choice and makes the decision to save his life. >> and for that, the driver thanked williams, as emergency crews took him from the scene to the hospital. >> he told me he would never forget me. for somebody to say that that don't even know me, you know, i was really happy. and everybody else -- and you guys are making me feel really good. >> reporter: san francisco's fire chief also showed up to shake her hand and thank her for her heroism. she also told ms. williams that the mayor, ed lee, heard about what happened this morning and planned to honor her much in the same way. in san francisco, kris sanchez, nbc bay area news. >> a much-deserved honor. thank you very much. today's crash is reminiscent of a similar accident that happened back in 2007. you have to remember this one, an oil tanker fire which melted the freeway overpass. caltrans actually closed the road for 26 days. the resulting repair bill topping $6 billion. the driver in that 2007 crash was never cited, although chp investigators concluded that he did make an unsafe movement that eventually did lead to that crash. famous worldwide animal expert jack hanna said it was like noah's arc wrecked in central ohio. 50 exotic animals, including leopards, lions, wolves, bears and monkeys all running wild after their owner let them loose before killing himself. most of the animals have since been killed. kimberly tere is live at the wild things animal attraction. a lot of people have been questioning why authorities weren't able to just tranquilize the animals instead of having to kill them. >> reporter: that's something a lot of people have been quite upset about and calling the owner here asking why this had to happen. the owner of wild things spends a lot of time caring for these exotic animals and says when it comes to tigers, lions and other dangerous animals on the loose, you simply can't risk human life. >> i know, huh? >> reporter: california has some of the strictest laws in the nation when it comes to owning exotic animals, and charlie should know. he owns wild things in salinas. >> anything prohibited on a prohibited list like lions, tigers, all of the exotic cats, the primates, we've made it illegal to own for pet purposes. you have to have a commercial reason to own the animal in california. >> reporter: this has been the law since 1992, according to the department of fish and game. but it doesn't stop people from buying illegally. >> every once in a while we'll have someone come through on tour and say my neighbor has one of those. we pull them aside and draw some conversation out of them and find out exactly who has what where, and we get fish and game in front of it as soon as possible. because if someone gets hurt, it doesn't help anyone, especially the animal. >> reporter: today he has been getting a lot of calls from people upset over what's happening in ohio. the owner of a preserve there let dozens of exotic animals loose before killing himself. authorities killed the wild animals, saying they had no other choice. >> if they have the opportunity to take a shot and they use to use anesthetic and it doesn't work and it kills somebody later, they could be held liable when they could have destroyed the animal and eliminated the risk immediately. >> reporter: he says while california regulations help keep private individuals from owning exotic pets, there wasn't much to be done to prevent what happened in ohio. >> you can't govern somebody doing something crazy. therefore, you can't throw the baby out with the bath water. you can't blame the people that are doing it correctly and responsibly you have to differentiate between them. and that's what we're hoping people will consider here. >> reporter: he is on a board that makes recommendations to the department of fish and game in regard to exotic animal ownership. he says the state should adopt stricter restrictions like california has, including ohio, which he says is in the process of doing so. live in salinas, kimberly tere, nbc bay area news. >> okay, thanks for the update. apple employees gathered at the cupertino campus today to celebrate the life of their late ceo, steve jobs. here is an aerial view of the ceremony this morning, which was held at the campus quad. it started at 10:00 this morning and lasted about 90 minutes. singer norah jones and the band koldplay performed. among those who spoke were the current ceo, tim cook, and former vice president, al gore. jobs' wife attended the ceremony but did not speak. apple stores around the world were closed during the memorial service which was streamed live for their employees to watch. they also launched a tribute page on its website to share some of the one million plus messages it has received from people all over the globe. the cap apple co-founder died earlier this month from pancreatic cancer. the city has agreed to pay to the family of a man who was beaten by police officers. he died about a month later from the injuries. he was arrested on suspicion of trying to buy drugs from an undercover noifrs east oakland. a suit filed by the family say officers used excessive force during the arrest, breaking five of his