making news on this wednesday, july 21st. >> flight fright. coast-to-coast flight diverted when dozens are hurt by severe turbulence. what can be done to protect passengers? and stepping down. the crisis in the gulf may have cost the bp chief his job. and rush to judgment. this morning, the government may be back-tracking after firing an employee over comments first perceived to be racist. but the tape didn't tell the full story. good morning. and thanks for being with us. dozens of people on board a cross-country flight were injured when the jet was shaken by severe turbulence. >> so many passengers were hurt. the pilot of flight .a. ashington to l.a.

flight to denver. >> it is just the latest incident of severe turbulence this year, leaving many to wonder if better technology is needed needed to keep passengers safe. inside denver international airport, the aftermath of severe turbulence. gurneys, carrying wounded away to hospitals. paramedics attending to other passengers who could walk. at least 20 people needed help after the boeing 777 dropped suddenly, over missouri. >> all of a sudden, the plane dropped, you know, 20, 30 feet. i saw at least two people hit the ceiling. >> reporter: oxygen masks fell. drinks went flying. one woman was thrown into the side of the cabin, leaving a crack above the window. >> the girl in front of me in two rows, i saw her hit the ceiling and slam back down. >> reporter: four flight attendants were among the wounded. >> up to that, it had been a pretty smooth flight. >> reporter: this is the third

united flight so far this year to be diverted to treat passengers hurt by turbulence. last fall, the faa began requiring technology in new planes to improve passenger safety, like stronger seats, better head protection, and air bags sewn into seat belts. >> if the aircraft runs into something, and decelerates at a great enough level to be a risk to the passengers, the air bag will deploy. >> reporter: providing peace of mind for passengers. as for those on flight 967, about two hours after landing in denver, united arranged for another plane to carry the remaining passengers to los angeles. there was no obvious damage to the plane. but it was taken to a hangar for a more thorough inspection. tony hayward's days as bp's ceo appear to be numbered. "the times" of london say he will retire by october. he repeatedly denied in seriousness. then, he complained he wanted his life back. "the times" quotes a company

insider that he is too damaged by his performance to continue. three months into the spill crisis, the company has come up with a plan to stop the spill for good. emily schmidt joins us with details. >> reporter: good morning to you. bp is considering another plan to shut down its broken well. this plan involves 4,000 bathtubs worth of mud. now that the oil spill is contained, bp is considering a new way to kill the well. a government decision about the plan could come as soon as today. >> if it's approved to do so, it's 100% chance we'll go ahead with it. >> reporter: the plan is called a static kill, forcing 200,000 gallons of mud and cement through the ceiling cap. if it sounds familiar, it is. bp tried a similar top kill plan in may that failed. but this time, the cap has stopped the oil. and it continues to hole. >> there's some minor leaks around the blowout preventer and

the stacking cap itself. >> reporter: incident commander, thad allen, says five, small leaks are likely seepage from a nearby well no longer in pr duction. it is encouraging development in an oil spill that's now extended three months. >> we need to go to work. >> reporter: at a louisiana meeting tuesday night, people voiced their frustration with no money coming in. and in an exclusive interview, british prime minister, david cameron tells diane sawyer he is frustrated, too. >> when you see it doing much damage to wildlife, to beaches, to livelihood, that makes you angry. and i want bp to sort it out. >> reporter: bp announced yesterday it is selling $7 billion in assets in north america and egypt to help cover the oil spill costs. this morning there is a potential new concern that could stall progress. thad allen says officials are now very closely watching some storms that are forming over

puerto rico to see if they could actually move into the gulf and impact the work there. rob? >> emily schmidt in washington. thanks. prime minister cameron is also having to answer questions about the release of the convicted lockerbie bomber. there are mounting criticisms that bp pressured the government to release him from jail to gain access to oil. senators from new york and new jersey met with the prime minister and asked him to order an investigation. >> the best news that we came out with was that the prime minister said that our request for an independent investigation, not just to look at the documents, was still on the table. >> cameron said he believes the libyan was released by the scottish government on humanitarian grounds because he was seriously ill. and one more note from the prime minister's visit to washington. he extended an invitation to the president, from the queen, for an official state visit to

britain. the timing still has to be worked out. democratic lawmakers are expected to extend benefits for the long-term unemployed. they broke through a republican filibuster with the help of the new senator from west virginia. the bill goes to the house, where it is expected to be passed. in northern arizona, a 12-year-old girl has died after being swept away by wast-moving floodwaters. a muddy mess and forcing dozens to evacuate. the area was scorched by a wildfire last month, causing water to flow even faster. and now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. a large area of severe storms, from montana all the way to the northeast. isolated tornados in the high plains. gusty winds, hail, and flash flooding in billings, omaha, cincinnati, st. louis and d.c. and showers across the gulf coast and southeast. >> and 90s from dallas to new orleans. and most of the east coast. upper 80s in detroit, indianapolis, and the twin cities. 80 in seattle. and 91 in colorado springs.

phoenix hits 109. salt lake city 100. and boise, 94. and when we return, is the economy slipping back into a recession? we'll get a progress check today. plus, the government worker fired over comments posted online. but apparently those comments were taken out of context. and a fisherman plucked to safety, moments before his boat was gone for good. son: man, this is perfect. blue shirt: great. well, with every laptop, you get a geek so... take your pick. mom: look at all these fabulous geeks! there are so many! look at this one! it helps you video chat with mom! son: bingo! mom: look at this one. you can video chat with me, honey. son: mom, go get the car. mom: he's in such a hurry to learn. vo: buy any laptop and get geek squad support for six months. online. on the phone, or in-store.

