kristen fisher is live and it seems tomorrow's launch for you, kristen, is a bit of a family affair. >> reporter: seeing a space shuttle at night. the smoke, the lights, it's just difficult to describe. but there is an unwritten rule among the astronauts that you have to go and see the space shuttle on the night before you fly. and i know this because both of my parents did just that. nearly 30 years ago. >> kristen, you're going to go bye bye on a jet. jet. >> reporter: it shouldn't be too surprise ing that my very first word was jet. then came -- >> space shuttle. rocket. >> reporter: for christmas, at just 17 months old, i got a toy airport set from santa. >> it's an airport. >> reporter: and for halloween, i didn't stand a chance. i was going to be an astronaut whether i liked it or not. [ crying ] >> reporter: my apparent torturers are the first astronaut couple and they couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't want to wear a space suit. >> by golly, you're going to be an astronaut. >> reporter: my dada plied to be an astronaut when -- dad applied to be an astronaut when he was 1

>> kristen welker starting us off at the white house. kristen, thanks. >>> and now again, this deadline is august 2. it's been called the unthinkable, most people think they will somehow hammer out a deal, preventing the government from defaulting on its obligations, but it doesn't hurt to ask at this point, what if they don't? nbc's tom costello is with us from our d.c. newsroom tonight. tom, good evening. >> most financial analysts and economists are in agreement on this issue that if the u.s. were to default on its debt, the fragile economic recovery now underway could be seriously threatened. >> reporter: if the country needed another warning about the risks of not raising the debt ceiling, the nation's top banker today used very simple and direct language. >> i think it would be a calamitous outcome, it would create a very severe financial shock that would have effects not only on the u.s. economy but the global economy. >> reporter: fed chairman ben bernanke warns the shock would immediately cascade from the banking sector and into

kristen, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. yeah, casey anthony was only convicted on four misdemeanor counts of making false statements to police. she'll be sentenced on those tomorrow, but with time served could walk away a free woman after what is being called the most controversial verdict since o.j. simpson. >> as to the charge of first degree murder, verdict as to count one, we, the jury, find the defendant not guilty. >> reporter: casey anthony sobbed after hearing the verdict. not guilty on the three most serious charges related to her 2-year-old daughter caylee's death. after weeks of testimony the jury took less than 11 hours to decide, and while none who participated in deliberations spoke to the media, one alternate offered his take. >> the prosecution didn't meet the burden of proof. we had a lot of reasonable doubt there. >> reporter: but outside the courtroom the jurors' unanimous decision was met with a shared shock and outrage. >> you got everything. how do you give her a verdict like that? >> we are just devas

>> kristen welker at the white house, kristen, thank you. >>> joining me now is republican senator fromissouri roy blunt. sir, great to have you with us today. >> nice to be here, thomas. >> democrats are accusing speaker john boehner of not having control of his own party this, split betweenç the republican party and the tea partiers. take a listen to what senator chuck schumer had to say earlier today. >> instead of leading the house, speaker boehner is being led by a fringe in his caucus that thinks default is okay. well, speaker boehner should not and we cannot let a small block of house republicans lead the whole nation off a cliff. >> sir, we spoke earlier about a letter that's been sent by tea party senators asking their house colleagues not to support boehner's plan. do you have faith in what speaker is putting together in the plan that he wants to present? >> well, you know, that's really up to the house to decide if they can pass that plan or not. i do know when i was the whip in the house, i would have been pretty upset if a bunch of senators sent a letter over saying don't

kristen, good morning. >> good morning, lynn. yesterday's meeting was short and described by at least one person as a bit tense. there were no ties. the dress was business casual. as they gathered around the table. but they met for less than an hour and a half and were unable to come to any agreement. the president says that social security and medicare are on the table in exchange for closing some tax loopholes, but republicans are standing firm saying no changes in taxes at all. they're looking more for a smaller plan about 2 to $2.5 trillion. the president asked going in are you going to be able to get something done in the next ten days. his answer, we'll need to. he has a press conference scheduled for 11:00 eastern time. then in the afternoon he'll meet with congressional leaders again. he's told them be prepared to meet every day this week. he also told republicans to bring more specifics. >> kristen dahlgren in washington. thank you. >>> officials at nasa are closely monitoring a piece of so-called space junk which is on

