find out why it's hard to catch these criminals...even for police. lesley marin 13 an. we're staying on top of the deadly wildfires burning.... in gatlinburg, tennessee... at least -3- are dead... and thousands of people have been forced to evacuate.... from the tourist town. right now... hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed... including historic buildings. other nearby attractions.... like dollywood.... are threatened. scripps national correspondent..... todda gatlinburg.... tonight. todd? downtown gatlinburg was mostly spared but all around it is essentially gone. hundreds, including the mayor of gatlinburg himself, have lost their homes, their businesses, and plenty of other buildings. we have now learned that 3 people have been killed, 14 hurt, but that could have been so much higher as thousands ran

the inferno in this east tennessee mountain town is something firefighters and residents had never imagined.. supt. cassius m. cash, great smoky mountain national park service: "all the previous fires i've been part of could not have prepared me for what we've experienced over the past 24 hours.." new video today shows some of the hundreds of buildings that were torched... more than 10-thousand people evacuated as the flames ripped gatlinburg, nearby pigeon forge.. and the dollywood resort were all evacuated.. cabins and homes are packed onto tiny winding roads in dense trees.. the drought conditions in the southeast made conditions ripe to break out of control like they did through the night. many residents barely had time to get themselves to safety.. much less grab their things.. resident: "we covered our face with wet towels and then we finally got in the car and we drove down the mountain a ways and we ran into a tree that was over the road so we had to turn

eyes were stinging, so we just grabbed a blanket and took of running." hundreds of homes, structures and resorts have burned.. including a 16 story apartment and hotel building. firefighters believe the worst may be over that's little consolation for the tourist town that's now unrecognizable.. voice of: chief greg miller, gatlinburg fire dept.: "we're dealing with the worst possible conditions imaginable." there are incredibly narrow windy roads in the mountains around gatl investigators are having a hard time making it to all of the areas. they know they haven't made it all of the backwoods areas yet because of trees down over the this is the worst wildfire in the state in 100 years. live in gatlinburg, tn ...

thousands of people walked off their jobs today across the u-s.. and here to take part in another round of demonstrations to raise the minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour. 13 action news reporter tom george is live near.. where some people are out on a picket line.. demanding higher wages.

hour, but it's really hard, i get so excited when i make 3-hundred on my paycheck... when i make 3-hundred on my paycheck... mcdonalds responding to today's

protests.. saying in part.. "we invest in archways to opportunity.. a set of programs for everyone that provides free high school completion courses and college tuition assistance so they can ning a high degree." authorities have now recovered..... the two black boxes from this of colombia..... killing -75- of the -81- people on board. initial reports suggest... the plane had electrical problems. but... investigators are also looking into an account from one of the -6- survivors..... that the plane ran out of fuel.... right before it was scheduled to land. -71- bodies have been recovered.... from the crash site.

event. unfortunately all we can do apart from praying for those who passed away is to give support to the families who are now in mourning officials say.... the team's defender is in the most serious condition.... of -6- survivors. and... a goalkeeper had his leg amputated. happening right now--a memorialtribute for former cuban leader fidel castro in cuba. this is a live look at a ceremony happei havana. it's day four of nine days of official mourning in cuba. there will also be a rally where cubans can pay their respects. his ashes will be on display in havana until tomorrow and he will be buried sunday. students returned to class today at the ohio state university.. as police learn more about a student who went on a violent rampage yesterday. investigators say 18-year old abdul artan plowed his car into a crowd oe people on a sidewalk

several victims with a butcher knife. abdul was shot and killed by a university police officer only moments after the attack took place. today.. one student talked about being slashed. initially it just felt like someone punched me in the hand, you just get that dull pain in your hand, then i looked down and saw that my entire hand was full of blood local and federal authorities are scouring through artan's social media posts.. including a comment on facebook only minutes before the t quote.. "i can't take it anymore." investigators are still unsure if this was terror related. an early morning tweet from the president-elect..... about what should happen if people burn.... the american flag... has sparked some backlash. he wrote... "nobody should be allowed to burn the american flag... if they do.... there must be consequences..... perhaps loss of citizenship..... or a year in jail." today.... several conservative leaders said.... they agree with the act.....

