Town hall meeting at clemson university. Constituents asked about gop of the replacement law efforts, environmental protection, and russian involvement in the 2016 elections. [applause] so, we are going to be done so we can go to the clemsoncarolina baseball game, arts by 1 00. I will make a comment about the latest tweet. Have you seen it . All right. Apparently this morning President Trump tweeted out that he believes that president obama ordered wiretapping of his campaign [laughter] [jeering] senator graham yes. I know i dont know what happened, but that is a summary between. The president of the United States is claiming that the former president of the United States order to wiretapping of his Campaign Last year. I dont know if it is true or not, but if it is true illegally it would be the biggest political scandal since watergate. [jeering] now, the other side of the story just be quiet. Be quiet. If the former president of the United States was able to obtain a warrant lawfully to monitor trumps cabinet for violating laws, that would be the biggest scandal since watergate. So, here is the deal. As we get ready to talk to each other, im very worried. That ourworried 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 chum Campaign Activity with trump Campaign Activity with foreign governments. So, its my job as the United States senator to get to the bottom of this. Applause]d senator graham i question . Ok. Do you want me to talk louder . Ok, i can do that. I can barely hear the video, too. All right. Good. This western is from Andrea Harvey from westminster. Senator graham stand up. Where is andrea . [cheers and applause] for a you going to push Russian Investigation and not just support when . Everyones involvement in russia needs to be investigated. Senator graham all right. Im not only going to push for a Russian Investigation, i am going to punish russia for trying to interfere in our election. I have proposed sanctions to beyondthe putin regime what they did in crimea. These are bipartisan sanctions. Here is what i think also how about you let me finish my question . How about this . I believe with all of my heart and soul that the russians did interfere with our election. It was not a 400pound man sitting on a bed somewhere. It was russian intelligence hacks into podestas through dnc, they a third party in my view, gave that information to wikileaks, and it was leaked out during the course of the campaign. That, to me, needs to be punished. Any republicans here . Upset about this as any democrat because an attack on one party by a foreign power is an attack on all parties. [applause] to the graham as outcome, im not suggesting it change the outcome. I am suggest inc. They enter i am suggesting they interfered and then even be punished. As to the trunk campaign. I met with the fbi inspector yesterday. Holding a meeting. The Ranking Member is senator whitehouse and we will expand to you in the world what russia does to democracies all over the world. There are two thoughts on how they use it. We will do two things. We will explain to the world what russia does do break the backbone of democracy, including ours, and we will make the case they need to be sanctioned. As for trump, Russia Campaign ties i have no evidence personally that there are any, the fbill insist that begin than full opportunity to look into this without political interference. [applause] senator graham ok, next question. [indiscernible] this question is from emily, chandler. Emily, would you stand up . Senator graham im good. Who is this person . Emily chandler. Emily chandler. Senator graham emily. Hey, emily. All right, read the question. Her question is given the 2016 South Carolina president ial thoughtswhat are your on making sure all of Donald Trumps policies are implemented . Will try toam i help donald trump be as successful as possible. I agree with him mostly. I would like to get discussion moving again. Though [jeering] i want to repeal and replace obamacare because i think [jeering] senator graham i want to put judge gorsuch on the Supreme Court because i think he is qualified. Reform taxes because we need to. I want to rebuild our military because its broken. Tell the Keystone Pipeline to get off [jeering] so what have we learned . Proudonservative, damn of it. I am going to help where i can. And the rest of you who voted for clinton [indiscernible] all right. This question is from westminster. Senator graham sit down. Hey this question is from Polly Roberts from westminster. Polly, would you please stand up pauline, would you please stand up . Need Affordable Health care. What would you do to make sure middleclass people have Affordable Health care . The keygraham that is question. Who asked the question . Pauline roberts. Right here. Senator graham how many of you have medicare . Whoa. All of you are on medicare . All right. At how many like it. All right, lets keep it. How about it . How many of you are below 65 . Below 65. Ou raise your hand twice how many of you have insurance or your company . How many of you like it . All right. How many of you have problems getting insurance . All right, heres the deal. There are three ways to get insurance. From the government medicare, medicaid, v. A. Through your employer. Or as an individual. [indiscernible] right, exactly. What would i like to see happen . I would like to see medicare saved. I would like to make sure republicans can continue to offer you health care so it does not get so expensive they have to drop it. Here is my problem with obamacare. We are down to one exchange, one Health Care Company in