mormons, someone who has been a minister for the mormons.s a deep -- this is part of him. it's a very deep faith. >> what also runs deep is the romney family history with the latter day saints. >> the story of mormonism is in many ways the story of the romney family and vice versa. mitt's great, great grandfather, miles romney, was living near liverpool, england, and he heard mormon missionaries come from the u.s. and preach their message. and mitt's great, great grandfather believed this message was true and converted and then took his family top navu, illinois, which was then the center of mormom onnism in the united states. >> yet, since its founding in the early 1920s, mormons have often been persecuted because of their 19th country practice of plural marriage or polygamy and also their belief that there's a third testament, the book of mormon which maintains that jesus visited the new world. >> as soon as they began to get established, you began to have persecution of a kind that is >> very american. >> the mormons often found themselve

i didn't know all that much about mormonism or mormon history five years ago but a few things gave me a desire to explore the mormon past and as i started to do so, it did not take me long to concentrate my interests on brigham young. he was a man i quickly learned who spoke in tongues some 70 years before the american pentecostal movement, who presided over the colonization of the thousand mile stretch of the american west, whose political actions prompted an american president to spend one fifth of the u.s. army to utah and two married some 55 wives along the way. if the story were fiction it would be utterly preposterous and require a rather intense suspension of disbelief and yet it was true. i thought i would share with you two episodes from berg brigham young's life that i think should -- shed some light on is rather complex personality and approach to leadership. the first is from november of 1847 on the banks of the missouri river and what at the time was indian territory. the previous several years had been traumatic and full of change for the church and for brigham young. jo

andçó mormon anthology.e worked for the family history library in salt lake city, and there, he did research gene loming -- gene research op dignitaries. john ashcroft, george w. bush, bill and hillary clinton, walter cronkite, sean hannity, charles, larry king, barack obama, kevin rudd, mike wallace, barbara walters, and oprah winfrey, and he can be awarded the prize of the damnest name dropper in utah. [laughter] the other working for more than 20 years. he's also -- he was also a member of the safe of the utah state archives and served as director for 14 of the years. he was an an archivist in the museum society, published articles in sunstone, exponent to dialogue, and the journal, and as well as the encyclopedia of mormonism. we'll begin today with our author, john turner. >> thank you, lloyd, and, thank you, all, for coming. i thought i'd take a little bit of time and tell you a couple stories from my biography, and i think i'll just say a few things about how i got interested in the project. i didn't

my governorship and everything else is to bow down to mormon itch. mormonism. it wouldn't have been all that remarkable for brigham young to have browbeaten a member who was not acting in the church's best interests, but young had a larger purpose in mind. he delivered this harangue in the presence of the territory's new chief justice, associate justice and secretary, all nonmormons. at one point territorial secretary boroden harris, very uncomfortable with the terrorist of the conversation, told young that he had no interest in he is dispute with babbitt. i want you to hear it, young stopped harris from leaving the room. a clerk recorded that it was a new scene for mr. harris to behold the power of the priesthood. two months later all of those nonmormon officials fled utah convinced that their lives were in danger. mormonism was a little too warm for their relish. young wrote another church leader. now, what are we to make of this tendency to berate and bully his opponents or even fellow church members? i didn't have time to tell you about young's earlier year

but the biggest reason mormons are no longer a cult is that now a mormon might beat obama. and that is great news for other cults. all you have to do to be reclassified as a legit mass-- legit mat religion by billy graham is be a viable republican candidate. sorry ron paul fans, you're still a cult. (laughter) but scientologists, you can get off the list as soon as your galactic overlord xenu wins the iowa straw poll. after all, crazier things have happened. we'll be right back. x)-x:p-x >> stephen: welcome back e everybody, my guest tonight are new york rockers, like most of the city, i assume they're unplugged. please welcome david byrne and st. vin set. (cheers and applause) >> hey, david, nice to see you again, hey, thanks so much for coming. >> thank you. >> david this say return trip. >> yes. >> stephen: couldn't stay away. >> couldn't stay away, the weather is good. >> stephen: it's lovely, isn't it? i love things after a disaster. they say you can't have a rainbow until you have had a once every two century storm. thank you so much for come on the show. >> thank you

