after this revelation from tennessee's former governor phil bredesen.u lying to parents -- >> oh, absolutely. i mean -- >> reporter: out and out lying to parents how good their kids were doing? >> one case in eighth grade math we were telling 80% of the kids they were proficient when they took the test. >> reporter: what was the real number? >> 22%. >> reporter: 22% instead of 84%. >> and you just say, look, you may feel good for a minute if you think that -- >> reporter: but it's a lie. >> -- but you're not doing these kids any favor by lying to them like that. >> reporter: high scores on easy state tests made tennessee seem like an educational powerhouse. the truth, tennessee was one of the lowest performing states in the country. >> today begins a new era, a new time in public education in our country. >> reporter: in 2001 the passage of no child left behind tied student test scores to federal education dollars. president bush's no child left behind law, the states have to report their standardized test scores, but they're making their own tests. you

to tennessee where a proposed bill would prevent elementary and middle school teachers from talking about homosexuality to kids in the classroom. no public elementary or middle school shall provide any instruction or material that discusses sexual orientation other than heterosexuality. >> jon: you know, keeping people from saying the word "gay" is not really going to keep people from being gay, you know. (laughter) being gay isn't like beetlejuice. if you say it outloud so many times, you're gay. (laughter) the bill was introduced by state senator stacey campfield who maintains his "don't say gay bill" isn't antigay at all. >> is there any damage done in terms of hearing the word "homosexuality" to children in a controlled setting like a classroom? >> well actually, my bill is neutral. it doesn't say anybody can speak for it or against it. >> jon: here's a fun fact: at the same time this guy's bill is making its way through tennessee senate, a bill is also making its way through the tennessee statehouse that mandates science teachers have the freedom to teach alternative theories t

mark potter, nbc news, tennessee. >>> some other news when we come back. a romantic prom invitation backfires and now people are rallying to help a guy out. >>> and later, the difference our viewers made for friends of ours when a "making a difference" report aired on our broadcast. wait until you see the follow-up tonight. >>> if you're a guy, you know asking a girl to the prom is tough. always has been. this week, when a connecticut teenager decided to make a big splash with his invitation, it backfired big time. some found it romantic, the school did not. now the web is on fire with this story. he has supporters all over the globe, and the principal says rules is rules. our report now. >> reporter: it all started with the writing on the wall. late last week in the dead of night, shelton high school senior james tate and two friends dragged a ladder and 12-inch cardboard letters to campus, taping this message onto a school wall "sonali rodriguez will you go to prom with me?" >> i figured i would do something special, and it was a mistake. >> reporter: ro

kevin is a native of tennessee. he is a founding partner of the national law firm of drescher and sharp. he has been an expert in employment law and commercial disputes. he is a graduate of two tennessee institutions of higher education. he earned his bachelor of science degree from christian brothers college, graduating assume cum laude. he earned his juris doctorate from van den built. -- vanderbilt. he was a recipient of the appellant advocacy award. he was a research assistant on constitutional law and habeas corpus. as a lawyer, kevin sharp has repeatedly earned recognition from his peers, being named one of the "national business journal"'s best of the bar in 2000 and each year from 2005-2009. prior to becoming a lawyer, kevin served in the united states navy as a flight crew member operating patrol reconnaissance and antisubmarine warfare capacities as part of the u.s. pacific fleet. kevin has broad support in tennessee. both the white house and my office and senator corker's office received numerous letters

he teaches autistic kids in chattanooga, tennessee. idea, what happened when trying to help a number of kids deal with this threat of tornadoes coming through? we're talking about children who have a very difficult time with a lot of change. >> exactly. >> and sudden, you know, occurrences as it is. >> exactly. and students with autism, i'm an autism specialist for the county. students with autism really have a difficult -- have challenges with change. and -- but they also -- on thunderstorms. it was sort of weird that -- that some of the students were able to cope through the -- through the initial storm. but it was also sort of interesting how some of them were able to -- really had challenges. i guess maybe around 9:00 a.m. we started out with the power outage. after the power outage, we

