>> football. sorry. >> it's going to get louder too. up next lester holt live from baltimore. thanks for joining us. good night, folks. on this tuesday night, the state of emergency here in baltimore. a city on edge. the national guard out in force after an eruption of violence. rioters setting fires, ransacking stores, clashing with police, and that moment so many people here are talking about. the woman who took matters into her own hands. tonight this city desperately trying to keep the lid on. also the frantic search for survivors in nepal as the death toll now tops a staggering 5,000 amid fears it could double. tonight a miraculous rescue three days since disaster struck. and the cliff-hanger at the supreme court. how will the justices rule on same-sex marriage? tonight, clues from inside the court. "nightly news" begins right now.

this is "nbc nightly news." reporting tonight from baltimore, lester holt. a special fwenk to our viewers in the west. a tense and fragile baltimore as we come to you standing across from some of the still-smoldering rubble from a fire that may be related to the violence yesterday. it's still under investigation. but right now our eyes are once again locked several blocks away in west baltimore. crowds have been growing in the street throughout the afternoon against the backdrop of a large police and national guard presence. as you can imagine, after last night, tensions are very high. our team is fanned out across this city. we want to go right to nbc's peter alexander to begin our coverage. peter? >> reporter: lester, good evening to you. as night falls, a different feeling, just a few short hours

dancing in the streets and people were hearing the music of a marching band and also chatting with police who have been arriving here over the course of the day now in baltimore in force. tonight baltimore is a city under lockdown. state and local police teamed up with 100,000 members members of the national guard trying to keep an easy calm, trying to avoid a repeat of last night's rioting. >> i think this can be our defining moment and not the darkest days that we saw yesterday. >> reporter: the explosion of violence followed the fine raffle 25-year-old freddie gray who died while in police custody. young people, many of them teens, gathered on baltimore's west side before throwing rocks and bottles at police and looting a cvs pharmacy and setting it ablaze. angry mobs moved store to stove seizing property and looting and attack officers. later this nearly

completed senior center turned into an inferno. >> stop the violence, please. >> reporter: the levy family helplessly watched their store's surveillance cameras from home as looters gutted the store they owned for 5 years. >> coming in and cleaning us out totally. >> reporter: this mess is all that's left. they want to rebuild but where do you begin? >> it's just sad. my heart is breaking. my heart is breaking for baltimore and for all the store owners, and it's breaking for us. >> reporter: this mother of three had worked here for five years and she's now out of a job. >> i walk in and to see this tore apart. it just like ripped me to shreds. >> reporter: this morning with city schools closed leaving 85,000 kids without class, some took to the streets to help clean up. >> i didn't want all of this to look a mess, and i want this to look like it never burnt down and i want them to rebuild this place just the way it was. >> reporter: others returned to last night's hot spots

where they faced off with police once again. no injuries reported, but limited arrests. the curfew here begins at 10:00 p.m. and tomorrow the baltimore orioles return to the need at nearby camden yards after postponing yesterday and today's game but in a game that's closed to the public. means no fans in the stands and major league baseball says that's never happened before. >> all right, peter alexander, thanks very much. in peter's story we saw that rather large fire that burned through the night. it was here. this was a senior community center being built by a church. it was under construction. it went up and as you're watching coverage last night you saw it burning. atf investigators were here. still not clear if it was linked to the riots, but they are taking a look. now, community leaders looking at damage today wondering where did all this come from? what started this? what turned the tide in this city? was it all about freddie gray or something more in the consensus of those i spoke to today is that it is something more, that this traces its

roots back decades. his cell phone camera rolling as unruly crowd surges towards a check cashing store and then begins ransacking the place. andre jolly witnessed what he and many others who live in this neighborhood have seen coming for decades. >> it didn't make sense, but at the same time freddie gray didn't make sense, and until somebody makes sense of the real problem, and that's the safety of the youth, they are going to act out, our youth will act out. >> reporter: and little can explain yesterday's violence but there is plenty that may inform it. it's a neighborhood where more than 50% of residents are not employed, a third of its residential housy empty or abandoned, where in one four-year period a quarter of kids ages 10 to 17 had been arrested a place where residents are twice as likely to die from homicide than other baltimore residents, and now

