facing his flock. a well known pastor to haveof aa mega church, accused in a sex scandal, set to face his congregation for the first time today. >> get down, get down. >> emergency landing. frightening moments as a jet liner with its landing gear stuck. coming up. an waiting for superman. the failing on america's public schools. what can be doneo save them. a conversation with davis guggenheim. a conversation with davis guggenheim. today, september 26, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to "tay" on a sunday

morning. i'm lester holt. normally we would be starting over there at home base, but today we are starting outside. come with me. for weeks we have been telling you about an nbc news initiative called education nation and we are getting started today. education nation is essentially the beginning of aonversation about the state, the status of education in this country right now. our goal is to inspire, to enlighten, to listen, possibly provoke as we try to figure out how our children are learning and why, in some cases, they are failing. whsome kids are being left behind in our system. whether or not you have a child in school right now or not, this matters to you. the president of the united states recently sai it's an economic issue. how our children are learning. the conversation will be taking place at a place we call education nation learning plaza. it's just across the street from our studio. there it is. that's where we find my colleague jenna wolfe. >> here ware at education

plaza. weonverted the plaza into this massive education community right here. it's a pretty large feat and there was a lot involvein putting this together. five days, 120 hours, 200 people working around the clock to construct bically an interacte exhibit about education here on rockefeller plaza. a lot of people have come together.teachers, stents, leaders in politics, business and technology to discuss the challenges and opportunities in education today. so thi learning plaza right here is going to inclu a series of five galleries open to the public and we are going to give you a tour of some of them coming newspaper the next hour. the galleri include interactive tool that is allow you to play around a little bit. not just from here in new york ty. you can get a chance to do some of this stuff fro the confines of your own home as well. we'll give you a tour over the next hour of everything going on and give you a chance to play around a little bit with some of

this. first, we want to get right to it. we're going to start with lester. >> we have a great morning ahead. we're gog to begin the conversation with david gregory moderatinging a special edition of "meet the press" here on education plaza. good morning. good morning. >> i'm not sure who's the guest of who here. we have heard the numbers. we as a country, 10th in reading litera, 24th in math, 12th in college completion rates, as you look across the world. this president, every president has run on a platformf education will be a priority. has president obama lived up to the promise? >> i think he has. the accountability movement in school reform goes to president bush who did you wt get a lot of credit because no child left behind was unpopular in many ways and they didn't feel they carried through on it. but trying to hold teachers and school districts accountables an ingrain part of the movement now. in that way the administration

now has gotten -- both sides of the aisle. the problem is so deep, so large that it's going to take a while to make accountability stick. >> one of your guests today, the secretary of education, arnie duncan, said education should be one of the main things people look at when they are choosing a candidate. do voters place this as a priority? it's not the sexy topic sometimes when we look at terrorism and other things. >> i think that's such an interesting point. if you do poll ople, we know education ranks so high, but "waiting for superman" the film that's out this weeke undersres this. you scratch your head and say, gosh, this is a mess. it seems so big. one of the ings i want to do this morning is cut to the core of the problems, a, to talk about what's working and how to break down the problems to start addressi them. what's the bottom line? doe have the bes teachers in

front of our kids? gettingi into that point is wha the reform movement is about. >> the president's weekly radio address talked about the pledge for america, the republican pledge that they have released. one thinthey talked about was repealing the health care bill. but most people not only don't want it repealed they want more added to it. do republicans have toefine the message and take a better look at it? >> from a political point of view if the messages government's out of control. they passed a hug entitlement that will cost a lot of money and have you felthe effects of it yet? that has the shot to be a winning political message. the moreeople start to feel health care reform, so the argument goes, it will become more popular. that's not been the case across the board yet with health care reform and that's why the president has to keep hammering away at it. >> this pledge for america, many compare it to the contract from 19.

