this morning, international intrigue. >> a chinese dissident escapes house arrest and takes refuge inside the u.s. embassy in beijing. as secretary of state hillary clinton is set to arrive. terrible toll. an suv careens out of control plunging over a guardrail, taking the lives of three generations of one family. apple's slice. it's the richest company in the world, but it pays one of the lowest tax rates in america. how do they get away with it? also this morning, nerd prom. the white house correspondents hold their annual dinner. look who they get to bring as the dates. good monday morning, everyone. i'm rob nelson. >> i'm sunny hostin. paula faris is on assignment.

high level talks between the u.s. and china could soon resolve the fate of blind dissident chen guangcheng. abc's tahman bradley joins us from washington with more. good morning, tahman. >> reporter: the u.s. will not say whether the dissident is under protection. if he is, it would be the first time since the tiananmen square protests that the u.s. has protected a human rights activist. the u.s. is scrambling to contain a diplomatic crisis with china. on the eve of important negotiations, a blind chinese activist, chen guangcheng was reportedly in the u.s. embassy. he is a campaigner for rights

and has opposed forced abortions. this is what happened when christian bale tried to visit him last year. >> why can i not visit him? >> reporter: last week, in what seemed like a hollywood thriller, he scaled a wall and escaped. after bei he was driven to beijing by a supporter. after a car chase, activists say he was taken in by the u.s. a senior white house aide spoke about the difficult balancing act. >> i think in all interests, the president tries to balance our commitment to human rights. we're going to make sure we do this in the appropriate way. >> reporter: a u.s. rights campaigner says a deal to get him asylum could happen in a day or so. experts say getting him out of china would likely be difficult. >> if the chinese want to play it down, we may reach an agreement for him to leave the country. if not, this could fester and become a big issue. >> reporter: secretary of state hillary clinton leaves for china late tonight in what would have been a challenging trip even

before the crisis. rob? sunny? >> abc's tahman bradley in washington, thank you. to presidential politics now where president obama is drawing on some heavy hitters in his re-election bid. former president bill clinton joined president obama last night for a suburban fund-raising event. the two presidents have had a sometimes testy relationship but they appeared relaxed and friendly. another political partnership. this one between mitt romney and newt gingrich. gingrich is expected to drop out of the presidential race on wednesday. so their campaigns are meeting behind closed doors today to work out exactly what his role will be in the re-election campaign. shifting gears now, tomorrow marks one year since the death of osama bin laden. now a new report in "the guardian" newspaper says documents found at the compound show a close relationship between the former al qaeda leader and mullah omar, the overall commander of the taliban. the documents are said to talk

of joint attacks on u.s. forces in afghanistan and targets in pakistan. mullah omar disappeared after his regime collapsed in 2001. police here in new york suspect that speed may have played a role in a terrible crash that took the lives of seven family members on the way home from church. now heart broken relatives from the u.s. and dominican republic are making funeral plans. >> reporter: in one horrific moment, this honda pilot went from the family car to a mass coffin. all seven victims inside suffered the same last breath together. 12:30 sunday afternoon, when many families are on the road. somehow this suv lost control, bounced off the barrier, screamed across the southbound lanes of the bronx river parkway and kept going, right over the guardrail. experts believe it flew another 75 feet in if air before it began the sickening fatal

plunge, a fast freefall, about 660 feet down into this wooded section of the bronx zoo. the most experienced crews were shaken by what they found inside. >> sometimes you come upon events that are horrific. this was one of them. >> reporter: this is the family portrait the rescue workers carried from the wreckage. an elderly man and woman this their 80s, a 45-year-old female in the driver's seat. a 39-year-old female and three young girls, ages 10, 7, and 3. >> if i father. my little brother. and to the father of the two girls, he lost his wife and his two daughters. so, basically lost his family. >> reporter: as accident investigators work to answer why and how the driver, maria gonzalez, lost control, one family is left mourning three generations of their own.

>> we could have been inside. i lost my whole family in there. >> and that report from lucy yang of our new york station wabc. in other news this monday morning, classes will take place as scheduled today at the university of south alabama. the campus was under lockdown after a robbery in one of the dorms. one shot was fired. thankfully, no one was injured. they later arrested one man. a second suspect got away. now turning to weather. violent storms that tore through much of the midwest this weekend triggered flash flood warnings in oklahoma last night. >> in st. louis this morning, cleanup getting under way after a nasty hailstorm pounded the city. that storm triggered a sudden powerful blast of wind that shattered a tent full of people seeking shelter. one man died, dozens injured. time now for theer across the nation. the threat of severe storms hangs over st. louis again

today. wichita and amarillo could also see bad weather. south florida gets more rain. >> temperatures in the south more summer than spring today. atlanta expected to break the record at near 90 degrees. phoenix is warmer than usual, about 94. seattle is damp and chilly in the mid-50s. coming up, gas prices are still skidding. how much you're going to be saving straight ahead. also this morning, the world's richest company, apple, of course. why it pays a much lower tax rate than you and i. and a bike ride that went all wrong. the hit and run caught on tape. the driver explains himself in court today. cccccccccccccccccccc

and good news for all you drivers out there this morning. gas prices keep going down. the average price of a gallon of regular fell four cents in the past week to an average of $3.82, lower than a month ago and a year ago. it's the result of lower oil prices and less consumer demand. well, no wonder apple has so much cash on hand. the tech giant paid less than 10% of its profits in tax, last year, far less than most companies. walmart last year paid 24%. about average for a nontech company. "the new york times" reports that apple cuts its tax bill by putting some operations in low tax states and foreign countries. >> 10% sounds nice, doesn't it? >> yes, it does.

