how would you phase out fanny mae and freddie mac?oes the private mortgage industry he's in additional regulation? from william schmidt, governor romney? >> i think you know fannie mae and freddie mac were a big part of why we have the housing crisis in the nation that we have,ened we've had this discussion before. speaker gingrich was hired by freddie mac to promote them. to influence other people throughout washington, encouraging them to not to dismantle these two entities. "normous mistake. i think instead we should have had as withing blower, not a horn tooter. saying they were causing a housing collapse we've seen in florida and around the country. are that he problem today? absolute absolutely. offering mortgages again to people who weren't possibly repay them, creating another housing bubble which will hurt the american people. the right course for our housing industry is to get people back to work so they can buy homes again. we have 9.9% unemployment in florida. it's unthinkable. 18% real unemployment here. get people back t

. >> we discovered to our shock governor romney owns shares of both fannie mae and freddie mac. >> you have checked your own investments? you also have investment in mutual funds that also invest in fannie mae and freddie mac. >> bill: money may be weighing down the republic candidates. lou dobbs on whether questionable investments will sink the g.o.p. in november. >> you went after pretty hard and heavy my dear friend papa bear bill o'reilly. okay? [ laughter ] you attacked him in an interview. >> i didn't really attack him. >> bill: she really did attack me. now she is not telling the truth on national television. we'll update you on npr commentator kerry groce. >> he says that the interview

according to the associated press, he did have investments in fannie mae and freddie mac.y were not blind trusts. >> chris, this is the big issue. it's kind of puzzling. he's had many years to think about this. mitt romney and his campaign can't figure out how he should talk about his own wealth, whether it's his taxes. he should just get up there and say, listen, i've done well. i have a gazillion dollars. i don't even know how many. i have people who manage these funds for me. i don't know what goes on. if you tell me there's freddie mac money in there, i'm going to tell them to get rid of it. i don't want it anymore. that's how he should handle this. every time we get to this issue, he somehow muffs it. it's somehow perplexing. >> thank you, david. thank you, susan. >>> up next, newt gingrich picks up the endorsement of duke cunningham, who's doing time for bribery. i guess you get endorsements where you can get them. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. >>> back to "hardball." now to the side show. first up, talk about extra baggage. newt gingrich has clinched ano

fannie mae c.e.o. michael williams, for example, got $2. $2.37 million in performance bonuses, including haldemann, the top fiv officers at fannie e bank $5.6 million in performance bonus pay alone last year, though a second bonus installment for 2010 has yet to be reported. according to agency records, williams and other at fannie pock etd $6.33 in incentives for what s.e.c. records described as meeting the primary goal of providing liquidity, stability and affordability." i think it's important to ask the question here: is it really necessary for these bonuses to be provided to these executives when we have men and women who are literally in harm's way who are compensated far less? is it -- is it possible that there aren't some patriotic americans who would be willing to serve heading up these organizations to try to get it cleaned up? the primary causes of the collapse our economy, which still plagues us to this day? for decades, the american taxpayer -- mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the art

we discovered to our shock that governor romney owns shares of fannie mae and freddie mac. he made a million dollars off selling some of that. >> first of all, my investments are not made by me. my investments have been in a blind trust managed by a trustee. there are bonds that they have held through mutual funds. and mr. speaker, i know that sounds like an enormous revolution, but have you checked your own investments? you also have investments in fannie mae and freddie mac. >> right. >> susan, that was one of the great, i assume, a lot of this stuff is set up ahead of time. but what a resounding punch that was to the jaw. >> it showed how well prepared mitt romney was in terms of opposition research and how newt gingrich was not prepared. his own campaign -- as soon as the line came out, we were getting e-mails from the gingrich campaign pointing out that during the 1994 senate race in massachusetts, mitt romney had derited the idea that a blind trust ab solved responsibility for the trustee would do. that was a point newt gingrich could have made in response to the atta

