Attack on the Central Coast of california. What were learning about the victim. The urgent race to get tested ahead of the holidays. Long lines growing while supplies diminish. In new york, crowds Swarming Covid testing sites as cases skyrocket across the country from the rapidly spreading Omicron Variant. The cdc now shortening the covid isolation period for Health Care Workers as many hospitals are pushed to the brink. So what can families do to gather together safely . The hurried scramble to get presents under the christmas tree. Some last minute deals for all the procrastinators out there. Overseas in afghanistan, defying taliban rule. A look at the women and girls fighting back to keep their education alive. Ian pannell reports from kabul. And America Strong tonight. A Community Coming together this holiday, sharing their wishes for better times ahead. Good evening, everyone. Thanks so much for joining us on this busy Christmas Eve. Im linsey davis, in for david. We have a lot to cover tonight, as Many Americans prepare for their second Holiday Season with the pandemic looming large once again. Airports are packed, but hundreds of Flights Canceled today. With more cancellations scheduled for tomorrow, Christmas Day. Shortages are caused by a surge of omicron cases nationwide. Many trying to get tested, but finding a test is proving difficult for many. And sometimes chaotic. These images from queens, new york. In the west, weather is further complicating the holiday. Slick roads may have contributed to this fatal crash in los angeles. And Higher Elevations getting up to ten feet of snow, Making Travel Difficult. We have team reporting. But we begin with elwyn lopez from atlanta. Reporter A Nightmare Before Christmas for thousands of travelers across the u. S. Hundreds of flights suddenly grounded ahead of the holidays. Aggravation. Theres really nothing you can do about it. Reporter united canceling nearly 200 flights. Delta, more than 160. And jetblue halting dozens. Sending passengers scrambling from l. A. I guess its sad, really sad. Reporter to atlanta. The whole trip has been canceled. We dont know how that happened. We dont know why that happened. Reporter weather partially to blame for some, but airlines citing a nationwide rise in covid19 cases impacting staff and crew as the Omicron Variant continues to spread. I called delta, threehour wait to get through. Reporter this all comes as more than 2 Million People made their way through checkpoints on thursday, reaching its highest peak of travel this Holiday Season. Lots of frustration at airports. Elwyn, joining us from atlanta. There are a lot of hectic travel days ahead. What are the airlines saying . Reporter were seeing a flurry of cancellations tomorrow. And although Christmas Day is the lightest travel day of the season, the issue might be getting that flight back. Cancellations expected to continue into the weekend. Linsey . Elwyn, thank you. Parts of the west are being battered by a deadly winter storm system. Millions on Weather Alert from california to wyoming. Days of heavy rain causing flooding and mudslides, Making Travel Difficult in parts of california. Will carr reports. Reporter tonight, Rivers Of Mud Closing Roads and forcing evacuations from an Atmospheric River fueling powerful storms. Dumping torrential rain. Look at the damage there. Reporter northeast of l. A. , fast moving flood waters, tearing off this section of a highway. It just shows the power of the rain that we had. Reporter in los angeles, one person was killed in this multivehicle pileup on the interstate 5 freeway. Firefighters working to extract trapped drivers. In San Bernardino county, this car flipped over in the mojave river, the driver able to escape. And on Interstate 80 in soda springs overnight, drivers trying to make it over Mountain Passes were stranded for hours in heavy snow. Whats going through your mind . Well, its the biggest fear is how long were going to be here because two kids in the back. We have three quarters of a tank. Reporter Avalanche Warnings for the high sierra, now extending into the Rocky Mountains of utah and colorado. Linsey, with these plows working around the clock, theres more snow expected here and more rain expected in Southern California for some dangerous conditions throughout the holiday weekend. Linsey . Will, thank you. Now lets get straight to the forecast. Greg dutra is with us from our chicago station wls. Time this all out for us. Reporter the relentless snow in the mountains and the rain on the west coast continues for days. Millions are underneath Weather Alerts from california to wyoming. Avalanche danger from the sierras to the continental divide. In the east, a system that brings rain will sweep into the northeast. It will mostly be a chilly rain, but could start out with snow. In the south, a warmup. 