and ping-pong prodigy, john blackstone introduces us to the 16-year-old who is america's best hope yet for an olympic medal. >> i'm one of five. i want the medal for my victory. >> this is the captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> jeff: good evening, i'm jeff glor, after more than ten and a half years of war in afghanistan the u.s. and its allies this weekend are looking for the best way out. the setting is a nato summit in chicago against the backdrop of demonstrations. senior white house correspondent bill plante is in chicago. he begins our coverage, bill, good evening. >> good evening, jeff, well, the u.s. and its partners in nato are just plain tired of the war in afghanistan. it's unpopularity has added to political pressures here and abroad to get the troops out even sooner than planned. and the question is how o to do that without giving up the gains that have been made. that's the main topic here at the nato meeting in chicago. with france's new president saying he will pull his troops out of afghanistan by december, two year as head of the nato time l

john blackstone is in alaska. and he made these kids a deal-- they kept their end, and and now he's about to make their dreams come true. >> the promise you made these kids 12 years ago was what? captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. police in new york city say they are holding a man who has confessed to the murder of etan patz. the six-year-old boy who vanished without a trace 33 years ago tomorrow. the enduring mystery of etan's disappearance, the anxiety felt by parents across the country, combined to revolutionize the nation's approach to missing children. after all this time, it was a telephone tip that led the police to 51-year-old pedro hernandez. now detectives have to figure out whether his confession is true. we have two reports. first, senior correspondent john miller, who has covered the patz story since the day the boy vanished. he's been talking to his sources. and he joins us now. john. >> reporter: well, scott, as you said, it is an e

john blackstone shows us why the golden gate bridge still inspires at age 75. this is the captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> jeff: and good evening, i'm jeff glor. memorial day will be a damp and windswept affair along the southeast coast as tropical storm beryl closes in. elsewhere high temperatures are the main danger prompting heat warnings at the indy 500 and creating more problems for firefighters out west. we begin with danielle nottingham. >> reporter: beach gers in the southeast today won't be so lucky tomorrow. winds are increasing as tropical storm beryl moves towards the carolinas and florida, and is still on track to hit landfall later tonight. the surf proved to be too much for one group of swimmers in jacksonville, florida. eight had to be rescued from rough waters. florida lifeguard scott petersohn. >> the rip current is getting worse as the day goes on. and if you are not, you know, a strong swimmer, you have any doubt, you should stay out of the water. >> reporter: water is desperately needed in the southwest where f

john blackstone reports. staff sergeant jeremy coonny returns from the war and can't believe the miracle waiting for him. and on the road, steve hartman with a teacher who is lifting kids out of poverty by reaching for the stars. (cheers and applause) captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening, the lessons of the great recession didn't last long. tonight the nation's largest bank and one of the nation's biggest energy companies are both reeling. reckless investments in one case questionable management in the other. j.p. morgan chase said yesterday that it lost at least $2 billion in investments it called "egregious." today j.p. morgan lost $14 billion in stock value. chesapeake energy lost $1 billion of its stock value today in 46 minutes as questions mount about its business practices. we have two reports. first anthony mason on j.p. morgan chase. >> reporter: the losses for j.p. morgan chase continued today, this time to its stock price which tumble

that the president has a problem with the business of private equity since one of the funders of blackstone, had a fundraiser. >> mitt romney is fine from money who made money the same way that mitt romney did. and i know tony stone, and the other half the blackstone, big part, prime partner there, he is a republican, tony james is a democratic side, and every firm does this, but we should point out how ludicrous this ad is. if you think about it, we are a he talking 1994, 1993. what was going on? they were dying, u.s. steel companies were getting killed by foreign competition in such an i with a that those guys, whether mitt romney was there, or whether federal government bailed them out. they were going to lose their jobs. >> the steel trade and-- >> right, and at least, at least, they tried to perform triage and save them and that's how dumb this is, and another failing of the liberal media. this will refuse to put it to the truth test. >> neil: adam, do you find it odd, all right, if you're going to criticize what he did at bain capital with private can't capital with his capital, riski

