>> interesting. maybe they'll have a better on-line presence. that's what zagat needs in my humble opinion. thank you very much. we appreciate it. "american morning" continues right now. i'm christine romans. here's what you need to know to start your day. people in new york and washington being told to stay alert and stay calm. the feds watching a possible terror threat as our nation marks ten years after 9/11. i'm carol costello. a fiery president obama announcing his jobs plan to jolt the economy and create jobs, challenging congress 17 times to pass his bill right away. we'll tell you what's in it and what republicans are saying about it on this "american morning." hi, christine. >> good morning. it's friday, september 9th. welcome to "american morning." ali is off. you had the president and football last night, so you're -- >> i know. i'm exhausted. >> up first we have to talk about this breaking news. we have new information that al qaeda may want to mark 9/11 with another terror attack. the feds alerting local authorities about a specific and credible threat. senior administration officials saying new york and washington are possible targets and they're looking for at least three people, one of them an american citizen. and the plot may involve car bombs. that's a live picture of the world trade center you're looking at now where authorities are already on high alert. we are covering this from all angles this morning. bar ba starr working her sources at the pentagon and susan candiotti in new york with us. >> first to barbara starr at the pentagon. what's the latest? >> good morning to you. specific credible, but unconfirmed threat, that is what we are hearing. what do those words really mean to all of us on this anniversary of september 11th? well, what officials are saying is, they don't have time, date and place, but they do have information. they're very aggressively going after. they believe this involves potentially three people, one possibly a u.s. citizen. they don't know if they have entered the united states yet, but the threat involves the possibility of a vehicle laden with explosives, either in new york or washington. that's the information they have. that's what they are aggressively pursuing, trying to nail down what is going on and whether there is something that they need to go after. the sense that they have is that this threat has emmy nated, if you will, from the border region in afghanistan and these operatives have traveled from afghanistan, possibly through iran, possibly through other countries as they have potentially made their way to the united states. so it's a very complex set of intelligence information they have that they are going after, but as you have said, local, state, government officials are telling americans keep your eyes open, but stay calm and go about your daily business. back to you. >> going about our daily business this weekend includes a 9/11 memorial for a lot of people marking ten years. authorities in new york city already on high alert with the national 9/11 memorial set to open on sunday. susan can't ycandiotti here wit that part of the story. >> they have that security ramped up not only for the 9/11 anniversary, but because of the u.s. open tennis tournament, et cetera. they want to make sure everyone as bar ra said, is on the lookout for anything unusual. if you see anything, the saying goes, say something. among the many things is to increase police presence around new york city. you're going to see them around various famous landmarks, around government buildings, around even religious buildings as well. they're ramping up more officers, putting more people on duty at subways, at train stations, more of a presence doing bag searchs, for example, at these locations and even stopping vehicles possibly as they drive around the city or as they go across bridges, that kind of thing. police commissioner ray kelly addressed part of what they're doing. >> there will be more bomb dogs on patrol and increased deployment of radiation monitoring equipment and vehicle checkpoints in particular. there will be increased focus on it tunnels and bridges and infrastructure in general, as well as landmark locations, houses of worship and government buildings. >> reporter: and authorities have also spread the word about this to law enforcement agencies literally around the country. that information coming directly from the fbi and the department of homeland security, telling law enforcement agencies around the nation that they also should be on the lookout for anything unusual. going over the kinds of things that al qaeda has talked about doing in the past. they've always liked to single out anniversaries of 9/11, to possibly target the united states. so along those lines, that's where they're telling people they should always and law enforcement be on the lookout for any vehicles that might have explosives in them, anyone that's doing anything suspicious, spending too much time taking photographs about something, asking questions about, you know, how things work, at a particular security, at various buildings and that kind of thing. so again, these are the things that they should be doing anyway. they're telling them to do them just a little better, a little more closely this -- in the coming days. >> susan candiotti, i don't know, when you think oh they're looking for three guys and some kind of truck, carrying explosives, certainly aren't going to be in the back seat, seems like an impossible task. there's somewhere in new york city or washington, d.c., we don't know. >> exactly. and not only that, but a u.s. government official also tells me that the names that apparently they're working with, might be so common, that might make it even more difficult to pinpoint who they might be. all kinds of ways to do it and they will be. >> in the end a similar attempted attack in times square foiled by a vendor, a guy who sold hot dogs on the street corner noticed something was amiss. that's why they're raising the awareness. >> susan candiotti, thanks. at 50 auto after the hour, we'll speak with ray kelly live