how does it differ? >> well, it's very similar. it looks specifics that the '94 contract d. one thing that's similar is what's more important than the pledge to america, more important than the contract with america is the political climate in which they are operating. it is the unpopularity of president obama that's hurting democrats more than faith in the reblicans which, by the way, is an argument that the president is trying to exploit and say, look, the alternative is not the way to go here. >> good t have you here. looking fward to the broadcast. we want to head inside to tamron hall with the morning headlines. >> good morning, everyone. we begin with a miracle at jfk airport. a jetliner skidded down the tor mac surrounded by sparks when a faulty landing gear caused the pit to make an emergency landing. the delta flight diverted to the airport aft the right wheel jammed. this video is from a passenger

cell phone. amazingly no one was hurt. it is unclear what caused the malfunction. in chile, theirst of three rescue capsules arrived at that time mine where 33 people have been trapped since august. the phoenix capsule is equipped with oxygen, communications equipment and an escape hatch in case anying goes wrong during the 15-minute ride back to the surface. officis hope to start the rescue in late october or ely november. a crucial deadline today in the effort to keep mideast peace talks alive. direct talks began three weeks ago but a ten-month israeli moratorium on new settlements in sputed territory expires at midnight. at the.n. yesterday, mahmoud abbas said israel must choose between peace or letting construction sume. israel has no plans toxtend the deadline. in texas, family and friends remembered reggie garrett saturdayt a private church service. the 17-year-old collapsed and

died during a game last week. another memorial took place at a stadium where teammates honored reggie's number 12. the cause of death has not been determined. finally "snl" kicked off last night. while they poked fun at politicians, the tables were turned when regular target new york governor david paterson stopped by. >> ladies and gentlemen, i wanted to come here tonight before my time as governor of the great state of new york ends to tell you that working in albany is just like watching "saturday night live." there are a lot of characters. it's funny for ten minutes and then you just want it to be over. >> also making cameos, former cast members jimmy fallon and tina fey along with jusn timberlake. now back to the learning plaza with lester and jenna. >> not a bad cast. >> good start to season, yeah. >> thank you very much. it's chilly here in n york this morning, aittle t. let's check on the

i'm news 4 meteorologist chuck bell. we have a fairly cloudy sunay morning here in the nation's capital expecting a chance for light rain showers thisorning but the heavier, steadier rains are still not expected here until after dark. right now temperatures are in the mid to upper 60s around town. 59 in martinsburg currently. a look at live doppler. there are some very light rain showers now in and around the k d.c. metro area that will be in and out through this morning. we'll have some dry hours this afternoon. heavier raintomorrow. andow here's jenna. >> janice, thanks. this morning services at a mega church in georgia will give its famed pastor the chance to address the congregation for the

first time since allegations that he lured young mens into sex with gifts and travel. ron mott is outside the new birth missiary baptist church. ron, good morning. >> reporter: jenna, good morning to you. the allegations stunned the congretion of 25,000 members and touched offebate here in atlanta and around the country especially considering eddie long was silenced this week which he's expected to break today [ applause ] >> somebody needs to celebrate that moment. >> reporter: he's used to audiences hanging ones i every word. today eddie long's congregation is likely to be rapt in atntion like never before. members of his church and a satellite church in north carolina allegedly pressuring them into sex after they reached the legal age of concept. >> manipulation starts at 14 or 15 so basically they are indoctrinated into this man and then he goes forward with the next phase. so the law may not recognize

that as child molestation, but manipulation of someone like this and abusing the ptoral relationship this way is not consent. >> reporter: long avoided the public spotlight, issuing messages through a spokespeon and his attorney who read a statement on a nationally syndicated radio talk show. >> let me be clear. the chargesgainst me and ne birth are false. i have devoted my life to helping others and these false allegations hurt me deep. but my faith is strong and the truth will emerge. >> reporter: debate on air and online has been passionate on both sides with the motives behind the lawsuits taking center stage. 20-year-old maurice robinson was arrested over the summer in connection with a burglary at long's church. the case istill pending. >> everything right now is just because of that. we think it's all lies. >> reporter: eddie long will kra address the allegations in two

services this morning. in between he'll meet with the media. >> can we expect more lawsuits the coming weeks and months against bishop long? >> reporter: there are reports that as many as 30 individuals have gotten in touch with b.j. bernstein, the attorney for the four platforms who have filed. jenna? thank you very much. coming up, we have more on education nation. how one school was able to help student ace choohieve dramatic improvement. that's right after this. but basically, i'm a runner. last year. (oof). i had a bum knee that needed surgery. but it got complicated, because i had an old injury. so i wanted a doctor who had done this before. and unitedhealthcare's database helped me find a surgeon. you know you can't have great legs, if you don have good knees. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. new revlon just tten. it's the first two-in-one lipstain andalm.

the lipstain gives me a light flush of color while the moisturizing balm ftens my lips. have you ever been bitten? new revlon just bitten lipstain and balm. helps kids be their best. we think it probably helps teachers beheir best too. quaker instant oatmeal. does your breakfast make you amazing? quaker instant oatmeal. as a mom i believe books brighten a child's future. so join the sunnyd book spree. when your child's class collects 20 labels... they get 20 free books! go to sunnyd.com and help us make classrooms sunnier.