john blackstone, cbs news, montague island, alaska. >>> coming up after your local news on "cbs this," the latest on the crisis in syria. we'll get reaction from former defense secretary donald rumsfeld. a possible break in the honeymoon disappearance george smith. and recording legend paul simon talks life, love and music with wynton marsalis a little later on "cbs this morning." >>> that is the "cbs morning news" for this wednesday. as always, appreciate you watching. i'm terrell brown. have a great day. ,,,, mitt romney reaches the magic number to clinch the gop nomination. and

as john blackstone reports, she has some very famous fans. >> reporter: for 16-year-old ariel hsing,a converted garage in san jose, california. this daughter of chinese immigrants is hoping to do what no other american has ever done, win a medal in table tennis. playing at this level takes hours of daily practice, but she's a top student. her high school counselor. >> you know, she's got to deal with her parents. >> reporter: what's the deal with her parents? >> if she keeps as, she can keep playing table tennis. >> reporter: she has to keep as to keep playing? >> yes. >> reporter: parents have told you that? >> yes. >> i never tested out this theory. >> reporter: you're not going to get a "b" just to see -- >> no. >> reporter: last week her school held a pep rally where foo football coach dared to take her on. well, there you go. >> yeah, there i go. >> reporter: how are you going to match up? >> i'm not. >> reporter: and he didn't. but earlier this month, ariel crushed a real heavy hitter. >> in omaha i was at the berkshire hathaway meeting. uncle warren invited me -- >> reporter:

including james james of the blackstone group.fact, he says, it's distressing to all of us here to witness a vicious politically motivated attacks on the private equity business that this are inaccurate and unfair. then privately apparently jim messina, the person who is running president obama's campaign is running around telling them, don't worry the president plans to run against romney, not the industry that made the former governor of massachusetts millions. in other words, guys don't worry. we're not going to cut you. they got to get the money. they got to get the money, and they're way behind. right now romney has $2.48 million and president obama has only $625,000. that's because they don't like it if you say hey, you know what, i might take away some of your tax loopholes. the guy who is cofounder of blackstone, the boss of the man i just quoted is stephen s schwartsdman. he said it's like when hitler hit poland in 1939. it's a grotesque loophole that they take advantage of but don't worry, they haven't touched it because

bain and blackstone had teamed up for companies. if the head of bain is labeled a vampire, shouldn't the campaign have someone headed blackstone as well. there are arguments to be made about whether what they do is good or bad. but keeping them honest. isn't it disingenuous to drive a stake into the heart of the one so-called vampire in the morning and have a steak with another at night. you get the point. we know 60 people paid $35,800 a plate. romney campaign did not waste time striking back against the new ad releasing its own ad also using somber music, slow motion, and steel workers. it focuses on a couple called steel dynamics that bain invested in with romney's guidance with happier results. >> when others shied away, mitt romney's team stepped in. >> building a dream with over 6,000 employees today. >> if it wasn't for a company like steel dynamic, the county wouldn't have a lot. >> american workers in a small town proving that anything is possible in america. >> anything is possible in america. certainly anything goes in am

he's the president of blackstone which is a private equity firm. a private equity firm that has, just like bain, made business deals that have shut down factories, put people out of work. 270 workers at a food plant, 800 at a travel service company. the list goes on and on. blackstone and bain have even done business together, teaming up to invest in the same companies. the point is, if the head of bain is labeleded a vampire, shouldn't the obama campaign have labeled someone at the head of blackstone as well? there are arguments to be made about whether what they do is good or bad. but keeping them honest. isn't it disingenuous to drive a stake into the corporate heart of the one so-called vampire in the morning and then sit down and eat a steak with another vampire at night? we don't know if they actually served steak at tony james' fund-raiser for the president, but you get the point. we know 60 people paid $35,800 a plate. romney campaign did not waste time striking back against the new obama campaign ad releasing its own ad also using somber m

