5 things to know for May 20: Iran, Trump trial, Baltimore bridge, Space tourism, Retirement

CNN’s 5 Things brings you the news you need to know every morning.

A powerful storm system is barreling through the Central US with reports of baseball-sized hail in Kansas and Oklahoma. Hundreds of thousands are also without power in Texas as triple-digit heat follows a pattern of violent weather in the South. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash Sunday at age 63, the government has confirmed. Nine people were onboard the aircraft, including the country’s foreign minister. No survivors were found after an hours-long search operation in heavy fog, officials said, adding that weather could have played a key role in the crash. Raisi’s death comes at a fraught moment in the Middle East, with war raging in Gaza. It also comes weeks after Iran launched a drone and missile attack on Israel in response to a deadly strike on its diplomatic compound in Damascus. Donald Trump’s ex-attorney Michael Cohen will be back in court today to face another round of cross-examination in the former president’s criminal hush money trial. Cohen was on the stand for three days last week, where he implicated Trump in the reimbursement payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels at the heart of Manhattan prosecutors’ case. Prosecutors allege Trump broke the law by falsifying financial records to cover up the payment. This, they argue, was to deceive voters in 2016 in an early example of election interference. Trump denies having an affair with Daniels and has pleaded not guilty. Cohen is likely to be the last substantive witness to take the stand for the prosecution, and then it will be the defense’s turn to make Trump’s case. The ill-fated cargo ship Dali is set to be moved today from the site of its catastrophic collision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Nearly eight weeks have passed since the vessel lost power, veered off course and slammed into the Baltimore bridge on March 26, killing six construction workers. The removal of the ship brings officials one step closer to reopening the Port of Baltimore, which has been incapacitated since the incident. The wreckage has clogged the major shipping channel for the sugar and automotive industries and crippled a major city thoroughfare. More than 30,000 commuters relied on the Key Bridge every day, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said. Blue Origin launched six tourists to the edge of space Sunday for the first time in nearly two years, ending a hiatus prompted by a failed uncrewed test flight. The passengers included a venture capitalist, a brewery founder, a software engineer, a retired accountant, an aviator and a retired Air Force captain. During the mission, the crew soared to more than three times the speed of sound — or more than 2,000 miles per hour. The rocket vaulted the passengers past the Kármán line, an area 62 miles above Earth’s surface widely recognized as the altitude at which outer space begins. At the peak of the flight, passengers experienced a few minutes of weightlessness and views of Earth through the cabin windows.