vote on thursday. reporter: that message could be that boris johnson s once winning political formula has become toxic. with potential political successes now agitating behind the scenes, these elections really count. because they will tell johnson s party whether or not he has any ounce of that political magic left. if he could still be a winner, or if he s more likely to drag all of them down with him. john? two small races that could tell a very big story. bianca nobilo, thank you so much. so cigarettes could soon be less addictive. and new proposal by the biden administration targeting nicotine levels. a terrifying scene on a tarmac in miami as passengers as a passenger plane catches fire.
over a proposed new role to curb smoking in the u.s. the plan, to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes to minimally or nonaddictive levels. administration officials say it will make it easier for smokers to quit and prevent young people from becoming smokers in the first place. but they re up against a $95 billion a year industry that s already smaller than it was just last year. but the fda points to a bigger number, nearly $300 billion a year in direct health care and lost productivity costs from smoking. tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the u.s. it s linked to more than 480,000 deaths a year in this country alone. joining me now, nbc news white house correspondent mike memoli. the tobacco industry isn t going to let this happen without a fight, so what s the white house plan? chris, i think what s soing
jesse: let s face it, america is stressed out. gas is pricy, groceries are expensive. crime is out of control. people need a little something just to calm down. there is no smoking in this building ms. tremell. what are you going to do, charge me with smoking? that s right. joe biden is waging a war not on crime, on cigarettes. the administration is proposing a rule to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes so they are not addictive. by next year. basically you smoke a cigarette and you won t even get a buzz. the fda wants to ban juul; i don t sneak it s bad for you but
reporter: juul launched in 2015, touts its product as a safer alternative to cigarettes, but researchers say a standard five juul pod has as much nicotine as a 20-pack package of regular sig retsz. if f.d.a. continues to ban the sale of flavored ecigarettes that are so popular to kids, we have the opportunity to reduce the use of ecigarette products before it becomes a long-term problem. reporter: the f.d.a. did announce plans to require tobacco companies to drastically reduce nicotine levels in terrible cigarettes to make them less addictive, but that proposal could take years to go into effect. norah. o donnell: nikki battiste, thank you for all that new information. in afghanistan, rescue efforts are under way, and international aid organi organizations are ruo the scene following a powerful 5 event 9-magnitude earthquake in a rugged mountainous area the
are safer than combustible cigarettes. but there was another concern that we raised in our letter from last friday which is that juul is also marketing these devices as smoking cessation devices. that again is a claim made without any proof, without any evidence and it s not made with fda approval. therefore, that, too, is illegal. experts say a ban would help stop vaping s won t help teenag already addicted to this stuff. what can congress do for those teenagers? i personally think that regulating the nicotine levels, but also potentially looking at putting user fees or taxes similar to what we do with combustible cigarettes is appropriate for e sig rates and using those moneys to then deal with weaning these people off addiction and also prevention campaigns, similar to what we did with regard to combustible cigarettes. my wife and i are the parent of