a joint session of congress tonight and the american people. he will talk about health care reform. a commercial flight with about 100 people onboard hijacked this afternoonn mexico. the media there said hijackers threatened to blow the plane up unless they were allowed to speak to the mexican president. mtejim jivance. >> i'm doreen zlntge.er the flight had taken off from cancun and landed in mexico city. jane watrel joins us with more. >> reporter: the hijacking episode did end quickly, without police firing a single shot. u.s., french and mexican citizens were among the 112 passengers caught up in the idea. aeromexico flight 576 left cancun this afternoon and was briefly hijacked and landed in mexico city. the hijackers released all the passengers. the crew was released unharmed moments later. as many as eight handcuffed men were led away from the plane which was isolated at the end of a runway.

mexican authorities say the motives were unclear. while there was no bomb on the plane, some passenger said one of the hijackers held up a package that looked like an explosive device. apparently they never communitied with the passengers directly. it wasn't until the plane landed in mexico city that there was an announcement made that the plane had been hijacked. mexico's attorney general said it is opening an investigation into terrorism and kidnapping, but didn't specify how many people were going to be charged. the incident comes two days before the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks here in the u.s. >> jane watrel, thank you. president obama will try to give his version of health care reform a boost this evening when he speaks to a joint session of congress and the american people. steve handelsman joins us from capitol hill with more on what we can expect. >> reporter: hi. thanks. the latest associated press poll

out just today shows why president obama needs this to work. public disapproval over how he is handling health care is up to 52%, to win reform up here on capitol hill. he's got to turn that number around. aides say president obama was still working on tonight's speech as he went to new york to honor walter conkrironkite. bill clinton did it in '93 to sell health care reform, but failed. the obama plan tonight, not just talk to law makers. >> i think the president will talk directly to the american people about the substance that's in health care, not all the process and kabuki dance around it. >> substance. mr. obama will say major reform is needed now and will push as part of it the public option, government insurance. a leading house liberal says that's the number one issue.

>> health care reform without a robust public option is not health care reform. >> reporter: but the key senate democrat negotiating health care, max baucus of montana said that is not an option. republicans are demanding president obama reboot, start over. >> i would hope he would come to the house tonight and hit the reset button. stop. back up, start over and get it right. >> reporter: but some republicans say if democrats drop the public option and down size the whole plan, they might vote yes. >> i think we could come up with something that the president could declare victory over. >> reporter: but baucus says with the gop or not, he'll finalize a health bill next week. >> it will have bipartisan support. as i said, we are going to proceed anyway. >> reporter: a major obama goal tonight, getting a few republicans to join him on health care. mostly the president speech will

be aimed at making ordinary americans more comfortable with the kind of changes being proposed by the democrats and more eager to see health care reform succeed now. live from the hill, steve handelsman, news 4. back to u. >> thank you. t nbc news will haveeiv l coverage of the president's speech this evening. that begins at 8:00 here on nbc 4. a youth minister in stafford county, virginia, is accused of having sex with a teenage boy she counsel legaled at her church. the relationship took place earlier this year over the course of two months. tonight members of the congregation say they are devastated. keith garvin has our report. >> the congregation as a whole is deeply saddened. is just heart sick. >> reporter: a community searching for answers after a trusted staff membe allegedly to f a teenager under her council. 36-year-old jennifer michelle

snan t t youth ministern stafford. yestery nday gur jra indicted the wife andr motot of two young childrenn charges that she had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy. church officials say they learned of the allegations back in july and it was they, themselves who then took those allegations to authorities. >> over the course of the last six or seven weeks, we have fully and faithfully been a t p tion a r answered all of their questions. >> reporter: on a facebook fan page, someone writes, "jenn is an amazing youth leader and god focused and amazing in every aspect. she is a like a mom and big sister to all of u and loves u with all her hjorth." according the star newspaper, court records say she may have taken that love too far. brennan was counseling the boy against premartial sex, but at some point she allegedly began holding and kissing the teen during sessions which escalated