ribs and lacerating a left lung. he was found dead in the basement of a home just a few weeks later. the coroner's office says the cause of death was pneumonia, brought on by those fractured ri ribs. the city council unanimously approved the settlement. as occupy oakland enters its second week, some event scheduled outside city hall are feeling the impact. hundreds of protesters have pitched tents, taking over a big chunk of public space and forcing organizers of other events to make alternate plans. the kickoff of the pay area science festival was scheduled this afternoon but instead they moved the program and the children inside city hall. now a bay area couple who reserved the space for their wedding have a big decision to make. will the wedding go on, and where? tonight at 6:00 we'll hear from the bride and groom. in the south bay tonight ace middle schoolteacher is serving five months in jail after pleading no contest to molesting a student. he was sentenced for performing lewd acts on a teen boy around 14 or 15 years old. phelps met the victim at the stratford school in san jose. the teacher worked at the private middle school for five years. phelps was immediately fired after her arrest on june 1st, the same day police received an anonymous tip about the alleged abuse. well, the day after a knockdown, dragout gop debate, political analysts say a few things are clear. rick perry is not going down without a fight. mitt romney is going to have to fight back against old charges, and herman cain was attacked for the first time since taking the front runner mantle. steve handelsman has more. >> i'm going to give the american people a huge big ole helping of unbridled truth. >> reporter: governor rick perry today is still talking texas tough. >> admit you lose all of your standing from my perspective. >> reporter: his attack on mitt romney in last night's debate left perry supporters saying finally. >> you stood here in front of the american people and did not tell the truth. >> reporter: he forced a rare run. he explained why he got rid of a lawn care company that hired illegal immigrants. >> we said, look, you can't have any illegals working on our property. >> reporter: not because it's wrong, because romney said he's running. it revooiives questions about romney's character. >> can conservatives trust him to do and fulfill the positions he's espousing. does he believe in anything or is he an opportunist. >> reporter: how about herman cain. his 9-9-9 proposal got hammered. >> 84% of americans would pay more taxes under his plan. >> that simply is not true. >> reporter: but cain got great news. he is polling first in south carolina in the predebate sur y survey. and with 32%, polling first in florida, virtually tied with romney and far ahead of perry. >> rick -- >> i'm speaking. >> reporter: but last night was so fiery, the gop race seemed sure to reshuffle again. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. well, still to come at 5:00, safety over censorship. it's a debate that has ignited discussion across the country. now b.a.r.t. is nearing a decision on cell phone service blackout. faster and more reliable. a new test available for expectant parents. the recession is putting the squeeze on your wallets. now there's cash and relief on the way for millions of americans. and good afternoon, i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. on this wednesday the fog is pushed well back off the coastline after some drizzle this morning and numbers a lot cooler than about two days ago. temperatures in the 60s right up into the coastline. we'll talk about our cooling forecast andmeut de fir winds returning in my seven-day forecast. [ female announcer ] at jcpenney we're giving you a big thank you this friday & saturday. get an extra 20% off when you use your jcpenney rewards credit card. don't have a card, you still get an extra 15% off. no exclusions. go to jcp.com to see everything on sale. jcpenney. keurig has a wide variety of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. keurig is the way to brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute. way to brew. so with keurig, every cup tastes like it's brewed just for you. because it is. mmm... if i were cheese... i wouldn't want to let go of myself either. come try the cheese inspired dishes on our $2, $4, $6, $8 value menu. only at denny's. a big thank you this friday & saturday. get an extra 20% off when you use your jcpenney rewards credit card. don't have a card, you still get an extra 15% off. no exclusions. go to jcp.com to see everything on sale. jcpenney. b.a.r.t. says it has a right to interrupt cell phone service at its train stations if there is imminent, unlawful activity or passenger safety is threatened. that's the new proposal being released by the transit agency today. it comes after b.a.r.t. received harsh criticism for blocking cell phone reception at several train stations back in august to hinder a planned demonstration. b.a.r.t. says it drafted this new policy with input from the public, the aclu and b.a.r.t. police review board. the agency believes it strikes a balance between free speech and