Tonight, more stops and starts in the sprint to get home for the holidays.

American Airlines temporarily grounding all flights nationwide, the major ripple effect delaying hundreds of flights.

Thunderstorms grounding planes at a major hub, and after a white Christmas Eve for millions, heavy rain, and the new storm threat on the radar tonight.

The brewing labor battle at Starbucks,

striking baristas, closing down dozens of the coffee giant stores all across the country. On Christmas

Eve, the Pope's message, Notre Dame's rebirth, Bethlehem gone quiet, few tourists in subdued

celebrations as war rages. The stunning spread of bird flu cases, the rising risk to some of the world's most endangered

animals.

The new crackdown on drones made in China.

The move Congress has been looking into that could ban sales of the vast majority of drones

here in the U.S. and the Christmas visitor who came in through the chimney taking its place as the new star on top of the tree.

This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.

Good evening. I'm Sam Brank in for Lester tonight.

The final sprint of holiday travel once again running into some serious stumbling blocks.

American Airlines passengers caught off guard this morning when all flights were grounded nationwide.

The company faulting a vendor technology issue.

That problem quickly resolved, but not without some missed connections and a cascading effect on the rest of the schedule.

Then there's the weather, snow, slowing some departures,

and in Dallas, bringing flights to a total groundstop at DFW,

Americans' largest hop.

And though most of the millions of Americans braving the rain and on the road

have made it to their holiday celebrations.

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