this is the cbs evening news with scott pelley. pelley: good evening. september 2009 might have been one of those dates etched in our history. that is when al qaeda terrorists planned to walk on to new york city subway trains and grand central terminal with bombs in their backpacks. those trains are ridden by more than five million people each day. details of this plot came from an admitted terrorist, now a government witness, at the trial today of an alleged coconspirator. homeland security correspondent bob orr is following the case. reporter: this is the handwritten recipe for bombs najibullah zazi hoped to explode on new york city subway trains. the nine pages of instructions were written by zazi in 2008 after he attended al qaeda training classes in pakistan. the notes, complete with scientific formulas and diagrams of lab beakers, details on how to build bombs with cooking oil, nail polish remover, hair bleach and ball bearings. zazi s homemade explosives guide wa
the failed 2009 subway attacks but newly released tapes of his f.b.i. interviews show zazi initially denied the blot. he explained the bomb making notes came from a book he downloaded and ickily scarredded. as soon as i saw it i thought it was nothing i needed to see or have in my computer. reporter: hoe also denied owning bomb-making equipment like a scale needed to mingredient. reporter: but zazi conceded a scale was found in his luggage. he was arrested four days later. nuclear released e-mails also shows zazi stayed in regular touch with his al qaeda handlers, right up to the point where he became spook bide police surextraneous abandon the plot. for example, as he was preparing explosives inside this denver motel just before driving to new york, zazi sent a series of messages asking for help bleep, i do not know the amount. please, right away. but zazi also sought sought to assure al qaeda the plot was on, using a familiar jihadi code he wrote, the marriage i
spoke to the nation to defend his choices and also to announce that nato will take over the lead role tomorrow. emily schmidt is joining us from washington with all the details. good morning, emily. reporter: peggy and rob, good morning to you. before president obama used the word libya last night, he said the words international effort. and he said the world had had a responsibility to act. president obama, explaining the u.s. involvement in libya, said it was the right thing to do. the united states and the world faced a choice. gadhafi declared he would show no mercy to his own people. it was not in our national interest to let that happen. i refused to let that happen. reporter: mr. obama said in ten days, the coalition stopped moammar gadhafi s advance, doing so without u.s. ground troops and with a full transfer of power to nato tomorrow. in fact, just hours after the president s speech, secretary of state hillary clinton arrived in london, for an international co
speech that mr. obama gives later today. right here in new york. and last night, the president spoke to the nation to defend his choices and also to announce that nato will take over the lead role tomorrow. emily schmidt is joining us from washington with all the details. good morning, emily. reporter: peggy and rob, good morning to you. before president obama used the word libya last night, he said the words international effort. and he said the world had had a responsibility to act. president obama, explaining the u.s. involvement in libya, said it was the right thing to do. the united states and the world faced a choice. gadhafi declared he would show no mercy to his own people. it was not in our national interest to let that happen. i refused to let that happen. reporter: mr. obama said in ten days, the coalition stopped moammar gadhafi s advance, doing so without u.s. ground troops and with a full transfer of power to nato tomorrow. in fact, just hours after th
and last night, the president spoke to the nation to defend his choices and also to announce that nato will take over the lead role tomorrow. emily schmidt is joining us from washington with all the details. good morning, emily. reporter: peggy and rob, good morning to you. before president obama used the word libya last night, he said the words international effort. and he said the world had had a responsibility to act. president obama, explaining the u.s. involvement in libya, said it was the right thing to do. the united states and the world faced a choice. gadhafi declared he would show no mercy to his own people. it was not in our national interest to let that happen. i refused to let that happen. reporter: mr. obama said in ten days, the coalition stopped moammar gadhafi s advance, doing so without u.s. ground troops and with a full transfer of power to nato tomorrow. in fact, just hours after the president s speech, secretary of state hillary clinton arrived in