john blackstone is joining us in seward, alaska, tonight, and, john, what are you seeing? >> reporter: well, scott, the harbor here? seward opens up to the gulf of alaska, and out there, we saw the first large-scale evidence of wreckage from the japanese tsunami making it all the way across the pacific and now washing up on beaches here. it's a disturbing sight, a wilderness beach but littered everywhere with plastic bottles, fishing gear, and big chunks of yellow foam believed to be insulation from ruined buildings swept into the sea. now, every year some trash washes up on these beaches and every year chris pallister leads cleanup crews there. >> it's just far more than we've ever had come in at one time. and, you know, i would guess that the influx of debris-- and this is just the first wave of this tsunami debris. >> reporter: what's-- like for you flying in a helicopter above that looking down there at the debris? >> well, today it really hit me. before when i went out there i was just shocked and kind of stunned by the magnitude of it it all. today when i went over t

and john blackstone on the west coast where the legacy of the japanese tsunami is washing up on shore. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. entire families were shot in their houses. that is how a united nations official describes the massacre of more than 100 people, mostly children, in syria over the weekend. today the united states and nine other nations expelled syrian diplomats from their capitals. the u.n.'s lead negotiator met with the syrian dictator today and warned that syria has reached a tipping point. the family of bashir al assad has ruled syria for 42 years. last year a mass uprising started against him. assad has used his army to shell entire neighborhoods, and that's how saturday's atrocities started. it's what happened next that makes it the worst war crime yet in the 15-month-old civil war. ( gunfire ) that's the artillery barrage in a civilian neighborhood outside the city of houla close to the center of the anti-assad uprising. u.n. observers in syria report that about 20 people were killed by assad

john blackstone on the 93,000 people now cut off. charges that school lunch money has been stolen and not by a bully. cheryl at i can son investigates. >> and he's a college professor and cross word blogger matching wits with the "new york times" and our own tony guida. >> there was a part that wanted in a really stupid, shallow way to seem smart. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> axelrod: good evening. i'm jim axelrod. all but certain republican presidential romney mitt romney made an appeal today to evangelical christians, a group whose whose support he will certainly need if he is to prevail in the fall. romney traveled to the largest evangelical college in the world to reach out. chip reid joins us now. chip, good evening. >> reporter: well,ing good evening, jim. mitt romney has struggled to win over evangelical christians in part because many evangelicals believe mormonnism, romney's faict, is a religious cult. today romney emphasized the shared values of two very different branches of christianity.

john blackstone, cbs news, merced, california. >> pelley: there are no money troubles in the presidential race. last night president obama raised a record $15 million at a fund-raiser at the los angeles home of actor george clooney. the hollywood crowd cheered when the president spoke about his decision this week to support same-sex marriage and in a new gallup poll 60% of americans said the president's position on that issue will make no difference in how they vote. john dickerson is in washington. he is our cbs news political director. john, i wonder, what do you make of the gallup poll? >> people, scott, at that fund-raiser described et it as buoyant and uplifting in conversations today but in the rest of the country it's not necessarily as monumental an issue as it was for that audience. in that poll people largely registered their opinion along party lines but among independents 23 said the president's decision would make them less likely to vote for president obama. 11% said they would be more likely. so obama's same-sex marriage position could cost him so independent and a very sma

, then have blackstone go out and buy a company for you, go buy a technically-sensitive company. >> maybemuch that they just want to steal all your technology for us? >> no, but they'd be afraid if-- if they don't do what you want, that you'll pull the money out, and then they'll collapse. >> if you think things along that line, then there'd be no stopping because... >> chinese businesses come under severe criticism for their secrecy. so one way mr. gao could deal with the suspicion would be to make the fund transparent like norway's sovereign wealth fund, which is considered the gold standard. it has a detailed mission statement, earnings reports, and an exhaustive web site listing all its assets. china's fund has a web site too: just one page, which is basically a link to a job application. mr. gao made an unexpected commitment, as he gave us a tour of his offices. look at this wall. what do you think? it's very transparent. >> it is. this is what we meant to be. >> is it a metaphor? >> yes, i think so. >> well, you don't have any transparency. i mean, you--you--you're-- >> yes, we do.

