cbs evening news is next. local ♪ ♪ >> turmoil at some of america's top university. >> safety has to be for all students. all of us. >> palestinian protests spread to other college campuses leading to a rest and safety concerns for jewish students on

the first night of passover. >> any violence will not be tolerated, any property damage will not be tolerated. >> the "cbs evening news" starts now. ♪ ♪ good evening, and thank you for being with us, i am maurice dubois, norah is on assignment, we will get to the protest on college campuses in just a moment but we begin with the first witness taken the stand in the historic criminal trial of a former president of the united states. donald trump, the presumptive republican nominee is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records linked to so-called hush money payments to cover up an alleged affair with an adult porn star. in opening statements, prosecutors accused trump of taking part in a criminal conspiracy to interfere with the 2016 election, but defense attorneys to claim that did nothing wrong and claimed that the prosecution are liars with bias against the former

president. robert costa was inside the courthouse and starts us off tonight. >> it's a very, very sad day in america. >> reporter: former president trump falsely claimed he was the target of election and the parents, the democrats in washington had orchestrated his indictment to keep him off the campaign trail. >> i should be in georgia now, i should be in florida now. >> but prosecutors told the jury that donald trump had forced a scheme to interrupt the 2016 election. pointing to the 2015 meeting as trump and michael cohen and then "national enquirer" publisher david packer where they worked out a plan to conceal public information with former adult film star stormy daniels, all of which trump denies. >> and you had sex with him? >> yes. >> where you physically attracted to him?

>> reporter: cohen admitted paying daniels money to -- prosecutors today called it to the porn star payoff. >> it's k says to bookkeeping, which is a very minor thing. >> reporter: in court his attorney said that trump committed no crime, saying i have a spoiler alert, there's nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. it's called democracy. cbs news legal analyst rikki klieman said that today was one of the most important moments in the criminal trial. >> there are studies that say that 80% of jurors minds are made up at the end of the opening statements. >> reporter: is the prosecution's first witness, and buried brief testimony did not discuss the 2015 2015 meeting h trump and cohen, but acknowledge to pay for storied calling checkbook journalism. instead the courtroom to the was austere and grim with trump mostly mom as he watched the

proceedings, but inside his inner circle there is real fear that this jury could convict h him. maurice. >> and robert costa at the criminal courthouse in lower manhattan, thank you. now to those escalating protests on college campuses across the country. the president of columbia university taking the extraordinary step of moving classes online due to safety concerns for jewish students. the white house condemning the unrest calling it blatantly anti-semitic and dangerous. cbs's meg oliver reports. >> tension and concerns about safety continue to embroil columbia university with classes remote only, some jewish students and faculty save the environment has only escalated. >> the jewish students are petrified to go to campus. >> reporter: for the past six days, hundreds of pro-palestinian demonstrators including jewish students have occupied the school squad demanding the school divest from

companies funding israel. >> antisemitism is a huge problem in the united states, but anti-zionism and anti-semitism are two different things. >> reporter: late this afternoon president biden denounced antisemitism. >> i deny anti-stepanek protest, that's why i have set up a program to deal with that. and also understand those not understanding what is going on and the palestinians. >> reporter: it has spread to multiple universities including the university of michigan, mit, and why you and amber's in a ball stand. 60 people have been arrested at yale since the start of the protest. orthodox jew, the editor in chief of the yale free press says demonstrators surrounded her on campus while she was reporting over the weekend. >> so they started taunting me and giving me their middle finger and yelling in my face, and until one of them waved his palestinian flag in my face and then jabbed me with it in my

left eye. >> reporter: with passover starting at sundown, columbia has more than doubled its security presence, the nypd has also stepped up controls outside and for the foreseeable future only students and staff are allowed on campus after scanning their ids. maurice. >> maurice: meg oliver, thank you. moving overseas, the head of israel's military intelligence resigned over the security failures that led to the hamas attack last fall. it is the first high-level resignation stemming from the deadliest attack in that country's history, meantime israeli officials are criticizing an expected move by the biden administration to blacklist one of its army battalions. here cbs's debora patta. >> reporter: the u.s. is investigating the battalion made up of ultra-older docs soldiers who are accused of human rights violations in the israeli occupied waistband. after 87-year-old american

palestinian omar assad was found dead after being detained at a checkpoint by israeli soldiers. mahmud abu a dude was also arrested, he said he found him face down in the dirt blindfolded. they called for help from the village dr islam abu-zaher, eventually presuming him dead. >> he cannot walk probably come he did not make any kind of risk for soldiers. >> reporter: the possibility of blacklisting has intensified its guarantee of the israeli military since october 7, 5 million palestinians have been killed in the west bank. this i-d-f footage shows a counterterrorism operation that killed 14 militants. after the idf pulled out, this is what they left in their wake. this massive destruction, and

