of every scooby doo episode. >> the white house correspondents' dinner. lots of fun last night. if you missed it, there's most of it. i'm don lemon in the cnn world headquarters in atlanta. have a great night and a great week. i'll see you back here next weekend. good morning. welcome to"early start." i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm christine romans. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. back on top. the new world trade center reaching a milestone. a new source of pride. we're live in lower manhattan this morning. >> also running for cover. if you can believe it, a tv crew dodging gunfire, dodging bombs falling in south sudan.

and profiled by the tsa? there's an app for that. how people can report if they think they're being unfairly singled out. first a bitter sweet milestone in the skies over lower manhattan. one world trade center is become to become the tallest building in the big apple. that's supposed to happen a little later on today. that's if the wind cooperates. workers are scheduled to install a team that will lift that tower to 1,271 feet. the math takes you 21 feet higher than the city's tallest building right now, the empire state building. when construction is completed in 2013 or early 2014, one world trade will stand at 1,776 -- yes, say it quickly, it's 1776. the tallest structure in the western hemisphere. there's a glitch. you have to add that spire on the top to take it to that level. poppy harlow is live in lower

manhattan. i don't know it's coincidental that this milestone is being achieved as we approach the one-year anniversary of bin laden's death. the connection there is significant. >> i think it's very significant. we are six years away from when they broke ground and began the construction here at one world trade. i spent a lot of time on the site back in august, ahead of the september 11th anniversary. i went up in the building. we'll talk about that. the focus this week is does this make one world trade center a bigger terrorism target? this comes a day ahead of the one-year anniversary of the capture and death of osama bin laden. so that is obviously top of mind for safety officials across the country and in new york. we did get a release from the fbi last week. i want to read that to you. they said we have no credible information that terrorist organizations are plotting attacks in the united states to

coincide with the anniversary. however it went on to say we assess that al qaeda affiliates and allies remain intent on conducting attacks in the homeland, specifically focusing -- we heard this on the sunday morning shows -- focusing on airlines. obviously on airplanes given the anniversary of osama bin laden's death and what happened down here at what was ground zero. take a quick listen to some sound from john brennan, the counterterroism adviser to president obama. this comes from fox news sunday. >> there is no credible reporting right now that there is an active plot underway to coincide with the bin laden takedown. the counterterroism community is used to making sure that we're as vigilant as possible to guard against efforts on the part of al qaeda or terrorist groups to mark such a day. >> obviously there's going to be very tight security down here. we will be here all day. the port authority, which runs

this site, will have a ceremony this afternoon around 2:00 eastern time. the winds are pretty nonexistent down here. it's a good bet that they will put that steal beam at the top of one world trade making it by far the tallest building in new york city, surpassing the empire state. >> this september it will be 11 years. a lot of people think that's a long time to try to rebuild from the ashes of what was one of the worst incidents this country's ever seen. we're watching the time lapse picture. i know you had a chance to tour the building with the man in charge of the construction. so this is a big deal for the city. not just the country, not just our psyche but the city. >> it absolutely is. i had the distinct honor of being on the site and touring with a man named mike munella. what's interesting about mike, he helped construct the first world trade center many, many years ago. he watched it collapse from

brooklyn. he came over here the next day, september 12, 2001 and began the clean-up process. began the rescue and recovery and ever since has been down at this site every single day he helping lead the construction. he told me what it means for him personally, for the city, but the one day he doesn't come is on september 11th we will talk to him later this morning. very meaningful day for him and all the people rebuilding. >> you know what? it's nice to say poppy harlow reporting from one world trade instead of ground zero. nice to see you. >> you're right. sure. the obama administration scrambling to contain a diplomatic crisis developing now with china. this blind dissident is at center of the controversy after a dramatic escape from 18 months of house arrest in china he ran into trouble with the chinese government after accusing them

of conducting late-term abortions. it is believed chen is in the protection of the u.s. embassy in beijing. a close friend said chen is not seeking asylum in the u.s. he wants to live freely in china, something authorities have prevented. all of this as secretary hillary clinton prepares to visit china for economic talks on thursday. the coast guard is suspending its search for a missing sailor after a racing accident that left three crew members dead. their boat was taking part in the newport boat race. three bodies and the boat's wreckage were located near the coronado islands. we are learning three generations of one family were the victims of a horrific highway crash in new york city. an suv packed with seven people

including three children flipped over a guardrail and plunged 60 feet to the ground. it landed upside down in an area of the bronx zoo that's closed to the public. all seven were killed including grandparents, parents and children. the youngest, i think, three. police are trying to determine what caused this crash. back in 2006, six people died on the same stretch of road there. u.s. troops are on the hunt for african warlord joseph kony. president obama sent about 100 special forces to central africa last year to track down the leaders of kony's group which is called the lord's resistance army. kony is wanted by the international criminal court for crimes against humanity. he and the lra gained worldwide attention with the release of the kony 2012 viral video. he is accused of killing villagers in several african countries and abducting

children. harrowing video of journalists running for cover as at least a half dozen bombs drop on a camp. reporter robin creile said she was on the front lines when sudanese warplanes attacked them. we were three kilometers from the front line when we heard incoming fire from what the soldiers say were gun ships and migs. we were then forced to take cover. once the firing -- once there was a lull in the firing, we decided to head out in our vehicle because it was simply too dangerous. we didn't know what to expect. >> the president of sudan has declared a state of emergency, south sudan split from sudan last year. the two nations are still fighting over borderlines and oil wealth. it's week two of the john edwards trial. it's about to get started in north carolina this morning. it's going to pick up this morning where it left off on

friday, with sheree young on the witness stand. she is the wife of aide andrew young. and she said on friday that their husband did everything for the disgraced former senator, even yard work and buying christmas gifts for his kids. she testified it almost destroyed their marriage because her husband had no time for her or his own family. edwards is charged with six counts of campaign violations, using campaign cash money for hush money and phasing 30 years behind bars if he's convicted. two presidents for the price of one. some 500 well-healed supporters attended a virginia fund-raiser sunday headlined by president obama and former president bill clinton. cameras were not invited to this event, the first of three joint fund-raisers. clinton took a shot at mitt romney saying he wants to do what republicans did before, on steroids. this just in, folks, gas prices dropping again over the

