a plane and a helicopter and it looked like they collided. they hit the water. the propeller was spinning

around and it got quiet all of a sudden. >> tragedy on the hudson. nine people have been killed in a collision between a plane and a helicopter offering tours of new york city. good saturday to you. among those presumed dead in this afternoon's crash five tourists out on a sight seeing trip and a young child. tonight recovery boats are combing the hudson for debris and victims. >> reporter: divers searched for the remaining victims below the murky waters of the hudson river until night fall. in all, nine people died when a sight sooe sight seeing helicopter and plane crashed mid air at midday. the ntsb in charge of the investigation. so far officials have only located the helicopter wreckage. >> they're using sonar to locate the airplane. >> reporter: the victims, a pilot and five italian tourists onboard the tour helicopter. on the plane, the pilot and two

passengers, including a child. soon after the crash, officials say it was clear no one could have survived. >> this has changed from a rescue to a recovery mission. >> reporter: it was a clear day with flying conditions nearly ideal. investigators say the helicopter, owned by liberty tours, took off from the manhattan heliport. the small plane departed teeth boro airport in new jersey. witnesses say it appeared the plane clipped the hecopter's tail. >> i seen debris come flying down. >> went right in and there was a splash and it was completely submerged and there was nothing else. >> reporter: the ntsb says the pilot of another liberty helicopter refueling at the heliport tried to warn his colleague. he radioed the accident helicopter and told him one lima hotel. you have a fixed wing behind you. there was no response from the pil pilot. >> reporter: the planes were flying below 1,000 feet and pilots are not required to

maintain radio contact, normal procedure in this busy hudson corridor. along with the investigation into the exact cause there will likely be a debate whether more safety rules are needed. divers are expected to be back in the water sunday at day break to resume their search for victims. michelle franzen, nbc news, hoboken, new jersey. from new york city to maryland where two people were killed when their light sport plane crashed into a carroll county corn field today. it happened just minutes after takeoff from a privately owned airport. the maryland state police say the victims are 61-year-old robert coseumbia and letty williams, 66, of edgewater. the man was an experienced pilot who flew from the air strip two or three times a week. federal aviation officials are also looking intohat caused the crash. anyone who has ever tried parking in downtown d.c. knows that finding a legal parking place can be a huge headache. what if you paid someone else to

park your car and then got a ticket in the mail? the district has new rules to representing late valley parking practices. darcy spencer joins us live fm chinatown with more. >> reporter: it really does happen. people say they are getting parking tickets though they're using valet services. their cars are not being put in the right place. d.c. government officials are saying that's about to change as new rules are going into effect to regulate valets for the first time. it's a saturday night and people are taking in the d.c. night life. bars and restaurants are packed and parking is a premium. for many, paying a valet to park your car is ideal but for some the service costs more than advertised. the district is receiving complaints that valet customers are unknowingly racking up parking tickets. >> from the resident who says somebody is parking in their neighborhood or from a person who has gone to an event and perhaps got a ticket because

they were parked in an area that was not designated legal. >> reporter: some residents and tourists are complaining that valets are parking their cars illegally and they're getting ticks. but they don't find out until they get a court summons in the mail. some say the valets are tossing the ticket leaving unsuspecting customers to pay the ticket and fines. >> what if you get a ticket later in the mail? >> i won't be happy. >> reporter: the d.c. department of transportation passed first ever valet rules in june. under the plan valet companies have to pay the district for so-called staging spots and get permits or face getting fined. >> it's not regulated. we have something that's willy nilly and people aren't sure what to do. that's when the system can fall apart. >> reporter: what can you do if you get a ticket? it happened to this d dot spokeswoman. >> i went back to the valet company and we fought and we said we obviously did not park our car in an illegal space and

we ended up being able to resolve it. >> reporter: you have no proof that you used the valet service and that's when you got the ticket. now, in defense of these valets many of the people we spoke to tonight who use valet services say they've never had a problem but, again, the d.c. department of transrtation wants to minimize the issues involving parking and traffic flow and they think it's going to happen through the regulations. reporting live from northwest, darcy spencer, news 4. back you to. >> all right. darcy spencer in chinatown tonight. thanks. metro riders are in for syemwide delays. long planned summer maintenance ghhrcoou tuegughou guauaust. e les theeinlu les e k ltr cacetplrh o ve anack orh eagan national airport itagonst pentagon city stations. leinor re pain repairing tunn center to friendship ighe center to friendship heights. lade laongal the orange line

na,, west falls church and dunn loring stations. riders can expect some trips to take up to 45 minutes longer than usual. tomorrow is shaping up to be one of the hottest if not the hottest day of the summer. meteorologist steve villanueva is standing by. how hot are we talking buddy? >> it is going to get really hot especially since we're not used to it. this summer has been cooler than average and now that finally the heat is getting here it's going to feel a lot hotter than it has been over the last couple of weeks. tomorrow we'll climb to the mid 90s. so with that let's go to the maps and talk about what's going on. right now 78 degrees so it is a warm evening out there. 74 down in richmond. look at the dew points. it is really muggy. we started off the day comfortable. now it's really humid out there. now, there is an excessive heat watch in effect for philadelphia. this is for monday.

