they responded close to 200 wildfires since sunday. president obama declaring an emergency there as homes continue to burn. and today, nasa is heading to the moon. you are looking at the rocket that will launch in a few hours. i'll tell you what the mission to the moon is all about. it is saturday, september 10th. i'm t.j. holmes. it is a weekend where the country will stop and remember and mourn, but also the government telling you to be vigilant as well. we have increased security, increased scrutiny, one day before the tenth anniversary of 9/11. here is the latest. i mentioned the word credible. credible and specific. it is not yet confirmed. american intelligence networks intercepted communications from pakistan. we are getting a lot of information. a lot of details about the intercept. maybe more than we are used to getting to. they say they are confident in the accuracy of the information. a top u.s. official says the threat likely involves three people. two of them are believed to be u.s. citizens and they could be using a truck or car filled with explosives to carry out an attack. so police in new york city already had ramped up security around the tenth anniversary of 9/11. they are taking a closer look at trucks and any other suspicious vehicles headed into the city. when we say a closer look, how do they do that? they are literally stopping trucks s and vehicles going through them on the streets. a number of new check points in place has shut the city down to traffic in a lot of places. our senior correspondent allan chernoff is joining us. you talked to one driver that took three hours to get one mile. >> reporter: there were some many traffic jams yesterday that during the day yesterday, the police eased up the blockades. they were permitting two lanes of travel in cases. not checking quite as carefully. this morning, it is back on. the noose is being tightened. i just went through one of the check points. every single car being checked by a series of police officers. to the south, also check points as well. coming out of the brooklyn battery tunnel that connects brooklyn to manhattan. cars are being told you cannot go north on this highway which passes right by ground zero. certainly very tight security. of course, we anticipated that before the anniversary. it's even a bit tighter than the plans that had been laid earlier on. >> allan, you are there at ground zero. expected to be tight there. the president is coming tomorrow. a lot of people will be there. is it the same as far as this lockdown and check points and gridlock? does it spread out throughout manhattan and the entire city? >> reporter: well, it did yesterday. obviously yesterday was a working day. so at the check points, the gridlock was just awful and for blocks before the check points as well. today, obviously, it is a saturday. it is not a working day. traffic normally would not be all that bad anyhow. we are not looking for the same type of situation. in terms of security, obviously, it will be exceedingly tight. i should add that the police intend to keep the check points through monday, the day after. >> allan chernoff, thank you. there are lots of special events this weekend to honor those killed on 9/11. the pentagon, former president george w. bush will lay a wreath at the portion of the pentagon that was damaged by the attack. that is scheduled atat 10:00 eastern this morning. then a permanent 9/11 memorial in shanksville, pennsylvania. honoring the passengers and crew of flight 93. this afternoon, janet napolitano will be on hand for a service at st. patrick's cathedral in new york honoring the firefighters and police officers that died in the ceremony. 343 firefighters died there. tomorrow morning, the tenth anniversary of 9/11 will be on the road. we will be there overlooking ground zero as america remembers this day that changed the world ten years ago. cnn will have complete coverage of the ceremonies in new york, washington and shanksville, pennsylvania. with the country being told to be extra vigilant about the possible threat against the homeland, yesterday, nbc, their twitter account put out a message that there was a terror attack at ground zero in new york city. but it wasn't the course. it was computer hackers that called themselves the script kitties which are taking the responsible for hacking the nbc twitter account and falsely hosted that. nbc employees that tweet. nbc is working with twitter and authorities to figure this out. also, somebody took 14,000 rounds of ammunition from ft. bragg, north carolina. 14,000 rounds of ammunition are missing right now. investigators think it was taken overnight on tuesday. they are certainly taking this situation seriously trying to track it down. the missing ammunition belongs to the 82nd airborne. the brigade was locked down after it was missing. what you are seeing here, the scene as the egyptian protesters battle in front of the israeli embassy in cairo. israel's ambassador and staff left egypt since hosni mubarak left. loyalists have ignored the deadline to laydown their weapons and the fighting has resumed in the bastions in the town of bani walid and sirte. and nasa is watching the weather closely this morning in florida. that is because they are trying to head to the moon today. new moon mission set to launch in a couple of hours. this is the grail project. it is the gravity recovery interior laboratory. they will try to map the lunar surface to figure out what is under the surface. the launch is scheduled for 8:29 eastern time. na nasa has a 60% chance of a launch today. they had to scrub it on thursday due to bad weather. we will bring that to you live if and when it does happen. we turn to texas now. wildfires still burning there. the state needs help from the weather and washington. we have alexandra steele in the severe weather center for us this morning. always good to have you. good morning. >> good morning. will we see relief for the texas wildfires? the answer is no. we will talk about why. 11 rivers in washington and pennsylvania and new york. record levels have seen them. will we see relief? more on the rain and where it is and where it will not be is coming up with the full forecast. exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. the tragedy of september 11 united our country. this year, as we open the 9/11 memorial in new york city, we ask that you join us to honor, remember, and reunite. you can help right now by texting the word "hope" to 80088 to give $10. 