crashing an outdoor graduation. caught rhett handed and rhett faced. a robber sprased and spanked. you're going to see it. good morning, everybody. who love this is one. >> i love that one, too. >> bang, bang, don't come back. it's nice to have you here. i'm ashleigh banfield. >> and zoraida. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east so let's get started for you. up first bill clinton getting back on script and back in step with the white house at least for now. in an exclusive interview with wolf blitzer, the former president doing a lot of apologizing after praising mitt romney's sterling business record and suggesting he would be open to extending the bush tax cuts with the wealthy, a position directly at odds with president obama. here's clinton yesterday on "the situation room." >> i'm very sorry about what happened ned. i thought something had to be done on the fiscal cliff before the election. apparently nothing has to be done until the first of the year. he should just stick with his position. >> jake sherman, politico a's report joining us. this is the second time he has this little gaffe. do you think this will hurt the obama administration? >> it's not going to hurt them in a real sense, but the problem is republicans have seized on this comment. it came out of clinton's mouth and they talked about it on capitol hill. president clinton says there's a huge mes of fiscal year at the end of the year. republicans and democrats on capitol hill away p from the election are already positioning themselves for it. to the extent that clinton has already come out and said this it, even though he's retracted that, quote lingers throughout. for a campaign to have a prominent figure like president clinton saying things like this is a problem. >> there's some conspiracy theorist out there that believe this is not aa mistake. perhaps he's doing this on purpose to get back for that contentious 2008 race with his wife. what do you make of that? >> you got to love the conspiracy theorist, but he's done a ton of events for president obama. he was in new york with with president obama this week raising money. he wants nothing more than president obama to get elected. president clinton said eegs a guy who speaks his mind and doesn't feel like he has to say bad things about somebody just to get his point aacross. this is kind of clinton being clinton as we say. this is the way he conducts himself, but i don't think this has anything to do with 2008. >> let's focus a little bit on that saying bad things about someone, because he said that romney had a stellar career as a businessman. let's listen to that. i want to talk about it. >> i am strongly commit it had to his re-election. you know me. i don't think i should have to say bad things about governor romney personally to disagree with him politically. the fact that i was complementary of his success as a business person doesn't mean that i think that he should be elected and president obama shouldn't. >> president bill clinton has a very high favorability rating as an ex-president. i'm going to put this up here. it's 66%. so do you think going forward that the obama campaign is going it to continue to use him, or are they a little fearful sometimes he speaks his mind too much? >> i think they're going to continue to use him because he's such a huge draw. as those numbers show he's incredibly popular. what he did here is undermine the central message of president obama's re-election campaign, which is that mr. romney's work at bain capital does not call fi him to be president is not good business and good for the country. president clinton said in that interview with wolf that it he believes he was a good businessman and that this is the reality. he doesn't feel like he needs foose bad things about mr. romney. the president does, so that puts them in direct conflict. he gets back on message. it's clear that once these guys, all these surrogates when they say thing that is don't jive with the campaign message, they get quickly back on message. that's what we've seen with pez clinton. >> jake sherman, politico's congressional reporter, thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> it's five minutes past 5:00 on the east coast. they don't agree on much, but republicans and democrats on congress aagree to stop the sblelgs leaks. the white house is denying any accusations that classified data was leaked to journalists in an effort to enhance the terror-fighting image. senator john mccain isn't buying that, though. he told anderson cooper last night the situation screams for a special prosecutor. >> i don't think there's any doubt that this is one of the most agreg yus breaches of national security in recent memory. the director of national intelligence, general coffer, said and he's been in it for 30, 40 years, whatever, and he says it's the worst he's ever seen. >> this has to stop. when people say they don't want to work with the united states because they can't trust us to keep a secret, that's serious. >> the fbi is investigating these leaks. they include details about covert operations against al qaeda and against iran. supreme court observers excited and waiting for two huge decisions. the president's health care reforms and arizona's crackdown on illegal immigration. according to a new poll, americans have already made up their minds on these two. 3 out of 4 favor arizona's immigration law that requires police to check the status of anybody they detain or arrest if they suspect that that person is in the country illegally. and when voters were asked about how they feel about the president's 2010 health care reform, some people call it obama care. others call it health care reforms. 