Puppy dog eyes early today starts right now good to kick off your wednesday with you im Frances Rivera and im phillip mena. The fight for 2020 is officially under way. President trump declared his reelection bid in front of a raucous crowd in orlando thousands of supporters greeted the news with cheers but the citys paper wasnt so kind the Orlando Sentinel released their 2020 endorsement early, narrowing the field down to not donald trump. Thats not the only sign of trouble for mr. Trump in the battleground state according to a new quinnipiac poll, as of now six democrats would beat him in florida. Joe biden is polling a full 9 ahead of him nbcs tracie potts joining us with the latest from d. C both sides are already throwing punches. No question about that, phillip. Good morning, everyone so President Trump in announcing his Reelection Campaign talked policy, but he really went in hard on politics especially those top democratic opponents like joe biden and Bernie Sanders remember the statement from the Previous Administration . Youd need a magic wand to bring back manufacturing well, well tell sleepy joe that we found the magic wand. More than 120 democrats in congress have also signed up to support crazy Bernie Sanders socialist government takeover of health care. Reporter well, democrats were quick to react, including democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. Not impressed with the president s speech before this crowd. That was certainly something. An hour and a half speech of lies, distortions, and total absolute nonsense. That is quite an experience. Reporter and take a look heres the reaction from what right now is the frontrunner for the democrats, joe biden, calling out the president on fake news saying thats pretty much everything the president does not want to hear. So he wants to make sure that the real facts are on thack to washington today, where the big focus on capitol hill will be private testimony by former White House Communications 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 of 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 pentagon this morning after another shakeup at the Defense Department acting secretary Patrick Shanahan is on his way out, withdrawing his nomination to head up the pentagon after allegations of past Domestic Violence surfaced. Secretary of the Army Mark Esper will now take over as acting defense chief amidescalating tensions with nbcs Peter Alexander has more reporter President Trump speaking out about the sudden departure of his acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan its a difficult time for pat. But hes going to take a little time off 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 Background 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 another domestic incident in 2011, this time between kimberly and the couples then 17yearold son, william. 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 selfdefense, writing wills mother harassed him for nearly 3 hours before the incident. Shanahan now telling the post, i have never believed wills atta an act of selfdefense or justified i dont believe violence appropriate ever. In a statement saying continuing in the formation process could wo force my three children to relive a traumatic chafrptd in our familys life. Their safety and wellbeing is my highest priority. The president saying he just learned of the incidents monday and defending 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 Trump now moving on to his thirds pentagon chief in six months, tapping Army Secretary mark esper as acting defense secretary at a critical moment amid tensions with iran whom the u. S. Accuses of a series of attacks on oil tankers but in a new interview the president s downplaying them, saying so far its been very minor. Our thanks to Peter Alexander for that report. Breaking news this morning out of the middle east police in iraq say a rocket landed near the city of basra near the headquarters of several major oil companies. Authorities say two iraqi workers were wounded when a shortrange 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 drug busts in u. S. History federal authorities seizing over 1 billion worth of cocaine. Thats nearly 17 tons found hidden in cargo ships in a port in philadelphia. It is the alarming sign of a cocaine comeback in america. Nbcs Pete Williams has the stden on this ship docked in philadelphia federal agents say was a huge stash of cocaine in seven shipping 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 containers some of it may have been intended for sale in the u. S. , investigators say, but most was to be shipped on to europe its the Third Largest u. S. Cocaine seizure in history, another sign that cocaine is making a comeback. Just three months ago drug agents found nearly two tons on a ship in the port of new york and new jersey it does show that cocaine is a threat, it is coming back to us and what were seeing, were noticing now is that we see the mixture between cocaine and fentanyl on the streets. Reporter for now that ship in philadelphia isnt going anywhere members of the crew are under arrest, charged with drug trafficking. 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 Edward Gallagher is accused of murdering a prisoner and shooting unarmed civilians in iraq its a case thats even caught the attention of President Trump himself. Here with the latest is nbcs Miguel Almaguer. Reporter on trial for war crimes, special operations chief Edward Gallagher is facing the fight of hise. The highly decorated navy s. E. A. L. Platoon leader stands charged with murdering a wounded isis fighter captured in mosul, iraq in 2017 and with shooting two unarmed civilians, a schoolage girl and an elderly man, from a snipers 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 day one that these allegations are shameless. Reporter with prosecutors making their opening arguments, a navy s. E. A. L. Under gallaghers 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 the body, telling them gallagher texted friends the picture, saying got him. But the defense arguing the navy s. E. A. L. Didnt kill the captive, that he in fact treated his wounds the defense plan for the next days and weeks is to annihilate the governments case, to show that these witnesses are lying reporter prosecutors will argue gallagher, who served eight deployments, became mberof his own platoon reporting him. But the case has challenges. The lead prosecutor was just removed for tracking the defense teams emails, and they have little physical evidence with gallagher facing life in prison, the president has alluded he may Pardon Service members convicted of war crimes. Our thanks to Miguel Almaguer for that report. Now to the latest fallout in phoenix after police drew guns on a family and yelled profane comments, all because their 4yearold allegedly stole a doll from a dollar store last night hundreds of concerned citizens attended a Community Meeting where the phoenix mayor and police chief once again apologized for the incident. Im