brian mooar, nbc news. >> long time white house journalist and pioneer helen thomas has died. thomas made a name for herself working for united press international for more than half a century. she was the first woman to join the white house correspondents association, and the first woman to serve as its president. she began covering the white house when john f. kennedy was president and stayed there until her retirement in 2010. she was 92 years old. >>> the families of the three chinese teenagers killed at sfo have hired lawyers. the chronicle is reporting the family chose a firm out of new york to represent them. two of the girls died during the crash, as we reported yesterday, the third survived the crash and was killed by a responding fire truck. also earlier this week, a mother and son injured in the crash filed a lawsuit against asiana airlines in federal court in san francisco. >>> in sunnyvale, firefighters are on the vine of a fire at a lucky's shopping center at the intersection of north matilda and maude. kimberly terry has more on what's happening. >> that fire is

nbc's brian mooar will have more in a full report coming up at 4:30 including how the u.s. could respond. >> so far this afternoon no sign of a missing child in northeast washington. 7-year-old michael kingsbury was last seen yesterday morning near west virginia avenue and mount olivet road. family and police are concerned because the child is autistic. police are canvassing the neighborhood near his home. kingsbury is 4'3" tall and weighs about 60 pounds. he has a light brown complexion and wears dread locks. >> alarming new details about tragic death of a baby left in a hot car in arlington on friday. the infant's mother zoraita magali conde hernadez was arraigned on a felony child neglect charge today. according to court documents she forgot to drop her 8-month-old son off to daycare and accidentally hest the baby in her suv for six hours where the temperature reached 108 degrees. northern virginia bureau reporter david culver will have more from another mother who faced the same charges in virginia coming up at 5:00. >>> a judge in virginia is considering whether embezz

mara. >> brian mooar live in washington. thanks so much for that. it's time for your "first look" of your dish of skrambed politics. former president george h.w. bush was back at the white house. president obama hosted his predecessor to present the 5,000th award from the points of light foundation. mr. obama spoke about bush 41's legacy. >> just the fact that you're a gentleman and such a good and kind person, i think helps to reinforce that spirit of service. so, on behalf of all of us let me just say we're surely a kinder and againstler natigentl. >> mr. bush presented the president with a pair of hot pink socks. lawyers for former illinois governor rob blagojevich are appealing his sentence. >>> the campaign is over but president obama's re-election effort is still $3 million in the red. his primary committee obama for america is in be debt to vendors, consultants and other service provirsd. >>> texas state senator wendy davis pulled a nearly $1 million last month. the fort worth democrat has been mentioned as a possible 2014 gubernatorial candi

brian mooar has that story. >> reporter: it was a weekend of rallies in cities around the nation, from people who hope a florida verdict won't be the final word on trayvon martin. >> activism. >> reporter: focus is now shifting to state legislatures and rolling back stand your ground laws. >> we need to go from conversation to legislation. >> reporter: at least 22 states have laws like florida's, which permit deadly force with no duty to retreat. florida governor rick scott met with demonstrators this past week and told them he doesn't expect florida's law to change, but opponents say they will stand their ground. >> what we see in the state of florida one of the first states to do this we have seep an a 30 increase in so-called self-defense whom sides. disproportionately people of color, disproportionately african-americans. >> trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. >> reporter: president obama urged states to revisit their stand your ground laws. as is senator john mccain, who has a state law. >> confident the members of the arizona legislature will and because it is a very

>> brian mooar live for us this morning.rian, thank you. >>> the senate will welcome a new but familiar face this morning. democrat ed markey will be sworn in today to the senate. democrat ed markey beat republican gabriel gomez in a special election last month. this was to fill secretary of state john kerry's old seat. markey spent more than 36 years in the house but will now be labeled a junior senator. >>> tens of thousands of you could be without water for days because of a water main that is about to break. the highlighted area you see on this map, these are communities that wsse says will be affected by this. news 4's megan mcgrath is in forestville. crews are starting to repair that main. megan? >> reporter: well, aaron, that's right. they actually had to cut an access road overnight into a wooded area just off of forestville road. you can see the lights there. and the little path that has been carved away. they finished that work at about 2:30 in the morning. this massive 54-inch pipe is in kind of a bad spot. it's a

>> brian mooar on the hill for us, thank you. >>> this morning walmart asking d.c.idents to tell d.c. mayor vincent gray to veto a bill that would force big-box stores to pay higher wages. walmart supporting a publicity campaign that includes flyers and a website asking d.c. residents to contact mayor gray, telling him to veto that bill. the company is threatening to stop plans to build six new stores in the district if that bill becomes law. ready under construction. sources tell news 4 the mayor will veto that bill. they say the council doesn't have the votes to override it. >>> today a new top judge will be sworn in in d.c. richard roberts will become the new chief judge of the u.s. district court for the district. he replaces royce lamberth who has served in that position since 2008. >>> police need your help solving a shooting that injured four people in southeast washington. take a good look at this video. police need your help identifying these young me suspe suspecting of firing gunshots over the weekend. they were seen boarding a metro bus before the shooti

nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington. what's the latest on this back and forth? >> reporter: it all comes down to whether republicans are going to stand the line on that filibuster today. and if they do, senate majority leader harry reid says he's going to go ahead with the nuclear option. what that is is instead of 60-vote threshold to get somebody to a vote, one of president obama's nominees, a simple majority of 51, perfectly constitutional. but certainly a departure from senate rules. if this sounds familiar it's because republicans threatened to do the same thing back in 2005. so what are the chances it happens today? >> i think there's a 50/50 chance that we can pull back yet again from it as we did in december, as the senate did in 2005. >> reporter: eight years ago the democrats caved and gave president bush some of his nominees. they are counting on republicans doing the same thing today. but if not, majority leader reid says he has his finger on the nuclear trigger. >> we've been hearing about that nuclear option for a few days. thank you very much. >>>

brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >> mccain added he also thinks florida should review the stand your ground laws as well as his home state of arizona. >>> next at 5:00, firefighters say they have finally slowed down that large fire burning near palm springs. we'll take you there for the latest in a live report. >>> also, why the queen of england may not see her new grandchild until october. we'll check in on the royal baby watch. >>> i'm lawrence scott in san francisco at the america's cup. a very compelling match race today. lot of action another race course as emirates team new zealand lost their jib, tried not to lose the race. >>> a breezy evening around san francisco. now down to 62 degrees. still 90 degrees in and around livermore. to get back to the work week, tropical moisture bringing flash flooding across parts of southern california that could be getting closer to the bay area this time tomorrow. >>> an equipment malfunction on the bay brought drama to the america's cup today. lawrence scott has the latest in san francisco from the america's cup park. hello, lawrence. >> h

brian mooar has is story. >> reporter: from the streets of san francisco to midtown manhattan, gay pridened into celebrations of two supreme court victories and the future of same-sex marriage. edie windsor whose case overturned the federal defense of merge act was welcomed as a conquering hero in new york. the supreme court refused to at the resumption of same-sex marriages in california. >> what the court has done is dragged we the people from behind the wheel of this republic and carjacked the nation. >> but opponents say it wasn't a total defeat. >> this court rejected what the plaintiffs argued in this case. which was there is a 14th amendment equal protection right to be married as gays and lesbians. >> reporter: the debate is shifting to legislatures in 37 states where same-sex marriage is not legal. >> our goal is for marriage equality that is guaranteed by the united states constitution. >> reporter: and on this issue both sides agree on at least one thing, the fight over same-sex marriage is far from over. the supreme court rulings were limited and that leaves little doubt that

nbc's brian mooar joins us with the latest on the u.s.'s take on this crisis. brian? >> reporter:s the violence gets out of control in egypt officials here are debating options and one very important label. more than four dozen killed and 400 wounded in a clash between egypt's military and supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi. that bloodshed threatens to derail negotiations to assemble a new civilian government in egypt and rat checkpoints up the pressure on the obama administration which is struggling not to take sides. >> we don't support a group, we don't support a party. we support a process. >> reporter: a democratic process. monetary support, $1.5 billion in u.s. aid is riding on a single word. coup. if what happened in egypt is a coup under u.s. law aid has to be withdrawn and the united states faces a diplomatic dilemma. >> whether or not cutting off the aid at this point would only deepen the crisis and send egypt into a further meltdown. >> reporter: republican senator john mccain is leading calls for the white house to use aid as a lever to force eg

in washington, i am brian mooar, wbal tv 11 news. >> meanwhile, the images coming out of egypt has been very difficult for egyptian-americans to deal with. lowell melser has more. >> as you just saw, and we pointed out of more protesters fighting for their lives, local egyptians are praying for the safety of their loved ones, and they say egypt does seem a more unified than it has ever been, mainly because the majority is simply fighting for a fair government. this market on the baltimore the owner helps customers, while still keeping an eye on the latest news from egyptian television. his 90-year-old father, as well as his sister and brother, have been protesting along with millions of other egyptians. >> all of the history of egypt. my brothers and my sisters. are not going back to that anymore. we have to go forward. thank you. have a good day. >> as the afternoon went on, a steady stream of customers came through the door, are asking him what the latest was and if his family was ok, including an egyptian american with plenty of family. >> when i see this happening in egypt, it break

"today in the bay's" brian mooar joins us live in washington, d.c., and, brian, they're hoping the nation'saw enforcement officer will step in. >> reporter: that's right. ericvs7 holder has acknowledged that there is currently a federal investigation. in cities around the country, another day of protests by people who don't believe trayvon martin(anñ got justice in a flo courtroom. >> zimmerman not guilty. >> reporter: they want washington to take another look at the case against george zimmerman, and attorney general eric holder says he's listening. >> the justice department shares your concerns. i share your concerns. and as we first acknowledged last spring, we have opened an investigation into this matter. >> reporter: today in orlando, mr. holder is addressing the naacp which is pushing for federal civil rights charges. >> part of keeping the faith in our justice system is being able to access the full extent of ou> justice system. >> reporter: a civil rights case would have a high burden of proof. in an exclusive interview with cnn's anderson cooper, the first woman to break her silen