our story deals with loans owned by freddie mac, guaranteed by freddie mac. the transactions we are talking about where loans were cut up, those were freddie mac boned loans -- owned loans. anyone around the world can buy mortgage bonds. if they fail and they are guaranteed by the government, the government makes good on the guarantees. i do not know if anybody has done the numbers on how many of the payouts have gone to foreign investors versus investors in this country. that is how is works -- it works. host: philadelphia on the democrats' line. caller: i want to know what is really being done. it sounds like freddie mac is still all right. guest: jesse eisenger, hinted that the after-effects of your story. long term, what might happen on capitol hill because of your story? guest: 1 is the fate of president obama's housing initiative, the things chris talk about. the second thing is, is grappling with how to resolve the entities. nobody wants conservatorship where we have freddie and fannie lost forever. that is untenable. there is a debate about what we sh

and fannie mae and freddie mae -- freddie mac have been doing this for decades. there really ramped this up, and essentially what they were doing was selling off principle of mortgages and keeping the interest. they're very concentrated in keeping the interest rate payment of all of these underlying mortgages that would feed into the securities. so when you have refinancing, actually you have a new loan. it looks like you went from 7% to 4%, but actually the old loan was paid off completely and the new loan starts at the new rate. for the holders of the old loan, the payments have stopped. so freddie mac, by retaining the interest rate portion of the securities, has really retained this distilled, concentrated exposure and vulnerability to prepayment to refinancing when people refinance their mortgage. host: because the money is being made, and more of it, when the interest rates are higher? guest: that is part of it, exactly. that is a main part of it. a lot of the securities involved people with very high mortgages, 6.5%, 7% mortgages, way above the prevailing

what has freddie mac said about just that key question? >> well, freddie mac has said that they're not going to comment on the inner workings of its portfolios. so they referred us, basically, to their regulator, which did issue a statement yesterday that was interesting in some ways, if you want to talk about that. >> tom: yeah, we'll quick. give us the idea. this is the federal housing administration regulator of fannie mae and freddie mac, both in conservatorship. did it defend the portfolio trades? >> one thing as a reporter you look for, nothing in the statement said that we had gotten any facts wrong. you also look-- did we get the story right? >> tom: did not quibble with the analysis. >> did not quibble with any of the facts in the story. i believe they were trying to say, look, we have a huge portfolio, hundreds of billions of dollars. these trades were only several billion dollars. but we're talking about $3.5 billion worth of trades tied to $20 billion worth of mortgages that involved tens of thousands of real homes and real hom

the bill -- and freddie mac act. our bill comes in the aftermath of a series of events that began last november when reports surfaced that the federal housing finance agency, fhfa, approved nearly $13 million in bonuses for ten executives at the enterprise -- that enterprise that supervises fannie mae and freddie mac. in response, senator thune and i spearheaded a bipartisan letter signed by 58 other senators to the fhfa acting director, edward demarco, and treasury secretary timothy geithner. we expressed outrage over these pay levels. almost three months after the letter was sent the pressure was on. government regulators were cutting the pay of executives they hired to replace the departing heads of fannie mae and freddie mac. also in response to our efforts, house finance services committee chairman spencer baccus introduced legislation suspending these bonuses and limiting future compensation packages for fannie and freddie employees. in november his committee passed the bill by a vote of 52-4. the begich-thune

why didn't dodd frank bill address fannie and freddie? that's not a question for you, but i want to know what your plans are when it comes to fannie and freddie? what would they be held accountable for? >> and they're not essentially in business anymore. we sent a letter to the head of fifa two weeks ago saying, you need to address this fannie/freddie issue in the first instance, that we need the same kind of relief for those loans that fannie and freddie and now in receivership can be modified, can have principal reduction. we're working with california and the united states ask working with homeowners in those states. but we need ultimately to get

