carolina at a town hall with senator lindsey graham with reaction to president trump's tweets today. but we begin with kasie hunt. i know we're just hearing reaction from an obama spokesperson. what are you hearing? >> reporter: yes, an update for you to the story that we've been covering all day. president trump this morning of course tweeting without evidence that president obama's administration had wiretapped trump tower just before the election and called it nix o ownian, compared to watergate. and we have a statement from kevin lieu irks quewilewis, quol rule of the obama administration was that no white house official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the department of justice. as part of that practice, neither president obama nor any white house official ever ordered surveillance on any u.s. citizen. any suggestion otherwise is simply false. so that is the statement from the former president right there to the current president's accusations. i also want to update you on new reporting we have in here to nbc news. our pete williams reporting that a sen

loans from russian individuals? >> yeah, in fact, i just sent a letter from lindsey graham from one of the most prestigious law firms in the country. a tremendous, highly ritted law firm, that i have nothing to do with russia. i have no investments in russia, none whatsoever. i don't have property in russia. a lot of people thought i owned office buildings in moscow. i don't have property in russia, and i am in very -- i'm in total compliance in every way. i have to tell you, i file documents, hundreds of pages worth of documents with the federal elections bureau. everyone's seen them. i built a great company. but i'm not involved with russia. i have had dealings over the years where i sold a house to a very wealthy russian many years ago. i had the miss universe pageant, which i owned for quite a while. i had it in moscow a long time ago, but other than that, i have nothing to do with russia. >> one last question on this matter -- >> and i have a certified letter, just so you understand. i'm not just saying that. i've given the letter. i've given the letter to senator lindsey graha

him sort of in a category of his son. john mccain and lindsey graham throw par raids for him. his questions was so powerful, so direct and so clear and this question of whether russia is guilty of war crimes because of their slaughter of innocence and children in aleppo is a black and white question, and i wonder if that doesn't come back to haunt tillerson has he goes through this process. >> my question is it hasn't gone on that long that we're still not that struck by it. but i remember the air raid drills. that was about an old soviet union. but people haven't walked that far yet to a new russia and a new slvladimir putin. >> yeah. you saw that in the senate because it is an older population because they remember more of this stuff. you saw a lot of talk about russia. you saw marco rubio and others going hard on cuba as well. tillerson had a tougher time with the republicans than the democrats. corey booker spent time testifying against his fellow senator. and then he and tillerson were getting along like two peas in a pod in this hearing. this is serious. republicans in the s

dots but listen to sar senator lindsey graham. john mccain's best friend. john mccain made his points without mentioning president-elect trump by name. lindsey graham, he wasn't afraid to go there. >> you agree with me that the foundation of democracy is political parties, and when one political party is compromised, all of us are compromised? >> yes, sir. >> all right. now as to what to do. you say you think this was approved at the highest level of government in russia, generally speaking. is that right? >> that's what we said. >> okay. who is the highest level of government? >> well, the highest is president putin. >> do you think a lot happens in russia that he doesn't know about? >> not very many. >> yeah, i don't think so. >> certainly none that are politically sensitive in another country. >> okay. now as we go forward and try to deter this behavior, we're going to need your support now and in the future. so i want to let the president-elect know that it's okay to challenge the intel. you are absolutely right to want to do so. but what i don't want you to do is undermine those

them, john mccain of arizona, lindsey graham of south carolina, david perdue of georgia, and then the conservatives, ron johnson of wisconsin and mike lee of utah. this is a group that have all played an important role in this conversation about health care. they're set to reveal something here in the next few minutes, and it could play a big role as to whether or not this skinny repeal bill ultimately passes later today. >> we'll see what these five republican senators have to say if they come out and say for example that they are opposed. they're not going to vote for the skinny repeal legislation. what happens then? that seems to be the last hope that the republican leadership and the president, at least right now have. >> reporter: that's absolutely right, wolf. if those five senators will not vote, there's no way it'll pass. it'll likely mean that once again mitch mcconnell is going to have to go back to the drawing board and come up with another plan. there could be a curve ball thrown here, wolf. there could be something where both lindsey graham and some of these conservatives