from the world trade center site. we'll ask what he's doing to find those three random guys in a big city. we're also watching a developing story out in california. officials there are urging residents to conserve electricity today after millions are still in the dark after a massive power outage struck parts of southern california, arizona, and even parts of northern mexico. the partial blackout happened thursday. it slowed down traffic, trapping people in elevators and forcing two nuclear reactors to shut down. power plant workers are still scrambling to get the lights back on and residents are asked to cut back on their electric use to ease the strain. authorities say the outage occurred after a high voltage power line stretching between arizona and california was tripped out of service. doing nothing is not an option. fiery words from the president last night. as he unveiled his $447 billion jobs plan to the american people. defiantly challenging congress, 17 times in his speech, to pass this bill right away. >> it will create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs for teachers, more jobs for veterans and more jobs for long-term unemployed. it will provide -- [ applause ] it will provide a tax break for companies who hire new workers and will cut payroll taxes in half for every working american and every small business. [ applause ] i ask every american who agrees to lift your voice. tell the people who are gathered here tonight you want action now. tell washington that doing nothing is not an option. we are americans. we are tougher than the times we live in and we are bigger than our politics have been, so let's meet the moment, let's get to work and let's show the world once again why the united states of america remains the greatest nation on earth. >> mr. obama urging congress to stop the political circus and come up with enough spending cuts to offset the cost of the measure. joe johns joins us live from washington this morning. how is the plan playing on capitol hill, joe? >> hey, christine. they should actually string together all the times he said pass this bill, just so you could see how many times. i sat in the chamber of the house of representatives for that joint session for most of the speech last night and you really watched the republicans here. if this issue weren't so serious, i have to tell you, there actually would have been some humorous parts in the president was partially taking some of the republican playbook, flipping the script saying there are some things here you used to support, support them now. that's the kind of thing that would get a very predictable response and some of the conservatives running for president like congresswoman michele bachmann weighed in and didn't like it a bit. listen. >> not only should congress not pass his plan, i say, mr. president, stop. your last plan hasn't worked and it's hurting the american economy. >> now, michele bachmann is running for president, but most, but not all of the republicans in the chamber last night were playing it very straight. i only saw one member of congress reading his blackberry, quite frankly, dushg the speech. came away with there are members of both parties that understand congress is more unpopular than the president and hearing from some of the members of the republican leadership like eric cantor, even john boehner, the speaker, the takeaway, there may be some things in the president's plan they could actually work with. big applause last night for getting some more trade agreements done, helping small businesses, stripping out regulatory red tape, all of that sort of points to the issue that those in charge of governing right now, holding on to especially the house majority, are paying attention to their tone and the president's whole package isn't being dismissed. >> there certainly was a lot in there. the president talked about making sure that people can get 4% mortgage rates because it's very difficult to refinance in these low rates work get money moving in the economy. that affects a lot of people. about unemployment insurance, revamping this program for the new reality people need to be retrained into different skills, you know, the devil is in the details, of course, but there's a pretty diverse package of things here and you're right, some of the things that republicans have supported before, so that's where they try to box in the opponents. >> there are some things, of course, that have been things the president and the democrats have been talking about for years, and those are the kinds of things republicans would say, well, i'm not so sure about that, but i'll take a look at some of the issues that we've been on board for, that we've been most interested in. so, you know, some of this, some of that, but it's interesting because they're changing the tone, realizing they really got slammed in the polls for that divisive kind of issue over the debt ceiling this summer, and trying to figure out how they can at least look like they're working with the president and not just dismissing him outright. >> joe johns in washington, thanks. a programming note on monday, cnn and the tea party express host the next republican debate, live from tampa, florida, starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern. our own ali velshi will be reporting live from the debate site beginning at 6:00 a.m. monday on "american morning." former presidential candidate john edwards' trial pushed back. the latest developments for you after a break. a texas day care owner behind bars. potentially deadly move she's accused of making to get her kids to sleep. next on "american morning." [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest. it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. 