laura podesta is in new york with more. laura, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. hospitals here in new york city, one in brooklyn and another in the bronx, are also getting military help soon. it's not a permanent solution. the service members will be working at the hospitals for about a month, but it is a much-needed assist for the nurses and doctors we know have been overwhelmed by the omicron variant which is still so prevalent. and we're continuing to see pushback from many who don't want to get the vaccine or even wear masks. an american airlines flight from miami to london was forced to turn around wednesday after a passenger refused to wear a mask. >> we were about an hour and a half into it and had to come back. >> reporter: the woman in her 40s wouldn't comply with the federal mask mandate. she was not arrested but is on the airline's no-fly list. >> there was an extreme incident with a passenger, and they had to turn around. >> reporter: the faa says there have been 92 incidents of unruly passengers related to face masks this year. >> it's a costly decis

>> all right, laura podesta in washington. thank you very much. >>> ahead on "cbs mornings," we'll talk with cdc director rochelle walensky about the omicron surge, at-home testing, and the latest isolation guidelines. >>> president biden marked one year since the january 6 capitol attack with a scathing speech at the site of the insurrection. he called out former president trump for spreading lies about the 2020 election and his attempts to overthrow the results. lawmakers also shared memories from that day. skyler henry has more. ♪ from the mountains ♪ >> reporter: a twilight vigil on the capitol steps closed out a day of remembrance on the first anniversary of the deadly insurrection that shook the nation. earlier, president biden visited the capitol to issue a warning and directed blame at his predecessor. >> i will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy. the former president of the united states of america has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. >> reporter: the president deliv

laura podesta is following all of this from new york. laura, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, tom. this news comes as infections and hospitalizations reach unprecedented levels in many parts of the country. and as you mentioned, even our nation's leading medical experts are saying they don't know the path the pandemic is taking. the omicron-driven covid-19 surge appears to be far from over. >> we are on the precipice of what will likely be the most challenging moment in this pandemic to date. >> reporter: despite signs that the outbreak has levelled off in the northeast, the u.s. continues to average around 800,000 new cases a day. >> if you look at the history of infectious diseases we've only eradicated one infectious disease in man, and that's smallpox. that's not going to happen with this virus. >> the white house's chief medical adviser, dr. anthony fauci, said the pandemic's trajectory is unclear even though so many people have been vaccinated or previously infected. >> the new variants can be eluding the immune resp

laura podesta in new york. thank you very much. >>> there are new developments in the aftermath of that hostage standoff at a synagogue in texas. the four hostages are safe and police in england have arrested two teenagers as percent of the investigation. no word if they face any charges or how they are allegedly connected to it. omar villafranca has the latest. >> reporter: saturday morning worship at congregation beth israel was interrupted when a man started screaming in the sanctuary. the s afghanistan. she was suspected of having ties to al qaeda. one hostage was released a few hours later. the ten-hour standoff ended when the fbi's elite hostage rescue team breached the sanctuary along with local police. a loud bang, shots were heard. in the end the suspect was dead. the remaining hostages were safe. >> the fbi's hostage rescue team, i consider one of the crown jewels of our organization. their mission is to conduct deliberate hostage rescues when necessary. in this case, we had a necessity for that. >> r

laura podesta in new york. thank you. >>> president biden is now saying that he is not sure he has enough votes in congress to get new voting rights legislation passed. mr. biden met at the white house last night with democratic senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema. both are opposed to changing the filibuster rules to overcome republican opposition to the bills. the president is imploring congress to pass legislation protecting the constitutional right to vote as many republican-controlled state legislatures place restrictions on voting. he met with senate democrats at the capitol yesterday. >> i don't know that we can get it done, but i know one thing -- as long as i have a breath in me, as long as i am in the white house, as long as i'm engaged at all, i'm going to be fighting to change the way these legislatures have moved -- >> yesterday the house passed a consolidated votbi first step to allow the debate it on the floor. >>> north korea conducted a new weapons test, the third in two weeks. north korea r

>> laura podesta in new york. thank you so much, laura. >>> president biden suffered a legislative defeat last night after the senate failed to pass the measure to protect voting rights in the u.s. in a statement, he said, "i am profoundly disappointed that the united states senate has failed to stand up for our democracy. i am disappointed, but i am not deterred." mr. biden accused republicans of suppressing the right to vote. he said that his administration would continue to push for voting rights. natalie brand has more. >> reporter: the senate democrats' voting rights legislation once again stalled. >> the motion is not agreed to -- >> reporter: with no republicans in support of the bill, it failed to get the necessary bipartisan support to move forward, prompting a separate showdown over senate filibuster rules. >> we are going to keep fighting long after today because the issue is so important to all of us. >> reporter: most senate democrats wanted to move forward with changes to the filibuster, but they did

