tonight, a major storm system snarls holiday travel for millions. plus the new threat for severe weather heading into the week week. heavy rains caused trouble on some of the busiest roads on the east coast. just as millions head home after thanksgiving. travelers packed into airports nearly at prepandemic levels with all that pent-up demand. severe storms could cause more trouble in the south this week as the mountains in the northwest get buried under snow. rob marciano times it all out. >> also, chaos in china. massive demonstrations over covid lockdowns, unprecedented acts of defiance, even calls for president xi's ouster. protesters blame those strict zero covid policies for trapping residents inside a burning apartment building, killing ten. >> new fallout after trump's dinner with kanye west and a white nationalist. what the white house is saying as prominent republican leaders

stay silent. >> heartbreaking unfolding in new york city where a young mother is suspected of stabbing her two sons to death. >> growing concerns over airport security after one man is arrested for allegedly holding a razor to a passenger's neck, just weeks after passengers were reportedly threatened with box cutters. >> nfl star odell beckham jr. removed from an american airlines flight. police say he appeared to be in and out of consciousness. >> the dramatic rescue at sea caught on video. a cruise ship passenger overboard in the gulf of mexico for nearly 24 hours. how the coast guard pulled off this daring rescue. the incredible new images just in. a plane crashing into power lines, cutting off power to tens of thousands. and irene cara inspired a generation. tonight we remember the icon who asked us to remember her name. >> announcer: from abc news world headquarters in new york, this is "world news tonight." >> good evening, everyone.

thanks so much for joining us on this sunday. i'm linsey davis. as we come on the air, millions are brieving a slow trek home on what is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year. a storm in the northeast corridor is disrupting holiday travel for millions. these are images from i-95 in fairfield county, connecticut. 49 million people were expected to hit the road this holiday despite gas prices at the highest levels they have ever been for thanksgiving. millions are also taking to the skies. this was the scene at atlanta's airport earlier today. the tsa screening close to prepandemic numbers all week across the country. heavy rain is expected to linger in the northeast throughout the evening. hundreds of flights have been delayed. relatively few cancellations. but rob marciano is tracking a new storm threat, and we begin with mona kosar abdi in new york. >> reporter: tonight, a major storm system striking the northeast as millions head home for the busy thanksgiving holiday. heavy rain impacting the busy i-95 corridor, from d.c. to

philadelphia, all the way up to boston. hundreds of flights delayed, dozens canceled, but among major u.s. airlines, fewer than a dozen flights grounded, a far cry from this summer's chaos in the skies. philadelphia international airport, busy all day. >> it was busy. it was busy getting through the tsa. it's more people traveling now than ever. >> reporter: we met chris wolf and stacie lessoff at new york's laguardia airport who say their flight was delayed two hours. would you guys say that there are a lot more people traveling? >> oh, yeah. the line outside was like insane. >> reporter: air travel nearing pre-pandemic levels. the tsa screening nearly 15 million people since last sunday, with today expected to be the busiest travel day so far this year. 49 million hitting the roads despite gas prices at a thanksgiving record high. >> this is $4.19. i was like, this is crazy. >> and linsey, here at laguardia airport, no major problems to report aside from a new delays. the tsa also earlier this month reducing the cost of enrollment

of tsa precheck ahead of an already busy holiday season. linsey. >> mona, thank you. >> today's wet weather is slowing down travel, but severe storms are on the way early this week. let's get straight to rob marciano. tell us what we can expect. >> well, it's been a mess all day long along the i-95 corridor. this is a big system, going to take all night i think the clear. let's show you the radar where the steadiest rains are entering through new england. the low is back over ohio and michigan. so heavy rains tonight will end from west to east, but hang around, northern new york and northern new england, it does clear by the morning. pacific northwest, next storm up, this one bringing in valley rain and mountain snow through the cascades to the rockies. could see one to two feet, certainly some cold air, and that energy dropping into the plains late monday. by tuesday afternoon and tuesday evening it looks to be a powerful severe weather setup. potential for seeing tornadoes from central louisiana up through memphis, tennessee,

through the overnight hours of wednesday. looks to be a dangerous time for the south. > we know you'll keep an eye on it for us. thank you. former president trump is under fire after a controversial dinner at mar-a-lago with kanye west who now knows by ye, and a far right extremist, nick fuentes. the meeting comes weeks after trump announced his 2024 presidential bid. trump now says he didn't know fuentes or didn't know he would be there. maryalice parks joins us now. how is the biden administration responding? >> yeah, linsey, it all comes after that dinner between former president trump, kanye, and nick fuentes, who has been labeled a white supremacist by the justice department, and he's well known in far right circles for his brazen, sexist, racist, and extremely anti-semitic views. the white house telling us bigotry, hate, and anti-semitism have no place in america, including at mar-a-lago. holocaust denial is repugnant and dangerous and it must be forcefully condemned.

