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

he called jeffress a moron today.candidates like michele bachmann and herman cain, they pretty much are dodging the question. what do you make of that? >> i think that the problem is if michele bachmann or herman cain or rick perry or any one of those came out and said mitt romney's religion is not a cult. mitt romney is part of christiandom, then they would lose votes in the south and the tea party voters. and it would hurt them. they're parsing their language very carefully. they're being careful to defend him and say it's not a cult. that's the careful step they're taking. >> perry released this campaign ad today. let's look at it. >> if it's good for massachusetts and working in massachusetts why wouldn't you apply it to the rest of the country? >> i would. >> romney has flip-flopped on so many issues. >> i didn't change my mind. >> we'll end up with a nation that's taking a mandate approach. >> there's a lot of reasons not to elect me. >> he's right. >> well, yes, that is my voice that they used in there. i don't

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 joins us at the top of the show. romney's religion has always been a potential achilles heel for him. the other candidates don't have to make an issue of it. they may well not want to. well, tonight, how religion could determine who wins the presidential nomination of the republican party. plus, with each passing day, those occupy wall street protests are gaining momentum. top republicans dismissed the demonstrators as mobs. we'll hear from both friend and foe, tonight. and is it possible that president obama isn't very good at politics? you know, the people, person-to-person kind. that's the question posed by a "washington post" reporter who says the president has a problem beyond the economy. people. he doesn't enjoy meeting with people, the story says, he endures them. it's an odd position for a president to be in. to put himself in. and let me finish tonight with my views on the matter of religion and public office. we start with religion in politics, and with me now is pastor robert jeffress of the first baptist

to cut ties with jeffress over the catholic comments?erry now have to cut ties with jeffress over the catholic comments? bill donohue with the center of the catholic league. and he's calling for perry to make a break with the pastor. you're thoughts about these two. it seems like the word cult comes to mind quickly with this guy to his lips. >> well, the word cult obviously bespeaks a certain ignorance on the part of jeffress, which may be corrected through education. but when he basically says the catholic church is infected by satan, that's not something you're going to affect by education. that's a deep-seated visceral bigotry, and it has to be renounced by rick perry. i'm making it very clear. i don't hold perry accountable for these remarks. in fact, i was told on a good trusted source today, my friend tony perkins, who's an eminently decent evangelical, that perry had no knowledge of this nor woe countenance this. so i want to make that separation. on the other hand, what jeffress said is despicable, and perry i think for his own g

jeffress can say what he wants.eeds to be stronger than he has been in saying he has no part of this. this is, after all, the guy he asked to introduce him. >> neither did michele bachmann when asked about it. none of the other republicans other than jon huntsman -- >> he has a higher obligation to distance himself from this comment that comes from one of his supporters. >> would it surprise you to learn mike huckabee has written the forward to reverend jeffress's book that's coming out? >> i saw governor huckabee talk about the fact he knows reverend jeffress, but he was clear in distancing himself from the comments. >> he was ex-tolling the praises of this new book, the fact he was blunt and not politically correct in this book. >> i don't know anything about the book. i know his comments about religion and politics were beyond the pale, governor perry and for that matter other candidates should denounce those comments and make it clear that's not how we pick candidates in america based on religious affiliation. >

>> jeffress's comments stirred controversy among other conservativ conservatives. >> pastor jeffress, do not give voice to bigotry. do not give voice to bigotry. >> romney's mormon faith was an issue in the last campaign, prompting the 2007 speech while he will be true to his belief they will not dictate his presidency. it's an issue of particular concern to many evangelical voters. according to the public religion institute, almost 60% of white evangelicals believe mormonism is not a christian religion. romney have high profile supporters, he still hasn't caught on at the evangelical grass roots. neither as perry who has been touting his faith so much so that per's wife told supporters she believes he has come under unfair attacks. herman cain who said he is a conservative christian is making a play for voters with several recent faith-based stops including a book signing at the late jerry falwell's liberty university. evangelicals are a key constituency especially in the primary season. in 2008, 44% of republican primary voters were self-identified evangelicals. several early voting