, last night the president was in manhattan at a fund-raiser where at one of the executives for blackstone group, one of the biggest private equity firms in the country, so when it comes to fundraising they're still reaching out to private equity. megyn: i want to talk to you about this poll on women voters and this significant shift. they were favoring the president by i think it was 16 points not long ago and look at this, the sampling of the cbs poll, oversach -- the democrats, 30 percent were responding, and it shows now the president's 16-point lead with women voters has completely evaporated and now it's a mitt romney lead by two with female voters. what does the white house say about this? >> well, we'll see what jay carney says in the next couple of moments. i suspect from dealing with them in recent months on these various polls that have come out, they're going to say it's just a snapshot, let's look at the next two or three polls, and it's important to see whether this is an aberration. it's far off the double digit lead among women that president obama has had for some time. if

campaign lapped up two million adam one hat and fundraiser held by tony james president of the blackstonegroup one of the largest private equity firms in the world now to make the insincerity worse last month obama's campaign criticized one of james's colleagues they blasted blackstone partner paul sure for quote betting against america and being less than reputable in his dealings now why well you just haven't to be a romney donor but because tony james raised money for obama when he was sort of guy you'd want to thanksgiving dinner and it's not as james the obama campaign is welcoming wall street blood money with open arms by the end of january it raised two point two million from pacs and employees associated with securities and investment firms and february alone employees and pacs from j.p. morgan chase wells fargo and goldman sachs all topped the president's toners list analysts who just woke up from a coma you know these companies and come under fire for morally questionable business practices especially j.p. morgan the company revealed a two billion dollars trading loss last frida

and blackstone going to approach other private equity. blackstone is a viable option there. and they're definitely getting a pop out of it. if we can take a quick look at that chart as well, they went from negative to positive territory. sue, back to you. >> in an otherwise down day too, brian, thank you very much. speaking of down days, yahoo! shares under a lot of pressure today. hedge fund third point demanding yahoo!'s ceo step down after questions about his educational qualifications. the stock is down better than 1% at $15.22. it has lost a lot of ground this week. jon fortt has the very latest on the situation. jon, over to you. >> sue, not just scott thompson, also board member patty also has a degree in business administration and said she had a couple of other degrees she seems not to have. silicon valley has been abuzz about this. also because apparently three years ago scott thompson did a radio interview in which he talked about having two degrees. so no deniability there left for him as far as that goes. yahoo! has put out a couple different statements. one yes

blackstone.kr, apollo, now carlyle, none of which have been good performers. >> and the big piece in "fortune" this morning about how difficult it is to value these offerings, blackstone among them. do you go off management's fees, performance fees? in "fortune's" view, there is value in what carlyle is doing, despite the debate about whether they priced lower because there was a lack of interest or they wanted to do it for the long term. >> and they are giving themselves a pretty nice market value regardless of where it prices. take a look at blackstone. probably still the cream of the crop in some ways in terms of assets management because they have actually built out significant businesses aside from private equity, whether it be real estate, which is partially private equity or distressed or even investment banking in terms of their advisory work they do on m&a. blackstone. and just pure money management, blackstone has shown itself to be a significant alternative asset manager. >> a notable

he's the head of blackstone. an equity firm. he likens bain to the head vampire. the contractidiction. joining me tonight, spokesman ben labold. how can president obama attack mitt romney on his time at bain highlighting only times when bain cost company jobs and at the same time hold high priced fund raisers with the head of another private equity firm that's done work with blackstone group in his own administration? >> well, you know, mitt romney hasn't been -- he hasn't been forthright with the american people about what he did during his tenure and what his goals were. he's been campaigning across the country telling people he was a job creator. that's because he -- his partners have admitted that the goal was wealth creation for themselves. >> right. but that's -- >> it wasn't a focus on the middle class families across the country. it was wealth creation. >> private equity is about wealth creation for investors. that's not what he's saying, but that's what it's about. why is it okay for the president's private equity supporters to bankrupt companies and put