past 24 hours. the new national average for a gallon of regular unleaded, $3.82. there you have it. gas prices on the national level have been dropping every day for the past two weeks, which is a welcomed relief for drivers. after it was looking like we would see $4 a gallon gas nationwide. that is the level, as christine romans always tells us, where more people say they start to curb their driving and habits to save money. as you always mention, that's not my gas price in my community. >> that average gas price is like the average temperature in america. it doesn't mean everything for you, because every state is different, different taxes. that tells you it's been slowly trending lower. still costs me 52 bucks to fill up the minivan. that's the number you care about, too, the number to fill up the car. >> you know what it cost me to fill up my start car? >> what. >> 10 bucks. >> not that cheap, but pretty cheap. >> we'll leave the suv in the garage. ahead on "early start,"

chaos on campus. a lockdown ordered at an alabama college after an unusual incident at one of the dorms. and some surprising information about sharks and people that may have you thinking twice about which species is more dangerous. you're watching "early start." (spoken in mandarin) i've still got hours of battery life. it's an ultrabook. you bring great shame upon this coffee hut. with a long-lasting ultrabook, everything else seems old fashioned. ultrabook. inspired by intel.

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it's 14 minutes after the hour, time to check the stories making news this morning. the one world trade center tower about to become the tallest building in the big apple this afternoon workers will install a beam. when they install that beam, it will make it 21 feet taller than the empire state building. when construction is complete in 2014, the freedom tower will stand at 1,776 feet tall, 1776. >> i get it.

that's great number. there's a diplomatic crisis developing between our country and china. a dissident is believed to be holed up in our embassy in beijing this morning after escaping house arrest. all while secretary of state hillary clinton is preparing to make a visit to china. it's about economics and strategic talks. it's scheduled for later this week. the university of south alabama lifted a lockdown on campus following an armed robbery at a college dorm yesterday. the victim was robbed of $1,000 and a cell phone and a shot was fired. no one was injured. one suspect is in custody. police are now looking for a second gunman there. and the millionaire tycoon who adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend will today face sentencing in a drunk driving conviction. john goodman could get up to 30 years in prison when he's against the judge today. he went ahead and adopted his girlfriend in a strategic

financing situation where she would have access to trust funds, but that they would be blocked from other avenues, a lot of it many people thinking to block it from the victim's family, but perhaps not necessarily so. can't we all just get along? a new study says humans are causing a steep decline in the shark population in the pacific ocean. researchers compared the number of reef sharks in areas near human populations with those near uninhabited ones, and found shark numbers dropped by nearly 90% near some populated islands. >> i like how you called it sharkacides. if you have been racially profiled by the tsa, now there's an app for that. it's going to allow users to report allege prod filing in real time and it will be unveiled late their morning at a news conference. organizations representing several minority groups will be on hand to introduce what they

call a novel marriage between technology and civil rights activism. and the comedy "think like a man" is the number one movie in america two weeks running it made 18 million this weekend at the box office. "the pirates band of misfits" brought in $11.4 millions. for an expanded look at our top stories, head to our blog cnn.com/earlystart that takes us to 16 minutes after the hour. rob marciano has a well-deserved off this morning. so bonnie schneider is sitting in for him today. you're looking spry this early hour. hi, bonnie. >> we are look at nice weather to wake you up across the country. right now i want to draw your attention to where we're seeing heavy rain, the midwest. we had quite a bit of rain over the past weekend and more of it is working its way into kansas city and st. louis. particularly further to the south and west. in oklahoma city, heavy

thunderstorms are coming in. baseball-sized hail fell in illinois. incredibly large hail and very damaging to anyone in its path. this will be what we expect to see going through the next month or so because we are in the heart of severe weather season where we get these intense thunderstorms and they produce large hail. so, as we look at the flood threat overnight, we'll be watching for it in parts of missouri, oklahoma and texas. down in florida, we have seen quite a bit of rain over the weekend. the totals take us to three to five inches. you can see why. plenty of rain sweeping into the miami-dade area this morning. those's threat for severe weather across parts of the midwest and into the south, we're looking at that into areas in the great lakes, and further into oklahoma city, we could see more large hail and damaging winds. this morning it's feeling cool out there as we wrap up april. we have temperatures of 46 degrees in new york city. colder in syracuse, below

freezing. with that said, expect the teens and 20s for this morning. eventually it will warm up to about 60 in new york city. definitely feeling cooler than we've been experiencing out there. >> all right, bonnie, thank you for that. it is now 18 minutes past 5:00 on the east coast. we're getting an early read, very early read. >> actually it's very late on the west coast. this is your late flight read on the west coast. >> you've been out partying? here's what's happening for you tomorrow. the national headlines from local papers from salt lake city, los angeles, new york. let's start with salt lake. the tribune saying an amazing story of survival from a 59-year-old hiker. apparently she broke her leg while out hiking and was stuck out there for four days. no food, no water on her person. before she finally was rescued, she had to go through dehydration, hunger pains and hallucinations. she was able to maneuver her way to a nearby creek to get water, but she says she remembers

screaming through the night "this is ten times worse than childbirth." i imagine so. searchers finally spotted her tracks. congratulations to her. >> that's a made-for-tv movie right. there the "los angeles times" talking about the faa and it may clear the way to use unmanned spy drones. a lot of police departments have been buying these spy drones for lots of reasons like tracking alzheimer's patients, drug crimes. the faa has up until may 14th to rewrite new rules on how police may use the drones. federal drones designed to protect the nation's airspace have kept them grounded. new rules will list how far they can fly, how far. people are very concerned about privacy. can you imagine all of these little spy drones, essentially, surveillance drones operated by

local authority force a lot of different reasons? >> it's interesting, the faa getting involved. we go to our local park every weekend and see people with their remote control planes, they are all flying below 400 feet. i think why aren't they governed by the faa also? >> the privacy folks will still be very, very concerned. >> i think it's a great idea for our business, when we go to cover a story. >> sure is cheaper and smaller than a big helicopter. coming up, the inventors of digital tablets doing some tax strategy. how apple avoids billions in taxes and it's all perfectly legal. ren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes.

