>> well, ed, i'm wondering what darrell issa is so afraid of. he's afraid of a young woman in her 20s testifying about this? he's afraid of dissenting opinion? i think it is sham politics. it's politics partisan politics being played out on women's bodies. and frankly, there is no issue here. 98% of catholic women already use contraceptives. more than half of the states in the union have requirements similar to what can be found in the obama health care act and 77% of campuses, college campuses that have a catholic affiliation already provide this. any time there is smoke in politics but no fire, you have to ask what's going on. i think it's really clear that republicans are trying to use this as a wedge issue to scare people that obama is persecuting religious people and also to paint him as not being christian. one in five americans believe he's muslim and perhaps that number will go up after this campaign of misinformation. >> caroline, what kind of political price do you think the republicans could pay for this? is this really on the radar s

i want to show you a clip of darrell issa, who famously held that hearing on contraception last week with no women witnesses. let's hear what he says about

so last thursday congressman darrell issa convened a panel that settled the issue. while no ladies were actually allowed to speak until the afternoon session and no ladies actually ever spoke on behalf of ladies, some of these fellows were wearing gowns. so that's something. let's hear the tone that the sausagefest struck in this effort to find balance between religious liberty and the realities of the secular world. >> i don't normally quote from joseph stalin. >> jon: i'm going to stop you right there. we'll just move on to the next guy if that's all right. anyone have a slightly less hyperbolic take on this? >> the violation of a person's religious conscience was nothing less than the rape of the soul. >> jon: that's a quote from roger williams and i believe the worst law and order spin-off yet. listen. no one loves their= plan, but soul rape? you may not realize this but catholic church already offers health plans that cover viagra. a.k.a., four-hour johnson juice. i'm guessing that that doesn't rape the soul. some of your employee iz guess are getting that subs

. >> this hearing was called by republican congressman, darrell issa. >> the meeting got off to a contentious start. >> what i want to know is, where are the women? >> they're having a hearing about women's health and they don't have any women up there. duh! they should do that. >> back in my days, they used bayer aspirin for contraceptive. the gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly. >> the last statement you just heard about putting aspirin between the knees for contraception was from foster friess, the guy who is the single biggest contributor to the super pac that supports rick santorum's candidacy. with that statement and the first session of an absurdist hearing on contraception in the house of representatives this morning, that did not include any female witnesses, the politics of contraception is once again today vying with the santorum surge as the lead political story of the day. joining me now for an exclusive prime-time interview is the man who was at the center of both of those stories, foster friess. mr. friess, thank you very much for joining me tonight. >> la

that is darrell issa. issa and others charge a cover-up at the highest levels of government.xplain why. also? martha: the white house has the catholic church in up roar over a mandate on birth control. religious leaders of many faiths are launching a legal challenge against it. this is a becoming a bigtory. >> not just a catholic church. it is any catholic employer has a conscience and says i will not do this. >> if the obama administration has the power to require a employer to offer contraception then the conservative president would have the power to prohibit an employer from offering contraception. ?ó@] bill: there are a number of religious organizations now up in arms over what they feel is the white house's war on religious freedom. at issue here, is the president's health care law that requires hospitals provide contraceptive coverage to employees even if it goes against church teaching. my next guest is part of the legal challenge to that law. hanna smith, senior counsel for the beckett fund for religious liberty. thank you for your time. you're part of the mormon

congresswoman and delegate eleanor holmes norton of the district of columbia took on darrell issa onhe witnesses listed there. watch this picture of an all-male panel there. let's listen to the delegate. >> one thing, mr. chairman, we've been denied the right to have a witness -- >> the gentle lady -- >> i want to have the right to make a parliamentary inquiry. >> the chairman of that committee, darrell issa of california, defended the witness selection. all males on the first panel. let's listen. >> since only yesterday, two days after what would be the appropriate time for the minority to name their witness request, we were given it. with the short notice, final schedule was determined based on the unusual circumstances of the minority not in a timely fashion submitting any valid request for any witnesses. even though on a daily basis, actually multiple times per day, the majority requested that. >> also with us now is u.s. congresswoman jackie spear of california who boycotted the hearing altogether. let's hear first from delegate norton, eleanor holmes norton who is a friend of m

