lester holt is next. >> we'll be back at 6:00, home to see you then. bye. breaking news tonight, the deadly winter storm on the move a terrifying video, a tornado tearing through a neighborhood, a massive tree falling onto the highway up and down the east coast, tens of millions at risk in the northeast, up to a foot of snow in the south, a major flood threat after that twister outbreak golly. that's got to be a tornado. >> we'll time it all out. also tonight, acquitted and on the attack president trump celebrating at the white house, unleashing on opponents. his new shot at mitt romney, the only republican who voted to convict, and his feud escalating with nancy pelosi

what happened when they were feet away at the national prayer breakfast? the chaos growing in iowa. the democratic national committee calling for a total recanvass after the caucus meltdown. new results show the race tightening and now another candidate declaring victory. breaking on the coronavirus front. new flights evacuating hundreds of americans from china u.s. tourists trapped on cruise ships and the chinese doctor who blew the whistle on the outbreak, his tragic fate. the shocking reveal of elizabeth smart. the kidnapping and sexual abuse survivor saying she was attacked again, this time on a plane. how she's fighting back and a popular car booster seat for young children, the new alert tonight. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening snow, heavy rain, flooding, even tornadoes all part of a massive and deadly storm system bringing misery from the deep south to new england tonight. 25 million people from kentucky to maine are under winter weather alerts for snow and ice. in the south where at least three people have been killed, millions more face violent winds and twisters, toppling

trees and damaging homes. and flash flood warnings are up tonight from georgia to the carolinas our gabe gutierrez has the latest >> reporter: tonight, the powerful winter storm is tearing through much of the country, producing snow, rain, hail, and tornadoes. this security camera captures a possible twister ripping through a north carolina neighborhood. this dash cam video shows a tree falling on a georgia highway, barely missing oncoming traffic at least three deaths have been reported from toppled trees in tennessee and south carolina tens of thousands of people across the south are without power. these students huddled in a school hallway singing songs during a tornado warning. in mississippi, this frightening founl funnel cloud ripped roofs off homes. >> all of a sudden the wind and the rain got so heavy we ran inside >> reporter: after dumping snow on texas and oklahoma, in new orleans, the fast-moving system brought damaging hail,

torrential rain and relentless wind. >> that's got to be a tornado. >> reporter: at this construction site, scaffolding crashed onto cars. >> it happened so fast i've never seen nothing that bad before >> reporter: today more snow fell in parts of the midwest, and it's expected to intensify overnight in northern new england. lester >> gabe gutierrez in chicago, thanks. this could be a potentially violent night in some places wnbc's janice huff is tracking it. janice, what can we expect >> lester, we'll start with the tornado watches that are still in effect across parts of the southeast look at all of these watches in effect up and down through the carolinas. across this area, 23 million people at risk for damaging winds and possible tornadoes from jacksonville all the way to wilmington, north carolina the precipitation will be heavy, so flooding is a possibility over the carolinas, especially closer areas on the north side of that heavy snow maybe as much as a foot, and airport impacts will be dramatic from cleveland all the way to boston. >> a mixed bag, janice

thanks. a day after his acquittal on both impeachment charges, president trump celebrated his victory while denouncing those who tried to remove him from office as evil and corrupt, even using an expletive on live tv. our peter alexander is at the white house ♪ >> reporter: calling it a celebration, president trump tonight savoring his senate victory >> we went through hell unfairly. did nothing wrong, but this is what the end result is. [ cheers and applause >> it's the only good headline i've ever had in "the washington post." >> the president unplugged, riffing for more than an hour. >> i never thought a word would sound so good it's called total acquittal. >> praising a packed crowd of political allies >> mitch mcconnell, i want to tell you, you did a fantastic job. [ cheers and applause] >> reporter: both point and bitter, unloading on the democrats and the relentless string of investigations