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got the gains for you. on friday, the nasdaq ending the week closing six points higher, still reeling from the strong earnings from apple. apple is making so much money it's changing the lives of consumers. it's such an incredible success story that it is gaining scrutiny about how it makes its products. you learned a lot about his manufacturing plants in china, now apple and other companies work to keep its tax bill as low as it can. to return money for shareholders. that means paying as little money as possible to governments. how? by opening corporate offices in multiple states with zero taxes. apple has offices in ireland,

luxembourg, the british virgin islands. it all keeps apple's taxes low. apple said in the first half of fiscal 2012 our u.s. operations have generated almost $5 billion in federal and state income taxes, including income taxes withheld on employees stock gains making us among the top payers of u.s. income tax. the statement continued apple has conducted all its business with the highest of ethical standards, complying with applicable rules. so you will be seeing more investigations like that in the "new york times." we'll tweet it out so people can tell us what they think about it themselves. one thing you need to know today -- >> fabulous thing from christine romans, she has this great tip for you every single day. >> one thing you need to know about your money today.

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30 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start." i'm christine romans in for zoraida sambolin. the new one world trade center is about to become new york's tallest building wind permitting. workers are scheduled to intall a beam this afternoon that will stretch the to you tore 1,271 feet. 21 feet taller than the empire state building. there's a diplomatic crisis growing between the u.s. and china, all over chen guangcheng who is believed to be in the protection of the u.s. emmacy this morning. and cheri young, the wife of former aide of john edwards, will be back on the stand this morning. she said her husband was so consumed with protecting the disgraced former senator that it almost destroyed their marriage. newt gingrich made the

republican nomination race interesting, you could say, with the clever attacks, the novel ideas. if you remember specifically, snl's treatment of the moon base, but after only winning two primaries, south carolina and georgia, newt gingrich is calling it quits. a source close to the former house speaker says gingrich will officially end his presidential bid on wednesday, instead of tuesday as previously leaked and reported. our paul steinhauser joins us with more on this i heard an analyst on one of the sunday morning talk shows this week jokingly say he's still in the race? i can't tell you how many reports i've heard that he's dropping out on a certain day. does it matter? >> it really doesn't matter. this nomination battle has been over for a while, ever since rick santorum suspended his campaign early in april. that's when it ended. gingrich has not been a factor

in the primaimaries for quite s time. it will be wednesday. he will go out, suspend his campaign his way. we know he will endorse romney. the big question is will mitt romney be with him at that event. we believe romney will be in the d.c. area on wednesday. >> that leaves us with the other candidate who around the same time decided to call it quits, rick santorum. there's been a discussion between the may 4th meeting between romney and santorum, but still no discussion of official endorsement. what will be discussed? >> that's the question, will there be an endorsement. right now i don't believe there will be one. i've talked to top santorum aides and they're mum on that. he wants a voice for his supporters, those tea party backers, those social conservatives and endorsed and backed him in the primaries. he wants to make sure they have a voice going forward. that's one of the things he's

looking for, and also what kind of role rick santorum will play in helping romney and helping them win back the senate. >> isn't that what this is all about? yes, i will give you my official endorsement but i want to bartter first to see what i get out of the deal. >> they'll never say that, but behind the scenes that's going on. >> let's talk about this other thing. i always loved hearing -- even me as a news person, i kick off stories by saying it's on, the campaign is official. but truly the obama campaign kicked off the obama campaign this weekend. they did so with a big hitter. that would be your cue, paul go for it. i thought for a moment i stumped you. i'm like, dude, you're the political editorment. >> i thought you were tossing to some sound. this is from last friday and this is pretty hard hitting. take a look. ♪ >> he had to decide. and that's what you hire a

president to do. you hire the president to make the calls when no one else can do it. >> so that's a video from the obama re-election team. tomorrow, as we all know, is the one-year anniversary of the killing of osama bin laden. that video from former president clinton praising obama's role in the decisionmaking process. the video questions whether mitt romney would have made the same call if he were in the oval office a year ago. it's a hard-hitting video. a lot of talk of whether the obama re-election team is making too much politics out of the one-year anniversary of osama bin laden. clinton will have a big role in this election. look at this picture from last night, president obama, former president clinton and terry mcauliffe. the first time you have seen clinton and obama together. four years ago they were rivals, now bill clinton is firmly on

board. he will be a big player, i think, in the obama re-election team. >> didn't anybody expect that if you had a big coup under your belt like getting the first guy in american history that you would capitalize on it? that is considered a feather in your cap, isn't it? >> that is politics, no doubt about it. but politicians and senator mccain among them big critics saying this is not something you should politicize. this argument will go on for a while. >> one last question to see if you're really awake, steinhauser, what's the square root of pii? >> you got me on that one. >> totally kidding. there will be no math in this interview. thanks for getting up early, paul. christine? >> anti-bullying activist dan savidge this morning under fire over a speech he gave at the high school journalist conference. it was so bad that a bunch of

kids got up and walked out. he is known for his it gets better campaign to combat bullying. about a dozen teams walked out on his speech when he slammed the bible using a word that we can't repeat. >> we can learn to ignore the full [ bleep ] in the bible about gay people. it's funny that someone on the receiving end of beatings that are justified by the bible, how [ bleep ] some people react. >> these are high school kids he's talking to. savage later said "i apologize if i hurt anyone's feelings but i have the right to defend myself." about 700 residents of an apartment building in london received leaflets saying there

could be bombs on their rife and the apartment is in the bow section of london, two miles from site of the olympic stadium. the olympic games begin in less than three months. britain confirms more than 13,000 troops are being deployed on land, at sea and in the air to help police and security guard prospect the olympics. an eyewitness to the assassination of john f. kennedy wants the world to know that there were more shots heard, and there was a second shooter. rhodes-hughes was feet away from kennedy when he was shot. all accounts say there were eight shots fired, but rhodes-hughes says there were at least a dozen shots and police altered her account. >> what has to come out, there was another shooter to my right,

and robert kennedy was also to my right where sirhan sirhan was almost straight ahead and a tad to my left standing on some steel raised platform. there were two shooters. >> the 68-year-old sirhan is serving a life sentence. the u.s. district court in los angeles is about to rule on his request to be released, retried based on part on the claim that there was a second shooter that day. there are new rules for secret service agents. it prohibits them from visiting nonreputable establishments or bringing foreign nationals to their owe tehotel rooms. alcohol will be banned within ten hours of work. aren't these rules already?

