this morning on "early today," terror in jakarta, deadly bomb explions tear through two upscale hotels in the indonesian capital. georgia's finest. a police officer braves a fiery wreck to pull this disabled woman to safety. and 40 years later, nasa releases enhanced images of and 40 years later, nasa releases enhanced images of man's first walk on the moon. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, and good morning, everyone. i'm dan kloeffler. today we begin with a jolt to

jakarta. a pair of bombings at luxury hotels broke a four-year lull in indonesia. nearly simultaneous at a marriott and ritz-carlton hotel left nine people dead, more than 50 hurt. among those killed or wounded, 14 foreigners, an unknown number of americans. there's been no claim of responsibility so far, but there is suspicion on an al qaeda link islamist terrorist network that has been behind attacks in that region. a senior lawmaker in the world's most populous muslim nation that suicide attackers carried out these bombings. in a speech honoring the naacp's 100th convention, president obama invoked his own biography as a calling to the next generation of americans. it reflected on sacrifice. he urged audience to seize control of their own destiny.

make no mistake, says the president, the pain of discrimination is still felt in america. the speech pushed the ambitious agenda most notably the health care reform. the senate judiciary committee has wrapped up confirmation hearings for supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor. the she withstood days of grilling with no major gaffes, something republicans admit would be the only thing to derail her confirmation. they heard from new haven firefighters whose reverse discrimination lawsuit became part of the hearings. she was part of the panel who ruled against the firefighters, only to have the decision overturned by the nation's high court. she is expected to win her confirmation before the senate's august break. "endeavour" is in the clear, after initial fears about debris that came loose from the external fuel tank shortly after

liftoff, nasa officials say there is no cause for concern. and just in time for the 40th anniversary, nasa has released images of the first moon walk, much clearer in the reconructed version than those grainy originals we've become used to. and new york, some of the very items from the mission went on the auction block. the space sale featuring apollo 11 items brought in $1.7 million. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. a georgia police officer braved a roaring fire to rescue a woman and it was all recorded by his dash camera. a blown tire ignited a van with a family of four inside. while three family members were able to escape on their own, the officer approached the vehicle and pulled the disabled mother to safety. the mother and a daughter

suffered burns but both are expected to survive. 12 people were injured at walt disney world when two buses collided. officials say one bus -- one disney bus rather rear ended another and that sent a dozen passengers to the hospital. the accident comes 11 days after a fatal monorail crash at the theme park. in new york, a vandal tried to send a message, burning a 60-foot dollar sign into a high school football fiel a five-page letter as walso found cniomplailng about thepl school's use of tax dollars. administrators at the high school now say that damaged turf could cost $100,000 to repair. serious drought conditions in texas have left one lake at 28 feet below normal water levels. docks and boats that once floated on the lake travis now seem out of place in a dried up basin. officials seiche the state is experiencing tlts worst drought in nearly a century. wow. and now for a look at the

national and regional weather, hopefully with rain in sight for them is meteorologist bill karins with the forecast. good morning to. >> good morning to you. i've got something really special for you. this is family home videos. it's not what you think, though. take a look. this is actually from my brother's house in albany, new york, yesrday at his front door. large hail was coming down. some of it as large as egg size. there was some damage in the area. and i actually made him take his hand. when have you a hail picture, you have to put it in your hand to take the picture. those were some of the biggest stones outside. very impressive. >> wow. >> like that? >> hopefully he's got car insurance. >> i know. he did have dings here and there. >> yeah. >> let's talk a bit about the forecast out there today. we could see some strong storms once again today. those storms from yesterday are gone. they've now left new england. as far as the southeast goes, we have heavier rains in louisiana also down to mississippi. we're going to watch this area of low pressure, it's going to dip down to the south and ride

up the coast. and it's going to spread some heavy rains today and tonight all the way through southern new england. here's a look at the storms this morning. pretty good storms along the ohio river spreading through louisville, lithtown, sweeping through kentucky. if you're driving out there, be careful. you'll be caught in downpours. as that low makes its way through the southeast, it will spread showers and storms in many areas today. it will also be warmer than it's been in new england. here's a look at the weather outside your window. thunderstorms later today in norfolk virginia, columbus, ohio, best chance for storms around mid-day or so. sarasota, warm at 90 but look at the cool air in grand rapids, michigan, only 66. and that was a rare event, dan, for upstate new york to get hail that large. i've never seen anything like that. >> usually they get feet upon feet of snow in the winter time,

but pretty amazing. thank you, bill. dr. doom speaks out. big blue rides high, and a red-hot wall street nervously awaits reports. business headlines straight ahead. plus, what she had to admit to in divorce proceedings is going cost this hard-living singer big bucks. also, beckham is back in the states. ryan howard makes baseball history, and tom watson turns back the clock. you're watching "early today."

