>> reporter: the ceo of niagara hospitality hotels says he was forced to lay off most of his staff due to the drop in business from american visitors. >> it started to really creep back for us. and it's all domestic. so right now it's 100 mile radius toronto coming here to niagara falls, canada. that's it. that's the market. >> reporter: starting today, u.s. travelers can cross into canada if they show proof they're fully vaccinated on an app and have proof of a negative covid test in the previous 72 hours. >> as long as people are vaccin vaccinated, i think that's great. >> reporter: the closed border has meant an 18-month separation from his girlfriend, tammy yonkers. the couple lives just 20 minutes apart. la bounty on the u.s. side and conners in canada. >> it's terrible. i came here in hopes of starting a life with her and starting a dream. and it's very hard to go every day, every day without having her in my life. >> reporter: it got so bad, la

bounty started suffering from depression. yonkers was able to come to the u.s. in july to check on him, but instead of a quick drive, it took two planes and two buses for a total of 12 hours. what kind of toll did this take on your mental health? >> oh, it's terrible. i had no hopes of no energy to do anything. i just wanted to stay in one room, isolate, and just give up. that's all i wanted to do. >> reporter: you wanted to give up? >> yes. >> reporter: how emotional has this been for you, tammy? >> he came here to be with me. so this pains me all the time to know that he is there waiting for me. >> reporter: but now their wait is over. as of today, la bounty can cross the border to visit. what's it going to mean when you finally get to go over and hold on to tammy again? >> it's my whole world, you know. i -- i feel like a better person when i'm with her.

>> reporter: they plan to live together. they just need to choose which side of the board they're will be. and an important note. children 12 years and younger are allowed into canada with fully vaccinated parents. but if you're 5 and over you, have to be tested on the first day and the eighth day. >> meg oliver in niagara falls. a couple of other things you should know. if you show up at the border with covid symptoms, regardless of your vaccination status, you will be required to quarantine. when the "overnight news" returns, we'll have more of our exclusive interview with new york governor andrew cuomo's accuser brittany commisso. stay with us. >> brushing over it, rubbing my butt.

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the first woman to file a criminal complaint against new york governor andrew cuomo is telling us why she did it. in an exclusive interview, brittany commisso says cuomo groped and sexually harassed

her. commisso wasified as executive assistant number one in the state attorney general's report, and is one of 11 women who accused the governor of sexual misconduct. cuomo denies all their allegations. commisso sat down for an exclusive interview with jericka duncan. >> to me, this was a dream job, and it unfortunately turned into a nightmare. >> reporter: 32-year-old brittany commisso started working as an executive assistant in new york governor andrew cuomo's office in 2017. nearly four years later, she is the woman known as executive assistant number one in the new york attorney general's report and to allegations of sexual harassment by the governor. in the report you're known as executive assistant number 1. >> i am executive assistant in the governor's office, but i'm also a mother. i'm a daughter. i'm a friend. i'm a colleague. i am more than executive assistant number 1.

reporter: say governor cuomo groped her twice. the first time on new year's eve, december 31st, 2019 at the governor's mansion. >> i had to go over to the mansion to help the governor with a state of the state speech. i wasn't there late. i did my final edit. and while i was upstairs in the office, the governor said why don't we take a selfie. >> so his suggestion, you say? >> yes. >> reporter: with your phone? >> with my phone. i then felt while taking the selfie his hand go down by back on to my butt, and he started rubbing it. not sliding it, not, you know, quickly brushing over it, rubbing my butt. >> reporter: and did you ask him what are you doing? >> well, this was while i was taking the selfie, i became so nervous that my hands were clearly shaking, and a lot of the photos that i was snapping

were completely blurry. i showed him them, and he said oh, those aren't -- those aren't good. and he said why don't we go sit on the couch and we can take a better one. >> reporter: so you sat on the couch? >> i sat on the couch because i thought to myself, okay, i don't think on the couch that he would have a way to just do what he just did. so i felt safer actually on the couch. and in the photo, you know, i have my arm wrapped around his shoulder, almost as if we were taking a picture with a buddy, and that is the one that has been blurred out that has been now released to the public. >> reporter: the governor has denied that he put his hand on commisso's bottom during the selfie. commisso alleges the governor groped her a second time at the governor's mansion in november of 2020. >> so he gets up, and he goes to give me a hug, and i could tell immediately when he hugged me, it was in a probably the most

sexually aggressive manner than any of the other hugs that he had given me. it was then that i said, you know, governor -- my words were you're going get us in trouble. and i thought to myself that probably wasn't the best thing to say, but at that time i was so afraid that one of the mansion staff, that they were going to come up and see this and think oh, you know, is that what she comes here for. and that's not what i came there for, and that's not who i am. and i was terrified of that. and when i said that, he walked over, shut the door so hard to the point where i thought for sure someone downstairs must think they must think if they heard that, what is going on, came back to me and that's when he put his hand up my blouse and cupped my breast over my bra.

