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. a subway save after a woman is caught on camera falling onto the tracks. this as the rush hour train barrels towards her.

good friday morning. we begin with president trump railing against the investigation into russian election meddling. >> the headline, the president is denying any personal collusion with russia and 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. >> reporter: 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

>> it's an investigation. >> he's entitled to his opinion. i would suggest to the president that when it's been appointed, honor that decision. >> 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 this would be handled fairly and justly. >> reporter: 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 back down the investigation into michael flynn and also as -- >> 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

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. of course, the white house is hoping that they can just hit the reset button as the president embarks on that trip. >> jay, so it's going to be busy. he is making five stops over nine days in the middle east and europe starting in saudi arabia leaving today expected to address the fight against terrorism and these israeli/palestinian peace process and meet the pope and attend the nato and g7 sums. >> the president says he is also very close to announcing his

fbi director and he confirms that former connecticut senator joe lieberman is the front-runner. he turned independent. al gore's running mate in 2000 but backed john mccain for president in 2008. some democrats say the job should not go to a former politician. to one of the biggest supporters of the president in congress, 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. we're just learning of a new tense encounter between an and military plane and two chinese fighter jets. the american plane was flying near korea when one of the chinese jets did a barrel roll right over the u.s. plain. the americans call the move by the chinese unprofessional. this is the second incident between the u.s. and chinese

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 already 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 pitted 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 3 dozen reported tornadoes since tuesday. the most powerful hit wichita and carved a 27-mile path. this week's tornadoes are blamed for at

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 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. now here's a closer look at 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

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. new this morning a serious accident at a carnival as riders there on a ferris wheel fall to the ground. also, see the adorable photo bomb. george w. bush having some fun at the ballpark.

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 will take place in daylight. 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 within condition. one of the carts flopped upside down ejecting the three. a coroner says the death of rocker chris cornell was a suicide. his body was found in his hotel room wednesday night after he performed with

soundgarden. you see the video 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. the unexpected death of fox news channel founder roger ailes leaves questions about the pending sexual harassment lawsuits against him. the parties involved aren't commenting but some analysts believe the litigation will go forward substituting his estate as the defendant. he died after he fell and hit his head last week. four automakers reached a settlement to compensate car owners over those defective takata air bags. they 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

some might think it's a delicious site. thousands of tiny clams. >> they popped up on newport beach. they were initially mistaken for pebbles. marine experts identified them as being clams that live just below the sand but low tide and beach erosion may have brought them to the surface and 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. >> the guy being called a hero following a deadly incident a few blocks from here in times square.

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snow is piling up in parts of colorado, wyoming and montana. 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 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 we saw yesterday, investigators say navy veteran richard rojas drove a car the wrong way before it sped on to the sidewalk and hit nearly two dozen people including alyssa elseman 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 i'm an off-duty police assisting me as well as

passers-by and we subdued him, got him to the ground and 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. 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 in the bermuda triangle. her sons, 3 and 4 and friend nathan ulrich were 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 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 live, 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. >> thankful to them. ten horses are to set take part in the preakness. >> always dreaming will be wearing number 4. he's the favorite among the experts, by the way, the winner takes home $1.5 million. no rain in the forecast so the track in baltimore should be dry. >> very different from what we saw at the derby. the cavaliers and celtics play game two of the nba eastern conference finals tomorrow night in boston. >> let's get highlights of last night's sports from espn. >> good morning, america. i asked if colt finebloom could do t

dowling said no. 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. p.k. sue ban with the predators down 2-0. 2-1. remember the last game anaheim gave it away and looks like they'll give it away and went to overtime but it 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. baseball, chris cornell, rock 'n' roll icon died 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 they tie at 4 apiece. two on, two out, bottom of the ninth, one day after bill supportry turned 80. score, dyson and mariners win on a walkoff, 5-4. somebody said walkoff. that's what i'm about to do. >> happy friday. a sports reporter in texas has new bragging rights this morning after being photobombed by a former president. >> not too many people can say that. george w. bush gave an on camera shoutout during the texas rangers game and literally shouted, hey, while sports reporter emily jones was giving a report from the stands. >> jones wrote my most favorite photo bomb ever. >> by far. >> 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. an update on the guy who sued after a bad date. >> check out our facebook page where we are showing you

