to hold a news conference to respond to intense back lash over the state's religious freedom law which critics argue opens the door for discrimination against gays and lesbians. the largest newspaper, "indianapolis star" has a head line, fix this now. an editorial that reads in part quote, we are at a critical moment in indiana's history, and much is at stake. appearing on fox news this morning, governor pence says he stands by the law. >> i signed the religious freedom restoration act last week because i support religious liberty. this is a law that mirrors what president clinton signed into law in 1993 and is the law by statute or court decisions in some 30 states around america. the religious freedom restoration act is a framework for courts to balance various

interests of citizens in a way that respects our nation's strong and long-standing commitment to the importance of religious liberty. >> governor pence also pushed back against critics with an op-ed published in "the wall street journal," saying the law has been grossly misconstrued. meanwhile, republican leaders in the state legislature are scrambling to clarify language in the law, but that is not quieting the growing voices speaking out, including nine ceos who signed onto a letter hand delivered to governor pence, saying they're quote, deeply concerned about the impact of employees and reputation within the state. indianapolis set to host the final four ncaa is vowing to re-examine ties with the state beyond this weekend. john yang joins me from indianapolis. john, i am keeping an eye on the news conference that should start soon with the governor

but we just played that sound bite from fox news this morning where he maintains that he will stand by this law, so do we have any indication that he might change or say something different in this news conference? >> his press secretary says he wants to clarify the law today at the press conference, but that's what he has been trying to do since thursday when he signed it and the reaction he has gotten is this avalanche of criticism coming not only from folks in indiana but also from ceos of big businesses around the country who do business in indiana. tim cook head of apple, calling it dangerous. the head of marriott hotels calling it idiocy. it will be interesting to see what he has to say. earlier today on msnbc, the speaker of the indiana house, a republican, suggested that one way out of this may be to clarify or take out language in

the bill that says that religious beliefs can be a defense in lawsuits brought by private citizens that don't include the state. there are many that's one of the differences between the indiana law and other religious freedom laws around the country that critics have been talking about. as you say, this could be a time of civic pride for indianapolis and indiana, a time they're about to host the ncaa final four. a lot of folks are saying it is a time of civic embarrassment, small businesses around the city walking around here have signs up saying in spite of that religious freedom act, they're welcoming everybody. some restaurant we were at this morning had a big sign on their door, they had rfra with a circle and line through it slashing it through. this is far from going away far from dying down. it will take a lot from the governor and legislature to try

to calm the waters tamron. >> absolutely. the waters are churning for sure there, you have even the chamber of commerce coming down on the governor and legislators to do something different, to change the wording or repeal this. but i do appreciate the fact that you're on the street there, john you've had a chance to talk to people in and around where you have been reporting, beyond the businesses. how would you describe the climate as i think many people saw and witnessed this go from this little conversation happening within the state to a national and international headlines about what's happening there. >> reporter: i think it is an embarrassment. people are embarrassed, people i have spoken to are embarrassed by this. worried about what message this sends not only to businesses but to visitors to tourists people that want to come to indiana. one woman said to me this morning it is not just the gay and lesbian community that has to worry about this she said it is any sort of minority or even

majority of woman, as a woman she said she was concerned about this. i think there's widespread concern, and widespread worry about this. there are calls to repeal. last night city council, city county council in indianapolis voted 24-4 to call on the governor and legislature to repeal the bill. i don't think that's in the cards. the governor made it pretty clear that he doesn't think the problem is with the bill itself he says the problem is the way the bill is being described around the country. >> all right, thank you very much john. greatly appreciate it. again, we are waiting for the governor to come out. let me bring in the ceo of the gaming convention which is the largest convention in indianapolis and is considering whether to take business out of the state for future years to come because of the new law, and "the washington post" cindy born editor of the early lead sports blog who covered the response that the ncaa has given as well as the nba. adrian, let me start with you.

the governor says this is a misunderstanding maybe the law is being misconstrued by the media and others. what do you say in response? >> i don't think anybody is misconstruing anything and i would say that if there's this much room for people could have misunderstanding, then there's something wrong with this law and i don't think at this point in time that standing by the rhetoric of clarification is what people want to see happen here. >> when this started, the back lash, i think it was gen con was the first, if i recall to come out, say -- the governor is coming out now. if we can get you to hang on. let's listen to his comments we will talk with you both right after.