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we're back on learning pza wi a sobering fact. only a third of this country's fourth graders are proficient in reading and math. how do you make students perform better? nbc's tamron hall has a sry of one elementary school making big strides in north carolina. hey, tamron. >> hey there. according to the national education association, 73% of teachers enter the profession because they want to help young people. my mother was an educator for years, so i know firsthand that one person can really make a difference. like most modest parents kim miller-dixon calls her son javan her baby genius. >> have a good day. >> reporte at nine years old he's in a hurry to head off to 4th grade, but if you ask one of his former teachers -- >> he was more worried about fooling ound, getting people to laugh at him. he didn't have the direction he

needed. >> reporter: his grades, bs and cs and sometimes worse, that was last year. today -- >> what was your problem? >> i forgot to put a zero. i gotn a in math, a in literacy. >> reporter: his progress report is just one example of the remarkable change taking place at sterling elementary school in north carolina. in 2008 only 26% of 3rd graders passed standardized reading tests. 41% passed math. this year, the students improved dramatically -- 66% passed reading, 86% passedmath. >> it was a reality check for the staff that it was as bad as it was. >> reporter: principal nancy guzman came to sterling to lead e school's turnaround under a program called the strategic staffing initiative she was offered a 10% raise to run sterling. the flexibility to remove five ineffective teachers and the

ability to give $20,000 bonuses to hire five of the best teachers in the district. >> it's bnging in the best teachers that we can find and putting these teachers in a situation where they can thrive. >> does the number have power? >> reporter: kurt thompson is one of the teachers. his track record showed he's effecte at taking students with low test scores and helping them become successful. >> someone has to be interesd in their life. somebody has to take an interest in them and the walls will come down. they will open up to you and trust you. that's when the learning happens. >> reporter: it was t individual attention jevon needed to still have fun while focusing on the future. >> he knows what he wants to be. he's going to yale to be a brain surgeon and he is constantly making sure that what he's doing is going to get him to that end. >> i want to get my master's degree, my bachelor's degree, my

doctoral degree. that should take pretty long, but the hard work pays off. >> reporter: what a touching story. that's just one principal in north carolina turning around one of the poost performing schools and making it a class act. lester? >> that's a great story. hey, i know the tent you're in will be a town meeting later. who will be here? >> reporter: it will be packed with teachers from across the country. i will ben the audience looking for teacher who is want to ask questions. they are on the front lines. they are the people we must listen to in order to move forward. they can tell us what's working, what's not. they are the voices, if you will, for the students they say every day in the classroom. this will be packed with teachers from across the country. brian williams will moderate it. we'll hear candid conversation and the goal is to turit into action. >> tnk you very much. we'll be back after these messages.

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astrazeneca may be able to help. four years ago, bob ehrlich got fired as governor of maryland. for good reason. first, he protected x loopholes for giant cable cable companies. then, he let utilities jack up our rates 72%. and for the last four years, he worked as a hired gun for big corporions, even a bank that took billions from a taxpayer ehrlich sides with corporate executives again and again and again tell bob ehrlich big banks an'. middle cde do.

still to come on "today," "waiting for superman" a powerful film making peopl question how we educate children in this country. and ken burns is back with a ok at the scandals and steroids thatlagued theoys of summer. first, these messages. [ female announcer ] your eyes,

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a live look out over the

nation'sapital this morning. clouds hanging in there for us right now. a few rain drops for some folks. chuck has your forecast in a second. first, good morning, t. 8:26 on this sunday morning. i am aaron gilchrist. d.c. schools chancellor michelle rhee will be a guest on "meet the press" taking part in a panel discussi on the state of education. this is part of nbc's weeklong education nation which is foc focusing on reforming the nation's education system. you n watch eet the press" here on nbc 4 this morning at 10:30. investigators say a cigarette caused a fire that destroyed three homes in manassas, virginia. thursday flames jumped from house to house on tille it tt loop. a smoker put a cigarette out in a potted plant. flames spread from a deck to vinyl on the house and to the homes next door. a fairfax county teenager is in the hospital with life threatening injuries after he was hit by car last night. this happened about 8:15 at the intersection of pleasant valley road and smith haven place in centerville.

