all of them, all of them being funded by the beckett fund.us in a few minutes to audiocassette about it. beckett fund already releasing a statement, of course, on the president's revision of this plan. we're going to talk to him, luke goodrich, and also kathleen see bell y sebelius coming up. we'll also take you to cpac. the conservatives' time to shine. a annual conference going on live. lots of coverage to come on cnn, and we have it for you. we're back right after a break. >>> welcome back, everyone. the president walking back a deeply controversial decision that would have made catholic institutions responsible for the costs of their employees' birth control. >> everyone should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health, period. this basic principle is already the law in 28 states across the country. as we move to implement this rule, however, we've been mindful that there's another principle at stake here. and that's the principle of religious liberty. an inalienable right that's enshrined in our constitution. as a citizen

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beckett fund is suing in three courts. we are representing a catholic institution.an institution. this is not just about catholicism but the right of conscience. >> cooksly where does it stand. we had a supreme court justice, justice ginsberg she wouldn't adopted the u.s. constitution in the year 2012. >> i think faith wins if this is a constitutional battle. if the president doesn't back down on this issue because you put it right. he is asking people to violate their conscience, to put a government mandate. to put the fear or the penalty of some punishment before people's ability to worship their faith. >> sean: you said, i think. that doesn't sound like certainty to me? >> i'll revise. i believe to a certitude. i don't have ability to predict the future. i do believe it. >> sean: what do you say? >> it's an open case. >> sean: why would the president do this? politically speaking, it seems to me this is was a simple choice. religious freedom versus contraception and he chose the contraception. he chose the morning-after pill. don't know why. this is a president s

. >> the european union supports this stance, and we will beckett with further sanctions. >> the eu planso impose a new round of sanctions in late february, including a freeze on central bank assets. martin. this idea of sending a joint peacekeeping force with the u.n. seems to be fizzling out a little bit. what kind of support is the arab league looking for now from its eu partners and germany? >> the arab league is looking basically for two things from germany. it wants support from germany for arab league and it -- a initiatives, and once germany and europe to get on the same page in terms of sanctions on syria. germany is raising the prospect of further sanctions. chancellor merkel mentioned that today in her press conference with the general secretary. so we can expect germany to go along with the rest of europe and probably oppose further sanctions on syrian banks operating in eu and possibly on syrian commercial flights to and from the he you. the arab league is clearly looking for germany's support on at the diplomatic front. >> syria was not the only item on the agenda today betw

joining us is hannah smith, senior counsel to the beckett fund and laura mccrary.aving me. >> hannah, why isn't the compromise good enough for you? >> the president's announcement on friday has absolutely no legal effect whatsoever. and in fact what the president did on friday if you look very closely at the legal papers that came out on friday all he did was finalize the very same rule that they put in place in august of 2011 not one word was changed. not one comma was changed. it is exactly the same rule. all we got on friday were two additional promises. one from the administration saying that they would delay enforcement of the rule for a year so that these religious groups could fall in line and the other promise we got from the president was that he would come up with some additional mandate that would shift the costs to insurance companies. that is magical accounting according to our view of things. so really all we got was two promises if any one has been paying attention at all they realize that the president has not fulfilled his previous promises to reli

>> we had welton beckett subcontracted to italian contractors. we had the buck minister fuller was very generous, let one of his top colleagues come up with other ideas and they expanded his idea, and anodized the aluminum gold color, 75 feet high and could hold about 5000 people standing up watching the exhibits and things like that. it was, don't you think, tanya, enormous? >> wasn't jake macy involved? >> he was the usia, brilliant coordinator of this exhibition. and jack did a terrific job. >> did we get as much space from the soviets as we asked for? >> we gotten acre site and they got the coliseum in the heart of new york. it was easier for new yorkers to get but we had we had six months to build the exhibition, eisenhower was so interested in it that he arranged for mcclellan reporting to the secretary of commerce, to report to him. that gave it a lot of clout. and mcclellan was smart, he said at that time we're in the middle of the cold war, all the communications are highly encoded, he said to the state department i want no encoding of a

beckett when i say that -- the good slave owner and then you had the evil slave owner, okay, and you had the evil slave catcher, okay. and that was basically what slavery was about. you never knew -- you were at the whim of somebody. it was power. you were under somebody's control, you were their slave. and it talks about the worst part of slavery. what would be the worse thing about having a child sold away from her? we did talk about that. there's a cover of little eva crossing -- here we go -- crossing the ice slope. if you can only imagine, if you've been near an icy river where there's huge chunks of ice on it as it goes down -- this is literature. she's using -- >> imagery. >> -- imagery. an a for my brother. she is so frightened of being caught and sold down the river and her baby being separated from her that she's jumping from one ice floe to the other. >> she also lost her shoes -- she also lost her shoes and her feet were bleeding as she crossed the river. >> this is the power of words that harriet beacham was using to convince you about the weakness of slavery. even thoug