>> thank you all for coming. it has been a tough week in the hoosier state but we are going to move forward because i as governor, i have the great privilege of serving the greatest people on earth, the people of indiana. let me say first and foremost i was proud to sign the religious freedom restoration act last week. i believe religious liberty as president clinton said when he signed the federal law in 1993 i believe religious liberty is our first freedom and it is vital to millions of americans who cherish faith as i and my

family do. but it is also vital to the framework of freedom in our nation. and this legislation was designed to ensure the vitality of religious liberty in the hoosier state. i believe hoosiers are entitled to the same protections in place in federal courts for the last 20 plus years, and the law in 30 other states. clearly, clearly there's been misunderstanding and confusion and mischaracterization of the law. and i come before you today to say how we are going to address that. we have been working the last several days literally around the clock and talking with people across the state of indiana, talking to business leaders, talking to organizations around the country who have spent time in indiana, enjoyed hospitality of the people of indiana, and we have

been listening. but let me say first and foremost as i have said to each one of them the religious freedom restoration act was about religious liberty, not about discrimination. as i said last week had this law been about legalizing discrimination, i would have vetoed it. this law does not give anyone a license to discriminate. the religious freedom restoration act in indiana does not give anyone the right to deny services to anyone in this state. it is simply a balancing test used by our federal courts and jurisdictions across the country for more than two decades. and let me say on the subject of the bill itself i don't believe for a minute that it was the intention of the general assembly to create a license to discriminate or right to deny services to gays lesbians or

anyone else in the state, and certainly wasn't my intent. but i can appreciate that that's become the perception not just here in indiana but all across this country. and we need to confront that and confront it boldly an a way that respects the interests of all involved. personal reflection for a moment if i can. i abhor discrimination. i was raised with the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. i believe in my heart of hearts that no one should be harassed or mistreated because of who they are, who they love or what they believe. and i believe every hoosier

shares that conviction. but as i said we've got a perception problem here because some people have a different view and we intend to correct that. after much reflection and in consultation with leadership of the general assembly i have come to the conclusion it would be helpful to move legislation this week that makes it clear that this law does not give businesses a right to deny services to anyone. let me say that again. i think it would be helpful and i would like to see it on my desk before the end of this week legislation that is added to the religious freedom restoration act in indiana that makes it clear this law does not give businesses the right to deny services to anyone. we want to make it clear that indiana is open for business.

we want to make it clear that hoosier hospitality is not a slogan, it is our way of life. it's the reason people come here from around the world and they come back again and again and again because hoosiers are the kindest, most generous, most decent people in the world. let me say i believe this is a clarification, but it is also a fix, it is a fix of a bill that through mischaracterization and confusion has come to be greatly misunderstood and i'm determined to address this this week. and to move forward as a state. and i know we will. indiana has come under the harsh glare of criticism from around the country. and some of us get paid to be

under that harsh glare and criticism, so we don't complain about it. but the things that have been said about our state have been at times deeply offensive to me. and i will continue to use every effort to defend the good and decent people of indiana. i think it is important that we take this action this week. i have spoken to legislative leaders all the way through the last hour, we are going to be working to make that happen. i will be happy to take questions. go ahead. >> the house speaker from your own party criticized -- like to ask you again, under this law, is it legal for a florist to deny services to a same sex couple citing religious beliefs. >> this law does not give anyone

a license to deny services to gay and lesbian couples. look, i could have handled that better this weekend. but going into that interview this weekend, i was just determined to set the record straight about what this law really is. i am very pleased that the reporting about the religious freedom restoration act has significantly improved in the last several days. i think there's a growing public understanding that indiana has passed a law here that mirrors the federal law that president clinton signed and mirrors the laws and statutes of 30 states. i am grateful for that. but on sunday my intention was to set that record straight but i want to be clear on that point. and thank you for the opportunity. go ahead. >> do you regret having signed

