today the supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor was praised as a pioneer. she was also questioned about her impartiality at part of her effort to become the first hispanic justice on the high court. it washe first day of hearings for sotomayor. she faced both supporters and critics and anti- abortion protesters. >> reporter: senators of both political parties on the hill figure this confirmation fight is judge sotomayor's to lose. one south carolina republican lindsey graham went so far as to say she's sure to be confirmed if she doesn't suffer what he called a complete meltdown. so far she hasn't. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> reporter: it was sonia sotomayor's turn to argue her own case and after introducing family members in the grand and packed senate hearing room -- >> my mom solina sotomayor. >> reporter: the appeals judge who would be the first hispanic

on the high court laid out her philosophy. >> the task of a judge is not to make law. it is to apply the law. in each case i have heard i have applied the law to the facts at hand. my personal and professional experiences help me to listen and understand with the law always commanding the result in every case. >> reporter: democrats say sotomayor's record proves she's impartial. >> she's ruled for the government in 92% of criminal cases. she's denied race claims in 83% of the cases. >> reporter: sotomayor's biggest problem is the remark she made off the bench that a wise latina would reach a better conclusion than a white male. some republicans called that disqualifying. >> such an approach to judging means that the umpire calling the game is not neutral but instead feels empowered to favor one team over another. call it empathy.

call it prejudice. call it sympathy. whatever it is, it's not law. >> reporter: democrats laid on the praise. >> for what has been a brilliant legal and judicial career. >> reporter: republicans admit that sotomayor looks like a shoo-in. >> unless you have a complete meltdown, you'll get confirmed. >> reporter: first, the focus on the 17-year record as a judge and on her controversial speeches. tomorrow and wednesday come the individual questions from individual senators. the pressure on sotomayor will be intense. jim? >> thanks, steve. judge sotomayor supporters are organizing with watch parties all over the country to view the confirmation hearings together. today members of the hispanic bar association went to the d.c. office of a law firm to watch sotomayor's opening statement together. they say the judge's background and her record are a reminder to

all citizens that regardless of circumstceths,ny a iins isspole in thisss coy.trun av we he veoidnd aeo more ceovag er he tomofot sayorot confirmation at nbcwashington.com. nfe' itisos maoron thema kg b aacunrond if yunou would likehat and more, you can find it by searching the word sotomayor. new developments tonight in the case of a dead row inmate scheduled to be executed tomorrow. the u.s. supreme court is indefinitely stayed the execution of paul powell. in 2000 powell was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of stacie reid and also accused of trying to kill her sister. his death sentence was overturned in 2001 but he w back on death row after he wrote a letter bragging about the crime to the state prosecutor. following that, powell was retried and sentenced to atdeh. ethupw smeou s c wrtan to idnshe w tcoerertho hear her ment that he was ar

edscotu tonly talnsedrice im he te.imcr hifhe thrtigou cecou dides noto hear his appeal, he'll face execution again. and another developing story from ft. myer, virginia. a female sailor has been found dead in her room there. ft. myer is the military base next to arlington national cemetery. the sailor is one of only a handful of women living in the henderson hall barracks. her body was discovered after she failed to report to work at the pentagon this morning. the cause of death is still under investigation but a senior defense official tells nbc news there was "definitely foul play involved." in a court in the district today a look into the mind of a woman charged with killing had her four daughters. the trial of bonita jacks began in the district with focus on a four-hour long interrogation. an interrogation that was recorded by the police. pat collins is at the d.c. superior courthouse with more. pat? >> reporter: the death of four daughters murder suspect bonita jacks in court on videotape in

her own words. in superior court today, they played the videotape of bonita jacks interview with police on the day she was picked up in the murder case of her four daughters. in a rambling interview that went on for hours, she d told detectives that "everyone i've been close to has mysteriously ended up dead." she said her children were hungry and weak and one day they began passing out. she said i didn't try to get help because i knew it was too late. the united states versus bonita jacks. boxes of evidence at superior court as the prosecution prepares to begin the trial on these quadruple murder charges. it was january 9th, 2008, that marshals came to evict jacks

from her home on 6th street southeast. inside that home they found the bodies of her daughters, ages 5, 6, 11, and 17. they say the girls had been dead for at least six months. in court today homicide detective darryl richmond described the scene. he said the house smelled like death. the bodies of the girls mummified. he said three gls were in a room lined up on the floor by size. their heads all turned in the same direction. and in another room, a teenager with a knife by her side. the door of that room was sealed with duct tape to prevent the odor from seeping out. watching the proceedings in court today, bonita jacks mother and grandmother of the victims. anything you want to say, ma'am? >> no. no. no. absolutely not. >> reporter: have you talked to your daughter? >> no.

