an eleven sixteenths wrench over here? here you go. eleven sixteenths... (announcer) from designing some of the world's cleanest and most fuel-efficient jet engines... to building more wind turbines than anyone in the country... the people of ge are working together... creating innovation today for america's tomorrow. thanks! no problem! another day, another big disappointment for the crew of space shuttle "endeavour." the shuttle remains grounded.

the launch scrubbed, this time just moments before liftoff. also, supporters and opponents of the president's supreme court nominee are gearing up for an intense confirmation process that starts tomorrow morning. judge sonia sotomayor will be on capitol hill bright and early tomorrow morning for the first day of her supreme court confirmation hearings. here in d.c., she's being met with a lot of support and some harsh criticism as well. darcy, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, craig. that confirmation hearing starts tomorrow morning at 10:00 here on capitol hill. the president expressing confidence that she will be confirmed. the supporters say they do expect her to face tough questions. but they also say they expect her to be treated fairly. supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor on the eve of senate confirmation hearings. she'll appear before the senate judiciary committee tomorrow. she's expected to face a friendly heavily democratic

jury. the founding member of the hispanics for a fair judiciary supports sotomayor. >> i wouldn't necessaly say smooth sailing. i hope it will be. but i do think that she will face some tough questions. because there have been some issues out there that i think both republicans and democrats want to hear how she answers. >> reporter: already her potential appointment is raising controversy. there was an anti-abortion protest outside the supreme court today. president obama called his supreme court pick today from the oval office wishing her luck. if confirmed, sotomayor would be the first latina and third woman to serve on the nation's highest court. >> she has impeccable credentials. she was nominated because of those impeccable credentials. the fact that she happens to be the first latina for us is an incredible point of pride. >> reporter: critics plan to bresz her on her views of abortion as well as past rulings involving discrimination and --

>> obviously those are a very critical part. obviously she's a great american success story. we all respect and admire that. i'd just like to see the hearings and watch very closely. >> reporter: sotomayor's supporters plan to have watch parties to track the confirmation hearings across the country. including at the wilmer hale law firm in northwest washington. >> she is going to have a stellar performance. i think at the end of the day we will see her confirmed as the next supreme court justice. >> reporter: tomorrow committee members will be able to make some preliminary remarks. also, sotomayor will make an opening statement. she's not expected to start facing those questions until sometime on tuesday. the hearing's expected to last no more than one week. reporting live from capitol hill, darcy spencer, news 4. >> thank you. the woman accused of killing her four daughters last january goes on trial tomorrow. investigators belie the girls had been dead for seven months before they were discovered in

their southeast row house. medical examiners say one of the girls was stabbed and the other three were strangled. their mother, banita jacks, told police that the girls died in their sleep. a number of d.c. agencies raised red flags on the welfare of the children but nothing was done. jacks has rejected an insanity defense. six law students have been found so far in connection with last month's deadly metro crash. one of the plaintiffs is seeking up to $25 million in damages. the crash killed nine and injured 80 others. legal experts expect the number of claims to rise. they predict the damages could run into the tens of millions of dollars. but if negligence is proven, that number could stretch into the hundreds of millions. transit officia s maytos of the cost would be covered by in rae. nc fire officials say an overloaded extension cord spked las nispght's fire at a high-rise condominium in silver

spring. fire officials say the flames started in a bedroom where too many items were plugged into the extension cord. about a dozen people were rescued. the fire forced 80 residents out of their houses. tonight there is an all-out man hunt in indiana for three convicts who broke out of a maximum security prison about 30 miles west of southbound. twof oe oss thlkfoare convictek murdere murderers. the third is a rapist prison officials say the men got out through tunnels and pipe passages tt sit under the prison grounds there. they were discovered missing from their housing uni tshi s morning. alerts sent to residents living near the prison warn that all three men are considered dangerous. florida investigators have arrested someone in connection mu tt ohaerwerda f althy auple.ofl bi rd and melanli bilengs wer sh ot to death in their home ner pensacola thursday. the couple was known for adopting special needs children. police say leonard gonzalez sr. tried to paint over some damage

on a van spotted on surveillance video at the couple's home. the sheriff says details of this case are, ote, a hum dinger. more arrests are expected. we are following some breaking news right now in north korea. tonight, south korean television is reporting that kim jong-il has life threatening pancreatic cancer. he has reportedly been battling it since last summer. pancreatic cancer is usually detected in its final stage. kim jong-il's youngest son has been reported to be the heir apparent there in north korea. the fourth time was not the charm for the space shuttle. thunderstorms forced nasa to delay "endeavour's" launch again. it was the fourth try. kristen dahlgren tonight. >> reporter: after a month of delays "endeavour's" crew hoped this was their day to fly.

