happening now, breaking news. compromise? russian intelligence officials believe they have donald trump over a barrel. according to a top justice department official. we're going to tell you what we're learning right now about bruce ohr testimony to congress about that infamous trump/russia dossier. cooperation deal. a russian lobbyist with russian ties strikes a plea agreement and admits to arranging an illegal foreign donation to the trump inauguration. what else is he telling prosecutors as they investigate a potential money trail from moscow? mueller's support. two-thirds of americans say they back the special counsel's probe in the first poll taken since the paul manafort and michael cohen convictions. this as the president's approval

rating takes a new turn for the worse. and tribute to mccain. a rare honor tonight for the late senator as he lies in state in the u.s. capitol. mccain's 106-year-old mother joining with top officials here in washington for an emotional good-bye. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. we're following breaking news that cuts to the heart of questions about what the russians might be holding over president trump and what they've done to help him. in a new guilty plea a d.c. lobbyist with ties to russia and ukraine has add hittmitted to arranging an illegal donation to the president's inauguration. this is the first time the u.s. government has filed formal criminal charges accusing foreigners of funneling money

into trump election-related events. we're also learning right now about sworn testimony by justice department official bruce ohr that was told by a british spy that the russians believe they have mr. trump, quote, over a barrel. i'll get reaction from democratic congressman john garamendi. and our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. first let's go to our political correspondent sara murray. sara, as the russia probe moves forward, the president's lawyers are now preparing to rebut whatever robert mueller's eventual report shows. >> that's right, wolf. rudy giuliani doesn't have any idea what mueller is going to do next or when he's going to do it, but he's preparing for any possible scenario pending his own report about the russia investigation in a strategy that seems to be as much a political and a p.r. move as a legal one. with little sign the russia probe is wrapping up, rudy giuliani is hatching a backup plan. the president's lawyer telling

cnn's dana bash the legal team is already halfway through preparing a report to rebut a number of possible findings from special counsel robert mueller. it's slated to include sections on everything from collusion with russia in the 2016 election to fired national security adviser michael flynn to obstruction of justice. the report all part of giuliani's strategy to dull the blow of whatever mueller makes public. >> i'll be here with my version of the report and they'll have their version of the report. and the american people in that sense are going to decide it. >> reporter: once adamant that mueller must wrap up his investigation well before the 2018 midterms -- >> if it isn't over by september, then we have a very, very serious violation of the justice department rules that you shouldn't be conducting one of these investigations in the 60-day period. >> reporter: giuliani now admitting to cnn he has now idea what mueller's time line is. it's customary for the justice department prosecutors to go quiet for 60 days before an election. but it's up to u.s. attorneys to ensure they don't take overt

investigative steps that could impact an election. as the investigation stretches on, trump continues to rail against the justice department. >> people are angry. people are angry. >> reporter: especially one of his favorite new targets. >> i think bruce ohr is a disgrace. >> reporter: bruce ohr is the career justice department official who met with christopher steele, the former british spy who compiled the now infamous dossier. ohr testifying to a congressional committee this week that steele told him at a july 2016 breakfast that russian intelligence believed they had then-candidate trump over a barrel according to a source familiar with the testimony. a claim that's in line with allegations steele included in his dossier. but its broad assertion that russia aimed to interfere in the 2016 election has been accepted as fact by the u.s. intelligence community. now, back to that report rudy giuliani is working on, he told some of our cnn colleagues on the hill this afternoon that it may never see the light of day, but he wants to be prepared no

matter what. >> tell us more about this american lobbyist who pleaded guilty today to cooperating with russian and ukrainian elements illegally. >> reporter: sure. so this is samuel patten. he was right here in washington, d.c. he was a lobbyist, and he pleaded guilty essentially to acting as an unregistered foreign lobbyist. he also lied to the senate intelligence committee. one of the other things that he admitted to was that he used a third party to essentially funnel money from a ukrainian oligarch and use that money to buy tickets to donald trump's presidential inauguration. now, foreigners are not supposed to be allowed to use money and pour that into inaugural committees, but this man, samuel patten, helped this ukrainian oligarch do so as part of his work. and it is interesting because as part of, you know, his statement of defense and part of this plea agreement he signed, he agreed to cooperate including with special counsel mueller's team.