graduated from tennessee state and degree in english in 1964. she married her childhood friend on december 12. they are the parents of fredrick and twins robert and john. her education continued with a master's degree in early childhood literature, and programming in 1975 from webster university. patricia has a successful career as a teacher and children's book editor. she changed careers to become a full time writer of children and young adult books. her goal is to create books for and about african-americans. i write because there is a need to have books for, by and about the african-american experience and how we helped to develop this country. i present to you patricia makinsik heart of literacy. >> i am from st. louis, missouri. a lot of you think i have said it in correctly when i said missouri. you think i got it slid into my southern dialect, right? no. i was not born in st. louis. i was born in nashville, tennessee, a little town side of nashville. that is where i grew up, went to high school, met and married my husband. moved back to s

i mean, you went to american baptist if you couldn't get in to tennessee state or alabama a&m. i mean, it was-- i mean, you would say, "well, on s.a.t.s, we can't take this young man." it's a reminder of untapped potential if we don't reach out. i mean, how many people have these abilities but have never had a chance to play the full-- expend the full possibilities of their lives? john lewis is, to me, just one of the heroes. john lewis, i think, is the single best american citizen i've ever known. i mean, he is so steadfast. here we are, 40 years later, and he's still doing ten times more things than he should. he's a congressman, he's generous-hearted, he's not a separatist. he treats everybody the way they would like to be treated. he reaches out to everyone. he still talks about the good community, the noble community. the beloved community. the beloved community that jim lawson first mentioned to him. and he was a person who could have had a wasted life that we would never reach. i joined the new york times that year, the day after john kennedy's election. and one of my la

nashville -- tennessee.ashville will get in on this action and heavy rains will edge in our direction. maryland's most powerful doppler radar five sweeps across the chesapeake and we are dry. 59 in baltimore. holding at 60 up towards york, pa and to the south 65 in ocean city. well, this morning we will be near 60. patchy fog and mostly cloudy skies and scattered showers and maybe a thunderstorm this afternoon. we will push a mild high of 82. more on our forecast in just a moment. right now, here's kim brown with traffic. >> reporter: thanks, well, we had two-way traffic operations inside the harbor tunnel this morning. but that has been lifted. so now traffic is operating normally within 895 as we look live at the o'donnell street exit. light volume. no reported delays and no accidents this morning. however, we still have the major construction project on the outer loop. all the outer loop lanes closed at charles street. traffic is being detoured on toward charles street this morning. also northbound in the

and if it can happen in memphis it can happen in tennessee. if it can happen anywhere in tennessee it can happen all across america. >> the presidency commencement address after he met with families affected by flooding along the mississippi river. >>> we're getting official word this morning celebrity donald trump has decided not to run for president. he is not ready to leave the private sector. he made headlines after raising questions where president obama was born. he released his long form birth certificate to the public. >> one of the most powerful men in the world is in jail facing criminal charges, he faces a judge today on sexual charges. >> and witnessing history, the shuttle endeavour's final launch extra special between gabrielle why do we choose coppertone sport? it works great on wet or dry skin because it's seriously waterproof and ultra sweat-proof. coppertone protects across 100% of the uva/uvb spectrum. coppertone sport. embrace the sun. >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini slee >>> a manhattan judge this morning or

and if it can happen in memphis it can happen in tennessee. if it can happen anywhere in tennessee it can happen all across america. >> the presidency commencement address after he met with families affected by flooding along the mississippi river. >>> we're getting official word this morning celebrity donald trump has decided not to run for president. he is not ready to leave the private sector. he made headlines after raising questions where president obama was born. he released his long form birth certificate to the public. >> one of the most powerful men in the world is in jail facing criminal charges, he faces a judge today on sexual charges. >> and witnessing history, the shuttle endeavour's final launch extra special between gabrielle giffords a i work at the cable company, and i get to wear a hard hat... a question already! my mom says cable can't bundle cell phones. you mean wireless voice service? nobody does that. mom says at&t does, so... uh...uh... [ female announcer ] get more bundle choices than cable. call to get u-verse tv and

