Deadly Tornado Outbreak Hits Oklahoma as Severe Storms Threaten the Plains

Breaking news as we come on the air. Dangerous storms firing up after monster twisters plow through the heartland. Millions on alert. Plus the wildfires across the south still raging out of control. Violent tornadoes ripping across Oklahoma, including an EF4. This one charging through an Air Force base. The rare twin twisters swirling around one another. Homes reduced to rubble. Debris piling 10 ft high. This woman recounting the moment she hid as the twister plowed right through her living room. Plus, devastating wildfires spreading across the south. More than 100 homes destroyed. We're tracking it

all. Round two. US Envoy Steve Witoff and Jared Kushner heading to Pakistan to restart talks with Iran's foreign minister. The offer President Trump says the Iranian regime is making. Plus, is it the return of the firing squad? The controversial death penalty the Trump administration is bringing back. Also tonight, the stunning reversal from the Justice Department dropping its investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell despite the president's pressure campaign. What forced the DOJ's hand? The stunning arrest and disturbing discovery. Two doctoral students vanishing. Now one of their bodies was recovered. His roommate arrested in connection to the case. Dive teams hitting the water to find a missing

female student. This just in. Why the Texas camp where 27 girls died in those devastating floods might not be allowed to reopen this summer. The FDA moving to fasttrack psychedelic drug research to treat PTSD and depression. Why one veteran says the treatment could save countless lives. And our series Great Americans in honor of the nation's 250th anniversary. We're highlighting those who bring this country together. Tonight, my sitdown with tennis legend Billy Jean King. Her relentless pursuit of equality in women's sports. I promise myself if I could ever be number one in the world, that I hopefully could make this world a better place.

Nightly News starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamz. And good evening. We are coming on the air tonight with an intense tornado outbreak and the threat of even more violent storms on the way. At least 18 tornadoes reported tearing across the plains, including this monster, an EF4 whose winds may have hit 200 mph and all but wiped out Enid, Oklahoma off the map. It loomed over Vance Air Force Base just south there of Enid and was so powerful giant shafts of lightning blew up the sky for passengers mid-flight. The destruction on the ground. You can see it here. It's immense. Somehow, everyone survived in this area. The storm even spawned this rare site. Twin tornadoes. Look at that. Barreling

through a field. A violent stretch of weather lies ahead tonight and this weekend. You see it on the radar. And the wildlife threat while fire threat remains very real down south. 120 homes now destroyed in South Georgia. We begin tonight with Ryan Chandler in the wake of the destruction in Oklahoma. A dangerous tornado outbreak spanning at least three states overnight. Dude, look at this. At least 18 twisters reported in Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma. There are homes completely gone. Oh my gosh. Look at him dancing. Stormchasers capturing this double twister before the smaller one gets swallowed up. And look at this video from a plane showing all this lightning.

Vance Air Force Base also in the tornado's path near the city of Enid. This neighborhood took a direct hit. Nearly every home is unrecognizable. You can really get a sense for the sheer power of this storm. Cars mangled and thrown as neighbors come here together tonight grateful that despite the severity of the damage, everybody is okay. We were able to salvage a lot of stuff. Mattie Boyd was home when the tornado rolled through. This is the living room. Yeah. This is our living room over here. As you can see, couches, chairs, our TV used to be up there. It's gone. Our roof is completely caved in.

She says her family wrote out the tornado in a cement room beneath her home. And it's a miracle they're all alive. The only thing I ever know how to do in situations like that is pray. And I was just yelling, asking, "Hey, if you take everything, just let us keep our family. Let us keep our neighbors. Just keep everyone safe, please. In the south, fire danger still very real. Crews fighting flames from the air and on the ground in Georgia. More than 120 homes destroyed in that state. Nearly 1,000 more in harm's way. Just seeing that I have nothing. It's I don't know. It just crushed me.

