A good friday morning to you all. Im diane macedo. And im Kenneth Moton in for kendis gibson. In an sbrir with nbc news, the president offered up his account of how and why comey was fired. Hes a show boat. Hes a grand stander. 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 hasnt recovered from that. While the white house pinned the decision on the justice department, the the president made it clear that it all started and ended with him. Abcs gentleman nae norman has the latest from washington. Reporter the white house clearing up conflicting messages. Saying for days, the president s decision to fire fbi director james comey was recommendation of rod ros rosenstein. Regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey. Reporter Andrew Mccabe testifying before congress, offering more contra dixs. Director comey enjoyed broad support. Within the fbi. And still does to this day. Reporter and white house dlams fbi investigation into russian meddles and possible collusion with the Trump Campaign was quote one of the smallest things the fbi was doing. We consider it to be a highly significant investigation. Reporter he says the investigation is going forward. This is in the best interests of the president. Reporter and during mccabes testimony, he agreed to notify the Senate Intelligence committee if the white house makes any moves to try to i russiarelated investigation. Thank you, janae norman, live in washington. The white house is denying a new report that the president demanded james comeys loyalty. Sources close to comey say he was summoned to the white house weeks after the inauguration. Trump asked for his loyalty. I said, if its possible, would you let me know am i under investigation . He said, youre not under investigation. I know that im not under investigation, me, personally. Im not talking about campaigns. Or anything else. Im not under investigation. Abcs jon karl pressed the white house. One of these conversations, the president said happened at dinner where the fbi director according to the president was asking to dprerngt dont you see how thats a conflict of interest. The fbi director is saying he wants to keep his job and the president is asked whether or not hes under investigation. I dont see that as a conflict of interest. And neither do the other scholars who have been commenting on it in the last hour. So no, i dont see that as an issue. Act ek director mccabe would not confirm whether comey told President Trump he was not under investigation. A possible security breach. These photos of the meeting were taken by a russian photographer. Now, intelligence officials have raised concerns over that photographer and his equipment being allowed into the oval office. Given russias history of sneaking surveillance devices into u. S. Facilities. Meanwhile, the president is defending his decision to go through with that meeting a day after firing comey. Did you worry at all when you when you did, the the day before lavrov was in the oval office, did you think through the optics of the way this would look . I never thought about it. It was set up awhile ago. Frankly, i could have waited. But what difference does it make . The president said Vladimir Putin asked him to meet with the foreign minister when they spoke by phone. And the new yorker is getting attention for its new cover. It shows the fbi director being dragged off a plane by a Security Officer who looks a lotly Jeff Sessions and a pilot who looks like President Trump. Breaking overnight, iraqi officials are close to taking over major city. Within days, its said mosul will no longer be under control of the terror group. There is still thousands of civilians trapped in the section isis. Now for a look at the weather. A severe storm system is now moving out of the plains into the deep south. But this weekend it will reach the northeast. The system brought strong winds, heavy rain, and lots of hail to texas, oklahoma, and here in arkansas. By this evening, the storms will reach the virginia coast. Saturday will be pretty much a washout for the midatlantic region. Mothers day will be soggy for new england. Plan some indoor celebration ifs youre in that area. Unless mom really likes rain. Then party outside. Right. A young man who had a public audience with duchess kate wasnt exactly crying tears of joy. This happened when kate arrived in lux m bourg. The little guy in the little hoodie had just given him flowers. When she tried to thank him, he burt out crying. His mom said the little guy was just shy. I think a know a lot of grown men who would cry if she came near them. Still ahead, the change all the big candymakers agreed to. And what mechanics did that put air force one at risk of catching fire mid flight. And rare look at the white house after hours. The president s new tv and how hes adding his own personal touch. Breaking overnight, a united flight had to be delayed for hours for a rather unusual that flight to ecuador had to return to the gate in houston last night after a scorpion climbed out of a passengers clothing. The plane was evacuated. But they didnt find a scorpion. Someone said they had seen it, though. Passengers boarded a backup plane and arrived in the country three hours late. And recent damage to a plane used as air force one could have caused a fire. A report says three mechanics contaminated the planes oxygen system last month, doing 4 million damage. Charges are still possible in the deadly amtrak derailment in philadelphia. The crash two years ago killed eight people and injured nearly 200 others when it was going twice the speed limit. The trains engineer was to blame. Philadelphias District Attorney declined to file charges against him. Now, a judge has approved the filing of a private criminal compla is back up and running this morning after a nationwide outsanl lasting about three