workers in tennessee had a choice. in 1980 nissan chose tennessee, a state then with almost no auto jobs. today auto assembly plants and suppliers supply one-third of our state's manufacturing jobs. tennessee's home for the production of the leaf, nissan's all-electric vehicle and the batteries that power it. i'm happy to report it works well. i bought one. parked in the garage of the apartment where i live here. recently nissan announced that 85% of the cars and trucks it sells in the united states will be made in the united states making it one of the largest so-called american auto companies in nearly -- and nearly fulfilling mr. carter's request of 30 years ago. but now unions want to make it illegal for a company that has experienced repeated strikes to move production to a state with a right-to-work law. what would this mean for the future of american auto jobs? jobs would flee overseas as manufacturers look for a competitive environment in which to make and sell cars around the world. it's happened before. david

the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: madam president, i congratulate the senator from oklahoma in making a perfectly obvious and compelling point, which the problem is high gasoline prices. and why is the democratic solution to raise them more? which is all that their tax would do. the republican plan for dealing with high gasoline prices is to find more american energy and use less. the democratic plan seems to be to find less and tax more. that's not going to solve the problem. we need to use less, we agree with that, and there are a variety of ways to do that, through conservation, electric cars, which i favor. finding research for crops -- for alternative fuels from crops that we don't eat, all that. but more importantly, we need to find more american energy and natural gas offshore, on federal lands and in alaska. that won't completely solve the problem of high gasoline prices, but it will help. if less oil from libya is a factor in raising gasoline prices, more oil from the united states would be a facto

. >> and graduates in the memphis, tennessee high school received a reward, a visit from president obama for winning the white house race to the top commencement challenge. that is a hero's welcome. the school and one of memphis' toughest neighborhoods saw the graduation rate improve after implementing education reform and adding variety to the curriculum. >> because was success can happen here in booker t.washington it can happen in memphis and anywhere in tennessee and if anywhere in tennessee, it can happen all across america. >> the president's commencement address came after meeting privately with memphis families affected by the flooding on the mississippi river. >> here today, will am is the key note speaker of the after school program. ceremony for students in the college prepatory program will be held in redwood city. >> how the change in the weather brings a change in course to the engine bike tour. >> and bragging rights on board of the shuttle endeavor. the news cococococococococococoo >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. >> ziro and lift off on the fina

a live look at said, a live look outside at memphis tennessee. --we're getting new information about how they try to do with the situation. we will be right back with the kron 4 morning news, weather and traffic in just a few moments. hey, your high speed internet here, at home... ...and on the go... ...with some really big news. it's b-i-g -- big. high speed internet from at&t at home... ...includes wi-fi access on the go. whoo-hoo! [ both ] it's an unbelievable deal. [ chuckles ] well, gotta go. but wait -- there's more... [ female announcer ] go to the website below today and get high speed internet for the unbelievably low price of just $14.95 a month for 12 months with a 1-year price guarantee. it's all the speed you need at a great price. you can chill online at a park. here, pidgie, pidgie. [ coos ] and surf the web at your favorite bookstore. our internet at home includes access to the entire at&t national wi-fi network on the go. [ female announcer ] go to the website below and get high speed internet for just $14.95 a month for 12 month

that dlus parts of memphis, tennessee.ning me live on the phone is john thatcher with the mid south red cross. john, good morning. >> good morning. thanks for having me. >> i'm glad you are here. give us an assessment how things are in memphis. how bad is it? >> right now we are experiencing 46.8 level here in memphis. expected crest will be 48 feet on may 11. we did receive some good news yesterday. initially the crest was supposed to last four to search days. er in now saying it will lapse around three days. but we -- we are above flood stage in memphis, tennessee, 34 feet. that's expected to remain the case well through the end of may. so all throughout west tennessee we are -- we are preparing and getting ready for flooding along the mississippi. >> yeah. so where are those residents who have already evacuated and those that will join them? where are they going? >> well, currently we are running shelters all through the -- what woe call the mid south here in this area. we have in arkansas and mississippi we have shelte

and senator cochran knows what the people in mississippi are experiencing and a senator from tennessee. three questions quickly -- you and i have spoken several times about this project pending before your department now. the department's loan from supported more than $30 million in loans for 28 clean energy and enhanced automotive in efficiency projects. one of those projects is pending in louisiana right now. it is very timely. our legislature is meeting as we speak. they have reserved $60 million to support this project. the application has been pending before you and your department for two years. do you have any update for us at all on next four works and what the time line looks like and when they might know? this application we think is quite strong and quite competitive. it could create over 1000 jobs in this part of the country but as importantly as that, it can produce vehicles that can achieve 40 miles per gallon which i know the chair who has been a leader on cafe standards would appreciate, this is new technology. for that combustible engine but a new technology that seems

