at the field. just one of several upgrades in the $1.6 million renovation plan for the park. they have time as he will not play the first home game until june 4th and start a new era of baseball in the town. check in on the four newly hatched falcon chicks at uc berkeley , a family of birds that nests. the falcon cam accounts as all four chicks are getting frequent meals and growing well and mother is doing her job keeping them warm. best story. thank you for watching >> margaret: tonight, severe >> margaret: tonight, severe weather outbreak. >> that's a strong tornado. lots of debris in the air. >> i have never seen so much hail. >> margaret: hail and tornadoes slam the middle of the country as the threat of dangerous weather stretches into the weekend. >> wow! okay, that's not good. >> margaret: the "cbs evening news" starts now. ♪ ♪

good evening, and thank you for being with us. i'm margaret brennan in for norah. we begin tonight with breaking news. dozens of tornadoes touched down in at least three states, including texas, oklahoma, and nebraska. take a look at this massive funnel cloud tearing across an interstate north of lincoln, nebraska. large pieces of debris can be spotted flying through the air as the twister spins just out of control. in addition to tornadoes and torrential downpours, parts of texas, including arlington, were hit with hailstorms, some as large as golf balls. and the threat is far from over. this dangerous system will stretch from michigan to texas, with twisters, large hail, and damaging winds straight through the weekend. it is tornado season, and cbs's omar villafranca will start us off tonight from ennis, texas, which is currently under a

severe weather alert. >> reporter: dramatic moments along interstate 80 near lincoln, nebraska, this afternoon as a dangerous tornado crossed the highway, flipping a semi truck. storm chasers stopping to check on the driver narrowly missed being hit by debris as the twister tore through. >> he's okay, he's okay. >> reporter: houses shredded in douglas county, some taking a direct hit by the destructive tornado. a newly-built neighborhood with a few homes still under construction now gone. >> this is the dangerous storm that we are tracking right now here on the weather channel, a confirmed and large and destructive tornado. >> that is a [...] tornado. >> multiple tornadoes ripping through the state. >> that is a tornado in lincoln, nebraska. >> reporter: with reports of major damage, including a building collapse near waverley and a train blown off the tracks. >> wow. >> reporter: the violent tornadoes also tearing through central texas, like this massive one near waco. the same storm pelting arlington

with hail and heavy rain. here in texas, first responders will be on standby all weekend because of the severe weather, and this afternoon, just this part of the state had tornadoes, hail, high winds, and heavy rain, in just a few hours. margaret? >> margaret: omar, thank you. well, for a look at where these dangerous storms are headed next, let's bring in meteorologist mike bettes, from our partners at the weather channel. good evening, mike. >> well, margaret, good evening. we are in the midst of a multi-day severe weather outbreak. numerous tornadoes have touched down today across the plains. that threat will continue well into the night, from the texarkana area all the way up to saint peoria. these are all areas we could see violent tornadoes, large hail, and high winds. the threat overnight and returns again tomorrow, large area where the severe weather will break out for us from say i-35 in des moines all the way down toward wichita falls and dallas. the threat is torcon of 5,

medium threat for tornadoes on our 1-10 scale that sits right in the middle. saturday, even into sunday, more storms right through the plains, eventually getting into the midwest and this storm, not likely, margaret, to die down until sometime late on sunday into monday. >> margaret: thanks, mike. well, ex-tabloid publisher david pecker took the stand again today to detail the alleged scheme he helped broker to suppress stories that could have hurt donald trump's 2016 campaign. the former president faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business documents related to a so-called hush money payment to a porn star. cbs's robert costa has more. >> this is eight days that we have all been sitting in this courthouse. >> reporter: former president trump's attorneys took aim at the prosecution's key witness today, david pecker, once the publisher of the "national enquirer" and a longtime friend of trump's. >> david has been very nice,

