at the end of last year when he was running for president rick santorum told an iowa audience that he would drastically reduce federal spending on food stamps why santorum asked if hunger is a problem in america then why do we have an obesity problem among the people who we say have a hunger problem. perhaps barbecue regie ribby eating santorum is still living in the middle ages when fat bellies were a sign of wealth and plenty but in today's reality those obese and impoverished americans santorum is referring to are living the high life like the rotund of royalty of the past are actually dying a slow and ultimately miserable death courtesy of our nation's corporate food system we hear news stories about soaring obesity diabetes and heart disease rates yet rarely make the connection back to major flaws in our national food system some local law and hers however have made those connections most notorious was new york city mayor michael bloomberg who banned the sale of large high fructose sugary beverages and restricted the use of trans fats in his city's restaurants. but these measures

after this. >>> we're back with rick santorum. taxes, there seem to be a lot more conservatives on capitol hill saying, go ahead, give on tax rates so that we can get a better deal that can address medicare, address some of the things we care about. you don't buy that and don't think it's the right approach? >> i don't think this president is willing to deal. i haven't seen anything in this president's four years or since the election that he's really interested in fundamentally. he is addicted to spending. he's a spending addict. the problem is we have a lot of spending addicts on capitol hill, republicans and democrats. so we need a real radical intervention here. if you got an addiction, you've got to do something radical to pull that person back. >> does he have have the leverage though? >> he does. >> get the greatest tax increase? >> the greatest leverage he has he put together a deal with the republicans a year ago that gives him pretty much what he wants. taxes back to the pre-bush rates. he gets all tax increases and can

in the hague and condemn their disabled children to death for example days before the vote rick santorum penned an op ed for the conservative birth their web site world net daily titled has treated sovereignty and she attacked a specific provision in the treaty section seven that reads in all actions concerning children with disabilities the best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration sounds reasonable that rather innocuous statement had a far more nefarious meaning to the ever paranoid rick santorum who wrote in the case of our four year old daughter bella who has trusted me for eighteen a condition that the medical literature says is incompatible with life with her best interest to be that should be allowed to die so that it leaves say so yeah just like sarah palin's death panel hysteria during the obamacare debate santorum was pushing for a no vote on the treaty either because he genuinely believed that the un's one world government was going to demand the sacrifice of his four year old daughter or and this is what i think is true he cynically wanted to scare the hell

santorum has the inside track for 2016.ince the gop has a long history of picking the runner up to be the nominee next time around. but now he's cast his lot with the crazies. santorum is signing on to be a columnist for the birther conspiracy website world net daily. these are the folks who think that the president may be a muslim or a kenyan or gay or even a muslim gay kenyan. in fact, here's what the site's founder has said about the president. >> what do god and barack obama have in common and his answer is neither one of them has a birth certificate. >> they didn't bother to verify it. they didn't bother to examine it in any way but everyone who has has come to the same conclusion, that's it's a phony, fraud u lent document. >> it's the fringe of the fringe of the right wing yet rick santorum this is his path to the white house. right now the gop desperately needs some real leadership. so where is mitt romney? he's out of sight at his house in california, totally cutting himself from the public and his party. "the wash

rick santorum helped lead the opposition to this treaty. think he's out of step with the american people, out of step, by the way, on this tax cuts for the rich stuff. you know, bobby jindal said today, and i thought it was remarkable, we're in danger of becoming the party that defends the rich, anti-medicare, anti-social security, and there's no future in that kind of republican party nor is there one in a party that's anti-handicapped. >> let me go to john on this because you and i, john, i think we all know people in our business, in the journalism world, and in consulting who have handicaps. they are in wheelchairs, but they raise a ruckus effectively if there's some facility that doesn't allow them access or a reasonable way of getting through that situation. i think it's a nonpartisan issue, but your side of the aisle seems to think, on the right, anytime the u.n. is involved it's frightening. >> there are some people who say the more control we give to the u.n., we're losing u.s. sovereignty. >> explain how that works. no, explain in

