russian investigation, others reiterated the same thing they couldn't say much more other than they felt there was issue with the bureau, they needed a change in leadership. how is now an explanation from the president and then sanders. >> wasn't doing a good job. not doing a good job. >> the president over the last several months lost confidence in comey. the d.o.j. lost confidence in director comey. bipartisan members of congress made it clear they had lost confidence in director comey. most importantly the rank and the file of the f.b.i. had lost confidence in their director. >> i will tell you in some of our reporting to refute part of that comment we talked with a lot of members of the rank and file of the f.b.i. who actually are stating quite the opposite. that they are disappointed in this decision. so we are

on this. there are the loud calls behind me on capitol hill from the democrats who are asking for a special prosecutor to look into this case. take this out of everyone's hands and have someone independent look into the trump campaign possible connection if they exist to russians and exactly what happened with the firing of the director comey. we will have much more at 6:00 on that. live on capitol hill. nancy: thank you. scott touched on the sources inside the f.b.i. telling abc7 news they are shock and surprised by the firing but they are focused on doing their job. we got perspective from brad garrett who served as f.b.i. agent for 22 years and he believes that people inside the f.b.i. are not pleased that comey was fired abruptly and not in person. he thinks that the firing could hurt morale. the overall impact could be limited. >> this is a small

there are 11,000 to 12,000 f.b.i. agents. i think it's of what is getting done. >> the reaction around town. i can tell you here outside the f.b.i. headquarters people are asking what will happen next. we are looking for the person who finds himself at the center of this. used to be a well-known local person. >> so whether he did it for good or bad reasons, it

i don't know the exact, his exact listening for it except that he felt it needed to be done. he is our president. i will stand behind what he does. >> the d.c. visitor and the trump supporter speaking as he watched activists protest the termination outside the white house. >> we need a special prosecutor who can get to the bottom of who did what? who knew what and when. >> thrust in the divide, new deputy attorney general rob rosenstein. he authored three-page critique of corrector comey for saying too much publicly. as the u.s. attorney for maryland for over a decade. rosenstein himself was famous for keeping cases firmly secret until indictments were announced. the philosophy he explained to us in part during a one-on-one interview last month. >> it does surprise me sometimes how brazen officials

is looking. >> we want people to be afraid to commit crimes. he wanted those who would do wrong to worry he was out there looking. edescribed the federal investigation, says it is like a submarine. submerged and you don't know where it is. they only surface when they have to. usually that is when he has an indictment. no comment today about this whole comey issue at all. at the headquarters, brad bell, abc7 news. >> this is a firing in an attempt to obstruct the investigation into the ties between russia and a trump campaign. >> that is vice presidential candidate tim kaine reacting to comey's firing. the colleague, mark warner leading the investigation into the ties and the senate. we will hear from him coming up at 5:30. >> well, r

gearing up for a big night in local sports that start with the third game of the battle at the beltway at nats park. the o's and the nationals. then the puck drops at verizon center. i'm larry smith. we are two hours away from the puck dropping on historic game seven. caps-pens. capitals never beat pittsburgh in a game seven. they are 0-3 all time. history will be made. the fans are coming in. a lot of people are holding on the to the jerseys and they don't have them on because it's so warm. cup of joe is here. with "good morning washington." i am up at 4:30 and he is too. he lost a tooth this morning sparring

lost a matchup in goal-scoring there. you are on a dental plan, right? that's what i thought. we have them covered from the team to the fans to the traffic. jeff goldberg is working his way to mobiletrack 7 and has the latest on that. >> we are on 395 headed north to d.c. we are a ways from the 14th street bridge. i is bumper and -- it is bumper to bumper in front of and in back of mobiletrak7. it was not this bad a recently as 15 minutes ago. so if you are planning to drive to the city, you probably want to get on the road soon for either the nats game or the caps game. the traffic is backing