president obama's next visit to mexico will be in june. >> and no breaking the speed limit either. 39 minutes past 5:00. everything is fair game when it comes to the white house correspondents dinner. boy, was it funny. president obama and jimmy kimmel were joking about the upcoming election, joking about sarah palin, mitt romney and even the secret service scandal wasn't off limits. >> i do have a lot of jokes about the secret service. you know, i told them for $800 i wouldn't tell them, but they only offered 30, so -- >> i had a lot more material prepared, but i have to get the secret service home in time for their new curfew. >> mr. president, you remember when the country rallied around you in hopes of a better tomorrow? that was hilarious. last week, we learned that the president's two favorite steaks are rib-eye and seeing eye. >> what's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?

a pit bull is delicious. of course, i know everybody is predicting a nasty election, and thankfully we've all agreed that families are off-limits. dogs, however, are apparently fair game. it's great to be here this evening in the vast magnificent hilton ballroom. or what mitt romney would call a little fixer-upper. >> you know, there's a term for guys like president obama, probably not two terms but -- [ laughter ] there is. >> four years ago i looked like this. today i look like this. and four years from now i will look like this. >> it was funny this year. i will say last year i thought it was funnier. seth myers did it last year.

the president gave the orders to get bin laden, went to that dinner, by the time it was the next day, we were talking about bin laden, nobody was talking about the correspondents dinner. >> seth meyers missed all his on-camera time. talk about grace under pressure, the president going to that dinner, keeping a straight face. >> as far as we know there were no secrets this weekend. >> as far as we know. kind of fascinating. still to come, the ugliest user -- an iphone app attracting national criticism about beauty national criticism about beauty or the lack thereof. [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour 3. [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] zyrtec®. love the air.

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with china. it revolves around blind chinese dissident chen guangcheng. chen is a self-taught lawyer who rose to fame in the 1990s for being an advocate for victims of abuse, like poor women forced into sterilization. he served four years in prison before being confined to house arrest. over the weekend he made a dramatic escape from 18 months of house arrest. it's now believed he's holed up in the u.s. embassy in beijing. therein lies the problem. both countries refusing to comment. stan grant is live in beijing for us this morning. all of this developing as the secretary of state is preparing to head to china for critical strategic economic talks later this week. it's in the best interest of both countries to diffuse it, isn't it? >> certainly is, but that's going to be a problem. this is now a political timebomb. we know in the past hillary clinton has raised the cause of chen guangcheng, human rights is

always a litmus test when the u.s. and china sit across from each other. they talk about other things, trade and so on. it's a very brittle relationship, but this is lighting a fire under that relationship. what happens in the next few days could be critical. what we've seen over the past week has been extraordinary. the escape of chen guangcheng from his captors. 18 months they had him there, 24/7, day and night they were watching him. we've seen in the past how vigorous and violent these guards could be. we tried to visit chen guangcheng last year with the actor christian bale, we saw what happened there. they attacked us. physically punches were thrown. there was a car chase. our cam wheres were damaged. this man, a blind man, was able to creep out at night, jump over a wall, cross a creek as well and then meet a car at a secret rendezvous which brought him to beijing. christine? >> how is china reacting to all

this this morning? >> well, china does not like surprises. it certainly doesn't like anyone speaking out about this story either. what they've done is implement a full information crackdown. state media is not able to report this. when you go on social media here, the equivalent of twitter, they are blocking any mention of words that may be associated with chen guangcheng. try to search blind, you're blocked. try to search u.s. embassy, you're blocked. put in cnn, you're blocked. dissidents who speak out are being rounded up, detained and questioned. >> that's par for the course, stan. behind you, is that fog behind you? i can barely see -- >> this is why they call it grayjing instead of beijing. this is dust off the desert, which we breathe in every day. >> oh, my goodness.

i thought could someone wash the window? stan grant, nice to see you from grayjing. >> that's incredible. i thought that was fog. >> i caught him by surprise because he's so used to it. >> interesting. all those bicycles, too. it's 48 minutes past 5:00 a.m. on the east coast. time to check our top stories. it's a milestone, folks for that new tower going up at one world trade center in new york city. later today, wind permitting, workers will be able to install a beam that will make it the tallest structure in new york. it will eclipse the empire state building which stands at 1,250 feet tall. police in new york city are still trying to find out what caused an suv to lose control and plunge over a highway guardrail, plunge to the ground 60 feet below. seven people in that vehicle died, all members of the same family, including three children. the attorney for george zimmerman set up a blog to keep

the media and other interested parties updated on zimmerman's legal defense. his lawyer says $200,000 has already been raised in support of the neighborhood watch volunteer who is charged in the death of trayvon martin. and google has agreed to pay a fine. the federal communications agency was trying to find out if google violated federal law by collecting and storing data from encrypted wifi networks. officials say they did not find enough evidence to conclude laws were broken. a big full-bodied jolt. that's what it feels like to be struck by lightning, so says this pregnant ohio woman. yes. she lived to tell the story, christine. >> it was a huge flash, just this big boom. i, like, felt it jolt up my arm, out my left arm, out my toes.

they're rubber-soled shoes. usually on my way to work i would have heels on. i was going to throw them away yesterday. i didn't. i put them on today. first thing they said when i checked in was that they probably saved my life. >> my lord. >> is the baby okay? >> baby is okay. doctors say that kelly lowe and her tummy all recovering. she and her husband are going to have quite the story to tell that little one. >> some a have morning sickness, swollen ankles, she gets struck by lightning. supposedly there's an appliance that makes drinking water from humid air. the company plans to roll out this device next year. they will focus on countries where water is scarce. they help the turbines will help rural areas become self sufficient. >> you can imagine a drink of

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time to look at what's trending on the web this morning. beauty will always be in the eye of the beholder, now there's an iphone app to determine how ugly

you are. >> you're joking, right? >> the ugly meter pro is a big seller worldwide. you snap a picture, the ugly reader scans your face and rates you on a scale of 1 to 100. >> how you do your hair or if you have a beard, those things don't matter. it's facial structure. everybody is interested in vanity, they like to know where they rank. >> facial structure, you can change that. it's like a brutally honest -- >> do they have a jerk meter? >> i know. certainly 100. the ugly meter lets you post results to facebook or twitter. >> sounds like a mark zuckerberg thing. >> i don't think facebook will buy this company. >> i know who would be number one on the jerk meter. the los angeles clippers pulling off one of the most stunning comebacks in nba

playoff history. coming back 27 points down on the road to the memphis grizzlies. final score, 98-97. they finished the game with a 28-1 run. it gives them a 1-0 lead in the playoffs. i like seeing everybody excited, the emotion of stats, i don't have that much space in my head. ahead on "early start," a big milestone for the big apple. the new world trade center tower about to reach record heights in hours. you're looking at it. [ director ] cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while.

