>> you ask and we give answers. >> amazing. happy easter. >> happy easter to you. this is cnn sunday morning where news doesn't take the weekend off. state of the union with candy crowley starts right now. have a wonderful easter, everyone. santorum says it's halftime. but for romney versus obama, game on. today -- >> women ait's workforce. >> jobs and the democrat with debbie wasserman schultz. and then what the polls tell us with democratic strategist mark penn and republican strategist wherein today linda divall. and ken star and neal katyal.

plus a conversation with me manual cheever. >> if if you believe the president is a christian, why would that be -- you still come to the belief he's trying to destroy religion? >> ralph reed. >> is it similarly wrong them for democrats to say that the republican party is engaged in a war on women? >> and david brody of the crist janua christian broadcasting network. i'm candy crowley and this is state of the union. in an election expected to somewhere on the economy, both parties got something to schu on this this week. 120,000 new jobs were added to the economy in march, but that was way off the 200,000 expected. unemployment dropped a tenth of a percent, but economists say some quit looking for work. mitt romney called the report weak and very troubling. the president said there's a lot more work to do. joining me now from miami, florida is the chair of the democratic national committee,

congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. thank you for joining us on this holiday weekend. i want to start out -- >> you're welcome -welcome. >> -- with the jobs report. mitt romney described it as weak. we've heard various economists describe the economy as sluggish. how would you describe the latest jobs report? >> well, because we've now had 25 straight months of private sector job growth, more than 4 million jobs created, and where actually at will this point in our recovery, we've created seven times more jobs than at the same point in the recovery in 2001, i'd say we're making slow but steady progress. and like the president said, we have a ways to go, we need to keep pushing. but what's really bothersome to me is that it almost seems like my republican colleagues in congress and mitt romney are rooting for economic failure. i mean, they've been hyper focused on one job, barack obama's, for really the last two

years. and we all need to be pulling together to focus on moving the economy forward for the middle class and for working families. and mitt romney's plans, the republican budget take they just put out in the house, they're focused on making sure millionaires and billionaires can continue to do even better. and that's a pretty huge contrast. >> republicans would disagree that they're rooting for a bad economy and in fact they out of their way to say we welcome any progress, but this isn't fast enough. i want to read you something that your counterpart said on friday. over three years ago, president obama projected that the unemployment rate would be below 6% by now thanks on his stimulus. but the stimulus failed and unemployment has been far above that level ever since. is that legitimate criticism because in fact that is what the president's economic folks projected with the stimulus that was passed. >> again, that's another example of where the republicans just

refuse to acknowledge that we've made -- that we've made progress. we have made significant progress. >> but it was your benchmark, it was the president's benchmark. and is holding him to that fair? >> that's -- what -- what prince priebus and other anyists are saying is that he's inherited the worst economy since the great depression and the recovery act, as much as republicans can repeat it over and over, it didn't fail. it created and saved more than 3 million jobs. >> but it failed to do what was promised. isn't that -- is that a legitimate criticism? >> no, i don't think it's a leg legitimate criticism. it succeeded in jump-starting the economy. we needed to give the economy is

shock to the heart. we needed to make sure that we didn't lose millions of teachers jobs and first responders like firefighters and police officers. we needed to invest if our infrastructure because we hahav crumbling roads and bridges. that's what the recovery act did and it helped jump-start us to the point where we've had 25 straight months of job growth in the private sector. remember, we were losing 750,000 jobs a month when the president took office. hang thanked to the paled poli policies he inherited.thanked t policies he inherited. >> let's me ask but gas prices now over $4 a gallon on average. we all know when gas prices go up, consumers spend less and companies tend to hire fewer people simply because their overhead has gone up. do you worry that these gas prices should they stay here will inflict some damage on what

