snow plus, tens of millions in texas and florida on the lookout for tornadoes and large hail also tonight, the woman who accuses former president trump of rape and defamation takes the stand in a civil trial. what she says about their alleged encounter years ago. the former president's denial tonight. disney fires back suing florida governor ron desantis in their feud about free speech and the future of disney world just breaking, republicans in the montana legislature punish a transgender lawmaker barred from speaking on the floor. a pastor killed, police say, by a man he stopped to help it turned out to be an inmate escaped from jail the violent standoff and manhunt ongoing. menopause and money. the new data on the billions in lost work. how some businesses are changing their thinking and a song that echoes through the past the violins that survived the holocaust

and the people who saved them ♪ >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt good evening, and welcome. it is like the worst of winter in reverse as excessive snow melt poses a rising disaster threat in parts of the country tonight. along the mississippi river, flood warnings up from st. paul to north of st. louis in places like davenport, an agonizing wait for residents powerless to halt the creeping waters still days before the river is expected to crest. almost 2,000 miles away, the atmospheric rivers that brought massive snowpacks to california's high country are gone, but warmer temperatures are accelerating their melt the yosemite valley closing to visitors this week over flood concerns the volatile conditions don't end there as 22 million people in the south face a more immediate threat tonight, violent weather including large hail and possible tornadoes

in the forecast this evening. maggie vespa begins our coverage >> reporter: tonight, up and down one of america's longest rivers, a slow-moving disaster, inch by inch, is taking shape. this one is scaring people. >> yeah, it's going to devastate the whole downtown if it comes through. >> reporter: rising waters now swallowing entire neighborhoods reaching what experts call major flood stage from st. paul, minnesota, to fountain city, wisconsin, to dubuque, iowa, where levels are already six feet above flood stage and rising. that city closing all 17 of its floodgates for the third time in half a century. >> between 1 and 2 this morning it was in the house. >> reporter: near davenport, utility providers cutting off gas to flooded homes residents evacuating by boat. >> i know when i first moved out here, we had very small floods. they came and went real fast, but the last few years, they've gotten worse >> reporter: the threat relentless with water fueled by melting snowpack in north dakota and northern minnesota

slated to rise for days here in iowa where homes are already underwater, the flooding isn't expected to peak until monday >> really strong thunderstorms. >> reporter: the mississippi river flooding phenomenon, one flash point amid a week of wild weather across the south, 22 million people again face the threat of severe storms. this after baseball-sized hail shattered windshields in texas and pummeled parts of florida a catastrophic mix alongside historic flooding in the midwest. the worst these riverside communities have seen in decades >> and maggie joins us now. maggie, the severe weather you mentioned in the south is already picking up >> reporter: yeah, lester, that's right with water still rising here in iowa, our team is now tracking a tornado watch in central texas and severe thunderstorms in parts of florida, and wind gusts in both states are expected to top 70 miles per hour tonight. lester. >> it's been a rough

spring, all right, maggie, thanks. and california has historic levels of mountain snow melt. severe flooding will test decades-old levees here's steve patterson. >> reporter: california is a climate war zone after suffering through a decades-long megadrought followed by months of record rainfall and deadly flooding, now residents brace for another crisis, the snowpack in the sierra mountains that melts in the spring is more than 250% what it normally is. it contains twice as much water as the state's 28 major reservoirs, and as temperatures rise, what goes up must come down. >> my anxiety for the next few months is that we'll go into an extended heat wave, and the snowpack will start to melt very, very rapidly >> reporter: all that water is a problem for central california's tulare basin where officials warn an estimated 200 miles of farmland could be under water by july. across the state, neighborhoods are also at risk. >> this makes us

nervous. we haven't seen this since ever. >> reporter: officials in stockton, california, with 800,000 residents have concerns >> we're concerned about how it's going to get routed down through the river system >> reporter: are you worried about the levees holding up? >> absolutely. that's my job. >> reporter: more than 1,100 miles of levees are in a system that surrounds stock tongue if they were to fail here, one federal study says most of the city would be 10 to 12 feet underwater. huge portions of the levees were built generations ago. now porous and seepage prone with little investment since, the american society for civil engineers gives california's levees a "d" rating what's the solution for those levees >> the solution would be to build them to a stronger extent, but we don't have the money at this stage in our budget. >> reporter: now disadvantaged communities face the biggest threat >> it can get very scary not knowing, is it going to break? are we going to flood? what's happening i'm going to have to trim all these down. >> reporter: pandora

