with the party winner who might be marco rubio. >> let's explain quickly, george lemieux was charlie crist's chief of staff when charlie was governor and then he appointed lemieux to be u.s. senator and everybody in florida politics knew that lemieux was a place holder for charlie crist but now things have taken an interesting turn. >> as you point out, lemieux and crist are long-time friends. crist is sort of a meant tore to him. for lemieux not to back him is sort of a personal slight. if lemieux wants a long-term future in the republican party in florida, what he has to back marco rubio.

charlie crist is reverse. he is not nominateable but he has proven himself to be electable. >> lehrer: where do you see this politics of anger fitting into this? is that just a special case in florida that judy went through just now? or is that happening elsewhere in the country? >> well, obviously the ang ser elsewhere i would make a couple of distinctions, though. there are two big races where you've got a genuine tea party candidate running against sort of an establishment republican if you put it that way, and that's the florida senate race and the arzone lansenate race. which is not to compare rubio to hayworth. rubio is a much more impressive figure by any stretch of the imagination. nonetheless, it is worth pointing out in most states the republicans running for the senate or governor, are pretty conventional republicans and not 53 tatter at all. you look at mark kirk in illinois, who beat a tea party candidate quite easily. in california you have people like carly firina and meg whitman running, so the

late this afternoon in an interview with "associated press," governor charlie crist said he wants to listen to what the florida residents have to tell him and, "take a very, very thoughtful and deliberate making process." the national republican senatorial committee executive director urging charlie crist today and anyone who can get his ear telling him not to run as impendent but stay in the republican primary battle with marco rubio, or if he doesn't think he can win, wait another day. that is the same advice given this afternoon in tampa by former massachusetts governor mitt romney and a former candidate for president. who said that charlie crist should not run as an independent even though rubio has a commanding lead over him. >> he needs to run in the republican primary and come back and battle back. who knows? all things are possible in politics. >> reporter: governor romney endorsing marco rubio for the senate seat. and speculation that governor may run as indpindependent grew after quinnipiac poll that showed rub leading after the primary race 56% to 33%. yet, if crist drops

another problem for charlie crist, charlie crist, i think in his heart of hearts still thinks he can be elected as president. running as an independent kiboshes those dreams. >> i disagree with you, chris. if crist got elected, it's the independent senator as the state of florida -- he becomes one of the most powerful senator in the united states senate. and then suddenly, you know, all of this baggage of political opportunism is gone and he becomes the most viable third-party candidate in the country. >> it seems to me he has to answer this question, if he switches, about party identification. sooner or later, sooner rather than later, you have to say who you're going to side with when this comes to voting for leadership. from the first moment he announces as an independent. if elected, i will vote with the republicans. and therefore, there will be two republican candidates for senator, in this general election coming up in november. which does probably give a shot to a very difficult candidate, a long shot by the democrat. because he can just be the democrat, hold that base, and ho

governor charlie crist is a republican. for months he's said, no, no, no, i'm running as a republican. suddenly he says he's open to running as an independent. all that and more in a packed hour ahead. but first, a few observations. growing up in boston, patriot's day meant two things, remember lexington and concord, it was the shot heard around the world. the beginning of the revolutionary war. it is also boston marathon day. because of that, the red sox play an 11:00 a.m. day game. they lost again, but i digress. it is a day to celebrate, not be angry. but anger in america is a big theme this patriot's day. and an important one. the 15th anniversary of the oklahoma city bombing, a heinous act of domestic terrorism. rallies from coast to coast are a reminder of the deep disaskz in our country and politics. a new survey finds just 22% of americans say they trust in government in washington most of the time. just 4 in 10 americans give their president high marks. fewer than 2 in 10 think congress does a good job. yes, anger

