five of romney's classmates told the washington post what they remembered about a day in 1965, a day that, quote, they came upon lauber tackled him and pinned him to the ground. lauber, his eyes filling with tears, skraemd for help and romney clipped his hair with a pair of scissors. the washington post posted it online ahead of today's printed edition. we did not talk about it last night on this program because we had questions about how valid it is to bring up something someone did nearly 50 years ago when they were in high school. those questions, though have not gone away. so we'll let you decide for yourself tonight whether this story itself is relevant to a presidential campaign or not. what we want to focus on is romney's response to the story. we heard what he said in north carolina today, aapologizing, quote, if anyone feels they were offended, but on fox news yesterday, romney said more, including response to accusations the incident amounted to gay bullying since the victim was thought to be gay. take a look. >> i had no idea what that individual's sexual orientation might be. going back to the 1960s, that wasn't something that we all discussed or considered. so that's simply just not accurate. i don't recall the incident myself, but i've seen the reports and not going to argue with that. there is no question but that i did some stupid things when i was in high school. and obviously if i hurt anyone by virtue of that, i would be very sorry for it and apologize for it. >> so romney says he doesn't remember the incident, five of romney's classmates remembered it well enough to go into great detail to the washington post in separate accounts, all these years later. we can't ask john lauber to corroborate the details. the post reports his sister says he died in 2004. memories can fail, no disputing that or the fact that a lot of people do stupid things in high school. romney's far from alone in that admission. which seems contradictory in romney's statement, however, saying on the one hand he does not recall the incident and on the other hand recalling that he had no idea whether john lauber's sexual orientation was what what the sexual orientation was per received to be back then. as for saying he's sorry if anyone is hurt or offended, can we retire that apology. we hear it time and time again. it makes it a none apology, a watered down way to say you're sorry that makes it seem like you're not really sorry, even though you may be. most people see right through it because we heard it before, a lot of times. listen. >> i'm sorry that there is at least one of my colleagues that can't take a joke and so i apologize if i offended him. >> anyone out there that feels offended by those comments, i just want to say i'm sorry, i apologize. >> i offer an apology to those offended by my words. >> if anyone is offended, i deeply apologize. >> i'm sorry if i offended a congressman. >> i apologize if it offended anyone. >> if i did really offend you, i am sorry. yeah, i'm guilty of it myself. for that, i apologize. a lot to talk about. i spoke with gloria borger, cnn contributor, eric erickson, and cnn political contributor and democratic strategist james carville. james, this is something that allegedly happened 50 years ago. should there be a statute of limitations on things that happened to candidates when they were in high school, or even college? >> you know, i guess so. look, things happen in the '60s, certainly wouldn't be acceptable now this being one of them. but i don't find -- what i found kind of troubling was his response. all his responses are kind of predictable and political. and probably would have had been able to give him a better response. but i don't think is going to be a big issue between now and the end of the election. the only caveat is people are going to start looking for other stories like this. that's the result of this. >> his response, what, that he doesn't remember it, but it wasn't anything about whether or not the guy was gay and he's sorry if somebody was offended. >> sorry if it happened if something likthis happened, i'm a little bit olr than romney, i would have remembered something like this in high school. that's not -- you -- that's something that you wouldn't forget. and the idea that the response is just so harsh and so political and so predictable, well, i don't remember it happening, but, if it did happen, feel bad about it, i'm sorry for it, that doesn't seem like a very good response. now, it is not the end of days, just like his response from rush limbaugh, calling that woman a bad word, he says, well, i wouldn't have said that. just everything that he does just oozes predictability and just politics. it is kind of different if he would have a different take other than the predictable take. >> eric, is this a valid story, and, b, what do you think of his response? do you believe that he didn't remember? >> i think the story -- yeah, i think the story is bs. i think his responses is the response you give when you think a story is bs, given by a bunch of story that the washington post danced around the fact they're all largely democrats now and won't vote for romney. one guy told another magazine, the washington post failed to respond that he hadn't liked mitt romney since mitt romney refused to give him a car ride when he was 16 years old. >> the romney campaign is not denying the story. you're saying it is bs. they're not saying it is bs. they're saying -- >> i think it is absolutely bs. of course they don't want to say. he doesn't remember it, so they want to say that he doesn't remember it because then of course the washington post begins the infamous reporter tactic of dribbling things out and trying to make it sound like there is something there when i don't think there is something there. >> but, eric, i mean, if it was something that happened, do you believe he wouldn't remember it? if somebody held somebody else down and cut their hair, do you think that is something that would be remembered? >> oh, if it happened, he would absolutely remember that. everybody remembers things like that from when they're in high school. >> gloria, what do you make of this? >> i think what is relevant here, and we have no way of knowing, you know, did mitt romney really remember, didn't he remember, what is really relevant here is how he talks to me is how he talks about it now, that's