and now we're back to square 1. >> that was john blackstone reporting. japan estimates 5 million tons of debris was swept out to sea, but most of it sank, leaving 1.5 million tons floating. >>> gone in seven seconds. [ implosion ] that's how long it took to bring down the 17-story hotel in college station, texas. thousands gathered to watch the meticulously-planned implosion. it was taken down to make room for a mixed-space office and apartment development. >>> 29-year-old smyrna, georgia man, went off the road, crashed through a fence, and landed in the pool. the driver's head was nearly under water and he was unresponsive, when three good samaritans jumped in to rescue him. the driver is doing fine today and will not face any criminal charges. >>> a graduate student, fighting a rare, flesh-eating bacteria is taking another step in recovery. >> amy copeland is now able to set up by herself for hours at a time. copeland splashed herself on a zip line. she was diagnosed with the infection shortly after and had to have her left leg amputated at her hips al

junior seau, just an outstanding player, as john blackstone indicated in his piece. he was a leader on the field, in football vernacular he had a motor. he was like an energizer bunny out on the field who led by example. but as it as talented as he was and as the piece indicated, a sure-fire hall of famer, he was just as excellent off the field with his foundation activities that principally benefitted children. as a matter of fact, charlie and erica, i was blessed to bestow upon him a j.b. award i do in conjunction with nfl players association for players who commit significantly to building stronger communities and stronger families, and junior was sensational in that regard as well. >> was there any -- i know you've spoken to a lot of people in the last 24 hours or so. was there any indication that something was wrong, that in some way junior was headed down this path? >> i guess what was so hard to believe, erica, because he was the picture of health and so well liked, but there is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest there were some things. i don't to want be sp

john blackstone is there. he'll join us live. one, two and three. it hits three arts today. director barry sonnenfeld. barry told me, you're not allowed to say what the twist is and i will not. took 23 years for the lapd to track this murder case. we'll have a preview of "48 hours mystery" that you won't want to miss. it involves a police officer and a crime. and the creator of funky winkerbean. i just like saying that name. celebrating 40 years of putting social commentary into the comics. we'll take a look at that, too, when we see you at 8:00. you're watching "cbs this morning." remember, you can catch us on facebook, twitter and google plus. we try to make it very easy to find us. >>> people ask the question, why is china so dominant in comparison to the united states? we try to provide answers to this question. a little segment we call why china is kick our ass. >> reason number 933 -- >> what is that? dance party friday? is it? how did that happen? ♪ >> those are news broadcasters. they're there to tell us what's happening

blackstone, private equity group, why would they be involved?aybe something to do with exploring options. who knows. i want to credit kayla tausche for her close reading and picking that up. the stock has picked up a little bit again. for context, down 26%. also a name down almost 50% when it was halted the first time. we'll keep an eye on it and see where the price action goes. back to you. >> we are certainly watching that stock. thank you, brian sfwlnch. >>> coming up next, underwear, shoes and cranes. time for stock talk. >>> a closer look at the timing behind gm's move to defriend facebook. did the automaker have an obligation to go public with the announcement? >>> our street poll. who is having the worst month ever? vote at streetsigns@cnbc.com. "street signs" back in two minutes' time. my round trip is approximately 40 miles to work. head on home, stop at the grocery store, whatever else that i need to do -- still don't have to use gas. i'm never at the gas station unless i want some coffee. it's the best thing ever. as a matter of fact,

