two breaking stories overnight. first, robert mueller agreeing to testify before two house committees on july 17th about the trump russia probe >> i don't think the special counsel's office would characterize it as a friendly subpoena he did not want to testify he made that very clear. and nonetheless, they will respect the subpoena he will appear he'll be testifying. >> and then breaking overseas, two u.s. soldiers killed in afghanistan today. details still coming in to nbc news what we know, just ahead >> late last night the house approved $4.5 billion in emergency humanitarian aid to stem a crisis at the border. we've had a tree fall on a

group of girls we're going to need at least two ambulances >> an 11-year-old girl scout on a camping trip is struck and killed by a falling tree this morning an indiana community is in shock. then the crackdown on those annoying robocalls and one man known as the dialer accused of 60 million calls alone and the bronx bombers just set another major league record. "early today" starts right now good to be with you this morning. i'm frances rivera >> and i'm phillip mena. breaking news this morning congress will finally hear from the special counsel. robert mueller has agreed to testify publicly on july 17th before both the house judiciary and house intelligence committees with cameras rolling he will speak about his findings and his report on the run interference in the 2016 campaign for more on what we can expect let's go to nbc's craig boswell, nbc. craig, good morning. this could be a watershed moment in the mueller saga. >> reporter: it certainly could, phillip. good morning

good morning, everyone this is the star witness that democrats have wanted to question publicly since robert mueller made his only statement back in may after releasing this russia report. as you mentioned, he will speak about his findings and his report on russian interference in the 2016 campaign and while mueller has been -- and was reluctant to appear, he agreed to respect the subpoenas issued by the two committees house intelligence committee chairman adam schiff detailed what to expect on msnbc last night. >> he did refer this matter to congress we have taken up that referral and it's fully appropriate in our view that we have the opportunity to flesh out what the russians did, how they did it, what the role of the trump campaign personnel were, what were the counterintelligence issues, what was the process used to handle the counterintelligence concerns, where are the findings all of these questions and a great many more the american people should have the opportunity to pose through

their representatives to mueller himself. we never felt it was sufficient to rely simply on a written report or a ten-minute statement without the ability to follow up with questions >> schiff also said there would be a closed door session with his committee and mueller's team as for the white house the president's attorney has told fox news he doesn't think they'll see anything different in mueller's testimony, hear anything different in mueller's testimony. and we heard from the president actually two words that he tweeted when this news broke, simply saying "presidential harassment." that is the word from president trump. again, the star witness that democrats have wanted to hear from, they will get on july 17th three weeks from today phillip, back to you >> it'll be here before we know it craig, thank you we also have breaking news for you from afghanistan that's where two u.s. service members have been killed according to the nato-led resolute support mission that's a non-combat grouped

aimed at training and advising afghan security forces the service members' names as well as details about the location and circumstances of the deaths have not yet been released as they notify the next of kin the word war continues toes clait between the u.s. and iran. president trump once again threatening iran with obliteration after tehran's leader dismissed the new sanctions against the country as window dressing. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel has the latest from the region >> reporter: new insults from iran calling u.s. sanctions on the country's supreme leader stupid and outrageous. iran's president saying they're a sign the white house is afflicted with mental illness. president trump responded with a new threat "iran's very ignorant and insulting statement put out today only shows that they do not understand reality any attack by iran on anything american will be met with great and overwhelming force, in some areas overwhelming will mean obliteration." the secretary of state also

responding to iran's insults >> that's a bit immature and child-like but know that the united states will remain steadfast in undertaking the actions that the president laid out in his strategy to create stability throughout the middle east >> reporter: but the president's vow to respond to a strike on anything american is a significant switch after calling off a military reprisal against iran for shooting down an american drone, which iran says was in its airspace. the u.s. says the drone was in international airspace, monitoring waters where iran is accused of attacking six tankers. officials here in the gulf tell us they worry the tripwire for a conflict could easily be triggered by hard-liners in the u.s. and iran who want a war richard engel, nbc news, doha, qatar. a bill for billions of dollars in aid for migrant children is heading to the senate 37 late last night the house approved a bill with $4.5 billion in spending for food,

