for this wednesday. reporting from the nation's capital, i'm jeff pegues. it's wednesday, july 14th, 2021. there is the "cbs morning news." >> the twister century jim crow assault is real. it's unrelenting. >> voting clash. president biden attacks gop efforts at the ballot box as he faces growing pressure to help change federal voting laws. breaking overnight, kidnapping plot foiled. how a u.s. citizen became the target of four iranian nationals accused of trying to lure her to iran. dangerous delta strain. new covid infections skyrocket nationwide as health officials express worry about millions of children in low vaccinated areas.

good morning. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. president biden is facing new pressure to take federal action on voting rights as gop-led states change election laws. yesterday mr. biden attacked those efforts calling them the 21st century jim crow assault. he accused republican leaders of making it harder for people to vote. but allies want the president to do more. they want him to scrap the filibuster. laura podesta is tracking the newest developments. laura, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. and president biden has expressed support for scrapping or reforming the filibuster. but ultimately it would be up to the senate to put the process in motion. and right now the senate is gridlocked, so getting any bill passed including the voting rights bill is an uphill battle. >> have you no shame?peat nationalstitutn center in phadscolpuicr their

attacks on voting rights. >> they want to be able to tell you your vote doesn't count for any reason they make up. >> reporter: since president biden defeated donald trump, legislatures in 17 states have passed 28 laws that make it harder to vote. >> the 21st century jim crow assault is real. >> reporter: the former president continues to claim widespread voter fraud despite no evidence. >> they used covid in order to rig the election. >> reporter: republicans have rallied behind him, claiming their legislation is needed to prevent fraud. >> easy to vote but hard to cheat. >> reporter: in texas, the gop introduced a measure that would scale back vote by mail, give more rights to partisan poll watchers, and criminalize drive-through voting and measures aimed at making voting easier. >> the motion fails -- >> reporter: to prevent the bill from passing, more than 50 texas democrats left the state, grinding a special session to a halt. >> they want politicians from

california and new york to tell us how to run our elections in texas. >> reporter: the democrats flew to washington, d.c., and are calling on congress to pass federal legislation. >> we can't hold this tide back forever. >> reporter: greg abbott says he'll have them arrested and brought to the capitol when they return to the state. he said he would call special session after special session all the way until election day next year in order to get the voting bill passed. anne-marie? >> wow. laura podesta in new york. thank you very much. the justice department has charged four iranian nationals in an alleged plot to kidnap a journalist living in new york city. authorities say the suspects were also trying to lure to iran three individuals from canada and another from the uk.authori suspects planned to take masih alinejad, an iranian-born citizen who has publicly criticized human rights abuses.

back to iran where a u.s. attorney said her fate would be uncertain. she tweeted her thanks to the fbi for foiling the alleged plot to kidnap her. new infect and doctors are concerned that children could be at high rescue, especially in regions with low vaccination rates. omar villafranca reports. >> reporter: covid cases have doubled nationwide in the last week and are rising in 47 states as the dangerous delta variant spreads across the u.s. the cdc says most of those infections are in people who have not been vaccinated. >> we are seeing resurgences now, and we are not seeing that people who are vaccinated are at high risk of infection at this point. >> reporter: less than half the country is fully vaccinated, including mississippi which has the lowest vaccination rate in the country. if someone chooses not to get a vaccine, what decision are they making?

>> to get covid. >> reporter: plain and simple, no vaccine, you're accepting you're going to get covid. >> yeah. that's really where we are. >> reporter: hospitalizations in mississippi have more than doubled since the beginning of july, including 12 children in the icu. ten of them on ventilators. 85% of all new cases are linked to the delta variant. now the state is sending vans to reach everyone who wants a vaccine like 67-year-old kelvin smith. what made you want to do it now finally? >> well, it's getting bad. >> reporter: the shot here comes with a pep talk from the clinic's operations director. >> you're doing the right thing because i'm telling you, this delta variant is no joke. >> reporter: of the 12 children, four are being treated at the hospital behind me. two are on ventilators. dr. bryan says the state is also facing another crisis -- worn-out health care workers bracing for the next surge. omar villafranca, cbs news, jackson, mississippi.

