Breaking overnight, irans state media reporting the countrys president has died in a Helicopter Crash, along with the foreign minister, after a daylong effort by rescuers to reach the crash site. We have a live report with the latest. Back here at home, President Biden calling for a ceasefire in gaza at his commencement speech at Morehouse College in atlanta. Plus, his message to the graduates of the historically black college. Rapper Sean Diddy Combs apologizing after horrific videos surfaced of him apparently beating his exgirlfriend. Her lawyer is reacting this morning. As the Summer Travel season is just starting to heat up, airbnbs ceo says he is trying to cool cost. He is oneonone with our hallie jackson. And if youre looking for a unique travel experience, look no farther than the garden state. How six flags is offering visitors a gaslamping trip to a San Francisco far rich. Its monday, may 20th. Early today starts right now. Good morning. Grad youre reqwith me. Im frances rivera. Breaking overnight, the president of iran, Ebrahim Raisi, has died in a Helicopter Crash in the northwest part of the country. The Stunning Development confirmed by state media after a day of uncertainty. Rescue crews have reached the site in East Azerbaijan province in iran, confirming the death of everyone on board, including the islamic republics powerful foreign minister. Lets turn now to claudio lavanga. Claudio, good morning. What else do we know . Good morning, frances. According to state media in iran, what we know is on sunday, the president of iran, Ebrahim Raisi was on board of a helicopter flying back to tehran after he inaugurated a new dam on the border between iran and azerbaijan with the president of azerbaijan. On the way back on that flight something happened and state media started reporting later on sunday that it was forced, this helicopter, to do a crash or hard landing in an isolated forested area not too far from the border. That sparked of course a massive searchandrescue operation where state media said at least 40 rescue teams were involved, eight ambulances with the help of drones and search dog, but of course this searchandrescue operation was hampered by the very bad weather and very heavy fog that we actually saw in some of the videos shot by these rescuers that forced them to take a much longer time to identify the crash site. Also because it was in this forested area. Now earlier this morning, we heard from state media that the crash site was isolated, and there was no sign of life. And later on, a little later on, anchors from state media in iran wearing black for mourning announced officially that raisi had died. All the people who were on that flight died. One is the foreign minister of iran. The other is the governor of East Azerbaijan, as well as the bodyguards and security detail and pilot of that helicopter. What happens now . Well, according to iranian law, the Vice President of iran takes steps in. Then in the next 50 days, there will be new president ial elections. If they are anywhere similar to what happened in 2021, the last election where raisi was elected, well, probably there would be a very low turnout again because moderate candidates back then were prevented from running. So its likely that the government will just replace them, replachardline theyre w often some continuity. But the important thing is not only iran has lost a president , he has also lost a frontrunner as he was believed to be the top job in iran, which is that of the ayatollah, the supreme leader. Raisi was considered a frontrunner for thekhamenei. Now it sparks speculation or who that next candidate will be. Frances . Claudio lavanga for us. Claudio, thank you. Lets turn now to the race forwhite house. President biden delivered the commencement address at Morehouse College in atlanta. Morehouse is a historically black college, and the president made this promise to the graduates. Thats my commitment to you, to show you democracy, democracy, democracy. Is still the way. The black man killed on the street we bear witness. To me that means we call out the poison of White Supremacy throughout systemic racism. After President Biden campaigned in detroit, michigan where he spoke at a dinner for naacp. Meanwhile, donald trump was in dallas, texas where he accepted the endorsement of the nra. The Trump Campaign also promoted they have the backing of many gun leaders. Donald trump will be back inside a new york courtroom in just a few hours. Crossexamination will continue of Donald Trumps former fixer michael cohen. The prosecution is expected to wrap up its case soon, and its not clear if the defense will call any witnesses for donald trump will take the stand himself. Sean combs, also known as diddy is speaking out after a video emerged of him over the weekend beating his girlfriend back in 2016. In an apology posted to social media, the hiphop mogul pointedly did not ask for forgiveness in light of the vicious assault revealed on surveillance footage. Here is adrienne