taxpayer dollars wasted. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com the obama administration replies to a rare order from a federal appeals court. the latest round of a sharp dispute over the nation's health care reform law. we begin with president obama warning the supreme court against overturning his cherished legislation. judges hearing a separate case took offense at what the president of the united states said and they demanded a three-page written explanation. let's go straight to our congressional correspondent kate bolduan. she's working the story for us. today the attorney general of the united states complied with that demand. >> complied with that demand. i guess to use the sports metaphor the ball may still be in play on this one. i wouldn't call this a bombshell, but it's a strange twist in this political battle with no end in sight. three pages, single spaced. that was the unusual order by a federal circuit 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 officials 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 there's a lot of -- it's kind of ridiculous to believe that the president wasn't talking about the context of the case. >> the white house remains on the defensive, with many republicans happy to continue the fight. senator mitch mcconnell thursday telling the president to, quote, back off. all of this stems from these comments from the president monday. i'm confident that the supreme court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected congress. >> remarks some interpreted as challenging the court's authority and fueling the flames federal judge jerry smith tuesday demanded an explanation. the attorney general in his letter defends the president saying his remarks were fully consistent with the principles of judicial review. though don't expect this to mark the end of the controversy. >> he's making it clear to the court that the position of the president of the united states and the executive branch is that the courts basically should keep their nose out of the shaping of economic policy except in the most dire of circumstances. so i think there's still quite a bit of tension now between the executive and judicial branchs of the government and this is rare. >> and while passions remain high, this is all political talk since the reality is the final word dollars one place and one place only. the supreme court and the public spat isn't likely to have any impact on the justices specifically and their final decision expected in june, wolf, but it is very interesting to see this, what may be private tension fall into the public sphere. >> this president's had a rocky relationship with the supreme court over these past three-plus years. we all remember earlier incidences. >> and the chief justice was not happy and others were not happy as well and samuel alito. thanks very much for that, kate. good reporting. the harvard law school professor who taught president obama at harvard said the president misspoke when he seemingly warned the united states' supreme court. president obama, quote, didn't say what he meant and in order to avoid misleading everyone he had to clarify it. let's bring in our legal analyst jeffrey toobin who also studied with lawrence tribe among others, at the harvard law school. correct me if i'm wrong, do you disagree with your former professor lawrence tribe? >> i revere lawrence tribe, and i think he's completely wrong here. i don't get what this controversy is about. it is a totally phony, made-up controversy. barack obama did not suggest he was not going to comply. he did not suggest that the supreme court didn't have the authority to overturn the health care law. he simply said the court, in his opinion, should not do it. president obamas express opinions about the constitutionality of laws all of the time. he signed this law. of course, he thinks it's constitutional. so the idea that there is some challenge to the court seems to me completely absurd. >> jeffrey, the president said it was unprecedented that if the supreme court were to overturn a law passed by the house and the senate signed into law by a president of the united states. that's what the u.s. supreme court has been doing for a couple hundred of years. >> since marbury versus madison, they had the authority to overturn laws and nobody's challenging that. what's unprecedented in the president's opinion is a ruling saying this law is unconstitutional because the president believes that the law, the precedence of the court itself justified what congress did in passing the law. i don't see how you could be so willfully -- looking for a fight to say that the president was somehow defying what the supreme court has historically done here. >> yesterday, right here in "the situation room," you remember, jeff, you accused that appeals court judge, that circuit of what you called the judicial hissy fit by demanding this three-page letter. eric holder, though, the attorney general, he formally responded with a very serious legal opinion. what do you make of the response? you've had a chance to digest this whole exercise between this fifth circuit court of appeals judge and the attorney general of the united states. >> i thought over what i said to you and then i decided to say it again on cnn.com, and in an opinion column. i think this was completely outrageous on the part of the fifth circuit. the president is entitled to his opinion on any number of matters including the constitutionality of laws. the attorney general, of course, had to respond when a judge makes an order and you had better comply, especially if you're a litigant before that judge. i did think it was interesting that even though the order was for a three-page single-spaced letter. the way i look at that letter, it's basically two and a half pages. >> it was on three pages. the third page was not complete. >> i think you'd make a good lawyer. >> it was on three pages. >> i'm going to play the clip of what lawrence tribes with the president misspeaking on monday. lawrence tribe, well known, a liberal law professor at harvard. his conservative judges seem to agree with lawrence tribe. here's what the president said. let's talk about this a little bit more. >> okay. >> i'm