vote act and the john lewis voting rights advancement act. while the president is determined to force this showdown, it is almost certain to end in failure, a reality that majority leader chuck schumer already cknowledged today. >> senate democrats are under no illusion that we face difficult odds. win, lose or draw, members of this chamber were elected to debate and to vote, especially on an issue as vital to the beating heart of our democracy as voting rights. >> now, there are some who say democrats have a way to force the bills through. debate maneuvers that would enable them to use a simple majority. senator tim kaine floated that idea last week, but it's not clear how exactly it would work, or whether it would work. so for now what we are seeing are impassioned speakers imploring either republicans to change their minds on the legislation or two democrats to change their minds on the filibuster. there is also a lot of debate or pressure coming from outside the chamber as well. the president of the naacp, derek johnson, wrote a letter to all senators arguing, our democracy may be standing in its final hour. the bedrock of freedom in america lies in our sacred right to vote. without it, everything else crumbles. meanwhile, outside on the capitol steps, a group of protesters already on a hunger strike stood defiant with multiple warnings from police to stand down. some of those protesters were zip tied and arrested. joining me now from capitol hill is nbc news national political reporter sahil kapur, washington correspondent phil rucker and the president and ceo of the national coalition on black civic participation, melanie campbell. she marched for voting rights with martin luther king 3, mlk 3, yesterday. sahil, we are seeing this debate on the floor right now. democrats are urging other democrats to change their mind on the filibuster. republicans are saying this is not needed. there is a lot of debate. what should we expect to happen in the next day or two? >> well, katy, the debate is officially underway and we are already seeing the predictable battle lines emerge with senator chuck schumer, the majority leader, kicking it off, pleading with his colleagues to move forward to allow these bills to come to a vote and to ultimately vote for them. the freedom to vote act and the john lewis voting rights advancement act are up for debate. senator patrick leahy, a vermont democrat, the longest serving member of the chamber, talked about not hiding behind procedure and an indication that he might be able to carve out the filibuster to move forward, and mitch mcconnell took to the floor to blast democrats for pushing forward with this bill, describing it as an attempt to consolidate power on a partisan basis. as for the timeline, the vote on ending debate could happen as early as tomorrow if there is agreement. if not, it will happen thursday. that will require 60 votes to break a filibuster. democrats were able to begin debate using a loophole to the filibuster that doesn't exist on the back end. once that happens, whether it's tomorrow or thursday, senator chuck schumer has indicated there will be a vote on the floor of the chamber to change the rules in order to enable passage of these bills, or at least enable them to come up to a vote. that is extremely likely to fail right now. democrats have a viable path to getting 48 members on board with that, but they do not have any hope at this moment of winning senator joe manchin and kyrsten sinema to carve it out. >> chuck schumer was saying there was a way to get around the simple majority with a debate on the floor if democrats are united enough. what exactly is that? i know it's complicated because the rules are arcane. explain it as best wuk. >> what schumer was talking about the way it used to be in the 1970s before the rules were changed. you actually had to hold the floor and talk. then the rules were changed and a minority could simply vote no without taking the floor. i talked to senator joe manchin, and he says he supports a talking filibuster. he is open to that as well as other rules changes such as requiring three-fifths of those voting to break a filibuster rather than 60 votes flat. katy, the reality is the puzzle with joe manchin is he's supportive of a modest rules change. he's not supportive of a significant enough one that would enable passage of voting rights because the way for a talking filibuster to do that would be if the minority were able to be shamed to backing off their opposition. republicans are not going to be shamed to backing off these two goals. although it's still likely senator schumer could call a rules change to that vote. it's not clear what he's going to do. >> phil rucker, what is the president doing right now? is he paying attention? how does he feel about what's happening on the senate floor? >> katy, the president and his team at the white house are clearly paying attention to what's happening over in the senate. he put a lot of his political capital on the line in the last week. president biden traveled down to atlanta. he gave that very forceful and impassioned speech about voting rights and about the sort of historical legacy of oppression and disenfranchisement and tried to apply pressure directly on joe manchin and kyrsten sinema. it appears that effort may have failed, that the president -- it appears he was unable to put together a majority to put this over the finish line. it's a huge agenda item for him personally and for his party and for the progressive base, so this will be nothing short of a disappointment. remember, he gives a news conference tomorrow afternoon