people who are kind of on the fence. they're trusting the senate to promise to fix [ inaudible ]. is there any chance it'll be improved in the senate? >> they had this vote tattooed on them. this is a scar they will carry. so it isn't -- it's their vote. it's not the senate vote. it's their vote they are taking. so that is really a poor choice, cowardly choice, i might add. why would they vote for it if they don't think it is worthy of support, because the senate will change it? from what i hear the republican senators saying, they don't have any interest in passing this bill as is. by the way, whatever happens down the road, the members of the house, republican caucus, will be forever identified with the worst aspects of the bill they passed.

yes, sir? >> and that is nancy pelosi, the minority leader of the house, accusing the republicans of playing politics with people's health as they get ready to vote on the replacement, the repeal and replacement of obamacare. in fact, on msnbc, we're watching two big events here in washington. church, state and trump. any moment, the president will sign the religious liberty executive order. what does this mean for the foundation of the country? the separation of church and state. and that health care vote with republicans poised to pass a new bill on obamacare. a series of preliminary votes e now underway with a final showdown vote expected in the next few hours. house majority leader kevin mccarthy sounding confident this morning. >> do we have the vote? >> yeah. >> we'll follow the house floor live and explain how this could change the cost of your medical care. and facebook fights back. the company hiring thousands of new employees to prevent violent videos and crimes from being

posted on its platforms. why they need real people to do this job. good morning, everyone. i'm chris jansing in washington where we are following the breaking news. any minute now, president trump scheduled to walk out to the white house rose garden and he'll sign that controversial executive order on religious liberties. it will relax enforcement of rules barring tax exempt churches from participating in politics. it'll make it easier for religious leaders to support political candidates. then the hotly debated provision, aiming at making it easier for religious objectors to have health plans that do not pay for contraception. while we wait for the president, i want to bring in democratic senator of maryland, top democrat on the senate finance committee, which will play a large role when the republican health care plan reaches the sena senate, if it does. good morning. >> good to be with you. thank you. >> i know you've been watching it. house republicans got on board after an amendment to add $8

billion over five years to help op with pre-existing conditions. is that going to fly in the sete? >> well, the bottom line, the bill they're sending over is going to hurt tens of millions of americans. they're going to lose their coverage. the quality of the coverage is going to be lost. pre-existing conditions are coming back. women, discrimination comes back. elderly discrimination comes back. there are so many things in this bill that are offensive. i don't expect the senate to pass it, but i think it is extremely disappointing that the republicans have decided to pass this bill on their own without working with democrats to improve the affordable care act. >> let me play for you, senator, what vice president mike pence had to say at an event in washington last night. >> when it comes to obamacare, i don't have to remind anyone in this room the reasons why obamacare has got to go. despite all the promises that were made, despite the tireless work of everyone in this room to stop it, so many years ago, obamacare has allowed taxpayer money to be used to purchase health insurance that covers

abortion, among all the other failings. tomorrow, we begin the end of obamacare once and for all. >> so the vast majority, at least in the last couple days, has been on pre-existing conditions and what this bill would mean for that. mike pence spoke for a lot of people on the right yesterday when he said the obamacare vote is one -- i'm quoting him here -- the defining victories for life. is he right, and what are the other things you're looking at as the senate may well be getting this bill sometime later today? >> it's interesting that the vice president is using an attack on women's health care as the justification for the house vote. that's outrageous. this bill does so much to hurt millions of americans. the bottom lin is, the affordable care act has reduced our uninsured rates by half. has provided quality coverage. medicaid population getting mental health and drug addiction services. that's gone under the bill that