deeply sorry for the events that led us here today. I do extend my apologies to the family who has gotten less than professional service from the Phoenix Police department as well as others of you here in the audience who may have gotten less professional service. I know were better than that. I know we can do better. So far no charges have been filed. The coupleis suing the city fo 10 million, alleging the officers violated their civil rights s 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 umpire said one of the 7yearolds 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 a man who they say was feeding meth to a squirrel sheriffs deputies in Limestone County were serving an arrest warrant at mickey polks apartment when they found a caged attack squirrel. Deputies say they were informed he was feeding the animal meth to keep it aggressive. Polk wasnt home but they arrested another man who was there, ronnie reynolds, 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 flash flooding. As vehicles became stranded in high water and conditions there became 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. Lets say the waters going to keep on rising with more rain on the way heres nbc meteorologist bill karins good 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 were watching this line of severe thunderstorms weve had wind reports of 60 do 70 Miles Per Hour in oklahoma. These storms are racing toward mcallister later on today were going to do it all over again were going to see new areas of storms even possibility of an enhanced rhys frk dallas to fort worth thats where we could see some significant wind damage with storms and this whole region from little rock to nashville to paducah, lexington, louisville, f erywhere has a our flash flood watches will be expiring early this morning. The 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 starstudded 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 filming for the pilot has begun in northern ireland, which also served as the production hub for the entire run of game of thrones. Adam sandler and Jennifer Anistons netflix film murder mystery broke viewing records on the service it was seen by 39 0. Million households in the first few days, making it the biggest Opening Weekend for netflix. With and 360 fit that adapts to every wild move. Plus, up to 12 hours of pampers protection. So anything your wild child does, cruisers can too. Our best ever fit is new pampers cruisers 360 fit. But were also a cancer fighting, hiv controlling, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. From the day youre born we never stop taking care of you. From the day youre born ooohhhh of certain cancers clater in life. K from an infection, Human Papillomavirus i knew that hpv could lead to certain cancers. I knew her risk for hpv i knew there was a vaccine shge available that could help protect her before she could be exposed to hpv. I knew. So i talked to my childs doctor. Now that you know that hpv can lead to certain cancers, dont wait. Talk to your childs doctor today. Air wick at air wick, we know that, in nature, scent comes in waves gently and beautifully. Air wick essential mist is an expression of nature. Voted best innovation in air care, it transforms natural essential oils into agt. Pausing when it. Experience essential mist. The latest in air care by air wick. A group of fishermen got a great big surprise when they encountered a great white shark off of new jersey. They were fishing for much smaller sharks when this 16 to 18footer was captured on camera it took the bait but avoided the hook and swam off after a few minutes. Yikes. Now lets go over to frances with our special series my big idea. We are chugging right along with these we are exactly one week away from the first 2020 democratic primary debate right here on nbc. And were giving each candidate a chance to tell voters their big idea today former texas congressman beto orourke tells anbcs harr voting in america. Weve got to fix our democracy, ensure it works and guarantee that every single one of us can be counted in to the solutions, to the challenges that we face reporter beto orourke, the viral media darling of the 2018 midterms hes taken the momentum of his almost successful challenge against senator ted cruz to mount an even more Ambitious Campaign i count myself 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 an automatic Voter Registration were in the process of gerrymandering whereby members of congress choose their voters instead of the other way around. Reporter orourke also wants to get rid of pacs and big money in politics. As it sits right now thats not a bill thats going to get passed it is and ill tell you why. Because the issues that were 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 that we want to do as a country is only made possible when our democracy works its 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 people. Thatsorourkes big idea. Harry smith, nbc news, dallas. Next up, Amy Klobuchar talks about her big ly ns. And dont miss the first democratic debate in miami on june 26th and 27th on nbc, msnbc, and telemundo and with klobuchar just like all 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 theyre hoping they can do that. Yeah. We saw that collage of faces just now hard to differentiate. Thanks, 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 youre sensitive. Delicious. Now, ive heard people say lactaid isnt real milk. Ok, well, if it isnt real then, i guess those things over there cant actually be cows. Must be some kind of really big dogs, th sit deep breath, clap and new special k protein has more, with 15 grams of protein plus extra nutrients to help that protein do more. so, whats your more . Special k. Powering you. Ok, i. Is it. . Clearblue digital pregnancy test. With smart countdown, gives unmistakably clear. Results written in words. Over 99 accurate. Absolute clarity, when you need it most. Imagine. Megared omega3 power for your whole body. Now with an antioxidant blend for great sleep, refreshed skin and less stress. One softgel. 7 benefits. New total body refresh. Power your day with megared. Jerry seinfeld is hitting the road again for an all new season of comedians in cars getting coffee. The veteran funny mans Netflix Series returns next month. And now we know who made the list to ride shotgun with jerry. Joining seinfeld would be seth ro broderick, jamie foxx, and the biggest name on the list, the reclusive eddie murphy seinfeld posted the yun coupcomg seasons guest list on instagram. Friday july 19th every single one of those episodes seems like its going to be amazing. Its the perfect length theyre 20 to 30 minutes tops and he always has a superstar on it or someone worth talking to and its classic jerry in that car its always good. Heres one workout forwarding to your boss. According to researchers at the university of cambridge, one day of work a week is the most effective dose for improving your Mental Health they found no evidence that working more than eight