fierce fighting on the front lines. why ukraine claims russia blew up a major dam, prompting possible flooding in kherson hold onto your wallets

why those student loan bills could be piling up again soon. royal row. and an unforgettable save. a captain rescues several men after their boat capsized. it's uesday, june 6. "early today" starts right now good morning, i'm phillip mena >> i'm frances rivera. as one of the most prominent names in the gop gets set to make his official entrance into the republican primary, a washington outsider also announced monday that he has his sights set on the white house. for more on this, we go to brie jackson in washington. good morning start on the republican side who is the latest challenger >> reporter: good morning frances. days ahead of his expected official announcement, former vice president mike pence filed paperwork on monday with the federal elections commission declaring his bid for the 2024 republican nomination for president. pence will join a growing field

of contenders that aim to differentiate themselves from his one-time boss and current frontrunner, former president trump. the official kickoff for pence's campaign is set for wednesday, where he'll be holding an event i des m in des moines, iowa. pence often touts the accomplishments of their administration, including the appointment of three supreme court justices which he says led to last summer's overturning of roe versus wade. pence will find out soon if he can carve out a lane for himself in the increasingly crowded primary. frances? >> adding to that crowd we also saw an announcement, brie, on monday from a candidate that doesn't belong to either of the major parties. tell us about him. >> reporter: that's right. left wing activist and academic,

cornel west announced that he's jumping into the race as a candidate for the people's party. the people's party was founded in 2017 by a former staffer for bernie sanders whom west supported in the last two elections. in his announcement video, west called the presidency a vehicle for pursuing truth and justice and laid out his campaign priorities >> i come from a tradition where i care about you i care about the quality of your life i care about whether you have access to a job with a living wage tee decent housing, women having control over their bodies. health care for all. deescalating the destruction of the planet >> and west concluded his announcement by saying whether or not his campaign has what it takes, some of us are going to go down fighting, go down smiling, excuse me, go down swinging with style and a smile.

frances? >> swinging and a smile in a ring that is getting more crowded by the day, brie, thank you. we're learning more about sunday's tragic cessna plane crash that killed all four people on board. fighter pilots who rushed to intercept the jet as it flew over washington, d.c. saw its pilot slumped over the controls before crashing in virginia. tom costel hoe has the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: investigators are piecing through the decimated remains of that private citation jet that apparently ran out of fuel and crashed, as air force fighter jets watched unable to help family members tell nbc new york that a prominent real estate broker was on board with her 2-year-old daughter aria, their nanny and pilot headed for the hamptons >> just devastated you have to tell people every day you love them. >> reporter: it started at

1:13 p.m. as the plane left tennessee headed for liong island, new york but 15 minutes later, the plane stopped responding to air traffic controller commands. it still failed to respond to controllers after making a u-turn six air force fighter jets were scrambled along the east coast as the plane approached restricted d.c. airspace, two f-16s were authorized to go super sonic. >> we had to break the sound barrier to get up to speed to get to the aircraft in question. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: their twin booms startling residents and pets on the ground as they fired flares, then flew straight at the citation, calling the pilot. >> this is an armed air defense fighter. you have been intercepted. >> reporter: they quickly saw the pilot was slumped over and

unresponsive as his plane continued flying into virginia where it crashed having traveled 300 miles without radio communication. the ntsb is considering whether a sudden loss of cabin air pressure could have incapacitated everyone on board. just as golf legend payne stewart and five others were killed in 1999, when their plane lost cabin pressure and then crashed in south dakota. >> you have a matter of seconds to get your oxygen mask on or you will not be able to breathe. it could be anywhere from a matter of 15 seconds up to a minute to get that mask on. and if you don't, you will indeed pass out. >> our thanks to tom for the update the investigation into former president trump's handling of classified documents could be reaching a pivotal moment the source familiar with the matter tells nbc news that lawyers for mr. trump met with special counsel jack smith and other senior justice officials on monday. this could be a sign that the