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good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm christine romans for you this morning. it's 6:00 a.m. in the east. let's get started. >> nice to have you with us. at this early hour, rising up, everybody. one-year after osama bin laden was killed, the new world trade center is set to reach a we ar live in lower manhattan. running for cover, a tv crew dodging gunfire and bombs that are falling on them on south sudan. he is half the size of some of the girls on the varsity team but a boy has been banned from playing with them for being too good. we're going to talk to this 13-year-old and find out what about his fight to play field hockey? in a matter of hours, workers on the top of the world trade center tower will be looking down on all of new york. so the called freedom tower is about to become the tallest

building in the big apple. that will happen sometime today if the wind cooperates. workers are scheduled to install a beam that will raise the tower to 1,271 feet, eclipsing the city's tallest structure right now, that's the empire state building. when construction is completed in late 2013/early 2014, one world trade will stand 1,776 feet tall, making it the tallest building in the western hemisphere. poppy harlow, it's so important to note this milestone. as we approach the one-year anniversary of osama bin laden's death, but it has been a very long time since that has been a construction site downtown as well. >> reporter: it's been an incredibly long time. i live down here, so i've been watching it week after week, year after year, seven and a half years since the initial ground-breaking. lot of controversy, the whole time building up to what this tower would look like. they've been building one floor

a week moving at a rapid clip. you cannot avoid the security concerns especially with the timing of this. today will mark a few days ahead of the capture and death of osama bin laden so security is top priority down here and across the country. can reca candy crowley on her "state of the union" talked to the counterterrorism adviser to president obama and asked how much we as a country had diminished al qaeda's ability to attack its citizens. >> we have reduced significantly their ability to attack persons in the homeland and overseas. we've taken off the battlefield their leader and other operatives in many parts of the world, taken apart infrastructure in areas of smack stand and afghanistan. we're determined in yemen in africa so their ability has been

degraded significant and and our defenses have improved in the past decade. their ability to carry out an attack in the united states now compared to years ago is significantly diminished. >> reporter: significantly diminished but it does not mean all eyes and ears are on this site. it would be one of the top trits targets. i want to read you something that came out from the fbi late last week and said there was no credible information that al qaeda is plotting an attack to coincide the anniversary of bin laden's death. no credible information on the internet. >> poppy harlow in lower manhattan, thank you. authorities say speed may have played a role in a terrible highway crash in new york city that left seven people dead including three children. the suv was packed with three generations from a single family, slammed into a median and went airborne, plunging about 60 feet below to the

ground, landed upside down in a wooded area of the bronx zoo. the family members were heading home from church at the time. the white house is hoping to contain a diplomatic crisis developing right now china. blind discy dent chen guanchang is in the middle of arrest after escape from 18 months of house arrest. he accused china of conducting late-term abortions and sterilizations as its one child only policy. it's believed chen is in the protection of the u.s. embassy of beijing. officials from both countries are refusing to comment. all this as hillary clinton prepares for a visit to china. a racing accident left three crew members department.

it was the newport yacht race when it collided with another near the pacific islands. they are the first deaths in this race's 65-year history. u.s. troops are on the hunt for african warlord joseph kony. president obama sent 100 special forces down last year to track down the lortds resistant army. coney is wanted for crimes against world humanity. he gained attention with the 2012 video. they're accused of abducting children to use as soldiers or sex slaves. the john edwards trial gets started later on this morning in north carolina and it will pick up where it left off on friday with sherri young, wife of

former aide to mr. edwards. she said her husband did everything for the former senator, yard work, buying christmas presents for his kids. she testified it almost destroyed her marriage. edwards is charged with using illegal contributions to hide an affair and a baby while running for president. ahead on "early start" a state of emergency in sudan, the government reportedly launching air strikes with journalists in harm's way. a boy gets kicked off a girl's hockey team. you'll never believe the reason for it, coming up after this quick break. [ barking ] i'm your dog, holding down the fort while you're out catching a movie. [ growls ] lucky for me, your friends showed up with this awesome bone. hey! you guys are great. and if you got your home insurance

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news this morning. the one world trade center tower is about to become the tallest building in new york city. this afternoon workers are scheduled to install a beam that will raise the structure to 1,271 feet, making it 21 feet taller than the empire state building. when construction is complete in late 2013, early 2014 the so-called freedom tower will stand 1,77feet tall. a delicate crisis unfolding between china and the united states. dis dissident chen is believed to be held in the u.s. embassy after escaping house arrest. terrifying video of journalists caught in the cross-fire in sudan running for cover. robert robin kreel says she was

right up on the front planes when they were attacked. they hid in the trenches 15 minutes before they escaped. if you've been racially profiled by the tsa or you think that, an app will allow users to report alleged profiling in real time and unveiled later at a news conference. organizations representing several minority groups will be on hand to introduce a novel marriage between technology and civil rights activism. who is killing who? shark populations in the pacific reef are plummeting and we are to blame. researchers compared the number of reef sharks in areas near human populations with those near uninhabited ones. shark numbers dropped 90% around some unpopulated islands. "think like a man" based on the best selling book is still king of the box office, finished on top for a second weekend in a

row. "think like a man" made $18 million, "the pay rots, band of misfits" second and "the lucky one" was third. head on to our blog cnn.com/early start for more information. a 13-year-old boy has been banned from playing on the varsity girl's field hockey team and get this? the reason? he's too good. it's happening at noork new york's southampton high school on long island. his name is key lan pilaro. he plays with the girls hockey team because there is no boys team. they determined the 4'2" all 82-pound keeling has skilg that are "having a significant adverse effect on some of his

opposing female players." they join us this morning, welcome to all of you. keeling, let me start with you. who wants you off the team and why do you think they want you gone? >> well, i think section 11 wants us off the team because they said i have an adverse effect because i'm the dominant player on the field but there are girls that are a lot better than me that have more skills and faster. i don't see why they would want me off it. >> as i understand it, keeling, you are the lead goal scorer with your team but you haven't won any awards so how are they determining that you are somehow having an adverse effect on the girls? >> well they're just basing it completely on stats, because a lot of people, like i'm one of the people who plays attack, and

in field hockey and there's a really good girl named tara watson and she plays defense, one of the best players on the team, and she plays defense so she doesn't have like the top goals but like because i play offense i do have one of those. >> let me turn to your mom for a second. what do you think is behind all of this, if your son is somewhat smaller than the other girls and perhaps isn't necessarily better or faster or winning in all categories, is there something else at play here? >> you know, i think that's a really good question and i think that's why we're here. we don't know the answer to that. section 11 has been very generous to let him play for the past two years, and they said it was a very specific case because of his size and because he grew up in ireland, and i kind of feel like they changed the rules in the middle of the game and honestly, i don't know why.

we have no supporting evidence to show that he has had an adverse effect. in fact we have the opposite, we have a lot of support from his teammates, from opposing players, from opposing coaches, and we found a lot of support in the southampton community that it's been the pleasant part of all of this. >> fairley, i want to you clear it up, a lot of people might be wondering field hockey, that's a girl's sport. how did your son get so good at it. you mentioned ireland and there is something unique to that. >> keeling was born in new york city and we moved to ireland when he was about 6 months old and stayed there for 12 years. when we moved back june two years ago we would have been there for 12 years and field hooky is much more of a mainstream sport in ireland. it's not just a girl's sport. there is a united states national men's team, along with

126 other countries in the world that have a national men's team. more boys than men in the world play field hockey than women. >> interesting. >> over in the schools in ireland they incorporate field hockey into their p.e. program so he's been playing since the age of 4, maybe 5 and in addition to -- >> let me jump over to your attorney, sorry to interrupt. i want to find out if there's any legal grounds on which you can actually battle this and battle the organizing body to keep keeling on the varsity team as he heads into the older grades. >> well, presently, there is an appeal of section 11's determination, the determination was made by the committee on mixed competition, that appeal is scheduled for may 15th. the appellant in that case is going to be the school district, southampton schools. we're confident that with the

presentation by the school district that they'll reconsider their decision, but if they don't reconsider and they stand with the decision they've made so far, we're prepared to move forward in court and file discrimination lawsuit and we're confident once the court examines the rules that section 11 uses and the way they apply it that the decision will be reversed and that we'll be on the field in september. >> mr. sagliuso, keeling and fairley pilaro, thank you for your story and good luck and stay great out there on the field, kiddo. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> over to you, christine. coming up next, apple innovators of digital music in tablet now doing the same in tech strategy, how apple avoids paying billions in taxes and it's all perfectly legal.

i really enjoy the design and creative process and pulling little lever there is and tweaking little details from a design perspective but what really gets me excited is when i hand an inventor their product for the first time, a product they conceived on a napkin and posted on the internet and here i am some random dude handing it to them and here is a product they'll buy at target the next week. that is me is part of the special process. [ male announcer ] a car is either luxury or it isn't. if you want a luxury car with a standard power moonroof, your options are going to be limited. ♪ if you want standard leather-trimmed seats,

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morning, apple's tax policies under a microscope after a critical story in "the new york times" over its weekend. >> the company is such an incredible success story it's gaining scrutiny over how it makes its money. you heard about its manufacturing facilities in china and the wages and the conditions. t"the new york times" is investigating apple's tax policies. it works like other companies to pay as little taxes as humanly possible, open offices in nevada, who has zero corporate taxes. apple has more flexibility to car companies or manufacturers, so apple has offices in low tax countries abroad like ireland, the netherlands, luxembourg, the british virgin islands, all perfectly legal ways to keep

apple's taxes low. it said "in the first half of fiscal year 2012 our u.s. operations generated almost $5 billion in federal and state income taxes including income taxes withheld on employee stock gains making us among the top payers of u.s. income action to. apple has conducted all of its business with the highest ethical standarding complying with applicable laws and accounting rules." i think you're going to see scrutiny where it does business, how much money it makes, what it does with its money and how it pays taxes. i was recently on a call with tim cook, and company executives were complaining about tax policies overall and like to see a leveler playing field with the rest of the world. >> the governments stump all the time the companies should have every straight try to work the tax system best way possible.

>> "the new york times" story is always a good read. i'll tweet you that. we decided it would be a great feature to have a word of christine romans every day. i'm not kidding, the one thing you need to know. >> you're going to hear a lot about jobs, the jobs report on friday, and what matters to you is your jobless rate, either 100% or zero percent. don't believe the politicking, who is going to build or create jobs. you'll hear so much that this week and until the election. my advice is focus on the job market of one and don't listen to the political game on this. >> eyes down, eye on the prize -- head down, eye on the prize. coming up next on "early start" less to three months to go, the rings are under construction, it's an exciting time but 700 people in london were told a surface-to-air

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28 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start." i'm christine romans in for zoraida sambolin this morning. here's what's happening. the new one world trade center tower is just hours away from becoming new york's tallest building, wind permitting. workers are scheduled to install a beam this afternoon that will stretch the tower to 1,776 feet, 21 feet above the empire state

building. and week two of the john edwards trial about to get under way. sherri young, wife of andrew young, will be back on the stand this morning. she told the court friday her husband was so consumed with protecting the former disgraced center it almost destroyed her marriage and her family. newt gingrich certainly made the republican nomination interesting about w his clever attack lines, his novel ideas like the moon base but after winning only two primaries in south carolina and georgia, newt gingrich is finally calling it quits and i know you feel like you've heard this story before but a source close to the former house speaker says he'll officially end his presidential bid on wednesday. you heard it was tuesday, that's what it was oornlgly. now it's wednesday, paul steinhauser joins us live from d.c.