residents here say they have seen nothing like this before. israeli bulldozers smash their homes and shops, tour of roads, severed pumps and power lines cutting cutting off electricity and water. a decision on the netsvah yehuda battalion is expected this week, secretary blinken denied double standards when it came to israel and said that there were ongoing investigations into allegations of human rights violations in gaza. maurice. it's been on many things to debora patta and eastern jerusalem become night. there is a proposed new gun law and tenancy that has both people fired up and speaking out. cbs's mark strassmann reports from nashville on the controversial plan to allow teachers to carry guns. >> this is what democracy looks like! >> reporter: tennessee schoolers skip school to take

protest at a proposed gun law they say takes aim at them that would allow teachers to carry guns in the classroom. >> the future of our state is at stake. >> reporter: they have the poses, but they don't have the votes. earlier this month, tennessee state senate approved a bill allowing teachers and school staff to carry handguns. to reporters it's a deterrent. >> we are not trained astute student, but protect them from an active shooter. >> reporter: it took a dramatic turn when london lamar spoke out while cradling her eight-month son. >> i'm mad because this puts my child at risk. >> reporter: there are prohibited laws from carrying guns, but they come in a city still reeling from last year's horrific mass shooting at the covenant school. three students and three staff members were killed. it ignited calls for the reform of state gun laws, but opponents say, not with this law. you feel that students are at

risk with this bill? >> absolutely, absolutely. we are putting a job on the teacher that they should never have. >> reporter: but tennessee's republican lawmakers are sticking to their guns. >> where they may only have two deputies on shift, this bill tries to fix that problem and protect children. >> reporter: if the bill passes, the republican super majority in the house, tennessee's governor seems poised to sign it. maurice. >> maurice: intensity on both sides, mark strassmann, thank you. now to a supreme court case that could have an impact on more than the 650,000 americans experiencing homelessness. the justices heard arguments today on anti-camping laws and grants pass oregon to make it illegal to sleep in public places. the court's liberal justices suggested the city is criminalizing homelessness while several conservative justices suggested lawmakers should be the one setting the rules.

the decision is expected in june. tonight a cbs news investigation into the dark and dangerous side of online dating. this week we will look at the threat affecting tens of thousands of americans largely in secret. cbs's jim axelrod meets a daughter whose mother was ensnared in a romance scam that cost are far more than her life savings. >> reporter: gao is a daughter of searching for answers. >> i have an appointment with detective jeff phillips. >> reporter: with what happened to her mother laura kowal, 57-year-old retired health care executive who was widowed in 2015 and move from chicago to the small town of galena, illinois, to start her next chapter. >> i love you, honey. >> she had all of these buckets full in her life, but there was one bucket that was missing of having a relationship. relationship. >> reporter: so laura like three in ten adults have done turn to online dating, creating

a profile on match.com. >> reporter: it felt safer to do it that way then to go to a bar and meet somebody. >> reporter: online dating felt safer. >> yes. >> reporter: she match with someone who called themselves frank borg and chose these two pictures stolen from a chill leyland doctor. he claimed to be a swedish businessman. >> clearly my mom felt the emotions of feeling loved and i know that there are a lot of people out there, saying, how could that happen? >> reporter: 64,000 americans were taken by more than a billion dollars by romance scammers last year. more than double the $500 million it was just four years before. >> reporter: i'm calling in regards to your mother. >> reporter: when kelly got a call from a federal investigator -- >> who may have been involved in a fraud scam -- >> kelly, deputy sheriff, it's nice to meet you.

>> she raced to her mom's home only to find a mt. >> you must've been freaking out. >> i was. >> age search for a missing woman was seen on friday. >> reporter: turning the house upside down, kelly found emails detailing a fraudulent investment scheme involving a fake company called guice investments. cbs news reviewed hundreds of emails from the scammer laying out an elaborate scheme over the course of nearly two years, frank convinced laura to send him a million and a half dollars, but goose investments was not real. frank was not real. and buried in a file cabinet was this note from kelly's mom. i've been living a double life, yes, it involves frank, i tried to stop this, but i knew i would end up dead. laura's body was found in the mississippi river more than 200 miles away, somewhere kelly said she had never been, the medical examiner called it death

by drowning, never ruling homicide or suicide. >> i had a lot of questions for the sheriff's department down in missouri that was responsible for the recovery of her body. >> reporter: dissatisfied with the response from law enforcement, kelly began investigating herself, tracing the possible routes of where her mother's car was seen on surveillance tape. >> reporter: the service station here captured your mom's vehicle. >> yes. >> reporter: getting answers is now kelly's life's work. >> reporter: it was not until i learned that i was going to be a mom myself, and have a daughter that i knew that one day she would know the full story of how her grandmother passed away and ultimately, her grandmother story could save someone's life. >> maurice: so many questions, as kelly asks, how could her smart successful mom be scammed

out of her life savings, tomorrow on cbs mornings from what authorities believe was frank's home base, we will meet a former romance scammer and west africa. and tomorrow night on the cbs evening news we will have a sinister twist when the victim actually becomes complicit in the crime. >> maurice: so many questions is right, looking forward to it, jim, thank you. a woman facing possible criminal charges after a horrific chat don't crash into a child's birthday party. we will have the details next. looking for a smarter way to mop?

