if you don't do anything about it you're going to be accused of essentially hurting the unemployed and the same thing's going to happen if you do put it on the floor and your conservatives vote it down. >> john boehner all eyes on you. nbc's kasie hunt, thanks. >> thank you. >> luke russert is in for me tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. eastern. "the ed show" is up next. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" live from detroit. let's get to work. >> on the internal bridgegate investigation. >> are a vindication of governor christie and what he said all along. >> all i know is i don't know. >> it's a search for the truth. >> they couldn't get everybody in this. they couldn't get the most crucial player. >> i refuse to be interviewed. >> we believe we had got on the truth. >> if they weren't interviewed, how do you come to that conclusion? >> are you stupid? on topic. on topic.

>> does this end here? >> there are other investigations that will make findings after we are done. >> this is over. >> finished yet, guys? >> you were widely thought of as a strong presidential contender. >> mm-hmm. >> is it something you still think about? >> sure. >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. we'll start with a number tonight because it's a number that very few people in this country thought we were going to reach. the breaking news at this hour is that the affordable care act has reached 6 million sign-ups. to me i think this is amazing. when you consider the countless hours on right-wing radio, 600 stations across the country that basically did a jihad on obamacare, fox news, segment after segment after segment, how bad obamacare is, hundreds of millions of dollars have been thrown at the american people about how bad it is and it's not going to work.

the negativity coming from boehner, and the countless hours that have been spent on the house floor just jamming the law. and of course the bad rollout. let's go back to the bad rollout. let's go back to october 21st when president obama said this -- >> nobody's madder than me about the fact that the website isn't working as well as it should, which means it's going to get fixed. >> well, it got fixed. who would have ever thought at this point in time we'd be at 6 million sign-ups? call this what it is. it is an amazing turnaround and i will tell you what, president obama's got major credibility with a lot of americans. he said it was going to get fixed. it did. i think it might even hit 7 million? we've got some other major news involving new jersey governor chris christie's bridgegate scandal. if you haven't seen enough bridgegate coverage, stay tuned. you know, we've been talking about chris christie for a number of years here on "the ed

show" because of his philosophy and the way he treats people. now i've learned one thing about this guy. this is a guy that is not an honest broker. you condition believe what he says. tonight we have more proof that christie can't be trusted! earlier today, cristy's own internal investigation shockingly revealed that the governor, he had no knowledge whatsoever of his aides closing george washington bridge lanes. >> we found that governor christie had no knowledge before hand of this george washington bridge realignment idea and that he played no role whatsoever in that decision or the implementation of it. we further found no evidence that anyone in the governor's office besides bridget kelly knew of this idea in advance or

played any role in the decision or the implementation of it. >> we found? who's we? give me a break. i find it hard to believe there was only one person in cristy's office who knew and orchestrated the closure. this report is most likely flawed. there are disturbing connections between christie and the law firm he hired for the investigation. as you can see at the podium, cristy's administration hired the law firm gibson dunn to investigate his involvement in the bridge scandal. well, it turns thought law firm has quite a history with the governor of new jersey. as lee fong of the republican e report dot-org points out, lawyers from gibson dunn made two donations to cristy's campaign in early 2013. there is no proof these lawyers actually worked on christie's investigation, but the connection exists. gibson done has also done legal work for the governor in the

past. now, "the new york times" reports a parter in at the firm who was involved in the investigation is a friend of christie's. so what do you think? we should also note that i didn't seeie paid $1 million of taxpayer money to this law firm for the investigation. so new jersey state democrats are questioning at this hour the validity of the investigation all together. state assembly man john wisniewski says the investigation is incomplete. he said gibson dunn never spoke to three major players in the scandal. they are bridge et ann kelly, bill stepien and also david wildstein. wisniewski told the "star-ledger," "it does not include information from ms. kelly. it can't be a complete investigation." assembly man wisniewski is absolutely right. there's no way christie can be cleared without bridget kelly's testimony. she was the key person who orchestrated the closures. meanwhile, christie's investigation also cleared him

of any wrongdoing in allegations that he used hoboken's sandy aid as a bargaining chip for a development project. >> we find that mayor zimmer's allegations, that members of the christie administration, delivered a message from the governor to her threatening hoboken's sandy aid unless she supported a private development project. r not only unsubstantiated they are demonstrably false in material respects. mayor zimmer's subjective perceptions do not match the objective reality reflected in the hard evidence that we uncovered during our investigation. >> well, how about that. everything is just magically working out for our good old buddy chris christie, all in his favor. christie is getting out ahead of other investigations.