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♪ it is friday and we'll 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 wrong. >> brandon says a girl he invited to see "guardians of the galaxy volume 2" started texting 15 minutes in the movie. >> 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. she held her ground for awhile and then finally relented and paid him for the ticket and now he's withdrawn his lawsuit. >> i

asking her for the money back before -- >> before filing the suit? stand up for the little man there. >> good luck to both of you in your search for love. a record-setting painting by jean-michel bssquiat. >> $110 million, it is the highest price paid for work created after 1980. >> 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, giving back there. 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

they were cut and then swept up in march of 1964 when the guys were filming "a hard day's night". >> paul's hair brought close to three grand. a french bidder took george and ringo's at $2900 apiece and john came in last at about 1400. john had all that hair. >> i don't know. weird. >> you take care of somebody's head, i don't want anything to do with it. >> it's the beatles. >>breaking overnight-- a firefighter is injured battling house fire in college park. take a look at this video of the flames. officials tell us that a piece of roof debris fell on that firefighter who was taken tom the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. 5 university of maryland student live in that house and all of them escaped unharmed. taking a look at

some of the morning's other top stories. president trump-- facing reporters and denying any wrong doing, a day after the justice department assigns a special counsel to handle investigation into alleged collusion with russia. president trump also denied recent reports that he shared classified information with russians in the oval office. good morning washington. toss to eileen - one more hot & humid day - storms likely again this afternoon/evening - much cooler weekend (20+ degrees cooler) today: hot and humid. pm thunderstorms. highs: 88-92 winds: w 10 mph tonight: scattered thunderstorms early. cloudy with falling humidity. lows: 59-63 winds: nw to ne 5-10 mph saturday: mostly cloudy and much cooler. isolated shower. highs: 68-72 winds: e 5-10 mph

southeast neighbors in a southeast washington community-- demanding change after a car hits and kiills a six year old boy. residents held a birthday vigil for xavier lucky. he was hit by a car wednesday while crossing the street on his 6th birthday. now his family is asking the city to make changes to the street, to stop this from happening again.

have been filed against the driver involved in the accident. police tell us that officers did question that driver, who stopped and stayed on the scene. we are learning more about a fatal crash on route 50 earlier this week. 2 drivers were killed when their vehicles crashed head on. police say a woman was driving the wrong way on 50 near arnold. and before that fatal crash-- terrified drivers dialed 911. the woman's baby was in the car- and remains in critical condition. was in the car- and remains in critical condition. the big question still unanswered-- why she went the wrong way. 7 is on your side with a consumer alert for drivers. and it might be money in your pocket. remember those faulty takata airbags?

them may soon get up to 500 dollars! it's part of a new consumer settlement- and it involves toyota, subaru, bmw and mazda. the exact amount would vary. for right now - it's just a proposed deal- waiting to be finalized. it's xx and we're just getting started. breaking right now at 4:xx a woman killed in a deadly hit and run. a section of indian head highway shut down - and this morning that is sure to impact the morning commute for thousands. good morning i'm larry smith. and i'm autria godfrey. we are also in for another hot day. let's get the forecast with stormwatch 7 meteorologist eileen whelan. - one more hot & humid day - storms likely again this afternoon/evening - much cooler weekend (20+ degrees cooler) today: hot and humid. pm thunderstorms. highs: 88-92 winds: w 10 mph tonight: scattered thunderstorms early. cloudy with falling humidity. lows: 59-63 winds: nw to ne 5-10 mph saturday: mostly cloudy

shower. highs: 68-72 winds: e 5-10 mph we are following breaking news this morning.

overnight in maryland. sam sweeney is at the live desk with more. autria 3 lanesw of 210 closed right now between farmington road and old ford road. this is in the clinton area. here is the scene just moments ago. here's what we know. someone called 911 around 12:30 this morning saying they'd hit someone... but they quickly realized they were the second vehicle to him the woman... someone else had hit her earlier and took off. the woman was pronounced dead on the scene. as the lanes reopen, julie will let you know. autria larry.