tonight, the combative cross-examination as donald trump's defense team gets its chance to grill his former fixer, michael cohen. the defense going after michael cohen's credibility, accusing him of being motived by revenge, and

confronting him about his own social media attacks on mr. trump. the tense questions coming after cohen detailed a 2017 white house meeting when mr. trump allegedly agreed to reimburse him for the hush money payment to stormy daniels. the jury seeing the checks. also, the pressure cohen says he felt from the former president not to flip on him, and how cohen says his family finally convinced him to turn on his old boss. also tonight, the horrifying crash in florida. a bus carrying farm workers colliding with a pickup. at least eight are dead, dozens injured. now the truck driver accused of dui and facing charges. just out, the first ntsb report on the baltimore bridge collapse. what happened on that ship before impact. president biden announcing sweeping new tariffs on china's goods, including raising the tax on their electric cars to 100%. nbc news investigates the battle between the church and a library in a place known as the hometown of superman.

and superstar caitlin clark making her pro debut as the new wnba season tips off. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening and welcome. the gloves came off today in the criminal trial of donald trump as the defense got its chance to question former trump lawyer and fixer michael cohen. trump attorney todd blanche confronting cohen with his history of lies, peppering him with questions designed to expose potential holes in his credibility, painting him as a disgruntled former employee bent on revenge. cohen is a key witness against the former president, who has testified that mr. trump directed him to buy the silence of adult film actress stormy daniels about an alleged affair and was in on a scheme to disguise the payments as legal expenses. mr. trump has denied an affair and pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business

records. under cross-examination, cohen pressed about his relationship with mr. trump. asked if he was obsessed with donald trump, cohen responding "i admired him." laura jarrett on one of the most dramatic days in the trial so far. >> reporter: tonight trump's defense team tearing into the prosecution's star witness, suggesting mr. trump's self-described fixer turned fierce trump critic michael cohen is out for revenge on his former boss. "do you want president trump to get convicted in this case?" trump attorney todd blanche asking? "sure," cohen acknowledged. cohen confirming he recently said the former president belongs in a cage, like an animal. the defense trying to cast cohen as motivated to lie, that he previously fed prosecutors dirt on mr. trump to get out of prison early, and that now his financial livelihood, including media appearances and podcasts centers on trashing mr. trump. cohen acknowledging he has made more than $3 million off his books, "disloyal" and

"revenge," and that he had been going on tiktok six days a week to slam his former employer. quote at that time i was knee-deep into the cult of donald trump. the defense getting cohen to admit he previously described himself as obsessed with mr. trump, insinuating he was jilted once pushed outside the orbit. the state's case largely depending on jurors believing cohen's word, as he is the only witness who said the former president knew his internal records were falsified to cover up cohen's payment of an adult film actress before the 2016 election. mr. trump has pleaded not guilty to those low-level felony charges. >> we had a very good day. i think we're exposing this scam for what it is. thank you very much. >> reporter: earlier today, the prosecution questioning cohen, who told the jury these invoices seeking repayment for services rendered in 2017 were false records, and that the retainer agreement he references never existed. prosecutors guiding

cohen through check after check with the retainer language included, all false statements he said because they weren't for valid legal fees, but reimbursements for the hush money. cohen describing a meeting with mr. trump at the white house in 2017 where he posed for this picture. cohen says they discussed mr. trump reimbursing him for paying off stormy daniels, an arrangement developed by trump organization cfo allen weisselberg months earlier. i was sitting with president trump and he asked me if i was okay. he asked me if i needed money, and i said no, all good. he said because i can get a check. i said no, i'm okay. he said all right, make sure you deal with allen, cohen testifying. later saying he was frightened when the fbi raided his home and office in 2018, saying mr. trump told him, "don't worry, i'm the president of the united states. stay tough" which cohen took to mean don't flip. but cohen says he turned against mr. trump after consulting with his family.