Back in Oklahoma, people still can't believe the scope of this damage. I've seen tornadoes before, but I've never seen anything come through Enid like this. And with that, Ryan joins us now live from Enid. And Ryan, we see that destruction all around you. I know you and your team drove overnight to get to the storm zone. How dangerous was this twister? What were you seeing? Well, Tom, the National Weather Service is surveying all of the damage like this, and they say they now see indications of an EF4, which means this tornado could have brought wind speeds up to 200 mph. And Tom, we're not through the risk yet. There are new

tornado warnings and thunderstorm warnings through Oklahoma tonight. Tom, Ryan Chandler for us. Such destruction already and there are now intense storms hitting Indianapolis. This is new video just into the newsroom. You can see the wind and the rain at this hour. I want to bring in Bill Karens. Bill, you're tracking a lot there on the map behind you. Yeah, multi-day severe weather outbreak. It's going to continue right through the weekend and even into the beginning of next week. We have a tornado watch that includes portions of Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas. And we just had a tornado

reported in areas of Oklahoma. So this goes till nine o'clock this evening. As we zoom a little bit closer in Ka, this is where the tornado was just reported. This will be heading towards Clayton, Oklahoma about the next half hour or so. And we could see isolated other areas with new storms developing as we go through this evening. Then over the weekend, we're going to see the severe weather risk shifting northwards tomorrow. Oklahoma City into back areas of Kansas. And then on Sunday, possibility of more severe weather, the same areas but further to the north. And then Monday could be the worst day of them all. Okay, we'll keep an eye on

that, Bill. Thank you. Overseas now to Iran's abrupt move to return to talks, it seems, in Pakistan. President Trump saying Iran is making a new offer. Kier Simmons is there tonight with the late details. Tonight, Iran's new move amid tight security here in Pakistan. The Iranian foreign minister arriving to restart talks. President Trump's envoy Steve Wickoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner also traveling here soon. The White House says, "Look, the Iranians uh reached out as the president called on them to do uh and asked for this in-person conversation." In an interview tonight, President Trump says the Iranian regime is making an offer and we'll have to see. While Iran

says the foreign minister will speak to Pakistani officials and no meeting is scheduled with the US. The abrupt shift by Iran to return to Pakistan comes as the Iranian regime is facing growing economic pressure from the US blockade of Iran's ports. Iran losing an estimated $435 million in oil revenue per day. According to the Trump administration, Iran will never get a nuclear bomb. The choice is theirs, but with this blockade, the clock is not on their side. 34 ships have been turned around by US forces, SenCom says, and posting for the first time in decades, three aircraft carriers are operating in the Middle East at the same time.

President Trump saying without the ability to sell its oil, Iran will soon run out of space to store it. You know who's under time pressure? They are. Because if they don't get their oil moving, their whole oil infrastructure is going to explode. Back here in Islamabad, the Iranians have arrived without the man who was their lead negotiator. While Vice President Vance is on standby to come, only if there's progress. If there are face-to-face talks, they will be tentative at best. Tom, we'll know in the days ahead. All right, K, we thank you. Now, back here at home to the big U-turn by the Justice Department announcing it's dropping its criminal probe of outgoing Fed chair Jerome Powell. An investigation

President Trump said just days ago should not be closed. Here's Ryan Nobles with the new developments. Tonight, a major victory for outgoing Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The Justice Department ending its criminal probe of the chairman following growing pressure from a top Republican senator. I have directed my office to close our investigation. US Attorney Janine Piro posting all just days after President Trump insisted the investigation could continue. You're not going to drop the probe. Oh, I'm not pl I have to find out. But the president had run into a roadblock when he nominated a new Fed chair, Kevin Worsh, to replace Powell, whose term ends May 15th. Republican Senator Tom Tillis vowed to block Worsh's nomination until the DOJ

investigation of Powell was dropped. Let's get WSH in there. Let's get Chair Powell comfortable with actually exiting at some point, not to 2028, and do that by eliminating a bogus investigation that started this whole drama. Tonight, Tillis yet to respond to the Justice Department's decision. Powell has faced withering criticism from President Trump for months for not lowering interest rates. He's been wrong. That's why I call him too late. He's too late. And the Justice Department opened an investigation into Powell's role in massive cost overruns at the Fed's renovation of two Fed buildings. At one point, the president

