both of their let's talk about jobs, the president failed. >> mitt romney escaped michigan with a win. he can't escape the truth. >> you have folks say the real problem what we disagree with is the workers, they made out like bandits. even by the standards of this town that is a load of you-know-what. >> bob shrum on the fight for the middle class votes on super tuesday. and ezra klein on the fuzzy math in mitt romney's budget. the republican war on women's health is exploding in washington. >> 2.8 million jobs are at stake and we're debating birth control. let's beat the blunt amendment it's a disaster. >> the radical blunt amendment is up for a vote. big name republicans are running away from the legislation. we'll have the latest. incredible numbers show scott walker is in for the fight

of his life. franklin graham has seen the light. >> do you believe that president obama is a christian? >> i think you have to ask president obama. >> dr. james peterson on the reverend's surprise apology to the president. good to have you with us. mitt romney and rick santorum shifted attention to the working class in the state of ohio. now it's all about super tuesday. mitt romney won big in arizona yesterday, but his win in michigan isn't looking like much of a win today. romney won the popular vote in michigan by 32,000 votes, 41% to 38% over rick santorum. but today, santorum claimed victory. >> we won michigan last night by coming out of michigan with 15 delegates out of 30 delegates. in mitt romney's home state. >> santorum is right, a win is a win for mitt romney but the

delegates are split evenly. each candidate received 15 delegates. romney spent time today cutting down the guy who tied him in michigan. >> rick santorum is a nice guy, but an economic lightweight. he doesn't understand what it takes to make an economy work on a personal basis. >> the campaigns are headed in the south country and of course the rust belt for the next week the focus is on the economic issues. this is why romney is calling santorum an economic lightweight but santorum thinks his message will resonate with the working class. >> we feel really good about tennessee, we feel great about oklahoma, we'll spend time in ohio, that is a battleground state, we think our message about guy from steel town in western pennsylvania will play well across the state of ohio. >> all right, we will see. santorum is trying to get back on track after killing his own momentum with social issues in that speech about jfk. but pennsylvania labor leaders,

let me tell you something, folks, they know the real rick santorum. this guy has only a 12% voting record from the afl-cio and big labor basically defeat him in 2006. mitt romney doesn't have much of a voting record on labor issues but his attempts to win over the working americans seems dog-gone flat. this was romney today during a factory tour in toledo, ohio. >> would you like to start it up? >> no, go ahead. >> right there. >> guys, we are about to start it, you need to be back. >> two feet, three feet. >> keep going. i got to press a button which will be my heavy lift in terms of manufacturing. >> that will be his the heavy lift in manufacturing. that is right, romney is doing some heavy lifting in manufacturing. it's almost as authentic as the

time he pumped his gas in his campaign bus. there is a dandy picture or the time he did his laundry in his hotel room. well, labor is going to play a major role in the presidential election. super tuesday is what it's all about. these contests are a big test for republican candidates. but the question is, can they relate to the working class folk of america? can they get that segment of the population to vote for them when push comes to shove based on their record? we know this guy, this guy has a pretty good message for workers, especially workers in the recovered auto industry. >> no matter how many punches we take, we don't give up. we get up. we fight back. we move forward. we come out on the other side stronger than before. that's what you've shown us. you know why i knew this rescue would succeed? you want to know? it wasn't because of anything

the government did. it wasn't just because of anything that management did, it was because i believed in you. i placed my bet on the american worker. and i'll make that bet any day of the week. you got folks saying the real problem is what we really disagreed with was the workers, they made out like bandits. the saving the auto industry was paying back the unions. really? even by the standards of this town, that is a load you-know-what. >> i am waiting for the videotape to be shown when rick santorum or mitt romney goes in front of a middle class working crowd and gets a reaction like that. they can't do it. because their record of dealing with labor and middle class wage earners in the country doesn't hold water. mitt romney is an outsourcer, a job killer and union buster. if you want to talk about santorum and i love the way

