it continues tomorrow when 18 million could face similar threats from illinois to texas. in florida, the parental rights in education act, what critics dub the don t say gay law, has been expanded. a victory for governor ron desantis touting that law and his record on the economy as he ramps up an expected run for president. gabe gutierrez is in florida for us tonight. reporter: tonight, florida governor ron desantis is in the early primary state of south carolina. the top potential challenger to former president trump slamming what he calls the woke mob. people also side with us on wanting our school system to be about educating kids, not indoctrinating kids. gender ideology has no place in our k through 12 school system. repeporter: tododay flflorida s dedepartment of education expanded the parental rights
reporter: will swenson plays a younger version of neil while mark jacoby porays neil now. w which is frfrequently called o old neil. repeporter: bototh must emulate his looks and his pipes. sweet caroline > it s not t easy. he s got a a lot of grit. you got it mastered, right? he seemed to think i was close, so that s good. reporter: so good behind the scenes the real neil has been part of the process. i must say it s a completely particular experience to play someone who is alive and to play someone who is alive who is watching you play him. reporter: diamond stopped performing in 2018 afterhe was diagnosed with parkinson s disease, the jukebox musical is framed as a therapy session as diamond wrestles with retirement and other tough moments from his past. people tops s in ththeir field d build a wall aroround themseselves ththat s actually hiding something, and i think part of the story we re telling is that you can let that drop.
reporter: workers at jfk greeted a flight in head to toe hazmat suits. the passengers on this plane weren t people. they were monkeys. each one worth tens of thousands of dollars ready to be sold for medical research after a montnth in quararantine. these animals are worth so much money righght now. repeporter: thehe international monkey trade exploded because of the pandemic. monkeys were critical in the development of the covid-19 vaccine. microbiologist deborah fuller says without them, lives would have been lost. i would have expected probably it would take probably another year, up to two years longer than what it took to develop the first covid-19 vaccines. reporter: fuller works at the university of washington, one of seven nih primate research centers in the country which is where dr. lisa jones-engel used to work until resigning two years ago. deeply disturbed by how monkeys were being used in research, she joined peta. the u.s. pipeline that is literally hoovering
every day i ll be h here every y day ununtil i get t my house back. . repeporter: at t least 39 confirmed twisters touched down across 7 states leveling homes and businesses in parts of louisiana and left a trail of destruction in florida. as the storm takes its final bow, arctic air is moving in for the next act. windchills in chicago to hit the single digits this weekend while bismarck and minneapolis falling below zero. just a preview of what s to come next week with record cold and a possible winter storm on the horizon for the holidays. kathy park, nbc news, syracuse, new york. in ukraine an intense new russian bombardment of kyiv and other cities. a punishing assault leaving most residents in the capital without power or water in subfreezing temperatures. ellison barber is there. reporter: tonight russian strikes narrowly missing
taliban reprisals. nbc s richard engel is in kabul reporter: the taliban today took over two more afghan border crossings, and now claim to control 85% of afghanistan that may be an exaggeration, but not by much. the taliban certainly control or are fighting to control the majority of the country as the afghan army fractures and surrenders left behind are thousands of afghan contractors and translators. the taliban considers them traitors. yesterday president biden had this message for them good afternoon. there is a home for you in the united states if you so choose, knowing we ll stand with you, just as you stood with us reporter: in kabul, i met tom, which is what u.s. troops called him did you hear president biden s promise? i got a lot of news, a lot of announcements, but there is no action. repeporter: tom lived in close quarters with u.s. troops d has