that's it. >> reporter: by the way, bonita jacks chose not to watch her videotaped statement today in court. this is not a trial by jury. it's a trial by judge. it should begin in earnest tomorrow. jim, back to you. >> pat collins, thank you. metro may have trouble following an urgent safety recommendation just issued by the national transportation safety board late this afternoon the ntsb asked metro to re-evaluate the train control system. the system failed to detect a train on the tracks before last month's deadly crash. the ntsb says metro should monitor track occupancy data on a realtime basis. metro, however, responded saying there are currently no systems available to provide those kinds of alert but that it will devote its resources to following the recommendation. a congressional hearing into the june 22nd crash has been scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. meanwhile, a tough new zero

tolerance policy took effect today for metro train and bus operators. any operators caught texting while on the job will be fired. the new policy comes after a passenger videotaped an operator using his phone while a train sped along the tracks. metro urges passengers to report violations of the newpolicy. >> the more information, the better. if it's a bus, the route number, the date, the time, the street location, bus number, as much information as customers can provide it makes it easier for the transit agency to follow-up with the appropriate investigation. >> the operator shown using his cell phone ithe video from last month was suspended. i guess it was so much a matter of if it would happen but men. manny acta gone. no one is surprised. >> you can expect manny to get a job fairly soon because he expected this and ultimately it

wasn't his fault. manny acta did become the fall guy after losing six of the last seven games. management felt the only option to improve the ball club was to get a new voice to lead the team. everyone making this decision likes manny acta. they didn't want to do this but felt there was no choice. manny acta has been on the job for 2 1/2 seasons but the team's winning percentage has dropped each year. last season the nationals lost 102 games. this season on pace to lose even more. his even keeled demeanor has come under criticism since players have not responded this season. now in his place will be bench coach jim riggleman on an interim basis. previously managing the cubs, padres and mariners but has a losing record in nine ssso ans aa manager. mania acta released a statement today saying he had great learning experience and he has noeg r atsrend ttsnhen went on say as i move forward i wish the

nationals all of the stbe. i was veryteorbenatu tna work th and meet a lot of wonderful people while here. general manager mike rizzo talked about breaking the news to manny last night. >> it was very professional. a sad day for both of us. and for stan also. it was a day that nobody wanted to happen here in the organization because of what we think of manny personally and professionally. but it was something that felt needed to be done. the management team thought it needed to be done. and manny took it like a true professional that he is. >> we kept thinking it wld turn around. we kept waiting for the next week and next home stand and the next road trip. it never seemed to. so the all-star break i think is a convenient time that gives us three days to make a smooth transition to get a new administration in here and that's why we weren't content to just go the whole year and play the way we've been playing and maintain that kind of record. we still want to accomplish

things this season. >> stan and mike said those rumors swirling about a month ago about manny getting fired that at the time there was nothing to them. give them creditor waiting it out to see if the team would improve up to that point. >> one of the things they do want to accomplish this year is not being the absolute worst baseball team in the history of baseball. >> it could be tough. you hope that there's a spark but it really is frustrating that it will take this to get players to turn around. it's interesting to hear certain players coming out now saying they see a lack of effort on some of the guys' part. hopefully this is a turnaround. >> any idea where acta could turn up? >> could be with the mets. we'll revisit thatlater. >> still to come on "news4 at 6:00," an elderly couple held hostage by a gunman for eight hours is speaking out about the harrowing experience. new details about the

