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 eye-popping 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 that's 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 isn't 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 short-term spending bill, one the house speaker has said won't pass on his side of the capitol. >> at the end of the day, do we get this done? the answer is yes. >> reporter: staff sergeant antonio hayes has a daughter and is scheduled to deploy this week he's not sure if he will still be getting paid. >> losing a paycheck will definitely be rough for me that's something that i -- i've never thought about it, because i've 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 son's lucrative foreign business dealings. >> if the republicans had a smoking gun, or even a dripping water pistol, they would be presenting it today, but they've got nothing on joe biden >> reporter: republicans countering they've 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 today's 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 family's only asset. how does that demonstrate that there's some sort of political influence being put over him, if at that time he is not a political -- he's not an elected official >> i'm definitely not going to pinpoint one item. i think we've outlined - >> reporter: you presented it it was your first thing that you brought up >> so apparently you don't agree with it. >> reporter: it's not that i don't agree with it. i'm asking you to explain it >> i'll take the next question. >> and ryan, federal agencies are already preparing for a potential shutdown >> reporter: that's 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, that's 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 government's witness list filed today. that trial now set to begin on monday morning. mr. trump's 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. trump's net worth to suit the business's 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 front-runner, 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 front-runner 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's 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 left-wing 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 front-runner >> he owes it to the voters to defend his record >> well, you can't win if you're absent and i think that, you know, he's 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. trump's 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 we're able to find a little bit of peace today >> reporter: in a statement, lapere's family saying they're 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 daddy's 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 lapere's half-clothed 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 >> i'm 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 14-year 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 here's 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 shouldn't be a victim of this >> reporter: philadelphia police say at least eight stores are ransacked overnight, includin claudia simlia's 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 night's 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, ain't nothing. >> reporter: police say blackwell was livestreaming on instagram during tuesday's 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, blackwell's 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 mid-atlantic 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: it's hard to find a dull moment in the baxter household, with two full-time 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 that's where 3-year-old 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 don't know what we would do if we did not have that >> reporter: but that center is now in jeopardy of closing for good it's 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 they're paying per hour and in many cases, i can't 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 25-mile radius, there's absolutely no options. >> if you've been in this business, you've hit several bumps in the road this is the largest bump that i've 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, america's 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 world's 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 navy's 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: i'm standing in the middle of dozens of missile launch tubes inside them, the triton long-range nuclear missile. it's meant to deter america's enemies from striking. but if that doesn't work, the crew of this submarine have to be ready to launch one of these at a moment's notice they practice launches dozens of times. it starts with a dive. >> last man down, hatch secured. dive >> reporter: a 21-year-old is driving the sub. >> all vents open. >> dive, dive. >> reporter: the run-through 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 turning of launch keys >> weapons con, you have permission to fire >> reporter: and push of a red button. >> 21, away. >> reporter: this week's test, a success. the last step before the "louisiana" can go back out to sea after an overhaul. it's a sobering mission for these sailors, staying hidden is so critical that they wear sneakers so their footsteps can't be heard. they're at sea for months at a time with little to no communication, except the occasional email >> you're in an encapsulated tube, so you want to know what's going on in the outside world. >> reporter: they live among the missiles >> after awhile, you just kind of walk past them every day and it's just like walking past your closet >> reporter: an underwater mission critical to america's security courtney kube, nbc news, underneath the pacific ocean. and coming up here tonight, are your subscriptions out of control? the small increases can add up to big bucks. how to unsubscribe, next more and more, it seems the cost of subscriptions is going up, and while they may seem small individually, they can add up to hundreds of dollars a month. jake ward on what you can do >> reporter: it's only a dollar that's how much more subscription amazon prime's music will now cost, the company says a dollar here, a dollar there american consumers now paying an estimated $219 a month for streaming subscriptions. >> don't you dare increase something that's not worth it. i'm not about to pay $20 to reminisce >> i have already cut down three subscriptions so far that alone is going to save me over $600 a year >> reporter: oh, man between streaming, software, and some random spanish instruction i forgot about, i'm paying well over $200 a year a pioneer of subscription says that's the point >> often forgetfulness is part of the business model a lot of organizations do that. they even go so far as to hide the cancel button to make it hard to get out of the relationship >> reporter: and the result is an estimated $5 billion a year for businesses a number likely to keep growing elon musk says even x, formerly twitter, may start charging a few dollars to weed out bots >> we're moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the x system >> reporter: how do you get out of this loop several companies will find and cancel unwanted subscriptions for free, although premium services charge a subscription. make sure you are not paying for overlapping services your cable subscription, for instance, may include streaming apps that you are paying for separately if you love an app but not the price, switch to your subscription to one with ads >> cancel the ones you no longer use, or that you use very little you're throwing away money otherwise. >> reporter: jake ward, nbc news, san francisco. and up next, remembering an actor beloved for his hollywood magic. and, the new entertainment colossus rising from the desert our exclusive first look inside the las vegas sphere e irish-born actor who starred as albus dumbledore in six of the films, has died after battling pneumonia. before stepping into that iconic role, gambon had a long career on the stage and screen and was knighted for his contributions in 1998. he was 82. and finally, it's the glittering new addition to the las vegas skyline. you've probably seen what it looks like from the outside, but tonight, ahead of the grand opening, gadi schwartz takes us inside the sphere. >> reporter: right off the vegas strip is the future of entertainment in a way only science fiction could predict. some call it eye-catching to others, it's out of this world. and when words fail, there's always an emoji. but this 366-foot shimmering exosphere is just the beginning, because what's inside there is even more mind-blowing >> what is your name >> reporter: my name is gadi. >> and i'm jim >> gadi and jim, welcome to sphere >> reporter: just beyond five aura robots is the taste of the most baffling sound system in the world. you're isolating each instrument >> i'm isolating each instrument into a beat. >> reporter: all of this starting with a simple sketch from jim dolan, owner of some of the most storied venues on earth, who decided to reimagine entertainment with a $2.3 billion gamble in the desert what was your reaction when you saw it turn on >> well, i was enchanted, too i mean, it was awesome. we designed it, we visualized it, and it's so big. >> reporter: and finally, inside the sphere within a fear, 168,000 square feet of high definition l.e.d.s, 167,000 speakers, 17,000 seats, and 10,000 of them powered by haptics. >> it's impossible to describe, right? it's like trying to explain what a peanut butter and jelly sandwich tastes like to someone who has never tasted one. >> reporter: this weekend, u2 claiming the first residency, followed closely by another immersive experience, called postcards from earth all about this even bigger sphere that was all call home. gadi schwartz, nbc news, las vegas. >> one word, wow that's "nbc nightly news" for this thursday thanks for watching. i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night i'm raj mathai. next on "nbc bay area news tonight," who is he, and can he really be the next mayor of san francisco? tonight we're joined by daniel lurie, the wealthy philanthropist who is calling out mayor london breed. also, tesla slapped with a lawsuit, accused of discrimination at its factory in