> it's monday, july 13th. in the news this morning supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor gets her turn to speak when her confirmation hearings begin and goes on the record for the first time since her nomination. >> three arrests in florida in connection with the deaths of a couple with 16 kids, a dozen of them adopted. and an explosive charge from la toya jackson about the death of her brother. but she's not offering many of her brother. but she's not offering many details. captions paid for by abc, inc. good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm jeremy hubbard. >> i'm vinita nair. supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor heads to capitol hill in a few hours to face confirmation hearings in the senate.

>> today sotomayor gets a chance to tell her own story how she went from the projects to princeton to the steps of the nation's highest court. tomorrow, the tough questions start. here's abc's christianne klein. >> reporter: judge sonia sotomayor will be the latest supreme court nominee to face the sometimes contentious senate judiciary committee. >> our constitutional structure is the most important thing this nation has. >> reporter: president ronald reagan's nominee robert bork was rejected after many thought he would tilt the court too far to the right. clarence thomas faced a barrage of questions, even allegations of sexual harassment during his 1991 hearings. leading to this famous outburst. >> this is a circus. it's a national disgrace. and from my standpoint, as a black american as far as i'm concerned it is a high-tech lynching. >> reporter: in 2006 during alito's hearings his wife left the room in tears after democrats grilled her husband on his past membership in a

controversial group. >> i have wracked my memory about the issue and have no specific recollection of that organization. >> reporter: judge sotomayor is sure to face her own set of tough questions. the list of witnesses include two white firefighters who claim they are discriminated when the city of new haven threw out the test results fearing they were discriminatory to minorities. she sided with the city only to have that overturned by the vote of the supreme court of the united states. >> in terms of things that will cause the public to maybe take a second look, republicans are hoping that the white firefighters' case does the trick. >> reporter: unless her hearing reveals a bombshell revelation, judge sotomayor is expected to be confirmed by the senate. christianne klein, abc news, washington. also front and center this

week in washington the threat of dual investigations into the cia's anti-terror tactics during the bush administration. >> it is a scenario president obama has been reluctant to embrace and one republicans insist is a bad idea. emily schmidt joins us with more. >> reporter: this morning there are new questions about how the bush administration handled its war on terror with allegations that former vice president dick cheney misled congress about a secret program. the cia depends upon secrecy but some senators say the bush administration took that secrecy too far after september 11th. they allege former vice president dick cheney ordered the cia to hide a counterterrorism program from congress. >> to have a massive program that is concealed from the leaders in congress is not only inappropriate, it could be illegal. >> reporter: published reports say the secret plan never became operational. little is known about what it would do. but when current cia director

leon panetta learned of it last month he ended the program then he told congress about the plan he said mr. cheney wanted kept secret. >> he was told that the vice president had ordered that the program not be briefed to the congress. >> what do you -- >> i think this is a problem, obviously. >> reporter: attorney general eric holder is already considering a criminal investigation into how the cia treated terror suspects. republicans warn investigations could stifle critical intelligence gathering. >> i hope that we don't feel the attorney general doesn't feel a need to go back into it. we'll see. he's the attorney general, but i hope he doesn't feel that need to do so. >> reporter: former vice president dick cheney has not commented about the recent reports though said in the past that the bush administration's handling of its intelligence gathering has always been constitutional. vinita? >> emily reporting from washington, thanks. in florida, three men are

charged in connection with the murder of a wealthy company known for adopting children with special needs. wayne coaldine and leonard gonzalez injury are charged with murder. gonzalez's father was arrested for tampering with the evidence accused of trying to cover up the crime. bird and melanie billings were found shot to death in the home they shared with their 16 children. more on this case later in the half hour. another violent weekend for american troops in afghanistan. two marines died in a bomb blast bringing the total number of u.s. troops killed there this year to at least 104. meanwhile, president obama has ordered an investigation into possible war crimes against the taliban. allied forces in afghanistan accused of putting as many as 2,000 prisoners in sealed containers for a two-day trip. witnesses say the prisoners suffocated and were buried in a mass grave. and in iraq, a bomb exploded near a convoy carrying christopher to a meeting outside baghdad. nobody was hurt but in baghdad bombs blew up nearly five

