senator graham: right. [jeering] >> candidate so unqualified for position the vice president of the united states had to cast the historic deciding vote. the people of south carolina wanted you to be the one who stood on your own and said no. [cheering] >> only one more vote was needed. my question to you is this, senator graham -- why would you vote for someone who wants to dismantle the public school vouchers tooviding those who want to attend private school while essentially dismantling the entire public school system in the process? the same system in which you yourself were educated. senator graham: all right. i got the question. >> south carolina has long suffered from a lack of investment in education. senator graham: all right. >> please explain to us how providing vouchers for private schools with public funds will help students who need it the most? senator graham: great question. all right. here is what you need to realize. here is what you need to realize. ,hat i did go to public school but the

graham: no. [cheers and applause] questioner: but one of the reasons i am here today is to ask but education. mr. graham: right. questioner: over the past several weeks, the people of south carolina flooded your office with phone calls, emails, tweets and even in person office visits. about the nomination of betsy devos. mr. graham: right. questioner: a candidate so unqualified for her position that the vice president of the united states had to cast the historic deciding vote. the people of south carolina wanted you to be the one who stood on your own and said no. cheers and applause] only one more vote was needed. so my question to you is this, senator graham. why would you vote for someone who wants to dismantle the public school system by providing vouchers to those who want to attend private school, while essentially dismantling the entire public school system in the process, the same system in which yourself were educated? [cheers and applause] mr. graham: all right. i got your question. qu

this one comes from sunny adams of south carolina for you, senator graham. >> this is for senator grahamican from my beloved state of south carolina, i fiee as many that you have done much to undermine the president, his administration as well as his calls to safety. i would like to know when and how you would answer to the nearly 60 million constituents who voted republican and want his protection and changes. >> that's really a good question. you know what i hear a lot from republicans? help the president more. i hear from democrats and independents, "save the country." here's what you can expect from me. what you've gotten for the last20 years. i want to help president trump, but when i don't agree with him, i'm okay with saying i don't. i think his plan for immigration is becoming more realistic, i want to help him win a war we can't afford to lose. my biggest fear is not losing my job. my biggest fear is not not standing up and speaking up when i k it's right. [ applause ] >> lindsey graham and i have a record on national security policy, and i'll go all the way back to ronald reaga

what is your response to senator graham? it should be note that had president obama denied president trump's allegations. but other branches, doj, i guess could have ordered the tap. what is your take. >> my take is from the position of haviwhat i know for a fact iy application for a warrant to the foreign intelligence vaim court has an enormous paper trail. so if such a warrant existed, if such a surveillance tap was authorized by the court, there are details that would be available to the new president about it. it is also highly likely that president obama would not know about every foreign intelligence surveillance court warrant issued or asked for or every surveillance authorized. so it's quite possible for president trump to be correct that surveillance was authorized against trump tower and for president obama spokesperson to be correct that president obama did not know about that. so it's a very complicated set of laws. i also want to take a moment to slow everyone down on special prosecutor talk. yesterday i heard a

but also mccain and graham.hat graham is doing who takes national security very seriously is he's checking what he sees as the potential recklessness of the president and what he says and how he describes things. why this may be about wiretaps or not having wiretap, for lindsey graham it's about, did you accidentally drop a nuclear bomb? did you accidentally drop a conventional bomb? do you know what you're doing and have a way to articulate the security equities of the country in a fair, consistent and honest way. and lindsey graham is going out and holding this president to account in a pretty impressive way. >> almost calling, some have described, calling his bluff a little bit. put your cards on the table. >> if there are wiretaps, if president obama broke the law, as john mccain also said and wiretapped the u.s. citizen and went out, we want to know that. they're also calling foul on donald trump if that evidence is not there. james comey has a very hard position because what we're hearing behind closed doo

if grassley is willing to help senator graham and senator graham has said, yes, i'm going to subpoena information about wiretapping into trump tower on the part of president obama, if it exists, grassley so far has indicated he will back up senator graham. again, a lot of interest for comey to try to mend fences a little bit. still so many questions about what he knows, what they know, what is really going on, katy. >> let'slien to that pound from senator graham talking about how he wants answers fro rlier today on "morning joe." sound is on its way, i'm told. >> congress is going to flex its muscle here. you see that all over the place. we'll issue a subpoena to get the information. we'll hold up the deputy attorney general's nomination until congress is provided with information to finally clear the air as to whether or not there was ever a warrant issued against the trump campaign. when i first heard it i thought, well, that was just kind of a wild claim. i really don't know. if it's not true, tell me it's not true. why is it taking so long to get the answer? so, i have no evidence

