rick santorum. front runners are tom perez, former secretary of labor and obama administration and keith ellison -- >> [ audience booing ]. >> what does this tell you about the democratic party? lightning round. >> they are a hard left party that is completely sold out to their special interest. i was watching the democratic debate. i'm a commentator on cnn so i have to watch these things now. and you just sit there and it is just all special interest talk. all using all these politically correct words. it is completely disconnected to working men and women and o people who are out there in america just trying to live their lives without government telling them what to do because of a particular class or racial or ethnic group. >> salena, you said the establishment took donald trump literally but not seriously. tom perez won the dnc chairman. so yeah, we know what the democratic party will look like. establishment took donald trump literally but not seriously and voters took him seriously but not li

and that means you're going to get a bill that's -- >> or a rick santorum republican. >> or a rick santorumepublican. he's going to be a little bit more toward the middle. that's what he did. he put a bill together that was not a bill that dick army, newt gingrich, and tom delay would have put together, which would have been way out here. knowing the house and senate was going to pull you back. he put a bill he wanted that was closer to the middle. >> a bill that really reflects what president trump was pit pitching during the campaign? >> no, i can't say that it -- this, as i was saying earlier, this has the bones of almost every single republican plan. it just has a little bit more moderate flesh to it. >> the point i was making before, though, is, that the reality of this bill is going to be felt. and it's going to have political consequences. the fact is, tens of millions of people are going to lose their health insurance premiums will go up and not down. here's the reality of health reform of new kind. i remember a got from a very wise member of the senate, who supported health reform

you are going to get a bill that is -- or a rick santorum republican.rds the middle. he put a bill that was not what they would have put together that would be way out here knowing the house and the senate would pull you back. he put a bill that he wanted closer to the middle and that caused all of this. >> is it a bill that reflects what president trump said during the campaign? >> this as i was saying earlier, this has the bones of almost every republican plan. it just has a little bit more moderate flesh to it. >> the point i was making is that the reality of this bill is going to be felt. it's going to have political consequences. the fact is that tens of millions of people will lose their insurance. premiums go up and not down. here's the reality of health reform of any kind of i remember a call i got who supported health reform and this member said just remember once this bill passes, you own everything that happens in the health care system. every republican knows that. they have taken advantage of it for the last years and they are going to be s

former senator rick santorum, now a cnn senior political commentator.l start with you here. all of a sudden, tom cotton, rising star, republican from arkansas, he has a new argument against the current bill as it stands. he's basically saying, hold on, slow down. he's directed this plea at his house colleagues, said pause, start over, get it right, don't get it fast. this seems to me like a pretty dangerous argument if you're paul ryan who wants to get this through quickly. >> this is typically how things go. if you look at any major piece of legislation, the house tries to move these things quickly and gets bogged down in the senate and we talk about it forever. that's sort of the process. someone has to get the ball in play. that's what the house is trying to do. i can't say that i'm overly thrilled with the ryan bill. i think there's a better way to do this. but the fact that they're moving fast is absolutely typically for this type of legislation. get the ball in play. the senate will then do a lot of match machinating on it. >> it's not just senato

joining me to talk about this is congresswoman debbie dingell, senator rick santorum, bakari sellersublican congressman lee zeldin and republican congressman, because you are the republican in the house where all of this fell apart this week, you get to start. i make deals. what happened? >> the president worked really hard to trying to build a broader coalition on getting people to yes on this idea he was supporting. i believe he had half of the conference over to the white house. he was making phone calls. the vice president was working on it. his team was working on it. and i think he's going to learn an awful lot from this experience. >> what should he learn from it? >> well, you know, there's a lot more to do. and as you talk about tax reform, infrastructure, strengthening our military, taking care of our veterans, going through the appropriations process in a four-year term, you learn lessons early on. he learned from his first executive order related to the travel restriction where the second one was a better rollout than the first one. you build relationships. you get a bette

