ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - Jan. 9, 2025

Tonight, a special edition of World News. Tonight as we come on the air in the. West. The unimaginable destruction here. in Los Angeles. Multiple wildfires. burning out of control. And we have just. learned tonight of another major fire. now burning. New evacuations now. underway. And across the region tonight, thousands of homes now gone. And the. concerns about the winds in the hours to. come. Tonight, the devastating images of the. widespread destruction across Los. Angeles. Mile after mile of scorched.

dirt, the Palisades fire, the most. destructive fire in LA history. More. than 9,000 homes and structures now burn. to the ground. In this fire alone, Santa. Ana winds up to 70 mph, fueling at least. five major fires. Tonight, as several. fires burn elsewhere, we're with the. families as some return to where their. homes once stood. They had not been back. yet, their homes gone. And tonight, we're hearing from the family of a man. who died with a garden hose in his hand, trying to protect his home. And the.

well-known names who have lost their. homes, too. Tonight, actor Billy Crystal. and his wife losing the home where they. raised their children and grandchildren. What they're saying tonight, our team. back across the fire zone tonight and. the new concern as we head into the. evening. Ginger Z on the Santa Ana winds. and what's coming next. The other news. this Thursday night, the major winter. storm moving from Texas to the East. Coast. Tonight, 20 states on alert for. snow and ice. Several states expected to. get more snow than they're used to.

Tonight, America paying its final. respects to former President Jimmy. Carter. The remarkable scene inside the. National Cathedral. And you'll see it. the five living presidents on hand to. honor Jimmy Carter and President. Carter's grandson and the laughter in. that cathedral when he shared a story. about his grandfather in that small home. in Plains, Georgia. The struggle at. first with his cell phone and the bond. between his grandparents, Jimmy and. Rosalyn. There is breaking news as we. come on the air in the West tonight. The. Supreme Court has denied Donald Trump's.

request to halt his sentencing for. tomorrow. So, what happens now? And. nearly a year after Princess Katherine. revealed her battle with cancer, Prince. William tonight sharing a new image on. her 43rd birthday. A special edition of. World News Tonight begins now. from ABC News. This is ABC World News. Tonight with David Mure reporting. tonight from Los Angeles. And good evening tonight from Pacific. Palisades here in Southern California.

And tonight, the new reality here. The. staggering damage. The worst wildfires. Los Angeles has ever seen. We have just. learned tonight more than 9,000 homes. and structures have now burned to the. ground. And tonight, news of another. fire now breaking out. The Kenneth Fire. mandatory evacuations have been ordered. in the West Hills area. Tonight, two of. the other fires still growing, still 0%. contained. Firefighters racing to put. them out before powerful Santa Ana winds. pick up again later this evening.

180,000 people already forced from their. homes. 200,000 more ready to go. Here in. Pacific Palisades tonight, we were with. families as they returned for the first. time today. They had not been back. I. was with one father, their home gone. His two boys and wife are okay, but. they've lost everything as you can see. right here behind me tonight. This. evening, our station here in Los. Angeles, KABC and their helicopter above. us here in Pacific Palisades, flying. over late today, actually widening out. to show on camera what it looks like. here. A war zone. Mile after mile of.

scorched earth. Across Los Angeles, more. than 45 square miles have now burned. That's the size of 800 football fields. or about the size of the city of San. Francisco. At least seven lives now. lost. We've just learned tonight, two of. those lives lost here in Pacific. Palisades. That number expected to rise. across the region. The damages up to 57. billion dollar. Overnight here, a new. fire in Hollywood. The Sunset Fire. erupting in the hills just north of. Hollywood Boulevard, quadrupling in just.

minutes. Gridlock on narrow streets of. Hollywood as people race to get away. Firefighters knocking the fire down. And. today, the Eaton fire still destroying. homes in Pasadena and reaching the foot. of Mount Wilson and its critical. communication infrastructure right at. the top. New images tonight of the. chaotic evacuation in the early hours of. the Palisades fire. People stuck in. traffic, abandoning cars. A man helping. his elderly father-in-law right through. the smoke there and driving on the. Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu as.

the fire burned every structure along. the way. here in Pacific's Palisades. As. I mentioned, we were with families late. today as they returned to their homes. They had not been back yet. They did not. know what they would find. We have also. learned tonight of some well-known names. who've lost their homes, too. Billy. Crystal and his wife among them. What. they're now saying tonight. So many. families here have lost everything, but. they remain grateful they still have. their loved ones.

