at the live desk, leon harris, news4. >> thank you, leon. >>> federal prosecutors charged a local manhey say was threatening to attack a police station in downtown d.c. >> that and he appeared before a judge today. mark segraves was in court and has more on how this investigation has been unfolding. >> reporter: in this 30-page indictment prosecutors allege the construction worker from washington, d.c. was trying to buy an automatic rifle, so he could attack a police station. 38-year-old clark callaway was polite and reserved as he appeared before a federal judge, facing two gun charges. he has not been charged with terrorism or making threats. but the charging documents reveal callaway bought an ak-47 from an fbi informant, after posting pro-isis messages on facebook pages. prosecutors say callaway had threatened to attack the first district police station in southwest, d.c., near nationals park. callaway did not enter a plea today. he's being held until a preliminary hearing next week. at u.s. district court, mark segraves, news4. victory in the latest health care battle, but they h

leon harris at the marleau heights community center.etty good out there. >> reporter: it's a hot party right about now. i don't know what doug said earlier but it feels like the temperature is going up not down. we're having a great time out here at the community center. i've been having a great time sitting here talking to this man here who runs this place. you got a really good crowd of people out here showing support. what's it mean for you to have these show up for you today? >> it's great for the community. people don't realize that we come together, things like food brings people together so the opportunity to have you guys come out and show visibility, just to show the good things we do here in marleau heights. you got success to talk about. this is something that has not you're doing a lot of good work. tell us what you're proudest of. >> we got so many things that are great out here. we have the food program. we have dinner. we do hot meals. 3,000 meals a year. we have kids that have came from this challenged community that wen

. >>> pat, leon harris here at the live desk with a follow-up regarding manchester.d that ariana grande is planning to return to manchester, she wants to give a benefit concert to raise money for the victims. she suspended her tour and canceled several appearanc in a statement today, she said, we won't let hate win. a date has not yet been set for the benefit concert, but we learned that she's going to restart her world tour on june 7th, and the first show will take place in paris. >> good news, thank you, leon. >>> hillary clinton is back in the headlines right now. how she took aim at president trump during a commencement speech today. >>> also ahead, we're there as d.c. gets ready to open its outdoor pools for the summer. and the mayor, she gets ready to take the plunge. >>> and we'll take you to a hidden gem in our area. how you can enjoy the beach without ever crossing the bay bridge. also, we are working for you even during the break. >> you can get the latest from storm team4 and e top storiesth very customizable. you can choose the back, you can choose the ar

. >> and i'm leon harris. the bully of bowie street, alleged killer goes to the umd. what are you seeing and hearing? >> reporter: i can tell you it's quiet tonight on the college park campus just hours before graduation day. this is the bus shelter where the crime happened and ton unprovoked attack. >> it never gets any worse than this. >> reporter: a murder on the university of maryland college park campus. a bowie state university student stabbed to death in early morning hours as he waits for an uber. >> when i sat with father, who is military veteran, and his pastor, and we shed tears together, i can tell you it rips your heart out. >> reporter: happened near this bus stop on regence drive not far from route one, a day before graduation. suspect is university of maryland student. stabbed victim with folding knife in random attack. >> assailant approached totally unprovoked and stabbed the victim in the chest. >> reporter: victim with two friends who called 911. thri university surveillance system camera. suspect taken into custody by the bus stop where the stabbi

. >> let's start with leon harris he's at the verizon center talking to fans. hey leon. >> reporter: all those games you mentioned that are involving washington teams none of them is going to be any -- anywhere near as big and event as this game tonight with the capitals and the penguins in verizon center behind me. the foot traffic is really picked up. the energy level, you can feel the buzz beginning to build. it's funny, we've seen a couple of people coming in as penguin jerseys and they don't look the caps fans all say this year is going to be different. they believe that even though both teams are facing a win or your season's over situation, the caps are not the ones who have their backs against the wall. it's the penguins. they'll be feeding all that energy to the team that's right now inside the verizon center getting ready to take the ice. carol maloneny is standing by there as the preparations get underway. >> reporter: hockey players live for game essential. caps fans in the history not so much. in the ov era the caps have lost six of nine winner take

leon harris joins us with a look at how the trooper is being remembered. >> corporal stephen ballard's from friends fromur today for its funeral. the 32-year-old delaware state trooper was shot and killed last week in the line of duty. the weather seemed to fit the mood today. a long line of police cars coming under a huge american flag through the pouring rain. a motorcycle procession escorted his body to the chase center. former vice president joe biden and his family were there to pay respects. with them, more than 700 uniformed officers from at least 36 states coming to honor the fallen hero. >> we were standing next to people from new mexico and california. it's the least we could do to drive down here. >> just encouraging, uplifting, to see at a time when this family needs support, they've got it. >> corporal ballard was gunned down investigating a suspicious vehicle in a wawa parking lot. after a 20-hour-long stand-off, police shot and killed the gunman. today ballard's family was presented with the flag that was flying over the u.s. capitol the day he died. corporal ballard's m

