making news in america this morning, president trump makes a direct denial about his conversations with the fired director of the fbi while calling the firestorm that's engulfed his administration a witchhunt. as investigations move forward, the president leaves today on his first foreign trip. we're live in washington. happening now a tornado outbreak across the middle of the country. monster storms spinning in several states. more dangerous weather expected today. security is very tight in new york's times square this morning. concrete barricades have been moved into place overnight after a deadly incident, a car plowing into pedestrians. the driver is now facing serious charges. and a subway save after a woman is caught on camera falling onto the tracks. this as the rush hour train barrels towards her.

a good friday morning. we begin with president trump railing against the investigation into russian election meddling. >> yeah, the headlines this morning, the president is denying any personal collusion with russia. he says he was close to naming a new fbi director, and that may happen before he begins his first foreign trip. >> abc's janai norman is in washington for us with more on the president's reaction to the appointment of robert mueller as special counsel. janai, good morning. >> reporter: diane and kendis, good morning, and happy friday. the president tweeted calling the investigation the single greatest witch-hunt of a politician in american history. but there aren't too many lawmakers who are standing by the president on this one. the president is sticking to his guns insisting the fbi's investigation is nothing more than a witchhunt even as members of his own party aren't sticking with him. >> the entire thing has been a witch-hunt, and there is no collusion between certainly

myself and my campaign. >> this is a serious investigation. >> he's entitled to his opinion. i would suggest to the president that when it's been appointed, honor that decision. cooperate where it's appropriate. >> reporter: deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, the man who appointed the special counsel to take over the investigation, was on capitol hill briefing all 100 senators on his decision. >> to make certain the american people felt that this was going to be handled fairly and justly. >> reporter: meanwhile, on the other end of pennsylvania avenue, the president was asked during a news conference whether he tried to get former fbi director james comey to shut down his investigation into fired national security adviser michael flynn. >> did you at any time urge former fbi director james comey in any way, shape or form to close or to back down the investigation into michael flynn and also as look back -- >> no, no. next question. >> reporter: the answer setting up a showdown with comey who reportedly took detailed notes of his conversation with the president before sealing his fate with this testimony trump

vented about. >> it makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impact on the election. >> that was a poor, poor performance. i believe that's why the deputy attorney general went out and wrote his very, very strong letter. >> reporter: and president trump has already admitted he was planning to fire comey regardless of rosenstein's recommendation, and as comey is invited to testify before congress next week, this controversy is likely to follow the president on his first official trip abroad. kendis and diane. >> all right, janai norman for us live in washington. janai, thanks. and, of course, the white house is hoping that they can just hit the reset button on all of this as the president embarks on that trip. >> yeah, so it's going to be a busy one. the president is making five stops over nine days in the middle east and europe starting in saudi arabia. he leaves today. he's expected to address the fight against terrorism and the israeli/palestinian peace process. he'll also meet the pope and attend the nato and g 7 summits.

>> the president says he is also very close to announcing his new fbi director, and he confirms that former connecticut senator joe lieberman is the front-runner to replace james comey. lieberman is a former democrat turned independent. he was al gore's running mate in 2000, but he backed john mccain for president in 2008. some democrats say the job should not go to a former politician. now, to one of the president's biggest supporters in congress. after announcing that he would not run for re-election next year, jason chaffetz now says his last day on the job will be pretty soon, june 30th. the utah republican says he wants to spend more time with his family at home. now, as chair of the house oversight committee chaffetz was leading the investigation into the firing of james comey. breaking news the rape investigation involving wikileaks founder julian assange has been dropped. prosecutors in sweden announcing the decision moments ago ending the nearly 7-year-old case. assange avoiding extradition to sweden living inside ecuador's embassy since 201 blue still

