being protected under the water. lester holt joins us from new york next. tonight, tiktok on the hot seat before congress as momentum grows in washington to ban the popular app. tiktok's ceo grilled by lawmakers about national security concerns and its ties to china. what he says tiktok is doing to protect data on its 150 million american users, and the scathing questions from both sides of the aisle. also tonight, the 17-year-old suspect in a denver school shooting found dead. new details about his past trouble with the law. facing trial. the unprecedented ruling in michigan today for of an admitted school shooter. the cross-country storm on the move after rare tornadoes hit california. al roker is here with the latest. another mystery

delay in the new york grand jury probe into donald trump. also, mr. trump's feud with potential 2024 rival ron desantis is heating up. the colorado dentist accused of fatally poisoning his wife, formally charged with murder in court. midair scare. the captain on a southwest flight suffering a medical emergency, and the off-duty pilot who stepped in to help land the plane. our nbc news exclusive. on patrol with nato, guarding against the rising threat of russia at sea. and kids helping kids. the heartwarming idea inspired by our edition of "nightly news" just for children. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening and welcome on this thursday. is the clock ticking down for tiktok in america? the head of the wildly popular but also heavily criticized social media platform came to capitol hill today and walked right into a bipartisan

storm of suspicion and distrust about the app. its chinese owners and its potential national security risks on whether china's government has access to americans' user data, tiktok's ceo shou chew telling the committee, they have never asked us, adding, "i have seen no evidence of this happening." several members of the house and commerce committee were openly skeptical and appeared frustrated by his answers at today's hearing. the biden administration is pushing tiktok's parent company to sell the video sharing app or face a nationwide ban. nbc's savannah sellers was at that hearing today. >> we will protect the u.s. user data. >> reporter: tiktok's top executive under fire for over five hours today. >> tiktok poses as a mr. rogers' neighborhood. but it acts like big brother. >> reporter: the hugely popular app, known for short videos like this, in the spotlight today for this. >> what your relationship is with the communist party?

>> reporter: ceo shou chew answering questions about whether the app, owned by bytedance, a chinese company, is a national security threat given a chinese law that could allow the government to access user data. >> i have seen no evidence that the chinese government has access to that data. they have never asked us. we have never provided it. >> i find that actually preposterous. >> i have seen no evidence of this happening. >> reporter: tiktok has 150 million users in the u.s. and a billion worldwide, many of them teenagers. the white house has given the company an ultimatum. sell the company or face a ban in the u.s. as the justice department and fbi investigate whether bytedance illegally surveilled journalists. >> has bytedance spied on american citizens? >> i don't think that spying is the right way to describe it. >> reporter: another concern from both sides of the aisle, misinformation. >> the dangerous misinformation that you mention is not allowed on our platform.

it violates them. >> i'm sorry to report it is on your platform, though. >> congresswoman, i don't think i can sit here and say that we are perfect in doing this. we do work very hard. >> reporter: chew says tiktok's top priorities are protecting users' safety, especially for teenagers, securing u.s. data, and being a place for free expression. despite the company's reassurances, 43 states have already banned, restricted or are considering to ban tiktok on government devices. >> so much of the community i've created is on tiktok. that's what i've devoted my life to working and creating for. >> reporter: duncan joseph makes a living creating tiktok videos for his 4.5 million followers. do you think that the lawmakers who are asking the questions today understand tiktok? >> i think there are some people that definitely have never used the app, haven't even seen it working. and you can tell. because one lawmaker even called it tic tac. >> tic tac.

