Conference, alisyn, with more details, including possible Surveillance Video from the gas station. That could show us exactly what happened. That would help, thanks so much, sarah. And its Important Note what you saw in the video there, that wasnt a flashbang being thrown by the Police Officers, it was a firework coming from the crowd allegedly it was an attempt to try to create some type of disturbance with the gas pumps there, it didnt work, thankfully, that could have really changed the dynamic of the situation, but certainly it caused panic. This situation comes in the wake of two officers being shot at and killed in brooklyn, new york. There had been calls to come together after that but those calls were ignored by protesters who took over streets in manhattan. Chanting how do you spell racist . Nypd. The timing is causing criticism. There had been questions about whether or not president obama would attend the officers funeral. We know Vice President biden and his wife, jill, are set to fly here for the services. Also developing this morning, deadly tornadoes tearing up the south. Four people have been killed in mississippi, dozens more hospitalized, with reports of buildings crushed, you can see the aftermath here on your screen. Thousands of people are without power. And theres more wild weather on the way, just in time for millions of Holiday Travelers to take to the roads. Drenching rain, damaging winds and snow, expected to affect the country from the east coast all the way to the pacific northwest. Cnns Jennifer Gray is tracking the extreme weather from the cnn center in atlanta. What do you see, jennifer . The timing of this could not be worse, during the heat of the evening yesterday in the south we had 11 tornado reports, across three states. Thats it, thats the tornado. Massive and deadly tornadoes ripping through the southeast as bad weather complicates Holiday Travel for millions. The National Weather service flashing Tornado Warnings. Across tv screens in five states. Parts of mississippi now in a state of emergency. After a tornado touched down 90 miles south of jackson killing at least four people. Downed trees and power lines blocking traffic. On a main thoroughfare, roofs of businesses and the wall of this warehouse blown right off. One resident pulling a dog to safety from a destroyed home, meanwhile, heartbroken store owners embrace outside their demolished flower shop. The storm system knocking out power to over 6,000 residents in mississippi alone. Inside this heavily damaged day care center, a holiday miracle 35 children and seven staffers race for safety after the powerful tornado ripped the roof clear off. All making it out with no injuries. In louisiana, a tornado touched down twice, 70 miles north of new orleans. Uprooting trees, reportedly damaging some 20 homes and leaving nearly 2,000 residents without power. Another suspected tornado snapping trees in half in south georgia, as the massive storm system also brings up to eight inches of torrential rain throughout the southeast. The downpour moving up the i95 corridor as millions hit the road for christmas. With the potential for flooding from georgia to new hampshire. Now the Severe Weather threat for louisiana, mississippi, alabama is over but we still have a tornado watch in effect for south georgia, north florida, for a couple more hours, still seeing the strong storms in the south. Severe Weather Threat today not quite as great as it was yesterday. But we are going to see rain all the way from florida up into the northeast. And chris, a lot of people in the south are having an awful case of deja vu, it was two years ago on Christmas Day we had a Severe Weather outbreak and 60 tornadoes reported across the south. I remember that, hopefully we dont have a repeat or certainly no besting of that record. Jennifer, thanks for keeping an eye on it. Look, theres no question we hit the road on christmas, right . Nearly 100 million of us are expected to travel at least 50 miles for the holiday, ill double that lets give you a check on what youre looking at, on the roads or in the skies, no surprise only santa seems likely to have an ontime arrival this year, lets bring in rene marsh monitoring the Holiday Travel from Reagan National airport in virginia. What do you see . I can tell you lets start with the roads, i95 corridor, the i10 corridor, theres going to be some heavy rain. If youre one of the people who are going to be driving to your destination, be mindful of that. If there are drainage issues, you want to be careful. As far as air travel goes, if you are on a very early flight that was a good move. Because things look good right now. However, we are expecting those delays to build up throughout the day. Were going to be paying special attention to new york city airports, chicago, as well as atlanta, were talking about heavy rain in the northeast, possibly some fog, so well have some visibility issues. At this hour the big picture here, we are inching at this early hour towards the 2,000 mark, as it relates to delays. Over 400 cancellations. But again, were going to be paying close attention to new york city, chicago, and atlanta. Theyre significant as well, because those are major hubs, when you have problems at major hubs, delays, theres the thing called the Ripple Effect. And you dont want too much of that happening on this Christmas Eve. Especially if people are trying to make it to the home or their family on Christmas Day. Theyre running out of hours to play with. But thats what the National Picture looks like. In a word you just need to be patient today, because there will be delays. Chris and alisyn . Rene, thanks so much, patience is the word of the day. Lets hope people can make it home to their families. Breaking overnight, former president george h. W. Bush, rushed to a houston hospital. Being monitored after experiencing shortness of breath. Lets get to Suzanne Malveaux in