tv CBS Overnight News CBS November 18, 2021 3:12am-4:00am PST
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sounding the alarm about a record number of deaths in america from drug overdoses. for the first time ever, more than 100,000 deadly overdoses were recorded in the u.s. over a 12-month period that ended this past april. cbs's manuel bojorquez tells us what's fueling the troubling surge. >> reporter: tonight, a grim statistic. one american is dying from a drug overdose every five minutes, according to the office of national drug control policy. the cdc estimates more than 100,000 americans died from drug overdoses over a 12-month period ending this april, a record. that's nearly three times the number of deaths from traffic accidents last year and more than twice the number of gun deaths. derian and tawanna house of pensacola lost their 18-year-old son rajhon to an apparent drug overdose in july. >> it's hard to even put in words the difficulty of me going on without my son.
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>> reporter: they blame the availability of the opioid fentanyl, which is sometimes slipped into other drugs to increase potency. >> like what happened with our son, he didn't necessarily know -- >> right. >> -- what he was taking in. he thought it was just normally what he does on the regular as a teenager. >> reporter: but it's not just affecting those who choose to use. last month an alabama woman was arrested and charged after her one-year-old daughter allegedly overdosed on her supply of fentanyl. the baby was revived by paramedics. >> there you go. >> the pandemic has been in many ways a perfect storm. >> reporter: dr. michael barnett teaches health policy at harvard university. >> we have a lot of work to do to expand access to life-saving treatments like naloxone or buprenorphine, which can really save lives in addiction but are not widely available for people that need them. >> reporter: barnett says he does not see the crisis easing in the short term. today in a statement president biden called it an epidemic of loss. and cited the $4 billion from
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the covid-19 relief package which are aimed at expanding services for people with substance abuse issues. norah? >> those numbers are just staggering. manny bojorquez, thank you. well, moderna today asked the fda to authorize its covid booster shot for everyone 18 and over. the fda could take that step for the pfizer vaccine as soon as tomorrow. the white house, meanwhile, says 10% of kids 5 to 11, that's 2.6 million of them, have rolled up their sleeves for their first shot. all right. two of the three men convicted of of assassinating malcolm x more than half a century ago are about to be exonerated. the manhattan d.a. today apologized to the two men, saying they did not get the justice that they deserved. cbs's maurice dubois has more on how history is being rewritten. >> reporter: muhammad aziz and khalil islam always maintained their innocence in the 1965 assassination of malcolm x. now after 55 years their convictions will be vacated
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after a two-year investigation led by the manhattan district attorney found prosecutors, the fbi, and police withheld critical information that should have cleared their names. >> i do believe there will be attempts on my life. they're foaming at the mouth. >> reporter: the decision comes after this six-part netflix series called "who killed malcolm x" raised new questions about malcolm's assassination. he was killed in a barrage of bullets while speaking at the audubon ballroom in harlem. the d.a.'s office reopened the case to look at the men's convictions after the series was released. >> two of them weren't even in the audubon ballroom that day. >> reporter: we sat down with phil bertelsen and nailah sims, who produced the documentary. >> the fbi had eyewitness testimony from presumably the nine informants that were in the room that day about who did the crime. >> reporter: a third man, talmadge haier, confessed to the killing. but islam and aziz never did. islam died in 2009.
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aziz is now 83. he spent 20 years in prison. >> if i wanted to do it i couldn't have done it. so that means they knew what they were doing when they put me in jail. >> reporter: and late today muhammad aziz put out a statement saying in part, "i hope the same system that was responsible for this travesty of justice also takes responsibility for the immeasurable harm it caused me." and the decision to exonerate both men is expected to be officially announced tomorrow. norah. norah. >> maurice dubois, thank you. ♪♪ you pour your heart into everything you do, which is a lot. so take care of that heart with lipton. because sippin' on unsweetened lipton can help support a healthy heart. lipton. stop chuggin'. start sippin'.
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and tonight we're examining what's behind the bottleneck at the nation's ports. cbs's carter evans goes in depth with a rare behind-the-scenes look at just why it's taking so long to get merchandise off of cargo ships and onto store shelves. >> reporter: to truly understand the supply chain logjam -- >> nobody knew who we were. longshoremen, what is that? >> reporter: -- you have to start at the docks. ramon ponce de leon represents the 14,000 longshoremen at the ports of l.a. and long beach. >> because there is no space in the yard there's not that much we can off-load. >> reporter: you have nowhere to put the containers when they come off the ship. >> that's correct. >> reporter: that's because containers still waiting to be picked up are taking valuable space. this massive cargo ship holds about 5,000 containers. normally, there would be four to five cranes just like this one unloadinbutoday there are only .
