making news in america this morning, we are hours away from the highly anticipated testimony from former fbi director james comey. this morning we have new reaction from president trump after comey's opening statements were released. hear why trump feels already vindicated. plus the other showdown at the capitol. lawmakers grilling intelligence officials about the russia investigation, the exchanges getting heated. >> why are you not answering? >> i feel it is inappropriate, senator. >> what you feel isn't relevant, admiral. >> the flurry of questions not getting answered. new this morning, a rapper attacked while performing on stage. we have the dramatic video just in. and the warriors one win away from an nba championship and a perfect playoff. can the cavs pull off another epic comeback?

and we do say good morning to you, everybody, on what will be a very big day. the country at the edge of its seat. former fbi director james comey is about to tell his side of the story. >> you're looking at a live picture now of capitol hill where comey will testify this morning and take some stuff questions about his conversations with president trump. >> comey's prepared remarks have already been released describing nine one-on-one conversations with the president, including gripping details about leniency for michael flynn and requests for loyalty. here's abc's jonathan karl. >> reporter: it's dramatic and almost cinematic. i first met president elect trump on january 6. comey was there with other intelligence leaders to brief trump on russian interference in the election. comey for the first time told trump he was not personally the focus of a counter intelligence investigation. five days later, trump invites

the fbi director to dinner at the white house. the president said, i need loyalty. i expect loyalty. i didn't move, speak or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. we simply looked at each other in silence. towards the end of the dinner, comey says the president returned to the question of loyalty. he then said, i need loyalty. i replied, you will always get honesty from me. he paused and then said, that's what i want, honest loyalty. i paused and then said, you will get that from me. the next meeting, february 14th in the oval office, trump asks everybody to leave except comey, who describes what happens next. the president began by saying, i want to talk about mike flynn. flynn had resigned the previous day. the president began by saying, flynn hadn't done anything wrong in speaking with the russians, but he had to let him go because

he had misled the vice-president. comey says the president told him, he is a good guy and has been through a lot. he repeated that flynn hadn't done anything wrong on his calls with the russians. he then said, i hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting flynn go. he is a good guy. i hope you can let this go. i replied only, he is a good guy. finally, on april 11th, one last conversation. trump calling again, asking to have his name publicly cleared, and, comey says, cryptically adding this, i have been very loyal to you, very loyal. we had that thing, you know. i did not reply or ask him what he meant by "that thing." that was the last time i spoke with president trump. jonathan karl, abc news, washington. >> comey also says the president described the russia investigation as a cloud over his presidency. >> how is this going over at the white house this morning.

there's already been reaction from the president. abc's lana zak joining us with that side of the story on capitol hill. >> reporter: good morning. the president's personal attorney says that he is praising comey's written testimony, saying that the president feels completely and totally vindicated because comey confirmed that he told the president that he was not personally under investigation. others pointed out that the conversations may have been unusual and even inappropriate, but they're probably not illegal. but the president's critics want to know if comey was fired because he refused the president's request on loyalty and michael flynn. the republican national committee is reportedly already preparing its response to comey's testimony. the committee is said to be coordinating a messaging campaign, including interviews on local and national television, as well as graphics for social media and web videos. and many republicans have but one request for the president, stay off of twitter during the testimony. several lawmakers have said president trump should put the

phone away today. republican richard burr who will chair the hearing says he hopes the president will not tweet and, quote, do something else because it's not going to change the testimony. though there is one group here in washington that really is hoping that the president tweets, there's a bar here that's offering their patrons free drinks if the president tweets about comey during the testimony. kendis, diane? >> everyone at that bar will be like this the whole time. >> please tweet. the written testimony was released at comey's request by the way and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle weighing in. >> some republicans say the remarks show no evidence that the president did anything illegal. democrats are questioning if comey was fired for refusing the president's requests. >> if it's accurate, it's devastating. >> devastating? >> i think so. >> is it appropriate for the president to be demanding loyalty of his fbi director? >> i think every president wants loyalty from his appointees, but i think mr. comey appropriately

pointed out that an fbi director is different from a traditional political appointee, and they seem to have agreed to something called honest loyalty or loyal honesty. >> house speaker paul ryan said it's obviously not appropriate for a president to ask an fbi director for loyalty, but he said he wants to see all the evidence before making a final judgment. and a reminder, abc news live coverage of that hearing begins this morning at 10:00 a.m. eastern. but we are not offering any free cocktails. >> no, not yet? >> so as comey offers a play-by-play of his conversations, the nation's top intelligence officials did quite the opposite, refusing to say what they discussed with the president. the director of national intelligence, dan coats, and national security agency director mike rogers declined to confirm or deny reports that president trump asked them to intervene in the investigation into the russian meddling. >> i think your unwillingness to answer a very basic question