15 minutes past the hour. good morning to you. near record floods are drowning parts of new york and pennsylvania. the president has now signed emergency orders for both states to bring in federal aid. about 70,000 people in luzerne county, pennsylvania, were told to leave the susquehanna river because it was rising above flood stage. in wilkes-barre, the levees should hold up. reynolds wolfe in the weather center as this wet story continues to unfold. >> good morning. i wish it was a better morning for people in the northeast. conditions may worsen in some locations. we see the river dropping in some places along the susquehanna. other spots you see it begin to rise. from buffalo to williamsport, even into washington, sporadic rainfall, the heaviest of which offshore. that's the good news. what we can anticipate is with the ground that's already saturated, some places close to a foot of rainfall, we happen to see the pinks, purples, even the white blips near harrisburg and washington, 6 to 10 inches of rainfall, and additional moisture for today but does appear the worst will be over in terms of your rain for today. still, your flood warnings, watches are in effect throughout parts of the northeast. one thing that we have going for us is, well, not just there, low pressure that's going to bring rain to the ohio valley, but things could be considerably worse when it comes to the situation with tropical storm or rather hurricane ka tia. if this were to get closer to the northeast you would see more rainfall. that is not expected to happen. we anticipate it's going to pull to the northeast and into saturday and sunday, it should move farther away from the u.s. still high surf advisories in effect for parts of the new england coast, long island can be expected. very, very rough surf. as you wrap things up, tropical storm maria, winds at 40. you can anticipate over the next several days it will intensify possibly to a category 1 hurricane as we get into tuesday and wednesday. all right. that's the latest on the forecast. we're going to show you what's been happening in the gulf of mexico coming up very soon. back to you. >> thanks so much, reynolds. >> you bet. welcome back. new this morning, a woman dies after being exposed to a foul smelling odor at a mcdonald's restaurant in georgia. two people were found unconscious from the same odor. and at least six others had to be hospitalized, including three firefighters. the stench was so bad responders had to wear special gear and authorities still don't know what caused this smell. but an investigation is under way. >> thinking about that is making me sick. wow. a texas day care owner accused of drugging children by mixing milk with antihistamine. investigators say she did it so the kids would fall asleep. the alleged victims are between 20 months and 4 1/2 years old. fortunately none of those kids were seriously hurt. as you might expect, child protective services is investigating. the criminal trial for former senator and presidential hopeful john edwards has been delayed until january. a federal judge pushed it back after edwards argued he needed more time to prepare. he says that's partly because he parents his two younger children alone since elizabeth edwards' death. he's charged with conspiracy and violating campaign contribution laws. your turn to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you today, how has 9/11 changed you? even now a decade later it's hard to put into words exactly what 9/11 means to us. that day, both the pain and the glory of humanity were on displ display, unfiltered and in real time. you have not seen some of these images in a long time, and they might upset you. >> this just in, you are looking at, obviously, a very disturbing live shot there. that is the world trade center. we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the world trade center. >> apparently a plane or helicopter hit part of the pentagon and fell as you take a look at the pictures there. i must say every time we hear a plane coming up overhead, it gets a little nervous where we are. >> we have a report now that a large plane crashed this morning north of the somerset county area in western pennsylvania. >> i just told him have a good day at work and i haven't heard from him since. >> it's been very hard. very grieving. insurmountable type of pain. >> either you're with us or you are with the terrorists. >> the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden, the leader of al qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children. >> so, looking back we'd like to know for our talk back question today, how has 9/11 changed you? facebook.com/americanmorning. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll be interested to read your comments later this hour. >> my answer, how hasn't it changed us? >> yeah. >> it just has completely and utterly. up next on "american morning," it's a lasting image of 9/11. president bush reading to florida schoolchildren when told we've been attacked. jason carroll talks to three of the girls in that classroom on that morning. >> plus yahoo's fired ceo firing back, how her explosive tell-off could cost her millions of dollars. it's 20 minutes past the hour. 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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." minding your business now. u.s. markets hoping to rebound from yesterday's losses. the dow was off 119 points yesterday, the s&p 500 dropped 12 points, the nasdaq down about 20. the texas wildfires costing that state big time. officials say damages to homeowners could exceed $100 million. the state is already suffering from billions of dollars in losses from an ongoing drought. google purchase restaurant rater zagat beefing up its focus on local businesses. executives say they'll use zagat content to enhance google search in google maps. terms of this deal not disclosed. disappointment forma donna. a judge says she can't trademark the name material girl just because of her song and nickname. she was sued over the material girl label on her daughter's macy's clothing line. a california company said it had already registered that material girl trademark. fired yahoo ceo carol bartz talking to "fortune" magazine after e-mailing yahoo employees she had been fired over the phone by the company's chairman. bartz telling "fortune," quote, these people fed me over, she didn't say "f." 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