a tense weekend in russia sends shockwaves throughout the world. what we know about the armed mercenaries that marched on moscow, and how the u.s. is reacting harrowing moments on the high seas. passengers open up about a freak storm that tossed and turned their cruise ship. massive consumer alert to tell you about before you start your car why over a million hondas were hit with a recall. >> it's part of our daily lives. and now the cell phone gets its

recognition as part of the museum of natural history. and a grizzly sight to behold for some california residents. the bears making themselves at home a little closer than some would like it's monday, june 26th "early today" starts right now >> good morning. i'm frances rivera. >> and heim jessica layton the leader of the infamous wagner mercenary group staged perhaps the most serious challenge ever to vladimir putin's grip on power. yevgeny prigozhin and his men marched on moscow friday in an armed rebellion that putin slammed as a betrayal and a stab in the back. but prigozhin backed down on saturday, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed in russia. prigozhin has accepted exile in neighboring belarus, a close ally of russia >> a pivotal part of the war in ukraine until he turned on his master, claiming the kremlin

elite had lied to the public about its reasons for invading here to break it down is richard lui. >> good morning to you, frances. once you learn the detail of this group, it's pretty clear why vladimir putin does not want the lose them. there are three major military forces at putin's disposal the largest group, the regular russian army, about 850,000, many of them being national minorities coming from poor areas and regions that russia has annexed recently the second force is the chechen military force, believed to be in the thousands russian state media saying some 12,000, for instance, gathered to deploy to ukraine at one point. and the wagner group itself. it's the only private military force, at its height estimated to be up to 50,000 the u.s. national security council spokesperson saying four out of five of this group are russian convicts okay that's today

but here's how it started. in 2014, wagner made its name with the annexation of crimea from ukraine and the founder, yevgeny prigozhin, denied his association with this group for years. even filing lawsuits against groups that made such claims then last year, he had a change of heart for some reason he openly became the face of this private military group, including direct social media postings by him as he recruited at jails and more. the headquarters at st. petersburg, and interestingly here, this is despite a law that prohibits private military groups in russia now prigozhin's anti-russian efforts don't stop there they include control farms to interfere with u.s. elections. the u.s. designating wagner as a criminal organization officially here is secretary of state antony blinken. >> keep in mind, both individuals are responsible for terrible acts committed against the ukrainian people also in the case of wagner, in

country after country in africa, wherever wagner goes, death and destruction and exploitation follow >> that exploitation he is talking about includes conflict in libya as well as central african republic and includes extorting natural resources in other african countries. and analysts saying this group is specifically structured to help authoritarians conduct military operations without the typical government checks and balances, which is why putin favors wagner's existence, among other reasons. for one here, wagner casualties can be omitted from official russia casualty death counts while the u.s. is estimating right now as much as 50,000 wagner casualties since just december, putin does not have to state those. other reasons wagner worked well for putin here, lower costs than regular troops it is in effect an aught torian's private army with fewer rules, which is why wagner forces can be brutal and have made brutality a major tactic to

increase their effectiveness so when we look, frances, taking all this into account, the balance of power in ukraine will shift in major ways when this private military contractor leaves the stage >> great perspective, richard. thank you. a source confirmed to nbc news on sunday that the group of congressional leaders known as the gang of eight were briefed on the situation in russia last week, while the intelligence at the time was not definitive, it did show that prigozhin had been planning a challenge to russia's military leaders >> also on sunday, the white house confirmed that president biden spoke on the phone with ukrainian president zelenskyy saying that the two leaders discussed ukraine's counteroffensive against russia, as well as the events taking place in their neighboring country. federal and local authorities in montana are investigating after a saturday bridge collapse and train derailment several train cars a areas hazardouous materialal fell inte yellowstonone river. itit's notot clear whehether the derailmentnt or ththe cocollapse happeneded f first

