alienated because the way we were dealt with was out of the ordinary." a muslim family from the u-k wants answers after u-s officials prevented them from boarding a plane for vacation... and we're continuing to follow breaking news as tornadoes touch down all throughout the southeastern part of the country tonight.. look at this huge twister behind us touching down in mississippi. one of dozens that have touched down in the southeast! in fact, roughly half the country is bracing for severe weather tonight... and it's having a big impact on holiday travel. airports and roads are packed with people. and for some travelers... getting home...has been a nightmare. abc's brandi hitt reports. nats -- (airport lines) let the holiday travel rush begin -- ((wslaxholidaytravel)) sot -- galateia terti, traveler // :17 - :19 // "this is the worst time t2 airports are packed across donovan williams, traveler // :08 - :09 // "madness.

patel, flying to california flight!" 2 ((animated graphic)) today is the "busiest travel day on the roads and skies" this holiday season... nats -- (crowd/bag pop) and it's not off to a great start -- with one to three-hour flight delays... in new york... new jersey... and philadelphia. uh no! delayed." 3 this southwest airlines flight was forced to return to oakland for an emergency landing... after the plane -- suffering a mechanical problem -- circled for nearly four hours. ((interplay: tvu kgo plane)) sot -- ashley stasio, traveler // 57:09 - :15 // "the plane was just thumping and thumping and was going very slow... because they were trying to get the landing gear up and it nats -- (quick plow) with snow falling at an inch -- per hour -- in parts of oregon... nats -- "oh my god!" 80 mile per hour winds... leaving damage in southern california. (pic cleared by melissa griffin)) and this tornado touching down... destroying several homes in mississippi. ((new wx gfx)) 68 million americans are in this storm many drivers... are packing their patience sot

"expecting traffic - yeah. (laugh) they'll be traffic." 3 ((on camera tag)) if you haven't finalized your travel plans yet -- be aware the second worst travel day... is expected to be sunday. severe weather in the southeast... we turn now to meteorologist karla huelga in the weather center who's following it all for us... karla? a big change in the weather is headed to las vegas. christmas eve will be a nice day with temperatures dead on normal for this time of year and mostly sunny skies. very strong winds will push in later in the day with gusts increasing to about 35mph and wind advisories possible for the area. now an update to a story that you asked us to

something you'll see only on action news. a family barely made it out alive after a fire destroyed their apartment just days before christmas. a nieghbor had to come to their rescue because the smoke alarms in their apartment weren't working. today - the complex managers are making it right. new management just took over this property days ago..and since the fire - the family says the company has been bending over backwards to help. maintenance crews are going door to door, checking everyone's alarms. they even brought in a crew to make sure the family could move into a new unit in time for the holidays. but it's not just the property managers who are stepping up. the whole communoty is rallying behind the family - bringing by clothes, gift cards, even christmas decorations so their

holiday spirit. kristopher youts home destroyed in fire ((we've had people that we only know in passing. people that we've never met. places we didn't even know existed have all come together to help and it's a little overwhelming.)) the family says the silver lining here... is this whole ordeal has at least restored their faith in humanity.. as always.. if you have an issue or problem you'd like us to check out.. send us an email to 13investigates@ktnv.c om and be sure to include your phone number. overnight -- a metro officer was injured in a crash near smoke ranch and buffalo.. the crash shut down the intersection for hours. police say a woman in an s-u-v tried to make a left hand turn in front of the police car around one in the morning. the s-u-v actually flipped over. a bartender who works in the area came out to keep the victims calm -- and bring them coffee. 23:11:12-23:11:18 "it kind of killed the shift for me, but everything's good. it's all good. i hope everyone is okay in the accident."

either driver was drunk.. both drivers are expected to make a full recovery. lakeisha holloway.. the woman accused of driving her car into crowds of people on the strip sunday night -- killing one and hurting dozens of others -- made her first appearance in court today.. she was there for less than two minutes, and did not enter a plea. her next court date is january 20th. today in new york, the suspect in yesterday's shooting inside a long island mall ...was arraigned. police say 21-year-old oliver lee went into a tourneau store in roosevelt field mall tuesday and asked to see an 18-thousand dollar rolex watch. police say lee then showed he had a firearm, and a struggle ensued with a store security guard. lee then fired the gun -- hitting the guard in the shoulder. he's listed in stable condition...but lee faces robbery and assault charge. he's being held on 750- thousand dollars bail. the transportation security administration has issued a new rule for airport security screening that could affect your holiday travel. t-s-a screeners can now force

scanners, even if they want to opt out. before the change, passengers could choose a full body pat down instead of the body scanner. a t-s-a spokesperson says the scanner does not store personal information and improves threat detection for metallic and non-metallic objects that a pat-down might miss. the change comes amid heightened security concerns about terror plots on commercial airlines. a muslim family from the united kingdom are outraged after they say u-s officials stopped them from boarding a plane for a planned vacation to disneyland. mohammad tariq mahmood says he and his family -- two brothers and their nine children -- were told nothing except they were not allowed to travel to the u-s despite having previously obtained clearance. he says he feels like they were targeted for being muslim. mohammad tariq mahmood, holidaymaker who had been refused to board plane to us: "the only thought that came to my head, i know that it is maybe just a saying whatever, doesn't make them stop us. we were cleared, we had our

because, maybe because we're muslim and we had a muslim name and it (inaudible) because there was nobody else in that cabin that as muslim." he of course was referencing their u- s presidential candidate donald trump who has called for a temporary ban on muslims visiting the u-s. u-s officials have declined to comment. and speaking of trump... in tonight's red white and blue 2016 political coverage... he's still on the hot seat today for using a sexually derogatory term to describe hillary clinton's loss to barack obama in 2008.. and he's lashing out at the mainstream media-- blaming it for mischaracterizing his comment. trump claims the term he used was "not vulgar" and used frequently in new york politics... but hillary clinton's campaign calls it "degrading language" and "disgusting sexist slurs." you're looking at somebody who's had a lot of terrible things to say about me// and that's why it's important to

they are, and why we shouldn't let anybody bully his way into the presidency. despite repeated controversies over trump's rhetoric... a brand new national poll from cnn shows he maintains his commanding lead in the republican race... at 39 percent still ahead... with thousands of visitors flocking to the vatican for the jubilee year... the italian government is enlisting help from around the world... including one police department right here at home. plus... an important alert for any customers of one major hotel chain. we'll tell you what you need to know about the possible theft of your personal information coming up in our financial focus.

