political power in new york , and david paterson took over what was his father a seat . how big a distraction is this for democrats to have these two such significant figures in such trouble? >> it is a huge distraction. in new york, we're virtually deadlocked. there's not gridlock here. there's deadlock. we don't have a dysfunctional government. we have a nonfunctioning government. it's sort of a combination of rod sterling meets lewis carol. it's the twilight expwron wonderland and you can't imagine what the next story is. >> ifill: well douglas muzzio, thank you so much for helping us out. >> thank you. next, rumblings of a different sort in texas, which held its primaries yesterday. the republican governor of texas, rick perry, rode a wave of anti-washington sentiment to an easy reelection primary win last night. perry bested four-term u.s. senator kay bailey hutchison, who announced she would quit the senate to challenge perry by 21 points. >> texas voters said no. they said no to washington bureaucrats making decisions that state leaders and citizens should be maki

i mean david paterson is the revenge of eliot spitzer. i mean david paterson is i'm sure a decent man but he was not equipped to be governor of new york in a very tough time. that's become obvious. >> lehrer: spitz her to resign. >> he was his running mate instead of the john edwards award that goes to john kerry for 2004 for picking running mates. it does matter whom you do pick. i think that the paterson thing aside, i mean charlie rangel is an american tragedy. i mean he's a wonderful, wonderful, beloved figure. but what he has done, i mean-- . >> lehrer: combat veteran in the korean war. >> high school dropout and was one of the buffalo soldiers. the black regiment in korea , with a purple heart and bronze star, combat. and came back and finished high school on the gi bill. went to college at st. johns, nyu and st. john's law school. just a great story, up from the bootstraps and all the rest of it but 9 sense of entitlement had set in. talking about $500,000 unreported. and wealth. and so to his credit he didn't say i'm doing this be

you snared the elusive david paterson. finding something wrong with my administration is like finding a needle in a needle store. you found out i was a bad governor? who tipped you off? everyone? >> so tell us, will you be supporting andrew cuomo now? >> i haven't figured out who is going to get the kiss of death yet. but if andrew cuomo wants albany, he can take it. those upstate goblins are going to tear that guy apart and use his blood for their paintings. andrew, if you're in albany, i can recommend a good place to go for dinner, it's called manhattan. >> just think, this time next year we could have a cuomo as governor of new york and edmund g. brown, that's gerry in this case, as governor of california. change you can believe in. by the way, rod blagojevich, the impeached ex-governor of illinois has his own words of wisdom for governor paterson. here's what he said on fox business channel. >> my advice to governor paterson, and i don't know the circumstances, if he didn't do anything wrong, then you shouldn't quit. y

host: the resignation for governor paterson to sign. inside "the wall street journal" is this article. governor paterson convenes a meeting for friday. a 2:30 p.m. eastern meeting for his top aides. guest: i think it would be what you call a "come to jesus" moment. there is pressure from his staff that now is the time for him to step down. three members of his staff have quit already. is called by the chief -- it is called by the chief of staff. it is not known if the purpose is to force him to go but they will talk about serious issues. host: what is defacing, water the issues? guest: multiple investigations of his conduct. he has been found by a state ethics panel that he was not truthful on an investigation of whether he pressured the yankees to give him tikrit -- tickets to the world series. he is under investigation for a host of matters and it has come to a head. host: on the front page of your competitor, "the new york daily news" is a picture of a woman. who is she? guest: here it is a little more here and there are serious alle

david paterson.he's got that going for her. >> that's not fair either. >> no, but -- >> she's got her grandmother going for her, her deep albany roots, she comes from a very political family. >> that's great to know. david paterson -- >> i'm not going to argue this one. >>> also in "the new york times" this morning, governor david paterson who is facing serious questions about improper influence, the report says paterson personally directed two state workers to contact a woman who accused a top aide of domestic violence. that woman later failed to appear at a court hearing and claimed she was harassed by the state police to drop her case. it's an ugly story. >> mika, who does this? no, no. and i'm dead serious. as somebody that actually has been there -- >> yeah. >> -- i silt and look at charlie rangel going on trips claiming that he doesn't know who's paying for the trips. just like dick durbin, i can bring in hundreds of congressmen, senators and ask them, they would all say, you just don't do that

you get the real paterson now, pure, uncut, colombian paterson. i am already, imagine how awful i'll be when i'm not trying to impress anyone. i can just let myself go like a typical housewife in new jersey. >> "saturday night live" with its unique take on new york david paterson's decision not to seek re-election. >>> all eyes on nbc late night again tonight when jay leno hosts the legendary tonight show. he's back after a public and sometimes nasty battle with conan and the nbc network. julia boorstin is following the story. >> everyone is watching to see what the first show will be like and if jay leno can reclaim the ratings he had. when conan replaced him he lost half of jay leno's audience. he's going to have sarah palin on, the cast of jersey shore and olympic skier lindsey vonn. he's trying to get people to tune back in and forget about everything that happened with conan. i would expect him to discuss this and make some jokes about it. >> wow, well, i can't wait for the sarah palin segment. i think that's doing to be the one to watch. in

