with the census bureau and the brookings institution. ♪ >> good morning, it is friday may 11 and thank you for being with us. later on the program, you'll meet the libertarian presidential candidate gary johnson. dan glickman will also be with us. he is the chairman of the institute of medicine and food and nutrition under a new study on the american problem of obesity and in our final segment, we will look at america by the numbers, the foreign-born population. as we begin, the prosecution rested yesterday in the john

edwards trial in north carolina. the defense will pick up the case next week if, in fact, the trial continues. we will learn more about that in a few minutes. we will use the john edwards trial to talk to you about it this morning. to talk about what it says about american politics, we would like to hear your thoughts about this on our phone lines. we also of a special line for north carolina viewers. you can tweet your response or send us a facebook message. good friday morning to you and thank you for being with us. we will talk about the john edwards trial. we hope many of you in the audience have been following the

press coverage of last couple of weeks that the trial has been session. the federal court in north carolina, one person who has been there each day covering for it is josh gerstein. it is an important day for the case. what is said to happen today in court? >> we are expecting to hear from senator edward' defense team about a motion to the judge to direct the john edwards acquittal either on some of the charges or all of the charges. he essentially, what the defense team which is headed up by a washington lawyer will argue that the prosecution, during the almost three rigs that have been preventing -- presenting evidence, has not produced enough evidence. to sustain a conviction. they will be arguing that this should go to the jury and the

prosecution case is so weak on some key points that the judge should determine that no reasonable jury could find this case beyond a reasonable doubt. >> what is the heart of the case? what the federal prosecutors trying to prove? guest: the allegations are essentially that john edwards conspired with a couple of his wealthy donors, command named fred baron and a woman named rachel bonnie mellon who is a wealthy heiress who lives in virginia to spend $925,000 to he essentially hide his mistress who was pregnant at that time, the woman by the name by rial hunter at the height of the 2008 campaign.

the government basically claims that that money, nearly $1 million, amounted to the legal unreported campaign funds. they say it was not properly reported or lied about the core allegation is that he accepted to what amounted to almost $1 million in gifts to his 2008 presidential campaign. host: if this trial goes forward and if there is a conviction, what effect would have on campaign finances? guest: the case has already caused a bit more caution among some people about how to deal with personal expenses during the campaign. the trend before this was to

think that anything personal should be kept off the campaign books. this case has caused some uncertainty about whether that is the right way to handle things. the charge here is that the senator or his campaign should have reported this money as an official campaign expenditure even though it did not really follow through the campaign account. there are a lot of people in the world of campaign finance law, many attorneys, who say the case has created a lot of confusion about which should be considered a personal expense of the candidate and what should be considered an official campaign expense. i think a conviction of centre edwards would heighten that uncertainty even more host: federal prosecutors wrapped up their case yesterday. in a second, i will ask you to describe what that interview did

and why they may have played it. let me read you this scene in the courtroom as described this morning in " the new york times." what was the video? guest: it was simply the interview? senator edwards did in august of 2008 with abc news. the interviewer was bob woodruff and it was an interview in which edwards, for the first time, acknowledged he had had an extramarital affair during the

lead up to the 2008 campaign. it is a really uncomfortable video to watch this point because there are so many falsehoods in his statements. i counted at least a dozen in the 20-minute interview that we now know are simply untrue that he said in that interview. he was purporting in the interview to come clean and pretending to be sincere, in fact, a vast number of things he said in that interview were either on true or wildly misleading. the message prosecutors were trying to send to the jury is that anything mr. edwards says about this matter cannot be trusted and he is a fundamentally dishonest individual and someone who has

practiced at being able to convince people of things that are simply not true. host: we want to listen to some of your phone calls and get some of your reactions. the former united states senator representing north carolina at, the 2008 candidate for president and vice presidential nominee in the past is john edwards. he spent a lot of time on the national stage and we would like to hear what you think about this as we watched the press coverage over these last couple of weeks. twittwer-- with we have a special line for people in north carolina -- we would like to hear your

thoughts and a former senator and the federal government's case against him and what you think of all of this. let's begin with eugene, ore., on the democratic line. caller: may i say that i really miss open phone friday and for your next segment, i wanted to say that i have lost 60 pounds and last five years and i still have 20 to go. host: we will be talking about obesity in america but on to the edwards trial. caller: i think john edwards has really helped even out the fact that republicans and democrats have now both taken us into the sewer. it is sad. i used to look toward the election season every couple of years so that i could go out and get the extra work and work for the people i believed were going to make america a better country. now, we see that both sides have

really brought the sewer factor forward and it is sad and pathetic. host: the next call is from florida on the republican line. caller: good morning. i would like to say that i agree with the first caller. need politicswe anymore. host: why is that? caller: the politicians are not representing the people. there represent big business. if you want to fix the economy, give the people the money and that will fix the economy automatically. we don't have any money. as long as we're broke, the economy will stay like this. host: next up is a call from

ballston as we are talking about the john edwards trial. this is on the democratic line. caller: good morning. i understand that john edwards should pay for what he did wrong. i really don't believe we should have politicians either but i think the republicans should be on trial for their corruption. i think they are bringing in their own personal feelings for the president and the democrats and they feel they can do whatever they want. that is ridiculous. people are suffering out here. something needs to be done about that. host: josh gerstein, three callers who lost faith in politicians. guest: clearly, watching the abc

interview that was filled with falsehood put the credibility of politicians in question across the country. what's interesting about the edwards story is that he is someone who many people in the democratic party regarded in 2008 as the most sincere candidate. also perhaps the most committed candidate to issues that are at the heart of many democratic voters. edwards had a penchant for talking about the poorest people in america. many people who worked on his campaign regarded him as really the most sincere and honest

honest candidate in the field that year, which is hard for people to believe now. it has been devastating not only for members of the public who may see that and some of them may have been cynical already but the parade of campaign staffers we have seen go through the corporate or last three weeks, virtually all of them have been shaken by this a great deal. many of them believed centre edwards -- believed the denial of centaur edwards. -- senator edward. s. the revelations of the pregnancy of his mistress are quite stunning. host: this istwitter -- leo hendry, a longtime activist

and businessman testified -- he was a top aide to address any testified that even as his own presidential hopes for flagging that sought to use his leverage with either the obama or clinton campaigns as they progressed. he knew what he was doing in his personal life and yet he still had aspirations that suggested a seat on the supreme court aid or a position as attorney general. what can you tell us that you learned from listening to the witnesses about mr. edwards' unreality about his conduct and aspirations? guest: it is remarkable that in deed as he was dealing with these issues about his mistress, according to a variety of witnesses, from the day of the iowa caucuses in early january,