here is republican senator, lindsay graham, republican senator lindsay graham last hour on our show talkingn akin that want to know about russia. >> if you go to myrtle beabeach -- >> if it turns out there's a criminal investigation by the fbi, that should be inferred to a special council for prosecution, and i want to know what you think about that? >> we are having a new deputy attorney general come forth and he was introduced by two democrats and from the state of maryland and i want to give him a chance to be able to look at this investigation, monitor it, advise it up until the point i believe he cannot do that. i do not believe he would be disqualified because he was picked by president obama. the need for a special prosecutor would only arise if we lost confidence in him, if there is a criminal investigation. director comey is a good man, and tell us if there's a warrant or criminal investigation and then we will find out whether or not we need a special prosecutor. >> david ignatius, i am wondering in the course of you talking to your many, many sources in washington, d.c., if you h

your reaction to senator graham. are these town halls and these listening posts, are these effective particularly as the republicans try to get back on track with an agenda? >> i have to say i was listening to graham's town hall before we came back on now, he really is one of the most interesting politicians in washington. he's a south carolina senator, south carolina is one of the most conservative states in the country. he's way to the left in south carolina. and he gets up in front of the crowds and depends the epa which is not popular in terms of conservatives. he made the point he wants to try and do a bipartisan health care bill to save what both sides really agree are some problems with obamacare, although i'm not sure he's where most democrats are on that issue. and then on trump's tweet, i have to say, fred, i really think it's irresponsible for the president of the united states who swears an oath to faithfully execute the laws to talk about a massive federal law collapsing and allowing it to collapse. that

senator graham said the u.s.work with other countries whose elections are coming up like frans and germany. can the u.s. be influential, particularly, as it relates to russia, threatening to interfere with those elections? >> it can, if there's legislation passed or new sanctions, it would have an impact to russia's economy that's very weak and the bigger statement that graham made was to have the investigation go where it's going to go. the failure of health care, the sort of, this did weaken president trump and embolden republicans like graham to not defend him when it comes to russia. >> and also, graham said the house intel committee is about to fall apart and he's making direct inference to devin nunez, the chairman of that committee. reporting to the white house before even talking to his own committee. does this look like the divide is widening as it pertaining to republican leadership? >> i think it is, there is a divide among republicans. now, again, health care, looks like a big unwieldy party. i think

graham:. go ahead, senator graham? ilet's see if can get my head around where we are at. i'm not sure i have been playing .he same game as everyone else reevaluating the game i need to plan the future. it's important to know where you .tand before i can vote yes i think it's true for a republican nominee but not so much for a democrat. let me tell you what senator leahy said. i don't want to lay out a test in the abstract that might determine what your vote or a test of the vote would be in the case it you have yet to see that may well come before the supreme court. that's the standard when there is a democratic nomination. when there is a republican nominee, you've got to tell the senators that you won't get in the way of their agenda. i'm not asking you to tell me whether or not you agree with my agenda. i'm asking you whether or not you will fairly here the cases before you, because to do anything else would be unfair to you. that of americans believe life begins at conception. a lot of americans believe that roe v. wade was a graph of power from the legislative. but i

kevin: graham, another three. good!es to another level. [whistle] dan: the level that they're on right now is very impressive. kevin: they're going to the sweet 16, again. reggie: what a performance. what a performance by mason, graham, and, of course, sorry, miss jackson, josh jackson is for real. kevin: i wonder if this means a little bit more to bill self. he was a coach here for oral roberts and for the university of tulsa. he grew up in oklahoma city. his son tyler who has now just checked into the game was born in tulsa. and now he is in hit a shot the other night. mcquaid shot from three, no good. and tyler self, who wants a career in basketball, too, in management, in coaching. he'll take the next step but his dad said it's been a blessing to coach him in his senior season. great father-son relationship and part of something special in another season at kansas basketball. kansas has scored 190 points in the two games here. that's bill's son right there. tyler self. dan: and kevin, tell me that that matchup betwe

