and at least he told me he is. >> newt gingrich told franklin graham he's a christian and graham believes it. but whether president obama says it, well, for graham that is not enough he's not sure. franklin graham and rick santorum are talking to a very specific audience, but millions of people. the arena of fairness i think right now. they're not being fair to the president. they are giving license to ordinary people to reject president obama because his personal faith doesn't seem to measure up to a pastor, a preacher, a reverend. it doesn't matter. if it's true or not, millions of people listening to graham and his father, all they need to do is cast the doubt and the people will believe them. get your cell phones out i want to know what you think. tonight's question, will republicans ever stop questioning president obama's faith? text a for yes, b for no to 622639. you can go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com, we'll bring you results later in the show. >>> i'm joined tonight by reverend barry lynn, executive director of americans united. and a minister with the united church of christ. we s

his father, billy graham, was a member of our church for 50 years. we love franklin graham. i think he should have stuck with his original premise and that is that president obama claims to be a christian. in my book, i quote an interview with president obama in which he says he has trusted in jesus christ for the forgiveness of his sins. and by that definition, he's a christian. you know, if you were to say, lawrence, you're a democrat, i could take you at your word, i believe you're a democrat, bullbut i don't know for sure unless i go to the voting booth and see you vote. i take you at your word and have no reason to doubt you and no reason to doubt president obama is a christian. >> what he said about mitt romney and mormonism, what is your reaction to that? >> well, i do agree with franklin. of course, as you replayed it at the beginning of the program, my comments about mormonism. mormonism is not historic christianity. when people say, well, mormons and christians, say all believe the same things, my response is if that's true, why are they always on my front doorstep

not graham greene's. if you are courting a woman and say to her, "you look just like your mother," she would slam the door on you. but if you say "just like virginia woolf," even if that person is less beautiful than a mother, she will be thrilled. we want to attach ourselves to something great. we are who we are. essentially, you cannot run away from your show. that is what the book is about. tavis: should do father have been offended, in salted, or belittled by this affair you are having with graham greene? >> every father has to tolerate a son rebelling against him. but the sun will always come back in the end. my father died 16 years ago. at that time, he might have been wistful that i spent so much time on the other side of the world. if you read this book, he would see the more the years go on, the more i come back to him. in this book, i was in a little house in india. i happened to meet an old friend of my father's. this man said, "i remember when your father was 14 years old, he was in love with

bill graham was a big supporter of those causes. >> reporter: master showman that he was graham wouldin death he was bigger than life. >> i always wanted to be undestrictable. it never occurred to me really. i expected bill to go get old with the rest of us. >> reporter: in his 20s, bill graham wanted to be an actor. his career as a concert empresario had a strange beginning. this was the mid-60s when san francisco rock music was new and revolutionary. bill graham was a little older than the flower children who clustered in the park conspicuously smoking pot. but he shared their message. he showcased locallal will -- local talent such as the jefferson airplanes. he knew talent when he saw it. as when he heard the guitar rifts of carlos santana. graham had found success in the rock concert business. >> great business, it's a great love affair. joyful, most insane, most pleasant, most disgusting, greatest vilist business we know. we buy and sell people and put them on stages. >> reporter: in a business that was mostly about money. graham got a reputation as hard driving and shrewd but a

. >> reverend franklin graham gets grilled at msnbc about his position about president obama and his beliefs. was this ayn tension nal ambush. >> he put his it in-- >> pbs airs a documentary about president clinton and some on the left call it a liberal spear job, but it was on pbs. details next on news watch. . new glidden duo paint plus primer available only at the home depot. one coat does double duty. and fits our budget perfectly. so there's a brand-new room... ...right where the old one used to be. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. new glidden duo paint plus primer. only at the home depot. and starting at only $24.97 a gallon. why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and cal