slaying of a wealthy couple in florida. they were known for adopting children with developmental disabilities. a live look at the tarmac as we await the launch of the space shuttle "endeavour." >> can he catch up with jonas brothers ahead of their concert tonight. and bob, what do you have for us? >> our weather has been hit out of the park many days and more dry weather. meanwhile, this is how it looks down just a short time ago with the space shuttle trying to launch. a lot of clouds around there. that was from the great satellite. i'll tell you about our own weather. w.ayush xñqñ

investigators in florida say as many as eight people were involved in the murder of a wealthy couple known for adopting children with disabilities. the victims are byrd and melanie billings. they were shot and killed thursday at their home in pensacola, florida. authorities have charged two men with the murders. the father of one of the suspects is also under arrest. he's accused of driving the getaway vehicle. the billings owned several businesses in the pensacola area. authorities say the motive for their murders may go beyond burglary. >> at this point because of the complexity and ties that this family has throughout the business community, we're moving in many other directions. it could be money or a whole host of other things. >> reporter: the billingsad h a total of 16 children. 12 of whom were adopted.

eight children were in the house when their parents was shot. one of the billings' grown daughters had plan in place for the care of the children. officials in iraq are tightening security in the christian areas there because five churches were bombed yesterday. at least four people were killed in those bombings. police are trying to cut down on the possibility of car bombs. they're doing that by banning vehicle traffic in two towns near mosul. two towns mostly christian. islamic extremist have targeted christians in iraq. many christians have fled the country but some have returned because of the decrease in violence over the past couple of years. meanwhile, abc news anchor bob woodruff is back in iraq. he sufferedad a traumatic brain injury from a roadside bomb three years ago. he returned to abc news 13 months later and is covering a visit to iraq by admiral mike mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

heyyjgheil wle bta ayingt the u military base while he's in iraq. there are reports that north korean leader kim jong-il is suffering from pancrtic caer. the south korean media reporting that he was diagnosed with the cancer last year around the same time he suffered a stroke. the reports cite unnamed chinese and south korean sources. kim's health is a focus of intense media speculation due to concerns about instability in the north and the possible power struggle if he were to die without naming a successor. two college communities are mourning the death of a local dentist businessman. the doctor died yesterday at the age of 91. his career as a dentist in the area goes back to world war ii. is later work as a develer td crossroads and t tyson

corner ar. aheo hunpewod tdfo bks that are now part of first union bank. he was a huge art enthusiast. he and his wife made the dotion todoldui b the american university's sweeping art center. the couple also pledged $10 million to establish a cancer research center at george washington university. more to come tonight. still ahead, new information about the way the swine flu works. and why it could be tougher to recover from. high winds lead to a rough landing for some airline passengers. and it's beginning to feel a bit more like july in these s. rtpaui bob ryan

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a rough landing for passengers aboard a korean flight headed for japan. the boeing 777 flight landed in 40-mile-per-hour winds. there were almost 400 pple on board but no one was injured. the airport was closed for more than an hour after that landing. japanese aviation authorities are investigating the incident. >> that's not the way you want to land. what a day. low humidity. a touch of july over the weekend. >> we like this weather. >> outside today here's how it looks again how many days have

we had these wonderful, wonderful blue skies. most unusual day. very unusual. the reason? today's high was 88 degrees. the low temperature was 70 degrees. that's the average. and it's unusual because it's rare to get a day when we exactly match the average high and also the average low. morning 70 degrees here. look at the low temperatures this morning to our north. bridgeport, connecticut. a record low 57 degrees. merrill, wisconsin, 37 degrees this morning. now, those temperatures have risen into the 70s and you can see the heat and humidity down to our south. dallas, 103 degrees. corpus christi, record high. 99 degrees. but the real story is that dew point into the 40s and 50s. when we were into june and had all that rain, we were seeing moisture come our way from the south but now with the pattern shift we've seen a lot of dry air come our way.