broaddus. Im so sorry. I make no excuses. Shows sean combs, kicking, grabbing and throwing objects at his former girlfriend, cassie ventura. The video believed to show an assault on ventura was cap khmerred in an l. A. Hotel in 2016. Previously, diddy publicly denied all the allegations against him, but now i was disgusted then when i did it. Im disgusted now and i went and sought out professional help. Reporter ventura filed a lawsuit against combs in november. Stating that around march of 2016 at a former Intercontinental Hotel in century city, mr. Combs became extremely intoxicated and punched ms. Ventura in the face, giving her a black eye. It was settled less than 24 hours later. Today, venturas attorney responding. Combs most recent statement is more about himself than the many people he has hurt. Its an admission likely without a lot of consequence. Could this video mean anything for future cases . If diddy is sued civilly or prosecuted for other crimes, then it might be possible to get these videos into evidence. Reporter the l. A. s District Attorney said the case is outside the statute of limitations. Im committed to be a better man each and every day. Im not asking for forgiveness. Im truly sorry. Reporter the mogul still faces multiple civil lawsuits with allegations including abuse and Sexual Assault spanning decades. An attorney representing other accusers responding, quote, apologies are for people who are genuinely sorry, not for deviants whose life purpose has been to wreak havoc on everyone around them. Adrienne broaddus, nbc news, los angeles. Turning now to texas, where residents are still reeling after last weeks devastating storms that left at least seven dead. While the majority of houston area residents have had their power restored, more than 200,000 are still in the dark. Officials say it should be back by wednesday. Here is tj parker from our nbc affiliate in houston. Reporter the sound of chainsaws have been a consistent tune outside several hisd schools that were impacted by last weeks strong storms. The storms also impacted many schools operations. Tree and building damage is still being addressed across the districtment some of the hardest hit schools are robinson, page, pew, and here at sinclair elementary. Despite Current Power outages and current damages, all four schools are expected to be able to serve students once electricity is restored. The primary obstacle to reopening schools is the extensive power outages. Hisd is working with Centerpoint Energy and local officials to ensure safe school operations. Superintendent miles visited sinclair elementary to give us an update on class getting back into session, including possible plans to transfer students from the hardest hit schools to others. So if we dont have power, were going look at the situation. If its easy to move the kids at one school to another, then well do that. But most likely if a school does not have power, well probably have to close that school. I think its safe to say, though, that some kids, probably 100 kids will have to be transported or parents will have to take them to a different building, a different school, closest to here. So well find a school that has space. Our thanks to tj parker for that report. With the new weekend unfortunately comes more Severe Weather. Meteorologist Michelle Grossman joins us with where its expected to strike. Good morning, michelle. Good morning, frances. Were watching that Severe Weather at this hour. You can see the line of storms stretching from the Southern Plains into the midwest. Lots of lightning. We had reports of tornadoes in oklahoma and kansas. Were going to keep that Severe Weather risk intact today, also tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. Another busy week. Were looking at the chance for Severe Weather. On top of that, also really heavy rainfall. Today that risk affects 17 Million People with winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour. Could see hail, a chance of a few tornadoes. The best spots are where you see orange. Places like kimball, hastings, expensing, omaha, waterloo, through the great lakes were look at a chance future strong storms, especially this afternoon and this evening. This is what it looks like for tomorrow. Severe storms, risk spans from oklahoma to southern michigan. Were also looking at a chance for torrenal rainftial texas. Thats going to be tough for people without power. In houston, 90 degrees there. 