to sodomy and sexual intercourse. after the allegations were levelled, brennan's pastor placed her on unpaid administrative leave. >> our director of youth ministries was a very important position here. >> reporter: in brennan's neighborhood in fredricksburg, none of our neighbors wanted to talk on camera, but many dribbed ar pfamily and a ndnd kind. they along with her church family are hoping the allegations are untrue. in stafford county, keith garvin, news4. investigators say some of the acts took place inside brennan's home and her minivan. she is facing ten counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor and ten counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. there is heightened security at amtrak stations across the northeast this evening as part of what's called operation alert. the tsa along with amtrak and local law enforcement agencies are all taking part in the exercise. authorities are doing random

baggage inspections at unannounced locations. those baggage checks were going on during the morning rush hour and this evening. amtrak says it's part of a counterterrorism exercise. amtrak says the one thing they want to stress to passengers is they always have security in place, even though it may not always be visible to passengers. the supreme court convened for an early session today and allowed a rare look inside the proceedings there. justices debated whether the federal campaign finance law which bans corporate-funded attack ads should be overturned. tracy potts has our report. >> she is steeped in controversy, steeped in sleaze. >> reporter: the nonprofit group citizens united wanted to offer this hillary clinton documentary as video on demand during the 2008 presidential campaign, but the government blocked it, claiming the show violates federal campaign finance laws that prohibit corporations from runng political attack ads against candidates shortly before elections. the group paid for the program with corporate donations.

today the supreme court heard arguments that this is a first amendment issue. >> a ban on hillary the movie today would mean a ban on hillary the book tomorrow. >> reporter: the senators who created that law say overturning it would allow big companies too much influence in elections. >> their corporate treasuries would be opened up to dtroy the political process. this is a very bizarre time. >> reporter: in court today the film maker argued most corporations bound by this law are really small businesses. >> government can't license speech based upon a person's bank account. >> reporter: in rare audio of the courts arguments, several justices appeared concerned about limiting free speech. >> there is no place where it is more dangerous than in the elections context. >> there is no distinction between the individual interest and the corporate interest. >> yet this law freezes all of them out. >> wouldn't we be doing some

more harm than good by broad ruling. >> reporter: in her first appearance on the bench, justice sonia sotomayor asked whether the bigger issue should be decided in this case since it does not involve a corporation. tracy potts, news4. another issue the court will consider is whether it makes a difference that this program was available on demand. which means viewers had to choose to watch it. it did not come over the public air waves. family, friends and fans honored the late tv anchorm walter cronkite during memorial service in new york today. cronkite died in july at the age of 92. president obama attended the memorial and sat next to former president clinton. mr. obama called mr. cronkite a voice of certainty in a world growing more and more uncertain. >> i thought he was an

astonishing man. i liked his inquiring mind and his caring heart. yes, he was a great journalist. and he lived a fascinating life, which made him long to know and to understand and to share his knowledge and understanding. >> it was a packed house at the lincoln center honoring the late anchorman. he anchored the cbs evening news from 1962 to 19 1. coming up tonight, some guys accused of stealing a four-foot aluminum statue commemorating cal ripken. >> federal agent are getting ready to auction off tens of millions of property that used to belong to bernie madoff. >> british commandos launch a raid to rescue a "new york times" journalist. >> the nation of turkey is dealing with deadly flooding after the heaviest rain they had in 80 years. >> how about our rain? >> not bad here this evening. isolated showers around, jim. in my forecast, we have an extra

day of rain added on. jim riggleman addresses his status with the nationals. albert haynesworth not worried about tackling brandon jacobs. jim zorn named his number two wide receiver.