The sun blow in the sky over Los. Angeles, reflecting a new reality for. this city. Shining through the heavy. smoke as some of the most destructive. wildfires in the history of Los Angeles. rage on tonight. The devastation for. miles. At one point, six major fires burning at. once. Firefighters racing to contain. them. the first and largest fire, the. Palisades fire, and the horror it has. now left behind.

You could hear the crackling of the. flames, the gusting winds, the fire devouring. homes, garages, businesses collapsing to. the ground. Tonight, a first look here. A staggering. scope of devastation. Home after home, street after street burned to the. ground. There is nothing left in so many. of these neighborhoods. across the Los Angeles area. At least.

five lives lost, nearly 180,000 under. evacuation orders, more than 200,000. still without power tonight, and more. than 45 square miles burned. Today, we saw firsthand what is left and. the sounds of the fire alarms ringing. out. Everywhere you go, you can hear sort of. the alarms still going off long after. the fires here. And it's not just the. neighborhoods where you see home after.

home. This used to be the grocery store. right here, completely hollowed out. And then over my shoulder here, if you. look right up, you can see nothing left. but the tattered. American flag there, uh, covered in soot. and torn, but still hanging. In this neighborhood, we are told about. the first home that caught fire and how. it then spread. One neighbor alerting. the others. This was the house here on.

the corner that began to burn. And then. they alerted everyone down the street to. get out of their homes because they knew. it was just a matter of time before the. flames jumped from house to house. Uh. which is exactly what it did. Not only. on this block, but on every block you. can see the one off in the distance. The next block here, you can see. the fire ripped through here as well. As far as the eye can see, really not a. home left standing.

The damage here is difficult to put into. words. The cars here in the streets. incinerated what's left of sort of the. burned out charred metal frame here uh. uh just sitting on the street here. And. if you look across the street, there's still some embers burning here. But you can see right in this yard here, the washer and dryer sitting. That's. just about all you can make out. And we met families returning to their.

homes for the first time. This husband. and father of two, Alessandra Vigilante, had not been home yet. Have you seen. your house yet? The father had raced to. school to pick up his boys under. evacuation orders. His wife staying. behind to grab their most important. documents. I'm sorry. He sees for the first time what is left. That's the entrance. And this is uh this. was the living room. That's our TV. He.

tells me this used to be one of the boys. rooms. My wife was here and she just. collected what she could what she could. and and then left. What was she able to. save? Uh the documents. Mainly the. documents. And then she took a couple of. stupid things like uh my son's perfume. cuz he has a weon or the toilet. Cologne. say his cologne just Yeah. Just. something emotionally related, but. nothing. Yeah. Nothing. But nothing. else. No.

Taking what they could and grateful to. have their lives. Aiden Khan returning to his home in the. Pacific Palisades, making his way up. Sunset Boulevard. This is my bedroom. right here. His apartment completely destroyed. Here's our patio. Here's. the front entrance. The elevator is still there. But with the winds, there is still so. much uncertainty. Overnight, another.

major fire breaking out. This time in. the Hollywood Hills, the Sunset Fire. This thing is blowing up before our. eyes. It is a very sizable fire that is. spreading rapidly. The gridlock, the. panic to get out. Helicopters dropping. water from above. They were unable to do. this the night before. This time able to. fight it from above. On the ground, crews battling it too. Trees in the streets bursting into. flames.

At the Eden fire in Altadena, fire crews. using saws to cut open garage doors for. their fire hoses to reach the flames. inside. This is what's left of the. auditorium at the Elliot Arts Magnet. Academy Middle School. The scorched row. of chairs. Tonight here, a new satellite. image over that fire showing nearly. nothing was spared. And tonight, back at the Palisades fire, we're learning of some familiar names. who have lost their homes as well. Some. well-known actors, including actor Billy.

