gress means taking on tough fights, and as governor, i won't let donald trump stand in our way. breaking news tonight, in his own words before he testifies tomorrow for the first time, we hear james comey's of the story, explosive details about private conversations with president trump. what he says the president did in an effort to influence the russia investigation, and we have late word from the president's lawyer. also tonight, president trump's surprise pick to replace comey at the fbi. twin attacks right in the heart of iran's capital as isis claims responsibility for its first major strike inside the country. kids and migraines, new advice from doctors how to stop them before they start. what parents should be looking for. and honoring the bravest, families on an inspiring journey to turn the scene of a tragedy into a lasting tribute.

"nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening. it's great to have you here tonight. we got a big surprise late today from fired fbi director james comey on the eve of his highly anticipated public appearance before a senate committee. comey's written testimony was released this afternoon. seven potentially explosive pages in which he describes in great detail uncomfortable and concerning conversations with president trump about the russia investigation. his preoccupation with having his name publicly cleared, and the president he says urging him to drop the investigation into michael flynn. comey was so rattled by his encounters, he says he took steps to avoid being with mr. trump alone. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams has details. >> reporter: james comey gives a dramatic account often in vivid detail of five one on

donald trump. the first with president elect trump in new york january 6th. a briefing on the investigation of russia's election meddling and claims about to become public mr. trump was involved with prostitutes four years earlier in moscow, something trump has denied. comey thought about whether to give it assurance that mr. trump was not under investigation. that was true comey says, he did not have an open counter intelligence case on him. i offered that insurance. comey decided right then to document his conversations with mr. trump and began typing the notes on a laptop as he rode away from trump tower in an fbi car. next meeting dinner at the white house january 27th. comey said the president said i need loyalty, i expect loyalty. comey says i didn't move, speak or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed but later answered you will always get honesty from me and ls

fbi was not investigating mr. trump personally. in his interview with lester holt, the president said comey requested the dinner. >> that dinner was arranged. i think he asked for the dinner and he wanted to stay on as the fbi head. >> reporter: comey says mr. trump called him with the invitation and he says he got the feeling it was an effort to have me ask for my job and create some kind of relationship. next february 14th after an oval office intelligence briefing, the day after national security advisor michael flynn was forced to resign. he quotes the president as saying i hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting flynn go. he's a good guy. comey says i did not say i would let this go adding i had understood the president to be requesting we drop any investigation of flynn into whether flynn made false statements about his conversations with russia's ambassador to the u.s. but comey says i did not understand the president to be talking about

possible links to his campaign. comey says he remembers leaving the oval office through the door by the grandfather clock and that he told only a few people about it because he didn't want to let the fbi investigators know about a request that the fbi had no intention of granting. after that he says he asked attorney general jeff sessions to prevent any further direct communications with the president but he says sessions did not reply. march 30th comey says the president called him at the fbi and asked what we could do to lift the cloud of russia allegations adding quote, that he had nothing to do with russia, had not been involved with hookers in russia and had always assumed he was being recorded in russia. comey said he told congressional leaders the fbi was not investigating mr. trump responding with e need to get that fact out and added if there was satellite associates of his that did something wrong, it would be good to find that out. two weeks later said the president called him again and asked what i had done the request he get out he is not under investigation.

he said the president added i have been very loyal to you, very loyal, we had that thing you know. he didn't ask what the president meant by that thing. comey never says in the prepared statement that he thought the president's remarks amounted to obstruction of justice a and a prosecutor says there is no sign of that. >> they create an inference of an attempt to influence a pending investigation. that alone is not enough to make an obstruction case but that's a big piece of it. >> reporter: comey says he met with president trump three times and talked with him on the phone six times, by contrast, he met with president obama twice and never felt the need to take notes. tonight the president's outside lawyers says he is pleased and the president feels totally and utterly vindicated. lester? >> all right. pete williams, thank you. the fallout was swift, part of a busy day across the capital as lawmakers demanded to know from top members of t

if president trump ever asked them to intervene in the investigation. we get details from the chief white house correspondent hallie jackson. >> reporter: cheers from team trump as the president arrived at the white house. but silence from him when asked about james comey's testimony. from the republican national committee, back up. president trump was right its chairwoman says. director comey's statement reconfirmed what the president was saying all along, he was never under investigation. >> do you believe comey's version of the facts? >> hard to tell. i mean, you know, it. >> his statement reads more like a tom clancy novel. >> reporter: republicans on capitol hill so far cautious. >> i haven't seen it. i just heard briefly. >> reporter: mostly. >> ultimately, i think the purpose of the hearing is to figure out what we're reading

in the newspaper is true and what does it mean. >> reporter: comey's testimony teeing up with a political super bowl tomorrow. with today, a kind of pregame. not the fired fbi director but the man that replaced him and three other top intelligence officials facing questions about reports the president asked some of them to get involved in the fbi's russia investigation. >> i do not recall ever feeling pressured to do so. >> i never felt pressure to intervene or interfere in any way. >> reporter: asked to elaborate, they didn't. >> i'm not going to discuss the specifics of conversations. >> it's inappropriate to share that with the public sgh i'm not going to answer. . i'm not going to answer i'm not going to answer. >> why are you not asking -- >> i feel it isn't appropriate. >> what you feel isn't relevant, admiral. what you feel isn't the answer. >> reporter: why didn't you get answers? >> you have to ask them. i was unhappy about it. that was the purpose of my questioning. >> reporter: the committee's top republican, just as sharp. >> at no time should you be in a position where co