rick santorum. jason miller, a former trump senior communications adviser. counter terrorism analyst. good evening to all of you, thank you for coming on. dana, you first. i want you to respond on what we heard from president trump tonight. this is one of those things we should not just pretend is business as usual. what did we learn? >> well, we learned that the fbi is and has been investigating the trump -- the then trump campaign, trump associates. and whether or not there was any involvement with regard to russian interference with the u.s. election. and that has been going on. and i'm sure robbie is going to do a big gulp right now since july. that is incredible that the fbi director said this on the record in public testimony on capitol hill. what was -- i think even more incredible, that we learned today, definitively, not just from the fbi director, but he said that he's also speaking for the trump justice department. is that the president of the united states, when he tweeted 16 days ago, that his predecessor wiretapped trump tower was not correct,

in cedar rapids, iowa, i did and events with a whole bunch of people, rick santorum, they all gave great speeches. but i never saw the kind of crowd reaction, the thunder and the passion that i saw when we brought up the next speaker was making his way. when i said the name senator ted cruz it sounded a lot like that. so without further ado, senator ted cruz. [cheering] god bless each and every one of you. let me say, we have provided for our friends and the media definitive proof that the election of conservatives has ended global warming. [cheering] [laughter] of course that's liable to make the media even more angry because if it had been a democrat apparently we would have had global warming and they would be in the short enjoying the hot weather. i want to say to you thank you for being here. for braving the cold and for standing up and fighting for freedom. [cheering] every one of you, this victory is yours. in november, democrats were shocked, t media was shocked although i will repeat myself, millions of hard-working men and women across the country rose up and said enough is eno

. >> they didn't -- obviously they had elected rick santorum and then they'd elected mike huckabee in last two caucuses, but what they were telling me was that they felt that they were under attack in the larger culture lawsuits, cake baking. all of this stuff. they felt they were under attack. and that they felt donald trump could protect them and their interests. >> i agree with that. susan, let me ask you a question. >> that's absolutely right. some of us believe that democratic process was not as open as it should have been. do you think the democrats actually harmed themselves by quote unquote whatever they did donald trump used to like to say rigging it. would bernie sanders have been a better general election democratic nominee? >> so i think all the democrats who were not affiliated with hillary clinton would agree that the system should have been more open. and i think there were some younger up-and-coming democrats who think maybe i should have run, maybe somebody other than martin o'malley could have done better at challenging the people there. i think it's hard to -- i thi

they didn't -- obviously they had elected rick santorum and elected mike huckabee and those are the last two caucuses. but what they were telling me was they felt they were under attack in the larger culture lawsuits, cake baking, all of this stuff. they felt they were under attack. and that they felt donald trump could protect them and their interests. >> i agree with that. >> susan, let me ask you a question. >> that's absolutely right. >> some of us believe that democratic process was not as open as it should have been, shall we say. do you think that the democrats actually harmed themselves by quote unquote whatever they did, donald trump would say, rigging it, would bernie sanders have been a better general election democratic nominee? >> i think all of the democrats not affiliated with hillary clinton would agree that system should have been more open. i think there are younger up and coming democrats who maybe think i should have run. maybe someone other than martin o'malley could have done better at challenging people there. i think it is hard to rerun an election. if you knew tr

if you look at other republican populous in recent years whether it's rick santorum or mike huckabee,ulous, but they had a christian element. donald trump did not have that. he displayed that here tonight. one of the things he didn't talk about was social conservative and referenced god numerous times. if you were listening to it from a christian perspective and maybe it's like a dog whistle. i heard a much more compassionate side. look. you can disagree with his protectionism and nationalism and populism, but tonight was the first time he sold it to people who are not on board in a way that is palatable and very effective. >> is this like the first time he has taken the job seriously? >> it's hard to voice that. with the pomp and circumstance of a joint address and not feel the weight and the gravity of the position. that moment with ryan owens's widow, the navy s.e.a.l. is the first time he has shown the capacity to unite. it's the first time i thought to myself well, maybe, just maybe if we have a tragedy he is capable of holding the american people in his arms and showing empathy.

