Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Episode Date: December 28, 2022

The meltdown at southwest airlines, more than three thousand flights were canceled across the country in a single day, with over 80% of those being southwest flights. The airline apologizing to frustrated travelers saying it did everything it could to prepare. Buffalo is buried in snow, digging out from its longest stretch of blizzard conditions in more than seventy years. China’s covid crisis cases spiraling out of control after the government loosened its strict multiyear lockdown policies. Web of lies: newly-elected congressman George Santos admits he “embellished” his resume, including places he worked and a college degree.

Tonight, the meltdown at Southwest Airlines. More than 3,000 flights canceled across the country in a single day. And over 80% of those were Southwest flights. The airline apologized to frustrated travelers saying it did everything it could to prepare, but no end in sight for those stranded by the mess. The Department of Transportation announcing a probe into the, quote, unacceptable rate of cancellations. This, as Southwest announced, it would cancel thousands more flights through the end of the week. We'll hear from our Stephen Romo, who's been living through this nightmare, trying to get home any way he can.

Buffalo buried, the city digging out from its longest stretch of blizzard conditions in more than 70 years. President Biden declaring a state of emergency as local officials say it will take at least two days to clear a single lane of travel on city streets. Why Buffalo's mayor says the city will use military police to enforce a travel ban. China's COVID crisis, cases spiraling out of control. after the government loosened its strict multi-year lockdown policies. What it's like in those overflowing hospitals as COVID finally spreads there and what the surge means for the U.S. Web of Lies.

Newly elected Congressman George Santos admits he embellished his resume, including places he's worked and having a college degree. He even falsely acclaimed to be the descendant of Jewish refugees. Will voters stand by him? Plus, time out for Tua? The Miami Dolphins quarterback in concussion protocol again. Some former NFL players are saying he should sit out the rest of the season. Tonight, questions about whether warning signs were missed.

And shocking video of a leopard attacking a car in India. More than a dozen people injured in separate attacks. What officials say might have drawn the big cat out. Top story starts right now. Good evening. I'm Jacob Ward in for Tom Yamas. Tonight, Southwest Airlines under fire. Seams like this at airports around the country yet again. Crowds of passengers desperate to reach their destinations after Southwest grounded the majority of its flights. The carrier canceling more than 2,600 flights just today and delaying 800 more.

And now a new crisis for travelers. Bags piling up as thousands of passengers were separated from their luggage with seemingly no solution in sight. Several senators now calling on the airline to compensate passengers for meals, hotels, and rebooked trips, saying the whole situation was avoidable. One of our own has been caught up in this, correspondent Stephen Romo, who had two Southwest flights canceled in St. Louis before setting out for a different city on a different airline. We'll have that story in just a moment, but we want to begin tonight with Blaine Alexander, who leads us off from Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson Airport. after airport. Now I know why there's a line. My flight was canceled. This is the picture of an unprecedented travel nightmare. I've been here at the airport all day. With thousands of flights canceled again today, more than 80% of them are due to just one airline. While major carriers

like Delta, Jet Blue and American together had fewer than 200 cancellations today, Southwest had to cancel more than 2,600 flights. Look at this mess. Everybody over here is pissed. I went to other airlines in there. Everybody's booked up. Everybody's booked. I can't get out. Southwest apologized, saying they were fully staffed and prepared for the holiday weekend when the severe weather swept across the continent. We've been chasing her tails trying to catch up and get back to normal safely. But the Department of Transportation says it's concerned about what it calls an unacceptable rate of cancellations and is looking into whether those disruptions were within the airlines' control. Southwest also acknowledged the situation as un-exemptive.

acceptable. The airline took the worst hit in part because winter weather impacted two major hubs in Chicago and Denver. But the Southwest flight attendants union points to the airline using out-of-date technology to schedule crews. We've had flight attendants waiting on hold for 17 hours to get in touch with crew scheduling. And it's just deplorable. One ripple effect compounding the chaos, baggage piling up. NBC's Emily Aketa is at Chicago's Midway. Travelers who do managed to catch a Southwest flight are greeted by yet another challenge upon arrival of epic proportions, sifting through this sea of luggage here at Midway to maybe find their back. We've been in line for two hours. Ricky's checking all the other flights. Ricky and Emily

Jimenez started their journey yesterday, trying to get home to Las Vegas and to their two-year-old son. After waiting four hours at New York's LaGuardia Airport, some lady walked through that was with Southwest and said, hey, we have 19 tickets to get to Atlanta on a bus. Anybody want to go on a bus ride? We've reported a 13-hour bus ride to get to Atlanta. They hopped on, hoping for better flight options in a different city, only to find another line and another frustrating wait. Everybody else is in the same situation.

So, I mean, we're not special. We're just trying to get home. Blaine Alexander joins us now from Atlanta. Blaine, are we past the worst of this? And is there any indication how long it might be before? before we return to normal? Well, Jacob, unfortunately, the airline says that it will likely take days to get back on track. Southwest has already slashed some 2,500 flights for tomorrow, another 1,200 for Thursday.

