michelle franzen is outside of studios where the summit is being held. good morning. >> good morning, veronica. >> the summit brings together the nation's top educators and business leaders and policymakers here to 30 rock to debate the key issues affecting education and also find ways to improve how children learn. teachers, educators and innovators from around the country came together at the start of the summit. >> a great teacher in the classroom is fundamental and it's what changes the trajectory of the students. >> reporter: voicing their concerns. >> when i know passionate excellent teachers who have left the classroom, it's not because of lack of dollars, it's lack of voice. >> reporter: and looking for solutions when only one-third of u.s. students are proficient in studies like math and reading. >> it's our job as educators to make sure we're keeping the same standards for all students. >> reporter: from the debate over standardized testing to teacher evaluation and teacher pay. >> if we want to keep the best teachers in the classroom, we have

michelle franzen, nbc news. >>> and now here's a look at some of the other stories making news "early today" in america. in california customers inside a bike shop are lucky to be alive after a car came crashing through the store. the car mowed down everything in its path, narrowly missing two people who managed to jump out of the way. no word on whether charges will be filed against the elderly driver. >>> a rhode island surveillance camera captured one customer's deed after she found a misplaced wallet on the store counter. the mystery woman turned robbery suspect pulled $200 from the wallet before leaving with her purchases. police were called after the wallet's owner returned and store employees viewed the tape. >>> a colorado cat missing for the past five years has turned up on the streets of new york. vets said the pet shelter learned the cat's backstory after scanning a microchip embedded in its neck. plans are in the works to fly it back to its colorado family. >>> in new york city, the guinness world record holder for the woman with the longest nails was in town and she let h

michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. >>> now here's your first look at some of the other news going on. a michigan man is relying on surveillance video in his suit against two police officers who escorted him out of a casino. the video shows one cop punched the man in the face, knocking him to the ground where he continues punching him. assault charges initially filed by the officers were later dropped after the prosecutor viewed the tape. >>> in texas firefighters believe a bolt of lightning may be to blame for a brush fire on the site where the 2004 movie "the alamo" was shot. it's scorched some 200 acres. >>> an underground gas leak set a road on fire in northern california last night. firefighters were called to the scene after a four-inch gas line set a major intersection ablaze, forcing traffic to be redirected and several nearby businesses to evacuate. fortunately, no injuries have been reported. >>> and finally, a controversial costume has stirred up hard feelings in florida. the ice cream cone costume was meant to draw customers to a newly opened store, but from a distance,

nbc's michelle franzen reports. >> reporter: the final government report blames bp for the bulk of events that triggered last year's explosion at the deepwater horizon oil rig, killing 11 workers and resulting in the worst offshore oil spill in u.s. history. the key findings determined bp made critical errors surrounding the cement seal at macondo exploratory well violated federal regulations. when the company realized those mistakes, did not immediately notify its partners or the u.s. government. energy risk experts say it shows the deadly incident could have been avoided. >> the cement wasn't sufficient. it wasn't tested. and bp ignored industry standards which called for redundancy with the cement casings. >> reporter: bp responded with a statement saying it agreed with the report's core conclusion, that the deep water horizon accident was the result of multiple causes involving multiple parties. other reports have spread the blame to bp partners transocean and haliburton and sperry sun, contractors for the cement seal. the federal report says those companies also bear some blame, but

. >> michelle franzen is live for us. michelle. >> a lot of people here in paterson would agree.it's expected to stay above flood stage, at least three tomorrow and much of this water will not recede probably through the weekend here for these communities. still getting all the raging waters from the passaic. this town, an old mill town about 25 miles outside of new york city, about 6,000 people were affected in all. many of them are used to flooding in this area, but this storm took them by surprise. >> at first, i thought it was a joke. we have a lot of floods. but when it started flowing up and coming over the building, i've never seen nothing like that. it's not something we can't handle. >> ask that's a local bridge behind me, but the majority of bridges leading to some of these flooded neighborhoods are still blocked off by a significant amount of water, craig. >> nbc's michelle franzen in paterson for us today. thank you, michelle. >>> hurricane katia gaining strength in the middle of the atlantic. let's take a look at some of the images of katia. check it out. forecasters

