and this is new video of a rescue mission in the north bay. an injured tree trimmer was hoisted up to safety by a helicopter near santa rosa. this was in the area of hood mountain. a firefighter climbed down the helicopter and put the person in a basket stretcher. both lifted up by rope. the victim was lowered down where an ambulance was waiting. all ♪ ♪ >> maurice: turmoil at some of america's top universities. >> safety has to be for all students. all of us. >> stop this! >> maurice: propalestinian protests spread to other campuses, leading to arrests and safety concerns for jewish students on the first night of passover. >> any kind of violence is

not going to be tolerated. any property damage will not be tolerated. >> maurice: the "cbs evening news" starts now. ♪ ♪ good evening, and thank you for being with us. i am maurice dubois. nor is on assignment. we will get to those growing clashes and protest on college campuses in just a moment, but we begin tonight 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 presidential 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 accuse trump of taking part of a criminal conspiracy to interfere with the 2016 election. but defense attorneys claim trump did nothing wrong and argued that some of the prosecution witnesses are liars and biased against the former president.

cbs's robert costa was inside the courthouse, and starts us off tonight. >> it's a very, very sad day in america. >> reporter: former president trump today, falsely claimed he was the target of election interference that democrats in washington had orchestrated his indictment to keep him off the campaign trail. >> i should be in georgia right now. i should be in florida now. >> reporter: but prosecutors told the jury, trump had orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 election. the prosecution pointed to a 2015 trump tower meeting among trump, michael cohen, and david where they allegedly worked out a plan to conceal negative information to trump's alleged sexual encounter with former adult film star stormy daniels, all of which trump denies. >> and you had sex with him? >> yes. >> you were 27, he was 60, were you physically attracted to him? >> no. >> reporter: cohen admitted to paying daniel's money to cooperate her story, days before the election, trump who reinbursed cohen sighting as

legal fields, calling at the porn star payoff. >> it's a bookkeeping issue, which is a very minor thing. >> reporter: in court, his attorney todd bland said trump committed no crime. i have a spoiler alert, there is nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. it's called democracy. cbs news legal analyst rikki klieman said today was one of the most important moments in a criminal trial. >> there are studies that say that 80% of jurors minds are made up at the end of the opening statements. >> reporter: as a prosecution's first witness, and brief testimony did not discuss the 2015 meeting with trump and cohen, but acknowledge the employer paid for stories calling a checkbook journalism. inside the courtroom the scene was austere and grim, with trump mostly mum as he watched the proceedings, but inside the inner circle tonight there is real fear that this jury could

convict him. maurice. >> maurice: robert costa at the criminal courthouse in lower manhattan tonight, thank you. now to those escalating protests on college campuses across the country. the president of columbia university in new york taking the extraordinary step of moving classes online due to safety concerns were jewish students. the white house condemning the unrest calling it "blatantly anti-semitic and dangerous." cbs's meg oliver reports. >> reporter: tension and concerns about safety continue to embroil columbia university.d concerns about safety continue jewish students and faculty essay the environment has only escalated. >> jewish students are petrified to go into campus. >> reporter: for the past six days, hundreds of pro-palestinian demonstrators including jewish students have occupied the school's quad, 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 very

different things. >> reporter: late this afternoon president biden denounced antisemitism. >> i condemn any anti-semitic protest, that's why set up a program to deal with it. i also condemn those who don't understand what is going on with the palestinians. >> reporter: the protests have spread to multiple universities including the university of michigan, mit, nyu, and emerson college in boston. about 60 people have been arrested at yale since the start of the protests. orthodox jew the sahar tartak, the editor in chief of the yale free press says that demonstrators surrounded her on campus while she was reporting over the weekend. >> 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 jabbed me in my left eye.

>> reporter: colombia has more than doubled its security presence. the nypd has stepped up patrols 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 today over the security failures that led to the hamas attack last fall. it's a first high-level resignation stemming from the deadliest attack in that country's history, meantime israeli officials are criticizing and expect to move by the biden administration to blacklist one of its army battalions. here's cbs's debora patta. >> reporter: the u.s. is investigating netsvah yehuda battalion made of ultra-orthodox soldiers who are accused of human rights violations in the israeli occupied west bank. the program began after 78-year-old american palestinian omar assad was found dead after being detained at a checkpoint by israeli soldiers.

mahmdou abu eboud was also arrested shortly after assad. he told us he saw him lying face down in the dirt to bound and blindfolded. after the soldiers left, they ran to call from help from the village dr islam abu-zaher, who tried to revive assad, eventually calling him dead. >> he could not walk it, he probably did not make any kind of risk for soldiers. >> reporter: the possibility of blacklisting a unit has gained scrutiny from the israeli military. since october 7, 500 palestinians have been killed in the west bank. this footage shows a counterterrorism operation in tulkarm over the weekend that killed 14 militants. after the idf pulled out, this is what they left in their wake, this massive destruction, and to

residents here say they have seen nothing like this before. israeli bulldozers smashed through homes and shops, tore up roads and power lines, cutting off electricity and water. a decision on the netsvah yehuda battalion is expected this week. today secretary of state antony blinken denied the u.s. had double standards when it came to israel and said they were also ongoing investigations into allegations of human rights violations in gaza. maurice. >> maurice: many thanks, debora patta, in east jerusalem tonight. back here at home there is a proposed new gun law and tennessee that his people on both sides of the issue fired up and speaking out. cbs's mark strassmann reports tonight from nashville on the controversial plan to allow teachers to carry guns. >> this is what democracy looks like! >> reporter: tennessee high schoolers skipped school to protest his taking aim at a proposed gun law they say takes aim at them. it would allow teachers to carry guns in the classroom. >> the future of our state

