9news now in hd is brought to you by verizon fios. this is 9news now. "this broadcast realtime captioned by becky lyon."

right off the bat tonight, six people dead after a shooting at a gym. it happened in pittsburgh about an hour and a half ago. witnesses say a man came in the back door of the health club and just started shooting. our sister station is reporting that that gunman wept to the club searching for a girl he thought would be in a class. we are hearing the gunman is among the dead. no word on the fate of that woman. we will have more on the story as it comes into the information center. also tonight we are monitoring the release of two american journalists from a north korea prison. these pictures came into the information center about two hours ago as the women boarded a plane. former president bill clinton met with north korea's leader. clinton went at the request of

the ling and lee family. the two were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. the question tonight, why this personal approach instead of the structured and formal diplomacy that traditionally defines relationships between countries? and another one. is personal diplomacy actually a good idea? gary neurenberg is in the information center with hopefully some answers. >> reporter: bottom line, it can sometimes work without forcing the united states to compromise its official foreign policy. the recent history of personal diplomacy outside official channels includes jesse jackson in 1989. bill richardson trip to secure the freedom of an american businessman there. richardson sees the clinton trip at win/win. >> kim gets a lot of juice out

of this but we get the two women back and there is a lessening of tensions. >> use of personal diplomacy is case by case approach. >> reporter: american university professor saying there can be disadvantages to personal diplomacy. >> you may generate false hope for the country that are in a similar situation that the united states would make the country an exception to the general rule. >> reporter: and he sees potential losers from the clinton trip. south korea and japan. >> in tokyo, from this time will incest only on direct negotiation while trying to further alienate the other countries. >> reporter: the professor also sees an upside here. the possibility that north korea gains enough confidence in this perceived diplomatic

victory, getting president to visit, bill clinton to visit. >> three americans detained could be charged with spying. shane bauer, his girlfriend and their friend were arrested for illegally entering iran from iraq. security officials in iraq say the three of backpackers simply got lost while hiking in the mountains but the border is not so clearly marked. >> senators have spent the night debating whether sonia sotomayer deserves to wear the robes of supreme court justice. her confirmation is all but a done deal. the vote expected thursday. she would become the supreme court's first hispanic justice. an update on the case of the cash for clunkers program. they expected the green light to the program before breaking for its recess on friday.

majority leader harry reid says he has the votes now to extend the recent program which is designed to get gas guzzlers off the road. studies show you are a lot more likely to crash your vehicle on a cell phone. the obama administration says drivers need to wise up when they are behind the wheel. so next month the transportation secretary will convene a summit on distracted driving. >> we need to put an end to unsafe cell phone use, typing on blackberries and other activities that require drivers to take their eyes off the reasoned their focus away from driving. a new virginia tech study found that drivers are six times more likely to crash if they are dialing a cell phone and a study by car and driver magazine found that texting and driving is more dangerous than drunken driving. >> however, drunk driving is still a huge killer in this country and tonight police say

that was the cause of last week's deadly crash on a new york highway. a woman who drove the wrong way had been smoking marijuana, was very drunk and even had a bottle of vodka in the car. the crash killed that driver, her err 2-year-old daughter, three young neices and three men in an suv. the california highway patrol believes a blown-out tire led to this deadly crash in orange county. the vehicle skidded off an embankment and landed on its roof and started on fire. all five occupants were killed. north of the beltway. it's not quite over yet. but tonight we do know that the proposed purple line what it will look like if it ever gets there. >> we are here today to announce we are delivering on that position by moving forward with our plans to develop it. >> while the governor was gathering in a bit of a pause

for backing the light rail route there therthere is still you can ge t gemomoney. u yon ca see this rou nsruoscl nstoe the path of the capital crescent trail and that's the controversial part that is drawing opposition. that side of the story is on webb we. just click on maryland news. new tonight, a multimillion dollars lawsuit over the vest to keep police officers safe. the justice department it is reported has filed a crackdown on the part of body armor companies. it reportedly says they knew the vest would break down in high humidity but sold them anyway. first choice armor says the lawsuit is competely without merit. complaints against a dc officer in the past seven years

