breaking overnight. new developments in the wake of james comey firing. officials threaten to resign. his replacement on the hot seat and comey's biting farewell letter. this as the investigation in russia's role in the presidential election heats up at the same time trump meets with russian leaders. the wife of legendary sports anchor chris berman dies. then, anti-government protesters clashing with venezuela's national guard. and melissa mccarthy prepares for her return to "saturday night live." breaking with you on a thursday

break yofrg night former fbi director james comey speaks out for the very first time since his abrupt firing. he released a farewell letter to employees after his stunning ouster writing quote i have long believed that a president can fire an fbi director for any reason or for no reason at all. it is done. and i will be fine. as reports surface the president ordered attorney general jeff sessions and ag rod rosenstein to provide in writing the case for firing comey. multiple news outlets from "the new york times" to the associated press report comey had just requested more resources to pursue his investigation in russia's meddling in the 2016 election and possible involvement of trump associates before his termination. it is fielding questions as it was the true motive behind his firing. the white house deputy press secretary says the decision had everything to do with his handling of the

confidence in director comey, and frankly, he'd been considering letting director comey go since the day he was elected. i think also having a letter like the one that he received and having that conversation that outlined the basic just atrocities in circumventing the chain of command in the department of justice. >> the president responded to comey's firing when meeting with nixon's former secretary of state henry kissinger. >> why did you fire director comey? >> because he wasn't doing a good job. very simply. he was not doing a good job. >> as he fought off claims the termination centered on the russia investigation the president had an awkwardly timed meeting with russia's foreign minister and their ambassador to the united states. news outlets were shut out. it was up to russia news

for images you see here. in a poll now puts president's approval at 36% with 58% disapproving. his standing among independents, non-college educated white voters and white men the key constituencies that voted him into office dropping. the reaction from congress to the comey firing has been massive. kristen welker reports. >> reporter: amid mounting outrage on capitol hill some lawmakers questioning the country's very foundation. >> do you see this as a constitutional crisis? >> absolutely. >> this is a stress test what we're living in. >> reporter: it's not just democrats. increasing number of republicans richard burr chairs the senate intelligence committee. >> the timing and the reasons for this decision made little sense to me. and i don't think i've heard anything since last night that would clarify that in any way. >> the white house's timing was less than

puzzled as to the timing. >> reporter: threes seven senate republicans expressed skepticism or outright anger. >> today will no doubt hear calls for a new investigation which could only serve to impede the current work being done to not only discover what the russians may have done. >> house speaker paul ryan defending mr. trump. >> it is entirely within the president's role and authority to relieve him and that's what he did. >> democrats are demanding the department of justice appoint a special prosecutor to take over the investigation into russia's meddling in the u.s. election, some threatening to try to block trump's pick for the next fbi director until one is appointed. >> i will vote against any confirmation of an fbi director unless there is support for a special prosecutor. >> that was chris kin welker re

out add to the headaches. jason cha vits calling for the watchdog to investigate the decision that led to comey's firing. in the senate we are expected to hear from comey's interim replacement andrew mccabe as he testifies in comey's place. we're joined by tracie potts in washington. certainly so much to digest. what more can we learn? >> reporter: mccabe is in charge of that russia investigation for now until they replace the fbi director. he is coming to this hearing in place of jim comey who was supposed to testify today, he will talk about worldwide threats along with other members of the intelligence community, the nsa and others. jim comey has been asked to come back and testify sometime next week. so, we may hear from him and it will be interesting now after his firing what he has to say about reports that are being disputed this morning by the justice department that he had

russia investigation. meantime, the senate intelligence committee for the first time since its 9/11 investigation is using its subpoena power trying to get documents on trump ties to russia. they have asked fired national security adviser mike flynn to turn over documents and first it was a request, now it's a subpoena. he of course had asked for immunity, that has been denied. so we wait to find out what the timeline is for him to turn over whatever documents this committee asked for. >> so many time lines with many questions around them. tracie potts for us. hoping to get many answers when our lester holt will interview president trump tonight at the white house with highlights on "nbc nightly news" and right here on "early today." a far west area of china is recovering this morning from an earthquake that killed eight people. and injured at least 20. the 5.4 magnitude quake hit a remote