probe into the classified materials found at the former president's florida home may be wrapping up. the grand jury is expected to meet again this week mr. trump responded on social media saying, quote, how can the do doj possibly charge me, who did nothing wrong, when no other presidents were charged. james comer announced on monday that his panel will begin proceeding this is week to hold fbi director chris wray in contempt of congress this move follows a briefing with the bureau after which comer claimed they refused to hand over an unclassified record to the committee >> the document in question purportedly describes an allegation that joe biden accepted a bribe during his time as vice president. both the fbi and the committee's top democrat jamie raskin criticized comer's action, noting that the bureau allowed the chairman to read the document during monday's briefing there's breaking news out of ukraine where the military is accusing russia of blowing up a dam at a hydroelectrical power

plant in the kherson region. these are satellite images collected by maxar, appearing to show the destruction let's bring in ali arouzi. what do we know about what happened there >> reporter: good morning, phillip. we know this explosion took place in the early morning hours at around 2:00 a.m. local time and it took place at this vast soviet-era dam it's a little over 3 yards tall, 2 miles long and it holds roughly the same volume of water as the great salt lake in utah. a lot of those satellite and aerial imagery that we've seen shows the wall of the dam has been completely washed away. now the russians are blaming the ukrainians for it. they say it was a terrorist attack, which is short hand for blaming ukraine, and ukraine is

blaming the russians for the attack and nbc news can't verify either side's claim but certainly the e ukrainians' claim that is a russian attack makes sense. it stops ukrainian forces from going into russian-occupied territory. there's a bridge that runs over the dam, and that's the only way over dnipro. it's a very strategic point to top the ukrainians from crossing over there are also some other major consequences, phillip. it's a vital water supply to the crimea, now there are concerns that people in crimea may not have water it also provides water upstream to the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that's used to cool the systems there. so there are obviously some concerns about that nuclear power plant. and of course depending on the

size of the breach, and it looks pretty big, there could be some substantial flooding downstream. that could even become catastrophic affecting infrastructure, people's homes and farms. so the ukrainians are saying that they are assessing the scale and the scope of the damage while they're figuring out what the next move is. phillip in. >> we will continue to monitor that thank you. today prince harry takes the stand in the high court of london, testifying against the tabloid publisher mirror group newspapers harry and others have accused it of hacking their phones and using other illegal methods to report stories they say outside of one incident they've apologized for they've only used documents and public statements and anonymous sources to legally report on harry

it has been 130 years since a top royal has testified in court. more wet weather for parts of the country angie lassman is tracking the storms in the forecast >> we have a couple spots we are watching for potentially heavy rain that could leave but interruptions to your plans. let's start in parts of the plains that's where we're looking for the flooding potential through the afternoon and evening hours tonight. we have a slight risk of flash flooding here in parts of oklahoma, extending into texas well as into new mexico. it does go into parts of colorado meanwhile, in new england we're unsettled as well with more rain working through. the cold front is going to leave us with not just the rain nearby but also the cool and even breezy conditions that we'll deal with through the rest of the day today and even into tomorrow by the time this is all said and done we coul charleston, montgo.

we'll see showers and thunderstorms possible from dallas to shreveport and that is a look at your forecast, guys back over to you >> angie, see you in a bit we're back in 60 seconds, as the sec takes on the biggest crypto challenger yet and the debt ceiling may have been lifted, but studenent loans weren't saved by the same bebell whwhat that t means for r borro, nextxt at that means fofor borro, nenext i use e this. febreze has a microchip to digitally control how much scent is released so it doesn't fade. ooh. does mine have a microchip? ...o.oh. febreze smsmells firstst-day frfresh for 5050 days. ththat is a shshockingly long timime. fefebreze alsoso has a refefl rereminder ligight... it even reminds you to refill it? so i never misiss a day of freshshness. your h home is so o fresh!

