former govern ed rendell, and buzz speeds, ben smith. accusations of cheating and dirty play are flying between romney and santorum's campaigns, four days before super tuesday, the republican race sounds like a school yard fight at recess. it sounds like it and let's hear what is going on. rick santorum calling mitt romney a good old boy. >> you know, have to change the rules after the game, so they can win and that is pathetic. >> govern rendell, you are no stranger to the things in one of these fights. i feel like it's a turning points, the there's more hand to man combat between the romney campaign and santorum campaign over the delegate count in michigan. what say you? >> isn't life wonderful? this is all absurd, they are battling over one or two

delegates they both have more to worry about. it makes them look small. if you are running fors of, whether it's mayor or governor or president, if you want to be a leader, you want to look big and bottom the fray, you want to look like auto visionary and when you get meyered in this stuff, in the worst, let your campaign managers do it. >> you can say the fight began over the robocalls that the santorum campaign placed. let's listen, this is what the romney camp alleged vis-a-vis rick santorum. encouraged democrats in michigan to eye jack the republican primary because his strategy failed and mitt romney won, he is now attacking the republican party. >> i mean that, is a story that the romney campaign loves and i think they will keep talking about, that santorum is in league with democrats. i think there's a bit of truth. but there were conservative democrat s that are at this poit

republicans. all the talk of process though, in 2008, when rendell was helping the democrats get the vote in, they had a snow emergency going on, they just did it. they did not talk about process. there's a lot of focus on details of process right now. >> hogan said this kind of back room dealing, political thuggary cannot and should not happen in america. >> oh, my god, this is nothing. >> you are a chicago expert. >> this would not make the paper. okay? shear why santorum cannot look at the gift he has and why he is going to a game that he won't survive if he keeps on this way. he should be use thging -- use thg time to say, and call attention to the michigan prime being a split decision, but the story line which his campaign

could not get out to tuesday was really in fairness, that it was pretty much a divided case in delegates. delegates are what you get the nomination. >> that is true. >> instead, they let everyone write without press intervention that could have been done, and santorum should have been saying that night and into the next day. hold it, popular vote one thing and split decision that, is grmpt he said it the next day, but lost the opportunity to set the story line. >> we knew some things coming n one, these campaigns are not really well run, they are argue background ta ing about strategy. and they do not like each other. you only go down to every paper cut counts when you do not like the other person. you do not hear people argue engine this way, when they do. you have not heard back and forth between particular candidates. we know the relationship between

ron paul and mitt romney. >> the word bromance for ron paul and romney has been over done. >> the uncle and nephewmance, whatever you want to say. they are argue engine a way that is not indicative of the bigger game. so, it's become personal and incredibly awkward in a bad way, and there's nobody that can step in and say, guys? >> the side -- >> my media consultant, neil who is just terrific. neil would call me up and yell at me if i ever mentioned the word polls or if i mentioned the word delegates or if i ever mentioned anything to do with process, he said i'll talk about process, you talk about the issues. >> billistal in the "weekly standard" said that santorum needs to be the spokesman for the people against the

establishment, for main street against wall street and for the country against insiders for the faithful against their cultured dispiezers, wow. let's talk though, about the battle ahead, as we know, obviously that michigan is a battle still unresolved. if we look at ohio, how badly does -- i mean, who need this is win more, santorumromney. >> santorum because romney has multiple paths to getting the delegates. >> and ahead in the count right now. >> he is. and so remember in the ten states up on tuesday, as many of the viewers know because they are sharp, all but one is proportional. so romney has to be respect able. it will be a psychological blow if he does not do well. but if santorum and not get delegates it's hard for him to

continue. the path shrinks for him. >> has organizational problems. is he not -- >> is missing three. >> in ohio, i think there's a sense that had he a moment, the polls are now closing he was leading in ohio. ohio is the kind of state he should win. if you cannot just win the states, what is he doing? >> let's talk about the latest poll has santorum at 35% and romney at 31%. romney is up two after michigan. >> maybe it's all the snobs that went to college. >> snobby college people. if we talk about romney though, it's weird, right? like santorum needs to win it and romney needs to win it also in a weird way in terms of delegates and so forth. it's not that romney has to drop out after ohio, but it's all about a vote of confidence, right? and if we look at, you know, the sort of enthusiasm gap with romney, i want to show you two visuals, there was of course if

