making news in america this morning, deadly storms, tornadoes tearing through the heartland flipping a tractor trailer on a highway and ripping homes and buildings apart. the new video just in and where the severe weather is heading on this christmas eve. new controversy shaking up the race for 2016. ted cruz taking aim at a newspaper after his kids are used in a cartoon. the republican breaking his silence and donald trump weighing in. a helicopter trying to land suddenly hurtling towards tourists, the dramatic crash caught on camera. and christmas surprise, a happy holiday for a woman in tears, so what's the gift that got this reaction? and we do say good morning to you on this christmas eve. we're going to get started with breaking news, those deadly storms slamming the south

>> incredible. at least eight people are dead. nearly two dozen tornadoes cut a wide path of destruction across mississippi, tennessee and arkansas including this twister caught on camera in mississippi. >> it eventually crossed interstate 55 tossing a tractor trailer onto its side and reducing homes to rubble. we're t out of the woods yet. >> looking at the massive system on satellite still raking across a wide swath of the southeast. abc's kenneth moton leads us off with our coverage this morning. >> reporter: caught on camera overnight. >> oh, i think that's a tornado blowing up. >> reporter: a strong line of powerful and deadly storms churned up tornadoes from the midwest to the south last night. indiana, iowa, mississippi and tennessee survived nearly two dozen confirmetwisters that left 8 people dead and 40 more injured. >> i can't stick around here. i'm going to go find cover. >> reporter: in holly springs, northern mississippi, a 7-year-old boy was among the dead. drivers were caught on the roads trying to figure out how to escape.

>> no. you ain't got time to turn around. >> there's a tornado in front of us. >> settle down. >> reporter: in tennessee, the work to clear vital roads began overnight after those strong winds threw vehicles around, ripped down power lines and destroyed homes. tornado damage here, but out west, more severe weather. the roads were a snowy mess in utah impacting traffic. 80-mile-per-hour wind gusts in mojave california tore the roof off this building and toppled tractor trailers on this major freeway. >> it's scary. i don't like this truck rocking. >> reporter: big rigs were banned from that california highway until the winds died down. back in the midwest and south there are states of emergency as residents try to pick up the pieces on this christmas eve. kenneth moton, abc news, washington. >> and our thanks to kenneth moton there. this outbreak of violent weather couldn't have come at a

holiday travelers. >> in fact, yesterday was the biggest travel day of the holiday season as tens of millions of americans jammed highways, train stations and airports, but the weather turned the journey home for one family into a nightmare with hundreds of flight cancellations and nearly 6,000 delays. >> flight is delayed. >> delayed. 20 minutes delayed. >> madness. this is crazy. >> and if you haven't finalized your travel plans yet, be aware the second worst travel day is expected to be sunday. okay, so it's not just the eastern part that's facing weather miseries. in the west it's all about snow and lots of it. >> accuweather's justin povick joins us now with the latest. good morning to you, justin. >> good morning, reena, kendis. we're looking at some more storminess out west, and speaking of the storminess, all the tornados that we saw yesterday will thankfully not repeat itself today along the eastern seaboard so the threat for tornadoes has

heavy rain and mountain snow is increasing out west. we're looking at some big travel delays around san francisco with some heavy snow over the higher terrain. big-time warmth on the way for the eastern seaboard. temperatures approaching 30 degrees above normal. and that's going to make it feel like it't'in the 60s and the 70s, and then down the road we've got to talk about this, a major storm coming up over the weekend, heavy snow, also flooding rains and more severe weather. reena and kendis, back to you. >> justin, thank you. now to the race for president. some sharp words from senator ted cruz in reaction to a controversial political cartoon. the cartoon you see here depicts cruz as an organ grinder dressed as santa and his daughters as dancing monkeys. it followed cruz's campaign ad in which his girls appeared and read part of a conservative themed story. cruz saying yesterday, quote, don't mess with my kids. >> not much ticks me off, but making fun of my girls, that'll do it and, listen, i mean, all of us learned in kindergarten, don't hit little girls.

don't make fun of a 5-year-old girl and a 7-year-old girl. >> republican front-runner donald trump added his support to cruz calling the cartoon inappropriate. other republicans also criticized it. the cartoon has been pulled from "the washington post's" website. lawyers for the woman accused of driving on a las vegas strip sidewalk says she's distraught and overwhelmed this morning. lakeisha holloway made her first court appearance yesterday. she's charged with murder, child abuse, as well as hit-and-run. she's currently on suicide watch.

accident. down, it dramatically lurched

it crashed into a palm tree and came to rest next to a pool. miraculously, no one on board was seriously hurt. well, in miami thieves caught on surveillance camera robbing stores. at one location you see here they used a truck to smash their way in. once inside heading for designer jeans, the jeans valued at $600 a pair they even stole two mannequins. at another store they grabbed the hottest gift of the season, hoverboards. they can be seen on camera using a cart to carry out boxes of them. >> a $600 pair of jeans. wow, all right. the new york giants will be without star receiver odell beckham jr. for sunday night's must win game against the vikings. beckham's appeal of the one-game suspension he received for violent conduct last sunday against carolina was heard at the nfl office here in new york city yesterday, that appeal denied, so beckham will not be playing against minnesota. josh norman, by the way, of the panthers was fined $26,000 for

playing tonight are the chargers and the raiders. >> and don't forget the nba. we get last night's highlights from our guys at espn. >> happy holidays. welcome to our "sportscenter" set here in los angeles. he's neil everett, i'm stan verrett. the cavaliers and the warriors are going to meet on christmas day, so let's show you what they did leading up to it. >> look at this. oh, tommy, okay, we'll make sure i show the tie when the highlight is over, very christmassy. steph curry, get dizzy with it. get dizzy with it. andrew bogut looked good. yoyoknow, the warriors, you know, listen, i watched this game, listen, because you are listen because i'm speaking but -- >> you won't. >> really but people are going, turn the channel. >> what were you saying about the warriors? >> no, they just -- it wasn't fancy, but still i mean they won by 18, and it's not like utah is that bad a team. they're just rolling. >> all right, so the warriors are ready. what about the cavaliers? >> yeah, they're ready.

