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Service Honoring Sen. Graham Begins at National Cathedral. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 28, 2026 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[14:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": The late Senator's family, his colleagues from Capitol Hill and world leaders are gathering to pay their respects to a man who spent three decades on Capitol Hill.

Graham's influence notably going far beyond America's shores as he built close relationships abroad aimed at advancing America's interests.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": In fact, he had just returned from a trip to Ukraine when he died unexpectedly. Among those speaking at Graham's funeral, we'll be hearing from President Trump, who Graham once criticized in the strongest terms before the two became friends and political allies.

CNN's Lauren Fox is there at the National Cathedral here in Washington, D.C. as this service is getting underway. We're also joined by CNN's Jeff Zeleny.

Lauren, judging from those in attendance today, it's clear that Graham was well respected.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and there was a lot of bipartisan camaraderie when it came to talking about Senator Graham's legacy. Look, he was someone who fiercely defended Republican principles, whether that was protecting life, which he was a huge advocate for, or whether it was making sure that the U.S. maintained its position around the world on the global stage.

And while he continued to go and fight for what he believed in, he also maintained these bipartisan relationships. He traveled with Democrats abroad. Senator Elizabeth Warren talked to me at length about several trips that she had taken with Senator Graham. Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat from the state of Arizona, said he believed that Lindsey Graham traveled so often during congressional recesses that he once watched him walk onto a military aircraft and unfurl a sleeping bag so he could get some shut-eye, knowing what a packed schedule they had ahead of him.

And he argued, you know, that was somebody who knew what he was doing. He believed, Senator Graham did, that it was important to maintain those relationships if you wanted to have an impact. And, of course, nothing was more true than the relationship that he had with the president, who at one time he campaigned against in the Republican primary, bitterly, I might add, and then became a golf partner, a sounding board, someone who constantly was interacting with the president and able to influence the president on issues that were most important to Senator Graham's foreign policy, especially on the issue of aid to Ukraine, the intervention in Iran, as well as the U.S.' strong relationship with Israel.

And those were the areas where Senator Graham had such tremendous influence, even people who tangled with Senator Graham from time to time. You heard the Vice President, J.D. Vance, earlier today making clear that he had bitterly disagreed with Senator Graham on Ukraine aid, so much so that things really boiled over in a Republican lunch, and yet he found out just a couple of days later that Senator Graham was going around and fighting for a bill related to rail issues and safety issues that wasn't something Graham cared about. But when he approached Graham about it, Vance said that Graham simply told him, it's not important to me, but I know it's important to you, and I want to make sure that you can get this done.

That was what kind of advocate and ally that you found in Senator Graham if you were a Senator in the U.S. Senate, and that was whether you were a Republican or a Democrat. He had such an indelible mark on the judiciary in this country, on foreign policy in this country, and he was part of almost every single bipartisan gang that we talk about in the United States Senate because he wanted to be in the mix, he wanted to leave a legacy, and certainly that is what is reflected in the National Cathedral behind me. Brianna? Boris?

SANCHEZ: Lauren, please stand by as we look at these live images of the funeral service set to begin at any moment with remarks from President Trump.

And Jeff, after the passing of Senator Graham, President Trump remarked on Graham's relationships across the aisle with Democrats, saying that if you needed a Democrat in an emergency, Graham could usually produce that. So what does his passing mean for the Senate moving forward?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, effectively, he was the glue in the Senate. I mean, as unproductive and dysfunctional as it looks like from the outside, it actually functions better than it might without people like Senator Graham. I mean, he really did have those relationships, largely, as Lauren was saying, by traveling so many miles around the world. That's a time when Republicans and Democrats get together and spend some time, get to know each other.

So he was someone who could talk to everyone in the Senate. So I do think that his impact will be felt that way. But most importantly, just in a few hours' time, the Senate is going to be voting on a Russia sanctions bill. A large number of Democrats are expected to join in with Republicans on this, and that is his legacy.

But I think it also represents a turning of the page of Republican foreign policy. He was a hawk among hawks. That was his view. He was able to talk to the president, as we're seeing there on these live pictures, the president, the vice president. Lindsey Graham sort of spanned the view inside the Republican Party and was something of a throwback in terms of the hawkish era.

[14:05:00]

It's very much a different party now, but also electorally. His sister is serving in his seat. She is in the pews of the Washington National Cathedral there, and she's running for his seat. So there is going to be, just in a very short period of time, less than two weeks, she'll be standing for election for his seat. So it means so much.

But the passing of Senator Lindsey Graham, totally unexpected. And most funerals that we see in this Washington National Cathedral are more expected. They are for former presidents, former vice presidents. This is still a shock to this Capitol.

