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." 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[ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. right now, very well qualified lessees can get a 2012 equinox ls for around $229 a month. ♪ [ camera clicks ] ♪ it's hard to resist the craveable nature of a nature valley sweet & salty nut bar. 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. and they have six grams of sugars. with fifteen grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. . welcome back. minding your business this morning. the markets closed higher for the week last week. 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. a big jobs report on friday. a lot of politicking about jobless rates what matters to you is your jobless rate