prescribed xiaflex. make an appointment with a xiaflex-trained urologist. visit bentcarrot.com to find one today. hello on this monday. thanks for joining us. it is 10:00 eastern. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york.

two big names jumping into the republican field. south carolina senator tim scott is launching his campaign in just about an hour while florida governor ron desantis is expected to make it official within days. can either break through the noise that is donald trump? intensifying negotiations. president biden and speaker kevin mccarthy meeting this afternoon for the latest round of debt talks with just days left to avoid a catastrophic default. >> where our differences are and how could we solve those, and i felt that part was productive. look, there's no agreement. we're still apart. also today, the man charged with murdering four university of idaho students will appear in court for his arraignment. bryan kohberger faces a judge as new details emerge about the possible murder weapon. later, the new space race. a crew of private astronauts

just docked at the international space station. we'll have a live report from cape canaveral, florida, with a look at that and how nasa's goal of getting to mars is going nuclear. let's begin with this morning's big news in the 2024 race for the white house. ali vitali is in scott's hometown. robert god freed former spokesperson for nikki haley and host of the "what a day podcast" with crooked media. ally, what can we expect from this announcement coming less than an hour from now? >> reporter: this is tim scott stepping into his own. when i'm in my other day job as a capitol hill correspondent, we see him in the halls there. now he's going to be stepping into his own limelight as a

presidential candidate. he's joining a field that isn't crowded at this point but is likely to get a lot more crowded over the course of this week. i think what's going to be fascinating about tim scott's candidacy is the way his advisers have told me he's going to try to fit into the race. he's not going to try to lob attacks at his opponents. instead we're going to see a lot of the senator presenting himself to the american public, going heavy on his bio. he's here at his alma mater for this announcement in his home state of south carolina. that's going to factor heavily into his candidacy, in his story. he's also going to lean heavily into his faith. you see it on the banner behind him, it's becoming an official presidential candidacy. we'll see him lean heavily on that as theed advisers tell me the contrast for scott is not going to come in terms of

message compared to trump and others in the field. instead it's going to come with scott as a messenger, leaning heavily, of course, on his personal story. i think there's an interesting little bit of politics here and we can talk about how this impacts the larger landscape of the race in a little bit. there is an interesting endorser here this morning. number two senate republican john thune will be here at this event. he'll be endorsing senator tim scott, a man be loved by his senate colleagues in washington and now getting that love in the form of some endorsements, ana. >> we do know scott is a deeply religious man with strong views on abortion. how do you see his faith impacting his policy priorities and what kind of campaign would you expect to see? >> well, it's a tremendously proud day for the people of south carolina to see another person from our state, another one of our public officials jump into the presidential race. senator scott's faith, his

personal story has always been compelling. he's always been a great messenger when it comes to talking about those things, and what it is, it's a real contrast because when he -- whether he's talking about his faith or he's campaigning, as he did eight years ago with senator rubio and governor haley, what he does is he brings people together. he's up lifting. he presents as governor haley does, a stark contrast to kind of the grievance-filled characters we see from some other leaders of the party. so what i think we'll see is senator scott lean heavily into these things they're his strength. make no mistake. while he's absolutely lean on his faith and personal story, he has a strong record. he has a background in business. he has a background as a policymaker, whether it's opportunity zones that have lifted people up and given them

opportunities to be run businesses of their own. he's a school choice advocate to make sure the people have the opportunity to go to schools regardless of where they're born. he's absolutely a fiscal conservative. he's got a wide range of issues that he's become well known for. so senator scott has a number of things to offer this race, and i think they'll be uplifting things, not personality-driven but policy-driven. >> scott is the only black republican senator, the only black american to serve in both chambers of congress. we know black americans vote overwhelmingly democratic. but take a listen to what senator cory booker told our colleague here at nbc and msnbc, jen psaki.

