as well as quality of essays or artwork. names must be submitted by friday, april 22nd. and they are cute. nbc "nightly news" is next. we'll see you at 6:00. good night. killer storms. dozens are dead after more than 90 tornadoes rip through north carolina. >> scariest thing i've ever been through. i thought we were going to die. >> the worst devastation in decades. sudden impact. just why were these tornadoes so violent and so deadly? tonight, a veteran storm tracker gives us an inside look. more sleep. the new rules giving air traffic controllers extra time between shifts to keep them from dozing on the job after one more incident this weekend. and, the mission. 69 years after a legendary act of courage, the last survivors 69 years after a legendary act of courage, the last survivors reunite and remember.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news with lester holt." good evening. tonight one of the deadliest outbreaks of tornadoes in recent memory has carved a trail of destruction and anguish across a half dozen states. since thursday at least 44 people have been killed across the south and east. the most recent deaths occurred late yesterday in virginia and north carolina, which took an especially wicked blow. at least 22 people are confirmed dead there alone. there are reports of 94 tornadoes hitting the state. tonight north carolina remains under a state of emergency. we begin our coverage tonight in raleigh with nbc's kristen dahlgren. kristen, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. you can see the clean-up here really just getting started. searchers spent much of the day in many places making sure that nobody else is trapped under the debris after what has been a massive and deadly three-day tornado outbreak. >> right there.

right there. right there, right there, tornado, right there on the ground! on the ground! >> reporter: home video captured the sheer fury of the twister. it's the up-close look that residents like sanford long will never forget. >> it hit all of a sudden. when it hit, it was woom! >> reporter: within minutes his neighbors' houses were gone. their frames snapped and shifted off their foundations. next door joe styles and his family rode it out on the second floor. >> i came and jumped on her. we heard the loud bang and doors and glass and everything flying around. >> reporter: returning today, he could only stare. wondering how they survived and how to put it all back together. >> it's one of those things, like, where do you start? >> reporter: it's a question being asked across the south after the massive storm brought death and destruction for three days. starting in oklahoma on thursday, tornadoes barreled through arkansas, mississippi, alabama, the carolinas and virginia. leaving more than 40 dead, dozens homeless, and almost all in awe of what is one of the

worst spring storms in decades. in north carolina yesterday, 94 tornadoes were reported. the governor toured the hardest-hit areas and has already declared a state of emergency. >> i'm not shocked at all. but i was truly -- i was truly sad. >> reporter: 11 people died in bertie county alone. while in raleigh, three children died in a mobile home park. >> they're loving kids. they're beautiful kids. and the world is a sadder place today. >> reporter: in all of the despair, stories of survival. a lowe's home improvement store in sanford, north carolina, peeled apart just after a manager pushed customers to safety in the rear of the store. in gloucester county, virginia, 14-year-old rashad matthews made his own harrowing escape. >> it was about right over there near the drain. i was, like, right there. my sister was right next to me. >> reporter: while at this church in south carolina, all six people inside walked out from beneath the debris.

back in raleigh, it was a wedding album that survived. >> we found it. >> reporter: giving hope to a couple who lost just about everything else. >> we got it, baby. we got it. we got it. >> reporter: now tonight, tens of thousands do remain without power. the red cross has shelters open for those who still can't go home. but, lester, neighbors here tell me they have every intention of rebuilding. >> kristen dahlgren, thanks. with another view from the ground tonight, we want to go to the weather channel's mike bettes. he's also in raleigh for us. mike, good evening to you. >> reporter: lester, good evening to you. we can look around. damage is everywhere the eye can see. where i'm standing, it's considered to be the lowest, safest place in this home. as you can see when the tornado came through, it absolutely destroyed it. thankfully the homeowners weren't here at the time. they were actually at a soccer match. the tornado actually beat them home before they could get here. front room and office, a complete disaster. the home was actually knocked

off its foundation, two stories, and thrown into the backyard. this is the front porch. when the insurance adjustor gets here, likely to call this a complete loss. now, governor beth perdue has toured tornado damage today. she'll do the same tomorrow. that one severe weather day where we had dozens of tornadoes across the tar heel state, lester, will now likely go down in history as the most prolific tornado maker the state has ever seen. >> mike bettes, thanks. typically we see an average of 163 tornadoes for the entire month of april. experts say this outbreak produced some 230 reported tornadoes over just three days. some of the biggest were caught on camera at the very moment of impact. tonight, veteran storm tracker jim cantori of the weather channel tells us what was behind these potent super cells. >> if one tornado isn't bad enough, how about two of them or three of them rotating around each other? >> oh, my god. >> yeah! >> that's what we have going on here. this is tushka, oklahoma.