mueller team did not strike this deal. it was other prosecutors. but as you pointed out, all these prosecutors do tend to work together. rudy giuliani was asked about this plea deal today. he took a pretty dim view of it saying, they're really nothing to see here. >> it turned out to be this irrelevant indictment where i think mueller has turned into a private prosecutor. what does this have to do with president trump? not a single thing. it has nothing to do with collusion. some guy who donated to the inauguration? my goodness, there are about 500,000 people who donated to -- every time they got a speeding ticket, the special prosecutor is going to do it. >> reporter: rudy giuliani says this has nothing to do with donald trump. it was just money that went into the inaugural questicommittee. the reality is we've long heard mueller was investigating whether there was any foreign money that flowed into donald trump's campaign or his inauguration. we now have this person who admitted he helped put money into the inaugural committee and we don't know if more is coming

down to the line. >> and it was a pro-russian ukrainian oligarch. thank you very much, sara. as the president's lawyers work on a rebuttal to robert mueller, mr. trump continues to see the entire russian probe, threatening to get involved with the justice department after declaring that the attorney general, jeff sessions, only has job security until the midterm elections in november. let's go straight to our white house correspondent jeff zeleny. jeff, the president is clearly leaving the door open to firing sessions after november 6th. >> reporter: wolf, he's leaving the door open. in fact he's hinting strongly that's a possibility. when he was asked directly in jeff sessions would be safe after the midterm elections, he said, i'm not going to get into it. but we do know that the president believes the justice department has been unfair in all of this. but, wolf, it's striking as we're nearing at least the unofficial end of the summer here, the friday going into labor day, there was a sense of apprehension here. would something happen? would there be a shoe to fall? nothing has happened, but that just means there's still more

questions. this investigation is ongoing. >> why not commit to jeff sessions past november, sir? >> reporter: president trump flashing a thumb's up but giving no answer today as to why he's offering his favorite punching bag, attorney general jeff sessions, a brief reprieve. in an interview with bloomberg news, he says sessions' job is safe, at least through the midterm elections. after that, he wouldn't say. >> i'd just like to have jeff sessions do his job, and if he did, i'd be very happy. but the job entails two sides, not one side. >> reporter: yet that didn't stop the president from railing against the justice department at a rally last night in indiana for what he perceives as unfair treatment. >> 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. >> reporter: once again, he suggested he could intervene in an investigation, which would be highly unorthodox and politically explosive for a sitting president. >> i wanted to stay out, but at some point if it doesn't straighten out properly, i want them to do their job. i will get involved, and i'll get in there if i have to. >> reporter: it's unclear whether he's blowing off steam -- >> disgraceful. >> reporter: -- or seriously threatening to stop the russia probe that's hanging over the white house. he told bloomberg, i view it as an illegal investigation. yet that's not how a majority of americans see it. a new "washington post"/abc news poll finds 63% of americans support special counsel mueller's investigation of trump and his associates while 29% oppose it. beyond his loyal base of supporters, the president's standing is taking a hit, which 60% saying they disapprove of the job he's doing while only

36% say they approve. the country is far more split on the question of people with 49% saying proceedings should begin and 46% saying they should not. it's one of the reasons the president and republicans are bracing for the midterm elections. >> very, very big vote. it's very close. people say we have the majority. by how much? like by almost nothing. somebody has a cold, we no longer have the majority. >> reporter: all this as the president is searching for a replacement for top white house lawyer don mcgahn, who is soon to leave the west wing. the president has been in talks with washington lawyer pat chip loney, cnn has learned, a veteran of the george h.w. bush administration, who has been informally advising team trump on the mueller probe. so the president, of course, has to figure out who the next white house counsel will be. he's talking to other people, we are told, as well. but it is the position of attorney general, the fact that jeff sessions recused himself from this russia investigation more than a year ago, almost a year and a half ago, the president has never gotten over

that. he believes the justice department has been unfair. but rudy giuliani speaking to our team on capitol hill just a short time ago, he said he's glad the president has said that his job is safe until the midterm elections. republicans were worried about the political fallout potentially from all this. but, wolf, rudy giuliani also said something else. he said hopefully after all this is over, the president will look at this differently. it's unclear exactly what that means, if they're trying to urge him to leave jeff sessions in his position. but clearly no lawyers here, wolf, want the president to fire the attorney general. >> yeah. that would be a significant development. jeff zeleny at the white house, thanks very much. joining us now, congressman john garamendi, democrat. he serves on the armed services committee. congressman, thanks so much for joining us. >> certainly. >> lots to go through. bruce ohr this career justice department official, we're now told he testified behind closed doors that back in july of 2016, the author of that so-called russian dossier told him that