they love to get some of that low humidity and dry air where they are keeping their fingers crossed for the launch of the space shuttle. there is cape canaveral. i'll zoom into it. you can get an idea of the showers. there have been showers moving off now but nonetheless if you see that hoping in the next few minutes to have a shuttle launch, you don't want to see that nor seeing this. there's the landing strip. this was at 2:00 this afternoon. a lot of clouds. there aren't clouds over the ocean. at least that gives them a chance but there's been a third of an inch of rain. look at how much rain has fallen down there this month. we've had only 0.015 or quarter inch of rain in spots. over two inches. look at the temperature in phoenix right now. 110 degrees. five degrees below where it was yesterday. 115 was in phoenix. that's where the heat is. that's one of the rare areas in

the country really with this pattern that we've seen that's really been getting the heat. heat and humidity stay down to the south. later in the week we'll see winds turn a bit more again into the southwest so the humidity will be coming in but overnight tonight during the day tomorrow high pressure in over us. it will move off. because we'll have a general light north to northeastly breeze once again it will be dry with more great weather. temperatures tomorrow into the 60s. look at buffalo. morning low temperature tomorrow in the low 50s. we'll be into the 80s again. we could use some rain. we've been dry now for t change since june 21st. we've only had about a quarter inch of rain in some areas and well below average by 2.5 inches of rain. tomorrow morning when you get up and head out after a clear delightful evening. temperatures will be into the high 50s to the mid 60s around town. chance to see the international space station but it's low in the northern sky. i'll show you where to look a little later and more fair

weather nice clouds. very, very dry. low humidity. the uv index is high tomorrow. lather up youngsters heading outside and to the pools and camps. humidity does come back as we get into trsyda and there's ofat day with only a0%y 3 chanc ft anoon shower or thundershower. those will be spotty. no sign ofal gfteren rains comi our way. another chance for showers on saturday. here and there we get 90-degree day. no sign of a building heat wave. >> having to get out and water now. >> do have to. didn't have to do that in may and early june. >> got spoiled. thanks, bob. coming up on "news4 at 6: " 6:00," a frightening ordeal of a leadsburg couple. >> he said give me your money. >> the couple held hostage in their home by a man with a gun last week speak out. the public with a chance to weigh in on the controversial islamic school in northern virginia.

the grounds of arlington national cemetery get spruced up. the nationals hope firing manager manny acta will make a change and albert pujols ready to flex his muscles tonight in the home run derby. and the wizards get set to open up sagmelelar p "ueas4 y ws :0 6onater c0"tinues. axax ( rock music playing )

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a look at stories making headlines tonight. a female sailor found dead in her room at ft. myer. that's the military base next to arlington national cemetery. the cause of death is under investigation but a senior defense official tells nbc news there was "definitely foul play involved." confirmation hearings are under way for supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor. today she answered critics who have accused her of liberal bias. sotomayor said the task of a judge is not to make the law but to apply the law. senate republicans acknowledge that sotomayor's confirmation is almost a foregone conclusion. metro's strict new zero

tolerance policy took effect today. any operator caught using cell phones on the job will be fired. the policy comes after the suspension of one train operator caught on camera using a cell phone last month i'll operating a train. coming up in this half hour, we await the launching of space shuttle "endeavour." arlington cemetery getting a spruce up and a study out raising concerns about swine flu. tonight for the first time we're hearing from the elderly couple held hostage when an armed robber barricaded himself in their home on friday. the couple talked with the man for hours until he gave himself up. michael flynn has our story. >> coming in with a pistol in his hand. and he came in and he says give me your money. >> that was 1:00. he stayed until after 10:00 when he let me walk. >> reporter: bob and francis

survived a nightmare hostage ordeal on friday. the couple just finished lunch inside their home with police say 49-year-old william spencer burst inside with a gun. the couple says they were soon forced into a bathroom. >> he didn't realize she had a cell phone in her pocket. she took her cell phone and called 911. he heard her. and then he smashed the door in. >> reporter: their captor tied their arms together but only after francis gave him lunch. >> i gave him something to eat and drink. he tied our arms. >> reporter: the couple talked with the suspect as law enforcement swarmed around their home. >> after he realized that the police were here, he was saying how can i get out of here? where can i escape? >> i talked to him about his

