kay bailey hutchison looked very strong going into this race down in 31%. debra medina, to the right of both of the gentlemen. i want to go to the home state guy, wayne. what do you make of this race? tell us in terms of which way this country is going? >> the tea party movement, this anti-washington sentiment, so strong. i was in suburban dallas a couple of days ago with congressman mike burgess, conservative republican, and he said if he wasn't the representative from that district, he would probably be leading the charge against the representative from that district. so this is really tough stuff. rick perry has taken the anti-washington fervor, has tried to seize on the tea party movement and has framed the race against kay bailey hutchison in a very successful way. and he could go without a runoff win tomorrow without a runoff. >> so his statement months ago, we've mocked on this show, about secession, really implying secession from washington, not from the country, i assume was crazy like a fox. >> was crazy like a fox. let me tell you, on that single

the kay bailey hutchison campaign seemed a little bit off note from day one. i think that she chose issues that were no longer very high on the issue agenda. she -- her first real barrage of ads was about the transportation issue, which was big a couple of years ago. it was kind of a settled issue in a lot of people's minds. and i think in doing that, she suddenly reinforced perry's framing of her as not really in touch with what was going on in texas, and more of washington, d.c.. >> ifill: now, how does this texas versus the world sentiment play out in a fall election where the democratic nominee will be the mayor of houston, bill white? >> well, i think what you're going to see is the mayor-- and you already saw it in your segment-- try to turn the tables on perry a little bit and make it not so much texas versus the world as to reassert this notion that the problem is incumbents , people that have gotten settled into government. now,, you know, white's got a big hill to climb. on the one hand, he is probably the best democratic gubernatorial candidate for

there already have been p prebituaryes written for kay bailey hutchison. why did she run for governor? >> she's always wanted to be governor. >> but did she make a case? >> the question is the kind of campaign she ran. she made a fundamental mistake at the beginning. that was dithering over whether she was going to resign or not, her senate seat. first she was going troe sign in july, then in october, then if december, now maybe after the election. texas likes strong, decisive leaders, who take positions. also, this opened it up for perry to go after her on continuing to be a washington insider. if she had resigned her seat, she could have said, look, i'm back here in texas, i really care about texas, i don't care about what goes on in in washington and she played right into perry's campaign. perry has ran a very smart, tough campaign. the voters in the republican primary are overwhelmingly conservative. he's moved hard right and she's got real problems. >> what's the larger lesson here? it seems to me that all incumbency is not created equal, because obvi

co-sponored by susan davis and ileana ros- lehtinen in the house, and barbara mikulski and kay bailey hutchisonin the senate. >> the greatest generation that saved democracy and western civilization was not limited to one gender. you gave all you could to save the u.s.a. and world at war. today, congress will give you today, we right a wrong and >> reporter: of 1,102 trailblazing women who served as wasps during world war two, fewer than 300 are still alive today. and for those present this morning at the ceremony in the u.s. capitol's emancipation hall, the honor was well worth the wait. 87-year-old shirley kruse of pompano beach, florida was stationed at bainbridge, georgia during the war. >> i think it was the tribute to what we have done. and i think when we were serving as wasps, we were never in there for the glory. we were never, ever thinking that it would turn out to be as wonderful as this. to receive such an honor is just unimaginable. so for me, it's been one of the highlights of my life. >> reporter: 92-year-old dawn seymour of rochester, new york was one of a small number of wasps

i am very proud to have co- sponsored this bill with my dear friend, senator kay bailey hutchison. partisanship -- it is about citizenship. it is not about red states or blue states -- we have to start being the red, white, and blue -- the united states of america. [applause] you flew those military aircraft. you flew every type of assignment except for combat. you also flute in the face of gender bigotry and even the gender hostility. it true to your calling, you defended america and became trailblazers and true patriots. you flew over 60 million miles, 12,000 planes, 122 american bases. it is not about numbers -- of 14 women came from maryland. -- it is not about numbers. 14 women came from maryland. even now, we sometimes do not get it right. we know that you, like you're male counterparts, came in on the wings and a prayer. 38 of you came home in pine boxes -- your families had to pay for that yourselves. to scrape together your own boss there's -- you scraped together your own bus fares. you held your own. because of your dollavalor, womn are serving in the military -- astrona

first up, republican senator kay bailey hutchison is not leaving washington, d.c.ust yet. >> i wouldn't have anticipated the direction and the swiftness of the direction of our country under any circumstances, but it has caused me to look at my resignation in a different way. >> hutchison says the obama administration has taken the country so far in the wrong direction that she felt obligated to keep fighting here in d.c. hutchison lost the texas gubernatorial primary earlier this month. earlier she said she would resign her senate seat. >>> new eruptions are blasting into the sky today in iceland. the volcano was dormant for 200 years before erupting ten days ago. scientists say while the ongoing eruption isn't a threat to nearby residents it could set off a much larger and more dangerous eruption. >>> one manufactured breast implant is now off the market following a recall order in france. french health investigators discovered the company polyimplant was using nonauthorized silicon gel and the implants reportedly have a high rupture rate. >>> look out the window

