breaking overnight, iran's president confirmed dead after a helicopter crashed near the border with azerbaijan. we're live with the early reaction, and what we know about what went wrong. here at home, president biden and former president trump are back on the trail.

mr. biden courting black voters in detroit as trump picks up an nra endorsement in texas. our team in d.c. has the latest message to their bases. new details this morning in the investigation into border patrol agents seen partying with a mexican tequila mogul. their links to the tequila maker's wealthy friend, raising more conflict of interest questions. in texas a dangerous heatwave is set to roll in. michelle grossman has a look at the continuing weather threat in parts of the country. and a father-son piloting team taking family bonding to new heights. their full circle moment after hundreds of hours in the cockpit together. it's monday, may 20th. "early today" starts right now. welcome to monday. i'm frances rivera. breaking overnight, the president of iran ebrahim raisi has died in a helicopter crash in the northwest part of the country. the stunning development confirmed by state media a day

after uncertainty. rescue crews have reached the side in east azerbaijan province in iran, confirming the death of everyone on board, including the islamic republic's powerful foreign minister. let's turn now to claudio lavanga. claudio, good morning. what else do we know? >> good morning, frances. well, according to iranian state media, on sunday, the president of iran, ebrahim raisi was on a helicopter on his way -- on board of a helicopter on his way back to tehran after he inaugurated a new dam on the border between azerbaijan and iran. at some point, state media said that that helicopter was forced to make what it called a crash or hard landing in an isolated and forested area that triggered a massive search-and-rescue operation in which at least 40 rescue teams were involved. but they were hampered by the very bad weather, especially heavy fog, which we have seen in

videos that show the rescuers trying to reach that site. and then earlier this morning, we got confirmation by state media, iran they located the crash site, they reached it and there was no sign of life. shortly after, anchors on one of the main iranian state channels dressed in black in a sign of mourning, the death officially of the president and the foreign minister. what happens next? the vice president of iran steps in, and then in the next 50 days, there will be or probably are going to be a new presidential elections. but if they are anything close or similar to what happened in 2021 when raisi was elected, president probably there will be once again a very low turnout because moderate candidates back then and probably once again were not allowed to run. and the government would probably install a new hard-line they're will just offer and guarantee continuity with the

government. but the death of raisi is not just important because the iranian president has died. it's because he was also the front-runner to replace the top leader of iran, which is of course the supreme leader, the ali khamenei. according to it sparks speculation on who now the new candidate to replace khamenei will be in the future. in the meantime, the reactions have started to come in. the first reaction came surprisingly from hamas which has strong links with iran, offering their sincere condolences, and also sergey lavrov from russia and pakistan and india. but also charles michel, the president of the european council who also offered his the european union's sincere condolences. >> claudio, thank you. donald trump will be back inside a new york courtroom in just a few hours. cross-examination will continue for trump's former fixer michael cohen. the prosecution is expected to wrap up its case soon.

and it's not clear if the defense will call any witnesses, or if donald trump will take the stand himself. let's turn now to a busy weekend in the race for the white house. president biden delivering the commencement address at morehouse college, which is a historically black university. the biden campaign has been ramping up its outreach to black voters, especially in key battleground states. drew petrimoulx joins us. the president went from georgia to another important swing state last night. >> yeah, good morning, frances. president biden went from atlanta to detroit last night. biden campaign holding back-to-back events hoping to boost enthusiasm among black supporters. the president delivered a keynote address at an naacp event where he said black voters are the reason he won in 2020, and he stressed their support is even more important now. >> the threat that trump pose secretary of defense greater in the second term than the first. it's clear that when he lost in 2020, and i mean this sincerely,

something snapped in trump. what do you think he would have done on january 6th if black americans had stormed the capitol? no, i'm serious. what do you think? i can only imagine. >> meanwhile, donald trump was in texas this weekend where he formally accepted the endorsement of the nra. he said the second amendment is under siege as he tried to encourage gunowners to get out and vote. >> gun owners don't vote. what is that all about? i've heard that. i heard it a few weeks ago. if the gun owners voted, we would swamp them at levels that nobody has ever seen before. so i think you're a rebellious bunch. but let's be rebellious and vote this time, okay? >> today president biden will celebrate jewish american heritage month at the white house, while former president trump is due back in court in new york. frances? >> all right. drew petrimoulx, thank you. the massive container ship that caused the deadly collapse

of baltimore's francis scott key bridge will be removed, quote, within days. that's according to maryland governor wes moore. officials say the ship called the dali will be refloated and moved starting today. it's a process that could take more than 20 hours. last week explosives were used to remove the largest remaining steel span of the bridge, which was resting atop the dali. now to texas, where officials are warning about a dangerous heatwave. more than 200,000 are still without power days after a devastating storms ripped through the state, killing at least seven. new water distribution centers were open to the weekend to help those without electricity. here is priscilla thompson. >> reporter: it's been three days since lauren and juan infante were left in the dark with no our conditioning. what was it like in that house? >> if you turn on your oven at 350 degrees and you open it up that's how it feels.

