tonight, the judge in donald trump's hush money rebuking star witness michael cohen ahead of his testimony. the former president's once trusted personal attorney expected to testify monday about his role in paying off stormy daniels during

the 2016 election. the judge today urging prosecutors to get cohen to stop making public statements about the case before his showdown with his former boss in court. also tonight, the deadly storms slamming florida. a possible tornado hitting tallahassee. widespread damage. at least one person killed. just out, the biden administration report highly critical of israel's actions in gaza, but finding it did not violate its u.s. weapons agreement as israel prepares to invade rafah over u.s. warnings. police arresting dozens of protesters at penn and mit as colleges try to keep commencements on track this weekend. the controversy in virginia. a school board voting to restore confederate names to schools. the scary moment at the italian open. tennis star novak djokovic struck in head with a water bottle and collapsing. what we know.

the spectacular show tonight. why the northern lights may be visible as far as the deep south. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening, and welcome, everyone. he is the biggest witness we haven't seen in donald trump's criminal trial, but that is expected to change monday morning when multiple sources tell nbc news, donald trump's former attorney, michael cohen, will come face-to-face with his ex-boss and testify for the prosecution in his falsified business records case. cohen, who was once fiercely loyal to mr. trump and now a frequent and vocal critic, is expected to be questioned about a $130,000 hush money payout he says he made to buy the silence of adult actress stormy daniels at the behest of mr. trump, he says. all during the heat of the 2016 presidential race. former president trump has pleaded not guilty to charges he falsified business records to conceal the payments.

trump lawyers poised, meantime, for their chance to attack cohen's credibility, and tonight the judge in the case is asking that cohen stop making public statements about mr. trump. senior legal correspondent laura jarrett has the latest. >> reporter: tonight, nbc news learning from multiple sources prosecutors will call their star witness, michael cohen, on monday. he called himself donald trump's fixer. now a vocal trump critic. cohen unleashing on his old boss in his book and on social media spotted online this week wearing a t-shirt depicting mr. trump behind bars. the judge today directing prosecutors to inform cohen that the judge is asking him to refrain from making any statements about the case or mr. trump, but not placing a gag order on cohen. mr. trump remains under one barring him from attacking witnesses and the jury. >> it's a disgrace. it's not a case. there's no crime. there is no crime, and they've failed to show a crime. >> reporter: cohen, a

critical witness for the prosecution, as the jury has now read his text messages, heard his voice, and seen evidence that he paid stormy daniels $130,000 just days before the 2016 election so she couldn't derail the campaign. the defense says her story of sex with mr. trump was false, a shakedown for money brokered by cohen, making his testimony and credibility on the stand essential. mr. trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges of illegally disguising his reimbursement checks to cohen, his former attorney, as, quote, legal expenses, to cover his tracks. the face-off between the two likely to be one of the most dramatic of the trial. cohen comes with baggage including previous convictions for campaign finance violations and lying under oath. meanwhile, today the jury hearing more from former trump aide, madeleine westerhout, who sat outside the oval office and

confirmed mr. trump met with cohen at the white house in 2017 where prosecutors say they devised their reimbursement scheme but testified the former president signed checks without reviewing them first, contrary to what mr. trump said in his book and other witnesses said at trial. >> so, laura, we're four weeks into this case right now. has the prosecution appeared to check all the boxes they needed and wanted to check? >> lester, the challenge is so far this jury has not seen a single document, a single tape, a single piece of evidence directly showing that mr. trump himself falsified any records or caused anyone else to do so. instead, they appear to be relying on cohen to connect those dots for him, and that's the challenge, lester. >> laura, thanks very much. after a destructive week of severe weather, today it was florida that got slammed by what appeared to be tornadoes leaving at least one person dead. shaira frias has late developments for us. >> reporter: toppled trees and scattered construction equipment, tonight, tallahassee, the latest in a line of cities cleaning up from severe weather