russian intelligence believed they had then-candidate donald trump, quote, over a barrel. over a barrel. how concerning is that to you? >> well, this has been a concern for more than two years now. throughout the election and then after the election, the first year of the president and now into this year, we have always been concerned. why is the president so kowtowing to putin? why is he always saying putin is the best or saying something positive and refusing to say anything negative? the only conclusion that most everybody has come to is that there's something there, that the russians have the president over a barrel. and maybe it has to do with money. maybe it has to do with other things. we don't know. that's what the investigation will help us understand. and in understanding it, we may be able to get some insight into how this country deals with both the president and with putin. >> congressman, i want you to stand by. we're going to continue this conversation, but i want to go

to detroit right now. >> sure. >> the aretha franklin funeral is continuing. stevie wonder is about to perform. he's being introduced, we're told, right now. i want all of our viewers to listen and to watch and to appreciate this moment. >> brothers and sisters, put your hands together for ms. gladys knight. [ applause ] >> good evening, my brothers and sisters. she's doing it again. we're all up in here, and it's been a great journey. he knows our every need, everywhere we are, and he gives us the remedies to everything one way or the other because he loves us like that.

even in our music, he sends us messages. and the little pain that we feel right now, we can put it toward this end. ♪ when you walk through the storm, hold your head up high ♪ ♪ and don't be afraid of the

dark ♪ at the end of this storm is a golden sky ♪ ♪ and the sweet silver song of a lark ♪ ♪ so just walk on through the wind ♪ ♪ it will be over after a while ♪ ♪ walk on through the rain ♪ though your dreams be tossed

and blown ♪ ♪ walk on ♪ all you gotta do is walk on ♪ just keep walking, walking ♪ walk on, walk on, walk on ♪ through the rain, and you'll never walk alone ♪ ♪ no, no, no, no ♪ you'll never, you'll never

walk alone ♪ [ applause ] because you'll feel it sometimes. you'll say ♪ when you're weary, feeling small ♪ like right now ♪ when tears are in your eyes ♪ he said i'll dry them all ♪ because he said i'm on your

side ♪ ♪ oh, yes, i am ♪ when you need a friend ♪ oh, yeah, oh, yeah, oh, yeah ♪ and your friends just can't, can't be found ♪ ♪ like a bridge over troubled water, i will lay me down ♪ ♪ like a bridge, like a bridge over troubled waters ♪ ♪ i will lay me down

♪ oh, yes, i will ♪ lay me, lay me down ♪ uh-huh ♪ why don't you just look over, look over the water ♪ ♪ uh-huh ♪ look over, look over the water ♪ ♪ uh-huh ♪ all you gotta do, all you gotta do is just trust in him, yeah ♪ ♪ everything's going to be all right ♪ ♪ just look over the water, yeah ♪ ♪ all you gotta do ♪ like a bridge over troubled

water ♪ ♪ he said, i will lay me down ♪ like a bridge, like a bridge, like a bridge over troubled water ♪ ♪ i will lay me down [ applause ] >> the one and only gladys knight.

come on and put your hands together for her. at this time we bring to you the musical voice of mr. stevie wonder. ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> giving our prayers to god -- >> well, the truth is were it not for god's goodness, greatness, we would have never known the queen of soul. we would have never known the joy that she brought to us. we would have never known

someone who could express in song the pain that we felt. and, yes, the reason that we are here today is because of love, because of how much we love this woman. the blessing of god was given to us. as we talk about all the things that those have talked about today, please remember the greatest gift that we have been given in life itself is love. [ applause ] yes, we can talk about all the things that are wrong, and there

are many. but the only thing that can deliver us is love. so what needs to happen today not only in this nation, but throughout the world, is that we need to make love great again. [ applause ] because black lives do matter. because all lives do matter. and if we love god, then we know truly it is our love that will make all things matter.

when we make love great again. that was aretha has said throughout her life. through the pain, she gave us the joy and said, let's make love great again. i never imagined that when i wrote this song at the age of 15, aretha franklin would be singing "till you come back to me," but she did. and better than i could have ever. and i thanked her every time we talked about that, and we talked about doing another song together on the next album we're going to do. but you know what? i look forward to that time, if i'm so blessed, to be with her again, to write the song that god wants me to write that will be the best ever. until then, i want everyone to join me, and i want to sing a

song to aretha that i know we all feel and i know we all want to express. so that's what i want us to do now. amen. thank you. so if everyone would join me, i'd appreciate it. if you don't, i'll see you later. [ laughter ] ♪ ♪ doo, doo, doo

