tonight, president biden calling for vladimir putin to be tried for war crimes, as images of the atrocities in ukraine shock the world, growing outrage over the disturbing images of bucha, kyiv's suburb, after russian forces retreated new evidence of mass graves and civilians executed president biden calling russia's actions outrageous, and vowing new sanctions. ukrainian president zelenskyy visiting bucha today, accusing russia of genocide also tonight, the arrest in the deadly mass shooting in sacramento the 26-year-old man in custody. police saying more than 100 shots fired the six victims killed now identified and the manhunt for suspects still on the loose. the historic vote on ketanji brown jackson's supreme court nomination how an in-flight medical emergency delayed the proceedings. tracking severe storms and the tornado threat in the hard-hit plains and south. al roker is tracking it all. the alarming new report what top scientists say must be done right now to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. the plane crashing into a new jersey neighborhood the pilot escaping with only minor injuries. and more flight cancellations snarling

spring break travel. what to know before you fly. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening as our regular viewers know, we often caution before a particularly disturbing or graphic piece of video runs. tonight, let me warn you from the start, many of you will want to look away for our top story. it's about the unspeakable trail of horror retreating russian forces left behind in the kyiv suburb of bucha. bodies in the streets, evidence of summary executions, torture, mass graves filled with bodies, reports of rape. late tonight, ukraine's president, volodymyr zelenskyy, saying more than 300 people were killed and tortured in bucha. moscow claims it's all staged, calling the images a provocation earlier today, president zelenskyy toured the carnage in bucha for himself saying it will be recognized by the world as genocide.

and so tonight, while we may want to look away, it is becoming harder and harder to close our eyes to what's happening richard engle again leads our coverage from ukraine. >> reporter: when russian troops pulled out of the kyiv suburb of bucha, they exposed the horrors of their failed occupation. bodies line the streets. some with their hands bound. executed at close range. others bore the scars of torture the president's office said women were raped. the mayor of bucha said they discovered two mass graves. other bodies were lined up in cellars. today, ukraine's president zelenskyy visited bucha and said the russian army treated ukrainian civilians worse than animals. this is a war crime, he said. and it will be recognized by the world as genocide. in another nearby town

where russian troops also left in retreat, the bodies of the mayor, her husband, and young son were unearthed in a shallow grave. president biden is calling for a war crime trial to hold russian president putin accountable. >> this guy is brutal. and what's happening in bucha is outrageous and everyone has seen it >> reporter: president biden says he may impose more sanctions on russia. but so far, u.s. sanctions have not deterred putin from launching and continuing his assault. russia's foreign minister today claimed ukrainians staged the aftermath in bucha with actors pretending to be dead that it is preposterous given all the evidence may be beside the point independent polls in russia show putin's approval rating appears to be going up amid a wave of nationalism. tonight, a senior u.s. defense official says two thirds of russian

forces around the capital have been repositioned russia appears to be gearing up for a new offensive in the east. and in the south, along the black sea, with this new strike on an oil depot in odesa. in the capital of the east, kharkiv, this ukraine sergeant says russia's atrocities only make him more determined to defend the city. >> behind my back, behind my back, my city in the city, my family my mother and father my wife and daughter i will do everything what i need to stop them here. they won't pass me >> richard, the images are absolutely haunting and i am sitting here thinking to myself, we are seeing them only because the russians left those areas but do we have any idea what's going on in those places that russia still controls? >> so the russia military offensive around kyiv has largely collapsed. you are right, that is the only reason why we are getting a clearer

understanding of what is happening in those towns and villages but there are still many areas in the east and south in particular that remain under russian occupation unfortunately, the reports coming out of there are largely consistent of wide scale rape, murder, and looting. lester >> richard, thank you. we want to take a closer look at what happened in bucha, that suburb where alleged russian atrocities took place. powerful eyewitness accounts today from those still there, and those who managed to escape molly hunter has their stories. i'll remind you again, the images can be very hard to look at. >> reporter: today in bucha, they are going house to house working quickly, desperately trying to remove the land mines the russians left behind russian soldiers occupied ludmila's home more than a month. they broke the locks on the door. she was forced downstairs to the basement they threatened to throw grenades at us, she says

