making news in america this morning, deadly storm, tornadoes tearing through the heartland flipping a tractor trailer and ripping homes and buildings apart. the new video just in and where the severe weather is heading. 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. 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. those deadly storms slamming the south. >> at least eight 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 crossed interstate 55 tossing a tractor trailer on its side and reducing homes to rubble. looking at the massive system, still raking across a wide swath of the southeast. abc's kenneth moton leads us off. >> reporter: caught on camera overnight. >> 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 confirmed twisters that left eight people dead and 40 more injured. >> i can't stick around here. i'm going to go find cover.

>> reporter: in holly springs, a 7-year-old boy was among the dead. drivers were caught on the roads trying to figure out how to escape. >> you don'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 winds threw vehicles around, ripped down power lines and destroyed homes. tornado damage here, but out west, more severe weather. the roads were snowy mess in utah impacting traffic. 80-mile-per-hour wind gusts in sh mojave california toppled tractor trailers. >> i don't like it rocking. >> reporter: big rigs were banned until the winds died down. there are states of emergency as residents try to pick up the pieces on this christmas eve. kenneth moton, abc news, washington.

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

eastern seaboard so the threat for tornadoes has diminished but the threat for heavy rain and mountain snow is increasing out west, we're looking at big travel delays around san francisco with heavy snow over the higher terrain. big-time warmth on the way for the eastern seaboard and temperatures approaching 30 degrees above normal. it will make it feel like it's in the 60s and 70s. 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 depicts cruz as an organ grinder and his daughters as dancing monkeys and followed his 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, all of us learned in kindergarten, don't hit little girls. it's not complicated. 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 charged with murder, child abuse as well as hit-and-run. these currently on suicide watch. one person was killed in that accident. the coroner says jessica valenzuela died of blunt force trauma. a black lives matter activist said the mall of america was used as a decoy to start a protest that quickly moved to the minneapolis airport. a dozen people were arrested and two demonstrations, protesters are angry over the killing of a black man by police there.

they claim jamar clark was shot while handkwufed. the six service members killed in afghanistan by a suicide bomger are back in the u.s. defense secretary ash carter was at dover air force base in delaware for the return of their bodies. among them was a new york city police detective and an air force major who's believed to be the first openly gay active duty service woman to die in combat. the british prime minister is getting involved after a family's trip was spoiled by u.s. homeland security. the british family, two brothers and their nine children was stopped at the airport's departure gate. they say they were the only muslim-looking people on that line for the flight from the uk to los angeles. >> we actually melt humiliated, alienated because the way we was dealt with it was out of the ordinary. >> well, the family is now out more than $13,000 just in airfare along plus other bookings. u.s. officials say they were not denied entry because of their

religion but the british government is demanding an explanation. around the world christmas celebrations are getting under way. in nazareth the birth of jesus christ was re-enacted with special details recreating what jesus' hometown may have looked like in biblical times. pretty impressive. olive tree there. >> they even have the authentic olive tree. another major hotel chain investigating a hack on its payment systems. caught on camera. a helicopter trying to land in windy weather. something crashing in front of stunned tourists. plus, christmas emergency. a little girl calls 911 over an incident with her family's elf on the shelf.

this would be the aftermath. a tangle between a small and a snowplow on an airport runway in telluride. the operator estimates the plane struck him while going 100 miles an hour. unbelievably, he is okay. as are the seven people who were on board that plane. no word on why it was trying to land on a closed runway at the time. former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky will receive a rather large pension payment. he is serving a lengthy sentence. the pension system stopped his monthly payments the day he was convicted. that was three years ago. a court ruling now, that was illegal because sandusky retired in 1999. he will be mailed a check for $211,000 next monday and his monthly benefits nearly $5,000 will resume next month.

the embattled chipotle restaurant chain is trying to move beyond the recent outbreak of illness. more than 50 customers came down with e. coli in the chipotle near boston college will re-open today after passing a health inspection. about two dozen patrons became ill with the norovirus. you could add hyatt to the latest hit by hackers investigating malware found on computers used to process customer payments. guests are advised to review credit card statements for unauthorized charges. the breach only affected hotels managed by hyatt. hi columbia house is getting a relaunch but there is a little bit of a twist. the new owner wants to revive the mail order company with vinyl records. john lipman purchased the company at auction for $1.5 million, but it is unlikely that the 12 lps for a penny model

that that is coming back. >> okay. >> we'll take it. when we come back a community demanding answers because of a woman's death after she's forced to leave a hospital. and smashing into a store getting away with the goods, a truck used in a smash and grab. right when you feel a cold sore, abreva can heal it in as few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. without it the virus spreads from cell to cell. only abreva penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. you could heal your cold sore, fast, as fast as two and a half days when used at the first sign. learn how abreva starts to work immediately at abreva.com don't tough it out, knock it out, fast. with abreva.

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recapping our breaking news eight people are dead after violent storms spawning at least 21 tornadoes slammed across several southern states and it's not over yet. tornado watches remain in effect across parts of four southern states and flood watch continues from atlanta to asheville, north carolina, which can see an additional 2 inches of rain today. the latest weather radar shows that system marching across the east stretching nearly 1100 miles. it's huge from the gulf coast into western new york and another giant system is swirling over northern new england. now for a look at your morning road conditions flooding conditions across the south up the ohio valley and into the northeast. roads slippery across the inner mountain west and wet up and down the west coast. flying, airport delays possible in new orleans, atlanta, charlotte, washington, d.c., new york and san francisco. well, this morning there is an uproar in florida over a woman who died after she was forcibly removed from a hospital.

