not just with solyndra? >> in building, that innovation at scale, there is an old adage that every banks want to be the first bank to be your second line. the program is intended to be the first bank to the first loan. >> my colleagues want to make this a political issue, but they also talk about not wanting to pick winners and losers. we areven's sakes, investing right now billions of dollars in a oil and gas companies. we are investing in a questionable technology, risky technology called nuclear. i want to know that in selecting projects, what steps have been taken to make sure you have properly diversified our portfolio? >> thank you for the question. the loan guarantee program does not perceive itself to be in the business of picking winners and losers. the marketplace is the place to do that. as someone who has come directly from that, i support that. we do not look at projects that have not already garnered or will attract substantial private capital. private capital is one of the bedrock requirements

good to have you with us.frank >>> solyndra stephanie chuang reports on the solyndra bankruptcy and financing. >> reporter: president obama visited here a year ago touting it as a model for green business success. now gop leaders connected to the investigation say it raises red flags about the government's push to create jobs in the clean tech sector and they have plenty of questions this morning. specifically, witnesses with the energy department and white house office of management and budget be have been called to testify this morning. lawmakers want to know how they were involved in the $535 million loan guarantee deal with solyndra in 2009. attention will also be focused on solyndra's recent bankruptcy filing, its troubled financial history and how it represented its finances to the government. it was back in september of 2009 when solyndra secured that loan guarantee. then in march of last year, the company's auditor pricewaterhousecoopers said it had, quote, substantial doubt about solyndra's ability to continue. just two months later is when president obama visited solyndra and touted

here it is, your moment of zen. >> it's so important we-- we-- we invest in solyndra and in what solyndrato get us through the day but to captioning sponsored by comedy central captioned by media access group at wgbh >> stephen: tonight, $2 billion goes missing from a major bank. they should have just cape cod it to the desk like their pens. and my guest tonight is legendary magician david copperfield-- i'm sorry, i mispronounced that. it's david cooper-field. the proof is in the pudding, but good luck finding where i hid the pudding ( laughter ) this is the "colbert report ) captioning sponsored by comedy central ( theme song playing ) ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: welcome to the report. thank you so much for joining us. >> stephen! stephen! stephen! stephen! stephen! stephen! stephen! ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: tell you, what, folks, i'll tell you what, folkes, i had not planned on this, but since you just cheered my name, let's do a good show. ( laughter ) ( applause ) nation, i know in shaky financial times, people look to me for guidance. ( laughter ) they look at me f

here it is, your moment of zen. >> it's so important we-- we-- we invest in solyndra and in what solyndrato get us through the day but to captioning sponsored by comedy central captioned by media access group at wgbh >> stephen: tonight, $2 billion goes missing from a major bank. they should have just cape cod it to the desk like their pens. and my guest tonight is legendary magician david copperfield-- i'm sorry, i mispronounced that. it's david cooper-field. the proof is in the pudding, but good luck finding where i hid the pudd laughter ) this is the "colbert report ) captioning sponsored by comedy central ( theme song playing ) ( cheers and applause )

they used solyndra. is this just a failed company that could not compete when faced with a 42% decline in the place of solar energy or was wrongdoing about? we don't know the answer to that but the republican majority is recklessly exploiting this one case to advance a political agenda that is very clearly aimed at killing the solar, wind and renewable industry. it is reckless to toss around accusations of illegality on the part of the department of energy officials who agreed to restructure the solyndra loan guaranteed by putting some private investors ahead of taxpayers in the reimbursement money. i sent mr. upton and mr. stearns a letter this morning that provides a bit of a history lesson. the loan guarantee program was created at 2:30 a.m. in this room in july of 2005 in the conference between the house and senate on what would become the energy policy act of 2005. senator domenici authored the provision. largely a look lead -- nuclear power plant that's wall street had no interest in financing. the

solyndra went out of business, september 6, 2011. side, how about a little something for faceless bureaucrats? i almost hesitate to ask this, but is there any formulation of the solyndra business model that would perhaps paint this in even more stark ways the foolishness of our investment. >> some financial analysts who studied the industry says solyndra's business plan to build solar panels of fatally flawed from beginning. >> their price is over $6 to produce the product. they were selling it at about $3. but when you looked at the numbers, it just didn't work. ( laughter ) >> jon: i wonder if that's why my business, johnny's capitol hill 10 bill get one free buy one emporium, didn't work because i had plenty of volume. ( laughter ) you know, stories about incompetence in government are only going to get you so far, though. for this to truly become a weapons-grade political fodder, you're going to need incompetence with more than just a whiff of sinister cronyism. >> according to white house loges, one of solyndra's principal inves

