And possible russian involvement in the 2016 elections. His is an hour and a half. [applause] senator graham we are going to be done to go to the baseball game where it starts at 1 00. Ill make a comment about the latest tweet. Have you seen it . Yeah. Senator graham President Trump tweeted out that he believes that president obama ordered wiretapping of his campaign. [laughter] senator graham and that would be yes. I dont know what happened but i can only tell you the summary of the tweet. The president of the United States is claiming that the former president of the United States ordered wiretapping of his Campaign Last year. I dont know if its true or it but if it is true would be the biggest political scandal since watergate. Chanting] senator graham just be quiet. Be quiet. If the former president of the United States was able to obtain a warrant lawful if ily to monitor trumps campaign, that would be the biggest scandal since watergate. Heres the deal as we get ready to talk to each other. Im very worried. Im very worried that our president is suggesting that the former president has done something illegal. I would be very worried, if in fact, the Obama Administration was able to obtain a warrant lawfulfully about Trump Campaign activity with a foreign government. So its my job as a United States senator to get to the bottom of this. I promise you i will. [cheers and applause] senator graham all right, questions. [inaudible] louder. Senator graham you want me to talk louder . Ill do it. Put the video up. Indiscernible] this question is from westminster. Senator graham wheres andrea . Are you going to push for a Russian Investigation and not just support one. Everyones involvement in russia eeds to be investigated. [cheers and applause] senator graham im not only going to push for an investigation but going to punish russia for trying to interfere in our election. [cheers and applause] senator graham i have introduced sanctions to punish the putin regime. These are bipartisan sanctions hat would hit putin hard for interfering in our election. How about you let me finish my question. I believe with all my heart and soul that the russians did interfere in our elections. It wasnt a 400 pound man sitting on a bed somewhere, but Russian Intelligence Services hacked into po december tas emails and d. N. C. And they gave that information to wikileaks and it was leaked out during the course of the campaign. That to me needs to be punished. Any republican here . We should be as upset about this as any democrat because anything that can happen to one party from a foreign power can happen to the other party. As to the outcome, im not suggesting it change the outcome, only that they interfered and it needs to be punished. As for the Trump Campaign. Inspector,the f. B. I. And well be holding a hearing, were going to explain to you and the world what russia does to democracies all over the world. Their toolbox and how they use it. Were going to do two things. Were going to explain to the world what russia does to try to break the back benn of democracy including ours. Were going to make a case why they should be sanctioned. As to trumprussia campaign ties. I have no evidence personally that there are any, but i will insist that the f. B. I. Be given full opportunity to look into this without political interference. [applause] ok, next question. This question is from emily chandler. Mily would you stand up . Sen. Graham did you need anything need anything else . Youre good . Ok, who is this . This is from emily chandler. Sen. Graham emily, where are you at, emily . Hey, hemly. Her question is, given the 2016 South Carolina president ial election results, what are your plans to ensure all Donald Trumps policies and agendas are implemented. Sen. Graham heres what im going to do, im going to try to help our president , donald trump, be as successful as possible, number one because i agree with him mostly and id like to get this country moving again. Boo] no. I want to replace obamacare because i think its broken. Gorsacho ut judge then Supreme Court because i think hes qualified. I want to cut your taxes because we need to. I want to rebuild our military because its broken. I want to build the Keystone Pipeline to get oil from canada. O you dont have to buy. [cheers and applause] sen. Graham so what have you learned, im a conservative, damn proud of it, im going to help trump where i can. The rest of you who voted for clinton should want him to succeed too. This question is pr Pauline Roberts from westminster. Sen. Graham sit down. This guy all right, go ahead. Go ahead. This question is from Pauline Roberts from westminster. Pauline would you please stand up . We need Affordable Health care what will you do to make sure that middle class people can afford health care. Sen. Graham thats the key question. Who asked the question . Pauline roberts. Sen. Graham all right. Ok. How many of you are on medicare . Whoa. All of you on medicare . Ok. How many of you like it . All right. Lets keep it. How about it. All right. How many of you are below 65 . Below 65. You cant be raising your hand twice. How many of you have insurance through your company . How many of you like it . Better than nothing. Sen. Graham how many of you have problems getting insurance. So heres the deal. Theres three ways to get insurance from the government. Medicare, medicaid, v. A. Through your employer. Or as an individual. So what would i like to see happen . Id like to see medicare saved because its going broke. Id like to make sure that employers can continue to offer your health care so it doesnt get so expensive they have to drop it. Heres my problem with obamacare. Were down to one Health Care Company in South Carolina. Why . Has anybody here lost their coverage from their employer . Heres what i think is going to happen if we dont fix it. If we dont