TSA sets all-time record as 3.1 million travelers screened Sunday amid holiday flight cancellations
Graphic created by the TSA, top 10 travel days in TSA history. (TSA)
(NEW YORK) — As travelers return home from Thanksgiving holiday travel, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says Sunday was its busiest day in history, with the agency screening over 3.1 million people through its security checkpoints at airports nationwide.
The Nov. 30 numbers beat the previous record of 3.09 million air travelers screened, which was set on Sunday, June 22. All of the TSA’s top-10 busiest air travel days have exceeded 3 million travelers and have occurred since July 2024, with eight out of the 10 days occurring this year, according to the TSA.
Over 300 flights have been cancelled in the U.S. as of early Monday afternoon and more than 3,300 delayed as a new winter storm moves across the country from Kansas to Maine through Tuesday. The storm is expected to bring between two to four inches of snow Monday afternoon from Kansas to Indiana as it makes its way to Michigan and Ohio later in the evening.
Over half a foot of snow is expected from northern Pennsylvania to central Maine as the storm makes its way to the Northeast overnight and into Tuesday.
For those driving back home from the holiday weekend Monday, the best time to hit the roads is after 8 p.m. to avoid traffic, according to Inrix, a provider of transportation data and insights.
A person holds Powerball lottery tickets they purchased. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Powerball jackpot has soared to an estimated $875 million — the second biggest prize this year and one of the biggest in the game’s history.
The estimated prize grew after no one claimed the jackpot in Saturday night’s drawing, according to a notice on the Powerball website. The winning numbers were 13, 14, 26, 28, 44 with Powerball 7.
The next drawing is set for Monday, Dec. 8.
The jackpot is the game’s biggest prize this year after a massive $1.787 billion jackpot that was won in September, split between two tickets in Missouri and Texas.
Overall, it’s the seventh-biggest jackpot in the game’s history, according to Powerball.
The odds of winning are 1 in over 292 million, according to Powerball.
Winners will have a choice between a lump sum cash payment of $403.6 million or an annuitized prize, paid out in annual payments. Both amounts are before taxes.
To play, customers must purchase a $2 Powerball ticket and select five white numbers between 1 and 69 and one red number between 1 and 26 for the Powerball. The prize grows until it is won by a player with the corresponding five white numbers in any order with the matching red Powerball.
An estimated $36 billion for charitable causes has been generated from Powerball since the lottery began in 1992, according to Powerball.
Top 10 Powerball jackpots and their winning states:
(NEW YORK) — A record number of Americans are expected to travel for Thanksgiving this year, AAA said.
AAA predicts 81.8 million people will travel during the holiday period (between Tuesday, Nov. 25, and Monday, Dec. 1), which is a 1.6 million jump from last year.
Thanksgiving — which falls on Thursday, Nov. 27 — comes just weeks after the 43-day-long government shutdown that caused massive flight cancellations across the country, but airlines say they’re not expecting any residual impacts during the holiday.
Here’s what you need to know:
Air travel AAA anticipates 6 million people will fly within the U.S. over Thanksgiving — up 2% from 2024.
Sunday, Nov. 30, is predicted to be the busiest air travel day, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium, with 3,280,652 domestic seats.
But flight bookings for Nov. 26 through Nov. 30 are down 3.3% compared to last year, Cirium said, likely due to uncertainty from the government shutdown.
American Airlines says it will operate more than 80,000 flights over the Thanksgiving period, with its busiest day expected to be Sunday, Nov. 30.
United Airlines said it is expecting its highest number of Thanksgiving travelers ever this year. The airline warned that its busiest days are forecast to be Sunday, Nov. 30, Saturday, Nov. 29, and Monday, Dec. 1.
The busiest U.S. airports are expected to be Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Denver International Airport, according to Hopper.
Road travel AAA predicts at least 73 million people — nearly 90% of Thanksgiving travelers — will go by car to their destination.
Renting a car this Thanksgiving will be 15% cheaper than last year, according to AAA.
The busiest days on the roads are expected to be Tuesday, Nov. 25; Wednesday, Nov. 26; and Sunday, Nov. 30, AAA said.
The best time to hit the road ahead of Thanksgiving is before noon on Tuesday, Nov. 25, or before 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 26, according to analytics company INRIX. Traffic will also be light on Thanksgiving Day.
When you’re heading home, the best times to drive are: before 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 28; before 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29; before 11 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 30; or after 8 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 1, INRIX said.
(CHICAGO) — Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum testified Wednesday that he had no role in the decision to release his government-issued vehicle after it was involved in a collision that led to him shooting a woman on Chicago’s southwest side last month.
“I was told to pick it up, [so] I picked it up,” Exum said, adding that he believed the vehicle had no remaining evidentiary value after it was processed and released by the FBI.
An attorney for the woman disputed Exum’s account, arguing that releasing the vehicle before defense lawyers could inspect it may have led to the destruction of potentially favorable evidence. The lawyer also confronted the agent with text messages Exum sent to friends and family in the days after the incident in which he appeared to boast about his shooting skills.
“I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book, boys,” one of those messages said.
U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis ordered the testimony Wednesday in the criminal case against Marimar Martinez, who was shot by the Border Patrol agent — identified for the first time as Exum — on Oct. 4 in the Brighton Park neighborhood. The incident led to chaotic street protests and the deployment of tear gas by federal agents.
Martinez and another man, Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, are charged with assault with a deadly weapon, accused of following the agents’ vehicles and initiating the collision with Exum’s SUV that led to the shooting. Federal prosecutors contend Exum fired five rounds defensively after Martinez allegedly drove toward him when he exited his vehicle after the crash, according to court filings.