"my wife, my daughter, my son all said to me we're supposed to be your first loyalty." cohen has been disbarred and convicted of lying under oath. and tonight the defense zeroing in on his motives. trump attorney blanche asking cohen if he was motivated by fame. cohen suggesting that's not fair to say. blanche then quoting this excerpt from cohen's book, quote, i wanted it all, power, the good life, public acclaim, fame. "those are my words," cohen said, "yes." >> meantime, laura, there is a defeat tonight for former president trump regarding the gag order he calls unconstitutional. >> reporter: yes, lester. an appeals court has refused to overturn that gag order that bars him from attacking witnesses at trial, but now the attention has turned to what his allies are saying. many showing up here to the courthouse in recent days, including today. the house speaker mike johnson attacking the prosecutor's case. lester? >> laura, thanks very much. in central florida, the scene after the collision of a pickup truck and a

bus carrying dozens of migrant farm workers. now eight people have died. sam brock joins us. and sam, the driver of the pickup truck is under arrest tonight. >> lester, good evening. that's right. the driver of the truck you see in the ditch over my shoulder that is right now about to be towed faces eight counts of dui manslaughter after police say it veered in the path of the bus and sent it careening into the field over my shoulder. this morning in florida, a deadly crash on a country road. >> obviously we're here because of a tragedy. we've got eight dead people. >> reporter: just after 6:30 in the morning, a retired school bus carrying more than 50 migrant workers to a marion county watermelon farm sideswiped by a pickup truck. >> the school bus traveled off the roadway on to the grass shoulder, where it went through a fence, struck a tree and overturned. >> reporter: first responders dispatched in force. more than 30 ambulances rushing 38 people to area hospitals. at least eight of them died at the scene,

several more in life-threatening condition. >> so there is high probability this may be beyond eight fatalities. >> reporter: florida highway patrol identifying the driver of the pickup truck as 41-year-old bryan maclean howard with a lengthy criminal history, now charged with eight counts of dui manslaughter. locals in this largely agricultural area say these back roads can be dangerous. >> this road seems to have a lot of traffic incidents. over the past several years, it's been even worse. >> reporter: authorities say that weather might have been a factor, and promised a full investigation into exactly what caused the fatal crash, but say that review could last six months. >> i'm confident we will have answers for the family to be able to get them closure of why we had 24 crash. >> reporter: for now, the record offers only questions and inkohl soleable heartbreak. sam brock, nbc news, of ocala, florida.

and late today the national transportation safety board released its preliminary report of what went wrong aboard the dali, the massive container ship that crashed into the francis key scott bridge in baltimore. ryan nobles is there. ryan, what did they find? >> reporter: lester, they determined the ship lost power twice that night, the second power loss coming when it was just 350 yards away from the base of the bridge. and while crews did alert authorities immediately, it was not enough time to anchor the massive vessel or for tugboats to get there to steer the ship to safety. one crewmember on board the ship actually had to abandon anchoring the vessel in order to avoid being hit by the bridge as it collapsed into the river. now the report also revealing that the ship lost power just ten hours before this accident. it all comes a day after crews used controlled explosives in order to remove part of the bridge that was still resting on board the ship. that ship still remains stuck in the river here behind me. they are hoping that

can begin the process of moving the ship out of the river as soon as tomorrow. lester? >> okay, ryan nobles, thank you. now to what some economists worry is an escalating trade war. president biden announcing higher tariffs today on about $18 billion worth of products from china, including electric vehicles. gabe gutierrez is at the white house. >> reporter: with china revving up to sell government subsidized electric vehicles for as low as $10,000, tonight the biden administration is slapping higher tariffs on evs and other chinese goods to fight what it calls unfair trade practices. >> it's not competition. it's cheating. >> reporter: the price to import electric vehicles from china will now quadruple from a 25% tax to 100%. the president is also announcing hikes on a slew of other chinese products, including steel and aluminum, lithium-ion batteries, semiconductors, syringes and needles, and personal protective equipment. >> china heavily subsidized all these products, pushing chinese companies to produce far more than the rest of the world

