making news on this tuesday, august 17th. >> stories of survival. passengers walk away after their plane slams into the ground and splits apart. is it better technology? or just plain luck? breaking news overnight. extreme violence rocks baghdad. dozens are killed. and he's known for many talents, including his voice. but now actor michael douglas, risks losing just that. good morning. well, it is enough to give hope to anyone with a fear of flying. nearly everyone survived this crash of a boeing 737 on a dare bean island, including all of the americans onboard. >> two of them will be air-lifted to hospitals today, as a team from washington, d.c.

helps in the ongoing investigation. >> as john hendren explains, weather on the san andreas island at the time could be to blame. >> reporter: it looks like the catastrophe of colombia. a boeing 737 jetliner, shattered in three pieces, littering the runway. >> the wing was covered with fuel. and i was concerned. have an explosion, we will die. i just started praying. >> reporter: they're calling it the miracle of san an degrees island. somehow of the passengers onboard, only one did not survive, a woman who had a heart attack after the crash. carolina bolino of georgia, was among the survivors. >> i remember the flight attendant saying, we're ready to land. so, please, sit up. get ready for landing. after that, i don't -- what i remember is my husband pulling me through the exit door. >> reporter: the pilot said the

plane, flying from bogota, in driving rain, had been struck by lightning. meteorologists say there is evidence of multiple strikes around the island before the crash. aviation experts said it must be something more. >> lightning cannot bring an plane down. >> reporter: inenver this, 737 doubt fire and cracked in half. in jamaica, this 737 skidded off the end of the runway, cracking in two. in both cases no, one died. >> there's been changes to the seats, the interiors. all to make them thr crash-worthy. and it's working. >> reporter: others are calling the crash a miracle. u.s. transportation investigators are now on the way. they'll be looking into weather conditions, wind shear, and that lightning strike, the pilot says happened moments before the crash. vinita and rob? >> john hendren, live in washington this morning, thanks. breaking news this morning out of baghdad. a suicide bombing among a large

group of iraqi army recruits has killed at least 60 people. more than twice than many were wounded. the bombing took place at a recruiting center, which had been iraq's ministry of defense, during the reign of saddam hussein. the attack had several hallmarks of al qaeda. opponents of gay marriage in california have scored a legal victory. same-sex weddings are now on hold indefinitely, while an appeals court considers whether the state's ban is constitutional. arguments won't be heard until the first week in november. a county clerks could begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples starting tomorrow. president obama is entering day two of three days on the campaign trail. the president talked about the economy in wisconsin. and took some shots at republicans, calling them obstructionists. mr. obama then flew to los angeles for a fund-raiser that's expected to bring in $1 million to democratic coffers. he also makes a campaign stop in washington state today and then, florida tomorrow.

former house majority leader, tom delay, will face no criminal charges for his relationship with a disgraced lobbyist. the justice department is wrapping up a six-year investigation. delay faces money laundering and conspiracy charges in texas in an unrelated case. defense secretary robert gates has sparked plenty of speculation about his successor. gates said he will leave the obama administration next year. his aids tamped down on expectations. they said gates has spoken about retiring in the past, only to stay on the job. now, the flooding disaster in pakistan. and a clear indication of how widespread it is. this river last year. and the same area just days ago. all that water -- all that blue is water. it's part of the estimated 62,000 square miles of land that are impacted. as jim sciutto reports, now, medical concerns are skyrock skyrocketing. >> reporter: in its wake, the flooding is leaving a trail of

waterborne diseases. tens of thousands now infected. it's a race against time to keep debilitating sickness from becoming deadly. in many areas, all that's standing in the way are tiny, charity-run clinics, delivering aid the government is not. the health of 15,000 families depends on this clinic. just a handful of volunteers. and doctors here are already seeing an outbreak of acute d diarrh diarrhea, the precursor of fatal cholera. until these people get clean drinking water and living conditions, the disease is going to spread. this 28-year-old brought her infant son. are you worried about diseases like cholera, which can be deadly? of course, i am, she said. when we looked around the tent village where she and her family are now living, we understood her fears. the camps have extremely little. only the simplest tents.

no clean water. no sanitation. but one clear advantage. there are high ground, just a few hundred yards from the floodwaters. in some areas, the floodwaters are still rising. the seasonal, monsoon rains pouring down. residents in the south protested the slow delivery of government aid, blocking a highway. wherever we traveled, we heard frustration. millions of pakistani looking for food, shelter and what may be life-saving clean water. and now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. stormy along the gulf coast. gusty winds, rain and flooding in new orleans, biloxi and mobile. showers as far north as washington, d.c. heavy downpours from west texas to south dakota. thunderstorms and flash flooding in arizona and new mexico. >> 90 in colorado springs. 92 in albuquerque. and a scorching 106 in phoenix. mostly 80s from fargo to detroit. 90 here in new york.