he's whitewashing his record before it can be tarnished any further. right now cristy's not looking vulnerable because he's winning the narrative. here's where he is vulnerable as i see it. he loves to attack unions. he doesn't like workers. he's not for the minimum wage. he's fired teachers, gone after public education, plays games with pension, he crushes infrastructure projects. i mean, and of course the guy's personality, we know he's not a bully. he's just an all-around nice guy all the time and he has the demeanor that we really want for commander in chief. this guy is not helping the middle class. he never has. christie got out ahead of the state investigative panel and i think it's time the state investigators quit dragging their feet and release their findings. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question -- do you think chris christie cooked the investigation? a for yes, b for no to 67622.

you can also go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. for me e, ring of fire radio host and america's attorney mike papantonio and nbc political analyst and analyst jonathan alter. great to have you both here. mike, you first. is this standard operating procedure that you have your friends investigate the possibility of any wrongdoing or involvement in a major scandal? do you think this investigation is legitimate? >> it's the equivalent of having dick cheney investigate george bush for the failures in iraq. look, new jersey just squandered a million dollars, paying a law firm that was handpicked by chris christie, personal friends of chris christie, professional friends that money has exchanged hands on several different occasions. of course he's going to pick these folks. this was never intended to be an investigation. this was a hit piece, a tabloid cheap hit piece on all of chris christie's enemies.

it starts with ann kelly. they attacked ann kelly by making her look like she was some rogue oddball who had personal issues and family issues and romantic sh shoes that for some reason caused her to secret skretly engineer this entire scam without chris christie not knowing about it. then athai attack mayor zimmer, the same thing, another enemy. this is an enemy hit piece in what they tried to do, ed, quickly, is they tried to add some credibility to it by talking about this conversation that wildstein talks about where chris christie supposedly heard something. they know that that's not going to go anywhere but it adds credibility to -- it almost makes it look like this was a legitimate investigation and it's anything but that. no serious media outlet could possibly take this seriously. >> jonathan alter, how can they say the governor's done nothing wrong without interviewing the key players? how can they deem this a complete investigation with key players not being interviewed? >> well, they can't. i mean, i wish if i had brought

a prop, you know, i have some whitewash so i could demonstrate what this report is really like. i mean, it's a little bit like getting johnnie cochran to issue a report on o.j. simpson's innocence, you know? there are close relations between governor christie and former mayor giuliani and mastro is former deputy mayor of new york. these two political outfits are closely aligned with each other so this was kind of a useless investigation from the start. fortunately, we have the u.s. attorney for new jersey who is going to be issuing, you know, his findings before too long and the new jersey state legislature as an investigation. so we'll get closer to the truth as time goes on. but there were a couple of things in the report, however, matters of fact that in a 300-plus-page report that were interesting and should lead to some other disclosures down the

road. the first is that wildstein, david wildstein, told governor christie on september 11th during the shutdown of these lanes and on the memorial -- at the memorial for the september 11th terrorist attack, that this was a problem. the reason that that's significant -- christie's allies are confirming in this report. the reason that that's significant is that there is almost no evidence of chris christie probing his own administration to find out whether this was true or not. in other words, what would a responsible governor do? he had from september all the way to january to get to the billion bottom of this and he didn't do so. it doesn't matter whether he knew in advance or not, ed. this is a phony question. nixon didn't know about watergate in advance. it's the cover-up that is always the big problem, and that

