Particularly dangerous situation that will extend into the evening. More than a dozen homes have been badly damaged in northern mississippi where a tornado struck this afternoon. One of numerous Southern States under severe storm threats today. Earlier at least one person was killed when violent weather rolled through arkansas. It is typical spring weather in those parts. But certainly not the usual stuff of early winter. And unsettled weather across the country has forced numerous Flight Cancellations and extended delays as flight tracker gives us a look right now at the busy skies over the u. S. Nbcs mark potter now with the very latest. You could see the wedge, coneshaped tornado on the ground. Reporter near clarksdale, mississippi, a funnel cloud ripped through this afternoon. People throughout the south and midwest were on edge. With numerous tornado watches and warnings in at least ten states. That is tornado seen it. You see trees stripped like that. Reporter early this morning in arkansas, soaking rains and high winds pushed a tree on to a house with five people inside. Killing an 18yearold woman and trapping an 18monthold girl who was rushed to the hospital. You only hear about the stories. You dont expect to be in them. Reporter meteorologists say this highly unusual weather pattern is the result of several weather patterns coming together. We have recordsetting warmth across the eastern twothirds of the nation the entire month. You combine those two with a big digging jet stream and, voila, you get thunderstorms and a tornado threat. Reporter the system brought dark, lowlying clouds and heavy rain an powerful winds that made for tough driving for truckers and holiday travelers alike. And the downpours caused flooding throughout the south. Large hail was reported in arkansas, and missouri, covering farm fields and roads and sounding like breaking glass. Learning of reports of possible tornado damage in illinois and indiana as well. While the worst of it is over here in memphis, many others throughout the region tonight are still bracing for rough night. Lester. Stay safe. Thanks. Lets get to meteorologist dylan dreyer. How far out does this extend. It is mostly through the night tonight. But there are several areas under the gun here with these tornado watches that are in effect for the next several hours. And within the watches we have of course had the tornado warnings. Some of the storms producing serious damage as mark mentioned with these tornados developing. Now tonight we are looking still at that risk of tornado activity especially across parts of tennessee and mississippi. But keep in mind, there are 72 Million People that will still see the chance of some sort of Severe Weather overnight. These storms producing gusty winds and large hail as well. Now if you are traveling on christmas eve, out in the pacific northwest, the especially through the mountain passes. That is going to slow things down quite a bit. Tomorrow in the southeast, were still looking at the chance of storms from atlanta to new orleans, back into houston. Although not as severe as what we are seeing right now. In the northeast, up and down the i95 corridor, it is a slow go on the roads. Rain heavy at times. Keep in mind, it does come with recordbreaking temperatures. Highs in the mid to upper 70s. So no White Christmas in eastern half of the country. But out in the rockies that is where the snow will fall. Lester. Thank you very much. Now to the chaos in and around minneapolis as activists began a protest at the largest mall in the country and moved on to the areas International Airport where they blocked roads and cut off access to a terminal causing a huge traffic backup as holiday travelers try to make their flights. Nbcs Kevin Tibbles now with late details. Reporter tense moments at the minneapolis st. Paul airport as black lives matter supporters try to occupy one of the police were seen taking several people into custody. And Security Check points were closed for some 45 minutes. 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 Barring group leaders, hundreds protested the november shooting death by police of 24yearold jamar clark who Authorities Say was unarmed. Federal and state investigations into his death continue. Many of the mall store closed and when security prevented protesters from entering, many boarded Public Transit and headed for the airport. [ chanting ] reporter todays march comes a year after some 1500 people shut down part of the mall. Angered over Police Involvement in the deaths of unarmed black men in ferguson, york. Tonight an airport spokesperson said normal operations have resumed. Kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. Elsewhere across the country, it is crunchtime. A record holiday rush on the roads and in the air. 100 million americans expected to travel more than 50 miles from home. Travelers and lastminute shippers and shoppers facing a hectic day made more complicated by the weather we talked about at the top of the program. Here is nbcs tom costello. Reporter from coast to coast, the word of the day, volume. From malls to post offices, roads to airports. Take a look at the crush of passengers at chicago ohare. Arriving and departing flights delayed by rain and fog. Just made sure i got here early enough to get through security. Reporter more weather delays on the east coast. Several hundred flights canceled. The good news is it is not snow. Reporter out on the roads, record volume. Trying to merge into traffic during the getaway. We found a mcdonalds on the connecticut turnpike flipping far more burgers than the typical day. On a typical day, we do about 1600. But for a day like today and a special holiday, we do 5,000 or more. Reporter the nations malls and Department Stores would love a boost in sales like