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Obama Campaign Takes Aim at Bain Capital; Interview Obama 2012 Press Secretary Ben LaBolt; John Edwards Trial Continues; Live Feed: Romney Speaks on Economy

Aired May 15, 2012 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In the meantime, top of the hour. And hello, everyone. Welcome back. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. I'm in for Brooke Baldwin.

And any minute now, we are watching the live mikes. Mitt Romney is expected to step to the front, to the microphones and give what his campaign is calling a major speech on his plan to fix the economy. And we're told the Republican is planning to focus on the debt, that debt that our grandchildren will be taking on.

We're going to keep our eyes on that.

First, though, targeting Mitt Romney where it really hurts, his image as a captain of industry. The Obama campaign is upping the TV ante in the battleground states with a new attack ad that really takes aim at Romney's record at Bain Capital. It features interviews with steelworkers who lost their jobs with GS Industries years after Bain invested in the company.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those guys were all rich. They all had more money they will ever spend. Yet they didn't have money to take care of the very people that made the money for them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bain Capital walked away with a lot of money that they made off of this plant. We view Mitt Romney as a job destroyer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, the response time in this 24/7 news cycle is certainly lightning fast. The Romney camp wasted no time in getting out a rebuttal ad. And this one features glowing comments from workers at a different steel company.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

NARRATOR: Mitt Romney's private sector leadership team stepped in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Building a dream with over 6,000 employees today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it wasn't for a company like Steel Dynamics, this county would haven't a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And this is only the beginning, folks. Just wait until the super PACs kick into high gear. You're not going to be able to avoid seeing ads like this day after day after day as we get towards November.

I want to bring in the press secretary for Obama 2012. His name is Ben LaBolt. He's joining us from Chicago.

All right, Ben, I want to take you to task on this one, because it was real heart-wrenching to listen to those steelworkers in your ad that was ripping Mitt Romney for being at the helm of Bain, when, in fact, he wasn't at the helm when that company went bankrupt. So was that fair or was that dirty?

BEN LABOLT, OBAMA CAMPAIGN PRESS SECRETARY: Well, that's actually not accurate, Ashleigh.

After he went to Salt Lake, he remained the owner of Bain. He was there when they loaded the company up with debt, put it on a path to bankruptcy and ultimately 750 workers lost their jobs, they lost their health care, they lost their full pensions.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: OK. I will give you that, so, sure, in name only, but, Ben, you know and I both know he was not managing -- he was not managing the company at that time.

LABOLT: He certainly was when they loaded the company up with debt...

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: That is prior to him. Now, come on. You're mincing dates and you're cheating here.

(CROSSTALK)

LABOLT: He remained the owner of Bain.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: He left to do Salt Lake City. You know as well as I do this is a way that you can twist things to be a good campaign ad. Is it fair and is it clean?

LABOLT: Absolutely.

Look, Mitt Romney has asked us to judge his tenure as a corporate buyout specialist. He's listed that as the leading qualification for his candidacy for presidency. So we have taken a look at that record.

And the fact is he profited off of bankrupting companies and outsourcing jobs. We're not questioning the private equity as a whole -- the private equity industry as a whole. We're questioning Mitt Romney's economic philosophy.

Is that the type of economic philosophy you would like to see in the Oval Office, where Mitt Romney and the wealthiest few profit at the expense of the middle class? The goal here wasn't job creation. It was wealth creation for himself and his partners.

BANFIELD: Let me read something to you from "The Washington Post," which, by the way, gave your ad one Pinocchio, which is a big fat lie, and they were considering giving you two Pinocchios and hauled back on it because of some gray areas that could have been looked at either way.

And this is what they said about the Pinocchio: "The biggest problem with this ad is that it takes a single data point -- Bain's investment in GS Industries -- and then it tries to draw larger conclusions about Romney's business practices and his values."

Because, Ben, come on, you and I also know that he had plenty of success, as "The Washington Post" has outlined many successes. "Wall Street Journal" has outlined many successes that Bain Capital has had in creating jobs, in saving people's companies from going under, and also that there are other steel companies, like Steel Dynamics, that did incredibly well under their leadership.

LABOLT: The fact is that those same fact checkers have taken Mitt Romney to task for claiming that he was a job creator. He's never been able to substantiate the number of jobs he created.