wanted for jumping bail in britain. and millions of americans hoping to be cleaning up after days after nasty weather may have to wait. >> yeah, and here's the reason why, the latest radar shows more stormy weather moving through the heartland. an area that's already been hit hard with heavy rain, hail and as many as 20 tornadoes with more of the same on the way. >> the storm probably 20 miles wide. >> reporter: this morning conditions across the southern plains just right for forming tornadoes. already at least two twisters touching down in oklahoma and one in northwest texas. >> here we go. here comes the circulation. >> reporter: these storm chasers on the hunt pelted by hail. the oklahoma city area expecting more severe weather today. public schools there let out early yesterday as the storm danger grew. there have been more than three dozen reported tornadoes since tuesday. the most powerful hit wichita and carved a 27-mile path. this week's tornadoes are blamed

for at least three deaths in oklahoma, wisconsin and iowa. and those tornado watches and warnings will be in effect for much of today. >> accuweather meteorologist justin povick joins us now with today's forecast. good morning, justin. >> diane and kendis, thanks and good morning to you. unfortunately, we have more severe weather for today over the same areas, large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes a possibility from missouri all the way down into portions of texas. we'll go a little further east throughout the day but again we're concerned about tornadoes, very large hail, destructive winds and flash flooding from south texas all the way into portions of illinois. so, a very busy afternoon and evening. >> another rough area. another rough day for that area. justin, thank you. now here's a closer look at rest of today's weather. well, nearly three feet of snow already on the ground in parts of colorado and montana and forecasters say it will continue

to fall for much of today, and temperatures, well, they'll hover in the 30s. much different story in the east where stifling hot conditions set new record highs into the mid and upper 90s. temperatures will continue to sizzle today, although not quite as hot. mostly mid-80s and a few spots will hit some low 90s as well, but definitely time to break out the t-shirs and shorts. still ahead, the new developments overnight after a car mowed through a crowd in times square. and new this morning, a serious accident at a carnival as riders there on a ferris wheel fall to the ground. also, see the adorable photobomb. that's george w. bush having some fun at the ballpark. at the ballpark.

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well, today the city of new orleans removes the last of four controversial statues honoring the confederacy, a monument to general robert e. lee. you see it there on top of that pillar, well, it comes down in just a few hours. demonstrators both for and against the statues attended the previous removals which were done before sunrise. today's, though, will take place in daylight. breaking overnight, investigators are trying to determine the cause of an accident on a carnival ride. it happened in washington state. authorities say a boy and two women are being treated after falling from a ferris wheel. one of the critical women is in critical condition. a witness says one of the carts flopped upside down ejecting the three riders. a coroner in detroit says the death of rocker chris cornell was a suicide. cornell's body was found in his

hotel room wednesday night after he performed with his band soundgarden. you see the video here of that performance. the 52-year-old is considered a pioneer in seattle's grunge music scene. last night the city's famed space needle went dark for an hour in honor of cornell. well, the unexpected death of fox news channel founder roger ailes leaves questions about the pending sexual harassment lawsuits against him. the parties involved in those suits aren't commenting, but some legal analysts believe the litigation will go forward substituting ailes' estate as the defendant. ailes died yesterday after he fell and hit his head last week. four automakers have reached a settlement to compensate car owners over those defective takata air bags inflators. toyota, bmw, mazda and subaru have agreed to pay $553 million to nearly 16 million vehicle owners. takata's air bag inflators can explode with too much force. the inflators are linked to 16 deaths and nearly 200 injuries. a judge now has to approve the agreement. a rare sight along the california coast.

some might think it's a delicious sight. thousands of tiny clams invading a beach. >> so, the clams popped up on newport beach in such large numbers, they were initially mistaken for pebbles. marine experts have identified them as being clams that live just below the sand but low tide and beach erosion may have brought them to the surface. they say this only happens about once or twice a decade so pass the hot sauce, will you. >> exactly. when we come back, the alarming scene in the boston subway. a woman on the tracks and the people who tried to save her. plus, the guy being called a hero following a deadly incident just a few blocks from here in times. g called a hero following a deadly incident a few blocks from here in times square.

