right now, trump attorney is delivering the defense s closing argument to the criminal trial against the former president. his message is quite simple. where exactly is the crime? there s not a lot of shred of evidence. the case hinges on the word of a convicted lawyer. getting revenge on trump. later it is the prosecution s turn and the jury will deliberate. we heard moments ago as they were getting going right after a break that the jury has told the judge they are willing to stay late today. however, todd blanche had also said that it needed another 30 minutes. that was 5 minutes ago. we could see the defense end is closing arguments. the verdict could exonerate the former president or make him the first commander in chief convicted of crime. this is outnumbered with my cohost emily compagno and kayleigh mcenany. sandra smith has fitness into her busy day. fox news contributor and former utah congressman. let s go live. when you and i talked last hour, you really have
we are in the final stretch of the first criminal trial of a former president. the defense is presenting its closing arguments in donald trump s hush money trial. the former president s lead attorney, todd blanche, has spent the morning trying to plant seeds of reasonable doubt by saying the prosecution s trove of checks and documents do not link president trump to the crime. they can only believe this if they believe michael cohen. they moved on to stormy daniels, suggesting she hasn t told the truth either. once that s done we think it s getting close to the end of the defense case the prosecution will follow with what s expected to be four hours plus of their closing argument as they tie together their sprawling case after jurors heard from 20 witnesses. they saw about 200 pieces of evidence over a six-week period. the challenge? to sum up those arguments behind the 34 felony counts against the former president. remember, the prosecution has to connect donald trump n
news starts now. maurice: tonight, 62 million americans are under threat of severe weather from alabama to new york. good evening and thank you for being with us on this memorial day. i am maurice dubois in for norah o donnell. tonight, storms a part of the same system that brought deadly tornadoes to the central u.s. this weekend. this is valley view, texas, where tornadoes bulldozed through, turning homes into unrecognizable piles of lumber and metal. at least 23 people have been killed, including two children, in texas, arkansas, oklahoma, kentucky, and virginia. the force of the winds clear from the sheer scale of the damage tonight. now that system is drenching parts of the northeast, slowing down returning travelers. more than 5,000 flights have been delayed in major hubs like atlanta, chicago, and new york, with alerts posted up and down the east coast. cbs s meg oliver starts us off with more on these catastrophic storms. reporter: shattered homes and debris
dana: right now former president donald trump and his defense team are getting one final chance to convince a new york jury he is innocent. with closing arguments now underway in his historic criminal trial. welcome to a new hour of america s newsroom. i m dana perino and with you, bill hemmer. i was in a hurry to get to the news. bill: hope you guys had a great memorial weekend. we re back at work today and back at trial. i m bill hemmer. got a great cast of characters to take us through the legal hurdles that we ll be jumping through between now and whenever the jury comes back with its verdict. kerri kupec-urbahn joins our coverage now and look at pictures inside court today. trey gowdy is with us as well. kerri, let s begin with you and reading lydia s latest email. blanche is hammering in all caps, please excuse the caps. cohen was rendering services personal attorney in 2017. there is no dispute. so apparently he is trying to deliver that message with vigor, kerri
97% of burning uv rays. it s light, but it s working hard like me, neutrogena ultras yourself on screen. i m zachary cohen and washington. and this is cnn hello and welcome to cnn special coverage of the closing arguments in former president donald trump s criminal hush money trial. i m wolf blitzer in washington alongside abby phillip, who s outside the courthouse in new york a very consequential de, as we enter the home stretch of this truly historic trial korda s out now for lunch following a morning of blistering closing arguments by trump s defense team on surprisingly, trump attorney todd blanche made the case that payments made to michel cone the heart of the prosecution s charges were not illegal abbe over to you that s right. well, a blanche ripped into potential pivotal testimony delivered by trump s former fixer and personal attorney repeatedly calling michael cohen a liar, whose words should not be trusted, and the claims that the alleged tryst between trump