answer. >> reporter: so not many answers today but senators will be demanding them from comey tomorrow because what they are already seeing his initial statement, it's the questions after that could give more insight into the president's actions. comey's opening statement really only the beginning. lester? >> hallie jackson in washington, thanks. let's bring in our political director, moderator of "meet the press" chuck todd. chuck, with all the information we heard from that statement today, talk about the questions that will likely drive the comey hearing tomorrow. >> look, i think the first question is going to be there are three conversations that comey had one on one with the president that he does not detail in the opening statement, so if that's probably going to be among the first questions, what about the other three encounters, anything of significance there. but look, on the big, i think the drill down that i expect a lot of, the code word satellite associates, that the president himself is at least introducing the idea someone with his campaign may have been doing something he

will be looking for, lester, and i know we'll talk about this tomorrow when we're together. how do republicans question comey? how many of them look like they are questioning on behalf of defense of the president and how many of them are not worrying about the president? we'll be able to tell based on the tone of those questions and the president is going to find out how much republican capital he really has left on capitol hill. >> all right, chuck, thanks and we will see you in washington tomorrow. we'll have special live coverage of the comey hearing tomorrow morning beginning at 10:00 a.m. eastern here on nbc. a mid all of this, the president made an unexpected announcement this morning catching top lawmakers off guard by naming the man he wants to replace james comey at the fbi. he's being described as a conventional choice made public in a rather unconventional way as nbc's kristen welker tells us. >> reporter: president trump unleashing his own surprise on twitter today describing his fbi pick christopher wray as a man of impeccable credentials but no

garden ceremony like the last four announcements and no courtesy heads up for lawmakers. >> i did learn about it from twitter. >> reporter: including the senator from iowa who will conduct the confirmation hearings, even white house officials seemed out of the loop. still, one administration official tells nbc news the president picked ray because he's widely respected and has bipartisan support. >> the risk increases. >> reporter: ray a white collar criminal defense attorney was head of the justice department's criminal division under george w. bush where he reported to then deputy attorney general james comey. one potential flash point at his confirmation hearing wray was also new jersey governor chris christie's personal attorney during the bridge gate scandal. >> he has respect of the defense bar and prosecutor. >> reporter: joe robuck worked with ray.

>> i said they would support him and be excited to work for him like i was and he was a true patriot. once he gets in the job, he'll be efficient and effective. >> reporter: if confirmed, he'll take the helm. >> he's going to be a leader that understands what they do and who will promote the independence of the burro. >> reporter: today, the reaction was largely positive from both sides of the isle. in 2003 ray was confirmed unanimously to become the assistant attorney general. lester? >> kristen welker, thank you. turning overseas where isis claimed responsibility for a pair of rare terror attacks in iran's capital. at least 12 were killed and 42 injured in near simultaneous attacks in teheran. as bill neely the first terror incidents there in decades. as bill neely explains, isis gunman recorded one of the attacks as it happened.

>> reporter: under attack has never before, iran's parliament. four isis gunman inside killing at will. they got in dressed as women. iran's elite guards pinned down for four hours, parliament lockdown, children escaping from windows, a woman, too, wearing a flak jacket. the isis gunman had time to film a propaganda video, boasting of the first attack inside iran. within minutes, a second attack on a symbol of the country and of iran's power in the region. isis striking the shrine of the founder of modern iran. a female suicide bomber blowing herself up at the tomb. a gunman opening fire, all six terrorists died, all were from iran. in a statement, the president sympathized with the victims but said they risk falling victim to the evil they promote. in tehran shock. >> this is like nothing we've seen in iran in 30 years. iran and isis are enemies that hate one another and we can s

today. isis hit one of their biggest enemies. >> reporter: iran's supreme leader is vowing to hit back at isis in syria and iraq for isis losing ground there, this attack was a moral boost. for iran, an embarrassment, for the region, bad news, revenge in the air. bill neely, nbc news. back home for the second day, a woman accusing comedian bill cosby of sexual assault was on the stand in his trial in pennsylvania. today, cosby's defense continued cross-examining her focussing on what it believes are inconsistencies in her story. nbc's stephanie gosk has more on the dramatic testimony. >> reporter: at times today bill cosby seemed relaxed joking with security and his accuser andrea constand faced tough questions from the defense attorney angela

tried to pick apart her story. constand alleges the comedian drugged and sexual assaulted her in 2004. pointed out constand's statements to police changed, specifically the date of the assault. she focused on two private dinners at cosby's home before the assault at one point saying you hadn't told the officers that you had wine and brandy and sat by a fire and put your legs near one another. constand said police never asked. agr uusa questioned her, she questioned her, you knew she was interested in you romantically. constand replied, no, ma'am. >> there are going to be inconsistencies. >> reporter: they want to undermine her credibility. have they done it? >> some. >> reporter: district attorney feden hit back hard after tediously highlighted phone records line by line to show constand called cosby 53 times after the alleged assault. fenden asked was he on the board of trustees where you were employed? yes. so when he called you, you called back. yes.