when i keep hearing he'll hold a news conference to announce he's holding a news conference it's like the slow grip torture. >> he's done it this way, his way his whole campaign. he came back from the dead twice when he became the cofrbt in the polls come december. but no longer. he hasn't been part of the equation for some time. wednesday would leave the event in the washington, d.c., air, we think he'll suspend the xab and endorse mitt romney. will mitt romney be there? he could be in the d.c. district. >> what about sbt snt? is the meeting going to result in an announcement of an endorsement after the meeting? >> we do not. that meeting may 4th, it's been almost a month since santorum suspended his campaign, he was the big main rival.

santorum, what will be asking for behind the scenes, the tea party backers and social conservatives wants them to have a voice going forward as mitt romney fights for the white house. >> there's a little negotiation, what do i get out if i put my name behind you, endorse you. >> reporter: that's why romney wants santorum's endorsement, when it comes to the social conservatives and tea party voters he didn't do very well, having the two men stand together could help give more unity to the romney ticket as he moves forward. >> let's turn to the big cont t contest, the official election. the obama campaign feels like it's already happened some time ago but officially the obama campaign was kicked off this weekend. >> reporter: it was, take a look at this video from the obama

re-election team. it's biting. >> he had to decide, and that's what we charge our president to do. you hire the president to make the calls when no one else can do it. >> reporter: former president clinton in an obama re-election campaign video, basically the former president touting president obama's decision making process one year ago on that raid that killed osama bin laden and a question which questioned whether mitt romney would have made the call and former president clinton teaming up with the president at a fund-raiser outside of washington, d.c. he'll see a lot more of players helping out being a surrogate in president obama's election. brand new coming out from the obama campaign going to their supporters touts the accomplishments they say the

president has done over the tloost three and a half years and saturday he kicks it off with ohio and virginia, six months until election day. >> put in your vacation days now so you can be told no. thank you paul steinhauser. anti-bullyist activist calling some students expletives for walking out of his conference. about a dozen teens walked out on his speech when he slammed parts of the bible using a word we can't repeat. >> we can learn to ignore the bull [ expletive ] in the bible about gay people. it's funny someone who is on the receiving end of beatings that are justified by the bible, how [ expletive ] people react when you push that. >> savage later aid "i apologize

if i hurt anyone's feelings but i have a right to defend myself." an eyewitness to the assassination of robert f. kennedy insists she heard two guns firing on that day in 1968 and quite sure there was a second shooter. nina rhoades-hughes said there was another shooter, she insists she heard more than a dozen shots but claims police altered her account. >> what has to come out is that there was another shooter to my right, and robert kennedy was also to my right with sir han sir han was straight to my left, standing on some steel raised platform, and there were two shooters. >> the 68-year-old sir j han is

serving a life sentence in los angeles. he's asking to be released, retried or granted a new hearing based on rhodes-hughes comment there was another shooter. surface-to-air missiles could be on top of a complex, everyone received leaflets informing there could be ten soldiers positioned on their roof for up to two months. it is in the bow section of london, two miles from the olympic stadium. britain confirms more than 13,000 troops have been deployed at land, sea and fare to help police and body guard protect the interests. you know you're not going to have any petty theft for a few

weeks. >> that's a paositive way of yo spinning that. 35 minutes past 6:00, all things fair game this weekend at the correspondents dinner. president obama teaming up with jim jim jimmy kimmin ikimmel. >> i told him for $800 i wouldn't tell the jokes but they only offered 30. i had more material prepared but i have to get the secret service home in time for their new curfew. >> mr. president do you remember when the country rallied around you in hopes of a better tomorrow? that was hilarious. last week we learned that the president's two favorite steaks are rib eye and seeing eye. >> what is the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? a pit bull is delicious. of course, i know everybody's

predicting a nasty election and thankfully we've all agreed that families are off limits. dogs, however, are apparently fair game. it's great to be here this evening in the vast, magnificent hilt hilton ballroom or what mitt romney would call a little fixer-upper. >> there's a term for guys like president obama, probably not two terms but there is. >> four years ago, i looked like this. today i look like this. and four years from now, i will look like this. >> that was really funny. >> i think he'd be lucky if he looked like morgan freeman, good looking man.

maybe not so soon. the little blue pill, you know what i'm talking about, it has some competition apparently. the fda approved a brand new drug to treat erectile dysfunction. why this drug may work better for some men. at 6:37 time to get a travel check of the weather with bonnie schneider filling in for rob. >> good morning. so far no delays but a lot of nasty weather that may impact travel, kansas city and st. louis, you are facing rain and thunderstorms as well as oklahoma city, in fact we could be looking at a flood threat for a good portion of the midwest and the plains states. another travel trouble spot is florida. more of the rain will sweep onshore in southeast florida so from boca further south to miami and the keys you're like to see rain. in the northeast waking up to chilly temperatures, below freezing in scranton, 44, new york city, we are anticipating

temperatures to stay below freezing in the teens and 20s. the freeze threat is for the good. for many cities you warm back up to 60 degrees in new york city. watch out for storms in the plain states and midwest. stay tuned. "early start" will be right back. i went to a small high school.

the teacher that comes to mind for me is my high school math teacher, dr. gilmore. i mean he could teach. he was there for us, even if we needed him in college. you could call him, you had his phone number. he was just focused on making sure we were gonna be successful. he would never give up on any of us.