marking his first year as president, and we should expect to hear from him on this issue then. >> i'm wondering, fellows, is he thinking about trying to change the administration? romney as said he's open to talking about this. lisa murkowski has been supportive of some of the measures in one of these bills. is there a way for the president to do what he said he was going to do on the campaign trail, which was find a way to bridge the gap and get republicans on board with anything, or is that just two republicans when what he really needs is eight? >> he would need more. there certainly is a possibility that if the legislation were to change and he wins over romney and murkowski that he could win over a few other republicans. but i don't believe those conversations have matured yet. i think the first step is going to be this vote that schumer is leading that will put every senator on record about this broader bill, and then the white house and congressional leaders can try to pick up the pieces later this week and into next to see if there's some sort of smaller compromise that can be put together. >> i should say he needs ten. what i meant was two and then eight more. ten. melanie, as you're watching this unfold, this was obviously something that was a high priority for you, for a lot of americans around the country. there were questions about whether or not this was a high enough priority for this white house if this was done early enough in his administration, pushed for. how are you feeling right now with what you are seeing unfolding? >> thank you for the invitation. i'm still hopeful. no matter what happens today, we know that we're going to continue to fight as our predecessors, as our ancestors did. as african-americans in this country, we have always had to fight for voting rights to be protected, and unfortunately we found ourselves in this moment again. so for us it's going to be almost six months of protesting and going to jail with non-violent direct action and all the things heating with senator manchin and senator sinema and republicans in the house continuing for the last six months. to be able to have a moment where we can see where people stand is a victory in itself. i still have faith. in the civil rights movement we always had to hold onto faith when it looked the darkness. there's always the dawn. that's where i am. i'm kind of resolute about it and ready to keep fighting, and what would be a blessing is to not have to keep fighting for something that should be your birthright in this country, but unfortunately, for us as african-americans, we've always had to have federal intervention to protect our right to vote. >> what about what's happening on the state level? this would have been a federal intervention. what about the pressure on the state level to either repeal these more restrictive voting laws or to, i guess, get people to be able to work within them, if necessary? >> well, some of this, you can't really organize yourself out of a situation where, in georgia, for example, you hear a lot about where they put the law into place where they can find a way to override the will of the people. i just heard -- i'm a native floridian, and i just heard that the governors in florida are attempting to set up an office that would be under the secretary of state but yet that person, that office would report directly to him, some kind of election security office that would have the power to arrest people if they don't follow the florida laws. so we really are in a different space, and states' rights, in that same history that i mentioned, has always been a challenge for us. that is what the problem has been, which is why we have to fight for it. i talked to our actors for our organization. we talked about the concern of whether the georgia legislative session will add even more laws to the books. so we do have a challenge on our hands if we have to organize. it's making sure people have access to the ballot without fear or intimidation. we find ourselves there, and we know in this moment that we are in, it is about which side you're on. you're on the side that you want history to show you protected this democracy by protecting the right to vote. this is not just an african-american issue, it is a democracy issue, it is a freedom issue, it is a justice issue. we want to see where these republicans and democrats all stand. we know that senator sinema and manchin have not moved in the direction we had hoped they would move, so we wouldn't be having this conversation. but we're here. resolute and all the actors i know that are out here, we're going to keep fighting. we're going to keep pressure the white house, keep pushing, find other ways to address some of these concerns. if this bill doesn't get passed soon, we're going to keep fighting until we win. >> sahil kapur, phil rucker and melanie campbell, everybody, thank you for starting us off today. we also have some breaking news, this from both verizon and at&t after loud warnings from airlines that 5g cell service could interfere with critical flight tools, the company has announced they will adjust tomorrow's 5g service launch to avoid areas around certain airport runways. nbc news correspondent tom costello has more. >> reporter: good afternoon. both verizon and at&t now have said that they will voluntarily not turn on their 5g networks around airports despite them insisting there is little to no risk. the airlines had been pressuring the cell phone companies and the white house to get involved, insisting that there is a risk, that, in fact, 5g cell sites could pose a risk and undermine and threaten