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 this law. >> and you feel that students are at risk with this bill? >> absolutely. absolutely. we're -- we're putting a job on the teacher that they should never have. >> reporter: but tennessee's republican lawmakers are sticking to their guns. >> there's some counties where they may only have two deputies on a 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. >> intensity on both sides there. mark strassmann in nashville tonight, thank you. now to a major supreme court case that could have an impact on some of the more than 650,000 americans experiencing homelessness. the justices heard arguments today on 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 ones setting the rules. a decision is expected in june. tonight a cbs news investigation into the dark and dangerous side of online dating. this week we'll 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: gao is a daughter searching for answers. >> i have an appointment with detective jeff phillips. >> reporter: about what happened to her mother. a 57-year-old retired health care executive, who was widowed in 2015, and moved from chicago to the small town of ga lena, illinois, to start her next

chapter. >> oh, i love you, honey. >> she had all these buckets full in her life, but there was this one bucket that was missing of having a relationship. >> reporter: so laura, like 3 in 10 adults have done, turned 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. >> online dating felt safer? >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: she matched with someone who called themself frank bourke and who used 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 there's a lot of people out there saying, well, how could that happen? >> reporter: 64,000 americans were taken for more than a billion dollars by romance scammers last year, more than double the $500 million in 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? >> yeah. >> reporter: she raced to her mom's home, only to find it empty. >> you must have been freaking out. >> i was. >> a search for a missing woman. laura cowl was last seen on friday. >> reporter: turning the house upside down, kelly found emails detailing a fraudulent investment scheme involving a fake company called goose 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 wasn't real. frank wasn't 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 says she'd 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 roots where her mother's car was seen on surveillance tape. >> this service station here -- >> yep. >> -- captured your mom'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'll meet a former romance scammer in west africa. and tomorrow night on "the cbs evening news," we'll 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'll have the details next. if you spit blood when you brush, it could be the start of a domino effect. new parodontax active gum repair breath freshener. clinically proven to help reverse the four signs of early gum disease. a new toothpaste from parodontax, the gum experts.

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medication ahead of the 2021 olympics in tokyo. but the agency accepted the findings of chinese officials that the samples had 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 take a look at how sharks play a vital role in the health of the role in the health of the planet. finally yasso! a ridiculously creamy, chocolatey chippety, ice cream-like experience with 100 calories and made with greek yogurt. oooooh, sorry ice cream, we know calories are a touchy subject. yasso. love it or it's free.

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land. in 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. >> here in the bahamas, reef sharks are one of the most common sharks we see. >> reporter: candice fileds took us to danger reef in the bahamas to see this, waters teeming with reef sharks. as top predators, they're critical to keeping the balance of fish populations in check so coral reef ecosystems can thrive. >> they're kind of the kings of the coral reef, right? they're keeping the reef in nice harmonious balance. >> reporter: fields is part of a global shark census called fin print. in 2018, it found the five main species of reef sharks had declined 63% and were functionally extinct on 20% of the reefs, largely due to overfishing. but they're thriving here inside what is called a marine

protected area, or mpa. >> you can't come in here and fish for anything. you can't take a thing? >> absolutely. it's complete protection. >> all right. let's check the camera. >> reporter: we watched as fields deployed an underwater camera to help count the sharks. her data is part of a new study to see if mpas help threatened marine life recover. there are more than 18,000 mpas covering about 8% 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. >> 46 persons aboard. >> reporter: fining and jailing fishermen and confiscating their often massive illegal catch. >> either we chase them or we catch them, and we've been having uj success doing this.

