if they reasonably suspect that you're in the country illegally. that court left that part stand, but left it open for challenge once the law actually goes into effect. the white house first expressed concern the ruling keeps the cloud of suspension over people who look like foreigners. then late today went further. saying the federal government would not become a willing partner in arizona's efforts to arrest undocumented people. as for governor romney, he said in a statement, this -- i believe that each state has the duty and the right to secure our borders and preserve the rule of law, particularly when the federal government has failed to meet its responsibilities. nothing really specific. and keeping them honest, nothing on the campaign plane, which was heading to arizona. he stayed in the front of the plane away from the press. he let a staffer handle reporters who were trying to get some answers. listen. >> does he support the law as it was drafted in arizona? >> the governor supports the right of states. >> does he have a position on the law or no position? >> the governor has his own immigration policy, which he laid out in orlando and in the primary, which he would implement as president. whereas obama spent four years in the office and has yet to address it in a meaningful way. >> but does the governor have a position on the arizona law besides supporting the right of states? >> this debate is sprung from the president failing to address this issue. so each state is left and has the power to draft and to enact their own immigration policy. >> but the arizona law does very specific things. does the governor support those things that the arizona law does? >> we've addressed this. >> what is his position on the actual law in arizona? >> again, each state has the right within the constitution to craft their own immigration law >> but does he think arizona did a good job? >> okay, so he didn't say much there. reporters, including cnn's jim acosta, asked that question 16 times in all. as you saw, not a lot of answers except that sort of generic statement, which governor romney largely repeated this afternoon. fair to say he's trying to avoid specifics on 1070 in particular an immigration policy in general. on 1070, the shift began just after the cnn debate in arizona when he suggested that arizona should be a model for the nation. >> you've talked, governor, about self-deportation. if businesses do their job asking for the right documents, the people will leave. but what about arresting? should there be aggressive, seek them out, find them and arrest them, as sheriff arpaio advocates? >> i think you see a model in arizona. they passed a law here which says people who come here and try and find work, that the employer is required to look them up, e-verify. this e-verify system allow employers in arizona to know who's here legally and not here legally. >> the romney campaign later denied he was talking about 1070 as a national model. spokeswoman andrea saul said, quote, governor romney supports the right of states to craft laws that assist the federal government in enforcing immigration laws, particularly when the federal government has failed in its duty to enforce those laws, which sounds a lot like 1070. so is the campaign trying to have it one way for hard-liners and another way for independents and especially latinos? that's what some people are suggesting. you just heard what he said so you can decide that for yourself. in his statement today, mr. romney said one more thing, quote, as candidate obama, he promised to present an immigration plan during his first year in office but four years later, we are still waiting. unquote. so, keeping them honest, how valid is the governor's claim that president obama has broken his word on immigration? well, here's what he said on univision during the campaign. >> we will have in the first year an immigration bill that i strongly support and that i'm promoting. >> well, 3 1/2 years later, there is no bill. in fact, many people, democrats included, have criticized the president for taking his eye off the ball. not making immigration reform a real priority. to be fair, though, late in 2010, president obama stride but failed to pass the dream act 37 it went through in the house. got 55 votes in the senate. 5 less than were needed to break a republican filibuster. at the time, democrats were two members shy of a filibuster-proof majority. knowing the bill was going to fail, several democrats voted no. as for president obama, here's what he had said about his unfulfilled promise. >> mr. president, excuse the personal question. i grew up in a generation that has lived with the unfulfilled promise of immigration reform. and i'm not that young. and you think if you are re-elected, you'll be the president that gets it done? and can you promise you'll do it within the first year of your second term? >> i can promise that i will try to do it in the first year of my second term. i want to try this year. >> joining us this evening, republican strategist and former huntsman 2012 national hispanic chair woman anna navarro is with us. and the former special adviser to president obama, author of "rebuild the dream." also the name of the initiative he co-founded. nice to see both of you. anna, who do you think is -- this is a win for, the supreme court decision? >> i think in the short term, it's going to give obama a bump. i've been seeing the reaction in the latino community today. and there is fear, there is outrage, by the section that is still there. i think romney needs to be stronger and more aggressive, in engaging on immigration. i'm getting increasingly frustrated as a republican hispanic not seeing him engage. there is absolutely no doubt that obama broke his promise. there's no doubt that he's vulnerable on this issue. there's no doubt that it's his biggest liability with latinos. but he will only be vulnerable if romney puts on the gloves and engages. and he's got to do so unequivocally. for some reason, he's been unwilling to do so. so, you know, he dug himself into a hole during the primaries. he's got to proactively dig himself out of that hole. telling us that obama is bad is not enough. he's got to tell us that he's good and what his plan is. so i am very frustrated. i am eager to hear mitt romney do more, say more, and