NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Monday, March 31, 2025

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

At least 9 tornadoes confirmed in 7 states; Trump expected to announce new sweeping tariffs on April 2; President Trump on running for a third term: ‘There’s a way you can do it’; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, the deadly storm system that's about to get worse. The new tornadoes striking across the country. Seven dead from storms stretching from the Midwest to the deep South. In Michigan, a tree crushing a family car, killing a 2, 4, and 11-year-old. And the kids gathering outside in Alabama after a possible tornado struck their school. Al Roker is here tracking it all in what is set to be a volatile week. Tensions over tariffs, an up and down day for the markets as the auto industry readies for a long and winding road from the White House.

It comes as President Trump floats a third term, even though the Constitution forbids it, the fallout and the elections to watch on the eve of key tests for the new administration. Pollen explosion, what's behind the eye-watering stats this allergy season. And down to earth, Tom Costello catches up with Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams after their nine-month-long space odyssey. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. After a violent weekend of wind, rain and tornadoes in the Midwest, more severe weather tonight. Now on the move from the south

up into the northeast, roughly 61 million people at risk for severe weather this evening from Florida to New York. It's the same system that spun up powerful tornadoes over several states this past weekend. The strongest one in Louisiana, packing 120 mile per hour winds. At least seven deaths reported across multiple states. Among them, three children ages 2 to 11 killed when a car they were in was hit by a falling tree in Michigan. And now tonight, new trouble brewing across Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, facing a risk of severe thunderstorms, heavy downpours, and damaging winds. Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York, among the cities in the risk zone tonight. Adrian Broaddus reports

some heavily damaged Elkhart, Indiana. A scramble for safety. Students rushed out of classrooms in Alabama as multiple tornadoes swept across at least seven states and killing seven people, a number expected to rise. Nearly 70 million Americans still in the storm's path as Mother Nature showed her strength, slamming parts of the South and Midwest this weekend. All of a sudden, just the wind gushed all at once, and you saw leaves and debris all flying, and then your visibility was gone. There's another one. Look, there's another funnel. The strongest tornado reaching gusts of 120 miles per hour in Louisiana as freezing rains turned deadly in Michigan,

where three children, age 2, 4, and 11, died after a tree fell on their family minivan. This family had no ability to, you know, predict when a tree was going to fall on their vehicle. In Indiana, two dead from high winds on the roads. The power is out in this neighborhood and you can hear the hum of the generator. Those 60-mile-per-hour winds knock down trees, crashing into houses and cars. Steve Baker is the president of Indiana Michigan Power. Biggest challenge right now is to make sure that we get the power restored for customers before the next round of weather hits,

and to make sure that we're keeping our customers and the general public safe. From ice to dangerous floods in the south, water filling the streets of Miami Sunday, drenching fans attending the famous Ultra Music Festival. Because I've come from London to Ultra and I'm not letting the weather stop me. As the storm continues to move toward the northeast, more tornadoes are possible, but damaging winds and quarter-sized hail is the main threat as millions brace for round two, wondering if the worst is yet to come. And Adrian, I'm guessing there won't be a lot of sleep in some of those places tonight. How are families, people preparing

for this next round of storms? Lesser many are working to secure loose debris and tree limbs like this, really anything that could fly and injure someone when the wind picks up. The homeowner who lives here says it could be days before someone from his insurance company comes out to assess the damage. You see this massive tree fell on his house and car. And with another round of storms on the way, he says the wait could even be longer. Lester. Adrian brought us starting us off. Thank you.

Let's go right now to Al Roker. Now, this is really just the beginning of a risk of severe weather this week. That's right. We're looking at the next 72 hours, Lester, or more. Now, here's this line of showers and thunderstorms stretching from New York all the way down into Florida, where we have severe thunderstorm watches. Could even see some tornadoes there. Then we move into tomorrow. 20 million people from Chicago, Wichita, down to San Angelo. Wind gusts of 60. Few tornadoes possible. Tuesday, again for tomorrow, the hail risk. Upwards of two inches of hail in diameter.