>> so when it comes to enforcement, you guys are the muss "snl." >> yes. >> reporter: part of the brains of the operation is sky light, a system that helps track the bad guys using a mix of a.i. and satellite vessel tracking data. >> so we're using this technology to help focus those patrol efforts. >> it's something that i think will have a big impact on the shark conservation in the future. >> reporter: hopefully helping the kings of the reef rebound. ben tracy, cbs news, the bahamas. >> extraordinary creatures. "heart of america" is next with the incredible cou ge of

finally here tonight's "heart of america" with an extraordinary group of good samaritans. take a look at this harrowing scene on interstate 94 in saint pul, minnesota, last week. an suv engulfed in flames after slamming into a light pole and guardrail. within seconds, complete strangers rushed toward the burning vehicle, where they attempted to pry open the doors while dodging the heat. eventually someone broke a window and pulled the 71-year-old driver to safety. one of those heroes, khadir tow la, 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 know? >> miraculously, no injuries were reported all thinks to khadir tolla and all of those good samaritans, tonight's "heart of america." outstanding job. and that's the overnight news for this tuesday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back later for "cbs mornings" and follow us online anytime at cbsnews.com. reporting from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm maurice dubois. this is "cbs news flash." i'm shanelle kaul in new york. at least a dozen people were arrested as police shut down pro-palestinian protests at new york university last night. police said the school asked

them to break up the crowds because they were interfering with safety and security on campus. the supreme court has announced it will rule on whether the federal government can regulate ghost guns. the case centers on regulation from the biden administration that was previously struck down by a district judge. and celine dion has opened up about her experience with stiff person syndrome in a cover story for vogue france. the singer says she receives therapy five days a week and that she has to learn to live with the disease. for more, download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm shanelle kaul, cbs news, new york. free, free, free palestine! >> turmoil at some of america's top universities. >> safety has to be for all students. all of us. >> pro-palestinian protests spread to other college 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 kind of property damage is not going to be tolerated. >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." good evening and thank you for being with us. i'm maurice dubois. norah is on assignment. we'll get to those growing clashes and protests on college campuses in just a moment. but we begin here tonight with the first witness taking 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 accused trump of taking part in 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 here 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 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, his former lawyer michael cohen, and then "national enquirer" publisher david pecker, where they allegedly worked out a plan to conceal negative information regarding 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 daniels $130,000 to

suppress her story days before the election. trump later reimbursed cohen, citing the payment as legal fees. prosecutors today called it the porn star payoff. >> it's a case as to bookkeeping, which is a very minor thing. >> reporter: in court, his defense attorney, todd blanche, said 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 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 the prosecution's first witness, pecker, in very brief testimony, did not discuss the 2015 meeting with trump and cohen but acknowledged the enquirer paid for stories, calling it checkbook journalism. inside the courtroom, the scene was austere and grim with trump

mostly mum as he watched the proceedings. but inside his inner circle tonight, there is real fear that this jury could convict him. maurice. >> okay. 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 for 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. with classes remote only, some jewish students and faculty say the environment has only escalated. >> jewish students are petrified to go onto 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. >> anti-semitism 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 anti-semitism. >> i condemn the anti-semitic protests. that's why i've set up a program to deal with that. i also condemn those who don't understand what's going on with the palestinians. >> reporter: the protests have spread to multiple universities, including the university of michigan, m.i.t., nyu, and emerson college in boston. about 60 people have been arrested at yale since the start of the protests. orthodox jew sahar tartak, 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 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 patrols outside, and for the foreseeable future, only students and staff are allowed on campus after scanning their i.d.s. maurice. >> okay. meg oliver, thank you. moving overseas now, the head of israel's military intelligence resigned today 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's cbs's debora patta. >> reporter: the u.s. is investigating the netzah yehuda battalion made up of ultra orthodox soldiers who are accused of human rights violations in the israeli-occupied west bank. the probe began after

78-year-old american palestinian omar assad was found dead after being detained at a checkpoint by israeli soldiers. this man was also arrested shortly after assad. he told us he saw him lying face-down in the dirt, bound and blindfolded. after the soldiers left, they ran to call for help from the village doctor, who tried to revive assad, eventually pronouncing him dead. >> he is old man. he is obese. he can't walk probably. he didn't make any kind of risk for soldiers. >> reporter: the possibility of blacklisting an idf unit has intensified scrutiny of the israeli military. since october 7, nearly 500 palestinians have been killed in the west bank. this idf footage shows a counterterrorism operation over the weekend 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've seen nothing like this before. israeli bulldozers smashed through homes and shops, tore up roads, severed pumps and power lines, cutting off electricity and water. a decision on the netzah 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 there were also ongoing investigations into allegations of human rights violations in gaza. maurice. >> many thanks, debora patta in east jerusalem tonight. ther feeling sluggish or weighed down? could be a sign that your digestive system isn't at its best. but a little metamucil everyday can help. metamucil's psyllium fiber gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down... so you can lighten every day the metamucil way. (coi leray & metro boomin, “enjoy yourself”) new axe black vanilla? yum! ♪ he like when i get dressed, ♪ ♪ i live life with no stress, ♪

