nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening and thank you for joining us we start off tonight with yet another late winter punch of severe weather across the country as we begin this week including multiple tornadoes confirmed today in illinois at least a dozen reported from the plains to midwest since yesterday. but we are also watching snow moving east tonight, potentially bringing new york city its first significant snow of the season. right now there are winter alerts affecting an estimated 42 million people. from wisconsin clear to maine for many high winds will make things worse. and there s no break for storm-weary california rocked by more rain and snow today al roker will take us through it all in just a moment but first let s go to morgan chesky in oklahoma where they are picking up the pieces from tornadoes tonight. reporter: tonight oklahoma facing a mangled mess homes shredded and cars tossed. from terrifying tornadoes striking overnight. there s possi
site and meet with residents. lester all right george solis, thank you. the supreme court is set for a major showdown over president biden s student loan forgiveness plan our senior legal correspondent laura jarrett joins us laura, there will be millions of americans paying very close attention to this case tomorrow reporter: absolutely, lester the stakes are very high for more than 40 million borrowers who would have their student loans forgiven if the supreme court agrees with the biden administration now, the president s plan would wipe out up to $10,000 in debt for those who make $125,000 or less and up to $20,000 for lower-income borrowers. the white house says this plan helps offset the economic impact of the pandemic, but it s on pause because a group of republican-led states and borrowers sued, arguing that the president needs congressional authorization to act now, critics also argue it s unfair to transfer student loan debt to taxpayers who already paid off their loans
i think they do. i think as you mentioned it portrays the president as this kinetic political force and the republicans as recalcinetric political force and here president is getting things done and republicans are standing in the way. you under score the problem which is that what the president can do is largely temporary. if he does want to have a greater impact and pass larger legislation he needs the input of the congress. there is some stuff that is really pressing that is going to happen regardless of political wins. one of them is the transportation bill where more than 100,000 construction projects around the country may just stop in a matter of weeks. there is also the pressing matter of being between 700 and 800 u.s. troops in iraq and the president only having so much time there before the president needs congressional authorization.
time there before the president needs congressional authorization. do you have sense from your reporting whether or not congress is up to the task of doing the stuff that they really need to do? on the highway trust fund it is clear that congress needs to pass a bill in order for the fund to be replenished. there has been talks in the senate greater than what is happening in the house but there is no real indication that anything is imminent in terms of getting it done. contrast that with what is happening in iraq. you get a sense of talking to people on the hill that they want nothing to do with authorization and say to the president you take it and put your finger prints on this quagmire. i think that is the frustration that the white house has which is that they don t get a clean message all the time about when they need to have the legislative branch s input. in terms of the republican strategy here we were talking about the democratic strategy.
does the white house actually love that congressional republicans are suing them? i think they do. i think as you mentioned it portrays the president as this kinetic political force and the republicans as recalcinetric political force and here president is getting things done and republicans are standing in the way. you under score the problem which is that what the president can do is largely temporary. if he does want to have a greater impact and pass larger legislation he needs the input of the congress. there is some stuff that is really pressing that is going to happen regardless of political wins. one of them is the transportation bill where more than 100,000 construction projects around the country may just stop in a matter of weeks. there is also the pressing matter of being between 700 and 800 u.s. troops in iraq and the president only having so much time there before the president needs congressional authorization. do you have sense from your