ford field event where he introduced his economic plan, and i'm not good enough at fractions, there was like -- and then there was an -- >> much too generous. >> again, in ohio, a rally at a high school gym, sorry, idaho a high school gym, which was sort of constructed in way to make it look crowded by really actually was not crowded. and then you have the romney campaign out with his new please, thrplease small donations. >> one of the rules in politics if you want a big crowd, book a small room. in iowa, i was amazed in the library because the smault room that santorum booked that could have held 50 people, 50 people was over flowing and we had to move out. but the next day, for some reason, his campaign booked a

football field. you know, and you know, they make mistakes. to me, it's just now many times do you have to make the same mistake? >> beyond the optics, mitt romney needs to get people out there on his side, he needs to have grassroots support. these are not beyond the optics. there's a reality here. >> he has not had his emotional moment that in a campaign can -- as santorum did when he won iowa, that wakes up the party's grassroots. where people get online and give you a small amount of money to encourage you and he can go back to them later. >> he that emotional moment about he said that corporations are people too. >> they try to blast that out. it just has not happened. maybe it will happen and maybe it will not. >> georgia on his mind, newt gingrich is putting all his peaches in one basket, can he win his home state? we will ask rick tyler next on "now." [ man ] i've been out there most of my life.

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>> i think each of us has to carry other home state. santorum has to carry pennsylvania and i have to carry georgia, if the folks who know you and the folks who are you a favored son, if you cannot win in you lose your credibility. >> newt has georgia on his mine. is it game over if the former speaker loses on tuesday? joining us now is rick tyler a former spokesman and now a senior adviser to the gingrich super pac winning our future, i know you are not coordinating

your activities in any way with the former speaker but you happen to be in georgia conveniently. >> i love georgia. >> we will leave it at that. have you a long history with newt gingrich, you know the manuel, is he going to win georgia on super tuesday? >> well, i think so. that, you know, as he mentioned i think it's important that he wins georgia. we like to do more than win georgia, we would like to win tennessee, oklahoma, and do well in ohio. it looks like you know, santorum and romney are going for a rematch in ohio. they fought it out in michigan. could not have been more perfect for us, considering the circumstances, we were not going win michigan and they tied, so they spent a lot of money and time while newt has been working conservative states that are more like south carolina than they are like michigan. so, i think, you know, what we are hoping for, is good things to tuesday. >> i want to talk about that southern strategy in a second. i want to talk about gingrich in

georgia, because the wall street journal has a story today that i thought shed a lot of light on gingrich's roots in the state. it talked about the folks that helped him get elected into office and how he abandoned them and when his first wife came back to church, there were donations to her and the family to gingrich and his daughters -- not to his daughter, the ex-wife and daughters to get their head above water, one of the daughters was a janitor so they had extra money in their pocket. it sounded rough. i guess i wonder, you're in georgia, do you think that georgia is still on the side of newt gingrich, they know more about this guy than the rest of the country. >> well, first of all, i know kathy newt's daughter and daughters and those stories do not hold water. i know them personally, i have

had lots of discussions with them and they are not true. it would be foolishes that a person like mitt romney can come to georgia and claim to be the conservative when newt has 30 years of experience down here. all the southern states, newt ran here when you could not get your trash picked up, it was his leadership that turned the ga republican party and when he became speaker the whole south turned republican. he was the first guy who as a republican believed that republicans could govern, they had the better policies and the whole south agreed and today, the south is largely republican, north carolina will change soon, because of newt gingrich's leadership, i don't think that the south will forget it. >> the south is largely republican because of newt's leadership. >> look at the history. here is the thing, between now and tuesday, what exactly are you doing with the money you

have, share with us what states are you running ads or something else in? >> we have a full screen of where you are spending your ad money, rick. >> okay. >> and it looks like you are spending $1.31 million in georgia and ohio not far behind, oklahoma $425,000 and tennessee $635,000, we talked about putting all of your peaches in one basket, that's a heavy wad of cash in ohio, still. >> we have spent money in alabama, kansas and mississippi. >> how much of that is left? how much of that has been spent already and how much is still left and how -- you know, the undecideds that are out there, what is your last minute appeal, will it change in the next few days, or is what you have locked in? >> well, i'm not going to say how much is left and how much we have to gorks that is giving away our strategy. >> you are here, this is a

political show. scare. >> lynn? >> msnbc doesn't tell fox news how to position themselves in the marketplace and we will not do it here either. the closing argument is energy. it is a powerful argument, i don't think it's question of whether israel will go to iran, it's a question of what they will drop on iran. and then the keystone pipeline -- >> certainly energy is something that we will discuss on the show and something that the speaker has been talking a lot about, although you are not coordinating messaging with him. i want to open it up a bit and talk about gingrich's southern strategy. let's play sound from the speaker discussing the strategy himself. >> georgia conservative has a certain advantage across tennessee, kentucky, alabama, you know, arkansas, mississippi, louisiana, i mean, just take the

region, the reason that historically they tend to be patterned. >> ben, when you look at this, are we being fooled. does newt gingrich have a solid strategy. he wins georgia and goes on and claims the south? >> he has not had anything looking like a strategy all year. he has collapsed and rebounded. he has great personal strengths and weaknesses, at any given moment his strategy is whatever is infront of him. there's no long-term plan here. >> i just wonder, and you know, rick tyler you are here, if you can, share, since gingrich staked so many on winning in georgia, how does he go ahead if he does not win or if it's close? he put the idea out there? >> if he wins he has the same problem. >> what is the road ahead. josh, i want to bring you in there, the other thing that we have not talk bd is

gingrich/santorum dynamic, and they have been long put in the same bucket. santorum said, it's governor romney and me, kind of like a mean girls idea coming from him. do not bother compete engine -- competing in this pool. >> to ben's point, the gingrich strategy is survival. an allie can suddenly be a rival. so it's whoever is in front of him, he will go after. so the robocalls have begun, and we know it. and the calls we are referring to specifically are about comparing santorum to you know, burying his union votes in the end zone. i mean, you know, this is sort of nutty stuff. i think, the question to rick tiyler is right what is the strategy, if you cannot win georgia, that is the next thing,

what happens after that? >> rick tyler we will be asking you that question in the coming days and definitely coming back to you after -- >> we will win georgia. >> there we go. >> rick tyler thank you as always for your wisdom and patience. after the break, the fienlnding are in, the cold case posse have unveiled the results of the investigation of president ob a obama's birth certificate. next on "now." hey, sis...

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yesterday on the subject. >> we believe probable cause exists indicating that forgery and fraud may have been committed. based on all of the evidence presented and investigated i cannot in good faith report to you that these documents are authentic. >> i want for all of us to rewind and talk about who sheriff joe arpaio is, he was investigated for three years, they concluded that arpaio engaged in unconstitutional policing and there were raiding and widespread civil rights abuses and so forth. he has been charged with unfairly targeting latinos and retaliating against those who complained and been accused of not effectively investigating over 400 sex crimes in the state

and the cold case posse a group of cracker jack sleuths led by mike zulo and comprised of former law enforcement officers and two retired attorneys, they have done some sort of digital investigation that rivals that of inspectors. what that point is, it's more serious, right the fact that the conversation is still happening. >> it's lunatic fringe stuff and there's a baited whether local law enforcement can enforce local law for immigration. and these guys are not up to enforcing, it's a crazy thing to be doing and the idea that they will be enforcing federal law is frightening. >> sheriff joe was requested to

do the investigation by the surprise tea party. i'm not heard of them. they are based in surprise, arizona. >> i have to interrupt, alex. >> surprise me. >> that is funded by the dnc, but we want to keep this issue going because voters have come to the conclusion, i think that the republican party is populated by whacko's and nuts. and this birther stuff helps one person, barack obama. keep it up. >> we actually, i don't know how you got joe arpaio to speak infront of a camera. very few people can name their own sheriff. he sees oxygen, i agree with the governor, it's mostly a conspiracy to keep it going. >> you can get a copy president

obama's supposedly forged birth certificate for the price of $22 on a mug, i believe at the obama re-elect website. we will have more about the birther discussion on our facebook page. coming up, after failing to repeal president obama's contraception mandate on the senate floor, republicans in congress are thinking about their strategy in the battle over birth control and will it cost them at the polls in november, our panel debates that next on "now." ♪ [ telephone rings ]