the altimeters that are used for pilots to come in and get an accurate reading of their altitude off of the runway, especially important in bad weather. the airline ceos if, in fact, the cell phone companies don't turn off 5g around the airports, then they, the airlines, could see massive cancellations and disruptions affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers. the faa had already said it's worried enough about potential interference. it would not allow pilots to rely on altimeters coming into big airports. the question now, of course, is how long will at&t and verizon agree not to turn on their 5g sites, and what kind of potential interference are we looking at? and why is it that the united states was concerned about interference despite the fact that 40 countries around the world have already deployed 5g technology and have not seen interference with their aircraft? now, the aviation industry says, listen, you're comparing apples to oranges here. in europe they operate at a different level of power, and the antenna are focused in a different direction than they would be here in the united states. they, the faa and aviation community, believe much more research needs to be done to find out whether there is, in fact, any sort of risk posed by 5g. bottom line is that this hour, verizon and at&t have postponed their decision to roll out 5g around airports. the rest of their 5g network goes live first thing tomorrow. around airports it is delayed, which means there should be no impact on commercial air travel or cargo travel across the country. back to you. >> let us figure it out because nobody wants it to be more dangerous to land a plane in bad weather. still ahead, the u.k. has released the two sons of the texas synagogue hostage taker. plus, from allies to enemies, the growing feud between donald trump and ron desantis, and why trump allies are blaming mitch mcconnell. the first pictures out of tonga, though, show an island all but lost. d d all bu ♪ was like any other... ♪ find your rhythm. your happy place. d all bu find your breaking point. t lost break it. every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. it's your home. and there's no place like wayfair to make your reach-in closet, feel like a walk-in closet now that's more your style. make the morning chaos, organized chaos. and make sure everything's in it's place. so nothing is out of place. however you make it, make your home a place like no other. realtor.com's draw a map feature helped us find what we wanted, where we wanted. so we could finally buy our first "big boi house." big boi house. big boi foyer! big boi marble. big boi quartz. word? realtor.com to each their home. and it's easy to get a quote at libertymutual.com so you only pay for what you need. isn't that right limu? limu? sorry, one sec. doug blows a whistle. [a vulture squawks.] oh boy. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty♪ this is elodia. she's a recording artist. only pay for what you need. 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. the pandemic made teaching and learning really hard. but instead of working to help students safely return to the classroom, the san francisco school board focused on renaming schools and playing politics. and they've even saddled our district with a $125 million deficit. our children can't wait for new leadership. here's our chance for a fresh start. on february 15th, please recall school board members collins, lópez and moliga before our kids fall even further behind. breaking news from overseas. u.k. authorities have released the two teenage sons of the man that held congregants at a texas synagogue over the weekend. we also know akram was known to british intelligence. they determined he was not posing a risk and was not kept from traveling abroad. one of the congregants held hostage told nbc that it was clear akram was not well. >> first of all, he was mentally ill. his brother has said so, and it's very -- the way he behaved makes me believe that. secondly, he bought in to these tropes. he was not your typical attacker who came in saying, i just want to kill all the jews. that wasn't him. he came to the jews because he bought into these very dangerous stories that the jews control the world and the jews control the government and the banks and the media. and we as good people and we as patriotic americans, we need to challenge those things when we hear them, because these words do have consequences. >> joining me now is nbc news national security and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian. two points, one, the intelligence knew about this man, and two, his sons were released. >> i'm told intelligence committees are asking the biden administration to explain what happened here. as you said, we're learning akram was the subject of a british counterterrorism subject in 2020. he was considered a subject of interest and was investigated in the second half of 2020, but by this year was listed as a former subject of interest and was not considered a threat. what's clear is whether any of that information was passed on to u.s. authorities. his brother told sky news he was surprised akram was able to fly into the united states given he had a criminal record and history of mental illness. the british press is reporting that a courthouse banned him from entering the facility because he berated staff the day after the september 11 attack. so some red flags here and questions that need answering, katy. >> on intelligence sharing, what exactly is the duty for british intel to pass on information to the united states? is it everybody they