police questioned the driver who did stay on the scene after the accident. your weather forecast is up next.

welcome back. chuck bell is in storm center 4 with some clouds andmaybe even rain, chuck? >> light rain a sunday morning for us. not going to add up to too much. sometimes even a few hundredths are just enough to get you wet. outside take a check of the temperatures. first 67 degrees at national

rport. 71 in st. mary's county. 62 in falls church. 61 degrees in leesburg. 59 in martinsburg, west virginia. here's a look at live doppler and there are some light rain showers now, upper ntgomery county, back to the west in portions of eastern loudoun county all tracking offo the northeast and they're not bringing an awful lot in the way ofeasurable rainfall but passing light showers should be expected here foat least the nextouple of hours. i think we'll get a little break midafternoon today before steadier rains tonht and through tomorrow. cloudy and wet with steadyrain. could be heavy at times monday night. maybe even a rumble or two sunday. >> we're heading back to new york for the "today" show. we're back on this sunday

morning, the 26th day of september, 2010. it's a great day on our plaza. our thanks to everyone who came do to say hello to us, to friends and family back home. thanks, guys. outside on the learning plaza, i'm jenna wolfe along with lester holt. we kicked off the week-long discussion about education in our country. coming up we are going to show you what's inside each of the five galleries displayed here on the aza. >> i was taking a quick tour. cool interactive stuff designed to show us how our schools, teachers, students, communities are connected. perspectives on the individual learner to the community and the nation as a whole. yocan take part in the summit from home. we'll show you how in a few minutes. >> we have been talking about the documentary all morning, "waiting for superman" the documentary that outraged people and leaves them questioning this country's education system. this film follows five children whose education and future

depend on winning t lottery. the film has a lot of people talking and this morning we'll meet the oscar winning director of the movie. >> if it was meant to provoke information my wife and i have been talking about nothinging else since we saw it. another film maker joins us this morning. ken burns. 16 years after his hit series "baseball" in 1994, the produ of the history of americs past time, burns is back with "the 10th inning." we'll talk to him in a few minutes. >> this i'm excited about. i saw part of the first one and he rarely does sequels. we have a lot to get to. let's start off with another check of the weather and janice huff. >>

good sunday morning. i'm news 4 meteorologist chuck bell. the clouds have moved in and some light rain showers are following them as well. tempatures are in the mid 60s rarpd washington right now. 67 downtown. 62 degrees in virginia this morning. 64 in clinton, maryland. 59egrees in frederick, maryland. a look at live doppler. some light to at times moderate

rain especially across upper montgomery county. more sprinkles down south in fredericksburg as well. all those rains > remember, when we're not here you can always check your weather on weather.com. time to talk about the football forecast because tonight is football night in america. sunday night football here on nbc. it looks like we are going to see temperatures in south florida in the 80s for your game tonight. the jets against the dolphins at sun li stadium. 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms. that's not bad. it should be mostly dry. that's a check of the football forecast. here's lester. >> we're very excited about learning plaza. it will open to the public later today. it includes a series of five gaeries open to the public to allow visitors and viewers at home to explore america's educational eco-system, if you will. i have an exhibit here where you can find your style of learning. can you answer the clues? let's find out. the idea is to find out how you

learn. that's the key. adapting education to an individual's learning style. the exhibit is designed to tell us how we learn. that's the first exhibit. there are many ways we learn, reading, listening, analyzin analyzinging. there are new strategies t tailor instruction to individual needs. the school of one is about an experimental program in new york city whose story you wlee inside this gallery. the school creates an individual curriculum for each student customized to his or hereeds and the way they learn best. teachers in school of one gathered data about student performance and adapt the live lessons accordingly. it ges kids a chance to excel because they are learning in the way that's best for them. a way for you to get involved at home is pretty cool. log onto educationnation.com. we've got on there a learning assessment tool. it helps you figure out how you learn.