nice guy. >> reporter: the defense argued that the paper's deal with trump to purchase and suppress negative stories, to catch and kill, as it's called, was not unusual. pecker himself had testified that there were similar alleged arrangements with arnold schwarzenegger, tiger woods, and mark wahlberg. but pecker was later pushed by prosecutors on whether there was a difference with trump. did you suppress stories to help a presidential candidate? yes, pecker said. one of those stories involved former "playboy" model karen mcdougal, who allegedly had a ten-month affair with trump, which trump denies. >> after we had been intimate, he tried to pay me. and i actually didn't know how to take that. >> reporter: the defense argued that mcdougal's $150,000 deal with ami, which previously owned the "national enquirer," was legitimate. she was paid and featured broadly throughout the publications. broadly throughout the publications. but under questioning from prosecutors, pecker said that was meant to disguise the actual

purpose, which was to acquire her lifetime rights to her story so it is not published. pecker also acknowledged hiring an election law attorney to review mcdougal's contract.% >> the best moment for the prosecution is david pecker saying that he sought legal advice on behalf of his company. that if he continued to do this kind of payment, that it was going to be a campaign violation. that is absolute gold for the prosecution. >> margaret: and robert costa joins us now. bob, it's hard to believe it's news. it used to be expected, that two candidates trying to persuade voters would come out and debate to defend their policy positions. but now, this was news today that they are considering it. will it happen? >> reporter: president biden went on the howard stern radio show, and he said he would be willing to debate former president donald trump. trump responded quickly and said anytime, anyplace, maybe even at the white house. >> margaret: we will see if it happens. bob, thank you.

pro-palestinian protests emerged on more college campuses today, and not all of the demonstrators have links to the schools where the protests are underway. that adds to scrutiny of the movement, and we get details from cbs's lilia luciano. >> reporter: protesters and police clashed at ohio state university, the latest escalation in a nationwide movement roiling college campuses, as students protest israel's war in gaza. >> the anger, the tension is boiling over, and someone's going to get hurt. >> reporter: on thursday, atlanta's emory university blamed outsiders for trespassing while setting up tents on campus. the scuffle with police ended with nearly 30 arrests, including eight people who had no ties to the school. >> i'm telling you right now do not speak to me. >> reporter: new pro-palestinian demonstrations at loyola university in louisiana, stanford, and arizona state. >> it has been an extremely safe environment. i think this year have been

feeling that is not the case. >> reporter: here at columbia university, where it all began, it is day 10 of protests and student protesters are saying we are going to keep the tents up until the university meets our demands. >> columbia needs to divest from any corporation that is profiting off of genocide, apartheid, or displacement of palestinians in israel. >> reporter: outside the school gates... >> israel should stop bombing civilian areas and killing the hostages. >> israel did not take the hostages. >> reporter: phd student ari kircher says he hasn't felt safe since the night the tents took over the west lawn. >> i worry about what's going to happen on campus next year, two years from now. as a member of the jewish people, i feel... my people being attacked. >> reporter: it's important to stress inside columbia university, on that lawn, those protesters have remained peaceful, and today, the university administrators and students announced that after 12 hours negotiating, they were not able to meet each other's demand and reached an impasse, meaning the protests, for now, margaret, will continue.

>> margaret: and we will continue covering it. lilly, thank you. breaking news out of colorado. the former paramedic who injected elijah mcclain with ketamine before his death was sentenced to probation this afternoon. jeremy cooper faced up to three years in prison after being convicted of homicide for mcclain's death in 2019. the 23-year-old mcclain was walking home when he was stopped and detained by three aurora, colorado, police officers. america's top diplomat, secretary of state antony blinken, met with chinese president xi jinping and other top officials in beijing today. blinken raised concern that china is helping russia to produce tanks, armored vehicles, and weapons for its war in ukraine. cbs's nancy cordes is at the white house. nancy, what's the bottom line? >> reporter: the bottom line, margaret, is that secretary blinken issued a warning in china today. he said that if china does not stop providing russia with

