pastor robert jeffress -- dr. robert jeffress, thank you for your time. i know it was a busy morning. thank you for making the time for us. >> it's great to be with you, alex, thank you. >>> now to the white house, president obama is pushing his jobs bill and defending his plan to pay for it with tax increases on the rich. >> some see this as class warfare. i see it as a choice. we can either keep taxes exactly as they are for millionaires and billionaires or we can ask them to pay at least the same rate as a plumber or a bus driver. >> >> the strategy ever since he made that speech and the american people right after labor day, he's been around the country, bashing republicans, urging republicans to pass the bill and not making much headway with republicans. at least not those on capitol hill, i should say. but there is a glimmer of hope in the senate. and they have made alterations in the way that the bill is paid for. there is a 5% surtax on income over a million dollars, you've probably heard about that. and republican and democrats have drawn a sharp

pastor robert jeffress joins us at the top of the show. romney's religion has always been a potential achilles heel for him. the other candidates don't have to make an issue of it. they may well not want to. well, tonight, how religion could determine who wins the presidential nomination of the republican party. plus, with each passing day, those occupy wall street protests are gaining momentum. top republicans dismissed the demonstrators as mobs. we'll hear from both friend and foe, tonight. and is it possible that president obama isn't very good at politics? you know, the people, person-to-person kind. that's the question posed by a "washington post" reporter who says the president has a problem beyond the economy. people. he doesn't enjoy meeting with people, the story says, he endures them. it's an odd position for a president to be in. to put himself in. and let me finish tonight with my views on the matter of religion and public office. we start with religion in politics, and with me now is pastor robert jeffress of the first baptist

prominent baptist pastor robert jeffress who backs rick perry's candidacy told supporters at the eventromney shouldn't be the gop nominee because he's mormon, which the pastor says is a cult. jeffress stood by those comments later during an interview with jim acosta. >> the southern baptist convention, which is the largest protestant baptist denomination in the world, has labeled mormonism as a cult. mitt romney is a good man. but those of us who are followers of christ should prefer a competent christian to a competent non-christian like mitt romney. >> i spoke with pastor robert jeffress about two hours ago. he still says that mitt romney is a moral man but mormans are not christians and he has a right to support a christian presidential candidate. pastor, first of all, did rick perry know what you were going to say when you introduced him? >> no, not at all, neither he nor his advance team had any indication of what i was going to say in the introduction. and by the way, in my introduction, as you accurately noted, i did not say anything about cults or mormonism or didn't mention mi

also including another influential perry supporter robert jeffress who touched off a storm at the value believe the mormon church is a cult? >> again, when i talk about a cult, anderson, i'm talking about a theological cult as opposed to a sociological cult. it is a religion that has a human founder versus a divine founder. joseph smith is the founder of mormonism versus jesus christ who is the head of our church. cults tend to lock at other religious texts outside the bible for guidance. mormonism, for example, certainly accepts the bible, but it accepts the newer, fresher revelation, the book of mormon that came from the angel maroni, supposedly to joseph smith. i'm saying it's a theological cult. i know that's a loaded term. and it has never been considered, anderson, as a part of historic christianity. >> that was robert jeffress, two fridays ago. the website the daily beast is out with e-mails from david lane and a man named dick bot who runs a network. bot told lane he'd be taping an interview with pastor jeffress. what would anyone think if a candidate were a scientologist? shoul

that was pastor robert jeffress and his attack on mormonism, just after he introduced rick perry at thealues voters summit here in washington last friday. and it looks like jeffress may have to answer for this attack on catholicism last year. let's listen. >> much of what you see in the catholic church today doesn't come from god's word, it comes from this cult-like, pagan religion. you say, pastor, how can you say such a thing? that is such an indictment of the catholic church. after all, the catholic church talks about god and the bible and jesus and the blood of christ and salvation! isn't that the genius of satan? >> wow, the genius of satan, the catholic church. rick perry ended up distancing himself from jeffress' comments on mormonism, but will perry now have to cut ties with jeffress over the catholic comments? perry now have to cut ties with jeffress over the catholic comments? bill donohue with the center of the catholic league. and he's calling for perry to make a break with the pastor. you're thoughts about these two. it seems like the word cult comes to mind quickly with th