charlie crist hand picked chairman jim greer is the one at the head of the investigation.erpent hundr marco rubio has been portrayed as the consummate outsider, candidate, golden boy. we've already heard the revelations he's spent money on his own personal gain and used a state party credit card for personal expenses. this looks like with the irs investigating and possibly having him in the cross hairs this could certainly tarnish his image as he tries to campaign for the republican nomination. >> of course, the deadline is april 30th for charlie crist to decide what he's going to do. every indication is that he's not going to end up running against rubio because he's so far outdistanced. this was what happened when eric cantor on morning joe today was asked about his decision to support marco rubio ahead of charlie crist. >> when you look at what happened last week with his veto of the education bill, i think that strikes the core of really what our party is about, trying to put kids first and straighten out the schools. >> so you couldn't support charlie under these circ

they believe if rubio survives, charlie crist has a great shot of being elected as an independent. >> you know, when crist goes and goes independence, he loses his support. chuck todd thinks if charlie crist is elected he has to take his support from meeks. in other words, rubio will have a conservative republican/base which is solid at a certain level. >> he's going to take a lot of democratic support. >> that's where he'll have to get it. >> and charlie crist is very popular in the south florida jewish community. he's going to take a lot of that support with him if he goes independent. >> that comes from -- >> and you think he can do it? >> that comes from meeks. i definitely think in a state like florida that charlie crist can go independent and win because he's running against -- meeks, who hasn't excited a lot of people, even in the democratic base, and marco rubio, who has every newspaper in the state of florida finding out something new about his past every day, and so even if rubio is cleared of all charges by the end, it's going to be a messy, messy fall for him. >>> new anal

i can tell that you i do know charlie crist is going to do what is in the best interest of charlie cristis running as an independent and staying alive to november that is what he will do. >> how does that affect you i want to show a recent quinnipiac poll. it shows in a three-way matchup a hurricane the democrat, kendrick meek runs third, 324%, rubio, 30%. governor crist, actually in the polls right now leads in that race if he runs as an independent. do you feel like the odd machine out in a sense if charlie crist, the moderate republican drops out maybe bring republican votes with him but maybe even tap into your base? >> i think a lot of democratic voters going to get to know me more, a of independent voters, even some republican voters, i think a lot of people are turned off about discourse going on in the primary. the governor makes a decision he is going to run as an independent, automatically i become a factor in this race. there will no longer be debates with just the two of them, i will be invited as another major candidate in the race. to say it will just be a two-way battle it

rubio has become such a rock star, charlie crist told friends and family he may skip the g.o.p. primary and run as independent. the deadline for his decision is next friday. cheney used a written endorsements of rubio to slam charlie crist saying -- >> reporter: crist donors began coordinated effort to say if he drops out of g.o.p. they want mare money back. he did not have a state party credit card and he could be investigated in the probe of finances and he dissed cheney sut por of rubio -- support of rubio. >> sounds like politician trying to tell voter what is to do. >> reporter: they predict charlie crist's only political hope is outside the g.o.p. >> i don't see him being a credible candidate again in the republican party. so his one shot of staying in politics is getting elected to the senate as an independent. >> reporter: charlie crist insiders, staffers, donors are overwhelmingly convinced he plans to run as independent but for many republicans it will amount to a deal-breaker. should the governor boat the g.o.p., most of the talented political people will stay behind.

charlie crist may lead the bid in the party. next in the "politico playbook." >>> plus, lost and found. the next-generation iphone that the public wasn't supposed to see accidentally left in a very public place. now apple's scrambling to get it back. >>> but first, bill karins with your green is universal forecast. bill? >> that's great. >> good morning, everyone. beautiful tuesday out there. behind me, a shot of the hudson river, george washington bridge. and nice shot out there. as far as the forecast goes, cool, crisp start to your day. beautiful afternoon. 70 in new york. 69 in washington, d.c. 65 in pittsburgh. as far as the forecast goes, the southeast is going to see wet weather. the west coast, anyone flying to l.a., san francisco or seattle, possible airport delays. those showers are arriving in atlanta. we just heard that the space shuttle "discovery" this 7:34 launch has been scrubbed. the next turn will be around 9:00. showers off the coast the culprit for canceling. if it doesn't get the next opportunity, it will ha

still no word on whether charlie crist will stay in the primary or run as an ind pend. rubio stepped into this controversy we're talking about arizona's immigration law. >> the law has a potential unintended consequences. it's one of the reasons why i think immigration needs to be a federal issue, not a state one.