in the house. >> you can go home and check on your insulin. >> reporter: unable to keep juan's insulin cold, they left, and are now spending their days a at cooling center. >> we just couldn't stand it anymore at the house, it was too hot. >> reporter: homes, businesses and schools across houston are still without power, days after a deadly windstorm tore through the area thursday night. >> oh, there it goes. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: hurricane-strength winds knocking down the frame on this house, leaving behind a 400-mile-path of destruction. and officials say killing at least seven. and now, another deadly threat. >> the heat's not going to get any less, it's only going to get hotter from here. >> that's all we got until we get our next delivery. >> reporter: alicia branley got one of the last bags of ice. >> it's extremely hot. we're taking care of my 96-year-old grandmother as well. >> reporter: crews are racing to restore electricity. when should everyone expect to have their power restored? >> we're anticipating being able to restore a majority of our

customers by the end of the day wednesday. >> reporter: many now desperate to get their lives back on track. >> it's hard. it's hard right now. and the heat is not helping at all. >> and our thanks to priscilla for that report. and the severe weather threat continues this week. let's bring in nbc meteorologist michelle grossman. michelle, good morning. >> good morning, frances. we're looking at that risk pretty much today, tuesday, wednesday and thursday. a new weekend, a new round of severe weather. we've been watching storms in oklahoma, also kansas. you can see the lightning here throughout the plains into the midwest. and that's going to be bulls-eye for the storms throughout the day. we're looking at 17 million people impacted by severe weather today. especially where you see the orange, north platte you have the likeliest chance of seeing some storms. that exists from the central plains all the way to the great lakes. places like omaha, polk and expense cory see strong storms. that includes winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour. that's going bring down some power lines, trees as well. damaging hail. a few tornadoes are possible,

along with heavy downpours. that's today and tomorrow. look how this number grows tomorrow. the orange area growing even still. so kansas city, des moines, peoria, seeing the chance for strong storms. that includes a yellow shading as well oklahoma city. springfield, chicago, sheboygan, a few tornadoes are possible. damaging winds, hail as well. and we're looking at heavy rainfall that will be a story too over the next several days. over the next several days torrential rain downpours. especially where you see the oranges, the reds, the yellows. that's where we're see expecting heaviest rain into the great lakes. and then by wednesday, we're looking at 36 million people. so pretty much every day this week from texas all the way to parts of the great lakes. winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour. could see some hail and also tornadoes.

temperatures in the 90s. feeling like the mid-90s once you factor that humidity. that's your monday forecast. >> thank you, michelle. >> sure. a celestial show lit up the night sky this weekend. video captured this comet fragment exploding into a flash of blue and green over spain and portugal. how cool is that? nasa says the color comes from magnesium that burns off the rock as it enters earth's atmosphere. and the european space agency says the fireball plugged towards earth at around 100,000 miles per hour. earl seller back in 60 seconds with a scandal hitting the top tier of the u.s. border patrol. and coming up, history on the hard wood. you don't want to miss ts hi stunning game seven comeback when "early today" comes right back. ht? only when i see flakes. then i switch back to my regular shampoo. you should use it every wash, otherwise the flakes will come back. tiny troy: he's right, you know.

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investigation into a group of border patrol officials who may have crossed ethical lines. they were seen having lavish dinners with a mexican tequila maker. julia ainsley had hass the latest. >> reporter: more developments on the investigation into the chief of border patrol and other top officials who traveled the mexico and were pictured partying with the tequila maker, developing a border patrol tequila. when you saw this picture, what did you make of that that? >> this looks a little odd. this is not the sort of thing that normally happens even with people offduty. >> reporter: nbc news learned more about the man who introduced owens and chief sector gloria chavez to that tequila maker. his business in the import/export business may qualify him as a prohibited source. two sources familiar with the investigation say those guidelines specify border patrol employees may not accept any

gifts, including meals, entertainment, and alcohol from anyone who conducts activities regulated by the employee's agency. but on at least five oh asians, three parties at his ranch in texas and two trips to mexico, he provided laviish comedians, eight-piece bands and food and alcohol for hours, according to the agendas and photos of the events obtained by nbc news. this cell phone video obtained by nbc news shows owens, chavez, and garza sitting together at a party garza through for all border patrol chiefs in september. garza says he has never paid for any travel or transportation. he did not respond to questions about why he invited them. now the department of homeland kurt general and cbp are asking questions about whether the attendees of garza's parties

disclosed the gifts they received and reported the numerous occasions they had contact with him. >> join our mission and write your own history. >> reporter: it all comes as the border patrol prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary next week in el paso, texas, which originally included two golf tournaments, a parade and a black tie gala, all sponsors by dhs contractors who get hundreds of millions in government contracts. >> it's going to be a chance for people that are active and retirees and everybody that has been in our orbit to come together and celebrate this once in a lifetime thing. >> reporter: border patrol tequila has now been taken off the menu. and last night, owens announced on x the black tie gala for the centennial has now been canceled. >> it's only natural that local officials would want to host border patrol officials and festivities, but there are rules. and they need to be followed. >> reporter: a cbp official tells us the event was canceled out of an abundance of caution. and a spokesperson tells us the agency continues to have confidence in its senior leadership.

