two communities rocked by back-to-back shootings overnight we are learning new details about the gunman in a deadly rampage in texas. the tragedy coming hours after another shooting left five dead in south carolina. now president biden isaking his biggest steps yet to curb gun violence in america. a top medical expert describes george floyd's death. the vote that could reshape amazon as we know it

where the alabama union vote is. the new space race blasting off. what's in the future for u.s. and russia "early today" on a friday starts now. good morning, everyone i'm kendis gibson. >> i'm phillip mena. we begin with breaking news out of texas the gunman that attacked a workplace. the police have identified the suspect after one was killed and seven were injured 27-year-old larry bollen had been taken into custody and murdered the name of the person killed will be released later today nbc's dan sheneman has more. >> reporter: a business that makes cabinets in brian, texas, now the scene of a mass shooting. >> it wasn't a horrible week. >> reporter: about 2:30 p.m. local time a gunman opened inside. >> one shot in the arm, one in the back. >> reporter: one person killed,

four others hospitalized a witness said he knows the suspect. >> the guy was a humble guy. you would never think he would do anything like this. >> reporter: the suspect fled the scene. authorities tried to take him into custody about 25 miles away >> during that attempt the suspect shot at our trooper injuring our trooper and that suspect then fled the scene. he was taken into custody at when 4:20 p.m. today by texas highway patrol troopers. >> reporter: the injured trooper is in stable condition the motive for the shooting is still under investigation. dan sheneman, nbc news. to south carolina now and the deadly mass shooting that is blamed on a former nfl player. five people killed in the state's york county area phillip adams allegedly went on a shoot being rampage before turning the gun on himself.

>> reporter: one of the witnesses who called 911 was outside of his home cutting grass when he heard some 20 gunshots the suspect here used two guns according to police, a .45 caliber and a .9 millimeter. it appears both of those weapons were legally obtained. phillip adams forced entry into the leslie's home. dr. robert leslie, his wife barbara and their two grandchildren. a 9-year-old and a 5-year-old. he also shot two people outside, air conditioning workers who were at the house on a job one of them did not survive. the other is in critical condition. police have not been able to establish a motive they say there is nothing right now that makes sense to anyone dr. robert leslie is being described as a pillar of this community, someone who was well loved and well respected in a statement the leslie family says the losses they are

suffering cannot be uttered at this time but because of their faith they say, quote, we do not grieve as those without hope we are enveloped by peace that surpasses all understanding. to that end our hearts are bent towards forgiveness and peace, towards love and connectedness dr. robert leslie was 70 years old. his wife barbara was 68. his grandchildren, aida and noah were 9 and 5 james lewis, the air conditioning technician who was at work was 38 kendis. >> there in south carolina for us thank you. president biden is taking aim at gun violence after thrash of mass shootings. nbc's tracie potts joins us now with more. tracie, as we might expect, there's already backlash brewing across the aisle. >> reporter: yeah. republicans are saying here that these initiatives by the

president are aimed at the second amendment rights of law abiding citizens and not criminals. the president says that this is an international embarrassment and we need to deal with it. his six executive orders taking a look at a breakdown here would impose or begin the process of imposing new restrictions of particular types of weapons. new reporting in some cases that we haven't seen in 20 years. prevention efforts and a new leader for the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms. the president and the white house say this does not stop congress from taking action. he wants an assault weapons ban liability for manufacturers and universal background checks. two bills have been stalled in the senate >> gun violence in this country is an epidemic and it's an international embarrass am we've got a lot of work to morning. we are going to pause one moment and allow our stations across

the country to join us. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is a special report. here's savannah guthrie and hoda kotb. and good morning to those just joining us here in new york. we have breaking news from buckingham palace this morning. prince philip, the husband of queen elizabeth, a fixture of british life for decades has passed away at the age of 99, just weeks before his 100th birthday. we just received a statement from the palace. it is with deep sorrow that her majesty, the queen, announces the death of her beloved husband, his royal highness, the prince philip, duke offedin burrow. he passed away peacefully this morning at windsor castle. the royal family joins with people around the world mourning his loss. that coming out just moments ago. >> he was 99 years old and due to celebrate a birthday, his 100th birthday coming up in

june. philip had largely withdrawn from public life in recent years and that was due to failing health. he was five years older than the queen. he was her constant companion, her closest confidant. their marriage was started back in 1947. they have been married, think about this, for 73 years. >> imagine all that they have gone through together. >> yes. >> and how they have seen the world change from that particular vantage point. let's go to nbc's matt bradley who is in london for us this morning with this breaking news. matt, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this is a devastating news for the royal family and for britons throughout the country. the prince was just weeks shy of his 100th birthday. this was a life filled with pain and joy. he saw so much of the 20th century, so much history and now of course it ended with the royal family in the midst of so much scandal and so much of an effort to reinvent itself. you know, prince philip of

