her country, still at war 30 years after she left. nick schifrin, abc news, kabul. >> very courageous people. >> yeah. after the taliban essentially banned the motion picture industry. it is a wonderful turn. a brave lady. >> oscar buzz surrounding the film. that is what is making news in america this morning. >> get more news f f ♪ in the headlines, breaking news. arson investigators and firefighters are on the scene of a suspicious fire at a richmond high school. >> tesla motors in fremont today. >> sometime after 7:05, plenty of mist and drizzle, low fog. a frost today. >> all right. the traffic is friday light

right now. no problems at the bay bridge toll plaza. there's one accident but it's not slowing anyone down. >> and meg whitman tries to put the housekeeper controversy behind her but the attorney produces a document about whitman's claim. >> it's 4:31. thank you for joining us. thanks for making it to the end of the week with us. i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. arson investigators on the scene of a suspicious fire at richmond high school this morning. started before 1:30 in the cafeteria on valley view road. the fire did more than a million dollars in damage. you're looking at some of that damage right now. investigators say school will be allowed to go on today as planned but students just won't be able to eat lunch at the facility because the cafeteria is where the fire started. more in a live report coming up at 5:00.

>> today tesla motors takes over ownership of the nummi auto plant in fremont. no ceremonies for the occasion. tesla announced it purchasing the nummi plant for $42 million to build its model s. about 40 employees worked out of an office at a parking lot at the planted. 30 nummi employees have been hired. they hope to hold job fairs to hire several more. they hope to hire more than a thousand employees over the next few years. >> there will be light at the end of the tunnel in san mateo county later this morning. construction crews will celebrate a milestone today when they punch through the first of two tunnels being constructed to bypass devil's lied along highway 1. work started on the $3 million tunnel project three years ago. they've been cutting through solid rock and expect a break through of sol soil retaining wall today and see the other side for the first time.

>> today the east bay man accused of kidnapping jaycee dugard and holder her 18 years will be arraigned. sacramento tv stations report they have been indicted by a grand jury. an indictment would eliminate the need for a hearing keeping jaycee dugard and her two daughters for having to testify against the garridos. they kidnapped dugard when she was 11 and keeping her in their backyard shed. last week hearings were postponed until he undergoes a competency evaluation. >> meg whitman says she will take a lie detector test to show she didn't hire an illegal immigrant. she denied ever receiving a letter from the social security administration. hours later that letter emerged. >> neither my husband nor i received any letter from the

social security administration. >> that was gubernatorial candidate meg whitman, her husband by her side. then hours later attorney gloria allred held a news conference of her own where she brought out this larger than life letter sent in 2003 by the social security administration to whitman and her husband. the letter says housekeeper nikki diaz' name didn't match the social security she gave to work in whitman's home. at the end of the letter a note from whitman's husband, please check this, thanks. proof whitman knew for years she was in the country illegally. >> meg whitman is exposed as a liar and hypocrite. maybe not says one san francisco immigration lawyer. mark silver man said such mismarched letters are regularly sent to employers and doesn't always mean a worker is undocumented. after the letter appeared, whitman's husband issued this

statement. it is possible i would have scratched a follow-up note on a letter like this which is a request for information to make certain nikki received her social security benefits. they used to use her from the town and country employment agency in palo alto. they said it did everything that was legally required and followed standard procedures. whitman said these are the falsified documents nikki used to get the job. >> absolutely not. meg whitman hired the lady through an agency. this documentation that was prepared and given to her, she had no way of knowing it was fraudulent. >> abc 7 news. >> our time now, 4:35. vice president joe biden is in the bay area this morning. he's scheduled to speak at a 9 a.m. private fund-raiser in oakland for congressman jerry mcnearney. he is then scheduled to fly to

orange county for a noon campaign appearance with senator barbara boxer. alameda school teachers are saying they will continue to search for ways to avert the closure of half the city schools. a public hearing to a packed house. the school board is considering a plan to close the high school and four elementary schools to save $5 million. parents say there has to be a better solution. >> first thought i think the proposals go to ludicrous. >> time to be united. we have different ways to approach it but consider the children and the teachers. these people work their behinds off. >> district officials say the cuts will not be needed if voters approve a parcel tax in march to support local schools. >> you got the fever? giants fever! eigh it's spreading across the area. they have the chance to clench their first national

