because that matters. it's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice. former white househo adviser hicks to testify on capitol hill later today as the acting secretary of defense ipushed out and the president wakes up in florida after kick off his 2020 re-election rally in orlando. > >>a billion-dollar cocaine bust the third largest in history new detailthis morning on the philly port arrests. a dramatic day in court for a u.s. navy s.e.a.l. on trial for war cres with the prosecutors themselves coming under fire as the special ops team member's wife stands by his side parents behaving badly this time the adults taking over the field as fists were flying during a youth baseball game and dog lovers everywhere are debating a new study over

those endearinlooks called puppy dog eyesay "early tod" starts right now good to kick off your wednesday with you i'm frances rivera the fight for 2020 is officially under way. president trump declared his re-election bid in front of a raucous crowd inan o thousands of supporters greeted the news with cheers but the city's papast so kind the "orlando sentinel" released their 2020 endorsement early, narrowing the field down to "not donald trump." that's not the only sign of trouble for mr. trump in the battleground state according to a newuinnipiac poll, as of now six democrats would beat him in florid joe biden is polling a full 9% ahead of him nbc's trie potts joining us with the latest from d.c both sides are already throwing onnches. >> no questi about that, phillip. good morning, everyone so president trump in announcing his re-election campaign talked policy, but he really went in

hard on politics escially those top democrac opponents like joe biden and bernie sanders >> rememr the statement from the previous administration? you'd need a magic wand to bring ck manufacturing well, we'll tell sleepy joe that we found the magic wand. more tha120 democrats in congress have also signed up to support crazy bernie sanders' socialist government takeover of health care. >> reporter: well, democrats were quick to acre including democratic candidate bernie sanders. not impressed with the president's speech before this owd. >> that was certainly something. an hour and a half speech of lies, distortions, and total absolute nonsense. that is quite xperience. >> reporter: and take a look here'she reaction from what righnow is the front-runner for the democrats,oe biden, calling out the president on

fake news saying that's pretty much everything the president does not want to hear. so he wants to make sure that the real facts are on the record when it comes to this -election. now, the president heads back to washington today, where the big focus on capitol hill will be private testimony by former white house communicions director hope hicks. she is expected to be asked by democrats whether she was ever asked to lie by president trump and pressed on questions o obstruction of justice by the way, a white house lawyer will be sitting with her in that testimony. back to you. >> all right tracie potts leading us off this morning. tracie, thank you. pandemonium in the pentagonr this mng after another shake-up at the defense department acting secretary patrick shanahan is on his way out, g thdrawins nomination to head up the pentagon after allegations of past domestic violence surfaced. secretary of the ay mark esper will now take over as acting defense chief amid-escalating tensions with tehran nbc's peter alexander has more

>> reporter: president trump speaking out about the sudden departure of his acting defense secretary patrick shanahan >> it's a difficult time for pat. but he's going to take a lite time o for family service and and for working things out >> reporter: the abrupt exit comes just as "usa today" reports the fbi has been examining a violent domestic dispute from 2010 between shanahan and his then wife kimberly as part of a ckground investigation where both claimed to police they had been punched by the other shanahan, a former boeing executive, told "usa today" "i never laid a hand on my then wife." and the "washington post" reports there was anothe ir domesticident in 2011, this time between kimberly and the couple's then 17-year-old son, lliam. the "post" reports the teenager used a baseball bat to brutally beat his mother, leaving her unconscious with a fractured skull. two weeks later shanahan sent a memo arguing his son acted in -d selfense, writing "will's mother harassed him for nearly 3

hours before the incident. shanahan now telling the "post", "i have never believed will's attack on his mother was an act of self-defense or justified doi t believe violence appropriate ever." in a statement saying continuing in the formati process could wo force my three children to relive a traumaticlyhafrptd in our fami's life. their safety and well-being is my highest priority. the president saying he just learned of the incidents monday andefending the white house vetting process. >> we have a great vetting process. but this is something that came up a little bit over the last he short period of time and as you know, pat was acting. and so acting gives you much greater flexibility, a lot easier to do things. >> reporter: president truvi now mo on to his thirds pentagon chief in six months, tapping army secretary mark esper as acting defense aecretary at critical moment amid tensions with iran whom the u.s. accus of a series of attacks on oil tankers but in a new interview the president's downplaying them, saying "so far it's been very

minor. >> our thankers to pet alexander for that report. breaking news this morning out of the mdle east police in iraq say a rocket landed near the city of basra near the headquarters of several major oicoanies. authorities say two iraqi workers were wounded when a short-range missile landed near an operations center used by exxonmob exxonmobil there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. it is one of the largest drugusts in u.s. history federal authorities seizing over $1 billion worth of cocaine. that's nearly 17 tons found hidden in cargo ships in a port in philadelphia. it is the alarming sign of a cocaine comeback in america. nbc's pete williams has the latest >> reporr: hidden on this ship docked in philadelphia federal agents say was a huge stcocaine containers just over 17 tons of it with a street val krewe, u.s. officials say, of over $1 billion. court documents say crew members have told investigators that the

