This is the cbs evening news with scott pelley. Mason good evening. Scotts off tonight. Im Anthony Mason with a western edition of the broadcast. President trump has left on his first overseas trip but he cannot escape the controversies engulfing his administration. Just as air force one flew off, a new report raised questions about mr. Trumps motive for firing f. B. I. Director james comey. Jeff pegues begins our coverage. Reporter it was a move that the president said relieved great pressure on him. Thats what President Trump told Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and ambassador sergey g toyak. According to the new york times, the comments were made icring the may 10 oval office meeting. I just fired the head of the f. B. I. He was crazy, a real nut job, the report quotes mr. Trump as saying in the official white ususe account of the meeting. I faced great pressure because of russia. Thats taken off. White House Press Secretary sean spicer did not deny the comments but in a statement said by grand standing and politicizing re investigation into russias edtions, james comey created unnecessary pressure on our ability to engage and negotiate in russia. Ve and i also got a very, very strong recommendation, as you know, from the Deputy Attorney general, Rod Rosenstein. Preeporter the president has given conflicting accounts of why he fired comey. Oust yesterday, he pointed to his Deputy Attorney general, who wrote a memo criticizing comeys handling of the clinton email investigation. But last week he said it was because of the russia investigation. This russia thing with trump and russia is a madeup story. Reporter in response to todays revelation, democratic senator Patrick Leahy tweeted, this is what obstruction looks like. The f. B. I. Counterintelligence investigation has been scrutinizing the president s former National Security adviser michael flynn, former campaign chairman, paul manafort, and former Foreign Policy adviser carter page. Former u. S. Intelligence officials tell cbs news that e ring the last seven months of cee campaign, electronic surveillance picked up multiple contacts between Trump Associates and russian officials or operatives. Flynn was fired just 24 days into President Trumps term for lying to the Vice President about his contacts with ambassador kislyak. But other Trump Officials also spoke or met with the russians, among them attorney general Jeff Sessions and the president s adviser and soninlaw, jared kushner. Yast december, kushner met with kislyak at trump tower, and then at kislyaks urging, met with the head of a Stateowned Bank with deep ties to russian intelligence. Tonight, according to the washington post, the f. B. I. Rsvestigation has identified a significant person of interest as a Current White House stficial. Anthony, the post did not offer a name but said the person is a senior white house adviser who is close to the president. Mason jeff pegues. Tank you, jeff. Today, the man whose blistering memo preceded comeys firing explained to house members why he wrote it, but many questions remain. Heres nancy cordes. Reporter Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein told lawmakers behind closed doors today that no one told him what to say in that scathing memo he sent to the president , the same day comey was fired. According to his prepared remarks, rosenstein said, i wrote it. I believe it. I stand by it. He also said that he and attorney general Jeff Sessions had discussed the need for new r neership at the f. B. I. , as far back as last winter. I think we are still puzzled about the memorandum. Reporter there were many questions rosenstein wouldnt answer today. Did he suggest that he was pressured in any way to come down hard on james comey in that memo . He avoided at least 10 times any question that would answer your question. Reporter after he was fired, comey told friends he has notes detailing the president s attempts to extract his loyalty and influence the investigation. Comey was just completely disgusted by it. Disgusted. Disgusted by the episode. Tt reporter one of those stiends, benjamin wittes, says comey tried to establish boundaries, like the time he attended a white house ceremony rt odays after the inauguration. He stands in the part of the mpom that is as far from trump as it is physically possible to be. Oh, and theres jim. Reporter trump singles him out. Hes become more famous than me. Reporter in a fashion that he regarded as sort of, you know, calculated. He thought it was an intentional attempt to compromise him in public. Reporter the Deputy Attorney this evening the Senate Intelligence committee announced comey has agreed to testify in open session. He had been sought after by several commercial committees and anthony we are told he will testify some time after memorial day. Mason nancy cordes. Thank you, nancy. Saudi arabia is the first stop on the president s trip. This week, his son, donald trump jr. , delivered a commencement address in neighboring united arab emirates. As Julianna Goldman reports, the younger trumps appearance in abbai is raising new questions about potential conflicts of interest. Thank you. Reporter when