a major step in the push to vaccinate some 28 million children. how soon could shots go into arms, and the top concerns among parents, what you need to know. >> also tonight, the season's first nor'easter slamming the east coast. s up for 28 million people. high water stranding a woman in a car and powerful winds states of emergency in new york and new jersey al roker is tracking it the big test for president biden campaigning in virginia, where the governor's race is in a dead heat. it comes as democrats scramble to reach a deal on his spending plans this week. what they're still divided over the first image of alec baldwin on the set of his movie before that deadly shooting the questions mounting were red flags about safety ignored the growing concerns about the queen's health the major event she just dropped out of. the future of travel your first look at the new technology that could make boarding passes a thing of the past and honor your hometown

the video competition inspiring america. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt good evening there is breaking news as we come on the air. an fda advisory panel has just recommended approval of pfizer covid vaccine shots for children ages 5 to 11 the recommendation, if adopted by the fda and cdc, would make some 28 million young kids eligible for vaccinations an unprotected group thus far accounting for over 6 million positive covid tests and at least 584 deaths according to the academy of pediatrics today's thumb's up for the first kids vaccine playing out against a dramatically improving backdrop tonight covid cases in this country are on the decline. our sam brock now with late details >> here we go. >> reporter: tonight, a near unanimous all-clear from the fda panel reviewing pfizer vaccine data for 5 to 11-year-olds >> dr. gans voted yes. so this concludes the

vote. >> reporter: paving the way for an additional 28 million children who would be eligible for a covid shot potentially in days pending final fda and cdc approval. >> any way that we can make it safer and keep them in school i think is worth it. >> reporter: the pfizer data reviewed today shows that its child-size dose, about a third of what's given to adults, is more than 90% effective at preventing symptomatic covid infection in that age group though some hold deep reservations 6 in 10 parents in a recent study said they would wait and see or won't vaccinate their children at all. some parents we spoke with say they aren't anti-vaccine but have concerns about mandates. >> i'm not opposed to vaccines it's just that it's just so new. and, you know, we don't know what the long-term effects are yet. >> reporter: and potential side effects. >> definitely the myocarditis. that's an issue. >> reporter: myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart seen in a small percentage of adolescent boys and young men taking pfizer or moderna.

today experts noted there wasn't a single case of myocarditis observed in pfizer's roughly 3,000-person trial among 5 to 11-year-olds >> i feel very comfortable recommending these vaccines for young children i've recommended it for my own grandchildren. when my daughters call me and say to me, what should we do i say, the minute the vaccine is available, get your kids the vaccine. >> reporter: pressing the issue, the looming holidays and cold weather, pulling more people indoors nationally, covid cases have plunged more than 60% since the recent peak in september, but still there are more than 70,000 infections a day, and kids can pass along the virus to more vulnerable americans. >> the primary reason to do it is to protect them but also getting them vaccinated will help bring infection numbers down across the community for everybody. so it's really important that we get kids vaccinated. >> sam, was there any discussion about requiring younger kids to get the vaccine in order to attend school or indoor activities >> reporter: lester,

there was. the committee made it very clear they want to afford parents the choice to get their kids vaccinated, but several members expressed misgivings about what happens next they said they do not want to see a vaccine mandate just for young kids to go to school lester >> all right sam brock tonight, thank you. that powerful nor'easter is pushing through new england this evening after bringing heavy rain and high winds to much of the northeast along with anxious moments for parts of a region still recovering from hurricane ida. stephanie gosk now with the latest. >> reporter: the fury of the season's first nor'easter beginning overnight with torrential rain. in some places, a month's worth in less than a day in cape cod, massachusetts, the surging water trapped a woman in her car, stuck in the unrelenting deluge a flash flood watch was put in place in new york the city still recovering from the deadly effects of hurricane ida in september, which claimed 11 lives and shut down the subway but for this storm, a much less intense one,

