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American Morning

New 9/11 Terror Threat; Millions Left in the Dark; Obama Unveils $447 Billion Jobs Plan; Bachmann on Obama's Plan; How has 9/11 Changed You?; The Children of 9/11; Obama Unveils Jobs Package; Millions Of Americans Without Power; Near History Floods Drown NY, PA

Aired September 09, 2011 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: 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 10 years after 9/11.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: 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.

ROMANS: 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 --

COSTELLO: 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.

Barbara Starr working her sources at the Pentagon right now and Susan Candiotti is in New York with us.

ROMANS: All right, first to Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Good morning, Barbara. What's the latest?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, 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 emanated, 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.

ROMANS: Going about our daily business this weekend, Barbara, includes, you know, a 9/11 memorial for a lot of people marking 10 years. Authorities in New York City already on high alert with the National 9/11 Memorial set to open on Sunday. Susan Candiotti is here for that part of the story. Susan --

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They already have that security ramped up not only for the 9/11 anniversary, but ramped up because of the U.S. Open that's being here, tennis tournament, et cetera.

So they want to make sure that everyone, again, as Barbara said, make sure you're on the lookout for anything unusual. If you see something, as the saying goes, say something. So among the many things they are doing here 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 searches.

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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CANDIOTTI: 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.

COSTELLO: Susan Candiotti, I don't know, when you think 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.

CANDIOTTI: 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. Of course, all kinds of ways to do it and they will be.

ROMANS: In the end a similar attempted attack in Times Square foiled by a vendor, a guy who sold, you know, hotdogs on the street corner noticed something was amiss. That's why they're raising the awareness. Susan Candiotti, thanks.

Coming up, at 50 after the hour, we're going to speak with New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly live from the World Trade Center site. We'll ask him more about what he's doing to find those three random guys in a very big city.

COSTELLO: We're also watching a developing story this morning 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 being 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.

ROMANS: 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 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 -- 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.

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: 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?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Christine. You know, 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: 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, during the speech.

Came away with this instance, there are members of both parties that understand Congress is more unpopular than the president right now 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.

ROMANS: There certainly was a lot in there, Joe. There's also the president talked about making sure that people can get 4 percent mortgage rates, you know, because it's very difficult to refinance in these low rates that would get money moving in the economy.

That affects a lot of people. Also 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 their opponents.

JOHNS: Right, 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.

ROMANS: Joe Johns in Washington. Thanks, Joe.

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.

Of course, our own Ali Velshi is going to be reporting live from the debate site beginning at 6:00 a.m. Monday right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

COSTELLO: Former presidential candidate John Edwards' trial pushed back. The latest developments for you after a break.

ROMANS: And a Texas day care owner is behind bars. Potentially deadly move she's accused of making to get her kids to sleep. Next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Fifteen 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 that's because it was rising above flood stage. In Wilkes-Barre, officials say levees there are string and they should hold up.

ROMANS: Reynolds Wolf is in the Extreme Weather Center as this very wet story continues to unfold. Good morning.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.

I wish I was going to say it was a better morning for people in the northeast. It's been just a brutal time for them and conditions may worsen a bit in some locations. We see the river dropping in some places along the Susquehanna in a few places, but other spots you're going to see it begin to rise.

From Buffalo to Southern Williamsport, and back into Pittsburgh, even into Washington, sporadic rainfall, the heaviest of which actually offshore. That's the good news.

What we can anticipate, though, is with the ground that's already saturated, some places close to a foot of rainfall, especially we happen to see the pinks, even the purples, even some of the white blips in Harrisburg and Southbury (ph) in Washington, you've had your 6 to 10 inches of rainfall. And, again, there's a potential for additional moisture for today, but does appear some of the worst is going to be over in terms of your rain for today. But, still, your flood warnings, your watches are in effect all 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 Katia. If this were to get closer to the northeast, you'd see even more rainfall. That is not expected to happen.