how does it look? >> we talked to the metro officials who say this is a typical day here on metro. it isn't expected to be crowded. you can see that people are rocking the red. more and more people are filing in the station. many have the shirts on or in hand. it's warm here. so folks are looking to get here early and get the seats. just a heads up, remember, the metro closing at midnight. work on the red line is canceled but expected to be here for the baseball game and red line as well. for a check on how to get around this, turn it over to julie wright. >> it is so busy out there right now. we just heard from jeff and 395 and what it looks like northbound. we showed you this an hour ago

commute. 35 minutes from the beltway headed to lower 14th street. the wazers are checking in. if you are traveling on 295 to d.c. to get across the 11th street bridge and heading to the south capital street and douglas bridge that is an hour commute. out of gaithersburg from montgomery county, headed downtown you use if g.w. parkway. that is an hour and 26 minute commute. sticking with connecticut avenue and beltway you save 25 travel time. a 52-minute ride now. again trying to look for the typical delay. northbound 95 over an hour commute to head inbounds across the 14th street bridge. look at the numbers in the 70's. 7 of in was

it's delightful for the next few hours. later this everything the clouds will roll in. the forecast for downtown outside the verizon center. 73 and the puck drops at first pitch and then the 60's. we have increasing crowddiness. then rain will move in. it's still to the west. the winds steer it in our direction by 8:30 or 9:00 tomorrow, we expect do see rain. it could be heavy in the day. rain tomorrow night. we check out the rest of the weekend and the next ten days in seven or eight minutes. get back downtown at the verizon center. larry smith standing by. larry: thank you. we were talking about this is exciting for you. your first game seven in washington. >>

night in bed. i couldn't get to sleep. i got a couple of hours. i'm so excited. you live for this stuff. if you could get the caps winning, nationals winning and the wizards winning. that would be hard to top. they are very calm and loose. you would never tell the caps are playing game seven. with the experience, gone through a few of these, you realize this is another game. important game. a game to be at your best. you want to portray the right feelings and the thoughts to the team. this is in their hands. >> the first period, the ear

you want to get momentum and you want the crowd into it. if the caps get on the board, watch it maybe snowball. get momentum going. just like in game six. larry: we would love a repeat of that. thanks. we'll talk to you in a bit. we have more later on. steve rudin is another part of trifecta. steve: the gates just opened at nats park. we have a wide variety of the fans from baltimore and the d.c. area. ready for the game? >> i'm from california. >> just my luck. we talk about the game forecast coming up in a few minutes. >> later in the news. more troubles for the secretary of education. why students booed her in a commencement speech. >> i said well, i am going to need to

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>> new developments out of the district. chickens are here to say. the d.c. official says the mayor killed her proposal to ban backyard chickens in the city. this comes days after residents with their own chickens say they felt like they were unfairly targeted. larry: we are live here ahead of game seven. caps are trying to get over the hump and avenge the laster year where they lost to the penguins who went on to win the stanley cup. that is a holy grail they are facing. there are a lot of red jerseys. they are rivals but they are breaking bread together. but they won't be that friendly in two hours.

take advantage of that. nats park the battle of the beltway continues. >> this is beautiful here. the line is building. folks are coming in from baltimore and the d.c. metro area. behind me we have two big fans. who is going to win tonight? >> we know who will win. >> you taught your daughter a trick. say it. let's go nats. >> go nats! >> that's awesome! thank you so much. the forecast is fantastic. it's a nice mix of sun and clouds. temperatures are lower 70's. in the end of the game we have

it will be dry for the game. that is the good news. not so great news coming our way for this day tomorrow. friday to saturday. we will head back to studio where it is cooler. >> this is wet but the view from the rooftop. a beautiful evening. 77 degrees now at the ballpark. the change are coming. the first set of changes is from this set over illinois, wisconsin, iowa. once the rain pattern develops we will have the period of rain on and off again tomorrow, tomorrow night. by saturday everything ending clearing the skies for mother's day. that is the plan on the guidance.