decision..... to protect those protest..... by burning the flag. it's worth noting that in the past... hillary clinton co-sponsored a bill..... to criminalize.... the burning of the american flag. nevada's casinos are hitting the jackpot in the latest gaming numbers. and experts say the rising revenue is good for the overall economic health of southern nevada. 13 action news reporter david schuman digs into the stats. fremont street is a good place for rhonda karl. 15:06:51 "did some gambling..because i'm a 15:10:49 "i do quite a bit of the slot machines." 15:02:45 "a little gambling there, a little gambling here." compare this october to last october. clark county gaming revenue was up more than 13 percent. 14 percent on the strip. david schuman "the numbers downtown are especially impressive. gambling revenues here on fremont street are up nearly 30% in the last year." 15:13:29 doug heath, long beach, california "people need to get their mind off whatever's going on in their world for a few hours and if they have a disposable income, they really

it." doug heath may have hit on something there with that "disposable income" piece. experts say the economy continues to bounce back from the recession...there are more dollars in pockets...which means more money to put in slot machines. 15:30:58 jeremy aguero, applied analysis principal analyst "it appears we've hit the bottom and we are starting to trend back up in combination with more visitors spending more money." gambling's not back to peak pre- recession levels...but a good month is a good month. so what does it mean for you? coming up at six -- a downtown casino owner told us why when up... in downtown las vegas..david schuman..13 action news. our "13 days of giving"..... is blowing up! just look at all the toys..... we're getting. our goal is to make sure...... every child in the valley receives a gift..... this holiday season. and... this is impressive.... today.... capriotti's sandwich shop donated bags and bags of toys... collected by employees. in one email we told the story and we basicially said we can help. we can actually make an impact to children in need across the valley. 13 action news.... the nevada highway patrol......

you to donate..... a new unwrapped toy..... valued between -10- and -20- dollars..... during "the 13 days of giving". there are donation bins..... all over the place..... you can drop it off..... at our station. there's also "nevada coin mart".... "las vegas paving"..... and at n-h-p southern command. a couple more drop off locations.... triple -a- southern evada and findlay toyota.... at the valley auto mall. and... of course... we want to thank.... findlay toyota..... nevada coin mart... and zippy shell. they're all proud sponsors.... of -13- action news and"t -13- days of giving". the banner-head across the top of the unlv student newspaper is going to look a lot different. tonight.. the big change that has people on both sides of a controversy fired up. take a look at this crazy video.... we found of a bold theft. a truck..... slams into a building. but that's just the beginning..... of this scary scene. plus.... it's so dry here......

have one of these. but... what's meant to help.... is now a danger. contact -13- is looking out..... for your family. karla... a storm ? music: it's a small world after all ? come join us this season, at the all new festival of holidays event...

area includes the city of macon missippi which is about an hour west of tuscaloosa alabama--there are tornado watches up right now in that area. there have been several tornado warnings across the south this afternoon and evening...inlcuding reported touchdowns in louisiana earler. no reports of major damage or injuries so far. a brazen smash and grab robbery is caught on camera in tampa, and you can't miss the smash. a huge truck rammed into the front of a gun store. seconds later.. about a dozen people run inside and grab whatever they can. in the surveillance video.. it almost looks like a swarm of people running around the store wearing hoodies and masks. tampa police say at least 40 handguns and rifles were stolen.. and it's not the first time they've seen this type of crime in the area. unlv's newspaper has a new name tonight..

yell' was too controversial. 13 action news reporter marti glaser explains the reasons behind the change.. and how students got involved in the process. nat ts been a long standing issue for the past few years. fontjacob lasky is the arts and entertainment editor-) sot 011822 the rebel yel being a confederate battle cry during the civil war the rebel yell now .... the scarlet and grey free press has been the only editorial independent newspaper since unlv's inception . change of name - also came with a history lesson 010443i that about in class was what it was in the civil war. 010451 standup.... well as you can see rebel yell..---is still the name on the front page of unlv's college newspaper - but when you head to page 4 it does announce the new name the scarlet and grey free press. a sign of unity . 005922 i never really thught to much into it but now like hindsight vision i feel like it was a good idea beacause we have become more diverse .