for non-fannie and freddie borrowers, loans that aren't currently held by fannie or freddie, fha would be refinancing those. and the first thing i would say, going back to my point earlier, the most important thing we can do for the taxpayer is to make sure that the housing market improv improves. because that will improve the value of all p fannie and freddie and fha's investments. we're also proposing that the cost of this specific additional effort be completely offset. so it wouldn't add a dime to the deficit. we would set up a completely separate fund to wall off existing insurance that fha has. and we would also put in place a set of steps that would make sure that we don't have the risk iest loans, the most deeply underwater, coming onto fha. but remember, these are all folks that through the crisis have been paying, and we're lowering their payments on average $3,000 a year. we think these folks are going to be even more likely to pay, and it makes sense given the boost to the economy and the housing market overall that we should move forward with this plan. >> let me get your

well i'm sure they'll look into freddie mac. to placate people just like the attorney general here in california looked into the five biggest banks who committed fraud found to have found them to have committed fraud and then basically gave them a hand out and said all of those families that were the victims of fraud well doesn't really matter here's a few scraps from the table for you to be quiet i think that the u.s. government is so tied in with the banks that even tied in an equal basis but i would say the banks actually sit above the government are the ones that are really dictating domestic and foreign policy that absolutely no politician in washington is going to come out with anything strong against the banks it's going to be that people from below organizing to do like what was done today were banks were shut down all over los angeles where people took militant action to send a message to the banks that if they're not going to do anything to help working families if the government is going to do anything to help working

freddie mac. was betting belly and of dollars on securities that profited when homeowners were denied it refinancing or retired marine art the los santos is one of those homeowners that freddie mac. bet against as our teaser ramona glinda shows us the last sound thousands fighting to keep his home with the help of some california occupiers. sharon comes over. i'm going to get arrested and and fight to land trying to save her house art the los santos is ready to stand up to the law and to wall street after repeatedly trying to modify their known the delos onto his family was a big did late last year a devastating blow for the family who have a decades worth of family memories in this house the kids have grown up here we've done modifications to the house we tile windows. define a court order art moved his family back in taking back the dream he feels was stolen art could potentially face arrest for reentry in the home where he has raised his four children but despite the risk the family is staying

no more fannie and freddies, no more solyndras. let's ensure we account for these cost as part of the republican plan for america's job creators to give our job creators the confidence they need to hire and grow this economy. the chair: the gentleman from maryland. mr. van hollen: i thank you, madam chair. it's unfortunate that some of our republican colleagues can't take just a moment away from politics to celebrate the fact that we did have some good economic news over the last month, over 250,000 private sector jobs created. that's good news. is it enough? of course not. of course we need to do more which is why we'd like to see our republican colleagues bring the president's jobs bill to the floor of the house. it's still sitting somewhere around here that includes a proposal to invest in our infrastructure. you know, roads and bridges and broadband so we can make sure that we have an economy that can compete and win with respect to our global competitors so it would be great to take up that bill. in the past, investment in inf

senator john thune who is putting forth legislation to stop of the big bonuses for fannie mae and freddie mac executives, and he will be here to talk more about that in 20 minutes. >>> meanwhile negotiators on the capitol hill in extending through the end of the year the payroll tax cut worth $1,000 for the typical worker, but lawmakers are far apart on how the pay for tex tepgs as well as jobless benefits for millions of unemployed americans without swelling the national debt, and the house senate panel beginning the negotiations on the payroll tax figuring out how the pay for it, and the lawmakers working on the conferee saying they will start with the second tier issues like overhauling unemployment insurance. secretary of state hillary clinton says that russia and other countries must ask themselves if they should stand with serious people or the dictator, and the secretary state saying that they are hoping to win council approval of the arab resolution, and calling on syrian president assad to leave power. russia, as we talked about in the last couple of days opposes the language tha

freddie he is too passionless. his shoe or andrew britbart to give him a whengy before a speech. get irritated and angry. >> bob: this is coming from the base of your party. >> dana: you think sarah palin is the base of the party? >> bob: i don't think so. eric does. >> eric: can i weigh in? as a practicing conservative and practicing catholic. >> kimberly: i'm a practicing catholic. >> eric: sarah palin invigorated the crowd. if you watch the speech, people were standing, clapping, cheering, it took an hour for her to go through the podium down through the thing to sign autographs. she is what it's all about. when he is says i'm not sure that mitt romney is conservative, i agree with her. >> bob: how much of -- [ overtalk ] >> eric: 100 times more than you give her credit for. how is that? >> bob: i'll start at two. so that means 200%? >> dana: one reason he is did at the cpac speech, he is didn't talk about romney. he is talked about obama. that is what the crowd wanted. she is very good knowing who the audience

