War hero, conservative maverick and two-time presidential candidate Sen. John McCain died Saturday at his home in Arizona at the age of 81.
We’re wrapping up our live coverage, but if you are looking for more on McCain’s life and career, you can …
Senior Russian politicians reacted Sunday to news of the death of Sen. John McCain, describing him as a Cold Warrior who maintained a consistently hard line on Russia during his long political career.
Konstantin Kosachev, the chair of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian senate, described McCain in a Facebook post as a “colorful senator” who was also a “a highly ideologically driven politician.”
Oleg Morozov, another senator, said McCain was “honest in his hatred of Russia,” state news agency RIA-Novosti reported.
“He is the symbol of outspoken anti-Russian thinking, in essence: Russia cannot be anything other than hostile,” Morozov said, according to RIA-Novosti.
Alexey Pushkov, another prominent Russian senator, recalled engaging in a debate with McCain on the Syria crisis at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Russian state television: McCain a “symbol of Russophobia”
Russian state television on Sunday described Sen. John McCain as the “main symbol of Russophobia,” calling the senator an ardent hawk and opponent of Russian national interests.
The Sunday evening edition of the news program Vesti highlighted McCain’s bellicose rhetoric, saying world affairs “would have been even more catastrophic” had he not lost his presidential bid in 2008.
Russian state television also highlighted McCain’s support for pro-democratic revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine, suggesting that the senator sought to contain or encircle Russia.
“Long before the coup in Ukraine, McCain had become the main symbol of Russophobia, calling Russia a bigger threat than ISIS and calling for turning Syria into a second Afghanistan for Russia,” the broadcast stated.
Sarah Palin, who was John McCain’s vice presidential pick when he ran for president in 2008, called the late senator an “American original.”
Here’s her full tribute on Twitter:
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey just announced John McCain’s body will lie in state at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix on Wednesday.
Also there will be a service for him in Arizona this week, a Republican close to the McCain family told CNN.
After that, his body will be brought back to Washington.
There, McCain will lie in state at the US Capitol. There will also be a full funeral service for him at the Washington National Cathedral, the Republican said.
Dates for those have not been announced
Following the Washington ceremonies, McCain will be taken to Annapolis, where he will be laid to rest.
CNN reported earlier today that John McCain will lie in state in the US Capitol. Now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office has confirmed it.
McConnell’s office did not release any details about the timing of the ceremony.
McConnell continued: “The Senate is keeping Cindy, the McCain family, all John’s friends and staff, and the people of Arizona in our prayers at this tremendously difficult time … I appreciate my colleagues and the entire Senate and House family’s assistance with this honor.”
Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer called John McCain one of his “closest friends in the Senate,” while speaking about the late senator at a press conference this morning.
Schumer announced that he’s introducing a resolution to rename the Senate’s Russell office building after the late Sen. John McCain.
Here’s how he explained what the name change could mean:
“I’d like, decades from now, little children to ask their parents, ‘Who was John McCain?’ and they’ll explain his sacrifice, his patriotism, and most of all his fidelity to do the right thing as he saw it,” Schumer said.
Arizona’s sports teams are paying tribute to Sen. John McCain following his Saturday evening death.
Bleacher Report’s Tyler Conway explained the role sports played in McCain’s life: A boxer in the Naval Academy in the 1950s, McCain was instrumental in the passing of the Muhammad Ali Act, a law designed to protect the health and financial welfare of boxers. He was also a proponent of pardoning former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, which President Donald Trump did earlier this year.
The Arizona Diamondbacks, which played the Seattle Mariners last night, displayed McCain’s photo on the field during the game. The team also tweeted out this tribute:
The Phoenix Suns shared this statement on McCain:
And the Arizona Cardinals — and one of its players — shared tributes to the late senator.
Flags at the White House have been lowered to half-staff to honor the late Sen. John McCain.
President Trump tweeted his “deepest sympathies and respect” to the family of the senator after his death was announced on Saturday night.
John McCain’s Saturday evening death made the front pages of newspapers across the country.
Here’s the full-page tribute the Arizona Republic in Phoenix ran this morning:
The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson also dedicated the entire front page to McCain:
Here’s how The Washington Post covered the news:
McCain was also featured on the front page of The New York Times:
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey will not announce who he will appoint to serve in John McCain’s seat in the US Senate until after McCain is buried, out of respect for the senator and his family, according to Ducey’s office.
Here’s the statement from the governor’s office:
Jack McCain, Sen. John McCain’s son, praised the late senator as a “giant.”
“It is not the man that was great, but instead it was his desire to serve a cause greater than himself that defined his life,” McCain’s son wrote.
It’s not just Americans who are waking up to news of Sen. John McCain’s passing.
News featuring the Arizona Republican’s death was spotted earlier this morning displayed on an informational panel at Munich’s central train station.
The announcement of McCain’s death came at around 2 a.m. in Germany — too late for most print edition newspapers — but clearly the 2008 Republican presidential nominee’s influence and profile reached around the world.
Sen. John McCain told CNN’s Jake Tapper in their last interview how he wanted the American people to remember him after his death.
Tapper asked: “How do you want the American people to remember you?”
McCain responded: “He served his country … I hope, we could add, honorably.”
Watch:
As the nation mourns the passing of Sen. John McCain, President Trump started his day on Twitter by retweeting himself.
The President chose two Aug. 24th tweets criticizing Attorney General Jeff Sessions and reshared them to his 54M followers.
The retweets occurred sometime after he tweeted his “deepest sympathies and respect” last night.
See the tweets:
CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash remembered Sen. John McCain earlier this morning, and thanked him for teaching her an important lesson about life as a reporter on Capitol Hill.
“I want to say thank you, John McCain,” Bash said. “Thank you for teaching reporters like me, who followed you around for a living, how to be serious, without taking ourselves too seriously.”
Watch:
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, who served alongside Sen. John McCain as the state’s junior senator, teared up while remembering his colleague on CNN this morning.
“Its tough. I’m going to miss him,” Flake said, visibly emotional after host Jake Tapper replayed footage of McCain praising Flake on the Senate floor after the then-junior Arizona senator announced his decision not to run for reelection.
“I’ve admired him my entire life and its tough to imagine a Senate without him, it’s tough to imagine politics without John McCain, but we need to go on,” Flake said.
Flake said that he was there with McCain on Friday to say goodbye, and to thank McCain’s family.
Watch:
Americans are laying flowers at a monument in Hanoi, Vietnam, marking the 1967 crash site of then-Navy pilot John McCain, who was shot down during the Vietnam War.
After McCain leaves Arizona, he will lie in state in the US Capitol this week, confirms a Republican source with knowledge of the plans, who also says a service will be held at the National Cathedral.
The source says McCain will then have a private service in Annapolis.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny reported yesterday that that McCain wanted three locations for services: Arizona, the National Cathedral in Washington, and Annapolis.
A formal schedule has not been released.
President Trump’s Instagram account features a photo of the President along with the same words he tweeted last night: “My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!” Critics in the comments and on Twitter point out it features no picture of McCain himself, questioning the President’s motives for omitting the Senator.
Sen. John McCain, a war hero, conservative maverick and two-time presidential candidate, died Saturday at his home in Arizona. He was 81.
We’re wrapping up our live coverage, but if you’re looking for more on McCain’s life and career, you can…