might be monitoring, or is it that person that maybe they once were monitoring is getting on a plane? >> reporter: that's what's not clear here. those are the questions being asked. the u.k.'s domestic intelligence service has a lot of latitude to investigate a lot of people, and police in general. that's why the teenage sons were taken into custody even though they've not been suspected of a crime. they were now released. they can't pass information on to everyone they talk to or look at, but clearly you had a disturbed individual who was in the throes of a lot of anti-semitic conspiracy theories, and there is a real question about how he was able to get on a plane and fly to the united states, katy. >> ken dilanian, thank you very much. also ahead, facing staffing shortages. ellison barber shows us how one hospital is turning their icu virtual. ic uh, they are a little tight. like, too tight? might just need to break 'em in a little bit. you don't want 'em too loose. virtual. with 24/7 roadside assistance. -okay. think i'm gonna wear these home. -excellent choice. [music: “you can get it if you really want” by jimmy cliff] [copy machine printing] ♪ ♪ who would've thought printing... could lead to growing trees. ♪ ♪ ♪ could lead to growi♪ ♪trees. (vo) verizon is going ultra! and so is your home internet. what's this? verizon 5g for your home? see ya cable! just plug and play it's ultra fast, ultra simple, 5g home internet. (mary) shhh (vo) and it's 50% off with your unlimited plan. verizon is going ultra, so you can too. ♪[music]♪ at aetna® we're shifting medicare coverage into high gear with benefits you may be eligible for when you turn 65. benefits that may include a $0 monthly plan premium. telehealth emergency coverage while you travel an over-the-counter allowance plus dental, vision, and hearing because the right medicare plan should help you feel...yeah, like that. aetna medicare advantage plans call today to learn more. omicron is spreading so fast and so wide, infecting so many millions of people that there are real questions about whether all of that forced immunity will mean the pandemic might soon be over. it is something our top health experts are considering, but as of now, according to anthony fauci, it is just too soon to tell. >> it is an open question as to whether or not omicron is going to be the live virus vaccination that everyone is hoping for, because you have such a great deal of variability with new variants emerging. i would hope that that's the case, but that would only be the case if we don't get another variant that eludes the immune response. >> joining me now is dr. michael osterholm. he is the professor at the university. thank you for coming on. i wonder if past is precedent when we look at what's going on with this virus. we look back at the 1818 pandemic, it lasted, you tell me, roughly a couple years, and there was enough immunity around that we were able to move past it. when we look at what's happening now with this virus, is it helpful to look back at how past pandemics have played out? >> as someone who has studied past pandemics extensively, notably that of influenza, i have to tell you there is a real disconnect between this particular virus and that of influenza. the difference with this one is the variants we're seeing actually could continue to worsen the situation, not make it better. as dr. fauci very correctly said, we don't know if the next variant will be able to evade the immune protection by current vaccines and be protected. you've already seen the breakthrough infections with omicron. the challenge is we don't know what the future is. maybe we won't see another bad variant again, but we have to plan as if we might, because we kind of said that last spring, we had already seen all the worst and then delta came. we said we've probably seen the worst, then omicron came. i don't see why we may not repeat that scenario again. >> why is this one so much different than the pandemics in the past? >> well, pandemics are worldwide epidemics, and the most notable ones we talk about, of course, are influenza. that's a virus that when it jumps from birds to humans undergoes a change that it can be transferred by humans and cause this very serious illness. within 18 to 20 months at most, that virus just becomes part of the seasonal flu. while you're hearing some of my colleagues on the stump talk about this might become a wintertime virus, there is no evidence of that whatsoever right now. take a look at what's happening with omicron. the southern hemisphere is getting pounded, south africa, they've recorded the highest number of deaths since the pandemic began. it's their summertime there, not the wintertime. we understand when new variants emerge, we will be at their mercy, and we just don't know where they'll come from. the one thing that's different from influenza, the primary units were birds and pigs for transmitting the virus to humans. we're seeing so many different animal species where the variants could develop in those animal species and come right back to us. >> doctor, you're very much depressing me right now. i guess when you're looking forward, are you putting more stock in vaccines, maybe a vaccine that will be able to just stop this in its track? we haven't seen that with omicron. or are you going to put more stock into therapeutics, treatments for omicron -- for covid-19, i'm sorry, for whatever variant might come our way? >> this is one plus one equals three, okay? we need both. i'm certain we'll see new and improved vaccines coming down the pike. we're going to have covid-19 vaccine 2.0, 3.0 and maybe