the republicans are going to pass or trying to pass today. so, no, he may try to camouflage this to support his base, but this is an attack on women's health care, absolutely, but it also does so much more harm for americans. >> you know, obviously, you're on the senate side, but as you watch this, do you think that in the sense of pure politics, this helps the democrats in 2018? do you think there will be republicans who pay a price for their vote today? >> i think if you do the right thing, it is always good politics. i think what the republicans are doing in the house is just the wrong policy for this country. obviously, i think it'll have consequences. that's not my concern. my concern are the millions of people that are being jeopardized by the action that is contemplated in the house today. we should be working together to help all americans in their help care needs. >> meantime, president trump is about to sign that executive order, making it easier,

presumably, for religious objectors to opt out of providing contraception as health care. it'd also make it easier for churches to support religious candidates. this is something that president trump promised. he said he was going to totally destroy what is known as the johnsonamendment. are democrats, in a sense, getting a taste of what president obama did to republicans, using executive orders to push the envelope when there was legislation they couldn't likely get through? >> well, i am concerned about the use of executive orders, but i'm more concerned about the president on the assault of separation and state, our constitutional protections. over and over again, tried to establish a religious test on who can come to this country. the way he handles the free press and tries to discredit the free press. i do think our constitutional rights are under assault by the trump administration. today is just another chapter where he tries to say we won't

protect the separation of church and state. this is a nation of believers. this is a nation of people who are proud of their religious convictions. but government should have no role in that regard. >> and it is another day on the hill, senator, for director comey. this morning, your colleague, richard blumenthal, was asked if hu huma abedin, passing information on to her husband, anthony weiner, who shouldn't have seen it, he said, was it a crime? he said, if it was improperly passed, yes, it is a crime. do you agree? >> there are ways to handle classified information and there are criminal sanctions. i'm not aware of the specifics. i did follow the hearing yesterday in the judiciary committee and i did listen to director comey's comments. i think he made a bad judgment on what he did. as to who is criminally responsible, i'll let the law enforcement people handle that issue. >> meantime, you stepped out of a foreign relations hearing on

foreign assistance. yesterday, secretary of state rex tillerson outlined an american first agenda and how it translates to foreign policy. he did not address budget cuts. what's your overall take now? >> secretary tillerson did question whether we need to always promote our values of good governance, human rights, anti-corruption, democratic institutions. i think if he listens to today's hearing in the senate foreign relations committee, he's going to hear democrats and republicans vote promoting why america is so strong internationally. that's our values of democracy, fighng human rights violations. it's focusing on advancing american values globally in our development assistance work. >> democratic senator of maryland, good to see you. thank you. >> thank you. good to be with you. we're waiting for the president now in the rose garden. nbc's kelly o'donnell is waiting

for him, too. she joins us on the phone there from the white house. kelly, the president is signing this so-called religious liberty executive order, marking the national day of prayer. set the scene for us. >> well, chris, the reason i'm on the phone is there is a group of us waiting to be escorted into the rose garden. we're out of camera range. pardon the lack of a tv image. but the preponderasident is expo sign this three-part executive order. and we expect he will talk about some of his high profile travel that will have a definite religious and faith-based connection, with trips to the vatican and israel upcoming. this three-part executive order is described by the administration about being about religious freedom. one of the things it'll deal with is what is known as the johnson amendment, named after the former president when he was in the senate, which restricted tax-exempt organizations that are faith based, churches and non-profits, from actively

promoting a candidate or a cause. we've all seen how churches often host candidates. churches often have views on civic life issues. but to keep that tax-exempt status, there are restrictions on how far they can go. the administration wants to do what it cannot to unwind the law, because that would be congress's need, but to say to the irs, use maximum discretion in how these violations under the law would be enforced. so one of the things this could do is allow the pulpit to become more partisan. where a preacher, rabbi, would be able to talk about candidates and issues more directly would be the risk of losing tax-exempt status. obviously, that is very valuable to organizations that often rely on donations and congregation to fund them. that's one part of it. another deals with the obamacare law. of course, it remains the law, even with today's big house vote.

