comment from a&e or from the robertson family.y. for "nightline," matt gutman, abc news, miami. >> abc is a part owner of the a & e networks. so, what do you think? is phil robertson exercising freedom of speech? or hate speech? let us know. tweet us @nightline." >>> next, from a sexy spread to all covered up. why this model is going modest. the #1 selling pain reliever, in one cold medicine. advil congestion relief. it delivers a one-two punch at pain and sinus pressure with the power of advil and a nasal decongestant in a single pill. advil congestion relief. in a single pill. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about trying or adding a biologic. this is humira, adalimumab. this is humira working to help relieve my pain. this is humira helping me through the twists and turns. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for over ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra sympt

robertson's vision is flawed, according to luke. as i said last night, this controversy is helping anti-christian forces in the u.s.a. the secular progressive movement seizes upon stuff like this to portray christians as cruel fanatics. people only interested in imposing their point of view on the nation. i don't know mr. robertson, but i believe he is acting according to his conscience. but, in the process, is he actually hurting his own cause. having written a book about jesus, i know this much: he was adamantly against bad behavior that injures other people e would not condemn another woman in his presence who was adult truss. time and time again the nazarene persuaded folks that his way of living was worthy because it was so compassionate. homosexual americans should not be demonized just like devout christians should not be demonized and people have strong beliefs should understand the big picture. portraying gay americans as sinners gives license to harm them. it's insulting and demeaning. jesus would persuade not condemn. the

robertson is sticking to his guns. robertson vowing he will not give or back off. over the weekend bible study dallas phil speaking out for the first time since making anti-gay comments. harvey levin joins us with the latest. >> hey, greta. >> probably a lawsuit. first we back up to phil robertson's bible study group. what happened? >> well, he, like you said, is he sticking to his guns. he is saying, look, he repeated pretty much line and verse what he said to the gq reporter. he says he believes homosexuality is going to be part of a thing that ruins the country. he said he himself this is interesting sexually sinned solved that issue my getting married to a woman and sticking to it if you can make sense of the comment. he said i am who i am. i'm not going to change anything. and the family is completely behind him. you know, greta, one of the things that occurred to me is, is that they suspended phil robertson but when you think about it a&e has got to know his family feels exactly the way he does. so they are sticking with the family but not with phil none of t

all robertson did was state his religious belief. he didn't say i'm going to go out and cut off somebody's head. that's why this trend of bullying, about how words hurt, is so dangerous. because it's actually going to limit debate and the only way you can find truth, and sides can come and meet, is through debate. >> okay, let me try to do one thing, correct a little bit of this religious views, the bible. a lot of what he said was not biblical. bestiality was not biblical. the comparison between female parts and male parts was not biblical. for people who have contacted me and others here saying we have lost track of our bible and what the bible says. a lot of what he said was in the bible, a lot was not. don't hang it all on the bible. >> let's also not -- let's not put too much on phil. i mean, the guy's -- he's not a priest. he's not a pastor. he's a duck dynasty guy. >> reality show. >> yeah, it's a reality show. >> -- on a regular basis. >> here's the -- look, okay, so he maybe took things a little too far. his general i guess

they called for the head of phil robertson on a platter. they didn't want someone able to speak to this. when you are in a fight you go after the biggest guy, tie to knock him out so the others run. glad goes after people with with platforms who will talk about natural marriage or biblical morality and tie to knock them out and silence them to intimidate others. jeremy was talking about glad and their mission. last year they gave one of the highest awards to a guy named dan savage who attacked everybody from the pope to schoolgirls. he traffics in some of the most vile conversations. they are recognizing him with awards. they are not about conversation. they are about demon yiezing and marginalizing people who hold traditional moral views. >> how do we get past it? there was a way for phil to say thisful i believe in the bible. i think the bible objects to homosexuality so i don't believe in that. that's my belief. you don't hear g.l.a.d. coming out and starting fires when people talk like that. the way he put it and though i agree with you

