breaking overnight. shake-up.urt president trump officially nominating conservative judge brett kavanaugh to replace retiring justice anthony kennedy. now it's all eyes on the senate as the fight for his confirmation gets under way. rushing towards the final rescue, divers set out on the last leg of the daring mission to free the remaining boys trapped in a thailand cave. it's the last straw for starbucks. the coffee chain is planning to fully phase out plastic straws in an ambitious environmental effort. a different kind of royal wedding. drag queens storm the aisle at n scottish cy in a hilarious ceremony going viral this morning. "early today" starts right now.

good to be with you. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm p mena. breaking overnight, president trump has officially made his pick for the next supreme court justice. >> it is my honor and privilege to announce that i will nominate judge brett kavanaugh to the united states supreme cot. [ applause ] >> a white house offial tells nbc news president trump called kavanaugh sunday night to tell him he was the nominee to replace retiring justice anthony kennedy. during his remark, kavanaughan d the president and said his philosophy is that a judge must be independent. >> i will keep a open mind in every case, and i w alays strive to preserve the constitution of the united states and the amerile of law. >> brett kavanaugh's appointment won't come without a fight. hundreds protested outside the supreme court after theno cement, including several democratic lawmakers who pledged to block kavanaugh's confirmation. nbc justice correspondent pete williams with more on

kavanaugh's career. pete, good morning. >>fr ces, in brett kavanaugh, president trump has chosen someone who would move the court to the right, and based on his background, add some diversity. with maximum drama in prime time, president trump announced the nomination and praised brett kavanaugh as a solid coervative. >> judge kavanaugh has impeccable credentials, unsurpassed qualifications, and a proven commitment to equal justice under the law. a judge must be independent. interpret the law, not make the law. a judge must interpret statutes asritten, and a just must interpret the constitution as written. informed by history and traditionnd precedent. >> reporter: more than any of the others on the president's ort list,rett kavanaugh knows his way around washington. he grew up in nearby mwhyland e his mother was a state court judge, graduated from yale and yale law and was a supreme

court law clerk for justice anthony kennedy 25 years ago at the same timeis fellow kennedy clerk neil gorsuch who was put on the supreme court by president trump last year. kavanaug met kenneth starr during a justice department fellowship and became a key staff member when starras t independent counsel investigating t investigating the white water and monica lewinsky scandals. he became a white house counsel and top aide to george w. bush and met his wif w ashlele working in the white house. they have two daughters. president bush nominatedva ugh to the federal appeals court in washington, d.c. at his senate confirmation hearin democrats said he was too partisan. >> you could not think of anotheromination given mr. kavanaugh's record more designed to divide us. >> after theha hearing about senator, my mom said to me, thinke really respects you, as only a mom can.

>> reporter: he was confirmed 57 a6. he's been judge for 12 years and says w the yearsh bush made him a better one. in a 2009 law retiew e, he said that experience convinced him that presidents n should be subjected to lawsuits or criminal investigations whilen office, but said congress should change the law to emovide that ion. republicanen leaders in thee had told the president that kavanaugh might be harder to get through confirmation because of his extensive paper trail as a judgeh in the b administration and working for kenneth starr. president trump apparently believes kavanaugh is worth the trouble. frances? >> we will see. pete, thank you. hopes are highn in north thailand as the third round of rescue operations are under way to free the last four boys and their soccer coach trapped in the cave for 18 days now. relief is finally setting in with the eight of the boys now out of the dark. the thai navy s.e.a.l.s expressed their joy on social

media, writing hoo-ya, and the families of the boys can finally smile. the last remaining boys could be out today if all goes as planned. nbc's dan schenamen has more o the ongoing rescue. >> reporter: four more members of a youthe soccer team w pulled from a flood cave in a rescueround o operations in thailand. the 12 boys and their coach were trapped in the cave for two weeks. four were rescued over the weekend. four more wereushed to a hospital. four boys and their coach remained inside the cave. officials say medical evaluations of the boys will like t take three five boys, but could take as long as seven. the eight already oen have not be named.e most recent glimpses of the groupwe sho them to be in good irits. the first issues doctors will be looking for are dehydration and malnutrition. e hospitalized boys are being kept in isolation due to fear ot

