i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." the largest bank of the united states is called to before congress to explain a $2 billion loss that one lawmaker compared to russian roulette. jpmorgan chase ceo jamie dimon appeared before congress saying he could not defend or justify the trades that ultimately imploeded. liz zi was there watching it all unfold. and it was very dramatic. >> it was very dramatic. i've known jamie dimon and covered jamie dimon for a long time, wolf. usually when he comes to washington this is a town where he's received with open arms, even at the white house. this position was a little unusual for him. hi, jamie. >> how are you? >> i'm good. >> he usually loves the cameras, but he got more of the rugby scrum. >> they're the job destroyers. this man is a crook. >> we've let a lot of people down. and we are very sorry for it. >> he apologized for losing billions, took some blame, but embracing more regulation, maybe not. >> we think don't make sense and we think we're entitled to the ones to tell you the things that don't make sense. >> i think you're entitled to tell the things that don't make sense. i also think that the american people after making major investments in your bank and other institutions are entitled to ensure that they don't have to reach into their pocket again. >> financial reform was passed two years ago. but most of it has yet to be enacted. and many republicans want to roll it back. >> i'm talking about the regulatory regime that congress put in place. has it made our system safer? >> i don't know. >> one key part, a hotly debated rule that would keep banks that take customer deposits, like jpmorgan chase, from making risky trades for themselves. dimon's opinion of that. >> unnecessary. >> of this committee's 22 members, only six have not taken money from jpmorgan's political action committee. both democratic chairman tim johnson and top republican richard shelby have gotten personal donations from dimon. shelby asked dimon if he'd prefer to talk in private. >> to detail what really happened, here we're talking in general terms now, would you feel bet ner a closed hearing? >> in the end dimon only lost his characteristic cool once arguing with oregon democrat about how much the bank took in bailout money. >> i'm not going -- sir, sir, this is not your hearing. i'm asking you to respond to questions. >> now, to be honest, jamie dimon didn't have to answer that many hard questions. he got some others like what should we do about the state of the economy, the fiscal cliff that's coming, what we really don't know yet, wolf, is what this means for regulation going forward. this key part of financial reform, the so-called volcker rule named after the former fed chairman, it's still a bit in limbo. some folks want to make it tighter. others say it would not prevent another financial crisis and that's really what's still being lobbied on right now. >> we use the $2 billion number for the loss, but some insiders have said to me they think it may be $3 billion, maybe even $4 billion when all the dust settles. did he clarify that? >> he did not. i asked jamie dimon again at the end of the hearing, will you tell me how large the loss was, a question none of the senators asked, and he said no. >> flatly. >> yeah. >> thanks very much. erin burnett is going out front on this story as well. she's covered these stories for a long time. what jumped out at you today as someone who knows jamie dimon, has covered him extensively. what jumped out of you, erin. >> wolf, there was as lizzie was pointing out the fiscal cliff and sort of turned the tables and was lecturing congress, which was very much in the style, he's a very bombastic leader of the bank. but also i think it's important a couple other things to that, one, in his prepared testimony, wolf, he said this is an isolated incident. you look back at other banks these sorts of things have happened at, massive trading losses, every ceo without fail says it's an isolated incident, yet it keeps happening. $2 billion, $4 billion, $6 billion, not big, but jamie dimon didn't know this problem was there. this bank is no longer too big to fail, but too big to bailout, could have these sorts of things happening. could be bigger than this one. is there a risk we don't know? it doesn't seem that the financial reform, volcker rule or not, would even come close to preventing that sort of risk. that's systemic risk that could bring down the system. which i think is scary. he didn't address that. when he said it was isolated, it stood out to me. jpmorgan is 50% bigger than it was before the financial crisis. it's much bigger than big then. so that really stood out to me. also he said there's going to be clawbacks. when he's referring to compensation, the woman in charge of this trade and the chief investor of this office, ina drew, quote unquote resigned, kwuz asked to leave in the wake of this, she made about $14 million last year. i think a lot of people are saying will that be taken back, it looked like he opened the door to that. but that's something most people think should happen. i think that was an important takeaway. >> people look at the largest banks of the united states, chase, jpmorgan, they assumed, at least a lot of people assumed after the 2008 banking disaster this couldn't happen. again, a bank all of a sudden losing billions like that so quickly. so the question is how reassured should they be that their money is safe? >> they shouldn't be reassured, wolf, in many ways. it's not just jpmorgan chase which is 50% bigger, the big banks in this company are all bigger. warren buffett famously described as weapons of mass destruction, the derivatives of trades upon trades upon trades on mortgages that caused the crisis is also significantly bigger than it was before the crisis. there's still no exchange for those derivatives to trade on. we still have all kinds of things that haven't been pushed forward that aren't really dealt