>> i'm leon harris. the same line of storms has already killed more than a dozen people. tornadoes killed four people in texas over the weekend. we'll be getting a live update on the destruction in missouri, but first let's get you up to speed on the weather alert here. >> starting in the storm center with doug and tom. where are the storms right now? >> we've been watching this and tracking this since late last week. biggest potential is wind later this evening, but we're not overly concerned it's going to be a widespread event. but it is may 1st, storm season, this is the time of year we start to see them firing up. >> nothing out there now as far as strong storms go. a few showers and there were thunderstorms in charlottesville, but now no lightning, no thunder. this is rain. back to the west, you notice the tornado watches in parts of california, including franklin and fulton county, west virginia, one tornado warning north and east of pittsburgh. our weather is coming from down south in towards north carolina. so i think we've got about one or two hours before things

from the live desk, i'm leon harris. >> you're about to get a bit more breathing room on the silver linemetro's newest trains will give you more space. i just retweeted our transportation reporter adam tuss who broke this story and discovered when we'll see them start rolling. so 2007 series roll cars will start rolling on the line. they'll only run on weekdays to help with all the extra passengers. the silver liner run with older and shorter six car >>> it is the season for field trips, recess and lots of fresh air. managing your child's allergies at school can be tougher when they start getting outdoor. in news for your health keeping them healthy and focused inside and out side of the camera. dr. jackie, allergies, cause us to miss work so we know that the allergies cause children to miss school. how much school time, class time are we talking about here? >> sadly, a lot. they affect over 40% of the kids in the united states, that adds up to 10,000 missed school days per day in the united states and then there's also this problem called presentism which means you may be in school or i

. >>> leon harris at with new information about a bold hack attack with widespread implications for europe and asia. right now, as many as 74 countries could be affected. the life-threatening situation is in the uk. ambulances have been lined up, diverting patients from as many as 20 different hospitals. this hack involved ransom ware, "the new york times" reported that it was done using a hacking tool created by the nsa. right now, the hackers are asking for about $300 per computer. so far, no reports of any attacks here in the u.s. >>> new at 4:00, mark your calendars. metro changing its hours next month. take a thursday, 5:00 a.m. to 11:30 at night. on fridays and saturdays, metro will keep trains running through 1:00 a.m. expect weekend service to start a little later. 7:00 on saturday mornings and 8:00 on sunday. we know it's a lot of information information. we have all of it on the nbc washington app. >>> and metro's new safetrack surge begins on tuesday. this time five stations will be shut down on the orange line. you won't be able to get on or off at new carrollton, landover, che

and there's leon harris emceeing the event.timates there are 300 children without a place to call home. and they want to end all homelessness within the next three years. >>> family members say he was full of life and willing to help anybody. >> and that he gave everything he had for the job that he loved. the massive show of support from his extended police family as they laid him to re >>> more news from our area and beyond traveling to delaware today to remember a state trooper there. >> trooper stephen ballard grew up from buoy, maryland, he was shot and killed last week while on the job. nbc's tim furlong was there as many people stood outside in the pouring rain to celebrate his life. >> reporter: this is the end of a tough week and a half in delaware. the procession to the funeral for delaware state police corporal stephen ballard. officers from 36 states here in the driving rain to support each other and ballard's family. >> seeing the way the public's responded and the police officersm country, it really is touching. >

i'm leon harris. erica is off tonight. we're going to begin with storm team 4. samara, what's the latest right now? has the weather cleared up for everyone? >> right now we're seeing lingering showers. the overall pattern this evening is going to be drying out. most of us under mostly cloudy skies. i know it's a little difficult to make out, we've got false echo returns there, but for the most part we are seeing some lingering showers in southern portions of maryland. just south and west of waldorf, we were seeing showers. those have quickly moved through, though, and now we're drying out. for your morning planner, as we take you through the hours, we'll be at 60. 6:00 a.m., 62 degrees. as we see temperatures drop or rise throughout the morning hours, reaching the dew point, we are going to be seeing muggy conditions. low 70s by 10:00 a.m. we'll talk about the rain chances making a comeback for sunday evening. ♪ and the home of the brave >> just one of many patriotic performances tonight on the west lawn of the u.s. capitol. the rehearsal for tomorrow's memorial