We do anticipate it's going to pull a bit more to the northeast and into Saturday and Sunday, it should move farther away from the U.S. But still high surf advisories will be in effect for parts of the New England Coast, Long Island also can be expected. Very, very rough surf. As we wrap things up, Tropical Storm Maria, winds at 40. But as we fast forward into this, 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.

COSTELLO: Thanks so much, Reynolds.

WOLF: See you back, guys.

ROMANS: All right. 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 that responders had to wear special gear and authorities still don't know what caused this smell. But an investigation is under way. That's a mystery (ph).

COSTELLO: Just thinking about that is making me sick.

ROMANS: Oh, wow.

COSTELLO: 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 four-and-a-half years old. Fortunately, none of those kids were seriously hurt. As you might expect, Child Protective Services is investigating.

ROMANS: All right. The criminal trial for former senator and presidential hopeful John Edwards has been delayed now until January. A federal judge pushed it back after Edwards argued he need 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.

COSTELLO: Now, it's 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 display, unfiltered and in real time.

But a warning, you have not seen some of these images in a - you have not seen some of these images on a long time, and they might upset you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: This just in, you are looking at, obviously, a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center. And we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apparently a plane or helicopter hit part of the Pentagon and it 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 - a little nervous where we are.

We have a report now that a large plane crashed this morning north of the Somerset County Airport, which is in Western Pennsylvania.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just told him have a good day at work and I haven't heard from him since.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been very hard. Very grieving. It's been an insurmountable type of pain.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Either you're with us or you are with the terrorists.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: So, looking back, we'd like to know for our "Talkback" 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.

ROMANS: My answer is, how hasn't it changed us?

COSTELLO: Yes.

ROMANS: 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 he's told we've been attacked. Jason Carroll talks to three of the little girls who were in that classroom on that morning.

COSTELLO: Wow. 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.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: 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 was 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 purchasing restaurant rater Zagat beefing up its new 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 for Madonna. 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 barely 24 hours after e-mailing thousand of Yahoo! employees that she had been fired over the phone by the company's chairman. Bartz telling "Fortune," quote, "These people "F" me over," although she didn't say "F." "Fortune" said that could cost Bartz about $10 million because of a disparagement clause in her contract.

AMERICAN MORNING will be back after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Just about half past the hour. Good morning to you. It's time for this morning's top stories. I knew it would happen to my throat like that. Sorry about that.

New York and Washington on alert right now for a possible attack 10 years to the day after 9/11. A senior administration official saying they're looking for at least three people, one is a U.S. citizen. The plot may involve a car or truck bomb.

ROMANS: Millions of people in California are being asked to conserve energy this morning to reduce strain on the power system. A high voltage power line stretching between Arizona and California was tripped out of service on Thursday. Millions are still in the dark.

COSTELLO: Parts of New York and Pennsylvania suffering from near record flooding. Officials in Wilkes-Barre says the Susquehanna River is nearly 17 feet above flood level. About 17,000 people were evacuated from Luzerne County alone. President Obama has signed emergency declarations for both states.

ROMANS: New York City preparing right now for a busy and certainly emotional weekend. Remembering lives lost 10 years now after the fall of the Twin Towers. It's a tragedy three Florida teenagers will never forget, because they unknowingly became children of 9/11 on that terrible morning, despite being hundreds of miles away. Jason Carroll has that story and he joins us live this morning from the World Trade Center site. Good morning, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you.

I want to take you back for a moment, Christine, to September 11, 2001. A group of 16 class members, they are all second graders. They were all excited to hear the president. That excitement soon turned to grief as they ended up sharing one of the darkest moments in U.S. history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (voice-over): What began as a photo-op to show off second graders' reading skills at Emma E. Booker Elementary in Sarasota, Florida, ended up becoming one of the defining moments of 9/11 -- when chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered in George Bush's ear, telling him of the terrorist attack.

The president's reaction -- he did not immediately leave class, was criticized by some, praised by others for years to come.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he handled it the right way.

CARROLL: Natalia Jones-Pinkney, Dynasty Brown and Danyelle Green, remember the day well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was sitting like right here

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was sitting over there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was like we were in --

CARROLL: The girls are now 17-year-old high school seniors. But back in September of 2001, they were 7-year-old second graders.

