A Manhattan courtroom is again setting the agenda for the 2024 campaign. A jury is deliberating, weighing and measuring the facts presented by the prosecutors and whether they made a convincing-enough case to convict Donald Trump. The 12 jurors spent the morning listening to a court reporter read pivotal excerpts from the testimony of Michael Cohen and former tabloid publisher David Pecker. CNN's Kristen Holmes starts our coverage outside the courthouse.

May 30, 2024

Get ready for a history-making week in American politics. By the end of it, the jury of 12 ordinary American citizens may actually finish their deliberations and decide whether to make Donald Trump a convicted felon. No matter the outcome, both the Trump and Biden campaigns will have huge, strategic decisions to make on how much, if at all, to focus on that verdict in the final months before election day.

May 27, 2024

First: Trump was loudly booed as he asks for Libertarians’ votes, during their convention. How is Trump’s hush money trial resonating with voters? Plus: The prosecution and defense teams gear up for crucial final hours in Trump’s hush money trial.  And: Two years after the deadly school shooting in Uvalde Texas, Rep. Tony Gonzales fights for his job over gun vote.

May 27, 2024

First: "Unhinged" and "power hungry." That's how the Biden campaign is describing Donald Trump in a new campaign ad. Their strategy is clear, but it's a message that doesn't seem to be translating in the polls. Dana asks a top Biden campaign aide why they think this will work.  Plus: Campaigning in the Bronx, one of the most diverse areas in the country, the former president tries to make inroads with Black and Latino voters crucial to Biden's coalition.  And: Abortion drugs could soon be classified as dangerous controlled substances in Louisiana, which means people with those pills who don't have a prescription could face prison time.

May 24, 2024

First: Nikki Haley makes official what was long assumed - she'll pick Trump over Biden despite the former president's racist and sexist taunts, not to mention his attack on her husband while he was serving his country overseas.  Plus: He did it again. The New York Times reports that Justice Samuel Alito flew a flag used by Stop the Steal supporters and some Christian nationalists above his second home.  And: President Biden is preparing to do a rare news conference after he meets with the president of Kenya.

May 23, 2024

First: Former President Donald Trump is now backtracking after suggesting he's open to restrictions on birth control, and he deleted a social media video that referred to a "unified Reich" if he wins.  Plus: Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries may not have the Speaker's gavel, but he could be the most powerful person in the House anyway. New CNN reporting on how he's seizing on the GOP's fractured majority to score wins.  And: Exasperated, underwhelmed and indifferent. That's how some swing voters are saying Joe Biden makes them feel. How big a problem is it for the president?

May 22, 2024

Courting controversy. Yesterday, President Biden took to the stage at an historically black college as he struggles with young and black voters. And debating the debates. Biden and Trump agree to go head-to-head. How the historic face-offs can shake up the race. Plus, final hours. Trump’s trial nears its end as Republicans flock to Manhattan and Democrats dodge when it comes to their own.

May 20, 2024

First: President Joe Biden spoke at African American history museum, commemorating the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education in an effort to bolster crucial support among Black voters. Plus: Israeli military recovers the bodies of three hostages in a tunnel in Gaza. Jeremy Diamond reports from Jerusalem. And: A New York Times report outside Justice Alito’s home displaying a “Stop The Sea;” flag after January 6. And a House committee hearing devolves into chaos.

May 17, 2024

First: Joe Biden and Donald Trump don't agree on much, but they do agree it's time to debate. They both accepted an invitation from CNN to hold the first presidential debate on June 27.  Plus: It's round two of Todd Blanche versus Michael Cohen, as Trump's top defense attorney is trying to paint the prosecution's star witness as a sworn henchmen out for revenge.  And: Can Republicans pick up a US Senate seat in the reliably blue state of Maryland. Popular former governor Larry Hogan will test that after winning the GOP nomination for last night.

May 15, 2024

On the beach. The testimony and the delays shaping the race as Biden criss-crosses the country, while RFK sends alarm bells ringing. Plus, isolated. Biden pleases no-one, new reporting as Democrats fret up and down the ballot, while the race for the Senate in Maryland gets vicious. The control of the chamber at stake. Finally, on trial. The other big court case kicking off today, that of Sen. Bob Menendez. We catch up with him just before his corruption trial is due to begin in New York, and as his colleagues call for him to step down.

May 13, 2024