santorum goes around the country saying i'm for you, i'm with you, puts the plaid shirt on, i'm with unions. no he's not. the unions beat him in the last senate race in 2006. let's go to the voting record. if you're out on the stump with rick santorum and you're a wage earner and have a chance to ask him a question, ask him did labor support you in 2006? yes or no. the other thing you want to ask him is the last six years of your time in the united states senate, is it true that the last three out of the last six year term you had a zero record with labor? the afl-cio, they didn't think you were good on trade issues, they didn't think you were good on collective bargaining? you didn't do anything for them. they gave you a zero, mr. santorum. ask him that question on the stump, nobody else is asking him. this guy is perpetrating the biggest fraud out on the campaign trail saying that he's for wage earners, he's with middle class americans. he has done nothing for you.

he wants to take away health care and kill obama care, which is helping middle class americans in this country. certainly helping the elderly and young people as they can stay on their parents policy. here is the other thing you have to realize, folks, and i'm speaking right to wage earners tonight. there is a good portion of wage earners in the country and union members who vote republican. why? the g-word, gays, guns and god, is that what it is about? the social issues? the social issues fell flat in michigan. maybe this is a turning point. ohio is what it's all about right now because that's where wage earners have been hurt and that's where the automobile recovery is very strong. and we know who is with the auto workers, it wasn't romney, it wasn't santorum, it was president obama. so maybe this is going to be the year, that the wage earners for the first time don't vote against their own economic interests. turn the corner.

turn the corner and tell the republicans we know you have nothing for us. it's about time. get cell phones out. tonight's question, should wage earners ever vote for republicans, text a for yes, b for no to 622639. go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring you results later. joining me richard wolffe, great to have you with us. >> thank you. >> i've always said that ohio is the land of a cup of coffee. the culture of the folks there, they don't like bus stops, they like it when you sit down and talk about the issues with them and there is a lot to talk about when it comes to middle class income earners in this country in ohio. how does romney and santorum win over those people? >> they have to change their policies. no question, santorum can tell a good personal story about his family, where it breaks down for him he shares the policies the republican party has, they think jobs, they parrot the language of focus groups and polls. everybody says they care about

jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, the policies are a repeat of the bush years. less regulation on big business, lower taxes, we saw romney promise 20% tax cuts across the board. what did that give us in the bush years? less jobs over eight years than jimmy carter created in four. it was the worst jobs record of any president in modern times, and that's the policy they want to repeat, so you can say that you care about jobs and heaven knows the economy needs more jobs, but that policies don't relate to people for romney he doesn't have the person stories to talk about jobs. >> yesterday president obama appeared to be talking about mitt romney even though he didn't mention him by name. here it is. >> the other option was to do absolutely nothing. and let these companies fail,

and you will recall there were some politicians who said we should do that. some even said we should let detroit go bankrupt. you remember that. i've got to admit it has been funny to watch some of these folks completely try to rewrite history, now that you're back on your feet. the same folks who said if we went forward with our plan to rescue detroit, you can kiss the american automotive industry goodbye. now they are saying we were right all along. >> president obama with a little swagger there. can he ride that all the way to election day? >> facts are stubborn things, number one, it worked. hard to overcome that. but mitt romney has a couple problems that even someone like rick santorum can point out how can you be for bailouts on wall street and against for the auto industry. this is a guy who says he was

for job creation in the private sector, that is his pitch to everyone. job creation wasn't what bain capital was about. they wouldn't lend money to the auto industry when they were look for finance. mitt romney's position is there were other sources of money out there other than public sector, that didn't happen. it didn't exist and even his old company wasn't there for him. >> can romney find the resources to massively outspend santorum the way he did newt gingrich in florida and the way he did santorum in michigan? what about that? >> he has a few resources of his own, whether here -- >> can he do that? >> we may be at that point. last night when he tells people to give money online and he had a chuckle to him because it's embarrassing they burned that much money, when he gets to that point he's looking at writing a check to his own campaign or being overshadowed by the super pac, who is supporting who? is the romney campaign being supported by the super pac or the other way around? >> richard, i want your take on this. politics obviously the delegate count, the convention and