salvation. i asked him if he knew jesus christ. he said when i was young. but i messed up. >> reporter: police credit those conversations with hoping to bring the hostage situation to a peaceful end. francis was released first at her husband's insistence. >> i was worried about you. >> i know that. >> reporter: investigators say spencer gave himself up around 10:00 p.m. both husband and wife are in their early 80s and have been married more than 60 years. they gave credit to faith and prayers. >> we knew people were praying for us. we were at peace. >> reporter: michael flynn, news4. >> the couple and their family also praise what they call the wonderful job done by law enforcement. the district is closing the brentwood dmv office in northeast d.c. that service center will cshut

down on august 14th. dmv officials said they decided back in january to close the office because the space there has always been inadequate. and as of today none of the city's dmv offices will renew car registrations. vehicle registrations will have to be renewed online, by mail or through drop boxes at other dmv locations. major water main break in alexandria caused traffic problems this morning. a 12-inch water main break around 8:30 on van dorn street near the beltway. van dorn was shut down for a while. repair crews fixed the pipe but road repair is under way. one lane of van dorn is open in each direction. fairfax water officials say the road will be entirely reopened in time for the rush hour tomorrow morning. a public hearing will be held this evening on a controversia plan to expand a muslim school in fairfax county. the islamic academy wants to

build a new building on its campus on pope heads road in hopes of accommodating its growing student body. some folks that live in the area are concerned that the expansion will cause traffic problems there. critics say the school should not be allowed to expand because recently a congressional panel found words of religious intolerance in the school's textbooks. hundreds of landscapers from around the country today put their expertise and their elbow grease to work in a project to spruce up the grounds of arlington national cemetery. it was a day of hard work on the grounds of arlington national cemetery. an army of landscapers descended on the cemetery in a massive d long project to spruce up the grounds. >> every tree, plant, and lawn here serves as a living monuments to those who serve us. >> reporter: the green project was sponsored by the professional land care network also known as planet.

this is planet's 13th annual renewal and remembrance project. crews from more than 300 lawn care companies close their own doors and donated their day pruning and planting trees around the one square mile cemetery. >> today is all about sustainability. sustainability to our environment. sustained commitment to our troops and our country. and as an environmental stewarts we nurture this land. >> reporter: land assistance heavy traffic attracting nearly 6 million visitor every year. they table trees to protect them from lightning. they call it their patriotic duty. >> we are here to dedicate ourselves to helping to maintain these grounds ensuring that we do our part in our way to safely

carrthe torch of freedom for future generations. >> when it runs down, i'll put more in. >> reporter: the work donated here this day is valued at more than $200,000. the real value of maintaining the beauty and elegance of these historic grounds is priceless. to date planet has contributed more than $2 million to the care of the cemetery. today's project also included work at congressional cemetery a few miles north of the capitol. coming up tonight, the swine flu compared to the regular fl.e why the h1n1 virus is more severe. unemployment is up. home values are down. so why are americans feeling he s stress abt oubt heys? ;gya +ajñ

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health experts are concerned about a new study on the swine flu. scientist found that swine flu multiplies in the respiratory system more severely than ordinary winter flu. the swine flu thrives all over the respiratory system and it causes lesions in the lungs rather than staying in e head as seasonal flu does. the study also determined that many survivors of the 1918 flu pandemic seem to have immunity to the current swine flu but not to the seasonal flu that hits every year. coming up tonight at 11:00, local doctors are helping people

who have a pain in the neck literally. it's a new treatment for a common problem. >> numbness is every day. you couldn't feel things. couldn't type. it's hard to type. it's getting to where it's har to pick up items. >> by the time he saw me again, things had worsened dramatically. >> reporter: the disk was so bad his only option was surgery. washington hospital center neurosurgeon doctor said despite his worsening condition he was the perfect candidate for new procedure. doctors could replace his damaged disk with a new artificial one that would still allow movement in the neck. >> reporter: the news4 for your health special on the neck pain fix tonight at news4 at 11:00. today president obama revealed his choice for the nation's next surgeon general. her name is dr. regina benjamin. she's faced hurricanes, floods, and fires while trying to care

for immoverished patients. she rebuilt her nonprofit health clinic after destroyed by hurricane katrina. president obama said dr. benjamin will bring important insight to the study to revamp the hlth care system. she has seen in a very personal way what is broken about our health care system. the nomination must be confirmed by the senate. up next, countdown to a launch of the space shuttle "endeavour." >> we have a lot of stuff to talk about in sports. busy day as hockey hopefuls try to make an impression at capital camp and wizards ready to roll into summer leaguelay and

