representative massa, just a quick question for you. i saw you in an interview earlier today, and you said you were leaving because of your own behaviors which you took total responsibility for. >> yep. >> caller: you didn't mention anything about disagreeing with health care, democratic leadership or anything like that at the time, even though you were being pressed for it. so my question is, why is it that 4.5 hours later are you now saying that your problem with the health care initiative and problems with democratic leadership are your main reasons for leaving congress when earlier today you would not mention that as a problem? >> well, i did, and let me -- >> caller: they're your own behaviors. >> i did, and i appreciate that. let me make one thing clear. the number one reason i'm not staying in congress is this wednesday they're really going to cat scan and tell me whether i'm going to be around in six months or not. then next year they're going to do it again. that's my number one reason. compound that with the fact i do own my o

massa says he didn't jump. he was pushed out of office over his opposition to the health care bill. >> and i was set up for this from the very, very beginning. >> larry: plus, actress jessica biel and emile hirsch face the ultimate test. >> this is challenging, challenging. >> conquering the snow on thin ice and air next on "larry king live." good evening. you just heard some of what makes former congressman eric massa so controversial, and we welcome him to "larry king live." he's in new york. we're in los angeles. congressman, you've given three different reasons for your resignations. here's what white house press secretary robert gibbs had to say about that today. watch. >> on wednesday, he announced he would not seek re-election because of a health problem that he said was a recurrence of cancer. on thursday he said he wasn't running because -- not because of cancer but because of his use of salty language. on friday he seemed to take some responsibility for his actions at a different event, and we learned

guest: the eric massa situation is a mess now. it looks like he engaged in some. -- pretty serious misconduct. steny hoyer did the right thing here. when he first learned of the allegations, he gave his staff members 48 hours to either report it to the ethics committee, or he would. this was a matter that required immediate investigation. now given the allegation that mr . massa is making over some conspiracy to kick him out over health care, it would seem logical that there would be a report so that we can make up our own mind about that. host: will that happen? guest: it would be unusual, but i think mr. massa has gone so far -- if he would have just resigned, he would have sounded him said -- saved himself and his family some embarrassment. now we are starting to hear about actual roping of male staffers. i am glad mr. weir took that stand, and i think the ethics committee has given him incredible remarks, should be public, and we should be getting the full story. citizens united. that is a troubling decision. there will be gre

massa. mr. hoyer's staff immediately informed him of what they had been told.as on thursday, march 4, "roll call" newspaper reported speaker nancy pelosi said she only learned wednesday of misconduct allegations against freshman representative eric massa, though her staff had learned of it earlier and decided against breeching her. there had been a rumor pelosi told reporters. a one, two, three person rumor that had been reported to mr. hoyers a -- hoyer's office which my staff did not report to me, because you know what? this is rumor city. there are rumors. whereas on march 1 is, -- 11, 2010, "the washington post" reported, house speaker nancy pelosi's office was notified in october by then representative eric massa's top aide of concerns about the new york democrat's behavior. whereas on march 11, 2010, "politico" newspaper reported democratic inside -- insiders say pelosi's office took no action after the concerns were expressed about then boss in october. whereas on march 9, 2010, a newspaper reported, hoyer said last week he told massa to inform the house

the house just voted to have a congressional probe into eric massa's behavior.assa was like, "you're going to probe me?" [ laughter ] "awesome." "spring break came early." yeah. [ cheers ] spring breakers? [ cheers and applause ] the sbs. the sbs, spring breakers. [ laughter ] just trying to start something new. we're on sb, man. spring break. some news from the car industry. yesterday, toyota said, it's mystified but that incident in san diego where a prius accelerated to 94 miles an hour. great, nothing instills confidence like an official statement of, "i don't know." [ laughter ] "i don't know. magic?" this is scary. federal officials just revealed that a member of al qaeda worked at three nuclear power plants in new jersey for six years. wait, there are three nuclear power plants in new jersey? [ light laughter ] i guess that explains snookie. [ laughter and applause ] oh, now i get it. thanks for coming. [ laughter ] listen to this. a man in san francisco has created an electronic glove that lets you play rock, paper, scissors on your own. [ light laughter