>> tick type. >> reporter: in the know or not, lawmakers believe the data concern is real. >> i want to say this to all the teenagers out there who think we're old and out of touch and don't know what we're talking about trying to take away your favorite app. you may not care that your data is being accessed now, but there will be one day when you do care about it. >> and savannah joining us now from washington. lawmakers also brought up concerns about content specific to young people, savannah. >> that's right, lester. another big theme of today's heags videos and trends teenagers could be exposed to, things like misinformation, violence, content about suicide. of course, those are issues facing all social media platforms, not exclusively tiktok. lester? >> savannah sellers starting us off tonight, thank you. new details emerging about the teenager who shot two administrators at his high school in denver. morgan chesky joins us. and, morgan, we know more about his criminal history. >> reporter: yeah, lester, we do. a law enforcement source confirming that this teenaged gunman was arrested two years ago on a felony firearms charge. and district

leadership just admitted that they were completely unaware. >> for us to incur deaths of students is not okay. >> reporter: tonight in denver, 24 hours after a student opened fire at east high school, troubling facts emerging. to what extent was the district aware that before this shooting took place, this student was already facing a firearms charge and had been placed on probation? >> the district was not aware. remember, we have over 200 schools. but east was. >> reporter: and yet he was still allowed to come to school? >> that is correct. >> reporter: authorities identified the gunman overnight as austin lyle, whose body was found by a s.w.a.t. team nearly 50 miles from where investigators say the 17-year-old opened fire on both jerald mason and eric sinclair, the two administrators wounded while performing a safety search on lyle outside the school.

that safety protocol required lyle to be patted down daily. but a law enforcement source confirmed lyle was arrested on a weapons charge in 2021. classmates at oberlin high school flagged lyle's social media to police, who upon visiting his home found a rifle with a high capacity magazine and a silencer inside his room. the charge was a felony but was dropped by the court, who placed lyle on probation instead. now for the second time in weeks, students demanded change at the state capitol. denver school board voting unanimously to bring back armed school resource officers through the end of this year. the district removed them in 2020 following the death of george floyd. >> this is our fourth incident of the year, and it feels like it should be the end, but it's not. >> reporter: morgan chesky, nbc news, denver. in michigan, an unprecedented ruling. the parents of a 15-year-old school shooter will stand trial on manslaughter charges. senior legal correspondent laura jarrett is here. laura, this is a groundbreaking ruling. >> lester, the court even acknowledged that today when they ruled that james and jennifer crumbley can be tried given the actions of their son,

a tragedy that could have been avoided had they not purchased a weapon for him. four students were killed when ethan crumbley opened fire. school officials found ethan searching for ammunition online. his mom later texting him, quote, you have to learn not to get caught. and when shown violent drawings of the day of the shooting, prosecutors say the couple resisted taking him home, not mentioning that they'd left the gun in an unlocked drawer. the crumbleys say these shootings were not foreseeable. they can appeal today's ruling. >> all right, laura. thank you for that. let's get to the severe weather system spawned a pair of rare tornadoes in a southern california. one of them ripping through just east of los angeles. that system is now moving east, with new threats for tens of millions. al roker is here. al, it could be a volatile night. >> lester, this system is causing big problems. you can always see we've got severe thunderstorm watches now up until 11:00, stretching from missouri all the way down into oklahoma, parts of texas.

tonight 10 million people at risk for severe weather, damaging winds. tornadoes can't be ruled out. tomorrow is where we're really concerned. 17 million people at risk. strong tornadoes, wind gusts of up to 75 miles per hour. and this hatched area from memphis down to alexandria, the risk for ef-2 or stronger tornadoes. and you can see a wide area of a flash flood risk on friday. rainfall rates 1 to 2 inches per hour. and, lester, we're looking at rainfall amounts of up to 5 inches in some spots by saturday. lester? >> okay, al. thank you. here in new york, it now appears the grand jury considering criminal charges against former president trump won't take any action until next week as the feud is now growing between mr. trump and a top republican rival. kristen welker with that story now. >> reporter: tonight, still no word from the new york grand jury considering a possible indictment of former president trump over the accounting of a hush money payment.