reports one huge social media site may be blocking the support efforts for robertson. this is quite a story tonight. we'll have that coming up. >>> and 'tis the season to brawl like this over sneakers? our power panel weighs in next. avo: the volkswagen ign then drive sales event is back. which means it's never been easier to get a new passat, awarded j.d. power's most appealing midsize car, two years in a r and right now you can drive one home for practically just your signature. get zero due at signing, zero do zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on any new 2014 volkswagen. hurry, this offer ends january 2nd. fodetails, visit vwdealer.com today the energy in one gallon of gas is also enough to keep your smartphone running for how long? 30 days? 300 days? 3,000 days? the answer is... 3,000 days. because of gasoline's high energy density, your car doesn't have to carry as much fuel compared to other energy sources. take the energy quiz. your car doesn't have to carry as much fuel energy lives here. open to innovation. open to ambition. open to boldids. that's

nothing offensive about what phil robertson said. but one of the things he said, black people were happy and better off before the civil rights movement. >> right. >> i've noticed that the right is not explicitly defending that. they're pretending he didn't say it. why do you suppose that is? >> we don't count. again, this is, again, among those victimized, this is why it's important as martin luther king jr. said, i'm not russia, but i would speak out against it. i'm not catholic, but if it happens against catholics, i'll speak out. i want gay and -- i've been critical of black people not speaking up for gay people. that's number one. we are relegated to the margins here. happy? we were trying to fake out white people and convince them so we could survive long enough to. jim crow, it was a system that where black people could lose their lives. where rape was a reality for african-american women. where lynching was a reality for african-american men. and mexicans, by the way. and it was one of the most vicious systemic acts of injust

nick robertson is there. nic? >> reporter: anderson, 76 people injured so far we're told switch of them seriously injured taken away by paramedics on the scene within minutes. the fire service spokesman said that a 30 foot by 30 foot section of the ceiling in this more than 100 year old theater collapsed on the audience below. eyewitnesss we told you said they were injured about the first 40 minutes of the performance. then it was dark. then there was an indication of people starting to react to something. they thought it was part of the performance. then they said there was a cracking, a creaking sound from the ceiling. the ceiling began to bend and it gave way. all of a sudden, showers of plaster and wood work on the audience below. people got out relatively quickly. ushers they say opened the doors for them. people helping those sitting next to them to get out. we're told by the eyewitnesss, that as they were inside the theater, they were then helped out into a neighboring theater where they were given medical

i think phil robertson helped them. >> we will hear another point of view on mr. robertson.er, megyn kelly on the parents of that 16-year-old texas rich kid who killed four people. wait until you hear about them. those reports after these messages. michael, tell us why you used priceline express deal to book this fabulous tel. wellou can see if a hotel is pet-friendly before y book it and i got great deal without bidding. and where's yoururry friend? i don't ha a cat. save up to 5 during priceline's holidahotel sale. use promo code"holiday" for amazing savings on express deal hotels. now this sale won't last forever so dash on over to priceline.com. express deals. priceline savings without the bidding. >>> continuing now with the phil robertson series. with us michael mcclan ski marketing consultant. a and e are going to take a lot of heat on the right from christian fundamentalists, people who agree with phil robertson no, doubt about it. did they do the right thing for the corporation? >> i think they absolutely did the right thing. they have two things that are post impor

but this was before the phil robertson controversy.he president saying the duck dynasty family seems like a pretty fun bunch so i can see how that would be pretty fun. that's bad luck, would you agree, karl? >> yeah, it is. look, first of all when you watch the family on television it is entertaining there are some real characters there and can you relate to them and you enjoy it but, on the other hand, isn't that the nature of reality tv show whether it's, you you know, housewives of whatever or the kardashians or duck dynasty, that we see the good in people but we also see people in their bad moments. we see the things we can admire and things we don't like. that's one of the problems with and one of the strengths and one of the weaknesses of reality tv is that we see people as they're. they don't tend to always be good. toe then the always tend to be bad they tend to be mixed. sometimes that relation is very unpleasant. whether it's -- whatever program it is. the housewives. duck dynasty people particularly with that family in the d