DANYELLE GREEN: I just remember like he came in the classroom.

CARROLL (on camera): The president?

GREEN: The president and then we all -- we started reading. He shook a couple of our hands and we started reading and a man came from the side door and whispered something in his ear and then he kind of got stunned.

NATALIA JONES-PINKNEY: We could tell somebody had happened because his whole face had changed. They proceed forward with the lesson and we went through like it was a normal lesson.

CARROLL (voice-over): One of their most vivid memories when the teacher tried explaining what happened.

JONES-PINKNEY: She came into the room and sat us all down on the floor and she kind of had tears in her eyes. She had been crying.

DYNASTY BROWN: She said we're young, so it kind of was still cartoonish, like in a cartoon you see a big plane hit a tower. It wasn't real to us.

CARROLL (on camera): At what age did you really finally begin to realize the magnitude of what had happened on that day?

BROWN: Once you're in high school, you're in depth history classes and now it's been ten years, so the 9/11 attack is in our history books now. So, reading about it and then having a personal experience with it, I could relate.

JONES-PINKNEY: We took a trip to New York and stayed there six days and we actually got to see the World Trade Center be rebuilt. And that's when it became real for me.

CARROLL: Do you remember signing it?

JONES-PINKNEY: Yes, I do.

CARROLL (voice-over): They showed me the book the classed from that day, a story called "The Pet Goat." Each class member signed it. Looking at it now, they say they're just beginning to realize it tells a different story for them, of how a group of second graders have a place in history.

BROWN: We're not at that point where we completely understand the whole situation. It's still sinking in. We still have a lot of learning to go through.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: Well, I also asked Natalia, Danyelle and Dynasty, what they would tell their children about what happened that day and they said that they would teach their children not to live in fear and they would also tell them how they were a part of history -- Christine.

ROMANS: Wow. Jason, from the mouths of babes -- what that teenage girl said about how we still have a lot of learning to do still hasn't completely sunk in.

CARROLL: Yes.

ROMANS: I mean, I think all of us feel that way. It's been 10 years. It feels like it's been a minute and it feels like it's been a lifetime, and I don't think we all still understand what it's meant to us and how it's changed this country.

CARROLL: Yes. I think you're right. But especially if you try to walk in the shoes of a child when it's all happening, and as you grow up and you're still trying to digest and still trying to come to terms with what really happened here, it can be incredibly difficult.

And when you think of it, they're only 17, they're still young. So, I think in some ways they're still trying to process what happened to them on that day.

ROMANS: All right. Jason Carroll, thanks for introducing us to them again, I guess, after ten years.

This programming note, be sure to join us for "9/11: 10 Years Later," starting Sunday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. CNN is going to have special live coverage of this -- all of the remembrance events throughout the day.

COSTELLO: Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING: the president's jobs plan -- did he sell it? Or are we about it to face another political stalemate?

ROMANS: Mel Gibson's newest film will take you back to biblical times. A surprising project and why it could give him maybe a second chance with his critics.

Thirty-four minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Thirty-six minutes past the hour. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you.

The White House would prefer not to use the "s" word, but some leading Republicans are already labeling President Obama's jobs package as stimulus 2. It's a mix of $253 billion in tax cuts, and $194 billion in new spending.

And there are two big unknowns this morning -- one, can it work? And two, will it even get through the Republican-controlled House?

Let's ask Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst and editorial director of "The National Journal." Ron joins us live now from Washington.

Good morning.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning. Yes.

COSTELLO: OK. So, President Obama says he's trying to overcome the divide in politics. Listen to what he said to Congress about their political differences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Maybe some of you have decided those differences are so great that we can only resolve them at the ballot box. But know this: the next election is 14 months away. And the people who sent us here, the people who hired us to work for them, they don't have the luxury of waiting 14 months.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. There's a sliver of hope, because House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said he'll agree to pass parts of this plan, which is a big step forward from the way things used to be.

