some wondering what this means for his embattled campaign manager. and seacrest out. the show that brought us superstars like kelly clarkson, jennifer hudson and carrie underwood signs off one final time. it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. this is "way too early." hey there. good morning. it's friday, april 8th. i'm alex witt. the debate over which democratic presidential candidate is qualified to hold the oval office spanned hours yesterday and signal changed in tone and what had been a collegial campaign. hillary clinton called her opponent's remarks about her qualifications silly, and senator sanders pledged to keep fighting back when attacked. >> came right out and said, he doesn't think you're qualified to be president.

>> well, that'll be up to the voters of new york and the other states that would be passing judgment in the weeks ahead. i think it's kind of a silly statement. but he's free to say whatever he chooses. >> is he qualified to be at the? >> here's what i believe. i believe that voters will be looking at both of us. but i will take bernie sanders over donald trump or ted cruz any time. >> you made a comment about hillary clinton being unqualified for the office of president. is that something you regret saying? >> well, it was said after she and her campaign said that i was unqualified. >> well, i didn't hear her say you were up qualified. i heard her fail to say you were qualified. she didn't say unqualified. >> well, look, the issue is after we won in wisconsin, and that was our sixth victory in seven caucuses and primaries, i think the clinton campaign has been getting a little bit nervous and i think they have been getting more negative.

and i hope very much that we can have an issue oriented campaign. there are a whole lot of problems but the middle class and working class of this country facing, we should be talking about this. but if people attack me and distort my record, i will respond. >> and the candidates' spouses were dragged into the debate. here's what jane sanders and bill clinton had to say. >> so, about what he says -- yeah. what's the response -- is he qualified? the most qualified person to run for president. more than i was in '92. >> do you think he's qualified? >> no. i think that i will abide by what hillary said today. we shouldn't be distracted by this. we need to talk about the people and their future. thank you. i'll go with what hillary said. >> now, i think they should all go back to the issues and deal with that. and bernie, bernie has moved on.

i mean he has said, okay, let's not use the word unqualified. let's use the word contrast. why do i think i'm better than her? they would take the country in very different directions. even though it seems like they're on the same page. and that's what the secretary's campaign keeps on saying. they're on the same page. they're not on the same page. >> the white house also commented on the back and forth between clinton and sanders. a spokesperson said that the president has said that secretary clinton comes in with the most experience than anyone in history. and joe and mika will join sanders later on on "morning joe." meanwhile, bill clinton found himself in a heated exchange with a black lives matter protesters during an event in philadelphia yesterday. the interaction spanned more than ten minutes as the 42nd

president fought back against criticism of his 1994 crime bill. >> here's the thing. i like protesters, but the ones that won't let you answer are frayed of -- are afraid of the truth. be afraid. be very, very afraid. here's what happened. let's just tell the whole story. when i became president, the headlines in the newspapers were full of -- now, wait a minute. i'll listen to you, you listen to me. you know what else you don't want to hear? because of that bill we had a 25 year low in crime. a 30 year low in murder rate and because of that and the background check law, we had a 46-year low in the deaths of people by gun violence and who do you think those lives were that mattered? whose lives were saved that mattered? >> secretary clinton was targeted by the protesters with one holding up a sign that reads, black youth are not super predators.

back in the '90s when clinton was defending her husband's bill she went on record using that term to refer to gang members. a choice of words she has since said she regrets using. >> i don't know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped up on crack and sent them out on to the street to murder other african-american children. maybe you thought they were good citizens. she didn't. she didn't. you are defending the people who killed the lives you say mattered. >> after a difficult two weeks, donald trump is reworking his campaign structure releasing a statement yesterday that expanding the role of veteran strategist paul manafort, hired ten days ago. in a rare interview, manafort said that trump's campaign model was precipitated on mass communication, establishing who he was and working what i consider to be a very historic approach to communication with

the public. so winning what was mattered. the campaign has gotten to the point where and how you win does matter and then protecting what you won and that's why i'm involved in everything in what's happened to what will be happening. campaign manager corey lewandowski commented to the paper saying he and aide michael glass inherit are running the day to day operations of the company. also yesterday, trump cancelled a planned trip to california to focus on the new york campaign. "the washington post" boils down the brewing convention fight between ted cruz and donald trump as the strategist versus the showman. cruz added three more votes in colorado last night with his slate winning all the delegate openings at a district convention boosting his state total to nine. while trump had arizona sheriff joe arpaio host a teletown last night, cruz will address them in

