cynthia bowers tells us how they beat the odds. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell. >>>> mitchell: good evening, the white house tonight is accused of syrian government of creating a humanitarian crisis after yet another bloody, tense day of fighting. troops loyal to bashar assad are cracking down on antigovernment demonstrators and others try to escape to turkey. we have the latest. a warning now: some of the pictures burr to see are graphic >> reporter: video gradually

cynthia bowers tells us how they beat the odds. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell. >>>> mitchell: good evening, the white house tonight is accused of syrian government of creating a humanitarian crisis after yet another bloody, tense day of fighting. troops loyal to bashar assad are cracking down on antigovernment demonstrators and others try to escape to turkey. we have the latest. a warning now: some of the pictures burr to see are graphic >> reporter: video gradually surfacing online shows the defiance of antigovernment demonstrators is escalating along with the government's resolve to crush them. yesterday in a suburb of damascus protesters were baiting syrian security forces. at first the troops seemed to hold back but not for long. the gunmen get into position, some of them neiling and -- kneeling and open fire. [gun fire] up in syria's north there are fewer pictures of violent crackdown this weekend, but there's other evidence. a tide of refugees streaming into turkey. he told us j

cynthia bowers, cbs news, chicago. >>> coming up, your monday morning weather forecast. and in sports, a nail biter in the nba finals. king james tries to make sure the heat don't melt again. king james tries to make sure the heat don't melt again. what makes hershey's s'mores special? hershey's chocolate goodness, that brings people together. hershey's makes it a s'more. you make it special. pure hershey's. erika: ... my computer is the same as a new computer.a new pc because... vo: so to show her what she's missing, we built a pc store in her house. erika: (gasp) employee: come on in. make yourself at home! erika: this is my home! employee: let's take a look! erika: (lifting laptop) it's really light. honey, help me shop! employee: you can get up to seven hours on this battery. jesse: the color really pops out. employee: everything's wireless. wireless keyboard. jesse: that's impressive. i like this one better. erika: and i like this one... vo: new pc. what's it gonna be? erika: i'm a pc, and i got what i wanted. jesse: as usual. i had a heart problem. i was told to be

cynthia bowers reports. >> reporter: illinois corn farmer paul taylor admits he was caught off guarde senate vote to cut $6 billion in ethanol subsidies. >> i think it's a blow to american's corn farmers. >> reporter: the 45 cent per gallon tax break goes to refiners but farmers say the increased demand for corn boosts prices which have nearly doubled since last year. >> the impact on our bottom line, anything we do to reduce demand ultimately reduces price. >> reporter: just one short decade ago, only about 10% of america's corn went to ethanol. now the number is closer to 40%. that's nearly half of all the corn we grow in this country going right into the gas tank. oil analyst bill flynn says after 30 years of taxpayer health, it is time for the ethanol industry to stand on its own. >> this industry is big enough to take the training wheels off. why do they need a 45 to 50 cent a gallon credit just to do their business. >> reporter: one alternative that could save billions is to reduce the subsidy and paul taylor says farmers could live with that. >> the short answer is yes, we're

as cynthia bowers tells us doctors are very encouraged showing improvement in some cancer patients in just days. >> reporter: they say the effectiveness against melanoma is cause for celebration. >> sometimes within 72 hours are already much better. off of pain medicine. maybe off oxygen. >> reporter: until now with the survival rate of just 15%, a diagnosis of advanced melanom amounted to a death sentence. unlike chemo which attacks healthy and unhealthy cells this drugs works by targeting a genetic mutation which may help the disease grow. this mutation is present in half of all melanoma patients. susan steele is living with stage iv melanoma. within a week of starting this drug last january her tumor shrunk by more than 40%. >> i had a tumor the size of a football in my left flank that now was the size of my palm. >> reporter: melanoma kills one american an hour. fastest growing cancer in young people. tragically it is basically preventible. >> when it comes to melanoma prevention and early detection saves lives. this drug slows the progress and buys time. it is exprotected to be a

