now, the big takeaway from yesterday's session was that the justices indicated they will make a ruling this summer instead of punting and delaying a decision until the health care law is fully implemented in 2014. let me bring in constitutional law expert kenji yoshino, professor at nyu school of law. thank you, professor, for coming in. >> my pleasure. >> we were talking about yesterday. not the most scintillating conversation that the supreme court has ever had. but today completely different, right? >> absolutely. so you're putting it very gently about yesterday. >> i think you called it mind-numbing. >> yes, exactly. but today is where the gloves really come off. >> well, let's talk about it because arguments are being made about this individual mandate. should every individual be mandated to have health care? what's -- if you had to sort of synthesize what they're listening to this morning, what in favor of it? what's the strongest argument in favor? >> the strongest argument in favor of the individual mandate is that nobody is actually being forced into the market. so everybody agrees that if it's

in interstate commerce that congress can regulate it. so the question is if i'm sitting alone in my room and i'm not buying health insurance, am i actually in that market or not in that market? so what the government is saying, their strongest argument is that sooner or later i'm going to have to avail myself of health care. so if i have a heart attack -- >> and if i don't, the other people will have to pay for it. the way the system is now, you can go to a doctor, to the emergency room, maybe you're not going to pay, but somebody's going to pay for that service. >> exactly. and i think that's a really key point, chris, because if i'm uninsured and i go to the emergency room, both federal law and professional ethics require that those doctors treat me. essentially i'm free riding on people who have already paid into the system. so what the government is arguing is there's no way to be outside of this market. so even if you're not active in a market, you're still involved in the market. you've made a decision to opt out, but that decision is an economic decision and therefore congress can regulate it. >> the people who argue against it say this is a huge overreach on the part of the government.

what's their strongest argument? >> their strongest argument is the federal government cannot force me to buy a product or a service that i would otherwise not get. so there are all these press denteds, as i'm sure you know, particularly the famous wheat case from 1942 where it seems like congress has been able to do a huge amount. in fact, since 1937, just to set a baseline, there have only been two instances in which the united states supreme court has struck down a congressional enactment as exceeding congress's commerce power. this is an uphill battle for the plaintiffs. none other prior decisions dealt with a situation where somebody was being regulated for inactivity. so they're focusing on the fact that look, if i didn't buy insurance, i'm not participating in this market. so it really comes down to whether or not the justices will see that individual as being part of the market or not part of the market. >> the vast swath of america ignores a lot of what the supreme court does. they frankly, very few things are this sweepingly consequential. and there have been a lot of things written over the last several hours, several days

about why this isn't televised. we're not going to hear the tapes until tomorrow. but what will you be listening for? what will give us clues as to which way you think they might be going, or who? >> i think the audiotapes -- >> i'm sorry, later today, yeah. >> on the supreme court website. i would encourage your viewers to take a look. or take a listen, i should say, rather. but with respect to how the justices are going to rule, you know, i think that there's a liberal bloc for that is going to uphold the law. i think that's just the conventional wisdom. i also think it's conventional wisdom that justice thomas who has been on the warpath to limit congressional power for the last two decades is going to vote to strike down this law. so that leaves four justices in play. and so obama -- the obama administration needs one of those four justices to vote with the liberal bloc of four, most likely justice kennedy. but if you get justice kennedy, you might get roberts, too. because there's something a little queasy making about having the four liberal justices

which would be breyer, kagan, sotomayor and ginsburg, plus kennedy voting in one direction as a bloc because that makes it look too partisan. and so chief justice roberts who cares a great deal about the court not looking too partisan may choose to join that majority. also, chris, i would point out that when the chief justice is in the majority, he gets to assign who writes the opinion. so he might well vote in the majority simply to be able to assign the opinion to himself to write a relatively narrow opinion as opposed to sweeping opinion. >> professor, it's fascinating stuff. thanks to you. i want to bring in a little bit about the politics of this health care law. yesterday rick santorum talked outside of the supreme court. he took direct aim at front-runner mitt romney. >> there's one candidate who is uniquely disqualified to make the case. that's the reason i am here and he's not. >> let's bring in politico senior congressional reporter jonathan allen and huffington

