this morning on "early today," making her case. supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor charges back against charges of bias. stunt gone wrong. a sport plane plunges out of the sky during an air show in germany. > and play ball. president obama throws out the ceremonial first pitch at major league baseball's 80th all-star ceremonial first pitch at major league baseball's 80th all-star game. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with trial by fire. judge sonia sotomayor will be back on capitol hill this morning for a second day of tough questioning in her bid to

become the nation's sex supreme court justice. this all follows a day of sharp, if polite, exchanges with republican lawmakers who honed in on one famous remark. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> no words i have ever spoken or written have received so much attention. >> reporter: the words were wise latina. sonia sotomayor, the first his panic nominated to the u.s. supreme court, had to answer for them again in her confirmation hearing. >> so i guess i'm asking today what do you really believe? >> reporter: in a series of speeches, sotomayor had said a wise latina would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male. >> i do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. >> reporter: some lawyers who argued cases before sotomayor said they came away with bad

feelings about her. republican lindsey graham read some feedback. >> she's a terror on the bench. she's temperament al, excitable. she seems angry. do you think you have a temperament problem? >> no, sir. i ask the hard questions but i do it evenly for both sides. >> reporter: sotomayor had not ruled on abortion cases, but anti-abortion rights activists protested her hearing. that could grind on through thursday. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, capitol hill. an associated press report citing government officials says at least a million dollars was spent by the cia on a secret program aimed at training a sass anyone squads to kill senior members of al qaeda. now, although this program never went beyond the planning stages, the cia admits it was kept hidden for years by former vice

president dick cheney. it was shut down only last month when cia director leigh-ann panetta learned of its existence. now they are requesting documents about the program which could trigger the launch of a full-scale investigation perhaps as early as this week. depending on the scope and scale of the program, lawmakers will determine whether congress notified. and after months of setbacks on the president's top domestic priority, house democrats have debuted a sweeping health care plan that's expected to cost the nation nearly $1.5 trillion over the next decade. unveiled yesterday by house speaker nancy pelosi, the overhaul aims to have 97% of americans enrolled in a health plan by 2015, that's all according to democrat aides. but the proposal comes the a cost. the weighty would face a tax increase of up to 5.4%. and individuals and employers would have to get coverage or pay costly penalties.

arizona senator john kyle is learning about the political payback and the obama administration is delivering it. after end to stimulus spending, the republican senator was quoted as staying of the stimulus money, quote, the reality is it hasn't helped yet. well, the white house fired back tuesday with letters from top officials to the state's governor itemizing the many programs at risk in kyle's home state should that federal funding end, transportation, housing and indian education were among those listed. and now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. in washington, the search is on for two armed men who robbed a bank in under two minutes. entering with guns drawn, the suspects ordered customers and employees to the floor and quickly ransacked drawers of cash. the pair wore wigs and facial hair that was fake. police recovered a stolen car which was used but they're still

looking for the two bandits. and take a look at this newly released video that shows a riot at a juvenile detention center in florida that cost four officers their jobs. law enforcers pour into the room to control the situation, but the sheriff says some used unnecessary force. officers kicked and punched some inmates even after they had been handcuffed. four officers were fired for that behavior. and a brand-new employee at a denver restaurant had an unfortunate first customer. the new hire had just opened the salad shop in the morning when an 80-year-old driver plowed through the front door causing some serious damage. well, fortunately neither the employee nor the driver were injured. a new york beach looked more like a movie set when a 26-foot shark washed ashore. it's unclear what killed the fish that was one ton. but researchers suspect an ailment since it had no visible injuries. well, the beast was not a human predator, it was a shark which