the problem is if you happen to have a mortgage that isn't a fanny mae or a freddie mac or fha mortgage, you're out of luck, and you may be doing everything right, paying your bills, but you can't benefit from what are today record low interest rates. >> tom: secretary donovan, with just learned this week that freddie mac has financial positions that profit when homeowners stay in higher interest rate loans. will this practice continue, even under fha administration? >> well, first of all, i was, as you are, troubled by this information, and the treasury department is working with the regulator of fanny mae and freddie mac to make sure that she's extras are fully looked at, and that there's a full accounting of what actually happened here and that we make sure it doesn't happen going forward. one of the these these allegations point to is that congress should act and require that whatever cop flicks there may be, whatever other interests, homeowners who are doing the right thing paying their mortgages have the ability to refinance, fanny mae or freddie mac mortgages or other mortgages.

first, taxpayers paid $150 billion to bail out fannie mae and freddie mac.u paid millions more in bonuses for the mortgage executives. it doesn't stop there. you won't believe what taxpayers are paying for. you are footing the bill for legal expenses and for former fannie mae and freddie mac executives and the bill was obscene. you have spent $50 million in legal fees. they are accused of cooking the books to scam you. why in the world are you paying their legal bills? liz mcdonald joins us. why are they paying this enormous legal bill for people being accused of scamming them to begin with? >> guest: because the watchdog of house and finance is essentially saying that fannie mae and freddie mac have contracts with these executives they can't break. you are right. these executives in prior years of securities and accounting fraud. these executives still face billions dollars worth of lawsuits where the legal fees are going to be racked up. hundred million plus in legal fees that the government has been paying for, fannie mae and freddie mac have been paying

fanny and freddie doesn't want to spend legal costs in court.is worth our while to cover their fees and even the bill. >> we got to move on. rick. the fact is, these people's legal fees. i don't want to cover legal fees like this. >> i don't like the fred yefanny fools anymore. but you have to honor contracts and unless they breached the contract. >> no, we don't. >> unless you show they breached it. what does bug me. there are people on this panel who defended paying the aig bonus. don't say no, we didn't. liz lizz you didn't. i was going to give you a shout out. you were tough on aig as. >> why shouldn't we pay the legal fees. i can't figure it out, do you? >> pay contractly obligated legal fees. look at what the president did with the gm bond holders. >> he violated the law. you know, the president. >> two wrongs don't make it right and get the government out of fred yefanny business and liquidate the government should be out of it. >> look at what happens when american airlines go bankrupt. share horaleds and people working there pay the pri

freddy's old franchise looking towards the future.resident jed york. >> reporter: do you wake up, i knew jim harbaugh was good. oh, my gosh? >> we expect to get better each week. that is what we did. when you continue to believe, you give yourself a chance. >> reporter: if you signed peyton manning would be the number one topic in all of sports. >> i am sure you would be. we will have a plan. >> reporter: you would leap if the opportunity was there. >> if any position, we look to improve our team. >> all right. >> the a's with a positive move today. this is something. four years, $36 million. it is annealed fielder from cuba, yoenis cespedes -- it is an out fielder from cuba. yoenis cespedes. yoenis cespedes is his name. >> yoenis cespedes. >> you know what it means in spanish? >> you know what ed lee means? here is the mayor -- [ talking at the same time ] >> ronnie lott. >> pac 12 network will be in san francisco. they will have their own television network. another chance for cable to counsel you in terms of sports. -- gouge you in

