brand-new fox power rankings are out, republicans holding the advantage and retaking the house. the senate is still up in the air. hello, well come, welcome, i m sandra smith in new york. mike: mike emanuel in washington. republicans are supposed to keep the advantage from the last power rankings but different side in the senate. toss-up races in arizona, georgia, nevada and pennsylvania will decide which party takes control. sandra: tight as ever, we approach the final weeks to election day, all of this as pocket book issues are likely to determine the outcome of many of these key races. recent polls show the economy, inflation, surging gas prices are top of mind for american voters. especially independents. mike: jackie and james in moments, but first alexandria, the election is likely to be decided by independent voters. that is exactly right, often hold the decisionmaking power and we are seeing the area of independent concern aligning more with republicans. the
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
and humorous moments over the years announcer: this is “nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening the king has spoken. a day after the queen s passing charles iii stepping firmly into his new role, greeting mourners at the gates of buckingham palace where inside he addressed a heartbroken nation, paying tribute to his mother s life well lived, and echoing the late queen s promise of lifelong service. king charles also announcing new titles within the royal family his wife camilla now officially queen consort. son william taking his father s title, prince of wales his wife kate now princess of wales. as cannons boomed and bells tolled across london today in honor of queen elizabeth, the new king got down to business meeting with prime minister liz truss, herself only three days on the job. as the uk enters a long period of transition and mourning, preparing for a send-off befitting a queen. it s where we start tonight with keir simmons. reporter: and, lester, rig
we are less than a week from the midterm elections setting the stage for 2024 and the war of words is escalating with control of congress on the line. already, nearly 28 million voters have cast their ballots. the early numbers on pace to outskirt out-do 2018 s massive turnout. this is a good opportunity for dualing panels where we can talk about the notable moments on the campaign trail. how much time do we have? let s do four minutes. i m writing it down. i ll start. clock please. let s bring in georgia s lieutenant governor jeff duncan. and great to have you guys. so, somehow herschel walker and barack obama are now beefing instead of, barack obama is not running for anything. but it started as you know, lieutenant governor on friday. when barack obama was in georgia. and he said this about herschel walker. there is very little evidence that he has taken any interest, bothered to learn anything about or displayed any kind of inclination toward public service
and i m bianna golodryga. the fight for every vote under way with just five days until election day. so far more than 30 million voters have already cast their ballots in 46 states with the most seen in texas and florida. that s a pace that looks like if may exceed the historic turnout of 2018. both president biden and former president trump are making those closing arguments for their parties from the campaign trail. trump is planning four rallies in five days starting in iowa today to slam democrats over inflation and crime. president biden head west. soon lands in new mexico. may echo his consistent call to voters to eject election deniers and preserve democracy. our phil mattingly is covering president biden and jeb bellamy in iowa. why is president biden in new mexico? reporter: the two events he s attending. one a speech about student loans pap clear effort. we ve seen the white house pursuing this over the course of the last several weeks directed at trying to