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crane operator ricky mccray makes the daily ascent to his cab 14 stories up. but he says his container count is down more than 20%. when people say why aren't the dock workers moving faster, what are you thinking? >> i feel like i'm the bad guy, first of all. but i tell them we're doing our part, we're doing our best. >> reporter: he could easily unload faster if there were somewhere to put the containers. why aren't there trucks lined up for miles to pick up all this stuff and get it out of here? >> i suppose they don't have a place to put it because the containers become the warehouse with just in time delivery. >> reporter: just in time delivery is a cost-cutting strategy to import merchandise only as needed, reducing warehouse space, but that backfired with pandemic shutdowns. you may think these trucks line up and pick up the first load available. that is not the case. they are here for specific containers, and sometimes they're in the middle of the pile. it's like a giant game of jenga.
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move four containers to get to one on the bottom. is that common? >> yes, it's very common. >> reporter: just for one container? >> yes. >> reporter: and this year dock workers expect to move a record 20 million containers through these ports. >> we have family that lives here and needs the same things any other american needs, and we have skin in the game because, you know, quite frankly we're all going to be paying the price for any costs that are raised as a result of this congestion. >> reporter: now, some of these containers stacked up here at the port are actually empty, and today california governor gavin newsom said more ships are coming to get them out of the way. he also says he's looking for vacant lots to park some of these containers so it can give longshoremen room to do their jobs. norah? >> you really explained it so well. carter evans, thank you. there's a lot more news ahead on the "cbs overnight news." dangerous weather ahead of thanksgiving. what you need to know before you hit the road. queen elizabeth makes her
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first public appearance in nearly a month. and we want you to meet the clerk: hello, how can i? sore throat pain? ♪honey lemon♪ try vicks vapocool drops. in honey lemon chill. for fast-acting sore throat relief. wooo vaporize sore throat pain with vicks vapocool drops. i just heard something amazing! now for the first time one medication was approved to treat and prevent migraines. don't take if allergic to nurtec. the most common side effects were nausea, stomach pain, and indigestion. ask your doctor about nurtec today. ♪♪ you pour your heart into everything you do, which is a lot. so take care of that heart with lipton. because sippin' on unsweetened lipton can help support a healthy heart. lipton. stop chuggin'. start sippin'. instantly clear everyday congestion stop chuggin'. with vicks sinex saline. for fast drug free relief vicks sinex. instantly clear everyday congestion.
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and try vicks sinex children's saline. safe and gentle relief for children's noses. some holiday travelers may be extra thankful just to get to their turkey dinner next week. forecasters are tracking a major storm that could bring snow, rain, and high winds from the upper midwest to the northeast and as far south as north carolina and tennessee. even where skies are clear airport security lines will be long.
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the tsa expects to screen 20 million passengers during the thanksgiving break. all right. queen elizabeth made her first public appearance in nearly a month today. the 95-year-old monarch met with britain's top military officer at windsor castle. and look, she appeared to be in good health. there has been concern about the queen's health ever since an overnight hospital stay last month. a sprained back forced her to miss a ceremony for britain's war dead on sunday. all right. well, nothing is going to stop this young superhero from conquering cancer. his name is noah, and he's just 2 years old. just look at that joy as he celebrates his last day of chemo. noah's had lung surgeries and even a liver transplant. his mom wrote on instagram, "hip hip hooray, last day of chemo is today." we are rooting for you, noah. all right. coming up next, did a brush with pope francis heal a boy who was sick? his mom believes it was a miracle.
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when you humble yourself under the mighty hand of god, in due time he will exalt you. hi, i'm joel osteen. i'm excited about being with you every week. i hope you'll tune in. you'll be inspired, you'll be encouraged. i'm looking forward to seeing you right here. you are fully loaded and completely equipped for the race that's been designed for you.
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throughout the pandemic pope francis has spoken about the healing power of prayer. now a mother whose young son recently met the pope says there's nothing more powerful. cbs's chris livesay has the story. >> reporter: it's not easy to upstage the pope. unless you're paolo bonavita, the 10-year-old italian boy enchanted by francis and his cap. the pope offered that seat as a compromise, but persistence pays and paolo walked away with the prize. it turns out simply going up and down the stairs was the real prize. for a boy with severe epilepsy and autism, says his mom, elsa morra. especially after his health took
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yet a new turn for the worse. "the doctor was almost certain it was a brain tumor," she says. but francis told her he would pray for paolo. >> [ speaking foreign language ]. >> reporter: "he took my hand andaid for you the impossible does not exist." about three weeks later she understood what that meant. she says doctors told her his test results showed no sign of cancer and his symptoms have improved. his classmates are elated. "he taught us a lesson," they say, "that when you need to do something do it with all your heart." and what would you like to tell the pope? "thank you," she says, "for the miracle." chris livesay, cbs news, southern italy. >> and that is the "overnight news" for this thursday. for some of you the news continues. for others check back later for "cbs mornings." and follow us online anytime @cbsnews.com. reporting from the nation's capitol i'm norah o'donnell.
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this is cbs news flash. i'm tom hansen in new york. pressure is mounting to grant clemency to oklahoma death row inmate julius jones. convicted of murder in 1999. the state's parole board recommended his release from prison, and now the decision falls on the governor. jones's execution is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. central time. president biden is calling on the ftc to investigate whether illegal conduct could be causing a spike in gas prices. the average cost of gasoline is up nearly 50% from a year ago to $3.41. the ftc says they're looking into it. and this week marks a new era in cleveland baseball as the indians will officially change their name to the guardians.