right now, in particular senators lindsey graham and sheldon whitehouseholding a hearing on the hill right now. they're trying to get answers out of the fbi director. what is the likelihood we'll hear from them after they hear from director comey about whether or not there is an investigation into the trump campaign and its ties to russia? >> reporter: well, katy, the deadline they had set for the fbi director will stay. it was in advance of this hearing that's about to get under way in this room. right next to me. and we know that senator graham said he'll make some kind of announcement at the top of that meeting. the last i spoeblg to him he said, look, at this opponent we don't have anything from the department of justice. so, we have not seen comey come out and publicly acknowledge the existence of any investigation into trump's campaign and contacts with russians. of course, nbc news has reported it. "the new york times" has gone further and said it was contact -- or, rather, is contact with russian agents that they are investigating. so, at this point we don't have additio

. nothing found. this is mccarthyism. and here is lindsey graham at a town hall this morning. >> the president of the united states is claiming that the former president of the united states ordered wiretapping of his campaign last year. i don't know if it's true or not, but if it is true, illegally, it would be the biggest political scandal since watergate. >> senator graham went on to say if the obama administration was able to secure a warrant to wiretap, that would be concerning because it meant there was a reason the court would allow it. meanwhile, here's what congressman mole ton who sits on the armed services committee told thomas robertss this morning. >> i don't want to speculate on this one tweet from a president who is a serial liar. he gets up every day and lie to the american people. if under the obama administration they were simply monitoring contacts with russian officials, not trying to wiretap into the trump campaign, but looking at who russian officials were talking with and the trump campaign officials got ensnared in that net, then it's a totals mischaracterizat

tower. >> two senators, one republican and one democrat. lindsey graham and sheldon whitehouse demanding evidence of trump's wiretapping claims. senator whitehouse says he expects an answer today from james comey on whether there's a criminal investigation into possible russia ties to the trump campaign. we shall see shortly. we're also keeping a very close eye on another developing story. the republican health bill. the vice president mike pence meets with republican house leaders later today opposition to obamacare replacement plan grows. we have all of this covered with our team of correspondents and analysts. manu is on capitol hill. athena jones is traveling with the president in michigan. we have our chief political analyst, gloria borger, jeffrey toobin and jim sciutto. manu, we heard from the republican chairman and ranking democrat of the house intelligence committee just a little while ago. they both are suggesting they have seen no evidence over these past 11 days to back up the president's claims against the former president. >> that's right. this is the strongest s

, it's 1:00 in the east, 10:00 out west. here's what's happening. senator lindsey graham facing his constituents in columbia, south carolina. let's listen in. >> bankrupt the country by 2042. let me tell you what i would do. i would ask lindsey graham to pay more medicare premiums than we're currently asking him to pay. why? because i can afford it and my aunt can't. i'm not going to tax the rich to fix a problem they can't fix. i will ask wealthy people to pay more into medicare and take less from social security because these programs are worth saving. let me tell you about my life. when i was in college, i lost both of my parents by the time i was 22. my sister, darlene, was 13. she's here with me today. we lost our businesses when my mom and dad got sick. we owned a liquor store a pool room and a beer joint and we had insurance that didn't cover us very well. i know what it's like to get sick and be under insurehead. we moved in with a uncle and aunt. we got about $350 check from social security to help us survivor from my parents' contribution. i'm now 61, i'll be 62. i am in g

lindsey graham by surprise. here's what he said at a town hall earlier. >> as to flynn, i really didn't see this one coming. you know, flynn said himself if you want immunity, you must be guilty. i've been a lawyer for a long time, and actually you can want immunity and maybe not be guilty, but in his case, he's requested immunity and i don't know if anybody will take him up on it. >> here's how roger stone, one of president trump's former campaign advisers responded when asked about flynn on "realtime with bill maher" last night. >> what is the story? what do you think his story is? >> i have no idea. i'm not asking for immunity. i was maligned by a number of the members of the committee who said things that were patently false and in a free society i should have a chance to respond in the same forum. >> of course. no one would disagree with that. >> and i don't need a subpoena, i don't need immunity, but i want it to be in public, not behind closed doors. >>> meanwhile nancy pelosi this morning taking a shot at both donald trump and house speaker paul ryan for their attempt to

