sandra fluke joins me now. thanks so much for being here, sandra. were there today. you were obviously barred from the hearing last week. what were you really trying to get across to members of the democratic party there, nancy pelosi, elijah cummings, and miss moloney? >> well, i really wanted the members of congress and the public to hear the voices and the stories of the women who are affected by the lack of contraceptive coverage and how much this regulation means to all of us and to all of them. and i hope that's what came through in my testimony and i just really hope that people understand how very, very important this critical health care need is. >> one of your criticisms, you said, was that women's health was with being used as a political football, but this is a recess week in congress. this is a hearing by the democratic steering committee, really done for political reasons. do you feel like you yourself have been used as a political football in all of this? >> let me be clear, i don't feel like anyone has treated me as a political footb

well, sandra fluke is here today. >> thank you. thank you, leader pelosi, for bringing sandra to this hearing, and for your commitment to these issues that are so important to tens of millions of women and men across our country. when i took my seat at the hearing last week, and i looked out at the panel, i couldn't help but ask what is wrong with this picture. there was not one single woman on that first panel, not one. even though we were there to talk about the needs of tens of millions of american women to have access to insurance for preventive health care, including reproductive rights, including contraception. the only freedom that was being debated was the freedom to tell women that they would not have access to family planning. what is wrong with that picture? we should not need to remind our colleagues at 100% of those who can have their health damaged by an unplanned pregnancy are women. 100% of those who died from complications related to pregnancy are women. 100% of those who give birth and plan their families are wome

joining me tonight is sandra fluke, the woman congressman darrell issa rejected as a witness today. ms. fluke is a law student at georgetown university. great to have you with us tonight, sandra. i understand that you already planned your testimony. you were going to cite examples of people who could have benefited from president obama's mandate for birth control coverage. share with us what you would have told that committee today. >> that is what i was there to speak to the committee about. that's why i was so stunned when chairman issa made the decision to not allow me to speak on behalf of those women and to say that i was not an appropriate witness and that those women's stories were not appropriate for this committee. i cannot think of who would be more appropriate for the committee to hear from than the women affected by this policies whose lives were affected. one of the women i wanted to talk about today is a close friend of mine. she needs to take contraception for medical reason to prevent cysts from growing on her ovaries and not to prevent pregnancy. that technically mea

sandra fluke was not allowed to testify. she is my exclusive guest next. and later, general motors posts a record profit and unemployment claims hit a four-year low. all good news for the economy. bad news for mitt romney. robert reich with the conversation. stay with us. we're right back.

sandra fluke was not allowed to testify. she is my exclusive guest next. and later, general motors posts a record profit and unemployment claims hit a four-year low. all good news for the economy. bad news for mitt romney. robert reich with the conversation. stay with us. we're right back. [ male announcer ] aggressive new styling. a more fuel-efficient turbocharged engine. and a completely redesigned interior. ♪ the new c-class with over 2,000 refinements. it's amazing...inside and out. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited

sandra fluke. first, i want to say that the purpose of this meeting is one that i wish that did not exist. i wish in the hearing that was held last week, the republican majority on the house oversight and government reform committee would have heard from sandra fluke instead of hearing a panel of five men. our colleague, congresswoman malachy put it best, asking where are the women. in this debate, nothing could be more critical than hearing the voices of our nation's women and democrats are prepared to hear from a single witness today, are georgetown law student sandra fluke to disappear -- to be before our committee. she was summoned before the paddle -- before the panel that was summoned last week but the republicans did not want to hear from her. we do today. we are proud to bring sandra before our steering and policy committee to deliver the testimony she was denied last week to stand firm and the cause of women's health, to a lot longer be held silent for its center is a bold and passionate l