christian churches in what appear to be coordinated attacks. at lesion four were killed and more than 30 injured. la toya jackson is telling two british tabloids her brother michael was murdered as part of a conspiracy to steal his fortune. she says the pop superstar was "worth more dead tan alive" to these people and claims she knows who is to blame for his death but does not name names or offer any evidence. the obama administration has announced a null of new food safety rules. they come amid a rash of food scares involving everything from peanuts to ground beef to cookie dough and they are designed to take a bite out of foodborne illnesses as lisa stark reports. >> reporter: the new rules are designed to stop food contamination from the get-go. >> the key really is to have these prevention measures in place. >> reporter: to fight e. coli increased inspection of beef processing plants. for salmonella, tougher

standards for chicken and turkey production. one of the changes involves new rules to reduce the risk of salmonella in eggs. now, the government estimates the new regulations will cut death and illnesses from salmonella in eggs by 60%. these measures are already under way here at harvest lane farm in pennsylvania. a state with a model program. when hens arrived ter certified salmonella free. traps keep out rodents. visitors wear protective suits so they don't bring in contaminants. any eggs that test positive for salmonella are kept out of the grocery store. >> fantastic for the consumer. no matter where they buy their eggs they'll be produced following this. >> reporter: they require eggs to be stored and shipped at cold temperatures to reduce bacteria. >> a great way of completely controlling food safety in this case salmonella from the production end right through to the consuming public. >> reporter: it's been a long time in coming partly because

the fda and usda were arguing over who had responsibility for eggs. >> too many agencies in charge really meant that consumers have had to wait for over ten years to get effective regulations. >> reporter: these new steps won't eliminate all illnesses, so the white house is also working to ensure that food outbreaks when they happen are caught and traced back more quickly. lisa stark, abc news, liditz, pennsylvania. space shuttle "endeavour" will try to lift off today after thunderstorms forced nasa to scrub last night's launch for the fourth delay so far. lightning strikes at the kennedy space center postponed saturday's launch. two previous launch attempts were scrubbed because of hydrogen leaks. and now for this morning's weather from around the nation, thunderstorms and severe weather from washington state to the dakotas and down to colorado. expect large hail, gusty winds and possible tornadoes. thunderstorms also from florida and the carolinas all the way to

arkansas. showers in new england and the pacific northwest. just 68 for seattle. 75 for portland. but phoenix hits a scorching 113 today. a high of 79 in chicago. 80 in detroit. 87 in st. louis. dallas gets up to 102 today. new orleans, 94, and we are well into the 80s along much of the east coast. and when we come back a wall street powerhouse is expected to report blockbuster earnings. the business news straight ahead. and sarah palin talks about what's next after she leaves alaska's statehouse. she may be resigning but she is not stepping aside.

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investors are bracing for a flood of corporate earnings this week. hundreds of companies are reporting results from the second quarter. those numbers could give important clues about what direction the economy is heading. overseas markets are anticipating a rough week. tokyo's nikkei average tumbled 2.5%. hong kong's hang seng is down big. in london the ftse opened lower. wall street starts the day with the dow at 8,146 after falling 134 points last week. 9 nasdaq fell 40 points to close at 1756. one company expecting good news this week is goldman sachs. the banking giant will reportedly announce a blowout second quarter profit tomorrow. perhaps in excess of $2 billion. the results come weeks after gold plane repaid its government bailout and just months after the financial industry nearly collapsed.

the names of thousands of americans hiding money in secret swiss bank accounts could soon be revealed. the u.s. and swiss governments and banking giant ubs are close to a settlement in a high-profile case of tax evaders and asked to delay a hearing set to begin today. more than 52,000 wealthy americans are suspected of hiding $15 billion at the bank. well, he's no borborat but "bruno" is a winner. it shocked audiences to a tune of more than $30 million landing in the top spot. there are signs the movie may not have the staying power of "borat." "ice age: dawn of the dinosaurs" took second place and "transformers: revenge of the fallen" slipped to third. >> get the business news any time on our website, abcnews.com. when we come back arrests are made in the murders of the florida company with 16 children. the latest on the suspects and how the kids are doing. also, a miraculous story