. >> eric: and i'm kristen sze. >> our top story in a matter of hours, east bay regional park police plan to resume searching for the people that opened fire on one of their own officers in the hills near moraga. it happened while the officer patrolled the watershed area around 6:40 last night. they issued a shelter in place order for borders around the watershed. neighbors have seen there are pot farms in the area. >> this area of marijuana growing in the area. we have recovered marijuana grows out in the previous years. the officer was patrolling back there. one thing that he does look for is active marijuana grows for this years. >> s.w.a.t. teams from the regional park district and contra costa sheriff searched the area but didn't find any gunmen. >> drug agents netted 3,000 marijuana plants in the mendocino national forest. it spanned six california counties. 17 people were arrested. the raids involved law enforcement officials from local state and federal levels. they have reported more with armed pot growers in that area. >> they are investigating a shooting in the city's nort

and kristen welker is at the white house and luke russert at capitol hill., we have learned of a veto threat against the boehner bill, and a major development after the president's talk of compromise yesterday, and was this expected? >> well, you know, martin, this was a bit of a preemptive strike, if you will. the president has been saying for weeks that he won't support a short-term bill like the one that speaker boehner has proposed under speaker boehner's proposal and increase the debt limit for six months and then lawmakers have to come back to the issue in the middle of an election year, and the president has said he won't support a plan like that, and he says it is unstable for the economy, and speaker boehner has accused him of politics for that reason. this is not exactly a surprise, but what is interesting is that last night when the president spoke, in the remarks to the nation, he didn't use the term veto. he did come out and say he does not support speaker boehner's plan, but he never used the term veto, so a lot of people were questioning today

good evening, kristen. >> reporter: good evening, kate. the race for the white house is heating up on this fourth of july with gop candidates making their case from iowa to new hampshire. former massachusetts governor mitt romney marking independence day in new hampshire, which holds the nation's first primary. he's the current gop front-runner, according to some polls, never hesitating to take shots at the current commander in chief. >> our president has failed us. the recession is deeper because of our president. >> reporter: stumping in the same parade but just a few minutes behind, another former mormon governor, jon huntsman of utah. he's been met with skepticism by some voters for what they see as socially moderate views and for having served as president obama's ambassador to china. today, determination. >> we can win new hampshire. i'm feeling good about this. >> reporter: other gop candidates flocked to iowa, where minnesota representative michele bachmann reached out in clear lake ahead of this state's straw poll. she's been maki

kristen, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. president obama met with republican leaders this evening and earlier he met with democrats from both chambers. white house called those meetings productive. one of the main things being discussed is a plan that was put forth by the gang of six. that's that bipartisan group of senators who have been meeting off and on over the past several months. under their plan the federal deficit would be reducuced by $ trillion and changes to medicare and social security and $1 trillion in new tax revenue. here's what jay carney said earlier today. >> there is still time to do something significant if all parties are willing to compromise because the parameters of what that might look like are well known, especially to the participants in the negotiations that the president oversaw last week. >> reporter: and while the plan does have some bipartisan support, some house republicans continue to insist they won't support a plan that has new taxes. so negotiators are also working on a back-up plan. br

kristen, thank you. >>> as kristen mentioned we're learning more about the jury deliberations in the casey anthony trial. one of the jurors who reached that not guilty verdict on the murder and child abuse charges did give an exclusive interview to abc news. >> there wasn't enough evidence, there wasn't anything strong enough to say exactly -- i don't think anyone in america could tell us exactly how she died. if you put, even just the 12 jurors in one room with a piece of paper, write down how caylee died. nobody knows. we'd all be guessing. we have no idea. >> jennifer ford also said it was a horrible decision to have to make. but based on her decision -- but she said she based her decision on the law. >>> new from overnight in montgomery county, a business suffered major damage after a car crashed into it. take a look at the video of the car that slammed into the side of the diner and bakery on university boulevard in wheaton. the car had to be flipped right side up and then towed away. one person was taken to the hospital but we do not have any information about that person's inj