KEILAR: It is a shock. And I think so many times when we witness services like this, it is generally for someone whose legacy is cemented and they have exited their political life. That was not the case for Lindsey Graham. Jeff, thank you so much. If you can stand by for us as we do watch this get underway here.

Let's talk more about the indelible legacy that Senator Graham leaves behind. Dave Wilson is a South Carolina Republican Strategist and co- host of "Connect to the Capitol." He was also a consultant on Graham's 2014 campaign and did promotional work for the Senator.

I wonder how you are thinking of this moment. And, you know, what do you think the body politic is without Senator Lindsey Graham?

DAVE WILSON, SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Lindsey Graham has a throwback to what we saw in the '80s when you saw Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill going at it. And yet, they would turn around and have a beer at the White House afterwards.

To your point, Jeff, you made this point, Laura made it earlier. We have somebody who could be friends with someone and be political foes at the same time. The relationship he had with Hillary Rodham Clinton offstage was amazing to hear how they interacted with each other and the rapport that they had.

And you don't see that a lot because so much is happening right now when you look at the politics, the body politic, as you said, Brianna, is so difficult because it is so tangential on the sides all the time. Lindsey Graham always found a way to bring people together. And that goes back to a history that he has. --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: And that's Darline. We just saw Darline Graham enter and the family enter. I just want to note that. But please continue, Dave.

WILSON: I think you've got to go back to understanding Lindsey Graham. Lindsey Graham grew up in the liquor store in the back room of a liquor store in central South Carolina, population 5,000. He and his sister, Darline, their dad ran the liquor store. Mom ran the diner next door and they both died within a year and a half of each other. So he was 20. He adopts his sister at the age of 12. And in doing so says I'm going to be here and I'm going to take care of you.

In 2014, when he was running for re-election, we did a television spot with his sister Darline, the now senator of South Carolina. And, you know, for those of us who work in television, we do the interviews and all of a sudden you're listening for that one soundbite, that one hit. And I'll never forget when she said, you know, for Lindsey, South Carolina is his family.

And that defined everything about Lindsey Graham, because if you look at what he did with his international schedule, with his D.C. schedule, he was on the campaign trail in South Carolina constantly. And it was everything for him to make sure that every single one of those areas of his life were absolutely a focus, focused on his family, the 5.3 million people who call South Carolina home.

SANCHEZ: Dave, please stand by. We're going to take a quick break as we continue watching the funeral service for the late Senator Lindsey Graham at the National Cathedral. We will be right back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:13:25]

KEILAR: We are watching the funeral service of the late Senator Lindsey Graham. We have just -- we are watching now as his casket is being brought into the cathedral. The guests have all been seated, including his family that we saw just minutes ago entering.

And we're here with our guest, Dave Wilson, longtime friend and confidant of Lindsey Graham, I would say. Jeff Zeleny is with us as well. I wonder, Dave, and we were just talking about this. You have some very interesting stories talking about Lindsey Graham and just -- I think at times you had some questions for him about how -- how would you sell his politics and how would you understand his politics as all of these folks who respect him so much are gathered there for him?

WILSON: Lindsey Graham always had a way to bring people together, but he also understood what his role was. You think about when he first goes to Congress, one of the first things he has to do is he has to be one of the prosecutors against Bill Clinton. He ends up becoming great friends with Hillary. Now, there may be a story behind that one as well because they found an allyship.

But, one of the things that Lindsey Graham did was worked to remain near the center of power. And --

KEILAR: Always.

WILSON: Always. So Barack Obama nominates Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

[14:15:00]

This was back in the day when a Republican could vote for a Democratic president's nominee, and he was in my office one day and I said, Senator, how do we explain to South Carolina Republican primary voters that you voted for Kagan and Sotomayor? And his answer was very clear. He said, Dave, I would much rather have a seat at the table than be on the table.

And he understood what it meant to be close to the center of power. Those of us here in D.C. understand what that means, and he knew what that responsibility was. He took it very seriously because, again, as we said earlier, he needed to take care of his family, and South Carolina is his family.

SANCHEZ: And we're watching the pallbearers as they rest the coffin of the late Senator in the National Cathedral, and we are set for a welcome, a hymn, and then a tribute from President Trump.

Jeff, over to you. It's notable that Graham's perhaps most lasting political and policy legacy is attached to foreign policy. You were noting a moment ago that he was a hawk. He was a protege of the late Senator John McCain, and both of them stood up to American adversaries abroad for many years, encouraged an aggressive U.S. foreign policy. But, of course, within the Republican Party, we've seen a sort of change of philosophy in the last 10 years since Donald Trump assumed power with his America First vision.

