>> glor: tonight, the foiled holiday terror plot in portland, oregon. an f.b.i. sting operation captures a somali-born teenager accused of trying to bomb a christmas tree lighting ceremony. i'm jeff glor. also tonight, smart shopping. early signs that holiday shoppers are in a buying mood again, many with the help of smartsmoan technology. danica patrick on shifting gears from the indy car to nascar. and soccer challenge, afghan women deifying the taliban every time they take the field. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with jeff glor. >> glor: good evening. the explosives weren't real, but he thought they were.

we begin tonight with the latest on that terror plot arrest in portland, oregon, which made for a chilling start to this holiday season. the suspect is a 19-year-old naturalized u.s. citizen who was born in somalia. his ever move was closely tracked by federal agents as part of a carefully planned sting operation. terry mccarthy begins our coverage. >> three, two, one! >> reporter: the plan was to kill as many people as possible as thousands gathered for a tree lighting in portland's square, mohamed osman mohamud allegedly parked a van at the corner, attempting to detonate what he thought was a bomb. >> threat from him was very, very real. all the information we have up to this point is he acted alone. >> reporter: according to the justice department, the public was never at risk. the somali-born u.s. citizen had been given a fake bomb by undercover agents in a months-long f.b.i. sting. >> preventing someone with what looks like clear criminal intent to do harm.

>> reporter: mohamud had been under surveillance since 2009 when he was communicating with someone in the northwest frontier of pakistan, a known terrorist haven. he published articles in two jihadist magazines and he made it clear he was looking to commit an act of terrorism in the united states. undercover f.b.i. agents claiming to be friends of the pack taken associate contacted him in june of this year. according to an f.b.i. affidavit, mohamud told portland because they don't see it as a place where anything will happen. agents told him children will be at the tree lighting ceremony but mohamud was unmoved. "i want whoever is attending that event to leave, to leave either dead or injured," he said. >> this is an issue that obviously rattles all of us. >> reporter: mohamud meticulously planned his attack, down to the parking lot he wanted to use for maximum impact. he purchased the bomb-making materials but the f.b.i. agents

provided a fake bomb. in fact, nothing happened. after attempting to detonate the bomb twice using a cell phone, he was arresting, kicking agents and screamed, "allah akbar," or god it great." >> glor: terri, you mentioned he was under surveillance when he made these calls to pakistan. do we know why he was put under surveillance in the first place? >> reporter: apparently last year, someone in the muslim community in portland contacted law enforcement and said they thought the teenager was becoming too radicalized. after that the, f.b.i. started looking at his e-mail and that's when they discovered hiss interest in jihad and attacking americans. >> glor: terry mccarthy from los angeles, thank you. last night's arrest of a naturalized u.s. citizen focuses the attention on the risk of homegrown terrorists. >> reporter: the attempted

portland bombing is just latest in what has been an eye-opening year and a half of homegrown terror plots designed to kill americans. >> the good news is the f.b.i. is doing its job. the bad news is you have american citizens still trying to blow up their fellow citizens. >> reporter: last month, a virginia man was arrested in a federal sting after being accused of plotting to bomb the washington, d.c. subway system. in may, pakistani-born american citizen faisal shahzad failed in his attempt to blow up an s.u.v. in times square. in november, 2009, the massacre at fort hood, 13 people killed, 30 wiewntd after u.s. army major nidal hasan allegedly opened fire on his fellow soldiers. husan was connected to cleric anwar awlaki who is linked to al qaeda and is himself an american citizen. there was also najibullah zazi, an afghan turned u.s. resident who in september of last year conspired to detonate backpack bombs in the new york subway. >> so this isn't just about

al qaeda plotting attacks, like we saw in the new york subway attacks. but you have american citizens planning attacks against their fellow citizen, even in portla portland, oregon. >> reporter: this report says u.s. legal residents and citizens are lucrative assets for local terrorist organizations and that arrested seem to harbor the belief that the united states is at war with islam, which worries islamic experts. >> we are running out of time. we are running out of time so we have to run much faster to close the gap between muslims and non-muslims. >> reporter: akbar ahmed has studied it across america and says the problem only get worse. >> if they're caught at the airport terminal. it's too late. they need to be stopped at the source, which is the community, the mosque, the home. >> reporter: since 9/11, security experts say better intelligence has helped the f.b.i. track down terrorist

elements here at home. they also say with some of these thwarted or failed attacks, we were more lucky than good. jeff. >> glor: all right, whit johnson from our washington bureau tonight. whit, thank you. a russian-made cargo plane crashed tonight in karachi, pakistan, shortly after takeoff killing all eight crewmembers aboard. the plane came down in a housing complex, touching off a huge fire and likely causing casualties on the ground. the plane reportedly was heading tuesday sudan. the stat state department is brg for the latest release of classified documents by the wikileaks webz. wikileak said its planned release of cables will be seven times will the size of the iraq war leak last month. secretary of state clinton has already called several foreign leaderleaders to warn them of te possibly embarrassing disclosures. a state department spokesman said the unauthorized release would put american lives and interests at risk. we turn to the economy tonight.

with a month to go until christmas, retailers adding up black friday sales numbers are finding the results mixed. new sales number show only a slight increase in spending this year compared to 2009, up 0.3%. elaine, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, to you, jeff. that retail snapshot you just mentioned might not capture all of the holiday shopping so far. that's because many retailers this year started rolling out the discounts early, and actually saw increased traffic the first two weeks of november. also this year, many people are turning to their smartphones to help them score the best holiday deals. kathryn kack believes the power to find great deals is right in her hands. >> it's amazing where technology has gone. >> reporter: armed with a smarsmartphone kack uses an application, or app, that lets her see competing prices.

