governor hutchinson to order lawmakers to make changes. in indiana small businesses forced to shut down in response to the outrage there. doug luzader is live with the latest in washington. folks in indiana and arkansas are talking about making changes in their laws or proposed laws to bring them more in line with a federal law signed president clinton back in 1993. it is not clear whether that will be enough. in had indiana a pizza shop may be one of the first casualties that pitted religious freedom against gay and lesbian lights. hypothetically the restaurant would not cater a gay wedding it has been a target of a wave of on-line attacks. we are not kissdiscriminating against any one. it is just that is our belief. everybody has their right to believe anything. companies like wal-mart based in arkansas voiced opposition to the law. indiana and arkansas are talking
welcome back to the lead. i m jake tapper. the national lead now. in a surprising move the governor of arkansas revealed just hours ago that he would not sign a religious freedom bill that critics say could let businesses discriminate against gays and lesbians. if say, a christian conservative baker does not want to provide the wedding cake at a same sex marriage. faced with growing backlash from the business community in his state and from his own son, governor hutchinson sent the bill back to lawmakers, he wants it changed to more nearly mirror the federal law. this comes after mike pence calls on law makers in his state to fix a similar bill one that sparked boy kotscotts of the hoosier state. cnn s miguel marquez is live in indianapolis. the governor there says he did not know this would end up
much. defenders of the religious freedom bill insist this is not about discrimination against gays and bleenzlesbians but about the rights of religious people. what does that mean in practice? joining me to discuss this all is republican arkansas state senator, bart hester, sponsor of the state s religious freedom bill. thanks for joining us. i had thought governor hutchinson had said he would sign your bill. what s your reaction to his saying it needs to now be changed to narrow it to more closely match the federal law? well i think the reaction is it s not any different than the governor s handled all legislation that comes to his desk. he is pragmatic. he s a very popular governor because he is pragmatic and fair. he s looking at this bill from all directions. he thinks there needs to be a couple amendments and i m open to considering those. let s talk about what this bill would do if there is a conservative christian florist, would it allow that florist to
all right. protestors are back out in arkansas today rallying against the religious freedom bill that they say leaves the door open for discrimination against gays and lesbians. the governor said he will not change the bill until changes are made. my responsibility is to speak out on my own convictions and to do what i can as governor to make sure this bill reflects the values of the people of arkansas protects those of religious conscience but minimizes the chance of discrimination in the work place and in the public environment. among those who wanted this bill and its iter ration to go
backtracked, asking state lawmakers to remake the bill to mirror existing federal law. it s a move that could head off protests concerns the measure would allow companies to refuse service to gay or lesbian patrons. pressure on hutchinson to veto the bill came from all sides. from former arkansas first lady hillary clinton, like indiana law, arkansas bill goes beyond protecting religion would permit unfair discrimination against lgbt americans. i urge governor to veto. to the ceo of walmart, whose headquarters are in the state and who warned the proposed law threatens to undermine the spirit of inclusion present throughout the state of arkansas and does not reflect the values we proudly uphold. hutchinson s decision comes as indiana s governor mike pence, deals with the outcry over his own state s religious freedom law. as i expecting this kind of backlash? heavens, no. reporter: pence stood by the