from high above the stunning campus of pepperdine university where i delivered the commencement address earlier today for the class of 2012. we'll share moments of that later in the broadcast. but we want to start with an intriguing story of one brave's man who cold, bold move could complicate relations between two world powers. it's playing out in china where in the middle of the night a leading human rights activist outsmarted china's elaborate security apparatus. escaped from house arrest and may now be at the u.s. embassy in beijing. what makes it all the more remarkable is that chen is blind. this comes just days before secretary of state hillary clinton travels to china and could complicate relations between the countries at an especially sensitive time. we get the story tonight from nbc's ian williams. >> more yefor year he's been a of defiance. the 40-year-old self-trained lawyer has been blind since childhood. he was jailed and put under house arrest with his family. he documented their confinement his every movement was mon tord, visitors prevented from meeting him. yet he was

i'm lester holt from the campus of pepperdine university. new york tomorrow morning on "today" and again for ""nightly news"." have a good night, everybody. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

lester holt is getting ready to give a big speech at pepperdine university.o pressure. it will be in the 80s. looks kind of cool in new york. >>> coming up, emotional testimony in the john edwards trial. john edwards' former aide was the first witness to take the stand. he ended nearly a week in testimony by breaking down saying the last time he spoke to edwards he feared he was going to be shot. we'll have more and get more from famed defense attorney mark gary a goes. >>> despite a week-long massive search, there has been no sign of little isa. now investigators hope this video yields some new clues. lester? >>> tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the 1992 los angeles riots. on april 29, a jury acquitted four plifbs of beating rodney king to excessive force. i sat down with king and talked about the riots and the impacts it had. >>> now i'm going to make an awkward turn. a little later, finding a bra that fits. find out why all bras are not created equal when it comes to size. we're going to talk about getting best fit. >> that wasn't awkward at all. i'm

later this morning i'll be delivering the commencen't address at pepperdine university. and earlier i tweeted out to people what's the best advice you received in a graduation speech. i heard some pretty interesting replies. i'll share some of them later. some i may steal. >> let's be honest. at about 9:00 last night you hadn't finished your speech yet. >> and an hour ago i tweeted i finished. not sure. i'll get it out. >>> amy, we're also marking the 20th anniversary of the infamous l.a. riots. for three days the city was in upheaval, builds on fire, unrest took over. violence was sparked when four police officers accused of beating rodney king were acqu acquitt acquitted. in the end 53 people died. coming up, my interview with rodney king 20 years later and a look at how l.a. and the lapd have changed during the last two decades. >>> and then later the secret service plans to conduct practices. we'll have a live report from the white house in just a moment. and then george zimmerman. we learned friday that his personal website raised more than $200,000 in contributions

trombley attended pepperdine university at age 16 and after graduating received her ph.d.in english. while in her ph.d. program she discovered the largest known cache of mark twain's letters to date. she has appeared in the pbs documentary. she is the author of five books, three about mark twain and putting mark twain in the company of women. the most recent book she's going to talk today is the other woman, the hidden story of his final years, and she's going to call the other power plant. we are having a technical moment. >> thank you. it's great to be here, and i appreciate your interest in all of our work. if you recognize the guy up there, that is exactly what he wanted. in fact they are all part of his plan, and you are just helpless purchase participants making sure he remains one of the most iconic writers. when i say that i don't say it likely to read in many ways we all live in a mark twain world and it's a lot easier if we just give ourselves up to it. the woman standing next to the plane is isabel and she is the subject of the biography that i wrote, and she wa

trombley attended pepperdine university at age 16 and after graduating received her ph.d. in english. while in her ph.d. program she discovered the largest known cache of mark twain's letters to date. she has appeared in the pbs documentary. she is the author of five books, three about mark twain and putting mark twain in the company of women. the most recent book she's going to talk today is the other woman, the hidden story of his final years, and she's going to call the other power plant. we are having a technical moment. >> thank you. it's great to be here, and i appreciate your interest in all of our work. if you recognize the guy up there, that is exactly what he wanted. in fact they are all part of his plan, and you are just helpless purchase participants making sure he remains one of the most iconic writers. when i say that i don't say it likely to read in many ways we all live in a mark twain world and it's a lot easier if we just give ourselves up to it. the woman standing next to the plane is isabel and she is the subject of the biography that i wrote, and she w

trombley attended pepperdine university at age 16 and after graduating received her ph.d.n english. while in her ph.d. program she discovered the largest known cache of mark twain's letters to date. she has appeared in the pbs documentary. she is the author of five books, three about mark twain and putting mark twain in the company of women. the most recent book she's going to talk today is the other woman, the hidden story of his final years, and she's going to call the other power plant. we are having a technical moment. >> thank you. it's great to be here, and i appreciate your interest in all of our work. if you recognize the guy up there, that is exactly what he wanted. in fact they are all part of his plan, and you are just helpless purchase participants making sure he remains one of the most iconic writers. when i say that i don't say it likely to read in many ways we all live in a mark twain world and it's a lot easier if we just give ourselves up to it. the woman standing next to the plane is isabel and she is the subject of the biography that i wrote, and she was

madam speaker, this past friday, i spoke to the graduates of pepperdine university school of public policy. i was the commencement address. and like many other students who will be graduating this year, they are determined and eager to take on the difficult challenges of this world. ms. hahn: unfortunately, many of them are leaving college with a mountain of student debt, debt that can keep them from pursuing opportunities which may not yield short-term financial rewards but could make our world a better place to live. you don't have to look forward to finding these amazing -- you don't have to look far to find these amazing young people, our offices are filled with them. others have said it today but i'll say it again, we must pass legislation to prevent the interest rate on stafford loans from doubling this july 1. it's also why i introduced h.r. 4286, which would allow students to begin paying back their federal loans 12 months after their graduate, instead of six. i hope i have support on that. this is common sense legislation that will allow new grads the chance to start their careers