person, attending the state convention in colorado springs where he's expected to pick up most of the 37 delegates. one trump adviser said, quote, our expectations are low. if we get a delegate number higher than zero it will be a success for us. it's just not a good state for us. district conventions in iowa will also name 12 of their 30 delegates this weekend who are already bound on the first ballot by february's caucus results. but if no candidate wins a majority of the delegates, they can vote for whomever they choose on the second ballot. meanwhile, the remaining candidates went for broke in new york, concrete jungle where dreams are made of. john kasich was met in bronx by a crush of cameras, from the city press corps as he took a bite out of a deli sandwich. across the city, ted cruz got a spirited welcome in bronx. he visited a model matzo kitchen, rolling out dough with 3-year-olds there. he sampled the holiday food and

he did his best to sing along with the group, but he and kasich made the case they were the ones who were viable general election candidates. contrasting the new york values comment and the super pac went on the air. >> new yorkers aren't stupid, ted. after we were hit, we rallied, we milt. but we remembered. we tell it like it is, that's who we are. so when you smear new york values in iowa for votes, we remember that too. now you come here and conveniently say you love new york. forget about it, ted. >> what do we do if we come to september or october and it is trump versus hillary? and i would say, look, the first thing we would do is weep. but there is something even more fundamental. we prevent that from happening. well some new yorkers are less than thrilled to have cruz

in the backyard. congressman peter king has never been shy and yesterday was no exception. >> one thing about the new york primary, any new yorker who even thinks of voting for ted cruz should have his head examined. >> here we go. >> really, here's a guy who -- you know, refused to sign on to the 9/11 health care act for the cops and firemen. he talks about new york values, we're tough. to have a guy like ted cruz with cowboy boots walking around and criticizing us, listen, i hope he gets the cold shoulder and other things from every new yorker. send them back where he belongs. he's a phony. that was all off the record, by the way. >> yeah, i can tell. you're not fired up about it too. >> hey, i understand -- i cannot stand that guy. >> meanwhile, a new survey shows a startling new low for donald trump. the new associated press/gfk poll shows trump's favorable rating is 26% compared to 69% unfavorable.

compare that to ted cruz who while also at 26% favorable has a net negative rating ten points lower. hillary clinton's net negative rating at minus 15 points, 40% favorable, 55% unfavorable. overall, 63% of voters say they would not vote for trump in the general election. compared to 55% definitely against cruz and 49% definitely against clinton. making the leading candidates historically unpopular. the fight over president obama's supreme court pick is showing no signs of letting up. yesterday, president obama returned to the university of chicago law school where he taught constitutional law for 12 years and put new pressure on republicans to at least hold hearings on judge merrick garland's nomination. he issued a warning also. >> if you play out how this -- how much of a problem this could end up being, if in fact mitch

mcconnell sticks to not giving a hearing and a vote and let's say from their perspective everything works out great and their nominee, whoever that might be, wins and takes over the white house. and they then make an appointment. the notion that the democrats would then say, oh, well, we'll just go along with that, i mean, that is inconceivable. right? so now the democrats say, well, you know, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. we'll wait four more years to see how the next president comes in. >> it is no secret that the white house strategy is to put pressure on this chairman of the judiciary committee and other republicans in the hopes that we can be worn down and ultimately

agree to hold hearings on the nominee. this strategy has failed to recognize that i am no stranger to political pressure. and to strong arm tactics. when i make a decision based on sound principle, i'm not about to flip-flop because the left has organized what they call a pressure campaign. >> "the washington post" reports the key conservatives are now lobbying donald trump to nominate senator mike lee to the supreme court if elected. ted cruz has already said that his surrogate and senate ally would quote look awfully good in a robe. well, police are asking for the public's help in identifying a suspect in the murder of a freshman at the university of texas at austin. 18-year-old dance major haruka weiser was last seen leaving a campus building on sunday night and was reported missing on monday and in tuesday her body was discovered in the creek on campus. the police use an arrow to point

out a man, he was seen with a pink bike right about the same time that the student was seen for the last time. a reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest. still ahead on "way too early," david cameron forced to answer some tough questions about his family's trust in the wake of the panama papers scandal. later, they call him the big easy, but pro golfer ernie els had a hard time living up to that name with kind of an epic fail on the first hole of the masters. that story and a check of the weather when "way too early" comes right back. playing the eagles, yeah.