fix it, those of you who raised your hand, that get your coverage through your company, theyre going to drop it because it would be easier to pay the fine than it will be to cover you. Because the cost has gone up 27 . How many of you how many of you would like to keep your Company Health care . All right, thats a good question. How many of you want Single Payer HealthCare Coverage . [applause] sen. Graham dont vote for me because i think thats a lousy idea. So heres what were going to do. Heres why were going to replace obamacare. Employers Affordable Health care act. Employers are going to drop coverage and everybody that work farce company will go into a state exchange. Were down to one company. Youll have no choice. Ill tell you what, youre going to get kicked out in about 30 seconds if you dont shut up. Because im telling the truth. Sen. Graham no, because youre rude. How many want to kick this guy out . Get him out of here. Get him out of here. So here we go. All right. So how many want competition . When it comes to health care . How many of you are upset with the v. A. Taking too long. No profit in health care . Heres my view. I dont want the whole country i dont want the whole country to be in a v. A. System where you have to wait forever and get what the government gives you whenever they decide you want it. Thats not what i go for. So were going to replace obamacare with more private Sector Health care, be able to buy health care all over the country. This question is from Shelly Stewart from green vivel greenville, South Carolina. She asks, what are you doing bout law enforcements pardoning of africanamericans. Sen. Graham have you been talking about the f. B. I. . Do you know anybody that has . Because theyre black. Give me their names. I met with the i met with the i met with the f. B. I. Director yesterday. Ive never had anybody i never had anybody come up to me in South Carolina who is africanamerican to tell me theyve been talking targeted by the f. B. I. Because of their color. So i dont believe thats a problem. If youve got any examples all right. This question is from dave and lindsay. This question is from james and lindsay fable. Ill you please stand up . Grip have you been targeted by this the f. B. I. Because youre fricanamerican . Sir. Thank you for coming today. I believe the question was about the police, not the f. B. I. How do we know that . So the question is about africanamericans being targeted by the police like i have in the ast. Sen. Graham the question is racial profiling. Anyone know tim scott . I didnt ask if you liked him. I ask if you know him. Hes africanamerican senator. He says hes been stopped eight or 10 times by the capitol hill police. Ive been up there 20 years, ive never been stopped by the capitol hill police. I think thats your point, isnt it . Yeah. So heres the deal with policing. Got to be tough on a good day. We need to be sensitive to the fact that communities feel under siege by the cops. We need to be sensitive to the idea that cops feel under siege and find some orderly process to enforce the law. But ive never been stopped. Youre white sen. Graham if youll just listen to the end of this. Ive never been stopped because im a short white guy. The cops seem not to be stopping me but they do seem to be stopping tim. So lets talk about the cops for a minute. Ive been a prosecutor most of my life. I dealt with cops. And theres nothing worse than a bad cop. You know why a bad cop is a bad deal . Because theyve got a badge and a gun. Theres Nothing Better than a good cop. So the bottom line is, i hope we will take a harder look at this. Im sorry, i thought you said about the f. B. I. Go around to the police chief in South Carolina and try to do more community policing. Better training. Better training for our police officers. Spend a little bit of money making sure that, because youve got a young black guy Walking Around in the neighborhood in the middle of the night doesnt mean theyre a. There you go. This question is from james and lindsay zable. As a as a south carolinian i was happy to hear you speak out but trumps russian ties your voting record doesnt reflect that when can we expect to see that change. Sen. Graham im the chief author of legislation to punish russians for interfering in our election and my chief cosponsor is ben cardin from the state of maryland. That bill needs to be voted on this year. I just got back from france and germany and russia is all other their elections. What are they trying to do . Theyre trying to break the backbone of democracy. Vladimir putin is a thug and people who object to him, people who object to him, they dont come to town halls and yell because theyll get shot. The people who disagree with him wind up getting plutonium poison, ive never had a friend of mine die from plutonium poisoning. The duma, their equivalent of congress is a complete joke. Hes destroyed the indepevent media and broken the back of the independent judiciary. I was in the in the baltics about two months ago with senator mccain. Lithuania, estonia and the other baltic nation that i cant remember right now. Georgia and the ukraine are all under siege by putin. Heres what the russians are trying to do. Theyre trying to break the back of nato, the european union, heyre trying to get their candidate elected in france, they want to withdraw from nato and the e. U. , Fivestar Party in i think so ive introduced legislation to punish the russians and heres what i predict will happen. That the congress in a bipartisan fashion will pass my bill. Theyll punish the russians for interfering in our elections and trying to break the backs of democracies all over the world. If we forgive and forget putin, then he will keep doing it all over the world and if you dont [inaudible] this question is from Janie Shipley of seneca. Please discuss your position on allowing