Morning After Pill for All; Obama Apologizes to Attorney General
BALDWIN: Now to that major ruling making the morning after pill available to anyone. Just a short time ago, a federal judge in New York ordered the FDA to make the pill available over the counter to girls of all ages within one month. Advocates who filed the lawsuit, they've been wanting this for a while now, but the Obama administration has been fighting back. It had required girls younger than the age of 17 to get a prescription for the pill, but it has lost the battle, at least for now. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining me. Obviously this has huge implications. But first, remind us what the morning after pill does.</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the morning after pill has to be taken within three days, preferably within one day, of having unprotected intercourse. And mainly what it does is it keeps the ovary from releasing an egg so that the woman doesn't get pregnant.</s>BALDWIN: Why was this overturned?</s>COHEN: The judge said, look, the FDA has been charged with looking at whether a drug is safe and effective. This drug is safe and effective and he said it's just as safe and effective for girls under 17 as for women and girls over 17. You can't make the argument that it's somehow less safe for girls under 17. Now, the Obama administration had -- they didn't really argue with him really. What they did say was, we're worried that girls under 17 won't be able to read the instructions properly. And he said, look, that's not part of the legal standard. We put aspirin over the counter. We don't worry that some 11-year-old is going to buy it and, you know, get himself sick by taking too much aspirin. That's not part of the standard. If it's safe and effective for girls of any age, it needs to be available to girls of any age over the counter.</s>BALDWIN: So, again, just to be crystal clear, and I want you to answer the when, as far as when it's implemented, but so a young girl can go to the pharmacy, doesn't -- they don't have to get a prescription, and they can ask for it and within one month they get it? Just like that.</s>COHEN: No, it's supposed to be put on -- it's supposed to be available over the counter within one month. In other words, this new rule basically is supposed to be enacted within one month.</s>BALDWIN: Got it.</s>COHEN: She is supposed to be able to go in there, take it off the shelf, put it on the counter, pay for it, and that's it. She's not supposed to have a prescription. So you can imagine the prescription is a huge road block --</s>BALDWIN: Wow.</s>COHEN: Because you're supposed to really take it within the first day. So to go get a prescription within one day of having unprotected intercourse, that's tough to do. I mean that's not easy for any of us.</s>BALDWIN: So then when is this implemented?</s>COHEN: It's supposed to be implemented within the next month. But if the Obama administration appeals it or asks for a stay, then that would -- that would --</s>BALDWIN: Change everything.</s>COHEN: Change everything. Right. Who knows when it would happen in that case.</s>BALDWIN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.</s>COHEN: Thanks.</s>BALDWIN: We are going to push forward on this conversation. Next hour, we'll take a look at the legal ramifications of this new ruling from the federal judge in New York. Want to get you now to a story we'll talk about it a little later in the show. There is an attorney general in California, this is who President Obama went out to go meet, have a dinner last night, try to raise a little money for the Democratic Party. Her name is Kamala Harris. Let me get this precisely for you because there are all kinds of buzz on line about over what the president said when he was talking to Kamala. Quote this is the president talking. "She's brilliant and dedicated. She's tough, she also happens to be by far the best looking attorney general." A lot of questions today over that comment. Was it merely an innocuous compliment? Was it misogynistic in nature? So Jay Carney, White House spokesperson asked about this, moments ago in the White House daily briefing. Here is his response.</s>JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president did speak with Attorney General Harris last night after he came back from his trip and he called her to apologize for the distraction created by his comments. And they are old friends and good friends. And he did not want in any way to diminish the attorney general's professional accomplishments and her capabilities. And I would note that he called her in those same comments brilliant, dedicated and tough. And she is all those things. She has been a remarkably effective leader as attorney general. She is a key player in the mortgage settlement, which will help many, many middle class families who are struggling to deal with the mortgage situation in this country. And, you know, he believes and fully recognizes that the challenges women -- he fully recognizes the challenge women continue to face in the workplace and that they should not be judged based on appearance.</s>BALDWIN: So there you heard it from Jay Carney himself. The president of the United States picked up the phone and apologized to the attorney general of California for those comments he made. We're going to talk a little bit about that with two people who believe, yes, it was a compliment and harmless, and some say it was absolutely superficial and sexist. So we'll go there next hour. But coming up, we have to get to the Rutgers story here. We showed you just about an hour ago the athletic director has now resigned. Of course, this is in the wake of the video that's come out, the pushing, the homophobic slurs. We know that Head Coach Mike Rice, his assistant coach, as well, gone. We have now heard from the president of Rutgers University giving a news conference in New Jersey. We had a correspondent in the room. We're going to hear from her on what he said and what's next for the university coming up.