The public thinks about this dismissal. 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 nbcs lester holt, and the president s reasons appear to contradict previous statements coming from the white house. Now on the topic of comey, were also seeing some new reaction from a brandnew nbc News Survey Monkey poll. More than half, 54 believe that comeys 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 its related to the Clinton Emails as stated. In his sitdown, he also had choice words to describe comey. Hes a show boat, hes 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 fire comey. Let me ask you about your termination letter to mr. Comey. You write, i greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that i am not under investigation. Why did you put that in there . Because he told me that. He told you werent under investigation . And ive heard that from others. Was it in a phone call, did you meet facetoface. I had a dinner with him. He said it once at dinner and twice during phone calls. Did you call him . In one case i called him, and the other he called me. Did you ask him, am i under investigation . I said, if its possible being would you let me know, am i under investigation. He said, you are not under investigation. Comey is just one of several interview with lester. Thats coming your way here at 7 00, nbc nightly news at 7 00. And lester holt himself will be joining us to give us his thoughts on what the president had to say. On the other end of pennsylvania avenue, lawmakers heard from the new acting director of the fbi, Andrew Mccabe says its not standard procedure to let someone know they are not the target of an investigation. He also said he couldnt comment on what comey may or may not have told the president. Mccabe also agreed to refrain from updating the white house on the russia investigation. And he contradicted a claim that comey had lost support, saying comey enjoyed broad support within the fbi. Taking a closer look at mccabe, he joined the fbi in 1996 as a special agent working in new york. From there, he moved from targeting organized crime to a unit that focused on james comey promoted him to Deputy Director last year. According to the Loudoun County times, mccabe lives in ashburn. Lets get a look at our forecast. Its damp and dreary out there. Heavy rain throughout the day and its doesnt look to be easing up. I think were done with the heaviest rain across the region. We did see the rain really heavy early this morning. Since then, its been moderate or at steady in many areas. Take a look at the radar now. Show you what were looking at. Storm team4 radar still tracking the rain across our region, but most of it into maryland, Prince Georges County seeing the bulk of it. Breaks now, but pretty much everybody still seeing light rain. Couple more hours of this and this it will wane. The boundary is moving to the south. Thunderstorms in West Virginia will transfer down to the south as well. So what does that mean for tomorrow . Well, a little bit better but the rain moves back in tomorrow night. Well show you how it affects your weekend because it will, in 15 minutes. Justice today for a 79yearold man who was severely beaten for trying to help a victim of domestic violence. Today the attacker learned his sentence. Our Prince Georges County bureau chief Tracee Wilkins talked with the victim after that sentence was handed down. Tracee . Reporter this was an incredible story, and youre right, he was 79 years old when he was attacked a few months ago. He is now 80. And today the man who attacked him learned his fate. Its a 25yearold robbet molettee. According to the states attorneys office, he was chasing his girlfriend out of her home when she jumped into the being have of her neighbor, didnt know him, but robert took off trying to protect her from the boyfriend who was in pursuit. He chased them around the neighborhood, rammi vehicle a number of times before he stopped them at this intersection. The young lady jumped out of the vehicle, but molettee began to bunch the man over and over again, on the side of his face, separating his chin, hurting his ear, causing all kinds of issues for this man. He had to undergo a number of surgeries after the attack. Hear from him now about this mans sentence. I think its a fair decision. I think that its important that somebody like that is not out in society. His next victim might not survive as i did. And i was pleased to hear that he was sent to prison. Reporter he and his wife said they really do believe that had that victim been let go, he would have killed someone. They say thats the kind of anger that he had that day. He was sentenced to seven years. Thats above the mandatory for the sentence, but the judge was saying that this man is dangerous, with severe a issues. Just just an amazing story of how this could happen to someone just driving down the street, trying to do the right thing. Coming up on news4 at 6 00, that 79yearold is a pilot who has dedicated his life to helping others. Coming up, what he thinks all of this is going to do to his pilot license. Reporting live in buoy, im Tracee Wilkins. Well see you again at 6 00. A Prince Georges CountyPolice Officer is accused of interfering with an investigation. Corporal Adrian Crudup was indicted and suspended without pay for interfering with an investigation back in 2015. His Police Powers were first suspended last year. No word on what the investigation was about. Crud sfup has been with the department for nine years now. The u. S. Attorneys office and the district is joining the investigation into last weeks hate crime