course was a major part of the royal family's own reinvention throughout his lifetime. he really brought to the royal family a sense of reaching out to the public, of actually reaching out and being less of an aloof royal family and more of a family that was just a family. at the end of the day that's what we're seeing today, a family that is going through a tragedy, one that has in just the recent past gone through very, very public turmoil. for the next couple of weeks i think we're going to see a lot more sympathy and a lot more people looking at the royal family as just that, as not just an institution, not just a part of the constitution and not just fodder for tabloids but as a grieving entity that really has to deal with its own struggles. guys. >> he was certainly the patriarch of that family. we don't know the particular cause of his death but, hoda, as we know he's been in ill health for some time. he received a covid vaccine back in january. >> right. >> but unfortunately it was

expected around the royal family that this may come to pass sooner than anyone would have hoped. >> he was hospitalized i remember for a while and then he was released about three weeks ago. i think people were wondering, well, is he better or not? and, yeah -- >> there's a big celebration that had been planned for his 100th birthday on june 10th and i think there was a lot of hope that perhaps he could hang on until then but it wasn't to be. >> prince philip's tireless support was a mainstay of the queen's reign, the longest in the history of the british monarchy. nbc's keir simmons has a look at his long life of duty and devotion. >> reporter: this is how the world knew him, standing by his beloved wife, the queen, her loyal and lifelong companion. but from the beginning life conspired to make prince philip his own man. he was born in greece into that country's royal

exiled with them when he was a small child. an education molded an achiever. he saw action during world war ii, a brilliant and brave officer. his 1947 wedding to elizabeth lifted the spirits of post-war britain. the next year prince charles was born. three more children would follow. but philip's world changed forever in 1952 when king george vi died and his daughter, elizabeth, became queen. from then on, his main role was as the monarch's consort and counsel. his relationship with the queen featured in the popular tv series "the crown". >> are you my wife or my queen. >> reporter: numerous guests made abroad. killing a tiger an endangered species on a trip to india. his defense, some of his actions and comments were taken out of context.

more recently the duke finally turned in his driver's license at age 97 following a car crash that injured two people and caused his land rover to overturn. but over time, philip gained respect as an honest broker within his family, even as his children lunged from divorce to tragedy. he became an inspiration for the younger royals. his greatest achievement was simply being there for his wife, the queen. >> without the duke in her life, one can only imagine that it will take its toll on the queen because for so many years he has been her strength and stay, her rock, her friend, her advisor. >> reporter: he lived to see his grandson prince william's marriage to kate middleton in 2011, celebrated the birth of his great grandson, the third in line to the throne, prince george, and was there for the wedding of prince harry to meghan markle. at age 96 after more than 22,000 solo public appearances, prince philip retired from royal

duties. his legacy, a lifetime of service to his nation and his wife, the queen. keir simmons, nbc news, london. >> just in the last few moments buckingham palace announcing that prince philip has passed away at the age of 99. we expect more word from the palace in the coming hours, but at the moment they just said that he died peacefully at home in windsor castle. let's bring in daisy mcandrew, a journalist and royal commentator. daisy, unfortunately this had been somewhat expected as prince philip was in failing health for some time now. >> yes, that's true. as you were just saying a few minutes ago, he had been in hospital for a number of weeks. he had been from one hospital t

sighting when he was seen in the back of that car going home. and of course, yes, it's not a huge surprise that he has passed away, but also as you were saying, his 100th birthday was coming up very, very soon, just in a few weeks' time, and he would have been the first consort and the first partner of a reigning monarch to have reached such an extremely old age, an impressive milestone. so there will be sadness about that, but of course much more celebration, i think, of his life. >> would you put this in context a little bit for us, daisy, if you wouldn't mind because i think a lot of people at least on this side of the pond, we know of the queen, we know of all the princes. but when you hear about prince philip, you wonder what will that mean, what will that loss mean to england? >> it will be a big shock. if you think about it, anybody in this country who's over, let's say, the age of 70 has

only known the consort as prince philip. so that's pretty much the majority of the country who have been very accustomed to this very, very stable man being at the right-hand side of the reigning monarch, of the queen. of course we know that she has entirely relied on him. yes, in public she walks ahead, she gets all the fanfare, she gets the limelight, but she has spoken many, many times and all her close friends say that he is much more than just a right-hand man, he has been by her side, helping her make decisions, helping her become the monarch, the longest serving monarch as she has been. he was a very, very proud man, so i think when he first became the monarch's consort, it was a difficult role for him to do. he always thought he would be the head of his household and then it turns out -- things turned out that he wasn't. but he did forge a role for