Crystal. He and his wife Janice telling. ABC News they have lived in their home. since 1979, raising their children and grandchildren. there, saying, quote, "We pray for the. safety of the firefighters and first. responders. The Pacific Palisades is a. resilient community of amazing people. and we know in time it will rise again. It is our home. And it was last night here we saw Orley. Israel trying to use a hose to beat back. the flames in his own backyard. Oh, the. fire alarm going off. Yeah. Let's get.

out of here. We tried. We tried, bro. I'm sorry. His friend Tanner Sha trying. to help him. Trying to save the home. We. tried our best. Both were forced to. flee, escaping through the front door. Tonight, Tanner returning to his. friend's home. This is my first time. back to the to the house from last night. as this is Orly's home. Um. there is there is literally nothing.

left. While back at that home in Pacific. Palisades that once stood, that father, Alessandro, telling me he is grateful. that he has his family. They lost. everything, but they have each other. And he also believes tonight that every. one of his immediate neighbors were. saved, too. I mean, I think it's. impossible for people. around the country to look at this and. understand the scope of this. devastation. Everything is gone. Yeah. But you've got your boys and you've got.

your wife. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. and. uh we figure out the rest. I'm glad you're here. Thanks. And that. you're okay. Thank you so much. Thank. you. Thanks. That father, like so many people we have. spoken with here, incredibly resilient. They've lost everything, but their. strength here is really quite something. It's hard to truly grasp the staggering. damage behind me here. KABC helicopter. pilot Scott Reefe flying above and. describing to me what he saw.

David, the devastation is just. overwhelming. It was just moments ago. that the smoke cleared and we could see. into this area, Pacific Palisades, and. it really does look like a war zone. Every single one of those homes that you. see there is lost, completely burned. down to the foundation. You will see the. winds come out of the north to the south. and they blew the fire down towards the. shoreline and we lost all those homes. along that stretch. It's heart-wrenching. to look at this. I've flown other fires. over the last 40 years and we've never. seen anything like this in Southern.

California. We've lost thousands of. homes here in the Pacific Palisades. We've lost maybe a thousand homes as. well in the other fire burning out in. the Pasadena area. So, we're going to. have a tough week in front of us, David, as we continue to battle the winds and. these two major fires that are burning. David. All right, KABC's Scott Reefe. overhead tonight. Scott, thank you. This. evening, 180,000 people are under. mandatory evacuation orders. Matt Gutman. tonight with one family and what they. found in the ashes when they returned.

This was extraordinary. And the serious. questions tonight about the water and. about early decisions by authorities. here tonight. With spotfire still. sparking blazes, the Palisades fire is. still uncontained. Some families making. their way home. We spotted two figures. in the rubble of this apartment. building. Is this your safe? It is. wanted to get to it before the looters. got to it. Gail McGawan had lived there. for 22 years after her husband died. She. was hoping one particular ring had. survived the heat. I mean, I got to save.

something. Look at everything else. This. is my home right here. On her way out, she grabbed her phone, nursing scrubs, and little else. So, documents, passport, things like that. Nothing are. somewhere here. Yeah. Yeah. Everything. Everything. Everything. Everything. Minutes later, the fire still. flickering. Mario heaving the safe off. the building. He left to get a shopping cart and came. back with cops on patrol. Do you have. your ID with you now? You bet. The. officers concerned about looters making.

sure Gail's ID matches the address of. where they are. Then they cracked the safe. Oh, look. Oh, yeah. Way to go. These are. my Today, authorities announcing the. arrest of 20 looters and we asked the. LAPD about it. Oh, it's huge. It's huge. You have million-dollar homes all. intact. rows and rows of them and. there's really no. way to police this area effectively. right now. At a news conference today, officials pressed on that and a number. of other issues. LA Mayor Karen Bass.

facing criticism for the city's response. to the disaster. When lives have been. saved, homes have been saved. We will. absolutely do an evaluation to look at. what worked, what didn't work and to. correct or to hold accountable anybody, department, individual, etc. But my. focus right now is on the lives and on. the homes. David, you've been out here on the. ground for two days now, and you know, with all of these homes, the walls.

disintegrating, the safes laid bare in. many cases, and the concern about. looting is so intense at this point that. the National Guard has been called out. to help protect areas under mandatory. evacuation orders. Those areas also. under mandatory curfew after dark. David. All right, Matt Guppman with us here. tonight. Matt, thank you. Tonight in. Aladena, the story of a man who was. found dead, still holding the hose, trying to save his home. What his family. is now saying. And they have just.

revealed there are up to 5,000. structures, homes lost there, too. ABC's. Mola Langi tonight here in California. New video tonight of the dramatic escape. from the eaten fire in Altadena, California. Aladina gone. This driver. surrounded by flames. Drone video. revealing the scope of the devastation. Authorities bringing in cadaavver dogs, saying they don't know the exact death. toll. At one point, we'll be able to do. a more thorough search of these impacted.

