one factor for some voters is romney's mormon religion, 36% of voters say the mormon religion is not christian. and pollsters say that probably indicates a bias against voting for a mormon. in polls this spring, about 15% of voters said they would definitely rule out voting for him because he is a mormon. back in 1928, of course, the first catholic running for president, new york governor al smith, was soundly defeated. cartoons like this, there it is, showing him bowing to the pope were considered acceptable. well, jack kennedy's religion was much discussed when he considered running for president, but kennedy was optimistic that things had changed since al smith's run in 1928. >> do you think that our country has changed since 1928? >> there are greater comprehension. there was a great objection to the senator from the utah because he was a mormon. well, today, that question would never come up. chris: there he is looking to the future with his usual vision, jack kennedy. obviously, just to set the table here in this program today, the constitution sets no religious test nor should

at this radio station in salt lake city t heart of mormon country, a panel of mormons all the talkingut their struggles with faith. one of them is john, who studies and writes about the mormon church and homosexuality. >> there are some who can make it work long-term. >> the reeds have made a dangerous example thand he's received e-mails written by mothers asking their gay sons why they can't be like josh. >> using religion or spirituality is as a way to manage your sexual orientation by being extra righteous or faithful as a way to suppress those feels or control yourself, is the most damaging way to cope or deal with your same-sex attraction. >> reporter: while the church no longer teaches that being gay is a sin, leaders to be a good mormon you can never act on those feels. since josh has a private practice as a counselor, the biggest concern is that he was trying to turn gay men and convince them that a straight lifestyle is possible. >> i do not try to change people's sexual orientation. my assumption going into it is that their sexual assault probably will not shift. >> reporter

talk about how diverse the mormonism community is? >> most mormons don't live in utah. the united states. several years ago, the church passed the point where there were more members outside of the united states than inside the country. it's a growing global faith, and with a wide variety of political beliefs and religious, you know, principles stay the same. >> let's hope this is the beginning of a longer, most thoughtful conversation about mormonism. thank you. >>> is the american south being resegregated for political gain? out front next. in the moment sa focus lolo, focus let's do this i am from baltimore south carolina... bloomington, california... austin, texas... we are all here to represent the country we love this is for everyone back home it's go time. across america, we're all committed to team usa. for their "destination wedding." double miles you can "actually" use. but with those single mile travel cards... [ bridesmaid ] blacked out... but i'm a bridesmaid. oh! "x" marks the spot she'll never sit. but i bought a dress! a toast... ...to the capital one ve

talk about how diverse the mormonism community is? >> most mormons don't live in utah.y, most mormons don't live in the united states. several years ago, the church passed the point where there were more members outside of the united states than inside the country. it's a growing global faith, and with a wide variety of political beliefs and religious, you know, principles stay the same. >> let's hope this is the beginning of a longer, most thoughtful conversation about mormonism. thank you. >>> is the american south being resegregated for political gain? out front next. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. by what's getting done. measure commitment the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economi

in fact most mormons don't live in utah.tates. several years ago the church passed the point where there were more members outside of the united states than inside the country. it's a growing global faith with a wide variety of political believes and religious principles stay the same. >> let's hope this is the beginning of a longer, more thoughtful conversation about mormonism. >> thanks for having me on. >> is the american south being resegregated for political gain? "out front" next. and never ever have to fill up gas in the city. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. the last time i went to the gas station must have been about three months ago. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. ♪ that i forget how to put gas in my car. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car on

he's been careful not to use mormonism first. >> mormons don't use the word mormon. >> fair enough. >> that's something people maybe didn't realize. that is a fact. >> he said the word "mormon" and that's something he hasn't always done. >> to the point you're making he could be defining his own narrative. part of the reason there's focus on discomfort with his wealth is they haven't given us much else. this is the first time i have heard him talk about his father to that length since the primaries. there is a narrative there. as you know, in politics, you define the narrative or it is defined for you. >> when you ran for office, did you run a bio spot? >> i had to teach people how to pronounce my name. i was a business guy before i got into politics. business people are hesitant to brag or tell their story. they are focused on results, not on how good i am, how smart i am. naturally because of his business background he says, i don't want to talk about how smart, how competent i am. i want to talk about the results i have achieved and what i can achieve pause of my experience. politi

especially with his influence in the mormon church.op in the mormon church. >> cenk: thanks, mike, i appreciate it. >> thank you. always great to be here. >> cenk: when we come back we've got a couple of stories for you guys. among the richest families in the country. they used to have the wealth of 100 million americans combined. now it's even larger. we're going to share the startling facts with you later in the program. >> allegations are that folks all the way up the chain of command all the way to arkansas knew what was going on. >> cenk: oh, yes they're involved in a lot of scandals. we'll look into that family a little bit more. then my favorite story, rush limbaugh believes that the batman creators have a conspiracy to help elect obama. wait until you find out the real facts. >> your punishment must be more severe. in your jeep grand cherokee. and when you do, you'll be grateful for the adaptive cruise control that automatically adjusts your speed when approaching slower traffic. and for the blind spot monitoring that helps rem

