goodstein and jackie kucinich. great to see all three of you this morning. i want to play another clip from cory booker and the exclusive interview that rachel had last night. >> today to the gop i said, i welcome you to stand with me for moving america forward, don't stand with me for the kind of things that mitt romney's advocating that are going to further bankrupt our city, close off opportunity, discriminate against gays and women and do the kinds of things that i can are sending america in the wrong direction. >> booker coming out forcefully against the romney campaign. richard, is this believable and after putting the message on youtube on sunday, after tweeting all the endorsements of "i stand with president obama" with booker get the genie back in the bottle, so to speak? >> i think every day we spend talking about cory booker, we're spending talking about bain. and that's a very good day for the obama campaign because of what bain stands for, buying these companies, piling on debt, looting them and having very rich investors walk away with tons of money while the workers are out jobless, no health care, no penchant. that's what romney he's said he likes about the ryan budget. that's the same consequence. can booker walk it back? honestly, i think going after booker reminds me of -- i should say the embrace of booker reminds me of romney's embrace of clinton. you don't really want to do that with people who are as articulate as cory booker and bill clinton are. they could say to voters, you want to listen to what i have to say? here are ten reasons why you should be supporting barack obama and not mitt romney. i think it's a dangerous tactic. and i think cory booker can protect himself. >> nevertheless, president obama seems to be doubling down on this. and the obama campaign has intended the time its anti-bain ad is going to be running in ohio. certainly a sign that they don't want to let up on this. but this is how the new ad from the mitt romney campaign is firing back. they call it "big bain backfire." >> have you had enough of president obama's attacks on free enterprise? his own key supporters have. democrat mayor of newark, cory booker. former congressman harold ford, jr., democrat from tennessee. >> private equity is not a bad thing, it's a good thing in many instances. >> even obama's own supporters have had enough. >> it's nauseating to the american public. enough is enough. >> the ad doesn't address the direct criticism of romney's tenure at bain. the a.p. -- the lack of cohesive message comes from romney's belief that any debate putting the economy front and center is a win for republicans. does the romney camp need to prove he's not just good at making money for the uberrich? >> you need to fight the narrative the democrats have been pushing and what richard laid out about, bain came in and stripped these companies and all these people were put on the streets and poverty ensued. that's just not true. seven out of ten companies that bain went in to turn around were turned around, including the company in the ad that started this whole discussion went on very successfully for another eight years after bain was brought in to intervene, if you will. so the reality of it is, they've got this narrative that they can help define this discussion in a way to help people appreciate how the free market system works, how companies like bain -- and bain is not the only company in the country that does this, that goes in and rehabilitations and works with companies. yes, it's a success and failure rate that's evolved just like in anything in business. but that's part of the system. i think cory booker, quite honestly, spoke his heart. he spoke truth to power. he made a clear and salient point. cut out the noise, stick on the issues. enough is enough with all the distortion and lies about what each other's done. that's a very honest, genuine moment. >> a lot of people on the other side would say newt gingrich was one who spoke truth to power about bain. he went after romney's record during the primary. we all remember that. however, he spoke on this issue last night. take a listen. >> i think there are things you can legitimately look at in bain capital. i think there are things you can legitimately look at in anybody's record, including mitt romney's record. but what i'm reporting to you is the question you asked -- i don't think it's politically effective. >> so, jackie, newt said going after romney over bain is not effective. but analysts say those things helped him win south carolina. how can republicans say bain is off-limits for democrats when they used it so effectively in the primaries? >> it's funny, yeah, it worked in south carolina for gingrich but it didn't work so much in florida or anywhere else. so he saw the political effect of that and some of the backlash he got from republicans for going after private equity. i think the bottom line is both democrats and republicans get a lot of money from private equity. that is a line that i think the democrats are trying to walk. they're trying to not go after the sector but still go after romney's role in it. i think that's a -- it's a tough thing to pull off. >> you make a great point because david axelrod raised this interesting point when pressed by andrea mitchell exactly about that, the left and the right and their relationships with private equity and now the president's relationship with. take a listen. >> people admire success. they understand that their businesses succeed and businesses fail. but they don't like when people at the top walk away with an enormous riches and people down the line are left holding the back. >> richard, isn't that a tough argument for the directors to make, given the president raised far more money from hedge funds, private equity donors in '08, came to about 3.5 million bucks, nearly twice as much as john mccain? >> add axelrod said later in that interview, there are two people on the ballot, barack obama and mitt romney. here's where i think republicans