mom in a murder for hire plot. >> we all thought we were being punked. >> did she have a darker side? plus the flood of controversy around the new noah's ark. the debate on the science and on whether tax dollars should be funding a religious attraction. >> and ben does it again. so [ bleep ] stupid. >> what sent ben affleck on this rant, and what is he saying about it tonight? >> it's a [ bleep ] ridiculous smear campaign. >> reporter: >> first, the "nightline" five.

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>> good evening, we start here tonight with the breaking news out of london that could have serious economic and political reverberations for the rest of us. the cliff hanger vote on whether britain will stay in the european union.

we have the latest on what they're calling brexit. >> in one of the most dramatic days in politics, this country has seen in decades, the people in britain have spoken with still a number of votes to be counted. leave is leading the country. the country is heading toward a british exit dubbed brexit to leave the european union. immigration at the forefront making the argument for britain to take control of the borders and economy. taking back the identity and culture. this referendum is huge. this result to leave is monumental. the fj ramifications uncertain. the leave campaign hailing june 23rd at britain's independence day. dan? >> thank you. and for the latest on the fallout in brexit, tune in to gma first thing in the morning. now to the criminal case in the midwest that is raising a lot of questions tonight. the young all american mom, a local celebrity entrepreneur. she was once a marine and she's now accused in a murder for hire plot. abc is on the story.

>> one question, the only thing i'd want to know, why. >> reporter: for months bradley southerland that be wondering why the mother of his child allegedly tried to hire a hitman to kill him. >> still in a little bit of shock over the thing. >> reporter: she certainly didn't look like the type, seen here in this video. >> all my employees are gifted and creative. >> reporter: laura buckingham at one time ran this bakery on this small town of indiana. >> she was well-liked because she gave back to the community after she came home from serving. giving, always really nice. and she was respected for her service. >> reporter: those services included two tours in iraq as a marine. >> after my last deployment, i moved out to new albany, indiana, and i started selling breads on the side of the highway. >> reporter: she met bradley southerland when she came back and they had a son. she opened her own store and

became a local celebrity. >> i started selling at local farmer's market. i just couldn't keep up with the demand. >> reporter: even rolling doh with her three-year-old child. police say she had a darker side. after breaking up with southerland and taking their son to tennessee, according to police, she attempted to have him murdered. >> i thought it was a joke. in all honesty, we all thought we were being punked for a short period of time. >> reporter: according to police documents, buckingham started to become restless with the custody agreement, requiring her to drive her son 4 1/2 hours to see his father once a week. she was also fearful southerland would get full custody they say a marine sniper seen in this military video told them about the alleged plot saying she had asked him to make southerland go

away and that since he was in the military, maybe he had some friends that could do this for him. authorities set up an undercover sting where buckingham allegedly paid a $300 deposit for the murder. the total cost would be about $3,000. >> by having an undercover agent pose as a hitman, they're trying to minimize her saying she didn't mean it. >> reporter: locals are in shock. >> we were in shock. disbelief. no one would have imagined anything like that. >> reporter: they may have been surprised in indiana, but it certainly isn't the first time law enforcement has allegedly foiled an outrageous murder for hire plot. >> something bad, gunshots, is that how you want me toot it? you want me to shoot him? >> unless you can do it painlessly, you're not breaking his back. >> reporter: listen to how she discusses the details of how her husband should be killed a couple years ago. >> i would prefer to use a knife

or a gun. it's quick and easy. >> one of her other concerns, the mess it might make in her house. this is an abc news special report. >> good morning, everyone. we're joining you with this special report following some stunning developments from overseas. >> after the people in great britain voted to exit the union. >> their will must be respected. the will of the british people is an instruction that must be delivered. it was not a decision that was taken lightly. not least because so many things were said by so many different organizations about the significance of this decision, but i do not think it would be

