>> jeff: tonight, type ii diabetes and kids. a new study says a chronic disease of the old increasingly is targeting the young, and should be treated in a new way. tony guida has details. in china, a blind dissident's apparent escape to the u.s. embassy could complicate diplomatic relations. celia hatton and whit johnson have the latest. >> a van crashes near new york's bronx zoo killing seven people including three children. terrell brown reports from the scene. and riot radio, 20 years after the deadly turmoil in los angeles, john blackstone takes us to the radio station that opened its phone lines and gave people a voice. >> stop it, people! stop it! we've got to be together! >> this

captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> jeff: good evening, everyone, i'm jeff glor. we begin with a growing epidemic among american children. and tonight a new recommendation on how hundreds of thousands of those kids should be treated. we're talking about type ii diabetes, a problem that is confounding more doctors, families and health care professionals every day. now the release of a new report offers new insight. here's tony guida. >> reporter: type ii diabetes was never seen in young people as recently as 15 years ago. now it's occurring with alarming frequency. doctors know that a major risk factor is obesity. beyond that, they were mostly in the dark about this disease. >> very little is known about the right way to both prevent it and to treat it. >> reporter: a new study out today in the new england journal of medicine finds that the standard treatment for type ii diabetes in children is ineffective because the commonly prescribed drug, metaformin,

effect any adults, has a high failure rate in children. but that a combination of two diabetes drugs is far more effective in treating young people. >> two drugs right off the bat, that is an important finding. >> so there's no added sugars. >> reporter: important because type ii diabetes appears to be more aggressive in young people between the ages of 10 and 17, putting them at great risk for life threatening illnesses typically associated with seniors. >> we want them to grow up and have healthy lives and not be having heart attacks and strokes at terribly young ages. >> how has it been working out. >> good. >> that wasn't a good good. >> reporter: when it comes to preventing type ii diabetes, more exercise and a healthier diet are key. but doctors know young people's habits are tough to change. >> the first surprise that we saw was, number one, how incredibly difficult it was to effect lifestyle change

in these children. >> reporter: extremely difficult as well to get children to take any medicine let alone two drugs. spotlighting the oldest truth in medicine, better not to get the disease than to have to treat it tony guida, cbs news, new york. >> jeff: for more we're joined by dr. robin goldin of columbia university medical centre. dock door, the new recommendation, a two drug regimen, in teenagers that is not easy. >> having a chronic ill sense hard for everyone. for someone who is as young as a young child or an adolescent, very challenging, taking medicines currentically, especially two drugs would be very difficult for a teenager. >> jeff: do you see the problem of type ii diabetes in teenagers getting better in the next 10 or 20 years. >> ideally would you like to prevent children and adolescents from getting type ii diabetes. it's possible as these kids grow up their insulin resistance will less be

en-- lessen and it will get easier that is something to hope for. >> jeff: doctor, thank you. >> thank you. >> jeff: we move overseas and the mystery surrounding a blind chinese dissident who escaped from house arrest last week. despite speculation that chen guangcheng sought refuge in the u.s. embassy there is no official word tonight from either side. all this happened just before a visit by secretary of state hillary clinton. here is celia hatton in beijing. >> reporter: chen guangcheng is one of china's most wanted men. he could be hiding in the most sensitive place, the american embassy in beijing. >> the blind legal activist escaped house arrest last sunday. the u.s. and china still won't confirm chen's whereabouts. illiterate until he was 20, chen gained fame as a self-taught lawyer fighting government corruption. his biggest case, a lawsuit against the use of forced abortions to uphold china's one child policy. the 40-year-old's outspoken ways landed him four years in jail, and 19 months of

house arrest with his wife and family. hired thugs frequently beat chen and his wife with their six-year-old child as a witness. a few months ago chen and his wife agreed he needed to escape, he had been trying and failing to dig a ton told freedom. then somehow chen connected with a network of activists and possibly a compassionate guard. last sunday night chen made his getaway. according to an activist source, he walked for hours alone, evading three rings of guards. his contact drove him more than 300 miles to beijing. when safe, chen released an internet plea for help from china's premier wen jiabao. >> my family is still in the guards' evil hands, he says. my escape will make them worse. >> chen's accomplices are already paying a heavy price. his driver peirong was taken away by police after talking about her role on china's

version of twitter. others who sheltered chen in beijing have also disappear mood detention. >> there are a grow og number of people inside china who are willing to take extraordinary risks simply to try to make the government answer to them and function in the way it should according to the laws on the books. >> reporter: chinese and u.s. diplomats are now believed to be bargaining over chen's fate so he has his own demands. >> he does not want to go into exile, as activist zeng jinyan in a phone interview. he wants to stay in china to continue with his work. he might no have a choice. the u.s. is likely bargaining for chen and his family to go to the united states. two months ago core result police official was reportedly denied asylum at the u.s. consulate in western china. so perhaps american diplomats have built up some goodwill with china on this front.

