this morning on "early today," judging soto meyer. confirmation hearings are set to begin on capitol hill for president obama's nominee fort u.s. supreme court. top secret. new accusations that congress was kept in the dark by dick cheney about a terroroperation. and unfriendly skies. more storms thaten another launch attempt of the space more storms thaten another launch attempt of the space shuttle "endeavour." captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning,

everyone. i'm dan kloeffler. and today we begin with with so sonia's story. today confirmation hearings begin for the supreme court nominee. and although she is expected to be confirmed, republicans are promising to put up a fight. for the latest we go to brian mooar live from washington. brian, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, dan. sotomayor's confirmation is all but locked up but republicans are promising a tough fight. after weeks of courtesy calls on capitol hill, judge sonia somayor is ready to fight for a seat on the supreme court. president obama called to give her a private pep talk from the oval office. and some democrats are predicting a slam dunk confirmation. >> i think there's a very good chance she's going to get as many or more votes than judge

roberts, which was 78. she has wowed people. >> the i'm going to be playing for the constitutional team. i don't know what more you can ask of a judge sfwlr some republicans want tknow more about her swun comment that a wise latina judge might make wiser decisions than a white one. >> i think that's a fair air to question her about. certainly the rule of law depends on the same rules that apply to each one of us no matter our color, sex or ethnicity. >> reporter: they report to her role in a racial discrimination case where no african-american were qualified. the supreme court overturned her ruling but supporters say she was following the law, not making it. today, judge sonia sotomayor has a chance to defend herself. today has been reserved for opening statements and actual questioning is supposed to begin tomorrow. the hearing is expected to last

all week long. dan? >> all right. nbc's brian mooar. thank you, brian, appreciate it. on capitol hill, democrats are fuming over news that for years they were kept in the dark about a top secret cia program, and it was all apparently the work of vice president dick cheney. senator diane fine sten told members of congress that mr. cheney ordered the agency not to share details of this counterterrrorism program. by law, the cia is required to tell congress about its operations, and that's an issue that has been hotly disputed by democrats and republicans recently. feinstein said pa net la ended that 3r5 that and it was never fully operational. nasa had to scrub sunday's liftoff of the space shuttle "endeavour" because of weather concerns. they are due to blast off on a 16-day mission to deliver spare

parts to the internationale spac station. nasa will try to launch again later tonight. police in washington are looking for a pet store dog napper. surveillance video caught this woman reaching over the counter, piking up a $500 dachshund puppy and strolling out the doorch door. now, this is the store's second canine theft in under two months. they are stirl looking for this latest puppy bandit. in ohio, five people were hurt following a tornado. at least three mobile homes were flattened by this twister. fall tesre damaged other homes and closed roads there. no word on the condition of the people people hospitalized by that storm. swarms of lady bugs have taken over a small town in colorado. take a look at this video. all the trees and the buildings look like they're covered in red. some look like red bark, in

fact. locals don't mind the millions of lady bugs. what they don't want is to attract too many tourists snapping all the pictures. and in florida, music wasn't in the air but in the water. divers and; isn't that correct ellers took the plunge for a radio station's 25th annual underwater broadcast which celebrated the 45th anniversary of the beatles yellow submarine album. the music was piped underwater through speakers. now for a look at the national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins wh the weather channel forecast. good morning, dan. do you consider lady bugs to be good luck? >> yeah. >> it's hike one of those things, a rule, you can't kill a lady bug, rit? >> i don't know if it's a rule. >> it's not a law. >> no. i think that's up for debate in the house right now. yeah, you're right. >> let's talk about that forecast. good morning to everyone out there. it's still kind of split around the country. we have cooler weather in the

