missing from our politics so often today and so i m sure that both presidents, not through their presence but their words they re going to address that, along with their experiences with senator mckind as an opponent and as a friend. don woujohn would want that. he would want it. he clearly orchestrated it. jeff zeleny, it wasn t sweetness between bush and obama and mccain. he wouldn t want us to gloss over that either. generational difference, john mccain thought he should be president not once but twice, but that 2000 primary so bitterly with george w. bush. that took him many years to get over. they of course share the same party and shared the same view initially on the iraq war. it was the generational
john mccain when he stood up to someone in his own crowd and defended barak o bama obama. there were moments you think we will hear that today? i think he will mention that. you heard what jamie is reporting. i think he will talk about that and what it meant to this invitation, itself, what it said about john mccain. i think he will talk about the character of the man, asking two former opponents to speak to how john mccain approached politics that he didn t personalize his differences with people. he appreciated people who care about the country, each when they disagree. do you think there will be some messages as jamie is reporting to what the current political environment in washington is right now? it clearly is not very good. i don t expect really overt messages. let s face it, just the presence
about how john mccain we seen over the past week touch ed people from around the world. i want to go to the vietnam memorial. that s the first stop this north cade is going to make. in order for cindy mccain to go there, in order to lay a wreath in honor of not just her late husband, but all of those who served in the war that changed john mccain s life forever. reporter: this really is the only place today, dana, where the general public has a substantial part of the ceremonies and so many people as you know have talked about their individual encounters with john mccain in various places. what we ve seen here in this cup c couple of hours to see the wreath laying. they go deeper into the traes to
see that. doug, your reflection? really, i was thinking back, when have we ever mourned a senator like this. you have to go back to robert kennedy, 50 years ago. ted kennedy. and he was shot, then ted kennedy, with the interest in the kennedy family, but i think mccain is more than a senator, and not just the vietnam background, he is the hero of the cold war. we had john glenn and neil armstrong, but mccain is a hero representing his vietnam generation in a meaningful, poignant way. expanding other generations as well. jamie was saying earlier, he had a young following. his presidential campaigns were the early people were excited and moved by his movement. it would almost be fitting if that was parked outside the cathedral. that s who he was. as we sit and watch this,
he had to go to war. he had to have his shot at becoming a great admiral as they also had done. the past of his father and grandfather led my father to the hanoy hilton. this is where all of the biography, campaign literature say he showed his character, his patriotism, his faith, his endurance in the worst of possible circumstances. this is where we learned who john mccain truly was. and all of that is very true except for the last part. today i want to share with you where i found out who john mccain truly was and wasn t in the hilton. it wasn t in the cockpit of a fast and lethal fighter jet or on the campaign trail. john mccain was in all those places, but the best of him was