carmelo anthony out with an ankle injury in this one, but it was tougher than you think for cleveland. lebron james, lebron james finishes there and then kristaps porzingis thought better of that one. >> oh. >> he was about to get his stocking stuffed, and so he just rolled on by. james, 24 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists as the cavaliers take it, 91-84, so on to christmas, they're part of the christmas quintuple header here on abc and also espn. check your local listings for times in your area. i've always wanted to say that. >> there are five games. >> look at this tie. >> there's no green in here. >> no, but this tie looks christmas -- >> christmas is green and red. >> this looks holiday, right? >> back to you. >> he's wearing purple. he's not even wearing red or green. >> it looked like a scottish holiday. >> it does for them. let's hope they're wearing something underneath. well, up next "the pulse," christstrise, one woman's gift that got this reaction.

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that's what you do, and don't call it for nonemergencies. merry christmas, everyone. merry christmas, kids. >> well, that's good. it's like a public service announcement for christmastime. the elf on a shelf tradition comes from a children's picture book of the same name. it was published in 2004, and the book comes with this elf doll in a box. you should put it around your house, and kids try to find out where the elf is. >> is that what the deal is? >> yeah, it's called elf on a shelf. >> while kids aren't allowed to touch elf, they can tell it what they want for christmas, so you can understand why she was so freaked out by this. >> i think that was a pretty big crisis but maybe not 911-worthy. next up, quite a surprise for a woman who didn't know that she was already a grandmother. >> she lives in indiana, but her son and daughter-in-law, they live in hawaii, and they had started the process of adoption but didn't tell anyone when their daughter was born a few weeks ago. >> okay, so check out grandma's early christmas surprise. >> my gosh. my gosh. >> i've been dreaming that it was a girl.

christmas if you're over a certain age is a little grandchild, right, a lot of people or a puppy, one or the other, i would say. >> yes. >> it's a christmas surprise that no one in the family will ever forget. oh, this is just incredible. >> it's great. >> so o ppy. >> her initial reaction where she's all like in tears and jumping up and down is just great. she still has not let go of her grandchild, by the way. >> something tells me she's going to spoil this baby rotten. >> absolutely. well, a goat stole the show during a live nativity scene at a dallas church. >> at one point the goat perhaps he wanted a bigger role in the production hopped into the mangeorge and didn't stay long, quickly hopped back out. >> the improv moment gave the audience and even the actors a laugh. by the way, there was no baby inside the manger. >> that's a relief.

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least eight people. those storms carved a wide path of destruction reducing dozens of homes to rubble, uprooting trees and knocking over tractor trailers. tornado watches remaining in effect well into this morning across parts of at least four southern states. and it definitely will not be a white christmas for much of the eastern u.s. it feels more like christmas in florida with temperatu the 70s from washington to new york and 60s in new england. >> a live picture there of new york city. looking at the map showing the rest of the country, more strong storms in the south with rain stretching up into the northeast. more rain along the west coast, as well. beautiful in dallas, 74. and finally on this christmas eve morning, maybe you're one of those serious procrastinators who leaves all e christmas shoppingngill the very e e. we do mean very last minute. your time, well, it's now. >> why were you looking at me? >> because you are one of those. your poor son. >> gift cards are an easy way out for those last-minute presents, of course, but as mara

with a certain amount of risk. >> reporter: gift cards at the top of many a wish list. shoppers expected to spend almost $26 billion on these cash cards. >> i think they're a great clutch gift to give anybody. >> the easier choice so you don't disappoint anybody. >> reporter: but experts warn these holiday favorites could come with a risk. >> gift cards are absolutely vulnerable to scammers. there are lots of different ways that nefarious people can get their hands on the cards and on your money. >> reporter: part of the problem, cards can be as easy to use as cash requiring no i.d., p.i.n. number or signature making them very alluring targets for scammers. here's how it works, before you buy ththcard, thieves can coco its information,n,ometimes using handheld skimmers, later stealing the card's value. so experts saylook for tampered packaging, especially at the scratch-off area in the back, use the card right away,

to use a reputable site. if you're thinking of trading in unwanted gift cards on an online exchange. >> the safest way to buy cards is online or from a locked drawern the store. >> reporter: insuring a holiday scam doesn't leave you saying, bah humbug. mara schiavocampo, abc news, new york. and, folks, we should mention happy news. >> breaking news. >> santa is well on his way delivering those presents. >> yes, a short time ago, norad started tracking santa. you know it's almost christmas in some parts of the world, so he has a long journey ahead. >> and i have a long day of shopping ahead. i need to find a hot patrol -- no, a rescue bot. >> santa is bringing that. >> oh, santa, sorry. thats's what's making news in america this mororng. >> happy christmas eve. " " scott: today - snow

afternoon, 70%