the republican column against governor charlie crist. and they basically want to know whether or not he used or personally benefited from this credit card usage? and he's not the only one in the cross hairs. >> okay. >> there are others, too. and that's where it stands. we're talking about millions of dollars here. >> well, let me go right down to beth, in terms of the impact statement here. politically, does this in any way, shake rubio's position as the clear front-runner in that primary fight? >> i think it shakes a little bit, but to his credit, he's really established himself. he's so far ahead of the governor right now. and the governor's credibility with voters is really strained at this point. they don't necessarily trust him the way they used to and so when he attacks rubio on his credit card spending, these voters that i've talked to don't look at it the same way. >> are they going to blame -- will the conservative voters on the side of the republican party, are they going to blame

and here's charlie crist responding to the news. let's listen. >> are you upset that you didn't get dick cheney's endorsement? >> no. do i look upset? >> do you think it helps in your campaign not, that rubio has that endorsement? >> you know, just another washington politician telling florida what to do. i don't think floridians appreciate it. it doesn't matter. >> jon holman, he's not even worth stopping for, governor crist just keeps walking. i do find that cheney has this new role in life. i imagine when he's not endorsing candidates. having salons with all of these neocons around him and he's got a big sifter of cognac. and he's talking, as they're talking about how the government is being given away by these people. >> don't forget the cigars. >> can't you imagine that scene, like something out of "remains of the day." >> it's a little troubling to imagine a troll drinking cognac. >> mixed metaphor. >> charlie crist has put his finger on the problem for cheney. which is that although he's beloved in certain circles in the repu

it's tougher for charlie crist because he's been a very successful politician. he was elected statewide education chief, he's elected attorney general, elected governor. so it's hard to say i'm an outsider, coming from that. but he is a proven quantity. >> he spent his entire adult life. >> he has. but even more than his adult life. he was elected to school board when he was still in high school. i mean so charlie was-- showed early form an has lived up to it. and but he has had a record as attorney general in particular. and i think you say as governor, that is, that has borrowed from column a and column b. he hasn't been rigid. i think it is going to be tough. conot stay in the republican primary, judy, he is going to stay there for four months and it had become a religious ritual for national republicans to come to florida to beat up on charlie crist, to prove their conservative credentials by embracing marco rubo who most couldn't pick out of a police line-up six months ago. they are going to show how enough tough they were. he would have been a pinata for t

good news of news that they hope will suppress that story, but the thing is a week from tomorrow charlie crist has to make a decision about running as an independent. he has been having conversations with friends and family about this possibility. the clock is ticking, and crist donors across florida are essentially saying to him, charlie, don't leave the party, if you do, we want our money back. martha: whoa. >> all this comes as the state party tomorrow is expected to dump a lot of the documents about its spending, and then the chips will fall where they may. martha: whoa, a dramatic story playing out in florida. thank you for bringing us the very latest and as you say, april 30th is the date by which charie crist has to decide whether he will take an independent crack at it. carl, as always, thank you very much, very important news today. bill: in the meantime the white house playing down reports that president obama is considering a national sales tax, known as a v.a.t., value-added tax. take that, we say. it's widely used in europe to keep deficits down but critics say it will overburden

i know charlie crist very well. i live close to the florida line, follow florida politics. i encourage governor crist to run for the senate when senator martinez decided he was not going to run again. he's involve in a very heated primary with a very good man in marco rubio. and, you know, you jump on one side or the other occasionally in these races, that's obviously what has happened. it's stepped up the rhetoric a little bit. >> what do you expect the governor to do? do you think you'll run as an independent? >> i don't know. it's an interesting question. i have not talked to governor crist in a month. the last time i talked to him, i brought the issue up. he told me then that he intended to pursue the republican primary. >> doesn't look like it now does it? >> a lot of conversation about it, certainly. >> senator menendez, i want to play for you -- the president was out in california helping raise money for senator boxer's campaign this year. and he said something that caught my ear. i want to play it for you. >> these mid year races are the ones where historically it's