rick perry is facing off against kay bailey hutchison, the senator returning to her race to run.he get 50% of the vote. if he does, he avoids a runoff on april 13th. there's a third candidate, debra medina, benefiting between the back and forth between perry and hutchison is nasty. she's in mid double digits. the higher she gets, the more chance of a runoff. >> she has tea party support, perry hoping to avoid the runoff, perry hoping to put it into play. read more from chris on his blog. that does it for this addition of "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow on the show, "time" magazine contributor yo klein, tamron hall takes over. a live report out of chile where rescuers are finding signs of life days after the devastating earthquake. you're watching msnbc. and with 7,000 boomers a day reaching retirement age, the need for help has never been greater. a merrill lynch financial advisor can help you plan, invest, and manage your assets, which could make your second act better than your first. merrill lynch wealth management. that keep you cool and dry have now inspired stayfree® to

that was an attack ad against kay bailey hutchison.oing better had she pulled the trigger on her devastating ad which of course is set to gimme gimme gimme. until then you can e-mail us rachel at msnbc.com. "hardball" is next. good night. >>> 216 votes. that's what it's all about. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight. reality bites. democratic leaders are charging ahead on health care reform and what does speaker pelosi say to house democrats who could lose their seats in november if they vote for it?

host: what's next for kay bailey hutchison? guest: she did not give a clear answer about when or whether she would resign her senate seat. her term runs until 2012. so, presumably, if she wants to, she would just go back to washington and continue serving as the state's senior senator. host: thank you for being with us this morning. let us get back to our question for you. the president proposed incorporating four republican health-care ideas into the legislation before congress. what do you make of them, and to you think that is a sign of progress or just political posturing? margaret, independent line. college park, maryland. caller: thank you for the wonderful opportunity. as obama regurgitates verbatim all the republican ideas, they will not vote. they honestly do not care about the average american. it is about their political survival. they just don't care. for people who just throw names and call obama socialism, do they know what it means? there was a reporter who asked a few question of some tea party years on televisi

texas history -- he has a pretty significant lead over his two republican opponents, senator kay bailey hutchisonpublican form -- former party chair person. he is up anywhere from a 11 up to 20 points. remember, texas has a run of so you have to get over 50% of the vote in order to move on to the general election. if he does not get 50%, he has a run off. the good news for rick perry, though, with some of the polling we have seen recently, when matched up against either medina or caylee hutcheson in a runoff, he is ahead with 52 per -- kay bailey hutchison and a runoff, eat is the head with 52%. but democrats, maybe they found a formula to finally picked up a victory in texas. obviously texas is a fast- growing state and they don't want to be sitting on the sidelines for much longer. bill white, democratic mayor of houston has a relatively easy primary of his own. he is expected to move out without a runoff. he has been a pretty prodigious fund-raiser and hoping that he can portray rick perry, if that is indeed who he faces, as someone who is basically been there too long and is taking credit for

we have worked hard in a truly bipartisan fashion with senators dorgan, obviously senator kay bailey hutchison from texas, senator demint from south carolina to develop a bill that i think advances these goals and which all of my colleagues can support. this bill is not being held up and there is a reason for that. we worked our problems out early. this bill takes the steps needed to advance the system. the f.a.a. must be provided with the tools, the resources and the clear direction and deadlines to make sure that the agency provides effective oversight of the aviation industry itself. i think we all recognize that the u.s. must significantly expand capacity of our nation's air transportation system. there are no quick or easy solutions to the problem, and i believe that our situation is going to get worse before it gets better. but we do have to take the actions that we can right now. we cannot ignore the aviation system anymore. we cannot float on nice memories of a glorious past. the united states is losing its position as the global leader on aviation. the american public is not happy wit

senator kay bailey hutchison decided to serve out the remainder of return.eversal of the pledge she made to step down as she challenge gov. rick. grolier this year. she lost in the early march primary from a surprisingly margin. berkeley, california. alan, thank you for waiting. democrat line. caller: we should really be moving towards the electric vehicles, powered by nuclear and wind rather than oil. the oil -- is only about two years worth. the other thing is, that oil is not really american oil. it will profit international corporations, probably majority owned by international investors. and i don't see how that is particularly american advantage. host: chris van hollen on the front page of "of the hill." chairman of dccc, warning of dangerous waters. seeking both to calm and unify his party as they enter what he called dangerous waters ahead. faw and back to "the wall street journal." the u.s. chamber is planning a blunt effort to blunt the health oversaw -- overall to reshape regulatory language and to unseat democrats who voted for it. the figure is