did we learn anything new about the life cycle of solyndra?not a terrible lot was learned about the life cycle of solyndra but you heard a more full-throated explanation from the department of energy and the office of management and budget inside the obama administration, why they believe the... you know, that they were making good decisions at every juncture when it came to extending support to solyndra and when it came to extending sort of a crisis lifeline to solyndra earlier this year. >> suarez: what was the nature of the relationship? was cash trsferred from the federal government to this private company? >> it's a complicated transaction but here's the basic effort of this program. $38 billion in the loan guaranty program basically is to invest in clean energy technologies and different companies that offer to do that through a government-backed loan. in the case of solyndra, they won the government-backed loan, but they also got it from a federal treasury bank at a very low interest rates. so it's basically like the government saying w

that's what some lawmakers are calling the loan guarantee deal with solyndra.focus of a federal hearing this morning. what to expect coming up. >>> well, the good news is that i'm not here to report another bart protest. but we have some bart drama to talk about. a little egg on their face. >>> we'll be right back. ,,,, i've got nothing against these do-it-yourself steam-cleaning enthusiasts. it's good for the customer to get to know their own carpet. and spending the day moving furniture and lugging around a hot water extraction unit can be a rush! i know. that's why i'm carpet for life. but look, if things get out of hand, and the place starts smelling like wet gym sock, there's no shame in calling a professional. i respect you for trying. ♪call 1-800-steemer. in one day, i could have three auditions. and, it's really important that you go in looking like the role. i go straight to t.j.maxx. i find what i'm looking for. done. it's amazing to find so many gorgeous designer clothes. i'm like dut, dut, dut... yes, yes, yes. and, it also works with my somewhat un

ex-solyndra competitors such as bell electric, solar city and others are now competing for ex- solyndra employees. this person helped organize the event and said companies were eager to attend. >> we had to cut off at 38 companies because that's how much space we had here. >> reporter: many folks have been in the high-tech world for decades and are highly skilled. henry nichols was a senior maintenance engineer at solyndra. >> now i'm looking for work along with a lot of my friends. so we'll just venture and see what comes up and i think will be all good. >> reporter: henry passed his resume' out to a dozen companies and got several leads. >> i was director of fire quality. >> reporter: jim aerosmith used to be a manager at solyndra. >> the manufacturing of solar panels is a really a transferable skill, the same skills that we used making magnetic disks for seagate, making thin films solar photovoltaics is a lot of transferable skills there. >> reporter: many folks hadn't seen each other since last month when solyndra folded. despite the setback, these former workers are hopeful. the u.

- in the solyndra deal. they have accused the committee of engaging in a fishing expedition. what the committee's review show is that we were right all along about thistions loan. it should not take restructuring, bankruptcy, an fbi raid from my colleagues to put politics aside and join us and our efforts. the document demonstrates that when they were reviewing this and 2009 it was well aware of the financial problems that opposes. what they also show is that the rush to push of stimulus dollars may have impacted the quality of d.o.e.'s review. the white house has scheduled vice-president joe biden appearing at solyndra's groundbreaking event prior to d.o.e. making an announcement. "we have ended up with a situation of having to do resht approvals on a couple of locations. we would prefer to have sufficient time to do our due diligence review and have the approval set for the announcement rather than the other way around." six months after the loan closes problem became severe. an independent auditor issued

solyndra is now under an fbi investigation. the panel is trying to figure out what happened to the $500 million loan guarantee. let's listen in for a moment. >> is the doe basing its decision that taxpayers could be second in line? what is the tortured interpretation? exactly the opposite of the plain language in the statute. i relied on councils-- >> relied on councils knowledge on that. i'm not a lawyer. i >> it is in getting a little he did it in the department of energy. they're being grilled by this house panel. they're trying to say that solyndra is collapse is because of competition from china. we will listen in and provide updates right here on the kron 4 >> the mount diablo school board approved a charter school model for clayton high school. they must meet certain criteria before they can become a charter school. eighth assessment frontier for to this in place and something in place for special education students as well of what will happen for students and is the. if the conditions are not in place that it will not b

