everybody was ready for mike pence. no mike pence. he never showed up. we are told that he did sign the supposed fix in indiana, but he did so in private. on no cameras, no reporters, no statements. not this time, not like the last time. so this has just been a remarkable speak. this backlash against indiana has been profound as have its consequences. as of today, republican-led -- similar legislation that they were all moving. in michigan, the republican legislature there had three of these bills pending. michigan governor rick snyder today said he would veto any of them that get to his desk. the backlash has been strong nationwide. so strong in inn specifically that beyond this purported fix to save face, indiana's republican-led legislature might now actually move for the first time ever to substantively protect the rights of lgbt people in indiana law. >> the discussion about special class protection for the lgbt community is going to happen. today has started that discussion. it will happen. and i think it's important for people to know that. >> tha

not even mike pence is in support of what mike pence did anymore. but bobby jindel is scott walker is. rick perry is. ted cruz put out this statement. i'm proud to stand with governor mike pence. i want to commend mike pence. marco rubio came out with his own statement in which he says he stands with mike pence too. no business should be able to deny service to anybody on the basis of sexual orientation but businesses definitely shouldn't have to provide services to people whose sexual orientation they don't like, right? okay. so marco rubio doesn't understand why he stand with mike pence but he says he stands with mike pence and florida governor jeb bush says he does too. >> i think governor pence has done the right thing. >> even the head of the national republican party put out a statement today saying that as head of the national republican party he thinks that what mike pence did in indiana was the right thing. and so there are kind of these amazing parallels. you might remember a few weeks ago we reported on the republican national committee t

democrats were against what mike pence did. gay rights groups were against what mike pence did. but a big part of the immediate backlash, both in the state and nationwide, was specifically in the tech industry. you might remember there was that ceo from the tech firm sales force, which is a global cloud computing company. they just bought an indiana tech company for $2.5 billion last year. so they've got this really strong new connection to indiana that they just made. the sales force ceo is one of the first people out of the gate nationwide that the discrimination bill was such a problem for his company. he said they were cutting off all company related travel to that state. basically extracting themselves from the indiana economy. soon thereafter, it was the most profitable company on earth, apple, who spoke out about what indiana was doing. and it would be an apple priority to fight what indiana was doing, and stop it from happening in any other state. yelp, and angie's list, they both came out and said what indiana was doing with this mike pence bill was abhorrent to them. i

he is not the governor of mike pence, he is the governor of indiana.e has to make sure all people are protected. unless you are willing to fix the law, you are not fixing it at all. there are a lot of things that could be done. >> can republicans do just that? john: they have said they want the bill clarified. as we speak, they are in their private caucus meeting. democrats had a number of amendments three weeks ago. indiana democrats into the house and the senate had amendments. they were resoundingly defeated on our votes and were ignored. so now after the governor asked her terrible performance, not asking questions repeatedly, our democratic leaders came up with a plan yesterday, while republicans were talking about this. democrats said repeal the law or fix it is a way that applies to all hoosiers. that includes including these people in the civil rights section. we haven't seen any -- >> we are talking with john zody. why is a lot different from the other state? john: it is different. he shamelessly dropped barack obama's name and bill clinton's

he did it in a way where he wasn't badgering pence or interrupting him. let him give long answers. that's why i think it was very effective and pence couldn't get out of his own way. harry reid once ripped the coke brothers has un-american and said mitt romney hadn't paid any taxes for ten years. it was false. we asked the minority leader about that. >> no regrets about mitt romney? >> no. they can call it whatever they want. >> dana bash for asking the questions but this would be big news if you were to play the substitution game and put a prominent republican in his place. let's say romney did that. it would have made big headlines. >> especially giving the lack of regret by harry reid. dana bash asked the right question. i was stunned that "the new york times" didn't do a story on this. i fail to understand how when you have a guy who is a senate majority leader and says a lie and doesn't even say i regret it. . >> why should he regret it? he's -- there's no reason for him to apologize. he sounded fairly proud of the fact that he thought that was part

