livesay, italy. >> that's going to do it for some the news continues others check back in the it's wednesday, july 21st, 2021. this is the "cbs morning news." delta's rapid spread. alarming numbers about the most contagious strain of the coronavirus and how one mother got people vaccinated at her own son's funeral. blue origin blastoff. jeff bezos soars above the earth in his own rocket. what he's already saying about future space trips for the public. nba champions. the milwaukee bucks end a 50-year title drought and also achieve a rare feat only done four times before in league four times before in league history. captioning funded by cbs well, good morning. good to be with you.

i'm anne-marie green. we're going to begin today with new troubling information about the highly contagious strain of the coronavirus. health officials say the delta variant, the most dominant strain in the nation, now accounts for 83% of covid-19 cases here in the u.s. and a new cdc report this morning shows life expectancy in the nation declined by 1.5 years from 2019 to 2020. due to the pandemic. that s the largest one-year drop since world war ii. laura podesta is following this for us. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. we were expecting a drop, but perhaps not this significant. the average life expectancy for the overall population is now 77 years and four months. when you break it down by race, it gets even lower. for example, non-hispanic blacks, a demographic hit particularly hard by covid-19, life expectancy at this point is not even 72 years old.

nning rampant,ially through unvaccinated americans. accounts forore than 8 >> delta variant is sneaky, it's a beast, and it has figured out why you are no longer that person who's going to be fine. >> reporter: dr. catherine o'neal is an infectious disease expert in louisiana, a state which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. >> if you don't choose the vaccine, you're choosing death. >> reporter: 46-year-old brandon hayes who was unvaccinated recently died of covid. >> i really miss him -- >> reporter: his mother asked a hospital in baton rouge to offer vaccines at his funeral. three people took up the offer. >> she wants other mothers not to experience the same pain that she's feeling. >> reporter: yesterday, louisiana representative steve scalise, number-two republican in the house, announced his first dose calling it safe and efive. he joined a growing number of

republicans urging constituents to get their shots. >> ignore all of these other voices that are giving demonstrably bad advice. >> reporter: vaccination rates have plunged since the middle of april. >> we're having to convince people one at a time that the vaccines are safe. >> reporter: according to the cdc less than half of the country is fully vaccinated against covid-19. a new lab study found that the johnson & johnson vaccine ellisitied -- illicited lower levels of protective antibody against the delta variant compared to the pfizer and the moderna vaccines, but it's unclear if the johnson & johnson shot still offers enough protection or perhaps a booster will be needed. anne-marie? >> all right. laura podesta in new york. laura, thank you very much. so republican senator rand ulnd

during a capitol hearing, the n nation's top infectious disease expert of lying to congress about u.s.-funded virus research in china. >> all the evidence is pointing that it came from the lab and there will be responsibility for those who funded the lab, including yourself. >> i totally resent -- >> this committee will allow the witness to respond -- >> i totally resent the lie that you are now propagating. >> what we're alleging is that gain of function research was going on in that lab, and nih funded it. >> that is not -- >> it meets your definition, and you are obfuscating the truth. >> and you are implying that what we did was responsible for the deaths of individual -- i totally resent that. and if anybody is lying here, senator, it is you. >> well, fauci also told the senate panel that a study cited by paul referenced a different sort of virus entirely from the one responsible for the pandemic. and breaking overnight, one

person is dead and two others missing now after flash flooding in northern colorado. the fast-moving water destroyed at least five homes and some bridges in larimer county last night. just north of denver. it also forced the evacuation of nearby residents and businesses, as well as campgrounds. one witness described how quickly it all happened. >> i was astounded at how fast the river went from being completely clear and normal day on the river, no debris, anything in the river from that, to a condition where there was bank-to-bank debris flow, and the water had risen maybe two, 2.5 feet in a matter of 15 or 20 seconds. >> the flooding took place in the same area where a wildfire burned more than 208,000 acres last year. esident trump is facing charges of acting as an agent of a foreign government. tom barrack, former chair of mr. trump's 2017 inaugural

committee, and two other men were charged in new york federal court yesterday. barrack is accused of illegal lobbying on behalf of the united arab emirates during and after the presidential campaign. he's facing charges including obstruction of justice and making false statements. a spokesman for barrack said that he would plead not guilty. billionaire jeff bezos and three others made history blasting into space. it was the first flight with people on board for jeff bezos' company after test flights. the ten-minute thrill ride took them more than 60 miles above earth setting the stage for the set of commercial passenger service later this year. mark strassmann reports from texas. [ cheers ] >> reporter: floating on cloud nine, more than 65 miles above earth. blue origin's four giddy civilian astronauts tossed ping pong balls and skittles. for jeff bezos, the microgravity