solyndra's president are set to testify next week. because solyndra failed a number of analysts are suggesting solar manufacturing may be dead as a green jobs generator. but as ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar reports, most loan guarantees are solar are working. >> reporter: even more than a loan guarantee couldn't save solyndra. however, with their loan guarantee and texnology less expensive than solyndra is doing well, as is 1366, which got a loan guarantee. even if solyndra did wrong doing, solar manufacturing is shaking out world wide because low cost labor china is undercutting everyone else. >> there is another concern, which is that shina is subsidizing. it is hard to know how much but it is significant. and that is also giving their producers a cost advantage. >> reporter: ever green solar, filed for bankruptcy last month. another u.s. panel maker did the same a week later. they are closing a plant in arizona. bp solar closed its maryland plant. overseas, renewable energy of norway and germany cut production. but solar install

offices, seeking to find whether solyndra misled the government in order to get the loan. agents also questioned the former solyndra ceo, chris gronet, who had so proudly given president obama a tour of the plant last year. administration officials tell abc news there was no political influence involved in the process and that the meetings at the white house with the solyndra investor were unconnected to the failed loan. as to the loss of half a billion dollars in taxpayer money, an offifial says simply such startup loans by their nature can be risky. >> all right, brian, thank you. >>> and from the obama administration nowowo the republicans. it's your voice, your vote. the republican presidential hopefuls are licking their wounds from last night's prize fight, in which they delivereded their strongest punches in the debate to the front-runner, texas governor rick perry. abc's jon karl tells us what happened and checks the fakes. >> rick perry. >> reporter: rick perry's easily soared to the top. now, the hard part. being a candidate ununr fire. >> do you still believe tha

this is ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00. >>> first it was -- now solyndra. solyndra shut down is bad news for a city reeling from big economic losses. ktvu's robert handa is live with a silver lining there. >> reporter: that's right. it's not just solyndra workers reeling but fremont is looking for new companies to fill all this industrial space as the city rides this roller coaster. >> reporter: solyndra's sudden closure took city hall by surprise but officials dealt with this type of crisis before. two years ago the collapse of the a's baseball stadium, followed by the shut down of the auto plant that led to the layoff of 4700 workers. solyndra's closure mean as loss of property tax revenue and jobs. >> thousand employees right now and reaching out to the programs to try to get them resources they will need as well. >>> the city manager would like a program that offers job placement and counseling. >> deal with a client. >> reporter: it's not all bad news. city hall had been celebrating positive news from another company a commercial solar plannal company

instead, solyndra solar panel factory operated for less than a year before declaring bankruptcy. house republicans presented excerpts from e-mails suggesting the obama administration rushed the solyndra loan. representative steve scalise read from an office of management and budget message urging caution. >> this deal is not ready for prime time. go to the next slide. "and given the time pressure, we are under to sign off on solyndra, we don't have time to change the model." >> reporter: jeffrey zients of o.m.b. said the administration was asking about the timing for a groundbreaking ceremony. >> there was a request from the vice president's office about scheduling on logistics for the potential event. >> reporter: the loan was approved and in may 2010 the president visited solyndra's factory, still under construction. >> solyndra expects to hire 1,000 workers to manufacture solar panels and sell them across america and the world. >> reporter: solyndra boasted about their its technologies and now there are suspicions it's political connections that were at least as important in s

solyndra will have a hard time paying back the government.could be part of the fbi investigation. you are looking at two pieces of video. this is from when president obama was visiting last year and the other piece of video is stunned employees as they got their walking papers last week. we have a crew on the way to the solyndra campus right now. they will be getting as a video of fbi agents and also providing us with more information. stay with us on the kron 4 morning news for more on this breaking news story. >> in case you missed the top of the hour, a former high school friend of missing nursing student michelle lee will be in court at 2:00 a.m.. giselle esteban was arrested on suspicion of murder. another demonstration plant at the powell street bart station. protesters want bart to open the emergency exits. they want commuters to be able to we will be carrying the president's speech live at 4:00 p.m.. we have the press secretary live to talk with us about what the president will be speaking about. assemble a point of what he wants to d

