promising new disruptions today. plus, hillary clinton writes herself personally to a hollywood star who has been talking about her quite a bit on the red carpet. who was it, and what did the secretary of state say? we'll tell you later in the show. first, let's go to the news, live at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock in new york city. marking the one-year anniversary of the death of osama bin laden, mitt romney is campaigning today, here in manhattan with former new york city mayor, rudy giuliani. bin laden's death coming about as a major political talking point in the last few days. romney is pushing back against suggestions from the obama campaign that he, mitt romney, would not have gone after bin laden as the president did. >> even jimmy carter would have given that order. >> even jimmy carter would have given that order. meanwhile speaking at news conference with japan's prime minister, president obama reacted to that comment from romney referring the former massachusetts governor's 2000 statement that he quote, wouldn't move heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person. the quote from mitt romney. the president addressed critics who say his administration is putting too much emphasis on the anniversary of the death of osama bin laden. >> i hardly think that you've seen any excessive celebration taking place here. i recommend that everybody take a look at people's previous statements in terms of whether they thought it was appropriate to go to pakistan and take out bin laden. i assume that people meant ha they said when they said it. that's been at least my practice. i said that i would go after bin laden if we had a clear shot at him. and i did. if there are others who have said one thing and now suggest they do something else, then i would go ahead and let them explain it. >> the romney campaign shot back at that, saying the president is using bin laden's death as a quote cheap political employ. romney's surrogate, senator john mccain who ran against president obama last time around echoed that sentiment from the romney campaign last night. >> to now take credit for something that any president would do, is indicative of the kind of campaign we're under. we're seeing. and i've had a great honor of serving in the company of heroes. you know the thing about heroes? they don't brag. >> mike mullen who was in the situation room the night bin laden was killed, the famous photograph you see to the left. tells nbc's brian williams that he is concerned about politicizing last year's raid. >> from my perspective, the president's support, decision that he made, obviously the result, stand alone in terms of the kind of call presidents have to make and he made it. i do worry a great deal this time that he either somehow gets spun into election politics. i can assure you that those individuals who risk their lives, the last thing in the world that they want is to be spun into that. so i'm hoping that that doesn't happen. >> you can watch brian's exclusive look inside the situation room, in a very special edition of "rock center" tomorrow night at 9:00 on nbc. brian talks to all the players in the room about what actually happened. meanwhile, the obama administration opening up for the first time about the use of drone strikes against suspected terrorists in a speech to foreign policy experts yesterday in washington, the president's top counterterrorism adviser, john brennan, defended the controversial program. >> as a matter of international law, the united states is in an armed conflict with al qaeda, the taliban and associated forces, in response to the 9/11 attacks. and we may also use force consistent with our inherent rights of national self-defense. there is nothing in international law that bans the use of remotely piloted aircraft for this purpose or that prohibits us from using lethal force against our enemies, outside of an active battlefield. at least when the country involved can sense or is unable or unwilling to take action against the threat. >> despite that formal acknowledgement of the program, a poorly-kept secret, everyone knows we have one, brennan held back specific details, including the total number of people killed by the strikes and a list of countries where the aircraft are operating and number of civilian casualties. pakistan condemning a u.s. drone attack on a suspected militant compound that killed at least three alleged terrorists, pakistani officials have recently demanded the obama administration stop all drone attacks within its country's borders. overseas, senior administration officials tell nbc news that a chinese human rights activist who fled house arrest more than a week ago is under u.s. protection. no clear it's whether it's within the american embassy in beijing or a diplomatic safe house somewhere else in the city. chen gaungcheng reportedly suffered cuts and bruises after hiking through rural farmland. after escaping. he's blind. it triggered the biggest diplomatic challenge between china and the u.s. in decades. secretary of state hillary clinton who is set to meet with chinese officials tomorrow on a previously-scheduled visit, offer nod specifics on this issue. >> we've worked hard to build an effective, constructive, comprehensive relationship that allows us to find ways to work together. now, a constructive relationship includes talking very frankly about those areas where we do not agree. including human rights. >> president obama himself also side-stepping the question of whether or not the activist might be granted asylum. >> what i would like to emphasize is that every time we meet with china, the issue of human rights comes up. it is our belief that not only is that the right thing to do, because it comports with our principles and our belief in freedom. and human rights. but also because we actually think china will be stronger. as it opens up and liberalizes its own system. >> chen, who was originally detained by the chinese government after speaking out against the country's practice of forced abortions and the sterilization of women, has said he does not want asylum in any other country, he wants to remain in china to continue his work. it's may day, occupy wall street protesters looking to restart last year's movement after a bit of a quiet winter. supporters of the movement