His own partner admitted in "The Los Angeles Times" that their goal was wealth creation, not job creation. But we need not only look at the private sector record. Take a look at his public sector record. Massachusetts was 35th out of the 50th in job creation when he took office and it slipped to 47th by the time he left.

Manufacturing jobs declined by twice the national average after he cut funding for manufacturing. He cut funding for worker training, he cut funding for community colleges. And the policies he has proposed today would return to the same budget-busting tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires that benefited a few, but coupling that with...

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: OK, now you're slipping into the campaign now.

(CROSSTALK)

LABOLT: ... crashed our entire economy.

BANFIELD: Ben, I don't want you to campaign on this program. I want you to answer questions about the ad. I don't want you to dive off into another area, although those are very good campaign talking points...

(CROSSTALK)

LABOLT: I'm more than happy to speak about the ad.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: My show.

(CROSSTALK)

LABOLT: Go ahead, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Listen, here's the deal. You know very well that business is complex and it can't be boiled down to a simple black and white that easily. You know that, I know that, Americans know that. Don't you think it's a little unfair to take one plant that was already failing, that many analysts have said had Bain not come in, it probably would have failed sooner and that the steel industry was at its worst at this particular time, and then extrapolate this guy is a job killer or a vulture capitalist?

LABOLT: This isn't just one plant, Ashleigh. We can take a look at...

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Oh, you highlighted this one plant. Ben, you and your campaign highlighted this plant and those workers were from this plant.

(CROSSTALK)

LABOLT: There are many more that we will be discussing.

But here's what I think Americans will object to. It's the fact that Mitt Romney and his partners had a golden parachute for themselves. The company failed; 750 workers lost their jobs. And ultimately they walked away with millions in profits for themselves after the company failed.

It's not on that premise that we can build our economy. It should be focused around a thriving middle class, a growing middle class, restoring economic security for the middle class. The workers paid a price here. Mitt Romney and his partners profited. And that is at the heart of Romney economics.

BANFIELD: I will give this to you, that Bain Capital loaded that company up with debt and that certainly could have been a large factor, if not the biggest factor.

That is undetermined by many who look at this industry. That could have been a determining factor in its demise, but it's also business and they have done good things as well. So I will give you that point, but I will also somewhat take it back.

But, Ben LaBolt, I hope you come in and spar with me again at some point. It's good to talk to you. LABOLT: Thanks for having me.

BANFIELD: Keep it clean out there, for heaven's sake. We hate that crap on our television. Be nice to each other. Pump your own guy up; don't tear the other guy down. It's nicer for the Americans.

Thanks, Ben.

OK, so $74,000 in six months, that's a lot of money. And an FBI agent testified that Rielle Hunter got all that dough back in 2008. And now we're getting word that very soon John Edwards' daughter may take the stand in her father's trial. It's about money and whether it was legally coming into the campaign and going out of the campaign to that woman, Rielle.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: The John Edwards trial is bracing right now for its biggest witness so far. Edwards' eldest child, Cate, could be taking the witness stand as early as this afternoon.

This morning, the jury heard potentially crucial testimony from a former FBI agent

Joe Johns is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Ashleigh, the John Edwards defense opened up another line of attack on the prosecution's charge that the cover-up of John Edwards' relationship with Rielle Hunter was motivated by politics.

With former FBI agent, private investigator, and accounting analyst Jim Walsh on the stand, defense attorney Allison Van Laningham brought out in court that starting in June of 2008, long after Edwards suspended his campaign for president, one of his big-money benefactors, Fred Baron, paid a total $74,000 in eight payment to Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter.

Legal experts say payments after the campaign ended could suggest to the jury that the cover-up was for personal reason, which is what the defense is arguing. The big question is now is whether John Edwards' daughter Cate will testify. She's been at his side throughout the trial.

And defense attorneys say they want to put her on the stand. The other question is whether John Edwards himself will testify at all -- Ashleigh.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Joe Johns reporting for us, thanks so much for that. Just hours after being ushered into office, France's brand-new president travels abroad, only to have his plane hit by lightning. Bad start to a new job? We will tell you more about that in a moment.

