solyndra was our first one. we then established a program that has been made more robust as time progressed. >> you had a meeting with peter orszag about policy issues. the day before your meeting, they center agency analyst of information. it did you discuss solyndra? >> we were discussing much higher policy issues that a particular. >> he did not ask you for any critical information about solyndra? >> my recollection at the time was that we were discussing loans, for example about if you could get the loan plus 16 no 3 + other state subsidies and whether they might be getting a policy issue. >> were you aware that if dow does not stay on top, it risks ?ecoming embarrassing t he said it was promising. we have other agencies saying this was not going to work out. were you able to draw this conclusion? >> i'm in the loan was the head of the line. people in the loan program were from the previous administration were there. >> i did not ask you where they were. i asked you if there were problems you were aware of.

in all, solyndra received more than $500 million in federal aid. but less than two years later, in august of this year, solyndra filed for bankruptcy. today, secretary chu blamed the company's failure on the economics of a global market. >> well, it is extremely unfortunate that what has happened to solyndra, and we-- i but when the bottom of a market falls out and the price of solar decreases by 70% in two and a half years, that was totally unexpected. and so fundamentally, this company and several others got caught in a very bad tsunami, if you will. >> brown: but house republican see a very different picture. fred upton of michigan: >> the numberf red flags about solyndra that were raised along the way, many from within d.o.e., and either ignored or minimized by senior officials is astonishing. >> brown: among the warnings say republicans, a 2009 email between energy department staff suggesting solyndra was likely to face severe cash-flow problems. florida republican cliff stearns chairs the house energy and commerce subcommittee that held today

in all, solyndra received more than $500 million in federal aid. but less than two years later, in august of this year, solyndra filed for bankruptcy. today, secretary chu blamed the company's failure on the economics of a global market. >> well, it is extremely unfortunate that what has happened to solyndra, and we-- i but when the bottom of a market falls out and the price of solar decreases by 70% in two and a half years, that was totally unexpected. and so fundamentally, this company and several others got caught in a very bad tsunami, if you will. >> brown: but house republican see a very different picture. fred upton of michigan: >> the number of red flags about solyndra that were raised along the way, many from within d.o.e., and either ignored or minimized by senior officials is astonishing. >> brown: among the warnings say republicans, a 2009 email between energy department staff suggesting solyndra was likely to face severe cash-flow problems. florida republican cliff stearns chairs the house energy and commerce subcommittee that held tod

>> it appears that companies like solyndra are leading the way. >> 2009 solyndra is the flagship in president obama's clean energy initiative. given an astounding $535 million loan of taxpayer money within two years the flagship sinks. but it seems the loan was a bad bet from the get-go. in 2009, a private credit ratings agency warns solyndra is headed for failure. the obama white house forges ahead anyway. days before the groundbreaking ceremony at solyndra's new plant the loan still hasn't receive aid proval from the office of management and budget. so administration officials press them to push things along. two days later, loan approved. the company digs itself into a hole almost immediately, bleeding money. by february this year, the company is broke. according to an administration e-mail, the optics of the solyndra failure would be bad. so instead of letting the cap shut down, the energy department and secretary chu approve a refinancing deal worth $75 million guaranteeing that in the event of bankruptcy private investors in solyndra would be repaid before the american taxpayer. months

require solyndra to provide d.o.e. with financial information or other additional data, after that loan was approved? did you go back and say we need to find some additional data? >> after a loan is approved and as we go through disbursements we are in constant communication with the company because the disbursements -- we've a contractual agreement and as they build the stipend they have to build it as they said they would build it and we disburse funds after they have spent it to build it. so we are in constant communication. >> the question is really a yes or no. did you or did you not require additional information solyndra? >> yes. >> ok. were you aware that d.o. staff repeatedly raised the issue of solyndra's parent's financial health apnd lack of working capital as a cause for concern? >> now, there are two parts of this. one part was the working capital in order to complete the project. as i said, there was a model which -- that there would be an interruption of cash flow but in actual fact upon reexamining th

