nightly news next with lester holt. tonight donald trump's money troubles as he defends his warning about a, quote, bloodbath in november. the former president's attorney saying he cannot get a bond to cover his $464 million civil fraud judgment. could it lead to his properties like trump tower being seized? and his controversial comments at a rally over the weekend, mr. trump talking about the auto industry will be a bloodbath if he's not elected. now he said he's being taken out of context. spring break violence. three shootings in 40 minutes in jacksonville beach, and the body cam, a teen with a gun sparking chaos on the beach. vladimir putin claiming victory in russia's elections, and after a question from nbc news, what he said about alexei navalny. israeli troops raiding gaza's largest hospital and the

warning president biden gave to prime minister netanyahu, their first conversation in more than a month. the first video of princess kate since her surgery released by tmz. and that photo firestorm. will it quiet the questions about her health? our nbc news exclusive, the father of laken riley, the georgia student murdered, speaking out. what he says about the undocumented migrant arrested in her death. and from fired to fired up. the coach who lost his job but days later led his team to the big dance. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening and welcome. his criminal cases may be caught up in a cycle of delays, but things may have moved too quickly for former president trump in the wake of that stunning civil fraud judgment against him last month. in a court filing today, mr. trump's attorneys saying they have been unable to secure the $464

million bond due next week, saying a bond in the full amount is a practical impossibility. the former president, who built his professional reputation in part on his wealth, was held liable last month for fraudulently overstating the value of assets. today's development potentially opens the door for new york's state attorney general to seize and sell off trump assets while mr. trump appeals. meantime, the former president is on the political defensive tonight over some remarks he made over the weekend. garrett haake has our report. >> reporter: tonight the fate of former president trump's most famous properties could be up in the air with trump attorneys telling a judge he's unable to secure bond in the $464 million civil fraud judgment against him, asking the judge for an emergency stay. guarantors won't accept real estate as collateral but want nearly half a billion dollars in cash, which trump's company doesn't have, his lawyers say. if he cannot post bond for the full amount by

next week, democratic new york attorney general letitia james could start seizing his assets, potentially even his trump tower penthouse. in their filing trump attorneys argue the penalty is grossly disproportionate when there were, quote, no victims, no damages, and no actual financial losses in the case. it comes as the trump campaign also faces blowback amid mr. trump's new inflammatory rhetoric against what he calls criminal migrants. >> they're not people, in my opinion, but i'm not allowed to say that because the radical left says that's a terrible thing to say. these are animals, okay. >> reporter: mr. trump has vowed to bring back his remain in mexico policy that keeps migrants waiting outside the u.s. until courts decide their asylum cases. the biden administration is releasing 85% of migrants into the u.s. while they wait for asylum decisions. and tonight the presumptive gop nominee also pushing back saying democrats, quote, pretended to be shocked at my use of the word bloodbath

during this riff about chinese carmakers. >> we're going to put 100% tariff on every car that comes across the line, and you will not be able to sell those cars. if i get elected. now if i don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath. that's going to be the least of it. it's going to be a bloodbath for the country. that will be the least of it. >> reporter: mr. trump saying he was referring to president biden allowing imports he says are killing the auto industry, late tonight calling democratic attacks, quote, misinformation. >> the word bloodbath, i used it about trade, essentially auto trade, because we're getting ripped off with biden's really dumb auto policy. >> reporter: the biden campaign rejecting it was about only cars. >> every single day donald trump is promoting and endorsing and encouraging political violence on the stump. >> nbc news has new reporting tonight about president biden showing some growing frustration about his re-election campaign. what do we know? >> reporter: that's right, lester. president biden shouted and swore

