early votes cast could break turnout records. also tonight the state of emergency in florida. hurricane and tropical storm watches up as subtropical storm nicole takes aim. we ve got the new track. the new numbers on child rsv cases. 77% of pediatric hospital beds filled nationwide. what parents need to know. the chaos at twitter under new owner elon musk. after laying off nearly half its workforce the company reportedly scrambling to hire some key workers back. and is facebook next in line for mass layoffs? and the world record powerball jackpot. nearly $2 billion up for grabs tonight. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening, everyone, from our nbc news election headquarters. with 40 million early votes already cast, millions of election day voters will soon add their votes as the first poll openings here in the east are now just hours away. control of congress and the direction of the country to be decided. democrats defending their slim