cynthia bowers has the story. >> reporter: researcher stop just short of calling this a magic bullet against skin cancer but say in europe and its effectiveness against melanoma the deadliest form of the disease is cause for celebration. >> patients who get the vemurafenib sometimes within 72 hours are already much better. off of pain medicine, maybe av of oxygen. >> reporter: until now, with the survival rate of just 15%, a diagnosis of advanced melanoma amounted to a death sentence. this drug showed a 63% reduction in the death rate after three months. unlike chemo which attacks healthy and unhealthy cells, this drug works by targeting only a genetic mutation called braf which may help the disease grow. this braf mutation is present in half of all melanoma patients. susan steel is living with stage 4 melanoma. at one point her life expectancies was just several months. but within a week of starting this drug last january, her tumor shrunk by more than 40%. >> i had a tumor the size of a football in my left flank that now was the size of my palm. >> reporter: melanoma kills on avera

cynthia bowers, cbs news, illinois. >> mitchell: next up, inner city kids learning skills and getting a bike in the bargain. that story is next. if you've been to the hospital with heart-related chest pain or a heart attack known as acs, you may not want to face the fact that you're at greater risk of a heart attack or stroke. plavix helps protect people with acs against heart attack or stroke: people like you. it's one of the most researched prescription medicines. goes beyond what they do alone by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking and forming dangerous clots. plavix. protection against heart attack or stroke in people with acs. [ female announcer ] plavix is not for everyone. certain genetic factors and some medicines such as prilosec reduce the effect of plavix leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. don't stop taking plavix without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase. people with stomach ulcers or conditions that cause bleeding should not use plavix. taking

we asked cynthia bowers to look into the hazards. >> reporter: with fire burning just a few miles away, los alamos national laboratory scientist terry wallace pointed out area-g. it's there 10,000 55-gallon drums filled with low-level radioactive waste is stored. >> the bulk of the drums there truly are things like notes that are contaminated, gloves. >> reporter: those drums area housed outdoors in domes made of reinfoirsed steel covered with a plast sized fire-retardant fabric. radioactive waste is stored in concrete tubes buried deep in the ground. plutonium and uranium are stored in vaults inside hardened concrete buildings. air quality tests over the sprawling facility show no trace of radiation but critics say no one really knows what would happen if area-g caught fire. los alamos operations director refuses to acknowledge a worst- case scenario. >> i do not believe there is a specific danger to the public from los alamos. the danger is from the fire in the mountain. >> reporter: and people who live in the nearby town of los alamos like denise lane, stand by the lab. >> those peo

as cbs news correspondent cynthia bowers reports. cynthia bowers reports.merica. >> i know this thing hurts, so -- >> reporter: doctors and nurses shepherd a steady stream of patients through exams and tests and x-rays. >> how did you hurt your back? >> reporter: but looks are deceiving, because this place is anything but ordinary. >> all the health center is is an idea about how to recorrect people to this idea of connecting faith and health. >> reporter: for 24 years, the church health center has been caring for and caring about the most needy in one of america's poorest cities. providing the best medicine money can buy for whatever the pa÷duk%(p' pay. in most cases, about $5 a visit, less if that's too much. >> show me right where it hurts. >> reporter: it's the brainchild of dr. scott morris, who heard the call to heal after he completed seminary and medical school. he moved to memphis because he heard it was poor. where better, he figured, to build a place of hope and healing? >> the christian call to discipleship is to do three things -- to preach, to