right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to the next destination. this is not a decision i've taken lightly, but i do believe it's in the national interest to have a period of stability and then the new leadership required. there is no need for a precise timetable today, but in my view, we should aim to have a new prime minister in place by the start of the conservative party conference in october. >> let's get more on this shocking development right now. we're joined from our london bureau. >> good morning to you. a stunning turn of events. a brexit bomb shell. moments ago as you heard, the british prime minister announcing it must be respected saying the country must have a new leader by october this year. david cameron saying this was not a decision taken lightly. steering the ship to make sure the british economy is strong. he'll do that first, but this

will also need strong leadership. he believed it needs to be someone else. this comes after the country voted to leave after being in the european union for more than 40 years. >> we appreciate it, and the effects of this, we've seen already, affecting the markets, especially. there will be diplomatic and political ramifications. we'll keep monitoring. >> we'll have the latest on world news now and on good morning. it's going to be a rough morning on the markets as well when they open. for now that's it for us. >> thank you for watching. >> this has been a special report from abc news. >> when it's done, i was going to show you pictures so you know it's done. >> okay. >> you're not going to see it on the news, so i'll take pictures and you see the see the pictures. >> okay. >> reporter: once the deal is done, police contact maria and she agrees to help them stage

her death. >> want a black eye or bruises? >> reporter: with the help of a makeup artist, the police set up the elaborate shot. >> do her hands. she'll have duct tape under her mouth. >> reporter: is that a specific color meant to be blood? >> it's called real blood. >> reporter: it's kind of a crazy thing to have to do, right? >> yeah. >> reporter: stage your own death? once the photo shoot is over, the police send this guy posing as the hitman's lawyer with the photos to jackie in prison so she can sign out of an this, this in an effort to assure the police have a case beyond a. >> reporter: doubt. >> verify that you saw the pictures. can you help me out? >> yeah. >> reporter: two weeks later, jackie is hit with new attempted murder charges. >> solicitation to commit murder and tampering with a witness. >> jackie's fate hasn't been decided in court yet.

as for laura bucking hamm, she's out of jail on $150,000 bail. for her ex, it's still hard to comprehend. >> i don't feel angry. i feel kind of sad that she felt that she had to do that, to try to take my son from me. >> reporter: for "nightline," we're in new york. >> up next, noah and his ark never fail to fascinate. a new rising tide of controversy over a religious theme park. plus ben affleck's profanity laced rant. 18 f bombs on a new tv show. what set him off? show. what set him off? ... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. this is humira helping me go further. humira works for many adults.

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deep in the heart of kentucky, a man is building an ark. he doesn't think he's the new noah, but he thinks the bible story may be factual, and he wants to open a theme park to make the case. is there science and should taxpayers be funding it? here's david wright. >> reporter: it's every kid's favorite bible story, genesis, chapter six to nine, the story of noah and the flood and the ark he built to save all the animals two by two. an apocalypse renders kid friendly for sunday school. ♪ i'm father noah >> reporter: this story like so many stories in the bible has big elemental things that are still leave questions in the world today.

after jesus and moses, noah probably has more hollywood block busters than anyone else in the bible, which is why we found ourselves in an unlikely place. we're in williamstown, kentucky. population, not much by the looks of things, and where we're headed is supposed to be there. we turned a corner and low and behold. there she blows. off in the distance is a large, wooden ship still under construction. oh, my gosh. noah's ark, right here in the american south. 510 feet long. 95 feet wide. 51 feet high. the dimensions set out cube it by cubit. >> it's huge. the closer you get -- >> it gets bigger and bigger. >> reporter: his mission, to turn this bible story into a world class theme park straight out of the old testament.

