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 world stage.

a campaign split screen in the race for the white house, president biden stepping up his outreach to black voters in battleground states, while former president donald trump locks in a key endorsement. we are in d.c. with their dueling pitches to voters. diddy says sorry, the music mogul breaks his silence for the first time since the video emerged of him assaulting his then girlfriend. why the da says he won't race charges in the case. temperatures soar in southeast texas as crews race to restore power to hundreds of thousands in houston. michelle grossman is tracking the dangerous heat wave. and the knicks knocked out, the heartbreaker for new york and highlights from the timberwolves' historic win over the nuggets. it's monday, may 20th. "early today" starts right now. hi there, glad you are with me to start the week, 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 after a day of uncertainty. rescue crews have reached the site in east azerbaijan province in iran confirming the death of everyone on board including the islamic republic's powerful foreign minister. let's go to claudio lavanga this morning. what more do we know? >> reporter: what we know from iranian state media that on sunday the president of iran was on board a helicopter flying back to tehran after he inaugurated a new dam on the border between iran and azerbaijan. during the flight iranian state media said the helicopter was forced to make a hard or crash landing in an isolated forested area, that sparked a massive search and rescue operation hampered by the bad weather, especially heavy fog, which may also be the cause of -- one of the causes of that crash. early this morning state media

reported that finally that crash location, the crash site, was identified. the rescuers reached the site and they said there was no sign of life. shortly after actors on one of the state media of iran were wearing black as a sign of mourning clearly before they announced officially the death of the president of iran. what happens now? according to iran's law the vice president steps in until in the next 50 days a new presidential election will be held, but if they look anything similar to what happened in 2021 where raisi was elected, there probably will be once again a very low turnout because moderate candidates back then and probably once again in the next 50 days will not be allowed to participate and the government will just install essentially a candidate that is another hardliner that will offer continuity and dparn

cou guarantee continuity. he was also considered to be a front runner to replace the top leader of iran which is of course who is the ayatollah, the supreme leader in this case cali home nay. this sparked speculation on who the next president of iran is and also who the next candidate to replace khomeini in the future is. >> claudio, thank you. a busy weekend in the race for the white house. president biden delivering the commencement address at morehouse college, a historically black university. the biden campaign has been ramping up its outreach to black voters especially in key battleground states. nbc's drew petrimouix joins us. the president went from georgia to another important swing state last night. >> reporter: good morning. president biden went from atlanta to detroit last night, the biden campaign holding back to back events hoping to boost enthusiasm among black voters. the president met with small business owners and delivered

the keynote address at an naacp event where he said black voters were the reason he won in 2020 and stressed their support is even more important now. >> the threat that trump poses is greater in our second term than the first. it's clear that when he lost in 2020 -- and i mean this sincerely -- something snapped? 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. >> reporter: meanwhile, donald trump was in texas this weekend where he formally accepted the endorsement of the nra. the former president said the second amendment is under siege as he tried to inspire gun owners 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 gun voters voted we would swamp them at levels that nobody

has ever seen before. so i think you are a rebellious bunch, but let's be rebellious and vote this time, okay? >> reporter: 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. >> thank you. sean combs also known as diddy is speaking out after a video emerged over the weekend beating his then girlfriend in 2016. in an apology posted to social media the hip hop mogul did not ask for forgiveness in light of the vicious assault revealed on surveillance footage. here is adrienne broaddus. >> i'm so sorry. >> reporter: a 67-second apology from sean combs. >> i made no excuses, my behavior on that video is inexcusable. >> reporter: it comes two days after surveillance video obtained by cnn shows sean combs kicking, dragging and throwing objects at his former girlfriend, cassie ventura. the video believed to show an

assault on ventura was captured in an l.a. hotel in 2016. previously diddy publicly denied all the allegations against him, but now -- >> i was disgusted then when i did t i'm disgusted now. i went out and i sought out professional help. >> reporter: ventura filed a lawsuit against combs in november stating in march of 2016 at a former intercontinental hotel in century city mr. combs became extremely intoxicated and punched ms. ventura in the face, giving her a black eye. it was settled less than 24 hours later. ventura's attorney responding, combs' most recent statement is more about himself than the many people he has hurt. >> it's an admission likely without a lot of consequence. >> could this video mean anything for future cases? >> if diddy is sued civilly or prosecuted for other crimes then it might be possible to get these videos into evidence. >> reporter: the l.a. district attorney says the case is

