you shake it up and we start it all over again. >> he had this to say about rick grenell today. >> weim to stay. he felt for his own reasons that he couldn't serve effectively and we were disappointed that he decided to resign. i can't speak for rick. but i think that he felt his effectiveness was going to be compromised, that he couldn't carry out the job the way he wanted to do it. >> joining me now is fred carter. fred, does it surprise you that the romney campaign would hire an openly gay staffer two weeks ago and not be able to hold on to him, that the pressure would build to him to this point? >> yeah. i mean, it's a very sad day for this country, that a bigoted bully like brian fisher can force a campaign like mitt romney's who was trying to extend an olive branch with a brilliant appointment of an immensely talented to let him go. i'm not sure i buy eric's comment on that. i think that he was forced out. >> the huffington post reports, speaking to a campaign source, saying the main source of the criticism was from a person on the far right that romney had taken on before, the

rick grenell would have been a phenomenal spokesperson. it's a glass closet. closet is, everybody knows it, but there is no sign saying we hire gays. >> i lived it. >> you live it. >> no i lived that like for 30 years ago, i know a lot of people who have come out. there's a lot of dialogue because of rick grenell and his courage that have come out as a result of him. romney, i was on the same program with romney right before the primary there. he mentioned lincoln once, none of the other speakers but me mentioned lincoln. it's not just ducking away from the gay issues, it's also backing away from immigration, women, driving so many people from the republican party they have a death wish. >> yeah, they're more with the other guy. >> remember the problem senior bush had when bucanan give that ugly speech. i hope this is a teachable moment. >> you have a good sense of humor, fred. thank you, good to see you both. good luck in your campaign in those six states in which you serve well on the ballot. up next the secret service agent assigned to jack ji kennedy. he w

well, the campaign says that rick grenell quit for personal reasons. grenell says it's because of blowback because he's openly gay. the question -- can you be lgbt and in the gop? >>> plus, cheri young gets combative on the witness stand today. she's being called spunky, feisty, and a steel magnolia. if there was a pill to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye-care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. [ male announcer ] ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now, that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. gives you a 50% annual bonus. and who doesn't want 50% more cash? ugh, the baby. huh! and then the baby bear said, "i want 50% more cash in my bed!" phhht! 50% more cash is good ri... what's that. ♪ you can spell. [ male announcer ] the capital one c

rick grenell, well known to the foreign policy press as the spokesman at the u.n. for john bolton, yes, very edgy, challenging to the media but also for john neg ra possibilitiy and jack dan forth. so we have his credentials in foreign policy. now there is the denial from the campaign he was forced out because he is gay. or was he forced out because he's too edgy or because he's too controversial or -- because there was pressure from the left and the right wing. i can't imagine they would have conceded to left wing using that term pressure, but were they conceding to right wing pressure over his being openly gay? >> whatever the circumstances it's very unfortunate development. i was thrilled when i saw that the romney campaign hired him. i thought it was the right thing to do, he has unquestioned credentials, sends the right signals. then for this to happen just weeks after is disappointing, it's frustrating for a lot of us republicans who like to see more people like grenell in positions of authority and as spokespersons for the campaign. it's unclear, i know that

i know a lot of people who have come out, there's a lot of dialogue because of rick grenell and his couragee come out as a result of him. so romney, i was on the same program with romney at the lincoln day breakfast in michigan right before the primary there. he had mentioned lincoln once, none of the other speakers except me mentioned lincoln. it's not just as mark says ducking away from the gay issues, also away from immigration, from women. they're driving so many people from the republican party they have a death wish. >> yeah, they're in war with the guy on the other side of that civil war. >> remember the problem the senior bush had when buchanan gave that ugly speech at the convention. >> the cross-dressing speech. >> he was rebuked. >> you're laughing at all my comments. i like you already. thank you, mark foley, buddy. thank you, fred karger, good luck in your campaign in the six states you served well on the ballot. >>> up next, the secret service agent assigned to jackie kennedy. he was body guard for jfk that day in dallas. and it became one of her closest friends. the great cli

. >> rick grenell's mistake was. >> so being in the closet is okay. >> sure, there's two kinds of people in the republican party. the ones that are okay with it, but then when the question is called, there is cynical pandering. >> what did the top aides say? what did they say when they have to write this? >> they're running the campaign their running, and mitt romney is running a anti-gay campaign. >> is there any pledge he won't sign? >> he is going to speak at liberty university next week. >> here is mark by the way, a former bush campaign advisor, here is what he said about romney's decision not to stand by his now former spokesman. >> these are examples where people i think would like to see mitt romney stand up and say i don't care what people think, i'm standing behind him and i want him out front. we need to see more examples of that. people want a president that is strong, bold, clear convictions and stands behind his decisions. >> here is the former senator from missouri and a campaign advisor to romney right now. he said this "people with the kind of expertise that ric has don'