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welcome back. these are the latest headlines from abc news. supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor gets a chance to tell her own story as confirmation hearings begin today on capitol hill. the cia could be under investigation by the justice department and by congress. at issue, the legality of anti-terror tactics. space shuttle "endeavour" tries to blast off tonight after bad weather scrubbed last night's launch for the fourth delay since last month. now to the arrests in the murder of a florida couple known for adopting children. they had 16 children in all, several of them with developmental disabilities. this morning police aren't revealing a motive in the case but they are saying the killers were experienced. with more here's our richard

davies. >> reporter: florida police announced two more arrests in the murders of byrd and melanie billings. >> we've also arrested and he has been taken into custody in santa rosa county our adjoining county, leonard patrick gonzalez jr. on an open count of murder. so we have two arrests on an open count of murder, mr. wayne coldiron, mr. leonard patrick gonzalez jr. >> reporter: earlier in the day police arrested 56-year-old patrick gonzalez sr. saying he was trying to paint the red van that was found behind a shed a few miles from the murder scene. >> at this time he will be charged with tampering with evidence in a murder investigation. >> reporter: the van and three suspects were captured on surveillance video at the couple's home last thursday at the time of the killings. >> we're satisfied with the progress of the investigation. we anticipate additional arrests will be made. >> the community is shocked by the murder of the couple who have 16 children.

12 of them adopted with developmental disabilities. >> they said that they're going to do everything in their power to keep them together so i hope that happens but that will be a huge commitment. >> reporter: the billings have installed the extensive surveillance system with a camera in almost every room to watch over their children. eight were in the house asleep when the crime was committed. all of the children are safe and together with relatives while the murder investigation continues. richard davies, abc news. a suburban philadelphia swim club accused of racism is trying to reverse course now. board members say they want to invite a day camp of mostly black and hispanic kids back to the pool. the club has been at the center of a controversy after the campers were told not to return because of safety issues. some of the children said they heard racist comments while at the pool. and soon to be ago ex-alaska governor says she will step in the spotlight writing a book and campaigning for political

candidates from coast to coast. palin says she might even sfufrp for democrats providing they agree with her on limited government, national defense and energy independence. in china three minors have been found after spending nearly a month trapped underground. the men were discovered sunday after rescuers cracked open a tunnel. they'd manage to stay alive by drinking water that seeped through the earth. their mine was flooded in mid-june while 16 miners were working. one body was found, the other 12 are still missing. there is word this morning that north korean leader kim jong-il is suffering from pancreatic cancer. at a rare public appearance last week the 67-year-old kim appeared thin and unsteady on his feet. the survival rate for pancreatic cancer is only about 5%. well, there is more bloodshed this morning as the bulls run wild in pamplona, spain. today's injuries were minor. one man remains in intensive care after he was repeatedly gored during sunday's running of the bhuls, among four people

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. lance armstrong and the rest of the tour de france field have a rest day today but armstrong is still making headlines saying he will probably return to do another tour next year. >> seven-time tour winner is in third place at this year's tour, just eight seconds behind the leader. major league baseball has reached its all-star break. the midsummer classic is tomorrow night in st. louis. >> but the home run derby is tonight. you can see it on espn at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. yesterday's baseball action now from will selva at espnews. good morning.

and the angels have done it again to the bronx bombers. cc sabathia, 6-3 on the road. bottom four, tied at one, one out for kendrick. it is over the head of hinske. angels top seven, yankees trailing 4-2. bases loaded. a-rod. chone figgins gets him and helps lackey out of a jam. nick swisher back to oliver and doubles off melky cabrera and complete the sweep. josh beckett trying to remain unbeaten at home going for his 11th win versus the royals looking good striking out three of the first four batters he faced. it is becht facing john buck. advantage beckett. he returns the first nine batters he faced. then beckett atop the seventh, pena, a 4-6-3 d feed and beckett

one out away from a complete game and does it. gets his 100th career win. cards and cubs. game two of a doubleheader. ryan ludwick a home run machine. top one, two-run shot. then in the top of the sixth, ludwick does it again, seventh career multihome run game. he finished 3 for 4 with two homers and 4 rbi batting .478 in his last six games. that'll do it for this espnews update. now back to jeremy and vinita. oklahoma city did being completely rebuilt but not with bricks and stone. a lego master is painstakingly duplicating the cityscape with the blocks. >> kurt zimmerly is using more than a million legos to re-create all of the city's major landmarks spending 12 hours a day. at that rate it could take him the rest of the summer to finish up.