tomorrow is only in 59 to 60. it won't change much in the day. the steady rain will taper off. it will pick up in the intensity later in the day. between the time that it starts and ends tomorrow, that is the thursday total. friday looks like the rain will begin and become heavy at times. friday afternoon and friday night is a high of 59. rain again fingers are crossed by 5:00 or 6:00. highs of 72 degrees. rainfall totals between friday and saturday. closing in on two inches. a lot of rain. we have been telling you for weeks how we are in a krout and catching up by saturday. d.c. united, we think that the

skies will clear in r.f.k. you can watch that live on newschannel8. mother's day. this gift to mom after the rain, sunshine for mother's day and 72 degrees. we show you the next ten days. we have improving weather for mother's day and sunshine and a warming trend for next week. 70, 80. you am not a fan of the hot weather. warm weather i like. cold weather i don't like. i like today. 70's all the time. you have more than just the weather to share. this has been some time coming but tonight is the night decided to share with the viewers a big decision i have made. i'm going to retire from television. i will be here for a while. it won't be until september 15. good things are happening in my life. the time to leave tv is now. my decision to do it. talking with my wife. channel 7 has been helpful in that and

but want to let people know that is coming in the road in a few months. alison: you have been doing it how long? doug: 38 years. nancy: legend in this town and in this business. doug: i appreciate it. i have a lot of fun. it's fun to make a living out of your hobby. that is what it is. it's exciting. >> you do it so well. we do have a lot of time before we have to officially say goodbye to you. september. but tonight we want to take a minute to look at the tremendous impact that you have had specifically on our weather team. take a look. >> storm watch 7 at its best. >> for three decades, washington washingtonians turn to doug hill for the weather forecast. come rain or shine. hail, snow or wind. >> he relates so well to the viewer, to the audience. >> if you are west of washington -- >> when you meet him, it feels the same way.

genuine, down to earth. funny and looking to help others. >> direct me in the past and got me back to school. when he came from channel 9 to channel 7, he put me in his contract. >> i still have to kind of pinch myself. it's so surreal i am working with this legendary meteorologist. >> let's show you the numbers. >> doug is like family to me than boss. he is like the person that is for me to what i have become. >> doug is a great mentor. he has a way to tell you to do it different to improve yourself and not put you down. >> after decades for preparing the region for every emergency he deserves a nice and a relaxing retirement. >> i know he has been working toward and excited for it. he will have a fantastic time being

>> looking forward to the first snowstorm when he can sit at home and relax and enjoy it. >> come september he will be missed. >> it's not just not having him in the weather center. it's not having him in the d.c. market. he's an institution here. doug: nice of them. the one point, one time, early in 2002 or 2003 for one snowstorm, they brought the live truck to my house. i was home for part of the snowstorm and had to come in. alison: don't give them ideas. doug: nice to enjoy a storm. wonderful. i will miss everybody. there is more of that to come. doug: ways to come. alison: we have ahatag. did you think you'd have a hashtag? doug: no. alison: thanks dog. -- thanks doug. doug: i appreciate that. alison: he i

doug. i have never seen you lose your train of thought. i've never seen you misspeak. that doesn't happen often. doug: i've just been fortunate. >> coming up a price hike. and how much they want to raise the price of stamps now. alison: but first a look what the is coming up tonight on abc7.