stephen farrell is a "new york times" journalist. saturday he was taken captive while at work in afghanistan. this morning farrell was rescued during what's described as a daring raid by british commandos. while the raid saved farrell, five other people were killed. michael flynn has our report. >> reporter: "the new york times" confirms that stephen farrell, one of the paper's veteran war reporters was rescued early this morning after a helicopter raid by british commandos. the operation to free farrell began just afteridnight at a

taliban hideout in northern afghanistan, an suv nearby with windows blasted out is evidence of the heavy gun fire that took place. on "the times" website, farrell was saying we were all in a room. we thought they would kill us. we thought should we go out? there were bullets all around us. i could hear british and afghan voices. once the shooting began, he and his translator ran. the translator was shot and killed. his taliban captors also ran. soon after farrell says he dove into a ditch and yelled, "british hostage," and that's when the british commandos found him. farrell was kidnapped saturday while covering a controversial nato air strike that took out two fuel tanks and killed both taliban fighters in an unknown number of civilians. journalists were warned this area is taliban-controlled. some question whether farrell should have gone to such a dangerous place to begin with. others defend his work.

>> if journalists don't go to places and don't reveal what's going on, it's in everybody's interest that the full story should come out and as quickly as possible. >> reporter: also among the dead are one of the british commandos and a female civilian believed to be a militant's relative. tonight farrell, an irish and british citizen is in kabul and says he was not harmed. michael flynn, news4 washington. >> "the new york times" kept farrell's kidnapping a secret because they were afraid for his safety. the heaviest rainfall in 80 years caused deadly flash flooding in turkey. 31 people have been killed there. more than 200 cars were washed in the sea in a suburb of istanbul. helicopters were called in to rescue people. the floods were sparked by two days of torrential rainfall. a main expressway that leads to the airport is covered by three feet of water. some drivers had to climb up on the roof of their vehicles and wait for help to arrive.

authorities have increased the amount of money offered for information about who started that big wildfire in california. los angeles county supervisors approved a $50,000 reward yesterday for toergs leading to a conviction in the case, on top of a $100,000 reward being offered by the state. the so-called station fire killed two firefighters and torched about 250 square miles. other than ruling the fire an arson case, investigators have not released many other details about how it started. the apartment in new york city once owned by bernie madoff is about to go on the auction block. federal agents are tagging everything in a park avenue apartment as they get ready to sell it. they are also planning to sell madoff's home in palm beach, florida, and a yacht. the new york city apartment has a value of over $7 million. proceeds are set to go to the victims of madoff's $65 billion ponzi scheme.

watching wall street today, stocks are soaring again. the closing bell signalled the end of another good day for the fourth straight session, the dow finished up nearly 50 points. it climbed above 9500. nasdaq also up today, gaining more than 20 points to finish at 2050. s&p 500 made it across the board win today gaining eight points. coming up, swine flu concerns prompted the french government to ask people to hold off on that kiss-kiss traditional greeting. >> and another check on the

that rain that's been in the forecast this week just expanded. >> it did another day. we have another day tacked on. the whole week with rain around the area. truly this week is the complete opposite of last week. >> it's okay as long as it gets

clear by saturday. we don't mind. >> exactly. that it will as you see in the forecast. let's take a look outside right now. there are the clouds. we got the break here early part of the afternoon. the clouds filled back in. we did get a chance with that break in the cloud cover to see temperatures rise to the upper 70s today. 79 degrees, the low this morning. 67. 79 was at 2:00 today. picked up .03 inch of rain. our last day with average temperatures across the area sunday. our average running at 83 degrees. let's talk about cloud cover and the wind still out of the east-northeast through the area. temperatures now dropped to 74 degrees. that wind at 10 miles per hour across the area. still, there's the spin right off the coast down to the south of us. today that low pressure system was just far enough east, far enough out over the water that we got some breaks in the cloud cover. there it is still spinning p.