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>> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." i'm taurean small in washington. thanks for staying with us. the supreme court heard

arguments in a case that could change the way the nation deals with one of its most intractable domestic problems, homelessness. the case involves the small town of grants pass, oregon. when the town saw a spike in homeless, they began enforcing a law against sleeping or camping in public places. some homeless and their advocates filed a lawsuit claiming that amounts to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the eighth amendment. a decision is expected in the coming months. meanwhile, one city has found a humane way to deal with its homeless problem. martha teichner has the story from houston. >> good morning. how are you doing? >> reporter: an apartment and brand-new furniture donated by a local retailer. >> what? >> reporter: and a tv. >> oh, my gosh. it's baseball season. you don't know how much that means to me. >> reporter: a lot of bad luck.

>> it's perfect. >> reporter: led 62-year-old army veteran julie blow to homelessness. serious kidney issues, a fall that cost her the sight in one eye, two surgeries. she couldn't work and ran out of money. >> i feel like a teenager. i'm that happy. you know, before all this stuff happens to you in life and you get jaded, you feel like a teenager. >> reporter: a 320 square foot studio. >> ah, yes. >> reporter: nothing fancy. but for julie, luxury after the tent where she had been living. and for houston, one more piece of evidence that its strategy for solving its homelessness problem works. >> is houston the model that the rest of the nation should look at and follow? >> yes. >> reporter: kelly young heads houston's coalition for the homeless. >> we were one of the worst in the nation to begin with in 2011-2012.

and now we're considered one of the best. >> reporter: what happened? 2012, the city went all in on a concept called housing first. since then, homelessness is down 63% in the greater houston area, and more than 30,000 people have been housed. >> oh, wow. awesome. >> reporter: housing first means spend money on getting the unhoused into their own apartments, subsidize their rent, then provide the services needed to stabilize their lives, not fix the person first. not just add more shelter beds. >> i think our natural instinct when we see homelessness increasing is to hire more outreach workers and to build more shelter beds. >> reporter: mandy chapman was the architect of houston's success story, and now advises other cities on how to replicate

it. among them, dallas, new orleans, oklahoma city. >> the idea that if you have no permanent place to live, that you're also going to be able to transform and tackle complex mental health issues, addiction issues, you know, complex financial issues, it's just unrealistic. >> reporter: in houston, step one was convincing dozens of unconnected agencies all trying to do everything to join forces under a single umbrella organization, the way home, run by the houston coalition for the homeless. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: so, for example, when outreach coordinators visited this homeless encampment -- >> how are you doing? >> i'm doing okay. how are you doing today? >> reporter: jocelyn demano was able to plug everything she learned into a systemwide database. >> and it actually logs in real time where people are staying, so individuals as well as encampments. >> reporter: houston has

dismantled 127 homeless encampments, but only after housing had been found for all of the occupants. so far this year, the way home has already housed more than 750 people. it helps that this city, unlike many, has a supply of relatively affordable apartments and that it was able to use roughly $100 million in covid aid to help pay for rentals on top of its other homeless relief dollars. >> i'm going to frame them and like put them right here so that when i'm cooking -- >> reporter: but houston's message is this. >> this is a big part of my life that i made it. >> reporter: what's really essential to success is committing to homes, not just managing homelessness. >> what houston has done for this country is it's established a playbook that now allows any city to do the same because

we've proven that it can be done. >> thank you so much. >> houston strong. >> yes, sir. houston strong. that's me. >> that was martha teichner. the white house is considering sanctions against members of the israeli military accused of widespread human rights abuses in the west bank. military units are made up of ultra orthodox jews and have been under investigation since 2022. z debora patta has the latest from israel. >> reporter: security cameras caught moment a car plowed into three trawl orthodox pedestrians in jerusalem this morning. two young men attempt to open fire but their weapons jam. nobody was seriously injured. >> and police say they've arrested two palestinians in connection with the attack. the incident comes as prime minister benjamin netanyahu has lashed out over reports of possible u.s. sanctions against an israel defense force battalion accused of human rights abuses in the west bank.

