he's very mormon. jon huntsman is also mormon but to a different kind of way. it's almost like "oh yeah, and he's mormon, too." and so i think it will be interesting to watch to see if huntsman actually goes anywhere whether or not he will face the same sort of mormon scrutiny that romney has. >> why should he be considered not as great a mormon as romney? >> well, i think it's mostly because people just don't know much about him or don't even know who he is. i think he's a relative unknown. it's not that he's any less devout or any less of a good mormon that romney. but, romney, i think took the brunt of the anti-mormon sentiment. >> but i also think romney was a real leader in the church. i think that's right. and i think this is a very important part of his identity and he's been very clear about that. >> and we should say too that while evangelicals in the primaries might say i don't know if i want to vote for a mormon, if you put a mormon up against barack obama, they're going to vote for the mormon most likely, because there's so much anti-barack obama se

romney's mormon faith remains an issue. a new poll of mormons in the u.s.hows that many feel their religion is misunderstood. close to half of those surveyed say mormons face a lot of discrimination. majority say americans know little or nothing about the mormon faith, but a majority sees a growing acceptance of mormoni mormonism. more than half say the country is ready for a mormon president. another poll shows a dramatic increase in the percentage of the americans who see tensions between the rich and more. two-thirds of americans say there's a strong or very strong conflict between these groups. that's a 20% increase from 2009. although democrats and political liberals are likely to see this conflict, the number of republicans who agree, 55%, has also grown. >>> the u.s. supreme court affirmed that religious groups have the right to hire and fire their religious leaders without government interference. the high court recognized the mintier yal acceptance to anti-discrimination laws. religious groups who can choose who will preach their beliclee and carry

chair would have the effect of promoting mormonism, of normalizing mormonism culturally both here in the united states and around the world. >> mormons are actually pretty cautious about the scrutiny that might come to faith as romney runs and if he were to win the presidency. at the same time, you know, perhaps over the course of a romney presidency, people would finally get used to the idea that mormons are fairly normal members of american society. >> reporter: the lds church has not commented on romney's campaign because it doesn't want to appear to be interfering in the election. however, the church has released a series of ads highlighting the variety of people who hold the mormon faith. this primary season, romney has avoided direct discussion of the faith issue. he has been doing a lot of outreach to evangelicals. >> i am convinced that if we have a president who will tell the truth and live with integrity and who knows how to lead and rebuild an economy, who will then draw on the patriotism of the american people, we will be able to restore those values and keep america as i

mormonism scared some people because it's exotic and nothing exotic about mitt romney. chris: let's -- it seems to me that rick perry is the wenl one who might be playing this -- is the only one who might be playing this but he does play the christian aspect of his background. he did it in iowa and does it everywhere. is that an overt appeal to anti-mormon thinking do you think or any what i no say that? >> i don't know if it's an overt appeal to anti-mormon thinking. should be appealing to christians. that makes sense. politically for him. he is the best fit on paper for evangelical christian voters. i don't think it's working for him particularly well right now at the moment. chris: interesting, we should remind people who have any concern about this, to think about the fact that harry reid, the leader of the democrats, is a mormon. people like scowcroft who are realists in foreign policy as opposed to the knee poe cons and all -- the neocons and all the differently political perspectives. >> and right now, massachusetts, calling him a massachusetts moderate. that's w

automatic i'm mormon, check that box. >> harry reid is mormon, too. they have completely different political believes. so it's not an automatic. >> we believe people want to be judged by the works of their hands. the proof. >> now, mitt romney is not the only mormon running for president. republican john huntsman is also in the race. and it's expected that both will be heavily scrutinized as we get to the south carolina primary on january 21st. we're live tonight, nbc bay area news. >> okay, george, thank you. like father, maybe like son. the raider's new owner made his first public comments today about the state of the franchise. and the franchise might be on the move. santa clara or los angeles. mark davis, the son of the late al davis made several bold moves today. this is mark davis right there. among them, acknowledging that he's considering moving the raiders, like his father did in the early 1980s if there's not a new stadium built in oakland. a new stadium in oakland is unlikely. davis has received offers to relocate the raiders back to l.a.,

