mr. cathy, it is an honor to have you here today. >> my pleasure. >> mike: chick-fil-a not its start when you were 46 years old. what is the origin and genesis of the company that made a dent in america? >> brought up in the deep devotion and i realized if i ever had anything i had to work for it. so which opened up our first restaurant in 1946. with a very minor investment there of $10,600. $4,000 my brother and i had. $6,600 loaned. it is all i had. make it 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. for that time we chose to close on sunday for people that wanted to go to church. not required but it has been a blessing for us. and if you work 24 hours a day for six days you are ready for a break. >> mike: i think you deserve one. i think it is remarkable that you have operated your company consistently. a privately held company. your family still controls it but you decided that you will continue to operate when there is so much pressure on you to open on sundays and kind of say look, it is 2012 and let'

mr. cathy, it is an honor to have you here today. >> my pleasure. >> mike: chick-fil-a not its start when you were 46 years old. what is the origin and genesis of the company that made a dent in america? >> brought up in the deep devotion and i realized if i ever had anything i had to work for it. so which opened up our first restaurant in 1946. with a very minor investment there of $10,600. $4,000 my brother and i had. $6,600 loaned. it is all i had. make it 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. for that time we chose to close on sunday for people that wanted to go to church. not required but it has been a blessing for us. and if you work 24 hours a day for six days you are ready for a break. >> mike: i think you deserve one. i think it is remarkable that you have operated your company consistently. a privately held company. your family still controls it but you decided that you will continue to operate when there is so much pressure on you to open on sundays and kind of say look, it is 2012 and let'

i mean, mr. cathy made no secret that he is very religious and very conservative. >> that's his right to be so. i was not aware of the conservativism and the extent of his efforts to discriminate against gay women and men in this country. if you are a human being and a citizen of america you have a right to share in every civil right that every other person shares in. and that includes marital rights. i disagree with him and he has a right to disagree with me, but i have also a responsibility and a right to protect people's civil rights and to inform people when folks are discriminating against them and they can decide to spend their money as they see fit. >> plenty of people have expressed their opposition to gay marriage but not many have caused the outrage that mr. cathy has. why do you suppose that is? why mr. cathy? >> i don't know. sometimes there is one person or a group of people that are the -- kind of the point where things begin to change and we have a discussion. this is not about religion.

boston's mayor has since sent mr. cathy a letter and it says in part "i was angry to learn on the heels of your prejudiced statement about your search for a site to locate in boston. there is no place for discrimination on boston's freedom trail and no place for your company along side it ." now, the mayor's letter to chick-fil-a has drawn lots of comments on a boston facebook page. the leadership in chicago has said the same thing and now they don't want chick-fil-a to expand. >> i'm surprised mr. cathy, why he would delve into this. i don't know why he would say, this is what i believe, but has nothing to do with the company. >> this is an opinion he's had like a year and a half, maybe two years ago that came out and there was a fire storm then. they calmed it down. and now someone asked him his opinion about it again. he was specific and here we are. more trouble for chick-fil-a. i don't understand it. who knows. >> thank you, wisdom. >>> coming up next, a man recently released from jail didn't even make it off the groun

mr. cathy can say anything he wants as long as he doesn't deny service. if these politicians are not alarmingly ignorant, then they're clearly flouting what their obligation is under the constitution by swearing to uphold it and, frankly, it's really offensive that they're doing this. you want to fight discrimination, do it right. but speech is protected under the constitution. if that building permit is denied, watch out, chicago. you're going to get hit with big damages and that permit is going to be ordered by a federal judge to be granted to chick-fil-a. >> we heard at least one boston official chiming in kind of in agreement with chicago but then the new york mayor chimed in and said what you just said, avery, this is a first amendment right issue and it would be wrong for the city of chicago or boston or any other city to deny a permit based on such comments. don't forget you can watch our legal guys every saturday noon eastern right here on cnn. >>> it's a shocker for phelps fans. the stunning results from his first event. but first, a sneak peek a

mr. cathy's comments? opposing same-sex marriage, or is it about a long line of history at chick-fil-a?y. look at the numbers and the company policies. [talking over each other] topamax. >> the merit has no idea. the mayor cannot name one. ron emanuel is denouncing them. lewis aircon is also involved. >> it has nothing to do with it. [talking over each other] topamax. >> reverend wright, al sharpton coming to actually attend democratic event. >> you know, you are just using this as a way to take a whiteboard, a two by four and five every democrat about anti-semitism. discrimination is discrimination. bigotry is bigotry. whether it is anti-gay bigotry or anti-semitism. if you want to use this as a broadside to go after everyone. megyn: have to leave it there. he always says that if you have a company do you believe is discriminatory that you don't like, that is your right not to eat there. but he argues that you shouldn't have the government, and you gentlemen seem to agree, making the decision for america. more information is usually better. okay, thank you. forget casual friday, how ab

mr. cathyinion and the people of chicago and boston can make their own choice about whether or not to eat at chick-fil-a. this from john. i applaud the mayors of boston and chicago for standing up for equal rights. if you can say you don't want a walmart or strip joint on your block you can say you don't want a company that advertises discrimination. this from camilla. this should be classified under freedom of speech. i will support chick-fil-a. please keep the

mr. cathyinion and the people of chicago and boston can make their own choice about whether or not to eat at chick-fil-a. this from john. i applaud the mayors of boston and chicago for standing up for equal rights. if you can say you don't want a walmart or strip joint on your block you can say you don't want a company that advertises discrimination. this from camilla. this should be classified under freedom of speech. i will support chick-fil-a. please keep the conversation going. facebook dooth com/carol cnn. thanks as always for your comments. i sure appreciate them. thanks for joining me this morning. cnn newsroom continues right now with kyra phillips. >>> hello everyone. it's 11:00 on the east coast. 8:00 on the west. crops withering as the severe drought sweeps across the country. get ready to pay more for your food. >>> and one day until the opening ceremonies and we already have our first olympic doping scandal. >>> rebels ready to fight to the end to take control of syria's largest ci