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senators, lindsey graham, john mccain, purdue, johnson and lee are holding a presser on health care. none of them, of course, have been big fans of this approach. are they going to collectively kill this plan, draw a line in the sand? strus mess cht me, you're going to want to hear what they have to say in a few minutes. you're looking live right now on the senate floor where every single vote has failed, start over, failed, single payor, failed. even a symbolic resolution basically saying medicaid is good, failed. the senate is actually moving on to a sanctions bill against russia, iran and north korea at this hour. it already passed the house and it's expected to pass the senate easily, a version of this passed earlier, but this now has north korea added to it. the current healthcare plan, the vote as early as tonight under the so-called skinny repeal which has become a big fat headache for leadership, that is what we're trying to figure out when that comes up next. things got even more complicated, though, thanks to the wonk yil reconciliation rules that republicans are using to

. senator john mccain and lindsey grah grah graham. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com [ applause ] >>> live from the george washington university in the nation's capital, this is a cnn town hall with senator john mccain and lindsey graham. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm dana bash. 24 hours ago, president trump stood before congress and made the case for his presidential priorities. now two leading senators will take this stage and take audience questions on issues facing the question. we have reviewed these questions to make sure that we cover a variety of issues and perspectives. there is no subject off limits. now please welcome john mccain and lindsey graham. [ applause ] >> thank you, sir. and we're off. >> is this court-ordered community service? how did you get some of these people here? >> good to be on the most-hated channel on television. >> we just hope that you can keep that going. senators, thank you so much for doing this. i want to start with you, senator mccain, about the address -- >> we're doing it by age, right? >>

briefing on russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. here is senator lindsey graham's reaction. >> as to whether or not the russians did it, i've come to conclude after this briefing that a person of reasonable intelligence, who does not conclude that the russians did it, really doesn't want to believe the russians did it. >> as we indicated on this broadcast last night, keep your eyes on lindsey graham in the coming weeks and months. this morning, donald trump said this on twitter about his discussion with national intelligence director james clapper that we reported on here tonight -- >> it's worth looking again at that one portion of james clapper's statement from last night. it reads -- >> we turn now on this thursday night to our panel, white house correspondent for politico, ely stopples is here with us. nbc political analyst nicolle wallace, whose title keeps continuing to expand. and vet ral broadcaster and the host of the tavis smiley show, tavis smiley joins us. ely, there's what's called the lead-all, the what have we learned. if the weekended tonight, is there any w

republican senator lindsey graham now says he wants to investigate president trump's business dealings involving russia. joining us now are white house correspondent sara murray and manu raju. manu, you had a chance to speak with senator graham a little while ago. what did he tell you? >> that's right. we did talk about a hearing that he had yesterday in which sally yates and james clapper did testify before his committee. he did say he felt that sally yates did an incredible job and he also said that perhaps donald trump kept michael flynn in that position for 18 days as national security adviser, even as he was warned he could vehicle blackmailed because, quote, trump is very loyal to michael flynn. what intrigued lindsey graham was an exchange he had with james clapper about possible business connections between trump interests and russian interests and clapper's refusal to respond. listen to his exchange from yesterday. >> general clapper, during your investigation of all things russia, did you ever find a situation where a trump business interest in russia gave you concer

the republican senator lindsey graham in this hour. plus, drastic action from the obama administration in its final days. staffers so concerned that the trump team would cover up intelligence about russia, they spread the intel everywhere they could. you'll hear what fox news has learned about that. let's get to it. first from the fox news desk, the attorney general jeff sessions is facing backlash for lawmakers on both sides of the political idea. this after reports that the former trump campaign advisor spoke twice the russia's ambassador during the election and never disclosed it in his confirmation hearings. here's what then senator sessions told the senate judiciary committee in january. >> and 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 and i did not have communications with the russians. i'm unable to comment on it. >> he was not asked if he had communicati