it is the same officer that gave a gay slur. >> reporter: between 2002 and 2009 dc police officer james racked up 26 complaints ranging from a 22-year-old woman accusing the police officer of grabbing her genital area to a man accusing him of stealing $3000. >> i told the officer i was an attorney and i knew it was in my right to express an opinion in my public. >> reporter: this man is at the heart of the latest complaint. he admits to say he hits police within ear shot of the police officer. he says the officer insulted him with a gay slur. >> what did he say? >> just shut up faggot. >> reporter: another attorney arrested in 2002 said the police officer is one of two officers involved in this

description. i was very afraid of the officers. i believe the police decided to teach me a lesson because i am an attorney. the man goes on to describe being thrown to the ground, suffering bruises to his head, arms and face. >> it is interesting to me that so many people assume always that police officers are in the right and this is one case where they are so clearly in the wrong. >> reporter: an internal investigation into this latest incident is ongoing. inspect >> of those six complaints that andrew mentioned only one was recommended for higher review by the then police chief. four of the other investigations were closed after complainants failed to follow up. dc police had no comment on this latest investigation. new tonight partying with a purpose. an annual event called national night out. down into that dunk tank. kids and parents having lots of

fun this evening in southeast dc. rides, exhibits, plenty of food but the celebration was all about ties between the police officers and people in the neighborhoods they serve. national night out gatherings were held across the country and all over the dc region. we have a follow-up for you on staffing issues at some prince george's county firehouses. tonight we have learned that assistant chief jordan has been operationally suspended until further notice. jordan spoke with our dave statter yesterday about the new staffing plan put into place this week by the fire chief. jordan tells us he doesn't think these public comments had any bearing on his suspension. he thinks it stems from the handling of a fire at a firehouse but several sources tell 9news now that chief george was upset by some of jordan's statements. so far we have no official comment from chief jones and you can read about all of this

on dave statter's blog at wusa9.com. now to some good news out of richmond. governor tim kaine saying virginia's infant mortality rate has dropped to the lowest level ever. down to 6.7 deaths per 1000 live births. the infant mortality rate generally reflects the quality and availability of prenatal and child birth care. parents, you already know this but now we have proof. it costs a lot of money to raise a child. a new government report says the average middle income family spends a quarter of a million dollars per kid and that doesn't even count college tuition. >> reporter: it is kid eats free night at austin's grill in chinatown. >> you never know how much he is going to eat. >> reporter: freebies like this are welcome just like no cost play dates. >> we do a lot of parks and the zoo what story times at the library. >> reporter: because let's face it, from their first birthday to their middle school years and well into their teens, kids

cost money. >> it is worth it but expensive. >> reporter: and getting even more expensive according to a new report from thuse toda ntce chree foses a erund arfamily th earns less than $57,000 a year will spend of $1of $160,000 on one kid by ofthe i for a leddmico inme family that co inst goes ,0$20020d an to $220,000 and mecoin r inco e fami could dish up out to $370,000 to raise one child. >> i wish i had known that before we had two, i guess. >> reporter: single largest expense housing. >> i think the second largest chunk especially for working parents is daycare. >> reporter: that's exactly right. along with food and education costs. what the study doesn't account for it college tuition. a thought many here and here don't even want to talk about. at least not until their child is driving. britney moorehouse for 9news

now and wusa9.com. >> the study also found that the cost of raising a child are highest in the urban north east part of the country and lowest in the urban south and rural areas. coming up a pitcher learning his punishment after very publicly losing it. and i'm tony pann. the weather nice and quiet today but we do have some thunderstorms in thseven-day fore. ca st w shilweyoowl u caatth in a sec. first we will take in sec. first we will take you tothe break. 79 degrees at national airport. stay tuned. weather is coming up next. qw

welcome back. good evening, everyone, i'm tony pann. chance for rain going up wednesday. i think wednesday will be the best chance for rain for the rest of the week. end of the week looking pretty quiet an falyirormfcotable on thursday and friday. specifically for tonight partly cloudy skies. 20 or 0% chance for a shower or thunderstorm as we head into tomorrow morning. the odds are that the wednesday morning commute will mfbe dry. there could be a brief shower but i don't think that will be a big problem. muggy low temperature down around 70. during the day tomorrow mixture of sunshine and clouds. chance for showers and thunderstorms goes up in the afternoon to 50 or 60%. high temperatures upper 80s to around 90, southwest wind at 10 to 15 miles per hour. right now 79 degrees top of the hour at national airport with a dew point of 64. actually came down from earlier