>> the message, it's making the bible come alive by building noah's ark, we're saying this really happened. >> reporter: when finished, he says his ark will be seven stories high and a football field and a half long. the largest timber frame structure in the world. among the construction workers building the ark, amish construction workers. the artists are believers. they are tasked with creating two of every kind. life like creatures, even if you might not remember them from sunday school. >> this is not one that i recognize. >> yeah. >> reporter: is this -- >> what are you making here? >> this is the hyena. >> this is the grandparent of modern apes. >> reporter: he calls it answers in genesis. his creation museum a few miles away attracts nearly half a million visitors a year, teaching a young earth theory of creation.

the god created the earth in six days and on the seventh day he rested just like it says in genesis. one problem with that approach, where exactly do dinosaurs fit in? do you believe noah put one of those in? >> the bible said two of each other. >> reporter: it seemed like everything else might stay at home. >> if you ask me if his creation model is viable, i say no. >> reporter: that concept is a deal breaker for bill nye. >> off my millions and millions of years. to teach young people were dinosaurs on the ark? no. they could not be on any boat anybody built 5,000 years ago. >> reporter: bottom line, nye dismisses the exhibits as biblical propaganda, but hamm isn't alone in believing the noah story could be based in

fact. almost every major religion has a flood story. and in this era of rising oceans and global warming, respected scientists search for evidence of an ancient flood. among them, an underwater archaeologist. >> it's not a crazy thing to think the flood stories of the various cultures, including ours, are based upon true events. >> reporter: it's why from the bottom of the sea to the top of a mountain, they search for wreck of the ark. >> it was written down 30 centuries ago and we're still talking about it today. >> reporter: this author follows the footsteps of relic hunters in his series walking the bible. >> it gets at our deepest fears and hopes and desires.

>> reporter: but for hamm it's not a cautionary tale. he sees it as fact, and so does everyone who works for him. it's actually part of the hiring policy. to work there, they have to sign a statement of faith agreeing that the great flood of genesis was a historic event worldwide in its extent and effect. they also have to be straight, anti-abortion, and christian. >> they have to be christian. >> reporter: why? the people who believe in the book of genesis also include jews and muslims. why couldn't they? -- >> well, we are a christian organization. >> reporter: because of the controversial hiring policy, the state tried to block him from receiving public funding, but hamm took his case to the state supreme court and won, and now his $100 million project takes advantage of millions of dollars in tax breaks and tourism benefits. >> christians pay taxes. we live in the world.

we're not second class citizens. >> reporter: hamm doesn't seem to be bothered by the critics. he has a mission like noah did, he says. >> and we have these people who are actually stopping. there's lots of people that stop, and we get a lot of attacks by some of the aggressive people, and sometimes i feel a bit like noah. >> reporter: hamm knows this ship can sail. he predicts it will attract 1 million to 2 million visitors in the first year alone. >> it has a field of dreams quality. if you build it, they will come. >> yes. we do believe that if we build it, they will come. >> reporter: david wright for "nightline" aboard noah's ark in kentucky. >> our thanks to david and the ark encounter opens next month. next on "nightline." tell us how you feel, ben. mr. affleck's passionate, profane rant. (vo) they say big can

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finally tonight, ben affleck on a blue streak. >> i talked to [ bleep ] pro

football players across the board. they think it's [ bleep ]. >> on screen superhero and rapid patriots fan, ben affleck making headlines after giving a five minute curse-filled rant about deflate gate during the premier of an hbo talk show, any given wednesday. >> it's the ultimate [ bleep ] outrage of sports ever. it's so [ bleep ] stupid. >> reporter: he goes onto criticize the nfl and question the integrity of the commissioner. >> this is a conspiracy of people working inside the nfl who all come from organizations that tom brady whipped their [ bleep ] over the last ten or 15 years. it's a [ bleep ] ridiculous smear campaign, and goodell doesn't have the integrity, i would want to say, frankly. >> reporter: social media quick to respond. jenny johnson saying i hope to have someone love me as passionately as ben affleck loves tom brady, and another saying i'd be shocked with ben affleck was drunk while dropping

f bombs and talking football. guys never do that. that man stands by his spirited appearance. firing back, for those of you keeping score at home, i gave exactly 18 fs about my pats. upon reflection, 12 would be sufficient. we boston fans have always been known for our subtlety. thank you for watching "nightline." tonight gma first thing in the morning. as always, we're online 24/7 at abcnews.com. thank you for watching