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one of the related issues that we're looking at is this issue of large pipelines that are in residential areas. and for the most part, when there's a large papeline in a residential area, that usually means the pipeline was built before the area was densely populated. it was built when it was not so heavily populated and has since become heavily boplated.

that increases the need to look at that issue of whether there should be automatic shutoff valves when there's a massive leak in the pipe signaled by a pressure drop. >> this just in from the press conference going on right now in san bruno with federal investigators. christopher hart there was saying that the explosion may end up changing some policy and some safety measures. he suggested that these large gas pipelines should perhaps have an automatic shutoff valve when the pressure drops suddenly. so in this case, that would have meant that the fireball would ended much sooner because the gas would have been automatically cut off to that pipe. we want to check in right now with monte francis who was at the press conference. >> reporter: characteristic hart of the nthsb, the federal agency now in charge of this investigation just made some comments a few minutes ago. one of the things he addressed was this issue of the pipe being high-risk. i asked him about that, he said

it didn't have to do with the supposed integrity of the pipe, but of the number of homes around that pipe. he said it was a class 3 pipe. which means there are more than 47 homes per mile of pipe. he said it was a segmented pipe which means it could have been repaired in the past. we asked a very important question at the end, a reporter asked, how many other class 3 pipes are there in pg&e's jurisdiction and unfortunately mr. hart did not answer that question and walked away. but that certainly is something on the minds of many people, not only here in san bruno but across the bay area. mr. hart also gave us an updated information just about the scene there. we learned that the crater is 167 by 26 feet wide. the depth is unknown. that is much larger than a previous estimate. the pipe itself was 28 feet long. that's the segment that blew out in the explosion. it apparently blew 100 feet.

let's hear more of what mr. hart had to say just minutes ago. >> we do understand that the pipe was odorized which means it has an odor in it. that's part of our investigation to look into these allegations that we've heard that people were smelling this pipe and had reported smelling the pipe before this accident occurred. >> reporter: mr. hart right there was talking about allegations that people, residents who live near the explosion site made weeks before the explosion took place, that there was a smell of gas in the air. and he said that this pipe -- basically he said this is possible because this section of pipe was odorized or was mode to produce an odor if there was some kind of leak. he stopped short of saying thaed that he has verified those accounts. but that certainly one major point they are looking into during this investigation.

>> monte, thanks for that update. right now, we want to head over to vicki nguyen who's at the ta town hall meeting. >> reporter: this is the first of many town halls to keep people here in san bruno of what's happening to come in the days and months ahead. more than 800 people showed up here to ask their questions. the number one concern -- when can we go home or at least see what's left? we are told now that that will begin tomorrow at noon. the location and staging area will be announced on the city's website, sanbruno.ca.gov by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. residents will meet up at noon and will be allowed to head in with police officers and pg&e escorts who will do final gas checks as well as turn on people's gas and power at each home. green tagged homes mean people can go in and stay. yellow tagged homes mean people

can only go in to retrieve some of their things but will have to leave. and rez tagged homeowners are being told they should not go to the staging area tomorrow because they will not be allowed back in. it is still unclear when that will happen for the folks in those 37 destroyed homes and the eight badly damaged homes. meanwhile, a lot of questions as you can imagine for pg&e, including, what is being done to make sure it is safe to return? >> and before we relight the gas services, we will complete a gas survey today. so for san bruno and the immediate area, we are developing a more comprehensive plan to go beyond san bruno into san francisco and the rest of our service territory in the days to come. you'll never be able to restore the lives of those who lost their lives. we'll never be able to bring back the family photo albums or

the coin collections that i was told about yesterday from 1957. but we can do things to help you regain your lives. and i guarantee you that we will not rest until that is accomplished. >> reporter: the red cross says it is now being overwhelmed with material donations. we've seen people here in the community still today coming up with blankets, baby products and things. but the red cross says what they could really use is cash donations because they can then specifically tailor their purchases to what individual families need. continuing our coverage is kimberly terry who has the story of one family who unfortunately is part of that red tag group, will not be able to return yet. >> reporter: that's exactly right. you saw hundreds of families at this town tall meeting. each of them has a whole lot of questions. for this family, it's really about, where do we go from here,

when will we be allowed back in? their house is red tagged. it's a couple of houses down from where the blast happened. a photo they found in a local paper shows rubble where their family home once stood. on thursday, they heard the explosion, saw the fire and went running out into their backyard. climbed fences to avoid the flames. they've lived in their home in san bruno for 15 years. and like other families whose homes have been red tagged, they just want to know when they'll be let in to assess the damage for themselves. >> we want to know what will happen after this, you know? are they going to rebuild our house? i want to have a home for my family. >> reporter: they've already filed a claim with their insurance company and came to today's town hall meeting to find out what pg&e is going to do about all of this. pg&e says if they are, in fact, responsible for the explosion and the fire, they will be

accountable to this family and other families who lost their homes. this is just one of hundreds of families at today's town hall meeting, still trying to really wrap their heads around what has happened and trying to find out really what resources are out there for them, if they, in fact, choose to rebuild. live in san bruno, kimberly terry, nbc bay area news. >> of course, we will continue to follow this story at 6:00 tonight with more information from that press conference with federal investigators. one of the uc berkeley graduates jailed in iran hoped to reunite with her family today. but apparently, a power struggle is keeping her behind bars. earlier this week, iran announced it would release 31-year-old sarah shourd as an act of generosity to mark the end of ramadan. then officials quickly backpedalled saying a legal issue need to be resolved first. now there's no release date set for shourd or her two friends. experts say the flip-flop is

evidence of a rift between president mahmoud ahmadinejad and the ruling ranks. meanwhile, shourd is reportedly suffering from a breast lump and precancerous cells. the aclu is suing the state of california over public school expenses. it alleges the public schools in more than 30 districts are illegally charging students for basic supplies such as books and uniforms. the pay to learn practices, says the aclu, destroy the democratic idea that all children should be given an equal chance to succeed. one of the districts involved spopded by saying its practices were legal. others have yet to review or comment on the suit. the governor's office said it would carefully review the complaint. remembers the victims of 9/11, the president, vice president and first lady were all taking part in memorials today. we'll hear from a bay area mom whose son died on united flight 93. taking a live look right now over san jose. plenty of sunshine out there.

we'll have a little more of it tomorrow. but it iscooiolex nt ng cooler next week. seven-day forecast is coming up.

as governor, he cut waste got rid of the mansion and the limo budgets were balanced. $4 billion in tax cuts. world class schools and universities. clean energy promoted. 1.9 million new jobs created. california was working. i'm jerry brown. california needs major changes. we have to live within our means; we have to return power and decision making to the local level-closer to the people and no new taxes without voter approval. jerry brown the knowledge and know-how to get california working again.

as we mentioned earlier in this newscast, today is the ninth anniversary of the september 11th attacks. there were services at ground zero, the pentagon and shanksville, pennsylvania. as michelle franzen reports, despite recent political and religious controversies, the focus today remained on the victims. >> reporter: on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, families and survivors gathered as they have every year in new york, virginia and pennsylvania to honor the 2,752 victims who died. near ground zero, family members read each name of loved ones lost. >> my father. >> reporter: and at times, the public ceremony included personal and emotional tributes. >> we love you and life has not

been the same. >> reporter: family members, firefighters and first responders also walked down into the ground zero construction site, carrying photos and laying flowers in the reflecting pool. the day of reflection and remembrance was not overshadowed by the recent controversy over a proposed islamic center near ground zero or threats by a florida pastor to burn copies of the koran if the center was not moved. on the "today" show, pastor terry jones vowed he would not carry out those plans. >> we're not going to go back and do it. it is totally canceled. >> reporter: at the pentagon, president obama alluded to the controversies and emphasized the need for americans to recapture the spirit of unity. >> the highest honor we can pay those we lost indeed, our greatest weapon in this ongoing war, is to do what our adversities fear the most -- to stay true to who we are as

americans, to renew our sense of common purpose. >> reporter: in shanksville, pennsylvania, first lady michelle obama and former first lady laura bush, paid tribute to the crew and passengers aboard united flight 93. ceremonies and memorials that serve as reminders, the nation is still mourning and healing from the losses of that day. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. >> moung the people at this morning's flight 93 memorial in pennsylvania was alice. her son was aboard the flight. before leaving for her trip, she spoke exclusively to nbc bay area about the last time she heard from her son. >> he said, i just ant to tell you i love you. i'm on a flight from newark to san francisco and there are three guys on board who have taken over the plane and they say they have a bomb.

>> she says she hopes people will honor the memory of the september 11th victims by making today a day of service. time apparently has not healed all wounds. the public's feeling towards muslims has actually deteriorated in the past few years. according to pew research, only 30% of americans now have a favorable opinion of islam. that's down from five years ago when 41% said they did. another pew poll last month found nearly 1 in 5 americans believe president obama is muslim. that's up 11% from a year ago. in case you're wondering, he is christian. a well-known union group enters youhe a btlfoe rnorgo we'lowsh touhedssion. 4á4á4á