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>> maurice: tonight officials in michigan are weighing charges against a 66-year-old woman suspected of driving drunk and crashing an suv into a building where child's birthday party was being held. an 8-year-old girl and her 5-year-old brother were pronounced dead at the scene on saturday. a gofundme page for the family says her older brother and mother were among the 15 people injured. three months before the summer's olympics, their accusations have a chinese doping scandal cover-up, the world doping anti-agency confirming reports that 23 chinese swimmers have tested positive for a ban heart medication ahead of the 2021 olympics in tokyo where the agency accepted the findings of chinese officials that the symptoms -- samples have been contaminated, china won three metals at the 21 games and will be allowed to participate in paris this summer. on this earth day we look at how sharks play a vital role in the

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>> maurice: on this earth day, we take a look at the health of our oceans which is key to life on land. and tonight's climate watch, cbs's ben tracy takes us to the bahamas to show us why protecting the predators of the sea is essential to protecting the planet. >> reporter: here in the bahamas, reef sharks are one of the most common charts we see. close to danger reef in the bahamas to see this. waters teeming with reef sharks, as top predators, they are critical to keeping the balance of fish populations in check so coral reef ecosystems can th thrive. they are kind of the kings of the coral reef, right? they are keeping the reef and a nice harmonious balance. fields is part of a census called for in print. in 2018 i found the five main species have reef charts, had to climb 63% and were extinct on 20% of the reef so largely due to overfishing.

but there are thriving here and what is called a marine protected area or mpa. >> you can come in here and fish for anything. >> absolutely, complete protection. let's check the camera. >> reporter: we watched as fields deployed an underwater camera to count the sharks, her data as a part of a new study to see if mpas help threaten marine life cover. there are more than 18,000 mpas covering a percent of the world's oceans. part of a united nations effort to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030. so we're on our way to look for people fishing. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: but enforcement is key. we rode along with the royal bahamas defense force on patrol. >> stop! >> reporter: it has seized dozens of boats. >> 36 men aboard. >> reporter: finding and jailing fishermen and taking

away their catch. >> we have been having huge success doing this. >> reporter: when it comes to enforcement, you guys are the muscle? >> yes. >> reporter: they take into the bahamians waters? part of the prince of the operation and a skylight, a system that helps track the bad guys using ai and satellite tracking data. so we are using this technology to focus the patrol efforts?% >> it something that i think we'll have a big impact on shark conservation in the future. >> reporter: hopefully helping the kings of the reef rebound. ben tracy, cbs news, the bah bahamas. >> maurice: extraordinary creatures. "heart of america" is next with the incredible courage of good samaritans coming to a rescue in a fiery car crash. ... of doug and limu. we help people customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual. anyway, we got a bit of a situation here. ♪♪ uh-huh. uh-huh. ♪♪

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explains why he did not hesitate to help. >> that could be me one day, you know? what would happen if i was in that situation then that my life is on the hands of a stranger that i don't even no? >> maurice: miraculously no injuries were reported, all thanks to kadir tolla and all of those good samaritans. tonight's "heart of america." outstanding job. and that is tonight's "cbs evening news." for norah o'donnell, i am maurice dubois. have a good night. we will see you back here >> announcer: the mauling... >> her dog began attacking my dog. >> it's not true. >> excuse me. i'm speaking. thank you. >> judge judy: [ raps desk ] i don't want to hear you. >> announcer:...the emotion... >> her dog had my dog in the air and was violently shaking her. [ voice breaking ] it was the most traumatic thing i've ever seen. >> announcer:...the warning signs... >> judge judy: your dog has had a history of violent behavior, which mandated your dog to be muzzled at all times. >> announcer: "judge judy." you are about to enter

the courtroom of you are about to enter the courtroom of judge judith sheindlin. captions paid for by cbs television distribution chyloe frey is suing fellow dog owner evelyn homsi for vet bills and medical bills and punitive damages for filing a false police report. >> byrd: order! all rise! this is case number 301 on the calendar in the matter of frey vs. homsi. >> judge judy: thank you. >> byrd: you're welcome, judge. parties have been sworn in. you may be seated. gentlemen, have a seat, please. >> judge judy: ms. frey, it is your claim that the defendant's dog injured both you and your dog. the defendant's response indicates that the incident was your fault. you didn't have control over your dog. and she's countersuing for harassment, claiming that after this incident, you did in fact harass her. ms. homsi, on the date of this incident, which was the 25th of july of this year, what were you doing in the animal control clinic? >> i was taking my dog, roscoe,