Corzine: ‘I never intended to break any rules’

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor: On Capitol Hill today, a reversal of fortune for a man who was once a governor, a US senator and, until recently, the CEO of a company that collapsed in a stunning bankruptcy. Today Jon Corzine was the star witness brought by subpoena to testify before Congress on the collapse of MF Global and the missing billion dollars in client money. NBC 's Kelly O'Donnell reports on today's hearing.

KELLY O'DONNELL reporting: A fallen Wall Street CEO , personally rich and politically well-connected...

Former Governor JON CORZINE: I do swear.

O'DONNELL: ... New Jersey 's former Democratic governor and US senator Jon Corzine under oath...

Gov. CORZINE: I simply do not know where the money is or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date.

O'DONNELL: ...and under fire.

Representative DAVID SCOTT (Democrat, Georgia): And we got to find that money.

Representative COLLIN PETERSON (Democrat, Minnesota): Governor or senator, I don't know what to call you exactly.

Gov. CORZINE: Lot of people have bad names.

Rep. PETERSON: Jon , maybe. I don't know.

O'DONNELL: Confronted today over catastrophic damage done in Main Street America . An estimated $1.2 billion of investors' money went missing. Many of those investors are farmers.

Representative TIMOTHY JOHNSON (Republican, Illinois): They won't be able to buy seed. They won't be able to buy equipment. They won't be able to invest.

O'DONNELL: Corzine was CEO at MF Global before it went bankrupt last month. MF Global is under investigation to determine if it illegally raided clients' accounts to cover its own losses on high-risk investments that went bad.

Representative FRANK LUCAS (Republican, House Agriculture Committee Chairman): Did you authorize a transfer of customer funds?

Gov. CORZINE: I never intended to break any rules, whether it dealt with the segregation rules or any of the other rules that are applicable.

O'DONNELL: Corzine repeatedly apologized to investors.

Gov. CORZINE: I could not be more regretful.

O'DONNELL: Corzine has a risk taker's reputation. Nearly killed in a crash as governor when he was not wearing a seat belt riding in his official car. Today he took a different risk by answering the committee's questions. Corzine could have taken the Fifth to avoid self-incrimination. He is the first former senator subpoenaed to testify in more than 100 years. The

biggest question is still unanswered: Where is the investors' money? Kelly O'Donnell , NBC News , the Capitol .