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drug called stendra or avanafil. elizabeth cohen is here. >> does the world really need four drugs for this? but i'll leave that to others to answer so all of these drugs, christine act in the same way, increase blood flow to the penis. why this one? it works in a slightly different way so if the other three don't work for you, this one might and another reason, this one has been shown for some men to work in 15 minutes. you take the pill and for some men just 15 minutes later it works, whereas with the other drugs you may have to wait 30 minutes, an hour, so for some men that might make a difference. >> does the drug work for everyone? >> he doesn't work and people forget that about viagra and the other drugs. this drug was stone to work for about 60% of the men who took it

so we think of these as wonder drugs but they don't work for a percentage of people who take them. >> what about side effects of the drugs in general? >> the side effects are mild, nasal congestion or headaches. drugs in this class do sometimes have a sort of bizarre side effect, men will have vision changes or lose their vision entirely or have hearing changes or maybe lose their hearing entirely. this is number one, very hair, number two, it goes away when you stop taking the drug. doctors we talked to said that doesn't scare men away. they don't care. they want the drug, want the erection and don't care if they temporarily lose their vision. >> a tradeoff somehow not surprising. >> there you go. >> elizabeth cohen, thank you. >> you're both blushing, go figure. time to check in with

soledad o'brien and "starting point," starting with the new kennedy conspiracy theory. >> the other conspiracy theory, about the as anation of bobby kennedy, nina rhodes-hughes was a few feet away from rfk and says there was a second shooter. joseph kony has a viral campaign, and u.s. forces are joining on the search through pachadi pachadiles. and "toxic shallow and celebrity obsessed" and we'll tell you what our guest does when "starting point" begins in ten minutes or so. >> really? >> yes, shallow. we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries.

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it is 48 minutes past the hour so get up, get out of bed, you're going to be late. >> no, they just got done running three miles. congratulations. >> oh, man, you make me feel lazy from being up all night. >> if someone is already up at

this hour who accomplished something, congratulations. this is a milestone for the one world trade center today. as long as the wind isn't too crazy the worker also install a beam on the tower take it to be the tallest structure in new york on its way to being the tallest structure inspect united states that will eclipse the empire state building which spans at 1,250 feet tall. >> a horrible crash kills seven members of a new york family. the driver lost control and went kareening off the highway, plunging some 60 feet to the ground. the victims included grandparents, parents and children, one as young as 3. the cause is still under investigation although speed is under suspicion here. the frustrating search continues for a missing 6-year-old girl names isabel mercedes seles who vanished from her home. police say three people were

captured in the video outside the home she disappeared. they said new tips are slowing down. violence in mexico is killing more and more americans, a record 120 americans were killed in mexico last year, compare that to 35 killed back in 2007, according to "the houston chronicle" which analyzed state department areas. 12 americans were killed in halisco state, a state where many have gone to retire. the attorney for george zimmerman set up a blog to keep the media and other interested parties updated on zimmerman's legal defense. his lawyer tells us about $200,000 has been raised in support of the neighborhood watch volunteer who has been charged with second-degree murder connected to the death of florida teenager trayvon martin. >> a fightened and confused dolphin stranded in the shallow wetlands off of california.

fisherman were trying to coax it to swim to freedom. crowd of onlookers scared him into the harbor friday. they were close to getting him out but a herd of dolphins spookd him and he turned back around. a beauty queen busted for allegedly beating up her boyfriend, nicole houd is the former this new hampshire usa and accused of kicking and scratching and biting her boyfriend. she flew in a rage when he snatched her cell phone and accused her of cheating, police say. a big full body jolt, that's what it feels like to be struck by lightning according to a pregnant ohio woman who lived to tell the story. >> there was a huge flash and this big boom and i felt it jolt up my arm and out my left arm and out my toes. the rubber soled shoes, usually on my way to work i would have heels on and i was going to throw them away yesterday and i

didn't and i put them on today and first thing they said when i checked in was that they probably saved my life. >> her doctors say the baby is perfectly healthy. she and her husband have quite the story to tell the little guy. she said i was going to wear high heels, pregnant women love to wear high heels. >> i have to be honest, i did wear them as long as possible. >> glad kelly got out all right. two presidents for the price of one. some well healed forrers attended a fund-raiser headlined by president barack obama and former president clinton. the first of three joint fund-raising for obama and clinton and clinton took a shot at mitt romney saying he wants to do what republicans have done before, but on steroids, his words. he saves life in television

and real life. patrick dempsey rescued a teenager who crashed his car into his front yard. he used a crowbar to free the driver from his mappingled mustang. the teen reportedly suffered only a concussion. >> man, to be rescued by him, eek! >> saved again. >> this is an app that would tell you something that your mother never would. how ugly you are. plus the billionaire who plans to build a brand new "titanic." "early start" right after this break. arrival. with hertz gold plus rewards, you skip the counters, the lines, and the paperwork. zap. it's our fastest and easiest way to get you into your car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

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a brave billionaire is tempting fate and announcing plans to build "the titanic ii" full sized replica of the doomed ship. he's hired a chinese-owned company to build it and he went there, he says this "titanic" unlike the old one, unsinkable. boy, i hope so. "titanic ii" is expected to set sale in 2016. time to look at what's trending on the web. beauty will always be in the hieye of the beholding but there's an iphone app to determine how ugly you are. >> that's just mean. just mean. >> the ugly meter pro is a best selling worldwide. you snap a picture presumably of yourself and the ugly meter scans your face and rates your look on a scale of 1 to 100. >> how you do your hair and if you have a beard or not, those things don't matter. this is facial structure.

it doesn't matter. everybody is interested in vanity, and they like to know where they rank >> it's not what you do with it, it's what god gave you. the ugly meter lets you post the results to facebook or twitter. >> you're supposed to take it of yourself or others, something tells me that's not what it's geared for. i don't know. los angeles clippers pulling off one of the most stunning comebacks in nba playoff history. we go to the highlights, shall we? i sound like a sports anchor. they came back from 27 points down, even i know that's a big deal. we were on the road and beat the memphis grizzlies, time 99-98, that rally gave them a 1-0 lead in the playoff series so congratulations, because that is a big old deal. wow. >> you're not a big sports fan either. >> you don't need to be a sports

fan when you can come from behind at 28 points. >> that's cool. >> when i watched "moneypaul" i realized how bad it is when you're that far behind and that was a big win they were squandering in "moneyball." thank you, aaron sorkin, i appreciate it. that's it. we are done, "the news to a to z" or "the news from a to c." >> we had the beginning part of the alphabet for you this morning. now to "starting point." the crisis between two superpowers and one man is in the middle of it, a blind chinese activist who pulled off an escape fit for a holly wood thriller. he's in the u.s. hands and could be trouble between u.s. and china. missiles are being placed on top of apartment buildings as extra security during the olympics. they call it the nerd prom. president obama