public safety. the b.a.r.t. board will vote on this new policy come october 27th. new credit card rules helping the consumer are harming those who don't have jobs. marla tellez finds out more. >> do you want to play together? we'll get her. >> reporter: brian bradshaw is a stay-at-home dad. while his wife is working, he's taking care of the kids, which does not come with a paycheck. a new credit card rule now prohibits bradshaw for applying for a credit card in his name. >> once you're married, you're a family. everything is the family's. so the idea that i couldn't use my wife's salary for proof of income or that my wife couldn't use my salary for proof of income, i find it kind of strange. >> reporter: the new rule essentially says nonworking spouses can no longer claim household income when applying for a credit card. >> this rule stems from a serious president bush thatsea serious problem. you have credit card companies doling out credit without taking into consideration the perpendiculperson's ability to pay it. >> reporter: there could be unintended consequences to the rule. >> some people may have a much harder time getting credit, even though they may be the primary person in the house who manages the finances, has access to the money and pays the bills. >> reporter: this new rule will also prevent marketing to college students on campus, and prevents students from using household income when applying for a card. >> the credit card law ensures that there are much stronger controls in how credit is extended to college students who aren't yet bringing in a salary of air own. >> reporter: one complaint was banks marketing low interest cards only to have the consumer sign up for them and have the rate skyrocket. the new credit card rules make it harder for banks to raise a promised rate. >> this law does crack down on the so-called teaser rates and ensure that if you're promised a certain rate, the credit card company is under a much stronger obligation to continue to offer you that rate and notify you if and when there are any changes in advance. >> reporter: some advice for those without their own personal income? you can apply for a joint credit card or get a clear co-signer on a card, but that won't help build your credit. that will only happen once you have your own income. marla tellez, nbc bay area news. it turns out social security payments are going up. there have been no increases since 2009 because social security increases are tied to the inflation rate, which has held steady even as medical costs soared. but beginning in january, the average benefit will go up, but about $40 a month. >> one in four seniors counts on social security for pretty much all of their income. so for them it's absolutely critical and every dollar counts. >> 55 million people get social security benefits. the announcement comes as a bipartisan commission meets to cut the federal government's $1.3 trillion deficit. well, we've reached a financial milestone and it's not a good one. americans now owe more for student loans than credit cards. student loans taken out last year crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time ever. total loans outstanding this year will top $1 trillion. last year the average student borrowed nearly $5,000. it puts a huge financial impact on students. topping our healthwatch tonight, tonight a ground-breaking new test claims it can detect down's syndrome in a fetus before the baby is born. for the first time moms won't have to undergo a surgical procedure to get those results. scientists in san diego say they have come up with a prenatal blood tests that examines the baby's dna so it's not looking at the mother's dna but the baby's dna. according to the study, the blood test picks up more than 98% of down syndrome cases. the false positive rate is just 0.2%. the test cannot pick up complex strains of the disorder, though. the wait for the results may be up to two weeks. the test has not been approved by the fda. the food and drug administration has found the cause of the listeria outbreak in cantaloupe. according to the report pools of water on the floor and poorly cleaned equipment at a colorado's packing facility are likely to blame for the outbreak. officials found positive samples on the farm's equipment and fruit. so far 123 people have been sickened by the outbreak which started back in july. 25 of those people have died. officials worry the number may grow because symptoms of listeria can take up to two months to appear. all right, let's turn things over to jeff ranieri in the weather center. nice and easy, i would say today. >> yeah, not too bad. plenty of 60s out there. it has dropped off quite a bit from two days ago when temperatures were in the upper 80s inland. even in oakland we had record-setting temperatures with plenty of 80s. a little hazier as we look off at the rains out of the west at 14 miles per hour. and right down in san francisco, excellent visibility. winds westerly at 20 miles per hour and 62 degrees. so that wind onshore out of the west is really helping to drop numbers not only at the coastline and the peninsula, but all the way to our