donald trump jr. Spoke to graduates of the American University in dubai earlier this week, he joined the ranks of such distinguished Commencement Speakers as former president bill clinton and former secretary of state colin powell. When i look back on what my father did in this past election, and the risk he took. Reporter clinton got an50,000 for his speech in 2002. Another speaker told cbs news s ey were paid 60,000, plus first class airfare. The Trump Organization wouldnt say how much the president s son paceived but told us hes been ngagicipating in business related speaking engagements for over a decade. You can do it all reporter during the paesidential campaign, trump jr. Hammered bill clinton for accepting speaking fees from esreign entities while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state calling it pay to play. While the university is private, sources tell cbs news dubai helped found and holds a continuing stake in the school, hiising the ethical question of whether a Foreign Government could be trying to curry favor with the president through his family. Donald trump jr. Is, you know, is part of his fathers business, but he doesnt really have other experiences that would make him kind of a normal speaker at these things. Reporter karen young is with the arab gulf states institute. Certainly, from the trump pubnization perspective, this is, like, good public relations, right. Its Good Community relations. Reporter the speech comes as hes actively marketing multi milliondollar condos at a new trumpbranded golf resort in dubai. Lso e there, trump also had lunch with their Business Partner in the development, who posted this picture on social media. This is donald trump jr. s second visit to dubai in three months. Anthony, his last trip to open that golf resort racked up at least 16,000 in hotel costs for ecs taxpayerfunded secret service protection. Mason julianna, thanks. Iran voted for a new president today. No results yet. The campaign had a familiar theme a populist facing the incumbent. Elizabeth palmer is in tehran. Reporter this race came down to a clear choice between the e prent moderate president hassan rouhani, whose promises for liberal reforms appeal to young people. And the hard liner, ibrahim raisi, a populist, who promised his cash handouts and millions of jobs. One of the things iranians are voting on today is how their thuntry will relate with u. S. And the world, with cooperation led by rouhani the reformist, or with suspicion and hostility under ibrahim raisi. 38 years ago, iranian students held 52 americans hostage in the u. S. Embassy. Their spokeswoman was masoumeh netekar. Today, shes one of irans Vice President s whos done something of a 180 over the years and now hopes for better relations with the u. S. Are they likely to come under ayinident trump is on the record as saying iran is a hostile presence, is that a problem . Hes also changing a lot of his positions as well. Hes also making a lot of u turns. Reporter so youre hoping President Trump will change his position on iran. I hope hell adjust them to epe realities. Reporter realities like the nuclear deal which was backed by millions of voters here who hope its the first step toward Even Stronger ties with america. But another reality is at the moment, there is no sign the Trump White House is sharing u. At. In fact, anthony, the u. S. Added some fresh sanctions against iran this week. So the signs are that things are about to get decidedly frosty. Mason in tehran, elizabeth palmer. Thanks, liz. A man was arrested today after disrupting a flight from l. A. To honolulu. Transportation correspondent kris van cleave has more on this toeaking story. Kris. Reporter anthony, the passenger on board this American Airlines flight from los angeles to honolulu, was described as m itering around the bathroom at the front of the plane. He was carrying a laptop, was asked to sit down by a flight attendant. At that point, made some kind of a movement that appeared as though he was trying to force his way into the cockpit. We will show you some video of the f. B. I. Leading the man off the airbus a321 after it landed in hawaii. Initial reports are he became belligerent on board after he was asked to be seated and had to be subdued by an offduty Honolulu Police officer. The plane was also escorted into honolulu by two f22 fighter thts. We understand the plane abruptly descended to a lower altitude. That could be done as a precautionary measure if there is a concern about an explosive device being on board. Now, this is a little unusual its department of Homeland Security has issued a statement s. Ying the secretary of d. H. S. Was notified about the incident, thd, anthony, the agency says they are monitoring all other flights but at this point there are no other reports of disruption. Mason scary moments for the passengers. Kris van cleave, thanks. 