senator santorum's daughter has a genetic disorder and senator kerry says that senator santorum and otherhat voted against the treaty did so because they hate the united nations. more meetings, more talking. sad to report no real solution today and that pretty much sums up the fiscal cliff negotiations. i feel like a broken record. here we go again on the countdown. day 26. got another 24 hours closer to the edge of the fiscal cliff which is why we have our eyes on the white house press briefing. got a live picture ready for you so we don't miss anything. for what it's worth, president obama and house speaker boehner are talking. they had a nice telephone conversation. that's terrific. the first time in a week but apparently that's the headline. that's the editorial body. not much came out of it that we know of. sources say no real breakthrough. no formal negotiations. sessions are not scheduled. no back channel discussions taking place that anybody knows about at this time and as we wait for the white house briefing to begin, let's bring in wolf blitzer on this topic. there are a couple

that didn't stop senator santorum to send out this e-mail. you did it. you made it happen. if it weren't for you the united states senate wouldn't have defeated the united nations convention on the rights of persons with disables and said it would have given the u.n. oversight of the health care and education choices parents with special needs kids need to make. had it been the law of the land it would have trumped state laws and could have been used as precedent by state and federal judges. that is not true. so, why the fudging of facts and we asked senator santorum on the program. he, too, declined. we can only guess the motivations and frankly some of this is kind of so baffling we'd be taking wild guesses and we don't want to do that. the treaty supporters including senator kerry say that politics and a paranoia about the u.n. trumped the rights of the disabled in this vote. ted kennedy jr., the son of the late senator kennedy is a health care attorney and advocate for people with disabilities. when he was 12 years old he lost his leg to bone cancer. that's a picture ta

in the interview santorum made this latently false claim. the big problem there is is radical islam and the president's refusal to really address that issue i mean the president you went here's a president went out and ran a women's issue and we have egypt imposing sharia law and you know here we're spread shari'a law means women have to have head coverings have no rights and you don't hear the president say a word about surely you haven't heard him condemn shari'a radical is. obviously this statement couldn't be farther from the truth president obama has condemned radical islam on numerous occasions for some reason david gregory refused to challenge santorum is claiming we were happy to journalistic integrity and the very very ugly senator bob corker the republican from tennessee appearing on fox so-called news sunday yesterday corker acknowledged the democrats have won the debate on raising taxes for the wealthiest two percent of americans republican even admitted he would likely vote for a tax increase great right or wrong worker then ech

we asked senator santorum on the program tonight. he declined, and like the others that won't explain themselves, we can guess their motivations and frankly it's so baffling we're taking wide guesses and we don't want to do that. the treaty supporters say that politics and a paranoia about the u.n. trumped the rights of the disabled in this vote. ted kennedy jr. is a health care attorney and advocate for people with disabilities. when he was 12 years old he lost his leg to bone cancer. there's a picture of him taken with his dad six years after that. he's a strong support either of the u.n. disabilities treaty. i spoke to him earlier today. >> it seems like you guys lost based on something that had nothing to do with the actual treaty? >> it's true. it's a sad day for people with disabilities and for the u.s. senate, because you ask yourself, anderson, who could be against a treaty that basically affords people with disabilities the same rights and opportunities than everyone else that doesn't cost the united states one extra penny.

anyone listening to rick santorum, and yet, here we are!pplause ) besides, besides i believe america has already proven its commitment to accessibility for the disabled because without the americans with disabilities act, bob dole would never have been able to park close to the capitol, ride up in an elevator, and roll down a ramp to see his dying wish crushed in person. we'll be right back. ( cheers and applause ) ( cheers and applause ). >> stephen: welcome back, everybody, my guest tonight is an actor who does much of his work in a performance capture suit, except casualed from when he wears his capture shorteds please welcome captain circus. >> you shall pass! ( cheers and applause ) ♪ ♪ >> stephen: wow, wow. is this really you? or is it you doing a dazzling performance of yourself? >> i'm not here. i'm a digital incarnation of a guy back at home in london. >> stephen: really. >> yeah. >> stephen: really. the technology is incredible. >> it's amazing. >> stephen: the 3d pops. >> at 48 frames a second, no less. >> stephen: people haven't