10 minutes past this hour on saturday morning. we turn to texas. that is where firefighters have been battling dozens of wildfires. nearly 200 separate fires in the past week. president obama declared a state of emergency in one county making them eligible for federal help. our chris welsh is there with more the devastation. >> reporter: this is one home that we managed to find so far. they are not letting people into the badly burned areas. we have remnants of a bed over there. you see parts of a kitchen or a workout set. the only thing left standing are the brick. at this point, officials are worried about flare ups. this is very dry area. we have crews driving around today. they run a company of flame retardant gel. they are asking people to spray gel on their homes. let's walk out here quickly. this house, you have seen what it has done here. look at the house next door. completely intact. this is the kind of damage this fire did. it hopped and skipped. one right next door totally fine. this one totally gone. t.j., back to you. there is a different disaster in the northeast. this is what it looks like in eastern pennsylvania. flooding has forced thousands from their homes. many don't have anything to come back to. part of the problem is this could be a toxic mess. the flooding washed over several sewage treatment plants. there is no telling what is in the waters. this is all from what was once tropical storm lee. our john zarrella reports from pennsylvania that the water is starting to subside and leaving behind a massive mess. >> reporter: t.j., i'm standing on the banks of the susquehanna here. the cameraman can show you the benches there. that should be dry land, but it is under water. the susquehanna had come up out of its banks. you see mud here. you see mud here. the mud went up across the street. this is front street here. literally up to that side of the street. we have to walk across the mud again. if you look down here, you can see all of this water. beyond that, t.j., is a location called shipo. everybody is telling us the water is chest deep there. the only way to get there is by boat. we have seen some cars moving through and coming out of this area. very little activity now. it is quiet. the rest of the city of harrisburg seems to be in pretty good shape. just along front street. governor's mansion suffered damage along front street. one good thing is hurricane agnes in 1972, the water crested at 32 feet. here, only 25 feet from this storm. not as bad as what happened, fortunately, not as bad as hurricane agnes back in 1972. t.j. >> thank you, john zarrella. we will say good morning to alexandra steele. >> where should we begin? >> you have dry conditions in texas. >> you will see the warm winds. houston at 96 to 97. temperatures are only getting warmer. exacerbating the scenario. dry staying dry. where john just was in harrisburg. he talked about hurricane agnes. we are looking at an incredible amount of rain. they have not seen any of this in last few years. susquehanna dislocating 100,000 people. will we see more rain? we will in pennsylvania in the next 48 hours. the area of low pressure points north of new york and vermont and maine seeing a beautiful day. south of that, this stubborn area of low pressure still will be here and trigger off rain showers. the pacific northwest, it is hot and dry. that will continue. california has been incredibly warm. portland, oregon is 96. the inner mountain west is cooler than average. here are the temperatures in the 70s in northern new england. look at boston. temperatures in the 60s today. here is the rain. here is what we could see in the next 24 to 48 hours. anywhere between .30 and .50 of rain. this is the area we will see a bit more. we will have more on the forecast and also la niña, t.j. we will talk about it and what it means for the winter. okay. the other thing is florida. how are they doing? she is stepping away. >> i'm sorry. >> she is taking off on me. where are you going? >> tell me. >> how are they looking in florida? they are trying to launch the rocket going to the moon. will the weather cooperate? >> a 60% chance. florida has seen a lot of showers and storms. we will continue to see that. it was scrubbed once. florida this time of year is tough. about a 60% chance it will takeoff. we will monitor that and get back to you. >> you can go now. >> thank you. a little coffee. >> thanks. she is here throughout the morning. we will check in with her plenty. 16 minutes past the hour. he was one of the many people who lost a close friend when the twin towers fell ten years ago. after watching the outpouring of support, he decided to say thank you in a special way. we will introduce you to the cnn hero after the break. so we switched to the bargain detergent, but i found myself using three times more than you're supposed to and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back to tide. they're cuter in clean clothes. [ laughs ] thanks, honey. yeah. you suck at folding. [ laughs ] that's my tide. what's yours? [ female announcer ] find the tide that's right for you at tide.com. got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok? just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru. we are at 18 minutes past the hour now. you are taking a look at ground zero in new york. that is the place where we will see the memorial service. this tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. can you believe it has been ten years? the president expected there for the ceremony. many firefighters and families and dignitaries. a lot of new yorkers there to remember that day. also something that we will be talking about this weekend. they are actually opening the 9/11 memorial. the official memorial will be opened to the public on september 12th. that will be dedicated tomorrow as well. of course, in the days and weeks after 9/11, a lot of people are looking for a way to express their grief and the support for those hurting the most. this is how some people did it. this is a street memorial in new york's greenwich village. one of our ireporters sent us these pictures. the day after the attacks, people started making tiles and hung them from