But Graham, for the comments we heard from Dave about wanting to stay close to power, kept his view of things and the way that the U.S. should assert itself across the globe.

ZELENY: Without a doubt, that was a remarkably consistent through- line for Senator Graham, always a hawk, always a particularly staunch ally of the U.S.-Israeli relationship, and Benjamin Netanyahu also on hand there. But as we watch this service unfold, there is no doubt foreign policy a central part of his life, but also just the very notion of South Carolina.

This service is going to be conducted by a senior pastor from Seneca, South Carolina, as Dave was talking about his hometown of Central, that is right there. A slightly larger town from the Baptist Church there, but as well as the Dean of the Washington National Cathedral. And I think that kind of sums up Senator Lindsey Graham.

He was a man of South Carolina, but he was a student of the world who loved world travel there. And as we are looking at President Trump, he often is not on hand for some of these presidential club moments, if you will, at former president's funerals. He was there for President Jimmy Carter's funeral, but he's going to be speaking here, and I'm told by talking to people close to him, this has hit him so very hard.

He was very close to Senator Graham, and he's also about a decade his senior. So this has been a very challenging moment for President Trump as well, who we are about to hear from.

KEILAR: Yeah, we are -- as we follow along here, and we're watching President Trump with Vice President Vance and other members, you can see them there, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Interior Secretary Burgum, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. We are awaiting a full program where we will be hearing from President Trump. And we're very curious, obviously, to hear what he is going to say. Just a very interesting relationship that these two men have had over the years, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, no doubt. Initially, going back to President Trump's run in 2015, the two were at odds. Lindsey Graham referring to the president as having some of the worst instincts in the history of the Republican Party. And yet, Dave, that relationship evolved even after January 6th, where Graham made comments critical of President Trump's involvement in his comments to rioters on the Ellipse before they headed over to Capitol Hill, and obviously, now in relation to the operation that the United States is carrying out in Iran.

WILSON: Right, because Lindsey Graham understood the important responsibility that he had as a U.S. Senator, the relationship he needed to have with the White House, because he maintained those levels of relationship with the White House, not just with the person who sat in the office. And that was the thing to understand about Lindsey Graham, is that he understood what his responsibility was, he understood how to execute that, he understood what it meant to be in relationships with people.

One of the things you hear constantly about Lindsey Graham is his ability to relate with people, because he can relate to the average Joe, as well as some of the highest-ranking international figures that we see. You've got Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is there, you've got President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from Ukraine there, and he worked on developing relationships because he understood what that meant in getting things done.

[14:20:16]

KEILAR: Also, I think it's very interesting to think, as you mentioned, someone -- Lindsey Graham was someone who always stayed close to the center of power, was always relevant. I feel like all of the profiles of him, looking back on them, sort of gravitate towards this idea of him being someone looking for relevance, right? Being in the middle of things, right? Being engaged.

But the story of Lindsey Graham is also the story of someone who was a survivor.

WILSON: Yeah.

KEILAR: And I thought it was really interesting, as you were talking off-camera earlier, about that really goes back to his time as a teenager.

WILSON: Yeah.

KEILAR: And that's something that I think was ingrained in him pretty much as a kid.

WILSON: Yeah. When you grow up in a small town, and your dad runs the liquor store, and your mother runs the diner, when the power company comes in and says we're going to need to turn off the power, or the water company comes in and says we may have to turn off your water, he understood because he watched what his dad did, because sometimes Jack Daniels and Jim Beam could turn around and keep the water running for just a little bit longer.

And that was --

KEILAR: What did he mean by that?

WILSON: Well, because he recognized the fact that I may not have a means at the moment to do something, but I'm going to make sure that you're taken care of, because if you're taken care of, you're going to take care of me. And that is part of the legacy of Lindsey Graham, and why he made sure to stay close to the center of power.

Is it transactional? A lot of transactions took place, of course, but I think he also understood the relational side of politics that some people don't recognize.

SANCHEZ: We're also seeing on our screen, we should note, just behind a Secret Service agent who is sitting behind President Trump, is Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who Graham played an important role in getting confirmed, Jeff.

ZELENY: No question, without Senator Graham on the Judiciary Committee, those very tense hearings, Brett Kavanaugh most likely would not be a Supreme Court Justice, certainly would not have been confirmed at that time. It was Senator Lindsey Graham who really turned the tables there during this -- and as we listen to "How Great Thou Art," the hymn being sung here, it is so poignant that Lindsey Graham was obviously a longtime member of the Judiciary Committee as well.