♪ i'll be loving you always ♪ but in passing will grow older every day ♪ ♪ just as all that's born is new, you know what i say it true ♪ ♪ that i'll be loving you always ♪ ♪ always ♪ until the dolphins flies and parrots live at sea ♪ ♪ always ♪ until we dream of life and life becomes a dream ♪ ♪ did you know that true love

asks for nothing ♪ ♪ no her acceptance is the way we pay ♪ ♪ did you know that life has given love a guarantee ♪ ♪ to last through forever and another day ♪ ♪ just as time knew to move on since the beginning ♪ ♪ and the seasons know exactly when to change ♪ ♪ just as kindness knows no shame, know through all your joy and pain ♪ ♪ that i'll be loving you always ♪ ♪ as today i know i'm living but tomorrow could make me the past but that i mustn't fear ♪ ♪ for ail know deep in my mind ♪ cause i'll be loving you always ♪ ♪ always ♪ until the day that eight times

eight times eight is four ♪ ♪ always ♪ did you know you're loved by somebody ♪ ♪ always ♪ until the earth just for the sun denies itself ♪ ♪ i'll be lovin' you forever ♪ always ♪ until the day that you are me and i am you ♪ ♪ always ♪ until the ocean severs every mountain high ♪ ♪ always ♪ always ♪ always

♪ until the day the earth starts turnin' right to left ♪ ♪ always ♪ until the day that you are me and i am you ♪ ♪ we all know sometimes life hates and troubles can make you wish you were born in another time and space ♪ ♪ but you can bet your lifetimes that and twice it's double snoekds that god new exactly where he wanted you to be placed ♪ ♪ so make sure when you say you're in it but not of it snoekds you're not help'in to make this earth a place sometimes called hell ♪

♪ i'll be lovin' you ♪ always ♪ always ♪ always ♪ always ♪ i will always love ya ♪ i will always need ya ♪ always

>> god bless you. god bless aretha. ♪ always >> queen of soul. queen of our souls. ♪ glod bless aretha ♪ >> god bless your family. ♪ god bless aretha ♪ god bless you >> the joy is in knowing that she will have an eternal life of bliss with the most high. god bless you, amen. ♪ always

♪ always ♪ always ♪ >> let us proceed to the funeral home. please hold your voice. respect the family.

shhh. >> everyone, please, if we can have quiet, silence, and stillness in respect to the

queen. let's just close all the doors so we won't hear the chatter in the hallways, quickly. thank you. lord, make me to know mine end, the measure of my days, that i might know how frail i am. for as much as it please the almighty god in his wise providence and counsel to take out of this world the soul of our deceased sister and queen, aretha louise franklin. we therefore commit her body to the ground. earth to earth. ashes to ashes.

and dust to dust. looking forward to the general resurrection when the lord shall descend from heaven with a shout. the voice of the arc angel and the trumpet of god. i heard john say blessed are the dead that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them. repeat after me. lord have mercy upon us. >> lord have mercy upon us. >> christ have mercy upon us. >> christ have mercy upon us. >> lord have mercy upon us. >> lord have mercy upon us. >> our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. thy kingdom come. thy will be done. on earth as it is in heaven. give us this day. >> give us this day. >> our daily bread. >> our daily bread. >> and forgive us our debts. >> and forgive us our debts.

>> as we forgive our debtors. and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. in jesus' name, amen. >> amen. >> now may the grace god and the sweet communion of the holy spirit henceforth now and forever in jesus' name we pray that all the people say amen. thank you so very kindly. if would you be seated and allow the family to exit. >> a beautiful service indeed for aretha franklin, the queen of soul. stevie wonder always amazing. we got the added benefit of hearing gladys knight as well. aretha franklin, a wonderful, wonderful american woman. we'll be right back.