And, also, George W. Bush returning to Washington, sneaking in an endorsement for -- who do you think?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Welcome back, everybody. It is 15 minutes past the hour.

And there is the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, standing in front of the vertical flag of the United States. He's in Des Moines, Iowa. He's at the Fort -- let's see -- Hotel Fort Des Moines. He is speaking to a group of supporters there about debt and government spending, all of this as obviously later this year we're looking at a debt ceiling vote again in Congress.

So let's listen in to what he has to say.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... govern by proposing a new program for every problem.

President Obama tucked away the Clinton doctrine in his large drawer of discarded ideas, along with transparency and bipartisanship.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

It's enough to make you wonder if maybe it was a personal beef with the Clintons, but probably that -- it runs much deeper than that.

President Obama is an old-school liberal whose first instinct is to see free enterprise as the villain and government as the hero. America counted on President Obama to rescue the economy, to tame the deficit and help create jobs.

Instead, he bailed out the public sector, gave billions of your dollars to the companies of his friends, and added almost as much debt as all the prior presidents combined.

The consequence is that we are now enduring the most tepid recovery in modern history.

The consequence is that half the kids who are graduating from college can't find a job that uses their skills. Half.

The consequence is that retirees can no longer get by on their savings and Social Security.

The consequence is that the length of time it takes an unemployed worker to find a job is the longest on record. That is why even those who voted for Barack Obama are disappointed in him.

Disappointment is the key in which the president's reelection is being played. Americans will not settle for four more years of the same melancholy song. We can and must do better than that.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

President Obama started out with a near trillion-dollar stimulus package -- it was the biggest, most careless one-time expenditure by the federal government in history. And remember this: The stimulus wasn't just wasted -- it was borrowed and wasted. We still owe the money. We're still paying interest on it, and it'll be that way long after this president is out of office.

And then of course came Obamacare. Even now, nobody knows what it is actually going to cost. And that uncertainty, by the way, has slowed the economy. Employers delay hiring. Entrepreneurs put off starting new businesses because of this massive, European-style entitlement that Americans didn't want and certainly can't afford.

When you add up all of his policies, by the way, this president has increased the national debt by $5 trillion.

Let me put that in a way that it's easier for us all to comprehend, because, frankly, a trillion dollars is a number we can't put our minds around. Your household's share, each household's share, your household's share of government debt and unfunded liabilities has now reached more than $520,000 per average American household.

Think about what that means. Your household will be taxed year after year just to pay the interest on that debt and to pay the principal payments on those liabilities. Every year, you're going to be paying for things that have happened in the past.

And then it's going to get passed along to your kids. They are going to struggle with the interest on our debts, and President Obama is adding to them every single day.

And that, by the way, is the best-case scenario. The interest rate on that debt is could go up like a rocket, just like an adjustable mortgage goes up. And there's also a good chance that this kind of debt could cause us to hit a wall like they have in Greece and Spain and Italy.

Subprime mortgages, that came close to bringing this economy to its knees. This debt is America's nightmare mortgage. It is adjustable, no-money down, and assigned to our children. And politicians have been trying to hide the truth about this nightmare mortgage for years, just like liar-loans.

This is not just bad economics; it is morally wrong, and we must stop it.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) (END LIVE FEED)

BANFIELD: All right, the word from Des Moines, Iowa, from Mitt Romney as he addresses his supporters there.

We're going to give you some more news now, lots unfolding, "Rapid Fire." Let's roll it. And here we go.

It continues, President Obama also joining thousands of people mourning and paying tribute to the nation's police officers. I don't know if you knew this, but today is National Peace Officers. It's Peace Officers Memorial Day. And the president took part in a ceremony at Capitol Hill, thanking the families off fallen officers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, with heavy hearts, we honor those who gave their lives in the service of that mission. Their families are in our thoughts and prayers as we remember the quiet courage of the men and women we have lost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Tens of thousands of police officers from around the world came to D.C. and gathered for Police Week.

So how is this for your first day on the job? The plane carrying the new French president gets struck by lightning, all of this just hours after his inauguration, which was lovely, by the way. We also got word that Francois Hollande was on his way to Germany when the storm actually forced his plane back to Paris. Happy to report everybody is OK. If you need a reminder, he's the country's first Socialist president in 17 years. There is no relation between that and the lightning strike, but he does replace the guy on the right, Nicolas Sarkozy, looking for work today.