i knew right then lindsey graham was a man i wanted to spend time with. he's entertaining, dedicated. and his beginnings humble. as many of you don't know. clg fact he raised his sister after his parents died. quite a great american success story. so it's common interest, common values. >> and sense of humor? >> sense of humor. wish our beloved friend joe lieberman were here, called us the three amigos. another wonderful person that we've enjoyed pleasure of his company for 25 years. >> senator graham, what do we not know about senator john mccain? >> that you can say on tv? >> say anything. >> what you see is what you get. there's not a private side of john mccain that is much different. he's cantankerous and can be a complete jerk to his closest friends and hug you dearly next. here's what started all this. john asked me to support him for president. you know why i did? he asked. no one ever asked me before. so over that, between then and now been all over the world with him and worst -- if he reads in the paper 5,000 people slaughtered, says we have to

at least lindsey graham is holding a town hall.these communities they haven't had the chance to express questions, expression concerns. one of the things constantly i hear, they weren't even sure what this bill was or where it was going or what the impacts were and they had concerns. >> i grew up in wichita kansas we definitely hear what they have to say. thank you for your reporting today. >>> still ahead president trump is ready to move on. republicans are recovering and regrouping after pulling a healthcare bill before it went to a house vote. in his remarks yesterday, the president said a bipartisan bill w will come out of the defeat. >> i'll tell you what going to come out of it. i believe a better bill. there were things in this bill i didn't particularly love. and i think it's a better bill. we could have things i would have liked more. if we had bipartisan i think we could have a healthcare bill that would be the ultimate. and i think the democrats know that, also. and someday in the not too distant future that will happen.

john mccain and lindsey graham graham, constantly attacking the republican president colluding with theeft propaganda media. do not forget senator graham made a promise. he broke that rnc pledge. he did not support donald trump in the general election like he said he would. listen to john mccain, he is on every other night criticizing the president. >> president trump has to provide the american people not just the intelligence committee but the american people with evidence that his predecessor, was guilty of breaking the law because our director of national intelligence general james clapper testified that there was absolutely no truth to that allegation. so i think the president has one of two choices. either retract or provide the information that the american people deserve. >> sean: here with reaction, monica crowley, geraldo rivera. geraldo, let's start with you. everyone has free speech. we make are living with free speech. here is the first time republicans have a chance to do really, really big things. it's like a never ending attack by these two guys. they seem better for wha

you hear these people in front of senator lindsey graham.e can't continue this way on either side where everybody is screaming, no one's listening, we're not getting anything done. >> so i want you to know, democrats have put bills forward to fix the affordable healthcare act. it was shut down because it was from the democratic side. i hope -- i went to congress understanding that this country was built on a two party system. our constitution is not republican or democrat, it was both parties coming together. i hope that happens. >> before i lose your this afternoon, i want to talk you about the president's relationship with the african-american america community. is it fair to say there's a rocky relationship there what were you impressions of that meeting? we weren't there, what happened? >> we went with the intent with saying mr. president, you asked the question what do we have to lose. we wanted to educate you. we went into that meeting saying for whatever reason, the president has the wrong perception of african-americans. we're broke,

lindsey graham just yapp wrappe. and before any questions even came, he addressed the tweets right off the top. wooel we have the sound. >> if the former president of the united states was able to obtainawfully to monitor trump's campaign for violating the law, that would be the biggest scandal since watergate. i'm very worried that our president is suggesting that the former president has done something illegally. i would be very worried if in fact the obama administration was able to obtain a warrant lawfully about trump campaign activity with foreign governments. >> reporter: as you saw, this crowd was overwhelmingly democrat or i should say anti-trump. lindsey graham said there is a lot of liberals here in the crowd for south carolina. but this was a done serconserva direct. it went 3:1 for donald trump. but what they did, people came in and any put their questions into a box and then they were randomly pulled out. five different questions asked about trump's tax returns. here is one off of those responses. >> we

i remember thinking every time, i wish lyndsey graham can become on stage.he man has such a well, in-depth of knowledge. he and john mccain had a bravery about them. their colleagues on the other side of the house. these with men who have run for president. they carry a great deal of weight. when you see what lyndsey graham says on tv, it is not the same as any senator who says you are going to be trouble. there is a handful of people threatening the fbi and actually have the fbi take it seriously and we may have development on this fairly soon. one way or a,