they cursed at us, saying our husbands were nazis if you could give me one russian, i would chop him up the same way they chopped up people in neighboring irpin. and throughout bucha today the carnage laid bare in the sun. her brother had been missing for more than a week she says, we found him five days ago, lying on the street, three bullets to the leg, one to the heart, one to the lungs their mother standing next to his backyard grave plans to rebury her son like he deserves. >> no one know will we survive. >> reporter: and here in lviv, this 32-year-old. >> i didn't except they are so heartless. >> reporter: with his brother-in-law and thei families escaped on march 9th from bucha >> murdered people on the streets outside. like the civilians they were just shot. they were just killed. >> reporter: where were the gunshots? >> like the chest like this >> reporter: and these are people in civilian clothes, for sure. >> for sure civilians.

>> reporter: now relatively safe, they say lviv feels like an alternate universe how does it feel looking at all the pictures we are seeing over this weekend. you saw all of it? >> it could be us. that's it. >> reporter: it could be you >> yes, it could be us it was just luck that we survived. just luck. no less, no more. >> reporter: human rights watch was on the ground in bucha urging ukraine to protect the evidence of war crimes for future trials. lester >> molly hunter, thank you. here at home, police in sacramento arresting a suspect in the shooting rampage that left six people dead and a dozen wounded. the deadliest mass shooting in the city's history. police still hunting for more suspects. miguel almaguer is there. >> reporter: tonight sacramento police have arrested one shooter behind the rapid, unrelenting barrage of gunfire 26-year-old dandrae

martin, one of multiple gunmen who investigators say terrorized sacramento's entertainment district, leaving six dead and another 12 wounded. >> people just started diving down on the ground and falling down >> reporter: the scene of chaos and carnage, the deadliest mass shooting in city history. >> cpr is in progress. >> reporter: when police arrived after the volley of gunfire at 2:00 a.m. sunday, the bloodied streets were covered in shattered glass, more than 100 spent bullet casings, and innocent victims wounded and dying in the roadway they ranged in age from 21 to 57. >> i mean, that was a massacre. >> reporter: pamela harris says her son sergio, a father of three, was caught in the crossfire. >> i know it is going to be difficult for me not seeing my son every day. he was a good person he was always there to help others. just so happened he got struck by the bullet >> reporter: while video shows a large

brawl broke out just before the bloodshed, police don't know if the fight is connected to the shooting. you made one arrest. how likely is it you will make more >> we do know there were multiple shooters. and so our team is actively working on it and we're certainl continuing to identify people that were involved in this, witnesses, victims, and certainly, the suspects. >> reporter: tonight, a manhunt under way for at least one more gunman as a broken community picks up the pieces of shattered lives. with the crime scene here just cleared, stray bullets are still lodged in buildings. in just a block or two in either direction sits city hall and the state capital. on sunday, hundreds packed this street the bloodshed could have been so much worse. lester >> miguel almaguer in sacramento thanks. now to the senate showdown over the supreme court nomination of judge ketanji brown jackson. garrett haake is on capitol hill garrett, senate democrats are on track to confirm her, but

there is some last-minute drama tonight? >> that's right, lester democrats got a reminder tonight of how slim their 50-vote majority can be when the plane carrying california's senator alex padilla had to make an emergency landing. that delayed his return to the senate by most of the day which in turn delayed the judiciary committee vote on judge jackson. that vote ultimately ended in a party-line tie. but in a procedural vote tonight, is moving the nomination forward. democrats are still on track to have judge jackson confirmed by friday and late tonight, they found they would get two more republican votes in her favor alaska's lisa murkowski, utah's mitt romney announcing they, too, would support judge jackson, a three-vote republican cushion on what otherwise would have been a party line vote. lester >> garrett haake on capitol hill thank you. tonight yet another severe storm threat for the southern plains and gulf coast they just can't seem to catch a break tens of millions could be affected. al roker is tracking it al, what can we