remains an open question tonight, what happened after the shutdown of those lanes. >> excellent point. mike, the lawyers from gibson dunn donated to christie's campaign. this law firm is connected at the hip financially. is this a conflict of interest? >> well, i don't know that it's a conflict of interest. it certainly doesn't help p credibility of the report when you look at the relationship between chris christie and debra yang, his top partner with that law firm, when you look at the fact that the donations were made, when you look at the fact that money exchanged hands between chris christie's administration and this law firm. there's no way that, again, a serious media outlet can can look at this and say that this is anything but a hoax. and so, you know, as you look at this report to me, things like mentioning in the report that oh by the way chris christie started crying when he heard about his team being involved in engineering this bridge scandal, i mean, how ridiculous. and every other word is an

attack on somebody who was an enemy of this man. the problem, ed, you know what it is, is he's controlling the narrative and the other side is not. the narrative is being established by chris christie. this report is a vehicle to further that narrative and the other side seems to be sitting on their hands and not taking control of the narrative. you watch what they do -- >> well, my -- >> what about -- >> okay. go ahead. >> i'm just saying, mike, and ed, i wouldn't worry about the narrative because, you know, the fat lady hasn't taken the stage yet, right? this thing's going on for a while. paul fishman, the u.s. attorney in new jersey, is a very, very experienced and good prosecutor. and so he has a lot of -- >> i think what mike is talking about is the arena of public opinion. >> it doesn't matter. i mean, because, you know, the wheels of justice can grind

slowly but they do grind. and so, you know, whether he has a good day or a bad day in the media, you know, in march of 2014 isn't really significant. what's important is what are these investigations going to show at the end of 2014 going into, you know, the new election season. i don't think it's going to be good news for chris christie. >> okay. so the state investigators, they're going to take a heck of a lot longer. we don't know when they're going to be done with their work. they have gone on record saying they believe this is incomplete. mike, i want to ask you, what about the credibility of the law firm? why would they go out on a limb like this to do this without being -- without them being tarnished if this reverses on them, if we do find out later on. i mean, is it their reputation at stake here somewhat? >> not really. look, this is a law firm where one of the senior partners handled the bush v. gore case that if you take a look at the history of this law firm, they

handle the big cases, they handle the big, ugly cases, i might point out. go online, take a look at the chevron case where they remitted chevron down in nicaragua. take a look at -- ecuador, excuse me. the dole case they handled in nicaragua. these are big, big kinds of case where is they make big, big money. this is an issue that is just not that important from the standpoint of the reputation. i thought one thing they did was -- that is important to talk about, they took 70 statements and they tried to make it look like we did that for completeness. they took those 70 statements to hold those people's position if in the future they'd come back and any of those 70 people had anything to add to the fact that christie might have been involved in this, they have the statement, something to impeach with him, something to attack him with. if you read this carefully, this textbook methodology for getting ready for big fight. >> in the meantime, jonathan

alter, finally it looks like chris christie this day is walking tall and feeling good about things. >> well, i mean, look, he's been exonerated by his friends. and so he'll try to sustain that a lilt bit. it doesn't help him in the long run and the short run is not meaningful because there's not an election right around the corner. >> all right, gentlemen. mike papantonio, jonathan alter, great to have you on "the ed show." thanks so much. answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen, share your thoughts with us. always want to know what you think. coming up, an unprecedented labor ruling grants college athletes the right to unionize. key players in this case join me exclusively to discuss what this means for students across the country involved in athletics. but first, 12 pinocchios in 12 months. oversight dems are fed up with darrell issa's lies.

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...there's a lot of buyers for a house like yours. (dad) that's good to know. (mom) i'm so excited. time now nor the trernds on social media. you can check us out on twitter @edshow and on the radio monday through friday sirius xm 127. noon to 3:00 p.m. and the ed show media social nation has decided, thanks for joining, what we're talking about. here are today's top trenders. >> hi, hundred mee np i'm home. >> minnesota nice. >> people want to know what it's like to do the show in the north country. >> welcome to "the ed show" live in detroit lakes, minnesota, in the north country. i'm getting to work in detroit lakes. >> nice ride.