post senior political reporter amanda terkel. good to see both of you. jonathan, am i overstating it to say as political battles go, this one's pretty epic? >> this is an epic battle. most of the country was engaged in the original fight. the argument between santorum and romney over whether or not romney's massachusetts law disqualifies him is a pretty epic fight. and, of course, if romney is the nominee, and i think we all expect him to at this point, the fight over whether or not he can draw a distinction with president obama on this very animating issue is also epic. >> you could make the argument, amanda, that this is maybe one of the stronger arguments that rick santorum has, well behind in delegates, but this is well timed for him to say, look, mitt romney started the massachusetts health care law under which this was -- under which the federal law was modelled. but will it make a difference after all, do you think, in terms of that political battle? >> well, it is one of the

strongest arguments rick santorum has. it's one of the reservations that a lot of conservatives have about mitt romney. they talk about romneycare, the obama campaign certainly is playing it up, saying that mitt romney was in many ways the inspiration for this federal health care law. if the supreme court strikes it down, in some ways romney may have a stronger argument because he can say this is the difference between my plan and obamacare is that my plan was upheld by courts. at the same time, conservatives may use it to say, look, both plans are unconstitutional. you're not the one who we want representing us as the nominee. >> you know, one of the things that we've been hearing, jonathan, from the democrats is that the more people learn about this health care law, the more they experience it themselves, the more they'll like it. at this point, at least, poll after poll, two new ones coming out just in the last 24 hours or so, that's not the case. look at "the new york times," 47% disapprove. 36% approve of this law. how big is the hurdle that the democrats and the president have to go for in terms of the court

of public opinion? >> it's a big hurdle. you know, i look back at politico from the day after the house passed the health care law once and for all. and at the time, the administration was arguing, if you just let people feel these benefits, if people just get used to what's in this bill, then they will like it. and of course, those numbers haven't moved at all in the two years since then. so, you know, this remains a huge hurdle. and by the way, let me take issue with an idea that amanda brought up, which is, you know, i think if the supreme court is to uphold this law, mitt romney actually has a better argument to make in november because he's going to be arguing that he, if he got in office, would repeal it, and that's a distinction, that's a contrast with president obama. if it gets struck down, it's more muddled. >> what do you think about that? because that is basically, you know, been sort of one of the rallying cries, one of the huge talking points, amanda, of mitt romney, i will repeal obamacare. he has been very forceful about this. in particular because of the

problems he has by association with the massachusetts law. >> i think he will try to repeal obamacare. i think it will be very, very difficult, especially considering if he is elected president, what sort of congress he will get and what will he replace it with. if he tries to repeal it with, for example, there are very popular provisions in the plan, making sure insurance companies don't discriminate against people with preexisting conditions, allowing young people to stay on their patient parents' health care plans. i think you'll see people really upset and calling for more reform to replace some of these things they got rid of. >> is it a problem for the republicans to say the supreme court got the constitution wrong? >> it's not a problem -- it is a problem for them to say that the supreme court got the constitution wrong. however, it's not a problem for them if the court rules that this is within congress's power to do to make such a health care law, then trying to repeal it is

not at odds with the idea that it's constitutional. it's just at odds with the idea that it's a good plan. >> well, we're watching it and obviously look at all the protesters that are outside and who wouldn't want to be inside listening to those arguments right now. >> especially because it's 35 degrees outside. >> well, you know, you see them with the gloves on. spring went away quickly. jonathan and ammanda, thank you. there is stunning new research pointing to a possible cure for many of the estimated 26 million americans with type 2 diabetes. nbc news chief science and health correspondent robert bazell joins me now. robert, this is huge, obviously, and i was astonished when i heard the numbers last night. you did the piece for "nightly." it's one of the fastest growing epidemics in human history. it could cost more than $490 billion to treat by the year 2030. so obviously this is huge. tell us about these findings. >> two studies, one done at the

