>> mitchell: tonight as the terror plot investigation widens, the u.s. says there could be more package bombs out there. i'm russ mitchell. also tonight, campaign 2010. with just two days until election day, president obama tries to rally democrats while republicans believe they're about to clinch a congressional takeover. he's number two: for the first time in more than five years, tiger woods is bumped from the top of the p.g.a. rankings. and game on: we'll give you be early look at the new video game that is strictly hands-free. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell. >> mitchell: and good evening. two days after that worldwide terror threat, there's new information out tonight that

is getting a lot of attention from law enforcement officials and air travelers. here's the latest. authorities believe one of the bombs discovered also traveled on passenger planes within the middle east. also, american officials say there may be more bombs out there, and the u.s. is sending six t.s.a. inspectors to yemen. homeland security correspondent bob orr has the latest. >> reporter: this is the al qaeda terrorist who officials believe handcrafted the deadly cargo bombs bound for two chicago synagogues. he is a master bomb builder for al qaeda in the arabian pennsylvania and the architect of the failed underwear bomb attack on christmas day. asiri, shown here with his face partially covered, also built the body cavity bomb which his brother, the man on the left, used in a suicide attack against a saudi counterterrorism official. like the others, the cargo bomb, hidden in printers, were highly sophisticated, powerful, carefully wired and concealed-- all hallmarks of al qaeda's expertise. >> we are concerned about

individuals in yemen who have very proficient bomb making capabilities who are very dangerous. so i do think there are a number of individuals who were responsible for putting this plot together. >> reporter: but the only suspect arrested so far has now been freed. a young woman, an engineering student, was held for a day when investigators accused her of shipping the explosive packages out of yemen. but authorities say the real shipper had stolen and used her identity in mailing the bombs. while the printer bombs were ultimately destined for the u.s. on cargo planes, at least one of the devices spent some time on two passenger jets. qatar airways said it shipped one of the them on a plane from yemen to doha and on to dubai before it was finally discovered. officials cannot explain how a device filled with nearly a pound of explosives twice escaped detection before being loaded on to passenger planes. now u.p.s. and fedex have stopped all shipments from

yemen. great britain has done the same. >> we have immediately banned packages coming to or through britain from yemen, and we will be looking extremely carefully at any further steps we have to take. >> reporter: the u.s. has also put a temporary hold now on cargo from yemen. and while the f.b.i. has already checked and cleared more than a dozen suspect packages mail around the same time as the bomb, officials can't yet say if they've completely shut down the plot. now the bombs were powerful enough to bring down airplanes, certainly, but it's not known if they were designed to go off in the air or on the ground. increasingly it seems the chicago synagogues may not have been the actual targets. >> mitchell: bob orr in washington, thanks. we turn now to campaign 2010 and the whirlwind pace leaders of both parties are keeping. with just two days to go, president obama has been barnstorming today in ohio. and joining us is chip reid. good evening.

>> reporter: good evening, russ. today's rally here at cleveland state university drew a raucous crowd of about 8,000. it's all part of an effort by the white house to get a last- minute surge from young and minority voters. >> i need you to keep on fighting. i need you to keep on believing. i need you to knock on some doors. i need you to talk to your neighbors. >> reporter: the question now is whether the president's true believers will really turn out at the polls when his name is not on the ballot, russ. >> mitchell: chip, of course a lot of places the president could have gone this sunday before election day. why did he choose ohio? >> reporter: well, russ, you know, most of his recent campaign events have been about holding on to the senate. this one was about keeping a governor in office, ohio governor ted strickland. why is that so important? because two years from now when president obama is up for reelection, it would be a huge advantage to have a democrat in the governor's mansion in this vital battleground state. >> mitchell: i understand later in the week the president is going to get out of town in a big way, is that true? >> he sure is.