>> why should people who are intrigued by his presidential aspirations know about him? >> i think that, as i look at this republican field, he may be one of those people that is underestimated. >> juanita, is this someone joe biden should be worried about? >> i think senator booker is a very kind senator, but absolutely not, just based on the voter breakdown you mentioned before, ana. with 92% of black voters going democrat, less than 8% going republican in 2020. i think that's something that's got to stand no matter what senator scott says largely because of his voting record aligning with trump and maga republicans so heavily in the senate. that's what can't be lost here, is the substance. let's be real, when you think about republican primary voters, substance isn't something that they think a lot about. character of candidates isn't something they think about, especially when a recent nbc poll showed two-thirds of republican primary voters are

still looking to back trump, in spied of all the scandals, indictments and investigations. i think that's what's ultimately going to rise to the top here. i do want to go back to the endorsement that you mentioned of senator thune which is a huge deal. that shows that tim scott is the pick of conservatives at this moment, but again, when you think about the makeup of the gop primary and the red meat those primary voters want in terms of abortion bans, bans against lgbtq individuals, bans against teaching black history, i think there's going to be a cap and a limit to see how far tim scott is going to get in this race. >> we also know desantis is expected to join the race this week. ali, how does this growing gop field impact the current front-runner donald trump? >> reporter: look, the trump team has long said, and most of the sources in republican politics agree with it, that the larger this field gets, the better it is for donald trump. the fact that you're seeing not just senator tim scott jump in

this week, but the man who we've all widely assumed to be the number two in this field, florida governor ron desantis, he's likely to jump in this week, there are several other names, too, ana, chris christie, doug berg ham. we're waiting to see what mike pence ends up doing. i think what the trump's team read on this is, and they put this out when they saw senator scott file his statement of candidacy before the weekend, they say in their view, the fact that more people are jumping in, other republicans see that second place is wide open. that's a dig at desantis who they see as faltering and has had missteps over the last few months as he's sort of played footsie with the presidential bid, the fact that you're going to see this field widen, a, gives republicans more options, but b, when you talk about the poll that juanita is messaging, it's not clear that a lot of

republican voters want more options. many know trump, believe in trump and may want to see him be the nominee again. we'll see if the support peels off. every candidate in this race knows that's their charge right now. they've got to find a way to peel off trump voters. >> it's very early, obviously. there is a growing list of republicans who don't think trump can catch that lightning in a bottle. listen to what republican senator bill cassidy had to say about trump's record in swing states. >> so if past is prologue, that means president trump is going to have a hard time in those swing states which means he cannot win a general election. >> juanita, if you take what cassidy is saying and you believe trump can't win a general election, i wonder can any republican? >> based on them running themes of hatred and harm -- and let's be real -- inhuman moan policies

again, targeting pregnant people and women, targeting lgbtq individuals, it's not looking good for republicans. these bans and policies, they want toic ma sure lgbtq have protections. they want to make sure pregnant women can access basic health care in the form of an abortion. every time a state puts out one of these bans, consider that a hit against all republicans going into a general election. when you add that on top of the fact that republicans are going to spend millions and millions of dollars hitting each other, whereas president biden isn't scrapping with anybody else. >> thank you all, appreciate the discussion. when we're back in 60 seconds, new urgency to raise the debt ceiling and avoid economic catastrophe. president biden and speaker mccarthy meeting one on one

today. is this make or break? the man accused of killing four sclej students is facing a judge today. also the naacp has issued a travel advisory for a u.s. state, florida. i'll speak with the organization's president about why. ahead, going where no human has gone before. what will it take for nasa to win the space race to mars? (vo) with verizon, you can now get a private 5g network. so you can do more than connect your business, you can make it even smarter.

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joining us is nbc news white house correspondent monica alba and capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles. first to you, monica. what do we know about today's meeting as far as timing and the fact that it seems to be just biden and mccarthy meeting, right? >> reporter: that is definitely significant, ana. we got news this meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. today here at the white house behind me. it is notable it's going to be a face-to-face with president biden and speaker mccarthy. it's something the republican speaker has said he wanted do for some time. after last week's meeting, they did delegate negotiators working around the clock to hash out the terms of this agreement. the fact that the last 12 or 18 hours we have heard this productive sense that talks are heading in the right direction, but time is incredibly of the essence here. every day that passes without something closer to an agreement is why people are getting a little business nervous considering what could happen if we trigger a catastrophic

default by next week. so we heard from the treasury secretary janet yellen over the weekend who typically gives an update on this so-called x date. we know it has been june 1st. she has said she doesn't expect that to move. it's possible we'll get an update between now and then. here is what she said her position is yesterday on "meet the press." >> i indicated in my last letter to congress that we expect to be unable to pay all of our bills in early june and possibly as soon as june 1st. but i certainly haven't changed my assessment. i think that's a hard deadline. >> reporter: we know white house negotiators are currently on capitol hill trying to narrow these areas of agreement for the president and speaker to talk about later. we know they dud speak on the phone on air force one when the president was traveling back from japan. both feel like they can get in a