celia hatton, cbs news, beijing. >> jeff: chen's possible presence in the u.s. embassy or other american facility comes at a very delicate diplomatic moment. whit johnson in washington has that part of our story tonight, whit, good evening. >> reporter: and jeff, good evening. well, human rights is always a sensitive issue between the u.s. and china, this case threatens to overshadow a crucial diplomatic visit. still, the administration is saying no comment. >> reporter: following reports from the chinese dissident has taken refuge in the u.s. embassy in beijing, state department spokeswoman victoria nuland remained firm. >> i don't have anything for you on that subject. >> nothing at all. >> nothing at all. >> reporter: the case has become extremely sensitive ahead of the annual meeting between the u.s. and china. secretary of state hillary clinton and treasury secretary tim geithner are expected to begin talks thursday center on trade, the economy, and nuclear tensions with north korea and iran. chen will be the elegan

elegant-- elephant in the room and reportedly some u.s. officials have departed early to negotiate his fate. >> we're going make sure that we do there in the appropriate way. >> reporter: today white house kounts terrorism advisor john brennan stressed the importance of improving u.s.-china relations. >> i'm not going to address the issue of mr. chen right now. we are work very closely with the individuals involved in this. and so i'm going to leave it to others in the u.s. government who have responsibility for. >> reporter: negotiating chen's release will be difficult for both countries, with the administration hoping to avoid accusations of caving on human rights, and the chinese fearing too many concessions may embolden other activists. >> i think that the u.s. is not in a position to require that the chinese treat him well if he leaves the u.s. embassy. the best we can hope for is to negotiate safe passage to the airport and exit from the country. >> reporter: now there may be some incentive on both sides for a quiet resolution. not only is it a presidential election year

here in the u.s., but china's communist party is also expecting a leadership transition around the same time. jeff. >> jeff: whit johnson, thank you. here in new york city, one firefighter described the scene as horrific. seven people were killed today when a minifan plunged more than 50 feet off a highway overpass. it happened near the city's famed bronx zoo. here's terrell brown. >> reporter: the accident happened shortly afternoon. police say a van carrying seven people, all from the same family, bounced off the median of the bronx river parkway, crossed three lanes of traffic, flew over a guardrail and plummeted more than 50 feet. the van landed in a wooded area of the bronx zoo that is never open to the public and far from any animal exhibits. it's a storage area for the zoo's monorail trains. authorities say when they found the van t was crushed. >> units arrived on the scene and they found a vehicle upside down with occupants inside the vehicle.

>> reporter: the victims were a man and woman in their 80s. two other women, one of whom was the driver, and three children, all were pronounced dead at the scene. no one on the ground was hurt. >> the injuries were quite horrific, in 30 years i have seen something like this once or twice. everybody was taken back by it. >> reporter: police and firefighters say the van's speed may have been a factor. they're still trying to determine what caused the driver to lose control. terrell brown, cbs news, new york. >> jeff: there's been another deadly sailing accident off california's coast. the coast guard found the wreckage of a 37 foot yacht and three bodies. another sailor is missing. the yacht and its crew disappeared during 125 mile race from newport beach to mexico. officials suspect a freighter collided with the yacht. still ahead, a unique look at the l.a. riots 20 years later. a japanese mayor fighting to protect his city from another tsunami. and training today's students for the jobs of

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>> jeff: the jobs market may be coming back but there are still a lot more people looking than hiring. look no further than queens, new york, today where hundreds of job-seekers have lined up for nearly a week hoping to land one of 50 apprentice positions. the 18 dollar an hour position can lead to full-time jobs paying up to $100,000 a year. as the economy changes, many cities are trying to reestablish themselves as high-tech centers. chicago among them. investors poured more than $16 million into local start-ups last year. 40% more than the year before. and with companies hiring quickly, schools are trying to train quickly. different than before. matthew fleming says he's just not the academic type. >> i hate school. i hate school. i never wanted to go to college. >> jeff: so he came here, tribeca flashpoint academy,

a high-tech vocational school in chicago. >> they offer an associates it degree in two years, with mainly hands on work. and that's the way that i learn best. >> if you were going to drop a screen where would you drop the screen. >> jeff: entrepreneur howard tullman founded the academy to pick up where he says the traditional education system has failed. >> we decided that to meet this unmet need with respect to students who just wanted to learn its skills they needed to get a job, to do it in an economic fashion and in a realistic time frame. >> jeff: the academy combines the high-tech with the hands on. from film and animation to gaming and graphic design, students work on real world projects using the latest digital tools. >> i can call them up and say this is something you are teaching them because there is something one of my clients wants. >> jeff: steve gradman is president of kboom! game, a start-up that designs custom games and apps. four of his five u.s. employees are from flashpoint. >> the real hard thing to find is people that are well trained and prepared to take

on this field. they are ready to go out of the gate and what's nice is they are used to kind of problem-solving to stuff they don't know. >> jeff: eric hurltas came to flashpoint after being laid off by bank of america a year ago, the former bank manager new job, teaching companies how to integrate their brand into social media sites. >> i was fortunate to be one of the generations now that was, you know, born with an electronic spoon in the mouth. it hasn't that hard of a job. >> jeff: which tullman says is the whole point. turning a generation of digital kids into industry professionals. >> phones and tablets and all these new devices, are changing the way we live. so i think our students get that because we also expose them to every kind of practical thing. >> jeff: tuition at the academy is $25,000 a year, it may be money well spent. the number of jobs in software development is projected to increase 30% over the next ten years. still ahead here, a japanese mayor who lost his wife to