. 62% of mormons say their fellow americans are uniformed about mormonism.early half say mormons face a lot of discrimination. for america's largest homegrown religion, this could be a moment to change that. you feel at home in america, in the american religious life? >> i do. >> reporter: david buckner is a mormon, father of five, business consultant and head of the mormon church in manhattan. what do you say to people in america, who don't know a lot about your faith? and say, it's not christianity? >> you hear it in the media. you hear a lot of people inquiring, are you a christian? and i simply say, we follow christ. we have his name at the center of who we are. pretty much makes us christian. >> reporter: and what about the worship practices? temples off-limits to outsiders, where secret services are performed. the temples are for a few special ceremonies like marriages. like so many, he is proud of his faith, even as it stands apart. do you think that your faith is accepted as mainstream american religious practice by the rest of america? >> there is n

at the same time mormons think acceptance of mormonism may be on the rise and they tell us they do thinklic may be ready to elect a mormon president. >> reporter: almost all of those questioned in a survey identified their religion as christians but it's a source of tension. 50% say evangelicals are unfriendly towards them. separately pugh found white van fwel cals don't view mormonism as a christian religion. 57% of caucus goers in iowa were van fwel cals or born again christians but only 14% support romney. it's a stark contrafrt to the 76% support he has moaning mormons. half have a favorable view of jon hauntsman. a mormon church leader in new york doesn't mind to questions. >> presidential candidates generally draw a lot more scrutiny, a lot more questioning. i know when-on kennedy ran, even when richard nixon as a quaker, those are good questions. those are questions that i do believe are elevating an inquiring an audience. >> why the mystery? >> i don't think we're very good as an open people inviting in. >> reporter: all told mormons make up less than 2% of the u.s. population. r

. -- mormon enough. if he stands on marriage has been consistently with the stance of the mormon church has been, he would have far less doubt among social conservatives. >> can you explain that once again? >> the mormon church is absolutely committed to the pro- life cause. it is also absolutely committed to a traditional marriage. i get same-sex marriage as they demonstrated with their tremendous systems in the california vote. been --y's position had one of his faith, there would be fewer doubts about him among social conservatives. >> i want to broaden the discussion for a little bit to talk about the current political environment out there. south carolina -- 60% are evangelicals. we know south carolina has been hit hard by the economic recession. the unemployment rate is in the double digits in some places. what role has the economy plate in the way that social conservatives are viewing their choice for a nominee and is that the real central tension here for many? they want a candidate who can talk

the voices cheering the loudest for mitt romney are mormons like mitt, and they're mormons named romney. it's a little known fact there's a whole branch of mitt's family in mexico including his second cousin, layton romney. >> i think he has a good chance of getting the nomination. >> layton is only one of 40 romney relatives here descended from religious pioneers that arrived in 1885. mitt has said and written almost nothing about them over the years. one of his rare quotes, that they left the u.s. to escape persecution for her religious beliefs. in fact, mitt's great-grandfather led that first expedition to escape not persecution but prosecution for polygamy, what mormons called plural marriage. his fifth wife later followed in her own harrowing covered wagon journey. it was the union of miles and han than that planted the romney family tree in mexico. down one branch mitt's grandfather and his mexican born father george, later a two-term michigan governor that ran for president in 1968 and asserted because both his parents were american born, his birthplace didn't matter. >> there's