place mrauls [ applause ] former democratic congressman from new york eric massa is all over the newshe resigned because he was sick. then, when it came out he had been accused of groping three young male staff members, he changed his story and said he was forced out for not cooperating with the white house on health care. glenn beck had him on his show last night. outcrazying glenn beck is like outsexing tiger woods, so -- somehow -- [ applause ] somehow this guy, massa, managed to do it. and here's his version of the alleged groping. >> now they're saying i groped a male staffer. yeah, i did. not only did i grope him, i tick med him until he couldn't breathe and four guys jumped on top of me. it was kill the old guy. >> jimmy: right. we've all done that. all had tickle fights with our male coworkers. we all played "kill the old guy." dick cheney used to play it with a gun, "kill the old guy." if you're wondering why we don't have health care, it's because there's too much tickling in congress. later that night on larry king, massa denied that he ever groped anyone and refused to ans

earlier this week, massa says he would not seek re-election because of health reasons. >>> a bag found in a park outside of san diego may be linked to 14-year-old amber dubois who vanished last february. last may three children told parents about what looked like finding human hair in a bag in the park. the girl went missing in the same region at 17-year-old chelsea king. this renewed interest in amber's case. >>> a texas man who reportedly shot and kill a 13-year-old girl has been released on bond. richard callderon posted bail yz accused of killing alexis wily while in her mother's car on wednesday. her mom was apparently following him because he reportedly hit her car and took pauf off. he confessed to killing the girl but said it was in self-defense. >>> looks like someone may have targeted the california police anti-gang unit for the third time. police say an officer found a suspected explosive device attached to his car yesterday. the bomb squad was able to disable it, and police say the device could have killed or injured someone if it did what it was supposed to do. the anti-ga

congressman massa was asked whether he groped a male staffer.nd he said, "not only did i grope him, i tickled him until he couldn't breathe and then four guys jumped on top of me. it was my 50th birthday." [ laughter ] that's your explanation? that's borderline inappropriate on your 5th birthday. [ laughter ] he said, "i groped him, i tickled him, and four guys jumped on top of me, it was my 50th birthday." i don't know massa's gonna top that for his 60th birthday, but experts say he's gonna have to travel to thailand to do it. [ laughter ] hey, today is no-smoking day, where smokers are supposed to quit cigarettes for the day. yeah, no-smoking day, or as sasha and malia call it, "daddy's in a really bad mood day." [ laughter ] "daddy's got the shakes day." "go out on the swing set and swing." here's some good news for smokers. facebook has a new application that helps users smokers quit smoking. after that, people can move on to finding a cure to their other addiction, facebook. [ laughter ] maybe take up smoking or something, i don't know. [ l

and today came word that freshman new york democrat eric massa will resign monday. he had already announced he would not seek re-election, citing health reasons. >> now i'm a direct, salty kind of guy, and i run at a hundred miles an hour. and my doctors have clearly told me i can no longer do that. >> suarez: massa did not directly address a male staffer's complaint that the congressman made unwanted advances. house republican leader john boehner said the ethical issues add to doubts about democratic leadership. >> it looks like chaos on the other side of the aisle. >> suarez: but illinois democrat luis gutierrez dismissed the criticism. >> we all know how to walk and chew gum at the same time here. if these things were to paralyze our caucus, then i think there would be evidence of that. but all i see is energy and vigor and discussion and debate, and trying to find a way the american men and women the health care they so deserve. >> suarez: and others, including tennessee republican zach wamp, said scandals can hurt everyone. >> these ethical lapses on both sides

reports today said speaker nancy pelosi's office was told last october about massa's behavior.ith that, minority leader john boehner demanded a probe into what and when house democratic leaders knew about the allegations. the house refused, on a near- unanimous vote. also today... senator john ensign faced new questions about steering lobbying jobs to the husband of a one-time mistress. the new york times reported e- mail messages show ensign tried to assist his former administrative aide. federal law bans staffers from lobbying congress within a year after leaving government. former pro football defensive great merlin olsen died early today outside los angeles. he had a form of lung cancer. olsen was a member of the los angeles rams' "fearsome foursome" in the 1960s, and made the "hall of fame". later, he starred in several television series, including "father murphy" and "little house on the prairie." merlin olsen was 69 years old. those are some of the day's main stories. i'll be back at the end of the program with a preview of what you'll find tonight on the newshour's web