they ask questions from if you're a goo listener, do you like to listen to music when you study, questions like that. log on, take a short quiz and it will determine if you learn visually, physically, logically. so it's very cool stuff. do it at home. ifou can come down and visit this later today, that's even better. now to jenna. where are you? >> i'm next door in the educator petal which is about teachers and educators. these are the people that made us fall in love with school. we have a lot of things here. this is karen fizetti, one of the teachers. this is an interactive kiosk ere you can record a video message to a teacher if you like and be on camera to talk about why you loved your teacher or who your educatoras who you were fond . you can do this here or online if you're at home. >> absolutely, yeah. >> over here, i like this. this is a teacher tribute card

station where a lot of people at nbc from all different shows have taken a card and filled it out. they have written it to their favorite teacher and pegged i on the board. i will do mine now. this is to my 4th grade teacher, mrs. goens. i have a lot to write. thank you for making me believe that even a class clown in 4th grade could tn out to be the host of the "today" show. i will write out the rest in long form because she taught me how to do it. we're here with karen now. what do you think of this? >> incredible. there are 50 educators here from all over the cntry that are amazing at what they do. it's neat to be a part of the group. there are 50 of us but we are the products of amazing teachers and we have amazing teachers across the hal from us. >> you will give 15-minute demonstrations. >> i'll be teaching here today. >> what's your denstration? >> i'm teaching about three

different poetic device it's an english language arts lesson geared to high school on alliteration, consonents. >> in literature. >> so it's getting a spotlight. >> and you're making it fun. >> it's great. >> enjoy your time here. enjoy the different petals. now over to tamron who's at another one. >> i'm in the nation pod or petal. you can see what our national leaders have to say about education. folks can come in and hear what they think. also we have another interactive thing that's cool that you can do here or at home. you can look up the score card for the public school in your area. with me is lisa girsch from nbc news. good morning. how do you feel looking around and seeing that this is a reality now? >> it's fantastic. our goal really was to creat a

conversation about the state of education, talk about why it matters and talk about solutions. one of the solutions we have come upith is a tool for parents which is an ey to access web tool which can help tell you how your child's school is doing. >> how it ranks nationwide. >> within the district a how it ranks with other schools in the state and then how is your state doing? >> this school is near my mother's home. it's a good elementary school, i think. let's see what the numbers are. >> great. >> you would type in the school. we have north joshua elementary school. 92% of 4th graders passed their reading exam. 98% of 4th graders are passing their math exam. that compares to 84% and 86% in the state. that school is doing great. that's something you need to know. how is your school doing? >> the next step here? >> if you want to find out how your state is doing, one key factor is high school graduation rates. let's look at the best state in

the country and that's wisconsin. 90% of its students are graduating high school in ur years. nevada, 51% a graduating in four years. that state is having an issue. what's critical is for people to understand why it matters. look at high school annual incomes. $26,000 if you graduate with a high school diploma and $17,000 if you don't. >> you can do this actually at home. if you are at hom go to -- >> educationnation.com. >> there are tips on what you need to do if you're a parent and how to build a relationship with the principal and teachers at your school. this is fantastic. up next, davis guggenheim after these messages.

we're going to talk now about a documentary that has a lot of people fired up. "waiting for superman" is directedy academy award winner davis guggenheim. he hopes the story about the state american education starts a national conversation about our public schools. here's a little t. >> i want to be a nurse. >> i want to be a doctor. >> how come? >>ecause i would like to help somebody in need. >> you wake up every morning and you know that kids are getting a really crappy education right now. >> so youhink most of the kids are getting a crappy education right now? >> i don't think they are. i know they are. >> davis guggenheim joins us now at learning plaza.

thanks for being here. i saw the movie on friday. it is incredibly provocative and has people talking. you explored education in 1999. you did a film about teachers in their first year of teaching in los angeles. was that what insred you to go back and look at what's happening in the schools? >> yeah. i saw these teachers and they brought souch passion and wanted to change the lives of kids. when i saw what happened outside the classroom, i realized that someone needed to tell the story about the system that is really broken and we are not going to fiour schools unless we deal with that. >> the whole title "waiting for superman" is we keep waiting for someone to save our schools. you basically follow five children whose parents are invested in wanting the kids to get a great education. they are not in great schools and they are in a lottery to get into better schools. how did you choose them? are they representative of -- how many kids in ts country? >> you fall in love with daisy,

anthony and bianca. daisy wants to be a doctor and you believe she can be. her parents are working double shifts to make her a doctor. you realize the only way she's going to do it is if she wins the lottery, if the ball bounces her way. it's heart-breaking. you realize what's at stake. and there are millions like her. >> that's the point. it's the luck of the draw. where you live, you end up going to a neighborhood school unless you can get into the schools. >> we thought the problem was over ther maybe those kids, the poor kids. now it's everywhere. it's families like my family who need to play the lottery to find a great school. >> you have interesting statistics in here. one in 57 doctors lose their medical license. one in 97 attorneys lose their law license. for teachers only one in 2500 have lost their credentials.