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>> if you don't like what republicans are doing, send a woman to the snts, in fact, send them all. >> democrats are making their case forge, getting more women capitol hill and ending the republican assault on women's health. that was one of the most hard hitting ads to come out of the debate, insofar as it isolates those that are against it. >> the smartest line was said by bernie sanders who said, if there were 83 women in the senate, they would not be having a debate on birth control and contraception. >> and governor we are talking about these issues as being national leag engineered by dnc, the house is thinking of bringing up a bill

that is a similar piece of legislation, therefore continuing the debate over and over again. >> what is shocking to me, alex is scott brown, he is in a tough race, warren is a good candidate and works hard. he cast a vote for the blunt amendment in massachusetts. >> in support of it. >> yes. what would he be thinking, the conservatives this would appeal to in massachusetts it's a small fraction, they are not going to votes for warren under any circumstances. he committed political suicide. i think with that vote yesterday. >> you know, i think the new york times and "wall street journal" have different takes. the times are saying it's an attack on women's health and the journal is saying it's religious freedom. >> those are good statements of what people on each end of the spectrum see and it's irrelevant. i know that people feel passionately about them, and

there's no question, that there's room for some social debate. somewhere down the road, but if you are a politician running for office, why be drawn into this right now? >> it looks more like it's the republicans that are making it the issue. >> well, it is. >> you have rick santorum at the top. >> part of the problem is that republicans have a strong case to make that it's about religious freedom. but santorum keeps stepping past it, he is saying that birth control is not insuranceable period. it's unclear whether he is thinks contraception is right or wrong on a personal level. >> the blunt amendment, be clear, is not just about religious freedom, if i'm an employer and i don't want to insurance people with aids, no religious grounds at all, i can do it. >> that is why they call it a conscience clause, but it's a lack of conscience clause if an

employer wants to deny coverage. for the first time, everyone who works, who has health coverage will get it as of august of this year. the republicans are giving him a platform to talk what is one of his biggest achievements that is constantly under attack by republicans and they have something that will happen right now, before the election, and if you just see how the strategy of the republicans are so unfathomable, it appeals to those that will not vote for obama anyway and it will be somebody that will not have, a woman that will have -- >> and obama care remains unpopular, there's a lot -- >> 63% of americans support requirements that private health insurance plans cover the cost of birth control, and 58% of americans trust obama to make the right decisions on the 2010 health care law.

we know, we are talking about president obama and the general election, rick santorum has very passionate views about this. i don't know why this congress this continues to be an issue, you see what it's doing to the republican race and you see the ads from the dscc that make the case for throwing the bums out. right? the political calculation makes to sense in terms of strategy. >> what it does is ginn up the women's vote. the women's vote, every campaign wants them, especially in the battleground states. look at the republicans, what they have done, they have created a cause that women can rally around. >> it's not just would-be elected representatives. you have rush limbaugh, i'll read them to you. talking about sandra fluke, the -- it's an important, sorry, i do not have his comments.

but basically called her out and especially called her a prostitute for wanting coverage for her contraception. >> look, i think we are all at a certain point immune for outrage with rush limbaugh. he found a way. that is what, the lack of political leadership from the republican's side to say, guys we have to get the focus back over here. because this is a loser for us in the general. if you are candidate, if you are running for congress, and this is what people are talking about, and this is your affiliation, you have to be so angry at the -- at romney, at santorum and at limbaugh himself for driving the conversation to the wrong place. you are only going get here if you make obama the issue and you make the economy the issue. >> ironically, what you just said, romney had a great opportunity, when they asked him about the blunt amendment to carve out space for himself and look brave. saying this is ridiculous, we should be talking about the economy. let women alone.

gosh, people would have said mitt romney, wow. >> and didn't at all, and reversed his decision an hour later. >> one of the great strengths for him was that he cared about abortion rights, because people believe he does not believe it so they found a way. >> the important thing, when he said did he not support the blunts amendment and he said it i don't think that the federal government and politicians should be involved in decisions between husband and wife and he walked it back, that was clear. a missed opportunity for mitt romney. we have to leave it there. after the break, we will be discussing pain at the pump. unpacking the rhetoric about rising gas prices in the political arena, that is next on "now." [ male announcer ] this is lois.