i think you still admit is a fairly weak recovery. >> as a representative of my constituents, i worry anytime there is an impact on their wallet and on their bottom line and obviously higher gas prices does that. but that's why i'm really glad to see president obama focused on an all of the above energy strategy because previously under the bush administration and what the republicans now under pit romney want to continue is a drill, baby, drill strategy. which is hot a strategy, it's a bumper sticker. and it's also sticking our heads in the sand that we'll be able to continue to rely on our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels. we know those are finite. we need on focus on investing in biofuels and alternative energy sources like wind and solar. so for my children and my constituents' children, we can have an abundant source of energy that's renewable for

years to come. and in fact gas prices over the long term. >> let me turn you to one of the democrats' favorite subject these days and that is what they call the republican war on women. again, from the republican national committee, a spokesman said it is down right pathetic, they, meaning democrats, would use a term like war when there are millions of americans would actually have engaged in a real war. to use a term like that borders on unpatriotic. the war on women, i understand that you disagree with a lot of the policies that have come out either at the state level or things that have been said on the floor. but do you think war on women actually helps the dialogue? is it a little overstretched? >> i think we need to look at what republicans are saying about the policies towards women themselves. is look at what senator lisa murkowski said in her state.

if republicans don't position that our policies are an attack on women, they need it on go home and talk to their wives and daughters. because the policies that have come out of the republican partying saying we should have to have a debate again over contraception and whether we should have access to it and whether it should be affordable, saying that like governor scott walker in wisconsin, you know, he tried to quietly repeal the equal pay act. women aren't going to stand for that. governor walker just signed a bill that repeals the equal pay law that they had in wisconsin for years. you have republicans that have engaged themselves on trying to redefine rape as only being forceful brain oig. depunding planned parenthood. the lilly led better act that put teeth behind the notion that women deserve equal pay for equal work. that was the first bill president obama signed in to law.overwhelming majority of

republicans voted against it. so the focus of the republican party on turning back the clock for women really is something that's unacceptable and shows how callus and insensitive they are towards women's priorities. >> congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, always too short of time. please come back. >> always is. thanks. swing voters. latinos and women. are key to winning the white house and you can bet the presidential candidates are looking at the polls for answers even though they might not admit it. >> you didn't know a poll to know that it wasn't a sure thing. >> there's one poll that's redi ridiculo ridiculous. >> we started off 15 points down. now we're leading. thanks, you guys. all energy development comes with some risk,

but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves.

the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. you're probably muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec®. love the air. ahh, cloudy glasses. you didn't have to come over! easy. hi. cascade kitchen counselor. look! over time, a competing gel can leave cloudy hard water deposits, but cascade complete pacs help leave glasses sparkling. cascade. love it or your money back. let's see what you got. rv -- covered. why would you pay for a hotel? i never do. motorcycles -- check. atv. i ride those. do you? no. boat. house. hello, dear. hello. hello. oh! check it --

[ loud r&b on car radio ] i'm going on break! the more you bundle, the more you save. now, that's progressive. george gallop conducted his first public opinion poll in the 1930s and almost eight decades later, business is booming about. >> mitt romney in this match-up,

48% you'll see to obama 47%. >> our new poll shows president with a double digit lead. >> nearly two-thirds of americans disapprove of how the president is handling gas prices. >> the capped cndidates want yo know they're not preoccupied in polls. >> i've never had much pait in the pollsters. >> but behind the scenes, campaigns poll constantly on the candidates and the issues. can you believe the numbers? >> they're scientific because they're random samples. >> part of a questionnaire is looking at a series of questions so that you can determine what you can reasonably rely upon. >> strategist linda divall and mark penn on what the poles say about the battle for the white house next. and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy.

joining us now, mark penn, democratic strategist and wherein today divall, republican strategist and president and ceo of american viewpoint public opinion pirm. thank you both for joining us. i want to show our viewers, this is independent votes in swing states. obama 48, romney 39. so how did romney lose the

independent vote. >> i think will this is a significant reversal. i think romney through the primaries has been beaten up by the others, seen as removed from kind of the middle class average voter. has trouble with women now, with latinos. boy, i think he's entering the general election how kind of a totally beaten up candidate and this poll is a reflection of that. >> and he's not the first to arrive beat up. the very nature of the swing voter is that they swing. so is there anything in this that gives you hope that he can get them back, that romney could get back some of the swing voters? >> certainly. number one, it's early april. number two, when you look at with registered voters, the margin becomes much closer. and this is not atypical that our nominee tends to go down. >> we want to talk about women. in this same poll, again, this is swing states, and this is the women vote. obama 54%, romney 36%.