Former president George W. Bush endorsing, ready, did you guess? Mitt Romney. I knew I led up to it. And it's like a letdown because you kind of knew that already. But it was ABC getting another big coup. Way to go, ABC, catching up with the former president after an event in Washington and getting that official endorsement.

He was actually in Washington to talk freedom, not endorsements, so this was a nice surprise for ABC. And he says the United States has a duty to support nations transitioning to democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America does not get to choose if a freedom revolution should begin or end in the Middle East or elsewhere. It only gets to choose what side it is on. But America's message should ring clear and strong. We stand for freedom and for the institutions and habits that make freedom work for everyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BANFIELD: And the president brought his lovely wife as well. First lady Laura Bush also attended that event in D.C. today.

In New Jersey, police say two speeding Ferraris killed a man who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The victim was riding his motorcycle outside of the MetLife Stadium when one of those speeding Ferraris jumped a curb and hit him head on. Police say the drivers worked for Gotham Dream Cars. It was holding an event inside the stadium, giving people a chance to drive sports cars around a temporary track inside the stadium.

But those drivers were driving fast outside the stadium, both of them arrested. One has already bonded out of jail.

Sinkholes are just about everywhere. You see them on the news, and they're kind of cool-looking, very odd, really mysterious, too. Where does all that dirt go? So, these days, we're seeing more sinkholes in neighborhoods. They're threatening homes. But how does this happen? Why does it happen? And, again, where does all that dirt go?

Our Chad Myers is the guy with the answers. He will have them for us in a moment.

Also, J.P. Morgan's chief on the hot seat, as he got word that the government is investigating his company's $2 billion goof. So what does that mean for the market? How about, more importantly, what does this mean to you and your 401(k)? Going to break it down for you in just a moment.

So come on back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: The ground is swallowing up parts of Florida. Actor Alec Baldwin is going to breathe a little easier today, possibly. And a CNN colleague has to answer in the form of a question. It's time to play "Reporter Roulette."

And we begin with Chad Myers. He's adjacent to the Weather Center.

It's nice to be able to stand besides you finally. I usually get to talk to you, but there's the satellite...

(CROSSTALK)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're 1,000 miles away.

BANFIELD: A thousand miles away.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: But, today, it's great. I asked if I could talk to you about sinkholes. I'm a sinkhole geek. I don't know what it is about the sinkholes. But I keep wondering where does the dirt go? MYERS: Well, it goes down and then it gets washed out again. It doesn't go to China.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Oh.

MYERS: I mean, it doesn't go like to the mantle.

BANFIELD: Which is what our parents always told us.

MYERS: Right. Yes. Don't do that. You're going to go to China. Don't dig so far down. You're going to go to China. Obviously, that doesn't happen.

But there are sinkholes now happening in Florida, one -- and certainly some that haven't happened in a very long time in places because of the drought -- because of the drought that's happening.

BANFIELD: Look at that.

MYERS: And this could be -- you could maybe get your wish. We could get a lot of these sinkholes. And maybe if you're living in Northern Florida, you may want to check whether you have sinkhole insurance, because this is here...

BANFIELD: Wow.

MYERS: Yes, this is not that far from Gainesville.

It's been very dry, literally very dry and the groundwater is gone. It's been pumped out. It's been put into drinking water. And there's just replenishment, no rain coming back down to fill it up.

So let's go the maps. I will show you what's going on, most of Northern Florida, almost all of Southeastern Georgia in a big drought. This is the drought monitor. Almost no rain has come down for many, many days.

And what's happened -- I will make this graphic a little bit easier to understand. Let's just put a house here, a house here, a house here. And the groundwater that is supposed to be down here filling up these big caverns, these big holes here that should e full of water.

Well, guess what? The water isn't full anymore. It's only maybe half-full. And so up above this is a big empty space. That big empty space is air. When this up here decides that the air just won't hold it, all of the dirt above this hole falls in. And you get a big sinkhole.

Well, if all of the aquifer below Florida is beginning to dry up a little bit, we could get an awful lot more these sinkholes as the summer goes.