hours. During that time, customers were unable to make online payments or mobile payments. No word on what triggered the outage. New word that Department Stores are struggling to compete with Online Retail prps macys saw a drop for the ninth straight quarter. For kohls, the fifth straight loss. Highend dermt stores are reporting losses, too. Jc penney releases its earnings today. The powers that be in the world of candy are having a meeting of the minds focusing on making sweets better for you. Executives from mars, nestle, and others are joining forces to provide more choices for consumers, including smaller portions. They plan to have calorie information on 90 of their most popular products within five years. But will you pay attention. Im not sure i w pip dont think ill flip over the candy bar. Right. When we come back, people in one American Community told to stay inside. The massive manhunt for an accused killer. And the delicate rescue after a horse falls into a 300foot ravine. Love is what inspires me. Love is being awakened by a kiss. Love is finding calm in your partners arms. Love is intimate. Love is everlasting. Love is a diamond. If theres one thing i know, its couples in love. From the runway to the wedding aisle, to the most romantic day of their lives, im there. Each piece of my jewelry collection is designed with lovers in mind. The vera wang love collection, at zales. The diamond store. Fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. Got any ideas . Ting you . Not all products work the same. My owner gives me k9 advantix ii. It kills all three through contact. So they dont have to bite . Thats right. No biting required. K9 advantix ii. Wise choice. Listen, sugar, were lettin you go. 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Tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz, and monitor certain liver tests. Tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. Xeljanz can reduce the symptoms of ra, even without methotrexate, and is also available in a oncedaily pill. Ask about xeljanz xr. Rescuing a horseback rider from a 300foot ravine was relatively easy. Getting the the horse out, a bit more difficult. It had to be sedated and air lifted out. Now for a look at morning road conditions. Drivers are likely to find wet road not practically all of the south. The ohio valley, and a lot of the east. There may also with be puddles in the Pacific Northwest and northern rockies. If youre flying, airport delays are most likely i memphis, atlanta, charlotte, and new orleans. Well marngshunt is under way in northern massachusetts for a shooting suspect Police Describe as armed and extremely dangerous. S. W. A. T. Teams are swarming the streets of lowell, where ross elliott could be hiding. Hes suspected of shooting and killing an exgirlfriend and they say he has a long history of violence. An arkansas sheriffs deputy and two women are dead after what possibly started as a dmesic dispute. Officer Kevin Mainhart was killed. The suspect barricaded himself in the house for five hours. After he surrendered, the bodies of two women were found inside. Another deadly standoff is over. U. S. Marshals tried to serve a war want on man. The suspect opened fire, killing one of his neighbors. S. W. A. T. Neighborhood into lockdown, trying to convince the man the to surrender. That took more than a day. More than two dozen great white sharks have been spotted off california beaches just in week. Some paddle boarders were surrounded by more than a dozen sharks but didnt know it. They found out when they gt a call from above. You are paddle boarding next to approximately 15 great white sharks. There were advisories poed on the beach. Authorities say the sharks were not aggressive. Los angeles officials are showi ining the olympic committ around town. L. A. And paris are battling to host the games for a third time. The winner will be announced in september. Go usa. Another team the nba playoffs. Lets go to our friends from espn. Good morning, america. Im sweating profusely. Starting off with tmi. And spurs and rockets. Game six. The spurs up, 32. Houston was at home. James harden, just wasnt ready. If he was, thats worse. Six turnovers in the game to go with just seven assist. Didnt take his first shot until 6 19 of the second quarter. 10 points, 2 for 11 shooting. Lamarcus aldridge, 12 rebounds for the spurs. Murray, kyle anderson. Murray with the dunk. Spurs win it. They win the series. They take on the warriors next. This is houstons baseball team. Man, they better be better than the basketball team. That wasnt hard. Walk off this good morning. Carlos correia. Off michael sportscenter with stan and neal, carlos did an impression. Bottom nine, yankees are down two. They get one. Ellsbury not getting the flyers. Jake throws him out. Houston, 32 winner. Anything else . Chlt thats all we got. Up next in the pulse, doctors are sending out a warning over the rising number of injuries called avocado hand. And the best mothers day present. What a football coach told this mom right here about her son that received this reaction. And check out our face book page in this story getting a lot of shares. Baby, nearly 14 pounds at birth. Thats on atmfans. Com. The sunll come out tomorrow. Tomorrow is not a given. But entresto is a medicine that helps make more tomorrows possible. Tomorrow, tomorrow. I love ya, tomorrow in the largest Heart Failure study ever, entresto helped more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading Heart Failure medicine. Men who are pregnant must not take entresto. It can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. Dont take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. If youve had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, dont take entresto. The