breaking news tonight, the federal judge denying donald trump's motion to dismiss his classified documents case. the former president

back in a florida courtroom today for another showdown with special counsel jack smith. but the judge denying mr. trump's bid to throw out the charges over the documents the fbi seized from mar-a-lago. and in new york, word that mr. trump's hush money trial could be delayed, but by how long? also tonight, the massive tornadoes in the midwest. millions under severe threats from texas to ohio. plus, the major winter storm slamming the west. up to four feet of snow in colorado. after five months of war in gaza, some of the sharpest criticism yet from a top u.s. official. senator chuck schumer urging israel to hold new elections and oust benjamin netanyahu. americans stranded as chaos grips haiti, and could the u.s. house migrants fleeing the violence at guantanamo bay. all-out search for a missing 22-year-old college student. the last known videos of him. was he overserved alcohol before disappearing? his family speaking

out to us. the biggest rocket ever built, successfully launched by spacex, but breaking up during reentry. now the faa investigates. and meet the new class of astronauts training to take america back to the moon. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening and welcome. there are big developments in the criminal cases faced by former president donald trump. the first related to the federal classified documents case. a judge late today denying mr. trump's request that the case be dropped on grounds of unconstitutional vagueness. it was the first of two motions argued by the former president's lawyers during a day-long hearing in florida with mr. trump in attendance. meantime, 1200 miles away in new york, what is supposed to be mr. trump's first criminal trial slated to start later this month may be delayed. the manhattan d.a.'s office telling the judge in that case it would not oppose an adjournment of its

hush money case, not to exceed 30 days. mr. trump's legal team had asked for a 90-day delay. the d.a. says it wants to give the defense time to review thousands of newly provided documents. that trial currently scheduled to start on march 25th with jury selection. laura jarrett has more on today's legal split screen. >> reporter: tonight in a new legal blow, a federal judge denying former president trump's request to toss out criminal charges alleging he hoarded classified documents at mar-a-lago. the presumptive gop nominee seen arriving this morning, greeting supporters gathered outside the florida courthouse. his attorneys arguing the law on national security secrets is too vague and that mr. trump believed he was allowed to keep the documents as his personal records according to the presidential records act, saying last night -- >> i took them very legally, and i wasn't hiding them. >> reporter: but federal judge aileen cannon, a trump appointee tonight

writing a dismissal over vagueness now would be, quote, premature. and earlier at the hearing, appearing skeptical of any argument to toss the charges based on the presidential records act, telling mr. trump's team, "it's difficult to see how this gets you to the dismissal of an indictment." no decision yet on a trial date. mr. trump's team urging her to push it until after the november election. that ruling coming after a surprising setback for manhattan's prosecutors, just 11 days before mr. trump's hush money trial was set to begin. tonight the district attorney's office saying they do not oppose waiting 30 days to start the trial in an abundance of caution. the case where prosecutors have accused the former president of burying a hush money payment to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election now mired in a fight over a significant number of documents related to michael cohen, the man who made the payment. records mr. trump's attorneys say they need to prepare their defense. according to a new court filing, tens of thousands of pages of

documents were only recently turned over to mr. trump's team. a trump spokesman responding tonight, "this case has no basis in law or fact." >> and so laura, when might we hear the date for the trial here in new york? >> the judge can rule any time now, lester. as you mentioned, mr. trump's defense team says they need at least 90 days to delay here given the number of documents, but the judge could do something shorter than that, or he could decide he wants to hear from both sides before ruling. >> laura, thanks very much. tonight's other top story, severe weather rip across much of the country, from tornadoes touchdown in several states late today to that massive snowstorm in the mountain west. dana griffin has the latest. >> that is insane! >> reporter: tonight, a tornado touches down in indiana. several homes destroyed. another twister in kansas. in missouri, golf ball-sized hail. meanwhile, the biggest snowstorm to hit colorado in three years arrived overnight, dumping 2 to 3 inches per hour.

leaving drivers stranded and parts of i-70 closed. and early and often, that's the strategy for some residents trying to shovel their way through this continuous snowfall. >> i think i'm going to be out here two more times. >> reporter: today? >> probably. >> reporter: heavy weighed down snow concerning for neighbors like mary eisen, trying to clear snow from her prized cherry tree. >> it's very stiff. and there is a lot of water. >> reporter: more than 31,000 customers without power, and most schools took a snow day. at denver international, more than 800 flights canceled. >> i was supposed to be flying back home to kansas city, and unfortunately, they got canceled. >> reporter: a bus carrying 60 women on a ski trip from denver getting stuck for more than 15 hours on i-70. >> we got on the bus yesterday at 3:30. >> reporter: some women stuck without their medicine. >> we have someone with diabetes. we have someone who got injured on the hill.