primping in the nasdaq up 45 sp500 up 25 and gaming... boyd up 1.26% caesers up 1.69% mgm up 3.50% las vegas sands up 3.68% wynn up 1.92% hyatt hotel officials are advising customers to monitor their payment card statements, after discovering malware hackers may have used to access customer credit card numbers.

hotel computer systems used to process customer payments. the chicago-based resort chain is working with outside security experts to figure out what happened. hyatt officials have not confirmed whether any sensitive information was stolen by hackers. the company is now using stronger security measures -- and says customers can feel confident using payment cards at hyatt hotels worldwide. amazon is currently the ups's biggest customer, but the wall street journal is reporting the relationship has become strained. rising numbers of packages and costs have amazon seeking alternative delivery options, such as using their own trucks and relying more heavily on the us postal service, and eventually using drones for deliveries. amazon declined to comment, but u-p-s said it will continue to work with amazon to help solve their growth and customer service challenges. that's tonight's 'financial focus.' let's go to karla huelga and 'weather first.' . a big change in the weather is headed to las vegas.

day with temperatures dead on normal for this time of year and mostly sunny skies. very strong winds will push in later in the day with gusts increasing to about 35mph and wind advisories possible for the area. a low pressure area will dive to the south towards las vegas bringing the chance for some rain showers to the area overnight into christmas morning. the best chance for rain showers will be to the north in lincoln county and in the mountains surrounding the valley. snow levels will start relatively low - around 4500' and falling to around 3000' which means there's a chance for some snow showers is possible behind the rain showers as some very cold air pushes in behind the low. that storm will bring some very cold air into the las vegas valley for christmas and beyond saturday and sunday. the skies will stay mostly cloudy from sunday onwards with very cool temperatures sticking

with thousands of pilgrims expected to visit rome for the jubilee year...

italian government invited police from all over the world to assist with security. after the attacks in paris... italian officials say they are not taking any chances. so for the first time, a team of new york city police officers are in their uniforms.. working overseas. abc's elizabeth hur reports. script: ((nat)) "good to see you- enjoy, enjoy!" it's a

italian police.. but this joint international security operation at the vatican is a sign of the times. ((sot)) sgt. stephen cafasso / nypd intelligence bureau "in light of recent events in europe and in the united states, we continue to learn and we continue to adapt." police from new york, spain and poland are in rome.. assisting with security for the catholic church's year-long jubilee of mercy.. it's only the 27th time in the history of the church that there has been a holy year.. and this year.. italian officials say there will be increased police patrols.. for a good reason. ((nat pop)) nicolo d'angelo, chief of rome police: "islamic state group." explaining.. they cannot underestimate or ignore the ongoing threat posed by isis.. especially following the recent attacks in paris.. authorities say they deployed thousands of officers and soldiers from across italy and asked for help from around the world.. ((sot)) insp.joseph gallucci / nypd intelligence bureau "it's been a great opportunity to share ideas, exchange differenn ways of how we do things, but also to see, you know although

it's also kind of gives us a good feeling to know that a lot of what we do is, uh very similar." elizabeth tag: and for security reasons.. italian authorities are not revealing the exact number officers taking part in this operation.. but we are told there will be visible police presence at the vatican and across the city at all times. eh, abc news, ny. coming up later.. in tonight's abc primetime lineup on channel 13: 8:00 - the middle 8:30 - the goldbergs 9:00 - modern family 9:30 - black-ish 10:00 - fresh off the boat 10:30 - black-ish then on action news live at 11... police say people in one community here in the valley could find themselves victims of burglaries -- simply by not answering their front door! we'll explain why they now need your help. plus... we continue to track those deadly storms in the southeast part of the country... we'll have the very latest on

tonight on action news live at 11. coming up... major changes coming to chipotle in the wake of the recent e-coli outbreak. we'll tell you what they're doing to protect you. plus... a new report from the c-d-c is revealing more about birth rates here in the u-s...

after 55 cases of e-coli sickened people across nine different states. here are some new things they'll start doing to protect against the bacteria-- onions will be dipped in boiling water... raw chicken will be marinated in re- sealable plastic bags instead of bowls. and cilantro will be added to freshly cooked rice so the heat gets rid of microbes in the garnish. you'll remember we told you about a second outbreak earlier this week... and that one is linked to a different strain of the bacteria. the c-d-c is still investigating to find the sources of both strains. babies on board! a new c-d-c report finding that rates of a particular type of birth are higher than ever - and it could give parents twice the reason to celebrate. with more, here's abc's dr.

we'll be right back with a final check on your holiday forecast from karla. your watching channel 13 action news... where you ask and we investigate. stay with us.

day with temperatures dead on normal for this time of year and mostly sunny skies. very strong winds will push in later in the day with gusts that's action news for now.. but we hope to see you again later tonight for action news.. live at 11. thank you for joining us. "inside edition" is next. have a great evening.. the nevada department of

home for the holidays. "real housewives of new jersey" star teresa giudice released from prison.

done before walking free.