HE WALKED IN THE FLOOR AND VOTED IN THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT.
WE’LL GET TO SOME OF THE BIG
NEWS IN THE WEEK.
WE’LL BEGIN WITH TWO OF MY
COLLEAGUES WHO HAVE COVERED
McCAIN FOR DECADES.
TOM BROKAW AND ANDREA MITCHELL.
>> YOU HAD THE LAST INTERVIEW
CONDUCTED WITH JOHN McCAIN.
LET ME PLAY IT WHEN YOU ASKED
HIM ARE WE GOING TO BE OKAY.
THIS IS WHAT HE SAID.
>> MARK TWAIN SAID HISTORY DOES
NOT REPEAT ITSELF BUT IT RHYMES.
I CAN ALSO SAY I BELIEVE IN
AMERICA AND I BELIEVE IN ITS
PEOPLE AND THE FOLKS IN ARIZONA,
I AM NOT A PESSIMIST ABOUT THE
FUTURE.
FUTURE. >> TOM.
>> TOM. >> WELL, I’M SITING HERE IN
CHICAGO
CHICAGO CHICAGO, I AM HERE TO LOOK BACK
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CITY 50
YEARS AGO.
YEARS AGO. IT WAS A DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION,
WE LOST 15,000 PEOPLE IN VIETNAM
THAT YEAR.
THAT YEAR. WE HAD BOB DIBY KENNEDY
ASSASSINATED.
ASSASSINATED. WHEN I ASKED HIM ABOUT THAT, HE
SAID IT WAS MUCH WORST THEN.
HE WAS ALWAYS AUTHENTIC OF WHAT
HE HAD SO SAY AND HE COULD BE
CRITICAL.
CRITICAL. HE GOT ALONG AND HE GOT ANGRY
WITH ME -- ABOUT WHAT, I WAS NOT
CLEAR.
CLEAR. HE CAME TO ME, TWO YEARS AGO, I
WAS WRONG.
WAS WRONG. I DON’T KNOW ANOTHER POLITICIAN
WHO CAN TALK LIKE THAT.íf
HIS FRIEND INCLUDED, THE
DEMOCRATIC LEADER OF THE SENATE
AND PEOPLE LIKE WARREN MICHAELS
WHO WAS THE PRODUCER OF REQUEST
"SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE."
WE ARE MISSING THAT AND THE KIND
OF AUTHENTICITY THAT HE BROUGHT
TO THE ARENA.
>> ANDREATHIS IS WHAT HE WROTE I
WASHINGTON POST" THIS WEEKEND.
McCAIN WAS A ROMANTIC ABOUT HIS
CAUSES AND A CYNIC ABOUT THE
WORLD.
WORLD. HE HAD THE CAPACITY TO BE BOTH
THINGS AND TO LIVE WITH THE
CONTRADICTION.
CONTRADICTION. HE WAS REALISTICALLY OPTIMISTIC
I GUESS.
I GUESS. I GUESS THAT OPTIMISM, THAT
SHINING CITY ON THE HILL THAT,
OF COURSE, WE THINK OF RONALD
REAGAN, I THINK MICHAEL BESSLA
SAYS LAST NIGHT IF THE HAPPY
WARRIOR HAD NOT BEEN COINED TO
DESCRIBE HUBERT HUMPHREY THAT
JOHN McCAIN WILL BE THE HAPPY
WARRIOR.
WARRIOR. A WARRIOR AND A FIGHTER ALWAYS
BUT ALWAYS SO MUCH OPTIMISM AND
JOY AND PASSION.
PASSION BECAUSE HE BELIEVESD SO
MUCH IN HIS COUNTRY AND THE
PEOPLE OF OUR COUNTRY AND HE
BELIEVED IN A GREATER VISION OF
AMERICA.
AMERICA. >> TOM, EVERY GENERATION HAS
THIS HANDFUL AND IT IS A SMALL
HANDFUL OF PEOPLE WHO DON’T
BECOME
BECOME BECOME PRESIDENT BUT BIGGER THAN
LIFE.
LIFE. HOW DID HE ACHIEVE THAT STATUS
IN YOUR MIND?
>> WELL, I THINK YOU ACHIEVE
THAT BY SAILING AGAINST THE
WINDS THAT ARE PREVAILING.
FOR EXAMPLE, BOTH PARTIES ARE
MORE IDEA LOGS.
WHAT IS REALLY NEEDED TO BE DONE
AND JOHN McCAIN WOULD DO THAT.
HE WAS NOT TRAPPED BY HIS PARTY
LABEL.
LABEL. HE WAS VERY CONSERVATIVE ON
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS BUT
WILLING TO TAKE A LOOK AT
DOMESTIC PROGRAM FROM A
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. WE DON’T HAVE THAT MUCH ANYMORE
IN POLITICS.