can absorb, and then dumping the excess products on to the market at unfairly low prices. >> reporter: it was the trump white house that started charging more for chinese imports. even that as a candidate he promised to reverse what he called trump's senseless policies on chinese tariffs, president biden has kept most of them. the biden denies the new moves will lead to more inflation because they're more targeted. but today the former president saying they don't go far enough. the trump campaign has floated a 10% tariff on all imports. >> china is eating our lunch right now. >> reporter: the president fired back. >> he says china is eating our lunch. that's what trump said today. >> they've been eating a long time. >> reporter: he supports what president biden did today. >> leveling the playing field across the board is important, especially when we have the chinese government subsidizing their ev production. >> reporter: in response, china's

commerce minister said today the u.s. is weaponizing trade issues, calling it political manipulation. lester? >> all right, gabe gutierrez in the white house, thank you. secretary of state antony blinken made an unannounced visit to ukraine today with a strong message of american support as russia mounts a new offensive. andrea mitchell has late developments for us. >> reporter: tonight, the russians advancing from ukraine's northeast border. a desperate race to evacuate thousands of ukrainians on the outskirts of kharkiv. she says "they are shooting from everywhere. yesterday there was a hit and the front of our house burned down." ukraine forced to retreat in recent months, waiting for congress to approve weapons. now trying to hold the line in villages north of kharkiv. secretary of state blinken arriving in kyiv today, even taking time to jump on stage with a local band. ♪♪ playing "rockin' in the free world." president zelenskyy expressing gratitude, but saying his country still needs air defense against the

russian barrage, specifically patriot missile batteries. >> air defense the biggest deficits for us the kharkiv region because the people are under attack. >> reporter: secretary blinken saying the assistance is on its way. >> some of it has already arrived. more of it will be arriving. and that's going make a real difference. >> reporter: but the u.s. says it doesn't have enough patriot missile launchers, and is working with other countries to send theirs. while russia is getting critical support from iran, north korea, and china. >> putin is ramping up yet another offensive against ukraine in kharkiv and across the east, sending wave after wave of russian soldiers, iranian drones, north korean artillery, and tanks. >> reporter: and this week president putin riding the wave of recent advances in ukraine, will meet with president xi in beijing and will discuss the war. lester? >> andrea mitchell, thanks. in 60 seconds, what's behind a wild run in the stock markets.

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ask your doctor. they are back, the so-called meme stocks that shook up the market a few years ago, surging again. amc up more than 30%, gamestop up 60%, all because of one cryptic post on social media. christine romans explains. >> reporter: this picture on social media posted by a guy called roaring kitty after nearly three years of silence did this on wall street. >> gamestop, which is soaring another 57% this morning, over 7 million shares of volume. >> reporter: this afternoon, amc and backberry joining gamestop in an eye watering surge. >> there is no fundamental reason for these stocks to suddenly move 60, 70%. it's a speculative run. >> absolutely. there is no fundamental reason even for some of them to have been worth what they were worth last week. >> reporter: an echo of 2021, when unloved stocks like gamestop soared as much as a thousand percent, propelled by an almost

cult-like social media following of this guy. >> the first stock i'm going to talk about is gamestop. >> reporter: that's keith gill, aka roaring kitty, featured in a movie "dumb money" who told the story of those amateur investors sticking to it the pros. >> how much did we make today? >> $5 million. >> reporter: how much did we lose today? >> a billion. >> reporter: it wasn't just a get rich quick scheme. amateur investors online championed what they saw as a revolt against wall street. but expert says the real way to beat wall street is to get rich slowly. >> what wall street actually hates isn't a meme stock. they actually hate is people basically buying and holding index funds, kind of being very passive, doing the financially smart things that work over decades. >> reporter: for most investors, boring is better. cheese low cost index funds. ooms keep management key fees to a minimum, and check your requirement

