they shouldn't stigmatize him as social nut. >> good to see you. let not your heart be troubled the news continues. greta is next. @seanhannity if you're on twitter. we'll see you monday. thank you for being with us. >> greta: tonight. former senator santorum is mad as hell and he is not going to take it anymore. >> that was a double standard. this is what you are pulling off. i am going to call you on it. >> greta: what has senator santorum fired up? it has to do with the contraception controversy. you i'll see that in a few minute. the president of new mexico has a message to the united states. he has a very in your face way of getting it across. you may not like it. ambassador john bolton is here. and is romney healthcare law similar to obama's healthcare law? where did they get the money? if you are concerned we have a

report you have to see. first, the white house did it again. they wait until late friday, 6:00 p.m. to dump more solyndra documents on congress. the documents are one that the house committee has been demanding. why did thous wait until late friday 6:00 p.m. to do it? you know why. that isn't even the big solyndra news. secretary of energy steven chu may be deeper in the scandal than the white house is saying. the congress of the commerce committee joins us. good evening. >> good evening. >> greta: new information just coming out. but prologis. who are they? >> they are part of the 1705 program, loan guarantee that department of energy gave out for solyndra. headquartered in san francisco. a huge company. they operate in 22 countries and they got $1.4 billion from a department of energy to develop, put solar panels on the roof of commercial building. >> greta: when did they get that loan in relation to

solyndra going belly up? >> two months before solyndra went belly up. >> greta: so they got a loan from the federal government, taxpayers, department of energy. to buy those panels that solyndra was manufacturing. >> that wasn't ostensibly the reason. they were supposed to go out in the marketplace and buy the solar panel to put on commercial buildings. flat roofs across the united states. but some e-mailsw secretary chu was intermediary with the white house saying possibly this company could buy the solar panel from solyndra before it went bankrupt. >> greta: well, why in the world would that company want to buy from solyndra? from what we learn, solyndra was making them at a price that exceeded the cost to bright china. what in the world would be incentive to buy it from solyndra? >> we get a letter to the white house with that question, asking what was the deal? why would prologis buy from solyndra at a higher price?

when they could buy it in the open market for cheaper? second of all, did solyndra actually provide to prologis solar panels how many and what effect was the contract. >> why are we getting federal stimulus money in a loan to prologis? i went on the internet. this is a company that has 43.3 billion in assets and say they're the leading owner, operator in europe and asia and operate 600 million square feet. why do they need our money? >> they don't. that is the basis of the investigation of the committee i chair. we see favoritism, greta, throughout the stimulus package. today is one year ago we started the solyndra investigation. three years to this date, this date, the 17th of february, was $750 billion stimulus package. so in effect, what we see throughout all these stimulus packages is favoritism toward the campaign contributors. >> greta: how does a loan of

$1.4 billion, we will show you numbers, billion. we got desentizeed to it. that is a lot of money. how did $1.4 billion to the successful $43.3 -- >> stock exchange. >> greta: how many jobs does that generate? where is the stimulus? >> i can't imagine they generate any jobs. just like you know you saw the duke energy got $230 million. they generated 196 jobs. >> greta: who is the ceo of duke energy? >> gene rogers is te ceo, now the cochair of the national democrat convention. that would indcade, i would think, some favoritism. how much has the white house been involved in manipulating making sure the loan work out, as the loans across the program. >> greta: why are we loaning money to expensive company. that is the first thing? >> they can go to the bank themselves. >> greta: it looks like they could sell funds for that. two what job could it create? why would they want to buy

solyndra panel if they're more expensive than in china. four, it looks like solyndra couldn't sell the panels themselves we loan money to somebody else and use it to buy from solyndra because they are going belly up. that is what it looks like. it looks funny. >> like you are giving me money to go and buy somebody that you also gave money to, too. it's circle of circulating the taxpayers money. >> greta: i realize you get these documents on defendant:00 p.m i assume you get information about prologis to see who runs it and if there is a legitimate reason to see if we get the loan. you go after that >> and look at the contract developing between prologis and solyndra. and what was the price of the products bought. >> greta: the goal to stimulate the economy. now presidential candidate

santorum accusing the media of a double standard. it started when one of his backers made a controversial remark about birth control. >> my gosh, it's such inexpensive. in my day, they used bayer aspirin for contraception. gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that cos costly. friess did apologize today and dade sars >> greta: still, senator santorum is getting asked about his supporter.