washington. She was recently at an event with the former president. How did president bush seem to you at that . Recently i did see him. And thats where the younger bush was dedicating his book, a love story he said to his dad, hes 90 years old, alisyn. Hes a bit frail, but appeared in great spirits, he was in a wheelchair, because his family says hes no longer able to walk unassisted. Yesterday the former president and his wife, barbara, they are attending an event, at the hobby center for the performing arts, reading the night before christmas when the president experienced a shortness of breath. He was taken by ambulance to the houston Methodist Hospital just as a precautionary measure to get this checked out. His spokesman, jim mcgraph. Released a statement telling us he was admitted to the hospital for observation, all looked fine. This is the same hospital, alisyn where he spent two months being treated for bronchitis back in november of 2012. He was released in january. He began experiencing some of these Health Problems back in 91 when he was president , hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat. The doctors diagnosed him as having graves disease, a thyroid condition. As you know, hes been incredibly active over the years, even before he became president he was a navy pilot, flew 58 combat missions in world war ii, shot down and rescued once. In his down time, he loves to fish, golf, celebrate his birthday by going skydiving. We have seen it recently we he celebrated his birthday in june. So a white house spokesperson does say today that the president , president obama has been made aware of bushs hospitalization. And that he and the first lady they say they are sending their good wishes to him and the entire bush family during this Holiday Season. So it certainly looks like theyre on the upswing. Is he a hearty guy. 90 years old. Jumping out of a plane. Skydiving. Right. Suzanne, thanks so much for all of that. Joining us now is dr. Debby nonperol, an assistant professor of anesthesiology at nyu school of medicine. We understand the former president is experiencing shortness of breath. What does that tell you . Theres a couple of things, if someone has shortness of breath. You wonder are they getting enough oxygen to their body. There could be a problem of breathing in the air, getting it into your lungs and having the heart pump it out through your body. You want to make sure that the person not having any type of problem with their heart or lungs, a heart attack, any type of difficulty pumping the blood out. Meaning Heart Failure or anything with the lungs like bronchitis, what he had before or some other type of infection of the lungs like pneumonia. We understand from suzannes report he does have an irregular heartbeat, hes had it for decades. Does that contribute . It could. The fact that hes had for decades, means probably its pretty well managed. Hes 90 years old living with this. But its possible always if you have an irregular heartbeat. Whatever predisposed you to that can kind of get worse. Thats one thing. Fact that hes in a wheelchair also is a little bit concerning, because if youre in a with wheelchair, you dont have gravity helping you as much to expand the lungs to pull them down and pull them open. That can put you more at risk for developing infections like pneumon pneumonia. And being in a wheelchair. If youre not walking as much, could you mob predisposed to develop a blood clot for example. None of these things, we dont know that this is the case, obviously watching him, its observation, but these are the things you would think about and check for. What will doctors at hospital in houston be done for him this morning . The first thing is monitor. Overnight they monitor to check to see if hes short of breathe, does his oxygen drop down . They can check that noninvasively. Put a little monitor on your finger and check to see how much oxygen is in your blood, we all have the experience of having some symptoms and they kind of go away and you wonder, was that a fluke . If his symptoms got better, thats the good sign. If hes still having the symptoms and they have to go through the whole process, they might have started checking to make sure hes not having a heart attack. Ekg, check other things, any time somebody says something about shortness of breath. They would check it in the e. R. If the symptoms are progressing, then they work it up further. Doctor, thanks so much, good to see you this morning. Ill take it from here, alisyn. Lets look at the headlines, a federal judge in arizona has rejected a lawsuit attempting to block the president s executive order on immigration. The case was brought on by a police chief who called obamas reforms unconstitutional. But the judge ruled the sheriff couldnt prove it would harm the county. Its over attorneys general from 24 states that filed a suit with the hearing set for early 2015. The fda is proposing an end to a 30year ban on gay men donating blood. Right now a lifetime ban dating back to 1983 forbids any man who has had sex with another man from becoming a blood donor. The new measure being proposed would allow gay men to give blood if they havent had section for one year. The plan is now open to public comment. Sony reversing course about the interview. The company will release the comedy about a taking ut north koreas leader despite threats of violence made by hackers. A few independent theaters have agreed to show it. But the big movie chains arent on board yet. The movie was pulled after threats against theaters allegedly by pyongyang. The holidays can be stressful but americans are finding it hesier to chill out and enjoy. Take a look at the latest cnn poll, three out of ten people say they feel a great deal or fair amount of stress, three out of ten getting ready for christmas. In 2005, the number was 86 , were feeling pretty secure this Holiday Season. Only 8 of americans fear an