after getting strapped in and waiting, in the end it was the weather that stopped the shuttle again. >> the team is ready, but the weather is not. at this time we are no-go due to weather violation. >> reporter: this is the second time storms have forced a scrub. on friday, lightning hit near the launch pad 11 times. nasa delayed saturday's launch to inspect the shuttle. in the end, they found nothing wrong. there was so nothing wrong this time with the hydrogen line that was fixed after it leaked during two scrubbed launch attempts back in june. with no technical issues, today the problem was thunderstorms. threatening to move into the area at the exact time "endeavour" would have to return to kennedy space center in an emergency after launch. something nasa always plans for just in case. forcing nasa to push back the launch at least one more day. when "endeavour" does lift off,

it will be for a rendezvous at the international space station and history. the seven astronauts adding to the six will make it the biggest group ever assembled in space. >> there'll be a lot of coordination, a lot of activity and a lot of patience. >> reporter: among tasks astronauts will be attaching the final part of the billion dollar japanese laboratory including a front porch for space experiments, a room with a view. the thing astronauts want to see most right now is "endeavour" getting off the ground. so nasa will try again on monday, hoping the weather is better for a launch time scheduled at 6:51 eastern. kristen dahlgren, nbc news, kennedy space center. still ahead, the gender gap in unemployment. surprising findings about who's getting the pink slip. closing time for a popular georgetown haunt after 40 years, patrons and employees reflect on the end of an era. plus, more serious injuries

as folks continue running with those bulls in spain. steve, what you got? >> weatherwise, we've finally hit 90 degrees in july. will we see more of the same for the workweek? of course, i'll let you know. hakem has sports. >> coming up in sports, the nationals balk the astros. the orioles rob the jays. plus, a fan gets hit by a golf ball and she liked .it america, whattaya say to big cheesy-steaky-ness!

- subway. eat fresh! - eat fresh! when you wanna kick it up with zesty chipotle sauce. - eat fresh! - eat fresh! the flavor-fullest sub only subway can offer. - eat fresh! - eat fresh! try the new subway big chipotle cheesesteak. an updated all-time favorite: juicy steak layered with zesty chipotle sauce... and melted cheese, piled high with only... the toppings you love. subway. eat fresh! the suburban philadelphia swim club accused of racism has invited a group of children from a largely minority day care center to come back. the valley club invited children from the creative steps day care center to swim but asked them to leave shortly after they got there last week. some kids from the day care center say that some club members made racial remarks while they were there.

the club president insisted the move was based on safety and crowd concerns, never racism. a class action suit has been filed against a suburban chicago cemetery where police say bodies were removed and dumped so that plots could be resold. the lawsuit tarts the burr oaks cemetery. three former grave diggers and a former cemetery manager are charged in the scheme. authorities say two families are suing right now, but two more will be added. investigators suspect at least 300 graves at that cemetery were dug up. friday's standoff in leesburg has renewed a debate about police understaffing there. a massive law enforcement response was needed to handle the ten-hour crime spree. police chief joe price recently told city council that he has fewer officers on the streets than neighboring communities. >> it was really eye opening that we were short about 20

police officers from where we should be up to the norm for other communities. if you have more police and the criminal element knowing about it, you're going to definitely enforce the crimes and you're going to do everything you can to prevent them from happening, they're going to think twice before they come into your community. >> in leesburg there 77 officers covering a population of about 36,000. the police chief says the city has fewer officers per capita than other towns and cities in nortrn virginia. still ahead, they're fighting for our country. should the government be able to ban soldiers from smoking? there's a move to do just that. and it finally feels like summer. will the steamy temp fios guy! where ya headed?