cleveland clinic. these were people with severe out-of-control diabetes. that's important because most of those 26 million people can manage their diabetes with exercise, diet and medication. for those that are out of control, they divided them into three groups. one got the best medical care, one got gastric binding and the third got bypass. and the ones with bypass did the best. the two surgeries did far better than the medical treatment. and what was important about this, it's not to surprising that weight-loss surgery would lead to an improvement in type 2 diabetes because we know obesity is a major risk factor. but what was surprising is that a lot of these people started to have their blood sugar drop within hours or days or weeks after they had the surgery, long before they lost any weight. so something else is going on here. >> yeah, and a key part of this, obviously, this health care debate that's going on right now is about cost. and is it too soon to tell that if people then have this surgery and the diabetes goes away?

because the surgery is not inexpensive. >> it's not inexpensive, and it's not free of horrible side effects and potential complications. but the point is, the diabetes itself, when it's not controlled, can lead to loss of limbs, kidney problems, blindness, heart problems, even death. and people who are chronic type 2 diabetics who are out of control run up millions of dollars over the course of their lifetime in health care costs. so if you look at a cost versus benefit analysis, the surgery, even though it seems like a pretty brutal way to treat the disease, it can end up being very cost effective. >> do you have to be obese for this to be effective? >> most of the people are obese, but a lot of the candidates in this trial were not as obese as people have had to have been in the past to get weight-loss surgery. >> that's significant, too. bob bazell, thank you so much. appreciate you coming in. president obama is making light of those candid remarks he made to outgoing russian

president dmitry medvedev at the summit in south korea. the off-the-record conversation was caught on an open mike. >> it's my last election. i have more flexibility. >> i understand. >> well, more than a few republicans have criticized the remarks. the president says it's no secret that getting congress to act in an election year would be virtually impossible. [ male announcer ] if you think tylenol is the pain reliever orthopedic doctors recommend most for arthritis pain, think again.

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at 3:00 today, trayvon martin's parents will be on capitol hill at a briefing about racial profiling and hate crimes. they also spent the one-month anniversary of theirson's death after details from a police report were leaked.

zimmerman said he punched him and then slammed his head into the sidewalk. his parents confirmed he was staying with his dad after he was suspended from school after a baggy with marijuana residue was found on him. >> even in death, they are still disrespecting my son. and i feel that that's a shame. >> the only comment that i have right now is that they've killed my son, and now they're trying to kill his reputation. >> i want to bring in florida state senator gary siplin and joanne reed. good morning to both of you. senator, let me start with you. what do you make of this new information? >> well, as the mom said, they're trying to destroy his reputation. he wasn't caught with any type of drugs. in fact, as a state senator and vice chair of the educational appropriation committee, he shouldn't have been suspended in the first place. he's never been arrested. he's a good kid. his granddad is a police officer. so i think it's just an opportunity and an effort to smear his good reputation. >> do you think, joanne, though,

this changes the perception out there? i think clearly the broad public perception was that a wrong was done here, and does it make people step back at all? what are you hearing? >> well, it depends on which side of this you're on, right? i was actually on a bus with some members of the palm beach urban league driving down towards sanford, up towards sanford yesterday when this news came out. we had the tv on in the bus, and there were visible groans. people were getting angry about the idea that this information is being put out. okay, he's a kid. you know, kid get in trouble every so often. the perception was this was an attempt by supporters of zimmerman to smear trayvon martin. on the other hand, i spoke to a gentleman from this area who is white who was bringing this up as mitigating factors for george zimmerman. when i asked him, if zimmerman didn't know that, how is that relevant? his sort of response was well, you know, this squeaky-clean image isn't true.