himself over the years. he had lots of involvement with charities that he set up that helped youngsters with awards and so on so he did have his own purposes in life. but equally he never gave lots of interviews, very much the old school of the royal family. >> daisy, what about inside. you know it's always -- when we talk about the royal family, we always have to keep in mind these dual dynamics going on. you have the royal family that's an institution, the monarchy, and then you have a family. what was his role in terms of keeping the family together as the patriarch? obviously we've seen the ebbs and flows, the highs and lows that this family like any family has gone through over the years. what was his role? >> in fact i just said he wasn't the head of his family. what i meant was publicly, outward looking. private low within their own family he very much was the head of the family. he very much took the decisions

and was very, very close to some members of his family and i think prince harry is one of those members. he's had a tricky relationship with prince charles over the years. they're very, very different personalities. prince philip is much more of the gung-ho type military royal, very upstanding, very brave, very stiff upper lip. prince charles has always been more of a sensitive soul, as i'm sure many of our viewers would know. deeply unhappy at school, more spiritual perhaps. but his other three children, ann, andrew and edward, he's had very different relationships with those three as well. very close to ann. she's probably the closest to him in personality, a real get on with it and carry on as you were type of personality. very sporty. he's a very, very sporty person, prince philip, totally obsessed

with ritual and exercise and keeping fit. a very light drinker, gave up smoking on the eve of his wedding because princess elizabeth told him to. so a very, very disciplined man. >> all right. daisy, we want to thank you for your insight, your expertise there. now joining us is british historian andrew roberts. we're coming on again this morning breaking news that prince philip has died. it was just announced by buckingham palace this morning at 7:00. and the last we had heard about prince philip was that he was in the hospital, was released about three weeks later and we were pointing out this morning i would imagine this did not come as a huge surprise to folks. >> no, it didn't. he'd had also an infection ten years ago which hospitalized him and again about five years ago, so his health hasn't been perfect. but he is, of course, or was 99

years old which in itself is a tremendous and as you've just said record-breaking thing for the royal family almost. >> can you kind of give us your perspective from history of how prince philip figures in? i mean it's such an interesting course of history that they have witnessed together, engaged in 1947. he was princess elizabeth at the time. her father died, suddenly she's thrust into being the monarch and he's in this role that experts such as yourself say at firswife.

but nonetheless it was never that easy to always be two steps behind the center of attention, as it were. >> he had four children, prince charles, princess ann, prince andrew and prince edward. and i just remember the image of when he was coming out of the hospital and prince charles got very emotional in that moment. it's rare that you got to see the son and father bonds like on

display. i found that striking. >> yes, he was a loving father. he was very, very different. i think it's tremendously important to make this point, especially to an american audience, very different from the character that is portrayed in "the crown" which is very much a fictionalized version of the royal family. one can frankly ignore all of it when it comes to the actual historical prince philip, who was a very different person. he was a loving father, as i say. he was somebody who all of his children looked up to immensely as well as the rest of the nation, of course. >> and andrew, we can't help but be in our present and know that the royal family has been in some turmoil over prince harry and meghan markle, the allegations lodged against the royal family. i don't know if you have any insight into how lucid prince philip was, how aware he was in his final weeks and days about

what was going on or whether he was shielded from it as he was in the hospital during that bombshell interview. but how do you think he would have felt about that? do you have any information about what he knew of it, what he was aware of? >> i don't, no. and there's no point really in speculating too much about these things because one can always get it wildly wrong. if he was cognizant of the interview, he would have of course discussed it with her majesty, the queen, and it's very unlikely that her majesty would have put out that statement that she did without prince philip concurring in it. so i think we can assume that he was very much on board with the overall family's response, which was that very short piece saying that memories differ, harry will always be loved and that they're going to investigate the

allegations made against the royal family. >> how close were prince philip and harry, were they very tight? >> they were, yes. i think prince harry will be devastated by this. of course he knew it was going to come, but nevertheless he was close to his grandfather. they had the marines in common. it was prince philip who was the captain general of the royal marines who handed it on to prince harry with the words "don't screw it up." and of course prince harry has had to give up the captain generalcy of it so in a sense he didn't really take his grandfather's words to heart about that. >> and andrew, prince philip is often credited with helping to move the monarchy into a more modern era, especially in those early years, and trying to maintain its relevance by

