sides of the ail after a top white house aid dismissed senator john mccain in his opposition to gina haspel as cia director saying, quote, he s dying anyway. lawmakers are livid. sources on clil capitol hill are telling is they ve been opt phone with colleagues expressing disbelief. john mccain s daughter may have more to say about this next hour. i want to go over to kristen welker where they re on defense this morning and here s the deal. what they are not saying is just as important as what they re saying because they re not denying these comments were made. reporter: that may be the most striking part of all of this, hallie. they re not denying that these comments were made. one administration official saying they were taken out of context, but not denying the substance. lawmakers are livid, so is john mccain s family. his wife cindy mccain lashing out on twitter defending her husband who s a war hero battling brain cancer. john mccain, the white house not denying the incident,
instead releasing a brief statement we respect senator mccain s service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time. but mccain s wife cindy firing back at the aide on twitter. may i remind you my husband has a family, seven children and five grandchildren. it comes after mccain a former pow announced his opposition to president trump s cia nominee gina haspel who faced tough questions for her role in controversial interrogation tactics after 9/11. i don t believe that torture works. prompting a sharp backlash from some conservatives. the fact is john mccain, it worked on john, that s why they call him song bird john. there s no proof of that claim. he is a war hero, he s a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren t captured, okay. it s the latest in a bitter back and forth between the two men. earlier this week sources telling nbc news that senator mcskan adamant he does not want