expect >> already we have severe thunderstorm watches up, severe thunderstorms firing up already throughout parts of texas for tonight overnight, 15 million people at risk nighttime tornadoes are a real possibility from dallas to jackson. tomorrow it is 21 million people as this shifts into the southeast, macon, montgomery, mobile, charleston as we move into wednesday, atlanta is in part of the mix now. wind gusts of 60 miles per hour, and tornadoes possible from nashville to jacksonville thursday it moves offshore, but still, 8 million people at risk rainfall amounts some places picking up up to two inches of rain per hour in the southeast. locally upwards of four inches of rain. but what we're mos worried about tonight into tomorrow, lester, the nocturnal tornadoes. >> al, thanks. a major new u.n. climate report is out tonight with a blunt warning. it's now or never fo the world to make deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions as we face the prospect of an unlivable earth.

anne thompson with details now. >> reporter: the u.n. says there is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change previewed by last year's wildfires and hurricanes but we have to move fast >> the jury has reached a verdict. and it is damning. >> reporter: the u.n. road map to avoid disaster says we must stop increasing greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. then swiftly cut them, 43% by the end of the decade. >> fossil fuels are the number one driver of climate change. we have to get off them as quickly as we can. >> reporter: to get there, people must switch to a low-carbon lifestyle including a plant-based diet, creating less food waste and choosing renewable energy, now cheaper than ever. win costs fell 55% in the past decade, solar, 85% the cost of electric car batteries down 85% too. that, the report says, is a huge opportunity to slash emissions if the power for electric

vehicles comes fro renewable sources. while president biden has pledged to cut u.s. emissions in half by 2030, with gas prices rising he encouraged a short-term increase in oil production and more natural gas exports to move europe away from russian fuel climate envoy john kerry today. is president biden backing away from his climate commitments by suggesting we need to increase fossil fuel production >> no. the president is not backing away in the least. in fact, he's doubling down and asking us to do more. he's done that in his budget he's doing it in his all of government approach. >> reporter: the world at a climate crossroads anne thompson, nbc news, london. in 60 seconds, what's behind so many travel nightmares as americans return to the skies in huge numbers, and what it may mean for your summer vacation plans.

it has been

another frustrating day for thousands of airline passengers after a weekend full of weather-related delays and cancellations. tom costello on the spring break travel crush. >> reporter: for spring break families, the timing could not be worse after 10,000 delayed or canceled flights over the weekend, more today. >> i don't think there is any chance of us getting a flight with this many people waiting. >> reporter: the airlines say they are slowly recovering after bad weather and air traffic delays in florida and the southeast rippled across the system, making matters worse today spirit canceled another 30% of its flights. jet blue, 13%. while southwest mostly back to normal after cancelling 10% of its flights on sunday. the most affected airports today, dallas, orlando, boston, and tampa. meanwhile, alaska airlines still affected by a pilot shortage and labor dispute. >> they said they had pilots coming, but there weren't any. and it would have been better if they were

just more honest upfront. >> reporter: the meltdown in the southeast comes as americans have returned from the pandemic flying again in near record numbers. delta's ceo, ed bastian. >> they are ready to go they have spent as much time as they can manage at home they spent as much money as they can fixing their houses and gardens. now they want to do something else. >> reporter: but across all airlines there aren't as many seats as there were before the pandemic. and budget airlines often don't have the staff to recover quickly when weather throws schedules into chaos. that means, if your flight is canceled, it could take days to find an open seat. for stranded spring break families -- >> telling me you are going to give me a $200 luv voucher is not going to cut it. especially when i have to pay over $500 a night for a room. >> reporter: frustration is boiling over tonight tom costello, nbc news, washington in new jersey today, a small plane crashing into the lawn of a home in the neighborhood about 35 miles west of newark authorities say the

pilot, who was the only person on board, suffered minor injuries and is expected to be okay. the flight too off from north carolina investigators say the pilot may have lost control in high winds. up next for us, the former president works to defeat high-profile incumbents in his own party. a test of his power, and theirs, and what it could all mean heading into the midterms