>> barbara dawson's family blames the police and medical center. the 57-year-old had gone to the hospital complaining of stomach pain. hours later the hospital released her and when she refused to leave called police. she was arrested and taken outside. >> the general public should be strongly concerned that a person who is seeking medical help would end up in cuffs and dead. >> the hospital says the cause of her death a clot is very difficult to detect and treat. dawson's family is considering whether to sue the hospital, the police or both. a walmart truck driver is facing charges in connection with last year's crash that seriously injured tracy morgan. a grand jury indicted kevin roper, the charges include first degree aggravated manslaughter. investigators found that roper hadn't slept for 28 hours before the crash. all of this along the new jersey turnpike. morgan's friend was killed in that crash. well, a vacation in paradise took a dangerous turn when a helicopter landing went all wrong. the chopper with seven people on

board was landing at a resort in fiji but as soon as it touched down it lurched forward and crashed into a palm tree and came to rest next to a 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 valued at $600 a pair. they even stole two mannequins and at another grabbed hoverboards, they can be seen on camera using a cart to carry out boxes of them. >> $600 pair of jeans. wow, all right. the new york giants will be without o'dell beckham jr. his appeal of the suspension he received for vie lint conduct last sunday against carolina was heard at the nfl office here in new york city yesterday and that was denied. he will not be playing against minnesota.

josh norman of the panthers was fined $26,000 for his role in sunday's ugliness. two nfl teams that will be playing tonight are the chargers and the raiders. >> don't forget the nba. we get last night's hi highhighlights from espn. >> welcome to our set here in los angeles. he's neil everett, i'm stan verrett. the cavaliers and warriors will meet on christmas day. what they did leading up to it. >> look at this. i, 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. you know, the warriors, you know, listen, i watched this game, because you are listening, but -- >> you won't. >> people are going turn the channel. >> what were you saying? >> 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? >> they're ready. lebron james stays ready. carmelo engine out. it was tougher than you think for cleveland. lebron james, lebron james finishes there and then look at this. >> oh. >> he was about to get his stocking stuffed and so he just rolled on by. james, 24 point, 9 rebounds and five assists as the cavaliers take it, 91-84. on to christmas. they're part of the christmas quintuple header and on abc and espn. check your local listings for times in your local area. >> there are five games. >> look at this tie. >> there's no green in here. >> christmas is green and red. >> this looks holiday, right? >> back to you. >> he's wearing purple. he's not even wearing red or green. >> like a scottish holiday.

>> for them. let's hope they're wearing something underneath. christmas surprise, one woman's gift that got this reaction. >> a goat's antics in a nativity scene going viral. i sure had a lot on my mind when i got out of the hospital after a dvt blood clot. what about my family? my li'l buddy? and what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital but i wondered if this was the right treatment for me. then my doctor told me about eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots, but eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. knowing eliquis had both... turned around my thinking. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve

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>> don't call it for knowledge emergencies. merry christmas, everyone. >> well, that's good. it's like public service announcement for christmastime. the elf on a shelf tradition comes from a picture book of the same name 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. >> kids aren't allowed to touch the elf they are allowed to tell it what they want for christmas. next up, quite a surprise pore 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. >> check out grandma's early christmas present.

>> my gosh. >> everything i dreamed of. >> but everyone wants for 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. this is just incredible. so happy. >> her initial reaction where she's all like in tears and jumping up and down just great. she still has not let go of her grandchild, by the way. >> she tells me she's going to spoil this baby rotten. a goat stole the show during a live nativity scene. >> at one point he wanted a bigger role in the production and hopped into the manger and didn't stay long. >> the improv moment gave the audience an actors a laugh. there was no baby inside >> that's a relief. all right, for more news after this.

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>> good morning, i'm tamala edwards, it's december 24, christmas eve. here's what's coming up next on "action news." it's not been an easy start some people as severe slamsment midwest. our rain has move out, well have record temperatures for christmas eve. we have 70s in accuweather. >> an is it -- santa has beguns world journey, we'll be tracking him and more for christmas medal of honor. ho those.

your poor son. >> gift cards are an easy way out for those last-minute presents but mara schiavocampo reports they come 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. >> 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 cars and 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. here's how it works, before you buy the card, thieves can copy its information, sometimes using handheld skimmers, later stealing the card's value. so experts say, look for

tampered packaging especially at the scratch-off area in the back and use the card right away, register your card and be sure 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 drawer in the store. >> reporter: insuring a holiday scam doesn't leave you saying, ba hum bum. mara schiavocampo, abc news, new york. >> and, folks, we should mention happy 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 rescue bot. >> santa so bringing that. >> santa, sorry. thats's what's making news in america this morning. >> happy christmas eve.

>> we're following a breaking story on december 24. a driver was gunned down overnight and now police are looking for witnesses. >> developing now, crews are searching for survivors after deadly storms kill 8 people in the nation's heartland. get ready for a warm christmas eve, we're wearing record breaking temperatures. i wore a sweater it may