BANFIELD: Wow. Look at that. Holy cow. And I know you say it goes into the groundwater, but it's hard to believe that there was water there before and there isn't now. And they're so big. They're scary. They threaten a lot of houses and properties.

MYERS: And they go quickly.

BANFIELD: Yes, they do, don't they. And then don't they kind of get bigger slowly?

MYERS: They certainly can, and especially when it rains. Then that's the worst part. We have had a drought. Then it starts to rain. Then it turns to mud. Then more of it falls in. That's exactly right.

BANFIELD: Keep an eye on that. As you said, it could get worse, so we want to watch what happens there. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome. Good to see you.

BANFIELD: Next on "Reporter Roulette," somebody who's probably seen a little too much of "30 Rock" lately. Facing a judge, a woman accused of stalking Alec Baldwin.

Our Nischelle Turner's is with us live now. All right, what is this all about again?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, gosh, Ashleigh. There's so much going on here. Now, the woman that's charged with Alec Baldwin last month is going to need to keep her distance from him for at least another two months as the order of protection against her was extended.

Her name is Genevieve Sabourin and she was arrested in April for aggravated harassment and stalking after she was seen at Alec Baldwin's apartment. She's scheduled to be back in court on July 26th.

Now, she's a French-Canadian actress. Here's what people are buzzing about this case now. She appeared to be in a really good mood as she left the New York courthouse on Monday and, according to "The New York Post," she grinned and told reporters outside the courthouse that she loves the United States in French then she said she loves New York.

She also she believes that she is a New Yorker and that, quote, "my heart is in harmony with the place and the people." She also reportedly called the incident with Alec Baldwin, Ashleigh, a misunderstanding.

BANFIELD: A misunderstanding? Gee. Yikes. So I guess the question would be, does this have anything to do with it being the last season of "30 Rock?" My guess is no, but is it really the last season of "30 Rock?"

TURNER: You know, that's a very good question. That's the rumor that's been going around. NBC is not saying anything definitively. We know that it's coming back this season. They did say so up front.

But, after that, they're really not going there. Let's hope not because we all love "30 Rock" and Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan. They just really make our nights fun. So it very well could be.

And Alec Baldwin kind of alluded to it a couple of months back, but then he pulled back from that, so you never know.

BANFIELD: I do not DVR much, but I do DVR that show. I watch it every week, religiously.

TURNER: Destination TV.

BANFIELD: It is. That, "The Daily Show," and "The Office." There you go. That's me. That's my personality in a nutshell.

Thank you, Michelle Turner. Good to see you. Thank you.

TURNER: Yes, you, too.

BANFIELD: Next up, on "Reporter Roulette," answer -- she's the CNN correspondent who matched wits on "Jeopardy's" power players week. Question - who is Lizzie O'Leary?

There she is. Hey, you. That must have been a blast.

LIZZIE O'LEARY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was. I was a little intimidating, but, listen, Robert Gibbs spun me for years, so it was fun to go back and actually compete with him on a level-playing field.

BANFIELD: You know, I went up on that program against Ari Fleisher. And I would have won, if I known the final question, but instead I think I came in dead last because I didn't know the final question. But you're not allowed to talk about your results, are you? You're not allowed to say anything.

O'LEARY: No, I can. I can talk about it. I was winning right up until Final Jeopardy. It was Final Jeopardy that got me, too. And unfortunately, Robert bet more conservatively than I did.

But the bottom line, which is good, is that since this is for charity, that charity that I was working with which does literacy and creative writing and free expression for kids in D.C., still gets the money.

BANFIELD: Way to go, girl. Just like the moron I am, I thought you were taping it and, in fact, no, it was actually airing. And guess what? I just got the clip of you. Can I play it? Would you mind? It's not going to be too embarrassing.

You get the double whammy on TV. So this is where you were apparently cleaning up the "Act Like a Journalist" category. Roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX TREBEK, HOST, "JEOPARDY": He was Mikael Blomkvist in "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?"

Lizzie?

O'LEARY: Who is Daniel Craig?

TREBEK: Yes.

O'LEARY: Let's finish it out, $2,000.

TREBEK: As Kimberly Wells, she exposed wrongdoing at a nuclear power plant in "The China Syndrome."

Lizzie?

O'LEARY: Who is Jane Fonda?