room and try to make agreements ability lifting the debt ceiling which they say they both agreed to. the thing they haven't really decided on how to approach completely is the budget talks which we know the white house has very different views than republicans on, ana. >> ryan, negotiators for these two parties met saturday and sunday, on sunday for over 2 1/2 hours. what do we know about what's on the table right now? what was brought into the mix this weekend? >> reporter: they're meeting right now, ana, just down the hall from where i'm standing. i should point out house speaker kevin mccarthy also just entered the building as well as is briefing reporters right now about where he thinks things stand right new in terms of these negotiations. to get to your point, the big problem, the impasse between the two sides is how much they're willing to cut and where those cuts would come from. it could be from 10 to $100 billion apart on different spending cuts, whether or not defense spending is on the table

is also up for negotiations. but they are making progress which is very important, especially if you're going to get the president and the speaker in the same room, ostensibly to close the deal on something these negotiators have been working out behind closed doors. take a listen to what patrick mchenry, the congressman from north carolina, told us earlier today. >> the conversation the president and the speaker had yesterday was productive. it goss us back in the room together. we have a sort of updated sense of our realities. we know the deadline. both sides are working in good faith. we've got tough issues. we've got tough issues to deal with. it's a difficult proposition. all these things are tough. >> just looking over the notes from our colleagues that spoke with the speaker, and one of the things that he impressed upon reporters here in just the last few minutes is the timeline. ana, we've talked over and over again about june 1st being the deadline.

that is the hard deadline. a lot of work needs to be done on capitol hill between now and then. so really in terms of a deal between the president and the speaker, that has to happen in the very near future because it's got to work its way through the legislative process. there are rules associated with passing bills like this. the senate will have to pass it, the house will have to pass it. this is not an easy process. so the quicker the president and the speaker can come to an agreement, the quicker they can get that process moving. >> that's right. nothing in washington is simple. ryan nobles and monica alba, thank you both. up next on "ana cabrera reports," the man charged in the checking death of jordan neely. plus we're in idea ha where the man accused of killing four university students is being arraigned today. will prosecutors seek the death penalty? prosecutors seek the d penalty? sk, we've spent a hundred years developing treatments to help unlock humanity's full potential.

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we're back. in just a few hours the man charged with killing four university of idaho students will go before a judge. bryan kohberger is expected to be arraigned on murder charges after being indicted by a grand jury last week. he is facing four counts of first degree murder and one count of burglary. joining us from moscow, idaho, nbc news correspondent gadi schwartz. also law professor paul butler. kohberger has more than one court appearance today.

what can we expect to see? >> reporter: he's got three court appearances today. the first about an hour and a half where he'll face four counts of murder and one count of burglary. it's been six months since the murder. it's been about five months that he's been in custody. this will be the first time that family members of the victims see bryan kohberger either plead guilty or not guilty in this case. that's going to be the first hearing that we see, the arraignment. the second one, we understand the defense filed a motion to ask for more evidence. the prosecutor turned over 54 terabytes of information, tens of thousands of pages of documents, videos. however, the defense has asked for specific video of kohberger's arrest. we're told there is no video. that may be what's discussed

during the motion hearing for more evidence. finally, one other hearing today, bryan kohberger, this entire case has had a gag order, a pretty stringent gag order placed on it. there are some media outlets asking the judge to reconsider that to see if that gag order could be lifted. >> it sounds like what we learned in this case is going to have to happen through the court proceeding, paul. do you expect we might learn more about the evidence against kohberger in any of these court hearings today? >> this would be our only forum because of the gag order, the judge isn't allowing prosecutors or police to talk. it sounds like from what we know from the prosecution that the evidence is quite strong. prosecutors say kohberger's dna was found on a knife sheath left at the scene. video of a car matching kohberger's driving away from the scene after the time of the

murders. prosecutors haven't yet identified a motive. >> paul, stay with us. gadi, thank you for your reporting. keep us posted. you can catch gadi on "stay tuned now" on "nbc news now." meantime, the former marine charged in a chokehold death of a new york city subway is speaking publicly for the first time. 24-year-old daniel penny spoke with the "new york post" over the weekend. he insisted that the death of jordan neely had nothing to do with race and that he is, quote, not a white supremacist. what more did we hear? >> daniel penny says he regularly rides the subway. in this instance going from school in manhattan to the gym. while he didn't speak on jordan neely's behavior. he said this was an incident unlike anything he's ever experienced before. nearly three weeks since this