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. >> michelle franzen is live from paterson, new jersey. michelle? >> well, look behind me, craig. the river is not going down quickly enough. it iscereceding, but not fast enough. you can see that this is a privately maintained bridge which leads to a commercial area here, but beyond that set of trees, neighborhoods still dealing with the water, and it is starting to recede, too, but it is still several days before the water recedes. as you mentioned president obama is expected to tour the area on sunday and unfortunately, there is going to be plenty of damage for him to see. we spoke with the paterson mayor who hopes to be along on the tour, and he has a message for the president. >> we need aid. we need help and support, and we need more long-range conversations, and more specific will the long-range conversations about what has happened and continues to happen whereas the federal government has been involved in the past years, and yet the same result remains. i'm not expecting miracles, but conversations leading to the miracle for us to figure out a way to protect many of us fr

i imagine that governor christie will be right there by his side. >> nbc's michelle franzen, thank you so much for the report. >>> right now roger clemens is waiting to find out if he is going to be retried on charges that he lied about using performance enhancing drugs. we will get an update. >>> and sarah palin plans to spend her labor day in iowa and new hampshire. is she going to announce a presidential run or not? plus -- >> who are you? >> dolly. >> dolly who? >> dolly parton. >> an episode of "toddlers and tiaras" sparks a huge controversy when her mother dresses a 4-year-old up with fake breasts and a butt. some people are calling it child porn. it is today's "newsnation" gut check. [ male announcer ] this is coach parker... whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ really? 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, and has 5 grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'

nbc's michelle franzen joins us from patterson with the very latest. >> reporter: we just spoke with the mayor just a short time ago and he says it could take a little while even if the water recedes for those bridges to be passable. engineers are going to have to inspect the bridges. this is a privately maintained bridge here leading over to a commercial section but it gives you a sense of some of the damage that many of the bridges throughout town are dealing with. all the debris up there. the water has receded but the passaic still raging and bringing everything downriver with it from debris, all sorts of toys, kids' toys, and it is still inundating many neighborhoods further across this area, more than 6,000 people impacted by the effects of the passaic river just here in patterson. as you mentioned, president obama will be here on sunday touring with governor christie yesterday, of course, was homeland security secretary janet napolitano along with fema's director, craig fugate. both of them clearing the way for some federal aid. but that now being subject, others may be playing

michelle franzen has the latest. >> reporter: the passaic river continues to remain above flood stage. it will for the next few days. when president obama visits here on sunday he will still see plenty of damage even though people are working very hard to clean up a privately maintained bridge here leading to a commercial business area. people here have been cleaning up that debris that you've seen over the last few days. they've got their work cut out for them. that water still not receded well enough to go under the bridge. on the other side of the river still low lying areas where neighborhoods are inundated with water. more than 1,000 people still out of their homes. they're either in shelters or staying with family and friends. those who are able to go back home what they're finding are flooded basements, water up to the first floor, that's slowly receding. that i thinks that have been destroyed or ruined. many of them telling us yesterday that their home had never flooded in previous floods here along the passaic river. they now are hoping to seek federal assistance. the fema di

. >> nbc's michelle franzen is live for us in patterson, new jersey. it seemed to me those comments were almost directed right at the house republican leader, fellow republican of chris christie, eric cantor. just shows you this stuff gets personal when it comes to disaster aid. >> reporter: absolutely. as you know, governor christie has been zigzagging through new jersey ever since irene zigzagged through new jersey leaving behind all those swollen rivers. take a look. the passaic river, as you mentioned, receding but still so much water to deal with, chuck. it's going at a pretty good pace. this is a privately maintained bridge here leading over to an industrial area, but it gives you a sense of what the damage that this raging river has caused here. beyond that, neighborhoods still flooded and it's going to take some time before people can get back into their homes. of course, there's things to deal with, alarm boxes, fuse boxes, electricity to restore in this area. of course, you see a flag that's tattered there. i'm sure that will also be replaced

michelle franzen is outside our studios in new york city where the summit is being held. good morning to you. >> reporter: that summit brings together the nation's top teachers, policymakers and business leaders to 30 rock to debate the key issues surrounding education and look for ways to make sure students can learn better. >> teachers, educators and innovators from around the country came together for the start of the education nation summit. >> a great teacher in the classroom is fundamental and it's what changes the trajectory of the students. >> reporter: voicing their concerns. >> when i know passionate teachers have left the classroom, it's not because of lack of dollars, it's a lack of voice. >> reporter: and looking for solutions at a time when only a third of u.s. students are proficient in studies like math and reading. >> it's our joe job as educators to make sure we're keeping the same standards for all students. >> from the debate over standardized testing to the debate over teachers and teacher pay. >> if we want to keep the best teachers in the classroom,

michelle franzen is live for us in paterson. any better news today? still see lots of running water behind you. >> reporter: lots of running water, chuck, but there is good news. the passaic is receding. it's expected to stay above flood stage though for the next few days through the weekend. president obama will see plenty of damage, unfortunately, on his visit here, because this water is not going anywhere. you can see up against the bridge here just one of several bridges impacted throughout paterson, new jersey. the debris just pounding away at that bridge. and once that water is gone from there, they're going to have to inspect that bridge and make sure it's safe to drive over. that's one of several bridges throughout paterson. in other neighborhoods, more of a dire situation. there are full neighborhoods that are still submerged under water, houses and cars. it's going to be sometime before those folks get a chance to get back in, about more than 6,000 people have been impacted in paterson alone. throughout new jersey, the rivers have seemed to