to the rescue again. congress is close to a new $400 billion coronavirus aid deal. protests to reopen the country spread. >> i'm out here fighting for our first amendment rights. >> the president signals he's on board, even as >> i think of it as a distraction. >> also tonight, testing troubles. the blame game intensifies. >> it's not accurate to say there's plenty of testing. >> who is keeping the farm hands safe? plus, hospitals open so patients don't have to die alone. >> i think the best medicine that we're giving them right now is to bring their son and daughter or grandchild to their bedside. >> sideline skiers and snowboarders unite to get goggles for docs.

>> i went through my stuff and i grabbed a pair and dropped them off. >> and later, this war veteran walked to help fight the virus, inspiring a nation. >> the sun will shine on you again. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." >> good evening. i'm shon gables, reporting from wgcl cbs 46 in atlanta. more federal money could be on the way to struggling small businesses. at the same time, the debate over the reopening of the country is getting sharply political. the virus is still killing more than 3,600 americans in the last 24 hours. the u.s. death toll now tops 41,000. there are over 746,000 cases. we have correspondents covering all aspects of this crisis. meg oliver in new jersey starts us off. >> reporter: well, the army has been supporting several hospitals in new york city. they moved to new jersey for the

first time this week to help an overwhelmed staff here at university hospital. but it's a different scene sh back te protests demanding coronavirus reopen intense identified sunday. >> i'm fighting for my rights. >> reporter: some are concerned they will reopen too quickly. what's your reaction to the protests? >> a high extreme of concern. >> reporter: he runs the university in newark. with the help of the army they are just starting to feel the flattening of the curve. >> we just need to make sure that we stay the course with social distancing. we don't want to see another surge come in that would be overwhelming. >> reporter: restrictions in some states are easing. marinas and boat yards in connecticut, new york and new jersey are opening with strict social distancing measures. beaches in florida have reopened. there's hope in new york. governor cuomo says the outbreak is slowing, but they still need to reduce the infection rate

before restrictions are eased. >> but watch that hospitalization rate and that infection rate because if that starts going up again, and you don't immediately correct or you made such a dramatic movement that the virus infection spreads, you could go right back to where you were in one week's time. >> reporter: as americans wait, the lines grow longer outside food banks like this one in california. >> the need has been massive. >> reporter: this month university hospital has lost five staff members to covid-19, with more than 200 patients with the virus right now, they are hoping they have reached the peak. shon? >> meg oliver, thank you. tonight the white house and congressional democrats say they are close to a deal. for more money to help struggling small businesses, this as the finger pointing over testing intensifies. nikole killion at the white house.

>> reporter: the white house indicated relief could be on the way to small businesses this week after money for a popular loan program ran out. >> the senate can pass this tomorrow and that the house can take it up tuesday. and wednesday we would be back up and running. >> reporter: the measure, negotiated with democratic leaders, would include at least $300 billion for the paycheck protection program, as well as funding for hospitals and testing. >> the very things that we democrats have been fighting for are now going into the bill. >> reporter: amid the cooperation -- >> we're doing about 150,000 tests a day. >> reporter: -- a growing divide over the administration's claims of sufficient testing. >> the president gets an "f" on failure, on the testing. >> reporter: the president fired off a series of tweets calling nancy pelosi "an inherently dumb person. she will be overthrown." he added," just like i was right onventilators, i'm right on testing." governors must be able to step up and get the job done. >> that's just delusional, to say that the governors have

plenty of testing and they should get to work on testing. somehow we aren't doing our job is just absolutely false. >> reporter: some governors say even if the tests are there, they're short on supplies. >> the re-agents and the swabs are absolutely essential. you can't process all of these tests if you can't take the sample and protect it. >> reporter: the governor of michigan is among those calling on the federal government to use the defense production act again to make those testing supplies. the vice president says he continues to work with the governors and is holding a call with them monday to lay out how they can activate more tests in their states. shon? >> nikole, thanks. as of today, there are now 198 days until the presidential election. let's check in with cbs news political correspondent ed o'keefe. and ed, president trump and joe biden's campaigns are now accusing each other of being soft on china and how to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. what is really going on here? >> reporter: well, look, both sides the american public blames

