>> reporter: david axlerod -- we sat down for this exclusive chat.t it was a good time to get back to chicago. we wanted to get inside the obama reelection operation. how are they planning to get him reelected when unemployment is in such difficult shape. david axlerod was blunt about saying it's going to be an uphill climb. he says he can't believe four years have passed since that epic obama-clinton battle. he told me point plank he thinks this republican race is more fascinating than the clinton-obama faceoff because he says he doesn't know how it will all play out. he poked at the republicans saying it's like a reality show where every week another candidate is voted off the island. i asked him about the congressional end game. and whether the obama campaign thinks it will be good if this deal goes down. that will play into the president's message about how he's fighting for the middle blast. he says it's the republicans in the house who want this to go down to hurt the president. >> we have seen this play out before. >> does that help your strat

. >> david axlerod. it was a tony event.nly did fannie and freddie send lat of their workers and executives to attend, they also sponsored the event. so $140,000 out of that amount was them sponsoring the event. >> what did we as taxpayerses got out of this? >> fannie and freddie might be better informed. >> informed of what? they don't have to compete. there's no competition so they don't have to be hugely informed. >> you can see an argument they needed at least one or two people there to gather what is going on, they had dozens of people there, and frankly, because they're the only game in town, the bankers might have held the conference at fannie and freddie's headquarters and not required them to travel. the banks need fannie and freddie. they're practically the entire housing market right now. >> everett dimarco is the overseer of fannie mae and freddie mac. has he been asked about this at all? i would think his hair would be standing on end. >> he sent a letter to a congressional committee, where you said it was justi