his interview in charlie rose on cbs got heated. >> charlie, when you quote a supporter of mine who tells a bad off-color joke and somehow i'm responsible for that, that is gotcha. >> nobody said you were responsible, senator. nobody said you were responsible. they said how are you characterized and what have you said to him? not that you are responsible but to understand how you differ from what this person said. let me -- >> i don't have to respond to every supporter who says something i have to respond and say -- look, this is what you guys do. you don't do this with president obama. in fact, in fact, with president obama what you did is went out and defended him against someone sat in a church for 20 years about defended him, he can't believe what he listens to for 20 years. it as double standard. this is what you pull off. i'm going to call you on it. >> "washington examiner" byron york joins us. fair criticism of the senator saying there is a double standard? everyone is giving him a hard

time? i asked him about it myself last night. yes, president obama didn't get the same with reverend wright? >> this is a silly episode in a much more serious issue about santorum and contraception. the foster freiss joke people can realize was a corny joke. offcolor but it wasn't a serious issue. i would not have been a big deal. had not contraception been a bigger issue not only with the president's mandate but the statement that santorum made about contraception. it's fair to say that rick santorum has talked more about contraception than is prudent for a person running for president. it is coming back to bite him now. >> greta: what about the double standard he raises? he says we rain on his parade about what the supporters said and suggest a double standard when reverend wright said outrageous things and there was not outrage by the media or wasn't covered much. >> it was a big deal when it

happened. some news organizations like the "new york times" didn't give the full details of the reverend wright issue. a big controversy that candidate obama felt he needed to give a speech and explain his relationship with reverend wright. >> greta: new today that speaker gingrich may get a boost from his super pac supporter. $10 million. >> i'd call that a little boost. yes. >> greta: that put him back in race. not that he is out of the race. but does it make big difference? >> it does. he has really gone to ground in the last few days. it's been interesting. as you have seen the campaign move to michigan, which vote on february 28 and ohio which votes on super tuesday, march 6. gingrich has been in california. he has been raising money out there. he went to georgia, his home state, he should have in the bag. his strategist tell me he is thinking a lot about working on the caucus state. smaller caucus state like

idaho and north dakota, trying to pick up delegates where he can. what this will allow him to do is run some ads. the question is if he uses it wisely from the first money in addelson which he didn't use it to great effect in florida, shall we say. >> greta: there is a "new york times" article that came out that says gingrich campaign threatens to sue over attack ads. so it looks like he is stepping it up again. >> you know -- >> the attack ad. >> first, the possibility of that succeeding seems to be close to zero. it does show more gingrich complaining about attack ads. i think one of the things -- >> greta: he is not complaining about attack ads. he is complaining about inaccuracies. there are attack ads and there are ads that identify your record you may not like or whatever, and there are false statements. what he says, is that he is quoting politic fact and statement that "pants on fire" is falsehood.

complaining about the falsehood. >> he will have a hard time getting release from this in a court. >> maybe not in a court. attention from all of us. >> in context of the campaign. the reporting of it makes it look like gingrich complaining about ads. what we found talking to voters in new hampshire, in florida, even in south carolina, one thing they didn't like about, about the episode where romney attacked gingrich so strongly. was they felt gingrich reacted badly. unpresidential whining, cop plaining way. yes, maybe some of the romney attacks were unfair. but they didn't like the way he reacted in an angry complaining manner. >> greta: byron, thank you. >> good to be here. >> greta: interesting what happens in michigan. that is the key. >> big, big, big. >> greta: thank you. all right. brace yourself. actually, you better even sit down for this one. can you hear what mexico's president calderon did? he put up a billboard at border. guess what? it is pointing at us. the billboard says no more weapons. and then president of mexico

said this. >> no more weapons. different the united states. mexico needs your help, in order to stop the violence we are suffering. the best way to do that is stopping the flow of weapons toward mexico. no more weapons to mexico. >> greta: former u.n. ambassador john boll top joins us -- john bolton joins us. good evening. >> good to be here. >> greta: it's an interesting billboard. your thoughts on it? >> it gets mark for creativity. this is calderon continuing the argument he made for years that the obama administration agrees with. and just simply isn't true. which is that the guns that are destabilizing mexican civil society come primarily from the united states. they do not. they come from mexican police and army and a lot of places.

