news starts right now. >> good afternoon. thanks for joining us for abc seven news at three. i'm kristen sze. let's begin with developing news in southern california. a wildfire in malibu has exploded in a matter of hours to more than 2700 acres. powerful winds are

helping it spread, and thousands of people have been forced to evacuate. abc's zohreen shah has more. >> a wildfire exploding in malibu, california, forcing people to evacuate. growing from one acre to 100 in less than an hour. >> there was so much fire in here, it was insane. >> the franklin fire threatening the lives of thousands of people in its path, as well as homes and other structures fueled by bone dry brush and santa ana winds gusting up to 76mph. >> this home is now gone. >> nothing you can really prepare for. uh- just kind of keep a watchful eye and let people know around you that are kind of stuck. elderly people, people with children try to get everybody out. >> the los angeles county sheriff's department deputies urgently going home to home, urging residents to evacuate. >> don't worry about your homes. uh- somebody breaking in and

taking something. i know that's a lot to ask for, but we have professionals on our department and we're not going to allow that to happen. >> a police car damaged in the fire. authorities saying the deputy was not hurt. 800 pepperdine university students, just a stone's throw from the pacific ocean, were under a mandatory shelter in place that has been since lifted. student journalists wearing masks, others filming the fire engulfing foliage right outside, an ominous skies hovering over the campus. l.a. county fire chief not releasing the specific cause for this fire, but pointing to climate change as a contributing factor to this year's wildfire activity. >> i certainly think that global warming is impacting wildfire through the united states, and it's making it even more challenging for fire departments to respond to wildfire. >> there is still an elevated fire risk on wednesday, but the winds are expected to calm down, which is good news. zohreen shah, abc news, los angeles.

>> crews are busy in berkeley this afternoon, cleaning up the damage caused by a redwood tree that fell onto two homes during last night's furious windstorm. gusts of up to 50mph caused the tree to crash onto the back of a home on eunice street around 130 this morning. the home has now been redtagged. a home next door sustained minor damage. the winds have died down this afternoon, but the skies are a little hazy around the bay area, as you might have noticed. as we take a live look outside at our sutro tower camera. air quality is only moderate today. abc seven news meteorologist drew tuma has more on that in his accuweather forecast. >> the air quality, until we get some of that rain late tomorrow night will stay in that moderate category. really for today and for tomorrow. that rain wednesday night will kind of help to move some of these pollutants out of our atmosphere. hazy sunshine today, 50s and 60s. we're dry all day today. tonight, though, it does get chilly. we are finding frost advisories back in effect. so if it was cold where you were this morning, we'll do it again

tomorrow morning. so you'll likely have to bundle up once again as temperatures could drop into the upper 20s in some areas. so overnight tonight we'll track that frost advisory. it's a mix of stars and clouds out there, 30s and 40s for the most part, with some areas dipping into the upper 20s. so it is chilly. much of the daylight hours tomorrow are dry. it's tomorrow night. we bring in the storm impact scale. level one for those scattered showers, take a look at the rainfall. it's pretty light, so slick and slower. travel in the late night hours is the biggest impact. so here's future weather. tomorrow night will track those showers light to moderate in nature, but it's a fast mover. by thursday morning, it's pretty much out of here and we're drying out. but that will lead to a very soggy saturday here. future weather showing you a stronger storm to kick off the weekend and then another one early next week. so the next seven days we will add rainfall totals to the amount of 2 to 4in in many areas. here's a look at the next seven days out there. this would include

wednesday night, the storm on saturday, and the one early next week. you could see certainly the pattern becomes a lot more active and the storm on saturday will likely find winds gusting about 20 to 40mph. so we got to be aware of that. here's the accuweather seven day forecast. the next seven days for you showing you hazy sunshine. rain at night tomorrow with some early morning showers. thursday, then saturday it's wet and it's windy. that level two moderate storm on the storm impact scale with more rain on the way early next week. kristen. >> thank you drew. now to new developments in the case that's gripping the country. the suspected killer of united health care ceo brian thompson was back in court today. and now we're learning more about a possible motive for the shooting. abc's reena roy has more. >> 26 year old murder suspect luigi mangione is struggling with police officers as he was brought to a pennsylvania court today for an extradition hearing. yelling out to the cameras as he completely out of touch and insult the intelligence of the american