and Powell touring the site. Well, I'd love him to lower interest rates. Other than that, what can I tell you? But a federal judge recently dealt a blow to the DOJ probe, ruling there was essentially zero evidence of criminal wrongdoing by Powell. Tonight, Piro saying the Fed's inspector general will scrutinize the building costs overruns. All right, Ryan Nobles joins us live in studio. And Ryan, another headline we're tracking from the Justice Department. They're bringing back firing squads for federal executions. Yeah, that's right, Tom. The Biden administration had placed a moratorum on federal executions, but the Trump administration is lifting that ban and planning to reintroduce other forms of

execution beyond lethal injections like firing squads. Tom, they say it's to streamline the process and speed up those executions. All right, Ryan Nobles, good to have you here in New York. By the way, a day after the Justice Department said it would ease restrictions on medical marijuana, the FDA moved to fasttrack three experimental psychedelic drugs. Here's Annne Thompson on the major change. Lauren Meyers is one of more than a million veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. flying C130s in and out of Iraq for the Air Force. She developed alcohol, anger, and sleep issues until

she went to Mexico for psilocybin assisted therapy, a psychedelic. It felt like a physical lifting of the weight that I had been carrying around. Um, I also didn't really um I feel a craving for alcohol anymore. The anger was replaced by calm. Now, the FDA is fasttracking three psychedelic drugs for PTSD, major depressive disorder, and treatment resistant depression. FDA Commissioner Marty McCary, "We'd like to see this entire class of medications move forward in a scientifically rigorous way, but we want to cut the idle time.

Does this mean you're skipping steps?" Absolutely no steps are skipped. A matter of fact, we make sure that there are no corners cut on the safety or effectiveness evaluation. And if a scientist believes that they need more time, they have the right to take more time. With podcaster and psychedelic advocate Joe Rogan behind him, President Trump ordered the expedited review. In many cases, these experimental treatments have shown life-changing potential. That is the hope. Neuroscientist Frederick Barrett welcomes the move. If science isn't sacrificed for speed, if these drugs are approved, do the questions end?

Well, we still have a lot to learn about who may benefit most from these compounds as well as uh how best to train people to deliver these compounds. And joins us now in studio. And there's going to be an interesting protocol for these drugs. Do we know how soon they're going to be approved, Tom? if they are found to be safe and effective. Commissioner McCary says approval could come later this year. And he says you won't just be able to go to the pharmacy and pick up these drugs and take them at home. These drugs would have to be administer administered in a clinical setting and under medical supervision. Tom.

All right. And we thank you for that. We're back in 60 seconds with the latest on two college students in Florida who have been missing for days. The arrest just made and the heartbreaking discovery announced by police. Now to the urgent search for two grad students who vanished in Tampa today. Police announcing they've discovered one student's body and arrested his roommate. That moment caught on camera. And our Jesse Kersh has the video. This is the moment police say Hisham Abu Garbia surrendered. The 26-year-old wearing a towel, his hands in the air as he approaches heavily armed officers.

Right now, we don't have any inclination to think that he was working with anybody else. Investigators say they arrested the suspect roughly 15 miles from this bridge where his roommate's body was discovered this morning. That roommate, Jamil Leone, had been missing more than a week along with his friend Naha Bristie, who is still nowhere to be found. Dive team searching for her. And I implore the community, if you have any tips of where you've seen her or she's just recently seen, please report it. Investigators say the 27year-olds were both Bangladeshi doctoral students at the University of South Florida.

My whole family is devastated. Before today's developments, Briy's brother telling me she spoke with her parents the day she disappeared. Her belongings were in the um university lab like her laptop, iPad, and lunchbox and all that. only the purse and the uh phone was missing from there. Police say they had spoken with the suspect as recently as yesterday, but did not arrest him until they got an unrelated domestic violence call today.