>> greta: the nra rained all over my parade about this. when we were down in mexico and arizona, we met with the atf and they showed us a stack of guns that we found. what they told sus guns were coming from china and reason -- region of belgium. they were being laundered through the united states. they were coming from the other country. >> i think that is hard to believe given the strict controls we have on importing automatic and semi-automatic weapons. constraints we have on sending them out. some of the m-16s that were found in the control of the drug cartel came from the mexican army. they can trace the serial number. the real issue is not where the guns are coming from because there is a huge international market. it's mexico's failure to get the drug cartel under control. that is where calderon has failed. >> greta: you know when calderon was here, he had a lot of support from both sides of the aisle. this is a couple of years ago.

since he has declared his war on drugs, and became president, declared war on drugs, i have seen only reports of people beheaded, and seeing the maps with the united states. state department says you shouldn'ttrap in bold red -- travel in bold red. i don't see him winning the war. i see someone win but not the good guys. >> drug cartel. he is not prosecuting it effectively. be close where the u.s. culpability is here. it's purchasing illegal drugs there. wouldn't mexican drug cartels if we weren't buying drugs they were selling. not american weapons. it's the drug users. what is the administration doing about that? next to nothing about illegal drugs. instead it is having operations like fast and furious that are sending american weapons in mexico and falling in the hands of the carnel. >> greta: so what do s this motion? you look at two ways. one is our own national security having drugs come in the country, poison people on the street from coast to coast.

north to south. you have humanitarian issues with a lot of good mexican people caught in crossfire. >> 50,000 in the past five years killed in drug wars alone. >> how do you fix this? >> colombia gave us the solution. it's not president. you have to crush the drug cartel. it requires military action. >> explain it to me. secretary of state hillary clinton said a year-and-a-half -- he is said that mexico is like colombia of 20 years ago. both president obama and president calderon, they went, they rebuked her. for making that -- it was extraordinary. >> well, it's extraordinary when american president rebukes his own secretary of state in public. no doubt about it. it's delusional to think that what we see in mexico isn't s colombia 20 years ago. it's on the border. >> what was the motive for the rebuke? >> i can not imagine what obama had in mind. there was no point other than trying to lay the predicate the problem is lax american gun control laws. it's not drugs, it's gun

control laws. that is simply not true. >> greta: i can understand president calderon doing that. he doesn't want someone saying something insulting about his country. i got it. even though i don't agree with it. it's interesting that her statement that president obama actually stepped up and complained about it. >> this is the president's ideology at work overwhelming reality. he didn't want to acknowledge where the real problem lies. this shows why the security issue along the mexican border is real. his administration a few months ago ignited revolutionary guard conspiring to kill the audi ambassador -- saudi ambassador in washington using the mexican drug cartel. huge implications. >> greta: i don't get if you come in the country through jfk or miami airport which i have. i stand in line for, you know, two hours. yet you can cross the boarder in many part of the country without a passport or standing in line. >> get on a mule come in from mexico. >> greta: i think if i came

in through mexico i'd be in the united states by now. >> that is what what venezuelan and hezbollah and iranians figured out. if you use the mexican drug cartel you are more likely to get in without protection. deterioration of mexican civil society could have profound impact on united states. >> greta: we showed the map last friday night of what the state department issued about the dangers. anyway, ahh, sir. >> thank you. >> greta: straight ahead, a real-life linderella story. you heard me right. linderella. jeremy lin is taking the sports world and nation by storm. amazing story. what is the story of massachusetts healthcare? do they like it? is it working? we went to find out. plus, we want to know this, who pase for massachusetts healthcare? we know you want to know that. former health and human services secretary tommy sorenson goes on record. [ male announcer ] we know you don't wait

until the end of the quarter to think about your money... ♪ that right now, you want to know where you are, and where you'd like to be. we know you'd like to see the same information your advisor does so you can get a deeper understanding of what's going on with your portfolio. we know all this because we asked you, and what we heard helped us create pnc wealth insight, a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, so you can make better decisions and live achievement. a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, [ cat meows ] ♪ [ acoustic guitar: pop ] [ woman ] ♪ i just want to be okaarks ] ♪ be okay, be okay ♪ i just want to bekay today

- ♪ i just want to know today - [ whistles ] ♪ know today, kw today - [ cat mes ] - ♪ know thataybe i will be okay ♪ [ chimes ] trelers can he you protect the things you care about... and save money withulti-policy discounts. are you getting the coverage you need... and the discounts you deserve? for an agent or quote, call 800-my-coverage... or visit travelers.com. try bayer advanced aspirin. it has microparticles so it enters the bloodstream fast and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for excellent fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion, also refreshing plus tea. could've had a v8.