more on the resignation of new york congressman eric massa. steny hoyer spoke earlier and said, some people are trying to politicize the situation surrounding the representative who resigned after accusations of sexual harassment. meanwhile, eric cantor declined to directly address the statement, saying he was taken aback by all of this, adding he believes the american people are sickened by it all. >> this weekend, "book tv"is heading west at the tucson book festival. sunday, panels on writing about history, the war in afghanistan, world war ii, and the military and leadership. the tucson festival of books. this weekend. for more information, go to booktv.org. host: at the table now is melanie sloan, executive director for citizens for responsibility and ethics. i wanted to talk about congressional ethics in the earmarks. i wanted to first get an update on something that was created a couple of years ago. it is the office of congressional ethics. how was it first formed and how has it been operating? guest: it was formed as a campaign promise

we're talking about eric massa 24/7 on the tv, we're talking about war and peace, $3 billion, 1,000 lives and no press, no press, you want to know why the american public is fit? they're fit because they're not seeing their congress do the work that they're sent to do. it's because the press, the press of the united states is not covering the most significant issue of national importance and that's the laying of lives down in the nation for the service of our country. it's despicable, the nationa>í"j >> the house later rejected that resolution. five republicans and 62 democrats supported the measure. up next on c-span, a defence department briefing from iraq. followed by that, prime minister's questions were gordon brown is asked about the war in afghanistan. kathleen sebelius speaks before an industry group, supreme court chief justice john roberts talks at the university of alabama law school. on tomorrows "washington journal," we will talk to jason altmire about health care, of reporter talks about john roberts, robert johnson will talk about the financial industry regulations, and we

we're talking about eric massa 24/7 on the tv, we're talking about war and peace, $3 billion, 1,000 lives and no press, no press, you want to know why the american public is fit? they're fit because they're not seeing their congress do the work that they're sent to do. it's because the press, the press of the united states is not covering the most significant issue of national importance and that's the laying of lives down in the nation for the service of our country. it's despicable, the national press corps right now. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. who seeks recognition? the gentleman from california. mr. berman: yes, madam chair, i recognize for three minutes the chairman of the middle east and south asia subcommittee of our committee, my friend from new york, mr. ackerman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes, the gentleman from new york. mr. ackerman: i thank the chairman. madam speaker, i rise in opposition to the resolution. i'm astonished that the resolution has even come to the floor. i'm afraid some of our colleagues

you're happy to email him, i'm -- i have not asked him. >> can you address the story about congressman massa, what's the reason why he left, he's leveling charges that the white house democratic leaders wanted to push him out because he's a no on health care. can you deal with that? >> i addressed this largely this morning. keeping in mind that on wednesday, he announced he would not seek re-election because of a health problem he said was a recurrence of cancer, on thursday he said he wasn't running because, not because of cancer but because of his use of salty language. on friday he seemed to take some responsibility for his actions at a different event and we learned that the ethics committee was looking into his actions relating to sexual harassment. so i don't know why i would give any weight to what he said on the fourth day, any more than i would on the previous three days. the notion that somehow the white house had anything to do with the series of events that have caused him to not seek re-election and ultimately leave the house -- the notion that somehow we were involved in that,

ethics panel gets massa back. g.o.p. loses bid for inquiry in massa case. what's the status? guest: what happened was, after eric massa resigned, the ethics committee thought that it would end its investigation because he's no longer a member and they no longer had jurisdiction. but john painer, the republican leader, thinks that the ethics committee should investigate the process of who knew what and when they knew it and what the leadership did or didn't do to deal with rumors that were moving around the capitol that massa had been doing inappropriate things with staffers and young staffers of other -- host: a la mark foley in 10 minutes. guest: you couldn't go 10 minutes yesterday without making the mark foley an al jeefment after foley left the congress, democrats, with republican support, continued the ethics investigation and looked at what role leadership played or dent play in dealing with rumors. guest: so there was a vote yesterday 402-1, what did that do? it sent it back to the ethics committee. guest: asking them to study just that. guest: i didn't track him down