nbc's kristen dahlgren is in orlando with the latest. kristen? >> reporter: good evening, lester. casey anthony is out of jail, but maybe in a new kind of prison now. tonight she is in hiding with no job, little money and plenty of public hatred directed her way. casey anthony in her first moments of freedom. her mouth set. her eyes focused. with a quick thank you to an officer and her attorney, jose baez, at her side, she made a beeline for the door. >> i'm assuming that jose might have said we're going to walk out. you're going to see the three imbedded camera people there and the writer. there's going to be a mike stand. we're not going to stop. we're just going to head for the door. >> reporter: seconds later outside, the woman acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter got a firsthand look at the court of public opinion. >> baby killer! >> more than 100 had gathered, many outraged as they watched the 25-year-old walk free. >> i'm here to protest her getting out. she should spend the rest of her life in jail. >> reporter: followed by two heavily armed officers, anthony cli

now, put your nose down, behind kristen's face. dax, put it behind her face.ing my nose behind her. to the point that during the shoot, i thought, he is doing what he would want done for him. he's nervous about his nose like i'm nervous about mine, so, every photo was -- my nose is, like, here, kristen, it's under her arm. tuck your nose under there! get -- when we gom back from the -- he was also like, oh, beautiful, beautiful, oh, my exposure come pen say or the at two, now, stop smiling! when i got back i said, did he make you put your nose behi hih everything? and you said he had. and we had the same thought process. >> jimmy: three guys with big noses is what it is. >> three guiys noses. >> jimmy: we should bring thehe beautiful portraits s en we receive them in the mail and unveil them to america. >> yes. i want to say -- i want to say -- >> jimmy: or just yours. >> i regret that we weren't in any together. kristen n d i both agreed, it was the funnest 30 minutes we've had in a year. we laughed uncontrollably and because he does not like smiling. so we w

thanks for joining us, i'm kristen sze. >> i'm terry mcsweeney. a rescue may be fading for seven california men tossed into the waters after their fishing boat capsized. the mexican navy is helping search for the men. amy hollyfield has the latest. >> good morning. there is hope and there is reality and families are dealing with the mixture of the two as they wait. coastguard search has already covered 1400 miles. mexican officials say the u.s. coastguard and mexican navy are scheduled to dive down to the boat, the erik to see if they are trapped on board. the families are hoping may be

. >> i'm kristen sze. the highway patrol is on the scene of a big accident on interstate 280. chp has issued a sig laertd. >> good morning. we have an issue behind me a live shot there. we've got a sig alert in effect this morning, roadway is shut down. this was video taken earlier this morning. 280 northbound at 19th street off-ramp. it remains closed while the officers and officials do their investigation. a car versus a pedestrian there. did not fare well for the

nbc's kristen welker was there. good evening, kristen. >> reporter: good evening, brian. president obama said lawmakers need to move out of their comfort zone in terms of dealing with the debt ceiling. he announced he invited congressional leaders of both parties to the white house on thursday to discuss this issue. and he challenged them to get out to leave their ultimatum at the door. >> now, i've heard reports that there may be some in congress who want to do just enough to make sure that america avoids defaulting on our debt in the short term, but then wants to kick the can down the road when it comes to solving the larger problem of our deficit. i don't share that view. >> reporter: now, the president had said that he would agree to cuts in domestic spending with in defense spending and entitlements but said republicans need to come to the table in terms of rolling back tax breaks for wealthy americans and big corporations. to date they said they wouldn't support anything that resembles a tax increase. in fact, this evening, speaker boehner released a statement sayin

kristen. >> reporter: >> hey, jim and dorene. it was a really bittersweet day. i've watched a lot of these launches. today had had a different feel, knowing this was the very last space shuttle launch ever. and not knowing exactly when we'll see american astronauts on an american spacecraft going back into space. there's going to be a push for commercial flight to go into low-earth orbit, what the shuttles are doing now, and then eventually the u.s. will build a heavy-lift rocket. but in the meantime, american astronauts are going to have to buy seats on russian rockets. and so people watching here, some had tears in their eyes today. it really is a problem for them losing their jobs, and the economy around here going to suffer. but also really just watching the end of an era, this craft that has meant so much to americans for the past 30 years. it united us twice in tragedy with the "challenger" disaster and "columbia" disaster, but also launched space flight, launched the hubble telescope, helped build the international space station. it really brought the wor

