>> o'donnell: tonight, a major change in the american family. in a record number of households with children, the mother is now the primary breadwinner. anna werner on what's behind the shift. a second straight day of tornadoes in the great plains. meteorologist david bernard tells us what's coming the rest of the week. just days after the president announced new limits on drone strikes, the u.s. targets a key taliban leader. david martin has that story. and bill whitaker on the beginning of the end for an old friend. "voyager 1" heads into the sunset of its life. >> this mission probably has had more discoveries than any other planetary mission has ever had because it's seen so many different worlds. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley.

>> o'donnell: good evening. scott is on assignment. i'm norah o'donnell. for those who grew up watching the cleavers and the cunninghams on t.v. when working dads and stay-at-home moms were the norm, this might come as a big surprise. a report out today shows the real-life american family has changed so dramatically since the 1960s the mother is now the principal breadwinner in a record 40% of households with children. back in 1960, the number was 11%. we asked anna werner to tell us what's behind the trend. >> let's have a picnic with mom! >> reporter: 32-year-old rani guerra is a mother, a dallas lawyer and the main breadwinner her family. she makes 75% more money than her attorney husband. so, how does it feel to be a trendsetter? >> i guess it just feels like normal for me. you know, he found the right job for him and i found the right job for me, and the pay just worked out that way.

>> reporter: the pew research center analysis of census data found there are 5.1 million married mothers who earn more money than their houses. there's another 8.6 million single mothers who are the sole breadwinners for their families. study author kim parker: >> if you look at young women now, they're actually more likely to have a college degree than young men are. so, not only are women participating more, but they're also better trained and more well educated and so better positioned to take on high- paying jobs and really contribute a substantial amount to their household income. >> reporter: but the pew survey found the public has mixed feelings about the trend. 74% said the increasing number of working women makes it harder for parents to raise children, and half believe it makes it harder for marriages to succeed. how do you think the difference in pay plays out in the relationship between you and your husband?

>> you know, i was worried about that at the very beginning, but really it goes away. so, there's really not the power struggle that i was concerned there might be. >> reporter: but on average, women still earn just 81% of what their male colleagues do. norah, the biggest gap for this pay gap is in the insurance industry, where women sales agents earn just 62.5% of the pay their male coworkers get. >> o'donnell: anna werner, thank you. so, how are men faring in this economy? senior business correspondent anthony mason is with us. anthony? >> reporter: men took a huge hit in the recession, as we know, when jobs in construction, manufacturing and finance were wiped out. men lost 5.4 million jobs, nearly twice as many as women. men's earning power has also stagnated. the median income for a male worker, adjusted for inflation, has hovered around $50,000 for the past 40 years.

for women during that period, it's risen from below $30,000 to $40,000. but coming out of the recession, this may be the most dramatic change: in 2007, 148,000 men between the ages of 45 and 64 had been out of work for more than a year; by last year, that number had soared to 741,000. so, it's quintupled in just five years. if you're an older male and you lost a job in the recession, norah, you had a really hard time finding work again. >> o'donnell: anthony, thank you. and the forecast for the nation's mid-section tonight calls for more severe weather, possibly tornadoes. storm chasers caught this twister as it touched down yesterday in kansas, and the national weather service sent storm teams to michigan to figure out how many tornadoes hit that state last night. homes were torn apart, trees and power lines knocked down. david bernard is chief meteorologist at cbs 4 miami and our cbs news weather consultant.

so, david, it's looking like another round of bad weather today. where has the worst been? >> we've had widespread severe weather today across the nation. in fact, the severe weather reports that have come in so far today have stretched as far east as portions of upstate new york. but the bulk of the activity, again, right there in tornado alley. we're talking from the texas panhandle into iowa and minneapolis. just a few tornado reports so far today in nebraska and the texas panhandle, but we'll probably see more as we go into the evening hours. here's the current setup, and we have a large area of tornado watches from texas all the way through kansas and nebraska. and we even have areas of severe weather right now affecting upstate new york. some severe thunderstorms are currently moving toward the albany area. >> o'donnell: what do you see in the forecast for tomorrow? >> looks like more of the same. tornado alley, the mid-part of the country, that looks like where the worst of it is going to be. the highest threat, again, from north texas through oklahoma, kansas, missouri, right into