>> greta: it's everywhere. the linsanity is spreading and in just weeks, new york knicks point guard jeremy lin has gone from obscurity to stardom. he has led the struggling basketball team to win after win. so, how exactly did jeremy lin go from living on his brother's couch to making national headlines. "starts illustrated" senior writer lee jenkins join us.

lee, good evening. how did he go from living on brother's house to this? >> it's opportunity, greta. he didn't get an opportunity in golden state, didn't get one in houston. waved in both places. he got to a team where the coach trusted him. knicks had no point guard on the roster and they let him play. he has taken off with an offense that is a perfect fit for him. >> greta: it's perfect offense, is that why he is doing better for the knicks and not for another team? something special, i mean like he is shining there. >> right. he is. the way they run their offens offense, mike d'antoni is their coach. it's a lot of pick and roll. just like what steve nash did for phoenix and d'antoni is what lin is doing. what happened at golden state, he never had a chance. they had good point guards on the roster and he never got a chance to play. he goes to houston and the same thing happened. there were some scouts in the lower level of the n.b.a., developmental where lin felt as if he had great potential

but nobody expected this. >> greta: you know, i think what is interesting is it goes beyond the new york knicks the n.b.a. got off to a rather slow start shall we say. it's interesting because i hear more and more people now talking about the n.b.a. because of him. >> greta: yeah. no doubt. his jersey is the top seller on the n.b.a. >> you can't, usually in the n.b.a., the stars are stars for so long. the great players are sort of anointed when they are 12, 13, 14 years old. they go to big colleges. they are basketball factories and lottery picks. they hear about them forever tonight have an underdog story that commissioner david stern said is without precedent. in n.b.a. history, it it spikes interest in the game nationwide, worldwide even. >> greta: i think most people agree harvard is not known to be a basketball factory to use your term. that is his a what matte alma m. >> he got to harvard -- he went to high school in palo

alto and wasn't recruited by any of the west coast powers. goes to harvard, the strength coach there said he was one of the weakest player if not the weakest player over the come to harvard. he ended up having a great career there, but still not drafted. when the warriors got him a lot of people felt there was a publicity stunt designed to sell tickets. heavy asian-american market there. so really, it's the ultimate cinderella story. >> greta: lee, thank you. >> thanks, greta. appreciate it. >> greta: coming up, more of governor romney's toughest battles, fending off attacks on the massachusetts healthcare law. but is it working in massachusetts? we travel there to take a look at it. plus, we look deep in who is paying for it. driver racks up $20,000 in tickets and all pause of his vanity plates. what does the troublesome plate say? you have to see it to believe it. ♪

there's another way to minimize litter box odor: purina tidy cats. ti cats premium line of litters now works harder to help neutralize odors in multiple-cat homes. and our improved formula also helps eliminate dust. so it's easier than ever to keep your house smelling just the way you want it.

purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. oh there's tons. french presses, espresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships, anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that is easy. best news i've heard all day! i'm soooo amped! i mean not amped. excited. well, sort of amped. really kind of in between. have you ever thought about decaf? do you think that would help? yeah. priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $5.15, only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship.

and most importantly, its lobster. it's the tastiest, the sweetest, the freshest. nobody can ever get enough [ male announcer ] it's lobsterfest at red lobster, the one time of year you can savor 12 exciting lobster entrees like lobster lover's dream or new maine lobster and shrimp trio. [ laura ] hot, right out of the shell. i love lobster.