great lakes, northeast. stormy weather in the southeast. that's going to keep temperatures down especially around the atlanta area. with the cloud cover should be only in the upper 80s. light rain this morning. also the mountains of north carolina are getting a little bit of wet weather. here's the dividing line. we're mild north of that. south of that, we're tropical and humid. what a summer it's been for areas. actually, it hasn't even felt like summer in northern new england. a lot of rain in alabama, birmingham. north wards heading up towards dalton. shower activity by greenville, too. notice another cool, beautiful day. mornings chilly in the areas of the great lakes and northeast. the sun will come out full blast, should heat you up to 80 today. afternoon showers and storms all through the southeast. you notice if you don't get the storms you'll be very hot. areas like jackson, mississippi up arod 98. i know people are wondering about the shuttle launchment they'll try to do it once again

this evening. in the evening you always get those storms. there is a 30% to 40% chance it may get canceled again. that's a look at your national forecast. now a look at the weather outside your weekend. cool in the great state of maine. 76 in portland. philadelphia, heading up to 85. columbus, ohio, beautiful, 82. well, dan, we'll continue to take a look at what's going on around the country. severe weather a big story also. we'll talk about that later. thank you, bill. gas prices tank, goldman sachs has a dilemma and lady luck strikes nine times. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, bruno comes out to audiences across the country, but did he score at the box office? also boston's josh beckett with a masterpiece and brandon

nge heading for th heom run derby. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back "early today," everyone. i'm dan kloeffler. three men being held in connection with a wealthy florida couple. more arrests are expected in this case. south korean media reporting kim jong-il has life threatening pancreatic cancer. a south korean tv station said the cancer was found when he had a stroke last august, though there has not been confirmation of either illness. in iraq, a small roadside bomb narrowly missed a vehicle carrying u.s. ambassador to iraq, christopher hill. fortunately, no one was injured in that attack. and in pennsylvania, a

private swim club accused of racism after canceling the memberships of children from a minority day camp. well, they want to invite those kids back to the club. club membs voted overwhelmingly to work things out with the camp, which said racist comments were made to minority children using that pool. now, here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day today. the dow opens at 8,146 after falling 36 points on friday. the s&p lost 3. the nasdaq, though, that added three points. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei was down 236 points. in hong kong, the hang seng plunged 447 points. this week some pretty big companies coming up up with their second quarr earnings. for the rest of us, these numbers should show a clearer picture of the overall health of the economy. for more on that and all your early business headlines, we're joined by steve sedgwick at the london headquarters of cnbc.

hey, steve, good morning. >> reporter: dorng to you, dan. the numbers will look pretty awful. down approximately around 36% for the s&p 500 on average. but its current trading and outlook everyone will want to look for. on the corporate side of things. big companies as well. ibm, marriott, harley davidson and the owner of cnbc, general electric. we're looking also at economic data as well. national association of home builders releases its housing market for july on thursday. fwri, the commerce department will post numbers on numbers in june. also reil sales figures and industrial production as well. one company is goldman sachs as well. numbers will be less than a year ago. we're looking for a really strong quarter. 3.54 a share in terms of net income, just underlying the strngt of this investment bank. despite that, though, the nikkei over in japan fell for a ninth

straight session. some good news for consumers. u.s. gasoline prices have fallen to #$.56 a gallon average at the pump. that is down around 38% from the record high touched almost a year ago. problems for ubs trying to hammer out a deal fort u.s. government to settle a major tax evasion case. good luck fo a south charleston lady. the 60-year-old woman has claimed her ninth west virginia lottery prize of 7,000 bucks. her total winnings since last september, $159,000. >> she's got to have some kind of secret. we'll call her, find out what that is. thank you, steve, appreciate it. the detroit tigers pounce on the cleveland indians. plus, josh beckett's rules against the kansas city royals. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. well, we have a plethora of

weather topics, including a heat wave and severe storms. your weather forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." ñgy

good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm kimberly suiters. breaking news first. the head of a local sports team has been fired. >> plus, the gruesome discovery put a local mom in the spotlight this morning. the trial is set to get under way for banita jacks. >> metro under scrutiny. how the transit agency wants you to help prevent drivers from breaking the law. >> then taking your resume high tech. some helpful tips to get your w c and good morning, everyone. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, red sox pitcher josh