it. >> absolutely not. religious liberty is vitally important in the life of our nation, and to ensure that hoosiers have the same level of scrutiny when they believe their religious liberty is intruded upon in state courts that they already have in our federal courts and that 30 other states have had for some time it was simply the right thing to do. it is that important. i was pleased to have sign it and i stand by the law. [ [ inaudible ] question ] >> jim, i never supported that. i want to be clear. it is not on my agenda but i think it is a completely separate question. i mean, we are talking about the religious freedom restoration act which is about restoring the

highest level of scrutiny in our state courts when matters of government action intrude upon religious liberty of hoosiers. that's where i want to stay focused. i do believe that moving legislation this week that would make it clear this law does not give businesses right to deny services to anyone would be appropriate. >> what would the legislation say? >> that's still under discussion and consideration. that's the direction. >> governor are you expecting -- [ inaudible ] >> way expecting this kind of back lash? to be candid with you, when i

first heard about the legislation, heard it was federal law more than 20 years, heard it was the law through statute, court decisions in 30 jurisdictions, in the wake of last year's supreme court case hobby lobby, i thought it was appropriate addition to indiana statute. it moved through the legislative process, not a considerable amount of controversy. when this erupted last week even though i made my position clear weeks ago that i would sign the bill without much discussion i was taken back. i have to tell you that the gross mischaracterizations about the bill early on and some of the reckless reporting by some in the media about what the bill

was all about was deeply disappointing to me and millions of hoosiers. but we are making progress on that. i think we are turning back. i am grateful for the expressions of support that are being given from around the country, including many in the media that are articulating what this is all about. we will continue to move forward. [ inaudible ] >> let me say the smear against the bill is created a license to

discriminate. license to deny services. and that's just completely false and baseless. professor conkle who i quoted in my editorial this morning in "the wall street journal," this is no license to discriminate. i think the proper legislative remedy is to focus on the perception that's been created by the mischaracterization and to make it clear that this law does not give businesses a right to deny services to anyone. >> speaking of back lash. [ inaudible ]

>> i would leave it -- i think you mean the public reaction? >> right. >> i think it is explained by the fact this was grossly mischaracterized by advocates who oppose the bill and quite frankly from sloppy reporting for the first several days so i really do believe that. i mean look if i read some of the stuff about this bill i would have had the same concern millions of hoosiers had and people across the country have had. it just isn't so. when president clinton signed the bill in 1993 they said the religious freedom restoration act was the most important legislation considered by congress since the first

amendment was approved. when state senator barack obama voted for this bill in illinois it was with broad, bipartisan support. one of the great pieces of legislative history of religious freedom restoration act is it is a way of bringing people together consensus. i would suggest what ex-plangs ex-plangs -- explains the concerns is the miss characterization. in a real sense, we need to focus specifically on this perception that this creates some license to discriminate and that's what i am calling on the

legislature to do. [ inaudible ] >> the language is still being worked out, okay? what i want to make sure is that it is clear to hoosiers which are the people i serve, and frankly clear to anyone that would come to visit our state, that there is in this legislation no license to discriminate no right to deny services and i think we can develop that language. [ inaudible ] >> eric miller issued an e-mail to supporters saying christian businesses need protection. [ inaudible ] >> this law does not give anyone

license to discriminate. this law that i signed last week does not give anyone the right to deny services. the language i am talking about adding i believe would be consistent with what the general assembly intended and certainly what i intended in this case. [ inaudible ] >> i am calling on general assembly to send me a bill that focuses on the issue here that focuses on the smear that's been leveled against the law and against the people of indiana and that is that somehow through our legislative process we enacted legislation that created a license to discriminate. that is so offensive to me as a

hoosier. and i know it is offensive to people across the state of indiana that we have to correct that first, because it is not true. secondly, we have to correct that perception because it has to do with the perception of our state and our businesses. eric? [ inaudible ] >> i just think we need to make it very clear, irrespective of whether the ordinances exist in a community or not, that this law gives businesses a right to deny services to anyone.

and that's what i have to say about that. [ inaudible ] >> the intent of the law, well the intent of the law when president clinton signed it the intent of the law when i signed it was to give the courts in our state the highest level of scrutiny in cases where people feel that their religious liberty is infringed upon by government action. >> you talked about perceptions out there, the smear. how is the state of indiana getting the good name back? >> first, the state of indiana has a good name.