102 in san angelo. All right. Thats your monday tooth. Okay, appreciate that, michelle, thanks. Coming up, who took a top spot at the weekends box office. But first, what the ceo of airbnb is doing to bring down prices just as the Summer Travel season heats up. Then i switch back to my regular shampoo. You should use it every wash, otherwise the flakes will come back. Tiny troy hes right, you know. Is that tiny troy . The ingredients in head and shoulders keep the microbes that cause flakes at bay. Microbes, really . Theyre always on your scalp. Little rascals. But good news, theres no itchiness, dryness or flakes down here i love tiny troy. And his tiny gorgeous hair. Hes the best. Make every wash count little help please. Pain means pause on the things you love, but. Green. Means. Go cool the pain with biofreeze. And keep on going. Biofreeze. Green means go. To 50 years with my best friend. [sfx gasp] [sfx spilling sound] nooo. Aya. Quick, the quicker picker upper bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. And is 2x more absorbent so you can use less. Bounty, the quicker picker upper. Ahead of the Summer Travel season, airbnb is taking on the critics who have complained theyre too pricey, even as the company has become one of the biggest names in the world. Hallie jackson has this oneonone with airbnbs ceo who says he is not done trying to revolutionize the travel industry. Do you feel a little like willy wonka . Do you like that analogy . I love that analogy. Reporter brian chesky is not the first tech ceo to promise to make dreams come true. These are color swatches of tiles for siding for the uphouse. So long, boys reporter but if your dream is to spend a night in the house from the movie up, we lifted this 40foot house 50 feet in the air. Reporter or to sleep over at the Ferrari Museum in italy, airbnb may have your golden tickets. We always thought, what if these worlds that existed in our imagination we could bring to reality and you could book them on airbnb. Reporter chesky and his company launching about a dozen of these icons, as they call them, in a marketing stunt going viral, good press after a wave of harsher headlines. Thats why well make sure your listing has an impossibly complicated lockbox. Reporter summed up in an snl sketch this spring. Why stay in hotel when you for basically the same amount of money you can stay in a place with worse sheets. Reporter did that sting . It didnt sting. I felt if anything, we have a huge responsibility. Were a part of culture. The brand is a noun and verb used all over the world. Reporter for some, the brand started straying too far from its 2007 roots as an affordable alternative to hotels. Customers concerned about too many fees and higher prices. Do you think you lost the thread on the value piece of it . A little bit. In so far as perceptions did. Objectively the prices went up. That became this symbol for people. Why am i paying these cleaning fees and humping my trash out behind the alley when i can just stay at a hotel. The way i think about it is, you have to listen to the community and when people tell us that airbnbs arent as affordable as they used to be and were feeling nickel and dimed with cleaning fees, you take that very seriously. Reporter chesky says theyve worked hard to increase Price Transparency and to foster more Competition Among hosts. The result . Airbnbs are cheaper than they used to be on a year to year basis. Hotels are up. So the prices are going like this. Reporter after a pandemic slump, airbnb has roared back after going public in 2020 but even that ipo got less attention chesky says than a promotion for the Barbie Dream House tied to the hit movie last year. If we just wanted to create a moment of joy for people, a moment of magic. Reporter now he thinks a. I. Can help. What if an app could understand you, learn about your hopes, your dreams, and personalize these itineraries and these trips just for you. Thats what ai can do. Reporter i think there are so many people who would listen to you and say thats sounds so cool. And i think some of those same people would say and also a little scary and a little risky. Its such an incredibly good thing. It is a little scary, and good too. Thats what technology is. I think whether the world is one we should be excited about or fear depends on the people whose hands you entrust the technology with. Reporter like his and his companys. In his view nowhere to go but up. Were going to do something even crazier, bigger and bring more magic to the world. Bigger than the up house . Even crazier. Thanks to hallie for that report. Still to come, employees at disneyland are making their dreams come true, but not just wishing on a star. More on the new acon tentiak by the performers behind the mickey and minnie costumes. 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Even the most creative kid in the world would find it hard to imagine, but a better first week of if debuted at number one with 35 million. Kingdom of the planet of the apes dropped to number two, taking in 26 million in its second weekend. And horror thriller the strangers chapter 1 scared up 12 million in its theatrical debut. I can not wait. It is total family viewing. Were at that stage where we have teens, right . And then our other kids are younger. So we need to find a nice balance. It seems like this will be it. Adorable. Then theyre going to think about all their imaginary friends when they were little. Now employees at the happiest place on earth looking to bring a new kind of magic to their jobs. On saturday, parade performers at Disneyland Resort in california officially voted to unionize with actors equity association. The website tracking the vote says the measure passed with 78. 