Transcripts For FOXNEWSW MediaBuzz 20180826

Have been upset over his acrimonious relationship with President Trump and casting that no vote on repeal of obamacare. He had a wicked temper which i and other journalists felt when someone displeased him. He said i shouldnt have expected anything better from you. I spent days and days on his trait talk express. He was a president ial candidate with no money and he spent hours a day talking to reporters on his bus and Drinking Coffee with styrofoam cups. People said it was like having sex with a scorpion. You never knew when you would get stung. But we got to know the real man who denounced communists in the back of the room. But the press liked him better as a maverick taking on the gop establishment. This navy pilot as everyone knows was tortured during his 5 1 2 year captivity in vietnam. He became a voice against American Forces employing torture. Joining me is bill bennett, host of the bill bennett podcast and top official under george w. Bush. We know where the New York Times is. Symbol of courage. Washington post, always a fighter. But as everybody is talking about the late senators achievements, lets talk about what you know about the man, the character. Good for you. All we heard this morning was john mccain was without fault. He had faults, as you know, he has no saint. Shakespeare, saints and honors have equally them. I was with him as you were and i saw not always the soft fuzzy guy, but a guy with a lot of spikes. He was quick to anger. He had short temper, partly i think from convictions. Two quick stories. My wife and i were in los angeles. He came in and when he met elaine he said i wore your bracelet when i was in high school. People wore those p. O. W. Bracelets. He stopped and paused and almost teared up. The other thing with my son, he was at princeton. And he was thinking about military service. John mccain tapped his finger on joes knee. He said if you join the service you will make friends in iron and steel and they will be your friend the rest of your life. Howie he was a man of great fast passion. But he was also volatile. He wasnt the typically poll tested calibrated politician. No, which was part of his charm. He was asked his opinion of woodstock. He said i didnt know much about it, i was tied up at the time. He was literally tied up. We regard and respect his heroism. But he was not one to buy his own heroism. He talked about orson wi on swi, he said they break me a few times. Howie talk about the way he interacted with people, perhaps you, perhaps others. Youer in quite knew what you you never quite knew what you were going to get. He could be angry. But he didnt hold a grudge. Thats right. Howie, sometimes it was the same day and the same hour. He would slap you on the back and say we have to talk about the drug issue, i like this that you are doing, i love your book of virtues. And he would say what the hell are you doing this for . Whats your problem. As i can say, captain mccain, a grateful nation. Thank you for your service. This is a great man, a man worth imitating. Howie thank you for quick notice coming on today, repping john mccain, warts and all. Joining me now by phone is bret baier, foxs chief political anchor and he anchors special report. John mccain could get testy with reporters and he loved reporters. Bret hi listening to bill bennett you got a good sense of the man. He was restless. He had 7 things going on at one time that he wanted to do. But he was impish with reporters. He would joke with you or needle you. I was on capitol hill and some reporter was doing a live shot in the hallway. He went out of his way to go over and put devil horns over the guy doing the live shot. He will have made a mark more than many people in the United States senate. If you think about his long time friend and adversary, ted kennedy, died the same day 10 years ago of brain cancer. Howie he could blast people, he could get confrontational. The overused word, authenticity. I can particularly when politicians are carefully calibrated, it doesnt apply to President Trump, john mccain was very real and some people liked him and some people didnt like it. Some people got mad at him and the next day they would be allies. Bret thats right. And column in the Washington Post said he has a capacity to be a cynic and in love with the world. He always said and i talked to him in the elevator not too long aloe when he was over at fox, that he had a wonderful life. He already accepted the diagnosis. And he said i have just had the most of amazing life and im going to run it to the finish line. And he did. Howie i couldnt help but admire how he fought his final battle. Do you agree with my thesis that john mccain got far better press when he was challenging republicans than when he was challenging president obama in office . Bret 100 . Hes described as a maverick, as somebody who stood up to his party. He also stood up for his party on principle and ideology and was fighting for conservative causes. Often that gets a little bit blurred. And that raises 2008. What gets remembered is his standing up to the woman in the q a town hall. He also was fighting for a lot of conservative causes. Howie people said this was a pretty conservative republican from arizona who believed in tax cuts. John mccains passing leaves a void in the senate and perhaps in the National Political conversation . Bret it does. I think well see the pendulum shift. I do think that our politics will hunger for more john mccains, people who can reach across the aisle to get things done. Even if they are oppose on ideology. Maybe it Russell