good morning, everyone. and welcome back to "early today." i'm dan kloeffler. the senate has improved a major expansion of the 1968 federal hate crimes law. the legislation would cover those physically attacked because of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. ted kennedy is now being treated for cancer, and unable to be on hand for that debate. first proposed that bill in 1997. a chinese-born boeing engineer who became a u.s. citizen has been convicted of spying for china for decades. he sold trade secrets, including data on nasa space shuttle program. he now faces 90 years in prison. bill gates wants to try his hand as controlling the weather. gates and a team of co-inventors

have filed five patent applications to propose a way of slowing down hurricanes. the plan? to use barges to pump cold, deep ocean water into the path of oncoming storms. and the running of the rednecks, the sprint, a time-honored tradition for people to get a good seat for a concert in the eastern part of the state. setting up blankets,nd tarps and a few bruises along the way. the dow opens at 8711 after jumping 95 points thursday. the s&p up eight, the nasdaq up 22 points. overseas trading, the nikkei was up 51 points and in hong kong, the hang seng surged 443 points. wall street is hoping to pull off a five-day rally after jpmorgan chase gave it better

than expected earnings. today more market heavy walths come out with their second quarter numbers. for more on that and all your early business headlines, we're joing the london headquarters of cnbc. good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, dan. that has been the case in the other days we've seen, it will be down to these heavy hitters, whether or not the market rally keeps going. ge, bank of america, all in the limelight today. jpmorgan's results better than expected, n profit jumping by 38%, far better than expected. credit loss is still a worry for the group. ibm's second quarter numbers were better than anticipated. what took markets by surprise was the forecast which was revised higher, 3% in afterhours trade. google made more money but even though revenue growth rose massively, analysts say expectations had been so high

that shares fell by 3%. after hours they didn't give us an outlook but they never do. and one of the few economists who predicted the financial crisis was quoted yesterday saying the worst of the turmoil passed, the markets got excited, they rose. he clarified, saying he hasn't changed his views. the number of american workers filing for jobless claims fell sharply last week. the jobs benefits are the lowest level since january, but the data was distorted because of the layoffs in the auto sector. video game sales during june showed the biggest drop year on year in nine years. the rounding out a very weak half year in the industry which otherwise prides itself on being resist tent to the recession. and this could be the best buy. they're looking for a senior manager of emerging media marketing, as they call it. the candidate has to have a minimum of 250 twitter

followers. who said social networking was a waste of time, dan? >> got to bring the posse with you to the new job. appreciate it. and unlikely american in second place in britain, and like the american, homelands down third place in france, and manny returns to l.a. plus, he's the youngest to do it. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. your weather headlines feature extreme temperatures, hot and cold. your regional forecast is coming up. b n]46

good morning. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. straight ahead on "news 4 today," three people are shot outside a prince george's county apartment building, among them a capitol police officer and a 12-year-old girl. we'll have the latest on their conditions and the investigation. >> another frightening crash at disney world. what happened when two buses collided. >> more closures on metro's red line this weekend. where and when you'll see the delays. join us at 4:55 a.m.

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, as the first round of the british open got underway, one thing became clear. golf is not just a young man's game. here's mario solis with a look at all your sports head lines. >> good morning, tom watson shocks the field at royal turnbury. watson has won five times, the last coming in 1983. this birdie on 12 moving him to 4 under. he shot a stunning 5 under 65 which ties him for second. tiger had a forgettable day, the word's number one player could not get anything going. he finds water on 16, leading to one of his four bogeys. tiger, six shots back at the second round, is underway.

different day, same result for lance armstrong and the tour de france. the seven-time champion remains in third place, eight seconds offer the lead. manny ramirez making his l.a. debut after a 50-game suspension. he struck out twice and was a nonfactor. fifth inning, a solo shot to center gives houston a 1-0 lead. houston spoils manny's return. mets facing the braves second inning, escobar takes tlaept to 1-0 lead. and garrett anderson gets a hoef his own. line howard hit his 200th home run reaching a milestone, phillies sink the marlins 4-0. and look who's back in the states, david beckham made his

return last night. beck did not score, but the gall galaxy did something they haven't done in a while, they won. that's a look at sports on "early today." thank you, mario. wondrous feats from the boy wizard at the box office. entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, he's 17 and he's already seen the world, literally.

good friday morning. let's bring you through the weekend forecast. starting with today, we are going to see showers and storms all through the southeast. it's not going to rain the whole day, just the typical afternoon showers and storms, especially the carolinas. early this morning, kentucky has some of the worst weather. notice the heat t isossible cities like new york city could see their first 90-degree day since april. the exception is chicago. 71 today, 69 tomorrow. very cool this weekend in the great lakes. if you're watching us on wdtn in dayton, ohio, dragons, explore the mythology surrounding their counterparts at the boonshoft discovery exhibit "dragons."