meanwhile on capitol hill house democrats listened to the testimony of sandra fluke. fluke was denied a seat at last week's hearing on contraception because the republican led house oversight committee, gop, instead heard testimony from five men. house oversight chair darrell issa says ms. fluke was not appropriate and qualified to speak on the subject of birth control. today she was asked about that matter. >> for the benefit of those who may not understand, can you describe your qualifications for testifying about the restrictions on insurance coverage for contraceptives? >> sure. i'm an american woman who uses contraception. let's start there. that makes me qualified to talk to my elected officials about my health care needs. >> i am joined tonight by virginia house delegate charniele herring, democratic minority whip and chair of the state's reproductive rights caucus and terry o'neill, president of the national organization for women. i think both of you are starting to get to know me pretty well and thank you for being on the program again tonight. when i start

sandra fluke. first, i want to say that the purpose of this meeting is one that i wish that did not exist. i wish in the hearing that was held last week, the republican majority on the house oversight and government reform committee would have heard from sandra fluke instead of hearing a panel of five men. our colleague, congresswoman malachy put it best, asking where are the women? in this debate, nothing could be more critical than hearing the voices of our nation's women and democrats are prepared to hear from a single witness today, are georgetown law student sandra fluke to be before our committee. she was summoned before the panel that was summoned last week but the republicans did not want to hear from her. we do today. we are proud to bring sandra before our steering and policy committee to deliver the testimony she was denied last week to stand firm and the cause of women's health, to a lot longer be held silent for its center is a bold and passionate leader for young women and all women a

she was upset that the chairman would not let georgetown law student sandra fluke testify. >> it was astounding. it is astounding to sit there and see a group of all male religious leaders talking about women's health. we were not even present. >> the office says a minority members try to adhere as a witness to late. they talked about other plan separate controls can be prescribed for. >> and it was in the battle whether a casino should be built in prince george's county. sharon baker is calling for a luxurious casino to be built at national harbour. he says it could help pay for a new regional medical center and for school construction repairs. lawmakers would have to pass legislation for allowing the casino. >> we are looking at 38 degrees on this friday. >> coming up next, talking about lin-sanity. what summer doing to look like jeremy lin. >> fir [ male announcer ] in her natural habitat the tissue monster was quite mild. achoo! [ male announcer ] but when she used tissues, she went crazy wild. tissue after tissue, she always took a ton. until mom explained with puffs ultra soft

sandra fluke., i want to say that the purpose of this meeting is one that i wish that did not exist. i wish in the hearing that was held last week, the republican majority on the house oversight and government reform committee would have heard from sandra fluke instead of hearing a panel of five men. our colleague, congresswoman malachy put it best, asking where are the women. in this debate, nothing could be more critical than hearing the voices of our nation's women and democrats are prepared to hear from a single witness today, are georgetown law student sandra fluke to disappear -- to be before our committee. she was summoned before the paddle -- before the panel that was summoned last week but the republicans did not want to hear from her. we do today. we are proud to bring sandra before our steering and policy committee to deliver the testimony she was denied last week to stand firm and the cause of women's health, to a lot longer be held silent for its center is a bold and passionate leader

democrats led by nancy pelosi held an unofficial hearing where sandra fluke was the only witness.ast week, republicans on the house oversight committee did not allow her to speak. instead hearing from a panel of only men opposing president obama's plan to require religious institutions to provide their employees birth control coverage. >> i -- i felt insulted not for myself, but for the women i wanted to represent. the women whose stories i wanted to convey to the committee and the women whose voices for silenced. >> she described how a fellow student lost an ovary when her insurance company refused to pay for birth control she needed to stop the growth of cysts. >>> they were on the front lines of war, but today, many world war ii veterans received an honor they earned long ago. members of the u.s. army 100th infantry -- were given the congressional gold medal. it's the highest civilian award you can receive. the ceremony was held to pay tribute to those who can't attend the event in washington last november. >>> soldiers and their families are not the only japanese americans bei

