tonight, the courtroom drama. donald trump's attorney accusing michael cohen of lying on the stand. cohen, mr. trump's former fixer, back under a scathing cross-examination. the defense appearing to catch cohen offguard, casting doubt on a 2016 call he said he had with trump over the hush money payment to stormy daniels, saying, quote, that is a lie. how cohen responded, as he faces another day on the stand. also tonight, president biden asserting executive privilege over recordings of his interview with the special counsel who ended up criticizing his memory. a rare high risk alert for life-threatening flash floods in the south. the dangerous storms being called a nightmare scenario. just in, the man convicted of murdering a black lives matter protester. why the texas governor just pardoned him. a florida neighborhood terrorized. gunmen with high-powered firearms

unleashing a barrage of bullets. a search for answers. the kansas city chiefs kicker under fire for his commencement speech, urging women to be homemakers, and blasting the lgbtq community. what the nfl is now saying. and after thieves made off with a beloved jackie robinson statue, the community coming together to help a legend rise again. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening and welcome. a grueling day for donald trump accuser michael cohen, as the former president's lawyer worked to shake off some of the sparkle from the prosecution's star witness. cohen has now spent a total of 14 hours on the witness stand this week, facing cross-examination by defense attorney todd blanche. diving once more into cohen's history of lies, painting him as driven by revenge and confronting him with his eagerness to see his former boss rot inside. and in a key moment, leading cohen to contradict his own

testimony about a phone call he says he had with mr. trump regarding the hush money payments at the center of this case. tonight, the trial barreling toward its conclusion, but with key decisions still to be made, including will donald trump testify? once again, laura jarrett leads our coverage. >> reporter: tonight, star prosecution witness michael cohen facing a scathing second day of cross-examination, as former president trump's defense team tries to paint him as a spurned former employee, desperate for payback. >> i truly [ bleep ] hope that this man ends up in prison. >> reporter: the jury hearing cohen on his podcast, appearing in search of vengeance. >> revenge is a dish best served cold, and you better believe i want this man to go down and rot inside for what he did to me and my family. >> reporter: tension in the room building to a dramatic moment. trump attorney todd blanche accusing cohen of lying about a key part of his testimony.

just two days ago, cohen telling the jury unequivocally that mr. trump's bodyguard keith schiller passed the phone to mr. trump on october 24th, 2016 at 8:02 p.m. cohen says he informed mr. trump at the time the deal to pay off stormy daniels would be done. blanche today raising his voice, saying, "that was a lie." showing the jury never before seen text messages, suggesting the call was for another purpose entirely. cohen had earlier reached out to schiller for help dealing with a 14-year-old prank caller. and schiller texted back telling cohen to call him. logs show a call on october 24th that lasted just 97 seconds. the defense's clear implication, the phone was never passed to mr. trump. cohen appearing blindsided. blanche grilling him, "that was a lie, you did not talk to president trump. you talked to keith schiller. you can admit it." cohen responding, "no, sir, i don't know that it's accurate." cohen adding, "i believe i also spoke to mr. trump about the

stormy daniels matter." blanche shooting back, "we are not asking what you believe. this jury does not want to hear what you think happened." cohen's credibility key to the state's of case, as he is the only one who has testified the former president had advanced knowledge of the plan to pay off daniels to protect his campaign and then signed off on a scheme to pay cohen back, allegedly falsifying business records to disguise his reimbursements. mr. trump has pleaded not guilty, as his defense attorneys have argued nothing was falsified, and once again challenging prosecutors' theory today that the former president only cared about shielding his campaign from daniels' damaging story. blanche pushing cohen about mr. trump's reaction the first time the former president learned of daniels shopping her story. blanche asking, "the first thing that president trump said to you was that his

family wouldn't like very much." cohen saying, "that's true." the self-described former trump fixer turned foe maintaining his composure on the stand when pressed at length about his criminal history. cohen has been convicted of lying under oath and disbarred. the defense arguing he has a motivation to lie now and a history of doing it. quote, you lied under oath, correct, blanche asking him. "yes, sir," cohen says. the defense today saying cohen is also not telling the full story about his desire for a white house job, which mr. trump never offered him. "you were disappointed that after all the work you had done for president trump for 9 1/2 years, nobody, including president trump, offered you a position in the white house?" blanche asked. "that's not accurate, cohen said. >> i think it was a very interesting day. it was a fascinating day. it shows what a scam this whole thing is. >> laura, let's circle back if we can for a moment. when the defense accused cohen of lying under oath on the phone call, was there any sense of the impact? >> reporter: lester, the jury was paying very close attention to that entire