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minnesota's biggest lead is 7. it's stolen by collins. he gets it off to reed. edwards and shoots. time-out! >> the minnesota timberwolves sent the defending champion nuggets packing in historic fashion on sunday. after being down by 20 early in the second half, the wolves clawed back to complete the largest game seven comeback in 25 years. minnesota will now face luka doncic and the mavericks in a western finals appearance. the pacers made some history of their own as they dismantled the injury-riddled knicks in

their own decisive game seven. indy made an unprecedented 67.1% of their field goals, the highest percentage for a play-off game in nba history. the pacers head to boston on tuesday to determine who will represent the east in the nba finals. so pacers getting it done. game six, game seven, both big disappointments to knicks fans. >> they didn't have the whole team. and it's going to be tough. it's going to be tough. that was a big golf weekend turning to the final round of the pga championship sunday where all came down to one last putt for xander schauffele. >> xander with victory at valhalla! >> he is unstoppable. the world's number three ranked golfer birdied the 18th hole at valhalla golf club, staving off the late comeback by bryson dechambeau. his first victory at a major championship and something i learned recently.

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diarrhea, difficulty sleeping, and back pain. ask your doctor about hormone-free veozah... ...and enjoy more not flashes. you could save on veozah. visit saveonveozah.com to learn more. here's what's making headlines this morning. a man charged with punching steve buscemi in manhattan on may 8th is being held in a new york jail on a $50,000 bond. it's unclear if the 50-year-old suspect has a lawyer. he is due back in court on thursday. in her first meet of the season, simone biles won the core hydration classic. the classic is an important stepping stone to making the five-member paris olympics gymnastics team. and france is celebrating the baguette with a scratch and sniff stamp. the batch of nearly 600,000 stamps has a bakery scent, according to a parisian bakery shop. and the live portal between

new york and dublin reopened after being shut down due to inappropriate behavior. the organizers have done this. see that fencing? they added that and some spacing decals in front of the new york side that said if people obstruct the camera, it will blur the live stream on both sides. "early today" will be right back. -we're done. -what about these? looks right. nooo... nooo... quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. and is 2x more absorbent so you can use less. bounty, the quicker picker upper. wanna know a secret? with new secret outlast, you can almost miss the bus... but smell like you didn't. secret fights 99% of odor-causing bacteria. smell fresh for up to 72 hours. secret works! it's a crime to smell that good. pain means pause on the things you love, but... green... means... go! ♪♪ cool the pain with biofreeze.

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>> see the video. >> reporter: and making memories of a lifetime. >> knowing you look over there and there is your kid sitting there in the right seat of the airplane. oh my god, this is awesome. >> reporter: tom and eric lake aren't just coworkers, they're father anson. >> we're a really close family. >> a family grounded in love, but never really grounded. tom teaching eric how to fly when he was growing up. eric following in his father's footsteps, joining the air force at 25. when eric flew his first flight for delta in 2018, guess who was at the controls with him. since then, the two spending more than 500 hours together in the sky. this was on memorial day, and they flew on christmas. eric even turning down a promotion so he could remain his dad's co-pilot. >> i decided i'm going to stick with him and fly with him and

have that experience. >> did you ever look over and think that's really my dad in the cockpit next to me. >> i did. i really cherished it, because i knew that this was going to come to an end at some point. >> reporter: that point came this month when tom retired after 34 years with delta airlines. eric wanted to make sure it was a day his dad would never forget. >> thank you for making it special. >> reporter: passengers and crewmembers thanking tom for his service. >> thank you for your service. >> reporter: a water cannon salute to send him off and the most meaningful tribute, six years after tom flew in eric's first flight in the cockpit, his son joining his dad on his last. >> everybody was there and it was like, my god, this was all for me. i'm just an old delta pilot moving on. they made it so special. it was the greatest day of my aviation career. >> eric, how does your dad inspire you. >> he is the best pilot that i have ever known. i think if i can even do half of

what he's done, i think i'm doing something right. >> what a wonderful story, a wonderful family. hopefully he'll be taking lots of vacations and be flying off with his son as a pilot. thanks to hallie for sharing that story. and thanks to you for starting your week with "early today." i'm frances rivera. have a great monday. i'll see you right back here early tuesday morning.

iran's president and foreign minister killed in a helicopter crash according to the country's state media. the deaths coming at a time of rising tensions in the region. we're live with how it could reshape the future of the country and the impact on the