. >> i have a lot of respect and admiration for rick grenell.ign policy spokesman. he did decide for his own reasons that his effectiveness was going to be compromised. he made a decision to resign. as far as that conference call, we featured our foreign policy advisers. it was not a call where the staff was encouraged to be speaking with reporters but where we wanted to put the focus on our foreign policy team. let me say this about mitt romney when it comes to hiring, he looks at the qualifications but does not consider race, ethnicity or sexual orientation. if you are curious about his hiring record, go back and look at his four years where he spend as governor. the hallmark of his appointment process was bringing in the best and most qualified people. >> you said he resigned because he thought his effectiveness had been compromised. is this having to do with the fact that some social conservatives appeared to publicly be going after him? >> i don't want to speak for rick. i will say that, of course, there were voices of intolerance that expr

president of log cabin republicans, do you call on candidate mitt romney to reinstate grenell as campaign spokesman? >> rick resigned. i can tell you, i know rick. he is not going back. so the response from romney and the campaign would say, we have asked him to stay. the bigger issue is protection of the workplace. >> what do you think this case tells you about the romney campaign? >> well, it is concerning. if they are willing to stay on the side and let the right wing of the party ininfluence them on a campaign like this -- >> who is bryan fischer by the way. >> they are a very quote unquote family values organization. if they can influence the romney campaign like this, what does that tell us how they will influence the campaign on other issues pt the campaign signed a pledge to support a constitutional amendment to ban marriage for same-sex couples. put anti-llbg judges on the kpourt court and with the silence of the governor on grenell's leaving and influence from bryan fischer on the ilk, what are we supposed to make of that. >> sni think personnel is policy. and who you hire tells a lot about who yo

grenell. what do you think hand there? >> it's a strange story, because the romney people knew what they were getting with rick.s a very clear voice. he is not just openly gay, but he has been a forceful advocate for equal marriage rights you know about him. and the pressure he came under was not exactly forceful people. and the people who spoke up were quite marginal people. it sounds like what happened the romney campaign said look rick just lie low. just be quiet for a few minutes, and he took that -- he didn't like that. he had not yet moved to boston from california and he said i don't want to be in that kind of an organization and then quit. the thing that i think is quite sad, this was a tremendous opportunity for romney. romney could have had his sister soldier moment, and said this is my guy, i'm sticking with him, i'm the nominee, and this is a party that is open to everybody. >> that gets to question of who is in charge of the republican party. look at mitt romney and he seems like he is going with the wind of course mr. etch-a-sketch so whichever direction he is being pushed it appears is where he g

grenell, during the bush administration. if anything so-called social conservatives celebrating rick's resignation is actually an impediment on>> wolf, he declined our request for an interview and in the statement he issued yesterday when he resigned he said being openly gay was a non-issue for governor romney and his team. wolf? >> mary snow, thanks very much. just an hour ago we had a chance to discuss this and other issues with the senior adviser to the romney campaign. >> joining us now from new york is a senior adviser to mitt romney and mitt romney's campaign. dan, thanks very much for coming in. i want to get to afghanistan in a moment, but quickly to richard grenell. the campaign hired him to be national foreign policy spokesman even though he has a history of saying these awful things about women in public life, about hillary clinton, he tweeted hillary is starting to look like madeleine albright and first lady michelle obama is sweating on the east room carpet and calista gingrich, her hair snaps on and he's written things about the current u.s. ambassador to the united nations. susan rice, what were you guys thinki

grenell should stay? >> yes, and go further and stand fast and hard on protection. >> i respect your organization. as president of the log cabin republicans, do you call on romney to reinstate richard? >> rickresigned. the response will be that we asked him to stay. the bigger issue is employment nondiscrimination. >> human rights campaign, what do you think this tells you about it? >> it's concerning, if they're willing to stand aside and let them be influenced on an issue like this -- >> who is brian fisher? >> there is misinformation here. >> what is the american family association. >> their a very anti-gay organization. if they can influence the romney campaign like this, what does it say about what else they will be an influence on. they support a constitutional amendment to ban marriage for same sex couples, so we have an indication from the governor on gernell's leaving, what are we supposed to make of that. >> i think the issue, i think one more point here is important, i think personnel is policy. who you hire tells you about who you are, and who you let get forced out of your campaign tells you who you are. the right-wing christian crowd -- >> all of these guys, you see have more

grenell quit the campaign, the campaign was not allowing him to speak. even on conference calls that he had organized. a policy aide to mr. romney quoted as saying, rick, the campaign has requested that you not speak on this call. it's best to lay low for now. when you're hired as a spokesman and you're not allowed to speak, you're allowed to sit on the conference call, but not say anything, you are probably not long for that spokesman job. and sure enough, soon there was a exclusive scoop for a conservative blogger at "the washington post" that mr. grenell would be resigning. the report made it clear what it was that made it so mr. grenell had to go. "although grenell also raised the ire of liberal commentators with now deleted tweets about certain prominent women, none of the sources i spoke with mentioned the tweets as a factor in his resignation decision. instead, the reason richard grenell could not stay on as a spokesman for mr. romney was attributed to a full court press for anti-gay conservatives." for his part, mr. grenell released a statement upon resigning, lamenting that discussion about his personal issues had made it impossible for him t