nbc bay area's "today in the bay's" chris pollone reports that test flight will set the stage for the first woman and first person of color to set foot on the moon. >> reporter: the artemis sls rocket is a monster, 322 feet tall and 15% more powerful than the rocket last sent americans to the moon 50 years ago. for astronauts, putting astronauts back on the moon's surface is goal one. >> we'll have landers on the moon, rovers on the moon and eventually a base camp on the moon. >> reporter: today's first step a test flight sending the orion cruise capsule into orbit around the moon. nasa scientists will gather data on what the spacecraft and astronaut also experience on future flights. >> we are pushing the vehicle to its limits, really stressing it to get ready for crew. >> reporter: if successful, humans could be on a lunar orbit flight within two years, then a moon landing in 2025 or '26. it promises to be a future of firsts. >> it's a future where nasa will land the first woman and the first person of color on the moon. >> reporter: captain victor glover among several nasa astronau

nbc's chris pollone joins us now from d.c chris, good morning. what does this $430 billion bill promise to do? >> reporter: yeah, phillip, good morning to you democrats are celebrating this bill as the biggest investment ever made in climate and energy. the bulk of that spending, more than $300 billion goes toward tackling climate change and boosting clean energy. but the bill also allows medicare to directly negotiate with drug companies, which could lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors, and it would raise the corporate minimum tax to 15% for companies worth over $1 billion there's a $35 co-pay cap on insulin for seniors on medicare. but republicans blocked a provision that would have extended that insulin price cap to private insurers. and private equity companies got an exemption from the new 15% minimum corporate tax. democrats are elated but republicans call this reckless spending >> we've really -- we've changed the world. i am really confident that the inflation reduction act will endure as one of the defining feats of the 21st

here is nbc chris pollone. >> reporter: senate democrats hoping to score some political wins before facing their constituents this summer and voters in november. the top priority a $700 billion spending plan with money to fight climate change in lower healthcare prices and a new minimum tax on corporations. republicans united in opposition. >> and democrats want to drop and end this on our economy at the worst possible time. >> reporter: the west virginia democrat joe manchin says the bill features many things republicans used to be in favor of. >> they're all looking at trying to find a discredit and they can't. because there is nothing to discredit. >> reporter: as vice president kamala harris announces $1 billion to help cities and states prepare for the affects of a warming planet. >> the president and i also have a duty to act not only after disaster strikes, but before disaster strikes. >> reporter: wildfires and floods in kentucky show the new climate fighting policies. their focus on arizona democrat kyrsten sinema who has not said whether she supports the bill. >> you're in a 50-5

chris pollone has the latest from washington. chris, what can you tell us about what this means and what was done and the drama that preceded it? >> reporter: dom, this is remarkable two weeks ago this was all but dead and trying to pass climate change legislation for years and prescription drug reform, democrats got it done. at the capitol, cheers for senators after they passed a cornerstone of the president biden agenda $ $700 billion climate and health care bill glch >> are you surprised >> reporter: after an all night session, the vote was 50/50 with all republicans opposed. vice president harris stepped in to hand democrats the trvictory. >> the vice president roads in the votes in the affirmative >> reporter: the bill directs $400 billion to fight climate change allows medicare to negotiate prices on drugs and raises the corporate tax on businesses making more than $1 billion a year to 15%. in a statement, president biden said this would make it work for working families. >> this is historic. no way to characterize anything.

live in cape canaveral, florida, i'm chris pollone, back to you. >> history of all sorts. thanks, chris. >> testing graph tlit. 5:04. nbc news will provide a special report when the historic launch gets under way. the "today" show's craig melvin and tom costello will provide special coverage from kennedy space center and cape canaveral. due to delays, we're tracking when the blastoff will take place. when it does, we'll carry it live on nbc bay area. >>> this morning, years of work on the golden gate bridge is nearly complete. within the year, the safety netting should be in place meant to prevent suicides. soon the focus will assess what happens next. >> "today in the bay's" kris sanchez here with us this morning with a look at the training now going on for the first responders, kris. >> it's not just enough to catch people, should they fall or jump, but this life-saving project has been in the works for more than ten years now. that's that part of it. the $250 million steel net under the golden gate bridge is still under construction. it's expected to be complete by the e