exchange. it was real blow to prosecutors, no doubt about it. now, michael cohen will be back on the stand for more testimony on monday. lester? >> all right, laura, thank you. president biden asserted executive privilege today to keep congress from getting recordings of his interview with the special counsel. kelly o'donnell is at the white house. kelly, what was this about? >> reporter: lester, this goes back to the investigation of classified documents found at the biden home. no charges were filed. the special counsel, who interviewed the president, referred to him as a well meaning elderly man with a poor memory. the written transcript is public, but house republicans want the audio recording. the president blocked that using executive privilege. the attorney general recommended shielding the tapes to protect future witnesses and investigations. the white house counsel wrote that republicans really want the tapes to use them for partisan political purposes. house speaker johnson accused the white house of being afraid for citizens to hear what's on those tapes, and separately, news

organizations, including nbc are part of a lawsuit seeking the release of this audio under the freedom of information act. lester? >> kelly o'donnell, thank you. tonight, torrential downpours putting 21 million people at risk from potentially life-threatening flooding in texas and along the gulf coast. rain has been soaking the region with up to a foot expected in areas through saturday. the flash flooding risk moderate to severe in some parts through early tomorrow. also in texas, governor greg abbott issued a pardon today to a former u.s. army sergeant convicted of murder in the shooting of a black lives matter protester back in 2020. steve patterson is following this. steve, what more do we know? >> reporter: lester, governor abbott says this pardon is justified by texas' stand your ground law and comes after the board of pardons and paroles reviewed the case unanimously in favor of the pardon. last year, u.s. army argent daniel perry was found guilty of murdering air force veteran garrett foster during a july 2020

black lives matter protest in austin. police say foster was legally carrying a semiautomatic rifle when he approached an intersection where perry was parked. perry then shot foster from the vehicle, later claiming self-defense. tonight, the district attorney in the case is condemning the pardon, calling it a mockery of our legal system. lester? >> steve patterson, thank you. it was a terrifying night at a neighborhood in south florida. a barrage of gunfire lasting 15 seconds lighting up the street as a silver car sped past in miami gardens. police say several gunmen targeted the car with high-powered weapons. the chaos caught on home surveillance cameras. some of the bullets hit houses in the neighborhood. the car crashed into a fence, and those inside got out. remarkably, police say, there were no injuries. we'll turn now to the growing controversy over a graduation speech at a catholic college given by a kicker for the

kansas city chiefs. some critics saying it was sexist and homophobic, and calling on the team to cut him loose. here's liz kreutz. >> reporter: tonight, the nfl on defense after growing backlash over that controversial graduation speech given by one of their star players, kansas city chiefs kicker harrison butker. >> i think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. >> reporter: in this speech at benedictine college, the 28-year-old super bowl champ criticizing lgbtq+ rights, abortion, ivf and surrogacy, while encouraging the young women graduates to focus on being a homemaker. >> some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but i would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. >> reporter: despite a standing ovation from the crowd, many slamming the speech as homophobic and sexist. >> getting married and having kids is not my ideal situation right now. it definitely made graduation feel a little less special, knowing i had to sit through that and get

told i'm nothing but a homemaker. >> reporter: the nfl, which is coming off a year of record female viewership amid hype over taylor swift's relationship with butker's teammate, chiefs tight end travis kelce, now distancing themselves from butker. the league saying in a statement, "butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. his views are not those of the nfl." and more than 140,000 people have now signed a petition calling on the nfl to remove butker from the chiefs. so far, neither benedictine college, the chiefs or butker himself have commented. lester? >> liz kreutz, thank you. in the middle east, a potential humanitarian lifeline in gaza, as the u.s. military finished setting up a pier the pentagon has said could put u.s. troops in harm's way. richard engel reports. >> reporter: the u.s. military has tonight anchored its pier off the gaza strip and will in the coming days begin to use landing craft to shuttle humanitarian aid to the coast. defense secretary troops at.

