These are the headlines you Need 2 Know. * **Trump Re-election:** President Trump officially kicked off his reelection campaign with a freewheeling rally in Orlando in front of thousands of adoring supporters. The president did not announce any new policies or an agenda for his second term. Instead, he denounced the news media, rallied against the Russia investigation and Hillary Clinton, and unveiled his new slogan for 2020: “Keep America Great.” Trump is lagging in many polls but enters the race with the benefit of a huge war chest -- some $80 million -- and the power of incumbency on his side. [Politico](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/18/donald-trump-2020-launch-florida-1369868). * **Sec Def Shuffle: Shanahan Out:** Patrick Shanahan has withdrawn himself from the nomination process for defense secretary, the president tweeted Tuesday. Shanahan has been leading the Dept. of Defense on a temporary basis since Jim Mattis abruptly resigned. There are reports Shanahan’s background check was being held up due to allegations of domestic violence in his family’s past. Nearly a decade ago, Shanahan’s then-wife accused him of punching her, though police at the time arrested her for assaulting him. In a separate incident a year later, Shanahan defended his teenage son after he beat his mother with a baseball bat. [Wash Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/trumps-defense-nominee-addresses-violent-incident-between-ex-wife-son-amid-fbi-vetting-process/2019/06/18/e46009de-190b-11e9-a804-c35766b9f234_story.html?utm_term=.af7c7c9924e3). * **Sec Def Shuffle: Esper In:** The president named Mark Esper, the current secretary of the Army and a former Raytheon executive, as Acting Secretary of Defense. Esper graduated from the U.S. Military Academy the same years as Mike Pompeo, and served on active duty for more than 10 years. Trump did not say whether Esper will be nominated for the permanent job. [FOX News](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mark-esper-acting-secretary-of-defense). * **Dominican Republic Mystery:** Reality star Melissa Rycroft is the latest American to fall ill after vacationing in the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, there are reports this week that two more Americans were found dead in their hotel rooms at separate Dominican Republic resorts, bringing the number of Americans who have died in the country to at least nine in the last 12 months. Officials have not said that the deaths are connected. [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/18/americas/dominican-republic-deaths-questions-trnd/index.html). * **Major Drug Bust:** In one of the largest drug seizures in U.S. history, federal authorities recovered 16.5 tons of cocaine at a shipping port in Philadelphia. The drugs, found on a cargo ship, are estimated to be worth as much as a billion dollars. Two people were arrested. [NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/over-16-tons-cocaine-seven-shipping-containers-seized-massive-bust-n1019021). * **Merkel Scare:** German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she’s okay after her body began visibly shaking as she stood next to Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Berlin. The two leaders were outside when Merkel appeared to shake uncontrollably, moving her hands and at one point pressing her lips together. She later said she hadn’t had enough water. [ABC News](https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/germanys-merkel-appears-unsteady-shaking-ceremony-63781426?cid=clicksource_4380645_null_headlines_hed). * **737 Order:** Boeing secured the first order for its beleaguered 737 Max jets since two of those planes crashed, killing more than 300 people. The parent company of British Airways signed a letter of intent to buy 200 of the planes, worth about $24 billion at market prices (though it likely got a steep discount). The 737 Max has been grounded since March as engineers work to fix a software issue that is thought to be behind those two accidents. [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/18/british-airways-parent-places-first-new-order-for-boeing-737-max-since-grounding.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain). * **Facebook Crypto:** Facebook officially launched its much-anticipated cryptocurrency platform, known as Libra, which the social media giant hopes will offer a new way for users to send payments online without the need for a bank. The digital coin will be controlled by a consortium of companies and not Facebook itself, though Facebook will run Calibra, a “digital wallet” for people to hold and transfer their Libra currency. [Cheddar](https://cheddar.com/media/facebook-cryptocurrency-libra-calibra). * **Netflix Record:** Netflix says its Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston original film Murder Mystery was streamed by nearly 31 million accounts globally over the weekend, making it the biggest opening for a Netflix movie ever. Bird Box was watched by 45 million accounts over seven days last Christmas. [Deadline](https://deadline.com/2019/06/jennifer-aniston-adam-sandler-netflix-movie-viewership-record-1202634482/). * **Princess Di’s Dresses:** Three dresses worn by Princess Diana have sold for nearly $300,000 at auction. The dresses weren’t expected to bring in that much cash -- in fact, they were reportedly sold at almost triple the estimated price. [See them](https://www.usmagazine.com/stylish/news/princess-diana-dresses-sell-for-300000-at-auction/). * **Great White Encounter:** A great white shark swam right up to a boat off the coast of New Jersey, giving five fishermen a “once in a lifetime” experience. The shark snatched a bag of bait and ultimately swam away. [Watch](https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/06/18/new-jersey-fishermen-great-white-shark/). * **Boaty’s Big Discovery:** Remember Boaty McBoatface? Three years after an online poll in the U.K. resulted in that unfortunate name being crowned the winning name of the research vessel, Boaty has made its first major discovery. The unmanned submarine gathered deep-sea evidence that has led to a breakthrough in how climate scientists understand how polar winds are warming the oceans. The research was published in the scientific journal PNAS, which gave Boaty credit. [Gizmodo](https://earther.gizmodo.com/boaty-mcboatface-just-helped-solve-a-deep-sea-mystery-1835613992). Cheddar's Hena Doba gets into the latest. Subscribe to the Need 2 Know newsletter [here](https://theneed2know.com) and listen to our morning podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