adding to the misery of those growing up here this. are you afraid for what's going to happen here? >> yes. >> reporter: what are you most afraid of? >> i'm most afraid of everything the kids might break through and we might not have like a community to live in because they are messing it up. >> reporter: quasi mfume, former congressman and knapp knapp president, is from baltimore. people look at what happened here tonight and they say what on earth does it have to do with freddie gray? >> nothing. violence, looting, burning has absolutely nothing to do with the cry for justice, the investigation or to find out what caused his death. >> reporter: but something tapped this, something is simmering here? >> for 40 or 50 year, real since 1968. >> reporter: african-american men are vanishing from daily life in places like west baltimore because of premature deaths and soaring incarceration rates. andre jolly is himself a convicted felon and

recovering substance abuser. >> i have an 8-year-old son and i have a 7-year-old son, and what i'm trying to do right now is be in their lives, be a father, and i think that's a big part of the problem. a lot of the fathers here are even incarcerated or dead. >> reporter: but west baltimore has not given up. father and ex-marine brandon gibson brought his children out today to join others in cleaning up debris in the neighborhood his family came from. >> we can cry and we can have sorrow about all the bad things that are happening and all the things that are going wrong such as the tensions world trade center police and the things in the neighborhood, but, you know, at the end of the day, you're going to have to take action and you're going have to do something positive to make that positive change. >> a lot of older people here old enough to remember the riots of '68 have been trying to reach out to young people throughout the day reminding them that violence in their own neighborhood only continues to set them back. president obama today during a news conference with

japanese's prime minister made his first public comments about the violence in baltimore declaring that there is no excuse for the rioting after he was questioned by our senior white house correspondent chris jansing. >> are we in the throes of a national crisis? what are you prepared to do about it both in terms of baltimore and the larger picture, and what do you say to critics who say that since the death of trayvon martin you have not been aggressive enough in your response? >> when individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they are not protesting. they are not making a statement, they are stealing. what i would say is there's been a slow-rolling crisis. this has been going on for a long time. this is not new. i think there are police departments that have to do some soul searching. i think's some communities that have to do some soul searching, but i think

we as a country have to do some soul searching and that we don't just pay attention to these communities when a cvs burns and we don't just pay attention when a young man gets shot or has his spine snapped. >> the president's first comments today about the violence in baltimore. he spent more than 14 minutes answering chris' question. our nbc news political director and moderator of "meet the press" chuck todd is with us tonight. the president talked about soul searching. do our leaders, will our leaders have to do some soul searching in the wake what have we've seen here? >> maybe. you know, it's been interesting with the president. he's always kept a physical distance from the cities that have had the racial tensions, not rhetorical tensions. never did walk the streets of ferguson never went down to sanford, florida or north charleston. you wonder if there's a decision to use the bully pulpit of his presidency to walk the streets here in baltimore and bring the attention that he says need to be here now. >> what about local

leadership? >> locally you have the mayor. this is a tough crisis, got off on the wrong phrase when she used the phrase give the space to destroy over the weekend. she's tried to walk that back but you can be defined as a mayor, you know this from your time in chicago, you can sometimes be defined by one event, one phrase that makes it almost impossible for you to do the job of doing what you need to do here which is get this community back together and get working together. i think she's on her heels a little bit. she's got a real challenge ahead. >> all right, chuck todd, thank you very much? you got it. amid all the images we've seen of crowds run amuck here in baltimore, there is one moment for many watching this unfold. it was when a young man encountered an authority figure that doesn't lay a badge but can really lay down the law. our rehema ellis has that part of the story. >> reporter: police say this is one mother's furry unlishd on her son. spotted in the middle of a protest, she forces him back tries to rip off his mask while screaming at