even 4.0 in the future. in addition therapeutics will play a huge role. remember, katy, back in the 1980s if someone got a diagnosis of hiv, it was a death sentence. today it's a manageable chronic disease because of drugs. i think we need to make a worldwide push to continue to expand on our drugs that are available for this, but what we have now surely shows promise. imagine if, in your earliest days of infection, you could get one of these drugs, it would virtually keep you out of the hospital, keep you from getting serious illness or death. so you think both of these can and whether change the future course of the pandemic. >> do you have any idea or any expectation for how long it's going to take to get our supply up enough of these therapeutics that we currently have to make this easier to treat in the beginning, kind of like getting a z-pack? >> yesterday would not have been soon enough, okay? i wish it were. i think it's going to be some days. remember, what we have to do is we have to get a coordinated program for first testing people. we know where testing is right now. it's a huge challenge, not just in this country but around the world. we want to know who to treat. once we know we want to test people quickly, then we need a major system change so we can get these drugs to these people quickly. right now our systems can't handle that. if we could do all of that and get the drugs, i think we're going to have a major, major impact on this disease. and all we can do is work hard to get that system in place. >> let's move as fast as we can. dr. osterholm, thank you so much for joining us. even with bad news, it's good to see you. i'd rather hear it than not hear it at all. we've been reporting staffing shortages in the medical field ever since the pandemic. because of that one hospital is trying something new. houston central is making their icu virtual. one nurse says it's faster and better. >> if i had a medical patient holding and i didn't have that doctor to run ideas by, i had to, hey, could you pretty please help me out? now i don't have to go look for that person. they're right there for me. boom, just hit the button and they're my resource. >> with me now from houston is nbc news correspondent ellison barber. ellison, show us how it works. >> reporter: katy, yes, this is the operations centers for the virtual icu. here you have nurses, registered nurses, actively monitoring patients in the icu from behind their computer screens. virtual doctors can even do this from other states. let's pretend for a minute that i am smaert than i actually am, and say i am an icu doctor or internist or one of those registered nurses working on the virtual side of things. say i'm watching all of this and i notice something is going wrong with a covid patient. i can click into their room here, notify the team that works on that floor, bedside team, and communicate with them. so say you have someone outside of this room trying to get inside but it takes a little bit of time, right, to put on all the ppe necessary to go into a covid patient's room. watch what i can do from here. say i want to check their oxygen levels, if their going lower. i zoom in here and i can get a read on the oxygen levels of a patient from this computer screen, communicate that to people working on the floor while they're still trying to get inside. say i'm on the other side of this and i say, hey, i need backup, i need advice, there are buttons above the icu beds where i can push into this system to get realtime help. if i'm not in one of those icu rooms, we're pretending i'm an icu nurse, but because we're at capacity and icu rooms are full, i can keep them in the er. let's say they're on a ventilator but they need to get weaned off that. i have different skills than a floor nurse. i can take the unit with me, push the button on the outside and you can literally talk to someone in realtime to get advice on what to do from this room. listen to how one of the doctors who has been leading the charge of this described this and the advantages he says they have already seen using this. listen. >> instead of trying to have all patients moved to icu when there is no capacity, we brought the critical care to the patient. that has allowed us to deliver care on a fast-paced, improved outcome, and quite a few times because it was delivered by our virtual team, especially in the emergency room, a lot of us do so better than they would have in the icu so we're able to downgrade them. we prevented them deterioration and we were able to save an icu bed. voila. >> reporter: so this is something this hospital system, houston methodist, started to prepare for and study well before the pandemic hit. coincidentally, they were rolling it out kind of right as the pandemic began and it became an even more vital, more valuable tool than they ever anticipated. they say the data is still sort of in the early stages here, katy, but just in a year's time, they tell us they have seen their codes, the number of patients going into cardiac arrest, drop by about 37%. and they say that's because they're able to see stuff early from this side and alert those bedside teams a little bit quicker, and they see it as adding an extra team worker for those taxed icu workers on those floors. >> that's incredible. they are not in those rooms so they have less of a chance of catching it themselves and being put out of commission for however long it takes them to recover. a little bit of news. yesterday we hit 66 million covid-19 cases in this country. today we have hit 67 million confirmed cases. i should say that number is probably pretty low, or at least a little low, because there are a lot of people out there that are getting it that aren't getting tested or aren't getting officially confirmed. 