tracie potts, live in washington. tracie, thanks so much. >>> in a setback for the obama admission, they have blocked funding for human embryonic stem cell research. the judge said the research involved the destruction of embryos which congress outlawed. last month, president oh bah a ma signed an executive order reversing a ban put in place by the bush administration in 2001. after that, the national institutes of health issued new guidelines permitting research on certain stem cell lines that had already been created. a spokesman for the justice department said the agency is now reviewing yesterday's decision. >>> philippine police admitted shortcomings today in the handling of the hostage situation that left eight hong kong tourists dead. earlier yesterday, authorities said a former policeman who hijacked a bus full of tourists was cooperating. but as the crisis continued, commandos decided to storm the vehicle, firing dozens of bullets into the bus. for over an hour afterwards, the hijacker used the captives as hu

tracie potts has more from washington, d.c. good morning. >> reporter: the president has a busy day. he is headed off to texas where this morning he will -- or in a few hours he will talk to troops and thank them for their service. thousands of them who have come back from iraq and he will also focus on the 4400 who lost their lives in their seven-year war. later today, after he leaves texas, he will come back and have that speech from the oval office tonight where he will talk about not only the mission, but the combat operations ending as of today in iraq. he is also expected to perhaps hit on the economy, which is the issue that the american public wants to hear so much about. he will talk about now turning the focus to afghanistan and dealing with the war there, which is a didn't situation. we will leave 50,000 troops in iraq. they will be in an advisory role. the president tonight expected to say this is not mission accomplished. this is not the end, but it is a major transition in our war in iraq, basically to the point w

tracie potts has a look at how the latest news will impact your bottom line. many people think it doesn't make sense. >> reporter: it is a tough situation, it is a slow recovery. brand new numbers off the press for you. here is the situation around the country. the unemployment rate based on last month's employers remains the same, 9.5%. that is nationally. private companies, as you said, are creating jobs. 71,000 jobs last month, but because so many census jobs went away, 143,000 of them, the net effect is that we lost 131,000 jobs last month. this is significant. they also do revisions of prior months, in june they revised the number of jobs created downward by 34,000 fewer private jobs than originally thought. that's significant because it's the private sector jobs that are going to drive this recovery. apparently there were not quite as many created in june as they thought. this news today, just as of a few minutes ago from the bureau of labor statistics, comes out on the heels of bad news yesterday on jobless claims, how many people are filing for unemplo

tracie potts, nbc bay area news. >>> a day of remembrance in japan. the city of nagasaki held a moment of silence at 11:02 this morning to mark the 65th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack. a scheduling conflict prevented the u.s. ambassador from japto from attending the ceremony. >>> a new study challenges prior research suggesting full-time working mothers are harping their child's development. researchers at columbia university found infants raised by mothers with full-time jobs did score slightly lower on cognitive tests, but these children had other advantages. working mothers had higher income and were more likely to seek high quality child care and found to be more responsive to their children than stay-at-home moms. >> it is 5:45. you are watching nbc bay area news. >> we will get to our traffic and weather coming up in about five minutes. >> first a pair of shootings in san francisco, both near nightclubs. one woman is dead. it's the latest violence surrounding the city's night life. kris sanchez has a look at what happened. good morning. >

in washington, i'm tracie potts. >> thanks. >>> 6:45 right now. bob redell is looking for the best -- bay's best things to do in the dark. frlg >> here's what he said he found. >> there are a lot of fun things to do in the dark. some we can't show you on tv. others are down right unadvisable. >> like creeping up on jodie foster with your night-vision goggle s on. ouch. which brings us to opaque in san francisco. >> this is certainly one of the only restaurants where you got to check the menu before you're seated because once you're inside the restaurant itself -- >> you can't see a thing. >> usually your eyes adjust to the dark, but not here. >> that's the whole point behind this concept of dark dining. >> take away one sense and the remaining senses are heightened. >> what has this done to the taste of the food? >> i think it enhances it. >> i'm over here. >> i can taste the green onions on the ahi tuna, the soy sauce, the wasabi. >> reporter: while the concept of dark dining may be new for the diners, it's not for the people who work here. all o

tracie potts is live from washington. this rally drawing criticism and questions about beck's intentions. >> you might imagine it's quite controversial. here is a man who has called president obama, the first african-american president, a racist. he is now having rally on the 47th anniversary of that "i have a dream speech" at the same location which beck said it is an absolute coincidence, and it's not a political event. the sa he said the event is to honor the military, the men and women in uniform around the world representing the united states. they're expecting about 100,000 people. there's counterrallies planned as well. one is being led by al sharpton, it does involve some obama administration officials, and it end up on the national mall. beck says this is a complete coincidence. there are some people who doubt that martin luther king iii said in a "washington post" op-ed that he thinks it's commendable they're holding this rally to honor the military, but it linked to his father's speech and his father would supp