most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure. Kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. Tomorrow, tomorrow i love ya, tomorrow ask your heart doctor about entresto. And help make tomorrow possible. Youre only a day away. Working on my feet all day gave me pain here. In my knees. So i stepped on this machine and got my number, so i get immediate relief from my foot pain. My knee pain. Find a machine at drscholls. Com. Atmore than one flavor, oruch texture, or color. Ing. A good clean salad is so much more than green. And with panera catering, more for your event. Panera. Food as it should be. The toothpaste that helpstax, prevent bleeding gums. If you spit blood when you brush or floss you may have gum problems and could be on the journey to much worse. Help stop the journey of gum disease. Try new parodontax toothpaste. Its clinically proven to remove plaque, the main cause of bleeding gums. For healthy gums, and strong teeth. Leave bleeding gums behind. New parodontax toothpaste. Time to check the pulse beginning with a rare, afterhours look at the trump white house. Behind the sxeens. Yes, the president escorted a Time Magazine crew, showing off an enormous flat screen tv where he catches up on news clips on tivo, what he called one of the best invegetables of all time. They checked out his favorite meal. Chicken with sauce. Two scoop of ice cream. And chocolate cream pie. Ill take some of that. I wonder if that screen is as large as the one behind us. Doctors are warning about a surge in the injury they call avocado hand. This is what happens when people cut an avenocado in thei hand. Instead of cutting the avocado only, they slis their hand. It may sound funny. Apparently, it can cause serious nerve and tendon damage. Doctors are not calling for safety labels. They recommend cutting avocados on a cutting board like you see there and using common sense. It always come down to tha especially with naives. No sledge hammer. College football coach has found a very special mothers day gift for the mom of one of his players. East carolina head coach Scotty Montgomery paid a visit to this mom. Watch as the coach hands her an envelope. He tells her its a nice mothers day gift. When she opens it, she finds out its a full scholarship for her son. Her son didnt know. She told him over the phone. Thank you so much, wow. Im here with coach mo and, some cameras and people. I just got presented with the best mothers day gift ever. Youre on a full scholarship for ecu and your name is number son this letter. Its like two gifts in one. Not only does she get this amazing news, she gets to be the he thanked his coach over the the phone and took to twitter. He said thank you for the blessings you have xwichb me. He also says hell continue to be the best player he can be. He says, i will continue to grind. On the football field in the classroom. Kiante anderson, congratulations on that scholarship. Mom, she hugged him tight, didnt she . I have a feeling mom is going rememberup with good morning washington. Its may 12th, and its finally friday but before tou finalize those weekend plans, you will want to see meteorologist eileen whelans weekend forecast. Thats coming up in just a moment. But first here are some quick headlines. President trump contradicting the white house regarding the firing of fbi director james comey. In an interview with nbc nightly news the president said it was his idea to fire comey. Days ago the white house told reporters that the firing was recommended by the Deputy Attorney general the president went turmoil. Breaking overnight. Fire fighters are on the scene of a 2 alarm fire in lorton. The blaze broke out just after onethirty this morning, near southrun road and golden ridge road. We have a crew on the way to the scene and will have a live update coming up a little later. Good morning washington. Toss to eileen cloudy cool today stray shower heaviest rain tonight through 2pm tomorrow warmer breezy sunday hot humid coming today cloudy and cool. Isolated shower drizzle. Highs 5256 winds e 510 mph tonight rain likely. Lows 4852 winds e 5 mph saturday rain through 3pm. Cloudy and cool. Highs 5256 winds ne 510 mph developing right now. For more details about an fbi raid in annapolis thursday. Heres what we know. Agents raided a republican consulting firm. This is in connection to the 2013 virginia governors race. It relates to work the consultanting firm did for thencandidate ken cuccinelli. Cuccinelli says he hasnt been interviewed by law enforcement. Were told there was also a raid in arlington connected to the case. Also happening now two fires under investigation. Both happened at jehovahs witness halls. Both belived to be arson. Investigators believe someone set fire to kingdom hall of jehovahs witnesses in arlington. A similar underway in falls church. If you have any information you are asked to call police. Right now in california. People in long beach will have a sunnier weekend than here. But they may not want to get in the water. Thats becuase a shark advisory is now in place all becuase of these guys. Great white sharks, spotted in shallow waters off the coast. So far they havent shown any aggressive behavior, but officials dont want to take any chances. Officials believe these are young sharks coming in closer to feed on a thriving fish population. That advisory will stay in place until lifeguards go a full day without seeing a shark near shore. Its xx and were just getting started. The way. Your complete stormwatch Weather Forecast is coming right up. Good morning washington. Cloudy cool today stray shower heaviest rain tonight through 2pm tomorrow warmer breezy sunday hot humid coming today cloudy and cool. Isolated shower drizzle. Highs 5256 winds e 510 mph tonight rain likely. Lows 4852 winds e 5 mph saturday rain through 3pm. Cloudy and cool. Highs 5256 winds ne 510 mph this morning the white house is