>> we had welton beckett was a major california firm that did a lot. they subcontracted to some italian contractors. we had the buck minister fuller dome. buck minister fuller, i think, was very generous. he let one of his top colleagues come up with other ideas, and they expanded his idea and anodized the aluminum gold color. and it was 75 feet high and could hold about 5,000 people standing up watching the exhibits and things like that. it was, don't you think, tanya, it was just enormous? >> wasn't jake macy involved? >> no. jack macy was the usia. and he was a brilliant coordinator of this exhibition. and jack did a really terrific job. >> did we get as much space from the soviets as we asked for? this looks like -- >> we got ten-acre site and they got the coliseum in the heart of new york. it was easier for new yorkers to get there. but sokolniki and mcclellan warned me, we had only six months to build this exhibition. one of the things that happened, eisenhower was so interested in it that he arranged for mcclellan, who was reporting to the secre

beckette when i say that, the good slave owner and then you had the evil slave owner. okay? and you had the evil slave catcher. and that was basically what slavery was about. you never knew -- you were at the whim of somebody. it was power. okay? you were under somebody's sway. you were in fact, a slave. nothing was your own. it tells about the worst parts of slavery, okaying? what would be the worst thing then to a mother to have her child sold away from her and she did talk about that. the cover we saw -- wait a minute. there's a cover. i believe of little eva crossing the ice floe. if you've ever been near an icy river with huge chunks of ice on it going down, now this it is literatu literature. so she's using imagery. >> earned your "a," my xwroung brother. she's using imagery. it frightens me every time i think about it. she is so frightened of being caught and her baby being sold separate from her she is jumping from one ice floe to the other to escape from free soil where she was, okay? >> she also lost her shoes and her feet are bleeding. >> her feed were bleeding as

hanna smith, senior counsel for the beckett fund for religious liberty. thank you for your time.art of the mormon faith. we heard the president at a prayer breakfast in washington d.c. this topic did not come up. i'm not quite sure we expected it to come up. you are now launching a legal challenge to stop it. on what grounds? >> well the beckett fund is the only law firm that challenged this in two federal courts, in washington, d.c. and also denver, colorado. we're challenging it on several ground. a federal civil rights statute that prevents the government from imposing a substantial burden on religious groups. that's the religious freedom restoration act. also of course under the first amendment of the u.s. constitution. bill: okay. now the issue is contraception, right? but it also goes to providing the abortion pill. but and you have an issue with both of these, correct? >> well, yes. actually the mandate imposes on all employer health plans the requirement of paying for and providing, not only contraception and sterilization but some drugs that many believe are abortion-cau

long list of factors and i hope you will all be able and not applause -- applauded between barry beckettarry medcac -- michigan chairman, governor rick snyder we just saw. [applause] lt. governor bryan calley and to our campaign cochairs, attorney general billshootey, senate majority leader, speaker jay bolger and i want to thank our finance tears. chairs. [applause] we have a big family in michigan and we would like to them. other members of the romney and davie family, my family, across the state. i want to mention our national committee members. and their congressmen. let me see if i could get through this -- >> as usual, have a long list of thank yous and i will see if you are all going to behave and listen to this list without cheering in between. thank you to our honoring michigan chairman, gov. rick snyder, who you just saw. [cheers] lieutenant governor, brian kelly. and to our campaign cochairs, attorney general bill should be, senate majority leader roy randy richard vella, speaker james bolger. i also want to thank our finance shares. david fisher and john ricolta. and we have

i think it is almost like beckett and history, this conflict between church and state and it ain't simple we can fix this and i hope the president does. i think expanded contraceptive coverage can be offered and even to employees of objecting religious organizations but we should just not require the objecting religious organizations themselves to pay for and offer that. i think there are other ways to solve this problem. >> the irony though is that the very strongly pro choice folks who push so hard for this are going to get nothing if obama is not re-elected because catholics don't turn out for him. there won't be a health care reform bill to argue over. >> watch this issue among reagan democrats. >> right. >> relatively conservative democrats who make up their mind each election who to vote for for president. melinda, you did a good job. melissa as well. thank you for coming on. maybe they'll find some way through this. >>> up next new audiotapes of the day jack kennedy was assassinated. chilling stuff here about rose kennedy talking to lyndon johnson. kind of a cold conversation if yo