outside the statute of limitations. >> i'm committed to be a better man each and every day. i'm not asking for forgiveness. i'm truly sorry. >> reporter: the mogul still faces multiple civil lawsuits with allegations including abuse and sexual assault spanning decades. an attorney representing other accusers responding, quote, apologies are for people who are genuinely sorry, not for deviants whose life purpose has been to wreak havoc on everyone around them. adrienne broaddus, nbc news, los angeles. now to texas where officials are warning about a dangerous heat wave. more than 200,000 are still without power, days after devastating storms ripped through the state killing at least seven. new water distribution centers were opened over the weekend to help those without electricity. here is priscilla thompson. >> reporter: it's been three days since laura and juan were left in the dark with no power

and no air 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. >> -- that's how it feels in the house. >> reporter: unable to keep juan's insulin cold they left and are spending their days at a cooling center. >> we 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. >> there it goes. [ bleep ]. >> oh, my god. the frame. >> 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 is not going to get any less, it's only going to get hotter from there. >> reporter: alicia got one of the last bags of ice.

>> it's extremely hot, so -- and 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 are anticipating being able to restore the majority of our customers by the end of 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. as the south works to recover more dangerous weather is working its way across the central united states. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking that threat for you. >> hi, frances. we're seeing that threat early this morning. we've been watching it for hours moving throughout the central plains, oklahoma and kansas. we're seeing a cluster of storms prompting severe thunderstorm warnings, we have a severe thunderstorm watch in the yellow but lots of storms extending into the midwest. this is going to be the bull's-eye of where we expect storms throughout this monday. millions under a severe weather threat from portions of the

southern plains into the midwest, places like north platte, omaha, norfolk seeing the chance for strong storms. we're seeing the storms right now but that will extend throughout the day. 17 million people at risk, winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour, that could bring down some trees, power lines, causing power outages. could see large hail and also the chance for a few tornadoes on top of that. heavy rainfall not only today but tuesday, wednesday, also thursday. that's going to lead to flooding conditions. look how this number grows tomorrow, up to 43 million, talking about the southern plains all the way to the midwest. we're looking at the chance for tornadoes once again. could see large hail, damaging winds, gusting over 60 miles per hour kansas city, des moines, peoria, springfield, oklahoma city once again could see strong storms tomorrow. theres that heavy rainfall, especially where you see the reds, oranges, yellows, locally up to 5 inches, that could prompt flooding concerns. we will watch that, especially on tuesday. wednesday still looking at the chance for severe storms from the southern plains into portions of the great lakes,

winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour once again. the number at 36 million, could see hail, tornadoes, again, every single day it's pretty much the samrisk ande es into t digits in some spots. 102 in san angelo, 91 in dallas. all right. that's your monday forecast. >> appreciate that, michelle. "early today" is back in a minute with the arrest that shocked the golfing world. lf wdetails on a superstar goerho allegedly assault add police officer on the way to the course. 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. is that tiny troy? the ingredients in head and shoulders keep the microbes that cause flakes at bay. microbes, really? they're always on your scalp... little rascals... but good news, there's no itchiness,

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latest. >> reporter: the world's number one golfer, scottie scheffler, coming up short at the pga championship. capping off a shocking weekend in louisville, kentucky. >> guys. guys. >> reporter: early friday scheffler was arrested after allegedly disobeying and dragging a police detective with an suv while heading toward valhalla golf course. >> right now he's going to jail. >> reporter: officials revealing there is no body camera footage from the initial encounter. >> there is some footage from across the street of a fixed camera when mr. scheffler was being arrested and we will release that footage in the coming days. >> reporter: scheffler who says this was a, quote, big misunderstanding was charged with assaulting a police officer, was jailed -- >> scottie scheffler. >> reporter: -- then was released in time to tee off friday. putting together a strong round, saying he was, quote, riding the

adrenaline. but he played one of his worst rounds in recent memory. scheffler could not make up lost ground. >> i think this morning when i woke up i still felt, you know, a bit off. i typically try to keep the off-course life as quiet as possible and this week obviously was not that way. >> reporter: throughout the weekend fan cheers and outfits referenced scheffler's bizarre situation. now the golf tournament in louisville is over, but scheffler's legal troubles here continue. his attorney says video and eyewitness statements exonerate scheffler. the lawyer would not share that video and scheffler still faces four charges. >> thanks to jessie for that report. still to come, imaginary friends take over the weekend box office and mickey, mini, goofy and donald are coming together to make a cnghae at their day jobs. more on disneyland cast members voting to unionize. with just one capsule a day of advanced hair complex.