it's also slow, but lloyd austin warning this could put u.s. troops at risk. it's also slow, but needed, because trucks are increasingly blocked and attacked by israeli settlers and right-wing extremists. in several incidents this week, israeli hard-liners have stopped supplies and aid they suspected were heading to gaza. and they're proud of what they're doing. the activists say as long as hamas holds hostages in gaza and keeps them in deprivation, gazans should be deprived as well. several of the trucks were sent by jordan, and senior jordanian officials tell news that israel failed to address the problem. we traveled to the west bank through areas where palestinians say hundreds of armed settlers carried out arson attacks. in one case, cctv footage showed settlers setting fire to a garage.

while in the distance, israeli soldiers appear to not intervene. this palestinian american is a community leader here. is that common where the settlers do things like this, attack people, set things on fire, and the soldiers just sit back? >> sit back and watch. they don't do anything. they're supposed to be protecting people. >> reporter: the israeli military says it does not impede the flow of aid into gaza, and the alleged arson attacks by settlers in the west bank are under investigation. lester? >> richard engel, thank you. in 60 seconds, a promising new drug to treat menopause, but will insurance cover it? when dry eye symptoms keep... coming... back... inflammation might be to blame. over-the-counter eye drops can provide temporary relief. xiidra can provide lasting relief. it targets inflammation that can cause dry eye disease. xiidra? no-o-o! xiidra treats the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. don't use if allergic to xiidra. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied, and unusual taste sensation.

why wait? ask your doctor about a 90-day prescription and pay as little as $0. xiidra. (grunt) [ cellphone ringing ] phone call from the boss? sorry. outdoor time is me time. sticking it to the boss, that sounds fun. we have sort of a flat hierarchy, so -- wait, flo isn't the boss? well, you could say i'm a boss at helping people save when they bundle. nope, thanks. we're not gonna say that. -i'd rather not. -very cringey. ugh, when is my allergy spray going to kick in? -you need astepro. -astepro? it's faster, bro. 8x faster than flonase. it's faster, bro! it's faster, bro! it's faster, bro! it's mom to you. astepro starts working in 30 minutes. astepro d go! a new drug is showing promising results and relief for millions of women going through menopause. anne thompson has more. >> reporter: once whispered, now shouted. >> i'm in menopause! >> reporter: by high profile women. >> i think i'm having my first hot flash.

>> reporter: and millions of others who want better medicine for this phase of life. >> i started having hot flashes. >> reporter: cindy lauthrie is a once active wife, mother, and nurse, slowed down by the effects of menopause. how bad does it get? >> i would turn really red and perspire really bad, and i'm bad enough that i could be in a social situation and people would stop me and ask if i was okay. >> reporter: oh, my gosh. >> yeah. so definitely noticeable to other people. >> reporter: until she joined a phase 3 clinical trial of a potential new drug called elinzanetant, targeting two receptors in the brain. dr. joanne pinkerton led the trial. >> it did work very well to reduce frequency and severity of hot flashes, and it improved sleep and overall quality of life. so it worked on all three. >> reporter: cindy says her hot flashes, as many as 15 a day, disappeared. >> and i can sleep and fall asleep and stay asleep. >> reporter: wow. >> and i felt really

rested when i woke up. >> reporter: made by bayer, this drug could one day join veozah asth. a nonhormonal option, with the same high price tag, well over $500 a month. a cost most insurance plans don't automatically cover, and some plans make women fail two other treatments before paying for veozah. what would you say to insurance companies about the need to cover these drugs? >> women and providers need to be able to pick the best and safest medication for women that they'll take. >> reporter: women demanding access and choice to deal with the process of aging. anne thompson, nbc news. we have more to tell you about. coming up, why is a life-saving treatment only carried by a tiny percentage of rescue vehicles? our investigation is next. tinyy before my doctor and i chose breztri for my copd, i had bad days. [cough] flare-ups that could permanently damage my lungs. with breztri, things changed for me.

breztri gave me better breathing. starting within 5 minutes, i noticed my lung function improved. it helped improve my symptoms, and breztri was even proven to reduce flare-ups, including those that could send me to the hospital. so now i look forward to more good days. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. can't afford your medication? astrazeneca may be able to help. ask your doctor about breztri. when you need to prepare for unpredictable adventures... (gasp) you need weathertech. [hot dog splat.] laser measured floorliners front and rear.

