dr. jeffress many times.en, that the most serious consequence is likely to be a backlash. we live in a tolerant country where people look at other relidges. with respect. a cult is a pejorative word. using that term i think the -- those who tuesday discredit themselves more than they discredit the object. >> help me with the history. you heard tony perken he says governor romney's been there many times he personally himself does not consider mormonism to be christianity, by his definition but there's a bridge built between mormons and many evangelicals and yet you have the southern baptist leader using the cult term and giving a clear condemnation of the mormon faith. what is the particular challenge with the southern baptists? >> well, the southern baptists are noted for the strict orthodoxy. mormons have very good connections with other evangelicals, not only in common causes, political and social, but also in theologically, evangelicals have spoken at the mormon tabernacle and mormons enjoy conversations w

pastor robert jeffress -- dr. robert jeffress, thank you for your time. i know it was a busy morning. thank you for making the time for us. >> it's great to be with you, alex, thank you. >>> now to the white house, president obama is pushing his jobs bill and defending his plan to pay for it with tax increases on the rich. >> some see this as class warfare. i see it as a choice. we can either keep taxes exactly as they are for millionaires and billionaires or we can ask them to pay at least the same rate as a plumber or a bus driver. >> >> the strategy ever since he made that speech and the american people right after labor day, he's been around the country, bashing republicans, urging republicans to pass the bill and not making much headway with republicans. at least not those on capitol hill, i should say. but there is a glimmer of hope in the senate. and they have made alterations in the way that the bill is paid for. there is a 5% surtax on income over a million dollars, you've probably heard about that. and republican and democrats have drawn a sharp

dr. jeffress's message. an talk radio madia to advance the notion that the faith should be a wedge issue in the campaign. >> on realtime with bill maher, jeffress was on again and insisted that mormonism is not christianity. let me play a bit of the exchange he had on friday night. >> the fact is that mormonism has never been a part of historical christianity. they have their own set of doctrines and own book of revelation. i think mormons are good moral people, but not a part of christianity. >> in the same interview he said he received more heat from conservatives than from the left. is it the strategy that was tried and backed off on after the heat perry received? >> we will see going forward. it is occurred a forum with conservatives and liberals to say you shouldn't vote for this person because of religion. i don't think we will ever see the perry campaign running ads questioning romney's christianity, but it remains a fact that many evangelicals believe what dr. jeffress said. mormonism is not christian

dr. jeffress brought up the term as a political form. saying a vote for romney would be a vote for a cult. is the proof of this conversation though in the political context, is there some evidence that actually some progress has been made from your perspective? in the sense that i was talking earlier in the show about a poll that says back in 2006, nearly 40% of republican voters said they wouldn't vote for a mormon or they would have reservations about voting for a mormon? that number has been sliced in half. >> i think there's been an immense change. i've been aware of it. comparing 2008 with the 2012 campaign. as it is getting going. and the number of people who were beginning to say that the treatment of mormons as a strange and weird and unacceptable religion is moderating. the fact of the matter is that america has always been a very tolerant nation. we've had to because there has been such diversity of religious belief. but there has always been a margin. if you were beyond that edge, then you're not accepted within the, sort of t

dr. robert jeffress, pastor of the first baptist church of dallas and gave a speech introducing governor rick perry earlier this afternoon. if you don't mind mind me saying pastor jeffress, you created a stir coming out of that speech. in talking to reporters, you said in strong, plain language what you think of mormonism. you described it as a cult. and you said that if republican votes for mitt romney, they're giving some credibility to a cult. do you stand by that comment? >> absolutely. that's not some fanatical comment. that's been historic. it has officially labeled mormonism as a cult. >> when a front-runner for the republican nomination for president gets caught in a fundamentalist bigotry eddie like this, the expressed understanding in the beltway media is not that there's been display of religious bigotry in the republican party or among the conservative movement, but rather that mainstream republicans like mitt romney and like speaker of the house john boehner and majority leader eric cantor, these guys have just had an unfortunate brushup against the very fringy far right ext

dr. robert jeffress, a southern baptist minister, introduced rick perry the other day, calling perry a genuineollower of jesus christ, as opposed to another candidate jeffress could and did mention. >> i think mitt romney is a good moral man, but those born-again followers of christ should always prefer a competent christian to a competent non-christian lime mitt romney. >> reporter: mitt romney is a mormon and he has passed this way before, four years ago, the first time he ran for president, when he addressed concerns, rumors, and political analysis of his religion. >> i believe in my mormon faith and i endeavor to live by it. some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. if they're right, so be it. >> reporter: many things sank romney's candidacy in '08. religion may have been one of them. >> you look at the results from 2008, he ran poorly among evangelical christians, especially in the south, in all the southern states, he never topped out above 20% of the votes with evangelical christians. >> in all, 45% of republicans who vote in primaries are conservative evan

dr. robert jeffress talked to cnn's jim acosta a few hours ago. >> you said in strong language what you thinkyou described it as a cult. and you said that if republican votes for mitt romney they're giving some credibility to a cult. do you stand by that comment? >> absolutely. and that's not some fanatical comment. that is the story of the southern baptist convention which is the largest protestant denomination in the world has officially label morm onism as a cult. >> so dofrn yogovernor perry's statement. he said he didn't believe more thannonism as a cult and he didn't choose the person to introduce him. joining us is a a cnn contributor from washington and mary matalin in new orleans. mary, how does something like this still happen? >> well, welcome, erin. we love the show. we love you at cnn. >> thank you. i'm thrilled to be here. and thrilled to have you on. >> well, we lover it. how does it happen? well, what would be an important event is if rick perry or for that matter even tony perkins clu colluded or agreed with that statement. evangelicals are saying they have the same concerns,

dr. robert jeffress talked to cnn's jim acosta a few hours ago. >> you said in strong language what you thinkormonism. you described it as a cult. and you said that if republican votes for mitt romney they're giving some credibility to a cult. do you stand by that comment? >> absolutely. and that's not some fanatical comment. that is the story of the southern baptist convention which is the largest protestant denomination in the world has officially label morm onism as a cult. >> governor perry's issued a statement. he said he didn't believe more thannonism as a cult and he didn't choose the person to introduce him. joining us is a a cnn contributor from washington and mary matalin in new orleans. mary, how does something like this still happen? >> well, welcome, erin. we love the show. we love you at cnn. >> thank you. i'm thrilled to be here. and thrilled to have you on. >> well, we lover it. how does it happen? well, what would be an important event is if rick perry or for that matter even tony perkins colluded or agreed with that statement. evangelicals are saying they have the same conce

dr. robert jeffress, a southern baptist minister introduced rick perry at a values summit yesterday calling perry a genuine follower of jesus christ as opposed to another candidate jeffress did mention later in the interview. >> i think mitt romney is a good, more's man but those of us who are followers of christ born again should always prefer a competent christian to a competent non-christian like mitt romney. >> reporter: mitt romney is a mormon, and he has passed this way before. four years ago. the first time he ran for president, when he addressed concerns rumors and political analysis of his religion. >> i believe in my mormon faith, and i endeavor to live by it. some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. if they're right, so be it. >> reporter: many things sank romney's candidacy in '08, religion may have been one of them. >> you look at results in 200. he ran poorly among evangelical christians especially in the south, the southern states, nev never topped 20% of the vote in a critical vote. >> reporter: in all, 47% of conservative evangelical christian