news 4, leon harris, verizon center. back to you. >> nicklas backstrom said the right thing. it wasn't the loss yesterday. >>> 4:36. >> ahhh. >> sorry. >> i'm with you, eun. >> somebody on this screen is going to have some good news somewhere. >> there is some needed rain on the way. >> there you go. that's a good way to look at it. we need the rain so >> cloudy, chilly. i tried to bring back sunshine but it all spilled out of the suit waste. four things about the next four days. today rain moving in. tomorrow off and on showers through most of your friday. saturday looks like we'll have plenty of rain. most of it hopefully before lunchtime on saturday. i would not have a whole lot of stuff to do on saturday. monday drying things out. for the rest of today though, temperatures, what you see is what you get. mostly in the 50s. >> most of the rain west of the district right now. we do expect more of it to be moving into the d.c. area and even surrounding suburbs as we get closer to your commute. take a look at your radar. shenandoah valley. 81. you see that around broadway. als

i'm leon harris. >> i'm erica gonzalez. the woman attacked in her home in a 1500 block of key boulevard the scene. jackie benson joins us live with what we're learning about the assault. jackie? >> well, we can tell that you the security camera images are very clear and we hope that you will take a minute to look at them right now. it's very important. now they show the man who police believe got into this building, we're in the 1500 block of key boulevard in arlington around 10:00 this morning. they still don't know how he got in. he went up to a floor of the building and began knocking on every door saying he was from maintenance. no one opened the door except for one woman. she was then sexually assaulted. >> this was a very brazen attack. he not only would go around knocking on them, but he was using that ruse knowing someone would open their doors thinking that someone who worked there was actually on the other end. >> we tell people that look through your peephole f you don't recognize that individual, you don't have

. >>> leon harris here at the live desk where we are keeping an eye on tonight's big news on the russia investigation. nbc news learned that jared kushner is now under fbi scrutiny. according to multiple sources investigators say they believe kushner has significant information relevant to the investigation. but multiple officials are saying this does not necessarily mean they suspect him of a crime. now the "washington post" is reporting that inves meetings held with kushner. officials say that kushner is in a different category from former trump aids paul manafort. in a statement kushner's lawyer says he had previously volunteered to share what he knows with congressional leaders about the meetings and he would do the same again if he is contacted about it. of course, we will be watching. >> we know you will. >>> the president's controversial travel ban is a step closer tonight to the u.s. supreme court. this evening attorney general jeff sessions said that is where this fight is headed. today an appeals court upheld the decision by a federal judge in maryland. that judge ruled the tr

leon harris, news 4. >>> thank you. the u.s. attorney's office in d.c.s joining the investigation into a hate crime an american university after someone hung bananas from nooses on that campus last week. this comes as the school announces plans for a new anti-racism center. the university hired dr. kendy to lead the research and policy center. he will come this fall. he is considered an expert on campus activism surrounding black issues. >>> president trump was going to fire fbi director james comey regardless of recommendations from his top two men at the justice department. that revelation tonight in an nbc news exclusive interview. the president telling lester holt the firing had nothing to do with the russia investigation and comey's poor performance. >> were you angry with james comey when he went public and said he can't support your charges of wire tapping that your predecessor? >> i was surprised he said it but i wasn't angry. i don't think of it as loyalty. i want whoever the director is to do the right thing. i want a great fbi director. >> and

. >> and i'm leon harris. security companies are urging you and your company to make sure you're protected. nbc's kelly cobiella is in london where hospitals were especially hard hit by this digital extortion scheme. >> reporter: team the europol director is calling in an attack of an unprecedented scale, saying there's 100,000 victims in at least 150 condition industries and twarng could get worse when people go back to work and turn on their computers. >> unprecedented beyond anything level of infection and the amount of damage it's potentially inflicting. >> reporter: britain's national health services computer were the first to be hit friday morning forcing hospital emergency rooms to shut down, stopping surgeries. doctors and hospital staff unable to access patient records or anything else on their computer networks. britain's prime minister theresa may says the system is now returning to normal. the wears known as wannacry has since spread to banks, russia's interior ministry, banks and federal express i

