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Greece's Debt Problem; Defense Rests in John Edwards Trial; Live Feed: Obama Honors Fallen Vietname Soldier with Medal of Honor; Should You Invest in Facebook? Customers Not Happy with No Sales at JC Penney

Aired May 16, 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: I'm Ashleigh Banfield sitting in for Brooke Baldwin.

And in just minutes, a special moment at the White House. A soldier who jumped on a grenade to save a fellow soldier is about to be honored for it by President Obama. And here's the catch -- 42 years after he did it.

And the woman that he married is going to get the Medal of Honor that is in his honor. We're watching that story for you.

First, however, if it's happening and it's interesting, it's here. And you're about to see it. Let's go "Rapid Fire." Roll it.

No mistress, no daughter, and no John Edwards -- the former senator's lawyers resting the case without calling any high-profile witnesses to the stand. So, after tomorrow's closing arguments, you know what that means? It means the fate of the man who wanted to be president is going to be up to 12 people who are just like you and me. Find out what went down inside the courtroom just a short time ago.

Former Vermont governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean takes a hit during a radio interview in Montreal. And when we say hit, we mean hit literally. Listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HOWARD DEAN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Discussing geographic boundaries and talking about drawing lines -- we're talking -- I got hit by a car. Sorry. I'm going to have to go..

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: What happened?

DEAN: We just got hit by a car.

QUESTION: Are you OK?

DEAN: Yes, everybody is fine.

(END AUDIO CLIP) BANFIELD: Wow. Talk about breaking news. Howard Dean did call back about 20 minutes later and actually finished up the interview. Talk about commitment.

All right, four major wildfires still burning out of control in Arizona. And officials are pleading with residents, get out of your homes, get out of them now, don't stop to pick things up, move it. The fires have scorched over 17,000 acres. And the firefighters say one of the fires could still hit Crown King. That's a historic mining town.

The largest fire has tripled in size in just the last 24 hours.

A family in Mississippi calling for the public's help to find an apparent fake police officer who killed their loved one in that state. Tom Schlender was one of two people found dead on a state highway last weekend. Investigators say they're not sure if his death is linked to a body of a woman found a few days later 55 miles away.

But they do believe the victims were murdered after someone posing as a police officer asked to pull them over. Strangely, it does sound like a link and there were shell casings that matched as well. Schlender's family members spoke to our affiliate KETV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT ANDERSON, SON-IN-LAW OF VICTIM: We know that the details are not going to be pretty. We know that this is a violent end to a very kind man's life.

TRACY ANDERSON, DAUGHTER OF VICTIM: It's hard to imagine your father in that situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: In other news, the government is saying that Skechers lied when it said that its Shape-up shoe would tone your butt and your legs and help you to lose weight.

After months of investigating, Skechers has agreed to settle the charges and pay $40 million too towards refunds. You might remember them particularly because Kim Kardashian helped to push Shape-ups in a commercial during its 2011 Super Bowl ads. And guess what? Since then, Skechers had $1 billion in sales, too.

A South Korean man says his dash cam video that you're seeing now is proof-positive that his parents' Hyundai Sonata suddenly went berserk and sped up in traffic. Listen to this. Holy moly. That car accelerated up to 80 miles an hour just before it did that crash. Lucky to report that both of those parents of his survived, but his dad did fracture his ribs and his mother needed an operation to stop internal bleeding.

The Korean government is investigating the incident and also other cases of uncontrolled vehicle acceleration. Hyundai says that the vehicle is being inspected as well. Back here in the good old U.S. of A., the FBI is now on the case of J.P. Morgan Chase. Last week, the bank announced a loss of $2 billion from investing in credit default swaps. And today, during a hearing on Capitol Hill, FBI Director Robert Mueller confirmed that the bureau has started a preliminary investigation, but he wouldn't specify what the charges could be.

A senator was encouraging the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: I think that the American public really has lost faith in many other enforcement agencies, partly because of the delay and lack of results. And I think that the FBI's involvement is a very constructive and important presence in this area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: You might also remember just this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission also saying that it's going to investigate J.P. Morgan Chase. So it will be a busy time for the bank.

