There. Iranianbacked militia being blamed. Overnight, the new evidence Navy Officials saprove iran was behind the tanker attacks. r welive with the very latest. Those stories, plus more storms. The entire eastern half of theac countryg yet another day of heavy rain and flash flooding. Als fecast straight ahead. Safety first. The historic changes coming to two Major League Parks after a string o scary incidents involving fans. And rock star. I cant believe i jid that. The 10yearold who just became the youngest person eve to scale yosemites el capitan. Shes right here to tell that story. Today, wednesday, june 19th, 2019. Announcer from nbc news, this is tay with savannah th gurie and hoda kotb, live fromud stio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to today. Thank you for being with us on a wednesday morning. Ry it is not e day we have rock royalty right in our studio. Its true. It is selah schneiter. She is the youngest person ever to climb el capitan, yo mites famous peak. Shes incredible. Shes going to tell us how she did it. The 10yearold in the studio with us. Her parents here, as well. Otwell just say, n to give away too much, but it is in her blood. Yes. Well get to that in a moment. Destiny, you might say. Lets get to the top story. The president had his first 2020 campaign rally, and it opene lot like his run in 2016 in terms of themes. Promises of american greatness, attacks o some familiar rivals. Weve got two reports. Well start with nbc White House CorrespondentPeter Alexander, who is in the orlando wre the rally was last night. Hi, peter. Good morning. Reporter hey, savannah and craig. O good morning tu. In many ways, it is as if President Trumps 2016 Campaign Never ended. The president not really trying to persuade new voters to join him but trying to super charge his loyal base. Thats the 2020 strategy. Last night, airing the same grievances against the same perceived enemies that propelled him to the white house. I stand before you to officially launch my campaign for a second term as president the united states. Reporter President Trump, in front of a capacity crowd, kicking off his 2020 campaign with familiar themes. Were draining the swamp. Reporter targeting the media, the democrats, and the tablishment. They tried to take away your digginityr and y destiny, but we will never let will we . That, reporter for the formal kickoff, a photo of the team pence ticket, with trump children smiling from the sideline. The major difference from 2016, the president ial seal on the podium. A new topic to focus on, the russia investigation. We went thratgh the gt witch hunt in political history. Reporter the president again attacking his last opponent, mentioning Hillary Clinton at least seven times. Crooked Hillary Clinton and the dnc. Eust in case Hillary Clinton lost. Thought that Hillary Clinton, crooked Hillary Clinton, was going to win. When Hillary Clinton said, the free pass they gave to hillary. Hillary used the word deplorables. Hillaky clinton made a mist with the speech. Reporter taking brief swipes at possible 2020 rivals. Our radical democratic opponents are driven by hatred, prejudice, and rage. They want to destroy you. They want to destroy our country as we know it. Reporter name checkingie bern sanders and joe biden. Crazy bernie sanders. Sleepy rjoe. Orter both candidates topping the president in a new poll of florida voters. Biden leading by 9 , sanders by 6 . Democrats looking to avoid some mistakes from clintons 2016 campaign, targe battleground states. I plan on campaigning the soh, and i believe we can win texas and florida, if you look at the polling data now. Peter, you were there last night. The crowd seemed to love the speech. What was thesp atmore . Reporter yeah, they definitely did. It was about 20,000 people in the arena. There wasnt a lot of new material last night. Certainly the same old grudges. We reported on the president s frustration with polls recreent, certainly polls not in his favor. He quizzed the crowd, whether they preferred the theme, make America Great again oram keep ica great. These were the people who helped get him to the white house in 2016nt and he is coug on them to help him do it again. Peter, while we have you here, yesterday, the president wasbo asked a that new warning, the i. C. E. Agents are going to deport millions of undocumented immigrants starting next week. Have we learned any more about the president s plan . Reporter yeah, the president yesterday at the white house was pressed on the fact that many immigration Officials Say they were caught off guard by his announcement. Certainly an announcement of deporting millions of undocume immigrants, something of that type of a largescale. The president again doubled down, insisting this is goi to happen beginning next week. Again, he didnt offer specifics on it. Us gration officials tell that it is logistically impossible and politically explosive. For now, we wait and see. Craig and savannah . Peter alexander for us ino. Orland thank you. Breaking overnight, a new source of tension in the middle east. A rocket strike near the iraq headquarters of u. S. Oil giant exxonmobil. This as the u. S. Reveals new evidence of irans alleged involvement in those attacks on oil tankers in the region. Ly bill n has more. Bill, good morning to you. Reporter good morning, guys. The u. S. I building its case against iran this morning with new evidence that its shown to nbc news here in the gulf. The president appears to be playing down the cig candidasigf the attacks on those oil tankerr as min meanwhile, in iraq this morning, a rocket attack on workers evacuated from a u. S. Oil company. At the u. Se base on th persian gulf, fragments of mines and the magnets used to attach