laura podesta in new york. thank you very much. >>> ahead on "cbs mornings," we'll talk with education secretary miguel cardona about the state of covid testing in public schools. >>> president biden is calling on congress to urgently pass voting rights legislation. during a speech in atlanta yesterday, mr. biden challenged senators to stand against voter suppression as republican-controlled state legislatures pass bills placing restrictions on voting -- rather, placing restrictions on voting. for the first time the president backed the themselves in of the -- the elimination of the senate's filibuster rule in order to get new voting rights measures passed. >> i've been having these quiet conversations with members of congress for the last two months. i'm tired of being quiet. >> when asked by reporters if he has enough votes to get rid of the filibuster, mr. biden said "keep the faith." >>> one notable absence at yesterday's event in atlanta was voting rights activist and georgia democratic gubernatorial candi

laura podesta is in new york with more on all of this. laura, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. well, one way to end the pandemic is to give everyone high-quality face masks. it's a distribution idea that i talked to the cdc's rochelle walensky about during an interview on cbsn. now it looks like it could become a reality. the latest wave of covid-19 infections may be slowing in the parts of the country hard hit by omicron. wastewater data in massachusetts sampled by biobot analytics is showing a steep drop in covid particles per liter of sewage. >> it tells us that the level of infection is likely going down. >> reporter: south africa saw a steep rise and sudden fall in cases, but u.s. health experts are not ready to celebrate yet. >> if we just assume that that's what's going to happen in our country, we could be making a grave mistake, and that's why i think people's guards should still be up. >> reporter: the numbers are still concerning. cdc director rochelle walensky says hospitalizations are up 33% since last wee

laura podesta is here in new york with more on this. laura, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie.uctill he's amaps e bordere n spokman s.f cresnsn. from korean. the message from leaders -- keep calm and carry on. ukraine's president this week telling his citizens there's no reason for panic. with russian troops conducting live fire drills near the border, the u.s. and nato are preparing for the worst. >> if he were to move in with all those forces, it would be the largest invasion since world war ii. it would change the world. >> reporter: president biden says he may soon deploy 8,500 u.s. troops to eastern europe and threatened vladimir putin with economic sanctions if russia invades. >> we have no intention of putting american forces, our nato forces in ukraine. but we -- as i said, there are going to be serious economic consequences if he moves. >> reporter: the latest shipment of u.s. military aid to ukraine landed in kyiv last night. nearly 300 javelin anti-tank missiles and other munitions. >> putin is gambling wild

laura podesta in new york. thank you very much. >>> the northeast and the upper midwest are in for some dangerous cold temperatures, extreme cold air from the arctic is making its way south. the high temperature in boston is expected to be just 12 degrees. the state's largest school district even closed schools today because of the cold weather. new york city will hit a high of 22 degrees. parts of the region will see the coldest temperature in three years. >>> the faa ordered a full ground stop at all u.s. west coast airports yesterday after north korea fired what's believed to be a ballistic missile. officials at the san diego international airport say the stop lasted for about seven minutes. north korea fired the missile into the eastern sea according to south korea and japan. it is the second missile launch in less than a week. north korean leader kim jong-un recently vowed to strengthen his country's military. >>> and there are new developments in that deadly apartment building fire in new york city. offic

laura podesta is in washington, d.c., with more on this. laura, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. this is the first request by the committee to a member of the media, and it shows how it's broadening the scope of its investigation to anyone who had contact with former president trump in the lead up or the aftermath of january 6th. the bipartisan congressional committee investigating the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol wants to hear from sean hannity. >> speaking of swamp politicians -- >> reporter: the fox news host did not address the request on his show last night. his lawyer, jay sekulow, a member of president trump's impeachment team, said they will respond as appropriate. the committee released text messages hannity sent to white house staff including this one on january 5th -- "i'm very worried about the next 48 hours." in their letter to hannity the committee wrote, "with the counting of the electoral vote scheduled for january 6th at 1:00 p.m., why were you concerned about the next 48 hours?" >> he was more

laura podesta is in new york with more. laura, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, tom. well, the government ramps up its covid response, some americans including students are taking matters into their own hands because they don't think that schools have the right safety measures in place. americans can now order up to four free covid-19 rapid tests to be delivered to their home. the biden administration quietly rolled out covidtest.gov yesterday ahead of today's formal launch. >> if you have congestion or fever or body aches -- >> reporter: dr. angelique campen says the tests are reliable but people who test negative should follow up with a pcr test. >> the home tests are good as a screening tool. what we're seeing is the pcr tests turn positive usually one to two days before a home test. >> reporter: cbs news has learned the biden administration will also announce today that it plans to provide 400 million n95 masks for free to americans. the actions by the white house come as the omicron variant is disrupting everyday life. >> people start lining up about 5:00 a.m. >>