>> where crivet is -- charlie crist is, he has two options. he will drop out of the republican race. why? he's getting pounded. he's down 20. he will either become an independent or drop altogether and run another day. gwen: we'll be watching florida and all of those other hot races. it's going to play so far outside of washington and the debates are just beginning. we'll be following every bit of it. you can follow us, too. our blogs, our stories, our tweets, especially john's, and send your thoughts to our website. just log on to pbs.org/"washington week." as always, keep up with daily developments on the pbs newshour and then join us again next week on "washington week." good night. the conversation continues online. see more from our panel about the week's top stories and we answer your questions. it's the webcast extra found only on washingtonweek online at pbs.org. >> corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by --

. >>> let me ask you about florida governor charlie crist.started out with a huge lead in his race for the senate and is now trailing by something like 30 points. there is chatter that he drop out and run as an independent. he hasn't flatly denied that. what's the latest this sunday morning? >> the governor has just tanked. he has tanked. marco rubio, who is a tea-party backed candidate, more conservative than kris. kris is just getting his head handed to him and he has signed a bill very unpopular with republicans in florida. >> he voe toed a bill. >> you're right, he sovetoed a bill. now we're seeing two people on the talk shows, mitch mcconnell and john mccain, both of whom are crist backers and you can hear them beginning to back off. take a listen. >> it looks like marco rubio is running a very effective campaign and seems to have the lead. i'm going to be there behind the republican romney, whoever that is. >> he would lose all republican support if he would run as an independent. >> i hope charlie crist will remain a republican. >> it'

time whackings other guy, jim greer, who is charlie crist's guy. can he push in guilt over to crist, not only does crist get hit for dropping the dime on him but it looks like he's tainting himself in the act. >> well, you know, the -- marco rubio's credit card statements, you know we obtained them back in february and we've been writing about his spending through the credit card and also through some political committees he set up. you know for several months and the governor of course seized on that immediately and was running you know attack ads on television. they didn't appear to work. they -- you know he remained as far behind in the polls, if not got a little farther behind. and the governor took down the television ads. so as i was saying before you know the timing is not in the governor's favor, in that he -- his credibility is strained. and rubio has this reservoir of goodwill with, as you say, the tea party crowd. >> okay. well, thank you very much. we'll be watching this whether or not he changes or not. beth, thank you for the investig

senate candidate charlie crist. republican primary opponent mark rubio has a big advantage in the polls and in endorsements from top republicans, and crist now acknowledges that he may try to salvage his candidacy by running as an independent. >> i can tell you i'm getting a lot of advice in that direction. and so i'm a listener. so i'm certainly listening to it. >> pretty much like a yes. our senior political analyst gloria borger joins us. marco rubio has really gained a lot of steam. what are republicaning telling, asking, pushing crist to do? >> very simply, get out, endorse marco rubio, and please end this embarrassment for us. you know? i was talking to a lot of republicans today, candy, it is hard to find one of them who says, oh, yeah, yeah have him run as an independent. we think that would be very good for the party. in fact, our political editor obtained a memo that was written by a top staffer at the senate campaign committee to republican strategists. and it said that crist needs to do the right thing an

we are glad charlie crist left the republican party. he really was a liberal and brooks brothers clothing so i don't think he has a chance. they say he is a closet homosexual who got married to hide his sexual preference. we are really glad to be rid of him. host: next is a call from houston, texas, patti, democrat line. caller: good morning, how are you? host: thank you. talking about definition of a tomorrow country, whether or not you think we are one and we should be. caller: president clinton is very, very intelligent. like florida and all of them, i think they forgot how bad it was when president clinton took over in the only thing he did, he straightened up all of that when he was in there because it was so terrible and i lived through that and i had children that was in school and everything else and when reagan and the other bush came in it was so terrible and in eight years he turned it around so very -- and then eight years when bush was in there it just went down the tubes so this gentleman is very, very intelligent and if h