so i think this is creating two camps. the people who want to believe george zimmerman are now looking askance at him. >> where do you think this all stands right now? one, there's still calls for zimmerman to be arrested. that has not happened. there are calls for this strand-your-ground law which pr precipitated probably the way this law was handled to be changed or repealed. what do you see happening on both of those fronts? >> well, there's going to be some effort over the next coming session to tweet the stand-your-ground administration. >> without a doubt, you think? >> without a doubt. there is a need for the law because a mother in texas was home alone with her 9-month-old baby. she called 911. and they said hey, in guy's breaking in. he's approaching my bedroom. what shall i do? the 911 operator said do whatever you have to do to protect you and your baby. she shot and killed that intruder. that's what the

stand-your-ground law is all about. it's not for a common ground where zimmerman's attorney may try to invoke that reservation. but i think clearly that the new prosecutor that i've asked for and the governor has appointed will eventually make an arrest so that we can get on with the process of making sure that mr. zimmerman has his day in court as well as trayvon martin's family, have their day in court to make sure there's justice in their son's untimely death. >> is there a general consensus is that there will be an arrest in this case? >> well, i think that people have no faith in the local police department to do anything, frankly. and it's out of their hands. it's in the hands of the state-appointed prosecutor. iny what i'm hearing is that the family feels like the best chance here is going to be for that prosecutor to bring a case. it will be a manslaughter case or something like that. there isn't as much hope now for a hate crime charge. that's not looking necessarily likely. but ha really people are focusing on is now the zimmerman

story which i got to tell you, chris, it's difficult to make that story work when you actually look at the physical location where this took place. so i think it's going to be really interesting whether or not the prosecutors can gather enough evidence frankly at this point. a lot of the evidence walked away with george zimmerman meaning his clothing that he had on. and we really now just have his word and the word of the police that were on the scene after the shooting. but to make this story fit in the physical space where this confrontation took place, i've got to tell you, i think it's going to be tough. so this is going to be an interesting case will prosecutors can create a case out of what's left of the evidence. >> that really is the question, isn't it, senator? can there be justice in this case when, you know, the way joy-ann put it is that so much of the evidence walked away when they made a decision right away that there was not going to be an arrest here. >> you're absolutely right. the sanford police department which has been living on a plantation for black folks in sanford botched this

tremendously. but i do think that sanford, florida, and surrounding areas is a powder keg. and if something is not done in the eyes of the people who live in and around sanford, there may be an explosion of a volcano very soon. i'm hoping that the prosecutor and her team will go down there and gather some evidence because we believe there is probable cause for an arrest. >> senator gary siplin, thanks so much for being with us. always good to see you, joy-ann. right now the supreme court is listening to arguments for and against the health care mandate. the spine masters are trying to take control before the court decides. more on that coming up. [ johan ] hello, piper. nice up-do. i see you're crunching numbers with a cup of joe... when you could be relaxing with a delicious gevalia. or as i like to say, a cup of johan. joe's a cubicle. johan is a corner office with a young, eager assistant... who looks like me. put johan on your spreadsheets.

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collect some money, to get campaign contributions. we've got a ways to go. and for the first time, future gingrich is starting to charge the public for pictures. >> i look forward to coming down to shake hands a little bit. i think they have some program where some people if they want to can get pictures made up here. >> 50 bucks. and in about an hour, the first lady will take part in the cherry blossom festival tree planting. she did planting of her own yesterday, potatoes, mustard greens and cilantro. kids from upstate new york, iowa, pennsylvania and greensboro, north carolina, all helped out. those kids may be a little young for mitt romney's new favorite movie, "the hunger games." >> i enjoyed it. i actually read the books, too. i read serious books, but every now and then i read something just for fun, and that was a weekend fun. so it was nice to be able to see a flick. the first time in a long time. >> it's pg-13. is it a little too violent, though, for young kids? >> i think it's a little