in the evening but still pretty muggy out there. temperatures elsewhe generally in the 70s. down to 73 culpepper one of the cooler spots but still 81 degrees in fredericksburg. again, everybody will settle back down close to that 70- degree mark by tomorrow morning. high thin clouds out there this evening. these are not rain producers. no precipitation around us right now but if we set the radar loop back a couple of hours you can see some thunderstorms trying to develop in the mountains and they kind of just dissipated as they head over towards us. a little disturbance out there that could be something developing as we head into tomorrow morning but most of the action has been out in the ohio valley for the last 12 hours. big thunderstorms across illinois, indiana, ohio, kentucky and tennessee. all being triggered by a cold front that is going to sweep through here during the afternoon tomorrow. i don't think we will see severe weather with this event. there will be enough to create some thunderstorms but this doesn't look like a severe weather day. by the time we get into the weekend the jet stream moving

way to the north and hot air coming in from the south and we will get a nice little push of what we usually get this time of the year by the beginning of next week. high temperatures approaching 95 degrees on monday. and just like most of the summer the heat is not going to stick around very long when we do get hot, lasting a day or two and that's been the trend and that will continue, strong cold front coming through on tuesday next week and get rid of the heat. but thursday and friday looking like the nicest days of the week to me, best chance for rain will be tomorrow. >> update for you now on breaking news from the top of the hour that deadly shooting at a gym near pittsburgh. at least six people are dead. several others wounded at the l.a. fitness center in bridgeville. witnesses say a man came in a back door, went straight to an aerobics studio, turned off the lights and opened fire. one of the women shot may be that shooter's ex-girlfriend. no word on her condition tonight. police are not yet sure how the incident ended but they believe the gunman is among the dead.

we will have much more on this story out of pittsburgh tomorrow on 9news now starting at 4:55 a.m. now to a 9news now follow- up. talk about a foul ball. a justice found a minor league pitcher guilty of assault for hurling a baseball into the stands. this went down last summer during a bench clearing ball between the chiefs and dragons. the pitcher said he was aiming for the dayton dugout but it went into the stands and hit a fan in the head and knocked him out. the fan has long sense recovered but the pitcher is looking at 2 to 8 years behind bars. it is time for 9sports with brett haber. the best sports in town. we are really going to talk about jason campbell. he had reason to be mad. >> anybody who has ever been replaced at their scrob by somebody else would be mad and jason was this off season. if you walked into work tomorrow and found your boss

parading through the office with candidates to replace you chances are you would be pretty mad. imagine how jason felt this off season. now we know how he felt. in tomorrow's edition of "sports illustrated" campbell is the cover of a story after which holding his tongue for the entire off season campbell w finally unadon the redskins. he said i'm fine now but ere were a couple of times in the of seonasth i felt like a piece of tissue they were flushing down ooe rnten f ofad did not address the matter with reporters but you can bet we will address them tomorrow. meanwhile another injury at camp leaving the practice with a spained knee. missing a few days. he is thought to be the front runner to thought now that jon jansen is gone. wideout malcolm kelly left with

an injury today. been five days since the nats traded nick johnson to the marlins. in the short term as in tonight, put the nats in the rear a little bit. johnson making his return to dc as the marlins came to town and look what he did in the very first inning taking jd martin through the hole on the right side knocking in a runner. led this game 4-0 until the 8th, my friends when the nats released -- guzman squeezing one through. tied at 4. then two batters later. adam dunn with a man on big donkey does it again. they win 6-4. detroit tonight os and tigers. birds up in the 6th. nick markakis dead center off jarrod washburn who was making his first start after getting traded from seattle. two-run shot. how about the nats and os winning on the same night?

