>> i'm christine romans. a warning from the 9/11 commission. america is not properly prepared for another terrorist attack because nine of the commission's security recommendations made back in 2004, nine of them, have been ignored by the government. >> i'm carol costello. the stand-off is over. the president agreeing to reschedule his big jobs speech next week. backing down from john boehner on this "american morning." >> good morning. good morning, good morning. thursday, september 1. welcome to "american morning." >> september 1. >> can you believe that n. >> no. >> september is supposed to be newsy. >> four months in a row for the dow. >> libya. >> okay. >> but tomorrow is friday. so good morning. >> there you go. suffering after the storm, still following the devastation from hurricane irene, it was another dark night for close to 2 million people days after irene knocked out power. the floodwaters started to recede and revealing muddy, awful marks that are being left behind in new jersey. some of the 1700 people who left their homes are now returning to see the damage. president obama will travel to patterson, new jersey, this weekend. our susan candiotti is live in little falls, new jersey, where high water is keeping thousands of people from returning home. for some a boat is the only way they can survey the damage to their homes. >> reporter: that's right. good morning, christine. we are standing in water that's now dropped about six inches from the time we were here last night. that's still almost five feet above flood stage. take a look at the pay phone booth to compare where we are sta standing. check out that car wash. it is like a lot of business necessary this particular area of little falls that can't reopen because the businesses are surrounded by water. here is a stop sign that leads to that neighborhood. way back there. the only access is by boat. we hitched a ride. it is now -- yeah, now called lake passaic. i'm seeing what are probably the tops of fences leading up to the front door. that's not a house on estimates. that's a garage that's under water. they stayed around? lost the car. oh. a classic mustang lost. yeah. if you have gone through this time and again, why do you and other people still live here? >> you know, what are you going to do? you cancel the house. up can't give them away down here. >> reporter: here is a sign over here that has double meaning now. road closed few hundred feet ahead. local traffic only. at this point it is local boat traffic only. you are about to start school. senior year in high school coming up in a week. >> yeah. >> reporter: what's going through your head? >> how am i going to prepare for school? my clothes, everything is stuck at home. i don't know how i'm going to get them. everything is closed to go shopping. mall is down. i don't know where to go. >> reporter: all you have is a suitcase you were able to run out with? >> yes. five pants, five shirts, that's it. that's all i have. school starts in one week. >> reporter: probably won't be the only one. >> yeah. plenty. i have so many friends that live on this street. >> wow. >> reporter: is this the first time you are seeing it? >> yes. >> reporter: how do you even begin to think about the cleanup involved here? what's going through your head? >> i don't want to think about that right now. as long as we are safe that's good. that's the main thing, to be safe. then the cleanup comes next. >> reporter: that gentleman said he cannot even begin to describe what's going through his head right now as he saw his house for the first time. so what lies ahead? a lot of cleanup and a lot of heartache. christine? >> wow. all right. susan candiotti, thanks so much. >> incredible. record drought is has turned parts of texas into a tinderbox. a wildfire near dallas continues to burn out of control. the flames have already destroyed more than three dozen homes in the region. hundreds more being threatened. 90% of the state of texas is under severe drought conditions. neighboring oklahoma strong winds are hampering crews. 40-mile stretch of interstate 44 between oklahoma city and tulsa had to be shut down because of smoke from the fires. rob marciano is in the extreme weather center. >> as you mentioned drought. that's the ongoing problem. we need rain to get in here in order to moisten up the soil. lit take quite a bit. 90% p under extreme drought. exceptional drought which is the dark, dark red. that's over three-quarters of the state. it would take really several tropical systems to get in there to alleviate that. we have severe red flag warnings posted again today because of the heat and the winds across oklahoma. and parts of kansas. this may help the cause. we just don't know where it is going to go. tropical disturbance heading into the gulf mexico. probably will become something in the next couple of days. hurricane hunter aircraft expected to go in and investigate it. as far as what our models are picking up on now, weak steering currents. they have no clue what's going to happen with this. some bringing it to louisiana and texas. some rain in louisiana. whipt back down to mexico. so we just don't know at this point. be prepared and hope for the best. certainly folks in texas hoping for something in the way of moisture coming that way. katia is now a hurricane, category 1 strength expected to become a category 3 storm. as we get closer to the weekend heading towards the u.s., there are chances it veers off. can't say that for sure now. still a threat. let's deal with that gulf of mexico issue here over the next if you days. back to you. >> thanks, rob. hurricane irene, talk more about it. hurricane irene has uncovered more cracks in the washington monument. the national park service says repair crews found puddles near