breaking news, security officials cite what they call a credible new al qaeda threat targeting new york and washington. help wanted, president obama's plan for creating jobs just may be saving his own. and blackout, human error cuts the lights to nearly 6 million people on the west coast and the southwest.

captioning funded by cbs good morning, everybody and thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. this morning, u.s. counter intelligence officials are chasing what is described as a credible and specific but unconfirmed terrorist threat. some al qaeda operatives may already be in the u.s. police in new york and washington, d.c., are taking additional security measures. tara mergener is in washington with details. good morning, tara. what is the latest? >> good morning, betty. officials say the threat came in a single piece of information and was so specific it cannot be ignored. extra police are guarding new york's bridges and tunnels following the latest terror threat. >> the nypd is deploying additional resources around the city and taking other steps to keep our city safe, some of which you may notice and some of which you will not notice. >> reporter: federal officials are investigating a possible al

qaeda car bomb plot. aimed at new york and washington, d.c., near the tenth anniversary of 9/11. the threat originated in pakistan and authorities call it credible, specific but unconfirmed. sources tell cbs news some operatives, perhaps two or three may already be in the u.s. >> a little scared. i hope it doesn't happen. >> reporter: in times square some tourists seemed on edge but a show of police force reassured others. >> i think it's really safe. >> reporter: security is tight in the nation's capitol. officials plan to tow any unattended vehicles parked near certain buildings and major roadways. >> we don't look at this threat lightly. we take it very seriously. >> reporter: officials became even more vigilant following the death of osama bin laden. evidence found at his pakistan compound found an interest in attacking the u.s. on the anniversary of september 11th. it's unclear if that idea ever

developed into an actual plan. >> we want the public to exercise a little more vigilance and hopefully it turns out this is not anything. >> reporter: in new york and d.c., 9/11 ceremonies will go on as planned though police will be on even higher alert. and the fbi and homeland security have issued a joint intelligence bulletin to law enforcement around the country urging them to be on high alert as well. betty, back to you. >> tara mergener in washington, thank you, tara. a just released cbs news/"new york times" poll conducted before this new threat was made public found most americans do not expect a new attack. 55% said a new attack in the next few months is not likely. americans are split on whether the federal government has done all it can to make the country more security but 83% think the country will always have to live with the threat of terrorism. president obama travels to richmond, virginia, today, to promote the $447 billion jobs

plan he pitched to congress last night. his message was clear, pass the bill and do it quickly. after the speech, speaker of the house john boehner said "it's my hope that we can work together." danielle nottingham has more. >> reporter: president obama told a joint session of congress and the nation "it's time to get america back to work." >> there are steps we can take right now to improve people's lives. >> reporter: the president outlined a nearly $450 billion plan to extend the payroll tax cut for workers, expand jobless benefits and give tax breaks to employers. >> it will provide a jolt to an economy that has stalled and give companies confidence that it if they invest and hire, there will be customers for their products and services. >> reporter: he's also pushing for infrastructure projects and aid package for states to hire teachers and first responders. >> here's the other thing i want the american people to know, the american jobs act will not add to the deficit, it will be paid

for. >> reporter: president obama's plan would require approval from a deeply divided congress. so he had a message for lawmakers, this is your problem, too. >> members of congress, it is time for us to meet our responsibilities. >> reporter: some gop lawmakers said while they did not agree with the president's approach they could support some of his ideas. >> i did hear plenty of areas i think that we can work together on. >> reporter: democrats appreciate the president taking a firm stand. >> it was bold. it was very practical, and i think he has placed the congress and in particular the republicans in a very interesting position. >> reporter: the president will head to richmond, virginia, friday, to rally public support for his plan. danielle nottingham, cbs news, washington. this morning power is slowly being restored to parts of southern california and northern new mexico.

san diego got the worst of it. overnight it looked like much of the nation's eighth largest city disappeared. power officials say a worker replacing some equipment in yuma, arizona, touched off the trouble. >> the initiating event for this major system disturbance throughout the southwest did happen as an employee initiated event in arizona. that was confirmed by arizona public service and that was the beginning of the event that has affected so many people. >> the power loss knocked out gas pumps and cell phones. >> we can't call anyone. this is all over scary. seems like the end of the world. >> my car stopped on the freeway but we coasted down here, hopefully trying to get some gas but there's none. >> officials say it may be late today before most of the power is restored. here in the northeast some of the worst flooding in 40

years has forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate. in the past few days parts of new york and pennsylvania got up to ten inches of rain from the remnants of tropical storm lee. michelle miller reports. >> reporter: the national guard went door to door ordering 70,000 people in and around wilkes-barre to get out. power was cut off to homes in the flood zone. >> this way nobody will get shocked or electrocuted in case of flooding. >> every one of the houses around this general area has been under water. >> reporter: thomas chaoat wasn't leaving until he got everything he could to the third floor. >> the next time you come here this may be underwater and there's a boat going by. >> reporter: the susquehanna river is expected to crest overnight at almost 41 feet, just about the height of the levee that protects the city. steven mcconnich is coordinating emergency services for lucerne county. will they hold?

