tracking tropical storm ian as it gains strength and will soon be a hurricane as it makes its way toward florida's gulf coast. >> this as it left destruction around hard-hit areas. today, one of nasa's most ambitious missions comes to fruition as they crash a rocket into an asteroid. and protesting vladimir putin's push to enlist more

soldiers as demonstrations grow. and we will get a read on where stocks are headed on this monday after last week's massive market selloff let's get to it. "early today" starts right now good morning i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. florida is bracing for a hit for a possible hurricane this week, tropical storm ian making its way toward cuba. it's expected to gain strength quickly. tampa could be in the crosshairs, putting city on high alert. nbc's sam brock spoke with tampa's mayor. >> not only do you have an incredible amount of coastal exposure, the more you get into the bay, the narrower it gets, the more shallower it gets, if you're looking at a 15- to 20-foot storm surge, what would

that mean? >> it would mean devastation throughout areas throughout our city. >> right now the focus for most floridians is on basic supplies. governor ron desantis has activated 2,500 guardsmen. let's get the update on ian's path from nbc meteorologist michelle grossman. good morning to you. >> right now we're looking at tropical storm ian with strong winds of 70 miles an hour. we do expect it to become a major hurricane tomorrow and then it will slow down in the gulf, blossom to a category 4 storm and weaken before it makes landfall it is 115 miles south-southwest of grand cayman islands. we'll feel the effects in cuba with devastating mudslides, rainfall up to 1tropical posts d hurricane warnings

tropical storm warnings for the keys and for southwest florida here's the track again, expecting to blossom into a major hurricane tuesday and wednesday. by the time it reaches florida, we expect it to weaken to a category 1 storm we'll talk more about that coming up. >> okay. we'll check in with you in a bit. thank you, michele. let's turn now to the path of destruction left by fiona there are still nearly 200,000 power outages being reported in nova scotia, one of the hardest hit areas. officials say one 73-year-old woman was killed as the storm surge swallowed homes up and down the coastline >> yeah, we watched a house over here just completely get ripped off its foundation by a wave there was actually a house behind me right where we're standing that's completely gone now we watched that one completely disappear. >> canada's armed forces have

been asked to help with recovery new detailbl hearing on wednesday, including some stunning claims from a former january 6th committee member and russia congressman daniel riggleman. brie jackson has more.