that. For them, 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 customer traffic. I tend to be a late shopper. Reporter at this best buy in miami, they have been selling lots of wearable technology. I feel like they are trying to get their shopping done at this point and looking to come in and get great deal and be in and out. Reporter and tis the season to ship. The post Office Processing 545 million packages. In denver today, gale semanceki had 200 packages to deliver. Were helping santa out at the busiest time of the year. Reporter with just 36 hours away. Here in tysons corner, virginia, were seeing procrastinators but stores are staying open. Walmart, target, toys r us to name a few. You could go online and buy it. They call it click it and pick it if you dont want to navigate the malls. Lester, back to you. Tom, thank you. The man accused of killing three people and wounding nine others on an attack on a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic is telling a judge he wants to fire his public defender and demanding to defend himself. In response the judge has ordered Robert Lewis Dear to undergo a competency evaluation to determine whether he is fit to act as his own lawyer. It comes after a Previous Court appearance this month in which he railed against the public defenders, declared that he was guilty and called himself a, quote, warrior for the babies. We turn to a new c nfrnnn poll showing trump with a commander lead. 39 with ted cruz in second at 18 , followed by ben carson, marco rubio and Chris Christie. For trump and Hillary Clinton, no letup today in a war of words over one particular word used by trump. We get more tonight from nbcs hallie jackson. Reporter after Donald Trumps crude sword, describing Hillary Clinton loss to barack obama she got schlonged. She lost. Shes using three bwords to describe trumps campaign. Bigotry, bluster, bullying. Reporter clinton arguing it shows trumps sexism. Trump, insisting hes been misinterpreted. Mad at the media. Ted cruz is too. Not because of words but because of a picture. Not much ticks me off. But making fun of my girls, that will do it. Reporter a cartoon in the Washington Post shows his young daughters as dancing monkeys. After cruz put his ad, spoofing christmas stories. Ill use my own server and no one will be the wiser. The cartoonist argues, that made the kids fair game. Dont mess with my kids. Dont mess with marcos kids or hillarys kids or dont mess with anybodys kids. Leave kids alone. Reporter the paper pulled the cartoon as cruzs rivals backed him up with words of their own. Disgusting and nasty. The condemnation comes as cruz caps a sixday 5,000 mile swing for states that vote march 1, Building Momentum off three cwords. Crowds showing up in bigger numbers than before. More cash in the bank than any other gop candidate and a confidence in the Campaign Strategy of turning out conservatives in iowa and the south. That feels like part of your strategy to draft behind trump in the race. Is it . Friends in the media have been trying to get me to play political pundit and to attack donald trump. My approach is im not interested in throwing rocks at anybody in this race. Reporter that is warning that he may need a new tone with trump, not a detaunt, but a dual. In a twoway case, he will have to denounce trumps language if he hopes to be the republican standard bearer. They have both speculated they could end up head to head edging out a more traditional establishment republican. And while the establishment doesnt want that. Look at the numbers. Add up the leaders in that lane. Marco rubio, jeb bush and Chris Christie and it is still only half of what trump has. Lester. Hallie jackson, thank you. A solemn ceremony at an air base in delaware. The remains of six airmen killed by a taliban suicide bomber in afghanistan on monday were brought home late this afternoon. The dignified transfer ceremony was attended by defense secretary ash carter. Defense Officials Say the six airmen were killed while providing security for a meeting with local afghan leaders. Meanwhile, there under way tonight in iraq where Government Forces supported by u. S. Airstrikes have launched an offensive against isis militants in the key city of ramadi. Isis has occupied ramadi for months after driving out and humiliating iraqi forces. But now the forces have regrouped and are advancing, this time leaving isis in retreat. Our report from nbcs bill neely. Reporter ramadi is under siege. And its attackers say they will wrench it from the grip of isis within days. There is fighting. Iraqi tanks advancing steadily. An assault backed by dozen of airstrikes in a city where hundreds of american troops died in the war against saddam. The enemy now, a few hundred isis fighters using ieds, snipers and suicide bombers. But the iraqis confidence is high. From the celebrating is coming, god willing. Ramadi fell to isis in may. Iraqs army humiliated, retreating in disarray. Looking back now, sunni tribal fighters filming their own attack on what is a sunni city. The shia militias we filmed in the summer, held back by iraqs government for fear they would massacre sunni civilians. A u. S. Military spokesperson said the fall of ramadi is now inevitable. Though it will be a tough fight. Defeating isis here would be a major blow to a terror group which in recent months has lost two cities in iraq and much ground. Bill neely, nbc news, london. Still ahead here tonight, a private police force armed with guns and ipads, making a dent in crime get. As Police Forces across the country are cut in size due to budget pressures, private security teams are being brought in to fill the gaps. In fact, there are about twice as many private Security Officers as there are publicly funded cops in the u. S. The result is often messy and