2008 through july of 2008, in the weeks leading up to the democratic national convention, bedsores discussed with a number of people, friends, campaign aides, advisers and so forth, the possibility of trying to get the presidential ticket to run with obama. it looked like it would be obama at that point. there was also talk about him possibly becoming attorney general or possibly a supreme court justice. it was really remarkable because many people are saying that the risk that the democratic party was taking with him nominated as president or vice president would have been enormous. it is hard to fathom why someone

would be willing to put so much at risk not only in their own life but basically the entire presidential party. the white house so clearly could be jeopardized by a single story. we should say that the edwards defense has said that he may have been going along with the hope that others had simply because if he did not talk about the vice-president see, people would have found it odd. that might have begun the process of exposing him of his affair. host: we will take a couple of more phone calls and come back to this. i would like to quickly run through some principals in this case. abbe lowell is defending mr.

edwards and a federal judge. this is so people know who the major officials are better prosecuting this case and defending john edwards. let's listen to a call from granger, indiana, a republican. caller: good morning, over the years, i have learned, starting with clinton that liberals are exceptionally good lawyers. i am starting to think with c- span that i am watching mcnbc. there isn't a day goes by when you have this radical left politico on. next you will have arianna huffington sitting next to you. host: and happy viewer, ashland, ohio, democratic viewer. caller: good morning. i think the best thing to do with these politicians is just outsourced them and get rid of them once and for all and have a

whole new party. nothing will get done. things will get worse. americans need to get -- need to wake up. host: next up is a call from corona, mich., a democrat, good morning. caller: good morning, i don't think this is a democratic or republican issue. i think you can see this all through washington lot. i think the democrats and republicans and independents keep blaming each other. let's focus on the major issue. , the american people and that's what we need to focus on. if these politicians keep doing this kind of stuff like john edwards did, i don't care what party they are, they should not be in the political realm anymore. thank you. host: from twitter -

next up is wilmington, delaware, an independent -- caller: i would like to make a comment -- the main reason people don't trust politicians in this country is corruption. john edwards case is one of the main reasons for that. you have people that are rich buying politicians. they are spending a whole lot of money to do that and that is a problem. to maintain greatness, you have to maintain fairness. if you want to keep this country away it is, you have to be fair. you cannot be fair by being corrupt. the average case is one of the main reasons people don't trust politicians. this will continue to happen and people will continue to be corrupt and politicians will continue to steal money and that will bring the downfall of this

country. we need to wake up and make sure we vote them out of office. host: from iowa, a democrat, you are on. caller: i'm glad you brought this subject up. i am still a great supporter of john edwards. i think he has had the shaft. host: explain why. caller: i don't know what you can believe but they said in the paper that she lived in a car and that tells me the left and right hired this woman to break up his marriage, first of all. she has to be a real shady lady. besides, the left and right both said to her we can give you lots of money and you don't have to live in your car. go to your hotel and say you are

so hot, john edwards, have a drink and slip something in there and the rest is history. i don't know how bill clinton got by. he was impeached and got to stay in the white house. he is the one that basically started this whole thing. he is held very high. i can understand why the country is so high on bill clinton. he comes out there with obama and oh, wow, we will vote for barack obama because bill clinton is right there. host: very skeptical of the roots of this story. thanks for staying with us, let's to a lightning round. of the principals in this case starting with the mr. edwards the turning abbe lowell is known

in washington d.c.. what is his background? guest: he is probably one of the best known criminal defense attorneys in washington, d.c. he actually had a role in the clinton impeachment saga representing the defense team as part of the house of representatives, the democratic team, during that sagqa. he has represented a variety of high-profile candidates -- defendants in recent years including a case involving the pro-israel group apac a few years ago. host: let's move on to the federal judge in the case. guest: her name is catherine

eagels,. she had been a state court judge in north carolina before taking the federal bench with host: in the last: finally, the federal prosecutor is ord? >? guest: there are several and one is david harbaugh. it is a combined team from the justice department in washington. and prosecutors out of the u.s. attorney's office in raleigh, n.c. where the trial is taking place in greensboro. host: what time does the court convened today? guest: it will start at 9:30 a.m. as it has every day and we will hear the presentation from abbe lowell about the

deficiencies in the prosecution's case. host: when will a ruling be made? guest: the judge said she would rule today but probably not immediately but presumably the prosecution will make their argument. it will probably be sometime this afternoon and we will get word about whether the case will go forward on monday. thank you so much. you have done a good job laying it out for our viewers this morning and we appreciate it. let's hear from tom irvine on twitter - john edwards is in "the washington post" along with a former d.c. council member harry thomas who has pled guilty to

charges here. this is the headline -- next is a phone call from massachusetts, good morning, an independent. caller: i got an article from " or edwards was outsourcing business is to go to china. i don't care what he did personally. i am 30 years and engineering and all the stuff is gone.

it is funny that elizabeth left him out of the well. host: if you suggest he was interested in helping companies move out of the country, remembered a histheme was talking about the dichotomy in america between the rich and the port. what do you think about the article you have and his official slogan? caller: that wasn't mentioned. he was tied up with china. i have all the articles going a ways back. host: saginaw, mich., you are on. caller: 94 cspan. i think this is a campaign funding issue. when the draft was an order in the vietnam days, your constitutional rights were suspended and you did not choose to do that yourself. that was done by a law. in the present, we have a

situation where there is such corruption with money. why can't we just suspend the right for people to raise funds? if they are seeking a federal office? we keep requesting these guys limit themselves and not accept funding and then complain because somebody went overboard. to me, they're all corrupt in terms of how they raise money. the men of the correct person but in terms of practices, is all corrupt. why don't we suspend the right. this can be done by them volunteering to do this. this is you volunteering to give up your constitutional rights as long as you hold a federal office. thank you for your time. host: chico, california next, an independent. caller: good morning and thank you for cspan. i'm a vietnam veteran.