i support a full investigation of solyndra. the fact is they administration is cooperating with house investigators at this time. they provided more than 80,000 pages of documents. the ministrations turned over -- the administration turned over 15,000 pages of documents to the committee this week. at a time when the american people want to see us working together and to put country before party, it seems like this is nothing more than a political gimmick. the administration is working with this committee. should it stop, i would support this. they are fully participating and cooperating. i think the investigation should continue and include anyone with any knowledge about any of this. let's get to the bottom of it. let's not have these votes just political gain for someone. it is time for us to come together and work together and put country before party. is an gentleman's time expired. you are recognized. >> thank you. this is a serious investigation of a loan program for renewable energy administered by the department of ener

solyndra .../ came about...///áámoneyáá.../ that... we'll... never.../ get back...// áájaaesáá rosen... has the how... the president's buddies.../ got away .../ pith... our money...////. money...////. one day after congressionnl investigators interrogated him behind closed doors. billionaire george kaiser aw his private e-mails released byythe house energy and commerce committee. a financial supporter of alss a major investor in solyndra... the now- bankrupp solar company to whichhthe obama administration pgae half a billion in loan guarantees... that taxpayers are now swallowinn. kaiser, investigators say viiited the white house seventeen times.carney says "he was involved in a lot of charitable efforts, and it's whillewe haven't looked into every meeting that he might have had here, that that was the focus offhis conversations, generally and a kaiser family foundation spokesman agreed, tellinggfox news today, quote, "george kaiser had no government regarding the llan to solyndra." ut the "a couple of weeks ago," kaiser wrote to solyndra b

the solyndra scandal heats up as congress searches for someone to blame. >> we've been lazy over the last couple of decades. >> our president thinks we're lazy. >> we're not out there hungry, selling america. >> did the media hear that? our president thinks we're lazy. >> what do you think republicans will be sipping and saying? >> cnn's man at white house appears to have a soft spot for mr. obama. is that why he tosses softball questions to the leader of the free world? and reg says, see you later. >> thanks, everybody. >> on the panel this week, writer and fox news contributor, judy miller. jim pinkerton, contributing divert of american conservative magazine and kirsten powers. i'm john scott. fo"fox news watch" is on right now. >> here's the key thing to remember, we all complained correctly when the news media failed to investigate barack obama. we complained when they refused to look at william ayers. we complained when they didn't actually explain what community organizer meant. okay? we were right to complain about that. so now they're actually doing for us what they wouldn't

to approve the loan to solyndra? >> we don't have the full production, sir, but everything that we've gotten, we've directed and our instructions direct the target of our document requests send copies directly to the minority. my understanding is that they have received them at the same time that we have. every production. >> now, my staff did not receive a copy of the subpoena until 10:00 pm last night. so i've just only read it recently. is there a clarification on the resolution where anywhere the majority justifies the need for the subpoena? and if so, where? >> i'm not sure what is there a clarification? we sent copies of the subpoena up until the time -- >> have you defined what the documents are that you are requesting or that they know what it is that you are requesting the subpoena and the resolution are literally without limit. what are the documents requested in the subpoena so we know what we're voting for. >> i disagree there's without limits. >> you may agree or disagree but the answer to the question i

and i would have to say no. >> solyndra made solar panels even received a visit from the president as part of his green energy initiative. in september after receiving the 535 million dollar government-backed loan the company declared bankruptcy. critics have charged that since a big obama campaign donor was an investor the white house must have played a role. chu says he, not the white house made all the key decisions. >> as secretary of energy the final decisions on solyndra were mine. and i made them with the best interests of the taxpayer in mind. >> chu goes further to say there were no political considerations in his decision he never did issue an poll an -- apology for what happened to solyndra neither side democrats or republicans expect taxpayers to recover much of that money. >>> coming up next, americans are redefine wag it means to be old. we'll explain. >>> how you can help these abandoned puppies discovered at asa lean recycling plant. >>> today congress is expected to kill fudging for the president's high speed rail program. the full house will vote today and the senate

