roger cressey analyzes the details for us. >>> and later, why governor rick perry's attacks on social security make him the republican candidate the obama campaign is now hoping to face in the general election. that's in the rewrite. >>> new york city and washington, d.c. were already increasing security ahead of sunday's tenth anniversary of the september 11 attacks. now that security is being put to the test by what top obama administration officials are calling a credible, but unconfirmed, threat. the report comes from an intelligence source in pakistan who heard that three unnamed men flew to the u.s. on orders from al qaeda to set off car or truck bombs in new york or washington this weekend. officials believe that source has been reliable in the past. the fbi and border officials have been searching through weeks of travel records looking for clues. some of the men may have u.s. passports. in new york city, police presence was beefed up not long after the news broke last night. they are patrolling landmarks like time square, which nearly fell victim to a car bomb last spring. in

roger cressey analyzes the details for us. >>> and later, why governor rick perry's attacks on social security make him the republican candidate the obama campaign is now hoping to face in the general election. that's in the rewrite. naturals from purina cat chow. delicious, real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives. naturals from purina cat chow. share a better life. it's schwab at your fingertips wherever, whenever you want. one log in lets you monitor all of your balances and transfer between accounts, so your money can move as fast as you do. check out your portfolio, track the market with live updates. and execute trades anywhere and anytime the inspiration hits you. even deposit checks right from your phone. just take a picture, hit deposit and you're done. open an account today and put schwab mobile to work for you. 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 for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. >>> new york city and wa

. >>> you know, we go back now to roger cressey. ger, i spoke earlier and you referenced it as we spoke with homeland security chairman peter king. he was talking about the incident and we thinks things stand right now. let's listen to what he said with me earlier this morning. >> the most important thing is getting such a specific plot plan. i've been doing this for a number of years. i've never seen a plot that was laid out so specifically. usually you get bits and pieces and you have to worry about connecting the dots. that's not the case here. >> is that what's so disturbing about this? that the specificity? >> it's disturbing but at the same time, as some folks have referenced to me, it doesn't add up. there are parts of this threat stream that run counter to what we've seen in the past. for the intelligence community it's analyzing it based on prior threats and our experience with that. and then it is that need to find additional corroborating information. the bar has to be set pretty low in terms of what we share with the amer

evan coleman and roger cressey are nbc terrorism analysts. roger, what's the problem?rst responders communicate with one another? >> the biggest problem, when congress gave money to the administration and, for instance, the bush administration, then dhs pushed it down to state and local authorities they didn't put in requirements or framework around it. they said, you know best. you spend the money. buy the communications equipment you want, instead of making surç there were rules and requirements to ensure that interoperability. making sure it worked across all federal requirements. >> i don't want people's eyes to glaze over does it have to do with whether the bandwidth is used for a public or private purpose? >> that's why the bill hasn't been passed. the fact they haven't decided whether to allocate the space directly to emergency services or have it done through commercial provider. does that really matter? is that really the basis for which we're holding up this entire process? does that make any sense at all? this is a matter of life and death. >> i remember thi

. >> joining me is nbc news analyst and terrorism expert roger cressey. what does that mean to us? how does that compare? >> we received this information from a source in the past has been accurate with what they reported. what it means is it's not necessarily true. the issue here is to run down to get corroboration of this threat stream and to determine whether or not in fact it is accurate. what you're seeing is a series of security measures by people in washington and in new york in response to this, but also in response to preplanned activities, which is the 9/11 anniversary weekend. >> as mayor michael bloomberg is planning for this 9/11 ten-year anniversary, some specifics coming from this threat are unknown certainly, but from what you know, what concerns you about what you heard so far? >> what's most concerning is that it's originating from pakistan and perhaps the tribal area where we know al qaeda operates. we know the pakistani taliban operates. that's where the times square bomber got his training, though it wasn't great training. we do know that the idea of a explosiv

. >> roger cressey. not on the home secretary, you talked about the affiliates and influence they have from their perspective. can you talk about pakistan-based groups who have not been considered a threat from project to a power or potential threat to western europe in the united states? ashtray tight about, i'd sue mohammed, how do you three that specific evidence in the british population there is recruitment and training going on for the scenario of seeking to project the threat to the west? thank you. >> well, as are referred to in my speech, i think these are areas we need to have a growing awareness of and look at more closely. i mean, there have been some links into the u.k., particularly for an et, more in terms of fundraising and that activity in the past. we must be ever vigilant about what might develop in relation to god as we see the group or hop expanding its interest. and so, it is important for us, as there was pain, to be willing to think through not just al qaeda and al qaeda's affilia

. >> roger cressey, pusan hamilton.neither secretary tommy talked about affiliates and that what they have to make her his. can you talk about pakistan-based groups that have not been considered project any power or potential threat to western europe and the united states? last -- lecture he typed, juicy specific evidence within the british population there's recruitment and training going on for that scenario seeking to project a threat last. thank you. >> yes, as i referred to in my speech, i mean, i think these are areas we need to have a growing awareness of and to look at more closely. i mean, there have been some links into the u.k., particularly more in terms of fundraising and not sort of the tv in the past, but we must be ever vigilant about what might develop in relation to that as we see the group perhaps expanding its interests. and so, it is important i think for us to be willing to think through not just al qaeda and al qaeda affiliates, but be aware of the changes taking place elsewhere and working in com