. >> i'm leon harris.olice say a woman was sexually assaulted in a high-rise building by a man who tricked her into opening her door. ja jackie benson joins us live. what can you tell us now? >> reporter: leon, it appears this man got into in luxury high-rise condominium building by the parking garage. the security camera images show a man wearing a hooded sweat shirt standing near the garage entrance of the adream condominiums on key boulevard in clearly on camera inside the building as is his under armour backpack. police say that just before 10:00 this morning he knocked on every door on one floor of the building, claiming to be a maintenance worker. one woman opened her door, then police say she was sexually assaulted. the crime shocked residents of a neighborhood they describe as very safe. >> i just feel like -- it is really quiet after hours. >> you're with -- but after advice for everywhere you live, so -- >> reporter: investigators were on the scene throughout the day and into the evening. >> this

in upper marlboro, i'm tracee wilkins, >>> leon harris here atwtop are saying the prison sentence foree boyd maflo could be changed. a federal court has ordered a new sentencing for malvo. he was 17 when he was arrested in 2002. three separate sentences from virginia have already been order order and a similar challenge to his life sentence in maryland is expected to be heard at a hearing next month. we'll keep you posted on that. >>> chopper4 is live over i-66 right now, showing you the traffic, as everyone starts to make that trip out of town for the long weekend. this is 66 in the fair oaks area, around route 50. you can see it's somewhat backed up. yeah, look at that. he just keeps flying and the traffic just keeps on stretching four to five hours, the traffic is going to thiut significantly. >>> look, it's the holiday weekend, lot of folks keeping an eye on the weather. it's also one of doug kammerer's favorite days of the year. he gets to do his forecast at the beach. >> we really should have petitioned for us too. >> news at the beach. weather in the studio. >> i know. and beth

we'll start with leon harris. he's outside talking to fans heading into verizon. leon, spirits are pretty high, i bet? >> reporter: oh, my god, you have no idea. we've been sitting out here for a couple of hours and it's been amazing how little by little the numbers of people wearing red walking by just gets biggernd there's now a sea of red going all the way down 7th street behind me and a real crowd of folks assembling outside the doors waiting to get in. every single person that we've talked to has got some kind of a story about why it's important for them to be here for this game seven. i talked to people from as far as away at north dakota believe it or not and just a little while ago i talked with a couple of guys who came here all wait from upstate new york. they left thur home at 5:00 a.m. this morning because they had to be here to support the team they grew up with and they had to be here for this game seven. >> we would never miss this game. >> reporter: why not? >> this is game seven. this is it. this is the culmination of just a great era. weaver -- i

leon harris is in the newsroom. >> reporter: you're so right about that, we don't get a chance to tell these stories a lot, but we are happy to report there are still some good people out there in this world. one of them was so moved by pat's report earlier this week, that he decided to take action himself. 18-year-old hannah burley met craig janice today outside the montgomery county police station. she had listed her iphone for sale, and the buyer paid her 450 bucks with phony money. it's used as a prop in movies. janice saw pat collins' report and he called pat and today he met hannah and gaver h her the 0 she lost. >> i have three daughters and i felt really bad for the victim, and i saw an opportunity to maybe make th i just hope more people can do good things for other people and maybe inspire some change. >> he's a good person for sure, and definitely restored my faith in humanity after what had happened. so i'm really thankful for mr. craig. it's really nice of him to do this for me, i really appreciate it for sure. >> i think we all do. police say scammers are using that movie

and leon harris will be at a secret location. and that is the broadcast this morning.ciate you waking up with us. >> the "today" show is next. we'll see you in 25 >> make it a great wednesday, effect. ♪ [doorbell] ♪ ♪ you get the care you need to help you thrive. ♪ visit kp.org to learn more. kaiser permanente. thrive. ♪ the>>> good morning. obstruction of justice? a memo from james comey details president trump asking the then fbi director to drop the michael flynn investigation telling him, quote, i hope you can let this go. john mccain blasting the administration's scandal, comparing them to the nixon white house. >> it's of water gate size and scale. >> other republicans calling for an investigation. democrats calling for an impeachment. >> deadly and destructive. a tornado outbreak from texas to wisconsin. at least two people are dead. dozens more injured. this neigho