inn. rescue crews are replacing oxygen canisters along the route out of the flooded cave before trying to extract the remaining five people trapped inside. the canisters are placed strategically throughout theca es route which is about two and a half miles long. inside, one final push so this 17th night inal and for the world's most watched soccer team. da schenamen, nbc news. >> an update on the eight bs already rescued as thai officials say the boys' first words were reportedly "i miss rome." the first f boys finally got to see their families, but from a distance. all eight remain in quarantine due to risks of infection. officials say they are in good health, b could be in the hospital for at least a week. nbc's matt bradley is live in he thailand with latest on their condition., maood morning. >> good morning, frances. as you mentioned, those eight boys are in the hospital that is right behind me here. i told y a little while ago about the status of the eight boys released.

we're about four hours into what authorities here are hoping is the final real rescue 'soperati. th for the last four of those boys and their soccer coach. but there is actually nine people who a in that cave. that's because they've been spending time with three navys. a.l.s and a doctor w have en squatting with them, sitting with them, sleeping with them and waiting and makin sure they're okay until the last boy and their coach are out of that cave. now there is 19 divers whore going to be part of this rescue operation that started a little more than four hours ago, a a i mentioned, this has actually been going a lotst . it took 11 hours to rescue the first four boys. it too t nine hou rescue the second four boys. authorities are hoping to do it very fast again for this third attempt. however, because there are more, because there is actually nine people in this cave now, they're expecting it might take a little bit longer. but we're going to know in a hours. of so as you guys mentioned, there is a lot of optimism here. but really, we're not out of the

woods yet, frances. >> all right. certainly a lot to watch, matt. thank you. high drama in london. st days before president trump is set to visit, prime minister eresa may's government is rocked by two major departures. the rignations of foreign secretary boris johnson and brexit secretary david davis. both men quit over divisions on how hard to break with the european union and how close economic ties should remain after the uk leaves next year. the prime minister has already named new foreign secretary. the u.s. government is struggling toreunite migrant children separated at the mexican border. about 40 young childn will not be reunited with their parents today. that's despite a coued ord deadline. a federal judge has agreed to extend today's deadline to the government to reunite 2 grant children under the age of five who are separated from thei parents under president trump's zero tolerance policy. the justice department attorney says some parents hde been h to track down, but expects 54 of the migrant children to be reunited with their parents today.

he death tol has topped 120 in western japan's rord flooding, and that number could go even higher with nearly 60 people stillsi reported m and thousands of others waiting to be rescued. by monday evening,s truck began to pump water from deeply submerged areas and residents who evacuated from their homes as the hunt f more victims continued. prime minister shinzo abe canceled a trip to deal with his country's worst f in 30 years. here at home, it is hurricane season. there is some stuff o>> there. nd thankfully, we're not going to see anything close. i just retweed a video. it's just harpering. people in the water being rescued. it was crazy. go look more into that story. they're going to need a lot of help.ng tracchris, still a tropical storm. it's going to parallel the coast. we're not going to see anything besides currents and some of the waves and minor beach erosion. that's about thef worstit.

yesterday what was left did soak portions of puerto rico.ne at point we had 20 to 30,000 people without power, and we did ha some problem with the minor flooding. that is now located overcahe domirepublic. what's going to be interesting, as we track the next cple of day, it heads towards the bahamas and off the southeast coast. there is a 50 chancehis could regenerate into a tropical system, but it looks similar to chris, just safely off the coast. that's a look atig the weather story of the day. now here is a closer look at your day ahead. reso temperaare continuing to be very warm. humidity is about what you would expect for this time of year. so wsell have t afternoon pop-up showers and storms in louisiana and mississippi. still ver warm in the plain states. kansas city at 96 degrees. and it looks like the rest of the week is going to be hot too. more summer-like heat. >> a long july. >> sounds like mid-july. that's anright. you, bill. a new robot may be revolutionizing the world of plumbing. the japanese piper is made of nd