is he being tainted from some things fellow republicans have done or is it something about romney? >> i think when you look at it, it's mostly about the republican party, but romney has failed to distinguish himself from the pack. i think when you had the dust up about contraception, i think women said, wait a minute here. this party, this republican party and whoever is the nominee, will be driven by an agenda that is socially way 00 conservative for me in he's times. and i think that shifted a lot of voters. >> and the contraception argument for republican, they wanted to be seen as a separation of church and state issue and instead the democrats have framed very well this sort of war on women. and looks as hthese it's hurt him. sgrits eat inept ham handling of the republican party on the issue. if you look at what happened in 2010, republicans were very competitive and in fact won the vote with women voters. so there's an important lesson

here. when we get the focus back on the the economy and the president's record, things dramatically. >> we've had soccer moms, security mom, weighait recent r. what's the target voter here? >> there is no monolithic group that describes the female vote. i would probably look at two or three. one are what i would call medicare grand mads who are more concerned about the fate of their children and their grandchildren in terms of the jobs that they will get and their ability to pursue the american dream as i talked about earlier. second, there are what i would call wall street blues women. those who are very worried, they work a job, their husband works, they're worried about their benefits being cut back, hers worried about their retirement security and their 401(k) losing steam.rs worried about their retirement security and their 401(k) losing steam.s worried about their retirement security and their 401(k) losing steam.s worried about their retirement security and their 401(k) losing steam.ths worried about their retirement security and their 401(k) losing steam.es worried about their retirement security and their 401(k) losing steam.ys worried about their retirement security and their 401(k) losing steam.they'res worried about th retirement security and their 401(k) losing steam.they're worried about their retirement

security and their 401(k) losing steam. dealing with the day to day stress of living and always lurking is a concern that a benefit will be cut or one or the two of them will lose their job. >> i would k3 x. band i think there are four key groups. record numbers of independents. record numbers of latino voters probably break 10%. record number of voters making over $100,000. a new college educated professional class that obama did very well with and needs to do well with again. and finally, the over 60 electorate will for the first time be probably five points bigger than the oout electorate. >> baby boomers keep getting older, don't we? >> and they keep voting. >> let me move to latino voters. i want to put up from our exit polls from 2000 on forward from republicans. george w. bush got 37% of t5% o

latino vote. and i want to show you what the pew center poll shows between president obama and mitt romney. 68% of whlatino vote, barack obama. 23%, mitt romney. that's the biggest growing demographic you've got. that's a huge problem. what has caused this big drop? >> well, again, you have perceptions of the republican party on the immigration issue that are very much hurting the republican party here. it doesn't take a genius to figure out those numbers will not provide and you pathway to a winning coalition. so it is incumbent upon the republican party to do a better job of embracing the hispanic/latino vote. they're very entrepreneurial oriented. they're very family oriented. they place a high emphasis on education. there's no reason why the republican party and it candidates do a better job of appealing to them. you also have to look at key senate races. new mexico, nevada, arizona. those three states will be very important for the presidential coalition, but also very important in terms of control of the senate and republicans must

do a better job with the hispanic vote. >> probably more in the are a t latino vote, that's where a down ballot really begins to be affected in states.e a latino vote, that's where a down ballot really begins to be affected in states. a latino vote, that's where a down ballot really begins to be affected in states.a latino vote, that's where a down ballot really begins to be affected in states. latino vote, that's where a down ballot really begins to be affected in states. the latino vote may be a real exception here. >> what happened here is that romney, who has found himself with moderate positions on a lot of issues, took rather harsh and conservative positions on immigration. and so i think quite the opposite from where president george bush was, where his immigration precision seems more moderate, romney has put himself in the isolated component of that and along with his ryan budget are two biggest errors giving him problem going forward. >> one last question about the number two pick. throughout history, i think we'd look and say the lbj pick for jack kennedy maybe brought him texas. do you think it matters,