upgrade toto febreze p plug. ♪ this i is not justst deliver. ♪ this is knknowing evenen superhrheroes... cacan use a sisidekick. ♪ walgreens. i used to wait to run my dishwasheher 'til l it was supuper full. now— i r run it dailily. weekekdays— w weekends— you might think that's wasteful, but it's s no. even half f loads use e 80% leless water t than handwawas. savingng $130 on u utilities. cacascade. darare to dishh differerently. the sec has filed 13 charges against the world's largest kroit crypto currency exchange they accuse binance of showing a blatant disregard of federal law, including operating unregistered exchanges and misrepresenting trading

controls they are also accused of engaging in watch trading, meaning trading with themselves to artificially prop up prices of assets. binance responded saying in part that all user assets are safe a and secure thanks to the recently signed debt limit deal, student loan payments will be due again at the end of august this transition could be tough a lot of people have been relying on this relief for years. >> yeah, for at least three years at the very minimum. former president trump put it in place. now unfortunately t, it is bein taken back, part of the debt

ceiling deal in fact, house speaker kevin mccarthy has actually applauded the provision saying no longer can the biden administration use covid-19 or the pandemic as an excuse in this regard. biden agreeing that after more than three years it was time to cull a provision that has aided a whole lot of people and extended more than eight times since it was brought into effect back in march 2020 of course when the covid-19 pandemic really came out at that time less than 1% of qualifying borrowers had still been making, makingng paymements on their ededucation dedebt, but t cleae it's lesess ththan 1%, almost everyone was really making use of this. in fact, saving them about is $5 $15,000 in the time this had actually been in place as well very important to note, however, that joe biden's plan to f plane

forgive up to $20,000 is still before the supreme court once that does come into play, perhaps it will help people a whole lot. but one thing's for sure when september comes, which is when these loans are then back in play, a lot of consumers may not necessarily enjoy the tough time that will come from it. >> wow very different from the summer that they're having and the fall that stands. >> it's been three years you never know might not be budgeting for that at this point. a summer travel guide just in time for pride month. the best countries to visit for a lgbtq-friendly trip. >> andnd the countntries with h caveveats. >> a and the couountr cacaveats. upupplement..... toto daily digigestive supupp. toto more wellllness solututs every day.y. get morore with natature's bou. want a a smarter w way to mo? intrtroducing ththe new swiffer popowermop, an all-i-in-one cleaeaning tol with hundrdreds ofof scrubbingng strips that a absorb and d lock dirt y

for a mop p and bucketet clen in half ththe time. mop smarteter with thehe new swswiffer powewermop. from prorom dressess toto workoutss anand new advevent res you hohope the morore you ge the leless they'll miss. bubut even if f your teen ns vaccinateded agaiainst meningngitis in thtt they may b be missing g vaccinan for memeningitis b b. althoughgh uncommon,n, up t to 1 in 5 s survivors f memeningitis w will have long term m consequencnces. now w as you're thinkining at all ththe vaccineses your tn mighght need mamake sure yoyou ask yourur r ifif your teenen is missinig memeningitis b b vaccinatit. how white e do you thihink yourur teeth reaeally are? let's s try the titissue tes. ooofof, still yeyellow. whwhitening totoothpaste can onlyly do so mucuch. therere's tootothpaste whih, anand there's crest 3d3d whititestrips whwhite. so much whwhiter! crcrest. whwhat's ththe #1 retininol bd used m most by derermatologis? it's neutrogena® rarapid wrinklkle repair® smooths s the look o of

fine l lines in 1-1-week, deepep wrinkles s in 4. so you c can kiss wrinkleses goodbye!! neneutrogena® [stomachch growling]g] it's notothing... soununds like sosomething. ♪when youou have naususea, hearartburn, indndigestion♪ ♪upupset stomacach, diarrheh♪ pepto o bismol coats anand soothess for fast relieief when you needed it most.. who says y you can't go f for bold? wiwithout goining broke.... geget the branands you wana, the e prices youou want, geget the branands you wana, wheneverer you want.t. tj maxaxx. where yoyou can alwaways afd toto be you toto the maxx..

