>> an interesting outcome. this may be good news. plus, a school district that pays struggling students to go to summer school. talk about outrage. we're going to chat about that this morning. >> we're going to begin with the olympics and the night that was filled with so much promise and ended in so much disappointment for the u.s. men's gymnastics team after finishing first in the trials, they entered the finals last night as favorites. but a fall on the floor, two costly errors in the pommel horse and a fall on the vault -- undid team usa. halfway through six rotations they were in last place. last. but they rallied at the last minute to finish in fifth place. better, but still not great. amanda davies joins us from london. they were talking so big going into the finals. what happened? >> i think the mood in london at the olympic park today probably reflects the mood of the u.s. men's gymnastics team. gray and gloomy is the best way to sum it up. they were hotly tipped for a medal because they had qualified for the final in first place. but really, it was just a story of trips, tumbles and fumbles. >> danell, leyva had a stumble and a wobble on the bars and there was a dreadful picture of him sitting beside the arena, in tears. it's not good to see a young man in tears. and it's put to him that the team has choke and he composed himself and his reaction was there. we weren't really shaking or anything, it wasn't as if we were scared, we were just off. we didn't do what we knew we could. settle was great amount of expectation, as you said. and it just seemed to get to them on the day. so the wait goes on for the men's team. for the team medal. and of course, it's the women's turn today. >> it was one problem after the other for the men. as you said, we're hoping for more from the women tonight. now one other place where there's been a lot of ups and downs and controversy, has been the pool. the u.s. had some mixed results yesterday. >> disappointing day for ryan lochte. he came out without a medal in the 200 meters, free. the great day for matt grievers. and for missy, the missile franklin, she got her first olympic gold of this games in the 100 meters backstroke as well. all the eyes today will be on michael phelps, a big, big day for him. he's back in action, looking do make history with a third straight gold with the 200 meters fly. today could be the day that he breaks the record, 18 olympic medals. and then of course, the chinese sensation, yi xia wen, she's been forced to stand up for the chinese team, deny claims of doping after that sensational performance of hers in the 400 meters individual medley. she's up for the 200 meters individual medley. she set an olympic record in her semifinal. the only crime she's committed is swimming fast up to this point. a lot of pressure on her. >> she in fact swam five minutes faster than her personal best and she broke a world record. one u.s. coach described her performance in the 400 meter individual medley disturbing, she finished the last leg of her race, finishing faster than ryan lochte. she saved five seconds off her personal best time. it's that incredible disparity that has so many people talking. moving on now to the medal count. >> we're going to, sorry about that. i'll take that, how about that. the u.s. now tied with china in overall medal counts as we understand here. let's see, 17. but trailing in gold, japan now in third place with 11. >> and what to watch for today. as amanda said, michael phelps heads back to the pool, looking for the first gold medal of these games in the 200 meter butterfly. if he medals it will tie the mark of 18 medal, the all-time record. missy franklin looks to win her second gold in the 200 meter freestyle. and in gymnastic, the women try to win the gold in the team. >> and at 5:30 eastern, former u.s. gymnast, bart conner is going to join us, the a member of the last men's gymnastics team to win gold. do you when that was? >> 1984. >> we'll ask him what went wrong in london. is it inexperience, are they too young of a team? >> there's a lot to talk about. a lot of questions this morning. we're also talking politics this morning. mitt romney is in the polish capital, warsaw, about to wrap up his three-nation tour with a speech about the value of liberty. but the presumptive gop nominee continues to make headlines and not the kind he would like, necessarily. palestinian officials are calling him racist for telling israeli donors their culture is the reason they're more successful than the palestinians. senior strategist david axelrod tweeted is there anything about romney's rolling ruckus that would inspire confidence in his ability to lead u.s. foreign policy? in an interview with cnn's wolf blitzer, the former massachusetts governor walked back comments he made last march about russia being america's number one foe. this is his position now. >> the number one national security threat of course to our nation is a nuclear iran. russia is a, a geopolitical adversary, but is not an enemy with, with messles being fired at one another, things of that nature. >> romney also told wolf blitzer he believes the u.s. should keep a military option available in iran. the bloody struggle for control of syria's largest city intensifying overnight. it seems like a repeat every morning. tens of thousands of people are leaving aleppo as rebel forces try to capture the last government checkpoint on the road to the turkish