Let's turn our attention now to that other financial crisis, the one far, far away in Greece. Got a question for you. When you think of Greece, what do you think? The debt? Well, it's about $540 billion in our dollars. Or do you think of the history? Maybe the Acropolis or the ruins, maybe those come to mind. Maybe you think of the beautiful Greek islands, I don't know, like Corfu or Mykonos, Santorini.

If you have never been, you have probably seen the pictures. And they are beautiful. There are those who say that all those things I just mentioned are assets. And they are valuable assets worth a great deal of money to, I don't know, a cash-strapped country.

There are also who are calling on Greece to hold a fire sale, get rid of them, punt them, take the cash, or at least consider renting them.

Let's bring in CNN's Richard Quest from London.

I am not the only person who thought that those islands were very valuable. Angela Merkel apparently and some of her deputies in Germany have even made the suggestion, Richard Quest, to the Greeks. Is it real? Is it a possibility?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, when you put it like that, no is the short answer.

BANFIELD: Why not?

(CROSSTALK)

QUEST: Well, the Greeks are doing some fairly imaginative things to try and -- to balance the books, for instance, the Acropolis has been rented out. You can now rent private policemen from the Athens police force.

And, yes, no doubt, some of the Greek islands will be hived off or rented off or leased, those that aren't already, of course, in private property. But Greece is already having a fire sale. It is selling vast tranches of the economy, difficult maybe to understand in the U.S., where so much is already in the private sector.

But whether it's gas companies, telephone companies, airlines, or electricity companies, whether it's transportation and bus companies, all of these are going to be sold off. The problem is, no one wants to buy them, because, at the moment, they are so uncompetitive and they are losing so much money, and they have such high employee numbers that they are millstones round investors' necks, rather than engines of profit.

BANFIELD: Well, that makes the argument of selling those lovely gems, you know, in the Mediterranean perhaps even more valuable.

There are 6,000 Greek islands, apparently. Only 227 of them are inhabited. Here's our big map of Greece. You can see the real jewels there, Mykonos, Paros, Rhodes, Crete, Santorini, Ios, Naxos. They are spectacular.

(CROSSTALK)

QUEST: And while you're about it -- while you're about -- hang on, Ashleigh. While you're about it, don't forget the U.S. budget deficit and the $11 trillion or $12 trillion total deficit or the $13 trillion that -- I believe Hawaii is a rather nice place in the Pacific.

(LAUGHTER)

QUEST: And there's that funny place somewhere north. It's not attached to the United States, you know, continental.

BANFIELD: That Alaska thing?

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: You take on Sarah Palin over selling Alaska, my friend. I'm not going anywhere near that argument. Forget about it.

(CROSSTALK)

QUEST: It's got oil, hasn't it?

BANFIELD: I hear you, I hear you, I hear you, Quest. You know what? It is hard not to hear you.

But let me tell you, a couple of years ago when this idea was floated, the then prime minister of Greece, George Papandreou, had this to say. And it sounded a lot like you, but for the English accent. And it was this: "There are more imaginative and effective ways to dealing with the deficit than selling off Greek islands. We cherish these islands. And selling them would be out of the question. It would not help."

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: But, honestly, I do need to ask you, with your business acumen, why would it not help?

QUEST: Yes.

Because this is not just a solvency issue. This isn't just about debt. It's not just about Greece's inability to pay its current bills. This is about structural reform. It's about competitiveness of the Greek economy. It's Greece trying to compete with fellow Eurozone and European Union companies that are better in terms of production.

They produce more for lower costs and are more profitable. Now, if you sell off the Greek islands, you're literally selling the family silver. You could sell them off to buy time, but if you don't actually make the structural changes that are being demanded and taking place, job changes, employment laws, investment laws, taxation, all the things, then you're wasting your time and you're doing the proverbial down the drain.

BANFIELD: Well, Mr. Quest, thank you for your insight, for your perspective. The next time you are in America, I would like to go for a (INAUDIBLE) with you.

QUEST: Thank you very much, if the bill is on you.

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: It always is.

Richard Quest joining us live out of London, awesome to see you.

OK, it is a moment where we are still waiting on President Obama, who is about to award a Medal of Honor 42 years past due. Find out the story behind this. It is great.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: He once aimed for the Oval Office, but now John Edwards is fighting to stay out of his prison. His defense lawyers just wrapped up their case to the jurors, all of this 24 days after the trial began. The former presidential candidate is facing six counts, and they include conspiracy, issuing false statements, and violating campaign contribution laws, all to allegedly hide his mistress and their love child.

