WELCOME BACK TO "THE LATE I AM HERE WITH THE AUTHOR OF
"EVERY DAY IS EXTRA," SENATOR JOHN KERRY.
NOW, SENATOR, CAN I ASK YOU ABOUT JOHN McCAIN FOR A
MOMENT.
>> PLEASE.
>> Stephen: YOU WERE AT HIS-- HIS FUNERAL.
YOU WERE AT THE SERVICES HONORING HIM THIS PAST WEEKEND.
WHAT DID IT MEAN TO YOU TO SEE HIS LIFE HONORED?
>> OH, I MEAN I THOUGHT WE WERE HONORING A GREAT AMERICAN AND A
GENUINE HERO.
BUT IT ALSO MEANT TO ME SOMETHING PROFOUNDLY WRONG IN
OUR COUNTRY THAT PRESIDENT CLINTON IS THERE, PRESIDENT BUSH
IS THERE, PRESIDENT OBAMA IS THERE, BUT THE CURRENT PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES CANNOT BE THERE, IS NOT THERE, CANNOT
HONOR AN AMERICAN HERO AT A MOMENT WHERE THE COUNTRY IS
SCREAMING FOR OUR VALUES TO BE REAFIRMED AND FOR THIS MAN,
PARTICULARLY, TO BE HONORED FOR HIS WILLINGNESS TO SERVE HIS
NATION.
OUR PRESIDENT COULDN'T BE THERE, BECAUSE HE INSULTS HIM, BECAUSE
HE'S VENGEFUL, BECAUSE HE'S SMALL MINDED, BECAUSE-- YOU
KNOW, THE FAMILY DIDN'T WANT HIM THERE BECAUSE OF THE WAY IN
WHICH HE HAD INSULTED JOHN McCAIN THROUGH HIS LIFE.
>> Stephen: NOW, YOU WRITE IN THE BOOK--
>> THAT'S A SAD THING.
>> Stephen: ...THAT YOU SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED HIM FOR
YOUR VICE PRESIDENTIAL RUNNING MATE IN 2004.
>> WE WRITE IN THE BOOK ABOUT THE VERY PERSONAL AND UNTIL NOW
VERY PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE HAD.
I THOUGHT, GIVEN HOW BROKEN AMERICAN POLITICS ARE AND HOW
DESPERATELY PEOPLE ARE WAITING FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT, THAT
THE IDEA OF GETTING JOHN McCAIN ON THE TICKET, IF WE
COULD WORK OUT THE DIFFICULT ISSUES -- AND THERE ARE SOME
DIFFICULT ISSUES-- WOULD PERHAPS BRING THE COUNTRY TOGETHER AND
HARNESS AN ENERGY THAT WE DESPERATELY NEED TO RESTORE M'S
DEMOCRACY.
>> Stephen: WAS HE INTERESTED AT ALL?
>> HE WAS GENUINELY INTERESTED.
AND MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY THOUGHT HE SHOULD DO IT.
SOME OF THE ADVISERS AROUND HIM THOUGHT IT.
BUT THERE WERE REAL DIFFICULTIES, AS HE FOUND WHEN
HE LATER TRIED TO TAKE THAT IDEA AND CONSIDERED PUTTING JOE
LIEBERMAN IN THE SAME POSITION.
AND THERE JUST ARE BIG DIFFICULTIES.
BUT LET ME-- BUT JOHN McCAIN TO ME-- JOHN McCAIN AND I FLEW
TO KUWAIT AFTER THE WAR IN THE REGION TO LIBERATE KUWAIT.
>> Stephen: IN 1991.
>> YEAH, AND WE STAYED UP VERY LATE ON THE AIRPLANE, BECAUSE
EVERYBODY ELSE WAS SLEEPING.
JOHN AND I WERE SEATED OPPOSITE EACH OTHER BY ASSIGNMENT, AND WE
WEREN'T-- WE DIDN'T KNOW EACH OTHER THEN.
WE TALKED LATE INTO THE NIGHT.
AND JOHN AND I DECIDED-- HE WAS A CONSERVATIVE, A VIETNAM
VETERAN WHO SPENT FIVE AND A HALF YEARS AS A PRISONER OF WAR,
SUFFERED UNTOLD ABUSE, AS WE NOW ALL KNOW.
I WAS THE GUY WHO SERVED IN WANT BROWN WATER NAVY, IN THE MEKONG
DELTA AND CAME BACK AND THOUGHT THE WAR WAS UNBELIEVABLY SCREWED
UP, WRONG, AND I SPOKE OUT AGAINST IT, AND I LED THE
VIETNAM VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR.
AND JOHN HAD EVERY REASON IN THE WORLD TO HATE ME, TO NEVER TALK
TO ME, TO THINK I WAS, YOU KNOW, SOMEHOW AN ANATHEMA TO HIS VALUE
SYSTEM, AND I WOULD HAVE SAID JOHN SHOULD HAVE CHANGED AND
READ THE FACTS.
HE DIDN'T.
HE DIDN'T HARBOR THAT KIND OF HATRED.
HE HAD THE CAPACITY FOR FORGIVENESS.
HE HAD THE CAPACITY TO-- TO LEARN WHAT THE TRUTH WAS, WHAT
THE FACTS WERE.
AND SO JOHN AND I THAT NIGHT ON THAT AIRPLANE-- ONE OF THE MOST
IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS I HAD IN ALL MY TIME IN THE UNITED STATES
SENATE-- DECIDED TOGETHER WE WERE GOING TO WORK IN A
BIPARTISAN FASHION NOT JUST TO TRY TO MAKE PEACE WITH VIETNAM
AND MOVE AWAY AND SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF WHETHER WE HAD
PRISONERS OF WAR AND AMERICANS WHO HAD BEEN LEFT BEHIND AND
WERE ALIVE, BUT WE DECIDED WE ALSO NEEDED TO MAKE PEACE HERE
AT HOME.
BECAUSE AMERICA WAS STILL TORN APART OVER THE WAR.
AND YOU KNOW WHAT?
WE DID IT.
WE PUT TOGETHER A REPORT THAT SOLVED THE PROBLEM, THAT FIGURED
OUT WHETHER ANYBODY HAD BEEN LEFT ALIVE.
WE WORKED WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON, WITH PRESIDENT GEORGE
BUSH, AND TODAY, WE HAVE THE MOST EXHAUSTIVE SYSTEM OF ANY
NATION IN ALL THE HISTORY OF WARFARE, BY ANY NATION, TO BE
ABLE TO DETERMINE WHETHER WE LEFT SOMEBODY BEHIND OR WHETHER
SOMEBODY-- OR HOW SOMEBODY DIED OR TO RECOVER REMAINS.
AND BECAUSE OF WHAT WE PUT TOGETHER, OVER 700 FAMILIES IN
AMERICA HAVE RECEIVED THE REMAINS OF THEIR LOVED ONES,
HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HAVE CLOSURE, AND WE HAVE BEEN ABLE,
LITERALLY, TO FIND A WAY TO MAKE PEACE IN THE SOULS AND MINDS OF
MANY AMERICANS AS A RESULT OF WHAT JOHN AND I DID TOGETHER.
THAT'S THE WAY PEOPLE SHOULD WORK TOGETHER.
( APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: WELL, HERE'S
HOPING FOR PEACE IN MANY WAYS.
HERE'S HOPING FOR PEACE IN MANY WAYS.
THANK YOU, SENATOR.
THE BOOK IS "EVERY DAY IS EXTRA."
JOHN KERRY, EVERYBODY.