tomorrow it inches a little bit to the north, and in fact, a little bit onshore. it backs toward the west tomorrow. these really are the players right now. still low pressure. easterly went. lots of moisture to see that storm system coming off the atlantic. high pressure that's to the north of across new england. still not allowing the storm system to go anywhere. on digital doppler xt, a few showers around. north of the area around loudoun county. those dissipated and pressed on. pretty dry right now across the area. lots of dampness still left in the atmosphere. we'll see more isolated showers around for the next couple of hours. kind of drizzly. light showers tomorrow morning. frederick, maryland, you picked up .07 inch of rain. camp springs with a light northeasterly wind. frederick county out at the east, 70 degrees your temperature. ocean city today has been locked

in the upper 60s, low 70s. closer to that water temperature. areas right near the water kind of feeling the effects of the water with that easterly wind. air temperature now at 74. 80s down south. temperatures out in the eastern atlantic also in the 80s. we've taken the tropical storm or at least it has increased from tropical storm status to hurricane status. fred. still expected to move northward through the atlantic. then a bit more to the northwest on monday. we'll continue to track that storm system. the sent for the atlantic hurricane season. expected to start dissipating, too, on monday. low pressure up the coast meandering then backing toward the west. some showers around tonight. light showers and a few light showers kind of hit-and-miss here and there tomorro morning. then we'll start to fill things in a little bit more with more widespread rain coming our way tomorrow. this storm system acting like a tropical system and a little like a nor'easter. as it comes up the coast, we'll

start to see the winds increasing out of the east and northeast. calling it a breezy afternoon tomorrow and breezy evening, a well. maybe even friday morning. the rest of that storm system will be north of us on friday, but with spin still left in the atmosphere. that's why we've got the showers posted for friday. isolated showers for this evening. 68 to 74 degrees. temperatures dropping easy. temperatures by tomorrow morning in the low 60s across the area with those low hanging clouds. some light rain. occasional showers across the area. 56 to 63 degrees. by the afternoon, unlike today as we got close to 80 degrees, tomorrow we'll barely get up to 70 degrees. it's going to be quite cool with showers around again. breezy afternoon and friday is not looking much better. the weekend is so we'll take a look at that weekend forecast. >> we are counting on that weekend now. thanks, veronica. >> coming up in the broadcast, we'll tell you about concerns about the swine flu and how it's

affecting a career fair held at the university of maryland. >> also ahead, a statue commemorating cal ripken was stolen outside camden yards last night. >> steve jobs back at work. >> big news for beatles fans. in sports, jim zorn named his number two receiver. nationals' manager talks about his status. and albert haynesworth.

some of the stories making headlines tonight.

>> the passengers and crew of a hijacked plane in mexico have been released now. the aeromexico flight was hijacked this cancun and landed in mexico city as hijackers demanded to speak with mexican president felipe calderon. the 104 passengers were freed and police led five men away in handcuffs. president obama tonight will make another pitch for health care reform in a major setting. he will address a joint session of congress and the american public. aides say he will still push for public insurce option while trying to put more americans who don't agree with his plans at ease. a youth minister in stafford county, virginia, is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old boy she wcounseling.nsliseng. b workored f worked for a methodist church. she was indicted yesterday contributing to the delinquency of a minor. coming up, new pictures taken by the hubble space

telescope. steve jobs is back on the job today. he made a major announcement regarding popular apple products. there is an increase in the number of possible swine flu cases at the university of maryland. >>. >> a if things weren't bad enough in baltimore, the orioles baseball team will have their 12th losing season. to add insult to injury, a monument to one of the team's all-time greats cal ripken was stolen last night from right outside the ballpark. the reporter from wbal has more. >> reporter: four drunk gs tried to take a giant aluminum souvenir home from camden yards tuesday night, according to police. cal ripken's storied number 8 statue stolen, a sad pile of sand left behind. >> i would like to take a picture of the original, but the's gone. >> you don't expect that stuff to happen.

it's too bad. >> reporter: according to the arrest report, the suspects were seen by two eyewitnesses and two city crime cameras at 10:47 p.m. they pulled and kicked the 8 right off its base and loaded the statue i the back p a pickup, a truck they found a couple of blocks east of paterson park. >> we were called for a disorderly. four intoxicated white males were fighting with each other. when officers arrived they found the giant number 8 statue. the case is closed after that. >> reporter: the four men between ages of 18 and 20 were arrested and charged with felony theft and destruction o property. earnest young wondered what one would do with a giant metal 8. a number that has amounted to so much pride for so many o's fans. >> we are foolish. i don't know why they would do something as pointless as this.

