this is an abc news special report. your voice, your vote. mitt romney's choice. >> good evening. we begin tonight with breaking news. top republicans close to his campaign say presidential candidate mitt romney has chosen wisconsin congressman paul ryan as his running mate. the romney campaign would not comment on the decision but said it will be announcing tomorrow morning in norfolk, virginia, from aboard the "uss wisconsin." paul ryan has served in congress for seven terms but his profile skyrocketed over the past several years around his plan to drastically cut spending in an effort to reduce the national debt.

ryan, just 42 years old, is married to a tax attorney with whom he has three young children. for the latest we're joined by abc senior political correspondent jonathan karl from norfolk, virginia, where he's traveling with the romney campaign. jon, how much of a surprise is this? >> reporter: well, to those who really know romney it's not that much of a surprise. he has been fascinated with this young, conservative superstar for a long time. but he's only 42 years old, he's incredibly controversial, and to many republican operatives it is seen as a risky choice. but this is something, cynthia, that is going to excite the republican base. he is one of the top stars in the party, somebody who is putting the fiscal health of the country at the top of his priority list, ahead of politics. but that plan you mentioned is one that would drastically change medicare and you can bet democrats are going to come right at him. >> when it came down to it, why

ryan? >> reporter: well, ryan is seen as the guy with the plan. romney campaigned with ryan in wisconsin. he was the only of the potential vice presidential candidates that when he appeared with ryan, the two actually got on the stage together and took questions in a town hall format going worth. romney sees the fiscal health of the country, the fiscal crisis the country faced, as the number one issue and there is nobody who has put forward a more specific and detailed plan on that than paul ryan. it's a controversial plan but it as plan that has a vision for where the country should go and that is exactly what romney is trying to do with this pick is send that message he has a vision with paul ryan. >> jon, as you hook november your crystal ball how are the democrats going to correct? >> reporter: they are going to say this is the team that would destroy medicare, one of the most popular programs in the country. they are going to say this is a dangerous pick, that it would fundamentally change the way the

u.s. government relates to its citizens, particularly its senior citizens. you know, just put it this way, cynthia. there was an ad that ran the last campaign by a democratic group that showed somebody looks just like paul ryan throwing a senior citizen in a wheelchair off a cliff. that is effectively how they will go after paul ryan and mitt romney. >> jonathan karl, our thanks, we appreciate you being with us tonight. i'm joined by abc weekend world news weekend anchor david, why did he choose mitt romney? you have been deep inside the campaign, you've talked to the strategi strategists, seen them in action. >> they were looking at the same things we've been looking at. you saw the numbers we reported on "world news." three national pollth in the last 24 to 48 hours that show president obama increasing this lead 7 to 9 points now no, longer a dead heat, appears to be a front runner for now. there were pushes but "wall street journal" for one saying, go bold, pick paul ryan. it appears that is what they've

done. as jon karl pointed out, architect of his budget plan, he's going to rally conservatives in the tea party. make no mistake, they looked at the names on the short list and they did internal polling, looked at the polling numbers out there, and they said, which of these candidates will best lift the romney ticket in their home state? they need to turn at least one of these battleground states. they looked at florida, they looked at ohio, they looked at wisconsin. from what i'm being told, paul ryan's numbers were the strongest, helping lift the romney ticket in wisconsin within a point or so of the obama ticket. >> those points can be decisive when it comes down to it. >> no question, no question. >> a very interesting and apparently convivial personal relationship, that's important. >> you know this makes a big deal in the romney campaign. we reported so much on his personal relationships, how loyal he's been to his inner circles, from bain to his time as governor in massachusetts. this was on april fools' day in milwaukee, mitt romney being

introduced to a crowd of pancake breakfast, you see paul ryan, the room was empty. you see the laughter. paul ryan helping pull off this joke on mitt romney. mitt romney says, i'll remember this, and bring it up with him. this means a lot to mitt romney, that he has someone he's comfortable with. six town halls and now they'll be off and running. quickly before we go, you saw that romney/ryan web page, you pull it up and it takes you right back. america's comeback team. either this is really elaborate and someone had time on their hands or we're off and running here. >> david, thanks. you'll be with us on "good morning america" with the latest. top republicans close to his campaign tell abc news presidential candidate mitt romney has chosen wisconsin congressman paul ryan as his running mate. we'll have the official announcement live tomorrow morning beginning at 8:45 a.m. ear time. we'll return now to regular programming. abc news will continue to monitor the developments in the

story. in the meantime follow the story continuously on abcnews.com and abc news radio. those of you in the west, we're going to return in just a moment with "nightline." i'm cynthia mcfadden. good evening. >> this is an abc news special report. your voice. your vote. welcome back. "nightline" will continue right after this message with a fascinating trip into the eye of a storm as our ginger zee chases down a lightning bolt. at purina one,