support he was seen golfing with senator lindsey graham. the pair went golfing for the second time in this past week. kelly o'donnell has more. what all came out of that meeting? >> reporter: we haven't gotten a specific readout about the president's time with senator graham. we will try for that again today and this week. it is significant that the president is reaching out todey is very much a part of the republican establishment. it was set against the same day where the president's former chief strategist was taking on the republican party declaring war. he says he is a fighter in the ring and what he is doing is pitting the trump style outsiders against the republican party. president trump invited critic republican senator lindsey graham for another round of golf. his former chief strategist steve bannen. >> this is not my war. this is our war. >> reporter: was taking a swing at republican party elites. >> there is a time and season for everything. and right now it's a season of war against a gop establishment. >> a civil war to be waged by conservatives like those at the value

do you think of lindsey graham's plan to send you a bill for -- >> send me a bill for what? >> tougher sanctions. >> i hadn't heard lindsey graham was going to do that. lindsey graham. i've been competing with him for a long time. he is going to crack that 1% barrier one day. i didn't realize lindsey graham is still at it. that's all right. i think lindsey graham is a nice guy. i've heard that he is a nice guy, and ai've been hearing it. go ahead. >> go ahead. you've been waiting. >> as far as we understand, the intelligence community -- >> stand up. >> from bbc news. ian panel from bbc news. >> bbc news. that's another beauty. >> thank you. thank you. as far as we're understanding the intelligence community are still looking at these allegations, this false news as you describe it. if they come back with any kind of conclusion that any of it stands up, that any of it is true, will you consider your position? >> there's nothing they could come back with. >> can you -- >> all the problems that we've seen throughout the media over the course of the election, what reforms do y

on had nothing to do with russia. >> senator lindsey graham this morning vowing to investigate any allegations tying the trump campaign to russia. in fact here's what he said at a town hall earlier. >> let's look at flynn. the working for turkey, i don't know -- i don't know how they missed that. so that's something we'll look at, right? and manafort, let's take a look at him. let's see what kind of business dealings he has. >> the president has been tweeting about a few topics, including health care today. let's go to nbc's kelly o'donnell at the white house. kelly, what's he saying? >> reporter: good to be with you again. the vice president has public events today. we're looking to the twitter feed to hear from president trump, who remains here at the white house. a couple of different top ibs. he's taken on the media, including nbc news and "the new york times" and talking about the russian investigation, which definitely gets under his nerves. also talking about surveillance and unmasking of individuals, all a part of that intelligence conversation. but health care is a topic a

united states and the world. my guest is the us republican senator lindsey graham, himself once a candidate for the white house, and now a consistent thorn in the side of president trump. so what does donald trump mean for traditional notions of american leadership? senator lindsey graham, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much. you are at this significant gathering of international politicians. you have a chance to take the temperature, the mood, when it comes to international perceptions of president trump today. how would you characterise them? i think there's a lot of anxiety in europe about president trump. i don't think that affects him much at home. there was a lot of anxiety about president reagan, a lot of adulation for president trump. so i'm not so sure that's going to affect domestic politics much. but people are uncertain, people are unsure. who is this guy, what does he think, where is he taking the world? and i can understand that anxiety. but anxious for all sorts of reasons, not least the very significant figures in the united states, like the former director of

lindsey graham. the pair went golfing yesterday for the second time in about a week. joining me now, jonathan allen, a national political reporter for nbc news digital. jonathan, i want to start with you. your recent article "trump's estrangement from the gop one republican at a time." how do you interpret president trump and lindsey graham playing golf for the second time in recent days after the president has gone to verbal war with graham's esteemed colleague bob corker. >> it's really interesting. president trump's tactics lead him to excoriate republican senators whether it's mitch mcconnell or bob corker of tennessee, jeff flake of arizona. in this case lindsey graham who he's fought with many times before is now playing golf with him. president trump is looking for people willing to make deals on important pieces of legislation, on important topics of concern for the administration. people who also give him cover and legitimacy on things and i think he's looking at senator lindsey graham as someone who can help him in the senate. he's happy that graham was trying to be helpfu