about falling poll numbers in a january white house meeting and felt cocooned by staff eager to move more aggressively in campaigning against mr. trump, sources tell nbc news. >> garrett haake, thank you. we're learning more about what brought on the spring break violence in florida that left one person dead and three others injured this weekend. our sam brock is there with the latest. sam? >> reporter: lester, good evening. now here in miami beach, ramped up security measures and even a midnight curfew this past weekend have kept things very safe. lester, other parts of florida right now are reeling from chaos. violence tonight, once again up-ending spring break celebrations in florida. this time in jacksonville beach. >> we are currently working three separate unrelated shootings. >> reporter: all of that in a roughly 40-minute span sending bystanders scrambling and the city into lockdown. >> 80 people were

running down the street watching him drop to his knees. >> reporter: we're learning new details about what might have prompted gunfire that led to three people injured and one killed. jacksonville police releasing video of hundreds of juveniles brawling on the beach. >> when the crowd was dispersed, that's when the shootings happened. >> reporter: and it's not the only incident raising alarms. a fight in new smyrna beach, near orlando, led deputies to draw their weapons when they say a 16-year-old pulled out a firearm. officers chasing down the teen and arresting him. incidents like these hitting hard for families and vacationers. >> the last thing you want to worry about is coming somewhere to have fun and getting hurt. >> reporter: but farther south, miami beach is using a series of measures to crack down on violence. do you feel safe this year? >> of course. >> reporter: ocean drive now. a stark contrast to previous years.

the city manager also implementing a midnight curfew this weekend. >> for 72 hours out of an entire year, we made a decision, and last night being out on the streets, i think it was the right decision. >> reporter: miami beach, now a safe spot in a state still struggling with spring break mayhem. sam brock, nbc news, miami beach. overseas, a victory lap for russian president vladimir putin after he won a fifth term in an election whose outcome was never in doubt. keir simmons is in moscow for us tonight. >> reporter: tonight in red square, a flag waving wartime celebration for russia's re-elected president. president putin, the pinnacle of the managed election. the crowd is shouting "russia, russia." these are some of the 87% of russians officials say voted for president putin. the young positioned in the front row tonight but for 24 years his leadership is all they've known. >> all my life, president putin. >> reporter: all your life.

and what do you think of him? >> i love putin. >> reporter: president putin is popular here but not with everyone. this weekend saw arson attacks on polling stations, dye thrown in ballot boxes and silent protests. nbc news, the first international news organization to question putin after he won six more years. mr. president, journalist evan gershkovich spent this election in prison, boris, who opposes your war in ukraine, wasn't allowed to stand against you, and alexei navalny died in one of your prisons during your campaign. mr. president, is this what you called democracy? "that's life," he told us, and called navalny's death an "unfortunate incident." he had agreed to release him, he said, before he died, as long as he did not return. until now, he'd never publicly mentioned alexei navalny's name. tonight the white house denying

knowledge of a prisoner swap. >> we have not heard a russian official raise navalny as part of the prisoner swap in any of those conversations. >> reporter: the white house is calling this election not free nor fair. china, north korea and saudi arabia are among those congratulating putin. lester? >> keir simmons, thank you. president biden issued a new warning to israel telling prime minister benjamin netanyahu that a ground invasion of rafah would be a mistake. the warning came after israel raided a hospital in gaza. richard engel now with late details. >> reporter: israeli troops today zeroed in on gaza city. this woman screamed. she went to get flowers and returned to find her home reduced to rubble with all her family inside. this was once gaza's most populous city. it's now a wasteland. before dawn, israeli oops stormed shifa hospital. the israeli army says hamas was directing attacks from the hospital while the

gaza health ministry says 30,000 people were sheltering there. prime minister netanyahu and president biden spoke today for the first time in over a month. the white house says president biden warned against a ground invasion in rafah. >> a major ground operation would be a mistake, it would lead to more innocent civilian deaths. >> reporter: netanyahu told members of the pro-israel lobby group that victory is near. >> how do we define victory? we define it as the destruction of hamas' military and governing capability. we define it, also, as the return of the hostages and we define it, also, as preventive, the return -- gaza from becoming a threat to israel at any time in the future. >> reporter: what will these children, today waiting for food handouts, grow up thinking about israel? this morning the world leading authority on food security backed by the u.n. and the u.s. government said 1.1 million people, half of gaza's

