arizona, and here with me in stud, historian michael beschloss and the weekly standard s bill kristol. kelly, you ve covered the hill, you ve covered john mccain, you just came back from arizona. i can t even imagine the emotions, seeing him lie in state in the rotunda, as the speaker said, under the frescos, in such an august place, in that gathering today. reporter: it is a poignant day, a personal day for the mccain family, colleagues and friends, and by extension, the many who not have met him in life but who will pass by to pay their respects today, the members of the public who will come through. i am told that senator lindsey graham escorted cindy mccain to the senate floor, typically reserved only for senators, but to allow her to see senator
last july 27th, a year in some weeks ago, calling on them to start doing their job and getting things done and not being the senate of today in sharp contrast of what i covered in the 80s and 90s. i am struck watching the split screen as you put the coverage of aretha franklin s coverage and mccain at the same time. it is a fantastic service, a hero, a man, becoming a senator and a daughter of a preacher becomes this amazing singer and. with frank sinatra singing my way.
mccain s desk, which has been draped in black, which is the tradition of the senate, with beautiful flowers placed on his desk, and then the mccain family, seven children, five grandchildren, his brother and sister joe and sandy, john mccain was a middle child, something he mentioned to me from time to time. and of course his mother, spending his time with the mccain senate staff. one of the things that has really struck me over these days, remembering john mccain, and the reason there is such a resonance for his life, his service, some of the things he s represented, is he has been a contemporary figure. often we say to presidents long after they have left the public stage. john mccain was very much in the arena, even through his year of convalescence, because he was, through his staff, with weekly conference calls, trying to still be in the game, andrea. kelly o donnell. and we see the pictures there, of course, of cindy mccain as she earlier today was paying
stand up and to embrace the cause of his life. today he lies in the place where he served to the last, the congress of the united states. soon he will go to rest on the grounds where he served first, the united states naval academy. the eyes of the american people will be upon him as he goes. and so too will their prayers. and we saw wreath-layings by leaders from both political parties, bipartisan, scripted of course by john mccain himself. poignant farewells from his wife cindy, daughter meghan, and his 106-year-old mother roberta mccain, resident of washington, d.c. the capitol rotunda filled with
source of uplift and inspiration. thank you, robin, thanks to ron mott, david maranis. we ll keep track of this. in washington tomorrow. they are coming the to the gathering of john mccain. they ll be in the key chandra and barack obama will be doing the eulogy and as well as george w. bush. with me here is michael beschloss and bill crystal both knew and covered john mccain. this commemoration here in washington, aretha franklin is the queen of soul. john mccain is getting a send off which is presidential. this is presidential level, you know? since reagan and 2004 which was about a week as you remember, both of the ceremonies, this is something we used to do with