the firestorm over "duck dynasty" phil robertson's comments came to a head today. 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 cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. we're in discussions with a&e of what that means to "duck dynasty." the gay community has been split in their reaction. >> what the defenders of phil robertson are seeking, is freedom from conflict. none of us are entitled to that. if i were to say something to you outlandish, glaad would never put me on the air again. we all have to answer to our employers. >> but openly-gay feminist professor, who is a liberal, slammed the backlash. saying the legacy of free speech is all but dead. >> this is the level of punitive p.c., utterly fascist, utterly stallenist, that my liberal colleagues in the democratic party and on college campuses, have supported and promoted over the last several decades. the whole legacy of spree speech 1960s has been lost o

phil robertson has every right to be a bigot. but phil 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

but this was before the phil robertson controversy. the 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

that is something that i guess phil robertson did not see. he said 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 fa

that's a petition in support of phil robertson. joined now by our fantastic panel tonight. fox news legal analyst and fox news contributor. ladies, welcome. good to have you here. >> i mean, this is -- monica, if that's true. why would twitter be blocking? that's a rather political statement on their part if that's what they're doing. we want to make sure, point out -- saying that's what's going on. >> if it's true, this wouldn't be the first time that twitter would be charged with censoring conservative groups. they have been charged with this kind of thing before. 200,000 people signed this in support of phil and what this kind of thing does, the website was blocked from twitter. we don't know how or why yet. but what it does is actually have the opposite reaction. it ends up ginning up a lot more support for phil robertson and grabs a lot more attention to the situation. >> what do you think they're going to do, mercedes? >> i think they're going to keep him. there's been such an outcry against anyone opposing robertson. they're going to keep him. there's 12 million view

phil robertson is phil robertson. he's a faith-based wonderful man. he's solid as a rock. he's an easy going ol'boy. >> since the controversy sparked, there's been quite a groundswell behind the duck dynasty crew. have you seen any difference in either business or people contacting you for being a faithful loyal advertiser on the show? >> strange you should ask, we've been spending hours today with the phone system -- we're just -- we're inundated, we're overloaded with our phone calls, facebook has exploded. all of them support phil. it's amazing. all of them support phil. >> can you give us a sense of what they're saying when they call you. when you pick up the phone and say hello, what's on your mind? what are they saying? >> stuff like kudos to you, we support you, we want to buy your product, where can i find it at? it's just -- it's all positive comments. i was braced for, okay, we may get the negative and the positive naturally. but i'm being honest, i saw one out of thousands and thousands and thousands, that only thing it was, was one negative comment. >> when you

robertson was stoned. >> whether you love or hate phil robertson, there's no constitutional right to appear on a division show. that is up to your employer. >>> i want to shift gears and talk about the privacy of the nsa. the administration's sweeping surveillance program is probably unconstitutional and almost orwellian. that was all the media needed to surround a man in russian, ed snowden. he ought to be convicted and hanged by his neck. >> some are saying this ruling vindicates ed snowden others are saying he should be hung. what does this say about the media culture we live in? >> come on, howie, we love personalities. we love to fixate on one person to tell a story. look at any newspaper article where you lead in with the victim of some issue and then you tell the full story. that is the same thing here. i think edward snowden should be the face of this. this is the guy -- >> but this is like everybody in the country, not just the guy who leaked the documents. >> of course. but we do tell the rest of the story. and i think a lot of people see him as a patriot for doing what he

. >> and allowing phil robertson back on "duck dynasty." we will look at the decision and the fallout. >> it is over with. >> caution. you are about to enter the no spin zone and the factor begins right now. >>> hi, everyone, i'm laura ingraham in for bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. let's get to the top story over the weekend. "new york times" published an extensive investigation into last year's terrorist attack in benghazi. four americans dead and left two ambassador libya christopher stephens. there is just no chance that this was an al qaeda attack if by divide you mean the organization founded by usama bin laden. this is a group of men inspired by video deliberately attacked the compound. >> well, those claims directly contradict what congress has said about the attack. and joining me now to explain is congressman mike rogers, a republican from michigan and he is chairman of the house intelligence committee. congressman, there is not a lot that takes may breath aaway in this town after having been here for 20 years now.