nancy: breaking news. police arresting williams in connection with murder at an common gas station last week. he is connected with a home invasion and murder in germantown in april. in that case a number of people were robbed and shot. larry: an alert for pharmacies in the area after several robberies in d.c. and prince george's county. ed no all are related but they are after the same thing. >> you can see three suspects barge in. one brandishes a gun. one stands guard. those inside are ordered to the ground. except for a man in the pharmacy who is told to get liquid

allergy medication. desirable because it contains codeine. >> i didn't know they could get codeine out of that. >> i spoke to a person seen dealing with the gunman and he told me everything slowed down and he did whatever he was told. >> i cannot imagine being on the floor while they were robbing the store. i would have had a heart attack. >> moments later and across town near american university two suspects enter a drugstore and also demand promethesine. they are linked to another drugstore robbery friday in prince george's county. stephen tschida, abc7 news. nancy: coming up, the flood gates seem to be opening when it comes to the airline issues. we are keeping track of the latest incident. >> the firing of the former f.b.i. director james comey. but will there now be a special prosecutor? we look into that issue in a live report coming

>> the anxiety is very real in washington this everything. still ahead, thoughts from fans seated

nancy: protesters are gathering outside to let the white house know how upset they are over the firing of james comey. richard reeve has congressional reaction for us as well. >> this is a shocker on both sides of the aisle. folks are asking questions and now we learn that the senate intelligence committee asked comey to come in for a private hearing, a closed session. >> he was supposed to testify before panel tomorrow. investigating links between the trump campaign and the kremlin. a lot of talk about appointing a special prosecutor to look into this as well. normally the appointment would be made by the attorney general or his deputy. vice chair says the senior most career official the u.s. justice department should appoint the special prosecutor to avoid conflicts of interest.

there are a lot of questions asking if this was about the clinton e-mails why not take take -- take action before now. >> this is clear that this was about russia and the investigation of the administration and the campaign and the ties to the russian intelligence. >> if that was the impetus behind it, it should have been done on inauguration day. >> others saying i can't explain the timing of the firing of james comey, the c.i.a. leak investigation in the russian impact on the 2016 election must continue. there must be an independent investigation that the american people can trust. there are more and more calls for investigation. fireworks are

>> thank you for the honor and the privilege. >> a roar of boos from the students at the university. for education secretary voss voss -- betsy devos. this was during her commencement speech. >> one of the hall parcs of higher education and of democracy is the ability to converse with and learn from those with whom we disagree. >> many students there disagree with devos and turning their backs in the speech because of something she said in february. she called historically black colleges the real pioneers of the school choice. larry: i'm here. [cheering]

they are showing up here. a quick cheer. one, two, three. >> let's go caps! >> that energy is any indication they will beat the caps tonight. we have so much going on. >> let's talk about the anxiety that the fans are feeling. >> the vibe is more electric from since when rolled in at noontime. a calmer scene. the fans here are enjoying liebrations and the food ahead of the game. the puck drop at 7:30. >> confidence look at the green turtle with the caps, wizards and the nats all playing tonight. ryan splurged on caps ticket and took tomorrow

>> what did it cost? >> $250 per ticket. it's worth it. win or lose. it's worth it. they will win. >> caps haven't advanced to the eastern conference finals since 1998. he opens that it will change tonight. >> this is my first game. what a way to pick it. came seven of the playoffs. local sports bars might be the best bet to take in the three games getting underway in an hour of each other. >> this is the calm before the storm. >> she preps the kegs and the liquor, chris planned to claim a barstool and ordering up lick will courage. >> i have anxiety. it's been a lot of years since we won a championship. it's time to sta

>> win or lose tonight, the local sports bars like ten tavern will go home victors. the impact of the games tonight at 6:00. >> we are talk about the fans being nervous. you are a die hard fan. are you nervous about tonight? >> not so serves today. i have the confidence they will win. >> there you go. >> they have the momentum. they won game five and six. they were down. finish off a big compact to become the 29th team ever. metro is going to be key. talk about how people use the rails and any issues they

>> the band revved up the crowd. we are seeing more fans pile in here. talking to the riders and they say the trains are full. so if you are heading down here go ahead to hop on the rails and get here as alley as possible. it's not just here. also the navy yard. the work has been canceled for tonight so it is just safetrack. it will close at midnight. get a check of the roads and there are a lot of people driving downtown. jeff goldberg is in mobiletrak7. >> this took us 45 minutes to cross the 14th street bridge. from the pentagon area. now we just passed the nats park in the south capital exit. 695/295 split.