freddie pa freddie placed a bet that if they win they make a lot of money. >> we reached out to freddiees. this is the latest statement, freddie mac is committed to making sure that we do everything to make sure that refinancing for more than 78% of our business in 2011 and 80% of our business in 2009 and 2010 we are proud of our record of refinancing more than 4.3 million mortgages in this span totalling about $930 billion. the fact is, a borrowers' ability to defy re-fi mans is dependent on their financial condition. is this whether he did anything unlawful or unethical? >> no. we're not alleging in our reporting or nothing in our reporting turned up any evidence that there was anything illegal going on here. we should absolutely say that. and to be fair to freddie mac and say, look, there's a firewall between the part of our company and homeowners and there is a basic conflict in the shift in the way fannie and freddy are set up. you have gatekeepers that control their ability to refinance and at the same time in the hedge fund on the side of the business they are betting against the

but fannie and freddie still have that unlimited pipeline into the u.s.asury, where they can get unlimited dollars to rescue themselves. they collapsed into the arms of the u.s. taxpayers in 2008. and taxpayers are footing the legal costs for executives going forward. i'll say again and again, the indemnification clauses in these corporate contracts quickly say that you get to get your legal fees covered if you act in the best interest of your company and the scope of your authorities. securities and accounting fraud -- >> they are accused have had cooking the books so they can pay themselves more with taxpayer money and they got scpawt now we are paying the legal fees. this is so outrageous. write to your congressmen and u.s. senators. >> coming up, rick santorum just left the stage in the arizona debate and is headed right here. stand by for senator rick santorum in just a moment. and are president obama supporters just not that into him? his main base of support may be loosing its spark. what's the ominous sign? find out, coming up ♪ [ male announcer ]

protesters were demonstrating on -- outside freddie mac today. protesters were demonstrating on behalf of those who have lost their homes due to foreclosure. >> today 25 occupy d.c. protesters made their voices heard. they were there in support of a local resident who was of colonel of losing her home -- who was on the verge of losing her home. she walked into freddie mac headquarters today worried that her home would be taken by the bank. when she walked out -- >> i feel real good. >> it was all smiles. >> she has been struggling to stay in her home ever since she was laid off in 2009. she fell behind in her payments and worked out a loan modification deal with bank of america. >> i gave them the lump-sum they asked for. >> but she says four months later the bank took the lump-sum back and -- gave the lump-sum back and told her her home would be foreclosed on. she is one of thousands of americans fighting for closure. she says what made the difference for her or the occupied d.c. protesters. >> as someone who is thomas myself, i know what it is

despuÉs de que escuchara un ruido en la puerta de la vivienda en la cuadra 1100 de la ascher court freddy policÍa de alexandria "el hombre entro a la casa cuando ella estaba cuidando niÑos y la ataco dentro de la casa" al parecer la menor se encontraba cuidando dos niÑos el momento del encuentro con este individuo freddy reyes "estamos buscando un hombre aproximadamente veinte anos como dije 6 pies de altura 190 a 200 libras, pelo oscuro, traÍa una barbilla y ahorita no sabemos lo que traÍa puesto de ropa" lo importante es que la jovencita pudo llamar al numero de emergencia y de esta forma logro ahuyentar al sujeto freddy reyes sub jefe de policÍa de alexandria "obviamente cuando alguna persona esta cuidando un niÑos en una casa extranjera o la casa de ellos mismos deben trancar las puertas todo el tiempo, cuando toquen la puerta o el timbre no deben abrir la puerta hasta asegurar quien esta afuera sino estÁn seguros de la persona que esta afuera y se sienten con miedo obviamente marque el 911 departamento de policÍa" si tiene informaciÓn al respecto comunÍquese con la policÍa de alexand

harris wrote a letter to the agency which oversees fannie and freddie.she wants the agency to do a full analysis and figure out if reducing the mortgage principle of underwater homeowners would help and if it would save taxpayer money. the agency has spoken odd to the litter. we don't know what -- has responded to the letter. we don't know what the response said. she secured for california 18 billion dollars out of a 26 billion dollar settlement with five banks to also help underwater homeowners. harris says that deal provides a historic opportunity for fannie and freddie to also work with california homeowners. katie marzullo, abc7 news. >>> firefighters have spent all night watching a mountain view apartment complex that burned quickly yesterday. they want to make sure the fire doesn't flare-up. dozens homeless, 10 units destroyed. the investigators know the unit in which the fire started but don't know how. flames got into a common attic area and quicklyk]9ha spread. everybody got out okay. some residents have nothing more than the clothes on their ba