i'm laura mclennanfrom spru, and i sea food differently >> greta: winning in michigan means a great deal for governor mitt romney. but right now he is lagging behind senator santorum. what's up? why isn't governor mitt romney dominating in his home state of michigan? is it the constant attack on romneycare? is that holding him down? he signed the massachusetts healthcare law in 2006, and now his critics insist romneycare is just like president obama's national healthcare law. but is it? griff jenkins takes a closer look. >> on april 12, 2006, then governor mitt romney signed in to law the most comprehensive healthcare legislation in the nation. right here in boston salwell

hall. on that stage under the portrait of daniel webster in a ceremony for the revolutionary past. fundamental element of that law, individual mandate to purchase coverage or face penalty is the same one in president obama's healthcare law. which spurred a national debate and federal lawsuit. so we decided to come here to massachusetts to find out for you the truth about romneycare and how it compares to obamacare. >> i think it balances do you believe that the government has a role in making healthcare accessible to more people? >> brian mooney is a political reporter at the "boston globe." what is the truth about romneycare? everyone seems to be talking about it. so we came here to find out. what the real deal is. >> i mean the culture of massachusetts is a favorable environment for people who believe in, you know, near universal healthcare coverage. mitt was a republican coming in a democratic dominated state.

he applied interesting principles. he approached it as insurance reform. they spend medicaid and find a way to pay for it. he introduced four or five new elements that hadn't been done anywhere else. a lot of democrats were resistant at first, particularly with the individual mandate. democrats never favored that before. but eventually everyone sort of agreed everybody has to have skin in game. everybody has to give something. that was one of the tradeoffs at the end when it all happened in 2006. >> the number one result of romneycare, contrary to what mitt romney promised is that it is increasing healthcare costs. i's increasing health insurance premium and increasing healthcare spending in massachusetts. increasing government spending in massachusetts. >> mike is the director of health policy studies at cato institute. >> michael, what is the difference between romneycare and obamacare? >> they are almost exactly the same. both have individual mandate requiring people to purchase health insurance under fine or imprisonment. they have subsidy to help

people purchase the mandatory coverage. they both expand the government medicaid program, higher up the income scale. they tell everybody what kind of health insurance plan you have to purchase. every material way the laws are exactly the same. >> at a glance, here are the major similarities between the two laws. both establish an veg mandate. expand medicaid coverage. place requirements on employers. subsidize low-income residents, unable to meet medicaid and other requirements. and both create exchanges for choosing healthcare providers. >> but some say there are significant differences. tim murphy served as governor romney secretary of health and human services. >> the difference has fall on the a couple of categories. one is how it was financed. massachusetts didn't raise a tax, use its own resources, redirect existing money to change the pay in which healthcare was financed and

delivered and covered within the state. the federal law went and raised a bunch of taxes to be able to do that. so i would argue that they is a dig sant distinction -- significant distinction between the plans. massachusetts did a deregulation of insurance market to enable a number of people who buy health insurance on their own. the federal government is a big regulatory scheme they have now put in place across the state. in some ways the most breathtaking urseption of what has been the state regulatory authority and bring to washington. we didn't touch anything on that in massachusetts. we liberated the insurance companies to have more creative consumer directed plans. i think that is a significant distinction between the plans. so, in those regards,

regulatory and financing, they are fundamental very, very different plans. >> er victim a senior advisor to governor mitt romney. >> when you drill it down, they focus on the individual mandate. people point to governor romney, romneycare as an individual mandate. but you gays, governor romney doesn't see his individual mandate here as the same as obama applying to the nation. >> there are two issues with respect to the mandate. the first is a constitutional issue. the federal constitution limits the powers of the federal government. states do not operate under those limitations. so there is a tenth amendment issue about what the constitution permits the federal government to do in terms of imposing nationwide mandate like they did. secondly, the mandate we put in place here in massachusetts was intended to address a peculiar issue to massachusetts, which was a very small but stubborn group

of uninsured people who could afford to buy insurance on their own. but they were not doing that. so when they got sick or they broke a leg or had a heart attack, they would be going to a hospital knowing that their healthcare would be paid by the taxpayers. what romney said was no more free ride. there is an important principle of personal responsibility at stake in what was happening here in massachusetts. so, we require people to step up and take responsibility for their healthcare. it worked for us. but again, what works in massachusetts may not work in a state which has a larger number of uninsured. it wouldn't work in texas for instance, where the uninsured population is 25%. of the people there. here we were dealing with 7%. so it was easy for to us do it. we had a source of financing that did not require us to raise taxes. it works. people in massachusetts are pleased with it. but again, it's not necessarily the answer for the

rest of the country. >> greta: coming up, massachusetts did not raise taxes to pay for the healthcare law. so, where did the money come from? you may be surprised to hear that you the federal taxpayer helped pay for it. so how did you enup footing the bill? former health and human services secretary tommy thompson goes on the record next. one speed limit sign creating danger? you will see why drivers are slowing down and seeing red. ♪ i'm making my money do more.