a spokesesman for momontana rail said an unspecified number of cars carrying molten sulfur and asphalt have been compromised. while there have been no reported negative impacts, close by cities including billings and laurel have suspended their water intake from the yellowstone river. a father and son outing turned into a tragedy at big bend national park authorities had warned against hiking in the afternoon at temperatures soared to 119 degrees saturday according to the national parks service, the 14-year-old boy passed out while hiking and ultimately died. his 31-year-old stepfather was looking for help for the boy when his vehicle veered off a path and he died in a crash. the deaths are under investigation. now to a freak accident at the san antonio international airport. officials confirming the shocking death of a ramp worker there who was sucked into and killed by a plane engine as a

delta flight was taxiing to a gate the worker was an employee of unify, a company delta has contracts with unify says its initial investigation shows this was unrelated to its safety policies federal authorities are also investigating. kansas city police responded to a mass shooting early sunday morning. a person of interest has been taken into custody after three people were killed and five more hospitalized police say the shooting happened when a large group gathered in a parking lot. meanwhile, police in ohio are investigating an alleged murder-suicide at a grocery store. authorities say a man entered a giant eagle and killed his ex-wife, who worked there. at the time of the shooting, there were more than 60 employees and 200 customers in the store. in stockholm, sweden, one person is dead and nine others are injured after a roller coaster at an amusement park derailed swedish media reports that the woman who died is in her 30s, and that three of the injure ready in serious condition the green grove is sweden's

oldest amusement park, and its famous jetline ride opened in 1988 and had a longer, steeper drop added in 1987 yesterday there was an apparent malfunction as the car jumped the tracks the park was evacuated after the incident, and it will be closed for at least a week while police investigate. passengers on a cruise ship in florida saw their vacation turn into a nightmare in the blink of an eye as they were hit by a freak storm before they were even able to set sail nbc's guad venegas has more. >> oh! >> reporter: tonight, passengers speaking out after these terrifying moments on a royal caribbean cruise ship, hit by a freak storm while departing from a port in florida as high winds turned furniture into projectiles. >> oh, my gosh >> reporter: you can see here a lounge chair falling from a top deck, smashing into a stroller below. the woman running away with a child in her arms.

the company says a sudden gust of wind slammed it during departure from port canaveral on june 16th. passenger general center stancil was in the middle of the chaos >> chairs started flying, towels started flying, people started scrambling it happened so quick >> those chairs are flying. >> reporter: royal caribbean says no one was seriously injured. >> i'm still going to cruise i still love it. >> oh my god, that guy fell. >> reporter: a freak storm putting passengers in danger and casting a shadow over a sunny summer vacation. guad venegas, nbc news, miami. >> wow they are lucky that nobody was seriously hurt well, we've got severe storms on the east coast, and dangerously hot temperatures in the south. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is here keeping an eye on everything for us michelle, good morning >> good morning to you both. happy monday we continue to see that same pattern with severe storm.

we're going to see damaging winds, really heavy downpours, large hail, even a chance of a few tornadoes. also watching that heatwave continuing in the south with temperatures soaring in the triple-digits. so this is a big picture we have an area of low pressure that's spinning over the great lakes. that's bringing in a cold front that's going to move through parts of the mid east through the midatlantic to the southeast. to the south a high pressure that's a heat pump really, bringing the heat off the gulf also some moisture there too so we're going to see temperature soaring into the triple-digits. it's going to feel like 110 to 120 in many, many spots once again. let's start with the severe weather risk major cities along the east coast, philly, d.c., richmond down to raleigh. winds gusting over to 65 miles per hour even a chance of a few tornadoes. heavy, heavy downpours we had this yesterday. could see over 4 inches in some spots and really high heat in the south.