93 in baltimore. and 102 in dallas. well, the annual list of america's best schools is out. and there is a change at the top. on top of that, tracking the gulf oil. a new study proves that 80% may be lurking beneath the surface. and an oscar-winner gets ready for chemotherapy. ♪ think fast, go slow ♪ now i know ♪ freedom is all that i need [ female announcer ] ladies, raise your spoons. now there's nothing left standing between you and a satisfying breakfast. introducing special k low-fat granola. with 50% less fat than the leading granola and 5 grams of fiber per serving, it's a satisfying way to help you manage your weight. special k low-fat granola -- a taste of freedom. and i wondered what it was. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body.

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today. hong kong's hang seng is higher. in london, the ftse opened higher. on wall street, the dow barely budged yesterday, ticking down one point. the nasdaq rose eight points. treasury department is bringing together housing finance leaders today, for a conference on the future of fannie mae and freddie mac. the mortgage giants have received nearly $150 billion in taxpayer money since being seized by the government in 2008. many republicans want to phase them out. the obama administration won't offer its plan until next year. banks have eased lending standards for small businesses for the first time in nearly four years. the findings from a federal reserve study are good news for job seekers. small businesses account for more than half the jobs in this country. but it's still much tougher to get a loan than before the financial crisis. and credit card delinquencies fell to the lowest level of the year last month. that trend continues a positive trend in the on-time payments over the last several months.

americans are getting better at paying down their credit cards and not spending beyond their means. after recalling millions of vehicles earlier this year for the unintended acceleration, toyota now appears to be looking at a new solution to the problem. the automaker is rethinking the placement of its pedals. "the wall street journal" reports that the current setup make it more likely to hit the wrong one. the top pot r spot in the latest edition of "u.s. news and world report" rankings. princeton has moved to number two, according to the unfleinial report. yale and columbia take the three and four spots. it's faced on higher graduation rates as well as financial and faculty resources. >> who knew that harvard was such a good school? coming up next on this tuesday, new developments on the controversial mosque planned for lower manhattan. and at 46, admitted steroid

user, jose canseco, gets back in the game.

eastern colorado is in for a much calmer day after getting battered by some severe storms. lightning lit up the skies and even struck a car on the highway. at least four tornadoes touched down. luckily, there were no reported injuries. another day of slick morning road conditions in the southwest on i-10 and 40 in new mexico and arizona. i-10 also sees flooding from new orleans to pensacola. wet on i-95 from miami up to washington, d.c. and across much of tennessee. rain also on i-70 and 80 through iowa, nebraska and kansas.

>> and if you're flying today, delays in phoenix, charlotte, atlanta and new orleans. president obama is on the west coast today, talking about aigning omy and campaigning for democrats. >> but as much as the white house tries to downplay it, new york's mosque controversy is dominating all the talk in washington. especially as more and more democrats announce their opposition to the plan. >> dan harris reports on the growing anger over the issue. >> reporter: conservatives were turning up the volume against the planned muslim community center. >> mr. president, ground zero is the wrong place for a mosque. >> you know, nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the holocaust museum in washington. >> reporter: president obama did his best to avoid the issue. he gave a speech on friday, that seemed to support the project. only to seemingly backtrack somewhat the next day. critics say the president is putting his allies in a tough spot. with polls showing more than two-thirds of americans against the community center. senate majority leader harry

reid, who is in a tough re-election fight against a tea party republican, came out against the project. saying in a statement, that the mosque should be built elsewhere. muslim activists say angry rhetoric is fuelling a dangerous level of islama-phobia. in demonstrations over proposed mosques in places like tennessee. and wisconsin. >> there isn't a muslim say that they peacefully assemble. >> reporter: the bombing of a mosque in jacksonville, florida, in may. and a church in gainesville, florida, that's planning to burn korans on september 11th. >> i'm not going to allow muslim leaders to deter someone speaking out on this claim. the main focus of this debate should be, does that mosque wrong at ground zero? and the answer is, it does not. >> reporter: some prominent republicans are working behind the scenes to get some of their party members to ratchet down

the rhetoric over this controversy here at ground zero. dan harris, abc news, in lower manhattan. a group of scientists says most of the oil of the bp spill is still in the water. they're releasing the report at the university of georgia, saying 80% of the oil remains below the surface. that's contrary to government findings. the scientists say the government figure is based on misinterpreted data. despite the report, fishermen returning for the official start of shrimping season in louisiana, are reporting an oil-free catch. but many remain anxiournment say the government says the shrimp are safe. and samples tested by abc news came back to be clean. but demand has drove shrimp prices down almost 50%. police in south carolina are trying to determine whether the tragic drowning of two, little boys was an accident. the bodice from a car submerged in the river. a camera caught the scene.