kristen, thanks so much. >>> 6:03 is the time. today, president obama will press congressional leaders to bend in their current demands over the debt. the president is meeting with top leaders of both parties at the white house this morning. according to "the washington post" the president will propose democrats accept major changes to social security and medicare. in exchange the president would ask republicans to move off their no new taxes position. president obama is also urging congress to reach a deal within two weeks on raising the nation's borrowing limit. the deadline to work out a debt limit deal is august the 2nd. >>> 6:04 now. d.c. councilman harry thomas is not commenting this morning on some questionable charges on a debit card in the name of a nonprofit organization he runs. the washington city paper just published the charges from the card in the name of team thomas. the group is supposed to introduce underprivileged kids to sports. those charges were made between 2007 and 2009. they include, $143 charges at hooter

. >> i'm kristen sze kristen sze. >> he is not getting his five million bail reduced. mark lugo is facing charges in new jersey for stealing $6,000 worth of wine. >> good morning. mark lugo remains behind bars. the state's attorney call him a flight rick saying he was a threat to public safety and calling his crimes brazen and order immediately he surrender his passport. >> he appeared in superior court before the honorable sam fang. they ordered not to videotape the accused. he asked a reduction in his bail. he is accused of stealing art from a san francisco art gallery. the july 5th theft of this pencil drawing worth more than $200,000 is believed to seen here in this video. a man identified as lugo is seen walking up geary. street. he was arrested next night in napa. sketch was found undamaged but ready to be shipped. a police raid on his new jersey apartment turned up half a million dollars in stnlt artwork among the pieces was pi wasso art. he is also charged with stealing $6,000 worth of wine from new jersey store. in requesting the bail reduction his attorney ci

. >> look at the moon glow on the bay says kristen sze. very beautiful on out there and that could be interesting coming up in a few minutes. >> more news. speculation swirling that walmart may be moving into a new retail territory to open up two stand-alone grocery stores. they have received plans for vacant sites. in pleasanton one lists walmart and another one lists architecture firm and both proposals show a grocery store with a farm and said bakery. walmart says it has nothing to announce right now. >> in the tough economy one group of teachers in great demand, those that specialize liez in in math and south africans. california will need 30,000 teachers in those fields in the next ten years. lyanne melendez looks at what is being done to meet the demand. >> he has worked at retail and at a consulting firm. >> realizing math is just math, it grows into science and grows in other subjects. on. >> her training starts in this classroom, one month of intense preparation under the residency program. they will spend one year shadowing a vet

. >> i'm kristen sze kristen sze. >> he is not getting his five million bail reduced. mark lugo is facing charges in new jersey for stealing $6,000 worth of wine. >> good morning. mark lugo remains behind bars. the state's attorney call him a flight rick saying he was a threat to public safety and calling his crimes brazen and order immediately he surrender his passport. >> he appeared in superior court before the honorable sam fang. they ordered not to videotape the accused. he asked a reduction in his bail. he is accused of stealing art from a san francisco art gallery. the july 5th theft of this pencil drawing worth more than $200,000 is believed to seen here in this video. a man identified as lugo is seen walking up geary. street. he was arrested next night in napa. sketch was found undamaged but ready to be shipped. a police raid on his new jersey apartment turned up half a million dollars in stnlt artwork among the pieces was pi wasso art. he is also charged with stealing $6,000 worth of wine from new jersey store. in requesting the bail reduction his attorney ci

>> kristen welker at the white house for us. thanks. >>> joining me now is republican committee national chairman reince priebus, and kristen is talk about what is happening with these talks at the white house with john boehner calling them productive and the president hopeful about getting it done by the looming datef of august 2nd which is the deadline for the u.s. to default on the dets. in your estimation, what do you think will happen? can we make it to that date and get something moved to the middle? a compromise before that? >> well, i mean, obviously, as you know, and i think that youm -- you almost said it yourself that the devil is in the details, of course, and we don't know what the details are, but i can tell you this that the republicans are not going to go along with tax increases, and speaker boehner is going to talk about the tax reform. that is a lot different than tax increases, so i think that we need to make sure that is very clear. i think that at the end of the day, americans in the country are starving fo