[drink slurp and splat.] (scream) seat protector to save the seats. [honk!] they're all yours! we're here! hey, i knew you were comin'... so i weatherteched the car! can we get ice cream? we can now. kid proof your vehicle with american made products at weathertech.com. (♪♪) when life spells heartburn... how do you spell relief? r-o-l-a-i-d-s rolaids' dual-active formula begins to neutralize acid on contact. r-o-l-a-i-d-s spells relief. hi, i'm eileen. i live in vancouver, washington and i write mystery novels. as i was writing, i found that i just wasn't sharp and that doesn't work when you're writing a mystery and i knew i needed to do something so i started taking prevagen. i realized that i was much more clear, much sharper. i was remembering the details that i was supposed to. prevagen keeps my brain working right.

prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. (psst! psst!) ahhh! with flonase, allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily gives you long lasting non-drowsy relief. flonase all good. also, try our allergy headache and nighttime pills. (rebecca) it wasn't until after they had done the surgery to remove all the toes that it really hit me. you see the commercials. you never put yourself in that person's shoes until you're there. (announcer) you can quit. for free help, call 1-800-quit-now. a slow network is no network for business. for free help, that's why more choose comcast business. and now, we're introducing ultimate speed for business —our fastest plans yet. we're up to 12 times faster than verizon, at&t, and t-mobile.

and existing customers could even get up to triple the speeds... at no additional cost. it's ultimate speed for ultimate business. don't miss out on our fastest speed plans yet! switch to comcast business and get started for $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. call today! back now with our nbc news investigation. doctors and first responders sounding the alarm about a critical lifeline that most ambulances don't have. as cynthia mcfadden reports, they say it could save tens of thousands of lives a year. >> america one is departing. >> reporter: when it comes to medical emergencies, san antonio, texas, and birmingham, alabama, do things differently than 99% of the country. they carry blood onboard at least some of their emergency vehicles. so does palm beach county, florida. the district fire chief there says he

has very personal proof blood on ambulances saves lives. >> i had to be carried in a bed. >> reporter: several days after having her tonsils out, his 6-year-old daughter izzy lay unconscious in his arms after vomiting blood. >> what's the emergency there? >> my daughter is bleeding. make sure the rescue ems has whole blood. >> reporter: they did. without it, doctors say, she would not have made to it the hospital. whole blood is simply blood that comes directly out of a donor's arm. >> 30 seconds after that first pump, izzy went from being unconscious to alert and looking around. how were you before you got the blood? uh-huh. and when you got the blood, how were you? >> reporter: how many izzys might be saved by putting universal donor o-negative whole blood on rescue vehicles nationwide? >> conservatively, tens of thousands. probably more than that. 40, 50, 60,000 people every year.

>> reporter: could? >> would. >> reporter: survive. >> would live if we had pre-hospital blood available for everybody. >> reporter: dr. john holcomb is a combat seasoned trauma surgeon and spent 23 years in the army. >> what we learned from the battlefield is that whole blood by far and away is the best, is the best product for bleeding patients. >> reporter: the latest research backs him and dozens of other former military trauma doctors up. though many hospitals and blood banks do not routinely keep whole blood in stock. instead, they store blood's component parts. is there any credible medical opinion that you're aware of that opposes the use of whole blood in trauma situations? >> no. >> reporter: dr. jeffrey kirby is a former air force trauma surgeon and is considered one of the nation's top trauma doctors. >> where you live should not determine if you live after an injury. >> reporter: so why is this intravenous water packed with electrolytes called crystalloid not the whole blood the

