truck bomb. officials say the focus seems to be on new york and washington but law enforcement around the country is on alert. we asked cnn national security contributor fran townsend how concerned we should be. >> most concerning to me we heard from commissioner kelly this morning the three individuals at least one of which is a u.s. citizen officials tell us they haven't identified. that is a very difficult problem. especially for the u.s. citizens. americans cross our borders easily. that is a real challenge for them and why you're hearing officials ask for the americans for help. president obama is on the road to richmond, virginia to promote the $447 billion jobs plan he outlined last night. he is expected to speak around 11:35 eastern time. in his address last night the president repeatedly urged congress to pass this jobs bill. >> pass this jobs bill and starting tomorrow small businesses will get a tax cut if they hire new workers or raise wages. pass this bill and all small business owners will also see payroll taxes cut in half next year. >> not only should congress not pass his plan. i say mr. president stop. your last plan hasn't worked and is hurting the american economy. >> the plan got mixed reviews from republicans. the only formal response was from presidential candidate michele bachmann. you got a chance to hear her. meantime parts of southern california are getting back to normal this afternoon after a massive power outage left martin luther king jr. of people in the dark. san diego gas and electric says it has restored power to all of its customers. the blackout started yesterday. parts of arizona and mexico are also affected. authorities say a worker replacing equipment at a sub station near yuma, arizona triggered the outage. still no sign of moammar gadhafi but there is a new warrant out for his arrest this time from interpol, the international criminal police organization sending out red notice arrest warrants for the former libyan leader. his sons and his brother-in-law. the warrants will help with the extradition of gadhafi from libya. meantime i want to take you straight to capitol hill where they are having a moment of silence in memory of the thousands killed on 9/11. >> september 11, 2001. [ silence ] >> again, that moment of silence there on capitol hill in commemoration of the thousands killed on 9/11 ten years ago, three airplanes hijacked by terrorists causing the deaths of thousands in new york, at the pentagon, and in shanksville, pennsylvania. >> the house will be in order. it is another day on the front lines for firefighters in texas battling dozens of wildfires and the flames are still spreading. a fire near austin is the biggest. at last count it had destroyed 1400 homes. dozens of new fires have started in the last week. president barack obama has signed emergency orders for parts oftated by flooding. one of the area major rivers the susquehanna is starting to crest but the water is still rising in other places. at least three deaths are blamed on the flooding brought on by the remnants of tropical storm lee. >> we had no warning. if it wasn't for me waking up at 3:00 to go to work we'd never have known the flood waters came up. >> i'm still shocked. i can't believe it. my husband said to me the cars are going. i'm thinking, what do you mean the cars are going? >> 4, 3, 2, 1, fire! >> and nasa holding a very large test there of what this space agency calls its largest and most powerful solid rocket motor ever designed for flight. this happened in utah yesterday. they'll use the information collected from this test and earlier ones to better understand the motor's performance and reliability. ten years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the start of the war in afghanistan. what is going on there right now? our suzanne malveaux is looking for answers as she is live from camp eggers in the afghan capital of kabul. suzanne? >> reporter: hey, fred, good to see you. this is a race against time if you think about it. it's slated that u.s. and nato troops are going to be pulling out of afghanistan by the end of 2014 so what they're trying to do here at this base is really get the afghans up to speed to get an army, a military service, air force that can protect its own country. it is a tall order, fred, a top priority. officials admit. but we had a chance to see first hand what it is that they're actually doing here and throughout the country. first when it comes to the air force had a chance to go up in a helicopter as well as a c-27 transport plane went flying high above afghanistan. if you take a look at the terrain it's about the size of texas or so, very rough terrain. that is why the air force is really critical to the security of afghanistan trying to train these pilots to get them up to speed. on the ground, you've got what is traditional, conventional training. they are shooting guns, shooting targets, replacing some of the old russian military weapons with american weapons, advanced weapons, but at the same time there is something that is very fascinating and unique that is happening here and that is the focus on education. you wouldn't think that perhaps the greatest, most powerful weapon of al qaeda is teaching afghans how to read and write but, fred, that is actually the case here on the ground, about 86% of afghan recruits for the army are illiterate and they say that is no way to run an army, no way that people will really be able to have the kind of quality to produce the kind of army that they need. so that is the focus here, to try to get people up to speed in many different areas. they're going to focus more on the education aspect after this quick break. # removes 99% of dirt and toxins without dyes, parabens or harsh sulfates. so skin feels pure and healthy. 