i'm consolidating my assets. i'm not paying hidden fees or high commissions. i'm making the most of my money. and seven-dollar trades are just the start. i'm with scottrade. i'm with scottrade. i'm with scottrade. and i'm loving every minute of it. [ rodger riney ] at scottrade, we give you commission-free etfs, no-fee iras and more. come see why more investors are saying... i'm with scottrade. e e e e e what it's like are saying... when my tempurpedic moves? [ male announcer ] why not talk to someone who owns an adjustable version of the most highly recommended bed in america? ask me about my tempur advanced ergo. goes up. ask me what it's like to get a massage anytime you want. goes down. [ male announcer ] tempurpedic brand owners are more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. ergonomics. [ male announcer ] tempurpedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. it's the perfect time to save up to $200 on your own ergo. find out more at tempurpedic.com.

[ roger ] tell me you have go insurance. yup, i've got... [ dennis ] ...allstate. really? i was afraid you'd have some cut-rate policy. [ kyle ] nope, i've got... [ dennis ] ...the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance -- and you still get an allstate agent. i too have... [ dennis ] ...allstate. [ roger ] same agent and everything. [ kyle ] it's like we're connected. no we're not. yeah, we are. no...we're not. ♪ the allstate value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate.

why you fell in love with her in the first place. and why you still feel the same. but your erectile dysfunction -- that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like neing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure.

do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash,ives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or diffilty breathing orllowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask youroctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. >> greta: did you pay for the massachusetts healthcare plan even if you don't live there? former h.h.s. secretary tommy thompson is here in 60 seconds but first to the new york newsroom where patti ann brown has the headlines. >> hello. f.b.i. sting leads to arrest of a moroccan man suspected of plotting out suicide mission on capitol hill. counterterrorism official says khalifi was busted after accepting what he thought was

a gun and suicide vest from undercover f.b.i. agent. the 29-year-old faces charges of knowingly an unlawfully attempting to use a weapons of mass destruction against u.s. property. maryland is now one step closer to legalizing same-sex marriage. the state delegate passed the measure today. legislation now heads to the state senate. this come on the same day that new jersey governor chris christie veto his state's gay marriage bill. christie says he wants voters to decide whether new jersey should change the definition of marriage. i'm patti ab brown. >> greta: in a grand ceremony in boston, governor mitt romney signed the massachusetts healthcare law in 2006. now six years later in 2012, he is fighting attacks on the signature legislation. one of the burning questions, who really paid for the massachusetts healthcare plan? turns out it was you, the taxpayer. not just the massachusetts taxpayer. but the nation's taxpayer helped out. that's right. even if you don't live in massachusetts you helped pay for it. how did that happen?

we ask former health and human services secretary tompmy thompson. i want to take you to january 14, 2005. your last day as secretary of h.h.s., right? >> correct. >> greta: you had a very important meeting that day with governor mitt romney of massachusetts. then governor and senator edward kennedy, u.s. senator from the state. tell me what happened. what the purpose of that meeting was. >> the purpose was the see whether or not i would approve a waiver for the state of massachusetts to try something new in healthcare. and it's also the way that i was able to when i was governor get welfare reform started. president clinton and newt gingrich take credit for it, but it was started in wisconsin. did the same thing in wisconsin getting a waiver from them, secretary s he i she.

>> greta: did any other state get waiver? >> massachusetts is the only one that asked for the waiver. that's the way the waiver process is. a state comes in with an idea and innovative idea and has to get approval to waive federal laws to do something different. that is what ed kennedy, senator kennedy and governor romney wanted to do. >> greta: all right. reported being a two-hour meeting. were you hard to convince? >> it was a meeting but also not only on that waiver, it was also going away party put on by the staff. i was called away. and ted kennedy came up and also spoke at the going away party by all of the staff. it was not all two hours on that waiver. it was about a 45-minute discussion on the waiver. >> greta: all right. as i understand it, correct me if i'm wrong, as a result of the waiver was it about $583 million went to the state of massachusetts to help them with their healthcare? >> no, it was $582 million that was already in the state of massachusetts.

