seven live breaking news. >> and that is the breaking news right there. those howling

winds, those gusts fueling a rapidly growing wildfire in southern california is forcing some massive evacuations in pacific palisades, with many people escaping on foot as traffic causes gridlock on the roads there. people reportedly now abandoning their cars, and there are reports of multiple cars on fire. at this hour? good afternoon and thanks for joining us. i'm julian glover. the palisades fire is now at 772 acres. it started around 1030 this morning in prime wildfire weather conditions. the fire is burning east of malibu, where just last month, the franklin wildfire destroyed 20 homes and other buildings there, and crews are facing extremely difficult conditions right now. the national weather service issued a warning for, quote, life threatening, destructive and widespread windstorms in california today through tomorrow. peak wind gusts are reported at 33mph in that wildfire zone, and it appears some homes have already burned there. we know that schools in

the area have been evacuated and some temporarily relocated. this is the largest of three wildfires that burned today in los angeles county. the other two are now under control, including the one on the sunset strip that was threatening homes. of course, we are keeping a close eye on the situation. we're seeing that governor gavin newsom just made his way there and is being briefed by cal fire. we'll have updates on this breaking story on abc seven news today at four and 5 p.m. we want to take a closer look at the damaging winds and extreme fire weather forecast for southern california, in what could be the strongest wind event since 2011. wind gusts of up to 100mph are expected in some areas today, and conditions are extremely dry there. the region is only seeing a 10th of an inch of rain since may. fire crews say they're pre-positioning equipment in areas with that high fire danger, and some residents say they are taking all precautions when the winds kick up. >> i'm not going to leave home.

i'm going to stay in case i have to evacuate. i don't want to be caught away from home and not be able to get back there and get my stuff and get my dog to try and prevent fires caused by downed power lines. >> officials are considering power shutoffs like we've dealt with here in northern california in recent years. those could impact 100,000 homes and businesses today and tomorrow. well, those fierce winds in southern california forced president joe biden to cancel an event in riverside county today. he's in california to declare two national monuments, but the event will be rescheduled for next week at the white house. instead, the president is establishing the chuckwalla national monument in the southern part of the state and the national monument in the north. the designation protects the areas from fossil fuel drilling and mining. this is one of president biden's last moves to protect american land and water before leaving the white house. well, now let's get you to the accuweather forecast. abc seven weather anchor drew tuma

has a look at the powerful gust in the l.a. area, and details on a wind advisory now in effect for us here in the bay area. >> so windy weather is here. the reason why we have this area of low pressure that is diving through nevada, it's actually bringing in some very cold arctic air across much of the country. but high pressure is moving in as well. we call this a strong pressure gradient. when these two opposing forces get close to each other, because the atmosphere is always trying to balance itself out. now, northern california has seen so much rain so far this winter. we do not have any fire concerns. it's a different story across southern california. they have yet to see much of any rain at all this season. so we have a very dangerous situation unfolding right now across southern california. frequent wind gusts over 80mph, very likely in the hills. winds back here at home. it stays pretty active all day. throughout the evening it remains windy. but then tomorrow morning the winds will back off and the wind advisory will be over tomorrow morning. so it's windy. it's warm. the biggest issue we'll

likely have here. some trees could come down. we could have some power outages as well. otherwise it's a warm day with temperatures in the mid and upper 60s. here's the accuweather seven day forecast. >> and as you can see there in that seven day will be enjoying some warm temperatures for many days to come. and it will be dry here as well here in the bay area. well, turning our attention now to former president jimmy carter, he's taking his final journey to the nation's capital. his body was flown to washington, d.c. today, where it's now lying in state at the capitol before a memorial service at washington's national cathedral. that will happen on thursday. abc news reporter perry russom is at the capitol with a look back at how the nation is paying its respects. >> former president jimmy carter landing at joint base andrews in maryland today, making his final trip to washington, dc. the flight call sign, special mission 39 for the 39th president. a 21 gun salute for carter, america's longest living president. he died last month at

the age of 100. his flag draped casket leaving the carter center in atlanta this morning. >> hi, jimmy carter, do solemnly swear. >> he will lie in state in the capitol rotunda, the same building where he took the oath of office 48 years ago. the peanut farmer from plains, georgia, becoming the 39th president. he was the first president to step out of the presidential limousine and walked down pennsylvania avenue to the white house. today, his family doing the same, but this time walking to the capitol as his casket is pulled by eight horses. the procession is designed to mirror his inauguration parade for two days. he will lie in state in the capitol rotunda. carter state funeral is at the national cathedral on thursday. all living presidents are expected to attend. president biden will give the eulogy. carter will then be flown back to georgia. he'll be buried next to his late wife, rosalynn, outside their home in a spot they picked together. >> you knew he had a good life, so very much prepared for what came next. >> the capitol will be open until midnight, allowing the public to pay their respects. they have until thursday morning