everything else, all about image, too. how does mitt romney win florida, win arizona, win michigan and if he wins ohio, how can he not get the nomination? these are such critical states when it comes to winning the general. if he wins ohio, and turns around the double digit lead right now in the polls, that santorum has, is it that really a statement? >> it's not about winning the nomination right now it's about the cost to mitt romney of getting there. and at moment he's having to make so many promises to so many people and he's hurting his numbers so badly that winning the nomination is going to be the start of his problems. >> richard wolfefe, great to have you with us tonight. answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen, share thoughts on twitter. we want to know what you think. his donors are maxed out, mitt romney is out begging for campaign cash. what does it mean for him going forward? bob shrum and ezra klein weigh in. senate republicans think

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coming up, mitt romney tries to sell himself to middle classers, ahead of super tuesday. ezra klein and bob shrum on the policy in politics coming up next. gas prices are going up, republicans are out there spewing the same old phony argument, well let's blame president obama. vermont senator bernie sanders has a thing or two to say about that. the naacp is calling out reverend franklin graham for his comments about the president's faith. now graham is responding. share thoughts on twitter using #edshow, we're right back. mitt romney if you pay attention to what he says, he's saying that he's running for president because he can fix things. he says his campaign is in it for the long haul. okay. one of the richest men to ever seek the office seems to have a bit of a cash flow problem right now. how did he win florida? he outspent newt gingrich four to one. how did he win arizona? outspent santorum 12 to 1. how did he squeak it out in michigan? outspent santorum two to one as well. all that spending seems to have caught up with the country clubber. in january, romney brought in 6.5 million dollars while spending $19 million. the employee of the month is...

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mitt romney if you pay attention to what he says, he's saying that he's running for president because he can fix things. he says his campaign is in it for the long haul. okay. one of the richest men to ever seek the office seems to have a bit of a cash flow problem right now. how did he win florida? he outspent newt gingrich four to one. how did he win arizona? outspent santorum 12 to 1. how did he squeak it out in michigan? outspent santorum two to one as well. all that spending seems to have caught up with the country clubber. in january, romney brought in 6.5 million dollars while spending $19 million. romney's donors, where are they? maxed out. this chart from talking points memo shows the romney campaign is funded primarily by folks who

have given the maximum amount of $2500. 67% of romney's money comes from maxed out donors, not good. they can't donate again. last night, just miles away from one of america's poorest cities, the candidate, himself, asked for more cash. >> if you believe the disappointments of the last few years are the detour not the destiny i need your support. i'm asking for you to get out and vote and i'm asking for you to go on mitt romney.com and pledge support in every way possible. >> let's turn to nyu professor bob shrum and ezra klein. good to have you with us. bob, you first, he's dialing for dollars! it wasn't supposed to be like this. what do you make of this? romney has the super pac money on his side but is he in trouble financially? >> well, he can't in the end be in trouble financially because he can write the check. he doesn't want to do it i think since he -- it's his last chance to be the nominee he thinks he

will be the nominee. at the has to write the check he will write the check. what happened is a lot of folks are watching him and beginning to decide this guy is a mediocre politician, favorable-unfavorables are upside down. policies don't work in terms of general election appeal. i was thinking his big argument is i'm a ceo i can fix the economy, not only may the economy be getting fixed on its own, the last ceo who was president? herbert hoover. >> that didn't turn out too well. >> no, it didn't. >> both romney and santorum have real poor records with the middle class and wage earners, that is what ohio is all about. how is this going to unfold for him? >> i think it's not just the content of his policies, i agree with what richard said a minute ago, they are a problem. i think his persona.

you watched him today at that silly rally, 120, 150 people, what kind of momentum, this is one time he ought to fire his advance staff. then he walks up, pushes that button and said that is my heavy lift for manufacturing. he doesn't have a sense of humor or one that translates. doesn't seem to know how to identify or talk with the ordinary people he ought to stick on the script. he comes across increasingly to me, any way, as a guy who lives in a golden tower and visits the peasants and they give him cards to read off of. >> this president wants to raise taxes i'll cut them. that will start with across the board 20% rate cut for every american. i'll also repeal alternative minimum tax and abolish the death tax. >> is this guy totally out of touch with finances? he promises to cut cap and balance, he likes to go down that road. how does this tax plan achieve that goal?

