in our out of this world lead, in about two hours a nasa spacecraft will deliberately crash into an asteroid and knock it off course. this is only a test, but if successful, nasa can use this tactic to divert future asteroids from hitting earth. nasa's double asteroid redirection test, or d.a.r.t., is considered the first attempt at deflecting an asteroid without blowing it up. this is happening almost 7 million miles from earth, you can watch it in about two hours online. our coverage continues right now with "the situation room". happening now, a new forecast for hurricane ian's assault on florida being released this hour as evacuations begin and national guard troops mobilize. the national hurricane center warning that the tampa area is facing a near worst case scenario. also tonight, cnn's exclusive reporting on a mysterious phone

call from the white house to a rioter on january 6th. the rioter's identity now revealed. the house select committee is preparing to hold what is likely to be its final investigative hearing. and dissent and chaos are spreading in russia. thousands have been detained amid protests against the war in ukraine as huge lines of cars jammed the borders, packed with russians desperate to escape vladimir putin's new military draft. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm alex marquardt here in "the situation room". we begin coverage tonight with hurricane ian barreling toward florida, amid urgent warnings and evacuations. let's get straight to meteorologist tom seder standing by in the cnn weather center with a new forecast from the national hurricane center. tom, what is that new forecast saying about ian? >> the 5:00 p.m. advisory from the national hurricane center,

we're seeing an increase in the winds because the pressure is dropping. when the pressure drops, it gets stronger. we're from a category 1 to a category 2, sustained winds at 100 miles per hour. there are other changes to take note of. we're about 155 miles from the western tip of cuba. typically when these systems move over land they lose a little bit of intensity. we do not expect that to happen. the hurricane hunters have been in the system. here's what we know. the system quickly drops into a category 4. those who have been wondering, where is it going to go, this is not unusual. there have been a couple of changes in the last couple of days with two main models, the american and european. the american has been trending eastward, the european, which was well east, has been kind of moving toward the west. so we're getting a better agreement. but instead of going right to a category 3, it jumps to a 4 past the western tip of cuba. this is going to park itself just off the coast of tampa.

we now have a storm surge warning, and that's important. this is brand new in the 5:00 p.m. advisory, a storm surge warning for the tampa bay area and points to the south. we still have category 4, but it drops to a category 1. pay no attention to the category 1. because it's so vulnerable, the tampa bay area and sopoints southward are the most vulnerable points of florida. the bay is going to act as a catcher's mit. we have the hurricane watch and we have warnings to the south in the keys areas. but look at how much of an agreement we have between the u.s. model and the european. they were well off the last couple of days, so you want to see an agreement so you can get a better understanding of what this outcome may be. it may not end up like this, but this is unfortunately what we're finding, worst case scenario. but if i had worse news, and unfortunately i do, i've got to give it to you, it looks like the system is going to crawl at

5 miles per hour just offshore. instead of continuing that northward trend and then turning again to the right across florida, it puts on the brakes. take a look at this area of brown. this is very dry air, extremely dry, all the way into texas. watching that trough come down, it will turn it to florida up to the north and move it quickly. it's the battle between the trough and dry air and the warm content air we have around ian. ian is going to win out and it sits and spins here for 36 to 48 hours, a storm surge offshore that's going to kick that surge into the bay, every inlet, every canal, every coastal waterway, for quite some time. and because that surge gets pushed in for such a long period, it's going to act as a dam and it's going to keep the water from receding. then you toss in 10 to 20 inches of rainfall. here is another computer model. even if this wasn't a category 4, let's just say it was a category 1 parked offshore of

tampa, it would be disastrous. but because it makes it to a category 4 status, it takes that storm surge as category 4, no matter what the category is, even though the winds may lighten, it takes that surge as a 4 and it tosses it into every inlet. this is going to be the story going forward. please, as the director of the national hurricane center said, quit wishing the system to move away and just act now, because it is going to be inundation for hundreds and hundreds of waterway areas, through every inlet and every coastal area of this region. bad news. >> pay no attention to the category number, it is all about the storm surge. tom seder, we know how closely you will be tracking and we will be back with you soon. thanks very much. now to florida and the urgent preparations under way ahead of ian's arrival. cnn's carlos suarez is joining us with some details. we can see some of those preparations going on behind you. what have you been seeing?