In fact, the airline says that it's only operating at about a third of its normal flight schedule in the coming days. Jacob. Days to get back to normal. Blaine Alexander for us in Atlanta. One of our own is experiencing this travel mayhem firsthand. NBC correspondent Stephen Romo flew to say. St. Louis for Christmas with his in-laws, but he was soon among the many passengers stranded by this Southwest debacle. Stephen chronicled his last 36 torturous hours for us as he tried

and tried and tried to get home. Monday morning at 10.30 a.m. in St. Louis, and this is the line of Southwest passengers trying to rebook flights after being canceled. My husband and I are trying to get back to New York, among these other, frustrating. related flyers. Southwest abruptly canceled our flight this morning without giving us a reason. Now the phone system is down right now, but earlier they told us we couldn't get back until Friday. The line here for the ticket counter stretches all the way across the building, but the TSA line

is all but deserted, giving you some indication of how many flights are actually getting out. By Monday afternoon, after waiting for three and a half hours to talk to a ticket agent, we got booked on standby for a flight out at noon today. or a flight on Thursday, but then overnight came the inevitable news. There was no text message, no email. I just checked the app and another Southwest flight cancellation. So now renting a car, going to a different city, different airport, different airline, trying to make it back. With a reservation on a United flight out of Louisville, we needed to drive four hours.

But rental cars were booked up in the St. Louis area. After a bunch of calls, we got a reservation, a half an hour's drive away. But then, your destination is on the left. We discovered there were a lot of people waiting around for those cars. Oh, no. So an update arrived at the place this morning. It was a glitch in the system that allowed us to book a car because they had none available. So right now, we're scrambling to find a rental car so we can drive four hours to Louisville, Kentucky, and make our flight tonight.

But at least we have our luggage. The producer for this story is also stuck in Missouri, busy working on this report. So Noah Frick-Aloff's mom went to try to find his lost bag. It could not be located in this sad sea of suitcases. A Southwest Airlines employee just told my mom, I won't. getting my bag back today. I'll be headed back to New York without my luggage, and not on Southwest. The rebooking website shows the next available flight will be this Sunday, so instead, I'm driving five hours to Chicago and taking an American Airlines flight back to New York.

So the next leg of the journey, we haven't been able to find a rental car anywhere from Illinois to Indiana on our way to Louisville. So we've had to borrow my in-laws vehicle, their personal vehicle, And even when we finally make it back to New York, the journey is not over because they're going to have to find the time to drive all the way to the Louisville airport to pick up the vehicle, but hopefully we'll be able to make it back. Stephen Romo joins us now from Louisville International Airport, where supposedly he'll be taking off shortly. Stephen 8 is so jarring to see your composure as a journalist combined with you in civilian garb and, you know, you haven't been able to shave and the whole, I mean, you're just, you're going through it, brother. So, you know, give us the latest update. What is going on with your crazy journey? Your flight theoretically takes off in the hour, right?

Are you going to make it out, do we think? Yeah, we certainly hope so. Thanks for not mentioning my hair, by the way, Jake. That's a whole different story. Yeah, we are hoping to get out here. We should be boarding in the next little bit. Everything seems to be on track right now. So we think we're good.

I do have to say that rental car situation was an unexpected hiccup in this plan. I think something that's not getting enough attention. So many people are turning to rental cars. a huge other problem happening right alongside these flights. It's just a domino effect right now. Right. And you've abandoned your Southwest booking, which means, right, you've sort of eaten that cost. You've been in line for hours.

You've now paid for a whole new ticket on a different airline, like thousands of other people, I'm sure. Are you prepared to fight to get your money back when you get home, or are you just going to wash your hands of the whole thing? Oh, no, definitely going to fight to get the money back. My husband will not let us just give up that money. I do want to say, though, there are. So there are a lot of people who would not have the ability just to turn around and spend this money on another ticket. They've already put their money into these trips. People have wanted to take these trips for a couple of years now with COVID and then Omicron.

So it's not the same situations. We're actually very lucky compared to so many other people who are in much worse situations than we are right now. This is just a massive problem for so many folks that we've talked to during this journey. Yeah. And you know, you are, of course, a veteran traveler as a traveling correspondent. I mean, what does your last 24 hours tell you about the rickety state of air travel, rental car travel, all of it in this country? Yeah, we've covered so many travel disasters that have happened over the course of my career, including air chaos like this. The strange thing about this is that it seems so centered on Southwest.

I fly Southwest a lot. My husband's family is in the St. Louis area. My family's in the Dallas area. Very easy to get from New York's LaGuardia to those places. Well, all of a sudden, we see all of the sudden. of the disaster is happening on this airline that we use so often. I know a lot of people have questions about it. We saw Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg saying that he's going to look into this more. A lot of people want to know why did this happen and how do we keep this from

happening again? And I'm right there wanting to know those answers as well, Jay. Well, big thanks to you, Stephen Romo, for interrupting your travel for us and to your husband for holding the camera in awkward and painful situation after awkward, painful situation. So thank you so much. And happy travels. I hope you get that. out. So with so many travelers sidelined by these disruptions, a travel ban remains in effect tonight in Buffalo, New York, where, of course, that massive snowstorm is being blamed for dozens of deaths in the region. Jesse Kirsch is there. In parts of blizzard-stricken Buffalo, tonight there's too much snow to plow, and officials are begging for cooperation from residents.