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nbc's mark potter is live from havana. we just watched the pope arriving. tell us a little bit more about this meeting later today with the castro brothers. >> reporter: well, hi, chris. we don't know exactly what they're going to talk about. nothing has been said publicly. but there is a lot of speculation, and there is a lot of hope for this meeting. members of the cuban church are hoping that the meeting and the pope's appearance here can lead to more opening for the cuban church in society here. they have been gaining more space over the last three years, helping to negotiate the release of political prisoners, providing much needed social services as the government struggles with the troubled economy here. church officials are also hoping for more access to the state-run media here so they can press their messages in a country where catholicism is not really all that strong. it's the least catholic country in latin america. some dissident groups are hoping that the pope, of course, will talk about human rights. the pope is not meeting with disdenteddi

disside dissidents, but he has said on the plane ride from rome to mexico that he would like to see cuba consider alternatives to marxism. yesterday in his openingsantiag justice, peace, freedom and reconciliation here. and lastly, the cuban officials are hoping that the pope will continue his opposition to the u.s. trade embargo which has been in effect since right after the cuban revolution. it's been in effect for decades. and cuban officials describe it as really a moral and economic injustice here. >> mark, thank you so much. appreciate that update. let's go to colorado now. look at what's going on there. one person is dead. more than 900 homes have been evacuated because of this fast-moving wildfire in the mountains west of denver. at least five homes have been destroyed, and firefighters are hoping calmer winds today can help them fight this 3,000. acre blaze. the maker of the meat filler known as pink slime has suspended operations at all but one of its plants. the company, beef products

incorporated, says it's taken a substantial hit since a rash of negative publicity about their product. the company says the product is being mischaracterized as it is as much as 97% lean beef. former imf chief dominique strauss-kahn is out on bail this morning after being charged with complicit in pimping. in other words, possible involvement in a hotel prostitution ring in france. prostitutes said they had sex with strauss-kahn during 2010 and 2011 in both paris and washington, d.c. his attorney says that strauss-kahn engaged in libertine acts not illegal in france. nasa launched five rockets very early this morning to study the upper-level jet stream. of course, that impacts our weather. the rockets will release a chemical tracer that will form artificial clouds near the edge of space, and then those clouds should be visible over much of the east coast. well, we're about 45 minutes into the two hours of arguments before the supreme court on

whether the health care law is legal. and the obama campaign is shifting strategies, now embracing the term "obamacare." which republicans have been using as a dirty word on the campaign trail. >> obamacare. obamacare. obamacare. obamacare. obamacare. >> in case you were counting, milt romney used the term five times in a minute at a campaign stop in san diego yesterday. but in an e-mail to supporters, obama campaign manager jim messina writes, happy birthday, obamacare. if you're tired of the other side throwing around that word like it's an insult, then join me in sending a message that we're proud of it. joined by howard bragman and chairman of 15 minutes public relations. hey, howard, how are you this morning? >> good morning, chris. >> so jim messina, senior adviser david axelrod put it even more bluntly. he said in an e-mail, "hell yeah, i like obamacare."

this is such a politically charged word, though. could they actually shift the strategy? could they shift the message? >> they don't have a choice. obamacare has become a dirty word in politics, and for all his achievements, obama did not do a very good job of selling his health care plan. there are a lot of things that really benefit the average american, preexisting conditions, coverage for young people, et cetera. and when it came out, they did a horrible job of selling it. let the opposition take the high ground and defined the message, and now they're seizing it. maybe a little late, and i think it's the right strategy. >> yeah, the opposition is continuing to go after it. the karl rove super pac american crossroads has a new ad out attacking the president over health care. let me show you a little bit of that. >> you don't have an individual mandate, then what would everybody do? if the government does not force taxpayers to buy health care, then we will penalize them in

some fashion. i disagree with that. we do have a philosophical difference. what do you think of that idea? [ coughing ] >> what do you think, is that effective to a general audience? is it just preaching to the converted? what do you make of that, howard? >> i think you're right. i think it is preaching to the converted. i think the republicans are going to use everything they can. but the democrats have some tricks up their sleeves. they've called mitt romney the godfather of obamacare. you know, santorum probably has some credibility on this issue. romney has a lot of trouble with this issue going against obama on obamacare. and you know, let's be clear. if you look at every country that has successful health care, they spend less money than we do. and their people get better