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"nightline" continues from new york city. with cynthia mcfadden. >> well, we turn now to the summer of wild weather. the hottest july on record crippling drought in half the country. and now tropical storms are bringing epic rains to the east coast. ginger zee has been out storm chasing. >> oh my god! that is huge! >> reporter: we're chasing one of nature's most destructive and unpredictable forces. >> oh, look at that. that was beautiful. >> reporter: tim samaras is a seasoned storm chaser and no stranger to wild weather. >> most of the core i believe is right here. >> reporter: but today he's focused on another nearly impossible mission. he's attempting to document the birth of a lightning strike. tim wants a glimpse behind that blazing flash. he believes this moment holds the clues that will help us better understand the mystery of this lethal phenomenon. armed with an ultra high-speed camera.

>> here's the shot we just got. >> reporter: cool. oh, my gosh. he will try to capture this elusive moment as it's never been seen before. >> then the return strobe. >> reporter: oh, my gosh. this is it? >> that's it. >> reporter: each lightning bolt is five times hotter than the sun and lightning kills an average of 54 people a year in the u.s. alone. and even though every thunderstorm is pregnant with that brilliant but deadly force, we know surprisingly little about where, when or why it strikes. >> why does it choose a target like a tree instead of a building or building instead of a tree? you know? perhaps some of the imagery we collect in the field may help answer some of those questions. this one's dead. this one's developing. >> reporter: tim's been looking for the answers since 2006 when he first started chasing lightning. his results so far have been impressive. these shots came from a high-speed camera called the phantom. it can record dramatic slow motion at 10,000 frames per second. but in order to capture that

fleeting moment when the lightning bolt is actually born, samaras will need something much faster. >> the problem is, people say oh, geez, tim, it's really easy. just get in your car, hear a rumble of thunder, park next to it, you're in. well, it's not that easy. sometimes it's almost as difficult chasing a tornado as it is a good lightning storm. >> reporter: to get a sense of how difficult an endeavor this really is you have to know a little bit more about the way lightning strikes the ground. first, a negatively charged bolt takes off and branches off from the cloud. then an upward positive bolt shoots up from the ground to meet it. a return stroke of electricity rockets back to the cloud and all we see is a flash of light. there's no camera in the world fast enough to pull back that curtain. >> okay, we'll go see the kahuna. >> reporter: except maybe this one. >> there is actually 82 cameras on this instrument here taking one picture of the lightning and one microsecond steps of time.

>> reporter: he's trying to tell us it's a high-speed, high-resolution camera. >> this camera was built in the '60s. it's probably pushing 45, 50 years old. >> reporter: during the cold war, it was used to record nuclear testing and in the '80s, time was actually one of the operators. he's since retrofitted the camera for the digital age. >> this is a shaky image of what the kahuna is seeing right now. >> reporter: but after many attempts in field tim has not successfully shot a lightning strike with the unwieldy camera. at least not yet. >> i'm not going to give up until this is done. the naysayers it can't be done and that drives me harder. >> have a good trip. >> reporter: today, he and his son, paul, are at it again and we get to tag along for the ride. >> let's go. >> reporter: tim and i have looked at the forecast, looks like northern new mexico between 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. on this latest computer model pops up a few thunderstorms and that is going to be our target.

it's an arduous trip covering four states, more than 800 miles, and plenty of pop and drop disappointing storms. >> yeah, this storm, this storm kicked out several lightning strikes, they were probably about five minutes apart. hardly worth firing the equipment over but it's pretty. >> reporter: if rainbow chasing were the goal, we did it. >> we did it. we scored the f-5 in rainbows. >> reporter: we did. when all options were exhausted a bright beacon of hope started gleaming on the radar. this has to be the storm because this is about all that's out here, this last line of storms. and it's the most promising we've seen the entire trip. problem is, it's 85 miles in the opposite direction and we only have an hour to get into position. any false move, wrong turn or even a bathroom and we could miss the magic moment. but thankfully, just as dusk settled in -- >> oh my god, oh my god! >> reporter: there it was, due north, a classic thunderstorm bursting with lightning. >> all right, and it's happening, it's going to come right up.