at American University. This comes as the school tries to tackle race issues. It was october black students say they found racist messages posted in the yik yak happy. Then a student found a banana thrown at him. Another had a banana left outside the dorm room. Earlier this month, bananas hung by noose around campus. Today the school announced an Antiracism Center and Kristin Wright is on the campus this evening with details. Kristin . Reporter well, wendy, au says plans for this new center have been in the works since last year. They do think its going to bring about real change and have real impact. We got a chance to sit down with two of the deans from the University Just a little while ago, and they explained to us how the university has brought in a wellknown scholar on race from the university of florida, dr. Ib ram kendy. He will be here in the fall to lead this new center on race. And the new center will combat the campus of American University and even globally. With many students gone for summer break, American University is much quieter today. Than the student protests that erupted last week. Black lives matter reporter this is the man au says can tackle difficult issues of race on campus. The university announced they hired university of florida professor dr. Ib ram kendy to lead aus brandnew antiracism policy center this fall. Hes one of the definitive experts about campus activist during the fof 60s and early 70s around black issues. Reporter au shared video of him speaking at the university of oregon. This popular idea that america has experienced a steady march of racial progress incomplete way of understanding american history. Reporter dean peters said dr. Kendy and the center will reach beyond au to bring about policy change on the local, state, and federal levels. What were hoping to have students, faculty, staff, Work Together with dr. Kendy to begin to cast positive, forwardthinking solutions to problems that are centuries old. Reporter junior autumn grant says shes been the target of racism at au. She welcomes the new center. I think having this announcement come out at the time it did, shows theres longterm work thats going on on the campus to better the university as a whole. Reporter junior applauds the center too, but says the focus is in the wrong place. Better training for police. Putting us in a better position to succeed. But instead, youre educating the rest of the school. At American University, Kristin Wright, its a popular diet, but new Research Shows if you go glutenfree, it comes with some risks. Still ahead, why some doctors say it may raise your risk of obesity. And only on news4 this evening, a law meant to protect renters that could be driving up the cost of homes for the rest of us. The news4 iteam working for you tonight. Plus a mothers journey. News4s Melissa Mollet immigration and Customs EnforcementAuthorities Say they have taken nearly 1,400 gang members into custody after a sixweek nationwide crackdown. I. C. E. Says its the largest gang surge conducted by its Homeland Security investigators to date. Weve also gotten a look at the numbers in our area from the washington and baltimore offices of i. C. E. Among all the gangs, 52 arrests, 31 of which were taken in for immigration violations. And one of the arrested were told 29 are connected to ms13. Were learning about the gangrelated murder of a 15yearold girl in Northern Virginia. Ten people are charged now in connection with that abduction and brutal stabbing. Our Northern Virginia bureau chief julie carey joins us live from the the chilling words from one suspect to that dying victim. Julie . Reporter that female defendant, 17 years old. The victim, 15. Today that defendant became one of two juveniles to learn in court she will be tried as an adult. Tears of joy back in february when a missing 17yearold girl returned home to her mother after a public plea. Today, tears of sadness for that same mom in a Fairfax County courtroom, when prosecutors announced that her daughter, venus romera ir heata will be tried as an adult, accused in the stabbing death of a 15yearold gaithersburg girl. Venus was arrested for the crime the same night she returned home. Shes one of ten teens charged in connection with the death of Alexander Reyes rivas. Gruesome details alexandrias body was found in february after she had gone missing. On the witness stand, the fbi special agent who questioned venus after her arrest. She told investigators she blamed alexandra for luring her boyfriend to his death just days before. Venus and other suspects told police that alexander was picked up on january 8th and taken to an area liar lake actink park. She was beaten and forced to remove or boths and shoes and stand in the snow. Venus told investigators she stabbed the girl 13 times and sliced off a tattoo. As alexandra lay dying, she told the victim she would never forgive her, she would see her in hell. She would never forget now several of the young men charged also had their preliminary hearings. And the judge found probable cause to move the case on to the next stage, to the grand jury. Coming up on news4 at 6 00, what the driver that night told investigators about why he felt forced to go along with this murderous plan. Wendy, back to you in the studio. Thank you, jules. Under the cover of darkness and wearing bulletproof vests, crews removed a statue of Jefferson Davis in new orleans today. Police circling that monument and keeping watch on protesters. City officials did not give advance notice of the statue coming down after threats of violence against the contractors who were taking