60 in d. C. For Christmas Day. Records are falling, 83 in dallas, 78 in nashville. Here in chicago, it was 53 today. That bests our normal temp by about 20 degrees. Linsey . Greg, thank you. We turn now to that breaking news. A fatal shark attack off of a california beach. Heres Kaylee Hartung with the latest. Reporter it happened in morro bay, north of los angeles, in an area of the beach known as the pit. Police and fire crews getting the call just after 10 30 this morning after the male surfers lifeless body was pulled from the water, first spotted by a fellow surfer. Morro bay, morro bay Harbor Patrol, unresponsive, north pitt and embarcadero road. Reporter the surfers Identity Unkknown at this time. The director of the Harbor Patrol telling abc news the bite appeared to be consistent with that of a great white. Authorities quickly posting signs warning families to stay out of the water. The last fatal shark attack in San Luis Obispo county was nearly 20 years ago. A woman was swimming with sea lions when she was attacked by a shark. Kaylee, thank you. We turn now to the pandemic. Omicron cases rising at an exponential rate. The country seeing more than 176,000 new infections each day. An increase of 45 in just the past two weeks. Nationwide, many are struggling to find tests. Heres trevor ault. Reporter tonight, the last minute rush for covid tests in the final moments before christmas. Cant find it any place. Cvs, shop rite, walgreens, walmart everybodys out of them. Reporter in queens, new york, dozens desperate for athome tests devolving into chaos and disorder. Those people are not in line dont give them one reporter Hundreds Of Cars in Los Angeles County snaking their way to a testing site. In georgia, this Church Offering tests hours before Christmas Eve service after months of promoting the vaccine. I would say, do you want to save your life . You want to save the life of others . Reporter with the Omicron Variant already dominant, the Biden Administration announcing it will lift its travel ban on eight african nations. The u. S. Now averaging 176,000 cases a day. Los angeles had just 3,000 on tuesday. Today, 10,000. We could be looking at case numbers we have never seen before. Well over 20,000 cases a day by the end of the year. Reporter and new york is enduring the most rapid spread. Shattering its daily Infection Record again with 44,000 cases, up 53 in 48 hours. This is not the same situation we had in march of 2020, or even last winters surge. Weve had more testing and weve had more opportunities, but also we know that hospitalizations are continuing to rise. Reporter and with omicron crippling staffing, new york now shortening the isolation period for asymptomatic Essential Workers to just five days. That comes a day after the cdc says Health Care Workers can cut their isolation period to seven days. The nations Largest Nurses Union now blasting the move, aying it will only result further transmission, illness, and death. President biden saying his advisers think the General Public should keep isolating for ten days. I just listen to my team, the docs, and they think we should keep it the way it is for now. Reporter but tonight, much of the country will finally return to a safe christmas together, thanks to vaccines, boosters, and negative tests. Its our first flight since 2019, and were triple vaxed at this point and we felt like it was okay. Reporter experts continue to stress, the best way to protect yourself is to get a booster shot. But threefourths of American Adults have still not gotten one. Trevor, thank you. And we know a lot of you have questions about whether its safe to gather. Lets turn now to dr. Patel. Happy holidays to you, doctor. Here we are on christmas. So many families preparing to gather. In terms of when to test, wearing masks, and getting vaccinated, what are the simplest steps to take . Happy holidays to you as well, linsey. First of all, have a good, open dialogue, know peoples vaccination status, and think about the rapid tests that should be taken right before going to a gathering. Ventilation is also a good idea. Not everyone can have an outdoor event. But Air Purifiers and open windows are a great idea as well. And think about how many people will be gathering. Try to limit the amount of people, maybe split it to a couple of days, push some tables aside. Do anything you can to limit that exposure. Some good advice. Were seeing reports of out south africa that omicron may have peaked there. Do you have concerns that the Holiday Gatherings will prolong