china to some extent for not doing more to stop the spread of this disease. the trump campaign is trying to use comments that biden made last year that seem to suggest that the rise of china isn't that big of a deal. they also point out that his son had done some business work in china. the biden campaign says, look, while the president wasn't responsible for coronavirus itself, he is responsible for the response. >> the next big story that we're waiting for is that what joe biden needs to do is select a running mate. what do you know about that so far? >> reporter: that's right, cbs news has learned that that process will formally begin this coming week. remember, biden himself has said he's going to pick a woman to be his running mate and that group of people that he will look into is expected to include governors like gretchen whitmire and potentially others like stacey abrams, the former state senator from your home state. we'll see.

>> and stacey abrams has not been coy about wanting this position. all of georgia watching. thank you very much. you can follow ed's reporting online and on air and on cbsn. there is breaking news in canada tonight. the royal canadian mounted police say a gunman went on a shooting rampage outside of halifax, nova scotia. one of the dead is a mountie. authorities say the gunman is dead. the cbs news will be right back.

♪ ♪ >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." >> now, in this pandemic, there's no such thing as working from home for the nation's farm workers doing essential work with little or no protective gear. their lives and the nation's food supply are at risk. here's manuel bojorquez. >> reporter: for workers on florida's farms, getting to the fields starts with a bus ride, making social distancing ac. expecee an essential labor. when we're absolutely abandoned in terms of resources to protect ourselves. there's no personal protective equipment. for farm workers. >> reporter: here, the nearest hospital is about an hour away.

this man is with the coalition of workers which has been distributing flyers on covid precautions, in spanish and creole. and answering questions on a radio talk show. some growers have set up hand washing stations, but reyes fears that's not enough. >> if you think about the virus as a wild fire, we're dry tinder, in a way. if there are no workers, because we get all sick and it's impossible to sustain the work because of that, then there's no food. what are people going to do? >> reporter: the vast majority of the nation's farm workers lack health insurance or sick paid leave. and though it's estimated undocumented immigrants paid $20 billion in federal taxes in 2018, they aren't eligible for stimulus checks. "because of our needs, we have to go to work," says gloria carrera. though she recently made the tough decision to leave the fields and her income for the health of her two children.

work or stay safe, a daily don lemon a for laborers like her across the country. but carrera's situation exposes another problem. more than one family living under one roof. she says it's the only way she can afford the rent but increases their chance of exposure even if she continues to stay home. manuel bojorquez, cbs news, miami. >> now to louisiana, one of the nation's virus hot spots. with no cure and limited treatment options, patients are often isolated from loved ones. even in death. one louisiana hospital is trying to change that. mireya villareal have more from new orleans. >> reporter: arzelia smith drove from houston to new orleans to reunite with her grandfather. >> immediately i want to get to my grandfather. that's my first thought, i need to be with my grandfather. >> reporter: willie gordon was a world war ii veteran, a family

man that helped raise his azalia. the coronavirus combined with underlying health issues left him lying helpless in a hospital bed. >> it's heart warming and also heart-breaking at the same time. i believe that he's at peace. >> reporter: this visit was made possible through a pop-up program created by heart of hospice. the agency rented out a vacant wing inside this hospital exclusively treating covid-19 patients. you're bringing healthy family members in to a place where there is coronavirus. how do you ensure their health and safety? >> so, we took that very, very seriously. our staff members are actually educating them on the proper utilization of the p.p.e., how to put the p.p.e. on, what is safe, what is not safe. they're fully gowned out. >> reporter: arkansas nurse melissa moody was part of the team treating arzalia's grandfather. >> i think the best medicine that we're giving them right now, better than anything i can give them through their i.v., is to bring their son, their daughter or their grandchild to

their bedside. >> how are you doing? >> reporter: some would find these moments difficult. but for willie gordon's family, this was a gift. >> we didn't want him to feel alone during this time. >> reporter: are you ready to let go? >> i am. i am. >> reporter: heart of hospice is fielding phone calls from across the country. providers saying "how can we help?" and others saying, "how can we do this for our patients?" the pop-up was planning to be here through june 30. but they are already in discussions to see if they can extend past that date to see if they can meet the needs here in new orleans. shon? >> mireya, thanks. today marks one of the darkest days in our nation's history. 25 years ago, a right-wing extremist bomb destroyed the federal building in oklahoma ci them children. today, the pandemic forced the annual memorial to happen online.

