It isn't necessarily of "national significance", but it is a story that directly targets the emotional appeal of what you'll typically see in local news... now in a national package like NewsNation. Remember, Nexstar's NewsNation is developed to be a national newscast with local interests and these local stories directly play into that idea given the context and the audience of the program.
NewsNation isn't going to be the place to find hard news and analysis about America's debt for 3 hours straight, but you will see softer stories that highlight the unique regional fabric of the United States without the whole "doom & gloom" fare and could be of interest to a national audience, despite not being immediately relevant to your area.
Let me copy-paste my post from the Discord server that explained my point that, besides journalistic directions, NewsNation shouldn't be compared 1-to-1 to Smith's program, which focuses on general national subjects like politics and the economy. I also delved into "day one" reactions from some members as well: