Senate Kills U.N. Treaty on Disabilities
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with me. Stories we're watching right now in THE NEWSROOM at 31 minutes past the hour: The fight over the fiscal cliff shows no signs of easing. House Speaker John Boehner is meeting with House Republicans this morning. And a news conference is set to take place in just about 30 minutes. Many Republicans are not happy with Boehner's proposal. That included $800 billion in tax hikes. President Obama says no deal will be reached without higher taxes on the wealthy. You may not know his name. You've certainly seen his face, Jack Brooks, a former congressman from Texas, he died last night. That's him in the background when Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office following President Kennedy's assassination. Brooks was in the motorcade when Kennedy was shot in 1963. Paul Ryan coming out of the shadows, following his failed run for vice president. The Wisconsin Republican with Florida Senator Marco Rubio urged the GOP to unite voters, not divide them.</s>REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: Both parties tend to divide Americans into our voters and their voters. Let's be really clear: Republicans must steer far clear of that trap. We must speak to the aspirations and anxieties of every American.</s>SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R). FLORIDA: I've heard it suggested that the problem is that the American people have changed. That too many people want things from government. But I'm still convinced that the overwhelming majority of our people, they just want what my parents had -- a chance.</s>COSTELLO: Ryan pointed out that he and Rubio are seen as presidential contenders in 2016 and asked if anyone knew any good diners in Iowa and New Hampshire. The United States taking a stand against people with disabilities? Former Senator Bob Dole took to the Senate floor in his wheelchair to push for support of the United Nations treaty that helps disabled people around the world. Despite that, senators voted against the treaty, something that would presumably have had a wide margin of support.</s>SEN. MICHAEL LEE (R), UTAH: I've heard from advocacy groups consisting of people who hope that this treaty will protect disabled Americans they travel abroad and as they go about their lives. But I've also heard from parents of disabled children who were concerned that this treaty in adherence to the best interest of the child standard in Article VII will threaten their rights as parents.</s>SEN. HARRY REID (D), NEVADA: I sympathize with John Boehner. The Tea Party has a firm grip on the Republican Party and that's obvious, what's happened this morning here in Washington.</s>COSTELLO: In rejecting this treaty, the United States broke from 125 countries that have ratified the treaty, including Syria and Saudi Arabia. Some Senate Republicans actually voted to approve the measure, like Senator John McCain and Kelly Ayotte, to name a few. But members of the Tea Party banded together to also block the measure -- because they say, if the measure passed, the United Nations would impose its will on disabled people and their families in the United States. Joining me now, Maria Cardona, Democratic strategist and CNN contributor, and Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist and also a CNN contributor. Good morning to both of you.</s>MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Carol.</s>ANA NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Carol.</s>SAMBOLIN: So, Ana, I want to start with you. Can you explain to us why conservative Republicans are opposed to a treaty that would, in John McCain's words, promote rights for disabled people, including our own veterans overseas?</s>NAVARRO: Well, you know, first of all, I don't think it was a stand against people with disabilities. It was a stand against this treaty. It was a stand against a United Nations treaty. There were a number of concerns. I read the statements by both, you know, John McCain and also some of the other senators that voted against. They're not Tea Party senators as Senator Reid is describing them. They are thoughtful people who pay attention, people like Lindsey Graham, senators like Rob Portman, senators like Marco Rubio, they are Republicans who give -- you know, who give a great credence to things like sovereignty and who don't want to give authority to the United Nations. They want the Americans with Disability Act to be the golden standard by which we guide our actions.</s>COSTELLO: But isn't the treaty worded in pretty much exactly the same way as the Americans with Disability Act is?</s>NAVARRO: Right, which begs the question, why give any power to the United Nations? Now, let me tell you, Carol, I served as ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights. It's a bureaucratic organization with very little teeth, very little fang and ability to enforce anything. So, some people had concerns about not wanting to give authority to the United Nations and rather keep it as a sovereign issue within the United States. I think it's a credible concern.</s>COSTELLO: But, Maria, if the United Nations doesn't have any teeth to impose this treaty in the United States, what difference does it make?</s>CARDONA: That's exactly right. And I think that's the problem with the arguments that Republicans are making. I understand that people like Rick Santorum, who does have a disabled child, they feel very strongly about this. Even in the arguments he is making, he contradicts himself, as most Republicans did yesterday, in saying that this treaty has no teeth and it can't be enforced. And at the same time saying by signing it, you give up American sovereignty. Those are two contradicting statements right there. And so, to me, it is a huge perception of the United States and frankly to the chagrin or what should be the chagrin of Republicans that GOP, Republicans -- Senate Republicans are standing against the rights of the disabled abroad. And so, I think that it was a hugely missed opportunity to really show American leadership in an area that is sorely needed especially across the globe.</s>COSTELLO: I mean, Ana, does it really boil down to Republicans' distrust of the United Nations in general?</s>NAVARRO: I think it boils down to Republican distrust of the United Nations. I think some people have procedural concerns. They don't want any treaties ratified during a lame duck session. They think this is something that should be fully aired, you know, while the Congress is in full session and they want the focus to be on the fiscal cliff. Some conservatives did have issues and concerns regarding abortion and, you know, what it meant for the rights of the disabled while they were in the womb. So, there were a number of concerns. Look, you know, when I saw Bob Dole get wheeled in by his wife, former Senator Elizabeth Dole, my heart melted. And I think it meant a lot to people like John McCain. But that does not mean that some of these issues that some of these Republicans had were not credible and are not -- we should just say, OK. You know, there's a lot of treaties that have really pretty sounding name but the devil is in the detail. And I think that's what some of them felt when it came to this treaty.</s>COSTELLO: Ana Navarro and Maria -- go ahead, Maria, quickly.</s>CARDONA: I was just going to say, I mean, I hope Ana is right and if Republicans really want to do this right, they will have another chance in the next Congress and this is something where Americans really need to step up. I think what happened yesterday was GOP fear of the Tea Party, because every single senator that voted against it was most likely up in 2014 except for one.</s>COSTELLO: OK. Ana Navarro, Maria Cardona, thanks so much.</s>NAVARRO: Thank you.</s>COSTELLO: A new study says people are so frustrated with their banks they consider going to Wal-Mart for a mortgage if they could. Well, maybe they can now.