>> take a step back. mitt romney has four places he can look in the budget. he wants to cut the deficit, cut spending by 6.5 trillion, big plans. he has defense spending, spending on programs for the elderly, programs for the poor and taxes. he says taxes are going way down. he says defense spending will go up. and he says that he is going to not touch programs for the elderly for at least 10 years. current generation of retirees are untouched. he has one of two things, one he can cut programs for the poor savagely, if you list tonight speeches, the only thing he talks to save money are medicaid, food stamps, he could cut that by 40% or more. the other thing he can say the tax cuts will create massive economic growth and pay for themselves that way, obviously we how that worked out in the george w. bush years. if you try to make the numbers out, if you add up one thing unpopular in terms of cutting those programs or another in terms of raising the deficit in order to give people big tax cuts.

>> how does he sell that tax plan to the people of ohio, what do you think? >> i think it will be difficult but the point for now is who will argue with him? rick santorum's tax plan is vastly -- $80,000 tax cut, rick santorum is $270,000 range. a huge gap in responsibility between the candidates. i did this look back a couple weeks ago where i went back to george bush 2000 platform remarkable how much further he was to the center. until he gets to a general election where the obama campaign will call these things out and independent analysts will be beginning to look at this stuff and get in the news stream, this will become a problem. the republican primary big tax cuts is an advantage, not a disadvantage. >> bob, let's say romney erases

the deficit right now in the polls to santorum and wins ohio. isn't that big? >> it big. he has to win ohio. i was thinking about my thought this morning that maybe we now know he's eeked it out but the truth is ohio is apocalypse 2. carrying vermont and massachusetts won't help him. this guy as he goes through the process is setting himself up for a general election where he's upside down in favorable, unfavorables with independents, falling behind the president on policy and persona, on the effect he has. on his ability to talk to people. i think he's in deep trouble. >> bob shrum, ezra klein, great to have you. rick santorum is using a

chunk of north dakota oil to fearmonger. bernie sanders joins us to tell us what is driving up the price. scott walker has done every conservative talk show on the face of the earth, raised millions of outside dollars. the rookie governor is spinning his wheels, new polling out of the badger state. we're buzzing about it. so, how was school today ?

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we know that republicans never lie, and they never stretch the truth, and of course they never blame anybody, either, do they? this is rick santorum on the stump. he is desperately blaming president obama for high gas prices. and he's using my old stomping grounds as a political football. here's what he said about oil in north dakota the other night. >> it's a small town. it could be a boom town. but they are nervous, because the epa is hovering. they are developing oil in private lands. this oil. yeah, this is oil. oil. it can produce thousands and thousands of jobs. up in northwest north dakota but they have trouble. they have trouble getting investors to come here, why? because they believe, they believe the government is going

to shut them down. >> the guy is lying. he's absolutely lying. he must think nobody ever been to north dakota, i have, they have damn good goose hunting. i know the state. the problem is north dakota is not a problem with the epa. the problem is this, housing and infrastructure. they can't keep up with all the jobs being created in the state of north dakota because of the oil boom. in fact, nation-wide, there is more drilling now than during the bush administration. but of course president obama is not getting any credit for that, either because he has the epa in the way. today, congress and darrell issa fell over himself trying to give bush credit for all the drilling. >> bush opened up areas to drilling and drillers became more efficient, they never hit a dry hole, more extracted from existing wells the president is benefitting from that. with lower amounts of permits, areas being closed what will happen is whether he wins a second term or not, that will