challenger, will win, and that is just stunning, because only months ago, it was inevitable that charlie crist, the governor, would win that primary, and right now, there is little chance that he could. he is trying to figure out right now whether or not he could win and whether or not it would cost him or the republicans that seat if he challenged. he wants to know if he runs as a third-party candidate he could get enough support to make it worthwhile. her otherwise, there is just a good chance that he would drop out of the primary and drop out of the race. >> all right, thanks again. >>> goldman sachs executives will be testifying in washington. a civil fraud lawsuit is launched against them for deliberately misleading investors. their ceo will be discussing their role in the subprime mortgage crisis and is likely to be asked about other issues, as well. >>> the lehman brothers bankruptcy trial is set to start tomorrow. their collapse in 2008 was the largest corporate bankruptcy in history, helping to trigger the global recession. investigators claimed their executives use gimmicks to manipu

walmart. >>> charlie crist is telling voters that his veto has nothing to do with politics.e is already a lot of fallout from that decision. fallout on his senate campaign. alex burns joins us from washington. what was the rationale for crist doing this and what does it tell us about whether or not he's going to leave the republican party? >> he said when he was deliberating on what to do with this bill, which has been a high priority, chris said that he has gone to the people of florida, listened to folks in school involved in education, the mail he gets, and that the great majority have said they wanted him to veto this bill and start over. as you mention though, it is impossible to separate this from the politics. crist is down by as many as 30 points in the republican primary and this looks like a last straw. he's lost a couple of endorsers and he hasn't said he'll run as an independent just yet, but it looks harder than ever for him to win like this. >> the chairman of his campaign is the former senator, who is a major figure in the republican politics. not to say relat

so far, charlie crist publicly discouraged talk he might take that optiooption. >>> this is a fox newsrt. the justice department says tonight it is reviewing a federal judge's ruling that the national day of prayer is unconstitutional. district court judge barbara crab agreed today with the argument by the freedom from religion foundation, wisconsin-based group of atheists and agnostics. the organization claims the day violates the separation of church and state. the national day of prayer was established by congress in 1952. we'll keep an eye on the story. tea partiers who have suffered through media smackdowns are getting the last laugh. that's later in the grapevine. we will tell you why this could effect your upcoming overseas flight. and president obama tries to convince americans that the space program is not going up in smoke. rc >> bret: the senate passed a bill to restore unemployment benefits if for people out of work for a couple of months. james rosen is following this story as well as disappointing jobs numbers and joins me live. >> good evening. the number of americans fi

that is the marker were below- charlie crist battle. -- mariko rubio-charlie crist battle. sherrod brown is quoted as campaign manager in 2006, saying, and you will need an enormous amount of money to be heard among the screaming. fund-raisers say they will not say whether they will stick with the governor. would you talk about money and independent candidates? guest: money is extremely important. joe lieberman was able to win as an independent, but he was elected incumbent senator. he lost his democratic primary -- did he lose it? i think he lost it and chose to run as an independent. i think he had the name recognition and also have the ability to raise money. charlie crist has the ability to raise money. whether he has the ability to raise it on par with democrats and republicans is going to be difficult. it is absolutely true that money is still important. it depends on the independent candidate in question in each case, whether that person has the name identification and the appeal to get the number of contributions. and that would normally be a number of small contrib

it appears charlie crist will drop out of the race. i hope he doesn't run as an independent. >> all right. let me ask you a couple more of the races. there is a fascinating race in california. chuck devore, who i believe is your favorite candidate, is running against carly fiorina and tom campbell. all three candidates are neck in neck with barbara boxer, but you're picking devore. >> chuck is battle tested in california as a state assemblyman. he's fought the spending that's going on in colorado. we know he's going to stand for a constitutional limited government here in the senate. i think carly is a great candidate but i would love to see someone like chuck who is really focused on constitution and limited government, getting us out of this debt. he's a great candidate. california is a big state. whether or not i can help out there, i'm not sure. but i hope the republicans in california will take a close look at chuck devore. >> in kentucky, the republican establishment has essentially backed trey grayson, currently the secretary of

