be determined. we are going to go now because that's the best way to stay out of trouble. on the broadcast tonight -- house and home. foreclosures are up sharply in this still-sputtering economy and it's not getting better. the finish line now in sight for supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor. and what some republicans came close to admitting today. new pe for people with diabetes and where it will likely come from. name change -- if you give a landmark a new name does that mean people are going to call it that? and a sharper image -- 40 years later we are now getting a better look at that giant leap for mankind. better look at that giant leap for mankind. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening.

it has not been the lead story lately but it came roaring back in a bad way today. home foreclosures are up in this country. and despite a lot of efforts to improve the housing picture, which afterall started the mess this economy is in, it is not getting better. the number is a bad one. another 1.5 million foreclosure filings through the month of june. that is up a full 15% nationwide. not what anybody wanted. we begin here tonight with cnbc's scott cohn. good eveni. >> reporter: good evening, brian. for all the glimmers of hope we have seen in the economy this is just the opposite. mes in record numbers. their one in every 84, at least threatened with foreclosure this year. among them, maricella and burt

hichner in san diego, after trying to work something out with their lender for a year they could lose their home as soon as next week. >> it is causing a lot of stress in my family, in my kids, and especially my husband. and i just -- you know, want this to be over. >> reporter: the housing market and the job market are spinning the economy in a vicious cycle. people losing their jobs, then falling behind on their mortgages, and losing their homes. sending home prices falling, hurting the economy even more. 22% of homeowners are under water on their mortgages they owe more than their home is rth. so some are just walking away. all this despite the massive mortgage relief program unveiled in february. >> this will enable as many as 3 million to 4 million homeowners to modify the terms of their mortgages to avoid foreclosure. >> reporter: it hasn't worked. lenders have been flooded with calls, but so far, according to the treasury, just 325,000 homeowners have been offered modifications under the program.

>> the program is still in its very early stages. i think it's important we give it time to work before we revisit whether refinements are necessary. >> reporter: even that may not be enough to counter the worst housing crisis since the great depression. >> government programs to help foreclosures and help homeowners are just not big enough to -- to manage that kind of problem. >> reporter: and every foreclosure hurts the whole neighborhood. one study says if the trend continues, property values nationwide this year could drop more than half a trillion dollars. what's to stop it? well there is talk about more aggressive loan modification programs. maybe letting distressed homeowners stay in their homes as renters. but to some degree, experts say this is a result of a housing market that just got completely out of balance, brian, and could take years to correct. scott cohn at the global headquarters of cnbc for us tonight to start us off. thanks, scott.

the questions are over for judge sonia sotomayor. she appears, appears to be headed for confirmation to the u.s. supreme court. today also saw a line of witnesses, pro and con, including some of the fire fighters in her most controversial case. once again tonight, our justice correspondent pete williams, standing by at court with more. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, it seems likely tonight that judge sonia sotomayor will be on this court within a few weeks. the top judiciary republican now says he will not support any attempt to delay a final vote. >> i just want to ask you up front -- >> reporter: many republicans today appeared to be rehearsing what they will say when it comes time to vote. south carolina's lindsey graham said that judge sotomayor did not seem to be an activist. >>undamental, judge you are able to embrace a right you may not want for yourself to allow others to do things that are not comfortable to you but for the group they are necessary. >> reporter: other republicans remain unconvinced.

>> your judicial record strikes me as pretty much in the mainstream. you appear to be a different peon almost in your speeches and in some of the comments that you have made. >> reporter: one question today, about an especially divisive issue, produced a one word answer. >> do you believe the court's abortion rulings have ended the national controversy over this issue? >> no. >> reporter: in all, 2 1/2 days of questions for judge sotomayor. when that was over, others took their turns. fire fighters who sued the city of new haven, connecticut, turned out to oppose her. she was among the judges who ruled for the city when it threw out a test that would have qualified them for promotion, but not african-american fire fighters. >> i think we all had the expectation when we took the test that the test would be fair, job-related, and that it was going to be dictated by one's merit on how well you did on the exam not by the color of your skin. >> reporter: among those supporting judge sotomayor, former major league pitcher david cone, who dended her

decision to end the 1994 1995 baseball strike. >> i believe all of us who love the game, players, owners and fans are in her debt. >> reporter: the committee could vote on her nomination by next week and then on to the full senate the first weein august. brian. pete williams at the court in washington for us tonight. pete, thanks. it did not look likehe streets of a civilized city this morning and it happened not far from here in jersey city, new jersey. five police officers were shot, two suspects were killed, police say a man in a priest outfit pulled out a shotgun, fired it from hip-level at responding officers, as backups in body armor rushed to get bystanders out of the way. an update and turn in the story of the double-murder in florida, the adoptive parents of so many special needs children, last night police recovered the safe that was stolen from the billings' home there. well investigators also found what they say was the second vehicle used in the robbery.