CNN's Joe Johns is in Greensboro, North Carolina, covering this -- Joe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Ashleigh, the defense rested its case in this trial in Greensboro, North Carolina. The defense had suggested the case could go out with a bang, but it certainly ended with much less than that. The defense had threatened to put John Edwards himself on the stand, which would have been risky, and they decided not to go that route. They had threatened to put his mistress, Rielle Hunter, on the stand, and decided not to do that either.

They didn't even put Edwards' daughter Cate on the stand to try to humanize Edwards after the attack he's taken by the prosecution. Defense attorneys for Edwards now clearly believing they have established reasonable doubt for their client with this jury in a trial that's been going on for almost four weeks now, closing arguments expected to start on Thursday morning -- Ashleigh.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: All right, Joe Johns live in Greensboro for us, thank you for that.

She has been quiet until now. The wife of a basketball coach who was accused of abusing boys breaks her silence for the microphones. And she says she's suing ESPN. Hear from her as to why and what her case is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: If there's ever an example of a group of guys that needs to be tracked down, arrested, and prosecuted, it's the four people you're about to see in some surveillance video. Roll it.

OK. See the white guy in the T-shirt walking down the street. That's a U.S. soldier. Now watch as he's approached by a couple of guys. You can see the other guy coming in, suddenly slugging the soldier in the white T-shirt, hitting him in the head, then a second guy joining in, then a third guy. They repeatedly beat the victim, they kick him, they punch him, and then a fourth guy in the black shirt running in coming out of nowhere joining in the frenzy.

Again, can I remind you that the guy in the white T-shirt on the ground being kicked, beaten is 24 years old? He's a soldier just recently stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. His car had broken down. He was walking to his apartment. He was approached by one of these losers who asked for a dollar.

And he was about to give him the dollar when he got sucker- punched. After seeing this video, Tampa police want to get their hands on these monsters, so much so they're offering a $10,000 reward for any information that can lead to an arrest.

So sear that in your memory and help out the police if you can.

To another story now. It's a little bit about ESPN, folks. ESPN reported on allegations of vile behavior by her and also by her husband. That's what they reported. But now Laurie Fine says the network ruined her life and she is suing for libel. Her husband, Bernie Fine, was a longtime basketball coach at Syracuse University, but he lost his job after two former ball boys, Bobby Davis and his stepbrother Mike Lang, claimed that he had molested them when they were kids. The lawsuit that's being launched accuses ESPN of gunning for Bernie Fine and his wife, regardless of the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURIE FINE, WIFE OF BERNIE FINE: It is impossible for me to describe here today what ESPN has taken away from me with Schwarz and Berko. They should apologize and retract these horrible lies reported about me.

Only after these defendants have taken responsibility for their reprehensible actions, they should be held accountable, and then justice will be served.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: She was saying Schwarz and Berko, two people who actually were working for ESPN.

And as we look at this video from Syracuse, New York, in November, ESPN's "Outside the Lines' aired an audiotape of a conversation that Davis claims he is taped with Laurie Fine back in 2002.

She says the network used the tape to falsely report that she knew about the abuse and that she had her own sexual relationship with Davis herself. Fine says those clips, like the one that you're about to hear, were taken out of context by ESPN. And she also says she was speaking about financial business.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

FINE: I know everything that went on. You know, I know everything that went on with him. Bernie has issues, maybe that he's not aware of, but he has issues. And you trusted somebody you shouldn't have trusted.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The lawsuit claims that Laurie Fine let Davis call her and that she would try to trap him in lies.

Attorney Lisa Bloom explains further.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA BLOOM, ATTORNEY, THEBLOOMFIRM.COM: So what she says is she used sarcasm with Davis a lot. She says in the case that he was a troubled young man. They used tough love, sarcasm. Sometimes, she would just let him go on and on. That was their technique.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BANFIELD: All right.

So as this is all going on, Bernie Fine is under a criminal investigation. But, so far, there's been no announcement about the status of that criminal case. All the while, the civil case now is a part of this story.

ESPN says -- quote -- "that the suit is without merit and we are standing by our reporting."

