while smoke rose in gaza, christmas celebrations were canceled in the west bank city of bethlehem. the pope delivered his christmas message, calling for peace. and santa is on his way. the north american aerospace defense command is tracking his sleigh as he makes his way across the globe. for more download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm courtney kealy, cbs news, new york. it's monday, december 25th, this is the "cbs morning news." silent night. christmas celebrations take on a muted tone in the middle east as israel appears to intensify its bombardment on gaza. the death toll growing both sides of the war. dreaming of a white christmas, nebraska in the bull's-eye. blizzard warnings, icy roads, and snow piling up. plus --

>> i said no, he cannot miss his flight because i have the check-in tag. >> lost in flight. a 6-year-old boy traveling alone put on the wrong plane. the family demanding answers. good morning, and merry christmas. good to be with you. i'm carissa lawson in for anne-marie green. we start with christmas day celebrations around the globe. the faithful are gathering to mark one of the holiest holidays of the wyear with war. the pope leading mass saying our hearts are in bethlehem. in new york city, cardinal timothy dolan reminded congregants to keep the middle east in their christmas prayers. and as the sun rose over bethlehem this christmas morning the typically bustling city resembled a ghost town. cristian benevides starts us off this morning. ♪ >> reporter: in bethlehem the

biblical birthplace of jesus, a midnight mass even as most other festivities and celebrations were called off due to the ongoing israel-hamas war. >> nowadays bethlehem as any other palestinian city is mourning. >> reporter: the same is true in jerusalem where the typically bustling city streets look like a ghost town. >> it's the special day, and so it's like we especially need that spirit of christmas today. >> reporter: at the vatican -- pope francis led the faithful in prayer. people gathered at st. peter's square. >> no more war maybe hopefully. maybe more calmness, more togetherness. ♪ >> reporter: closer to home, american faithfuls also gathered from new york's st. patrick's cathedral -- ♪ -- to the national cathedral in washington. n norad stayed busy tracking santa

as he made his way around the globe. there were plenty of santas in cocoa beach. >> it's high fives, all the good vibes of christmas. >> reporter: showing there's more than one way to celebrate the season. cristian benevides, cbs news. there's no escape from the bar in gaza this christmas where heavy fighting is taking place across the besieged territory. dozens were killed in an israeli air strike in central gaza. according to the hamas-run health ministry. israel's military suffered big losses this weekend with at least 17 soldiers killed, making it some of the bloodiest days of combat for the israel war since the war began. the idf says it has dismantled hamas' underground headquarters in northern gaza where it says the bodies of five hstages were found. as for hostage release talks, the head of the islamic gee h--

jihad group took part in the october 7th attack and said it would only release hostages after the fighting ends. >> reporter: silence falling on the west bank city of befth hem. the birthplace of jesus is usually a global focus of celebrations. as cristian benevides mentioned earlier, this year is different. worshippers in the ancient city are sending a message of solidarity toans in gaza. the story from cbs' chris livesay. >> reporter: of all the places in the world, a lid town of bethlehem the birthplace of jesus knows how to celebrate christmas. but this year, christmas is canceled. gone are the christmas tree, santa claus, and the carolers. many of the shops are shuddered with hardly a -- shuttered with hardl lly a soul in sight.

according to believers this is the precise birthplace of jesus christ. and over here we have the manger, normally this time of year celebrations would abound. because of the war, there's hardly anybody here. since the october 7th massacre by hamas and israel's ensuing ground offensive, tourism throughout the holy land has come to a grinding halt. in solidarty with the people suffering in gaza, the people of bethlehem have more to mourn than to celebrate. at the evangelical lutheran church they fashioned a nativity scene out of what's now found everywhere in gaza -- rubble, says the pastor. >> we've seen so many images of children being pulled out of the rubble, and to us this is a message that jesus identifies with our suffering. >> reporter: in the cradle of christianity, palestinian christians make up the world's oldest community of believers. but they're shrinking in numbers. here in the west bank, only 2%

of palestinians are christians today. in gaza, it's less than 1%. the vast majority believed to be left homeless by the war. myrna, a christian from bethlehem, fears her community is facing extinction while the world looks away. >> even some christians, some, not all of them, they forgot about the palestinian case. it's forgotten by the christians all over struggle. christians in the middle. they always want peace. they don't want conflict. they don't want war. they just want everybody just to sit down, talk about peace, let's pray together, let's see what we can do for having this peace together. >> reporter: after all, peace, he says, is the true message of christmas. chris livesay, bethlehem. back home some parts of the country are seeing a white

christmas, a very white christmas. blizzard warnings and winter weather alerts are in effect across the central and northern plains and the upper midwest. in nebraska, semi trucks slid off slick roads in the blinding snow. the national weather service is calling for heavy snow, ice, and strong winds. parts of nebraska and south dakota could see more than a foot of snow. wind gusts could reach 50 miles per hour. in chicago, dense fog canceled or delayed hundreds of flights, especially at midway international airport. it had a domino effect causing flight delays across the country. southwest airlines experienced the most trouble. spirit airlines is apologizing after putting a young boy flying by himself on the wrong flight. 6-year-old casper ramos was traveling for the first time on his own last week. he was supposed to fly from philadelphia to fort myers, florida, but he ended up on a

plate to orlando instead. the airline says the boy was all under the supervision of a spirit employee. a spokesperson says as soon as spirit discovered the error, po. i keep thinking about how about if somebody would have stole my grandson. i wanted them to call me and let me know how my grandson ended up in orlando, how did that happen? did they get him off the plane? >> the boy's grandmother picked him up in orlando. spirit says it's investigating the incident. coming up, christmas around the world. a look at holiday celebrations in different countries across the globe. and the latest on where santa is. how the u.s. military is tracking his every move. when moderate to severe ulcerative colitis takes you off course. put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when i wanted to see results fast, rinvoq delivered rapid symptom relief and helped leave bathroom urgency behind.