parts of the midatlantic. temperatures into the 80s and 90s. also watching the chance for some severe storms this afternoon. all right, guys. we're going track the storms we'll track the heat and look at the rest of the forecast for the week in just a bit. >> thank you, michelle after the break, the recall affecting over a million h hond. and d the nanatural hihisto museumum dials up p a new exhih, all about t cell phonenes. ♪♪ get odor-f-free eieight hour p protectionn from mosququitoes and d tics without ththe ick. zevo o on-body repepellent. people lovove it. bugsgs hate it.. ♪ ♪ people lovove it. irresistibibly smooth h chocol. to put thehe world on n paus. lindndor. madede to melt y you. by thehe lindt masaster chocolo. my most t importantt kikitchen toolol? my brarain. so i i choose neneuriva plus.

ununlike some e others, so i i choose neneuriva plus. neuriva plplus is a mumultitar supportingng 6 key indndicas neuriva plplus is a mumultitar of brarain health.h. to helelp keep me e sharp. of brarain health.h. neuriviva: think b bigger. goodod checkup?? no, , great chececkup! [laughs] nanailed it agagain! keepep up the gogood work! for greaeat checkupsps, crest hahas you covevered becae crest pro-o-health prorotects % ofof your moututh for 24 h ho. lolook, ma! nono cavities!! crcrest. honda is recalling nearly 1.2 million vehicles in the u.s. over issues with the rear view camera the problem was caused by a faulty cable connector which prevents the image from appearing on the display affected models include the 2018 to 2023 odyssey, the 2019 to 2022 pilot, and the 2019 to 2023 passport vehicles.

vehicles are expected to replace the faulty parts for free of charge and notification letters will be mailed to the affected owners few things have shaped our society quite as much as the cell phone the technology has earned its place in the museum of naturural history.y. hallie jackson has this report ♪ you used to call me on my cel phone ♪ >> reporter: the cell phone is part of our culture. >> who's calling >> zack morris. >> reporter: and now -- >> we are calling it iphone. >> reporter: part of our history, literally >> the natural history museum has dinosaur bones. >> yes. >> reporter: and rare jewels and ancient artifacts. and now the cell phone how does that fit? >> right so the mission of natural history is to understand nature and our place in it. thinking about the 21st century and the human experience in this present moment, the cell phone presents a fantastic opportunity to think about that. >> reporter: dr. joshua bell's the curator of this first of its kind exhibit at the

smithsonian's museum of natural history, open to all ages, but aimed at a younger audience that might not recognize this 750 items from more than 30 countries, from the first ever mobile model, it weighs two pounds, to classics like the razr and this old nokia. >> it really is my first cell phone. and the blackberry. >> wait, that is your first cell phone? >> it is. >> reporter: yes, there are elements of nostalgia, but also elements, like from the periodic table. 65 of them to make up the average smartphone represent heard in dozens of minerals. you have elements from madagascar, alaska >> it goes back to the tag line, when you hold the cell phone, you hold the world in your hand, litit literally and figurative >> eveveryone isis part of t thy of the cell phone. >> reporter: and an education, helping us all feel a little more connected >> he gave me a c minus.

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we are back with the high school seniors who gave their former kindergarten teach area surprise she'll never forget and even more touching reunions to start your week off with a smile. jose diaz-balart recaps these special moments. >> surprise! >> oh, my gosh >> reporter: this is a moment kindergarten teacher adrien evans will cherish forever >> what in the world >> reporter: that's her on the right, stepping outside near sacramento, shocked to see some of their former students last month. >> i love you all so much. oh, my gosh, look at you. >> reporter: they visit before graduating high school to say

thank you to a teacher who changed their lives. >> wow, you guys that's so fun! >> reporter: in boston, another joyful reunion, this one in massachusetts general hospital that's 20-year-old collin conner, who just finished his last treatment for cancer. his friends cheering him on with hug after hug after hug. on new york's long island, there was this special surprise. >> we have someone special. >> reporter: see those kids holding american flags that's samantha and nicholas zitto at their school field day last week. then this happened look, they spot their dad, staff sergeant nicholas zitto, and run to him, jumping into his arms. he surprised them after serving

overseas for a year. >> what's up, guys how you? i missed you >> shannon, you're shannon, right? >> reporter: and this is the moment that deserves a standing ovation. >> so come up here with me right now. >> reporter: that's country music star luke bryan, calling fan shannon to join him on stage at his concert last week his team helped arrange the whole thing. luke starts singing a song with her. then this happens. [ cheering ] >> shannon's husband, sergeant jeff dorvey walks out on stage, returning home after serving in africa for a year. you can see how emotional it was for both of them was it like time was going at 100 miles per hour and frozen at the same time? >> yes, yep. and i was like are you here right now and this is happening?

