[Keilar:] "Rock bottom," that's how former Vice President Joe Biden characterizes the latest controversy coming out of the White House. This one isn't from President Trump. It's coming from one of his lower-level aides. It's about Arizona Senator John McCain, who has been away from Capitol Hill battling brain cancer. The controversial remark coming from White House aide, Kelly Sadler. A White House official said that Sadler was reacting to McCain's opposition to Trump's pick for the CIA director when she dismissed his opposition and said, quote, "He's dying anyway." A source said that Sadler apologized to McCain's daughter, Meghan, but that did not keep Meghan McCain from saying this today.
[Meghan Mccain, Daughter Of John Mccain:] Since my dad has been diagnosed, it's almost a year July 19th, I really feel like I understand the meaning of life and it is not how you die, it is how you live. Right?
[Mccain:] And I don't understand what kind of environment you're working in when that would be acceptable and then you can come to work the next day and still have a job. And that's all I have to say about it.
[Whoopi Goldberg, Co-host, The View:] I guess the fish stinks from the head because it's easy to say something like that and not think that, ooh, that is a wrong-headed comment to make out loud. You can think what you want but you don't say this kind of thing out loud.
[Keilar:] Joining me now is HLN host, S.E. Cupp. S.E., you just had an exclusive interview with the House Speaker Paul Ryan and you talked about this. What did he tell you?
[S.e. Cupp, Hln Host, "s.e. Cupp Unfiltered":] I did. I talked to Speaker Ryan today. He's speaking at the Jack Kemp Forum. We talked about a number issues, from poverty to upward mobility to the future of the GOP. I asked him whether he's been tough enough on Trump. That will all air on Monday on HLN. But I did, I asked him about today's news and those comments about John McCain. Here's what he had to say.
[Cupp:] I want to ask you about John McCain. He's meant a lot to you and to me and to many Republicans, and he's taking some unnecessary incoming from surprising corners at the worst possible time. Is there anything you'd like to say to him or to his family or to Republicans?
[Rep. Paul Ryan, , Wisconsin, Speaker Of The House:] Look, John McCain's a hero, no two ways about it. John McCain, I mean, he gave his entire adult life for this country. John McCain fought for us in Vietnam, was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, came home and dedicated his life to public service. His vocation in life was making life better for people and better for the country. There are so many accolades I could heap onto John McCain. But I know John very well. John McCain helped us save our military. He was so passionate about this. We lost 80 servicemembers to death by training and equipment failures. That's part of a problem of a budget we had. John McCain made sure we reinvested in our military, fixed our Veteran Affairs problems. His legacy is so long that John McCain is a hero to us. And John McCain, all of our thoughts and prayers are with John and his family right now at this time.
[Keilar:] And also, S.E., you are it's very interesting to hear that reaction from him. You're also friends with Meghan McCain. With that in mind, when you hear something like this reported out, a comment from a White House aide, you also have a very personal perspective on this. What did you think about the comment?
[Cupp:] You know, it I don't like to rush to Meghan's defense. She likes to joke that she is her dad in a dress. She's a really strong, tough cookie. She doesn't need my help. But it's hard when you hear comments like that about your friend, your friend's family, especially when you know what they've been going through. And it just so gross and disappointing. And of course, you know, it's hard it's hard to be too surprised, right? Kelly's boss, President Trump, has mocked John McCain himself in public. So it's a really troubling times we're living in when that kind of comment is made on the job, on the clock, in front of a large group of people with really no concern about how it would land or whether it would get out and whom it would offend.
[Keilar:] Clearly, someone was offended, right? Because they let it be known that it was said.
[Cupp:] I would hope. That's a very generous view of how that got out. I would hope someone was offended. This is, of course, as you know, a White House that is very internally combustible, lots of leak, lots of people telling on each other. So I'm not sure if this was intended to shame Kelly and bring this to light or some other sort of internal politics going on. Who knows? But I would like to think someone in that room was offended by that comment.
[Keilar:] That's a really good point, S.E. S.E. Cupp, thank you so much.
[Cupp:] Thank you.
[Keilar:] You can see her full interview with House Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday on
[Hln, 5:] 00 p.m. Eastern, over on our sister network. Next, did the secretary of Homeland Security threaten to quit her job after President Trump reportedly berated her over border security? We'll have more on that as we await the White House press briefing.