subway encounter, the man seen holding jordan neely in the deadly chokehold is breaking his silence, suggesting he would take action again under similar circumstances. i would, if there are a threat and danger in the present, he told the "new york post." in the interview the 24-year-old marine veteran and college student said this had nothing to do with race, adding i judge a person based on their character. i'm not a white supremacist. penny, accused of second degree manslaughter, wouldn't go into detail about what led up to the confrontation, but indicated it wasn't like anything i'd experienced before. his lawyer says penny acted in self-defense after neely aggressively threatened those on board. protests spilled onto subway tracks and dividing political leaders about crime, so-called

vigilantism and the response to the rise in record levels of homelessness. on friday hundreds gathered to remember the street performer. >> we keep criminalizing people with mental illness. they don't need abuse. they need help. >> reporter: when asked what penny would say to neely's family. he said i'm deeply saddened by the loss of life. it's tragic what happened to him. hopefully we can change the system that's so desperately failed us. penny faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted, a charge that neely's family says doesn't go far enough. the neely family attorney describing it an advertisement to soften the public's view of penny. they want to know why he didn't let go of that chokehold sooner, ana. >> thank you for being us that

reporting, emilie ikeda. paul, is penny taking a risk speaking publicly here when he's charged with manslaughter? >> absolutely. defense attorneys never like their clients to talk. penny isn't charged with a bias crime. so "i'm not a white supremacist" isn't a legal defense. he's charged with manslaughter, again, claiming self-defense. for that defense to work, he'd have to sper suede a jury that he faced a deadly threat from mr. neely. so far we haven't seen evidence of that. >> do you think bringing the race issue into this is him trying to, i guess, counter potential motive that could come up by the prosecution? >> ana, penny's defense fund has raised over a million dollars. i think he's trying to provide some cover for his supporters. they might be concerned about being perceived as assisting a racist. defense attorneys also want to

try to excise race from the case. they want jurors to see penny as a good samaritan, not a vigilante. >> the defense attorney said, quote, this is an advertisement to soften the public's view of daniel penny who choked jordan neely to death. is this about appealing to the court of public opinion? >> i think it is. in the getz case, 12 jurors found him not guilty. at the same time, ana, there are legitimate questions about whether a white person would have met the same fate as mr. neely. there's a lot of data that suggests that black men are often perceived as more threatening than white men. >> paul butler, thank you for joining us. ahead on "ana cabrera reports," a tense situation at europe's largest nuclear power plant after more shelling in

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welcome back. in a rare move over the weekend, the naacp issued a travel advisory with a stark warning for anyone traveling to the

state of florida. the formal notice says, quote, florida is openly hostile toward african americans, people of color and lgbtq+ individuals. the advisory follows a flurry of bills signed by governor ron desantis in the last few months, a new advanced placement court in african american studies was rejected out right. desantis defunded diversity, equity and inclusion programs funded by the state. also outlawed gender transition care for minors. joining us is derrick jock son, the president and ceo of the naacp. good to have you here. why take this step? >> it was important for the naacp and other organizations to speak for individuals who are under attack. we have a large membership base in the state of florida who feel besieged upon, and unfortunately, the governor is using his platform to advance

some of the most regressive racist policies in his attempt to become the president of the united states. >> but florida isn't alone in passing controversial legislation. texas, for example, passed a law restricting critical race theory. there have been book bans there in several states. several states restricted voting rights. why is the naacp focusing specifically on florida? >> you have an individual leaning towards running for the presidency, and the nation must be aware and be cautious that, if we decide to move in this direction, it would take us backwards to the trump years and to the 1950s. this is for individuals across the country to be clearly aware of how harmful this individual would be if, in fact, he occupied the white house. >> nbc news reached out to the governor's office. haven't received any response yet. have you been contacted by florida officials? prior to this, i'm wondering, did you try to address your concerns directly with the