surveillance captured the jolts in the early morning hours. over 180 homes were damaged or destroyed. awful tragedy the wife of long time espn broadcaster chris berman has died. police say 67-year-old kathy berman was one of two people killed in a car crash in woodbury, concontinue according to police berman's car rear-ended a vehicle, then veered off the road and landed in water. berman died at the scene. while the other car's driver was later pronounced dead at a hospital. espn president john skipper gave his condolences saying this is a devastating tragedy and difficult to comprehend. our thoughts and prayers are with chris, meredith, doug and the family. chris and kathy were married over 33 years. >> the clashes and demands for new elections in venezuela show no signs of letting u. protestersac

country's national guard. troops fired water cannons and tear gas as demonstrators used shields. dozens were hurt and one man killed bringing the death toll to 39 since the clashes began six weeks ago. more than 1300 people have been arrested so far. according to the associated press over 250 civilian detainees have been brought before military courts rather than civilian ones sparking outcry from human rights activists. education secretary betsy devos receives boos giving a speech at historically black university in day for that beach, florida. >> i am honored to become a wildcat. >> outside protesters organized by the local naacp stood for hours, they're upset that devos called historically black colleges and universities great examples of school choice. protesters say those schools were creat

no other choice. meanwhile t disruption continued inside, at one point the school president warned graduates if their behavior continued this would happen. >> your degrees will be mailed to you. >> several people were escorted out of the auditorium by security though it did not appear any of the graduates were among them. along the georgia/florida border a wild fire continues to burn forcing a mandatory evacuation in the southern half of charlton county in georgia. more than 144,000 acres have burned and so far the fire is only about 12% contained. before we look at that let's check with bill karins keeping a close watch on 22 million at risk today from severe thunderstorms, bill. what are we looking at? >> not too many tornados today. mostly looking at heavy rain, maybe isolated flash flooding and wind and hail damage. clusters of ss

southern indiana, another southern portions of illinois. we go throughout the afternoon we'll get storms that will move and form in oklahoma and arkansas then heading through areas of kentucky, west virginia, and also down in areas around north carolina and richmond. 22 million at risk as we mentioned. isolated tornados, large hail the biggest problem today out in oklahoma and texas. we have still that hot weather in areas of the deep south. pictures of the fire in florida that dry hot weather continues today. that's a look at the big weather story of the day. now a closer look. as we watch out in areas of dallas early today for the storms they move to the east in the afternoon. the southeast very hot. orlando today 97 degrees near record highs from orlando, daytona beach to jacksonville. of course, this weekend frances we have the nor'easter t same storm plaguing the middle of the country coming up the seaboard for a soaking rain. the timing on that coming up. >> we're not goi

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service-related brawls. according to jd power overall satisfaction reached 76 points out of possible 1,000, that is the highest ever. it's up 30 from last year and continues steady gains over five years. lower fares, more on time flights and believe it or not, historically low bump rates all contributed to the score. the "washington post" reports former u.s. intelligence officials are alarmed that a photographer for the russian state-owned news agency was allowed into the oval office wednesday during donald trump's meetings with the russian foreign minister and ambassador to the united states. the officials say that person could have brought in a listening device or other surveillance equipment. the white house downplayed the danger saying the photographer and his equipment were screened before they entered the grounds. the richest rappers on the music scene, can you name them? how about this.