he is a true conservative and he is a general follower of jesus christ. >> reporter: backstage, jeffress made his views on romney's faith clear. >> mormonism is not christianity, it always has been considered a cult by the mainstream of christianity. >> reporter: jeffress opened up an old divide, while other christian faiths rely solely on biblical scripture, mormonism also follows the revelations of the church's founder, joseph smith. >> evangelicals, many of them, have a theological beef with the church of latter day saints. >> reporter: perry says he does not agree with jeffress. later at the same conference, romney called for unity from social conservatives. >> poisonous language doesn't advance our cause. >> reporter: this isn't the first time romney had to defend his faith. as a candidate in 2007, he tried to assure conservative doubters. >> if i'm fortunate to become your president, i will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest. >> reporter: but experts say that this year the economy dominates, and the faith question may take a back seat. >> this is

his name is reverend robert jeffress. you may recognize that name and face. jeffress introduced governor rick perry at the conservative values voter summit in washington, d.c. he was critical of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints and told our jim acosta and others that morm ononism is cult. >> you created a stir because in talking to reporters, you said in pretty strong plain language what you think of mormonism. you describe it as a cult. and you say that if a republican votes for mitt romney, they're giving credibility to a cult. to you stand fwby that comment? >> absolutely. that is the historic position of evangelical christianity. we have officially labelled mormonism as a couple. i think those born again followers of christ should prefer a competent christian to a competent nonchristian like mitt romney. that's why i'm enthusiastic about rick perry. >> what do you say to voters who say religion, his mormonism shouldn't be an issue? he's just as american as anybody else? >> i agree he's just american as

but with pastor jeffress, are you going to accept his endorsement of the governor?governor want the endorsement of folks who call mormonism a cult? >> i'm not sure we can do anything about that. we get support from all kinds of folks. i think what you need to pay attention to is what the governor has to say. he made his position clear. this in our view is a distraction from the issues at hand. the economy, job creation, and is not a constructive debate to be having right now. >> is it fair to say we won't see pastor jeffress as a surrogate for the perry campaign? that we won't see him introducing governor perry at future events? >> well, that introduction was determined by voters. we didn't know he was going to make those remarks which happened, by the way, after it. unrelated. again, we want to get back to job creation, economy, and the governor's conservative record and not be distracted by those issues. which really aren't good for anybody. >> i want to go to the economy here. this is what mitt romney had to say about governor perry and his economic record. >> th

to cut ties with jeffress over the catholic comments?he word "cult" shows soming in accordance on his part, but may be credibilitied by education. but that's not something you're -- that's a deep-seeded visceral bigotry, and has to be renounced by rick perry. i'm making it very clear. i don't hold perry accountable for these remarks. in fact i was told on a good trusted source, my friend tony perkins, an imminently decent evangelic evangelical, that perry had no knowledge of this, and would not countenance this. and i think he should say i want nothing to do with this guy again. >>> the pugh research center has found the following. 76% of evangelical protestant leaders view them in a favorable light, that's a pretty healthy, 76%, so in terms of the attitudes of even the most fundamentalist preachers out there, they don't have a negative attitude toward the catholic church. so whether the word "cult" has made its rounds or not, it is not a nasty attitude, like i think their attitude is toward mormonism. but your thought about that, bill?

jeffress's message.ian 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 christia

and so there are consequences to what reverend jeffress had to say over the weekend.f you characterize mormonism as a cult, if you characterize buddhism, per se, as a cult, out of the mainstream of so-called christianity, i think that's problematic, especially in a country where we're built on religious tolerance. if you're wrapping yourself in the constitution, it becomes problematic if you then say that, you know, certain other religions, not like yours, can't inhabit the white house. >> okay. i'm glad you said that, because what would happen? they said, this is something that's not important to the american people. you heard what michele bachmann told our candy crowley. people are not talking about this now, or that's not important, what she said, to the american people. so what would be the flip side if someone, say a christian or catholic or someone had said that about catholicism or about christianity. if someone from another religion would have said that? >> i think there certainly would have been a more severe pushback or more severe backlash against statement

. >> let me ask you about baptist pastor robert jeffress who said that mitt romney is a mormon and that people shouldn't vote for him. what are people saying about that? >> reporter: that was the talk of the town. the controversy was still simmering this morning when mitt romney spoke here and actually there's another speaker on the agenda who's speaking later today who's also criticized mormonism and said it's not a christian -- he said they don't deserve fit amendment rights. romney criticized him and took a moment to address the sort of tone of the conversation about religion. take a listen to what he said earlier. >> poisonous language doesn't advance our cause. it's never softened a single heart nor changed a single mind. the blessings of faith carry the responsibility of civil and respectful debate. we want to focus on the conservative beliefs and the values that unite us. let no agenda narrow our vision or drive us apart. >> reporter: romney not directly addressing the controversy, just kind of doing it in broad strokes. the last thing romney wants to do is talk about mormonism.

