[KARAH RUCKER]

IRANIAN OFFICIALS PROVIDE UPDATES AFTER THE COUNTRY’S PRESIDENT IS KILLED IN A HELICOPTER CRASH

AND — WHAT PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN HAD TO SAY DURING A COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGE

THE MORNING RUNDOWN STARTS NOW.

TODAY IS MONDAY, MAY 20TH

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

I’M KARAH RUCKER.

THIS MORNING — IRANIAN STATE MEDIA CONFIRMING IRAN’S PRESIDENT EBRAHIM (EH-BREW-HEM) RAISI (RAH-EE-SEE) WAS KILLED IN A HELICOPTER CRASH ON SUNDAY.

SEVEN OTHERS INCLUDING IRAN’S MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS WERE ALSO KILLED —

AT A TIME OF HIGH TENSIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST WITH THE WAR IN GAZA.

THE CRASH OCCURRED IN A MOUNTAINOUS AREA OF NORTHERN IRAN – AS THE HELICOPTER WAS TRAVELING THROUGH RAINY AND FOGGY CONDITIONS.

RESCUE TEAMS LOCATED THE HELICOPTER HOURS AFTER IT WENT MISSING FOLLOWING WHAT OFFICIALS CALLED A “HARD LANDING.”

OFFICIALS SAYING “THERE WAS NO SIGN OF LIFE.”

IRAN’S FIRST VICE PRESIDENT WILL SERVE AS ACTING PRESIDENT UNTIL AN ELECTION IS HELD.

NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES AND ALLIES OF IRAN HAVE ISSUED CONDOLENCES – INCLUDING PAKISTAN, LEBANON AND SYRIA  –  ALL ANNOUNCING DAYS OF MOURNING – AND INDIA’S PRIME MINISTER WHO SAID HE STANDS WITH IRAN IN THIS TIME OF SORROW.

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN SAID RAISI WAS “A TRUE FRIEND OF RUSSIA.”

THE U.S. HAS NOT YET PUBLICLY COMMENTED ON RAISI’S DEATH – BUT WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY SAID ON SUNDAY THAT PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN HAD BEEN BRIEFED ON THE CRASH —

U.S. LAWMAKERS ADDING no foul play IS suspected in the incident.

U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR JAKE SULLIVAN MET WITH ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU AND OTHER ISRAELI LEADERS IN JERUSALEM ON SUNDAY.

ACCORDING TO THE WHITE HOUSE – THE TALKS FOCUSED ON THE WAR IN GAZA – INCLUDING DISCUSSIONS TO SECURE THE REMAINING HOSTAGES — AND THE SHARED OBJECTIVE TO DEFEAT HAMAS.

ISRAELI OFFICIALS BRIEFED SULLIVAN ON THE COUNTRY’S MILITARY OPERATIONS – WHILE SULLIVAN REITERATED  PRESIDENT BIDEN’S POSITION ON AN OFFENSIVE IN RAFAH.

SULLIVAN ALSO BROUGHT UP THE NEED FOR MORE HUMANITARIAN AID FOR PALESTINIANS AND STEPS TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF AID WORKERS.

THE MEETING CAME A DAY AFTER A MEMBER OF THE ISRAELI THREE-MAN WAR CABINET, BENNY GANTZ, THREATENED TO RESIGN FROM THE GOVERNMENT IF ISRAEL DOES NOT ADOPT A STRATEGIC PLAN FOR A POST-WAR GAZA BY JUNE 8TH.

SULLIVAN ARRIVED IN ISRAEL FOLLOWING A MEETING WITH THE CROWN PRINCE OF SAUDI ARABIA. THE WHITE HOUSE SAYING THOSE TALKS “FOCUSED ON A COMPREHENSIVE VISION FOR AN INTEGRATED MIDDLE EAST REGION.” WHILE A STATEMENT BY SAUDI ARABIAN OFFICIALS SAYS THEY DISCUSSED A “SEMI-FINAL” VERSION OF A SECURITY AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN DELIVERED TWO SPEECHES ON SUNDAY – BOTH WITH A MESSAGE FOR BLACK VOTERS AS HE LOOKS FOR THEIR SUPPORT IN THE UPCOMING ELECTION.

FIRST – IN ATLANTA — BIDEN DELIVERED THE COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGE, A HISTORICALLY BLACK LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE FOR MEN IN ATLANTA.

SPEAKING TO THE GRADUATES, BIDEN SPOKE ABOUT THE WAR IN GAZA AND THE NEED FOR AN IMMEDIATE CEASE-FIRE – AS HE FACED PROTESTS FROM SOME STUDENTS WHO TURNED THEIR CHAIRS AS HE SPOKE.

DURING THE ADDRESS, BIDEN DESCRIBED DEMOCRACY AS UNFAIR FOR BLACK PEOPLE.

TRUMP

It’s natural to wonder if democracy you hear about actually works for you. What is democracy if Black men are being killed in the street? What is democracy if a trail of broken promises still leave Black — Black communities behind? What is democracy if you have to be 10 times better than anyone else to get a fair shot? And most of all, what does it mean, as we’ve heard before, to be a Black man who loves his country even if it doesn’t love him back in equal measure? 