news4's leon harris joins us with the 4 things to know about this bill. leon? >> well, the non-partisan congressional budget office is yet to do a scoring on the latest version of the gop health plan, so there's a lot we don't know about it. but there are some estimates of how many people would be covered in the new plan and how many will be left out. we still don't know firmly. here's what we know that will change. this bill would freeze expansion to medicaid. and it adds work requirements for most able-bodied recipients who are not pregnant or caring for a child under the age of 6. now, this also allows states to opt out of the program for existing protections for people with pre-existing conditions, including that insurers have to charge the same amount to all people. an amendment adds funds to fund pools for high-risk people that do opt out. states can also request a waiver to change what qualifies as essential health benefits under obamacare. it currently includes er visits, prescription drugs, new born services. and this ne measure still has tt through th

our leon harris is in the newsroom tracking what else happened while you were at work today. >> manchester police say that their investigation is intense and is moving quickly at this hour and we see proof of that in two raids carried out today in different parts of the city. check this out you see that is cell phone video. they're showing police using explosives to get inside of a home. this is in south manchester and it happens to be in the same neighborhood where houses were raided on tuesday. now another raid took place today at an apartment near the center of the city. tonight, three more are under arrest in england and that now brings the total number to four. now as local police are working round the clock now tracking down any leads that they're getting, they're also getting help from members of the military that are deploying across the country. armed soldiers now deployed all across the uk, the country's terror threat level now raised now to the critical level amid fears of a follow-up attack. >> we must nt underestimate that isis really want to commit these terrorist acts, but w

news4's leon harris has details on that from our newsroom. what are you hearing? >> a british official is telling the bbc that they're not sharing intelligence, blaming an official for leaking to the press. among the leaks, the name of the bombing suspect, reported by american media just hours after the attack. and yesterday "the new york times" posted photos appearing to show debris from the attack, including a bloody detonator and a piece of the backpack. the acting u.s. ambassador condemned the leaks. british prime minister theresa may said she planned to bring up this issue with president trump. >> we it is our deepest defense and security partnership that we have. of course that partnership is built on trust. and part of that trust is knowing that intelligence can be shared confidently. >> the white house released a statement calling the leaks deeply troubling and asking the justice department to look into the matter. the president said, if appropriate, the culprit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. jim? >>> hey, guys, tracking a new sever

leon harris joins us now with more about those travel plans. >> pretty ambitious travel plans, the president's first overseas tour starts in a couple of weeks. he'll start off in saudi arabia, and then israel, then later at the vatican for a meeting with pope francis. the tour will conclude with a nato meeting in brussels on may 25th, and the g7 summit in sicily the next day. white house officials say the visit to saudi arabia is aiming at becoming something of a reset between the two countries. president obama visited riyadh in april last year. his reception was so c during president trump's visit, the saudi king will be hosting a meeting with leaders from around the region. there are indications it could be part of a strategy to breakthrough with a middle east peace process. they say this isolation strategy could pay off in syria, building on what they described as a very successful call this week with russian leader vladimir putin. over to you. >> thank you, leon. >>> new details about a prisoner found in a drainage pipe six days after he escaped near a psychiatric hospital in jessup, maryl

. >> it's all cool there with leon harris and he's talking to folks about the valuable services that enter provides. hey leon! >> reporter: you can't even smell the horses. you see the horses back here. these are park police. maryland national park police force out here with us and here's the chief stan johnson is guys this is more about having fun. this is about your transforming neighborhoods. >> that's correct. seeing how we can help resolve some issues and concerns they might have and have a good time interacting with a community wall the different government agencies here. hopefully the community appreciates the opportunity just to interact. >> reporter: you think they don't? >> i think they do. >> reporter: from what we've seen and heard i think they do. >> it's great having everyone here at the community center. >> reporter: tell me some more about this tni initiative. >> what is it about going out to communities, bringing government resources out there, public safety, health and services, people from the health community, education and just seeing what is the concern from the

leon harris is here with a breakdown of what all this means. >> well, chris, here is a look at how this bill could change insurance, if it passes in the senate, and that's a big if. the biggest change, that has to do with people who have pre-existing conditions. obamacare forbids insurance companies from charging sicker people more than they do healthy people. and it also provides all plans to provide er visits and lab tests. the republican plan, that gives states the ability to change that if they receive a waiver. sicker people would be put into high-risk pools and the federal government has put aside some $130 billion to fund those pools. now the plan being now, also makes changes to medicaid, cutting that program by $800 billion over a ten-year period, and requiring able-bodied recipients to work in order to receive their benefits. obamacare subsidies based on income would be replaced by refundable tax credits based on age. overall, this is expected to give people less government assistance than they currently get and likely it will impact older americans most. and the bill repeals