major general harding and call now upon my distinguished colleague ranking members senator kay bailey hutchison. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i will not take long. i will say i think the service to your country, 33 years is very impressive, and being a deputy chief of staff of the army director of operations for the defense intelligence agency are great qualifications for this job and i agree with the chairman and it's one of the toughest jobs in all of government because so many people depend on the safety of our air travelling system as well as surface traveling system and i think the chairman mentioned, but i am in complete agreement that we have i think put so much emphasis on aviation safety as we should that perhaps we haven't looked enough that surface transportation safety for the buses and trains, and i think that's something that you are going to have to take under your purview. one of the issues that i want to make sure we are also addressing is federal law as you know does prohibit screeners in the tsa from striking. however, there are efforts ongoing for collective bargaining by the

major general harding and call now upon my distinguished colleague ranking members senator kay bailey hutchisonairman. i will not take long. i will say i think the service to your country, 33 years is very impressive, and being a deputy chief of staff of the army director of operations for the defense intelligence agency are great qualifications for this job and i agree with the chairman and it's one of the toughest jobs in all of government because so many people depend on the safety of our air travelling system as well as surface traveling system and i think the chairman mentioned, but i am in complete agreement that we have i think put so much emphasis on aviation safety as we should that perhaps we haven't looked enough that surface transportation safety for the buses and trains, and i think that's something that you are going to have to take under your purview. one of the issues that i want to make sure we are also addressing is federal law as you know does prohibit screeners in the tsa from striking. however, there are efforts ongoing for collective bargaining by the tsa screeners and pre

>> the honorable kay bailey hutchison from the great state of texas. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. welcome to our distinguished fcc panel. and i am pleased that we are holding this hearing. we are going to have to grapple with the convergence between additional distinct businesses like telecommunications and video programs distribution. we want to look at this type of consolidations impact on consumers and competitors, but we also want to make sure that policy determinations about this deal do not impact innovation and investment in this rapidly moving area. in my judgment, the fcc review of this transaction should be limited to the transfer of the relevant licenses between the parties and whether that is consistent with the public interest. merger reviews at the commission have not always stayed as narrow as i believe they should. frequently, parties have used more to review proceedings as a proxy policymaking forum to pursue conditions that reach well beyond the merger itself. in a number of cases, previous fcc's have and post some of these conditions. while i hope that

national transportation safety board, which the ranking member of the commerce committee, kay bailey hutchison of texas, i say chair and she says was acting, but chaired, they recently determined pilot error was the primary cause of that flight in buffalo, flight 3407. to put it even more clearly, this tragedy simply did not have to happen and could have been avoided. and by passing this bill, we can do more to make sure we don't repeat that kind of history. safety is always important. i don't know of anyplace that it's more important than in the skies. i thank the presiding officer. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. rockefeller: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. rockefeller: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the sessions amendment 3453 -- the senate is in a quorum call. mr. rockefeller: i ask unanimous consent the order of the quorum call be rescinded, and apologize. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rockefeller: i ask unanimous consent that

and, texas republican kay bailey hutchison says, she is going to stay in the after losing the primaryelection for governor. she will be serving out her third term that ends in 2012. she previously said she would resign her seat. that decision set to be announced in san antonio comes after 20 texas republican house members signed a letter last month urging her to stay in the senate. hutchison lost the republican primary race for governor earlier this month to governor rick perry and perry, now faces democrat bill white in the november general election. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> we are waiting for michelle obama's appearance here at the white house conference on work place flexibility. until she ariffs though, we go now to questions and questions and answers during the ton journal. >> host: you're on the independent line. we're hearing about this just this morning. what do you make of it? >> caller: i think it is a great thing. about time we started using our own resources and stop spending or sending $800 billion a year to the arab countries and they send t

first i want to thank senator kay bailey hutchison, the ranking member of the commerce committee. senator hutchison and i in a sense kind of grew up together on the commerce committee. we have worked together, in my judgment, entirely successful on aviation issues, and pretty much at the last decade. senator hutchison and i have served either as chair or ranking member of the aviation subcommittee. in 2009, i assumed the chairmanship of the conference committee and she assumed the ranking member position on the committee. but more importantly, we have a long history of producing strong bipartisan aviation legislation and working well generally. starting with the landmark air 21 bill in 2000 which greatly increased funding for our aviation system, through the chaotic days after september 11, 9/11, which culminated in the aviation and transportation security act to this important authorization that we're -- re-authorization that we're considering today. i am profoundly proud of our work together over the years. i respect her professionally. i respect her personally. i think our work