next, the woman who pushed senator graham to hold that town hall.ards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. find out how american express cards and services we've always been dreamers. we've been a symbol of the future. a standard. a star. but our past is just that, past. what lies ahead is in our hands. we are pioneers. ♪ making cars that push the limits of imagination. cars you can drive without your hands. cars built for tomorrow. so, our greatest achievements can't lay behind us. because our destiny lies ahead. that's what it means to drive the world forward. that's what it means to dare. imy moderate to severeng crohn's disease. i didn't think there was anything else to talk about. but then i realized there was. so, i finally broke the silence with my doctor about what i was experiencing. he said humira is for people like me who have tried other medications but still experience the sy

lipid say graham was on "new day" today, mr. painter, and he was talking about what evidence he has seen, what he hasn't seen, what he still wants to know. listen to what he says. >> to get a warrant, chris, to follow the trump campaign, there's two ways you can do it. the foreign intelligence service act would allow you to follow campaign operatives if you believe they're enter angting with foreign agents. the second way is a criminal warrant to follow the trump campaign if you believe they're taking services from a foreign government in violation of our campaign laws. i want to know were either one of those warrants ever issued? i don't believe they were, but the longer it takes to answer that question, the more suspicious i get. >> does congress have a right to those answers. does the public have a right to those answers. >> at this point we need to know what happened, to what extent the russians were collaborating with americans with respect to espionage inside the united states, who those americans might be, what's being in

lindsey graham said this can't pass congress as it is.hington is big government no matter the proposal and mr. trump will have to find a way to cut a deal. elizabeth: how does he do that? >> grow everything, but perhaps by a lesser magnitude. say, maybe a dollar for defense, one dollar increase to defense. 30 cent increase equivalent for nondefense programs. elizabeth: if you're a member of the military. how do you react to this? if you're not sure what the funding is going to look like? how do you react for that? >> it's a huge problem for the pentagon. it's the largest agency. half trillion annually they do long-term, five to 30 year planning. it's disruptive to a department that buys good and services and can't move forward with all of their plans. elizabeth: i think that the president is in a little bit of a conundrum here because this is what he ran on. i mean, this is why he is put into office, i mean, he's here for a reason. so, i'm-- i guess i'm perplexed as to why folks are so surprised that the news that he's making these cuts a

i think lindsey graham stated clearly he wants to get to the bottom of this. on the judiciary committee, for example, if they're not getting the answers they want, they can hold up the nomination of the deputy attorney general. they can take to their own bully pulpit every day and demand answers and don't forget you have another big issue for the white house that is front and center right now and that is health care. and this is a white house that is trying to pass a bill that is hobbled, to get it out of the house and into the senate and they don't know if they can do that. this whole wiretap issue is taking over events here because congress wants answers after the president's tweets, and they do want to get to the bottom of it. you have a white house that should be going full steam ahead on a substantive issue to try to negotiate a deal and instead they're dealing with congress on this other issue and they have to figure out a way to kind of put it to rest at a certain point and the only way to do that, wolf, the only way to do that is to get the answers tha

where will graham and mccain go, will they try to finesse it? they going to be on both sides? that will really be a test of whether they are truly patriotic g.o.p. members or if they are just outliers. >> sean: me and geraldo could fix this, and then we can bring the israeli-palestinian members together. >> i will help. >> sean: we will bring bo along just for entertainment. coming up, tonight on "hannity." >> sean: snoop dogg pulling al fake gun on a clown dressed as president trump for his new music video. really? niger innis and anthony scaramucci will weigh in on that disgusting display. what if it was barack obama? is w music video. really? we will weigh in thanks for loading, sweetie. ...oh, burnt-on gravy? ...gotta rinse that. nope. no way. nada. really? dish issues? throw it all in. new cascade platinum powers through... even burnt-on gravy. nice. cascade. >> sean: welcome back to "hannity," the rapper snoop dogg has hit a new low. which means a lot. take a look at this video.n: ♪ >> sean: according to billboard magazine, snoop dogg expl

senator graham is with us from washington.rnoon, sir. >> thank you for having me. >> shepard: president trump said then senator sessions was truthful when he said he had not had conversations with the russians. do you think he was truthful? >> yeah, i have no doubt. one thing about jeff sessions, he's brutally honest. here's what i think happened. they were asking him about campaign contacts with the russians. he said he had known. i believe him. the contact with if russian ambassador was about being a senator. >> shepard: okay. let's play the sound. >> if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the trump campaign communicated with the russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do? >> senator franken, i'm not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a serrogate a time or two in that campaign and i did not have communications with the russians. i'm unable to comment on it. >> shepard: so that was truthful? >> yeah, i think, jeff -- i had lunch with the ambassador last week. so as a se

