>>> BREAKING NEWS TONIGHT, THE >>> BREAKING NEWS TONIGHT, THE DEVASTATING TORNADO OUTBREAK THAT TORE THROUGH THE DEEP SOUTH. MORE THAN TWO DOZEN PEOPLE KILLED. ENTIRE TOWNS DESTROYED. HOUSES WIPED AWAY. TRACTOR TRAILERS FLIPPED AFTER A STRING OF TORNADOES RIPPED ACROSS MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA. >> WE CAN’T ACCOUNT FOR EVERYBODY AND IT JUST IS HARD. THE BLAST SO BIG, IT ROCKED NEARBY BUILDINGS OFF THEIR FOUNDATIONS. >>> VLADIMIR PUTIN’S NUCLEAR ESCALATION. RUSSIA NOW MOVING TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS TO BELARUS RIGHT ON THE BORDER WITH UKRAINE. HOW THE WHITE HOUSE IS RESPONDING TONIGHT. >>> FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FIRST BIG RALLY SINCE ANNOUNCING HIS RUN FOR PRESIDENT. THOUSANDS OF SUPPORTERS LINING UP FOR HOURS. WHAT HE NOW SAYS ABOUT THE LOOMING INDICTMENT IN MANHATTAN. >>> KIDNAPPED IN HAITI. THIS AMERICAN COUPLE HELD FOR RANSOM. THEIR RELATIVES IN THE U.S. NOW FROM ACROSS DECADES WHO CAME TOGETHER TO SURPRISE THIS 90-YEAR-OLD MUSIC TEACHER WITH ONE MORE CONCERT. >> Announcer: THIS IS "NIGHTLY NEWS" WITH JOSE DIAZ-BALART. >>> GOOD EVENING. THE TORNADOES CAME AT THE MOST DANGEROUS TIME POSSIBLE. DURING THE DARKNESS OF NIGHT. AND WE ARE ONLY NOW STARTING TO UNDERSTAND THE FULL SCOPE OF WHAT THEY WROUGHT. TAKE A LOOK AT THIS. THIS IS ROLLING FORK, MISSISSIPPI. AS SEEN FROM ABOVE, THE MASSIVE DESTRUCTION LOOKS UNENDING. FROM THE GROUND, MILE AFTER MILE OF RUBBLE. HOUSES REDUCED TO NOTHING. ONE MAYOR SAID, HIS WHOLE CITY IS NOW GONE. THE TORNADOES SO STRONG THEY TOSSED THIS CAR INTO THE AIR LIKE A TOY. THIS IS THE PATH OF THIS IS THE PATH OF THE STORMS. AS MANY AS 12 REPORTED TORNADOES RIPPING ACROSS MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA. AT LEAST 26 PEOPLE KILLED ACROSS THE TWO STATES. RESCUE WORKERS WERE OUT IN FULL FORCE OVERNIGHT AND WILL BE WORKING INTO TONIGHT AS WELL. WE HAVE TWO REPORTS TONIGHT. WE BEGIN WITH PRISCILLA THOMPSON IN SILVER CITY, MISSISSIPPI. >> Reporter: THE DEVASTATION WAS SWIFT AND SEVERE. DEADLY TORNADOES TOUCHING DOWN IN THE DARKNESS OF NIGHT ACROSS MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA. >> WHEN DID YOU NOTICE SOMETHING WAS GOING ON? >> WHEN I SAW THE TORNADO. >> YEAH. YOU SAW IT? >> I SAW IT. >> WHAT DID YOU SEE? >> A BIG WHIRL OF -- TWO TORNADOES TOGETHER. >> Reporter: THE DAMAGE HARD TO FATHOM. PARTS OF HOMES WRAPPED IN TREES. 18-WHEELERS UPENDED. ENTIRE BLOCKS FLATTENED. STATE OFFICIALS REPORT AT LEAST 25 PEOPLE DEAD IN MISSISSIPPI WITH DOZENS MORE INJURED. THE GOVERNOR ISSUING A STATE OF EMERGENCY. >> ME AND MY BROTHER WAS TEXTING AT THE TIME WHEN THE STORM WAS COMING THROUGH, AND I MEAN, I GOT TO HEAR HIS LAST WORDS. >> Reporter: AT LEAST 12 SEPARATE TORNADOES TOUCHED DOWN. ONE ON THE GROUND FOR A TRAIL OF 80 MILES LEAVING MASS DESTRUCTION IN ITS WAKE. IN ROLLING FORK, MISSISSIPPI, WHERE AT LEAST 13 DIED, 1 TORNADO IS BELIEVED TO HAVE SENT DEBRIS MORE THAN 30,000 FEET IN THE AIR. ROLLING FORK’S MAYOR SAYING HIS CITY IS DESTROYED. >> WHAT WE ARE DOING