beckett sent his team soaring int the all-star break, shutting down the kansas city royals to notch his 100th career win. here's nbc's mario see lease with an early look at all your sports headlines. the first half of the baseball season is in the books but not before all-star worthy performances from around the league yesterday. we start out in beantown. red sox and royals, first inning, kevin youkilis with a shot to shallow center. pedroia hustles from second. sox up 1-0. that's all the offense josh beckett would need. beckett, who will play in his second all-star game, struck out seven, career win 300. red sox beat the royals, 6-0. dodgers and brewers, national league all-star orlando hudson ending the first half with a bang. sixth inning, left side of the plate. solo shot to the right. dodgers up # 6-0. in the eighth, hudson again. a pair of homers. dodgers head into the break with

the best record in baseball. they down the brushgs 7-4. another all-star. tigers brandon inge flexing his muscle against the indians. brandon looking ready for tonight's home run derby. tigers mall the indians, 10-1. at the other end of the spectrum, alex reels with a high fly ball to center. a sure home run. adam jones making it look easy. orioles fly past the blue jays, 4-2. tour de france, after nine stages, lance armstrong remains in third place, eight seconds off the lead. final round of the john deere classic shot of the day from steve stricker. his approach on 17 is right on the money. the ball hits the pin and backs into the cup for an eagle. what a shot. stricker won the tournament with the final round of 64. that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis.

thank you, mario. looking to make a fastback? all you have to do is rub one celebrity's feet. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, a unique road rage from takes drivers on a journey from coast to coast and back in time. you're watching "early today."

well, good monday morning.

welcome back. severe thunderstorms are possible today. eastern north carolina really from raleigh. mostly out toward hamilton sound. a slight chance of severe weather from memphis, head to go mississippi, and back into the northern plainsment here's your forecast as we go throughout the day today. beautiful from the great lakes, chicago, detroit, cleveland, new york, boston, ideal. perfect summer day. chance of storms later today from atlanta to charlotte, to savannah. orlando, a possibility of storms, that will include during the launch possibility this evening. well, if you're watching wwlp 22 news, that's springfield mass, see displays from the front line of war from ancient egypt to world war ii at the toy soldiers, history in miniature. that's your eastern ooechbt on the day, dan. thank you. >> big laughs, awkward moments and plenty of controversy were all in fashion at the box office.

bruno, starring sacha baron cohen as an outgoing fashionista went straight to the top. with $34.5 million. they're not sure if this can match what borat made. now, in just two weeks, this animated family film has earned $120 million. and transformers, revenge of the fallen, still has some gas in the tank. robots in the skies came in third with a little over $24 million. and finally, according to tmz, if charlie sheen asks you to clip his toe nails, you better do it. the two men star reportedly left a $100 tip after getting a $50 pedicure. >> you're telling me you would do it for 100 bucks. >> hey, listen. >> you would? >> you know where i work. no, just kidding. what do you leave for a tip nor your pedicurist.

>> i've never had one but i would not pay $100 or i wouldn't take $100 to give one. >> i think if someone is daring enough to touch my feet, i would give them 100 bucks. i think it's worth it. >> don't go knocking on my door. >> from king 5 news in seattle where a string of vintage vehicles completed a historic 4,000-mle journey. 55 model t cars reenacted the 1909 ocean-to-oceanen durngsz race, a trance continental drive from new york to seattle. they followed the same cross country route taken a krntry ago. one car from each state completed the reach to the pacific. the original contest was held to help publicize the first world's fair. >> i know jay leno has a bunch of them but i want just one. >> apparently you can get them but the upkeep, that will get you. i'm dan kloeffler. this is arly

