In sight to keep d. C. Open. How it could impact you. Also tonight, the first hearing in the Impeachment Inquiry into President Biden. House republicans alleging a mountain of evidence of wrongdoing, but their own witnesses contradicting their claims. The ruling handed down. Donald trumps Civil Fraud Trial will officially begin monday. Will he and his children testify. And it comes after mr. Trumps gop rivals took new aim at him and each other in the second debate. The fiery moments. The suspect arrested in the murder of a tech ceo. How he allegedly got into her building, and police revealing they were already tracking him before the killing. Could it have been prevented . The potential historic Flash Flood Threat on the east coast. Our exclusive aboard a u. S. Nuclear submarine for a critical test launch. Remembering a beloved actor from the harry potter movies. And the eyepopping new las vegas attraction. Before the grand opening, we go inside the sphere. Announcer this is Nbc Nightly News with lester holt. Good evening and welcome. As we come on the air tonight, the country is careening toward a shutdown of the federal government less than 72 hours from now with congress so far unable to make a deal to avert it. The deadline Sunday Morning at 12 01 eastern time. Thats when Discretionary Spending by the government, absent a Spending Deal will stop. That includes no paychecks for federal workers, no government benefit payments, including some for veterans, and the closure of federal parks and monuments and much more. Yet despite all that, the Shutdown Threat was not the only matter consuming congress today. Republicans turning some of their focus to an Impeachment Inquiry into President Biden. Despite a key witness who testified today, the case against the president so far isnt there. Ryan nobles starts us off tonight. Reporter tonight a potential government shutdown, once measured in days now down to hours. And despite the time crunch, lawmakers are moving slow. Congress has only one option, one option to avoid a shutdown. Bipartisanship. Reporter the Senate Advancing their version of a shortterm spending bill, one the House Speaker has said wont pass on his side of the capitol. At the end of the day, do we get this done . The answer is yes. Reporter Staff SergeantAntonio Hayes has a daughter and is scheduled to deploy this week. Hes not sure if he will still be getting paid. Losing a paycheck will definitely be rough for me. Ive never thought about i because i have been in the military this long for stability. Reporter and while many are planning for the worst, House Republicans kicked off their first Impeachment Inquiry hearing. Democrats posting a shutdown clock, and arguing republicans have yet to provide evidence President Biden directly benefitted from his sons lucrative foreign business dealings. If the republicans had a smoking gun, or even a dripping water pistol, they would be presenting it today, but theyve got nothing on joe biden. Reporter republicans countering theyve collected evidence that is worth further exploring. Whether it was lunches, phone calls, white house meetings or official foreign trips, hunter biden cashed in by arranging access to joe biden. Reporter a gop witness supporting an inquiry, but democrats asking if he would vote to impeach now. You would vote no, correct . On this evidence, certainly. Reporter before todays hearing, we pressed the Top Republican about what Whatsapp Message they say hunter isnt it while his father was not in office, describing the biden brand as his familys only asset. How does that demonstrate that there is some sort of political influence being put over him if at that time he is an elected official . Im definitely not going to pinpoint one item. You presented it. The first thing you brought up. So apparently you dont agree with it. Its not that i dont agree with it. Im asking you to explain it. Ill take the next question. And ryan, federal agencies are already preparing for a potential shutdown . Thats right, lester. Many of these agencies sending their employees a memo, outlining how they will handle government shutdown, including which workers will still come into the office, and which ones will stay home and not get paid. Meanwhile, lawmakers here on capitol hill will still receive a paycheck. Lester . All right, ryan, thanks very much. Also tonight, new York Appeals Court is clearing the way for the fraud trial of former President Trump and his company to begin as soon as monday. Garrett haake now joins me. Garrett, mr. Trump and his children could be called as witnesses in this case . Yeah, thats right, lester. The former president and three of his adult children, don jr. , eric trump and ivanka trump are more than two dozen to be named. That trial now set to begin on monday morning. Mr. Trumps sons have been running the Company Since mr. Trump was elected in 2016. On tuesday, the judge overseeing this case ruled mr. Trump and his company had committed years of fraud on their financial statements, changing the value of assets and inflating mr. Trumps net worth to suit the businesss needs. Mr. Trump has repeatedly attacked this case as a witch hunt and another of what he calls election interference, and his attorneys have vowed to appeal that tuesday ruling. Lester . All right, garrett haake, thanks. A day after a Republican