championship in seven years. yesterday's win over the d-backs and a loss by the padres. tonight they sent matt king to the mound the start on his 26th birthday. you should have seen it, all these people on the embarcadero before the game. it was crazy. >> we've got one in the room right now. the manager, you bet! let's check the forecast for that clencher at 4:37. here's lisa argen. we have a cooler air mass and the low clouds and fog taking a little time to clear out this morning. 60 in oakland, good morning menlo park. 60 for you, too. mid-50s santa rosa. 58 concord and a mild 62 mountain view and san jose. so some of our numbers cooler than we were 24 hours ago but it is warmer in some spots where the low clouds and fog have really created a uniform layer.

so keep the atmosphere from cooling too much. so 5 degrees warmer in menlo park but with the mist and drizzle and the clouds at our coast, we'll see slower clearing. temperatures continue to drop. our coolest day will be sunday. looking at a few extra clouds in the higher elevations and the mountains here in the southern portion of the bay today due to that system. but it's this next system bringing the cooling trend with us into the weekend. but we will be looking at a warmer start to the week. so as for the temperatures today, 68 oakland, 77 in fremont. and our look ahead, notice the coolest day the end of the weekend and then we warm back up again. good morning, frances. >> good morning, lisa. checking out the road work in san mateo. lanes are blocked on -- rather highway 92 between 280 and foster city boulevard and that's scheduled in both directions until 5:00. difficult to drive there during that time. you may want to avoid it until

then. a live shot for you. this is 680 in walnut creek. basically traffic is great everywhere. there is one accident eastbound at summersville. injuries have been reported. it may be blocking a lane but so far causing no slowing in either direction. eric, kristen. >> frances, thank you very much. it's 4:39. >> the scam that's using a ten-year-old boy to bilk shoppers in richmond. >> a college student says she was assaulted during a school dance. what police are saying about the investigation. >> what federal investigators will be looking for as they a flight to hawaii using our points from chase sapphire. last minute... on christmas. and sitting next to us, chevy chase. and we really hit it off. we play golf, and then the luau. he's like da vinci with ice. and after, we help hang christmas decorations. wait, wait, wait. you flew last minute... on christmas... with points from chase sapphire?

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or eat green giant beans at home... ...frozen within 8 hours to lock in nutrients. up to you. [ green ant ] ho ho ho ♪ green giant. welcome back. it is now 4:41. let's take a live look right here at a foggy morning. that is definitely a change for

us. isn't san francisco, like airport? >> uh -- >> that's what i thought. what a way to put it. cooler temperatures coming up. >> old eagle eye over there. 4:42 this morning. richmond police are looking for people behind a shocking charity scam. the scammers posted collection boxes in several stores asking for donations to send their recently deceased ten-year-old boy back to mexico for burial. but the boy's picture they used is alive and well and living in the east bay. the scammers pulled it off a website. >> police are investigating a report of a sexual assault on campus at st. mary's college. a female student says she was attacked during a school party friday. she doesn't know who assaulted her. police say they're pretty sure it was an isolated incident.

>> it was an event that happened at a school dance. and certainly i don't anticipate it spilling over into the community to cause undo concern. >> police say about 600 people were at the party. they're trying to talk to as many of them as possible. >> investigators are analyzing a section of the pg&e pipeline, gas pipeline that exploded and leveled the san bruno neighborhood. the safety board allowed cameras inside the virginia lab where the pipeline's being tested yesterday. experts say they hope to find evidence to explain the cause. >> it's more likely it's more like a slow damage effect, corrosion, and possibly a combination of human activities. >> one theory being explored is that a small earthquake at some point damaged the pipeline. but experts say the damage is usually apparent immediately after a quake. >> still ahead on abc 7 morning

