Theyre one of the most popular gifts this christmas. Now, an easy target for crooks. Tonight, the consumer warning. Good evening. Great to have you with us on this wednesday. Im tom llamas, in for david tonight. And we begin with breaking news. Tornadoes touching down right now. Deadly storms, just as tens of millions of americans held out for the holidays. This video just in. A massive tornado. Take a look at that. Ripping through the south. More than a dozen homes damaged or destroyed. This, as there are reports of multiple injuries. One of the twisters cutting through northern mississippi, and look closely. You can see debris whirling through the air. Tonight, part of the country under a tornado emergency because several more intense tornadoes could be on the way. All of this just as so Many Americans are on the move tonight, twohour delays at the airports. More on that in a moment. But we gun tonight with phillip mena in memphis, under a tornado watch for much of the day. Oh, man. Reporter late today, this massive tornado touching down in mississippi. Officials telling abc news, up to 15 homes destroyed and at least seven injured. Two severely. But the storms, firing up early. Dumping half a foot of rain on mobile, alabama. This neighborhood underwater. The street, looking more like a river. Widespread damage across the south as storms move through. The biggest threat for tornadoes is right here. More than 3. 5 Million People here under an extreme alert, called a particularly dangerous situation. In arkansas, 60 mimileanhour winds uprooting trees. An 18yearold woman died after a tree crashed into this home. An 18monthold baby pulled from the wreckage. The toddler was transported to a local hospital. The 18yearold female was pronounced dead at the scene. Reporter hon the other side of that storm system, heavy snow causing spinouts in wisconsin. Meanwhile, in the west, snow covered roads snarling traffic in utah. While gusts over 80mph in mojave, california, toppling 15 to 20 tractor trailers. Watch as the roof of this mobile home is ripped clean off. Those big rigs banned from the highway until the winds die down. Its scary. I dont like this truck rocking. Reporter and tom, these storms are still not over. The mayor of clarksville, mississippi, is calling the damage there horrific. Officials here in memphis are worried that Christmas Decorations could become projectiles at the storms fire up tonight. Tom . Phillip mena, thank you. Rob marciano with me now. The deadly storms and the tornadoes, where are they headed tonight . Reporter very dangerous now that night has fallen. We have five tornado watches across several states. Im worried about tennessee, as the storms get closer to nashville. Louisville, youll see strong storms and high winds possible across parts of ohio. I want to point out we have heavy rain impacting travel across the northeast. Atlanta, georgia, where flash flood watches are posted, across the carolinas and virginia. And rob, of course, the other big story tonight, the whitehot christmas here on the east coast. Reporter still on track to see records blown out of the water. Look at some of the numbers for daytime highs. 67, boston, 71 in new york and 73 in d. C. Scheduled to be the warmest Christmas Eve in many cities on record. Out west, thats where the snows are. At the higher elevations, going to want to bring along the chains, because the snow will be covering the roads in the mountains, tom. Rob, thank you. And that wild weather causing christmas chaos for the tens of millions traveling. If youre waiting for your loved ones, you may still be waiting. Twohour delays at airports coast to coast, at ohare in chicago and at Dulles Airport in washington, d. C. This new image tonight from flight tracker. Look at the planes in the air right now. And these live images from kgo in san francisco, near gridlock on the ground. Look at that traffic. Abcs gio benitez at Laguardia Airport tonight here in new york. Reporter by air and by road, its Holiday Travel madness on the very day youre trying to get home. Tonight, more holiday drivers than ever before, jamming the roads coast to coast. The traffic app waze crunched the numbers and says today is the worst day to be trying to get from point a to point b. Its 3 00 p. M. This is supposed to be the worst time to be on the road. And just take a look at waze right now. You see all that red . More than 100 million americans will be traveling between today and januaryrd. Most of them, more than 90 , will be right in a car. Its no better by air either. The number of cancellations tonight, double the daily average and growing. The flights delayed. Delayed. 20 minutes delayed. Madness. This is crazy. Reporter passenger keith caro has been standing in this line. Trying to board a flight since 9 00 a. M. To surprise his mom for christmas. So, wait a minute. Youve been trying to travel by air, and you tried to just represent a car and you cant do it. Cant do it. Reporter more than 4. 