the pastor's name is robert jeffress. he introduced rick perry in washington. tical of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints and told jim acosta and other reporters that morm n mormonism is a cult. >> if you don't mind me saying, pastor jeffress, you created quite a stir coming out of that speech. in talking to reporters, you said in pretty strong plain language what you think of mormonism. you described it as a cult. and you said that if a republican votes for mitt romney, they're giving some credibility to a cult. do you stand by that comment? >> oh, absolutely. and that's not some fanatical comment. that is the historic position of evangelical christiany for the southern baptist convention and we have officially labelled mormonism as a cult. i think romney is a good, moral man. those that are born again followers of christ should always prefer a competent christian to a competent -- competent nonchristian like mitt romney. that's why i'm enthusiastic about rick perry. >> reporter: what do you say to the voters who say that religion, his mormonism sh

like first baptist church of dallas pastor and rick perry supporter robert jeffress who goes in hard on mitt romney supporters. >> mitt romney is a good, moral person but he's not a christian. mormonism is not christianity. it has always been considered a cult by the mainstream of christianity. >> jon: i mean, if y'all want to vote for a cult leader, i'm not going to... that is is the sweetest, most good-natured, pleasant (beep) on an entire religion. i have ever seen. bless his heart. he deserves to be in hell but certainly on a different floor than hitler. are we ready for a mormon president or should mainstream republican cristians still be suspicious. for more we go to samantha bee and wyatt cenac. nice to see you guys. ( cheers and applause ) let me just start here. wyatt. >> wait. >> jon: i'm going the start with wyatt. >> just a second here. why is wyatt team normal? okay. that implies that mormons aren't normal. >> please, it's just semantics. i'm not sitting here complaining that your shirt doesn't say team team cult on it. >> we are not a cult. mormonism is a proud religion

romney was set to take the stage friday, bill bennett provided him some backup denouncing pastor robert jeffressry. >> do not give voice to bigotry. do not give voice to bigotry. and i would say to pastor jeffress, you did rick perry no good, sir, in what you had to say. >> political editor for the associated press and the white house correspondent for national public radio. let me start with you. this is -- it's a whisper of an issue that's talked about a lot when it comes to mitt romney. this is the first time it's come up front. i guess what surprised me is two weeks ago pat robinson had called mitt romney an outstanding christian. i thought that's a signal being sent. >> at some point they thought this was coming up. but it was how and when romney was respond to it? when he spoke afterwards, he didn't say a word about it. you remember in the last campaign romney gave a big speech about his mormonism. there's no plan to do it this time. >> the fact he's de-emphasizing iowa and south carolina show he's not doing a big speech on his faith? >> i think perhaps the larger issue is he's intent on h

so does the reverend robert jeffress have a point when he's advising people to vote for people whoseeliefs are aligned with theirs? >> i have to say this. there is freedom of speech in this country and people have the right to express their views how they see fit. but freedom of speech comes with consequences. and so there are consequences to what reverend jeffress had to say over the weekend. if you characterize mormonism as a cult, if you characterize buddhism, per se, as a cult, out of the mainstream of so-called christianity, i think that's problematic, especially in a country where we're built on religious tolerance. if you're wrapping yourself in the constitution, it becomes problematic if you then say that, you know, certain other religions, not like yours, can't inhabit the white house. >> okay. i'm glad you said that, because what would happen? they said, this is something that's not important to the american people. you heard what michele bachmann told our candy crowley. people are not talking about this now, or that's not important, what she said, to the american people. s

. >> romney was responding to recent remarks by dallas evangelical pastor robert jeffress who said he believed that romney as a mormon is part of a cult that is not christian. at the values voter summit, jeffress introduced rick perry referring to evangelical faith. >> do we want a candidate who is a good moral person or a candidate who is a born again follower of the lord jesus christ? >> jeffress's comments stirred controversy among other conservativ conservatives. >> pastor jeffress, do not give voice to bigotry. do not give voice to bigotry. >> romney's mormon faith was an issue in the last campaign, prompting the 2007 speech while he will be true to his belief they will not dictate his presidency. it's an issue of particular concern to many evangelical voters. according to the public religion institute, almost 60% of white evangelicals believe mormonism is not a christian religion. romney have high profile supporters, he still hasn't caught on at the evangelical grass roots. neither as perry who has been touting his faith so much so that per's wife told supporters she believes he