i don't own stock in fannie mae or freddie mac. have you checked your own investments?hrough mutual funds that also invest in fannie mae and freddie mac. >> ouch. >> he got punked. >> got punked. >> one thing we have also learn about newt gingrich is he a good debater or a prauler. a one-trick pony. he goes after the media. if that doesn't work, there isn't a reservoir of warmth there or appeal to voters. >> alex, did you say that mitt romney got a new debate coach, got someone to help him. >> a man named o'donnell. >> who was formerly with michele bachmann. a former debate coach at liberty university, and if i'm correct, and he's a pro. he's very good. >> he was very good at working with people. to let them be themselves, to get the bist out of them. the hardest thing to do on the stage is to relax and look confident. >> i don't think romney was relaxed. >> better than he's been in the past few debates. >> i think he knew everything was on the line for him tonight. and he wasn't relaxed, but he was prepared. he had the opposition research. >> i think we saw something c

our problem is -- [ applause ] >> governor romney always shares of fannie mae and freddie mac.e made millions off selling that. he has had investment of goldman sachs which is closing on floridians. >> have you checked your own investments yorb also have investments in fannie mae and freddie mac. >> they both made money from fanny and freddie. should they return that money? >> that subject doesn't interest me a whole lot. >> the bigger issue here is these two gentlemen who are out distracting by the most important issues we have by playing petty politics. can we set aside that newt was a member of congress and used the skills he developed as a member of congress to advise company, and mitt romney is a guy who is wealthy because he worked hard. you need to loov that alone and focus on the issues. >> how about if the four of us agree for the rest of the evening to talk about issues that relate to america. >> you said he lives in a world of swiss bank and cayman island bank accounts. i didn't say that, you did. >> let's put behind this idea of attacking me because of my investment

and there's a similar investment in fnma, that's fannie mae.hat's money outside of romney's blind trust. he spoke of the blind trust almost as a virtue saying it allowed him to avoid any conflicts of interest. keep in mind, when he was campaigning against ted ken dirk he didn't really trust blind trusts. >> the blind trust is an age old ruse if you will, which is to say, you can always tell a blind trust what it can and cannot do. you give a blind trust rules. >> getting back to today, speaker gingrich also has some consistency problems. before last night, he was turning to boycott any debate that didn't allow audience members to cheer or boo or applause. >> i wish in retrospect i would protested when brian williams took them out of it because it was wrong. because the media is terrified that the audience is going to side with the candidate against the media. and we're going to serve notice on future debates, we're not going to allow that to happen. that's wrong, the media doesn't control free speech people ought to be able to applaud if they w

it's unfair to lay the issues of fannie mae and freddie mac at the feet of new englat gingrich.it's unfair to lay the issues of leverage at mitt romney's feet. what's happening, it seems like we're getting an education through the lenses of the candidates and their behavior as to how the systems currently function. that seems to be the most encouraging component. >> your question is are we going to get the debate we finally deserve? it depends on the moderator. john king could have gone after gingrich a little more. gingrich shot back about the marriage. >> i have 50 million in poverty. here's where i disagree with you. if you don't use proportionality, you can't solve problems. if you consider the marital behavior of one to be proportional to the poverty, the unemployment of 30 million americans and the corruption of the entire governmental system, when your only resource is time, the only thing i don't have a lot of on the planet and in a conversation is time. and when i decide to proportionally focus on things that are good, and with bill clinton? the democrats are going to p

will this motel succeed . >> it will be better used rebranding fannie mae .l pricing strategy. it is a matter of the trust. will we trust the ceo and can that work in a store. people go in retail therapy and looking for discounts and savings. ci think people know the jewelry is jacked up. will we trust the ceo on the. >> that is a good question. do you think that people will trust the new strategy. >> victoria is not the only shopper that is vafeaged with all of the monkey sales and dam affinity cards. there was a poster said no card games. i am going to take all of my grocery business to hanovers. >> i think ron johnson disciples of steve jobs can turn jc penny water in apple red wine. it is not going to work. upon pg&e tried and had to abandon it. worse than that. he want to make jc penny saks and amazon.comdiscount world. he wants clarity. he knows that the shoppers are looking for that. do you think he's on to that. >> shoppers are looking for bargains. remember saturn. they didn't have bargain we saw what happened to that. why did you go to the restauran