51% say they oppose it while 43% favor it. we should mention that 13% of those people that oppose it oppose it because they say it doesn't go far enough. congratulations class of 2012. you may now run for cover. students at a high school in new jersey got a very special graduation when a funnel cloud appeared during their ceremony. take a look at this. what's really amazing here. you can see students still walking while the cloud looms in the background, and then came the rain and the hail. while the video looks scary, most people cleared out before things got really bad there. more than 2,000 former nfl players are joining a mega lawsuit against the league. it's combining more than 80 different cases into one single federal lawsuit. that lawsuit accusing the league of a deliberate plan to cover up links between concussions on the field and permanent brain injuries. in a statement the nfl says it has long made player's safety a priority and continues to do so. any allegation the nfl sought to mislead players has no merit. for those w for those who think lebron james can't win the big one. he put up 45 pointses a and pul down 15 rebounds last night to lead the miami heat 98-79. game seven is tomorrow night in south beach. the winner will face the oklahoma city thunder in the nba finals starting tuesday. time for a sport of a different color. it's 34 years since horse racing has had a triple crown winner, and that could all change tomorrow. the horse named i'll have another is the odds-on favorite to win the belmont stakes and make history apparently 11 times in the past over the last 14 years. horses have come to the belmont with with a chance to do it, but no go, failing to win that last coveted race. the triple crown winner, last time around it was the horse called affirmed in 1978. we'll go live to belmont park to talk about this. if you're heading out the door, set your dvr for soledad o'brien. if ever someone deserved a spanking, it might be this guy. caught trying to rob a convenience store. take a look. we'll have much more for you when we come back. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. 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[ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. made with only milk... cream... a touch of sugar... and pure natural flavors. coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. add your flavor naturally. hello. it's 1 minutes past 5:00 on the east coast. let's get you up to date on the top stories. good morning. happy friday, ladies. bill clinton trying to get on message and back in step with the white house this morning. speaking exclusively with cnn's wolf blitzer, the former president apologizing for remarks he made about the bush era tax cuts that seem to be at odds with president obama. mr. clinton didn't know the deadline hits next year when he suggest that cuts for the wealthy should be extended before the election. high school shooting suspect t.j. lane is set to be arraigned this afternoon. he's charged with killing three students and injuring three or others in a shooting spree last month. a judge ruled 17-year-old lane can be tried as an adult. if convicted he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole. '70s rob star bob welch an early member of fleetwood mac found dead in his home. he died a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. he played with fleetwood mac until 1971 to 1974. bob welch was 66 years old. the u.s. transportation department making a new $2.4 million push to stop what it is calling the epidemic of distracted driving. it will involve expanded police enforcement and a news and media blitz of the dangers. it says texting and driving are responsible for 3,000 deaths a year with teen drivers and young drivers the highest risk. two robbers get the surprise of their live when is they attempted to hold up this convenience store. not only did they get faces full of spray, one guy was bent over the registers and spanked over and over again. to allow insult to injury the police allowed the spanking as part of the citizen's arrest. he was charged with armed robbery. >> this may make it to favorite video of the year. >> who is the girl that takes the boots to him? >> is this the smoking gun's dumbest criminals, and they're lucky their hoops are up. otherwise that would be mortifying to them for the rest of their lives. >> where was this in did you say bear spray? >> i call it pepper spray. >> bear spray shoots a long way away, and you don't know that to get near you. pepper spray is small and up close. it sprays 20 feet. >> thank you, thank you. 15 minutes past the hour. meteorologist rob marciano, i hear it's the warmest spring on record. is that true? >> for the u.s., and a number of cities including new york and d.c. back through chicago as well, their warmest spring in 50 years. laguardia specifically over 130 years. remarkable stuff there. this comes on the heels, as you know, of a very warm winter. when we talk spring in meteorology, we include may, april, and march. those three months. even though we haven't hit the first day of summer yet, spring for us is over. you talk about the west coast and pacific northwest specifically, boy, they haven't smelled much mountain sway of spring. 