people seen in his booking photo. mangione today challenging extradition to new york, where he faces murder charges in the shooting death of united health care ceo brian thompson, his lawyer, at one point telling him not to say a word when he tried to interject during the hearing. the judge ordering mangione held without bail. >> our primary focus is to cooperate with the new york city police department and manhattan district attorney's office, so this defendant can be prosecuted for his new york homicide charge. >> according to the new york arrest warrant, mangione had written admissions about the crime with him when he was arrested at a mcdonald's in altoona, pennsylvania, monday. we're learning mangione considered the killing to be a symbolic takedown of united health care over perceived corruption and, quote, power games, according to a confidential assessment of the crime described to abc news by the nypd intelligence bureau. the assessment is based in part on the suspect's writings. mangione allegedly described himself as the first to face united health care with such brutal honesty. mangione's former roommate says he never spoke about violence. >> he was absolutely a not

violent person, as far as i could tell. >> sources tell us, mangione also wrote, these parasites had it coming, and i do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done. authorities now working to piece together his movements over the last six days, asking for the public's help in tracing his steps. the altoona police department saying they're now facing threats in this case that has garnered widespread attention on social media. >> this is clearly a very polarized case. you know, we have received some threats against our officers in building here. we've started investigating some threats against some citizens in our community. >> there's also concerns about threats against health care executives and their families. a colorado law enforcement bulletin obtained by abc news warns this killing could be used as messaging and propaganda aimed at others who are unhappy with the insurance industry. reena roy, abc news, new york. >> we're still looking to mangione's bay area ties after graduating from the university of pennsylvania. he got a job at stanford for four months in the

summer of 2019. the university confirms mangione worked there as head counselor in the pre-collegiate studies program. according to his linkedin page, he says he taught artificial intelligence to gifted high school students. his facebook page included several photos of him enjoying the sights around the bay area, before eventually moving to hawaii. we talked to a friend and former roommate from hawaii. he doesn't know what may have gone wrong, but is well aware of mangione's back problems. in a recent surgery he had. >> i knew he was going to have a surgery, so earlier this year i checked in with him. he confirmed that he had had surgery and he sent me the x rays. it looked painless with just giant screws going into his spine. >> the backpack that was found tossed out in central park after the killing was made by peak design, which is a san francisco company. each contains a serial number where the company can trace the purchase history. the owner of that company told abc seven news i-team reporter dan noyes that he is now talking with authorities. we'll continue to follow the case in the luigi

mangione bay area ties. find the latest on abc seven news.com and on our abc seven bay area app. san francisco unified school district leaders are set to present their plan to close a huge budget gap today. the district is considering laying off teachers, possibly cutting more than 500 jobs district wide. they're offering a supplemental early retirement package to entice many to leave on their own. it will include 60% of their current salary. for those who have been with the district longer than five years, and they're boosting their transitional kindergarten enrollment. >> everyone wants us to succeed, and everyone wants to help, and so it gives me so much hope that we can and we will get through all of this, because in two years time, we will have a school district that will be standing solidly on our own two feet, making our own decisions for the best of our students. >> the school closures that led

to the superintendent to step down this fall are off the table, at least for now. the clock is ticking for the district to get a balanced budget plan to the state by sunday, as they're still at risk of a full state takeover. oakland, unified's board is scheduled to finalize cuts at its meeting tomorrow. the district is facing a $95 million budget deficit. the school board has been considering a number of options. you may remember last month the idea of school closures was back on the table. a hiring freeze, eliminating positions and restructuring. some departments are also being considered. up next, grinches really do exist around the holidays. they use this season to pull off scams, but the better business bureau is here with some helpful tips for us. they'll join us next.

customs and border protection issued a consumer warning for the holidays, urging everyone to avoid counterfeit goods. they say these items could hurt your health and the proceeds often fund terrorism. so we wanted to learn how to spot fake goods, as well as how to avoid the latest holiday scams. joining us live now to share her tips. the better business bureau spokesperson ama galvan. hi, ama. happy holidays. >> happy holidays kristie. nice to see you again. >> oh my gosh, i'm so glad you're here with this super important conversation. let's start with the cbp's warning about counterfeits today. how prevalent is this problem and how great of a cost consumers? >> it's one of the biggest

unfortunate situations that we see when it comes to fraud and scams, especially during the holidays, where we see viral products that go viral on tiktok. you know, we're talking about in this situation, stanley cups, hookah shoes, even dogs. unfortunately, puppies are one of the things that we do see sold. and you know, it's an increase. we did a case study about three weeks ago on the same exact thing where unfortunately, you know, four out of ten individuals will get scammed online, with eight of those eight out of ten that have been reported to our scam tracker report, do lose money. and then again, you fall into the situation where you get counterfeit goods where you know it's not a stanley cup like you thought or in other situations. not only are you out of the money, but you never get your product. >> oh my gosh, i can't even believe it. 40% of us get scammed during the holidays, and then 80% of those who get scammed lose money. that is just terrible. so i know with that in mind, you guys put together sort