7 , up cast members voting yes. The president of actors equity said their discussions will iminclude improvements to health and safety and wages and more. This is a tough job. They kind of need that behind them. And you cant have a bad day, right . Its all smiles. Well, not behind the mask. The characters certainly do. But a lot it takes a lot at the happiest place on earth. All right. When we come back, how simone biles is kicking off the road to paris in 2024. And the new yorks live stream is back with just a few changes. [dog whimpers] [thinking] why always the couch . Does he need to go to puppy school . Get his little puppy diploma . How much have i been spending on this little guy . When your questions about life turn into questions about money. Theres erica. The virtual financial assistant to help you spend, save, and plan smarter. Only from bank of america. New mr. Clean ultra foamy magic eraser . With the scrubbing power of magic eraser and the cleaning power of dawn. Watch it make soap scum here. 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Ask your doctor about hormonefree veozah. And enjoy more not flashes. You could save on veozah. Visit saveonveozah. Com to learn more. Now to whats making headlines this morning on a monday. The man charged with punching Steve Buscemi in manhattan on may 8th is being held in a new york jail on a 50,000 bond. Its unclear if the 50yearold suspect has a lawyer. He is due back in court on thursday. In her first meet of the season, simone biles won the core hydration classic. The 37 time world and olympics medalist has already qualified for the championships later this month. But the classic is an important stepping stone toe making the fivemember Paris Olympics gymnastics team. France is celebrating the baguette with a scratch and sniff stamp. The batch of nearly 600,000 stamps has a bakery scent. The live stream portal linking new york and dublin reopened sunday after being shut down due to inappropriate behavior. 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Have you tried downy rinse and refresh it helps remove odors 3x better than detergent alone. It worked guys yeahhhh downy rinse and refresh. For anyone looking for a unique vacation this summer, a new resort in the garden state is promising a wild experience. Nbcs Valerie Castro has a behindthescenes look at the safari resort and spa opening up at new jerseys six flag great adventure. Reporter if youre looking for an exotic vacation this summer, look no further than new jersey. They dont have the travel halfway across the world to experience the savannahs of africa. Reporter Six Flags Great Adventure is celebrating 50 years of fun with gnaw addition to its safari theme park, the savannah resort and spa. We got a first look at construction ramps up. Glamping in the savannah, are they going to be surrounded by animals . What is the experience going to be like . Were going to have 20 glamping suites that guests can enjoy the vistas, see animals on safari. Reporter glamping saw an explosion in popularity as a safe way to travel and get out in nature. The trend is only growing. Conde Nast Traveler editor. Glamping is elevated camping. But youre going to have showers. Youre probably going to have comfy beds. Probably the best of both worlds. Reporter suites sergeant at 500 a night for a twonight stay. And a vip experience. Each luxury accommodation has all the comforts of home. Youll actually see a little kitchenette type area. Theyll have a keurig. Theyll have the mini fridge as well. Reporter and none of the headaches of actual camping. So no outhouse port oh potty situation. No. They can find everything right here. Reporter but the real star defense show, the animals that roam the parks 350 acres and will surround the resort. You imagine how high we are right now. With the railing say about 12 or so feet, 14 feet up. A giraffe will walk right by, about 18 feet tall. Pretty cool experience, right . Reporter the safari is celebrating 50 years of education and conservation, featuring 1200 animal, 80 species from six continents. One of the most important species we have here are the American Bison that were once critically endangered in the u. S. Through conservation efforts, weve been able to get their numbers back up. Reporter the park is also home to elephants, zebras, brown bear, including a couple of adorable cubs. Its important to educate people why are they threatened. Reporter a wild sight to see this summer. Safari with roller coaster in the background. You cant get any better than that for summer fun. Thanks to Valerie Castro for that report. Thanks to you for watching early today. Im frances rivera. Have a great monday and well see you back here tuesday morning. President and foreign minister now confirmed dead in a Helicopter Crash. The new political turmoil