had hf phil robertson.servatives rallying behind the reality star were joined last night by steve colbert who defended his rosie depiction of southern life under jim crow. including his claim that blacks were happy, and quote, no one were singing the blues. >> they had nothing to sing the blues about. for pete's sake, they got their own water fountains. in fact, they had it so good, white people pretended to be them. i tell you, who i feel sorry for, folks. a&e. with this controversy, they may have just lost the "duck dynasty" massive black and gay audience. that's "hardball" for now. up next, your business with j.j. ramberg. u use in the laundry. my tide, downy, and bounce all come in free & gentle. so we get a cleaner, softer blankie. [ gasps ] [ female announcer ] tide, downy, and bounce free & gentle. it's not the "limit the cash i earn every month" card. it's not the "i only earn decent rewards at the gas station" card. it's the no-games, no-signing up, everyday-rewarding, kung-fu-fighting, silver-ligh

that is something that i guess phil robertson did not see. he never saw anything like that with his own eyes. >> that is is a perfect example because it speaks to our relationship between these two groups. there is a cast system in which people at the lower end of the cast system were not permitted to do such basic things to be able to look a white person in the eye. they were not permitted to shake the hand of a person of a different race. so in this particular case in bill russel's father's case, he was actually going to get gas and the culture of that world was that white people were to be served first and so bill russel's father had been waiting to be served and waiting to be served and it had taken so long because people were coming in and cutting in front of him, which was the standard, the culture. he sought to back out and as he was backing out, the station owner held a gun to his head and said you will leave when i say you can leave. they fled that region of louisiana and went to california -- they went to oakland. if that family had

had hf phil robertson.vatives rallying behind the reality star were joined last night by steve colbert who defended his rosie depiction of southern life under jim crow. including his claim that blacks were happy, and quote, no one were singing the blues. >> they had nothing to sing the blues about. for pete's sake, they got their own water fountains. in fact, they had it so good, white people pretended to be them. i tell you, who i feel sorry for, folks. a&e. with this controversy, they may have just lost the "duck dynasty" massive black and gay audience. that's "hardball" for now. up next, your business with j.j. ramberg. ibrillation -- an irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. for years, jim's medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but now, with once-a-day xarelto®, jim's on the move. jim's doctor recommended xarelto®. like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce afib-related stroke risk. but xarelto

a&e or the robertson family? tweet or post on facebook right now using #greta. [ ship horn blows ] no, no, no! stop! humans. one day we're coming up with the theory of relativity, the next... not so much. but that's okay. you're covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement from liberty mutual insurance. total your car, and we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. learn about it at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? >>> christmas eve is just hours away. people are fighting over christmas. in new york. billboard on a heavily traveled bridge. the sign features a question, who needs christ during christmas and the answer, nobody. and in texas, outraged patience accusing a high school of canceling a christmas caroling tradition. they say it's because of the religious references in the songs. the school board says an ice storm cancelled the caroling. back with sarah palin author ths and great joy. protecting the traditions of christmas." before

phil robertson has every right to be a bigot. robertson's employer has made a business decision in suspecting him. this is a free market at work, folks. this is capitalism at work. and the a & e network is a private business, a business trying to protect its relationship with viewers and advertisers. suspending robertson. it just seems really strange that they don't understand the suspension. no one in the government, no one anywhere, is telling phil robertson he can't go out anywhere across america and say the exact same things tonight that he did in that interview to "gq" magazine. joining me now for our rapid response panel, goldie taylor of the grio.com. and also the ring of fire radio host, mike papantonio. great to have you with us tonight. i've got a lot of opinions on this. my talk show the last two days has been one call after another. pat, why are politicians even jumping into this dispute? ted cruz, who is always jumping in front of the parade. you've got bobby jindal, who has got a successful show in his own backyard

robertson's defense, standing behind him.pect he is now going to be an even bigger star on the right. he is going to come out okay. he be came their new big hero. >> eugene robinson. go ahead quickly. >> that may be a slight misreading joy of the audience. the awed jns mudience may be brn the dem graphic that would agree. from that standpoint. i don't think there is a lot of african-americans watching this show, on a & e. >> one thing about the net works. they have the research. they know who their audience is. >> down to the decimal point. >> gene. >> jimmy: all -- and joy, none s having seen duck dine streeynad. a swing at hillary clinton over the old iraq war vote. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a