. >> let me play lindsey graham republican senator. he was on "morning joe" this morning and advocated that approach as well. take a listen to what graham had to say. >> here's what i would tell the president, if you can't get a better deal, and if you can't protect that 62-year-old worker in greenville for having dramatic premium increases because democrats won't with you, and you can't get the republican party on board, stop, take a timeout, let it collapse. then turn to the democrats and say, this was the system. you created, it has collapsed, now help me replace it. >> rick tyler, i'm trying to figure out where there could be consensus on the republican side on this. you've got graham there saying this needs to be altered. you have cruz saying it needs to be altered to have any chance in the senate. you have basically hard liners in the house that are saying this isn't conservative enough. and you've got republicans in the senate like graham who says, this leaves too many people exposed. how can you square that circle? >> i don't t

>> yes. >> okay, with friends like lindsey graham, john, does he want to prove the president's claim as being accurate or is he wanting to get james comey in front of the fbi to refute. >> we do public records request, and you can write them narrowly or broadly. lindsey graham has power if he says narrowly, did barack obama ask for records from the fbi, if he did it differently, i don't know if senator graham wants to tell that story. >> and how much political coverage has the president used up here as you look at the lack of evidence that has been provided so far and the republicans kind of backing off. >> it is a function of who are his friends right now on capitol hill. i'm not so sure lindsey graham to your point is acting as a friend to donald trump or more of the republican party. he hedged his bet, and can be called as a friend to the party. but at the same time i'm not so sure if he is looking to have the president vindicated on this. >> okay, the white house is really struggling to explain just exactly what is going on. look at sean spicer in the white house briefing when he

. >>> republican senator lindsey graham hosting a town hall event. and cnn correspondent is there. >> reporter: fred, hundreds of people waiting to get inside and you look inside the columbia metropolitan stadium, people are waiting to ask questions to the south carolina senator, some of the topics they hope to hear about coming up in the cnn newsroom. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you. you need one of these. you wouldn't put up with an umbrella that covers you part way, so when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day? aleve, live whole not part. tell you what, i'll give it to you for half off. why are you checking your credit score? you don't want to drive old blue forever, do you? [brakes squeak] credit karma, huh? yep, it's free. credit karma. give yourself some credit. today, unlimited gets the network it deserves. verizon. (mic thuds) uh, sorry. it's unlimited without compromising reliability, on the largest, mos

cnn is hosting a town hall with john mccain and lindsey graham. range of issues. dana bash is monitoring the town hall. she joins me now. either of these senators is afraid to say what they think even if it angers members of their own party. what do you expect to hear tonight. >> you're exactly right. he was according to john mccain and the people around him he was the original maverick back in the day and that is certainly still the case. i would say es essentially with donald trump in the white house. the fact of the matter is as you've been talking about all night, the president laid out a very specific agenda last night but one that really does de verge from the conservative ideals that we've heard for so many years particularly to what john mccain and lindsey graham see. when you're talking about the world and the global perspective and policies, they could not be more different. so when president trump talks about nationalism, talks about turning inward, not spending so much time, money, and american blood overseas, that is not something nec

but graham also said there was going to be a briefing of some kind. now, graham said this was going to be with the chair and ranking member of the judiciary committee. so the umbrella committee that's over top of the subcommittee hearing you're talking about right now. it looks as though that meeting is set to happen this afternoon here at the capitol a little ways away. we're at the senate intelligence -- it's called the sciff where they have their regular weekly meetings. around 3:30 we expect jim comey to meet with senators feinstein and grassley to update them on all of these questions. of course, we also know comey has been here to brief the gang of eight. that top group of intelligence -- the members of congress who are privy to the top intelligence, as well as the house and senate intelligence committees. more broadly they receive a more narrow set of information than the gang of eight. the question here is what exactly has comey acknowledged he's doing. has he told senators, yes, in fact, i'm conducting this criminal investigation you'v read a