act of terrorism is very likely around christmas. Six in ten do not believe terrorism is an issue. What do you think the big difference is . Gas prices are lower. Im just teasing. Think it always goes back to the economy, i think as the economy heals, people arent as stressed any more. I think jobs are starting to come back, wages are flat, but a lot of states, 20 states will have a higher minimum wage starting january 1st. Are you more or less stressed this christmas . The same. The same. Its always stressful, the last 48 hours leading up to christmas with all the wrapping and the present getting and the present giving. But its blissful, great stuff. How about you . Im not stressed. Im not looking at the face of stress . A lot of makeup, but no stress. So the mayor of new york city pleaded for an end to the protests, but hundreds of demonstrators jammed the streets of manhattan again, leading many to wonder how the city will heal after two Police Officers were killed. A closer look. You could drive home for the holidays in a new volkswagen. Like the sporty, advanced new jetta and the precisely engineered passat tdi. Ah, the gift of clean diesel. For the new volkswagen on your list this year, just about all you need, is a pen. Festive, isnt it . Get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on select new volkswagen models. [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat . Campbells healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. [ mm. ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. Campbells healthy request. Mm mm good. ® campbells healthy request. I love my Meta Health Bars. Because when nutritious tastes this delicious, i dont miss the other stuff. New Meta Health Bars help promote heart health. Experience the meta effect with our new multihealth wellness line. Theres certainly a right to do it, but was it right to do it . Thats the question being asked of protesters in new york as they ignore the mayors pleas to come together and take a pause in protests. They say that assassinated officers are not a symbol of disrespect for them. But the that message must still go on, so on tuesday we saw streets taken over in manhattan. Now earlier tuesday the mayor had led a moment of silence at city hall. The question is what will happen next in terms of healing the community, getting people focused on unity and solutions . Here to discuss is the reverend michael walren junior, Senior Pastor at First Corinthian Church in harlem. I cannot have a reverend set on the morning before Christmas Eve without wishing you a very Merry Christmas and asking you for a quick word on what we should all remember about the reason for the season. Christmas traditionally in the christian tradition is celebrating the birth of jesus, many people who have asked me the similar question of the season, we think about the possibilities of new birth, the possibilities that are available for us in turbulent times, in difficult times. I think that is an appropriate theme and i dare especially given the time were in right now, thinking about the possibilities for new birth, new realities in our city in the midst of the turbulence we see now. No matter what you believe, the message resonates, sbes especially with what were dealing with right now. The first thing is yes the officers were killed. But you dont care when they kill us, minorities, poor people, black people, africanamerican people. You dont care, so why should i care and give you this this moment of silence and shut me up when i need to get this message out and weve been quiet long enough. The issue is not that the protesters dont care. I would not frame it that way. I think that i agree with the mayors call for peace. In the midst of all that was going on. Think it was what he should have done as mayor of the city. But im cognizant of the right of protesters to protest. This is a country founded in protests. It is very american to protest. I do not think that those who were protesting were doing so in a sign of disrespect to the Police Officers. I think it was them wanting to honor their right as americans to protest. But at the same time i will also say, chris, that there are many protest nrs this moment. There are several different groups protesting. Some i know did not protest in honor of what the mayor requested. I think we cant just blanketly say that all protesters have disrespected the mayor and all protesters dont care about the Police Officer who is were slain. Important distinction. The idea that in the aftermath of the officers being shot, that it is somehow a product of tone. And demonizing of police and saying what do we want, dead cops, when do we want them, now. Do you believe its a fair criticism . No, i dont believe its a fair criticism. I think what ive been hearing over the past several days are blanket generalities, we have to be careful about that. Those are in the police force, who warn against stereotyping all police and in the same way we have to be careful not to stereotype all protesters, the young man who killed officers liu and ramos, his crime did not begin in new york, it began in maryland. What i raise to some people is that the protesters did not set the context for this young man to shoot his exgirlfriend. Clearly something was wrong. He begins the day, he shoots his exgirlfriend. He comes to new york and shoots Police Officers. This is a man youve heard, 19 arrests, theres been a history of mental illness. What causes me some i think consternation is in the midst of this be focused more on the fact that was it the protest horse set the context for this man versus the mans history of mental illness. The mans record of engagement. He was a solo actor in this process, i think we cannot let that slide. What is your caution to other leaders, men of the cloth. Reverend al sharpton who has been very strong, some say too aggressive in terms of blaming all police for what happens to some. No