>> reporter: yeah, so folks all across hillsboro county have been picking up sandbags at three locations. we've got two mandatory evacuation orders that have been sent out. one went into effect at 2:00 this afternoon in hillsboro county, the other in pinellas. folks have been lining up for several hours to pick up ten sandbags they're being allowed to work on themselves. they've got to come up, get their bags, fill them up and figure out how to get them back to their car. we've got two lines going on at this hour. one, folks that showed up by car, and the line you're looking at there, those are walk-offs, folks that most likely ditched their cars because it's taken them that long to get in. the sandbagging effort should continue throughout the rest of tonight, hopefully tomorrow. but of course all of this depends on ian's track and just how bad the weather gets. i can tell you right now, not

related to the storm, but because we are in florida, the rain is about to move in. the folks that are in line waiting to get the sandbags, they're about to get wet. >> a lot more water coming that way very soon. thank you so much. best of luck to you and your team. please stay safe. i want to bring in the mayor of tampa, florida. thank you so much for being with us. we know how much you have going on right now. i want to ask you about this new warning from the national hurricane center that ian is what they're calling a near worst case scenario. what are your biggest concerns as your city prepares for what is now a category 2 hurricane? >> well, alex, clearly it is the water and it's that surge and the stalling of the storm. we could handle the wind if it came through quickly, as the meteorologist said. but we are already saturated in the tampa bay area and we have a

unique situation geographically with the bay being very shallow and this will be, as was stated, if it stays on the trajectory, a near worst case scenario for our area. that's number one. number two, individuals that don't heed the warnings. we have a mandatory evacuation in place. we've had our law enforcement out there through all of our mobile home parks and through our housing authority properties, telling individuals that they need to get out and that is the word. we've seen a lot of people that have moved inland to safer locations away from the water. that really is the key to hurricane ian right now. >> mayor, there are a lot of people in florida who will say, we've had storms before, we've ridden them out. what is your message to them? >> my message to them, as you may or may not know, i spent 31 years in law enforcement, and i'll tell you, anybody that stayed through hurricane charlie, through hurricane

michael or through hurricane andrew, to the person they would say to me, i will never do that again, because they were fortunate enough to survive. so you need to heed the warnings. mother nature wins every single time. and this is an issue not of property damage, but of life and death. >> we are hearing a very stern warning from law enforcement. take a listen to this from the sheriff of pinellas county. >> when we issue that mandatory evacuation, what that means is that if you don't and you call for help, we're not coming because we're not going to put our people in harm's way and put them in peril because you didn't listen to what we told you to do. >> mayor castor, are you echoing that? will your residents be on their own essentially if they choose to ignore evacuation orders? >> more than likely they will. there comes a point when our law enforcement officers can't go out on the street, and if you're in that flooded zone we can't get to you when you call, if you

can call. so we need everybody to heed these warnings and go to a safe place while they have the opportunity. don't wait too late. >> mayor jane castor of tampa, thank you so much for your time. best of luck. we will be thinking of you, your staff and city in the coming days. take care. >> thank you. coming up, exclusive new reporting on the identity of a capitol hill rioter who received a a mysterious phone call from e white house during the insurrection. plus, cnn has just obtained new clips expected to be featured at wednesday's january 6th committee hearing. we'll be right back.