robertson's defense, standing behind him. now going to be an even bigger star on the right. he is going to come out okay. he be came their new big hero. >> eugene robinson. go ahead quickly. >> that may be a slight misreading joy of the audience. the audience may be broader than the dem graphic that would agree. from that standpoint. i don't think there is a lot of african-americans watching this show, on a & e. >> one thing about the net works. they have the research. they know who their audience is. >> down to the decimal point. >> gene. >> jimmy: -- and joy, none of us having seen duck dynasty. a swing at hillary clinton over the old iraq war vote. ♪ [ male announcer ] if we could see energy... what would we see? ♪ the billions of gallons of fuel that get us to work. ♪ we'd see all the electricity flowing through the devices that connect us and teach us. ♪ we'd see that almost 100% of medical plastics are made from oil and natural gas. ♪ and an industry that supports almost 10 million american jobs. life takes energy. and

some politicians jumping to phil robertson's defense. senator ted cruz posting on facebook in a free society anyone is free disagree with him. mainstream media should not believe censoring the views with which they disagree. bobby jindal saying i remember when tv networks believed in the first amendment it is a messed up situation when miley cyrus gets a laugh and phil robertson gets suspended. joining us our political panel in the "the washington post" ed o'keefe, chief political correspondent byron york. byron, first to you and what ken baker says a and e says they have certain values. and tonight, a and e with their certain values is going to reair five episodes of duck dynasty and on sunday, they have a marathon of duck dynasty episodes. so it sounds like their certain values are a little bit quirky? >> i think that does reflect their values for making money. it's no surprise that politicians on the right, especially have jumped into this. not at all. because, if you look at what robertson said, take away the crude parts of what he s

i think phil robertson helped them. >> we will hear another point of view on mr. robertson.er, megyn kelly on the parents of that 16-year-old texas rich kid who killed four people. wait until you hear about them. those reports after these messages. a subaru... ...are the hands that do good things for the whole community: the environment, seniors, kids, and animals. that's why we created the share the love event. by the end of this year, the total donated by subaru could reach 35 million dollars. you get a great deal on a new baru. 'll donate 250 dollars to a choice of charities that benefit your community. it feels good to be a helping hand. i dbefore i dosearch any projects on my home. i love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angie's list for bringing us together. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. >>> continuing now with the phil robertson series. with us michael mcclan ski marketing consultant. a and e are going to take a lot of heat on the right from christian fundamentalists, people who agree wit

so when the star phil robertson said what he said, it was not the reality show phil robertson talking, it was presumably the real phil robertson which led the network to suspend him. is any of this worth fighting over? one thing is clear, to a and it's worth millions. in 2012 this family made their debut on a and e. "duck dynasty" is a reality show that made a fortune in products for duck hunters. >> 40 years ago my father phil robertson invented a revolutionary duck caller that changed our life forever. >> reporter: the star of the show, phil robertson. >> my happiness is killing things. >> reporter: robertson is plain spoken religious traditional sort of guy. >> here is the deal, cell phones, not for me. texting i'm like no, shut it down, turn it off. >> reporter: in the four seasons the show has been on the air, he's never been afraid to express your opinion. >> if you're wop cooks better than your mama, you got one. >> reporter: it's that unfiltered opinion that makes it the most-watched program on america. >> kids in america today are fat, lazy. >> reporter: in the january issue

i think phil robertson helped them. >> we will hear another point of view on mr. robertson.lly on the parents of that 16-year-old texas rich kid who killed four people. wait until you hear about them. those reports after these messages. you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. try fast, long lasting gaviscon®. [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. [ m'm... ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.® >>> continuing now with the phil robertson series. with us michael mcclan ski marketing consultant. a and e are going to take a lot of heat on the right from christian fundamentalists, people who agree with phil robertson no, doubt about it. did they do the right thing for the corporation? >> i think they absol