Kansas City down to Abilene. We move into Wednesday, Chicago, Detroit, Little Rock, on into El Dorado. Dangerous winds, possibility of tornadoes. And Thursday, more of the same from Columbus down to Dallas with a few tornadoes possible. With all that rain, 21 million people, 20 million people from Columbus to Texarkana under flood watches. Upwards of 12 inches of rain and to the north up through Minnesota. We could see upwards of a foot of snow by Thursday, Lester. OK, Al, thanks very much.

For weeks, President Trump has promised sweeping new tariffs on April 2nd. That's now just two days away, but details remain scant. It follows his announcement last week of a 25 percent tariff on imported cars and auto parts. Garrett Haik reports now from Michigan. Tonight, the countdown continues to President Trump's promised reciprocal tariffs. The president expected to slap import taxes on allies and adversaries alike worldwide, but keeping the specifics under wraps with a Rose Garden rollout planned for Wednesday. I think it's going to be something that's going to bring a lot of wealth back to our country, tremendous wealth back to our country.

That's left businesses and buyers of everything from pharmaceuticals to food to computer chips guessing at what the president has suggested will be a massive reordering of American trade. One of the few tariffs detailed by the White House is the 25 percent levy on imported vehicles beginning Thursday and on auto parts by May 3rd. The people that are going to make money are people that manufacture cars in the United States. But in Metro Detroit, home of the American auto industry, the picture is murkier. How do you compare the uncertainty of this moment before these tariffs kick in to other things you've seen in your career?

I'm more uncertain now than I was for COVID. Jim Sivit has owned Village Ford in Dearborn since 1982. Is there any such thing as a fully American vehicle anymore? Not that I know of. Not on this lot? No. So the cars have four parts coming from Mexico, some from Canada, and some from the U.S. So it's a real, it's a world economy. So even a brand as American as Ford is going to be caught up with this? Yes. Goldman Sachs estimates the tariffs could add $5,000 to $15,000 to the price tag of foreign-made cars,

and $3,000 to $8,000 on cars made in the U.S. because of the tax on parts. On Saturday, President Trump telling NBC News he, quote, couldn't care less if foreign carmakers raised their prices to pass on the tariff costs. Autoworker James Benson agrees. You believe in this tariff program across the board? Yeah, I do. He says he's optimistic the president's programs will lead to more jobs like his coming back and be worth the cost. How will you judge if this has been successful? Well, if we have job growth and we have jobs returning to our country and we have, you know, values coming back to where they used to be, I definitely see that, you know, coming in the future. And Garrett, I

recognize this is a bit of a moving target, but is there any indication of the scale of these tariffs? Well, Lester, the president's top trade advisor says they expect to raise $100 billion a year on the auto tariffs alone, $600 billion on the entire tariff package. Of course, that's money that will be paid by American businesses and consumers in the form of higher prices. Lester. All right, Garrett Haig, thanks. Now to President Trump's answer in our exclusive interview, suggesting he could try to run for re-election for a third term despite the constitutional term limit. Peter Alexander reports now on the fallout tonight.

Tonight, new fallout after President Trump did not rule out the possibility of a third term, even though it's prohibited by the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution. People are asking me to run, and there's a whole story about running for a third term. I don't know. I never looked into it. They do say there's a way you can do it, but I don't know about that. I want to do a fantastic job. In an exclusive phone interview, NBC's Kristen Welker asked the president about a possible scenario where Vice President Vance is elected with President Trump as his running mate and then Vance steps aside. The president saying that's one method, but there are others, too, saying he would not talk about them. Still, that could require amending the Constitution to allow Trump to run for reelection.

There's no proposal to change the Constitution right now. Republicans telling reporters the president was not being serious. I think he's probably having some fun with it, probably messing with it. President Trump has repeatedly joked about a third term. I think I'm not allowed to run again. I'm not sure. Am I allowed to run again? But on Sunday, the president told NBC News, I'm not joking. Meanwhile, as Tesla becomes a target of new vandalism and violence, the company's CEO, a top Trump ally, Elon Musk, hosted a town hall in Wisconsin ahead of a crucial state Supreme Court election tomorrow.