overseas markets were mostly up overnight. as they watch to see what the fed will do. tokyo's nikkei average was closed for a holiday. today, hong kong's hang seng added 322 points. in london, the ftse opened higher. on wall street, the dow gained 199 points. the nasdaq index was up 69. google reportedly looked the other way. the serge giant has blamed a lone engineer for harvestingrsol personal data while mapping for its street view service. an fcc report says that management knew data was being collected and allowed it to go on for two years. google said it was inadvertent. a surprise at the movie box office this weekend. the ensemble comedy "think like a man" was at number one for the second weekend. at $18 million, "think" beat four new films, including "the

pirates, band of misfits" and "the lucky ones." disney's "the avengers" doesn't open here until friday. it set records over the week end in other countries though. they took in $178 million. it could be the first blockbuster of the summer season, which kicks off this weekend. >> not a bad start. >> i'm going to see that. >> i bet you are. they need the money. when we come back, extraordinary security for london's summer games. why is it making some residents nervous? it was all in good fun over the weekend in washington. the laughs and the looks coming [ female announcer ] walgreens introduces nice! [ woman ] i got it. [ dad ] where's your brother? ♪ [ dad ] hello. [ female announcer ] quality everyday products at a way better price. [ girl ] mom! ♪

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enough steel to make it just over 1,250 feet tall. once it's finished, it will be the tallest building. if you count the antenna. otherwise, it will be number two behind the willis tower in chicago. you'll get the first look at the view there the very top later today. should be cool. >> yes. for a look at morning road conditions, wet with possible flooding on i-95 from miami to west palm beach. stormy on i-95 near oklahoma city. rainy on i-70 from pittsburgh to st. louis. icy on 84 and 90 in the cascades. and if flying flying today, airport delays are possible in chicago, miami, and detroit. the search for a sailor missing off the u.s.-mexico coast has been suspended following a deadly weekend racing accident. three other members of the california-based crew were killed in the incident. it's believed a large commercial ship struck the yacht.

and the crew aboard the bigger vessel didn't see the boat. one searcher said the wreckage of the 37-foot boat looks, quote, like it had gone through a blender. a dolphin stranded since last thursday in a california wetlands channel shows know sign of wanting to leave. at one point, wild life experts managed to coax the dolphin to the open sea, but it turned back after apparently spotting a pair of unfriendly dolphins. officials in washington state are hoping that a laptop may provide details to a situation in california over the weekend. survivalist peter keller allegedly killed his wife and daughter before setting fire to the crime scene. he holed up in a bunker until s.w.a.t. teams moved in over the weekend. they found him dead inside, apparently of a self-inflicted wound. two riders were sharing the road with drivers in berkeley when a car swerves into them and drives away.

the cyclists were only bruised, thankfully, but one of them had a small camera on the handlebars. that recorded the driver's license plate. police enhanced the video and tracked down the driver. now to london where the city is preparing for the olympics this summer in an extraordinary way. some londoners have received leaflets from the military informing them they'll deploy anti-aircraft missiles and soldiers on their rooftops. the olympics are major terror target. now some nba playoff highlights. we get those from our friends at espn news. good morning, cole wright here with your "sportscenter" update. in the western conference quarter finals, they started off a little slow. at the end, it was well worth the price of admission. blake griffin's clips taking on the grizzlies.

let's get to the action. grizz up six, mike conley, let's make it nine. tickling the twine from deep right there. memphis taking full advantage of home court. conley to gay. pops, stops. grizzlies increase their lead to 14. hold on one second. here come the clippers. down 12, chris paul to nick young. doing his thing from deep. clippers down by three. just under 1:00 to go. clippers, paul to rej skggie ev. reggie evans, yes, they lead. just over 30 to go. rudy gay, fade-away "j." grizzlies back on top. paul makes his first from the stripe. second one, that gave the clips the lead, with four seconds to play. rudy gay, he was the answer, or was he? apparently not. he misses that. the clippers come back from 27 down to win this one, 99-98. ray allen, out with an

injury. celtics, loose ball. brandon bass called for the foul. rajon rondo didn't like it. he got t'd up. he bumped the ref, he gets ejected. hawks win, 83-74. and monday night baseball, the blue crew go north of the border to face off with the blue birds. yu darvish will throw the ball. it all gets under way at 7:00 eastern on espn and espn3. you won't want to miss it. up next, "the pulse." michael jackson? whitney houston? wait till you hear about this. >> very juicy stuff. and who was glamming up the white house correspondents' denner dinner over the weekend? we're on the red carpet, next. for three hours a week, i'm a coach.

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aspirin? i don't really know what it's for. isn't aspirin like a vague pain reliever? aspirin is just old school. people will have doubts about taking aspirin for pain.

that's why we developed bayer advanced aspirin with micro particles. it enters the bloodstream fast and rushes relief to the site of pain. we know it works. now we're challenging you to put it to the test. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer. then try it yourself and tell us what you think. all right, time to check "the pulse," the stories you'll be talking about today. first up, a report from the british tabloid "the sun." it quotes a former body guard for michael jackson saying that michael jackson had a secret a the peak of her fame. they say jackson dreamed of marrying her. >> the bodyguard also says jackson was a nazi sympathizer haunted by baldness and his arms

were riddled with needle marks from doing drugs. >> is this real? >> he's claiming he's blanket's father. i'm not sure that the body guard is blanket's father. well, it was a big saturday night in washington, d.c. the annual white house correspondents' dinner. >> one of the only nights of the year that political heavy weights, the media, and all sorts of hollywood stars get together. president obama and abc's jimmy kimmel got the laughs. >> four years ago, i was locked in a brutal primary battle with hillary clinton. four years later, she won't stop drunk-texting me from cartagena. it's great to be here this evening in the vast, magnificent hilton ballroom. or what mitt romney would call a fixer-upper. >> there's a term for guys like president obama. probably not two -- terms -- but there is.

>> good-natured ribbing on all sides. right? some good lines there. how about the fashions? we gotta talk about that. let's take a look at some of the outfits saturday night. >> first up, kim kardashian. with embellished shoulders. and her long, luscious locks back in a bun. looking good there. >> kim, of course, well known for her bun. and we at abc news invited sofia vergara as well. looking very lovely as always. a black strapless dress. one of my favorites. looking good, miss sofia. >> lindsay lohan, a low-cut gown there. some are saying maybe a little bit too low cut. a brilliant shade of lipstick. >> it's good that she's out, how about that? and finally "world news tonight" anchor diane sawyer looking stunning there. very nice, miss sawyer, very nice. >> she wore it well.

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next, we are live with the latest on the doyle drive closure and whether the new road will open as expected. >> big changes drivers should expect on the new road. >> massive crash shuts down 680. the latest on the dangerous reason it could stay closed all morning. mike has the forecast. cooling trend begins today and culminates in a chance of rain thursd updating our top stories now. talks are under way to resolve the fate of chinese dissident chen guangcheng. who escaped house arrest a week

ago. insidehe's believed to be u.s. embassy in beijing. a meeting today between the gingrich and romney campaigns will take place behind closed doors. gingrich is expected to officially drop out of the race wednesday. the wife of john edwards' former aide, sherry young, is back on the stand today. on friday, she testified about her husband's formerly close relationship with edwards. look at today's weather. rainy in the pacific northwest. possible severe storms in the ohio valley. a nice, sunny day along the east coast after a chilly start. and finally from us this morning, like everything else, these days, courtship has gone online. dating websites attract millions of folks with the lure of technology and a promise of a little bit of science. >> but can that so-called science find your soulmate any petter than you might yourself? jim avila investigates.

>> reporter: in cleveland, autumn is single and writes about her dating frustration on her week site, 30somethingsingle.com. >> i hoped to meet my soul mate. and we would have a lot of things in common. >> reporter: these days, she's writing about the claims she saw on this e-harmony commercial. >> that matches singles based on -- >> reporter: autumn paid $59 a month for the service, took two hours to fill out the question but after a handful of dates, she's not buying the science. >> it didn't seem scientific at all, the way they matched me. >> reporter: autumn may be on to something. according to this professor of psychology who a relationship institute at ucla. >> online dating sites are very unlikely to make better choices for you than you would make for yourself. >> reporter: e-harmony is proud of its methods, boasting it creates more love in the world every day and is responsible for

54marriages a day. the former ceo told us two years ago -- >> i think of our algorithm as a starting point. it's a way to say to the user, here are a whole bunch of matches you're compatible with. >> reporter: they point out professor carney has never seen the science that goes into their love formula because it's secret. the professor says that's part of the problem. e-harmony and others say they provide scientific result but won't provide evidence that the questionnaires use science the find a better match since the answers cannot be verified. men fudge their height, women their weight and age. >> the guys i met, there was no chemistry with. >> reporter: leaving autumn still frustrated in cleveland. jim avila, abc news, new york. >> that's what's making news in america this morning. >> stay with us for "good morning america." thanks for watching. morning america." thanks for watching. have a great monday.@d closed captioning by closed captioning services,inc