they can't just embrace phil robertson. you know what, never mind, it's his point of view and now he's thought about it. there is going to have to be some kind of reconciliation in which, for example, phil robertson apologizes for offending people. i mean, glaad has reached out to say look, we would like to work with him, you know, he did offer an initial apology, you recall. but he doesn't want to apologize for his religion and i think that's really where you're trying to thread that needle. a & e doesn't want to offend christian viewers, that's a huge number, and as they pointed out, by the way, the bible, that hit series, was theirs. >> corinthians. he was quoting corinthians. it's a difficult pickle they find themselves in. >> there is a way out. there is a way for phil robertson to recognize he has offended people and to apologize in some way, to maybe do some outreach and there's a way for a & e to welcome him back and they have the time to do that because the show is on hiatus. >> they will need to do it because they

tweets on phil robertson getting the boot from "duck dynasty."ght to say what he wants and there is a right to fire him. and another, a and e was correct and it is a corporate decision and has nothing to do with freedom of speech and religion. and another, he can say what he wants lose show, followers and political correctness is fashist. and another, the upcoming season is moot. it will blow over and then a and e will have the another hick show. i can't keep an eye on every local newscast in the country, but have i some help. none other than conan o'brian through some investigative reporting his show found a striking similarity this season among america's local anchors. >> who are you really shopping for this holiday season? it is okay. you can admit if you bought an item or two or 10 for yourself. >> it is okay. you can admit it if you have bought an item or two or 10 for yourself. >> you can admit it. you bought an item or two or 10 for yourself. >> you can admit it. if you have bought an item or two or 10 for yourself. >> you can admit it. >>

phil robertson did nothing wrong. he just did not shy away from the parts of accepting christ that make people uncomfortable. he loves people so much he's not willing to give people a fast pass to hell by not telling them they're not sinners. he did not judge. he just held up the yardstick. where is the middle on someone who believes that because you are gay you are going to hell, that you yourself are a sin, that your entire being is sinful? where do you find the middle on that. >> people are entitled to their opinions, beliefs, you can say what you like. >> you said meet them in the middle. >> we can meet them in the middle when it comes to kbal rights for gay and lesbians. >> what do you think about phil robertson? >> what's happened is people didn't ask, people didn't want to put the conversation out there. they immediately want to -- >> i think people tried to ask and say, what's going on here. part of what happened as to someone's own grandfather called me a sin because i'm mixed race, looking at his comments wh

phil robertson not out of the line with the arrogant god haters. radical gays have made hateful anti-gay statements. even if that's true, how does one justify the other? >> a&e has every right as an employer -- it kills me that libertarians and people on the right are saying, employers shouldn't be able to tell their employers wh employees what to say. >> but a lot of people say, look, this network knew who phil robertson was, what his views are. of course he's going to be controversial. that was why he was hired. >> yeah. but the fact he knew he might say this, once he said something that they felt damages the brand, they have every right to pull out of it. >> right. and so -- >> and they didn't fire him. they suspended him, howie, for god sake. and with the money this show makes, you think they're not going to bring him back at some point? listen, this whole talk about the patriarch, like he's abraham, he makes duck whistles, duck calls. >> what about the fact that there is a boycott now of a&e among some people. it looked bad with gay rights gro

robertson could count his blessing. i'll see you back here next week at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. for the 11th hour, i'm don lemon. >> good evening. welcome to cnn's best reporting all day and the breaking news tonight. we have a lot to tell you about beginning with the shocking new revelations about the "duck dynasty" star who made controversial comments about gays. wait until you hear what else he has said. also a terrifying crime caught on camera. you see this man fights back in the whole crowd. and damaging new revelations about barack obama sr. unflattering details about a chilly brotherly relationship. that and a lot more. now let's get started. we begin tonight in london. a ceiling collapsed on to a packed house of theater goaters at central london appall low theater when an actor yelled watch out and people thought it was part of the play. in the chaos more than 70 people were injured. a number of them, quite seriously, investigators still don't know why this happened. we know that more than 700 people were there. minutes after this happened, cnn spoke

