joining me now are kim lawton, managing editor of this program, and kevin eckstrom, editor-in-chief of religion news service. kevin, kim, welcome. kevin, what do you make of this? >> well, the catholic institutions that filed suit are basically fighting over whether or not they have to provide birth control coverage to their employees in their insurance plans. that's what the root of this is all about. the fact that they, 43 groups came together and filed a dozen lawsuits shows that they are trying to come at this with the full weight of the church, to show that this is not just an isolated diocese or a small group but that the whole range of the church is really upset about this. and it also signals, i think, that they don't see any other alternative, that they don't see a political compromise in the works with the white house. they, i think, in a lot of ways, feel like they have no other choice but to go to court. >> and they feel that the compromise that the white house has offered, which some more progressive, liberal, moderate catholics say that's ok, these groups are saying no, i

. >> for more on this, kim lawton is here. she is managing editor of this program. we are joined by stephen l. carter, a professor at yale law school and author of "the violence of peace: america's wars in the age of obama." he joins us from new haven. professor carter, welcome to you. >> thank you. >> john brennan said that the use of drones is legal, perfectly legal, you agree with that? >> i think the administration is right. we're a nation at war and in time of war a belligerent certainly has the right to target the leaders of the other side who are in the chain of command and that's what we are doing. >> but if the battlefield in essence here has become the entire globe, how does that change the moral calculus of when and how the u.s. uses force justly? >> well, i think you're right that the more important questions are the ethical ones and one of the ethical questions is how big the battlefield is because the administration claims the right to target leaders wherever they may show up in the world. a second moral problem that arises is the problem of civilian c

kim lawton has our profile of him. >> reporter: on sunday mornings at new orleans' franklin avenue baptist church, pastor fred luter jr.'s outgoing personality is on full display. at worship services such as this one that begins at 7:30 a.m., luter greets almost everyone in the congregation. and with some 5,000 people attending every week, there's a lot of greeting. >> i love what i do. i love pastoring. i love pastoring. i love pastoring this church. >> reporter: luter, who is 55, has been the pastor here more than 25 years. under his leadership, franklin avenue has become one of the largest southern baptist churches in the state. that takes many people by surprise, because franklin avenue is predominantly african-american, and the southern baptist convention is about 80% white. the fact that luter is likely to be elected the next president of the sbc is even more surprising. >> it's a new day in the southern baptist convention. our doors are open to each and everybody -- african-americans, hispanics, asians, no matter the color, no matter the creed, no matter the background, this convent