speaks volumes. >> why are you not answering. >> i feel it is inappropriate. >> what you feel isn't relevant. >> i stand by the comments i made. i'm not interested in repeating myself, sir, and i don't mean that in a contentious way. >> i do. i don't understand why you're not answering our questions. >> things did get heated indeed. the intel chiefs say they never felt pressure to interfere with the russia probe. the director of national intelligence said he would be more than willing to answer all questions in a closed session. it could be weeks before the senate committee considers the fbi nominee. christopher wray was a top ranking official under george w. bush. senate republicans and even some democrats praised wray's nomination. >> overseas right now because today is a big day, election day in britain. the polls open right now. this is a live picture and voters are electing some 650 members of parliament. the election is seen as a referendum on the current prime

minister, theresa may. and it's an unusual sight there at that particular polling place. nice to have elmo out there. so theresa may is promising to crack down on extremism if her conservative party wins big. the lawmakers who win today will play a role in negotiating britain's exit from the eu. i'm sure elmo will get a few votes. >> come vote. >> thumb's up. now let's take a look at your weather. check out this cell phone video of a tornado from a man in north dakota. he says he was about 100 yards away from the twister. luckily no one was hurt and no damage reported. today in central and southern florida you can expect to get some rain, soaked again, flash floods are possible, up to four inches of rain could fall in some areas. the flood waters are already so deep where residents are dealing with fish in their yards in some places. homeowners near miami say this is the worst flooding they've

seen since hurricane wilma in 2005. still ahead right here, the discovery that scientists say is rewriting the history of human evolution. and we have document attic video just in of a rapper getting attacked on stage right in the middle of a concert. plus, also caught on camera, what could be the most extreme attempt to steal an atm.

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recently in that area conducting joint exercises with south korea and japan. congressman elect greg gianforte has issued a formal apology to the newspaper reporter he assaulted last month. he sent a letter to the guardian's ben jacobs saying my physical response to your legitimate question was unprofessional, unacceptable and unlawful. jacobs has accepted the apology which is part of a settlement involving a no contest plea to a misdemeanor assault charge and a contribution of $50,000 to a committee to protect journalists. day four of the bill cosby trial gets under way this morning. andrea constand faced tough questions from cosby's defense team who questioned why she continued to reach out to the comedian in 53 phone calls after she claims the assault occurred. constand says any contact she had with cosby was purely professional. if convicted, cosby could face up to ten years behind bars.

and new overnight, may hum bre at a concert in san diego. you can see security jumped on the man and eventually led him away. rapper xxx as some fans call him, appear to have been knocked out for about a minute. no arrests have been made. ariana grande is back on tour in europe. less than two weeks after that manchester bombing, grande was on stage last night in paris. she told fans she's grateful to be back. she also released images on instagram with the following message, first show back tonight. thinking of our angels every step in the way. i love you with all my heart. when we come back, gunfire on a city street. the wild shoot-out between police and a suspect. and just one win away from perfection as the warriors dominate again. we have the highlights. dear son, i know you worry i can't keep up with our weekly tee times. but i've been taking osteo bi flex ease.

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so lightning and metal don't mix and apparently neither do lightning and metallica, the heavy metal band's concert in denver was delayed last night. lightning mere mile high stadium forced fans to take cover. the concert resumed after about an hour. expect wet conditions on the roads today in denver as well as the pacific northwest. flooding is in the forecast for florida as well. >> if you're flying, airport delays are possible in miami due to storms, lightning and gusty winds. testimony resumes this morning in the manslaughter trial of a young woman accused of pressuring her boyfriend to commit suicide. >> in explosive new testimony a former classmate said michelle carter texted her saying 18-year-old conrad roadway's carbon dioxide detective was her fault, adding, quote, i could have stopped him but i told him to get back in the car. carter is now facing up to 20 years in prison and has maintained her innocence. her lawyers say that in massachusetts there are no laws against encouraging someone to commit suicide. to maryland now and this

shoot-out caught on camera near baltimore, the man in the gray outfit was a robbery suspect who tried to flee the scene on that commuter bus. after police stopped the bus he engaged the cops in a shoot-out. the gunman eventually took cover behind a van before he was killed. an officer was seriously injured and a bystander was shot as well. police in maryland are also seeking a suspect who allegedly stole a backhoe and drove it five miles and tried to use it to break into an atm. apparently the plan did not go as planned. whoever is responsible did not get any money from the machine but did manage to cost $10,000 worth of damage. >> seemed foolproof. a big change for one of the most storied programs in college football. 56-year-old bob stoops has abruptly announced his retirement at the university of oklahoma. he led the sooners to ten conference titles and a national championship during his 18-year tenure. he says his health, however, was