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tonight cnn has exclusive new reporting on the january 6th investigation. sources revealing that the identity of a capitol rioter who received a phone call from the trump white house on the day of the insurrection. our senior justice correspondent, evan perez, has detailed. what are you learning about this nine second phone call? >> right, it's nine seconds. who made the call and why, we still do not know. we know the person who received the call or the cell phone on the receiving end of the cell

phone call is antwan nunic, a 26-year-old from brooklyn. he was at the capitol with a couple of friends. they entered the capitol and all three of them have now pleaded guilty and were sentenced just recently, alex. we learned about this and have been chasing details for several months. but the former congressman who worked on the january 6th committee first made it public last night on "60 minutes". listen to how he described it. >> you get a real ah-ha moment when you see that the white house switchboard had connected to a rioter's phone while it's happening. >> someone in the white house was calling one of the rioters while it was going on? >> on january 6th, absolutely. >> and the committee is still investigating this call. we don't know -- the subject of this call did not come up during the sentencing.

for his part, he has apparently said that he doesn't know anybody at the white house and doesn't actually remember the phone call. >> we're also learning about new text messages that were sent to the white house chief of staff, mark meadows. do they tell us anything? >> well, these text messages tell us that at least, you know, back in december we know that mark meadows and people in the white house were involved, or at least aware of this effort to seize voting machines, which of course has become a much bigger deal and is under investigation both by the feds and by state authorities in georgia, in arizona and other states. mark meadows is exchanging these text messages with phil waldron, one of the early supporters of these claims that there was fraud and this idea that they should seize voting machines to try to prove this. there are some text messages which you'll see in a second, you can see where he is expressing some concern about the fact that he was rejected by

an arizona court and expressing frustration about that, and meadows responds, pathetic. the issue with this is that this became a more clandestine effort after these first initial efforts were rejected by the court. >> strong language. evan perez, stay right here. we'll be back with you in just a second. first i want to bring in cnn's don lemon, joining us with new information on this investigation into the insurrection. don, i understand that you just spoke with documentary filmmakers who spent time with roger stone. they've been cooperating and turning over some of the footage to the committee. what did they tell you? >> we spoke with them just a short time ago, it is called "a storm foretold". one of them, alex, is christopher branson, the director and producer, and there's a director of photography. they had unprecedented access with roger stone and they were making this documentary on him. they wanted to see what his

connections were, if there were any, between these groups like the proud boys, et cetera. the january 6th committee asked for their footage of stone surrounding january 6th and the 2020 election, and they handed it over. that includes a clip like this of roger stone, this one is from november 2nd of 2020, on his way home from a doug collins rally in georgia. let's watch it. >> excellent. [ laughter ] [ bleep ]. >> let's get right to it. >> shoot to kill. antifa, shoot to kill. i'm done with this. >> so shoot to kill, done with this bs. this was the day before the election. the filmmakers told me that stone also renounced violence during the time they spent with him but they didn't find it

sincere. they thought it was more of a wink and a nod. and you heard what he said in that clip. >> yeah, shoot to kill. just extraordinary. don, you have another clip that has roger stone talking about their plan to just claim victory in the election even if they lost. >> that's right, alex. this other clip shows roger stone imploring the people in his orbit how important it is to claim trump's victory, no matter what, on election night. here it is. >> let's just hope we're celebrating. i suspect it will be -- i really do suspect it will be still up in the air. when that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory. possession is nine-tenths of the law, no, we won, sorry, you're wrong. [ bleep ]. >> that was before a winner was decided in the 2020 election. and the filmmakers told me that it is clear to them that the january 6th committee is most interested in links between stone and groups like the proud boys and the oath keepers as

well. i need to share with you a statement from roger stone about these clips. he did respond and says i challenge the accuracy and authenticity of these videos and believe they have been manipulated and selectively edited. i also point out that filmmakers do not have the legal right to use them, how ironic that kim kardashian and i are both subjected to computer manipulated videos on the same day. the excerpts you provided below prove nothing. certainly they do not prove i had anything to do with the events of january 6th. that being said, it clearly shows i advocated for lawful congressional and judicial options. that is what roger stone says. and you can watch, obviously, the rest of it tonight on my show for more clips from the filmmakers. watch their interview and you're going to hear more about what they have to say about roger stone and their own interactions with the 1/6 committee. >> computer altered clips. quite a statement.

