Margaret Brennan: I spoke with Lindsey Graham a day before he died

Fierce Ukraine protagonist Lindsey Graham passed distant Saturday connected the heels of his tenth travel to the warzone, and astatine a cardinal infinitesimal for 1 of the South Carolina Republican senator's proudest accomplishments.

I spoke doubly by telephone connected Friday with Graham portion helium was successful Kyiv. He told maine it was a large day, and helium was excited to stock the quality that the Trump White House had finally fixed him the greenish light for Congress to determination his long-sought measure to enactment important fiscal penalties connected Russia by punishing buyers of Russian oil.

I asked what had changed to marque this possible, and helium said Vladimir Putin's constant attacks made it precise wide that the Russian president was "saying 1 happening and doing another." He had conscionable met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and said that helium thinks President Trump sees the Ukrainian leader arsenic "more of a victor now." 

Graham told maine that helium didn't privation to get up of Mr. Trump but helium believed that this bundle of punishing fiscal measures would make leverage connected China and India, the 2 biggest purchasers of Russian fuel. He believed this would get overwhelming enactment among his Republican colleagues, and bragged that past versions had gotten 85 signatories.

In an progressively uncommon enactment of bipartisanship successful these hyperpartisan times, Graham wanted maine to cognize that Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, his Democratic colleague, deserves a batch of credit. Twice, helium urged maine to telephone Blumenthal and marque definite we got him connected grounds too. The motion had shades of the benignant of across-the-aisle enactment Graham and Republican Sen. John McCain utilized to broker with different Connecticut lawmaker, Sen. Joe Lieberman.

Sen. Lindsey Graham connected "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

It was astir precisely 1 twelvemonth agone to the time that Graham and Blumenthal had joined america connected "Face to Nation" to speech astir their bipartisan effort to unit Russia done sanctions and tariffs connected buyers of their oil. Graham told america successful that July 13, 2025, interview that helium wanted to manus Mr. Trump "a sledgehammer to spell aft Putin's economy, and each those countries who prop up the Putin warfare machine."

The 2 senators had conscionable traveled done Europe together, urging European countries to chopped disconnected their ain purchases of Russian substance and gathering enactment among European countries to effort to reflector the sanctions.

Blumenthal told maine Friday that helium and Graham would get the votes to marque definite this passed. Following Graham's passing, it falls to Republican leaders successful the Senate and House to marque the determination connected whether to instrumentality it up.

When Graham and I spoke Friday, helium said helium wanted to travel backmost connected "Face the Nation" with Blumenthal erstwhile again. He'd conscionable appeared with america 3 weeks agone to propulsion different large goal: Turning the morass of the Iran warfare into an accidental for normalization of relations betwixt Saudi Arabia and Israel. He had worked with then-President Joe Biden to effort to get that done, but the enactment was stymied by the horrific onslaught of Oct. 7, 2023.

That unfinished concern besides present lays waiting.