>> the number two trender. stone cold. >> the wbh gubernatorial forum just wrapped up. >> the governorings by leadership. i hope i've demonstrated that leadership. >> a massachusetts gubernatorial candidate more than passes the test for the nomination. >> i have a little bit of news to break about the debate. steve grossman, the treasurer, is passing a kidney stone. >> that's a horribly unattractive thing to announce to everybody. >> i thought it was especially fiery today. >> is that more information than the viewers need? >> you cannot pass! >> and today's top trender, issa. >> tools in congress are limbed. >> what would you say you do here? >> seeking the truth is the obligation of this committee. >> dems want darrell issa to take his sights off his baseless benghazi investigation. >> the oversight committee has

been very busy. >> you have come under fire both in the irs and benghazi for political witch hundreds. >> mr. chairman cannot run the meeting like this. >> sometimes the biggest tool we have is to shame the administration. that's not our goal. >> so what's your point? >> we want the facts. we're entitled to the facts. >> joining me tonight congressman elijah cummings of maryland. he is a ranking member of the house oversight committee. congressman, great to have you with us tonight. you can go down the list, you've got fast and furious, you've got irs, you've got benghazi. and darrell issa's got nothing to show for it. it's a waste of taxpayer dollars at this point. the only thing the guy has done is cut jobs at the postal service. how would you characterize this man's leadership? >> i think it's very unfortunate and i think it's a waste of opportunity to do the things that are right for the american people. our committee is oversight and

government reform. we're supposed to go out there and find the facts with regard to problems that might be happening in government and then try to address them. but it seems to be this is all about a witch-hunt. that's one of the reasons why the 17 democrats on the oversight committee sent darrell issa a letter with regard to benghazi telling him after a year and a half they still seem to be pounding on benghazi but they're not addressing the issues that came out of all of the research that was done with regard to what happened in benghazi. there were 23 recommendations, ed, and we rarely talk about those. recommendations with regard to training, security, funding for capital projects. we don't even talk about it. we are steadily trying i think, it appears, seems to want to be trying to tarnish hillary clinton in anticipation of her run for president in 2016. >> what do you make of his comment?

he says that the best tool they have sometimes is to shame the administration. >> well, clearly his position has been to go out there and try to connect the white house to some kind of scandal. he's done it over and over again, with irs, tried to do it with benghazi, fast and furious, on and on and on. and he makes these accusations and in most instances with no accuracy. and no facts to back him up. then he moves on to the next untruth that he wants to tell. we see it over and over again. that's why we've got the 12 pinocchios. that's probably a record number. >> yeah. you know, he says the public is entitled to the truth. is there anything about benghazi that we don't know about? has the public -- do we know

everything we need to know and everything that there is to know about benghazi? >> i tell you, we have done numerous interviews, talked to admiral mullen and ambassador pickeri pickering, two wonderful gentlemen who researched this with the board, they looked into it. i think they've put all the information out there. and by the way, the armed services committee, the republican-led armed services committee came out and said that a lot -- some of these allegations that chairman issa has been making saying that hillary clinton told secretary panetta to stand down instead of sending troops to help out front, they've already said -- these are republicans who said that it was not accurate, that it never happened, but yet still chairman issa wants to continue down this road. this is so sad because we could be doing so much more. >> we really could. it just goes to show how powerful some people in congress

can be and how they can sb be a spoke in the wheel. the congressman accusing you of being uncooperative. listen to this. >> we've had very little cooperation at all from elijah cummings on any investigation. he seems to think that either they're phenomenonny or they need to end in about a week to a month. >> what's your response to that, congressman? >> i have over and over said to chairman isa and our committee, i want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. and, ed, i don't have any problem. there's nothing i have seen that i don't think should be revealed to the american public. i think they need to see it. it's chairman isa that holds back transcripts that are exculpatory of the administration when he's trying to accuse the administration of doing something wrong. so, no, i think what happens to chairman issa in my search for the truth, he then confuses with obstruction. i'm just searching for the truth. i've said it and i mean it, i want to go where the facts lead