ann's parents couldn't attend because they weren't mormon.herself was a relatively new convert. romney biographers scott helman and michael kranish. >> when ann davies meets mitt, i think she's searching a little bit for a religious home, the way a teenager does. what does this mean. and what do i believe? >> early on, when mitt was going out with ann, he did give her some lessons in what was the mormon faith all about. >> but ultimately ann's conversion was overseen by george romney while mitt was in france. >> and he would pick me up every sunday for church. the reason i think it was so easy for me to talk to him even on a spiritual level like that is because he respected me as his complete equal. >> ann and mitt settled in provo, utah, in this $75-a-month basement apartment, starting a family and getting serious about school. the mission experience in france had clearly refocused romney. >> life was very different in america than life for the french. and i thought, boy, i've got to work hard in school, i need to be responsible, i need to g

ann's parents couldn't attend because they weren't mormon.lf was a relatively new convert. romney biographer scott helman and michael kranish. >> when ann davies meets mitt, i think she's searching a little bit for a religious home, the way a teenager does. what does this mean. and what do i believe? this was a big hurdle they would have to get over if they were going to be serious. >> did mitt romney spend a lot of time talking about faith to ann, or was it george? >> early on, when mitt was going out with ann, he did give her some lessons in what was the mormon faith all about. >> but ultimately ann's conversion was overseen by george romney while mitt was in france. >> and he would pick me up every sunday for church. the reason i think it was so easy for me to talk to him even on a spiritual level like that is because he respected me as his complete equal. >> ann and mitt settled in provo, utah, in this $75-a-month basement apartment, starting a family and getting serious about school. the mission experience in france had clearly refocused

but the biggest reason mormons are no longer a cult is that now a mormon might beat obama. and that is great news for other cults. all you have to do to be reclassified as a legit mass-- legit mat religion by billy graham is be a viable republican candidate. sorry ron paul fans, you're still a cult. (laughter) but scientologists, you can get off the list as soon as your galactic overlord xenu wins the iowa straw poll. after all, crazier things have happened. we'll be right back. uh, i'm in a timeout because apparently riding the dog like it's a small horse is frowned upon in this establishment! luckily though, ya know, i conceal this bad boy underneath my blanket just so i can get on e-trade. check my investment portfolio, research stocks... wait, why are you taking... oh, i see...solitary. just a man and his thoughts. and a smartphone... with an e-trade app. ♪ nobody knows... [ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed. >> stephen: welcome back e everybody, my guest tonight are new york rockers, like most of the city, i assume they're unplugged. please welcome david by

his father george had actually converted her to mormonism. so, in some ways the family knew ann better than mitt did. >> narrator: they'd met when she was a high school sophomore, 15 years old. he was an 18-year-old senior. at mitt's senior prom, they promised to get married. >> and i was so young. and, after three and a half years, i started wondering, you know, how was i going to feel? or how do i really even still feel? i don't know. i hadn't seen him or been with him for such a long time. >> narrator: they sat together on the jump seat in the back of mitt's sister's car. >> and it was just the two of us in the back seat. and it was such an amazing car ride home, because we both said, "we've waited so long. why should we wait any longer? let's just get married now, like now." and it was a bit of a shock to everyone. they didn't-- anyone-- quite think that was a great idea, including my parents. but that's how we felt. it was really kind of amazing. >> narrator: the wedding was held three months later. he was 22, she was 19. according to mo

as a mormon missionary in france.s a tradition he considered breaking. >> he was concerned, according to his friends, that he might lose ann, and so he talked to ann about this. and she told him, you know, if you don't go, you'll always regret it, and i'll be here. >> and when he left, i had a very brave face, went to the airport with his entire family. we all said good-bye. i was driven home with his family, and then i walked into my home, opened the door, my mother was there. i fell flat on the ground and just dissolved in tears. and she could not console me. >> for 2 1/2 years in the turbulent '60s, romney was living abroad, working every day to convert the skeptical french to his mormon faith. so this is this kind of neighborhood that you used to knock on doors in, all day. >> this -- yes, 45 years ago. this is fairly typical. >> mike bush took us back to the streets of bordeaux where he and romney spent 60 hours a week spreading their faith in french. >> did you have a specific message? >> well, we would talk to