interior sections in the east and the south bay with just 66 in san jose and only 68 in livermore. we're going to find more patchy fog forming. it's not going to be nearly as thick or dense as we had yesterday, so that will enable slight warming as we head throughout thursday and we are talking about dry fire winds developing coming up in my seven-day forecast. but let's take a look at this fog. while we did start off with thick fog this morning and also the drizzle, it has pushed off the coastline enabling our sunshine and also this pretty spectacular afternoon for us. as we look out here wider on the satellite loop, what you're going to find is not too much offshore. what we have happening is another stalled frontal system offshore about 2,000 miles that will continue to head off towards the north. we'll focus on high pressure building up from the south. that's generally going to help warm temperatures up here throughout the next 48 hours. so tomorrow patchy fog to start and a little warming coming our way. still expected to stay in the 70s. throughout friday those numbers will bump up even more. as far as our fog forecast goes, by 11:00 p.m. tonight we'll start to see fog pushing into the coastal areas, also the east and the south bay. that's going to stay with us by 6:00 p.m. then by the noon hour and 1:00 p.m. tomorrow we have plenty of sunshine building back in for a fantastic thursday. as for tonight, we'll see that patchy fog. once again, numbers in the mid-50s here. livermore 57, down to san jose mid-50s and as well over towards los gatos. for tomorrow 77 in evergreen, 76 in san jose and 77 in los gatos. you can see that bump in the numbers expected for tomorrow. we'll bring those numbers back to our seasonal averages. napa i expecting 76. and for the north bay, 74 novato, 72 in san rafael and 76 in santa rosa. morning time on the weather channel on cable and in our seven-day forecast we have patchy fog tomorrow and then the sun comes back out. mid-70s inland, 60s at the coastline. by friday and saturday we are warming up into the 80s inland and then also mid-70s at the coast. by monday and tuesday of next week, winds do look to increase. we will have some potential fire danger to watch out as we head throughout monday and tuesday. we could have red flag fire warnings so that's going to be something looking ahead towards next week. >> something to keep our eye on. >> thanks so much, jeff. well, marine emergency. a first for the west coast that could spell trouble for salmon. also, do you have a lot of facebook friends? why it coulde good for your brain. the story next. ou scientists are worried about a new virus that could wipe out the salmon population. researchers found a contagious flu-like virus for the first time ever on the west coast. it doesn't affect people but if it spreads it could kill the salmon population in the area. scientists in washington state are now beefing up tests of salmon as a precaution. so far 56,000 salmon in that state have been tested. all came back negative for the virus. well, the more facebook friends, the bigger the brain, is that possible? well, that's a new strudy which looked at brain scans of more than 100 facebook users. the students on average had about 500 friends. researchers found those with the most friends had more gray matter in the areas of the brain that handle emotions, memory and navigation. that doesn't mean that if you have 100 more facebook friends tod today, your brain will be bigger tomorrow but it does bring up the question are people with larger brains simply predisposed or hard wired to have more facebook friends. study. well, we have a birth for the history books right after the break. [ female announcer ] starbucks via® is planted the same... ♪ ...harvested the same... ♪ ...and roasted the same as our other premium coffees. ♪ it only makes sense it would taste the same. so, try it for yourself. buy a pack of 100% natural starbucks via® ready brew. we promise you'll love it or we'll send you a bag of starbucks coffee. it'she starbucks via® taste promise. look for it at starbucks stores and where you buy groceries. it's a littlegirl. the first lady of france has just welcomed her first daughter to the world. the first baby born to a ruling french leader sips napoleon. nicolas sarkozy was dashing to the hospital to meet his new little daughter. crowds are gathering outside. first lady carla bruni sarkozy is serious about revealing the baby's privacy. they haven't revealed the name yet. the first lady has a son from a previous relationship. she doesn't plan on releasing any photographs of the newborn baby. she said the french people wouldn't be interested anyway. i doubt that. >> congratulations to them. final check of our forecast. >> yes. we do have some fog as we head throughout tonight and also for tomorrow morning. temperatures are going to warm up a little bit for thursday. we're looking at mid to upper 70s inland, 60s at the coast. as we head throughout this weekend, much warmer at the coastal areas with mid-70s. >> thanks for joining us. we'll see you at 6:00. "nightly news" is next. it on our broadcast tonight, on the loose. e