it's thursday, december 24th. coming up on "early today," breaking news overnight. a dangerous tornado outbreak slams mississippi, and arkansas. and at least seven deaths. the last minute rush for holiday shoppers. hillary clinton fires back at donald trump over his vulgar slur. while ted cruz blasts a political cartoon that bed bikts his daughter. and the panic an elf on the shelf.

good morning on this christmas eve. at least seven people confirmed dead following extreme weather in much of the southern part of the country. storms which the national weather service called a particularly dangerous situation, the same such warning. >> reporter: a rare site for december mississippi. the south and midwest on edge and under the gun. >> tornado emergency continues for the cell that has been tracking through north mississippi this afternoon. >> roofs ripped from homes. aff off the roadway near mississippi. >> we're looking still at that

across parts of tennessee and mississippi. and there are 72 million who will still see the chance of severe weather overnight. >> reporter: in arkansas, rains and hard winds killing an 18-year-old woman. the storms brought heavy rains elsewhere in the south. making driving tough for truckers and holiday travellers alike. and in the nation's busiest airports, weather added to the wait as millions make their way home for the holiday. meteorologist schneider will join us shortly. it is crunch time with a record holiday rush on the roads and in the air with 100 million americans traveling more than 50 miles from home. last minute shippers and shoppers are facing a final few hours before christmas. here with more.

coast, the word of the day, volume. froms to post offices, roads to airports, take a look at the crush of passengers at chicago o'hare. >> just made sure i got here security. >> reporter: more weather delays on the east coast. 700 flights kansz canceled. >> the good news is it's not snow. >> reporter: out on the road 91 million trying to merge on the roadway. and we found the turnpike flipping far more burgers a today. >> a normal day, 1600 but today 5,000 or more. >> reporter: for the malls, this is do or die time with warm weather taking a big bite out of seasonal sales, retailers have been marking down to drive up

at this best buy in miami, mona lisa has been selling lots of wearable technology. >> i feel like they're simply trying to get their shopping done at this point and looking to come in, get great deals and be in and out. >> reporter: it's also the season to ship. the postal service processing 545 million packages. and dale had 200 to deliver. >> we're helping santa out at the busiest time of the year. and plenty of stores are staying open late tonight including target, walmart and toys' r us. and they protesters cut off access to a terminal, all this on one of the busiest holiday shopping and traveling days of the year. >> reporter: tense moments that minneapolis saint paul airport as black lives matters

of the terminal buildings. police were seen taking severalpeople in to custody and security check points were closed for some 45 minutes while outside the demonstration caused traffic chaos on an already hectic travel day. the protests started at the mall of america on one of the busiest shopping days of the year despite a court order, hundreds protested the november shooting death of 24-year-old jamar clark who they say was unarmed. federal and state investigations continue. many of the malls' stores closed and when they prevented protesters from entering, many boarded transit and headed for the airport. this comes a year after 1500 shut down part of the mall. angered over police involvement

men in ferguson, missouri and new york. donald trump is heading to commanding lead. a new poll has him getting 39% of support among republican voters. ted cruz is in second. ben carson, mark rubio and chris christie finish up the top five. nbc's hally jackson with more. >> reporter: after donald trump's crude "s" word describing hillary clinton's loss to barack obama. she's using three b words to describe trump's campaign. clinton arguing it shows trump's sexism and trump arguing he's been misinterpreted. mad at the media. ted cruz is also.

an editorial cartoon in the washington post shows his young daughters as monkeys after he put them in a campaign ad spoofing christmas stories. the cartoonist argus that made the kids fair game. >> don't mess with my kids, hillary kids, anybody's kids. live kids alone. >> reporter: the paper pulled the cartoon after they backed it up with words of their own. this comes as cruz capped a six day swing through states that vote march first, building momentum off three c words. crowds, in bigger numbers, more cash in the bank than any other gop candidate and a confidence of turning out conservatives in iowa and the south. that seems like your strategy to draft behind trump.

me to play political pundant. and i'm not interested in throwing rocks at anybody in this race. >> reporter: that's prompting words of warning that he may want not a detaunt but a dual. >> he will have to denounce trump's language. meteorologist bonny schneider is here with more on that severe weather outbreak. unfortunately, it's not over yet. we're still tracking it and look at wind, large hail and tornados. now, keep in mind, this number is likely to go up as we go through the day because we're going to get new reports into afternoon and into the hours as we go through. but we do have a tornado watch and that is in effect still for partsds parts of alabama and into mississippi. and a lot of the storm will push

parts of georgia and the carolinas. as we travel through this christmas eve, we're looking at fogging conditions developing through much of the midatlantic and the northeast. for those of you that are traveling, we're still looking at that wet weather to work its way through. national weather. now a closer look at the day ahead. we're looking at rain across a good portion of the northeast. you can see 70 degrees up into boston with record highs possible. that holds true for the southeast as well. but watch out for the threat for severe wekt ather with 70s in a good portion of the south. by christmas day, we will see improving conditions. what did one little girl do when her elf fell off the shelf? saechb

knocked over the elf and worried that santa would get mad, she called 911. and her mom woke up to see her daughter shoeing the police out the door. and she feels better knowing she didn't ruin christmas. and just ahead, daily fantasy sports illegal and santa clause will soon be leaving. and tracking his path since 1965. you can watch his progress at

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his friend, james mcnar was killed. and they concluded that he had not slept for 28 hours before the crash. and robert lewis deer wants to represent himself in court. this is after he took issue with with his attorney's suggestion that he was not competent to stand trial. and fantasy sports betting is considered illegal gambling under state law because it invauvlgs playing a game of chance or skill for money. this comes after new jersey called for draftkings and fandual to cease in their state. and check out this surveillance video that showed a smash and grab in south florida.