begin to dry up as that three to seven year cycle starts to go the wrong way. >> sure. >> so it's very, very clear yes he's enjoying the benefits of his predecessor not 20 years ago, 3-year-old predecessor. >> republicans love to say if you drill more, prices will go down. well, darrell issa, admitted drilling his way out but gas prices are still rising? the republicans logic makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. the real culprit behind high gas prices, oh, those wonderful speculators wall street. oil speculation, that's it. congress and peter welch says speculation adds 56 cent as gal-to the price of gas. part of the dodd-frank act limits speculation in the energy markets. republicans in congress are trying to block the rule from going in effect in october. joining me now is senator bernie sanders of vermont. good to have you with us. >> good to be with you. >> if i said anything wrong i

want you to correct me. >> i don't think you have. here's the interesting point. most people think that oil prices have something to do with supply and demand. supply today is greater than it was three years ago when the price of gas was 1.90 a gallon. it's greater. demand today is lower than it was in 1997. you have to go back to 1997. so the issue is not supply and demand in the united states. what is the issue? the issue has to do with the fact that over 80% of the oil futures market is controlled by speculate tors. their function in life is not to purchase oil, not to use oil, as an end user, they are not in the trucking business, not in the airline business, their sole purpose is to speculate and drive prices up, that is what they are doing right now. >> so how important is it to crack down on this oil speculation and of course the republicans are trying to stop

the rule that is going to go in effect in october. we need it to go in effect right now you'll never get it from the right. is this the key senator? >> it's one of the keys. the dodd-frank financial reform bill stipulated that the commodities future trading commission is obligated to come up with rules, strong rules to limit speculation. you know what, they were supposed to have done this months and months ago, they still haven't done it, and that is a demand that we have got to make. they have to obey the law. >> rick santorum said today that the environmental protection agency is "raining terror over energy producers" what does that tell you? >> he knows nothing what the epa does and he and his colleagues, they want to abolish the epa or greatly limit the authority. the american people understand that it's imperative we have clean air, that we have clean water, that we don't let corporations destroy our

environment. they support the epa, many right wing republicans literally want to abolish or dismember it. >> so republicans are lying when they say regulation and more drilling will lower prices, that deregulation -- here's the bottom line here. the numbers don't match up what they are talking about. and they are trying to pin this political football on the shoulders of the president that he is the problem that gas is going up. the democrats i think have gotten to scream at the top of every building to make the american people understand how this is controlled on wall street. and if it's 56 cents a gallon, is that -- that is added to this because of speculators, is that the difference between a good and bad economy, in your opinion? >> i come from a rural state. people drive 50, 100 miles to and from work every single day. that is true all over america. if people are shelling out money to the oil companies or speculator, that is less money, it will have a negative impact on the economy. but the point here is if supply

in the united states is high, and demand is low, what the american people understand is there are other causes for the $3.70 that we're paying for a gallon of gas right now. >> senator, great to have you with us tonight. i would love to see rick santorum's website post all the different oil companies that are operating in north dakota it's not four or five. the last time i heard it's over 200 including halliburton. the state has the best unemployment record in the country, the state treasury has over a billion dollars because of the oil being extracted, they are drilling down thousands of feet, they are fracking big time, nobody is stopping them from doing it. i don't know what they are complaining about. santorum doesn't know what he's talking about and i want him to come out and go after the

speculators the way you have, because that truly is what the problem is. vermont senator bernie sanders, always great to have you with us. thanks for your time. the right wing of the republican party does not speak for most of the women in this country. >> senate republicans want to restrict women's access to health care and the democrats are fighting back. >> the decision of whether a woman takes one medicine or another should not be the decision of her boss. >> the blunt amendment is just hours away from a vote. we'll have the latest. a big win for the recall effort in wisconsin. scott walker is trailing in the polls, and shaking in his boots. we'll show you the numbers. and reverend franklin graham is apologizing to the president for these remarks. >> the world sees barack obama as a muslim. >> dr. james peterson is here with reaction. ♪