solyndra solar panel plant were on capitol hill this morning, frustrating lawmakers. >> those who lost their jobs when the company folded are looking for answers too. >> reporter: good morning. there are more than three dozen companies inside attending today's job fair. targeting those with experience in manufacturing jobs in green technology. the two top executives if the bankrupt solar energy company solyndra have refused to testify. many of their laid off 1100 employees, like linda are attending today's job fair. hoping to speak with anyone about opportunities for employment. >> hopefully, i can connect with the company that may be interested in my skills so i can get another job. >> reporter: solyndra ceo and chief financial officer re ed to testify at today's house hearing about the government loan. both invoked their fifth amendment right to decline to testify to avoid self-incrimination. law makers from both parties said they were disappointed. but said the silence from the two would not stop them from pursuing their investigation into a 528 million dollar loan solyndra received

the two top executives if the bankrupt solar energy company solyndra have refused to testify. many of their laid off 1100 employees, like linda are attending today's job fair. hoping to speak with anyone about opportunities for employment. >> hopefully, i can connect with the company that may be interested in my skills so i can get another job. >> reporter: solyndra ceo and chief financial officer re ed to testify at today's house hearing about the government loan. both invoked their fifth amendment right to decline to testify to avoid self-incrimination. law makers from both parties said they were disappointed. but said the silence from the two would not stop them from pursuing their investigation into a 528 million dollar loan solyndra received from the energy department in 2009. today's job fair is aimed at laid off solyndra workers and will continue until 2:00 this afternoon. specifically targeting workers who have experience with green jobs. >> the job fair is a success by looking at how many applicants will speak with us and how many will be placed into new jobs. >> repo

. >> reporter: a growing scandal about what happened after solyndra received $535 million in taxpayer money. competition from china pushed the price of solyndra's solar panels down, causing the company to lose customers and burn through cash. january of this year, solyndra went back to the obama administration and asked to restructure the department of

growth will always be companies like solyndra. >> chris: woops.oining the growing criticism of the company solyndra that got a federal guarantee and now going bankrupt leaving taxpayers on the hook. bad news for the president. going around the country and pitching the jobs plan some call it stimulus 2 as we find out about the company that got a half billion from the first stimulus, solyndra. what is the lesson of solyndra. >> whether or not there is favoritism. it is not a metaphor for the obama policy. it is the obama policy. the idea to politically allocate capitol and create jobs and create wealth. and the fact is, it can't. we discovered that. there are 399 billion worth of energy department leans and how many jobs? four thousand. 10 million a job. juan is better at math that i am. that is not a lot of jobs. you have wide open criticism that is available to the republicans to say look. this is how the economy works and it hasn't worked and here is the alternative. they ought to be talking about the solyndra economy. >> chris: as a matter of fa

what is the lesson of solyndra? >> there are billions more of that kind of spending that cape out of stimulus that will produce these kinds of results, we fear. -- this is industrial policy and crony capitalism at its worse. we shouldn't be picking winners and losers in washington. we should be setting the condition for economic growth so the private sector can create jobs. washington is not good at picking winners and losers, so we shouldn't try. >> chris: congressman ryan, thank you, always a pleasure to talk with you sir. >> thank you chris. >> chris: up next her hand cain on his 9, 9, 9 pan to jumpstart the economy. eople uses to do dumb things? man 1: send, that is the weekend. app grapgic: yeah dawg! man 2: allow me to crack...the bubbly! man 1: don't mind if i doozy. man 3: is a gentleman with a brostache invited over to this party? man 1: only if he's ready to rock! ♪ sfx: guitar and trumpet jam vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. it's high time to make our floor look better an

the money it's owed by solyndra might seem trivial compared to the hundreds of millions solyndra received from the federal government but the brothers would sill like to know, where did all the millions go? >> of course, we had the administration putting in that money and that money going poof. where did it go? i don't have any of it. i wish i did. it would definitely help. a lot of companies like me are in the same boat not to mention the employees of solyndra, too. it's very frustrating to say the least. >> the segundo brothers say they are fortunate they have other clients besides solyndra. the ceo and chief financial officer of solyndra turned down a request to be at tomorrow's congressional hearing. they may testify next week. >>> if you have a story idea, log on to cbssf.com, click on "connect," scroll down to closer look and send me an email. >>> you know, more californians are living in poverty. new numbers released today show california's poverty rate jumped to its highest level in 13 years during 2010. and yet families still have to provide food for their loved ones. juliette go