health care. obviously, something's wrong. and in every one of these countries, every is covered. and the biggest myth is that suddenly everybody's going to have to pay. guess what? for those tens of millions of people in the u.s. who don't have health care, we're already paying. the rest of us who pay are already paying a higher rate. if we could pay a little less money and everybody pay their fair share, i think most people would be a lot happier, chris. >> well, that's part of the messaging that the democrats are starting to try to get out there for the congressional election, the democrats have martin sheen. we all know him as judge bartlett, the president on "the west wing." take a look at that ad. >> the same republicans in congress who obstructed mr. obama every step on the road back now want to end medicare, eliminate it altogether. tell them to keep their hands off medicare and tell them in our america, the cynics and fearmongers, the ones who break a sacred promise simply to reward the wealthy don't get the final word. no, no, you do.

>> effective use of star power there, howard? >> oh, absolutely. and don't forget, he's the favorite democratic president of the last 30 years. you know? he balanced budgets. he did things that, and we live in this kind of crazy world where people like ronald reagan who was also an actor could become president. there are a lot of calls for martin sheen to run for office. he was smart enough not to run for office. but his voice still resonates, and he has a lot of power with the american people. and i think it's a very powerful ad. >> always good to see you, howard. thank you so much. i want to bring in msnbc contributor and democratic strategist crystal ball and rich galen is former communications director for speaker newt gingrich. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> morning. >> so the rnc held a news conference a short time ago. let me show just a little clip for you. >> we're here to stand with americans who don't want and don't like and can't afford obamacare.

we're on the side of the majority who says no to big-government health care and yes to real reform and individual liberty. >> now, crystal, we heaaven't heard from the president, but there are all kinds of people outside the supreme court with their signs and they're bringing their kids. does any of this make a difference, any of the stuff we're hearing right now? >> well, we're basically hearing the same thing we've heard from the republicans since the health care debate started. and to howard's point as he was saying, the democrats sort of passed the bill and then ran away from it. so for two years all we've heard is the republican side of the messaging. and one thing you'll note there, it's very easy to be against a bill. it's very easy to demonize a bill, say that our liberty is being trampled on, throw out the word death panels. it's much harder to come up with your own plan that people want to see instead. and i think with the democrats and as the president gets into his re-election campaign, i think he'll be pushing romney

more. okay, so if you're not for your plan and you're not for obamacare, what are you for? what does your plan look like? >> there is michele bachmann now. she's got a big tea party patriot sign in front of her that you can't see, but she's been one of the more vocal opponents of this. rich, what's the alternative here? i mean, nobody is saying that health care in the united states isn't broken. to howard bragman's point, can you go to study after study that shows in industrialized nations, they pay less and get more. >> i don't think that's right, for starters. people in america don't go overseas for the most part to go to health care. people overseas come to america to get health care. that's a different issue. i do want to go back to something both crystal and howard said, and i agree. there's a threshold rule in politics that if you don't identify your position, your opponent will do it for you. and from the very beginning of this debate, way, way back in that first august of the

president's term when nancy pelo pelosi sent her troops home with no idea what was going to be in this bill, and they got just bombarded at those town hall meetings. from that point forward, the democrats have been on defense. it will be interesting if crystal's right, and i think she probably is, this will -- this is what the election will like ly balance on for a lot of people. it's not something that's going to change their vote, crystal and howard. i think what it will do is raise intensity on both sides. and i think that's what these ads on bode sides are going to do, not to convince people but get them out to vote. >> we talked about this earlier, the democrats have said that the more people learn about this plan, the administration believes the more they'll like it. and i want to play for you a clip prosecute a woman at a rally outside the supreme court there just this morning. she says she's suffering from stage 3 breast cancer and would not have been able to get coverage because of her preexisting condition.