TREBEK: You did well in the category. You have the lead with $9,600.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: You know, Lizzie, I know they always say that, wow, don't those people know the answers to those questions. They're just standing there, stunned.

But it is frustrating. It is all in the thumb and I know that that sounds like an excuse, but it really is all in the thumb, isn't it?

O'LEARY: It's all about the buzzer. What people don't understand is, if you buzz in too soon, you're locked out for a fraction of a second, so it's all about getting the timing right and buzzing in at the right moment.

Believe me, I did know who the secretary of transportation under George W. Bush was. You just have to hit the thing right.

BANFIELD: I know. I remember the whole category that I did not get one answer in. I didn't even get a chance to answer was "TV News." I was mortified and I had clicked as fast as I could on every answer, so I was mortified that it looked like I had no idea about my own industry.

But way to go, girl. Did you have some fun? That's what most counts.

O'LEARY: I did. I did. I, you know, got to beat them a little bit.

BANFIELD: You got to meet Alex Trebek. Hey, come on. He's Canada's most famous. Lizzie O'Leary, good to see you. Thank you.

So losing $2 billion in a bad trading deal not only gets JPMorgan Chase shareholders upset, it gets the CEO an OK on his awesome computation package, but then it also leads to the government saying, we're going to investigate your company. So what did Jamie Dimon know? And is it even possible to know everything about such a massive company? Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: So you've probably heard this by now. JPMorgan Chase losing $2 billion and its stock tanking 14 percent. While the investors take a hit, they, oddly enough, give approval to continue paying the CEO, Jamie Dimon, his $23 million salary. Dimon also gets to stay on as chairman of the board, so president and CEO still in the portfolio for him.

Those are the decisions that the shareholders made today at their annual meeting in Tampa, Florida. That's where CNN's Poppy Harlow has been standing by, listening in, front row seat.

So, first, let's talk about the news that was being made as that meeting was just sort of getting underway and then wrapping up because it was shot. The White House says the Securities and Exchange Commission is going to launch an investigation into this big loss. That can't be good news for the bank.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, it's not atypical for this to happen.

Of course, the regulator of big banks and the securities regulator is going to take a look at something like this. In fact, Jamie Dimon knew about this. In his "Meet the Press" interview over the weekend, he said regulators should look at something like this. That's their job. We welcome the regulators.

I think bottom line, Ashleigh, JPMorgan is trying to figure out what happened with these trades, why they went so bad and the regulators want to know what happened because they want to know, even though this is contained could this grow for the bank, or could this grow, systemically across the system. So that's the question there.

In terms of Jamie Dimon, he did start the meeting off talking about this $2 billion loss, but he noted that no clients were affected. He said, quote, "no customers suffered."

I want to play you a sound bite that Jamie Dimon said, starting off this meeting. No cameras were allowed in, but this is audio talking about regulation and that's key here. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JAMIE DIMON, CEO, JPMORGAN CHASE: We all want better, smarter, and stronger regulation that is based on facts and analysis. Second, as I wrote in my letter, and I quote, we agree with the intent of the Volcker Rule, if that intent is to eliminate pure proprietary trading and to ensure mark-to-market is done in a way that doesn't jeopardize a financial institution or its clients.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN FISHER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CALIFORNIA REINVESTMENT COALITION: And I think - I don't know. I hope this is not the tip of the iceberg and what's to come.

But I think it really highlights the need for real regulation and that you can't have the fox guarding the hen house. You need to have another layer of watchfulness.

And I think there was a lot of cynicism in him lobbying to be freer to do these things and that's been highlighted by this unfortunate loss.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So, Ashleigh, that man you just heard from, that's Alan Fisher. He was one of I'd say about 200 shareholders in the meeting. There were shareholders speaking out, talking about how JPMorgan Chase is so entangled in foreclosures.

Not a lot of questions, though, about the $2 billion loss, surprisingly. I will tell you this, just coming out from Harry Reid in Washington, something interesting he said just this afternoon that CNN got on their cameras, he said, I would suggest that JPMorgan take their business to Vegas because it's just a gamble.

The reason I bring that up is you see how political this is all becoming with Obama commenting on it on "The View" and Harry Reid commenting on it this afternoon. This is going to become much bigger than just JPMorgan. This is really about the fight to regulate banks and has the regulation gone far enough.