>> kristen, that's very helpful. it seems to indicate the president did reopen the tax number, which they seemed to have agreed on the $800, he was not just reopening it. he was suggesting can we raise it by 50%. can we add another $400 to it. but that's the semantics they are giving you, the presidential language of if you can't do this, let me know. seems to be that's where the white house is trying to say to us look, we didn't make a new demand, we made a new suggestion and wanted feedback on it. kristen, take us through it one more time. the feedback they got on that, if this is a problem for you, let us know. what was the next thing they heard? >> basically radio silence thursday night, and then, just again, friday afternoon, 3:30 this afternoon, the white house reached out to speaker boehnor's office again through an e-mail and said can we -- rather speaker boehnor's office e-mailed the white house saying you will hear from speaker boehnor 5:30 this evening. look, can we talk on the telephone about this. speake

nbc's kricht kristen welker is white house this morning for us.so much going on, but let's start about this decision about president obama to speak now less than 20 minutes from now. what are we expecting to hear? >> reporter: hi there, chris, we're not expecting a large announcement today. we do expect him, though, to put the pressure on here to say that time has run out. we all watched last night the drama that unfolded on capitol hill when speaker boehner tried to wrangle the votes so that he could get his bill through the house. that never happened. they didn't have the vote last night, so he's going to be back trying to wrangle some more votes this morning, but we expect president obama to argue, look, the time has run out. we've got to get something done here. now, because of what happened on the hill last night, a lot of people are arguing that the president and democrats really have the leverage this morning, really have the leverage to say done, and senator reid's plan may just be the best way to do it. as you said, chris, senator reid is

kristen, thanks so much. >>> 6:05 is the time. today president obama will hold the first of its kind twitter town hall. he'll begin answering questions at 2:00 this afternoon. the town hall will focus on jobs and the economy. you can send the president a tweet to @town hall, using the hash tag, the pound sign, ask obama. his answers will not be limited to twitter's 140 characters. >>> president obama has also summoned leaders of both parties to the white house tomorrow on further talks on the debt showdown. he's pushing congress to reach a deal within two weeks on reaching the nation's borrowing limit well before the august 2nd deadline. the president opposes a sharp short increase in the debt ceiling. >>> metro escalators are getting worse. that's no surprise to riders who use the metro regularly. melissa mollet is live at the foggy bottom metro station with more on these continuing problems. melissa, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, eun. this escalator i'm on at foggy bottom right now is one of only three escalato

>> nbc's kristen welker at the white house. kristen, thanks. >>> republican senator lindsey graham joins us now from south carolina. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> you said that if we don't act soon the u.s. will have a financial crisis as bad as greece, and what is your reaction to what happened in the senate? >> i was very disappointed. if this is not worthy of debate, what would be? if you don't put forth the cap, cut and balance and then to address the fundamental problem. we are not in jeopardy of becoming greece because we don't raise the debt ceiling. we are in jeopardy of becoming greece because we have 70% of the debt to gdp is going to be 100 in little over a decade, so we have to do more than raise the debt ceiling. we have got to address what got us into debt, and if you don't like cut, cap and balance come up with a plan of your own. i believe that the only solution to this problem is not political rhetoric between politicians and parties. it is a structural change, a balanced budget amendment t

nbc's kristen dahlgren is in orlando for us this morning. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, veronica. yeah, casey anthony could be waking up in jail for the last time this morning. huge crowds respect expected here. the judge will decide how much longer she should spend behind bars. >> reporter: each of the four misdemeanor counts of lying to investigators carries the potential one-year sentence, but almost three years after casey anthony was first arrested judge perry could sentence her to time already served, a far cry from the death penalty anthony could have faced if convicted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, caylee. and far from what many who watched the case thought should happen. but in an exclusive interview with abc news juror number three, jennifer ford, said they just didn't have enough proof it was murder. >> it doesn't feel good. it was a horrible decision to have to make, but i had to do it based on the law. >> reporter: casey's parents, george and cindy, were seen leaving they are house wednesday with a in j

there are a lot of folks not accepting of this plan as it stands right now. >> kristen, do you get thentends to make news tonight or is this just going to be kind of an updated version of what he's been doing in his press conferences? >> well, you know, i heard you saying earlier, lawrence, that you wanted to hear something new from the president and i think a lot of people are saying that this evening. i think what's going to be new is potentially his tone. i don't know that he's going to be making news, but you will certainly hear him reiterate he does not support a short-term plan, of course, the plan speaker boehnor put forth is a short-term plan, would only increase the debt ceiling in the beginning of next year, so you'll likely hear him make some comments to that effect. not sure this will be record breaking in terms of him coming out and supporting a new idea, but again, he's going to be addressing the american people, it will be debt limit so 1, trying to talk to them and get them to understand why this is a pivotal moment. >> kristen welker and luke russert, thank you for joi