ing some creatures hard.gh milld by more tornadoes from arkansas to the carolinas and florida panhandle. and here in atlanta, opera singers are delivering emotional pick-me-ups right to your front porch. ♪ ♪ joelle roberson hits the high hopeful notes of a rodgers and hammerstein's favorite. with the opera closed, singers are finding fun ways to bring music right to the audience. straight ahead, the grassroots campaign to turn ski goggles into life-saving protection. and the british vet whose backyard laps. >> anxious to go. there he is. congratulations. >> have made him a national legend.

fred would do anything for his daughter! get in fred! even if it means being the back half of a unicorn. fear not fred! the front half washed his shirt with gain detergent. that's the scent that puts the giddy in giddy up! ahhh. the irresistible scent of gain. for a scent with even more giddy up, try gain scent blast in detergent, fabric softener and scent beads. make it tough to take care of yourself, that's why you can rely on nature's bounty... to give you the support you need... to stay motivated keep active and sleep well. add a little more health to your day... with nature's bounty.

let you sleep, try nyquilh severe with vicks vapocool. (acapella) whoa! (avo) and vaporize it. (acapella) ahhhh! (acapella) shhhh! (avo) nyquil severe with vicks vapocool. the vaporizing, nighttime, coughing, aching, stuffy head, best sleep with a cold, medicine. ♪ let's see. it's dry. there's no dry time! makes us wonder why we booked fifteen-second ad slots! dries instantly and keeps you protected for forty-eight-hours. ♪ the demand for critical supplies, groceries and yes, even toilet paper, has kept big rigs rolling across the country during this pandemic, and truckers are risking their own health to get it done. as kris van cleave reports, life on the road is harder than ever.

>> reporter: we caught up with larry and angie baum near christiansburg, virginia. angie, what is the biggest difference you notice when you're driving now? >> a lot less cars and more truck drivers. >> eastbound on i-10, 30 miles in to new mexico. and there's hardly any traffic. >> reporter: they're documenting how life has changed during the coronavirus "married to the road" blog. >> we have our face masks there, and our purell. we keep it with us at all times so that it's handy. >> they gave us a big box of gloves. >> reporter: what's the hardest part of your job now? >> trying to stay safe. >> reporter: finding bathrooms, showers and a place to rest has gotten harder as many small truck stops and some rest stops are closed. about the only restaurants open now are drive-throughs, ad big rigs don't fit. >> two or three nights we didn't eat. truckers move 71% of all domestic freight, and virtually all consumer goods. they are essential workers, especially now. >> a little girl said i love

truck drivers. madedave. >> more five-finger waves than one-finger waves. >> reporter: white's travel center calls itself the largest on the east coast. they're staying open and busy, and stepping up sanitation efforts, and has an on-site urgent care. but drivers worry. do you worry about getting sick? >> me more than him. because he's got a compromised immune system. he doesn't get out of the truck unless it's to pump gas it. >> reporter: so it's weighing on you a lot. >> yeah, a lot. my kids are worried. >> reporter: does it make you think about just staying home? >> wish we could. absolutely. >> reporter: but for now, the trailers are full and they'll keep on driving, hoping we all outrun coronavirus soon. kris van cleave, cbs news, christianburg, virginia. >> still ahead, how a grassroots eyewear idea by sidelined snow lovers has gone global.

super emma just about sleeps in her cape. but when we realized she was battling sensitive skin, we switched to new tide plus downy free. it's gentle on her skin, and dermatologist recommended. new tide pods plus downy free. safe for sensitive skin with eczema and psoriasis. may contain disodium distyrylbiphenyl disulfonate.

