULLY IT’S MAINTAINED OVER
THE COURSE OF THE NEXT COUPLE OF
DAYS.
DAYS. IT’S INCUMBENT ON THE PRESIDENT,
I THINK, THE SITTING PRESIDENT,
TO LOOK PAST THIS.
AND SO FAR, HE HAS.
I’M THANKFUL FOR THAT.
>> DO YOU THINK, CAITLIN, THE
INTEREST THAT THIS HAS
GENERATED.
GENERATED. WE HAD JAKEOHN KASICH ON THE SHO
THE OTHER NIGHT, AND HE WAS
GLAD, BUT ALSO SURPRISED BY THE
LEVEL OF INTEREST IN THIS.
DO YOU THINK THAT’S -- AGAIN, WE
COULD DEBATE THE ROLE THAT TRUMP
PLAYS IN THE PLANNING OF THIS,
BUT IN TERMS OF THE INTEREST,
HOW MUCH OF IT IS TRUMP?
>> I THINK THE INTEREST IS IT IS
SUCH A CONTRAST TO THE TIMES
THAT WE HAVE NOW.
HERE YOU HAVE, McCAIN HAD
PLANNED THIS CEREMONY, THIS
FUNERAL, HAVING, YOU KNOW,
WANTING TO HAVE THE TWO PEOPLE
WHO DENIED HIM THE PRESIDENCY
TWICE SPEAK AND HONOR HIM, I
THINK, IS SO DIFFERENT FROM THE
POLITICS OF THIS MOMENT.
AND SO I THINK THAT’S CERTAINLY
THE MESSAGE THAT’S BEING PUT
FORWARD.
FORWARD. WHETHER THIS LASTS, WE HAVEN’T
SEEN ANYTHING REALLY LAST IN
POLITICS IN TERMS OF KUMBAYA
MOMENTS, BUT THIS, I THINK,
YOU’RE SEEING, YOU KNOW, A LOT
OF LAWMAKERS WANTING THIS TO BE
MORE OF THE STYLE OF POLITICS
THAN WE’RE SEEING NOW.
BUT, IT IS PRETTY REMARKABLE,
JUST THAT CONTRAST, THAT McCAIN
IS SETTING UP HERE.
>> AND HEIDI, YOU’RE DOWN THERE
IN WASHINGTON, THAT PLANE
CARRYING JOHN McCAIN’S CASKET IS
ON ITS WAY TO WASHINGTON.
THERE WILL BE A MEMORIAL SERVICE
ON SATURDAY, I THINK, TOMORROW,
HIS BODY WILL LIE IN STATE.
THERE’LL BE A SERVICE THERE TOO,
AS I UNDERSTAND IT.
WHAT’S THE REACTION?
THE OLD SORT OF BIPARTISAN
WASHINGTON ESTABLISHMENT, SOME
OF THOSE FOLKS ARE STILL THERE,
I GUESS IT’S VERY DIFFERENT
TIMES RIGHT NOW.
BUT HOW ARE THEY GOING TO
RECEIVE THESE EVENTS OVER THE
NEXT TWO DAYS?
>> WELL, WITH I THINK IT’S GOING
TO BE A REPEAT OF WHAT WE SAW IN
ARIZONA TODAY, WHICH IS THAT
McCAIN, YES, HE VERY CAREFULLY
STAGE MANAGED ALL OF THIS TO
MAKE SURE THAT THIS WAS NOT
ABOUT POLITICS.
ABOUT POLITICS. THAT THIS WAS ABOUT JOHN McCAIN
DOING FROM THE GRAVE WHAT HE
BELIEVES THE CURRENT PRESIDENT
HAS BEEN UNABLE TO DO, WHICH IS
TO REMIND AMERICANS OF WHAT HAS
ALWAYS MADE US GREAT.
WHICH IS OUR DIVERSITY, WHICH IS
OUR ABILITY TO BE CIVIL AND TO
PUT ASIDE OUR POLITICAL
DIFFERENCES, AND BE DECENT AND
HAVE CHARACTER, WHICH IS THE
WORDS THAT YOU REALLY HEARD JOE
BIDEN USE A LOT, AS WELL AS THE
OTHER SPEAKERS.
OTHER SPEAKERS. IF YOU SAW THE SPEAKERS WHO WERE
CHOSEN, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING
TO BE HIS PALLBEARERS, THEY COME
FROM ALL DIFFERENT WALKS OF
LIFE.
LIFE. THEY ARE OF ALL DIFFERENT
ETHNICITIES.
ETHNICITIES. YOU HAD AN NFL AFRICAN-AMERICAN
LEGEND THERE.
LEGEND THERE. YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE A
PALLBEARER WHO WAS A RUSSIAN
DISSIDENT, WHO SURVIVED SEVERAL
POISONINGS BY PUTIN.
HE REALLY PUT A LOT OF THOUGHT
INTO THE MESSAGE THERE OF
UNITING AMERICANS, BUT ALSO A
STRONG MESSAGE, AS WELL, AND A
COUNTERPOINT TO PRESIDENT TRUMP,
BY HAVING FOLKS LIKE THAT
RUSSIAN DISSIDENT PALLBEARER.
>> AND AMONG THOSE WHO PAID
TRIBUTE THIS MORNING AT THAT
MEMORIAL SERVICE OUT THERE IN
PHOENIX WAS THE WIDE RECEIVER
FOR THE ARIZONA DARNLDCARDINALS,
FITZGERALD.
FITZGERALD. >> HE DIDN’T JUDGE INDIVIDUALS
BASED ON THE COLOR OF THEIR
SKIN, THEIR GENDER, THEIR
BACKGROUNDS, THEIR POLITICAL
AFFILIATIONS, OR THEIR BANK
ACCOUNTS.
ACCOUNTS. HE EVALUATED THEM ON THE MERITS
OF THEIR CHARACTER AND THE
CONTENTS OF THEIR HEARTS.
WHILE SOME MAY FIND OUR
FRIENDSHIP OUT OF THE ORDINARY,
IT WAS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHAT
MADE HIM AN ICONIC FIGURE OF
AMERICAN POLITICS AND SERVICE TO
FELLOW MAN.
FELLOW MAN. HE CELEBRATED DIFFERENCES.
HE EMBRACED HUMILIATE,
CHAMPIONED WHAT WAS TRUE AND
JUST, AND SAW PEOPLE FOR WHO
THEY WERE.
THEY WERE. >> AGAIN, THAT WAS LARRY
FITZGERALD AT THAT MEMORIAL
SERVICE TODAY IN PHOENIX.