57 degrees expected for seattle, 59 degrees in portland but 80 in new york, 85 in d.c. here comes your warmth. we have an average or slightly below average the past few days. it doesn't rule out the risk of seeing a thunderstorm or two especially across the northern tier. high pressure in control across the mid-atlantic states. the gulf coast will see showers. in houston or new orleans there's a threat for rain today. denver again after a rough two days ago, yetd and last night was no small shakes especially east of denver. one, two, three spots of potential severe weather are across the northern tier, north dakota and parts of the u.p. of michigan. warmer temperatures move the jet stream farther to the north. the belmont stakes. 75 degrees, a slight chance of showers for the big -- at post time tomorrow. >> oh, no. >> i'm going, and i'm going to be outside. i'm a little worried about that. >> do a little hat. >> at the track play the odds. about a 30% chance of showers. that's a pretty good chance it will be dry. >> isn't that what you do for a living, play the odds, baby? >> that's right. you just go there, and we'll have another, i guess. good luck. >> rob, you're awesome. will you do a repeat of this in a little bit? >> sure. >> that means you can't go home early. thank you, rob. it's 17 minutes past 5:00. getting an early read on local news making national headlines for you. this is before they're off the presses folks. the hickory daily record says a letter containing white powder was sent to that north carolina church where the pastor told the church members there that gays should be kept inside an electric fence. emergency hazmat crews were called, and the person who opened the envelope is okay today. the fbi is certainly looking into this one. alex tanning the trick shot quarterback finished his first practice with the kansas city chiefs. they told "the star" they are impressed. he learned his trick shot nickname through a youtube video. it shows him throws it into a moving car. it's been viewed more than 2 1/2 million times. for an expanded look at all the top stories, head to the blog. it's easy to do. c cnn.com/earlystart. everything you need to know is all there. we have a lot more coming up, too. make sure you check your 401(k). >> are you feeling any richer today? you should. p if the first quarter numbers are true. christine romans will explain that skcoming up. look at the car! my dad's gonna kill me dude... 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( older sister ) far. what will you inspire, with the eos rebel t3i and ef lenses, for ron's next project ? learn more at youtube. 22 minutes now past 5. concerns about the debt crisis in europe. i feel like a broken record. driving markets down again this week. yesterday the dow eeking out gaining but the nasdaq closing lower. >> let's bring in christine romans to talk about this new report on household net worth. >> do you feel richer? >> nope. >> i don't either. the first quarter the federal reserve showing that household net worth jumped by the most in the first quarter since the financial crisis. $2.8 trillion total, so a big jump in net worth probably driven by the stock market, among other things, but that could have cooled a little bit more recently. we'll closely watch household net worth numbers. feeling a little richer ft nirs three quarters of the year we still have $4 trillion to recoup from the crisis. >> that's why we have headlines that the "wall street journal" rally snags whiplash this week. >> it's aa lot of whiplash this week. you have europe and the u.s. and we've got jobs and all this talk about global stimulus by central banks. we watch that. i'll talk about facebook this morning, too. this is an interesting story. facebook is so -- a couple of things here. the stock now is cheaper than his age, than mark zuckerberg's age. it keeps going down. >> low blow. >> the facebook is the real estate around the menlo park area is going up, up, up as facebook stock is going down. here's why, silicon valley is really a hotbed for new companies in notice vacompan companies in innovation. all these companies pop up around the area in menlo park. the homes are 15 times towards the median home value in the united states. look at those big yellow round sa fears on the graphic. those are $2 million home values or higher right around the headquarters. >> is that a lag, because expectations were so high that all of these new millionaires will look for real estate and it hasn't sorted itself out? >> it is sorting itself out. there are a lot of new millionaires for a lot of different companies and not just facebook around there. it if you look you can see one house around there, one house menlo park. we're going to show you. one house, how much it will buy you elsewhere around the country. can you see that? >> i can't see a monitor close enough. i'm sorry. >> it's like three houses in steelgts and nine and a half houses in las vegas, in chicago it's five houses, detroit you could by 24 houses in detroit for the cost of one house in menlo park. that's the facebook effect, if you will, on real estate. >> when do you start saying buy facebook because it's on the dip? >> there was a good story yesterday where they said the case to buy facebook. i'll get that story out. showing fundamentals of why to buy facebook. ipos are risky. trying to sort out what the outlook will be for the company, but the stock keeps going down. >> thank you. it's 25 minutes now past 5:00 a.m. on the east coast. get on up. a prominent republican is saying i'm backing mitt romney but he's admitting that somebody else is really still his first choice, and it will make complete sense when you find out who we're talking about in a moment. if you're looking at us right, you can watch us anytime oyour desktop or mobile phone. just go to cnn.com/tv. 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