Senate Office Building would be the john mccain Office Building which would be the john mccain s. O. B. , and he would really love that. Much more on john mccain, the story, the legacy, the way he dealt with the press and politicians. Here is a famous moment with john mccain jokingly talking about those who covered him. Seriously its always a pleasure to appear before the Journalistic Community or what one of my advisors affectionately calls my base. Here comes the rain. [ horn honking ] [ engine revving ] whats that, girl . [ engine revving ] flo needs help . [ engine revving ] take me to her coming, flo why arent we taking roads . flo. [ horn honking ] oh. You made it. Do you have change for a dollar . This was the emergency . [ engine revving ] yes, i was busy 24hour roadside assistance. From americas numberone motorcycle insurer. You know, i think youre my best friend. You dont have to say im your best friend. Thats okay. You dont have to say im your best friend. Get your groove on with one a day 50 . Get ready for the wild life complete multivitamins with key nutrients that address 6 concerns of aging, including heart health, supported by bvitamins. Your one a day is showing. Designed to save you money. Wireless network even when youve got serious binging to do. Wherever your phone takes you, your wireless bill is about to cost a whole lot less. Use less data with a network that has the most wifi hotspots where you need them and the best 4g lte everywhere else. Saving you hundreds of dollars a year. And ask how you get Xfinity Mobile included with your internet. Plus, get 300 back when you buy a new smartphone. Xfinity mobile. Its simple. Easy. Awesome. Click, call or visit a store today. Howie in the spring of 2000 i talked to john mccain. He just lost major primaries to george w. Bush. I said could you do this again . He said no, you cant catch lightning in a bottle twice. But he did run again. In the summer of 2007 he was out of money and down in the polls. And the pundits were saying hes toast, there is no way hell ever come back from this. But he did. He also was pushing for victory in walk at a time when the war was very unpopular. He also got bad press for picking sara palin. A lot of republicans came to believe that she wasnt 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 with people in the bush administration. Hank paulson, he believed those people screwed him and cost him the election. I would hate to be on the other side of that conversation with john mccain thinks you are screwing with him. Howie if he was mad at you, he let you know it been other people in the room. As we seat glowing tributes and newspaper stories, he got good press. But if the press thought he did something wrong or was taking a conservative point of view and not taking on the gop establishment. There were a lot of stories, was he a hotheaded psycho and had the wounds really healed. Charlie very unfair. On record he was a very qualified man. In a short period of time this guy had the resume and he put in his time, not just in a prison camp. But putting his time in politics. I think he felt he got a bad shake out of the press. He was a man qualified for the job. You could make the case he made some massive blunders that shows he wasnt qualified. Picking sarah palin at a time the financial pry is was starting, he could have picked a seasoned person, mitt romney, it would have been better going forward. Howie lets just touch on the problems President Trump has been having this week. You know you have done some writing for his company, david pecker, ceo of american media. Getting an immunity deal from prosecutors. He has talked about the hush money payments. How big a deal in your view is this immunity . Charlie i think it sets an interesting precedent for journalism. Usually when the feds investigate reporting they take a handsoff approach. They say this is a journalistic operation. And take a hands off. But they i ami stepped over the line as an addendum to the trump campaign. I wonder if that was a bridge too far if they believe you will go out of your way for a source. Can they go further . Can they subpoena you and force you to give up the sources based on this precedent . Its interesting. Ami, they have a good case ami was an addendum of the trump campaign. Howie they were buying and burying stories that were negative for donald trump. Its an interesting precedent. If it had been another News Organization you would have had a hugh and cry about the first amendment. As we go to break. Much more ahead on the life and legacy of john mccain. We have Anthony Scaramucci coming up to talk about the politics of the week and senator mccains legacy. Here is that famous moment in the twair in the 2008 mccain e woman had to grab the microphone from a woman disparaging barack obama. I read about him. And hes an arab. No, maam, hes a decent family man citizen that i just happen to have disagreements on on fundamental issues. Our 19. 