. >>> and solyndra executives pocketed big bonuses. the latest on the defunct solar company. it's thursday, november 3. this is "today in the bay." >>> good morning, everyone. i'm scott mcgrew. let's check the forecast with christina lauren. good morning. >> good morning. chances are you had to run the heater last night in the north bay. temperatures are in the 30s. 35 in santa rosa, 39 in napa. your temperatures will climb today, but we are going to see a significant storm drop in the bay area bringing rainshowers by 11:00 a.m. to the greater bay area. things start to change as we head through tonight. 4:31. any construction or slow downs? >> we have a full closure for highway 13 coming south from highway 24 closed from broadway terrace to moraga avenue. they are replacing an overhead sign until 5:00. nearby, eastbound 24 headed to the caldicut has construction blocking a lane. more in the east bay to follow, scott, but you have a big item. >> it is indeed. protesters and police squared off in oakland into the early morning hours following a day long protest that shut down s

it says when we mentioned solyndra? >> exactly. they're talking about solyndra. the whole idea was, obviously, the obama administration was promoting a huge stimulus. and loan guarantee programs and they didn't just want to stimulate the economy, they wanted to stimulate the sectors of the economy that they wanted to grow like green jobs, clean energy, solyndra was a solar panel company and clearly the biden office and the vice-president's office was very interested in talking to solyndra and making sure that they got the support they needed. >> and the one who is had access to the white house and the board member wrote back -- in response to that escmail wrote, that's awesome. get us a -- and add in, department of energy loan. i mean, i don't understand how you can explain that away. >> well, we will need to see more from the white house. but you are right. you have to remember the white house position has been no contacts, no talks about solyndra between the white house and solyndra. and the emails seem to indicate that that is just not the case. mitchell, part

and i would have to say no. >> solyndra made solar panels even received a visit from the president as part of his green energy initiative. in september after receiving the 535 million dollar government-backed loan the company declared bankruptcy. critics have charged that since a big obama campaign donor was an investor the white house must have played a role. chu says he, not the white house made all the key decisions. >> as secretary of energy the final decisions on solyndra were mine. and i made them with the best interests of the taxpayer in mind. >> chu goes further to say there were no political considerations in his decision he never did issue an poll an -- apology for what happened to solyndra neither side democrats or republicans expect taxpayers to recover much of that money. >>> coming up next, americans are redefine wag it means to be old. we'll explain. >>> how you can help these abandoned puppies discovered at asa lean recycling plant. >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. >>> today congress is expected to kill fudging for the president's high speed

what exactly happened to the half billion- dollar loan it solyndra? it's now the secretary of energy's turn to answer questions from congress. >> who did you consult with before you made that decision? >> reporter: secretary steven chu refused to apologize for the loan to the fremont-based solar company. he blames the market making unexpected changes including cheap imports from china. and he insists that politics had nothing to do with his decision to approve the loan. >> the final decisions on solyndra were mine. and i made them with the best interests of the taxpayer this mind. and i want to be clear, over the course of solyndra's loan guarantee, i did not make any decision based on political consideration. my decision to guarantee a loan to solyndra was based on the analysis of professional -- experienced professionals and on the strength of the information they had available to them at the time. >> reporter: still, some republicans on the house energy and commerce committee grilled chu about newly discovered e- mails that purport to show white ho

>> it appears that companies like solyndra are leading the way. >> 2009 solyndra is the flagship in president obama's clean energy initiative. given an astounding $535 million loan of taxpayer money within two years the flagship sinks. but it seems the loan was a bad bet from the get-go. in 2009, a private credit ratings agency warns solyndra is headed for failure. the obama white house forges ahead anyway. days before the groundbreaking ceremony at solyndra's new plant the loan still hasn't receive aid proval from the office of management and budget. so administration officials ess them to push things along. two days later, loan approved. the company digs itself into a hole almost immediately, bleeding money. by february this year, the company is broke. according to an administration e-mail, the optics of the solyndra failure would be bad. so instead of letting the cap shut down, the energy department and secretary chu approve a refinancing deal worth $75 million guaranteeing that in the event of bankruptcy private investors in solyndra would be repaid before the american taxpayer. months la