randy winegardener is featured and she saw the film. i want you to hear her comments. >> this is not about wheer charter schools, which are public schools, whether they are good or bad in my mind. this is whether they work or not. 80of the charter schools in the united states of america do no better or worse than the traditional public schools in america. so when a film will look at one or two or three charter schools and say, see, this is the silver bulletnd you know the data, you know that's wrong. >> i realize you couldn't hear that. she's making the point that charter schoolsre not all they are trumped up to be, that many of them do fail. >> right. >> i guess the thrust of the movie is that tends to be the alternative to underperforming schools. >> we are failing millions of kids. these parents don't care what the school is called. it could be a charter, magnet o district school. they just want a great school. i showed the film yesterday to

50 teachers from all across the country, great teachers. fome it was the most important thing because it was packed full of just teachers. >> some could argue it's anti-teacher. you get into areas of the rubber rooms in new rk, that teachers are failing kids. >> the teachers loved the movie. they disagreed a ltle bit, but there was a conversation. i think what the movie basically says is what every parent knows. a great education is having a great teacher standing in front of the kidsvery morning. >> you feature folks here who have tried to be game changers in education. you ha michelle reed, 30-something who bece a chancellor of the washington, d.c. embattled schools. jeffrey canada became a national -- created the harlem childr's zone. how much were you inspired by these individuals and what was their frustration as they tried effect change in a short time? >> they feel the stakes.

what's exciting is a revolution is happening. the revolution has ce up from teachers, all the peopleou mentioned, all the reformers that are proving you can teach every kid and even some of the tohest neighborhoods, these came from teachers. they have now proven that it can be done. now it's about getting enough political wil people believing and making tough choices to give every kid in america a great education. >> it's provocative. it has people talking and people should see it. davis, thanks for talking about "waitingor superman." we're going to be screening the film to invited guests here at learning pla tonight. it will be interesting to get their thoughts. many of them are educators. we are going to talk about another film maker and "the 10th inning" after these messages. subway has breakfast. and it's a slam dunk. i like my breakfast sandwich with green peppers, onion, bana peppers and mustard. i like eggs with black fore ham on wheat.

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right here in this neighborhood, i grew up learning strong families and hard work means opportunity. and that starts with good schools. it's a tradition here in maryland-- and why in these tough times i've put education first. we've made record investment in our classrooms... doublethe number of charter schools... and we've frozen college tuition for four years in a row. and it's working. perts say we n have the number one schools in the nation. when it comes to expanding opportunity

in every neighborhood, i know that we must do even better. in 1994, ken burns' film "baseball" was wated by the most viewers ever on pbs. now he's back with "the 10th inning," a continuation which covers baseball history since then from the rise of new ballparks and international players to one of the game's darkest eras. here's alook. >> the game would have to go through its own dark ages before it would emerge stronger than ever before. and behind the scenes, in secret, players every tea found themselves making life altering decisions about how far they were willing to go to succeed. >> ken burns has been kind enough to join us today. thanks for being with us. >> my pleasure. >> so "the 10th inning" documents theost recent history ofbaseball. this is a rare sequel for you.

you don't often do those. you have a passion for this. >> i love the game. it's the greatest game still that's ever been invented. when you see the strike and the steroids you want to understand it more than just the superficialinary judgments we usually make. so we have been struggling for the last several years to come to terms. how do we understand it, say, in comparison to theambling scandals that afflicted baseball from time to time. the good news is the resiliency of the game is the star. there were no more .300 hitters. no pitchers had 35 40 games. so we have the genie back in the bottle. we still have to go back and try to figure out how to tell our kids, our grandkids how to understa thisso-called steroids era. >> when people talk to you about it, is that the biggest issue? >> they cringe. do you do steroids?

