treat it. it had spread. and so she had been preparing, especially for her younger children and if you remember, she had lost her first born. and they are asking in lieu of any flowers or things like that, for people who are close to the edwards family to donate to a foundation in his name, which puts computers in schools for less privileged children. so, she has been trying to prepare for this and the hard part is those i have talked to who are close to her say that she was perhaps more prepared than they are, especially as this news gets out now and the reality of it sets n so as you and chuck were talking aboeethe caidate, i always had that sense about her. early in their life, it was elizabeth the star of the couple. she was a terrific lawyer did not take her husband s name, edwards, until the loss of her son at age 16 in a car accident. she was her own person in her life before she became a national figure. she was a health care advocate. those who don t know her childhood backgro
we struggle with our lives and how we balance it all. she had a great career as a lawyer in her own right. then made the decision to be at home and raise wade and kate. then two presidential campaigns and being a health care advocate. even though she didn t run for public office. she still wanted to make sure her time on earth was meaningful and that she gave. one things we were talking about today in our little group dealing with this, she felt like in the end she won. to her it s not that you lose a battle with cancer. it s that you, you know, you find meaning and you go on the next day as she was talking about the the interview with you, and you type going with your life, and that s how you win. the outpouring of affection for her, which preceded the later events, the unhappier events. it wasn t a function of that.
that s because she was the kind of person who found joy and hope in things that most of us don t pay attention to. you know, in her books she talks about that. she talks about it s the people that she met on the rope lines. it s the friends and the family. that s where she drew her strength and she was an amazing woman. she was also a hoot. she had a great sense of humor. i would not want to play her in boggle. she was the best you could find. she was an incredible woman. she was anti-war. she supported marriage equality. she was as strong a health care advocate that we had in the country and her intellect was startling. no matter how much you thought you had seen of it, you realize she was just barely warming up. i used to joke about this, but seriously, why did she not run for office? why did she not run for president? she didn t see that at her role. it s interesting.
we are following that news this hour. elizabeth edwards lost the battle of cancer after a six-year struggle when her husband as vice president continued as he ran for president in 2008, and afterwards as news of the affair went public, and their marriage crumbled, she went on alone to become a best selling author and health care advocate and with grace and dignity that earned her tremendous respect. our national political correspondent jessica yellin is here, and they released a statement saying that she had passed away earlier this morning. yes, at home, and surrounded by her families and including john edwards in her home in the final days. i spoke to a number of family friends since this news broke who say that first of all this happened a little more quickly than they expected. the doctors told them last week she would have probably days as opp posed to weeks, but they did not realize it is this quickly.
bill: factor follow-up segment tonight, massachusetts residents learned this week that their state spent at least $35 million last year on medical treatment for illegal aliens. governor devol patrick didn t want to give that information out but the boston herald finally got the story joining us from boston the reporter on the state jessica van sack. 35 million seems like a lot of money. what s going on here? well, this, as you know, started off as a regular information request, and it turned into a month long odyssey. they did not want to tell me how much money this thing cost but 35 million is a lot of dollars. and i know that one health care advocate said to me yesterday, you know, jessica, this is just a drop in the bucket. the health care budget is $13 billion. but, when you think about what $35 million could buy, it could buy 350 police officers, you know, even more teachers, firefighters, it s not a drop in the bucket. bill: especially since the state of massachusetts owes