plan to join several other organizations to mark international workers day. calling for people in the 135 u.s. cities to avoid work, school, banking and shopping in protest of what they consider abuses of wealth and power. the occupy protests expected to start at 8:00 this morning in new york city. that includes a rally at bryant park and another at union square, in attempt to prepare for today's events, authorities beginning their crackdown on occupy protesters in new york. three people questioned by the nypd and fbi yesterday about their intentions for today's mayday protests. on to business, barnes & noble coming off the biggest day on wall street since the company first went public in 1993. that follows news that microsoft will invest an initial $300 million in barnes & noble's e-reader and tablet business. part of a new plan to help both companies compete against rival apple and the amazon kindle. more on this story, we get all up in your business this morning. cnbc's steve sedgewick live in london, steve, good morning. >> a good day to you. a fascinating move, microsoft will get 17.5% of a new e-book unit at barnes & noble. the shares in barnes & noble as you say, 52% higher by the close of the session. it gives both companies more fire power and more investable cash into the assault on amazon, which has 60% of the u.s. market. apple has around 10%. nook has 27% and the idea is that this cash can help it roll out internationally, as well as develop textbooks for colleges, which is a whole new area burgeoning right now. still ahead on "way too early," the knicks got whupped again last night by the miami heat. it got much, much worse when amar'e stoudemire left the arena a sling and a bandaged hand reportedly after punching glass. we'll explain and get highlights from the night in sports, basketball, hockey, and baseball aheld. plus stephen colbert weighs in on the blind chinese dissident who escape house arrest and ran into the arms of united states. colbert wants no part of that guy. that clip and a check on weather when "way too early" comes back. >> my fellow americans, major battle operations have ended, the you statutes and our allies have prevailed. sorry. sore knee. blast of cold feels nice. why don't you use bengay zero degrees? it's the one you store in the freezer. same medicated pain reliever used by physical therapists. that's chilly. 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[ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. welcome back to "way too early," coming up on 5:44 a.m. on a rainy morning here in new york city. let's get a check on weather from bill karins. haas going on? >> it's pouring, a thunderstorm about to head over new york city this morning. if you're in the new york city or greater area, wait another half hour before you hit the roads, it will be a mess of a rush hour especially around the greater new york area, thunderstorms pushing over long island, it should be a heavy downpour for a half hour and that will be it. in boston, light rain. northern new england getting a cold, chilly spring rain out of this. in boston, probably only about 50 degrees. it will be much warmer areas to south. light showers heading for washington, d.c. so i-95 wet weather on it this morning which will make it slow. the worst weather out there today by far, thunderstorms, these are some midwest version of thunderstorms, with a lot of lightning possibility of strong, gusty winds, now heading through the ozarks, southern missouri. the forecast today, rain on and off this morning in new england, mid-atlantic. this afternoon, should be dry and just fine. also thunderstorms later today, minneapolis, watch out, norm of could you have some tornadoes late today. we're dry in the southeast. west coast looking okay for the most part. once again, we should have some travel delays this morning, i-95, big cities through new england. >> tough commute, bill, thanks so much. competition here in new york city this morning. who could make more fun of amar'e stoudemire, it sounds like he deserved it. let's start with the "new york post," let's see who won this morning. blood and pup. i had think we go with our winner, "the new york daily news" -- you can read that one for yourself at home. the new york knicks postseason went from bad to worse in the span of a foo few minutes after getting blown out by the heat, amar'e stoudemire could be done for the playoffs following an incident moments after game two last night. we'll get it that in a bit. first, highlights from the game, second quarter, knicks down four, when jr smith finds carmelo anthony who woke up for this game. inbound pass and the dunk, knicks got only two there, but a minute later, lebron from the ball, drives from halfcourt, bucket and the foul, miami up six at the break. heat begin to pull away. knicks were closer this one, but they don't have enough for the heat. lebron finds chris bosh, makes a long three there. heat win the game, 104-94. up two games to none in the series. after the game, amar'e stoudemire seen leaving the arena with his arm in a sling. here's the apparent story, sources say he smashed the glass case on a fire extinguisher with his hand out of frustration, punched the glass, leaving a laceration that required stitches. amar'e stoudemire will almost certainly miss game three in new york and could be out for the rest of the knicks playoff series with the heat. which at this rate isn't going to last much longer. stoudemire did apologize on twitter. cying i want to apologize to the fans and my team. not proud of my actions, now headed home for a new start. series as i said, moves to new york for game three on thursday. to a problem of a different kind. rajon rondo's chest bump of an official during the celtics loss has earned him a suspension. his second referee-related suspension in the past three months. to the west, mavs and thunder went to the wire last night. with a minute left, kevin durant fouled by jason terry. durant goes to the line, makes both, puts the thunder up one point. 