[KARAH RUCKER]

THE PRESIDENT THEN TRAVELED TO DETRIOT WHERE HE GAVE A SPEECH TO THE N-DOUBLE-A-C-P – AT THE GROUP’S “FIGHT FOR FREEDOM FUND” DINNER  — SAYING IT WAS THANKS TO THEIR VOTES THAT HE BECAME PRESIDENT.

A RECENT WASHINGTON POST POLL FOUND 42 PERCENT OF BLACK AMERICANS SAY THEY WILL “DEFINITELY VOTE” FOR BIDEN. THE POLL ALSO FOUND JUST 62 PERCENT OF BLACK VOTERS SAY THEY ARE “ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN” TO VOTE THIS ELECTION – THAT IS DOWN FROM 74 PERCENT FOUR YEARS AGO.

CROSS-EXAMINATION WILL CONTINUE FOR DONALD TRUMP’S ONE-TIME LAWYER MICHAEL COHEN AS THE FORMER PRESIDENT’S CRIMINAL TRIAL IN NEW YORK CONTINUES TODAY.

THE PROSECUTION WILL THEN GET ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO QUESTION THEIR STAR WITNESS.

THEY ARE THEN EXPECTED to REST THEIR CASE AS THEY ALLEGE TRUMP FALSIFIED BUSINESS RECORDS.

TRUMP HAS DENIED THOSE ALLEGATIONS.

IT THEN REMAINS UNCLEAR IF THE DEFENSE WILL CALL ANY WITNESSES TO THE STAND – INCLUDING TRUMP HIMSELF.

Early on in the trial — trump SAID HE WOULD LIKE TO TESTIFY.

THE JUDGE HAS SAID CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN THE TRIAL COULD BEGIN AS SOON AS TUESDAY.

AS HE PREPARES TO RETURN to THE COURTROOM — TRUMP – THE PRESUMPTIVE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE – RECEIVED AN ENDORSEMENT FROM THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OVER THE WEEKEND.

SPEAKING AT THE NRA’S ANNUAL CONVENTION IN DALLAS – TRUMP CALLED ON THE GROUP’S MEMBERS TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER.

BIDEN

“I don’t know what it is. Perhaps it’s a form of rebellion because you’re rebellious people, aren’t you? But gun owners don’t vote. What is that all about? If gun owners voted, we would swamp them at levels that nobody’s ever seen before. So I think you’re a rebellious bunch, but let’s be rebellious and vote this time, okay?”

[KARAH RUCKER]

THIS WAS  trump’s NINTH TIME to ADDRESS THE GROUP.

THE NRA ALSO ENDORSED TRUMP IN 2016 AND 2020.

AND YOU CAN FIND OUR LATEST COVERAGE OF THE ELECTION NOW ON THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP. AND BE SURE TO ENABLE NOTIFICATIONS TO GET ALERTS THROUGHOUT THE DAY.

BLUE ORIGIN’S NEW SHEPARD ROCKET SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED SIX PASSENGERS TO THE EDGE OF SPACE ON SUNDAY, MARKING THE END OF A NEARLY TWO-YEAR HIATUS TRIGGERED BY A FAILED TEST FLIGHT.

LAUNCHING FROM WEST TEXAS, PASSENGERS INCLUDED RETIRED US AIR FORCE CAPTAIN ED DWIGHT.

IN 1961 — PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY SELECTED DWIGHT AS THE FIRST BLACK ASTRONAUT CANDIDATE — BUT HE NEVER WENT UP IN A ROCKET BEFORE NOW.

AT AGE 90 — DWIGHT SET A NEW RECORD BY BECOMING THE OLDEST PERSON IN SPACE —

the record previously held by actor william shatner.

JEFF BEZO’S COMPANY SAYING IT HAS MADE DESIGN CHANGES SINCE THE UNCREWED ROCKET FAILURE IN 20-22.

BEFORE THE PAUSE — BLUE ORIGIN SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED 22 MISSIONS  — SIX of those WITH PASSENGERS on board.

FINALLY THIS MORNING – IT CAME DOWN TO A NAIL-BITER OF A FINALE AT THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP ON SUNDAY —

but some of that excitement was overshadowed by the the world’s top-ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler, being arrested just 24 hours before the third round of the PGA CHAMPIONSHIP.

On his way to the tournament Friday morning, Scheffler was taken into custody for allegedly trying to drive around a traffic jam at the scene of a fatal accident when officers told him to stop.

the two-time masters champion says it was all a misunderstanding — and was released in time to be back on the course in time to tee off.

in the end — IT WAS AMERICAN XANDER (ZANDER) SCHAUFFELE (SHAH-FeLEE) WALKING AWAY THE VICTOR — WINNING HIS FIRST MAJOR TITLE.

THE 30-YEAR-OLD CALIFORNIA NATIVE HAD BEEN RUNNER-UP TWICE AT A MAJOR.

but after SINKING A BIRDIE ON THE 18TH HOLE – SCHAUFFELE FINISHED ONE STROKE AHEAD TO WIN IT ALL IN LOUISVILLE.

THESE ARE YOUR TOP STORIES FOR THIS MONDAY.

WE’LL SEE YOU BACK HERE TOMORROW.

UNTIL THEN I’M KARAH RUCKER. HAVE A GREAT DAY!