clean clothes, no unnecessary chemicals. i don't have to worry about that, do i?are irritated.ate. harmful bacteria lurk just below the gum line. crest gum detoxify, voted product of the year. it works below the gum line to neutralize harmful plaque bacteria and help reverse early gum damage. gum detoxify, from crest. the coronavirus outbreak for skiers forced off the slopes early this sunday. one boarder decided to turn her unused gear to critical equipment. here's carter evans. >> reporter: when snowboarder anna gasser flew down the slopes at the olympics in sochi, russia, there was no way she could have known some of the gear she was wearing would help in the battle against covid-19. the idea came while isolating at home, where we reached her in snowds and oldgles.ul put to a .

>> your eyes are bare, very exposed. that's the way for the virus to jump immediately into your body and attack you. >> reporter: dr. marsha glass and her colleagues were running dangeroulsy low on protective equipment when a fellow doctor sent a box to her home. >> i opened it up and i saw boxes of goggles. >> reporter: they were ski goggles from a group called goggles for docs, that has been taken in donations from sidelined skiers and snowboarders around the world. did you ever think that you uldh personal protective equipment? >> no. i don't think anyone would have thought it would have came that far, and so fast. >> reporter: signs are popping up in ski towns everywhere. we found page rausch making a drop-off in salt lake city. >> we saw this goggles for docs. so i went through my stuff and i

grabbed a pair and dropped some off. >> reporter: in the last few months, goggles for docs has delivered more than 30,000 pairs to medical workers in need. >> it's like going fishing. you come down and say whoa! what do we have? >> reporter: nathan rafferty is an organizer, volunteers at a time when ski resorts like park city are shut down. >> we estimate our industry lost close to a quarter billion dollars in revenue. >> reporter: the work that they replaced it with? priceless, says dr. glass. >> i am so touched. it's really an inspiration for me to think about stopping and doing a totally selfless gif >> reporter: in this case, it's the gift of safety, with a little bit of style. carter evans, cbs news, los angeles. >> up ♪

this virus is testing all of us.

and it's testing the people on the front lines of this fight most of all. so abbott is getting new tests into their hands, delivering the critical results they need. and until this fight is over, we...will...never...quit. because they never quit. >>y tonieteran

who is nearly a century old is doing his part to help britain battle the coronavirus. what he didn't count on was the overwhelming reaction. here's charlie d'agata. >> reporter: a couple of weeks ago, world war ii veteran captain tom moore came up with a new way to serve his country. 100 laps in his garden, ten a day, in times for his 100th birthday. a way of saying thank you to

britain's national health service for his new hip, hoping $1,200, a little morale boost in a country hurting for inspiration. >> tomorrow, you will find out everything will be better than today, even if today was all right. >> reporter: captain tom had no idea how good his tomorrow was about to become. the donations began touring in. so he upped the ante. why not 500,000 pounds? soon he sprinted past that, too. geing daupdateis ple progress. [ honking and cheers ] because here's what captain tom tapped into. a national outpouring of support for britain's straining health workers. so with each step, captain tom was carrying the country along with him and not just britain. soon people from more than 50 nations, including the united states pitched in. one million became two million, four million, eight million.

by the morning of his last day, captain tom had raised more than $16 million. and along the way, he raised hope. >> the sun will shine on you again, and the clouds will go away. >> reporter: captain tom is fond of the saying, "fortune favors the brave." he could not have been more right. >> inches to go. and there he is. >> reporter: charlie d'agata, cbs news, london. >> and that's the overnight news for this monday. for some of you the news continues. for ot, lat for "cbs this morning" and follow us online any time at cbsnews.com. reporting this morning from wgcl cbs 46 in atlanta, i'm shon gables. ♪ ♪

>> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." >> good evening. i'm shon gables reporting from wgcl cbs 46 in atlanta. ploer federal money could soon be on the way to struggling small businesses. at the same time the debate over when the reopening of the debate is getting sharply political. the virus is still killing. more than 41,000 in the last 24 hours. it now tops 41,000. there are more than 746,000 known cases. meg oliver in new jersey starts us off. >> reporter: well, the army has been supporting several hospitals in new york city. they moved to new jersey for the first time this week to help an overwhelmed staff here at pranonirus nd tount.

reopen intensified monday. >> i'm fighting for my first amendment rights. but a new poll finds most americans are concerned states will reopen too quickly. what's your reaction when you see the protests? >> i'm extremely concerned. >> reporter: jonathan green runs the emergency department at university hospital in newark. with the help of the army, they are just starting to feel the flattening of the curve. >> we just need to make sure that we stay the course with social distancing. don't wto see another surge come in that would be overwhelming. >> reporter: restrictions in some states are easing. marinas and boatyards in connecticut, new york and new jersey are opening with strict measures. beaches in florida have reopened. there's hope in new york. governor cuomo says the outbreak is slowing, but they need to reduce the infection rate before restrictions are eased. >> but watch that hospitalization rate and that infection rate.

because if that starts going up again, and you don't immediately correct, or you made such a dramatic movement that the virus infection spreads, you could go right back to where you were, in one week's time. >> reporter: as americans wait, the lines grow longer outside food banks, like this one in california. >> the need is massive. >> reporter: this month, university hospital lost five staff members to covid-19. with more than 200 patients with the virus right now, they're hoping they have reached the peak, shon. >> meg oliver, thank you. tonight the white house and congressional democrats say they're close to a deal for more money to help struggling small businesses. this, as the finger pointing over testing intensifies. nikole killion at the white house. >> reporter: the white house indicated relief could be on the way to small businesses this as soon as this week after money for a porch lar loan program ran

out. >> the senate can pass this d es w b up and running. >> reporter: the measure, negotiated with democratic leaders, would include at least $300 billion for the paycheck protection program, as well as funding for hospitals and testing. >> the very things that we democrats have been fighting for are now going into the bill. >> reporter: amid the cooperation -- >> we're doing about 150,000 tests a day. >> reporter: -- a growing divide over the administration's claims of sufficient testing. >> the president gets an "f" on failure, on the testing. >> reporter: the president fired off a series of tweets calling nancy pelosi "an inherently dumb person. she will be overthrown." he added," just like i was right on ventilators, i'm right on testing." governors must be able to step up and get the job done. >> that's just delusional, to say that the governors have plenty of testing and they should get to work on testing. somehow we aren't doing our job is just absolutely false. >> reporter: some governors say

even if the tests are there, they're short on supplies. >> the re-agents and the swabs are absolutely essential. you can't process all of these tests if csample a prote it.hen michigan is among those calling on the federal government to use the defense production act again to make those testing supplies. the vice president says he continues to work with the governors and is holding a call with them monday to lay out how they can activate more tests in their states. shon? >> nikole, thanks. as of today, there are now 198 days until the presidential election. let's check in with cbs news political correspondent ed o'keefe. and ed, president trump and joe biden's campaigns are now accusing each other of being soft on china and how to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. what is really going on here? >> reporter: well, look, both sides the american public blames china to some extent for not sof this disease.

the trump campaign is trying to use comments that biden made last year that seem to suggest that the rise of china isn't that big of a deal. they also point out that his son had done some business work in china. the biden campaign says, look, while the president wasn't responsible for coronavirus itself, he is responsible for the response. >> the next big story that we're waiting for is that what joe biden needs to do is select a running mate. what do you know about that so far? >> reporter: that's right, cbs news has learned that that process will formally begin this coming week. remember, biden himself has said he's going to pick a woman to be is expected to include gretchen whit whitmire and stacy abe abrams from your home state. we'll see. l aton.this y abrams has not you ca line and on air and on cn.