hi, i'm totodd. i'm a a veteran ofof 23 year. i servrved three o overseas to. i lolove to giveve back toto the commumunity. i i offer whatat i can whwhen i can.. i started d noticing my memorory was slipipping. i saw w a prevagenen commercl and d i did someme research h . i i started tataking prevavn ababout three e years ago.. i fefeel clearerer in my thoho, my memorory has imprproved and gegenerally jujust morere on point.t. prprevagen. atat stores evevee without t a prescripiption. since we're almost a week into pride month, let's take a look at a lgbtq-friendly summer travel guide malta, canada and switzerland are ranked the best three

countries to visit for their commitments to protecting queer rights like same-sex marriage and adoption laws. so if you're itching to grab an international flight this year or a really fun activity is the jasper pride ski festival in the canadian rockies >> mm. all right. so a lot of destinations out there. if you're not looking to grab your passport, can you make summer visits to states like california, new york, washington and colorado they were named the most lgbtq-friendly in the united states there is still some time to book trips, especially for iconic parades on june 25th you got the pride flags flying all in 30 rock >> do >> you do not forget it's important to celebrate and protect queer rights all yearlong the guide also listed places to

avoid. indonesia. saudi arabia, iran and afghanistan topped the list as the most hostile places, urging the lgbtq community these are not safe countries to visit because of criminal sentences ranging from fines to the death penalty. avoid those places they're very threatened by what you got going on >> all through 30 rock, pride is universal. just very powerful when we come back,k, angngie looks at parts of the e country facicing air quauality alertrts rising t tems. quauality alertr rising t tems. ♪ thisis is livingng the caree in heaealthcare. ♪ walgreens. ♪ on your r period, sudden g gushes happppen. say y goodbye gugush fears!! thananks to always ultltra thins..... with r rapiddry tetechnology.. that absbsorbs two t times fas. hellooo clclean and cocomforta. alwaysys. fearar no gush..

my mosost importanant kitchen totool? my b brain. my mosost importanant kitchen totool? soso i choose e neuriva plpl. unlike somome others,, neuriva a plus is a a multitar supportiting 6 key i indicas of b brain healtlth. to h help keep m me sharp. of b brain healtlth. neururiva: thinknk bigger. (t(tap, tap) liststen, your d deodorant just hasas to work.. i use sesecret alumiminum fre. jujust swipe a and it lasts all l day. secretet helps eliliminate od, ininstead of j just maskining. and hoururs later i stilill smell frfresh. secrcret works.. ohohhh yesss.. ready to s shine frfrom the insnside out? say y “yes” to naturere's bouy advanceded gummies and jelllly beans. the nunumber one b brand for r hair, skinin and nail. withth two timeses more biotn to bringng out moree of youour inner bebeauty. get morere with nanature's bou. i used t to pre-rinsnse dishshes cause m my old detetet didndn't actualllly get 'em cl. bubut new cascscade platininums has meme doing g dishes...d.differentl. scrub? soaoak? nopepe. i justst scrape,e, load a and i'm m done. only plalatinum plusus is bigigger...

with doublble the dawnwn greae fightingng power and double the scrubbing power. soso you can l load this,, and get this. i'm not the e type to brbreak ththe dish rulules...or amam? scrape, loload, done.. new cascscade platininum plu. dare to o dish diffeferently. we're e going to h have rereal fun tododay, lane.. did you u guys rememember cacareer day l last year?? yes! lane h hartzel came as s a hershey'y's tastste tester.. well, i totold hersrshey about t that. atat hershey, , we have ouour nt taste tetester. yoyou're greatat lane! seeing t the way thahat hershes hahas really j just kind o f embracaced lane..... and mamade the dreream of beig a tataste testerer come true, has just r really beenen excit. ththere's a jojob for everere anand a purposose for everery. you justst got to fifind it. thank k you, lane!e! ♪ do you struggle with occasional nerve aches in your hands or feet?! try nervive nerve relief from the world's number one nerve care company. nervive contains ala to relieve nerve aches, and b-complex vitamins to fortify healthy nerves. try nervive. and, try nervive pain relieving roll-on.