>> reporter: it's a question we posed to the police commissioner. >> at the end of the day it's a bunch of drunks. you know? it's dummies coming into the downtown, coming around the stadium to do something dumb. baltimore orioles spokesperson says she does not know when that statue will be reinstalled. a wounded murder suspect who eluded police is now in custody. 39-year-old winston dillon was wanted in connection with a murder last month at a house party in silver spring. a 63-year-old man was shot and killed. dillon was shot in the leg during the altercation. police learned he was being treated at the washington hospital center. they were getting an arrest warrant when dillon left the hospital against the doctor's advice. he was arrested in upper marlboro last night. police are still searching for a second suspect in the murder case. a woman was shot at close range in silver spring this

morning. police identified ms a ead 37olr-nesimo-y white.d ouett bodularev in the briggs chaney area. pat collins has our report. >> reporter: police out tonight looking for a killer, someone who ambushed a woman here just a few feet away from her home. >> i heard shots. i was doing homework. i was on the computer and told everybody to shut the blinds and stuff. i heard shots. i told mom tre were shots. it was scary. >> reporter: they say it happened this way. 12:15 this morning, the ashburn woodlake apartments. simone white is coming home. she had to park her car way up there near thedumpster. she got out of her car and began to walk towards her apartment. her apartment that's at the end

of the complex right next to a wooded area. as she steps on to the runway leading to her apartment, someone comes from the woods back there. one, two, three shots are fired. two hit her in the body. one in the head. she falls dead to the pavement. sylvia walked into the building a short time before the shooting. >> it's a little bit scary. when i was coming in, i didn't see anything unusual. i usually come home around that time. so to think that somebody was probably just in the bushes in the parking lot waiting is scary. >> reporter: right after you walked inside, you heard the gun fire? >> yes. >> reporter: people who live around here say gun shots are not all that uncommon. is this a safe neighborhood? >> i can't say that. >> reporter: do you hear gun fire around here often? >> yeah. yes, sir. >> reporter: scary? >> yes.

>> reporter: investigators trying to track down friends o simone white as they search for a motive in this case of murder. sources say nothing was taken from the victim, her laptop, purse and keys were all found at the scene. officials at the university of maryland say the number of suspected swine flu cases on campus is growing. the school's health center says it has treated more than 250 students who had flu-like symptoms. all of the students are recovering now. to help accommodate the increased number of cases, the university's health center is adding extra hours on sunday. they are telling six students the same thing we've been hearing. if you feel sick, don't go to class. stay home. the university is also recommending students substitute fist bumps for handshakes at an upcoming career fair. >>. >> officials in france are asking people to make changes in an effort to stop the spread of

the swine flu there. the french ministry of health is strongly suggesting the traditional french greeting of a light kiss on each cheek be stopped. officials say they are afraid the practice could further spread the swine flu. the ministry is suggesting people keep a buffer zone of at least three feet all around them. coming up on news4 at 6:00, new pictures taken by the hubble space telescope. apple ceo steve jobs talked about his health today. >> and big news for beatles fans. ar

welcome back. we had a few hours of sufrp. clouds are back. 74 d.c., 76 dulles. manassas 75 degrees. although ragweed is moderate today, 12 grains per cubic meter and for september that count for ragweed has not been as high as what the average is for it. that's the blue bar. a lot of folks still suffering. at least the count is lower than the average.