this is a multi vortex tornado. you have the parent cone or super cell and what you wind up with are two violently rotating tornadoes, sometimes three or four, rotating around each other. this just makes a disaster wherever it happens. i don't think i've ever seen an outbreak of tornadoes where more multi vortex tornadoes have been actually captured on film. this is jackson, mississippi, on day two. of this outbreak. you can see a violently rotating tornado here. debris coming up inside. damage would be an understatement. the kind of tornado that you see rotating there probably has winds of 150 to 200 miles an hour. it could pick up a car. that's the kind of strength we have here with this tornado. it could easily pick up a car and throw it for 100 yards, 200 yards, who knows. >> not good, guys. >> reporter: power flashes going off. those are transformers blowing almost continuously. i think what surprises me the most is the number of automobiles still out there on the road. but as that storm worked its way, again, across this overpass, cars just driving, almost completely oblivious to what is probably a tornado that

has winds with it of 150 miles an hour or greater. >> there goes the roof of a house. >> this is wilson, north carolina. and you can see this is probably a little bit closer than you want to be. that's a walgreens right there. look at that. boom. just exploding as that tornado moves right over the top of it. fiberglass, 2x4s, everything. i think what stands out to me the most was the tornado that i saw move there raleigh, north carolina, yesterday, you could have seen that storm move through kansas. that's the way it looked structurally from a radar perspective. >> the weather channel's jim cantori. jim points out these tornadoes can move at ground speeds up to 50 miles an hour. we're talking about their forward momentum. that makes them awfully hard to outrun. now to safety in the skies and the faa's hope that an extra hour between shifts might keep air traffic controllers awake on the job. the move comes after yet another controller was caught nodding off this weekend. here's nbc's michelle franzen.

>> reporter: changes overhead. the federal aviation administration outlined new rules following a half dozen cases of air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job. the biggest change, controllers now get nine hours of rest instead of eight between shifts. transportation secretary ray lahood rejected suggestions controllers be allowed to nap on the job to combat fatigue. >> we want to make sure they're well rested. we want to make sure in the workplace that there's the ability for them to do their job. but we're not going to be paying controllers to be napping. >> reporter: the new rules require a minimum of nine hours off between scheduled or swapped shifts, prohibit controllers from switching to unscheduled midnight shifts after a day off and require more managers on duty to cover early and late night hours. veteran controllers who have long been battling fatigue, stress and other pressures in the tower welcome the changes, but also say they don't go far enough. >> a starting point was made today with the extra hour

between shifts. it's not the answer by any means, the end all answer. but it's a great first step. >> reporter: in the past few months there have been at least six cases of controllers dozing off while on duty. from washington reagan national to reno. where a medevac pilot was forced to land last week when repeated attempts to reach the controller on duty went unanswered. the latest incident was just yesterday. at the miami air route traffic control center. since then, the faa has made changes, ordering more than one controller be on duty at all times nationwide. now with these new work rules administrators are hoping to send a message to controllers and the public that falling asleep on the job won't fly. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. >> if you're planning on moving on the ground, the price of filling up your gas tank went up again overnight. the 25th straight day of increases at the pump. the national average for a

gallon of regular gas now $3.83. the $4 level has now been reached in six states and the district of columbia. gasoline costs the most in hawaii where a gallon of regular averages $4.48 a gallon. this week will mark one year since the deepwater horizon disaster in the gulf of mexico. one of the worst oil spills in u.s. history. oil gushed unchecked for months before the well was finally capped. nbc's chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson was a constant presence in the gulf in those days. she's back in new orleans tonight for an update. anne, a year later is the gulf clean? and what about the victims? have they been paid? >> reporter: lester, a year later you can still find oil in the gulf of mexico. primarily, it's in the form of tar balls. there have been reports of tar balls washing up in alabama, on louisiana's grand isle and louisiana chandelier island. i can tell you i was down in south pass where the mississippi river meets the gulf of mexico,