i guess i grew up watching movies like "beckett" and "man for all seasons" and seeing the church and state go to war with each other and being told stories about the maccabees. the state requires you to eat pork. it gets to that interesting point to me which is frightening when the state tells the church what to do. then the church can no longer teach. if the church teaches it's morally wrong to use birth control, how can you make the teacher pay for birth control without losing their moral authority? that's what the church is afraid of. if they start financing under the law what they are called to do, they have any more credibility on the issues with it? that's the concern here. it's a political issue. i agree. if you can make them do it, they can't teach it anymore. i'm just asking. >> first of all, let's separate the fundamental faith that catholics have and god and in their religion from something like banning birth control, which is a dictate of the church, and as you point out, 98% of catholics don't follow it. if you're talking about people who are working in an actual church,

kyle duncan joined the beckett fund after serving as a -- in the louisiana and department of justice. he served as an assistant for the texas attorney general. he also practiced appellate law in houston, texas. we are first going to have each of our panelists on the issue we are discussing this evening. after that, there will be -- there will be a small discussion among the panelists themself. afterwards, we will open the floor to questions. as you listen to this topic, pick of really good, hard questions to ask these gentlemen. if there were ever answers to be had, here is where we are. we will speak -- start with mr. richard doerflinger. >> i would like to begin by putting this in a larger context. this debate began with the help were killed -- health care reform act itself. it was ultimately passed in march 2010. during the whole process of that bill, the catholic bishops had said we are not experts on how you structure health care, but we do have certain moral principles that are imported to "respect. -- that are important to respect. that was a principal the was largely ignored.

joining now is a law professor for the beckett fund.et they t are representing theth organizations inhe government. thanks for coming in. >> my pleasure.plea >> you're representing threere different organizing, includingz a intv network, and arguing this mandate is unconstitutional.co what makes it unconstitutional?a >> it's unconstitutional becausi the first amendment and federal law prohibit the government from forcing people to violate their re lidge goes beliefs in this way. we have a long and wonderfulwon tradition in this country of working around religiousre differences and allowing peoplel to owwork together and do great things, and it goes back to protecting the quakers whenwhe george washington protected them during the revolutionary war.wa >> the mandate does not requiree religious organizations supplyzn their employees with contraceptives, just says their insurance company must companymu the cost. isn't that different?er >> no, it's not, tony. they are forced to supply, they are forced to pay for insurance policies that will pay for theth cost of the drugs, 100%. 1 so for

of suvs that they cannot get rid of them because most people have already paid their vehicles off beckett and at >>darya: of the man wanted in the murder of a hell's angels murder is behind bars. he is accused of killing the hell's angels chapter president three months ago at a funeral. he was considered armed in the dangers of least did say he surrendered without a fight. >> he had been on the run since october. it is ironic that he did not fully very far. soft he was located in area that will last and way. that he is being held at the santa clara county jail. >>james: here is a live look outside, we will be right back. [ male announcer ] in her natural habitat the tissue monster was quite mild. achoo! [ male announcer ] but when she used tissues, she went crazy wild. tissue after tissue, she always took a ton. until mom explained with puffs ultra soft & strong, you only need one. two times stronger than the leading value brand, they always win this test. soft non-lotion pillows, they're sure to impress. now the tissue monster had gone away, and puffs ultra soft & strong saved the day. a

. -- beckett fund. he taught constitutional law and serve in the texas attorney general post office. -- texas attorney general's office. we will have some remarks given by each of our panelists. after that, there will be a small discussion at against- -- the paddle themselves. as you listen to the topics, think of hard questions to ask these gentlemen. to begin, we will start with mr. richard doerflinger. >> thank you. i would like to begin by putting this in a slightly broader context. the debate begins with the health care reform act itself. it was passed in march of 2010. during the process of that bill, catholic bishops said, we are not experts on how use structure health care. we have certain expectations. one of those was the protection of conscience. there were various at first to address that issue. the final bill was petitioned on that. we ended asking for an vote -- a vote against the bill. it passed over our objections. for the first time, the federal government was creating a mandate and doe

the beckett fund has a couple of lawsuits filed fighting this on behalf of catholic institutions.nd i hope that they continue to fight it every step of the way. this is a religious liberty issue. these religious organizations are now being forced by the federal government to come in and they're going to be pushed out of the health care arena. then two is going to step in and fill that void? it will be the federal government. >> let me play a little bit -- it's a letter, actually from cardinal o'malley. unless the rule is overturned, we catholics will be compelled and must be prepared to either violate our con shenses or drop health coverage for our employees, and suffer the penalties of doing so. louise, let me give you the final word on this this morning. how do you think this ends? >> first of all, i want to emphasize again the church has not interfered. people can hold to their beliefs and what we're doing here is nothing exceptional. asking employers to provide contraception for their employees. 28 states already do it. new york, california have the same exemption. this is abo

allow me to vote against your arm and a second vote for this amendment they go on to my district beckett's to people, no, if you think what i've voted for was liberal use to the scene had things that have broadened. so i learned that i have a role to play. stay faithful. show off. redefine the debate. so i induced the disinvestment bill, go to the rules committee. the rules committee is me one hour of debate evenly divided, half-hour for half-hour against. the amendment is the nature of the substitute. so here is the bill here on the left. so the time comes on the floor. we feel that we would have a one-hour debate. it would vote on it. if we have 150 votes it would take as a moral victory and it would get almost 11 hours on the committee bill. hopefully they passed the committee bill and we would be out there. so the end of the debate. all time has expired and the amendment offered by the summer from california. all in favor signify by say i. but, there were quite a few democrats of floor. i stood as tall as i could, sixth of four. the with me. they said, the word. regard to give you at l