"if anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on an idf unit kwx, said netanyahu, i will fight it with all my strength. this israeli military footage shows soldiers in the west bank city of actual car emover the weekend, which the idf says was a counterterrorism operation that killed 14 militants. but residents say they bore the brunt of the assault. after the idf pulled out, this is what they left in their wake, this massive destruction. and residents here say they've seen nothing like this before. during the mission, israeli bulldozers smashed through homes and shops, tore up roads, severed pumps and power lines, cutting off electricity and water. "the attack was wild," said this man. "they came from four different sides." in gaza, where the war grinds on, nearly 15,000 children have been killed with more over the weekend. rushed into this world far too

early and already an orphan. this doctor works efficiently to help the baby girl breathe. her lungs not yet fully developed. her mother was six months pregnant when she was killed in an israeli air strike in rafah last night. but miraculously, doctors managed to save the pre-term infant. nobody else survived the hit on two houses. among the dead, 13 children, the youngest just 2 years old. a u.s. official has told cbs news they've been investigating an idf unit made up of ultra orthodox soldiers since 2022. in january of that year, the battalion came under heavy criticism after an elderly american man was found dead after being detained by idf soldiers at a checkpoint in the west bank. >> that was debora patta in jerusalem, and this is the "cbs overnight news."

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your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate-lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information, and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling, so call now for free information. it is earth week, and our senior national environmental correspondent ben tracy has a look at some efforts to protect our oceans. >> al right. got it. >> reporter: candace fields is reeling in what she hopes will be a big catch. she's fishing for images of reef sharks with an underwater video

station in a bait cage to get their attention. >> i don't see any bait. they tore the arm off. >> they broke the tie holding the arm down. >> so the sharks were trying to get that bait and they tore the arm off. >> 100%. >> reporter: she did get the video. >> they are going after your bait. >> reporter: which shows why she lost the rest. >> so in this round, it's sharks one, candace zero. >> yeah, absolutely. >> reporter: fields is part of a 58-nation global shark census called finprint. in 2018, it found the five main species of reef sharks, which are critical to maintaining the balance of marine life on coral reefs, had declined 63% and were functionally extinct on 20% of the reefs they surveyed, largely due to overfishing and a growing shark meat market. >> you come to a place like the bahamas, and you would never think that that's the case because the populations seem to be pretty stable and thriving. >> reporter: because this is a

shark sanctuary in a marine protected area -- >> you can't come in here and fish for anything. you can't take a thing. >> absolutely. it's complete protection. >> reporter: we hopped in the shark infested waters. >> typically there's a lot of shark activity in this area. >> so there's sharking swimming below us? >> yeah, this is a sharky area. >> reporter: as she deployed another camera. her data is part of a new study to see if marine protected areas help reef sharks rebound. >> these mpas might be the way to kind of help these sharks come back from the brink a little bit. >> reporter: there are more than 18,000 mpas covering about 8% of the world's oceans, but most are just lines on a map because there's little to no enforcement. >> so we're on our way to look for people fishing. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: not so in the bahamas. we joined the royal bahamas defense force as they boarded several boats. >> do you have any i.d. with you

or registration? >> reporter: checking permits and making sure they weren't catching protected species. >> so those people, they're following the law? they're doing what they're supposed to do? >> yes, sir. >> but that's not always the case out here? >> nos. it's not always the case. >> stop the vessel. >> reporter: the defense force has seized dozens of boats. >> they have 46 persons aboard. >> reporter: arresting fishermen, who are often fined and jailed, and confiscating their illegal catch, like these 60,000 pounds of lobster and other fish. >> we are there 24/7, and if you come, we're going to catch you. >> reporter: senior commander william stir up. >> we are there on the front lines as a military. that's how important it is to government to protect our marine resources. >> so when it comes to enforcement, you guys are the muscle? >> yes. >> reporter: this is a product called skylight. >> reporter: and this is part of the brains of the operation. a mix of artificial intelligence and satellite vessel tracking data. >> each one of these black ship-like figures that you're

