facebook at $100 billion. the most valuable company ever at the time of its initial public offering. and more valuable than citi or mcdonald's. millions hoping it will help them boost their bottom lines this morning. dan simon is live at the facebook mothership in menlo park, california, where workers are marking the occasion by working all night long. seriously, dan, what's up with that? >> it's 2:00 in the morning here and we're wide awake. they're having a hack a thon, an opportunity for facebook employees to basically do what they do best -- build, design, create. they do this periodically, an interesting public relations move as we're about to begin the trading of the stock. what they want to do is send a message to the world that they built this company on building stuff. so that's what they're doing. they posted pictures to the website showing what's going on inside some of these rooms. in terms of the fundamental challenge facing facebook in the future, it's exactly that. continuing to build services that people like. i want you to listen to silicon valley venture capitalist greg gretsch. >> what they're going to run into the next year, two years as they go public is the quarterly focus that wall street's going to put on them. the question will be in the coming years whether or not that quarterly focus, that quarterly drive to make the numbers, takes them off their focus on the product and the user experience. >> reporter: so the user experience is what made facebook, that $104 billion company, along with the advertising revenue they're getting. can they build on that revenue? can they build their usage base? are they worth the valuation that we're seeing? take a listen. >> there's no way mathematically that you can actually say, yes, it's worth 25 times revenues. i don't believe that. but i don't think argue that it isn't worth it either because this is a company that sort of transcends the traditional metrics. >> well, it's really hard to say whether or not facebook will live up to that valuation until we see the next few earnings reports. in the meantime, the hack a thon is under way. and it will continue until the nasdaq bell rings. here from menlo park with mark zuckerberg ringing that bell at 6:30 a.m. local time. >> sometimes when you use the word hack it's a bad word. for them i understand it's very good. i understand out of the hack a thon that "like" came out of that. when you like on facebook? >> reporter: that's right. some of the most common features we see on facebook came as a result of these hack a thons. that's why they continue to have them. this is the 31st one that they've had. the like button, the timeline that you now see on facebook. what they want to do is hopefully get some of these features rolling along. if, in fact, some of these things take hold, the employees can make that project their full-time position. so it's an interesting approach. >> some of them even may become millionaires. thank you very much for that report. dramatic new details in the trayvon martin shooting revealed as evidence in the cases releases to the public. for the first time we're seeing trayvon just moments before he died. this is surveillance video of the florida teenager taken at a 7-eleven where they bought those now-famous skittles and a drink. the official autopsy on martin shows he had traces of marijuana in his system. the police report reveals two weeks after the tragedy, officers in sanford, florida, concluded martin's death was "ultimately avoidable" if only zimmerman had stayed in his car like 911 dispatchers requested. and these newly released photos of zimmerman clearly showing an injury to his nose, as well as bloody lacerations to his scalp. in the hours after his deadly encounter with the unarmed teen. cnn's john zarrella is live in miami this morning. a lot of evidence to go through, including the reports of traces of thc, which comes with marijuana, in trayvon's system. >> reporter: a couple hundred pages that came out along with the pictures and the videotape. and you know, the attorneys are going to of course spin this, they're going to try to characterize it, to mold it to fit their cases. and ultimately that's when we go to court and why we try to figure out and how they try to figure out who has the advantages here, if anybody, looking at this video and looking at all of this information. you know, we went through a lot of the documentation, a lot of the witness statements. and all of the witness statements that i read all indicated the same thing. they heard the scuffling. they heard the cries for help. but none of them actually saw what happened. the autopsy report, you mention that. with the traces of thc. a lot of experts say, don't read too much into that. because thc can linger in someone's blood for up to a week. but it also indicates that the gunshot entered the left chest, entered the right ventricle. now, on piers morgan last night, both of the attorneys were asked, how did they characterize this evidence? >> whether it's an autopsy report or a medical record or some video or even a picture, it's what becomes the people's focus. but it's only one small sliver. then they make the decision on the sliver and that prejudging the fragments carries through to the next fact and it's just not appropriate. >> again, you have to put it in context, piers. george zimmerman pursued and confronted trayvon martin after he profiled him and initiated an altercation. we believe trayvon martin went to his grave not knowing who this strange man was that was confronting him. >> now a lot had been made early on about the alleged racial slur on the telephone recording that was captured. and after fbi analysis that came out yesterday. they also, the fbi, saying, look, there was just no way, it was very poor quality, they could not discern whether there was any kind of racial slur on that. so again, ali, still a lot more material expected to be forthcoming and still come out as we start to get a broader picture of what