show some engagement and show himself as a real challenger to obama on this issue. >> he's been very, very vague. let me read the tweet you had today. i confess as a republican hispanic trying to put a positive spin on romney immigration nonstatements. well, let's just say it ain't easy. when he does speak, he's been -- he doesn't really articulate an answer to what the people are asking. what do you want to hear him say? >> it ain't easy, soledad. i've been at it now for a while. and that's it for me. i want to hear him say some specifics. it's very difficult to put a positive spin when he's not addressing some of the key questions. he's talking -- he's getting some very thoughtful and good proposals on fixing legal immigration and how it will affect the illegal immigration problem. let's be clear here. saying that fixing legal immigration is going to solve the illegal immigration problem and solve the issue for the undocumented here is like saying we can fix the obesity problem by selling more lettuce. it doesn't happen that way. we need specific proposals. >> let's talk about president obama. in some ways, is this a lose-lose for him? he didn't reform immigration. as you heard just a moment ago he promised he would do. he had a win with doe to do it. he's also had a large number of deportations. how big a problem is this for him? >> first of all, the outrage you just heard is the outrage i'm hearing all across the country from latinos on every side of the political spectrum. last time you had somebody running for president out of massachusetts, he wrote a book called "profiles in courage." this guy is "profile unless cowardice." where is mitt romney. >> but i asked you about president obama, sir. >> sure, fair enough. i think president obama is -- has done the right things now. he has tried to work with this congress on so many issues. they stopped him every time. they stopped him on the dream act. they stopped him on the jobs bill. he's now showing real courage. the real heroes here are those dream act young people who have stood up. they said, listen, we are aspiring citizens. we want to be a part of this country. the president stood with them. obama said they're looking -- not obama, romney said that the dream act students who have taken the country's hearts by storm are just looking for a handout. that's the hole he dug himself into. he can't hug and kiss the tea party and then try to hug and kiss the latino community. >> you heard a moment ago president obama was basically saying i didn't really deliver on my promises, you know, and give me another term and i'll do it. that could be a tough sell. >> well, but here's reality. this president came in promising to be bipartisan. the other side said from the beginning their number one priority was to make sure he failed. they made sure he failed even on the dream act. now he says, listen, i'm a good smart student here. i've learned i got to lead now on these tough issues. and he is doing it. the young people have inspired him. they brought the best out in this president. he's bringing the best out in this country. here's the problem you have with romney. you've got a situation where arizona has now become the alabama of the new century. what alabama was to black folks in the last century, arizona has now become. this president is clear. he does not agree with the direction of arizona. where is mitt romney? mitt romney is being a profile in cowardice. he's losing latinos on both sides of the aisle over his cowardice. >> i'm going to give you the last question, anna. when you look at the polls at the end of the day, people don't say immigration is their number one issue. sometimes it's not even number three. to what degree is it really going to affect the race? >> the way that the race -- >> of course it's not the -- >> hold on one second -- >> i think she was asking me the question. >> sorry, sorry. >> of course it's not the number one issue. latinos are at 11% unemployment under obama. that's going to take priority over immigration. what immigration is, is a trust issue. we want to know, are you with us or are you against us? it's an issue where a candidate can establish a personal connection. and i want to tell you something, soledad. we're going to be talking reality check here and keeping them honest. obama's going to come in, if he wins a second term, as a lame duck president from day one. into a congress that is now a poisoned well, because he took executive action as opposed to working in congress. he had his best opportunity to pass immigration in his first two years, when he had a democrat senate and a democrat house. timing in politics matters. i'm not sure he's going to be able to do in the second four years what he didn't do in his first. or why we should believe that he can. >> so we have one candidate who's not giving any specifics on his immigration plan when it comes to undocumented workers and another who you say can't be effective in the next four years. that doesn't leave the voters lots of choice. >> i think you've got the choice exactly right. we've got one candidate, barack obama who makes big promises, talking real pretty, and then doesn't deliver. and then we've got another candidate who talks without saying anything and really not making any specific promises. so for the latinos, it's not much of a choice. >> that's our final word, van jones, anna navarro, thank you. more now on what is said about the reform law. were there clues in today's opinion? let's get right to chief national correspondent john king. talk a little bit about the politics. senior legal analyst jeff tuben, has the supreme court skinny for us. jeff, let's start with you. do you see any, if you read the tea leaves, anything in this decision that could illuminate what might happen on thursday? >> i don't think there's anything in the opinions per se. the interesting thing is if you look at how the distribution of opinions has gone, the justices always try to share the responsibilities for the big cases. and you have anthony kennedy now having written the immigration case today. it really does look -- there are only three cases left and two of them are pretty minor. it really does look like chief justice roberts is going to write the health care opinion. given his performance and oral argument, that is not something that i