>> norah: the "cbs evening news" starts now. ♪ ♪ tonight, a new york jury just hours from getting the historic case of the state of new york versus donald j. trump. good evening. i am norah o'donnell, and thank you for being with us. lawyers just wrapped up closing arguments summarizing the six-week trial after more than 20 witnesses and hundreds of pieces of evidence. prosecutors are trying to prove two things beyond a reasonable doubt. that trump falsified business records tied to payments of stormy daniels, and that those payments were made to cover up another crime conspiracy to violate state election laws. now donald trump's lawyers had their turn earlier attacking the evidence and witnesses especially former trump's fixer michael cohen telling the jury that he is the mvp of liars. cbs's robert costa was inside the courthouse for all the day's highlights. >> reporter: allies say donald trump arrived confident in court this morning. >> this is a very dangerous day for america. >> reporter: flanked by several members of his family. today they heard prosecutors outline how trump working with michael cohen and former "national enquirer" publisher david pecker engaged in an alleged conspiracy and cover-up. bearing scandalous stories while trump ran for president, and falsifying records related to the $130,000 payment to stormy daniels. all of which trump has denied. >> did you know about the $130,000 payment to stormy daniels? >> no. >> reporter: cohen has previously testified that trump directed him. >> mr. trump is a con man. he asked me to pay off an adult film star with whom he had an affair. >> reporter: prosecutor joshua steinglass told jurors that pecker, cohen, and trump met at trump tower to sort out the arrangement, the scheme cooked up at this meeting could very well be what got president trump elected, he said. steinglass called it election fraud, and the "national enquirer" of covert arm of the trump campaign. but during their nearly three hour closing arguments, trump's defense team hammered cohen's credibility, claiming he lied on the stand and calling him the "gloat", the greatest liar of all time. tensions flared with attorney todd blanche telling the jurors you cannot send somebody to prison based upon the words of michael cohen. that enraged judge juan mershon who said a prison sentence is not required in this case even with conviction, and instructed them to disregard the remark. why do you think todd blanche tested the bounds of how far he could go in the closing arguments? >> because he knew we could get away with it. it was a cheap shot. he got away with it. >> reporter: trump's family members attack the proceedings outside the courthouse. >> he is the toughest man i've ever seen. he endures this nonsense every single day. >> reporter: and today for the first time, the biden campaign staged its own event steps from the courthouse door with a warning from actor and trump critic robert deniro. >> this is the time to stop him by voting him out once and for all. >> norah: and robert joins us now. an interesting day inside and outside court. i know when they were making the closing arguments, the biden campaign held that press conference with the high-profile surrogates for the first time. is that a change in strategy, and why? >> reporter: it is. biden campaign officials tell me that they came here to frame trump ahead of the first presidential campaign next month, not just as a defendant but as a threat to american democracy. meanwhile top republicans privately tell me, norah, this is an uncertain political moment for the party. no one knows what is going to happen if the presumptive nominee has a convicted felon by the end of the week. >> norah: it's going to be quite a week. robert costa, thank you. now to some breaking news from youngstown, ohio. investigators are on the scene of a natural gas explosion inside a downtown building that houses a chase bank on the ground floor. cbs's roxana saberi has video of the blast. >> reporter: the explosion shook downtown youngstown this afternoon ripping the facade right off of this building. >> all department ladders required to 47 central square for a gas explosion. >> when some of that started to clear we could see that a lot of the building was not there anymore. >> reporter: the security video shows the explosion blasting debris across the street. eddie beam was working on construction in the building, he said he smelled gas moments earlier and rushed out. >> i'm shook right now. i just keep thinking about this girl's baby that made it out. just like seconds, seconds ago. >> reporter: two people are unaccounted for including one whose wife said he went to work earlier today. >> his coworkers say he came to work, but we can't find them. >> reporter: mahoning county official stated that the cause was a gas explosion. officials tell cbs news it's treating seven patients