happened on that night of february 26th. >> john, with respect to the 911 audiotapes, there was some material here that indicated trayvon's mother thought that the voice crying for help on the tape was his and the father seemed to be less certain. >> yeah, and again, no certainty in those 911 tapes either from analysis. it is still very difficult, impossible is what we're being told, to discern who is saying what. because the quality was just not good enough. >> all right. john, good to see you, john zarrella in miami on this story. there may be a break in the case of two highway murders in mississippi. police are questioning a suspect, there he is, 45-year-old james lucas. he was picked up after allegedly pulling over two drivers, both of which escaped after feeling suspicious. a confederate flag vanity plate led police to that man. police are trying to figure out if the suspect is behind the two deadly highway shootings that occurred 55 miles apart. we'll have a live report from cnn's ed leven der ra just ahead. houston rocked by mass protests after an all-white jury acquits an ex-police officer in the beating of a black teenager. demonstrators rallied outside the harris county courthouse yesterday. one of four officers charged in the 2010 beating of 15-year-old burglary suspect chad holly. the other three officers are awaiting court dates. he says he doesn't think he did anything wrong. houston's mayor and the district attorney say they disagree with the verdict. donna summer died yesterday after a long cattle with cancer at just 63 years old. donna summer had a string of mega-hits in the 1970s and '80s. "hot stuff," "last dance," love to love you, baby" to name a few. fellow artists say she is going to be missed. >> we lost somebody who was great, such an important artist of her time. and of a particular type of music that was so important to america's pop cultural history. >> in a statement, donna summer's family says she was a woman of many gifts. the greatest being her faith. we're going to have more on donna summer's life and legacy at 6:20 eastern. we'll talk with "the wall street journa journal"'s christopher john farley, editor of the paper's cultural website. less than 24 hours away from the launch of the first commercial rocket headed to the international space station with its unmanned dragon speculate craft, set to lift off from the kennedy space center at 4:55 a.m. on saturday. it's a first step, a major step, in nasa's plan to turn over space station missions to commercial enterprises. i'll have another going for the second leg of the triple crown tomorrow at the 137th preakness. bodie meister the favorite going into the race at pimlico even though i'll have another beat him in the final 100 yards at the kentucky derby two weeks ago. can he do it again? >> that's why i don't bet on horses, i can never understand how those odds work. a moment of terror caught on camera, people running for their lives as a gun battle rages on a crowded city street. this is incredible. more video and the story behind it when "early start" returns. we charge everything else... maybe it's time to recharge the human battery. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system from beautyrest... it's you, fully charged. it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. [ female announcer ] nature valley granola bars, rich dark chocolate, toasted oats. perfect combinations of nature's delicious ingredients, from nature valley. ♪ nature valley granola bars, nature at its most delicious. ♪ ah, welcome to hotels.com. i get it...guys weekend. yeah! if you're looking for a place to get together, you came to the right place. because here at hotels.com, we're only about hotels. yeah! yeah! noooo. yeah! finding you the perfect place is all we do. welcome to hotels.com 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. one crime scene, two separate deadly shootings during a chaotic afternoon in louisville caught on camera. terrifying scene caught outside university hospital. police responding to a shooting that left two men dead. about 90 minutes after the incident, while police were investigating, more shots rang out. in the crowd, one woman had pulled out a gun and shot another woman. then a police officer shot and wounded her. in all, three people were killed and three others wounded. the police chief of louisville says detectives are still piecing together why it happened, what the motives were. >> that is unbelievable. it looks like a scene out of a movie but it's not. that is real life. here's christine romans. >> it's friday. facebook friday. in just a few hours, facebook will be a publicly traded company. ticker fb will hit the nasdaq today, offering price $38 a share. although you may be paying twice that by the time it hits at the open. maybe around 11:00 we'll be seeing those first trades for facebook. new evidence just released in the trayvon martin case that includes police photos of shooter george zimmerman with an apparent injury to his nose and lacerations on the back of his head after his tragic encounter with a florida teen. also surveillance video of martin making a purchase at a nearby 7-eleven moments before his fatal run-in with zimmerman. the official autopsy on martin showing traces of marijuana in his system. john edwards' fate in the hands of the jury this morning. they'll be deliberating whether the former north carolina senator is guilty. he's accused of using campaign cash to cover up his affair. edwards' lawyer urging them to separate sin from criminal behavior. and the staples center in los angeles may just be the busiest building in america right now, hosting six playoff games in four days. started last night with the nhl western conference playoff match between the l.a. kings and phoenix coyotes. tonight, kobe bryant and the lakers host oklahoma city in the nba playoffs. and this weekend, there are double headers both days featuring lakers and thunder, clippers and spurs. rob marciano joining to us talk about weather and arizona fires. good morning, rob. >> good morning, ali. not only arizona but colorado, where both places had evacuations under way yesterday. fires burning, still out of control between 5% and 7% containment at the hewlett fire west of ft. collins, colorado, and the gladiator fire just north of phoenix. both have grown in intensity. red flag warnings and critical fire danger out at least for parts of arizona again today. the deal's going to be winds. 