with russ mitchell. >> mitchell: and good evening. the u.s. government now has an official a left for americans living or traveling in europe. after a day of speculation the state department today issued a travel alert advising u.s. sustains in europe to stake extra precautions about their personal safety. what does it mean and how seriously should you take it? we begin our coverage with elizabeth palm never london. >> reporter: the state department's warning was echoed by the british government which raised its threat of terrorist attacks in france and germany specifically to high. >> this reinforces the need for vigilance against the continuing terrorist threat. the threat level against the united kingdom continues to be assessed at severe which is not a change. but of course very serious. >> reporter: also this week o bin laden released two new statements. they will be examined by intelligence agencies in case they contain coded ordered to militants. u.s. counterterrorism officials believe senior al qaeda leaders may have been planning to attack several european cities, similar to the terrorist assault in mumbai two years ago when armed men fanned out in the crowded downtown killing and wounding almost 500 people. pakistan's border region with afghanistan is still a haven for al qaeda training camps in spite of stepped up attacks from u.s. drones and pressure by the pakistan army. this summer western intelligence agencies were told that militants trained in this area were going to carry out the european attacks. so while today's travel warning is based on serious fears, it is vague leaving many of the hundreds of thousands of americans in europe for business or pleasure wondering what to make of it. >> you know, you just have got to be aware, you know, and take caution as you can because you have to go on with your life. >> i think we have to be vigilant everywhere and we have been here for three weeks now and really haven't seen any problems. haven't felt unsafe in any way. >> reporter: the state department alert does contain one specific warning. it says americans should be very wary using public transportation systems which, of course, in the past have been prime targets in other terrorist attacks. russ? >> mitchell: elizabeth palmer in london, thanks. >> and for more on the terror alert and what it means, we are joined by cbs news national security analyst juan zarate. good evening. >> good evening. >> mitchell: the big question is, why now. >> the alert comes at a time when authorities are learning more and more about this al qaeda directed plot at europe. and so in some ways the authorities the u.s. government has a duty to warn u.s. sustains about this potential threat in europe. in addition, this comes at a time with a lot of media attention about what we know with respect to the threat. and so authorities couldn't avoid putting out some sort of advisory to warn people traveling to europe. >> mitchell: at all right is pretty vague, no specific countries are mentioned. what does that say to you? >> well, it says a couple of things. first that authorities are still worried about the seriousness of this threat directed by bin laden to hit in europe with assault teams in mumbai-style attacks. it also suggests that they're worried that this may be evolving. it's not clear what the media coverage has done to change the direction of the plot. and so this is somewhat open-ended and vague in part because authorities aren't quite sure where this may be headed. so we're right in the middle of trying to understand what this plot means not only to travelers but also to counterterrorism officials. >> mitchell: when you look at this alert, how seriously do you think americans should take it? >> well, i think they should take is seriously in light of what we know about this plot. again something directed by bin laden and al qaeda to hit in european cities should not be ignored. at the same time we shouldn't overact. there isn't enough information to suggest something is going to happen tomorrow. but it does suggest americans need to be vigilant and need to be aware of their surroundings when they are traveling to european cities and just be conscious of the fact that there may be an attack sometime in the future. >> mitchell: cbs news national security analyst juan zarate, as alwayss thanks. suspected militants attacked roughly 20 tanker trucks near islamabad, pakistan, tonight as they were preparing to carry oil to nato and u.s. troops in afghanistan. pakistan police say at least two people were killed in the attack on the tankers which reportedly were parked at a poorly guarded terminal. >> and now to politicsment election day 2010 is now less than one month away. and it has been a very busy weekend of campaigning across the country. one of the critical contests in the fight for control of congress is in kentucky where the u.s. senate race between a tea party republican and the state's democratic attorney general got hotter today as the two squaredoff in a debate. congressional correspondent nancy cordes has more. >> we really have come to take our government back. >> yeah! (cheers and applause) >> reporter: republican rand paul describes his senate race as a referendum on president obama. >> this election is about