6 Million People going through chicagos airports. Ohare seeing an 8 jump in traffic over last year. And in northern california, one plane literally went nowhere. Taking off, circling in the air for four hours and then landing right back at the same airport because of technical issues. I thought i was going to die. People were really scared. Reporter and tom, back here at new yorks laguardia, Many Airlines are adding red eye flights tonight to help people get home for christmas. Tom . All right, gio, thank you. And on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, lastminute shoppers at the mall of america in minneapolis greeted by police in riot gear amid a protest by the group black lives matter, demanding justice after a Deadly Police shooting last month. Those protesters then moving onto the airport, linking arms and now late word of arrests. Abcs alex perez is there. Reporter bla black lives matter. Reporter protesters in minneapolis discorrupting one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Demonstrators vowed to bring mall traffic to a standstill. About 80 worried Stores Closing their doors. Protesters quickly shot down by police. So, here we are inside the mall and police are actually pushing the crowd thats coming into the mall out. Those protesters moving to minneapolis st. Paul airport, blocking a main entrance on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Traffic snarled. Many missing flights. Not that i dont support the cause and what theyre doing, but would have been upsetting to not get to see my family. Reporter the black lives matter protesters have been taking to the streets in minneapolis since jamar clark, a young black man, died november 15th after he was shot by white police officers. Demonstrators say clark was handcuffed when officers opened fire. Authorities denied that. The police union arguing clark was reaching for an officers gun. Today, several protesters were removed by police. At least four arrested at the mall. But they say the demonstrations will not stop until the officers involved are charged. And those officers are on paid leave, pending an independent state investigation. Here at the airport tonight, the roadways are back open and a heavy Police Presence as authorities try to get things back to normal. Tom . Alex, thank you. Lets turn to politics now, and a new controversy shaking up the race for 2016. Senator ted cruz firing back tonight after this controversial cartoon taking aim at his two young daughters. Tonight, cruz saying his kids and all kids are offlimits. But as abcs chief White House CorrespondentJonathan Karl tells us, now cruz is turning the controversy into cash. Please read this one, daddy. Reporter in an snl style parody produced by his campaign, senator cruz reads conservative christmas stories with his family. His young daughters, catherine and caroline join in. The whole family will enjoying reading stories masterpieces like the grinch who lostemails. I know just what ill do, she said with a snicker, i will use my own server and no one will be the wiser. Reporter the ad prompted the Washington Post to run a political cartoon depicting cruzs daughters as trained monkeys. Not much ticks me off, but making fun of my girls, that will do it. Its not complicated. Dont make fun of a 5yearold girl and a 7yearold girl. Reporter cruz and his gop challengers agree on this one. This is off limits. And ted cruz is absolutely right to be outraged. Reporter donald trump called the cartoon bad, marco rubio called it disgusting. The cartoonist was unapologetic, tweeting, ted cruz has put his children in a political ad. Dont start screaming when the editor yard cartoonists draw them, as well. Dear jesus, thank you for the food reporter long before the christmas ad, the Cruz Campaign posted extensive video of the kids for future campaign ads. Im ted cruz and we approve this message. Reporter and kids are often featured in campaigns. For example, this Obama Campaign video from 2012, which prompted no such political cartoon. The post eventually took the cruz cartoon down. The Editorial Page Editor explaining postpolicy is usually to leave the churn out of it, acknowledging they should have done that this time. Cruz is now using the cartoon to raise money. Im sickened, he writes to supporters. This shows you exactly how desperate the liberal media is to attack me and my family. Contracts and cruz has also offered up his own political cartoon. Featuring what he calls Hillary Clinton and her lapdogs the Washington Post and new york times. Jon, theres news tonight about donald trump. He made what many consider to be a crude comment about Hillary Clinton. Clinton telling the Des Moines Register that trump has a, quote, penchant for sexism, but trump is responding and tweeting . Reporter thats right. And this may not surprise you, tom. But he is not backing down. In a tweet directed directly at hillary, he tweets, hillary, when you complain about a penchant for sexism, who are you referring to . I have Great Respect for women, and then he cedes, tom, in all caps, be careful. Hes not done yet. A serious warning. Jon, thank you so much. To a somber homecoming tonight for six american troops killed in afghanistan. The dignified transfer in new castle, delaware, flagdraped coffins returning to their families. The airmen, five men and a women killed by a suicide bomber near Bagram Air Base on monday. The deadliest attack on american troops since 2012. Overseas tonight, also, to iraq, and the war against isis. U. S. Led air strikes helping iraqi forces, trying to recapture the key city that fell to isis in may. Iraqs army chief predicting today its only a matter of days before the city is back under their control. And back here at home, to a mysterious death in florida, making national headlines. An investigation under way after a florida woman collapsed outside a hospital, forced to leave in handcuffs and despite her pleas to stay, she then died. Abcs linzie janis now with what the autopsy now shows may have happened. Reporter angela donar says she watched her niece, 57yearold barbara dawson, collapse as police hauled her out of a hospital in