Likely not to hear a whole lot more, as there's pending litigation.

Violence against women, everybody should pretty much agree that that is not right. Sounds obvious. Apparently not so when it comes to D.C. We're just hours away from a House vote, and the president is threatening to veto it. We are going to explain all of that and find out why it's controversial.

Plus, remember how J.C. Penney launched a brand-new strategy, no sales, no way. We are going to just keep our low prices all the time. Well, after a former Apple guy took this over, it turns out it didn't work out so well. And now the company is paying for it. Explain that one too in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: The Violence Against Women Act comes up for a controversial vote, also big questions about the way the TSA is handling security breaches. Not only that, but a major retailer learns the hard way that, bang, everyone loves a good sale.

It's time to play "Reporter Roulette."

All right, let's begin with Kate Bolduan, who is on Capitol Hill.

The Violence Against Women Act, Kate, this is something that was enacted back in 1994. It's been reauthorized twice, no problems, no controversy, and all of a sudden controversy. What's the big problem?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You will probably not be surprised that politics are at play. Not only does the fight over the Violence Against Women Act have to do with some differences in the provisions of the differing bills, but it also has to do with the larger battle over a key vote in this election year, the female vote.

That said, the Senate passed with bipartisan support a reauthorization of this bill last month. In it, it expands benefit, it expands protections for groups like certain Native Americans, illegal immigrants that are victims of domestic violence, as well as members of the LGBT community.

The Republicans, they oppose those measures. They have -- the House Republican version does not include those measures. Why, do you ask? Well, House Republicans argue that you do not need to specify groups in the language of this bill because they're already covered. BANFIELD: Hey, Kate?

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: I need to interrupt you, and I hate doing that. And I'm only doing it for a very good reason.

The president has just taken to the mike. And I want to take everyone to the White House to the East Room. There's a reason he's at the mike right now. He is about to give the Medal of Honor. It is the highest accolade you can give to a soldier. He's going to give it to the widow of Army Specialist Leslie Sabo Jr. It's a big deal because this comes decades after that Army specialist was killed in action.

Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... military families and veterans who bear that sacrifice for a lifetime, their spouses, like Rose Mary, who all these years since Vietnam still displays in her home her husband's medals and decorations.

They are siblings, like Leslie's big brother George who carries the childhood memories of his little brother tagging along at his side. And there are veterans like the members of Bravo Company who still speak of their brother Les with reverence and with love.

Rose, George, Bravo Company, more than 100 family and friends, Michelle and I are honored to welcome you to the White House. The Medal of Honor is the highest military declaration that America can bestow. It reflects the gratitude of the entire nation.

So we're joined by members of Congress and leaders from across our armed forces, including Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Sandy Winnefeld, from the Army, Secretary John McHugh, and Chief of Staff General Odierno, and from the Marine Corps, the commandant, General Jim Amos.

We're honored to be joined by Vietnam veterans, including recipients of the Medal of Honor. And we're joined by those who have carried on Les' legacy in our time in Iraq and Afghanistan, members of the 101st Airborne Division, the legendary Screaming Eagles.

Now, this gathering of soldiers, past and present, could not be more timely. As a nation, we have ended the war in Iraq. We are moving towards an end to the war in Afghanistan. After a decade of war, our troops are coming home. And this month, we will begin to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, a time when, to our shame, our veterans did not always receive the respect and the thanks they deserved, a mistake that must never be repeated.

And that's where I want to begin today because the story of this Medal of Honor reminds us of our sacred obligations to all who serve. It was 1999, around Memorial Day, and a Vietnam vet from the 101st was at the National Archives. He was doing research for an article.

And there among the stacks, an archivist brought him a box. He took off the lid, and inside he found a file marked with the name Leslie H. Sabo Jr. And there it was, a proposed citation for the Medal of Honor.

And so this Vietnam veteran set out to find answers. Who was Leslie Sabo? What did he do? And why did he never receive that medal? Today, four decades after Leslie's sacrifice, we can set the record straight.

I just spent some time with Rose and Georg,e and the Sabo family. Last week marked 42 years since Les gave his life. This soldier, this family, has a uniquely American story.