water, and medical service that's despite democratic infighting in the threat of a veto from the white house. it comes amid growing outrage after dozens of detained migrant children who were relocated back to a controversial detention center in clint, texas nbc's gabe gutierrez has the latest from the texas border good morning, gabe >> reporter: frances, about 100 migrant children have been returned to this facility because federal authorities now say it is no longer too crowded. but many migrant advocates say the conditions here along the border are getting worse and we should warn you, one of the images in this story is especially disturbing. these are images of detained migrants in the hot texas sun. for months customs and border protection facilities have been overflowing. more and more immigrants making the grueling journey from central america. this heartbreaking photo highlighting the danger. a man and his 23-month-old daughter drowning on the ryo grande her arm wrapped around her father now more accounts of children in

detention with little food, going without soap, showers, or toothbrushes for days, even weeks. >> treating these children in this manner is completely unacceptable >> reporter: is this a funding problem or a management problem? >> i think it's definitely a management problem >> reporter: cbp officials said allegations of civil rights abuses are taken seriously and acknowledges there is overcrowding but later the official disputed accounts of inadequate food saying "i don't buy it and i personally don't believe the allegations. for months we've seen the surge of undocumented migrants here firsthand. border patrol officials telling us these facilities were only meant to be short term but now there's a massive backlog. >> they're oust room they just don't have anybody and there's nowhere for them to go >> reporter: there's growing scrutiny of migrant detention across the country luz from honduras didn't want us though her face or use her last name she spent months in an i.c.e. detention center in texas while she says her 15-year-old son was sent to a different one. "they treated me like an animal," she says.

"it was horrible." after federal authorities announced that nearly 300 children were being removed from this facility, about 100 have been brought back. and there's no telling how long they'll stay cbp officials say that the average number of migrant children in its custody is now 1,000. that's down from about 2,600 a week ago frances? >> all right, gabe, thank you. in the wake of the border controversy a major shake-up at the white house. president trump's acting commissioner of customs and border protection is stepping down john sanders didn't explain why he's leaving but a cbp source says many believe it is connected to the treatment of children in border facilities. and we now know who will replace outgoing press secretary sarah sanders at the end of the week stephanie grisham is ticking over that role she currently handles communications for the first lady and has been with the president since the early days of his campaign. some 9/11 first responders took their fight for future compensation straight to capitol hill

on tuesday the group met with a top senate republican mitch mcconnell. first responders say mcconnell agreed to hold a vote in august on a bill to fully fund the 9/11 victims compensation fund. passion the bill would extend funding for 70 years here's nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: the fight to secure funding for 9/11 first responders went straight to the senate majority leader's front door >> and today mitch mcconnell promised to work for us. >> reporter: mcconnell committing to an august senate vote on a bill that would extend funding for 70 years the house vote set for july. >> this bill will offer that relief to thousands of men and women across our country because they came together on september 11th in the days and weeks after. >> reporter: each of the seven men who met with mcconnell suffered some kind of illness or injury from breathing problems to cancer. >> we're going to leave here and luis alvarez is going to die >> reporter: luis alvarez testified just weeks ago on capitol hill