because before hawaii was a state, the mormons and others, but primarily mormon, came there and set upthese schools. i remember when i was president, i helped secure the release of some mormon missionaries who were in peru and had been apprehended and imprisoned by a radical group. so i just can't figure out why he doesn't do it. i think it's a mistake. he ought to do it. >> just deluge the press with all 50,000 pages or whatever it might be. >> that's what i think. >> should anything be off the table when you run for president? i guess that's the question. he said, i'm going to draw the privacy line here. do you think there's anything to that? or in this day and age, everything, whatever it might be, that you just have to accept that and put it in the public eye? >> i think that the press now, much more than in the '80s and '90s, is somewhat more sensitive to the purely personal aspects of a person's life. but things that relate to your business activities or your public activities, governor romney's case, his governorship of massachusetts, the olympics and bain capital and the taxes

while mormones are incredibly generous at a local level with time and energy and their money, the mormon you know, is taking in at least $1.2 billion through just one of the holding companies. >> the church itself knows the spotlight that is provided through mitt romney's candidacy. with religion being off the table so much in the primary now and the general itself, what was the reaction to you trying to put together this report? did you find it hard? >> well, yeah. it was hard. it was a lot of research. but the church leaders were actually quite gracious in talking with me and helping me set up an interview one of the ceo's of the holding companies. and, yeah, it wasn't easy. it wasn't easy and there were a lot of questions that went unanswered. and there is a very low level of transparency even from mormons. and what is interesting i actually have been getting a lot of e-mails from mormons saying it's interesting that we have to come to your publication to learn how our church operates. >> it was a fascinating read. thank you so much. appreciate it. >> we're going to be right back with

mitt romney used to be a bishop in the mormon church.mon church did not allow blacks to be priests until 1978. is it a corn at all to the naacp members, but bishop romney never stood up to the discriminatory practices of his church. >> that goes to the question of the heart again. if you're bishop of any church, it doesn't matter, god looks at the heart and not on the head. where your heart is there be your treasure also. there is a saying that the apple does not fall far from the tree. mitt romney's father was also a mormon. he was a former governor of michigan. unfortunately, this apple has not only fallen there the tree rolled down the hill, and now is somewhere in the gully. we can't find where it is. the bottom line is, yes we believe he should have spoken out against that. yes we believe he should have greater sensitivity to the needs not only of african-americans but all people of color. he did not do that. we're not labeling romney one thing or another. we're looking at mr. romney's policies. his policies have not been heart cent

>> i am an active mormon on a mission for the mormon church and worked for the cia. then broke out to into the financial world. married, children, saved enough money to move to london where we bought a flat to and have been to 71 countries. primary source of income is my investment newsletter i have been writing since the 1880. i teach economics in business -- business and now mercy college. i should mention we have the film festival. we really enjoy it. >> what did you do for the cia? >> i was an economist with commodities but the cia was due bureaucratic. i was involved with the financial revolution part of the inflation survivable other that is much more establishment name we started with ronald reagan and it has been a great ride. i consider myself a survivor but i maintain my contacts. they are a good source and the cia does everything. research on everything. >> we invite did you to talk about "the making of modern economics" the lives and ideas of the great thinkers." but this is the second edition? >> 2001. came out the first one but it took me five years to

is she a mormon?ink you were allowed to go to a mormon church if you're not mormon. >> that's an important point. the mormon church does welcome visitors. casey hunter is not mormon as far as i know. but the reason i think there's confusion is there are mormon temples then mormon chapels. mormon chapels, there are 18,000 of them throughout the world. they're open on sundays for church and the church actually very aggressively tries to invite visitors. temples are where they have sacred ordinances and oak mormons -- and only mormons. >> bill: romney is not just a mormon. romney was a bishop. what does that mean? what do you have to pledge to become a bishop? >> well, a bishop is a lay reader of the congregation. we don't have paid pastors in the church so he was tapped at one point for a few years to be a bishop. and that is -- that's a prominent position usually given to members of the church who are successful, very faithful and willing to devote a significant amount of time to that. but you know, he

