>> glor: tonight a warning to north korea: president in obama to south korea threatens to cut food aid if the north launches a long-range missile. bill plante is traveling with the president. former vice president dick cheney receives a heart transplant at the age of 71. we'll talk to our medical correspondent dr. john lapook. high stakes at the u.s. supreme court. jan crawford previews three days of arguments over health care reform. and box office bull's-eye. "the hunger games" sets a record. lee cowan hears from the young fans who just can't stay away. >> i wasn't sure if i was shaking because i was cold, excited or on a sugar high. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news."

>> glor: good evening, everyone. i'm jeff glor. there was hope that with new leadership in north korea there would be a new approach to its weapons program, but the north's new threat to defy a missile test ban brought strong words from president obama today. the president is visiting south korea for an international conference on nuclear security, and white house correspondent bill plante is there, as well. >> reporter: the president is in south korea for a summit aimed at keeping nuclear material out of the hands of terrorists. but the overriding question here is how to deal with a nuclear armed north korea. >> north korea will achieve nothing but threats or by provocations. >> reporter: just weeks after north korea said it would resume disarmament talks and the u.s. agreed to send in food, leaders in the north announced a missile launch for next month. with south korean president lee, president obama threatened to cancel the food aid if the launch happens. >> they need to understand that bad behavior will not be

rewarded. >> sir, the location we are standing on is the closest guard post on the korean peninsula. >> reporter: earlier the president made his first visit to the demilitarized zone which separates the two koreas. viewing the heavily fortified border still protected in part by american troops. the view from here is a window on the past. the angry, armed standoff of almost 60 years. it's also the picture of an uneasy present in which north korea mocked the nuclear security summit by threatening both a missile launch and the export of its nuclear technology to other nations. in the bunker beneath the observation post, the president told the troops they were at freedom's frontier, defending democracy on the korean peninsula. the president sits down monday with china's leader hu jintao, and he'll try the persuade him to use china's leverage to get the north koreans not to go ahead with that missile launch. jeff? >> glor: bill plante in korea.

bill, thank you. dick cheney has undergone a heart transplant. he's had five heart attacks and had the procedure on saturday at the age of 71. for more on this we're joined by medical correspondent dr. john lapook. jon, good evening to you. this happened yesterday. what is tick chain yes's immediate prognosis. >> we don't have a lot of information about his underlying condition. he's a little bit on the older side to be getting this, but in general about 15% of people are over the age of 56 who get this and five-year survival is about 70%, which is almost as good as the 75% everybody has. >> he was on the waiting list for 20 months. how does that compare the other folks? >> the average is about 250 days, so he was actually waiting a lot longer than everybody else. >> glor: so the immediate danger for him lasts for how long? >> about three to six months. the main things are two. one is infection and two is rejection, if his body says this is a heart i don't know about

and i'm getting rid of it. >> glor: but this is a procedure that's come a long wayment. >> it's absolutely stunning. when i was in medical school, i stood in the back of the operating room while they did first girl transplant in columbia, a heart transplant. it was amazing and everyone was running around. now it's almost routine. the statistics are amazing in terms of survival. >> glor: dr. jon lapook, thanks for coming in tonight. the stage is set for the opening tomorrow, three days of historic supreme court arguments over president obama's health care law. the case that has divided the american public and lower courts. jan crawford in washington tonight previews the battle. >> on friday people started lining up for a coveted spot inside the courtroom. the justices will start the massive case monday morning not with the big constitutional issues but with a basic legal question: it is too soon for the court to take up the law? that's an issue because the key part of the law, the requirement that all americans buy health

insurance or pay a penalty on their taxes, doesn't take effect until 2014. one federal appeals court ruled the lawsuit should wait until that actually happens. but even if the supreme court agree, the justices this week will go ahead and hear all the other arguments against the law. tuesday is the ball game. that's when the justices will take up the so-called individual mandate, the controversial requirement that americans have to buy insurance. the question: can congress force people to buy something. the opponents, including 26 states, argue congress has no power under the constitution to order people to buy anything and that if the law stands, congress will have sweeping new authority to dictate our behavior. on wednesday the justices will turn to more technical, though equally important questions, including if the individual mandate is unconstitutional, does that mean the entire law is struck down. one lower court rejected the individual mandate but said the

rest of the massive law could remain, including provisions that keep insurers from developing people with preexisting conditions or raising premiums based on medical history. now the court will also look at how congress expanded health care for the poor by imposing new requirements on the state. jeff, this case has it all, that's why many legal analysts are saying it could be the most important set of rulings since the justices reviewed f.d.r.'s new deal legislation 70 years ago. >> glor: jan crawford tonight outside the supreme court. jan, thank you. the health care act provides, among other things, for so-called accountable care organizations. brand-new this year, the organizations are projected by the white house to save up to $960 million over next throw years. in the basement of this chicago clinic, nurse gwile lloyd is helping patients fight obesity and diabetes. >> okay. good. so you got your shots? glor glr and above all, frequent trips to the e.r..