NOW IS ASSESSING ALL THE DAMAGE AROUND ALONG WITH THE VOLUNTEERS FROM VARIOUS COUNTIES THAT ARE HERE HELPING US TO LOCATE FOLK WHO ARE TRAPPED IN THEIR HOMES. >> THIS IS CHAOS. >> Reporter: TRACY HARDEN SAYS SHE WAS LUCKY TO SURVIVE. RIDING OUT THE STORM IN THE COOLER OF THE DAIRY BAR SHE AND HER HUSBAND OWN. IS THE COOLER STILL BACK HERE? >> YES, THIS IS THE PORTION WE WERE IN. >> Reporter: HOW ARE YOU DOING EMOTIONALLY RIGHT NOW? >> IF I DON’T TALK AND I JUST STAY BUSY HELPING SOMEBODY, I’M OKAY. I JUST DON’T WANT TO STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT. I DON’T FEEL LIKE I PROCESSED IT. I DON’T WANT TO CRY. >> Reporter: THEIR BUSINESS OBLITERATED. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SENT THREE TEAMS TO ASSESS DAMAGE. IMAGES WE GATHERED GIVING AN INITIAL SENSE OF THE SCOPE IN SILVER CITY, MISSISSIPPI. >> THIS WAS A ROOM THAT WE’RE STANDING IN. >> THIS ROOM RIGHT HERE, THERE WAS A COUCH. THAT’S IT RIGHT HERE. EVERY COUCH IS NO LONGER HERE. I DON’T KNOW WHERE IT’S AT. >> Reporter: THROUGHOUT THE SOUTHEAST RESCUE EFFORTS UNDER WAY. IN ALABAMA, ONE PERSON DIED, AND MORGAN COUNTY SHERIFF DEPUTIES PULLING A MAN FROM THE MUD AFTER A TRAILER OVERTURNED. HE’S NOW ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES AS OFFICIALS CAUTION THE DEATH TOLL FROM THE STORMS COULD VERY WELL RISE. >> AND PRISCILLA THOMPSON JOINS ME FROM SILVER CITY, MISSISSIPPI. PRISCILLA, GIVE US A SENSE OF THE DAMAGE YOU’RE SEEING THERE. >> Reporter: WELL, JOSE, WE SPOKE TO THE FAMILY WHO RODE THE STOLER OUT. THEY CAME BACK TO FIND THE ENTIRE BACK HALF OF THEIR HOME GONE. WHILE THEY CAME BACK TO THIS THERE ARE SO MANY OTHERS HERE WHO CAME BACK TO NOTHING. JOSE. >> PRISCILLA THOMPSON, THANK YOU. >>> JUST ABOUT 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SILVER CITY IS HARD-HIT ROLLING FORK, MISSISSIPPI, AND WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TODAY, THE DEVASTATION ASTONISHING. THAT TOWN NOW SIMPLY GONE. COURTNEY ANN JACKSON FROM WLBT IS THERE. COURTNEY. >> Reporter: ROLLING FORK IS ALREADY A SMALL COMMUNITY. THE BUSINESSES THEY DID HAVE HAVE NOW MOSTLY BEEN LEVELED. THIS CAR, AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT WE’RE SEEING ALL OVER THE TOWN. THESE WINDOWS SHATTERED. MANY OF THEM BUSTED OUT. YOU SEE CARS ON TOP OF ONE ANOTHER. THIS IS AT A RESTAURANT HERE IN TOWN THAT THEY SAY WAS ONE OF THE MAIN KIND OF HUBS OF FOLKS GATHERING IN THE COMMUNITY. IT WILL BE SORELY MISSED, WE’RE TOLD. RESIDENTS THAT WE TALK WITH ARE TRYING TO PROCESS THINGS. WE SAW ONE WOMAN WITH TEARS STREAMING DOWN HER FACE SAYING, THANK JESUS I AM STILL HERE. SHE SAYS SHE’LL REPLACE THOSE MATERIAL POSSESSIONS. THE STATE AND ALL OF THE NONPROFITS ARE ALREADY ARRIVING HERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW THEY CAN STEP IN AND JUST FIGURE OUT WHERE THESE PEOPLE WILL GO. ELSE, JOSE. >> GEORGE SOLIS, THANK YOU. >>> OVERSEAS A NEW ESCALATION FROM VLADIMIR PUTIN. TODAY HE ANNOUNCED HE IS PUTTING TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN NEIGHBORING BELARUS, A