This is an early edition of new day, wednesday, may 17th, 5:00 here in new york. we begin with breaking news. another bomb shell out of the white house, president trump asks fbi director james comey to drop the fbi investigation into former national security adviser michael flynn. this according to a memo written by comey before he was fired. the white house issuing a furious denial, but this is now going to be an issue of credibility. whom will america believe? the president or former director of the fbi? this is the clearest evidence that president trump tried to directly influence an investigation in the links between his campaign and russia. democrats warning this could be obstruction of justice, this could be grounds for impeachment. so it comes down to votes and the republicans. we have it all covered for you. let s begin our coverage with j