BANFIELD: Poppy Harlow, I never like hearing Vegas and banking in the same sentence, but you make it sound so fair.

HARLOW: One man's opinion.

BANFIELD: There you go. All right, thanks very much for looking into that for us. Poppy Harlow reporting live in Florida.

He was the leader of the International Monetary Fund and, you know what, today, he could have been sworn in as France's president, but instead, a woman accused him of rape and Dominique Strauss-Kahn found himself in a pitched legal battle.

Now, he's striking back and you won't believe what he is saying and what he's doing to get back at that maid.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: He has been warding off criminal and civil litigation for the better part of a year now and Dominique Strauss-Kahn now is fighting back. He's suing the New York maid who originally accused him of sexual assault.

Not as complicated as it sounds. Sunny Hostin is on the case with us. So let's start with this. Just to put it in perspective, the maid sues Dominique Strauss-Kahn for rape. She takes this to a criminal level. The criminal prosecutors dump the case, saying she's a liar.

He comes around now and is suing her, saying she's a liar and it affected me greatly. Explain why he has a good case?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's one step that you're missing right there. The step is that she sued him first in civil court, right? So she sues him first in civil court and two weeks ago the judge in this case right here in New York in the Bronx denied Dominique Strauss Kahn's motion to dismiss the case.

He claimed that he had immunity from prosecution, diplomatic immunity from prosecution. The judge didn't buy that argument, Ashleigh, and kept her lawsuit in place.

So the fact that now he is suing her, what needs to be told is that this is a countersuit and this is something that typically happens. It's sort of the best defense is a good offense strategy. And you see that a lot in these cases.

So, yes, he's filed this countersuit against Miss Diallo, claiming damages of $1 million, claiming that she defamed him. And we all know that this hotel maid does not have $1 million, so, in many respects, this is a defense strategy that's used very often.

BANFIELD: So let's talk a little bit about the defaming because, without question, Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the head of the International Monetary Fund, had a really good shot of getting the French presidency, going up against Nicolas Sarkozy and winning. And he's saying in the language of his suit that this could have directly or possibly did directly affect his chances.

So is that kind of legal language for you cost me money?

HOSTIN: It is. It is. It's certainly to support his claim that he was damaged in the amount of $1 million, but in order for him to prove defamation, he has to prove that what she alleged wasn't true.

Now, she alleged that he sexually attacked her, unwanted, that this was not a consensual sexual encounter. He, though, says that it was a consensual sexual encounter.

So he doesn't deny the fact that there was a sexual encounter. Rather, he says it was consensual.

So, in order for him, again, to prove defamation, he's got to prove, Ashleigh, that she is lying. That is a really difficult thing, I think, to prove because we have to remember, although the Manhattan district attorney's office, sex crimes unit, did dismiss this case against DSK, they dismissed it not because they necessarily believed that nothing happened. They just couldn't prove their case because they believe that she had said some things that weren't true in the past. BANFIELD: Well, it will be interesting to see if this most recent lawsuit gets dismissed, but I think that's down the road. You'll have to come back on this topic then.

Sunny Hostin, thank you.

HOSTIN: Thanks, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: OK, Facebook going public and the price going up and up and up, yet not everybody is onboard. Just ahead, 10 reasons why you may want to think twice before purchasing a piece of Facebook.

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BANFIELD: The price to get in on arguably the hottest tech stock of the year is going up. So does all of the buzz over Facebook stock have you thinking about investing? CNN's Maggie Lake has a couple of reasons why you might want to think twice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: As the countdown continues to the Facebook IPO, here are 10 reasons you might want to think twice. Number ten, your family on Facebook.

With the extended family on, people might start logging off. As "Saturday Night Live" warned years ago ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it finally happened, your mom is on Facebook.

LAKE: Number nine, he wore what?

Should the CEO of a multibillion-dollar public company wear a hoodie all of the time? At his company's IPO road show?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who wears hoodies? When Mark Zuckerberg is asking people to invest in his company, he's asking them for their money. He should show them some respect.

LAKE: Number eight, see you in court. Arch-enemies, the "Winkelvi" aren't giving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our dispute is with the Mark Zuckerberg, the person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not with the product.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not with the product.

