and then we'll have no regrets." >> pelley: at least you would have tried. >> comey: right. >> pelley, you met with the president. >> comey: i did. >> pelley: what happened? >> comey: had to give my wife some bad news, that her confidence in them not picking me was misplaced. >> pelley: what did the president say about what goes through his mind when picking an f.b.i. director? >> comey: the president's view is that it's... has to be someone who is competent and independent to protect this institution. >> pelley: you say that the president wanted independence from his f.b.i. director, but the justice department answe >> comey: it does, but it has to maintain a sense of independence from the political forces-- i don't mean that as... as a pejorative term-- but the political forces in the executive branch. and that's why the director is given a ten-year term, so that it is guaranteed that you'll spend presidential administrations to make sure that you're leading it in a way that's not... that's not influenced by the political winds. >> pelley: we talked with comey, who is 6'8", at his h

this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley, reporting tonight from manchester, england. >> pelley: this is our western edition. tonight, the prime minister raised the terror threat level in britain to critical. that means another attack is considered imminent. soldiers are being deployed. a makeshift memorial is growing for victims of the suicide bombing last night at the manchester arena. at least 22 were killed and 59 wounded. an unknown number of others are still unaccounted for. this attack was different. the targets included many young children and teenagers attending a concert. among the dead, saffie roussos, just eight years old. her principal said she'll be remembered for her warmth, kindness, and creative flare. georgina callander was 18, a college student and a huge fan of pop singer ariana grande. john atkinson was 26, a dancer. his dance company described him as an amazingly happy, gentle person. yell brewster, 32, went to the concert with her sister and niece and they were wounded. allison howell was 44. she was killed when she went to pick up her daughter, sasha. "th

>> pelley: dr.on lapook has a new warning about drugs like ibuprofen, serious side effects can start sooner than we knew. >> hello, mr. putin. >> pelley: and he spoke softly. ed pleased to meet you. >> pelley: and carried a big pick. n z palmer's pre-game interview with vladimir putin before he hit the ice. >> reporter: how will the firing of james comey affect u.s.- russia relations? captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: this is our western edition. in a previous career, president trump was a master at explaining why he fired someone, but critics are not buying his explanation for the firing of james comey. the president told reporters today that comey wasn't doing a good job as director of the f.b.i. mr. trump is the first president since richard nixon to fire a law enforcement official investigating the white house. the timing raises questions. comey had just asked for more resources for his investigation of russian interference in the u.s. elect

this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: this is our western edition.ing is here. the temperature is rising, and with it the threat of zika, the virus spread by mosquitoes. there is an outbreak now in brownsville and mccallen, texas in the rio grande valley. so far this year, 18 women there have been infected with the virus linked to birth defects. here's dr. jon lapook. >> reporter: when we first met 23-year-old rocio morado of brownsville, texas, last month, she was 36 weeks pregnant and doctors were seeing problems on the ultrasound. >> we do see some calcifications in the brain. >> reporter: morado tested positive for zika infection. the virus is carried by mosquitoes both in brownsville and across the border in mexico, where she visited family early in her pregnancy. >> i'm kind of sad, but i know everything is going to be okay. >> reporter: this is her baby, hugo. how are you feeling right now as a new mother? >> i feel so happy. i'm so in love with him. a> reporter: hugo was born almost three weeks ago with a small head characteristic of microcep

this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: the former f.b.i. director james comey fired last week by president trump wrote a memo claiming that the president tried to shut down the f.b.i.'s investigation of former national security adviser michael flynn. this story was first reported this evening by "the new york times," but our source has confirmed the contents of the memo. comey wrote the memo after meeting with the president. he notes that president trump said that he hoped comey would "let go" of the flynn investigation. presidents usually try not to influence f.b.i. investigations of their administrations to avoid the appearance of obstruction of justice. tonight the white house denies that the president tried to shut down the investigation, and our pegues has more of the breaking news. >> reporter: president trump and then-f.b.i. director james comey met at the w

this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: this is our western edition and we begin tonight with a developing story in england where there was a deadly explosion at an arena in manchester where the american pop singer ariana grande was performing. jonathan vigliotti has the latest. >> reporter: the chaos began as the arianna grande concert came to an end. video posted online shows people running to escape in what concert gorse describe as a stampede. there are reports of two loud bangs going off inside the manchester arena. british media is reporting near the ticket office. manchester police say there are a number of fatalities an other injuries. the arena is one to have the largest in europe and capable of holding around 20,000 people. police on social media told people to stay away. police cars, ambulances and riot vans were seen sur surrounding the area and the complex's train station was shut down. parents were waiting outside the arena to pick up children when they described hearing several explosions. one person who posted on twitter said people were running ou