feeds on plankton. now, for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning. i don't know about heading out to long island now. it makes me a little nervous. >> da, da. get the music playing, right? well, as far as the forecast goes, the beach has been the place to be. long island all the way to southern new england. yesterday was a good beach day. we're continuing down the atlantic coast today, all the way down even into florida it's going to be nice, especially this morning out there. really a lack of weather to talk about. high pressure is built in. it's very calm throughout the ohio valley to new england. high pressure still keeping us humid and rather dry this morning at least down around the gulf. this is the dwridiividing line . there are storms in illinois, chick. the worst of the storms in central illinois. so as far as the forecast goes, relatively simple. some showers and storms

cincinnati to detroit today. beautiful weather, warm and sunny from d.c. all the way to southern new england. and typical afternoon storms in florida where we hope to get the space shuttle up later today. burlington, vermont is going to see a beautiful day. nice, cool, crisp morning, but the afternoon will be gorgeous, 76 degrees. wilmington, north carolina, 90 today. down in florida, 94 and warm in ft. myers. well, lynn, we're going to talk a little bit about the lack of any tropical systems when i come back a little later. >> all right. bill, thanks so much. well, a bank actually puts up good numbers. a tech leader leads by example. and one heck of a billing error. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, we have the details that will let you decide whether tony romo had a reason for his nasty breakup with jessica simpson. also, the american lead

giveth and the american league taketh away. and could an all-star be headed to philly? you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. and here are some of your top headlines this morning. nasa hopes to launch the space shuttle "endeavour" on a mission to the international space station this evening. five previous attempts have been scrubbed because of bad weather and technical problems. homeland security secretary janet napolitano announced a task force will be evaluating the nation's color coded terror alert system created after the september 11th attacks. the color system has long been ridiculed by late night comics and portrayed by democrats as a tool for political manipulation by the former bush administration. the episcopal church voted

overwhelmingly to allow gays and lesbians to become bishops. tensions have been strained since 2003 when a gay priest was consecrated as bishop of new hampshire prompting some conservative anglican leaders abroad to cut ties with the church. in germany, one family is very lucky to be alive after that plane crash you're looking at. it crasheded right into their car. the aircraft was doing stunts when it flew too low. if you can believe it, fortunately the three inside that car and the pilot all escaped with just minor injuries. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 8,359 after climbing 27 points on tuesday. the s&p was up 4. and the nasdaq inched up 6 points. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei nudged up 7 points, while in hong kong, the hang

seng surged 372 points. better than expected earnings forestry leaders gave investors something to smile about on all street tuesday. for more on that and all your early business headlines we're joined by steve sedgwick of the london headquarters of cnbc. steve, good morning. >> reporter: good day to you, lynn. really good numbers from a couple big players at the start of the earnings season. really giving the markets a bit of a shot in the arm. let's start off with goldman sachs. much better than expected figures, earning $4.93. better than expectations of $3.39. of course on monday they had already received a big upgrade from meredith whitney which sent the stocks higher. intel with fantastic numbers really. shares up 7% after hours. they're closely watched target top estimate by a long margin. but the outlook sent their shares to the highest level since october and, boy, the rest

of the sector. some remains pretty tough out there. that led to bigger than expected retail. inflation at the producer level. if you strip down gasoline sales and rebound in autos, actual .2 of 1%. also, we're looking at 1.8% rise in wholesale prices. that is double what analysts had expected and the biggest gain since november 2007. elsewhere, general motors chief executive is saying july auto sales were tough. they were weak compared with the same month last year. once again, the industry across the board will fall below the annual rate of 10 million vehicles this month. us airways, i'm afraid, saying they will reduce airport stock by 600 jobs this fall because of weak demand in business travel and declining revenue as well. i've had a few expensive meals around the globe but nothing like this, lynn. a $23 quadrillion mistake. showing up on a north texas

man's visa bill. apparently, it was just a temporary programming error. that's a relief. bearing in mind that is 2,000 times the national debt. >> ouch! thanks so much, steve. hot rumors about a fireballer landing in philadelphia. and lance armstrong burns up the tour de france. plus, an all-star play in the all-star game. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. the big weather story is the fact is we don't have a lot of big weather stories out there. we'll talk about it. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

and good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, as yogi berra would say it it is deja vu all over again last night as once again the american league had their way with the national league in the all-star game. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. 1996. that was the last time the national league had beaten the american league in the all-star game. well, believe it or not, the n.l. came out on the losing end once again. to busch stadium in st. louis. president obama throwing out the first pitch wearing a white sox jacket. albert pujols with the honor of catching for the commander in

chief. as for the game, the n.l. up 3-2 in the fifth. but joe bower doubles to left, teeter scores. the game tied at three. the n.l. had a chance to snap a 13-year-old winless streak. brad hawpe sends one deep to left but carl crawford makes the leaping catch robbing hawpe of a possible home run. a huge play by crawford who earns the all-star mvp. american league wins 4-3 on a sac fly and picks up home field advantage in the world series. >> this being my third time coming here, it definitely feels good to win the mvp award. you know, i'm just so happy i don't know really what to say. but, you know, i just hope i can come back and try to win it again. >> one more baseball note, according to reports, phillies have agreed to a one-year, $1 million contract for pedro martin martinez. the official announcement could be made today.

finally, after taking monday off, tour de france picked up with stage 10, a 120-mile track that saw competitors running without earpieces. lance armstrong not pleased with the new rule but not affected, finishing in the main pack. he's still eiht seconds behind leader rinaldo nocentini. and that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. as always, we have news of celebrity couples splitting, but also one that manages to keep on keeping on. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, they may not get as much attention as the major league all stars but these players are just as special. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back. if you notice one thing, it's been quiet. it's the tropics. we haven't had a named tropical system yet. july 10th is this white line here. we're right here. we're about to go up toward the peek of the season. now, don't give up yet. keep your guard up, i should say, because we're still looking for the possibility of storms. forecast for today, we are looking at sunshine out there. should be beautiful in new england, all the way to the mid atlantic. a really nice day. well, if you're watching wncn nbc 17 in raleigh, north carolina, journey through history, see the complete story of one of the world's favorite treats, chocolate, at the north

carolina museum of natural sciences. that's your eastern event of the day, lynn. >> bill, thanks so much. now let's take a look at your early look at headlines are entertainment. reports cowboy quarterback tony romo dumped jessica simpson on her birthday weekend may seem cold. but late-breaking details made clear what added fuel to his fire. he discovered simpson was still trading text messages with john mayer. simpson and romo had worked through rough patches recently until he found the messages and, quote, went ballistic. after a wild weekend in london, leonardo dicaprio says he's done with his girlfriend. he said, quote, he's definitely single. he was in a high-speed car chase trying to outrun female fans.

one couple not only survived, they're going back to the beginning, sort of. dave arquette tells e that he and wife courtney cox will star in scream 4. they fell in love shooting the original screen film. and this comes to us from tv news 5 in hastings, nebraska, where in nearby kearney, a special program for disabled children makes kids feel like all-stars every single day. in this league everyone gets to the plate and no one keeps score. the local kids with mental and physical disabilities are given the chance to enjoy something most take for granted, enjoying our national pastime. parents and teenage athletes pitch in and make a whole bunch of big league dreams come true. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your fist stop of the day today on your nbc station. , and this is "early today," just your fist stop of the day today on your

nbc station.

>> take a look at that line of strong thunderstorms. that's associated with a cold front. that's going to change our weather pattern. 72 did you know town, 62 at bwi marshal. 52 in york. today's high pressure much of the day. we'll see a shift in the wind direction out of the south. that will bring back the heat

tomorrow. jo we'll see you in a bit. here's a look ahead to 11 news today. two other high school coaches are fired after hosting a party involving alcohol, parents and players. jo house democrats unveil their support system. i'll have that story coming up. jo checking on your morning commute. a smooth ride a few issues to

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>> good morning. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> this can't last forever, right. only fw one more