The Media Hero Award

“Bill Clinton has taken the prestige of his time in office, his relationships with other heads of state and forged something never known before, a global force for good. He’s fighting AIDS in Africa, the devastation of floods and earthquakes, and nearly every other challenge facing mankind on the face of the globe....We’ve never had a world leader like this before! Bill Clinton: President of the World.”

Host Joy Behar: “I think people are going to look back on his presidency the way they look at Saint Ronald Reagan. They’ll say Saint Bill Clinton eventually. Because he had his problems during his administration, but in retrospect he did a great job.”

Rachael Ray: “But he left the country with a surplus of money and goodwill.”

Behar: “Yes, he did, which was squandered.”

“You thought that Anthony Weiner should resign, and that seems to be what a great many people are saying. So I don’t think so. I think what he has done is unfathomable. I think the pictures are disgusting....The ethics committee can investigate him and chastise, but not necessarily throw him out. And we had a President named Bill Clinton who went through a great deal of trouble, weathered the storm and is now not only respected, but he’s beloved by many people with a very good marriage. So, I think Anthony Weiner should hang in there. He was a good Congressman, and maybe he can weather this all and be effective.”

“We talked to Cory Booker, the Mayor of Newark. This is a tweet he sent out last night, yes, on Saturday: ‘Heading on a pizza run. I’m going to deliver 10 pizzas to those staying in our shelter at JFK.’ So, I mean, you have the contrast, Michael Eric Dyson, between President Bush regretting the fact he had a flyover of the storm zone [after Hurricane Katrina] and Mayor Booker personally delivering pizzas.”

“Say ‘Al Sharpton’ and most people probably think ‘loudmouth activist’ and ‘provocateur.’ Well, that certainly was his image in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Well, the Reverend Al has gone through something of a metamorphosis. Today, he’s downright tame, so much that he’s made his way into the establishment. It’s been quite a trajectory: from street-protest agitator to candidate for President in 2004, to now, a trusted White House adviser who’s become the President’s go-to black leader....”

“I had a great trip yesterday. I went to Chicago, talked to new mayor, Rahm Emanuel, former White House chief of staff. It was his first time he’s speaking out on a national stage....He is very happy.... The former congressman and White House chief of staff to President Obama is off to a fast start, already working his Rolodex to bring new jobs to the windy city....[to Emanuel] You know, if you do a good job here, a lot of Democrats are going to be talking about you to run for President in 2016.”