with in the reform. plus the fact the reform bill itself is still being lobbied and debated over. so it's out there. we all know about dodd frank, but a lot of the blanks are still not filled in. we -- could it happen again? unfortunately, wolf, i think we all have to admit the answer to that question is yes. >> that's depressing to think about. all right. erin will be out front 7:00 p.m. eastern later tonight on this story. several other important stories as well. erin, thank you. >> thanks, wolf. one of the largest fires in colorado history now burning out of control. lisa sylvester is monitoring that and other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what else is going on? >> hi, wolf. firefighters are reporting some success as they battle the 46,000-acre blaze. at last report it was still only 10% contained. crews from around the u.s. have joined the fight and there are now some 1,000 people working that fire. there is progress in the suburbs around ft. collins. hundreds of people who were forced to evacuate will soon be able to go home. and the former aide to gabrielle giffords will finish out the term. ron barber beat his republican opponent 52% to 45%. barber was with giffords when she was shot in the head during last year's mass shooting in tucson. he was critically injured. giffords' resigned her congressional seat in january. and a health scare for comedian jerry lewis. he collapsed last night just before a club event in new york where he was scheduled to receive an award and present one to tom cruise. lewis who is 86, was rushed to the hospital and treated for low blood sugar before being released. certainly wish him well. >> a speedy, speedy recovery. what a great american treasure and a wonderful talent. thanks very much for that. growing horror in syria right now. and growing pleas from syrians for help from around the world. we need to help. jack cafferty is wondering what the united states should do. he's up next with the cafferty file. plus, america's image around the world. a new global survey shows some love that the united states has and doesn't necessarily have. what do folks around the world alts think about president obama? 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[ female announcer ] get the travelocity guarantee any way you book, including our new app. you'll never roam alone. jack cafferty's here with the cafferty file, jack. >> syria teetering on the brink of an all-out civil war as the situation goes quickly from bad to worse. secretary of state hillary clinton is concerned russia is sending attack helicopters to syria. some think if true could escalate difficulties there quickly. she says the u.s. has confronted russia about stopping arms shipments to the assad government. according to the state department, russia insists these weapons they're sending are only to be used for self-defense, that they cannot be used against the civilian population. hey, if russia says it, what's not to believe, right? syrian forces are reportedly pummelling their own people with attack helicopters, tanks and mortars. on the other side insurgents increasingly better armed and organized. the syrian government has used children as shields and tortured other children whose parents are suspected dissidents. these child victims describe being beaten, blindfolded, whipped with heavy electrical cables, burnt with cigarettes and in one case subjected to electrical shock of the genitals. a u.n. peace keeping chief describes the situation in syria as a civil war. it's estimated 14,000 syrians have died in the 15 months of bloodshed. secretary clinton says there's no easy solution to the mess in syria, but it's clear that sanctions and isolating syria haven't worked so far. as for americans, they overwhelmingly say the u.s. does not have a responsibility to step in. a recent cnnorc poll, 61% oppose american intervention. 33% say the u.s. ought to get involved. that's up from 25% in february. that's the question, has the time come now+n0 for the u.s. t intervene now in syria? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on my blog. or go to "the situation room" facebook page. >> thanks, jack. excellent question. other news, one of america's most valuable assets, its image around the world. and there are some surprising new results in a brand new global survey about president obama, his policies and the united states in general. cnn foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty has details. she's joining us live. what did this survey reveal about the u.s. image abroad? >> let's start with the bottom line, wolf, in most parts of the world, in many part rs of the world, the image of the united states, the popularity of the united states is higher under president obama than it was under president bush. however, on certain specific issues there is a sense in some countries that that promise that president obama had that he would carry out some things those people wanted to see is not being carried out. so there's an unmet expectations quotient. here's what it said. on the streets of cairo, some egyptians say they had high hopes when barack obama became president. now, there's bitter disappointment. >> translator: we were optimistic for change after george bush, but sorry, it's the same politics. >> among america's traditional allies however, europe and japan, president obama has largely repaired america's image. but the few research centers new global attitudes project shows barack obama's own policies are hurting him. take the use of drones. a major complaint on the streets of islamabad. >> illegally attacking us on our soil without our permission. >> that's the opinion in 17 of 21 countries. more than half disapprove of u.s. drone attacks targeting extremists in countries like pakistan or yemen. compare that to 62% of americans who approve of the drone campaign. the survey questioned more than 26,000 people in 21 countries. one major finding, leadership matters. >> when president bush