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flooded roads in arkansas, oklahoma, kansas and missouri. also snow is piling up in parts of colorado, wyoming and montana. and if you're flying, weather-related airport delays are expected all over the place, dallas, denver, kansas city and chicago. and security remains very tight this morning in new york city's times square following yesterday's chaotic and deadly scene. >> yeah, the live picture right now at the famed tourist destination, traffic has just started to move again in the overnight hours. this is hours after the midday mayhem that left a pedestrian dead. the scenes that we saw yesterday, investigators say navy veteran richard rojas drove a car the wrong way before it sped onto the sidewalk and hit nearly two dozen people including alyssa elsman, an 18-year-old visiting from michigan who was killed. once the car stopped, rojas tried to run but was tackled by a restaurant supervisor. he spoke to abc's gio benitez. >> i ran toward him, and i tackled him down, and i just went -- an off-duty police

assisting me as well as two other passers-by, and we subdued him, got him down to the ground and we waited for the police to come, and they showed up just seconds later. >> overnight police installed concrete barricades all around times square. meantime, rojas faces a string of charges including murder and attempted murder. and we learned overnight that the search has been called off for a small plane carrying a new york ceo and her two young children. that plane with jennifer blumin on board vanished monday in the bermuda triangle. her sons, ages 3 and 4 and her friend, pilot nathan ulrich, were also on board. the pilot was heading from puerto rico to florida. a debris field was discovered in the bahamas on tuesday. also breaking overnight, a firefighter is dead after a massive fire at a shopping center in san antonio. scott deem, a six-year member of the san antonio fire department, died in that fire. two others were injured, but they are expected to be okay. some terrifying moments caught on camera at a train

station in boston. a woman on a crowded platform fainted and fell onto the tracks just as a train was approaching the station. but some good samaritans, total strangers, jumped down to help her risking their own lives, mind you. they managed to lift her to the platform with only seconds to spare. she survived with a sprained ankle and a few stitches. >> very lucky those people jumped in to help. >> she's very thankful to them. and ten horses are to set take part in tomorrow's preakness stakes, the second jewel of the triple crown. >> always dreaming, the winner of the kentucky derby, will be wearing number 4. he's the favorite among the experts, by the way. the winner takes home $1.5 million. there's no rain in the forecast, so the track in baltimore should be dry. >> very different from what we saw at the derby. >> yeah. the cavaliers and celtics play game two of the nba eastern conference finals tonight in boston. >> let's get highlights of last night's sports from espn.

>> good morning, america. i asked if colt feinbloom who goes to arizona state could do this and fill in for me, and greg dowling said no. so, roll the tape. let's go. we're going to start with hockey, predators/ducks. we had bailey in on "sportscenter." he said he could not root for the ducks. he didn't say that because he doesn't speak. but his body language was clearly he's against the ducks. p.k. subban with the predators down 2-0. it's 2-1. remember the last game anaheim gave it away and looks like they're going to give it away too. it went to overtime but in overtime when everybody thought the ducks were dead, corey perry finds life off the end of subban's stick. ducks win 3-2 and tie the series at 2. let's go to the great northwest. baseball, chris cornell, rock 'n' roll icon died on thursday. he was from seattle. and the mariners paid tribute to him before their game with the white sox. the space needle went dark, and there are a lot of sad people about the passing of chris cornell. tim anderson, full count

back-to-back home runs as the white sox tie it at 4 apiece. in the bottom of the ninth, two on, two out, one day after bill sporry turned 80. heredia scores to dyson, and the mariners win on a walkoff, 5-4. somebody said walkoff. that's what i'm about to do. >> happy friday. and a sports reporter in texas has some new bragging rights this morning after being photobombed by a former president. >> not too many people can say that. george w. bush, though, gave an on camera shoutout during the texas rangers game, he literally shouted, "hey" while sports reporter emily jones was giving a report from the stands. >> jones later wrote on twitter, my most favorite photobomb ever. >> by far. >> hey. >> hey. all right, up next in "the pulse," how much would you pay for this painting? >> hmm. >> probably not as much as someone else did. and an update on the guy who sued after a bad date. >> and check out our facebook