the campaign manager for florida governor charlie crist reaffirmed today charlie crist will run in thelican senate primary and not independent. he's trailing former house speaker marco rubio in the polls. wednesday the governor gave a vague answer when asked about an independent run. the latest fox news opinion dynamics poll indicates the economy may be the deciding factor. may still be the deciding factor in whether republicans regain control in congress. 49% of those surveyed say that is their number one issue, healthcare was a distant second. 38% said they are less likely to vote for a candidate who supported the healthcare reform law. and 54% still oppose the new law. only 39% are in favor of it. the census bureau says some of the most conservative states in the nation have some of the lowest response rates so far to this year's head count. correspondent shannon bream reports that has republicans worried. >> reporter: from karl rove -- >> please answer the ten easy questions. >> reporter: -- to capitol hill, republicans are urging conservatives who feel increasingly out of touch wi

all the expenses were done for the party, but it's turned into a headache for him at a time when charlie cristeen getting most of the attention in this race. it does raise the question that rubio could potentially be vulnerable in a general election. he certainly is the star among conservatives. but if crist makes that independent bid, you have rubio and the democrat kendrick meek, it's anyone's games. >> "the miami herald," sentinel reporting rubio serving as house speaker used his party issued credit card for grocery bills, repairs to his family's minivan. could this -- i know you talked a little about it. what are the worst case scenario implications for him? >> reporter: it's a potentially damaging story. it's a story his campaign has had to deal with over the past month. it's never good to have the name federal investigation around you. you can see tv ads made about this. look, the news certainly isn't good for him and how he's able to answer and respond to that can give us a good taste of just how strong of a candidate he would be in a general election in a competitive respect. >> mark m

florida governor charlie crist announced he's leaving the republican party to run for the senate as an independent. the "newshour" is always online. hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, previews what's there. hari? >> sreenivasan: there's more on florida governor crist's party switch. we asked two experts for views on what it means for politics in the sunshine state. find an update on health care-- npr's julie rovner explains why the insurance industry decided to stop discriminating against patients with pre-existing conditions. on "art beat," jeff talks to the young winner of the "poetry out loud" competition. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. judy? >> brown: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you on-line and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks, among others. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> what the world needs now is energy. the energy to get the economy humming again. the energy to tackle challenges like climate cha

>> i won't offer public advice to charlie crist.very campaign, every individual is a different situation. but i'll say this. when i lost the democratic primary for re-election in 2006 in connecticut, it was the most painful moment, most disappointing moment of my political career. and yet as i look back to it, it sure didn't feel like that then, i felt like i was done a favor. because if i wanted to continue to serve and i didn't want to give up as a result of the rejection of the democratic party, i had to go forward and run as an independent. and my state laws fortunately allowed me to do that. that's not the case in florida. being elected as an independent, god bless the people of connecticut. i think put me in exactly the position i want to be in in this hyperpartisan, nonproductive, divisive time in our politics. it give meese the latitude to try to be a bridge on a lot of different issues to make things happen or sometimes not to be a bridge, just to speak out, say what i believe whit makes somebody in one or another party hap

>> there is speculation, charlie crist, are you considering running as an independent. >> i will not,ican and will win the republican primary and the truth will be told. martha: that was part of an interview with charlie crist when we spoke in march and now, more speculation coming out over the weekend he may leave the republican party before the end of the month. and denied it flat-out, when i spoke with him, a while ago, as you saw there and a recent poll, this is why he might be considering it, a recent poll shows that he could win, this very hot race in florida for the u.s. senate if he ran as an independent. but, his odds of winning the republican nomination are very long indeed and his primary opponent, marco rubio has the backing of a lot of folks including the tea party and he has opened up a huge lead over crist for the republican nomination, and, in the next hour, rubio is scheduled to get another big endorsement, today. this one, is going to come from former massachusetts governor mitt romney. and that is another person who is supporting rubio, over crist from the republica