ah, just installed fios in the whole building. now everyone has the fastest upload speeds. and we're giving them a mini netbook. well, i'm sticking with cable. so's ted. (voice) no i'm not! he's just goofing. (voice) no i'm not! (sighing) ted has betrayed me. (announcer) switch to verizon fios tv, phone and internet today and get an ultra-sleek compaq mini netbook. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v bums gored four runners today in pamplona. a 27-year-old man was gored to

death two days earlier. it was the festival's first fatality in almost 15 years. experts say the bulls are their most dangerous when they split from the pack. that's usually when they become disoriented and irritated by the crowds. despite rumors to the contrary, alaskan governo sarah palin says she is staying involved in national politics. palin hopes to build a right of center coalition. she told the "washington times" she's eager to campaign for those who share her views. the republican says americans ar tired of partisan politics and added both her husband and 20-year-old son are registered as nonpartisan in alaska. some pentagon officials want to stop soldiers from lighting up to deal with stress. "usa today" reports that health experts at the department of defense want secretary gates to ban tobacco use by all service members. a study found that one in three

servicemen and women use tobacco compared to one in five americans. the study also found members of the military use cigarettes to relieve stress. tobacco use increased after the start of the wars in afghanistan and iraq. as company struggles to weather the recession, many benefits that employees once enjoyed are going away. statistics show that the number of employers who offer adoption assistance is now down 22% from three years ago. the cutback comes as international adoptions become more costly and timely. some companies are sticking with adoption aid, saying it reinforces their company's core values. it looks like more men than women are being laid off during these hard times. 2.3% of men are losing their jobs. that's compared to the same number of women. experts say it could be because construction and manufacturing are -- on the other hand, growth industries like health care and

private education have more female workers. just hours away from last call for nathan's in georgetown tonight. the popular 40-year-old pub will close for good at 2:00 a.m. owner carol joint inherited nathan's when her husband died. she found out millions were owed in back taxes. she still has mounds of debt. customers and nearby business owners have been drops off donations. others are just stopping in to say good-bye. >> it's like closing cheers. it really is. feels like closing cheers. i'll miss it. it's good to come in, say good-bye to everybody. >> family history goes back to my dad being here for the miracle on ice back in 1980. has a special place for us gl that's a long time. >> i had to come back and say good-bye for my father. >> nathan's is also known for its weekly q and a cafe. that's where the owner there, carol joint, interviews politicians and washington insiders. she says she plans to find a new venue for her show. good luck. all right.

90 degrees today. >> it's about time. don't you think? >> i guess so. >> it's july. >> yeah. but still. we've been spoiled. >> yeah. well, we're going to cool things down a little bit tomorrow and tuesday. but i think by time we get to the middle of the week, we could be at least flirting with 90 degrees again. for the most part, it does look like a quiet week. tomorrow, high pressure will dominate. lots of sunshine here in the beltway. off to the south around fredericksburg we could have a couple of popup thunderstorms during the afternoon hour. let's go outside and talk about your workweek forecast. here's what's going on right now. all is quiet as we look at the washington monument. it's a pretty night out there. nice and comfortabl dewpoints are quite low. much lower than yesterday. but it's still warm. 79 right now. partly cloudy. northwesterly flow at eight helping to bring in that comfortable weather. today again we hit 90 degrees for the first time in july. 77 down in the district. 74 out at dulle serks. 79 in me nas ses and 70 in

springfield. we're going to drop it down into the 60s during the overnight hours. notice how the dewpoints have fallen in the last 24 hours from the district northward. off to the south, in fact, dewpoints have gone up from quantico down towards charlottesville. we have a front here. south of the front it's still very warm. very humid. dewpoints there are in the low 70s. north of the front there feels much more comfortable, dewpoints in the 50s. 81 in raleigh. 85 in memphis. we have a front right here that's coming down from canada. it's sagging southward. we have a wave of lower pressure riding along that frontal band. tomorrow it's going to stay to the south of us and move across far southern virginia and north carolina, bringing them some showers and thunderstorms. again, central virginia we may see a popup thunderstorm or two. everybody else stays dry as high pressure continues to dominate. over the next couple of days, the front stays to the south. that's where we're going to have the showers, the storms and the active weather. for us high pressure will be the main player. it will bring us a mix of sun

and clouds for tomorrow and for tuesday with temperatures in the mi mid-80s. by wednesday the front lifts back up to the north as a warm front. that's when we could pop back up into the 90s. that's it. here's the situation come tomorrow morning. a cooler start. this morning the low 70s, tomorrow down into the 50s and 60s simply because the humidity levels are much lower. during the afternoon hours, still looks like a great day. mostly sunny to pary cloudy. temperatures in the mid-80s. a little cooler than today. still quite comfortable. again we do have that chance of a shower or storm south of the district. tomorrow, 87 degrees. tuesday, 89. wednesday and thursday, that's when the warm front slides through. that's when we could jump up to about 90 degrees. maybe a shower or thunderstorm on thursday before we cool it back down for the end of the week. >> all right, thanks, steve. still ahead in sports, the nats lose more than their balancen