news, why the san francisco board of supervisors is being told to tone down those office parties. >> also the outpouring of anger in the rutgers suicide scandal. >> plus president obama meets with one-time u.c. berkeley graduate hiker sarah shourd who has been released by iran. coming up next, the promise he made to her. >> and a hiker is rescued in a southern california desert. why autho [ female announcer ] this is a strawberry pop tart. but this is warm, fresh-baked strawberry toaster strudel. [ music ] see the difference? pillsbury toaster strudel, the one kids want to eat. and these e the ones you'll love on a school night pillsbury ham and cheese crescents with just a few ingredients, you have an easy to make dinner. they're crescents for the other 364. try them tonight.

>> moisture in southern california. maybe a thunderstorm. check out our website at abc7news.com.

kristen. >> lisa, thanks a lot. possible filing of more serious charges against students that drove a freshman to kill himself. >> growing anger towards the two rutgers university students who secretly brought kyle making out with a man in his dorm room. more than 7,000 people joined the facebook.com group for the charges. the two are currently charged with invasion of privacy. >> it is an unspeakable tragedy. and those people who helped to lead him to that bridge are going to have to bear that responsibility for the rest of their lives. >> clemente's body was identified after he jumped off new york's george washington bridge one day after he was shown live on the internet. it wasn't the first time. his roommate reportedly transmitted images of him two

days prior raising equals yet again about lack of judgment on the internet. he was a shy, gifted violinist. as horrible as it was, his suicide was likely the result of years of harassment. >> never one thing that pushes that person over the edge. it's usually an accumulation of a lot of things and one thing that pushes him over the edge. this particular thing for him, it's obvious what happened. >> prosecutors are looking into whether bias played a role. if so, they will bring the appropriate charges. lillian kim, abc 7 news. >> time now 4:48. president obama says the u.s. will not forget the two u.c. berkeley graduates still held captive in iran. the president met with sarah shourd and the mothers of the other two yesterday. he will do everything he can to secure their release. he hopes iran will demonstrate renewed compassion and release the two americans. the l.a. times were told the two

were to appear before a judge november 6th. >> the manager setting guidelines for supervisors to keep their office parties under control. the san francisco examiner reports board members are partying more than ever at those city hall offices. some supervisors such as chris bailey do it on a regular basis. the building manager wants supervisors to limit the size of the parties or community events in their offices to fewer than 30 people. any alcohol served should also be confined to the office. and music or other noises should be kept at a level so it is not disruptive to other building users. >> it is 4:49 now. let's get a look at the forecast. lisa argen is in for mike this morning. >> we did have our prolonged warming trend. you know pretty much that the pattern has switched. we are looking for still cooler weather headed our way. really today the low clouds and fog have made it across the bay. this from our roof camera

doesn't show that yet. sun not coming up until after 7:00 but with the more extensive cloud deck, it's going to take time to burn off and we'll have low clouds and fog at the coast due to that persistent onshore flow. good morning, fremont. 59 for you. 62 in san jose with 58 napa, 57 in novato. our highlights then, mist and drizzle at the coast. you may need your wipers if you're headed over the bay bridge, the golden gate bridge and the temperatures continue to drop all weekend long with sunday being the coolest day. some very breezy winds but after that we're going in the other direction. stay tuned for my seven-day outlook. today westerly winds keep the numbers in the 60s at our beaches. plenty of 70s, a few 80s in the santa clara valley and mid-80s in our inland valleys. two areas of low pressure. watching this one bringing up higher clouds and mid level clouds, possibility of a

thunderstorm around monterey county. but this is heading to the east and it's the next one upstream to the north and west that will continue the onshore flow bringing the cooler than average numbers over the weekend. and those brisk winds on sunday. in terms of temperatures today, upper 70s for sunnyvale and santa clara. a nice afternoon for campbell, 81 for you. 83 saratoga. peninsula starting out with a lot of cloud cover and staying gray. half moon bay just 59. 69 san mateo. 73 for redwood city today. how about 76 mountain view and san francisco lots of clouds throughout the morning hours. by the afternoon we'll call it partly cloudy with highs just in the low 60s. north bay numbers getting out of the 60s and into the mid-70s the further north you go with 75 in petaluma. 79 in sonoma. near east bay cool and breezy by berkeley today but later on checking in at 66. 70 san leandro with 77 castro