in this pandemic there is no such thing as working from home for the nation's farm workers doing essential work with little protective gear. their lives and nation's food supply is at risk. here's manuel bojorquez. >> reporter: for workers on florida's farms, getting to the fields starts with a bus ride, making social distancing practically impossible. >> we're expected to keep going, an essential labor. when we're absolutely abando in terms of resources to protect ourselves. there's no personal protective equipment. >> reporter: here, the nearest hospital is about an hour away. this man is with the coalition of workers which has been distributing flyers on covid precautions, in spanish and creole, and answering questions on a radio talk show. some growers have set up hand washing stations, but reyes

fears that's not enough. >> if you think about the virus as a wild fire, we're dry tinder, in a way. if there are no workers, because we get all sick and it's impossible to sustain the work because of that, then there's no food. what are people going to do? >> reporter: the vast majority of the nation's farm workers lack health insurance or sick paid leave. and though it's estimated undocumented immigrants paid $20 billion in federal taxes in 2018, they aren't eligible for stimulus checks. "because of our needs, we have to go to work," says gloria carrera. though she recently made the tough decision to leave the fields and her income for the health of her two children. work or stay safe, a daily don lemon a for w

still fresh... ♪ unstopables in-wash scent booster ♪ downy unstopables

theryou're not good enough. hard to control. but i am enough. and i know what i'm made of. put your skin in the game. with a razor that puts your skin first.

♪ ♪ >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." >> welcome back to the overnight news. i'm shon gables. the coronavirus outbreak with its stay-at-home orders has forced more than 22 million americans to file for unemployment benefits in the last month alone. for many, those benefits have been slow in coming, and even when the help arrives, it often barely pays for the basics. that's got a record number of americans turning to the nation's food banks. jill schlesinger has the story. >> reporter: from the streets of southern california -- >> the line for food was so long there was a huge traffic jamb. >> reporter: to the sidewalks of maine. >> we have sandwiches. >> reporter: the financial fallout from the pandemic crisis is triggering a hunger crisis. >> sort of an all-hands-on deck situation right now. >> reporter: food banks are struggling to find new waysecore

people who are coming through the doors here at the food bank. >> within the past month, we have seen an absolutely uptick of people that are now furloughed or unemployed. so that's a newer face that we're seeing at the food bank. >> reporter: dr. jessica rosatti is chief programs officer at long island cares in new york where they distribute food bag by bag as well as delivery by delivery to seniors and others in need who can't leave their homes. >> in march alone, we distributed over a million pounds of food. >> reporter: and what was the prior month in terms of pounds of food? >> maybe 600,000. >> reporter: according to feeding america, the nation's largest hunger relief organization, before the virus outbreak there were already 37 million people nationwide who didn't have enough to eat. that's expected to grow by an additional 17 million, an increase of 46%.

at the trinity jubilee center in lewiston, maine, they try to hand out something hot. >> we can tell folks haven't asked for food before. second of aurll, people who wer already struggling. single parents, parents working low-wage jobs, elderly people. they used to get food from different places in the community and a lot of those soup kitchens and food pantries have shutdown so people are relying on us more than before. >> reporter: erin reed is the executive director at the center. donations are down as local colleges have closed. and super markets have less surplus food. >> we've spent more on food in the past month than we have in the past six months combined. >> reporter: down the street at the saint mary's nutrition center, they were busy pre-packing bags of food.

social distancing means that recipients are no longer allowed inside to choose what they want. >> people are doing a lot, but it still never quite seems like enough. >> reporter: the crisis has touched everyone who works here, like theston. >> my mother got laid off from work and a lot of my friends got laid off from work. it's been hard. >> reporter: across the country in southern california's orange county, the second harvest food bank has started a drive-thru service on saturdays. >> the first day was unbelievable. we literally got crushed. the surge of cars coming to the honda center, which is where we have our distribution, was something i've never seen before. >> reporter: the c.e.o. of second harvest, harold herman, says they overhauled their procedures to ensure they're not spreading the virus. >> the rest of you split up. >> reporter: they had to reduce the number of people working in their warehouses. >> we've relied on volunteers