Debate without the gop frontrunner, President Biden took his most aggressive swing yet against former President Trump and his supporters. Gabe gutierrez reports tonight from arizona. Reporter tonight, the general Election Campaign appears to be under way. Trump says the constitution gave him, quote, the right to do whatever he wants as president. Reporter sharpening his rhetoric against gop frontrunner donald trump and his supporters, today outside phoenix, President Biden again framed the 2024 race in stark terms. Something dangerous happening in america now. There is an Extremist Movement that does not share the basic beliefs in our democracy, the maga movement. Reporter this was his fourth Speech Hammering former President Trump as a danger to democracy since the Capitol Attack on january 6th. But the latest nbc news poll shows voters are evenly split on whether republicans or democrats would better protect democracy, and also a dead heat, a Potential Race between biden and trump. With the former president in michigan last night skipping the gop debate and taking on mr. Biden crooked joe is siding with the leftwing crazies who will destroy Automobile Manufacturing and will destroy our country itself. Reporter while in california overnight, seven republican challengers tried to break through. Honestly, every time i hear you, i feel a little bit dumber for what you say. Reporter and today some took even more direct shots at the frontrunner. He owes it to the voters to defend his record. You cant win if youre absent. And i think that hes got a lot of questions to answer to. Reporter tonight, the Trump Campaign confirming he will not attend the next debate in november. Here in battleground arizona, President Biden today announced federal funding for a new library honoring the late senator john mccain, one of mr. Trumps most vocal republican critics. Lester . All right, gabe, thanks. Some chilling new details emerging tonight about the moments leading up to the killing of that young tech ceo in baltimore after the suspect was arrested last night. Ron allen is there and has late details. Reporter tonight baltimore prosecutors vowing to send Jason Billingsley to prison for the rest of his life after charging him with murdering tech ceo pavla lapere. The last days have been unnerving for our citizens. I sincerely hope were able to find a little bit of peace today. Reporter in a statement, laperes family saying theyre relieve node he can no longer hurt innocent victims. She really was larger than life. Reporter the arrest hours after a vigil attended by hundreds. She was the definition of daddys little girl. She had me wrapped and still does. Reporter charging documents say lapere let the suspect into the building where she lived and worked Last Friday Night around 11 00 p. M. , and that Security Footage shows them getting into an elevator together. The documents say laperes half clothed body was found on the roof. The cause of death, strangulation and blunt force trauma. Today police also reveal they were already Tracking Billingsley in a case involving attempted murder, rape and arson, but had not alerted the public when he allegedly killed lapere three days later, leading to questions about whether authorities should have raised alarms about billingsley before he allegedly killed lapere, a widely admired tech entrepreneur. Im not going to speculate whether it could have prevented her death, but as soon as we realized there was a public safety, we had the press conference. Reporter questions also swirling about how a man Authorities Say is a repeat violent criminal and sex offender could be released from prison on parole and probation last october after serving about half of a 14year sentence. Rapists shouldnt be let out early, period. Reporter and tonight police say they still see no previous connections between lapere and the suspect now charged with killing her. Lester . Ron allen, thank you. More businesses in philadelphia are cleaning up after another night of looting and destruction, and Authorities Say social media is partially to blame for promoting some of the violence. Here is george solis. Reporter bold and brazen, looters smashing and grabbing their way through stores in philadelphia for the second night in a row. This is not fair. I shouldnt be a victim of this. Reporter Philadelphia Police say at least eight stores were ransacked overnight, including claudia simlias beauty shop. I work overnights, days, for six, seven days a week so i could get this to here. And this is what happened. Reporter you can really see the extreme measure some criminals took to break into this liquor store, one of many stores hit up overnight. This is after Philadelphia Police added extra patrols after tuesday nights looting. More than 50 people have been arrested for looting this week, including influencer deja blackwell, who goes by meatball online. Down right here. Aint nothing. Reporter Police Say Blackwell was Live Streaming on instagram during tuesdays chaos. Sharing her location and appearing to egg on looters. Free iphones iphone, oh my god reporter at one point, 12,000 people were watching. Social media is the bane of our life. It accelerates everything. Reporter the District Attorney charged blackwell with six felonies including burglary, conspiracy and rioting. She has not yet entered a