. >>> the fire storm over phil robertson's gay comments continued today. a & e might be fine walking away from phil, but the robertson family made clear they are sticking by him. in a statement, the family said, quote, we are disappointed that phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right. we can not imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. we are in discussions with a & e to see what the future is with "duck dynasty." the gay community has since split in their reaction. here is glad reacting. last night on the kelly file. >> this is not a free speech issue. what this -- the defenders of phil robertson are seeking is freedom from consequence. none of us are entitled to that. if i were to say something to you outlandish, glad would never allow me back on here again. we all have to answer to our employers. >> but openly gay feminist professor camille, who is a liberal, slammed the backlash, saying the legacy of free speech is all but dead. >> this is a level of punitive pc utte

he said he wouis this the end f robertson's hit show?t on to say quote we have had a successful working relationship with a & e's. but as a family, we cannot image the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. we are in discussions with a & e's to see what that means for the future of duck dynasty. both sides of the debate have weighed in. >> if you want to stand with phil robertson you are not standing with freedom of speech you are standing with anti gay comments. they are hurtful meant comments and dangerous comments. >> miley cyrus went on tv and did shocking things, on new year's eve day special. miley cyrus is on tv and phil robertson is off of tv. something wrong when that happens. >> they are asking a&e to bring phil back on. a boycott of the facebook stage has more than 1.3 million likes now. more than 1 million people signed the i stand with phil petition. they have several hours of duck dynasty programming scheduled. >> thank you so much anna. now to look who is talking karl rove is weighing in on the duck dynasty.

robertson was stating a religious and personal point of view.ssues. he says politically incorrect things on the show all the time. they say a woman walks quietly with a bible and knows how to cook. some people might say that's offensive but that's why people tune in to "duck "dynasty." "these people are real, they speak from the heart. they spee they speak probably to a huge segment of america. >> he didn't say it on the show, he didn't target an individual and you don't describe any particular malice, you see it as a reflection of his beliefs that he tooing from the bible, that's your case. >> correct. by the way that's in the text of what he said. he said repeatedly, "i don't hate anybody, i don't judge anybody. it's up to god to judge all sinners." he includes himself in that category and talks candidly about his former alcoholism and shortcomings. this entire thing i think is hugely embarrassing for a&e and is only going to strengthen the popularity of "duck "dynasty"" for people who are courageous, and who say what they believe, and are wha

>> look, the robertson family aren't diplomats.y are reality tv show stars who are paid to say outrageous things on television and to entertain people with their comments. i think his comments were crude at many points, i don't agree with the way he worded many things, but i think his central point was that there's an entire spectrum of immorality and the bible defines what sexual morality is. now, most of us wouldn't say it the way he said it but there are millions of christians and orthodox jews and muslims who agree there is a basic pattern of sexual morality. my concern is not so much with the robertsons or with reality tv. it's with the kind of culture in which we have the freedom to seek to talk with one another and persuade one another about issues that really matter. most of all, the question of the gospel of jesus christ. >> matt, there are tens of millions of americans who have similar deep religious beliefs about who is going to hell, what constitutes a sin. how do you respond to those who say that those people who have

just a week after suspending robertson, a and he has reversed its decision. may recall, "duck dynasty has pulled in as many as 12 million viewers, making it the most-watched cable reality series. this is quite a turn of events over the last couple of days. what is our takeaway? >> an indefinite suspension took about a week to find a solution. both sides needed a solution here. this is one of the most-watched shows on cable television. it is the biggest revenue televisionor a&e networks, which is co-owned by disney and hearst. this show, as you mention, is averaging this season almost 15 million viewers per episode. both sides wanted to find a solution. the family came out last week and apologize for the course phil robertson used -- apologized for the coarse language that phil robertson used but said they could not envision going forward without him. a&e said they could have some public service announcements that will run nationally on all that willworks encourage tolerance and understanding. we are not sure yet if that will feature any of the robertson famil