>> you made me come down here -- >> reporter: a bomb squad technician at ground zero, his cancer has become untreatable. >> 100% they really are failing it and we shouldn't have to go down to congress every five years and beg for money. >> reporter: of the $7 billion allocated to the fund in 2011, more than 5 billion has been paid out with the money dwindling, payments on new claims are being cut and will stop altogether in december 2020 unless a new bill is passed. >> in that meeting we gave senate majority leader mitch mcconnell luis alvarez's badge, and we wanted the senate majority leader to be reminded of people like detective luis alvarez. >> reporter: they have been battling for years to get help they need, hoping this time they will finally get it. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york a small southern indiana community is in mourning after the death of an 11-year-old girl

scout. while at a campsite authorities say she was hit by a falling tree which also left several others injured we go to nbc's anne thompson, who has more on this tragedy >> reporter: a freak accident is what officials say took the life of 11-year-old girl scout isabel meyer. her death moving the sheriff >> you know, these are girl scouts >> reporter: a law enforcement veteran in tears >> sorry they were there to have a good time >> reporter: it happened at the girl scouts camp cook in southern indiana as meyers' group finished a hike. >> we've had a tree fall on a group of girls we're going to need at least two ambulances >> reporter: two adult volunteers were seriously hurt a 10-year-old suffered a hand injury a scout for her short life, a local newspaper snapped isabel filling gift bags for chemotherapy patients. it's not clear why the tree fell, but to stay safe in the woods the u.s. forest service says avoid dead trees, trees

leaning more than 10 degrees, and look for soil heaving or uplift around roots. >> we're prepared for everything but when you actually roll up on a scene it's hard, it's tough, especially when there's a child involved >> reporter: the camp now closed as the girl scouts mourn one of their own. anne thompson, nbc news. let's take a turn now and pay some attention to the weather out there. especially with some extreme heat here's nbc meteorologist bill karins >> the heat can be dangerous and deadly too we're seeing it expanding. it hantds been that hot of a june nm areas of the country but high pressure's building in. the jet stream's going to the north. it's already been plenty hot along the gulf coast that continues today tampa will be one of the warm spots. 105 heat index this afternoon. then we see some of the heat spreading to the ohio valley and eventually up into the northeast. one of the other huge stories is it's hot in the u.s. but it's going to be exceptionally hot in europe as the jet stream's taking a big dip to the north. we're expecting the possibility of nine different countries setting their all-time hottest temperatures, even as far north

as denmark into th a stray shower or thunderstorm this afternoon in ohio. also heading toward pittsburgh but it will be hit and miss. many people will avoid it. we'll talk about that severe weather risk coming up >> all right, bill, sounds good. a philadelphia flyers fan at shriners hospital got a monster of a surprise. the team's mascot, gritty, made an off-ice appearance when he found out that caden o'rourke, a 7-year-old who has a rare orthopedic condition, asked for a prosthetic leg with gritty's face on it yeah, caden told reporters all the fun's right here so he may be creepy but he's kind >> all the other kids are like don't go anywhere near me,the be against those annoying robocalls gets more serious. and forget fly balls how about flying bats?

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the stage is set 2069 democratic primary candidates are preparing to make their case to the country. nbc news is hosting the first debate tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern. senator elizabeth warren will take center stage as ten candidates square off tonight. and ten more will square off tomorrow night, including bernie sanders and former vice president joe biden. leading the news, there may be some relief in sight for the millions of americans who receive those unwanted robocalls every day. on tuesday the federal trade commission announced a major crackdown on illegal robocalls it's called "operation call it quits. it's a coordinated effort with more than two dozen federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies nationwide. nbc's tom costello has the latest [ phone ringing >> reporter: anyone with a phone can attest to the aggravation. >> you have to see it to believe

it >> try the lower rate on your credit card. >> just suspend your social security number. >> please call immediately >> reporter: billions of illegal robocalls each year. targeting random americans like you and me and anthony dunkel in minnesota. zblefr time i see my phone light up it's -- i just roll my eyes now. it's just 98% of the time i know it's just another robocall and it's just another annoyance. hour after hour. >> reporter: a crackdown the federal trade commission and 40 state and local partners announcing 82 enforcement actions nationwide >> our collective message to robocallers is simple. it's time to call it quits >> reporter: the action includes five federal criminal cases. among those charged a robocaller known as the dialer. a florida-based developer using an auto dialer who allegedly sent more than 57 million calls in just six months to do not call registered phone numbers. the ftc's message for consumers to stem the surge of unwanted calls, hang up, block it, and