i believe this goes back many years across party lines. the biggest problem is money in politics. until we get money out of politics, we have a sitting senator now, nothing happened to him but it is part of the good old boys club on the republican side. it is just ridiculous. we americans are paying the price for all this money that has been spent on these elections. we could have campaign finance reform but the only way we will get it done is maybe vote

because the senators will not take the money out. they are all millionaires. toy are making now laup the las do what ever they want to do and they don't care about the citizens. for me being a disabled vietnam veteran, i served my country and now that i am disabled, i have to live on less than $13,000 per year. these guys are making so much money in office and cutting deals. it just makes me sick. host: thank you and we will move on. this is twitter -

host: among the witnesses included andrew young, a former top aide to john edwards. can we put these on screen? host: she is in the obama administration right now, jennifer palmieri. we mentioned a telecommunications executive who testified yesterday. we have this from "usa today" --

"the case may come down to who the jurors believe most." host: later on in the radical she writes -- host: talking with you about the john edwards trial. restedsecuted ion yesterday. abbe lowell was going to ask for

the case to be dismissed. the judge may rule as early as today. next up is greensboro, north carolina, where the trial has been taking place -- we have lost pete. pat, good morning. caller: thank you for c-span. i think he is too big to be caught. i watched the whole thing on the representatives. we make the law. that's the way it is supposed to be. you cannot praise god -- these signs to work with us and then the sign to work with this

man that they signed. in the meantime, there's a story for glover. i pray that someday they all get caught. host: we have a comment on twitter from monty. we will look at our facebook postings. this is what some people are writing.

host: we will go back to phone calls. washington, d.c., pat is an independent. caller: hello? can you hear me? host: we can. caller: people talking about the failings of washington, d.c. actually they are talking about their representatives and what their representatives are doing are not doing. some of us are suffering as a result of the same problems. we do not have a representative, a constitutional representative to protect us. i wish that they would say they will hold their representatives accountable and how this is

affecting us who live here because of their representatives' refusal to enforce our right to protect us here. host: thank you, pat. the lead story from "the washington post." their major front-page story on mitt romney and is perhaps school pranks. you can see the size of the piece. it is about his days as the elite boys perhaps school. i will refer you to the newspaper if you would like to read more about what they describe as some of the incidents of pranks.

this spurred an apology from mitt romney yesterday. mitt romney found self responding to allegations. host: romney the mirrors on gay marriage -- he is giving the commencement address at liberty university. let me give you that. he struggled to gain the support of evangelicals.

host: the next phone call, donald, tallahassee, democrat. caller: i like to respond to the fact that politicians have on the american people today. thousands of years ago when israel, the israel people wanted a cane and they said, we want a man came -- wanted a king and they said we want a man king. going to quote something.

they should cut out and get the king nature has chosen. the people refuse to -- they said we want a man king. taking a man king over the kin g of king. 5000 years ago. thank you, susan. host: thank you, donald. we have a comment on facebook. bergen, new jersey -- first a mark.from hawaii, caller: thank you very much.

defense, dwards' campaign law is very convoluted. i guess it is like a million or two. even liked another case, the money did not happen. he was talking in those terms. i think mr. edwards will probably have enough cash to clear. he probably wishes he would have somehow gotten his own money or using the campaign funds. you know the old saying -- politics makes strange bedfellows. aloha. host: front page of "the washington times" --

host: and from "the wall street journal"this morning, jpmorgan is in the news. this is the headline above the fold. jimmy diamond in the news -- to's coming to capitol hill

lobby about the dead. bergen, new jersey is up next. pat is a republican. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. forgive my voice. i am allergy prone. politicians are human beings. not to forgive indiscretion, it is not my place. we also have to believe that there was another side. he did not do this alone. issedwoman seems to have mess all the education in terms of birth control. this is a billion dollars baby for her. thate, let's understand

every politician is a human being and prone to making mistakes like we all do. if there is term limits, i think ithe mistakes will be shorter or fewer. host: you are for term limits? caller: i am for term limits, campaign funding and reform. i believe if we keep an eye on the money itself through reform that is baloney will not go on and if it went on it would be a personal situation. except for the money, this is a personal situation between two people. mr. edwards can more than of fort to replace this money. this is costing this country a phenomenal amount of money to

get this to the court system. i do not understand why he did not replace the money or what an offer was not made. host: thank you, pat.

host: a final call is from new york and mrs. john, an independent -- and this is john. caller: this is typical of washington, d.c., political financing. they need to get money out of politics. the politicians should be paying us for the privilege of holding this office. we should not be paying them. if you get the money out of politics, you could stop more than half of this. no politician today to me is trustworthy. they're all in it to see how much money they can put in their pocket. what today retire as -- what do they retire as? millionaires. host: thank you for your call,

john. the president was at a major fund-raiser last night. he continues his swing. this is from "the washington times" this morning. we will show you some scenes from president obama at a fund-raiser. [video clip] the countrying forward. we're moving forward to a country where every american is treated with dignity and with respect and here in washington, you'll have the chance to make your voice heard on the issue of making sure that everybody regardless of sexual orientation is treated fairly. you'll have a chance to weigh and on this. we're a nation that treat people

fairly. [cheers] we are not going backwards. we're not going backward, we're going forward. [cheers] we're going forward. this election will be even closer than the last. too many of our friends and neighbors are still hurting because of this crisis. they see what is going on in washington and they do not like it. there is a frustration level that will express itself in the election. my opponent in this election, governor romney, is a patriotic american and has raised a wonderful family. he should be proud of the success he has had. but i think he is the wrong

lesson from the east -- he has learned the wrong lesson. he believes a ceo and the wealthiest investors like him get rich and the rest of us automatically do, too. host: on your screen is dan glickman, a familiar face to washingtonians. he was the u.s. secretary of agriculture from 1995 until 2001. right now he is sharing the food and nutrition committee, which put out a major study on obesity. thank you for being here. this is the cover of "newsweek."