population, face catastrophic hunger and starvation, and that famine is imminent. negotiations are resuming here in qatar. among the proposals, a six-week truce in exchange for 40 hostages. lester? >> richard engel in doha, thank you. to that alleged hezbollah bombmaker caught crossing the southern border who said he wanted to travel to new york. julia ainsley is following this. julia, what more do we know? >> reporter: border patrol says the lebanese man was caught earlier this month crossing illegally near el paso. 22-year-old basel bassel ebbadi said he was with hezbollah and wanted to build a bomb and was headed to new york. officials i've spoken to said it is highly unusual for someone to voluntarily disclose that information. we don't know if ebbadi was on the u.s. terrorism watch list. over 160 migrants crossing the border last year were on that list. it's been a major criticism of biden border policies by republicans.

ebbadi is currently in u.s. custody and under investigation. lester? >> julia ainsley, thank you. to that new video showing the princess of wales in public for the first time since her abdominal surgery. it comes after weeks of questions about her whereabouts and after controversy surrounding a highly edited photo. here is molly hunter. >> reporter: tonight, for the first time since december, video of kate, the princess of wales, in public. the video obtained by tmz reportedly shows kate and husband prince william walking out of a winter farm shop over the weekend. dressed casually, the prince of wales sporting a baseball cap. the 42-year-old princess in workout clothes and running shoes walking briskly with shopping bags, smiling. >> good evening. new pictures claiming to show the princess of wales out and about -- >> reporter: the breaking headlines in the uk declare, great to see you, kate. she looks happy and relaxed, says "the sun." the video follows anonymous reports of a sighting, but without

photographic proof. it comes exactly a week after that photograph on mother's day and kate's apologies the next morning. kensington palace officials stayed mum all week even as the prince of wales participated in public events. the altered family photograph meant as a sweet gesture did little to quell the conspiracy theories on social media since kate's january abdominal surgery and raised more questions instead of providing the intended reassurance. we reached out to k kensington palace tonight. they would not comment on the photo. we don't expect to see kate in any official capacity until after easter. >> molly hunter in london, thanks. we're watching a spring freeze tonight in the southeast where 23 million people are under freeze alerts from parts of texas to the carolinas. in washington the cherry blossoms are at their earliest peak bloom in years because of climate change. lows in the mid-30s, most of the week,

but the cold is not expected to damage the famous flowers. in just 60 seconds, we'll hear exclusively from laken riley's father. why he says the political debate over his daughter's death makes him angry.

back now with our nbc news exclusive. for the first time the father of laken riley, the georgia nursing student murdered last month, is speaking out about his loss, the undocumented migrant accused of killing laken, and how her death is being politicized. he spoke with priscilla thompson. >> i cry every day. >> reporter: it is a pain unlike any jason riley has ever felt. >> i wish i could have been there to protect her. >> reporter: mourning the loss of his 22-year-old daughter, laken, who was murdered last month while jogging on campus at the university of georgia. do you remember the last conversation you had with her? >> we just talked about how she was doing in school. i wake up every day thinking, you know,

that i can call her, and i can't. >> reporter: laken was a marathon runner, studying nursing with dreams of one day working with children, her dad says. a venezuelan migrant, who entered the u.s. illegally in 2022, is now charged with her murder, officials say. the suspect has not yet pled in the case. records show a prior arrest in new york and a citation for shoplifting in georgia, but he was never deported. do you think a difference in immigration policy would have made a difference for laken? >> we both have no idea if that would have changed anything. i do know that he might not have been here had we had secure borders. >> reporter: laken riley's name has become a battle cry in the partisan fight over border politics. reaching a fever pitch at the state of the union earlier this month. >> laken riley, an innocent young woman

who was killed by an illegal. >> reporter: days later, her mom and stepfather meeting with former president trump. >> it's incited people who will have a vote in november and is being used politically to get those votes. >> reporter: how do you feel about that? >> it makes me angry. she should be raised up for the person she is. >> reporter: what do you want the world to know about her? >> just how amazing she was. she was one of a kind. >> reporter: priscilla, thompson, nbc news, buford, georgia. up next, a look below the surface as the u.s. military deploys under water drones to combat brazen attacks in the red sea.