99 oil change also includes a tire rotation. Book an appointment online. Motorcycle revving motorcycle revving motorcycle revving no matter who rides point, there are over 10,000 allstate agents riding sweep. And just like tyrone taylor, they know what it takes to help keep you protected. Are you in good hands . You might be missing something. Y healthy. Your eyes. Thats why theres ocuvite. Ocuvite helps replenish nutrients your eyes can lose as you age. It has lutein, zeaxanthin and omega3. Ocuvite. Be good to your eyes. You wont find relief here. Congestion and pressure . Go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritind. While the leading allergy spray relieves 6 symptoms. Claritind relieves 8, including sinus congestion and pressure. Claritind relieves more. Howie john mccain didnt view himself as a military hero. He felt he had been tarnished about his experiences as a prisoner. It was a painful period. The other pows turned by the on his behalf. He couldnt lift his arms and comb his hair, things many of us take for granted. He turned down early release. He was the son offed a admiral. The north vietnamese offered to send him home. He felt he should not go out of order and the other pows should be released first it was john mccain in the 90s that gave bill clinton the cover to normalize relations with vietnam in the country where he had been shot down and mistreated so badly. Joining us on the phone, jennifer griffin, you went back to vietnam many years later with senator mccain. Thats right. I first met john mccain in the fall of 2000. I went to the hanoi hilton with him. As he returned, it was his second time back, i believe. What i remember was he clearly said when we asked him would he forgive his captors, he would not forgive his cap towards for how they treated his other friends. But i remember him pointing to a picture on the wall the prisoners had some propaganda saying how well the pows had been treated. He said look at that one standing there. It was him. He had his finger up to his face and he was giving the bird to the captors. The vietnamese didnt realize how subversive he and the others had been. He felt badly that he had broke within the code, name, range, serial number and he did sign a confession. He felt that way all those years later that every man has a breaking point. But he did stick it out. He was there 5 and a half years in the prison. We went back to the lake where he was shot down. He was showing us where he had been part of this mission and wet surfacetoair missile hit his skyhawk. He fell to the bottom of the lake. A dozen vietnamese pulled him out. There was a statue there in honor of him. But he clearly still had scars from all the incidents. Howie it must have been an emotional township not just for john mccain, but for all the reporters there. Again we have much more ahead as we remember the life and legacy of john mccain. Anthony scaramucci the former White House Communications director is coming up next. We are going to play, since we are just talking about his military service, he remained have much of a hawk in terms of iraq and trying to win that war. Here is what he said when he was running for president the second time in 2006. We are in one heck of a mess in iraq. The American People told us last week they are not happy with the course of this war. Neither am i. Theres little rest for a single dad, and back pain made it hard to sleep and get up on time. Then i found aleve pm. The only one to combine a safe sleep aid, plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. Im back. Aleve pm for a better am. Howie john mccains style has fallen out of favor. He was friends with ted kennedy who died 10 years ago yesterday also from brain cancer. He teamed up with russ feingold. He wants did vodka shots with Hillary Clinton on a trip to estonia. He would use his recesses to visit afghanistan and iraq again and again. Its no surprise the Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer is pushing to rename the Russell Senate building after john mccain. Joining me from capitol hill is mike emanuel. What was it like to cover and deal with the senator john mccain and john mccain the person. Reporter really a fascinating character. He was serious about the issues, you heard him talk about the iraq war and afghanistan and policy matters. You see mccain when you are about to do a life shot with us or another network. He would wink with a twinkle in his eye. He would say what are you doing, boy . I would look over and realize i was being heckled by john mccain. My understanding is john mccain believed if we were telling the stories about whats going on and writing the stories in our nations politics, having a relationship would help us know what he was thinking with his votes over the years. Howie i think he enjoyed the give and take with the press. He was such a fixture on the sunday shows. He was the most of frequent guest on meet the press ever. Sometimes he got testy or i am patients with journalists. But i think he viewed it as another form of combat. Reporter no question. I think he enjoyed being the senior statesman on cap hill. Putting his arm around a new member and explaining the way it should operate. It shouldnt always be harry reids way when the democrats were in control or Mitch Mcconnells when the republicans are in control. He said perhaps you will win the argument and get big legislation. It was shot shocking when he was the thumbs down vote on the republican effort to repeal and replace obamacare. Mccain was of the opinion on these big issues you needed bipartisan support to get these things done and the support of the nation. Howie he gave a speech about the institution of the senate not rushing these things through. Mike emanuel at the Russell Senate Office Building maybe soon to be tree named after john mccain. Joining us is Anthony Scaramucci. President trump and john mccain had a contentious relationship. But lets put that aside on this day. Mccains style, working with democrats and taking on republicans like george w. Bush, having shiferght alliances. Is that a vestige of a buy of a bygone era . Anthony i hope not. They are thinking about ways to bridge the gaps because its the policy of the United States, a right or wrong decision as oh