us. but now we're on some witch-hunt in the forest somewhere and hearing after hearing after hearing and it's gotten to be ridiculous almost. >> yeah. congressman, just before you go, i want to switch subjects quickly. i want your gut reaction to the news that there are 6 million people that have signed up for the affordable care act. considering where we were in october and the mix-up of the website, the president said it was going to be corrected, what's your dwut feeling tonight about that number? >> i am elated. but you know what, ed, i think we'll do better. we had an event in my district on the weekend, 600 people show up, we'll have thousands at another event saturday signing up. i think we're going to approach seven. >> great to have you with us tonight. appreciate your time. >> good to be with you. >> you bet. coming up, football players at northwestern university win the right to unionize. key players in the case weigh in on the future of college

athletics exclusively here on "the ed show." plus, georgia's epic battle for health care. one republican state senator is fighting against his own party and fighting for medicaid expansion. he joins me live with his unusual take on the issue. but next, i'm taking your questions. ask ed live coming up. this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location.

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welcome back to "the ed show." tonight we've got some major news on labor rights in the world of college athletics. we know how much money's floating around. where is it going? this is big. the national labor relations board in chicago has ruled football players at northwestern university are employees of the school and can unionize. this ruling is an unprecedented victory for college athletes. it could lead to the formation of the first college players union in sports history. now, if the ruling is upheld and players vote to create a union, the ripple effect could change the landscape of college sports. northwestern university says it will appeal the decision.

the issue of college athlete unionization has been a hot issue for a long time, all the way back to 1997. the national collegiate players association has long championed rights for college athletes. the group has helped northwestern football players in their fight to unionize. their concerns are very simple. they want the full cost of scholarships covered. they want athletes to have rights to their names, image, and likeness. the group wants to minimize college athletes' brain trauma risks such as concussions, and they want to prevent players from being stuck paying sports-related medical expenses. this is the big one. they also want to prohibit universities from using permanent injuries during athletics as a reason to eliminate a player's scholarship. now, that list i think is far from being radical. college athletics generes massive amounts of money and the

players are being left behind. players put their minds and their bodies at risk, not the ncaa. in 2012, the ncaa put a record amount of revenue at $841 million. it distributed $522 million to division i schools that played in the march madness men's basketball tournament. in 2010 the ncaa reached a 14-year $10.8 billion deal with cbs network and turner broadcasting to cover the basketball tournament known traditionally as march madness. that's $770 million a year. the facts are simple. student-athletes are doing all the work and putting their bodies at risk as the ncaa rakes in all the cash. it's wrong and the chicago labor board's decision is the first step i think in the right direction. joining me tonight are the key players in our rapid response panel. kain colter. he is a former northwestern

quarterback who led his team in voicing their concerns. also with us tonight the president of the college athletes players association known as capa. thanks for joining us. kain, what are the concerns of the players and why did you decide to do this? >> the number-one concern for us is that we don't have a voice and we don't have a seat at the table right now. you know, all these rules and regulations are formed by the ncaa and these conferences and we have no input in that. nobody comes and asks the players how do you feel about this, how do you feel you should fit into the equation? and yesterday's decision was a huge step in the path for players to have that voice and to have that seat at the table. >> ramow, you have been working on this since 1997. what are you trying to accomplish for the players? what has to be done? >> i think exactly what kain said. they need a say when it comes to issues when it comes to their

physical, academic, financial well-being. 60 years ago the ncaa invented the term student-athlete because it didn't want to pay workers' compensation and it did this to avoid this ruling that would someday come. yesterday it came. it's a big testament to the leadership from kain colter and the courage from the northwestern football players. this will give the players the leverage they need to protect themselves. >> so, this ruling by the nlrb says that the players at northwestern, they're employees. what does that mean? >> it means they have rights. it means they have the right to form a union if they want to form a union. this could lead to players enjoying workers' compensation protections. you know, right now when a player's injured in school colors during a game, the ncaa is not obligated and beneath rer the schools to pay one penny in medical expenses much less the former players who might need surgery downs the line and really if these players are