>> 12:00. >> reporter: and then we snagged one. a beautiful cloud to ground strike, or cg. pay dirt for tim. >> so numerous branches and the first one hits the ground. >> reporter: it's a beautiful image but it wasn't taken with the kahuna. see that bright flash? that means the camera wasn't fast enough to catch the exact moment when the bolt was born. maybe next time. >> this condition here is very difficult on the kahuna. it's not good enough. >> reporter: kahuna or not, for those of us who live for storms, sometimes the chase alone is reason enough to sit back and just enjoy the show. >> i don't know how many storms i've seen in my lifetime but every single one of them i still get pretty excited. the little boy in me wants to come out here and watch and stare. >> reporter: for "nightline," ginger zee in colorado. >> tim samaras' hunt for lightning is featured in the august issue of "national geographic" magazine. our thanks to ginger zee.

up next, bill weir with our olympic report and our intrepid correspondent julie futy goes in search of the perfect pub. still get you. thos for you, life's about her. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours.

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we go now to london where my coanchor bill weir has been bringing us the olympics results each night. hey, there, bill. where are you tonight? >> since yeah greetings once again. we're along the thames this evening. partying next to the tower bridge and another dramatic kay inside the olympic stadium. all about passing the baton and team sprints and allyson felix and the best sprinters in america set a new world record to beat jamaicans and take gold in the 4x100 relay but on the mens in 4x400 big upset, looked like the usa had it in the anchor leg but the bahamas won their first ever gold medal. dream team 2012 dispatches argentina to move into the gold medal final game against spain. and on the medal board, america, firmly on top, both widening their lead in total medals and golds over china.

probably the most passionate event in london is the 16-ounce curl. this is a pub town and our special correspondent julie foudy is doing her journalistic duty in search of the perfect pub. >> reporter: after 14 days of covering the olympics, i'm ready for one thing. we're in search of the perfect pun, do you know where it is? not just any would do. you look like you would know where the perfect pub is? >> what? >> no, there's hundreds of pubs in london. >> reporter: no, i want the perfect pub. even in a town of hundreds, maybe thousands of pubs, the perfect one is getting harder to find. >> have you seen the perfect pub? >> i don't think so, no. still searching. >> reporter: robin and paul have tried too. these two authors set out on a journey across england for their book with the rather fitting title. how long would it take to visit every pub in great britain? >> originally that was the plan.

>> went to five a day. five days a week. it would take 28 years. >> reporter: there is another number that is even more startling. the guys say on average every week 12 pubs close in the uk, the proof is in the photographs of the dead and decaying. >> they were like pub graveyards. >> reporter: the guys blame everything from smoking bans to the rising cost of a pint. there's even some finger-pointing at the olympic games where heineken, a dutch beer, is the official brew. >> there's no local distinctiveness, there's no uniqueness. >> reporter: robin and paul say this is their perfect pub, the french house in soho. >> basic things that make a pub are the beer and the people. everyone is the same under this roof, that's how it should be. >> reporter: it was the secret meeting place of the french resistance during world war ii. leslie is the landlady for 23 years and has a history as well. oh, yes, she used to perform with snakes. >> they say if you stay here

long enough you get written into the soap opera. >> reporter: back on the streets of london i'm losing my battle. ♪ i want to find the perfect pub ♪ >> reporter: until i wander into this place. and find the key to making any pub perfect. >> at the world cup in '99 when you scored the penalty kick i took my shirt off. >> reporter: old friends. >> hey! >> what's going on? >> how are you? >> reporter: in london, i'm julie foudy for "nightline." >> here's to london 2012. >> if anybody in the abc standards and practices department asks, that was a near guinness. cynthia, see you back stateside next week. >> good to know, bill. we're already planning your welcome home party. "good morning america" will have the latest on mitt romney's vp pick. thanks for watching abc