dream he first imagined as a 5-year-old, watching the "apollo 11" moon landing, 52 years ago -- >> one small step for man -- >> reporter: blue origin's "new shepherd" rocket streaked skyward. the speed peaking at three times the speed of sound. less than three minutes into flight, rocket and capsule separated. for one of the most improbable space crews ever, instant weightlessness lasting several minutes. >> it felt so normal and natural. almost like we were -- humans were evolved to be in zero g which is impossible. but it felt that way. >> reporter: eight minutes into flight, the reusable fully automated rocket landed vertically a couple miles from its launchpad. about two minutes later, the capsule itself. three parachutes lowered it on to the west texas desert. >> and touchdown -- >> reporter: after a thrill ride of ten minutes and ten seconds. [ cheers ] blue origin's first human spaceflight. [ cheers ] he talked about it with our

gayle king. >> i don't think people truly understand what this means and why it's impmportant. >> yeah. i think you're right. i think people don't understand. when you get into space and you can see the earth's atmosphere, it's so thin and fragile looking. so we do have to take care of this planet. >> reporter: each crew member received astronaut wings including aviation pioneer wally funk. >> and i want to thank you, sweetheart, because you made it possible for me. [ applause ] >> this is blue moon -- >> reporter: bezos intends to use his amazon riches to build a new empire in space, competing for suborbital tourists with virgin galactic and richard branson. in this age of space barons, bezos intends to colonize the cosmos, launching people into space to live and work. >> did this moment motivate you to push deeper into the cosmos? >> hell yes. >> reporter: mark strassmann, cbs news, texas. well, blue origin plans two

more space tourist trips by the end of the year. the company dodged questions yesterday about what a ride costs. jeff bezos announced yesterday that advanced ticket sales have raised roughly $100 million. king intview with jeff bezosy on bs this morning." coming up now, milwaukee madness. the city erupts in celebrations after the bucks win their second nba championship. and flying high. which airlines were rated best in the world. this is the "cbs morning news." ♪ ♪ heading back to school is more exciting than ever. and when kids have what they need to move forward together... anything is possible. kohl's. when our daughter and her kids moved in with us... our bargain detergent couldn't keep up. turns out it's mostly water. so, we switched back to tide. one wash, stains are gone. [daughter] slurping

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ever to win the title after losing the first two games of the series. giannis antetokounmpo was named nba finals mvp. he led the bucks with 50 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots. the so-called freak greek said he never expected to experience a moment like this. >> i never thought ever that i'd be -- i'd be sitting in this chair with these right here and these right here. it's been -- we've come a long way. >> outside the arena, more than 65,000 fans packed into the beer district to watch the game. they celebrated as fireworks went off and confetti rained down. the celebration continued on line where the "milwaukee journal sentinel" said finally milwaukee bucks finish off phoenix suns to win first nba title in 50 years. in phoenix, the columnist for "az central" said one day the pain from the suns' losing the nba finals again might fade but not any time soon.

the suns have never won a title in their 53-year history. so still ahead, hollywood drama. the scary moment that sent people rushing to the stage to help actress marla gibbs as she received a star on the legendary walk of fame. gibbs as she received a star on the legendary walk of fame. this is what freedom sounds like. and this. this is what freedom smells like. ahhh, enjoy 30 days of open-road freshness. febreze car. la, la, la, la, la in the midst of hate, i found there was, within me, an invincible love. in the midst of tears, i found there was, within me, an invincible smile. and that makes me happy. for it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there's something stronger, something better, pushing right back. in the midst of life,

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concern about a global surge in coronavirus cases and the more contagious delta variant sparked a big sell-off on monday. yesterday, though, the dow rallied 549 points. the nasdaq jumped 223, and the s&p 500 rose 64, its biggest one-day increase since march. a bipartisan infrastructure deal faces a key vote today. senators will decide whether to start debate on the $1 trillion measure, but the gop has threatened to block it as they pursue a more modest package of around $600 billion. even if the vote fails today, senate majority leader chuck schumer can set another vote at a later date to move the bill forward. amazon warehouse workers will no longer need to be tested for covid-19 at the end of the month. the e-commerce giant said it will stop testing employees citing the availability of vaccines and free testing. the company started testing warehouse workers last year when tests were hard to find. in may amazon said the fully

vaccinated warehouse employees could stop wearing masks as long as they uploaded their vaccine cards to an app. as more people return to the sky, a new study ranks the world's best airlines. airlineratings.com reviewed the annual list based on age of fleet, passenger review, and product offerings, and covid-19 response. qatar airways took the top spot followed by air new zealand and singapore. rounding out the top five were qantas and emirates. >> diane, can we have a couple of airlines maybe on this part of the planet. >> i know. >> not the other part to enjoy this. >> i heard it's great but -- access, hello. >> i don't know. we still have delta. so there's that. diane king hall at the new york stock exchange. thank you so much, diane. >> thank you. so ahead, from super bowl champion to comedian.