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fast forwarding into thursday, u.s. homeland security expected to announce expanding its ban on the use of lap tops to u.s.-bound flights from some european countries. the ban is in place on nights from eight countries in the middle east and africa due to fears they could conceal a bomb. members of the international olympic committee in los angeles to evaluate the city as host of the 2024 summer games. the plan calls for the use of existing sports venues and athletes to be housed in dorms at ucla. and more than a dozen works by a british artist are going up for auction in l.a., that is umel

berlin. it could go for $100,000. if you can't buy them beat them at their game, facebook's battle for snapchat's 166 million daily users. new details on the battle. nancy, i had that on facebook. i skip over it but seems they want everybody to go and do it. and use it. >> reporter: to have all of the filters with the cat ears and the pig noses. that instagrams story feature, the first earnings report since snap's anticipated market debut disappointing analysts especially on revenue and the user growth. there is evidence here that facebook striking back with the similar features on instagram stories and filters is having impact. we're looking at snap's share price off more than 20%, taking the stock back near its ipo price. in tech, elon musk not

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♪ f >> you got to love melissa mccarthy. it's going to be better i would think. getting into character ahead of her hosting gig. fans hope that having mccarthy as host means of course they bring back of course sean spicer impressions with that new promo, the chance of seeing pretty promising that is going to happen. when "snl" booked her and knowing the headlines cranking out of washington. >> it's hard to keep up with the headlines. write the show and everything is changing so quickly. some say you can't buy love but a new survey finds it's your credit score that could impact your love life. according to bank rate.com 42% say knowing someone's credit score affects their interest in dating them. would you? would you say see you later? >> funny, these dating websites is credit score please.

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it is 4:26 on this thursday. >> terrifying new details. more about the moments. >> more bombshells on the firing of james comey. two seconds and the defending champions are going to defend still. they are -- >> and heart breaker. the caps come up short. the reaction still coming in from fans after a devastating loss to the penguins. "ne t

we'll get you up to speed on all of that. first your weather and traffic. >> melissa mollet will keep an eye on your commute. let's start things off with sheena parveen and chuck bell back from vacation. >> welcome back. >> we're all in mourning about the game last night. >> the caps season is over, sunshine is gone for the foreseeable future. >> happy thursday, right? >> otherwise, how did you enjoy the play, mrs. lincoln? >> a cloudy stretch weather. even some rumbles of thunder in west virginia. thunderstorms are on the i-81 corrid corridor. just be on the lookout for some rumbles of thunder. no severe weather. nonetheless, rain along i-81. in addition to clouds and rain chances needing the

you'll need a warm jacket. >> even though you might want a jacket, we're not as cold. i think you will want a raincoat before you leave. 61 in the district. a little bit milder. 50 in frederick. 60 in quantico. winchester. like chuck just showed you, showers moving in from the west. that will be the case as we go through the morning hours. for your commute, we have wet roads. an afternoon where we'll keep the rain in the forecast. the temperatures will again be on the cooler side. we'll take a closer look at the forecast. hi, sheena. we do have a crash there up at the top of the beltway. latest information we have on that crash is that two lanes are getting by. response on the scene. this cam i

other direction. in bound 50 at 197, all lanes have reopened. seeing a little bit of a slowdown there. tow truck on the way. once the tow truck arrives we'll have the right lane blocked. westbound traffic running just fine. >> we are learning this morning that the suspect in a violent sexual assault tried to break into another apartment building in arlington. we want you to take a good look at the man's picture because he is still on the run right now. the man posed as a maintenance worker and forced his way into a woman's apartment sunday in roslyn. he sexually assaulted her. police have received tips that the same suspect tried to get into other apartment buildings in the same area. in one case the door man turned the man away. people who live at the atrium apartments say the door man needed to do

screening people. >> have two people at the front desk at all times and they're supposed to allow people in if they are guests of people living in the building. >> atrium's condominium board has declined to speak with news 4. police have arrested this man for the shooting of wayne pope. police say on may 3rd 24-year-old pharrell williams approached pope at a gas station. williams tried to rob pope who fought back and was shot. police knew where to find williams because he was already in jail for murder montgomery county. he's charged with shooting four people at this home in germantown on april 29th. 19-year-old man died there. this morning working