>> today we have a chance to end this debt limit crisis. >> that chance came and went, at least for today. and now washington is making a desperate last-minute attempt to avoid a government default. good evening. there's still no deal. the stalemate continues over extending the nation's line of credit. the latest plan to fail in the house came from the senate majority leader leader hayward. leader harry reid.

>> if the two sides don't agree soon, the impact will be far reaching. >> house will be in order. >> political wrangling played out across the house floor today as democrats and republicans followed party lines while voting on the latest debt crisis plan. >> wall street unite we're the f america. let's go from the dark side to the bright side of the american people. vote yes on the reid bill. >> vote no on the reid proposal. >> it was pure partisan payback, the republican-controlled house rejected senate majority leader harry reid's bill today to raise the nation's debt ceiling. last night speaker john boehner's $900 billion debt reduction plan. >> congress needs a plan from both parties in the house and senate, and it's got to be a plan i can sign by tuesday. >> tuesday at midnight the government loses its power to

borrow money. there will be some funds from taxes to pay some bills, but not all. as the deadline creeps closer, pass the senate. wwe know it will not pass the house. my view is it ought to end that charade. >> we're stopping a filibuster. we're doing our gusty stop their stalling on this important piece of legislation. , they meaning the republicans. >> late today the president met with democratic leaders to discuss next steps. >> it's time for the president to tell us what he's for. it's time for the president to outline how we get ou out ou o s cul-de-sac. >> boehner walked on him twice, saying we have to figure it out at the capitol. now he goes back to the

president. it's very bizarre. >> the senate meantime hasn't even voted on senator reid's plan. discussions should start tonight at 10:00 p.m. standard time, 1:00 a.m., john, on the east coast. >> lisa, thank you very much. half a world away from washington, the debt crisis is on the minds of u.s. troops serving in afghanistan. marines want to know if they'll get paid if the debt deadline expires. it was the first question they asked the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff during his visit today to afghanistan. admirable mike mullen told him he does not know the answer, but says he's confident they will eventually get any salary they're owed. failure to raise the debt ceiling could have widespread impact and end up costing us all more. interest rates for homes and cars are expected to rise. rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage could go a half percent. economists believe the crisis could lead to a further drop in the value of the u.s. dollar. as a result the price for goods, specifically imported from china, like rice and spices would increase. jitters about the debt deadline

are having an impact on wall street. the dow lost 581 points last week. there's the biggest weekly drop in a year. a stanford political science expert says the impasse is nothing new. professor david brady says both parties have the same problem, getting their members to compromise. republicans have to convince tea party and democrats have to convince moderates. >> i think it's sort of normal politics, exacerbated by the criticalness of the problem. again, exacerbated bite fact that markets don't like what's happening, and moreover there's the threat of a downgrade from moody's. >> brady does expect lawmakers to come to a compromise before the august 2nd deadline, but he says it will down to the wire. the families of two uc berkeley graduates in prison in

iran on is be pardon prisoners. bauer's fiancee, sarah shourd, was released last fall. tomorrow marks the two-year anniversary of their arrests. a jet flying from new york crashed and broke in two while landing in the south american country of guyana. everyone on board survived. officials marveled that no one was killed. the caribbean airlines plane slid off the end of a rainy runway, stopping short of plunging into a ravine. 163 people were on board. about 100 of them were hurt, but just four of them seriously. >> give them what they saw, the position of the aircraft, it was serious. the plane practically broke inr two.

so that we should be grateful for that. >> when the plane land, i told my friend we're going to die, because there was not enough room to stop. >> they were forced to struggle at first to remove the passengers. an investigation into the cause of that crash is ongoing. residents in san bruno smelled gas. there was a section of pipe that blew up last year, but inactive since the mid 50s when the line was relocated. crews have halted work on the pipeline until they can inform all residents there's nothing to be worried about. >> we were uncertain this odorant would be coming out today, so that's why we want to go back and communicate that to them so they know that smell in the odorant might be a possibility when we do the work. >> pg&e is excavating the

pipeline at the request of the california public utility commission. santa cruz police tonight investigating an ugly case of vanneddism that targeted about 50 vehicles. somebody slashed dozens of tires and painted swastikas on six cars on the western side of the city. the crime took place someplace between 11:00 last night and 1:00 this morning. police aren't sure if the vandals targeted specific vehicles or if it was a random spree. who would have thought that one of the newest hotspots in san francisco is a library? ahead a big crowd came out for a big celebration. the long wait for a permanent library comes to an end for folks in one neighborhood. and then -- >> he knows what's going on. >> he knows what you're doing. >> he's got to be able to breathe. >> a close encounter for whale researchers. ahead how they saved a harpback's life. >> hi there, everyone.

i'm meteorologist leigh glaser. we'll take a look at live doppler 7 hd, so where the severe storms are happening right now, plus our accuweather

>> thieves stole more than two dozen firearms from a military base in southern california. the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms says 26ak-74 assault rifles and a sniper rifle were stolen from a fly warehouse at fort erwin in san bernardino county on july 15th. arrests have been made, but no details were given. only one rifle was recovered.

there's a $10,000 for information leading to more arrests. after more than 75 years in temporary spaces a permanent library is open tonight in san francisco's visitacion valley neighborhood. a loud crowd came out today for the grand opening celebration, including city officials on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. for good luck, dancing dragons took part in the festivities. the 9,000-square-foot sustainable building is located on 215 leland avenue at rutland avenue. >> when we young people who will learn how to read in this amazing space, when we our senior citizens and our families, we are coming together. >> the visitacion valley library is the 20th project to be completed under the improvement program, funded by a nearly $106 million bond passed by voters back in 2000. ahead the tale of a grateful whale. the story behind an encounter on the high seas that left one

group of whale researchers amazed. and we have storms in the sierra. meteorologist leigh glaser will let us know if they could be heading to the bay area. your accuweather forecast after the break. also abc7 news wants to share your story on how the economic downturn has changed your life. we want to tell your story on abc7 news. we'll be right back.

>> a lot people eating pasta tonight as they get set to run the san francisco marathon. the first wave takes off at 5:30 a.m. the starting line is at the ferry building on the embar dare row. runners make their way along the waterfront, through the pri sidio, back through golden gate bridge and then the park. the finish line is back at the

embarcadero. the race will result in several road closures tomorrow, including the embarcadero, and two northbound lanes of the bridge will be closed from 6:00 to 9:00. an amazing story of man, beast and gratitude. it happened in the sea of cortez off baja california. they worked like crazy to free the struggling animal. what happened next amazed them. abc's dan harris reports. >> when the team of researchers came across this humpback whale floating listlessly, they thought she was dead. then one of the researchers hopped in to see what was wrong. he discovered that she was tangled in 200 feet of netting and quickly losing strength. >> she was in horrible shape. this humpback whale would not have survived another night. she really had a hard time moving and even breathing. >> he tried to free her, but he couldn't. >> i got the dorsal fin free.

that's it. >> he and his teammates worked furiously from the boat could cut her loose with only a small knife to help. >> she knows what's going on. >> her life was on the line, and she kind of knew we were her chance, her lifeline to live. >> after an hour, the whale was finally free. >> we saved a humpback whale! >> as she swam off, there was this. and then this. and then another. the whale leapt out of the water 40 different times. it felt like a celebration. >> the magnificent life form on this planet, which was really on the brink of death, was free and

was just showing its joy of being alive. >> how whales say thank you. >> yeah, exactly. >> leigh is here. >> can we go back to the marathon tomorrow morning. the runners starting at 5:30 tomorrow morning. and obviously you'll have the low clouds and fog. you can already see it's starting to make its way inland from our high-definition camera. also mist and drizzle. actually nice conditions for the runners tomorrow. you know, not too hot, just right, with a little mist and drizzle, and of course the low clouds there. here's a look at current reading $. the low clouds and fog keeping temperatures inland today. you dropped about six degrees from this time yesterday. 82 in antioch. 75 in fairfield. 65 in san francisco. half moon bay, 63 degrees. we have 75 right now in san jose. here's a look at our highlights. we'll continue with that coastal fog moving inland. we'll bring in mist and drizzle as well. high clouds will start to move in across the bay area by tomorrow. stay with us through monday, and

yes, we do have sierra thunderstorms going on now. and they will be there for at least the next few days. in fact, let's check out live doppler 7 hd. check out the numerous lightning strikes just a little to the east now of south lake tahoe, starting to move into that area. incline right now argument severe thunderstorms, moving in toward the reno area. suffice it to say that there's severe thunderstorm watches and warnings out for much of this region. i'll take you down toward -- check out some of these recent lightning strikes, the deep reds, even purples in there, indicating some hail coming down as well. these will continue to rotate in overnight tonight. here's a look at our close-up satellite. you can see we started off this morning with low clouds and fog, pretty deep across most of the bay area. it tries to pull off the coast. it's not going too make it.

inland temperatures today in the mid to upper 80s. of course by the coast temperatures in the upper 50s to right near 60 degrees. so tonight all of this will move back further inland. we'll bring in low clouds fog, as well as mist and drizzle at the coast and bay. 54 for san francisco. interior east bay, antioch, you'll get down to 59 degrees. we'll go 58 degrees tonight for san jose. the reason for the thunderstorm outbreak we have high pressure in the four corners. circulation is clock, clockwise, driving up the tropical moisture. here. we you can see where the line is, where some of this moistures. right now we're very close to that. some of it could move into the southern portions of the bay area tomorrow. 4:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, the thunderstorms will continue across the spine of the sierra. some of that moisture may migrate closer to the bay area extreme east bay and definitely down toward southern monterey county you see there. we'll keep a close watch on

that. our highs for sunday, 76 for san jose. cupertino 75 degrees. foggy for half moon bay, 64. 76 for palo alto. san francisco tomorrow, some afternoon sunshine, 64 degrees. in the north bay, we'll look for daytime highs quite comfortable with 76 for santa rosa. interior east bay, that's where temperatures will be a little bit below normal. mid 80s or so. and then we'll go 82 for morgan hill. my accuweather seven-day forecast, the first part of the workweek things slightly cooler, and we'll see a little change as we head into wednesday, thursday and 48. friday. >> the lockouts over and the checkbook is open. >> all right. the niners are showing off their training camp roster, trying to fill it out with free agents and undrafted player, but the man they wanted back was quarterback

alex smith, signed a one-year deal yesterday, but can't deal yesterday, but can't practice until ethics deal yesterday, but can't practice until ethics ♪ ♪ free access to chase atm's wherever you are. that's a step forward. chase customers can avoid atm fees with over 16,000 nationwide. take a step forward and chase what matters.

>> according to the associated press the nfl players association has returned to being a union and is negotiating the finalzvñ items, such as drug testing, disability and pensions. they have until next thursday to wrap this up. so free agents can return to work. 49ers got their prize yesterday, resigning quarterback alex smith tie acone-year deal from $5 million. some detractors will say, oh, gosh, here we go again with alex smith, but with most free agent

quarterbacks already committed to other teams, the niners needed a veteran, but under the new cba alex cannot report to camp until ethics nurse, a week of playing catch-up for alex. >> a weird situation. great to be out here. finally signed, but came out and can't do anything. you know, it's the rule. so just going to make the most of it, try to take as mental reps as i can and get ready to go when i get my chance. >> all right. 13 innings with edgar renteria, now a red, hitting the rbi. now game two of this three-game set. madison baumgardner got rocked in the first inning. this two-run rbi single. 3-0 cincinnati. after a throwing error, men on second and third, they come home. 5-0 after one. top tuesday, pueblo sandoval,

see ya. score right now 5-1 in the third. more coming up at 6:00. well, the thunder you're hearing up in sonoma is not weather related. it's the national hot rod association. it's a homecoming of sorts for ron august jr. the proud of pleasanton is back and racing in northern california once again. he finished 14th in today's top field qualifier. the bay area isn't known for producing nhra talent, but he says it was in his blood from day one. >> four or five nights a week, different tracks, fremont, half moon bay, every day they basically had a different place they were going. he helps with other crews. as i got older, he kind of told me he would always help me do this. we own cars together. if i didn't mess up big, he'd be there to help me. >> third round of the british open, yani tseng, shoots a 66,

two back of the herd. senior u.s. open in toledo, and it was hot. so it was mark o'meara, shot a 66. birdie here on 17. two basket leader and playing partner olin brown, shooting a 65, sets a u.s. open 15 under after three rounds at inverness, birdieing 17 and 18, looking for his first champions tour victory with a two-shot lead.

>> coming up in a half hour on abc7 news at 6:00, it's the end of an era as one of the few remaining skate rinks from the bay area gets ready to close up shop. and a language becomes extinct every two weeks. how researchers are trying to save them before it's too late. join us for abc7 news at 6:00. a homecoming today for a group of penguin chicks at the san francisco zoo. the five chicks returned to their birthplace at the zoo after successfully completing fish school. they learned how to swim and were hand fed by animal keep tears keep them get used to interacting with people. apparently all of that learning is exhausting for the penguins. we'll take a break. "world news" is coming up next. again our next newscast is at 6:00. we'll see you the