regions where the u.s. was actively engaged in military operations, some of the most dangerous places in the world. do you think mccain s passion and dedication was unique in that way? he was. i told the story on twitter today about how he visited us in moz mosul. we had pretty active operations going on. i asked my bosses don t send us congressional delegations, try to keep them in the other parts of iraq because we have a lot of things going on and i didn t want to deal with them and have the soldiers deal with them. but a bevy of them were coming over continuously. mccain said he is going to mosul. i tried a couple of times to stop that and redirect him. i guess someone told him i did that. as soon as he stepped off the plane he said i understand you don t want me to see mosul. i said it is pretty tough combat
all over the world, strong advocate for strong defense. he loved our military. i think they loved him, too. for sure. you mentioned his time in congress, six terms as a u.s. senator. he ran for president twice. you supported senator mccain during his 2008 presidential campaign. tell us why you believe he would have made a good president. i thought his opportunity for winning was better against governor bush at the time. i thought his possibility of winning the presidency against al gore was super outstanding. i don t think al gore in that period of time could hold a candle to john mccain with their back grounds. i also was firmly of the belief even though many consider him a hawk, i think he would not have gotten us into the mess with
the next guest slept side by side with senator mccain for nearly 18 months. the two war heroes became life long friends. here they are together in much happier times. sir, thank you for your service and sacrifice for this country. thank you very much. what went through your mind when you learned your dear friend had passed away? grief. of course, it was not unexpected, as we all know. the suddenness caught me completely by surprise. i just took a break from looking at the computer and then it hit. some marines do cry. i had a good cry. it s hard not to. he is a man who touched so many.
before he was senator and presidential candidate john mccain he was lieutenant commander john mccain in the u.s. navy who served his country as a fighter pilot. during the vietnam war his plane was shot down and he was captured at a p.o.w. despite suffering debilitating injuries mccain continued his service as the navy senate liaison and served for 23 years before retiring in 1981 as a captain. the naval air force is honoring mccain tweeting a man who served his country until his last days, a true patriot, an american hero. rest in peace john sydney mccain iii. cnn analyst is joining us now. good to have you with us. what does john mccain mean to you and others who are serving on behalf of our country? good evening. what i would say is he had a special connection with those in
we know mccain planned his own funeral while he was still alive. he requested that he be eulogized by george w. bush and president obama. what can you tell us about mccain s process in planning his funeral? reporter: notably he specifically asked that trump not attend. this is going to be a week long remembrance of senator john mccain. you can see the area i m standing in is the arizona capitol. the flags to my right are the state flag, u.s. flag. they are lowered. and they are lowered in honor of senator mccain. the services will begin here on wednesday. first a private ceremony will be in the rotunda here at the capitol. because the senator lived such a public life there will be six hours for the public to come here and say farewell.