and keith ellison, democrat, from minnesota.e's the first muslim elected to congress and he supports the proposed islamic center and mosque. congressman king if it's not a legal question, why can't they build it? >> first of all, larry, let me make clear that the muslim community has the absolute right to build a mosque. but i think it's the wrong location. it's the wrong time. and it's insensitive. the fact is there were so many people murdered that day. and to have this 13 story, $100 million etiface constructed. certainly causing pain to many of my constituents. and to me, the fact is whether or not -- obviously, 99% of muslim-americans are outstanding americans. the fact is, this attack was carried out by an islamic force. to have that mosque that close to ground zero i think is just -- it puts salt into wounds. i think governor paterson's entirely right. i've had discussions with governor paterson. if he can make another site available, state promperty or a land swap. which would satisfy all the needs of the muslim communit

i mean keith ellison and i can talk on what is going on in congress. i think it's a moment that the president missed an opportunity. >> let me get a response from congressman ellison. the president did not pointedly address the wisdom of building this mosque. a lot have said perhaps who want the mosque to go forward should follow the examples of pop john paul ii who with a couple of nuns wanted to build a convent at auschwitz, he said, no, no, no, that is the place for jews around the world. for them that is a sacred place. so pull back. why wouldn't that be the right thing here? >> well, it's directly in'applicable, that particular example. every school kid knows that the pilgrims came to america for religious liberty. they came here to worship as they see fit. so if we -- if a group of religious adherents can be stopped from building a house of worship, then that will be a suffering blow for religious liberty in our country. it will be a setback for the idea that you can worship as you see fit in america. now that is a deeply rooted and important amer

going to be obscured by those sorts of divisions. 6 >> an actual member of the professional left, keith ellison, told my colleagues he thought it would be appropriate for rangel to step down because of the comments. then i have a different question on the other topic. >> i don't think there's any danger of that. >> the other question is, there's a vote on the democratic primary in colorado. the white house has been adamant in backing senator michael bennett. if he were to lose tonight, how would that not be interpreted as -- >> hypothetical. >> i haven't even finished the question. >> you already had the conditional sense of a verb. >> i guess i'll go to a different topic. a week ago, robert gates said he didn't want to weigh in on the issue no new york city, it was too local. we now have national figures from both parties, including the majority of potential candidates in the republican party weigh in on the issue. how come you're so reluctant to offer an opinion from the white house about the cultural and religious debate in this country? >> this is an issue that's been thought through, it's