the prosecution call constand's mother to the stand and tearfully told the jury cosby apologized to her and andrea on the phone and said i am a sick man. stephanie gosk, nbc news, pennsylvania. >> there is a lot more to report. we'll tell you about kids suffering from migraines. it's more common than you may think but the early warning signs parents need to look out for to stop them before they start. we'll be right back. migraines. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ sfx: engine revving ♪ (silence) ♪ all umm...ed. you wouldn't want your painter to quit part way,

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get this one done! ask about prevnar 13® at your next visit to your doctor's office or pharmacy. we're back now with news of a painful condition that we're back now with news of a painful condition that affects adults but may be going undiagnosed in children. migraines. parents may be able to stop the headaches before they start by

nbc's kristen dahlgren explains. >> reporter: he is only 11 but already he knows the crippling pain of a migraine. >> i couldn't get out of bed. it was terrible. i was crying out in pain. >> reporter: where does it hurt? >> all over. >> reporter: the pounding and pressure debilitating but in children migraines can often go undiagnosed. about 10% of school-aged children suffer from migraines. by age 17, one in ten boys has had a migraine, for girls, it's almost one in four. a study shows warning signs may be able to tip parents off well before the pain actually starts. >> if we wait until the children are really uncomfortable and curled up, it's a lot harder to get them better. >> reporter: dr. howard jacobs looked for what are called premonitory signs, red flags that a migraine is on the way. the researchers found 41% of children show two clear signs, profound fatigue and sudden moodiness. up to 24 hours before their heads ever start pounding. >> the key with most of the medicines we give kids to take when they have a migraine, the key is to take it as soon as possible. >> reporter: griffin and his mom know the

pattern well. >> i start to get tired and i start to get crabby and cranky. >> if i think those signs are there and i see one coming on, i definitely make sure he gets a big glass of water, we often give him ibuprofen and he often has to stop what he's doing and rest. >> reporter: before it's too late. kristen dahlgren, nbc news, charlotte, north carolina. up next, four years after a tragedy involving 19 elite firefighters, their loved ones return to the scene for a touching tribute. boost. it's about moving forward, not back. it's looking up, not down. it's being in motion. in body, in spirit, in the now. boost® high protein it's intelligent nutrition with 15 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for when you need a little extra. boost® the number one high protein complete nutritional drink.

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the yarnell hill fire in arizona that took the lives of 19 firefighters. it was the deadliest fire in state history. the incident that reshaped how firefighters across the country respond to calls. it's been a long emotional journey for families of the fallen to ensure there is a lasting tribute to the loved ones. here is nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: the granite mountain hot shots memorial state park is hallowed ground, every step brings debra closer to andrew ashcraft, firefighter, husband, father, the son she lost. >> he was amazing. his bright smile, his laughter. he loved being a dad and -- but that is the hardest. [crying] >> reporter: 19 firefighters perished on this very mountain. killed battling the yarnell hill fire four years ago. the new state park is a living tribute to

19 plaques line the seven-mile trail in emotion. >> when you see everything, it's a very emotional experience. >> reporter: a pilgrimage for firefighters and the community. the physical toll to reach this mountain peak pails in comparison. the hot shots deploy emergency shelters where they would die side by side. a ring of stone protects this band of brothers, crosses bear each name. >> it's an important place and i love knowing that it's there. >> reporter: amanda marsh lost her husband eric. she helped design the trail, still too painful to visit. >> i wanted eric and the crew to always be remembered for their sacrifice. it's very profound that the crew was found together like they were. no one ran. >> repor a

that inspires honoring the lives lost and a legacy that lives on. miguel almaguer, nbc news, yarnell, arizona. we're going to take a short break. when we come back, we'll tell you about a historic night in the field for major league baseball. allergies holding you? break through your allergies. try new flonase sensimist allergy relief instead of allergy pills. it's more complete allergy relief in a gentle mist experience you'll barely feel. using unique mistpro technology, new flonase sensimist delivers a gentle mist to help block six key inflammatory substances that cause your symptoms. most allergy pills only block one. and six is greater than one. new flonase sensimist changes everything.

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finally tonight, a finally tonight, a stunning feat on the baseball field when n scooter gennett hit not one, not two, but four home runs in a single game. one of which was a grand slam. he's only the 17th player to ever do that tieing the record and joining the likes of lieu garig and willie mays. we appreciate you spen p

for this wednesday. we'll see you from washington tomorrow night for james comey's testimony on capitol hill. until then, for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night.

maher offends oprah. this is "access hollywood." >> it's a lynching. and it's a lynching of a family. >> bill maher still has a job after his use of the "n" word, but only "access" has oprah speaking out. and how she saved jamie foxx from himself. >> i didn't want him to make a fool of himself. nina swears they have george's