Announcer from nbc news World Headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with kate snow. Good evening. The testing of a new high thrust rocket engine in north korea drew strong reaction from President Trump today on his flight back to washington from his weekend in florida. The president said, quote, north korea is acting very badly. That new test came just as the u. S. Secretary of state was wrapping up a trip to the region in china. Matt bradley is in seoul, south korea tonight. Reporter a new engine fueling a fresh round of north korean propaganda. An engine test which some say could propel an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile capable of reaching u. S. Soil. Dictator, kim jongun promised to get it in this years new years speech. North korea put on a provocative display of force, unprecedented two Nuclear Tests last year. And its successfully fired four Ballistic Missiles off its coast two weeks ago. Korea watchers expect a new nuclear test any day. If it happens, north koreas test results will almost certainly be different. The country facing off against the new american administration. Secretary of state, Rex Tillerson warned the u. S. Preemptive strike is a real possibility. Let me be clear, the policy of strategic patience is ended. We are exploring a new range of diplomatic, security and economic measures. All options are on the table. Reporter rising tensioned led to a Missile Defense system being moved to south korea this month. Washington may want to take a harder line against north korea. The question is, will the regional partners go along with it . This weekend, chinas government urged tillerson to take a more cautious approach. Following the impeachment of south korean president , park, elections may put a liberal president in power who may want to pursue dialogue with the north. But the Trump Administration seems determined to confront them. Four u. S. Fourstar generals think north korea has the capability to hit the u. S. Or they have to assume for planning purposes they have that capability. Reporter a frightening new moment sabers now rattling on both sides of the pacific. Matt bradley, nbc news, seoul. Beyond tensions over north korea, this will be a critical week for the Trump Administration. Congressional investigations on russia, questions about wiretapping, hearings for the Supreme Court nominee. And thats all just tomorrow. Our report from kelly odonnell. Reporter the long shadow of Vladimir Putin falls on capitol hill tomorrow. Fbi director, james comey, will be the star witness as the House Intelligence Committee examines russias reach into campaign 2016 and President Trumps wiretap allegations. Today, divergent assessments on whether anyone in trumps circle was linked to russias meddling. Republican chairman devin nunes shoots that down. No evidence of collusion. Reporter the top democrat adam schiff disagrees. The outside investigation, there is circumstantial evidence of collusion. There is direct evidence, i think, of deception. Reporter no proof found to back up President Trumps tweeted charge of surveillance at trump tower. The president s leaks may have merit. He thinks the Public Disclosure that reveal calls between Michael Flynn and the Russian Ambassador violated the law. We know a law has been broken and we need to get to the bottom of it. Reporter high stakes of a different kind as the republican plan to overhaul health care fuels town hall meetings. Its a better solution than the aca, sir. Reporter criticism of the gop bill threatens to stall a top priority. House Speaker Paul Ryan says thursdays house vote is time to deliver on years of campaign promises. When this vote comes up, thats when it will be a binary choice, either for the status quo or for repealing and replacing this law. Reporter the fate of the Health Care Repeal is uncertain, there is no division among conservatives about the president s choice for the Supreme Court. Tomorrow begins the confirmation hearing for judge neil gorsuch, who could become the youngest member on the high court, giving the president s choice longterm impact. Kate . Kelly odonnell, thanks so much. And the Trump Administration has taken the first steps toward that border wall beyond requesting billions in funding, its now asking for proposals from contractors interested in building the wall, setting out height requirement, Building Materials and other features. You can watch it on facebook. Com nbc nightlynews. While security and safety are big news in the Budget Proposal, programs that support arts and the whom mantis are facing deep cuts. They have a big impact on institutions across the country. We get more on that tonight from kristin dahlgren. Reporter in waterloo, iowa, this 13yearold is feeling creative. Yep, thats a bird. Reporter for many, the Youth Art Team is the only chance to get their hands on art supplies. It gives people a way to express themselves, like, together. You know . Reporter the programs future is fuzzy. A quarter of the funding, around 11,000, comes from the National Endowment for the arts, targeted in the president s Budget Proposal along with the endowment for humanities and public broadcasting, a total of 741 million. I think the message the president sent right now is we want to defund those. Its completely defensible reasons for doing that. Reporter on twitter, the president said the budget puts the countrys safety first. The cost of one f22 jet fighter is 2. 