the boys were strapped in their car seats. police are questioning their mother, who has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident. and chilling details about the jailhouse suicide of the accused craigslist killer. former medical student, philip markoff, wrote his ex-fiancee's name in blood, as he was taking his own life, inside a boston jail over the weekend. sources say the name megan was written on a prominent place inside that cell. actor michael douglas will be treated for throat cancer. douglas, who is 65 years old, says he expects to make a full recovery. the oscar-winning actor appears this fall in a sequel of "wall street. jose canseco is back in banal. he a february of the loredo tornados. he hit a home run in his first at-bat last night.

he's going to play in the team's six remaining home games this season. as for baseball's major league, not to mention a little preseason football, here's robert flores at espn news. >> good morning. the jets and giants opened up their new stadium. new meadowlands stadium on "monday night football," against one another. jets were the home team. the giants have the honor of hosting the first regular season game. first quarter, mark sanchez, by ladainian tomlinson. a pickup of 14 and a first down. second quarter, jets down three. but they're driving. eli manning back to pass. he fumbles. giants recover. but manning is hurt. look at his face. it is busted open wide. his face is a crimson mass. flick flair looked at that cut. fourth quarter, to victor cruz. one-handed catch. 64-yard touchdown for the rookie of umass. giants go on to win. baseball, dodgers and

braves. bottom of the nooibt. braves down, 3-2. melky cabrera. seventh career walkoff hit. it brings in two. gives the braves another walkoff win, 4-3, over the dodgers. tigers and yankees. tight finish in new york city. yankees down 3-1. bases loaded. one out. derek jeter grounds into a double-play. carlos guillen. tigers win, 3-1. rangers and praps good pitching match jump. garret, cliff lee, david price. carlos pena. and that dog will hunt. rays go on to win, 6-4. that will do it for this espn news update. now, back to you in new york. coming up next, the stories we'll be following today, including alaskans, saying good-bye to uncle ted. and we'll update this morning's breaking news. a deadly blan baghdad.

and now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this tuesday. investigators will try to determine if weather played a role in the crash of a 737 on this caribbean island. the plane was torn into pieces. but only one passenger died. and that was from a heart attack after the accident. u.s. and iraqi forces are on alert, now that dozens have been killed by a suicide bomber in baghdad. the bomber exploded in a group of iraqi army recruits who were signing up for service. a final farewell for former senator ted stevens in his home state of alaska.

after last night's memorial mass, stevens lies in repose at a church. his funeral is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. and president obama is on the campaign trail again. mr. obama made stops in wisconsin and california yesterday. to raise money over the next two days for candidates from washington state, ohio and florida. and from hollywood this morning, coming soon to a small screen near you, a new reality show in the works that could star jetblue's disgruntled flight attendant. >> i don't think anyone's surprised he may be getting a show. it will be a show that teach unhappy workers to leave ra job with a bang. >> he hired a publicist. everyone has a publicist these days. coming up later on "good morning america," can blowing your top cut your life short? a new study shows that having a bad temper can be as bad for you as high cholesterol for even smoking. that's coming up on "gma." for some of you, your local

news is next. >> for everyone else, "america this morning" continues right after this. ♪ special k protein shakes -- ♪ a truly great-tasting breakfast shake. with 10 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, it's the creamy, delicious way to satisfy... your hunger to help you lose weight. ♪ so you can kick the tin can habit. try special k protein shakes today.

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finally from us this morning, holy ways. how a billion people across the globe are marking ramadan. >> the halladay is steeped in

centuries of tradition. but these days, muslims are spending a lot of time on things that didn't even exist in ancient times. >> reporter: it's ramadan, the holy month of the muslim calendar. more than 1 billion people mark the occasion. it's a time of prayer, reflection, and sacrifice. well, sort of. during ramadan, muslims fast during daylight hours. no food. no water. no smoking. so, after sunset, they go all-out. oven at lavish buffets, in five-star hotels. then, taking time to relax, with lots of television. during ramadan, nighttime is prime viewing time, when households are glued to the screen. an estimated 100 million people watch broadcaster ted channels alone. >> people chose to stay indoors with the family. gather around their favorite national sport, which is tv.

>> reporter: it's an advertisers' dream. and ad rates skyrocket. top commercial spots going for $1 million. advertisers from ford to pepsi, to tang, ride the holiday into muslim hearts and wallets. then, there are the shows, where the arab world watches and talks about for the better part of a month. and they can get controversial. a popular comedy called "tosh metosh" has corruption. a show is turning polygamy on its head, as a woman juggles five different men. >> it rewrites the rules and turns them into debatable subjects in families. >> reporter: here, tv is a constant companion, even during the holidays. laura setrakian, abc news, dubai. >>op