certainly if you get a bad vice presidential candidate, people might vote against you, but does it matter one way or the other if a presidential nominee picks someone who fills in his degraphic weakness or picks someone who fills in his perceived policy weaknesses? >> i think the number one criteria for any presidential candidate picking a vice presidential choice is can that person accept in and do the job of president from day one should that circumstance a rise. and one thing that happened in 2008 is that increasingly as you got closer to election day, there are many people that doubt that had sarah palin could do that job. so first is that person ready to be president of the united states and second is probably do no harm. >> yeah, because i you might vote against someone who has a bad number two, but would you vote for someone because they had a great number two? >> typically number twos don't make a big difference. could make a can i have in a state. could make a difference for a particular group. a lot of people have talked about rubio. but there's one henk we

definitely agree on here. sarah palin was one of the most disastrous vp picks in history. she turned off a lot of college educated voters who might have considered voting for the republican party. and that's why democrats got and barack obama got an unprecedentedly high vote among college educated over-100,000 voters. >> we'll see if he can keep them this time around. thank you both so much for coming. my thanks again to mark penn and linda divall. ahead, president obama says he's confident the supreme court will uphold the health care law, but his comments about the justices are drawing some heat. >> i think what we have here was a direct effort by the president to intimidate the court during a time when they're making a decision a one of the most important cases in the history of the country. [ leanne ] appliance park has been here since the early 50s.

my dad and grandfather spent their whole careers here. [ charlie ] we're the heartbeat of this place, the people on the line. we take pride in what we do. when that refrigerator ships out the door, it's us that work out here. [ michael ] we're on the forefront of revitalizing manufacturing. we're proving that it can be done here, and it can be done well. [ ilona ] i came to ge after the plant i was working at closed after 33 years. ge's giving me the chance to start back over. [ cindy ] there's construction workers everywhere. so what does that mean? it means work. it means work for more people. [ brian ] there's a bright future here, and there's a chance to get on the ground floor of something big, something that will bring us back. not only this company, but this country. ♪ the chevy cruze eco also offers 42 mpg on the highway.

actually, it's cruze e-co, not ec-o. just like e-ither. or ei-ther. or e-conomical. [ chuckling ] or ec-onomical. pa-tato, po-tato, huh? actually, it's to-mato, ta-mato. oh, that's right. [ laughs ] [ car door shuts ] [ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. now very well qualified lessees can get a 2012 chevy cruze ls for around $159 per month. e.p.a. estimated 36 miles per gallon highway.

joining us now from waco, texas is baylor university president ken starr. he served as u.s. solicitor general under bush and clinton administrations and here in waupg, neal katyal, former acting solicitor general for the obamaadministration. thank you so much for taking your time today. i want on play for you something obama said about the health care

ruling. we heard the arguments. we expect a ruling maybe in june. and i want to play what he had to say about the supreme court. >> ultimately i'm confident that the supreme court will not take what would be an unprecedented extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected congress. and i just remind conservative commentators that for years what we've heard is the biggest problem on the bench was judicial act ititivism or a lac unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law. >> what do you think of that same? >> well, i think what the presidented was saying was something that i think a lot of us feel, which is for example i

went to law school in 1992 and the great idea that conservatives had at that time was this idea that the unelected judges shouldn't be making a judgment on fashion al policy unless it's clearly unconstitutional. otherwise it should be left to the political branches. and i think it's surprising that now we see the new conservative movement really resorting to the courts to do what they haven't done that tat the legislative b box. >> ken, do you agree with that assessment? there was a huge outcry when the president said this and people said wait a minute, that's why we have the bam balance of powers. >> the president should be mindful much the fact that a number of federal judges including at least one whom he appointed to the federal binge r bench voted to strike down the law as an invasion of the powers of the states in the sense of congress having exceeded its powers to regulate interstate commerce. it's a serious issue.