to visit before the funeral. perry russom, abc news, capitol hill. >> and abc news will have special coverage on thursday for president carter's funeral. you'll be able to see it live wherever you watch abc seven and on our website at abc seven news.com. meta says it's getting rid of fact checkers, instead relying on users to make sure information is accurate. the menlo park based company says it plans to allow more speech by lifting the restrictions on certain topics. abc seven news reporter lena howland explains how this is going to work, because it's time to get back to our roots around free expression on facebook and instagram. >> meta ceo mark zuckerberg putting out this video statement to facebook tuesday morning, saying he plans to get rid of fact checkers and replace them with community notes on facebook, instagram and threads. it's where users can add comments to posts to provide context. >> we've reached a point where it's just too many mistakes and too much censorship. the recent elections also feel like a

cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech. >> this announcement comes after zuckerberg met with president elect trump at mar a lago in november. shortly after that, meta donated $1 million to trump's inauguration. despite trump calling facebook a true enemy of the people in a truth social post last march. >> but the fact checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created. >> what are they going to allow us to see and not allow to see? you know, i think it's bad for a democracy. anytime we're having a conversation about what billionaires allow us to see. but this is where we're at. >> doctor nolan higdon is a lecturer of history and communication at uc santa cruz. >> but now republicans in power. and the last thing that zuckerberg or anybody else wants is to be attacked by the federal government under the auspices of incorrectly moderating information. >> amir barger is a communications and change management professor at csu east bay, who has seen a noticeable change on x as a result of its community notes model.

>> now it's a haven for misinformation. for very far right or even, you know, i would say white supremacist or nazi information. >> zuckerberg also announcing tuesday facebook's u.s. content review team will also move from california to texas. >> simply moving states won't accomplish mitigation of bias. >> fox news is reporting that president elect trump is responding to this. calling meta's presentation excellent and saying they have come a long way in menlo park. lena howland, abc seven news. >> a man convicted in a notorious kidnaping in vallejo a decade ago is now facing some new charges in a third bay area county. the contra costa sheriff's office is charged matthew mueller in a never before reported home invasion robbery that happened in san ramon. detectives say it happened in 2015, just two weeks after the case that made national headlines. that's the one we've reported on extensively, involving denise huskins and aaron quinn. mueller

broke into the couple's vallejo home in march of 2015. he drugged them, tied them up before kidnaping and then sexually assaulting huskins. vallejo police falsely accused the couple of making the entire story up, but mueller was later linked to the crime and convicted. and now today, investigators have revealed they believe mueller committed his first kidnaping and sexual assault at just the age of 16, back in 1993. that case still under investigation. >> he had all the markers of a serial predator, and it's unfortunate that it's taken this long to be able to really give some better clarity and hopefully some sense of peace to these other victims. i really believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and that there's probably more to be learned and found. >> just last week, mueller was charged in santa clara county for two home invasions and sexual assaults that happened back in 2009, in mountain view and palo alto. abc seven news reporter melanie woodrow will

have a full wrap up on all of this, coming up on abc seven news at five. well, still to come here at three, it is san francisco mayor london breed s final day in office. she's going to join us live in studio for a look back at her career in city hall. and maintenance work will lead to bart delays out in the east bay. we'll tell a team can help you plan for your dreams. so your dream car, and vacation home, may be closer than you think. ready to meet the dream team? you can with wells fargo.

(vo) with fargo, your virtual assistant from wells fargo, you can pick up the tab, even when you forget your wallet. (kaz) i got this. (ben) fargo, send kaz $145 dollars with zelle. (kaz) smooth. (vo) learn more at wellsfargo.com/getfargo. francisco, its mayor london breed. last day in office, she served as the 45th mayor of the city and the first black woman elected in that position. she is a native daughter of san francisco, born in the western addition, raised by her grandmother. mayor breed served