upper portions of the midwest. when we look at the atmospheric conditions tomorrow, norah, it looks like more of the same. the highest threat tomorrow is going to be for more damaging wind, large hail and the possibility of more of these destructive tornadoes. it's certainly the height of tornado season in the plains. >> o'donnell: david bernard. thank you. we learned tonight that the new york city place department says two anonymous letters addressed to mayor michael bloomberg contain traces of ricin, a deadly poison. they say one was opened at a mail facility in new york, the other in washington at the offices of bloomberg's gun control group. cbs news has learned that both letters contained threats against bloomberg and mentioned the gun debate. they were postmarked in louisiana. less than a week after president obama laid out a new strategy to limit drone strikes, a top terror suspect was targeted in pakistan. national security correspondent david martin has that story. >> reporter: wali ur rahman was second in command of the pakistani taliban, a terrorist organization with blood on its

hands. they claimed responsibility for the attempted assassination of malala yousafzai, the schoolgirl who campaigned for women's education. it was a heinous crime, but because malala is pakistani, it did not meet president obama's conditions restricting drone strikes to protect u.s. citizens. >> we act against terrorists who pose a continuing and imminent threat to the american people. >> reporter: attacks against americans are what put a $5 million price on wali ur rahman's head: the 2008 bombing of the marriott hotel in islamabad which killed more than 50 people and wounded 300 others, including several americans; the 2009 suicide bombing which killed seven c.i.a. operatives in afghanistan; and, most recently, the 2010 failed attempt to detonate an s.u.v. filled with explosives in times square. under the new guidelines for drone strikes, there had to be no practical chance of capturing

rahman alive, which also seems to be the case since he operated along pakistan's lawless frontier. but there was one more condition. >> before any strike is taken, there must be near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured. the highest standard we can set. pl reporter: seven people were reported killed in that strike. the c.i.a. has not yet confirmed that rahman was one of them, but so far there have been no claims that any civilians died. >> o'donnell: david martin, thank you. one of the most horrific attacks on civilians in afghanistan happened in march of last year when 16 civilians were slaughtered. today, an american soldier agreed to a deal to avoid the death penalty. staff sergeant robert bales will plead guilty to premeditated murder and face life in prison. a military judge will decide at a later date whether it's with or without parole. elizabeth palmer recently went back to that village where the

massacre took place and was surprised by what she found. >> reporter: from the base, you can see alokazai village, the site of the worst american atrocity of the afghan war, where sergeant robert bailes is alleged to have started his killing spree. he's charged with sneaking off the base and shooting 16 afghan civilians, including nine children. and you're still here in spite of the tragedy that happened. >> we're still here, roger. >> reporter: right after the shootings, the military thought it might have to pull out of the area, local anger was so great. but captain shane oravsky told us u.s. special forces were able to take over after the u.s. apologized and, in accordance with local afghan custom, paid compensation to the families, which residents said came to a total of over $700,000. no worries about revenge?

>> we haven't seen any indications of that whatsoever. you actually think you would hear that all the time from the people. i know, back home where i'm from, i would have a hard time forgetting it. >> reporter: i find it hard to believe. >> honestly, some things did fall in place. they helped us out. >> reporter: one of them was this man: abdul wadood, a tribal elder who decided he'd had enough of the taliban. the last straw for him? they threatened to kill his sons. "i was the first one to make a stand," he told us. "and then everyone else joined in." special forces took us on a tense patrol to visit the local police post. on the way, we could hear the war raging in the near distance. wadood told us farmers wanted the taliban driven out because they were sick of finding bombs in their fields. and as for bales' alleged massacre, wadood said, "we

condemn what he did, but we're not going to blame the whole united states." in the compound where nine of the victims died, one of the survivors showed me where he ran to after his father was mowed down. now he's one of a group of villagemen trained by the americans to work as paid local police. "i support the americans staying in our villages," their commander told us. "they've done a lot to help us." a glimmer of hope and resistance emerging from one of the grimmest chapters of the afghan war. elizabeth palmer, cbs news, belambai, afghanistan. >> o'donnell: western leaders are trying to put together a peace conference to end syria's two-year-old civil war, but there were several setbacks today. first, syria's foreign minister said president bashar al-assad will remain in charge at least through next year, and syrian opposition leaders meeting in turkey can't seem to agree on