them. Madey iran, says the u. S. , to attack oil tankers last week. The mine that was useds d bear a striking resemblance to that which has been publicly displayed in the iranianmi tary parades. Reporter more proof, say u. S. Officials, of iranian guilt. To add to the photograph and the video that show Iranian Revolutionary guards next to thp damaged esident trump is now playing down the attacks, telling time magazine, so far, its been very minor. He said it was questionable whether hed take military action to keep the Gulf Shipping lanes open. Going to war to prevent iran tting nuclear weapons, certainly, he said. Secretary of state mike pompeo met u. S. Military commanders and sa americas aim is to defend and deter. We are there to deter aggression. President trump does not want war, and we will continue to communicate that message while doing the things that are necessary to protect american interests in the region. Reporter this morning, exxonmob says it is evacuating 20 workers from iraq after a rocket landed at its headquarters there. Iranianbacked militia is being blam by some Iraqi Military officials. All this as another 1,000 american troops are being sent to the middle east to convincir the u. S. Is serious. The bottom line is, were trying to get iran to stop attacking ships and pipelines and turning the mideast upside down. Iran is the problem, not trump. Reporter irans president says it, sntoo, doe want war. But he doesnt ctrol the country or the militias in the region. It is a crisis with no clear way out. This morning, irans president saide will not negotiate with the u. S. Under pressure. Not ruling out talks all together. Those american oil workers that were evacuated, just this morning, many of them had just returnedfter being evacuated from the same facility last month. So very tense times here, guys. Craig . Bill neely for us in qatar, thank you. Now the shakeup at the ag penton. Acting secretary of defense Patrick Shanahan stepping down and withdrawing from the possibility of taking over the post after Domestic Violence surfaced in his family. Kristen welker has the story on this. Good morning. Reporter good morning to sou. President trump iacing mounting questions about the sudden departure of his acting defense secretary. The president is aiming to quell concerns about any instability in the agency, and has vowed to name a permanent replacement soon. St it comes at a critical moment with major Foreign Policy challenges from iran, iraq, and north rnrea. This g, a sudden shakeup inside the defense department, after Patrick Shanahan told President Trump hes whihdrawing nomination for secretary of defense. Difficult time for pat, but he is going to take a little time off for family service. Reporter shanahan, a former boeing executive, saying in a statement, continuing in the confirmation process would force my three children to relive a traumatic chapter in our familys life. Their safety and llbeing is my highest priority. That comes as usa today reports the Background Investigation was looking into a violenceomestic dispute from 2010 between shanahan and his thenwife, kimberly, which both claim to pice they had been punch bid ted by the other. Shanshan saying, i never laid a hand on my thenwife. In 2011, the Washington Post reports the couples then 17yearold son, william, ud a baseball bat to brutally beat his mother, leaving her unconscious with a fractured skull. Two weeks ter, according to the paper, shanahan sent his exwifes brother a memo, arguing his son acted in selfdefense, writing, wills mother harassed him for nearly three hours befor the incident. But shanahan now telling the post, i have never believed wills attack on his mother was an act of selfdefense or justified. I dont believe violence is appropriate ever. Adding, bad this can happen to good families, and this is a tragedy really. The president saying he just learned of the incidents monday. We have a great vetting process, but that came up a little bit over the last short period of time. Reporter now, some democrats say they were caught o guard, and theyre demanding answers. I feel that there was possibly a deliberate concealment here. Reporter the president is tapping army sectary mar mark esper to serve as acting secretary, his third pentagon chief in six months. Kristen, it is not just defense secretary. There is a number of vacancies in Senior Leadership in the administration. Can you tell us about that . Reporter thats right,sa nnah. Look, there are actually more than a dozen top positions in the trump administrati. You can see some here on your screen that are either vacant or only have someone serving in an acting capacity. Now, that includes critical positions like the dhs secretary, the fema director, faa administrator, and even the chief of staff at the w te house. The president says he likes to have people in acting roles because it gives him more flexibility. It also has the potential effect of not really having someone who is truly in charge in key areas of government. The question is, could that create instability, as the president navigates Foreign Policy challenges, like the one bill was talking about, a what he has called a crisis at the rder. Savannah and craig . Krist welker athe white house, thank you. At home, the threat of severe weaer is expanding. Nearly the entire eastern half of thisbr countrying for more storms and flooding rain. Mr. Roker is tracking all of it for us. How are we looking . Good morning. Thanks for gting that hey, guys, good morning. Thanks for getting the first weather for us nationally. This is hail. Kansas. Folks are parked under overpasses to protect themselves. Theres flooding going on. Guess ngwhat, were goio see more of this and its going to