out west more than 14,000 fire crews are fighting raging wildfires covering close to one million acres. the bootleg fire in southwest oregon is now the nation's largest wildfire, exploding in size yesterday. the flames grew to more than 200,000 acres and is only 5% contained. officials expanded evacuation orders ahead of the rapidly spreading blaze. from space, you can see just how much smoke is pouring out. not just from the bootleg fire but also several others, leaving much of the west blanketed in smoke. meantime, the river fire burning near yosemite national park nearly doubled in size yesterday to nearly 15 square miles. the flames are threatening the town of awani. people say it is nerve-racking. >> high stress worrying about how far the fire would come. yesterday it was behind us. >> officials said at least four

structures have been destroyed and 600 others are threatened. the fire is only 15% contained. anti-government protests continue to rock cuba following the largest demonstrations on the island in decades. authorities say that at least one person died during clashes with police on monday. people are demonstrating over food and medicine shortages, along with high prices. meantime, demonstrators in miami shut down a stretch of a major expressway for hours yesterday. the large group gathered at the intersection chanting support and demanding freedom for the cuban protesters. coming up, surprise cash in the mail. why the irs may be sending you hundreds of dollars this week. and supersize goldfish. where these former house pets were found and how they grew so big. this is the "cbs morning news."

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violent riots continue in south africa as crowds clashed with police yesterday and looted stores. the death toll jumped to at asts authorities fired grenades and rubber bullets to try to stop the unrest. more than 1,200 people have been arrested. the protests started after former president jacob zuma was jailed last week for failing to testify in a corruption investigation. there's a warning about throwing your goldfish in a lake, and two police detectives were shot outside of a shopping mall. those are some of the headlines on the "morning newsstand." "the baltimore sun" reports a suspected gunman was killed after he shot and wounded two baltimore officers in the parking lot of a mall. the incident happened yesterday as the officers, part of the u.s. marshals task force, were attempting to arrest justin powell. the 32-year-old was wanted for his involvement in a june homicide. a suspect shot at officers who

returned fire, killing him. both officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries and are expected to be okay. the "los angeles times" says officials waited hours before notifying the public that raw sewage spilled into the ocean off l.a. beaches. 17 million gallons of unfiltered sewage flooded the shore from one of the city's largest treatment plants after a power outage on sunday. officials said the issue was resolved early monday morning. the incident has prompted beaches to close to the public this week. >> our poor beaches. we've never seen the beach this dirty. i'm going to be honest. we rode our bikes yesterday, and there's a lot of garbage on the beach and now the sewage. it's sad. >> beaches will be reopened after water quality tests show the affected areas do not have an elevated level of bacteria. and "usa today" says minnesota officials are urging people to stop tossing their pet goldfish into lakes. the city of burnsville said they

found football-sized goldfish while doing water quality surveys at one of its lakes. experts say that goldfish tend to match their environments. that's why they could be small in a home aquarium and larger in natural waterways. they say the big goldfish can contribute to poor water quality by mucking up the bottom sediments and uprooting plants. still ahead, a mac and cheese mash-up. your favorite comfort food is now a new ice cream flavor. or. age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. i've got moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are getting clearer. ♪ ♪ i feel free to bare my skin yeah, that's all me. ♪ ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand nothing on my skin, ♪ ♪ that's my new plan. ♪

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no one ♪ that's olivia rodrigo with her hit "driver's license." and today she'll be pulling into the white house. the 18-year-old singer will meet with president biden and dr. anthony fauci. she will record videos encouraging people to get vaccinated against covid. she will also answer questions from young people about the virus and post everything, of course, on her social media pages which have millions of followers. on the cbs "money watch" now, you might have an extra tax refund coming to you, and there's a cheesy new ice cream flavor. diane king hall is at the new york stock exchange with those stories and more. good morning, diane. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. this morning, investors will keep their eyes peeled for more corporate earnings and another round of inflation data. meantime, the three major indices pulled back from record levels yesterday. the dow dropped 107 points, the nasdaq fell 55, and the s&p 500 lost 15. if you received unemployment benefits last year, check your bank account.

starting today the irs is sending another round of tax refunds to americans who may have overpaid taxes on those jobless benefits. up to 13 million people may qualify if they filed tax returns before mid-march of 2020. the irs says the average payment will be just over $1,200. coca-cola is changing up a popular drink. the company is tweaking the recipe for coca-cola zero sugar so it tastes like the regular coke. the design is also getting a makeover with the can all red and the letters all black. customers will start seeing the product on shelves this month. full nationwide distribution begins in august. and move over, rocky road. you can now satisfy your sweet tooth with mac and cheese ice cream. kraft has teamed up with a brooklyn-based company to create the unique dessert. e conction will hit shelves today at stores in new york, new york city, los angeles, and houston.

you can also find it on the company's website starting at 11:00 a.m. eastern. one pint will cost you $12. anne-marie? >> well, i mean, i once had buffalo chicken ice cream, and it -- it wasn't terrible. >> no. look, i like mac and cheese, i like ice cream. the two together is not the fusion i was looking for personally. >> right. right. maybe we'll have, you know, dinner and dessert separate. >> agreed. >> diane king hall at the new york stock exchange. all right, diane. >> thank you. all right. up next, milking a photo op. we'll show a tiny farm animal that could be a world record holder. what can i du with less asthma?

