for the crime of murder. >> investigators arrested giselle esteban, le's former high school classmate at her union city home and then surged the lace one more time. they call the evidence they've uncovered compelling. >> security camera footage at the hospital parking structure where michelle's car had been reveals esteban was present both before and after michelle's disappearance. physical evidence has identified esteban as being inside michelle's vehicle. >> no words can adequately explain the emotions that we feel at this moment. but know that we are still determined to bring her home. >> michelle le's family say they're grateful for the arrest, but will not give up their fight to find her. her brother, who turns 24 tomorrow, says that's all he wishes for. >> i just want to her her voice so badly. the only thing i'm going to be wishing for is for her to come back home. >> we want to see her graduate from nursing school in four months. celebrate her birthday next month. we want her home in november for thanksgiving, in december christmas, and all the thanksgivings through christmases after that. >> reporter: now michelle le's brother says he wishes esteban could feel his family's pain and not drag this out any longer m when we asked police about a possible motive, they said only esteban knows the answer to that. but what we can tell you is just a couple of days before michelle le disappeared, esteban's former boyfriend took out a restraining order on her. esteban has gone on record saying she believes michelle le is responsible for ruining her relationship with the father of her child, but she also said she didn't kill her. reporting live in hayward, i'm jodi hernandez. >> heartbreaking story. thanks for the update. tonight the le family still does not have the one answer they've been seeking. where is michelle? someone who knows that loss all too well is mark klass whose 20-year-old daughter was killed in 1993. mark joins us via telephone. thank you for joining us. like the le family, your daughter's killer was arrested before the body was found. do you remember what you were going through at that time? >> caller: well, i remember that first of all i rejected everything the police had to say until we were able to locate a body. and it was absolutely the worst time in my life. i would never want to have to relive that kind of pain or agony again. >> now, marc, you have been helping the le family. you've been there through some of the searches. what seems to help families the most? >> caller: well, being proactive is very important. i think in this particular instance the thing that's going to help most of all is to be able to recover michelle's remains and to bring them home. >> now, marc, your daughter polly was 12 years old when she was killed. it was nearly 20 years ago. is there ever closure? >> caller: no, no, no, no. you don't get closure. what you get, janelle, is better ways to manage your pain. that's what you get. i know for a fact that polly is not lingering out there somewhere. she has been brought home and she has been put to rest. >> and i know the family is going to be conducting another search. can you tell us about that? >> well, as lieutenant reiterated time and again, the job is only half done. michelle needs to be recovered. perhaps the last best chance we'll have of doing that will be during the volunteer search on the weekend of the 16th. i would encourage people to come out and volunteer and help us bring this young lady home. >> do you know where that's happening? or where the meet lg point is? >> it's going to be in hayward. they have not got a command center yet. they're unable to use the location they've been using previously. >> thank you for joining us and taking time with us tonight. >> stay with nbc bay area and nbcbayarea.com for continuing coverage on the investigation into the michelle le case. nowadays we often talk about layoffs. what's the effect of the layoffs? san jose residents are learning the hard way after the police department was downgraded. now the union boss worries about the safety of his community and the safety of his officers. damion is joining us live. it's been a hectic 48 hours. what's the problem here with sjdp? >> early this morning, raj, there was a call for help. two people were stabbed in south san jose. one of them an 11-year-old boy. both victims should be okay. when these cases arise, officers have to respond from other areas in case a situation gets out of hand. it also means emergency calls may not get answered. >> the call volume was hectic. >> it's been a busy two months for san jose police. there are fewer officers, and the calls seem to be going up. the department pulls officers from other areas to respond to all the calls. citywide, the police admit the department can't get to all of them. in the last week alone, five cars were stole within a one mile radius of a holy cross catholic church. >> very violated. >> shelly was almost the sixth victim. >> just broke in hi car. broke in the gloef compartment. looking for things to take. >> the thief is still on the loose. >> you can't hide the fact we will have increased response times. you cannot hide the fact that there suspect going to be as many personnel on the call or in the field as they used to be. >> not after officers were laid off and moved to other departments. >> it's like the dam with the holes in the dike. i have this one here. another one opened up. eventually the dam breaks. >> and that's what the union boss said will happen if there is ever a major incident in san jose. >> crossing your fingers is not the way to provide public safety. >> but they said emergency calls will always get priority and in many cases victims like shelly may have to file the police report online. for a while yesterday the sergeant gone on the radio and said, listen, i know many calls are pending. i don't have any officers to send there. city hall said they didn't want to lay off the officers, but they can't afford to keep them. >> damien, thanks so much. lawmakers are acting now to make sure there isn't a repeat of what happened on the peninsula a year ago. the subject of gas line safety brought several first responders today where they introduced several new laws. the bills would require them to establish safety plans and require the utility to have automatic shut-off valves on the lines. >> it's been made very, very clear. have the remote control valves and automatic shut-off valve been in place, the devastation would not have been bad. lives would have been saved. homes would have been saved. communities would not have been torn up as