it's not a quick fix it's my decision to make beauty last. roc retinol started visibly reducing my fine lines and wrinkles in one week. and the longer i use it the better it works. retinol correxion from roc. methods, not miracles. wyou could just forget frthe beach wedding... and the beach booty... you could just book a different resort. like in alaska. they've got igloos.

this just got interesting. why pause to take a pill? or stop to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use is approved to treat both erectile dysfunction and the urinary symptoms of bph,

like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas for pulmonary hypertension, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or any symptoms of an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis and a $200 savings card well, let's turn to business where david cameron spoke out yesterday on his late father's trust now embroiled in the panama papers scandal. >> it wasn't a family trust. it wasn't for the benefit of one

particular family. anyone could have bought units in it and crucially if you're a u.k. citizen, and bought units in it, then you paid income tax an the dividends and you paid corporate -- capital gains tax when you sold the share, so you were subject to full u.k. taxation. so that's what it was. many of the unit trusts like it and i think it's been unfairly described in my father's name as being written about. >> well, nancy hulgrave is joining us from london. he did admit to profiting from this, but can you explain how this is going over in england? >> sure, alex. well, it continues to attract attention and a lot and david cameron clarified how he benefited from his father's offshore account here as you said. revelations within the panama papers. he is saying he did have

ownership, he and his wife samantha owning around 30,000 pounds worth of shares but that he sold that stake before he became prime minister in 2010 for a profit of around 19,000 pounds or near 30,000 dollars. but the key to stress here, he said that the fund was not set up to avoid taxes and was properly audited. meanwhile, once he sold the shares he paid all applicable u.k. taxes. not a question of legality here, but still a lot of resentment building and from some voters when it comes to elitiselitism. we got some news on the fbi/apple debate yesterday with the fix that they had the for the san bernardino iphone is limited and that it certainly will not work to unlock all of the iphones. he says that it was a very narrow set and likely will not work on iphone 5-s or 6. that's from mr. comey there. looks like this case is far from over. back to you. >> thank you. time for sports, and we

begin with the opening round of the 2016 masters at augusta. jordan spieth currently tops the leader board finishing with a 6 under round of 66. two strokes ahead of the field after a bogey-free day. meantime, four-time champion major champion and world golf hall of famer ernie els got off to a bad start. check this out, the 46-year-old veteran golfer needed six -- count them, six putts to get the ball in the hole. guys, could you do better? anyway, he did score a 9 on the par 4 first hole. yikes. that's the highest in tournament's history. >> oh. he misses the one-handed. >> he's looking at this thing, i can't believe this nightmare. he got an 8 over par. he's tied for 31st. in phoenix, the diamondbacks with a one-run lead over the cubs in the bottom of the second inning.

>> left center. and this could be trouble. drops it! and flying around the bases. williams -- and he is safe. >> yikes. man down. but arizona's segura takes advantage of the collision. he hit it to left center. he hustled around the diamond, but that guy, not so lucky. not well with him. that's chicago left fielder -- >> got injured. >> he was carted off the field, a left ankle sprain. after initial x-rays came back negative he undergoes an mri today. the warriors needed to set a new -- all-time mark record and the spurs not making its very easy, sending out the core group in last night's match-up against

golden state. however, the warriors prevail, riding a game high 27 points scored by the man. should we name him, steph curry of course. for the 70th win of the season. if golden state beats memphis tomorrow, the spurs will get one more shot to spoil the warriors record setting season on sunday. so exciting. let's go to miami, throw this highlight into the running for best dunk of the year. josh richardson, he throws down the monster two-handed jam. >> all right. >> that's in the fourth quarter there and miami wins its 106-98. look at you going -- >> na. >> i used to do that in the nerf hoop over the door. >> nerf hoop maybe. what's up with the weather? >> a little cold and snow as we go throughout the next couple of days. what else is new? but this is it. this is it. oh, yeah, this is it. the windchill this morning, very cold all through the great lakes region. here we are now headed into the second week of april. the blue on the map shows you

