check of the forecast. >> no big storm this week. >> that's good. we'll have to tune in at 6:00 for more about the sunshine. >> thanks for joining us at 6:00. lester holt is next with "nightly news." rump's wiretappi claim, without offering any evidence, accusing former president obama of spying on him in trump tower. denials from obama and the nation's former top spy. did president trump make an incendiary accusation based on a radio host? also the president's new travel ban. what's in, what's out? will it hold up in court? plus the gop's health care proposal about to be revealed. we have details. new tsa pat downs getting up close and personal. changes passengers will notice on the security line. nap pods. an unusual approach to be used for sleep-deprived high school students who nod off in class. how about one for the office?

and schoolhouse rap. a teacher inspiring america with the power of music. nightly news begins right now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening to our viewers in the west. the echoes of president trump's explosive twitter accusations against president obama over the weekend drowned out today's news, the integration of a new travel ban. the white house operating in low-profile mode today as the president's spoex -- spokes people seem to be trying to catch up with their boss and the source of his head scratching

allegation, that former president obama had ordered the wiretapping of trump tower during the campaign, but with no offer of evidence, democrats suspect it's all an attempt to deflect attention from the russians. >> reporter: the rarely press-shy president staying behind closed doors today, standing behind his explosive, unproven claim he was spied on by president obama. quote, just found out that obama had my wires tapped in trump tower just before the victory. >> the president's tweets speak for themselves. >> reporter: press secretary sean spicer calling for a congressional investigation, even though it's the fbi which the president oversees that would know whether any such surveillance ever existed. the agency's director asking the president to push back against the claim, and former director james clapper who would have overseen any wire tap publicly denying it. >> and you can't say whether or not that

exists? >> i can deny it. >> there is no wiretapping? >> not that i know of. >> the russian government, which we know aided the trump campaign during the 2016 election, is probably looking on gleefully as they watch us discuss these very issues receipt now. >> reporter: aides aren't pinpointing exactly where the president found out the information he tweeted. it's working its way through conservative media outlets. thursday, radio host mark levin. >> were his phone calls intercepted and recorded? >> reporter: friday morning, a breitbart headline. then saturday the claims, followed by a conversation with chris ruddy. >> he was not a happy camper, and he complained very loudly to me, repeating stuff that was in those tweets that this was mccarthyism and watergate type stuff. >> reporter: it would be a huge scandal if it happened, but there's no evidence it did. just like the president's claim millions of people voted illegally, about where president obama was really born, and that ted cruz's father

was involved with president kennedy's assassination. >> in case after case, even as president, donald trump has made outrageous claims with no obvious basis in fact. it's hurt his credibility with voters, now it as president it can hurt his credibility on the world stage if he's proven not to be telling the truth. >> reporter: a spokesperson for former president obama calls the claims against him simply false. now with president trump describing his predecessor as a bad or sick guy, new questions about their relationship, the press secretary predicting both presidents will be just fine. >> hallie jackson at the white house tonight. thank you. and now to the new executive order the president signed today, temporarily banning travel to the u.s. from six majority muslim countries. it comes after the last travel ban faced a storm of protests and got hung up in the courts. there are some notable changes in the new order, and the questions now, what's in it, what's out, and will it face any better if it comes before a judge.

here's peter alexander. >> reporter: nearly six weeks after president trump first proudly unveiled his controversial travel ban, touting extreme vetting, a far more reserved ban. the white house tweeting this photo of the president signing his revised executive order, the formal announcement delivered instead by top cabinet secretaries. >> this is part of our ongoing efforts to eliminate vulnerabilities. the radical islamic terrorists will exploit for destructive ends. >> reporter: what's changed? the new guidelines propose a 90-day ban on six original countries, removed from the list, iraq. green cardholders now exempt. also deleted, a preference for religious minorities. the new order bars all refugees from entering the u.s. for 120 days but no longer singles out those from syria, formerly banned indefinitely.

despite the president's initial claim, the bad would rush into our country. the court as undercut that argument, he says. can americans feel safe? there's a 10-day delay right now. >> of course they can. it's a fully-coordinated effort. >> reporter: with new protests tonight, it is likely to face several legal challenges, with the safu revealing their challenges. >> the language of the first executive order all revealed that what is essentially going on is a ban against muslims. the fact that they've tweaked the order does not eliminate that taint. >> reporter: an iranian grad student finally in california last month after the president made the first ban, she was detained for 23 hours at lax and then deported. she worries the new ban won't be temporary. >> if we look at history, whenever whole groups of people have been discriminated against because of their religion or where they come from, terrible things have happened. >> reporter: the new executive order was written in part to overcome potential

legal challenges. washington state's attorney general who successfully sued to block the original ban claims something of a legal victory today and has said he has yet to decide whether or not his state will fight this new executive order as well. lester? >> peter alexander, thank you. now to a late development on capitol hill. republican leaders released their long-awaited bill that would replace obamacare. speaker paul ryan says he wants it passed by easter, and while it would keep some pieces in place, it also includes significant changes. tom costello is in our washington newsroom with more. tom, a lot of people wondering what the future of health insurance is going to look like. >> we know this bill calls for abolishing the mandate that requires people to have insurance or pay a tax penalty. it also gives states flexibility to set up their own programs and some of the more popular elements of obamacare are remaining. among those popular elements, the plan will still require insurers to cover preexisting conditions. children could still stay on their parents' insurance until they're 26.

here's what's controversial. current medicaid enrollment for lower income americans would be frozen at current levels. and they want them to use subsidies to pay for insurance but it would be based on age, not income. critics argue tax credits won't help low-income americans because they don't pay much in taxes to begin with. democrats charge the republican plan will raise costs, cut benefits and provide coverage for far fewer americans. so the legislative process is just beginning. there's still a lot to work out and surely a lot of arguing before all of this becomes raw. >> tom, thank you. now to the new security procedures being implemented at airports across the country. the tsa is rolling out what it calls new, competen competence -- comprehensive patdowns for passengers. they're hoping to make

the secondary checks more uniform. miguel almaguer reports. >> reporter: as airports across the country brace for a spring break rush, passengers who trip metal detectors or require secondary screening may not see the difference at security lines, but they will feel it. >> when they get aggressive, and i've had that experience, i think it's an invasion of my privacy. >> reporter: the tsa will no longer use a variety of patdowns. instead the agency is implementing what they call a universal procedure that's more comprehensive. >> i didn't have anything to fear, i'm not hiding anything, so i was okay with it. let them do their job. >> reporter: the tsa says the new procedure does not involve any different areas of the body than were screened in previous pat-down procedure. they will still be screened by an officer of the same gender. that could include sensitive yards -- areas like the groin

and breasts. >> the more invasive screening will be more thorough. the down side of that is how much more kind of our personal privacy are we willing to give up. >> reporter: the change comes after the tsa failed to detect fake firearms smuggled through security check points 95% of the time during an audit two years ago. >> this is not anything that's going to benefit security, all it does is turn the checkpoint into a place of indecency. >> reporter: every day, 2 million passengers shuttle through airport screening. now some will feel the new hands-on approach to security. with 62 million passengers expected to travel for spring break, many are asking at busy airports like lax what kind of impact this will have on lines and delays. tonight the tsa says as of now there will be no impact. lester? >> miguel almaguer, thank you. we're getting new reaction from the secretary of defense to the investigation into potentially

hundreds of marines who allegedly shared nude photos of female service members on facebook. nbc news pentagon correspondent, hans nichols, has the latest. >> reporter: tonight, according to a pentagon official, defense secretary jim mattis is troubled by the alleged behavior of marines, after nude photos of more than two dozen female service members were circulated on a private facebook page with nearly 30,000 followers called marines united, coinciding with the first female marines at camp lejeune, one of them said being sexually harassed online ruined the marine corps for me, the scandal first uncovered by "the war-horse", run by thomas brennan. himself a marine veteran. >> that's what sent it home for me, seeing a woman that i knew, and then, you know, later on the next morning, like getting my

daughter ready for school. >> reporter: brennan now receiving death threats after reporting on the images, showing women in various stages of undress. some of the pictures, he says, were taken without consent, and identified some of the service members by their full name, rank and duty station, from the marine leadership, harsh condemnation. there's no place for this type of demeaning and degrading behavior in our corps. this includes our actions on line. a formal inquiry by the naval criminal investigative service is under way, but no word on just how many marines were involved or how many were harmed. hans nichols, nbc news, the pentagon. right now we are tracking severe weather threatening some 23 million people from arkansas up to minnesota. kansas is already seeing winds powerful enough to knock a tractor-trailer onto its side on the highway. the storm is also bringing the risk of tornadoes and large hail into the

overnight hours. there's been a new act of defiance of north korea, firing banned ballistic missiles overnight. tonight north korea is making an alarming claim, that those launches were a trial run for a future strike on u.s. military bases in japan. the japanese prime minister says he will speak with mr. trump about it tomorrow. we get more from our chief foreign correspondent, richard engel. >> reporter: the white house calls the latest missile test a provocation, as a top u.s. defense official confirms to nbc news that a major policy review is under way to confront and contain the threat of north korea's missiles and nuclear weapons. early this morning, north korea fired five medium-range missiles. one of them u.s. military officials said failed at the launch site. the others flew about 600 miles before splashing in the water near japan. hours later, north korea calling up 50,000 people for state-sponsored displays of loyalty. >> i entirely expect the north koreans to

continue with these sorts of launches and other provocations in the weeks to come. >> reporter: the unpredictable kim jong un seems to be testing boundaries. last month, north korea fired a missile as president trump was meeting the japanese prime minister as seen in social media images. and today, the north korean ambassador to malaysia left the country just before he was expelled. malaysia has accused north korea of assassinating kim jong un's half brother, by smearing chemical weapons in his face. north korea says the launches were practice for a strike on u.s. military bases in japan. north korea often makes threats beyond its capabilities. that senior u.s. military official told me a key part of the policy review, disrupting launches through sabotage and cyberattacks. lester? still ahead, snoozing at school. the high-tech idea as

many school districts are embracing, helping students feel well rest rested. also from nap time to rap time. the classroom where the three rs stand for reading, writing and rhyming.

we're back now with what you might call an unusual or novel approach to students who nod off in class. some schools have decided to let them go ahead and sleep it off in a nap pod. something you might

have seen at the airport now moving into the classroom. >> reporter: like so many american high school students, overprogrammed and under stress, getting out of bed is a struggle. >> when something big is happening the next day, it's hard for me to go to sleep. >> reporter: the national institute of health says teens need nine to ten hours of sleep. but only a third are sleeping eight hours. >> you're averaging four to five hours of sleep? >> yeah. >> are you tired all the time? >> i try not to be, but yeah. it's kind of like the normal now. >> reporter: while many high schools have tried delaying their start times, several in las cruces, new mexico are trying a new approach. take a nap. students can rest in this sleep pod until an alarm wakes them up after 20 minutes. the optimum time for a nap according to sleep researchers like linda summers. >> we can get them to calm down before the exam and go in and take the exam and do well. >> reporter: so it's kind of like a reset button.

>> absolutely like a reset button. >> reporter: some parents are skeptical. >> why are they not in math class or science class? they could be there but they wouldn't be listening, they wouldn't be paying attention, so this way we can get them to go back to class and focus. >> reporter: the pods were paid for through the mental health grants through the state, costing $14,000. most students use them a few times a year when they say they've reached a breaking point. >> you are so recharged, you're just like completely good. >> reporter: a siesta not for slackers but for kids trying to keep up in a demanding world. katie beck, nbc news, las cruces, new mexico. we're back with why this is such a sad one for some movie lovers.

a defeat in court today for advocates of transgender rights. the supreme court said it will not rule on which bathroom a

transgender virginia teen could use at school, and it wiped out that student's previous victory in a lower court. this comes after a change in policy by the trump administration. robert osborne has died. television viewers knew him as the face of turner classic movies and a beloved hollywood historian. he was with the network from the very start, introducing old favorites ever since. tcm says he passed away today in new york. robert osborne was 84 years old. are you trying to decide which airline to book? travel and leisure is out with its list of best airlines for customer service. for domestic flights, virgin america is ranked best followed by southwest and alaska airlines. singapore, followed by emirates and virgin atlantic. and inside a classroom where grades rise when the beat drops. "inspiring america" is next. nbc news is

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finally tonight, the elementary school kids with the gift of rhyme that's made them a viral sensation, and the teacher who helped turn them no rap stars with a unique lesson plan that's really working. we take you into the classroom that's inspiring america. >> 336. >> reporter: when michael bonner's second grade class failed an exam last year, he knew he had to do something drastic. >> when 80% or more of your kids fail a test, it is not the kids. it is you. and we have to own that. >> reporter: so he made a deal with his class. >> if you all pass this test, 14 out of 20 pass, i will personally shoot you a music video. >> reporter: and it worked. >> i had to shoot them a real video. >> tell me what your scores are. >> my score is like 100 or 80. >> reporter: his school in a tough greenville neighborhood is partially surrounded by barbed wire. 100% of the students qualify for free lunch. >> and that's why i

get excited about the video. it's a sign of my kids fighting against that. >> reporter: when their first video went viral -- ellen degeneres invited the entire class to los angeles. and they made a professional video with rapper big sean. >> so we can ask some questions and we can be cool. >> reporter: now they're shooting their fourth video for passing yet another test. how's that feel? >> that feels amazing. >> if my teacher don't trust me -- >> i think it's bigger than a music video now. i think they understand, we can really do this. >> reporter: now that's a rap. nbc news, greenville, north carolina. that's going to do it for us on a monday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good

night. i hope we get to the bottom of it, you know. i hope we find out why. >> right now at 6:00, we have exclusive details about a man accused of killing a local little league coach. why some said an arrest weeks earlier should have had him off of the streets. the news at 6:00 starts right now. good evening. thanks for being with us on monday. i'm raj mathai. and i'm jessica aguirre. nbc bay area has learned that one of the men arrested for the murder of the coach had a previous run-in with police just a month before. it's a story you'll see only on nbc bay area.

dame than trujillo joins us life where the coach had his students. the coach was beloved by the kids but also well-liked as the president of the east village little league >> reporter: no doubt this is where he would be right now on the field of east ridge preparing for opening day on saturday. you know light, some are questioning whether the coach would be alive right now if the d.a. had not dropped charges against one of the suspects for a january arrest. robert ruiz is one of the suspects charged with murdering coach navarro last month. he was stabbed at the green club in san jose. today we obtained these documents showing that the support ruiz was arrested in january in this edenville home. during a probation search involving another man in the same home, pol