John McCain appears on MSNBC ‘Headliners’ ahead of memoir release

PHOENIX — Ahead of the release of U.S. Sen. John McCain’s memoir, MSNBC aired an hourlong special on the Arizona senator’s life and career Sunday night.

The “Headliners” episode touched upon topics from McCain’s five-and-a-half years as a prisoner of war to his presidential runs.

McCain’s memoir, “The Restless Wave,” was scheduled to be released on Tuesday.

Using interviews with McCain colleagues, national reporters and different people involved in his life, the show gave a brief picture of McCain’s history.

It also pulled quotes from different interviews and speeches from senator himself.

“Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say, no association has ever meant more to me than that,” McCain said during his 2008 presidential concession speech.

Early life

The MSNBC episode shared tidbits from his service in the military.

McCain finished fifth-from-the-bottom in his class.

He survived an electrical malfunction that caused a rocket to be fired across the flight deck and hit a fuel tank, which killed 134 people on the ship.

Over five-and-a-half years, he refused to cooperate with captors in the “Hanoi Hilton” prisoner of war camp, and declined release due to the code of conduct stating POWs were to be released in order captured.

It showed video of him limping down the tarmac of the airplane after returning home.

The video didn’t only show his heroic side, though; “Headliners” touched upon his first marriage failing and McCain meeting his current wife, Cindy.

Presidential races

MSNBC showed clips from both his presidential runs.

In 1999, he came close to securing the Republican nomination. However, rumor began in South Carolina that he had fathered a biracial child out of wedlock. The truth turned out to be the child was Bridget, his adopted daughter from Bangladesh.

George W. Bush would go on to win the Republican nomination and later the presidency.

Then, in the 2008 presidential race, McCain considered Joe Lieberman for his running mate. Lieberman was slotted for vice president on the Democrat ticket in 2000.

McCain changed his mind and went with Palin.

After initially gaining an uptick in votes, voters began to think Palin wasn’t ready for the Oval Office role.

Today

Even now, McCain has his battles.

The senator was diagnosed with brain cancer last summer and had surgery for an unrelated intestinal infection in April.

The episode included a clip of U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake making a statement similar to a tweet he made after the cancer diagnosis.

Just spoke to @SenJohnMcCain. Tough diagnosis, but even tougher man.

— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) July 20, 2017

Additionally, Trump has had public battles against President Donald Trump.

The Arizona senator voted against the “skinny repeal” of Obamacare, and the two have verbally sparred.

showed a clip of a McCain interview after Trump’s “Access Hollywood” tape talking about how he treats women.

“I have daughters, I have friends, I have so many wonderful people on my staff,” McCain said. “They cannot be degraded and demeaned in that fashion.”

McCain has said this would be his last term in the Senate.

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