bot told lane he'd be taping an interview with pastor jeffress.candidate were a scientologist? shouldn't they want to know what the implications were that thai may flow from where they come. getting out of the message juxtaposing traditional christianity to the false god of mormonism is very important in the larger scheme of things. he's not on the perry payroll. not formally affiliated with the perry campaign. a perry spokesman tells the daily beast that it has nothing to do with the campaign. the romney campaign also refused to comment on the daily beast story. so in a moment, the political panel on whether mitt romney and the lds church are maybe being targeted by evangelicals. first, some background on the faith itself. digging deeper is tom foreman. >> reporter: in new york state in 1820, a teenaged boy went to pray in the woods about conflicts between christian churches. that's when mormon history says joseph smith had a heavenly vision, to build a new church all together. ♪ today there are 14 million mormons. the core in utah where smith's

i say him because at this point with jeffress tied to perry sms this is something the perry campaign is going to have to deal with. >> woodruff: you're saying that perry is on the spot. >> i think to a degree. it's also a news cycle story as well. maybe it's more than one news cycle. probably a couple. >> woodruff: let's talk about the role of mormonism. we mentioned this that piece just now that mitt romney did address his mormonism in the last campaign. has he talked about it in this campaign? >> you know, he really hasn't. i spoke to him in 2007 when he was governor of massachusetts. he was just getting ready to run in 2008. he did talk about it. as a matter of fact he talked about it at length with me. but in this campaign in 2012 it hasn't come up at all until this... these comments by the pastor. look, i mean, i think mitt romney and his campaign would be the first to admit that that's the way it should be. in other words this shouldn't come up. it's a been there done that story. this has been vetted, if you will, if that's the correct word in 2008. now with the economy taking

ref jend jeffress said, he's a man of good character. mitt romney is talking about being married to one wife, his wife, ann, she does the best job of being a parent to these five children. so this is a man who is much more mainstream. >> now, you've used offshoot of the mormon faith and karen has used the aspect the of the mormon faith that is controversial, too. look, i think it's a valid question to ask of mitt romney but you are hereby putting his mormon faith and is it going to dictate how he is as a public servant into the mix here as they did with jack kennedy or and i think it's a valid one to raise with mit rom romney. in my view, you take the man who has lived his life and his public life. there is nothing that he has done on tour, in his public life, because he's a mormon. the fact that he's a good family man, five children, 16 grandchildren, if that comes out of the mormon faith, people are going to say, hey, that crowd is okay. >> and if he should be the nominee of the republican party, i hope folks will, for once and for all

back in new hampshir also took aim at jeffress. >> i think that any campaign that associates itself with that type of conduct is beneath the officer of president of the united states in my view. >> i just don't believe that that kind of divisiveness based upon religion has a place in this country. i would call upon governor perry to repud i can't tell the remarks made by that pastor. >> a perry spokesman called romney's request an attempt to change the subject from issues like his health care plan noting that perry disagreed with the perry's remarks and that jeff fres oig speaks for himself. in an exclusive interview, christie dismissed any idea that his endorsement was an exchange for a spot on the romney ticket. >> did he promise you anything? >> absolutely nothing. >> vice president christie? >> no. >> no? >> no, he didn't promise me anything. >> would he be on your short list? >> of course he would be on anyone's short list. he may take himself off the list and say no way, he'd have no interest, but the truth is that governor christie is one of the leading figures in the republican p

. >> reporter: dallas pastor robert jeffress calls mormonism a cult and mormons not true christians. and at a recent conference introduced perry this way. >> he is a genuine follower of jesus christ. >> i just don't believe that that kind of divisiveness has a place in this country. >> reporter: romney had been reluctant to discuss his religion in this campaign. no more. >> i would call upon perry to repudiate the sentiment and the remarks made by that pastor. >> reporter: perry's campaign told me today, all of this is just a distraction that governor perry has already said he does not believe mormonism is a cult and feels no need to repudiate anything else said by pastor jeffress. diane? >> all right, jon karl reporting in from washington tonight. >>> and it is decision day for president obama's jobs bill. he's been calling on congress to put the $447 billion bill up for a vote. and tonight, the president gets his wish, in the senate. it will be up for a vote. he met with his jobs council today in pittsburgh and called tonight's vote a moment of truth, though even some democrats are