we want to bring in kristen welker at the white house. kristen, jay carney, the white house press secretary says that he does not believe that the default will happen. as we hear from the two sides both agreeing that the debt limit needs to be raised, it is inevitab inevitable. >> it is the one thing that all sides can agree on here, and you are right, the press secretary jay carney says he has complete faith that the debt ceiling will be raised by next week, but the big question that everybody is asking is how is this going to happen, because it seems that all sides are digging in the heels and the white house continuing to insist that the president would veto a short term plan which is that plan put forth by speaker boehner that is as kelly mentioned would increase the debt ceiling in increments for the first time for six months, and press secretary jay carney, again, today saying that the president would veto that if it made it to his desk, and carney saying that bill would doubtfully pass the senate, but the president said in the rema

you heard what kristen said the white house position has been so far. we may see a recurrence of democrats urging the president to reconsider that stan stand and a already a lively conversation online about it. >>> stocks kicked off the trading day on the downside. there's a lot of uncertainty over the debt debate. right now it's not looking good in the dow jones industrials. here we are midday through the trading day and the dow is off by 114 points. the s&p has slid 16.5. the nasdaq is down almost 50 points. melissa frances hosts the call on cnbc. we've been hearing all along from the white house that august 2 nds is the hardline, the deadline. "the new york times" says we do have the cash to get beyond that date. what's the real threat if we don't get a deal done by august 2nd? >> everybody's look at the bank account and saying how long can we pay our bills if we don't get this done. it looks like it might not happen. a lot of people focussing on the date of august 10th. pete frer the university of maryland says we take in revenue exceeding $180 bill

kristen dahlgren has the latest. >> reporter: after almost three years it took a mere 15 seconds. >> she was total vision to the door. that's when i think i saw that you know, that smile or relief if you will because she saw freedom. >> reporter: almost two weeks after being acquitted in the death of her 2-year-old daughter caylee, casey anthony walked out of the jail's front door to a waiting suv and crowds of protesters. >> anger that has brewed since the beginning of this case. and reached its boiling point with anthony's release. >> i don't feel justice has been done. >> watch over her. >> reporter: the site where caylee's remains were found crowds gathered. >> to remember caylee. >> to remember the innocence. to remember the crime. that someone is yet to pay for. >> reporter: there is little secret to how many feel about casey anthony now being a free woman. but there are many questions as to how and where she may start her new life. kristen dahlgren, nbc news, orlando. >> as we mentioned anthony went into hiding as soon as she was released. there are some reports she was driven

with flag facts, i'm kristen. >> stay with us.here's a lot more still to come on "teen kids news." >> we'll be right back. >>> congress resuming talks about raising the federal government's debt ceiling. party leaders remain at odds over what sort of conditions should be attached to a hike in the current $14.3 trillion deficit. republicans are refusing any increase unless it includes deep spending cuts and avoid any tax increases. democrats are trying to minimize cuts to social services and eliminate tax breaks and loopholes benefiting wealthy americans. if the ceiling is not raised by august 2, the country could default on its debt obligation. leon panetta, former head of the cia, is now the united states 23rd defense secretary. panetta stating his top priorities are preserving u.s. military powers, stabilizing afghanistan, and forging a real and lasting partnership with iraq. panetta replaces robert gates who retired after power decades in public service. and a ceremony marking his retirement president obama surprised gates by a

nbc's kristen dahlgren joins us from washington with more. kristen, good morning. >> good morning, lynn. this will be the fourth straight day of talks. it may seem like we're talking about the same thing every day. what's changing is the tone is growing more personal, more contentious and still no closer to an agreement. that even with the president's dire warning on those social security checks as well as veterans benefit checks and also disability checks. some 70 million checks he says will not go out if they aren't able to reach a deal by that august 2nd deadline. house speaker john boehner called that a veiled threat. he said it's the president's problem. and mitch mcconsl aiming with his proposed plan to make it the president's problem. he floated a plan that would put the burden on president obama saying that he could raise the debt ceiling but would have to propose some spending cuts. he would only give that power to him until 2012, though. that's when republicans hope to defeat him in the election. mcconnell said that he floated the b

