To an american icon. The bipartisan tribute to senator john mccain. The world is smaller for his departure and we will remember him as he was, unwavering, unequalled. We never doubted the other mans sincerity or patriotism or that when all was said and done we were on the same team. Inside politics, the biggest stories sourced by the best reporters now. Welcome to inside politics. Im phil mattingly. To our viewers in the United States and around the world, thanks for sharing your sunday. Two powerful absences cast a shadow over washington today. John mccain this afternoon heads to his final resting place, the hallowed green lawn in annapolis. A day ago three former president s, millions paused to remember an irreplaceable american. At Washington National cathedral the keepers of American Power all sang or hummed along to america the beautiful, a salute to mccain who, maybe more than anyone, his country loved. Two eulogies spoke to mccains and americas aspiration for something higher, a moral clarity carried in the naval aviators old scars. Mccain should be judged for whom he abhorred and those whose causes he carried. John detested the abuse of power. He could not abide bigots and swaggering despots. There was something that made him stand up for the little guy, forever tempted to forget who we are and to grow weary of our cause, johns voice will always come as a whisper over our shoulder. We are better than this. America is better than this. President barack obama asked the country to move past its petty divides and embrace something greater. Our Public Discourse can seem small and mean and petty. Trafficking in bombast and insult is born in fear. John called on us to be bigger than that. Both president s preaching uncontroversial values uniquely american ideals, unquestionably embodied by mccain. And yet the moment made all the more uncommon by the glaring absence of the current president , the subtext of the service it is the talk of washington. The gut punch grief felt by Meghan Mccain is common to every american family. When my father got sick and i asked him what he wanted me to do with this eulogy, he said, show them how tough you are. That is what love meant to john mccain. My father is gone and my sorrow is immense, but i know his life and i know it was great because it was good. With us this sunday to share their reporting and insights, julie pace of the associated press, Jonathan Martin with the new york times, and the Washington Post. I think an internal debate what this week has actually meant. These are statements and ideas that arent necessarily rare to what america is. Spoken by former campaign manager, we are citizens of the worlds greatest republic, a nation of ideals not blood and soil. We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries. We weaken it when we hide behind walls rather than tear them down. Big question, what was this week actually about . I think what was so striking about this week is to your point, so many of the things that were said by john mccain in his final letter, by the former president at the final service yesterday were very standard american values. We werent talking about something that was unique for american leaders to be discussing. But in this moment it was seen as a rebuke to the current president. Thats extraordinary things so bed rocked in this country are seen as out of sync with the current president and its because he has taken such a different approach. He does not cast america as this great nation. He casts america as a canada che country cheated by canada and has to wall itself off from other nations. Hes been successful in doing that. It is counttory what were used to hearing from our leaders. This is a reminder of those more traditional values. And when senator mccain asked the people to speak at his eulogy, he planned every minute of this and set the tone for that in his own message and in Meghan Mccains message. I am told the president and others speaking were also told not to hold back. This was the theme, this is what he wanted them to share. And, youre right, it was a message that was heard in a different time, it would have been potentially the same words, but it is different in this moment. And the fact that the president was not there, the fact that a couple of his top advisers, actually several of his top advisers were there, certainly was interesting. I think after we move beyond this week you have to wonder if anything changes at all. The possibility, i think, there will be one senator who wants to be the next john mccain. That is a great position to be in because you can have policy positions. A lot of press coverage, frankly. That is something that mae change. You saw a lot of hungry senators wanting to fill that void, but in terms of changing our politics, dont count on it. I want to get to that last point in a second. First i want to play some sound from Meghan Mccain, take a listen. We gather here to mourn the passing of american greatness, the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly, nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who live lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served. America does not boast because she has no need to. The america of john mccain has no need to be made great again because america was always great. [ applause ] the applause as much as the words that i think i was taken aback by there. You just dont hear applause at most funerals mid speech period and you dont hear applause mid speech in a funeral in the