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the war on terror in afghanistan. the race is on to train the afghan army to take over its own security. u.s. forces come home in 2014. our suzanne malveaux is in afghanistan to see first hand how that training is going. she is joining us now live from camp eggers again in kabul. suzanne, tell us more about the military readiness. >> it's really interesting. ten years ago what was the priority of the bush administration, president bush saying we have to get rid of al qaeda and make sure the taliban is not -- make sure they don't come back into power. well, now the focus certainly is on training the afghans to try to get them up to speed to provide their own security and what is surprising here is that a lot of the training that you see not the conventional type of training but really is the kind taking place in the classroom. they think that is the strongest way they can beat back al qaeda is empowering the afghan people. the mission now is for afghans to take over their security by the end of 2014 so that u.s. and nato troops can get out. on the ground at the kabul military training center, u.s. and nato trainers are frantically trying to get thousands of raw recruits up to speed. where these folks are standing in this training exercise is significant. six months ago american trainers were standing up front. they've been moved to the back with interpreters to be on stand by in case they're needed but up front the afghans are training the afghans. >> most of the time we don't have to intervene but if there is something they cannot associate with heavy weapons we step in and resolve the issue. >> reporter: the race is on to train afghans sufficiently before u.s. troops are scheduled to pull out in just over three years' time. critics charge that nato is putting quantity over quality. >> everything is a numbers game. that is essentially what we're seeing. this is like a big machine which takes in this these afghan recruits and spits them out at the other end and it doesn't really matter how good or effective they are. >> reporter: colonel mike meyer a top advise tower the kabul training mission defends the program. what we've tried to do is build an army quickly and, you know, we're on track to do that. once we have an army at a certain level then we'll be able to sustain that and improve the quality. >> reporter: but the challenges right now are immense. 86% of the afghan recruits are illiterate. they can't write their names. they can't add or subtract. even at a kindergarten level. that's why the u.s. and nato mission launched an all out literacy campaign last november. to make sure every recruit has at least the basics. this man couldn't even write his own name when he signed up for the afghan army. now he's proud to be reading at a second grade level while supporting his sick father on his soldier's salary. >> translator: before i wasn't able to read the signs and i wasn't able to write letters or sentences. now i am able. even if i want to go to the doctor i can see the sign and read it. >> reporter: for muhammed it is much more personal. his older brother was killed by the taliban. trnchs even my parents told me that by joining the army you will be going the same way. but i told my parents, no. i would like to serve my country this way. >> reporter: sergeant jesse finley a u.s. member of the training team says the afghans have a lot of heart but don't always stick around. >> given that retainability, it's very difficult because some of them just want to go back home. you know, get a little pay, go back home. >> reporter: but their home, afghanistan, is at a critical turning point. its future is uncertain. >> this war is not over, no. no. it's not over yet. it will be over when the afghan people decide it's over. >> reporter: so, fred, it's kind of strange when you think about it when you first hear about the whole literacy campaign that the army, that u.s. and nato forces be involved in this but if you think about it, i mean, the folks i talked to, the afghan recruits, i mean, they were not able to, if you issue them a weap weapon, for instance, keep track of a serial number because they can't count. they can't actually read the numbers. if they got lost they couldn't read a map. they can't even like get a pay stub for their military work because they're not able to actually read, write, or count. so if you look at it that way it makes sense that the military is involved in trying to educate these folks so that they can become more independent, be stronger and essentially have a military that can act independently. fred? >> so, suzanne, there is another obstacle, right? we're talking about the rugged terrain. it's been an obstacle for allied forces, u.s. troops, and now is likely to be an obstacle for these new recruits as well, right? >> well, sure. you have the whole air force component of all of this because if you think about afghanistan, it's about the size of texas. very rugged terrain. you've got extreme weather, extreme heat, extreme cold. if you use the roads a lot of times travelers are subject to insurgent attacks, those kinds of things. you've got to have an army, an air force that's flexible and able to move in the sky and get around. they've got pretty old aircraft they were working with previously in the russian age, the soviet age. they are now upgrading to some american aircraft. they have a long way to go, fred, a lot of work to do because as was mentioned before you can't teach someone how to fly until you teach them how to read. and so this is a slow process. they admit, the officials here, that there is a lot of work to be done but they feel like they are making some progress. >> all right. suzanne malveaux in kabul we'll get back with you momentarily within this hour. thanks so much. more now on the response to a terror threat aimed to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary. officials say new york and washington are likely targets but law enforcement agencies across the country are also on alert. senior correspondent alan chernoff joins us now on the phone from new york. there he is not on the phone but there you are live and in person. alan, how are authorities, you know, reacting, responding to this possible plot? >> reporter: the police ourt in force all across manhattan today. there are checkpoints just like this set up in downtown manhattan near the financial district right near ground zero. midtown especially near times square and here at the beginning of the upper west side we're standing at 60th street and columbus avenue. what the police are doing is they are visually inspecting all vehicles. they have to pass just one lane, trucks and vans are