seeing here is a vessel? >> reporter: that helps the defense force find the bad guys. greg ca saud is with wild aid, a u.s.-based organization advising the bahamian government. >> this is a big chunk of ocean, right? so we're using this technology to help focus those patrol efforts. >> the depth is 56 feet. >> reporter: candace fields says enforcement is key to giving protected areas teeth to help the kings of the reef thrive. >> there's just tons and tons of reasons that we should work towards keeping the oceans as heal

new research shows that even tropical jungles are under assault from climate change. david schecter has the story. >> reporter: a hot spot for research. that's one way to think of this plot of puerto rican forest strung with high voltage lines. >> hi.

i'm tannah. >> reporter: dr. tannah wood is a research ecologist with the u.s. forest service, who studies how tropical forests will respond to climate change. >> how can we give this window into a future warmer world hundreds of years into the future? >> reporter: those black panels are electric heaters running 24/7, warming up this plot of the jungle by 7 degrees fahrenheit. she says worst-case scenario, that's how much warmer it could be on earth by the end of the century if we keep emitting heat trapping carbon from our cars, factories, and power plants. this experiment was interrupted by hurricane maria in 2017, and ever since, the plants in the heated section have struggled to recover. dead leafs, stunted growth. >> and so you can visibly see that the forest is experiencing stress under these conditions. >> reporter: when trees and plants die and decay, they release carbon. fortunately, healthy trees and soil absorb more carbon than what's being released. but wood is finding their ability to keep doing that might

be in jeopardy. her team is making hundreds of measurements of the forest, recording the growth of the plants, looking underground at the health of the root system, and this device records how much carbon the soil is releasing. her experiment is showing us rising temperatures cause forests to release more carbon. more carbon in the atmosphere causes the planet to get warmer. >> what happens in these ecosystems has far-reaching consequences for the climate. >> reporter: david schecter, cbs news, puerto rico. and that's the overnight news for this tuesday. reporting from the nation's capital, i'm taurean small. this is "cbs news flash." i'm shanelle kaul in new york. at least a dozen people were arrested as police shut down pro-palestinian protests at new york university last night. police said the school asked them to break up the crowds

because they were interfering with safety and security on campus. the supreme court has announced it will rule on whether the federal government can regulate ghost guns. the case centers on regulation from the biden administration that was previously struck down by a district judge. and celine dion has opened up about her experience with stiff person syndrome in a cover story for "vogue france." the singer says she receives therapy five days a week and that she has to learn to live with the disease. for more, download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. free, free, free palestine! >> turmoil at some of america's top universities. >> safety has to be for all students. all of us. >> pro-palestinian protests spread to other college 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 kind of property damage is not going to be tolerated. >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." good evening and thank you for being with us. i'm maurice dubois. norah is on assignment. we'll get to those growing clashes and protests on college campuses in just a moment. but we begin here tonight with the first witness taking 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 accused trump of taking part in 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 here 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 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, his former lawyer michael cohen, and then-"national enquirer" publisher david pecker, where they allegedly worked out a plan to conceal negative information regarding 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 daniels $130,000 to suppress her story days before the election. trump later reimbursed cohen, citing the payment as legal fees. prosecutors today called it the porn star payoff. >> it's a case as to bookkeeping, which is a very minor thing. >> reporter: in court, his defense attorney, todd blanche, said 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 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 the prosecution's first witness, pecker, in very brief testimony, did not discuss the 2015 meeting with trump and cohen but acknowledged "the enquirer" paid for stories, calling it checkbook journalism. inside the courtroom, the scene was austere and grim with trump mostly mum as he watched the