South Carolina, one. [indiscernible] has anybody in here lost their coverage from their employer . Here is what i think is going to happen if we dont fix it. If we dont fix it, those of you who raise your hand that get your coverage for your company, they are going to drop it because it will be easier to pay the fine then it will be to cover you because the costs went up [shouting in audience] senator graham how many of you would like to keep your Company Health care . How many of you want singlepayer Health Coverage . [applause] then dont for over me because i think that is a lousy idea. Then dont vote for me because i think that is a lousy idea. Here is what we need to do. Repeal and replace obamacare. Employers are eventually going to drop coverage in every worker from a company will go into a state exchange. We are down to one company. One company. I tell you what. We are going to get kicked out in about 30 seconds if you do not shut up. Because you are rude. Because you are rude. All right. So get him out. Go. Here we how many of you 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 . I dont want the whole country i dont want i dont want the whole country to be in ava system where you have to wait to get what the government gives you whenever they desire. Thats not what i want. We are going to replace obamacare with more private Sector Health care because they provide health care all over South Carolina. This question is from Shelley Stewart from greenville, it South Carolina. Doingks, what are you about Law Enforcement targeting of africanamericans . [cheers and applause] senator graham have you been targeted by the the eye . Do you know anybody that has because they are black. Have you been targeted by the fbi . Give me their names. I met with the fbi director yesterday. I have never had anybody come up to me in South Carolina who is africanamerican and tell me they have been targeted by the fbi because of their color. I dont see that is a problem. [overlapping shouting] senator graham all right. This is from lindsay. Tion is from would you please stand up . Overlapping shouting] [chanting let him speak] senator graham have you been targeted because you have been in africanamerican . [indiscernible] senator graham [indiscernible] [overlapping shouting] sir, my name is trained thomas from greenville, South Carolina. Thank you for coming today. I believe that the question was about the police, not the fbi. The question is about africanamericans being targeted by police. [cheers and applause] senator graham the question is racial profiling. Anyone know jim scott . Him. Not ask if you like he says he has been stopped eight or 10 times by the capitol hill police. I have been up there 20 years and i have never been talked stopped by the police. I believe that is your points, is it . Here is the deal with policing. We need to be sensitive to the fact that communities feel under siege. We need to be sensitive to the idea that cops feel under siege. And we need to find some orderly process to follow the law. But i have never been stopped. If you will just listen i have never been stopped because i am a short white guy [applause] the officersm seem not to be stopping me. They do seem to be stopping him. Lets talk about the cops per minute. I have been a prosecutor most of my life. I have dealt with backups and there is nothing worse than a bad cop. Cop. O not want a bad they have got a badge and a gun. There is Nothing Better than a good cop. Is, i hopetom line we will take a harder look at this. Im sorry i thought your question was about the fbi. Try to dond to more community policing, better training for our police officers, spend a little bit of money making sure because youve got a young black guy Walking Around the neighborhood in the middle of the night does not mean they are a criminal. All right. From jasonstion is grid as a South Carolina and i was heartened to hear you speak out against trumps regime ties and attacks on the press. When can we count on you to start putting these words into action . I have graham introduced legislation i am the chief author of legislation to punish the russians for interfering in our election, and my chief cosponsor is ben cardin from the state of maryland. That bill means to be voted on this year. I just got back from france and germany, and russia is all over their elections. What are they trying to do . The are trying to break backbone of democracy. Putin is a thug, and people object to them they dont come to town halls and yell. They get shot. Andle who disagree with him up with plutonium poisoning. I have never had a friend of mine die from plutonium poisoning. The duma, which is their equivalent to congress, is a complete joke. He has destroyed the independent media, and he has broken the back of the independent judiciary. Into the politics about two months ago with senator mccain. Estonia the other baltic nation i cannot remember right the ukraineia, and are under siege by putin. Here is what russia is trying to do. They are trying to break the back of nato, the european union. Wherere trying to get it countries want to withdraw from nato and the eu. The five star has been very i think, supported. To punish thetion russians. Here is what i predict will happen. That the congress, in a bipartisan fashion, will pass my bill to punish the russians for interfering in our election and trying to break the back of democracy all over the world. If we forgive and forget putin, then he will keep doing it all over the world, and if we dont stop [indiscernible] is fromext question Jamie Shipley from seneca. Please