for being with us today. >> good to see you. >> well, lindsey graham already spoke out on the "today" show saying this is really damaging, that in contributes to the impression that bob mueller will have to look at, that there was an attempt to cover up or mislead. we don't know how winning the president was. what do you think the impact of this is, if it in fact as reported the president was part of this misleading story, this misleading account of that russia meeting. >> if that proves to be true, and i think senator graham wouldn't say it without some strong indication that in fact it is true, and that he wrote -- he rewrote a statement to obfuscate the purpose, the real purpose of the meeting, that is a problem. now, we'll have to wait and see. i have no clue what he said. but i do know this, andrea, i wish we could get away from these things. from my position, i see what is happening in the rest of the world. and i have deep concern about our inability to focus on real problems and real problem solving. >> and before you can get away and look at russia and north korea and all th

america. ever. >> and fired up voters giving senator lindsey graham all he could handle during a town hall earlier today. >>> we'll start with the white house and misdirection mode. the president today calling the investigations phony. pointing the fingers at the obama administration and the media. this coming after reports that three white house officials helped house intelligence committee chairman devin nunes view classified intelligence. the documents related to incidental surveillance of trump associates and was initially only given to nunes and not the committee. nunes responding on friday. >> you understand we're not going to get into sources and methods. if not, who is ever going to come to our committee. but i can tell you those reports are mostly wrong. >> and the other big headline, michael flynn offered to testify in the russia investigation for immunity but two congressional sources tell nbc news that deal has been rejected. the senate could start interviewing people in their russia probe as early as monday. kelly o'donnell is following all of the developments from the wh

would make things clear by this afternoon. republican senator lindsey graham says he's ready to subpoena the fbi if he doesn't get answers. >> congress is going to flex its muscles. the president of the united states asked congress to look into this as to whether or not the trump campaign was surveilled during the 2016 election by the federal government. i'm going to get to the bottom of it. if it needs a subpoena to get there, that's what we'll do. >> shortly president hits the road. it's a good thing air force one has plenty of carry-on space, he's carrying heavy baggage. how hard will he campaign for the health care plan. senior washington correspondent joe johns at the white house for us now with the latest. are we going to hear from the fbi? is the house and the administration going to turn over the evidence it says it has that president trump was wiretapped. >> based on what we're hearing from capitol hill, don't bet on it. senator lindsey graham kind of poured cold water on the notion that we're going to get some type of affirmative assurance from the fbi director as to w

speenter the country. so i think we need to take a closer look. >> senator lindsey graham said i don't think it is unreasonable to have a time-out based on the threats that we face. i think most american support a time-out but a complete ban forever is not in our national interests. would you why he agree with your colleague? >> i think statement is fair. i think like lindsey graham, wh colleague? >> i think statement is fair. i think like lindsey graham, hy colleague? >> i think statement is fair. i think like lindsey graham, y colleague? >> i think statement is fair. i think like lindsey graham, h colleague? >> i think statement is fair. i think like lindsey graham, he colleague? >> i think statement is fair. i think like lindsey graham, e colleague? too, would not a muslim ban. that flies in fay s iies in fac are. i can understand why we might want to pause the program. but at the same time, i do position that ththink applies to more than just fu refugees. so it's a little different. >> and we know he of at least one case legal visa and released. we have hhave hundreds of prote at j

of. >> well, sometimes, it only takes one. and lindsey graham might turn out to be the one republican senator who does the most damage on donald trump: >> purported details released by wikileaks of how the cia is able to turn personal at home devices into poet end eavesdropping tools. >> is the cia listening to me through my microwave oven? >> no. >> if they were, would you say yes? >> yes. >> under his predecessor tapping his phones. >> trump said it was particularly upsetting because he's a private man who likes to keep his thoughts to himself. >> it would be great if there was a, any evidence presented. >> you can't fact check crazy of. >> is the president the target of a counter intelligence investigation? >> that's what we need to find out. >> had he said it was attempted. >> russia attacked united states of america. >> russia is a ruse. >> they've interfered with our internal affairs. they tried to influence our election. >> i love wikileaks. >> i got a chance to look at some of raw inteler product. >> this is a major deal for the country. i want to get to the bottom