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overseas stock markets are mostly higher this morning. tokyo's nikkei average fell 0.2% today. but hong kong's hang seng is higher. and in london, the ftse opened sharply higher. on wall street, the dow added 75 points yesterday. the nasdaq climbed 24 points. federal reserve chairman, ben bernanke, will be on the hot seat on capitol hill today. he delivers part of his semiannual report on the economy. despite recent signs of slipping, he is expected to downplay the chances of the economy slipping back into a recession. but bernanke is also expected to tell lawmakers that the fed is ready to take new steps to support the recovery, if necessary. the $700 billion bank bailout is winding down. but a government watchdog says taxpayers are still propping up the financial industry. the report finds federal support for banks has increased 23% in the past year or roughly $700 billion, even though the crisis has passed. the report also slams the

administration's housing relief program, saying it has not put a dent in foreclosure filings. and bp is selling assets to help pay for the cleanup in the gulf. the oil giant is raising $7 billion from oil fields, gas plants and other assets. at least part of the money will go toward a $20 billion fund that bp agreed to last month, under pressure from the obama administration. the company's already spent $4 billion on cleanup and damages. well, even with its recent hiccup over the new iphone, there seems to be no slowing down apple. the company reported its highest quarterly review ever, even beating the latest holiday season. apple sold almost as many ipads from april to june, as mac computers. sales of the iphone also surged, thanks to the newest model. apple says it is selling both products as fast as it can make them. ahead on this wednesday, a major setback for a blockbuster cancer drug. and the first lady spends

some time over at the ballpark. a a webe right back.

frightening moments for a fisherman off the coast of oregon. he radioed a may day call when his boat started sinking in the pacific ocean yesterday morning. but a coast guard helicopter arrived just in time to hoist him to safety, just before the boat sank. he was not seriously injured. and now, for a look at morning road conditions. wet an i-90, from rapid city to sioux falls. flooding on i-70 from kansas city to st. louis and indianapolis. also, on i-95, from boston to d.c. heavy rain on i-10, along the gulf coast. >> if you are flying today, expect airport delays in kansas

city, memphis, houston, boston, new york, philadelphia and washington. major developments, now, overnight, in the case of that government official forced to resign over remarks perceived to be racist. >> the head of the agriculture department now says he will reconsider shirley sherrod' resignation, after learning more about what she actually said. jake tapper reports. >> reporter: it was combustible. a conservative website posting a video clip of department of agriculture official shirley sherrod at an naacp event talking about meeting with a white farmer. >> i was struggling with the fact that so many black people have lost their farmland. and here i was faced with having to help a white person save their land. so, i didn't give him the full force of what i could do. >> reporter: an obama administration official called sherrod in her car and demanded she pull over and type a resignation letter in her blackberry. agriculture secretary tom

vilsack said in a statement that there is zero tolerance for discrimination at his agency. none of them bothered to learn that the incident in question happened 24 years ago when sherrod worked for a nonprofit. the question is, why would you look at the white farmers differently than you looked at the black farmers? >> because i always, up to that point, i felt they had all of the advantages. >> reporter: then, in 1986, she changed her mind, as she said in the speech. >> that's when it was revealed to me that it's about poor versus those who have. >> reporter: in your view, your story was about how race shouldn't matter with people. >> right. and they turned it into saying that i'm a racist. >> reporter: and you're not? >> you better believe i'm not. >> reporter: and the white farmers in sherrod's story agree. and credit her with saving their farm. roger and eloise spooner from iron city, georgia, consider sherrod a friend. >> if it hadn't of been for her,

it wasn't a matter of a few months and we would have lost it. >> reporter: the naacp was applauding secretary vilsack's decision to seek sherrod's resignation. then, they changed their minds and wanted sherrod reinstated. jake tapper, the white house. there's new reports from the agriculture department overnight. agriculture secretary tom vilsack says he will consider additional facts before making a final decision. we'll get shirley sherrod's reaction to these developments later today on "good morning america." a panel of medical advisers has delivered a major setback to a top-selling cancer drug. they decided that avastin should no longer be recommended to women with advanced breast cancer because it does more harm than good. the fda may agree and withdrawal

the. lindsay lohan is waking up in jail this morning. the troubled actress appeared in court yesterday, to begin a 90-day sentence for violating probation. but she is expected to spend only about two weeks behind bars. lohan's struggles began with several arrests for drunken driving and drug charges. she is in jail for missing seven mandated alcohol education classes since december. it now appears former governor rod blagojevich will not take the stand in his corruption trial. defense attorneys say they're going to rest their case without calling a single witness. before the trial, blagojevich has repeatedly said he would, in fact, testify. time, now, for sports. and a heated game between two big-league rivals. here's don bell at espn news. >> good morning. i'm don bell with your espn news update. big night in the bigs. we go out to dodger stadium. tim lincecum and the giants taking on the dodgers. bottom five.

