born citizen. i don t believe that to be so. but you do acknowledge that your interpretation of what a natural born citizen is, who is qualified to run for president is different than what is accepted for quite some time? if you wish to accept it, that s clearly up to others, you know, in the state of montana, we wish to do what we think is right. so in accordance with the constitution. well, i appreciate you coming on and explaining yourself. representative bob wagonner, thank you very much. sure. you heard him allude to the 14th amendment and the standard it sets for who is considered a naturalized born american citizen. until recently that wasn t in question. but both are aparnlgtly now topics and both cases can get lost. that s why after i talked to him, i sat down with senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. it s amazing this debate
this segment. some quick background. a significant number of americans believe that president obama was not born in this country and some aren t doing too much to dissuade them. it s not my job to tell the american people what to think. our job in washington is to listen to the american people. having said that, the state of hawaii has said that he was born there. that s good enough for me. the president says he s a christian. i accept him at his word. house speaker john boehner over the weekend on meet the press. both he and eric cantor refusing to take on birthers in their own party. 11 states weighing bills that require presidential candidate to present proof of citizenship to get on the ballot in that state. in montana, bob wagonner is pushing a bill. he says it s not about president obama but he says if he doesn t know if president obama is a citizen or not.
bob wagonner. do you believe that president obama is a citizen of the united states? well, i don t really i m not really qualified to say whether i believe he is or not. it s irrelevant to me. what do you mean you re not qualified to say whether he is or not? there s been no proof offered, and as far as belief, it doesn t matter what i believe. how can you say there s no proof offered. there s the certificate of live birth shown by his campaign in 2008 which has the seal of the raised seal of the state, it s signed off on, you know, there s plenty of evidence that he is. how can you say that there s not? well, a certificate of live birth is different than a birth certificate and that s what intended by the documentation process. but a certificate of live birth is good enough to get a passport. it s what citizens of hawaii can use to identify themselves.
in montana, state representative bob wagonner is pushing a bill that would require the candidate to produce a copy of a birth certificate. he says it s not about president obama but he says he doesn t know if president obama is a citizen or not. 27% of americans say the president definitely or probably was not born in the country. other polling pushed the numbers higher. i want to show you some facts. here s the president s official certificate of live birth from the state of hawaii. it s what they send you when you ask for a birth certificate. it s value it at the passport office as a form of identification. it s got the signature stamp and raised seal. hawaii s republican governor said it s been established he was born here. she said she had her health director view the original copy in the records. here s the birth announcement ran in the newspapers, there you see it.
daughter of a two parents born of citizenship in the united states. that s not what is in the 14th amendment. well, sir, maybe you could do better at it. i don t know what that means. well, i don t know what you mean. well, under u.s. law, anyone born in the united states, regardless of what their parents are, is considered a natural born citizen. i don t believe that to be so. but you do acknowledge that your interpretation of what a natural born citizen is, who is qualified to run for president is different than what is accepted for quite some time? if you wish to accept it, that s clearly up to others, you know, in the state of montana, we wish to do what we think is right. so in accordance with the constitution. well, i appreciate you coming on and explaining yourself. representative bob wagonner, thank you very much.