allowing religiously based organization to decide if they do not want to provide certain medical services in their health insurance plan, like contraception, for example, if it is against their faith. was a big fight under the obama administration with religious freedom being a tenant of the american life and constitution. at the same time, the obama team had wanted any employee, for example, of a religious hospital or school to be able to receive access to this kind of medical care and medical benefits. here again, the trump administration wants to role that back. so a religious-based organization could choose not to provide certain services. we expect to hear more. i'm actually walking into the rose garden now, chris. we see probably a few hundred people from the faith community, who are lined up in chairs here to see the president. chris, i'll go back to you and let you know we'll take this up when the president comes out. that's the theme today, trying to focus on what they say is a

promise made during the campaign that the president wants to deliver on today. again, not changing a law, but executive order, narrower than some had feared, that it might be something that would allow businesses to, for example, not provide services to individuals they disagree with. that is not in this, according to the white house. a narrower focus, mostly on the johnson amendment and the obamacare mandate to provide certain coverage. that's what this is about, they say. chris? >> kelly o'donnell, we'll let you get hooked up at the white house and we'll wait for the president to come out. in the meantime, one of two critical stories happening right now live. take a look at the house floor. lawmakers beginning their preliminary voting on the new republican health care bill. republican leaders say they do have enough votes to pass the bill. they've been saying for a while now, when we have the votes, we will bring it up on the floor. we'll have the latest on the no votes, as well. and what's the real cost for you if republicans succeed in

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trip. president trump manniplanning t visit israel, the vatican and saudi arabia later this month. andrea mitchell just came out of a briefing on this trip. >> i had a briefing from senior officials. the headline is first to saudi arabia. this is very unusual. he's going first to riyadh. he'll meet with a group of arab leaders from throughout the region. officials say that the saudis reached out after the election. you know there was a very tense relationship between president obama and the saudis and others in the arab world, especially after he had not followed up on his threats against assad on chemical weapons and otherish sh -- issues that were troubling to some of the sunni leaders. this is an attempt to try to capitalize on that, leading with riyadh, then trying to build on that in israel and then in rome. trying to organize the world against terrorism, against

fundamentalism, also stop the flow of money to foreign terror and that, of course, is very important in saudi arabia and elsewhere. officials said they have not seen this kind of outreach, despite, frankly, the muslim ban, pair thet parenthetically, not seen this since the period after 9/11 resolved from the saudis to do something very, very differently. clearly, this is also an attempt to isolate iran. starting in riyadh. then going to israel where neat ya h -- netanyahu is the prime minister, an adversary and opponent of the iranian nuclear deal. then going to meet with the pope at the vatican. then going on to the previously scheduled trip, which is nato and the g-7. so this is his first foreign trip. the goals are very big. they'rekingbout middle east peace as one of the offshoots. they're even talking abo following up on the conversation

with putin about doing something against syria. breaking that nexus with iran, propping up assad. all of these very big goals coming from this white house on the president's first foreign trip. >> andrea mitchell, thank you so much. big news there for the president. still waiting for him to come out to the rose garden. in the meantime, for donald trump and house republican leaders who really want a long-denied victory, this is big. preliminary voting now underway on the republican bill to repeal and replace obamacare. this is a live picture of the house floor, where gop leaders say they are confident they have the votes to pass. according to nbc's numbers, 16 republicans remain opposed to the bill, but that's fewer noes than yesterday, when 21 were against it. 23 or more no votes will kill the bill. they've got a pretty good margin there. several republicans flipped from no to yes yesterday after a series of whirlwind meetings at the white house and on capitol hill.

a house rules committee passed three amendments in a hearing late last night. nbc has been tracking all the ins and out. the late-breaking developments. so we have a bill that hasn't been scored by the cbo. i'm guessing most of the members haven't read it yet. so where are we with it, and is there concern by house republicans they're taking a big risk by voting today? >> well, in fact, you recall when they were voting on the affordable care act early in the obama first term, the obamacare, the republican mantra was, read the bill. well, in this instance, the bill was posted online for public consumption and many members consumption at 8:00 last night. it's a measure, chris, of the desperation and the anxiety on the part of many republican members, and certainly the white house and the pressure they've put on with repeated visits. three consecutive days this week by vice president pence, existing arms. calls by president trump.

