oss, that he died in my place. he was buried, but you raised him to life. and i want to invite him to come into my heart and take control of my life, starting right now, in jesus' name, amen." if you prayed that prayer, call that number right now that's on the screen. merry christmas. tonight, chilling new 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 he's taken into court in pennsylvania.

an officer grabbing him by the back of the neck, leading him inside. the suspect now fighting his return to new york for the murder of ceo brian thompson. a source telling abc news police believe mangione's alleged cold-blooded killing was a, quote, symbolic takedown, and he may have been inspired by the unabomber. his mother filing a missing persons report before the shooting. aaron katersky in pennsylvania. also tonight, a massive wildfire tearing across southern california. homes destroyed, thousands forced to evacuate. minds gusting up to 90 miles per hour. students at pepperdine university told to shelter in place. trevor ault in the fire zone. tracking a new storm threat moving into the northeast. heavy rain, possible flash flooding and dangerous winds from washington, d.c. to philadelphia, new york to boston. overseas tonight, following the fall of the assad regime, israel unleashing a wave of attacks targeting syria's military bases, and destroying its naval fleet. the idf determined to keep chemical weapons from falling

into the hands of rebel forces. new video showing assad's abandoned fleet of luxury cars. our team went inside one of the presidential palaces, and a notorious prison, where the assad regime is accused of torturing and executing inmates. james longman in syria. and what he witnessed. tonight, the new break-in during "monday night football." police called to the home of bengals quarterback joe burrow. thieves in his house while he was on the field against the cowboys. growing concern about mystery drone sightings over new jersey. 11 confirmed reports near an army base. and for the first time, jamie foxx taking the stage, breaking his silence about his mystery health scare, and the 20 days he doesn't remember. >> announcer: from abc news world headquarters in new york, this is "world news tonight," with david muir. >> whit: good evening. thanks for joining us on this tuesday night.

i'm whit johnson, in for david. and we begin with that breaking news in the murder of the health care ceo on the streets of manhattan. the suspect, luigi mangione, appearing before a judge in pennsylvania, fighting extradition to new york, where he faces a second degree murder charge and four other charges. dramatic video of mangione arriving at the courthouse shouting, "this is clearly an injustice." officers then rushing him inside. and new images of the suspect at the mcdonald's where he was arrested, taking his mask down while eating. in his backpack, police say they found a three-page handwritten document taking responsibility for the murder, blasting u.s. health care companies. and now the hunt for clues to explain how mangione's life of privilege and accomplishment from high school valedictorian to the ivy league, allegedly turned to deadly rage. tonight, we've learned his own mother filed a missing person report in san francisco last month. abc's senior investigative correspondent aaron katersky leads us off from pennsylvania. >> reporter: a chaotic scene outside this pennsylvania

courthouse as accused killer luigi mangione arrived for his extradition hearing and erupted in an angry outburst. >> completely unjust and an insult to the american people! >> reporter: the suspect shackled, but a team of deputies still forcing him inside. mangione's fighting extradition to new york, where he's facing murder and other charges in the assassination-style killing of unitedhealthcare chief brian thompson. >> if you are an american, you believe in the american criminal justice system, you have to presume him to be innocent, and none of us would want anything other than that if that were us in those shoes. >> reporter: tonight he's being held without bail at this nearby state prison and we're now seeing images of mangione inside the mcdonald's, taking down his mask to eat a hash brown just moments before a worker called police. fellow customers doing a double take. >> my one friend made the comment, he thought -- he goes, don't that look like the shooter from new york? we pretty much laughed about it. >> reporter: when police arrived and asked mangione if he had recently visited new york city, he became quiet. >> he became visibly nervous,

kind of shaking at that question. and he didn't really answer it directly. >> reporter: a confidential nypd assessment obtained by abc news says mangione considered the targeted killing of thompson to be a symbolic takedown of united health care over perceived corruption. mangione likely views himself as a hero of sorts who has finally decided to act upon such injustices. abc news also obtained a copy of the alleged killer's handwritten screed. it says "these parasites simply had it coming." >> specifically, he states how we are the number one most expensive health care system in the world, yet the life expectancy of an american is ranked 42 in the world. so he was writing a lot about his disdain for corporate america and, in particular, the health care industry. >> reporter: but even as police dig into a motive, there are still questions about how a young man from a prominent family, the valedictorian at his elite prep school, and an ivy league graduate could be transformed into an accused