>> fannie and freddie have a separate process of enforcing servicing violations. they are pursuing those claims and they have separate processes, as fha does, for origination violations, etc. specifically on which loans this will apply to, and we see the refinancing portion that is part of this settlement as a perfect complement to the refinancing effort that the president has already talked about and that are moving forward for underwater current homeowners in fannie and freddie loans. we knew as we were designing the settlement that we had already made steps to ensure that fannie and freddie borrowers who are under water could refinance at record low interest rates today, but we knew that that option is not available to homeowners that had loans that were in the portfolios of the bank. that is what the refinancing component is focused on, so it complements what is available to fannie and freddie borrowers. and modifications, fannie and freddie are already doing extensive payment modifications for those homeowners. that are not doing significant principal reducti

secretary donovan recently commented on fannie and freddie. we need to break the logjam of principal reductions. and as you well know, treasury has offered triple incentives to banks and mortgages, mortgage companies willing to cut mortgage principal for under water homeowners through the housing affordable modification program. you have talked about it some time, haven't you. the need for principal reduction is very apparent not only in new jersey but some other states obviously while the decline in the median price, median price of a single-family house, home, outpaced the national average by 3.7% drop, a 3.7% drop with bergan county having 8% drop last year. that's big. and an even higher drop of 8.4% right next door. mr. secretary, the need for principal reduction for freddie and fannie held mortgages is apparent. is it contained within the president's 2012 budget? and if it isn't, why isn't it? >> it doesn't need to be in the budget because we believe that fannie and freddie have the clear authority to provide principal reduction in cases

why didn't the dodd/frank bill address fannie and freddie. why are they still in business. that's not really a question for you but i want to know what your plans are when it comes to fannie and freddie? >> they're not really in business. they're essentially in receivership with fifa, federal housing financial authority. we sent a letter to the head of fhfa and said you need to address this. we need the same kind of relief for those loans that fannie and freddie and now, in receivership, can be modified, can have principal reduction. we're working with california, new york, many of the other states in looking for that accountability for homeowners in our states. we work what our federal partners on. but ultimately we need the same resolution that we've gotten in massachusetts and now, with this agreement, to get relief for homeowners. that issue, i think, is a good one to ask your congressman, your senators, they are federally created and federally run and federally overseen. and the hands for -- the ways in which a resolution can be reached with them is probably going to h

>> i would certainly start to wind down fannie mae and freddie mac.y haven't been downsized at all since september 2008 when they were put in conservatorship. if you compare it to similar, they have had control of the trust corporation in the '80s, they immediately started downsi downsizing. they can put them in receivership. they can start doing that immediately. >> isn't the problem if they put them in receiver shship it will force a debt restructuring that will seize up the big banks? >> ip don't see that happening. >> can i explain to you how it could happen? the big banks are pretending that the second liens are worth 80 cents on the dollar. when you start to restructure the first mortgage in the open market, you render the second liens 0, which annihilates the balance sheet. it's the same if you put swaps on exchanges. whether it's restructuring at fannie or the first lien in the bond market or my swaps market, the very reason none of these ideas ever happen is because if you were to do them, it would force a complete restructuring of wells farg

fanny and freddie are pawmped up time and time again by the american taxpayer and again democrats areing a blank check, instead of fixing the systemic problems at fanny and freddie and dismantling it and returning it to the private sector, what is it doing, bailing them out again, and they made the investment of $25 million, it's a spit in the ocean compared to what they've done to the mortgage market. they're easy to pick -- on the private sector and let them off the hook but the ultimate problem with fannie and freddy as with dodd electronic iso frank is to exempt them from the rules they require the private sector to adhere to. this is again the american people bailing out an industry instead of fixing the problem. megyn: this guy, edar demarco, direct, of an independent agency in charge ofover seeing fanny and freddie says this is a bad idea, i don't want to do this because i think it's going to cost the taxpayers money and now a growing group of democrats is calling for that guy to step down, they see him and this independent group as an impediment to the writedown of the mortgag