indiana governor mike pence has a perception problem.ernor says his state's new religious freedom law does not permit discrimination against gay and lesbian people. gov. pence: i don't believe for a minute that it was the intention of the general assembly to create a license to discriminate or a right to deny services to anyone in this state. it was not my intent. pimm: the negotiations regarding iran's nuclear program will continue into another day. the deadline was extended as leaders met in switzerland. a u.s. state

mike pence: you mean the public reaction?hink it was explained by the fact that this was grossly mischaracterized advocates who oppose the bill, and quite frankly, some sloppy reporting for the first several days. i really do believe that. look i -- if i read some of the stuff about this bill, i would've had the same concern that millions of hoosiers have had an millions of people across the country have had. it just isn't so. when president clinton signed this bill in 1993, the american civil liberties union said then that the regis -- religious freedom restoration act was the most important legislation considered by congress since the first amendment was approved. ok? when then safe -- state senator brock obama voted for this bill in illinois, it was with rod and bipartisan support. one of the great pieces of legislative history of the religious liberty restoration act was broadly supported on a bipartisan aces. i would suggest that explains what the concern that they have expressed an across this nation as a mischaracteriz

mike pence just did it yesterday. and it is landing with a thud will this his in his home state. >> wait a minute. gay rights not even mentioned and that is the most frequently used analogy and it regards -- in regards to this bill. >> joining us how to analyze the coverage, sharyl attkisson, matt lewis, and richard fowler. massive wave of media coverage, arguing over the interpretation of this one state law. did that help transform this into a culture war? >> i think so. some want to be. i think by and large, though i found most of the media coverage fair. i think mike pence certainly had his say. i do think what i would be doing if i was still at cbs news and wanted something a little more in-depth, i'd be asking questions such as who are the special interests pushing these laws through state by state tell us more about those, who are the special interests who are challenging them. i want to know more about some of the behind the scenes stuff and i think there are many of the questions that could be explored. >> did

governor pence: those conversations are ongoing. i remain very hopeful that if we focus on the principal misperception that we will garner support, restore confidence and we could move forward. >> [indiscernible] governor pence: i think a number of the 30 states that have the standards are in the same position indiana is in and the federal government is in in terms of protected status. let me say with great respect i think that is a separate issue. it is not my position. i am not advocating for it. i understand some people are. that is a separate question that should be considered separate from this idea of religious liberty and that we will give our courts in indiana the

as that repeal was being debated, congressmen pence voted no. no question that to mainstream homosexuality within active duty military would have an impact on cohesion recruitment and readiness. >> a look at governor pence's record on same-sex marriage in 2006. a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage failed on the house floor. here's what then congressman pence had to say. >> i believe, first, marriage should be protected because it wasn't our idea. several millennia ago the words were written that a man should leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife and become one flesh. that wasn't our idea. that was god's idea. >> last year thomas governor pence spoke with our colleague chuck todd and said marriage should be left up to the state. >> all right. so we shall see what the supreme court says coming up at the end of this month. interesting reactions coming out of indiana and arkansas today where over the hour we've seen at the statehouse there the rally that's taking place and people waiting to see if the governor, asking for tha

then pence changed his tune today. >> it's been a tough week here. i don't believe for a minute that it was the intention to create a license to discriminate or right to deny services to gays, lesbians or anyone else in this state and it certainly wasn't my intent but i can appreciate that that's become the perception. >> republican legislators are trying to amend the new law and in his press conference governor pence said he'll help them move a bill. >> to move legislation this week makes it clear this law does not give businesses the right to deny services for anyone. let me say when i believe this is a clarification but it's also a fix. >> a fix implies something is broken in the law so that's a big concession coming from its proponents but a minor fix may not be enough and a sign of how broad the support for principles of inclusion and nondiscrimination have been in this country. the groups ranged from left to right to nonprofit to corporate and including all american favorites that don't do politics like basketball and car racing organizations.

first, he backed mike pence. then he backed mike pence again when he said the law should be changed. just position is "we should not discriminate based on sexual orientation," that is his new position. based on how he has handled this issue to date, as he enchants -- enhanced his opportunity of being president or has he diminished? mark: i think he has diminished because he is not the monopoly on being the guy who will fit hard truth. last night what he said at a fundraiser in san francisco, that is where his heart is. but when he spoke to hugh hewitt, he came down much harder on the side of religious liberty as opposed to gay rights. john: here's the quote, right the longer quote. if you are a florist and you do not want to participate in a gay wedding, you should not be forced to. likewise -- what he really means is but -- if someone comes them us to buy flowers off the rack that is some initial vehicle to do. that is one of the more flaccid things i've heard come out of his mouth. he says if a gay couple wants

governor pence has now done.he generational divide, i think this is really fascinating. we often see political parties on wrong sides of issues but when you look at just the polling -- and i'll mention gay marriage. in our nbc "wall street journal" poll, we had 59% of the country backing gay marriage. that includes more than 70% of democrats, 60% of independents, but just 40% of republicans. and of course, when you go into the age situation, and governor hutchinson put it well there's a big generational divide. that exposes one of the pitfalls for the republican party. the more we're talking about gay rights and gay marriage that's something they're going to be on the wrong side of many americans. not in the republican primary but in a general election. >> let me bring in benjamin hardy, associate editor at "the arkansas times." he was with us at the top of the show before the governor's comments. let's talk about how this will play out politically with the more conservative in the party there. >> sure. well, as

>> because i think pence and his whole group went too far in this legislation and what he did, what penceid, is he put this legislation akin to illinois when then senator barack obama voted for it. but then you look at the illinois law and you look at the indiana law and there are at least four differences, one of them being that the illinois law deals with private citizens, not corporations. so when you parse down -- >> that shouldn't have an impact. >> it does because -- >> what does it have -- anything that has an impact, corporate -- a corporation, you are the lawyer, is a citizen. >> but that's not how it's written. the other thing is that a corporation or an entity can say look, we are going to be quote unquote, burdened by having to sell to gay individuals and so we are -- >> no no no. it doesn't say that. >> it does, absolutely. >> does it say burdened by gays? >> burdened. burdened. that's the word. >> your word. erin is trying to get in there. >> let me clarify. the language of the statute actually does mirror a lot of the statutes that are already on the books and it really mir

>> i think he could not be to mike pence's right.s how it was turning out to be if he hadn't made those comments that he did in silicon valley. he had to say something. now he's sort of in this tough spot where he pleases nobody because the right wing is unhappy with him and obviously folks in the middle, on the left are skeptical, too. what's been striking to me about this is that the christian conservatives, john, feel cornered, even persecuted. not just do they feel under duress from the left but from their putative allies in the business community. i talked to one leader who said, look, the fact is that these leaders around the country apparently feel like they have zero to fear except walmart itself. that's a remarkable comment. >> one of the interesting things about the position bush finds himself in, he's made the stand, i'm going to run and stand by my positions on immigration and the common core. >> lose the primary to win the -- >> you have to win the primary to be the president. i wonder if that limits the amount of other

this is indiana's republican governor, mike pence. before a few weeks ago, mike pence was also one of the people talked about as a potential presidential candidate, about the level of a bobby jindal or a mike huckabee or a carly fiorina. mike huckabee a very well-known guy in republican politics before becoming governor of indiana, he had a long career in washington, among the heavyweights. mike pence has been on the edge of presidential possibility for numerous cycles. this year he's been stoking interest in himself as a potential presidential candidate. he was telling reporters he was actively considering making a run in 2016, people were actively considering him as a dark horse contender for the nomination, until that all stopped when indiana had its big oops a few weeks ago. you'll remember how this went. it started with a signing ceremony attended by mostly nuns and friars. governor pence as trying to identify this as squarely a religious matter, signed a discrimination bill into law in indiana, which briefly but intensely put in