confident that the supreme court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected congress. >> that's the clip. as you know since 1803 marbury versus madison, that's exactly what the supreme court has been doing and now he's saying as lawrence tribe points out this would be unprecedented? >> well, he is saying it would be unprecedented in this context. i mean, remember, this is a president who is asking the courts to overturn the defensive marriage act. it's obvious that the president knows the courts can overturn laws. the courts have been doing this for many, many years. you don't have to be a lawyer to know that the united states supreme court has the power to overturn a law. i don't know how you could be so willfully obtuse with all due respect with my beloved professor tribe to think that the president is saying it is outside of the power of the supreme court to overturn a law. that clearly is not what he was saying there. >> i think what lawrence tribe was saying and what i say as well is what the president did on tuesday gives him context and perspective, he should have done on monday instead of speaking the way he did because he can leave the wrong impression not only with his critics, conservative judges in the south and also like someone like lawrence tribe. i think the context would have been much more important on monday, but that's just me. >> you're in good company with lawrence tribe. >> i think we are. jeffrey, thanks very, very much. >> out of the republican presidential campaign, mitt romney is in pennsylvania where rick santorum may have a homefield advantage. romney is looking ahead to another contest. joe johns is here watching all of this. it's all about as far as romney's concerned the general election or is it more about pennsylvania? he wants to crush santorum in his home state. >> it's probably both, but make no mistake, wolf, mitt romney is definitely trying to make it about this november. the point is he's been talking for months like he was in a general election campaign, but now he's going a step further and actually starting to gear up for the fall campaign even though he still needs to get through a bunch of primary races and sell up hundreds of delegates to the republican national convention. >> mitt romney visiting a phone bank in not so hostile territory. pennsylvania, basically, rick santorum's home turf. though the polls have diminished the lead in recent days. still, romney was lowering expectations that he'd win the primary. but not really conceding anything more than the moment. >> i'm going to win pennsylvania in november. >> reporter: with the nomination race looking more and more like a thing of the past, a couple of romney milestones. for one thing, bringing on former rnc chairman ed gillespie as a senior adviser and more importantly, the campaign is essentially starting its fall fund-raising push as if romney's already gotten the nomination going back to deep pocket donors who bankrolled his primary races in asking for another check which isn't expected to be much of a problem for romney's wealthy friends. >> the average romney donor, and i don't know about average and certainly the proto typical romney is able to make another contribution to the general election. now that that window has opened up he'll find a lot of success there. >> though some say romney's fund-raising could be hurt by the marathon nomination fight which, for the record, is not over yet. >> people are clinging to their candidate of choice, and they want to feel good about it, but it also holds everybody on the sidelines as contributors. well, i don't know. is it going to be romney? there's a res tanzy here that we can ill afford and we need to settle this and wrap this up so we can have romney take the fight to obama. >> making that very point was the stop romney meeting with conservatives attended by rick santorum in virginia on tuesday. among the items of the agenda, sources told cnn they discussed whether an exit from the race by newt gingrich might help or hurt santorum's cause or whether gingrich's votes might go to romney. supporters say gingrich's continued presence in the race dilutes santorum's political power. however, to be clear, multiple sources have told cnn that the purpose of that meeting was not to figure out a way to force newt gingrich out of the race. he told me on the phone a little while ago, gingrich believes there is a way to assure a conservative nominee and that involves taking the issue to the convention. wolf? >> thanks very much. go exercise and do some workouts and you'll be filling in for me tomorrow here in "the situation room." barbells. >> so is rick santorum becoming irrelevant? jack cafferty is coming up with "the cafferty file." that's his question. also, why critics say you should be angry about the bisart san bills. growing up brown in a black and white society. the south carolina governor nicky haley writes about her experiences growing up brown in south carolina in her powerful new book. we also talk about the gop presidential race, mitt romney and women. stand by for the interview. we always hear about jobs leaving america. here's a chance to create jobs in america. oil sands projects, like kearl, and the keystone pipeline will provide secure and reliable energy to the united states. over the coming years, projects like these could create more than half a million jobs in the us alone. from the canadian border, through the mid west, to the gulf coast. benefiting hundreds of thousands of families throughout the country. this is just what our economy needs right now. do about medicare and social security... security. that's what matters to me... me? i've been paying in all these years... years washington's been talking at us, but they never really listen... listen...it's not just some line item on a budget; it's what i'll have to live on... i live on branson street, and i have something to say... [ male announcer ] aarp is bringing the conversation on medicare and social security out from behind closed doors in washington. because you've earned a say. in your breakfast cereal, what is? now, in every box of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first. get more whole grain than any other ingredient... just