50 seconds to go. three seconds left in the game, jason terry gets his chance, launch as three, doesn't go. thunder hang on to win, 102-99. they're up two games to none in that series. to baseball, the brewers taking on the padres in san diego, and what a night for ryan braun. the reigning national league connects. the solo shot over the fence in right center, that ties the game 1-1. ending later, braun does it again in san diego. a two-run home run. upper deck shot to left. brewers up three runs. braun up in the seventh, can he get the hack hat trick? yes, he becomes the first player to hit three home runs in roomy petco park. later he added a triple. three home runs and a triple. braun becomes the first player to hit three home runs and a triple since freddy lind did it for boston in 1975. braun finishes with six rbis and brewers win 8-3. dodgers matt kemp, going the other way as he does almost always, for his major league hitting 12th home run of the year. later, kemp up with the bases loaded, a chance to do some damage, but he goes down swinging. dodgers lose 6-2, here are the numbers in april for matt kemp. 12 home runs, hitting .417. 25 rbis. kemp becomes only the third player since 1920 to hit .400 with ten-plus home runs and 20-plus rbis in during the month of april. joins larry walker in 1997. to the nhl the caps and rangers at madison square garden, caps trying to even the series at one apiece, tied 2-2 in the third, who else, alex ovechkin, wins a face-off, and just blasts one past lundquist. that's your game winner. caps win 3-2. series tied, moves to washington now for game three on wednesday. over the western conference, the kings beat the blues to take that series 2-0. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," president obama continues his victory lap on the one-year an verse of the raid that killed osama bin laden. could it backfire on him? mitt romney certainly hopes so. we'll discuss that. and when we come back we'll huddle around the water cooler to find out who hillary clinton has been writing to no hollywood, it turns out she's got a pen pal. we'll explain. it's very important to understand how math and science kind of makes the world work. in high school, i had a physics teacher by the name of mr. davies. he made physics more than theoretical, he made it real for me. we built a guitar, we did things with electronics and mother boards. that's where the interest in engineering came from. so now, as an engineer, i have a career that speaks to that passion. thank you, mr. davies. i told you at the top of the show, on the one-year anniversary into the raid of osama bin laden's pakistan compound, the alliance between the u.s. and pakistan remains tenuous. a year later, still no explanation of how exactly the world's most wanted man was hiding in plain sight. the latest incident putting strain on the relationship. a u.s. drone strike that killed at least three people. we explained that one to you at the top of the show. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends according to the new america foundation, which is a nonpartisan public policy group, civilians account for somewhere between 11% and 17% of those killed in u.s. drone strikes in pakistan. u.s. officials have said more than 2,000 militants and civilians have been killed in pakistan, yemen and elsewhere since president obama took office in 2009. enough of the real news, let's huddle up around the water cooler to watch stephen colbert weigh in on the blind chinese human rights activist, chin guangcheng, a recent escape from house arrest and stephen colbert is a little uncomfortable with the diplomatic tension it represents between the u.s. and china. >> we got chen guangcheng. or as i will be calling him -- eric! eric here is a total bad-ass. this dissident was guarded by 90 to 100 police so he feigned illness, lulg his guards into complacency and then he slipped out of the house in darkness, and scaled a wall and crossed a river and rendezvoused with friends who drove him three miles to the capital, beijing and he is blind. this comes as something of a tense time in our relationship with china. and by tense, i mean -- we owe them money. but you know what, eric? international debt be damned, we got to show the world we live up to our principles and if we don't stand for this, we stand for nothing. so we must find the courage to say to this brave man -- hey, eric! you've made it, that is awesome, man! i guess you are just declaring our commitment to human rights. we must have declared that pretty loud, huh? here's the thing -- ordinarily we'd be so stoked about you crashing with us. but this isn't the best time. you know who else is into human rights? canada. it's a fantastic country. vancouver is full of chinese people. >> generous offer for mr. colbert. did you hear this story -- i didn't know the back story on this one, jason segel, you know the actor, "the muppets" he's been, i guess he's been out lobbying to get hillary clinton to appear in a film with him when he's asked on the red carpet who is the mother on the show, he always says hillary clinton like she's going to come out and be the mother on show. secretary clinton heard of segel's ambition and wrote him a letter politely rejecting him. secretary of state writes, i was delighted to read about your interest in sharing the big screen with me. as you can imagine i'm a little occupied at the moment. perhaps someday i can help you forget sarah marshall again. in the meantime, my best wishes for your continued success in your career. that in an official letter from secretary of state hillary clinton to jason segel. should our secretary of state be pen pals with this young gentleman right here? i just don't know. i just don't know. he does go full frontal. still ahead, your diplomatic tweets and texts are just moments away. 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[ henry ] well there's nothing like being on the top of the podium i think about it almost just about every day and what it means to me what it means to my country my family my parents came to america over thirty years ago from mexico to live the american dream. i'm proud to represent the usa because it's just to me it's the best country in the world. this is what the red white and blue means to me, what does it mean to you? we asked you at the top of the show what you're doing up at this hour. our producer has a couple of answers. >> justin writes i just got home after a six-hour flight delay from panama and a two-hour wait to get through customs. >> that's eight hours in panama, that will do it to you every time. what else do you have it