by the contra costa times, stockton record, and our local teachers. i'm jerry mcnerney, and i approved this message. tonight on "nightline," terrorist plot. today, multiple reports of possible bombs aboard aircraft headed for the u.s. and europe prompt a global security cramable with the drama still unfolding, brian ross reports on the latest. plus, lebron-onomics. last july, he said in a her cape of hype that he was going to bring his talent to south beach. so, how is that working out? not only are the miami fans ecstatic, a whole new economy is cropping up to turn lebron james' buzz into cold, hard cash. and, halloween hits. from the jersey shore to the chilean miners to your favorite

politicians. this year's hottest halloween costumes raise the bar for outrageous. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, sit ya mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 29th, 2010. >> good evening. we begin tonight with terrorism in the news today that the white house and global security agencies spent the night racing to get ahead of a plot they were told was already literally in the air. the threat, numerous packages, it was unclear at that point how many, containing artfully concealed explosives on cargo planes headed for the u.s. this afternoon, the president called the plot a, quote, credible terrorist threat. brian ross is with us live tonight from washington with the latest. brian? >> reporter: cynthia, it appears tonight that al qaeda has built two printer bombs to be exploded at synagogues in chicago,

perhaps as early as this evening. authorities tell us the toner cartridges were hollowed out to hold explosives and a detonator virtually undetectable. but u.s. officials say late last night the saudi intelligence service provided the credible report that has many as 13 packages had been sent to the u.s. from yemen and some quick work today stopped two of them. the president was told of the plot thursday night at 10:30 and revealed it this afternoon. >> last night, and earlier today, our intelligence and law enforcement professionals working with our friends and al littles identified two suspicious packages bound for the united states. specifically, two places of jewish worship in chicago. >> reporter: both packages were shipped to chicago from yemen. one by fedex through dubai and another by ups routed through germany and england. earlier today, british authorities at the east midlands airport seized a large box that contained a printer.

it, and the package in dubai, were both addressed to the synagogues. inside, as seen in these pictures, the hollowed out toner cartridge. instead of black printer powder, there was white powder, almost a pound of it. >> an initial examination of those packages has determined that they do apparently contain explosive material. >> reporter: u.s. authorities say the bomb maker had cleverly hid elements of a cell phone what would have allowed the bomb to be detonated by a phone call. >> the device that was uncovered was intended to do harm. >> reporter: a lot of harm. officials believe the powder may be the home made but highly explosive petn, used in the failed plots of the so-called shoe bomber and the underwear bomber. even a small amount, a few ounces of petn, can cause huge damage as seen in this demonstration. a full pound would be much worse. >> no matter where it might go off, that is a devastating bomb.

petn is considered a high explosive, and it's more powerful than c-4 plastic explosives. it's a bit volatile and that's an issue with it. but you're going to get a large, large explosion. >> reporter: early today in chicago, fbi agents warned jewish community centers and synagogues to be on the alert as possible targets of al qaeda. >> we did receive a phone call this morning informing us of a potential threat of packages from yemen, saudi arabia and great britain, packages that would be delivered to jewish institutions in the chicago area. >> reporter: the fbi would not say which synagogues were targeted, but the white house said the synagogue across the street from president obama's home in chicago was not one of them. president obama will spend the night there tomorrow. >> well, chicago could be selected by someone in yemen because obama comes from there. it can also be selected because they might think it's not as well guarded as new york or

washington. >> though we are still pursuing all the facts, we do know that the packages originated in yemen. and we know that al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, a terrorist group based in yemen, continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens and our friends and allies. >> reporter: yemen has become an important al qaeda center. and, the home of the american-born radical cleric, anwar awlaki. >> yemen is the home of between 500 and 600 al qaeda fighters. that's three to four times the number of al qaeda fighters in afghanistan. so, this is really a place where al qaeda is operating where it is strong, where it has training camps and where we know they have trained people and sent them to the united states. >> reporter: the discovery of the printer bombs set off a scramble to inspect packages and

flights coming from yemen. late friday afternoon, two u.s. fighter jets escorted a flight from dubai as it landed at kennedy airport. it landed without incident. earlier, authorities in nowark and philadelphia searched ups and fedex cargo jets thought to be carrying packages shipped from yemen. and in new york city, police intercepted this ups delivery truck also believed to be carrying a package that began in yemen. no explosives were found in the truck. >> that package has been scanned by our bomb squad and has been cleared. >> reporter: the method of trying to ship the explosives into the country on air cargo flights exposes one of the worst kept secrets about america's security. at best, only a third of packages coming into the country as air cargo are ever inspected. >> i've called cargo really the soft underbelly of aviation security because of the relative little security that's attached to it.