Les was actually born in Europe after World War II to a family of Hungarian refugees. And as the iron curtain descended, they boarded a boat for America and arrived at Ellis island, past the statue of liberty. They settled in the steel down of Elwood city, Pennsylvania. Les's father worked hard, pulled his family into the middle class. And when Les was a teenager, the family went to the county courthouse together, raised their hands and became proud American citizens.

They say that Les was one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. He loved a good joke, he loved to bowl. He could have given me some tips. Rose says he was pretty good looking, too. That's what I hear. He would do anything for anybody. And when George went to college, Les looked after their mom. When George went to night school, Les helped care for his three young sons.

When Les fell in love with rose, who couldn't wait to start a life together, he slipped the ring on her finger right there in the car while stopped at a red light. And as he headed out for Vietnam, he stopped at a shop and ordered some flowers for his mom for mother's day and Rose for her birthday.

For Les, and Bravo Company, those early months of 1970 were a near constant battle, pushing through jungles and rice patties in their heavy packs, enduring incredible heat and humidity. The monsoon rains that never seemed to stop. An enemy that could come out of nowhere and then vanish just as fast. For his bravery in battle, Les earned the respect of his comrades. And for his family he wrote home every chance he could.

When Americans forces were sent into Cambodia, Bravo Company helped lead the way. They were moving up a jungle trail. They entered a clearing and that's when it happened, an ambush. Some 50 American soldiers were nearly surrounded by some 100 North Vietnamese fighters.

Said Les' comrades, "The enemy was everywhere." In bunkers, behind trees, up in the trees shooting down. They opened up on them. And Les was in the rear. He could have stayed there. But those fighters were unloading on his brothers. So Les charged forward and took several of those fighters out. The enemy moved to outflank them. And Les attacked and drove them back. Ammo was running low. Les ran across a clearing to grab more. An enemy grenade landed near a wounded American. Les picked it up and threw it back. And as that grenade exploded, he shielded that soldier with his own body.

Throughout history, those who have known the horror of war and the love behind all great sacrifice have tried to put those emotions into words. After the First World War, one soldier wrote this, "They are more to me than life, these voices. They are more than motherliness and more than fear. They are the strongest, most comfortable thing there is anywhere. They are the voices of my comrades."

And those are the voices that Leslie Sabo heard that day. His comrades, pinned down, at risk of being overrun. So, despite his wounds, despite the danger, Leslie did something extraordinary. He began to crawl straight towards an enemy bunker with his machine guns blazing. Those who were there said the enemy zeroed in with everything they had. But Les kept crawling, kept pulling himself along, closer to that bunker. Even as the bullets hit the ground all around him. And then he grabbed a grenade and he pulled the pin. It's said he held that grenade and didn't throw it until the last possible moment, knowing it would take his own life, but knowing he could silence that bunker and he did.

He saved his comrades that meant more to him than life.

Leslie Sabo left behind a wife who adored him, a brother who loved him, parents who cherished him and family and friends who admired him. But they never knew. For decades, they never knew their Les had died a hero. The fog of war and paperwork that seemed to get lost in the shuffle meant this story was almost lost to history.

And so today, we thank that Vietnam vet who found Les's files in the archives and who was determined to right this wrong. That's Tony Mabb, who joins us here today. Where's Tony?

(APPLAUSE)

We salute Les's Buddy, George Cozial (ph) who, wounded in his hospital bed, first drafted the citation we'll hear today, and who spent the last years of his life fighting to get Les the recognition that he deserved. And most of all, we salute the men who were there in that clearing in the jungle. More than two dozen were wounded. Along with Les, seven other soldiers gave their lives that day.

And those who came home took on one last mission, and that was to make sure that America would honor their fallen brothers. They had no idea how hard it would be or how long it would take. Instead of being celebrated, our Vietnam veterans were often shunned. They were called many things when there was only one thing they deserved to be called and that was American patriots.

In two weeks, on memorial day, Michelle and I will join our Vietnam veterans and their families at the wall to mark the 50th anniversary of their service. It will be another chance for America to say to our Vietnam veterans what should have been said when you first came home. You did your job, you served with honor, you made us proud. And here today, as I think Les would have wanted it, I would ask the members of Bravo Company to stand and accept the gratitude of our nation.