peetsed to left or right. Last night i was looking at the details information of the hanoi hilton to really understand the 5 1 2 year struggle john mccain had. I encourage people to look at that. In addition to other things hes a role model of perseverance at a time and trial when he didnt know if he was going to get out alive. He came out with an unbelievable sense of optimism and love of country. Never disavowed the war or the mission. When i had my rough moments in life i think about him and what he struggled with. Hes a force of optimism and his life which will be remembered forever in america. Hes one of those types of senators. Hell be somebody we look to for years to come now. Howie i think that experience did set him apart in many ways. Five years ago in battle of a filibuster he called ted cruz and rand paul whacko birds. He enjoyed the media microphone. Lets talk about President Trump who you work for and are in contact with. By any reasonable standard think was what drudge called a hell week for the president. You had the commentary on the Michael Cohen plea and the manafort verdict. Do you think the reporting has been largely unfair to the president . Anthony most of of the coverage unfortunately is a little unfair to this president. When i look at the coverage. The president has never been told by anybody that hes the target of any investigation. Number two, Alan Dershowitz would share this. There is nothing on the table right now if you are unpeeling that onon of facts that looks like onion of facts if you are looking for something illegal. I think it has to be emotionally upsetting for the president to see guys he was close to go through their trials or tribulations or seek immunity. I think thats something hes probably emotional about. At least i know i would be. But i dont think we are at the line here of illegality at this point. How require wasnt suggesting that. I was talking about the political impact. Tone require, my objective observation. Howie . How are you wrote trump should come clean. Admit he hasnt been entirely truthful about Affairs People think he had. Apologize and get out of the daily drip drip drip about when did you find out about the payments. Needless to say, that is not the president s style. But you are known for giving him tough love. Could that work . Anthony i think that would work. I would ask the president to go back to some of the passages in his book. I think what happens in a situation like this, your first inclination is to hold back. What that does is it causes a bee swarm around you. I think you are always bert off letting everything loose. The American People know the president has had a veryied a va very adventuresome life. I know its a sunday morning and im not trying to sound without a churchgoing experience. At the end of the day the American People knew where the president lived on these issues. And i dont think it matters that shall for him. But i think its hard for the president to do that frankly. Howie a lot of commentary about the president talking about flipping and how he didnt like the fact Michael Cohen flipped. He thought Paul Manafort was brave for not flipping. Some people are saying this is like mob talk. Unfair assessment or should he steer away from comments like that. Anthony he should steer away. That would never happen. But thats President Trump. Thats the person people love. He wears that on his sleeve. When i saw that interview i saw the emotion and the hurt that people were turning against him. Hes fearful people will tell lies about him to get a reduced sentence for himself. I dont think he wants to go in the direction of making flipping illegal. I would encourage the president , he controls the news cycle and bully pulpit. Howie Anthony Scaramucci, thanks very much. Joining us from the southampton bureau. Anthony happy sunday. Howie we have much more here. We are getting a fuller picture of john mccain and not just the guy you saw on the screen. As we go to break, we have another mccain sound bite. This is from this year when he knew he was dying and had a new book out. This is we had to say. Maybe ill be gone but hear this. My predicament is rather unpredictable. But im prepared for either contingency or getting prepared. Strokes could be prevented. A bayer aspirin regimen is one step to help prevent another stroke. So, im doing all i can to stay in his life. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. Guys,but youve got sto be strong. St remember janet . She got cash back shopping with ebates and hasnt been skeptical since. Whered the money come from . Stores pay ebates. Psh psh then ebates pays you. Psh psh psh psh psh psh psh psh psh and theyll send you a check. Psh oohh sign up for free. Shop your favorite stores. Get cash back. Ebates. Something to believe in. Join today for a 10 bonus. Howie we are telling the story of john mccain who died in arizona after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. Joining me is larry sabato, director of politics at the university of virginia. Mccain was a larger than life figure, but he would also be a calculating candidate where he didnt stand up to South Carolina on lowering the Confederate Flag at the capitol, and he apologized to voters. Its rare to see a politician at the highest levels level with you and tell you he was wrong and apologize. He called it a lie, but what i most of remember and you do too was the campaign in New Hampshire in 2000 when mccain came out of nowhere, having not even played in iowa which george w. Bush won easily. And all at once toward the end as he rode the Straight Talk express and had