i remember back in the day when bill clinton was president, and i think rick santorum got on airplane with him go to town halls in the country to have this conversation. not going to get to that point until that point. suspend partisanship to have these conversations. >> doesn't map. >> not now. >> chris christie made this case strongly about touching entitlements, if you recall. and made the case about touching entitlements. but you need a leader who makes a long-term case, going to start doing this and raise retirement ages and tell people. >> tip o'neil and bill clinton had courage on this issue. talk about reality these are nonsustainable systems in place right now. no democrats -- play pure politics. >> and not now because democratic party pushed more to the left. >> that's not true. >> medicare and social security -- >> bernie sanders put on the table a solution for social security. >> wanted to increase -- >> hold on. am i talking. >> let me finish. no. he said increase to raise the cap to bring more revenue into the program. >> tax. >> that's not a solution. >> hold on a secon

rick santorum, the former republican senator from pennsylvania.tical commentator. gentlemen, senator, first to you. it's a tricky thing, isn't it? you've got a very similar report coming out for february 2017 as you had for february 2016. you look at republican statements from then to now, it looks like a whole different world. there's some politics behind this, huh? >> of course. if i were the trump administration i would be saying, that's great but not good enough, we need more growth, we need higher job growth, we need to bring up that number that trump mentioned repeatedly during the campaign that of those out of the workforce who are alienated, particularly middle-aged men that are in pretty rough shape these days when it comes to finding good employment. that's what trump should be focused on. we need a tax bill. we need to reform obamacare. we need to not be satisfied with that number. >> i feel like i'm not hearing that good advice, senator, from republican statements i've seen. john, you probably were involved in crafting many a jobs repo

rick santorum is from one of the top producing coal states in america.ator, is it good to get the coal jobs back? >> first of all. it's keeping a promise. it's one of the best things a president can do. if you promise something, you've got to follow through and do it. i think mike's report was.yept in that most mines are in small areas that don't have a lot. this is a breath of oxygen into the lungs of small-town rural communities in very depressed areas of the area, kentucky, west virginia, parts of ohio that really need that hope. that's what he gave them today. >> the analogy might have been slightly troubling to some that you just made about lungs. but let me ask you about something. >> you're talking to a guy whose grandfather had black lung. so i know all about it. it was a deliberate analogy to actually breathe some good air into this economy, because the obama administration basically suffocated this industry, basically took all of the oxygen out of the mine and with it went the miners. that's what donald trump has brought back. >> part of the re

joining us now is rick santorum from the great commonwealth of pennsylvania, and mira, republican congressmanadows, and also with us, democratic congressman louis gutierrez of illinois. thank you, one and all. it's a great panel. >> thank you. >> let me start with you, you heard nick mulvaney, the director of the office of management and budget, talking act how he wants conservatives to vote for the bill. you wouldn't vote for it in the current form, though? >> we would. it is not just the freedom caucus, it is more than that. but director mulvaney is right, the freedom caucus and a number of republicans are willing to work with the president. and the encouraging thing for me is the president told me personally, we want to make this better for the american people. and he's willing to negotiate the art of the deal is not dead. so i think what we'll see at the end of the day are modifications to the ryan bill that is out there right now. the gop bill that truly transforms it to something that president trump and the american people can support. >> congressman gutierrez, are you part of this pro

joining us now to debate, rick santorum, former u.s. senator from the great state of pennsylvania.nd jason cantor, former missouri secretary of state. so nice to have you both here this friday morning. senator santorum, you often come on the air as a defender of the president, many in your own doing that right now.ard time - listen to just some of them talking about what they think the president should do when it comes to those wiretapping claims. >> president trump must provide proof or evidence to substance shat that claim. if he cannot, he should retract. >> you ought to walk it back if the evidence doesn't support the charge you made. in this case i don't tlink it does. >> the president has one of two ch choices, retract or provide the information that the american people deserve. >> senator, is the president hurting himself? if so, to what end? it didn't hurt him when he said president obama wasn't born here. he became the president of the united states, hasn't hurt him so far when he claimed 3 to 5 million voted illegally with no evidence. does this hurt him? >> that's really