>> i had no idea that kim kardashian was subjected to -- yes or no what he's talking about. i'll have to check. >> i missed that headline. i'll have to check after the show as well. thank you so much, sir. don is going to have so much more on roger stone and those clips tonight on "don lemon tonight" at 10:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. let's get reaction and analysis from a defense attorney and cnn counterterrorism analyst and our cnn justice correspondent evan perez is back with us as well. gentlemen, thank you so much for being with me. phil, i want to go to you first. your reaction just to those clips, that interview, and what questions does it raise for you about roger stone and who he was with around january 6th. >> boy, i think my reaction is there's a big difference between the court of public opinion and a court of law. the questions i would have as an analyst looking at this case are based in fact. we know what roger stone thought, so let's go to what he did. on the day before, the day of,

the day after january 6th, i want to see phone records that indicate whether he spoke with people who were in the building, i want the interviews of people in the building indicating what roger stone told them, particularly whether he knew, whether he had foreknowledge of violence and whether he encouraged violence while it happened. you listen in that clip to what he was talking about and he mentions the word "proof". he clearly knows he's in trouble. but where he knows he'll get off the hook is the difference between saying, yeah, i told people violence is okay and, yeah, there's evidence, and i mean fact, that indicates that i told people to go in and commit an act of violence on january. the court of public opinion is going to say he's guilty. in a court of law i think he's still got some wiggle room. >> shan, to you, the full picture of how all of these groups coordinated, that's still unclear. when it comes to this phone call between the white house, someone

at the white house, and that rioter, nine seconds, we've heard members of the committee downplaying the significance. do you see any explanation for the call? >> there could be a lot of explanations for the call. it's certainly important to pursue it, and i suspect the reason the committee is downplaying it more has to do with their being unhappy with any pieces laeaking out. like most criminal cases, we've got the crime on january 6th that occurred and now they're trying to move backwards and statements like stone's, this phone call, are all indicative of someone, several people thinking of the crime beforehand. but there's a lot of room in between that's got to be filled up. so that's the really tough part, is to fill in all those blanks in such a massive, sprawling investigation. it's a lot of work. >> evan, we are hoping to have

some of those blanks filled in in what could be the last public investigative hearing by the committee on wednesday. committee members have been pretty vague about what to expect. do we have any indications about the theme or themes on wednesday? >> we expect they're going to be talking a little bit about the extremism that drove some of the violence that happened on january 6th, and i think that's one of the pieces here that i think they've been building and trying to develop from additional evidence that i think they want to make sure they put out to the public. obviously there's an interesting time -- coincidence in timing, obviously, of this hearing because some of the oath keepers, some of the members of the extremist group that were violent, carried out the violence on january 6th, are going on trial beginning tomorrow here in washington, d.c. we'll see a split screen moment there where i think you're going to see some of the oath keepers, some of the members and their

lawyers that are going to try to bring this up before a judge to raise concerns about whether this affects the fairness of their trial. and we'll see whether that does or not. >> phil, there have been so many strands in this investigation. committee members have said that it's highly unlikely that we'll get a report before the midterm elections, before the beginning of this sprawling investigation from those meadows texts, to witness tampering, the secret service text messages? there's so much to now tie up in the coming weeks. >> well, believe it or not, alex, in 30 seconds let me simplify this. there's two separate stories and they are fundamentally different. the first story is to the american populus saying if you elect somebody who encourages people to commit acts of violence, you can undermine democracy. that is not a legal argument, that is not an argument for the department of justice.

but i think the primary message from the january 6th committee is going to be to voters and citizens like me, like you, to say be careful about what you wish for because you may get it. let me differentiate that substantially from whether the department of justice takes action. i disagree with any efforts by the january 6th committee to refer cases to the department of justice. the law element of the u.s. government should make cases independent of politicians. the question about legal culpability for what happened on january 6th is for the fbi and the department of justice, so the message from the committee is, be careful in america, the message for the department of justice is do we have a legal case. i think those are two very different questions, alex. >> indeed they a are. we have to leave it there. thank you alall so much for you time, and of course your deep expertise. up next, growing chaos inside russia as military-aged men flee putin's desperate mobilization effort.