lactaid d is 100% rereal mil, just witithout the l lactose. delicicious too. jujust ask my y old friendnd, . nothing lilike enjoyining a cole while wawatching thehe game. who's winning?g? we are, mymy friend. we are. febreze! hatete it when a a car frfreshener hitsts you with h an overwheheg blast of p perfume? febreze e car ventnt clips work diffeferently. febrezeze gives yoyou consnsistent frereshness that startrts just rigight and ststays just r right... ...f.for 40 daysys. upgrade e to febrezeze car. welcome back the fires burning in parts of canada and quebec specifically leaving us with smoke over parts of the country and the ozone to teal with. 72 million at risk for the unhealthy risk 85 degrees in minneapolis.

sioux falls into the low 90s and temperatures across new england and the northeast a whole lot cooler than that 60s for folks there. a tale of two kinds of temperature trends >> it's incredible to see those rising temperatures in the midwest like that. >> angie, thank you. >> angie, thank you. after th [ae break,k, hse]e brea of h how a group of f fishermen w were sav. a group ofof fishermenen were sav. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ so i i didn't ththink i needd swiffefer. until... i saw hohow easily it pickeked up my hahair! every titime i drieded it! itit only takekes a minutet. look a at that! the heavy-y-duty clothths are exextra thick!k! for r amazing trtrap and loc, evenen for his h hair. wow. anand for dustst, i love my heavyvy-duty dustster. the flfluffy fiberers trapap dust on c contact,

upup high and d all aroundnd wt having to o lift a thihing. i'm so h hooked! swiffefer. so wow!w! so wororth it. man:n: i'm m not slowining dodown anytimeme soon. ththat's s why i takeke osteo bibi-flex everery day. man:n: i'm m not slowining dodown anytimeme soon. it's clinicically shownwn to improveve joint comfort t in 7 days,s, and contininues to improve e over time.e. kikinda like u us. ososteo bi-flelex. bebecause i'm made t to move. kikinda like u us. a rescue at sea miles off the jersey shore it was a close call for a group of men whose boat capsized over the weekend. but as luck would have it, they were saved by a captain and his crew who were only a couple hundred feet away.

we have more on the group effort ha that saved lives >> reporter: four men tossed overboard whe over overboard when their boat flipped. bobby quinn and other boaters nearby saw it happen late sunday morning. >> he's going to go down >> reporter: some seven miles off the coast of long branch >> just jumped into action to try to save a life >> reporter: quinn is the captain of the ocean explorer, a fishing and cruise boat based in be bellemare. >> got our man overboard ladder out. three were pretty good, they swam right to the ladder and we got them out >> reporter: they were not wearing life jackets >> they were down in the cabin >> they need to be immediately available, which means out on tech and life jackets for everybody should be readily available. all children have to wear life jackets. >> reporter: captain quinn says

they were well prepared for a scenario like this as an inspected vessel, they do man overboard drills with the coast guard every year >> you got to practice these situations you got to be ready for anything to happen out here because thank god i was there. >> reporter: safely aboard, the rescued men got dried off. the captain says they were fine soon after that. >> i gave them food, soda, fishing poles, they caught fish the rest of the day. >> reporter: their boat left submerged in the ocean but this unforgettable day at sea wasn't a total loss. >> they went home with a giant bag of fish at the end of the day. >> thanks to ted greenburg the smiles say it all. they have smiles along with it and that's the best outcome. >> the most terrifying thing one of the most being lost at sea hethere. a miami dolphins player has paid it forward.

14-year-old xavier jones from st. louis walked two and a half hours and made it in time to the nfl, and xavier was given an electric bike. he got his family a new mini van. he said let's keep spreading the love and positivity. he is absolutely doing that. >> on top of that, harris stowe was able to give him a scholarship. what dedication does this kid have for middle school graduation to walk all those

can they beat trump? the field of gop presidential contenders gets even more crowded.

>>