(APPLAUSE)

So yes, this medal of honor is bestowed on a single soldier for his singular courage, but it speaks to the service of an entire generation and to the sacrifice of so many military families. Because, you see, there's one final chapter to this story. You'll recall that as he shipped out to Vietnam, Les stopped at that flower shop. Well, the day he gave his life was mother's day. And on that day, the flowers he ordered arrived for his mom. And the day he was laid to rest was the day before Rose's birthday. And she received the bouquet he had sent her, a dozen red roses. That's the kind of guy, the soldier, the American that we celebrate today.

Les's mother and father did not live to see this day, but in his story, we see the shining values that keep our military strong and keep America great. We see the patriotism of families who give our nation a piece of their heart. They are husbands and wives, they're sons and they're daughters. And we see the devotion of citizens who put on the uniform, who kiss their families goodbye, are willing to lay down their lives so we can live ours in peace and in freedom.

No words will ever be truly worthy of their service. And no honor can ever fully replay their sacrifice. But on days such as this, we can pay tribute, we can express our gratitude and we can thank God that there are patriots and families such as these. So on behalf of the American people, please join me in welcoming Rose for the reading of the citation.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The President of the United States of America, authorized by an act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to Specialist Four Leslie H. Sabo, Jr., United States Army. For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty. Specialist Four Leslie H. Sabo Jr. distinguished himself by conspicuous acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty, at the cost of his own life, while serving as a rifleman in Company B, Third Battalion 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, in Se San, Cambodia, May 10, 1970.

On that day, Specialist Four Sabo and his platoon were conducting a reconnaissance patrol when they were ambushed on all sides by a large enemy force. Without hesitation, Specialist Four Sabo charged and enemy position, killing several enemy soldiers. Immediately thereafter, he assaulted an enemy flanking force, successfully drawing their fire away from friendly soldiers and ultimately forcing the enemy to retreat.

In order to resupply ammunition, he sprinted across an open field to a wounded comrade. As he began to reload, an enemy grenade landed nearby. Specialist Four Sabo picked it up, threw it, and shielded his comrade with his own body, thus absorbing the brunt of the blast and saving his comrade's life. Seriously wounded by the blast, Specialist Four Sabo nonetheless retained the initiative, and then singlehandedly charged an enemy bunker, that had inflicted severe damage on the platoon, receiving several serious wounds from automatic weapons fire in the process.

Now mortally injured, he crawled towards the enemy emplacement and, when in position, threw a grenade into the bunker. The resulting explosion silenced the enemy fire, but also ended Specialist Four Sabo's life. His indomitable courage and complete disregard for his own safety saved the lives of many of his platoon members. Specialist Four Sabo's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty at the cost of his life are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Company B, Third Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division and the United States Army.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we are humbled and inspired by the life and self-sacrifice of Leslie Sabo. Thank you for raising up courageous men and women who are willing to give their lives and service to their nation and their fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen. Thank you to the families who have given them to that service. Thank you for our nation that nurtures such families and those whom they give. And blessing be upon Rosemary and her family, upon George and his family. Bless too those who carry on the tradition of Leslie, protect and defend America today. May his memory and sacrifice live on in the story of America and her army. And to all of us graced to serve God and country, to keep America worthy of the heritage, such as Leslie Sabo. We ask this and pray as always in your holy name, amen.

OBAMA: I want to thank everyone for their attendance. Please give another round of applause to the Sabo family.

(APPLAUSE)

I hope that everybody enjoys the reception. I hear the food is pretty good around here. God bless you, God bless our troops and God bless the United States of America.

(END LIVE FEED)

BANFIELD: And God bless Army Specialist Leslie Sabo jr. 42 years in the making, this honor being bestowed upon him and his widow. 42 years ago. And now he has earned the medal of freedom. One thing you may not have heard -- medal of honor, excuse me. The one thing you may not have heard was that Sabo came here. He wasn't a citizen of the United States. His father left the communist Russian army, brought him here. When he left college, he got his draft notice and he said he would not avoid the draft because this country gave him something and he owed this country back. Take a good look at your screen. Take a good look at that man. That's what this country is all about. Awesome, awesome, awesome story. Thank you.