the top of the monument and in the stairs after the storm which means they missed some holes. inspectors originally found four cracks after the east coast earthquake. so the monument remains closed during repairs but engineers still say it is structurally sound. you will have to wait one day longer to hear president obama's big jobs speech next week. the. wanted to address a special joint session of congress on wednesday, september 7. that would have conflicted with the scheduled gop presidential debate in california. house speaker john boehner pushed back and president agreed to reschedule the speech to september 8. which also happens to be opening night for the nfl. rihanea brianna keeler live. it makes the president look weak, some say. he came out and asked congress for appearance before a joint session and scheduling conflicts got in the way. why didn't they work that out ahead of time? >> well, normally they do, as we understand it, that there's consultation that goes on behind the scenes between, say, the speaker's office and the white house. then the letter request the kind of sort of a formality. it is something worked out behind the scenes. it does in the make the president look weak. it raises the question -- is the white house and house republicans, are they not even on the same page logistically when they have to be tackle thing substantive issue that affects so many millions of americans? that is jobs. this is the weird e thing to watch unveil yesterday. you saw dueling letters, first the white house put out one, the request for the opportunity for the president to address a join session of congress. then not too long after that, you saw a letter from house speaker john boehner, although there was kind of a gap in time to give you a sense not all was well for sure. and this letter essentially said no. how about thursday instead? all the while you were hearing from house republicans saying we were not consulted about this. there's timing issues because we have votes on wednesday night before the speech. there is not going to be enough time for security sweep. as you know, there's also a republican presidential debate on wednesday night which certainly factored into this. that was supposed to be at the exact time that president obama was requesting. bottom line here, we are now looking at the president having his address on thursday night, the time still tbd. >> there could be controversy over when the president is going to give his jobs package. before we even get to controversy about what is in the jobs package, i think kind of highlights the political climate we are in. >> i think you are right. >> brianna keilar. thanks. now it is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question this morning is president obama's jobs plan doa before it is unveiled? it is not exactly off to a fantastic start. the president has already had to postpone the unveiling of his plan by 24 hours to avoid a clash with republicans. as "the washington post" op-ed put it this backs up so well the image obama faced since the start of his term. if the white house spent months working to appear above the partisan fray, as they insist they have, then pulling a blatantly partisan stunt like this torpedos all of that pr work. don't think the republicans running for president didn't pile on. >> now does this show a little insecurity on the part of the president? either a, he wants to distract the american people so they don't watch it ob, he doesn't want the american people to hear what the next president of the united states is going to say about the president's job plan. >> whether you think that's fair or not, the president is welcoming the opportunity to address a joint session of congress on thursday. so our nation's leadkers focus 100% of their attention on doing whatever they can to help the american people, end quote. today's talk back question -- doesn't bode very well, does it? the question is president obama's jobs plan doa before it is even unveiled? facebook.com/americanmorning. i will read your comments later this hour. >> let's hope it is not doa. >> i hope not. moammar gadhafi's sons are speaking out as the saturday deadline for the regime to surrender quickly approaches. speaking to a syrian tv station, he called on gadhafi loyalists to clean the country from those gangsters. he said his father is fine and drinking tea and coffee with his family. he didn't reveal where the fugitive dictator is, his brother also said he won't surrender to opposition forces. good to know he's drinking tea and coffee. ten years, ten years now, after 9/11, america is still not prepared for another attack. the disturbing details in a new 9/11 commission report. who didn't do what and why ahead? a liberal democrat accusing members would like to see african-americans, quote, hanging on a tree. this morning he is standing by those words. ♪ everything you need to stretch out on long trips. residence inn. ♪ everything you need to stay balanced on long trips. residence inn. i'm not looking forward to my flight. try this. bayer aspirin? 