reason al minds can differ about the issue. and i think it's unfortunate for the president of the united states to be process especially when the case is under consideration by the court. i think it's an in-judicious comment. >> let me ask you about the court in terms of outside influences. there's -- speaking specifically on the arizona immigration law, the question in this will poll was how should the supreme court rule on arizona immigration law and it will hear the case coming up at the end of this month. 61% of americans said they should uphold it, 31% they should overturn it, and 8% i'm not sure. so when you look at this stuff, neal, does any of this such the supreme court? we end to think of them as these nine people that don't know about public opinion polls. but they do. >> i think they do know about these things, but these are nine

extraordinarily smart, competent people who know what they think. >> ken, do theyne listen to anyf this, does it influence them? >> i think it would surprise you who insulated the judges and the justices are. certainly can be. that's the whole idea of the judges having life tenure to serve as article 3 of our constitution provide, during good behavior. john paul stevens stepped down after a distinguished career at the age of 90. and that's not that unusual. justices in their 70s right now. so they have that wonderful glorious virtue called independence. and so at their best, they will just give their best independent judgment as to what it is that the law provides or the constitution means. do they sometimes succumb to political pressure? perhaps. but at their best, they're independent. that was the design of the founding of the american republic.

>> let me move you, neal, on to the immigration case. this is specifically the arizona law, portions of which have been there's been an injunction against them going into effect. one of those provisions will yous law enforcement to question someone about their legal status in the country. at provision says you have to carry your immigration papers with you all the time. is this this a small case or is it this a case where where it really could affect all of these other immigration laws? it seems the question right how is one of law enforcement, but the largest question is will any of the state's business. >> and the peg is sfederal goves say eing it's not just arizona. every individual state could create either own individual law. >> they created enforcement, correct? >> exactly.

so what the federal government government is saying, if you can give any state or locality the power to enforce laws, federal laws that really does interfere with the federal government system. >> is this about federal government reach or state's rights? what do you think the immigration case is about, ken? >> i think it's about parallel enforcement. very frequently in our law, congress whether contemill cont states will have their own enforcement system that is supplements or supporting parallel law. the law enforcement provisions, checking for identification and the lake, i think are likely to be held to be appropriate parallel enforcement. it's very clear from the immigration laws that congress contemplates a role for the states in enforcing federal law. and that's not unusual.

there are parts of the law, though, that i believe are quite problematic. and in particular, the provision with respect to individuals who are up documen undocumented see. congress made it not a crime. to have employer sanctions, but not employee sanctions. and i feel that's problematic. >> do you in general agree with that? >> i certainly agree i think judge starr has nailed it on the head when he said those provisions that make certainly things criminal are really likely to go down. i think those are very hard to defend. >> and let me just as a wrap up question to you both, who would you like to next see on the supreme court? >> i think that the democratic field has a number of really interesting people including garland on the d.c. circuit. this is a man who i think is respected by both parties. and someone who i think deserves a very serious look. sglild say look at governors. look at those who served in the

cabinet and the like. i think bringing a different array of experiences, including a united states senator. there was great historical precedent for that. but i'll leave it to others naming the candidates because they're just so many very imminently qualified people. but beyond the federal bench. >> i think there's a number of really good people, but one thing that the current supreme court is lacking is political experience and withere are two senators who would be worth a look by the president. >> it would sure be interested to get someone not on the bench at the moment. so that you think bo thank you booth so much for your attention on this weekend. >> thank you. up next, religion in politics. is it a bad mix? >> i think there is in this country a war on religion. i think there is a desire to

establish a religion in america known as secularism. at's really: used dishcloths. they can have a history that they drag around with them. for a cleaner way to clean try bounty extra soft. in this lab demo, one sheet of bounty extra soft leaves this surface 3 times cleaner than a dishcloth. it's super durable too. it's the cleaner way to clean. bring it with bounty extra soft. in the pink pack. and try bounty napkins.