chris pollone joins us good morning what does this bill promise do >> reporter: good morning to you. democrats are celebrating this bill as the biggest bill the bulk of it goes toward tackling climate change and boosting clean energy, but the bill allows medicare to directly negotiate with drug companies, which can lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors and raise the corporate tax to 15% on companies worth over $1 million. republicans blocked a provision that would extend that cap to private insurers democrats are elated, but republicans call this reckless spending >> we've changed the world i'm really confident that the inflation reduction act will endure as one of the defining feats of the 21st centuries. >> yet another reckless taxing and spending free. immigrants have already robbed americans through inflation and now their solution is to rob american families yet a second time. >> reporter: in a statement president biden celebrated the passage and said, quote, i ran for president, promising to make government work for working families again, and that is what this bill

revealing new details about the cia drone strike that took out the leader of al qaeda over the weekend chris pollone has the latest >> reporter: newly-released video shows smoke rising above a kabul neighborhood around the time a missile strike killed the leader of al qaeda a senior official says a cia drone fired two missiles at ayman al zawahiri as he stood on a balcony. >> not just for mr. zawahiri and al qaeda, but anybody else who would think next time about harboring terrorists that could threaten the homeland. >> reporter: the administration touts the strike as proof the president's chaotic withdrawal of afghanistan was the right move >> he said we would continue to be able to target and take out terrorists on the ground >> reporter: president biden was shown a model of the safe house where osama bin laden's successor was living with his family the president made a promise >> no matter how long it takes no matter where you hide if you are a threat to our people, the united states will find you and take you out. >> reporter: now focus is on afghanistan's taliban government and questions about

we have chris pollone with us. chris, good to have you with us on a monumental day in washington talk about what was approved in the landmark deal. >> reporter: good morning. this is a $700 billion bill. it was dead two weeks ago before revived by eyea couple of senats now the senate democrats say this will include the greatest amount of spending to fight climate change by anyo country i history. other things in the bill cap of $35 on insulin for people on medicare. also, medicare will be able to negotiate prescription drug prices to hopefully lower the cost for people who have to get prescription drugs on that program. also, a minimum corporate tax of 15% on corporations making more than $1 billion a year what's not in it carried interest tax loophole did not make it in the bill. also, there was a $35 cap on insulin for people with private insurance. that did not make it in the bill as well. president biden is touting this victory saying it will make government work for working families once again. the house of rep

chris pollone is in washington, good morning, chris. >> kris, good morning. this bill was all but dead two weeks ago and some senate democrats wish it were bigger but after working for years to pass climate change legislation and also prescription drug reforms, they finally did it. [ cheers and applause ] at the capitol, cheers and high fives for democratic senators after they passed a cornerstone of president biden's enda a health care and tax reform bill. >> reporter: are you disappointed it took until the last minute? >> climate and seniors, a big win. >> reporter: after an all-night session the final vote tied 50/50 with all republicans opposed. vice president kamala harris stepped in to hand democrats the victory. >> the vice president votes in the affirmative and the bill as amended is passed. >> we never gave up and here we are. we got it done. >> reporter: the bill directs nearly $400 billion to fight climate ing cha, the biggest investment in that area ever, allowed medicare to negotiate prices on some prescription drugs and raises the corporate tax

"today in the bay's" chris pollone is live in washington breaking down the key elements for that win ahead of the midterm elections, so might make for a nicer break for the democrats, i suppose. >> yes, chris, that's right. remember, this bill was all but dead just two weeks ago and sure, it's smaller than a lot of senate democrats would have liked but after trying to pass climate change legislation and prescription drug reform for the last several years, they finally got it done. at the capitol, cheers and high fives for democratic senators after they passed a cornerstone of president biden's agenda, a $700 billion climate change, health care and tax reform bill. >> reporter: are you disappointed it took until the last minute? >> climate and seniors, a big win. >> reporter: after an all-night session of debate and amendment votes, the final vote ended up tied 50/50 with all republicans opposed. vice president kamala harris stepped in to hand democrats the victory. >> the vice president votes in the affirmative and the bill as amended is passed. >> we never gave up and here we are. we

. >> "today in the bay's" chris pollone joins us live near kennedy space center. all eyes were on the historic mission and they just had some problems getting it off the ground. >> reporter: yes, laura and marcus, it we minds you how complicated any space launch is. today basically started out with problems, lightning in the area caused a delay in fueling. they finally got that under way. nasa engineers discovered what they thought might be a crack in the artemis rocket. they figured out that problem and realized it probably wasn't as bad as it looked but what ultimately did the launch in for today is engine number three, and preparing for this launch today, nasa engineers do a certain pressurization and depressurization of the four engines on the jacket and engine number three wasn't responding properly so with only a two-hour window to launch the rocket today between about 5: 3 your time and 8:33 your time, it's clear that nasa engineers realized they were not going to be able to fix that engine problem within that window. we've been watching the weather. that w