RUSSIAN ALLY, SIGNALING A CLEAR THREAT TO UKRAINE. MONICA ALBA JOINS ME. THIS IS SOMETHING THEY HAVEN’T DONE IN DECADES. >> Reporter: EXACTLY. PRESIDENT PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA DOES PLAN TO STATION TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN NEIGHBORING BELARUS WHICH IF IT DOES HAPPEN WOULD BE THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE MID-1990s THAT RUSSIA WOULD HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS BASED OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY. NOW, TACTICAL NUKES ARE GENERALLY SMALLER IN EXPLOSIVE POWER DESIGNED FOR THE BATTLEFIELD, BUT THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN USED IN COMBAT AND THIS COMES AS THE WAR RAGES ON AND WORTH NOTING BELARUS SHARES A BORDER WITH THREE NATO MEMBERS. IN AN INTERVIEW WITH RUSSIAN STATE TELEVISION, MR. PUTIN SAID CONSTRUCTION OF STORAGE FACILITIES FOR THE WEAPONS COULD BE DONE BY JULY AND THE WHITE HOUSE RESPONDING TONIGHT SAYING OFFICIALS HAVE NOT SEEN ANY REASON TO ADJUST U.S. NUCLEAR POSTURE, AND THERE’S NO INDICATION RUSSIA IS PREPARING TO USE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. JOSE. >> MONICA ALBA, THANK YOU. >>> FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP IS IN WACO, TEXAS, TONIGHT WITH A MAJOR RALLY STIRRING UP SUPPORT AHEAD OF THE 2024 ELECTION. MR. TRUMP AND HIS FANS DEFIANT EVEN IN THE FACE OF HIS POSSIBLE INDICTMENT. VAUGHN HILLYARD TRAVELED WITH THE FORMER PRESIDENT ABOARD HIS PRIVATE PLANE. >>> PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT THEIR NEW TOOL, AND THEY’RE WILLING TO USE IT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN OUR COUNTRY. >> Reporter: FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP HOLDING THE FIRST FORMAL RALLY OF HIS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN IN WACO TONIGHT. MULTIPLE FEDERAL AND STATE PROSECUTORS CONSIDER SERIOUS CHARGES AGAINST HIM. IN MANHATTAN A GRAND JURY COULD INDICT HIM AS SOON AS MONDAY. >> IT’S A JOKE. >> AHEAD OF THE RALLY, TRUMP SUGGESTING GOVERNMENT CHARGES AGAINST HIM COULD LEAD TO, QUOTE, POTENTIAL DEATH AND DESTRUCTION AND CALLED FOR THE OUSTING OF PROSECUTORS INCLUDING ALVIN BRAGG WHO IS OVERSEEING THE INVESTIGATION REGARDING THAT ALLEGED HUSH MONEY PAYMENT TO ADULT FILM STAR STORMY DANIELS. THE FBI AND NYPD ARE NOW INVESTIGATING A LETTER THREATENING TO KILL BRAGG THAT CONTAINED A WHITE POWDERY SUBSTANCE AUTHORITIES SAY WAS NOT DANGEROUS BUT ONE OF HUNDREDS OF THREATS IN RECENT WEEKS AGAINST THE D.A. SUPPORTERS IN WACO TODAY SAYING THEY HAVE TRUMP’S BACK IF HE IS ARRESTED. >> THEY SHOULD PEACEFULLY PROTEST. >> THAT’S WHAT HE SAID PEACEFULLY AND PATRIOTICALLY MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD. >> Reporter: WITNESS TESTIMONY BEFORE THE GRAND JURIES, THOUGH, EXPANDING. A FEDERAL JUDGE RULING THAT TRUMP’S FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF, MARK MEADOWS, AND SEVEN OTHER KEY AIDES MUST GO BEFORE A GRAND JURY LOOKING INTO JANUARY 6th. THIS WEEKEND MARKS THE 30th ANNIVERSARY OF THE WACO