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

jim crow segregation era happy and singing. >> that's not what phil robertson said. he said what he saw. he was relating what he saw because he said he worked in the field with them because he was basically white trash as he described himself he got to know folks. he was recounting his observations. >> his comments were very over the top. >> white supremacist that was seriously over the top. >> that's part of the race baiting culture, isn't it? dyson and maybe someone said sharpton and jackson you have got to keep it going. keep the flames going. not to say there is not intolerance and race. not to say there isn't in every culture. our society is probably more pluralistic and open. maybe the exception of brusmtion or france. and yet when i look at this a&e thing and i talked to folks over the last couple of weeks about it. there really a divide in the country, right? it's obvious. because i think more traditional americans they see a lot of what happens in the culture as offensive to them. they see a lot of what happens on, i don't know, i don't watch any of these sh

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

the firestorm over "duck dynasty's" star phil robertson comments continue today. a&e may be fine walking away from phil but the family made clear they're sticking by him, saying, we are disappointed phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right. we are in discussions with a&e to see what that means for the future of "duck dynasty." the gay community has been split in their reaction. here is glaad reacting last night on "the kelly file." >> this is not a free speech issue. what the defenders of phil robertson are seeking is freedom from consequence. none of us are entitled to that. if right now i were to say something to you completely outlandish, glaad would not let me interview you again. we all have to answer to an employer. >> but openly gay feminist professor who is a liberal, slammed the backlash, saying the legacy of free speech is all but dead. >> this is the level, okay, of punitive pc, utterly fascist, utterly stalinist, okay, that my liberal colleagues in the democratic party and on college campuse

. >>> "duck dynasty" phil 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 stick

wants a dialogue with them and phil robertson. will there be a dialogue when it comes to sitting down with christians and having more tolerance with their points of view? >> phil can say what he wants to. folks at a&e and g.l.a.d. and those who spoke against phil have the right to say the language is offensive. in the g.q. article he talks about how no african-american said jim crow was a bad thing. >> he never said jim crow. >> he said during the jim crow era african-americans were doing well. >> that's not what he said. >> did you read the same interview we read? >> read the quote. don't put words in his mouth. >> he never said jim crow. >> we could sit here all day. >> we can. if you don't want to talk about the facts what's the point of having a discussion? >> i'm trying to talk about the facts. we could sit here all day -- >> you are making up quotes. defending him on a false quote. when did he say jim crow. >> he said it in the gq article. in the text of the article. >> richard, here is the thing. you cannot put words in the

it seems to me that phil robertson did not want to apologize. that pushed a&e to have to do something he didn't want to do. >> you would have said, cutters, okay if you apologize i won't suspend you, if you don't apologize i will suspend you. for how long? bring him back in 10 days? what are you going to do. >> i think they will try to bring him back because without him there is no show. make a lot of money and get even bigger ratings. everybody has heard of "duck dynasty" now. a&e should not be surprised to learn that this guy who they hired as a bible toting, praying, big mouth outdoors man is shooting off his mouth. >> of course they shouldn't be surprised. both of you would have suspended him had he not apologized. so we are on the record there final question for both of you, bernie first. is it unreasonable, all right? for the american public to be angry about this? both sides, all right? so people who think robertson is a religious fanatic and a threat, they are angry and the people who think he is just sticking up for the bible, they are

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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

duck dynasty" patriarch phil robertson will be back on television as a any has decided to resume shooting the hit reality series with the entire cast. we begin with breaking news -- apple is putting investor carl icahn's proposal up to vote and urges shareholders to vote against it. apple wants to commit to buying back at least $50 billion worth of stock. in a proxy filing, apple says the company believes the management team and board are in the best position to determine what is the best long-term interest of the company's business. apple says it is reviewing its buyback and dividend plan and will announce any changes by the spring. for more on this breaking news, we are joined on the phone by an analyst at wedge partners who covers apple very closely. he joins us from salt lake city, utah. what can you tell us about this? apple has been pretty quiet up until this point on this issue. is that not true? >> yes, they have been quiet. vocal on this, making clear via twitter and television what he would like to see apple do, but this is the first time we have heard apple make commentary on h

phil robertson. i love all of humanity. okay. we would all be better off if we loved god and loved each other. gene, it strikes me as absolutely absurd. that the a & e knelt works. is getting rid of some one because he said something that 45% of america believes. they believe it within their religious teachings. >> if that's the reason -- i think you make an argument. what he says the statement, honorable, one of the words. in my experience. go home to orangeberg and went to what had been the white high school in orangeberg. look, they, they, they don't delude themselves anymore. even if they did. at one point. but they, you know -- they saw -- black people using the other -- water fountains and the other restrooms. and not being allowed on the playground. they no longer harbor this revisionist fantasy of happy negros in the field. it is just not. and so that is just a ridiculous thing to believe in this day and age. and even more ridiculous thing to say. >> joy, i just want to go on record in this segment, as never having suppor

patriarch of phil robertson. coming to his side. >> i'm tolerant of people on issue contrary to mine but i'm not tolerant of the intolerance the one. >> many gathered outside of school yesterday, remembering the 17-year-old senior high school student and paid their respects. >> honestly this has been a tragic event for the community. and there are literally thousands of people and we are praying for them. bill: it appears that davis was shot at random. the governmental then killed himself and was likely targeting a librarian. the library and escaped unharmed. martha: it is decision time for those who have yet to sign up for health insurance under obamacare. if you want coverage to start generate first, and roll today is the deadline. but the sticker shock is forcing people to take the cheapest plan available to them, but they could be facing major out-of-pocket costs on the backend with the plan. joining me now is a former economic adviser to president reagan. how are you doing this morning? >> i'm doing well. ma