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ a farm in bangladesh may be home to the word's smallest cow. rainy is only 20 inches tall and 26 inches long. she was born in 2019 and is not expected to grow any taller. she weighs 57 pounds, attracting people from all over. managers of the farm are only allowing ten visitors a day because of covid restrictions. they've also applied to the guinness world records to find out if rainy is the world's

smallest cow. the primetime emmy nominations have been announced. the royal drama "the crown" and "star wars" inspired "the mandalorian" have two dozen each. mj rodriguez, star of "pose," is making emmy history as the first trans woman to be nominated in a lead acting category. the emmys airs september 19th right here on cbs. and for the eighth straight year, excluding last year because of covid, the american league won baseball's all-star game. shohei ohtani of the los angeles angels picked up the victory after pitching a perfect inning to start the game. he became the first two-way all-star serving as a pitcher and hitter. vladimir guerrero jr. was named mvp for the all-star game. he becomes the youngest player to win the award at just 22 years old.

and one of the world's most ferocious predators lined up for a covid vaccination shot. 39-year-old kenny sia dressed up in a full t-rex costume at a vaccination center in malaysia last weekend. the fitness instructor wanted to protect himself and make people laugh, especially health care workers. >> they probably are very tired, and anything that can lift up them i'm happy to do it. so that was the main reason behind it essentially. >> malaysia has vaccinated about 10% of its population. coming up on "cbs this morning," we're going to take you to an all-female owned and operated brewing company in colorado that's aiming to transform the beer industry. i'm anne-marie green. this is the "cbs morning news."

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our top stories this morning -- president biden is facing new pressure to take action on voting rights after democratic lawmakers in texas fled to washington in a fight over a voting bill. yesterday mr. biden called republican-backed more, in restrict voting in texas un-american, adding preserving voting rights is an urgent national test of our time. and new covid cases have doubled nationwide in the last week. the number of infections rose in 47 states as the delta variant spreads. the cdc says most of those infections are in people who have not been vaccinated, including those in mississippi which has the lowest vaccination rate in the country.

americans desperate for a vacation are finding the cost of getting away is going through the roof. jamie yuccas explains. >> reporter: you designed this? >> yes, i did. >> reporter: jade towery runs a b&b and says her rebookings are resurging as a result of high demand and low supply in the industry. >> i hear from my guests it was hard to find places, it's not enough out there. >> reporter: meanwhile, hotel rooms are returning to pre-pandemic pricing. up 36% on average. in terms of people trying to get deals on hotel rooms, is that even possible right now? >> not anymore. you should have taken advantage last year. >> reporter: juan bravo is in charge of revenue at the w hollywood. he says the entire industry is struggling to hire back employees laid off during the pandemic. >> we're running hotels at 100% speed with 60% or 70% of the staff. we saw a lot of people in the industry started exploring alternate career paths.tevel ac busting wallets.

gas is averaging $3.14 a gallon. the highest since 2014. in some cities, it's over $5 a gallon. rental car rates are up 86%. and air travel -- >> you have air fares going up at the rate of about 10% a week. there's some coach air fares in this country now that are actually more expensive than business class fares going to europe. >> reporter: cbs news senior travel adviser peter greenberg says travelers are also dealing with overbooked and canceled flights. >> it's a perfect storm of bad planning, staff shortages, and pent-up demand roaring back earlier than anybody thought. you put those three things together, the summer is nuts. >> reporter: here at l.a.x., air traffic is up 600% since last year. experts say if you don't want to deal with the crowds or those higher prices, you might want to make your summer plans in september. jamie yuccas, cbs news, los angeles. coming up on "cbs this morning," a one-on-one interview with former national security

adviser john bolton as he talks about the unrest in cuba and haiti and the impact on the u.s. plus, we'll take you to an all-female owned and operated brewing company in colorado that's aiming to transform the beer industry. and only on "cbs this morning," dr. tara narula shows us a program to help health care workers heal in the wake of the pandemic. that's the "cbs morning news" for this wednesday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. ♪

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