this law has been smeared. but look going to mark our 200th anniversary next year and the name and reputation of the people of indiana is strong and secure, but the reputation of this law, the intentions of our legislature have been called into question and i believe we need to deal with it. i believe we need to deal with it this week and we will. we will fix this and we will move forward. that's what hoosiers do. [ inaudible ] >> no comment. tom? >> what exactly do you want to

see in this clarification, what are you looking for? >> well i want to make it clear in the rfra law that the religious freedom restoration act does not give businesses right to deny services to anyone, that this is about -- and i said before to people you know, and i want to stipulate the coverage on this has gotten better and more fair okay but early on there was some really reckless and irresponsible reporting about this. now, i just would submit to you that it's important we address the principle allegation here with legislation in this law that makes it clear that it does not give businesses a right to

deny services to anyone. [ inaudible ] >> maureen, i wasn't talking about you. and frankly, can i just say this, i don't want to let the indiana press off the hook here but i will anyway i think the indiana press has had this right from early on but some of the national reporting on this has been ridiculous. >> could you cite a specific story? >> i encourage you to do a quick google search on license to discriminate business. you'll find all of it. [ inaudible ] >> i have been on the phone

talking to business leaders, our team has been talking to business leaders. i have been reaching out to the leaders of associations and corporations around the country just setting the record straight about what this law actually does and what our intention is in passing it and our determination to correct the perception that's taken hold. >> press conference last week it was a long time coming -- [ inaudible ] >> i think the more relevant event was hobby lobby case by the supreme court which is a case in point of the value of the religious freedom restoration act, really is. the obamacare was passed into law, it included mandates on

health care coverage for businesses, and hobby lobby and i might add university of notre dame among others filed federal lawsuits to challenge obamacare under the religious freedom restoration act. the supreme court in a majority opinion last year upheld the right of private business owner under the religious freedom restoration act citing the act, and but here's the background. in 1993 the federal law was signed by president clinton. in 1997 the supreme court of the united states ruled that the act did not apply to states that did not have their own statute, and that's why you had 19 states that have adopted statutes you have about 11 other states that have adopted it in their case law, this balancing test this

standard. indiana never did. so in the wake of a hobby lobby decision to ensure that hoosiers in our state courts have the same level of scrutiny when their religious liberty they believe is infringed upon general assembly moved this legislation, and that was the precipitating event. [ inaudible ] >> people are entitled to their opinions. but this law does not create a license to discriminate and this law does not give businesses a right to deny services to anyone. i think it would be helpful if the general assembly were to get legislation to my desk that made

that clear and made that clear in the statute. yes. >> court cases where -- >> i didn't hear the first part of the question tony. go ahead go ahead. [ inaudible ] >> the purpose of the religious freedom restoration act is to give the people of this country the opportunity to go into our courts, state and federal for more than 20 years, where they believe government action has imposed and impinged on their religious liberty. that's the foundation of this idea. this is about -- this is about restraining government overreach, and i want to say again the reason why this was

such a broad and bipartisan measure over much of the last two decades is because every american cherishes religious liberty. we all understand the importance of freedom of conscience. it is enshrined in our constitution, it is enshrined in the constitution of the state of indiana, and that's what this is about. but look i understand that the perception of this has, you know, gone far afield from what the law really is. we have been doing our level best to correct that perception however imperfectly. and we'll continue to do that. i want to say, i am extremely grateful for voices around the country who stepped up and stood by indiana as we stand by this law, but that being said as governor of the state of indiana i believe it would be the right thing to do to move legislation

that would make it clear this law does not give businesses a right to deny services to anyone. >> your conversation with business leaders, are you confident that this -- >> those conversations are on-going but i remain very hopeful if we focus on the principle misperception that we will garner support, restore confidence, and we will be able to move forward. >> 20 states have similar laws governor isn't it true the difference does not have statewide nondiscrimination law that protects sexual orientation. >> i think a number of the 30 states that have this standard in their courts are also in the same position indiana is in and

same position the federal government is in in terms of protected status. let me say with great respect i think that's a separate issue, all right? it is not my position not advocating for it. i understand some people are, that's a separate question that ought to be considered separate from this idea of religious liberty and that we will give our courts in indiana and have given our courts in indiana the ability to discern with the highest level of scrutiny where the people of our state believe that government action has intruded upon their religious liberty. right here. she is right here. [ inaudible ] >> i'm sorry, say again. [ inaudible ]