So, I'm going to put your feet to the fire. When do you think some parts, some part of the president's plan, will be passed by Congress?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, first of all, as you pointed out the stimulus is the precedent that dare not speak its name in this case. The president is talking about giving the economy a jolt, not a stimulus.

Last night -- look, I mean, there are aspects of this, tax cuts for -- on wages for payroll taxes for both workers and employers, it's hard to imagine the Republicans in the end will not go along with. So I do think that part of this will clearly become law.

The question is, as you go beyond that to some of the spending measures, particularly rehabbing schools, accelerating infrastructure spending and providing state grant to slow the layoffs of teachers and police officers and other first responders, which has been a drag on unemployment this year, that's much more problematic.

I think parts could become law this fall. It's possible, it's even possible to imagine parts of it becoming intertwined with the supercommittee process that is looking at long-term solutions to the deficit and the debt because most economists, Carol, as you know, think it is not incompatible to argue that we need short-term stimulus to invigorate a stalled economy and a long-term strategy for controlling the debt.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about the president's tone because some conservatives said last night it felt like the president was lecturing Congress, that his passionate tone backfired. What are you hearing?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, I think that the clearly as we talked about yesterday, one of the political imperatives for the president in the speech, was to re-establish a sense of him being a strong leader, particularly among his own base. That was tremendously damaged during the debt ceiling fight when he seemed to be ineffectual, kind of caught in this endless negotiation that really didn't produce a very positive outcome.

I think you saw him literally at one point pounding his fingers on the podium. He was trying to, I think, send the message that he has a plan and as important that he will fight for the plan. What White House officials are telling us privately is that look, this is going to be a very different experience than last summer. He's not going to be locked in the cabinet room arm and arm with congressional leaders. He's going to be around the country making the case for the plan, so that even if there is not a lot of progress legislatively, he is kind of sending a statement to the public, he does have a vision of where he wants to go and as important, he will fight for it.

COSTELLO: OK. So, more about the -- well, actually, let's talk about the audience reaction.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Because at the speech last night, some of President Obama's serious lines actually drew -- well, I wouldn't say laughter, but giggles. It's a little hard to hear, but listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Right now, Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary, an outrage he has asked us to fix. We need a tax code where everyone gets a fair shake.

This isn't political grandstanding, this isn't class warfare. This is simple math.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And you hear the teetering back there.

Dana Milbank of "The Washington Post" wrote it was more insulting than Joe Wilson's "you lie" eruption during the previous address to Congress. The lawmakers weren't particularly hostile toward the president. They just regarded the increasingly unpopular Obama as irrelevant.

Is he right?

BROWNSTEIN: I don't know. I think the "you lie" was a modern low point.

You know, we've been heading in this direction. I mean, we have such an ideological gulf between the kind of center of the opinion among House Republicans and, really, the Republican electorate at this point and where President Obama wants to go. You know, when Eric Cantor talks about compromise, it's basically, OK, we'll take the parts we agree with and we'll move forward with and in return, we will basically -- in all likelihood we will give you almost none of what you want as part of it. I mean, that's where we are.

You know, 16 years ago, Dick Armey said on the House floor, your president is not that important to us. We are in a very polarized and hyper partisan era and I think you saw that last night. And I would not agree. I don't think this is quite as far as "you lie."

COSTELLO: Yes. That was pretty bad.

But you think there's hope that the Republicans might pass parts of the president's plan, despite the giggles last night?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Look, I mean, I think everybody was damaged severely by the debt ceiling fight and by the reality of 9 percent unemployment. And while it is true that American history, we don't really have a true throw the bums out election in which an incumbent president of one party and legislatures of another party are both defeated, there's always a first time. And when looking at the kind of numbers that House Republicans are facing in the polls as well as President Obama is facing, I think there will be voices that say, look, it's prudent for us not to be seen as purely obstructionist, to show that we can try to make the system work, or else facing the risk that voters will say a pox on all of your houses, and even if they turn against President Obama largely because of the economy, they might do the same for those House Republicans.