this week. at least one woman is dead from the storms after a tree fell on her home. suspected tornadoes, hail, and powerful thunderstorms roared through the city early this morning leaving 70,000 in the dark. carl wittington was describing the storm to us. >> i looked out the window, and it's just white. >> reporter: when another tree fell behind his home -- >> there goes my big pine tree in the backyard. >> reporter: the big top at florida state university's famous high-flying circus was ripped apart leaving the 75-year-old student act without a place to perform. >> alarms started going off and then you could hear the wind like really howling. >> reporter: the deadly week-long outbreak has devastated families from michigan to tennessee like briann lubbock. last night she was still looking for her mother. tonight she's learned her mom, 67-year-old sheryl, died. >> she was wonderful.

you couldn't make her mad. she was always smiling. >> reporter: and back here in atlanta, crews are still working to clear downed trees, but the good news is the storm system will finally move off the atlantic coast tonight giving us a break from the extreme weather for the next few days. >> priya sridhar, thank you. tonight, the biden administration finds itself grappling with its response to the war in the middle east criticizing the effort in a new report and pausing deliveries of some, but not all, weapons earmarked for israel. richard engel has more. >> reporter: as israel launched new attacks tonight, the state department issued a long anticipated report that had the potential to block the flow of american weapons to israel. it didn't. while the report was extremely critical of israel's use of american provided weapons and the high number of civil yaven casualties in gaza, it stopped short of saying they violated international

humanitarian law citing in part the complications of war to draw conclusion. this week president biden warned directly that the u.s. would stop sending weapons if israel launched a major offensive on the city of rafah in gaza, but in an interview with phil mcgraw, israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, brushed it off, saying, only israel decides what's best for its security. >> we've destroyed about 20 battalions of hamas' 24 terrorist battalions. we have another four to go. they're in rafah, and that's why we want to go into rafah, because we can't leave them there. >> reporter: but this is what it looks like from the inside. the most dangerous city now in the gaza strip. our crew in rafah kept rolling as the israeli military advanced, and palestinians ran for their lives. they're not sure where they're going, just away from the sounds of explosions. our cameraman arrived at a narrow alley. israel had just struck a building at the far

end of it. he films as wounded children scream out. in some cases carried by other children. israel says it's targeting hamas with precision strikes. at the local hospital, medics treated more than 25 casualties. most of them appear to have been children. two administration officials tell nbc news that defensive and offensive weapons including small arms are still flowing to israel with new shipments recently sent. lester. >> okay, richard engel tonight, thank you. and tensions over the war continue to divide america's college campuses where there was a surreal blend of clashes and time-honored tradition. here's liz kreutz. >> reporter: as thousands of college graduates take the stage in celebration tonight at other universities a stark contrast with more arrests made by police breaking up pro-palestinian encampments. at the university of pennsylvania, police

in riot gear physically removing demonstrators detaining 33 people. and at the university of arizona, law enforcement using tear gas and rubber bullets to disburse protesters. police say rocks and water bottles were thrown at officers. demonstrators still camped out on the stage where commencement usually takes place at pomona college near los angeles. the school announcing it's moving the ceremony off campus. at columbia there will be no universitywide celebration this year but smaller events got under way today away from the main campus. >> i wish we were celebrating on morningside campus today, but, alas, we are not. >> reporter: meanwhile at the university of southern california -- [ cheers ] >> tabitha -- asna tabassum. >> reporter: the school's employee palestinian valedictorian receiving her diploma at a smaller department ceremony today. usc canceled her