visits of members up to the white house, meeting with president trump in the west wing. they are desperately in need and desire this victory. this legislative victory. it can demonstrate to their constituents when they go home after today for another week-long recess. we're into procedural votes here in the house floor. there are three measures they'll be coat voeting on today. first o all, fred upton, the member from michigan who got the $8 billion t help pay for those with pre-existing conditions, helped them out with their premiums, which are expected to skyrocket under this legislation. the mcarthur amendment will allow the states to waive essential health benefits if they can explain how the waiver can reduce premiums. that, a very contentious provision. here's an interesting one. representative mcsally has an amendment that would correct an oversight they didn't knnotice until the last member. it would have allowed congress to be exempt from the american

health care act that is on the floor of the house this very day in a very big hurry. earlier today, house republicans met in the basement of the capitol one last time. took the republican of the rank and file. talked about the measure on the floor. outside, i had an opportunity to ask a series of members if they had, in fact, read the bill. >> congressman, have you read the bill yet? >> yeah. yeah, i have. >> congressman, have you read the bill yet? >> as far as the -- yes, i read the bill. talking about the latest upton -- >> the entire bill. >> yes. >> congressman, have you read the bill? >> um -- >> congressman, have you read the health care bill? morning congressman. have you had time to read the health care bill? >> still working on it. >> congressman, have you read the bill? >> we're in a hurry. we'll be back. >> congressman, have you read the health care bill? >> one of the most interesting

responses i had was from the congressman from illinois. there's the upcoming republican democratic baseball game, an annual tradition. i asked if he read the bill. he said he just came from baseball practice, chris. >> thank you so much. no independent analysis by the cbo, although several groups have looked at the bill. the centers for american prresslaims it is actually worse for people with pre-existing conditions than the one that failed in march. cancer patients could see their premiums rise between $72,000 and $142,000 according to this analysis. look at the number for a pregnant woman. her cost of care would go up by about $17,000. joining me now, senior national correspondent for thehuffington post and awe torre of "sick." you've been writing about this for a while and in some depth. you call the obamacare repeal a giant $1 trillion cut to health care programs. from your perspective, how are

real people going to be affected if this passes? >> right. i mean, it is very easy to get confused about what this bill will do. it has a lot of provisions. certainly, you listen to republicans and they say, look, oh, we're going to protect people with pre-existing conditions. this will have lower premiums. the basic fact of the matter is this bill takes a huge chunk of money out of medicaid. then it goes to the private sin shur -- insurance. all the assistance obamacare makes available to tax credits, to make insurance more affordable to them. it takes that away and replaces it with different tax credits that give less help to the people who need it. people with lower incomes, if they live somewhere where insurance costarvery expensive. on top of that, it gets rid of some of the most important consumer protections in the affordable care act. in particular, insurance companies can go back to the days where they can charge you more if you have a pre-existing condition. there's a couple of bells and whistles on there, conditions. but the basic bottom line is,

when you look at that much money coming out of the health care system, you look at those changes, there is no question that more people, many millions of people will not have health insurance. it'll be less reliable. the people who really feel this will be people with lower incomes and people with serious medical conditions. basically, the people you really want to be helping in a health care system. >> so we're looking at a graphic there of the $8 billion. that caused a lot of the republicans who were noes to turn to yes. that still leaves a huge shortfall of about $192 billion. in the meantime, you've written that obamacare does have some fundamental flaws. there is a big front page article in one of the major newspapers today that talks about the problems in iowa. so where do we go with this? if there are these fundamental problems, if there are states where -- and certainly areas where there's only one choice for an insurer, where could this possibly go that it could actually do some good?