it's been leon harris in the newsroom with more on what they talked about. >> timing is everything. jim comey's firing was just one of the topics covered during the interview with the president, which was originally scheduled to be about health care. but the president admitted to asking comey whether he was under investigation. now, it is highly unusual for someone who might be the focus of an fbi probe to ask that type of question, particularly if they have higher authority. now the president also said the decision to fire comey, that was his and his alone. and he hadar former fbi director. >> look, he's a show boat, he's a grandstander. the fbi has been in turmoil, you know that, i know that, everybody knows that. you take a look at the fbi a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil. less than a year ago. it hasn't recovered from that. >> the president also said that he in no way tried to pressure comey to drop the fbi probe. there's more of this interview and you watch it all right here on nbc4 at 7:00 p.m. >> we'll be looking for that. several other developing stories we're following

. >> a law enforcement source tells our sister station that at leon harris has the latest on the investigation. >> it's a really crazy situation in new york. an 18-year-old woman died and two dozen people were hurt when a wrong-way driver slammed into a crowd of pedestrians on the sidewalk. these are live pictures from the scene. police are telling us that richard rojas rammed into the lunch hour crowd just before noon. investigators say he made a u-turn and started speeding down the sidewalk for several blocks before crashing into a traffic pole. right now, officials say they do not think this wreck is terror-related. according to law enforcement sources, rojas appeared to be under the influence of drugs or challenge and he has two prior dwi arrests on his record. >> in 2008, he was arrested in queens for drinking and driving and also in 2015, he was arrested in manhattan for drinking and >> as of now, four people are in critical condition in the hospital. the word is, they are expected to live. >> that's some good news. thank you, leon. back here in our area, what started as a celebration ha

. >>> leon harris with late word of a developing story. the feds have raided a maryland political consulting firm in connection to the 2013 virginia governor's race. the fbi confirmed it served a search warrant at the gop office in annapolis this afternoon. the president of the firm says the investigation relates to the work the strategic campaign group did for former virginia attorney general ken cuccinelli. cuccinelli lost that race. now, according to ur sister station in baltimore, the firm has been sued and questioned because of alleged actions by a political action committee linked to the firm. that pac has been accused of using candidates's names to raise money without their permission. >>> a report from the inspector general says former schools chanceular kaiia henderson unfairly gave waivers to the schools lottery system. young has proof he went through the lotly like any other parent. the ig said it will amend its report, but the overall conclusions remain the same. the mayor is making sure waiver rules are clear going forward. >>

let's get straight to the verizon center where leon harris is talking to caps fans. >> reporter: it's starting to. don't forget, you failed to mention the wizards they got a big game tonight in the verizon center behind me it's all going to be about the caps. the stars have seemed to align themselves for washington sports fans and the brightest star of all is the washington capitals and it's not against just any team, it's against the most hated team in this town's history, the pittsburgh penguins who are coming here and you know what? we're standing here waiting for the excitement to begin to build, there aren't very many red jerseys walking around outside. don't worry. at 4:00 you'll see them coming in. sure enough, right on q red jerseys started coming up the street and just a minute ago we talked to a group that came all the way from linchburg to rock the red. are you panicking yet? >> confident. we're going to win. >> reporter: why are you confident? >> because we're the best team there is. >> reporter: this is game seven. usually there's a sense of anxiety because youno that ton

leon harris has the details. this is getting a ton of attention. >> and will be for days to come. president trump spoke extensively about his decision to fire james comey in an exclusive interview with nbc's lester holt, and the president's reasons appear to contradict previous statements coming from the white house. now on the topic of comey, we're also seeing some new reaction from a brand-new nbc news survey monkey poll. more than half, 54% believe that comey's dismissal was not appropriate, and when it comes to why the president let comey go, nearly half think it has to do with the russia investigation. only about a quarter think it's related to the clinton e-mails as stated. in his sitdown, he also had choice words to describe comey. >> he's a show boat, he's a grandstander. the fbi has been in turmoil, you know what, i know that, everybody knows that. >> you met attorney general rod rosenstein. >> right. >> did you ask for a recommendation? >> what i did is, i was going to fire comey. my decision. he made a recommendation, but regardless of recommendation, i was going to fir