omicron here . I do. I think people gathering together, especially during winter, is a reason that covid cases could spike up. People should assume that omicron may be visiting your Holiday Gathering as well. And think about everyone coming. If there is a positive case, you want to be able to do your own contact tracing, and get a test a few days after any gathering to know your status as well. Doctor, thank you. Just a few hours to finish up that last minute christmas shopping. And if youve waited this long, your options are limited, but theres still some gift options out there. Heres mireya villareal. Reporter tonight, that mad dash to get presents under the tree before christmas morning. I feel like everything is already picked out. All the good stuff. Reporter but for some, waiting could mean big savings. Old Navy Offering up to 75 off items in store or curbside. Best buy holding a lastminute savings event. Deals on tvs, laptops, and appliances. Some Items Available curbside within an hour. And theres always old reliable. My advice to the late Christmas Shopper is, number one, dont panic. There is always the gift card route. These days you can just email those gift cards right to the person youre trying to give it to. Reporter this year, a 50 doordash gift card will cost you just 42. 50. Proof procrastination may pay off this Holiday Season. If you had advice for shoppers, what would it be . Wait till the day after christmas and go shopping. Reporter shes right, if youre not seeing your family until after the holidays, you can possibly wait and get a better deal. Save yourself some stress and consider waiting an extra day or two. Thank you so much. Mireya, your first time on World News Tonight. Welcome to the team. We turn now to afghanistan. More than eight months after kabul fell to the taliban, some of the worst fears of women and girls are being realized. Their dreams of education now shattered. But many are not giving up. Ian pannell recently visited the country. Reporter tonight, the women and girls fighting back against taliban rule in afghanistan. This protest in kabul calling for bread, work, freedom, and political rights. The latest in a series of demonstrations, often met by a brutal taliban response. The militants have banned most girls from attending high school. But in a rare act of defiance some underground schools are springing up, classes being held in secret. This is an incredible thing to witness. There are a dozen girls here, all teenagers. At the moment, they are doing math and theyre also learning english. A whole bunch of other subjects. The kind of things that everyones kids take for granted. That every parent takes for granted, the rights for their children. But they only way they can do it is in secret, in private, and risking the wrath of the taliban. This is illegal. Why are you running a school and risking everything . Our girls were just sitting at home, the teacher says. I was shocked, i felt like id lost part of my body and i thought, i have to do something. Are you worried about coming to school . A little. A little. Reporter youre worried a little bit. Yes. Reporter why, because of the taliban . Because of taliban. Reporter but why do you come . I want to become a good doctor in the future, and i want to continue my education. Reporter but for most women and girls here, their dreams are now dead. And working and studying remains out of the question. This was your show . Yes. Reporter setara was a news anchor until the taliban came to town, when her station was shut down. One day you will do this again. I dont think so, setara says, because of the situation, i think i wont be able to do this again. Her 13yearold sister, zahra, no longer attends school. It was also shut down by the taliban. What would you say to children your age elsewhere in the world . They should study, and achieve, and help their country, zahra says. Why is that your message . Because we know what its like not to have school. Were so stressed, zahra says, we cant even leave our home. Today, theyre trapped at home. Rarely venturing out anymore. Playing with friends now a thing of the past. The mural on the wall outside the now closed ministry for Womens Affairs says it all. The taliban spraying black paint over a womans mouth whos proclaiming freedom. This is whats become of the women and girls of afghanistan. Linsey, some women are back at work and the taliban say more will be allowed to, and that girls will be able to go back to school. But theyve also been making those promises since last dont believe them. Ghans simply linsey . Some heartbreaking realities there. Ian, thank you. Around the globe, many are celebrating Christmas Eve. But the pandemic