>> i mean, look, the affordable care act is like any large piece of legislation. it's had really big successes. the lowest number of uninsured americans ever recorded. at the same time, a lot of people are paying more for their premiums. in many states, iowa is one of them, tennessee, they are running into real problems with losing competition. so one approach would be to say, all right, it is working in a lot of parts of the country. works real well in california, michigan. iowa has a big problem. what can we do in those states? what can we do for those people who were not helped by the affordable care act? in a normal political time, this would not be hard to fix. it is so easy to imagine democrats and republicans coming together and saying, look, democrats want a little bit of this, republicans want a little bit of that. to do that, you have to keep the law in place. republicans won't talk about that. >> jonathan, thank you so much. i appreciate that. jonathan cohen, who has written extensively about health care. i want to bring in republican congressman rodney davis of illinois. member of the tuesday group of

house republican moderates. good to see you, congressman. you're a yes, as i understand it, on this vote. it got posted at 8:00 last night. have you read it in full? >> read the bill? yeah. i read the america health car act. little over 163 pages. what was posted last night, i'm sure, was an amendment, the upton amendment. this is different than the monstrosity we know as the affordable care act. a lot of the statistics you threw up are reminiscent of some of the statistics offered when the affordable care act was passed. twice as many people would have coverage as they do now. and the average american family would save 25$2500 a year in premiums and that hasn't been the case. >> if you have cancer, pre-existing condition, get pregnant, you and anyone else in the country will have coverage for pre-existing conditions and

will be as good or better than what you have under obamacare right now? >> absolutely. i'm comfortable in saying that every american is going to have pre-existing coverage. this is personal for me. my wife is an 18-year colon cancer survivor. this is something that i campaigned on, ensure that it was going to be covered. remember, that wasn't covered before the affordable care act. some of the provisions that were broken in the previous health care system are still going to be utilized in this version. we're going to have to make it better. the facts are, chris, we have 29 million americans right now under the affordable care act that don't haveealt coverage, even though the law says they have to. another 31 million more paying too much and can't use it because of skyrocketingdeductib >> you feel comfortable though the cb ovro hasn't scored it?

one of the people critical of the fast vote on obamacare was your speaker, paul ryan. who said you have to give people a chance to look at it. 8:00 last night, to a vote less than 24 hours later, is that the way you think republicans and democrats should be serving their constituents? >> well, there's a big difference between what happened before i got here when the affordable care act passed with 2700 -- >> 8:00 last night. there's a vote less than 24 hours later. without people having a chance -- maybe you have time to read it, but do you have a chance to ask questions and talk to your constituents? >> there was one amendment that was passed. i think the amendment is something that many of my constituents would be proud i'd support. it is to make sure we allow even more money from the federal government to help states that may request this mythical waiver that's been discussed, to ensure that we have another layer of pre-existing condition coverage. let's get the facts straight though, chris. this bill has been out in the public eye.

it's 160 plus pages. yes, many people can read that very easily and have read it over the last month and a half. this amendment that came out at 8:00 last night is nowhere near 100 pages. i would say nowhere near ten pages. it can be easy read, easily debated. what we're talking about now is finding a solution that is going to aress the 60 million people in the country thattill don't have coverage or can't afford to use the coverage they have. that is what we are doing today. >> there are several news outlets, as you know, congressman, reporting today that some members of your group, the tuesday group, are planning to remove the co-chairman, tom mcarthur, from his post over the negotiations for health care. is that what is going on? >> no. >> so he's completely safe? >> tom mcarthur is one of our co-chairs. i'm not here to speak on behalf of the group but, yes, we have three co-chairs of the tuesday group and they're still there.

>> republican congressman rodney davis of illinois, who will be making that vote along with the other members of the house today. thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. >> thanks for having me, chris. let's take a check of those pictures at the white house rose garden. the president set to sign the so-called religious liberty executive order in this hour. it will make it easier for people who have religious objections to deny people in their health coverage, contraceptive care, among other things that are controversial. much more on that coming up. remember when you said men are superior drivers? yeah... yeah, then how'd i get this... ...allstate safe driving bonus check? ...only allstate sends you a bonus check for every six months you're accident free. silence. it's good to be in, good hands.