8-2 the final. night 2 at the leg mason. andy roddick was supposed to play tonight. pushed his match to tomorrow. he wants to make it up to you. first 150 people to show up in a store tomorrow between 11 and 1 will get a free ticket for tomorrow. andy is buying. former world number 2 taking on canada's player. steam rolling through the first set. converted both break points including that beautiful pass up the line. 6-1. dropped the second set but recovered to win 6-4 in the third. also tonight former uva star knocking out the sixth seed. soccer tonight. dc united in elsalvador. gomez for united. over the wall and in. they are tied at 1. they are in the second half as we speak. we are going to take a quick break but up next the

latest installment of the good, bad and ugly. tonight, why terrell owens new cereal needs a spell check. the crime against washington ofcommitted by mmpotato. all ahead in gbu. we will be back after this. julie loves target, it's got the supplies teacher told her to get and for a great deal. she also expects he'll love the sandwich. she expects he'll think of her when he sees the note. so she shops target. gotta have deals on the stuff she's gotta get. target. expect more. pay less. all the way to the home, you meant...

we bring fiber optic all the way to the home. um... which gives you more bandwidth than cable. so you can upload faster. so it's like comparing a horse and buggy to a sports car. am i the, uh, horse? (announcer) it's a whole new internet. only verizon's 100% fiber optic network makes uploading as easy as downloading. because your internet's not fast unless it's two-way fast.

or producer finally came to her senses. two segments of sports in the newscast. it is our weekly look at the excellent and not so excellent in the world of sports. drum role for the good, bad and ugly for august 4th. we start with the good. best catch that wasn't a catch. the pirates on this fly ball. watch closely as it rickoshays off the shoes of garrett jones into the hands of delmon young. kicks it to his teammate. problem is the ump missed it. they said it hit the ground. not a replay eligible play, unfortunately. watch dad in the stands. this is in texas. makes the catch while holding his baby son and doesn't drop

each either. the baby is historical, of weab is fine. from the lpga championship. watch this putt. putts it. the ball essentially stops. but then it gets over the crest of the hill and it makes a right turn and starts rolling again, picks up speed and goes in the hole. i did not speed that up. that's a birdie with a pause and a full right angle turn. that's one of the greatest putts ever. let's go to the bad. cheapest cereal. terrell owens new tos. big unveiling at a supermarket in buffalo. they don't have any ts. they just have os. i have seen that cereal before. it is called cheer cheerios. ball girl in san diego in position to scoop up this foul but watch as her glove turns into a ramp and just rolls up

and hits her. >> did she slow down? >> no, she is fine. stood her post and she is a tough girl. let's go to the ugly please. most senseless violence on a former president. teddy roosevelt trying to break his losing trip on a road trip when he is clothes lined by potato pete. apparently those two have a history and i fear gang violence. >> head shot. >> finally, why golfers shouldn't play baseball. look at that throw. >> where is the ball? he is australian. they don't play a lot of baseball. i guess they played at the olympics. throws it and picks it up again. he is a golfer. doesn't know how to. >> so embarrassing. >> three segments of sports next tuesday i demand. >> only one weather hey smart,

heard you're getting free nights from hotels.com. how? well, funny you should ask. you see, after i book 10 nights, i get a free one. say i spend 2 nights at a b name hotel, 3 at a boutique, and 5 at a beach resort... and boom! free night. ( dings, monkey chatters ) ( in a baby voice ) aren't you a smart one? ( monkey laughs ) accumulate 10 nights and get a night free. welcomerewards from hotels.com. smart. so smart.

anita, i don't want to put you on the spot. >> then don't. >> some rather dirty habits that women have. 85% of the 1000 women say they wear their dirty clothes without washing them, a third say they don't take a shower every day and 75% say they have been known to -- how can i put this? relieve themselves in the shower. >> how does this compare to guys though, really? really? think about that. but that 75% may be on to something. in brazil t.v. ads are encouraging people to save water by peeing in the shower. they said avoiding one flush a day could save 11 million gallons of water a year.

it those them taking care of business in the shower. >> there is a frog there. >> if you want to see the whole thing go to wusa9.com and click on "living green." >> even brett doesn't -- >> it's no longer the green movement, it is a different color. >> i didn't go there. i didn't say it. >> that's our broadcast. we will see you tomorrow. captions by: caption colorado, llc 800-775-7838 email: comments@captioncolorado.com (mom) he needed everything for college:

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