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ the star of the hit tv show "the jeffersons," marla gibbs is

said to be doing great after she appeared to faint while accepting a star on the hollywood walk of fame. >> you okay? >> yeah. >> give me some water. >> the 90-year-old actress was delivering her speech yesterday when she closed her eyes and suddenly stopped talking. her son rushed in to help her. the temperature in los angeles was 88 degrees. a representative for gibbs said that she became overheated. gibbs recovered a short time later and was sitting on a chair as her star was unveiled. president biden welcomed the super bowl champion tampa bay buccaneers to the white house. the team's coach, owner, and 42 in super bowl lv with mr. biden yesterday. quarterback tom brady tried his hand at comedy when he threw out a few political jokes. >> not a lot of people, you know, think that we could have won. and in fact i think about 40% of the people still don't think we won.

>> i understand that. >> you understand that, mr. president? >> i understand that. >> yeah. [ laughter ] we had a game in chicago where i forgot what down it was. i lost track of one down in 21 years of playing, and they started calling me sleepy tom. why would they do that to me? >> the team also gave the 46th president a number 46 patriots jersey. -- buccaneers jersey. president biden will also be spending time with another, albeit slightly older team. a replica of mr. biden is being added to the hall of presidents at walt disney world. disney officials say they're putting the finishing touches on the replica before it makes its debut next month. next to the president will be a table holding his favorite eyewear, a pair of aviator sunglasses. coming up on "cbs this morning," we're going to speak with olympic champion allyson felix about helping athletes achieve their dreams. i'm anne-marie green. this is the "cbs morning news." helping athletes achieve their

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our top stories this morning -- the cdc says the delta variant accounts for 83% of new coronavirus cases, and it says less than half the country is fully vaccinated. a new report from the agency also shows life expectancy in the u.s. declined by 1.5 years from 2019 to 2020 due to the pandemic. and one person is dead, two others are missing after flash flooding in northern colorado. the fast-moving water destroyed at least five homes and some bridges in larimer county, north of denver, last night. the flooding happened in the same area where a wildfire burned more than 208,000 acres last year. well, many parents are

experiencing sticker shock as they begin to buy back-to-school items. and this summer more than half of shoppers have already started buying supplies. what they're getting is a painful lesson in economics. omar villafranca reports. >> reporter: in the middle of summer, these fort worth, texas, parents are already thinking about the fall and the rising cost of school supplies. >> kind of crazy just to see how the price has gone up exponentially. >> reporter: maray elliott one of hundreds in line for free pencils, notebooks, and paper. the school district will spend more than $4 million on school supplies. >> i looked at target on line for some crayons, and they happened to be almost $3. you know, i know normally i've seen them just walking through the store, 50 cents. it was kind of shocking. >> reporter: industry experts say part of the reason for the price drop is when covid shut down the country the supply chain was put on hold. retailers are trying to get back to normal. >> they're having to pay for air

freight versus shipping cargo to get things here on time. those costs in terms of actual transporting goods, that has been a major concern for many of the retailers we've talked to. >> reporter: this year the national retail federation expects consumers to spend $37.1 billion in back-to-school supplies, up more than $3 billion from last year. parents of k-through-12 students are expected to spend just over $848 per household on supplies, including electronics. with two elementary-aged boys, erica is getting creative to save money on supplies. >> they'll recycle things, have mismatched pencils. it works. >> reporter: for tyce stretching her dollars makes good sense. omar villafranca, cbs news, fort worth, texas. coming up on "cbs this morning," gayle king interviews amazon and blue orin founder jeff bezos and his brother after their successful flight to space aboard the "new shepherd"

rocket. we'll speak with marco rubio about the surge in coronavirus cases in his state and the ongoing political unrest in cuba and around the world. and how olympic champion allyson felix is helping other female athletes achieve their dreams. that's the "cbs morning news" for this wednesday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. ♪