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fbi director james comey back on the hill today to answer questions about russia. just one day after a grilling before the senate judiciary committee. today's hearing in front of the house intelligence committee. but it is private. we won't be hearing the testimony like we did yesterday. of course, comey spent a lot of his time before the senate defending his controversial decision to tell congress the fbi was re-opening its investigation into hillary clinton's e-mails. >> look, this was terrible. it makes me mildly nauseous to think we might have had some

impact on the election. but, honestly, it wouldn't change the decision. everybody who disagrees with me has to come back to october 28th with me and stare at this and tell m whatou would do. would you speak or would you conceal? i could be wrong, but we honestly made a decision between those two choices that even in hindsight, and this has been one of the world's most painful experiences, i would make the same decision. >> joining me now is a former fbi double agent, now a reserve officer with the office of naval intelligence. matthew miller, a former chief spokesman for the justice department. also a security analyst. let me start with you, matt. the headline that came out of that yesterday, as you were looking at the coverage, was he felt nauseous about the idea he might have influenced this election. but did he make his case for doing what he said he did and why he said he did it? >> me made a case but it wasn't a convincing one. he came up with this euphemism, conceal, which is follow the department of justices normal rules and practices.

>> meaning if i don't tell them what's going on, i'm actually going to be concealing and i'd come under worse criticism. >> that's right. this choice of speak or conceal. the problem is, he applied one lens to hillary clinton's investigation and one to the investigation of donald trump. he chose to speak about the clinton investigation and to conceal the trump investigation. i think he should have concealed both. that would have been the wise thing. conceal, again, is what the department is supposed to do in the investigations before they're finished. would have been the thing that was consistent with department of justice rules. every answer he gave yesterday came back to protecting his reputation and the fbi's reputati reputation. >> we have to take a break. we're going to go to the rose garden. you see vice president mike pence who tried to do something similar to what we're seeing today when he was governor of indiana. faced backlash for that. today, a big moment for him, for this executive order on religious liberties. let's listen. >> -- that if his people who are called by his name will humble

themselves, pray and seek his safe, he will hear from heaven and heal theland. in 1775, the second continental congress established a day of fasting and prayer. president abraham lincoln urged americans to pray so, in his words, the united cry of the nation will be laeheard on highd answered in blessing. 1952, president truman and the congress established this national day of prior as a side set aside each year for the american people to turn to god, in prayer and meditation. every president has issued a proclamation in honor of this day ever since. but not every president has done so in the rose garden at the white house. [ applause ] >> today, our president will

continue that great tradition, to proclaim the importance of prayer to the american people, and to reaffirm the vital role that institutions and people of faith play in our national life. our president is a believer. he loves his family, and he loves his country with an unshakable faith in god and the american people. so with gratitude for that faith, and for the actions that he takes today and every day, it is now my high honor and distinct privilege to introduce to all of you the president of the united states of america, president donald trump. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you, everyone. thank you very much. thank you very much.

thank you. thank you very much to vice president mike pence. i am very fortunate to have mike with me. he is a man of very deep faith. i can tell you that. great character and conviction. mike, thank you very much for making this journey with me and with all of us. believe me, it's been great to have you. i also want to thank pastor jack graham, cardinal donald whirl and rabbi marvin hire for leading us beautifully in prayer. thank you. i also want to mention, as you know, cardinal and all the other great faith leaders we have -- i see franklin graham -- so many are here. so many great friends. so many great supporters, and we

very much appreciate it. because we're a nation of believers. faith is deeply embedded into the history of our country. the spirit of our founding and the sole of our nation. it is a beautiful thing to see these three faith leaders from three very different faith traditions come together to lift up our nation in prayer. and it is great to do it at the white house, isn't it? isn't that great? because not only are we a nation of faith, but we're a nation of tolerance. as we look at the violence around the world, and believe me, it's violent. i get to see it perhaps better than anybody. we realize how truly blessed we are to live in a nation that