after the vote, cnn asked senator john kerry about santorum's claims. here's what he said. >> i have great respect for both rick and his wife karen and their daughter and their family. he's a strong family man. but he either simply hasn't read the treaty or doesn't understand it, or he was just not factual in what he said because the united nations has absolutely zero -- zero, i mean zero ability to order or to tell or to -- i mean, they can suggest, but they have no legal capacity to tell the united states to do anything under this treaty. nothing. >> it's not just democrats saying that. in a moment you'll hear from a republican who says the exact same thing. former u.s. attorney dick thornburgh. but the big question that we've been trying to figure out is why? why the flip-flopping and the no-voting based on, as far as we can tell, a boatload of misinformation. well, it turns out it could be because some powerful conservative groups lobbied hard against it and, like santorum, they claim the treaty threatened u.s. sovereignty. claimed being the operati

republicans are going with rick santorum and the black helicopter theory instead. now this year in 2012. they did that today. amazing. joining us is steve clemmons. he writes at the washington note and atlantic magazine. steve is also a former policy adviser for new mexico senator jeff bingaman. thank you for being here. >> great to be with you rachel. >> am i being naive to think this was going to pass? >> a lot of people thought it was going to pass. of all the treaties, this would be the easiest to pass. there were other treaties pending. this is about people in need and it didn't. this is a branch of the gop that did you want represent all republicans, but it's the obnoxious nationalist wing that really resents any international deal making. there's a lot of worry not just about people with disabilities, but all the other treaties that position the united states and show that it can be the primary sculptor of global affairs, and we're defecting from that as of today's vote. >> so 126 countries ratifying this, but us, not ratifying it. particularly when it's mod

santorum's claims. >> i have great respect rick and karen and their daughter and family. strong family man. but, he either simply hasn't read the treaty or doesn't understand it or was not factual in what he said. the united nations has zero ability to order or to tell or to even, they can suggest but they have no legal capacity to tell the united states to do anything under this treaty. nothing. >> tonight many disability advocate's rights say that the treaty trumps rights everywhere. he is the first quadrapalegic senator to serve in the house. you voted for this. why do you think it is so important? >> first of all, thank you for having me on the program. thank you for paying attention to this important issue. this is important for people here and for people around the world who don't yet enjoy the protections that people here enjoy in the united states. that law has transformed the lives of people with disabilities and i can speak to that first hand. i was injured in 1980 and i became paralyzed after a gun accident. i know what the world was like both before and after

as in rick santorum. he came closes to any republican to dislodging mitt romney as presidential nominee here, had all of 28-cents in his campaign war shift. do you find any of this troubling? >> i do. for republicans to go out and concede on the revenue side. does washington need more revenue? yeah it does, looking at overall percentage of money of revenues that come in to federal government, than what has been average since world war ii, we're below that the argument should be, yeah, we need more revenue, but the question is, how do republicans historically, how do we argue, for more revenue? growth. we need more growth, if we have more growth, highest revenues we had in history of the -- since world war ii was 21 or 22% of gdp, what happened? tech boom, huge capital gains and start ups, and that is how we got revenue, it was not by raising taxes that is an argument weave with principle made and have been correct in making it. to now say, well, you know, president won and we have to concede that point. i

santorum's claims are just not based in fact. he's claiming that the treaty would give u.n. bureaucrats power over u.s. law affecting disabled kids but the treaty would not change u.s. law. in fact, there's no precedent that we can find that any u.n. treaty has ever changed u.s. law. we'll dig deeper on that in a moment. after the vote, cnn asked senator john kerry, a strong supporter of the treaty, about santorum's claims. here's what he said. >> i have great respect for both rick and his wife, karen, and their daughter and their family. he's a strong family man. but he either simply hasn't read the treaty or doesn't understand it or he was just not factual in what he said, because the united nations has absolutely zero, zero, i mean zero ability to order or to tell or to even -- i mean, they can suggest, but they have no legal capacity to tell the united states to do anything under this treaty. nothing. >> it's not just democrats saying that. in a moment you will hear from a republican who says the exact same thing. former u.s. attorney general dick thornburg. but the big

one minute it will be santorum in a sweater vest. the next thing it will be muppets. >> greta, you know my xylophone career. i got rejected from the boston pops and the symphony. ed it was my first love. if i didn' doesn't work out, i'k to the radio. >> any chance it's th it's tv? >> i'm not going to say anything about it. >> that was sort of an unusual -- >> this is my tv gig, greta. radio is my love right after modern dance. >> we await the announcement. >> thank you. thank you for all the crazy tweets tonight about being on the show with a certain other show on. >> laura is competing tonight with who. >> victoria secret. >> we had "monday night football". >> brains over whatever. >> great to see you. >>> straight ahead, why does the senator say the president's comfortable going off the cliff? why would anyone want to go off the cliff. the senator is here to tell you next. >>> and did california teachers just ignite a war on the wealthy? you will want to see this video and you won't be able to turn away. we'll show you. >>> plus, a

rick santorum led the charge against the treaty. some other republicans warned it would jeopardize u.s. sovereignty and personal freedoms. listen. >> the problem is, there's a provision in this international law which we would be adopting if the senate ratifies this that puts the state, the state in the position of determining what is in the best interest of a disabled child. >> i simply cannot support a treaty that threatens the right of parents to raise their children with the constant looming threat of state interference. >> the treaty could be used to interfere with the ability of parents with disabled children to decide what action is in the best interest of their children. >> that all sounds very alarming. keeping them honest, it's not true. the treaty does create a committee that can issue nonbinding recommendations on how nations can do better on disability rights, but it doesn't. i repeat does not require any changes to existing state or federal laws. in july former republican attorney general dick thornburgh testified befo

but, santorum is not alone among candidates burdened with a google legacy. newt gingrich assured his name will be forever linked in the predictive search with the phrase moon colony when he made this pledge. >> by the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be american. >> i'm not sure which was more unbelievable, the new american territory that jon stewart dubbed moonlandia or a two-term presidency. the moon colony guy looked like the reasonable one next to the candidate who existed purely for entertainment value. ladies and gentlemen, i give you ron paul. >> guess what? being involved in the campaign for liberty -- >> that's enough from you, ron paul. you are done. as they all were. in the end, there could only be one. it's one that republicans should file away under the category of things that seemed like a good idea at the time. because for an american with a limping economy and sluggish job market, the republican party picked as its nominee, the guy who regularly said things like this. >> rick, i'll tell you

. >>> john kerry is firing at santorum orr a treaty. they rejected the ratification of the treaty on tuesday despite appearance on the floor by former majority leader bob dole in his wheelchair all in an effort to draw support. santorum explained the opposition in a piece published in "the daily beast" saying in part, let me yoquote, our natio has been the worldwide leader. we suld be telling nato and not the other way how to have dignity. senator kerry said santorum doesn't know what he's talking about. >> i have great respect for both rick and his wife karen and their daughter and their family. he is a strong family man. but he either simply hasn't read the treaty or doesn't understand it or he was just not factual in what he said because the united nations has absolutely zero, zero, i mean, zero ability to order or to tell or to even -- i mean, they can suggest but they have no legal capacity to tell the united states to do anything under this treaty. nothing. >> senator kerry referring there to santorum's daughter bella born with a

look at romney santorum cain. friends will always have to remember that they all voted no to his face. live with it. >> so meredith shiner, on the fiscal cliff. >> yes, sir. >> there are a lot of different pieces of it and it can get very complicated, but it can also get boiled down to kind of one first step which the president keeps pointing out. he says, let's just start on what we all agree on. we all agree taxes should not go up for the middle class. so we have a bill that's already passed the senate. it wasn't a filibuster. beefs partnership everybody will get a tax cut on the first $250,000 worth of income for 98% of americans more than they would ever need for a tax cut. the president said the senate says i have my pen. i am ready to sign it. all we need is a vote in the house. why won't that take place? >> trying to get enough signatures for a discharge. >> getting ahead of yourself? >> yeah. >> why no vote? >> it's complicated. i think that what we are seeing now is not any sort of real negotiation. it is

in other words -- is the same position as rick santorum, correct?actually, same position as rick santorum, chris christie has said this. >> bill: has he really? >> my colleague and i did a story on this after the rubio thing where we should have went through the 2016 contenders and their relationship with the creationism. and christie has been asked do you believe in evolution or creationism. he said it's none of your business. should they teach it in school? he said i'm not going to tell people what they should teach. he's kind of hedged on it. he hasn't been this firmly against it as mitt romney was. mitt romney said you shouldn't teach intelligent design in school. you should teach -- you teach that in religion class. running theme among the 2016ers that we know so far. bobby jindal has supported evolution in schools. and chris christie hedged on it. marco rubio definitely has been for it. so it is an interesting underlying early theme. >> bill: but there is a real connection between this and what we talked about at the top of the hour with incre