and tack that on to the $185 billion we have already given fannie mae and freddie mac.says you are throwing money down a deep hole. but we keep doing it because, i think, these guys represent 80 percent or mine percent of all the mortgages and if we hurt them we hurt those mortgages. what do you say? >>guest: well, that is what the president would say, we have to keep these people around or you do not get a mortgage, but the problem is, these has made a lot of promises to the firms and the companies that want this money. so he feels like he has things he has to uphold there. but, the other issue, neil, when you look at a bailout and you throw money at a failing industry, a falling businesslike the housing market, for example, you could run the risk of ringing out of money and the auto companies did the same thing and that is where we are with fannie mae and freddie mac. >>neil: i would entertain if, if, if, if, scott, they were part of the big restructuring, the big investigations that have gone after banks and everyone but fannie mae and freddie mac. in other words the

fannie mae and freddie mac and that's the next place we need to go. let me be clear, by know means is this the whole solution or the end of the problem. first, i think we need tide lot of work to make sure this agreement itself is implemented. i think we move forward in good faith that we'll be able to get the relief for people that this agreement is designed to effect. that's step one. secondly, it's not everybody. and it doesn't deal with, remember, the things that got carved out. all the the attorney's general that said we won't sign an agreement unless we can carve out some securitization claims. some criminal investigations. in massachusetts we had very specific claims around holding mortgages before you can foreclosure. we carved out of this agreement. i want to be clear this is only one piece of a much larger puzzle and we've done some work in the past and brought over $600 million back to homeowners massachusetts in origination claims and securitization claims and this piece will help for those homeowners who are eligible but there's still lot

remember, these are nonfannie and freddie loans.ou need to go to the website that's been set up by the government for this. get the phone number of your servicer and start working right now. they want to get this money out within three years. >> i've had tweets and questions about what happens to fannie and freddie mortgages. we've already had a couple of programs and this one is specifically tied to some of these improper practices where people have been foreclosed. stay where you are, i want to get back to this in just a moment. first opt to bring in sean donovan, the secretary of housing and urban development. thank you for being on the show. the show, as you know, is about solutions. we know what the problems are. and i don't want to diminish this settlement at all, but it is, as we know, a small slice of the intractable and huge housing problem we continue to have in this country. how will this push the needle closer to getting us out of the housing crisis? >> ali, it's great to be back with you again. look, you raise an import

. >> greta: and fannie mae and freddie mac, more than $150 billion. didn't believe that was not all two months ago. they were given millions in bonuses and are they going to get it? also an ominous warning, top u.s. officials have new information, it's not good at all. john bolton goes on the record. and michelle obama about to join american idol. stay tuned for the very latest this new at&t 4g lte is fast. hey. did you guys hear... ...that mary got engaged? that's so 42 seconds ago. thanks for the flowers guys. [ both ] you're welcome. oooh are you guys signing up for the free massage? [ both ] so 32 seconds ago. hey guys you hear frank's cat is sick? yeah, we heard. wanna sign the card? did you know the guys from china are in the office... [ speaking chinese ] [ male announcer ] stay a step ahead with the 4g lte galaxy s ii skyrocket. only from at&t. ♪ >> greta: whether fannie mae and freddie mac and the fight against the teachers ever end? to the tune $150 billion will you think that would be the end of the asking. not so fast, in november they ask

. >> greta: and fannie mae and freddie mac, more than $150 billion. didn't believe that was not all two months ago. they were given millions in bonuses and are they going to get it? also an ominous warning, top u.s. officials have new information, it's not good at all. john bolton goes on the record. and michelle obama about to join american idol. stay tuned for the very latest tonight. you don't want to miss it. y... ♪ that right now, you want to know where you are, and where you'd like to be. we know you'd like to see the same information your advisor does so you can get a deeper understanding of what's going on with your portfolio. we know all this because we asked you, and what we heard helped us create pnc wealth insight, a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, so you can make better decisions and live achievement. premier of the packed bag. you know organization is key... and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-s or abov