lower than average, tomorrow's high temperature 73 degrees. close to that on friday. it's looking wet for the afternoon and evening tomorrow. friday still lingering showers across the area. clearing out and warming up for the weekend into the low 80s. >> thanks, veronica. coming up tonight at 11:00, they are called the capital guardians. it is to protect the nation's capital. the first time since 9/11, the 113th fighter wing allowed a news reporter to fly with him. that was our own keith garvin. >> reporter: 113th has been part of the d.c. national guard for nearly 70 years. its role shifted dramatically after 9/11. since then the wing has been on constant asa, air sovereignty alert. number of f-16 fighter jets armed and loaded and set to respond at a moment's notice. that number is classified. >> we weren't on air sornt alert here at andrews prior to 9/11.

obviously since the attacks in the nation's capital region, we are on alert defending the skies. >> tonight at 11:00, keith flies with the fighter wing. apple held its highly anticipated product unveiling today. the biggest ovation was for ceo steve jobs. jobs hasn't made a public appearance for apple in almost a year. he was on medical leave after a liver transplant. he made a public flee. >> i now have the liver of a mid 20s person. who died in a car crash and was generous enough to donate their organs. i wouldn't be here without such generosity. i hope all of us can be as generous and elect to become organ donors. >> as for the apple products,

big changes for ipod's nano which has a video camera, fm radio. jobs announced upgrades to the ipod touch and better, a lower price aimed at boosting holiday sales. it starts at $199. beatle mania back in a big way today. a popular video game was released called beatles rock band. analysts expect about 2 million games will be sold in the first month. beatles are expected to get a boost of their new collection of digitally remastered music. all 16 albums have been digitally remastered the first time in 22 years. that hit store shelves today. coming up, a guy in arizona accused of speeding. police say they've got him on camera. he says they can't prove he is the guy behind the mask. >> albert ynesworth, almost

mocking brandon jacobs. >> not a smart thing. >> skins choosing their number two wide receiver. they have a nestarter. and jim riggleman talks about returnne season.

there is a guy named pat who is a randle el hater. >> it was the worst kept secret at redskins park. jim zorn officially announced today what has been whispered for weeks. malcolm kelly will be the team's number two receiver. kelly showed flashes of his potential throughout the preseason. he made it impossible for the coaches to keep him off the field. now he replaces antwaan randle el in the lineup. he literally got everything that came his way. one coach told me kelly already

has the best hands on the entire team. you can see that throughout the preseason. zorn said this is what he was hoping to see during kelly's rookie season last year. kelly was limited toive games because of injuries. as for winning the starting job, kelly says it's great, but he knows there will be plenty of balls to go around. >> it means a lot. i look at it like football. it's a game. whoever is number two, we are going to make plays on the football field. whether it's him, me or somebody else, we are all going to play. i don't look too much into this. it's an opponent, a real good opponent. we have to bring our a-game to win. >> you can't cover malcolm one-on-one. the teams are going to realize real quick in the season. as long as he's healthy, it's impossible to cover him one-on-one. i think his hands are unreal.

of course people want to double santana. when you double santana, you drop an eighth man in the box. now we've got the opportunity to hurt you. you've got malcolm one-on-one. >> i don't know if you could tell from that sound bite, clinton portis is legitimately excited about this young guy. it's going to make his job easier. >> absolutely. >> it puts antoine randle el back in the third receiver slot, that slot role where they expected him to be. >> he can't be too happy about that. >> i think he expected it. >> you are probably right. >> clinton portis talking about how good the giants' defensive line was. their running game is no joke either. last year they had two 1,000-yard rushers in brandon jacobs and derrick ward. all 262 pounds of jacobs is back. this guy can be a bull. he had 16 rushing touchdowns last season.

