And a a busy courthouse and the photographer who took this dramatic photois tells h story. I crouched in the corner and tried to make myself as small as possible. What were learning about the suspects military backound. That, plus on alert. Severe storms racing east today, bringing a new flood risk to tens of millions. War of wards, jon stewart taking on Mitch Mcconnell over 9 11 First Responders. Dont know why hes bent out of shape. I didnt mea i tonterrupt them with their jobs. And reunited. S she i the remarkable young woman whom inspired the biggest win in Gary Woodlands gol career, and the two will come facetoface here in a spraz for the ages. Today june 18th, 2019. From nbc news, this is today. With savnah guthrie and hoda ko kotb. Live from studio 1a in rockefell rockefeller plaza. Welcome to today. Niceav to h you with us on a Tuesday Morning. Amy has no idea her hero, the newest. S. Open golf champ is in the studio to surprise her. That 20yearold who inspired Gary Woodland, perhaps h biggest fan. Should be fun. Lets get to our top story. Tensions escalating between the u. S. And iran. The pentagon announced 1,000 more u. S. Troops sent to the persian gulf. Bill neely is in the capital of qatar for us once again this morning. G bill,d morning. Good morning, savannah. Yes, yet another show of force. More u. S. Troops on their way here soon. More tension in the persian gulf. Almostay by day. Iran vowing this morning it wont wage war, but of course, threatening to ramp up its nuclear production. And the u. S. Releasing new evidence of iranian troops at work. Another boost for american firepower in the gulf. The u. S. Will send another 1,000 troops to the middle east, citing hostile behavior by iran. Thats onop of an extra 1500 annound just weeks ago. The u. S. Is building its case that iran attacked twohips in the gulf last week, with new photographs. The u. S. Says these iranian troops are removing an unexploded mine from the side of a japanese tanker. Pieces of the mine still attached by magnets. Ia iran fingerprints apparently all over an attack that iran denies carrying out. Irans president saying this morning, we will not wage war against what he called a group of politicians with little experience. Iran raising the stakes wh its own pressure. Announcing that its producing so much uranium, it will soon reach and possibly breach the limit its allowed under the nuclear deal. We are not removing t says its not yet breaking the deal President Trump walked away from, but its threatening to tincreasehe quantity and quality of the nuclear fuel it makes. We a unfortunately not surprised by the iranian announcement. President trump tweeting a single apparent headline. Iran to defy uranium stockpile limits. Secretary of state mikpompeo will meet the u. S. Military commander for the middle east today. Some shipping companies in the gulf now calling for milary escorts. He fear of a flashpoint here growing. 1 thon troops to the persian gulf. What will their mission be . What wil they be doing, do you know . Yeah, the pentagon says they will be used for surveillance and intelligenceri gat on iran, and on its proxy forces in the middle east, and to protect u. S. Troops and interests from what it calls Credible Threats from iran. Will be used not just in the persian gulf, but likely in iraq, possibly even in syria. Within days we had a military buildup, a tax on tankers in the middle east, a Nuclear Warning from iran, and it doesnt look like theres any sign of a way out. No talks likely, and no back down from the u. S. Or iran. Very intense indeed. Thank you very much. Meanwhile, all eyes are on florida and the 2020 president ial race. President trump holdi his Reelection Campaigns kickoffr y in orlando tonight. And the crowdf democratic field is hitting the trail ahead of their first debate in miami orxt week. Nbc white house cspondent Peter Alexander is in orlando for us. Good morning to you. Hey, craig. Good morning to you. Y as can see behind me, the lines are already forming to see ump tonight. Hell be joined on stage this evening by the first lady and the Vice President , mike pence. The president sides say hes been personally engaged in the process of planning for this kickoff. On the eve of tonights rally, the president was already eyeing rallying support among his base, vowing Mass Immigration arrests. The 2020 president ial race is on, with President Trumpctolding a reen kickoff rally in orlando and releasing this atd debuting on fox news. We love this country. We lovum donald tr promises made, promises kept. While democratic arein sharpeng their attacks, gettingdy rea for a long haul. Im not spending my time behind closed doors with corporate lobbyists. Im spending my time building a Grassroots Organization that looks like the rest of america. S thousan of diehard Trump Supporters are expected here tonight. I love it that hes getting things done. Os almt four years to the day from kicking off his campaign when mexico sends its people, theyre not ending theirbest. Theyre bringing drugs,y t bringing crime. Theyre rapists. This time around, the president is once again poised to makeen immigration a cal issue, tweeting monday night, next week, i. C. E. Will begin the process of removing the millions ofillegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States. They will be removed as fast as they come