>> there's been all this speculation that mormonism might hurt him as a candidate.out 57% know that he is a mormon and it's found that an overwhelming majority of those people, 80%, found they were comfortable with it. but there's a sense of people who doesn't know he's a mormon and 10% who thinks he's some other religion. the question is once those folks find out lrks they have trouble with it. previous polls suggest that might. those who know less about romney and don't know he's a mormon are more likely to have trouble with his religion when they find out. >> dan, i want you to stay right there. we're going to switch gears after this commercial break and talk about the aurora shootings. also you can hear mitt romney's full speech in the next hour on cnn. >>> as i mentioned, 12 people died in the theater. some are asking where god was on that friday night. [music] see life in the best light. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. experience life well lit, ask for transitions ada

we've seen a bit of the spearing of the mormon church.he mormon church demonized black people. that isn't true. they didn't allow black men to serve in the priesthood until 1978. if they had that law in race, we would say that they're racist, but they don't so we don't. but women can't hold the priesthood in the mormon church, nor in my catholic faith. you don't hear anyone calling mitt romney sexist. >> cenk: if president obama had sat in a black church, as they say, reverend wright, black whatever they call it liberation theology or whatever it is. >> reverend wright who went to vietnam when mitt was in bordeaux, france. >> cenk: if he had sat in a church until 1978 that did not allow white clergy, what would they have said? now mitt romney stayed and was a leader in a religion "z" that did not allow black clergy in 1978. >> no, he was a younger man. he said when he heard the news he pulled over to the side of the road and wept. >> cenk: i don't believe him for a minute. >> you hear them all say the same thing. the president said he's a

mitt romney has some friends, relatives and fellow mormons. some people that are going to vote for him. that's not what the election is going to be about. it's a referendum on the president's failed policies. asked to respond from the rnc chair, he hasn't always been wild about his support for romney and a bit more refusive. >> a lot of people who know mitt romney will really, really like him and think he's an enormously generous guy. he has given incredible amounts of money to charity. there is a lot to love. the election will be a referendum on obama's policies. >> there you have it. the boehner romney thing, when this campaign got started they assumed boehner would be most comfortable with romney at the top of the ticket. a lot of concerns that romney is allowing this wealth message, if you will. to get ahold a little bit making them look out of touch with the middle class. it's political ad vote week on capitol hill. house republicans have scheduled a series of votes like repealing health care and a new defense budget that will be fodder f

she is a young fiscally conservative mormon who happens to be black and run for congress, too.tion of republicans after blowing out the competition in utah. in november, she will face a tough fight against six-term democrat jim mathisson in what has become one of the closely watched races in the country. quite a story here. >> yeah, she is quite the woman, regardless of what your politics might be. it's tough to dispute that. you may not know her name just yet, but mia love is creating quite the stir in the republican party, with buzz and excitement. and the gop long criticized for its lack of diverse 2i and inconclusiveness. a trail-running native new yorker who has adopted utah as her home and converted to mormonism. as mayor of a small town, love is set to hit the big time as she makes an historic run for congress, perhaps becoming the first republican congresswoman and the face of the gop. >> this is quite the hill. >> it gets worst. >> reporter: mia love is the running, gun o.j. gunning -- >> how's is going? >> good. >> reporter: mayor of saratoga springs outside of utah.

>> but like their father, they all went overseas on a two-year mission to spread their mormon beliefs. all of you served your church going on missions. did you ever consider serving your country by putting on a uniform and serving in the military? >> we can look at the guys that serve in the military, men and women and say that's the biggest sacrifice for country. that's nothing any of us did, but we look at them with aa tremendous amount of respect. >> ben, do you regret you never served? >> i look at my life right now, and i'm in residency and i spend aa lot of my time at the v.a. hospital. i get to work with vets who have made great sacrifices for this country and i look at their lives and hopefully i get to serve them a little bit, too. >> wow.

and half is not a mormon.we try to bridge the gap between the two but it's still kind of a live in cities in some ways and that makes selling -- >> it does make a difference, the mormon population in utah? >> absolutely. >> there was a good on mitt romney i think of the "boston globe" put out the real mitt romney. is that if you carry? >> yes. >> did it sell? >> when i say we are the ruben city, although a lot of the obvious people shot at our store politically we are probably a little more liberal than that. so it's sort of puts itself up. we body in terms of customer expectations what we know they are going to buy dubious dewitt sort of sports our inventory. we've really carried our inventory. we know what we are going to sell, we know who our customers are and by accordingly. >> miami is a world unto itself. it's a very different place. what we saw there might not sell in many other cities. we have taken -- we have a particular sensibility when you walk into our stores. miami is so diverse in so many ways t

the trail running native new yorker who has adopted utah as her home and converted to mormonism as heristoric run for congress. >> it's quite the hill. >> it gets worse. >> mia love is the running, gunning rsh how's it going? >> how are you? >> mayor of saratoga springs, a town of 20,000. >> i love it. life is just great out here. >> the 36-year-old became the republican nominee for congress in utah's fourth district. now love is running the race of her life. a win in november means she would make history. the first black republican woman ever elected to congress. but that's not what she wants to talk about. >> we're focused on color and race when you should be focused on preserving the future, preserving this country. >> you don't talk about race a lot do you? >> i don't because it doesn't define who i am. >> in a town that is more than 90% white, they don't mind either. >> her race is not an issue to me. >> the mother of three would rather be known for her brand of conservati conservatism, rooted in her mormon faith. >> i support marriage between a man and a woman. >> and her haitian