much, including who to send to the peace talks. holly williams is monitoring the meetings in istanbul. holly, why are they so divided? >> reporter: norah, the syrian opposition agrees that the country's president, bashar al- assad, has to go. but they can not agree on what should come next. now, some of the groups within the opposition are islamist and want a government based on islamic law. others are moderates and they want a western-style democracy. one of the bitterest divisions are between those doing the fighting inside syria and then those opposition figures outside of syria who are doing the negotiating. now, many of the rebel fighters say that the main opposition group, the syrian national coalition, based here in turkey, is irrelevant and spends far too much time bickering. the meeting here this week has ended in arguments and accusations. >> o'donnell: so, does that mean the talks in geneva next month are in jeopardy? >> reporter: they're in jeopardy for a lot of reasons, but with the syrian opposition so publicly divided, the syrian national coalition has very little credibility going into

the conference. after all, what's the point in negotiating with them over how to end the syrian civil war if they don't have the support of the rebel fighters on the ground inside syria? >> o'donnell: holly williams, thank you. cbs news has learned that president obama plans to name a new director of the f.b.i. he is james comey, former deputy attorney general during the george w. bush administration and a former u.s. attorney in new york. comey is 52. he would succeed robert mueller, who has been f.b.i. director since 2001. a leading member of the tea party movement is retiring from congress. republican representative michele bachmann of minnesota announced today that her fourth term will be her last. after dropping out of the presidential race last year, she won a tough battle to hold on to her house seat. a major u.s. city found a way to get its schools working again. and a college is under water, when the "cbs evening news" continues.

continues. something little. ts with tiny changes in the brain. it can happen to anyone. a request for information. a simple donation. things anyone can do. it steals your memories. your independence. your loved ones. it ensures care, support, a breakthrough. and one day. and one day. sooner than you'd like. sooner than you'd think. you die from alzheimer's disease. we cure alzheimer's disease. do the next click, call or donation gets us closer to ending america's 6th leading cause of death. and that's big.

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>> it's best to learn spanish. >> reporter: cleveland police officer charmin leon wanted only the best for her ten-year-old son roberto, who had failing grades and discipline problems in class. >> your book bag feels heavy? >> reporter: so, finding the right school for him was imperative. >> as a parent, you realize, one, if you're having all these behavior issues then where's the learning taking place? >> roberto, you're going to go... >> reporter: she found what she was looking for here at the near west intergenerational charter school, one of nine new charter schools in cleveland transforming the educational landscape. the classrooms are quiet and small, 15 kids or less. there's individual instruction from teachers on everything from public speaking to personal etiquette. >> good morning, roberto. >> good morning, isaac. >> reporter: and there's daily mentoring from upper classmen, even senior citizens. all part of a new multigenerational approach to learning. >> b.f.f.?

what is that? >> it means "best friend forever." >> he actually says "i enjoy a challenge now." what? ( laughs ) really? where did that come from? ( laughs ) >> how do we like the new school? >> it's good! >> reporter: alan roskamm is happy to hear it. a retired businessman and cleveland native, roskamm is reopening shuttered schools across the city. he's the c.e.o. of a group of charters known as breakthrough schools. >> our schools demonstrate, if they do nothing else, that there's nothing wrong with the children; that, in the right environment, they can thrive. >> reporter: breakthrough uses three different models for learning. at near west, there's more nurturing. citizens academy stresses personal responsibility and civic values. >> perseverance, loyalty. >> reporter: while village prep is run with almost military- style precision. you can read the results in the math scores, up nearly 90%; or science, up more than 150%.

>> people say you have to fix poverty before you can fix education. we believe it's upside down. the only way to fix poverty is to provide our children with a quality education. >> what book are you reading tonight? >> i will read "planet earth." >> reporter: and he will learn something. dean reynolds, cbs news, cleveland. >> o'donnell: and what caused an explosion at disneyland? there's a break in the case when we come back. 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge!

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>> o'donnell: the chinese are about to make the biggest purchase yet of an american company. sheng wee international agreed today to buy smithfield foods for nearly $45 billion. smithfield is the world's largest producer of pork. its brands include armor and farmland. a worker at disney land in anaheim, california, was arrested today in connection with an explosion at the park. 22-year-old christian barnes is suspected of putting a container of dry ice in a trash can, causing a small blast last night. no one was hurt, but a section of the park was evacuated. barnes is a vendor at disney. also in southern california, high winds kicked up a blinding sandstorm. visibility on a freeway yesterday was less than six feet, leading to several car wrecks. and look at this. in galesburg, illinois, a wall of floodwater crashed into carl

sandburg college last night. it swamped offices and classrooms. a u.s. spacecraft heads where no manmade object has ever been, next. i'm the next american success story. working for a company where over seventy-five percent of store management started as hourly associates. there's opportunity here. i can use walmart's education benefits to get a degree, maybe work in it, or be an engineer, helping walmart conserve energy. even today, when our store does well, i earn quarterly bonuses. when people look at me, i hope they see someone working their way up. vo: opportunity, that's the real walmart. see, i knew testosterone could affect sex drive, but not energy or even my mood. that's when i talked with my doctor.