he is going to asia for ten days. so if there are any recounts going on, he will be following the news from overseas. >> mitchell: okay, chip reid with the president in cleveland. thanks a lot. and taking a look at one of the critical contest we're following, republicans are eyeing the open senate seat in the battleground state of pennsylvania. this one is a close one. a new poll shows republican pat toomey is now two points ahead of the democrat, joe sestak. down from a five point lead less than a week ago. elaine quijano has more on this neck-and-neck battle. >> pennsylvania republican pat toomey is relentless on his attacks on president obama and the democratic congress. >> they're just trying to transform america into something like a european-style welfare state. >> reporter: a former congressman with a near-perfect conservative rating. >> give me a "k"! what's that spell? >> reporter: toomey blamed his democratic opponent congressman

joe sestak for voting for government bailouts of the banking and auto industries and for the $800 billion economic stimulus. >> joe sestak has supported every single item on the obama- pelosi agenda. >> reporter: he served 31 years in the navy, rise together rank of admiral and worked as a national security aid to president clinton before becoming a congressman. he says without the stimulus, unemployment would be higher. >> we've taken some tough votes. they were necessary to keep the ship from sinking. >> reporter: sestak says his overall voting record is moderate. >> i'm smack dab in the middle of the democratic party. >> sestak supported obama's health care reform but toomey wants to repeal it because he says it has raised the cost of coverage. >> the policies that they've been pursuing are, in fact, preventing us from having the kind of economic recovery we could be having. >> reporter: if elected, toomey says his top priority will be cutting taxes and government spending. >> and the people i talk to all across pennsylvania have had enough. they want a government that is going to live within its means, exercise some fiscal discipline.

>> what is it he is going to cut? we know social security is on the cutting board for him. we know that he tried to close down the medicare system twice. >> on november 2 we hope we can count on your vote. >> sestak is relying on organized labor to get people out to vote and called in his former was for a last minute boost. >> when president obama signed that bill, it cut taxes for 110 million american families. >> reporter: one thing both candidates say is, pennsylvania voters have common sense. we'll see what wisdom that brings on tuesday. cbs news, new york. >> mitchell: former alaska governor sarah palin is accusing staffers at cbs anchorage affiliate ktva of fabricating a story about candidate joe miller. she said a cell phone recording shows two of the station's reporters were trying to discredit the miller campaign.

>> it was revealed-- and we have the tape that proves it-- that the cbs reporters, the affiliate in alaska conspired to make up stories about joe miller. we have the tape, chris, and i can't wait until it bust out all over the nation. >> mitchell: ktva's general manager says "while the recording is real, the allegations are untrue." he says the reporters were discussing "what if" scenarios. and cbs news says in a statement: and that critical contest for alaska could wind up being historic. ben tracy went to anchorage to take a look. >> the senate race in alaska may come down to how well they spell. >> murkowski-- m-u-r-k-o-w-s-k-i.

>> as her state's senior senator, lisa murkowski never thought she would be waging a longshot write-in campaign. >> they will have to fill in that oval. they will have to write that name, and i want you to get it right. >> reporter: this week murkowski got a big boost when the alaska supreme court ruled that voters can see a list of approved write-in candidates before they cast their ballots. >> reporter: i'm joe miller, the true conservative choice for u.s. senate in alaska. >> reporter: meanwhile, joe miller's momentum is waning. documents released tuesday show that when he was a government lawyer he used government computers for political purposes. miller later admitted to lying about it. >> hello, alaska. >> reporter: so he brought out his biggest weapon to fight back. >> joe miller is ready to fight for us in washington, d.c. >> reporter: yet democrats now think scott mcadams could pull off an upset. so the party is pouring in money. >> my wife told me i better start wearing a tie so i can look senatorial. >> reporter: for murkowski to win, she needs not only

republicans, but also independents and democrats. but history is not on murkowski's side. no write-in candidate has ever won a statewide race here in alaska. and the last person to do it for the u.s. senate was strom thurman in 1954. >> fellow alaskans. >> reporter: yet joe miller has worried many in alaska with his calls for a dramatically smaller federal government. one-third of all jobs in the state are tied to the federal government. and for every dollar the state sends in in taxes, it gets $1.83 back in federal funds... >> let's go. >> reporter: ...even as conservative talk radio show host isn't sure about miller's message. what is alaska without the money coming out of the federal government? >> we're a poor stepchild of the rest of the country. >> reporter: and in this race, alaskans not only need to get out and vote... >> do you know how to spell murkowski? >> m-u-r-k... >> ...some will also need to get out their pens. ben tracy, cbs news, anchorage, alaska.