so that gives you a clue of what's heading our way. back to you. sonia sotomayor made history today and became the first hispanic to sit on this country's highest court. >> i sonia sotomayor do solemnly swear -- >> the 55-year-old justice was sworn in today and with her puerto rican mother holding the bible there sotomayor took the oath of office from chief justice john roberts. she becomes only the third woman to sit on the u.s. supreme court. supporters say sotomayor is well suited for her new job. >> 17 years on the bench, the opportunity that she had to be a prosecutor and also work in the private sector and this very unique set of skills she's been able to accomplish in her 30 year career path. >> president obama decided not to attend today's swearing in ceremony to emphasize the court's independence. he will hold a white house reception for sotomayor

wednesday. the new justice will hear her first case september 9th. still ahead tonight, not every car dealer is reaping the benefits of the cash for clunkers program. some say the program is actually tanking their business we'll talk about that also. why it seems that we're making fewer babies in this country. new numbers suggest it. plus, top of the class. dogs are smarter than some people. we'll tell you which breeds finished at the top of their class. coming up in sports, a record in redskins park. andy roddick looks to conquer another tall task. plus, find out if the nats could power their way to a seventh straight win. the inside h h h h h h h h h h h

the government's cash for clunkers program has been phenomenally successful but apparently not for everyone. used car dealers say their business has tanked because instead of old cars getting traded in they're being destroyed. the so-called clunkers can't be resold but have to be crushed then the parts are sold off or recycled. >> i see probably on average about three to five trades every day. now i haven't seen any at all. >> but the clunkers program is a bonanza for wrecking companies who expect a tidal wave of cars to come their way and are looking forward to selling them off one part at a time. now is a good time to save money on your back-to-school shopping. virginia holding the annual tax holiday this weekend. that means you don't have to pay the 5% sales tax on any school supplies costing up to 20 bucks. the break also applies to clothes and shoes that cost up

to a hundred dollars. >> looking at the economy you have to plan before going to the store. >> paying taxes and they have sales so i don't know yet but i know it's going to be significant. >> the tax breaks continue through tomorrow and cost the commonwealth about $4 million in tax revenues. still ahead, if you think your dog really understands you you're probably right. he can probably count, too. we'll share that story. and the forecast is

a decade long american baby boom has just gone bust.

u.s. births fell about 2% in 2008 making the first drop in births since the start of the decade. 2008 waslso the first full year of the recession. some experts believe that the drop in birth rate is directly related to the economic downturn. in fact, the largest decline in births were in california and florida, two states hit hardest by the housing crisis. okay. so maybe your dog is as smart as you thought after all. a psychologist and looegd canine researcher claims most dogs are at least as smart as a 2-year-old according to a new report. dogs can understand more than 150 words. they canlso intentionally deceive other dogs and people to get treats. it's not just english. they're pretty solid at math, gs can't count u too. dogs can't count upou t for or five. smereedme are sharper than rehers. the smarte b areeds re bordered collies, poodles, and german shepherds. what do you have? >> you know, i just wand to say when we were children we had

a chihuahua and spoke spanish. >> and the chihuahua got it. >> loved it. >> and now that we're adults we have two other dogs. we speak english and they do what we want. >> how hot are we talking tomorrow? not going to be the hottest day we've had. monday will be. but nonetheless it's going to be hot tomorrow so a good evening everyone. today lots of clouds out there which kept our temperatures in the mid and upper 80s. bu tomorrow with all that extra sunshine, it is going to get downright hot. plus it's going to be quite humid. so tomorrow it will feel basically like 100 degrees and then by monday even worse. so get ready, everyone. go to the maps and talk about what's going on. here's what it looks like as we look across the potomac toward the capitol dome. it is pretty out there, but humid. it's basically really muggy out there. the dew point is really coming up over the last 24 hours and now the humidity is going to stay with us for the next couple days. not only will tobaccohot.

it will also be very humid making it feel that much worse. all right. so 78 right now. 77 now at dulles. look at the dew point. it is 70. that is just really, really humid. that's going to stay with us right until about tuesday, wednesday. all is quiet on doppler radar though we did have a couple light rain showers that moved across the area. we're at 78. it's much warmer up and down the mississippi river with temperatures there in the 80s. with the humidity, it feels like the 90s. this is the air heading our way. we do have heat advisories in effect from cincinnati through chicago and we also have a heat warning in effect fort philadelphia area. that's for monday. that's going to be the hottest day so far this season. there's the large batch of moisture. it did bring us a couple light rain showers overnight but nothing major. most of the moisture is staying to the north of us. it's all tied to this warm front right here. for us the big player over the next couple days will be the area of high pressure. tomorrow it creates a southwesterly flow. hot and humid.