. >> reverend franklin graham gets grilled at msnbc about his position about president obama and his beliefs. was this ayn tension nal ambush. >> he put his it in-- >> pbs airs a documentary about president clinton and some on the left call it a some on the left call it a liberal spear jo what do you get when you combine the home depot with this weekend? the cure for cabin fever. because with get-it-done savings on everything we need... we can turn this weekend into a fresh floor... or an updated bathroom... or a brand-new look. so let's hit those orange aisles, and make today the day, we make a big difference, no matter how big our budget. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot maximize your budget with great buys, like mosaic tile, just $4.98 per square foot. you walk into a conventional mattress store, it's really not about you. they say, "well, if you want a firm bed you can lie on one of those, if you want a soft bed you can lie on one of those." we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. welcome to the ultimate sleep number event. not just

. >> reporter: counsel member jim graham is chairman of the committee. he wants to know why safe guards weren't in place to stop thomas from stealing. >> all it would have taken was elementary grantsmanship to catch all of this. if somebody had a properly proposal, proper report, monitoring, auditing, had any of that happen, and every foundation knows how to do that, this wouldn't have happen. >> reporter: some have called for the organization to be done away with. but graham says he's not ready to call for that yet. >> well, it has to be modified, i think. and i'm not quite sure what my views are on that yet, because i really want the public input on that. >> reporter: graham says the hearing monday won't strictly focus on the scam harry thomas was able to pull off. but graham won't rule out calling for a special hearing on that matter in the future. >>> two prince george's firefighters are in critical but stable condition tonight. they are two of seven firefighters injured during a fire this week. family members say sorell breathed in super heated air

on "morning joe" today, evangelist franklin graham, reverend billy graham's son, fast doubts on whether president obama is a christian. >> by your definition, he's not a christian? >> you have to ask him. i cannot answer that question for anybody. >> 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. >> reporter: two years ago, the president visited an ailing billy graham. at the national prayer breakfast three weeks ago, he spoke about it. >> reverend graham started praying for me as he had for so many presidents before me. and when he finished praying, i felt the urge to pray for him. >> reporter: today, the white house dismissed franklin graham's comments saying the president had just talked at the prayer breakfast about the importance of faith in his life. mitt romney's faith was also questioned today by franklin graham. >> most christians would not recognize mormonism as part of the christian faith. >> reporter: the last time he ran for president, romney tried to put the mormon i

republican politics with senators john mccain and lindsey graham. plus their recent trip to afghanistan. >>> then the rapid increasing gas prices. how high and how long with the former ceo of shell oil. i'm candy crowley. and this is "state of the union." >>> the afghan government says the man who killed two american soldiers inside a highly secured government african building is an intelligence officer. hamid karzai has offered condolences of the families of the four americans killed since news that u.s. personnel apparently inadvertently burned copies of the koran at an air base in afghanistan. karzai called for calm in his country but insisted the u.s. must prosecute those responsible for burning the muslim holy book. joining me from kabul, u.s. achl bass door to afghanistan, ryan crocker. mr. ambassador, let me ask you first, the u.s., over more than ten years, has spent half a trillion dollars in afghanistan, almost 2,000 american lyes have been lost. and the american people wake up this morning to find that two high military officers sitting i

efrem graham has the story. >> reporter: call it lin sanity, no. 17 jeremy lin has new york nicks fans cheering again. >> drive and! >> the new york phenomenon crew up in california. graduated from harvard and first taiwanees decent in nba. >> he is headline news, tv, internet, radio stations, he is huge. >> playing the game is a dream come true for a 23 year old. >> god is faithful and we are trying to enjoy everything right now. >> at 6 foot 3, new nba player still sleeps on his brother's couch in new york. he went undrafted until the coach gave him a shot. >> he is a solid guy. he was the same guy coming here early and fighting for a 10-day contract. >> lin has a guaranteed contract but a hard that remained as humble as it was before the lin sanity. >> have faith in whatever circumstances i am going through and grow as a person and learn and become tougher and at the same time grow in my relationship with god. that is what i try to focus on. >> efrem graham, cbn news. >> amazing. >> i have been talking to my friends in taiwan through facebook. all the postings from the facebook folk