more than me. >> reporter: but in many ways this connecticut election has been all about paul-- this kentucky election has been all about paul. his position in the forefront of the tea party movement and his controversial comments like his criticism of the historic 1964 civil rights act. >> you're looking at all that stands between rand paul and the united states senate. >> reporter: democrat jack conway the states's attorney general has positioned himself as the anti-paul. >> he's too risky. >> reporter: conway routinely calls paul radical or arguing among other things that environmental and safety regulations should be rolled back. >> mine regulations are written in the blood of cole miners and we have to stand up for them. >> reporter: and he says there's another key difference. >> i will sit down and answer your questions. i bet rand paul's not going to give you this opportunity. >> reporter: paul, a practicing eye doctor has largely steered clear of the press after getting in hot water early on. in fact, no one with his campaign would give us an interview. >> you don't want to answer any questions? you are the press secretary. >> reporter: paul's platform to aggressively shrink the size of government is resonating with kentucky voters. >> everybody just kind of woke up and said hey, we're too far in debt. we've got too many things going on. our government has its hands in too many things. >> reporter: in their debate today paul hammered conway for supporting the president's health-care reform plan and stimulus spending. >> i would jack asks like the money is free, go and get it from santa claus in washington. >> reporter: conway argues the health stimulus helped save 17,000 jobs in kentucky but made it clear he doesn't agree with the president on everything. for example, he favors extending the bush tax cuts for everyone including the wealthy. >> i'm certainly to the going to be the left of barack obama. >> reporter: republican leaders initially kept rand paul at arm's length but then he won his primary beating the candidate favored by his fellow kentuckian senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. now mcconnell and the rest are firmly in paul's corner because if he does not win, their chances of retaking the senate are very slim. russ. >> mitchell: nancy cordes, in washington, thank you. >> now to california where the already rough-and-tumble fight for governor got even nastier this weekend at a debate in fresno. patty kauffman has the latest on the race and issue that has moved front and center. >> reporter: in a heated debate broadcast on spanish-language television, meg whyteman accused her opponent former governor jerry brown of orchestrating the controversy surrounding her one-time housekeeper nicky diaz santillan. >> you should be ashamed for sacrificing nicky diaz on the altar of your political ambition. >> you have blamed her, blamed me, blamed the left, blamed the unions but you don't take accountability. >> reporter: whitman's campaign has been reeling since wednesday when santillan tearfully told reporters that whitman knew she was in the u.s. illegally but kept her on the payroll anyway. >> that she knew that. and i don't have papers to work here. >> reporter: whitman fired back releasing these employment documents showing diaz claimed she was here legally, had a driver's license and a social security card. >> this is truly a political smear on me, on my family, and based on lies. >> reporter: but in 2003 whitman's family received a letter from the government pointing out a problem with santillan's name and social security number. at the bottom, a note that appeared to be written by whitman's husband. >> at first whitman denied receiving any correspondence dense from the government about her immigration status even suggest santillan may have intercepted the mail. once the letter surfaced whyteman backtracked saying her husband did not receive receiving it. >> a big problem for whitman, she's campaigned hard on her stance against hiring undocumented immigrants. >> we do have to hold employers accountable for hiring only documented workers. >> reporter: so far the former ebay c.e.o. has poured $119 million of her own fortune into her campaign buying an onslaught of ads on spanish tv and radio. >> i cannot win the governor's race would the latino vote. >> this may thwart all of the goodwill that she has gained thus far and she has gained much goodwill in the latino community this threatens to undo a lot of that. >> reporter: whitman's worry now is whether this tearful allegation. >> she treat me as if i was not a human being. >> reporter: could do lasting damage to her campaign less than a month before election day. patty kauffman, cbs news, los angeles. >> mitchell: and this item from our political hot sheet. as expected, former white house chief of staff rahm emanuel said today he's preparing to run for mayor of chicago. he made the announcement on his campaign web site. >> five days after rutgers freshman tyler clementi jumped to his death the university is preparing for a silent vigil later this evening. clementi's death and the events before it are raising tough questions about privacy in this digital age. jim axelrod has more. >> reporter: the tragedy of tyler clementi's suicide