pharmaceutical companies to claim a drug is safe and effective for a use that has not been approved by f. D. A. These offlabel uses contribute to more than 50 increase in side effects compared to onlabel use. Sen. Graham thats a really good question, i dont know if i understand the answer to it. I dont want to take drugs not approved by the f. D. A. Id like the f. D. A. To be more efficient when it gets drugs to the market. The more generics the better. Generics lower the cost if theyre safe. Who has who asked that question . Whats her name . Janie shipley from seneca. Sen. Graham can i do something that you dont hear much of . I really dont know if i gave you a good answer. Let me get smarter and get back to you. This question is from mitch from seneca. How does your bill to defund the u. N. Help the people of South Carolina . Sen. Graham well [cheers and applause] sen. Graham good question. Im an internationalist. I believe that america should lead from the front, not behind. I dont mind being part of the u. N. Id like a place to go to resolve our differences without killing each other. The problem with the u. N. And israel is getting out of hand. Heres my belief about the state of israel. Its the only democracy in the middle east, it is not without fault, but it is our ally and we should jealously guard the rellingsship with israel because the people want to destroy her, want to destroy you. There have been 20 resolutions passed by the United Nations condemning the state of israel for their settlement policies and six against the world at large. I think that nuts. That is disproportionate. And im not going to take any more of your taxpayer dollars and give it to the u. N. Because i think its get manager antisemitic. So it helps South Carolina not to invest in a body that is antisemitic. The question from emily from simpsonville, South Carolina. I am concerned about the threat to american democracy. What is being done to ensure the diplomatic process . Sen. Graham thats a good question. Have you been following the last 10 years . Weve been at war for 15 years, right. Ive been to iraq and afghanistan 4 times. Remember september 10, 2001 . Probably dont but, you know, its the day before 9 11. We didnt have one soldier in afghanistan. We didnt have an embassy and didnt give the taliban one dime. And the world watched from the sidelines as women were drug to the soccer stadium and shot for sport because they showed a little too much ankle. The great statues of buddha were blown up because ethese nut jobs, the taliban, believed any image is wrong. And we watched and did nothing and thought, thats every there, it wont come here. But what you didnt real ithize is the taliban offered lane safe haven in afghanistan. He was their honored guest and 9 11, the rest is history. So what have i learned . What have i learned . That the people who attack us like al qaeda, have a religious motivation. Its not because of palestine. Its because theyve got a warped view of islam that makes them want to kill everybody in this room. Heres what i believe. You may be tired of fighting you but theyre not tired of fighting you. Heres my goal, to keep the war over there so it doesnt come back here. And youll never youll never win this war, youll never win this war well talk about the saudis. Youll never win this war by killing terrorists. Now, youre talking about a guy so to the republicans in the room, if you want to destroy radical islam, you better invest in the lives of others over there. Because he can drop bombs all day long, ive lost good friends in this war. Many of them afghan and iraqi policemen and lawyers and judges that i worked with as a reservist, 40 times in the last decade, 40 days on the ground as an air force reservist. Heres what i know its going to take to win this war. Youve got to invest in those lives of others to be safe here. The terrorists are offering a glorious death we have to offer a hopeful life. [cheers and applause] area olhouse, in a remote of after gab stan or syria, would do more damage if it educated a young girl than any bomb. Heres what youre going to get from me about diplomacy. This budget being proposed by President Trump who i want to help cuts the state department by 25 . Heres what i will tell you. If you want this war to go on forever, bomb them and leave. If you think youre going to be safe by dropping a bomb and coming back home, youll never be safe. Heres what youve got to do in my opinion. Youve got to have some of our soldiers over there to protect the rest of us here but its not about them killing terrorists as much as it is about them helping build up police and armies. And if you dont advance the lives of others over there, this war never ends. What does winning look like . Heres what winning looks like. When the people over there have police and armies loyal to them, not to the dictator. When the imams over there can preach against this radical form of islam and not get killed. When the politicians over there, lets go to saudi arabia, when a woman can drive over there, youre going to be safer over here. [applause] this question is from emily from salem. Why cant the Senate Demand trump release his taxes . Cheers and applause] sen. Graham where is she at . Emily . Where are you at, emily . Where are you at . Ok. Trump tax returns. There you are. Trump tax returns. We can subpoena his tax returns. [applause] sen. Graham emily. I will do that when i believe theres a reason to do that. Ive introduced in the process of introducing legislation to require anybody running for president in 2020 to release their taxes. How many of you believe benghazi was a bunch of b. S. . I thought so. Ok. This question is from alisa from greenville. Sen. Graham i didnt know there were that many liberals. Which is great. Im glad youre here. You need to speak up more in outh carolina. What will you do to protect