honors the freedom of worship. today, my administration is leading by example, as we take historic steps to protect religious liberty in the united states of america. we will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied or silenced any more. and we will never, ever stand for religious discrimination. never, ever. tolerance is the cornerstone of peace, and that is why i am proud to make a major and historic announcement this morning, and to share with you that my first foreign trip as president of the united states

will be to saudi arabia, then israel and then to a place that my cardinals love very much, rome. these visits will take place ahead of the nato g-7 meetings, and will begin with a truly historic gathering in saudi arabia with leaders from all across the muslim world. saudi arabia is the custodian of the two holiest sites in islam, and it is there that we will begin to construct a new foundation of cooperation and support with our muslim allies, to combat extremism, terrorism and violence. and to embrace a more just and hopeful future for young muslims in their countries.

our task is not to dictate to others how to live, but to build a coalition of friends and partners who share the goal of fighting terrorism and bringing safety, opportunity and stability to the war-ravaged middle east. we all pray that we can make a difference. we pray for peace. just over 150 years ago, esident lincoln called for a national day of prayer. today. after he feared that we were becoming a nation too proud to pray to the god that made us. today, we recall president lincoln's words as we sign a

proclamation designating today as national day of prayer. that's what we want. a national day of prayer. it's so great to be doing it in the rose garden. how beautiful is that? it was looking like you'd never get here, folks, but you got here. thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you very much. so true. and we remember this eternal truth, freedom is not a gift from government. freedom is a gift from god.

it was thomas jefferson who said the god w gave us life gave us liberty. our founding fathers believed that religious liberty was so fundamental, that they enshrined it in the very first amendment of our great and beloved constitution. yet for too long, the federal government has used the power of the state as a weapon against people of faith, bullying and even punishing americans for following their religious beliefs. that's been happening. that is why i am signing today an executive order to defend the freedom of religion and speech in america, the freedoms that we've wanted, the freedoms that you fought for so long, and we are doing it in just a little

while right over here. thank you. thank you, all. thank you. no american should be forced to choose between the dictates of the federal government and the tenants of their faith. as i campaigned across the country, faith leaders explained that they were prevented from speaking their minds because of a 1954 rule known as the johnson amendment. i spoke about it a lot. under this rule, if a pastor, priest or eamspeaks about issue public or political importance, they are threatened with the loss of their tax-exempt status.

a crippling financial punishment. very, very unfair. but no longer. i promised to take action if i won. if i didn't win, i gave you no promise. that's for sure. if i didn't win, i guess i'd be gone, right? i'd be out enjoying my life, i think, but i wouldn't be helping you with the johnson amendment. and to this end, this financial threat against the faith community is over. just a few moments, i will be signing an executive order to follow through on that pledge and prevent the johnson amendment from interfering with your first amendment rights. and you're the people i want to listen to. other people are allowed to tell

me and others what to do. i want to hear it from you, and so do a lot of other people. you're now in a position where you can say what you want to say. i know you'll only say good and you'll say what's in your heart. that's what we want from you. you are great, great people. you argreat, great people. thank you. this executive order directs the irs not to unfairly target churches and religious organizations for political speech. no one should be censoring sermons or targeting pastors.

i know one thing. it never stopped dr. ben carson. he said the heck with the johnson amendment, right, ben? i've been with ben, and he did what he wanted todo, but not everybody is going to do that, ben, you know that, right? we do not fear people speaking freely from the pulpit, we embrace it. america has a rich tradition or social change beginning in our pews and pulpits. perhaps there is no greater example than the example of the african-american church as the agent for social progress, sparing our nation of justice and equality. progress from the fpew.