67 million people. ellison barber, ellison, thank you so much. still ahead, the rift between donald trump and ron desantis, and why trump insiders blame mitch mcconnell. later a former hedge fund manager and a celebrity surgeon. a look at the crowded gop field in the pennsylvania senate race. in the pennsylvani my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala reduces asthma attacks it's a once-monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occured. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala. ♪♪ things you start back when you're 45.ue. coaching. new workouts. and screening for colon cancer. yep. the american cancer society recommends screening starting at age 45, instead of 50, since colon cancer is increasing in younger adults. i'm cologuard®. i'm convenient and find 92% of colon cancers... ...even in early stages. i'm for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. ♪ got my hair ♪ ♪ got my head ♪ ♪ got my brains ♪ ♪ got my ears ♪ ♪ got my heart ♪ ♪ got my soul ♪ ♪ got my mouth ♪ ♪ i got life ♪ we have a new statement on the white house on major carriers changing plans with the 5g rollout because of airlines impact and safety on planes. verizon and at&t said they would avoid doing it on the ones near the airport. president biden wrote, i want to thank very eye zon and at&t for greeg to delay 5 gs g deployment around key airports. we go to the pennsylvania gop candidates. among them a celebrity doctor you probably know and a hedge fund manager who you probably don't. joining me now from wilkes-barre, pennsylvania is dasha burns. we all know dr. oz is in this race in pennsylvania. is he a frontrunner because of his name recognition, or is he seen as somebody who is not actually a pennsylvanian? >> reporter: when you talk to voters here, katy, all of them, of course, know who he is, but they're still waiting to see what he's actually about, what are his conservative bona fides. there are still a lot of questions when it comes to people who will be casting a ballot. but look, it's still early in the midterm year, but you wouldn't necessarily know it on the ground here in pennsylvania. candidates are flooding the air airways with campaign ads, their out shaking hands, spending money. earlier in the weekend we got an indicator where things might stand with some of the gop candidates, katy. there haven't been a lot of big tests yet but this is kind of an early sign with the straw caucus poll. it represents about 70% in the state. it is made up of active leaders, those who will be organizing the voters, getting them to the polls, and the results are pretty telling. you look at the candidates who got the most votes, kathy barnett, political conservative commentator. they're on the ground building relationships within the party. third, you have dave mccormick, the hedge fund manager who got 15 votes. not bad considering he just jumped into the race last week, katy. it shows he has some inherent appeal, at least, with some of the party faithful here, and then dr. oz, surprisingly, just one vote. that name recognition might not be translating to the republican party itself, not necessarily looking like they're taking his campaign seriously at this point. of course, still very early and there is a lot that's going to shift in this race, katy. >> dasha burns, a lot going on down there in pennsylvania. dasha, thank you very much. what was once a cozy relationship between florida governor ron desantis and former president donald trump seems to have soured. it could have started when desantis repeatedly dodged questions about a potential run for president in 2024. or maybe it was last week when donald trump called politicians who do not disclose their vaccination status gutless after desantis refused to disclose his. or maybe a few days after that when desantis said on a podcast that he wished he stood up to trump over lockdowns at the start of the pandemic. either way, there is tension between the gop king maker and the man who he considered his protege, at least at one point. and in the "new york times," republicans are asking who, now, is the king of florida? camps say there is nothing to see. trump's avisors blame the media. with me now is digital reporter mark caputo. everything is more interesting in florida, mark. desantis is not saying whether he will run in 2024. if donald trump decides to run in '24, what are the chances that desantis is going to want to challenge him for that? >> reporter: if 2024 were today, i would say very slim. donald trump would crush him if he were in the polling. now if donald trump is leading the polling and looks very vulnerable, he would have one more challenger and desantis would be one of them. he hasn't just fallen off a turnip truck yesterday. he knows if he needs to poke the bear, he needs to do it in an incredible fashion. maybe last week was a subtle fashion. he said, no, i'm a little sensitive to that. in 2021 desantis said the same thing he said in the ruthless podcast that lockdowns were not a good idea. the podcast was run by one of his top advisors, josh holmes, and a lot of trump followers thought the question teed up for desantis to answer was unfair. he just asks, is there a beef between you guys. desantis says no and blames the media. but an advisor to mcconnell is also the media. podcasts are media, so the republican media is getting the treatment from the political shop of donald trump. it's kind of an interesting irony that's at