documented that k2 was a dumping ground, used equipment, saturated with jet fuel, ra radiation warning signs littered the base. >> demand that they honor their own rules, respect uzbekistan as combat area. >> reporter: opens door to services. >> every veteran to uzbekistan can receive the same care as afghanistan. >> reporter: first step between direct link between k2 service and illness. >> yes. >> reporter: first met jackson he shared journal, ten months at k2. >> every yellow tab i felt sick. >> reporter: thyroid stopped

functioning after he left the base and received preliminary cancer diagnosis, all too familiar story for k2 veterans. doug wilson spent three months at k2, can no longer work or drive after rare cancer caused brain damage. >> rides mile and a half in mechanic wheelchair to attend physical therapy appointments. >> reporter: after seeing the story, then acting secretary of defense chris miller who passed through k2, drafted the executive order. >> let's error on the side of the veteran and not get caught up in bureaucracy and endless studies like in the past. >> reporter: now the defense department has just one year to conduct a rigorous study into k2. >> not a 15-year survey.

>> reporter: it is a huge step forward, blames reproductive health issues on the base. >> decade's worthes >> reporter: now looking to the biden administration to finish the job. >> ask the president himself, help us, you can get us, get us the presumption of service, and get the veterans help they need and families the help they deserve. >> spokesperson for lloyd austin tells cbs news he's aware of the issues and will consult with the va over the appropriate way forward. adding the secretary believes strongly in

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when i get to the point where i feel like her skin has fitted my arm, or my mind, then i know there's something about her. >> reporter: as a little girl, what were your dreams? >> i was a very shy child. if you got 15 minutes of words out of me, you got plenty, you know? i was a thinker. thinker until i was 12 years old, that's why i have these buck teeth. >> reporter: born in 1924 to west indian parents, cicely tyson in memoir "just as i am." >>. >> reporter: the journey not easy for tyson, pregnant at 17 and marriage lasted just over two years. began acting career as single

mother, choice that brought conflict at home. >> were you surprised your mom kicked you out of the house because you wanted to be actress? >> yes, told me i couldn't live there and do that. suddenly i found something i loved to do and had child to support. >> reporter: you weren't thinking when i grow up, i want to be an actress? >> no. my mother, i don't know what she wanted me to be, she t live in ? lots of prostitutes walking up and down the street, and that's all she knew about movies. >> reporter: mother eventually came around and their connection is strong one to this day, especially in this church. >> and i feel that her spirit is here. so i bought this pew in her name. >> reporter: this is a way to honor here? >> that's right. >> reporter: tyson made onscreen

key debut at 31, then enrolled in acting school run by paul man, well-known acting coach and alo alone with him after class. writes about traumatic encounter. >> says excuse me, i would like to talk to you. before i know it, pulled me down -- >> reporter: touching you and groping you? >> and wanted me to do something worse than that. i thought about the whole incident when i got home. and -- you know, i never shed a tear about that until this moment. >> reporter: all these years later, it still affects you that way. >> the whole thought that you could go out innocently to achieve something, and it turns out to be something so vulgar

and coarse. and demeaning to you as a young black woman. but i made up my mind then that i went there for a reason. and that reason had not changed. >> reporter: sounds like a metoo incident before we were calling it metoo. and some would say why did you go back. and to that you say? >> i went back to get what i was told i needed in order to achieve what i wanted. and i think of the many young black women who go through that, and are devastatednd it kills their dream. i was not going to let that happen to me. >> reporter: through her sheer determine nation, her talent blossomed and landed tyson the headlining role of rebecca in "sounder," 1972 film about a

black sharecropper family. >> bye daddy. >> bye son. >> reporter: and a conversation with white journalist about the movie pushed tyson to find new purpose in her calling. so you're promoting acco"sounde and said -- >> felt bigotry in himself watching the movie. asked him why so, uncomfortable about older son referring to his father as daddy. i said, do you have children, what do they call you? he said they call me daddy. and i thought, my god. this man is thinking that we're not human beings. and i made up my mind that i could not afford the luxury of

just being an actress, and that i would use my career as my platform. >> reporter: namely you want black people to be seen as human beings. >> that's right. >> reporter: after playing over 100 roles on the stage and screen, tyson has won three emmys, a tony and an oscar. >> this is the culmination of all those years of have and have not. >> reporter: but beyond her public success, her memoir documents her love story with jazz icon myliles davis, marrie for seven years but romance spanned decades. friends wondered why he were with miles davis, he was abusive. you said miles needed to be saved from himself and you needed someone to save. >> listen, people who hurt, it's

always the person closest to them that they hurt. and i was in love with him. he was a beautiful human being. >> reporter: but on his death bed he wanted you to know that he was -- >> sorry. tell cicely i'm sorry. >> reporter: was he the love of your life? >> yes. >> reporter: did you think could never find love like that again? >> i haven't. >> reporter: >> reporter: what feel like to be 96 years old and a legend? >> i'm amazed every single day i live. >> reporter: do you feel like you have more to do? >> yes, that's why i'm still here. what my life became is not what i expected. i had no idea i would touch anybody. >> reporter: when the time comes, what do you want us to

remember about you? >> i done my best. >> i done my best. that's (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. [female narrator] whether school buildings are open or closed, we're always there for our students. because kids who already struggle with poverty, emotional trauma and other learning barriers at communities in schools we do whatever it takes. tutoring, mentoring, providing resources for at-home learning and just checking in. in schools ... and in communities.

making sure all kids can learn and succeed. for more information, visit communities-in-schools-dot-org.

players are already gathering in melbourne ahead of the next month's australian open tennis championship. australia has strict quarantine laws, 106 known cases and 21 hospitalizations. holly williams has that story. >> reporter: the best tennis players in the world are stuck in hotel rooms in australia, many practicing by themselves in cramped quarters. but quarantine is the price of playing in a grand slam tournament. in a country where life is almost back to normal. s tgh response tbeen l rus. covid has killed just over 900 people in total in australia,

that's around 36 deaths per million people, compared with over 1,000 deaths per million in the u.s. beginning in march, australia closed its borders to everyone except citizens and residents with some rare exceptions like the tennis players. those who do come are forced to spend two weeks isolated in government-sponsored hotel. how crucial that? >> absolutely crucial. >> reporter: advises the australian government and says the country got a lot of things right, including rapid contact tracing and generous social safety net. >> it's very painful to watch what has happened in the u.s. it's just so sad. to think this may have been preventable. >> reporter: while the u.s. bans foreign arrivals from some countries including china and the uk, only some u.s. states require people to self-isolate

and many have no regulations at all. closing borders in a pandemic is against the recommendations of the world health organization and public health experts say we still need more data to understand exactly what impact it has. also much easier to do if you're an island nation like sta. >> you're under arrest for incitement. >> reporter: authorities have been criticized as heavy-handed at times in the pandemic. including pregnant woman arrested after posting on the internet about antilockdown protest. but australians support their government's handling of the crisis, according to one survey. i asked my australian family members back home whether they feel trapped living inside a fortress? >> to some extent it's frustrating because we don't know when the border will be lifted. but also we know that that

system is -- i think it makes us feel much safer. >> reporter: holly williams, london. 's thursday, january, 2021. this is the "cbs morning news." national emergency. the race to vaccinate americans against the coronavirus becomes more urgent. how the military might soon get involved. domestic terrorism threat. homeland security warns about violence carried out by extremists. why the agency believes the capitol riot may not be an isolated incident. powerful winter storm. northern california gets hit with flooding, mudslides, and with flooding, mudslides, and snow, and it's not over yet. captioning funded by cbs good morning. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green.