>> at this point we're very confident that they will hold. if they don't we'll have a catastrophic situation. >> reporter: pennsylvania's governor tom corbett says almost every town in susquehanna has had flooding. even his mansion was sandbagged and his antiques moved from the ground floor. several floodgates like this one protecting downtown wilkes-barre have begun to leak. already one street nearby has flooded. what concerns officials now is if those gates fail the susquehanna river will pour into downtown wilkes-barre. michelle miller, cbs news, wilkes-barre, pennsylvania. walmart brings back an old idea for thrifty shoppers. plus scientists unveil some of our distant cousins' very distant cousins. this is the "cbs morning news." ♪

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texans but the lone star state has just had the hottest summer on record for any u.s. state. the national weather service says that the average temperature in texas from june through august was 86.8 degrees, that just edges out the summer's heat wave in oklahoma and the old oklahoma dust bowl record from 1934. also in texas today firefighters will use a converted jetliner to drop retardant on the big fire burning east of austin. the bastrop fire destroyed about 800 homes as seen in cell phone video taken sunday. fires have destroyed about 1,400 homes and killed four people. scientists say fossils found in south africa appear to be the 2 million-year-old remains of direct human ancestors. take a look at this. look at the fossilized skeletons of an adult female and young male were found in 2008. anthropologists say they had

primitive and modern features. that suggests they were midway on the evolutionary scale between ape-like tree climbers and upright walking humans. just fascinating. on the "cbs moneywatch," stocks in asia were down this morning. ashley morrison is here in new york with more. good morning ashley. >> good morning to you, betty. most asian markets saw losses today. japan's nikkei lost half a percentage point while hong kong's hang seng was off a fraction. today wall street gets the latest on trades. stocks fell thursday after fed chair ben bernanke offered no clues about what the federal reserve plans to do. the dow slid 119 points while the nasdaq fell nearly 20. mortgage rates are at their lowest in six decades. freddie mac says the average on the 30-year fixed mortgage is down to 4.12%. the 15-year is at 3.3 prt but the low rates still aren't helping the housing market.

high unemployment rates are keeping many away, and many can't even qualify for a loan as lenders tighten their standards. america's biggest retailer is bringing back its layaway plan, after ditching the pay as you go program back in 2006, walmart is restoring it for the holiday season and may be longer. demand has been growing since the economic downturn and walmart was feeling the pressure as competitors like sears began offering it during the recession. google has agreed to buy the restaurant guide zagat. known for its 30-point scale and quote heavy reviews, zagat has grown into a global empire with millions of readers. the company has faced money troubles in recent years, especially on the internet. shares of the restaurant booking website open table plunged 9% after google made that announcement. a truth in the weiner wars. sara lee and kraft foods settled their civil trial over who makes the tastiest hotdogs. sara lee makes ball park franks

and kraft makes oscar meyer. each other argued the other makes exaggerated claims. in terms of the settlement, they were not disclosed, i'm glad that was over. >> we still don't know who is number one. >> i think it's in your opinion. >> which it always has been. ashley morrison here in new york, thank you. straight ahead your friday morning weather. and in sports, are you ready for some football? a shoot-out in green bay comes down to a goal line stand. >> "cbs moneywatch" sponsored by vagisil, bring yourself back. neywatch" sponsored by vagisil, bring yourself back. my doctor told me calcium is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. new citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d

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one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. new york partly cloudy 85, miami mostly cloudy 91. chicago is going to see some showers, 70 degrees there. dallas a sunny 90 degrees and los angeles a sunny 88. time now for a check of the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows hurricane katia in the atlantic off the northeast coast. there are scattered clouds and showers from the ohio valley to the mid-atlantic states. the midwest and the western third of the country are clear. later today, mostly sunny in the northeast, the ohio valley and mid-atlantic states will get some showers. it will be sunny all the way from the midwest to the west coast, except for some isolated thunderstorms in the desert southwest. in sports, the nfl season kicked off with an exciting win

for the defending champions. green bay's aaron rodgers connected for three touchdowns against new orleans. late in the game the packers defense was called for a pass interference giving the saints a chance to tie the score but with no time left on the clock green bay made a goal line stand for a 42-34 victory. less than a day after the team denied it would happen, indianapolis colts quarterback peyton manning had more neck surgery on thursday. it was for persistent nerve problems. his recovery time is uncertain but he might be out for the season. here in new york they finally played tennis at the u.s. open. after two days of rainouts, roger federer had an easy win, cruised in three straight sets to advance to the finals on saturday. and serena williams was almost untouchable as she closed out a quick move to the semifinals, only two wins away

from a fourth u.s. open final. in baseball arizona leads the national league western division by seven games. in baseball the diamondbacks kennedy struck out 11 on the way to the 19th win of the season and justin upton homered for the second night in a row as arizona beat san diego 4-1. in the tenth inning in baltimore the orioles robert andino singled down the third baseline, last placed baltimore edged the first place yankees 5-4. when we return a look at this morning's top stories. plus reflecting absent at the sight where the twin towers once stood. are choosing advil. here's one story. i'm sean. i switched to advil 10 months ago. cyclists are a crazy bunch. when you're out there trying to push to your limits, you have some pain and it can be really vicious. i really like advil because it takes care of it all. neck, shoulder pain and definitely with cycling, lower back pain.

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california and arizona without power. what's behind the massive outage. and the bay area flights canceled because of it. confidential medical data.. exposed. the security breach at stanford. join us for cbs 5 early edit,,,, on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather, the northeast will have a mostly sunny day, showers will linger over the mid-atlantic states, much of the midwest will be sunny.

here's another look at this morning's top stories. there is a credible but unconfirmed new terror threat targeting new york and washington, d.c. u.s. officials say the threat involves car bombs. and in a speech before congress last night, president obama proposed a nearly $450 billion jobs plan. the president told lawmakers "this plan is the right thing to do right now." ten years after the 9/11 attacks, the hole in the sky over lower manhattan that hole left by the destruction of the twin towers is finally filling in. the steel of a new solo tower is more than three-quarters complete. last night engineers tested the beams of light that represent where the towers once stood and this sunday the memorial to the victims of the attacks will finally be unveiled at ground zero. it's taken ten years to rebuild

a landmark that took just hours to destroy. construction on the new world trade center project began with years of debate and delays but a decade later, it's rising with remarkable progress. >> i think everyone is going to be really, really amazed when they see how this project which for so long was defined as a pit. it isn't. we've turned a corner. the world is going to see it's a great moment for all of us. >> reporter: developers expect the project to be done by 2016. sunday, the national september 11th memorial will open at ground zero, names of nearly 3,000 victims killed in the attack are etched in bronze panels around a pair of memorial pools. they are each one square acre, marking the footprints where the twin towers today. waterfalls cascade 30 feet. the designer calls it reflecting absence. >> i wanted to create a specific and public place that would come together and allow it to stand at the site of where the two

towers were, as a community. >> reporter: in the middle of one of the biggest construction projects of the world, the memorial will finally give still grieving families a formal place to mourn and hope on hallowed ground. the 9/11 memorial museum beneath ground zero site will open next year. this morning on "the early show" the latest on the new terror threat, ten years after 9/11. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." 9/11. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." . 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.

the images of 9/11 are burned into the memories of every american old enough to remember that terrible day. but we are just now hearing some of the sounds associated with the attacks as hijackers turned jetliners filled with people into weapons. bob orr has this tale. >> reporter: two hours of horror

and confusion began with american airlines supervisor vivian gonzalez telling her operations center of a chilling phone call from the flight. >> the flight attendance is advising our rep. that the pilot has been stabbed. >> reporter: one minute later mohammed atta thinking he was talking to passengers was heard over the radio. >> nobody move. everything is okay. if you try to make any move, you will injure yourself and the airplane. >> reporter: the jetliner turned south toward new york. the northeast asked the defense air sector for fighter jets. >> reporter: nine minutes later american airlines hit the north tower. controllers were frantically searching for a second missing plane which had also taken off from boston. they finally saw united 1 5 just seconds before its impact.

>> reporter: fighter jets had not yet reached manhattan. >> reporter: to the west a third airplane. american airlines 77 went missing. >> i don't know where he is out there. we're still trying to get a hold of him. >> reporter: for more than 30 the jetliner flew below the radar taking aim on washington but another radio cone made it clear there was one more. it was jarrah trying to talk to the passengers aboard flight 93. flight 93 soon crashed in a pennsylvania field. the attack was over, and in one government command center, two technicians tried to put the day into some kind of context.

as for coordination between the faa and the military that's greatly improved. norad regularly monitors radio data and there's an open hotline to coordinate responses. coming up later on "the early show," as we prepare to mark ten years since the 9/11 attacks, we face a major new terror threat. new york mayor mike bloomberg joins us and president obama's jobs plan, can he get congress to pass it and if so, will it work? we'll ask vice president joe biden and house republican eric cantor. that's the "cbs morning news" for this friday. thanks for watching, everybody. i'm betty nguyen. have a great weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com