4:54 is our time right now, 72 degrees. a live look outside this morning. the washington monument all lit up. a monday morning here's in the nation's capital. july 13th, 2009. good morning. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm kimberly suiters. we want to start things off as we do always with a look at weather and traffic. >> meteorologist tom kierein has joined us here in the studio. tom, another nice weekend. >> a little taste of washington heat and humidity over the weekend. >> a little bit. >> but auasllyt' i gt'ng away, oirning less humid this morning. mo w. genge oi gnhi o t cireti ptaarpion t gioundhe re ten shmperur we 72 in .n wan ihenerpp u0sn i prie yonegeax fai arfndtgon mom estiun. farther to our west in the low 60s. he utsorn marylrdut neahe the ap es bchkeeaay, eastern shore, low and mid-70ke out of the mountain, cool upper 60or tea n 50eg drees onhi t s d aymo morning, ey 3tdah of

ju. swe ou'l tigee hselhlo cudn is he ty.daugt ug un s throughout the afternoon. details on the forecast for today coming up at 5:01. stay tuned. >> all right. thank you, tom. >> now let's take a look at the early traffic. >> jerry edwards is in the news 4 traffic network. good morning, jerry. >> hit it hurts, doesn't it? >> monday already. well, happy monday. let's take a look, see how monday's treating us. so far, so good. 395 to the 14th street bridge, construction barrels from over the weekend to the shoulder but again a little bit of a lane shift so heads-up for that. check elsewhere, see what's going on. route 52, from the eastern shore, no worries. quiet start at the wilson bridge. back to you. >> thank you very much. a look at four big stories happening right no banita jacks, the woman

accused of murder her childrher children is due to go to trial today. investigators believe they had been dead for sech months. jacks told the police the girls died in their sleep. >> starting today, any metro driver caught using a mobile device wl be fired. the zero tolerance policy comes days after video was posted online showing a metro train operator texting. the operator was suspended for five days with pay, but returned to work last week. metro says it wants passengers to report any irresponsible behavior. >> confirmation hearings begin today for the first hispanic nominee to the united states supreme court, judge sonia sotomayor will answer questions before the senate judiciary committee on capitol hill. she's expected to win confirmation easily, despite some controversy over comments she has made. if she is confirmed, sotomayor would become the third woman to sit on the nation's highest court. >> spags shuttle "endeavour" is scheduled to lift off today, but they've tried this before. nasa officials scrubbed yesterday's launch due to thunderstorms. on saturday, lightning strikes scrubbed a scheduled launch. in june, hydrogen gas leaks

posed a problem. later today, nasa will try once again to launch "endeavour" at 6:51 p.m. eastern. "endeavour" has until tomorrow or wednesday to launch with the last piece of japan's space station lab. >> well, it is the end of an era for a popular georgetown watering hole even though probably most people don't drink water when they go there. while many of you were sleeping, nathan's closed its doors for once and for all. >> i understand there was a lot of crying in the beer literally. in its fin days, customers came in to say good-bye and share their stories about the place. news 4's michael flynn reports. >> it's terrible. i miss the place. >> reporter: it's the last last call at nathan's in georgetown, the popular 40-year-old pub at wisconsin and m closes for good at 2:00 a.m. disappointed customers showed up sunday to bid a final fare well. >> it's like closing cheer's. it really is. like closing cheer's. i'll miss it. it's good to come in, say good-bye to everybody. >> family history goes back to

dad being here for the miracle on ice back in 1980. has a special place for us. >> reporter: that's a long time. >> i had to come back and say good-bye for my father. >> for me, it is a relief, though. >> reporter: the owner inherited nathan's when her husband died 12 years ago. she found out millions of dollars were owed in back taxes. she still has mounds of debt, but customers and nearby business owners have been dropping off donations on the pub's final weekend. >> have you ever seen "it's a wonderful life" at the end, where the neighborhood's bringing in checks? well, that's a small business bailout. >> reporter: back in the day, nathan's was one of the hottest spots in d.c., attracting some big names. >> richard burton to dustin hoffman, when they were making "all the president's men." >> reporter: michael kelly was one of the original bartenders at nathan's. he came to the pub sunday to say good-bye