how people make decisions when they vote about a candidate's character. and the way he's been talking about it is just odd to me because he could say, you know, i don't remember it, when i was a teenager, i was kind of a jerk sometimes, and what were regarded as pranks then are completely abhorrent now. if it did occur, i'm horrified by it. i would never want a child of mine to behave that way -- to behave that way. and use it as a teachable moment to say, i'm against all forms of bullying, it is unacceptable to me, it should be unacceptable in this country. >> eric, go ahead. >> well, james would be familiar with this back in 1992 when the george h.w. bush campaign decided they wanted to run on bill clinton being a draft dodger, a womanizer, not a good governor of arkansas and all sorts of things and the bill clinton campaign kept the focus on the economy. and the question for me is will mitt romney be able to keep the focus on the economy this time around. >> well, you know what, i think -- i remember that campaign fairly well. and when we had the draft dodger story, we had a press conference and took out an ad in the paper, bill clinton went on "60 minutes." we dealt with it and compare this to jeremiah wright story and president obama goes right out and deals with it. every time it is something comes up -- if a democrat did this, i would still vote for them. this is not like a voting issue. what it is is i don't remember it, but if it did, it didn't happen, and could have done something along the lines of what gloria talked about, something that joe talked about in his column, everything -- it is everything is so weasely and parsed and political. and that's all. it is not the kind of event itself, you know? >> remember george w. bush's response on the i story, ich came in the 11th hour of the campaign and if i recall, it was when i was young and irresponsible, i was young and irresponsible. i don't think that explanation would sit today. do you? >> better than the one that romney gave. >> well, there is a difference -- to some people there is a difference between something, you know, somebody does to themselves and something, you know, a physical act somebody does to somebody else. >> absolutely. >> right. >> totally agree. >> i don't think -- again, i go back and my point is that the actual what he did is abhorrent and people's lives, but people 50 years ago in high school, i think -- i just think the response is ill lust tiff of something not very good. >> i think it is the response you give when you don't believe the story. >> or when you want to end the story. one or the other. >> yeah, that too. >> eric, james, gloria, thank you. >> sure. also today, mitt romney talked more about his views on same sex adoption and for a candidate who gets dinged by his opponent for flip-flopping this probably won't help. listen to what he said in an interview with wbtv in charlotte, north carolina, when he was asked how his opposition to same sex marriage squares with his support for gay adoptions. >> actually, i think all states but one allow gay adoption. so that's a position which has been decided by most of the state legislators and legislatures, rather, including the one in my state some time ago. so i simply acknowledge the fact that gay adoption is legal in all states but one. >> he's not saying whether or not he supports it there, he's saying he's acknowledging where gay adoption is legal. yesterday, the romneys seemed to go farther saying he does support. here is what he said on fox news. >> if two people the same gender want to live together, want to have a loving relationship and want to adopt a child, in my state, individuals of the same sex are able to adopt children. in my view, that's something which people have the right to do. but to call that marriage is in my view a departure for the real meaning of that word. >> back in 2005, romney seemed to oppose the idea of same sex couples raising kids. at an event in south carolina, he wrote, today same sex couples are marrying under the law in massachusetts. some are actually having children born to them. we've been asked to change their birth certificates to remanufacture phrase mother and father and replace it with parent a and parent b. it's not right on paper and it's not right in fact. the first national poll since the president's comments has just been released and the gallup poll, 13% said the president's support for same sex marriage makes them more likely to vote for him. 26% said less likely. 60% said no difference. california could soon be the first state to put serious restrictions on the controversial practice of trying to change someone's sexual orientation. 360 followed the impact this therapy had on former patients coming up. we're on facebook, google plus. should this story about what romney allegedly did 50 years ago in high school, should it matter to voters? follow me on twitte twitter @andersoncooper. let's tweet about this. up next, a shocking confession from jpmorgan chase. the bank lost $2 billion in a risky bet. and the banks learn anything from the financial meltdown five years ago? we'll talk to congressman barney frank next. all multivitamins give me the basics. they claim to be complete. only centrum goes beyond. providing more than just the essential nutrients, so i'm at my best. centrum. always your most complete. so i'm at my best. kiwi. soy milk. impulse buy. gift horse. king crab. rhubarb pie. lettuce shower. made by bees. toucan sam. that's not cheese. grass fed. curry. gingersnaps. soup can tower. 