republican candidate for governor meg whitman's plans to clean up budget are facing powerful critics. this is the new ad campaign launched by the california teachers association. it criticizes whitman's promise to reduce state spending by $15 billion over a four-year term. the cta says since public education makes up about half of the state budget, that means whitman is planning to cut $7 billion from schools. they say there's just nothing left to give at this point. after the $17 billion cut in the past two years. whitman has never said she will cut school spending. the whitman campaign said the cta or california teachers association gets an "f" for accuracy on this ad. by the way, election day is a little less than two months away. but if people were to vote today, meg whitman would most likely be the state's next governor. she takes brown in the latest poll by 3%. 48% of likely voters who were polled this vehicle said they

would vote for whitman. 45% chose brown. and 4% say they're not sure. with the margin there, it means this poll is too close to call. the news is not good for the whitman camp which in a poll two weeks ago had an 8% lead over brown. we want to check in with craig herrera. >> a gorgeous day around the bay area. show you some of the shots. we had some 90s out there. >> and the fog is coming on in. >> it is thick. you can just barely make out the tower. pretty thick out there. we'll get rid of it tomorrow afternoon. next shot as we head out toward the east bay and look back across the bay toward the fog, you can see quite a bit of the city is going to be in the fog in about an hour or so. over the south into the bay, plenty of sunshine around santa clara and san jose. 87 in seasoning. 75 in san francisco and a couple of 90s on the map in places like livermore, up into concord, morgan hill. some upper 80s in the north end

of the bay today. as we go through tomorrow, we have more sunshine in place. one more day of it. right now, sitting with 66. san francisco all that fog banked up right along the coast. 89 in concord and in livermore. the wind coming out of the northwest tomorrow is going to give us another nice afternoon. some 80s. a couple of degrees cooler. just 1 or 2 degrees, not a big change. the change you'll notice will be closer to the coast tomorrow. dropping back to the mid-60s. tomorrow, nice, warm end to the weekend. this is the cold air that's going to start to dive on in especially monday night into tuesday. that cold air continues to circle on through. this is not going to move anywhere really. so expect cooler conditions next week, especially wednesday, thursday and friday with a chance for rain friday along the coast in places from san francisco north of there. saturday is probably going to be our best chance at getting a little bit of rain for san francisco over to concord, livermore, napa and sonoma. 66 tomorrow. san francisco. 88 in livermore. just a few degrees cooler in the north end of the bay.

mid-80s. same for san jose at 88. seven-day forecast, a little cooler on monday. next week, quite a change. we're feeling just like fall around here, especially into friday and saturday and maybe a little more rain in the buck -- >> no, no, no, no. i'm just going to ignore that it's happening. >> just enjoy tomorrow. >> i will, thank you, craig. wevepo ssrt and cal football action. [ man ] i was deciding what to do

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they put up 52 points in their opener last week. but the cal bears were well aware that performance came against uc davis. no offense to them but they're not exactly at the pac level. they face a future pac-10 opponent as colorado came to strawberry canyon for the final time as a member of the big 12. first quarter, the cal offense picking up exactly where it left off last week.

kevin riley finds shane in the end zone. 13 yards. that's a touchdown. shane, two, t tds in this game. riley finding freshman keenan allen, third touchdown of the season for allen. eight yards on that score. 38-7, bears. the bears rolled 52-7. facing the top-ranked team in the country, san jose state meeting wisconsin as the spartans headed to madison. third quarter, 20-0, badgers. spartans hanging in. jordan finds jones. 37 yards and it's going to be a touchdown. the spartan's first td of the season. it's 20-7. fourth quarter, badgers on the doorstep trying to put it away. john clay, one-yard plunge. second td of the game. the spartans would add another but it's not quite enough.

wisconsin wins 27-14. but a pretty good showing by the spartans. after thursday's appetizer, the nfl serves up the main course to the football season tomorrow. both the niners and raiders open things up opt road. oakland in tennessee for a 10:00 a.m. kickoff. then in the afternoon, san francisco trying to avenge last season's loss in seattle. as the niners tried to do that, they'll have the services of, yes, the richest tight end in nfl history. today, the team came to terms on a five-year contract extension for vernon davis, believed to be the highest ever for a tight end. reportedly worth $37 million. last year, he led san francisco with 78 catches for 965 yards and 13 touchdowns. and team usa now just one win away from capturing the gold at the world championships. after today, facing lithuania in the semis and it was the kevin durant show. the thunder star had 17 points in the first quarter on his way to 38 for the game. setting a new united states

single game record. the u.s. wins 89-74. they're going to face turkey in the finals tomorrow. looking for they first world title since 1994. even more special, the players said, because it came on 9/11. >> thanks a lot. more local news on the bay area at 6:00 is coming up in just two minutes. we continue to follow our developing news out of san bruno. we now know when people should be allowed to return to the area and to their homes. there's also new information from the federal investigators, including information about the history of that pipeline. plus, we talk to a family e osho basd wneheur t in fire.

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