Please, please, please do not drive in the city of Buffalo. People walking to see, streets with sidewalk submerged days after the deadliest storm in the city's history. Now more than 30 dead in western New York. Among them, Ann Del Taylor, her sisters say. She was one of the best sisters, daughters, friends, arts you could ever have. Taylor's sisters say she pulled over on her drive home from work Friday with the storm bearing down. They say Taylor took these videos in her final hours, calling 911 for help that didn't make it in time. A resident finding her dead the day before Christmas. We all feel like the city filter.

We feel like the emergency system should have went a little harder for everybody, to be honest. I would say that my heart goes out to that grieving family. In those conditions, it was very hard for emergency first responders. As more snow fell today, some digging out well beyond their driveways. This is the most extreme snowfall I ever seen. my life. Some in Buffalo whisked to safety on the back of snowmobiles. Even as Buffalo's road conditions begin to improve, we're still seeing scenes like this. A car abandoned in the middle of the street. State police released videos showing how they are moving vehicles by forklift. As officials say

100 military police will be enforcing a citywide travel ban to many are ignoring. Why are you so adamant about people staying home right now still? We're adamant about that because we literally have hundreds of pieces of heavy equipment. Those vehicles, limited maneuverability. Jesse Kirsch joins us now from Buffalo. Jesse, God help you. You drove up to Buffalo overnight. What is it like on those roads? Yeah, Jake, it was pretty smooth sailing most of the way. And then towards the outskirts of Buffalo itself, probably about an hour to 90 minutes away, is when we started to notice the snow falling, started to see the dusting and eventually wind up in a situation, kind of like what we're seeing behind us right now in downtown Buffalo.

And I have to give huge props to my producer, Emily Burke, who did all this driving overnight. And, of course, we've been up all day covering this. And I want to show you what we're seeing here in downtown Buffalo right now. Beyond the snow banks on the sides of the road, you can see there's a vehicle right over there that is currently trapped within the snow, covered with snow. And we just saw people finally getting the vehicle out a short time ago. And the mayor here tells me that at this point, he believes that they have done a check on every abandoned vehicle that was found in the middle of the street.

but there are still those calls for service. They're still checking on homes as well to hopefully not be finding more people who perished in this storm. But really, it's just been a sobering scene out here. And, you know, you can hear it right there. We've got first responders and flashing lights throughout this community today. And Jesse, you know, just seeing these valleys of snow that you are standing in and how difficult it is to get even one car out of them. I mean, how much longer do we think before the roads are opening at? Yeah, so I asked the mayor about this, especially because we've heard of some people possibly being worried about running out of food. Because remember, this storm came over the weekend.

It's days now that people might have been staying home, and they may not have had much more food than what they've gone on. So far, the mayor said even he is someone who's worried about potentially running out of food. He is stressing they really need people to stay off the road so that they can finish off this cleanup. He is hoping that they will be able to lift that ban. he said maybe later today or potentially tomorrow and he's hoping that people will be able to go shopping for food and running those errands and potentially doing other things outside tomorrow but at this point they really want people to stay off the roads so they can get more of these streets open you can see this is some of the downtown there are some streets that are in better shape and there are other parts of this community jake that are really nowhere near even this at this point jesse kersh for us in snowbound buffalo new york jesse thank you for more on the forecast now NBC News meteorologist Michelle Grossman joins me. Michelle Buffalo, finally, getting a break here. But what is in the forecast for them and the rest of the country?

Hey there, Jay. Great to see you. Yeah, good news that they're going to have that break. We're going to see temperatures rising. And as we look at radar, we're looking at it very quiet. That's good news. Some lingering snow showers tonight is not going to mount so much. But we're going to see that temperature rising. That is going to melt the snow over the next several days. So into the 40s over the next several days near 50 degrees on Friday. And then we're going to add in another storm system. but that's going to be in the form of rain Friday into Saturday, another one coming Tuesday. So the big question is we'll be all that snow melt plus the water. Where is it going to go?