let's listen. >> because president obama signed the affordable care act, i get to keep my house. i won't go bankrupt. my kids are going to get to go to college, and i am going to live. >> crystal, is this the kind of person -- is this the kind of story that president obama and the white house should be using more? >> absolutely. those personal stories rather than getting into the weeds of the health care bill, which is very complicated and people's eyes sort of glaze over, these personal narratives, this is what the president's health care bill has meant for me and my family. that is absolutely the most effective way to message it. and again, we haven't seen those stories for the past two years. we haven't seen those narratives. we haven't heard those compelling stories. >> whose fault is that? >> it's the administration's fault, absolutely. i think they should have embraced this. they should not have passed it and run away from it the way they did. but now we are seeing them embracing the term obamacare,

talking about it more partly out of necessity but partly because it is going to be a central piece of the narrative in this election. >> rich, let me ask you this quickly. what's the republican alternative? >> i don't have any idea. i'm on medicare. so i'm already on single payer. i've got nothing in this. i'm not a policy guy. i'm a political hack. but what i do know is that democrats and republicans in congress wish -- you know, they are happy that the supreme court's taking this up now so that there's six months ton i i districts, whichever way the decision -- they won't rule today, of course, they'll rule probably in june, but they'll have four or five months to be able to spin the supreme court decision once they get home. but i think it's important to remember that if this were so popular, we would see democrats in the house, especially, every day talking about this. and they don't because they saw what happened to their colleagues who embraced this law. their ex-colleagues now. they're not saying that the law is bad on all its faces.

i'm saying it was so poorly designed and sold, that it cost democrats control of the u.s. house, and that's not lost on the current members. >> rich, krystal, thanks so both of you. here's an important question. why aren't there more women running for political office? we're going to break it down, where we are now with women in congress and what we can do moving forward after the break. r thousands of prices and check over 30,000 competitor prices. check out that low price. you want to grab one? grab two. [ male announcer ] that's the walmart low price guarantee! see for yourself how much it can save you. [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories,

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extra strength relief to the sight of your pain. feel better? yeah...thanks for the tip! [ male announcer ] want your weeds to hit the road? hit 'em, with roundup extended control. one application kills weeds, and stops new ones for up to four months. roundup extended control. is there something stopping women from running for office? here's a statistic that might surprise you. since 1789, 2% of congress has been female. so we asked richard lui to break down the numbers and the reason why so many women clearly have decided to stay on the sidelines. >> listen to this, chris. the united states congress is 78th in the world for representation of women, well behind even afghanistan and china. despite being half of our population, women are only 20% of congress. 17 are in the senate. 76 in the house. here's where they're at. or rather not at all. vermont, delaware, virginia and

mississippi have zero female congress members. the majority of the country has somewhere between one and ten female representatives. and here are the states with the most. california, 35, new york, 24, followed by florida and illinois. and in this mix, female democrats outnumber republicans 2-1. the next election looks bleak. rutgers finds only 15 women are running for senate and 137 for the house. that's about half who ran last year. bucking the trend starting in 1992. look at that dropoff there. when the number of women back in that year in congress doubled, now some calling that the year of the women. so where are the women this year? well, i looked into a recent american university study. it found certain unsavory parts of politics behihinder their interests. interesting for money. loss of privacy. their concern for their families. and having to wage attack strategies. counterattacks, sometimes the result there. as for the examples of trail blazers like hillary clinton and

sarah palin, they aren't always role models, chris, but cautionary tales. >> unfortunately some women may look at them that way. thank you so much. i want to bring in the daughter of former presidential candidate jon huntsman and the president of emily's list, both of them part of a panel asking where the women are. i'm glad you both could come in to talk about this. abby, i talked to you on the campaign trail when you were with your dad. when you look at the reasons we just heard from richard asking for money, loss of privacy, attack strategies, are those things you think are holding women back? what do you think's going to here? >> i do. and i think it can also be boiled down to one word, and that's a stereotype. whether it's in the media or among the voters or women that just feel like it's such a big hurdle. and it's a lot that they don't know. so i do think that once they get out there and they see, you know what, i can actually do this, then it's doable. that's why women like those of us that have seen the inside of politics can say, you know, it's actually doable. you can multitask. you can have kids and run for

