it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for. salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours. and my pharmacist told me it's the only otc pain patch approved for sale using the same rigorous clinical testing that's required for prescription pain medications. proven. powerful. safe. salonpas. good morning, everyone. precisely 10:00 a.m. here on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. out west. what you're looking at right now is a picture of the wreath-laying ceremony at the pentagon where we expect former president george w. bush to take to that location any minute now. it's supposed to start right at 10:00, at the top of the hour. we're just waiting to get those things under way. of course, the president will be there doing this wreath laying there at the pentagon at the impact site. we don't expect any remarks. there is no audience we might say as well. but there will be a few special guests. those will include defense secretary panetta and laura bush, the former first lady will be among those attending this very symbolic gesture. let's go to peter alexander who's following everything at ground zero for us. we do await former president george w. bush any moment to come to the pentagon, talk about some of the commemorations that are going to take place tomorrow in that beautiful area behind you. >> it's sparkling. it's a dazzling new memorial that will open up tomorrow for the first time. that's for the dignitaries and families of those who lost their lives here on 9/11. manufacture the loved ones will be at this location then. it opens up to the public on monday. tomorrow's commemorations begin at 8:40 a.m. we pan the camera over right now and show you one of the two reflecting pools that have come up in place where the world trade towers once stood. you can see that there. it's roughly, each of them, almost around acre big. they are squares and around the outside of them where the waterfalls drop, roughly 30 feet is bronze plating with the names of the victims inscribed there as well. this, according to the architect was intended to create a built equivalent of a moment of silence. he said it was to create a place of emptiness but an emptiness that was filled with meaning. as we pan the camera around there, you get a sense of the green space as well. there will be at least 400 trees on the site. they are all oak except for one, the survivor tree that was discovered in the rubble, surviving the catastrophe of that day, almost exactly ten years ago. the building on the left is familiar to a lot of people now. it's what's been called the freedom tower, with that flag unfurled by workers here yesterday at 9:03, the time the second tower was hit. they unfurled that flag with a moment of silence as well. this building is a testament to the nagts's resilience in concrete, glass and steel. it is now 80 stories high. it will grow ultimately to be 1,776 feet. that's why they called it the freedom tower initially. when it's all said and done, this will be the tallest skyscraper in the united states and the most expensive office tower in the u.s. as well. total cost, more than $3.2 billion. alex? >> incredibling with staggering amount of money. what also is staggering, peter, is the presence of security throughout new york city. you experienced it. i experienced it. we both were traveling to our locations in the early morning hours, in the dark. there are checkpoints everywhere. >> yes. that's very true. on the west side highway, which for people who are not familiar with new york city, goes the entire length of the city. there was a checkpoint where every single car was being stopped, either a driver's license was being shown by the driver and they were peering to check the load of some of the trucks coming this direction as well. throughout this city yesterday, the police commissioner ray kelly has made it very clear, he said for tomorrow's ceremonies, commemorations, there will be thousands of additional officers in this area specifically but really throughout the city as a whole. he said while ground zero is the most familiar target, there are other potential targets that police are working to protect as well. among them, grand central station, penn station. this is a bustling city, even on the weekend. it's impossible to miss the security around here from snipers to scuba divers to checkpoints. and even on the subways, they're checking bags of individuals who are planning to travel. that maybe the easiest way to get around the city over the course of the next day. >> yes. peter alexander there, live above ground zero. peter, thank you for that. we are waiting for former president george w. bush. those are the walls of a pentagon, just outside of a plaque where the former president will be laying a wreath. a solemn memory and tribute. it was scheduled about five minutes ago. we're keeping our eyes trained on that. let's bring in a terrorist analyst, robert cressey. all of this heightened as a result of that credible but unconfirmed terror threat. where do things stand on that front and is there any chance we're making too much of it? >> well, alex, there's always a possibility we're looking at this threat and we're inflating it, not because we're overhyping it, but because it is aimed at the 9/11 anniversary weekend. i