i exactly remember looking down, seeing his hand, which is a large hand, thinking to myself oh my god, this is happening? it happened he didn't say anything. when i stopped it, he just pulled away and walked away. >> reporter: i want to read to you what the governor said, quote, to touch a woman's breast who i hardly know in the mansion with ten staff around with my family in the mansion, to say i don't care who sees us, i would have to lose my mind to do such a thing. >> reading that is disgusting. it's simple. i know the truth. he knows the truth. i know what happened. and so does he. >> reporter: for more than three months she says she didn't tell anyone until she watched governor cuomo's press conference on march 3rd. >> but this is what i want you to know, and i want you to know

this from me directly. >> he almost has this smirk that he thinks that he's untouchable. that was the tipping point. i broke down. i said he's lying. i felt like he was personally saying it to me. >> i never touched anyone inappropriately. >> yes, you did. yes, you have. and not yes, but one of them is me. and that's when i breck down. i told my coworkers a little bit. >> reporter: and there were two people you told this to at the time? >> yes. >> reporter: why did you file that criminal complaint with the sheriff's office? >> because it was the right thing to do. the governor needs to be held accountable. >> reporter: being held accountable to you means seeing the governor charged with a crime? >> what he did to me was a crime. he broke the law. >> reporter: commisso says she's thankful to the other accusers

for giving her the strength to come forward. >> there was a time when it -- between my personal life and this, it was too much. people don't understand, you know, it's the governor of the state of new york. he is a professional fighter, and i think people should know that it hasn't been easy. and i apologize that i haven't come forward sooner. . >> commisso doesn't remember the exact day the governor allegedly grabbed her breast, something cuomo's attorney pointed out in a recent news conference. cbs news has asked cuomo's legal team for a list of visitors to the governor's mansion from october through december of 2020. cuomo's personal attorney rita glavine also says the governor did not grope or sexually assault commisso and questions the fairness of the state ag's report claiming it edomitted

evidence that was favorable to the governor. >> you're watching the "cbs overnight news."

we have an update this whose olympic-sized goal le captured hearts around the world. >> between the tears and champagne, a sense of accomplishment and relief. >> i'm glad it's done. we've had the time of our lives. >> reporter: for the 17 days telephone tokyo games, stewart bates and charlotte nichols tumbled, stumbled, and, well, fumbled their way through 49 sports and 102 events. all to raise money for a cure to lou gehrig's disease, also known as als. >> i lost my brother to this terrible disease ten years ago. and we wanted to do something

massive that's never been done before. we came up with this absolutely ridiculous idea of doing every olympic event in the 17 days of the tokyo games. >> reporter: they called it the spenny olympics who died from als and was an olympics super fan. it was a tribute of all tributes to her late son. >> so proud. his brother is up there loving his sox off. >> reporter: it required months of training. the couple even have real olympians who coach them in everything from diving to triple jump, karate, and even trampolining. but going for gold in the diseases of events only came second to raising money. with that initial goal of around $15,000, they have now raised over 180,000 in donations. >> we put a smile on the faces. we're raising money and we're getting closer to a cure. everybody wins. >> reporter: a winning spirit from two amateur athletes with

olympic-sized hearts. >> and that is the "overnight news" for this tuesday. ta majrettfr the ti good morning. thisoised to pass the $1 trillion infrastructure package. the final vote on the bill is set for 11:00 a.m. today. the bill aims to repair roadways and airports and modernize public transit. members of the u.s. military will be required to get the covid vaccine starting next month. but the mid-september deadline l fda approval. and the fund to pay victims of jeffrey epstein says it's nearly finished delivering roughly $121 million to more than 135 people. epstein died by suicide in 2019 after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. and for more, download the cbs

news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm tom hanson, cbs news, new york. it's tuesday, august 10th, 2021. this is the "cbs morning news." kids and covid. the dramatic surge of new infections among children as they head back to school. impeachment investigation. new york state lawmakers are weighing governor cuomo's future. how soon they could recommend if he should be removed from office. summer twisters. suspected tornadoes hit the chicago area damaging homes, uprooting trees and leaving people in the dark. good morning. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. we begin with a troubling surge in covid cases aos