National Cathedral which is a place majestic but sort of very old church and very proper and that was Something Else to hear that. I think to be totally blunt, i think our politics marches ahead. Jeff is right, i think there will be opportunities for folks to step up and try to fill that mccain role. I think those opportunities will be whetted, by the way, by the election in two months. That, to me, is the pinpoint here what happens on election day and is there a rebuke of the Republican Party and of trumpism . If there is, youll see more of what jeff talking about realizing theres an opportunity to set ourselves apart and perhaps not just an opportunity but an imperative, too, how bad the election day actually is. You and i traipsed through the halls of congress, we put together something that senators publicly or privately talk about, a younger group, both parties, that the institution is broken, that they want to fix it. Havent quite figured out how yet. I will pull some of those up. Michael bennett, doug jones, James Langford to some degree, tim scott, todd young on some issues. Whats your sense of this next generation if theres any chance they will be successful . I think theres clearly a hunger for more bipartisanship in the mold of john mccain but those efforts havent come to fruition just yet. Weve seen so many instances where the gang of 40 or the gang of 25 gathered talking six. Gathered in Susan Collins office or that office has been regarded as the switzerland of the senate. But yet what have they done to result from it . The polarization of our politics has really steeped down into the senate and there will be no figure like john mccain for some time. I thought it was appropriate when Mitch Mcconnell said he would put together a gang and figure out how to properly remember the senator because john mccain was involved in basically any gang in the Senate Whether it was trying to pass Immigration Reform in 2013 or, you know, trying to stave off a filibuster at times back in 2017 when it ultimately failed. But i think that there will be there will be a struggle to kind of replace that bipartisanship of gravitas the senator brought. We felt that missing from the senate halls in the last eight or nine months. Speaking of primaries, tom harper from delaware has a primary this week. He is somebody who i think always tried to be more of a moderate democrat. Lets see how close his opponent gets because that is the kind of chilling impact that certainly weve seen the last eight years in the gop. If that kind of thing starts happening with democrats now, i think that will make it harder for democrats like chris coons to be bipartisan and defy their own party. Its not a straight line. There are so many different dynamics in play whether or not this will actually occur. I will miss being called a little jerk. And a little brat. And a little brat. As we go to break, one more image i really want to show you, youre looking at 87yearold congressman sam johnson. The texas republican was a fellow prisoner of war and a cell mate of mccains in vietnam. He normally is confined to a scooter or wheelchair. Democrats nancy pelosi and joe crowley here helping him to the casket to say farewell to senator mccain. Well be right back. Sometimes, the pressures of todays world can make it tough to take care of yourself. But natures bounty has innovative ways to help you maintain balance and help keep you active and wellrested. Because hey, tomorrows coming up fast. Natures bounty. Because youre better off healthy. Naturcohigher ad higher parents arent perfect, but then they make us Kraft Mac Cheese and everythings good again. Join tmobile, and get netflix included. So your family can watch what they love in more places. Get an unlimited family plan with netflix on us. And right now, buy one Samsung Galaxy s9 and get one free. Lojust use priceline. Ls on travel . You can save up to 60 on hotels. Thats like 120 a night back in your pocket. 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Dont start humira if you have an infection. Be there for you, and them. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, control is possible. Stop me if youve heard this one before, with his administration facing growing legal pressure, President Trump is lashing out at the Mueller Probe and the Justice Department. Our Justice Department and our fbi have to start doing their job and doing it right and doing it now. Because people are angry. People are angry. I wanted to stay out, but at some point, if it doesnt straighten out properly, i want them to do their job. I will get involved, and ill get in there if i have to. Now, the president says people are angry, but a new abc News Washington post poll suggests otherwise. Take look at this. 63 of americans approve of special counsel muellers handling of the investigation. A near mirror image of President Trumps 60 disapproval rate, just 36 of americans approve of his performance as president. Now, these numbers suggest somewhat of a shift. There once was an agreed upon narrative that the president s attacks on the investigation were having an effect, perhaps thats not so subtle anymore. Even more significantly, there is zero indication that any of those attacks have deterred Robert Mueller from opening new avenues of his investigation. Just on friday a washington lobbyist pleaded guilty to funneling foreign money into President Trumps campaign. And in a new court filing, George Papadopoulos publicly contradicted testimony by attorney general