drugs were loaded onto the ships from boats while it was under way, then stuffed into some of it may have been intended for sale in the u.s., investigators say, but most was to be shped on to europe it's the third lar.sst u. cocaine seizure in history, another sign that cocaine is making aomeback. just three months ago drug agents found nearly two tons on a ship in the port of new york and new jerseyt >> ies show that cocaine is a threat, it is coming back to us and what we're seeing, we're noticing now is that we see e mixture between cocaine and fentanyl on the streets. >> reporter: for now that ship in philadelpa isn't goin anywhere members of the crew are under arrest, charged with drug traffickg. frances. >> pete williams for us. pete, thank you. a dramatic day in court for a navy s.e.a.l. on trial for alleged war crimes special operations chief edwari gallagher accused of murdering a prisoner and shooting unarmed civilians in iraq it's a case that's even caught the attention of president trump himself. here with the latest is nbc's guel almaguer. >> reporter: on trial for war

crimes, special operations chief edward gallagher is facing the fight of his life. the highly decorated navy s.e.a.l. platoon leader stands charged with murdering a wounded isis fighter captured in mosul, iraq in 2017 andti with shoong two unarmed civians, a school-age girl and an elderly man, from a sniper's nest. who prosecutors say posed no threat gallagher denying all charges. his wife standing by his side. >> the truth has always been our best defense we said from d t onet these allegations are shameless. >> reporter: with prosecutors ngking their openi arguments, a navy s.e.a.l. unr gallagher's command has said he watched the chief stab a teenage isis fighter to death who was already detained prosecutors presented the jury a photo of theli body, them gallagher texted friends the picture, saying "got him." but the defense arguing the navy s.e.a.l. didn't kill the captive, that he in fact treated his wounds >> the defense plan for the next days and weeks is to annihilate

the government's case, to show that these witnesses are lying >> reporter: prosecutors will argue gallagher, who served eight deployments, became unhinged members of his own platoon reporting him. the lead prosecutos justges. removed for tracking the defense team's e-mails, and they have little physical evidencegh with galla facing life in prisonthe president has m alluded he pardon service members convicted war crimes. >> our thanks to miguel almaguer for that report. now to the latest fallout in phoenix after police drew gu on a family and yelled profane comments, all because their 4-year-old aegedly stole a doll from a dollar store last night hundreds of concerned citizens attended a community meeting where the phoenix mayor and poce chief once again apologized for the incident. >> i'm deeply sorry for the events that led us here day. >> i do extend my apologies to the family who has gotten less than professional servicfrom the phoenipolice department as well as others of you here in the audience who may have gotten

less professional service. i know we're better than that. i know we can do better. >> so far no charges have been filed. the coupleis sui the city fo $10 llion, alleging the officers violated their civil rights an all-out brawlreaks out at a little league game in colorado fists were flying near home plate. police say the brawl was all over a call. parents getting upset after an umpi said one of the 7-year-olds batted out of order. police are now looking to i.d. the man in the white shirt and teal shorts seen knocking a guy to the ground. so far four people have been cited for disorderly conduct authorities in alabama are searching for n a mao they say was feeding meth to a squirrel sheriff's deputies in limestone county were serving an arrest warrant at mickey polk's apartment when they found a caged attack squirrel. deputies say they were informed he w feeding the animal meth to keep it aggressive. polk wasn't home but they arrested another man who was there, ronnie reynds, on drug

charges. the squirrel was rescued and released into a nearby wooded area strong storms are once again bringing heavy rain to the heartland. wichita, kansas was battered by a hailstorm, which is followed by fsh flooding. as vehicles became stranded in high water and conditis there came dangerous police were forced to barricade some roads and firefighters in louisville, kentucky shared this video of crews trying to remove a flooded car. the department reminding drivers to turn around when they see roads like this. >> let's say the water's going to keep on rising with more rain on the way here's nbc meteorologist bilodl karins morning >> good morning. it needs to stop raining, right? so many areas from oklahoma, texas to the east coast. dealing with rain pretty much every day it seems this spring now we're watching this line of severe thunderstorms we've had wind reports of 60 do 70 miles per hour inom oklah these storms are racing toward mcallister later on today we're going to do it all over again we're going to see new areas of storms even possibility of an enhanced rhys

frk dallas to fort worth that's where we could see some significant wind damage with storms and this whole region from little rock to nashville to paducah, lexington, louisville, everywhere has a chae to see some strong storms today that's a look at the big weather story of the day here's a closer look at your day ahead. we're also watching the flash flood threat continuing. we're going to see a new round of storms moving through the ohiobe valley. shouldn't s wet today in the mid-atlantic region as af lot o our flash flood watches will be expiring early this morning. e ohio valleys the concerns today for flark floodinsh flood. >> ed sheeran revealed the collaborators for his new project titled "number 6 collaborations project." he posted the star-studded track list on instagram which includes bruno mars, cardi b., justin bieber and a whole lot more. the "game of thrones" prequel is under way filminfor the pilot has begun in northern ireland, which also served as the production hub for the entire run of "game of