six years on the san francisco board of supervisors, including three years as president of the board. in that role, she was thrust into the position of acting mayor after the sudden death of mayor ed lee. in 2018, she won election to serve out the remainder of lee's term, and in 2019, she would win reelection for a full term. in november of last year, she lost a contentious election to political newcomer daniel lurie, and she prepares to leave city hall. she joins us live in studio for a final interview as mayor. mayor breed, we appreciate you being here. thank you. i'd like to kind of structure this interview by looking at the present, and then we'll look back at the past, and then we'll talk about the future, if that's okay with you. we want to start with the new public safety numbers released today by your office jointly with sfpd. our abc7 news data team looked at the numbers to verify them. and the headline here, the lowest overall crime rate in 20 years. we want to show everyone those numbers right now. property crime down 45%. violent crime down 27% last

year compared to when you took office in 2017. homicides reaching a 60 year low with only 35 murders last year. how did the city make this happen? >> well, we made it happen because there weren't there wasn't just one. we did. we had to do a multitude of things. in fact, the new technology that we have and using drones, license plate readers and all of that has had an impact. having a district attorney, brooke jenkins, who holds people accountable when they are arrested, has been really important. working with the coordinated effort with the drug enforcement agency, with the u.s. attorney's office, our federal partner, state partners and law enforcement, we had a very coordinated effort like never before. so and also our reform work, reforming our police department was an important part of the solution. removing things from our department's responsibilities and our street crisis response team for people struggling with mental illness. and so we didn't

have to abandon our reforms in order to help keep people safe. we just had to introduce accountability. we had to change our local and state laws. we had to build our capacity. we had to put all of this together. over time. that led to these remarkable results that we can be proud of. and i'm really excited about what that means for the city and its future. >> we certainly know that it was a coordinated effort, right? and it wasn't just a thing that you could snap your fingers and change things overnight, so to speak, here in san francisco. i want to talk about auto break ins. right. because the smash and grabs with the cars, those were the things that always seem to grab the national attention for so long. big improvements there to last year, coming in at under 10,000 for the first time in 15 years. why do you think those crimes are the things that stick with people so much? and why do you think it took so long for the sentiments of the safety of the city and the improvements that we are seeing in the city, to catch up to the voters when they headed to the voting booth last november? >> well, at the end of the day,

i mean, look there, it's a major city. things happen. i think people were, of course, frustrated over seeing it happen even more and more consistently. and also, when you think about it, social media plays a role in in how people think too when they see something online, even if it didn't happen to them. but we also are using that same technology to make those arrests. that has been remarkable. the fact that, i mean, we've shown evidence of how we're able to capture video surveillance and use that video surveillance as a way to hold perpetrators of these crimes accountable like never before. and more importantly, there's a state law that's in place this year that we're going to be able to use, because you had to prove that the door was locked. if we didn't have this video, you had to prove that the door was locked in order to hold someone accountable. and now with all of these tools and changes in laws, it is really made the kinds of results that we wanted to see all along. but we had to make sure that we had what we needed

before. there were a lot of things we could not do that we can now do, and it takes long because sadly, bureaucracy is what bureaucracy is and it takes removing laws, working with leaders from local and state levels and making those kinds of changes. and, you know, there's a lot of pushback oftentimes from people who don't want to see that stuff change. >> there's some other big headlines today that i wanted to go through. we don't have time for those, but we will be covering them today here on abc seven. >> i hope so. i love the lengthy record here of the california doj ending its oversight of sfpd after seven years. >> we'll be covering that later, but i did want to leave us some time to talk about the past and then also to talk about the future, too. if you could finish the sentence here, the policy decision i'm most proud of as mayor is. >> oh, god, that's a hard one. >> i'm probably most proud of is what we've been able to do around housing, because we have set the state housing production in this city has been really unbelievable to move forward. and what we've done locally and

with state laws that have removed significant barriers. once the interest rates start to decline, we are going to see housing production in san francisco and people aren't going to be able to stop it. and i think that's going to change the game for affordability in our city. >> we certainly need that. as we know, the department of housing and urban development released a report yesterday saying that san francisco homelessness about one in every 100 residents is homeless, which is really tough. so we're certainly eager to see more production when it comes to housing. >> definitely. >> if i had a do over on one decision, it would be, oh, see, you're asking me questions that i haven't really thought about. >> because here's the thing i try not to live in the past and dwell on those moments. i try to make hard decisions, live with those decisions, and make adjustments accordingly. and i think that the biggest challenge after we went through the pandemic, i wish look, i wish i didn't have to be mayor during a global pandemic. but after we went through that pandemic,