cnn town hall featuring senate republicans john mccain and lindsey graham. we begin tonight with breaking news. bipartisan agreement on one thing donald trump did not mention last night in his big speech to congress the extent of contact between the trump campaign and moscow. just moments ago we learned that the top republican and democrat on the housing intelligence committee have agreed on the parameters of their investigation. so the house intelligence committee just announced details regarding the investigation into any potential collusion between russia and the trump campaign. what are they going to do. >> reporter: they did. they are basically agreeing on the fact that there will be an investigation. this is significant for this reason. you know, for so many weeks they've been talking about was there anything that was nefarious here. we don't know the answer to that question, but tonight the committee is saying that they will look into several questions and we're just getting this from the committee tonight, but a couple questions i want to talk about is what's russia's cyb

here is lindsey graham. >> third aing h amill all 3 of us support idea of continuing process to get a good outcome for the american people when it comes to replacing obamacare, to find a product better for american people, i have a bunch of ideas, everyone has ideas. we have been asked by our leadership for days now to vote on least common denominator, skinny bill, because the pitch is, if you vote for the skinny bill, we can go to conference, we can get my bill scored, ted cruz's bill scored and other people's bills scored that has promise of maybe bringing us together. but they are not scored yet. that makes imminent sense to me, with one condition, we actual ge to conference, there is concern on my part and others, that what the house will do is take whatever we pass, skinny bill, not take it to conference but go to house floor, vote on it, that goes to president's def desk, this better than doing nothing. this is my response. the skinny bill as policy is a disaster, skinny bill as a replacement for obamacare is a fraud. the skinny bill is a vehicle to get in conference to find a

72 months on 11 models. ♪ >>> all right, this just into cnn. moments ago, lindsey graham told our manu raju that he wants to investigate president trump's business dealings. >> i believe -- do we have manu on the phone? all right, we don't have him on the phone. >> we don't have him on the phone, but we're going to talk about that, because it's just one of the things that came out of the hearings yesterday. new questions from the hearings, foremost which, why did the president wait 2 1/2 weeks to fire former national security adviser michael flynn? >> former acting attorney general sally yates said she warned the white house not once, not twice, three times about flynn, a key reason why, this. >> if a high-ranking national security official is caught on tape with a foreign official saying one thing in private and then caught in public saying another thing to the vice president, is that material for blackmail? >> certainly. >> all right, before we bring her in, we do have manu on the phone now to go through some of that important reporting that he's gotten on lindsey graham. this i

lindsey graham this morning what he thought a day after hitting the links with the president. building a website in under an hour is easy with gocentral... ...from godaddy! in fact, 68% of people who have built their... ...website using gocentral, did it in under an hour, and you can too. build a better website - in under an hour. with gocentral from godaddy. choicehotels.com. badda book. that's it?. he means book direct at choicehotels.com for the lowest price on our rooms guaranteed. plus earn free nights and instant rewards at check-in. yeah. like i said. book now at choicehotels.com >>> senator lindsey graham is fresh offer the putting green after a day spent golfing with president trump. just after that meeting, graham tweeted, quote, relative humiditily enjoyed a round of golf with president trump today. president trump shot a 73 in a windy and wet condition. msnbc garrett is in south carolina and just caught up with the senator a day after the golf outing. what did he have to tell you about his conversation with trump? that's a bit more important than the golf score. >

you, rachel. >> well done. >> well, sometimes it only takes one. 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 because 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 elect

today. senator lindsey graham, republican of south carolina, who has been critical of the president, certainly was one of his challengers very early on in 2016, but has also been complimentary of the president at times where he felt he was on the right mark, typically with things like foreign policy. and, again, lindsey graham has been splitting that difference, praising the president for his comments about the woman who was killed in charlottesville and his expression toward her, but tough on the president in other ways. and here is how president trump responded. publicity seeking lindsey graham falsely stated i said that there is moral equivalency between the kkk, neo-nazis and white supremacists and people like miss h hchlt eyer. such a disgusting lie. he just can't forget his election trouncing. the people of south carolina will remember. on every point the president is pounding lindsey graham. the senator has since put out a statement, again, complimenting the president for his gesture toward the family and the memory of heather heyer but saying that the president is separating