updating some of the ways it interacted with the world. would you agree with that, and what impact did that have? >> very much so, yes. that's a very important point. it was in 1968 that he created the concept of the royal family being i suppose what we call today a soap opera kind of family in that they allowed a documentary to be made for the first time where they were relaxed, they were on holiday, they were filmed up in scotland at a barbecue, and they were being treated there for the first time in history as being a sort of natural family. that it was hoped would make them more popular of course, not that they were unpopular in the late 1960s, but nonetheless make them more approachable perhaps is a better word, and that was something that was very much down to him. >> as i turn to daisy mcandrew also with us, a royal

commentator and journalist, one thing that was pointed out to me was that one silver lining of this last year and the pandemic is that actually the queen and prince philip would have spent a lot more time together, really special months in his final year together at windsor castle whereas in other circumstances they may have been in different locations more often. what do you know about that, and talk about their relationship. i think you said it was a love match, which we can't take for granted when we're talking about a match made in 1947 among royals. >> you're so right. the last year for so many people has been incredibly difficult, either working from home, losing your jobs, losing friends and family, but for some people it has meant some forced time with your family which is something the royal family doesn't get very much, very often because

they are doing so many public engagements. since lockdown was announced here in the uk last march, obviously both the queen and prince philip have been pretty much confined to quarters, confined to home, and as you said have spent an awful lot more time together than they would have done. it absolutely was a love match. she's always maintained and her close friends have maintained that pretty much from the time they first met when she was just a teenagers she was pretty obsessed with him and he was -- it's always difficult for those of us who just know him as he has been for the last couple of decades to realize he was incredibly handsome and dashing when he was a young man. so many of the society pages at the time talked about this greek god type character, very tall, very upright, brushed back blond hair, very twinkly, very, very charming. of course many people have

spoken and kidded in his package for you there about the duke's gaffes over the years. one of the things they always showed was a human side. this wasn't a robotic personality, this was somebody who was constantly cracking jokes. yes, some of them were deeply inappropriate, but people who met him, people who knew him found him very, very engaging company and not a stuffed shirt. >> daisy, let me pause you right there because boris johnson is addressing the british public. let's listen. >> he inspired the lives of countless young people and literally tens of thousands at events, he fostered their hopes and encouraged their ambitions. we remember the duke for all of this and above all for his steadfast support for her majesty, the queen. not just as her consort, by her side every day of her reign, but as her husband, her strength and stay of more than 70 years.

and it is to her majesty and her family that our nation's thoughts must turn today because they have lost not just a much loved and highly respected public figure, but a devoted husband and a proud and loving father, grandfather and in recent years great grandfather. speaking on their golden wedding anniversary, her majesty said that our country owed her husband a greater debt than he would ever claim or we should ever know, and i'm sure that estimate is correct. so we mourn today with her majesty, the queen. we offer our condolences to her and to all her family. and we give thanks as a nation and a kingdom for the extraordinary life and work of

prince philip, duke of edinburgh. >> uk prime minister boris johnson just outside 10 downing street in london as the news has just broken there and here. 7:00 eastern time, afternoon london time with the announcement that prince philip has died at the age of 99, married to the queen for 73 years. we can see some of the activity going on at buckingham palace. that is the official statement that was released and now as tradition has it there posted physically on the gates of buckingham palace. the news that perhaps was expected for the duke being 99 years old but certainly met with heartbreak, especially because he was on june 10th was to turn 100 years old, a celebration planned, and he by all accounts so hoped to mark that milestone. >> he was always so vibrant. i mean they talk about him

driving a car until he was 97 years old, and this is someone who we always saw front and center right next to the queen. you know it's funny, we talk about the royal family and the prince dying, but this is also a wife who's lost her husband on this day, husband of 70 plus years. there's probably, yeah, a lot of mourning going on. >> i was thinking of that very thing as we turn to nbc's matt bradley in london. when prime minister johnson was talking about the queen but he's a wife who lost her husband and a husband who has been by her side since he was a teenager. the two literally grew up together under the most extraordinary of circumstances. >> reporter: circumstances that are really hard for the rest of us to ever identify because living here in london and i've lived here the past five years, it's hard to imagine how the royal family really has found themselves in these circumstances. they're so singular in their experience and it's so different for them. they really are a part of the constitution, as boris

johnson -- that's why he was alluding to this. that's why they're in such a complicated circumstance, guys. >> matt bradley, thank you. we're going to stand by and have the latest on this breaking news throughout the morning. most of you will return now to the "today" show. i'm savannah guthrie alongside hoda kotb. this has been an nbc news good morning. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm laura garcia. we'll have breaking news on the death of prince philip throughout the morning. first we want to get you in touch with your local news as well and it's friday and a look at the forecast. vianey is in for kari this morning. good morning. >> good morning. we're off to a pretty mild start for our friday. 40s and 50s across the board and eventually by the afternoon the biggest change you'll notice is breezy to windy conditions. temperatures are expected