the exposures and what it did to my body when i was in my 20s. >> reporter: more than a dozen k2 veterans told cbs news about toxic conditions from soil saturated with jet fuel. to this site nicknamed skittles pond fors it changing shade. two years after jackson left k2 his health deteriorated. >> i went from being able to run a marathon to not being able to walk up a flight of stairs. >> reporter: now he takes a cocktail of drugs to manage symptoms. >> i see an oncologist once every six months to make sure nothing else has cropped up. >> jackson has gone to capitol hill to support an advocacy group. on the facebook page members self report rare cancers and other illnesses. >> just under 5,000 k2 members,

half have some sort of medical issue. >> reporter: in october our team revealed new evidence about k2's toxic history and a defense department eyewitness came forward. >> we learned that the soviets have had a chemical weapons decontamination unit adjacent to our camp. >> the impact from the cbs investigation was immediate. all of him thought they were alone. >> reporter: neither acknowledges a link between k2 and illness. is that a betrayal? >> of course it is a betrayal. they promised to take care of us. >> testimony you are about to give. >> reporter: a recent congressional hearing cited the cbs investigation. >> mr. wilson rides a mile and a half in a mechanical wheelchair twice a week to attend his

physical therapy appointments. >> reporter: lawmakers pressed the v.a. and defense department witnesses on the lack of action. >> these veterans need help and need it now. >> the v.a.'s continued denial left hundreds of thousands of k2 veterans ineligible for benefits. >> reporter: a long-term study is ongoing, the v.a. maintains there is not enough scientific evidence to make the connection. >> it would be a disservice to the veterans to simply say we don't know how you got it. we are going to cover it. my office looks at the science. i want to find out what the exposures were. >> reporter: u.s. forces left k2 in 2005. satellite images from earlier in the year show the area appears abandoned. >> the most telling part is that in 15 years they have not moved

a stone. >> why? >> they know it is poison. why else would they not use half their base. >> reporter: while six pieces of legislations pending, jackson says the acting defense secretary can take action on their own. >> help us. this is a cry for recognition. recognize our sacrifice. we are still sacrificing. >> reporter: a senior pentagon official says the acting secretary of defense is considering a number of options with the goal of addressing their issues in the coming weeks. >> now to the pandemic. the cdc issued guidance about who should get the covid-19 vaccine first. frontline workers and those living in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities.

it went from one of the worst covid hot spots in the nation to one of the safest in chicago and now back again. >> reporter: this spring more than 300 inmates had covid at chicago's cook county jail and cases here and nationwide were climbing. 450 federal inmates have tested positive, more than 182,000 prisoners in the u.s. tested positive for coronavirus since the pandemic began. >> reporter: in chicago the medical director had to keep them alive. >> what it was like at the height of the outbreak? >> i described it previously like war. we were in a fog of war. >> reporter: in the war against covid she and the sheriff are the commanders. they have seen the virus ravage their ranks taking 12 lives, 8 inmates and 4 staff.

>> there was no playbook. that was a killer. we were making it up as we went along. >> chicago's curve slopped upward, the jails fell off a cliff. when we visited in august there were just 15 cases. >> i read that you said we did not just bend the curve. >> yeah. we exploded the curve. >> reporter: how did you do that? >> we made the determination that we were going to be driven by science. >> reporter: and they went all-in, universal mask wearing, temperature checks, 1,500 detainees were released early. closed buildings were open to spread the rest out. but these on site rapid testing machines proved the most potent weapons. regardless of test results they are all quarantined. >> it has been a huge part of our containment.

if you are coming back from other counties, test, test, test. >> real time testing allowed for real time reaction which jail officials believe saved lives. this inmate here on a gun charge tested positive at the height of the outbreak. are you nervous knowing you are in a confined space at the time of the pandemic? >> it scares me a little bit. only because if one guy gets sick everybody will get sick. we try to practice social distancing but it is hard. >> this has been contained and under control for months. >> reporter: now chicago, like much of the country is seeing huge spikes in covid cases. cases in the jail nearly tripled. the positivity rate is now about 4% compared to 2% this summer. we may hit bashed wire or brick walls. what happens in the community

greatly impacts the jail. we have covid fatigue and that allowed the virus to take hold. >> they may not be able to keep >> they may not be able to keep the virus outside to honey honey? new nyquil severe honey is maximum strength cold and flu medicine with soothing honey-licious taste. nyquil honey. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever best sleep with a cold medicine.