office. you can do it all. we need women. >> but 78th in the world in representation, stephanie. what do you think is going on? >> well, i would start with this. we just have really in the last 30 years made great strides. we are way behind, no doubt. but i look at those numbers. i want to remind you, there's only 33 senate seats up. we've got 15 women running. that is actually an historic number for women in 2012 on the senate side. emily's list is involved in 11 of those races. an historic number for emily's list in the last 27 years. you can check out all those candidates at emilyslist.org. we are seeing women step up this cycle in the midst of what is going on with the fight over birth control or the fight to defund planned parenthood. this is an energy building in this country right now. we have more and more women announcing their runs for congress every day. so we're not done yet in 2012. >> i think the contraception thing, as terrible as it's been in a lot of ways, it's also

brought out the point that we need women out there. we need them. they understand these issues that affect women every day. and i think, you know, as terrible as it may have been to, you know, have this issue out there, it's been important for women. >> you know, i was talking to somebody who held high office, a female who held high office. this was a private conversation so i don't want to say who it is. she's also someone trying to recruit candidates. here's their theory. that women and men go into politics for very different reasons. that for men a motivating factor is power. for women, it's change. they want to be able to effect change. and as they've been watching over the last several years, the big split in this country, they look at the price that they pay, loss of privacy, et cetera, those examples we saw, and say, is what i could possibly accomplish worth it, and they're coming to the conclusion, no. do you think that that's a fair assessment? >> i don't think that's a fair assessment. i think women, particularly in the last year, since -- well, since the republican party -- the tea party republicans took

over the house of representatives and state legislatures, you have seen in the last 12 months an increase of energy amongst women in this country. women who are running at the legislative levels realizing what is at stake in those legislatures. and we need those voices involved. we've seen seen growth at emily's list. we're solely committed to electing pro-democratic choice women. our numbers have doubled to over a million in the last year because of exactly this. we are seeing a change right now in 2012. >> and i can tell you on the campaign trail, it is the women that go out. they go to these events. they are the ones out voting. they're on the grounds. now we just need to get them to run for office. >> i always saw them on the campaign trail, they were the uns going door to door on saturday mornings. it's amazing. stephanie, libby, thanks to both of you. if people want to go to your benefit, it's tomorrow night, right? >> tomorrow night. and today's tweet of the day comes from pro-choice america. we're at the supreme court to

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morning, i'm thomas roberts. day two of the supreme showdown over president obama's health care law. today the supreme court hears arguments on the individual mandate. we'll have a fresh report from a lawyer listening no those arguments. trayvon's parents prepare to appear for a panel and house speaker john boehner is weighing in. how the national organization for marriage attracts supporters and cash. the confidential documents unsealed. chris. >> thank you so much, thomas. stay tuned for this. good news for all of us who love chocolate. people who eat moderate amounts of the sweet stuff are, yes, thinner. new research shows the body mass of those who ate chocolate five times a week was one point lower than those who didn't eat it regularly.

now, that's not five chocolate bars five times a week. that's a little bit of chocolate. that wraps up this hour of "jansing & co. ." [ kate ] many women may not be properly absorbing the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d.

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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. we have to let the american people know, we have not waved the white flag of surrender on socialized medicine. >> congresswoman michele bachmann right there as the passionate rhetoric for the supreme court considering its biggest blockbuster case since bush versus gore. nine justices hearing arguments today on the issue at the heart of the president's health care law, the individual mandate. heading to capitol hill, parents of trayvon martin. what they hope to accomplish and their accusations that police are trying to smear their son's name. this as house speaker john boehner weighs in on the debate. >> listen, our hearts go out to his family over this tragedy, and clearly what happened is, in fact, a tragedy. >> s