proceedings. but inside his inner circle tonight, there is real fear that this jury could convict him. maurice. >> okay. 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 for 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. with classes remote only, some jewish students and faculty say the environment has only escalated. >> jewish students are petrified to go onto 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. >> anti-semitism 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 anti-semitism. >> i condemn the anti-semitic protests. that's why i've set up a program to deal with that. i also condemn those who don't understand what's going on with the palestinians. >> reporter: the protests have spread to multiple universities, including the university of michigan, m.i.t., nyu, and emerson college in boston. about 60 people have been arrested at yale since the start of the protests. orthodox jew sahar tartak, 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 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 patrols outside, and for the foreseeable future, only students and staff are allowed on campus after scanning their i.d.s. maurice. >> okay. meg oliver, thank you. moving overseas now, the head of israel's military intelligence resigned today 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's cbs's debora patta. >> reporter: the u.s. is investigating the netzah yehuda battalion made up of ultra-orthodox soldiers who are accused of human rights violations in the israeli-occupied west bank. the probe began after

78-year-old american palestinian omar assad was found dead after being detained at a checkpoint by israeli soldiers. this man was also arrested shortly after assad. he told us he saw him lying face-down in the dirt, bound and blindfolded. after the soldiers left, they ran to call for help from the village doctor, who tried to revive assad, eventually pronouncing him dead. >> he is old man. he is obese. he can't walk properly. he didn't make any kind of risk for soldiers. >> reporter: the possibility of blacklisting an idf unit has intensified scrutiny of the israeli military. since october 7, nearly 500 palestinians have been killed in the west bank. this idf footage shows a counterterrorism operation in tulkarem over the weekend 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've seen nothing like this before. israeli bulldozers smashed through homes and shops, tore up roads, severed pumps and power lines, cutting off electricity and water. a decision on the netzah 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 there were also ongoing investigations into allegations of human rights violations in gaza. maurice. >> many thanks, debora patta in east jerusalem tonight. there's a lot more n s pain means pause on the things you love, but... green... means... go! ♪♪ cool the pain with biofreeze. and keep on going. biofreeze. green means go. nothing dims my light like a migraine. with nurtec odt, i found relief. the only migraine medication that helps treat and prevent, all in one.

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>> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." there's a proposed new gun law in tennessee that has 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 again skipped school to protest, taking aim at a proposed gun law that 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's 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. >> 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 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 this law. >> and you feel that students are at risk with this bill? >> absolutely. absolutely. we're -- we're putting a job on the teacher that they should never have. >> reporter: but tennessee's republican lawmakers are sticking to their guns. >> there's some counties where they may only have two deputies on a 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. >> intensity on both sides there. mark strassmann in nashville tonight, thank you. now to a major supreme court case that could have an impact on some of the more than 650,000 americans experiencing homelessness. the justices heard arguments today on 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 ones setting the rules. a decision is expected in june. tonight a cbs news investigation into the dark and dangerous side of online dating. this week we'll 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 is a daughter sarching for answers. >> i have an appointment with detective jeff phillips. >> reporter: about what happened to her mother, a 57-year-old retired health care executive, who was widowed in 2015, and moved from chicago to the small town of galena, illinoi, to start her next chapter.

>> oh, i love you, honey. >> she had all these buckets full in her life, but there was this one bucket that was missing of having a relationship. >> reporter: so laura, like 3 in 10 adults have done, turned 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. >> online dating felt safer? >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: she matched with someone who called themself frank bourke and who used 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 there's a lot of people out there saying, well, how could that happen? >> reporter: 64,000 americans were taken for more than a billion dollars by romance scammers last year, more than double 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? >> yeah. >> reporter: she raced to her mom's home, only to find it empty. >> you must have been freaking out. >> i was. >> a search for a missing woman. laura kawel was last seen on friday. >> reporter: turning the house upside down, kelly found emails detailing a fraudulent investment scheme involving a fake company called goose 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 wasn't real. frank wasn't 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 says she'd 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 roots where her mother's car was seen on surveillance tape. >> this service station here -- >> yep. >> -- captured your mom'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'll meet a former romance scammer in west africa. and tomorrow night on "the cbs evening news," we'll 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'll have the details next. sometimes jonah wrestles with falling asleep... ...so he takes zzzquil. the world's #1 sleep aid brand. and wakes up feeling like himself. get the rest to be your best with non-habit forming zzzquil. ♪ ♪