killer. we asked his former roommate in hawaii, who said mangione struggled with a back injury. >> he did let me know that the severity of his back issue was such that it was very difficult to have physical, um, relationships with women, that it made things painful. >> reporter: on social media, police say he posted an x-ray of a spine and wrote about back pain, sciatica and brain fog saying "it's absolutely brutal to have such a life-halting issue." for a number of months, mangione had been out of touch with his family, and sources say his mother filed a missing person report in san francisco two weeks before brian thompson's murder. mangione's case has become a cause, with admirers posting videos like this on instagram. ♪ i'm in love with a criminal ♪ >> reporter: the social media profile gained hundreds of thousands of followers after his arrest, and the police department that arrested mangione has been threatened.

pennsylvania governor josh shapiro is disgusted. >> i understand people have real frustration with our health care system. this killer is being hailed as a hero. hear me on this. he is no hero. >> whit: let's get right to aaron katersky outside the courthouse in pennsylvania. so aaron, how could long it take before the suspect is sent back to new york city? >> reporter: it could take weeks, whit, for the legal process to play out, but the manhattan d.a.'s office tonight is adamant mangione will return to new york to face the murder charge. his attorney told us tonight he would plead not guilty to everything he's charged with. i was in court here with the suspect, after that outburst, and he appeared calm inside. his lawyer's office has been inundated with calls from people offering to pay his legal bills. whit? >> whit: just another layer in this extraordinary case. aaron, thank you. now, to the exploding wildfire in malibu, california. the franklin fire roaring to

life less than 24 hours ago, fueled by santa ana winds gusting over 70 miles per hour. 18,000 people in the evacuation zone. part of the pacific coast highway shut down. students at pepperdine university told to shelter in place. some, you see here, watching the flames out of the library windows. and homes have already burned. abc's trevor ault on the scene tonight. >> reporter: tonight, an explosive wildfire in malibu, california, destroying homes and forcing thousands to evacuate. the franklin fire breaking out overnight around 11:00. santa ana winds gusting to 80 miles an hour, fanning the flames, sending embers flying across thousands of acres. fire jumping the pacific coast highway. this fire erupted overnight in malibu. the hillside is absolutely blanketed in flames like this. and look at it, all over the hillside. we're standing in the parking lot of malibu city hall right now. even in the distance, you see another patch there.

and then up over the hillside, the glow of the flames. >> oh, my god. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: the bright orange of those flames eerily visible through the windows of the library at nearby pepperdine university. students sheltering in place in the school's fire-resistant buildings. daylight revealing destruction. homes burned to the ground. alex gellis used a high-powered hose pumping water from backyard pools to try to save his neighborhood. >> there was so much fire in here, it was insane. >> reporter: he says he was able to save at least five of his neighbors' homes. and whit, we can still see these flames burning behind me. they are in no way out of the woods here. the humidity will remain low with more gusting wind. and red flag warnings are still in effect for most of southern california. whit? >> whit: quite a scene behind you. trevor, thank you. let's bring in meteorologist lee goldberg of our new york station wabc. and lee, you're tracking that extreme fire danger in the west, but also, a flood threat heading to the northeast? >> reporter: indeed, whit. the santa anas still screaming today.

some gusts in the mountains over 90 miles an hour. thankfully, the winds, although gusty tonight, will subside. red flag warnings will continue into tomorrow. in the east, the flood threat in the south, that's climbing up the coast. we have wind alerts and flood alerts all the way from delaware to maine. as we go through the day tomorrow, there may be a squall line that forms along the coast, bringing gusts over 60 miles an hour and up to four inches of rain, from d.c. to philly, right into new york city. at night, that heavy rain's moving into parts of new england and behind it, it's all about the arctic air pouring in. a 30-degree drop and another lake effect snow event. whit? >> whit: lee goldberg, we appreciate it. thank you. overseas now, and syria tonight. new shockwaves after the fall of the assad regime. israel conducting air strikes on military facilities to keep them from falling into what they consider the wrong hands. and tonight, an up-close look at what most syrians were never allowed to see. assad's abandoned palace and his most brutal prison. abc's chief international correspondent james longman takes us inside.