the former president claimed the dinner which happened last tuesday was supposed to be between just him and kanye and said, quote, he arrived with a guest who i had never met and knew nothing about. in response to the dinner, the republican jewish coalition called on all political leaders to reject kanye and fuentes' hate and refuse to meet with them. trump's own former ambassador to israel put out a scathing statement, too. he said even a social visit with fuentes was unacceptable. he urged trump to disavow them. tonight, still no response from gop leadership on the dinner. linsey. >> quiet on that front. maryalice, thank you. >> we turn now to china, the unprecedented covid protests sparking chaos. police were out in force in shanghai and across china, clashing with demonstrators, some of whom are demanding the ouster of president xi and renewed concerns about the international supply chain. here's lama hasan from london. >> reporter: tonight, riot police cracking down across

china. a major show of force, officers swooping in, dragging protestors away. among those arrested, a bbc reporter covering the demonstrations. he was beaten and kicked by police. police are desperately trying to stop these unprecedented acts of defiance now spreading to several cities. thousands of people taking to the streets, outraged over the country's harsh zero-covid restrictions. some in shanghai brazenly calling for president xi jinping to step down. we should end his dictatorship, this woman says. he only cares about himself. publicly pointing the finger at their leader and the communist party, holding blank white pieces of paper, now a symbol of these protests. fighting against censorship and demanding freedom. this latest wave of demonstrations, fueled by the recent deadly fire at an apartment complex in the western city of urumchi, ten people killed. residents blaming the strict

covid measures for hampering rescue efforts, saying they couldn't escape and firefighters were unable to get through, taking them three hours to put out the flames. officials denying the claims. it comes just days after clashes erupted at foxconn's largest iphone plant. police in hazmat suits beating protesters, as some smashed surveillance cameras, and threw metal barriers at police. workers angry because of disputes over a delay in unpaid bonuses and the company's handling of an outbreak. >> such powerful images coming in from china today. lama hasan joins us tonight. we know these protesters are calling for president xi to resign, but is there any chance at all that could happen? >> linsey, that's a highly unlikely scenario. in fact, only last month, president xi secured an unprecedented third term as the country's leader. with these simultaneous demonstrations sweeping across china, the question is what happens next? how will the president respond, how will the communist party deal with this dissent? >> the frustration only seems to

be spreading. thank you. next tonight, the flight scare aboard a jetblue flight out of jfk. a utah man is facing federal charges after allegedly threatening another passenger with a razor. the man was taken off the plane but now many are asking how this could happen. here's abc's zohreen shah. >> reporter: tonight, as millions hit the skies, new concerns after a man allegedly threatened a woman mid-air with a razor blade. >> jetblue ops reporting they had male passenger threatening other passenger with a pocket knife. pocket knife has been removed from the aggressor. >> reporter: that utah man identified as 41-year-old merrill darrell fackrell, seen right here being escorted off the jetblue flight from jfk to salt lake city and later charged with carrying a weapon on an aircraft and assault with a dangerous weapon. the u.s. attorney's office stating that fackrell was seated with a married couple when the woman realized he had his hand clutched with what appeared to her as a knife, inches from her skin at her throat/neck area.

passenger abe niederhauser was sitting close by when he says saw the assault happen. >> they both stand up and he, like, is grabbing her and has something in his hand. >> reporter: jetblue saying crew members de-escalated the situation and notified law enforcement and that safety is their top priority. all of this comes two weeks after a man allegedly threatened passengers with two box cutters on a frontier airlines flight from northern kentucky. >> where is the box cutter? where is the box cutter? >> reporter: tsa admitting in the frontier airlines instance their agents did not follow standard operating procedures, they removed the visible blades, but gave the box cutter back. they sent some agents back for training. and with that latest incident, tsa says they're introducing new x-ray technology at more airports to help better detect items like the razor that was allegedly used. linsey. >> hopefully that will help. we turn to ukraine and the urgent power crisis following devastating russian strikes.