crowder lives in a section of stockton's government housing rows of homes up against an old levee wall. >> it's not fair that those of us who are the most disinvested and the most economically challenged are the last ones to be thought of, because we're almost kind of expendable, right? >> reporter: activists say disaster is only a matter of time >> if we have a significant flood event here, and it's not even if, it's when, we're going to experience all the loss of life >> reporter: communities now bracing for the worst amid california's rapidly changing climate. steve patterson, nbc news, stockton, california tonight, disney is suing florida governor ron desantis, part of their ongoing feud gabe gutierrez is covering the potential presidential candidate who is in jerusalem on a trade mission. gabe, this is a dramatic new chapter in this fight. >> reporter: yes, lester, disney is now accusing governor desantis of a targeted campaign of government retaliation saying

that the company was being punished just for speaking its mind. now, the suit was announced just moments after a panel of desantis allies voted to invalidate disney's decades-old deal with florida that gives it self-governance as part of a special tax district desantis' feud with disney has escalated ever since the entertainment giant opposed florida's parental rights in education act, which critics dubbed the don't say gay bill that banned classroom instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity no comment yet from desantis on this overseas trip, but his office says that it is not aware of any legal right for a company to operate its own government or have any special privileges lester >> all right, gabe gutierrez, thank you. in new york, explosive testimony in the latest civil trial of donald trump by the woman who says he raped her years ago and defamed her. here's laura jarrett >> reporter: e. jean carroll taking the stand in a packed

courtroom today telling a manhattan jury, quote, i'm here because donald trump raped me, and when i wrote about it, he said it didn't happen. it's a disturbing allegation the former president has always denied today the longtime advice columnist told the jury of six men and three women what began as a chance encounter at bergdorf goodman soon turned violent. she believes it happened in 1996 but can't say for sure what she does recall is it started with playful banter as trump wanted her help buying a gift. the two joked about trying on lingerie she told the jury, the next thing she knew, he shoved her against the wall of a dressing room. quote, i was pushing him back it was quite clear that i didn't want anything else to happen then she says he assaulted her. an accusation carroll has described many times before >> i thought it hurt. it was against my will. >> reporter: she told the jury she confided in two friends when it happened one who advised her to go to the police the other said, stay quiet.

quote, he has 200 lawyers. he'll bury you carroll never went to the police, something trump's defense team hammered in opening statements tuesday instead she filed a civil suit for battery last year using a new law that gives survivors of sexual assault a one-year window to file claims even when the statute of limitations has passed she's also suing trump for defamation pointing to this post on truth social last fall where he called her story a hoax and a lie. other posts from trump just this morning calling the case a scam, drawing a rebuke from the judge presiding over the trial warning trump's defense attorney such comments are, quote, entirely inappropriate. laura jarrett, nbc news, new york we have breaking news from montana. republican representatives just voted to bar a transgender lawmaker from the house floor it follows a heated back and forth over gender-affirming medical care for kids. anne thompson reports. >> reporter: montana state representative zooey zephyr, the state's first

transgender legislator, tonight is banned from the house floor for the rest of this year's session. >> this decision is a doubling down of the silencing of 11,000 montanans. >> reporter: today's action follows a fiery speech zephyr made last week as her colleagues considered a ban on gender-affirming medical care for children >> i hope the next time there's an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands. >> reporter: house republican leaders said the democrat broke decorum and prevented her from speaking in floor debate, then she was accused of inciting this protest on monday [ crowd chanting "let her speak" ] >> reporter: republican leaders making the case against her today. >> no person may participate in conduct that disrupts or disturbs the orderly proceedings of the body >> reporter: zephyr refusing to apologize. >> and when the speaker asks me to apologize, what he is -- on behalf of

decorum, what he is really asking me to do is be silent when my community is facing bills that get us killed >> reporter: the majority republican body censured the freshman representative zephyr will only be allowed to vote remotely tonight zephyr says though she may not be permitted to speak on the floor, she will continue to work behind the scenes. anne thompson, nbc news tonight president biden is pushing back against concerns about his age just a day after announcing his re-election bid. peter alexander is at the white house. peter, the president was pressed about it this afternoon >> reporter: lester, the latest nbc news poll shows that 70% of americans do not want president biden to run again with nearly half citing his age as a major factor. he would be 82 at the start of the second term, and here's the president's response from today >> i can't even say -- i guess how old i am. i can't even say the number it doesn't register with me. i respect them taking a hard look at it.