plea. This person incited a lot of other individuals, coordinated a caravan of individuals to go across the city hitting multiple locations. Reporter blackwell, now out on bail. Tonight she says she regrets her behavior. Never do it again. Stay out of trouble and never go to jail. Reporter tonight blackwells social media accounts are still active while affected businesses remain closed. Police continue to have a large presence in the area. Lester . George, thank you. Much of the midatlantic and northeast are in for Drenching Rains and potential flooding tomorrow and into the weekend. Coastal flood alerts in effect from virginia, long island and southern connecticut. As much as 4 to 6 inches of rain possible. Also tonight, American Parents are facing a dire crisis now that Government Funding that so many Child Care Centers depended on during the pandemic is set to end within days. Blayne alexander now with what families need to know. Reporter its hard to find a dull moment in the baxter household, with two fulltime working parents and two small children, the secret sauce in keeping it all together, the Clay County Early Education Center here in hayesville, north carolina. Thats where 3yearold jura spends her days. How crucial is that child care to just having your family run smoothly . We depend on it, 100 . I truly dont know what we would do if we did not have that. Reporter but that center is now in jeopardy of closing for good. Its among the more than 220,000 Child Care Providers across the country that received 24 billion in federal pandemic relief. Money that for the last two years has helped keep the doors open. But with that funding set to end september 30th, it could have a resounding impact. One report estimates more than 70,000 Child Care Providers that have received that money could face possible closure. Sheila hoile is director of the Southwestern Child Development commission, which operates the hayesville center. We need child care. We need it not only for the economic value of supporting the workforce, but we need it so that we send our youngest children to Public School ready to learn. Reporter in north carolina, the new state budget allows for leftover funds to extend those Compensation Grants for several months. And while the september deadline will not mean instant closures for most centers around the country, for providers like sheila, retaining staff becomes an immediate concern. Every Fast Food Restaurant has a sign out and how much theyre paying per hour. And in many cases, i cant even equal that wage. Reporter the threat of losing the center is especially devastating in this rural community. Jill and miguel say one of them might have to leave their job. Within a 25mile radius, there is absolutely no option. If youve been in this business, youve hit several bumps in the road. This is the largest bump that ive ever hit. Reporter now hoping for some help to make it to the other side. Blayne alexander, nbc news, hayesville, north carolina. In 60 seconds, Americas Nuclear deterrents. Our exclusive look inside a u. S. Submarine, as the crew trains for the day they hope will never come, right after this. From no Drill Mud Flaps and waterrepellent seat protectors, to our lasermeasured floorliners, weathertech has everything you need. Order yours today at weathertech. Com. The ultimate protection for your vehicle. [sneeze] dude you coming . Because the only thing dripping should be your style. Plop plop fizz fizz with alkaseltzer plus cold flu relief. Also try for fizzy fast cough relief. The chewy app has everything for pets. Hungry pets, itchy pets, scratchy pets, and most importantly, your pet. Every day great prices and 35 off your first authorship order. Right to your door. Download the chewy app. Now to our nbc news exclusive. In the event of a nuclear attack, the u. S. Navy has a fleet of the Worlds Largest submarines. Theyre the first line of defense, and our Courtney Kube got rare access into one of them as the crew performed a critical missile test. Reporter hidden deep in the ocean, one of the navys most lethal floating weapons performing a final test to get cleared for its next mission. The uss louisiana, known as a boomer, carries up to 20 nuclear missiles. Concealed hundreds of feet below the surface, it keeps enemies guessing about where and when it could strike. The sole mission is to go to sea, is to survive and so deter major power conflict through nuclear deterrence. Reporter im standing in the middle of dozens of Missile Launch tubes. Inside them the triton longrange nuclear missile. Its meant to deter americas enemies from striking. But if that doesnt work, the crew of the submarine have to be ready to launch one of these at a moments notice. They practice launches dozens of times. It starts with a dive. Last man down, hatch secured. Dive. A 21yearold is driving the sub. All vents open. Dive, dive. Reporter the runthrough begins with an order to launch. Man battle stations missile for training. Captain, message is a valid execution. Captain, the launch is on live. Reporter and just like a movie, the turning of launch keys and push of a button. 21oa. Reporter this weeks test a success. The last step before the louisiana can go back out to sea after an overhaul. Its a sobering mission for these sailors. Staying hidden is so critical that they wear sneakers s