the state of massachusetts had saved other federal programs. wanted to use that money for trying something new on healthcare. the same way i was able to save money under the welfare by changing it and went to donna shelela and got waiver for healthcare reform in wisconsin. >> greta: if you haldn't have gotten the waiver what happened to the money? >> gone back to treasury. >> greta: something they wanted to hang on to? >> absolutely. >> greta: no other state came and asked for the same deal. >> no other state asked for a deal like that. i was very big on waivers. i always believed that states should have the opportunity to try something new. that is where the laboratories of democracy, that's where we get real new innovative ads. we did that in wisconsin. i had more waivers than any other governor in wisconsin and massachusetts applied if arrest waiver. i was very big on giving states the opportunity to try

something new. >> greta: did any other state as you recall while secretary actually give money back to the federal government? $583 million is not insignificant sum. was money coming in the treasury from the other state? >> well, it depends whether or not the states were able to save money. this is money that was saved. from federal programs. that they were going to use for new programs. that is how it came about. >> greta: other states -- >> other states had not saved the money or applied for it. >> greta: why was massachusetts able to save the money? going back to 1997 they had been getting, senator kennedy worked with then governor weld. >> a program called disproportionate share. the state of massachusetts got underway. the united states senate and they tightened the rules and the laws on disproportionate

share. they want to take money saving on the disproportionate share and use it for healthcare. that is how the state of massachusetts was able to get that money. >> all right. for lack of better words, but kind of, is it fair to say that going back to 1997, that massachusetts had sort of a special deal? from -- no? >> no. >> greta: going back to '97? >> i would say at that time from 1997, up until about 2004, i would say about 22 states had the same deal. >> greta: all right. so then, senator -- >> i'm not sure on that. >> greta: give -- >> it was two dozen states. >> greta: the reason i am asking is as i see it, this decision was very influential. the decision that you made with senator kennedy. and governor romney at the time. was instrumental in massachusetts being able to do their healthcare reform. is that -- you agree? >> correct. >> greta: that money they used was money that they had

saved, with the federal funds so they were saying can we hang on to this money. >> correct. >> greta: without that money, they could not have done their healthcare as they did it. it would result in a raising of taxes or some other -- >> true. >> greta: okay. they would not have had that money but for going back to about 1997, when senator kennedy and then governor wells met with clinton administration. and was among the 22 states that got that disproportionate share. >> correct. >> greta: so basically, the other states do the math. essentially a little bit funded what has happened in massachusetts. healthcare. yeah. we have all did. all of the states did. all federal dollars. you don't know where the federal tax dollars are going. federal dollars in massachusetts, but massachusetts saved money. and then they said let's try something else. >> greta: the money they saved was from the 22 state deal to begin with. with.. >> from disproportionate share, which is an allowance that federal government allowed states that had

individuals, lot of poor people applying for healthcare. and was not able to afford it. in the federal congress, allowing them to apply for it. >> greta: it seems to me, though, that to those who are talking about the success of massachusetts healthcare program, it would not be solvent but for health of the federal government. >> true but you can make that argument about any federal program. >> right. if you expand it to a national healthcare program we don't have outside source to fund the national healthcare. that the federal did to fund massachusetts. >> correct. >> i suppose it wouldn't fair to say the success of massachusetts could be seen as success of the united states. >> it was a completely different program. >> greta: funding massachusetts, seat money came from everybody else. >> correct. from the federal taxpayers. >> greta: since the $583 million, i realize you're

no longer the secretary, but are they still getting help from the federal government for healthcare program? >> i'm sure they are. >> greta: to a greater extent than other states would be? >> i'm not sure about that. i don't know. this was a pilot program. to allow state of massachusetts try something new in healthcare. same way i was given the same permission from the federal government to try something new in wisconsin for welfare reform. >> greta: to the extent that anyone says massachusetts was a healthcare program and successful because it didn't require raising taxes, be a little bit of a stretch in my mind if we get funds from the federal taxpayers to fund it. in yours or not? >> i think it is. >> greta: because the rest of us funded it? >> federal taxpayers did. sure. but that's what you do. when you want to try something new. you look at ways to fund a new program, that is what the federal government and the states did. that's where we set up constitution of states right and allow states to be laboratories of democracy.