a fence surrounding a parking lot. ten years later, that memorial is still standing. just like many other new yorkers, jeff parness was moved by the support the city got. he established a non-profit that sends volunteers from new york to rebuild other communities hit with disaster. now, more than 10,000 people nationwide are part of the effort. for that, jeff is a cnn hero. >> september 11th was a very tough time for the fire department. i lost some friends. guys i went to the academy with. day afterwards, people came from everywhere to help us out. you knew you weren't alone. >> the outpouring of kindness was more powerful than the terror that happened. that really changed me. >> i'm jeff parness. i just want to show the world that new yorkers will never forget what people did for us following 9/11. every year on the 9/11 anniversary, we take volunteers from new york and head them to other parts of the country that had a disaster. >> we pull into the town and the tallest thing there is the grain silo. it is definitely a culture shock. >> this is our way of saying thank you. more than half of our volunteers are not from new york. people from all of the small towns, they keep showing up to help the next community. from louisiana, california and indiana and illinois. every year, you keep seeing more t-shirts from more locations. >> after katrina, we jumped on his band wagon. >> this is a big dysfunctional family reunion of the survivors who get together to do a barn raising. >> you are banging nails and building relationships to help you heal. >> it is using the anniversary to celebrate in the volunteer spirit. >> people say thank you for doing this. i say if you want to thank me, show up to the next one. 22 minutes past the hour now. we are seeing the heightened security for the 9/11. it is raising animosity with small town folks and border patrol agents. especially the border between u.s. and canada. safety versus national security. that is in this morning's passport. stay with me. [ male announcer ] it's a fact: your nutritional needs can go up when you're on the road to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength has revigor and thirteen grams of protein to protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. and immune balance to help support your immune system. ensure clinical strength... helping you to bounce back. ensure! nutrition in charge! 25 minutes past the hour now. nadia bilchik joins us. we are talking about border towns. when people first hear that, they think the border between the u.s. and mexico. we are talking about the border to the north which changed somewhat. we are talking about between vermont and canada. security was heightened after 9/11 at the borders. this has upset people. >> these are two villages. it is derbyline, vermont and questi quebec. one particular individual decides one sunday night last year that he will cross from vermont to quebec to go to get a thin crust smoked meat pizza. >> he is not supposed to do this. >> he can do this, but he came across the street. he had to check in with the border patrol. they were quite irritated. he said he is returning with his pizza. he checked in. he did that. that is not what really upset him. what upset him is when he got home, he and his long term partner have a scanner. they listened to the scanner. the police were saying we better check out this guy. they were hearing what they were actually saying about him. this infuriated him. it was the nature of it. he said here we are in a country. these are our neighbors. i have lived in this village my entire life. he decided to go back across the border. came back again. they said you can't do this. he said why not? there should not be a blockage on this street. he did it a third time. he was arrested and given a $500 fine. he spent about $5,000 appealing this on principle. this is a little town that has a library that borders the two towns. they call it is the only library that doesn't have books. the books are on the quebec side. >> this is an exception. this is not the case along all of the border. still, these border patrol agents, aren't they just doing their job? >> it was the way in which they did it. he understood check my papers. he understood that. what he didn't understand them on the scanner going, who is this person? let's check him out. that is what he took offense to. was he right or wrong? he got money from all over the country to pay for his legal fees. he returned it all. we need to look at the ramifications of the tragedy. we look at this affecting people all over the country and the world. we see it. the impact. you go to the airport and you see it every day. look at the impact on people who were our friends. these were his neighbors. now they have to check in to go across the road to get a pizza. it has damaged relations and business. >> nadia bilchik, thank you for our morning passport. we are getting close to the bottom of the hour. israel's ambassador's to egypt has left cairo after the protests outside the embassy. an update for you on that. in new york, they are locking things down securing the streets in the wake of a new terror threat. we will take you there live. stay with me. n gop when you're on the road to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength has revigor and thirteen grams of protein to protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. and immune balance to help support your immune system. ensure clinical strength... helping you to bounce back. ensure! nutrition in charge! yep. the longer you stay with us, the more you save. and when you switch from another company to us, we even reward you for the time you spent there. genius. yeah, genius. you guys must have your own loyalty program, right? well, we have something. show her, tom. huh? you should see november! oh, yeah? giving you more. now that's progressive. call or click today. ♪ sing polly wolly doodle all the day ♪ ♪ hah hey, everybody. we are just past the bottom of the hour on this cnn saturday morning. i'm t.j. holmes. thank you for spending part of your saturday with us. we are teaming up with the tea party express to host a republican presidential debate. this is happening on monday in tampa. the top issues will include social security and government. the format is different from what you see. the audience will