governor or other state leaders? >> our state naacp leaders and other leaders of the legislative black caucus in florida, including organizations like disney have reached out and made appeals. it's gone on deaf ears. he's appealing to the lowest common denominator of americans, looking to magnify the voice of individuals who lack integrity and morality in terms of their neighbors and other individuals. using race and othering as a political platform is not a winning strategy. it's un-american, undemocratic and can be potentially harmful. >> ultimately, what do you hope to accomplish here? >> raising the consciousness of individuals across the country. if individuals go to florida, they know to be careful. this is the result of an election, it will only be fixed as a result of an election. we're preparing now not only

against governor desantis but other policymakers who hold this point of view. if we don't stop this trend now, we will not have an american that's recognizable five years from now. >> just next hour, the only black republican in the senate, south carolina senator tim scott is expected to announce his candidacy for the white house? >> i wish him the best. this is not a partisan issue. our issues about racism isn't a partisan issue. it's around humanity. if individuals offer themselves to run for office and operate within the confines of human dignity, then i think he has a right. i've talked to tim scott. i think he's a decent guy. i hope he don't fall prey to this type of appeal to the lowest common denominator of humanity. >> derrick johnson, i appreciate the discussion today. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. up next on "ana cabrera

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power is back on after the sach renal yeah plant was forced to turn on generators overnight. russian forces have declared victory after the months' long battle to control bakhmut. ukrainian officials say they're still fighting on the outskirts but admit there's virtually nothing left in that city. nbc news correspondent molly hunter is live from kharkiv, ukraine. also joining us retired army john spencer with the policy forum. >> molly, what's the latest on the ground? >> reporter: you laid it out well. over the weekend we've tried to wade through the fog of war around the claims out of bakhmut. this is the deadliest, the most protracted battle that we have seen thus far in this war. it's not even a particularly strategic city but symbolic. in the east, about 130 miles south of where i am. really leading the side on the

russian side have been the wagner troops, headed up by russian millionaire yevgeny brig goes sin. they said they controlled -- even said mission accomplished. reported that president putin t ukrainian officials are trying to reframe this as a battle for the outskirts. in the video you're showing now, this is state tv from russia shows troops waving flags on top of rubble. nbc news has not independently fired fied that. we're hearing from ukrainian troops they're still pushing in from the flanks. the wagner -- hold that defensive line.

will ukraine see that as an opportunity and start pushing forward or will ukraine let russia hold that line. as we've been talking about, ana, this impending counteroffensive, will ukrainian take that opportunity to rearm and bolster up other areas in preparation for this counteroffensive, ana. >> molly hunter, thank you for the latest from ukraine. major spencer, russia is claiming victory in bakhmut. speaking about the importance of that city, ukrainian military leaders told the associated press their months' long resistance has been worth it because it limited russia's capabilities elsewhere and allowed for ukrainian advances. what are your thoughts on this strategy and how does bakhmut factor into the bigger fight? >> i absolutely agree that bakhmut isn't a win -- even the images of russian soldiers standing on top of the rubble. in all sense of studying the

war, bakhmut has been a win for ukraine. it's destroyed parts of the russian war machine, 30,000 estimated killed in order to take that piece of ground. it took them nine months, the russians, to get to the point where they're add. i agree you can't say they control it. maybe they're sitting on the far side of it. but it bought time for the ukrainians to form the counteroffensive which is going to be bold, going to be decisive. that's not a win and i study urban battles. honestly, as i've been going in and out of ukraine recently, i think i'll be sitting in bakhmut in july. >> you're optimistic about where the battle is headed. i want to ask you about the other big development over the weekend, related to u.s. training ukrainians on fighter jets, like the f-16s. what could that mean for the battle? >> it would be a game-changer. i don't think it will have an impact on this offensive that the ukrainians will launch any time now, unfortunately because

we politically waited too long. that platform specifically will help ukraine protect their forces in ukraine. it will give close air support to the maneuvers. it will help destroy the russians in ukraine with longer-range air assets. it would be significant once it gets there, which it needs to get there quickly. >> russia warned that the west sending these fighter jets, quote, carries enormous risks. do you worry about russia using it as justification to take even more drastic action, whether it's using nuclear weapons or expanding the battlefield beyond ukraine's borders? >> i absolutely do not. i think that thinking that has led us to incrementbly arm ukraine not to win, to achieve victory in ukraine, it has held us back. i strongly agree with what the president said to that question which is russia should be scared but we're no longer scared of their escalation. what they're doing in ukraine, the genocide is wrong.