new study suggests that there are some ways to address that. guest: this is a major national problem. chronic disease is the largest driver in health care costs. it affects our national budget. health care is the largest part of our budget. it is a major national problem. it is not capable of a simple solution. it involves the schools, business community, local governments, and individuals themselves. it is a big health issue and a big cost issue and we have to deal with it. host: the obvious answer is that

we eat too much. is there more to the story? guest: much more. we exercise too little. the changing nature of society. kids do not walk to school anymore and watch a lot of television. we live a different lifestyle than we used to live. kids are being bombarded by messages about the food they need to. -- about the food da they eat. all the pressures are to eat more and to exercise less. it is today to say why don't people just watch their diet? we need to address this problem

as a major public health issue. everybody is worried about the national debt. the fastest growing part of our national debt is health care cost. host: you had the responsibility for the food stamp program as the secretary of agriculture. talk about what your organization sees as the role for directing people to use food stamps and towards healthier food. guest: the food stamp pr ogram is probably at the highest level that it has been. 40 million americans are on food stamps right now. there are some restrictions about things people can buy.

by and large we let people make those decisions for themselves. fruits, dairy -- a few things where we lymphokines of foods that people are eligible -- where we limit the kinds of foods that people are eligible for. there is some controversy because some folks would like to restrict food stamps to certain types of food. we don't have the data to determine if that is legitimate or not. grocery stores have always fought that. clearly, we have to look at this problem in a cosmic way. it is everybody that has this problem. host: how did you get involved in this issue?

guest: i probably needed some personal advice myself. we not only have the farm program -- which provided programs to tell farmers deal with production and agriculture, but we have the nutrition problems as well. we have the first nutrition about what people's diets should be, and i have maintained that interest since then. i'm at the think tank where we are looking at this issue and will issue a report soon. i'm interested in food and the role that food plays in our society -- good food, bad food, and how we can get people to take better care of themselves. host: we have a comment on twitter by fishinsam.

some people point to this as a driver for obesity. corn as a commodity has been getting extensive federal support. guest: we did not find any direct linkages between farm programs and those that support corn and thobesity. i think we need to look at our farm programs to try to help folks as we increase our demand for fruits and vegetables, we have to produce more of those. the farm programs are not always compatible with other crops. programs to not provide the resources in fruits and vegetables. we need to increase production of those things.

there is an old expression -- for every complicated problem there is a simple and the wrong solution. this is one of those problems there is no simple solution for. i wish there was a magic bullet or a drug that everybody could say that would make them healthy and lived for100 years. we have to look at all things including the food programs. approved one of two diet drugs. this was an 18-4 vote. host: " it may be a stepping stone to help us out."

guest: two out of three adults in this country are obese. what happens is the older you get, these problems become almost epidemic. we have to look at a multiple number of options and one is probably in the pharmaceutical industry. host: this is a graphic that came from this report that mr. glickman chaired. we'll take your calls and your and you can also e-mail about the growing obesity problem in the united states. this is mike from maryland. caller: i can say so many things

about this issue. this comes down to -- people are going to be people. people are going to eat what they want to eat. you put in regulations in what goes into school cafeterias and then the machines and you create a black market on corn chips. let them be free. the government has barged its way into the -- now you have a situation where you pass the health care bill. the government has gotten more and more power over the medical profession. he pays the piper plays the tune. guest: i am not calling -- this

report does not call for the government to take over this issue. let's take physical activity. most kids had 60 minutes of physical activity everyday. it doesn't happen in most schools today. physical activity is not a part of kids' education today. the business community -- people spend more time in their work than any place except their home. more and more employees are thinking -- are taking days off because of health related activities. nobody is saying uncle sam is the cure all for these problems. part of the issue deals with the medical programs. the private sector, doctors,

everybody has a stake in this. ponderstand the caller's int. when the health-care costs will bankrupt america, we'll have a stake. host: you suggested that schools have a particular role to play. guest: the role of vending machines, the roles of schools doing education of their students so they understand what is good for them, the relationship of the schools to the parents, the resources devoted to quality foods whether it is breakfast or lunch. some kids have no males at all except lunch at school. schools have a big piece of this issue but not the only piece.

doctors, parents have a piece. i do not want people to think this is a situation with a simple solution. to deal with this problem of chronic disease and obesity as it relates to diabetes, cancer, heart disease, we all must look at this as a major public health crisis. host: by the time young people get to school, they have five or six years learning from their parents. guest: we talk about the need for the zero to 5 in terms of making sure the parents know what kind of dietary guidelines and dietary intake is good for their kids and can help in this

regard and encouraging parents on the physical activity side of the picture. you have to look at this whole thing when it comes to young people as diet -- a lot of that begins in pre-natal care. it starts when young when have children and encourage breast feeding. and studies show kids that are breast-feeding tend to be healthier. there are multiple pieces of the situation. host: can for instance be used at fast-food restaurants? there are a few exceptions for the handicapped and it cannot be

used for those things. our people on food stamps buying different kinds of food? that data is inconclusive. until you get that data, it is premature to limit what folks can buy. right now, they cannot buy certain things. this is a public policy issue that i'm sure congress and people will continue to look at. host: i do not want to get into a tangent on food stamps. we have had callers say there is a robust market in people selling food stamps for cash. if you were to put rules in place, could people circumvent that?

obviously, there is some misuse of this. caller: as of august 1, the state was 0.2 implement. this is bananas. people were outraged. the state representatives rescinded it. it is going to a vote to the state senate. it will be up to each community if they want to implement this. if these fund-raisers are necessary, it was the craziest law. it was never in the national media. it was on fox news, and it was

an embarrassment. i'm thinking that we look like a nanny state. gee, i saw that, and quite honestly, -- guest: i saw that, and quite honestly, in our zeal to do public policy things we do not use the best judgment. that was not good judgment. ultimately, there are certain things you can do, and certain things you cannot do. you have to encourage people to have better health habits and the health-care profession and the business community, doctors, others, but you have to realize human nature being the way it is, people do not want to be told to do things that might seem ridiculous. it is always a question of balancing. as an old public official from kansas, and someone who was the school board member and a member of congress, i understood.

host: some of the newspapers have picked up on this report. round robin.ick "the washington post" -- they should approach the issue delicately, not dictating diets to the poor, but there are reasonable ways -- host: "the washington times" --

host: mandates are not going to make someone put down a notch shows. host: one more. "the wall street journal" -- g tel it is no secret that i -- guest: it is no secret that i agree with "the washington post ." this cannot be solved with the government issuing rules and regulations. the institute of medicine did not call for that.