they used solyndra. is this just a failed company that could not compete when faced with a 42% decline in the price of solar energy? or was wrongdoing involved? we don't know the answer to that. but the republican majority is a recklessly exploiting this one case to expand a political agenda that is clearly aimed at killing the solar, wind, and renewable industries. it is reckless to toss around allegations of illegality on the part of department of energy officials who agreed to restructure the loan guarantee by putting private mss ahead of the taxpayers in the reimbursement line. i sent mr. upton and mr. sters at timeline that provided a history lesson. the loan guarantee was provided at 8:30 a.m. in this room in the conference between house and senate on what would become the energy policy act of 2005. senator domenici it off with the provision -- authored the provision largely as a way to pay for the nuclear power plants that wall street had no interest in financing. i offered an amendment to strike,

solyndra was the first solar maker to receive stimulus dollars back in 2009. as recently as august, the company told government officials everything was okay and that its business was growing. that's why many lawmakers were surprised when solyndra shuttered its operations, sought bankruptcy protection and laid off 1,100 workers, moves that left uncle sam on the hook for $535 million in loan guarantees. congressional lawmakers focused on those loans, but with no explanations from solyndra, representative henry waxman soon gave up. >> i want assert the fact that think it's unseemly and inappropriate for members to ask questions that they know you won't answer. you do have a privilege under the u.s. constitution not to answer these questions. should you answer any of these questions, you may well have waived your rights. >> reporter: analyst stuart sweet says the solyndra scandal could set back the struggling solar industry. >> trying to collect electricity through solar panels is just not cost-effective. they need very large subsidies from the government to comp

we were burned on solyndra.to slow this down and we are going to look at the books and give, perhaps, private sector tech. maybe bring in people from the bush administration to look at the books. after all the bush administration rejected the loan to solyndra in the last couple of weeks of that administration. >> okay. here's the thing. the bush administration didn't do it. it was a credit committee made up of civil servants. it was the exact same committee that approved the loan application later. so, this is a lot of political posturing. >> wait a minute, kirsten. >> by republicans. >> no, no, no. not by republicans. >> how saw something was wrong with solyndra when, in fact, the credit committee. >> the obama administration is blaming bush. this is what they are doing. that's the talking point. >> what you just said was inaccurate. >> let me jump in here because we are talking about $500 million worth of taxpayer money that went to solyndra and now they turn around and fire 1100 workers and file bankruptcy sh

solyndra had used 25 million of the 34 million that was approved. the state senator pushed through the tax break last year. >> it is worthy of a time-out and reassessment and are we vetting the companies before we invest taxpayer money in the operations. >> solyndra is a black eye on the entire industry. >> solar industry thinks it is a bad idea to suspend the tax breaks. it has cemented california's hold on the solar manufacturing leaders. >> there are going to be companies that fail and succeed. 95 percent of succeed why do we penalize a industry that creates job because of one company? >> the board will formally vote on suspending the tax breaks next month. it is unlikely taxpayers will see any of the 25 million they game the fremont company. but the board will look at solyndra's application with a fine tooth comb to see if there will be a basis for a lawsuit to recoup the money. >> as for solyndra, not only did it get a 500 million loan guarantee. but it was a favorable ruling from the i.r.s.. the unit said i.r.s. gave solyndra customers a 10 pe

he did a really good on solyndra last night.to call the elephant in the room. obama is suffering now. this website is pathetic. childish. >> i think -- >> sean: like rick sanchez being upset that jon stewart made fun of him. grow up. >> let's be clear it is the campaign not the white house that is doing it. every campaign has a rapid response unit. this is rapid response. >> i think republicans should be watching. in '08 they dominated with their online strategy. they broke such new ground. >> sean: good point. >> i think he's galvanizeing these hard-core believers and it is creating another social network. [ talking over each other ] >> you have to keep the troops happy and keep the votes. >> the problem is, he needs to reengineer his narrative. he needs to get ready for the onslaught don't turn your defense over to a website geek with a ponytail. [ talking over each other ] >> i think it is somewhat smart. people are focusing on rumors not his record. look at how -- >> there are going to be rumors,ad e-mails. >> sean: i'm prob