cbs news cynthia bowers is at chicago's o'hare airport with the latest. >> reporter: good morning. a lot of ripple effects today. the big board has dozens of cancellations of flights into and out of chicago. result of that storm that brought hurricane force winds to this area. things got so dicey at the airport for people inside the airport that they actually hustled everybody downstairs to the lower level baggage claim to ride out the storm. it was a very long night for anyone trying to get into our out of chicago. more than 300 flights were canceled at o'hay airport after intense thunderstorms slammed the city. the lucky would be passengers got caught. even vice president joe biden fell victim. in town for a fund-raiser, he was forced to wait out the storm along with everyone else, though, presumably, in better accommodatio accommodations. it wasn't just chicago. the airport in grand rapids, michigan, took a major hit with heavy rains and winds strong enough to move hangars off their foundations. four people there suffered minor injuries. the lightning made for a pretty picture b

and, chris, it is primarily due to simply too much sun exposure. >> cbs' cynthia bowers in chicago. thank you very much. that's one thing you cannot stress enough. you need sunblock and have to be careful when you are out in the son. >>> let's bring in medical correspondent dr. jennifer ashton. let's talk about this drug and side effects. >> there are always side effects. increases risk of secondary skin cancers. a sensitivity to the sun. joint pain. fatigue. those are really the biggest ones. >> now i want to talk about this breast cancer study we've been talking about. this other cancer study making big news. breast cancer is the second most common cause of death from cancer in women in the u.s. so this study, what does it mean towards prevention of this? >> really, this really signifies the paradigm shift. we've gotten very good at treating breast cancer. now the bent of the research is focuses on prevention. and to put these numbers into context, it's a reputable study in the best medical journal we have. they found they had to treat 94 patients. these are high-risk women with t

cynthia bowers, cbs news, chicago. >> that's the one thing you cannot stress enough. sun block and be careful when you are in the sun. let's bring in dr. jennifer ashton. let's talk about this melanoma drug. side effects. >> there are always side effects. with this drug, increased risk of secondary skin cancer, a sensitivity to the sun, joint pain, fatigue, those are the biggest ones. >> now i want to talk about this breast cancer study that we've been talking about. this other cancer study making news this morning. breast cancer as many know the second common cause of death from women. what does this mean toward prevention? >> this really signifies the paradigm shift. we've gotten very good at treating breast cancer. now the bent of the research is focused on prevention. and to put these numbers into context, this study in the best medical journal we have, they found that they had to treat 94 patients, these are high risk women with this one drug, to prevent one case of inva sif breast cancer in a three-year time period. >> the study looked at a class of medication.

cynthia bowers visited a hospital in east ohio in a hospital that's been in that city for generationhurt in east cleveland have come to huron hospital for help. >> just about everybody i know knows somebody that was impacted by that hospital being there. >> reporter: including himself. seven years ago hank smith was shot by drug dealers on the way home from his job helping veterans. >> i just thank god that that hospital was there at the time, because i really don't think i would have made it. >> reporter: imagine the shock when he and others in this impoverished community found out earlier this month the cleveland clinic was closing huron down in a matter of weeks. >> what happens when we knock on the door of huron hospital and nobody answers? does the person just lay there and die? >> reporter: east cleveland's mayor gary norton said he couldn't believe his ears. >> we had the rug pulled out from under us. we believed we had a long time commitment. >> reporter: with good run. dr. gus kious invested millions in technology that goes largely unused. it's like a ghost town. >> it is. >

cbs news correspondent cynthia bowers is in los alamos, new mexico, with the latest on that story for us this morning. cynthia, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, chris. beyond the canyon behind me is the big los alamos building itself and the fire. although we are being kept well away for safety, the air here is filled with smoke. today could be dicey for firefighters. winds could hit 30 to 35 miles per hour. and the fear is that the fire could explode as it rages towards the town and the lab. the fire line here that they are holding is 16 miles long, and so far fire crews say they have zero containment. the los conscious fire rages on for a fourth day as more than 800 firefighters battle the blaze around the clock. crews are growing weary, but they refuse to give up. >> it's dangerous out there. they are getting tired. we're watching and trying to rotate them, platoon them so they can sleep. when you have something like this in your backyard and you're protecting your neighbor's house it's hard to relax. >> reporter: at one point tuesday, fire jumped to within 50 feet of the l