>> pelley: pink slips at the white house. did the president reveal highly classified information to the russians in the oval office? also tonight, computers were paralyzed in 150 country, but an american engineer found a fix for just $10. >> it was just another day at the office i guess. >> pelley: a call for justice after a fraternity hazing death. >> this wasn't boys being boys. this was murder of our son. >> pelley: and where's my plane? airlines swap terminals at one of the world's busiest airports. >> we went from i think terminal three to terminal f we've got to go to terminal six. >> this is captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: we're beginning tonight with breaking news. tonight the "washington post" is reporting that president trump revealed highly classified information to the russian foreign minister and the russian ambassador to the united states when the men met

>> pelley: we begin tonight with breaking news. this evening, president trump fired the director of the f.b.i. james comey was leading the investigation into whether associates of mr. trump colluded with the russian government to influence the u.s. presidential election. late today, in an oddly worded letter in which the president declares his own innocence, mr. trump told comey that he has concluded that comey is not able to effectively lead the bureau. comey, who is well known for integrity, was appointed by president obama, and had about another six years to go on a 10-year appointment. recently, he has been controversial with both democrats and republicans leading the investigation of hillary clinton's emails and the russian election tampering probe. major garrett is at the white house for us now with the breaking news. major. >> reporter: scott, the letter now-former f.b.i. director james comey was characteristically blunt. it reads in part, "you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately." accompanyi

that carries up to 20 years i prison. >> pelley: jericka duncan tonight.jeff -- jericka, thank you. coming up next, evacuations are ordered in a wildfire on the georgia-florida border. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ sfx: engine revving ♪ (silence) ♪ ♪ strike a pose ♪ your eyes work as hard as you do. but do they need help making more of their own tears? if you have chronic dry eye caused by reduced tear production due to inflammation, restasis multidose™ can help... with continued use twice a day, every day, one drop at a time. restasis multidose™ helps increase your eyes' natural ability to produce tears, which may be reduced by inflammation due to chronic dry eye. restasis multidose™ did not increase tear production in patients using anti-inflammatory eye drops or tear duct plugs. to help avoid eye injury and contamination, do not touch the bottle tip to your eye or other surfaces. wait 15 minutes after use before inserting contact lenses. yes. your tears. ask your eye doctor about restasis multidose™. ♪ predictable. the comfort in knowing where things are headed. because as w

this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: this is our western edition. tonight millions are in the path of severe storms. state. the system headed their way is the same one that exploded over the plains over the weekend. it brought twisters to east texas and near record flooding to missouri. at least 16 people were killed. and at least 62 were hurt. two young children tonight are missing in arkansas after being swept away by floodwaters. we have two reports. first we'll go to mark strassmann in canton, texas. >> reporter: four tornadoes packing winds up to 145 mph terrified people in east texas, including dawn sumner in canton. >> the wind started picking up. we looked over the trees. there was a huge like cloud funnel. >> reporter: sumner owns the rustic barn event hall. when the twister hit, a dozen people hunkered down inside bathrooms crying and praying. some were teens wearing tuxes and gowns for a prom that was supposed to start an hour later. >> it was very scary. that first initial hit was the loudest thing i've ever heard. >> reporter: miraculou

>> pelley: do you intend to have this hearing in public? >> yeah. i think it's important that the public gets to hear. this you have democrats and republicans both peppering the former director with questions. he's well seasoned in doing this, but it really should be in public. >> pelley: republican jason chaffetz, the chairman of the house oversight committee. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> pelley: nancy cordes is on capitol hill with the reaction there. nancy? >> reporter: scott, democrats are hailing the appointment of a special prosecutor as a victory and a good first step, and the move will be welcomed by small but growing number of republicans, as well. in fact, just today alaska republican lisa murkowski put out a statement saying that these white house problems are eroding public trust and it may be that we need the look to an independent commission or special prosecutor to regain that crib party debates just how damaging these comey memos are and what they mean for the president's future. >> if the allegations are true, yes. >> repor