things were different. and i think that we all tried to move on like things were the same and they weren't. and so it there was a big disconnect between, you know, just all the community stuff that we needed to see continue. and also taking credit for a lot of the work that i did that helped to make san francisco a better place. so i think, you know, the do over would be go out there and take more credit for all of this incredible work that we've been able to do to get the city to where it is now. >> if you had one more year in office, what would be your top priority? >> oh, my top priority would be to build upon. i mean, we've helped over 20,000 people exit homelessness. i've increased shelter capacity by close to 70%. permanent supportive housing. we are seeing real change there. we're seeing our overdose numbers decline. we are going to be building more housing. those are the things that are the most important things that i will would definitely build upon. and again, i feel that we've removed bureaucracy, become a city of yes, and have put the city on

path to just continue to rise. it's already starting to look better, feel better. this is one of the best summers we had last year in a long time, bringing the fun back to the city, as you said. yes and the best is yet to come. i have left the city in a really positive foundation and it can only get better. >> what's the next chapter for london breed? will we ever see your name on a ballot again? >> i'm not going to say never, but i will say that i've worked my whole life. i, you know, i was babysitting at ten. i was carrying people's groceries to their homes at ten. and i always worked and i've always served the community. my whole life has been around making the community better, serving the city that i love, and i'll always be the biggest champion for san francisco. but what my next chapter holds, who knows? >> no time left. so we have to make this quick. but obviously we are transitioning from your term as mayor to a new mayor. daniel lurie will be sworn in tomorrow. what would your piece of advice be to him? >> well, i'm giving him a lot of

pieces of advice, but, you know, you know, being a mayor, you know, you think, you know, until you're mayor. and so i think more importantly, and what i've learned from getting advice from other mayors myself is, you know, you want to listen and then you want to be decisive around the decisions that you need to make. there's hard decisions. some people are going to love you for it, and some people aren't. but you have to always do what is in the best interest of the city so that you can walk proud and hold your head up when you go out there after you're done. >> mayor london breed, the 45th mayor of the city of san

bart to the oakland airport should expect travel delays for the next few weeks. at 9 p.m, bart will begin overnight track maintenance on the oakland airport connector. only one track will be operational. trains will run every 18 minutes instead of every nine, so be sure to plan for more travel time. the work is scheduled to

happen every night until 7 a.m. through january the 24th. work is not scheduled on sundays. well, today the city of antioch is announcing a new interim police chief as the current interim chief retires. the new leadership comes as the department deals with multiple shootings already this week. as we start a new year and new federal oversight to as a part of that agreement with the department of justice, the apd will hire a consultant to review and update its policies, procedures and training efforts. a civil rights attorney says creating change will be difficult. >> and we're trying to change that culture. and that's a task because you have officers who were trained on a certain culture, and then you're trying to change that culture. >> all of the changes stemmed from a series of scandals in recent years, involving both racism and corruption among officers there. while county and federal officials have investigated the apd for years, the california department of justice is currently leading its own investigation into the department. parking meters in

san bruno are causing a stir among some residents and business owners there. san bruno's downtown did not always have parking meters, and residents say the addition last april is leaving many frustrated. one woman became so upset she vandalized several meters, causing over $12,000 in damage. others anger over the situation. on one side, business owners have seen a positive impact. one store owner says the parking areas are less crowded now. >> now i'm back to driving my car here and there, and if i have to park in front to unload, i just pay the 20 minutes $0.75, no big deal. and then i move. >> the city has already decreased the parking ticket fine from 90 to $40. there are plans to address issues with the parking program at the next city council meeting. that's happening on january the 14th. well, san francisco has been surpassed as the bay area's most expensive rental city, according to newly released numbers. zumper.com has three cities on the peninsula at the top of

their list menlo park, mountain view and palo alto are the priciest cities with one bedroom rents, all priced at $3,100 and up. menlo park had the fastest growing rent, up 34.8% since this time last year. the most affordable cities are concord, richmond and vallejo. one bedroom apartments rent for $1,900 or less there. we'll take a short break here on

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employees are already required to be in the office five days a week. in recent months, businesses including amazon and dell announced plans to require employees to return to the office full time. well, this picture gives us a reason to question the g.p.s. yeah, those are skiers next to a car stuck on a ski run at a keystone, colorado resort. the car was left there after the driver made a wrong turn following the gps directions. the resort was able to reunite the driver and the car after having it towed from the property. well, that'll do it for abc seven news at three. world news tonight with david muir is up next. i'll see you right back here for abc seven news at four. tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. the emergency unfolding right now. racing to escape the flames. winds now gusting up to 100 miles per hour.