today's by the numbers on this chinese sand storm and new york governor david paterson helping to spend $800,000 on double wide trailers to allow for visits for new york state prisoners. that's not a joke. ♪ [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time. time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze, my eyes water. but with new zyrtec® liquid gels, i get allergy relief at liquid speed. that's the fast, powerful relief of zyrtec®, now in a liquid gel. zyrtec® is the fastest 24-hour allergy medicine. it works on my worst symptoms so i'm ready by the time we get to the first hole. and that's good because the competition's steep today. new zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air.™ like 100% whole grain, the way triscuit does, you always end up with something delicious. ♪ triscuit. weave some goodness. increase in 6 months. pete, back it up! ( marker squeaking ) when business travel leaves you drained, re-charge with comfort suites. spacious rooms, free hi-speed internet, and free hot breakfast. comfort suites. power up. now stay two separate times with comfort suites... or an

paterson couldn't believe it. he was like, "i still have election chances? [ laughter ] wow." check this out. saudi arabia says a pakistani man named akbar zib cannot be ambassador to their country, because in arabic, his name meanbiggest penis. [ light laughter ] i know, it seems like a terrible name, but it's way luckier than his brother pencil zib. [ laughter ] hey, this is important, a new study found drinking beer can help prevent osteoporosis and build stronger bones. [ cheers and applause ] beermakers have already come out with a new ad campaign, "got beer? screw milk." [ laughter ] i love this story, a woman went into labor at a taping of the "oprah" show. talk about a surprise under your seat. "you're having a baby!" [ light laughter ] and finally, the museum of sex, here in new york city, has a new exhibition called "rubbers" featuring dresses made from condoms or what lady gaga calls her comfy clothes. [ light laughter ] ladies and gentlemen, we have a great show tonight. give it up for the roots! ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: that's

paterson's ethical issues in recent days. that's going to do it for us. not only for the day. but for the week, i am dylan ratigan and i thank you for giving me the opportunity to attempt to serve you every day with what the best i can muster is, the truth or a push towards the truth. in this democracy of ours at a time when there is so much to sift through. it is a pleasure to serve you. up next, "hardball" with chris matthews, it starts right now, right here on msnbc. >>> living history -- let's play "hardball." >>> good eepg, i'm chris matthews, in washington, leading off tonight, president obama will go down in history as the man who achieved what so many presidents before him wanted to, tried to, but couldn't. extend health care coverage to americans who didn't have it. that will be the remarkable first line of accomplishments in all the biographies and school books. the president proved he had the muscle and courage to push through major change in america. and we'll talk to a presidential historian about this feat and what it means for the boem prob presidency. >>> plus

that's a question he'll have to answer. >> not just good paterson who is the governor of new york, facing a number of investigations on ethics issues and whether he intervened into a domestic dispute, you also got charlie rangel, rich lowry, stepped down as head of the ways and means committee. and eric masa of new york will be stepping down as well because of aeng. what does this mean in an already difficult climate? >> just adds fuel to the anti-washington fire, obviously. i agree with what harold was saying. the very worst thing for a politician or for political party is to -- the appearance that they are not listening. i think that's the risk now to democrats on health care, because they are going ahead no matter what. i think it's the risk on the economy because they haven't really pivoted the jobs as president obama put it at the beginning of the year. and on the ethics, you know, it's beginning to look a lot like 2006 and i think nancy pelosi came in talking about the most ethical congress but had no commitment to taking on the old bold in her party. there is the late john murtha w

according to the report, paterson told his press secretary the report should suggest the breakup wasy. he wanted the woman to say the charges related to the alter indication was dropped. the report claims the woman refused to go along and that paterson was disappointed she would not endorse his statement. >>> and there are some new amazing images of earth, but they're not from nasa. instead, they were shot by an english space enthusiast who rigged up a simple $100 digital camera with duct tape and sent it up in a balloon. it's a far cry from photos taken by nasa, which cost about $400 million when taken by the space shuttle. wow. >> i want to talk to pat about that pope story, after sports here. >> horrible. just ridiculous. >> a tragic story. i want to know what that means for the pope. >> and the catholic church. >> let's go to willie with sports. >> the vatican's response to that yesterday was fascinating, too. we'll talk about that later. let's get into the ncaa tournament. as we told you at the top of the show, only two number one seeds left now. kansas lost last week to norther