>> reporter: israel tonight unleashing a wave of devastating air strikes across syria, destroying its military bases and naval fleet. officials say they want to prevent the fallen assad regime's chemical weapons from falling into the hands of the syrian rebels. today, we visited assad's abandoned palace. the vast marbled estate ransacked and burned. this is what was a ballroom, clearly, ravaged by fire now. you can see all the chandeliers smashed and burned. new video showing the world assad's life of luxury. a garage filled with rare ferraris, lamborghinis, and maseratis. while assad stole his country's wealth, his people suffered extraordinary pain to keep him in power. we went inside assad's killing machine, the notorious saydnaya prison, where thousands were sent and few ever emerged. families trying to find out what happened to their loved ones. they want to show us, they want to show the world proof of assad's brutality. the ropes that hanged probably hundreds, maybe thousands.

this man confronts me, "my son was 15 when they took him, where is he? we want to know," he cries. his boy was taken 11 years ago. everyone here is missing someone. inside, we see syrians poring over lists of the detained. the first clues they've ever had to their loved ones' fate. and underground -- this is solitary confinement. tiny rooms behind huge metal doors where people would languish for years. no light. no one would know they were here. and in another room, a printing press. these families convinced bodies were crushed here for easier disposal. there's also an urgent search tonight for american journalist austin tice, kidnapped near damascus 12 years ago. a senior official tells abc news the u.s. is now trying to check all of syria's prisons and safehouses, hoping to find him alive. whit, those israeli air strikes were huge, nearly crippling syria's defenses. now, the united states says

they're not going to stand in their way, but for a country already in crisis, they were terrifying. whit? >> whit: a pivotal moment for the region. james longman, thank you. meantime, back here in the u.s., police in cincinnati say thieves robbed the home of bengals quarterback joe burrow while he was on the field for "monday night football." it's just the latest in a string of break-ins targeting the homes of professional athletes. here's abc's erielle reshef. >> burrow. sideline. >> reporter: while star cincinnati bengals quarterback joe burrow was throwing touchdowns and leading his team to victory in dallas monday night -- authorities now say thieves were breaking into his sprawling multimillion-dollar home in cincinnati. >> we do have a shattered window into the bedroom. the bedroom has been ransacked. >> reporter: the first 911 call placed by the frightened mother of burrow's employee. >> someone is trying to break into the house right now, my daughter is there, this is joe burrow's house. she's staying there. he's at the football game. >> reporter: just moments after kickoff, burrow's employee

herself making an emergency call. >> someone broke into my house. it's, like, completely messed up. >> reporter: just last month, the nfl issued a security alert for its players after the recent burglaries at the mansions of chiefs quarterback patrick mahomes and tight end travis kelce. so far, the sheriff in ohio saying the burglary at burrow's home does not appear to be connected to a rash of recent crimes targeting sports stars, but the nfl, nba, and nhl all warning of a south american crime syndicate, saying, "skilled criminals are increasingly targeting athletes' homes on game days." whit, police tell abc news that an off-duty officer was at burrow's home that night providing security. authorities are now reaching out to neighbors for any possible footage of the perpetrators. whit? >> whit: erielle reshef, thank you. turning now to the trump transition. some of his most controversial picks making their cases on capitol hill. defense secretary nominee pete hegseth still facing republican skeptics, as well as fbi director nominee kash patel, who

has vowed to go after trump's political opponents. here's abc's chief white house correspondent mary bruce. >> reporter: after a bruising few weeks, tonight, president-elect donald trump's controversial pick to lead the pentagon seems to be gaining some momentum. >> he's much better off this week than he was last week. >> reporter: pete hegseth, a former fox news host and veteran, fighting to win over republican skeptics has he faces allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking, and financial mismanagement, all of which he has denied. >> what are you expecting with your meeting with senator murkowski today? >> looking forward to a great conversation. >> reporter: after their meeting, alaska's lisa murkowski tight-lipped. >> did you learn anything that swayed you at all? >> i had a good exchange with mr. hegseth. >> reporter: also on the hill today, trump's pick for fbi director, a hardcore loyalist, kash patel has vowed to go after trump's political opponents. today, i asked him if that's still his plan. >> donald trump says he's going to leave political prosecutions