5 times the National Endowment of the arts budget. Reporter the metropolitan opera receives 100,000 from the nea, the show will surely go on. But the general manager worries about the future for the arts. Obviously, we need to protect the country, but protect the arts as well. Reporter the nea, which provides for everything from the military to the Healing Arts Program points out funding is in every congressional district. For its part, the corporation for public broadcasting said the cuts would destroy the Early Childhood education, Public Safety and promoting civil discussions. Ultimately, it is congress that writes the budget. This is the first time a president called for ending endowments, created by Lyndon Johnson in 1965. On capitol hill, the battle is just getting started. Back in iowa, he is finishing his latest masterpiece. I think that when we do stuff like this, it opens up doors. Reporter hoping there will be more to come. Kristen dahlgren, nbc news, new york. Seven murders across the country are causing great concern in the transgender community. Tonight, three happened in louisiana. Thats where nbcs tam Tammy Leitner begins her report. Reporter the jazz funeral is a new orleans tradition. Family and friends honor the life of china gibson. She did it all. She did it all. She sang. She loved doing crazy things, dancing. Reporter 31yearold china gibson was a transgender woman. Im waiting for her to come through the door. Its just like disbelief. Reporter china is one of three transgender women killed in louisiana over an eightday stretch. Panic followed. We are scared, you know. We cant even go nowhere. Its like we prisoners in our own home. Reporter she was friends with two of the victims. What is it like being a transgender woman in the deep south . They look at us crazy, like we dont exist, like we not normal people. Reporter that sentiment is making it nearly impossible to investigate these crimes and prompting new Orleans Police superintendent to appoint a Police Liaison to the lgbtq community. So far, police have not found a connection between these murders. We are going to search the ends of the earth to hold them accountable and bring them to justice. Reporter this is not the only community searching for justice. Seven reported transgender murders in the first two months of this year. Louisiana, south dakota, ohio, mississippi and illinois. The deaths raising concerns with civil rights and antiviolence advocates and following a Staggering Number of transgender murders in 2016. Statistics show pervasive discrimination and mistreatment against the trans community. Nearly half verbally harassed in the last year. Roughly 1 in 10 physically attacked and 40 attempted suicide. Alarming number that is china gibsons family say are part of the problem. It doesnt matter what you is, we gonna love you to the end. To the end. This just was her end. Reporter Tammy Leitner, nbc news, new orleans. Fire and floods are big concerns tonight in the western part of the country. A lot of homes threatened by wildfire near boulder, colorado, while the northwest and california could see more severe flooding. We get the latest from nbcs steve patterson. Reporter tonight, lives threatened in the line of fire near boulder, colorado. With more than 60 acres burned, the flames are hopping just above a row of homes with minimal containment. Farther west, wet weather makes for shocking scenes. Streets that look like venetian canals and evacuations in parts of yakima, washington. In portland, swept away. Not something you expect on your daily commute to work. Reporter three men survive uninjured after a hillside collapsed onto their car. The warning heard across the region, conditions are prime for more. We have had so much rain this winter, when we get rain like that, the earth moves. Reporter this week, more rain in the forecast. With the bullseye on northern california, some five inches expected near the battered oroville dam. Crews have been working around the clock to repair the dams fractured spillway to lower Lake Oroville to prepare for more rain. We have gone to extreme efforts to clean out and caulk every crack we can find on the deck. Reporter in february, nearly 200,000 residents were evacuated as an auxillary spillway overtopped. After one of the wettest winters on record, rapid snow melt this season could mean more flood danger across the west, a new norm for the region that once couldnt get enough rain, now bracing for more. Steve patterson, los angeles. Weve heard a lot about President Trumps order to ban muslims from six mostly muslim countries. Another part of that order would halt and reduce the flow of refugees into the united states. Among those pushing back, some small u. S. Cities that have come to rely on refugees. Nbcs ron allen reports from one of them. Reporter for this family, chicken, yogurt and bread, they are refugees who have fled syria and have been in the u. S. Just six months. Their new hometown, erie, pennsylvania. What did you take when you left . Clothes. Clothes. Reporter only your clothes . Yeah, yeah, yeah. Reporter when people find out im a refugee, they say welcome. As President Trump seeks a 120day halt to refugees entering the u. S. And then a significant reduction. Erie, a rustbelt city with a declining population rolls out the welcome mat. Refugees from around the world make up 18 of the population. What has been the net result of refugees coming to this town . Oh, i think its kept us alive. I think it kept us moving forward. Reporter paul jericho has been helping refugees here for several decades. They rent a lot of apartments, buy a lot of things and pay taxes immediately. Reporter out in erie county, an area that President Trump won, plastic maker started hiring refugees when they couldnt find enough workers to fill their lower skilled jobs. We are talking job that is pay, 8, 9, 10 an hour. Reporter a lot of people want to make 20 an hour. Reporter nearly 25 of employees are refugees, the business expanding. Eries changing face, perhaps most visible is East High School where they mark their homelands. More than 30 languages are spoken and the children fit right in. We are a resettlement destination. Over time, we have come to brace our new American Population here at east high. Reporter we could have gone to lansing, michigan, akron, ohio or sioux falls, south dakota welcoming refugees for economic boost. These are legal immigrants. The vetting process takes years. A lot of uncertainty with all of this and the fight over the president s executive order in court. Ron, thank you so much. One of the countrys most colorful newspaper men has died. Jimmy breslin spent more than a half century chronicling new york and challenging the working class. He was a reporter for newspapers winning a Pulitzer Prize and wrote almost two dozen books. The daily news calls breslin the biggest, the baddest, the brashest, the best columnist in new york city and the first to say so, too. Jimmy breslin was 88 years old. Still ahead tonight, cracking down on the scammers behind those annoying robo calls. Finally, help may be coming. We are back with news tonight for anyone who has gotten those annoying robo calls from scammers masquerading as irs or credit card companies. It doesnt matter if you are on the do not call registry, because scammers are usually operating from overseas. Now, federal regulators are poised to take action to allow phone companies to block those calls. Here is nbcs tom costello. Reporter if youve been on the receiving end of one of these calls, youre hardly alone. The reason of this call is to inform you the irs is filing a lawsuit against you. Reporter the fcc says americans are getting a staggering 2. 