MASSACRE WHEN FEDERAL AGENTS TOOK ON THE BRANCH DAVIDIANS IN A DEADLY 51-DAY SIEGE. TODAY’S CAMPAIGN EVENT A SETTING TO PLAY DEFENSE AGAINST POSSIBLE PROSECUTION BUT OFFENSE AGAINST OTHER REPUBLICAN RIVALS. RECENT POLLS SHOW TRUMP MAINTAINING A STRONG LEAD OVER FLORIDA GOVERNOR RON DeSANTIS. >> OH, I LOVE RON DeSANTIS. ABSOLUTELY LOVE HIM. SO -- BUT I WANT HIM TO STAY IN FLORIDA FOR NOW. >> Reporter: VAUGHN HILLYARD, NBC NEWS. >>> SENATOR MITCH McCONNELL IS BACK HOME TONIGHT FOLLOWING A HEALTH SCARE. THE 81-YEAR-OLD GOP LEADER FROM KENTUCKY LEFT A MEDICAL FACILITY TODAY WHERE HE WAS STAYING FOR PHYSICAL THERAPY FOLLOWING A CONCUSSION AND RIB FRACTURE. THOSE WERE CAUSED BY A FALL EARLIER THIS MONTH. IN A STATEMENT McCONNELL SAYS HE IS WORKING FROM HOME FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. >>> COMING UP, A RACE TO SAVE AN AMERICAN COUPLE KIDNAPPED IN HAITI. WHAT THE FAMILY IS SAYING ABOUT THEIR CAPTORS’ DEMANDS. >>> WE ARE BACK WITH THE >>> WE ARE BACK WITH THE DESPERATE EFFORTS TO SAVE AN AMERICAN COUPLE KIDNAPPED IN HAITI. THEIR FAMILY IN FLORIDA IS BEGGING THE U.S. GOVERNMENT TO HELP SET THEM FREE. SHAQUILLE BREWSTER REPORTS. >> Reporter: A FLORIDA FAMILY SAYS THE FBI IS INVESTIGATING THE KIDNAPPING OF TWO AMERICANS IN HAITI. >> WE’RE FIGHTING. WE’RE GOING TO FIND YOU, AND WE’RE GOING TO BRING YOU HOME. >> Reporter: CHRISTINE SAYS HER AUNTS AND UNCLE, ABIGAIL AND JEAN-DICKENS TOUSSAINT, FLEW TO HAITI LAST SATURDAY TO VISIT SICK RELATIVES AND PARTICIPATE IN A FESTIVAL. AFTER THE COUPLE LEFT THE AIRPORT SHE SAYS A GANG ORDERED THEM OFF THE BUS DEMANDING $6,000 FOR THEIR RELEASE. WHAT HAPPENED AFTER YOU SENT THE MONEY? >> WE SENT ORIGINALLY 2,400 U.S. DOLLARS CONVERTED INTO HAITIAN CURRENCY AND SPLIT UP AND AFTER THAT WE HEARD NOTHING. THEY DID NOT RELEASE THEM. >> Reporter: THE FAMILY NOW PLEADING FOR THE U.S. AND HAITIAN GOVERNMENTS TO HELP. IN DECEMBER, THE STATE DEPARTMENT ISSUED THE HIGHEST TRAVEL WARNING POSSIBLE FOR HAITI SAYING DO NOT TRAVEL DUE TO KIDNAPPING, CRIME AND CIVIL UNREST AND THIS WEEK, THE U.N. WARNED OF EXTREME VIOLENCE SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL AS ARMED GANGS FIGHT TO EXPAND TERRITORIAL RULE SAYING MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE WERE KIDNAPPED IN HAITI IN JUST TWO WEEKS EARLIER THIS MONTH. PRESIDENT BIDEN ADDRESSED THE CRISIS JUST YESTERDAY. >> THE BIGGEST THING WE CAN DO AND IT’S GOING TO TAKE TIME IS TO INCREASE THE PROSPECT OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENTS IN HAITI HAVING THE CAPACITY TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEMS THEY FACE. >> Reporter: FOR NOW THE TOUSSAINT FAMILY IS LEFT PRAYING FOR A SWIFT RETURN. HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO THOSE WHO QUESTION WHY THEY WENT IN THE FIRST PLACE? >> I UNDERSTAND WHY THEY ARE CONCERNED. AT THE END OF THE DAY, THESE ARE U.S. CITIZENS, THIS IS MY FAMILY, AND WE JUST WANT THEM BACK HOME. >> Reporter: HOPING THE COUPLE TO HER 100th BIRTHDAY PARTY. ME TOO. THAT’S NBC "NIGHTLY NEWS" FOR THIS SATURDAY.