We're going to watch that very closely. The active weather is really in the west over the next several days, at least through Sunday. We're looking at very active weather. We have an atmospheric river. That's a plume of moisture from the Pacific Northwest is moving onshore. We're looking at double-digit rainfall totals, heavy, heavy snow up to three feet in some spots, winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour in the highest mountain. passes. That is going to cause some troubles at the airports. It's going to cause some trouble, certainly as you're traveling on the roadways as well. So here's a setup. We have that area of low pressure, that long cold front bringing this weather. It's a powerful storm by tomorrow. Still very windy with winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour. That heaviest snow is going to shift into the four corners. And Thursday, here's our next weather system, bringing heavy, heavy rain along the

coast. Again, we could see up to 10 inches of rain in some spots, up to three feet of snow. So we're going to be watching that through Sunday. That's going to impact the airport. in Seattle, down to San Francisco, San Diego, and also Los Angeles. Jacob? And if the last few days have taught us anything, it is to keep an eye on the forecast. Michelle Grossman, thank you so much. Next to the breaking news on the border, the Supreme Court ruling that the Trump-era restriction known as Title 42 will remain in effect for now. NBC's Sam Brock is in El Paso, Texas with the latest.

After months of legal limbo, the Supreme Court siding with Republican lawmakers and keeping Title 42 intact for now. The policy allows the government to block asylum seekers from some countries, but not others. The conditions have been dire. Overnight in El Paso, bodies bundled by blankets and near freezing temperatures, with local shelters either full or unavailable to those without proper documentation. A nearby bus serving as the only break from the cold. Some migrants showing us cut risks from cartels,

skin damaged by the freeze, and perilous train routes. This family traveled for five months from Honduras. With five kids, the youngest of one-year-old, all covered in blankets that are wet from frost, now sick with the flu or gripe. What do you want to do? I ask. The father tells me a life where my kids can study, a nice roof over our heads and clothes, as the mother adds, and to be free. This man from Venezuela says the clothes he's wearing came from churches, non-profits, and good Samaritans. With lives at stake, the politics have taken center stage. Texas Governor Greg Abbott tonight tweeting about the nearly 16,000 migrants that Texas has bust all over the U.S.

We're providing relief to local communities overwhelmed by President Biden's open border policies, he wrote. The White House tonight saying Title 42 is a public health measure, it should not be extended indefinitely. To truly fix our broken immigration system, we need Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. And with no measures in sight, it's status quo. As people line up and wait for food, wondering still what their future will look like only months from now. Sam Brock joins us now from El Paso. Sam, you've been on the ground there. What is the reaction like from people you've been speaking to who are hearing that Title 42 will continue for now?

Yeah, Jacob, you know, it was a bit surprising to me. You see all the people behind me, there wasn't much commotion when that decision came down. And as I'm periodically talking to people even now, they don't quite seem to understand the complexities of what happened today, which, of course, postpones Title 42 and its fate for another five or six months. But certainly for many of the people here, they would have been able to apply for asylum, should Title 42 have been lifted. But obviously, that's not the case. Well, obviously, the word may spread as you're standing there. I mean, Sam, how will this affect migrants who are where you are in El Paso and who specifically have nowhere else to go?

So here's what's interesting, Jacob. It's a great question. Might as there's about five or six hundred people here on the street. I'm told if Title 42 had been lifted, it would have been thousands of people in the coming day, so it does keep the surge, so to speak, down. But the problem is there are some countries under Title 42, only some. that are blocked from seeking asylum, like Venezuela and like Honduras, and the vast majority of people here are from Venezuela.

They cannot get into shelters right now because they don't have the proper documentation. So if you're from Cuba, you can get inside a shelter. If you're from some other countries, like Venezuela, like Guatemala, you can't. And so that's sort of the ripple effect of this in the immediate future as we wait to see how the whole situation is going to be results. Sam Brock in Texas for us tonight. Thank you, Sam. And let's stay in El Paso where shelters are at capacity,

and organizations are doing everything they can to keep up. That is certainly the case at the Annunciation House. I want to bring in Ruben Garcia, who is director of this vital migrant aid organization. Ruben, thank you for being with us. I want to start by asking about how it is at your shelter. Are you at capacity? First of all, thank you for the invitation to join you on the program this afternoon.

Some of our hospitality sites are at capacity. Others still have the capacity to receive some of the... the refugees that are arriving. As Sam reported a little bit earlier, some of the shelters are funded with FEMA money and there's restrictions on their ability to receive refugees that have not been processed. And so those who have not been processed have to be directed to shelters that are not receiving FEMA funds and are in a position to receive them. many of the people that you see on on the street once it begins to sink in what the implications are are going to have a very difficult decision to make because uh now that they cannot go and and in a sense

turn themselves in and register or get processed so that then they can continue uh on their journey to be reunified with family that isn't going to be a possibility now and it's going to make their lives incredibly difficult. Yeah. And Rubin, you know, we heard from Sam Brock on the ground there that, you know, it wasn't clear that the crowd fully understood that the Supreme Court has upheld Title 42 or at least kept it in place for a while. So do you think Word will get out? Will this in any way help slow the number of crossings or do you think it won't really have an effect and migrants will continue to attempt across the border?

