MCCAIN MEMORIAL | Meghan McCain cries during her father's ceremony at Arizona Capitol

PHOENIX (AP) — John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, wept as her family stood in front of the Arizona senator's flag-draped casket at the Arizona Capitol.

His colleague, former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, opened comments at a ceremony for the 81-year-old Republican who died Saturday of an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Kyl says he has been with McCain all around the world and that he had better instincts on when to assert U.S. power than anyone else he knew.

He said he would miss McCain and that his greatest contribution was national security.

1:03 p.m.

PHOENIX (AP) — Family, friends and constituents were gathering gathered today for John McCain, the first of two days of services here before he departs the state he has represented since the 1980s.

A private ceremony began at 10 a.m. at the Arizona State Capitol Museum rotunda, where McCain will lie in state. McCain died of brain cancer last Saturday at age 81.

Black curtains dressed up the rotunda's Arizona State Capitol Museum, which on a typical day hosts tourists and history buffs as well state capitol workers bustling from one office to another. Arizona and U.S. flags encircled the room.

Before the ceremony started, veterans and active military members had taken spots on the sidewalk to watch the hearse that will bring McCain's body from a funeral home to the Capitol. Other military members in uniform congregated on the Capitol plaza.

Veteran Judith Hatch handed out flags to those assembled, saying Arizona lost a champion for the military.

"We definitely have lost a strong advocate, so we'll need someone who is going to step up to the plate," Hatch said.