we just learned the launch of space shuttle "endeavour" has been scrubbed for tonight. this was the fifth launch attempt for "endeavour." storms kept "endeavour" on the ground yesterday but just nine minutes before the scheduled launch, bad weather and technical problems ruined three other launch attempts before that. >> seven members on that crew will carry the final segment of a $1 billion japanese laboratory to the international space station. that lab's name means hope allowing astronauts to conduct more experiments in space and it's carrying hundreds of pounds of food for the space station's six permanent residents. nasa says they'll try it again

tomorrow at 6:51. lindsey is with us now. you probably know by now they finally let manny acta go. which is no surprise. they need a lot of help in other wa. they do. >> it's kind of bothersome because people keep talking about how he wasn't advisab vis vocal. however, you know a change has to be made. they hope for a spark. nationals management believes certain players aren't playing hard enough. they think a new voice may do the trick. because the nationals led the league in errors and held the worst record in baseball and they're not improving, they fired manny acta last night. in manny acta's third season as manager, the nats are on pace to lose more than last season's total of 102 losses. they lead the league in errors. dropped six of the last seven games. management felt the only thing left to do was to give the players a new voice to last

night they called him and told him the news. jim riggleman will take over as general manager. his past experience includes managing the cubs and mariners. the nats hope a new voice can make that spark. >> jim's experience veteran major league manager we hope the change kickstarts some of our performances into coming into a way that produces wins at a greater rate than we have been experiencing. we have talent that's greater than 26-61. that's what we hope to see in the second half. >> we hope to have a continuation development of our young starting pitching. that's job number one. we need -- i would like to see the players play the game the right way. to execute better, to execute the fundamentals better and to play a better brand of baseball. >> the team will get together for the first time as a unit on

wednesday for manndatory workous and you have to think the players are a little bit stressed out. >> don't they have more errors than anyone else in the league so far and on pace to be the worst team in baseball? i don't know if firing manny acta will make a diffence. go out there and play ball. you're a professional. >> he screamed behind closed doors. >> mike rizzo stressing accountability from his players. ryan zimmerman was one that focused on the need to step it up. rizzo called on him to pass along the news of manny's firing. >> we're a young and exciting team. as bad as it sounds, i wouldn't speak for everyone but hopefully it will kick-start some guys and make them look into the mirror and say, listen, better start playing better a take some responsibility and accountability and maybe start

playing better. ryan zimmerman a guy that had the talent to pick up leadership for this team. he's disappoint bud tonight he'll have reason to take his mind off things. he'll a spectator at the home run derby with pujols will take center stage. we're in st. louis. earlier this season he hit one of the most memorable home runs of the season. remember he knocked out the lights in the eye in the big mac sign. pujols a hometown favorite said it felt so good he hopes he can just do it again tonight. >> best thing you can do is knock it down again. hopefully we can do that tonight. you know, it's something that is fun when you hit a shot like that. like i say, it doesn't matter how far you hit it. >> albert pujols hoping to make

memories tonight. today the final tune-up at the verizon center for the wizards. they wrapped up mini camp this morning downtown. tomorrow night the wizards open you have a five-game summer league schedule against the cavaliers. they hope to impress the new head coach flip saunders by coming out and winning. >> we got a good team. me and nick and dre' and the rest of the guys looking to competing and having fun and getting wins and even though it's summer league you want to build chemistry and work on things for next season. >> people ask me about players and i barely know the players. i'll try my best to guide them just going out there trying to win really. >> a funny story. a summer camp out here he practiced and broke his shoe.

