if there's a snapshot, what we love about the olympic games. you see it right there. team gold for the u.s. women in gymnastics. their first since 1996. and that moment, when they realized that all of those years have all added up to gold. and so, they got to enjoy it. let's take a look. once they got their hands on those medals, perhaps just to make sure they were really -- jordyn wieber there, the reigning world champion. didn't qualify for the all-around. >> most of them were 1, 2, not even born back in 1996. >> incredible to think about it. this may be their only shot. that's another thing that makes the games so great. the fact that, if only for one moment, it can all be theirs. it was also liquid gold for the swim team on tuesday. allison schmitt took the 200-meter freestyle with a absolutely dominating performance. grabbing her first gold, as she crushes the competition, setting a new olympic record. on the other hand, controversy brewing on the badminton courts. could these world-class athletes really be throwing their matches in order to get easier opponents on their way to medals? >> you can see officials are furious, we have more on that inquiry that is shaking the olympic games. let's get to our olympic desk in london, and abc's bill weir, who is covering it all, where history was made last night. bill? >> history, indeed. amy, chip, chip. greetings. cheerio from london. michael phelps, who moves water like no one since moses. and of course, since you said, the gymnast girls from team usa who literally woke up with gold medals under their pillows. so many people wondered how jordyn wieber would respond after her disappointing weekend, how she would play with the team. before the announcer could introduce the first event, she was off, down the vault runway, like a shot. all that frustration from the weekend funneled into an explosive opening vault. she nailed the landing and got the first hug from aly raisman. it was a near perfect opening to a perfect night. all of the girls too young to remember america's last team gold, looking like they grew up in this pressure-packed arena. kayla ross, looks like she grew up on the mat. to end it, raisman on the floor. they knew they were gold before the scores were even flashed. >> gets the gold medal. >> reporter: confirmation brought tears of pain for the russians and chinese girls. sheer joy from the fab five. meanwhile, over in the water, no olympic comeback needed for michael phelps. two wins would make him the winningest olympian of all-time. but the first race brought more frustration than joy. south african chad lacrosse snuck past for gold in the 400 meter butterfly. but then came the 4 by 200 freestyle relay. one more gold. 19 career medal, undisputed king of the pool, and greatest olympian of all time. and he has three more shots at gold. in other news, chinese officials defend the exploits of ye shiwen, who won another olympic medal last night. they're also looking at expulsion not for doping, but for tanking. yes, two members of the badminton team for flowing their matches in order to get a more favorable draw in the next round. in riding. it's high, ho, silver for zara phillips. she's the first royal woman to win a medal and got it draped around her neck by her mum, princess ann. former olympian. and give the horse a sugar medal. a good night for hope solo and team usa soccer. the famous home of manchester united has not seen women play there in over 20 years but a crowd of 30,000 really enjoyed the girls' 1-0 game over north korea. goal by amy wambach. and they celebrated with the ancient olympic tradition, doing the worm wave. and a reminder that i am here for all of you who like your olympic medal news poppin' fresh. you can follow me on twitter. @bill weir. we'll see you later for faster, higher, stranger. >> yes, indeed, bill. i've never been more jealous of you each and every day. we'll see you in a bit. bill mentions tweeting. the athletes are also tweeting. look at what kyla ross had to say. i don't know about you. but i think we rocked the house, in reference to she and the rest of the american women who won gold in team gymnastics. and then, well, the athletes are also getting tweets. this came to michael phelps. congrats to michael phelps for breaking the olympic medal record, b.o. who would that be? that would be the president, barack obama. take a look at the overall medal count in all of the big names represented. you notice germany here as cracked the top eight, no surprise there. talk about no surprises, it was going be china and the u.s. it is now the overall medal count, neck and neck. 23-23. china has an edge in gold, not, though, for the efforts of those swimmers. and for more on what's happening in the pool, take a look who we're joined by now. abc and yahoo! analyst, summer sanders, live in london. summer, so much to get to. but you cannot start without the history we saw yesterday. 19 individual medals and counting, now, for michael phelps. this is someone you've known and seen for a long time. can you -- can you boil it all down for us, what that was like when he did it? >> you know, it's interesting you bring that up. the first time i interviewed him was in 2000. and he was 15 years old. and he surprised us there. we knew something special was happening. it's amazing to me. and the first thing i think everyone thinks of, is where in the world is he going to display those 19 medals? i, for a long time, have called him the greatest olympian of all time, because of the gate golds in beijing. i think that's extraordinary. an unbelievably grueling schedule. but to have the most medals of any olympian from any country, certainly puts him in an even bigger category. if there was a greater word than greatest, he has that. >> of course, as a former olympian yourself and decorated, you know. i want to talk about the women. to be called phelpsian now is arguably the greatest compliment you can lend someone. and missy franklin is