think as we discussed earlier, if we had not had this weekend coming up, this type of threat would have been handled differently. the fact remains, though, the government is still trying to get that corroboration on what the source reported. that's why we continue to discuss it in an unconfirmed way. there's no doubt that the source is reliable and trusted. the question is what he heard and reported back, is it in fact true. >> can you tell me how high the bar is, roger, for reporting threats like potential truck bombs or car bombs to the public? >> it's a judgment call. the problem with counterterrorism and with terrorism threat analysis is it's still an art, not a science. so unless you have multiple streams of data on multiple sources, that can corroborate a particular threat, then it becomes a real question of, all right, what is in the best interest of the public to hear? when is the right time? you know, the four questions you ask on a terror threat, credible, corroborated, specific and imminent. in this case we had answers to three of those in the affirmative. that's why it was decided to issue this law enforcement intelligence bulletin and then ultimately make this information available to the public. >> roger, i want to let everyone know what we're seeing. defense secretary leon panetta there and he's being followed by i believe former first lady laura bush. roger, listen with me as we expect to see president george w. bush, donald rumsfeld, former defense secretary there, and, again, the former president will be laying a wreath there. you see that beautiful large white wreath, right at the impact site at the pentagon. and there comes the former president. let's listen. certainly a quiet but nonetheless profound tribute in honoring there. you see our former president, george w. bush, admiral mullen, leon panetta and donald rumsfeld as well as their spouses. all of them coming to pay a very quiet tribute. we know former president bush will be traveling up to new york. he will take part in the commemorative events tomorrow at ground zero. we'll be covering it as of 8:00 a.m. there's certainly a profound sense there, just in the solitude of that lone beautiful white wreath at the impact site there in the pentagon. you know, we go back now to roger cressey. roger, 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 american people. because the government has an obligation to make them aware. but at the same time, you can't analyze these threats and conflate them based on the amount of information you have. it's important to recognize, again, because of this weekend and all that is surrounding it, i think this particular threat, because it is specific and because it is credible and viewed as imminent with the 9/11 weekend, it is just a little bit of a different animal than what we've seen in the past, alex. >> roger cressey, thanks for your insights and also staying with us through that pentagon tribute. >> you bet. in shanksville, pennsylvania, today, a tribute to those who died when united flight 93 crashed into an empty field on 9/11. the official dedication of the flight 93 memorial will begin in a few hours. nbc we are live in shanksville, pennsylvania. tell us what's planned there today. >> good morning, alex. you can see final preparations are under way for this event. crowds are just starting to stream in. flight 39 was the only hijacked plane that did not reach its intended target. today, the passengers and crew who fought back are being remembered as here rose. beneath these sheets in an empty field turned hollowed ground, the marble wall inscribed with the names of the 33 passengers and 7 crew members of united flight 93. nearby, a bolder marks the exact spot in rural pennsylvania where the plane made impact on september 11th ending their lives. in just a few hours, hundreds will gather to dedicate the first official memorial to flight 93. for the last ten years, the only memorial here has been this, a chain link fence scattered with cards, flowers and messages of love. in the days leading up to the tenth anniversary of the september 11th attacks, people continued to gather here, even in the pouring rain. on 9/11, flight 93 was the only hijacked plane that didn't reach its intended target, which investigators think was probably the capital or the white house. instead, the passengers and crew fought back against the hijackers, forcing them to crash early. former police officer cici liles was a flight attendant on 93. that morning she left her husband a voice mail, calmly describing what happens. >> there's three guys. >> today her husband has returned to her final resting place to seat memorial. >> she would think it would be awesome also. she would think it would be very, very fitting of what those 40 passengers sacrificed that day. >> reporter: while the wall is the first completed portion of the memorial, the rest isn't built yet and organizers say they need an additional 10 million today's finish the project. >> we're asking people to help us around the country to get this job done. >> reporter: ten years on, the work to finish the memorial continues. raising money to honor those who have already paid the ultimate price. alex, the memorial begins here at 12:30 p.m., when the program starts. it will include a presentation of the names