“Moments after exiting the CBP Vehicle, the Martinez Vehicle drove northbound ” at the agent and he “proceeded to fire approximately five shots from his service weapon at the driver of the Martinez Vehicle,” prosecutors wrote in a criminal complaint last month.
Both Martinez and Ruiz have entered not guilty pleas. Martinez’s attorneys contend in court filings that it was the agents’ vehicle that initiated the collision. The government disputes that.
Wednesday’s hearing focused on a defense motion alleging that the federal government may have spoiled or altered evidence when it allowed the damaged vehicle Exum was driving to be released to him and driven back to his home base in Maine, where a Customs and Border Protection mechanic later wiped off black scuff marks after the FBI had processed the SUV in Chicago.
Exum said that after the collision, his government-issued Chevrolet Tahoe had scratches and dents on the driver’s side and black marks on the driver’s door and above the fuel tank. He said the FBI took photographs of his vehicle before it was taken from the scene to an FBI office for further evidence processing.
Prosecutors said in court filings that the FBI took additional photographs of the vehicle at an FBI facility in Chicago. The FBI also took paint chip samples from the Tahoe and downloaded data from the vehicle’s on-board computer before releasing the vehicle to Exum, according to court records.
Exum said he was contacted several hours after the shooting and told that his vehicle was ready to be picked up from an FBI office in downtown Chicago. He testified that a supervisor told him the vehicle had been processed for evidence and cleared for release. When he retrieved it, he said, the SUV appeared to be in the same condition as when it was removed from the scene.
A 23-year Border Patrol veteran stationed in Maine, Exum was on a temporary duty assignment for “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago. His assignment began in early September and was scheduled to end in October. He said he stayed an extra day after the incident to be interviewed by the FBI and a prosecutor.
Exum testified that he drove the vehicle back to Maine over three days, arriving at his home duty station on Oct. 10 and parking it in the facility’s garage. He said he did not see the vehicle again until about six days later, when he noticed it had been moved and that the black scuff marks from the collision had been cleaned off. He said he had no prior knowledge of the work and later learned that a supervisor had authorized a mechanic to perform it.
Prosecutors submitted to the court an email from that supervisor to Exum explaining that he had authorized the work on the vehicle to begin “because I though all the necessary pictures and evidence was [sic] taken in Chicago during the initial investigation.”
Exum said all work on the vehicle was stopped after the FBI informed him it would need to be returned to Chicago under a court order. The vehicle was transported to Chicago on a flatbed truck on Oct 23 and inspected by attorneys for Martinez a week later.
Defense attorney Chris Parente suggested during cross-examination that it was Exum, not his supervisor, who initiated the request for repairs. Parente cited an FBI interview report from Oct. 20 in which the agent wrote that Exum said he had sought approval for the work.
Exum denied that account.
“I did not say that, and I did not get approval for anything,” he testified. “He must have written it down incorrectly or misunderstood.”
Parente also confronted Exum with a series of text messages he sent in the days after the shooting — to his wife, his brother, and a group of fellow agents in a Signal chat. Prosecutors turned over screenshots of the messages to the defense earlier this week.
In one screenshot displayed in court — which included a link to a news article about the shooting — Exum wrote in a group chat: “Read it. Five shots, seven holes.” The message appeared to refer to the number of times Exum shot Martinez.
“So the ‘five shots, seven holes’ is a reference to my argument at the detention hearing that you shot Ms. Martinez five times and there were seven holes. Is that true?” Parente asked.
“I believe that is true,” Exum replied, adding: “I am a firearms instructor, and I take pride in my shooting skills.”
“So you’re bragging that you shot her five times and got seven holes? Are you literally bragging about this?” Parente asked.
“I’m just saying five shots, seven holes,” Exum answered.
In another partially redacted message to the same group, Exum wrote: “I have a MOF amendment to add to my story. I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book, boys.” Exum said “MOF” referred to a nickname used by the group — “Miserable Old F—s.”
Exum testified that the texts to the group were sent as a way of “relieving stress.”
A separate redacted message from Oct. 5, the day after the shooting, read: “Cool. I’m up for another round of ‘f— around and find out.’”
“That means illegal actions have legal consequences,” Exum replied.
Parente pressed Exum on whether such messages were appropriate for a federal officer.
“You’re supposed to protect the lives of U.S. citizens, right?” Parente asked.
“Protect anyone’s life,” Exum replied.
“You know Ms. Martinez is a U.S. citizen, right?”
“I do know,” Exum said.
“And yet this seems like you’re in a support group bragging about the shooting,” Parente said.
“I did what I had to do to save my life,” Exum replied.
Following Exum’s testimony — which did not delve into the specific circumstances of the shooting — Judge Alexakis approved a defense request to hear from the FBI agent in Maine who took Exum’s statement, as well as the FBI agent and federal prosecutor who approved the release of his vehicle just hours after the incident.
“I want to know why an [assistant U.S. attorney] would authorize the release of a vehicle at the center of a media storm in an agent-involved shooting,” Parente said. “It doesn’t comport with my experience, so I think they both have relevant testimony.”
A date for that hearing has not yet been set.
Martinez has been indicted on charges of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors allege she and Ruiz followed the agents’ SUV for miles and rammed it while Exum and two others were inside.
A DHS statement on the incident emphasized that Martinez “was armed with a semi-automatic weapon and had a history of doxxing federal agents.” The government alleged that the law enforcement officers were “ambushed by domestic terrorists.” The charges against Martinez, however, made no mention of a weapon, and prosecutors have acknowledged in court that the gun was not displayed or possessed by Martinez during the confrontation. It was discovered in her purse when agents searched her vehicle later. Martinez has a license for the gun and a concealed carry permit, according to court records.