miss out because they're so kind of in a bubble on this private equity issue. there are not any other walks of life where you profit to the tune of tens of millions of dollars because of laying people off. i know you invest and some companies win and some lose. but there aren't many walks of life where the workers all lose and you win. so that's the thing that i think the obama campaign is just starting to communicate. you think about that swing voter, the steelworker in youngstown, ohio, he basically says, hold on a second, you're saying mitt romney invested in companies, canned them, peeled all the money out of them before the people got laid off, cost their health care, cost their pensions, that's legal? that doesn't even seem fair. and if you look at adam smith, the father of capitalism, i guarantee you, nothing about capitalism squares with that kind of conduct. >> i have to get this in. basically we have -- to switch gears about an endorsement of former secretary of state colin powell on the "today" show this morning. he was asked whether he was ready to throw his support behind barack obama. he did so four years ago. take a listen to his response. >> i don't want to throw my weight behind somebody. the beautiful part of being a private citizen is you can decide when you want to throw your weight, if you want to throw your weight. i'm listening to what the republicans say they're going to do to fix the fiscal problems we have to get the economy moving. >> what's the deeper read into his statement? >> well, i don't think there's that much deep to it. i think colin powell wants to take a closer look. i think as we've just talked about, there's been sort of a move away from the obama of 2008, the obama of 2012 is very different. a lot of people don't necessarily like what they see or have seen over the last three years. so they're re-evaluating where their support is going to go this time. that's a problem for this president. yeah, the polls are up and down all over the place reflecting that sense of, i'm not quite there yet. i think colin powell is an individual who supported obama in '08 who's looking critically at mitt romney in 2008. >> my power panel this morning, thank you. a programming note for everybody, colin powell will be andrea mitchell's guest on "andrea mitchell reports" tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. another thing to pass along, we're following this breaking news out of northern california where a live news conference just getting under way regarding an arrest in the case of a missing california teen. 2 -- this 21-year-old was booked last night, all in connection to 15-year-old sierra lamar. she vanished on her way to school two months ago. the lead sheriff in this case as well as the girl's parents will attend that news conference this morning. >> public safety is our primary concern. we've treated this case as a crime in progress, not a homicide. we were hoping to find sierra alive. i'm a mother. i think every mother, every father out there hopes that you can find a child that's been taken. >> msnbc's kristen dahlgren has more now for us from san jose. >> reporter: good morning, thomas. sierra lamar was last seen getting ready for school on march 16th. she never made to it the bus stop. this morning, police say they believe they have the man in custody who knows what happened to her. 21-year-old antolin garcia torres is being held here. they picked him up near a safeway in morgan hill, california. they've had him under surveillance for quite some time now and they believe they have probable cause to charge him with murder and kidnapping. they also say that they have physical evidence linking him to her disappearance. lamar's cell phone and a bag with her clothes found neatly folded inside was found on the side of the road a few days after her disappearance. police also took garcia-torres's car into evidence, a volkswagen jetta was spotted near her home on the day of her disappearance, also spotted by witnesses in the area. searches do continue for sierra. her family holding out hope. they are expected to speak to the media later on this morning, thomas. >> that was kristen dahlgren reporting for us. we're going to follow this news conference coming out of san jose today and bring you the details from that as soon as they break. still on the agenda this morning, new reaction from the white house to the latest development in the birth control battle. a lawsuit filed against the obama administration by 43 catholic institutions. i'm going to talk to congresswoman eleanor homes-norton about that. also joining the conversation, a law professor from notre dame university, one of the schools involved in that suit. and blast-off against a dark pre-dawn sky. did you see this? 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[ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. the brita bottle with the filter inside. the obama administration is reacting this morning to the 43 catholic groups across the country suing the government over the birth control insurance mandate for employers. t the administration commented by saying, we have outlined an approach that protects religious liberty and access to preventive services. lawsuits are no lawsuits, our doors remain open. joining me now is richard garnett, law professor at the university of notre dame, the university taking part in that lawsuit. richard, the obama administration offering a compromise that they feel would require the insurance companies, not employers, to provide this coverage and they feel that that would be adequate. why is that not good enough for notre dame? >> well, remember, sir, the lawsuits that have been filed are challenging the mandate that's actually in effect now. it's true, as you say, that the administration has started a new rule-making process that might tweak the mandate in some ways and perhaps that process would produce an accommodation that was satisfactory, that did protect religious freedom. but the mandate that's on