being pulled over and asked to open up. police take a look inside. one truck pulling over. they'll ask the driver to open up so they can look inside. the police are wearing radioactivity detectors on their bodies. they're like large pagers and they'll go off if there is any radioactivity so they're checking for dirty bombs as well. on top of that the police have license plate readers at bridges and tunnels entering manhattan and have the check points set up all over town. there are two more set up on the upper west side above us and have a look at what that is doing to traffic. way backed up not only to the upper west side but come with me. if we look over here, this points over across town. we're looking right over at columbus circle, central park. traffic a complete mess over here. i should also add that police vehicles are cruising this city with those license plate readers but they're certainly not cruising at a very fast speed today. i asked paul brown the deputy commissioner for public affairs of the police department whether all of this might have been happening anyway since we are only a couple days ahead of the 9/11 anniversary. he said we'd have had a large presence but certainly would not have had all of these check points like you see right here. >> incredible. alan chernoff, thanks so much from new york. meantime, out west the massive power outage hits parts of california, arizona, and mexico and the blackout snarled traffic and left millions in the dark. we'll go live to san diego. the natural oatmeal formula improves skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] only from aveeno. new splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart new ways to sweeten. same great taste. new splenda® essentials™. live pictures now of the university of richmond's robin center. any moment now you see a huge crowd there. any moment president barack obama will be coming into the crowd there and taken to the microphone. he's starting his nationwide tour to impress upon points made last night on his jobs plan on capitol hill. a lot of people in southern california spent the night in the dark as utility crews scrambled to get power back on. most outages were in the san diego area but power is now back on. casey wian is in san diego. how did this blackout happen? there a better explanation? >> we don't have a clear explanation yet. what we do know is that it started in the state of arizona near the community of yuma when a utility worker was working on a piece of equipment. for some reason that caused a massive power outage to spread from yuma where it started with 50,000 people losing power throughout southern california across the mexican border ultimately 5 million people were without power during parts of the day yesterday. what you're seeing behind me is something that's a real welcome sign for san diego residents. it's traffic actually moving through an intersection relatively smoothly. even though this intersection is still blinking red lights traffic is much better than it was yesterday afternoon when it was snarled throughout this area. businesses were without power. many of them have complained that they lost inventory, convenience stores, restaurants. it was a really big inconvenience for them and for a lot of people. san diego gas and electric officials worked all night long to try to get power restored which they were able to do very, very early this morning. they were able to get 100 sub stations back online and more than a thousand different points of distribution. so the impact of that since they were warning yesterday that residents may have to prepare for power outages all day today, perhaps even into the weekend, is that some businesses haven't reopened. schools remain closed throughout the area. the airport here is experiencing a little bit of delays but it's back open. flights are resuming. one thing i've never seen before and i've lived most of my life in southern california is if you look at your smart phone traffic map from southern orange county to the mexican border which is about 75 miles it's completely green, which you would never see at 8:15 in the morning on a work day. so it's a quiet day in san diego, which is very welcomed news for people in this community. >> all right. casey, thanks so much for that update. all right. as we approach the tenth anniversary of 9/11 we want to tell you about a new yorker who was deeply moved by the outpouring of help his hometown received. since 2004 he's been saying thank you by giving back to communities across the country. >> september 11 was a very tough time for the fire department. i lost some friends, guys wint to the academy with. the day afterwards people came from everywhere to help us out. it was incredible. you knew you weren't alone. as a new yorker to see that outpouring of kindness and generosity, it was more powerful than the terror that happened. that really changed me. i'm jeff parnes and i want to show the world that new yorkers will never forget what people did for us following 9/11. every year on the 9/11 anniversary we take volunteers from new york and send them to some part of the country where they had a disaster and help folks rebuild. the grain silo. a little culture shock. rebuilding homes or barns or churches. our way of saying thank you. now more than half our volunteers are from new york. people from the small towns we've helped keep showing up to help the next community. they're from louisiana and indiana and california and illinois and every year you see more t-shirts from more locations. after katrina we just jumped on his band wagon. this whole paying it forward thing is contagious. >> like this big dysfunctional family reunion of these disaster survivors who get together and do a barn raising. >> banging nails and building something but the relationships help you heal. >> it's about using the 9/11 anniversary to celebrate the 9/11 spirit. >> we'll see you all next year. >> people say thank you for doing this. i say you want to tlang me? show up on the next one. >> jeff's group has restored an american flag from ground zero now known as the national 9/11 flag. to find out more about his work or to make a donation go to cnn heroes.com and join the conversation on cnn heroes, faceboo