weapons components, that the u.s. is going to do something about it. and he suggested that the u.s. might be prepared to impose new sanctions on china if it continues to sell russia microelectronics and machine tools that are being used to build munitions for use in its ongoing invasion of ukraine. now, this meeting comes at a tense moment in the u.s.-china relationship. just this week, congress passed $8 billion in security aid for taiwan to help it defend against china, and congress also gave tiktok's chinese parent company less than a year to sell off the social media platform or face a ban here in the u.s. blinken said that tiktok didn't explicitly come up in his talks with president xi, but he did announce that the two sides are going to be holding their first-ever talks on artificial intelligence in the coming weeks. margaret? >> margaret: a story to watch. thank you. well, with the clock ticking on tiktok, millions of users, including small businesses, are scrambling to figure out what to do. the chinese-owned company is

threatening to go to court to challenge new legislation that could effectively ban the platform sometime next year. here is cbs's senior business and tech correspondent jo ling kent. >> reporter: this is where you go live from. >> this is where i go live from, yes. we support every business on here. >> reporter: brandon hurst says tiktok has changed his life. >> it allows me to go live, share who i am, but it also makes it easy for people to buy. >> reporter: since he started selling on tiktok last year, first, better known as "brandon the plant guy," says he has tripled his business. >> in the last year, we have ben able to sell 57,000. everyone always asks me, do you have a favorite variety of plant? yes, i do. >> reporter: his company is 1 of 7 million small businesses on tiktok. according to the platform, it has supported more than 224,000 american jobs. >> right, i have friends and family members that work for me and help package plants and orders. so this goes beyond me now. this is a team of eight other people that will lose their jobs. >> reporter: now that the

tiktok ban has been signed into law, the chinese-owned social media company has 9-12 months to sell to an american owner or be banned. forcing scores of entrepreneurs to look for a new home. in the meantime, tiktok plans to sue in federal court. >> one of the biggest beneficiaries of a tiktok ban, of course, would be meta. instagram reels is the most natural fit. it isn't exactly the same. you can replicate the technology, but you can't replicate the culture. >> reporter: where do you pivot your social media business? >> i'm on instagram. i've been doing business on other platforms. there's just many places you can live. i have not thought about it yet, to be honest. i'm not sure what we would do. we just hit 225,000 likes! >> reporter: an uncertain future for his budding business. bytedance, the parent company of tiktok, says it does not have any plans to sell the company, and tiktok's ceo will be leaning on the company's recent first amendment victories in u.s. court. he is vowing the company will prevail again. margaret? >> margaret: going to be an important case to watch.

jo ling, thank you. well, yet another american has been arrested in turks and caicos after ammunition was found in his luggage. the virginia man is the fourth american detained under similar circumstances in the last several months. cbs's kris van cleave was the first to report on this string of arrests. >> reporter: tonight, 30-year-old tyler wenrich is the latest american behind bars in turks and caicos, arrested after two bullets were found in his backpack as he was about to board a cruise ship saturday. the virginia emt and father is now facing the potential of a mandatory minimum prison sentence of up to 12 years. >> i feel like, as a very honest mistake, that 12 years is absurd. >> reporter: his wife, jeriann, says he had been on the island for less than a day. >> my son is only 18 months old.

and i just don't want him to grow up without a dad. >> reporter: there are now at least four american tourists potentially facing lengthy prison sentences, and a fifth who served nearly six months after what they say was mistakenly bringing ammo in their luggage while on vacation. 40-year-old father of two ryan watson is now out of jail on bail. he was arrested at the airport april 12th, when security found four rounds of hunting ammo in his carry-on. did you check the bag before you packed it? >> we did. i opened it up and kind of gave it a little shimmy. didn't see anything, you know, didn't hear anything. >> reporter: the tsa is now acknowledging its officers missed the ammo when his bag was screened at the checkpoint in oklahoma city april 7th. >> it was my mistake. it was very innocent. and, you know, i just pray that compassion and consideration, because there was zero criminal intent. >> reporter: following our report tuesday, the state department reissued a warning to carefully check your

luggage for stray ammunition. kris van cleave, cbs news. >> margaret: and buckingham palace has an update on king charles, months after his cancer diagnosis. and a delta air lines jet loses an emergency slide. we'll have the details next. ♪ ♪ 'll have the details next. ♪ ♪ slide. we'll have the details next. ♪ ♪ discover a different first treatment. immunotherapies work with your immune system to attack cancer. but opdivo plus yervoy is the first combination of 2 immunotherapies for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread, tests positive for pd-l1, and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. opdivo plus yervoy is not chemotherapy, it works differently. it helps your immune system fight cancer in 2 different ways. opdivo and yervoy can cause your immune system to harm healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. these problems can be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have a cough; chest pain; shortness of breath; irregular heartbeat; diarrhea; constipation; severe stomach pain; severe nausea or vomiting; dizziness; fainting; eye problems; extreme tiredness; changes in appetite, thirst or urine; rash; itching; confusion; memory problems; muscle pain or weakness;