mormon history in the 1800s when mormonism was born, there was a lot of persecution and mormons werethe run from state to state to avoid the persecution, and tithing became a way to sustain itself when it was on the run and it remains this way today so that the day-to-day church operations are funded, new temples are funded, by tithing, and it's a really important value that's very old in the church. >> wow. that was definitely an interesting read. dan, thanks so much. if you haven't had a chance to look at dan's article, it's on our belief blog at cnn.com/belief. >>> one year after a gunshot wound to the head, arizona congresswoman gabby giffords is casting a vote on capitol hill and then resigning her seat. she says she wants to focus on fully recovering from her brain injury. cnn's kate bolduan on the hill where law makers are honoring her right now this morning, kate? >> reporter: hey there, kyra. it will be a very emotional and probably very heartfelt send-off for congresswoman gabrielle giffords this morning, and it will all be happening in just really the next few minutes. how

they are mormon. some by birth and others not so much. mormons are less than 2% of the u.s. population. to the other 98%, it is a source of mystery, a source of suspicion or comedy. written by the creators of south park, meet the mormons is a smash hit musical on broadway. so let's explore this a little bit. susan henry is a dean of the chapel and religious light right here in atlanta and coordinates student religious groups from all of the major faiths. so, doctor, why don't we know -- thank you for coming in. >> thank you. >> why don't we know more about mormonism? >> it's one of the knewer traditions in america and i think that has a lot to do with some of the mystery and misunderstanding and some of the discrimination around mormonism. >> and that's why it is a mystery, is it just because of the unknown or -- >> i think it's -- yeah, a lot of it ha has to do with the unknown and many don't have friends who are mormon. >> do we have the same feelings, though, about other religions? if they are unknown to us, is there something unique about mormonism? >> sometimes we do an

he went off to mormon mission in france. he was at brigham young university, the world of private equity he was in was a pretty closed circle type of world. it's not like he ran for the city council and he was mayor and he's a glad hander, he's anything but in the way he's lived most of his life. as a result of that, it has been difficult for him to connect and it is one of the great challenges that he has in running for president, translating the way his friends see him to the way he comes across in public. obviously he's a man of great wealth. his background is in business in which he earned tens of millions of dollars at times. you just try to relate to the average person and when he does so, it comes off awkwardly. even his closest friends would acknowledge he didn't have a typical life growing up, it is not something he's used to doing and that is a challenge for him. >> so much in the news this week regarding the romney campaign has to do with money. 15% estimated income tax rate. the reporting of offshore accounts in

you know, you're a mormon, as well. he was mormon, he is a devout mormon. he is mormon leadership.hat race speech, mitt romney did a speech about religion. even in that speech, he only mentioned the word mormon once. you run through it. so, why that strategy? is that something that is going to backfire? doesn't have to be a, let's talk about it, people, so we can move on. >> i asked that question a lot of times. what is it about mormonism or recommends somebody to be president of the united states? i will lay out the case of the things you learn as a mormon that will serve you. >> like what things? >> service, accountability, personal responsibility and owning a piece of the rock and being responsible for what you do. those kind of things. if he could sell that, i'll get through that explanation and reporters will say, why the heck won't he talk about that? we never hear of that kind of thing. >> the real problem is this race moves south to south carolina and then down into the deeper south. evangelicals reject mormonism in large part. 40% of evangelicals say they know someone who

at the same time mormons also tell us that they think acceptians of mormonism may be on the rise, andic may be ready to elect a mormon president. >> gregory smith is a researcher with with the pew forum. almost all questioned identified their religion as christians, but it's a source of tension. 50% say evan yell cass are unfriendly to them. is in iowa, mitt romney didn't have evangelical support. 57% of caucus-goers were evangelical or born-again christians, but only 14% of them supported romney. it's a stark contrast to the 86% he has among mormons. only half has a favorable view of jon luntman. david buckner, a mormon church leader in new york, doesn't mind of questions. >> candidates draw a loss more scrutiny and questions. when john kennedy ran, even when richard nixon, as a quaker -- those are good questions, those are questions that i do believe are elevating an inquire audience. what does this mean? who are these folks? >> why is it a mystery? >> i don't think that we're very good as an open people inviting in. >> reporter: all told, mormons make up less than 2% of the entire