i take a hard look at it, as well. i took a hard look at it before i decided to run, and i feel good >> reporter: it comes as president biden and his south korean counterpart today unveiled a new agreement to deter north korea's nuclear threat with the u.s. planning to deploy a nuclear armed submarine to south korea for the first time in more than 40 years. lester >> peter alexander, thank you. in 60 seconds, it started with a jail break, then a pastor was killed inside the ongoing manhunt after a deadly standoff

an urgent search is under way for three prisoners who escaped a mississippi jail a fourth prisoner is believed to be dead. he is suspected of killing a pastor who stopped to help him. blayne alexander has the latest >> reporter: police say these are the men that sparked a massive multistate manhunt across the south, inmates on the run after escaping sunday from a mississippi jail one of them,

22-year-old dylan arrington, is now believed dead after a standoff with police officials say he shot an officer in the leg while barricaded inside this house, which moments later went up in flames. police are working to confirm the identity of one person found dead inside, and tonight, police are releasing surveillance footage of another escapee, jerry raynes, seen sunday at a gas station in spring valley, texas, more than 400 miles from mississippi. >> we're still actively searching for three. of course, you know, we have been getting information. the u.s. marshal fugitive task force are following up on several leads. >> reporter: the same place where their getaway truck was found wrecked and abandoned. the violent pair has taken at least one life, 66-year-old pastor anthony watts. police say he stopped to help arrington thinking he was a stranded motorcyclist. this surveillance video appears to show arrington run off the road seconds later you see the pastor's truck slow down then back up before stopping to help police say that's when arrington shot him

repeatedly stealing his truck and leaving him to die on the side of the road. reverend carl burton served with watts at st. mary's missionary baptist church he died trying to help somebody else. does that sound like your pastor, your friend >> yes, glorifying god and serving others that's what he wanted to do. >> reporter: together the four escapees had a laundry list of charges including auto theft, burglary and gun possession, and at least one had escaped from jail before lester >> all right blayne, thank you. two weeks ago in louisville, a 25-year-old man shot and killed five fellow employees at the bank where he worked before he was killed by police his family said that while their son connor sturgeon had mental health challenges, they saw no warning signs. authorities said he was able to buy the assault rifle legally. now his parents, todd and lisa sturgeon, are speaking out in an interview with our savannah guthrie >> if you had a chance

to say something to the families, what would you want to say? >> we are so sorry we are heartbroken we wish we could undo it, but we know we can't. >> you can catch much more tomorrow on "today." still ahead, how more women are boldly changing the conversation about menopause and money.

there's been an empowering shift in how women are talking about menopause.

no longer taboo, many are having candid conversations about what they want and need, and big business is listening here's kristen dahlgren >> reporter: menopause is more than hot flashes and night sweats. a new study shows a big financial impact too. some $1.8 billion in lost work every year 26 billion when you add in medical expenses >> that's not even counting the lost opportunities women might have because they didn't take a promotion or maybe they took a lesser job. >> reporter: 13% of women reported an adverse work outcome due to menopause. 11% missed at least one day of work. the average missed three days per year. do we need to rethink how we're thinking about menopause in the workplace? >> i think we're where we were in the 1970s with pregnancy and lactation in the workplace. now we need to be having these conversations about how menopause symptoms impact women we need to educate managers and supervisors.

>> reporter: it took a while for lorraine to realize what she was feeling was menopause. >> i had migraines every day so intense that i could hardly focus and concentrate, and then there was the mood swings. >> reporter: she found this doctor, an ob/gyn, at washington university in st. louis, one of a growing number of physicians focused on individualized menopause care the number of certified menopause practitioners has increased 70% in the past ten years with the potential to almost double by the end of this year >> the average age of menopause in this country is 51, which means that a woman will spend a half to a third of her life menopausal this notion that i hear all too often that women should just grin and bear it does everyone a disservice. >> reporter: and symptoms can be even more severe for african american women. >> an african american woman can expect to have these symptoms

for ten years, and unfortunately she is half as likely to be treated as a white woman, who will suffer from these symptoms only about six years >> reporter: williams says there's hope. even hormone therapy, once considered too risky, now seen as a safe option for many, and for those who can't take estrogen like women who have had breast cancer, new treatments are being developed. for lorraine, seeking help has made all the difference >> we are a different generation of women, and we have things to do i feel amazing, and i can't wait for the next chapter >> reporter: chapters being rewritten for millions as attitudes towards what was once simply called the change are changing. kristen dahlgren, nbc news, st. louis. up next tonight, songs of survival. the beautiful instruments and the stories to save them