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70,000 of our bridges stand deficient. 50% of our roads are not up to standard. and we are voting on birth control? come on! what's next? egypt? they have a whole list of things that have nothing to do with the highway bill. bring it on. let the people see who is stopping progress. >> senator barbara boxer on the senate floor earlier discussing the blunt amendment, attached to a larger transportation bill, the measure would allow your boss to have a say in your health care. the senate will vote on it tomorrow, roy blunt says it's about religious freedom. >> it's not about a specific procedure, it's about a faith principle that the first amendment guarantees. >> a few moderate republicans remaining in the senate, they are not buying it. olympia snowe will not vote for

it. >> with respect to the blunt amendment i think it's much broader than i could support. >> really? how broad? an employer or insurance company would be able to deny pre sent tiff care from contraception to cancer screenings for any reason. if your boss thinks treatment can be achieved through prayer, or he or she would be able to deny you the coverage because of that. based on their moral standing. rick santorum thinks it's a fine idea, and supports the blunt amendment. mitt romney was asked where he stands on it earlier today. >> blunt-rubio is being debated later this week that deals with banning or allowing employers to ban providing female contraception. have you taken a position, he said he was for that, i'll talk about personhood in a second but he's for that. >> i'm not for the bill but look, the idea of presidential candidates get into questions about contraception within a

relationship between a man and woman, husband and wife, i'm not going there. >> he said he's not for the bill. minutes later romney changed his mind. his campaign issuing this correction, this statement. regarding the blunt bill, the way the question was asked was confusing, governor romney supports the blunt bill because he believes in a conscious exemption in health care for religious institutions and people of faith. joining me now is ariana pressley, boston city council member and chair of the committee on women and healthy communities. mitt romney was against the blunt amendment before he was for it. i have to ask you, ms. pressley, how does he explain that one going forward? what do you think? >> i really don't know and it certainly isn't surprising. here in boston we have a saying if you don't like the weather wait 15 minutes, and that is what i'm doing when it comes to

mitt romney's positions. >> this is a big story in your state. scott brown, the senator, supports the blunt amendment, faces tough reelection bid against elizabeth warren. how is this support being received in massachusetts on this? how big a deal is it? >> well, i know that it's out of step with the american people and certainly the people the commonwealth of massachusetts and it's a losing strategy. i don't believe, given how draconian and far-sweeping this is, how extreme this legislation is, again, an employer would have carte blanche at their own whim, based upon moral conviction to deny access to treatment or services and i don't believe the women and families of the massachusetts to deny an expectant mother access to pre natal care or genetic testing, to deny mental service treatments.

>> it's not about religious freedom in your opinion? >> absolutely not. i consider myself to be a person of very deep faith. i am a christian. i am the granddaughter of a baptist preacher, i'm in church every sunday. and one of the tenets i cling to, in my faith, is that i am my brother's keeper, and it in if you're -- infuriates me that scott brown and others are not their sister's keeper. i believe in accessability to health care because i am a christian. the two are not mutually exclusive. >> ayanna pressley, thank you for joining us tonight. dr. amy bryant, what kind of impact would the blunt amendment have on women's health care from your standpoint? >> well, i think the real

issue -- it's their right to decide how many children they would like to have and whether they should have the children. and i think that allowing someone's access to birth control to be based on the religious affiliation of their employer or the whim of their employer as the blunt amendment would really broaden the exemptions, with its -- the arrangement that it proposes, i think that it would really have a sweeping effect on women's health care if women could not have access to affordable contraception. >> mandatory ultrasound bills are being debated in several states.

the ultrasounds are not medically necessary. what kind of position does that put doctors in? >> i think it really puts doctors in a very difficult position of having to take care of -- of having to do a government-mandated procedure on a woman when it's really not medically necessary. we have patients that we see who come in to us who already have an ultrasound already done and so to have to put them through another ultrasound, when it's not medically necessary at all can be very troubling, it can be costly. and it can be invasive, if it needs to be a trans vaginal ultrasound. i see no reason why this kind of, this kind of intrusion on the doctor and patient relationship is being put forth. >> this is exactly what the republicans have been whining about all through the health care debate, that the government

doesn't get between you and your doctor with the right there for it right now. dr. amy bryant, thank you for joining us tonight. late news on the scott walker recall that might give the radical governor an unfair advantage, we'll bring you the latest. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning...