LAKE: And Facebook itself warns about new lawsuits in its prospectus.

Number seven, he bought what? Zuckerberg bought Instagram, a photo-sharing company with zero revenue for a billion dollars without consulting anyone. Number six, show me the mobile money. No ads around here and that's a problem. More and more people are logging onto Facebook using their phones, but their mobile advertising massively lags the desktop version.

Number five, they know what about me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you like the fact that if you don't touch your profile, anyone can search your name on Google and see everything you're up to? I definitely don't like that.

LAKE: To grow profits, Facebook has to make money off our information and that could turn users off.

Number four, so 20th century. New platforms could come along making Facebook obsolete.

Number three, can you say hello in Mandarin?

Zuckerberg tried to learn the language in a year, cracking the crucial Chinese market may take a lot longer.

Number two, he said what? Facebook's own IPO filing says, simply put, we don't build services to make money. We make money to build better services.

Are Zuckerberg's interests really aligned with shareholders?

And the number one reason not to buy Facebook, does everyone really need hundreds of friends?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Share life with the people you love.

LAKE: Users in search of a more intimate, targeted experience may start looking elsewhere.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAKE: Now, Ashleigh, I don't know about you, but I did have to unfriend my mother, but on a more serious note and more importantly, we just confirmed from G.M. that they are unfriending Facebook. They're pulling all their advertising, saying they just don't know whether it's effective.

Now, it's not going to hurt Facebook's finances in the short- term, but it's embarrassing in the week of IPO and it indicates, just because a lot of people use your site, doesn't mean that you're going to be able to translate that into profits, quarter-after-quarter, and that's what they need to do as a public company.

So it's a challenge for Facebook and something for investors to think about before they jump in.

BANFIELD: Maggie Lake, did you really unfriend your mother?

LAKE: I did. She was answering those quizzes with personal information about me. I said, Mom, I love you, but I've got to unfriend you. You're out.

BANFIELD: Poor Maggie's mom.

LAKE: I'm not the only one, Ashleigh. Are you friends with your mother?

BANFIELD: I don't know she knows about the whole Facebook thing. She still e-mails under her husband's name. I love that part.

Thank you, Maggie. Good to see you.

So do you remember the controversy last fall when the Mississippi governor back then, Haley Barbour, pardoned all of those convicts? The uproar is stirring again since one of those men has been charged with another crime. And it's not just a little crime.

An attorney from the firm representing him actually advised the governor not to pardon him, but he still got it. How does it happen? We'll explain.

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BANFIELD: Hold on to your horses for this one. There are some new charges out today for a criminal in Mississippi that the governor there pardoned earlier this year.

Take a look at the picture on your screen. That's a driver who literally can barely walk. Yeah, he's on a DUI test. It's patrol car video for a guy who was among 200 inmates who were granted pardons by then Governor Haley Barbour.

Now, Harry Bostick is facing charges in the death of a woman named Charity Smith after he allegedly drove drunk. And here's what's worst. The governor's office knew about the fatal crash and still gave him the pardon.

And, when Harry Bostick got his pardon, he was sitting in a cell, just waiting to be charged with this DUI.

CNN's Ed Lavandera joining us live. You've been on this story since the beginning, I didn't think it could get worse and it just got worse.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yeah, these charges are extremely serious. We expected some charges to be filed against Harry Bostick.

But this case has really kind of exemplified the bizarre nature in the way that many people think the pardons were handled in the months to Haley Barbour leaving office in Mississippi.

And it sparked a great deal of outrage over how a guy like this who letters were written to the governor on his behalf. This is a former IRS investigator who had very influential friends in Mississippi Republican circles, former U.S. attorneys who had written on his behalf, saying he'd stopped drinking, that he had turned his life around and that everything was looking much better for him and that he deserved this pardon to get this felony DUI conviction off of his record.

About a week later after his pardon process was recommended to the governor, he turns up in this accident that killed Charity Smith expect.

BANFIELD: And the governor's office citing they can't comment on this because of pending litigation and the story continues.

Ed Lavandera, thanks very much. Appreciate that.

The news continues now with my colleague, Wolf Blitzer in "The Situation Room" in D.C. Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ashleigh, thanks very much.