in. Campaign aides say its part of a larger message. Along with his touting the administrations record on jobst and trade, b it comes amid new polling records showing trump behindhe top six Democratic Candidates and the campaign purging six of theiraf pollster r it showed the president trailing joe biden in several races. Biden in washington vowing to take the fight to some of those key states. First of all, i plan on campaigning in the south. El i bve we can win texas and florida if you look at the polling now. Its a marathon, a long way off. So peter, you mentioned the president s tweet. Promising Mass Immigration arrests. What more do we know about tho plans, and do we know whether that tweet or the plans themselves are tied to his Reelection Campaign . Yeah, craig, a good the president appears to be referring to a plan that has been in the works for monthso t round up undocumented migrant parents andomhildren in form of a nationwide blitz. I spoke to immigration officials last night who say normally theseypes of operations are kept secret so as not to tip anybody off. Right before the midterms, the president vowed tre would be the end of birthright citizenship. The midterms came and went and dmg happened. Again, this time around its unclear if this is a scare tactic or an actual plan. Remains to be seen. Peter alexander for us in orlando. Thank you. A reminder here that the first ddemocraticate is next wednesday and thursday night in miami. Airing here on nbc, msnbc, and telemundo. Savannah one of the moderators. Investigators in dallas are trying to figure out why an army veterann a mask and combat gear opened fire on a Federal Building there, and were also took g from the man who this closeup photo of he suspect just before the gunman was killed in a shootout. Gabe gutierrez has the latest on that. Good morning. Whats most incredible is that despite all t shots fired and the fact there were about 300 people inside the building, the gunman was the only person wounhed. He left t army in 2017 and investigators are now speaking tovvis rel as they try to pin down a motive. The cell phone video is chilling. A masked gunman with an assault style rifle and body armor opening fire outside a Federal Office Building in dallas monday. Unknown male. Tactical vest a with automatic weapon shooting at the building. This morning, authorities are trying to find out why. Weha have more 200 fbi agents and partners aggressively pursuing every lead in this investigation. The fbi identied him as 22yearold brian clyde of dallas, who was discharged from the army in 2017. His social media profile mentioned right wing conspiracy theories but its not clearld w he wouant to attack a Federal Office Building. A photographer for the Dallas Morning News happened to be nearby. He snapped this dramatic photo showing the gunman wearing a mask, a tactical vest, and a belt carrying more ammunition i just crouched in the corner and trying to make myself as small as possible. St prayed he didnt walk past me because im in plain sight. If he saw me sitting there with a camera, i had n h doubte would have shot me. As First Responders rushed in, officers from the federal protectiveervice shot back. The gunman kept firing as hero n acss the street to a parking lot. Then he fell and was later pronounced dead. A bomb squad used a robot to blow up a suspicious item in his car, but Authorities Say no explosives we found. The shootout happened blocks from an ambush three years ago where fiveer Police Officers w shot and killed. This time, Authorities Say quick action prevented more deaths. These guys are our heroe today. We owe them a debt of gratitude. Im sure investigators are looking into the suspect. The military service record. What do we know this morning . Brian clyde was a private first class and served as an nt infaryman in the army. He left two years later. On his facebook page, he sred images of ammunition magazines and a sword or a dagger. Neighborsef his hav said he just moved in a couplehaonths ago, t he kept to himself, and the gunmans father declined to comment. Thank you very much. Lets turn to that Severe Weather threat facing tens of millions today. Severe storms flooding rain expected from the midwest to the midatlantic. Mr. Roker, here we go again. Yes, r, unfortunately. Thank you for getting you First National weather from us. This is chagrin falls, ohio. S you c why the falls are named just that. Heavy rain, water burstin the banks of the chagrin river, causing massive flooding. We have more on the way. As we go to the radar, well see were looking at 44 Million People under a Flash Flood Watch, and were going to see, it now 46 llion, stretching all the way into the midatlantic. We also have a risk of sever t weathers afternoon into the evening. Texas, into 5 Million People, ten states at risk foromorrow into the evening hours for isolated tornadoes. Even as we move into thursday, we have a risk in thenortheast. Four states, damaging wind. The tornado threat low but still there. We watch the systemts meander i way, its a stalled front from texas all the way to new jersey. Multiple storms, heavy downpours, wednesday, thursday, right on into friy as the system continues to push to the east. At s what were looking today as far as travel problems. Kansas city, cincinnati, atlanta, washington, new york city, all those airports will