including one in critical condition. roxana saberi, cbs news. >> norah: there is also some breaking news from new mexico where a fighter jet crash into a hillside and caught fire near an air force base in albuquerque. officials say the pilot of the f-35 stealth fire was able to escape and is taken to the hospital with serious injuries. the cause of the crash tonight is under investigation. palestinian refugees had two different tent camps in rafah came under deadly fire today after sunday's explosion at a third camp intensified international outrage. and media on the ground reports that israeli tanks have rolled into the center of rafah for the first time. for those reasons, the white house today faced some tough questions about what is happening inside gaza. cbs's imtiaz tyab starts us off in east jerusalem with the latest. >> reporter: the grief is unbearable. as palestinians weep for their dead after another israeli strike at this camp in rafah. at least 20 civilians were killed according to the gaza health ministry. a short distance away at a different camp, local journalists report another deadly israeli strike. "all the children in the tents were wounded" he said. "not a single one of them came out in one piece." israel insists it's not behind the attacks on the encampments moving tanks into rafah city center. in the skies above, israeli warplanes dropped bombs on what was gaza's last safe haven. israel's sunday night assault on the camp which killed 45 civilians also triggered a massive fire. a fire which was "unintended" according to an israeli military spokesperson who says that an investigation into the strike was now underway. while at least 1 million palestinians have now flood the violence of rafah in the last few weeks alone. a cbs news team met this family fleeing to a fate unknown. "the attack the other night was the darkest night we have ever seen since the war started" she says. "we have nothing to do a hamas." the mass displacement of civilians has created a humanitarian crisis, the u.n. says it's struggling to contain. as u.s. officials say that $320 million humanitarian pier will be out of commission for at least a week after part of the cause broke away in rough seas. and pressure is only mounting on israel following the deadly strike with leaders demanding a immediate cease-fire and as norway, spain, and ireland saying it was the only route to peace. >> norah: imtiaz tyab thank you. a white house official tell cbs news tonight it has not seen a major ground operation in rafah at this point. standing by israel's right to use targeted air strikes to root out top hamas leaders. cbs's ed o'keefe pressed national security spokesman john kirby on whether the president has a personal limit to the civilian suffering. >> reporter: how many more charred corpses does he have to see before the president considers the change? >> we don't want to see a single more innocent life taken, and i kind of take a little offense at the question. no civilian casualties is the right number of civilian casualties. and this is not something we have turned a blind eye to, nor has it been something we have ignored or neglected to raise on our israeli counterparts, including, ed, this weekend as a result of this particular strike. now, they are investigating it. let's let them investigate it, and see what they come up with. >> norah: here is why this is important. earlier this month, president biden said if israel invaded rafah, the u.s. would stop supplying it with certain offensive weapons. tonight texas is bracing for another round of severe weather as residents clean up from overnight damaging storms, including hurricane-force winds, large hail, and heavy rain. cbs's tom hanson is on the ground speaking with survivors. >> reporter: strong powerful winds near 80 miles per hour slammed into darlene, texas, earlier this morning, damaging homes and uprooting trees, one came crashing into this neighbor's house. >> the next one came down on the house, the ceiling, the rafters, and everything came down in there. there is water running through there like a river. >> reporter: to give you a sense of the powerful winds gusts, 80-mile-per-hour winds picked up this carport and folded it on top of the house. the man inside says he is okay. the storm's power knocked out power to more than a million people across the state, including paige dugan's home where she rode out the storm in the dark. >> we were just sitting there for a while and praying, hoping and praying the windows would not bust. >> reporter: at dallas fort worth airport, security video capture the moment where wind gusts over 75 miles per hour easily spun this empty american airlines 737 away from the gate. there were no reports of injuries. the same storm system demolished this warehouse in terrell. and in hurst, texas, homeowners and drivers were pelted with baseball-sized hail. and heavy rain