really put into words concerns the democrats really felt wither not addressed when republican darrell issa had his hearings and what he perceived as a problem with religious freedom. so sandra fluke talked about the health concerns that some women have that are not directly related to birth control, but other medical issues in which contraception is prescribed as a way to treat that. and talked about the financial implications and it was really important for her to have a moment, democrats say because she'd not been able to before. to give you a sense of what was in that room, luke. >> the purpose of this meeting is one that i wish didn't exist. >> in my opinion, the chairman committed a massive injustice by trying to pretend that the views of millions of women across the country are irrelevant to this debate. >> and the all-male panel from last week was the real focus that got this going. and ironically today nancy pelosi said she ought to thank chairman issa for not allowing sandra fluke to testify at that earlier hearing because it created a political moment and shined a light on these

the chairman of the oversight and government reform committee is darrell issa. he is my guest now from the hill. welcome, sir, to "america's newsroom". >> thanks, bill, and thanks for covering this. the terry family has waited more than a year to get answers. so far only 6% to 8% of the documents we know to exist have been delivered. a year is way too long. this investigation is dragging and obviously with attorney general holder coming tomorrow i wanted to make sure he understood that congress's patience is not infinite. bill: with that as a backdrop right now let's push from some answers from you. you i know you're not satisfied. you accused him of severe things. misleading congress and engaging in a cover-up. how so? cover-up is a serious charge. >> certainly. i want to make it very clear. we're still finding out what eric holder knew and what he knew it. very clearly on february 4th when we were deliver ad document that said we never walked guns, lanny breuer, his chief assistant for the criminal division and number three at justice was in mexico trying to n

but at today's hearing chaired by darrell issa, strong words aimed at the attorney general on a number of issues including fast and furious, that program that involved the death of at least one border patrol officer along the u.s./mexican border. the attorney general said he would consider demands for information with one exception. he said the justice department was inclined to follow tradition of withholding some internal documents about congressional inquiries and he said the department needs to do so in order to preserve the ability to get candid advice from top officials. that issue came up because congressman issa is looking for more information about the gun smuggling information known as operation fast and furious and taking some questions from the members of the committee, including blake farnhold, a republican from texas on the question of whether or not the attorney general should step down. >> mr. attorney general, i want to follow up on something mr. ross says because i think we're looking at management and how the d. o.j. is managed. i think you told him you were informed

bill: darrell issa has questions for the energy secretary on solyndra. gressional watchdog wants to know and whether or not subpoenas will follow. congressman issa is here live and we'll put those questions to him. martha: a snowboarder caught in the middle of a massive avalanche, how she managed to make it out alive. she joins us later this hour. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪ bill: an update on violent clashes between police in brazil. have you seen this? authors soldiers making their move firing rubber bullets and charging striking police officers who had barricaded themselves inside the state assembly. police demanding better wages and working conditions. the mur

her issue was that chairman darrell issa would not elect a georgetown law student sandra fluke testified. she had been invited by the house minority members to testify that health insurers cover contraception. >> it was astounding especially to savannah and see a group of all male elderly or religious leaders talking about women's health as if we were not even present. >> darrell issa's office has spoken about this and says minority members tried to add to the woman as a witness too late. a respected new york times foreign correspondent has died while covering the ongoing violence in syria. the paper says anthony shadid died from an apparent as much attack after he slipped into the country to report on the uprising. he previously or for the washington post and the associated press. he has won pulitzer prizes for his reporting on the iraq war. he was only 43. >> the baseball world mourning the loss of coliform catcher -- of hall of fame catcher gary carter. he spent 19 years in the major- league playing with the mets, the montreal expos, san francisco giants, and l.a. dodgers. best rememb