standard of care across the country? if you're so darn sure this is the way the save lives, why do most hospitals use this? >> because it's tradition, it's cheap, and it's available. not because it's the best for them. >> reporter: no doubt in your mind? >> none. >> reporter: so why are we still doing this? the answer in large part is money. neither medicaid or medicare or private insurers pay for blood given on the way to the hospital. >> we need to stop thinking in terms of reimbursing our ambulance services for the transport they provide. we need to reimburse them based on the treatment they can provide. >> reporter: and that treatment can be life-saving, because a patient can bleed to death in less than 15 minutes. >> these darker areas are where you're more than an hour away from a trauma center. >> reporter: specialist dr. kirby points to map that shows 40 million americans live more an hour from a trauma center. >> if this were a map of cell coverage, people would be losing their minds,

essentially. >> reporter: instead, people are losing their lives. often because the ambulance that comes to rescue them doesn't have whole blood. >> it was a miracle to us. >> reporter: cynthia mcfadden, nbc news, birmingham, alabama. coming up, months after it was stolen, recreating a statue of baseball legend jackie robinson. our inside look is next. if advanced lung cancer has you searching for possibilities, 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; joint pain; flushing; or fever. these are not all the possible side effects. problems can occur together and more often when opdivo is used with yervoy. tell your doctor about all medical conditions including immune or nervous system problems, if you've had or plan to have an organ or stem cell transplant, or received chest radiation. your search for 2 immunotherapies starts here. ask your doctor about opdivo plus yervoy. a chance to live longer. did i read this? ask your doctor about opdivo plus yervoy. did i get eggs? where are my keys? memory and thinking issues keep piling up? it may be due to a buildup of amyloid plaques in the brain.

visit morethannormalaging.com it ain't my dad's razor, dad. ay watch it! it's from gillettelabs. this green bar releases trapped hairs from my face... gamechanga! ...while the flexdisc contours to it. so the five blades can get virtually every hair in one stroke. for the ultimate gillette shaving experience. the best a man can get is gillettelabs. if you have wet amd, you never want to lose sight of the things you love. some things should stand the test of time. long lasting eylea hd could significantly improve your vision and can help you go up to 4 months between treatments. if you have an eye infection, eye pain or redness, or allergies to eylea hd, don't use. eye injections like eyla hd may cause eye infection, separation of the retina, or rare but severe swelling of blood vessels in the eye. an increase in eye pressure has been seen. there's an uncommon risk of heart attack or stroke associated with blood clots.

the most common side effects were blurred vision, cataract, corneal injury, and eye floaters. and there's still so much to see. if you are on eylea or a similar type of treatment, ask your retina specialist about eylea hd today, for the potential for fewer injections. protesters and university police. also, how much longer? we sit down with steve kerr, who finally tonight, months after it was stolen by thieves, an honor is being restored for a

baseball legend. here's morgan chesky. >> reporter: this ballpark in wichita, kansas, feels more empty than it should. in january, thieves cut down a beloved statue of barrier-breaking all-star jackie robinson. the league 42 baseball fields founded for underserved city youth now robbed of their hero. >> was sickened by what you saw, even in a state of disbelief. >> reporter: the bronze cleats left behind, now on display at the negro league's baseball museum. >> you want to wave the white flag and throw your hands up and say, okay, i give up. and the minute you're ready to do that, the good people step in and they step up. >> reporter: donors raising more than . now, a skilled team at art castings of colorado is hard at work, carefully painting and pouring. >> so this is part of jackie's jersey.

>> reporter: all part of the process to rebuild the iconic dodger using the original molds, crafted by the late sculptor, kansas artist john parsons. his wife carol calling jackie his most important work. throughout the entire process, he was always talking with the robinson family? >> yes. >> reporter: he wanted to get jackie. >> oh, he wanted it, yeah. and he had pictures of jackie robinson all over his shop. >> reporter: and come late summer, an identical statue will be headed back home. >> it means a lot. he is a person you can look up to. >> after every game, i'm going to ask if i can take a picture by it. that way it's more closer to me. >> reporter: a baseball legend still daring others to dream. >> you can cut the statue down, but you cannot rid his spirit. >> reporter: morgan chesky, nbc news, wichita, kansas. and that is "nightly news" for this thursday. thank you for watching. i'm lester holt.

please take care of yourself and each other. good night.

president is put on leave. it's happening as the wave of protests continue across the country. also elderly renters given days to pay up or leave. we investigate the spike in evictions, plus a growing skincare craze among kids and teenagers. the warning from dermatologists about certain products and the push in sacramento to limit them. i think definitely in