Told him, just take care of it. The defense preparing to attack cohens credibility after calling him an admitted liar. And the secret Tape Cohen Made Of Trump played for the jury. Also tonight, the race to escape rafah. 360,000 people fleeing as Israeli Forces advance on the Southern Gaza city. Terrifying moments at a Louisiana Church during a livestreamed service. A teen with a gun stopped as he tries to get into the building with 60 children inside for their first communion. Severe weather from texas to florida. Were tracking it. Wildfire smoke from canada moving into the u. S. Air quality alerts in multiple states. Propalestinian protests disrupting some graduations. Jerry seinfelds speech at duke prompting dozens to walk out. Just in, the dramatic controlled demolition of a massive piece of baltimores collapsed bridge. And the most stunning images from that spectacular show in the sky. Announcer this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. Good evening and welcome. The Prosecution Case against donald trump nearing its crescendo in a new york courtroom tonight, with the muchanticipated testimony of former trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen. Cohen describing his role in trying to bury Stormy Danielss claim of a sexual liaison with mr. Trump and his concerns about its impact on the 2016 election, driving cohen to pay hush money to daniels that he says was at mr. Trumps direction. He wasnt thinking about melania. This was all about the campaign, cohen testified. The former president denies he had sex with daniels and has pleaded not guilty to falsifying Business Records to disguise the Hush Money Payments. Cohen facing a second day on the stand tomorrow, later followed by what could be a contentious crossexamination by the defense. Laura jarrett breaks down the day in court. Reporter tonight a highly anticipated courtroom showdown. Prosecutors star witness Michael Cohen, former president trumps selfdescribed fixer turned fierce critic, telling the jury mr. Trump directed him to pay off an Adult Film Actress days before the 2016 election to protect his campaign. Is Michael Cohen a liar . Reporter everything required mr. Trumps signoff, cohen told the jury, testifying mr. Trump was furious in 2016 when he learned Stormy Daniels was still trying to sell her story of sex with the former president , telling cohen, i thought you had this under control. Cohen explaining hed managed to suppress daniels story years before but it resurfaced on the heels of the access Hollywood Tape and cohen feared if daniels went public it would be, quote, catastrophic for the campaign, saying mr. Trump told him just take care of it. This is a disaster. Women are going to hate me. Guys may think this is cool but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign. Cohen said mr. Trump told him he met daniels at a golf tournament, describing her as a beautiful woman. Mr. Trump has denied he had sex with daniels and pleaded not guilty to charges of illegally disguising his Reimbursement Checks to cohen as Legal Expenses on his internal books and records. The defense team arguing there was no crime, that cohen was his personal attorney at the time, handling a personal matter to avoid his family embarrassment. Former trump aide hope hicks previously testifying mr. Trump did not want newspapers with details of a Hush Money Payment to a different woman delivered to their home. But cohen suggesting today that mr. Trump wasnt concerned about melanias reaction. He wasnt thinking about melania. This was all about the campaign. Cohen adding mr. Trump told him, i want you to just push it out as long as you can. Just get past the election. Because if i win it will have no relevance and if i lose i dont even care. Cohen testifying that he told mr. Trump he would pay daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement, opting to use money from a home equity line of credit, and mr. Trump was appreciative, saying words to the effect of dont worry, youll get the money back. The state trying to show the daniels payoff wasnt isolated but part of a pattern. Cohen admitting he secretly recorded his client while they discussed repaying the national enquirer, which purchased the story of another woman who said she had sex with mr. Trump, which he denies. When it comes time for the financing, which will be wait a sec, what financing . Well, ill have to pay him something. Pay with cash. Reporter prosecutors have presented no direct evidence mr. Trump knew about or told anyone to falsify Business Records. So cohens credibility here, key. Telling jurors today mr. Trump never used email because too many people have gone down once prosecutors obtain their emails. Cohen now a disbarred attorney who has been convicted for lying under oath. The defense argues hes out for revenge after he didnt get a job in the white house. Today cohen testifying he would have liked to have been considered for white house Chief Of Staff for his, quote, ego. Theres no fraud here. Theres no crime here. This is four weeks of keeping me