him. >> get over here now! >> reporter: baltimore's police chief commended her. >> if you saw on one scene, you had one mother who grabbed their child who had a hood on his head and started smacking him on the head because she was embarrassed. i wish i had more parents that took charge of the kids out there tonight >> reporter: video has gone viral, and on the streets of baltimore today many are calling her a hero. do you think she was right or was she wrong? >> i think she was right. >> reporter: if your son were old enough to be out in the street rioting and you saw him, what would you do? >> the same thing that mother did. go find my son and take him home because his life could have been saved. >> my mother probably would have did the same thing. >> wow. >> reporter: others disagree? >> i mean, you know, they said go and get the children, but, i mean, they didn't say go and cuss them out and beat them up. >> reporter: tonight in a community torn apart, neighbors hold on to each other, praying for answers and a peaceful night. rehema ellis nbc news baltimore.

we want to turn now to another major story we're following tonight, the desperate search for survivors and the devastating earthquake in nepal which has now claimed more than 5,000 lives. every minute that passes diminishes the chance of finding people alive in the rubble, but rescuers are not ready to give up, not yet. nbc's miguel almaguer has the story from nepal. >> reporter: a new look at the devastating quake. these pictures taken saturday in tibet. but neighboring nepal remained hardest hit. finding survivors here has become a race against time. late tonight this 28-year-old pulled alive from the rubble more than 80 hours after the quake. but the desperate search doesn't always have a happy ending. scenes like this have been happening all day long. another body recovered from the rubble now rushed to the hospital. moments later,

volunteers are back at work. why are you here? >> to help. >> reporter: 62-year-old canadian ross trent has been digging 12 hours a day since the quake struck. >> i was visiting a monastery and here i am. in one crazy way i'm probably in a better place now doing something. >> reporter: just across the street people looking for missing relatives watch and wait. in some areas of kathmandu they've given up hope. beneath this rubble a few days ago they could hear cries for help, even tapping, but now they've gone. for survivors today more hardship. rain and wind hammered tent cities. disease could easily spread here. but hospitals are out of room. no empty beds, only the promise of more patients to come. in remote villages, helicopters search and find more destruction. on mt. everest, climbers trapped by the avalanche have been airlifted out. the climbing season is over.

this rescue team from virginia arriving in kathmandu today to join the search for survivors. this is why they've come. a come rescued pinned underneath concrete for two days. there's still hope here, but less of it with each passing day. miguel almaguer, nbc news, kathmandu, nepal. we know many of you want to know how to help the victims in nepal and where you can donate. we've put all that information on our website. a lot more of the day's news still ahead, including a big announcement from the nfl. also same-sex marriage returns to the supreme court. it's a cliff-hanger case that could make it legal in all 50 states. tonight what we're learning about how the justices might rule.

tonight the arguments are over in the case that could bring same-sex marriage to all 50 states is now in the hands of the nine justices on the u.s. supreme court. our justice correspondent pete williams was in the courtroom today. pete, set the scene >> reporter: lester, good evening. the court is on the verge of a watershed ruling, but it isn't obvious how it will rule. there were signs today that the justices who has written the court's three pro-gay rules in the past may be about to do it again. outside the court boisterous crowds on both sides of the issue, one that's deeply personal to people like thomas

kostura. he decided to get married four years ago in new york to army sergeant ijpe dekoe. about to deploy to afghanistan. when the army ordered them to move, tennessee refused to consider them married. >> being in the military, you can't really say i don't want to go there. >> when two people love each other, they make commitments to each other, and those commitments should be respected and should travel from state to state. >> reporter: 36 states now permit gay couples to marry, but states that impose bans say it should be up to the people, not the courts. and the supreme court's conservatives seemed to agree. >> the issue, of course, is not whether there should be same-sex marriage but who should decide the point. >> people feel very differently about something if they have a chance to vote on it than if it's imposed on them by the courts. >> reporter: and states that ban gay marriage say keeping the traditional definition encourages opposite-sex couples to get married and have children, but the court's liberals didn't think much of that. >> you're not taking