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britain's prince louis stole the show at princess kate's annual christmas concert. the young royal beaming with excitement and nudging his mother at the mention of letters from santa. and at buckingham palace, king charles broke with tradition to make an environmental statement. he taped his christmas day message standing next to a live tree with natural and sustainable decorations. a controversial nativity scene featuring two mothers of the baby jesus is now on display at a church in southern italy. it can be seen about an hour east of naples. the parished priest says his attitude is in line with pope francis who last week allowed priests to bless same-sex couples. italy's conservative, pro-life and family group calls the nativity scene shameful and blasphemous. this year many ukrainian orthodox christians are celebrating christmas for the first time on december 25th.

it's a snub at russia which is at war with ukraine. under the julian calendar, also used by russia, orthodox christmas falls on january 7th. but in july president zelenskyy changed the law, and ukraine is now marking christmas using the western gregorian calendar. in greece, lanterns filled with messages of hope were released into the sky. hundreds of people gathered in front of athens city hall last night to write their christmas wishes on the paper lanterns before letting them go. the tradition is called the night of wishes. and the threat of stormy weather did not stop crowds from celebrating christmas at australia's famous beach. lifeguards wearing santa hats kept an eye on beachgoers who soaked up the hot weather. this year a new speed limit, 25 miles per hour, is in effect for four-wheel drive vehicles on beaches in south australia. that's after speeding tourists did some pretty major damage

there at the dunes last christmas. still to come, inside the home of hot wheels. we'll take you to the design studio where the bestselling toy in the world comes to life. i'll be home for christmas. you can count on me. please have snow and mistletoe. and presents under the tree right now, all over the country, kids at shriners hospitals for children® are able to go home and be with their families for the holidays. and it's only possible because of the monthly support of people just like you. thanks to a generous donor. every dollar you give can help twice as many kids like me

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go online right now with your monthly gift. and when you do, your gift will have two times the impact. here's a look at today's christmas forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ this morning millions of hot wheel cars are sitting under christmas trees just waiting to be opened. at mattel's hotwheels facility in el segundo, california, bryan benedict leads a team of designers. their idea are first brought to life by a digital sculptor and then printed out. while they strive for authenticity, benedict says there's also a strong element of fantasy involved in creating these iconic cars.

a growing powerball christmas day jackpot, and will the last dash to the mall give retailers a holiday season to remember? courtney kealy has today's cbs "money watch." >> reporter: markets are closed today for christmas but will reopen tomorrow. on friday, the markets were mixed with the dow down by 18 points. the in $28 million in its

first three days of release. an estimated $40 million when you factor in christmas day. the sequel costs about $200 million to make and ranks among the worst debuts of the year for a superhero movie. that's your cbs "money watch" for this christmas morning. i'm courtney kealy, cbs news, new york. up next, santa's magical words. how st. nick is finding a way to communicate the message of christmas to children around the world. to give your teeth a dentist clean feeling. start with a round brush head. add power. and you've got oral-b. round cleans better by surrounding each tooth

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more than 7.5 million gifts. for santa, his special magic means finding a voice that works with everyone. here's cbs' mark strassmann. what do you want for christmas, dotti? >> i want toys -- >> reporter: santa learned along the way he needed to wrap christmas differently. >> and i said, what do you want for christmas, and all he could say was trick-or-treat. and i realized then that i needed to do something. >> reporter: he needed to speak more languages. the more the merrier. [ speaking in global language ] starting with full immersion spanish in honduras. what's the reaction of the kids when they realize stellantisa speaks spanish? >> it takes their breath away. >> it's so exciting to see that child's eyes light up. talk to them, what i feel like is the most important part of christmas which is love. >> reporter: for deaf children like 8-year-old gracie mcclure, he can sign his christmas message. >> and i was saying, santa, is

happy to see you. santa loves you. [ laughter ] >> reporter: and a special gift -- getting autistic kids one by one to light up like a christmas tree. >> i talk very softly, i don't use the big barreling ho, ho, ho. and i try in sensor santa not to wear the glitz and bells to cut down on stimulation. >> reporter: do you see the change in the child? >> it is remarkable. >> the boston college is the same regardless -- the message is the same regardless of the message or the way to communicate it. >> reporter: santa's job, bring joy by meeting children in their worlds. >> none of those kids have nearly as much fun as i do. >> just a different child in a different way. we're tcrying when they leave. >> reporter: it's magical for the two of you. >> it is for sure. >> the most perimportant thing about christmas is love. >> reporter: which speaks well of him in any language. a santa for everyone.

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thank you for joining us. merry christmas. monday, december 25th. >> let's get started. you put $6,000 in and somebody comes and takes everything from you in six minutes. >> an east bay business owner's worst nightmare. a robbery caught on camera on christmas eve. >> i procrastinate every year and wait until the last minute to shop. >> have you done your shopping yet, we sure hope so. last minute bay area christmas shoppers struggle to find gifts. >> we love christmas, spending time with our families and all that. bay area sports fans getting a gift on christmas day. the niners and