. >> residents of memphis, tennessee are bracing for what could be a once in lifetime flood.er is expected to crest tomorrow and people are being told they should leave their homes. >>> tennessee's largest city is in the crosshairs. memphis has the most high risk population for flooding according to the army corps of engineers. authorities expect the river to crest at 48 feet, less than a foot shy of the record levels set this is the 37. with the mississippi swollen by abnormally high rainfall there is nowhere for the water to flow. 1100 trailers have been evacuated. 400 residents are currently in shelter. on sunday officials went door to door to alert others they may also need to leave their homes. >> memphis is the latest of cities to be affected by the swollen river. last week the army corps of engineers blew up levees to relieve the threat. there is pressure levees around memphis but they are currently. >> low lying farm lands and have been inundated about the situation. >> you were laughing about what happened yesterday for mother's day. a little tired out. >> a little r

when he would leave tennessee he would walk. he would just walk 70 miles to places and stuff like that. they are talking about dodging mountain lions and so forth. so you have some sense of this lack of vision in a way. [laughter] and in a vision, and so, but if you don't know where you are deficient, it's hard for me to think of you as a tragic figure. and as i said, because he was successful, he actually did stave off the transformation of the south for many, many decades. i don't think he would count himself as a tragic figure. >> he's also somebody who would walk 40 miles to go to an election. >> in the snow. >> you talked about -- >> where are you? >> right here. you talked about his, a little bit about his family when he was young. tell us more about his family life as he became an adult. >> he had his wife, helped him, as i said, taught him to read and write. and we don't really know that much about her. she was an invalid for many years, and did not accompany him to the white house. did not stay with him in the white hou

and then across the river and into memphis, tennessee. there you go, this is some of the video we've been seeing earlier in the day. i have the video from memphis in my weather wall right behind me. it sure looks ominous now, and there we go, you see that. we believe the one on the right, this over here is the rear flank downdraft. not a tornado on the ground but under that, this would be upward wind pushing down, could get wind gusts to 80 or so miles per hour right here. we're still waiting to see as the storm moves further to the east here maybe the wall cloud back here in the bright area with a tornado in it. hard to tell from the angle i'm in but it still could drop down through here. we could still get a tornado on the ground. with a tornado warning in effect, literally the weather service knows the whole storm is rotating and the tornado could fall out of the sky at any time. some dramatic pictures here. even whether this is a tornado or not, and i don't believe it is, you can still get damage from the wind coming out of the storm

and if it can happen in memphis, it can happen anywhere in tennessee. and if it can happen anywhere in tennessee, it can happen all across america. >> by the way, there is more of the president's message for the class of 2011 on our website. nightly.msnbc.com. that is our broadcast for this monday night. thank you for being here with us as we start off a new week. i'm brian williams and as always, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. >>> right now at 6:00, rain, wind and snow in may? the winter blast is here. when exactly is it heading out? >> coming up we go inside the bay area hospital where brian stowe will receive his care. >>> also a break from taxes. not so fast. what the new budget plan means for your bottom line.

in the meantime more than 350 people are waking up in memphis, tennessee, at a shl ter after forced to evacuate their homes from a rise of the mississippi river. a handful of homes in the northern part of the city are completely flooded and as many homes and businesses are flooded, the river is not expected to crest in memphis until late tomorrow. >> looking at all of this water, there's nowhere to put it. it's just sitting. >> they don't have nowhere totutt money. it has go somewhere. it's going flood our house up. >> jay gray is live for us once again. we've been getting perspective of the deep waters.