speech and ultimately their entire main commencement ceremony citing security concerns. some jewish groups voiced concerns over her instagram, which included a link to a website that calls for the abolishment of israel. >> to be here and not speak, honestly i'd love to hear her. >> reporter: at an event yesterday, she got an ovation from her classmates. today she shared what would have been her speech with the school newspaper. a majority of it she blacked out sending a message that she was silenced. lester, this is where the encampment once was now filled with celebratory graduates. all around campus there are signs warning anyone exceptionally disruptive may be removed immediately. >> liz, thank you. in virginia a school board voting to restore the names of confederate leaders to two schools after they were changed a few years back during an nationwide reckoning over racism. here's yamiche alcindor. >> reporter: tonight,

people in this county are divided after a virginia school district voted 5-1 to restore the names of confederate military leaders to two public schools. >> the reason why they changed the name, i kind of understand that, but we need to put it back to our heritage. this is where we're from. this is what we do. >> i don't like it at all and just thinking about it makes my heart race. >> stonewall jackson is a part of our heritage. >> the process was wrongly done. >> reporter: last night parents, teachers and students sounded off in front of the school board. >> people don't take the time to think about students like me. he fought for slavery to be a constitutional right >> reporter: the contentious hours-long board meeting lasted in early friday morning. >> restore our rights and restore our heritage, our history and our school name. >> my heart breaks for the children that are going to have to walk in schools named after

people that wanted them and their families enslaved by the white man. >> reporter: after the killing of george floyd in 2020 there were nationwide efforts to reckon with racism and get rid of confederate symbols. statues were removed from public squares and military bases across the country were renamed. here stonewall jackson high school became mountain view high and honey run elementary, but in the years since some conservative leaders here have been trying to reverse efforts, which is what happened here. >> you cannot ignore the heritage and feelings just because you are the minority. they honor men who believe that i have less value and worth because i am black. >> reporter: this reversal is a sign the debate over america and how it deals with its painful past is far from over. lester. >> yamiche, thank you. in 60 seconds, the battle over electric vehicles. the biden administration about to take major action against evs from china. that's next. and i'm ready for a rematch. game on. i've been practicing. what the cello? you want me to lower the hoop? foul! what? you going to tell on me again? foul yah? foul bro!

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news. it comes as former president trump argues for more evs will hurt u.s. workers. here's garrett haake. >> reporter: they're a top target for former president trump, arguing aggressively to put the brakes on the biden administration's support for electric vehicles. >> there's a problem. they're very expensive, and they don't go far. they're going to be made in china, every single one. >> reporter: the former president hoping to boost his appeal in the traditional automotive hubs of michigan and ohio where there's anxiety that more evs means fewer high-paying union jobs. mr. trump attacking president biden's pledge that half of all new vehicles sold in the u.s. by 2030 will have zero emissions. >> i'll terminate joe biden's radical plan to kill michigan's economy by repealing his insane electric vehicle mandate. >> reporter: but despite comments like those, the domestic ev industry is booming including here in the critical battleground

state of georgia, which has added more than 27,000 jobs in the industry since 2020 including at facilities like this one just outside atlanta. ascend elements plays a critical role in the ez supply chain, recycling spent batteries then selling back the valuable metals within for reuse. >> when i look at this, i see scrap. what do you see? >> dollars. >> reporter: battery scale used to be done only in china. >> how much of this industry can be done entirely in the united states in the future? >> all of it can be. it's a question of if we decide to. >> reporter: ascend employees including trump supporter chris bryant largely shrugging off the former president's attacks on evs. >> i think ev cars will be the future of america. >> reporter: the energy department says 60% of new battery and vehicle plants are planned for red states including a new toyota plant in kentucky, and a hyundai ev plant in georgia, but electric vehicles have had a rough few months.

automakers including ford and gm announcing they will scale back or delay ev production. tesla recently announcing layoffs as demand for evs has dropped. still, this hyundai ev plant will bring 5,000 jobs to the district of republican buddy carter, who considers himself a supporter of donald trump and evs. >> how do you square the way he trashes that industry with your support for it in your district? >> well, you know, look, the president and i may have some different views on this particular subject, and i believe that people want to see evs, and they want to make sure that we're manufacturing them here in america. that's very important, but, look, it can't be forced upon them. it has to be market driven. >> reporter: leaving the future of evs at the center of the national political debate even as the industry shifts gears. garrett haake, covington, georgia. more to come. up next, the space storm bringing a spectacular light show. with nurtec odt, i found relief.