. >>> now, the georgetown law student, sandra fluke, finally got a chance to talk to members of congress. she testified today about the obama administration's policy that requires the employees of religious affiliated institutions to have access to health insurance that covers birth control. last week, they rejected democrats and their requests, that fluke testified on the subject. but today, she was the lone witness at the unofficial hearing, sponsored by a hand full of democrats. >> without insurance coverage, contraceps as you know could cost a woman -- contraception as you know could cost a student over $3,000 for students. that's practically an entire summer's salary. >> the republicans in the house and senate are pushing legislation to let insurance mans opt out of any mandate on contraception coverage if they have moral objections. >>> the battle between rick santorum and mitt romney is heating up on the campaign trail. we've got the latest. >> reporter: mitt romney hit the campaign trails in arizona, ready to hit his chief rivals and their records. now, speaking to a group of bui

sandra a fluke is here today. >> thank you, leader pelosi for bringing sandra to this committee and yourt to these issues that are so important to tens of millions of women and men across our country. when i took my seat at the hearing last week and i looked out of the panel, i could not help, but help " what is wrong with this picture?" there was not one single woman on that first panel, not one, even though we were there to talk about the needs of tens of millions of american women to have access to insurance for preventive health care including reproductive rights, including contraception. the only freedom that was being debated was the freedom to tell women that they would not have access to family planning. what is wrong with that picture? we should not need to remind our colleagues that 100% of those who can have their health damaged by an unplanned pregnancy are women. 100% of those who die from complications related to pregnancy are women. one other% of those who give birth and plan their families are women. but, 100% of those on the first panel talking about the access to family

sandra fluke of georgetown university law center, law students for reproductive justice.am suffer of american university students for choice. thank you. >> good morning. my name is cally otto, i'm a teener at the catholic university of america as well as president of the catholic university students for choice. a group unrecognized by my university. we are here today speaking out for the millions of students across the country who applaud the obama administration's regulations and demand our right to exercise our individual religious freedoms by using personal -- by making personal medical decisions without interference from religious authorities. we will not back down because we believe that the religious freedom of individual catholics, students, no matter what their faith, and the need for kpre comprehensive women's health care must take priority to this catholic bishops. as a student who does not practice the laws with them, i close to enroll at catholic university because it provides a world class education, a topnotch faculty and city full of opportunities. catholic

sandra fluke testified yesterday in front of members of congress about the obama administration's policy that requires employees of religious institutions to have insurance that requires access to birth control. last week no women were allowed to testify at the government reform and oversight committee. fluke was the only witness sponsored by a handful of democrats. >> without insurance coverage, contraception as you know can cost a women over $3,000 during law school. far lot of students who like me are on public interest scholarships that's an entire summer's salary. >> the speech was met by applause from young women. republicans are pushing legislation to allow insurance plans to opt out of any mandate on contraception coverage if they have moral objections. >>> young girls being forced to have sex for money if and now one of the men is going to prison. in falls church, virginia and the budget inn on leeline highway were two of the places and they believe it also took place in cars on 7/11 on patrick henry drive. the federal jury convicted rances amaya of conspiring to commit sex traf

the hearing featured one witness sandra fluke, a law student at georgetown university who has been lobbying her school to include contraception coverage in its student health care policy. also this week, virginia gov. bob mcdonnell backed off on a bill that would have required women seeking abortions in the state to undergo extremely invasive medical procedures. and gop hopeful, rick santorum flip-flopped in the last republican debate, saying he does not support federal funding for birth control, when earlier in the week he said he did. >>> congresswoman norton, have republicans made women's issues a winning issue for democrats in november? >> bonnie, i think we'll have two. job obstruction by republicans in the congress and yes, women's rights, thanks again to the republicans. >> i think that the hysteria on this issue will try to make it a winning issue and the media complicit in keeping that going. but the gop isn't helping itself with the optics. >> i have to agree. not allowing a single woman to pacify in that hearing was a major blunder on their part. i'm sure there is a communication

georgetown university law student sandra fluke will finally get a chance to testify on capitol hill aboutsupposed to testify opposing the mandate that health insurance companies cover contraceptives. republicans would not let her speak. but today she will be the sole witness at a house hearing on women's health. >> marylanders's senate will begin debating legalizing same- sex marriage. senators could vote on a bill tomorrow. the house of delegates approved last week. governor o'malley says he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk. if it happens, it will join d.c. and several other states in legalizing same-sex marriage. >> the countdown to the oscars. work is ahead of schedule in hollywood and producers are banking on good weather for a sunday's show. >> billy crystal to is the host for the ninth time. what exactly should we expect? diana alvear has more. >> who could forget billy crystal as he opens the academy awards in 1992? or any of the other seven times the beloved comedian has hosted the oscars? get ready, because he is back. >> we are charged with tracking down a legends. >> h