store and proceeded to steal $8,000 worth of jeans. they even made off with a mannequin. and at the sunday -- san diego zoo, christmas came early. the snow was created just for them. looks like fun. americans are projected to spend almost $26 billion on gift cards this holiday season, most of which are purchased in the four days leading up to christmas and they will purchase at least one gift card for the holidays. and the agency re -- is expecting 400 thousand more registrations. it's free for the first 30 days. in an effort to halt illnesses, chipotle has halted

and raw chicken will be maurnated in resealable plastic bags instead of bowls. just ahead, a college football bowl season is here. plus, an announcer is not letting anything get in the way of his christmas spirit. >> we wish you a merry christmas. we wish you a merry christmas. and a happy new year. >> you're watching "early today." day." ( ) just head around when you' for that perfect little something. walgreens has great gifts like toys, beauty gift sets, and photo gifts, and it' skip, and a bark away. most stores open til 10pm on christmas day. janet?

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this morning on "today" new mexico governor is apologizing after police were called to a rowdy holiday party she was hosting at a hotel. in sports, college football bowl season is here. the boise state broncos took on the northern illinois huskies in the san diego county credit union poin settau bowl. and they served up a lump of coal. boise state wins 55-7. and the godaddy bowl. the georgia southern eagles in the batople of the al battle of the birds and it was all georgia southeren in the

to the nba and a tight one in brooklyn brooklyn. nets facing the dallas mavericks. and fabbious young hits the three sending it into over time. and dirk novitski gets the bucket to take a one point lead and mavs win 119-118. and several nba stars, including stephen curry and carmelo anthony are lending their voices to a campaign to end gun violence. >> i heard about a shooting involving a 3-year-old girl this summer. my daughter, riley is that age. . >> we can all make a difference. >> this spot directed by spike lee and made in support for every town will run during the busy holiday schedule. and edwards didn't let a

his holiday spirit. >>. we wish you a merry christmas. we wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year i love the holidays. >> perhaps not your normal play by play but what better way to ring in the holidays than with some carolling. and jerry seinfeld has a special fest vs message. that's up next. next. olay regenerist renews from within, plumping surface cells for a dramatic transformation without the need for fillers your concert tee might show your age... your skin never will. olay regenerist.

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now for some entertainment news. a surprise twist to the annual kardashian christmas card. only the younger generation is featured. it shows courtney's three kids and kim and kanye's daughter, north. so, jerry seinfeld took to in instagram instagram. >> happy festivus. here's the metal poll and here's my grievance. everything. >> well, sony pictures is offering nfl players and their families free admission to their new film concussion. it features the dangers of

of a pathologist who brought awareness. the official newspaper for the vatican gave star wars the force awakens calling it confused and hazy while also saying it is more of a poor reboot than a sequel. and pope francis doesn't watch movies. interesting. so, i wonder who gave that review. >> his trusted advisor. all i heard is you don't have to watch the old ones to see the new ones. >> and people put their reactions to it. >> good reactions there. this is "early today" ." ." coughing...sniffling... and wishing you could stay in

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>> this is 7news now. >> christa: good morning, everybody. day before christmas. >> sarah: do you believe it. >> christa: all through the newsroom, right? we're good to go for 7news "today in new england." >> sarah: heavy rain falling across the area overnight causing some street flooding. drivers in wareham were caught off guard around 2:00 a.m. and had to be pulled out by tow trucks. >> christa: and down south the clean-up is just beginning. did you hear about these deadly storms? they moved across several states. at least six people were killed by tornadoes in mississippi, tennessee and arkansas. >> sarah: the cleveland circle chipotle at the center of a norovirus outbreak earlier this month has been given the okay to reopen. health inspectors gave it a final check on wednesday, and

serving again as soon as today. >> christa: and the man caught on camera stealing pricy laser christmas decorations from a home in lynn, we told you about this this time yesterday, he's now returned the items. we'll have more on his explanation to police and what the homeowner is saying. i think they're now all at least in the christmas smirt. >> sarah: a little misty out there on this christmas eve. let's send it over the chris lambert with more on your forecast. >> chris: hard to believe this is christmas weather. we have fog and areas of drizzle. a for mild air in place. soaking rains off shore. passing sprinkle or maybe patchy drizzle this morning and perhaps an isolated shower into this afternoon. that's it. most of the time it's dry. look at these numbers. 50 degrees in boston right now, but it's 64 in marshfield. this is the warm air that's rising northbound as we go through the morning hours. the temperatures will quickly jump once you change that wind direction from the northwest

we'll watch these numbers not only climb into the 60s, but approaching 70 degrees this afternoon, smashing any records that we have in the city of boston. visibility two miles. two miles out in worcester right now, as well. so we have some areas of fog, but we'll see some improvement as we go through the morning hours. here we go, upper 60s on average. any breaks of sun, any peeks of sun, i think 70 degrees is doable this afternoon. we're well above record territory. in fact, the record high this time of year, the city of bston, 61 degrees for christmas eve. we'll easily cruise past this. for anyone heading out the midnight mass, it doesn't get cold in a hurry tonight. temperatures still running on the mild side in the lower 60s to upper 50s. it is nice and dry this evening. no rain issues out there tonight. another look at the first as "today in new england" starts right now. >> christa: good morning. heavy rains falling overnight while you slept, catching some drivers near the cape off guard. >> sarah: deadly storms tear through the south, spawning tornadoes and leaving a path of

>> christa: and a local