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tonight vladimir putin's dramatic military recruitment effort is sowing chaos. a protest movement, mass arrests and a mass exodus to neighboring countries. >> reporter: at russia's borders, vladimir putin's comeuppance, the lifeblood of his war in ukraine, military-aged men fleeing fears of conscription. record numbers crossing into neighboring finland. >> basically the russian inflow

of people has now doubled in the course of the last five days or so. we are now already in the process of basically squeezing the inflow. >> reporter: georgia, another border russia's would-be recruits are racing for. cars are backed up for tens of miles, and a two-day wait. they don't need a visa, but even so, russia slowing the exodus to a tiny trickle. some paying to jump the line before a total feared exit ban rumored for september 27th. >> translator: in three hours we jumped a 40 kilometers, 30-mile line. it's not a nice thing to do, but alas, the 27th scares me greatly. >> reporter: he added, the border guard called me a deserter. inside siberia, a violent turn.

at close range, a man shooting a recruitment officer. other would-be recruits scatter, run screaming from the room. the officer wounded, taken to hospital. a mostly muslim region of russia, police fired over protesters' heads, others wrestled to the ground. anger particularly strong here, as many residents feel recruitment falls too heavily on their community. putin's fabled ability to read russia's mood appears to be fading. his own officials admitting mistakes were made. the chairwoman of the federation council of the russian federation saying officials overstepped to take such liberties is absolutely unacceptable, and in my opinion the harsh reaction we are seeing in society is deserved. beyond doubt, so many young men

voting with their feet and leaving, shows trust in putin is at its lowest ebb in years. nic robertson, cnn, london. >> such extraordinary scenes. our thanks for that report. let's head to ukraine, where officials are bracing for putin's escalation there. cnn's senior international correspondent ben wedeman is on the ground in kharkiv. what are ukrainian officials afraid could come next? >> reporter: well, tomorrow is the last day voting, alex, in these sham referenda in the four regions partially occupied by the russians, and the result is a foregone conclusion that, of course, the results, take that as you will, will be in favor of an annexation by russia and the russians will probably make a rapid decision on that. now, the ukrainians' more immediate concern, of course, is the partial mobilization, which

in theory could bring as many as 300,000 russian troops to the front lines here in ukraine. but today i was speaking to an experienced commander who has dealt a lot with russian prisoners, and he says what he's seen is the ones already on the ground are demoralized, poorly equipped, poorly supported, poorly led. they're really just concerned about the sheer number of troops that could show up on the front lines. now, another concern at the moment, of course, are the thinly veiled threats of the use of nuclear weapons by president vladimir putin. now, we heard president zelenskyy say that we should not take this as a bluff, we should take it seriously. and he's calling for western powers to redouble their support and redouble sanctions on russia, alex. >> potentially a huge new number of russian troops that many believe will be treated as

cannon fire. ben wedeman in kharkiv, ukraine, thank you so much for all of your terrific reporting. u.s. officials are closely watching the sham referenda taking place. our chief white house correspondent, kaitlyn collins is joining us. you have new reporting about what the potential response could be from the biden administration to what you just heard ben call a foregone conclusion in ukraine. >> reporter: and the white house recognizes it's basically a foregone conclusion, these sham elections that are basically being carried out at gunpoint. that's why the white house is watching them closely, as they are set to conclude and the results are set to be announced. because, of course, their concern is not what the results are going to be. the white house has made clear they will never recognize the results of these so-called elections, because they're being orchestrated by russia, they know they are fraudulent. so that part is clear. what they are watching for is what russia does after it announces the results of these fake referendums, because the concern is that the white house,

they are going to move to annex these regions, make them part of russia and then potentially use any kind of fighting or attacks from the ukrainian forces pushing back to say it's an attack on the russia homeland, on russia itself, and therefore try to use that to escalate the situation. so the white house isn't sure when russia could potentially move to do that. they do believe they will act quickly, so they are preparing a u.s. response, if that does happen, if and when that does happen. and of course all of this comes, alex, as you were seeing these warnings from top officials at the white house, including the national security adviser, jake sullivan, saying they are talking about this prospect of potentially using nuclear weapons in ukraine. >> russia understands very well what the united states would do in response to the use of nuclear weapons in ukraine, because we have spelled it out for them. >> we've been very clear with the russians publicly, as well