handcuffs. They didnt do what they could. Reporter relatives say it all started around 10 30 p. M. Sunday night. Dawson was rushed by ambulance to this small florida hospital, complaining of stomach pain. She was evaluated by doctors and discharged just before 5 00 a. M. , but her family says dawson still didnt feel well and wanted to stay. Thats when lawyers for the family say hospital staff called the police. Families say nurses took her off the hospitals oxygen, and dawson complained of trouble breathing in the parking lot. This photo, taken by a family member, shows dawson where she collapsed, still in handcuffs near the police car. The general public should be strongly concerned that a person who is seeking medical help would end up in cuffs and end up dead. Reporter according to police, medical staff observed dawson had a pulse and appeared to be breathing. She was taken back into the hospital, where she died. The medical examiner telling police, dawson suffered a blood clot in her lungs. Tonight, the Calhoun Liberty hospital saying, it cant comment on why dawson was removed, but saying, in such cases, the safety and comfort of all patients is considered. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says it will investigate. Linzie janis, abc news, new york. Now, to that deadly hit and run in vegas. New images of the mother accused of intentionally ramming her car into tourists outside Popular Hotels on the strip. Her young daughter in the backseat. Lakeisha holloway appearing in court today for the first time, shackles around her wrists. Lawyers saying she is, quote, distraught. Holloway on suicide watch tonight. And an update now on that mysterious fire ball some of you may have seen, lighting up the night sky over nevada. Viszable in Southern California and as far north as sacramento. Tonight, mystery solved. Officials confirming tonight, it was a Russian Rocket returning to earth, breaking upon reentry. And theres still much more ahead on world news tonight. The consumer alert. The growing scam targeting one of the most popular lastminute holiday gifts. The warning about gift cards. Easy targets for crooks. How to make sure the card you buy hasnt already been drained of cash. And take a look. The firefighter trapped at the window, engulfed in flames. The fire all around him. How he survived. And, the little girls call to 911, reporting a christmas emergency. Millions of children will understand it. Youll hear her call and, we wh police found when they got to the house. Stay with us. Risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. But i wont accept is getting out there with less than my best. So if i can go for Something Better than warfarin, i will. Eliquis. Eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, plus it had significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. Eliquis had both. That really mattered to me. Dont stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. 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Abcs mar a schiavocampo. Reporter gift cards at the top of many a wish list. Shoppers expected to spend almost 26 billion on these cash cards. I think theyre a great clutch gift to give anybody. The easier choice. So you dont disappoint anybody. Reporter but tonight, 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 cards and your money. Reporter part of the problem . Cards can be as easy to use as cash. Heres how it works. Before you buy the card, thieves can copy its information, sometimes using handheld skimmers, later stealing the cards value. So, experts say, look for tampered packaging, especially at the scratchoff area in the back. Use the card right away. Register your card and be sure to use a reputable site, if you are thinking about trading in unwanted gift cards. The safest way to buy cards is online or from a locked drawer in the store. Reporter ensuring a holiday scam doesnt leave you saying bahumbug. Mara schiavocampo, abc news, new york. We thank mara for that. When we come back, the awkward mistake on live tv. The new headline tonight about steve harvey and Miss Universe. And, the close call on the ski slopes. Did you see this . The big change tonight after a skier was nearly taken out by a falling drone. Stay with us. En a moment spontay turns romantic, why pause to take a pill . And why stop what youre doing to find a bathroom . Cialis for daily use, is the only daily tablet approved to treat erectile dysfunction so you can be Ready Anytime the moment is right. Plus cialis treats the frustrating urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. 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So, when izzys help plopped out, she called 911. 911. 9116789 whe. Where is your emergency . Reporter a few minutes later. Hello . Reporter it was a policeman that came to check it out. So, i said, can i help you . A and he said, your daughter ca called 911. It worked out for the best, with little izzy learning a valuable lesson. Only emergencies, thats what you do. And dont call it for nonemergencies. Merry christmas, everyone merry christmas, kids. Reporter the end. Ron claiborne, abc news, old bridge, new jersey. And the elf on the shelf watches us sometimes. Thank you for watching on a wednesday night. Im tom llamas. For david and all of us, have a good night. This is jeopardy todays contestants are a housewife from atlanta, georgia. An attorney from tampa, florida. And our returning champion, a project coordinator from allen park, michigan. Whose 1day cash winnings total. And now here is the host of jeopardy alex trebek