and freddie mac, and, mitt romney says, you had the same mutual funds that invested in fannie mae and freddie mac and it was stunning, the whole night was. >> you almost saw newt say, the wonderful character, gilda radner, never mind, that is what i thought. >> jeanine: finally, if gingrich doesn't win florida is he done? >> no. he's not done. but neither is santorum and ron paul and, as of now, nobody has more than 33 delegates and it takes 1144 to win the nomination, we're a long, long way and now here's the reality, if he wins florida, it is a winner take allstate and, most of the february calendar favors romney, places like michigan and nevada where he'll do very, very well. and means the other candidates have to stay on their feet for february and give them a reason to put them in the game, starting in march. >> jeanine: let's assume mitt romney ends up the candidate. he scores better against barack obama than any other candidates. but, how is he going to defeat barack obama if he can't get 50% of the base? >> i think that that is... not a figure you have to worry about, repu

. >> we discovered to our shock governor romney owns shares of both fannie mae and freddie mac. >> you have checked your own investments? you also have investment in mutual funds that also invest in fannie mae and freddie mac. >> bill: money may be weighing down the republic candidates. lou dobbs on whether questionable investments will sink the g.o.p. in november. >> you went after pretty hard and heavy my dear friend papa bear bill o'reilly. okay? [ laughter ] you attacked him in an interview. >> i didn't really attack him. >> bill: she really did attack me. now she is not telling the truth on national television. we'll update you on npr commentator kerry groce. >> he says that the interview was 40 minutes of defamation. >> bill: caution, you are about to enter the no spin zone. the factor begins right now. captions by closed captioning services >> bill: hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. the final republic debate before the florida vote next tuesday, that is the subject of this evening's talking points memo. it looks like mitt romney made a come back last night.

and there's a similar investment in fnma, that's fannie mae.hat's money outside of romney's blind trust. he spoke of the blind trust almost as a virtue saying it allowed him to avoid any conflicts of interest. keep in mind, when he was campaigning against ted ken dirk he didn't really trust blind trusts. >> the blind trust is an age old ruse if you will, which is to say, you can always tell a blind trust what it can and cannot do. you give a blind trust rules. >> getting back to today, speaker gingrich also has some consistency problems. before last night, he was turning to boycott any debate that didn't allow audience members to cheer or boo or applause. >> i wish in retrospect i would protested when brian williams took them out of it because it was wrong. because the media is terrified that the audience is going to side with the candidate against the media. and we're going to serve notice on future debates, we're not going to allow that to happen. that's wrong, the media doesn't control free speech people ought to be able to applaud if they w

. >> well, i think you know that fannie mae and freddie mac were a big part of why we have the housing crisis in the nation that we have. we've had this discussion before. speaker gingrich was hired by freddie mac to promote them, to influence other people throughout washington, encouraging them to -- not to dismantle these two entities. i think that was an enormous mistake. we should have had a whistle-blower and not a horn tooter. he should have stood up, saying this is a disaster, a crisis. he should have been telling the american people that these entities were creating a housing bubble that would have caused a collapse. >> he's been attacking me inaccurately and he knows it. the contract released from freddie mac said i would do no lobbying, none. we began digging in because i had enough of this. we discovered to our shock, governor romney made $1 million off of selling some of the freddie mac and fannie mae stocks. he has an investment in goldman sachs which is today foreclosing on floridaens. maybe his fear of openness should tell us how much money he's made off of households th

how would you phase out fannie mae and freddie mac.need additional regulation? >> well, i think you know that fannie mae and freddie mac were a big part of why we have the housing crisis and the nation we have. and we have had this discussion before. speaker gingrich was hired by freddie mac to promote them. to influence other people throughout washington, encouraging them to not dismantle these two entities, i think it was an enormous mistake. we should have had a whistle blower and not a horn tooter. these things are a disaster, a crisis. he should have been telling the american people that these entities were causing a housing bubble that would cause a collapse that we have seen in florida and around the country. are they a problem today? absolutely. they're offering mortgages again to people who can't create them, who are creating another housing bubble. the right course for our housing industry is to get people back to work so they can buy homes again. we have 9.9% unemployment in florida. it's unthinkable. 18% real unemployment h