>> it was evil it was corrupt it was dirty cops. it was leakers and liars. >> punctuating his anger with an expletive. >> it was all bullshit >> reporter: and this message to the people of utah. >> tell them i'm sorry about mitt romney. i'm sorry. >> reporter: it wasn't the first time today the president attacked the only republican who joined democrats voting to remove him earlier shattering the bipartisan tradition of the national prayer breakfast with swipes at both romney and house speaker nancy pelosi >> i don't like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong, nor do i like people who say "i pray for you" when they know that that's not so >> romney today with nbc station ksl, standing by his decision >> i believe that when i swear an oath to god, i have a responsibility to be exactly truthful, and

i am truthful and did what i believe was absolutely right for our country. >> pelosi firing back at the president >> he's talking about things that he knows little about, faith and prayer >> reporter: trading new insults while defending tearing up the president's state of the union speech. >> he looked to me a like he was a little sedated. he has shredded the truth in his speech. he's shredding the constitution in his conduct. i shredded his state of his mind address. >> reporter: tonight the president unapologetic with one exception. >> i want to apologize to my family for having them have to go through a phony, rotten deal. ivanka, thank you, honey. come >> reporter: tonight the senate's top democrat chuck schumer is dismissing the president's white house event as an hour and a half of mistruths and profanity. lester the impeachment is over, but the iowa caucus is not. the head of the democratic national committee demanding a

recanvass of the vote three days after the caucus chaos and has the final tally in limbo. morgan radford has details. >> reporter: more confusion tonight over those iowa caucus results as the head of the democratic national committee calls for a recanvass, an audit of every single detail from monday night >> is that a blow to some of the progress you've already made? >> no. i don't think there will be substantial differ in the most important vote, and that's the popular vote >> are you claiming victory in iowa? >> where i come from, morgan, when you get 6,000 more votes, where i come from that sounds like a victory to me. >> reporter: the the winner is the one with the most state delegates, and with those final results still uncertain. senator sanders and pete buttigieg are now locked in a battle for new hampshire. >> new hampshire is not the kind of place to let iowa or anybody else tell you what to do. >> the latest monmouth poll shows sanders

leading in new hampshire by just four points within the poll's margin of error and former vice president joe biden and senator elizabeth warren still trailing. and as the front-runners blitzed the granite state ahead of friday night's debate, voters here say despite the chaos on caucus night, they still have faith that their vote will count. >> do you feel confident? >> yes, i definitely feel confident, for sure >> we need to be engaged. we need to treat this as important because it is. >> reporter: morgan radford, nbc news, manchester. let's turn to the coronavirus. as the death toll climbs, more americans are headed home on two flights tonight from the epicenter in china while hundreds of others remain trapped on a ship in japan miguel almaguer has the latest >> reporter: the two chartered cargo planes will carry over 500 evacuees desperate to escape wuhan they'll land at lackland air base in texas and eply airfield in nebraska, where during their 14-day quarantine, they'll be checked for the coronavirus every 12 hours >> to have 200 other

people who are possibly contagious be around you at any time is a little concerning. >> reporter: with hundreds of americans in quarantine at miramar air station, five evacuees who developed a fever or cough are now being monitored at local hospitals. in china tonight, more than 600 dead including the whistle-blower doctor who was silenced by police after being one of the first to warn of an outbreak he died at a wuhan hospital nine days after contracting the virus himself. in tokyo, passengers with coronavirus removed from this cruise ship as thousands of others, including 400 americans, spend yet another night quarantined at sea. >> everybody's a suspect, i guess, is kind of how we're being treated. >> reporter: in hong kong, another 3,600 people are floating in limbo, docked in the city's harbor. nbc's molly hunter is there. >> are you okay? >> reporter: back at home, the u.s.

government is prepping more facilities like this one in washington state to house the sick as more americans come home by the planeload with great precaution. tonight we are told two americans in wuhan, china, are being treated for the virus with great concern that more americans there could get sick and there are renewed efforts to bring people to bases like this from that country. lester >> miguel almaguer, thank you for the update a big public memorial is planned for kobe bryant, his daughter, and seven other people killed in the helicopter crash 11 days ago. the event will be held monday, february 24th at the staples center in l.a. where bryant played for so many years and where a memorial was held when michael jackson died in new york, the prosecution rested in the harvey weinstein trial after hearing from six women who accused weinstein of sexual assault nbc's stephanie gosk has been on the case stephanie, what can we expect now as the defense takes over >> well, lester, we

can expect the defense team to continue to question the accusers' credibility and motivation, the same way they have through very tough questions through cross-examination. we've heard already from six accusers, three of them supporting witnesses the prosecution says harvey weinstein lured these women using his power and influence as a hollywood producer, and then he sexually assaulted them of course, weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and denies ever having nonconsensual sex. an interesting thing, the judge in court today said that the defense could take three or four days roughly to wrap up their case that would mean as early as next week, the end of next week, the jury could take this case and start to deliberate >> stephanie, thanks. we'll be right back in just 60 seconds with a shocking revelation by elizabeth smart, who survived being kidnapped as a child travelers outraged