Just days before family goes public, my next guest says there's still one thing missing from Mark Zuckerberg's resume. And that one thing could determine whether Facebook succeeds or fails.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BANFIELD: So, Facebook is going to go public in less than 48 hours, and you have already helped Facebook make a lot of money with your status updates, your pictures, and all the pages that you like. But now, the question is, can Facebook make you money if you decide to invest? Last year, Facebook made 85 percent of its revenue off of advertising. And that is a high percentage. But it's been falling through the years.

And maybe the person to speak best to this is Rick Newman, a chief business correspondent for "U.S. News and World Report." He's also the author of "Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success." Rick, good to have you here. Let's talk a little bit about this. We teased into this segment, saying there's one thing missing from Mark Zuckerberg's resume, and that is failure? Is that because he's too successful he doesn't know that it can happen?

RICK NEWMAN, CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT: Well, he's clearly an almost-seamless path to this meteoric success. I bear him no ill will and I don't hope that he fails, but I just think it's worth pointing out, that most CEOs, or most people who run companies -- a really important part of seasoning that makes them good business leaders is that they have really had to work through struggles and setbacks. That's really how you learn how to deal with problems that are inevitable in business, in your career and in life. He really hasn't had to do that so far. So we hope he'll know what to do and how to react when that happens. But it's worth pointing out. He has a remarkable degree of autonomy as the CEO of this company, and he is going to have a very free hand to do almost what he wants. So he needs to be careful, a little bit.

BANFIELD: And talk to me a little bit about the phenomenon, in this fast-paced, changing technology world we live in today of disrupters. Because disrupters can be disrupted.

NEWMAN: Facebook is a disrupter. I mean -- it was really the original social network, been copied by many others, at this point, including Google+. And it has, along the way, taken business away from a lot of other places. But companies that do this can have the tables turned on them fairly quickly and we've seen some examples of this recently. I think Blackberry is clearly one of them. It had a huge share of the smartphone market for a while, and almost overnight Apple's iPhone and Google's Android phones just completely sideswiped Blackberry, which is in real trouble right now. Another one is Netflix, which had this meteoric growth and changed the way people rented movies for about 10 years. And then, all of a sudden, last summer, it's growth stalled. Netflix is now vulnerable to other ways of getting movies such as from Amazon or other ways from other the Web or from mobile devices.

Technology has never changed faster than it has right now, and the company that uses technology to its advantage one day can find technology working against it the next day.

BANFIELD: It is going to be fascinating to watch as this IPO story plays out even further.

NEWMAN: We're all watching.

BANFIELD: No kidding, right? Wth bated breath.

Rick Newman, good to see you. Thanks so much for that.

NEWMAN: Thanks.

BANFIELD: Let's take you now live to my colleague Wolf Blitzer, with a look at what's ahead, coming up on "THE SITUATION ROOM". Hi, Wolf.

BLITZER: Ashleigh, hi. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont -- he's got some very, very strong views on what's going on at JPMorgan Chase. Jamie Dimon, the chairman and CEO. He wants to see a lot of those banks simply broken up. He is going to join me here in "THE SITUATION ROOM." He's also got some strong views about the President of the United States. Is the president being hypocritical, for example, while on the one hand using his campaign ads to go after Mitt Romney and Bain Capital, while at the same time going up to Wall Street, trying to raise money from Wall Street guys, including some from Bain Capital, right now. So we're going to talk about that and a lot more. He's always, always outspoken and doesn't mince words at all. Senator Bernie Sanders will be with me in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Obviously all of the important news, including what's going on in North Carolina. The defense rests, as you well know, Ashleigh, in the John Edwards trial.

BANFIELD: Were you surprised at that, Wolf? Surprised that we didn't hear from his daughter or from him himself?

BLITZER: You know, I think the burden of proof is clearly on the prosecution. Abby Lowell, the defense lawyer for John Edwards, someone I know very, very well, here in Washington. I'm sure he's come around to the conclusion, and John Edwards, no doubt, agrees -- he's a pretty good lawyer himself -- that the prosecution simply did not make the case. That the burden of proof rests with them and they think it could only have hurt if they brought the daughter up, they brought the mistress up, they brought John Edwards up. We'll let the jury decide right now.

BANFIELD: I have to be honest, I have heard more times than not that lawyers make the worst witnesses, too. Wolf Blitzer, look forward to your show. Thank you, sir.

BLITZER: Thanks.