no word if loch ness is real or not. >> the answer could be at that event. >> could be. >> you might want to go and find out. thanks, bill. now headlines in entertainment, the boy wizard keeps toppling records at the turn style. for its first full day of release around the world, "harry potter and the half-blood prince" took in $104 million, a new record. this weekend, with no serious competition, the only question experts had is will this be a $100 million weekend for harry? on the other hand, experts anticipate a steep drop for last week's number one "bruno." research points to nowhere near the continuing intrefrt that his previous hit "borat" enjoyed. and mischa barton missed the premiere of her film last night because l.a. cops put her into involuntar psychiatric holding after a call from her home.

and amy winehouse admitted she cheated on her husband in divorce proceedings. finally, want really big hollywood bucks? get behind the camera. according to forbes, george lucas made $170 million, spielberg finished second with a modest $150 million. and from knbc in los angeles where in nearby marina del rey one dean age sailor has a world of experience at the helm. zach sunderlin sailed the "intrepid" and is the youngest sailor to complete a world tour alone. the world truly is this young ilor's oifter. congratulations to him. i'm dan kloeffler and this is

right now you're watching a beautiful picture of the nation's capitol out there this morning. we have 75 pretty muggy degrees here. 4:55 is our time on this 17th day of july. good morning. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison. we're going to start things off this morng, as we always do, with a look at our traffic and weather on the 1s. >> tok's here for our first forecast. good morning. >> it's friday so what if it's humid? >> so what? >> it is going to get better. >> and it's july so that's the way it's supposed to be. a rather humid, mild morning. on radar, a few showers in the ofpae tdlnh wesgi virnia and enghunle coosty thare raarng tveo tli he naiar r hiound tnisor mngut silit mdnd aheat rrgyug m gtwainshon w and mid-70s montgomery, fairfax and prince george's counties, southern marylan nd ouar the bay and trn eouteas shore. cooler in thete mountnsin, in t mid-60s. look at the dew points. whenever they're ound 0, 7 that is humid.

we are up around 70ew doiew pntp gionnhroreuc m o tuche .re erashe st lixurho s, een eingew aho srswe f rollingut the ooal vyley hngdiea o he. stea d'seaah oea aol cdntro f c rr wilgbe ainivin later on this afternoon that may trigger some strong stms. details on that, the friday forecast coming up at 5:01. >> thank you so much. >> let's go to jerry edwards now and take another early, early look at the traffic. >> happy friday. so far, so good. over on 95, virginia, no early worries. we did have police activity reported a short time ago on the beltway outer loop approaching 95 and springfield. if you're headed on 95 northbound or southbound you're looking good. elsewhere, che things out along route 50 at the bay bridge, sure to be a busy place day. wilson bridge is fine, as is i-270. back to you. >> thank you. here's a look at four big tore is happening today. these nine people a dead after powerful explosions at two luxury hotels in indonesia. officials athe blasts in

downtown jakarta were minutes apard. >> three people are recovering after being shot outside an apartment complex in prince george's county. the victims include a capitol police officer who was off duty at the time, another man and a 12-year-old girl. this all happened last night in greenbelt. all three victims are expected to be okay. >> funeral services will be held today for a florida couple murdered during a home invasn. melanie and byrd billings had 16 children and were known for adopting those with special eds. police have arrested eight people in the case. >> the space shuttleen "deavour" is expected to dock at the international space station today. nasa has been trying to figure out why part of the shuttle's fuel tank lost so much foam covering during wednesday's liftoff. nasa managers call it a, "bit of a mystery," bsay they're not concerned. it's wedding season and you may think nothing could stand between a bride to be and a perfect wedding gown. >> several local stores have already closed and others may be

closing soon. news 4's julie carey reports. >> reporter: in a half century of business, thousands of brides have walked down the aisle in a gown from this arlington would you particular. nancy has owned this salon for 12 years. but at the end of the month she'll close the doors at this higher-end store for good, a victim of a recession that has hit luxury retailers especially hard. >> it's been almost two years we've seen the slide of not as many brides and those that have come in -- because we have them fill out a card and ask them what their budget is. we've seen even them check off my budget is less and less and less. >> reporter: brides who at one time would have considered a $3,000 gown are now spending half that. for bride to be dana haskell, who just received a store closing letter, there's suddenly a new wrinkle in the wedding planning. while griffin has promised to make sure all her clients get their dresses and alterations, haskell worries. >> i'm very anxious. we're already kind of cutting it

close as far as time frame for alterations. my wedding is in september and i've been told i'm on the cusp so i'm really anxious to get it as soon as possible because i will need alterations. >> reporter: lady hamilton is one of at least three bridal salons closing in the area. in chevy chase, there was a time no one could have imagined seeing these kind of signs posted at the high-end harriet kassman boutique. after running the store for three decades, kassman says facing the decision to close was difficult. >> very, because i've never been in that position before. i was kind of shocked. what was happening? what was i doing wrong? >> reporter: but statistics tell the story. luxury retail sales are off 18% from last year when they had already started to dip. >> that was the first ones that got hit is the high-end. the walmarts, they're doing fine. >> reporter: kassman holds out hope her store might somehow weather the recession after all. in the meantime, she, too, is taking care of her bridal clients stilt awa