Iran's president dead in helicopter crash and Michael Cohen returns to the stand: Morning Rundown

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been confirmed dead in a helicopter crash, state media reported. Michael Cohen returns to the stand in Trump’s hush money trial. And Diddy issues an apology after a video appearing to show him assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie was made public.

Here’s what to know today.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi dead in helicopter crash

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has died in a helicopter crash, state media reported this morning. The cause of the crash yes was unclear. Iranian officials said fog and bad weather in the area slowed rescuers’ response.

Raisi was returning with a government delegation that had attended the inauguration of a dam on the border with Azerbaijan. There were no survivors among the nine people on board, who also included Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The Iranian cabinet held an “emergency meeting” on Monday following the announcement of Raisi’s death, state news agency IRNA reported.

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First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will serve as Iran’s interim president. His appointment was approved by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader and head of state. A presidential election must now be called within 50 days.

Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the United States was “one of the main culprits” in the crash that killed Raisi, citing U.S. sanctions affecting aviation in comments on state television. Iran, which operates a range of helicopters, has long been under sanctions that make it difficult to maintain them or purchase spare parts. Most of the helicopters in operation date back to before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Follow live updates here. 

Michael Cohen returns to witness stand as decision on Trump testimony in hush money trial looms

Michael Cohen is returning to the witness stand for a third day of cross-examination from Donald Trump’s lawyers, in what could be the final day of testimony in the first criminal trial of a former president. Cohen is a key witness in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump and the only one to directly tie Trump to the alleged scheme to falsify business records. 

Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche questioned Cohen last week about inconsistencies in some of his claims about Trump. “That’s a lie!” Blanche said to Cohen at one point, after he challenged him about his account of having spoken to Trump on the phone at a time about the hush money agreement he’d struck with adult film actor Stormy Daniels in the weeks before the 2016 election. Trump has denied the allegations against him. 

Prosecutors had made it clear to jurors in his direct examination that Cohen had a track record of lying publicly, and they elicited testimony about his 2018 guilty pleas to various criminal charges, including some related to the Daniels payment and another of lying to Congress. Cohen said he'd lied to protect his then-boss Trump. Here’s what could happen today.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs apologizes after video appears to show him beating his ex-girlfriend

Sean “Diddy” Combs issued an apology after a video was released that showed him beating his ex-girlfriend Cassie in 2016, matching the description of an incident she detailed in a now-settled lawsuit. Combs, who is the subject of a federal investigation and numerous civil lawsuits, said in a video statement on his Instagram page that his “behavior on that video is inexcusable.”

“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that.” Combs said. “My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted. I was disgusted when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”

Cassie, whose name is Casandra Ventura, alleged in a federal lawsuit in November that Combs raped and physically abused her, including punching, beating, kicking and stomping her, over the course of their relationship. Her suit included details of being assaulted by Combs in a hotel, which appeared to be supported by the video CNN released. Combs had denied the allegations by his former partner, calling them sickening. He also said the settlement, which was announced one day after the suit was filed, was in “no way” an admission of wrongdoing. 

Biden pledged to ‘end this uncivil war.’ Nearly 4 years later, it still rages on.

As President Joe Biden faces re-election, the nation is locked in the same unrelenting standoff that has been worsening in America for generations. “We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal,” Biden said.

For years, Democratic officials have been predicting that the far-right movement gripping Republican politics will burn itself out — that the “fever” will subside when a string of electoral losses forces a reckoning inside the GOP. But it never happened. Trump was voted out of office in 2020, yet the man and his MAGA movement are on the cusp of reclaiming power. Trump is running about even with Biden in national polls.

Biden isn’t giving up, allies said, and if he wins a second term he may look to appoint Republicans to Cabinet positions and redouble efforts to make American political discourse less toxic. But that’s not so easily done.

‘Portal’ installation linking Dublin and New York reopens after ‘inappropriate behavior’

A portal linking New York and Dublin reopened after it was shut down last week amid reports of people flashing body parts, doing drugs on camera and trolling viewers on the other side.

Each side of the portal broadcasts a livestream from its counterpart in the other city, enabling visitors on both sides to interact with each other in real time — as if the two cities were participating in a giant video call.

The Dublin City Council announced it would be closing the portal after videos circulated online of a woman baring her breasts to the portal, a man mooning the camera and someone at the Dublin portal holding up a photo of 9/11. Others appeared to show themselves taking drugs or pretending to. The installation’s organizers in both cities said they have implemented a “proximity-based solution” by taking action to prevent people from stepping on the portals and holding phones up to the cameras. 

Container ship set to be removed 8 weeks after Francis Scott Key Bridge crash

The enormous container ship that collided with and collapsed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March is set to be moved from the site and taken to shore on today in a complex procedure.

The M/V Dali crashed with the bridge in the early hours on March 26, causing a catastrophic failure of the structure which led to the deaths of six constructions workers and disrupted shipping across the East Coast, and has remained in the Patapsco River for the last eight weeks.

The Dali’s 22 crew members were unharmed in the crash but have had to remain on board ever since the crash — including during a controlled explosion last week to free the vessel.

Politics in Brief

 Swing state blitz: The Human Rights campaign, the largest LGBTQ rights group in the U.S., is launching a $15 million push to help President Joe Biden’s re-election efforts.

Elections: Rudy Giuliani has been served indictment papers in connection with an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results, at his own birthday party, after mocking the Arizona attorney general. 

NRA: The National Rifle Association is formally supporting former President Donald Trump. 

Morehouse commencement speech: President Joe Biden delivered the commencement address at Morehouse College over the weekend, his most direct engagement with college students since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The Morehouse College valedictorian called for “an immediate and a permanent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.”

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Staff Pick: Meet the ‘whole blood mafia’ trying to save lives

A group of former military trauma surgeons, medics and nurses who call themselves “the whole blood mafia” say they have seen on the battlefield how transfusions of whole blood can turn a dying patient into a survivor. Since it can take less than 15 minutes to bleed to death, getting blood fast matters. Yet only 1% of rescue vehicles carry blood. We set out to understand why so few ambulances carry whole blood and speak to the doctors who say if it was widely available, tens of thousands of lives would be saved every year

— Cynthia McFadden, senior investigative correspondent 

In Case You Missed It

•  Xander Schauffele won the PGA Championship, his first major golf tournament victory. 
• 706 people named Kyle got together in Texas to attempt to break the world record for the largest gathering of people with one name. 
• Taiwan’s new president Lai Ching-te was sworn into office and called on China to cease “intimidation.” 
• An Arizona man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2017 death of his wife, who was buried alive. 
• Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said the company is working to address customer complaints and safety issues but that there are limitations on what it can do.

Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

 If you’re looking to take advantage of good deals this Memorial Day, consider big-ticket items like furniture and household appliances. Here’s what else to buy (and skip), plus a few Memorial Day sales that are already live.

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