was unpopular, the united states was largely unpopular. >> three years into the obama presidency there's been a dramatic turnaround in how european countries like germany and allies like japan view the united states. but in muslim countries, obama's policies have damaged views of the u.s. the biggest concern worldwide about america still is that it acts without concern for the interests of other countries. and yet despite disappointments over his policies, there's considerable support for mr. obama's re-election in europe. >> most of the publics in allied nations say he should be re-elected in large numbers. if he had those numbers in the united states, he'd be very well. >> but in some middle eastern countries it's the reverse. in egypt 76% don't want him to have another term. in jordan it's 73%. another finding in the global survey, even america's friends in europe think china, not the u.s., is the world's top economy. >> when china sneezes, i think the rest of the world get a cold. >> but the chinese think it's more like a sniffle. only 20% of chinese say they are the leading economic power. almost half say it's the united states. now, people around the world nevertheless say they like american popular culture. in the middle east they like how americans do business. but overall many people complain that there is too much influence from the united states. in fact, they say that globalization equals americanization. wolf. >> very interesting numbers, jill, thanks very much. a political pre-game for tomorrow's dualing speeches by mitt romney and president obama. we have details of romney's prebuttal today. and was the iraq war fought by the united states largely really won by iran? 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[ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha! this just coming into "the situation room," good news for jovn edwards. the justice department announcing moments ago he will not -- repeat, not be re-tried. assistant attorney saying could not reach a unanimous verdict. we respect their judgment. in the interest of justice, we have decided not to retry mr. edwards on those counts. fully expected another trial will not happen for the former u.s. senator, former vice presidential nominee. that's not happening for john edwards. other news we're following, president obama and mitt romney are gearing up for a head-to-head clash, duelling speeches just minutes apart in a state that's crucial to the outcome in november. romney had a tune-up today before a very receptive audience. cnn's national correspondent, jim acosta, is joining us with the latest. >> that's right, wolf. today was the pre-game to the main event tomorrow. duelling speeches at virtually the same time in the ultimate battleground state of ohio. and today was the preview of the battle to come. the campaign isn't getting down to brass tacks, more like brass knuckles ready to rumble over their economic plans. >> this is the most anti-investment, anti-business, anti-jobs series of policies in modern american history. >> just one day before romney and the president go head-to-head with duelling campaign events in the swing state of ohio, the republican contender met with some of the nation's top ceos to offer a prebuttal to mr. obama's speech. >> we will not rest until we are succeeding and generating jobs -- >> the message as delivered in this new gop web vid you is that mr. obama has fail eed to meet s own goals of changing jobs. >> i think you'll see him change course, he'll speak eloquently, but the words are cheap. >> it is a campaign speech. >> in a clear sign the president is in election mode, jay carney was asked about the speech and read from essentially the campaign script. >> the president believes that this election is a fundamental choice between two very different visions for how we grow the economy, create middle class jobs and pay down our debt. the other side's plan is a $5 trillion tax cut that explodes the deficit -- >> at a series of fundraisers, the president conceded he has his work cut out for him. romney can just sit back and say things aren't as good as they should be, and it's obama's fault. and you can pretty much put their campaign on a tweet and have some characters to spare. in another event mr. obama took on the republican charge he is a big government liberal. >> i want to be clear, we don't expect government to solve all our problems. and it shouldn't try to solve all our problems. >> and reminded voters a republican president was running up the deficit before he got into office. >> it's like somebody goes to a restaurant, orders a big steak dinner, martini, all that stuff and then just as you're sitting down they leave. [ laughter ] and accuse you of running up the tab. >> i will in my first 100 days take action to eliminate government programs. >> meanwhile, romney is pulling back the curtain on his own economic plan vowing to repeal the president's health care law, strike down obama era regulations and get the country back in the black. all while giving everybody a tax cut. >> and those things save about $500 billion a year by my fourth year in office if i'm lucky enough to be elected and get us to a balanced budget within eight to ten years. >> romney has so far not provided all the details on which government programs he would cut so the obama campaign is of course accusing the gop challenger of just "offering dishonest claims and no new ideas." that's to be expected because of the fireworks will be flying tomorrow in ohio, wolf, make no mistake about it. i will tell you, i just got off a conference call that the romney campaign is holding right now sort of bracketing what is going to take place in ohio tomorrow. keep in mind, the economic picture is improving in ohio right now. the unemployment rate has dropped dramatically over the last couple of years. and the romney campaign was asked, well who gets the credit for this? the romney campaign says it's the ohio governor there, the republic