we're back with the rising tensions in the red sea, with commercial ships under attack by iranian-backed militants, the u.s. is deploying one of its newest weapons in the fight, unmanned sea drones. tonight our courtney kube takes us inside the fleet for a rare look. >> reporter: iranian-backed houthi militants have attacked ships off the coast of yemen more than 50 times in the past three months. recently sinking this cargo ship and killing at least three crew members on another. u.s. retaliatory strikes have not deterred the houthis, but the u.s. navy is now also using another tool in its fight, one below the surface of the water. >> these are all maritime robotics here. these are unmanned systems with the ability to navigate. >> reporter: so drones? >> drones, exactly.

>> reporter: so sea drones. >> sea drones, exactly. >> reporter: we traveled to the u.s. navy headquarters in bahrain. captain brasseur was the first commodore of task force 59, which uses drones and robots on and below the water gathering information and using artificial intelligence. >> we are using artificial intelligence to sift through all that information and highlight activity that is outside the normal pattern of life that we may want to take a closer look at. >> reporter: the u.s. military has decreased its presence in the region over the last several years, but now, with systems like these, they can maintain their presence here at sea. the drones see potential threats and send a warning here to the robotics operation center. >> the artificial intelligence component allows us to pick out activity and use our vessels more effectively to go after them. >> reporter: in addition to deterring houthi attacks, the u.s. navy is patrolling to spot piracy, human trafficking and weapons smuggling, acknowledging one country represents the

greatest danger here. >> iran today is the most serious threat in the region. >> reporter: especially iranian drones and ballistic missiles. in january iranian missile parts were intercepted heading to houthi rebels in yemen. the sea drone the newest weapon to combat it. >> we're going about this from sea bed to space and having sensors everywhere in between. >> reporter: meanwhile, the houthis now have their own sea drones, but not for surveillance. they're packing them with explosives and they're using them to attack ships. lester? >> courtney kube, thank you. up next, the comeback coach who thought he was out the door, then drove his team right into march madness. >> it rattles in.

finally, a week ago he lost his job, but this week dan monson's team is march madness bound. steve patterson with one coach's amazing comeback. and long beach state does the improbable! >> reporter: if you made a top ten list of the most unlikely scenarios heading into march madness, this has to be number one. >> dan monson and the beach have punched their ticket to the ncaa tournament. >> reporter: it has been a wild workweek for head coach dan monson. after 17 long years, the school parted ways with monson after a terrible end to the season, five straight losses. >> we agreed to part, and i didn't want it to be about me. >> reporter: the school and monson made a mutual decision. he'd stay to finish the final games.

>> here comes long beach state. >> reporter: and that is when you cue the craziest cinderella story in college ball this year. what do you think it was specifically that lit that fire? >> monday was an emotional day, it was probably the worst day of the week and by far the best day maybe of my life. >> reporter: in the run of a lifetime, with the coach's legacy of a lifetime, the beach started balling out of its mind. >> three! >> reporter: long beach scoring three wins in three days. >> i knew how much they loved me when i left on monday, and they showed it all week. >> reporter: by the end of that streak, six days after monson was sacked, he and his boys are putting an extension on their own march madness. >> it's what we all dream of. and we're going to live the dream this week. >> reporter: punching a premium ticket to the last dance for coach dan. steve patterson, nbc news, long beach state university. >> living the dream. i love that. that's "nightly news." join us tomorrow for my exclusive interview with the head of the faa after serious questions recently about boeing's safety record.

thank you for watching, everyone. i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night. >> what a gutsy finish by long beach state.

. right now on "nbc bay area news tonight," another maintenance issue on a united flight at sfo. this comes on the same day the ceo of united airlines is trying to ease customers' fears about safety. also, it's the dreamforce of the south bay. long lines and celebrity