and on a sandbar there i just dug under the surface and we could see oil come up. so, yes, it is still here. as to the claims, ken feinberg, who is the claim czar, i think that he is probably the most disliked man along the gulf coast these days, because people seem to have taken their anger at bp and focused it on him. he came in. when he took over this process, he said he was going to be quick and generous. but you talk to people down here, and they say he has been slow and stingy. feinberg says in the first nine months that he's been doing this, he has paid almost $4 billion to 300,000 people. but you talk to the fishermen, and they will tell you that when it comes to the issue of final payments, that they think that feinberg is asking for paperwork that they don't have and that he is underestimating how much they have lost. plus, in order to get a final payment, they would have to give up their right to sue bp. and they say with the environmental toll of this disaster still unknown, they're

reluctant to do that. lester? >> anne, where do things stand in terms of bp's plans to drill there again? >> reporter: bp wants to continue drilling in deep water here in the gulf of mexico. bp is the largest leaseholder here in the gulf of mexico, and it's a very important part of bp's business. and, in fact, bp has filed one application for deep water drilling under the new rules established by the department of interior. that include, among other things, that oil companies drilling in deep water must have real plans to stop a blowout like we saw with the macondo well. and those blowout preventers which are supposed to be the emergency brakes, they have to be inspected by an independent third party. because you'll remember that the batteries on the blowout preventer over the mocondo well were dead, and that was one of the problems, one of the many problems during the oil spill. lester? >> those tar balls you

mentioned notwithstanding, are things in general getting back to normal in terms of people's livelihoods and their day-to-day activities? >> reporter: if you talk to the fishermen, anybody involved in the seafood industry down here, lester, they would tell you it's anything but normal. while they are catching shrimp and crab, actually the shrimping season starts tomorrow, and they can sell it to the city of new orleans and communities along the gulf coast, the national market has evaporated. and that's causing economic hardship. lester? >> anne thompson in new orleans for us tonight. anne, thanks. brian williams will report live from the gulf tomorrow. it'll be a special edition of "nightly news" one year after the disaster in the gulf. when we continue here tonight, the war next door. a mother fights for justice after her daughter is murdered in mexico. up next, a courtroom stunner no one could believe. later, living history. the last survivors of a legendary mission together this weekend, 69 years later.

just across the border from el paso, texas, is a place with an ominous nickname. murder city. ciudad jaurez, mexico. where last year on average # 11 people were killed each day. only 3% of crimes there even go to trial. when one young victim disappeared, her mother vowed to bring the killer to justice. "dateline's" chris hansen has her story. >> reporter: rubi escobedo was just 16 years old when she was murdered in one of the most

dangerous cities in the world, ciudad jaurez. her mother, marisela, made it her mission to find the killer even without help from police. it turned out that rubi's boyfriend, sergio barraza, has already confessed. but with no physical evidence at the crime scene, police let him go. after six months of searching, marisela and her son, juan, found him living 600 miles away. >> he was in another city. >> reporter: marisela led the police right to his door. sergio was arrested and brought back to jaurez where he confessed again. >> at this point we -- we haven't found my sister's body. so when he got arrested, he took the police to the place where my sister's body was. >> reporter: sergio was charged with aggravated homicide. nearly two years after rubi had disappeared, sergio went on trial here at the state tribunal in jaurez.

the evidence that emerged in the trial seemed overwhelming. not only had sergio confessed, he had shown police the spot where they found rubi's remains. then as the trial drew to a close, there was this surprise. >> i know, marisela, it's a great damage that no one can really repair. like i said before, i know you don't forgive me, but i ask for forgiveness, marisela. >> when we heard this, we thought that he was going to be, you know -- >> reporter: found guilty. >> correct. >> reporter: in mexico, there are no jury trials. three judges handed down the verdict. and what those judges did horrified rubi's family. >> translator: the tribunal unanimously absolves sergio barraza montenegro. >> reporter: they acquitted sergio. for marisela it was too much to bear. >> no! no! no! >> i never felt so much frustration in my life.