>> reporter: by thursday afternoon, the group finally back on the road and proving their resilience. >> we find of know how to handle things when they're tough. >> reporter: and there is hope this march snow madness comes to an end friday. >> dana, it's been snowing for more than 24 hours in some areas. so how much more is expected tonight? >> yeah, there is still 12 hours left of this storm. what you see on the ground will likely double by tomorrow. it's going to be another long night for crews, hoping that tree limbs like this don't come crashing down. lester? >> all right, dana, thanks. in washington, top democrat chuck schumer with some stinging criticism of israeli prime minister binl benjamin netanyahu, calling forbe new elections there, a rare rebuke of an elected leader of a key u.s. ally. garrett haake now with late details. >> reporter: as israel targets hamas and gaza, and the humanitarian crisis grows, the top senate

democrat delivering a scathing rebuke of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, saying he needs to be replaced in new elections. >> prime minister netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take the precedents over the best interests of israel. >> reporter: schumer, the highest elected jewish official in american history laid blame for the war at the feet of hamas, but saying netanyahu is an obstacle to peace. >> he has been pushing support for israel worldwide to historic lows. israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah. >> reporter: republican leaders slamming the criticism of netanyahu, who is also known as bibi, the democratically elected leader of a close ally. >> the democratic party doesn't have an anti-bibi problem, it has an anti-israel problem. >> it's just plain wrong for an american leader to play such a divisive role in

israeli politics while our closest ally in the region is in an existential battle for its very survival. >> reporter: netanyahu has not responded to schumer's comments. meanwhile, president biden has criticized israel's military operations as over the top and privately complained of netanyahu, quote, giving him hell, sources told nbc news last month. lester? >> garrett haake, thanks. now to the increasingly desperate situation in haiti, where hundreds of americans are among those struggling to get out as the violence and chaos grows. gabe gutierrez is following it all from the neighboring dominican republic. >> reporter: tonight, a catastrophe is unfolding in haiti. each day people running for their lives. the gang violence in port-au-prince now trapping americans caught in the crossfire. hundreds of stranded u.s. citizens registering with the state department. >> we just want to go home. >> reporter: missionary jill dolan and her family are stuck at a makeshift motel near the country's shuttered

main airport. she is desperate to get to florida in time for her daughter's wedding. instead, she is ducking for cover. >> we did here gunfire right outside the gate and it was very scary. and we all went running and we turn off the lights and hid in our room until it went away. >> reporter: amid concerns of a mass exodus from haiti, the dominican republic is increasing patrols along its border, and the u.s. is considering temporarily housing haitian migrants at guantanamo bay, like it's done before. today in a dominican border town, haitians were briefly allowed to cross into this closed off market. but if they went too far illegally, we saw bus after bus deporting them. this widow, a mother of six told us she was desperate for food. "we don't have work. we don't have a president. we have nothing," she says. the u.n. just announcing that it's launching an air bridge, essentially, a humanitarian corridor in the sky to bring over humanitarian aid

from the dominican republic across the border into haiti. we also met man who says he is from miami, but as he recently visited family in haiti, a gang overtook his bus, leaving him with no passport and no way out. >> they took all my stuff, my document, my bags, my phones, my money that i had in my pocket. >> reporter: tonight, this is the edge of chaos. a humanitarian crisis at yet another border. >> and gabe, it's important to note that violence is one of the reasons so many haitians are trying to get out. >> yeah, that's right, lester. we're just a few steps from the haitian border. and so many people came here today in stifling temperatures for whatever little food they could get. it is not just the violence. the u.n. also estimates nearly a million people inside haiti are on the brink of famine. lester? >> all right, gabe, thank you. we're going the take a turn overseas