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

some people agree with what phil robertson said, some don't agree. i thought the language was unnecessarily inflammatory. i didn't think he necessarily needed to be suspended. i think a&e would have been happier had phil robertson said he was sorry. >> no, in fact, the family put on a statement last weekend saying we do not see how we can move forward without the great patriarch. they didn't say great. that's me. but that is a shot across the bow to a&e number one. and then he said in that church last sunday in louisiana i'm not backing down an inch. well, that's defiance. a&e rolled over instantly. >> well, you know, let me circle back to your earlier answer that when you get into these, it's all about money. there is no question there is a lot of money at stake here. merchandise and everything else. i guess a&e deserves credit for creating this show. people say they don't care about the beliefs of christians. but when you hire phil robertson, you probably know he's a controversial guy who is going to say controversial things. a&e could have just pu

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

you should be dismayed over the treatment of phil robertson. louisiana governor bobby jindal defended his home state hero. >> to me this is an issue about religious liberty, freedom of expression. it's about the fact left keeps saying they are for tolerance except for people that disagree with them. stunning to me after all those ant ins miley cyrus is still on tv and phil is the one getting kicked off. >> robertson's offensive homophobic remarks obscured his remarks about race, how happy they were inch the jim crow south. i never saw with my eyes mistreatment, not once. where i live, the blacks they worked for the farms. i hoed cotton with them. across the field, singing and happy. i never heard one person say, i'll tell you what, white people -- pre-entitlement, they were happy. no one was singing the blues except that's where the blues came from was the south. joining me from buzz feed kate adding to the panel. nobody singing the blues in the south where the blues came from because they were happy. why is it the right went over the remarks o

phil robertson has not been fired. other networks are circling around saying we'll pick up the show in a second if it's taken off the a&e network. >> yeah. the hunt channel, an outdoorsy type channel. you can understand why. they're laughing all the way to the bank right now. if the robertsons wanted to, they could pack up their duck calles and head home and shave their beards and live life the way they wanted to if this isn't how they wanted to live. it doesn't surprise you too much. however, a&e apparent had a representative with phil robertson during this gq interview. so the robertsons are saying, somebody was there. they could have watched stop saying these things. >> they've known this for years. they were happy to cash the checks from the show. they didn't feel like their consciences were aching employing someone with these reprehensible views. they were happy to get rich with them. >> i am now thinking a&e is getting exactly what they want out of this. we're talking about duck dynasty. >> people are boycotting

so i'm able to say what phil robertson and sarah palin said is discriminatory. that's what the first amendment allows me to do as well as a citizen. >> should the man lose his job for this? can the market sort it out? i bring this up aware of the fact cracker barrel maybe the ultimate red state restaurant, i think of whole foods as being the grocer to the blue states and cracker barrel as feeding the red states. cracker barrel did an about face. initially they weren't going to sell the "duck dynasty" gear. then they apologized to their constituency and said they are going to sell it. i'm wondering should the mark just take care of all the bad behavior that's out there and let people judge accordingly? >> i think i'm okay with that. first of all, i am always one breath away from saying something totally stupid. okay? >> me too. >> i think anybody who operates in live and public sphere recognizes we all say dumb stuff. and we all don't want to be one syllable away from being fired for the next stupid thing we say. and in the end, you know, people have a right to e

they just announced they are lifting the suspension of the "duck dynasty" patriarch phil robertson. the company suspended the reality star just nine days ago after controversial anti-gay comments he made were made public. robertson stood by his comments and his fans stood by him. one online petition to have him reinstated surpassed its goal of gathering 250,000 signatures and a & e ran a "duck dynasty" marathon on christmas day. joining me, our senior media correspondent and host of reliable sources, of course. this is a big topic on your show last sunday. we've been talking about this. this is more than just a television show. this particular story, brian, struck a cultural nerve. how is a & e justifying its decision? >> they are trying to do that with a five paragraph statement that said, well, well, the family acknowledged some of his words and well, we're going to put on a psa campaign with commercial that's promote tolerance. the truth is there is not a lot they can say. they say "duck dynasty" is not a show about one man's views frlg it resonates a large audience and is for fa

did phil robertson's comments about homosexuality deserve so much discussion? and "60 minutes" facing a third round of criticism and clock is ticking for american correspondents in china. will they be allowed to stay in the country? we'll have that and a revealing interview with the ceo of politico and we'll be talking about this tweet that started a social media witch-hunt this weekend. it's time for "reliable sources." >>> good morning. welcome to a freakishly warm washington. there were a lot of big stories this week. congress passed a budget. the stock market reached record highs, a roof collapse on a packed london theater, a federal judge said nsa's bulk collection of our telephone records was likely unconstitutional and the government continued to stone wall reporters who keep asking why the pentagon launched a drone strike that killed innocent people in yemen. those stories barely stood a chance against this. >> "duck dynasty" star phil robertson making comments. >> the home of "duck dynasty" has declined all of our interview requests this week. before i