>> why is it contained? well, you would have to speak to the indiana general assembly and members who crafted the legislation. i am pleased to support it to answer the legislative history question. i believe it would be appropriate to make it clear this law does not give businesses a right to deny services to anyone. go ahead. >> the question was should it be legal in the state of indiana to discriminate against gays and lesbians what do you say. >> i don't support discrimination against gays or lesbians or anyone else. >> so no? >> i don't support discrimination against gays or lesbians or anyone else. i abhor discrimination. i want to say this. no one should be harassed or

mistreated because of who they are, who they love or what they believe. i believe it with all my heart. this issue of discrimination has been an and them through my life. started out politics as a democrat when i was in high school was the youth democrat party coordinator in my hometown. not exactly a community organizer, but we worked door to door. the reverend dr. martin luther king junior was a hero in my youth, a hero to this day. five years ago john lewis approached me on the floor, asked if i would co-chair co-host the annual pilgrimage to selma with him. and it was one of the greatest honors i had in my 12 years in

congress. we felt so strongly about it that not only did my wife go with me but our three teenage kids went with us. 45th anniversary of bloody sunday. the night before in montgomery we sat in dr. king's church. we talked to people who had been there and we were deeply moved by the courage and faith of the people who were there. but i will always count it one of the greatest privileges of my life that on the 45th anniversary of bloody sunday i was walking across the edmond pet us bridge with john lewis. that's the debate about the last week i am very typical in indiana. hoosiers are a loving kind generous decent tolerant people. we are known all over the world for that. and i'm just one of them.

and so the suggestion that because we passed a law to strengthen religious liberty in our state courts that we had in some way created a license to discriminate is deeply offensive to me deeply offensive to millions of hoosiers and we are going to correct it and move forward. [ inaudible ] >> the difference in what? [ inaudible ] >> i don't want to talk about

private conversations or interaction, i think we all understand that this is a perception problem and we need to deal with it and we need to deal with it because it is the right thing to do and we need to deal with it so that everybody around the country and around the world knows that indiana is a welcoming place to everybody. and i agree. we have to correct that perception. >> we have been listening for the past 40 minutes to the indiana governor mike pence, who says that the issues with the law that he signed and supported until the last few minutes must be fixed. joining me nbc news senior political editor mark murray emma margolin and cindy bore en editor of early league sports blog. mark first, this is a bigger political issue we will be discussing when we see the republican primary. social conservatives now versus

big business in that state. >> yeah, and tamron if that was like the match up there, big business ended up winning, at least until we end up seeing what the legislative fix will be. you're exactly right in a lot of ways, even inside the republican party, this was testing two big pillars of the gop, big business and social conservatives. for awhile you saw a lot of republicans go to the social conservative route, including the 2016 potential candidates but pence making his arguments about how perception matters so much and due to that negative perception he said caused by the press they needed to make a fix. i just add it was more than just perception. mike pence went on tv on sunday was asked point blank whether this legislation would allow a florist to deny giving services to a gay marriage and he was unable to answer that question and that's what propelled it into what we saw today. >> absolutely.

let me bring in emma on this. fact check this. on sunday governor pence said to george step nop lus, you follow the mantra of the last week online trying to make this an issue about something else. he did not answer the question the way he did today, which is no one should be discriminated against anywhere including in the hoosier state. >> right. but saying something over and over again isn't the same as making it true. we have heard him say over and over again that this bill is not a license to discriminate. he says the law has been grossly mischaracterized. governor pence and a lot of republican lawmakers in the state are responsible for a fair amount of that mischaracterization themselves when they say it is mirrored after a federal religious freedom restoration act, that's not entirely true. this is far broader than the federal version. in two ways can be used as defense, regardless whether a government entity is party to the proceeding and also defines person very broadly as a business that can have religious

objections to government actions, say a nondiscrimination ordinance. this law would allow businesses to say i have religious objection to this local nondiscrimination ordinance and i am citing religious beliefs to say i don't want to provide service to this same sex couple or to any religious minority. >> and the governor made comparisons to 20 other states he says have similar laws that also was fact checked as not accurate. >> not completely accurate. it is true that a number of other states have religious freedom restoration acts on the books, including illinois favorite line of defense by religious freedom supporters today is that president obama signed illinois's or voted for religious freedom's restoration act in illinois that's true. indiana's rfra is the first of its kind that allows tore businesses and corporations to cite their own religious beliefs in discrimination suits. >> adrian, let me bring you in.