of the 40 killed here as well as a ringing of the bells of remembrance. then we'll hear remarks from the president of the organization of the families of flight 93 as well as former presidents bill clinton and george w. bush and then there will be the unveiling of the memorial, the white marble wall. that will be done by vice president joe biden. >> we'll check in with you again. thank you so much. >> thank you. fire in the hollywood hills. we'll tell you which big name celebrities former home went up in flames last night. and also, will congress act on president obama's plan for jobs? there are some promising signs in washington. we talk about them next. later, call of duty, the men and women who saw 9/11 as an inspiration to join the military. ♪ [ male announcer ] unlike some car companies, nissan is running at 100%, which means the most innovative cars are also the most available cars. nissan. innovation for today. innovation for all. ♪ 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. president obama vowed to take his message on jobs to the american people. he's going to be doing just that in ohio and north carolina next week and in richmond, virginia yesterday, the president said he's optimistic about bipartisan support for his plan. >> to their credit, i was glad to hear some republicans, including your congressman, say they've got -- they see room for us to work together. i know you folks sometimes think, you know, maybe it's the benefit of the doubt but i'm an eternal optimist. >> joining me now, peter fend and msnbc political analyst pat buchanan, aka, my boys. it's been a while. where you been on me, hiding out. >> creating trouble. >> i tell you guys. pat, you just heard the president there. will there be some compromises from the congress or will the eternal optimist be let down. >> i think he has a case. it was a rally speech in terms of mood but it was a moderate speech. he has a number of ideas in there, extending the payroll tax cuts, tax credits for hiring long-term unemployed, roads, bridges, schools, rebuilding them. he says i'm going to pay for it down the road and i'll show you how. that's a moderate speech and it's got a lot of ideas in there that will appeal to conservatives and republicans. everybody went home, the president and the republicans and found out the country wants action for the unemployed. i'm optimistic as is the president. >> okay, peter, all of the hype leading up to it, we were talking about it last weekend, looking ahead, did the president live up to it? >> i definitely think did he. i agree with pat on a lot of this. i think this was the strongest speech of his presidency, alex. strong not just in terms of the delivery and how he put forth the ideas but the substance of the speech. i mean, what's not to like about a speech where you're giving tax cuts to average americans that will put $1,500 more in their pockets next year, for folks who may be under water in their mortgages, you're going to allow them to refinance at 4% and that could save $2,000 or more. i mean, i think we can do even more with that kind of plan. but what's not to like about bringing 280,000 teachers back into the classroom and rebuilding those classrooms? as pat says, you know, they're going to pay for this, this program, it's not a question of adding to the national debt with it. and i think one of the things that the president and his people, we were with him on thursday afternoon alex at the white house, they were very cog th nizant of putting something out that was not pie in the sky. this say solid plan. mark zandy thinks it will create 1.8 million jobs. that's not too shabby. >> if it could, everybody would applaud that. it is clear what the president did, he was getting two kinds of advice. one was, look, you're president of the united states for the next year and a half. get something that the republicans can go for so you can work with so we can work on this problem and get it partly solved in any event. others were urging him, go up high, hammer the republicans as obstructionists, you know, we're going to take those s.o.b.s out, the barbarians at the gate, do that sort of thing and running a campaign. the president did the right thing for the country. i think the right thing for himself and for the unemployed, because in the last analysis, good policy is good politics. if he gets this through and as peter says, i doubt -- i think peter is optimistic but unemployment starts turning around, then it's good for the president as well as for the country. >> right. it's good for the country. that's what people need to be focused on right now, certainly given the malaise that we're in. peter, when you look at what the president wants to do, do you think -- the eternal optimist that he is, he expects this whole thing to be passed in solidarity like that or is he expecting this to be piecemeal and cherry picked? >> he'd love that. i think the president is hardly naive, alex. his pretty tough battles and he'll have more tough battles. you know, he realizes that he's going to have folks sniping at him. he realizes that the tea party does not want to pass anything that has his name or his stamp of approval on it. that's unfortunate. as pat says, maybe we can get beyond that. the key thing with this, too, is republicans understand when you're