pummeled this dallas suburb and caused street flooding in houston as severe weather continues to hammer texas. >> looking a lot more storms now than in any other year. so i feel like it's just -- they are getting stronger. >> reporter: and late this afternoon, a construction worker was killed after a building collapsed north of houston. there is another round coming tonight here in dallas. we could see more overnight storms before the sun comes up with the possibility of flash flooding and tornadoes. norah. >> norah: tough for the people of texas. tom hanson, thank you. now to a historic billion-dollar pledge from philanthropists melinda french gates, focusing on women and girls around the world including on reproductive rights right here in the u.s. gates said decades of research shows investing in women and girls helps everyone. and she is concerned her 1-year-old granddaughter may grow up with fewer rights than she has had. here's cbs's jamie yuccas. >> $1 billion is a game changer. >> reporter: the goal is to advance the power of women to look at women, and melinda french gates is putting a billion-dollar gift towards the cause. a longtime advocate for reproductive rights globally is focused on post-dobbs america, which includes helping the organization that represented the clinic in the landmark case. is this a political statement? >> it's a statement about the importance of investing in gender equality. >> reporter: in an essay, french gates writes "about 2% of charitable giving in the u.s. goes to organizations focused on women and girls." adding, "when we allow this cause to go so chronically underfunded, we all pay the cost." is there a lesson when women support other women, stuff gets done? >> yes, yes. >> reporter: two years ago we sat down with her and ai-jen poo, an advocate for domestic caregivers also sharing this new gift. >> it's a really bold investment and it's a testament to the way that melinda and her organization are making a big bet on women. >> reporter: a dozen global leaders including new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern, film maker ava duvernay, and former olympian allyson felix will each get $20 million to aid women's health. a continuation of the mission french gates discussed with cbs's gayle king. >> we should have a society where if for whatever reason wealth is in your hands you put it back in society so that you change and you lift up others. >> reporter she and mackenzie scott, the ex-wife of former amazon ceo jeff bezos' are choosing to give to organizations they trust and allow them to spend those billions how they see fit without intervening. norah. >> norah: jamie yuccas, thank you very much. after the shocking death of a 37-year-old soap opera star in los angeles, a message tonight from his former fiance to his killer. that's next. ♪ ♪ norah. >> norah: jamie yuccas, thank you very much. after the shocking death of a 37-year-old soap opera star in los angeles, a message tonight from his former fiance to his killer. that's next. ♪ ♪ prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, that helps heal your child's skin from within. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes, including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your child's eczema specialist about dupixent. i'm a bird stuck in larry bird's attic. and i'm goin' cuckoo. what the heck. what you got larry? may the best bird win. brick. you may be a legend on the court but you're an amateur up here. heads up lar. so get allstate... save money and be protected from mayhem... ...like me. now you're the bird stuck in the attic. oh no! with chewy, get flea meds delivered before the itching begins or after. but before is definitely better. good job. save 20% on your first pharmacy order and get it delivered right on time. for people who feel limited by the unpredictability of generalized myasthenia gravis and who are anti-achr antibody positive, season to season, ultomiris is continuous symptom control, with improvement in activities of daily living. it is reduced muscle weakness. and ultomiris is the only long-acting gmg treatment with the freedom of just 6 to 7 infusions per year, for a predictable routine i can count on. ultomiris can lower your immune system's ability to fight infections, increasing your chance of serious meningococcal infections, which may become life-threatening or fatal, and other types of infections. complete or update your meningococcal vaccines at least 2 weeks before starting ultomiris. if ultomiris is urgent, you should also receive antibiotics with your vaccines. before starting ultomiris, tell your doctor about all of your medical conditions and medications. ultomiris can cause reactions such as back pain, tiredness, dizziness, limb discomfort, or bad taste. ultomiris is moving forward with continuous symptom control. ask your neurologist about starting ultomiris. >> norah: the ex-fiance of the former soap actor who was shot and killed in los angeles over the weekend posted an emotional message to his murderer. tessa farrell tearfully calling out the gunman who remains on the run. >> if you are watching, i am sorry, but you shot the wrong guy. >> norah: police say johnny wactor was shot while confronting thieves trying to steal his car's cadillac converter for money. tonight a rare apology from the vatican. pope francis saying he's sorry for reportedly using a slur directed at gay men. the italian newspapers say the 87-year-old pope made the disparaging remark last week during a private meeting with italian bishops. a spokesperson said today the pope did not to me and to use a homophobic term and apologizes to all who were offended. next "eye on america" will show you the innovative approach police officers are using to more effectively respond to calls involving someone in mental distress. ♪ ♪ to more effectively respond to calls involving someone in mental distress. ♪ ♪ calls involving someone and mental distress. a once—daily pill. when symptoms tried to take control, i got rapid relief... and reduced fatigue with rinvoq. check. when flares kept trying to slow me down... i got lasting steroid—free remission... with rinvoq. check. and when my doctor saw damage,... rinvoq helped visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. check. for both uc and crohn's: rapid symptom relief... lasting steroid—free remission... and visibly reduced damage. check. check. and check. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin; heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. people 50 and older with a heart disease risk factor have an increased risk of death. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. put uc and crohn's in check... and keep them there with rinvoq. ask your gastroenterologist about rinvoq and learn how abbvie can help you save. i brought in ensure max protein with 30 grams of protein! those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. -ugh. -here, i'll take that. woo hoo! ensure max protein, 30 grams protein, 1 gram sugar, 25 vitamins and minerals. and a new fiber blend with a prebiotic. (♪♪) ♪♪ imagine a future where plastic is not wasted... but instead remade over and over... into the things that keep our food fresher, our families safer, and our planet cleaner. to help us get there, america's plastic makers are investing billions of dollars to create innovative products and new recycling technologies for sustainable change. because when you push for smarter solutions, big things can happen. bipolar 1, i got help to push back. i got help to push back. we got help to push back with lybalvi. once-daily prescription lybalvi is proven to treat manic or mixed episodes of bipolar 1 in adults to help you push back. elderly patients with dementia have increased risk of death or stroke. do not take lybalvi if you are taking opioids or are in opioid withdrawal. the samidorphan in lybalvi can cause severe opioid withdrawal that can lead to hospitalization or increase risk of life- threatening overdose. get emergency help if you have trouble breathing, become very drowsy with slowed or shallow breathing, feel faint, very dizzy, or confused, or have a fever, stiff muscles, rash, swollen glands, or problems with your liver, kidneys, heart, or lungs. other serious side effects may include high cholesterol, weight gain, potentially fatal high blood sugar, uncontrolled body movements which may be permanent, dizziness upon standing, or falls. are you ready? ask your doctor about lybalvi. looking for co-pay savings? text “copay” to 45286. ♪♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> norah: across the country, a quarter of all fatal police shootings involve a person with a serious mental illness. the sheriff's office in cook county, illinois, has created a first of its time code responder program, relying on compassion more than force. and a warning to viewers, this story shows people in crisis and includes thoughts of suicide. here is cbs's ash-har quraishi with tonight's "eye on america." >> this is where the guy was. he was on the outside of the railing. i felt he was ready to jump at any second. >> reporter: seconds count, every word counts when you're trying to talk someone off the literal ledge. >> i feel you, brother. >> i'm going to die. >> no, no. >> reporter: body cam shows these critical moments in february when dave stiak was first to arrive at this bridge outside of chicago. >> my man, give me a hug. my name is dave. i love you. my friends are here, and we are going to help you back over back over. >> reporter: while officers exceeded here, stiak admits police are not best qualified to counsel people in crisis. >> they don't train knew that this is exactly what you do. this is the step a through z about how to talk someone off of a bridge. it's