governor pence says we've got a perception problem. that's all it is. >> it was a really extraordinary news conference. the defense included everything from, i used to be a democrat, to i'm friends with john lewis, to martin luther king jr., something about that. but the core of the argument is that the national press mischaracterized the law, and that bad journalism is the problem, so he had to clarify the real law which he says doesn't give that florist a license to discriminate. it may not give a discriminate, but it gives them a defense if they do in court. he also tried, mike pence, to lay the law at the feet of bill clinton and even barack obama saying they signed it. they were for the exact same thing. another problem. the indiana law specifically says that the government doesn't have to be a party to any of the actions that if a business wants to avail itself of the protections of this law, it doesn't have anything to do with government. it can be just a business and the poem they don't want to do business with. >> beth, an ext

i'm wondering what your sessio assessment is of governmor pences reaction.ony: this is an accommodation. it is not automatic. yes, they are particular cases. if you look at cases like a grandmother in washington state very similar situation she is a floors. she had a long time customer who was gay, would talk to him when he came at the store, that he was getting married and he wanted her to do the foil arrangements. she said i'm sorry, i can do that, if violates my face. the state of washington got involved, suing her. she may lose her business, and not just her business, but her home as well. rfra simply allows for an accommodation of people. it could be a bigger who is owned by someone who is gay and if a church comes then, or someone associated with religion wanted a scripture put onto a cake that said something about homosexuality and the baker didn't want to do it, they should have the right not to do it. government should not be a party forcing people to engage in activities that violate the police. that is simply what rfra is. michael: do you think of

also indiana's governor mike pence yielding to the political backlash backing away from his state's new religious freedom law, but what about the other 19 states that have the same law? why no political action against them? we take it all up with our attorneys on the case and hillary clinton's credibility crumbling. new documents contradict claim that she used a personal e-mail server because she wanted to carry a single phone she said. and the scandal now costing her in critical swing states. we will show you how she's doing in the polls, where she's in trouble. >>> we begin tonight with the iranian nuclear framework for a potential deal. president obama himself hailed the framework as both a deal and historic. >> this deal provides the best possible defense against iran's ability to pursue a nuclear weapon covertly. if iran cheats, the world will know it. if we see something suspicious, we will inspect it. >> iran's foreign minister, meanwhile, claimed victory. >> none of those measures include closing any of our facilities. the proud people of iran would never accept that. our facili

are you with the old unrestricted mike pence, or are you with mike pence with an asterisk after he sort of backtracked the thing, and do you think it should be okay we don't serve gay people up in your business? and npr steve inskeep asked marco rubio about this yesterday. the clip is a little long but listen to the hoops marco rubio is trying to jump through as he tries to defend his position on this. >> you defended the law and spoke about the hypothetical example of a florist who was asked to participate in a gay marriage and wanted to refuse. you said that person should have the right to follow their religious beliefs. indiana, though, has since changed the law. do you still support that concept? >> to be fair, i haven't read the change in detail to give you an opinion on it specifically, but where i stand, i do not believe you can discriminate against people, so i don't feel it's right for a florist to say you are -- i'm not going to provide you flowers because you're gay. >> this is new. marco rubio now against the mike pence law and says it shouldn't be legal for a business to re

stephanopoulos asked pence if he had any intention of adding similar protection in indiana.how you his answer, remember, pence is very bad at being concise. >> one fix that people have talked about is simply adding sexual orientation as a protected class under the state civil rights clause. will you push for that? >> i will not push for that. >> seth: oh, so you can answer a question. [ laughter and applause ] next thing, many conservatives are pointing out that bill clinton signed the federal bill into law and barack obama voted for a similar law in illinois, but the original religious freedom restoration act was actually designed to protect native-americans against being fired for taking peyote as part of their religious ceremonies, which by the way, is the least we can do for the native-americans. not only is the indiana law broader than the federal law in the other 19 states, remember, when bill clinton signed the law, gay marriage wasn't legal. in fact, the only people that could imagine legal gay marriage in 1993 were the people taking peyote. [ laughter ] "how was you