>> mitchell: and nearly every sign points to a republican takeover, making john boehner the likely next speaker of the house. cynthia bowers has more on the man who would be speaker. >> reporter: john boehner went home this weekend to ohio to campaign for his fellow republicans. >> everybody ready for that tsunami? >> yeah! >> it's coming! >> reporter: if there is, and if it is a republican tsunami, house minority leader boehner is widely expected to replace nancy pelosi as speaker. >> john, i look forward to calling you "mr. speaker." >> reporter: tops on his agenda: his party's pledge to america to drastically cut spending and repeal the president's health care plan. >> americans are demanding a new way forward in washington, an approach that neither party has tried. >> reporter: if he is indeed elected speaker, john boehner will have to work to unite a very disparate group of incoming and independent-minded republicans, many of whom view longtime g.o.p. congressmen as

part of the problem, not the solution. >> john boehner is a creature of this house. he knows how to make the system work. but maybe as many as 60 people in his caucus have come to washington to break that system apart. >> reporter: despite 19 years in congress, boehner may be better known for his perpetual tan than for his politics. his first foray into politics was as head of a homeowners association, which led eventually to his first run for congress in 1990. boehner became a power player, helping draft the 1994 contract with america. but he also got caught distributing campaign contributions from tobacco lobbyists on the house floor. he's achieved the rare feat of a second chance at power. in canton, house candidate jim rinacvci believes boehner's experiences will help him unite the party. >> reporter: for now, boehner

remains a speaker in waiting. cynthia bowers, cbs news, canton, ohio. >> mitchell: and still ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news," a shake-up in the sports world: tiger woods no longer number one. one. [ male announcer ] one look can turn the everyday into romantic. ♪ an accidental touch can turn ordinary into something more. moments can change anytime -- just like that. and when they do men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven,

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for deep penetrating relief you can feel precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. >> mitchell: it appears that turmoil in his personal life has taken a toll on tiger woods. after a reign of more than five years as the world's number one golfer, woods has dropped to second behind a player who has never won a major. tony guida has more. >> reporter: when tiger woods congratulated lee westwood at a tournament four weeks ago, he knew westwood was gunning for his crown. today, after 281 weeks at the top, woods is number one no longer. >> tiger clearly has not been the most dominant player in the world of golf for a long, long time. >> reporter: mostly because woods took a five-month break from competition this season. he needed time to try to patch his life back together after confessing to a series of extramarital affairs. >> i am deeply sorry for my

irresponsible and selfish behavior i engaged in. >> reporter: but elin woods was having none of it. the couple divorced, and tiger's game fell apart. he hasn't finished higher than fourth since. >> it's hard to play with that kind of pressure. >> reporter: inspired by woods, lawrence elliott took up golf five years ago and worked hard to make himself a six handicap. elliott believes woods will work hard, too. >> he will be back next year, strong as ever. >> reporter: for now the laurels go to lee westwood of england, the first european in 16 years to hold golf's top ranking. he called it the most satisfying achievement of his career. >> the game went younger and it went global. >> reporter: even so, jim nance's cbs sports says don't bet against tiger woods. >> you never sell tiger woods short when it comes to what he is going to do in golf. >> reporter: what woods does this week at a tournament in shanghai could put him right back at number one. tony guida, cbs news, new york. >> mitchell: also this sunday,

one of the closest advisors to president john f. kennedy has died. ted sorenson, best known as the president's speechwriter, died today in new york city of complications from a stroke. sorenson drafted some of kennedy's most famous phrases. >> ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. >> mitchell: articulated the vision of the new frontier. >> there are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. let them come to berlin. >> mitchell: but he was much more than a wordsmith. he was a policy advisor, political strategist, and kennedy's intellectual alter ego. >> working with this one man for 11 years merged our two styles. i knew what he wanted to say. i knew how he wanted to say it. >> mitchell: sorenson once said he was proudest of a letter he drafted to kennedy for soviet leader during the 1962 cuban missile crisis. it pressed for a peaceful resolution.