when you look to the costs, almost $200 billion a year, the cause of obesity-related illness, 21% of annual medical spending, all of the spending in the country, is related to obesity-related illness. this is a monumental economic problem. what do we do about it? people ought to eat less and exercise more. we understand that, but incentives are different than they used to be. we have electronic media. we have parents working in a much more difficult economic environment where parents are not home, and kids do not have the incentive to exercise. we do not require physical education in the schools anymore, and students get resources from the vending machines, though that is gradually being pulled out of

schools. these are complicated, big public health problems and they cannot be dealt with by telling people you ought to eat less and exercise more. a lot of these patterns are set early in life, and once they get on the treadmill, they can not get off it without some help. we have to use good judgment. the rule of reason -- people do not like to be told what to do, but incentives need to be there. a lot of times that is up to the business community, the house committee, faith-based community and others. host: from twitter. -- soda and vending machines are on school campuses. easy access. let me add a caveat. advertising is on vending machines. there is incentives for companies. this is a complicated problem

guest: the schools have begun to take bending a strategic problem. guest: the schools have begun to take a vending machines out -- problem. guest: the schools have begun to take a vending machines out of schools, and started putting better-quality food in the vending machines, and a lot of schools have these bending machines this resources to pay for recent -- pay for things in their schools. they need them to support programs. naturally, kids gravitate to what tastes good. we see a trend to move these high-fat, high-sugar foods out of vending machines, and i hope the trend continues. host: wichita, kansas. joe, a democrat. caller: mr. dan glickman, could

you answer my question in the taking of the programs, shutting schools down -- i was at my daughter's school this weekend. there vending machine has nothing but advertisements of bad food. i was in the cafeteria. the food is very bad. this word obesity -- when i was coming up, we played a lot of ball and exercise. they have cut all of that out of the bills in kansas. guest: i am glad to hear from kansas, my home, that i represented for a long time. most states and local school

districts are under distress. i have been reading in kansas how the fiscal state is being talked about in the legislature, and whether we have tax cuts, how much they are, and whether they heard the poor. physical activity, which used to be an integral part of the education of kids in this country is no longer an integral part. in large part that was a financial decision. the schools did not have the resources to have a full-time teachers and do the kinds of things they would have done when i was a kid. that is something we have to address. it is not easy. one of our recommendations it is that schools should be required to have at least 60 minutes of some sort of physical activity every single day in this country. that does not happen in formal

physical education training. there are districts that are innovative and good teachers. it is part of the education. it is one example of the gap we have seen that we need to fell. host: georgian colorado rights -- guest: part of that is true. the average person is bombarded by different messages of what they should or should not eat -- a magic answer or a magic bullet. we do know certain things. generally speaking, a high-fat, high-sugar diet is not good for you. you need a balanced diet that is

rich in fruits and vegetables. the usda has come out with a suggestion that half of a guided be in fruits and vegetables with lean meat and other types of items. we generally know what food intake is good for you and we know physical activity is very important. what is now happening is other institutions, particularly the business community is realizing that if they do not get with the act they will lose employees to fly, productivity, sickness and illness. there is a lot of confusing data out there. at the same time, that is no excuse to do nothing. the consequences are grave, particularly for our national debt. host: i think this is , and chea.

guest: generally speaking, we have found that texting -- while some states have looked at it, and it is part of the solution, it is not the simple answer. he would have to have a large tax on a lot of foods, and those disproportionately hurt the poor as well. some states have tried it, some do it to raise revenues, but i would -- there is no one culprit. there is no one enemy. there is no one person causing all of the damage. this is not like smoking. we know that it is bad for you. the reduction was pretty clear. everybody has to beat.

you cannot say stop eating. that is why this is a much more complicated public health issue. fort dan glickman, the chairman of this report, -- host: dan glickman, the chairman of this report. wisconsin. richard, an independent. caller: i want to make a comment. every time i try to explain something on c-span i get cut off. that is the first thing. now, to solve this problem we have to go back into time. c-span talk about sugar cane and putting a tax on it mainly because of to the. will we have to recognize is manufacturers decided instead of using sugar cane they came up with the idea of using corn

syrup. corn syrup is the main culprit. now, as far as what we need to do to get control of our health- care system, we need to recognize what is called integrated medicine. i challenge people to look up this dr. -- dr. russell, dr. steven. i challenge them to watch "your health" of national television. they have a following of over 75 million people by -- people. tell people to study the book called "the food giant." this is a long time ago. what we need to understand, and this was recently on "dateline ," where they talked about the

supplement industry. there are only 12 people that oversee the drug laboratories in this country that works for the fda. this is disgusting. we need to understand that the german commission is so far ahead of us in comparison to the fda. if we understand all of this, we can get control of our health- care system by competition, by having people to -- be able to buy insurance all around the country. host: richard, we have your point. guest: i get the point. i am a fan of integrated medicine. i have spoken to one of the leaders of this movement at the university of arizona. there is great promise in that world. again, to deal with this problem, it is an important aspect of national security. he talked about other countries.

if you look at how america ranks in the issue of obesity, life expectancy, health care outcomes, we are not even near the top. this is affecting national security. right now, the military has found they have had difficulty getting recruits in the all- volunteer force because people have a variety of severe health problems. one of them is bad teeth, dental problems caused by bad nutrition. this is a big, comprehensive national problem and there is no one answered. somebody said we should be free to do whatever we want. when you are a child and you go home, and you watched television in the see the food that is marketed on television, -- watch television, and you see the food that is marketed on television, by and large you do betsy high-

and you do not see high- nutrition -- you do not see high-nutrition food. it makes it complicated to say eat less, exercise more and we should do this on our own. i think they need some help. host: for major producers, would it not be logical that there is a higher margin on processed foods? guest: there is a higher margin on processed foods. now, the incentive needs to be to get food manufacturers, the restaurant industry, people that sell and distribute food to offer more nutritious food as part of this mix. then you need the education of people, and other aspects of american society to encourage people and give them an incentive. host: mark rights --

guest: i never said that snap could not be used to buy junk food. it could be used to buy anything except alcohol and certain prepared foods. there are certain limits. the evidence shows that by and large people on food stamp programs do not purchase a different diet than people that are not on food stamps. the evidence is not new. the evidence is a little old. one of the things that needs to be done is get better data collection. we need to encourage people who are on food stamps or snap as well as people who are not to buy and eat more nutritious