from not campaigning. Laura, Michael Cohens testimony seemed to be moving pretty quickly today. Reporter lester, so rapidly in fact that we could see his crossexamination as soon as tomorrow. We saw the prosecution trying to get ahead of some of the Defense Lines of questioning, trying to prerebut them, if you will. But no doubt this crossexamination will be brutal as the defense team is likely to focus on his past convictions for lying and credibility issues, trying to argue that Michael Cohen is essentially using his attacks on the former boss as his meal ticket. Lester . Laura jarrett in lower manhattan. Thank you. In the middle east israel is now battling hamas militants that have regrouped in northern gaza. Meanwhile, 360,000 people have fled rafah in the south. Richard engel is in israel with more. Reporter israel thought it had defeated hamas in northern gaza. But the militants have regrouped and are now fighting from the rubble. Once the government of gaza that triggered a war when they stormed into israel and carried out a massacre, hamas has become an insurgency. And as the United States learned in afghanistan and iraq, insurgencies can last for decades. In Southern Gaza israel is expanding Military Operations in rafah despite warnings from President Biden about the risk to civilians. Israel claims hamas has four battalions of fighters in rafah and has ordered the evacuation of large sections of the city. The u. N. Says around 360,000 people have already left. For most its not the first time. Thats the sixth time i evacuate from anywhere i was in. I feel so lost. Reporter this time israel is telling palestinians to go to an area on the mediterranean coast. But palestinians say theres nothing for them there. No tents, no food, no future. Are we going to like keep living in this ongoing loop . Reporter our crew found these men packing up pieces of their own bombedout home so they could build shelters with the debris. While hamas fighters are nowhere to be seen. They brought this war to gaza but now provide no services and no help. Theyve gone underground, ready for a long insurgency. Apparently at any cost. Richard, what does it say that hamas has been able to regroup in the north . Reporter well, it raises very troubling questions about israels current strategy. It shows that hamas has been able to rearm its fighters, find new fighting positions, and could maintain a Guerrilla War for a very long time. Lester . Richard engel, thanks. In louisiana dramatic moments when parishioners acted fast to stop a teen with a gun from entering a church with 60 children inside. Heres blayne alexander. Reporter it was the most sacred of spaces at st. Mary magadelene church in abbeville, louisiana 60 children were poised to take their first communion saturday. That this sacrament reporter when suddenly a man approaches the priest, whispering in his ear. Moments later father Nicholas Dupree abruptly stops the service. [ screaming ] as chaos erupts. According to church officials, a suspicious person opened the back door. Members immediately confronted him and led him outside, calling police. Authorities say he was armed with a gun. Inside, the video shows clergy Members Ducking for cover, Altar Servers scrambling to safety as police rush in, guns drawn, checking for any additional threat. Just get a hold of your child. Go slowly. Reporter the suspect was a 16yearold white male, police say, dressed in all black. He was arrested, then taken to a hospital for mental evaluation, charged with terrorizing and two counts of juvenile gun possession. Incredibly, police say, there were no injuries. Hallelujah. Reporter but at todays service the scars were clear. It bears a shocking similarity to yet another close call last week at a pittsburgh church, when a man approached the pulpit and aimed directly at the pastor, who was spared, police say, only when the gun jammed. Back in Louisiana The Church plans to have Law Enforcement stand guard at every Service Going forward. As more houses of worship are forced to mix the power of prayer with the presence of police. Blayne alexander, nbc news. We are watching for more Severe Weather tonight. A brilliant Lightning Strike captured in houston as a very large hail storm pelted parts of texas. Bill karins is here. Bill, were going to see more of that sort of thing tonight . Unfortunately, yeah. The gulf coast cant catch a break. Weve already seen isolated reports of tornadoes. A lot of wind damage, especially in areas of louisiana with this line of storms rolling through. So severe Thunderstorm Watch goes through this evening. Im watching this line of storms that just went through lake charles. 60mileperhour wind gusts, up to 80mileperhour winds are possible. Along Interstate 10 here as it heads toward lafayette well watch and see if that holds together this evening as it approaches baton rouge and the new orleans area. Besides that its been raining so much, so often, it doesnt take much to get flash flooding. We have flash flood warnings out there. 8 Million People impacted. And unfortunately tomorrow were going to do more Severe Weather. But this time in areas of North Florida and southern georgia. All right, bill, thank you. We turn now to the demonstrations on campus. Propalestinian protesters disrupting some commencements this weekend, including at duke, where Jerry Seinfeld was the speaker. Heres stephanie gosk. Reporter a moment to celebrate achievement becoming another chance to protest the war in gaza. After a turbulent spring multiple universities facing disruption at graduation. Including duke. Dozens of students walked out on Jerry Seinfelds commencement address sunday. The comedian was later cheered. [ crowd chanting jerry ] i say use your privilege. I grew up a jewish boy from new york. That is a privilege if you want to be a comedian. Reporter after the initial hamas attack of October 7th Seinfeld posted on instagram, i will always stand with israel and the jewish people, and visited the country back in december to show his support. Duke releasing a statement that says in part, we respect the right of everyone at duke to express their views peacefully, without preventing graduates and their families from celebrating their achievement. In Southern California pomona chose a new location for graduation. Protesters blocked the entrances. Campuses have been dealing with scenes like this since october 7th. We deserve to know what our universitys invested in. For many jewish students on campus we feel unsafe including myself. Reporter in a new survey 67 of students at the countrys top schools say antisemitism is a problem and 38 say they feel unsafe. Now Graduation Ceremonies are flashpoints. With the school year ending its probably the last big audience for the Student Movement to express its opposition to the war in gaza. Reporter nyu Professor Robert cohen studies student activism. What is the challenge for universities going into a new school year next fall . If there is a ceasefire, then i think obviously this will dissipate. If it continues, i think the University Needs to find a way to be able to engage the students rather than kind of exile them. Reporter until then at some schools a difficult year is coming to a difficult close. Stephanie gosk, nbc news. In 60 seconds, the dramatic explosion just carried out to bring parts of the collapsed bridge in baltimore up. Right after this. Will it get worse . How common is it . Who can i talk to . Can this be treated . Stop typing. Start talking to a specialized urologist. Because it could be peyronies disease, or pd. Its a medical condition where there is a curve in the erection, caused by a formation of scar tissue. And an estimated 1 in 10 men may have it. But pd can be treated even without surgery. Say goodbye to searching online. Find a specialized urologist who can diagnose pd and build a Treatment Plan with you. Visit makeapdplan. Com today. Whoa howd you get your teeth so white . You gotta use the right toothpaste dr. C . not all toothpastes whiten the same. Crest 3d white removes 100 more stains for a noticeably whiter smile. New personal best. Crest. A major step in the mission to clear the wreckage of that collapsed bridge in baltimore. Crews conducting a controlled demolition today on a section of the bridge still atop the ship that knocked it down. George solis has late details. Reporter with a reverberating boom, a major section of the collapsed Francis Scott key bridge disappearing in a cloud of smoke. The controlled demolition comes after weeks of careful planning to remove a massive piece of the bridge thats sitting on top of the 984foot container ship. Captain, did everything go according to plan . Yes. So we did the blast. The section separated. So it went according to plan. Reporter Demolition Crews made small cuts into the steel, then placed small charges to ensure accuracy of the blasts. The dali has been sitting essentially frozen in time since it lost power and rammed the bridge on march 26th. New camera footage obtained by nbc news shows the shock of First Responders that night. Like there is no bridge. Reporter six people were killed, all latino immigrants who were Filling Potholes when the collision occurred. The body of the final victim was found just last week. The ships 21member crew has remained on board and sheltered in place during the controlled explosion. Federal investigators are still looking into how and why the ship lost power. But tonight the governor says the Port Of Baltimore is close to fully reopening, vowing to rebuild. Rebuilding the Francis Scott key bridge is not about nostalgia. Its about necessity. This is a critical artery. Reporter the dali will be refloated and moved back to the Port Of Baltimore within a few days. Now, the goal is to fully reopen the channel by the end of the month. Lester . Okay, george solis, thank you. Up next, intense wildfires in canada, and the new smoke threat. And the unseen danger. Some firefighters gear has chemicals connected with cancer. Thats next. Im out of breath, and often out of the picture. 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