successful in joining a union and forming it by law the employer has to sit down and negotiate and say, you know, you have a seat at the table, this is a partnership, and let's discuss your future. at the end of the day, their future is the most important thing to them and their physical, financial, and academic well-being is a big part of that. >> 17,000 athletes across america division i are a member of capa. kain, a lot of people are saying this is all about the money. what's your response to that? >> you know, if you go on our webpage or if you've heard us talk before, not once have we said that our objective was pay for play or to fill the players' wallets. as we said numerous times, this is all about getting players a voice. and right now, you know, even if we, you know, are successful in winning the appeal, we still have to operate under the ncaa's, you know, rules. we can't negotiate for anything outside of that. so, you know, right now it's all about, you know, insuring that the best things and the basic

protects for all these players, it's not a money thing and, you know, it's discouraging when people make it into that. >> is the main issue here that if a player gets hurt they're basically kicked under the bus, there's no medical coverage, liability at all for years to come? this if there's a terrible injury and also it's one-year scholarships? what about that? >> you know, obviously medical is our main objective and as he said, in sport, injury is a part of the game and, you know, when you sacrifice so much, you know, your mind and your body for your school, you would hope that you ear not going to be stuck with your medical bills. unfortunately, that's not always the case. especially for players, you know, who don't have any more eligibility, you know, if there's, you know, suffering from past injuries and chronic pain, if they need something down the road they're all on their own. for me and ramoghy and a bunch of players across the nation we

done feel that's right and there definitely needs to be a change. and, you know, all we're about is setting up these players for success. you know, down the road, far past their playing days. we need to support them academically, medically, and financially. >> what about the concussions? has the ncaa not done enough in your opinion and more has to be done here? and what would you like to see have done? >> obviously there's mounting evidence of the long-term health effects of traumatic brain injury in contact sports, especially football. we saw the nfl players union negotiate some very good protects on the nfl level. unfortunately, ncaa sports is running away from the issue, and in fact in litigation against concussion, its legal defense on this issue, and this is a quote, is that the ncaa has no legal duty to protect student/athletes. that's the ncaa's position. and it's unacceptable. we have players putting their bodies at risk every game and every practice.

you know, last year had they taken one of the steps, for instance, reducing contact in practices like the nfl, that would have reduced the chances of players sustaining these long-term risks. but instead of sitting down at the table with us, we're met with closed doors. it's not an topgs continue operating that way when the stakes are so high. >> ramogi, what do you say when the people who are against your position say, well, you know, the players choose to play and they do get a scholarship far year? i mean, they choose to do this? >> yeah, you know, every job in america is voluntary. you know, every employee in america voluntarily goes to work. it's always a choice. but that doesn't mean they have to sacrifice their protections under labor laws. you know, and, you know, they do get a scholarship and that's the point. that's why we won this decision. they get a scholarship but it's not a gift. it's not charity. these players must play football or basketball or their sport. it's a requirement for them to continue receiving that money and if they voluntarily withdraw, the money is gone. it's much different than the

average academic scholarship. >> kain colter, how excited are the players at northwestern that this was the ruling? >> they're definitely excited. you know, obviously they put their trust in us and our lawyers to get the job done and, you know, i was excited to break the news to some of them. you know, a lot of them are on spring break right now, but the ones i talked to, you know, they're very excited. i think we're all excited to see the changes that will come from it. >> well, this could spread throughout all of college athletics. this could be a rather amazing development. and finally, mr. huma, does the ncaa, does major college football, basketball have enough money to cover all of the things that you think need to be done? >> absolutely. they've already had enough money. it's just lack of will, a lack of priority. and on top of that there's $1.2 billion in brand-new revenue coming in every single year. those are substantial resources that can be redirected for medical expenses and degree

completion, things that we've been advocating for. >> all right. kain colter from northwestern, former quarterback for that great university and ramogi huma, who's been working on this since 1997, gentlemen, congratulations. all the best to you. coming up, a louisiana congressman calls his constituents ill literal. pretenders is next on "the ed show." about retirement. a 401(k) is the most sound way to go. let's talk asset allocation. sure. you seem knowledgeable, professional. would you trust me as your financial advisor? i would. i would indeed. well, let's be clear here. i'm actually a dj. [ dance music plays ] [laughs] no way! i have no financial experience at all. that really is you? if they're not a cfp pro, you just don't know. find a certified financial planner professional who's thoroughly vetted at letsmakeaplan.org. cfp -- work with the highest standard. when folks in the lower 48 think athey think salmon and energy.a,

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welcome back to "the ed show." this is the story for the folks who take a shower after work. conservative lawmakers in georgia are refusing to expand medicaid. governor nathan deale wants to deny insurance to more than 600,000 of the poorest people in his state. he is pushing a gop-sponsored bill that would require lawmakers to give legislative approval to any medicaid expansion future plans in the future, any medicaid expansion plans in the future. so this would really harness a future lawmaker, a governor who might want to do it. this is just another way conservatives are trying to stop obamacare from working as i see it. last week a group of activists protested the governor's deal at the state capitol. 39 people were arrested. >> this is a crate cal moment.

a lot is at stake. we're talking about the governor of our state saying that he will deny access to health care to citizens of this state. >> expanding medicaid is not only the morally correct thing to do, it's also smart economically. a georgia state university report shows medicaid expansion would create more than 70,000 jobs in georgia. a new study from the commonwealth fund shows georgia could see a net loss of $2.9 billion by the year 2022 if it continues to reject medicaid expansion. today one lone republican in georgia is taking a stand against governor deale. that republican is jeff hutstetler. great to have you with us tonight. what is the motivation behind rejecting any future expansion of medicaid and you being a

doctor? how is this going to hurt your state? >> well, actually, i'm a p.a. in anesthesia. but i voted and did not want the affordable care act to take place. i campaigned against it. it's been the law for four years. i'm look agent the dollars, the $34 billion that could come to our state. and i can say we can leave that money in washington, and i'm sure they're going use it more wisely, or we could try to help our hospitals here. we've had four hospitals close in the last two years. and they have to treat the indigent for free. we're sort of putting them in a box. we're saying we can't as a state help you but we're not going let the federal government help outeither. we're not reducing the federal deficit, but we are putting our hospitals in a bad situation here. >> is there going to be any recovery in georgia for those hospitals, or is this just the way it's going to be? >> well, some of our hospitals are doing good. i think the governor has rolled

out some plans to support them. and i'm certainly supportive of them. but we do have an opportunity to make this work for our state. the majority of georgians are not for obamacare. but in this conservative state, six out of ten georgians support expanding medicaid. and i think we can do it the right way. we can do it like jan brewer did. she did it at no cost to the state of arizona. john kasich in ohio, the budget chairman back in the '90s when we balanced the budget has done it in his state. at the same time he is reducing taxes he has inherited three years ago, an $8 billion deficiency. and now he has a billion and a half surplus. we have to look at the issues and study them. it's the law of the land. have to say how can we make it work best for the citizens of our state. >> well, medicaid expansion is a part of obamacare, the affordable care act. so it's affecting your state. it could help your state. is there anything that would turn georgians when they realize

the facts of how many people are going to be hurt by this by not taking the affordable care act seriously and embracing it and expanding it in georgia? >> well, of our 236 legislators in this state there is only a handful of us that are in the industry. and we probably haven't done a good job of explaining this issue. i hope that we can continue look at it and really look at the data and say while we oppose federal deficits, let's look at what is best for our state. >> well, it's going to hurt georgia, no question than. we're talk $2.9 billion over the next five or six years. it would it seems to me that the majority of georgians would go along with that. i appreciate you coming on the program. state senator chuck hufstetler, thank you so much, sir. we'll follow the story. it certainly it seems to me that they're trying to limit any kind of future expansion of medicaid

in georgia. that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. good evening, rev. good evening, ed. and thanks to you for tuning in. i'm live tonight from chicago. we have major news on the president's health care law. it's reached a big milestone so we will have news on that. but we begin tonight with breaking news on the chris christie bridge scandal. a report conducted by a lawyer hired by the christie administration has found the governor played no role in the bridge closures. >> we found that governor christie had no knowledge beforehand of this george washington bridge realignment idea and that he played no role whatsoever in that decision or the implementation of it. >> no role whatsoever?