john mccain and lindsey graham. we want to welcome our viewers from the united states and around the world. 24 hours ago, president trump stood before congress and made the case for his presidential priorities. two leading republican senators will take this stage and take audience questions on issues facing the country. we reviewed the questions to make sure we cover a variety of issues and perspectives. no subject is off limits. welcome john mccain from arizona and u.s. senator lindsey graham from south carolina. >> and we're off. >> this court irded comedian gets this. >> couldn't be on the most hated channel on television. >> we hope you can keep that going. senators, thank you so much for doing this. i want to start with you, senator mccain. >> we are doing it by age, right? >> he said we are doing it by age. >> i translate his remarks in english. >> senator mccain, president trump went to congress last night and he laid out an ambitious agenda that he will need you and other republicans to pass. what did you make of what he said? >> i think he laid out a positive agenda and i th

the end of the day even our good buddy our brilliant brilliant buddy lindsey graham and chuck schumer not even they know where her that the u.s. even has people in niger in fact at one point our buddy lindsey graham said quote to. be seized that i didn't even know there was a thousand troops in niger this is from the man who sits on the senate armed services committee thankfully senator rand paul of kentucky sudden would need to be said about lindsay's apparent amnesia when rand paul tweeted out that you know you are into what he wars and what he places when even more monger lindsey graham can't keep track of anymore so what exactly is the u.s. mission in niger or the rest of africa for that matter well according to the united states africa command website yes they actually have a website the united states military is in niger because a safe stable secure and prosperous africa is and during united states interests niger is an important partner to the u.s. . because ladies and gentlemen nothing says friendship more than teaching your friends how to kill extremists and their families no

diplomatic options remain viable and open for now. but senator lindsey graham who

so touched to see bipartisan support by way of lindsey graham and cookeh tes on the talk a a surprise, the at the defense asked the judge for a mistrial. they asked why and asked for a quick recess. throom literally ned. >> i want thank ms, lindsey graham corey booker to come and testify in a trial th us early in t to do. i appreciate them coming forth and talk about why william. >> about 20 minutes later the judg is 84 and is not one to mix hrd said we need to have a come to jesus meeting. ps the defense are you accusing this court and/o misconducthe defense said well every time heie send a client were shut down. you're not allowvidence or witnesses to counter the government structure bribery. they say the prosecution introduced 300 pieces of idence in the defense only allowed ten pieces. the judge that evidence is about quality not quantity. said the defenses being repetitive. e judge will issue an official ruling on monday. it's not likely he will have the case thrown out. >> thank you. let's bring in the publisher of the jersey blog matt rooney. welcome back.>> good to see you. >>

hill, south carolina republican senator lindsey graham was joined by illinois democrat and minority whip dick durbin. they talked about an immigration initiative they're spearheading. this is about 25 minutes. mr. durbin: i want to thank my colleague, senator graham, for joining me as we reintroduce the dream act. we'll be joined by senator schumer and senator flake as co-sponsors. i have introduced this bill over many years. started 16 years ago. it has two basic premises. two basic reasons. first, we don't belief that young people should be held responsible for the errors or the illegal actions of their parents. number two, we believe that those who were brought to the united states as children, have grown up in this country, have no criminal record, who are prepared to serve this country in a variety of ways, should be given that chance to make america a better nation. over the years we have tried many times to pass this legislation. we've been able to pass it in the senate one year, in the house another year, we've never quite brought it together. we need the dream act more than

senators, like lindsey graham, to support them on this. i am not seeing a lot of movement on the republican side of the senate towards this point of view, that the democrats will but this a key -- of view, the democrats will make this a key litmus test for republican'' patriotism. i think what we are also going to see come up based on my reporting, is that they are going to be calling for james to testify in public at a congressional hearing. that is something's we can expect, what the bigger picture is that they are really -- can expect, but the bigger picture is that they are going to really abstract the republican legislative agenda using these types of demands. host: how likely do think it is that james comey would testify in an open hearing? guest: i think quite likely. there was a fascinating interview last week that should have gotten more attention that was with one of comey's long time friends. he was saying, -- and he was very clear about this, this was not based on any conversation he has had with comey since he was fired but based on how long he has known him, he beli