play. >> why is mitch mcconnell getting dragged into this? >> for that reason, the association between him and holmes. more broadly the president is kind of involved in a low-grade jihad against the senate republican leader. he wants to oust mcconnell. he and mcconnell have been on frosty no-speaking terms on january 6. i don't know why my phone is ringing, pardon me. when mcconnell decided to criticize the now former president for the january 6 riots. since then trump has been trying to recruit various republican senate candidates to run, and if they get elected, to not vote for mcconnell as senate republican leader. now, his post is probably pretty secure as republican leader, as the majority leader or the minority leader, but if enough republicans decide to oust him, it's going to be a pain for mcconnell in his leadership race or just in managing the senate. >> can i ask a question about louisiana which caught my eye, and i know caught yours today. there is a man named gary chambers running in the senate in louisiana, i believe against senator kennedy. in the ad is looks like he's smoking a blunt, he's smoking marijuana. and he's talking about how many people get arrested for marijuana for these low-level crimes, these low amounts of marijuana, and he's using that as a way to introduce himself to louisiana. it's an interesting new way to try and grab attention. >> it's remarkable. we're a long way we are a long way, in police, i didn't inhale to now you have a u.s. senate candidate sitting in kind of a dream-like fashion silting in a carry in the middle of the field smoking a blunt. this is a good example of how much marijuana politics have changed over the decade or the past few years. it's a remarkable thing to watch. i assume this will not be the last of these types of ads of candidates going forward. >> i plead the fifth when you ask me how a blunt is. up next, inside the empire state building. it is headed our way. well, sort of. to get awa of. >> ♪ sometimes you want to go ♪ ♪where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪ ♪and they're always glad you came ♪ hi, my name is cherrie. i'm 76 and i live on the oregon coast. ♪ my husband, sam, we've been married 53 years. we love to walk on the beach. i have two daughters and then two granddaughters. i noticed that memories were not there like they were when i was much younger. since taking prevagen, my memory has gotten better and it's like the puzzle pieces have all been [click] put together. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. [bacon sizzles] [bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ [bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ woo! . an asteroid the size of a skyscraper is. >> dawn:ing by earth today and the closest encounter we've had in nearly a century, no, don't worry, this is not armageddon. this after the void will pass by us safely. but what is nasa doing for a closer call? it could happen. here's nbc news' gadi schwartz. >> when it comes to space rocks, it's all about timing from the one that hit years ago, lucky today's asteroid will safely past earth and a back yard telescope can catch a glimpse as et zooms by more than 43 miles per hour and there is an event online. >> it's real and it's coming. >> reporter: don't look up smash hit xoon couldn't be better timed, real astronauts say. >> it's not close enough to worry. >> reporter: the asteroid been more than five times as far away as the moon. one of the thousands tracked by those in charge of planetary defense. deep worry, we got a lot more planetary than leo's dr. mindy. >> you guys discovered a comet? that so dope. i have a shooting star on my pack. >> it seems like we will have a mechanism on the horizon. >> the ability to defend ourselves against asteroids will take a long time to develop so we should start now. >> reporter: in fact, nasa has launched a spaceship, they're trying to smash into one this fall. the real danger is like the fireball over russia in 2013 and armageddon. >> it's what we call a global killer, nothing will survive. >> if that did hit us, that would be end times. that would be very bad. even you know 100 yards across would be enough to take out a city. >> reporter: but those chances are getting slimmer the more we plan ahead. >> unlike the dinosaurs, there was nothing they could do. right. we actually have the capably to do something about this. >> reporter: gadi schwartz, nbc news. >> close call. that's going to do it for me today. hallie jackson picks up our coverage next. and there you have it. woah. wireless on the most reliable network nationwide. wow. big deal. we get unlimited for just 30 bucks. sweet, but mine has 5g included. relax people. my wireless is crushing it. that's because you all have xfinity mobile with your internet. it's wireless so good, it keeps one-upping itself. take the savings challenge at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings or visit an xfinity store to learn how our switch squad makes it easy to switch and save hundreds. san francisco was a beacon of hope for my family to reach the middle class, and i've been helping others ever since. when the pandemic hit bilal was right there, helping restaurant workers make ends meet. in the obama administration, bilal worked tirelessly on innovative policies. the status quo isn't working. bilal is the best shot we have for meaningful change. i'm bilal mahmood, and i know our city can become a beacon of hope once again. breaking news, as we come on the air about what's going on in the air with the battle between tech and travel, now in a partial holding pattern because verizon and