the books now doesn't. and father jenkins explained in his statement yesterday why these organizations felt like they had to go to court now to vindicate their religious freedom rights because the law that's in effect burdens those rights. >> father jenkins going to court now because the part of the mandate that deals with religious groups doesn't go into effect for more than a year. why file the lawsuit now instead of waiting for a resolution to possibly come out of the continuing talks? >> that's not quite right. the obligation to start preparing to do this turnover to providing this coverage, that obligation is in effect now. and the university would need to start sort of changing over its policies and preparing to comply. and that would be costly. that's true for these other institutions as well. so it's quite common in situations like this to try to resolve disagreements about the validity of a regulation before you invest thousands or perhaps even more dollars ramping up to comply with it. if these institutions think the regulation is an illegal burden on religious freedom, i think their view is they shouldn't have to spend a bunch of money getting ready to comply with it. >> when we talk about the catholics united, i want to read a statement from their executive director saying, quote, the leadership of the catholic church is more interested in playing politics than it is in providing for the common good. to suggest our religious liberty is somehow compromised because employees now have access to contraception -- how do you respond to that? >> a couple of misunderstandings in that statement. these cases are not about access. none of these plaintiffs are trying to restrict the ability of anybody to use contra serpces contraceptions. this is purely a question about institutions trying to act consistently with their religious character and trying to avoid being forced to subsidize activity or procedures they think are immoral. i can assure that spokesperson that the bishops are completely committed to the common good. and the notion that the bishops are lined up with the right wing -- it's just an unfair charge. >> does father jenkins and the catholic institution of notre dame support men being able to get viagra or erectile dysfunction drugs? >> i'm a lawyer and a citizen. i haven't discussed those matters with father jenkins. but his statement outlined why the university thinks this lawsuit is necessary to respect its religious freedoms. >> thank you for your time. we want to move on to congresswoman eleanor holmes norton to talk more about this. congresswoman, i know you were listening to that interview. what is your response to the argument of why the university of notre dame feel that is they need to file now for a mandate that would not go into effect for another year? >> i think that professor garnett even concedes that his lawsuit may be unnecessary. and i think it is. and it's unfortunate considering that the administration and the catholic church and catholic institutions have been allied on health care. but let me tell you why i think that lawsuit is not a good one. first of all, more than half the states, 28 states already mandate contraceptive health care. the administration began by exempting religious -- inherently religious institutions, that's the arch diocese, that's churches and alike. this comes down to hospitals, universities like notre dame, who are affiliated with religious institutions but have to obey every federal law. understand, these institutions, these universities, these hospitals, are heavily subsidized by the federal government. they hold themselves out to the general public and they must hire all people, regardless of race or religion. many of their employees are not catholics. the courts have been very clear. and i think the lawyers understand that the courts have been clear. the courts have held because there have been suits in the past by employers that didn't want -- it was against their religious affiliation to pay for social security or unemployment taxes. as long as the mandate does not discriminate against the employer, even if it intrudes on the employer's religion, then the employer must obey. >> congresswoman, i want to get this in. timothy dolan, head of the archdiocese of new york, says he's worried this mandate is going to force the church to stop serving the needy. >> we don't want to come to a doomsday scenario where sooner or later, if these mandates click in, we're going to find ourselves faced with a terribly difficult decision as to whether or not we can continue to operate. we'd have to give it up because we're unable to fit the description and the definition of a church, given by, guess who, the federal government. >> does he have a logical worry there, congresswoman? >> not at all. remember, professor garnett said that somehow the church had to be prepared -- and that's why issue this lawsuit -- for millions of dollar, all kinds of money it would have to put up. the fact is that the administration's accommodation has it so that the institutions involved do not have to handle or pay for, in any way, these contraceptives. it goes straight from the insurance companies to the person. it would be very unfortunate if because they have to obey federal law the way every other employer does to say, we don't want to serve the needy anymore because our non-catholic employees need contraceptives. if they are complying in 28 states, why can't they comply with the law of the united states of america? >> congresswoman, great to see you this morning. the 30-day sentence that some called a surprise, what prosecutors are doing to get a former rutgers student more time behind bars. and the roller-coaster ride that has been facebook's hyped ipo. and it's already turning out to kind of be a big flop. we'll take a live look later. with the spark cash card from capital one, olaf's pizza palace gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! pizza!!!!! 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