[ woman on r♪ bum-bum,stinct ] bum-bum, bum-bum ♪ ♪ bum-bum - ♪ ai, ai, ai - ♪ bum-bum - ♪ bum-bum, bum-bum - ♪ [ ice rattles rhythmically ] ♪ bum-bum, bum-bum, bum-bum ♪ ♪ [ imitates guitar noise ] ♪ [ vocalizing up-tempo heavy metal song ] ♪ [ vocalizing continues ] ♪ [ all singing ] the redesigned, 8-passenger pilot. smarter thinking. from honda. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about market volatility. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 in times like these, it can be tough to know which ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 way the wind is blowing. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we're ready with objective insights about ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 the present market and economic conditions. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 and can help turn those insights into ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 a plan of action that's right for you. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 so don't let the current situation take you off course. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 talk to chuck. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550

[ roger ] tell me you have good insurance. yup, i've got... [ kyle with voice of dennis ] ...allstate. really? i was afraid you'd have some cut-rate policy. [ kyle ] nope, i've got... [ kyle with voice of dennis ] ...the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance -- and you still get an allstate agent. i too have...[ roger with voice of dennis ]...allstate. [ roger ] same agent and everything. [ kyle ] it's like we're connected. no we're not. yeah, we are. no...we're not. ♪ the allstate value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate.

joining us from atlanta is ralph reed, founder and chairman of the faith and freedom

coalition. in kansas city, emanuel kreclea, united methodist church pastor. and here in washington, david brody from the christian broadcasting network. thank you for joining us on a religious holiday for any number of religions will this weekend, which is why we wanted to have this conversation. this is a pew research center poll and the question was to americans do you think there has been too much, too little or just about the right amount of faith and prayer expressed openly by politicians. and as of 2012, 38%, flpluralit said too much faith and prayer expressed by politicians. too little, 30%, right amount, 25%. that is up by nine points from just two years ago. whats h has happened to turn pee off to the amount of public

discussion we're having about religion? congressman, let's start with you. >> well, it's becoming a political issue every two years and then for sure every four years we try to put god on the ballot. and i think the american public is tiring of it. look, the sectiixth amendment declares there shall be no religious test. so god did not burden the united states with diversity, but blessed us with it. eplur bus uhe number, out of many, one. and i think we are a nation that does not have a national religion. in fact the bill of rights says that we cannot even establish one. so i think the american public for all those reasons are saying we're tired of it. >> ralph, would you agree? i know you work with a lot of groups to get out the vote efforts and getting people to register.

and what is it that's turning folks off right about now? >> well, i think what the poll indicates, candy, is something that's not new in american history. and that is a for lack of a better term a sort of historic antipathy for clericalism. that is to say a sense in which church and state would be intertwined. and that politicians would try to use religion for partisan or political purposes. that's what they tonight wadon' see. but there's a huge difference between that and the engagement of people of faith ive citizens exercising the same god given rights as everybody else, to be registered to vote, to become involved in the plild party of their choice, to turn out to the polls, to try to influence legislation. >> if i can extrapolate, the

question here is not one of voting your beliefs. people clearly vote their beliefs. when they be religious or sectarian, whatever they happen to be. you're going to vote what you believe. and for the person you think will best protect those beliefs or promote them. but what we don't want is for religion to be used for political ends. i think that may be what we're seeing there. >> and that's some of the skepticism. let's take rick is an store run a santorum and michele bachmann. with these two kacandidates, yo cannot separate their faith from politics. it is who they are. when you see him show up at a church on sunday morning that's where he would be anyhow. >> at the national prayer breakfast in early february, president obama took heat for this particular remark. let me play it. >> if i'm willing to give