the capital of kyiv is now blanketed by snow. temperatures are dropping below freezing throughout the country. and many residents are without power, heat, and in some cases water. crews are working tirelessly to restore essential services. marcus moore is in kyiv. >> reporter: linsey, russia launching new strikes across ukraine, punishing the country's badly battered power grid. millions of people in the dark right now as snow falls in major cities. russia's major aerial attack focused on the city of dnipro in the southeastern part of the country over the weekend. video circulating online, showing flames tearing through buildings in that region. more than a dozen people died in the fighting in that region over the past couple of days. here in kyiv, the race to keep people warm is under way. we went to one of the dozens of warming centers that have been set up around kyiv for people to find heat and safety in the event there's another wave of attacks that knocks off the power here. electricity has been restored to

most areas at least in a limited capacity and wat it means is the ukrainians still here in the country get about four hours of power each day if they're lucky. linsey, that is the new way of life for the millions here in this country as they face a very long and very brutal winter ahead. this war now in its tenth month. linsey. >> almost a year into this, and no sign of letting up. marcus, thank you. tonight, we're hearing from a second hero from the club q shooting. petty officer thomas james who helped subdue the alleged gunman is speaking out from his hospital bed where he's now recovering from his injuries. james said he simply wanted to save the family that he found. five people died in the shooting at the popular lgbtq colorado springs club last week. president biden has recently called for a ban on assault weapons like the one allegedly used in the shooting. we turn now to the dramatic rescue at sea. what one official called a thanksgiving miracle. the coast guard managed to pull a man from the water in the gulf of mexico almost an entire day had passed since he was last

seen aboard a cruise ship, and tonight we hear from the coast guard on how they pulled off this astounding mission. here is elwyn lopez. >> reporter: tonight, a cruise ship passenger who'd gone overboard, treading water for nearly a day, dramatically rescued in the gulf of mexico. >> swimmer's in the water. >> reporter: this remarkable moment captured 20 miles off the coast of louisiana. a coast guard chopper quickly sending down a basket. the 28-year-old man first miraculously spotted by a passing cargo ship, the coast guard then finding him barely above water, waving frantically. >> they assessed him as suffering from mild hypothermia. his condition appeared stable. he did show signs of, you know, shock, and fatigue, and dehydration. >> reporter: the man traveling with his family to cozumel, mexico on the carnival cruise ship valor. carnival saying the guest was last seen at a bar with his sister, leaving to use the bathroom around 11:00 p.m. wednesday. the sister then reporting him missing at noon on thanksgiving day, after realizing he never returned to his stateroom.

that's when that frantic search began. first, onboard, then the boat retracing its route, combing the endless sea. >> when you look at it in square nautical miles, there was a potential of over 7,000 miles of ocean we had to search, which is roughly the same size as massachusetts. >> the coast guard tells us had it not been for the alert crew on board, this would have ended quite differently. as of tonight, the circumstances around how that passenger fell from the boat still unclear. linsey. >> just an unbelievable rescue. elwyn, thank you. >> we move to the record start to the holiday shopping season despite inflation and recession fears, americans are hitting the stores and their devices and grabbing bargains. a record $9 billion was spent online on black friday, up more than 2%. abc's business and economics correspondent deirdre bolton has more on what to expect come cybermonday. >> reporter: tonight, with americans already spending a record amount since thanksgiving day, analysts are forecasting

yet another record for the next 24-hour shopping cycle starting right now. >> it is probably best to pull the trigger and buy, sooner versus later. >> reporter: the biggest online shopping day of the year fast approaching, cyber monday, and many retailers dropping their deals early. >> the pressure is definitely on the retailers. they know consumers are strapped. they know that their budgets are getting eaten up by their heating bill, their rent, these necessary grocery purchases. so the pressure is on, you know, for them to compete with each other. >> reporter: adobe analytics forecasting that americans will spend more than $11 billion dollars online in the next 24 hours alone. up more than 5% from last year. inflation, a huge factor looming over this holiday season, holding stubbornly at a 40-year high. but in the meantime the deals are here. amazon offering up to 70% off on alexa-enabled devices including their echo and fire tv and up to