is at stake. >> reporter: they have the voices, but they don't have the votes. earlier this month, tennessee state senate approved a bill allowing teachers and school staff to carry concealed handguns. to supporters, it's a deterrent. >> we are not trying to shoot a student, but protect a student from an active shooter. >> reporter: the debate took a dramatic turn when state senator london lamar spoke out while cradling her 8-month-old son. >> i am mad because this bill puts my child at risk. >> reporter: 16 states and the district of columbia have laws that prohibit teachers from carrying guns, but these protests come in a city still reeling from last year's horrific 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 this law. and 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. >> there are some counties 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 in nashville tonight, thank you. now to a major supreme court case that could have an impact on more than the 650,000 americans experiencing homelessness. the justices heard arguments under a set of anti-camping laws in grants pass, oregon, that 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 take a 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 her far more than her life savings. >> reporter: kelly gowe is a daughter searching for answers. >> i have an appointment with appointment with detective jeff phillips. >> reporter: about what happened to her mother. >> abcd -- >> reporter: laura kowal, a 56-year-old retired health care executive, who was widowed in 2016 a 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 missing of having a relationship. >> reporter: so laura, like three in ten adults have done turn to online dating, creating a profile on match.com. >> it felt safer to do it that

way than to go to a bar and meet somebody. >> reporter: online dating felt safer? >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: she match with someone who called himself frank borg and chose these two pictures stolen from a chilean doctor. frank claimed to be a swedish businessman. >> clearly my mom felt the emotions of feeling loved, and i know that there are people saying how could that happen? >> reporter: 64,000 americans were taken for more than a billion dollars by romance scammers last year. more than doubled the $500 million it was just four years before. >> 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 from the sheriff's office, nice to meet you. >> reporter: she raced to her mom's home, only to find it empty. you must've been freaking out?

>> i was. >> search for a missing woman. laura kowal was last seen on friday. >> reporter: turning 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 half dollars. but guice investments was not real. frank was not real. and buried in a file cabinet with 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 says she had never been. the medical examiner called it death by drowning, never a

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 where her mother's car was seen on surveillance tape. this service station here or captured your mother's vehicle. >> yep. >> reporter: getting answers is now kelly's life's work. >> it wasn't 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's story can save someone's life. >> reporter: 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 in 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 crash into a child's birthday party. we will have the details next. ♪ ♪ e. >> maurice: so many questions is right. looking forward to it, jim. thank you. a woman facing possible criminal charges after a horrific 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 the 66-year-old woman suspected of driving drunk and crashing an suv into a building where a 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 the older brother and mother were among the 15 people injured. three months before this summer's olympics, they're accusations of a chinese doping scandal cover-up. the world anti-doping agency confirming reports that 23 chinese swimmers have tested positive for a banned heart medication ahead of the 2021 olympics in tokyo, where the agency accepted the findings have chinese officials of the samples have been contaminated. china won three gold medals 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 health of the planet. that's next.

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oceans which is key to life on land. in tonight's climate watch, ben tracy takes us to the bahamas to show us why protecting the predators of the sea is essential to protecting the planet. >> here in the bahamas, reef sharks are one of the most common sharks we see. >> reporter: candace fields took us to danger reef in the bahamas to show us this. as top predators they are critical to keeping the balance of fish populations in check so coral reef ecosystems can drive. >> they are kind of the kings of the coral reef, right? they are keeping the reef and a nice harmonious balance. >> reporter: fields is a part of a global shark census called fin print. in 2018, t found the five main species every sharks had to declined 63% and were functionally extinct on 20% of the reefs largely due to overfishing.

but they are thriving here and what is called a marine protected area or mpa. you can't come in here and fish for anything, take a thing? >> absolutely, it's 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 sodality to see if mpa's help threatens marine life recovered. there are more than 18,000 mpa's covering about 8% of the world's oceans, part of a united nations effort to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030. so we are on our way to look for people fishing. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: but enforcement is key. we rode along with the bahamas defense force on patrol. it has seized dozens of boats. >> 36 persons aboard. >> reporter: finding and jailing fishermen and confiscating their illegal catch. >> we chase them away or we

catch them and we have had huge success doing this. >> reporter: so when it comes to reinforcement, you guys are the muscle? these are competent to bahamian waters? part of the brains of the operation escalate, a system that tracks the bad guys using a mix of ai and satellite vessel tracking data. we are using this technology to help focus those 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 bahamas. >> maurice: extraordinary creatures. "heart of america" is next with the incredible courage of good samaritans coming to the rescue in a fiery car crash. ♪ ♪ 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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one of those heroes kadir tolla explains why he did not hesitate to help. >> it could be me one day, you know? what would happen if i was in that situation and my life is in the hands of strangers that i don't even no? >> maurice: miraculously, no injuries were reported all things to kadir tolla and all of those good samaritans, tonight's "heart of america." outstanding job. and that is t i'm juliette goodrich, those he served or those that helped carry out his vision. reverend cecil williams touched so many lives in san francisco and beyond >> i was honored just to be a part of what he started and continued to do. >> the co-founder of glide died today. how he is being remembered tonight. all eyes on the supreme court case that could give cities the green light to remove homeless encampments, those that live on the streets

say they are being unfairly blamed. >> people are accomplice conceived into thinking blight is us. like we want to live like there. that is not the case. >> reporter: and, this earth day turning trash into art. meet the local artist with an important message. >> i want people to realize that they have a social, environmental and personal responsibility to take care of our earth. we only have one. this is cbs news bay area with juliette goodrich. >> good evening. we begin with breaking news. heartbreaking news, a san francisco leader, known for his compassion and dedication to the city's underserved community has died. reverend cecil williams was the co-founder of glide memorial church. he died peacefully surrounded by his family and friends in his san francisco home