jehovah's witness and no mormons, it's the same thing. >> very, very different. well, there's a lot of interesting similarities and there both 19 century native american religions and they are both bi-lineal in their own way. but the focus on the millennium the idea of the kingdom of heaven theology is just very different. but they both will come to your door, there's no doubt about it, sure. >> i would love to talk to you about what happened. for many months, i had my daughter and her husband from pakistan with me. and they are baptist who go chapter and verse and they quote them so-- he loved nothing more than when the watchtower came to the door and he would stand out there for an hour saying, "what you say is not quoted right now if you look at your bible." i mean they're doing the same things, but it's competition. he knows he's right and they know they are right, so they can spend the longest time dueling back and forth over the very same thing. >> and that creates a certain kind of tension. and we will-- to take us back to our doctrinal dimension, that's t

ann's parents couldn't attend because they weren't mormon.nn herself was a relatively new convert. romney biographers scott helman and michael kranish. >> when ann davies meets mitt, i think she's searching a little bit for a religious home, the way a teenager does. what does this mean. and what do i believe? >> early on, when mitt was going out with ann, he did give her some lessons in what was the mormon faith all about. >> but ultimately ann's conversion was overseen by george romney while mitt was in france. >> and he would pick me up every sunday for church. the reason i think it was so easy for me to talk to him even on a spiritual level like that is because he respected me as his complete equal. >> ann and mitt settled in provo, utah, in this $75-a-month basement apartment, starting a family and getting serious about school. the mission experience in france had clearly refocused romney. >> life was very different in america than life for the french. and i thought, boy, i've got to work hard in school, i need to be responsible, i need t

in the last few weeks, he's opened up a bit more, although he still largely avoids using the word "mormon." >> my passion probably flows from the fact that i believe in god. and i believe we're all children of the same god. i believe we have a responsibility to care for one another. i served as a missionary for my church. i served as a pastor in my congregation for about ten years. >> i think what has been a smart strategy for mitt romney is not to focus on mormonism per se, because when you start talking about the specifics of any faith, then that becomes the issue. >> with a mormon, two catholics, and only one protestant on the ticket this time, deckman says that represents something important about the nation. >> americans, despite their religious differences, by and large are pretty tolerant. we have our issues in american history where that's not necessarily the case, and some groups like atheists and muslims might not feel that way, but generally speaking, we have a surprising amount of tolerance here. >> and whatever happens next week, many believe that could be one of the most imp

ronny will not talk about his mormon faith.or full disclosure, i was an atheist that was raised protestant. it is the same how they treat the muslims. they do not understand that they believe in the same god as them. who is the gis is that these evangelicals are following that they feel they need to vote extremely right-wing? you know anything about the teachings of jesus or what he said, it is blatantly obvious that he would probably even be to the left of today's democratic party. i do not understand who this jesus is they are following. if you could shed some light on that and also the abortion issue. it is the most hypocritical thing in the world that a lot of these people are so pro-live but there for the death penalty or they are so pro-life that they will go murder an abortion doctor. of that make any sense? please touch on the two would use as a vote for it. i would love to hear your opinion, mr. smith. but you're not going this a democratic, i don't know what to say. host: thank you. we appreciate it. guest:, i cannot

there are evangelicals who see mormons as a sect and not christian, and they did stay home. so my question is, in reforming the party, will republicans say to themselves, hey, wait a minute, we goofed up by not getting somebody more conservative and somebody christian who would appeal to evangelical christians. could they read the results that way? >> the right to life and the sanctity of marriage will always be a part of the platform. >> always. how smart is that? >> the mormon religion did play a role, but also, mitt romney flip-flopped on same-sex marriage, they perceived that and also the abortion issue. so evangelicals can -- >> i think the republican party has become overly dependent on its evangelicals, and the real question is do they have anybody to replace them with. once they begin to appeal more broadly as these are mostly older people, as these people pass, you really will have a big hole left in their party. >> and that points to important demographics. single women voted for obama in 2008 and they voted for him in 2012. but the problem is the percentage of the