i think governor pence gave a good speech.he only problem i have with it is that it refers -- it offends the rest of the country as a frying to the people in indiana as the best people on earth. is he running for governor again? host: that is jay from nevada 11 major companies weighing in on these laws and there was a listing of them, including companies such as angie's list based in indianapolis, cap levi's, walmart all of weighing in on this decision, particularly to arkansas. again, you can find more of that on the "huffington post" listing. companies have come not in opposition to these types of laws. dennis lives in west palm beach, florida, republican line. caller: this is an initiative that is important to me and i wish i had time to make all my points. number one, the republicans don't really care about the issue. they thought they were playing to their base and as soon as the money pressure came on them, they fell apart like a cheap suit. they don't care about the gay issue, nothing whatsoever. we've got to remember t

feel, dan, why did meek pence feel the need to clarify it? >> well, because i think they were under this tremendous pressure from businesses and the ncaa and so forth. they got carpet bombed. and the thing is, this pushed aside the legal context in which this took place. their law was a duplicate as 19 other states have done of the religious restoration act which set up a balancing act between a compelling state interest, say to bar discrimination, versus an individual who feels substantially burdened by these things, and a judge would supposedly decide these things. as to the private interests, four appellate courts decided that private interests were covered. but the federal statute only applied to federal laws. so the states felt obliged to copy these laws >> but there has never been a case where a court has upheld somebody denying services to a gay couple or a gay marriage that i have seen. i've not found any yet. >> discrimination -- >> the critics make it sound like this is happening all over the country. we can't find one where that ha

governor pence: the religious freedom restoration law was signed by president clinton and it lays outramework to ensure that a high level of scrutiny is given anytime government action in pinches on the religious liberty of any american. after that, some 19 states adopted that statute, and after last year's hobby lobby case, indiana properly brought the same version that then state senator barack obama voted for in illinois to our latest aircraft -- legislature, and i was proud to sign it into law last year. amy: tim lanane, i am wondering if you can respond to the signing of the law -- and the people that were there and glad --glaad points out to this, including micah clark who refers to an lgbt license plate to a plate supporting smoking. curt smith who equates homosexuality with beastie ali. eric miller, who falsely claimed it is on par with homosexuality. senator lanane: those were the groups that were the proponents for amending our constitution last year to ban same-sex marriage, and they have had a long history of anti-gay legislation they wanted to see adopted in the state of

mike pence is not ready for primetime. he has defined himself for 50% of the population. neil: you don't get a second chance to make a first impression. >> that is what happens trip wire goes off they say we got him, they close in on him one less guy to worry about. he has a great record in indiana, a great guy a great policy thinker. neil: they will define him by this issue. you know who got a second chance bill clinton think about it. >> johnny carson, he went on ar and played saxophone made a joke in the speech. neil: he came right back. >> deflect the weaknesses with humor. >> i have seen this play before. it is always withs -- >> i am not a campaign manager i raise a lot of money for these guys get a sparring partner. people are coming after you of day. neil: you should be -- he knew going on george stephanopolous this was going to be an issue. >> they are over confident, i can wing it i am a well-liked guy. rick perry thought that. >> 3 things i remember about that interview also, okay. a little inside political joke. >> it will stay with him forever. he is never ge

i think the damage has already been done not only to mike pence.resident. i think a lot of damage as joy just pointed out, this was a moment for him to show some leadership and some adulthood, if you will. he could have said i know what they are trying to do but this bill goes too far. if they can fix it it might be okay. instead, he went full-throated in support of mike pence and then when he gets to california in front of a different audience, right, as you pointed out, in front of tech leaders who have been critical of the bill, then he changes his tune. he's got to learn at this day and age you can't say one thing in front of one audience and one thing in another because, reverend al you and i are watching him every step. the other thing i've got to say, this is damaging for the republican party but not talking economy, not talking jobs they are back to the party of pat buchanan and the culture wars of the 1990s and 1980s and that is a losing strategy for november. >> hurt the republican party, joy. you know, "the washington post" reports, quot