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my favorite story, wisconsin governor scott walker is singing the blues, money can't buy me love. despite all the money and all the free tv, the latest polling in wisconsin shows walker is in political trouble. according to recent polling in the state if the election were held today, he would lose to kathleen falk, tom barrett or russ feingold. he has been on every conservative talk show on radio and tv across america. but walker has a ray of hope.

today, the wisconsin government accountability board announced they would ask a dane county judge for an extension of the march 19th deadline to certify the recount petitions, if the judge grants the extension, walker will have more time to rake in unlimited out of state funds before the democrats could even pick a candidate. wisconsinites, they can't take your soul, faith and determination and vote. stay focused, stay on task. next, franklin graham backs down and apologizes for questioning president obama's religion. dr. james peterson tells us if it's enough, next. [ female announcer ] with swiffer wetjet,

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in the big finish tonight, after questioning president obama's religion, franklin graham is reevaluating. >> the world sees barack obama as a son of islam, that is the way it works. that is the way they see him. but of course he says he didn't grow up that way, he didn't believe in that, he believes in jesus christ, so i accept that. but i'm just saying the muslim world, muslim world, islam, they see him as a son of islam. >> but you do not believe he's a muslim? >> no. >> categorically not a muslim? >> i can't say categorically because islam has gotten a free pass under obama. >> graham walked back remarks with the following statement. i regret any comments i have

ever made which may have cast any doubt on the personal faith of our president, mr. obama. i apologize to him and to any i have offended for not better articulating my reason for not supporting him in this election. no political statement there, huh? the apology comes after a group of religious leaders from the naacp denounced his outrageous attacks. they said we can disagree about what it means to be a christian engaged in politics but christians should not bear false witness. we are also concerned that reverend graham's comments can be used to encourage racism. let's bring in dr. james peterson, director of africana studies. at lehigh university. >> what is your response to that statement by franklin graham and him addressing this after criticism? >> it'not enough, the

statement did a lot of damage when it came out of his mouth in the first place, the policy is not broad enough and not sweeping enough and doesn't cover all the things that he actually said, remember when he is speaking of the language of son of muslims and us and them he's stoking the flames of religious conflict all over the world. and playing in the fears of americans who unfortunately we have a terrible history with terrorism and different politicians, sort of playing the politics of fear, reverend graham participated in that, he needs to make reparations to his father's legacy, his father would never engage in this maneuvering and grandstanding and he needs to apologize to the broader community of religious leaders, because there are real conflicts around religious doctrines and believes. >> he needs to go further. >> how would he know what the muslim community around the world thinks? i found that rather interesting. >> he doesn't note and is inaccurate.

that is not the way one's faith in islam is determined. so he was inaccurate and obviously doesn't know what he's talking about. what he's doing is playing politics with religious beliefs, we can't really make progress and come to consensus and compromise among religious, class differences with that rhetoric. >> so it was pressure that made him apologize, do you think? >> absolutely. applaud the naacp, they got out in front and really just using the language of bearing witness brought it home for us, but yes, he probably got criticism even from his own camp because he's out there on a limb. you can't make those claims about the president at this point in time without this kind of backlash. >> how do you think race plays in the challenges to president obama's faith? if at all? >> it plays into it because race is the sort of primary othering that we sort of pivot around in our society and discourse, so the more you can heap on religion or where he's from, there is these are different ways of othering the president. race being first, then they try

to use region and religion. >> joe arpaio said he's releasing the results of his investigation in president obama's birth certificate tomorrow. are you surprised at this type of thing is still going on? >> it's insane, what does this county sheriff's jurisdiction? there has to be enforcement misconduct or prosecutorial misconduct, ri dij you lus. >> dr. james peterson thank you for being here. that is "the ed show," listen to me on sirius radio channel 127 monday through friday, follow me on twitter and like the ed show on facebook. thank you. "the rachel maddow show" starts right now. good evening, rachel. good evening. last night was fun a more fun night had rick santorum upset