and that goes right into monday. by monday temperatures around 100 degrees with the humidity. it feels even hotter. then we'll start to cool things down as the trailingool front makes its way across the area. the forecast then goes like this. tomorrow morning, partly cloudy. warm and muggy. temperatures basically upper 60s, lower 70s. then during the day we'll see a lot more sunshine than we had today. today we were partly cloudy to mostly cloudy. tomorrow we are partly sunny to mostly sunny and with all of that extra sunshine temperatures will climb ttheid mnd a upper 90s. arember, it will be humid.re the dog days ofr summe are here. ,zy,, and humid. 97 tomorrow. right around 100 degrees on monday. probably feeling warmer than that wh the humidity. then we cool it down by the end of the week. >> so i've got an excuse not to go for that morning run. i like that. thanks, steve. up next in sports a redskins nation sets a record at the park

today.

i know we'll talk the redskins but the nats just going. >> stealing the headlines. >> better late than never. >> we love it. i like to see winning baseball here. offense has powered the nats to a six-game winning streak but the one thing you don't get against the arizona pitcher dan herron is offense. he's holding opponents to a .198 batting average. that mark is best in the bigs. tonight nats trying to stretch their streak to seven. we start in the bottom of the

first. adam dunn facing dan herron with runners on the corners and dunn pokes one through the right side for a base hit. minlger morgan trots home to give the nats a 1-0 lead. only the fourth run herron has allowed the first inning all season. the nats get on the board first. bottom of the second still one up the nats. herron pitching to alberto gonzalez and check this out. gonzalez hits one back to the mound at herron. kicks it up to himself and grabs it. throws to first for the out. some would say that was nifty. bottom four, nats trailing, 2-1. josh willingham at the plate. has a man on. it's hammer time. crushes one to left. that's out for a two-run homer. it's his 18th of the season. ak to a bigo win, 5-2, and league best seven games. talking football now and a record crowd of more than 29,000 fans packed the park for fan appreciation day. a spirited scrimmage was the

highlight of the afternoon and skins rookie defensive end brian oraco had a strong showing getting to the qb on several occasions. marcus mason is proving he's worthy of a roster spot. and the offse took center stage this afternoon in front of a bevy of redskins fans. former georgetown prep star marcus mason showing off his versatility. here he gets some positive yards on the carry. mason lepd the league in rushing in the preseason last year and mason working on the back field. mason, a one-handed grab. interestingly he has been practicing as a fullback for the last three days, something jim zorn wants him to do more of. >> you know, he's pretty much taught me the more he can do the better. that's why i'm trying out for fullback now. i think it's working out. >> reporter: are you comfortable in that spot? >> i'm getting there. i've only done it for three days. i'm getting there. >> all right. we're in canton, ohio for the hall of fame indungs ceremoctio

ceremony. smith racked up a record 200 sacks in 19 seasons. smith is a first ballot hall of famer. >> in the beginning i had no desire to play football because my first love was basketball. mygility and speed on the court convinced my coaches and friends like andre that i would be stellar in football. after much duress, i surrendered and decided to give it a true. >> we are, too. very nice. a class act inducted into the pro football hall of fame tonight. turning to tennis, three-time champ andy roddick would have to complete a tall task, chop down 6'9" john isner at the fitzgerald tennis center. roddick had his hands full tonight. first set tiebreaker. roddick in the far court. the two exchanged groundstrokes from the baseline but then isner gets sneaky, throws in the drop shot and catches roddick off

guard. isner wins the first set, 7-6. roddick won the second. we go to a third set. tied at four. isner serving in thear court. moves to the net right here. he hits the drop shot but roddick tracks it down and rips the crosscourt winner. roddick beats john isner three sets advancing to tomorrow's 3:00 final to take on the defending champion juan del potro. pad rag harrington is leading at the invitational but could be victim to another sunday tyiger attack. he trails by just three strokes going into the final round. tiger braving the elements all day in akron, ohio. here in the par 5, 16th, tiger's third shot from 90 yards away. he's attacking. his ball lands on t green, rolls past the pin but he's not finished. pulls the string and the ball stops just inches from the cup. oh, my goodness. tiger would move to six under. then on 18 tiger putting for birdie with precision gets that

to go. he birdied four of his last six holes to fin wish a share of the lead at seven under but harrington, who was playing behind tiger, turns it on. here on 15, knocks down the birdie to turn to ten under for the tournament. he's three sho in front o tiger. you know what? tiger woods is always on the prowl. >> that's why he's there and we sit behind this desk. appreciate you joining us. we'll see you back here tomorrow. until then that's the news. good night. s

the following is an abc news special. vice president dick cheney, the final interview. here is diane sawyer.