4 billion robo calls each month. Call immediately on our department number. Hello . Reporter caitlin gets them at least three times a day. Today, i got two from denver, colorado and one from delaware. Reporter calls from area codes or numbers she doesnt recognize, but they keep calling. It always comes in with different numbers so i cant block any of the numbers. Ive tried before and they still find a new way of targeting my phone. Reporter thats how it works the robo calls are using a technique calls spoofing, but the caller id is faked. Its part of an elaborate criminal scam to try to convince americans to hand over social security, bank account and credit card information. In many cases, they are scammers outside of our borders so they end up using a fake number that appears to an american to be somebody they might know or a u. S. Government agency. Reporter now the fcc wants to cut the line voting this week to allow americas phone companies to block any invalid area code or phone number that is most likely a scammer. Why arent they already blocking those numbers . Because the fcc has always encouraged them to complete all calls. But americans are now losing millions of dollars to phone scammers. We found in one case, nine indian phone centers were raking in 250,000 a day. From these scams. Just that one operation in a few call centers was very lucrative. The creepy part of it is why do they keep calling . How did they get my number . Where did they get it from in the first place. Reporter creepy and annoying. They may get the go ahead to robo block the robo calls. Tom costello, nbc news, washington. When we come back, if youve ever had trouble getting the kids to go to sleep, wait until you see what happened to one family. What goes up must come down. The Spacex Dragon successfully returned to earth today after a month long mission in space. The cargo craft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 200 miles southwest of long beach, california. It was loaded with more than 5,000 pounds of science samples and supplies from the International Space station. Every parent knows how tough it can be to keep the kids in bed after bedtime. Here in new york, it was double trouble for this family as 2yearold twins, andrew and ryan decided to have a party, escaping their cribs. They were making piles out of their pillows. It is captured on home monitoring video and later sped up by their parents. The dad puts them in bed. Its futile. Later, both parents try once more to put the boys to sleep but they escape again. Eventually, they go to bed all on their own. The tiny party animals, truly two of a kind. So cute. Up next, a story beloved by children and adults alike. Finding new meaning in one american city. Finally tonight, generations have grown up with it, but classic childrens story, the giving tree, inspiring, sad, but ultimately uplifting. Catie beck tonight with a sequel in california. Reporter in oakland, california, a love for trees has deep roots. The citys emblem, a sprawling oak tree on every street sign. So its fitting that here, not where the sidewalk ends, but where it buckles, one particular tree isnt that nice . Reporter is growing a fan club. You have never seen this kind of attention over a tree you have taken down . We havent. Thats where we are stumped. Reporter arborist joseph and cole took down the trees rotting trunk and broken branches, a threat to the geronimo family home. The roots got too big. Reporter they are now giving literary life to whats left behind, asking for a carved seat, an image gone viral borrowed from the childrens book, the giving tree. I love doing anything that is neat for the community and brings the community together. Reporter its final passage inscribed in black sharpie, a story about a tree and a little boy, drawing people in, stirring childhood memories, finding modern messages. You need to appreciate everyone in your life and everything that is good in your life, you should be grateful for. I am very tired. Well, said the tree, straightened herself up as much as she could. Reporter new generations hearing the story for the first time. I love when people can tie the meaningful stories of our lives into something in the real world. An old stump is a good place to sit and rest. Reporter the geronimo kids have a front row seat to the attraction. Im surprised and kind of grateful how so many people are noticing this. Reporter old roots giving new reason to stop and think a while. Sit down and rest and the boy did. Reporter catie beck, nbc news, oakland. Truly a giving tree. This is nbc nightly news for this sunday night. Lester holt will be in tomorrow. Im kate snow reporting from new york. See you tomorrow on msnbc. For all of us here at nbc news, have a great night. No nr srina re wh ub. T right now at 6 00, no longer sharing a ride with uber. The company now looking for a new president tonight. And a big change on the way. We are tracking two storms headed for the bay area. Were looking at more rain. How long it will last. The news at 6 00 starts right now. Good evening to you and thank you for joining us tonight. Im peggy bunker. Terry mcsweeney has the night off. We are just six hours away from the first day of spring. The new season bringing with it rain, wind, maybe even a bit of thunder. Meteorologist rob mayeda is standing by tracking the storm and also telling us what to expect tomorrow. Right now were seeing a lot of clouds around san francisco, cooling now, down to 57 degrees, but not much rain at least just yet. The view from sunol looks pretty gloomy