Jeff Sessions, papadopoulos says at a march, 2016, meeting, you can see that pictured here from a Trump Campaign instagram post, both sessions and then candidate trump signal support from a proposed meeting trump and Vladimir Putin during the campaign. While some in the room rebuffed georges offer, mr. Trump deferred to mr. Sessions who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it. Georges giddiness over mr. Trumps recognition was prominent during the days that followed. Well get to George Papadopoulos in a second. A lot to go into there. I dont know if we have enough time. But first of all, i want to go 30,000 foot level. That is what were seeing from the president right now on twitter, including yesterday throughout the course of the week, this is a reflection to what hes reading in the news or is this just the lingering frustration of what this investigation means for this administration . Thats a great question. We dont know exactly what hes reacting to. Usually its something he sees on fox. If we take stock of where we are right now at the beginning of september, summer is over. This investigation is still very much on. That likely means almost certainly means that the investigation is going to continue through the midterm elections, so its going to be something that the president is going to use or try and use. He likes to find an opponent. But the reality here is we still dont know what bob mueller has found, what his team has found. Theyre probably going to put this on hold, releasing any findings until after the midterms. Rudy giuliani was out this week saying were going to release our own report. Half or probably a third of the countrys interested or will believe what the evidence say. But the reality is the real report from bob mueller will come after the midterms and what Party Controls congress at that point . That is the central question to all of this. So after the summer, i kind of thought more of this would have been resolved by now. Its not. It means bob mueller is still going after something. The plea deal on friday i think is more significant than we think. Weve never heard of this guy, but the reality is if they were looking into money from that point, what else are they looking into from that same period . On that front real quick, because Rudy Giuliani actually talks about this. To your point, this is the first time the Justice Department publicly charged a person for helping a foreigner secretly funnel money into the trump inauguration. Something a lot of people have been looking into. Rudy giuliani was asked about that. Take a listen to what he had to say. Turned out to be this irrelevant indictment where i think mueller turned into the private prosecutor. What does this have to do with President Trump . Not a single thing. Has nothing do with collusion. Some guy donated to the inauguration. My goodness, 500,000 donated to President Trump. I think Rudy Giuliani answered his own point there, which is what does this have to do with President Trump . It was the trump inauguration. Theres the link right there. Bob mueller, yes, is going after things when youre talking about such high level questions like obstruction and collusion with russians, can look small, but actually i think its just being methodical. He is deep in a complicated investigation and he is pulling out bit players. He is charging them when they lie to him. He is charging them for things like fare violations that dont get prosecuted. But all indications are that he is moving towards something bigger. That doesnt necessarily mean an indictment of the president or someone in his inner circle. As he tries to answer those larger questions, hes letting nothing slide. Part is trying to send a message to someone who come in to sit before the grand jury and interview with his prosecutors, if you dont come in and tell us the truth or you have something in your background, we are going to go after you. Thats the type of aggressive investigation this is regardless of what Rudy Giuliani and others say. Yeah. And hes also trying to get folks to talk and hes using the various levers at his disposal to make folks talk, including offering them some measure of plea deals in some cases thats worked. Others said thats not worked, at least not yet with paul manafort, of course the president said he didnt break. Which is extraordinary in its own right. I think well see if that continues given the fact that manafort has a second trial coming up here. I agree with julie. I think were very much in the dark as to what he actually is doing and what he actually has. Most of the information that we know has come from the trump side of this, not the mueller side of this. Yeah. I want to ask you something first of all, i want to read something the president sat down with Bloomberg News and gave an interview. He was asked about complying with the subpoena, if he chooses not to testify, thats clearly a legal fight that i think everybody thinks is coming. And he said, trump said in the interview ill see what happens when it comes to a subpoena. I view it differently. I view it as an illegal investigation because, quote, great scholars have said there never should have been a special counsel, the president told bloomberg. So you have great scholars, which the president is not specifying who that is. Lets also pull up federal judges and their views of whether or not the investigation is legal. So if you take a look at these four federal judges from president s from both parties, all of whom ha