in congress right now, and your approval rating is 12%, you've got trouble. and you bet dor something. the folks out there are mad and angry as i have ever seen them. they want action. they don't want gridlock. >> they want action. they're tired of politics. last word, pat. >> yes. the general obama strategy, i think people have compared it to harry trumen in 1948 where he went up to the congress in the late summer of '48 and said, look, i know i'm in trouble, we're all in trouble, the country is in trouble, i need these five things. one of them civil rights and from other thing. the 80th congress said no, no, no, no, no, five times. the president went to the country said no-good, do-nothing congress, can't work with they will. you've seen what they did. this is what obama is setting up and the republicans are smarter, i think. they're not going along with it. they're grab one, two, three or four of these things and say we can go with these and here are some of ours, which is, again, the right way to go politically for the republicans and the president and the right way for the country. >> all right, you guys. i'll see you next hour. don't go too far. thanks so much. >> okay. >> thanks, alex. a reality check on airline security since 9/11. how much has the tsa helped? plus -- >> i don't think i started to heal yet t. was a very, very painful decision to start dating again. it's such a betrayal. >> i really miss her. i really do. >> the incredible ten-year journey of five 9/11 survivors is now a new film. i'll talk with the director of "rebirth" and the painful struggle to move forward. so i was the guy who was never going to have the heart attack. i thought i was invincible. i'm on an aspirin regimen now because i never want to feel that helplessness again. 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[ agent ] so your policy looks good, is there anything else? why did you buy my husband a falcon? thanks for the falcon. i didn't buy anyone a falcon. sure, you did. you saved us a lot of money on auto insurance. i used that money to buy a falcon. ergo, you bought me a falcon. i should've got a falcon. most people who switch to state farm save on average about $480. what they do with it, well, that's their business. oh, that explains a lot, actually. [ chuckles ] [ male announcer ] another reason people switch to state farm. aw, i could've gotten a falcon. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. [ falcon screeches ] while i took refuge from the pollen that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. 31 past the hour. you're taking a look at a live shot at ground zero here in new york city where the twin towers came down ten years ago tomorrow. of course, a commemoration ceremony was scheduled for tomorrow morning. it will include moments ever silence along with the reading of the names of those who lost their names in the attacks. we will bring you that ceremony live right here on msnbc sunday. two months after 9/11, congress established the transportation security administration or tsa and completely changed the way americans fly. it's hard to remember a time when you could keep your shoes on while working through x-ray machines. the former head of tsa security policy, vice chairman of wexler walker. tom, with a good morning to you, it's nice to see you again. talk to me about tsa in terms of how critical it has been since 9/11 in preventing future attacks. >> well, alex, good morning. it has been absolutely critical. it's been the most emblematic part of our response to 9/11. tsa's screened 5 billion passengers, 4 billion pieces of luggage, deployed advance x-ray technology for baggage, armed pilots, put federal air marshals out there and done any number of things, 800 bomb dog teams and on and on it goes. it has been a remarkable response and an excellent ten-year record that has really taken the risk of a terrorist threat to aviation much, much lower than it otherwise could have been. >> where does the tsa fall short? >> i think they fall short in some of the discretion that the officers have at the checkpoint. they need to get better in recognizes threats in terms of children, elderly and other people and not apply a one-size fits all screening methodology to everybody who comes to the checkpoint. they need to get better at assessing the risk, secure flight, back grounds checks, identification checks, a lot of the things they're doing are aimed at achieving that. but it has to be as customer friendly an experience as it possibly can be before anyone will be satisfied with it. >> tom, what do you think the biggest threat is in the skies right now? >> there's no question that the biggest threat is the detecting explosives that might be hidden on a person's body or on their carry-on bag as they come to the checkpoint. the advanced imaging technology, the body scanning technology is a big step forward in defeating that threat. the decisional bomb dogs, bomb detection officers, behavior detection officers. these are all relatively recent advancements in the past couple of years. these are all things that will aim to put that threat down. but that's the number one thing that's got to be focused on. >> as you know, homeland security secretary janet napolitano said this week things are being worked on so americans won't have to remove their shoes at the airport. what else is in store? >> i think you'll see more bomb threat dog teams out there. i think you'll see credential identification technology that will be able to detect a fraudulent i.d. that's certainly coming. i think you'll see advancements in secure flight where individuals' back grounds will be checked against immigration status and various things like that. i think you'll be able to see the automatic imaging technology detect specific threats and identify what those threats are. overall, what we're doing is we're making the filter finer, the security filter is letting less and less risks get through. we'll never get to the point, unfortunately, where we have a guarantee. >> all right. former head of tsa security policy tom blank. nice to see you again. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you, alex. as we've been saying ten years ago tomorrow, life as we know it here in the u.s., really life around the world changed in a matter of moments. and as we go through our daily lives, some of the numbers from that day are faded from our memory. in all, 2,977 people died that day, including 34 firefighters. far and away the deadliest day in the history of the fdny. 184 died at the pentagon. 33 passengers and 7 crew members died as they fought down hijackers on flight 93, crashing in shanksville. citizens of more than 90 countries were killed. 3,051 children lost a parent. 17 children were born after a father was killed that day. and 11 pregnant women lost their lives. it is also a time for reflection on many fronts, including those who covered the events of 9/11. in a special airing on msnbc tomorrow night, nbc news correspondents and anchors share their stories about covering the attacks and how they were seen by so many as an act of war. >> oh, god! >> let's look at these live pictures sat the world trade center. the other tower of the world trade center has just collapsed. you are looking at live pictures of the second twin tower at the world trade center collapsing as a result of the crash of an airplane into its side. >> there's been a declaration of war by terrorists on the united states. >> when the second tower went down, and tom brokaw said, this is a declaration of war against our country, i don't know that i had viewed it in that way up till that instant. i thought we have an act of terrorism. but, you know, when you hear tom brokaw, you know, the voice of a generation of news watchers say the words this is a declaration of war, it sinks in. >> i think the role of a journalist is to tell everyone that there is a new reality here. i knew we were changed, that that moment we were a different country. >> you can all watch the msnbc special 9/11 in our own words. it airs tomorrow night at 8:00 eastern, right here on msnbc. the terror attacks of september 11th inspired many americans to decide to serve their country. many of them died in iraq and afghanistan and many more were wounded. joining me from san diego is renee peloquinn, the west coast manager of the wounded warrior project. i'd like to hear about your experience on 9/11. where were you? >> i was, like most americans, i was in my first apartment in the town of north idaho i grew up in, watching it live, completely blown away. at first wasn't really sure what was going on, sitting there and watching it and it was definitely a moment that i'll never forget, just like every other american. >> and so you decided to, what, join the national guard as a result of what you saw? >> i did. honestly, i saw it as a sign from god to help out my country. i turned 18 the next day on september 12th, 2001, and i couldn't think of a better way than to sign up at my local national guard armory and to try and help out in any way that i could, right after that. >> that's pretty brave and bold of you. you actually went to iraq? >> i did. i went to kirkuk, iraq, with the idaho national guard from '04 to '05. it took a couple years for me to get out there after i signed up. i went to basic training and had the training to ramp up to go to iraq and help out the country. >> i'm curious what that was like. is iraq what you imagined and while you were there did you have any regrets being there? >> never a regret, not once. i consider it really a blessing that i was able to, you know, even in a small town in north idaho go at a young age and help out the country. i was there during a really amazing time back in '04 and '05. i was able to watch the first elections happen and just, you know, it was really neat to be able to be there at a time when i thought that america was really making a difference. >> but you know, renee, you did not come back unscathed. i'm told you returned, like many others, with combat stress related issues. >> i did. you know, i really honestly believe that everybody that goes over there comes back a little bit different. and i came back and i had a lot of hard times adjusting. took a couple years for me to realize did i have post traumatic stress disorder and when that happened i reached out to a local vet center and they in turn got me linked up with wounded warrior project which is a nonprofit organization that helps honor and empower wounded warriors that come back from iraq and afghanistan either with physical injuries or traumatic brain injuries