think would fill hearts of the obama administration with joy. he's a very conservative republican. he was skeptical of the law. i think that's one tea leaf to read about how health care is going to come out. >> so, let's talk about the politics. you heard mitt romney -- i was going to say what he said, but really what he didn't say, which is kind of just dodge the question consistently, his people dodging the question specifically about the specifics of what happened in 1070. how does this affect the race do you think? is it a good plan to say nothing, focusing on the economy, see if you can get past this part of the debate? >> you can understand that he only wants to talk about the economy and only wants to talk about the president's performance. but soledad, we have 130 days to go. it's not going to work all the way. when it comes to immigration, it's a very tough one. governor romney desperately needs to improve his standing among latino voters. otherwise, by nevada, new mexico, maybe arizona, if you can't win those states -- colorado as well, if you can't win those states, then you have to perform in places that are tough for republicans, like pennsylvania. every time you reach out to the middle, to latinos, you risk alienating the conservative base. he's been cautious on immigration. he has been out there clearly. remember, he had to deal with the health care issue in the primary. where all of the conservative challengers said you can't trust him because he passed massachusetts, which was then the model for the obama legislation. on health care, it's a different model. the republicans are going to face pressure to say, what would you do? because while you can make the case that overall the obama health care law is unpopular, and the polling is mixed, but you can say it's unpopular. pre-existing condition coverage is very popular. letting kids stay on their parent's health insurance after they leave college is very popular. there will be demand on the republicans to say what would you do if this law gets tossed. >> jeff, let me ask you a question about section two, which is the part that remains standing in the law and how it's being interpreted. if you stop people -- if they're suspected of a crime that you can stop them and you can ask them about their immigration status. but that same ruling says you can't force people to carry their papers and turn them over. isn't the that completely contradictory? how do you see this practically speaking playing out? >> there are four divisions. there were four provisions of the arizona law, three of them were rejected, one of them -- the show us your papers section -- was approved. i spent the day trying to figure out what the difference was between the three that were struck down and the one that was approved. it's very hard to tell. i think this means that as all the other states weigh whether to change their laws and then courts weigh the challenges to those laws, we're still in a bit of a mess on this. i think the guidance from the supreme court was less than clear here. so the issue of what's permissible and what's not, it's a little clearer than it was this morning. but it's not totally clear by any means. >> jeff toobin and john king, thanks, appreciate it. let us know what you think. we're on facebook. or you can follow me on twitter. it's soledad underscore o'brien@twitter. coming up next, men and women who were sterilized against their will and the state that says it wants to make amend bus they can't afford to. you'll see how low the price tag actually is and what else the state is spending money on instead. >> if it happened to some of theirs, their family members, i think they would be the first one to run and shout for compensation. 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[ chirp ] visit a sprint store, or call 855-878-4biz. what happens when classroom teachers get the training... ...and support they need? schools flourish and students blossom. that's why programs like... ...the mickelson exxonmobil teachers academy... ...and astronaut sally ride's science academy are helping our educators improve student success in math and science. let's shoot for the stars. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. welcome back. another keeping them honest report. now, last december, we told you about the more than 60,000 people who were sterilized by force right here in the united states. men, women, even children, who were deemed undesirable and unworthy of reproducing. it was called eugenics. a pretty dark chapter in american history. charles holt was just 19 years old when he was sterilized. here's what he told senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. >> they sent me to rex hospital and then they just pushed me in the room and gave me gas. i just went off to sleep. >> just to put it in context, soledad, it's a $20 billion budget. we looked around to see what things north carolina was able to fit into that budget and so here is a partial list. for example, they found $1.5 million to give to the north carolina symphony. $500,000 to the north carolina grape growers council. $500,000 to a private culinary school. $300,000 for the north carolina transportation museum. and $100,000 to the north carolina oyster sanctuary. and $420,000 for a future gubernatorial inauguration. this one is interesting, $5 million in economic development projects but what those projects are is undisclosed. we tried to find out and we were unable to. >> so it seems at least at first glance that there's enough money there. why would the legislatures not want to compensate the victims? >> we asked legislatures this. they said a combination of things. some cried poverty. some said these are tough economic times. we have to make choices. some said it worry us to compensate these victims because what if we're setting a precedent? what if we're leaving ourselves open to other people who want compensation for the injustices that were done to them? and they mentioned, for example, slavery. so they were worried about sort of opening the flood gates, so to speak. >> what happens with these victims? >> this is obviously not good news for the victims. when i visited with charles holt, the man we visited earlier, he just was devastated that he might only get $50,000. he thought he should get more. i'm sure this news ha