tonight, the survivor of an infamous kidnapping is speaking out elizabeth smart was

abducted when she was 14 and suffered months of sexual abuse. now smart says she was attacked recently again aboard a flight. nbc's joe friar on how she's fighting back. >> reporter: as a teenager, elizabeth smart was kidnapped and repeatedly raped now as an adult, she says she was sexually assaulted again, this time on an airplane while flying home to utah last summer smart says she was asleep when the man next to her started touching her inappropriately, rubbing his hand on her inner thigh. >> seriously, again? like, can this really be happening to me again? do i have a big sign across my forehead that says "victim" i mean, how is this happening to me again? >> smart says she filed a complaint with delta, does not blame the airline. in a statement, delta says we took the matterve continuedate with mis smarted and the

appropriate authority. smart says she also spoke with the fbi and the investigation is ongoing. the fbi says it can't confirm or deny an investigation. according to the federal government, sexual assaults on flights are rising at an alarming rate, up 66% over a three-year period smart says after what happened last summer, she decided to create a self-defense program in utah for women and girls. she calls it smart defense. headlines in 2002 when at the age of 14 smart was abducted at knifepoint from her bedroom. >> elizabeth, if you're out there, we're doing everything we possibly can to help you >> she was held captive for nine months before she was rescued. since then, smart has been an advocate for missing persons and victims of sexual abuse, a responsibility that for her remains as important as ever. joe friar, nbc news. now a disturbing case of child abuse. a father, an nypd officer, charged with murder after authorities say he forced his 8-year-old son with autism to sleep in a freezing garage nbc's ron allen on the multiple warnings the boy's mother says were

ignored. >> let him go! let him go >> heart-wrenching video from a custody battle, a mother picking up her children from their father michael valva today charged with murdering his 8-year-old autistic son authorities say tommy valva froze to death after being forced to sleep in his father's garage as punishment. >> treated them in a man they're was nothing short of cruel, callous, juan ton, and evil. >> the father's girlfriend also charged with murder. both pleading not guilty. >> i filed so many complaints asking for help, begging for justice. that never happened. justyna zubko-valva, and so do prosecutors, that valva was reported many times for mistreating his boys >> the children were wearing diapers. they were coming to school soaked in urine. they were looking for food on the classroom floor, in the garbage. >> looking for food in the garbage? >> right.

exactly. >> reporter: she says records from a state hotline showed dozens of warnings including from the boys' school. the most recent saying tommy had bruises and abrasions all over his face nbc news has not been able to verify the documents due to the ongoing investigation. >> what about the fact that your ex-husband is a police officer? >> well, he was actually protected because of that as well >> reporter: today prosecutors promising a thorough investigation. >> this case is public, but there are kids out there dying every day and nobody knows about it >> reporter: a mother distraught over a system failing to save her son as nationwide nearly 8 million children are reported abused every year. ron allen, nbc news, riverhead, new york. >> an incredibly disturbing story. there is outrage tonight from some frequent flyers and others who get to avoid long airport security lines the trump administration is putting a freeze on enrollmentth global entry program here in new york and says it could be expanded to other states erin mclaughlin tells us why. >> reporter: tonight

the trump administration escalating its battle with the state of new york the department of homeland security is banning residents from enrolling or reenrolling in so-called truste traveler program like global entry to make it easier to cross the u.s. border and get through airport security lines a dramatic move in response to new york's green light law. passed last year, it limits the department of motor vehicles from sharing information with i.c.e. and customs and border protection new york officials saying the law allows immigrants to come out of the shadows and calls dhs' new ban political retaliation. >> this is unbounded arrogance, disrespect of the rule of law. >> reporter: dhs says the new york law creates a security issue, preventing the federal government from tracking down potential criminals. >> we no longer have access to make sure they meet the program requirements, so we need to do our job. >> reporter: some travelers at new york's jfk airport are not happy. >> i think it's a very mean, spiteful way to