it down. The city Council Voted to remove the monuments after a selfproclaimed racist killed nine black parishioners at the Mother Emmanuel Church in charleston, south carolina. That shooting is sparking changes here in our area. The city to rename Jefferson Davis highway. But the statue that honors men who died in that civil war will remain in the city. Leaders in rockville are moving the statue of a confederate soldier that sits next to the old red brickhouse. It was vandalized following the charleston shootings. In charlottesville, virginia, the city council has voted to remove a statue of robert e. Lee from a downtown park, but opponents vow to fight that move in court. In news4 your health tonight, news on glutenfree diets that are raising questions about some of the Health Benefits of gluten. Doreen is here to tell us more about that. We hear about glutenfree all the time now, it seems like. A lot of people who go glutenfree have sillback disease and they couldnt eat gluten. But many gluten out of their diets for many other reasons. Two and a half Million People follow a glutenfree diet who dont have sealback disease. A study found that when it comes to nutrition, some gluedenfree products just dont measure up. Researchers evaluated about 1,300 foods, half with gluten, half without. They found foods with gluten had up to three times more protein than the glutenfree products they studied. Bread, pasta, and flour, even pizza were all found to have higher protein than their glutenfree counterparts. The society warned that keeping the content that gluten can provide out of childrens diets could negatively impact their develop and might even contribute to childhood obesity. The emphasis here really seems to be on children. Children. Newt riggedz but its Interesting Research considering how many are on glutenfree diets now. Theyre not saying that theres anything wrong with trying to watch the gluten in your diet. Theyre just saying dont put a kid on a glutenfree diet unless theres a medical reason for it. Yeah, protein is important. Thank you, doreen. Eyes on the skies tonight and theyre filling up with rain drops. Yes, doug is back with more on how its going to impact your mothers day a few days from now. It could have been a nasty fall from there to here and now we know why. The doors opened on the wrong side of a metro are you actually about to scratch it rich of course you are. Because everyone who plays is an instant winner. So before you win your share of 1. 5 Million Dollars in prizes and free slot play. Take these last few seconds to remember what life was like as a normal, everyday person. Because in an instant, that all could change. Join mlife rewards and play scratch it rich for your share of 1. 5 Million Dollars in prizes and freeplay®. This is monumental. Theres the view. Theres more to life than the climb. Youve gotta stop and look around a little. Come, shed lifes layers in asheville. Let the child inside you out to play. Remember who you are. Life is for the taking, not for taking it easy. Asheville. Discovery, inside and out. Its just no words i can use on tv. Abysmal. To describe the state. Its that bad. I took a nap earlier today. It was a nice nap, man, with the rain falling. Might be able to sleep really well tonight. We were just talking about how tired we are. Out there now, looking like a dreary day. Look at this, national harbor, were looking at plenty of rain across the area, and yeah, the clouds, a little bit of fog, not nice at all. Look at the current radar showing you where the rain is. Actually, dont know what happened to it, but we radar picture, its not showing anything. But my next radar will show something. Not sure what happened there. Total rainfall, up to an inch, 1. 67 out to dulles. Close to an inch in culpeper. Inch and a half around the Patuxent River area. Heres the latest picture from the city cam. 54 degrees. Winds out of the east at 12 miles per hour. And the rain continues to come down. Temperatures in the low 50s. Only 50 in gaithersburg. 52 in huntingtown. Its nasty, raw. Orioles taking on the nationals today at nats park. Temperatures not going to go anywhere. Temperatures in the low 50s. Showers at 7 00. I would expect a delay for the game, but i bet they get it in, because were not expecting much rain after 7 00. Take the poncho just in case. And make sure you bundle up. Heres the latest radar picture and you notice the heavy rain we saw earlier today, even out of here. The wider picture showing our boundary, which is way up here. That boundary is now farther to our south. Were going to stay cool, were going to stay cloudy but the rain gets out of here. Look at 11 00, just scattered showers back to the west. Most of us dry. Tomorrow, clouds, 7 00 a. M. 4 in the afternoon, starting to see the rain move back in. But its really across the region after around 11 00 and then on saturday morning, it really moves in, and everybody sees the rain through early saturday morning, through about moon. And then i think it starts to let up. So your forecast for tomorrow, periods of rain, cooler again. Just plain nasty across our region. 57, if were lucky. Ive got a high tomorrow of 56. 56 as well on saturday. Rain early on saturday. Showers in the afternoon. Sunday looks dry for the most part, but notice, weve got a 30 chance of an afternoon shower. 73 degrees, a little bit on the breezy side for your mothers day. But not too look at the 70s, 80s, and even a 90 next week. Thank you, doug. Still ahead, high dollar payouts and homes held hostage. A law that was meant to protect renters is being exploited to make a pr