these five people are gay mormons and gay former mormons.k is a mother of three, formerly married to a man. >> i'm an excommunicated mormon. >> reporter: why were you excommunicated? >> i had acted on my gay feelings. >> reporter: kim's partner is kelly hill. she has kept quiet about her gay relationship so she hasn't been excommunicated, yet. your bishop doesn't know yet but he could find out anytime especially because you'll be on tv now and you could be excommunicated at any time. >> i'm sure will be. >> reporter: that must be very traumatizing but how do you feel about the possibility of being excommunicated at any time? >> terrified. >> reporter: kendall wilcox doesn't want to risk excommunication. he's decided to be celibate. >> i'm not holding hands, no forms of any physical intimacy and also controlling of my thoughts even. i can't sort of entertain thoughts of romantic or erottic connection. >> reporter: mark packer also loves his faith but feels much differently. >> i'm not going to be celibate. i have no interest in being celibate

doesn't seem like mitt romney's mormonisms not playing a bigger role. what do you think of that? >> it played a lesser role in the general election than the primary election. it was quite an issue when he was running against newt gingrich and when there was white supported voters. as he became the presumptive nominee, we have seen white evangelical supporter support jump into line and consistent with what they have supported, the candidates the last election. john mccain and george w. bush, three quarters of the likely boarders are going to support mitt romney in this election. >> what are catholics supposed to do this time around? to buy contraceptives for employees of the church and you turn around. the other side of cathol simp promotes the fact of giving to the poor and a lot of the democratic values? >> right. one of the things that you mentioned is that we have two vice presidential candidates who were both catholic and they both represent varying different emphasis of the catholic church in their own way. one of the things we're seeing this year is catholics really have tw

mormons were supporting mitt romney 80% to 19% for president obama. protestants supported mitt romney 62% to 32% for president obama. catholics were fairly evenly split. the president actually won them 49% to 48%. and jewish voters went with the president 68% to 31%. that's actually an issue we've looked at a few times on the newshour, particularly looking at each man's foreign policy in this instance. so that was an issue and then also just church attendance and even evangelicals. we talked about how mitt romney was not able to capture evangelicals during the republican primary. he brought that group home in this case, 79.of white born-again christians favored him tonight. >> ifill: it's interesting. i talked to people in the obama campaign who are particularly concerned about that catholic vote. they spent a lot of time and a lot of energy trying to see if they could figure out a way to get catholics to come on board. and they felt that that's what they were in competition for. and 49% to 48% looks like it came to a wash or a very even split. >> and

i came into politlibewith mormons.ot liberal from utah ever in our lifetime.-= harry reid is a mormon. and this is a towell no one made a big deal about this guy's religion. it w results that showed anyt we have no religious test in unning force. i'm so proud. ood friends with the marriott. my wife works fortç them. i think the mormons are a mixede in it. doesn't tell you much about the right or wrongness of anybody. he did prove a mormon can be him. it was policy as you pointed positions, of which ntier ofu? his religion. he can say he got that done. it's a credit to both parties >> let's remember the reason his religion was discussed in by analysts at in point was the thumping side the republican party, and that's where anti-mormonreside. if he was running in thelz primaries, it wouldn't be aor. they don't get it. >> harry reids a morming that is subtle signif romney said i called the president andwÑ congratulated him. there was no booingn the audience. true. >> i thought the would have been more explosive, negative

"the book of mormon" begins in san francisco later this month. the shows have long since been sold out but producers say they will hold daily lotteries for a limited number of seats. names will be drawn 90 minutes before the curtain goes up. "book of mormon" won nine to knowy awards last year, including one for best musical. >> i've been hearing a lot about that. i believe it's the creators of "south park" put that thing together. maybe i'll check it out. >> if you can get those tickets. who's your buddy, who's your friend? don't forget it. >>> coming up, a couple of bay area baseball managers up for big-time awards today. >>> and the latest update on 49ers quarterback alex smith's condition. >>> and the condition of the east shore freeway looking pretty good under university avenue. things changing for the east bay. we'll show you what's going on. >>> oh, yeah. what are they screaming about? brace yourselves for one direction. yes, it's a british invasion. coming to the "today" show. thousands of fans out there. look at them. they don't care it'

. >>> tonight, video of mitt romney discussing his mormon faith and abortion has gone viral. he ran for president in '08 and sat down in iowa and discussed his faith and view on abortion. >> my faith has strong beliefs -- i was beaten up in boston because i encouraged girls not to have abortions but adoption. i have not done anything to viola the principles of my church in that regard. >> romney said while the mormon church doesn't condone abortion, the church doesn't say a punish has to be opposed to allowing choice in society n. '08, he said there were plenty of democrats who were mormons and pro-choice. >>> the advocacy group nuns on the bus is back on the road today. the members gathered this morning at a church near arlington. 200 supports turned out. they planned to make stops in several cities in virginia, including richmond and virginia beach. the group has been critical in the past. the republican plans would cut federal aid and roll back advances in healthcare. >> to lift up the need for people in poverty and to work for full time, get minimum wage and are not able

reynolds is a case in the 18 70's where a polygamist mormon man lost.t was the first case to test the reactor size clause simply because it was not apply to state law yet and therefore only the territories were under the direct control of the u.s. supreme court and they thought they would win, and they should have one. certainly as argued he had a very good case. it was terrible bigotry and in fact racism. this guy, there was a scholar who was a political scientist who wrote that mormons were african and, i mean it was really full of rachel tropes against the evidence of their senses. you would see these descriptions circulated at that time which said, the and all these things combined with certain features that mormon males actually do have like the square jaws and tall height and so on so the whole thing was a mess and it was full of hideous racism and they actually said polygamy is a patriarchal institution. well, what did they think of monogamous marriage in the 1970s? the only difference between women and polygamist and monogamous marriages is wome

>> i think one of the messages is a growing acceptance for mormons by the christians conservatives. the, we saw at the beginning of this election, people thought that mitt romney's faith, his mormonism, was going to keep evangelicals from the polls. now we don't have final numbers on the size of the electorate but it's clear that he won governor romney won the overwhelming percentage of white evangelical votes. they did vote for him despite theological differences. >> and how do you interpret that? >> that mormons have, in a growing way, are gaining acceptance in the united states. >> kevin, what did you see? >> i think one of the big take aways, not just on religion, but just generally is the growth of the hispanics. i think what, 71% of hispanics voted for president obama and that's not just a message for the republicans or the democrats, but i think also for evangelicals that the coalition that they've always relied on, primarily white, primarily older, primarily male, isn't going to cut it anymore. and so i think you're going to see, perhaps, a bit more evangelical activism on i

. >> romney knew finance, politics and was a mormon. and that made him the top choice. >> they called me instead of mitt because they knew mitt would turn them down flat. >> she called me at work and said, i want you to -- don't say no, mitt. i think you ought to go run the olympics. don't be ridiculous. that's absolutely crazy. i'd never do that. but over time she convinced me. >> so, despite ann's health issues, the romneys left bain and moved to utah in 1999. but when romney really left bain capital is now controversial. on paper, he remained chief executive officer, raising the question of his responsibility for companies that laid off workers when he was in utah. he says that he was gone from the company completely, that the olympics were all-consuming. >> when he got there, it was a disaster. and he was panicked. he really seriously considered saying, it's not going to work here, there's just too many problems. >> romney needed help so he rallied an old friend from bain capital, fraser bullock, to be the games chief operating offi

. >> you are a mormon politician. what would it mean to you personally to get the first ever mormon president of the united states? >> you know, i guess personally, that would mean a lot to me, but you know what, i'm pretty proud of this country. i think actually when they elected president obama, the country showed that it had grown up, that maybe some of those other factors that were there were not inhibitors and now you have got mitt romney poised to become the next president of the united states, religion has not been the first and foremost question, nor should it be. i'm actually proud of the question. personally, myself, my wife, julie, other mormons, yeah, we would be proud of the fact that mitt romney was the first mormon president of the united states. >> congressman, best of luck. may the best man win. good to talk to you. >> thank you. >>> coming up, michael moore is back. last weeks, fired up about super storm sandy. tonight, a no holds board -- no holds barred exchange about the election. see him next. ♪

