congressman jim colby. he came out in 1996 to become the second openly gay republican to serve in congress. of course, he represented part of the state of arizona. congressman, good morning to you, sir. good morning, chuck. i just want to get your initial reaction to governor brewer s decision. well, it was the right decision. i m certainly pleased that she did it. i felt all along that when she weighed all the issues that she would do exactly what she did. she s right. it s not necessary. it doesn t it harms the reputation of the state of arizona, and it would be economically very damaging to the state. it s not the right thing to do. explain to some viewers here about the arizona the state of the arizona republican party these days. i m reminded, folks, a few months ago, i believe the state party actually voted to censure john mccain. there seems to be a real divide sort of where national republicans and even republicans that represent arizona here in washington view thin
ousted leader surfaces in russia to say he s still in charge. as pro-russian gunmen take over government buildings and raise the russian flag in crimea. good morning from washington. it s thursday, february 27th, 2014. this is the daily rundown. a packed show for you today. also going to talk to south dakota democratic senate candidate rick weiland about the unusual three-way race that may be shaping up in the mt. rushmore state. the senate landscape, by the way, changed again last night, folks, with a major coup for the republicans, a big-time challenger in colorado, the republican road to six seats, just got a bit easier for the gop. we ll have more on that later in the show. let s get right to my first reads of the morning and we begin out west. jan brewer ended a week-long period of speculation, public waffling last night. she vetoed a bill that would have given business owners the right to refuse to serve gays and lesbians on religious grounds. i call them like i
serve certain customers. supporters say it protects first amendment religious of freedom, though now there are fewer of those in the state senate at least who originally voted for the bill now asking governor brewer to veto it. i want to bring informer arizona congressman jim colby. he used to be the dean of the house republican delegation from arizona. he was also one of the first republican congressman to say that he s gay while in office. congressman, good to see you. thank you, jake. have you said what you think about this bill and communicated that in any way to governor brewer? yes, i have spoken to the governor s staff and i ve also sent her a personal e-mail expressing my views, which i this that it s unnecessary and harmful and should not be enacted into law. there s been a big economic movement against this bill.
hear. the same sex homosexual advocates want her to veto it on the basis of civil rights and gay rights and what have you. the governor of arizona is being bullied. congressman, does it matter to you why the bill would be vetoed, as long as it s vetoed? well, the important thing is that it doesn t become law, that it does get vetoed, but i think it s important that it be done i don t know what she ll say in her veto message but it s important that it s done for several reasons. one, i ve already enumerated. i think it s morally incorrect. i think it s unnecessary and it s bad and from a reputation standpoint, it gives arizona a black eye and we don t need that so i think we need to avoid that. i m going to read part of a letter that the three republican state senators who changed their mind about the bill wrote. while our sincere intent was to
authorization. the gop would like it. i don t think they are as passionate as the republicans stopping breaking everything. i want to give the congressman the last word. just look around you, and you ll see those fire brands, the activists on the republican side have receded into the background. boehner would not center hired becky talent and she wouldn t have taken the job if he was not determined to move this. there are five republican bills on the legalization issue. a lot of movement behind the scenes. jim colby, your mouth to john boehner s ear. thank you so much. after the break, after more than more than a decade after it opened, guantanamo bay has more than 150 detainees, but president obama may be getting closer to his goal of closing the prison. we ll discuss when the executive director of amnesty international usa joins us next.