lloyd is a case manager for advocate health, an accountable care organization or aco. it's a new type of health care system aimed at lowering costs by aggressively monitoring patient health. >> basically what we do with our patients is we take hands-on approach to coordinate all of their phases of care. >> glor: she track about 150 people at high risk, making sure they get to appointments, take their medication and understand their illness. >> by paying someone like me, they actually save a lot 06 -- of money. my salary is covered in two to three e.trips. >> glor: leshae baker suffers from diabetes and hypertension. >> the medical profession is finally getting wise and saying, look, we need someone to check on these people and see what their needs are. >> glor: if acos can keep patients like baker out of the hospital and healthy, they get to keep a portion of the money they save. >> when i talk to employers all across the country, health care

expense is normally one of their top if not their top issue they are trying to address. >> john zern is with aon-hewett, a leading firm. he says aco's cost saving potential is making people take notice. >> anything that helps us reduce health care costs is a great thing. >> glor: for people like baker, the aco model is already working. her health has improved, all because she says someone is finally on her case. >> some of us know better, but we just don't do better. so when you have someone that's giving you a helping hand and a push, then i'm saying, okay, good. then i can live until i'm 100 years old. >> glor: monday marks one month since unarmed florida teenager trayvon martin was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer. across the country today, there

were prayers and more calls for action. here's anna werner. >> reporter: a packed house in the neighboring community of eatonville listened as the reverend jessebackson told them trayvon martin's death should spark a movement. for justice. >> what happens after? >> reporter: across the country this weekend, thousands of people were already sending that same message. in los angeles, in washington and in chicago. >> justice for trayvon martin. >> reporter: all reacting to the shooting of unarmed teenager trayvon martin by neighborhood watch volunteer, george zimmerman. reverend jackson told parishioners the problem extends beyond this one incident to the stand-your-ground laws now on the books in 24 states, which in florida allows people to defend themselves even by using deadly force. >> the stand-your-ground laws give powers to civilians that should be in the hands of trained police officers. >> reporter: but police here are under scrutiny, too. many here, include 20g-year

congress woman corinne brown, question the sanford police department's handling of the case, especially given that martin was just a teenage and was unarmed. >> let's let the court of law deal with this. it needs to be arrest. there needs to be a trial. and, you know, let the evidence speak for itself. >> reporter: one of the latest pieces of evidence they'll be considering, an alleged eyewitness account from man who reportedly said that he saw man matching the description of trayvon martin on top of george zimmerman that night. investigators will be looking at all of that as gatherings and vigils like the one behind me here in sanford continue. >> unanimous werner, thank you. >> glor: to campaign 2012 now. a bayou bounce for rick santorum. he handily beat mitt romney in louisiana's republican primary. that gives santorum nine more delegates but doesn't much dent romney's big lead in the overall

count. still ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news," preparations in cuba for the arrival tomorrow of pope benedict xvi.

>> glor: pope benedict is proving very popular in mention coach. it didn't hurt that he arrived at today's mass wearing a some bray row. hundreds of thousands turned out to attend the open-air service. tomorrow benedict heads to cuba where he faces a much tougher crowd. byron pitts is there. >> reporter: as the sun sets on another day in sant yaw santiago, government workers finished up the final preparations for pope ben digit's open-air mass here monday evening. in some places the smell of fresh paint overpowers the smell of a fresh cuban cigar. this father is a parish priest in santiago. what does it mean to have the pope in cuba? >> it is a presence that invites

to have more faith, more hope, more solidarity. >> reporter: but for all the posters and enthusiasm, cuba is the least-catholic country in latin america. the communist party banned christmas until pope john paul ii visited in 1998. while most cubans are catholic, far less than 10% are considered practicing and most churches draw modest crowds. the latin tradition known as santaria is far more popular, a west african ritual born out of slavery and widely practiced across the island. the pope's visit comes at a time of economic hardship. with the decline of communism, the cuban government was forced to lay off state workers we the thousands, forcing people to fend for themselves. pope benedict said that marxist ideology of cuba no longer

responds with reality. privately people here hope the pontiff will provide both heat and light during his three-day visit. byron pitts, cbs news, santiago. >> glor: we'll be right back.