tracie potts live in washington, d.c. with a look at how the bay area stacks up. >> reporter: the bay area is not so bad. not the highest, not the lowest, sandwiched in the middle. the numbers are from the national business travelers association. they looked at 50 top cities to see what kind of taxes you will pay per day when you travel in that city. the national average just over $29. san francisco actually a little bit less than that, $26. and that's right in the middle of the highest and the lowest. portland, $21 a day. chicago almost $41 a day in tack taxes. the hotel taxes, like with most cities, are most expensive. then car rental, restaurant tacks, othtack taxes. this would have an impact on local chambers of commerce, convention bureaus when they try to get people to travel to that city. if they can make the case, hey, we have lower taxes here, that brings business in. >> do you have a sense if that effects somebody? if somebody wants to go to a certain city, will they go, yeah, but they have high taxes? do you th

live from capitol hill, i'm tracie potts. back to you. >>> an american imprisoned in north korea will leave a free man this morning. president jimmy carter will leave with the man who was arrested after entering north korea illegally in january. mr. gomes is his name. gomes was sentenced to eight years of hard labor with a fine of about $600,000, but at the request of president carter and for humanitarian reasons, gomes was granted amnesty. he will return to boston today. >>> congress will hold hearings on the nationwide egg recall in a few weeks, and when they do, they will find part of the story leads back to the bay area. 42 cases have been reported in santa clara, including some from tainted cream puffs served at a high school prom and graduation. >>> california's attempt to turn greener has run into president obama. president obama has told the u.s. supreme court that a global warming suit that would require major power companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should be dismissed. the justice department argues those

tracie potts has a look at how kagan could effect some votes. >> reporter: she has never been a judge before, she doesn't have a long judicial record that we can look at to pinpoint what her leanings are. she has only been solicitor general for about a year, tried about six cases before the court. a lot of this is guesswork by analysts. when she was a dean at harvard law school, she restricted military recruiters there because she said their stance of not allowing gays to serve openly in the military violated the school's anti-discrimination policy. that's been brought up quite a bit during her confirmation process. the question is is she sympathetic to gay rights and side with those against prop 8? during her confirmation hearing, she talked about the fact that the court must respect the will of the people. in this case, the will of the people in california at the time of prop 8, two years ago, is that gay marriage should be banned. she is on record on both sides of this one. it will be interesting to see when and if this case comes before the court and quite frankly all observers sa

tracie potts has more on what you can expect to see and hear. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. he's expected to call president bush sometime today, likely we're told while he's aboard air force one on the way to texas to address troops at ft. bliss where 7,000 troops have come back to that military installation in the last six months. his speech there beginning the process today of him declaring the end of combat operations in iraq. now we know over the past seven years, seven and a half years of this war there have been 176,000 u.s. troops there. it's down to just under 50,000 now. they will remain in an advisory role. the president today expected not to say mission accomplished as president bush did back in 2003. he will declare combat operations are over but we will continue to be an ally. he will speak to the iraqi people letting them know we will continue to support their quest for democracy as they try to form a government there. the time line for today, that speech to troops in ft. bliss, the president is back in washington tonigh

tracie potts has a look at what the president is supposed to say and why some people are all riled up. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. he got into a bit of hot water getting lunch, buying shrimp when he was thrown a question about iraq and his question was, come on, guys, we are buy shag rim here. there was some criticism that that was naive, he is out of touch with the united states when he can't answer a question about iraq. and there are questions whether president bush would have received harsher coverage for a response like that. he is to visit ft. bliss, texas before making that oval office speech making the end of combat operations in iraq. that speech will talk about policy moving forward, and he will touch on afghanistan and the fight against al qaeda both there and around the world. some are comparing the speech to the "mission accomplished" moment that you remember very well in california from president bush. iraq is not really ready to take over security. what will be the u.s. policy going forward, the white house not going too far into what he will say on tuesday

tracy potts is here with more. >> brent, good morning. washington, d.c. ranked first in this u.s. news and world report survey. but washington is not a state, the district of columbia, that is. so california is the safest state for teen drivers. here is why. first of all, they took a broad look, not only at how do teens drive, but what are the conditions under which they're driving? what are the laws like in this states inspect they found that first of all, there are not as much teen drivers on the roads in california as other states, less than one in three are licensed. and also some of the law necessary california are quite strict, helmet laws, distracted driver laws, like cutting down on using cell phones and texting while driving. those law res strong in california and that bumped california up to that number two spot. now, there are a couple of areas where according to "u.s. news and world report." the state could use some work. one of them, dui laws and teen licensing laws. they took a lows look at what are the roads like that these teenagers are driving on? are they good? l

tracie potts has information on what parents can do if they think their kid has this kind of injury. >> reporter: the main thing parents can do is be aware of the signs and symptoms of a concussion and more importantly get them out of the game. experts in this study, which is being published in pediatrics, says 40% of kids go back into the game too soon. that's the big issue. there are some states starting to address this issue. seven states in this country, california is not one of them, but seven states have laws about sports safety. they generally require training and education for coaches and in some cases for parents. informed consent. so you have to sign off before your child plays that you are aware of head injuries and the damage they can cause. and also they require, in some cases, the child be instantly pulled from the game. and there's one tough new law in new mexico that says they can't return for seven days without medical consent. they can't return for seven days period. they have to have medical consent. most of those laws require some sort of doctor's note. it's a hug

