OCEANSIDE (CBS 8) - Hundreds of people gathered outside of the Junior Seau Recreation Center gymnasium in Oceanside for a town hall meeting with Congressman Darrell Issa, R-Vista, Saturday.
As Issa took the stage in front of about 500 constituents, he answered questions on healthcare, immigration and climate change. There were both jeers and cheers from the crowd when Issa began discussing the topic of healthcare.
Outside the event, there were about 100 people protesting against the proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and other policies of President Donald Trump.
Issa was asked by a woman who described herself as an educator and child of the Cold War what he was doing to prod Republicans in Congress to look into the alleged connections between the Russian government and the Trump White House.
"The Russians tried to interfere with our election. The Russians not only are bad actors, but they live off of chaos that they continue to try to create in our country,'' Issa responded, in between heckling from some protesters in the audience. "Are we going to investigate Russia to the very nth degree on interfering with our election? Yes. "But we also have to stop Russia from their actions around the world that are destabilizing a world and costing American lives,'' he said.
Issa was interrupted several times during his attempt to answer questions that were drawn randomly.
Questions posed to the representatives throughout the day related to funding Planned Parenthood, healthcare reform, the Environmental Protection Agency, illegal immigration, refugees entering the United States, national security and President Trump's tweets and fitness to hold office, among other topics.
Every Tuesday for the last few months, a couple of hundred people have gathered outside Issa's Vista office, demanding that the congressman meet with them.
"The Access to Insurance for All Americans Act" put forth by Issa would allow the public to buy into the same insurance plans provided to federal employees and their families.
Issa said his plan would give Americans access to affordable, high quality, privately-run health insurance plans that guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions and allow for coverage for dependents until age 26.
Two town hall meetings, both running about an hour, were held to provide seats for the large turnout.
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