and lindsey graham might turn out to be the one republican senator who does the most damage to donald trump. >> reported details released by wikileaks of how 2 cia is able to turn and home devices into potent eavesdropping tools. >> is the cia listening to me through my microwave oven? >> no. >> if they were, would you say yes? >> yes. >> the president has accused the u.s. government under his predecessor of tapping his phones. well. >> trump said it was particularly upsetting becse he is a private man who likes to keep his thoughts to himself. >> it would be great if there was a -- if there was any evidence presented. >> you can't fact check crazy. >> is the president the target of a counterintelligence investigation? >> i think that's what we need to find out. >> the president said he was tapped. he is stating that as fact. >> i understand that. >> at real donald trump. >> russia attacked the united states of america. >> russia is a ruse. >> they interfered with our internal affairs. they tried to influence our election. >> i love wikileaks. >> we got a chance to look at some of the

i want to play one more bit of the town hall yesterday from senator graham. think one party is going to be able to fix this by themselves. here's what i think should happen next. i think the president should reach out to democrats. i should reach out to democrats. and we should say let's take a shot at doing this together because it ain't working it doing it by ourselves. >> that's the senator talk about obamacare. i want to talk separately about what they want to do or at least what he says he wants to do and how it's going to be done, and one word, fix. is that what is next? fixing obamacare and they are done potentially with repeal? >> i don't know if we are there yet, but if they can't repeal and replace they have to fix it, and it's not sustainable as it is, and bernie sanders said the premiums and deductibles are too high. we have to go back into it, and that's one thing democrats and republicans would agree o. get the premiums down and the deductibles down, and make sure you have health care choices for all, and it's not like the senate can't start wor

there is hope tonight for lindsey graham's soul. because he is one of the very few republicans in washington who has not yet sold his soul in its entirety to donald trump. >> president trump claims president obama's administration targeted his campaign, trump to you, in the tweet. i have no knowledge of that but he challenged congress to help him. so let's help. >> he wants to use congressional power to get to the bottom of a tweet. he wants congress to investigate a donald trump tweet. because donald trump's staff challenged him to do that. donald trump's white house staff, which is is the worst staff in washington history, and i don't just 19 worst white house staff. the worst staff in washington history including all congressional staff in history, all department staff, all agency staff in the history of washington staffs. we've never seen a more breath takingly incompetent clubhouse than the trump staff. they actually asked for a congressional investigation of the president. there are many more things i could say to prove this i

i remember thinking every time, i wish lyndsey graham can become on stage. man has such a well, in-depth of knowledge. he and john mccain had

take a listen to what lindsey graham just told me. you made news with the white house, why are you requesting this information? >> the president has asked congress to look into whether or not his campaign was wire tapped by the obama administration. i will take up that challenge. and we sent a letter to the department of justice and the fbi. asking them for any information that they may have used to obtain a warrant. the whole purpose of this is to find out if a warrant was issued directed at the trump campaign. >> reporter: and if they don't provide the information? >> then i'll have done my job. either they're lying to me or there is no information. i don't believe they would lie to me about this. i expect them to come forward as to whether or not a warrant was obtained or sought. >> reporter: will you subpoena this information if they don't comply? >> yes. >> reporter: you will? and could they avoid it? if they don't comply with the subpoena then what? >> the current president has accused the former president of basically wire tapp

they didn't want to see senator graham advocates the collapse of health care.hen he came here and he was talking to constituents, he went into a little more detail with an attempt to sort of placate folks that had real worries about those tweets. he said he wanted a bipartisan system. i wanted republicans and democrats to come together and work with president trump to come up with a good plan, and he said that he understood why people liked obama care to some degree, but he said ittill has a lot of problems, and he wanted toee a different kind of system that relied on the different mechanism to make health care work. let's listen. >> i would like to create a system where people who are challenged by income can have help from the government to purchase a product in the private sector. i would like everybody in the country to be able to choose more health care in the private sector, not less. >> so he definitely has a very traditional republican view of wanting to keep health care in the private sector, keep it out of the government as much as possible. he said,