massa stays on that kind of change.this is where wisest statesmen and states women can come in to make this change, just to these changes when suddenly something is disruptive. we mentioned the ipod in the book. ipod is a fantastic thing. gives people easier choice and wider choice of music. you don't have to buy it, as we used to call it, or a disk with 15 songs, only one of which you might want. now you can pick what you want, when you want it. in terms of tv programming, your own program now. you don't need it networks anymore. it's there, you choose when you see it. fantastic, these inventions. but look what it's done. mention the upending the music industry, not just the ipod, but what the web has done. look what did you stores that sold cds and disks. a lot of them are going under. and artists, ipod, and the web is a fantastic for artists because everyone now can broadcast music. internet radio, my goodness, thousand, tens of thousands of people can put their, hundreds, millions can put their music on that ever co

we're talking about eric massa 24/7 on the tv, we're talking about war and peace, $3 billion, 1,000 lives and no press, no press, you want to know why the american public is fit? they're fit because they're not seeing their congress do the work that they're sent to do. it's because the press, the press of the united states is not covering the most significant issue of national importance and that's the laying of lives down in the nation for the service of our country. it's despicable, the national >> the house leader reelected -- rejected this resolution calling for the resolution in afghanistan. five republicans and 60 democrats were supporting this measure. >> on sunday, your chance to speak to karl rove on c-span. the former adviser to president bush and the fox news contributor will take your phone calls on his memoir. the former defense secretary and his wife will speak on race relations in america, interviewed by john lewis. and coverage of the festival of bucks. find the entire weekend schedule, and get the latest updates on twitter. >> we announced the winner in the student can co

massa, member of congress. the speaker pro tempore: under clause 5-d of rule 20, the chair announces to the house that in light of the resignation of the gentleman from new york, mr. massa, the whole number of the house is 431. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives. madam, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on march 5, 2010, at 3:03 p.m. that the senate passed senate 2961. that the senate agreed to without amendment house concurrent resolution 236. that the senate agreed to without amendment house concurrent resolution 239. appointments, board of directors of the office of compliance. with best wishes i am, signed, sincerely, deborah springs, for lorraine c. miller, clerk of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speak

thank you again. 17:32 >> the associated press is reporting that congressman massa resigning his seatfacing harassment complaint by a male staffers. he is stepping down with a profound sense of failure. the resignation takes effect on monday. his departure is good news for house speaker pelosi vance health care. he voted against it. he reduces the majority she needs. this weekend, former republican presidential candidate mitt ro mney his latest book, 'no apology" he asserts a strong america is needed for the world. a house hearing on the fiscal year 2011 budget request for veterans affairs secretary shinseki. this is about two hours. >> good morning everyone. i like to welcome everyone to this hearing. the purpose of which is to review the administration's budget request for fiscal year to thousand 11 and 2012. -- fiscal year 2011 and 2012. i want to welcome you back before our subcommittee and all of the va in and leadership that is working with you and are here today. we are honored, mr. secretary, that you are here because we are grateful for your distinguished public service to ou

reporting that there cannot this is resigning his seat -- that the congressman air mass a -- eric massa is resigning his seat and stepping down with of profound sense of failure. this is good news for nancy pelosi as she struggles to work on the health care overhaul. >> up next, a look at u.s. aid efforts in haiti. rajiv shah was a guest on this morning's "washington journal." host: we have the administrator for the u.s. agency for international development, usaid. he is here to talk to us about foreign aid and different aspects of the foreign aid budget. doctor, if we could start with current issues, do you know how much has the u.s. government spent so far in haiti and chile? guest: between the two more than $600 million with the vast majority of that being focused on the relief effort in haiti. when this incredible earthquake happened, it was the worst natural disaster to hit haiti in centuries and destroyed critical infrastructure in and around port-au-prince. the main city. the president immediately asked for a swift and aggressive and coordinated response, so we put together a bro

massa. politico reporting steny hoyer saying he was pushed out of the house because of his support of the healthcare bill. white house press secretary robert gibbs had harsh words for mr. massa. i think this whole story is ridiculous he said this morning during an appearance on "good morning america." that from politico reporting today. the president meanwhile today meeting with greek prime minister george papandreou. and later today the president has a meeting on energy legislation. he'll be talking with a bipartisan group of senators, several cabinet secretaries and the epa administrator, lisa jackson. the u.s. house is back in session this afternoon. 15 bills on the agenda in the house. you can follow the house on c-span. one of the bills later this week will be congressman kucinich's war powers. whether or not to continue the war in afghanistan. that's later in the week in the u.s. house. and the senate coming in here just a couple minutes, about 10 minutes away. they'll gavel back from