billy graham's son making some provocative comments about the president and mitt romney. is it here? there's a report tonight that debris from the japanese earthquake has arrived on the west coast of the united states. the rally. the dow cracks 13,000, but what does it really mean for millions of americans struggling to keep their heads above water and gas in the tank these days? and a time bomb for baby boomers. a big health warning tonight about what they're calling a silent epidemic and how it can escape detext. "nightly news" begins now. >>> good evening. it didn't take long for the issue that loomed so large in the last presidential election to kind its way to the headlines in this election. religion. the president's religion, the religion of his challenger, especially mitt romney's mormonism was front and center again today, helped along by the remarks this morning on live television by the son of the most famous preacher in america. we have two reports tonight, before we hear from peter alexander on the campaign trail in michigan. we begin with nbc's andrea mitchel

senator graham?ll, the strategic partnership agreement that we're trying to negotiate with the afghan government is very important. it's the last card to be played. what we're trying to do is have an enduring political, economic, and military relationship. the hope is after 2014 to have somewhere around 20,000 troops, several air bases, special forces units and air power so the taliban can be permanently defeated the afghan security forces will always have the help of the u.s. american military to ensure that afghanistan never fails. this episode with the koran burning is terrible to watch. ambassador crocker is guided right, keep your eye on the ball, is it very sad that four americans would lose their lives because of an inadvertent burn everythingi ing of the koran. there is a lot of sensitivity to islamic religion but it's a dangerous place. they're not choir boys being held there. president karzai's insisting that we turn over all 3,044 prisoners to the afghan legal system as part of the strateg

franklin graham did say he believed both rick santorum and newt gingrich were christians.fter being pressed about president obama, here's what graham said -- >> president obama, the muslims of the world -- he seems to be more concerned about them than the christians that are being murdered in the muslim countries. that's what bothers me. >> for mitt romney, graham said most christians would not recognize mormonism. but he believes romney would be a good president if he got the nominati nomination. >>> it will be the first museum on the mall in years. wendy rieger joins us now. wendy? >> reporter: vance, this is going to be so cool. you have to get this on your radar. the groundbreaking is tomorrow. this is the tent where they're going to have president obama, former first lady laura bush and all the dig tenitaries will be e tomorrow morning. it's right in the shadow of the washington monument. but, boy, oh, boy, when this thing is done, it is going to be something to see. thanks to the designer, this wonderful guy, david oji is this wonderful architect. he's a rock star ar

listen here to franklin graham, the son of the reverend billy graham, when asked on msnbc just this morning if he can say categorically that the president is not a muslim. >> i can't say categorically, because islam has gotten a free pass under obama. >> how so? >> well, we see the arab spring. coming out of the arab spring the islamists are taking control of the middle east. barack obama is an incredible man. he's got a lot of ability. and he's got the power of the white house. he could be speaking to these countries right now demanding that they protect the christians in those countries. and he's been quiet about it. >> cnn chief white house correspondent jessica yellin joins us from washington. jess, you asked the white house press secretary, jay carney, about franklin graham's comments this morning. what did he say? >> reporter: well, john, he essentially dismissed the entire question and tried to stave up the fight. he said that he asked the president -- he talked to the president this morning. and "amazingly the president didn't address the franklin graham comments". and he said that

so here we are, this was franklin graham on "morning joe" going there as rick santorum did.et's talk about the president's faith. bringing up the question of the muslim issue, that was long resolved and reinjecting jeremiah wright. >> long resolved despite the number of people that still think that he is a muslim. it's incredible. the other thing is that it was probably legitimate more to talk about jeremiah wright four years ago because people did not know who obama was. one way that candidates use religion is sort of shorthand, this is a candidate that i do not know, but if i know his religious belief, it gives me a sense of his character. >> isn't it a way to define someone as other, outside the mainstream, not quote american, but not only his name but his k kenyan father. >> there was ministers at a time, where there was problems with protestants and catholics that try to do the same to kennedy. >> jimmy carter was a bit controversial because he was the first reborn, avowed reborn candidate that we knew about, and was teaching sunday school and was deeply religious and d