we did. it looked like the traffic was bad by the ballpark. it is piling up. we get closer to game time at the nats park and the verizon center. with a look at how it looks overall, how does it look? >> it's very busy. check this out. 47-minute commute heading northbound. as we continue to talk about the the penguins and caps. the puck is dropping at 7:30. we are see something many people headed to downtown. same for those to nats park. we are showing you the alternatives from this. this is typical delay from 95 south to d.c. right now it's

commute. if you take an alternate that is an hour drive. the same for those west from 66. if you are headed downtown. trying to make the way over toward the 14th street bridge to northwest, this is almost an hour and a half drive off of 66 heading north on 395. that is traffic watch. go caps! larry, back to you. larry: we want to see you. see all the gear, whatever. go to burst.com/wjla to show us oh you rock the red. what do you have coming up? >> you hear the sound? ticktock, ticktock. we are counting down until opening face-off. game seven caps-penguins. i spent the morning with the caps. i'll explain why they are just treating this as another game. feeling

>> phones down home run. that was the message from zimmerman to a group of students. why he dec

steve: i'm abc7's steve rudin live at nats park. the gates are open and everybody getting ready for battle of the beltway. talk about the forecast tonight. the clouds will increase. for tomorrow, grab your umbrella. period of rain cloudy skies and cool temperatures. 59 degrees. on the brighter side mother's day on sunday. looking at a good deal of sunshine. on the breezy

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the plane wasn't flying but fists were. this flight broke out on board a southwest flight that just arrived in california.

out as the other passengers tried to pull them apart. and the floor flight. arrested for assault and battery. if you thought that was an issue, this might make you blush. a kansas woman was forced to pee in a cup after a mesa flight attendant told her she couldn't go to the bathroom because the pilot was expect ing turbulence. >> she told me i was not allowed to get out of my seat. i said i will need to use the restroom or i will need a cup. >> nicole harper is her name and says she has a overactive bladder. she filled up two cups after which the stewardess threatened to report her. united said they are investigating the

>> still ahead at 6:00, a month after the fiery crash in atlanta the ambitious new goal to keep the traffic moving in

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this week, abc7 giving you an exclusive look at one of the county's most elite rescue teams. virginia tasks for one made of local first responders and dispatches to the world's biggest disasters. timtim barber shows what it taks to drop susan of volunteers across the danger -- drop dozens of volunteers in the danger zone. >> it's 2:00 in the morning. virginia task force one and the best friends getting last minute shut aye before four days of intense training. >> ed a couple about the operations. only abc7 is traveling with them to the training facility this week is doubling as a columbian earthquake zone. >> the first thing to keep in mind this is a training

exercise. >> the first stop is simulated border crossing. >> i need a man fastest right now. >> which looks souped real. >> then it is time to find out where they drop off the 59,000 bounds of gear. >> it took 12 hours to set up camp here. >> ready to go. rock and roll. >> for the search team and the search dogs. >> we want to make sure when we offer assistance to a country affected we are sending the best we can send. best equipped and best trained. >> one is setting up the tent city. on the other side of the property another team is working on a rescue

mission. we take you there tonight at 11:00. nancy: looking forward to it. "7 on your side" with a consumer alert. the cost of stamps is on the rise. the u.s. postal service wants to add a penny or more to help it recover there the quarterly losses. they took $562 million hit last quarter. alison: doug is back with our favorite segment. lunchbox weather. >> this morning josh knight was out visiting liberty elementary school in arlington. he showed the kids cool weather stuff they like. you see how wired up they are. showed a video how to put the weather together. he took them outside to see the stormwatch7. maddux led the kid cam and we have a weather question from ethan. >> my name is