or post traumatic stress. did i get linked up with them through their ptsb program called project odyssey. by 2008 i went on the first female project odyssey they put on in miami, florida. and basically we went out, it was a week-long retreat they paid for. we went out and just i met with 15 other female combat veterans. we swam with dolphins, went sailing, you know, sat down at night and had a circle of trust and had therapy sessions, group therapy sessions and it completely changed my life and made me realize that i wasn't alone. at that time i thought i was alone with what i was dealing with. after coming back. it just completely changed my life. i'm very thankful for organizations like that that are out there that will help. >> we're grateful for our service as well for the wounded warrior project. it sounds like a wonderful community. i'm glad you found yourself involved in that. thank you so much, renee peloquin for joining us from san diego. >> thank you. this morning, new yorkers linked hands to remember those killed on 9/11. the event was called hand in hand. the human chain stretched all the way up the west side water front. the activity was men to the echo the unity felt in new york after the attacks. this was similar to an event held 25 years ago which was caused hands across america, where millions of people linked arms for charity. [ male announcer ] when men don't choose what's right for their face, they can end up with shaving irritation. ♪ get gillette irritation defense shave gel and gillette fusion proglide razor to help defend against five signs of shaving irritation. ♪ try gillette fusion proglide and the irritation defense line. help defend your skin. ♪ help defend your skin. we're centurylink...a new kind of broadband company committed to providing honest, personal service from real people... 5-year price-lock guarantees... consistently fast speeds... and more ways to customize your technology. new details this hour on the historic flooding swallowing up homes and entire streets around the northeast. this video from binghamton, new york, shows waters nearly rising above that flood wall downtown. there's a boil water advisory in effect throughout the county. chris warren is live for us from binghamton, new york. look at that river behind you. those rushing waters. >> i want to show you, give you an idea of how far it's come down and how high it is. this is a fence right here that's up on a wall. not a flood wall but a wall. i'm told it goes down usually 12 feet to dry ground and normally the river is farther out. 12 feet. another clue of how high the water's come? this right here. this is debris that's been floating down. you know it was at least that high. you know the water was at least right here, to bring in this muddy, nasty stuff, whether it's oil, just dirt, that's what we're seeing here as we walk across the grass. we're in somebody's yard right now by the way. you can see as this growth, this muck. as we're looking here, we have the flood waters out into the front yard. you have all this mud, all under water. two days ago it was rushing by really fast with record flooding here in binghamton. one, two, three, four, five, six steps. okay? we've gone from down there and we're up here now six steps walking into the house, can show you this, alex, this is the water line, right here. imagine water, muddy, nasty river water alex in your home. so now like thousands of people are going to spend this weekend instead of watching football, they're going to be cleaning up and dealing with what to do next. they have flood insurance but still there's tough decisions to be made even after they settle. >> i can't believe how high the water went. these are the same guys that took out a lot of their stuff. they knew what was coming and they did the best they could to prepare. >> that's exactly right. they took out windows, doors, everything with a screw. all the cabinets in their kitchen. they took all of those out. it came up to about sink level to give you an idea. just imagine that in your home. >> good grief. no, thanks. chris warren from binghamton. the dow spiraled 304 points on friday and the s&p and nasdaq both saw losses. one bright spot to close the week, oil prices dropped about 2%. joining me now is analyst vera gibbons. if you say a good morning, i'm trying to give that silver lining. what was behind this sharp dip? >> down over 300 points. you have the usual u.s. issues with the economy floundering around. growth is very weak. a lot of the economists have ratcheted down the forecast for the rest of the year. the sell-off was in large part because of what's going on in europe. that has intensified the problems and there are spillovers in effect globally. >> it's been down over 4%, the market. >> terrible month. if we don't get our sea legs and shore this thing up, what are the ramifications of that. >> a bad start to the month usually means a worse finish. >> really? >> the confidence just isn't there. investors don't have the confidence, businesses, consumers alike are in limbo. investors are anxious about the economy, economic policy. there's a lot of what ifs in the air. you've got to get the sea legs back. the economy needs both the market. it needs washington in order to get things moving again. we need the help. >> we need