I think it's important to understand that the crossings are not directly related to whether or not Title 42 is or isn't lifted. Obviously, if Title 42 were to have been lifted, the numbers that you would see crossing over would be dramatically higher than what you're seeing now. The people that you're seeing are nationalities that many of the people that you're seeing have already been expelled under Title 42,

and then they crossed back into the United States. Some of those that come from nationalities that know that there are not allowed to be processed, who would be expelled, they cross over without being apprehended or encountered by Border Patrol. That's going to continue. I think people need to understand that desperation is much more powerful than walls, than enforcement. When people are desperate, they're going to risk their lives. And if you sit down and you, you strike a conversation with many of the people that you're showing right now on camera, they will tell you what that journey was like. They will tell you what it's like to cross the Darien Gap. They will tell you

about the many bodies that they see on the journey of those who lost their lives trying to make it because living in their home country has become unsustainable. The real tragedy, of all of this is that we are incapable politically to look at this the way that it needs to be looked at, to come up with policies and laws that allow a humanitarian process whereby human beings are allowed to be human beings to be able to work, to be able to find protection, and to go on with their lives. And, Rubin, you know, as we heard from San Brock a moment ago, people are on the streets in El Paso as temperatures continue to drop there. Last week, you appeared on MSNBC and spoke with my colleague Jose Diaz-Balart. Here's a little bit of what you had to say at that time. What we need right now is hospitality capacity. We need hospitality capacity here in El Paso, but it's very important for people to understand this is not an El Paso need. This is a borderwide need.

Has there been any progress in that hospitality capacity that you mentioned? I assume that means hotels, motels, opening those up to people in need? There has been. There has been. There's several churches that have opened up large halls that are now available, especially when the weather goes down. So there has been an increase in hospitality. What I was referring in that piece that you showed is that we also are asking faith communities

in the interior of the country to step forward and to begin to receive refugees in their faith communities and to help them resettle, be able to connect with their family and friends and go forward. You cannot expect border cities to become the only ones that deal with what is clearly a humanitarian wave of human beings that are coming in. We've always already sent buses to several faith communities and cities in the interior, Denver, Kansas City, Omaha, we're looking at St. Louis now, where faith communities said, yes, we will receive a bus where it's faith to faith. I think there are many, many hundreds, possibly thousands of faith communities that upon reflection would say, you know what, we can do this as well.

We can receive a bus of refugees and receive them, respond to them, and then help them settle in. Well, hopefully we will continue to see humanitarian outpouring, if not, a larger institutional shift in how this country deals with the issue. Ruben Garcia, director of the Annunciation House, thank you so much for being with us. To New York now, where a Republican congresswoman, congressman elect, admitted to lying on his resume. It's hard to read these words out loud. saying he misrepresented his work experience and college education during his campaign. Now, Democrats are pressuring him to resign. Here is NBC's Stephanie Gosk.

Facing allegations he lied on his resume, New York Congressman-elect George Santos, has this to say. If I disappointed anyone by resume embellishment, I'm sorry. Adding. A lot of people overstayed in their resumes or twist a little bit or in grandkids. Among the claims, embellished his graduation from Baruch College. Santos tells the New York Post, I didn't graduate from any institution of higher learning. The Republican is under fire after the New York Times revealed his biography couldn't be entirely corroborated, including a claim on his website that he used to be an associate asset manager at Citigroup.

The 34-year-old now saying he never worked directly for Citigroup. And there are questions about his heritage. Here is Santos at the Republican Jewish coalition last November, speaking about Congressman Lee Zeldin. Lee has served as an inspiration as a friend and as a leader for the Jewish folks in Congress and for all of us in this room by at point one point being just two members. So now we're going to be three. Santos tells the Post, I never claimed to be Jewish. I am Catholic.

He has not responded to NBC News's request for comment. Today, his constituents in Long Island had mixed opinions. What do you think should happen with George Santos? I'm very concerned about it. I think the, I would like to see the election done over. For this voter, the important thing is policy. I think he embellished his resume. Do you think that that disqualifies him from being a congressman?

No. Santos insists he's still committed to serve. Once sworn in, it would take an act of a Republican-controlled house to remove him. Stephanie Gosk, NBC News, Great Neck, New York. Heading overseas now to China's COVID crisis. The country rolling back COVID restrictions for the first time since the pandemic began. But now, cases are surging, and hospitals across the country are at the brink. NBC's Ralph Sanchez has more.

Tonight, China's hospitals under strain as a wave of COVID sweeps the country, with harsh lockdowns no longer in place to hold it back. Emergency room patients, many on oxygen, filling every available bed, and in some cases spilling out into the hallways. Work in the emergency department is non-stop, this doctor says. And here, medical staff warn families there's no oxygen for patients in the corridors. The exact scale of the surge, unknown. China this week stopped publishing daily COVID data.

But experts say it appears to be tearing through a population without herd immunity. and where many, including the elderly, have not received boosters. What we're seeing really is what sounds like a mass infection event. China began scaling back at zero COVID restrictions after widespread anti-lockdown protests. Some demonstrators even calling for the downfall of the Communist Party. The government's official explanation for the change, Omicron is less likely to cause hospitalization and death, And so it doesn't require severe restrictions.