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tonight officials in michigan are weighing possible charges against a 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 their older brother and mother were among the 15 people injured. three months before this summer's olympics, there are accusations of a chinese doping scandal cover-up. the world anti-doping agency confirming reports that 23 chinese swimmers had tested positive for a banned heart

medication ahead of the 2021 olympics in tokyo. but the agency accepted the findings of chinese officials that the samples had 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 take a look at how sharks play a vital role in the health of the planet. planet. that's next. sometimes, the lows of bipolar depression feel darkest before dawn. with caplyta, there's a chance to let in the lyte™. caplyta is proven to deliver significant relief across bipolar depression. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta treats both bipolar i and ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common. call your doctor about sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants may increase these risks in young adults. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. report fever, confusion, stiff or uncontrollable muscle movements which may be life threatening or permanent. these aren't all the serious side effects. caplyta can help you let in the lyte™.

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in 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. >> here in the bahamas, reef sharks are one of the most common sharks that we see. >> reporter: candace fields took us to danger reef in the bahamas to see this, waters teeming with reef sharks. as top predators, they're critical to keeping the balance of fish populations in check so coral reef ecosystems can thrive. >> they're kind of the kings of the coral reef, right? they're keeping the reef in nice harmonious balance. >> reporter: fields is part of a global shark census called finprint. in 2018, it found the five main species of reef sharks had declined 63% and were functionally extinct on 20% of the reefs, largely due to overfishing. but they're thriving here inside what is called a marine

protected area, or mpa. >> you can't come in here and fish for anything. you can't take a thing? >> absolutely. it's complete protection. all right. let's check the camera. >> reporter: we watched as fields deployed an underwater camera to help count the sharks. her data is part of a new study to see if mpas help threatened marine life recover. there are more than 18,000 mpas covering about 8% 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 the vessel! >> reporter: it has seized dozens of boats. >> they have 46 persons aboard. >> reporter: fining and jailing fishermen and confiscating their often massive illegal catch. >> either we chase them away, or we catch them, and we've been

having huge success doing this. >> so when it comes to enforcement, you guys are the muscle? >> yes. >> reporter: part of the brains of the operation is sky light, a guys using a mix of a.i. and ad- satellite vessel tracking data. >> so we're using this technology to help focus those patrol efforts. >> it's something that i think will have a big impact on the shark conservation in the future. >> reporter: hopefully helping the kings of the reef rebound. ben tracy, cbs news, the bahamas. >> extraordinary creatures. "heart of america" is next with the incredible courage of good samaritans coming to the how do i love thee? ...let me count the ways. ♪ love can get a little messy... good thing there's resolve. love the love. resolve the mess. (♪♪) i'm getting vaccinated with pfizer's pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine. so am i. because i'm at risk for pneumococcal pneumonia.

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finally here, tonight's "heart of america" with an extraordinary group of good samaritans. take a look at this harrowing scene on interstate 94 in saint paul, minnesota, last week. an suv engulfed in flames after slamming into a light pole and guardrail. within seconds, complete strangers rushed toward the burning vehicle, where they attempted to pry open the doors while dodging the heat. eventually someone broke a window and pulled the 71-year-old driver to safety. 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 know? >> miraculously, no injuries were reported all thinks to kadir tolla and all of those good samaritans, tonight's "heart of america." and that's the overnight news for this tuesday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back later for "cbs mornings" and follow us online anytime at cbsnews.com. reporting from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm maurice dubois. this is "cbs news flash." i'm shanelle kaul in new york. at least a dozen people were arrested as police shut down pro-palestinian protests at new york university last night. police said the school asked them to break up the crowds

because they were interfering with safety and security on campus. the supreme court has announced it will rule on whether the federal government can regulate ghost guns. the case centers on regulation from the biden administration that was previously struck down by a district judge. and celine dion has opened up about her experience with stiff person syndrome in a cover story for "vogue france." the singer says she receives therapy five days a week and that she has to learn to live with the disease. for more, download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm shanelle kaul, cbs news, new york. it's tuesday, april 23rd, 2024. this is "cbs news mornings." trump on trial. a key witness continues on the witness stand today in the first ever criminal trial of a former president after both sides laid out their arguments in opening em