on friday, pastor robert jeffress of dallas endorsed texas governor rick perry and then said why he wasn't backing romney. >> in my estimation, mormonism is a cult and it would give credence to a cult to have a mormon candidate. >> romney is calling for a civil and respectful debate. yesterday, when asked about romney's faith, his gop rival side-stepped the issue. drew levinson reports. >> reporter: from the campaign stumps. >> i am a believer in jesus christ. >> reporter: to the sunday talk shows. >> i'm a lifelong christian. >> reporter: the gop presidential candidates answered questions about their religion, but shied away from commenting on candidate mitt romney's mormon faith. >> i am not going to do an analysis of mormonism verse christianity for the sake of answering that. >> i think none of us should sit in judgment on somebody else's religion. >> reporter: anti-mormon sentiments surfaced this weekend at the value voters summit. the candidates didn't say it but some of the participants characterized the religion as being outside the mainstream, a cult. some evangelicals say they do

. >> reporter: dallas pastor robert jeffress calls mormonism a cult and mormons not true christians. and at a recent conference introduced perry this way. >> he is a genuine follower of jesus christ. >> i just don't believe that that kind of divisiveness has a place in this country. >> reporter: romney had been reluctant to discuss his religion in this campaign. no more. >> i would call upon perry to repudiate the sentiment and the remarks made by that pastor. >> reporter: perry's campaign told me today, all of this is just a distraction that governor perry has already said he does not believe mormonism is a cult and feels no need to repudiate anything else said by pastor jeffress. diane? >> all right, jon karl reporting in from washington tonight. >>> and it is decision day for president obama's jobs bill. he's been calling on congress to put the $447 billion bill up for a vote. and tonight, the president gets his wish, in the senate. it will be up for a vote. he met with his jobs council today in pittsburgh and called tonight's vote a moment of truth, though even some democrats are

pastor robert jeffress last week called mormonism a cult and said romney is not a christian. both christie and romney said today that perry's handling of the matter was wrong. >> any campaign that associates itself with that type of conduct is beneath the office of president of the united states in my view. >> i would call upon governor perry to repudiate the sentiment and the remarks made by that pastor. >> reporter: now all this, of course, only heightens the expectations and the pressure on perry to perform tonight. obviously tensions very high here. but even if he's stumbling tonight, scott, it's too soon to count him out. he's raised $17 million already and that is more than enough to keep his campaign going while he works to get things back on track. >> pelley: well, jan, this is a high-profile endorsement, but i wonder, how much impact do you think it will have on voters? >> reporter: well, that's right. it's true endorsements don't necessarily translate into votes but this one is significant because a lot of those big-time donors, those prominent conservatives who hav

listen to what evangelical preacher robert jeffress said at the values voters summit. >> southern baptist convention, which is the largest protestant denomination in the world, has officially labeled mormonism as a cult. i think that romney is a good moral man, but i think those of us who are born again followers of christ should always prefer a competent christian to a competent nonchristian. >> pastor jeffress was largely criticized for that remark, even kind of sort of by herman cain. >> i'm not running for theologian in chief. i'm a lifelong christian and what that means is one of my guiding principles for the designaturd decisions i make is i start with do the right thing. i'm not getting into that controversy. >> and this from a candidate who said he wants to add gospel beats to "hail to the chief." let's face it, religion has always been a factor in presidential campaigns. john f. kennedy delivered a speech in 1960 insisting his catholic faith would not interfere in his presidency, and, oh, wait a minute, mitt romney delivered a similar speech back in 2007, the last time he ran for

. >> reporter: the firestorm began this weekend in washington when texas pastor robert jeffress introduced rick perry, praising his devout faith. >> he is a true conservative and he is a general follower of jesus christ. >> reporter: backstage, jeffress made his views on romney's faith clear. >> mormonism is not christianity, it always has been considered a cult by the mainstream of christianity. >> reporter: jeffress opened up an old divide, while other christian faiths rely solely on biblical scripture, mormonism also follows the revelations of the church's founder, joseph smith. >> evangelicals, many of them, have a theological beef with the church of latter day saints. >> reporter: perry says he does not agree with jeffress. later at the same conference, romney called for unity from social conservatives. >> poisonous language doesn't advance our cause. >> reporter: this isn't the first time romney had to defend his faith. as a candidate in 2007, he tried to assure conservative doubters. >> if i'm fortunate to become your president, i will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cau