. >> that was sandra fluke testifying. there was an uproar when she was blocked from speaking last week. she is in favor of the mandate. >> an alert about unclaimed money. if you have not found your 2008 tax returns, you may want to get to it. the agency says they have $1 billion in unclaimed refunds. half of those who worked more than -- half of those are worth more than $600. let's see what is coming up tonight on abc seven news at 6:00. >> gordon peterson is live with a look ahead. >> gasoline prices are going up. can the president do anything about that? we will see what he had to say about that. newt gingrich is asserting he can get it down to $2.50 a gallon. the president responded to that. these guys are getting safer we are told. your people are getting angrier on airplanes. -- fewer people are getting angrier on airplanes. >> the pollen count was higher yesterday, but today was four times higher. that comes with the warm weather. i had a lot of stuff to share with you. have you ever heard of a fire weather watch?

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

sandra fluke is a student at georgetown law school, and at a hearing held by former speaker nancy pelosisandra testified that without coverage for contraceptives, she and her class mates are going broke. trace gallagher has more live in l.a. >> reporter: and, see, i was going to go to law school, but i thought all they did was study. megyn: that is what we worried about, getting coverage of our contraceptives. >> reporter: sandra fluke, by the way, the reason she spoke here is she was not allowed -- also she's a georgetown student as well as a reproductive rights activist, and she was not allowed to speak at the republicans' hearing, o she was the only speaker at nancy pelosi's hearing. she attended georgetown for its quality education, but she also expected the school to accommodate students who do not share catholics' beliefs on birth control, and on top of that she did some research. listen. >> without insurance coverage contraception, as you know, can cost a woman over $3,000 during law school. for a lot of students who, like me, are on public interest scholarships that's practically

a lady on this program, sandra fluke. she was on the program and gave the testimony to the republicans that they would not allow. the republicans in turn are not allowing the democratic hearing and fluke's testimony to be televised. politico reports aides for democratic leader nancy pelosi say the hearing recording studio has denied a request to broadcast the event, apparently at the behest of the republican controlled committee on house administration. evangelical leaders joined the catholic bishops in opposition to the president's administration's compromise on contraception. family research council president tony perkins says more than 2500 faith-based leaders have signed a letter to president obama asking him to reverse the birth control rule. and it doesn't stop there. now, a republican lawmaker in indiana wants to kill a resolution honoring the girl scouts. why? because he believes the girl scouts are a radicalized organization that encourages homosexual life styles, promotes feminist lesbians or communists and fund

. >> that was sandra fluke denied the opportunity to testify before a house committee discussion theistration's rule mandating coverage for birth control. instead of her, the committee's chairman called predominantly male witnesses who opposed the policy. nancy pelosi railed against the all-male panel during her weekly briefing. >> imagine a panel on women's health they don't have women on the panel. duh. what is it men don't understand about women's health? i think the fact that they did not allow a woman on the panel is symbolic of the whole debate. as to who is making these decisions about women's health. i may at some point be moved to explain biology to my colleagues. >> let's turn to lizz winstead co-creator of the daily show and author of "lizz free or die" a wonderful talent, stand up comic that tours the country you have taken a more than serious approach to. this you have done a planned parenthood tour. what have you seen across the country and when did it start? >> what propelled me to do it was a year ago january when the gop took over the house, and i saw that the first

