it's important to say they are not saying there is a specific threat, but what they are saying is there is a continued threat. certainly from al qaeda and affiliate organizations, and it notes that briefly al qaeda and the terrorists groups have linked their attacks to significant dates, and of course 9/11, there couldn't be anymore specific or significant dates than that. you know, i was just talking with a friend that said is this something that we should really, really be worried about. the state department issues these, randy, on a regular basis. in fact, this supplements another caution that was issued. it's the responsibility of the state department to warn americans who are abroad about this. that said, it is, of course, 9/11, very significant and the state department is saying there's a continuing threat out there. >> but it's not a travel alert for those here at home, it's for those who are traveling abroad or residing abroad? >> yes, that's what the state department does for u.s. citizens abroad. >> jill doherty, thank you so much for that. nobody wants a storm on a holiday weekend and we don't want to think about a tropical storm in new orleans, but all of the mississippi and texas coast are under a tropical storm warning as tropical depression 13 is going in that direction. with ten or more inches of rain expected on land, louisiana's governor has declared a state of emergency. he briefed reporters just moments ago. >> it's a slow-moving storm and will bring a lot of rain, and the primary risks will be a combination of the rising tides and the saturation of as much as 10 to 15 inches of rain, and as much as 20 inches in some areas, will lead to flash floods. >> we are sure this fire in new orleans' march will not be burning much longer. earlier in the week there was declared an emergency over that. karen, where is it right now and exactly where is it going? >> it's stalled sitting out in the north central gulf of mexico, but now as tropical depression 13, they are saying the water temperatures here in the mid to upper 80s closing in on 90 degrees, and perfect conditions for the tropical depression to turn into a tropical storm and could make hurricane intensity by the time it makes landfall. by saturday morning as the tropical storm moves towards lick charles, then at least according to one of the computer models makes its way towards the east and then we think will it lose strength and push towards central alabama as we go later on into the weekend. not a good weekend to travel towards the gulf coast region as this tropical depression may become rapidly a tropical storm with the next advisory coming up in the next hour from the national hurricane center. but this is what we are looking at. heavy bands of rainfall. in the short term, good news. it does put out the fire in new orleans east with heavy bands of rainfall, but we anticipate ten and 20 inches of rain. this is low-lying areas, but look at the spaghetti models. they go all over the place. it's too difficult to tell right now where this is headed. back to you. >> looking at the model it certainly seems that way. karen, thank you. in just a few minutes i will speak with a man that knows the gulf coast and natural disasters like nobody else. the retired lieutenant general joins us. we can't get irene, the big storm from last weekend, is still causing misery, but things are looking up on hatteras island. the people that fled their hat russ homes were told they could return on sunday and amtrak expect to have the east coast rail service fully restored by sunday. as for vermont, president obama signed a disaster declaration. he has done the same for north carolina, new jersey, and new york. if you are counting, roughly 1 million homes and businesses that lost electricity five or six days ago still don't have it. the power companies say they are working as hard as they can but have not heard the last of angry customers or lawmakers. we will speak with both next hour. and the untold numbers of trees fell by hurricane. this is the arlington oak. a tree estimated at 220 years old on the grounds of what is now arlington national cemetery. in the spring of 1963 president kennedy so admired the view from this spot he was buried nearby. the tree's demise was called, quote, truly unfortunate. the u.s. added no new jobs in august as the unemployment rate held steady at 9.1%. the news sent markets plunging more than 200 points during morning trading. president obama set to unveil a new jobs plan in a speech before congress next week, but republicans say the poor jobs report is further indication of the president's failed economic policies. ali velshi digs deeper into the numbers and explains just how pad they are coming up in ten minutes. firefighters are gaining ground in northern texas, and residents force to flee the blaze could return sometime today. it scorched more than 62 acres. 40 homes and nine rvs have been destroyed, but authorities say the fire is 50% contained. and meanwhile in neighboring oklahoma, firefighters are battling hot spots from a massive wildfire. the blaze was one of two brush fires that covered more than 16 miles in and around oklahoma city this week. news developing overseas right now, turkey is expelling an ambassador. it's the latest in the growing dispute. nine people were killed when israeli commandos clashed with the turks. according to the new york times the report credit sizes israel's actions but says the block aid was a security measure. the sped and threat of flooding this bring are mayor concerns. up next we talk to the man that led the military op rations during katrina. at usaa, we believe honor is not exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis. to the huge threat of a new storm along the gulf coast, this is what we're looking at, a slow-moving tropical depression is packing a whole lot of pressure. it's churning towards louisiana. tropical storm warnings are in place from mississippi to texas. it could unload 20 inches of rain over the region. and some oil rigs are being evacuated and preparations across the area are already under way. general russell onray who played a role in the response to katrina joins me to talk about the preparations. general, good to have you on the program today. you know firsthand, of course, what could happen to new orleans and the gulf. what is the biggest area of concern right now would you say? >> the low-lying areas along the coast. the grand isle, which will be taking on surge water constantly and is taking on higher tides now in the lower part of planmen parish. those are the areas that we're concerned about the most. >> the storm's path is so unpredictable. we were shown the math by karen and there is a whole spaghetti of all kinds of different ways this thing can go. what kind of preparations can you make when it looks like that? we're looking at it right there. look at that. if you don't know where it's going, how do you prepare with sandbags and any other preparations? >> just the prediction of rains there are certain gates on the flood system in new orleans that have already been closed and there's preparations on grand isle to close portions of highway 1 because we know it get ov overtopped. in those cases evacuation centers are being opened to deal with the people on grand isle. the water system has been reengineered since katrina. is the speed of the storm a concern at all for you? >> the rate of the rainfall. the pumps have been designed to be able to pump out one inch of water in the first hour, and then a half inch of rainfall every subsequent hour. so if you get more rainfall than that in a given part of the city that could be a challenge for the pumps. we have flood gates to keep the water from coming into the city, randi. >> what about the levees? are you confident the levees could hold a storm like this one? >> don't see the levees as being an issue in this one. the issues will be the title surge, and how much of a surge we get in the low-lying areas, and if the water can push its way in, the difference is opposed to katrina, we have gates now that can close the canals that come into the city, and we have brand-new bumps that can pump the water out of the city. >> this is labor day weekend and a lot of folks probably headed to new orleans to enjoy the holiday. they may not be familiar with what it means to evacuate and those measure, so what would you tell those folks headed to new orleans this weekend? >> watch the news closely and stay informed. the governments are doing periodic news updates, and stay informed because things could change quickly if we get a large amount of rain in a short amount of time and it could cause some streets in new orleans to flood. >> general russell, we appreciate your insight and advice there. thank you very much. up next, why an economic recovery is slipping even further out of reach. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. but it's our job to make them say something interesting. so how about this weekend we learn some new tricks of the trade... then break out our doing clothes and get rolling. let's use some paint that helps us get the job done in record time and makes a statement when we're finished. let's find ourselves a new favorite color. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get five dollars off gallon cans of our top paint brands, now through september 7th only. more troubling news for our economy in today's "your money." the unemployment rate remains at 9.1%. earlier today ali velshi asked what it meant for the economy. >> well, clearly we are stagnating. the employment numbers are getting weaker and weaker for a while. it underscores the recession never ended. we have not got back on where we started on output and not close on unemployment and very much crawling our way out of the recession. right now, nothing. >> gloria borger is our chief political analysts. we will get to find out whether we're in a recession or in danger of get into another one, but a poll shows that 37% of americans approve of how president obama is handling unemployment or the employment situation. on thursday night the president gives his jobs speech. politically what can he possibly say that will convince americans that his administration at least has some idea or answer to fixing this chronic and dire unemployment situation? >> well, he has to go out there and tell the american people that he has proposals to try and fix this unemployment problem. so you are probably going to hear some things from him, ali, that people will like, such as payroll tax cut extension, and for employees and for employers, tax credits for employers that hire new employees, and those kinds of things that he believes that republicans will sign on to. the question is, how big is this package going to be, because if it's too big, you know republicans will not go for it. so he has got a decision that he has got to make, and he's got to get something passed, but he also has an election coming up, right? >> yep. >> so he has to say i tried to get us in the right direction, and if they didn't follow me, they're pushing us in the wrong direction. >> that's the political prescription. and you predict these economic cycles, and sometimes you say it's not about what government does. are we in a recession? >> no, the recession did end. it ended in the summer of '09. since then, we have had cycles in the growth rate. so we have been growing. the economy has been growing, but we had speedups and slowdowns, and we had a speedup coming out, and then a slowdown in 2010. we're in a new slowdown now. every time you slow