for 37 years and we have as many as 26,000 of them come through our doors on an annual basis. but overnight had to basically turn that tap of resources off and figure out a way to work the food ourselves to be able to harden our defense. >> reporter: in place of volunteers, they've hired 120 people who have recently lost their jobs. ♪ ♪ like musician tim gill. >> the industry evaporated. concert tours canceled. studio dates canceled. within the span of just a few days, went from a full calendar of work to nothing at all. >> reporter: along with a paycheck comes a box of food. >> we just have so much less income that we need this basic assistance, you know. and it's invaluable to know that we have these resources that we're not going to be going hungry. >> reporter: feeding america

says 95% of food banks in the country are seeing higher demand and higher expenses. over the next six months, it will take an estimated $1.5 billion or 30% more money than they've been spending to meet that need. >> this food bank cannot close. there are hundreds of thousands of people right now counting on us, and it's not just the food. it's that little bit of hope that comes with that box as well. that normalcy that somebody is out there looking for you at a time people have it really uncertain. ♪

a lot of folks ask me why their dishwasher doesn't get everything clean. i tell them, it may be your detergent. recommend cascade platinum... ...with the soaking, scrubbing and rinsing built right in. for sparkling-clean dishes, the first time. cascade platinum.

social distancing has already changed the face of america and it's turned some of our more densely packed cities into virtual ghost towns. brook silva-braga has the story of a photographer documenting it from the air. >> reporter: he has climbed into a helicopter to photograph new york 40 times. >> for new york city the helicopter is the ultimate tour. >> reporter: his book, new york air, captured the color, energy, and scope of america's biggest city. from sun bathers in central park to taxis, crowding the avenues. what do you expect today? >> i expect to see a city

changed. i think we'll see subtle differences, but, you know, when you go up in the air you just find things. that's part of the fun of it. >> reporter: his discoveries in the air have made him one of the world's best-known aerial photographers. his fifth book, the human planet, is out this month. but most times he doesn't work from a helicopter. george's interest in the world's most remote places spurred the creation of the world's lightest flying machine. a motorized para glider. . >> i wanted to do some flying in the sahara, there were no i had to bring my own. i had to bring something that didn't use an air field. it let me get aerial photos of places that hadn't been seen from the air before. >> reporter: para glideers aren't practical or legal in new york. this past tuesday they took an open-air chopper on a once unthinkable path to the city. >> this is rare. they don't usually let you fly

over laguardia airport. i'll tell you that. >> reporter: passing over laguardia, steinmetz snapped the tarmac. >> looking at the gates, they're all empty. >> reporter: crossing into mid town manhattan, they circled over rockefeller plaza. >> want to go over top of that? >> yeah, try and recreate that shot. >> cut right and then left? >> reporter: in 2014 george had captured this image of a crowded observatory and ice skaters. 800 feet below. >> when it's full of people, it's alive. the building looks like ants on top. there were no ants today. you look down below at rockefeller center, the ice rink, it's a total dead zone. looks like a construction site. i was trying to photograph the life of the city. it was interesting how humans were involved in the city, their spacial relationships, where they were, where they weren't. but today there's nobody there. >> reporter: six years ago,

movie goers blanketed bryant park. this week it was as vacant as the stretch of 6th avenue beside it. the bus ing rooftop restaurant on fifth avenue now a place to stack chairs and benches until something changes. and the famous snarled traffic of the lincoln tunnel, he captured the crawl between new york and new jersey back in 2014. and then again tuesday at 6:45 p.m. usually rush hour. >> just esthetically as a photographer, was it more beautiful to shoot, less beautiful? >> it's kind of spooky. i mean, not super -- it's kind of like a haunted city. like a city where everybody left. it's odd. >> want to go over there? >> yeah. kind of look down and move on. it's not a good picture, to be honest. it's kind of depressing to be honest. the city is such a vital, you know, thriving city and it just

looks very, just kind of turned in on itself. it's in paralysis. >> reporter: with so much missing, steinmetz looked for what had been added. >> to the left. >> reporter: a cluster of white hospital tents dotting the green of central park. it's run by the evangelical group samaritan's purse. they often work in war zones. and on the hudson river, "the comfort". the navy hospital ship with 1,000 beds and just a few dozen patients. george circled around it time and time again. >> you're circling, circling. one more circle, this is what i hope to see? >> when you get the picture book, you get a phogasm. you see something, it's like you get that. i felt i was close to that. got to go forward here, more to the left. >> reporter: helicopter, they