>> it saves you a lot of money especially if a tv is one price here and i found it's $300 cheemp in a different place. >> reporter: hundreds of new apps are available for smartphones or ipads to help sort through merchandise, comparison shop, and get the discount. >> you don't have to be a high-tech techie to use these apps. >> reporter: google reports the number of shopping searches it gets from cell phones has increased 30 times. apes like redlaser and price scanner let you scan price codes. >> it sends it to pricegrabber and shows every place that carries it and what the prices s are. >> reporter: coupon sherpa finds deals at every store. >> there's take $5 off your perform of $50 or more. you show her at the register and have her scan it at the register. shop kick is the hottest app this year. >> reporter: it knows where you are and gives you points for

setting foot in the store. >> best buy. for that we got 75 points. >> reporter: you collect points for deals. fast mall helps you navigate even the most confusing malls. >> it gives you a map. it gives you where the restaurants are. and most importantly, where the bathrooms are. >> reporter: retailers are bending over backwards to bring the store to you. >> use the power of the apps. >> reporter: this black friday b6% of shoppers used their smartphone or mobile device to try and log on to retailers' web sites this year. that figure is actually up about 5% compared to blacked from last year. jeff. >> glor: so, elaine, you have been out there now. what are people snapping up this year? >> reporter: it's interesting, jeff. it's the return to the traditional holiday gift item like sweaters and clothing, overall, really is making a comeback this year. also luxury items like jewelry and one more thing that's interesting to note-- experts say this year a lot of people are more willing to spend money

on themselves. they say that's a sign people are starting to feel much better about the economy. >> glor: interesting. we move now from black friday to small business saturday. that's the name of a new campaign aimed at getting holiday shoppers to spend their money at local, independently owned businesses. so did they cash in this year? in chicago, here's cynthia bowers. >> reporter: one day after black friday, when deal seekers stampeded big box stores, small, independently owned businesses are hoping for their blockbuster moment. >> how is shopping going? >> reporter: small business saturday, a national campaign, conceived by american express, encourages customers to shop at independently owned merchants today, shops like two fish glass art in forest park, illinois. >> we'll take it down right away. >> reporter: where owner cecilia hardacker is hoping this newly branded shopping day will help reel in customers. >> we can't compete with somebody that's ray big box but because we're unique and because

we have that personal touch, people come back to us. >> reporter: merchants point out there's something in it for local consumers in return. for every $100 spent in independently owned stores, $68 stays in the community in the form of taxes, payroll, and other expenditures compared to just $43 spent at big box stores. small businesses make up 95% of the retail landscape, but they've been hit hard by the recession. about half report cash flow problems. that's more than a 10% jump since 2007. >> the independent retailers have had to work harder in order to survive in this economic climate. that's why you've seen them as early adopters of technology and social media. >> reporter: they've embraced facebook and twit tore maintain relationships with customers with a personal touch, the chain stores can't copy. >> when people come in, we say hello. we have 7,000 people on our mailing list and we know most of them by name. >> reporter: and retailers hope they're creating a new holiday tradition that shoppers

will celebrate by opening their wallets. >> glor: still ahead on tonight's cbs evening news, protests in ireland over steep new budget cuts.

>> glor: ireland tonight is just hours away from accepting a financial bailout worth an estimated $100 billion after toxic real estate debt and shoddy banking practices pushed ireland to the brimpg of bankruptcy. as elizabeth palmer reports tonight, government budget cuts are infuriating the irish people. >> reporter: in spite of the freezing weather, thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets of dublin. >> our government has sold us out. they're penalizing people at the bottom of the heap for the mistakes that they made.

>> reporter: everyone in this crowd knows rough times are on the way. to get the loan, the irish government has to slash spendi spending. it's going to lay off almost 25,000 public sector workers, lower the minimum wage, increase taxes, and trim health care budgets. ireland is the second european country this year to need an emergency loan from its neighbors and the imf. in may, greece needed one worth $145 billion. and now economists worry if portugal and spain are next there won't be enough money in the kit tow bail them out. worst-case scenario it's european currency, the your oh, which was only introduced in 1999, might collapse. that's a catastrophe european politicians are determined to avoid. >> a permanent crisis resolution mechanism current in the euro

area is an essential piece of the jig saw. >> reporter: during the greek bailout, protesters got violent in athins over proposed austerity measures, and though the demonstration demonstratione continued, citizens now accept they must tighten their belts as greece sets its financial house in order. the irish, so full of anger today, will probably bite the bullet, too, if only because they have no choice. elizabeth palmer, cbs news, london. >> glor: president obama's passion for basketball appears undiminished tonight, despite the elbowing he took on the court yesterday that required 12 stitches to his lip. this afternoon, he left the white house, along with first lady michelle obama, and their two daughters to watch a match-up between howard university and oregon state. oregon state's basketball coach is craig robinson's, mr. obama's brother-in-law. just ahead on tonight's cbs evening news, can indy car

driver danica patrick make the leap to nascar?

>> glor: she is feisty and fearless. but it's been a tough year on the track for racing's most famous female danica patrick. there were no victories and she's still fighting for respect in the sport where she's usually the only woman on the track. here's mark strassmann. >> reporter: move over, boys. danica patrick just shifted gears. that's her in number 7, nascar's most celebrated rookie. >> i think that there's definitely an interest level because i'm a girl. i mean, it is different. >> reporter: she looks like an angel, but drives like a cee de. at 10 she started beating the boys racing go-karts. two years ago she became the first woman to win an indy car

race. nascar is a hard turn. driving a stock car means bumping and banging at 200 miles per hour. >> it doesn't stop very well. it doesn't turn very well. and you're like, i just might crash right now. or maybe not. >> reporter: jim peltz reports on auto racing for the "los angeles times." how well does she have to do for this to be a success from nascar's standpoint? >> i don't think she has to do well at all. i think either way, nascar will benefit. >> reporter: to nascar, danica patrick is a needed high-octane boost. in this recession the sport is in a real fight for sponsor dollars, fan attendance and television ratings and whenever danica patrick steps on any track, she gets hearts racing. >> some say the commercial is too hot for tv. >> how hot it soo hot? >> she has the "it" factor and reportedly will earn $10 million in endorsements this year. >> i have fun with it. , you know, i like being a girl, and i like being feminine. i'm lucky enough that i get to show all those sides of me.

>> reporter: for you it's all good? >> i'm just being myself. >> reporter: but her nascar career is off to a bumpy start. at daytona patrick crashed in her first big pile-up. she'll race in 11 more nascar events this year. >> i hope to be inspiring. i really do. >> reporter: inspiring people to go after something, whatever that something is. >> yes, absolutely. i'm not trying to say be a race car driver at all. i'm just saying what do you want to do and go for it. >> reporter: she's going for nascar's checkered flag. win or lose, she's a draw. mark strassmann, cbs news, fontana, california. >> glor: we'll be right back.

>> glor: if the earliest snowfall in britain in 17 years. the snow was brought by a severe cold snap that has the country

shivering tonight. scotland is the hardest hit where up to 10 inches of snow could fall. there are delays at airports and police are warning drivers to stay off many icy roads. willie nelson is on the road again tonight after hitting a minor bump. he was arrested and jaildz yesterday after an inspection of his tour bus turned up six ounces of marijuana. nelson, 77 years old now, was later released on a $2500 bond. now to sun power on the sea. what's said to be the world's largest solar-powered boat docked in miami today as its crew attempts to circumnavigate the gloib without using fossil fuels. coming up next in the cbs evening news, deifying the taliban. female soccer players take the field in afghanistan.

>> glor: finally tonight not all the news out of afghanistan involves combat and casualties.

mandy clark tonight has the story of one courageous group. for them, soccer is a whole lot more than a game. >> reporter: just by kicking the ball, these afghan women are taking on their fearest opponent it'sitait's taliban. when the taliban was in power, no woman was arb lowed to play sports, and female prisoners were publicly executed at the soccer stadium so having women take to the field is seen as a direct challenge to the militants. they practice every other day but rarely get to play matches in afghanistan. there's no afghan soccer league. these women play each other for fun. but this game can bring its own dangers with some of the women facing death threats. she quit for three months because of the taliban. "someone called my home number" she said. "he promised to kill me if i continued to play. i changed my enemy but i'm still

scared." 19-year-old sajay sahar was told to stop playing by family friends but she didn't listen, either. she's the top scorer for the team but she really only has one goal in mind. >> my only wish is to be a famous player also in my country and also in the world. >> reporter: and playing soccer has let the team see more of the world. they've traveled to germany, pakistan, and china for matches. they also recently played coalition forces in afghanistan and won 1-0. and they continue to try and push the boundaries. >> they say to stop playing but i cannot stop playing football. >> reporter: soccer is more than a game for these women. saharsees it as a form of protest. by taking the taliban head on, she believes will help bring about their defeat. mandy clark, cbs news,icable. >> glor: that is the cbs evening news tonight. i'm jeff glor other cbs news in new york. good night.

captioning sponsored by cbs it has been a day of downpours, sunshine, and more showers. how much longer will this last? coming up. i think the stuff that they sell here is a little bit more special in a way. >> holiday shopping on a smaller scale. the push this season to make sure mom and pop shops are not forgotten. remembering two murders that shaped san francisco history. 32 years later. cbs 5 eyewitness news is next. ,,,,