the season opener against the skins. remember this play? look ought below. right over le'ron landry. that hit was probably shown 100 times that week. apparently he's not too worried about the beefy mr. jacobs. >> they all fall the same. doesn't matter. none of em are bigger than me. doesn't matter to me. >> you enjoy that challenge more? >> doesn't matter. i weighed 250 in the tenth grade. >> the reason he got a big chuckle, his whole press conference today was a snoozer. albert can be a quiet guy. doesn't say a whole lot. then he drops that bomb at the end. they are going to play that in new york a couple of days. >> i like albert haynesworth. moving on to baseball. jim riggleman was promoted to

interim manager. most thought he was a place holder, but riggleman is making a case to be the guy. players have responded much of the time. it hasn't all been perfect. under riggleman, nats have their longest winning streak of the year. lyndsay czarniak live at nationals' park with more on rockville native jim riggleman who would love to be the nationals' permanent manager. >> you are right. he would. here is something you might not know about jim riggleman. he is an avid runner. there are days he wakes up and things, i don want to go out there today, and he always does. that same mentality with which he now approaches this season. he helped turn things around. nationals, they've got 24 games left. they have to win 15 to not lose 100 on the season. he still keeps these players motivated. john landon trying to get things going. they ended up getting the loss

5-3. they did have highlights. ryan zumerman playing shortstop. he continues to make a case for gold glove honors, making highlights there. john landon would get frustrated after that. he would give up back-to-back home runs for the next two batters. it's been a roller coaster for this team. they win eight, lose eight. jim riggleman wants the permanent job. >> i love to manage. it's what motivates me. i fe like my job is to motivate the players, try to get the most out of his players on a daily basis. i think so many things that go into that decision that are not strictly in the manager's hand. i have to respect any decisions that are made. i hope i get the call, but again, you have to deal with it if it doesn't go your way. i hope i get a chance to continue. >> he's done a great job.

he is what we need as far as having a young team, kids that need to learn quickly at this level. he's great at that. it's not my choice to make that decision. jim's done a great job. he's great to play for. >> ryan zimmerman says jim riggleman holds all players accountable. nationals 21-30 under riggleman's tenure. he would love to make that job a permanent one. tonight they take on the phillies. they've got to do something, right? >> let's hope that win a game the first time. they had a losing streak before. lynds lyndsay czarniak. thank you. >> allen iverson, made $20 million last year. he wants to go someplace where they let him beat a.i.

in memphis they might let him do that. coming up on news4 oot 6:00, the newre ptuics taken by the >> a guy pols iri is wearing a mask in order to avoid being busted for speeding.

earlier this year it looked as if hubble telescope was in danger of becoming another piece of space junk. shuttle astronauts took on a risky $1 billion repair mission. today nasa released the first new photos of deep space. they are spectacular. kristen dahlgren h our y he a t detailed look at far-flunk galaxy. our sharpest view of star clusters and this butterfly nebula. they show the birth of stars billions of light years away. but what may be most astonishing is that we have the pictures at

all. they are the work of the new improved hubble space telescope, nasa's comeback kid. hubble is back in action. the new pictures, new evidence that last may's servicing mission to the iconic space telescope worked perfectly. >> thank gode didn't break it. >> reporter: today, astronauts joked, but it was the most complex space repair ever. the mission once almost scrapped for good because it was so dangerous. its five complicated space walks have plenty of curableserve bal including a bolt that didn't want to budge. >> two guys fixed a stuck bolt. >> reporter: new pictures are just a beginning for the 19-year-old telescope, now expected to live another ten years.y looking back into the universe's past and building toward a future that may find life on other planets. >> in this century, we are going

to have the capability of finding a planet that we can say has life on it. >> reporter: scientists say hubble's new lease on life is a first step toward that. a journey prompting to capture more breath-taking finds along the way. kristen dahlgren, nbc news. >> how do you contemplate something billions of light years away? that's way further than gaithersburg. just thought i would throw that in. we want to tell you about dave who lesives in the phoenixr ea ea i he is a normal-enough looking guy. he likes to drive fast. he does not like speed cameras. police in arizona say they charged him with speeding 37 times. he has not paid a penny in fines. he is fighting all the tickets. he says the cops can't prove it's him behind the wheel. every time a speeds camera snap his picture, a person wearing an animal mask is driving the at so ptheenerpe that person seeo