now as the tensions with china grow. tonight we have rare access inside joint military drills as the u.s. and japan make a major show of force in the region. here is janis mackey frayer. >> reporter: here on okinawa, amphibious carriers are landing on a beach to simulate a raid to take back an island. these are american vehicles rolling off a japanese hovercraft. japan and the u.s. expanding joint military drills to hone close coordination between forces. these drills happen fast. they're already heading back out to sea. and for the first time, the exercise called iron fist said to name china as the hypothetical enemy, though the threat is real, says the u.s. ambassador to japan rahm emanuel. what is it that china is doing that is creating this potential for conflict? >> well, they're in conflict with everybody. there is no country in the region they're not in some kind of small, very small kinetic problem with an untethered, unanchored china is a destabilizing china. >> reporter: with japan facing its gravest security

threat in decades, spending billions on american stealth fighter jets and cruise missiles to defend against china, but also russia and north korea. a key part of japan's strategy involves fortifying an island chain with missile systems and a new military base that u.s. aircraft would use too, creating a wall centered around taiwan, limiting china's access to the western pacific. china's claims over most of the disputed south china sea are causing friction, with close encounters involving chinese ships and aircraft. the u.s. transforming its presence too. >> we're the permanent pacific power. you can bet long on america. >> reporter: for years these drills were held in the u.s., and last year moved here. as deterrents and a message that japan is readying to fight. janis mackey frayer, nbc news, okinawa. in 60 seconds, the search intensifies for a missing college student in nashville. seen on surveillance,

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the best a man can get is gillettelabs. we're back now with the urgent search for a college student missing for nearly a week in nashville. tonight his family is speaking out to us as authorities investigate whether he was overserved alcohol before he vanished. here is kathy park. >> reporter: the search for 22-year-old riley strain intensifying in nashville. crews using sonar equipment in the cumberland river. >> it's just we got to find him. >> reporter: the university of missouri student disappeared last friday night after his family says he left by himself from a downtown bar owned by country music star luke bryan. do you know why he was asked to leave the bar? >> he was trying to pay his tab, but he didn't have a tab. and the bartender was you've been overserved. you got to go. >> reporter: surveillance video revealing some of the last moments riley was seen. one video appears to

show him stumbling, even falling. >> it hurt to see no one help. >> reporter: investigators say right now, no foul play is suspected. >> this is strictly a missing person investigation at this point. >> reporter: his parents say riley stands out. he is 6'7", adding he was visiting nashville with his fraternity brothers. >> i think my last -- the last text was around 7:45, and i just said i love you, and he said i love you too. >> reporter: the family says riley told his friends he would be back to their hotel. but when his friends arrived, riley wasn't there, and they couldn't reach him on his cell phone. police say this 911 call was made the day after riley was last seen. >> who is it that you're wanting to report is missing? >> it's -- we're here on a fraternity formal trip. it's one of my good buddies. >> reporter: riley's family now on a mission to bring him back home. the operator and owner of luke bryan's bar says they will work closely with police. meanwhile, tennessee authorities have launched an investigation into

whether riley was overserved alcohol. they did not say which establishments were under review. lester? >> kathy park in nashville, thanks. coming up, trying to stay ahead of a growing outbreak of measles. chicago vaccinating hundreds with at least ten cases reported hundreds with at least ten cases reported there. numbers move you. but some can stop you in your tracks. like the tens of thousands of people who were diagnosed with certain hpv-related cancers. for most people, hpv clears on its own. but for those who don't clear the virus, it can cause certain cancers. gardasil 9 is a vaccine given to adults through age 45 that can help protect against certain diseases caused by hpv. including cervical, vaginal, vulvar, anal, and certain head and neck cancers such as throat and back of mouth cancers, and genital warts. gardasil 9 doesn't protect everyone and does not treat cancer or hpv infection. your doctor may recommend screening for certain hpv-related cancers. women still need routine cervical cancer screenings. you shouldn't get gardasil 9 if you've had an allergic reaction to the vaccine, its ingredients, or are allergic to yeast. tell your doctor if you have a weakened immune system, are pregnant, or plan to be.