something up as somebody who has been extraordinarily blessed, give up some of the tax breaks that i enjoy, i actually think that will make economic sense. but for me as a christian, it also coincides with jesus' teaching that from to whom much is given much shall be required. >> congressman, what did you make of that remark? is that using religion for political purposes or is that applying your religious beliefs to your politics? >> well, keep in mind that was the national prayer breakfast. i didn't see anything wrong with it in that environment. i think the trouble comes when we try to use it to separate us from others. in other words, religion becomes ethnocentric. we want to say that we are okay. and all of us are still under construction, which means that we're pot infallible. and the president's never said

that. i think we've gone way too far with all of thisot infallible. and the president's never said that. i think we've gone way too far with all of thisnot infallible. and the president's never said that. i think we've gone way too far with all of this, the president's declared war on religion. that absurd. the chinese have declared war on religion. the iranians have declared war on religion. and when we exaggerates things like that, it further polarizing the country and creates the thought that maybe we need to be similar in our theologies and i think that's doing damage to the constitution. >> let me, ralph, ask you about the statement because certainly the republicans ever since the whole problem with contraception and churches and whether church facilities should be forced to provide contraception in health care insurance, republicans have been fast and loose with the words war on relidge i don't think religion. do you honestly think barack obama or the obama administration in general has declared war on religion? >> the question here isn't

obama's faith. the issue here are his policies. and when you by the way go before federal courts and say that the defense of marriage act is unconstitutional, when you're required to defend the laws of the congress of the united states, which the president has signed in to law, in other words, it's your obligation to defend federal law. on case after case, religious churches, charity, educational institutions, this administration has shown either a total insensitivity too. they have's just been hostile to the first amendment's right to practice religious faith free from government restriction. >> some democrats called governor walker of wisconsin hitler. they likened him to hitler and held up posters. i'm a democrat.

i condemned that. hitler killed 8 million people. governor walker is trying to kill a union. there is no comparison. and so that was wrong. we've got to quit exaggerating our political differences. if you believe that the president is a christian, why would you still come to the belief that he's trying to destroy religion in this country? we have to stop it. that is not doing this country this any good at all. and the truth of the matter is we know better. we know better. >> so is it -- congressman, is it similarly wrong then for democrats to say that the congress is engaging in a war on women? >> yes, that is wrong. and i've never said it, not one time. >> then perhaps we could -- >> what we need -- what we need is for you and me, and i'm willing to do it, i don't think

you would, but when that happens, do what i do. i condemn it. if it's a democrat, if it's my cousin, it's wrong. and i think we need to stop that. it is damaging the body poll tick and it's further separating the people in this country. >> what i've said is the administration has shown insensitivity if not outright hostility. i'm certainly glad to hear what you're saying this morning, but the president's own senior advisers is saying the republican party is engaged in a war on women and he's the head of the party. so there's a little bit of selective outrage here. >> ralph reed, david brody and congressman cleaver, we'll continue in a couple minutes. i want to ask you whether mitt romney is ready to confront the misc koconception romney is ready to confront the misc koconceptios about his mor man faith. goodnight bygones eve. [ engine turns over ] good morning, illumination. good morning, innovation.

good morning unequaled inspiration. [ male announcer ] the audi a8, chosen by car & driver as the best luxury sedan in a recent comparison test.

or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business, it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities. that's why we extended $6.4 billion in new credit to small businesses across the country last year. because the more we help them, the more we help make opportunity possible. mitt romney is a mormon. we have not had a mrmon president. i was intrigued by polling again

from the poou organization that showed the overwhelming number of non -- or a mrur alty of nonmormons would dekrib takes cult, whereas 90 plus something of mormons describe it as a christian religion. let me bring you in here just to ask you if you think mormonism is a problem in the national election? should he become the nominee, which we believe he will, and what should we do about it? >> i think there are certain evangelical christians who won't vote for romney because he is a mormon. simple as that. there is -- i mean, look at the polling. 29%, roughly -- ralph has the numbers on this, but about 29% of evangelical christians during the primaries have voted for mitt romney, and there is a section that has no problem with romney. why is that exactly? well, abortion is not their number one issue in these exit pollings. it's the budget and economy, and romney speaks to that. then there was another segment.