The Chinese government is saying Omicron is less severe now. But we've been dealing with Omicron for a year or so. Does that claim medically make sense to you? You know, I think it's very difficult to say for certain wrath. And I think you're making the great point that here in, you know, in the United States and really for most countries around the world, we have this large pool of relative immunity that's built up based on prior infections. But in China, we just don't know that for certain.

Because we really don't know exactly how a population that doesn't have a large pool of prior infection is going to react to Omicron infection. The latest move, starting January 8th, travelers arriving in China will no longer need to quarantine, ending a requirement that's been in place since early 2020. Right now, travelers face eight days of quarantine, but at times it's been as long as three weeks. For many ordinary people, relief at the reopening mixed with fear of resurgent COVID. I'm definitely a little worried, but for the sake of living, you have to be able to work normally, right? Harsh restrictions, hopefully soon, a thing of the past. But a long winter struggle with the virus may still be ahead. China says the next stage of its reopening is to start allowing Chinese citizens to travel abroad for tourism once again.

But a number of neighboring countries are actually imposing new restrictions on visitors from China because of the surge in COVID cases there. Jacob. Ralph Sanchez for us. When we come back, the deadly avalanche in Colorado, one person dead and another pulled alive from the snow, what officials believe triggered it. Plus, Tua signed line. The Miami Dolphins quarterback, back in concussion protocol. Is he out for the rest of the season? And the shocking moment, a leopard attacked a car in India before injuring more than a dozen people.

How the Big Cat might have gotten loose. Stay with us. Back now with the latest headline from the NFL. Miami Dolphin star quarterback Tua, Taka Voloa, is back in the league's concussion protocol following a Christmas day game against the Green Bay Packers. His coach saying the QB went to team doctors on Monday with symptoms. Some former players are calling for Tua to sit out the rest of the season

given the series of big hits he has taken, one that led the league to change its concussion protocols. Our Valerie Castro has the story. Tonight, Miami Dolphin star quarterback Tua Tango Viloa is in the NFL's concussion protocol for the second time this season, the announcement made by his head coach. He's displayed symptoms and they enacted the protocol. During this tackle, the 24-year-old hit the back of his helmet on the turf in the second quarter against the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day.

But it's unclear if that play. is what triggered the appearance of symptoms. No one recognized anything with regard to any sort of hit. I can't really tell you exactly when it was. I'm not totally positive on that. He finished the game Sunday with a rough second half throwing three interceptions. Over the sideline and picks.

Other players noticed that he was acting differently, showing some of the signs and symptoms of concussion. Those are things where the team physically. should have been alerted. There was no known evaluation for concussion on Sunday. Coach Mike McDaniels said Tagoviloa met with team doctors Monday and reported symptoms. It's not clear whether he's been diagnosed with a concussion and the Miami Dolphins wouldn't comment beyond what McDaniel said. It's the third concerning game for the players' health this year. In September against the Buffalo Bills, he took a hard hit and appeared disoriented, but returned after halftime.

He and the dolphins say that it was a back injury. But only four days later, against the Cincinnati Bengals, a massive hit knocked him unconscious. His hands left frozen and he was carted off the field, later revealing he suffered memory loss in the moments after the hit. After I got tackled, I don't remember much from there getting carted off. I don't remember that. But I do remember things that were going on when I was in the ambulance and then when I arrived at the hospital. That injury leading to changes in NFL concussion protocol adding ataxia, the term for lack of balance,

coordination, and clear speech to the mandatory no-go symptoms that would prohibit a player from re-entering a game. This latest incident prompting calls from some former players on ESPN's Monday night countdown for Tonga Vailoa

to sit out the rest of the season. If we're serious about protecting our players, Tua Tunga Bailua shouldn't play anymore this season, period. I just hope they do right by Tua in this situation. And you know he's going to want to play because as players, we want to play. But take care of the person over the player.

The sports doctor we spoke with says that threshold is different for everyone. How many concussions does it take or how many head injuries does it take to say they need to sit out the rest of the season? We don't know the answer to that. We don't know some people have longer term problems. After having one concussion, most people get better. So there's not such a thing as too many. It's a very individualized type issue. just that if he's had one previously, especially this season,

the threshold to kind of look for another concussion is certainly higher you. Valerie Castro joins us now. So Valerie, what is the NFL saying about Tua and about its protocol? And will Tua play in his next game coming up on Sunday? We reached out to the league for comment, but they haven't responded to our request. As for whether Tua will play next weekend, that is still up in the air.

The dolphins have not confirmed who their starting quarterback will be against the New England Patriots, an important matchup as we're now in the final few weeks of the season and the dolphins are squarely in playoff contention. Jake? Valerie Castro for us. Coming up next, another NFL star making headlines today. Arizona Cardinals J.J. Watt making a surprise statement on Twitter why he says it's time for him to leave the NFL. Back now with time. Top Story's news feed, and we begin with the deadly avalanche in Colorado.