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least ten measles cases, most of them tied to a single migrant shelter. jesse kirsch is there. >> reporter: tonight, chicago officials are trying to keep up with an outbreak of measles, hitting multiple communities, including two public schools. overall, the city reporting ten cases in just one week. eight of those infections found here at a single city migrant shelter. >> at this point, would you say the situation is under control? >> well, measles is quite contagious, and it spreads among those who are not vaccinated. so we are trying to get it under control by vaccinating as many people as possible. >> reporter: chicago's commissioner of public health says the city has vaccinated more than 900 shelter residents, but that was after the outbreak began. and immigration takes immunization takes time. >> it takes 21 days for the vaccines to become effective. >> reporter: this woman is staying at the shelter with her two young children.

she agreed to speak with us if we concealed her identity. "the conditions are awful," she told us. "there is more than 300 people in one area. we're all crammed together." the city says it's trying to create more space, moving families with vulnerable pregnant women and children less than a year old to hotel rooms. nationwide, the cdc reports at least 45 measles cases combined across 17 states so far this year. but chicago's outbreak underscores that new migrant arrivals can mean new public health challenges. many here come from venezuela, which has a low measles vaccination rate. chicago's mayor says don't blame the migrants. >> they didn't bring illness. in fact, migrants are more vulnerable to the existing infectious diseases that we already have here. >> reporter: chicago says it's also offering vaccines right here at the city's landing zone when migrants get off buses to help protect against the potentially deadly measles virus. lester? >> jesse, thank you.

there is late-breaking news in the trial of james crumbley in the trial after his son killed four students in a school shooting. let's get right to adrienne broaddus. adrienne? >> reporter: lester, it took the michigan jury more than 8 1/2 hours to find james crumbley guilty on all four cases of involuntary manslaughter. as the verdict was read, james crumbley shook his head. members of the jury deliberating more than eight and a half hours. prosecutors argued that james crumbley could have prevented the shooting that led to the deaths of those four students. the defense said their client had no knowledge. family members relieved tonight. lester? >> adrienne, thank you. and up next for us, and up next for us, today's critic ♪(limu emu and doug.)♪ hello, ghostbusters. it's doug... ...of doug and limu. we help people customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual. anyway, we got a bit of a situation here.

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finally, the faa says it will investigate a mishap during today's spacex starship launch after the rocket and booster broke apart on reentry. but nasa and spacex say there were many successes in today's flight, and it comes as the newest class of astronauts prepares to one day ride the rocket to the moon. here is tom costello. >> reporter: on its third test flight, the biggest rocket ever built flew farther and faster than ever before. >> hot staging confirmed. >> reporter: starship performing critical

tests and sending back stunning images, breaking apart 45 minutes into flight on reentry. the spacex flight comes as 12 new astronauts earned their wings with nasa preparing for some very big missions ahead. >> hopefully some of these men and women you see on stage set their footprints on the moon. >> reporter: artemis ii commander reid wiseman will lead the crew that loops around the moon in 2025. by the end of the decade, future astronauts will use starship to land on the moon. new astronaut dr. chris williams. have you dreamed of being among the first to return to the moon? >> i absolutely hope it's me. and that i get the chance to do that. >> reporter: under artemis, an orion pace capsule will carry astronauts to a new space station called gateway, already under construction. this is gateway, the space station is that will eventually orbit the moon. on board, four of these modules will host four crewmembers working and living on the station. and sending astronauts from here down to the

lunar surface. a sort of floating mother ship. >> eventually, all four will go down, and then they'll come back and forth from here to get ready to go down to the surface or return home. >> reporter: perhaps one day starship will carry astronauts even further. air force fighter pilot and new astronaut nicole ayers. >> i was a little kidd, i used to say i'm going to be the first person on mars. even as a little child, i had the mars idea for the dream. >> reporter: do you still? >> of course. definitely. >> reporter: but before mars, the moon is calling. tom costello, nbc news, houston. >> it's all very exciting. that's "nightly news" for this thursday. thank you for watching, everyone. i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night.

right now, whipping wind and slams the bay area. we are watching them and how