not a factor in his decision to step down. the golden state warriors are just one win away from the nba title and a perfect postseason. >> yeah, they played a tight game though last night against the cleveland cavaliers and did just enough to win again. abc's t.j. holmes was there. good morning, t.j. >> reporter: kendis, diane, now what? we have the golden state warriors up 3-0 in the finals, and there's no team in any round of any nba playoffs that has ever come back from 3-0 down to win a series. so, i know it's lebron james and i know how, quite frankly, great he is, but this is not the same warriors team that we have seen this past two years because they added a key ingredient and that is kevin durant. kevin durant has been one of the top two, three, four, five players the past five-plus years in the league. in fact, it was kevin durant who

actually sank a bucket, a three-pointer, late in the game that put the warriors on top and they did not look back from that. so here we are, 3-0, guys. and to now think that the possibility of the cavaliers coming back from this, look, we didn't think they could do it last year, a lot of people wouldn't think they could do it this year. i think we've learned at this point to wait and see to see what could possibly happen. but game four on friday here at the q. we will see what lebron james and his cavaliers can come up with. kendis, diane, you all tell me, what do you think? >> we know, we'll be watching tomorrow night. t.j., thank you. we have video of what looks like an affront to all rules of dipping. >> this fan somehow wound up with barbecue sauce on his shirt. >> rather than let it go to waste, he lets another fan dip a chicken tender and the fan eats it. >> so the guy with the sauce on his shirt eventually did clean it off in a more conventional

ma manner. no word on how the other guy that ate the chicken nugget is doing. >> and the braves gave him a free t-shirt, nice. up next, why one fossil is altering the history of humans. and no walls, no problem, details on the craziest hotel room you've ever seen. better late than ever, the library book returned after 52 years. that's on atmfans.com.

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to fortify you. spark the energy within you every day. emergen-c energy+. emerge and see. (baby♪ aughs) ♪ time for the pulse and we'll start with the social aspects of today's congressional testimony by former fbi director james comey. staffers on capitol hill have said that business will grind to a halt. >> oh, and bars across d.c. will open early. one bar is offering a free round of drinks every time president trump tweets about the hearing, and another will offer free

wi-fi so patrons can work. >> of course, lots of work getting done. >> yeah. >> bars in san francisco by the way are also hosting some comey-related events. remember, the hearing starts at 10:00 a.m. eastern which is 7:00 in the morning on the west coast. so they are opening very early. >> yeah. some him mows sas and bloody marys there. a bar in houston might have the best named special drinks for the event. they include the bad ombre and the frozen c: vfefe. but it will give you a headache afterwards. serious science. researchers say our species is a lot older than originally thought. >> they believe that bones found in morocco are about 300,000 years old, that makes them the earliest of our species ever found. >> the previous known home spap yan fossils were a mere 195,000 years old. >> a mere, that's it? >> youthful. >> a spring chicken. there's a hotel in switzerland where guests are not

limited by walls or ceilings for that matter. >> nope. for $300 per night guests lay down in the great outdoors. twin brothers created this nontraditional, zero star hotel. >> zero star, not a five star, nothing. >> i guess if you have no walls and no ceiling, you can't have any stars either. >> the concept extends to everything. there's an outhouse about three minutes away. >> three minutes? one drawback, they lost nearly two-thirds of their availability last year to bad weather. >> oh, there is that point. >> more news after this. e ameri start by taking care of families for 70 years. earn the trust of 32 nfl teams. be there for america's toughest and help, when help is needed america's #1 isn't a status earned overnight. it's earned in every wash, and re-earned every day. tide, america's #1 detergent

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2005. phoenix will see triple digits and the northeast will finally warm up as temperatures break 70. to a beautiful image, quite a face. what's not to love about the face of a virtually newborn

gorilla. >> this little guy is the newest arrival in the zoo in philadelphia but he did not make it easy on mom, even though he looks pretty happy. >> as anybody will tell you, giving birth is never a simple thing and that was played out with this delivery. we get the details now from abc's david wright. >> reporter: 17-year-old kyra, reeling in pain, a first-time mother at the philadelphia zoo and she's just gone into labor. >> the keepers noticed that she did seem like she was very uncomfortable. things were not progressing. >> reporter: the zoo's chief veterinarian, keith hen shaw, says normally a low land west gorilla gives birth in less than an hour. kyra was having contractions for 24 hours. how many doctors does it take to deliver a bouncing baby gorilla? 17 it turns out. vet na yar yans and others all there on call to deliver a

five-pound baby boy. the next morning -- >> she had no hesitation to pick him up and take care of him. >> reporter: a 400-pound gorilla showing a mother's love. mother and son still to be named, now inseparable. david wright, abc news, new york. >> look at his cute little face. they say gorillas normally deliver naturally and humans don't get involved at all so to see that happen was very unusual but so glad it turned out okay. >> 24 hours. so daytime today probably not since luke married laura on general hospital have so many people been curious about daytime tv. you see the skin right there. the capitol. >> live shot of capitol hill where james comey will be testifying in just a few hours. and that's what's making news in america this morning. >> see you at 10:00.