salvador giunta's time came on october 25th, 2007. he was a specialist then, just 22 years old. sal his platoon were several days into a mission in the most dangerous valley in northeast afghanistan. light was enough to travel by without using the night vision goggles. with heavy gear on their backs and air support overhead, they made their way down a rocky ridge crest among a range so steep that sliding was easier than walking. they hadn't travel ad quarter mile before the silence was shattered. it was an ambush so close that the cracks of the guns and the wiz of the bullets were simultaneous. tracer fire hammered the ridge at hundreds of rounds per minute. more sal said later, than the stars in the sky. the apache gun ships above saw it all but couldn't engage with the enemy so close to our soldiers. the next platoon heard the shooting, but were too far away to join the fight in time. and the two lead men were hit by enemy fire and knocked down insta instantly. when the third was struck in the helmet and fell to the ground, sal charged headlong into the wall of bullets to pull

sergeant who stepped into the line of fire to help fellow soldiers in afghanistan. 25-year-old salvador giunta is the first living recipient of the award since the vietnam war. he was on his second tour of duty in afghanistan in 2007 when his unit was attacked. while under intense fire giunta pulled a fellow soldier and rescued another being dragged away by the enemy. >> and he'll tell you he didn't do anything special, that he was just doing his job. that any of his brothers in the unit would do the same thing. >> although i'm the one standing here wearing this medal right now, i want to make it be known that this represents all service members from all branchs that have been in afghanistan since 2001. iraq since 2003. who were there yesterday, are there today, and will go again tomorrow. i really appreciate them, because without their service, i have nothing. >> since the vietnam war, the medal of honor has been awarded only nine times. >>> carnival cruise ship that became stranded at sea last week will be out of service untilled any january. the carnival "splendor" was towed to san diego la

east room where in just a few moments, president obama will be awarding the medal of honor to salvador giuntahe nation's highest military honor and the first time since the vietnam war that a living recipient is getting the award. he is being honored for actions in battle in afghanistan, for running into fire during a 2007 ambush to rescue a fellow soldier. >>> a fellow watchdog is weighing in on the mortgage crisis. a panel is warned that the foreclosure paperwork mess could cost banks billions more and lead to another financial crisis. this as the senate is preparing to hold hearings to investigate allegations of fraud. senator chris dodd is chairman of the senate banking committee. an old friend and we're glad to see you. what do you want to find out in this hearing today? >> we're going to have this hearing and another next week with regulators coming in, but we need to know the depth of the problem. we know about the robosigning. foreclosures are a mortgage the. they own it outright. or people being told you can only get a workout if you fail to make payments over a period of time. a lot

. >>> army staff sergeant salvadore giunta saved members of his platoon.st living recipient of the medal of honor during an ongoing conflict since vietnam. >>> and a former television producer accused of killing his wife is due in a los angeles courtroom today. bruce redman was taken into custody yesterday. he was charged in mexico with killing his wife while on vacation. her body was found back in april in a sewer. >>> brandy's out, bristol palin advanced to the next week's finals in the "dancing with the stars" competition. >> why the judges may not exactly love her moves, the television audience keeps pushing her through, leaving some people to wonder if maybe we're witnessing a vast conservative conspiracy. really, they're talking about it. carol costello with a gut check this morning. she's joining us from washington. is there any walk of life that politics is not permeated? >> that's the question we're asking this morning. if bristol palin's presence on "dancing with the stars" proves anything, it proves just how partisan we've become as a nation. i'