don't like to hover. they always think they hover. you do a pass, no, want to be a little further, up, right, down. >> each one is a little different. >> reporter: what does hover is a drone, and steinmetz uses them, too. last tuesday piloted over harte island, a cemetery where families without money are laid to rest in unmarked graves. the purchasial therein creased with tough questions about harte island. >> it's a very somber place. over 1 million people buried there. it's a mass grave. it's very depressing. >> reporter: n.y.p.d. officers soon found steinmetz in a bronx parking lot and asked for his memory card, which he refused. >> sir, leave it right there. >> reporter: you were out there flying a drone which you're not allowed to do in new york city. there seemed to be a big response to that.

yeah, i was ver curious s went out to do that by the city, not because it was endangering anyone. but because they didn't want people to see what was going on there. >> reporter: but tuesday ended with him lingering above manhattan. >> let's go back to that one area. >> reporter: floating freely over a frozen city. >> yeah, we made about ten passes back and forth trying to look at the avenues in different times of light. it it was third avenue, i could see the chrysler building. the city was all really dark with this little line of all the red lights coming down the avenue. its what an empty town with red lights. >> reporter: for once, the city at the end of george's lens seemed as still as a photograph. brook silva-braga, new york.

the battle against the coronavirus has spawned a legion of volunteers leaving their lives on the front lines of the pandemic. steve hartman has the begin wi. >> reporter: most of us are relieved to be watching the worst of it from the safety of our sofas. >> deadly record. >> reporter: 47-year-old bevan of high point, north carolina, was one of those comfortably on the couch. but some switch flipped in you. >> yeah, it it was kind of a switch. it's funny you say that. wait a minute, why am i sitting here? >> reporter: bev, a nurse, had contracted serious case of empathy. >> i can imagine the nurses being so exhausted, so stressed out. if i could just go and relieve a shift for them. >> totally crazy right now u. >> reporter: that was a month ago. today bevan is working at mount sinai in queens the outbreak

epicenter. she works for the sickest of matthys patients because she believes she was made for a moment like this. >> i'm not afraid, i wasn't shaken by things like this. i was in a bank robbery, tied up for 15 minutes. he was tying me up. i said, are we on candid camera? i thought i'll make him laugh, make myself human and he won't kill me. >> reporter: at this point i realized there was no ordinary hero. although she's not technically a volunteer she has to get paid for legal reasons. bevan plans to donate everything she makes after expenses to the mount sinai support staff. the fact is she could really use the money. cheers,man. she ask you if i 1. she could do this or did she tell you she was doing it? >> multiple times after saying yes. are you sure you want me to? >> reporter: why did you say yes? >> life is not to serve yourself, but to serve others.

>> reporter: these apples didn't fall far. >> i believe it's our duty. i believe we should be compelled to do something when we can. >> reporter: there is tap a switch that goes off in some people during perilous times. whether it's the football coach who steps in to stop a school shooter, the nfl player who joins the army after 9/11. or the nurse who simply stands up from her couch. here wills be those who run toward disr when everyone else is fleeing. >> somebody's got to help. what if we all said we couldn't handle it and we couldn't do it? what if everybody said that? >> reporter: it certainly wouldn't be america. steve hartman, cbs news, on the road. >> and that's the overnight news for this monday. reporting from wgcl cbs 46 in atlanta, i'm shon gables.

captioning sponsored by cbs >> gables: tonight-- ht the rescue. again, congress close to a new $400 billion coronavirus aid deal. protests to reopen the country spread. >> i'm out here fighting for our he's on board, even as >> it's a distraction. >> gables: also tonight, testing amoubles. the blame game intensifies. ables:ho is keeping the say farm hands safe? plus, hospitals open so patients don't have to die alone. >> i think the best medicine