i don't think they'll say if phil robertson will be in them. the network says it will be all across their other channels, involving talent from all those networks in the public service announcements about unity and tolerance. we'll see in a few months if the robert sons are a part of those or not. it was interesting to hear the spokesman say there will be 134 sort of dialogue. >> and also he said he didn't see this as a reversal at all. >> yes. >> i know in a way you talk to groups that have worked on something, and if something appears to maybe not go their way, or what will -- maybe they realize that's not realistic, but they certainly want to -- i would say they've had an impact on the dialogue. is that accurate, this is not a reversal? >> you know, it's the kind of thing, when a & e came out nine days ago, they said it was an indefinite hiatus. clearly that's not the case. they have given up quite a bit of ground. they're going to be back filming in the spring. you know, i think that kind of says it all, but at least these groups can say th

and phil robertson is a part of that season. all these cast members, the family members are saying they will not do the show without phil. that isn't going to happen because of something called an ironclad contract. the show will go on and i believe that phil will also come back for another season. >> this season's already taped. >> this season's already taped. but i'm saying, season six, he'll be back on. >> first amendment's being thrown around, but the first amendment's about protection from government. is this issue really a first amendment issue? or is it more about the right to say what you want regardless of your belief without blowback? >> well, this is what particularly bothers me here. i think you have so many elites out there who have gotten used to over so many decades to see a particular demographic made fun of, you know. we saw it during the "beverly hillbillies," with a lot of like the new york, l.a., boston -- >> go after the turn of the cheek crowd. >> exactly. and they're okay with that crowd as long as they do

the suspension remains against phil robertson. the family 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

i got a lot of heat yesterday from folks who agree with phil robertson. and i didn't say whether i agreed or disagreed. i put things out there. people are very passionate about this. >> it's okay to agree and disagree. i think that's the thing people go automatically from zero to 100 and attacking -- in attacking rather than -- it is okay if you don't agree with phil robertson. >> that's why this is the greatest country in the world. >> the part that's frustrating, though, i think we all agree we are allowed to have our own opinion but i think one thing i think all americans agree on, is that hateful speech is not acceptable. opinion is okay. >> they don't think it's hate. there's a lot of people who don't think it's hate speech. >> the video was helpful, because he wasn't commenting on what's in the bible. he appeared to be preaching. >> yes. >> that's one thing that will go on people's feelings about whether or not it was appropriate or inappropriate. i have a question, though. it's going to seem off point but maybe more relevant than anything else when

. >>> 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

robertson talking, it was presumably the real phil robertson which led the network to suspend him. the question tonight. is any of this worth fighting over? one thing is clear, to a&e, it's worth millions. in 2012, this family made their debut on a&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 the duck industry and our way of life forever. >> the pat reark 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 making 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 of "gq" magazine he said sinful, s

should patriarch phil robertson have been suspended? facebook or tweet me. we'll read your answers later on the show. >>> my next guest rose to fame on the hit series mash. now wayne rogers is chairman of wayne rogers and company and a leading investment expert and economist. he joins us from los angeles. you were a star of a hit tv series that i loved to watch. what do you think about this duck dynasty controversy? >> you know, one of your guests said earlier it's good for both of them because they are going to make a lot of money. if you take it in context, it's wonderful for everybody to create a big brouhaha about it. from a personal point of view, i think your morals and your religion and your politics are personal to you. that's nobody else's business. that's your business and you have the right to express that anywhere you can in a free country and that's what we hope we think we are. >> what's interesting when you say that, you are basically saying if someone wanting to be gay, they should be able to do acts openly as a gay person and if someone want

>> thank you very much. >>> now, some are defending phil robertson, you heard that. no one is defending, though, the woman whose tweet was not only offensive and tasteless but shocking, considering her job. cnn's pamela brown explains. >> reporter: social media is calling it the tweet heard around the world. going to africa, hope i don't get aids, just kidding, i'm white. now three days after a p.r. executive justine sacco sent out that tweet, she's out of a job and apologiapologizing. on sunday she said words cannot express how sorry i am and how necessary it is for me to apologize to the people of south africa, who i have offended due to a needless and careless tweet, for being insensitive to this crisis and to the millions of people living with the virus, i am ashamed. sacco was head of p.r. for iac, the media company owned by barry diller that operates websites like the daily beast, college humor and match.com, but on saturday, the company said sacco is no longer a good match, firing her. the now former p.r. exec found herself the target of a social media mob on