dad the charade expect lots of family photos but you haven't seen anything quite like these john blackstonehows as holly san ramon father has taken a tradition to a whole new level. >>> it was proud parents jason leigh was taking photos of his kids like most kids this age year-old and five girls can him up in front of the camera. ends up now all lots of people are looking at their pictures. ideally online more than a million people everywhere have been looking at the lee family fall of with pictures of the girls loading from balloons flying on broomsticks against hanging from a ceiling fan. people do think that's. >>> but there is a lot of editing involved. >>> of course cayley is not actually stuck to the ball wall with that tape and the girls are having be out with this is and how do is. >>> this didn't really happen? >>> it's a total of photos with a coat hangers. >>> by profession he is a wedding photographer antilles used his photographer's eye to capture the best in his children. >>> their cuban pictures but in real life there crazy animals. degrees his family photos are take taking a

john blackstone is there. he'll join us live.ts three arts today. director barry sonnenfeld. barry told me you're not allowed to say what the twist is and i will not. took 23 years for the lapd to track this murder case. we'll have a preview of "48 hours mystery" that you won't want to miss. it involves a police officer and a crime. and the creator of funky winkerbean. i just like saying that name. celebrating 40 years of putting social commentary into the comics. we'll take a look at that too, when we see you at 8:00. you're watching "cbs this morning." remember, you can catch us on facebook twitter and google plus. we try to make it very easy to find us. >>> 4 minutes before 8:00. still some fog half down down our tower. -- half way down our tower. marty is in the weather center. >> take a look at the forecast today. once we burn this fog off it's going to get hot and humid. 87 is going to be the high. the normal is 76. it's in the low 70s now. we're not that far away from what should be our normal daytime high. here is sharon

take a look at blackstone's performance and investors are saying that in itself is a flag of caution. back to you. >> kayla, thank you very much. in the next half hour, pandora's ceo, joseph kennedy, will be with us. his stock is down 52% in a year. it is up a little today. we'll get his take on why down and now up. sue? >> boeing's ceo is bullish on the u.s., ty. the shares of boeing right now. last trade in an otherwise down day in the market, down almost 1 1/4% at 75.05. down 5% for the year. phil lebeau speaking first on cnbc with jim mcnerney easterlier this morning and he's live at reagan national airport just outside of washington, d.c. phil? >> and sue, when you talk with jim mcnerney, he will tell you he is bullish on the economy but he is also a realist. so we asked him, how would you rate the economy right now, and he's pretty straightforward. listen. 2/3 of it in his opinion is functioning normally, as it should be. it's the other third that is abnormal and not functioning the way it should be. he says the key to getting the economy to pick up. less regulation which is nee

blackstone came to the market first. they had a nice price up around $38. they've suffered the most. however, with carlyle today there's a lot of moving parts because each one a different entity. blackrock -- >> it's a money management company. >> they are. but at the end of the day blk is something you need in your portfolio. the management there, the leadership, i think those guys and gals are great over there. and i think blk is the favorite by far. i don't know enough about apollo, but they've kind of been a laggard here, so i'm kind of down on apollo, but i'm all in on blk, blackrock. >> biggest asset manager in the world. >> just getting bigger, ty. >> jeff, thanks very much. sue. >> ty, up next, forbes' top venture capitalists, 80% of them all came from one school. and it ain't harvard. stay tuned for that one. and wait until you hear what michael dell tweeted today. more "power lunch" coming up in two minutes' time. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympi

here, president obama today or yesterday was at a fundraiser of the apartment of someone from the blackstone group. all this famous falling out of wall street and obama and the broken promises and this and that this is still a very important source of campaign cash, and he's right in the thick of it. do in the think that romney owns wall street as a fundraising source. some how whether it's in his rhetoric, i think that's part of thecal clues that is going on. >> they'll hedge on their politics if they can't do it on the street they'll never stop doing that. but what you said, dan that is exactly right. there is no real poppism populism in this case. he could have said it a thousand times and the contrast in my mind when fdr was president and he met with the bankers, he said i'm holding the pitch fork, and if you don't begin what needs to be done to reform this economy i'm going to use it. president obama said i'm the only thing standing between you and the pitchforks, a very fundamentally different emotional standpoint. >> both you and dan made the case why there has to be an independent in