IN POLITICS. YOU NOKNOW I GREW UP AT A TIME
WHERE BOTH PARTIES GOT ALONG
EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD DIFFERENT
IDEOLOGY.
IDEOLOGY. NOW, WE HAVE EVERYBODY TRAPPED
IN TO THIS KIND OF IDEOLOGICAL
BOX.
BOX. YOU CAN’T MOVE ONTO THAT BOX.
>> I WANT TO READ YOU JOHN’S
STATEMENT.
STATEMENT. BECAUSE IT INVOKES A GREAT STORY
OF YOURS.
OF YOURS. WE MET 32 YEARS.
WE BOTH LOVED THE NAVY BUT WE
HAD OPPOSITE VIEWS ABOUT WAR OF
OUR YOUTH.
OUR YOUTH. WE DIDN’T TRUST EACH OTHER.
WE TRAVELED TO VIETNAM AND WE
FOUND THE COMMON GROUND IN THE
MOST PROBABLE PLACE.
I STOOD WITH JOHN WHERE YEARS OF
HIS LIFE WERE IN PAIN BUT ALWAYS
IN HONOR.
IN HONOR. >> THE TRIP THAT THE FACT THEY
WOULD STAND THERE TOGETHER.
WHAT JOHN KERRY DID AFTER THE
WAR BEING ONE OF THE LEADING,
HIS FIRST APPEARANCE ON "MEET
THE PRESS" AS A PROTESTERS
AGAINST THE WAR.
THEY WORKED TOGETHER.
AS JOHN KERRY WROTE IN THE
TRIBUTE LAST NIGHT, HE WAS
SAVAGED BY LESSER PEOPLE BUT
THAT WORD COULD NEVER HURT HIM
BECAUSE HE WAS STRONGER IN THE
BROKEN PLACES IN THE WORDS OF
HEMMINGWAY, THE GREAT HERO THAT
JOHN McCAIN]ñT<██ LOVED SO MUCH.
JOHN McCAIN WITH JOHN KERRY
HELPED BILL CLINTON WHO WAS AN
ACCUSED DRAFT DODGER, THE ’92
CAMPAIGN NORMALIZED RELATIONS IN
VIETNAM.
VIETNAM. IT IS HARD FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO
REALIZE HOW BITTER IT WAS AND
HOW MUCH THEY HAD TO PAY IN THE
POLITICAL PRICE.
POLITICAL PRICE. THEY GAVE THESE TWO VETERANS AND
JOHN McCAIN THE P.O.W., GAVE
BILL CLINTON IN 1995, THE
POLITICAL COVER TO ACTUALLY
NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH OUR
FORMER ENEMY.
FORMER ENEMY. >> TOM BROKAW, IT IS AT LEAST 70
PEOPLE THAT ARE NOMINEES FOR THE
UNITED STATES SENATE THIS
NOVEMBER.
NOVEMBER. THERE IS GOING TO BE A LOT OF
REMEMBRANCE OF JOHN McCAIN THIS
WEEK AND A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE
READING ABOUT MOMENTS OF JOHN
McCAIN THAT THEY ARE JUST
LEARNING ABOUT.
LEARNING ABOUT. HALF OF THE PEOPLE WILL COME
BACK TO THE SENATE, WHAT LESSONS
DO YOU HOPE THEY TAKE AWAY FROM
WHAT THEY LEARN ABOUT JOHN
McCAIN.
McCAIN. >> SOMETHING GREATER THAN A
PARTY LABEL OR THE KIND OF
IDEOLOGICAL IF YOU WILL, AN AN
ATTACHMENT, THE NEED OF THE
COUNTRY ARE NOT JUST DAVID WESTO
ISSUES AND WHERE WE STAND.
TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST WHAT YOU
KNOW IS NOT THE BEST INTEREST OF
THE COUNTRY, IT HAPPENS TO BE
THE IDEOLOGY OF WHOEVER THAT’S
IN THE WHITE HOUSE WCHLT.
WE NEED MORE PEOPLE WHO’LL SAIL
AGAINST THE WIND.
I WENT INTO HANOI AND STOOD IN
THAT PARK AND LOOKED INTO WHAT
LAKE WHERE HE LANDED AND SHOT
DOWN TERRIBLY INJURED.
I HAVE SEEN PICTURES OF HIM
BEING SAVAGE TO DEATH IN THAT
WAY AND HE WENT THROUGH FIVE AND
A HALF YEARS.
BEFORE ALL THAT, HE HAD BEEN A
PLAYBOY FLIER
PLAYBOY FLIER PLAYBOY FLYER AND IT CHANGED HIS
LIFE.
LIFE. HE CAME OUT AND WANTED TO HELP
THE ENTIRE COUNTRY AND NOT THE
ENTIRE BASE, THAT’S A BIG