Media outlets continue their coverage of the controversy over Present-elect Barack Obama’s selection of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. See the commentary and videos below:

December 19, 2008

CNN: American Morning - Warren Responds to Inauguration Outrage 12.19.08 06:15 am - CNN reports on anti-gay evangelical leader Rick Warren responding to the outcry over Obama inviting him to speak at the presidential inauguration. Warren: "Hopefully individuals passionately expressing opinions from the left and right will recognize that both of us have shown a model commitment to civility in America."

December 18, 2008

Fox News: On the Record with Greta Van Susteren - Obama and The Base 12.18.08 10:42 pm - Greta Van Susteren and Rick Santorum share thoughts on Rick Warren speaking at the presidential inauguration. Santorum claims with such a move, Obama is saying, "'Look, let me have the cover of being the moderate, and then I will go ahead and govern as a liberal.'"

Fox News: Hannity & Colmes - Barack Obama Defends Choosing Rick Warren to Deliver Inauguration 12.18.08 09:11 pm - Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes, Michael Steele, Maria Cardona and Erick Erickson talk about the Rick Warren controversy. Hannity claims, "Rick Warren - this is the kind of diversity and the kind of change Obama talked about. It's not being ideological, it's not having people only with whom you agree."

MSNBC: The Rachel Maddow Show - Obama Selected Rick Warren to Give His Inauguration Invocation 12.18.08 09:00 pm - Rachel Maddow speaks out at length against Obama choosing Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation. Maddow also interviews S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom, who says he "disagree[s] with [Warren] vehemently" on LGBT issues, but that Warren's selection can be "an opportunity, if we make it one."

CNN: Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull - Inauguration Prayer Fight 12.18.08 08:26 pm - HRC's Joe Solmonese on Rick Warren: "[I]n this moment, a symbolically important moment, when the eyes of the world are on this country and on this transitional moment, it would seem to me that there would be someone that president-elect Obama could pick to usher in a new day in America."

Fox News: The O'Reilly Factor - Battle with the Base 12.18.08 08:21 pm - Truth Wins Out's Wayne Besen and pastor (and Rick Warren's friend) Robert Jeffress share their opinions on the Rick Warren controversy. Besen: "[L]et's stop pretending that Rick Warren is a moderate. He's masquerading as a moderate. This olive branch to evangelicals is more like poison ivy to [the LGBT community]."

MSNBC: Hardball with Chris Matthews - Obama Chooses Evangelical Pastor Rick Warren to Deliver Inaguration Invocation 12.18.08 07:43 pm - Chris Matthews, HRC's Joe Solmonese and BeliefNet.com's Steven Waldman debate the subject of Rick Warren's inaugural invocation. Solmonese asserts that Obama's selection of Warren is "an insensitive and politically shortsighted act," while Waldman claims Obama is "trying to reach out to moderate evangelicals."

PBS: NewsHour with Jim Lehrer - Insulting or Inclusive? 12.18.08 06:39 pm - Harry Knox, director of the religion and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, and Michael Cromartie, vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, offer opposing viewpoints on the issue of Rick Warren delivering the invocation at Obama's inauguration.

MSNBC: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with David Gregory - Inaugural Invocation Uproar 12.18.08 06:37 pm - FRC's Peter Sprigg and PFAW's Kathryn Kolbert debate Obama's selection of the anti-gay Rick Warren as an inaugural speaker. Kolbert says Warren is a "divisive" choice, while Sprigg claims Obama "wanted to reach out across some of these lines of division."

CNN: The Situation Room - Gays to Obama: We Feel Disrespected 12.18.08 06:37 pm - HRC's Harry Knox on Rick Warren at Obama's inauguration: "It's really very sad for us because we worked very hard for Senator Obama's election - and now president-elect. And for us to not be respected by his choices in this case is really very disappointing to us."

NBC: NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams - Politics & Prayer 12.18.08 06:28 pm - NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports on LGBT equality advocates' outcry over Rick Warren's inauguration speech. HRC's Harry Knox: "By making this pick, the president-elect really sent a message to me and to my community that we don't matter as much to him as people who didn't even vote for him."

Fox News: Special Report with Brit Hume - Prayer Problems 12.18.08 06:16 pm - Brit Hume reports on reactions from the LGBT community and its supporters to Rick Warren speaking at President-elect Obama's inauguration.

CNN: CNN Newsroom - Left Miffed at Obama 12.18.08 03:22 pm - CNN's Rick Sanchez discusses the Rick Warren controversy with Firedoglake.com's Jane Hamsher. Hamsher: "If [Obama} really wants to preach inclusiveness, then why not have somebody up there, a pastor who represents inclusiveness, and isn't trying to build his political power by alienating and victimizing people who are gay?"

WSJ.com: Rick Warren 12.18.08 01:05 pm - The Wall Street Journal's Adam Najberg discusses the controversy over Rick Warren's anti-gay views and provides excerpt from an interview between Warren and BeliefNet.com's Steve Waldman in which Warren made strong anti-gay statements.

CNN: American Morning - Obama Outrage over Rick Warren 12.18.08 07:04 am - Hilary Rosen on Rick Warren at Obama's inauguration: "I think Rick Warren loses his moral authority when he, you know, is completely hypocritical about the way he deals with the issue of gays and lesbians and equality."