FRONTLINE

>> This is a big day... Can't underestimate... >>

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On July 27, 2017... >> The Senate is scheduled to vote on the latest version of the bill to replace Obamacare... >> They're going to be there all night, what's called a vote-a-rama. >> Washington was closely watching Senator John McCain. >> A vote on healthcare, a vote that... >> He was the key vote on President Trump's first major

legislative initiative

a repeal of Obamacare. >> Every time we saw him, it was like, "Do you know how you're going to vote? Do you know how you're going to vote?" And he was grouchier and grouchier as the day went on, as he sometimes gets. and he just said, "Stay tuned," you know? It was sort of like... he kind of was even saying, like, "Watch the vote. It'll be a show." >> He is expected to return to Capitol Hill today... >>

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Just over a week before, McCain had been diagnosed with a deadly form of brain cancer. >> Everybody knew, at that point, it came down to, of all people, John McCain, the one who had been fighting with the president, who had been a maverick, as he portrayed himself all these years. And all eyes are on him. >> Today senators are voting on a repeal-only plan... >> G.O.P. leaders... >> It all came down to one vote, on one night,

at 1

30 in the morning. >> It was the most dramatic night on the Senate floor I had seen in all my years up there. >> Mr. Barrasso... >> The vote's ticking away, the vote's ticking away, and McCain's on the floor, but he's not voting. >> Mr. Blunt... >> It was perfect manifestation of John McCain's career, that it would fall to him, in the middle of he night, to render final judgment on President Trump's major legislative initiative. >>

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Fellow Republican senator Susan Collins had been pushing McCain to vote against the bill Trump was backing. >> Lisa Murkowski and I knew that he had reservations. We were talking with him about the bill, and all of a sudden, he pointed to both of us and he said, "You know, you two are right." It was then that I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned around, and it was Vice President Pence. >> Pence had come to pressure McCain to support the president. >> The vice president stood toe- to-toe with John McCain, and he was in his space, it was very close. They went on for, I don't know, it seemed like 15 or 20 minutes, back and forth, back and forth. >> One of the things I most admire about John McCain is, he cannot be intimidated by anyone or anything. >> He knew he had the power to enable Trump's presidency, to give him a new lease on life, or to ensure a critical defeat early in his presidency. >> Vice President Pence turned on his heel and walked away. >> And then it was time for McCain to vote... >> You saw Mitch McConnell looking more and more unhappy, his arms were closed. And you could tell from the body language on the Republican side that they were very worried. >> John McCain walks up to where the vote clerks are and he lifts his hand very dramatically. >> Mrs. Ernst... >> He knew that this was his one last chance to really take a stand, capture the nation's imagination in the process, but also remind his party that they have to do things differently. >> McCain, with a thumbs-down gesture, shocked the chamber. >> No. (gasping, light applause) >> You could hear audible gasps in the chamber. And those gasps of surprise came from both sides of the aisle. >> No. (gasping, light applause) >> This was John McCain as people have come to know him over decades in public service. And it sort of stood out as kind of this cinematic culmination of the career that he has had in Washington. >> In a shocking vote,