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we're back now with the culture wars playing out in small-town america. a battle between being waged between a church and a library in a place they call the hometown of superman. antonia hylton has our report. >> reporter: superman looms large in the otherwise unassuming quiet town of metropolis, illinois. but there is a fight brewing over the local

library that locals worry even the man of steel couldn't resolve. >> we've got to protect one to protect them all. everyone needs to stands up. >> reporter: rhonda james never imagined being president of this small-town library board would be controversial. >> she says i did not bring my children to the library for religious indoctrination. >> reporter: in the winter, she started receiving letters saying her library director prayed with children, pushed christianity, and had quietly removed computers and thousands of books with themes about sexual identity, other religions and even halloween. in all the years that you've been on the library board, have you ever received letters like these? >> no. >> reporter: the board confronted the library director who answered nbc affiliate wpsd when asked if the library censored materials. >> absolutely not. >> reporter: board members say they asked her to sign a form promising to end prayer in the library. when she refused, the board terminated her, further fueling a small-town's battle over its library. >> the libraries have

things that come straight out of sodom and gomorrah. >> reporter: this brian anderson, a town councilman and pastor, preaching to his congregation, which includes the mayor that satan was in the library. >> these children that you see here, the enemy hates them. and the enemy wants to kill them. >> reporter: typically, baptist pastor glenn coram says he agrees with other ministers on moral issues, but not this one. >> you have someone who is pushing to enforce religious agreement on a public institution. >> reporter: should the local library reflect the views of the majority? >> no, i don't think so. the library opens up the world to entirely different ways of thought. >> reporter: in march, metropolis mayor don canada sided with pastor anderson and announced he'd remove library board members, a step the illinois secretary of state called unacceptable. the mayor paused his plans. do you think prayer is appropriate in the public library? >> well, now, it

depends -- yeah -- i'm going to say this. if you're asking me do i think it's all right if it was approved by everybody involved, then i don't see what the problem is. >> reporter: at a public town meeting, councilmember and pastor kevin anderson declined to speak with us. >> wonder what no comment means. anybody know that? >> reporter: but people there had plenty to say about him. >> his behavior has consequences that go on beyond the library. >> reporter: the mayor now has until june to make a decision about the library board. rhonda james left worried about her fate and her community. >> we want to have freedom to practice whatever religion we want or to not practice religion. we want to have the freedom to gather information and learn things. >> reporter: for the love of the library, she says she'll stand her ground. antonia hylton, nbc news, metropolis, illinois. and coming up, hardwood history. the anticipation couldn't be higher as caitlin clark makes her wnba debut. we'll speak with the rookie sensation next. we'

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here is stephanie gosk. >> reporter: as caitlin clark gets ready to play her first regular season game in the wnba in front of a sold-out arena, there is a buzz among the fans. >> scale of 1 to 10, how excited are you to see her play tonight? >> 10 out of 10. >> reporter: 10 out of 10! and among the players. >> everyone is excited, everyone is pumped. >> reporter: while the star herself is as cool as ever. what does it feel like to be in this sold-out crowd tonight? >> yeah, i think it will be good. i don't think it's any different than college. clark for three! >> reporter: the preseason games drew huge crowds. >> let's go! >> reporter: since she joined the indiana fever, ticket prices have skyrocketed. clark's number 22 jersey is one of the top selling jerseys in any sport. >> what a slick pass! >> reporter: it comes as the wnba announces the addition of a new team, the golden state valkyries, and teams have started flying private charters to games.

clark's record-breaking time in the ncaa has fans sticking around to see what the 22-year-old can do in the pros, hoping for a few more of those logo threes. >> what's a logo three? well, this is a logo in the middle of the court. she shoots from here all the way to there. makes it all the time. >> reporter: clark went first in the draft just last month. >> the indiana fever select caitlin clark, university of iowa! >> reporter: tonight, her pro career officially begins, bringing in new fans and transforming the league. stephanie gosk, nbc news, uncasville, connecticut. >> a real game-changer. that's "nightly news" for this tuesday. thank you for watching. i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night. >> walsh, gets away with a little push, buries it. sh, buries it.

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