during his trip to memphis, tennessee, president obama met with some of the flood victims in the area. the morganza spillway goes south into the heart of cajun country. >> do what you do. pray the lord it don't come up higher than three or four feet. i'm protected up to about four feet. >> reporter: people plan to return, they just hope they have a home to return to. randall pinkston, cbs news, butte larose, louisiana. >>> now to politics -- the race for the white house instead of heating up seems to be cooling down. two top republican contenders have pulled out. >>> and for other candidates, the big money is coming in, tara mergener, good morning, tara. >>> good morning, betty. yeah. they're going to need that money because this is going to be a very expensive race, a race mike huckabee and donald trump will not be running. the race for the republican presidential nomination is down another contender. >> i will not be running for president as much as i would like to. >> after months of flirting with a bid, donald trump announced monday he's sticking with the world of business. while

. >> justine: live pictures out of memphis tennessee you can see the flooding the mississippi river cresting short of 48 ft. threatening to bring record- setting flooding to the area. you can see the damage. it has forced hundreds to leave their homes, officials hope the levies will protect musical landmarks

that makes sense and a way except towns sprang up along their routes when he leaves tennessee he walks. he walks 70 miles and talk about dodging mountain lions. you have a sense of all lack of vision. [laughter] and if you don't know where you are deficient it is hard to think of a tragic figure because he was successful and actually did stave off the transformation of the south for many, many decades. i don't think he would count himself that way. >> he would also walk 14 miles to go to a lecture. [laughter] >> and thus no. >> talk about his family when he was young. tell us more about his family life as he becomes an adult. >> his wife helped him and taught him to read and of white. we don't know much about her. she was an invalid for many years and did not accompany him to the white house. his daughter served as the first lady and someone who seemed consumed by work. out giving speeches all the time and running for office and watching and planning and you don't get a sense of his family life with three sons and a daughter and one of the sons ended up committing suicide. that was a g

gray skies extend from the great plains into the mississippi and tennessee valleys. much of the east coast has clear skies. later today severe thunderstorms will develop in the mississippi and tennessee valleys, including possible tornadoes. the northeast will have a mild sunny afternoon, a few isolated thunderstorms are likely in the mid-atlantic states. scattered showers will move back into the northwest, while the rest of the west coast remains dry. >>> in sports, miami is just one win away from advancing to the nba finals. scoring in overtime the heat's lebron james finished with the game high 35 points and the miami defense shut down chicago's derrick rose. the 101-93 victory gives the heat a 3-1 series lead. game five is thursday night in chicago. >>> now to baseball, st. louis pulled out an extra inning win over san diego, with two outs in the 11th inning, the cardinals' daniel descalso singled in the go-ahead run and lance burkmann made a great diving catch in left field to prevent a rally. look at that. the cards won it 3-2. >>> in philadelphia with the scor

towns and cities in tennessee and mississippi are bracing for what could be the worst flooding since the 1930s. residents are loading up sandbags and bringing them to homes in low-lying areas. >> prepare for the worst and hope for the best. >> reporter: the river is expected to crest in memphis, tennessee, a week from today. kendis gibson, cbs news, mississippi county, missouri. >>> just ahead on the "morning news," hollywood mourns the loss of a legend. >>> plus, why your gm cruz might be off the road for awhile. this is the "cbs morning news." road for awhile. this is the "cbs morning news." ooh, you made my favorites with i can't believe it's not butter! mmmm... oh my...what a dish. the potatoes aren't bad either. [ male announcer ] fresh butter taste with 70% less saturated fat than butter. [ kim ] you can have it all. i feel like i have to wind myself up to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest, the lack of energy. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor about pristiq -- a prescription medicine proven to treat depression. pristiq is thought to work by affecting the levels of tw

this picture of nick and stacey was found 267 miles away in chattanooga, tennessee. once these photos would have been lost forever, but in the age of facebook, they are finding their way back home. >> i actually got on facebook right after the storms went through and a friend of mine posted it was raining pictures in her yard. >> so patty got the idea to create an online lost and found. so far she's posted dozens of images. >> a lot of the pictures that are put on there are baby pictures, pictures from birthdays. personal memories. they can't replace those. the only way they can get those back if someone finds them and returns them to them. >> reporter: dan harris, abc news, tuscaloosa, alabama. >> one woman's work. we thank dan. he'll be back on "gma" in the region in the morning. >>> we turn to washington. members of congress who during a visit home were bombarded with constituents who said hands off my medicare. here's david kerley tonight. >> reporter: republican members of congress got an earful. in florida. >> congressman why did you vote for a budget to privat