By the way, that's what we saw in 1996 at the end of the first Clinton term after brutal partisan warfare over the budget in '95, a government shutdown. In the end, they were able to come together on a number of deals because congressional Republicans decided it was in their interest to show that the system could produce some positive results to the American people.

COSTELLO: Well, we're going to talk to Congressman Eric Cantor a little later on AMERICAN MORNING and we'll see what he has to say.

Ron Brownstein, many thanks to you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. It's 43 minutes after the hour.

New York on alert again for another potential 9/11 terror strike. We're going to speak to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

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ROMANS: Forty-five minutes past the hour. Here's what you need to know to start your day.

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ROMANS (voice-over): U.S. intelligence chasing a credible new al Qaeda threat. Terrorists possibly trying to strike 10 years to the day of 9/11. New York and Washington on alert again as senior administration official says the plot may involve car or truck bombs.

Millions of Americans are still without power. Massive outages plaguing parts of Southern California and Arizona this morning. Workers are trying to get some lights back on. The outage is being blamed on a tripped up power line that stretches across both states.

Parts of New York and Pennsylvania are drowning under near record floodwater. The president signing emergency orders for both states paving the way for quick delivery of federal aid. In one county in Pennsylvania, close to 70,000 people in just one county were told to leave their homes.

President Obama unveiling his $447 billion jobs plan. It features tax cuts for working Americans and small businesses and new spending initiatives for transportation and infrastructure, thousands of schools. The cost offset by spending cuts.

The Green Bay Packers picking up right where they left off in the Super Bowl. They made a goal line stand on the final play of the game to beat the Saints 42-34 last night in the first game of the NFL season.

Great Scott. Nike is auctioning of 1,500 pairs of Marty McFly's sneakers featured in "Back to the Future Part 2." The proceeds from the limited edition air max go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's disease research.

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ROMANS (on-camera): That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after this.

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COSTELLO: Forty-eight minutes past the hour. Welcome back. We asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you today, how has 9/11 changed you?

This from Adrian, "If anything, 9/11 has shown us that no matter how safe we think we are, there are still some things that can happen we just can't predict. Now, there will always be that lingering sense of uncertainty in major cities in the United States and world."

This from Paul, "You know, I'm not really proud of it, but I guess the only thing that has really changed me is that I'm much more suspicious to foreigners, not just Muslims or Arabs but all foreigners."

And this from Beth Ann, "I was in the 1st grade on September 11th. I've grown up in the world with airport security checks and where terrorist groups are in everyday fear. Terrorism has become a reality that my generation has to learn to deal with. We've never known a world war terrorism isn't hanging over our heads."

Keep the conversation going. Facebook.com/americanmorning. We'll read more later on on our show.

ROMANS: Carol, in those days after September 11th down in Lower Manhattan, September 17th, the stock market opened again, and it was Hillary Clinton and Senator John McCain and it was people from the right, people from the left, and together the patriotism, the purpose of patriotism was so awe inspiring and to see where we are today and how much we have changed and how our politics has devolved and what was a most unifying moment in my lifetime has now become the most disunified moment in my life. It's very interesting what's happened over the past 10 years.

COSTELLO: I would like to believe that it won't take a catastrophic event like that to show that kind of patriotism again. I would like to believe as an American that this bad economy would be enough and that, you know, they can draw together, find a solution and help us. So, see, I still have hope, Christine.

ROMANS: Good. Well good. Remember that moment?

COSTELLO: I do.

ROMANS: Taste that moment of patriotism was amazing.

Monstrous wildfires are raging in Texas right now. They're showing no signs of letting up. The 34,000 acre Bastrop County fire is 30 percent contained now. The fire officials say it has the potential to grow again. Two people have died. About 5,000 people were forced to evacuate. Nearly 14,000 homes have been destroyed.

Keep quiet or face jail time. The judge in the Michael Jackson trial handing down very strict instructions yesterday at the start of jury selection. The judge warned potential jurors they can't talk to anyone about this case. The trial begins later this month. Dr. Conrad Murray faces charges of involuntary manslaughter.