from the live streaming much his encounter with another man to his suicide note unfolded as some of of our lives do now, on-line. >> we are now operating in a kind of freefall. internet gurus, says lying privacy is dead, get over it. >> reporter: the social networking revolution is happening so fast people may not have had a chance to catch up with the privacy implications. >> there's no boundary, you know. it's the whole world. >> reporter: emily murphy is a 26-year-old high school english teacher. this was here four and a half years ago when cbs news did a story about what was then an addictive new web venture called facebook. >> they tried to mark themselves as quirky or witty or fun in ways that i would know just looking at them face-to-face. >> reporter: since we first met emily murphy facebook has exploded in growth this past summer facebook reached 500 million users. that's one out of every 14 people on earth who now have a facebook profile. some projections estimate the number of facebook users will be a billion by next year. which is exactly why murphy uses facebook much less now. >> that's great. and i know the communication factor is there. but i also feel like there is part of my life that i want to retain as private. >> reporter: you never thought that way four years ago. >> i just-- no. >> the internet is not written in pencil mark it is written in ink. >> reporter: a new movie the social network number oned at the box office this weekend examines larger questions raised by the rise of facebook and other web sites. >> socializing on the internet is to socializing what reality tv is to reality. >> reporter: hur fee-- murphy the teacher agrees. >> do you see this with the kids you teach. >> absolutely. they are so concerned with their digital orion line image. and a little bit disheartening to think they put so much stock in how they present themselves, which is clearly can never be a full picture of who they are. >> reporter: which might be an important limit in the social networking revolution many think is limitless. jim axelrod, cbs news, new york. >> mitchell: and still ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news", civilian or military courts for accused terrorists. this man's case may be the key. you exercise and eat right, but your blood sugar may still be high, and you need extra help. ask your doctor about onglyza, a once daily medicine used with diet and exercise to control high blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. adding onglyza to your current oral medicine may help reduce after meal 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[ female announcer ] olay regenerist. >> mitchell: finally this sunday how far would you be willing to go to save the life of the person closest to you. cynthia bowers tells us about a chicago man who knew right away how he would answer that question and now so do we. >> it was hot. hot and sal trie. >> reporter: for frank and jane whitecotton t wasn't the i dos but rather the heat they remember most about their wedding day. >> she is a nice looking young lady. she still is. >> reporter: three children and five grandkids later, their love still burns. >> august 9th, 1958. >> reporter: frank promised to take care of jane in both sickness and in health. this year he proved it. >> my kidneys were like swiss cheese. >> reporter: in 1980 jane was diagnosed with polly cystic kidney disease. pkd is a hereditary disorder in which cysts grow on the kidneys. more than 12 million people suffer from it worldwide. as she aged, the disease worsened. >> progresses to the point where your kidneys are not functioning-- functioning prorl. >> reporter: jane needed a transplant, frank was a match but doctors rejked him because of his blood pressure, weight and age. nearly 85,000 americans are awaiting kidney transplants at only 17,000 operations were performed last year. >> there is more than 4,000 patients dying per year. >> reporter: for jane, time was running out. so over the next several years, frank worked hard to lower his blood pressure and lose weight. >> i says what, doc, i says i bend over and touch the floor with my hands and he says well, i can't do that so you ought to be okay. so he went ahead and said he would take me. >> reporter: and on august 9th, 2010, their 52nd wedding anniversary frank gave his wife a kidney at northwestern memorial hospital. he is the oldest donor on record. >> reporter: is there any way, frank, to express how good this made you feel. >> it is something that, you know you helped somebody. and there's a lot of people that need the help. >> reporter: how much does it mean to you, this gift of life. >> oh, a lot. he's my angel. >> reporter: and there's no better gift than putting together a new chapter of memories. cynthia bowers, cbs news, chicago. >> mitchell: wow. that is the "cbs evening news." later on cbs, "60 minutes." thanks for joining us this sunday evening. i'm russ mitchell, cbs news in new york. katie will be here tomorrow. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org coming up, a college basketball player dies and terror alert, what's sparking warnings for american travelers. and it was down to the ,,,, dentures are softer than teeth. and a lot of people, when they get a denture,