How he allegedly got in 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 missile 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 i Nbc Nightly News with lester holt good evening and 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 measures 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 thats something that i ive never thought about it, because ive 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 a Top Republican about a Whatsapp Message they say hunter sent while his father was not i office, describing the biden brand as his familys only asset. How does that demonstrate that theres some sort of political influence being put over him, if at that time he is not a political hes not an elected official im definitely not going to pinpoint one item. I think weve outlined reporter you presented it it was your first thing that you brought up so apparently you dont agree with it. Reporter 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 Reporter thats right, lester. Many of these agencies sending their employees a memo outlines how they will handle a 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 Reporter yeah, thats right, lester the former president and three of his adult children, ivanka, don jr. , and eric trump are among the more than two dozen names on the governments witness list filed today. That trial now set to begin on monday morning. Mr. Trumps sons have been running the Company Since mr. Trump was elected president in 2016. Now, 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 as an another example of what he calls election interference, and his attorneys have had to appeal that tuesday ruling lester Garrett Haake, thank you. And 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 theres an Extremist Movement that does not share the basic believes 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 well, you cant win if youre absent and i think that, you know, 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, thank you. 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 pava lapere the last few days have been unnerving for our citizens, and i sincerely hope were able to find a little bit of peace today reporter in a statement, laperes family saying theyre relieved to know 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 the elevator together the documents say laperes halfclothed body was found on the roof the cause of death, strangulation and Blunt Force Trauma today, Police Always reveal they already were Tracking Billingsley as a suspect 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 la lapere, a widely admired Tech Entrepreneur im not going to speculate whether it could have prevented her death, but as soon as we realized that there was a public safety, we had the press Conference Reporter questions also swirling about how a man who 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 should about 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 heres 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 are ransacked overnight, includin 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 measures 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 going down right here, aint nothing. Reporter Police Say Blackwell was livestreaming on instagram during tuesdays chaos. Sharing her location and appearing to egg on looters. Free iphones let me see the iphone, oh, my god Reporter Police say 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 loot 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 all right, george solis, thank you much of the midatlantic and northeast are in for Drenching Rains and potential flooding tomorrow and into the weekend. Coastal flood alerts are in effect from virginia to long island and southern connecticut. As much as four to six 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 like 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 hoyle 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 wa 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, theres absolutely no options. 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 deterrent. Our exclusive look inside a u. S. Submarine, as the crew trains for the day they hope will never come, right after this 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 they are the first line of defense, and our Courtney Kube got rare access inside one, 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 is to 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 this 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 reporter 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 authorized reporter and just like in the movies, a