responding to robertson's reenstatement, glaad, one of the first to condemn robertson, said the fightver. writing in a statement, if dialogue with phil is not part of next steps, a&e has chosen profits over african-american and gay people, especially its employees and viewers. >> all of these guys are going to get a crash course in publici publicity. if anything, the "duck dynasty" guys will have duct tape over their mouths. >> reporter: all of the controversy didn't stop the channel from airing a marathon of the highest-rated cable show in history on christmas day. abc is a part-owner of a&e. and allen robertson, one of phil's sons, spoke to local press. he says the family is excited to make quality tv for their dedicated fans. and thanks them for their outpouring of support and prayer. >> the family made a risky bet, saying they're going to stick together and not let the show drive them apart. and it paid off. >> thank you. >>> and coming up on "good morning america," a quick quiz for you. which is the most pirated tv show? "breaking bad," "game of thrones." or "glow." thrones." or

you get the robertsons, you get the robertsons. where's the shock when a&e could've googled and their lawyers probably googled what he said in 2010. >> he said it in a "gq" interview, not on the show. one of the things that bothers me here is that this is -- i was watching the old 1975 version of the stepford wives. and this is almost like the stepfordization of society here that if you say the wrong thing, you are going to be destroyed and then basically you have to come out and end up saying the right thing. in this case, it's not baking cookies and doing housework and taking care of the kids. it's basically making sure you say it will right thing about gays and everything else about the liberal agenda. and by the way, you don't have to be famous. like phil robertson. you can be a complete nobody like someone -- like a pr executive. if you say the wrong thing, then watch out, you're going to have a lynch mob coming after you. >> bernard, tolerance, i want to go to the issue of tolerance. you and i have debated this a lot of times

if you don't like what phil robertson, then say what you think. but what phil said was not directed toward an individual. they said like what martin bashir said about sarah palin. that is a big difference. martin bashir was speaking about an individual and that was in fact hate speech because it was targeted toward a person. what phil said was a matter of his opinion based on scripture. which is not really all that off the wall of an opinion. >> mike, before we go and we don't have a lot of time. it strikes me a couple of months ago or a year ago, you were involved in this, the chick-fil-a dust-up. tell us how this is different -- or how it is being treated different, phil robertson versus chick-fil-a. >> there is a similarity and it is this. christian people don't like to be against something but they are willing to be for something. with chick-fil-a and robertson, they are not boycotting as they are standing with someone that they think has taken a stand that reflects their own views and their own values. and that is what is similar and i thinks

but without robertson, ratings may take a hit. bigad shaban, cbs news, los angeles. >> 67-year-old phil robertson also said when he was growing up in louisiana before the civil rights movement he never saw any mistreatment of blacks. >>> 4:47. let's check weather. >> a little cold to start. >>> cold clear start to the morning. low pressure system making its way into southern california. 32 and freezing in concord. 39 degrees in san jose. i think as we head toward the afternoon, we'll find mostly sunny skies and clear and the temperatures going to start to warm up a couple of degrees today and warmer for the weekend as that ridge of high pressure going to be building in very nicely. in fact, it's going to keep us dry for some time to come. plenty of sunshine this afternoon and the weekend. that low pressure system going to kick eastward throughout the day today. so looking at some very nice weather here and around much of the state. 50s and 60s into the central valley. partly cloudy in the high country but should stay dry. computer

. >>> "duck dynasty" will resume with the entire robertson family.t's a reversal for a&e that suspended phil robertson about the remarks about gays and blacks. >>> and erupts over the sky, was it a chunk of ice, rock or maybe a space chunk? we'll explore that. >>> good morning, everyone. i'm deborah feyerick. >> i'm victor blackwell. maybe it was santa and the reindeer. >> possibly, the jet fuel being burned off the back of the sled. >> good morning. thanks for joining us on "new day saturday." we're starting this morning with four americans detained in libya and then suddenly released. >> well, the four military personnel were working security at the u.s. embassy in tripoli when they were detained by the libyan government. >> joining us is sundarlin. we're missing the story, when and why. do we know why? >> absolutely, we're missing the "w"s, deborah and victor. it's not know why they were taken into custody. they're in touch with officials trying to identify what prompted this. here is what we do know at this point, four military personnel were det