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certainly driver for 25 yearsti 2016 when the secret service took on the role for the presidential nominee. a spokesperson for the trump organization says he was paid accordance nd in with the law. after being buried alive for more than nine hours, a 5-month-old baby boy is in good condition and recovering at the hospitalal offi in missoula, montana say officials were called to the lolo hot springs. they questioned franc crowle he told them that a baby was buried somewhere in the woods. according to the sheriff's office, after six hours of searching, an officer heard the fat cry of a baby, and they were able to find the infant. police say crowley, the child's caretaker, has been arrested on criminal endangermentar ges. >> my goodness. youtube is investing in the war on take cnews. thpany has announced that $25 million will go toward highlighting stories and videos from what it calls authoritative sources. this is in an effort to counter

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you're going to do this, you know the risks. the daring acts can come with consequences. it's the annual running of the bulls. four runners were sent to thesp hoal after being knocked over or falling. reo suffe concussion. that brings the total number of those injured in this year's bull runo at least 13 people. >> that's how to do it, watch from the balcony there. take a few pictures. >> or just from tv. leave it all there. >> still can't believe people do that, but the thrill of it all it is the final straw for starbucks. the coffee chain is announced yesterday it is ditching its plastic straws in all of its to es by 2020 in an effort curb ocean pollution. other companies are taking similar steps including mcdonald's which is switching to paper straws in the uk and

ireland. nbc business correspondent jo ling kent has a look at what isn fuelling thironmental movement. >> reporter: the world's largest coffee chain phasing out its iconic green plastic straws by 2020, becoming the largest food and beverage company to make the move. the major change comes amid mounting pressure from environmental groups, sparked by this viral video of a sea turret well a straw stuck in its nose. an estimated 500 million single use straws are use and discarded in the u.s. every day. but experts say it's difficult to recycle them. to replace straws, starbucks has alreadyolled out a clear strawless lid, and will soon offer compostable options for forgotten beverages like frappuccinos it's not the only business valspar championsh scrapping them. mcdonald's is testing new paper straws overseas. and in new york hecity, bar porch light has implemented a straws on request policy. >> straw usage is decreasing

industry-wide. people are really starting to pay attention to it. >> reporter: at least 28 cities are limiting or banning plastic straws all together. malibu, california ditched them last month. >> it's the fifth most popular thing that you'll find abandoned on our aches, and they get into the ocean. it was the next step in our natural progression to rlly clean up our environment. >> reporter: across america, substitutes for plastic straws are more popular like paper, compostable plastic, even for restaurants and bars, it's far from the last straw. jo ling kent, nbc news, new york. . i need to shave my a1c. weekends are my time. i need an insulin that fits my schedule.ba ♪ tresi ready ) (announc tresiba® is used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes.us don'tresiba® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar,f oru are allergic to any of its ingredients. don't share needles or insulin pens. dot reuse needles. the most common side eff,t is low blood sugar

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news 4 today starts now. >> it is my honor and privilege that will nominate brett kavanaugh to the united states supreme court.

>> after days of speculation and debate, president trump announces brett kavanaugh for the supreme court. a historic event ha will dominate the conversation of today. c this morning, we have completech of the nomination of brett kavanaugh, including his local ties. >> we want to begin with the forecast and your commute. the heat is coming back. >> hope it is. today is going to be a hot one. >> bac in the 90s. not that atypical. but wne can get below 90, that is the weather i like better. today, in the 90s, for sure. yesterday morning, everybody away from gtwash, annapolis, in the 50s.