richards and robison, robison and richards, catholic evangelical, mormon, jews. americans of goodwill who understand we are a nation under god and indivisible and as such we will prevail. what an inspiring message. thank you james, thank you, jay, thank you paul eldridge for taking the gavel for a little while. we have depth and bench on this team at colorado christian university and the western conservative summit. for the entrust of the next main speaker let me welcome the honorable ambassador marilyn ware. >> thank you. i do want to comment post-script. it took me 42 years to get there to the embassy. so remain resilient and determined in what you believe. john, good to be with you and bill and eleanor armstrong, summit friends, all of us it will be my pleasure and will be yours i'm certain to introduce kt mcfarland who is a foreign affairs expert and national security expert. just by way of background you should know that kt worked in security positions for three presidents, for nixon, ford, and ronald reagan. she and i had a breakfast meeting this morning an

let me read the mormon church's response. can i -- >> no.over is in such poor case it's difficult to find the words to comment on it. sadly the cover is a reflection of the bias and speculative nature of the article itself. it is narrow and incomplete, omitting, for instance, a good deal of information given on how the church resources are used. the article misses the mark and the cover is obviously meant to be offensive to many, including millions of latter day saints. joe? >> yeah. i was -- i thought the mormon church was going to say that this cover and this story was so offensive that jon meacham could have written it for "time" magazine. god is dead and there is no santa claus. i mean, meacham, this max of meachamism and now it's spreading to this fine institution. >> it's wounding. i'm wounded by that. you know. >> wow. wow. >> i appreciate the congressman's input on that. >> yeah. >> i do think -- i do think the -- these are complicated questions. religious institutions, of all kinds, are, in fact, empires in many ways and to look at

he's a mormon. he's a believing mormon about abortion. and he's got a mom who's pro-choice.is personal experience of a woman in his family who died from an illegal abortion. and he essentially can play the issue either way. depending on which side of his heart he emphasizes. he's kind of like a running back, who just sees the defender coming and sort of steps this way, then the other way, and it's back and forth and back and forth. navigating his way through the political minefield. and that situation with the mormon church is fascinating, because he's going to a religious organization, and he's trying to tell them how he can square the position he's going to take with them, and he essentially hands them this poll, and says, my pollster says i have to say this. and you're just going to have to eat it. otherwise you won't have a member of church has a senator in massachusetts. >> you also got this -- you have this other quote from someone, a mormon feminist, actually, who was quite pleased with mitt romney's choice to be a pro-choice candidate, and she said -- this is her sto

mormons and money. new article examines how and where the church of latter day saints spends its money. is good business god's business? this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. ♪ [ acou[ barks ]ar: slow ] ♪ [ upbeat ] [ barks ] beneful playful life is made with energy-packed wholesome grains... and real beef and egg. to help you put more play in your day. i don't have to use gas. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. drive around town all the time doing errands and never ever have to fill up gas in the city. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months

that's what you see with me and glenn beck when i went to him and he said you came to me a mormon and you an evangelical protestant. you were coming a leper. a leper. but you loved me. you loved me. that's changing my life. love never, never fails! [ applause ] hope does not ride in to town on air force one. it doesn't ride on the backs of donkeys or elephants. i know the bible says some day the lion will lie down with the lamb. i wish i could have enough influence to get a donkey to lie down with an elephant. have a civil discussion so we could have better civil government. my mother took me as a boy in to poverty. i didn't have an address. we got our mail at someone else's house. when i filled out the little survey card at school, to tell about my dad, i didn't have one. i lived on the alleys. behind someone's house. on a dump, a dirty river. i bathed in the colorado. i was 5% to 10% white where i lived. wonderful thing happened. no one taught me to hate opportunity and success. no one told me that success was an enemy. and i looked out from the mire and the muck and the misery of m

>> there are certain evangelicals that won't vote for a mormon period. here's the good news for romney-- and not to stereotype folks in the country-- but the anti-mormon sentiment may be a little bit more in the southern part of the country rather than certain swing states where it be florida, ohio, michigan, colorado. whatever it happens to be. so it is a factor? yes, but there's an asterisk and i don't think it's going to make the biggest difference in the world today. >> woodruff: david brody author of the new book "the teavangelicals." thank you very much. good to have you back with us. >> thanks, judy, a pleasure. >> woodruff: so just how influential will evangelicals be this november? on our web site, read what their prominent leaders say about mitt romney. also there, you can revisit a story about social conservatives in pennsylvania. plus, use our "vote 2012" map center to see where evangelical protestants are clustered-- many in the south and rust belt. explore that data and more maps showing voter demographics online. and coming up soon on the