Officials say at least four people were caught in the slide near Winter Park. One person was rescued, but a 44-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. It appears the avalanche was triggered by a snowboard. Multiple avalanches have been reported in that area in recent days. The House panel will release former President Trump's tax returns on Friday. A spokesperson for the House Ways and Means Committee confirming 10BC news that the returns will be placed into the congressional record on Friday morning. They were expected to include his returns filed during the years he ran for and served as president.

The Democratic-controlled committee obtained the documents last month, following a lengthy court battle that ended in the Supreme Court. And Arizona Cardinal star J.J. Watt is retiring. The defensive end making the announcement on Twitter, writing that Sunday was his last ever NFL home game. Watt, who was drafted by the Texans in 2011, was named defensive player of the year three times. He's a seven-time All-Pro and appeared in the Pro Bowl five times. He's expected to retire following Arizona's final two games this season, both on the road.

The clock is ticking for TikTok at the highest levels of government. The House of Representatives took a major step against the app today, saying it poses a high security risk to users, which includes federal employees. Now, anyone with a device issued by the House of Representatives must delete the social media. app. The White House is taking a similar approach for all executive branch employees, but this rule does not extend across the hall to the Senate. This comes just weeks after lawmakers unveiled a plan to ban the app nationwide. Joining us now is NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles. Ryan, how did the House come to this decision? Give me some context here. What is it

about the app that has the lawmakers concerned? And is there any flexibility to this rule? Yeah, so, Jacob, this decision comes from the House administration committee, which essentially serves as the city council, if you will, of the House of Representatives. It is made up of members that govern the rules of the House, and they instructed the chief administrative officer to inform all members and staff that work at the House of Representatives at TikTok must be immediately deleted from their phones because the cybersecurity office determined that it was a security risk. And it comes on the heels of just a few days ago, that massive omnibus spending package that the House and Senate passed and President Biden signed into law includes a ban on the use of TikTok on all federal executive branch devices. So that is separate, though, from what happens on the legislative side of things. The House and Senate are independently governed, and this is the House of Representatives taking a step that they're also enforcing upon the executive branch, determining that it's just too big of risk. demanding that all these members of Congress and their staff delete the app immediately. Well, in any of us, Ryan, who've ever used to know exactly how addictive it can be, how hard it is to put it down.

So I'm wondering, I mean, is there any enforcement policy in place here? How will they keep people from downloading it or using it on their work phones? Yeah, it's a great question, Jacob. And they don't explicitly lay that out in the email that we've obtained from the chief administrative officer. But they do make it clear that immediately they, anyone who has TikTok on a high, house-issued device must delete it immediately. And if they don't, they will be contacted by members of the administrative office. So it seems pretty clear that they do have some sort of access or monitoring software on these phones, much like companies would have on company-issued

devices that would allow them to know whether or not something like this is downloaded on a phone. They're making it clear there are no excuses. You have to delete these apps off the phone where there will be consequences associated with it. It's important to point out, though, Jacob, that a lot of these members of Congress do interact with their constituents on TikTok. This won't necessarily preclude them from doing so. They will just have to do it on their own personal devices as opposed to the ones that are issued by the House of Representatives. And Ryan, do we think that this is setting any kind of standard for the nation? I mean, there is legislation to ban TikTok nationwide.

How much traction do we have on that? I mean, it certainly seems as though there are members of Congress that are heading in that direction. You know, the decision to ban it on all federal devices was essentially, passed with a unanimous vote in the Senate as it was added as an amendment to that omnibus spending package. And there weren't very many members of the House of Representatives that objected to that ban, at least on federal devices. Now, the idea of banning the app outright across the entire country, well, that is a much different situation, basically because there are still millions of people who use the app, and it would be difficult to try and rein

all of that in. The mechanisms to enforce that would be very hard. But there are members of Congress will believe that it is a national security risk and that that conversation should at least be had, you know, whether or not we're at the stage yet where they're ready to enforce that remains to be seen. But it is no doubt a conversation right now on Capitol Hill. Ryan, nobles for us from Capitol Hill. Thank you, Ryan. Still ahead tonight, tourists trapped torrents of rain sweeping through the ancient city of Petra, how hundreds of visitors managed to get to dry land. A token of appreciation from your government for keeping quiet about recent incidents which never occurred.

Wow. I wonder what it is. Money to fix the house. Letter from the president? You'll see. Okay. All of garden. Yeah. The way you said you'll see made me think it was something better. things we said. That was a scene from the Sonic the Hedgehog movie. And if you were handed a gift card this holiday season that you're not sure what to do with or maybe you still have one from last year you forgot about, well, you are not alone.

According to a study by credit cards.com, nearly half of all U.S. adults say they have at least one unused gift card or voucher. That adds up to a whopping $21 billion, billion with a bee, just sitting around nationwide. So I want to bring an expert from GIFCards.com, Shelly Hunter, in to talk about this with us. Thank you so much for joining us. So according to the National Retail Federation, more than half of Americans ask for gift cards as their number one request for Christmas. And yet people have billions of dollars just sitting at home. So give us it straight.