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♪ it is friday, and we're going to start with something that we've been following all week, the case of he said she left. he sued after a first date that went terribly wrong. >> so, this guy brandon from texas says a girl he invited to see "guardians of the galaxy volume 2" started texting about 15 minutes in the movie. >> so, he asked her to stop. she refused then she left. so, he sued her for $17.31. >> as you do. >> the cost of the 3d movie ticket. mind you, so she held her ground for awhile and then finally relented and paid him for the ticket and now he's withdrawn

his lawsuit. >> i wonder if he tried just asking her for the money back before filing. >> back then before filing the suit. stand up for the little man there. >> well, good luck to both of you in your search for love. next, a record-setting painting by the late american artist jean-michel basquiat. it's called "untitled" but it didn't need a title to sell for more than $110 million last night. >> wow, that is a record for work by any american and also the highest price paid for work created after 1980. >> so, the last time "untitled" was sold in 1984, it went for $19,000. >> that's a markup. >> a japanese billionaire is now the new owner. he plans to display the painting at a museum in his hometown. >> that's nice, he's giving back there. and an online auction site has cashed in on some fab four follicles. >> yeah, they sold pieces of the beatles' hair. >> what? >> that netted collectively more than 10 -- each of them actually

more than $10,000. so, they were cut and then swept up in march of 1964 when the guys were filming "a hard day's night". >> so, paul's hair brought close to three grand as it should. a french bidder took george and a french bidder took george's and ringo's at $2,900 apiece and john came in last at about $1,400. john had all that hair. >> i don't know. weird. >> you take hair of somebody's head, i don't want anything to do with it. >> it's the beatles. >> no offense. how much did yours go for? how much did yours go for? things than ody wr rheumatoid arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist move to another treatment, ask if xeljanz is right for you. xeljanz is a small pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz can reduce joint pain and swelling in as little as two weeks, and help stop further joint damage. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis.

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we made to it friday. i thought friday would never roll around. we are ready for the hot temperatures. >> bright colors, i like it. >> very nice. >> dressed appropriately, now we are talking about how it's going to get hot. and no clouds at the coast but they are lurking out over the ocean, and they will come back this weekend. enjoy the sunshine at the coast. this will be the last sunny day. here's a look at what is going on with the day planner. sunny everywhere. look at the summer spread developing. 61 at the coast, and 88, and inland by 4:00. and still 80 by 7:00.

we are friday light on the roads so far today so here's a quick check of the bay bridge toll plaza. a stack up in the cash lanes, and they need to get a few more toll booths open and if you are using fast track up the middle, no delays. all of the main highways are okay. yeah, that's a lot of green, so we don't have any significant problems on our main roads so far. we will look at drive times coming up in less than ten. breaking news. >> breaking news right now at the live desk in the east bay want to show you this new video we just got. oakland firefighters working to rescue several people trapped in an overturned car and this is new video from the scene in the oakland hills near skyline boulevard. we are being told several people are out of the car and crews are working on trying to get one person out right now though. no word on what caused the accident or the condition of the

victims. we have a crew heading to the scene and we will have a live report coming up. reggie, natasha, back to you. this morning a kitchen worker has life threatening injuries after a fire. you can see the bright orange flames. this picture tweeted around 4:00 yesterday. the kitchen fire sprinklers knocked it down by the time they got there and the cafe was closed and six people were hurt and three went to the hospital with burns and one had life threatening injuries. >> it was a flash fire. >> i noticed this guy stumbling out. one guy got badly injured and the first thing was to get him out and get everybody away. >> google says the injured worked for vendors. no google employees were hurt and 7,000 people were at the shoreline at the time. a huge relief for hundreds of family in palo alto, and the

county made a deal to save their affordable housing. an agreement was announced yesterday to buy the mobile home park it's a rare affordable option in silicon valley. the board will officially vote on the deal on tuesday. and then installing concrete barriers after a driver mowed down two dozen people on the sidewalk. the suspect faces a murder charge and 20 counts of attempted murder. >> menacing 26-year-old richard rojas had to be tackled to the ground before he was taken away by police. the scene was madness. a car airborne and crashing after charging into a packed pedestrian parkway in the heart of times square, throwing tourists into the air and running for