. >> pastor robert jeffress endorsed texas governor rick perry before a crowd of religious conservativesd jon huntsman and mitt romney as members of a cult. mitt romney saw to rise above religion. it's a problem for some among the gop faithful. rick perry has been explicit in saying that that religion is not a cult, abut many of his supporters are not convinced. john f. kennedy had a similar problem when he saw to become the first catholic president. >>> the senate is expected to hold a key test vote on president obama's jobs bill. of the $450 billion bill will cut payroll taxes extend unemployment benefits, and give tax credits to some businesses. even if it survives the senate, it faces a tough battle in the house. >>> the contract negotiations will begin this spring between d.c. public school officials and unions representing teachers. the washington examiner reports the evaluation tool known as impact could be a sticking point in the talks. under impact, as much as 50% of the teachers ratings are tied to a student test scores. >>> gas prices are continuing to go down. aaa has reporte

pastor robert jeffress of dallas says romney is a mormon and mormonism is a cult. perry's campaign says the governor does not agree and doesn't believe it's a cult. >>> we're learning more about the process that led to the federal funding for the manufacturer solyndra. e-mails indicate that an obama fundraiser exerted pressure to push through the half million dollar loan guarantee. steve spinner repeatedly push the energy department to finish the deal even though he was going to recuse himself. >>> people applying for food stamps will no longer need to be fingerprinted thanks to a new state law. governor brown signed the legislation yesterday. it's designed to help low income residents, many of whom are afraid of the fingerprinting requirements. this practice has been in effect for ten years. >>> two state parks in marrin county are not slated to close. there will be a $2 day use fee to visit mere woods on top of $5 entrance fee. it will pay to keep open two other parks. both are located in west marrin. >>> the nobel committee is make stamth with this year's -- sta

. >>> we will be speaking with reverend robert jeffress and why he says that romney is not a christians and what he did before his death to make sure apple will continue to thrive. you're watching "weekend with alex witt." cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com. so i took my heartburn pill and some antacids. we're having mexican tonight, so another pill then? unless we eat later, then pill later? if i get a snack now, pill now? skip the snack, pill later... late dinner, pill now? aghh i've got heartburn in my head. [ male announcer ] stop the madness of treating frequent heartburn. it's simple with prilosec otc. one pill a day. twenty-four hours. zero heartburn

pastor robert jeffress of dallas says romney is a mormon and mormonism is a cult. perry's campaign says the governor does not agree and doesn't believe it's a cult. >>> we're learning more about the process that led to the federal funding for the manufacturer solyndra. e-mails indicate that an obama fundraiser exerted pressure to push through the half million dollar loan guarantee. steve spinner repeatedly push the energy department to finish the deal even though he was going to recuse himself. >>> people applying for food stamps will no longer need to be fingerprinted thanks to a new state law. governor brown signed the legislation yesterday. it's designed to help low income residents, many of whom are afraid of the fingerprinting requirements. this practice has been in effect for ten years. >>> two state parks in marrin county are not slated to close. there will be a $2 day use fee to visit mere woods on top of $5 entrance fee. it will pay to keep open two other parks. both are located in west marrin. >>> the nobel committee is make stamth with this year's -- sta

. >> robert jeffress introduced on friday.ater distanced himself from the remarks. >> is mormonism is a cult? >> no. >> romney didn't directly address the controversy. instead he took aim at another speaker who attacked gays and muslims. >> we should remember decency and civility are values too. >> you did rick perry no good, sir, in what you had to say. >> brian moahr, nbc news, washington. . >>> in about 90 minutes the annual army 10 miler will be under way. the first wave starts at 8:00. 30,000 people are expected to attend the race. many roads in our area are shutting down because of it. the route starts at the pentagon, goes across the memorial bridge into d.c., then ends near the pentagon. route 110 and boundary channel drive in arlington are closed. all other roads along the route will be shut down in about 45 minutes. there's no parking at pentagon north and only limited access to pentagon south. metro opened early today to accommodate all the runners. >>> well, if running isn't your thing, the taste of d.c. continues