this is indiana's republican governor mike pence, before a few weeks ago he was one talked about as a possible presidential candidate at the level of a bob bobby jindal or a mike huckabee, or a carly fiorina, he had a long career in washington with lots and lots of friends among the heavyweights in the republican party. mike huckabee has been on the edge of a possible run, this year he has been stoking interest in his possibility in a run for 2016. people were actively considering him as a dark horse contender in the nomination until that all stopped when indiana had its big oops a few weeks ago. right? you will remember how this went. it started with a signing ceremony attended by mostly nuns and friars governor pence deeming this as a religious matter signed a discrimination bill in indiana which briefly but intensely put indiana in the middle of a fire storm, particularly against the business world. the backlash on his bill in indiana was not only national news it visibly shook him in a way that i think sort of instantly shook him out of consideration as a potential national leader

that was something that governor mike pence was unable to do on sunday last week when he was asked by george stephanopoulos about this. i'm wondering what your assessment and response is to this outcry. was there something that he could have done better? tony: this is an accommodation. it is to allow someone to make a defense. it is not automatic. yes, they are particular cases. if you look at cases like a grandmother in washington state, but very similar situation, she is a florist. she had a long time customer who was gay, would talk to him when he would come into the store but he was getting married and he wanted her to do the floor -- floral arrangements. she said, i'm sorry, i can do that, it violates my faith. the state of washington got involved, suing her. she may lose her business, and not just her business, but her home as well. rfra simply allows for an accommodation of people. let's talk about who been a that's from it. -- who benefits from it. it cut both ways. it could be a baker who is owned by someone who is gay and if a church comes then, or someone associated with re

feel, dan i want to get to you here, why did mike pence feel he needed to clarify it?>> because they were under this tremendous pressure from businesses and the ncaa and so forth. i mean, they got carpet bombed and the thing is, pushed aside the legal context in which all of this took place. their law was simply a duplicate as 19 other states have done of the religious freedom act of 1993 passed by 97-3 which set up compelling state interest, say to bar discrimination versus an individual who feels substantially burdened by these things and a judge was to decide these sort of things. as to the private interest four appellate courts decided they were covered -- >> under the federal statute. >> under the federal statute but that only applied to federal laws. >> there's never been a case where a court has upheld somebody denying services to a gay couple that i have -- >> because -- >> that i have seen. i have not found -- >> the critics make it sound -- it's happening all over the country. i -- we can't find one where that has happened in court, that -- that's been upheld

governor pence: i don't support discrimination against anyone. the question that you posed though, i believe -- we are dealing in a free society with a careful balancing of interest. the facts and circumstances of each case determined the outcome. what this legislation does, what it did when president clinton signed it into law in 1993, and what it served in some 30 states is provide a framework for determining whether or not government action puts a substantial burden on a person's religious liberty. it is counterbalanced against whether there is a compelling interest. first, in any case, does the government action place a substantial burden on the freedom of religion? under this standard, the next question is is there a compelling state interest? what courts have found without exception over the last 20 plus years is that the state has a compelling interest in combating discrimination. i support that interpretation. ok? the last one. >> [inaudible] governor pence: the conversations have just been ongoing, candid. we have been listening, sharing

i'm looking to see how governor pence and governor hitch utchinson get out of the debacle. >> all rightcs. cmi the market mover. thanks very much for being with us. happy easter. i'll see you tomorrow morning on the opening bell on the fox business network. >>> on the "buzz beater" this sunday, indiana governor mike pence blaming the huge controversy over whether his state's religious freedom law allowed anti-gay discrimination on the media. >> yes or no if a florist in indiana refuses to serve a guy couple at their wedding, is that legal now in indiana? >> george, this is where this debate has gone with misinformation and -- >> the question, sir, yes or no? >> some of the reckless reporting by some in the media about what this bill was all about was deeply disappointing. >> with pence quickly retreating and