charlie crist is -- was renowned as sort of a very aggressive successful fundraiser. it's surprising that marco rubio is drawing on his tea party superstar appeal has managed to raise a lot of money from largely out of state to really outraise charlie crist. however charlie crist runs as an independent it could open up some new fundraising avenues for him. could give rubio a run for his money certainly from the electoral side would be seen is a siphoning off votes from rubirubio >> host: i know you've written about the tea party. what are you seeing as far as are they raising money, organized effort to raise money? are tea party people giving money to candidates? >> guest: well, they certainly are giving. and, you know, some of the tea party groups that have emerged that do have some semblance of an organizational structure, which is somewhat rare in the tea party. this is a very grassroots movement. and one that has not taken kindly to what they see as efforts to kind of co-op or use them to raise money. capitalize on their energy. however, there have been a few grou

charlie crist in florida is being challenged by the status. the speaker of the house and they are very conservative and he was challenged to come out for repeal and 15 seconds later he cannot for repeal and he probably got a tweet. i would like to put one counter argument. on some issues recent jobs bills for example there was crossing of the all and i do think that privately at least i would be interested to see if we get public manifestation but privately there are a fair number of republican senators who have to be questioning this absolute no. now with a that manifests itself in any systematic behaviour i don't know my guess is there are some people who democrat and republican who would on a given issue try to bring something up and work together. but that is by far the exception rather than the rule. >> and if the -- again will depend on the outcome of the midterm elections and if republicans do well on the midterm elections, you know, then that is way to reinforce the strategy and the conclusion they are going to reach is this is working

aides for charlie crist deny the florida governor will bolt from the party.v toasting their nuclear arms treaty. "miami herald" a controversial bill expected to make its way to governor crist's desk would tie teacher pay to student progress. >> the "los angeles times." thefation's retailers had a blow out month in march as shoppers went on a spending spree. the best monthly showing in at least a decade and the 1%, you're wearing it. >> i'm doing my part. all for the economy, barnicle. also in the "los angeles times," in kir zik zig stan, the president is now in hiding after a violent uprising there. the front page photo shows members of the opposition posing for photos in the president's cabinet room, they look like they're having a swell time. >> eating all his food, drinking all his drinks. speaking of drinks, here with us now is patrick norris here with this morning's playbook. good morning. mike allen sat down with richard trumka who gave details on this big march on wall street slated for later this month. i think we have a sound bite of what he said and

"the miami herald" reports on the situation of governor charlie crist. the right he is facing a brutal republican primary for a full blown party mutiny if he runs as an independent. that us go to jeff reinhardt who joins us on the phone. tell us what is happening to governor chris. it is a crunch time? guest: like he has never faced before. he has until a week from friday to decide if he is going to run as he is not as a republican in this primary and face these overwhelming odds against the come-from-behind favorite, former speaker of the florida house, marco rubio. will recreate total of people and run as an independent even though he was a lifelong republican and alienate just about everybody who supported him. or, as we said in the story, will the action the drop out. host: it sounds like this week he hedged a little bit on talking about whether he may run as an independent. prior to this he said he would stay in the republican party -- primary. guest: he has said it exactly four weeks and, yes, this week for the first time he says he was considering

and arizona governor charlie crist will run for the u.s.gy and today's political climate. he will take your call, email, and tweets, three hours, live on c-span2. >> the people who are coming to us in the housing market wanted to have a security that give them exposure to the housing market, and that is what they got. >> the senate hearing with goldman sachs executives went nearly 11 hours. see the key moments, every moment. washington your way at the c- span video library. it every program since 1987, free online. >> today, at a white house event honoring teachers, president obama took a moment to comment about the oil spill in the gulf of mexico. here is what he had to say. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states, accompanied by secretary arne duncan and the 2010 national teacher of the year, sarah brown. [applause] >> good afternoon, everybody. everybody please have a seat. welcome to the white house, welco