border. government forces stepping up shelling of rebel-held districts with rocket, field artillery and helicopter gunships. cnn's barbara starr catching up with defense secretary leon panetta on his trip to the middle east. panetta sounding certain the assad regime is on its last legs. >> i'm sure that deep down, assad knows he's in trouble and it's just a matter of time before he has to go. >> what would you say to him? >> i would say -- if, if you want to be able to protect yourself and your family, you better get the hell out now. >> panetta's travels this week take him to tunisia, egypt and jordan, with syria topping the agenda on each top. a shark scare off the coast of cape cod, i hate hearing this, i swim in these beaches, a witnesses say a man swimming off truro, massachusetts was bitten by a shark yesterday. some bathers say they saw a large dorsal fin coming out of the water. the man, thankfully is said to be in stable condition. he had severe cuts on both legs. but the fire chief says he will not lose a limb. several great whites have been spotted off the coast of cape cod this summer. i hate, terrifying, i'm terrified of sharks. >> are you going to continue swimming there? >> i'm never going into a pool, let alone the ocean. an african-american couple has inspired unity. charles and tammy wilson were married by the church's pastor but at a different location. city leaders in crystal springs, mississippi, had a a unity ceremony last night. here's one to get psyched up for summer school. pay your kids to go. find out where that's happening, coming right up. 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[ female announcer ] weak, damaged hair needs new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. active naturals wheat formulas restore strength for up to 90% less breakage in three washes. for strong, healthy hair with life, new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. welcome back, it is 12 minutes past the hour. we're getting an early read on your local news making national headlines. >> we're starting in penn state university where sports is the news, the penn state fooshl team starting to come back to school right now. we're beginning to learn which players will not be joining the team. they're allowed to transfer as part of the penalties imposed on penn state. quarterback rob bolden has announced he is leaving the team and safety tim buckley is also leaving. a lot of other stores considering leaving. including linebacker mike cull and running back silas red. we talked with tiki barber who told us if you're a player who hopes to play in the pros, you have to transfer. that's the only way the scouts are going to see you. otherwise you're not going to play in bowl games, televised games, you got to get out of there. >> he said don't forget this is a solid academic instution, so if you're trying to do both, this is a great place to be. >> if you want a good school, stay at penn state. this is kind of a wacky story, washington, d.c.'s public school system is paying hundreds of struggling students to attend summer school. this story comes from the "washington examiner." 300 students who signed up for summer youth employment program told to report to summer school for $5.25 an hour. why? only 53% of students in the d.c. public schools are graduating high school on time. they're trying to get those numbers to be a little stronger to beef up graduation rates, d.c. public schools looking to expand summer programs are going to have students retake classes they failed in the following semester. some parents are complaining if students get paid to go to school in the summer, they should get paid to go to school year-round. >> that's a terrible message. work hard. these are also kids that have behavioral problems, it sets a precedent. >> i would think there's got to be another way. head to our blog, cnn.com/earlystart. it is 14 minutes past the hour. opening arguments begin today in the much-anticipated trial of an ex-cop, draw peterson. he's charged with the murder of his third wife, kathleen savio. she was found drowned in her bathtub in 2004. her death was ruled an accident. but the case was reopened in 2007 after peterson's fourth wife stacy, vanished. she disappeared. peterson is not facing charges in that case, however. cnn's ted rollins is on the phone in joliet, illinois. ted by no means is this an open-and-shut case. prosecutors are facing a a lot of challenges. what can you tell us? >> absolutely right, zoraida. there's a very good chance, people don't realize this, that drew peterson at the end of the trial is going to walk out of the courtroom a free man. and the problem for the prosecution is that there's no direct evidence tying him to the death of his third wife, kathleen savio. and prosecutors can't really bring up the disappearance of his fourth wife, stacey. let's be frank, he never would have been investigated for kathleen savio's death if stacy peterson, his fourth wife, wouldn't have gone missing. in this case, there's an autopsy report, there was a coroner's jury done on kathleen savio's death and it came back as an accident. so it's a huge hurdle for prosecutors. they do have some hearsay statements they'll be able to bring in which are damning towards peterson. things said, threats he made to his ex-wife and quite frankly it's a very tough case. the defense team is very pleased with their case moving in. one of the big questions is