finally, a tribute to the 6 million jews who died in the holocaust, as well as those who survived their stories honored with instruments that offer a tale of hope here's jesse kirsch. ♪ >> reporter: with every note, somber or bright, these strings make the music of survival rita and avshalom weinstein are living proof. now 94, rita, a holocaust survivor remembers fleeing the nazis as a teen in

eastern europe she hid with a group of resistance fighters whose leaders included asael bielski. avshalom tells u bielski was his grandfather. >> lost more than 100 family members in the ghetto, in the camp, but her two sisters and her mom survived she said it's all because of bielski >> reporter: last week outside chicago, rita and avshalom met for the very first time thanks to violins of hope, weinstein's family collection of more than 100 stringed instruments, which he says includes many once owned by those who perished in the holocaust and those who survived avshalom and his father, israeli violinmakers, restored the instruments and tour around the world. the collection now spending six months around chicago at a crucial time. >> we recognize with tremendous urgency the need to really address record levels of anti-semitism with music, and these instruments saved many lives, and for the lives that were not saved, their stories can live on.

>> these instruments bring the stories to life they make them real. >> they make them real, and they make them with the music. >> these were 6 million people they were people. >> these were real people who had hopes and dreams, and they were killed just because they were jewish ♪ >> reporter: a story of loss but also survival to be seen, felt and heard ♪ jesse kirsch, nbc news, glencoe, illinois >> songs of hope that's "nightly news" for this wednesday thank you for watching i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night, everyone

♪ ♪ ♪ days go by my window ♪ ♪ world slows down as it goes ♪ ♪ goodbye to last night ♪ ♪ lost my eyesight ♪ ♪ can't you help me see ♪ ♪ they won't get right ♪ ♪ loving every minute 'cause you make me feel so alive alive alive alive ♪ ♪ can you describe to me ♪ ♪ all the world that you see ♪ ♪ oh i need you so much ♪

♪ i'll just wait hey ♪ ♪ freedom is within you ♪ ♪ giving makes us feel good ♪ ♪ hello to our people ♪ ♪ say hello to the future ♪ ♪ loving every minute 'cause you make me feel so alive alive ♪ ♪ loving every minute 'cause you make me feel so alive alive ♪ ♪ alive alive ♪ [cheers and applause] >> kelly: welcome.

give it up for my band. that was "alive." empire of the sun, they are set to play here in two weeks. you should check that out. we have an incredible show. joining us as one of the funniest, most groundbreaking comedians in the history of american television and film. she was awarded the presidential medal of freedom as well as as well as the mark twain prize for american humor. tonight, you can watch her tribute called carol burnett, 90 years of laughter and love. it is incredible. today happens to be her 90th birthday. everybody give it up for the iconic carol burnett. [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪

[cheers and applause] >> kelly: we are so excited. i feel like my show just made it because you are on it. we are very excited. happy birthday. it was my birthday two days ago. carol says your birthday is the 24th. i am the 26th.

>> we are pretty cool. we are both from texas. do you miss anything? you were young when you moved to hollywood. >> it was back in the covered wagon days. i went to davy crockett grammar school. he was alive then. >> kelly: no he was not. i miss the chips and queso from texas. >> carol: the best mexican food ever. that is the first food i remember eating, enchiladas. then i had my milk. >> kelly: carol has given the world so many good times and laughs that we, more to

ourselves than her, want to relive those moments. we have compiled memories. this is a look at 90 years entertaining the world. [cheers and applause] >> kelly: carol was doing characters from a young age. a neighbor once got upset because he heard, it sounded like a real radio station? >> carol: i lived with my grandmother. we had a one room apartment that butted up against another apartment building. i would sit on the couch and open the window and would pretend to be a radio show. i was ten or 11, and i would say, now, ladies and gentlemen, you will hear from a young lady who will sing a cappella and i would sing and pretend to be

this, and finally, someone from next door said turn that off. i was thrilled. they believed it. >> kelly: you were that good. you were like, thank you. your late teens and 20s, you started acting in college. how did you end up going to new york? when did you make the move? >> carol: i was in a musical comedy workshop and we did a scene from "annie get your gun" as a final. there was an audience. afterwards, this gentleman and his wife came up and said we like to you very much, what do you want to do with your life and i said someday i want to go to new york and be on the stage and be in musical comedy