what mr. trump has blasted as partisan prosecution, today saying the democratic d.a. has no case, while also turning up the heat on his likely pending political battle against florida's republican governor ron desantis, writing "ron desanctimonious is the most overrated politician in america." mr. desantis is widely viewed as trump's top contender for the gop nomination. in a new interview taking his own shots at the former president, slamming him on covid restriction. >> he approached covid with different -- i would have fired somebody like fauci. >> reporter: and his leadership style. >> the way we run the government i think is no daily drama. >> reporter: tonight in florida, desantis doubling down on the parental rights in education act. what critics call the don't say gay law, which forbids classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for children in third grade and younger. now his administration proposing extending the ban to grades 4 through 12, unless it's, quote, expressly required by state

academic standards or is part of a reproductive health course, which parents could opt out of. a desantis spokesperson saying there is no reason for instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity to be part of k through 12 public education, full stop. the white house sharply criticizing the proposal. >> yes, it's wrong. it's completely, utterly wrong. >> reporter: a top lgbtq advocacy group in florida called the move part of a, quote, larger disturbing trend to censor conversations. lester? >> kristen welker, thank you. a dentist accused of poisoning his wife to death was in court today charged with murder. police say dr. james craig did it so he could start a new life with a new woman. here is miguel almaguer. >> reporter: facing a judge and a charge of first-degree murder, dr. james craig did not enter a plea today as investigators build a troubling case against the colorado dentist who is accused of f spikingng his wwife's

proteiin shake with poison. >> dentistry can be expensive. dentistry can be scary. >> reporter: calling their case against the doctor heinous and complex, investigators allege the father of six, whose children were in court today, was no loving husband to wife angela. in this 52-page affidavit, police say he searched top five undetectable poisons that show no signs of foul play, and is arsenic detectable in autopsy. according to the same documents, craig ordered both arsenic and potassium cyanide online. police say the doctor n lacehis wis roteinhake, which led to her death saturday. the next day he was arresteted. the v victim'ss sisterer told police james had drugged his wife before. detectives believe the dentist wanted to start a new life with his lover, who flew to colorado as angela craig was dying. >> whenever a defendant is accused of killing his or her spouse, evidence of an extramarital affair will always be

relevant. >> reporter: just days before her death, angela craig texted her husband, "i feel drugged." his response, "just for the record, i didn't drug you." but tonight, the dentist is out of his office scrubs and in a jailhouse jumpsuit. miguel almaguer, nbc news. in 60 seconds, an airline pilot becomes incapacitated mid flight. how an off-duty pilot stepped up to help. plus, more close calls as the faa takes new steps to prevent them.

we're back now to tell you about a midair scare. the captain on a southwest flight suffering a medical emergency. and an off-duty pilot who happened to be on board stepping in to help land the airplane. here is kristen dahlgren. >> reporter: southwest flight 6013 was on its way from las vegas to columbus, ohio, when -- >> captain's 47-year-old male. en route he started to feel some stomach pain. later fainted or

became incapacitated. >> reporter: with the captain unable to fly, the first officer tookhí over while a pilot from another airline who just happened to be on board jumped in to help with radio communications. >> he is in the back of the aircraft right now with the flight attendants, but we need to get him on an ambulance immediately. >> reporter: diane mcglinchey was on the flight. >> he does have an outfit on. so i'm assuming that's how they knew he was a pilot. but very thankful he was there. >> reporter: she and fellow passengers didn't learn it was the captain who was ill until the flight landed back in vegas. in a statement, southwest said in part, we commend the crew for their professionalism and appreciate our customers' patience regarding the situation. a situation that was exceedingly rare and ended well, but at a time when the aviation industry is under fire for more preventible mishaps. today, a letter sent to the nation's air traffic controllers outlined new steps being taken, including ensuring supervisors are devoting full attention. more dedicated

training for unusual circumstances, reducing the training backlog from the pandemic, and identifying underlying factors leading to close calls. new efforts to keep the nation's skies and runways safe. kristen dahlgren, nbc news. there is more to tell you about tonight. up next, our exclusive report on board a nato ship on the front lines, protecting against the russian threat to critical oil and gas lifelines.