the city was ready. >> we had teams out dropping sandbags around key areas, particularly in queens. >> reporter: in new jersey, school districts preemptively shut today, bracing for possible flooding. >> remember, where it rains, it can flood as we learned tragically last month. >> reporter: the storm continues to strengthen off the coast and could still become a bomb cyclone like the one that just slammed the west coast. nbc's al roker explains >> this nor'easter is intensifying, and so of course it qualifies as a nor'easter because those winds are coming in out of the northeast along the coast. now, whether it's a bomb cyclone, that means it has to see its pressure drop 24 millibars in 24 hours. it's still a little too early to tell, but we'll know by tomorrow one thing we do know, climate change is making this more likely we will see with these warmer waters, we're going to see more of a clash of these warm waters and colder air, causing for rapidly intensifying storms along our coast. >> reporter: tonight the rain will be pushed out of new england by punishing

winds as an unpredictable, powerful storm refuses to let go. >> stephanie joining us now how intense could those winds get this evening? >> reporter: well, they could get strong, lester, as high as 60 miles an hour out on long island and up into new england we are also learning that this storm has claimed at least one life a kayaker was killed monday night as the storm rolled in. lester. >> stephanie gosk, thank you. with democrats still divided over his spending plans, president biden is campaigning in virginia tonight for the democratic candidate for governor that dead-heat race is being viewed as a referendum on the president as well. kristen welker went to virginia for us. >> reporter: tonight, a critical test for president biden campaigning next door in virginia. but with mr. biden's poll numbers dropping, can he boost support for democrat terry mcauliffe, a former governor >> this election is about the next chapter of virginia. >> reporter: the president is the latest top democrat to barnstorm in the state.

>> we're at a turning point right now. >> reporter: still, despite the high-powered help, mcauliffe is locked in a tight race against republican glenn youngkin in a state that's recently gone blue. >> we've got people flocking to our campaign people walk up to me every minute and say, glenn, i'm a lifelong democrat i'm voting for you. >> reporter: the republican businessman walking a fine line when it comes to the marquee name in his party, former president trump. mr. trump endorsed youngkin but has not campaigned with him. mcauliffe is trying to link youngkin to the former president and it's working on some early voters. >> why did you vote for terry mcauliffe? >> because i'm supporting the democrats this year. i didn't even look at the republican candidate because of the last four years honestly. >> reporter: but youngkin has gained ground by running attack ads highlighting this controversial mcauliffe comment, which mcauliffe insists was taken out of context. >> i don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach. >> reporter: a strategy that could be resonating in the all-important suburbs, which mr. trump lost in 2020.

>> i'm going to vote for youngkin i think, like, you know, with these school board meetings and everything like that, i just like -- everything's in chaos. >> reporter: and tonight there are still voters who are undecided, including democrat christina davis. do you know who you're going to vote for for virginia governor? >> i have no idea. i'm still up and down and seeing what people are really going to do and if they're true to their word. >> kristen, there's late word tonight on that deal democrats have been trying to work out on the president's spending plans. what do we know? >> reporter: that's right, lester. after some democrats signaled an agreement could be imminent, the white house is lowering expectations tonight, saying there are still several issues to work through between moderates and progressives, including health care, taxes, and paid leave. lester. >> all right kristen welker, thank you. we're learning of new concerns on that movie set in new mexico before alec baldwin fired a gun that killed the cinematographer and wounded the director officials expected to release new information tomorrow miguel almaguer is in santa fe

>> reporter: tonight with our first look on the set of "rust," inside the very church where actor alec baldwin fatally shot cinematographer halyna hutchins, we could soon learn if criminal charges will be filed in the apparent accidental killing investigators say before baldwin pulled the trigger, assistant director dave halls announced the gun was safe for use, usually a job handled by the armorer, hannah gutierrez. what's your take on what's going to happen here >> i think, miguel, that somebody is going to jail. you have a woman who has died, and someone was injured from a gunshot on a movie set where real-live ammunition should never be >> so was it loaded with a real bullet or -- >> i cannot tell you that. >> reporter: also at the center of the investigation, whether the deadly round fired here on-set was a blank or a live bullet that somehow made its way onto the production