So for all of the talk of the foreign policy, which was his passion, he also was so deeply passionate about the judiciary, and he did have a -- his imprint is on the judiciary from the Supreme Court to lower courts as well. I mean, he was an attorney and he was a fierce advocate there, but Justice Kavanaugh, I mean, you were so right, Boris. That was a moment where Lindsey Graham also endeared himself to the Trump White House at a time where there was still some skepticism on President Trump.

So it's Lindsey Graham who basically said, to Make America Great Again, don't elect Donald Trump. So that hung in the air, but the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings really crystallized what Senator Graham could do for President Trump.

KEILAR: And Jeff, as we await the remarks from President Trump, and we see him sort of, I think, maybe making a move here to make them, we'll stop as soon as he does begin. But Jeff, it's important to note the president, he's not always, as he's patting there, the casket of Senator Graham there with some affection. It's going to be very interesting to see the discipline and the remarks that have been prepared here. He's not always known for his discipline in his remarks, and yet he certainly can demonstrate that when the time does call for it, and I wonder if that's what we're expecting here. ZELENY: I think absolutely. We are going to hear him pay tribute to his late friend. I would expect some humor as well, but this is a moment we've not seen President Trump do before in this very pristine setting.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Thank you very much. Vice President Vance, members of the cabinet, members of the House and Senate, distinguished guests, Darline, and the entire Graham family, love you all.

Today, we gather in the deepest gratitude and profoundest sorrow to honor a beloved friend, a devoted brother, a respected statesman, a giant of the United States Senate, and a true American original who left us much too soon, and that can only be the one and only Lindsey Graham.

[14:25:00]

By the strength of his steadfast convictions, the force of his magnetic personality, and the goodness of his noble soul, Lindsey rose from a small town in rural South Carolina, a place he loved so much, to become a constant fixture of American politics at the highest level, and a force to be reckoned with all over the world. For more than 30 years, nothing of consequence happened in this Capitol without Lindsey Graham knowing about it.

Nothing of significance happened anywhere in the world without Lindsey Graham having a view on it. And no bill became law in the most exceptional republic in human history without Lindsey Graham having a say in it. He was a man who gave America the full measure of his good and mighty heart until that heart itself just gave out.

But even though Lindsey's life was cut short while he was still so full of vim and vigor, there can be no doubt that he lived absolutely to the fullest. He died doing the work he was born to do. He was truly a great politician, serving the country he loved to serve so deeply.

He went out at the peak of his career, at the top of his game as a legend that every one of us, many of us here today, are blessed to know him and a friend that none of us will ever forget. There was truly nobody like Lindsey Graham. It was his hometown of Central South Carolina that Lindsey first learned the art of politics.

His parents ran a bar and pool hall on Main Street with a room in the back where the family spent. And to do, as Lindsey said, his father taught him the key to being a successful bar owner is that you have to be funny enough that people will keep coming back. And that you have to be tough enough that you can stay in business and thrive, a very difficult combination.

For his entire storied career, that's exactly who Lindsey Graham was. He was the first person to make you laugh and one of the last people that you've really ever wanted to fight. These were the traits that made him into one of the great figures in Senate history. Few like him. As a boy, Lindsey also learned his first lessons in diplomacy when the wife of one regular patron called the bar asking for her husband. She demanded to know where is he. The man instructed, Lindsey, tell her I'm not here. And young Lindsey nodded and said into the phone to the wife, he said to tell you that he's not here.

(LAUGH)

TRUMP: That was Lindsey. When Lindsey was just 20-years-old, he lost his mom to cancer. 15 months later, he lost his dad. Their deaths left his 13-year-old sister, Darline, an orphan. But in God's mercy, she had her wonderful brother to take care of her. On top of it all, Lindsey became her guardian while still in college and helped raise her.

He later said that for all his achievements, and he had many, his single proudest accomplishment in life was how well Darline turned out. He had total respect and love for Darline. Nothing could be more fitting than that woman, who was Lindsey's proudest legacy, now continues his legacy of service in the U.S. Senate, a place that he cherished.

And I have no doubt that he's looking down today, beaming with pride at his sister, Senator Darline Graham. Thank you, Senator.

Lindsey first stormed into Washington with the Republican Revolution of 1994, becoming the first Republican to win his House district in 120 years. That was Lindsey. In 2002, he ran for the Senate in what should have been a loss, and he swept to an easy victory. Lindsey quickly became a master at maneuvering in one of the world's great legislative bodies.

He secured record funding for our military as a budget committee chairman. He delivered the largest investment in border security in history. And last year, he shepherded the passage of the largest tax cuts in American history --