BANFIELD: If you have extra cash coming in from a tax return or something else, what should you do with it? CNN's Poppy Harlow with some ideas, now from today's "Help Desk."

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, here on "Help Desk" today, we're talking about investing. Two great people with me. Ryan Mack is the president of Optimum Capital Management, Stacy Francis is a financial advisor and president of Francis Financial. Lots of folks looking maybe at their tax return right now, and got a nice chunk of change back. And there's one anxious investor in Michigan that emailed us, and Stacy, here's what she wrote in.

She said, "I've got $3,000 in extra cash. Where is the best place to invest it?"

STACY FRANCIS, PRESIDENT, FRANCIS FINANCIAL: I have to say congratulations. The first thing you want to do is put it in your emergency fund. That's three to six months of living expenses put away. Then, try to put it in a 401(k), and especially if you get a match. You can put it in $17,000 if you're under age 50, even more over, then rest can go in your IRA -- up to $5,000, $6,000 if over age 50.

HARLOW: I think one of the big things we have to focus on, is if you do have some extra cash, and you have debt -- right Ryan? -- the first thing you should be doing is paying down your debt even if you see some very attractive investments.

RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL SOLUTIONS: Look, it's just mathematically sensical, looking at paying 14 percent on debt and then hoping you can get that in the market is just not necessarily the best bet. So there's certain things -- putting a budget together and making sure you have an allocated amount towards your surplus. The best part about investing is make sure it's sustainable over a long period of time, so pay your debts down, get the right amount of insurance, get your estate plan together, get a budget. All of these things are important before you can have a sustained level of investment strategy.

HARLOW: All right, guys, thank you. Appreciate it. If you have a question e-mail us a question any time to cnnhelpdesk@CNN.com. Back to you.

BANFIELD: All right, Poppy Harlow. Thank you so much.

So do you remember this little thing that JC Penney launched a short time ago? They said, no more sales. We're not going to do the whole sales strategy. We're just going to go with cheap prices all of the time. How did that work out for you? Apparently not so well, and now the company is really paying the price. We'll let you know how bad it got and what they're going to do about it in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: A very expensive lesson for one of the nation's best known store chains. Turns out we really, really like it when stuff goes on sale.

Alison Kosik is at the New York stock exchange. I'm talking JC Penney and a strategy that really burned them.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Somebody needs to tell that new CEO that people still like sales because what he did, Ashleigh, was he took away those sales. Because before he came in, JC Penney was known to have a sale every single day. So he wanted to wean customers off of these discounts, and instead they're offering now everyday low pricing, they're offering monthly sales. But you know what, customers aren't buying it. They stopped shopping there altogether. You look at the first three months of this year, at JC Penney, sales are down 19 percent. Here's the irony in this. Investors had high hopes pinned on this CEO named Ron Johnson. He came from Apple and everybody thought he'd bring back some pizzazz to JC Penney, since he launched hundreds of Apple's retail stores. But, you know, just give him some credit here. He is in the middle of a four-year plan to revamp these JC Penney stores. Some say, you know what, give him a little time. Let's see what happens. Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Let me try something else, here. Skechers, Shape-Ups, everybody was buying them, hoping to get the Kardashian butt. Turns out you don't get the Kardashian butt if you buy the Shape-Ups?

(LAUGHTER)

KOSIK: What? You mean the shoes, they don't tone my butt? I have to go to the gym and actually exercise? The shock, the horror.

BANFIELD: What do you know?

KOSIK: The FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, came out and said deep down what we know anyway. Skechers -- they don't help you lost weight, they don't tone your butt, your legs or your abs. So, you know what? Skechers has to pay $40 million to settle charges that it deceived consumers. The FTC says Skechers made these deceptive claims about Shape-Ups, Resistance Runners, Toners, and Tone-Up shoes. So, yes, they don't improve your cardiovascular health either. So, if you bought these, you can get a refund either from the FTC or through a class-action lawsuit that's already been approved.

BANFIELD: You don't get Brooke Burke butt either, as we saw running up those stairs. There I was eating my Cheetos, wearing my Skechers, thinking it was all good. Alison Kosik, it never is. Good to see you, thanks, my friend.

Let me turn things over to Wolf Blitzer, my colleague who is live in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Wolf.

BLITZER: Ashleigh, thanks very much.