45% off select black and decker home tools. and best buy shoppers can find this apple mac book for $150 off. and this samsung 24-inch dishwasher for $220 off. and as for paying for all of these goods? >> be extra, extra cautious especially if you're using multiple buy now pay later services, multiple credit cards across your purchase. it can make it really hard to see how much you're spending. >> reporter: linsey, buy now pay later usage was up 78% just this week alone. some economists say that the strong labor market is supporting holiday spending, but it's unclear what happens if hiring slows in the new year. linsey? >> some tempting bargains out there. deirdre, thank you. tonight voting in georgia's crucial senate runoff between raphael warnock and herschel walker is under way. senator warnock cast his vote today in atlanta. more than two dozen counties state-wide have opened the polls to early voting ahead of the december 6th runoff. some voters waited in long lines.

officials say nearly 80,000 people voted on saturday. there's still much more ahead on "world news tonight" this sunday. incredible new images just in from maryland. a small plane crashing into power lines. and the mother of two young boys now charged with an unthinkable crime.

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from maryland where a plane crashed into power lines 100 feet in the air. the plane left dangling from the electric power. two people were trapped onboard, but they were not hurt. >> a disturbing story tonight here in new york city. a young mother is in custody after her two young sons were found stabbed to death in a family shelter. police answered a call about that woman being in distress and then they took her to the hospital. later they received a second call. the boys' father had found their bodies hidden under a sheet or a towel in the bathtub. next, health officials remain concerns about a surge of illnesses this holiday season. white house covid coordinator dr. ashish jha urge d americans to get both a covid booster and a flu shot. respiratory illness has hit american children hard. 78% of pediatric beds are now

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beckham's hoir lawyer said he had fallen asleep and was not resistant. the wide receiver is now a free agent hoping to sign with an nfl team. tonight, jay leno takes to the stage for a sold-out show in southern california. this comes just 15 days after he suffered third degree burns to his hands and face in a gasoline fire in his garage. at the time, the former tonight show host says he needed a week or two to be back on his feet. he's proving to be a man of his word. and nasa's orion spacecraft entered the record books this weekend. it's orbiting the moon more than 250,000 miles from earth, that's a new record. for a spacecraft designed to carry humans. orion is also spinning back spectacular images of the moon's craters. the uncrewed spaceship is due to splash down in the pacific in two weeks. when we come back, remembering irene cara who gave us the soundtrack for a generation. (vo) no matter what type of severe asthma you have,... tezspire can help you have fewer asthma attacks... ...and breathe better. tezspire is an add-on treatment for people 12 and older. it is not a rescue medication.

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finally tonight, we're remembering irene cara, whose talent took her from the south bronx to the height of fame. ♪ fame i'm gonna live forever ♪ >> her voice inspired a generation. irene cara was an '80s sensation with her title track, "i'm going to live forever." from her breakout role as coco hernandez in the 1980s musical "fame" she would go on to co-write and perform the title song to the movie "flashdance." that song, "what a feeling," was a smash success. ♪ what a feeling ♪

>> here she is in 1984 at the oscars winning for best original song. she also won two grammys and a golden globe for the same song which is still on billboard's top 100 hot songs of all time. she was born irene escalada in new york city where she began her career as a child star. a regular on the children's show, "the electric company." as a teenager, she played the title role in the 1976 musical "sparkle" about three sisters forming a singing group. the movie "fame" went on to become a popular tv series for six seasons. one of the show's stars, debbie allen, remembers cara with a tweet, saying my heart is broken. she was a gifted and beautiful genius. just 63 years old. thanks so much for watching. david muir right back here tomorrow night. i'm linsey davis. good night.

>>seat els like ara lot ofj.r.: look at the firt weekend of holiday shopping and we find out if people feel safe shopping in union square and get an early indication about how sales are going. and deadly gunfire. police killed a man in fairfield. details about what led up to the shooting. and more toilet trouble for san francisco. the issue with the newest free public bathroom. abc7news starts now. j.r.: this is union square holiday season. that question is top of mind for retailers. thank you for joining us.

we begin with an issue affecting both the economy and our safety. abc7news reporter cornell barnard spent the day in union square to gauge how the holiday shopping is going. a lot of questions with last year's robberies and again earlier this week. reporter: we saw a lot of shoppers in union square today. many say they feel safer than in years past. holiday thieves are still at work and some are calling for more police in the area. >> i feel like it is pretty calm. reporter: stephanie ramirez started her holiday shopping in union square and she was not alone. a san francisco cabdriver said he has been taking more riders here. >> more people are coming this year than last year. which is really good. reporter: