manhattan and the u.s. capitol in washington. mr. trump predicted he would be arrested today in the investigation into a hush money payment before the 2016 election. will he become the first former president to face criminal charges in u.s. history? also tonight, the death of a man at a virginia hospital. disturbing new video. deputies and hospital workers piling on top of him for several minutes until he stops moving. the 911 call for help. the new atmospheric river event taking aim at california after record floods. al roker is tracking it. the strike shutting down the nation's second largest school district. classes canceled for more than 400,000 students. what workers are demanding. our nbc news exclusive. the teacher shot by a 6-year-old student. what she will never forget as he pointed the gun at her. the dea's new

warning about the rise of a deadly new street drug. and the hall of famer who led the knicks to two championships. remembering the legendary willis reed. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening and welcome. this is the day donald trump declared he would be arrested. that has not happened. but there are wheels in motion we're watching tonight. new york police deploying a show of force, ready for it but so far seeing nothing in the way of major protests that trump had called for. the former president today worked the court of public opinion in a social media post, lashing out at his former fixer and potential witness against him, michael cohen, who he has accused of spreading lies. but all eyes tonight on lower manhattan and a courthouse where the grand jury will reconvene tomorrow, considering whether there is sufficient evidence to indict mr. trump for fraudulently accounting for a hush money payment to actress stormy daniels. garrett haake has the latest developments. >> reporter: tonight new york city bracing

for a possible indictment of former president trump. all nypd officers ordered to be in uniform and prepared for deployment today in case of protests. with the grand jury set to reconvene tomorrow, mr. trump's weekend prediction of his own tuesday arrest not coming to pass. the former president now unleashing a new barrage of insults, including labeling his former fixer turned prosecution witness michael cohen a quote, serial fake storyteller and a liar. >> it's a typical donald j. trump play out of the playbook. figure out how you can muddy the water as best as you possibly can. denigrate the person, disparage them. >> reporter: the possible prosecution could center around a $130,000 payment cohen says he made to stormy daniels on behalf of then candidate trump in the heat of the 2016 campaign. to buy her silence about claims of an affair with mr. trump a decade earlier. hush money payments are not illegal under

state law. any potential indictment could rest on how the payment was accounted for, a possible misdemeanor case or in a legal gamble, manhattan d.a. alvin bragg could pursue a lower level felony. mr. trump's attorney noting bragg's predecessor decided not to pursue any charges. >> well, they're using a case that by all accounts was dead on arrival, by all accounts was turned down by every other agency that looked at it. >> reporter: top republicans peppered with questions about the former president's conduct today, attacking the democratic d.a.'s possible case as politically motivated. >> i think in your heart of hearts, you know too that you think this is just political. and i think that's what the rest of the country thinks. we're kind of tired of that. >> garrett, we're also learning more about the security planning if the indictment is announced. >> lester, two senior officials tell nbc news law enforcement have discussed everything from the airports mr. trump might use to the route he would take to get to lower manhattan if he had to come and face a judge. but secret service have not done a

security review of the courthouse behind me. that's a step they would take only if mr. trump is indicted. lester? >> garrett haake, thank you. in virginia, shocking video released today of a man's final moments after being restrained by sheriff's deputies and staff at a mental hospital, all now formally charged with murder. catie beck has more. i have to warn you, the images are disturbing. >> reporter: the actions of seven virginia sheriff's deputies and three hospital workers on march 6th captured on camera. images of 28-year-old ivo otieno's last hours. >> his story was not supposed to end like this. >> reporter: transported from jail to a mental hospital, where prosecutors say he was smothered to death during intake. a grand jury meeting today. >> they took about three hours and came back with ten indictments. what does that say to you? >> it says to me that this nine men and one woman murdered my son.

