Michael Cohen could face cross-examination today in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial. A Jan. 6 rioter and a Capitol Police officer are on the ballot today. And a woman is working to regain movement after she said a punk rocker’s stage dive left her seriously injured.
Here’s what to know today.
Michael Cohen returns to the stand to detail hush money payment
Donald Trump’s longtime fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen is back on the witness stand today in the former president’s hush money trial. Cohen is expected to delve into payments he said he received from Trump in return for hush money paid to adult film actor Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign.
At the heart of yesterday’s testimony was a running theme: that Trump was personally aware of every step in the payments both to Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal — an allegation that prosecutors had failed thus far to show. Cohen told the jury that Trump directly authorized him to pay Daniels $130,000. Cohen said that he then paid Daniels with his own money, and that Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO of the Trump Organization, devised a plan to form an outside shell company to repay Cohen in installments that were listed as being for legal services provided under a retainer agreement. Cohen testified that no such retainer existed. Read more highlights from Day 16 of the trial.
The defense, for weeks, has sought to puncture Cohen’s credibility with the jury, and witnesses have painted him as hot-headed, self-interested and untrustworthy. Expect more of that when cross-examination begins, as early as today. Here’s what else is in store today.
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Troop movement seen by U.S. suggests Israel could expand Rafah operations soon
The U.S. has seen recent troop movement on the edge of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, that indicates Israel could expand operations there soon, according to two officials. However, it is unclear whether Israel has made a final decision about when and how to proceed. It is also unclear whether a larger incursion into Rafah would be days or weeks away.
The U.S. continues to urge Israel not to go “smashing into” Rafah in a major offensive and to ensure appropriate humanitarian precautions, the second official said. Here’s what else we know.
Jan. 6, Senate matchups and party fights: What to watch in tonight’s primaries
Voters head to the polls in four states today for primaries that will set up key Senate races and settle other intraparty battles, including a race that features a Jan. 6 Capitol rioter and another featuring a police officer who battled the rioters that day. Maryland, West Virginia and Nebraska are holding primaries, and North Carolina is holding runoffs for races in which candidates didn’t win a majority of the vote in its March primaries.
Trump’s endorsement is on the line in West Virginia, where he shaped the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. And Trump is sure to notch two endorsement wins in North Carolina, where two of his preferred House candidates are the only ones left standing.
On the ballot tonight is a familiar face for those who watched the testimony during the House’s investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol: former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who is running in Maryland’s 3rd District. A Jan. 6th rioter, who pleaded guilty to a felony count of civil disorder, is posing a far-right challenge to congresswoman Carol Miller from West Virginia.
Polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET in West Virginia and North Carolina, 8 p.m. ET in Maryland and 9 p.m. ET in Nebraska. Here are four things to watch.
Caitlin Clark ahead of her WNBA debut: ‘Soak in the moment’
All eyes will be on Caitlin Clark this evening when the biggest star of women’s basketball makes her pro debut. Clark’s Indiana Fever takes on the Connecticut Sun, where a sold-out crowd (and a national television audience) will witness the start of a new era for women’s sports. No women’s basketball player had previously received the kind of attention and adulation as Clark, the two-time national player of the year out of Iowa and college basketball’s all-time leading scorer.
“This is what you’ve worked for and dreamed of, and now you get to put your jersey on for the first time and go out there and play. More than anything, just soak in the moment,” Clark told members of the media over the weekend.
The WNBA is hopeful that Clark’s star appeal will translate to the pros, and it seems some changes are already afoot. For the first time (and not so coincidentally), women’s teams will fly charter for all games. And Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league is eyeing a monster TV deal next year.
On the eve of Clark’s pro debut, Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder announced her retirement after 24 years leading the Hawkeyes.
Russian political shake-up hints at Putin’s true focus
The removal of Sergei Shoigu as Russia’s defense minister is the most dramatic shake-up of the country’s military leadership since the war with Ukraine began more than two years ago. And, according to observers of the Kremlin, it shows that President Vladimir Putin is ready for a long fight with Ukraine and its Western allies.
Shoigu isn’t gone completely. He has been appointed secretary of Russia’s national security council, replacing another Putin ally who will be appointed to a new job that has yet to be announced. (Putin rarely fires people in his inner circle outright.) Replacing Shoigu will be 65-year-old Andrei Belousov, a civilian economist whose “unexpected but logical” appointment could offer insight into Putin’s war plans. With the war in its third year, the Kremlin needs to fully militarize not just Russian society, but also the country’s economy, analysts said.
Orcas sink yacht off Spain’s coast
An unknown number of orcas have sunk a yacht after ramming it in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain’s maritime rescue service said yesterday, a new attack in what has become a trend in the past four years. The vessel, Alboran Cognac, which measured 49 feet in length and was carrying two people, encountered the highly social apex predators, also known as killer whales, on Sunday, the service said.
Those on board reported feeling sudden blows to the hull and rudder before water started seeping into the ship. After they alerted the rescue services, a nearby oil tanker took them onboard and transported them to Gibraltar.
The yacht was left adrift and eventually sank. The incident is the latest example of recurring orca rammings around the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Europe from Africa, and off the Atlantic coast of Portugal and northwestern Spain.
Woman recalls stage dive that left her severely injured
A 24-year-old woman is working to regain function in her fingers and toes after a singer’s stage dive at a punk rock concert left her severely injured. In an exclusive interview, Bird Piché detailed what she felt as Trophy Eyes frontman John Floreani leaped backward into the audience at the April 30 show — and onto Piché. “It was like his body and my neck,” she said. Her family said she was paralyzed when she went to the hospital but has since regained basic movements of her arms and legs. “I have a long road ahead, but I’m very optimistic right now,” Piché said. Read the full story here.
Politics in Brief
Tax hikes for China: President Joe Biden will announce today that his administration is raising tariffs on $18 billion of Chinese exports, including electric vehicles, a move that escalates what economists see as a volatile trade war in the U.S. and China’s race for supremacy.
Abortion rights: The Arizona Supreme Court granted a request to delay enforcement of the state’s 1864 near-total abortion ban, narrowing the window that the law could be enforced, if at all.
‘Forever chemicals’ vote: San Francisco is poised to vote tonight to become the first U.S. city to ban so-called “forever chemicals” in protective equipment for firefighters. Nearly all firefighters’ uniforms contain these chemicals despite their links to health problems.
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Staff Pick: Instead of poker, try ‘throwing eggs’
With American investment receding amid U.S.-China tensions, Chinese financial professionals are looking closer to home for business opportunities — and learning a homegrown card game favored by local government officials who hold the purse strings. Guandan, a four-person game that translates to “throwing eggs,” has eclipsed Texas Hold’em as the must-have social skill for those looking to close deals. NBC Asia Desk fellow Larissa Gao and intern Cheng Cheng explore the rise of the game.
— Jennifer Jett, Asia digital editor
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