down, the risk of a new recession goes up by definition, because you're going in the wrong direction. right now i think we are skating on very thin ice. >> for much more on this story and all the latest financial news you need be sure and join ali velshi for "your money" on saturday at 1:00 and sunday at 3:00. and stocks tumbled, all three fell more than 2% this morning. the dow sits down about 211 points. a slow-moving tropical system to bring 20 inches of rain and flooding to parts of the gulf coast continues to drift northward toward land. it has not yet been declared a tropical storm. and louisiana has already declared a state of emergency. we'll keep you posted as we get additional updates. aaa says fewer americans will be hitting the road this labor day weekend. they expect the number of people traveling at least 50 miles from home will be down 2.4% from last year to 31.5 million. experts are blaming general nervousness about the economy and finding seats on crowded airlines and expensive gasoline. a gallon of gas cost about a dollar more than last year. if you stay home i highly recommend watching cnn all day. and tomorrow the university of alabama football team plays its first game since the devastating tornado hit the city of tuscaloosa. can the new season help the city heal? we're cracking down on medicare fraud. the healthcare law gives us powerful tools to fight it... to 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(in chinese) ask me why i never want to leave my ergo. ask me why i'm glad i didn't wait 'till i was too old to enjoy this. start asking real owners. ask me how to make your first move... find out more about the tempur advanced ergo system! call the number on your screen for your free dvd and information kit. to find an authorized dealer near you, visit tempurpedic.com. tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. when tornadoes ripped through alabama in april the university of alabama campus was mostly spared but much of the community surrounding the university was devastated. since the storm university students and athletes have helped recovery efforts but many believe when the alabama football team gets back on the field on saturday it will go a long way in helping people get back to normal. sports illustrated senior writer, loris anderson reports. >> reporter: a deadly tornado twisted and turned through tuscaloosa, alabama, and changed things forever. and it was unfathomable and touched almost ever in the community. four months later the community continues to rebuild. >> it's like taking the stadium and filling up the debris from the football build to the top of the lights three times, and we still have probably another stadium full left to go before we're clear from what happened on april 27th. >> reporter: that afternoon, carson was in his house with his girlfriend, ashley harrison. the house was in the direct line of the tornado. when the tornado hit the house, both ashley and carson were thrown 50 yards into a field across the street. that field happened to be one of the carson's places in tuscaloosa, and hours later he was hitting golf balls. carson survived with minor injuries, and she did not. >> being in his presence, it gets you through tough times. you could experience tough things, and he did and he's an example of coming back and being strong and having a positive attitude every day. >> reporter: since april 27th, the football players have been on the front lines in helping rebuild the community, and rebuilding houses and picking up debris, and they have been there to tell people listen their stories of loss and tragedy. it has had an up lifting psychological impact on tuscaloosa. >> we have to be a team not just in the best of times when we're playing games and there are 100,000 people supporting us, but in the worst of time when people need our help. i was really pleased with the way our players responded to that and continued to respond to it. >> reporter: the images don't do justice to the breath and scope that the damage and destruction of the tornado left behind in its wake. so when people come for the first time for the home opener, nick sabin is going more resources will help poor in to help the city. >> by being a part of the community, they are looking for us to give more back to the town of tuscaloosa. i can't wait. it's a long time coming. >> we're coming back. that's very exciting and very up lifting for those who come, and, you know, they look at this town and in the forest lake community on 14th street, i mean, there's nothing there and there are banners that say we're coming back. we're coming back. for me -- i just got chill bumps just talking about it. >> and reynolds wolf joins us from tuscaloosa on the alabama campus. you covered this story in spring. what is the mood there now four months later or so? >> reporter: they are ready to get it started. bits and pieces helped to reconstruct the community. the campus for the most part was spared but there's a footprint from the massive tornado that ripped away parts of the community, and especially the main thorough fair that people would take to make their way to the stadium that you see behind me on game days. you have things asteticily worn in terms of the tornado, but some things have been rebuild. one thing as a crowning piece was to bring back the games and the game atmosphere. it's like rocket fuel for the space shuttle. you have to have the game-time atmosphere to restore much of the spirit of the people here in tuscaloosa, and they are ready for it. >> they play ken state, and ken state has a connection to the storm? >> reporter: they do. the amazing thing about ken state, on paper doesn't look like it's a match-up, and we're talking about the powerhouse of alabama, and we're talking about a team that is just helping st