>> reporter: the video released by the prosecution, which doesn't have sound shows otieno's intake at the hospital. at 4:19, deputies walk him into a hospital admissions room. otieno appearing to be handcuffed, his ankles in shackles. at first leaning him against a chair. minutes later deputies and hospital staff pile on top of him until about 4:40. otieno then seen unresponsive. chest compressions begin. >> there is no pulse anymore. >> is the patient aggressive or -- >> he used to be aggressive, right. so they're trying to put him in restraints. then eventually he is no longer breathing. >> reporter: the emergency crew arrived at 5:08 and continues to attempt to revive otieno. but by 5:48, it's too late. one defense attorney disappointed by the released video, saying it could taint a jury and saying his client had limited contact with otieno. >> to suggest that he in any way acted in concert is a

stretch of the imagination. >> reporter: but otieno's family haunted by unrelenting grief and the question why. >> i call his name every day, myself calling his name. >> reporter: several defense attorneys for defendants in this case did not respond to our requests for comment. at last check, the seven deputies were on administrative leave, but the sheriff's office not responding to comments tonight as well. lester? >> all right. catie beck, thank you. california is being hammered tonight by yet another big storm system with heavy rains, high winds, and the potential for more flooding. shaquille brewster is there for us. >> reporter: tonight another round of intense storms pounding the west coast. relentless rain soaking so cal. while whiteout conditions hit mountain communities where families are still recovering from the last storm. central and southern california bracing for whipping winds, already topping 70 miles an hour. 33 million people are

under high wind alerts across the region. 17 million facing flood alerts. in tulare county, mandatory evacuations forcing thousands of families out of their homes. >> it's never been like this. since we've lived here. it's been 36 or 7 years we lived out here. >> reporter: this is california's 12th atmospheric river storm since january, the system dumping up to 10 inches of rain throughout the state which has faced drought for nearly a decade. california reservoirs now at 70% capacity. but the series of storms also eroding riverbanks, causing dangerous water rescues, and putting pressure on levees and infrastructure. a water main break adding to the misery on l.a.'s freeways. >> this is a lake that has formed right on the southbound lanes. >> reporter: tonight another dangerous washout leaving southern california drenched as forecasters say more is on the way. shaquille brewster, nbc news, los angeles. let us bring in al roker who is tracking this. they seem to be stuck in this spate of storms. >> i know. we don't have a break

right now, lester. 17 million under flood alerts. 33 million under wind alerts. 2 million are winter weather alerts. and you can see the radar. you can see all the heavy rain coming in. look at some of the wind gusts. 30 miles per hour in l.a. monterey 60. needles 31-mile-per-hour wind gusts today. rainfall amounts, we're going to see another 1 to 2 inches stretching from monterey down to san diego. snowfall amounts, we're talking about another 1 to 3 feet of snow throughout the sierra. and the system moves to the east, looking for severe weather thursday dallas to san angelo, and friday severe weather, possibility of tornadoes nashville down to new orleans. so more coast-to-coast weather to deal with. >> all right. al roker, thank you much, sir. also in california, the l.a. school system, the country's second largest, shut down today as tens of thousands of workers went on strike. miguel almaguer on the disruption and the demands. >> reporter: off the job and on the picket line, tonight these are some of the 30,000

l.a. unified school districts supporting employees demanding higher pay, custodian, cafeteria workers and bus drivers like lanier boyd peterson, a single mom raising three children who is struggling to pay her bills. >> if we can't properly take care of our families, how is it we can take care of other people's families? >> reporter: with negotiation at a stalemate, the union is demanding a 30% pay raise for all members whose average salary is roughly $25,000. >> i can make more money working at a fast food chain than i do here. >> reporter: the three-day strike supported by teachers has shut down the nation's second largest school district, locking out 420,000 students of which nearly 80% live at or below the poverty line. >> i'm not happy with the kids being home, but i do support the strike. >> reporter: offering a cash bonus, better benefits, and a 23% raise, the superintendent says if the district gets any closer to the 30%

demand, lausd could go bankrupt. >> that's up 7% considering the size of our workforce has a significant impact on our finances. it would not be prudent or legal to go beyond what we have on the table. >> reporter: still, the district is confident an agreement can be reached. but the union won't budge from what they say is a living wage. tonight, the fight for better pay and the cost paid by children locked out of school. miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. let's turn now to that crucial meeting in moscow today between russia's president vladimir putin and china's xi jinping. keir simmons has been watching it. keir, for a second day, both leaders touting the closeness of their countries. >> reporter: they did, lester. and president xi today signaling more economic aid to russia. what does that mean? more oil sales, more gas sales, more trade propping up russia's economy and offering china cheap energy.

there was plenty more personal chemistry between the two men, too. president xi inviting president putin to beijing. president putin describing their talks as substantive. and if they did reach any agreement on china sending weapons, lester, they weren't saying it publicly. all of this while the prime minister of japan was in ukraine today. so just think about that. the leader of china and the leader of japan today on two sides of this war, escalating global tensions. lester? >> keir simmons, thank you. in 60 seconds, our exclusive interview with a teacher shot by a 6-year-old. her chilling account of what happened when she realized she'd been shot.

back now with more of our nbc news exclusive. the virginia teacher shot by a 6-year-old student in january speaking out about the things she will never forget before the shot was fired and her race to get the other

children to safety. here is anne thompson. >> reporter: for 25-year-old abigail zwerner, the memories are indelible. >> i just will never forget the look on his face that he gave me while he pointed the gun directly at me. it's changed me. it's changed my life. >> reporter: now telling savannah guthrie what happened when her 6-year-old student shot her in her first grade class. >> what's going through your mind? >> i was terrified. my initial reaction was your kids need to get out of here. this is not a safe classroom anymore. and you need to go find help for yourself. it was pretty shocking. >> you knew you had been shot? >> uh-huh. i just wanted to get my babies out of there. >> the police chief said after that you had ensured that the kids got to a safe place. he said your actions were heroic.

what were the next things that you did? >> that is still kind of a blur. got them out, and i went to get help for myself. i didn't know at the time that my lung had collapsed, but i started not being able to breathe. very raspy breath, and my vision started going out. i remember i went to the office, and i just passed out. i thought i had died. >> reporter: zwerner's attorney said in a notice of intent to sue newport news public schools that the richneck elementary administration was warned at least three separate times that the student had a gun but didn't do anything about it. >> there have been many failures and there are multiple people responsible for those failures. >> reporter: she plans to file a civil lawsuit in two weeks. today the school district said it's added more security measures and its expanding its partnership with local law enforcement. the prosecutor decided not to charge the 6-year-old but is investigating whether others could face criminal charges. in the end, zwerner's best defense that day was herself. >> it could have been

fatal. we believe that by the bullet going through the hand first that it most likely saved my life. >> reporter: still struggling to regain use of that hand while coping with what she can't forget. anne thompson, nbc news. we'll take a brereak. upup next, wiwith so manyny overerdose deataths linkedd to f fentanyyl, why don't more hospipital ers tetest for r the drug??

when a truck hit my car, the insurance company wasn't fair. i didn't know what my case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. i was hit by a car and needed help. i called the barnes firm, that was the best call i could've made. i'm richch barnes. it's hard foror people toto kw howow much theieir accident case i is worth. let ouour injury a attorneys help youou get t the best r result possss. ♪ the bararnes firm injujury attornen♪ ♪ call one e eight hundndred, eight t millio♪ an urgent warning about the widespread threat of a dangerous new street drug. the dea issuing an alert on xylazine, an animal sedative commonly referred to

as tranq. the agency has seen a sharp increase in tranq mixed with the opioid fentanyl and says that tranq is, quote, making the deadliest drug threat our country has faced even deadlier. and california is now the first state to require hospitals to test for fentanyl during drug screenings. it's a law that one mother believes could have saved her son's life. maura barrett with more in our series "one nation overdosed." >> reporter: after battling addiction for years, 19-year-old tyler shamash was hospitalized for a suspected overdose. but inexplicably, his drug test came back clean. >> i asked the doctor three times. the doctor is like, no, our tox screen with show it. we test for opioids. it would show fentanyl. >> repeporter:: the neext night ttyler took another pill laced with fentanyl and died. shockingly for tyler's family, regulated drug tests in emergency rooms are only required to check for what's known as the federal five,

marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opioids and pcp. fentanyl will not show up. many doctors and labs are unaware. do you think it's irresponsible that hospitals across the country don't automatically test for fentanyl in a drug screen? >> extremely. i think because parents, you trust doctors. you trust hospitals. and if they're telling you that your kid's tox screen came out clean, most parents aren't going to think to even question the doctor. >> reporter: julie found purpose advocating for legislation in california to require a sixth test be added specifically for fentanyl. called tyler's law, it took effect this year. california is the first and only state that requires fentanyl testing be added in the er, something advocates hope expands nationally at the low cost of just 75 cents per test. dr. roneet lev partnered with julie on pushing the legislation through. >> it is simple. every hospital in americca couldd do it t tomorrow w if theey wanted to. >> reporter: josh saenz one of the tens of thousands of americans who died from a drug overdose. the majority suspected to involve fentanyl, according to the cdc.

>> it turns out the hospital had not tested for fentanyl. >> reporter: his partner melanie yates testified on behalf of passing legislation in maryland to mirror california's law. >> we're undoubtedly going to have more overdose deaths because we're not testing for this. how are we going to make an impact if we're essentially blinding ourselves to what is actually going on? >> reporter: how often do you see patients that test positive for fentanyl that didn't know that's what they took? >> i see that all the time, every single day. >> reporter: more than 50 million fentanyl pills masquerading as regulated medication like xanax or oxycodone were seized by the dea in 2022. this kind of testing is essential for unaware patients. >> when i tell them they're positive for fentanyl, i can see their eyes light up. now they may want to change or do something differently. >> my son could still be alive today had the doctor known, not even had they tested for fentanyl. just had he known. because then we could have gone and taken him somewhere else for testing. >> reporter: an easy,

low-cost test that could save lives and pull back the curtain on the scope of this national epidemic. maura barrett, nbc news. we'll take a short break. and then up next, the broadway star with a powerful message breaking box office records, "inspiring america."

basketball fans are remembering nba legend willis reed, the hall of fame center for the new york knicks best remembered for playing while injured in game seven of the 1970 nba finals and leading the knicks to the championship. willis reed was 80 years old. and finally, she went from reality tv champ to a history-making run on broadway, and she has a powerful message. joe fryer now on the star "inspiring america." >> reporter: eight times a week, broadway audiences are blown away by a monsoon, jinkx monsoon. ♪♪ she's the first drag queen to play matron mama morton in the long-running musical "chicago." >> i wanted to show that we can play the roles that we're good at playing, no matter what we were perceived as att birth. > reportrter: jinkxx is a queeen with h two crowns, winning the reality show "rupaul's drag race" twice.

that paved the way for the great white way. >> a celebration of a life dream coming true. >> reporter: and she is living that childhood dream while living her truth. >> this is who i am. this is who i was always meant to be. this is how i am following my dream. >> reporter: her run is so successful, it was extended by two weeks. recently "chicago" had the highest grossing nonholiday week in the show's 26-year history. ♪ the goddess or you ain't and boys i got it ♪ >> reporter: yet as jinkx sells out shows on broadway, drag queens are facing a backlash elsewhere. tennessee just passed a law restricting drag shows. other states are considering similar bills aimed at drag performances, story hours at libraries. does it feel like we're living in two different worlds? >> there are people who want progress and to move forward, and there are people who

want to either stay where we are or move backwards. >> reporter: her next step, hitting the road this summer for a 44-city tour but not before finishing her historic broadway run this sunday. >> i've never been happier. i'm having the time of my life. >> reporter: giving crowds the old razzle-dazzle and all that jazz. ♪♪ joe fryer, nbc news, new york. that's "nightly news" for this tuesday. thank you for watching, everyone. i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each othther. good d night. ♪♪♪

♪♪ when your love is pouring like the rain ♪ ♪ i close my eyes and it's gone again ♪ ♪ when will i get the chance to say i love you ♪ ♪ i pretend that you're already mine ♪ ♪ then my heart ain't breaking every time ♪ ♪ i look into your eyes ♪ ♪ if only i can ♪

