WASHINGTON -- Two former presidents are expected to speak at Sen. John McCain's service and he will lie in state in both the nation's capital and Arizona as part of a cross-country funeral procession ending with his burial at the U.S. Naval Academy, according to plans taking shape Sunday.
In his book The Restless Wave, which was published in May, McCain said he would be buried close to his classmate Charles Larson, the late admiral who commanded the Pacific fleet and later served as superintendent of the Naval Academy.
President Donald Trump extended his condolences to McCain's family in a Saturday night tweet. But the president, who has mocked McCain's war record since as far back as 1999, offered no words on McCain himself.
"My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!" Trump said.
The White House lowered flags to half-staff.
McCain had long feuded with Trump, and two White House officials said McCain's family had asked, before the senator's death, that Trump not attend the funeral services. Vice President Mike Pence is likely to attend, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private discussions.
A day after McCain died of brain cancer at 81, details of the farewell to the decorated Vietnam War hero, prisoner of war and six-term senator were announced.
His office said that McCain will lie in state in the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday and have a funeral at North Phoenix Baptist Church on Thursday. The procession will then head to Washington, where McCain will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda on Friday with a formal ceremony and time for the public to pay respects. The next day, the procession will pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and head to a funeral at Washington National Cathedral. A private funeral is planned for Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who blocked McCain's own White House ambitions, are among those expected to speak at McCain's funeral. It was unclear at which funeral the former presidents would speak.
"These were bitter contests, both of them," said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and "to ask them to speak at your funeral, and for them to be honored at the opportunity, that tells you all you need to know."
Flake told CBS' Face the Nation that McCain "was quick to forgive -- certainly put the good of the country above himself, and the fact that his former opponents will be there speaking says all we need to know."
McCain died at his Arizona ranch after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.
A black hearse, accompanied by a police motorcade, could be seen driving away from the ranch near Sedona where McCain spent his final weeks. For 50 miles along Interstate 17 southbound, on every overpass and at every exit ramp, people watched the procession. Hundreds, including many waving American flags, parked their cars and got out to watch.
McCain will lie in state in Arizona on Wednesday, when he would have turned 82. "This is a rare and distinct occurrence for a truly special man," GOP Gov. Doug Ducey said in a tweet.
Ducey does not plan to announce his selection of a Senate successor to McCain until after McCain's burial. Under state law, the governor's appointee to serve until the next general election in 2020 must come from the same political party. A statement from Ducey's office said that "now is a time for remembering and honoring a consequential life."
McCain was the son and grandson of admirals and followed them to the U.S. Naval Academy. A pilot, he was shot down over Vietnam and held as a prisoner of war for more than five years. He went on to win a seat in the House and, in 1986, the Senate, where he served for the rest of his life.
Tributes poured in from around the globe.
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted in English that McCain "was a true American hero. He devoted his entire life to his country." Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said McCain's support for the Jewish state "never wavered. It sprang from his belief in democracy and freedom." And Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, called McCain "a tireless fighter for a strong trans-Atlantic alliance. His significance went well beyond his own country."
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lauded McCain for "working to bring people together here at home and around the world."
"He really understood in the marrow of his bones what it meant to be an American," Clinton said on NBC's Meet the Press.
At a time when U.S. institutions are being tested, Clinton added, McCain was "trying to sound the alarm" and urging Americans to rally around the country's fundamental ideals, such as human rights.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, who developed a friendship with McCain while they served together in the Senate, said the Arizona lawmaker will "cast a long shadow."
"The spirit that drove him was never extinguished: We are here to commit ourselves to something bigger than ourselves," Biden said.
Retired U.S. Army Gen. and former CIA Director David Petraeus said McCain spent nearly every Fourth of July over the decade after Sept. 11, 2001, with U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"No one had the backs of America's new greatest generation -- those who fought the wars of the post-9/11 period -- more than he did," Petraeus said on This Week. "No one did more to assure that they had what was needed to prevail on the battlefield."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she supports Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer's call to rename the Russell Senate Office Building after McCain.
"As you go through life, you meet few truly great people. John McCain was one of them," Schumer said. "Maybe most of all, he was a truth teller -- never afraid to speak truth to power in an era where that has become all too rare."
Information for this article was contributed by Laurie Kellman and Ken Thomas of The Associated Press and by Felicia Sonmez, Abha Bhattarai, Tory Newmyer and Mike DeBonis of The Washington Post.
A Section on 08/27/2018