senator graham: raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear that the testimony you will give before the committee will be the truth, the whole truth so help you god. thank you. now senator whitehouse. senator whitehouse: espionage, blackmail, subverions, the 21st entury versions of these are fake news, hacking, political capture. the russians have been at this for a long time. they have adopted old methods to new technologies making use of social media, malware and complex financial ransactions. but the purposes themselves are timeless. over the course of the last decade we'veeen russia manipulate the politics of other countries, undermine faith in western institutions and attempt to fracture euro-atlantic consensus. last month, at the munich security conference, the russian minister didn't mince words when he looked for the creation of a post-west world order. is that is a russia influenced order that stands opposed both to democratic ideals and free arket economies. senator graham and i scheduled this hearing to begin a

. >>> senator lindsey graham responding today to president trump's tweets.ccusing president obama of wiretapping his phones. we'll go live to south carolina where graham held a lively town hall today on the other seide o this break. the future of business in new york state is already in motion. companies across the state are growing the economy, with the help of the lowest taxes in decades, a talented workforce, and world-class innovations. like in plattsburgh, where the most advanced transportation is already en route. and in corning, where the future is materializing. let us help grow your company's tomorrow - today at esd.ny.gov whether it's connecting one of or bringing wifi to 65,000 fans. campuses. businesses count on communication, and communication counts on centurylink. ♪ (music pla♪ throughout) ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get on your feet for the nastiest, most terrifying bull in the state of texas. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (crowd cheers) ♪ whfight back fastts, with tums smoothies. it starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue. and neutralizes stomach acid at the

i remember thinking every time, i wish lyndsey graham can become on stage. the man has such a well, in-depth of knowledge. he and john mccain had a bravery about them. their colleagues on the other side of the house. these with men who have run for president. they carry a great deal of weight. when you see what lyndsey graham says on tv, it is not the same as any senator who says you are going to be trouble. there is a handful of people threatening the fbi and actually have the fbi take it seriously and we may have development on this fairly soon. one way or another, there are calls for them to respond to congress and there is lyndsey graham's letter. >> they're going to be a lot of questions that have to be answered why won't the fbi just tell somebody with the clearance. >> i get that they are not telling us. >> we don't have that kind of clearing. >> francesca on the subject of why it is happening. you sit there in the briefing room. last night we said if it looks loo i can a wa like a walk back and it sounded that sean spicer was turning out a walk back.

>> congratulations to lindsay graham. he is reminding the president that u.s.enators are n chopped liver and you can't just throw out a completely unsupported allegation and duck and cover. we are in a moment now where there's a test on all three branches of government. are they going to reassert their constitutional authority and standing, and lindsay graham is obviously extremely skeptical and it's a put up or shut up moment, and i think this is the big story of the day. we are going to find out that in fact there was something there, or more likely as senator graham suspects, that the president has nothing, that he made an allegation that the former president of the united states committed a felony with no evidence whatsoever. either way it's a huge story. >> what is the hold up? josh, one would guess that there is definitive information about whether or not there was or was not a warrant. what do you think the hold up is here? >> ordinarily the fbi does not talk about whether it has an investigation into a matter or not, and there are good reasons for that

senator graham: senator blumenthal. i think you for the-- i thank you for spirit what can be determined by an act of war. and i'm not saying that for the first time. in the armed services committee we held a hearing on cyberattacks, calling a different set of witnesses but reaching the same conclusion that we lack at present a coherent, cohesive strategy for countering these acts of war against our democratic institutions and our nation needs to develop that. just as if we would have if we were attacked, militarily. and the russian doctrine is described as new generation warfare and we have to take it just as we would warfare not just as a cralnterprise. the indictment today of a couple of russian agents literally announced in connection with the yahoo! breach included one of those agents who had been indicted previously. so i begin with two points. number one, criminal prosecution alone is insufficient, even though there are criminal enterprises directed by russia. and number two, the lack of a policy as to when we dec

senator graham came. he listened. but he also fired back to a certain extent, even during a portion of the event that lasted about an hour and a half earlier this morning when a woman close to the front row got up, used her question as an opportunity to criticize the senator from south carolina and also some moves from republican colleagues saying they were, quote, obstructing this ongoing investigation into this russian meddling with the election. i want you to hear directly from senator graham the response putting it lightly, he disagreed. >> i think that's a bunch of garbage when it comes to me. i don't think i've obstructed anything. i think i've been more than on the case when it comes to russia. i think i have stood up for the idea that i'm not going to sit on the sidelines and watch the russians try to undermine our democracy, but i'm not going to, so i don't agree with you. >> obviously quite a bit of boos but some cheers when he acknowledged that russia did, in fact, meddle with the november election. some ot