s "i have a dream speech" but there is a lot of controversy this tracie potts has more. >> reporter: this is causing controversy because glenn beck is a controversial talk show host who appears on fox news a tea party favorite and called president obama in the past a racist, holding this rally at the site and on the 47th anniversary of martin luther king's "i have a dream speech" has stirred up controversy. beck says about 100,000 people are expected, including sarah palin. he said it is a coincidence that it's being held on the national mall at the lincoln memorial on that anniversary date. but that this event is not political. no signs will be out, the gop has been silent about the event. people riled up about this say there is some clear coincidence here. in fact, there's counterrallies planned as well. there was one rally that was planned here being led by the reverend al sharpton. it does include obama administration officials and it is supposed to end on the national mall. interestingly. in the "washington post," martin luther king iii said it is commendable to hold this rally,

tracie potts has more on the new controversy. >> reporter: good morning. in the middle of this big, national debate over illegal immigration and the debate over arizona's new immigration law comes the effort from the gop, the republican party or rather some republicans on capitol hill to take at look at the 14th amendment, which guarantees u.s. citizenship to children born in this country regardless of whether their parents are citizens. it is an idea that over the weekend house minority leader john boehner said is worth considering. >> i do think it's time for us to secure our borders and enforce the law. and allow this conversation about the 14th amendment to continue. >> do you have a position on it? >> listen, i think it's worth considering. it's a serious problem that effects the country and in certain parts of the country, clearly the schools, hospitals are being overrun by illegal immigrants, a lot of whom came here so their children could become u.s. citizens. >> reporter: a couple of republicans here who pitched this idea initially said or hinted

tracie potts has more on this story. good morning. >> reporter: laura, good morning. facebook, twitter, myspace, do you foe what your child is doing online? a lot of parents say yes, i do, because i'm online with them. this new survey came out this morning by neilsen tracking parents and teens and their online use of social networking sites. almost all parents, 94% say they are friends with their children's friends online. more than half of the kids admit that they don't know who all of those friends are. that could be a big caution for parents because for years experts have been saying make sure you know who they are, who your friends are online. finally, almost half -- this is interesting. almost half of the kids online say that profile picture is just as important to them as what they choose to wear to school on the first day of school. it's their online image. the way young people are communicating and now the way many parents are communicating now, too. >> better comb my hair then. >>> kids will want to think twris about cutting class in the east bay. that's beca

tracie potts live this morning in washington, d.c. some of the most common household cleaning products appear to be some of the worst offenders. >> reporter: they sure are. brent. this is a study coming out today in the journal "pediatrics." it shows a huge issue with these household cleaners that are in spray bottles. over the year we have done a good job of keeping children away from medicine chests and the cosmetics in our bedrooms, but the area that, according to this report that needs some light shed on it is what's under your kitchen sink. take a look at the numbers. nationwide well over 250,000 children were sent to emergency rooms specifically because they ingested these household cleaners, mostly in spray bottles. obviously it typically tends to effect toddlers, ages 1 to 3 more. 4 out of 10 of these incidents happen in the kitchen. in california alone, the poison control system handles almost 900 calls every single day. so it's something that parents want to pay attention to. now what do you do about it? lock them up. probab

tracie potts is live in washington, d.c. with more. good morning. >> reporter: laura, good morning. a lot of kids and parents are on facebook these days. in california, almost 4 million people have facebook accounts. in the bay area, 93,000 teens. according to facebook have accounts with the company. how are they using them and are this connecting? a new survey out this morning from neilsen says most parents realize their teens are online. look at some of the numbers. 87% of parents say, yep, my teen has an account on facebook. 82% say they have their own account as well. but are they actually connecting? this is very interesting. three quarters of parents say, sure, i'm an online friend with my child. but less than half, 47% of the kids say that they're friends with parents online. there's a bit of a disconnect there. interesting. lots of new numbers coming out about how people are using facebook and other social networking sights as well. in some cases, it's becoming more common way for young people to communicate than e-mail. e-mail almost seems old now. >> sure does. will you be

tracy potts is live in washington, d.c. >> reporter: the spray bottles are what they are focusing on in this latest report, laura. in california, the poison control system handles almost 900 cases of accidental poisoning every day. that's a lot. well over 250,000 children over the last 16 years that they studied have been poisoned accidentally as a result of household cleaners. we figure out how to lock up the medications, keep the kids away from the cosmetics, but it's the household cleaners that seem to be causing a problem. every other area has gone down. these have not. the children most at risk, you might not be surprised, those aged 1 to 3. the toddlers, they get into everything. the issue here is that the kids take these spray bottles, put them in their mouths, they realize something is wrong and the first thing they do is inhale. that pulls the chemicals down into their lungs and causes more damage. according to the report, 4 out of 10 of these incidents happen in the kitchen. bottom line, what should parents do? number one, lock it up. use those child safety locks. particula