the courtroom is standing by. a rare tornado emergency issued in kentucky as powerful storms sweep through the south. the death toll rising after relentless tornadoes flattened entire communities, uprooted trees and families all across the central u.s. plus an nbc news exclusive report from taiwan. our correspondent is with the congressional delegation in taipei as china carries out military drills just miles offshore. helping the families who have lost their children in rotc. they were too young for basic training but old enough to know they wanted to serve their country. will congress step in to extend military benefits? i m chris jansing in new york. thank you for joining us on this very busy memorial day. 420 days after donald trump was indicted on 34 felly charges in manhattan, tomorrow the judge will hear closing arguments in his hush money trial along with the jury. the defense delivering its summations first, followed by the state. that s expected to take most
a camp in rafah leaves dozens dead. breaking moments ago, israel s prime minister now calls that strike quote a tragic mistake. then later, a bipartisan group of lawmakers now putting china on notice while in taiwan meeting with their new president. so a lot to get to today and we begin with that breaking news right now. 21 people are dead. that s a higher number than we had just an hour ago and nearly 600,000 homes are without power across 11 states. 71 million people are still under severe storm risk from alabama to new york. eight of the deaths were in arkansas alone where hard hit neighborhoods now look like war zones, streets littered with debris. winds so powerful, they ripped off the front half of this dollar general store. in kentucky, take a look at this massive twister that touched down in edlyville, two hours west of bowling green. governor bashir said one tornado was on the ground for at least 40 miles. in missouri, 20 minutes outside of st. louis, golf ball siz