and that at unlv we dont aprove of racism and of treating other people differntly 005456 marti glaser 13 action news from contact 13... a-t-and-t is launching... several new video streaming services!!! you'll be able to stream video... using a variety of mobile devices. plus... you won't need a top-box... or satellite dish. best of all... you won't be using up when watching.... programming. content will be available through... either "direct t-v"... or fullscreen. and... a warning..... if you have one of these de-humidifiers.... in your home... a recall is being re-issued ... because they can overheat and catch on fire! the recall was first issued..... back in -2-thousand -13-.... these are linked.... to -4- hundred -50- fires.... and... -19- million dollars..... in property damage. they're made by "gree".... but sold.... under more than a dozen brand names... including g-e and kenmore.

tonight.. big time. 13-first alert meteorologist karla huelga is in the weather center with details on our first freeze warning of the season. karla. our current storm system is slowly exiting east and the breezy winds will taper down through the rest of the afternoon. however, it will be a cold night with our first freeze of the season expected tomorrow morning. a freeze warning will be in effect tomorrow morning from 2am-8am for central and county. the warning does include the las vegas valley with overnight lows between 31 and 37 expected. tomorrow will be a mainly sunny day with highs in the mid 50s as we will be between systems. thursday, high temps will warm by a degree or two, but it won't last as our next system will be making its way into the area. this means another cool down to

extra clouds. the system exits by saturday morning and we will gain a few degrees and see more sunshine, however the winds will still be breezy. we make our way to around 60 on sunday and monday, but by monday afternoon we will be back to breezy as yet another system starts to make its way into the area. by tuesday we'll be upper end about 10 degrees to the low 50s, with mostly cloudy skies. it's now possible to help children in need this holiday

up next.. we'll explain car seat. and... at -6- we told you last night about a dangerous road... that's become a dangerous road... that's become a death trap... for motorcyclists... tonight... what the county is doing to fix the road .... after our story.

state troopers and c-c-s-d police..... will be at the n-h-p southern command..... collecting toys and inspecting your child car seats!!! they also have a limited number of car seats and booster seats to give away.. and they'll even install them for you. it happens this saturday.. starting at 8 am at the n-h-p southern command on sunset near our current storm system is slowly exiting east and the breezy winds will taper down through the rest of the afternoon. however, it will be a cold night with our first freeze of the season expected tomorrow morning. county. the warning does include the las vegas valley with overnight lows between 31 and 37 expected. new on 13 action news live at six - two brothers killed in a drunk driving accident...

message for the mother of the victims in court. how she's responding, tonight at six. and... here's a look..... at what's coming up.... in tonight's prime-time line-up... right here on abc... at -8-... it's "the middle"... followed by "the real o-neals"... at 10... it's "agents of shield"... and... don't forget... we will see you tonight.. for 13 action news... live at 11.. finally.. a quick reminder.. 13 action news.. nhp and findlay toyota are asking you to donate a n and 20 dollars during or 13 days of giving. donation bins are all around.... the valley.... find the locations..... on k- t-n-v dot com. all gifts will be distributed.... by "the las vegas rescue mission".... to families in need. "findlay toyota".... "nevada coin mart".... and "zippy shell" are proud sponsors of 13 action news.... and "the 13 days of giving". that's our news for now.. but stay with us for abc's world news.. up next.

our k-t-n-v mobile app.... and... our roku channel. we'll see you back here.... in - 30- minutes for action news.. live at 6. until then.. thanks for watching.

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tonight, breaking news. the state of emergency right now. several major fires out of control in tennessee. thousands of families and tourists racing to escape. this hotel engulfed in flames. even dolly parton's dollywood in the path. some cabins catching fire. also breaking, the deadly plane crash. what we have just learned. what happened just before the crash. and the team onboard, the video of them fateful flight. and the six found outside the plane, alive. the attack at ohio state. the student on a rampage with a butcher's knife. what's now been discovered tonight. donald trump about to go to dinner at this hour with mitt romney and his wife. will romney get the job as secretary of state over rudy giuliani? and cameras in the court. the stunning moment. the officer who shot walter scott in south carolina. what he said on the stand,