dodgers up by four. and lincecum takes matt kemp with high heat. kemp doesn't like it both benches were warned. dodgers up 5-4. and lane kershaw, he hits aaron rowen. joe torre, the manager. he was ejected. so was the bench coach. runners on second and third. jonathan broxton intentionally walks aubrey huff. here comes don mattingly to act as manager. he starts to walk away. then, he goes back. he had bruce bochy noticed that. he's the giants manager. there's two meetings on the bound. so, broxton had to leave the game. in comes new pitcher, joe cheryl. he only had eight pitches to warm up. he needed some more. that's a two-run double. and the giants go on to win, 7-5. san francisco has won 11 of

13. now, for the cubs. aramis ramirez going big in the fourth inning. lou piniella says he's going to retire at the end of the season. and it looked like aramis ramirez was inspired by the announcement. three home runs for aramis ramirez, absolutely getting it done on the north side of chicago. the cubs win 14-7. that's all for your update. i'm don bell. you have a great day in new york. first lady michelle obama's well-toned arms are apparently not just for show. >> the first lady tested her pitching skills in the bullpen yesterday before the baltimore orioles took on the tampa bay praps and she joined two youngsters on the field for the ceremonial first pitch. it was all part of major league baseball's new partnership with the white house to fight childhood obesity. first lady in shape, huh? >> the arms take a lot of work.

she said three times a week with a personal trainer for 90 minutes. to get arms that look like that. coming up next, stories we'll be following today. including secretary clinton announcing new sanctions against north korea. and our top story. dozens injured over severe turbulence in planererererer we'll be right back.nininininin

oprah: we are heading to the biggest state fair in the united states of america. the fun. the food. and now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this wednesday. several passengers are recovering from injuries after their d.c. to l.a. flight hit some major turbulence. at least 25 passengers needed medical help when the united

airlines plane was diverted to denver. speculation is mounting that bp ceo tony hayward is on his way out. "the times" of london reports he will resign by october. and officials in the gulf are keeping a close eye on a tropical weather formation growing near puerto rico. the system is expected to firm up within the next 48 hours. and it could pose a threat to the cleanup and containment effort. president obama signs the finance reform bill into law. among other changes, it will create a new bureau of consumer financial protection. this will oversee everything, from credit cards to mortgages. and secretary of state hillary clinton announced new sanctions against north korea today. the sanctions aim to curb that country's provocative acts, including its growing nuclear program. and coming up later on "good morning america," saving thousands of dollars a year by using just a few, simple strategies. our consumer reporter shows you how later on "gma." for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everyone else, "america

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next on "abc 7 news" at 4:30 approved, vote that has cleared the way for what many call the wal-mart of weed moves in oakland and does it go too far with a handcuffed suspect. they are investigating one of their own officers and talk about trading up. how a kid turned a cell phone into a porsche. we'll check out traffic and finally, a recap on that united airlines flight that rattled more than 250 passengers last night. >> 30 people were injured when the plane hit severe turbulence.

it was headed to l.a. from d.c. but forced to land in denver. last year, abc's jeffrey kofman went for a ride in a turbulence simulator to see the danger close. >> reporter: veteran pilot, ed cook, took us into one of the most sophisticated air simulators around to show us turbulence up close. it really feels like an airplane in here? >> yes. once we get in here and shut the door, you're going to feel like you're in an airplane. >> reporter: our simulator flight felt unnervingly real. there's miami below us. >> there's miami. we're in the red spot of the cloud. the more we get into the cloud, the more turbulence we'll experience. notice the wheel is moving more. notice that we're bouncing around more. >> reporter: this is exactly what you would not do if you were actually flying? >> right. this could be really bad. >> reporter: it gave us a good taste of turbulence. the stuff pilots do every day in real life to avoid.

>> pilot like this could do structural damage to the airplane. and certainly would hurt people, particularly those people who were not belted in. >> reporter: anyone who flies knows that clouds mean almost certain turbulence. but as passengers accord continent 128 discovered, even clear skies can be turbulent. they call it clear air turbulence. >> we don't see anything out there. no clouds. >> reporter: and the radar looks clear. >> and the radar is clear. nothing. we would feel comfortable in turning off the seat belt sign. we function in an invisible fluid. >> reporter: the air? >> the air, right. for the most part, unless there's moisture involved, we can't see it. >> reporter: a little worse for wear, we head back. >> and there's miami city right there. >> reporter: there's the skyline of miami. safely back on the ground. and a little wiser about why we're always advised to keep those seat belts fastened. i'm jeffrey kofman, at miami