>> it appears tiger woods may be back on course. today in orlando, woods won his first pga tour title in two and a half years. for more on the very try and the streak it ended, here's tony guida. >> reporter: tiger woods is back. his long, dark night without a pga tour win, two and a half

years, ended in the late afternoon sunshine of the arnold palmer invitational in orlando. >> it feels really good. >> reporter: woods owns this tournament. it's the seventh time he's won it, but woods couldn't buy a victory anywhere on the tour after crashing his car outside his former home in november 2009 amid reports he was cheating on his wife with a nightclub hostess. and when a blizzard of bimbos surfaced, woods hit bottom. >> i am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior. >> reporter: today with the scandal and the series of injuries behind him, woods could saver redemption. >> it was incredible to have that type of support here. >> reporter: now he hopes to win another major, the masters in 11 days. tony guida, cbs news, new york. >> reporter: just ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news," a young north korean refugee's incredible journey to america.

>> a mass rally in the north korean capital pyongyang marked the 100th day since the death of former leader kim jong il. as we heard earlier, president obama today talked about a stark difference. the poverty of the north compared to the prosperity of south korea. escape from the north is close to impossible, but tonight celia hatton has the story of one man's harrowing journey out. >> reporter: danny lee is among the very few north koreans who have made it to america inch california for nearly six years, lee fled his homeland at age 18.

"i didn't want to starve to death, so i ran," he says. "my only desire was to eat until i was full." hunger drove lee from north korea. danny's beloved grandmother had already died of malnutrition. two-thirds of north korea's population don't have enough to eat on a regular basis. lee escaped like the north koreans seen in this rare footage by crossing the tumen river into china. "i escaped at night because if someone saw me when i crossed, they would kill me," and it doesn't stop. there blengding into the local population is critical. china is hostile to the refugees. to keep peace with its nuclear-arm neighbor, china arrests refugees who cross illegally and sends them back. those north koreans face the threat of torture or even death in prison camps. to avoid capture, refugees travel on a secret underground railway run largely by activists

who move north koreans from safe house to safe house, or in this dramatic 2002 video, refugees literally throw themselves over walls to claim asylum in foreign embassies. thousands end up in south korea. lee, on a stroke of luck, connected with a refugee organization that arranged passage to america. "i knew if i went to the u.s. i could experience a different life. i could learn a new language." today lee works in a los angeles grocery store. worried about discrimination, he hides his nationality. saying his homeland has a terrible reputation. "i think all north koreans will die of starvation or they'll kill each other, so i hope somebody helps them live in a good place." danny lee has found his own good place in the world. he recently reunited with his mother, one of the lucky few who also escaped north korea. for years they thought they'd never see each other again. though even now, they can't

forget the people they were forced to leave behind. celia hatton, cbs news, beijing. >> glor: still ahead here, hungry fans set a box office record. >> glor: finally tonight, "the

hunger games" took in an estimated $155 million this weekend at the box office, the third highest debut ever and the most ever for a movie that's not a sequel. lee cowan reports on the phenomenon that suzanne collins created. >> reporter: if you were looking for your teenagers this weekend, there's a good chance they were here, standing in a movie line somewhere talking about surviving in a postapocalyptic world. >> i don't even care if the movie suck, i'm just going love to it because it's awesome. >> there's 24 of us and only one comes out. >> reporter: the hunger game, based first of a bestselling

trilogy, children killing children, all for the amusement of adults after a ferocious war that leaves north america in ruins. >> make sure they remember you. >> reporter: but the story has resonated, not because of the violent undertone, critics say, but because of its strong young characters, especially the heroine, katniss everdeen. >> it's a great story of good over evil and a girl who stands up for what's right. >> reporter: the book sold tens of millions of copies which had lionsgate films betting young adults would flock to the movie version, just like they did for "twilight" and the "harry potter" franchise. >> the excitement and nerver and amount of talk and chatter for the hunger game, this is a true phenomenon. >> reporter: facebook, twitter, youtube. >> i volunteer as tribute. >> reporter: even iphone games were all key in the film's marketing. >> we'll probably see it 10,000 times considering my friends

will want to see it, so i'll go with them. >> reporter: the timing of its box office success is a testament. most megahits are released around the holiday, not the end of march, but fans like lilly green who stood in line for one of the first midnight showing, says she couldn't wait another day. >> i was shaking with excitement. i wasn't sure if i was shaking because i was cold, excited or on a sugar high. >> reporter: so far it's got hollywood riding pretty high, too. >> welcome and happy hunger games. >> reporter: lee cowan, cbs news, los angeles. >> glor: that is the "cbs evening news" tonight. later on cbs, "60 minutes." i'm jeff glor, cbs news in new york. scott pelley will be here tomorrow. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

a gruesome murder and investigation who police say killed five people and the san francisco home. the death of a florida teen sparking discussion here with church source said we can learn from the death of trayvon martin. a deep trench with the short list of visitors when mans dive into the history,, ,,