starting to put her stamp for the american women. and yet these ups and downs. she doesn't get to the podium as allison schmitt dominates in the 200 free. >> i know. and it's hard for me to say that's a disappointing race for her. but let's focus on the positive. alison schmitt. you guys said it earlier. she came to win. there was no question. and i haven't seen her swim like that for a while. i have to think that she took her race and she wanted that gold. my mom had said it, too, when i was little. the person who wins wants it the most. you could tell that allison did. and go back to missy's 100 backstroke. that double she had last night was extraordinary. for her to get a gold in the 100 backstroke was truly extraordinary. >> very quickly, summer. he's 27 years old. does michael phelps return in four years? >> no. he said no. but then again, he said he wouldn't swim in the 400 i.m. but he swam it here. so who knows. i hope he goes on vacation. >> and he's got three more races to go, including a 200 i.m. matchup with ryan lochte. summer, we appreciate the time. >> thank you. amy. now, to breaking news overnight about the united airlines jet forced to make an emergency landing, due to a suspicious item found onboard. passengers were diverted to boston. fighter jets, following the plane as it landed. abc's jim avila joins us from washington with all of the details. jim? >> reporter: good morning, amy. an extra night stateside for a plane full of united airlines passengers off to europe. an alert flight crew noticed something tucked in a seat back, they could not ignore. scrambling a military escort and leading to tense moments over the atlantic. just two hours into united flight 956 from newark to geneva, switzerland, air traffic controllers at boston's logan field got an emergency call shortly after 9:00 p.m. tuesday. >> i can't delay him. he's got a big problem. i got to get him in here. >> reporter: the plane, escorted by two f-15 fighter jets, requested an emergency landing, diverting, after a flight attendant noticed a camera inside an air sickness bag and stuffed into the pocket on the back of an empty seat. passengers onboard said it wasn't theirs. so, the pilot, out of an abundance of caution, decided to turn around. >> i got an emergency coming in quick. >> reporter: once on the ground, the 157 passengers on board were rescreened. >> we've instructed the passengers to leave everything on the plane, including their handbags. >> reporter: the camera, inspected by security agents and given the all-clear. why would an abandoned camera cause this type of reaction? sources tell abc news, terrorists have been searching for new ways to get devices past airport screeners. just two months ago, intelligence officials say they believe the man behind the underwear bombing was trying to develop a way to hide a bomb in a camera. in the end, the camera contained nothing more than someone's now missing vacation pictures. united airlines said it traced the errant camera to a forgetful passenger on an earlier flight on the same plane. as for the trip to geneva, it's scheduled to resume this afternoon. >> thanks, jim avila. a lot of vacation plans destroyed over that one. or at least delayed. paula faris is here with the other top stories developing right now. >> good morning, josh. we begin with another midair scare. this time on an united airlines flight from dallas. a huge bird, slamming into the boeing 737, just outside of denver. you can see the gaping hole it left behind, right below the cockpit there. the pilot declared an emergency and landed safely. 151 passengers were onboard. thankfully, no one was injured. and another needle has been found inside a sandwich served to airline passengers. this time, on air canada. authorities say it's too early to know if it's connected to the half-dozen needles found in sandwiches on delta flights last month. overseas a major escalation in the crisis in syria. this morning, u.n. observers report that fighter jets are attacking rebel positions in aleppo, syria's largest city. earlier, the rebels took control of two police stations. and in a rare public statement, president bashar al assad, said that the battle to hold aleppo will determine the fate of the country. and the worst blackout in world history is over. the lights are back on in india. but authorities are only beginning to investigate why three of the country's major power grids collapsed on tuesday. leaving 670 million folks miserable in the summer heat. and a literary celebrity who influenced a generation has passed away. author and playwright gore vidal's works, "lincoln" and "myra breckenridge." and his tony nominated play "the best man" was just revived on broadway. but vidal was known for his out-sized personality and scathing wit. he was a star on the talk show circuit. he even ran for office. he died in los angeles from complications of pneumonia. he was 86 years old. and finally sick of all that e-mail you get at work, i know we all are. no wonder. a survey out finds that the average worker spends 2 1/2 hours every day, writings, reading and deleting a whole lot of e-mails. if you do the math, it amounts to a staggering 81 work days spent on e-mails. 