and one other important discovery. >> we have located several guns in various locations, one of which we believe is the murder weapon. seven men have been arrested on murder charges. an eighth person, a woman realtor we told you about here last night is charged now with being an accessory after the fact. authorities say other suspects told them her van was used to hide weapons and the safe. the u.s. military is stepping up efforts to find an american soldier missing in afghanistan for 17 days. he apparently wandered from his base on the front lines and was captured by the taliban. today, the pentagon released images of leaflets it has been dropping in the region. one reads, quote, one of our american guests is missing. return the guest to his home. on the reverse side is a phone number to call for information. now to the latest sign of the tenons a lot of european nations are grappling with as

the muslim population grows. in france, the president nicholas sarkozy has called for an outright ban on the burka worn by a lot of muslim women. sarkozy calls it a prison, says it is a sign of women's subservience and called it not welcome in his cntry. our report on this tonight from nbc's dawna friesen. >> reporter: you see them, in afghanistan and in saudi arabia, the burka that completely envelops women. but in europe, increasingly, yes, a small but growing number of conservative muslims wear them and the french president wants it to stop. >> translator: the burka is not rkozy declared to the as french parliament, it is a sign of enslavement. to faisa silme, it was a shoc >> translator: my veil is not a prison. i am proud to wear it. i feel normal. >> reporter: what she doesn't feel is very welcome. silme, born in morocco, has

lived in france and dressed like this for eight years. her husband and four children are french. she speaks fluent french. when she applied for french citizenship last year she was refused. >> translator: i will never forget the day i found out. i felt sick. france is a country of liberty, equality and fraternity. >> reporter: her lawyer has no doubt she was refused citizenship because of how she dresses. >> they never mention the burka in the decision itself. but there was nothing else there but the burka to indicate that practice. >> reporter: france is home to europe's largest muslim population, 5 million and rising. balancing their religion with france's cherished secularism has been uneasy. head scarves and other religious symbols are banned in state-run schools. many hope burkas on the street are next. listen to this french talk show. >> translator: little kids see these black phantoms on the streets says this woman. it is scary. >> reporter: president sarkozy's message is simple -- if you want to live here in france, live like us. and the burka just doesn't fit.

but some wonder if banning it might actually elevate it, empower it, make wearing it an act of rebellion. and a ban could be fodder for terrorists. an islamist website has already threatened dreadful revenge on france for the honor of our daughters and sisters. never has what women wear stirred up such controversy. faisa silme can't understand it. >> i am not hurting anyone. i should be able to live like everyone else. >> reporter: she is part of the new face of europe, burkas like minarets and head scarves, are a visible reminder europe is changing and no laws can alter that. dawna friesen, nbc news, paris. when we continue here on a thursday night, big advances in treating diabetes. and for better quality of life for some patients that includes one patient in the news this week. later, celebrating what happened 40 years ago. ebrating what happened 40 years ago. high blood pressure... have and you have high cholesterol.

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there is some hopeful news tonight for the thousands of americans diagnosed each year with type i diabetes. advances in treatment are improving their quality of life as researchers work towards that cure. you might not have known it, but one of those patients has been front and center. on this broadcast all week. our report tonight from our chief science correspondent robert bazell. >> reporter: during her confirmation hearings, judge sonia sotomayor has kept two cups in front of her. one contains water and the other sprite in case she feels the need for quick boost of sugar. sotomayor is one of a million americans with type i diabetes. a condition where the body fails to make the hormone insulin to control sugar in the blood. diabetes is getting easier to manage. when meg richter was first diagnosed she found the constant monitoring of her blood sugar levels and daily insulin injections a big hassle. >> this is my insulin pump.

>> reporter: but now a pump delivers her insulin and she has become accustomed to the rest of the routine. >> it is also something that comes such a habit that you don't really put the same amount of thought to it as you do initially when it is is all new. >> reporter: diabetes can carry the risk of many complications. but experts like dr. juan dominguez bendolla, at the university of miami, says that is changing rapidly. >> the science has advanced tremendously and the care of the patients. they have a much better lifestyle than they used to have. well managed diabetes doesn't have to give you trouble in the short term. >> reporter: the future for people with the disease looks even brighter. these are human stem cells that are being taught to become insulin producing cells. this is one of many projects that give great hope that there will be far better treatments or even a cure for type i diabetes within a few years. in type i diabetes the body's immune system destroys the cells that make insulin. >> i had never heard of it. >> reporter: cindy smart had a severe case of type i.

she would pass out often, even with regular insulin injections. three years ago she got a transplant of insulin producing cells from a cadaver. and now she no longer needs insulin injections. >> i have a normal adult life. i live like everyone else. >> reporter: it is difficult to get enough cadaver cells. that's where the stem cells come in. many experts believe they will soon provide an endless source of new cells. >> the pace has been almost frantic of stem cell research for diabetes. >> how are your glucoses? >> a frantic pace towards what soon could be a cure. >> i couldn't ask for better. >> reporter: robert bazell, nbc news, miami. a young man in california will have something extraordinary to say when people ask him what he did on his summer vacation. he is 17-year-old zack sunderland, he became the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone. his trip ended in marina del ray where it started 13 months ago. that is two summer vacations. he says along the way he survived foul weather, engine trouble, sleep deprivation,