♪ i gotta get through this ♪ ♪ i gotta get through this ♪ ♪ i gotta make it gonna make gonna make it through ♪ ♪ said i'm gonna get through this ♪ ♪ i'm gonna get through this ♪ ♪ i gotta take gotta take my mind off of you ♪ ♪ give me just a second then i'll be alright ♪ ♪ surely one more moment couldn't break my heart ♪ ♪ give me 'til tomorrow then i'll be okay ♪ ♪ just another day and then i'll hold you tight ♪ ♪ when your love is pouring like the rain ♪ ♪ i close my eyes and it's gone again ♪ ♪ when will i get the chance to say i love you ♪ ♪ i pretend that you're already mine ♪ ♪ then my heart ain't breaking every time ♪ ♪ i look into your eyes ♪ ♪ (if only i can get through this) ♪ ♪ (if only i can get through this) ♪ ♪ if only i can get through this ♪ ♪ god god ya gotta help me get through this ♪ ♪ if only i can get through

this ♪♪ [cheers and applause] >> kelly: all right, everybody, welcome to "the kelly clarkson show"! give it up for my band, y'all! [cheers and applause] that was daniel bedingfield's first ever single "i got to get through this" which was huge worldwide and earned him a grammy nomination 2003 and while he is still making music, that's awesome, he says he followed all sorts of interests over the year, this is the coolest thing i know about him, he learned eight languages. what are you, becoming an interpreter? [applause] crazy, it's incredible. i can even get to one. he's learning eight. let's take on with our first guest, everybody. you know him for movies like "gladiator" and his oscar-nominated role in "blood diamond" or if you are like me,

you know him from "guardians of the galaxy." you can also see him in another great superhero movie, it is so good, it is called "shazam! fury of the gods." it's in theaters now. please welcome djimon hounsou. [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ >> kelly: oh, my gosh! you are even more handsome in real life! >> thank you! >> kelly: just saying, just saying. i'm a huge, huge fan. i have to start with i love "the guardians of the galaxy." so is it true you wanted to do the movie for your son?

i would have wanted to do it just to do it. >> right. i mean, i wanted to -- do it just to do it, but it's in reference to something that happened with my son. from the day he was born in someone with the film and sort of animations that we had seen were mostly spider-man, you know, batman and so on, and over time and one day he just blurt out this idea that he wish he were white in order to climb walls like spider-man. and that shocked me and i thought he has never seen superhero looking like him. and so for him, over time, the understanding is we, that looks like, don't have the ability to climb walls like spider-man. >> kelly: yeah. >> so i was eager to look for some content online that could

ease that. >> kelly: yeah! >> come to find out during that time i had done a voice-over for black panther and i forgot about it so as i was searching for it, that came up and i played for him when he heard the voice. so that's one of the reasons why i was really drawn to the idea of -- you know >> kelly: it's important to see what they can be or achieve. i love that it's not just one, like it's also "shazam!." you are in two. so that's amazing. >> and "shazam!" -- luckily "shazam!" really is a -- it really speaks of the diversity. >> kelly: and inclusion with the powers. >> absolutely. >> kelly: we are going to get to that, i loved it. speaking of kiddos, you just announce that you and your girlfriend or having a baby, right?

congrats! [cheers and applause] i have a six and eight role -- your, congratulations! next level! i like it. >> we are baby. >> kelly: what you most most excited about a new little baby? >> that's a nice question. >> kelly: for skin on skin. >> when you asked me that, i can't -- the first thing i do, i'm drawn to and speak about is -- >> kelly: it was my neck question, what are you most not excited about? you don't get sleep. >> you don't get any sleep at all. but i'm really excited about really creating a foundation which you can leverage himself, you know, growing up. [applause] >> kelly: yeah. i think it's cool too, i have friends that have kids of all ages and they have them at different points in life and i had kids later in life compared to where i'm from. they all had babie