she is also a mormon. mya mia love is joining us from salt lake city.ownplay the fact you could make history if you're elected to congress, but if you do win you would be a first, you would be breaking a barrier here. does that resonate? do you feel some sort of kinship even with president obama? >> you know, i'm just worried about getting our country back on track. you know, i go around and i talk to the people of the fourth district. i talk to everyone that is struggling and people that believe our nation is not going in the right direction and really what they're looking for is leadership. they want someone who will come to the table with some solutions and work together to fix our problems. if i can do that and make sure we get our country back on track, then that's the history i'm interested in making. >> all right. and you are a rising star clearly in the republican party. we saw you at the gop convention. you got quite a reception there. the republican party explain to us why it is you think that it does not have more appeal for african-americans

." >> in 1966 the mormon church called mitt romney at the end of his freshman year at stanford. it was time to become a mormon missionary. >> you are sort of sent out on your own in very difficult circumstances to sort of prove your stuff. >> the church was sending mitt away to spend twoand half years on a mission in france. >> as mitt romney has said, imagine going to bordeaux and saying to people, 'i've got a great new religion for you and, by the way, give up your wine.' >> the task, to put on a suit and tie, and climb on your bicycle -- >> the tried and true and well worn method was knocking on doors. and so we knocked on thousands and thousands and thousands of doors. >> the mormon mission does teach you to deal with rejection. most people are not thrilled to see a pair of mormon missionaries on their door. >> and it means cultivating your own inner spiritual life. where else are you going to get the resources and the strength to carry on this difficult work unless you feel like god is with you? >> then a life changing moment. >> mitt romney is driving. they are coming arou

] spooky mormon, that was my favorite number.ickets. fourth row orchestra. hooray. >> nobody above you in the balcony. >> stephanie: no one barfed on us. a good time was had by all. sexy liberal, exciting announcement this week. >> huge. >> stephanie: indeed. susanna in illinois, you're on "the stephanie miller show." >> caller: i have a lot of mixed racial friends. we sit around watch fox just for fun, to make fun of them. we're convinced that like -- [ indiscernible ] >> caller: some people may think they're still in power. they sit there and make stuff up and then they want to hold people accountable for the things they make up on fox and we just have to hold them accountable for the things that -- i just want to make -- >> stephanie: susanna eric boehlert is coming up at the top of the hour. with right-wing world. he has a great piece as always. they have a fox problem. fox has been pushing these 47% comments and cheering them on and if they ever want to win another election, you know -- >> caller: what i think is important i

harry reid is a mormon my wife works for mormons, they're good people. why the other side bring up the ethnic stuff all the time. he's from kenya, blah-blah-blah. he's not really an american. they never stop. >> isn't that part of a strategy -- >> the american candidate, notice that. we're the american candidate. >> isn't that part of a strategy that -- >> oh, yeah. called evil. >> waitp. which is -- >> it is evil. >> but the strategy has an expiration date. this is a party that is doubling down on a part of the electorate shrinking. undereducated white working-class voters, divide and conquer tactics, the republican party if it's going to exist beyond 2016 is going to have to understand -- >> there was a great movie called "custard the west" the great british actor that played custard saying before the battle of big horn the whites will dominant this country and you'll be out of luck but he says yeah but not today. >> that's what we're going to find out tonight. a big question in this election is you know if minorities come out and vote to the numbers t

she was mormon and so was her suitor, named george romney.ng out to california to pursue her. and so she gave up a lucrative contract to follow him back home. at a detroit prep school, their youngest son mitt was a jokester, a member of the pep club. at liberal berkeley university, he made headlines for protesting against the people who were sitting in against the vietnam war. but romney deferred military service to fulfill his mormon duty and served as a missionary in france. and while he was away, it was his father who guided the love of his son's life, ann davies, in her conversion into the church. >> she's done the most important task in our family, by far, which is she took primary responsibility for raising five extraordinary sons. >> reporter: their devotion to their faith so strong, in 1981, romney told a fellow bain executive, he was planning to give nearly half of his salary to the church. in an earlier interview, i was curious about the fact he doesn't drink caffeine. >> the church says no coffee or tea, it doesn't literally say ca