. >> senator graham? >> i would tell the chinese to tell the north koreans if you go toward developing a missile that can hit america, you're going to regret it. and we're going to stop you, and let me tell you why. do you know anything much about north korea? this guy is nuts. he just killed his half brother. shot his uncle with an anti-aircraft gun. he's got plenty of family issues. his grandfather claims to have beaten the japanese single handedly, born inside of a volcano. his father claimed to have shot 38 under in his first round of golf with 11 roles in one. that's where they lost me as a regime. so here's what i think. i think we would be nuts to allow a crazy man the ability to develop a missile to deliver a bomb he already has to our homeland. i don't want conflict any more than you do, but the best way to avoid conflict is to intervene before it's too late. if you're so afraid of conflict, you're going of it. the ayatollah is a religious nazi. what should we do about the iranian missile program

graham. sen. graham: are you committed to winning that fight? gen. neller: i am. >> mr. chair. thank you, mr. chairman. i realize that so much of this kind of behavior has to do with some attitudes and culture and it's very difficult to change the culture, so i'm wondering whether one of the ways that we can deal with this issue is to provide some determinants. ?- deterrents one ofou believe that those would be court marshals when appropriate? gen. neller: i believe deterrence is part of this and there has got to be accountability, whether it be a court-martial or other processes, yes. sen. hirono: in terms of changing the culture, how would you begin to change the culture. ? this has been long-standing not just in the marines, but issues that involve our -- all of our services. how do you begin to change the culture when, for example, you have a commander-in-chief who exhibits certain attitudes towards women? how do you change the culture? the only way i know how we have done this in the past when we dealt with other issues -- and we accept the fact. there are always going to

i'll talk about all the news with senator lindsey graham. our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. first, let's go to manu raju, he's covering a stunning new cur curveball and the very angry reactions from the top democrats. manu, walk us through the breaking story. >> tonight, devin nunes, the chairman of the committee, creating an uproar by going public with what he learned from a secret source that some of trump's communications with officials were picked up incidentally in communications that were surveilled by the united states intelligence community. tonight democrats are concerned that mr. nunes went public without briefing them first and briefed the white house just as the house intelligence committee is conducting its own investigation, into russia, russia meddling and any improper contacts that may exist between the trump campaign and the russian officials. the question is who exactly was picked up by the incidental collections by the intelligence committee. when i asked to ask mr. nunes committee was the president of

what is senator graham's position?> that's where, stephanie, the gap in the republican party is quite wide. this is just in wisconsin yesterday with speaker ryan, with hhs secretary tom price and mike pence. mike pence said there would be scluktive legislative action in the coming days. well, with he heard from lindsey graham this morning, and he said he has yet to see a bill. this bill, the secret bill -- it's not public yet, it's being crafted in the house of representatives among some leadership over on that side of the aisle. for many of these senators, rand paul being another one, they have yet to see this legislation. lindsey graham said i will tell you this much. i will not back a piece of legislation that i have not seen myself and haven't been able to combat on behalf of south carolinaans. the vice president in the white house may be looking to push this in the house of representatives, but if they don't have the support of members over in the senate, its future may be stalled. >> still so many questions on th

senator graham made the right call. we have to make sure that the process is transparent. the american people have to trust that no matter what congress or the investigators find is the truth. >> who leads the charge now for the democrats in the days head? >> well, i think they're all jumping on board. i think nancy pelosi was one of the first out of the box calling on jeff sessions to resign. i think we'll see more of that. i think this is one of those rare occasions where i can say i completely agree with lindsay graham. >> this on wednesday during the president's -- during the president's address to congress didn't messages russia at all. john mccain said that was disappointing. >> i would have liked to have heard a lot more about russia. russia is the country that tried to change the elections in the united states. ful i don't think they success seeded. right now they're affecting or trying to effect the elections in march. they've dismembered ukraine, they've invade it georgia. the list goes on and on. vladimir putin is hell-bent on the destruction of the european uni