congressman darrell issa. welcome back to the program.s is a different committee today the attorney general was before. i want your reaction to that. at the end of the day he stopped it. thin want to talk to you about something else he said. >> one of the reasons we doubt legitimacy of that claim is because on february 4 when we received what was a false letter that has been retracted, lanny breuer, one of his chief aids, was in mexico lobbying for more gun walking. additionally the evidence shows humane zapata was killed with a similarly controlled weapons. we need to get to the bottom of it. the inspector general has 80,000 pages and we have 6,000 pages. but even in those 6,000 pages we find damning evidence that high-ranking people at justice knew all along and not only did not stop this program, but believed in it. megyn: here is what he said before congress this morning. i have never said or tried to defend the program. what has kind of bothered me is we have taken something we share a concern about and it's gone from that and mushro

this is -- this is the young woman, the young woman who testified today is the young woman who, darrell issa, chairman issa said was unqualified to testify about her need for birth control at the same time he had a panel of five men talking about women's access to contraceptions. so we were very happy she was able to come to the hill today. >> i'll give you the last word, senator lucas. it's your day. >> yes, sir. reverend sharpton, all minority leaders saying on the floor yesterday that these right wing republicans if they could, they would turn back the 20th century. >> congresswoman degente and senator lucas, good night and good luck. >> thank you. we need it. >>> ahead -- republicans are blaming president obama for high gas prices. but he fired back today in a major way. and how about this one. a republican lawmaker in wisconsin who is worried about voter fraud is caught on tape committing voter fraud. unbelievable. stay with us. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule. the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now

we should note the lone female republican on that panel as well says she is siding with darrell issahe finds objection to what you and miss maloney said as well. thank you for your time and explaining what happened in that hearing. >> of course. >>> the oklahoma senate has approved an anti-abortion person hood bill which declares that life begins at conception. the measure headst to the house where it's expected to pass. the governor has not said if she will sign the bill. >>> the family of josh powell backs off a plan to bury him in the same cemetery as the sons he killed. that tops our look at stories around the nation. they initially selected a plot where the kids were buried but the boys maternal grandparents threatened to move the caskets. police officers purchased several adjacent plots to where they were buried to avoid the fathers placed near them. >>> more than half of the inmates in an honduras prison that went up were never convicted of a crime. over 350 inmates are confirmed dead. the fire was started by an inmate. most were locked in their cells while guards searched for

martha: congressman darrell issa busy man. thank you for making time for us today.: thank you so much. gregg: newt gingrich, once a frontrunner is looking for another jump start and momentum. the polls showing him in third place behind frontrunner rick santorum and mitt romney. how much longer can the gingrich campaign really go on? we'll take a look at that next. [ male announcer ] juice drink too watery? ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for excellent fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion, also refreshing plus tea. could've had a v8. i used to not travel very much, but then i discovered hotwire. now, i use all my vacation days. i can afford to visit my folks for the holidays. and reconnect with my girlfriends in vegas. beuse i get ridiculously low prices on all my trips. you see, when hotels have unsold rooms, they use hotwire to fill them, so i g 4-star hotels for up to half off. now i can afford a romantic trip to new orleans. hi honey! ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e... ♪ hotwire.com ♪ [singing] i will be there to share forever, love will keep us to

i thought it went out with stalin but wasn't darrell issa's hearing that. you watched it. >> i did.nteresting piece of theater. darrell issa has gone on the record to say he does create theater in his committee, which is the government oversight committee. >> do you mean theater of the absurd? >> it is usually theater of the absurd. this was particularly absurd, even surreal. there were a lot of people that tweeted a picture of the witness panel, which was of four middle-aged men. i wrote a column about this, but i felt like i didn't have to. i could have just posted the picture. >> what could be wrong with a group of men all over the age of 40 discussing female contraception? what point are you making? what could be wrong with that and what could be wrong with mr. issa preventing a female student from baring testimony in front of that panel? what could be wrong with that? >> i think there's two things that might have troubled mr. issa about that. one is that it would have meant engaging with the actual question of reproductive rights instead of staying on this lofty plane of freedo