dozens of federal agents are still searching the headquarters of solar panel maker solyndra. the fbi swooped in at the fremont plant just this morning. >> that company filed for bankruptcy two days ago and left u.s. taxpayers on the hook for half a billion dollars because most of the money from federal loans are guaranteed, it's now all gone. stephanie chuang was one of the first reporters on the scene and joins us live from fremont with the latest. >> reporter: good afternoon. you know, these federal investigators are still here. we have seen them carrying cardboard boxes inside. we haven't seen them bring anything out but this happened two days after the company filed for bankruptcy and just a week after the company suddenly chosed on its employees leaving more than 1,000 people without a job. it federal agents armed with multiple search warrants raided solyndra's fremont headquarters at 7:30 a.m. solyndra spokesman dave miller says it was a complete surprise. >> actually getting the warrant and we'll cooperate fully with them. we just basically are opening doors and lettin

what was president obama told about solyndra and when?bc world news senior washington editor rick klein joins us. nice to see you, rick. >> hi, greta. >> greta: what was the president told about solyndra? how soon and what was he told? >> the latest we're learning is from the "los angeles times." they're reporting that top administration officials, including the treasury secretary and larry summers, a tom economic aide, were warning president obama last fall this was a big issue, that this whole loan program that had been structured by the obama administration, money going out to companies like solyndra, it was likely to lead to failures, a lot like what we just saw happen with solyndra. so we're hearing that the top levels of the obama white house oppressioned feeling that there were going to be problems, the white house picking winners and losers. >> greta: if they found out about it last fall, could it have been stopped so that we're not on the hook for over $530 million or so on a federallically-backed lone loans being the taxpayers?

used to prop solyndra op? these are all the questions that i would like to have received answers from our witnesses today. congress and the american taxpayers have a right to know whether this loan guarantee was rushed out the door before it was ready for prime time, whether the administration doubled down on a bad bed after knowing that the company's dubious commercial prospects, or even worse, whether 535 million taxpayer dollars were wasted on false or incomplete information. we intend to get those answers. that concludes my statement. with that, i recognize the ranking member, ms degette, for opening statement. >> two weeks ago, ranking member waxman and i requested testimony from a solyndra president and ceo brian harrison. i am pleased that we have mr. harrison and his colleague, at mr. stover, for today's hearing. i respect their witnesses have a right to invoke constitutional rights, but i regret that they will not be answering questions. i hope that once the constitutional questions are resolved, and

. >>> the sun goes down on solyndra. it is closing up shop less than two years after president obama touted it ozthe future. ktvu's tom vacar is live at the company. >> reporter: when uncle sam invested in solyndra it had a great shot but not today. >> yesterday came to work, you know, did my normal daily duties. nobody had any idea of this yesterday. >> reporter: the company released a statement saying raising capital in this environment was not possible. this was an unexpected outcome and unfortunate. solyndra's choice of technology didn't work out financially. >> the product three years ago was state of the art. now the products from china made us obsolete. >> the prices are so low their technology isn't cost competitive. >> he says american firms are at a disadvantage. >> the prices out of china are very low. probably some of that is manufacturers have lower costs but there is no question they are heavily subsudized by the chinese government and that is making it a struggle for any company. >> reporter: solar skills

in addition to that federal loan that solyndra received from the federal government, solyndra also gotajor tax break from the state of california. one state lawmaker wants an investigation. that tax incentive was part of an alternative energy subsidy law that was signed by former governor, arnold schwarzenegger, back in twine. he took part in the groundbreaking ceremony for solyndra. california's alternative energy and advance transportation funding authority gave the fremont company a 34.5 million tax break, the largest given out in the state. now that the company has folded, the former governor is facing some crit sim. according to report -- criticism. according to the report, the state didn't look into solyndra's financial health and some are saying they should have done their research. >> i think clearly, this was not a good investment. probably should have scrutinized a little better before they chose to do that. >> if he's allowing the large tax breaks for deposits -- companies like this and this is what they are doing with tax payer money, it absolutely should be looked in to. >

those executives ran a company called solyndra.s the star of president obama's push for clean energy and green jobs. he visited the plant, you see him there, may 2010. solyndra also received a half-billion dollars in money u.s. taxpayers now have to pay back. congress is looking into how much pressure the white house put on regulators to approve those loan guarantees. one of solyndra's main investors was a big contributor to the president's 2008 campaign. today, lawmakers wanted to ask solyndra's executives whether they misled the government about the company's shaky finances and, well, congress wasn't happy when they refused to answer. >> we finally had to resort to a subpoena and now the outright resistance of getting answers that both of you, our two witnesses, assured us only last week that you would provide. let me just warn you and the other folks involved in this taxpayer ripoff, we're not done. no, we're not. >> the "new york times" eric lipton co-wrote today's excellent front page story about the rush to assist solyndra. h