away anything from heterosexual couples. they would have the very same incentive to marry, all the benefits that come with marriage that they do now. >> it's hard to see how permitting same-sex marriage discourages people from being bonded with their biological children. >> reporter: the court seemed split 4-4 with justice anthony kennedy likely the deciding vote. though he said the traditional definition has been around for millennia, he also said allowing gay couples to marry gives them respect. >> same-sex couples say, of course, we understand the nobility and the sacredness of the marriage. we know we can't procreate, but we want the other attributes of it in order to show that we, too, have a dignity that can be fulfilled. >> reporter: the argument was briefly interrupted by the shouts of an opponent of same-sex marriage as court police rushed in to hustle him out. justice kennedy came back to that dignity point a couple of

times, suggesting there's a bare 5-4 majority in favor of same-sex marriage. but we won't know until the court's decision comes out in late june. lester? >> pete williams tonight, thanks. we're back in a movement with a terrifying incident that forced a plane to attempt an emergency landing late today.

scary moments late today on the runway in philadelphia where a united airlines turboprop plane with 75 people on board made an emergency landing because of a fire in one of the engines. the plane was immediately doused in foam. the passengers rushed out on to the grass next to the runway. one passenger was taken to the hospital with chest pains. today marked the first day of testimony in the colorado movie theater massacre. the first witnesses were survivors of the 2012 shooting, including a woman who was nine months pregnant at the time and her husband who suffered a severe brain injury and is now in a wheelchair.

12 people were killed that night, 70 others injured. attorneys for the defendant, james holmes, claim he is not guilty by reason of insanity. in a major shift, the nfl has announced its league office will start paying taxes. to be clear, the nfl's 32 teams already pay taxes, but the central office has been exempt since 1942. commissioner roger goodell says that has created a distraction which the league is now doing away with, but this move also means that the nfl no longer has to disclose how much money goodell and other top executives make. and final preps are under way for perhaps the most thrilling thing you'll see all year when daredevil nik wallenda attempts to walk along the rim of the 400-foot-tall orlando eye ferris wheel while it spins. he won't have a balancing pole, a safety line or net below to catch him. you can catch it live tomorrow on "today." we're back in a moment with more on our top stories. some final thoughts from here in baltimore.

♪

>> reporter: night has fallen here in baltimore and we continue to watch the west side of the city where crowds remain in the street. before we sign off, two final thoughts. two people stopped me on the street and pointedly asked me where was everybody before all this happened? coming here now, and asking all our questions about police and poverty and life here. it isn't lost on anyone here that places like west baltimore are sometimes invisible and not heard. the places people drive through but don't always see. there's a lot to try and understand here and much to learn, but the concern i also heard express is that this community can't be seen or heard through the fog and the din of violence. we'll have updates throughout the night on nbcnews.com and on your late local news and complete coverage tomorrow morning on "today." i'm lester holt reporting from baltimore. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night.

. we're in a drought. it's an emergency. and we have to act expeditiously. >> get ready to pay up. governor brown meeting with california's big city mayors in sacramento today. the goal imposing fines if you don't conserve enough water. good evening. thanks for being with us. i'm raj mathai. >> i'm jessica aguirre. a bold proposal from governor brown tonight. a $10,000 fine for californians identified as water wasters. the fines are one of the tactics he plans to use to get us

through these dry years. robert honda was at the state capitol today he's back in the bay area now. i'm almost afraid to ask what the details are. >> reporter: well, we're here at the santa clara water district where a board meeting focused on the drought is just about to start. the water district likes the governor's aggressive stance a lot and also encouraged that the mayor of san jose was at the capitol fighting for one of the district's biggest projects, one that is going to be discussed here tonight. today at the state capitol, governor brown said he wants to go after water wasters. he plans to support legislation that would give water agencies more enforcement power to levy fines, penalties up to $10,000. santa clara water valley district officials say they have already proposed that idea to the state water resource board. since the district inspect sers can only educate and inform right now. >> we-l>are going to be expanding our water waste inspector program increasing the number of inspectors so if