. >> claimed a lax clubhouse attitude after reports came out that josh beckett, lester, lackey wouldeer and eat fried chicken in the club house in games they didn't start. the new manager bobby valentine formally announced a ban on alcohol in the club house. where former manager terry francona spoke out about valentine's analyst. analysts talked about it on espn radio. >> i don't think it's a surprise they put this in effect or the fact that they announced it. it's probably more of a pr move just because the red sox took such a beating at the end of the year. >> i think it's a pr move. i think if a guy wants a beer he can probably get one. it's the old rule, if you're coach in football says no hard liquor on the plane. somebody is going to sneak liquor on the plane. if you furnish a little bit. it almost keeps it to a minimum. >> i don't follow that. >> i don't follow that. >> new manager -- >> maybe that's why he's out. >> valentine was asked for a response, said of francona quote, remember you're getting paid over there at espn for saying stuff. you're getting paid over there for h

i think before pitchers and catchers were supposed to report, both beckett and lester sat down and addressed valentine comes in and makes them work terribly hard, players are so happy for that, they are not standing around shagging flies, they are actually doing things. and i think it lass tathey have they have begun to close the door on last year, because they are stale very good team but they needed to get away from where they were and the level of enthusiasm this spring, i think partly embarrassment and partly just the knowledge that, hey, we are much better than that and it was ridiculous how bad we were and i think that's motivated them very strongly. >> hey, peter, can you address the larger landscape of major league baseball, the financial landscape in that you have club like detroit, you know, signing prince over the winter. you got philadelphia with the huge payroll. you have got the dodgers who probably will have a much bigger payroll once that team is sold and the widening gap between the haves and the have nots in major league baseball, the financials have and have nots. what's t

but in fact, there are several lawsuits right now that have been filed by the nonprofit beckett fund rulings by the obama eeoc that discriminate against employers, social service providers, and schools that refuse to compromise their own religious principles on this. this is -- it is, to use an overused word, fundamentally a usurpation of religious freedom. >> gretchen: that story is it far from over. off big announcement of your open because you have endorsed somebody. you have endorsed rick santorum. why? >> i did. and i laid out the case very carefully in a blog post on monday. i think i'm like a lot of grassroot movement conservatives who have weighed all of the flaws and all of the pluses and minuses of all these candidates carefully. i think it's very important to send a message to people who think that this race is somehow between only two people, mitt romney and newt gingrich, that there is an alternative. i don't agree with rick santorum on everything. i'm not a purist by any means. i think it's kind of funny because i've been tagged as such the there are a lot of votes that

it's about -- we've all been trained for this from the time we were kids with the stories of thomas beckettthere will come a time when power will come to the church and challenge our faith and test us and say who are you with? your god or with the powers around you, the mundane powers of the earth and whether it's henry the viii or king henry ii that will force you to eat pork or you're going to be fried or whatever, you have to make that choice. we've all been trained for this, and a lot of catholics are going to rally the church and say good for those bishops. this is the first time i think they're standing up for something i believe. not that we have to do it, we will disagree, we will practice our own american version of catholicism, if you will, but we want them to have that right to say what they believe is right. this issue of birth control and abortion which they see here is an abortion issue because it has to do with what happens after conception. they believe they have a right, and they do to tell us what they believe. >> right. >> and do they -- and the government is now saying y

the christian medical association, the beckett fund and others said we need to be concerned about these whether it's a hiring decision now or now a health care decision. and what do we do to protect health care providers and insurers, including purchasers, from being forced to violate their own principles by buying a policy or offering a policy that provides things that they don't believe in their faith group are the right things to offer? i saw one of the president's advisors early this morning beginning to gabbing away from this and -- beginning to back tpwrae this and saying we're seeking information this year. that's not what they were doing at all. what they were doing is we're going to comply with this rule and we're going to give you a year to figure out how to compromise your principles in a way that applies. that's the wrong thing to do. whether it's the respect for rights of conscience act or other legislation, if the administration doesn't take care of this administratively, i believe it will be taken care of legislatively. when you've got bishops, when you've got church lead