152 years and one month after confederate general robert e. Lee surrendered his army to ulysses s. Grant, a statue of lee is falling in new orleans tonight. Omar villafranca is there. Reporter after 133 years of standing over new orleans, a statue dedicated to confederate general robert e. Lee is the final statue to come down. New orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu these monuments celebrate a fictional, sanitized confederacy, ignoring the death, ignoring the enslavement. Reporter the statue of lee is the first one to come down in broad daylight. Under the cover of darkness, workers removed the statues of confederate president jefferson davis, general p. G. T beauregard, and the Liberty Monument because police say there were threats made against the crews. If we take down these statues and dont change to become a more open and inclusive society, then all of this would have been in vain. Reporter protests erupted in new orleans when the city decided to remove the monuments. Both sides argued over whether these monuments celebrated racism or southern heritage. Dr. Maria ortiz with the Southern Christian Leadership Council worked for 44 years to bring the monuments down. I would point up there and i would say, you devil. You coming down one day. I thought was oppression and what my grandmother, sweating blood. Reporter businessman Frank Stewart thinks the statues should remain. I really dont think that anybody should have the privilege of changing history because history is truth. Reporter no word on where the statues will end up, but, anthony, the mayor says they cannot be displayed outdoors on arblic property. Mason omar villafranca, thank you, omar. Coming up next on the cbs evening news, new details about the driver in the times square tr attack. Square car attack. He told me to look at this grid every day. And we came up with a plan to help reduce my risk of progression, including Preservision Areds 2. My doctor said Preservision Areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula the National Eye Institute recommends to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd after 15 years of clinical studies. Preservision areds 2. Because my eyes are everything. Brtry new Flonase Sensimists. Allergy relief instead of allergy pills. It delivers a gentle mist experience to help block six key inflammatory substances. Most allergy pills only block one. New Flonase Sensimist changes everything. Flea bites can mean misery for your cat. Advantage® ii monthly topical kills fleas through contact. Fleas do not have to bite your cat to die. Advantage® ii. Fight the misery of biting fleas. If you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, isnt it time to let the real you shine through . Introducing otezla, apremilast. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. Some people who took otezla saw 75 clearer skin after 4 months. And otezlas prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Otezla may increase the risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Ask your dermatologist about otezla today. Otezla. Show more of you. M mason prosecutors say the driver who mowed down a crowd in times square yesterday killing a teenaged tourist said he wanted as kill them all. He was charged with murder today. Michelle miller has newly s leased Surveillance Video that shows every second of the horror. We caution you it is graphic. Reporter without any warning, the driver of this maroon honda made an abrupt u morn on to a bustling sidewalk on 42nd street, mowing down a crowd of people seen here falling off of the hood of his car. Triaped up, barreling through more pedestrians, including 18yearold alyssa elsman, who died at the scene. This woman is struck as she tries to get away. Parts of the car are torn off as the vehicle runs over another fleeing pedestrian. As the car accelerates, people take cover anywhere they can. A block later, the car comes to a crashing halt, slamming into steel barricades put in place to stop terrorist attacks. It all took less than a minute. T reporter the suspect then jumps out of his car, running erratically across 45th street. 26yearold Richard Rojas is apprehended a few moments later. Sources tell cbs news that rojas claimed to have heard voices and that he did it for god. He told police he smoked marijuana laced with p. C. P. Before the incident. Three people remain in critical condition, anthony, as people come down to times square to memorialize what happened, anthony, just one day ago. Il mason terrifying video. Michelle miller, thank you. Still ahead, new laws to unblock sunblock at schools. Swimmer whos stared down the best in her sport. But for both of them, the most challenging opponent was. Pe blood clots in my lung. It was really scary. A dvt in my leg. I had to learn all i could to help protect myself. My doctor and i choose xarelto® xarelto®. To help keep me protected. Xarelto® is a latestgeneration blood thinner. Thats proven to treat and reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots from happening again. In clinical studies, almost 98 of patients on xarelto® did not experience another dvt or pe. Heres how xarelto works. Xarelto® works differently. Warfarin interferes with at least six bloodclotting factors. Xarelto® is selective. Targeting just one critical factor, interacting with less of your bodys natural bloodclotting function. Dont stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor as this may increase risk of blood clots. While taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. It may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. Get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. If youve had spinal anesthesia, watch for back pain or any nerve or musclerelated signs or symptoms. Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures and before starting xarelto® about any conditions, such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Youve got to learn all you can. To help protect yourself from dvt and pe blood clots. Talk to your doctor about xarelto®. Theres more to know. People spend less time lying awake with aches and pains with advil pm than with tylenol pm. Advil pm combines the number one pain reliever with the number one sleep aid. Gentle, nonhabit forming advil pm. For a healing nights sleep. Mason in many cases kids need a docto mason in many cases kids need a doctors note to put on sunscreen at school, but jericka sncan found out some states are starting to rub out that policy. Reporter on sunny days, susan grenon and her 10yearold son, paul, enjoy spending time in the backyard of their smithfield, rhode island home, but before they head out, they always lather on the sunscreen. R ive had three basal cell reecinomas four precancerous moles removed in the past three years. T reporter you dont want your son to go through that. Absolutely not. Reporter the threat of skin cancer was a wakeup call to protect herself and her son, who burns easily. Olt when paul is at school, he and other students cannot apply sunscreen without a doctors note. Thats because the food and Drug Administration classifies sunscreen as an overthecounter e is like cough syrup. Rhode island is among eight states with pending legislation that makes an exception for sunscreen. At least seven states have passed a law allowing students to apply sunscreen without special permission. Dermatologist dr. Jeff ashley helped craft californias law to low sunscreen in schools. We would sure like for every school in the country to have an allowance for the children to use sunscreen. Reporter according to the c. D. C. , one sunburn in childhood nearly doubles a persons lifetime risk of getting melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. If there was widespread use of sunscreen and it was used inoperly, we would definitely see a decline in our skin cancer rates. En reporter susan grenon says e ining a light on sunscreen safety may save lives. All the damage is done young, but you dont know it now. But youre preventing it when they get older. Reporter states in the Northern Region have some of the highest rates of melanoma anthony. Each year, more than 70,000 people are diagnosed. Frout 9,000 die from the disease. Mason thanks, jericka. And on the road is next. Steve hartman found the biggest heart in texas. Next. Steve hartman found the biggest heart in texas. Would you like to overcome sluggishness . Trubiotics can help you feel lighter, more energetic, by naturally supporting your digestive and immune health. Trubiotics, a daily probiotic that helps restore the balance of good bacteria. Trubiotics, from one a day. When this bell rings. It starts a chain reaction. Thats heard throughout the connected business world. At t Network Security helps protect business, from the largest Financial Markets to the smallest transactions, by sensing cyberattacks in near real time and automatically deploying countermeasures. Keeping the world of business connected and protected. Thats the power of and. [boy] cannonball [girl] dont. [man] not again [burke] swan drive. Seen it. Covered it. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum to real teeth. Dentures are very different theyre about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can multiply. Polident kills 99. 99 of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains. So dentures are cleaner, fresher, and brighter. Polident. I needed something more to help control my type 2 diabetes. My a1c wasnt were it needed to be. So i liked when my doctor told me that i may reach my blood sugar and a1c goals by activating whats within me with onceweekly trulicity. Trulicity is not insulin. It helps activate my body to do what its suppose to do, release its own insulin. I take it once a week, and it works 24 7. It comes in an easytouse pen and i may even lose a little weight. Trulicity is a onceweekly injectable prescription medicine to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. Trulicity is not insulin. It should not be the first medicine to treat diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. Do not take trulicity if you or a Family Member has had medullary thyroid cancer, if youve had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to trulicity. Stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have a lump or swelling in your neck, severe pain in your stomach, or symptoms such as itching, rash, or trouble breathing. Serious side effects may include pancreatitis, which can be fatal. Taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin, increases your risk for low blood sugar. Common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, decreased