valley and fremont. out over the hills gorgeous afternoon with 86 today in brentwood and livermore. 83 walnut creek and some fog right now around santa cruz. but our look ahead shows for the cooling trend to continue over the weekend. upper 70s by sunday but the winds switch around and we're back up by the middle of next week. good morning, frances. >> good morning, lisa. had to use my wipers once this morning in san francisco. this last time on the golden gate bridge, not as much fog as yesterday and traffic extremely light. let's check out the east bay now for you. the oakland maze with all these folks heading towards the bay bridge. that's westbound 80 there and westbound 580 across your screen. bay bridge toll plaza, what you would expect right now and delay-free and the south bay check out the 280 and 17 interchange. no accidents at all reported in the south bay or the peninsula, north bay. and you can always find out if that changes by going to our website, abc7news.com is the place to go. you'll find it under the bay

area traffic link. kristen. >> frances, thanks a lot. it's 4:52. hewlett-packard has hired a new ceo. 57-year-old german software executive paker was replace mark hurd. he lasted less than two years before the company decided not to the renew his contract. >> congress asked executives from johnson and johnson on a phantom recall. set our clients to buy up defective medications from store shelves when it learned that more than 40 of its over the counter drugs were contaminated. among them with children's motrin, tylenol and benadryl. they denied knowing about the secret recall until very recently. >> abc 7 is teaming up with the silicon valley leadership group and the san jose mercury news for a series of hourly long

election debates. for lieutenant governor at 3 p.m.. on friday the candidates for state school superintendents will debate at 7:15 a.m.. both will be streamed live on abc7news.com. both will be broadcast sunday october 10th beginning at noon. >> a sacramento superior court judge has sided with state workers in a lawsuit over two state holidays. governor schwarzenegger's refusal to recognize lincoln's birth day and columbus day is a violation of government laws. a new law takes effect requiring the state to celebrate veterans day on november 11th no matter where it falls during the week. normally the holiday is moved to the monday or friday closest to the 11th to create a long weekend for state employees. that may be convenient for workers but it's disrespectful for veterans. >> a 64-year-old hiker is recovering from exposure after

he was missing in joshua tree national park for nearly a week. they rescued ed rosenthal from a hot, dry, rugged canyon in the park yesterday morning. the experienced hiker had run out of food and water but rosenthal was alert when found about 7 miles from where he set out last friday. his wife said it was a miracle he survived. >> he used his hiking hat and he wrote everything down that he wanted me to know. like things that he hadn't told me. and he wrote everything down, and he told -- he wrote on the hat who he wanted to be his paul bearers at his funeral. >> during that time you heard he had written an account what he thought was the end of his life and was making plans. hospital workers marvelled at his condition and how he was able to retain a sense of humor. >> just ahead at 5 a.m. we're thank to follow breaking news in

richmond where arson investigators are on the scene of a school fire. we'll go live. >> an eyesore for a guard of hope for an east bay neighborhood. >> and your car can now earn you money when you're not using it. coming up, how much you might end up making on the deal.

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in california after governor schwarzenegger spent the day signing bills, including a new one which would allow you to rent out your car for money. >> mist and drizzle at our coast. you may need your wipers this morning and a cooler weekend ahead. >> and we got word of a stall on the san mateo bridge westbound. we'll check that out. it may be blocking a lane. live shot at the bay bridge toll plaza to friday light traffic elsewhere. >> friday! good morning. thank you for joining us. >> what day is it? >> it is friday! (laughter) >> i'm kristen sze. >> i'm eric thomas. a suspicious fire has caused a million dollars in damage to a richmond high school. terry mcsweeney is live outside richmond police headquarters with the latest. and the big question for parents this morning, terry, is will there be classes? >> let's start out by saying there will be classes. there will be classes today at the high school in richmond despite this fire. it