40 to 50-mile-an-hour winds gusting through the four corners region, some of that getting up into colorado. today's going to be tough for firefighters. they could use some rain. they got rain across south florida and the keys. key west over 2 inches. that was a record-setter. more moisture today. most folks will see a nice weekend across the northeast. this system across massachusetts will try to make its way across the carolinas. other than, that low levels of humidity and comfortable temperatures for much of the eastern half of the country. 81 in chicago. kind of toasty. 72 in new york city. 81 in atlanta. 89 dallas. 70 in los angeles. that's a quick check on weather. time for our "early reads" this morning. let's start a toss-up in texas, literally. this afternoon, voters in the city of wallforth deciding their city council election with a coin flip. kjtv says the weekend voting ended with a draw with both candidates snagging 118 votes. the men decided to save taxpayers the cost of a runoff by agreeing to a coin toss. >> 236 people voting, how expensive would the runoff be? i guess it's the advertising and the campaigning. >> flat incredible. >> interesting. we're not telling you who won. unbelievable story from our kentucky affiliate wlex. a summer santa. a businessman in clark county buys out a kmart store that's closing down. he bought everything in it. 76-year-old rankin pater purchased everything in the store and donated it all to charity. nice. the estimated cost of all the inventory was about $200,000. pater's paying rent for a building to store the items while a nonprofit makes plans to distribute them. 90% of the merchandise is winter clothing. so it's all going to be relevant to the people who need it. pater says, "i just figured that my family isn't going to go cold or hungry this winter but something i could do to help a lot of people." >> what an incredible gesture. very kind. it's a killing spree that struck fear in the hearts of drivers across mississippi. a gunman impersonating a police officer and murdering two people. this morning there is a possible break in the case. we'll bring you the details on that after the break. born to leap, born to stalk, and born to pounce. to understand why, we journeyed to africa, where their wild ancestor was born. there we discovered that cats, no matter where they are... are born to be cats. and shouldn't your cat be who he was born to be? 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[ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. that can help lower cholesterol? today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. welcome back to "early start." a break in the case of two highway murders last week in mississippi. cnn's ed lavandera is live in dallas. there are a lot of new details, what's going on? >> reporter: this is starting to change up this morning. we were talking about an arrest or someone who is being questioned in connection with these shootings that happened just south of memphis in northwest mississippi. last week, two people who were shot and killed by what investigators are suggesting was someone who perhaps pulled them over on the side of the road impersonating a police officer. we're now hearing word from officials in tunica county, mississippi, which is close to where these shootings happened -- i just got off the phone with someone some in the communications office who's telling me they are set to announce the arrest of an alleged shooter in connection with these interstate shootings and that this person would be charged with murder. we're still trying to get more information because all of this is confusing. because yesterday in yazoo city, south of where the shootings happened, investigators were questioning another man who apparently on wednesday tried to pull over two people and perhaps was trying to impersonate an officer. there was speculation yesterday afternoon and late yesterday that perhaps this might have been the culprit in these cases a little bit further north. now we're hearing there might be another arrest altogether. so we're going to continue to work this here throughout the morning and try to clear up the information we have. but clearly a lot of activity and a lot of movement on this story in northwest mississippi right now. >> ed, not just an arrest but actually a charge with murder in the second one that you're following this morning? >> reporter: right. what i'm trying to clarify is to make sure we're not talking about the same people there. so far, i haven't been able to get clarification, literally just getting off the phone with officials there in tunica just a few moments ago. we're going to continue to work that. it's my understanding that this might be completely separate from the people that we had planned to talk about this morning and the man who was being questioned in yazoo city. i'm going to try to clarify that this morning. >> we'll get back to you and try to get the latest developments, thank you. the folks in that part of town are going to be very happy. >> very. that was a scary one. a second grader raises a ruckus at school. take a look why, he's in blackface. there's a reason why he put blackface on and you're going to judge for yourself. i think we gave you a hint there -- if he should have got no one trouble when you hear from him coming up. if you're leaving the house now watch us any time, no need to not have us by your side. we'll ob your desktop, on your mobile phone. cnn.com/tv. i didn't know how i was gonna to do it, but i knew i was gonn