good condition considering how old they are. >> look at you. >> thank you, sir. >> "nightly news." on our broadcast tonight, the plot thickens on the alleged terrorist plot to attack americans. the key figure accused of making bombs out of ordinary beauty supplies. a mystery in the national forest. a census worker found hanging from a tree with a three-letter word sprawled from his chest. pittsburgh practically shuts down to host the world. tonight, we have already seen the first clash with police. on the way here, president obama wins a big one in the effort to

change the way the world sees the u.s. plus, the transformation of this city from steel gray all the way to green. "nightly news" begins now. good evening from pittsburgh, pennsylvania. one of the great american cities. unfortunately, for the people who live and work here, it's been virtually emptied out so pittsburgh can host the g-20 summit of leaders from around the world. the dotown of this city is desolate. no people. not a truck, bus, boat or plane overhead. just police troops with humvees and automatic weapons watching from over the streets. this is big security in the post 9/11 age. it's actually where we begin tonight with the plot the feds believe they have broken up, designed tottack americans the

way we have seen attacks carried out overseas. before we get to this gathering, we're going to begin with pete williams in washington. pete, good evening. >> reporter: the denver area man arrested last week is now accused of ter rim. prosecutors say he was trying to master a formula for making a powerful explosive. as he was brought to a hearing tood, najibullah zazi faced charges of carrying bombs. in july and august, zazi and at least three others shopped at denver area beauty product suppliers buying gallons of chemicals that can be used for explosives that were used in the deadly 2005 bombings in london. >> they re far further along

in terms of planning than people thought a little while ago. >> reporter: three times in late august and early september, zazi got a hotel room in denver, one with a stove and heated the chemicals to concentrate them. court documents say he struggled with the formula, repeatey contacting someone for guidance. before heading to new york, two weeks ago, he searched the internet for stores that sold similar chemicals. >> we have an individual trained in bomb making by al qaeda and pakistan. he came back here. he has co-conspirators and was working on getting the bomb ready to go. >> reporter: they do not believe zazi succeeded in making explosives before he was arrested. a judge ordered his father who lied to fbi agents released on bail.

in a completely separate case, the fbi arrested an illinois man accusing him of planning to drive a car bomb to a federal building in springfield. he thought he had help from al qaeda. that person turned out to be an fbi undercover officer. no bombs were involved. as you watch this next report, remember the g-20 summit, the business end of it isn't under way. you'll hear a loan protestor with a bull horn start up soon enough. the protest began before all the leaders arrived here and while there are fewer protestors than members of the law enforcement and military, all the people in the downtown buildings, big companies like alcoa and melon

bank were told not to come to word today. frds mike taibbi has been out in it all day. mike, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. here on the roof, there's been tense moments as you say and at least three arrests. nothing resembling an actual collision. >> you must leav >> reporter: police fired pepper spray for crowd control when a group of several hundred protestors initially allowed to march downtown stopped following police instructions. the city was ready with around 1,000 out of town police officers flown in for temporary duty. the law enforcement contingent of 4,000 uniforms including the national guard troops. they seemed to f outnumber the protestors. elsewhere, in a town that seemed all before paralyzed, there was football in streets and shops and businesses that chose to stay open. >> there's people walking around. vendors. nobody came by.

it's like a ghost town. >> reporter: many businesses did close, some covering their windows with plywood. there's been a bit of that so far. windows smashed at a bank branch. shopping has been the absence of customers in a security lockdown. as for the protestors, some gathered in cities that were a mess in the rain. many said they are here to make a nonviolent statement and for the experience. >> even though it's raining, it feels good. everybody is welcome and open. the rain might be cold, but the people are warm. >> reporter: so far, this city's hopes and prayers were an uneventful gathering have been answered. keyword there, so far. it can turn south in one minute. one law enforcement source said there may only be 1,000 to 2,000

protestors in town, but the plan was and is to prepare for the worst. >> mike taibbi, thanks. when we talk about the global recession, it gives you an idea of the atmosphere here and the host president of the summit, obama of the united states comes in here following two speeches that now change u.s. foreign policy. our white house correspondent, savannah guthrie is here with us in pittsburgh, ong with the savannah, good evening. protestor. >> reporter: we have company. the world leaders are looking for initiative on the financial global crisis. with this frantic pace, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that in 24 hos, two big speeches changing the u.s. foreign policy. playing host to the world, the president and first lady arrived in pittsburgh this evening for the g-20 economic summit. in a week of high stakes summitry, the president taking a