i'm kristen sze. >> i'm eric thomas.od morning. >> later this morning, the suspects in the near fatal beating of bryan stow will be arraigned in a southern california courtroom. they were arrested on friday. amy hollyfield is live at san francisco general hospital where stow is being treated. what do we know about these men? >> reporter: there were questions this morning if these men are truly responsible for beating him so badly that he is still in the hospital. why aren't they facing more serious charges. they face up to nine years in prison. we do have exclusive pictures of the men at the game. several people in the stands there were two aggressive fans in the section. police tracked them down through ticket sales records. the men cut his tongue, put on an eye and slit his nose, ear and lip. they only face three charges, mayhem, assault and battery. >> i think the complaint is under charged. if i was going to charge mayhem in this case, i would charge aggravated mayhem. the tflt alternative i would charge the crime of

kristen thorn of wcbs is here with a look at betty ford's life.e. what a woman she was and there's no doubt betty ford's legacy will live on, the drug and treatment center she helped found has treated more than 90,000 patients, people this morning are describing her as a woman who will always be known for her strength, determination and her charisma. people who knew betty ford say when you were around her you felt like you were in the presence of greatness. born in 1918 in grand rapids, michigan, elizabeth bloomer ford was a free spirit from the start with aspirations to be a dancer, she moved to greenwich village in manhattan and danced with martha graham. her mother was able to coax her back to michigan when she later met a man an aspiring politician jerry ford. betty ford was not your typical first lady. she talked about tattoo things like abortion rights, women in the military and her fight with breast cancer. in the 1970s, people found her honesty and candidness refreshing. she didn't shy away from talking about much of anything. >> my addict

kristen reports on one of those efforts, at ground zero. >> i wanted to create a place that i would like to go to myself to reflect and to mourn. >> reporter: architect michael arad is talking about his concept for a 9/11 memorial plaza. the plaza is being built on the site where the world trade center once stood. it will pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks, almost ten years ago. >> when you stand at the edge of this pool at plaza level, you'll actually be standing in front of a bronze panel, where all the names of the victims will be inscribed. i think it is going to be a very moving moment for visitors when they come here. >> committee members for the memorial selected michael's design out of 5,000 submissions. 30-foot water falls will cascade into reflecting pools, built exactly where the twin towers once stood and lots of trees will surround the falls creating serenity in an otherwise bustling city. >> it will provide a gathering place for quiet contemplation where you might come here alone, but you wont be here alone. >> reporter: like so many other am

>> nbc's kristen welker. kristen, thank you.o luke russert. >>> coming up, a preview of tomorrow's events and what it means for the ongoing debt debate. don't go anywhere. we're back after this. it's all the same. nothing changes. then try this. freestyle lite® blood glucose test strip. sure, but it's not gonna-- [beep] wow. yep, that's the patented freestyle zipwik™ design. did it just-- [both] target the blood? yeah, drew it right in. the test starts fast. you need just a third the blood of one touch.® that is different. so freestyle lite test strips make testing... easy? easy. great. call or click-- we'll send you strips and a meter, free. free is good. freestyle lite test strips. call or click today. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. of these abandoned racetracks in america today. automotive performance is gone. and all we have left are fallen leaves and broken dreams. oh.

kristen, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. well, president obama emerged after talks with congressional leaders saying both sides are still deadlocked but determined to get a deal done very soon. lawmakers will work through the weekend and meet with the president again on sunday. the president and congressional leaders come to the table to hammer out a deal on the debt ceiling. if a deal isn't reached by august 2, economists say the nation will default on its loans. mr. obama called the meeting very constructive but admitted hard work remains. >> i want to emphasize that nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to and the parties are still far apart on a wide range of issues. >> reporter: administration officials say the president is pushing for a big deal, somewhere in the ballpark of $4 trillion in deficit reductions over the next decade, nearly double the $2 trillion that had been at the center of talks for weeks. >> everybody acknowledges there's going to be pain involved politically on all sides. >> reporter: this