silver to solyndra, inc. in that letter he notices they are in default. >> without objection, the document is part of the record. >> thank you. in that document -- in that document, he notes that solyndra is in default and goes to the reason is they are in default. he says at the department does not take action immediately, they will not waive any of their rights. i refer you to document 67, the memorandum from susan richardson authorizing the subordination. she indicates in paragraph 3, first sentence, a default has required under the loan agreement. when that default occurred on december 1, 2010, 9 $5 million remained to be advanced. further, in an e-mail from february, silver further acknowledges that there was a default in december by solyndra. that being said, mr. secretary, did your office in compliance with the code, 1702g4a, the section that says the secretary shall notify the secretary about the default, did you do that? >> i will have to go back and look at the code from the justice department. >> i

it says it has e-mails from solyndra's biggest investor, saying the department of energy wanted solyndra to hold off on those layoffs until november 3rd. now, in the memo, the doe doesn't specifically say wait until after election day, november 2nd, but it never really does explain why november 3rd was picked as a date. department of energy steven chiu will testify tomorrow before the house energy and commerce committee and no doubt that will be one of the very first questions they ask him. >>> a congressional committee has voted to cut funding for so-called space taxis in half to $400 million. president obama wanted to spend twice that on companies like space ex to take our astronauts to the space station in private rockets. it's run by the same fellow who brought us the tesla electric car. we'll keep our eye on it. the idea goes to the full house this morning. i'm not sure how you get there. but if you want to be at the space station, nasa is taking applications for astronauts. you have to have a college degree, be a u.s. citizen, have 1,000 hours in command of a jet, that's preferred

solyndra. chief washington correspondent james rosen reports on the day of reckoning for steven chu. >> reporter: in five hours of system before energy house sub committee, steven chu maintained he made the final decision on solyndra on the merit and denied political interference by the white house. >> i'm aware of no communication from white house to department of energy saying to make the loan or restructure. >> after intensive internal debate among his aides, president obama toured solyndra last year and touted it as a model of green energy innovation, aided by $535 million in stimulus funds used to guarantee the company loans. but this summer they declared bankruptcy. they pressed chu on the red flags raised about the shaky finances and e-mail sent by officials at the doe and white house office of management and budget. >> were you aware that your own staff that worked for you was predicting bankruptcy in 2011, prophetically two years? >> i was not aware. >> reporter: chu said the departmen

i support a full investigation of solyndra. the fact is they administration is cooperating with house investigators at this time. they provided more than 80,000 pages of documents. the ministrations turned over 15,000 pages of documents to the committee this week. at a time when the american people want to see us working together and to put country before party, it seems like this is nothing more than a political gimmick. the administration is working with this committee. should it stop, i would support this. they are fully participating and cooperating. i think the investigation should continue and include anyone with any knowledge about any of this. let's get to the bottom of it. let's not have these votes just for what may or may not be political gain for someone. it is time for us to come together and work together and put country before party. >> thank you. this is a serious investigation of a loan program for renewable energy administered by the department of energy. this was modified by the stimulus bill in section 17 05

solyndra headquarters has turned into an auction house. yesterday everything solyndra went up for sale from laptops to monitors to heat guns. politico reports the hottest selling item is the $18 solyndra t-shirt. the auction closes at 5:00 tonight. in the meantime we are going to watch the house panel and its decision on whether or not to subpoena the white house documents. laura? >> thanks for the latest. >> time is 6:20. coming up, the governor telling us how he plans to change state employee pensions. we'll look at that next. >> greece stunned the world when it said it may not take europe's money. they are reconsi iridet.ngeyl 'l awekek.ta loo these sweet honey clustery things have fiber? fiber one. almost tastes like one of jack's cereals. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? uh, try the number one! i've never heard of that. [ wife ] it's great. it's a sweet honey cereal, you'll love it. yeah, this is pretty good. are you guys alright? yeah. [ male announcer ] half a days worth of fiber. not that anyone has to know.