as privately, to stop the loose talk about nuclear weapons. >> reporter: now, that comes as they say you see zelenskyy say that he believes putin is bluffing. u.s. officials say they are more concerned about this process expect of using nuclear weapons now than they were six or seven months ago, given what you've seen, the losses and setbacks that putin has suffered on the battlefield. they still think the likelihood is incredibly low, and as the press secretary told me today, they have not changed the u.s. nuclear posture because there have been no indications that they need to do so. >> that is important, no indications so far. kaitlyn collins on the north lawn of the white house, thank you very much. just ahead, a cnn exclusive report. we are going inside the operation to fly migrants from texas to martha's vineyard, with one man who helped recruit asylum seekers for that trip. that's coming up. because at carvana, we take joy in making every customer well happy.

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and now to a cnn exclusive, a behind-the-scenes look at the operation to fly migrants from texas to martha's vineyard. cnn's maria santana spoke with one man who was actively involved in recruiting asylum seekers with promises of a better life. but now he says he was deceived as well. >> reporter: for the first time in cnn, someone on the inside of the operation recruiting migrants out of san antonio, texas, is telling his story on camera. the man we spoke to, himself a recently arrived migrant, describing details of working with a woman who many have said identified herself only as -- he says he was living on the

streets of san antonio for 28 days before he was offered food, clothes and money to help secure migrants for the flight to martha's vineyard. he showed us her business card, text messages and let us listen to messages revealing she was in contact with him as recently as last week. for his safety, we are protecting his identity. >> who approached you? >> a woman, she said her name was perla. i didn't know if this was her real name. my only intention was to help the people so they could get stability. she took them to a hotel. a the hotel i realized they were being treated well. they had laundry, cloethes, things te dhey didn't have the expectation of getting. >> what did she say you had to do? help people, recruit them. she said she would help me and distribute her cards. we would send them to a sanctuary place. until the flight would leave, we would take them to a hotel, where as i explained to you,

they were provided services. >> what did she say to you to tell these migrants when you approached them? did she give you any instructions about how to talk to them, to try to get them to get on these flights? >> translator: she had told me the people going to massachusetts before i sent them, she had told me that they were going to receive them, they were going to live, they were going to stay, they were going to help them with the language and those who had children, they were going to study. >> these migrants, many of them say that they were offered $10 mcdonald's gift cards and they were asked to sign a consent form to get on these flights. >> translator: they gave them to me so that i could give them to them when people wanted to be on the flight. everything was always voluntary. no one was ever forced to do anything. when these people always said yes, i made sure they gave me the papers, their migration papers. >> reporter: two planes left san antonio on september 14th, headed to florida and ultimately to martha's vineyard. once they arrived, he received a concerned phone message from one of the migrants.

>> translator: we are at the utopia, man, and there's nothing. we're waiting to see if we can find a bed because i'm going to have no place to sleep. there's nothing here. we're adrift. these people didn't know we would arrive. i'm telling you everything so you can see it's not me, it's the reality. >> reporter: he says he messaged that the migrants were nervous because nobody was there to meet them and they were sleeping on the side of the road. he showed us what he says perla texted back, tell them to call the numbers we gave them, the church. the state has to take care of them. she left him an audio message saying i know they were scared sat first, but now they are in a much better place and they are going to be taken care of there like you are no idea. i know they are in another city, but it is within massachusetts. believe me, they are going to have a much better life than here or anywhere else. he says he believed everything perla promised him. over the last few days he says she's been warning him not to talk to reporters, texting him, if a reporter calls you, don't