is forcing celebrations in bethlehem to be scaled back for a second year. Most International Visitors are banned. The pope celebrated Christmas Eve mass earlier than usual. And in great britain, Queen Elizabeth has taped her address to the nation. This is her first christmas without prince philip. And the first couple hoping to cheer up some children at a washington, d. C. , hospital. Still ahead on World News Tonight this friday, a wild brawl breaks out on a plane during the Holiday Travel rush. And new details related to the alleged School Shooter in michigan. Dont be fooled by the bike. Or judge him by his jacket. While teds eyes are on the road, his heart stays home. Hes got gloria, and 10 grandbabies, to prove it. But his back made weekend rides tough, so ted called on the card thats even tougher. And the Medicare Coverage trusted by more doctors. Medicare from blue cross blue shield. By your side, no matter what. Thats the benefit of blue. Find your local blue cross and blue shield plan at benefitofblue. Com o man, thats a whole lot of wrinkly at least my shoes look good and blue shield plan looking good start with bounce wrinkleguard, the megasheet designed to prevent wrinkles in the dryer. Maybe its another refill at your favorite diner. Or waiting for the 7 12 bus. 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Prosecutors accuse his parents of ignoring the warning signs. Filing new information in court about the shooters alleged torture of animals. Including keeping a baby birds head in a jar. Were also hearing the dramatic 911 call that led to the parents arrest. The parents of the shooter that are running away, theyre here. Its crazy that people are looking for them. The newest details come in response to the parents defense asking to lower their bond. Currently set at 500,000 each. When we come back, a louisiana Couple Leads Police on a 100mile Christmas Eve chase. And a man paid 30 for a drawing. You wont believe how much it could be worth. As a professional bullrider im used to taking chances. But when it comes to my insurance i dont. I use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. Wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. Hey tex, can someone else get a turn . Yeah, hang on, im about to break my own record. Yeah. 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A bunch of people around the neighborhood go and get notes from this drawer and write kind little wishes on it. Reporter handwritten wishes dangling on the branches of an ash tree. I wrote, for covid to be gone, because covid isnt that great. Ive already been quarantined from my class two times. Reporter both the young and old writing their wishes. From presents to peace, hopes and health, little cards with big ambitions blowing in the wind. One person writing, for a new year filled with blessings and love. Another, for a Safe Delivery and healthy new grandbaby due december 25th. Started a few years ago by a neighbor who wishes to remain anonymous. When you turn the corner on the street, and you see people stop, making a wish, it just warms your heart. A quick recovery for all the tornado victims. I hope i can be enough for everyone who needs me. Wishing for strength as we navigate the holidays without you. Rest in peace. I wish to be a soccer superstar. Reporter this group with this special message tonight. Merry christmas and happy new year warm wishes for everyone. Thanks so much for watching. For david and all of us here, im linsey davis. Merry christmas, have a great evening, and good night. Hey, angie you forgot your phone hey lou angie forget her phone again . Yep. Lou mom said she could save up to 400 on her wireless bill by switching to Xfinity Internet and mobile. With nationwide 5g at no extra cost. And lou on the most reliable network, lou smart kid, bill. [laughs] so true. And now, the moon christmas special. Gotta go get a great offer on Xfinity Internet, and youll get 12 times the speed for the same price when you add xfinity mobile. Switch today. Sing 2. Building a better fate bay area, building a better bay area, this is abc news. We are crossing our fingers. Fingers crossed. A stressful day for Holiday Travelers after several airlines canceled thousands of lights because of flights because of omicron. Officials are warning the worst is yet to come. You are watching abc seven news at 6 00, live. According to flightaware, more than 10,000 flights have been delayed and more than 2400 canceled outright. Our reporter was at sfo, where families are stranded and the staff says the worst is yet to come over the holiday weekend. Call it the nightmare before christmas as omicron fears jet into holiday panic. I keep seeing these cael