the gaming convention, gen con, 50,000 visitors last year $50 million pumped into the local economy, your convention one of the first to say you would consider leaving. is this a victory, what you heard from the governor is it enough? >> it is a step in the right direction. we are going to need to see what the legislation that is put on the desk looks like this week. it is going to come down to what does the amendment look like. needs to absolutely have civil rights protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. >> you heard the governor when asked did he anticipate the question this back lash he said heavens no. when you heard his response did you believe there was this extreme detachment from reality that businesses would not put up with such legislation? >> it was surprising to me.

i spoke with the governor yesterday, and yesterday his position was a little more irretractable, and it was somewhat baffling. one of the things that's interesting about my convention and business we're not a local indiana based company. we have attendees from all 50 states, and we were inundated from sponsors and attendees when the bill was signed saying what are you going to do about it please, please do something, so it is interesting that we have a perspective of many voices certainly not all our attendees, but across the nation and multiple countries. >> cindy, let me talk about reaction from ncaa the final four there, the nba sports getting involved in this social issue as well. >> it is interesting. indiana has gone to great lengths to make sports part of its business strategy. it brought the ncaa headquarters

in from kansas. you know certainly it was interesting to see the head of the ncaa who can obfuscate when it comes to talking about student athletes and paying college players, he was straightforward yesterday when he said we have to look at this. we have to look at whether we want to have events there. final four is there in four days, women's final four in indianapolis next year won a super bowl in 2019 these are significant events. he was pretty up front about it. >> mark let me bring you back in, now that governor pence held this news conference he is going back behind the scenes talking to business leaders before. what does he say to social conservatives who were left believing they have a law that, for example, if a baker didn't want to accept business of a gay couple, they could turn that business away you have a number of blogs, websites conservative websites touting the changes. what does he say to them now? >> that's the pickle that pence

is in now and why this is in some ways such a big problem for republicans because it does divide their party again between big business and social conservatives. i think the biggest thing looking forward to is what is in the legislative fix, what does it state, what does it do and are all sides pleased, particularly when the likes of businesses who say they want to be potentially boycotting indiana, and that legislative language will be key. >> thank you all for joining us. greatly appreciate you sticking around for breaking news. we will have more later. meanwhile, the new host of "the daily show" when he takes over an event like what played out would be perfect for the new show. coming up we will talk about that with liz winstead co-creator of "the daily show." does she like the pick of trevor noah as the new host. we will get that in before we end the show today. .yea dulcolax tablets can cause cramps but not phillips. it has magnesium and works more naturally than stimulant laxatives. for gentle cramp free relief of occasional constipation

that works! mmm mmm live the regular life. i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans it could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call now to request your free decision guide. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. [ male announcer ] you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. see why millions of people have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans

endorsed by aarp. don't wait. call now. --i don't know my credit score. that's really important. i mean - i don't know my credit score. don't you want to buy a house...like, ever? you should probably check out credit karma, it's free. credit? karma? free? credit karma. really free credit scores.

in less than 24 hours,

comedian trevor noah has gone from a relatively unknown performer to the face of one of the most popular shows. all right generating controversy. as the new daily show host he quickly began trending with more than 100,000 mentions on twitter alone. many are wondering exactly who he is and why they decided to go with an unfamiliar name. the 31-year-old south african born comedian has only made three appearances as you probably know on "the daily show", including this segment. >> let's play a little game. it's called spot the africa. >> is it doesn't involve me identifying anything on a map? i. >> wouldn't do that to you. >> which is from america and which is from africa? >> beautiful highway on the right, silicon valley on the left, clearly shelled by rebels somalia. >> the road on the right is a super highway in central africa.