joining us to discuss, rick santorum and former florida congressman. congressman, let me get your reaction to the president's tweet. nothing about neil gorsuch, which could be a big win for the president. >> sure, it could be. it shows the president completely off message. he has been. he's digging himself deeper. comey hearings are going to be obvious. democrats want to talk about trump. republicans want to talk about russia. and if we do step back, it could be a big day about whether russia meddled in our elections. >> so let me get your take, senator santorum. ranking member adam schiff is saying on twitter, mr. president, the russians hacked our election and interfered. no one disputes this now but you. this is what's called a fact. during our hearing, mr. president, there is no evidence that mr. obama tapped your phones. this is what is called fiction. you have long been a supporter. you often defend the president on this network. what do you say in response to adam schiff, though? >> i would agree that there's no evidence that there was any tappi

joining me, david farenthold, rick santorum, former senator.tlemen, i made a joke there that wiretapping can mean almost anything, but listen for yourselves to why the president claimed he was wiretapped. >> when i say wiretapped, those words were in quotes. because wiretapping is pretty old fashioned stuff, but that covers surveillance and many other things. and nobody ever talks about the fact that it was in quotes. but there's a very important thing. wiretap covers a lot of different things. i think you're going to find some very interesting items coming forefront over the next two weeks. >> all right, david farenthold, how low has president obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process. this is nixon/watergate. bad or sick guy. no quotation marks in this tweet, but he did have it in others. but this is a different version, the president now clearly shifting his story now that it's under scrutiny from democrats and republicans, dave. >> that's right. the thing about this is, this is a guy, this president is somebody peo

gorsuch and bring back our panel with former senator from the great commonwealth of pennsylvania, rick santorumformer press secretary and spokesperson brian fallon and senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. we'll hear a lot about the rulings that judge gorsuch has done but i suspect we'll hear about his time in the bush justice department especially when it comes to presidential powers and extraordinary rendition and torture and also we'll hear about his time as a professor and whether he ever said or did anything in his life as a professor that might set off alarm bells as well. >> and you're going to hear a lot from the senators and you're not going to hear a lot from judge gorsuch. ever since 1987 when robert gore testified and gave substance on his views, every subsequent nominee has taken the message which is less is more. don't answer questions other than in real generalities and i expect that's what we'll see. we will get a picture of what kind of person he is, of his general approach. but will he vote to overturn roe v. wade? will he support the continued deregulation of political campaig

now let's go to tgene spurling senator rick santorum. senator, let me start with you.million more uninsured americans by 2018. 24 million more by 2026. premiums slated to rise 20% before falling. you look at those headlines and you've got to say ouch, don't you? >> yeah, those aren't good headlines. but they're really not unexpected headlines, as speaker ryan said. if you don't mandate something and you're going to cut some of the subsidies in place, fewer people will get insurance. i think the number is a little high. i think the idea -- they don't change medicaid in the first year. so i don't understand how you get such a big number coming off in the first year when there aren't that many changes. but the overall direction is correct. there will be fewer people that will be insured. we'll spend a lot less money. the deficit is going to come down, and this is what's not talked about. over time as the market adjusts, you'll see lower costs, more plans to offer lower cost plans for younger people who even today are not in the market get in that market. >> i will give yo

in cedar rapids, iowa i did an event with rick santorum, carly fiorina gave great speeches. i never saw the kind of crowd reaction, the thunder and the passion that i saw when we brought up the next speaker who is making his way here. when i said the name senator ted cruz it sounded a lot like that. so without further ado, senator ted cruz. [ cheers and applause ] >> god bless each and everyone of you. now, let me say, we have provided for our friends in the media definitive proof that the election of conservatives across the federal government has ended global warming. of course, that is liable to make the media more ornery because if there had been a democrat we would have had global warming and they would have been in shorts enjoying the hot weather. i want to say to you guys thank you. thank you for being here. thank you for braving the cold and thank you for standing up and fighting for freedom. pr everyone of you, this victory is your victory. in november, democrats were shocked, the media was shocked -- although i repeat myself -- and millions of hard working men and