leon harris has the latest on this case. >> sexting is what brought down his political career and it's sexting that could have him facing years in federal prison. in court today he pled guilty to his communications with a 15-year-old girl. as part of a plea deal, prosecutors want him to serve between 21 and 27 months in prison. he also has to register as a sex offender and will have to be allowed to continue to undergo therapy. and he'll have to also give up his smartphone. the fbi started looking into this case last fall when the teen told "the daily mail" that she and wiener had been months. in court today, he apologized to the girl, saying i have a sickness, but i do not have an excuse, adding this statement. a judge will sentence him in september. late this afternoon, huma abedin, a long-time hillary clinton aide, filed for divorce. the two have been separated for months. wendy, jim, back to you. >>> thank you. >>> first on 4:00 we're learning about possible security upgrades for members of congress when they're outside of washington. a news4 i-team scott macfarlane says house offi

. >>> leon harris here at the live desk with the developing story right in the heart of midtown manhattan. one person is killed, nearly two dozen are hurt when a car drove onto the sidewalk in times square. this happened in the middle of the lunch hour, one of the busiest tourist spots in our country. the car traveled three blocks, mowing down pedestrians before hitting a traffic pole. the driver is richard rojas, a 26-year-old man from the bronx, with two previous dwi charges. >> further investigation is ongoing. at this point, as the mayor said, there's no indication that this incident was terrorism related. >> identified as an 18-year-old woman. everyone else is expected to survive. law enforcement sources are saying rojas blew a 0.0, but say he may have smoked something before the crash. we'll hear from witnesses coming up in the next ten minutes. >> thank you. >>> new at 5:00 tonight, family and faith leaders came together today to hold a vigil for an undocumented immigrant detained by i.c.e. in fairfax county. lilliana cruz is a mother of two, she was detained at the fairfax field o

. >> other speakers include lieutenant governor gavin, senator pamela harris, and state senate leader kevin de leon. the convention runs through sunday. >>> look at this released video of hillary clinton taking last year when she was practicing for the presidential debates. as part of prep, she was learning how to get out of having to hug donald trump. the roll of trump during practice was clinton's former advisor. the pair had a good laugh when he chased down the former first lady as she tries to get away. it appears to be a good memory from the campaign trail for the former democratic presidential nominee. friday she tweeted out. i burst out laughing when i saw the video. i hope it brightens your day. >>> well, happening today, it's an exhibit featuring animals that you may not necessarily consider as a pet. >> we got them. the norcal reptile expo is a showcase for familiar to unique species. and ktvu reporter kristen joins us from the alameda county fairgrounds. kristen, you made a friend in that monster snake. what do you have this time around? >> sammy was a lot of snake. and i think if you're

harris perkins in san jose. last week the judge in that case overturned the verdict because the judge determined sheriff detectives gave false statistical. sergeant leon testified in the sierra lamar trial. >> i think it will be the center piece of a motion for a new trial or on appeal. >> reporter: defense attorneys for convicted murder torrez asked for more information about the overturned case but declined to comment on the details. >> do you have any comment about the system of sergeant leon? >> not right now. thank you. >> the fact that the officer's testimony was the basis for overturning another murder conviction is highly relevant. 000 the question will be what did he testify to in the sierra lamar case and would the defense have tried this case differently had they known of the credibility issue. >> reporter: careful testimony from two of sierra's friends and her sister danielle. the jury must decide if he should die for his crimes. both her mother and father are expected to testify tomorrow. >>> two people found dead inside a home. this morning a man and woman in their mid-70s were found shot to death. deputies stayed at the home throughout

harry washington. he joined the british army or he migrating toion, nova scotia, eventually to sierra leone.ars after the declaration of independence, the great abolitionist cap same at -- frederick douglass famously asked, what -- is the fourth of july? his answer. an inspiration to over throw the tyranny of his day, to side with the right against the wrong with the weak against the strong and with to pressed against to presser, he said. here lies of those revolutionaries and many that have followed. like douglas, most americans are not content with reassuring origin stories. we work now for the prospect of the better future with past levels our guide. we see the american revolution in its own historical present, we look not only on the grand jury of long debt heroes. we appreciate the efforts of common women, men and children of all sorts. their losses, as well as their victories and determination to turn those losses into lessons that will keep them fighting on. where american symmetry to about half by rededicating -- taking this as an inspiration to make the united states the company ret