get back at new yorkers. >> reporter: new york says it's not backing down. >> in all likelihood this dispute will go to the courts, and new york will argue that the federal government has exceeded its constitutional authority. >> reporter: trump officials say any state considering legislation similar to new york's green light law could also lose access to trusted travel programs. one official singling out the state of washington. lester >> erin mclaughlin tonight, thank you up next, serious new safety questions about a popular child booster seat obama: he's been a leader

throughout the country for the past twelve years, mr. michael bloomberg is here. vo: leadership in action. mayor bloomberg and president obama worked together in the fight for gun safety laws, to improve education, and to develop innovative ways to help teens gain the skills needed to find good jobs. obama: at a time when washington is divided in old ideological battles he shows us what can be achieved when we bring people together to seek pragmatic solutions. bloomberg: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. tonight, troubling

findings from a propublica investigation into one of the country's well-known makers of car booster seats for children, suggesting they may offer little to no protection in certain car crashes. here's tom costello. >> reporter: in 2016, the brown family had no way of knowing that a week after a family trip to disney world, 5-year-old jillian would be on life support after suffering a catastrophic spinal cord injury in a horrific car crash today jillian is paralyzed below her neck and relies on a ventilator to breathe. her parents say her evenflo big kid booster seat failed to protect her. >> her body was just flung, and she just was -- you know, it really didn't support. now a propublica investigation has found evenflo's ow internal crash tests show children sitting in a big kid booster seat could suffer serious head, neck and spinal injuries in a side-impact crash. >> their own top car seat engineer admitted that if a child's body

moved the way that the dummy did in the crash, that that child could wind up with paralysis, with a head injury, or could die >> reporter: the american academy of pediatrics recommends children stay in five-point harness car seats until they outgrow them, sometimes at 65 pounds or more. but the owner's manual and packaging for jillian's booster seat suggested 30-pound children could use it. jillian weighed 37 pounds the manual today says 40 pounds, but the box propublica inspected still says 30. while labels on the boosters claim they're crash-tested and evenflo engineers said in 2016 that doesn't mean the seats actually protect children >> we side-impact test our seats, but i don't think we say that we offer any type of side-impact protection >> reporter: evenflo tells nbc news, our product designed as it was designed to do and did not cause the child's injuries the severity of crash and/or driver error

did, and no booster seat can assure a child will avoid injury in a car crash, especially a severe one. >> i feel fooled by the labeling on the box when i bought it, and i wish i never did. i wish i stayed with a five-point harn egs seat with a lot more protection >> other car seat makers have been sued in the past, but there are still no federal standards for side-impact car seat crash tests. lester >> quite alarming. all right. tom costello, thanks up next, the american who made history in space finally home

finally, the successful journey home for an american astronaut after she made history in space. here's kevin tibbles >> reporter: after nearly 11 months circling the globe nasa astronaut christina koch is safely back on mother earth. >> thumbs up and a huge smile. >> reporter: completing a 328-day mission, the longest for a woman in space, even celebrating holidays 240 miles up. her time aboard the international space station full of achievement. six space walks including the first all-female space walk. >> i'll be able to do that >> reporter: the russian soyuz carrying koch and crew landed today in kazakhstan. now the nasa scientist goes under the microscope herself, the focus of several studies on the effects space has on women >> christina, welcome home >> her next assignment, celebrating all planet earth has to offer including a trip to the beach.

kevin tibbles, nbc news >> we add our welcome home that's "nightly news." i'm lester holt. good night, everyone right now at 6:00, new images emerge. what they reveal about a san jose man shot and killed inside a car. and the latest on the coronavirus. the bay area lab helping speed up results. but first, hundreds of calls a year. we uncover new numbers showing the added pressure the homeless are putting on bay area firefighters. the news at 6:00 starts right now. i'm jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. making it in the bay, stories that focus on our housing

crisis. we have uncovered the danger stemming from homeless encampments in the east bay and how they're draining the resources of our fire department. the bay area's robert handa with the inside story. robert? >> reporter: that's right. the red cross oakland is by far the bay area city with the most incidents and you can see why. the advocates and the fire department are so concerned. a small fire can spread fast. there are a lot of homeless encampments in oakland and the tents are often jammed together. one homeless man we talked to lives in his car on the fringe of an encampment. he works and is trying to save money for a home. the fire danger is too high. >> i've seen one mattress fire next to a bunch of tents. it could have blown up to something bigger than that. >> reporter: and it's a situation oakland firefighters find