we wouldn't have welfare reform if i didn't have the welfare waiver. >> greta: if massachusetts, if we tried massachusetts in every state, would we be able to do it financially, juggle it? give states their seed money? >> i don't think so. that's why the obamacare law is not going to be able to stand the test of fiscal sanity. that's why the obama laws have to be repealed. >> greta: straight ahead, how do you rack up $20,000 in tickets? do you have to be a really bad driver? well, one driver found another way. his story is next. also, you will never believe who just had a baby. we're going to tell you. you will see the adorable baby pictures. you don't want to miss it. [ male announcer ] got a cold? [ sniffles ] not sure what to take? click on the robitussin® relief finder. click on your symptoms. get your right relief. makes the cold aisle easy. robitussin®. relief made simple.

lord of the carry-on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can en take a full-size or above. and still pay th mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro.

>> greta: you have seen the top story but here is the best of the rest. unusual speed limit sign may cause danger, not prevent it. it's in a school zone in suburban detroit. the problem is it lists six separate times when drivers should slow down on school days. is it so con puseing that drivers almost have to stop to read it. the town is planning a meeting to discuss the sign's future. driver in washington, d.c., is facing a different problem. danny white vanity plate earned him $20,000 in tickets. why? his license plate says no

tags. when police write a ticket for a license plate they enter no tags in the computer and it assigns those tickets to white's car. that is a left to tickets. luckily, white has been able to get most dismissed. take a look at the adorable baby pictures. this baby gorilla is the ne newest addition to the pittsburgh zoo. they don't know the baby's gender so it doesn't have a name yet. it weighs between flee and five pounds and the first gorilla born at the zoo since 2001. other gorillas are keeping respectful distance but human visitors can see the baby. there you have it. the best of the rest. coming up, last call. one more quick round before we turn off the lights. are you a good writer? if so, maybe they could use your help in the west wing. recruiter jimmy fallon will explain next.

♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

hey. did you guys hear... ...that mary got engaged? that's so 42 seconds ago. thanks for the flowers guys. [ both ] you're welcome. oooh are you guys signing up for the free massage? [ both ] so 32 seconds ago. hey guys you hear frank's cat is sick? yeah, we heard. wanna sign the card? did you know the guys from china are in the office... [ speaking chinese ] [ male announcer ] stay a step ahead with the 4g lte galaxy s ii skyrocket. only from at&t. ♪

[ horn honks ] ♪ oh,hose were the best of days ♪ ♪ still feel the summer rays ♪ that graced our backs as we went down the lane ♪ [ horn honks ] [ male announcer ] when youcar is more than just a car to you, the right insurance matters. aryou getting the coverage options you need and the discounts you deserve? for an agent or quote, call 800-my-coverage or visit travelers.com. [♪...] >> i wish my patients could see what i see. that over time, having high cholesterol, plus diabetes or high blood pressure or family history of early heart disease, can put them at increased risk for plaque buildup. and they'd see that it's more important to get their cholesterol where their doctor wants. and why for these patients, when diet and exercise alone aren't enough, i prescribe crestor. adding crestor lowers bad

cholesterol by up to 52%. and is also proven to slow plaque buildup. >> announcer: crestor is not right for everyone. like people with liver disease or women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. simple blood tests will check for liver problems. tell your doctor about other medicines you're taking or if you have muscle pain or weakness. that could be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. >> is your cholesterol where your doctor wants? ask your doctor if crestor is right for you. >> announcer: if you can't afford your medication, astra zeneca may be able to help. [ male announcer ] we know you don't wait until the end of the quarter to think about your money... ♪ that right now, you want to know where you are, and where you'd like to be. we know you'd like to see the same information your advisor does so you can get a deeper understanding of what's going on with your portfolio. we know all this because we asked you, and what we heard helped us create pnc wealth insight, a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, so you can make better decisions and live achievement.

>> greta: 11:00 is almost here, flash studio lights it's time for last call. and if president ob wrauma has his message, jimmy fallon thinks so. >> president obama says ask what you can do to bring jobs back to your country and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed. and then, does anyone know a good speech writer? >> maybe one of jimmy's writers can help the president? i don't know. lights and blinking and we're closing down shop. be sure to watch president george hw bush this sunday on fox news channel. right now, you make sure you go to greta wire.com. ther