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>> jeff: the head of the new united nations observer mission arrives in syria today, robert mood of norway commands 15 unarmed u.n. troops b 300 more on the way. mood will monitor a shaky cease-fire that so far has been plagued by continued fighting. in nigeria today, at least 16 people were killed in the latest attack targeting christians. it happened on a university campus where catholics were holding a worship service. witnesses say gunmen used explosives to scare people out of a treater being used for the service and then fired on those who fled. last year's earthquake and tsunami shattered the faith of many japanese in their central government. now a mayor who suffered a very personal loss is throwing traditional japanese reserve aside, he says, to make his city safer. lucy kraft has more. >> reporter: in a country known for stoicism and patient, mayor futoshi toba is anything but.

>> if i try to-- everyone, we would get nowhere. >> reporter: what he wants is a complete rebuild of his city rikuzen takada, razed by the tsunami kill --,000 residents, one out of every ten including his wife kumi seen here in this video when he was elected mayor. >> people have to die for nothing? for their sake immust rebuild our town. as their mayor and as my wife's husband. >> reporter: so now mayor toba is a man in a hurry. he tells me he's got big plans. a memorial park, a state of the art compact downtown. but first he needs a seawall. in the worst hit downtown area the new barrier will stretch nearly a mile long and top 40 feet. the massive project that could take six years. in blunt language toba told one of japan's leading papers, it's pointless to say wait for six years until the seawall is built. i have urged the prefecture to speed it up. they just don't get it.

>> with traumatized residents moving out, the city is poised for a slow death, population down by nearly 20% since the disaster. unwilling to sit quietly endure, toba shows up at local festivals. >> in youtube a peels. >> even if it kills my political future, i must do what i think is right, and damn the consequences. >> reporter: anything to keep the pressure on and his town's might in the news. lucy craft, cbs news, rikuzen-takada, japan. >> jeff: still ahead, voices from the l.a. riots of 20 years ago. that story is next. ♪ oh. let's go. from the crack, off the backboard. [ laughs ] dad! [ laughs ] whoo! oh! you're up! oh! oh! so close! now where were we? ok, this one's good for two.

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it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. >> finally tonight 20 years ago today a jury acquitted four los angeles police plen in the beating of rodney king. the three days of rioting that followed took more than 50 lives and left more than 2300 other people hurt. music radio station kjlh owned by stevie wonder city sittings in the neighborhood hardest hit, as john blackstone tells us when that area went out of control, the station stopped the music and opened the

phones. >> terrible, and there's no police presence down here. >> that day everything changed. >> juan mcq was on the air when on the street long simmering frustration turned into rage. >> we're angry because it's showing that we as blacks together are nothing. >> we became the peel who listened to the voice of a very angry public. >> who nobody else was listening to. >> no, no. >> stop it, people. stop it. we've got to be together. >> one pick call still haunts the station's former morning man, rico reed. >> i can't believe that these kids, these people are out of here doing this to our community. >> i remember her passion, i remember i could hear her tears and it made me, you know, want to cry as well. >> i'm hurt that the verdict was what it wachlts but i'm

hurt from our people. this certainly isn't what you call a damn revolution. >> not at all. >> revolution brings about positive change. >> you know, your heart goes out to people like that. >> in a community in turmoil kjlh was a place to connect says former news director carl nelson. >> i called reverend jackson and says rev you have to get out of here. this thing is getting totally out of control. >> if there is something you could tell the people here in l.a. reverend jackson what would you like to say to them? >> the verdict on the rodney king was unjust. it was wrong. we must not compound that pain now by killing each other and by destroying where we live. >> we walked in the studio and for the next three days and we sat there and just trying to calm folks down. >> with looting and anarchy continuing, the announcer's listened while listeners talked. >> i'm not the only one who feels helpless. we need to get ourselves together as a community.

>> the voices of the people were captured on this radio station and that will stay with me for as long as i live. those voices, a lot of people in a lot a lot of pain. >> this is the ugliest most disgusting thing i've ever seen. and this is not the way for us to vent our frustration. this is what they expect us to do. >> for three days kjlh was more than a radio station, it was a beacon in l.a.'s darkest hour. >> john blackstone, cbs news, los angeles. >> 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 ,,,,