the woman who is set to testify today, sandra fluke.lic interest law student who will be testifying. she is the one who was kept from testifying. nice to have you both with us. congressman, let me begin with you. the congressman, darryl issa who was running this, he said the reason ms. fluke was not allowed to testify was that she was not, quote, appropriate or qualified because the hearing was limited to questions of religious freedom. is that accurate? >> that was absolutely ridiculous. this was a hearing that was all about women's access to contraceptives. it was also about, of course, religious freedom but, again, i don't see how you could talk about religious freedom with regard to women's contraceptives without bringing in women. and, yes, there were two panels, by the way, but all of the ten witnesses that were presented all favored mr. issa's opinion. that simply wasn't fair. we simply wanted ms. fluke to have an opportunity to talk about what the effects of policies that pushed back on women being able to have access to contrac

one student sandra fluke, he decided a georgetown student, and not appropriate. so we're going to have mostly men, two women later who, obviously, have already taken the other side. not even having a real open dialogue in a congressional hearing with the people that are directly involved, women. >> again, it's a blatant disregard for women's voices. and what we want to see, reverend is we want women's voices to be heard all across america. and i think that when they fully see what's coming out of this republican leadership, they will see that their voices are not being listened to. their priorities are not being considered and that, in fact, that there's been a complete disregard of their health and well-being. >> now one of the things that is striking to me, senator, is that when they get to the argument of contraception, or birth control, 99% of all women, 98% of catholic women have used contraception. they are talking about almost all of the women. how do you just disregard women, period? >> you are making my point perfectly, actually. yeah, i think the presid

right now the committee is hearing from georgetown student sandra fluke who was shut out from this pictureleader nancy pelosi's response to that image a couple of moments ago. >> the purpose of this meeting is one i wish didn't exist. seeing that panel before her, our colleague congresswoman maloney asking where are the women? indeed in this debate, nothing could be more critical than hearing the voices of our nation's women. >> nbc capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell joins me now. this is unusual. not a hearing. tell us what's going on here, kelly. >> yes, they're actually in recess. and with all of the outrage the democrats felt about the hearing that you showed that image from, which was an oversight committee hearing that was chaired by republican darrell issa and began as a hearing about religious freedom. that's where it started. where it ended was very different. because women and many democrats felt that there was an attempt to silence the voices of women when it comes to the issue of contraception. the republicans who held that hearing said no, no, no, it's about religious

it's one reason chairman dare issa refused democrats' request to let sandra fluke, a 24-year-old georgeiversity law student testify last week. >> the minority chose the witness we had not found to be appropriate or qualified. >> because catholic institutions denied coverage for the pill. >> without her taking the birth control, a massive cysted size of a tennis ball had grown on her ovary. she had to have surgery to remove it as a result. >> so much political theater, the room erupted with applause for fluke several times. >> democratic sources say the issue is helping rad cat critical female voters. >> to convince people the fight here has been about contraception. >> reporter: democrats spent as much time piling on darrell issa. >> can you think of any reason why he would be so adamant that your voice should not be heard? >> i think unfortunately chairman issa's head is where i don't want to go. >> reporter: issa decline to respond, but congressman jeff fortberry did. >> the -- which the original hearing does not restrict access to any legal drug or procedure in america. it simply add

organizing a democratic steering and policy event on thursday to allow center fluke to testify -- sandra flukehearing. go to our web site, c-span.org to see if cameras will be allowed and when and where our cameras will be there. let's get to phone calls. phone lines are lighting up on this issue. women issues in campaign 2012. democratic caller in ohio. go ahead. caller: good morning. but number one, i will make a prediction right now. president obama will be reelected. he is great. i love him. host: hold on for one second. we're going to try to fix the volume. i will listen, and will try to fix her volume. caller: i basically have a comment. number one, that president obama will be reelected. i want to also address the hypocrisy of santorum. four years ago there was a program 2020 with cynthia mcfadden. he was on there and he marched with doctors against medical malpractice. when they discovered later his wife had sued her chiropractor. that is hypocrisy. number 2, i have catholic friends who use birth control. i know catholics who have had abortions. i want the pope i want the bishops, and