>> it's extremely unfortunate what has happened to solyndra. >> eric: solyndra, half a billion dollars. 80% of green stimulus funds are friends of obama. $16 billion. appointing incompetent experimental physicist as energy czar, $50 billion. four more years of obama coney sociallism, priceless. what do you think of this? >> greg: this is going to end up falling on his solar-powered sword, which is good because it probably won't work. my advice for president obama because i know he watches this show every day is to announce as the month comes to a close thousands of new green jobs, which doesn't have to mention they're dude selling christmas trees. >> eric: green jobs? >> greg: got you. a whole new way. >> eric: that is one. experimental physicist at cal berkeley, at the time sam bodyman was department of energy secretary and said steven chu might be good if we had $7 or $8-gallon of gasolines. >> dana: going through the confirmation, he did say that. he is a very competent scientist. the question on this was there an overexuberance trying to get money out on the door? the solar market

she's talking about the obama administration's loan to solyndra. we spoke to her and her struggle to gain grounds in the gop policy. >> congressman nice to see you. >> nice to see you. >> and we are in a bar. and we picked it, not you. just so not everyone think you are running around to bars in iowa. >> i run a lot in iowa. >> let's talk about solyndra. today secretary of energy chu testified and he said, he described what happened with the solyndra loan, that the american taxpayers are on the hook for for $528 million. his words were extremely unfortunate. >> well, that's the understatement of the year. this is the height of crony capitalism. this is president obama political doners that he's paying off and essentially what the president did is he put one of his fundraisers into the energy department to point out which of the loans should be made to which person that gave political donations to the president. donations were made to companies like excellent draw, companies like light squared and beacon power and now there's a new one, i think it's

early on and in fact they had a louisiana quid today tee profile of solyndra that showed that solyndra could possibly run out of money by september of 2011. that with us a red flag in that report. jenna: the question is whether or not that liaison or whoever who is responsible for the loans did the due diligence necessary. >> reporter: for just set that information aside. that is possibly going to be an issue raised at the hearing with the department of energy secretary chu. jenna: he said the taxpayers will not be getting any of the money back from that loan. >> reporter: he did say the department of energy conducted due diligence on the loans. jenna: we'll continue to investigate. thank you so much for that. jon: police are tracking a thousand leads they say in the search for a missing two-year-old boy and wondering about some very strange behavior on the part of his mother. plus the super committee getting advice from the tea party telling them to go big, really big, $9 trillion worth and they say they have a blueprint for how to do it. we'll show it to you coming up. look, every da

. >>> solyndra is on the auction block. new at 6:00, consumer editor tom vacar is live in fremont where he went inside the manufacturing plant that is now being sold off piece by piece, tom. >> reporter: the final breaths of solyndra will not come with a whimper, they will come with the bang of the auctioneer's gavel. today potential bidders previewed a dazzling array of equipment lots to be auctioned off starting tomorrow. it includes everything from office chairs to large robotic assembly lines to computers as well as thousands of the finished solar panels ready to install. industrial auctioneers famous for auctioning off enron's estate says this auction is special. >> the response has been overwhelming. because the company's name has been in the marketplace, it's sort of transcends, it's not just an auction it's an event. >> reporter: uncle sam will have to wait until private investors get their $70 million first. no doubt taxpayers will take a big hit. >> historically used equipment prices are 25, 50-cents on the dollar

that was months after solyndra got half a billion dollars that was eventually lost. his suggestion was the deal was already done so george kaiser was not lobbying anyone because the money had been paid out. we are getting late word from democratic officials that there may be documents sent up to the hill later tonight from the white house. none of it is official yet. again, republicans likely to say that these are not the documents they are looking for. there has been a back and forth. white house turns over some documents and republicans say it's not enough. jay carney from the podium noting he wishes republicans would be this focused on creating jobs as they are on solyndra. >> neil: i wonder if there is a strategy beyond fighting from the bigger argument saying this is what happens when you go reckless on spending. the crisis kind of pick up and accelerate. >> no doubt republicans on the hill sees this as a political weapon. that has to be acknowledged. every time they talk about money that went to green jobs, in this case for example that was wasted. republicans