>> everybody was so positive about it and welcoming. >> we'll be able to hold on to that moment for the rest of our lives. >> yes >> and our thanks to jose for that report. when it comes to reunions like this and recoveries like that, i mean, just the tear. >> every monday. what are you guys doing to us? every single monday, those military reunions, those home comings are always tear jerkers. >> never gets old. >> those kids, look at them jumping into their dad's arms. up next, michelle has the forecast for the week ahead. keep it right here on "early today. - fine. - i always wondered what it would be like to have a tail. - maybe you did one time. and maybe a thousand years from now, i'll be tail-less using that chewy app to get you great prices on treats. - i'm pretty sure it takes more than a thousand years- - vase. - pets aren't just pets. they're more. - vase! - [announcer] save more on what they love with everyday great prices at chewy.

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lindndor. madede to melt y you. by thehe lindt masaster chocolo. black bear sightings have become common in california, and now residents of a burbank neighborhood are on edge after seeing unwanted wildlife on their properties jake ward has more details on the recent bear encounters >> reporter: in one california neighborhood, some big visitors are lumbering by more frequently this summer. black bears. native across forests in north america, now creeping into neighborhoods like this one in

burbank, california, putting some residents on edge >> i went in the kitchen to put something on the table i turn around, and the bear is right there. >> reporter: diana rio says she recently came face-to-face with a bear staring at her through her glass patio door that was cracked open i just froze and i slowly backed up and closed the door. but that's too close for comfort. >> reporter: of course, it's humans moving into animal neighborhoods that are the real problem. habitat loss has contributed to a 69% loss of wildlife population since 1970. >> rp reporting that the neighbor was being attacked by a bear. >> reporter: an adult male black bear mauled 60-year-old steven jackson to death in arizona. >> he was the happiest guy he only cared about making people happy and live aggregate life for himself. >> reporter: neighbor david montano grabbed his gun and killed the bear but it was too late. >> i saw further down the hill, the bear was there and i got his attention, and i shot him and the bear rolled off of

steven >> reporter: officials are calling it an unprovoked attack. >> i can't really address why he did -- why the bear attacked i did not find anything unusual about this bear. >> reporter: conservation officials emphasize black bears generally will leave humans alone. and if they get too close, loud noises will usually scare them away. >> i don't think we're likely to be, from what she saying about bear behavior, it's highly unlikely that they will come after us. >> reporter: a reminder, bears walking down the street are still wild >> it's their world. we're just living in it. >> our thanks to jake ward for that record. new pictures from nasa show the red planet in all the colors of the rainbow this morning. these photos come from nasa's maven project. ultraviolet photos of mars during the summer and winter season the blueish shows the martian south pole along with the deepest craters. the purple picture shows the

north pole that is the planet's ozone, which gets destroyed in the spring and because it's the rainbow, it must know that it has been pride month here in the u.s. >> and with that lavender haze, there must be some martians who are taylor swift fans too. it is beautiful, and humans may one day call it home so we'll take it thanks for watching "early today" on and mo i'm frances rivera. >> and

a dramatic weekend in russia after what might be the serious challenge to vladimir putin's power. our correspondents around the world break down what comes next and what the u.s. has to sayay abouout it whatat statarted as s a brie collllapse is s now a major environmental concern. an investigation is under way while cities halt water intake from the yellowstone river a different contaminant is spreading in california's waters where an