up to your discretion. how aggressive are you going to be, mr. patel? will you go after january 6th committee members? >> reporter: as his cabinet picks make the rounds here on the hill, tonight donald trump is looking to jumpstart investment in the u.s., promising to sweep aside permits and regulations including environmental ones, for companies that invest at least a billion dollars in the u.s. whit? >> whit: mary bruce, back on capitol hill tonight. thank you. when we come back here, president biden now briefed about those mystery drone sightings in the northeast, including 11 confirmed reports over an army base. for the first time, jamie foxx speaks out about his mystery health scare. what we didn't know. starting a business is never easy, but starting it eight months pregnant.. that's a different story. i couldn't slow down. we were starting a business from the ground up. people were showing up left and right. and so did our business needs. the chase ink card made it easy. when you go for something big like this, your kids see that. and they believe they can do the same. earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase with the chase ink business unlimited card

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tonight, the white house says president biden has now been briefed on those mystery drone sightings in the northeast. large drones spotted at night over parts of new jersey, the philadelphia area, staten island, new york. 11 confirmed drones seen over an army facility in morris county, new jersey. they've also been spotted over president-elect trump's bedminster golf course. nearly two dozen mayors are set to meet with authorities tomorrow. when we come back, the supermarket merger set to be the largest in u.s. history. what a judge just decided. and jamie foxx on the health scare that kept him hospitalized for weeks.

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finally tonight, for the finally tonight, for the first time, months after his mystery health scare, actor jamie foxx revealing just what happened. tonight, for the first time, oscar winner jamie foxx opening up about the mysterious illness he said nearly took his life. >> wow, man, please lord, let me get through this. [ applause ] >> you got it! you got it! >> whit: emotional as he takes the stage for a new netflix special, tearfully describing what led to his hospitalization last year. >> april 11th, i was having a bad headache. and i asked my boy for an aspirin. and before i could get the aspirin -- i went out. i don't -- i don't remember 20 days. >> whit: saying his sister drove him to a hospital in atlanta and then the doctor would give the devastating news. >> he said, "he's having a brain

bleed that's led to a stroke." damn. me. me, man, me. wow. >> whit: crediting his amazing recovery to his family, his medical team, and never losing his sense of humor. >> said i couldn't walk, but look at me now. ♪ now walk it out ♪ ♪ now walk it out ♪ >> i didn't let go of my funny. i said, if i can stay funny, i can stay alive. if i can stay funny, i can stay alive, so i was always cracking jokes to the point where the nurses thought i was really losing my mind. and i was never myself. never myself. i -- because it's a wellness check, they ask you who you are, for five days i was denzel washington. i was denzel, all right, okay. all right, sure, that's what you're telling me, okay, all right. yeah. my nurses. my nurses. >> whit: and still with that sense of humor.

so great to see him back. thank you for watching tonight, i'm whit johnson in new york. for david and all of us here, good night. tonight on abc seven news at six. dangerous conditions, high winds overnight. low temperatures tonight. and that is not all. >> you'll feel the chill tonight. i'll let you know when it will fade. and wet weather will arrive. i'm meteorologist sandhya patel. the forecast is coming up, and it's an insult to the american people. experience an outburst as he heads to court. tonight, a live update on the suspect charged with killing the unitedhealthcare ceo and the new link to san francisco.

>> plus, school closure is a last resort for me. >> s.f. unified isn't closing schools, so how will it balance the budget? >> always live abc seven news starts right now. >> you could hear that wind and you can see the damage it did. and this is just one concern from the weather that's heading our way this week. good evening. >> i'm ama daetz and i'm dan ashley. thanks for joining us. gusty winds, freezing conditions, rainy days, potentially dangerous weather hitting the bay area this week. >> look at what happened to a house in berkeley. a large tree fell onto it. going right through the roof. gusts of up to 50mph caused the tree to crash onto the back of the home on eunice street around 130 this morning. here's a view from the ground. the house has now been redtagged. the house next door sustained minor damage. >> the winds also knocked over store displays and an outdoor seating area of an italian restaurant off shattuck avenue.