of a 12 days of christmas list, except this is a naughty list and it's the 12 scams of christmas. so let's run down each of these real quickly and explain what they are. so number one on this list, misleading social media ads. >> you know, this is so common. and it's one of the things that we see 76 to 78% of our scams reported online start on social media. so these are the ads that you see on instagram or facebook with products that go viral, especially on tiktok. so you want to make sure that you understand what you're clicking on and get to know your product before you click on anything. understand how much it costs. again, we're talking about, you know, stanley cups or $5,060 and above. if you see one for 15, that's a red flag. >> got it. number two, social media gift exchanges. >> you know these are great. we see them on facebook where, you know, you send me a gift, i'll send you a gift again. make sure that these are individuals that you trust. secret santas, things like that. we don't understand. not that we don't understand, but most of them end up being

pyramid schemes. so you just want to make sure that you understand exactly what you're clicking. and keep in mind that you are providing personal information about yourself to individuals that you might not even know. so just be cautious about the information that you're sharing. >> same goes for holiday apps. number three right information. >> yes. holiday apps. this is extremely crucial for our kids, you know, especially if they're on our ipads. we download a christmas game. a lot of these games are connected to a parent's credit card. we have seen reports here locally with some local gaming companies, where parents are not even aware that their, you know, their their kids are racking up thousands of dollars on, on, you know, fees for using these games. understand again, child protection laws are super important when downloading apps, especially for kids. but even for ourselves, a lot of times, you know, we think it's harmless. but just make sure you read those privacy policies super, super important. >> yeah. number four fake toll collection texts. i got one of these recently. >> i know, it's crazy. you know,

we think, well, we don't have many bridges, but hello, we have the golden gate bridge, which is the biggest one that we all use. and the bay bridge to commute to and from work. the press release for this one actually went national, and it's super, super easy for us just to get a text message and think it's fast track and, you know, go to a website and pay money that we think for, you know, some of us that go across the bay bridge or the san fran, the sf golden gate bridge, most of the times, fast track does not send text messages. you know, we confirmed with them and on their website as well. if you take a peek at it, they're not going to send you any text messages. so if you get one of these, be alert. you know, we always get something in the mail, which is why, you know, snow snail mail, but it works. and understand the policies of these companies. and again, fast track will not text you. okay. >> number five free gifts. we know this one i want to focus on number six temporary holiday jobs. and number seven imposter scams. >> yes. so temporary holiday.

>> all right. we might be having an issue with ama signal if we don't get her when you're applying. oh. you're back. >> so we understand that when you're applying for a job, huge red flags, especially for holiday, where they automatically hire you without an interview. they want personal information. they want your banking information. and keep in mind that if they send you a check without working, or they're promising you like x amount of dollars a week for absolutely almost doing nothing. those are red flags to consider. but you know, the biggest takeaway here is that you are providing your personal information, which is your social security number and your date of birth. so be extra careful when you're applying for holiday jobs. and again, understand that you don't have to pay up front to apply for any job, right? >> okay, you've got several more good ones. unfortunately, we're kind of out of time. imposter scams, you know, fake websites. i've encountered those before where you think you're ordering from a restaurant or from a

retailer, but it's actually a fake website, not the actual one, but it looks so much the same. it's like with pictures ripped from the real one. so where can people go to see this list and get all their holiday better business bureau tips? >> super simple. if you just go to our website, which is. b-b-b. org forward slash holidays and holiday. if you just either google it as well. holiday hub b-b-b you'll find it. it's super, super easy to use. and again, take a peek at returning items and returning gifts. those are super important right now too, especially if you're doing last minute shopping coming up next week. so make sure you understand those return policies as well for sure. >> okay, ama galvan, good advice. thank you so much. happy holidays. >> likewise. happy holidays. >> a quick reminder for you as we head to break. abc seven news is streaming 24 over seven. get the abc seven bay area app and join us whenever you want.

far, far away. skeleton crew is here in the new series from our parent company, disney. a group of kids get lost in the galaxy and try to find their way back to their own planet. abc's on the red carpet recently took the show's young stars to star wars galaxy's edge at disneyland, where they had no problem feeling right at home. >> it's a really nice day to be at disneyland today. >> hi, i'm robert smith and i play neil and come with us to explore star wars galaxy's edge. whoa! >> oh my golly gosh. alrighty guys, we are going to build a droid. come along with us. i'm excited. let's go. these are the tough decisions in life. how to build a droid. nice. body acquired. are we ready? we are so ready. yeah. this is our little frederick. >> i love that. wait. no. yeah. that's perfect. this is frederick. let's go assemble. frederick. >> as great of a job as you're doing, drawn backwards. oh!