on the left, i took that in the cab on my way from the airport. that's the fdr. >> struck the right now with comedy central and jon stewart who said he's a tremendous comic and talent that we love working with. in fact i may rejoin as a correspondent just to be part of it. i'm joined by the co-creator of the daily show so good to see you. when you heard the name what was your gut reaction? >> my gut reaction is thank god it's not a white guy to be honest. >> why did that matter? >> i just wanted to have a wide swath of a different kind of lens in the daily show. >> what about a woman? >> i woman would have been awesome too. >> good they actually didn't go with another guy who could fit the bill. and i was excited. i went back -- i was kind of like everybody else. trevor is famous outside of the united states and his -- like i when he started on the daily

show i followed him on twitter then and stand-up and story is compelling. he was born in apartheid south africa to a black mother and swiss dad and he talks about that stuff brilliantly. and so i was psyched. >> you mentioned that right now he's on an international comedy tour in dubai. we have a clip from live at the apollo when he talks about his parents. >> my mother is a black woman born in south afterry ka that's one of the languages that clicks black woman and my father is swiss. but they didn't care fighting the system. my mom was arrested for being with my dad, get fined and thrown into prison for the weekend but still come back like whoo i don't care i don't care! i'm with a white man. >> i watched the rest of that clip it was pretty funny. but beyond obviously being a different race than many people

associate with late night hosts these days he does have this multicultural black background and global background. many people are pointing out maybe americans aren't good enough either, that we don't have a wide swath of information, what do you think about that? >> i think that -- i don't think that's true. there's plenty of amazing people who could have hosted "the daily show." wasn't in the negotiations so i don't know. what i do like and something -- jon stewart for years brought the perspective, what's going on in our country? and i think it's kind of interesting to have an international take of guys what's going on in your country? >> imagine what he would have done today? >> it's fun to widen it out because i do think there is a lot of people in the rest of the world, guys, what are you doing? >> there is backlash "time" reporting as well as "new york times," people looking over his

twitter history, and some controversial tweets that are now being scrutinized, one for example, he tweeted out behind every successful rap billionaire is a double as rich jewish man. somebody tweeted out from wimbledon that they think it was time for the fat lady to sing at the end of the game. he tweeted out, your adele jokes are not funny. you have people scrutinizing his tweets and coming after him this way. what do you think? >> this is an era of comedy now when whatever you say matters and twitter is for the record. he's going to get a little bit of a taste of what it's going to feel like to be in the public spotlight every single day. it used to be that you could skirt how people felt about what you said because it was -- you could call up one crank in the network and now when you make jokes at the expense of whomever it is that whomever it is has a twitter handle and can come after you. he's going to feel -- going to

start feeling it. >> what advice do you have for him? >> when i say to everybody, when you tweet it and say, make sure you can back it up. >> thank you so much for joining us. we're happy we got you on with all of the breaking news. i'm tamron hall. up next "andrea mitchell reports." had the shooting, burning, pins-and-needles of diabetic nerve pain, these feet grew up in a family of boys... married my high school sweetheart... and pursued a degree in education. but i couldn't bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. so i talked to my doctor and she prescribed lyrica. nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is fda-approved to treat this pain. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new, or worsening depression or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica.

don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. now i have less diabetic nerve pain. and i love helping first graders put their best foot forward. ask your doctor about lyrica.

right now, deadline day just hours ago before time expires for a deal over iran's nuclear program with the two sides still divided over critical issues the state department now says these talks could go into tomorrow. but the question remains, can the u.s. trust iran? >> well like any agreement, it can't be based on trust, it has to be based on verification. >> what do you do if you don't get a deal? is it back to the drawing board in terms of military options? >> the military options certainly will remain on the table. if there is a good agreement to

have obviously it's worth waiting for and completing the negotiations. >> backing down after increasingly loud calls for indiana to reverse its religious freedom law, now governor mike pence is pushing for a legislative fix. >> after much reflection and in consultation with leadership in the general assembly i've come to the conclusion that it would be helpful to move legislation this week that makes it clear that this law does not give businesses a right to deny services to anyone. >> and captured we just learned that police in fairfax county virginia say the suspect who has been on the run all morning is now in custody.