if that is the goal, stop pushing risky ventures like solyndra with ricky loans. we'll go in focus with steve, rich and rick and bill and elizabeth and victoria. and so steve, is this penny wise and dollar foolish . >> penny wise, $100's foolish. it is a small part of the federal budget and in terms of solyndra, if president obama wants to be a venture capitalist let him resign in 2012 and see what he can do. >> rick, this comes down on a waste of money when you factor in all of the billions on solyndra-like loans. >> i have to disagree with the boss' characterization there. there is never anything wrong with cutting waste in government. i don't care how much. with respect to solyndra, it is not the president who played venture capitalist. the department of energy has made these kinds of investments for years. solyndra is only 1. 3 percent of the total investment that the energy department has and by the way, only loan that appears to have gone wrong . 98 percent are performing well. >> victoria, that is not true. beacon power and enter one. and other examples and

area solar company is the focus of attention on capitol hill, we will tell what you is going on with solyndra. channel 2 morning news continues. . >>> thank you for joining us, it has been nice and warm, but you say it is over. >> gone, last couple of days, we had sunshine, very dry air mass, the wind is turning more southerly or westerly and that means we are getting clouds and sun in the morning, then clouds cooler, 50s and rain developing later today, here is sal. >>> traffic on the upper deck of the bay bridge looks pretty good as you drive into san francisco, there are no major problems driving into the city no problems on the lower deck. also this morning, we are looking at the commute on the mcarthur maze approach, traffic looks good and i want to mention there is a traffic hazard, a large pothole has closed an emergency shut down of two lanes in the freeway. this is major for you, if you are trying to get to novato, can you imagine two lanes being closed, well that is happening right now, this means it is going to be horrible heading south, stay with ktvu channel 2 news we will keep y

vice president biden's staff liked talking about that company, solyndra, the dirty details are ahead. ♪ [ female announcer ] we never forget the nearly 12 million cancer survivors in america today... and the countless lives lost. we owe it to them to protect funding for cancer research, prevention and access to care. congress, make cancer a priority and give millions of americans what they need most. >> western nations are bullying iran over the nuclear capabilities. this is reaction from iran's president, mahmoud ahmadinejad on iran's state run television vow he would not back down one iota on the nuclear program. this come as day after reports from the united nations key nuclear watch dog group that showed iran is closer than ever to perfecting a nuclear bomb. president ahmadinejad has choice words. >> we do not need atomic bomb. iranian nation is wise and will not build two bombs while you have 20,000 warheads but will build something you will not be able to match. morality. >> it showed signs of activity that could be part of a nuclear construction program including developing a

solyndra. solyndra. connections between the white house and solyndra are much like a tangled family ttee.sot - heritage :56-1:00sooyndra is the perfeet example oo why americans haveeno faith in washingtonntake graphicfirst, there's geoore kaiser.he's an oolahoma businessman worth about $10 billiin dollars.take vohe, his kaiser family foundation and two investment groups were among the biggest invetors in solyndra.ttke special animationhe's also ann obama capaign donor and 'bundler' - someene who organizes donations for candidates.kaiser vistee the white house at least 20 times in the months before the loan wassapproved.he denies any wrongdoing or use of his political influence with thh president.take grappicthen he worred for the department of energy and helped oversee $25 billion in energy loans. take special animationemmils show sppnner pushed for a quick decision on the olyndra loan. éhis wife's law ffrm bundler.he raised aahalf million dollars in 2008.he's already n the top tier of fundrai

new this morning in bombshell in the solyndra matter. did the obama administration try to influence last year's election to company delay a great many announcement, waiting until one day of at midterms of 2010 to announce a serrie of layoffs. new e-mails obtained by house republicans showing the department of energy pushed hard for that. the solyndra at the time was the centerpiece as you remember of the president's green energy initiative. that's where we start. good morning, everybody. back in the saddle here. martha: good to have you back. bill: thank you. martha: that raise as few questions, doesn't it? bill: sure does. i'm bill hemmer. martha: i'm martha maccallum. good morning. hear is the issue out there this morning. solyndra went belly-up after they got a half a billion dollars in government loans and private investors got paid back on that before the taxpayers. bill: therein lies the rub. stephen hayes, senior writer, "weekly standard", fox news contributor. good morning. what do you make of this, stephen. >> good morning, guys