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and it gently fills the room; pausing when it's st right. experience essential mist. a group of fishermen got a great big surprise when they encountered a great whk e shar off of new jersey. they were fishing for much smaller sharks when this 16 to 18-footer was captured on camera it tooe k thbait but avoided the hook and swam off after a few minutes. yikes. now let's go over to frances with our special series "my big idea." >>ig we are chugging r along with these we are exactly one week away from the first 2020 democratic primary debate right here on nbc. and we're giving each candidate a chance to tell voters their big idea today former texas conessman beto o'rourke tells anbc's harr smith about his idea to fix voting in america.

>> we've got to fix our democracy,nsure it worksnd guarantee that every single one of us can be counted in to the solutions,tho the challenges at we face >> reporter: beto o'rourke, the viral media darling of the 2018 midterms he's taken the momentum of his almost successful challenge against senator ted cruz to mount anven more ambitious campaign >> iys count mf lucky to be one of the contenders. >> reporter: we met the former texas congressman in dallas. >> my idea is to ensure that we have a new voting rights act same day aten automatic vor registration we're in the process of gerrymandering whereby members oferongress choose their vot instead of the other way around. >> reporter: o'rourke also wants to get rid of pacs and big money in politics. >> as it sits right now that's not a bill that's going to get passed >> it is and i'll tell you why. because the issues that we're talking about are almost universally popular throughout the rest of the country. people want to have direct access to their representatives, their elected officials.

anything tt we want to do as a country is only made possible when our democracy works it's the greatest mechanism humankind has ever devised and we should be supporting it, fixing it and making sure it involves every single american in its success >> reporter: giving power back to the's people. beto o'rour's big idea. harry smith, nbc news, dallas. xtp, amy klobuchar talks about her big idea tonight on nbc "nightly news. and don't miss the first democratic debate in miami on june 26tand 27th on nbc, msnbc, and telemundo and with klobuchar just another democratic contenders here polling in single digits. they really need to do what they can to break out of the pack so my big idea and the debates they're hoping they can do that. >> yeah. we saw that collage of faces just now hard to differentiate. thks, frances. up next, why you can tell your boss that working one day a week is a perfect schedule so you can enjoy it even if you're sensitive.

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jerry seinfeld iros hitting ad again for an all new season of rs"comedians in ca getting coffee." the veteran funny man's netflix series returns next month. and now we know who ma the list to ride shotgun with jerry. joining seinfeld would be seth rogen, matthew broderick, jamie foxx, and the biggest name on the list, the reclusive eddie murphy seinfeld posted the yun coupcomg season's guest list on

friday july 19th y single one of those episodes seems like it's going to be amazing. >> it's the perfect length they're 20 to 30 minutes tops and he always has taa supersr on it or someone worth talking to >> and it's classic jerry in that car >> it's always good. here's one workoutur forwardingo yo boss. according to researchers at the university of cambridge, one day of work a ctek is the most effeive dose for improving your mental health t ey found no evidence tha working more than eight hours per week benefited your mental well-being but don't quit your job just yet. the study also indicated that working at least once week was better for mental health than unemployment all of that makes sense. no surprises there >> we're a lost cause, man we work six days a week a lot of times around here. mental health blown, shot right there. this might make it all better, though, especially if you ve dogs the surprising discovery about thosire sistible puppy dog eyes >> they owhath'rdog.kn wt eye in

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good morning i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm aun yang. how these shoes helped policepu a man in handcuffs. first, meteorologist chuck bell is tracking more storms. >> yes, indeed. a lot of puddle jumping today. high chances for rain. lower chances for thunderstorms today. but, strong storms are likely once again on your thursday. we'll time

now on news 4 today, caught on camera lighting up a lobby. more details about the suspected arsonist detectives are trying to find. starting today, an early childhood essential gets an important safety upgrade.

sitting in the safest possible h ihchair. cannot believe the momentum. i cannot believe the support. >> and success after the shutdown. five months a two furloughed government workers turned to baking to get by. they have an exciting update for us. >> announcer: news 4 today starts now. it's4:00 a.m., good morning, everybody i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. thlcome to wednesday. we're halfway ugh the week. we're getting there, right? to help you get going today, melissa mollet is standing by with your first four traffic. >> let's start with chuck bell. >> well, let's just say that baseball is going to be a little tricky to play today. >> uh-oh. >> right? get the game in last night? >> i don't know. >> oh. >> i know they didn't get it in the nit before last and we had more rain yesterday than the day