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just days after sarah palin announced she's running for congress, she's been

endorsed by donald trump. and as the midterms approach, the former president is testing his political capital by targeting 12 incumbents in his own party. here's vaughn hillyard >> reporter: donald trump remains the country's most influential republican more than a year after his exit from washington. >> we are going to fight for america like no one has ever fought before. >> reporter: but in these 2022 midterms, he's putting tha influence to the test. trump is trying to rid the party of these 12 republican incumbents by backing primary challengers to them. alaska's senator lisa murkowski, georgia's governor and secretary of state, congresswoman liz cheney, and eight other gop house members. one of them, tom rice. >> i voted with him 94% of the time on the floor. >> reporter: but the south carolina republican also voted to impeach trump after the january 6th insurrection. >> tom rice joined the democrats' deranged impeachment witch-hunt hoax >> reporter: trump now

holding rallies across the country with the candidates he has endorsed. >> trump demands absolute loyalty that's what he's about. >> reporter: he perceives you as an opposition force within the republican party? >> he is driven by power and driven by revenge. of anybody i have ever met, he is probably the most spiteful, vengeful person i have ever met. >> reporter: just this weekend trump pushed for his picks in michigan >> you must vote for america-first republicans. >> reporter: fred upton is one of his targets. he served in congress for more than three decades but he also voted to impeach. >> i am not a rubber stamp. if you want that, you got the wrong guy. >> reporter: does your ability to win the general election matter as much to trump as your loyalty to him >> probably doesn't mean much to him, but he's a little bit on a scorched-earth path. >> reporter: other republicans who crossed trump in the past have found themselves on the outs. >> reporter: if you win your race against this trump-backed challenger, what message is sent to the former president

>> he is not as strong as he thought he was >> reporter: the midterm results will make it clear how influential he remains. vaughn hillyard, nbc news, washington up next as we continue tonight, leading her team to the national championship again, and inspiring america.

finally tonight, there is a changing of the guard in college basketball the coach for south carolina leading the

way, and winning national championships. stephanie gosk on a role model who is inspiring america. >> reporter: the university of south carolina did not just win the ncaa national championship they put a point on it actually, 15 points. over longtime basketball power house u-conn coach dawn staley after the game >> they were determined to be champions. >> reporter: coach stalely was determined to be a champion herself from the moment she took over the south carolina coaching job in 2008 while she had her eyes on toppling the u-conn huskies from their pedestal, her success, now two national championships, has meant much more. >> i hope i have given a beacon of hope for other black coaches because you can snatch success at this level when given an opportunity and when you work hard. >> reporter: staley was a star basketball player in her own right, playing for the wnba and winning three olympic gold medals. but a good player does not necessarily make a good coach

something that gave her pause, briefly. >> i was afraid of being a coach because i didn't want the responsibility of 18 to 22-year-olds. and when i lean all the way in, i probably get more satisfaction than they do >> reporter: back in south carolina, the team got a hero's welcome, the kind of recognition staley has always said this sport deserves >> we are so very proud to represent you on the biggest stage of college basketball. >> reporter: don't be surprised if the championships keep coming the future of women's basketball is in good hands. stephanie gosk, nbc news. that's "nightly news" for this monday thank you for watching, everyone i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night

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. right now on nbc bay area, making it harder to make it in the bay. new evidence the middle class being priced out. wait until you hear how much the middle class is making, and they still can't afford to buy a home. and then a mother's heartbreak. her teenaged son took his life after being blackmailed online. >> they asked for a picture, and he sent one, and as soon as he did they demanded money. it's proven way to help those suffering with homelessness and addiction. so why isn't it being replicated across the bay area. and a bold message that has