break. carving out a sweeping new foreign policy vision. >> we have sought in word and deed, a new era of engagement with the world. >> reporter: today, chairing a rare summit level meeting of the u.n. council, the first for an american president. >> the draft resolution has been adopted unanimously. >> reporter: he won to work toward nuclear disarmorment. concerns about north korea and iran mount. >> we must demonstrate that international law is not an empty promise and treaties will be enforced. >> demonstrated to see change in u.s. foreign policy. based on a calculation they have made, it's better to work within institutions than as the administration has been saying from the sidelines. >> reporter: now, it's the global financial crisis on the agenda. since g-20 leaders last met in

london, the economy entered a fragile recovery. that has created a new set of pressures on the president. the world looking for leadership on reform of the financial system. seeking an exit strategy from the extraordinary government measures used to stave off a depression >> he has to create a sense there is a plan for economic stability and recovery. not only is it going to be big, fancy words and summit statements, but follow up on this in the months ahead. >> reporter: the work of the summit begins tomorrow. of course, world leaders watch the president's domeicattles vary closely to the extent in the health care battle. brian. >> savannah guthrie here covering the president. because the president is here our whole team is here. chuck todd, our political direct, chuck, very simple question. why pittsburgh for this

gathering? >> it's about domestic policy in some ways. the obama white house wants to highlight industrial cities showing a turn around. it's about showing off economic policy of what's going on here. pittsburgh is a city they want to showcase. it doesn't hurt politically. western pennsylvania, parts of industrial ohio and industrial indiana, big for the president in 2010 and 2012. being seen. they love the fact the president is dominating the local coverage and the local media. >> chuck todd, savannah guthrie, the team is all here covering politics. thanks to you both. in political news, the u.s. senate is back to 100 members. massachusetts has a new interim senator. the seat vacated by ted kennedy has been filled by a long-time kennedy aid and friend, paul kirk, the former head of the

democratic party ands the executor of ted kennedy's will. he was appointed by the massachusetts governor today, only to serve until a special election can be held. kirk said he will not run for the seat and will only hold on to it for the interim basis. he restores the 60 vote majority for the democrats. a disturbing story from kentucky. federal officials are investigating the death of a census worker. it's been reported, he was found hanging from a tree with the word fed, f-e-d, on his chest. ron, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you. the cause of death has been ruled asphyxiation, but authorities are not ready to classify it saying it could be an accident, a suicide or murder. the body of 51-year-old bill sparkman was discovered september 12 hanging from a tree

in rural kentucky. his job took him door-to-door seeking population data for next year's report. they haven't found a link between his job and his death. >> if somebody is killed because of their employment with the federal government, it's a federal crime. >> reporter: kentucky state troopers are leading the investigation. >> this is one of those investigations that's very difficult. we are unable to rule out or discredit any of the rumors going around about this. >> reporter: sparkman worked as a substitute schoolteacher. one of his colleague's there, a former state trooper became worried for his friend's safety when the usually reliable sparkman missed an afterschool appointment. >> when he didn't show up, we knew something was wrong. we said hey, there's something bad wrong. >> reporter: he moved to the area in the '90s to work for the boy scouts of america.

friends say he was looking to get a full-time teaching position when he died. brian. >> ron, thanks. when we continue from pittsburgh on a thursday night, what was the revolutionary medical science breakthrough that millions of americans woke up to this morning? >> what happened to the smokestacks and warehouses that used to be here? the big city that has slowly turned green. 'cause it's ford truck month. and that means savings on the best selling trucks 32 straight years. fortunately, luck has nothing to do with getting... a heck of a great deal on a brand spanking new ford super duty. plus, ford credit is there to help you with the financing. lucky you to get zero percent apr for 60 months or 5000 cash back on an '09 super duty. so, to hit it big on every built ford tough truck... forget vegas. it's truck month! only at you local ford dealer. progresso. oh yes hi. can you please put my grandma on the phone please? thanks. excuse me a sec. other person calling for her grandmother. she thinks it's her soup huh? i'm told she's in the garden picking herbs.

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we are back now from pittsburgh with a story a lot of people heard about first thing this morning. it's being touted, a first in a futile search in a vaccine against aids. this latest news comes from thailand, where an experimental vaccine had results that surprised even the experts working on it. our story from robert bazell. >> we are now one step closer to finding an hiv vaccine. >> reporter: the results in thailand are positive, but on a very small scale. those with the experimental vaccine had 31% fewer hiv infections. it's the closest thing from the last 25 years of research.