the great relationship with the press and talked about reform and he won by 18 percentage points. For a brief moment it looked like he was going to be the president ial nominee and i bet you anything he would have won that election. Howie i often thought about that if he had been the nominee in 2000 when he was also younger. Spending 8, 9, 10 hours a day talking to reporters. He did town halls in New Hampshire. And it was real. It was not scripted like so many candidates have used. There was no screening whatsoever. And that was true in his public appearances on sunday shows. I heard he had the alltime record on face the nation, im sure it was a record on other stations as well. Howie on meet the press, yes. He didnt have the usual screens Public People do. He also didnt listen to his staff. He did we wanted to do when he wanted to do it, even if it got him into trouble. Howie what does it say today, joe biden, barack obama, Hillary Clinton praising john mccain. But at the same time he alienated people in his own party because he followed his principles and sometimes it ticked off the left and sometimes ticked off the right. Go on twitter. It used to be the old saying dont speak ill of the dead. That doesnt apply anymore because of these devices. The left is still upset with him because of his support for the iraq war. Some are still upset about his behavior in the hanoi hilton. The points you just raised is critical. John mccain represented an age of bipartisanship. Not complete. The parties have always and will always stand for different things. But he was willing to work for either side. Thats why people on both sides, who are in the middle. Some people call it establishment, i call it mainstream. A lot of us wonder if well ever see it again. Howie thanks very much for joining us on short notice. Stay with us as we look at the life and legacy dealing with the death of john mccain. Ok, show me what you got. I am going to vote for myself using nothing but this remote and the sound of my own voice vote for. Wait wait, thats not a talent. Any xfinity customer with an x1 voice remote can do that. Watch this. I want to vote for. Obviously not you. Ooh that guy. Cast your votes during every live show. Just say vote for agt into the x1 voice remote. Howie yankee died yesterday at the age john mccain died yesterday at the age of 81. Steve, we watched him in the primaries when he came out of nowhere was through the town halls. What do you remember of candidate mccain . He had a unique time of campaigning. John elevated it to an art form. And he outworked the bush campaign. He said he welcomes republicans, democrats, independents, vegetarians and reforming socialist. He would take any question from any heckler. People respected that. They didnt always like the but they respected it. When he asked me to serve on his Campaign Team in 2007 and 2008 i was honored to do so. We didnt anticipate our campaign would collapse and run out of money. But it worked out fine. Howie Everybody Knows he had a temper, he had rough edges. He wasnt your typical politician. He was authentic. That authenticity came through and people appreciated it. He had a temper but he always felt badly afterward. He could string a curse together like a good navy sailor. But he had a remarkable sense of humor. He liked to laugh every day. He understood the absurdity and the ridiculousness of campaigns. I think you heard from some folk in the press who loved to be on the bus and the give and take. It was a lot of fun. His humanity and decency came through. People identified. He did so many of those town Hall Meetings and met so many people, that became what was known about him. Howie it wasnt just that it was fun being a reporter on the bus. You felt you were getting a glimpse of a real person. When everyone was writing him off in 2007, when he was running out of money. Was he telling you, i can still do it . He absolutely believed he was going to win. We had an event and the National Press corps thought he would announce was suspending his campaign. The press gaggle kept asking when are you giving up. Susan page said senator under what circumstances would you be prepared to suspend your campaign. He turned and had a smile and he looked her straight in the eye. He said only if i succumb to a fatal disease before the New Hampshire primary. I knew then that we would win or have a good chance trying. Wev had more protesters outside the town hall than people listening inside. Howie when the press thinks you are dead in the water, its when are you dropping off and hes able to challenge that with susan page. Thanks for joining us. Thats it for this edition of mediabuzz. Im howard kurtz. This was a time to remember a guy whether you liked him or didnt like him. He was a larger than life figure. He was a lion of the senate but we are not going to lionize him, john mccain, warts and all. Continuing coverage will unfold on fox news on the life of john mccain, dead at 81. Thanks very much for watching. 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Tell your doctor if you have  a history of depression or suicidal thoughts,. Or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. [ ] arthel our nation and the world mourning the loss of senator john mccain who lost his yearlong battle with brain cancer yesterday at age 81. President s and politicians from both sides of the aisle remembering the lawmaker known for his defines in the face of captors during the vietnam war. And the rebellious streak that sometimes put him at odds with his own party. Welcome to americas news headquarters, im arthel neville. Eric im eric