The news that federal authorities are investigating a possible terrorist threat in New York City or Washington D.C., just days before the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, only reinforces part of the message that comes from the new book Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State, written by Washington Post reporters Dana Priest and William Arkin.

The New York Times reports that a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, Matt Chandler, called the threat “specific, credible, but unconfirmed.“ Another official said American intelligence agencies were urgently pursuing leads overseas in an effort to gauge the seriousness of the threat.

NYC and DC were the sites of the attacks on the U.S., and they have always been most vulnerable. But that's not how our government has reacted domestically over the past decade. Don't agree? Did you see this report on PBS's NewsHour by Daniel Zwerdling about what's been going on at the Mall of America in Minneapolis?

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

This article appears in Sep 8-14, 2011.