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a scary incident today at the italian open. tennis superstar novak djokovic signing autographs when he's hit in the head by a water bottle and collapses. reports say the bottle accidentally fell from a fan's bag. djokovic is expected to be okay. we'll turn now to the spectacular light show you may be able to see tonight as a supercharged solar storm makes the northern lights visible in the deep south and california.

tom costello on how to see it and the impact it may have on some of your devices. >> reporter: it's 93 million miles away, but the violent eruptions on the sun are about to provide a spectacular night show to a lot of earthlings as a fierce magnetic storm brings the northern lights to regions that rarely see them. >> they can actually be seen perhaps from northern alabama along the horizon all the way out to northern california. >> reporter: solar experts have issued the first severe geomagnetic storm warning since 2005. those solar explosions called coronal mass ejections, or cmes, are racing towards the earth at 500 miles mer second. while humans are not in danger, it could disrupt power grids, navigation, and satellite communications. scientists call it a rare g4 event. >> a g4 is really big, and we might absolutely see some effects down here on earth, some -- your cell phone might not work.

we'll definitely have radio blackouts. those are already started to happen. >> reporter: astronauts on the space station and airline passengers should be safe. in 1989 a solar storm knocked out power in quebec for nine hours. >> you have the additional hit, the shock wave, as we call it, that arrives and then the magnetic cloud. >> reporter: the storm could possibly last all weekend. if you still have your eclipse glasses, you can see the massive solar spot 16 times the diameter of earth. at night use your cell phone. it might detect the northern lights better than your naked eye. lester. >> we'll be looking for it, tom. thanks very much. coming up, the baby named angel who survived war in gaza when her family was killed. the extraordinary story of what a doctor did next. foxtr people who feel limited by the unpredictability of generalized myasthenia gravis and who are anti-achr antibody positive, season to season, ultomiris is continuous symptom control, with improvement in activities of daily living. it is reduced muscle weakness. and ultomiris is the only long-acting gmg treatment

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finally on this mother's day weekend, a story about a tiny survivor from gaza known as angel, who has found a new place to call home thanks to her remarkable doctor. here's erin mclaughlin. >> reporter: these images shocked the world, babies struggling to survive. sparking international calls to save them. six died during the siege at al shifa hospital according to doctors. nbc news was there when 31 babies dehydrated and sick were evacuated to rafah and then to cairo, but a little girl remained behind at the al emirati

hospital in gaza known only as malak, arabic for angel, named after the angel who saved her life. >> many children in gaza saved by angels. >> reporter: back then doctors told nbc news that malak had survived much more than the siege. her neighborhood had been bombed, her family killed. >> the ambulance found this baby in the tree. all her family died. >> reporter: malak was just 2 days old when shifa, an orphan remarkably stable. her condition only deteriorated during the siege when doctors say they were forced to prepare her formula using contaminated water. it's been four months since the evacuation, and malak is thriving thanks to amal abu khatleh, a doctor at the al emirati neonatal unit. she watched for two

months as the little girl lay alone in the hospital incubator in rafah. "i got so close to her, she says. "after everything she's been through, i promised to make it up to her," and so the 32-year-old doctor volunteered to take her home as a single parent. "i leave her with my sister," and she takes care of her when i'm at work, she says. "everyone treats her as if she's their biological daughter." malak is a regular visitor to the hospital that saved her life, and while they're still checking for any surviving relatives in this brutal war that claimed the lives of so many, the doctor is now embracing her new role as a mother. erin mclaughlin, nbc news. that's "nightly news" for this friday. thanks for watching. i'm lester holt, please take care of yourself and each other.

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