Musk offering money to voters there who signed a petition against what he calls activist judges, handing out a pair of million dollar checks last night democrats accuse him of trying to buy the seat but musk says he's just trying to energize voters in a state trump won last fall if the people that voted for president trump simply vote on tuesday we will win that's actually all it takes just vote vote. Boom. Done. Victory. So. And meanwhile, Peter, in the midst of the ceasefire talks, President Trump is again criticizing Russian President Putin. Lester, President Trump tells NBC News that he is, quote, very angry at Putin for criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, now threatening to impose additional tariffs, he says, 25 to 50 percent on Russian oil if Putin

stands in the way of a deal. Lester. Peter Alexander, thank you. After days of searching for U.S. service members who went missing in Lithuania, three of their bodies have been recovered. The group disappeared Tuesday when their 63-ton armored vehicle became submerged in a bog. It was eventually found 15 feet underwater and silt. The Lithuanian president offering his condolences and saying that the search will continue until the fourth soldier is recovered. We'll be back in 60 seconds. It is officially that time of year. What's behind the ultra intense pollen season setting records in some places. Spring is officially underway, and if a runny nose and itchy eyes have you thinking allergy season is as bad as ever, you may not be alone.

Jesse Kirsch explains why. From coast to coast, this and that are starting sooner thanks to a worsening allergy season. Over the weekend, Atlanta's pollen count reached its highest level in over 30 years. North Carolina also hit hard. Running nose, sore throat, itchy eyes. Research from Climate Central suggests climate change is fueling these increasingly tough conditions. As the earth warms and spring gets longer, plants have more time to grow. That means earlier pollen releases plus more spring blooms, throwing extra pollen into the air. And a shorter free season also means the problems keep going

later into the fall. In patients, for instance, that they do have allergies to the upper airway, particularly in children, and that doesn't get detected, that doesn't get treated. We do see that they may develop later on asthma in their life. To minimize the impact of allergies, experts recommend you avoid outdoor activity between 4 p.m. and sunset. Keep your windows closed, wash your clothing, and shower when you get home. There are also over-the-counter medications and other treatments you can get from your allergist. Identifying your triggers is very important

because every one of us has a different trigger for allergies. Allergies that make life complicated when spring is in the air. Jesse Kirsch, NBC News. All right, when we come back, our one-on-one with NASA astronauts Butch and Sonny after their extended trip to space. Tom Costello talks to them about the foods they missed and their first night's sleep in a real bed when we come back. Finally tonight, the astronauts who became world famous after their 10-day mission turned into nine months say it's good to be home with family and eating Earth food again. Today they sat down for an interview with our Tom Costello. Nearly two weeks after their spectacular return to earth

and splashdown crew nine back on earth that made for tv moment complete with a pot of dolphins that appeared to welcome them home. Butch Wilmore, Sonny Williams, and Crew 9 Commander Nick Hague are back on terra firma. What's it like to be home? Wonderful. Awesome. It's amazing. Earth is nice. Wilmore and Williams say they're not angry or bitter that their 10-day mission turned into 286 days on the space station after their Boeing space capsule malfunctioned. Did you ever feel abandoned up there? Did you ever feel that NASA, the White House, anybody had abandoned you? Felt abandoned? No. I mean, we didn't, I didn't think about those type of things.

I understand the rhetoric that was taking place. I understand the reason for it. We did not involve ourselves in it at all. I know that they were concerned about our well-being and when we were coming home and how that was going to happen. And we just, you know, pressed on to do our job that we were trained to do. President Trump has said President Biden abandoned the astronauts and Elon Musk offered to rescue them last fall. But former NASA chief Bill Nelson, his deputy, and NASA sources all tell NBC News they knew of no such offer. By midsummer, the plan was to return

the pair with SpaceX Crew-9. We were planning, you know, from day one to return toward the end of end of February. Delayed till March due to a SpaceX rocket issue. Now, two weeks after returning, they all say they feel good. Sunny even ran three miles on Sunday. What food did you miss the most when you're up on station? Sorry, two words. Chicken salad. Chicken salad. A latte. A latte. Nick? Fresh bread. Their first priority once they hug their families, sleep. It was just really nice to lay down in a bed. We hadn't done that for many months. While their 286 days in orbit did not break Frank Rubio's 371 days. Gravity makes you tired, very tired. But it feels good to be home.

Tom Costello, NBC News, Houston. Earth is nice, she said. I like that. That's nightly news for this Monday. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.

Flashdown. Crew 9, back on Earth.