laura podesta in new york. laura, thank you. >>> so the chairman of the house committee investigating the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol says former attorney general william barr is talking to investigators. congressman bennie thompson says that the committee had conversations with barr about a draft executive order reportedly given to former president trump. the order would have directed the defense secretary to seize voting machines after he lost the 2020 election. thompson says that they have also talked to dod officials. the draft executive order was never issued. >>> turning to the coronavirus, the midwest may be the next region to see a high number of cases as the variant continues to spread. but health experts are hoping that the virus could level out in just a few weeks. danya bacchus explains. >> reporter: in the nation's capital sunday, demonstrators gathered at the lincoln memorial. many voicing opposition covid-19 vaccine, others protesting vaccine mandates. >> don't shackle our hands. we wi

laura podesta is on capitol hill with a reminder about what happened and where we are today. laura, good morning. >>> good morning len. on january 6, 2021, congress was working hard toconfirthe victory, joe biden's electorial college victory not far from the capitol. then president trump was holding a rally as supporters continued to question results of the election. shortly after the rally, some of president trump's supporters stormed the capitol making it to the senate floor delaying election certification until early the next morning. then president-elect biden called it an attack on democracy. >> he sees january 6 as a tragic culmination of what the four years under president trump did to our country. >> those who assaulted officers, damaged the capitol face greater charges. those who conspired with others to obstruct vote count also face greater charges. >> more than 700 people have been arrested in connection with january 6. fbi is still looking for 350 people believed to have committed acts of violence on that day. at the capitol today there will be several vigils and

laura podesta is in new york following the latest developments for us. laura, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. the penalty gone's preparation is in tandem with other countries like france ready to sent troops to countries that border ukraine. but it is notable that nato has not yet made a decision to activate its response force, which consists of 40,000 troops from moim u countries. the u.s. and itself nato allies are showing a united front in the face of russian hostility toward ukraine. >> i had a very, very, very good meeting with all the european leaders. >> reporter: president biden later tweeted in an 80-minute call they discussed efforts to deter further aggression like severe economic costs on russia and to reinforce security on the eastern flank. >> it will be swift, it will be severe, in the event of an incursion, it will be unprecedented. >> reporter: today 8,500 troops are ready to deploy to europe within five days if the situation deteriorates. >> we're not deploying them now. we're not saying deploiplomacy dead. >> repor

laura podesta looks at the latest innovations. >> reporter: this recent race featured indy style cars but there were no race car drivers. the vehicles make their own decisions like when to pass. auto makers are trying to bring technology on display on this track to the road. >> we are finally getting closer to having self driving cars. >> reporter: c knelt's road show says many new cars have level two autonomous functions. >> when you step to level three, things start to get interesting. >> reporter: last year honda introduced a vehicle that changes lane on its own. in a traffic jam the driver can take their eyes off the road. super cruise lets drivers go hands free. waymo taking the technology further. the company is offering driver less cab rides in phoenix but the cars can't operate alone in inclement weather that may interfere with censors. auto makers envision a future where vehicles won't need human involvement but first it will require better censors. >> that gives the cars the ability to detect every obstacle around them and find a safe path. >> reporter: companies are testing

laura podesta is on capitol hill with more on all of this. laura, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. president biden is expected to place blame on former president trump for misleading his supporters about the results of the 2020 election, and those misconceptions persist today. a recent poll shows that two-thirds of republicans agree that fraud helped biden win, a claim that has been repeatedly discredited. january 6th, 2021, started with congress working to confirm joe biden's electoral college victory. >> to object to the counting of the electoral ballot from arizona -- >> reporter: not far from the capitol, then-president trump was holding a rally as he and his supporters continued to question the results of the election. >> if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore. >> reporter: shortly after supporters stormed the building, making it all the way to the senate floor. delaying the election certification until early the next morning. then-president-elect biden called it an attack on democracy

laura podesta from cbs news and assessed how serious this wave is. it is a larger wave, new data shows that more than 142,000 people nationwide were hospitalised with covid—19 on sunday. that is more than the previous peak in january of last year. according tojohns hopkins, more than 1.4 million people tested positive at yesterday. and the biden administration announced that beginning on saturday, private insurers are now going to have to cover the cost of eight at—home tests per month. this is impacting everyone but specifically children. in the nation's third largest school district, for example, in chicago, teachers are finally going to be back in the classroom today after a four—day walk—out because they didn't like how the school district was handling the surge in covid infections. students are going to be returning tomorrow. and this is a situation that we are seeing nationwide, where you have students who want to have the right in—person learning but you have teachers and staff who don't want to be in the school because it can be a p