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i can help you. >> how? >> i'm a kid. >> you are the chosen one. >> no, let's not give her a complex. >> good luck, short stack, it's all up to you, no pleasure. i hope this works ♪ the halls of tokyo ♪ >> all right. let's find these innocent kids. even the most creative kids in the world would find it hard to imagine a better first weekend for "if." the fantasy commandy debuted at number one with $35 million. "kingdom of the planet of the apes" dropped to number two and horror thriller "the stranger chapter 1" scared up $12 million in it's theatrical debut. you have ryan reynolds or anything, even more fun with these characters, imaginary or not -- >> and it has that summer movie feel. we're getting into that season where it's so fun. a great movie for kids and also for us. now to employees at the happiest place on earth looking to bring a new kind of magic to their jobs. on saturday character and parade performers at disneyland resort

in california officially voted to unionize with actors equity association, a website tracking the vote says the measure passed with 78.7% of cast members voting yes. the president of actors equity said the discussions with the performers will include improvements to health and safety, wages and more. >> nothing better than an angry or sad mickey and minnie under those costumes. good for them, good for us when visiting, too. when we come back new yorkers can once again feel like they are on facetime with their irish counterparts across the atlantic. and mo bessineil is already taking home add als as she eyes paris 2024. [dog whimpers] [thinking] why always the couch? does he need to go to puppy school? get his little puppy diploma? how much have i been spending on this little guy? when your questions about life turn into questions about money... there's erica. the virtual financial assistant to help you spend,

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continue simone biles won the core hydration classic. she has already qualified for the u.s. championships later this month. the classic is an important stepping stone to make the five-member paris olympics gymnastics team. france is celebrating the baguette with a scratch and sniff stamp. it has a bakery scent according to a parisian stationery shop. and the live stream linking new york and dublin reopened sunday after being shut down due to inappropriate behavior. the installation's organizers have added fencing and spacing decals in the front of the new york side if people obstruct the camera it will trig after blurring of the live stream on both sides. and a celestial show lit up the night sky this weekend, video captured this comet fragment over spain and portugal. nasa says the color comes from magnesium that burns off the rock as it enters the earth's

atmosphere. and the european space agency says the fireball plunged towards earth at around 100,000 miles per hour but eventually burned up over the atlantic ocean. can you imagine seeing that in the sky not knowing what it was? now we know. so cool. we 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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they will face the mavericks id back to complete the largest game seven come in 27 years. they will face the mavericks in the first conference appearance in two decades. in the east the pacers made history of their own shooting 61.7% of their field goals as they dismantled the injury-riddled knicks in their decisive game seven. the pacers head to boston on tuesday to determine who will represent the east in the nba finals. now for an amazing record for an amazing man. 90-year-old veteran pilot ed dwight traveled into space more than 60 years after discrimination kept him from launching with nasa. marissa parra has the story. >> reporter: with another liftoff for blue origin, another first for mankind. ed dwight is now the oldest man to reach space. >> and here exits ed dwight,

this gentleman has waited a long time to go to space. >> reporter: he's waited for this day for 63 years, born in the segregated kansas, the young air force pilot was on a sky high trajectory. in 1961 appointed by president john f. kennedy to make history. >> a 29-year-old negro says he's anxious to go into space, the first of his race to be so designated. >> reporter: but at the heights of the civil rights movement what seemed like a sure fire path to space was quickly crushed. >> was there a negro boy in the last 30 or so that you brought here for consideration? >> no, there was not. >> reporter: dwight was never selected, it took 20 years for a black astronaut to make it to space, took another 63 for dwight to finally get his turn. with blue origin's seventh crewed flight ed dwight didn't get to be the first black

astronaut but at 90 years of life he became the oldest person to reach space. >> you are officially astronauts, welcome home, everybody. >> life-changing experience. >> reporter: sharing this page in history with loved ones who know all too well it was a long time coming. >> everything you could think of and i thought i really didn't need this in my life. i'm ecstatic. >> reporter: dwight proving you're never too old to rewrite your own story. marissa parra, nbc news. >> that's bucket listing there. thanks for starting your workweek with "early today." thanks for being with us, i'm frances rivera. hope to see you right back here tomorrow morning.