authorities have already seized guns, boxes of ammunition, and spent rounds from the ranch. prop master neil zoromski says he walked away from a job to work on the movie because he could see the low-budget film was cutting corners. >> the dynamic that the producers were orchestrating was unsafe >> reporter: amid new calls for legislation that bans real weapons on sets, tonight a push to prevent another tragedy that comes too late after a scene here went terribly wrong here at the ranch, the preliminary investigation appears over tomorrow the sheriff will join the district attorney to lay out their case lester. >> all right miguel, thank you. authorities here and in europe have arrested 150 people in a big crackdown on illicit drug sales on part of the internet known as the dark net. more than $31 million in cash and cryptocurrency was seized in 14 states and 7 european countries. the suspects are accused of illegally selling fentanyl,

oxycodone, and other dangerous drugs. in just 60 seconds, social media giants grilled in congress on how to keep young people from harmful content. and in our special series "county to county," three very different views of the republican party

in the wake of that massive facebook leak, top executives from other social media giants were on the hot seat before congress today, facing tough questions about child safety on their platforms. we get more from hallie jackson >> reporter: for the first time tonight, reps from tiktok and snapchat facing fiery questions from congress. >> you're parents. how can you allow this >> reporter: those executives from platforms hugely popular with young teens defending their practices along with youtube, arguing they protect kids and trying to separate themselves from facebook. >> tiktok is not a social network based on followers >> snapchat was a decidedly different

platform where people could come and actually talk to the friends that they have in real life >> and we do not support features such as comments or live chat. >> reporter: lawmakers looking for more. >> being different from facebook is not a defense. that bar is in the gutter. >> reporter: congress could put in place stricter privacy laws and other protections for kids and teens for example, banning "like" buttons and auto play. requiring platforms have a way to flag harmful content and preventing websites from promoting influencer ads to young teens. >> we're open to getting feedback from outside experts and policymakers and parents about ways we can improve. >> we are constantly trying to balance the freedom of expression with being responsible. >> reporter: some senators looking for a stronger commitment to support specific legislation. >> this bill's been out there for years, and you still don't have a view on it. >> reporter: even though there's rare bipartisan unity on this, the question is what specifically will congress do and when with senator blumenthal telling nbc news, action may take a matter of months

lester. >> hallie jackson, thank you. now to the major project launching across our nbc news platforms. over the course of the next year, we're taking the pulse of the american voter by focusing on seven new counties in seven key battleground states. tonight ellison barber and dasha burns take us to counties where former president trump is looming large over the 2022 midterms and possibly beyond. >> reporter: we're in chattooga county, georgia. >> this is new york style pizza strictly >> steve pledger brought a slice of the big city with his pizza shop here. >> i love to go to manhattan. >> reporter: but the one thing he could do without? liberal politics >> today's world, i'm a republican. >> reporter: the kind of voter republicans are counting on to take back congress steve voted twice for president trump. a recent nbc news poll showing 77% of gop voters have a positive view of the former president. just 12% view him negatively how strong is the trump train here >> it's strong it's strong.

>> reporter: in 2016, then-president trump won this deeply evangelical county with 78% of the vote >> my faith, it influences the way that i vote. it really does if a republican come out and said that they were pro-choice, he's off my list. he gone. >> reporter: the gop is red-hot in areas like this, but to win, they also have to keep new republicans in places like luzerne county, pennsylvania dasha burns is there. >> reporter: a lot has changed here since barack obama sat on this very stool in 2008 luzerne county had elected democrats since 1988, but that all changed in 2016 when trump won here by double digits. >> we use the excavator. >> reporter: norb's family has been working luzerne county soil for decades he says democrats lost this blue collar county because they're focused on the wrong issues

>> diesel fuel prices are through the roof and they're not stopping you can't get truck tires. even though i hate to raise my prices, i have to. >> reporter: if the signs are any indication, trump's support here has not wavered much how much do you think he's going to influence what happens? >> i think big-time. yeah, i think he's going to be a big influence. >> reporter: then there's delaware county, ohio, where trump's lead narrowed in 2020 and where we met tom fortunato. he has parkinson's and says the push to scrap obamacare and its protections for pre-existing conditions pushed him away from the gop. >> that would have been a tragedy for a lot of, lot of people. >> reporter: the midterms now a test for the party and its voters. >> in 2022, see what the reaction is and how far they've distanced themselves from president trump. >> reporter: but with many republicans hoping for mr. trump to make a comeback, could the gop bounce back without him dasha burns, nbc news, delaware county, ohio. >> and you can see more reporting in our "county to county" series all this week across our nbc news platforms.

