monday night on c-span 2. tuesday, arizona governor doug ducey announced that former senator john kyle would temporarily fill the setat of te late senator john mccain. was in the senate from 1995-23 said he was committed to serving until january of next year. a special election will be to happen in 20 to find a permanent successor to fill the remainder of senator mccain's term. from the arizona state capitol in phoenix, this is 15 minutes. gov. ducey: we have just concluded a very difficult week

for our state and our country. john mccain was an american hero and we were very blessed to have him as our senator. we're all aware of the size of the void john mccain leaves. our prayers and our heart remain with cindy mccain and the entire mccain family and we will continue to celebrate the life of john mccain. i want to start off by saying that we all hoped today would never come. but it has come. i realize what an important decision this is and that there is no replacing senator john mccain. but the law requires me to do it, and the people of arizona deserve representation in the u.s. senate. it's the decision that i made

with careful and thoughtful deliberation. can imagine i received a lot of advice from people about this selection. most of it unsolicited. however, the best piece of advice that i received was from another governor. who said, just do the right thing. persone best possible regardless of politics. it was really good advice. and clarifying advice. and it made my job easy. bestcontemplated who could serve our state in the u.s. senate, i kept coming back to one name and one person. jon kyl. in arizona with the stature of senator john kyle. he is a man without compare or p eer. with nearly two decades

experience in the senate serving alongside john mccain, senator kyl is prepared to hit the ground running. over the last few months, senator kyl has been working closely with the white house on the senate confirmation of president donald trump's nominee to the u.s. supreme court brett kavanaugh. kyl can cast a vote for kavanaugh's confirmation. deacon ofl is a integrity, highly regarded by people on both sides of the aisle. and able to work across party lines to get results. reason he was considered one of the best senators in the country. it is because he was. he's an expert on the matter's facing arizona. and issues use,

facing our native american communities. can enter and who lead on those conversations. for those reasons, i have asked senator john kyl to step forward once again in service to our state and serve in seat vacated by arizona's most beloved adopted son john mccain. people automatically assume that this appointment will serve through 2020. i haven't been able to get that assurance from senator kyl yet. what i have gotten is a commitment to serve arizona through at least this session of congress and it's my hope that he serves longer. there is far too much work

before the senate, work that is important and consequential to our state and our nation. work that demands immediate attention. it's not the time for newcomers and now is not the time for on-the-job training. arizona need someone who can hit the ground running on day one, and that is jon u.s kyl. the fact is every single day that jon kyl represents arizona is a day when our state is being well served. at the memorial here in the state capital last week, senator kyl spoke of how senator mccain always put the interests of arizona and america before all else. done the sames throughout his own service to our state and nation, and will do so again. lastly, i want to thank carol

kyl. she has been so kind and giving and selfless, and we so sincerely appreciate her. thank you, carol. no question, these are difficult circumstances, but we are blessed to have the leadership and statesmanship of jon kyl as we come together and move forward. thank you. >> good morning. i'm grateful for governor ducey's confidence in me and honored to accept this appointment. saddened by the circumstances that require the appointment. i appreciate there is only one john mccain. john and i served the people of arizona together for nearly 20 irit, alongn that sp with senator flake, i will do my best to assure the arizonans continue to be well presented in

the u.s. senate. governor asked me to serve for the remainder of the term, and he's made some very convincing points. i'm committed to serving to the second session of the 115th congress. i do not seek the seat in 2020 or any other office in the future. i'm accepting this appointment to fill the seat they by the passing of idea front because of my sense of duty to the state i love in the institution of the senate in which i served for 18 years. and because the governor asked for my help. and because i am putting my country first, just as this seat's previous occupant did every single day for more than 30 years. muchow, there is unfinished business on the senate's, including confirmation of president trump's nominees to judicial and executive branch positions. i look forward to going to washington and getting to work. thank you, governor. >> will you take a few

questions? let me start with the obvious one, governor and no offense, i have known the good senator since he was in this chamber. there was some comment that mr. mccain was looking for a latina woman and we get, god help us, another old white guy. gov. ducey: i wanted to pick the best possible person regardless of politics. there is big work to be done in the united states senate. no one in the state of arizona has the statute of john -- the stature of jon kyl. i asked and i'm grateful he accepted. >> why couldn't you commit to surpass the end of the year, and does you lobby work at does that indeed your ability to serve in the senate? >> the as a to the second question is no. and the reason i did not want to commit beyond the end of this congressional session is because when i left the senate, almost

six years ago, i had no intention of returning. to be with my family to come back to arizona more and to be at their side. so, in that spirit, i am willing to serve certainly through the end of this session at least in order make sure ist the business that ongoing as taken care of but i do not want to make a commitment beyond that. >> should senator kyl step down before 2020, one, who do you think you would appoint been, or two, would you leave the seat open until 2020? gov. ducey: like i said, i am hoping the senator will consider serving longer. i'll fulfill my responsibility as they come due. right now senator kyl's going to

be heading to the airport to fly back to washington, d.c. we are working with our secretary of state and the secretary of the senate and the leader mcconnell to have senator jon kyl sworn into the united states senate to complete the work of this congress. governor, just to follow-up on if senator kyl does step down at the year, which will point? gov. ducey: i have been clear on that from the beginning. that is not going to happen. i not in the universe of potentials for this. i love the job i have. i want to retain it. when i considered entering public life, i visited with senator kyl and told him i thinking of getting involved in public service. he askedirst question me was do you have an executive personality or legislative personality? and i knew the answer immediately. i said in executive personality. he said, don't consider

congress. i'm going to stick right there. >> governor, he said he wanted to make this decision regardless of politics but with all due respect, senator kyl has been working with the white house and -- in the kavanaugh appointment. i don't understand how you -- y ou swear he's a non politicized appointment when he is someone who has been involved in the political process. gov. ducey: i think in picking the best possible person, the person who has the experience, that has done the job and can soothe the citizens in terms of what they can accomplish. jon kyl has a record, he has worked across the aisle, and he has been lauded by both sides. and he is going to do a good job. >> you are not defending him because he is going to vote for capital? gov. ducey: i'm picking him because he is the best possible person. udible]

senator'so the late family, you have taken their opinions into consideration. what is the reaction to your selection? gov. ducey: of course. i think you saw last week was all about honoring john mccain of comforting the family and the citizens of arizona. thoseant to hold conversations and confidence but i want you to know that the conversation i had with cindy this morning was incredibly positive and i would point you to her social media feed as to her response to this decision. >> last question. senator, how would you describe your relationship with president trump? >> i don't really have a relationship with president trump. i've only met him on one occasion several months ago but it is my honor to be helping on the kavanaugh nomination. i believe in judge kavanaugh. in that capacity i've been able

to support not just judge kavanaugh but the administration put >. >> you described his style as boorish. you still stand by that? >> i think sometimes his desire to jump into the middle of the fight or create a fight, that reminds me of somebody, but sometimes that can be detrimental to what he is trying to achieve. id that's what i said, and stand by that comment. >> i will direct everyone else -- thank you. >> thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] a day later, jon kyl went to the u.s. capitol to be sworn in

as senator