i go to fourth grade at liberty. my question is what was the most physical situation you were in while at work. did you solve it and how? doug: thoughtful question. it took me a while to think. let me tell you the answer. early in my career i was in richmond, virginia. head been on tv two months total. i was on the air in front of the maps doing the weather and i had a sense something was wrong. i didn't know what it was. i noticed the floor director looked panicky. i got panicky. look around and i notice that there was blood on my shirt, my tie. i was having a double heavy duty nose bleed. i got panicked. i'm standing there frozen. we'll be right back after this commercial. alison: oh, no. doug: that is how i handled that. that is the worst that happened on the air so far. thank goodness. we still have time. alison: you came back to work the next

dalles not till the afternoon, though. thanks ethan. >> go out to the big story of the day. that, of course, is all of our sports teams in action. erin hawksworth is at the verizon center him. -- verizon center. hi, erin. erin: you live moments like this. capitals game seven. wizards game five. orioles at nationals park tonight. this is special. people took the take off, leaving work early. attending watch parties and bars. they will be having their eye pad out while watching tv. flipping channels. if you had to rate the most important game it's the capitals. because either the season ends or they go on to do something they have never done in the alex ovechkin era. with that, scott abraham has more. scott: game serve. >> you dream of scoring the game winning goal in overtime.

dreaming about. >> caps-pens, one game for all the marbles. >> focus on this. you have to play smart. >> nhl history taught us that a game seven is unpredictable. but the caps look like a team taking charge of the series. >> down-1. everyone talked about the past. this team is interested in trying to rewrite a few things. >> the mission is simple. own the past and get the breakthrough. one more win and they will book a ticket to the first conference final in 19 years. >> game sevens are special. exciting. enjoy it. see if you make the best of

it. >> with the stanley cup window closing it might be now or never. >> you are exciting and nervous. use the butterflies as a positive. >> game seven is here. buckle up. scott abraham, sports. erin: in game seven i was in the tunnel capturing the player arrivals on my instagram. i saw mr. game seven. justin williams. he looked locked in. we have more coming up in the

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nancy: texting behind the wheel can be deadly. especially for teenagers. texting deadly crashes most often involve teenagers but they are hoping to stop the trend. >> one call could mean game over. national first basma

high school urging teen drivers to put down the phone. >> i have kids of my own. but having friends with teenager children. imagine having to lose someone at a young age. what people go through. anything you can do to help, i want to be part of it. >> following his lead the students sign a pledge promising not to use the phones behind the wheel. >> i put my phone away. >> but in a survey 48% of students reported using phones while driving which illegal in virginia for drivers under age 18. >> bang. i only glanced down for a second. >> at 505 miles per hour, the text message can take your eyes off the road long enough to cross a football field. >> i sometimes say if you are on your phone while driving i don't wanted to be in the car for you. >> a baseman star or the fellow students say the important message might come from

>> the students emulate what the parents do. >> right now at 6:00, the firing heard around the world. how the white house is defending the move amidst demands for an independent investigation. >> score! >> oh, yeah. completing the comeback. the caps penguins game seven. iting on a major night for d.c. sports. >> hanging by a string. the work to safe a construction worker ten stories up. >> now "abc7 news at 6:00". on your side. >> we heard it all today. fierce criticism, staunch support and comparisons to watergate. this is all since president trump fired f.b.i. director james comey. >> i am grateful for the action the president has taken. >> th

>> democratic colleagues complaining about the removal of an f.b.i. director whom they themselves repeatedly and sharply criticized. >> the president wanted to stop or stifle this investigation. >> tonight the f.b.i. defending the move saying it has been on the president's mind since day one. why now? what is next? scott thuman is joining us for what he found out. scott? >> yeah, one of the big questions tonight. why the change of attitude toward comey? he lavished praise at it time over the former director for six months but the white house asked about it and said that was candidate trump. not president trump. there is a difference between the two. >> the white house besieged with demands from angry constituents and questions from the reporters. what are