you never met graham green. >> right. >> rose: and this is not so much... you tell me. this is so much what? >> it's a mystery. i could give you lots of reasons and lots of things that we have in common but i don't think the things we have in common would explain it. i grew up in oxford, the same street next to which he lived. i went to classic english boarding schools he went through. because of those classic english boarding schools i'd never been good at settling down and i've found my way to saigon, havana, paraguay. and i've always been interested in the complexity as he famously was. and yet i think the power of affinity lies outside. you walk into a room, see a stranger and somehow you feel as if you know her better than the people you came to. >> rose: you feel that way about graham greene. >> i do and i feel he knows me better than my friends and family do somehow. >> rose: because of what he writes? >> that's right. and because of some shared patterns in our behavior. >> rose: the shared patterns having to do with the trail that you just described. >> partly s

franklin graham, son of the wonderful billy graham. again questioning whether president obama really is a christian, saying his policies favor muslims and throwing in the fact that muslims think he's one of their brothers, a fellow muslim. what is this about? you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] what makes you trust a company? wait -- scratch that -- what makes you trust a car insurance company? a talking animal? a talking character? a talking animal character? how fancy their commercials are, maybe? or how many there are? well what about when a company's customers do the talking? esurance customers are saying stuff like "awesome" and "rockin'." and they aren't even paid to. fancy that. esurance. insurance for the modern world. click or call. >>> rick santorum and mitt romney continue to fight it out for the nomination. we're talking about that tonight. what a new survey of registered republicans and independent voters asked who should be the vice presidential running mate? topping the list is florida senator ma

diane graham got a call."no," she didn't know how to respond to "yes." >> graham: the manager called me. you know, he gave me the brief details. "we'd like to have you on board, like to start monday." and i... i really froze on the phone. and i think he... he sensed it, because he said to me, "you know, you take few minutes to think about it and call me back." and i... and when i hung up the phone, i'm like, "is... are you crazy? what do i have to think about?" i was just really, really in shock. i was just not expecting it all. >> good to see you. >> pelley: she's working at lex products, which makes power systems for industry. >> graham: being in the hustle bustle of everybody going to work-- i missed that. i truly missed it. >> pelley: it's not just about a paycheck. >> graham: no. no, no. wherein, in the past, it might have been, but this has become about my dignity. >> pelley: and at the end of his internship, frank o'neill heard from the boss. you just got a new job. >> o'neill: yes, i did. brings a smi

billy graham. why is that significant? well, because billy graham is a major evangelical leader in this country. he has met with every u.s. president since harry truman. in 2010, he even met with and prayed with president obama, yet today, graham's son refused to call the president a christian. >> do you by live that president obama is a christian? >> well, i think you have to ask president obama. he has said he is a christian, so i just have to assume that he is. >> you stated in the past the president is a christian as much as he goes to church on sunday but you don't know if he has accepted jesus christ. do you still believe that? >> i mean, i don't know. >> so, therefore, by your definition, he is not a christian? >> again, you have to ask him. i cannot answer that question for anybody. >> franklin graham is not gonna answer that question for anybody? anybody? well, except for rick santorum. >> do you believe that rick santorum is christian? >> oh, i think so. i believe that he is. i think he i

franklin graham. son of billy graham. again questioning whether president obama really is a christian saying his policies favor muslims and throwing in the fact that muslims think he's a fellow muslim. what is this about? you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. the past is a powerful t. but we couldn't simply repeat history. we had to create it. introducing the 2013 lexus gs, with leading-edge safety technology, like available blind spot monitor... [ tires screech ] ...night view... and heads-up display. [ engine revving ] the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen >>> rick santorum and mitt romney continue to fight it out for the nomination. we're talking about that tonight. what a new survey of registered republicans and independent voters asked who should

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