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so, a gingrich candidacy means $2.50 of gasoline while you do not worry about china and pay attention to saudi arabia. that is a good bargain. >> easiest thing to do is make phony election year promises about lowering gas prices but what is harder is making a serious commitment to tackle a problem that we have been talking about for 30 years and has not been tackled. >> the politics of gasoline are front and center on the campaign trail, is there anything that the white house can do to lower the price? joining us from washington is cnbc's contributor, thank you for joining us today. you know, you wrote in a recent piece that the the president has done a great deal to get the price of gas down. tell us about that, but answer this ultimate question for me,

is there anything that he can do to control it? >> if answer is no -- the answer is no, there's no dial that turns gas prices down. what the president has done already is about all that a president can do within, you know political reality in washington. he has tapped the reserve last year, that helped to bring down price as bit. so of course, prices are back up past where they were at the time he did it and they have made an effort to try to constrain speculation in the oil future's market, putting position limits and other things that curb trading. a lot of it is caught up in the courts right now. but the president has done pretty much what he can do and now he is sort of reduced to jaw boning the problem because a lot of it is out of his hands. it's been china and instability of iran. this is things he cannot control. >> i want to open it up to the panel, we talk about the question marks going into the general election this november. certainly gas prices are one,

foreign policy is another. i thought it was interesting, we talk about whether or not pain at the pump matters in terms of voting, but financial analysts say a penny rise in gas prices is -- equals $1.4 billion less to spend. josh i'll look at you. if gas goes up, consumers have less to spend, that is pain for consumers and as we look at the economic picture and it getting better or worse as he seeks re-election, it's a problem. >> it's a big problem, it exposes a weakness politically. but voters will not vote on the gas price, it's unique because it's stairing you in the face when you drive around and it's market. so one of the things that the president really cant do, somebody has to do, is refineries, there are fewer refineries on the east coast, there's some outside philadelphia that are closing down, so there's less gas getting to the pumps. we have a systematic problem, i

don't think that vote rs will think about that. once the prices get down, you see the results right away. if you are watching it it begins to get tuned out. >> i want to make two points, summer driving, prices go up for reasons in the industry that we do not have to go into, even under president bush, he could not do a lot to change that. and the other thing is the obama team has an argument to make, one of the things to remind people is that you have more money from your paycheck every time you get it because of the payroll tax cut that was extend through the year. >> yes, the $40 hash tag. >> yes, so they have something to say, yeah, this is not perfect but that -- that is what they were talking about, that can be your tank. >> you have this high minded obama line that, we cannot look at the short-term solutions that people will say it, four years

ago he was saying the prices of gas are high, and elect me, in a few years we will figure it outs. it's been a few years. >> governor rendell, you have a question? >> the one thing that i think we can do in the medium term, how long would it take with good presidential leadership to build a distribution network to make natural gas available, at least to all of america's fleets? because natural gas, i'm told right now is half to fuel a car, half what the price of petroleum, that with competition with a robust natural gas distribution network would cause petroleum prices to come down? >> it would be a multi-year effort, and it's a big infrastructure project. the politics of this, i'm not sure how long, i'm not an industry expert. it would have to be years. >> i think for fleets, for

america's fleetss and that would have a dramatic change at the price at the pump. you could do it in two or two and a half years. >> we are still talking about november, and what the gas conversation does is pushes obama on sensitive topics, a-in terms of his base. you talk about energy reform, nothing has happened, he talked about it as a candidate and on the other side, for republicans that were skeptical of his commitment to fossil fuels and developing american fuel sources, have you the keystone question. rights? >> it's easy for obama to get around it, push for a natural gas act. >> spoken like a pennsylvania governor. >> and where might that gas be? >> you going pull a piece of shale out of your pocket? >> we talk about the pressure point on this and keystone is one of them and iran, is a powder keg for the region and

for the white house. >> that is total lg out of the president's hands how that unfoelds, good news here, in economic terms there's a piece of language called oil intensity. that is the measure of how much if price of oil effects the economy. oil intensity has been going down over the past several decades. so the economy is not as subject to price pressure on oil as it used to be because of increased domestic production and vehicle efficiency, so a rise in gas prices in the short-term does not necessarily effect the economy as dramatically as it would have a few years ago. that is the silver lining here for the obama team. >> i think that oil intensity was up because of the campaign. thank you for setting us straight, the man with all the answers, thanks. coming up, it's friday, what just happened? we will show you how the presidential horse race become a nascar race this week. next