the ukrainians have u.s. support. i'm not worried about their escalation, no. >> speaking of u.s. support, the u.s. just approved more security assistance for ukraine including additional ammunition for the himars, antitank weapons, armored medical treatment vehicles, trucks and trailers to transport heavy equipment, even spare parts. so here we are, the u.s. has poured billions of dollars into helping ukraine. a lot of people are wondering, is there any end in sight? what do you think? >>is. russia has limited capacity, despite what people say about what they can rally. their military as we're seeing even in bakhmut is culminating, and all that stuff that's on that list was a drawdown, which means the u.s. provides it and we restock our own stockpiles is immediate need to achieve the end of this brutal war, which is to force russia to back out, to

culminate. it can't -- russia can't continue this war for years. that military aid will help ukraine achieve victory. >> ukraine still has the heart, and that's how they're able to keep on plowing forward obviously against a lot of numbers and equipment that russia may have an advantage in at least initially in this war. thank you so much major john spencer. really appreciate your time. it's so nice to see you again. >> thank you. turning to tragedy in el salvador, the president there is promising an exhaustive investigation this week after a stampede at a soccer match left 12 people dead and more than 100 injured. a flood of angry fans stormed an access gate in the capital city, many fans reportedly had tickets but were blocked access. one official says the problem may have been sparked by fake tickets sold online or simply an oversold stadium. the country's soccer federation has now temporarily suspended all games across the country.

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a short time ago, this mix was chartered by another private company. it comes as nasa is setting its sights a little farther and hoping to reach mars by 2040, and they're taking a page from the history books as they plan how to do it. nbc's tom costello joins us from kennedy space center in florida. tom, this is all very historic. it's also exciting. what more can you tell us? >> never gets old, these images. yesterday 5:37 p.m. the axion

crew lifted off on that spacex rocket and just moments ago in the last hour or so, they docked with the international space station. on board to americans and two saudi nationals. nasa is talking about what is it going to take to get to the moon and then to mars, and we were surprised to find out that to go to mars, nasa is planning to go nuclear. >> one month after elon musk's star ship launch then broke apart on liftoff. >> a rapid unscheduled disassembly. >> both spacex and nasa insist they're committed to the rocket. first to land astronauts on the moon but ultimately to carry crews to mars as soon as 2040. while science and exploration are the driving motivators, there's also a competitive factor, china. >> the chinese government is very secretive, and a lot of their plans involve their

military preparations. and so there's a reason for us to get there first. >> and nasa wants to get there faster. a round trip mission to mars could take two to three years. so to cut the travel time, america is going back to the future. >> this project was called nerva. >> reporter: to the 1960s and a government program most americans have never heard of to develop nuclear powered rockets. >> someday a manned trip to mars and return may become the mission assignment. >> it turns out they made big problem back in the 60s running expensive tests. the goal now, send astronauts to the moon and beyond on nuclear rockets. when the apollo astronauts went to the moon, they needed five of these massive f 1 engines just is get them off the earth and escape the earth's gravitational pull, 7.5 million pounds of

thrust. here they got an exact replica to scale of the saturn 5. 363 feet tall. future astronauts will need that kind of lift, but once they're in space, they can use a much smaller engine, a nuclear engine to go all the way to mars and back, a fraction of the size, and that engine could last 20 years. this is a big place. it's happening now at the marshal test flight center in huntsville. >> this is where they put components of nuclear -- such as this fuel here and the one you're holding. >> these are the building blocks for america's future nuclear propulsion going to space? >> yes. >> but america's best knowns a tro physicist neil degras tyson wonders why we're going. >> to accomplish scientific goals the robot can live off of sunlight but you can't. the robot is not going to cry

because we ran out of money and and we can't bring you back. >> nuclear has been part of the nasa play book before. the robotic mission launched in 1977, it's still out there sending back images of our sew solar system. it uses three nuclear batteries. the memory 3 million times less than what you have in your cell phones. so it's amazing how technology has taken so many leaps ahead. >> it's so fascinating. good stuff, tom costello, thank you so much. be sure to tune in to his special, race to mars streaming on nbc news now, peacock and youtube. that does it for us today, see you tomorrow, same time, same place. until then, i'm ana cabrera. josé diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. and good morning, it is 11:00 a.m. eastern, tim scott is set to make a major announcement just days after filing paperwork to run for president in