he had to borrow one. >> moving right along, capital mode a move to solidify their roster. meanwhile, the capitals got their first look at some new blood this afternoon with the first day of their rookie camp. hockey season is still three months away but many of the 24 caps prospects were prying tryi make an impression this afternoon. tough workouts on and off the ice. six campers used the camp to their advantage getting a chance to appear with the caps. it's for hopefuls to show what they got and their development is critical to the success of the organization. >> we're not just out here going through the moons. we want these guys to be better, to be better quicker so they can

get and help us win the stanley cup and our minor league system has proven how good the young kids have come and i think we show we really care to the kids. and they'll show it back. >> caps camp is cool. i was on an airplane yesterday with a guy coming up to take part in that camp. his name was owen myer. >> he was excited. >> he was telling me all about it. they have hard training that they do and look to impress. >> thanks, lindsey. when we come back, the jonas brothers take the softball field ahead of their big concert in the district tonight. london's iconic tower bridge is the scene of a spectacular stunt. >> you can get updates on stories we're working on throughout the day by following us on twitter. go to twitter.com and search for "news4 at 6:00." ñgwoqclíg=w

the hottest boy band in the nation will perform for a soldout crowd at the verizon center tonight and this afternoon they made a surprise stop for charity in virginia. the jonas brothers appeared at the aol family day picnic today in dulles. they played to promote special olympics, volunteerism and diabetes awareness. screaming fans say it was a great experience. >> able to play with key people and people that get them out of their offices and fun for us to get off the stage for a second.

>> the celebrity softball game raised $3,000 for charity. a replica of the biggest dinosaur skeleton will be on display soon in japan. they call this the skeleton that measured 115 feet long. it's modeled on the original bones of the dinosaur. they were found in northwestern china back in 2001. the exhibit will open later this week. >> let's get an update from bob. >> that translates to big guy. >> pretty much. >> look at the showers and thundershowers. there are a couple around us but these are the ones that have now postponed another attempt at the shuttle launch until wednesday. meanwhile, over in the eastern shore there have been a few over there for folks. you can see that moving off now

into delaware. overnight tonight for us for the most part clear skies. beautiful evening. temperatures will be in the 60s. the 80s tomorrow. next seven days we're going to be seeing more of the same tomorrow. really nice day. you can see the international space station but very low in the northern sky at about 9:00. we're going to continue to see humidity coming back a bit and with it the chance for some afternoon thundershowers on thursday and also again on saturday. right now the weekend looks fine with temperatures into the 80s and dew points into the 60s so we're not going to be seeing any big changes. here's where to look. looking toward the west-northwest at 8:50. low in the sky. 8:52 about 15 to 20 degrees above the northern sky. again, and for the horizon you need a good view of the northern who a horizon but it's bright.

a few folks have said they seen other objects following. there's many satellites but the international space station with clear skies still where to look. tomorrow morning when you head out, temperatures into the 50s in some spots rising into the 70s and then the 80s by the afternoon. another great day. back to you. >> all right. thanks, bob. the commonwealth of virginia isis oerllgisma sma loans to ste employees. orrnane aornnounced that state workers that bgelon to the virginia credit union will be eligible for loans up to $500. the goal is torevent state employees from turning to payday lenders or car tit lenders. a borrower has to complete an online financial course and pass a quiz on financial literacy. americans stress from debt seems to be easing up a bit. a new associated press poll found that people are more optimistic about being able to get bills and debt under control and in fact debt related stress was 12% lower this year than in 2008.

experts say amerins are taking steps to be more responsible with their finances and be more frugal. they are also thinking positively about the economy and are confident things will turn around. coming up tonight at 11:00, metro responding to urgent safety recommendations. protesters have arrived at a hearing on the expansion of a muslim school in fairfax. we'll be there for what's expected to be a heated debate. doctors say that swearing, cussing in other words may help make you tolerate pain a little better. you n't want to miss that. robby madison is a motocross star. he did something no one has done before. he jumped the gap on the tower bridge using a backflip with no hands.

evil could have done that in his sleep. it goes by so quickly we'll show it to you again from a few angles including from the camera on madison's helmet. there he goes. authorities in london closed the bridge to traffic for the jump. madison and the rest of his crew had only a matter of minutes to make it all happen so they had to make sure he didn't hit the guard rails and he didn't want to end up in the river. he described the experience as awesome. here he goes again one more time. >> got to feel a rush after that. >> got to love that. >> not for most people quite frankly. that's our broadcast for now. "nightly news" coming up next. >> have a great night.