John McCain Lies in State At U.S. Capitol
SCIUTTO: You're looking at live pictures now of the U.S. Capitol where mourners are still paying their respects to Senator John McCain. This is a very rare honor. He's only the 31st American to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol. Earlier family friends and colleagues gathered to honor the senator in ceremony under the rotunda there. Among them, House Speaker Paul Ryan.</s>REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: John McCain deserves to be remembered as he wished to be remembered. A patriot who served his country. A man, yes, of the Senate, but also a man of the House. A navy man, a family man. A man who made an enormous difference in the lives of countless people. A man of conviction. A man of state.</s>SCIUTTO: OUTFRONT now is Grant Woods. He was Senator McCain's first congressional chief of staff. He spoke at yesterday's service. He's been with the family for much of the week, knows them well. Grant, thanks very much for taking the time. And let me share myself and my colleagues' condolences for the loss of your good friend.</s>GRANT WOODS, SEN. JOHN MCCAIN'S FIRST CONGRESSIONAL CHIEF OF STAFF: Thank you.</s>SCIUTTO: We saw Cindy McCain come up to you yesterday and give you a big hug. She's shown incredible strength through this, the long illness and now his passing. I wonder, how is she -- how is the family holding up?</s>WOODS: I think they're holding up really well, Jim. This is -- this is a tremendous family, outstanding people, great character, and I have to say Cindy and I are exactly the same age, you know, within one day of each other. We've been through this from day one of John's political career. And I've never been prouder of her than this last year. The way she has just been such the perfect provider, the perfect person to make sure everything that John needed he got. She was by his side 24 hours a day the entire time. She's been fantastic, and right now, as tough as this is, she's pretty strong. She's pretty strong.</s>SCIUTTO: I don't know that a lot of our viewers know that Senator McCain's mother, Roberta, is still alive, 106 years old and one of the most emotional moments today was seeing her by her son's casket. The senator, his mother, they had a very special relationship.</s>WOODS: Well, first, look at her right there. She's a beautiful woman, 106 years old. That's pretty incredible. I'd say this. If you spent five minutes with her and then said, guess whose mother she is, you would guess it in a minute. You'd say John McCain, because they're very similar in so many ways. She told me a long, long time ago when I was talking about something, she said, don't worry about that. We're Navy tough. And that's how she looked at it. She's Navy tough, and she always has been. She's resolute and she's quite the character. Very independent. I don't know if you know the story that she was -- not that long ago, I think she was 100 years old, or something like that. She was traveling Europe by herself with a friend. Now, who does that by the way?</s>SCIUTTO: Incredible.</s>WOODS: And she tried to run a car and they wouldn't run it to her because she was too old. And so, she said, OK, I'll buy it. Now, who does that sound like?</s>SCIUTTO: So, another maverick, right?</s>WOODS: Yes, absolutely.</s>SCIUTTO: There was another moment a lot of us noticed. At the very moment the senator's casket was being carried up the steps there by the honor guard, as you can see, a downpour started. You were watching this. I have to wonder what went through your mind at that moment.</s>WOODS: Well, what went through my mind was a big pool of reporters was outside, and I think John, just for one last joke, said, let's just douse these guys. So, I think he might have had something to do with that, you know? I don't know, it's -- I don't know that everything is a coincidence. Maybe it is, but then again, maybe it's not. That was a moment, wasn't it?</s>SCIUTTO: No question.</s>WOODS: Right at that second. Then it went away.</s>SCIUTTO: Yes.</s>WOODS: So I don't know what it means. Someday I guess we'll know.</s>SCIUTTO: The senator was very involved in planning these ceremonies, the locations, speakers, the messages, and I just wonder what you think the message was that he wanted to get across through all this.</s>WOODS: Well, I think the message -- I think you're right, it's very purposeful. And a lot of people would think about doing it but they wouldn't do it. They would say, forget that, I'm not going that way. It might be nice, but no. He did it. And what he did was, in Phoenix look who was on the stage. You know, one of the leaders of what had been a pretty liberal Hispanic organization, an African-American young athlete and Joe Biden, Democratic vice president of the United States. And here in Washington tomorrow, who are we going to see? We're going to see the two men who stopped him from being president. Now, what's the message? The message is we're all Americans here. We're in the fight. And nobody fought harder than George W. Bush versus John McCain, or Barack Obama versus John McCain. They fought it out. And someone won, someone didn't win. But the guy who didn't win, what he did is the next day, he picked himself up and he said, how can I help? Let's work together. Because at the end of the day, as we see, it doesn't matter -- look at that line there. Are those Republicans or are those Democrats?</s>SCIUTTO: Yes.</s>WOODS: I don't know what they are. I tell you what I do know, they're Americans.</s>SCIUTTO: Yes.</s>WOODS: And they're proud Americans because they knew a man such as John McCain.</s>SCIUTTO: It's a good point, it's an important point. Listen, it's the second time I got a chance to talk to you this week. Thanks very much for joining us and sharing your thoughts and your feelings.</s>WOODS: OK, thanks for having me, Jim.</s>SCIUTTO: CNN, we should remind you, will have live coverage tomorrow of Senator McCain's funeral. This will be at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and our special coverage begins at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. And OUTFRONT next, an epic farewell to the Queen of Soul.