here's kate baldwin with the latest news you need to know. >> reporter: a sliver of hope in syria today pulling troops out of three cities hit hard by the regime crackdown. u.s. envoy says it must end next week, 6:00 p.m. local time. but it's one step forward, two steps back, it seems. six people were killed in deadly fights today alone. >>> you probably remember this. the "three cups" author has agreed to pay back a charity three times of what he owed. you may remember, mortenson is accused of exaggerating key parts of his book involving afghanistan and pakistan. >>> the kony videos are firing back at critics with yet another video. this one called "beyond famous" who says the original simplifies the african warlord kony. they include raping and maiming civilians. torp t . >>> the u.s. coast guard is trying to sink an unmanned fishing boat that blew all the way to the pacific coast of alaska after last year's tsunami. they said they stopped the ghost ship with a cannon because it's a navigational hazard for other ships in the area. this is part of that massive debris field moving acros

let's begin with cnn congressional correspondent kate baldwin. kate, the administration has answered this request. so where do things stand now? >> to use a sport metaphor, i'd say the ball may still be in play, joe. i wouldn't call this letter a bombshell but it's definitely another strange twist in this political battle that has no end in sight. three pages single spaced. that was the unusual order by a federal ciuit court. attorney general eric holder personally responded saying nothing has changed. the power of the courts to review the constitutionality of legislation is beyond dispute. president obama's top law enforcement official saying of course the administration believes the courts have the power to declare acts of congress unconstitutional, a long accepted pillar of constitutional law. still, this seemingly academic exercise is at the center of a testy political dispute over the supreme court's review of the health care law. >> i'm just saying that there's a lot of -- i mean, it kind of ridiculous to believe that the president wasn't ta

. >> kate baldwin with us now from washington. you heard the arguments before the high court. how did that go? >> it was a very interesting day in the courtroom. as you know, don, but just to make sure, we have this arizona law meant to crack down on illegal immigration. the obama administration is fighting that law, challenging that. and the question of who shub ensforsing illegal immigration laws, it was the big question here today before the supreme court. i'll tell you from being in the courtroom, it did appear the federal government faced quite a bit of an uphill battle and faced some trouble specifically from the conservative majority as it appeared they were at least somewhat sympathetic. i would say, they seemed surprisingly sympathetic towards arizona ease argument which could indicate they were leaning towards upholding at least part of that law. most of the -- some of the toughest questions, don, really focused on one of the more controversial provisions in that law, the provision that requires that law enforcement, that they dhek people's immigration status if ther

kate baldwin is live in washington for us. what is the federal government arguing here, kate? simply, they are arguing that the state stepping on federal authority. the key issue before the supreme court is the question of who should be enforcing illegal immigration laws? the state of arizona says they are facing a crisis being a border state that they attribute to illegal immigration t. law is meant, really to assist the federal government in working to stop illegal immigration. state officials say they are stepping in where the federal government failed. the obama administration argued arizona is interfering with what is exclusively federal authority and could damage relations with other countries and make immigration matters worse. the government is in charge of foreign policy matter. a phoenix police officer that i interviewed for peace says it will lead to racial profiling. supporters say local law enforcement have the training and will get the training to enforce the law and they should be doing it. >> it is a presidential year. the court won't decide for awhile. what is

kate baldwin was in there. just made it to the cameras for us. thanks so much.t went. >> reporter: it was interesting inside and outside the courtroom. there's a lot of protests and activity going on. inside the courtroom, very interesting. we don't want to call the judgment or decision before we hear from the justices themselves. it did appear, the federal government appeared to be in a bit of trouble following these arguments and appeared to be a surprising amount of support for the arizona law for this arizona law cracking down on illegal immigration. conservatives voiced a bit of strong skepticism to the obama administration's argument that you summed up. the arizona law conflicts with federal immigration policy. that's been the real argument. this is federal authority that they are conflicting and interfering with what is in the government's court. there's a lot of skepticism to that. justice kennedy is usually the swing vote. he said at one point, if the state faces a massive emergency of economically or public safety wise, they cannot act. they can't do a

here is kate baldwin with the latest news you need to know right now. back to the evening. >> at least i am back for a little while. good evening, everyone. headlines to catch you up on this evening. the search for clues in the 1979 disappearance of six-year-old etan patz has come up empty. he fbi and police wrapped up their investigation in new york city apartment building today after finding, quote, no, quote, obvious human remains. the only evidence found, a stain that turned out to be nothing and strands of hair and a piece of paper, a source close to the investigation tells cnn the evidence will be analyzed by the fbi. we'll be following that closely. >>> singer and actress jennifer hudson testified at the murder trial of the man accused of killing her mother, brother and nephew in 2008. the defendant william balfour is the estranged husband of hudson's sister. she told the jury, quote, none of us wanted her to marry him and during cross-examination she added where he was i tried not to be. >>> so much for april showers, unexpected snowstorms dropp

here is kate baldwin with the latest news you need to know right now. >> hello, everyone.ng. some headlines for you. the jetblue pilot arrested after an inflight meltdown last week will be held in a county jail in texas without bond. clayton osbon was transferred from a hospital where he had been undergoing treatment since last tuesday's incident. his bond will be determined thursday. the pilot, a 12 year jetblue veteran has been charged with interfering with a flight crew. the supreme court says that jail officials may strip search people before putting them behind bars even if it is for minor offenses like not paying a traffic fine. a ruling on i acase out of new jersey, the court's conservative majority cited security needs like needing to protect other inmate from dangerous contraband from being smuggled inside. >>> it is no april fools joke. ashton cusp certificate set to play steve jobs in a new biopick. it won't be too much of a stretch. the independent film will chronicle the apple founder's life from hippy to tech i and i am sure there will be a lot of eyes on it.

our kate baldwin is joining us from washington and more.think this is just political theater. what is this supposed to accomplish. what are we expecting from the supreme court tomorrow? >> the supreme court, the justices are going to hear one hour of oral arguments tomorrow and this really is in the legal sense a classic state versus federal powers strug that will they are looking at. the key issue before the court is who should be enforcing illegal immigration laws. the state of arizona argues that it's facing an economic and public safety crisis, they -- the state attributes to illegal immigration and say the law is meant to assist the federal government in trying to stop illegal immigration. state officials saying they are stepping in where they think the federal government has failed. on the other side of the case, the obama administration, though, is arguing that arizona would be interfering with what is exclusively a federal authority. immigration policy and the law could damage relations, suzanne, with other countries and make immigr

our kate baldwin is live in d.c. she's been covering this. supreme court expert right now with medicare and all the rest. this looks like a classic supreme court battle between state and federal jurisdiction. >> you absolutely hit it right there. the justices will hear one hour of oral arguments today, state versus federal authority, a classic battle before the supreme court. the key issue before the court is who should be enforcing illegal immigration laws. they also say the law is meant to assist, not interfere, assist in their view, the federal government to stop illegal immigration. state officials are saying that they're stepping in where they believe the federal government has so far failed. the obama administration, though, says it's absolutely the opposite. they argue that arizona would be interferining with what is exclusively federal authority and the law in their view could damage relations with immigration and make matters worse. i talked to a phoenix police officer and the head of a private group patrolling the border. both men o