, this was -- former chairman raengel, governor paterson, is this something the president is concerned about oar is it in any way related to the mid term elections? >> this is -- this has been a hallmark of an initiative that the president has worked on, as i said, i think last week, as a state senator, as a united states senator, and as president. so -- the president doesn't work on ethics reform because it may or may not be a strategy for the mid term elections. the president has believed since coming to elected office in illinois that, as i've said here, that rules are in place for a reason, that everyone must follow those rules regardless of who you are or what your name is and if those rules are reached -- broached or broken, each -- are breeched or broken, each person who breaks those rules should be and can be dealt by with -- dealt with by whatever body they belong to whether it's a governor or a member of the house or senate. this is, again, an issue the president has taken seriously for a long, long time. >> the other thing is, right now on capitol hill, rumors swirl that con

governor paterson saying he will not pursue his campaign for governor, striking because here you have administration who tried to get him to back out of this race months ago. now the scandal involving his administration and any potential will interference with the domestic violence situation involving one of his aides has come to the where he's still on the job and calling for his to resign outright. >> front page paper calls for his resignation. i think it's a suggestion that the white house's bid earlier to try to get him to resign is an indication of the limitations of the white house's clout when it comes to democrats all around the country. i mean, they've had this problem in elections across the country as well in trying to support democrats who didn't then get elected. it is something that makes the white house not look particularly powerful. >> you know, it's a measure of the kind of year it is for democrats. sometimes it's the best headline when someone steps aside. a tough year is the best -- >> the white house asked them to step aside and then they stepped aside. >> the bot

then you have the issue with governor paterson in new york. in reaction to that, how do you think that democratic leaders faired in reaction to these scandals? have they done the right things in the wake of these certainly ethically challenging times? guest: they moved in the right direction. you could have a pretty robust argument as to whether they moved quickly enough. for example, the charlie rangel affair has been building for a long time. obviously, he is a senior and respected member of congress. he is entitled to his day and what counts as court in congress. on the other hand, the allegations have been swirling around him for months and months and months now. a and i think -- and i think that congress needs a more effective mechanism for asking people to step aside time brierley, to accuse -- step aside temporarily, recruits themselves until they are cleared. innocent until proven guilty is a wonderful principal for court of law. but when it comes to the court of public opinion, congress may have to adopt a more stringent standard. not

paterson has delayed the income tax refunds for hundreds of thousands of new yorkers for least two weeks. the state normally limits the number paid before march 31. finally, "the new york times, a story about the detroit school district and a plan to close 45 school districts in the city. this point, "only 3% of the fourth graders were proficient in math in the last national assessment of educational progress, a test that was failed around the country. the district has 87,000 students. in 2004, more than 100 schools closed." the education secretary will be joining us next tuesday at 8:30 eastern time here on "washington journal" to talk about education and leave no job behind. harrington, delaware, independent line. does the process matter? caller: it matters a lot, that is when the media is involved. what bothers me, in a c-span junkie, everyone complains that people will not have insurance, what did they think would happen when this passes? there's no free ride? they will have to pay for health care. i do none of you noticed in the interview yesterday, the president deflected about the

david paterson is accused of intervening in a domestic violence case.olice want to know what he told the woman who declined to press charges. the european union says it shares u.n. fears that tehran may be secretly working on developing nuclear weapons. a strongly worded in station -- a statement says europe supports new u.n. security council actions if iran continues its nuclear defiance. greece has announced a new austerity plan aimed at saving $6.5 billion. theús measures includeo/ a boosn the sales tax from 19% to hy21% and a cut in salary and bonuses for civil service workers. nog to the international monetarynog fund to seek help. qzkgreece is already receiving m at advice on how to deal with the crisis. european union officialsen oppoe an i.m.f. bailout. those are some of the latest headlines on cspan radio. =0z>> our congressional cover ty includes a hearing looking at the national security budget for fiscal year 2011. that is live at 9:00 a.m. eastern on cspan 3. yesterday, defense secretary ñ wantse pentagon review of the ban on openly gay mil

pure, uncut, colombian paterson. know how awful of a governor i am now? imagine how i will be if i'm not trying to impress anyone, sort of like a real housewife in new jersey. >> welcome back to "morning joe." >> i'm joe scarborough. the olympics were great. i watched a lot of the events. the hockey game -- >> amazing. >> it was a keeper. >> we were all standing around -- about to go to the park and go sledding and we couldn't because of this last-second goal tied it up 2-2. and then went into overtime. but, my gosh, what a way for the olympics to end, for the united states, but also for canada. >> nice. >> we were talking. andy, did you see this? >> glued to it. >> andrew ser is with us, along with mike barnicle. >> that was remarkable, beginning to end. >> last night's game, yesterday afternoon's game, spectacular. i'm a huge hockey fan. we were talking about this earlier, joe. if the national hockey league games were played the way the olympic hockey games were played, they would double their nhl and if they could have koch emerick announce. maybe the

then you have the issue with governor paterson in new york. to that, how do you think that democratic leaders faired in reaction to these scandals? have they done the right things in the wake of these certainly ethically challenging times? guest: they moved in the right direction. you could have a pretty robust argument as to whether they moved quickly enough. for example, the charlie rangel affair has been building for a long time. obviously, he is a senior and respected member of congress. he is entitled to his day and what counts as court in congress. on the other hand, the allegations have been swirling around him for months and months and months now. a and i think -- and i think that congress needs a more effective mechanism for asking people to step aside time brierley, to accuse -- step aside temporarily, recruits themselves until they are cleared. innocent until proven guilty is a wonderful principal for court of law. but when it comes to the court of public opinion, congress may have to adopt a more stringent standard. not just congre