areas. Some of them look like a bomb was. dropped in them. The family of. 66-year-old Victor Shaw says he died in. a heroic attempt to defend his home in. Altadena. And I opened the front door. and I just yelled in, "Victor, we got to. get out. This is it. We have to get out. The fire's here." And I didn't hear him. say anything. I heard him say nothing. So, I ran to the car and I just I just. got out. I just got out and I went down.

the street and there was a police car. and I flagged him and I said, "My. brother's in the house. I need help.". And he told me to get out and he said, "Go." Later, finding his body out front, a garden hose still in his hand. I can't. imagine what he might have been. thinking, how he might have been so. frightened. And I couldn't be here. I. couldn't be here to save him. I couldn't. be here. That's what hurts the most. Shaw lived in the family home for more. than five decades and had health issues.

that impacted his mobility. Well, David, authorities say tonight they are. expecting that death toll to ultimately. increase. David. Mola Leni part of the team on the ground. here in California tonight. Mhola, thank. you. And across Los Angeles tonight, there is real concern now about the. winds again this evening. Chief. Meteorologist Ginger Z is here. And. Ginger, what do you see as we head into. the night now? David, I see that those. winds are going to pick up especially. into early tomorrow morning. You can see. that smoke, those smoldering areas, the. firefighters been trying to get those.

out. We've watched them in rounds and. they've got to before those winds kick. up 30 to even 60 miles per hour thanks. to that high pressure system going to. send those Santa Ana winds offshore. again. So, red flag warnings until 6 PM. tonight in those affected areas. High. wind warnings all the way down to the. Mexican border. And David, I've got to. show you that low pressure system that. slid across the south and brought more. than 8 ines to Amarillo. Most snow. they've had in more than a decade. Now, Little Rock, Nashville, uh Dallas, of. course, was impacted over into the. Mid-Atlantic and Northeast this weekend.

David, so we're watching these winds. into the night here in Southern. California and of course this winter. storm now moving right across the. country. Ginger Z with us here again. tonight. Ginger, thank you. When we come. back tonight, there is breaking news at. this hour involving President-elect. Donald Trump. The Supreme Court with. their late decision tonight when it. comes to his sentencing tomorrow and. what this now means in a moment. And. five living presidents honoring former. President Jimmy Carter today. The. remarkable image in a moment here. We are following that breaking headline.

from the Supreme Court tonight denying. President-elect Donald Trump's request. to delay tomorrow's sentencing in the. New York hush money case. Chief Justice. John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney. Barrett joining the three liberal. justices, rejecting Trump's claim of. presidential immunity 10 days before the. inauguration. Trump is expected to. appear remotely tomorrow. The judge. already signaling he will not impose. jail time fines or probation, but the. felony conviction will stand. Tonight, the nation's five living presidents are. together to honor the 39th president of.

the United States, Jimmy Carter. Former. President George W. Bush playfully. greeting former President Barack Obama, who sat deep in conversation and at. times chuckling with President-elect. Trump. Trump briefly shaking hands with. his first Vice President, Mike Pence. President Clinton and Secretary Clinton. were right there as well. There was. laughter in the National Cathedral as. Jimmy Carter's grandson, Jason, recalled. how his grandfather struggled to learn. how to use his cell phone. At first, he. said, "What are you doing?" I said, "I'm. not doing anything. You called me." He.

said, "I didn't call you. I'm taking a. picture. Jason Carter saying his grandfather was. ready to reunite with Rosalyn, his. beloved wife of 77 years, their final. resting place in Plains, Georgia. When. we come back here in the broadcast. tonight, Prince William and the new and. moving image of Kate tonight and right. here at home, how you can help in. California. Tonight, Princess Katherine celebrating. her 43rd birthday after her battle with. cancer. Prince William sharing a photo. of his wife and his birthday message to.

the most incredible wife and mother. He. wrote, "The strength you've shown over. the last year has been remarkable." When. we come back here tonight, so many of. you have been asking how you can help. Before we go here tonight, I know so. many of you at home have been asking how. you can help. The Red Cross and. Salvation Army are hard at work right. here on the ground. You can go to. redcross.org or to salvation. armyusa.org. I'm grateful to all of the families who. have bravely shared with us their. stories. And I'll be right back here. from California tomorrow night. Good.

night. Thank you for making World News Tonight. with David Mure, America's most watched. newscast.