The suspect now facing multiple charges, including unlawfully holding or move a dead human body in unapproved conditions. And tonight, police are pleading for help to find Bristie. If your sister could hear from you right now, what would you want her to know? Just be safe and contact us. We just want you to come back safe and sound. Jesse Kersh, NBC News. And we're back in a moment with the big news about Camp Mystic. Will it be able to reopen next summer after the tragedy there? That's next. Welcome back. Big news just in from Texas. The state department of health says Camp Mystic, where 25 campers and two counselors died in floods last year, must make major changes in order to reopen. Changes include issues like

emergency and parent notification and plans to quote meet full compliance. The camp, which is looking to reopen this summer, has 45 days to make corrections and resubmit those plans. And when we come back, our series, Great Americans. Up next, my conversation with the tennis legend who broke barriers on and off the court, Billy Jean King. Welcome back. She's a great American on and off the court. Billy Jean King, the 39time Grand Slam winner and pioneer in women's sports, reflecting on her quest for inclusivity and lasting equality and sharing with me her wish for her country on this 250th anniversary.

What do you love about America? What do I love? Something about us is the land of opportunity. For American legend Billy Jean King, that opportunity had to be fought for. Growing up, tennis wasn't even on her radar. So, I'm going to do something. So, I'm starting with a different type of ball. Go ahead. So, so Billy Jean, the reason why I toss that ball to you, cuz I want you to take me back. I'm 5 years older than my brother, so that I think that helps people to understand. But he and I did everything together. We played American football.

We played baseball. King grew up in a middle-class family, a self-described public park kid from Long Beach, California. I was about nine years old, and my heart sank because I realized for the first time because of my gender, because I'm a girl, I'll never be able to play baseball. In fifth grade, a friend took her to a country club and introduced her to tennis. My dad's a firefighter and my mom's a homemaker. I'm going, "No way we can afford to play tennis." But she loved it so much she saved up.

$8.29 in a mason jar up in the cupboard. And I go, "Mommy, daddy, I've got to get a racket now." I slept with that racket. I loved it. I take care of it. And then the man tennis was an exclusive white maledominated sport at the time. I promised myself if I could ever be number one in the world, which I already wanted to be. Yeah. That I hopefully can make this world a better place. Mrs. Billy Jean King of America, the new queen of tennis. King winning 39 Grand Slam titles, 20 at Wimbledon, and claiming a host of firsts, forming the Women's Tennis Association and fighting to get equal pay for women at the US Open.

Whatever will help the future, that's what I'll do. But she often was ridiculed. We're here. We are the best players in the world. We're called amateurs. I said, "This has got to go." Were people telling you, "Hey, hey, Billy Jean, just hit the ball. We don't want to hear all this. Be quiet. You're a girl. Be quiet. Don't rock the boat. Just be happy that you have this opportunity." Of course, I'm thinking it's not the road I'm going to take. She rocked the boat in 1973. I like the idea that I'm playing for someone else besides myself. Accepting a challenge against Bobby Riggs to a three- set match dubbed Battle of the Sexes. 90 million people would tune in as 29-year-old King beat

55-year-old Rigs in straight sets. How she approached her matches became her approach to life. One ball at a time. Staying in the process. But why is life like that? If you don't stay in the present or the now, doesn't work. Pressure King has often said, is a privilege. That mantra becoming symbolic of her work on and off the court from equality to gay rights. When you see the American flag, what do you think? Oh my god. I think about my parents. My dad would always cry. He was in the Navy. My mother would cry. Why? I don't know. It's us. It's It's the home of the, you know, brave. What do you think that little girl would have said if you would have told her,

"You can't even play baseball, but you're going to grow up and you're going to be a part owner of the Los Angeles." I would not have believed you. King's wish today to build upon a more inclusive America. Every time I talk to somebody that's just gotten here, I go, "Why'd you come here?" Every time it's just about the same answer. I wanted to make a better life for my family. So something about us is the land of opportunity and I want us to keep it that way. Billy Jean King, our great American this week. And if you know a great American in your life, we invite you to share with us by going online to nbcnews.com/greatameans.

That's nightly news for this Friday. I'm Tom Yamos. Thanks so much for watching tonight and always. We're here for you. Good night. We thank you for watching and remember, stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or watch live on our YouTube channel.