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a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! h breaking news. we're learning more about the sworn testimony by justice department official bruce ohr that he was told by a british spy, christopher steele, back in july of 2016 that the russians believed they had then-candidate donald trump, quote, over a barrel. let's resume our conversation with democratic congressman john garamendi. he serves on the armed services committee. congressman, do you think american intelligence agencies have been able to figure out if, in fact, russia does have indeed something on president trump, or is that something that robert

mueller will have to reach a conclusion on? >> i think robert mueller's going to ultimately figure it out, and he'll make his report to the nation, and we'll see where it's going. at the end of the day, wolf, thank you very much for turning that over to the aretha franklin funeral. those three things, gladys knight thing about walking through the storm, a bridge over troubled waters, and then stevie wonder's "make love great again," the american people are going to be patiently waiting for an answer to this question that is perplexing this nation. mueller will help us. but at the end of the day, i really believe the american people are going to find the truth, and they will act appropriately on it. and those of us in congress will follow or lead as the case might be. but we're good people. we're fair. we're respectful, and we want to see this resolved because we know that right now this nation is in a world of hurt. and i just can't get over that

performance. the message that gave to me and i hope to the rest of the folks that saw that that, yes, we're in a storm. yes, we will be a bridge over these troubled waters. and at the end of the day, love will be great again. >> let us all hope. we have no idea what robert mueller and his team have come up to. but just two days ago the president tweeted this. i'll put it up on the screen. he tweeted, how the hell is bruce ohr still employed at the justice department? disgraceful. bruce ohr, the career official of the justice department. the president going after him as you know. does this new reporting on bruce ohr's testimony before the house behind closed doors help explain why the president is now pretty aggressively going after ohr? >> well, he's gone after everybody that has provided any testimony, any evidence, or taken a turn against him. he's done that repeatedly throughout his entire presidency

beginning with comey way back more than a year and a half ago now. so, yes, it follows on a pattern. but i really think that we need to let mueller do his job. i know -- and we've got to protect mueller from the president, from what appears to be a very vengeful effort to try to basically shut down the investigation. when you take all of his comments and you begin to stack them one upon the other, it really leads to the inevitable conclusion that the president is trying to use his power of the podium, his power of the tweet, and his power of terminating people in their office and in their work to try to shut down the investigation. i think that's going to be a very, very serious problem for him. the american people want to see this through. they know that the bridge over these troubled waters is patience. it's persistence to find the

truth. and the truth will determine how this thing turns out and we'll judge that. at the end of this process, we don't know. but clearly we do know this, and that is it is a very troublesome time for america, and we've got to push through and at the end of the day, remember this is america. we're good people. we're patient. we're respectful of each other, and we want at the end of the day to have fairness all the way through this process. that may mean that the we'll see where it lead. >> what do you make of rudy giuliani's latest efforts to discredit robert mueller and come up with his own report? >> i've given up on giuliani some time ago. i try not to pay attention to him. he's constantly changing. it's kind of like saying, throw it on the wall and see if it

sticks. he's constantly throwing something up. does it stick? not thus far. he's constantly changing his direction, his message and his attack. at the end of this process, i don't think rudy giuliani will count for much, although in some ways he's placing the president in greatest jeopardy. >> counselor garamendi, thank you so much for joining us. >> my pleasure, wolf. we're joined by senior adviser david axelrod. he's a cnn political commentator. david axelrod, how significant is this closed door testimony under oath, clearly, from bruce ohr, this career official from the justice department who said that christopher steele, the british spy, had learned from russian intelligence -- had learned that russian intelligence had then-candidate donald trump, quote, over a barrel? >> well, mr. ohr, we know, is an expert on russia, on particularly the russian mafia.

and you can see in this testimony why he was concerned enough to continue these discussions with christopher steele. but we don't know the answer as to whether they did, in fact, have, or do, in fact, have the president over a barrel, and that's why the mueller investigation is so important. there was a poll this morning, wolf, in the "washington post," and a healthy majority of the american people, 61%, said they wanted to continue the probe. that testimony speaks to why it's important to get to the bottom of this. >> john dean, does it help explain why the president has been so aggressively attacking bruce ohr in recent days and weeks? >> it could well be part of the explanation. he seems to be most troubled with the fact that mr. ohr is married to a woman who works for fusion gps, which was involved in the original research that resulted in the dossier

surfacing. and he's really attacking a mid-level career attorney at the department of justice who has been invaluable in the area of organized crime in russia and apparently other eastern european countries. so it's just senseless what he's doing. >> what do you think, david axelrod, about the fact that now yet another washington lobbyist has pleaded guilty to cooperating -- first of all, illegally not registering as a foreign agent in washington, and also illegally cooperating with russian-backed ukranian oligarchs, and he's pleaded guilty to felony counts today. what does this suggest to you where the whole mueller probe is going? mueller referred this case to the u.s. attorney in the district of columbia, but as you know, they're all part of the same justice department team. >> what i think we've seen is a mosaic coming together piece by piece. only bob mueller and the people who are working on this probe