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>> mitchell: today marks the last day of an american icon. the pontiac motor division is no more. >> the pontiac g.t.o. for '66. >> mitchell: pontiac was branded as the excitement division for general motors in the '60s and '70s, and it was home of the original muscle cars, classics like the powerful g.t.o. >> we've got a long way to go. >> mitchell: and the trans am, seen here in the 1970s movie "smoky and the bandit," made pontiac a huge hit. in all, the division sold 40 million cars in its 84-year history. but by the late '80s, government emission standards forced pontiac and other carmakers to put the brakes on the muscle car era. sales dropped, and last year g.m. agreed to shut down pontiac as part of its bankruptcy restructuring. but the name pontiac lives on in legend and in garages around the world. and coming up on tonight's "cbs evening news," look, ma, no hands: the new video game you don't have to hold to play. hold to play.

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♪ [ upbeat instrumental ] [ rattling ] [ gasps ] [ rattling ] [ laughing ] [ announcer ] close enough just isn't good enough. - if your car is in an accident, - [ laughing continues ] make sure it's repaired with the right replacement parts. take the scary out of life with travelers. call or click now for an agent or quote. >> mitchell: finally tonight, it is hard to master a video game if you are one of those people all thumbs.

video game makers are looking to change that, and one of the new breed of games is about to hit the stores this coming thursday. john blackstone shows us how it is played. >> ready? >> reporter: at the hubble family home near seattle, the near future is on view. because dad works for microsoft, they are testing the soon-to-be released edition to the company's xbox game system. it's a $150 add-on called kinect, and five-year-old devon could be writing ads for it. >> i like to kinect because you get to move your body around instead of using a controller. >> reporter: with kinect there is no controller, no joystick, no wand. it could be the wave of the future. >> makes me feel like tom cruise. >> and that is what we went for. >> reporter: it was alex kipman's idea to do away with controllers. >> while everybody else is

putting gadgets and gizmos in your hand, look for ways to make technology disappear. >> reporter: it sees and even hears what players are doing. >> hello there, system. you might ask what are joints like mine doing in a game like this? microsoft's breakthrough with kinect is in finding a way to identify player's joints so that the game can follow every move they make. >> to make kinect capable of identifiable players of all shapes and sizes, microsoft brought some 4,200 people into this testing lab over the past year and a half. in the lab, players try to master the game. but the learning curve goes both ways. >> great job. >> the kinect is actually learning you. it knows when you walk into the field of view, it knows your face, it understands what you say to it. >> reporter: shannon, a microsoft game developer for 15 years, says kinect has opened new possibilities. >> when you stand up, you move your arms, and your avatar moves his arms and you give it a good tug. >> reporter: she coached me on

moving my avatar. >> i played this game too much. >> reporter: while beating me at some of the games she designed. >> i cheat sometimes. >> reporter: the technology, she says, can go well beyond gaming. >> reporter: that's the dream for kinect. it can change the way people think about interacting with machines, period. >> reporter: and recognizing body movements may be just the beginning. microsoft is working on making kinect capable of reading emotions, too. >> good job. >> reporter: but the emotion microsoft wants to see first is desire on the faces of eager buyers. in the highly competitive games market, microsoft sees kinect as a game changer. john blackstone, cbs news, washington. >> mitchell: looks like fun. and that is the "cbs evening news." i'm russ mitchell in new york. katie couric will be here tomorrow. happy halloween, everybody. we're going to leave you with pictures of folks trick-or- treating at the white house. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs

security threat. what was found in the trunk of a car pulled over for a traffic violation. three bart stations closed because of a security theft. what was found in the trunk of a car. dozens dive for cover when shots are fired in the east bay. nine people are hit. everything is big in texas including the stadium where the giants are playing the world series. ken bastida goes behind the scenes to find out how people get around the stadium and around town. [ female announcer ] after jerry brown was no longer governor, what did you lie about when you were governor? it's all a lie. what did you lie about? you run for office and the assumption is, oh, i know what to do. you don't. i didn't have a plan for california. you say you are going to lower taxes. you're gonna put people to work. you're gonna improve the schools. you're gonna stop crime. crime is up. schools are worse. taxes are higher.