u also have investment in mutual funds that also invest in fannie mae and freddie mac. >> bill: money may be weighing down the republic candidates. lou dobbs on whether questionable investments will sink the g.o. in november. >> you wt after pretty hard and heavy my dear friend papa bear bill o'reilly. okay? [ laughter ] you attacked him in an interview. >> i didn't realttack him. >> bill: she really did attack me. now she is not telling the truth on national television. we'll update you on npr commentator kerry groce. >> he says that the interview was 40 minutes of defamation. >> bill: caution, you are about to enter the no spin zone. the factor begins right now. captions by closed captioning services elderly women disproportionately. it might be that romney comes across more presidential and maybe smoother i don't know. something big changed. the most likely something is mrs. gingrich. >> bill: morris, wait, take a deep breath. deep, blow out. okay. one of pundits on the internet. one of the political web sites said that among gingrich's staff, and we don't know whether this is true

"the question ii what are we going to do about fannie mae and freddie mac.ould have been auctiined off riiht after the crash came, it would rick saatorum, who's struggled win, again tried to set himself apart from the health care. "it does not provvde the contrast we need with barack obama, ii we're going to take on the most important issue. we annot pive the issue of heaath care away in this election. it is election."fifty g-o-p delegaaes are uu for grabs in florida's winnee-take-all contest on tuesday. in washington, i'm karin caafa. michelle obama is all the talk this week... among fashion designers.the first lady... who'' known for wearing clothes from target or j-crew... stunned designers in this rilliant blue dress she wore... during tuesday night's state of the union address. it's made by los angeles-based designer barbara tfank... and reporttdly sells for about 24- hundred dollars.mrs. obama also wore a tfank dress last year when she met the british royal family at buckingham palace. 3& it's for a heart- that's the reason so many keep from freezing i

gingrich will release contracts with fannie mae and freddie mac tomorrow. is this a good thing. it out early? >> absolutely. absolutely. with those tax returns, i know that the minute i was called to run for vp with john mccain, congress called to start producing all of our financial records. all of those tax records. that is the name of the game, whether its law or not. it is tradition. it's an expectation, that transparency. mitt romney obviously now has taken kind of that pressure to heart and now he is going to release his tax returns. newt gingrich's contract also with working with bureaucracy. more transparency the better because that in itself allows that con trat what the gop offers and how we want to benefit the electorate with as much information as possible with that lack of transparency in obama administration that has harmed our nation swnrees as we look at the results from the south carolina. they draw the kitchen sink newt prior to this. i look at the exit polls. rank and file republicans went gingrich. those who support the tea party or neutral toward the tea par

i don't own stock in either fannie mae or freddie mac. there are bonds that they've held through mutual funds. i know that sounds like an enormous revelation. but have you checked your own investments? you also have investments from mutual funds that invest in fannie mae and freddie mac. >> joining me now are john heilman from the debate location in florida. he's the national affairs editor for "new york" magazine. tom brokaw, nbc news special correspondent and author of "the time of our lives," a conversation about america, who we are, where we've been and where we need to go now to recapture the american dream. and chris hayes, host of msnbc's "up with chris hayes." tom, how do you score it? >> well, i always let the voters decide how they want to score it. i really just try to call strikes here. who scores the most runs tonight, we'll know when the florida voters go to the polls. i think objectively, however, there was a different mitt romney on the stage tonight. i think in the last ten days or so, the questions have been both, can he

last night, romney said gingrich, in fact, is also invested in fannie mae and freddie mac. did some fact checking, wolf, that is also true. >> a lot of mutual funds info s invested over the years in fannie and freddie. good work. >>> newt gingrich's rivals have a blast with his space plan. >> if i had a business executive come to me and said they want to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, i'd say you're fired. >> we're going to get a closer look at how newt gingrich's moon shot fizzled with the republican candidates. gloria borger and ron brownseen a . >>> serious plans to take back what they say is realistic, full control of congress. ♪ we are young ♪ ♪ so let's set the world on fire ♪ ♪ we can burn brighter ♪ than the sun ♪ carry me [ male announcer ] the all-new chevy sonic. from your first time... to the time of your life. chevy runs deep. ♪ home was an airport lounge and an ipad ♪ ♪ made sure his credit score did not go bad ♪ ♪ with a free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ app that he had ♪ downloaded it in the himalayas ♪ ♪ while meditating like a