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center with generic pinpoint filling monitor then we take special sponsored 7-day gra >> o'donnell: finally tonight, you don't see many cars that were manufactured in the 1970s still on the road, but a spacecraft from that era just keeps on going, traveling through the heavens at 38,000 miles an hour. here's bill whitaker. >> reporter: "voyager 1" has been hurdling through space for 35 years. now 11 billion miles from the sun, it's approaching the outer limit of our solar system. >> we're on a journey to the edge of the bubble the sun creates around itself. outside is interstellar space. >> reporter: lead scientist ed stone signed on a mission planned for five years. over the decades, he's run nasa's jet propulsion laboratory, taught at cal tech, but he never left voyager behind. you still seem excited about this mission. >> you bet! it's a great mission! i've been very fortunate to have been on it right from the beginning. >> and we have liftoff!

>> reporter: "voyager 1" and its sister craft "voyager 2" were launched in 1977. the mission: to get a closeup look at our solar system; the technology, decidedly old school. i've got this cell phone here. this is less sophisticated than my cell phone. >> by many factors of ten. >> reporter: each craft carries a gold disk with the sights and sounds of earth. the protective plate instructs intelligent alien who might find it to play it like a '70s record album. incoming data is recorded on an eight-track tape. today's smallest ipods have 100,000 time the memory. the old technology made many new discoveries. >> before "voyager," the only known active volcanoes were right here on earth. and then we found a moon of jupiter, called io, which has ten times more volcanic activity. >> reporter: "voyager" found jupiter's big red spot was just one of dozens of massive storms on the giant planet.

the wondrous rings of saturn are actually thousands of tiny bands of ice and debris. "voyager" then turned the cameras around and showed us what we look like from millions of miles in space. where does "voyager" fall in that pantheon of space marvels? >> this mission probably has had more discoveries than any other planetary mission has ever had because it's seen so many different worlds. >> reporter: to conserve the plutonium power source, "voyager's" functions have are slowly being shut down. >> by 2025, we'll have to turn off the last instrument, and that will be the end of the science mission and the two spacecraft will then forever orbit the center of our galaxy silently. >> reporter: everyday, "voyager" extends man's reach farther than ever before. bill whitaker, cbs news, pasadena. >> o'donnell: and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. for scott pelley, i'm norah o'donnell. thanks for joining us. i'll see you first thing tomorrow on cbs "this morning." good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access

benefit - from the state surplus? tonight: all that extra > >> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald so i think we really ought to find out who gets help here and want to do the most for those who need it. >> but who should benefit from the state's surplus? tonight all that extra cash is causing a whole new kind of budget battle. good evening, i'm elizabeth cook. >> i'm allen martin. what to do with the hefty state surplus? that's the billion-dollar question in sacramento today. as kpix 5's ann notarangelo tells us, however high that surplus is, governor brown is opting to err on the side of caution. records after >> reporter: after trying to cope with a deficit you would think it would be a breeze have billions in surplus. >> a lot of people say we have a lot of money. well, they have a ouiji board,

i don't. >> reporter: governor brown talking to the california state association of counties knew he had an audience that's ready to spend the surplus and cautioned them. >> we have to be careful because we have a boom and bust cycle. we want to be prudent, not exuberant. >> reporter: if you ask the alameda county supervisor wilma chan it would be prudent to spend $300 million to preserve the state's county health programs. governor brown wants to pay off dent and put money in a rainy day fund and pay off debt. >> i think his heart is in the right place bus perhaps he is being fiscally overcareful. >> reporter: many of the governor's fellow democrats agree. he seems more in line with the assembly minority leader connie conway. >> i have said that the governor is either the adult in the room or i have accused him of channeling his inner republican. >> reporter: we don't even know how much surplus the state might v the governor says