badly. >> another bill would create a sifty position within the california public utility commission which oversees gas transmission lines statewide. join us for an nbc bay area news special report. san bruno fire, remembrance and recovery. it airs friday at 4:00 p.m. yesterday the big announcement. today the new binning. yahoo is in the spotlight for what it may do next. they had a meeting to discuss the future today. nbc bay area had exclusive information on the firing of carol bartz last night. tonight we have more insight. we bring in scott budman. scott? >> first off, money. a lot of people asking us what kind of severance package carol bartz would get. bloomberg is reporting about $10.4 million. yahoo! is not letting any time pass. our sources tell us among the things said at the meeting, first something interestg from the cofounder and former c, o jerry yang who told employees it's not for sale. new interim ceo tim morse saying together the company can return to the growth trajectory they're looking for. on a strong day for the stock market overall, investors reacted positively to the bartz news. some current and former yahoo users and investors said they think the company still has a lot of work ahead. >> if they can get the right leadership. again, they have a lot of strength in the electronic equivalency of a newspaper. if they can build on that, maybe that's different from facebook. google for sure. >> when google just seemed more popular. i think the search engine is easier. it brings up better results. so i just always use google. instead of yahoo! i have friends that work at yahoo! i hope they don't hear me saying this. i do like google better. >> we know about google. just today reports that facebook pulled in $1.6 billion of revenue over the last three months. i'm scott budman, nbc bay area news. today we experienced one of the hottest days in a long time. it was a smoggy one, too. chief meteorologist jeff ranieri is here with a look at today's hot numbers. >> if you suffer from allergies like i do, it was a tough day out there as the temperatures did pop up into the 100-degree range for some of us. you can see fog moving in fran san francisco. what we have happening is the region of hot, high pressure producing the 90s. the hottest weather since july 3rd. this makes only four days of triple digit temperatures in the east bay. 97 in dublin. change is coming. a low area of pressure will be developing. we'll talk about the possibility of thunderstorms in my forecast coming up. still to come at 6:00, the rivalry grows. how the bay area is on the losing end to l.a. >> and the challenge of national security right in our own backyard. how the security has changed in the past decade for the golden gate bridge. one man was found hoarding more than 80 cats. coming up, find out what you can do to help these animals. >> also ahead, preparing for the worst. a first for a bay area tsunami warning system. three women working in a vietnames coffee shop were cited for serving topless. they'll have to appear in court. the coffee shop is one of many in a three scare mile radius criticized for scantily clad or semi-nude servers. pacifica got quite the wake-up call this morning. the tsunami warning system sounding off. though it was just a warning, it certainly got people talking. >> hi, janelle. folks who live along the coastline are used to hearing the test of the tsunami warning system. they happen every wednesday for one minute at 10:00 in the morning. this one was different. here's why. this time the one-minute siren blared at full volume, so then the san mateo county of office emergency services want to make sure it will function as intended in an emergency. they want to make sure it can be heard across the coverage area as well. some visitors were caught off guard. >> at first it surprised me. we didn't know what was happening. there was a police officer. he was very nice. he explained it to us. >> some folks joked they didn't know if they should run or paddle for the ocean. if the tsunami threat were real, it would have lasted several minutes, that siren. then people would have gotten the reverse 911 calls in the danger zone. in addition to those automated messages, the county office of emergency services often sends texts with information as well. so the question for you, what should you do? evacuate if your home is in the danger zone. move to higher ground if you feel the ground moving and you're at the beach. don't wait for the warning siren. also stay away from the creeks and rivers that can lead to the ocean. that will rise as well. if you're on a boat, stay in deeper waters and don't return to port until it's safe. get more information on the website or at weather.gov. >> thank you. very good information there. texting while driving. today governor jerry brown rejected a proposal that would have made offenders pay more. repeat offenders were faced with much stiffer fines. as much as $500 after court fees and penalties. the cost of a first-time offense was set to go up from $20 to $50. governor brown said the fees are already high enough. >> this is a law that's working but could work better. a law that's saving lives, but could save more lives. ultimately the governor gets to make the call. but i think it's an opportunity lost. >> governor brown vetoed a bill requiring snowboarders and skiers to wear helmets. he says not every human problem deserves a law and says parents have the ability to make good choices for their children. an outpouring of grief after a plane crash that killed one of russia's top hockey teams. among the victims, a top prospect for the san jose sharks. a 20-year-old forward drafted by the sharks spent part of the summer training in san jose. they released a statement saying he had an infectious personality. 