appetite and indigestion. Some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may make existing kidney problems worse. Onceweekly trulicity may help me reach my blood sugar goals. With trulicity, i click to activate whats within me. If you want help improving your a1c and blood sugar, activate your within. Ask your doctor about onceweekly trulicity. Mason do Guardian Angels exist . Hall, it sure looks like steve eprtman found one on the road. Reporter used to be when she er sprouse came across Homeless People she would often give them something her two cents. Hy i would say, why dont you st a job . Or whats your problem . It made me very uncomfortable. I didnt want to have anything to do with it. Ive been that way my whole life. Reporter but about a year ago, ginger, who owns a Cooking School outside houston, decided she didnt like that about herself and would at least try ng change. He would stand right here on the corner. Right there. Reporter he began by approaching a guy she used to see all the time on her way to work. His name is Victor Hubbard. Victor says he told ginger how he ended up on the streets after his mother moved away and left him. You had no idea where your mom went. No, i had no idea where she ns. Reporter he said ginger listened to his story and went an her away. Then i couldnt get him out of my mind. And i was like okay, fine, ill go back. But what really got me this is probably after the third time i met him he said, when are you woming back . A people would come by and i was like, you know, i have a friend named ginger. Shes on her way. I was trying to let them know reporter somebody was watching out for you. Yes, i was taken care of. Reporter this continued for a few months until the day ginger realized she couldnt keep going on like this. Od was a cold december night, and although victor had food and blankets, theres only so much comfort you can pass through a car window. So ginger did something, something the old ginger would have never dreamed of doing. I could not leave him there. Reporter she went to her husband with a request. I asked dean would it be okay with you if i went and got him . And i said, if he could just stay one night because its raining. Reporter okay, stop right there. Okay. K i had to think about it. Ur reporter im sure you did. Reporter im starting to recognize a slippery slope here. Yes, exactly. The honest truth is when she says, i feel compelled to help this guy how i can say no to that. T reporter and thats how Victor Hubbard found his second family. Oh, yeah reporter he now lives with ginger and dean full time. That was my favorite. Reporter they helped him get social services and doctors appointments, introduced him to the community, and made him part of it. Victor also works two jobs now, one at a burger joint yup, just like that. Reporter and another at a Cooking School where he has one of the most compassionate bosses in south texas. There you go. Looks good. Life is messy, but if youre going to love other people, you have to be willing to step into their mess. My whole life i wanted to avoid that. Thats why i rolled the window up and wouldnt look. Give it some distance. Reporter and thats why she now rolls it down to let the blessings blow in. Steve hartman on the road in houston, texas. Mason thats the cbs evening news. For scott pelley im Anthony Mason. Ill see you tomorrow on cbs this morning saturday. Thanks for watching. Good night. New at 6 caltrain riders could be paying the pr the Transit Agency i good evening, im veronica de la cruz. Im ken bastida. New at 6 00, caltrain riders could be paying more for record ridership. The Transit Agency is so popular, it may have to raise fares substantially just to keep up. Kpix 5s len ramirez is at the diridon station in san jose, where some riders say the fares are already too high. Reporter thats right, ken. Riders have been saying that the fares are going up and up and up. They like the service. They like how it runs from, you know, the peninsula down here to san jose, San Francisco, a lot of hightech riders. But they also noticed that a lot of the Service Reliability is just not there. Now with these new price increases, it has some wondering if there are better options. People are used to high prices in Silicon Valley but the new fare increases proposed by caltrain are so high, some are considering going off the tracks. Other options, uber, you know, carpooling options. Whatever i can do maybe the buses. Reporter jared doesnt usually ride caltrain but just bought a ticket from palo alto to San Francisco and got sticker shock at the 8 fare. I have used transit systems all over the country, chicago, new york. Its usually 4 to 5 from the suburbs to the city. Reporter with ridership up it may not look like caltrain is struggling financially but only half of its operating budget comes from fares. The rest comes from partner transit agencies in santa clara, san mateo and San Francisco counties. Caltrain says support from them has come up drastically short and with an aging fleet of trains maintenance costs are skyrocketing. Were looking at a 20. 7 million shortfall. Reporter caltrain proposes increasing zone