we read about charlie crist and the impact on the florida senate race. a democrat from brooklyn, new york. good morning. caller: good morning. it has become a habit to wake up and hear the conversation focused on the tea partiers movement. either you have nothing else to talk about -- i don't know if fox cable networks as influence in your studio. host: let me stop you. this program is a reflection of what people are talking about in the morning papers. they are talking about the tea party. we are asking whether you or not you think this will have an impact on the 2010 elections. we'll be talking about international adoption, and a number of different topics. no one is influencing this except you as a viewer. caller: that's fine. i am one of those viewers. i watch you every day. i am a c-span junkie. can i make my point? the tea party people that ever right to do what they're doing. -- every right to do what they are doing. it is up to me to decide if what they say has a value to me. my real point, an hour of calls coming in, if you count the percentages

and it goes without saying that both of these men grew to loathe charlie crist, because charlie was not government conservative they thought he was. and there are a lot of people like that across the state of florida right now. >> and across the country, a lot of political races some might say put the democrats in jeopardy. here with us now to talk about that, national political correspondent for "the new york times," jeff zeleny who mapped out the trouble for democrats in the midterm elections. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> 1994 there were a lot of big people, jack brooks lost his seat back in '94, also a lot of other giants lost their seats, tom foley, then speaker of the house. you say there are three chairman right now, powerful chairman, that are fighting for their political lives in 2010. >> yeah, there's no question. if rebs are going to win back the house, they need to do more than just knock off these obama members of congress we like to call, the people who were elected in 2008 because president obama was on the pal lot. they need to go farther in, farther deeper in. ch

. >> sean: charlie crist told you twice, that he was -- shook your hand and said you have my endorsement right. >> sean: it is going to be on a certain date. >> correct. >> sean: he lied to you? >> that's right. he broke his word, which to me in politics is worth everything. i dealt with people in politics for years as the mayor and had to get bills through and things through. you gave your word you had to stick with it, even if it hurt. but that the reason i'm endorsing marco. i'd stay out of the race if it were charlie and maybe somebody else and they weren't very different. there's a big different here. we can rely on rubio to be there when we're gonna have to fight cap and trade. charlie, as far as i can tell is in favor of can trade. he embraced the stimulus. you should have been able to filling out early the stimulus was a payoff to democratic constituencies. it had nothing to do with creating jobs. when you look at phony statistics about the jobs that were preserved. look at how many government jobs allegedly were preserved. >> sean: they are all government jobs. >> the same as th

. >>> florida governor charlie crist is planning to run for the u.s.enate. >>> and toyota is recalling thousands of suvs to update stability software after concerns it could roll over in sharp turns. now back to "mcveigh tapes." >>> it's just 24 hours after the bombing of the murrah building, and timothy mcveigh is sitting quietly in a perry, oklahoma, jail cell. he's not being held in connection with the vicious act that killed 168 people just the day before, but rather for misdemeanor charges. an international manhunt is issued for two affects, john doe number 1, and john doe number 2. several witnesses claim to have seen a second man in the ryder truck prior to the bombing. as this is happens, mcveigh is biding his time, waiting to see how long it will take for authorities to figure out who he really is. >> while mcveigh's in prison in this little relative ocean of solitude, you know, just waiting for something to happen, the rest of the country is just uptight, in knots, wondering, is there going to be another attack? people are wondering, is this

. >> it is amazing it -- it sounds like the wheels may be coming off the charlie crist for senate campaigne of his major backers tonight, i just this e-mail, just resigned from the campaign. it doesn't look good. there's a lot of talk that he may leave the republican party and become an independent. i don't know in that is try or not. a lot of republicans think that is a possbility. they are warning him don't do that we will run against you if you do. >> greta: interesting sort of the hero to the' tea party movement is government -- governor sarah palin. she was on the video, call me. sort of an endorsement. michelle bachmann also a hero >> terrific speaker. i don't know michelle bachmann. i've met her. i hadn't seen her speak before a crowd like that before tonight. i was impressed. i was talking to someone, who is that? it was mish shill bachmann. she good. i can see why she is literally despised by the activist left, she truly is. she is pretty effective, i thought. >> greta: this target list what is the risk to the republican party? tea party movement people are not going to vote for r