43 people died when a private plane crashed into the river just after takeoff. witnesses say id had trouble gaining altitude. among the victims were several former nhl players. the foermer principal was taken into custody on molestation charges. robert adams is the owner of the creative frontier school. he complained of chest pains when he was arrestd this morning. adams is accused of six felon counts on lewd and lascivious acts on children under the age of 14. the victims were girls between the ages of 4 and 7. the last instance allegedly happened last june. parents continue to support the principal. >> he's run an absolutely awesome school for the past 35 years. >> adams was rushed to a hospital where he'll stay for observation and in police custody. once released he'll be booked into the sacramento county jail. several are facing charges for not reporting instances of child abuse. the bay area is losing out to los angeles. the last surviving battleship in the world is heading south. they decided to move u.s.s. iowa to l.a. the iowa is about the length of three football fields and is the last surviving battleship in the world not scrapped or turned into a museum. it will go through an exterior ren novation. it will then be towed to southern california where the interior will be converted to a museum. hot day today. let's check in with our chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. is this sticking around for a while? >> a little bit more tomorrow. i was in san francisco today. a few people didn't watch the forecast. i saw people with heavy jackets on when temperatures were in the 80s. we are going to see cool iing i the next day or so. 9 # 93 in san jose. we had triple digits with walnut creek at 10 o. we have a dry northwesterly wednesday. that would normally prompt a red flag fire warning. it's not strong enough consistently here to get the fire status up. right now 67 in san francisco. a little bit of fog out here. we are going to see the fog build up more consistently tonight. right here across the bay and the golden gate bridges. so this region of high pressure is going away. in the forecast we talk about slight cooling and even in chance of thunderstorm ngs the seven day. we'll have more coming up. >> thanks so much, jeff. still ahead at 6:00, the cost of chaos. totalling up the toast for keeping protestings at bay. and berkeley is full of attractions but the citis trying to get an unwanted attraction. it's a little creepy. and now they're doing something about it. years of complaints led the city of berkeley to foreclose on a rat infested vacant lot downtown. rats have been the only occupants of the commercial property since 1990 when a hotel burned down. the high weeds make excellent hiding places for the rodent who is dine on the trash that gets tossed over the tall iron fence. last night an unanimous vote to foreclose on the block. the daily cow reports the owner complained the city hasn't worked with him to develop the site. well after neighbors complained about the stench, santa clara county sheriff deputies made an unusual discovery. they found nearly 100 cats locked inside two small trailers in san martine. marianne favro shows us how the felines are doing now. >> this cat may be in a cage now. she had more space than she did when she was crammed in a small trailer with 40 other felines achl senior trying to help the cats ended up hoarding them in two small trailers. >> this individual may have up to 100 cats at the location unfortunately, although he was doing the best he could, they weren't getting routine medical care. some have minor illnesses. they were living in dirty and crowded conditions. >> 40 of the cats were brought here to this the santa clara county animal shelter. two were so sick they died. the rest are doing well, with only minor medical problems. investigators are looking into the case and have not filed charges into the man. a private rescue group took in 25 of the cats and will try to find them homes. >> and in another two to three weeks another 40 to 60 cats will be brought in from the same location hoping for new homes. they may have a tough time getting adopt because of all the competition. this shelter already has more than 160 cats needing new homes. >> couldn't have come at a worse time. this is the end of summer when shellers traditionally experience a spike in the feline population. due to what we call kitten season. these cats may have been locked in a crowded trailer, but they're very capable of becoming cuddly companions. they need people willing to give them a chance. >> cute cats there. still to come at 6:00, a murder in paradise. a local woman at the center of a deadly fight in hawaii. and a break in the case of nursing student michelle le. jodi hernandez with an update on the clues that led police to the suspect. >> also fireworks in southern california as we speae republican presidentt-runner of republican presidentialield takes the stage. we'll go live next. today a break in the homicide case of michelle le. hayward police say they've made an arrest of former friend of the nursing student. nbc bay area jodi hernandez joins us live with the very latest. jodi? >> janelle, michelle le has not been found yet. but hayward police say they have solved half of the mystery. they've arrested le's killer. 27-year-old giselle esteban, le's former high school classmate and a woman who has gone on record saying she blamed le for ruining her relationship with her boyfriend is behind bars facing murder charges. police arrested esteban at her union city home this morning. they also searched the home another time and removed several bags of items. police call the evidence they've uncovered compelling. from bloodstains found in michelle le's car to surveillance video from the kaiser hospital parking garage where le was last seen. they also found her dna on one of esteban's shoes. l's family is grateful for the arrest, but they will not rest until they find the nursing student. they say they haven't given up hope. they are planning another search that will take place the weekend after next. that will be a three-day search. in hayward, jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news. >> jodi, thank you. let's turn our decision to decision 2010. today's gop party is a coming out of sorts. the first national stage for texas governor rick perry. you see michele bachmann at the microphone right now. let's bring in nbc's stephanie stanton who joins us from the debate. any kind of score card in terms of governor perry or mitt romney or bachmann? >> reporter: good evening to you. the first line of questioning went to governor rick perry. this is his first public debate since anounding his candidacy. perry giving a showing to one political analyst we talked to as well as mitt romney. having a strong showing in this debate. they are all vying for the republican nomination. based on recent poll numbers, many analysts say this is really boiling down to a two-man race. the stage is set at the reagan presidential library for tonight's gop debate with texas governor rick perry squarely in the spotlight. devastating wildfires in texas have kept the governor off the campaign trail in recent days. tonight he's taking the debate stage for the first time since declaring his candidacy and now surging in the polls. >> the latest nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows perry a 15-point lead over mitt romney.