i never saw my mom like that before. >> reporter: but marisela would put her grief to use and launched a public campaign to bring sergio to justice. even if it was the last thing she would ever do. in her quest, marisela would become a symbol for all mothers who lost daughters to the senseless violence of jaurez. chris hansen, nbc news, ciudad jaurez, mexico. >> coming up, the dramatic final chapter of this story as marisela fights for justice for her daughter's murder. that's on "dateline" tonight at 7:00/6:00 central here on nbc. coming up here on "nightly news," a plan to contain the damaged reactor in japan.

the utility that owns the damaged nuclear plant in japan today laid out its plan for stabilizing the reactor. tepco says it will take six to nine months to stop radiation leaks and make it safe enough

for people to move back into the area. today secretary of state hillary clinton meet with the japanese emperor. she's the highest ranking u.s. official to visit japan since the triple disaster hit the country last month. treasury secretary timothy geithner said today republicans have agreed to go along with raising the national debt ceiling. geithner spoke to david gregory on nbc's "meet the press." >> let me tell you how we're going to do this. congress is going to have to raise the debt limit. just think of it this way. if you allow people to start to doubt whether the united states of america will meet its obligations, that would be catastrophic. you can't take that risk. >> it's expected the debt ceiling will be raised next month unless congress takes action. by the way, if you haven't filed your taxes yet, you have a little extra time this year. instead of the usual deadline of april 15th, the government is giving you right up until the 18th to file. that's midnight tomorrow night. today is palm sunday. the beginning of holy week for the world's christians. tens of thousands gathered in st. peter's square in rome this morning. pope benedict led them in celebration of palm sunday mass,

recalling a triumphal entry of jesus into jerusalem. up next, the raiders who first struck back at japan, together again.

it was our colleague, tom brokaw, who called them the greatest generation.

and tom reminded us about this story tonight on the eve of the 69th anniversary of the doolittle raid. america's response to japan's attack on pearl harbor. the mission was left to a group of young airmen with a daring plan that had never been tried before. this weekend, the last survivors gathered to remember and share an incredible act of bravery. nbc's kevin tibbles reports. >> reporter: honoring a group of airmen who 69 years ago flew courageously into the face of danger. david thatcher, robert hite, edward saylor, thomas griffin, richard cole. the five surviving members of the famed doolittle raiders who in the aftermath of pearl harbor were given the daunting task of striking back. >> president roosevelt wanted to get back to the japanese. pe badgered his military people until somebody came up with a way to do it. >> reporter: back in 1942 the group numbered 80. serving under lieutenant colonel

jimmy doolittle. he devised a plan to launch 16 b-25 bombers from the deck of an aircraft carrier. never done before. >> i had faith in the airplane. it was a good airplane. >> reporter: but when the carrier hornet was spotted in the western pacific, the raiders were forced to leave early. once they dropped their bombs, they wouldn't have enough fuel to fly to safety. >> i didn't think we'd survive, myself. >> reporter: they flew for hours, hitting their targets and then crossing their fingers, headed for china where they ditched their planes. one made it to russia. and yet when the raid was over, doolittle feared that he had failed. that the loss of 16 aircraft surely meant that he would be court-martialed. some raiders were captured and imprisoned. >> i was captured. >> reporter: how long did you remain in captivity? >> 40 months. we were in solitary confinement. the rations were very, very limited. >> reporter: three were executed by the japanese. but the raid was a tremendous morale booster for america. >> but it was a psychological

strike. it was the greatest achievement of that raid. >> reporter: doolittle received the congressional medal of honor. his raiders were awarded silver goblets. each time a member is lost, his goblet is turned over. three more turned over this year. what are your feelings when you have to turn over another goblet? >> sadness. >> it's inevitable. our turn will come. >> reporter: how do you respond when people call you heroes? >> we did what we had to do. >> that word is not in my vocabulary. it was our job. >> reporter: a job that helped change the course of the war. kevin tibbles, nbc news, omaha, nebraska. that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. you can follow us on twitter and facebook. as always, we'd love to hear from you. brian williams will be here tomorrow reporting from the gulf. i'm lester holt in new york. for all of us here at nbc news, good night.