senator lindsey graham and chuck schumer. chuck will joins us here in about ten minutes. stick around for that. >>> coming up, a major airline taking new security steps. how cockpits may have been compromised. d about your safety. >>> don't worry about carrying that umbrella around with you today when you decide to go out and meet up with mom. tom is tracking how temperatures are going to shoot back up into the 80s. good sunday morning. we're not there yet. e 're not ther >>> they have been made public. . united is not saying how the nflgs got out, but this is not a breach like a hack. it's taking steps to make sure customers and the crews stay safe. >>> france now has a new lead this morning. emanuel macron was sworn into office as the nation's next president. this happened in paris. he who was elected last week and becomes the youngest president in france's history. >>> a unique culture bringing new life to our area. isn't he so adorable? i can't handle it. the growing industry celebrating the korean way. >> he just wanted a sweet. >>> and the sun is out. feel the heat this week as

these tweets saying publicity seeking lindsey graham falsely stated i said there's moral equivalency between the kkk, neo-nazis and white supremacists and people like ms. heyer he went on to say. such a disgusting lie. he just can't forget his election trouncing. the people of south carolina

republicans can ram it through as a partisan vote. you saw it in footage earlier, lindsey graham, really concerned about this and what answer. the democratic strategy is to pressure waivers republicans and make this a key issue. i think down further down the track. you can expect to see chuck schumer play hard ball with all of this and potentially obstruct the legislative agenda to try of the demand the russia probe. >> staying on the idea of james comey saying no, no closed congressional hearing, i want to be in public. i want people to hear me. you make a note in your note on sunday. sneak peek that hey, now that he's no longer the dwek terror. he can say more. it was such an insightful sbrf. long time friend of gym comey entered an interview and said based on knowing this guy for a long time, he said he expects that comey will at some point explain himself fully in public probably in a impressional setting and he said the big mistake that miscalculation that donald trump smaed that now gym comey is out of office, he's allowed to taung about a lot more things than he was in office. lk

lindsey graham and senators chuck schumer. let's have a listen. >> i can say this to the families. they were there to defend america. they were there to help allies. i didn't know there was 1,000 troops in niger. john mccain is right to tell the military, because this is an endless war without boundaries. no limitation on time or geography. you've got to tell us more. >> you're with senator graham. he didn't know we had 1,000 troops in niger. did you? >> no, i did not. >> now, the pentagon says that they regularly brief congress on its military operations. and president trump, in june, sent a letter to congressional leaders, saying that the u.s. had about 1,000 troops in niger and neighboring cameroon. now, again, though, members of congress want to know more, want to learn more, and they're raising the prospect of hearings, both on this particular event, ambush in niger and u.s. military posture in west africa overall. john and poppy? >> ryan brown at the pentagon. thank you for that reporting. let's talk about all of this. with us, cnn contributor, bee ana, lynn sweet of the "ch

, quote, somewhat vindicate. 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 the

an eye on john mccain. he has been sitting side by side with his good friend lindsey graham for much of this, and getting a lot of attention from republican leaders. if john mccain decides not to vote for this bill, this bill will not move forward. mccain was one of several senators to give a press conference today. he was one of the most outspoken people who said i don't want this bill to become law. but he was potentially willing to vote for it if he had assurances he was comfortable with. that speaker ryan would take to it conference, as you said, this kind of christmas tree that they could then dress back up. earlier in the night, he told reporters he wasn't satisfied by what he had heard from speaker ryan. and brian, he stopped talking about it. i ran into him in a hallway i don't know, an hour and a half ago, tried to ask him about it. would not say another word about his vote. all eyes in the chamber are on john mccain right now. >> all right. and as garrett spoke at around the 12:00 mark on your screen, there is chuck schumer, the democratic lead who are came down to talk to