optics aside, the two men discussed substantive and thorny topics. the pope s secretary of state made sure to bring up the contraception mandate in president obama s law, something the vatican and the american bishops have vocally opposed. the vatican highlighted that aspect of the discussion but president obama was quick to downplay just how much he talked about birth control with the pope. he actually did not touch in detail on the affordable care act. we did not talk a whole lot about social schisms in my conversations with his holiness. in fact, that really was not a topic of conversation. back with me in the studio, michael pepper, theology professor at fordham. julie johnson staples, minister of education. lara setrakian, we were working on it at the break.
and reverend samuel cruz. he s at the union theo logic seminary. lara, i want to start with you. the notion of the president of the united states and the pope talking about peace in the world when, in fact, the history of both the catholic church and of the united states has, let s say, peaceful is not necessarily the term one might most likely use to define and describe them. can these institutes be moved towards the good? that s a critical question. what i see in these two men are two men with common cause and common constraints. they re steering very big ships in a very new direction. they both came in on a wave of optimism, euphoria. that also sets up very high expectations. the pope is in his moment of glow. i hesitate to use halo effect. so tasteless. he s really a superstar on the global stage and he has people s hearts and minds and in a moment where global conflict is so
move everyone towards the negotiating table? can we do that? are we sophisticated enough? that s the real test for the obama administration. what they want is a calm and stable, and hopefully, contained conflict in syria. and that s not what they have now. lara setrakian from syria deeply, thank you so much for your time. appreciate it. my pleasure. [ male announcer ] 1.21 gigawatts. today, that s easy. ge is revolutionizing power. supercharging turbines with advanced hardware and innovative software. using data predictively to help power entire cities. so the turbines of today. will power us all. into the future. i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i m still working. he s retired. i hope he s saving.
move everyone towards the negotiating table? can we do that? are we sophisticated enough? that s the real test for the obama administration. what they want is a calm and stable, and hopefully, contained conflict in syria. and that s not what they have now. lara setrakian from syria deeply, thank you so much for your time. appreciate it. my pleasure.
does that mean that we use a threat of the strike as the stick and move everyone towards the negotiating table? can we do that? are we sophisticated enough? that s the real test for the obama administration. what they want is a calm and stable, and hopefully, contained conflict in syria. and that s not what they have now. lara setrakian from syria deeply, thank you so much for your time. really appreciate it. my pleasure. we will be right back. hey li! what are you guys doing? having some fiber! with new phillips fiber good gummies. they re fruity delicious! just two gummies have 4 grams of fiber! to help support regularity! i want some. [ woman ] hop on over! [ marge ] fiber the fun way, from phillips . [ woman ] hop on over! i asked my husband to pay our bill, and he forgot. you have the it card and it s your first time missing a payment, so there s no late fee. really? yep! so is your husband off the hook? no. he went out for milk last week and came back with a puppy. hold