where it's snowing this morning. erie to buffalo, pittsburgh has snow showers around. snow in wisconsin. that's going to move over into michigan today. here's the snowfall forecast and no one is going to get nailed with a huge storm. this time of the year especially during the daylight hours some of the sun rays sneak through the clouds and they help to make it get warmer. so a lot of the roads should be okay. two to three inches possible over areas of the great lakes. the other story is the warmth in areas of texas and oklahoma. so the warmth has to start somewhere, alex. it will in the middle of the country. eventually, the country warms up monday and tuesday. >> yeah. frozen margaritas tomorrow. >> you go for it. i'll bring any nerf hoop. a wild police chase packed with everything from tmz to doughnuts in the middle of hollywood boulevard? we'll have that next on "way too early." it's how well you mow fast. it's not how fast you mow, it's how well you mow fast. it's not how fast you mow, it's how well you mow fast.

...it's how well you mow fast! ...it's how well you mow fast. even if it doesn't catch on, doesn't mean it's not true. the john deere ztrak z535m with our reengineered deck to mow faster better. to find out more about the accel deep mower deck, go to johndeere.com/mowwellfast ♪ ♪ (laughing) there's nothing like making their day. except making sure their tomorrow is taken care of too. financial guidance while you're mastering life. from chase. so you can.

let's get to the control room right now, louis burgdorf you have other headlines for us. >> happy friday. after 15 years on the air, fans say good-bye to "american idol" last night. the night was full of surprise guests with former finalist and winners making their return to the idol stage one last time. jennifer hudson and fantasia began with a medley before they broke out in individual performances. season 4 winner and seven-time grammy award winning country music superstar carrie underwood also graced the idol stage in a with an song to the show that started her career.

host ryan seacrest was reunited with the original judges. simon cowell, paula abdul and randy jackson. of course, the crowning of the final winner, 25-year-old trent harmon took the stage. he sang as the last "american idol" winner. what a good run. i'm sure many will miss that show. let's go to politics now. hillary clinton was in new york city yesterday. the former senator was in new york and she rode the subway, nine blocks with residents. she greeted fellow passengers before struggling to swipe her metro card five times before making it through the turnstile. that's an experience that every new yorker can relate to. speaking of swipes she said that during the first term they went from tokens to metro cards. bernie sanders said, you get a token and you go in. if you thought that was an

interesting ride, wait until you see this. two suspected burglars leading police on a wet and wild chase through los angeles. at one point dropping the top on the stolen mustang convertible in the rain no less. and doing doughnuts in the middle of hollywood boulevard. then on the freeway, a tmz tour bus gets in on the action trying to box them in, but the men slip away once again. the chase finally came to an end when the convertible lost a tire. they waited for the police while high fiving and snapping selfies with the crowd on the street. the police caught up with them and hauled them off, alex. but that's -- doesn't get any better than an l.a. chase. >> there's something about me that kind of admires that. >> it is terrible. dangerous. >> i'm fine, i'm apologizing that does it for me and "way too early." mika is telling me -- great drama. can we tease your show? a shake upwith the trump campaign and hillary wants to focus on the general but keeps

getting pulled in by bernie sanders. he's live on the set. "morning joe" moments away. like i couldn't be the father that i wanted to be. my kids see me as this rock of the family and a part of me felt like i became less of that hero to them but with depend, i have none of those concerns anymore. i can go all out. depend, i have none of those concerns anymore. i can go all out. unlike the bargain brand, new depend fit-flex underwear is now more flexible to move with you. reconnect with the life you've been missing. get a free sample at depend.com.

reconnect with the life you've been missing. when i was sidelined with blood clots in my lung,h. it was serious. fortunately, my doctor had a game plan. treatment with xarelto®. hey guys! hey, finally, somebody i can look up to... ...besides arnie. xarelto® is proven to treat and help reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots. xareo® is also proven to reduce the risk of stroke in people th afib, not caused by a heart valve problem. for people with afib currently well managed on warfarin, there's limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. you know, i tried warfarin, but the blood testing and dietary restrictions... don't get me started on that. i didn't have to. we started on xarelto®. nice pass. safety first. like all blood thinners, don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of a bloowhile taking,oke. you may bruise more easily and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto® may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding.

get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. if you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto®, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. you know xarelto® is the #1 prescribed blood thinner in its class. that's a big win. it is for me. with xarelto® there is no regular bloo monitoring and no known dietary restrictions. treatment with xarelto®... ...was the right move for us. ask your doctor about xarelto®.