Nightly news begins right now. Announcer from nbc news World Headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. Good evening. As he laid out the ground today for a major battle with Senate Republicans over a Supreme Court nomination, president obama also waded deep into the race for president at a News Conference late this afternoon taking on donald trump and other republican candidates saying being president is a serious job. Its not hosting a reality show. His remarks come just four days away from the next major test in the race for president with trump maintaining his National Lead among republicans in our new nbc News Survey Monkey poll and jeb bush lagging behind, some wondering if South Carolina could be his last stand, and for democrats the focus remains on winning over africanamerican voters. We have all sides covered starting with nbcs Peter Alexander in columbia, South Carolina. Reporter hey, good evening to you, lester. Tonight the president is weighing in
And, im sheila brummer. Nebraska voters will hear a lot about Capital Punishment between now d the november election. matt lawmakers abolished the Death Penalty in may, but a petition drive is bringing the issue to voters. Today, Death Penalty opponents made their voices heard at the State Capitol in lincoln. They urged voters to keep the punishment off the books. We are promised a punishment and made to wait for it for years and years and years. Today, the group called retain a just nebraska also unveiled their first commercial. Meanwhile, Death Penalty supporters say they too plan to reach out to voters before the november election. Have an update, tononht, to a plan that could make roads safer for cyclists in iowa. The iowa senate has passed a bill that would require motorists to change lanes when passing bicycles. It now heads to the iowa house for consideration. Supporters of the bicycle bill say half of all deadly crashes have been caused by a cars trying to papa bicycles without
Trump losing ground. In a new nbc news wall street journal marist poll twump leads by five points, 28 to 23 , down from 16 points a monthgo and rubio virtually unchanged at 15. The next seven days may provide clarity in these races in addition to the republicans voting in South Carolina, democratic voters will caucus in nevada tomorrow followed by republicanss there on tuesday andndhen its back to South Carolina next saturday, the 27th, for the democratic primary. A time line tt is ratcheting up the urgency in both races. Weve got both races covered starting tonight with nbcs katy tur in North Charleston for us. Hi, katy reporter lester, the stage here in just a few minutes. Its now less than 24 hours before the state votes, and as you said there are indications that this race could be a lot tighter than many had thought. Donald trump ling his commanding lead as ted cruz tries too iwhat. Donald trump sounding confident to a boisterous crowd in myrtle beach, but the billionaire is still
Quit, and turned to ecigarettes. Ive hahaa number of friends who have q qt smoking through vaping and i just wanted to be a part of that, said long. Eighteen months ago, long opened vape 712, a store that sells e cigarettes. He says a majority of his customers are people who want to quit smoking. But, an American Heart Association study says that e cigarettes should only be used as a last resort to quit smoking. The study says vaping can be a gateway to nicotine addiction. Lisa crum, a manager at vi ecig and vape lounge, disagrees. It really helped me to get off off of the cigarettes basically by weening myself off of the nicotine, which you have the ability to do when youre vaping, said crum. You can start out at a higher level of nicotine and just work your way down. I got down to a zero and stayed on that level throughout my entire pregnancy, which was okayed by my doctor. Su while vape store manager lisa crum says are an effective way to quit smoking, she says she Still Believes in
Headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. Good evening. The death toll has risen even higher today from that Violent Storm system that tore through the south, and its on the move tonight. As we start here, cities from northern carolina up to the d. C. Area under the threat of tornadoes. At least four more people were killed this afternoon, some in waverly, virginia, where theres been significant damage from an apparent tornado. At least seven people have died from this time yesterday. Right now at least ten states are at risk for Severe Weather with the highest tornado risk this evening. Nbcs Miguel Almaguer reports from the storm zone. Reporter tonight this is what they fear, funnel clouds, possible tornadoes, a weather system still packing pounding rain and whipping winds with. With at least four dead today theres another night of dangerous weather still ahead. Look at that. Oh, my god reporter forecast calls for 70mileanhour winds. The danger zone. The wic