keep going because we have a blocking system there. Right now flashng flood warni from nebraska to kansas on into missouri. Aweveo got flash flood watches for41 Million People through the midwest. We are looking at a lot of heavy rain. Why . Were getting this ocbl this greenland block. Theres a big area of High Pressure over greenland. That blocks the movement of storms. Weve got a canadian low pumping in cooler air from canada. With the jet stream stuck where oo is, nothing is moving. Were lng at Stormy Weather pattern that just sits here along the jet stream and continues to push moisturero ac and along it. Right now we dont see that breaking up until early week. If youre going to be traveling today, its going to be a mess, especially out at the airports. Low clouds, fog, new york city showers. Charlotte, scattered showers, tlanta, delays, st. Louis, dallas, and cincinnati and on the roads a real mess. Were looking at rainfall amounts anywherem fro 2 to 3. Locally upwards of 3 to 5 midwest and into the northeast. Al, thank you. Thank yo r now falorts of an active shooter that triggered chaos and confusion a honolulus airport yesterday and led to major flight delays, too. Thousands of outbound passengers had to be evacuated and then rescreened after two laptops overated in somebodys carryon luggage at a security checkpoint. The computer started to smoke, apparently make noise that resembled gunshots to those who heard it. That sent people ducking under chairs and fleeing in all directions to seek safety. Several people suffered minor injuries in that may lay. Now to the high profile war usimes trial of a decorated navy s. E. A. L. Acc of murdering a captured isis fighter in iraq. Miguel almaguer has the latest on this one. Good morning to u. Good morning. Special operations chief Edward Gallagher is accused of serious war crimes. Prosecutors say he went rogue, killing an isis detainee and oping fire on a young girl and elderly man. Prosecutors s he says it is fromtl disgruned coworkers. Al reporter glagher is painted at a coldblooded killer. The first witness to testify, a navy s. E. A. L. Who serlld with her, saying he watched the officer begin to medically treat a detainee. When he left and returned, the isishter was no longer ilive. In court, photos of the dead teenager were shown, includi one with Gallagher Holding his head in one hand and a knife in another, allegedly textings, friend got a good story when i got back. I got him with my hunting knife. The 40yearold veteran and his attorn denying all charges. This is not a murder. This is a mutiny. This is a group of young, disgruntled sailors that didnt like being told that they were cowards. They decided to conspire to take down thef. Chie reporter now facing life in prison, while in mosul, iraq, in 2017, gallagher is also accused of shooting at two unarmed civili a school aged girl and an elderly man from a snipers nest. Gallaghers wife standing by his side. The truth has always been our best defense. We said from day one that these allegations are shameless. Reporter the case could be difficult to prove for the prosecution. They have little physical evidence, no body, weapons, or a. Relying on witnesses, it was members of gallaghers own platoon who reported him. Each one of these witnesses is going to come in and tell their own individual story. Were going to hav go through each one of them, expose each one of them for lying. Reporter no stranger to a battlefield, told in a courtroom, Edward Gallagher is facing a different kind of fight life. S miguel, we know that this is a military court, not a civilian courtroom. What do we know then about the makeup of the jury . Craig, because this is a military court, it is comprised of seven service members, including a navy s. E. A. L. His peers will decide if he is innocent or guilty. We should add, this could be a very big day in court, with the navy s. E. A. L. Who says he witnessed the stabbing set to testify today, craig. Wef will, ocourse, continue to follow this closely. Miguel, thank you. A British Research submarine has made a significant discovery on its very first mission, but that is perhaps t least memorable thing about it. As you may recall, back in 2016, British Researchers asked the el publics in naming the ship. People came up put name boatty mcboatface. Now, Boaty Mcboatface made an importtdiscovery. Officials vetoed the choice and decided to name this smaller sa submarine instead of the ship Boaty Mcboatface. The most important thing, boatty mcboatface found aignificant link between antarctic winds and rising seatemperatures. The data is going to help experts better predict how Climate Change will impact rising sea levels. Again, it is named boaty oamcbace, which makes me laugh. You like saying Boaty Mcboatface. Who esnt . It has Climate Change. It is the best of both worlds. I knew youd like it, al. Thank you. Unfortunately d we have centers weather to talk about. Ten states, 26 Million People from texas all the way into indiana, tennessee, parts of mississippi and alabama, hail, cant rule out tornadoes. Tomorrow afternoon into the evening weve got from the northeast into the plains. I should say the stheast and then the plains on friday. So a lot of Severe Weather as we g ve right on into the weekend. Thats what goin around the good morning. Im storm team4 meteorologist chuck bell. Cloudy skies over wthhington morning. A pretty high chance for some rain later on in the day. Dnothing comingn just yet but there are already showers in West Virginia coming our way for later on in the day. Really just a rain chance today. Not looking for a Severe Weather threat on your wednesday. Tomorrow will be a different story. I temperatures nthe upper 60s and low 70s. Because of a