the help. you'd think it would help on the mortgage rates, the lowest ever. 4.12%. >> amazing. >> does it even matter? t. doesn't. because people can't get these rates. there's a huge sense of pessimism as it relates to the housing market and because most people can't get the rates. they can't buy a house, refinance, because they have bad credit. you need to rate in the mid-700s. one-third of home owners have zero equity or they're completely under water. combine that with the lack of confidence in the housing market, these low rates don't matter. >> vera gibbons, thanks for the straight story. appreciate that. >> thanks, alex. 9/11 survivors, the story behind "rebirth," next. or when you're distracted? when you're falling asleep at the wheel? do you know how you'll react? lexus can now precisely test the most unpredictable variable in a car -- the driver. when you pursue perfection, you don't just engineer the world's most advanced driving simulator. you engineer amazing. ♪ it's pro-cool technology releases armies of snowmen masseuse, who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. [ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy. the same technology used by physical therapists. go to bengay.com for a 5-dollar coupon. survivors of 9/11 are sharing their poignant stories in a newly released film that took nearly a decade to make. "rebirth" premiered at the 2011 sundance film festival and follows the transformation of five people whose lived were changed forever by the september 11th attack. they include some who were severely injured and others who lost loved ones. >> everyone just knew. >> i'm still having surgery don't. they don't know what's wrong. >> i'm caught between having to move on and i don't want to. >> in the first dream all that happens is i just go up to her and i just hug her. >> i can't do anything i used to do. i feel useless. >> i still haven't cleaned out his drawers. can't do it. every once in a while i get that moment where i look and i say, i remember that shirt. >> joining me live now from washington, d.c. is the director of "rebirth," jim whitaker. good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> talk to me about the concept of the film and how you came up with this idea. >> i visited ground zero a month after september 11th with my wife and i was there looking at the debris and the wreckage and i had this obviously this sense of dread and anxiety. but as i looked around, i started to kind of have an imagination that the place might look different one day and had a sense actually for a moment, a sense of hope, and i thought how could i bring that experience of that dread and anxiety and hope to an audience in a short period of time? and i just decided the best way to do it would be to literally show it, put up cameras around ground zero that would take a frame of film every five minutes 24 hours a day and follow the site as it progressed and eventually begin a process of following five people, once a year, every year in interviews over a ten-year period. so the film's about the physical and emotional healing of the site over time. >> that's an extraordinary concept. i want to talk about one person who's profiled in this film, a woman named tanya. we'll watch a clip where she shares part of her story. >> are you going to have to say that my truth, i wasn't ready to tell my truth fully. and my truth is dating. it was a very, very painful decision to start dating again, you know? it's such a betrayal. it's a betrayal. >> tell me about tanya's experience and what she went through. >> well, tanya lost her fiance, sergio, on the day. he was a firefighter. and you know, her experience was really beginning with the idea that -- and the feeling of that loss was, how do you move on? and is there a possibility for love? and how do you work through the process of letting go? and what she discovered and what happens in the film she met a wonderful man named ray tepper. they eventually settled into a life where they have two children now. the challenge for her was how to let go. recently she actually talked about how that challenge actually can be thought of in a different way, which is that the process of losing someone is certainly a process of letting go to a certain extent, but what she realized midway through the years that we were together was that you actually start to think about it as adding on. it's not that you let go completely but you begin to add on other parts of your life, which was ray and her children now. i thought that was a really profound way to look at the experience of her years and how she really healed. >> hey, jim, i want to see "rebirth." where can i do that? where can anyone who wants to see this movie get it? >> first of all, we're showing on showtime on september 11th at 9:00 p.m. and order it on dvd, amazon.com and through the distributor. if you're in washington it's playing in theaters here, in new york as well. >> jim whitaker, thank you very much. director of "rebirth." best of luck with the film. >> thank you so much. tight security threat in new york and washington ahead of tomorrow's anniversary of 9/11. the latest on the terror threat on msnbc. from $10,990. the all-new nissan versa sedan. innovation upsized. innovation for all. 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