discuss your position on allowing pharmaceutical companies to claim a drug is safe and effective for use that has not been approved by the fda. Ese off label usages senator graham thats a really good question. Im not sure if i understand the answer to it. Take drugs noto cleared by the fda. I would like the fda to be more efficient when they get these drugs to market. The more generic, the better, right . Who asked that question . What is her name . Janie shipley from seneca. Can i can i do something that you dont hear much off . Let me get smarter and get back with you. Next question is from defundes your bill to help South Carolina. I like beingm part of the u. N. With israel is getting out of hand. Here is what i believe about the fate of israel. Its the only democracy in the middle east. It is not without faults, but it is our ally and we should jealously guard the relationship with israel because the people who want to destroy her want to destroy you. 20 draft by the United Nations condemning the state of israel for its settlement policies and six against the world at large. I think that is nuts. I think that is disproportionate. I am not going to take anymore more of your tax dollars and give them to an organization that is getting more and isometric all right. The question is from emily chester. I am concerned about democracy. What is being done to ensure senator graham i have been to iraq and afghanistan. Do you remember september 10, 2001 . You probably dont. It was the day before 9 11. We did not have one soldier in afghanistan. We did not have an embassy. The world watched from the sidelines while women were drug to the soccer stadiums and shot if they showed a little too much ankle. Taliban, jobs, the believe that any image was wrong, and we watched and did nothing about, well, that is over there or it it will come here or at what you did not offeredwas the taliban bin laden safe haven in afghanistan. The 9 11 and the rest is history. Have i learned . What have i learned . That the people who attack us like al qaeda have a religious motivation, not because of palestine. Its because they have a warped view of islam. Here is what i believe. You may be tired of fighting them. They are sure as hell not tired of fighting you. Here is my goal. Keep the war over there so it does not come back here. You will never win this war. You will never win this war we will talk about this you will never win this war by killing terrorists. Now you are talking about a guy to the republicans in the room, if you want to destroy radical islam, you better invest in the lives of others over there. Because you can drop bombs all day long. I have lost good friends in this war. Many of them afghan and iraqi policeman and lawyers and judges i worked with as a reservist. 40 times in the last decade, 140 days on the ground as an air force reservist. Here is what i know will take to win this war. You have got to invest in those lives of others. A gloriousoffering death, we have to offer a hopeful life. A small schoolhouse a small schoolhouse in a remote region of afghanistan, iraq, syria will do more damage in educating a dropping anyen bombs on their heads. So, here is what youre going to get from me about diplomacy. This budget being proposed by tosident trump, who i want help, cuts the state department by 30 . Here is what i will tell you. If you want this war to go on forever, bomb them and leave. If you think you are going to be safe by dropping a bomb and coming back home, you will never be safe. Here is what you have got to do in my opinion. You got to have some of our soldiers over there to protect the rest of us over here, but it is not about them killing terrorists as much as helping build up police and army. Value the do not lives of others over there, this war never ends. Here is what winning looks like. When the people over there have police and armies loyal to them, not to the dictator. When the imams 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, you are going to be safer over there. Question is from salem. Why cant the Senate Demand from releases taxes . And applause] senator graham where is she at . Where are you at . Ok. Umps tax returns. Ok. Tax returns. We can subpoena his tax returns. Ers and applause] do thatgraham i will when i believe there is a reason to do that. [jeering] i willaham i will i have introduced [overlapping shouting] i have graham introduced legislation to require Anyone Running for president in 2022 release their taxes. How many of you believe that benghazi was a much of bs . I thought so. Is from alisaon from greenville senator graham i didnt know there were that many liberals. Which is great. Im glad youre here. You need to speak up more in South Carolina. What will you do to protect Affordable Health care another programs for people with disabilities . If you areham disabled, then you need to come to my office and you will get Disability Insurance through medicaid. Ok. Went. T know when you for the disabled for the disabled, you are eligible for says youif the judge are disabled. Once youre 65, youre eligible for medicare, no matter if you are bill gates or my aunt who worked in the cotton mills. Can we talk a little bit about medicare . Does anybody want to talk about medicare . The disabled have Health Insurance through medicaid, and the medicaid Disability Insurance program is just about to run out of money. Can i tell you a little bit about what i think is the biggest financial problem for everybody in this room . In 1950, how many people pay taxes for every Social Security recipient . Do you know . 16. Today, there