say anything. he says he didn't know governor ron desantis was responsible for the planes to martha's vineyard until he saw the news, and perla never informed him who she was working for. >> translator: i was always aware that there was a ben factor who was paying for things. i repeat i never knew it was a governor or politician so my only will has been to help him. >> reporter: in the end i asked him if he felt betrayed by all of this. >> translator: yes, vgs. look at all of this, where i am. first so that everyone knows i have nothing to do with the deception, second that always, as i said from the beginning, my only principle has been to help people i really see as needy. >> reporter: alex, this migrant told us he is no longer in touch with perla and says he feels like another victim of the scheme, that his experience seems to have been designed at every level around taking advantage of people's vulnerabilities, their

desperation, even their hunger. he says he would have never participated in this if he thought he was intentionally deceiving people and cnn's attempts to reach the woman have so far been unsuccessful, alex. >> such revealing reporting. thank you very much for that report. really appreciate it. coming up, why nasa is purpososefully crashing a spacecraft tonight and how it could protect earth in the future. we'll be right back. ooh, the chewy app. clumping litter. salmon paté? we have enou to splurge on catnip toys! eye i feel so accomplished pet me please! great prices. happy pets. chewy. president biden signed the inflation reduction act into law this afternoon. ok, so what exactly does it mean for you? out of pocket costs for drugs will be capped.

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in just over an hour's time, nasa plans to crash a spacecraft into an asteroid on purpose.

the agency is testing out a type of deflection technology, which could be needed if an asteroid is ever on track to hit earth. cnn's kristin fisher takes a closer look. >> right now the spacecraft is pointed directly towards the center. >> reporter: tonight nasa's dart mission appears to be on course for a direct hit with a an astroid. >> it is only hit when it is hit. we cannot talk our way into it. >> reporter: after all. >> it is what we call a global killer. >> not the asteroid missions that we've seen in the movies. >> the united states government just asked us to save the world. >> but instead of bringing in bruce willis, nasa had a different idea and about to test it for the very first time. >> it is what we all fear, right. what if there was an asteroid coming toward earth. could you stop it and do something about it and for the first time our technology allows us to actually do something about it. >> reporter: nasa is planning to ram a refrigerator-size

spacecraft into dart, which is roughly the size of pyramid of giza and poses no threat to the planet earth. it will see if it pushed it off course. and then that technique could avoid a asteroid headed nor earth. >> we'll change the orbit of a celestial body in the universe. >> >> reporter: in maryland, one of the most tense moments for the team will happen at 50 minutes to impact. when the spacecraft will switch it's sights from a bigger asteroid it is pointed at now, to a smaller second asteroid which is the real target. >> it is a very, very sweaty time for us. so, we have a lot of contingencies build around the 50-minute transition. we're going to be watching like hawks. very scared. but excited.

>> and they are wooigoing to hat closer and closer and then we're going to hit it. >> reporter: it is a moment this team has been training for more plos. but even the rehearsals have been tense. >> we just go one by one and stood up and all of us were intently watching the screens, just what watching the astroid get bigger and bigger and my heart was palpitating, because this is not normal. it is just the rehearsal. but yet you really felt like that you are about to hit the asteroid. >> we are testing technology that could potentially save all of human kind down the road. >> down the road, right. >> reporter: and nasa has just started sharing the live images from the camera that is mounted on the dart spacecraft. you could see just the big blockness of outer space and then that star in the middle. that is actually the asteroid

ditty moss, the bigger asteroid. you can't see the target asteroid just yet. that should come into the field of view in about 30 minutes and the one time that nasa mission control is going to cheer for the total destruction of their space cast if it happens. >> a and that dot will get b bi soon. kristin fisher, we'll be back with you soon. an exciting evening. > coming up, cnn has obtain new clips expected to be featured at wednesday's january 6 committee hearing. we'll have more on that in a moment. we'll be right back. when it does, aspen dental is here for you. we offer the custom ntal treatments you need, alunder one roof, right nearby. so we can brinmore life to your smile... and more smile to your life... affordably. new patients without insurance can get a free complete exam and x-rays, and 20 percent off treatment plans. schedule your appointment today.

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happening now, a cnn exclusive. we've obtained new video of trump alley roger stone that is expected to be futured in the committee this week, and ear learning about text messages mark meadows that reveal his direct communications with a pro-trump operative behind a plan to seize voting machines. and tonight ia