look for the white check. fight both fast with new tums freshers! concentrated relief that goes to work in seconds and freshens breath. new tums freshers. ♪ tum...tum...tum...tum... tums! ♪ [ male announcer ] fast relief, fresh breath, all in a pocket sized pack. >> jack cafferty is here with "the cafferty file." jack? >> wolf, for a conservative christian rick santorum is rapidly becoming a candidate without a prayer. in fact, there's so much handwriting you can hardly see the wall. pennsylvania, his home state, the place he said was going to get his second half of the campaign off to a rousing start is the same pennsylvania that voted him out of the united states senate by a margin of 18 points. well, guess what? apparently the feelings of the voters in that state haven't changed all that much when it comes to rick santorum. mitt romney is surging in the polls in the keystone state and santorum who once led there by double digits is rapidly losing ground. cnn political contributor james carville said santorum is like a chicken with his head chopped off. the chicken is dead. the only person that doesn't know it is the chicken. unquote. john mccain is calling santorum irrelevant. mccain knows about irrelevant. a growing number of americans say he ought to go. he'll take four days off from campaigning, i wonder what that's all about besides the easter weekend. do you suppose a little soul searching is in order in there's no way rick santorum will be the republican presidential nominee, you know it. i know it. the voters know it, and on some level rick santorum knows it, too, so why stay too long at the dance and see what little credibility you might have left ripped to shreds as people watch you refuse to accept reality. here's the question. rick santorum for president? seriously? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile. post a comment on my blog or go to our post on the situation room's facebook page. wolf? >> jack cafferty, thank you. back-to-back displays of bipartisanship in washington. for the second day in a row the president has signed a bill flanked by lawmakers from both parties including eric cantor. this time it's the jobs act giving a boost to small businesses, but there's small criticism from some consumer groups. >> our chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin is joining us and has the details. >> hi, wolf. that was an unusual sight. president obama and cantor right there next to each other in the rose garden agreeing on the piece of legislation, but you know who doesn't like it? many advocates for investors. ooh it's touted as a major accomplishments. >> start-ups and small businesses will now have access to a big, new pool of potential investors, namely, the american people. for the first time, ordinary americans will be able to go online and invest in entrepreneurs that they believe in. >> it's a straight-up solutions-oriented bill. >> reporter: the jobs act is meant to help companies raise money from investors, allowing them to advertise with direct mail online and other means. use the internet to raise small dollar investments and let private companies go public without some sec regulations and disclosure requirements, but critics say this bill roles back protections that go back to the great depression. >> this bill should make us very angry because it's more business as usual. >> reporter: take, for example, the major investor losses after accounting irregularities at groupon, a dot com right before it went public. darren robbins is suing on behalf of investors. >> and the remedies that are now available to investors who have been victims of this alleged wrongdoing might well not be available had the jobsa account been long and the claims brought. >> that's because this bill allows companies to avoid disclosing some critical, financial information. for example, companies worth less than $1 billion don't have to get outside accounting from audit before going public. the bill also lets investment banks once again peddle the research on the very investments they're selling to their clients. >> by decreasing regulation and allowing for less disclosure, i think it will be harmful to investors and ultimately harmful to honest companies because it subsidizes those who are willing to take advantage using false and misleading statements from the capital. >> the president says, i directed my administration to keep a close eye as this law goes into effect and to provide me with regular updates. >> wolf, even the head of the sec has said that parts of this bill could lead to abuse, but in his remarks today the president used the opportunity to tell congress they have to keep funding the sec so it can keep a close eye on company anies make sure they're doing the right thing. we'll see how it goes, wolf. >> jessica, thanks very much. it's impressive the two days in a row bipartisan legislation passed and the president signs it into law. something's going on. we'll see what happens. thank you. mitt romney's problem with female voters and plus the republican veep stakes and all that and more with one of the rising stars in the republican party, the tea party favorite, the south carolina governor nikki haley. she is here in "the situation room." my interview with her is next. it's my milk in the rich sauce coating the chicken and the pasta. boys! don't you think stouffer's steam perfect bag should get some credit? 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[ female announcer ] only from aveeno. if you want a luxury car with a standard power moonroof, your options are going to be limited. ♪ if you want standard leather-trimmed seats, you're going to have even fewer. ♪ and if you want standard keyless access, then your choice is obvious. the lexus es. it's complete luxury in a class full of compromises. see your lexus dealer. when you talk about the republican vice presidential nominee, her name frequently comes up, but this week the south carolina governor nikki haley flatly said she's not interested at all, however, that doesn't mean she's not closely following the race for the white house and strongly backing her candidate. >> and the governor of south carolina nikki haley is joining us in "the situation room." welc