and this solyndra thing is a function of that. can you imagine if they actually pass that infrastructure back? there will be a solyndra every day. >> ben stein? >> it shocked me that the government takes money from hard working taxpayers, and spends it on energy projects which are clearly going to be losers. it was clear by 2008 that the chinese were dominant players in solar energy and the u.s. players could not compete in a big way. and never the less, president obama was so arrogant he thought he could take 500 million and dump it and it would work. we already have a working energy strategy, oil, gas, it works fine. let's let the private sector do this and the government is just involved in too darned many things and get out of the private sector, mr. obama. let the private sector figure it out. >> and you want adam in there and then i'm going to gasperino. >> go ahead, adam. >> with all due respect to use one of ben's favorite lines, i'm sort of shocked, ben how naive this debate is. i've covered companies, charlie-- >> whoa,

no solyndra executives today.re failed policies. e-mails obtained by abc news and expected to be introduced at the hearing show white house budget officials were not sure about this loan guarantee from the beginning. financial analysts say the business plan never made any sense. >> the price was over $6 to produce the product. they were selling it at about $3. so when you looked at the numbers it just didn't work. >> that was from the get-go? >> from the get-go. >> reporter: f.b.i. agents and investigators from office inspector generated had the plant last week but they wouldn't say what they were looking for. one of the company's principal investors was a major obama fund-raiser and visited the white house before solyndra secured the loan. house committee wants to know if the department of energy acted properly and what they knew about the company's finances and what was done to protect taxpayers. next week questions for solyndra executives but some debate whether there will be any answers. >>> san jose is step c

what happened, why did solyndra fail? well, it took all money in and spent it and then it couldn't sell the product that it was making. it couldn't sell it at the price that it needed. they burned through the money. >> greta: in reading your article, it seems insane. i would never invest one of my dollars in it in 2009 the cost of the product cost $4 to make and they were being sold on the market for $3.24. >> many companies, when they are young start-up companies losing money with the expectation that the fixed cost will get amortized over time. that's the expectation this company had. that the more panels they would produce they would sell all and the cost for each would be lower. they weren't able to do that. >> greta: in 2009 solyndra lost 172.5 million dollars on revenue of over 100 million. wasn't that a tip-off at leave the company was failing and maybe no one should invest in it? >> the market at that point was already declining in terms of how much solar panels cost. the price at which they sold, the price was fa

. >> half billion dollar government loan to solyndra is raising political questions after the solar panel company shut down. details coming up. >>> good morning. waking up to a partly cloudy sky. with the new month, summer is forecast. we'll talk about how hot it will be this holiday weekend. >> sou hall, among the commute. couple stalls in the maze and one in the san francisco westbound on the sky way. >>> thanks for joining us i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. >> veteran police officer finds himself on the wrong side of law accused of sexual acts with teenage boys. this is san jose officer who was based at a high school for many, many years. live at police department with the story. >> reporter: 44-year-old patrick durego was the campus officer from 1996 to 2007 and he is facing very serious charges. where the crimes allegedly occurred. he is charged with having sex with two teenage boys. one 15 and the other 17. mercury news is also reporting that officer durego gave the boys alcohol at parties at that home. he has been under investigation by gilroy police for two years now. yesterd

. >>> solyndra goes before congress today. why two top company executives will not speak at the congressional hearing. ktvu channel 2 morning news continues. >>> good morning. thank you for joining us it's wednesday, september 14th i'm pam cook. >> and i'm dave clark. let's check weather and traffic. here is steve. >> thank you very much. cooler today for inland areas which were hot yesterday. had 90s. that will not be the case today. there will be a lot of 70s and 80s. a sea breeze is really cranked up. there is a much bigger fog bank and it's sold out on the coast. 50s and 60s closer to the beaches. 70s and 80s inland. here is sal. >>> steve, right now traffic is moving along pretty well if you are driving on highway 4 getting up to the willow pass grade with a little bit of slow traffic no major problems on 680 southbound. also the morning commute will be busy in marin county. southbound 101 already slow in some spots. 6:01 let's go back to the desk. >>> a woman that wants to be on the fairfield school board has admitted to