morning on america this morning and good morning america. turning now to our other top story the search for an expectant mom has gone from a missing persons case to a murder case. 19-year-old erin corwin was reported missing by her husband, marine corporal jonathan corwin, two months ago. yesterday her body was found not far from her home at the bottom of a mine shaft. her alleged loverer, former marine, christopher brandon lee, is now in custody. investigators say it appears corwin was going out to meet lee the day she disappeared. isis fighters in iraq have suffered a rare defeat. losing control of the country s largest dam with the help of american air power. it s now back in the hands of iraqi forces. abc s karen travers has the details. reporter: the u.s. military launched another heavy aerial bombardment over northern iraq more than a dozen air strikes aimed at helping kurdish and iraqi forces reclaim the critical mosul dam from isis.
meet lee the day she disappeared. turning overseas to a key victory in the fight against those militants advancing in iraq. iraqi forces have taken back control of the critical dam with the help of american warplanes, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives. more from abc s terry moran. reporter: we went to the battlefield, walking a road that just days ago was under isis control. so, this was the isis front line right here. not anymore. it was a rare day of defeat for isis. kurdish and iraqi ground troops appear to have wrested control of the huge, strategically crucial mosul dam from isis fighters, who captured it just days ago. the kurdish commander telling us his brave, but lightly armed troops, could not have advanced without american air power. we saw the fallout firsthand. this was an isis vehicle destroyed in an air strike. one of those air strikes which
kurdish forces took a major step forward by recapturing the largest dam in iraq near the city of mosul. reporter: u.s. and iraqi officials have been concerned, isis fighters could blow up the dam, releasing a massive wave of water, 60 feet high, flooding the city of mosul and impacting baghdad 250 miles away. the mosul dam fell under terrorist control earlier this month and is directly tied to our objective of protecting americans in iraq. if that dam was breached, it could have proven catastrophic. reporter: taking a break from his summer vacation, president obama was back at the white house for an iraq briefing with his national security council. he has insisted the u.s. air strikes will only be used to protect americans and prevent a humanitarian disaster. and pope francis weighed in and seemed to endorse action against isis. the pope said where there is
helped kurdish forces pusht isis fighters away from villages, away from the roads, away from the mosul dam. the biggest fear about the dam. isis might weaponize it, causing a catastrophic flood, that could send a 65-foot high wall of water through mosul within hours and flood baghdad within days. up to 500,000 could be killed. that s the dam. that little ground out there reporter: general fattah, surveyed the field with us. smoke from air strikes rising in the distance. and on the ground, a deadly threat left behind. the general showed us these holes along the roadside where isis planted ieds. what is this? homemade chemical explosives. so a welcome victory over isis but a long struggle still ahead. terry moran, abc news, near the mosul dam, iraq. israel and hamas this morning have extended a cease-fire by 24 hours, just minutes before it was set to expire at midnight. the two sides can now continue
isis militants. iraqi forces have retain control of a critical dam in mosul, supported by a barrage of more than a dozen u.s. air strikes. president obama said allowing militants to control the country s largest dam could have been catastrophic. if they breached it, a massive flood could have reached baghdad, killing up to 500,000 people. israel and hamas have extended a cease-fire by 24 hours just minutes before it was set to expire at midnight. the two sides can now continue indirect talks in cairo, trying to hammer out a long-term agreement, that includes reconstruction of the gaza strip. they re still facing two major stumbling blocks. palestinians demand israel lift the gaza blockade, and israel says hamas must disarm. now it s time for a look at your tuesday weather. scattered showers and thunderstorms from western pennsylvania to maryland and virginia. and across much of the southeast. thunderstorms could get severe from the ohio valley into the midwest.