whoa! >> yes! whoa! >> frederick, is he ready? oh, he just did his thing. >> he just did a thing. he did a thing. woo! >> that was awesome, guys. let's go! >> scrumptious. >> i'm gonna drink all of it. it's, like, really refreshing. it is. that's nice. that's what happens, man. it's so good. i mean, it's blue. i don't know how to describe it. you have to try it. no, it's like, understand the flavor. go get yourself some blue milk. so ready. and we got that little refresher. we're ready to. we're ready to go fly a ship. guys, we are currently approaching the millennium falcon. we are very excited. do you guys think we could fly it? i think we could. i think we could fly it. >> i'm feeling great. we're good, we're good. we're the cast of skeleton crew and we're about to ride millennium falcon, smuggler's run. >> woo woo!

high five pilots. oh, yeah! woo! >> thanks for coming along with us to star wars galaxy's edge at disneyland. >> be sure to watch skeleton crew on disney+ now. woo! woo! >> yay! >> up next, building a better bay area through the power of toys this holiday season, meet the woman who's bringing some

we're always happy to highlight our neighbors making a difference in the season of giving. we're introducing you to one woman who is using her passion to help local kids. she's brightening their holiday season by donating american girl dolls restored by hand. abc seven news reporter tim johns

was there as she made the special delivery. >> they're stunning. >> for sue graham, this holiday season has been particularly busy. for the past several months, the east bay resident has been collecting and restoring dozens of highly coveted american girl dolls, all of which she's donating to kids in foster care during the month of december. >> i'm someone who really wants to make a difference in my community, and how can i make a difference? >> we caught up with graham monday as she was dropping off a batch of dolls at a san francisco adoption and foster care center, she told us. for weeks, her house has been taken over by the dolls she's collected, as well as all of their accessories, many of which she makes herself. but graham does more than just collect the dolls. she tells us almost all of them are used, and she's spent thousands of dollars and minutes cleaning and restoring them. >> hundreds of hours from repainting and restoring, you know, beds and, you know, dolls and making sure their limbs are

tight. their hair is appropriate. >> 20-24 is the third year graham has decided to donate dolls to kids in need. this year, one agency she's donating to is alternative family services in san francisco. >> what touches me the most, honestly, is that she reached out to us, as opposed to us reaching out. >> carolyn cruz jaramillo is the agency's san francisco office manager. she says graham's donation will make a huge impact on the holiday season for many of the children they work with. >> a lot of our clients come with just about nothing, just the clothes on their backs, and i think this will be something very cherished. they will cherish for sure. >> while graham also works a full time job, she says the joy she's able to bring the kids makes all the hard work worth it. that's why once this holiday season is over, she began getting things ready for next year. >> this allows me to do something special, and i feel at the end of the day, it makes me

feel just everything about the holiday season. >> graham buys about 80% of the american girl dolls herself, but says she also accepts donations from anyone willing to help in san francisco. tim johns, abc seven news. >> 325 bay area children got to live out a childhood dream this morning. these youngsters got to go on a shopping spree at the target store in colma. they were accompanied by san francisco sheriff's deputies, who provided $200 gift cards to each kid. they got to spend $100 on clothes and another 100 on toys or gifts. but this event represented much more for the deputies and the children. >> i was eager to see who my shopping buddy was for the sheriff. and it's me. >> hey, we bonded right away. >> today is to make them happy and put a smile on their faces. and we're doing that. >> the shopping spree is sponsored by the sheriff's and youth foundation, which aims to bring law enforcement and the

communities they serve closer together. a bay area bookstore employee is getting a nice holiday surprise from a bestselling novelist. erin messer of san francisco city lights books is getting a $500 holiday bonus from author james patterson. 600 employees of independent bookstores across the country are getting similar bonuses. it's something patterson has been doing since 2015. messer, who also writes, was nominated for the prize by coworkers and customers. congratulations. thanks for joining us for abc seven news at three. world news tonight with david muir starts now. and i'll see you bac tonight, chilling new details in the murder of unitedhealthcare's ceo. exploding wildfires triggering evacuations in southern california. and the break-in at an nfl star's home during "monday night football." first, murder suspect luigi mangione yelling at cameras as