>> it's progress, but not by any means the final answer. it's an important step forward, but it should not be interpreted that we now have a vaccine for hiv that we are going to be using widely. >> reporter: the study in thai volunteers, men and women in no special risk group. they questioned weather it was worth $105 million. they are still skeptical. >> the fact there was a positive signal means there's some va to it. it's, in fact, more than any of us expected. whether the bang for the buck is worth it is something we have to still find out. >> reporter: years of research will be needed to find clues for the study to find a vaccine to protect far more people. despite the challenges, si scientists agree the vaccine is the best hope of stopping the

aids plague that still kills millions a year. as for the swine flu, the u.s. will eventually have plenty. today, the world health organization said the global supply is 3 billion doses, 2 billion less than hoped for. brian. >> bob bazell back in our studios in new york. bob, thanks. back here in pittsburgh, summit just getting underway. protests continue. we look at wall street, a second losing session in a w. the dow finished down 41 points. when we come back, how many people love baseball and can't live without it? we might have found the answer here earlier today. nd can't live without it? we might have found the answer here earlier today. i do. you could be losing bone strength. can i get it back? (announcer) ask your doctor how to help treat osteoporosis with once-a-month actonel. actonel is clinically proven to help increase bone rength to help prevent fractures. so you can get back some of what you lost. do not take actonel if you have low blood calcium, severe kidney disease,

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drive one. back here in pittsburgh, we were talking about how, with the exception of one protestor here, the people have been emptied out of the city because of the crushing security for the summit. right behind us, they had a baseball game and about 3,000 souls walked past the humvees

and the automatic weapons downtown. they got searched at the turnstiles and actually saw the pittsburgh pirates lose to the cincinnati reds. the pirates shut down the upper deck for the first time in the history of the franchise. they upgraded all the fans as a thank you for putting up with a ci that'shutdown. before they gathered here in pittsburgh, in fact as late as this afternoon world leaders were gathered in new york at the u.n. this was president obama's first time as host of that gathering. this morning's security counsel moting at the outset had the feel of a high school reunion. lots of smoozing and handshaking. there was an interesting moment when his chief of staff, rahm emanuel grabbed the chair behind the president, when he was reminded it belonged to hillary clinton. everybody there was still talking about last night's

speech by iran's president, ahmadinej ahmadinejad. a largely empty general assembly hall because so many delegations walked out before or during the speech. there was the famous rambling of moammar gadhafi. the photo of the cluttered lek turn made the front page of the "new york times." his marathon speech prompted venezuela's president, hugo chavez to promise to keep his speech short. he put it, "gadhafi said everything there is to say." when we come back from pittsburgh, when the whole world changed around them, they figured they had a change starting in thr own backyard. about smoking - is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. and the sad thing about it is that you can always use an excuse if cigarettes don't kill me, oh well - something else will. but, y can't use that as an excuse. i honestly loved smoking,

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it worked for me. (announcer) talk to your doctor to find out if prescription chantix is right for you. we are back tonight from pittsburgh. if you haven't been here in awhile, you might not recognize the place. this is the first couple wiping a light rain off each other at a conservatory, residential location for the first event tonight. again, light precipitation falling. nothing to ruin the summit. they once made half the steel for the country in this city. big, heavy industry. factories, smoke and

smokestacks, it was the work that built this city. when a lot of that went away, the city decided to go another way. we have that story from anne thompson. >> reporter: clean and green are usually not the first wods the world uses for pittsburgh. it's image for the smokey, gritty business for steel. one writer called pittsburgh hell with a lid off. architect frank lloyd wright said it should be abandoned. not anymore. today, it's an environmentally aware city. the centerpiece, the convention center. it is the largest green building of its kind in the world. using 35% less energy than the traditionally designed facility. savings that could power 1900 homes. what can the world learn from this convention center? >> a lot about sustainable centers.

hosting the g-20 doesn't have to be environmentally degrading. >> reporter: natural light illuminates three quarters of the exhibition space. >> the water comes from 50 feet below ground. pittsburgh's fourth river. it puts no pressure on the city's water system. a decision made not because it's politically correct, but because it's economically smart. the city's once filthy three rivers are now home to a 13-mile chain of parks. >> the history of taking steel mill sights and turning them to environmental and recreational treasures is nothing short of amazing. >> reporter: going green is paying off in tourists, new businesses and new respect. >> we don't do it just because it feels good, we do it because it creates jobs. >> reporter: jobs that make pittsburgh a beacon of the anne thompson, nbc news, future instead of a relic of the

past. pittsburgh. >> that's our broadcast. thank you for being with us. on behalf of our protestor here with the pull horn, i'm brian williams reporting tonight from pits burlg. we hope to see you tomorrow eveninging back home in new york. good night.