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[♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply. welcome back to "american morning." the 9/11 commission has just come out with a new report warning of serious security lapses in the fight against terrorism. the report hey lights nine recommendations that the commission itself made back in 2004 that the government has essentially ignored. the commission members aren't holding back with criticism. chris lawrence joins us live from the pentagon this morning with this developing story. just day ace way from the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and commission members that work really hard are saying that they were largely ignored. >> yeah. i mean, if this was a report card, the federal government would pass but it wouldn't come close to getting an "a" on national security. in fact, one of the commission members even asked that this question that -- should make all of us sit up and take notice, he said if it takes another ten years to implement these nine recommendations, how in the world are we going to stay ahead of the terrorists? the 9/11 commission's new progress report says ten years later, some emergency responders still can't communicate by radio in a crisis. some cops can't talk to firefighters and can't talk to emts. >> they died because of that on 9/11 and died because of that in katrina and they will die in the future unless this particular problem is not solved. >> reporter: the report came a thumbs down to the airport's new body scanners. say they failed to detect some explosives hidden within the body. >> our conclusion is that despite ten years of working on the problem, the detection system still falls short in critical ways. >> reporter: the report did k t criticize it. >> if you look at number of recommendations they made it is a high percentage. >> reporter: the commission issued its original list in 2004. of the 41 shortcomings, nine have still not been addressed. >> which doesn't mean we don't constantly look for ways to improve. >> reporter: that improvement will have to come at an economic environment where every dollar counts. >> the question should be not how much is this? but is this worth paying for? is this good security? is this the best we can get? >> reporter: the commission says that a more powerful director of national intelligence could force and of the measures through and help keep costs down. commission also recommends a national secure form of identification and a national entry and exit system that relies on bio metrics. >> chris, we will see if anybody reacts to that. chris lawrence from the pentagon this morning. a democratic lawmaker refusing to back down from inflammatory comments about the tea party movement. california congressman andre carson at a blauk caucus event last week accused tea party backed republicans of outright racism and their push to cut government spending. >> some of them in congress right now with the tea party movement would love to see you and me, i'm sorry, chairman, hanging on a tree. >> carson defended them. >> i stand on the truth of what i spoke. mine tensions weren't to hurt anyone or any group. i wanted to speak to the issues that concern me and the philosophical issues that concern me. as it relates to certain leadership within the tea party organization. not the entire tea party but certain elements that have concerned me deeply for quite some time that i think should really re-evaluate what it means to be an american and we shouldn't go along the path of taking america back to the good old days because those days weren't good for everyone. >> tea party officials for their part rejectioned the notion the movement is racist. so much for the president's plan to create new green jobs. remember this scene last year, president obama visiting this solar cell manufacturer in california. touting the firm's products as the way of the future and announcing a federal loan for this company. solyndra has suspended operations at the plant, laid off 1100 workers and filed for bankruptcy. the third solar company to go belly-up in this country in the last month. republicans are now looking into the loan the firm received from the government. ahead on "american morning," not so fast, the justice department takes action to stop a major cell phone merger. at usaa, we believe honor is not 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. 23 minutes after the hour. minding your business this morning. u.s. stock markets closed slightly higher yesterday. bunt ended the month of august sharply lower. for the month, the dow lost 4.5%. s&p 500 fell nearly 6%. and the nasdaq lost the most, drop being 6.5%. good-bye and good riddance, august. coming up today the weekly jobs report. the unemployment filings. economists are forecasting 405,000 unemployment claims filed for the first time last week. level above 400,000 signal as weak labor market. big august jobs more than everyone is talking about comes out tomorrow morning. economists telling cnn money they expect the unemployment rate to remain unchanged. 9.1%. stock futures are trading lower ahead of the opening bell. investors are waiting for those big jobs reports. the department of justice filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the merger of mobile carriers at&t and t-mobile yesterday claiming the $39 billion deal would lessen competition. the deal could affect every cell phone user in the u.s. because prices are expected to go up if the merger goes through. news of the department of justice suit broke at&t's shares down nearly 4%. shares in deutsche telecom parent company of t-mobile dropped more than 7% yesterday. good news from one of the competitors. shares in sprint, nextel jumped about 6% by the end of the day. more confusion at hewlett-packard about business strategy. the company announced about a we can ago it was getting away from the tablet business and slashed polices of its touchpad device. now it is bringing it back in a big spike in consumer demand. the rival will be back for a limited time starting in october and starting at a lower police of $100 a pop. there's another way litter box dust:e purina tidy cats. tidy cats premium line of litters now works harder on dust. and our improved formulas neutralize odors better than ever in multiple-cat homes. so it's easier to keep your house smelling just the way you want it. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. 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