back with another potential flash point between russia and the west. and an nbc news exclusive. nato adding warships and firepower to defend the critical oil and gas fields off of norway. tom costello joined a nato patrol on guard against potential sabotage or attack. >> reporter: take a close look. exclusive video from the norwegian air force of what it says is a russian nuclear submarine's periscope peeking above the water right over norway's oil and gas pipelines in the north sea. russian warships and fighters passing through sensitive waters between norway and scotland. for the norwegian navy, high alert. we spent three days, two nights on a priority nato assignment with a norwegian ship watching over the vulnerable drilling platforms, thousands

of miles of pipelines, and the maze of internet and telecom lines that stretch from europe to america. the concern, russia could one day attack the internet and energy pipeline. it's 2:00 in the morning here on the north sea. the wind is howling. the seas are rough, and it is very cold. the mission for this boat is to patrol around that platform on behalf of nato, looking for saboteurs or unusual russian activity. it was last september when someone blew up the nord stream gas pipeline running from russia to germany 260 feet beneath the surface. so far no conclusive proof of who did it. but nato says russia has since increased its naval activity in norway's economic waters. and an unusual interest in your gas and oil pipelines and infrastructure? >> definitely. they're around this area more than once. they're going back and

forth. they'y're follolowing the pipeline. so they have suspicious activity. >> reporter: this month, nato has been holding show of force exercises in the far north as norway defends its 123-mile land border with russia. right across the border russia's biggest naval base. this is murmansk here? >> murmansk, and it is perhaps the world's largest concentration of nuclear weapons. >> reporter: vice admiral andersen, the commander of the russian navy. nato's ocean floor sensors he says has detected much more unpredictable russian activity. >> they have had some maneuvers that i would describe as more aggressive. >> reporter: nato helicopters dropped sonar buoys listening for russian subs. norway's foreign minister says the world now recognizes how critical its oil and gas fields are to the global economy. >> that we really need to protect the whole infrastructure system, and also, the installations at sea.

so we are prepared for everything. >> nato warship fox trot 333, this is whiskey 342, over. >> reporter: we saw the new urgency as our ship was pulled into a secret nato operation. so off of our port side, we have just now had visitors. three nato warships have shown up. one, two, three. helicopters in the air right next to that very important norwegian gas platform. this is about sending a message to russia. nato is on guard, on patrol, and takes this very seriously. high atop the biggest platform out here, the head of nato announced the alliance will protect north sea oil and gas. >> president putin failed in this attempt to use energy as a weapopon. >> repoporter: with waar raging in ukraine, the stakes in this forbidding expanse of ocean are very high. tom costello, nbc news, on the north sea. coming up, a story that will warm your heart. the kids inspired to make homemade blankets for other kids in n needed.

finally, they were inspired by a segment on our "nightly news kids edition" program. the fifth graders who took up the cause to make blankets for kids in need. when the bell rings for free time at hoover street elementary school in new jersey, one classroom's work has just begun. miss stamm's fifth grade class is making blankets for project linus, a nonprofit helping to deliver

blankets to children going through hard times. their inspiration, a program you might be familiar with. >> we were watching the inspiring kids segment to "nightly news kids edition," and we wanted to do something to give back to the community. >> reporter: with donated material, the students say the most important part of the process comes at the end. >> at the end, we also give each blanket a hug. and so, that's my favovorite papart becauause iit's reallyly meaningngful to give eacach blanket a hug before you send it off to people in hospitals. >> reporter: named after the popular peanuts character, project linus has delivered more than 9 million blankets to children who are in hospitals, local shelters, or whose families might be struggling. >> these blankets are made by all of our volunteers. and we have thousands of them across the u.s. >> good job, girl.

>> reporter: and as for miss stamm's class, they are just getting started. >> they want to keep doing more. as we get more, they want to do more. with no end time. we're just going to continue to work on it as long as we can. >> reporter: a labor of love made possible by one giving community. and you can catch a new "nightly news kids edition" streaming right now. that's "nightly news." thank you for watching. i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night. ♪♪ alexex! mateo, hey y how's busisiness? alexex! great. y you know ththat n has s really wororked wonder. thatat's what u.u.s. bank isis. great. y you know ththat n has s really wororked wonder. and d you're grorowing in calififornia? great. y you know ththat n has s really wororked wonder.

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