up next, the new face of air travel

there are new concerns about the health of queen elizabeth. buckingham palace announcing she will no longer travel to the u.n. climate change conference next week in scotland after doctors advised her to rest the 95-year-old resumed official engagements today via video for the first time since a brief hospitalization last week now to a major change about to take place in air travel. one of the big

airlines rolling out new facial recognition technology to speed you through airport check-ins, tsa screening, and onto your plane tom costello has more from atlanta >> reporter: just in time for the holiday travel rush, delta airlines and the tsa taking facial recognition to the next level state-of-the-art technology rolling out here in atlanta, also detroit. for those who opt in, no more scanning your paper ticket or mobile boarding pass. all you'll need is your face. passengers will check in using the phone app with their passport photo on file. once here, no need to show your driver's license to an agent. simply walk up to the kiosk, drop your mask. the camera then compares your face with the photo on file and spits out your bag tag. put the bag on the belt, and off it goes. to join the program, you must be a delta sky miles member and have tsa pre-check then just upload your passport security checkpoints also get easier.

once you're in the tsa pre-check lane, you simply walk up to the camera, take off your mask. >> come on through. >> reporter: and you're through the tsa says biometric scanners are faster and more accurate than manually checking i.d.s, speeding passengers through airports and onto planes when you show up at your gate, no phone, no ticket. you simply walk up to the camera, take off your mask. >> welcome aboard, sir. >> reporter: you're done a lot of people may be concerned about their photograph in your system for privacy reasons. >> absolutely. we in fact do not store any imagery of any customer all we do is once this kiosk takes your photo, it maps that photo with what customs has in their database based on your passport information. >> reporter: soon delta and the tsa plan to expand to new york's laguardia airport, minneapolis, l.a.x., and other hubs taking facial recognition from the curb to the jet bridge tom costello, nbc news, atlanta. >> the future of flying. up next for us, inspiring america with

a new campaign to honor your hometown.

finally, the pride and powerful memories we share about our hometowns and a new campaign to unite us that's inspiring

america. here's anne thompson >> reporter: small or big, near or far, hometowns are what we have in common >> we've got this in our dna. >> reporter: now documentary filmmaker ken burns hopes to unite our divided country in a new social media campaign, encouraging americans to honor your hometown is this designed to be an antidote to the divisiveness on social media? >> yeah, i think so. it's just a way to say, can't we set it all aside for a moment let's be together. >> reporter: the project's enlisted some famous friends to kick off the video submissions. ♪ in my tennessee mountain home ♪ >> reporter: dolly parton sings. >> i'm proud of my hometown >> this is the only hometown where i can do things like this. >> reporter: space station astronaut mark vande hei shows off. >> we're all from a community somewhere. >> reporter: trisha yearwood and garth brooks get to the heart of the matter. >> let's focus on the things that tie us and not the things that

divide us. >> reporter: from favorite sons and daughters -- >> this town has so much history, and it preserves it. >> reporter: -- to favorite things. >> just look at this pie and tell me you wouldn't like to have lunch and spend a little time here. >> reporter: everyone can have a role. >> this kind of simple reset that allows us to be americans, to subscribe to the things remember, we know when we were born, philadelphia, 1776. >> reporter: pursuing happiness to find the best in our hometowns and each other anne thompson, nbc news. >> in that spirit, hello, rancho cordova. that's "nightly news" for this tuesday thank you for watching, everyone i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night

♪ i see trees of green ♪ ♪ red roses too ♪ ♪ i see them bloom for me and you ♪ (music) ♪ so i think to myself ♪ ♪ oh what a wonderful world ♪

next on nbc news tonight, it's what a lot of parents have been waiting for, getting their young children a vaccine. today pfizer's vaccine crossed a crucial hurdle. we're talking about what that means, and we're also talking to a stanford doctor who played a critical role in making sure that vaccine is safe. plus, is facebook doing enough to protect its users? what documents revealed about the approach to vaccine misinformation. i'm going to be joined by a journalist and author who followed facebook for years. a new beef over in-n-out over vaccine rules. so is the vaccine safe for