w seether impacts. I95 from boston to jacksonvi e jacksonville. Mobileo indianapolis along i65 and houston to jacksonville on i10. Heavy rain, anywhere from 3 to 5 inches from the midwest allwa t to the northeast. Savannah. All right, al. Thank you. Much more to get to, including ltheest on jon stewarts fight on behalf of 9 11 First Responders. Fired back after Senate Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell appeared to shrug off the comediansall t action. Kristen welker has the back and forth on this. Kristen, good morning. Good mornin ito you. Thisa story that has captured the attention of washington and the rest of the country. It was just last week jon stewart testified on capitol hill, making that emotional plea to congress to permanently pay for the 9 11 victims ndmpensation fund, overnight, he appears on Stephen Colberts show to hammer homepo that t. A war of words tts no laughing matter. Escalating between Comedian Jon Stewart and Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell. T the men trading jabs over funding for the september 11th Victims Compensation fund, aftec publ shaming Congress Last week, the former daily show host called out mcconnell bname. This has never been dealt with compassionately by senator mcconnell. He hasd always h out until the very last minute. And only then, under intense lobbying and public shaming, has he even deied to move on it. Mcconnell pushing back, arguing many things in congress happen at the last minute. Ev we have n failed to address this issue, and we will address it again. Dont know why hes all bent out of shape. In response, stewart joined his old pal Stephen Colbert last night. Im not bent out of shape. Im fine. Im bent of shape for th. These arehe first heroes and veterans and victims and theyre in ering and dying and terrible need. You would think that would be enough to get congress attention, buty apparentl its not. The feud sparked last week after stewart gave a powerful speech that quickly went viral, mrating congressbers who failed to show up for a subcommittee meeting to reauthorize the funds. Dying. K and they brought themselves down here to speak. And no one mcconnell offering this explanation about why the hearings are often empty. Well,hat frequently happens because members have a lot of things going on at the same time, and it sounds to me like hes looking for somebody to take offense. Stewart snapping back. Ow i feel stupid. This is a huge misunderstanding. I didnt know hat they were busy. Im oh, noboy. I dont even know what to say. I didnt mean to interrupt them with their jobs. Later, imploring the senate leader. So, if youwant to kno why the 9 11 community is bent out of shape over these past lets call it 18 years, meet with them. Tomorrow, as soon as possible, and dont make them beg for it. You could pass this thing as a standalone bill tomorrow. Meet with them. I beg of you. Now, when asked for comment, an aide to leader mcconnell highlighted his comments that theres no way senate wont address the funding but it has to go through the house where it is expected to pass. The fund is currently set to stop taking claims in december of 2020. Savannah and craig. Kristen welker, thank you. We turn now to mr. Roker once again for aheck of the forecast. Thats right, lookt the st of the country and show you were talking about flood risk in the east. Severe storms in the out west, we have gorgeous weather with the exception of the extreme Pacific Northwest and the coastal regions. Ai heavy r stretching all the way down to florida as well. Were getting to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. Yup, using the app. Ive been quite vigilant. Sharon says step on it. The meetings started. Ok, write her back dear sharon, dont mess with my discount faster mommy, i gotta go to the bathroom. I do too honey, but were gonna hold it for mommys discount. Easy, easy but youre in labor . Nt mess with my discount uh hem. 3 get a discount up to0 with driveafe save from state farm. Good morning. Im storm team 4eteorologist chuck bell. Sunshine getting through a hazy sky this morning. There will be another high chance for rain today, a 70 chance. Now is out west of thevirginia West Virginia line, but it will have all afternoon to get here. Rain chances will peak between 4 00 and 7 00no this afteron into this evening. Temperatures right now in the low 70s. Todays highmp ature, 87 degrees. More high rain chances tomorrow, and more strong thunderstorms likely on thursday. And thats your latest weather. All right, al, thank you so much. Still to come, a ninth american tourist u dyinger mysterious circumstances in the dominican republic. What were learning about the latest case and the search for answers. Also ahead, would you trust facebook withour money . The social networks ambitios plan t create its own currency for its billions of users wo tdwide. First,his is today on nbc. Just ahead, we will remember the life o the life of American Fashion icon and harris, Gloria Vanderbilt. Also, the remarkable young woman who served as inspiration for gy woodland gets a surprise unreion with her live, but first, your local news. Finally, an eggo thick and fluffy waffle all to myself, whoa. Karen, karen youve got to try this. Br kfast in bed . Major. Husband. Points. Would yo leggo your eggo . 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