i think this just underscores the fact that al qaeda is always probing for weaknesses in the system, and we close one veler inability and al qaeda attempts to exploit another. >> reporter: tonight, homeland security agents and intelligence analysts at this top secret targeting center were ordered to go back through previous shipments from yemen over the last two weeks, as the white house worried that other package bombs might have already made their way into the country. >> the american people should be confident that we will not waiver in our resolve to defeat al qaeda and its affiliates and to root out violent extremism in all its forms. >> reporter: u.s. officials are hardly resting easily tonight, knowing it was only a last-minute tip from the saudis that made it possible to catch the two printer bombs being shipped to chicago. cynthia? >> so, brian, why were the saudis onto the scheme? did we just get lucky this time again. >> reporter: well, the al qaeda group in yemen, their prime

target is saudi arabia and the saudi royal family. so, the saudis have a real incentive to keep their eyes on this group. >> so, brian, one of the pack e packages was cleared through london. how can that be? >> reporter: well, this material is hard to detect. a metal detector won't pick it up. and this was a kind of ingenius scheme, taking apart a printer and turning that into a bomb, putting it back in the printer and shipping it as if it would go right through security and it did. it was only the tip that they received that allowed the u.s. to stop these packages with the help of the british and the germans. >> hard to screen for. now, the u.s. is in afghanistan fighting al qaeda. but given what richard clarke says about the number of al qaeda in yemen, is yemen next? >> reporter: well, yemen is certainly next. there are five or six times as many al qaeda fighters in yemen as there might be in afghanistan. the problem with al qaeda is it

has morphed, there are franchises in yemen, in northern africa, in lots of places. but yemen is a place where particular particularly virulent strain of al qaeda, with anwar awlaki, going ahead and urging other younger muslims that they are right to attack the u.s., that that is the thing they can do and be proud of. >> it's a very difficult situation. we thank you, as always, brian ross. we'll have more on the political implications of the attempted attack later tonight in the broadcast. when we come back, on a totally different front, we turn to sports, and the cottage industry being built in miami around lebron james and company. host: could switching to geico really save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance? do woodchucks chuck wood? (high-pitched laughter)

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to hear miami fans tell you, you'd think they were the basketball equivalent of the holy trinity. lebron james, dwyane wade and chris bosh, who, tonight, took the court in their first home game as miami heat teammates. this time, they lived up to the hype, the home team won, 96-70. and that's sure to stoke the massive move in miami to cash in on one of the splashiest rosters in sproe sports today. matt gutman has our report. >> reporter: there's the game -- >> alley-oop to wade! >> reporter: and then, there are the lebronomics. loosely defined as the money, glitz and celebrity accompanied by the arrival of the king.

>> at forward, from akron, ohio, number 6, lebron james. >> reporter: tonight, miami officially anointed its three kings. >> your miami heat. >> reporter: but as we learned, they now reign over a domain much larger than this arena. >> you're beginning to see the people that want to be seen at the games and also part of the miami scene, that including businessmen, very high profile businessmen and other people in the sports and entertainment industry and the rappers want to be the athletes a sathletes. >> reporter: this is one of miami's real estate mavens. so much of her business is done not in board rooms but in clubs like this. how much does a house like this go for? >> about $6 million. >> reporter: and it's attracted

buyers like alex rodriguez and floyd mayweather. in a down economy, she sarps miami's picked up. >> i've had sales indirectly tied to lebron, wade and bosh. those bye ebuyers are not going tell you they're related because they are also in the music and sports industry and the ego is not going to interfere. but i know why they want to be here and it's almost like the l.a. lakers. you need to be seen at the miami heat games. >> james. it's going down today. >> reporter: indeed, season tickets sold out the day lebron announced that he'd go to miami. >> luxury property has done better than most of the other properties in south florida. some people credit lebron, some people don't. it may be a self-fulfilling prophesy. >> reporter: it's not necessarily about lebron changing things but people thinking that lebron is changing things. >> absolutely. isn't that likering in life? >> reporter: which brings us to perception. i just need people to see your shoes. >> my shoes. and i am tall, by the way, i'm

5'10" and i'm wearing heels. and who wears boots in miami? >> reporter: you see, it really is about excess. from the big three's preseason debut -- >> should i try acting? >> got a deal with the heat, man. >> reporter: to the way they're being marketed. >> should i be writing this down? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: as much cultural icons as athletes. in fact, in their first media day here on monday, they were besieged by cameras. seemed all the players could do to keep expectations in check. >> do we want to play well, of course. will we will perfect? no. >> reporter: but they're just so marketable, as the heat have learned. >> this is unprecedented. there's never been a case where three superstars of this magnitude have decided to play on the same team. >> reporter: he's the team's executive vice president and a 25-year vet of the nba. >> in the 30 days after lebron made his decision, we sold more merchandise here and our website than we did in the entire 30 days after we won the championship.