And a delay for NASA as it gets ready to study the moon from crust to core. A rocket carrying two space labs will look at how the moon formed, how the moon has evolved. The launch was supposed to have happened yesterday, right, and then this morning, but bad weather has pushed liftoff now to Saturday

COSTELLO: They'll eventually get to the moon, though, I'm sure.

(LAUGHTER)

Anything goes in Hollywood and this just kind of proves it. Word is, Oscar-winner, Mel Gibson, is developing a movie with Warner Brothers about the Jewish hero, Judah Maccabee. You remember this is the same Mel Gibson who was accused of making anti-semitic comments in 2006 during a DUI stop. Gibson wrote, produced and directed "The Passion of the Christ," a $600 million hit

And, of course, many Jewish people weren't happy with that movie either. No word on if he'll direct this film or act in it, but I just can't believe that he's going to make this movie and think people are going to come to see it if Mel Gibson has anything to do with it.

ROMANS: He does have a big history in sort of -- the history of the holy land, right, "Passion of the Christ" and other things that he's done. I mean, he was the producer behind "Passion of the Christ," wasn't he?

COSTELLO: Yes. He wrote it, and it was a great success. But in that movie were things that many Jewish people objected to.

ROMANS: Of course.

All right. We're watching breaking this morning. a new terror threat, al Qaeda possibly looking to strike 10 years to the day of the 9/11 attacks. New York City is already on high alert with ceremonies set to take place at the World Trade Center site this Sunday.

Joining us live from Lower Manhattan is New York City police commissioner, Ray Kelly. Welcome to the program. Good morning. Let me ask you first about this new threat. We are told it is specific, credible, but unconfirmed. In layman's terms, what do you know and what don't you know about how serious this is?

RAY KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, we think any threat is serious. Obviously, when they say that it's credible and specific, we have to pay attention to it and that's precisely what we're doing. We're deploying a lot of additional resources, certainly in our subway system. We'll see checkpoints throughout the city. We have what we called critical response units. We've increased them in numbers.

They go to sensitive locations throughout the city. We're holding officers, additional tours, or at least additional hours to increase uniform presence on streets and doing things that the public may not see, undercover officers, officers in plain clothes, carrying out their functions as well.

ROMANS: We've been told there are three individuals involved in this. The plan involves either a car or truck, potentially, explosives, a bomb. It's a very big city, and we have our freedoms here in New York and in Washington. How important is it for people who are doing their day-to-day lives to be on the lookout for anything suspicious?

KELLY: It's very important. We do have a big city, and obviously, it's an open city. That's why we're functioning and successful city, but we need the public's help. We need them to be vigilant. The mayor said that last evening. He urged the people to go about their business. But what we say is look at your world through the prism of September 11th.

Everyone's life changed somewhat as a result of that horrific event. So, look at your situation and see if there's anything different, see if there's anything of a suspicious nature, and give us a call.

ROMANS: Right.

KELLY: There's no dumb calls. We want to know what people see.

ROMANS: You know, we know that the concern and the chatter, if you will, over the past four to five days has really picked up. We know that al Qaeda has been -- its infrastructure has been hobbled by years of attacks against it and that our Peter Bergen and others have reported that, quite frankly, some kind of an attack on the anniversary would be -- would have more power for an al Qaeda-type move. How concerned are you that this is going to be a very difficult weekend for law enforcement?

KELLY: Well, we have to be concerned. You know, terrorism is theater, and this is a stage. This is, right now, probably the world's biggest stage. We have the opening of the 9/11 memorial. We have a president and two former presidents here. Obviously, a lot of high-profile public officials will be here.

So, we have to be concerned, concerned about any threat, quite frankly, but certainly, one that's labeled as being a credible, and when it's specific, we have to mobilize our resources and that's precisely what we're doing.

ROMANS: Do you have names of these people you're looking for?

KELLY: No. The investigation, obviously, is still going forward. Federal authorities heavily engaged in trying to identify these people. ROMANS: All right. Ray Kelly, police commissioner, best of luck to you this weekend, big job, but we thank you for being there for us. Thanks.

All right. We're going to break here. It's 56 minutes after the hour.

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