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like others, while you've been building your life, plaque may have been building in your arteries. find out more at crestor.com. then ask your doctor if it's time for crestor. announcer: if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. here in new york, not far from the avenue of the americas, which will always be 6th avenue, there is the metropolitan life building which will always be the pan-am building. names have a way of sticking on our landmarks. we tend to like some things the way they were as they may be about to find out in chicago where they renamed the landmark sears tower today, whether people call it that or not.

kevin tibbles has our report from chicago. >> reporter: dominating the chicago yline for more than 35 years, the tallest building in america today has a new name. >> call it the big willie. for all i care! >> reporter: the sears tower is no more, now it's the willis tower. >> who is willis? >> reporter: sears that symbol of americana actually vacated its namesake tower in 1993. this year, british insurance giant willis leased three floors and began renovations for 500 staffers. >> how did you wrestle the name out of them? >> i asked for it. >> reporter: still for chicagoan, peter siegel, host of npr's "wait, wait don't tell me." icons don't change their name. >> i don't think any one in chicago is going to call it the willis tower, let's go to the willis tower. >> the sears tower had been a

beacon of chicago's big shouldered pride since completion in 1973. once scaled by a spiderman looklike, even used as a backdrop in "ferris buehler's day off." >> anything is peaceful. >> reporter: paris has the -- >> eiffel tower. >> reporter: london has -- >> big ben. >> reporter: chicago had sears. >> the sears building. >> reporter: i am going to break your heart. it's called the willis tower. >> why? >> reporter: more than 93,000 disagree with the name change on facebook. but some are catching on. >> willis tower. wasn't the name changed? >> reporter: you have been cheating. there is one thing that won't change at this windy city landmark, the spectacular view from the top. kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. when we continue, from the rca building in new york, apollo 11, 40 years later. is it possible it looks better today than it did back then. ♪ fly me to the moon ks better today than it did back then. ♪ fly me to the moon circulation.

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pictures of the launch show debris breaking off the fuel tanks, strips of insulating foam peeling off. nasa says it has no reason to think the damage is extensive just some dings as they like to say in the space program. to be sure, astronauts are using a device with a laser tip on it to see extent of the damage. long before there was a shuttle or space station, there was "mercury," then "gemini," then "apollo." and 40 years ago today, apollo 11 left for the moon. the astronauts were chasing a promise, don't forget, a goal set by j.f.k., to get there before 1970. they made it and they changed all of mankind in the process. and now we're getting a fresh, better look back at that mission four decades ago. our report tonight from nbc's tom costello. >> we can see you coming down the ladder now. >> reporter: this is how 600 million people watched neil armstrong and buzz aldrin take their first steps on the moon through grainy, distorted black and white imes, now 40 years

later, this, a 21st century digital makeover of armstrong's first steps of buzz aldrin coming down the ladder before and after with far more detail and clarity. >> beautiful, beautiful. >> reporter: of planting the flag before and after the scarred surface of the moon far more vivid. >> we are men from the planet earth. >> reporter: and reading aloud the plaque on the lunar lander you can make out the astronaut's faces as they read president nixon's words. the original broadcast from the moon pushed the limits of 1969 technology. transmitted more than 200,000 miles to two tracking stations in australia, where the signal was converteto a broadcast image. sent on to sydney, then beamed to california, relayed to uston and rebroadcast to the rest of the world. >> we are very happy we were able to present any television whether it is snowy or dusty, it was an historic event.

>> reporter: but nasa also had bad news today, it now believes the original cleanest recordings, 45 tapes, were likely erased in the 1970s or 80s by mistake. so it is now working to digitally enhance all of the existing "apollo 11" video. also today f the first time, an incredible peek inside the command module. nasa has now posted on its website, all of the private conservations recorded between the astronauts inside their space ship. including this exchange as they approached the moon's mountains and craters for the first time. astronauts inside their space ship. including this exchange as they approached the moon's mountains and craters for the first time. >> reporter: even the mundane conversation is captivating. 40 years after nasa's greatest accomplishment, the apollo 11 mystiqueives on. tom costello, nbc news, washington. and one more thing, perhaps this will help people remember

now what an amazing, outlandish idea it was to go to the moon in the first place. listen to david brinkley, of nbc news, the night before the launch, 40 years ago today. >> to say that somebody is about to land on t moon and walk around on it, while almost everybody on earth watches, is just about too much to swallow. i almost don't even believe it. but it is true. and if this is not a permanent enduring event in human history, then nothing is. and it certainly will be remembered as long as mankind remembers anything. he was right. and so, good night, david. good night for all of us here at nbc news. thank you for being with us. i am brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com here tomorrow evening. good night. here tomorrow evening. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com