the stacy peterson factor. how much will the jury hear? here's what the defense team said about that a few days ago. >> what do you make of the stacy factor in this trial? >> who? >> the stacy factor? >> who? stacy who? >> she's on your witness list. >> that stacy. >> we're hoping she shows up. >> yeah. maybe she'll show up. >> if she got the subpoena. >> does anybody think she's really alive. >> i do. absolutely she's alive. >> well, the honest truth there is that she likely is not alive and that the defense attorneys are very pleased and they're outside the courthouse there, because they know the judge has barred any mention of stacy peterson in this trial. they have that on their side. its going to be a fascinating trial to watch. and it gets under way in just a few hours here in joliet. >> i got to tell you, ted, for a lot of reasons, there aren't many people who don't know the name stacy peterson. you know, so they're going to be, this is going to be really tough. we're glad you're there following it for us, we'll continue to check in with you. >> i can't believe the tone in the lawyers' voice. >> that's the way this has been. it's joel brodsky and it's drew peterson himself. his defense lawyer says, peterson is guilty of a lot of things. it's now 17 minutes past the hour. we want to get you up to date on all the stories. the u.s. women on top of the standings in gymnastics heading into the team competition. one day after the men stumbled in the finals. and in the pool today, michael phelps and missy franklin go for gold. aurora massacre suspect, james holmes, facing 24 counts of first-degree murder this morning. two counts for each of the 12 people he is accused of killing. 12 of those charges cite extreme indifference to human life and other counts include deliberation. and he's charged with 116 counts of attempted murder. prosecutors say the decision whether or not to seek the death penalty could be months away. a woman who stole a baby from manhattan hospital 25 years ago and raised her as her own has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. the woman, ann pettaway, but the real parents say what they should give su 23 years from what you took from me. carlena white came suspicious of h her supposed mother as an adult. she searched the web and matched the photo of herself with one on the site and tracked down her true mother and they had a dna test to confirm her identity. check out this time lapse video. preparations for the republican national convention. the event doesn't kick off until august 27th. several hundred people are hard at work at tampa bay times forum. a building on the stage at which mitt romney is expected to accept his party's nomination. >> i love those time-lapse videos. small farmers are struggling through the worst drought in decades. christine romans went back to her home town for a firsthand look. ke donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover. these are sandra's "homemade" yummy, scrumptious bars. hmm? 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[ male announcer ] the highly advanced audi a6. named to car and driver's 10 best. experience the summer of audi event and get exceptional values on the audi you've always wanted. 23 minutes past the hour. as half the nation suffers through the worst drought in 50 years in record heat, it's toll is being felt especially hard by u.s. farmers. more than 90% of the country's corn crops are in drought-ravaged areas and the price of corn is up more than 50%. in the last six weeks, hitting an all-time record on monday. >> joining us now live from davenport, iowa, is our friend, christine romans, this is home for you and home is having hard times. >> yeah. yeah, i'm telling you, all 99 counties in iowa have been declared as a disaster. where i am in scott county here you've got patches of decent fields, but you can see, you can see that this corn is baking, it is dying from the ground up. i mean, quite honestly, you drive through some of these counties here and the corn still looks green. and then you go into the fields, you peel back an ear and they're not growing any more. so there's still a little bit of hope for the soybean crop, but the corn crops are basically cooking out here. right now, guys, this is the happiest the corn is going to be all day. because it's about 79 degrees right now. it is dark, so it doesn't have to curl up its leaves to protect itself against the sun. this is the only time it's sort of recharging its battery. talked to a farmer yesterday, joe derricks, about 30 miles north of where i grew up and he took me through his field. take a look. what are the two things farmers talk about when they sit around with a cup of coffee. >> will it rain, did you get any rain? is it going to rain. every farmer in iowa feels like they have a moral responsibility to do everything they can for this crop, to grow as much as we can, even though we know it's going to be short. this is one of the good-looking fields. >> this is good-looking? >> from the road, this is a nice-looking field and it's pathetic. >> a couple of things about iowa farmers, guys, they all keep telling me things are worse in wisconsin and southern illinois. they have a little bit of an optimistic disposition. they all lived through 1988 which was a really tough time around here. many of them have crop insurance. if they're involved in any government programs, they have to have crop insurance. they won't kno