81 work days, you guy, that we will never get back. i don't know if they factored abc news into that survey. >> i think i'm beyond 2 1/2 hours. >> i think i'm carrying three people here. thanks a lot. paula. now, to "your voice, your vote." the return of mitt romney, returning home after a rocky overseas trip. will the announcement of a potential running mate heal the damage? jonathan karl joins us from washington with that. jon, good morning to you. now that romney is back home, how long before we have an announcement here? >> reporter: the campaign won't say. i can tell you this, josh. at least two people on his list of potential running mates have been told to be standing by, to be ready for an announcement any day, now that they are back. they are planning a bus tour on august 10th, which looks like a really good place to introduce your nominee. as for how they'll do it, josh, is they released an app called mitt's v.p. all it tells me right now is it is coming soon. >> coming soon. so who is on the short list that seems to change by the moment? >> reporter: i think now it comes down to three names. you have rob portman of ohio. tim pawlenty of minnesota. and paul ryan of wisconsin. others are in the mix. marco rubio, kelly ayotte, and bobby jindal. the governor of louisiana. >> again, we will wait to see what the app says. jon karl in washington, we appreciate it. amy. now, to baseball hall of famer, cal ripken jr. his mother kidnapped, abducted at gunpoint. fortunately she's back at home and doing well. now, there's newly-released surveillance tape of the man they say could be to blame. abc's david kerley has that. >> reporter: this is our first good look at the man suspected of nabbing vi ripken at gunpoint and blindfolding her. the tall, white man walking in and out of a maryland store. at the same time, he allegedly had, tied up, outside in her own car, the mother of cal ripken. known as baseball's ironman for his streak of not missing a game. the next day, the hall of famer's mother was found in her car, near her home in the baltimore area. it had been a 24-hour ordeal. ripken told neighbors she was scared but the abductor took care of her needs. >> she said he was really nice. they stopped at royal farms and got food and other things. he lit cigarettes for her. >> reporter: during the 30 seconds of video released by police, it appears the suspect bought something at the store. you see him carrying a package. police got a tip about this video. but say this morning, they are frustrated they still haven't cracked the case. >> it's taking more time than we originally thought it might take. >> reporter: police have released this sketch and are offering a $2,000 reward, but are not saying anything about a possible motive. >> clearly, the abductor did not have his heart in this. he took a lot of risk. doesn't look like he got much out of it, other than inflicting fear on the ripken family for a number of hours. >> reporter: according to family and friends, vi ripken is resting and working with police. hoping they catch this man soon. for "good morning america," david kerley, abc news, washington. >> thank you, david. let's now head back to london, shall we, to bring you the faster, higher and stranger side of the olympics which can only come from abc's bill weir. bill, good morning to you, once again. >> good morning, josh. we're going to start with a new franchise. you know you're good when. apologies to jeff foxworthy. if you're standing on the steps and you recognize the anthem, you're probably good. if you're shaking the other team's hand and one of them takes off his shoe and asks you to autograph it, you're probably really good. that happened to kobe bryant. tunisian forward mow homohamed dudha dudhani. way to seize the moment, mohammed. i know their slogan used to be, when it has to be there overnight. but the u.s. equestrian team fedex'd their horses to london. that's right. fedex has planes with stalls and hay and water. and the horses have passports with their pictures and innoculation records. you can imagine the custom official. purpose of your visit, ma'am? >> and finally, as much fun as it is to watch the athletes, you have to give a medal to the parental reactions. if you don't get misty and laugh you're made of stone. aly raisman's folks, it's so cool to see devotion and love. laid out, bearing for the world to see. and teenage girls? you want to be friends with justin bieber? get your butts out of the mall and into the pool. check out the biebs. heard @missy franklin is a friend of mine. i'm a fan of hers, too. congrats on winning gold. much love. omg, josh. >> the best part is, she responded. i just died. it was great. bill weir, in london. we'll see you soon, my friend. time, now, to turn to sam champion. i'd ask you to sign my shoe, sam. but you're all the way over there. >> josh, immediately after the broadcast. no problem at all. we'll take time for that. amy, josh, paula, everyone, good morning. we're going to start with the entire summer of dust storm, flooding. dust storm, flooding. into the southwest. let's show you some pictures. we've gone from giant dust storms to record flooding. once in 100 years does the phoenix area get 2 to 3 inches of rain in 1 event. that's exactly what happened yesterday. that's the fourth straight day of flooding and dust storms. here's where the big heat will go today. we're looking at a record, probably tying it in dallas. oklahoma city getting a record today. little rock at 105 degrees. 13 states have heat warnings. and heat, drought. looking at the tropics, there's two zones in the circles of suspicion there. we think this one will probably be the one that will develop. still to come, from oscar winner to wanted man. why new orleans police are looking for cuba gooding jr. and meet the man who survived a terrifying shark attack off of cape cod. who survived a terrifying shark attack off of cape cod. living with the pain of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis could mean living with joint damage. help stop the damage before it stops you with humira, adalimumab. for many adults with moderate to severe ra, humira's proven to help relieve pain and stop joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your rheumatologist how you can defend against and help stop further joint damage with humira. chase scene netflix coming soon extra butter tickets swoon penguin journey junior mints movie phone evil prince bollywood 3d shark attack ned the head 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback on movies through september. it pays to discover. the lines, the cost, the hassle. ♪ express yourself [ female announcer ] why not try coffee-mate? 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