thank you thank you. under my administration, free speech does not and the steps of a cathedral or synagogue. we are giving our churches our voices back. and we're giving them back in the highest form. with this executive order, we make clear that the federal government will never ever penalize any person for their protected religious believes. that is why i am, today, directing the department of justice to develop new rules to ensure these recommendation protections are afforded to all americans. there is more than 50 million

americans sued -- 50 sued the previous administration for violating their religious freedom. the abuses were widespread. the abuses were all over. as just one example, people were forbidden from giving or receiving religious items at a military hospital where our brave service memrs wer being treated and wre they wanted those religious items. these were great, great people. these are great soldiers that wanted those items. they were procolluded from getting them. and we know all too well the attacks against the little sisters of the poor.

incredible nones thuns that car the sick, elderly, and poor. come on up here, sister, come on up here. so nice. [ applause ] . congratulations, they sort of just won a lawsuit, that was pretty good. that is a good way of doing, huh? well, i want you to know that your long or deal will soon be over. >> thank you so much if has been a long hard ordeal. people have been watching the

news for years and -- >> excellent. >> where is your lawyer, come on, stand up. [ applause ] >> good job. do you mind if i use your lawyers, i could use some good lawyers, too. good job, great job. with this executive order, we are ending the attacks on your religious liberty, and we are proudly reaffirmi ining america leadership role as a nation that protected religious freedom for everyone. over 60 years ago the irs went after one of the greatest leaders in history, reverend martin luther king jr. it is a sobering reminder for need for vigilance. the words of reverend king and

other leaders have awakened other leaders, every must work to predict, we have no choisz, we have to protect these hard fought gains. they have been hard fought. they have been fought for so many years, for so many decades, for so many centuries, and this is a very special day perhaps for that reason. and that is why we're here today. to defend the rights of all americans, defend our constitution, and not by any earthly power, but by our creator in heaven i would like

to thank all of you great, great religious leaders for being with us today. we have some of our political leaders, they know. we have a big vote coming up in awhile. you folks, and i have to deal with the politicians, but i'll tell you they're good. they work very hard, hopefully well have a wonderful day, a wonderful vote, take care of a lot of people, and people taking care of their health care needs and we home to be able to do that. so i want to say to everyone in attendance, in our country, in our world, god bless you and god bless america. thank you all very much.

thank you, thank you. thank you very much. >> aren't you going to watch him sign it? okay. >> so the president delivering on a promise to conservatives. not as sweeping of an executive order as he would have liked. it is now down to three, but a critical one is that it makes it easier for religious leaders to become more active politically. he may raise a few eyebrows with what he said says the threat is over. you can say what you want to say, this is something that potentially could be challenged if they try to push it too far,

but it kind of gives a message to the irs they can back off on penalizing any religious organizations. quickly i want to bring in reverend paul roushenbush. let he get your reaction to this. on one hand there were a lot of provisions including ones that were considered anti-lbgtq. on the other hand, you saw the standing ovation when he said to folks, you might have thought you would never get here. what is your reaction to what you're seeing right now? >> first of all, like him, i believe in religious freedom. it's fundamental to americans, to me as a pastor, i agree with him on that. i feel like we have to really

debate what it means in the world of politics and how we organize our life together. as a gay man, a father, a husband, i'm very glad to see that lbgt people were not part of this order today, however women are not being -- not going to be restricted about their own decisions about health care. how they care for their own bodies. the idea of more politics in religion is not very popular. and over 70% of the american people disagree with this according to a poll. it is very unpopular. the discretion for how they

enforce it who will decide how they enforce it, what is true about this amendment is that it affected very liberal churches and very conservive ones. is it a free for all, or will it be particular ways that this is enforced. what this was today, i think, is not what religious conservatives were really hoping for. >> we will see if it is a down payment on what will happen and what details are. thank you so much for watching this with us, and staying with us to give us your side of the story. a lot of concerns even among the religious community as many on right are celebrating this. that does it for me, we're going to hand it over to