know where all these pieces fit. but as more and more get filled in, you get the sense that this probe is moving forward and in a direction that is troubling. i do want to say about the president and ohr and just building on something john said, it is sense isless less, in a w, but a report from rudy giuliani, a sort of facts report, they have built a conspiracy journey that has whipped up the base, and they fear it may go to the house of representatives, ask ru -- and rudy giuliani has been blunt about this. they want to win the battle of public opinion and they've tried to muddy all these lines. ohr is a collateral victim of

that, i think. >> do you want to weigh in, john? what do you think? >> that could well be right. i don't disagree with david. it's senseless in the fact that with the overwhelming majority of americans, it is not resonating. it is not playing out at all. maybe with his base, yes, it will cause confusion, but in the greater scope of things, it certainly doesn't make any sense to me. >> before i let you go, john dean, i know you've been asked to testify during the confirmation hearings next week for the supreme court nominee judge brett kavanaugh. i take it you'll testify against this confirmation, and if that's the case, tell us why. >> well, what i've been asked to address is the judge's positions on executive power. he has fairly extreme positions on executive power, and he's joining a court that is very executive power prone, if you will. so i'm going to talk about some

of the implications of that and try to share my insights with the committee. >> we'll be watching that very closely. we'll have extensive live coverage of the brett kavanaugh hearings next week. thank you, guys. appreciate you joining us. finally a final farewell to senator john mccain, his body lying in state in the capital rotunda after a very emotional service that brought politicians in both parties together. i want to go to our congressional correspondent on capitol hill. there were so many moving moments during that ceremony earlier today. >> reporter: that's right, so many touching moments, indeed, wolf, and so many moments that also happened in private. the last scene of memories of senator mccain, cindy mccain, his wife, senator graham having a private moment after that ceremony. they visited senator mccain's desk on that senate floor together one last time, and graham at one point took two

large roses out of the larger vase that sat on mccain's desk and handed them to cindy mccain to keep. that was such a simple, graceful acknowledgment that mccain did indeed spend so much time away from his family as he served up here on capitol hill. a poignant sound. the sky is opening up and rain pouring down, just as senator john mccain's casket was brought step by step into the u.s. capitol for the last time. a somber end to the senator's 35-year career on capitol hill. >> this is one of the bravest souls our nation has ever produced. >> reporter: the capitol rotunda filled with mccain's colleagues from the house and senate. >> i remember thinking more than once, yeah, he really does talk like a sailor. but you see, with john, it was

never feigned disagreement. the man didn't feign anything. he just relished the fight. >> reporter: paying tribute to mccain's legacy in washington, oftentime as the maverick, a thorn in the side of his own party. >> depending on the issue, you knew john would either be your staunchest ally or your most stubborn opponent. >> reporter: in the absence of the president, which was mccain's wish -- >> in every generation there are those who put country first, who prize service ahead of self, who summon idealism from a cynical age. john mccain was such a man. >> reporter: vice president mike pence speaking on behalf of the white house. >> the president asked me to be here on behalf of a grateful nation. >> reporter: and as was mccain's wish as well, to send a final message of bipartisanship. he wanted to break protocol and have the leaders of both

parties, republican and democrat, in both chambers to lay wreath together at his casket. john mccain's grieving family, including his 106-year-old mother, roberta mccain, tearfully continuing their goodbyes, as did republican congressman sam johnson, a p.o.w. for nearly seven years who shared a prison cell with mccain. and mccain's body will lie in state tonight in the capitol rotunda with a ceremonial unit of the capitol police keeping watch over the casket until tomorrow morning. from there his casket will be taken to the national cathedral for services there with one stop along the way, wolf, a pause at the vietnam veterans memorial. >> we have live pictures coming in from the capitol rotunda right now, the public still paying their respects. they're walking through there, waiting in long lines just to get an opportunity to say goodbye to a great, great

american. once again, stay with cnn as we bring you more of the official tributes to senator mccain. i'll be back tomorrow morning 8:00 a.m. eastern for our special coverage of the funeral service of john mccain at the washington national cathedral. that would include eulogies from former presidents george w. bush and barack obama. erin burnett "outpru d"outfront right now. outfront a key witness admitting he helped funnel an operation. tonight he's now cooperating with robert mueller. a top official said he had trump, quote, over a barrel. calls to impeach. will democrats listen? let's go "outfront." >> i'm jim sciutto in