please say you would avoid it. we have to talk about it. >> it's a huge part of the game. >> and these people are role models. if they are taking steroids you know junior and high school kids are beinging encouraged to do it, too. >> let's listen to a clip from chris rock who does talk about steroids. listen. >> people get upset. who in the whole country wouldn't take a pill to make more money at their job? you would. hey, there's a pill and you will get paid like steven spielberg, you would take the pill. >> he's being funny but makes a good point. >>hat's a hugely important point. we take pills to do better in the bedroom, to wake up, go to sleep. we give our kids pills to do bett in sool but we are shock-shocked when our greatest players take them. i'm not excusing it. i'm saying we have to understand the way in which all of these things -- baseball, our

institutions -- are tied in to the rest of us and we have to have a more nuanced and complicated view and then we can get yond it, understand it. if we demonize roger clemens and barry bonds, we don't do anything to hel ourselves realize that baseball is a mirror of us. when our greatest players are succumbing to this temptation we have to look out. the bull yanke's eye is on us, >> and baseball is a reflection of us. >> the bronx zoo, 9/11 and how it helped bring the country back together. the red s improbable victory. the joy of the game is there but we felt we just could not not deal with this. >> how long? >> two two-hour pieces. >> and you needed more. >> the biggest complaint is what was left out. >> "the 10th inning." thank you very much. we'll be right back after this.

words alone aren't enough. our job is to listen and find ways to help workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. we'll keep restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and business impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund. i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right.

a city down on its luck with high unemployment and little hope suddenly gets noticed and is the middle of a glamorous a reinvention. it's happening in a city known more for blight than box office potential. more from peter alexander. >> reporter: think of it as hollywood on lake huron. on the set of the horror film "hostile 3" this film takes place in las vegas but is being shot in a less glitzy locaon that could use the dollars -- detroit. >> we can't bring hope to a mmunity. story tellers can't bring hope, i'm not sure who can. ♪ >> reporter: the motor city

itself is now cast in its first prime time network drama "detroit 187" and it's rolled out the red carpet for other productions including "up in the air". >> to know me is to fly with me. this is where i live. >> reporter: and thehbo series "hung". >> let's pretend we are on the winning streak we are going to start tonight. >> reporter: why michigan? film-makers are attracted by incentives. for every dollar they spend they get up to 42 cents back from the stats government. critics say it's a losing proposition for michigan taxpayers but supporters say it's already helping improve the state's image. >> our young people are staying. people are coming back from l.a., new york, to michigan, calling it home again. it's incredible. >> reporter: downtown detroit has doubled as manhattan, paris, even prague in recent pictures. "transformers 3" is shooting here this month. the state of michigan is a film faory. in 2007 before its aggressive tax incentives, just three

productions were filmed here. this year they expect more than 50. th will bring in more than $300 million. the state's entertainment industry has created 7,000 new jobs. chris jordan, a laidff electrician, is now a lighting technician. >> without this here, without this opportunity, we definitely would be out of a job. >> reporter: producers say despite a bad rap, detroit hasn't seen its final act. >> detroit is in a resurgent peod. it not down and dead. it's coming back. we're happy to be here and be a part of it. >> reporter: detroit has gone hollywood to give its residents new optimism and hope. for "today," peter alexander, nbc news, detroit. and we want to get a check of what's coming up on "meet t press." hey, david. >> good to be with you guys in new york. good morning. coming up, republicans this week unveiled their pledge to america. will it be enough to persuade the country to allow america to take back congress.

joining me, mike pence, chris n holland and we kick off nbc's education nation. arnie duncan, robert bob all coming up on "meet the press" from new york. >> we've acting like you're hundreds of miles away. thanks! you're right over there. and president oma will kick off our education natn week tomorrow morning on "today." matt lauer will interview the president at 8:00 eastern on "today." tune in for that. >> thanks to janice and tamron for being with us. we'll look for the teacher town hall you are taking part in with brian williams todayt noon on msnbc. get involved and check in by logginging onto educationnation.com to be part of this. so long, everybody.

pressing debate. this morning d.c. schools chancellor michelle rhee shares her education reform views with a national awudience. plus, cops on rooftops. local officers camping out above a doughnut shop for a good cause. and preventible tragedy. fire investigators have released what they believe caused the devastating fire that destroyed three homes. good morning and welcome to news 4 today. i'm aaron gilchrist. kimberly is off this morning. it is sunday, september 26th, 2010. the news is just ahead. first a quick check on our forecast. meteorologist chuck bell is here this morning. it's actually gotten cooler since we were last together, chuck. >> that's correct. the reason for that, light little rain drops falling down throughhe sky and that brings down the schooler ai and as the an drops evarate that cools the air down. temperatures have treed back through much of the mid morning hours. we were in the low 70s and got