this time around, we've another mormon hit, the broadway musical "book of mormon."ven though the forum reports that about a quarter of americans still have a negative opinion of the mormon faith, it seems like we've come a long way. we have two catholics and two mormons running in the gop field. wow, that's a field that would have been unrecognizable when this man ran for president. >> my judgment is that an american who is a catholic, who is as sensitive as a catholic must be who seek this is high office has exposed to the pressures which swirl around us that he will be extremely diligent in his protection of the constitution of separation. >> john f. kennedy didn't think his religion should have anything to do with whether he could lead. when he was elected, america overcame a huge hurdle. think about three and a half years ago when mitt romney was still trying to overcome stereotypes about mormonism, america overcame another hurdle with race. >> my general attitude is that whether you're white, black, hispanic, asian, whatever demographic you come from, we all ha

host: "the financial times" has an article about what mormons believe -- harry reid is a mormon. victor is an independent, you are on start. caller: have a question regarding the 15% tax return from dividend my question is -- how does he explain where balance this against in come -- warren buffett also earns mainly from in comes. warren buffett's secretary is paying more taxes than he doesthe bain history -- the white house chief of staff selected recently as a previous bain execs. how you balance these two positions, the 15% and debate bain history for the white house chief of staff? as a citizen, i have no issue with the president being a mormon, thank you. host: as is our last call. guest: i have not reported on the latter part of that question but this is something that will be an issue for governor romney if he is the nominee. his tax right, it is not surprising he pays the tax rate because most of his gains are from capital gains and a policy of this country is the capital gains are taxed at a lower rate. there is a legitimate debate whether that is appropriate and whether

he grew up in the affluent community of broomfield hills, his father was governor and mormon and going on mison and all these things through his life and career he's had this sort of bubble and the problem has been for a long time connting with people. >> charlie: for a long time. it's not a new idea. >> he's always been a person that seems of patrition very wealthy and that's always been his challenge connecting to the average person and saying i'm the best person to represent your values and especially one from his world explaining what he did. his record at bane capital which is 15 years and we go into that at great length to give you a broader look at what he did at bane capital. frankly when you look at the ads and sound bytes and sentences but there's an interesting fuller story to tell about bane ca capita capital and we aimed to do that. >> charlie: give us a sense of where romney is today and hows he doing debates and his ability the end, this core question of authenticity and connection. >> he's had a rough 24 hours on that score i left out a couple details that are going to

mormonism is a cold and it would give credence to a cult to have a mormon candidate. all right so there have been a lot of questions as to whether his religion might affect his campaign but now check out this story that gawker is talking about today which is apparently mitt romney's militantly atheist father in law was posthumously converted to mormonism by his family despite the fact that when he was alive he regarded all religions as hogwash i was there when this is going to died and because we can now this is just sort of the tip of the iceberg if you want to get into like an unusual thing in mormonism because as everybody who has seen the book of mormon knows you have all sorts of what you could to be god of your own planet and nobody telling you that has the right you can only get to the planet if your husband gives you the keys or something and i did as you know that if there is no mystery that if we want to start grabbing like weird things and hold about people's religions and holding them against them then we you know i'm a christian and we believe when we tak

is america ready for a mormon president? a new poll shows 56% of mormons think so. they face discrimination. major garrett, congressional correspondent for the national journal is here along with father edward beck. faith and religion contributor. >> good morning. >> we have passed this test every time in our national public life. last time with john kennedy. what do you think is happening? >> i think there's suspicions around mormonism. it's a relatively new religion. it hasn't had a chance to seep in with the idiosyncrasies of the faith. you can look at newspaper articles about the prophet joseph smith and see that he was arrested, accused of fraud. there's a certain amount of secrecy. if you wanted to go to a mormon temple for a service, you could not go. people say well, why? it becomes dan brown-ish. like there's a plot they don't want us to know about. there are little things and it's problematic and people wonder why. >> it's going to be debated publicly or privately in south carolina in ways that it wasn't in iowa or new hampshire. there's going to be a plac