complicated. But in new orleans, an entrepreneur teamed up with a Rocket Scientist to create an Innovative Program that might be a model for the nation. Shows us how it works. Reporter the 78 square blocks of the new Orleans French quarter have a new sound. It is part of a sevenmonth old program. Sort of uber for cops. Riding three soupedup atvs and fielding calls directly from citizens on ipads, off duty Police Patrol 24 7. Complete with guns and the ability to make arrests. From drug deals, to robberies. It is an Innovative Program for a city where crime was out of control. Rapes were up 39 last year. Armed robberies, 37 . State troopers were brought in to help the Police Department historically mired in corruption. But more seemed to be needed and that is when sydney torres stepped in. The Real Estate Developer made a fortune in the crash business after katrina. They called me the reporter he teamed up with bob sims. A retired Rocket Scientist. I think were batman and robin. Reporter the bat signal went up when burglars broke into torres home. He took out an ad. You struck a nerve with the mayor who was none to pleased by this. What did he say . If it is so easy maybe he should take some of the money and do it himself. I said, wait a second. If he lets me, i would. He spent 500,000 of his own money buying the atvs and paying the offduty officer 50 an hour. And creating an app to report directly to the cops on patrol. It has made Response Time mere minutes. If there is a call . There is one now. There is two now. You think it was a crazy idea . Crazy. Chief of police is a believer. It had immediate effect because response to crimes was fast. Reporter and crimes did fall right away. Even the mayor changed his tune. So you started out throwing a few punches. Weve been transferring our entire lives and i challenged sydney, if you are such a big shot, put your money where your mouth is. He did. And to his credit, he did. Reporter and in seven months Violent Crime is down a whopping 45 . The success means fewer calls coming through the app. The less app calls is because we are safer. It is not rocket science. You had to work that in, didnt you, bob. Reporter cynthia mcfadden, nbc news, new orleans. Were back in a moment with a fireball in the sky that led to speculation. New fallout from the highway crash that killed a close friend of comedian tracy morgan and left morgan in a coma. Crashed in a limo van carrying morgan has been charged with firstdegree aggravated manslaughter among other crimes. Kevin roper was behind the wheel of a walmart truck during the crash on the new jersey turnpike. Investigators say he was awake for 24 hours but his attorney disputes that. A big present for beatles fans tonight. Just after midnight, the entire catalogue of songs will be available on Major Music Streaming Services worldwide, including spotify, apple music, google play and amazon prime. The beatles were one of the last big groups to hold out from streaming. And todays announcement is expected to bring more users to streaming sites. If you were in the west last night, you may have noticed something unusual streaking across the sky. A fireball seen in california, nevada and arizona. And it led people to wonder about it on social media. Some thought it was a shooting star or a meteor. Others thought it was santas sleigh. Later u. S. Defense Officials Say it was the body of a russian atmosphere. When we come back, a neighborhood where putting up the holiday to describe it. Finally tonight, light, there are neighborhoods in america where the Christmas Lights show has been elevated to high art. Or the holiday version of can you top this . We found one of those neighborhoods where decorating for the holidays takes on a whole new meaning. Harry smith shows us why. Reporter every town has one. A neighbor or a neighborhood where the Christmas Lights have to be seen to be believed. In brooklyn, it is deicker heights. Bungalows and big houses decked to the max. A mustsee. Lucy spottas house. 30 years at this and she cant stop. There is a space there. Lets put that there. Lets buy this and get that. And it becomes lucys house. Cops block the streets so it is safe to stroll. What does it make you feel like when you walk up and down the street . You are happy. And you are smiling. How could you not smile. When you see all of this decoration. There is nothing like this in the world. Nobody does that. Well maybe not exactly. Tracy, california, fitted out like it is from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. And one guys house in vegas turns into a juke box. Topping the charts, metallica. Daylight in december is hard to come by. So from ancient times folks have done their best to compensate with candles and greenery. Electricity made it possible to go allout. Allowing multitudes of people to connect with their inner clark grizwald. If your light count reaches the hundreds of thousands, these days you are just getting started. Yes, it is excessive. And more is never enough. But it sure is worth it. Merry christmas. Reporter harry smith, nbc news, new york. And that will do it for us on this wednesday night. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, thank you for night. Jim here for the first time with her lawyers are saying about her mental state. Christine a homeowner opened fire on teenagers after the enter his home. How it unfolded in a valley neighborhood. Jim a Record Number of people are traveling in and out of las vegas, we have what you need to knowu news three live announcer live, from las vegas, this is news three. She is distraught. This is tragic for everyone involved. Reporter the 24yearold woman accused of deliberately crashing her car into a crowd of people on the las vegas trip, killing and injuring others, igida. I do believe she acted intentionally