foods. host: this is a town full of studies and reports. what happens next with yours? guest: this report goes to congress, health care, the health-insurance industry, and other organizations like the bipartisan center, we will come up with a report next month that i chair on ways to implement these recommendations. we are trying to reinforce the fact that this is a monumental national problem. we need to do something about it. we cannot sit here and watch health-care costs continue to strangle us. congress is dealing with debt reduction. we are looking at what we have to cut, whether it is the defense budget, but the biggest problem is health care costs,

and the biggest part of that is costs related to chronic disease, obesity, diabetes. host: we will look at a statistic on diabetes that comes out of the report as we listen to a call out of new york city. crag, democrat. caller: i would like to set i do not know why people were beating up on michele obama as she was trying to give people good information. people resent the government so much that when they give out good information and people do not want to hear it. when people were poor, they used to be skinny. now there is a mcdonald's on every corner. the value of food -- sugar, white flour starch, but you also

have people that are afraid to let their kids go out and play because there is a safety factor. there is also a video games the detectives to sit down. they would rather have their kid inside and they sit there eating potato chips and junk food as they watch television and the cartoon shows encourage sugar- laden cereals and non--healthy foods -- non- healthy foods. i think the american public needs to take decision and not resent the government for giving as good information. guest: i could not have said it better myself. i wish she was working with me on this report. let me -- he was working with me on this report. but me say this is not a partisan issue. that is something that republicans, democrats, all care

about. we know there is a limit to what the government can do. we know this is a national problem. the fifth base committee, reaching the faith-based community, the business -- the faith? based community, the business community, they can help as well. i saw a reverend on one of the shows and he looked at himself in the mirror he looked in the audience, and he decided it was pretty hard to be concerned about the hereafter and how to treat your human beings if we all were unhealthy ourselves and he says the incentives for getting healthy were not there. he established a campaign in his church. they lost a lot of weight. it was a great incentive for others to follow along. there are so many things in modern society to make it difficult -- that make it difficult for people to get

their health under control but we need a national plan, a private sector, business committee, health care committee, and government providing information to get the salt. -- to get this solved. host: the debate from twitter -- host: i will show you an opposing viewpoint after this call from landover, maryland. caller: i am 40 years old. when i was going to school, i had an hour and half in physical education class five days a week. today, the federal government has taken away funding for schools. that is one thing. the other thing is that personal responsibility. parents' bed have kids, when

they come home from school, -- parents that have kids, when they come home from school, they should make them do their homework, then go outside. stay away from the television. watch television for one hour a day. that is what i do with my kids. the federal government has tried put their fingers in everything and they screw it up. guest: you saw mike a good parent, and i wish more people would -- you sound like a good parent, and i wish more people would follow your example. 90% of the dollars that go into the schools are from the state. i would not blame the federal government in terms of funding levels. i think we have ignored physical activity in schools for a very long time. one state requires physical education as part of

certification for local school districts, and that is illinois. maybe it has changed. regardless of physical education, physical activity has been missing in a big chunk of our nation's schools. that would have banned under heard of years ago. -- that would have been honored of years ago -- not heard of years ago. to say the federal government ought to get out of the way, that is fine, but when the medicaid system is paid a bigger portion of tax dollars for people who are sick because they are overweight and had diabetes and those numbers are increasing dramatically, it is not just the government issue. it is a taxpayer issue. we have a responsibility to reduce costs, where else as a society we will go broke. host: opposing point of view --

guest: i agree with that comment. host: you probably looked at pilot projects addressing this issue. tell me one that really works? guest: a lot of the school districts in this country are doing great things in terms of improving their foods. a lot of them are growing gardens and getting fresh fruits and vegetables out of there, and putting it as part of the school meals program. a lot of them have an innovative way for physical activity. businesses and the private sector have wellness programs where they treat employees to a situation where health is an important part of workplace activity. there are a multiple amount of examples. those examples are there. one of the things we found is a lot of people would like a national clearing house of best practices so they would know what schools or businesses are

doing, and those things will be available. host: i seem to remember -- was it the city of houston? there is this list of the fattest cities, and houston took it on as a citywide campaign. when something is concentrated in a locality, does it have a better chance to work? guest: leadership that all levels, mayors, state-based leaders, doctors, they need to be in the forefront. a lot of mayors have taken the sting on. they have a lot of campaigns -- how much weight can the city lose. host: dennis tweets that obesity happens whenever nature is substituted for profits. last call. joan. caller: two things.

i know a healthy pyrite is important for maintaining a good weight. where are we supposed to get our iodine? i know it is in fish and cod, and i have been told it is in the bread. if you do not have bread, where are you getting it? host: how about iodine salt? caller: that is the issue. it is a little more expensive. i called the campbell's soup, had a nice chat, and it seems like they do not use a iodized salt, but i was told that in canada they do. i would think that the government should be looking into fundamental things. second thing, i think we are very frustrated as a nation. i am a senior.

i'm beginning to feel very poor. medicare medicare has been decimated by mr. obama. $500 billion has been taken out. when i am frustrated, i tend to take it out on food. guest: i do not know about the iodine issue. i am not sure a lot of us to get frustrated do not start eating. i do think the first lady has done a real public service in this country by getting people to think about issues of health and nutrition. unfortunately in the partisan world we live in now, anything a democrat says will be criticized by republicans for motives and vice versa.

i think the first lady has brought this attention without herself involved in the federal government. there is no one answer to the problem. we cannot look to the government for the entire solution. the government can help because it is part of paying for medicaid, medicare, school feeding programs, all these things. everybody in this country is affected by health care costs. it is affecting your availability of insurance and ability to live long lives. evidence is showing younger people may have a lower life expectancy than their parents have had. in part, because of health and lifestyle changes. we all have a stake in this. we just have to do it in a way with good judgment. host: the twitter community is having an animated debate over this.

you can log on and what a commentary. thank you for being here. guest: people love flu, one where the other. they love to talk about it. host: we have a hyperlink on c- span.org. in our final segment, we look at the foreign-born population in the united states. next, former new mexico governor and now libertarian presidential candidate gary johnson. we will be right back. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> these men go through things and have scars that no one can understand except each other. >> what startled us was the

relationship between harry truman and herbert hoover. they were such different men and into that form in this alliance -- ended up performing this alliance that neither would have anticipated. it became the foundation for a deep friendship. the leaders between them later in their lives are extraordinary. >> it may be the most exclusive club in the world. the private and public relationships of the american presidents on sunday at 8:00. >> i thought it was important to write a book that to people through the series. obama did not come out of nowhere. the tea party movement seemed to come out of nowhere. what was its origin? occupy wall street, i thought

those were important things to take seriously, to look at a social movement perspective. >> former white house adviser van jones on social movements in america. the american spectator founder contends modern liberalism is flawed and has no answers for today's political issues, sunday night at 11:00. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us from new york city is a former new mexico governor jerry johnson. he was selected by the libertarians as their presidential candidate for 2012. thank you for being with us. knowing he would like to be in the white house but it is a long road for third-party candidates,

what is the ultimate goal of the did you have been making in the campaign this year? what do you want to accomplish? guest: i am talking about the same message as ron paul. i think this is the fastest- growing segment of american politics today. libertarianism, whether that is slash libertarianism or left- leaning. i think we are on the verge of a monetary collapse because we are continuing to spend and borrow 43 cents out of every dollar we are spending. i am promising to submit a balanced budget in 2013. i and promising to veto any expenses that exceed revenue. i am promising to advocate on behalf of the fair tax that is throwing out the entire federal

tax system and replacing it with a consumption tax. it does with the irs, income tax, corporate tax, tax withholding. it repeals the 16th amendment to the constitution allowing for an income tax. host: talk about the route to a balanced budget. what would you do? guest: i would submit it. i would submit it to congress in 2013. that would be a $1.4 trillion reduction in federal spending. if we do not balance the federal budget, we will find ourselves with the collapsed government. i do not think there is any denying the mathematics of continuing to borrow and spend to the tune of 43 cents of every dollar. so much talk is being given of greece of late, the fact that they are 160% of gdp. we are six or eight years away from that.

balancing the federal budget, and would abolish the federal department of education believing it is a negative to take federal funds. the federal government gives each state about 11 cents of every dollar of that each state spends. it comes with 16 cents worth of strings attached. i think people do not realize it is a negative to take federal money. give education back to the states. 50 laboratories of innovations and best practice. i think that is what would have, fabulous success that would get emulated. i do not think people recognize the part of education was established in 1979 under jimmy carter. medicaid/medicare, i would do the same thing with health care for the poor and those over 65. i would block grants to states,

less than we are currently spending. i would rely on the states to come up with best practices that i think which a fabulous success. of course, there would be failure that would get avoided. washington knows best -- that is what has us in the predicament we are in right now. as governor of new mexico, i did reform medicaid in the state. we changed it to a managed-care model. we saved hundreds of millions of dollars, set up better health care networks. i believe if the federal government would have block granted the state of new mexico 43% less money from a done away with all the strings and mandates, i could have effectively overseen the delivery of health care to the poor. i maintain the same for

medicare and health care for those over 64. host: the phone numbers are on the screen. we welcome your calls. you can also tweet us or send us an e-mail. a.v. york is really unhappy with my first question to you -- a viewer is really unhappy with my first question to you. here is history. john anderson in 1986, ross perot in 1992, ralph nader in 2000. none received any electoral votes. let me ask you about the process of your campaign from now until november. guest: i would not be doing

this if there were not an opportunity to win. the opportunity is to pull 15% against obama and romney, believing romney will be the nominee and being on the stage with both of them. if that happens, i think anything is possible given the fact that 80% of americans are saying they would vote for a third-party candidate. changing the world a little bit is to get on the stage with obama and romney. i think we need to balance the federal budget, get out of afghanistan, bring the troops home. i think we should be adopted in marriage equality in this country. i think we should reform our drug laws. i think there are all sorts of civil liberties issues that

could be addressed by libertarian president. i think there are all sorts of dollars and cents issues that could be effectively dealt with by libertarian president as opposed to republicans that seem to spend a lot of money even though they are not supposed to notthe democrats' -- supposed to and the democrats who are supposed to be good on civil liberties. host: how will the libertarian party approach ballot access issues? guest: i should be one of three candidates on the ballots in all 50 states. libertarians have achieved 100% ballot access, meaning all 50 states and corporate election cycles. this is the cycle where the libertarian party believes it will be on the ballot in all 50 states. that is another thing that is very significant.

host: last question from me and will get to the college. your campaign announced it was expecting several matching funds. i wonder how the squares with your libertarian point of view. guest: it is a system that has been gained -- gamed by the two older parties. democrats and republicans have received hundreds of millions of dollars. i would be the first one to sign off on no federal matching funds. in the meantime, this is why we have to the parties -- we have two parties and federal matching funds could conceivably help out in bringing about change. host:. every person look up federal dollars -- could every person look at federal dollars and say they exist so they might as well take advantage? guest: i understand the

arguments for both sides. democrats and republicans collecting hundreds of millions of dollars are the ones that have gamed the system in this way and benefit. to be the libertarian candidate y andualified -- qualif take federal matching funds, we're talking about not even a penny relative to the dollars given to democrats and republicans. host: let's go to calls for governor johnson. go ahead, rose. caller: i just have a couple of things. 1st with the policy versus process. when gary johnson says he would submit a budget, then what?

senator kirk came in on the latter portion of senator obama's term. the democrats have put together a budget -- had put together a budget. senator kurt came in with john mccain on the floor and said to stop the budget from moving. he said to senator mccain, we want -- we won. what did we win other than that were there was no budget? how do you feel about giving our land to canada, one industry big oil? tell america how many foreign trade zones exist in our country and what they exist for. thank you. host: governor johnson?

guest: i apologize. i am getting a poor feed and not picking up everything that was said. host: the last question was on the foreign trade zones and what americans get for those. can you hear me ok? caller: i am having a really hard time hearing. i am sorry. host: that is our fault. our technicians will work on that. let's listen to another telephone call from silver springs, maryland. sam is an independent. go ahead. caller: c-span showed the convention over the weekend and the debate he had. it was excellent. thank you. keep up the good work. he said he had to get 15%. do they plan on having a

petition? i would like to see the libertarian party and other groups recognize -- represented in the national debate. does he plan on doing town hall meetings and coming to big cities? thank you and keep up the good work. host: i will keep a tally on your questions while the technicians work on the governor's audio. we will take a couple of calls and go back to see how he is doing. let's here from california, jane, a republican. caller: i would like to know how the libertarian party could present a budget to congress when they are mostly republicans or democrats and there are no libertarians in the house that in any kind of work for the people, if he became president. how would he address that. host: governor johnson, are we

connected? guest: yes, i can hear just fine. talking about a balanced budget, i and promising to submit a balanced budget to congress. i will suggest to you and i would have been elected president promising to do this. i am going to suggest the wind would be at my back and there would be pressure on reducing spending. i do not think congress can balance the budget. i do not think it is possible. i am promising to veto legislation where expenses exceed revenue. as governor of new mexico, they have vetoed more legislation. i may have vetoed more legislation than the other 49 governors combined. by promising to submit a balanced budget and document with a $1.4 trillion reduction

in spending, taking on the debate and discussion that will go along with the document, and the telling legislation where expenses exceeded revenue. i will offer of that spending will be lower with those two promises kept than any of the possible scenario you could come up with. i think it is important to reduce spending given that we're not immune from the mathematics of continuing to borrow and spend 43 cents of every dollar we are spending. host: governor johnson referenced ron paul at the beginning of the program. but make a quick ron paul street in here. -- let me get a quick from paul story in here. this is adding more delegates to the national convention because supporters have flooded the conventions and elected themselves to delegate slots. what does paul want?

governor johnson, if you have any comments on up? -- do you have any comments on that? guest: i think i am delivering the same message as ron paul. i do not think you will be successful in getting the nomination for president. what happens to the message and voice when that goes away? i am going to pose there is a viable alternative and it is not a compromise alternative. that would be neat running as the libertarian candidate for president. -- that would be me running as the libertarian candidate for president. host: caller asked about the 15%

threshold to get a slot at the debate. the caller asked whether he would conduct a national petition to get access to the debates. guest: i do not think you can sleep 15% polling under the rug. that will be noticed. in ppp boeing, and polling about 8% against obama and romney. -- in ppp polling, i am polling about 8% against obama and romney. i do not think 80% of the people in this country know who i am or what i am about. i will say to present a third name to a voter these days, a lot of them will say yes, this person as opposed to what we know.

what we know will not change things. there is tremendous discontent with politics reflected in the fact that 80% of americans are saying they would consider voting for a third-party candidate. that is unprecedented. host: to that end, someone on twitter rights -- writes -- guest: i think the libertarian party is committed to running candidate from the bottom of and has been. politics, the top of the ticket helps the bottom. the bottom helps the top. libertarians are running candidates top to bottom. they have for 40 years. they have not really gotten

anybody elected. hopefully that changes. with a broad brush stroke describing a libertarian, i think most people in this country are fiscally responsible and socially tolerant. i think that is where a libertarian lies. i think libertarians are strong on civil libertarian -- civil liberties. libertarians are strong on managing the checkbook and lowering taxes. i think you take the best of what republicans are supposed to be about and the best of what democrats are supposed to be about, and you end up with a libertarian. of course, that is my argument. we will see how it ends up flying. host: dave is an independent. caller: i want to bring up

something that happened when ronald reagan was running the first term. it threw me for a loop. it was lyndon larouche. he wanted people to vote for him. he wanted people to vote for him but said if you do not, vote for reagan. that threw me for a loop. it made me lose respect for the libertarian party at the time. i truly feel we need a third party in this country. i do not think in libertarian by himself is going to do it. i do not think the green party is going to do it. if all these grass-roots parties to form and make one super third-party, take the best ideas of of each one, are you following that serve -- are you following that, sir? host: he is suggesting the

smaller parties joined together, it would create critical mass. guest: it sounds great in theory, but i think the reality is impossible. the libertarian party has been around for 40 years. that is the kooky party that talks about legalizing drugs. in america, 50% of americans are supporting legalizing marijuana. who is ultimately responsible for the shift in public opinion? i think it might be the libertarian party. why is it that 50% of americans are supporting legalizing marijuana today as opposed to four years ago? i think it is because more people are talking about the issue. the more people talk about it, the better it does. the more informed people are, the more people recognize there are viable alternatives to what we're currently doing. it does not involve arresting and incarcerating the whole

country. host: this is from twitter. what are your thoughts on this? guest: there are no military threats to my knowledge from any country in the world against the united states. the president should be vigilant to any of those threats. i think that is the primary responsibility of the president, to make sure we're not being threatened from any foreign country. are their military threats from foreign countries currently? if we want to use iran as an example, iran is an unintended consequences of taking out iraq. that was their only concern. we take out iraq and saddam hussein, now they are raising

their head. do they have nuclear capability? no. should we be vigilant about being developed and used against the united states? absolutely, yes. if we bomb iran tomorrow, we will find ourselves with 100 million enemies we did not otherwise have. we will be engaged in a two-year bombing maintenance program. the libertarian party, i am a non-interventionist. let's not use american military party unless we are attacked. in the context of being attacked, the president has the best intelligence available to determine if an attack is imminent. i was against iraq from beginning. i know there was talk of weapons of mass destruction.

i said, don't we have the military capability to see iraq rolled out weapons of mass destruction? if they do, we can deal with it. i thought if we went into iraq, we find ourselves in a civil war to which there would be no end. i think that has happened. afghanistan, we were attacked by al qaeda. we attacked al qaeda back, completely unwarranted. after having been in afghanistan two wants, we wiped out al qaeda. -- after being in afghanistan for two months, we wiped out al qaeda. we should have gotten out of afghanistan 11 years ago. the underwear,, these things happen. we should be vigilant. is this a threat to the notice states -- to the united states? i do not think it is.

we should do our utmost to prevent these kinds of things from happening. but i think all of us would recognize these things are going to happen. this is what is going to be occurring, hopefully with minor consequence. host: publication suggests you say you support america's military effort to eight african troops in chasing down joseph kony in uganda. is that true? guest: i am non-interventionist in not using our military unless we are attacked. do any of us want to stand by and watch the holocaust occurred? i do not think any of us want to see that happen. in the case of joseph kony and a

large resistance army, -- and the lord's resistance army, as president i would have a constitutional obligation to take any plans i have to use the military to congress, get congressional approval to go to war. in this case, the lord's resistance army, i have come to find out this may be the worst terrorist group the world has seen over the last 20 years. it is a finite number, about 300 in the lord's resistance army. they have been marauding african country. it is not getting involved in a specific country. three countries announced for intervention. congress authorized the intervention. intervention.