robertson and that also the right of empty robertson to give his personal religious views as supportedy the scriptures. for too long, the silent majority has wered silent when we ought to be speaking up in support of these constitutional issues. and that -- i just think we need to publicly get to moving and get the people fired up. >> now, your resolution calls robertson a hero, but let me play devil's advocate a little bit here. even his family said that his remarks were coarse. >> i agree. >> you would agree with that. do you think in that case that. >> i don't greet with the way in which he said some of the things. i don't agree with putting the bestiality in the conversation because that's completely foreign to the issue that he started out on. and also, i don't believe in what he had to say about the african-americans. that he grew up having no complaints about their life. we understand they didn't complain because they were afraid to. and we've got that behind us, i believe. i didn'tdon believe in either of those issues but the other issue he spoke upon, that's still a relevant i

phil robertson waded into the conflict. the issue is you can say that homosexual acts aren't a sin, having same sex attraction isn't a sin but the problem is homosexuals believe who they are is their identity. homosexuality is their identity. the church is saying to separate the sin from the sinner and they say, no, my identity is my homosexuality. it's two conversations. >> maybe people didn't like the terms vagina and anus. he was asked a question and gave a list of things he said were sinful. >> he didn't do it in the happiest way. they asked -- first of all, what is gq asking a duck caller about sin. >> they wanted the to set him up. >> he answered, what in your mind is sinful. he said, start with homosexual behavior and morph out from there. >> they were talking about it earlier. i'm sure this conversation, 90% of it didn't get in the article. >> my sister is gay. she got civilly married last year. tough for the family. i told her i disagree with homosexual behavior. listen to what she wrote to me this morning. as much

meanwhile robertson remains on a forced break from the show but he's getting an olive branch now fromkely source. the nation's largest republican lgbt group, the log cabin republicans. joining me now in the studio, that group's executive director, gregory angelo. let's talk about this, this olive branch, so to speak. your group, you want to sit down for what you're dubbing a moonshine summit to talk it out with phil robertson, saying that, hey, in the spirit of the season, let's have a drink, let's have a glass, and realize that we are more alike than we are different. is that a pair characterization of what you guys want to do? >> yeah, exactly. in fact i think there's no one better to make this case than log cabin republicans. rather than a bunch of liberals coming in from los angeles to wag their fingers and admonish the robertson family, i think the best way to make the case for gay equality is to take gay conservatives from the other l.a., louisiana, to show that we are christians too. we are god-fearing people as well. we're also strong conservatives and we have more in common t

robertson's comments were not limited to gay people.luded inaccurate statements about the journey that african-americans have had in this country's well. a & e has equally attentive to that, and has been working with our partner at the naacp in order to make sure that those comments are addressed as well. >> fred sainz with the human rights campaign reacting to this news that phil robertson reinstated on the program "duck dynasty." thank you, fred. >>> i want to turn to the host of "reliable sources" brian stiller, you just spoke with a spokesperson. what did you learn? >> one of the interesting choices, is they'll let their statements speak for themselves. we request share what they were saying, which is the one person's comments do not reflect the entire show, and do not reflect the entire family. i think they're going to leave those words there publicly as the comment. behind the scenes, this is the product of a week of conversations between the family and a & e. they took a one-day break for christmas, they came back yesterday, and

the suspension remains against phil robertson.amily has rallied around him saying they don't know if they want to continue if the patriarch isn't part of this. we had fox news host bill o'reilly, he called robertson's remarks about this in reference to the lgbt community a mistake. did that surprise you? >> well, it did surprise me. maybe bill is too caught up with the war on christmas to take -- to launch another battle here, but you had newt gingrich, who is an admitted adulterer coming out and saying that he thought phil robertson sounded like pope francis. i don't think pope francis would be talking about comparing gay rights and homosexuals to beastiality. reality shows often don't show us the full reality. they certainly didn't with sarah palin's reality show. now we're seeing who this guy really is and americans have the right to judge him, not judge him, watch him, not watch him and a & e has the right to keep him on as the face of their channel or not. this is real reality. sorry. >> it's where capitalism meets free speec