darrell issa called it fair.ocrats called it foul. >> what i want to know is where are the women? >> we now go to the gentleman from texas. >> talk about abridging freedom of speech. >> joining us now democratic congresswoman eddie bernice johnson of texas. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. >> congressman issa found two women for the day's second panel, just so you know, both of whom agree with him. that first panel no women. is it mr. issa's view that contraception is best discussed solely by men or is this the most reprehenceable doppler radar disregard for women that we have seen in a generation. >> no question about that. they always bring people that don't have a need to even consider these type of issues. of all the people that we could have gotten as witnesses, why couldn't they have found some women, childbearing age women who could tell you the value of having that freedom of choice. they want to say it has nothing to do with birth control. it has all to do with birth control. it has nothing to do with

you'll remember darrell issa's panel which prompted women to walk out in protest.'s featured onld a single witness but she was all that was needed. >> a friend of mine, for example, had polycystic ovarian syndrome. he has to take birth control to st cysts from growing. he she's gay. a massive cyst grew on her ovary. >> krystal, there's something sad about the fact that the hearing took place today and because of what's been happening with the republican party not much attention will probably fall upon it. what moved you most about what she said today? >> it was how personal it was. it was a personal story and one of the things that the republicans have tried to sweep under the rug is the fact that birth control is used by millions of women not just for fornication, as they would put it, but for basic health care. there's nothing wrong with having birth control for contraception because the abortions that they are so desperate to prevent and we want to prevent are prevented by having access to contraception. women who have access and use contraception are about 85%

secondly, darrell issa had two panels. the first had all men and the second had two women. of the total number of women testifying, 11, two of them were women. the presiding bishop of the episcopal church is a woman. she couldn't come and testify before the house. it's about appearance. women don't like men telling them what to do with their bodies. it just looks bad. >> some men don't like that women are being told. obviously, this is about a woman's body, but there are many men out there who say this is wrong. it's not just male against female here, which i know you're well aware of. i want to bring up something quickly, they are comparing this to the terry shivo controversy where the republicans overplayed their hand there thinking they had some kind of momentum and went too far. they are asking would this be the same thing zemseven years later. we're unclear how the debate over contraception and women's health will play out. we know the gop could overplay their hand which is a point both you have made. >> it's not -- if it's a religious liberty argument or an argument a

>> reporter: well, i think if you had to handicap this, i think that darrell issa will probably moveer. legally and politically what that means for mr. holder is not clear right now. he is under significant pressure by republicans in congress to resign over this matter. he's distinguish no indication that he's going to do that and no one terminated for actions in this situation at the justice department, so, again, this showdown has been kind of building incrementally, but it's really smouldering right now, and it could come to a head in the next weeks and months ahead as darrell issa continues his pursuit of eric holder in this case. >> brian, thanks so much. keep us posted on what happens today. >> sure. >> coming up, a breathtaking reversal of fortune. all it took was bad timing and a terrible economy for a middle class family to lose everything. >> 401(k) savings plan, money here and there. we were doing fine. >> we have teenage salaries, both of us. we have teenage salaries running a home and a family. >> well, they are the new face of the working poor. you'll hear their story s

. >>> plus -- darrell issa's bogus hearing just got worse. now he's comparing the attack on birth control to dr. martin luther king's fight for civil rights. and president obama is celebrating a major anniversary today by touting jobs. he's fired up and ready to go. you're watching "politics nation." on msnbc. this is an rc robotic claw. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ try bayer advanced aspirin. it has microparticles so it enters the bloodstream fast and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for excellent fruit and veggie nutrition..

committee chairman darrell issa threatens to find holder in contempt if he fails to deliver documents demanded by issa. >>> lawrence? >> good morning, bay area. if you are just getting up we had a few showers today a few high clouds moving in overhead. we have big changes in the weather around the bay area through the day. and looks like lots of sunshine returning. outside right now, we have some high clouds continuing to cruise on by. could see a couple of patches of valley fog inland. temperatures chilly. just haven't seen clouds as thick overnight so that's allowed the temperatures to drop off but by the afternoon what an afternoon indeed! temperatures soaring near 70 in the warmest parts of the bay area. still breezy over the mountaintops. otherwise we are looking good. that ridge of high pressure continues to build in keeping the jet stream north so we dry out again. there is rain in the forecast. that's good news. how about some sunny skies into san jose this afternoon and about 66 degrees, 56 palo alto, 60s at the coastline with sunshine even at the beaches. east bay temperatur