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>> margaret: cbs's steve hartman goes "on the road" with two police officers and their incredible connection beyond the badge. >> reporter: retired south bend, indiana, police lieutenant gene eyster says he can't drive past this apartment complex without reliving that day. >> that was one of the strangest calls i think i've ever had. we have a found baby in a box. yeah, you always wonder, you

know, what happened? >> reporter: a newborn, abandoned in a common hallway. it was 24 years ago, just before christmas, and for gene, the case of that baby boy doe, swaddled in cardboard and blankets, didn't end after the child got to the hospital. >> no, i went back with a teddy bear, just to signal, let everyone that walked past know he was cared about. >> reporter: and you never forgot? >> nope. none of it. >> reporter: for more than two decades, he wondered what became of this boy. unfortunately, records were sealed, so there was no way to find out. until a few weeks ago, when gene got a phone call from a fellow officer. guy said, remember that case, the baby left in the cardboard box? well, you are not going to believe this. >> and i thought, oh, you know, what? and he says, he's sitting next to me. i said, he's what?

he said, yeah, he's my rookie. >> reporter: meet officer matthew hegedus-stewart. after his rescue, matt was placed for adoption. he always knew he had been left in a box, but only connected the dots to gene after joining the department. today, he wears the same uniform gene did and patrols the exact same neighborhood. >> full-circle moment. that hit home. i can only imagine, from his point of view... >> reporter: what it means? >> yeah. >> reporter: he really can't imagine. >> how you been? >> good, how are you? >> reporter: because what to matt may feel like a coincidence to gene feels divine. their reunion. this new friendship. it's all happening just a few months after gene's only son, nick, died unexpectedly at the age of 36. >> so the timing couldn't have been any better to help fill the void that i have had to deal with. >> reporter: 24 years ago, gene was called to be there for a child in need.

now, the child is set to return the favor. and whether it's a coincidence or not, the result is undeniably... >> that face. >> reporter: great police work. steve hartman, "on the road," in south bend, indiana. >> margaret: what an incredible story. the "heart of america" is next, with a teenage chef who is bringing his two passions together: cooking and helping kids with cancer. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: this portion of the "cbs evening news" is sponsored by alexion. call us and ask us about events for gmg. ♪ ♪ about events or jmg. gravis generalized myasthenia and who are anti-achr antibody positive, season to season, ultomiris is continuous symptom control, with improvement in activities of daily living.

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ronald mcdonald house, and so it was just, like, excruciating, and really sad to see. so i had to do something. >> we are really excited for this event, which we think is really special. >> margaret: these two amazing teenagers, joshua small and alexander morris, are tonight's "heart of america." and that's tonight's "cbs evening news." for norah o'donnell, i'm margaret brennan, and i'll see you su . thank you, good night. a long journey to redemption tonight. we introduce you to lucas cruise who was part of a vicious cycle of being in and out of the jail system. >> it was an exhausting cycle. >> how he was able to break free with the help of a san francisco court program that goes beyond second chances.

tempers play at stanford. the site of the newest tent encampment. >> they should do their research on their own not to listen to a bunch of lies. >> the bigger risk is to stay silent. bigger risk is to be complice at. >> and now the university is threatening to take action against the protesting students just weeks before the end of the year and we all know the a's have passionate fans. the same people who organized a boycott on opening day are heading to sacramento to the soon to be temporary home of the team. you may of noticed people all over san francisco that are frantically looking for something at famous landmarks. what are they looking for. >> he is looking for. what are you looking for. we thought he we lost something and he said we are looking for a gold