>> the miami heat, they've done it. >> reporter: that's the only championship the team has ever won, back in 2006. and he's quick to add that all the sales came even before the organization stitched a single lebron jersey. in fact, there's so much hype that one of the owners has had 20,000 t-shirts made just to come men rate this game. from those hawking the lebron burger to the bosh bury martini to the lebron lemon drop, everybody in this town is finding their angle to capitalize on the big three. >> come on in. like to welcome you to the heat suite. >> reporter: you heard right. the heat suite. >> right over here, we have lebron's favorite drinks. the powerade, sprinte. >> reporter: houw does he know? his people talked to lebron's people. >> it's been very popular. >> reporter: you haven't told one yet? >> we haven't. however, i know that over the

next, you know, six months we're going to sell this thing several times. there's too many inquiries about it for it to not sell. >> reporter: the suite comes with this portrait. that ipod featuring lebron's favorite musicians, jay-z and beyonce -- >> and our red ferrari spider. fantastic car. everybody is going to love it. you're going to want to be seen in it. why don't you take it for a ride. >> reporter: i wouldn't say no. this is what $2500 a day will get you. in fact, driving through town, you notice the big three and chiefly lebron are inescapable. and folks really do expect revenue to roll in. >> the night life loves these guys. they're out every night, they're popping bottles, having a great time. they're celebrating every day. >> reporter: nathan lieberman owns the south beach group. he's got nine hotels, most of them here on miami beach's iconic collins ave.

he says bookings are already up. but amends the real beauty of it all is that if the team had lost, the party would continue. >> we always win. >> reporter: i'm matt gutman for "nightline," miami. >> well, win or lose, it sounds like a nice place to call home. up next, halloween costumes as a barometer of the culture at large. we take a look at what are sure to be some of this year's most memorable getups. when i brush, i like to do a really mediocre job. i love running my tongue across my teeth and feeling all the stuff i missed. [ male announcer ] no one really wants plaque left on their teeth. done. [ male announcer ] but ordinary manual brushes can leave up to 50% of plaque behind. oral-b power brushes are inspired by the tools professionals use, to clean away plaque in ways a manual brush can't. for that dentist-smooth, clean feeling every day. fight plaque with real power. oral-b power. get 50% off oral-b power brushes for a limited time.

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i'm among 30,000 employees let's keep it moving. who used to work for hp. i was supposed to retire there. carly fiorina changed all that. fiorina laid off 30,000 people and she shipped our jobs to china and india. i had to pack my bags and i was out the door that night. we even had to train our replacements. she didn't need 5 corporate jets. one hundred million for herself. fiorina never cared about our jobs. not then and not now. i'm barbara boxer and i approve this message. meet the real meg whitman: serving on the board of goldman sachs, whitman was caught reaping millions from insider stock deals. after ebay shareholders sued and a judge cited the obvious conflict of interest she was forced to pay the money back. what kind of person would be involved in deals a fellow republican congressman called corrupt? and in her last year at ebay, whitman paid herself $120 million right before the company laid off 10% of it's workers.

we're choosing a governor, shouldn't character matter? >> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with cynthia mcfadden.

>> remembering old halloween costumes is like opening little time capsules on years past. one year, the big costume might be orphan annie. this year, apart from the usual ghosts and goblins, many will take a different tact. and dress up as a current event. and for jeremy hubbard, that's a "sign of the times." >> reporter: of all the frightening, horrifying costumes on store shelves this halloween, we've found the scariest. >> everybody needs to go out and grab the dj pauly d costume. >> reporter: sadly, that guy's youtube sales pitch is dead on. this year will go down as the "jersey shore" halloween. seeing a gold mine, mtv launched its first reality costume line this year and they're the hot sellers, overtaking lady gaga. makes sense, afternoon all, what

invokes terror twit like -- >> guidos! >> reporter: snooki. if spray tans and sprayed hair aren't your thing, perhaps a costume ripped from the headlines. chilean miner. and, no, and awaiting wife and mistress are not included. if hard hats won't do, there is always the oily green has mat suit of a bp worker. >> and it comes with oil. we have oil. >> jimm >> reporter: you sake fake oil sludge. and with the election days away, politics are a popular choice. no chris toon o'donnell witch costumes. >> i can tell you i certainly am not going to be a witch. >> reporter: but the d.c. standards are hot sellers. >> clinton semis all the time. nixon semis. he's got a good nose. >> reporter: still not satisfied? >> i'm not too big on politics. i'm big on unicorns. >> reporter: that's one yunique

choice. any famous dead celebrity. why a unicorn? >> because they're majestic. >> reporter: of course. but there is one other thing to consider. the unnecessarily sexy costume. wait, there's a sexy sponge bob? it's become a popular halloween trend. taking g-rated characters and turning them raunchy. there's a viral youtube parody. >> sexy palace guard! sexy abe lincoln. >> wouldn't you like to four score with me? >> it's not quite like stripper ware but it's -- >> reporter: sex sells at halloween. so you have an entire section devoted to pimp costumes. >> yes. >> reporter: and then there are other ones that make you go -- what? no matter your choice, americans will spend nearly $6 billion on costumes, candy and decorations this year, about $66 each.

or, in "jersey shore" terms, more than enough for the spikes hair and fake abs that will make you fit right in. >> the abs? got them. got them. >> reporter: i'm jeremy hubbard for "nightline" in new york. >> i don't know. i spend all $66 on the candy. some costumes are just scarier than others, i guess. when we come back, terrorism and politics. that's a subject of tonight's closing argument. but first, here's jimmy kimmel with what's coming up next. >> jimmy: sotonight, zach gal n galifianak galifianakis, music from trombone shorty and

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