did is locatedhat 70% of youin your gut?tem to boost your immune system: try align gut health & immunity support. align's quality probiotic strain, adds more good bacteria to your gut, to help strengthen your immunity. try align today. unlike the u.s., taiwan has gone 237 days without reporting

a single case of covid-19. for the more than 20 million people that live on the island, daily life has returned mostly to normal. here is the story from mainland china. >> reporter: thousands dancing, deejays spinning, everyone covid and care-free. taiwan hosted the ultra music festival this november. the last time taiwan and 23 million people reported a covid case was april 12th. that is why some americans moved to taiwan too. >> our friends are in the u.s. are like i hope every day what a great decision you made. >> reporter: they are rebooting their lives from los angeles to taiwan's capital, taipei. their children now physically go to school. >> the kids were not in school

for six months. >> i am immunocompromised. so even if school went back for the kids, it would not be wise to send them. >> reporter: the yangs have been free to move after a mandatory two-week president. taiwan has been praised worldwide fors it covid success. from january 3rd, screening air passengers from wuhan. border defense starts on arrival. passengers, queue up for health interviews, scanning qr codes to register names and phone numbers. people getting sprayed with disinfectant along with their bags driven in a designated quarantine taxi to their hotel. a mandatory two weeks. meals are left outside the room three times a day. people that break quarantine can be fined more than $33,000.

the authorities know based on the signals, not gps to avoid major privacy issues. seven more days of temperature checks from home. the health department calls each day and then you are cleared. new flare ups were contact traced. taiwan conquered covid with transparency and science. >> it is good for us for people, for our kids. >> at their new home, the yangs are happy to be in one of the safest places in the world. >> we just really learned to just appreciate every day and be grateful for every day that we have. >> the yangs are self employed with family in taiwan. as for what taiwan did, that would be tough to do in the united states because of a difference in culture and a difference in culture and a concept of personal freedoms.

(drumsticks rattle, feedback hums) (door closes in distance) ♪ (overlapping voices): we are producers, engineers, singers, songwriters, musicians, tour and live production crews, and thousands more of us. (male voice): without us, the music stops. (overlapping voices): we need your help (female voice): to keep the music playing. (male voice): support those impacted today at: musicares.org. we're still hard at work, because vulnerable students who already struggle with poverty, hunger and trauma, need our support more than ever. at communities in schools, we do whatever it takes. delivering meals, helping kids access remote learning and just checking in. in schools, in communities and in times of crisis providing kids a community of support.

to learn more, visit communities in schools dot org.

>> we end this half-hour with a treat, rainbow cookies. did you ever wonder how they are made? you are about to find out. >> reporter: samantha is obsessed. >> rainbow cookies should be colorful and incorporate every color of the rainbow. >> reporter: three years ago she start zola bakes built on one product, a stylish new take on an italian american green, white and red favorite. the rainbow cookie traditionally looks like the italian flag. >> we made a pink, orange, red. >> reporter: zola grew up in new york, the world capital of rainbow cookies.

while they are in super markets and italian bakeries around the country, she sells her online. >> i knew we had something big and it has grown tremendously. >> mainly through social media? >> just through social media. >> reporter: 100 years ago rainbow cookies were popularized at bakers like this one. >> there were no women allowed until the 20s or the 30s. >> not even my grandmother, the daughter. >> his grandmother might have had the last laugh. today her traditional italian flag rainbow cookies based on her recipe. >> old school italian. >> the cookie's intense almond flavor comes from apricot pits ground up and cut with a bit of

almond paste. the recipe includes food coloring. to make three thin cakes which are compressed overnight. add marmalade and chocolate and you have a seven layer cookie. >> chocolate, red, apricot, white, green, chocolate. samantha zola's version has six precise layers. >> i take a ruler and i make sure that every cookies ectly the same size. >> were you like this all your life? >> yes. >> reporter: each cookies 7/8 of an inch wide, uses pure almond paste and food color to create bright colors, layers and tops it off with white or dark chocolate. the result. >> you say two bites. >> two bites.

>> two bites. >> that is the overnight news for this thursday. it's thursday, december 3rd, 2020. this is the cb morning news. skyrocketing surge. new records set for covid vaccine deaths and hospitalizations. the cdc's urgent warning about the months ahead. breaking overnight, devastating landslides. several people are missing and homes crushed after heavy rain in south alaska. ready for take-off. a boeing 737-max goes on its first test flight after being grounded for nearly two years. how soon it will start flying american travelers. good morning. good to be with you. i'm ann-marie green. we're going to begin with the u.s. setting