with flag facts, i'm kristen. >> stay with us.here's a lot more still to come on "teen kids news." >> we'll be right back. who wants the same nail color day after day? not me. revlon top speed™ nail enamel. cool color with a built-in topcoat that sets in just 60 seconds. with revlon you can change your mind again, and again, and again. revlon top speed™ nail enamel. >> reporter: we see doctors on medical shows all the time, but is real life like it is on tv? i'm getting the chance to find out! it's shortly after sunrise at long island college hospital in brooklyn, where i'll spend the day shadowing one of their top doctors. hello, it's nice to meet you. i'm nicole. >> i'm dr. millicent comrie. >> reporter: all right, so let's get started. i followed dr. comrie to where her first patient of the day was waiting. donette frances is a college professor and she's here to have surgery called abdominal myomectomy. >> and this surgery is performed by a gynecologist. so i'm an obstetrician and gynecologist. the obstetrics part -- i deliver

nbc's kristen dahlgren is live in florida for thus morning. kristen, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, veronica. yeah, casey anthony could be waking up in jail for the last time this morning. huge crowds are expected out here this morning at the orange county courthouse as the judge decides how much longer she should spend behind bars. each count for lying to investigators carries a one-year sentence but almost three years after she was first arrested judge belvin perry could sentence her to time served. a far cry from the death penalty she could have faced if convicted for murdering her 2-year-old daughter caylee. in an exclusive interview with abc news juror number 3, jen for ford said they just didn't have enough proof it was murder. >> it doesn't feel good. it was a horrible decision to have to make but we had to do it based on the law. >> reporter: casey's parents were seen leaving with a police escort after receiving dealt threats. the woman with the same name as the fictional nanny casey claimed kidnapped her daughter. >>

nbc bay area's kristen dahlgren was at kennedy space center for the final liftoff. >> reporter: theyre moments we have seen for years. today was different as "atlantis" astronauts took the final steps of the shuttle program. tension building as workers and watchers kept their eyes on the weather, hoping skies would clear for one final look at the iconic spacecraft as it raced into orbit. >> one more time -- >> reporter: after those words from the commander -- >> zero and liftoff -- >> reporter: "atlantis" lifted off from the florida coastline for the last time. >> space shuttle spreads its wings one final time for the start of a sentimental journey into history. >> reporter: along with its crew of four, "atlantis" is carrying a 30-year legacy. >> i look at what the shuttle's done in 30 years. the hubble space telescope, magellan, ulysses, the probes, the shuttle opened up space. >> reporter: after 135 launches and more than 20,000 trips around the earth, the final shuttle flight mark the end of the program that for three decades brought america incredible highs and twice united us in

. >> i'm kristen sze. had late last night, a crash at the front door woke them up at a fire station an suv came off a ramp and plowed into one of two doors at fire station 27 on de anza boulevard. investigators say they believe the woman behind the wheel may have been driving under the influence. she was taken away in an ambulance with what appeared to be non life-threatening injuries. meanwhile, expensive repairs will have to be made on that fire station door. >>> this morning, bart begins two separate reviews of the july 3rd shooting of a man in san francisco. san francisco police are also reviewing it. now yesterday demonstrators protested the shooting shut down several stations. lilian kim has more. >> they got the crowd going but things escalated when a protestor climbed on one of the trains. the tension however continued to mount. half the group boarded the train to get their message out. >> the protest was in honor of charles hill the knife-wielding man that was shot and killed. >> bart's conduct is

. >>> you won't believe who the twilight star kristen stewart is turning her back on in a film projecter blow days behalf their wedding. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. going to the bank without going to the bank... that's a step forward. with chase quickdeposit on your smartphone, you just snap a picture, hit send and done. chase quickdeposit. take a step forward and chase what matters. ♪ we just keep on keepin' on ♪ ♪ keep on but not your wrinkles. new neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. its retinol formula smoothes wrinkles in just one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. >>> welcome back to "first look." i'm amara sohn. last night on jimmy fallon he talked about the actions of a jealous groom took a turn for the worse. >>> you guys, this is insane. man in iowa was arrested at his own wedding after he hit another guy who was dancing with his new wife. the worst part is it completely ruined the father/daughter dance. >>> check this out. in an interview larry are king said he's kissed 77 women in his life. i guess h