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for the first time in nascar history, the daytona 500 was delayed, pushed a day because of rain. in the other big race this week, mitt romney is hoping his performance is not going to delay his trip to victory lane. it's time to look back and ask "what just happened?" >> i'm dropping the hammer. >> no you are not. >> in the great race this week, rubber met the road. >> we need to way in the back of the pack and let the folks in front of you crash and burn and move up in the end and try to win. >> the santorum strategy nearly worked in daytona and in michigan, his car started second to last. >> in a race where everyone said ignore, you have no chance here. >> and waited out a 2-hour fire. >> the candidates sometimes

makes mistakes. >> ann drive as couple of cadillacs. i have friends that are nascar team owners. >> newt gingrich sat out the race, gassing up in the pit. and waiting for a bigger track. >> every penny we raise is going back into winning the primaries on super tuesday. >> ron paul stayed in but looked a lot like the pace car. >> i have mixed feelings, it's almost feeling embarrassed. >> and santorum charged closer to the leader. >> we have an opportunity tomorrow to go out and do something big. >> romney expected a leezerly drive, but santorum was rising his bumper. >> the santorum campaign is making calls to the democrats. >> dirty trick. >> did he not slam into you or bump you or nudge you. you hit him back. he rubbed you and rubbing, son, is racing. >> try as he did, santorum could

not seal the deal down the stretch. >> we had a better night than was reported. >> roaring to life, number 44 swerved on to the track. >> now is a time to keep our foot on the gas. not put on the brakes. >> the main event has not started. but it looks like he can already see his opponent in the rear view mirror. >> secret service would not let me drive it, but in five years when i'm not the president anymore, i'll buy one and drive it. >> car -- car humor is it going to june? >> i have a quick answer, yes, and because even the obama people like to talk about nascar, they are going after nascar voters they are doing a convention at a nascar event. >> the first lady was booed at a

nascar event, so perhaps a chance for team obama for redechblgz. >> we will see obama and romney engaging more. they may continue, there may be a sort of side, i cannot do the car metaphor here. >> rubbing and bumping. >> rubbing and bumping. >> drag racing. >> i think the main event is about to begin. >> i actually am in a agreement, i think that we are nearing closer to the roniney and we have a lot to look at with super-stupid tuesday. i think we are closing in. josh? >> it will continue to drag out, i cannot go near the things you created in that taped piece, but it will keep dragging out, they will slow down the pace, and romney will look more toward obama. santorum is not going away, he does not have a reason to go away. there's still an opportunity. >> is making money.

governor? >> if the republican primary keeps going, maggie may may be the candidate. my famous golden retriever. but a message to the president, as someone who has not driven a car for 20 years, it's not so easy after you have not driven for a while. so i would not get into that sports car right away. >> take it easy president obama, start with a bike. thanks again to josh whose latest issue hits news stands today and thanks to govern rendell, lynn and benn. that is all for "now," i'll see you back here monday when i'll be joined by p.j. crowley and dan rather and becky quick. until then, check out our facebook page and get more of "now" at facebook.com/"now," "andrea mitchell reports" is next. t

t tgif, happy friday. the battle over birth control and women's health, joining me, sandra fluke who has been verbally assaulted by rush limbaugh speaks out about the insults and what has now become a national debate and our conversation with mayor's bloomberg, and rahm emanuel on education reform. the president said he is not bluffing when it comes to iran and israel. we have the interview with the president just before netanyahu arrives her from a summit. enough of just covering up my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone -- and may not clear you completely, but for many, it gets skin clearer fast, within 2 months, and keeps it clearer up to 9 months.

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[ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen right now on "andrea mitchell reports," is it a war on women? the 30-year-old law student who became the target of a personal attack from the man with the big microphone. >> this is historically the kind of language that is used to license women.