this is the segment on the fence. this is what i think is going to be the major problem for mitt romney in the general election. he doesn't have the 30% or so of folks that aren't sure about him. not sure if they trust him, and these are evangelicals, and the problem is romney has want reached out to evangelicals whatsoever in the primaries. it could very much come back to haunt him from an enthusiasm stabbed point, and the general election. >> you had written that you believe that rick santorum was taking four days off over easter, maybe preparing to pull from the race on the basis of that. >> yeah. well, i think we'll see about that. i mean, i think we know about this meeting that happened in the last few days. there is a sense here at this point that this is more of a pivot moment now for the santorum campaign. they know they can't loose pennsylvania. if they lose pennsylvania, there's a whole other conversation, but real quick, this meeting was really more about strategy. how can they go about defeating romney in the future, because so far they've thrown everything against the wall and nothing has stuck so far? >> david brodie, congressman

emmanuel clooefr xshgs ralph reed, thank you all three very much. have a great weekend. >> thank you very much. >> you heard it earlier. some people are pretty teeed off about the so-called war on women. the game of politics and perception is next. [ male announcer ] the cadillac cts sport sedan was designed with near-perfect weight balance from front to back... and back to front. ♪ giving you exceptional control from left to right... and right to left. ♪ the cadillac cts. ♪ we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins,

the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart ways to sweeten. same great taste. splenda® essentials™. i get my cancer medications through the mail. now washington, they're looking at shutting down post offices coast to coast. closing plants is not the answer. they want to cut 100,000 jobs. it's gonna cost us more, and the service is gonna be less. we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. the ripple effect is going to be devastating. congress created the problem. and if our legislators get on the ball, they can make the right decisions.

on december 21st polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space. which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd, and you still need to retire. td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). so who's in control now, mayans?

time for a check of today's top stories. two men very arrested in connection with a deadly series of shootings in oklahoma. three people were killed and two others were wounded in the attacks in tulsa friday. there is a new deal over the way the u.s. merl operates in afghanistan. the agreement is an effort to end afghan anger over special operations night raids on local homes. from now on afghan commandos will take the lead in those raids. we tee off this week's campaign trail with something a little off course. the all male augusta national golf club. >> if i were a member and if i were -- if i could run augusta, which isn't likely to happen, but, of course, i would have women in augusta. newt gingrich tweeted i think calista would be a great member. maybe she would let me come and play. rick santorum via e-mail.

i encourage augusta to accept women members. president obama via his spokesman. >> he believes augusta should admit women. >> there are people who don't want augusta to accept women members, but none of them are running for president. talk about a courtship. >> the pleasure to be surrounded by so many talented accomplished women, it makes me feel right at home, although usually i have my wingman, bo, with me. >> i think it's important that women both outside the home and inside the home are affirmed for their choices they make. >> i think the biggest change is that women would be able to look at their children and say that the future is going to be brighter than the past. >> did we mention that women vote in greater numbers and percentages than men? historically democrats have done better with female voters and republicans have done better with male voters. thus, the term gender gap. this year for republicans it's more like a casm. in 2000 george bush lost the female vote to al gore by 11 points. as of late march, women prefer

president obama to mitt romney by a jaw-dropping election-losing 23 points. that is an eight-point drop for romney, since january. he is paying the price for a republican dust-up with president obama over contraception and freedom of religion. a sixist outburst from talk show host rush bim lim bah, and a concerted democratic effort to milk it. >> war against women. >> war on women. >> war on women. >> let's just say no matter what is to blame in the game of politics and perception, republicans lost this round. >> democrats said we had a war on caterpillars, then every mainstream media outlet talked about the fact that republicans have a war on caterpillars xshgs then we would have problems with caterpillars. the fact that a matter is it's a fiction. >> on the campaign trail these days, sufficed to say there is no war on women. there is a raging battle for women. there is time for republicans to up their game. in election year 2012 they are just teeing up for the back nine. thank you for watching "state of th