that a controversial trump-era policy allowing asylum seekers to be quickly turned away, known as title 42, can remain in place. the white house just responding moments ago. but we begin here with that travel mess and the chaos in the skies. thousands of flights canceled and delayed. airports across the country packed with stranded and frustrated passengers trying to rebook flights. southwest airlines experiencing a system-wide meltdown, canceling 64% of its flights today. upending holiday travel with the new year fast approaching. scenes like this one at denver international airport. hundreds of unclaimed bags. all belonging to travelers who never arrived in the city. the airline is now warning passengers there is no quick fix, scaling back its schedule in the days ahead to try to get crews and planes in place. and abc s alex perez leads us off tonight from chicago s midway airport. reporter: tonight, travelers stranded, and anger growing at airports across the country.
chicago s o hare airport you re seeing a lot of long lines at different parts of the process. whether that s coming into the terminal, we saw a long line of cars at a certain point and there are lines of security at check-in, even when you get beyond security, there are long lines as people are waiting to unfortunately re-book their flights and we know that travel mess that we saw over the course of weekend has extended to today as well. just today, alone, there have been more than 2,500 cancellations across the country, and more than 4,300 delays at airports from coast to coast. talking to travelers here, some of them are prepared for that, they are mentally prepared, as they re trying to get to some of their destinations, maybe a little bit jealous as they re going to the warm tropical places but where the jealousy turns into sympathy is when you hear about the difficulties that they re facing, getting to those locations. i want you to listen to some of the stories i ve been hearing.
stranded drivers and all bu shut down buffalo. at least 23 people have died across the country and at a time of year filled with twinkling lights, hundreds of thousands are without power and some face rolling blackouts in the deep south. more than 3,000 flights have been canceled today and in a moment, why it will take days to unsnarl the massive travel mess this storm has created, but we start with nbc s shaquille brewster braving brutal conditions in michigan shaquille? jose, state police are still having to close some major roadways as this lake-effect snow continues to pound this area for some of those who lost power in this storm they re being told they won t be restored until monday as the frigid temperatures take hold across the country. tonight, the arctic blast is tightening its grip as the deadly storm takes aim on the great lakes, leaving a path of destruction. rescues on flooded
passengers? paula? thank you so much. if you are traveling this holiday weekend you are likely under stress. let s get advice how to avoid a travel nightmare. with me now is clint henderson. i want to get your reaction to the travel mess. when can we expect it to clear up? so mother nature gave us a bad blow this christmas. we don t like the present under the tree as the huge storm. good news is it looks like it is going to get better the next couple of days. this is the biggest meldown since the summer. so that just tells you the scale of what we have seen this week for christmas. people spending the night in airports. do the pictures of poor folks at the airport, what are things
sharine abu was reporting in the west bank when she was killed by gunfire. palestinian officials say they can t trust israel to conduct an impartial investigation, as they believe israeli forces are responsible for the death. israel says it s not clear who fired the fatal shot. the bullet will be examined at the u.s. embassy in jerusalem on the condition the u.s. will not hand it over to israel. watch next hour, live from jerusalem with the latest reporting on this story. one tropical system in the carolinas, a tropical storm gains strength in the eastern pacific. we ll get the latest from the cnn weather center ahead. weather delays, staffing shortages, and the sheer number of passengers causing havoc with travel plans this weekend. we ll bring you the travel mess all over the world just ahead, stay with us.