fios guy! where ya headed? ah, just installed fios in the whole building. now everyone has the fastest upload speeds. and we're giving them a mini netbook. well, i'm sticking with cable. so's ted. (voice) no i'm not! he's just goofing. (voice) no i'm not! (sighing) ted has betrayed me. (announcer) switch to verizon fios tv, phone and internet today and get an ultra-sleek compaq mini netbook. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v

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we start with nats baseball tonight. right? >> we're starting there. and i thought you were going to say something else. >> no, no. >> i was preparing myself. >> take it away. >> all right. i'm a fighter. when baseball returned to d.c. in 2005, things were good. so good that at the all-star break the nationals were in first place. then things went from bad to worse. after today's loss, the nats limp into the all-star break with a 26-61 record. it's the worst first half performance in the nats' five year history. ouch. in houston this afternoon, get out your popcorn. it was a show. bottom of the first miguel

tejada at the base. here comes michael bourn. astros take a 1-0 lead. bottom four. still 1-0 houston. he thinks it's a home run. but it's not. the ball hits below the yellow line, so it's still in play. nyjer morgan fields it. hits the cutoff man here, alberto gonzalez. perfect throw home. lance berkman ting to score. he's out. dead duck. bottom seven. still 1-0 houston. jordan zimmerman cruising along gets pudge rodriguez on the checked swing. zimmerman struck out pudge three times in the game. he finished with six. a couple pitches later he made mistake to kaz matsui. not really known as a home run hitter, but he hits one here. sends one to right just over for a three-run homer.

zimmerman devastated. matsui's third of the season. astros take a 4-0 lead. it gets worse. yeah. bottom eight. tyler clipper trying to intentionally walk hunter pence with a runner on second and third. clipper tripped. that's a balk by rule. base runners advance. berkman trots home. manny can't believe it. just one day after scoring 13 runs, they get shut out. >> had plenty of humbling games. this is the same club that scored all those runs yesterday. we couldn't execute today. runners in seconds. no outs. couldn't get them over. twice the based loaded with one out and couldn't get it done. that's why this game you have to stay humble. >> we're in baltimore. os hosting blew jays. dave trembly back in the dugout after serving a two-game suspension. brian roberts rips one into right. roberts had a heck of a day.

2 for 4 with two rbis. remove to the top of the fourth. 2-0 orioles. toronto's alex rios at the plate. he rocks one deep to left center. adam jones tracking it. he's going to make the catch. leaps at the wall. jones a very, very talented young man. bottom of the sixth. 2-0 baltimore. one out for oscar salazar. the little guy gets into one. sends it to left. solo homer for salazar. just his second of the season. the os beat the blueays 4-2 and head into the all-star break with a 40-48 record. unfortunately, that's last in the al east. golf now. in south korea, ji goes by the nickname mickey mouse. the major chance, the 23-year-old won the u.s. women's open with her final putt. this is neat. nbc sports guys having fun with the ser slow mo water balloon.

here's eji. knocks down the long birdie to take a share of the lead at 1 over par. staring down the biggest putt of her career. from 20 feet away. she kind of looks like tiger woods did last year. and she knows it's good. drains it to win the u.s. woman's open. ji birdied three of the last six holes to capture the first major of her career. on the pga tour in illinois for the john deere classic. it's going a bit right. right into the gallery. the ball hits that lady in the yellow hat. >> yes! >> what? >> really. really. she just celebrated after getting hit by a golf ball. steve stricker did not hit anybody today. on the same hole, his approach is right on target.

stricker with five birdies in the round. miss e this one, an eagle. celebratory high fives. family on 18 looks on. the university of illinois alum cool as a cucumber sinks the par. stricker takes home $774,000. he can get himself a bunch of tractors. and finally tonight, a big shout out to our softball team who won its second straight media league championship today. here's a picture of the team. good-looking bunch. >> i love it. >> they shut out "usa today" 11-0. next season they'll try to become the first to ever three-peat. hip, hip, hurray for the peacocks. you can't hit him. he's