5% cash back. right now, get 5% cash back at grocery stores. it pays to discover. [ male announcer ] remember when you were a kid? you liked getting dirty and building things. there were no limits -- you could move mountains. the john deere 1 series subcompact tractor -- the way grownups move mountains. and with autoconnect implements, it's the easiest tractor to use yet. what will you create? discover the 1 series at johndeere.com/1series. great financing available very serious questions whether this country's biggest banks learned any lessons from the fiasco that brought the country to its knees five years ago. jpmorgan chase made a shocking confession, lost a whopping $2 billion over the past six weeks. $2 billion. the massive loss stems from the very risky bets the same kind that cratered the economy in 2007. how did the banks learn anything? investors seem to ask the same question today as shares of jpmorgan chase fell 9%. dow tanked when the opens opened, rebounded but closed down 35 points. the debacle by jp morguen is so bad that the ceo held an after hours conference call with reporters and industry analysts. listen. >> we've had teams from audit, legal, risk and various control functions all from corporate involved in an extensive review of what happened. we have more work to do, but it is obvious at this point that there are many errors, sloppiness and bad judgment. >> ceo jamie dimon admitting errors, sloppiness and bad judgment. a confession from him, keeping him honest, dimon downplayed concerns calling the buzz about potential losses a tempest in a teapot. quite a big teapot right there. we wanted to talk about this with congressman barney frank. dimon and executives at other banks have been furiously lobbying lawmakers and regulators to weaken new rule scheduled to take effect, the volcker rule. and it aims to end risky trading. the rule is part of the dodd-frank act passed after the financial meltdown. it was co-sponsored by congressman barney frank. i spoke to him earlier. this is this a specter of the repeat of the financial crisis of 2008? >> no, we have things in place that will prevent that from happening. it is a reminder, however, that it was important that we adopt the rules we adopted, that mean 2008 can't happen again or unlikely to happen again and those who said, oh, you overreacted, we know what we're doing. >> the ceo of jpmorgan, jamie dimon, actually argued the law likely caused his bank up to $600 million a year. i want to play something he said in the conference call last night about the company's losses. >> we operate in risk business and obviously it puts egg on our face and we deserve any criticism we get. so feel free to give it to us, we'll probably agree with you. but we think we run a good company with risk good control and risk management. we're not in a business where we're not going to make mistakes. it is unfortunate, flaz into the hands of a bunch of pundits out there. that's life. >> what is your take on his explanation? >> first, i want to say to a certain extent he's right. he's a good ceo and it is a well run bank. that's why we need regulation. in other words, what he's telling us is even in a very well run institution, as his is, unlike a kind of rogue operation like countrywide, these kind of mistakes will happen. that's why we have safety nets. that's why we say to him, you have to hold more capital than you would have on your own because these mistakes will happen. that's why we say when you're engaged in these derivative trades, we want people to post margin so if somebody can't make it up, we don't have all these kinds of problems. i would say and you quoted the right figure, the economist, british magazine the economist joining in this criticism of how we overrated these guys said, you know what, it is going to cost jpmorgan chase 400 to $600 million a year as if that was an enormous sum. well, they just lost $2 billion. they just lost about five times that or four times that through their own errors. what it shows is that in fact if we have made them spend 400 to $600 million a year in the first year, it costs more to set these things up, to comply and save billions of dollars in losses, that's a pretty good deal. >> for a lot of people who don't follow this as closely as you do, can you explain how a big bank like jpmorgan losing $2 million, how it affects people out there, how it affects regular people who don't own stock in the company? what is the danger? >> the danger would be none of this is $2 billion, but if they lost so much that they couldn't pay their debts, that's why i say we begin with the requirement they keep more capital. as far as the average individual, if you're not a shareholder in jpmorgan, it won't hurt you. if you're trying to get a loan from jpmorgan chase, this may make it tougher because the funds they have available for loans may shrink. that's why we said we want you to have more capital, we want -- here is what we said in the bill to a great extent. we want you to be better prepared in case you make mistakes. they were arguing, oh, no, don't worry about it, we know what we're doing. even the smartest of you, you're doing things that are so inherently risky, you've got to be better protected. and as they said, we said to the republicans, the fact that the american institution is doing this overseas is no reason to say they're not subject to regulation. >> congressman frank, appreciate your time. thank you. >> you're welcome. two girls are safe tonight after a terrifying ordeal with a man who kidnapped them. tonight, new details about heiress cue in thei their rescue in the woods of mississippi next. 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[ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. with more choices and fewer calories, you do a lot of no.aking? look i'm going through the rapids. okay... i'll take it. sync your card with facebook, foursquare and twitter for savings. that's the membership effect of american express. california could be the first state to put serious restrictions on the controversial practice of trying to change someone's sexual orientation. a follow-up and the impact this therapy had on some former patients. crime and punishment, new details about what went down in the mississippi woods where arlyo week manht for this man, adam mayes, ended 24 hours ago. we reported the breaking news as it was unfolding last night. mays had been on the fbi's ten most wanted list for a day when a tip led a s.w.a.t. team to mayes and his captives. mayes allegedly killed their mom and older sister, strangled them. both girls are safe now with relatives, what they have been through is hard to imagine. here is how a police sergeant who took part in the rescue described the moment they were found. >> i began giving commands, the little girl picked her head up, the other little girl picked her head up after another command, mr. mayes began to raise his head, i could see a weapon in his hand, i yelled gun three times loud to let my team know there was a weapon involved. we ordered mr. mays to drop the weapon numerous times, mr. mayes raised to his knees, never pointed the gun to us or any of the children. at that time he took his li