What are the most important tips when it comes to using, you know, instead of losing these gift cards? Yeah, so it's important to remember that many of those gift cards were just received. So it's not like it's unused value. It's an opportunity to go shopping and that's what you should do. So if you receive a gift card, you should treat that gift card like cash. If it's plastic, put it in your card in your wallet next to your debit or credit card that you use most often. And if it's a digital gift card, then put it in your email, put it in a separate folder so you can keep track of it or add it to mobile wallet. And lastly, remember that you can always redeem your gift cards online oftentimes you can add them to your account digitally and that

makes it super easy to remember to use them and if you do lose a gift card is there anything you can do to get that money back well stores are not required to give you that money back but if you have proof of purchase you can go to the merchant and see if they can find the gift card and if the gift card has not yet been used you could look to get a replacement gift card if possible and shelley just you know We've been talking about this all day in my household. Couldn't this whole process be easier? I mean, couldn't companies simply just keep track of who has credit with them so no one has to worry about losing or forgetting a gift card? Why is it this way?

Well, gift cards are gifts in the same way that if I bought you a sweater and I gave you the sweater, I wouldn't know what happened to it. If you buy a plastic gift card and you go to the store and you give that to somebody after, the store doesn't really know who has the gift card. If we don't keep track of it, then it would be hard for people would probably go back to the stores all the time, claiming to have gift cards that they lost. And does it do anything? It feels like it sort of serves the purposes of the stores in a way not to have to keep track of this. You know, couldn't they have a system internally that just says, it's Shelly Hunter.

She has this amount of money that we should owe her at this point because we know it was given to her by her uncle. You know, I think it's a common misconception that stores want to start. you from using your gift cards, but the opposite is true. Stores want you in the stores shopping, where you will buy full-price merchandise, and often you'll overspend the value of the gift card. So stores really want you there shopping. In order for them to actually track who has a gift card, then consumers and purchasers would have to be willing to give that information, and I'm not sure that they would.

$21 billion in gift cards. Shelly Hunter from gifcards.com, thank you so much. Now, to Top Story's Global Watch and heavy rains causing massive flooding at one of the world's most cherished historic sites. New video shows waterfalls cascading down the walls of the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. Cars racing through the floodwaters as people rushed to escape. Roughly 1,700 tourists were evacuated from the 2,000-year-old city. It comes after flooding at the UNESCO World Heritage Site left 13 people dead back in 2018. Now, to the shocking leopard attack caught on camera in India.

New video shows the predator leaping over a fence and charging at a van full of people in the city of Jorhat. Authorities say the leopard has injured 15 people in separate attacks, including children. They believe the leopard, which is still on the loose, likely came from a nearby wildlife sanctuary searching for food. And China sending 71 fighter jets and drones into Taiwan's air defense zone on Monday. 43 of the aircrafts crossing the unofficial buffer between the countries. Taiwan saying it was China's largest air force incursion to date. The White House denounced the military activity, calling it destabilizing. China claimed the, quote, strike drills were in response to provocation from Taiwan and the U.S.

China still claims Taiwan as its territory. When we come back, the child dancing his way into the hearts of millions. His moves at a school concert going viral, even catching the attention of his favorite football team. The surprise waiting for him this Christmas. Stay with us. Finally, tonight, an unforgettable holiday performance at one California elementary school has made one kid a local star. His dance moves leading him all the way to a major football stadium. Take a look.

This is Beachwood Elementary School's second grade winter show. See the boy on the right in the 49ers sweatshirt? That's Jaden Williams. And sometimes he gets an irresistible urge. I feel it coming into my body. He just want to dance, all that stuff. His father, Kirk, sitting in the audience, saw him start to move, and he knew what was coming. As he was moving around, I was like, oh, he's about to start dancing, you know?

Like, I kind of know how he starts to get. As soon as he hears the music, he just, he just takes over. And take over he did. Eight-year-old Jaden brought down the house. You can hear the cheering in the last. That's all Jaden wanted. She want to make them happy and wonderful for them, so they can, like, see something, you know? Williams telling our Bay Area Station KNTV, he's been dancing since he was two and taking dance lessons for about a year.

I love dancing. It's my, it's my blood. He jumped at the chance to show off his moves. My teacher didn't ask if I can dance, but I wanted to dance. I want to make the audience happy. But that's not all. A classmate's mom posted the video, and it racked up a mind-blowing 20 million views. It then caught the attention of actors Viola Davis and Jaden's favorite football team, the San Francisco 49ers. While Jaden's dancing brought a smile to many faces this holiday season, the biggest one of all belonged to Jaden himself.

Thousand out of a thousand. I'm a huge niner friend. When the Niners invited him to perform those moves in front of thousands at Levi's Stadium, during the fourth quarter of a home. game on Saturday. Jayden, take it away. Here we go. The chance of a lifetime, all because Jaden could not help, but spread a little joy. I just want them to have a beautiful day, beautiful weekend for everyone. Do not fight the feeling, everybody.

Thank you so much for watching Tom Story for Tom Yamas. I'm Jake Ward. Stay right there. More news is on the way.