. >> you should be in the senate, rick santorum wrrks how would you vote? >> well, i voo vote yes. i would vote -- i would vote -- you got to get the bill out -- >> you say i can't answer that. >> there's a lot of things i don't like about this bill, but you have to get this bill out of the house. what you haven't talked about, and i don't think republicans are considering and they should be is failure. you say it's all political. no, it's not. obama care is failing. >> here's the problem, republicans are going to own the health care system whether they fix it or not because by not fixing it and leaving it in place, you now own it. you have now taken control of obama -- the fact that we've tried through this, we now own it. whether we pass it or not, we own it. that's what people aren't understanding. there is a huge problem with not doing something. at least if we own it, at least give a try for what we believe in instead of owning something that we have nothing to do with. >> jen. >> i think republicans are experiencing what democrats have when they experience when they won, whic

. >> let's bring in rick santorum and brian fallon into this conversation. i'm anxious to get your reaction, senator, as a good republican. >> well, i mean, i can't argue -- argue that was not a good morning for donald trump and to the allegations of wiretapping. i think that has been put to bed by his own justice department of that's not a good thing for him. i would say on the russian front i think it's more of a mixed story than being put forward here. this investigation has been going on for a long time. >> since july. >> since july. we heard jim clapper say we have no evidence of collusion. well, if you don't have any evidence of collusion, you have obviously been looking for collusion. so we've known for a while that there has been an investigation of collusion, otherwise jim clapper couldn't say there is no evidence of collusion. he wouldn't make that assertion. none of this is really new news other than the fact that we now know for sure. i'm not sure this is as mind bending as maybe we are projecting here. the one good story is they said there is no

if donald trump is a populist, he's got trouble with conservatives like rick santorum over here because they believe part of the solution they have been seeing for replacing obamacare is starting the new entitlement program, which they don't want. tax credits to people, not based on income, but tax credits to pay for your health care, which they think is an entitlement program and they wouldn't be wrong about that, by the way. so he's got a lot of reaching out to do to his republicans, particularly when he spoke about immigration earlier in the day to news anchors and said, wait a minute, you're shaking your head, okay s. i'm looking for -- i'm looking for a pass on legal status. >> what about on immigration? >> look, the way i look at donald trump is, he speaks to the audience in front of him. at any one time. everyone says he's great, he's a tv guy. no, he's not. he speaks to the audience in front of him. no, he was speaking to the audience out there. this is here for him and now he's speaking to the audience in front of him, the congress of the united states. i've been talking about

. >> rick santorum you served in the senate from pennsylvania, and what do you think? >> the house members are mad and they have every right to be mad, because paul ryan is doing something differently, and that is when the house introduces the bill you put the most conser conservative thing that could pass, and ryan didn't do that, and he thought he could short cut the process and put through a bill he thought could pass in the senate, and conservatives know, even if it could pass it won't, because it will be moved more to the left. that's why conservatives are mad because they know they will get a worse bill in the end because we did not start in the right place. what the conservatives are trying to do is pull it back and make it more conservative so they have negotiating room when it goes to the senate. unfortunately, to some conservatives' minds, they won't vote for it. having said all that, conservatives want changes and whether they will get them or not, i don't know. and the bottom line, to john's point, they have to pass this bill. i understand the betrayal they

joining me to talk about this, our all-star panel former republican presidential candidate rick santorum from the great commonwealth of pennsylvania. neera tanden, president and ceo of the center for american congress. republican congressman mark meadows of north carolina and chairman of the freedom caucus and democratic congressman luis gutierrez of illinois. thanks, it's a great panel. let me start with you. you heard mick mulvaney director of the office of management and budget talking about how he wants to help conservatives improve the bill. you wouldn't vote for in the its current form right now, would you? >> we would. it's not just the freedom caucus, but director mulvaney is right. the freedom caucus and a number of conservatives are willing to work with the president and the president told me personally we want to make this better for the american people and he's willing to negotiate. the art of the deal isn't dead. what we'll see at the end of the day are modifications to the ryan bill out there right now the gop bill that transforms into something president trump and the amer

. >> rick santorum? >> this is a huge cloud. i agree with that. what is the end point? what were the russians trying to accomplish? what is the pointed this investigation? the russians were trying to influence the election. we found out conclude sfl they didn't influence the vote count. they tried to hack into databases with voter files, were unsuccessful. they tried to get into the rnc and the dnc. didn't get into the rnc but got into the dcn and released the e-mails. what are they trying to find? what's the point here. >> i think there is a specific answer to your question. >> good. >> it is a crime to aid and abet hacking. if there was collusion. if there was involvement on the part of the trump administration in the wikipedia hacks -- that is a crime. >> okay. that's great. but listen to who they are talking about. who are the people involved in the trump campaign that were quote potentially clueding. none of them have experience this this area, none of them are hackers, none of them are folks who have understandings of how this works. what's the collusion? >> senat

in cedar rapids, iowa,dy an event with a whole bunch of people, rick santorum, all gave great speeches. but i never saw the kind of crowd reaction to thunder -- thunder and passion that i saw when we wrought up the next speaker who is making -- brought up the next speaker who is making his way here. when i said the name senator ted cruz -- [applause] it sound add lot like that. without further ado, senator ted cruz! cheers and applause] senator cruz: god bless each and very one of you. now, let me say we have provided r our friends in the media definitive proof that the election of conservatives across the federal government has ended lobal warming. of course that's libel to make the media even more ornery because if there had a been a democrat we would have apparently had global warning and they would have been in shorts enjoying the hot weather. i want to say to you guys thank you. hank you for being here. thank you for braving the cold. and thank you for standing up nd fighting for freedom. every one of you, this victory is your victory. in november, democrats were shocked, the medi

front" now, former missouri secretary of state and former republican senator from pennsylvania rick santorum. jeffrey lord is back with me. senator santorum, usually on this show, you know, you endorsed trump early when you got out of the race. you have often come on to defend him. can you defend him only these things, you know, when he comes out and says something happened? and then he says wait till you see what happens, a couple weeks you'll see some interesting things, then we never do, and in none of these instances did what he said turn out to be true. can you defend that? >> let's set aside the issue of the wiretap and the president says there's more evidence to come out and so we'll wait and see what that evidence is. but clearly this was an attack that he launched against the president on the issue of wiretapping that was effective in changing the narrative out there. as we've seen from a lot of -- this previous report, i had marvelled at his ability to be able to put his opponent on defense, change the subject and change the attitude of election and take advantage of that situation

meeting a 10 with priests and members of parish, with former senator rick santorum who has been a definitive voice on marriage, we were listening to the radio to do a joint event and first time we heard about another decision, the decision that came down on friday, john 25, 2015. that decision goes even beyond the idea that the court can insert words into federal statute that was previously dual passed by congress and signed by the president. and now under the gay marriage decision, the supreme court not only found a new right in the constitution, they created a command in the constitution, a command. it's not in the constitution about same-sex marriage. our founding fathers never envisioned such a thing or it was in the imagination of the founding fathers or in the imagination in this congress when the 14th amendment was passed out of this congress and out of the house and senate and ratified by the american people with 75% of legitimate states at the time. no one can assert that was out here in the emnations of the constitution or especially the 14th amendment of the constitution. they can