report robocalls the agency says it gets more than 10,000 complaints each day. the feds know this won't stop robocalls. the fcc is working with phone companies to automatically enroll customers into call blocking >> thanks to tom costello for that report. just ahead, serena williams makes history again. and ready to fill that wide open space in your heart details on the dieix chicks' return you're watching "early today." o commercial? let's do the eyebrows first, just tease it a little. slather it all over, don't hold back. well, the squirrels followed me all the way out to california! and there's a very strange badger staring at me... no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. uh-huh, where's the camel? "mr. big shot's" got his own trailer. ♪ wheeeeeee! believe it! geico could save you 15% or more on car insurance. the best way to hit the beach? with neutrogena® beach defense® sunscreen. helioplex® powered,

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in today's quick hits, the dixie chicks are ready for a comeback the group took to social media to tease that a new album is coming this would mark the first album in 13 years. >> cute. but i also want to know what filter it is they're using to distort their faces. serena williams makes history again. she's now the second african-american tennis player to grace the box of wheaties cereal the grand slam champion says she has dreamt of this moment since she was a young woman. michael chavous accidentally let his bat slip out of his hands during a rainy inning against the white sox. it flew out of his hands and bounced right into the hands of that lucky guy there at the end of the row thankfully everyone dodged injury >> it ended with smiles there instead of -- >> yeah. still ahead bill is tracking dangerous storms and a hero makes history meet the first living aqir war veteran to receive the medal of

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all free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of berlin and therefore, as a free man, i take pride in the words ich bin ein berliner >> on this day in 1963 president john f. kennedy visited west berlin and delivered that famous speech expressing solidarity with the city's residents at the height of the cold ar. for the first time the white house has award the naltion's highest military hona living iraq war veteran. he emerged a hero in the most high stakes battle of the war. nbc's peter alexander has his harrowing story of bravery

>> reporter: for american troops it was the bloodiest fighting of the iraq war the second battle of fallujah. and staff sergeant david bellavilla's 29th birthday his mission to clear out a block of buildings where insurgents were believed to be hiding the operation captured in this hbo documentary. at the tenth house an ambush bellavilla and his team trapped in the dark facing relentless fire >> you don't know how many, who's shooting, what's the situation. it's total chaos >> reporter: bellavilla squeezed the trigger of his machine gun until it was empty saving the soldiers' lives, allowing them to go outside. later he went back in. tre's no out of it. >> reporter: an assault at close range. first targeting insurgents preparing to fire a rocket-propelled grend >> how many guys did you

single-handedly take out >> four. and mortally wounded a fifth >> reporter: for that heroism bellavia became the first living iraq war veteran to receive the medal of honor >> we honor your courage, we salute your selfless service >> in this day of division bellavia emphasizes unity. >> it doesn't matter who you love, doesn't matter what god you worship. there's no dog tag that has a political affiliation. we're in it together >> reporter: a life of service and sacrifice that bellavia hopes will resonate with a new generation of soldiers peter alexander, pbs newnbc new white house. >> truly heroic. >> as long as we keep sharing his story. we'll understand exactly what he did, the sacrifice they don't call them the bronx bombers for nothing. with this d.j. lemahieu homer the new york yankees set the record for most consecutive games with a home run. the e streakcords

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and a good wednesday morning to you. june 26th. a live look out at san francisco. beautiful way to start the day. thanks so much for starting your morning here with us. i'm marcus washington. and i'm in for laura garcia. happy wednesday. thanks for waking us with us. it's been hot, not a cool down. >> getting ready for a big cool down across the bay area. going to be really nice. another look at san francisco as we start out with no fog as of now, and as you get ready to head out the door in oakland heading maybe to the b.a.r.t. station, upper 50s and more clearing through late morning and a slow warm-up today with gusty winds. you're looking out for