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the team's website and social media will transition to the new name on friday. for more news download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm tom hanson, cbs news, new york. ♪ >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." good evening and thank you for joining us. we want to begin with testimony today from the man who shot and killed ahmaud arbery. travis mcmichael is accused of murder along with his father and a neighbor who chased arbery through their georgia neighborhood before killing him. the men say they suspected arbery of burglaries and were attempting to make a citizen's arrest. mcmichael told the judge that he wanted to tell his side of the story, and he tear up as he described the moment he fired his shotgun three times at the unarmed 25-year-old, calling it a life-or-death situation.
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mcmichael says he fired in self-defense when arbery tried to take his gun. prosecutors say there's no evidence of arbery committing crimes in the neighborhood to justify the chase and the deadly encounter. arbery's killing has prompted georgia lawmakers to repeal most of the state's citizen's defense law. cbs's omar villafranca leads off our coverage from the courthouse in brunswick, georgia. good evening, omar. >> reporter: good evening. a bit of a surprise that travis mcmichael took the stand. the only time we'd really heard from him was 911 calls or police bodycam video. but today he gave his version of what happened. >> i want to give my side of the story. i want to explain what happened. >> reporter: instead of invoking the fifth, travis mcmichael gave the jury a first-person account of what he he says happened the day he shot and killed ahmaud arbery. mcmichael broke down crying as he described the final deadly confrontation, captured on cell phone video, as a fight for his
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life. >> what were you thinking at that moment? >> i was thinking of my son. i know it sounds weird but that was the first -- that's the first thing that hit me. >> what did you do? >> i shot him. >> why? >> he -- he had my gun. >> reporter: on february 23rd, 2020 his father, gregory mcmichael, spotted arbery running from a home under construction. the younger mcmichael says he grabbed a shotgun and jumped into his truck with his father. prosecutors have argued that the mcmichaels and william roddie bryan chased arbery through the neighborhood after suspecting him of burglary. >> did you want to stop ahmaud arbery and talk to him? >> i did. >> reporter: mcmichael also talked about his law enforcement training while in the coast guard and mentioned how pulling a weapon on someone can make them comply. during cross-examination prosecutor linda donakowski discussed his point further. >> so you learned as part of
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your time in the military that you can't force people to speak with you? >> that's correct. >> okay. and that if someone walks away you have to let them walk away? >> yes. >> you were trained that displaying a weapon may be considered psychological coercion? >> under certain situations, yes, ma'am. >> reporter: arbery's mother, wanda cooper-jones, was asked about mcmichael crying in court. her response? "can you imagine the tears we have shed?" cross-examination of mcmichael will continue tomorrow. norah? >> omar villafranca, thank you. we want to turn now to a dramtic and historic day at the u.s. capitol. republican congressman paul gosar of arizona became only the 24th member in the history of the house of representatives to be censured. gosar earlier this month shocked his fellow lawmakers, posting a violent animated video targeting democrats. here's cbs's kris van cleave. >> will representative gosar
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present himself in the well. >> reporter: tonight a historic rebuke on the house floor after controversial arizona congressman republican paul gosar posted an anime video depicting himself flying through the air and killing democrat alexandria ocasio-cortez and then heading for president biden wielding two swords. >> representative paul gosar of arizona be censured. >> reporter: gosar is now the first member of congress to be simultaneously censured and stripped of his committee posts. >> i do not espouse violence towards anyone. i never have. it was not my purpose to make anyone upset. >> reporter: gosar's censure, a punishment just short of expulsion from congress, was pushed by dozens of house democrats including ocasio-cortez. >> when we incite violence with depictions against our colleagues, that trickles down into violence in this country. >> reporter: republican leader kevin mccarthy called the vote an abuse of power. >> the speaker is burning down the house on her way out the
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door. >> reporter: republicans liz cheney and adam kinzinger joined all house democrats in voting yes. house censures are rare, happening only six other times in the last century. gosar is an ardent trump supporter who has spread baseless claims of election fraud and falsely called january 6th antifa provocation. his own family has called for his removal from office, even appearing in a campaign ad for his 2018 opponent. >> we've got to stand up for our good name. >> reporter: also tonight, a federal judge in washington sent a message, sentencing the so-called qanon shaman jacob chansley to nearly 3 1/2 years in prison, calling his actions horrific. chansley is one of the most recognizable figures on january 6th, wearing face paint, fur and horns. he told the judge, "i was wrong for entering the capitol. i have no excuse. and the behavior is indefensible." and tonight steve bannon, who is facing criminal contempt of congress charges for refusing to cooperate with the january 6th committee, is pleading not guilty. he is set to be in court
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tomorrow for what's described as a virtual hearing. norah? >> kris van cleave with all the news here in washington. thyo and two days of deliberations in the kyle rittenhouse trial are over tonight, and the jury in kenosha, wisconsin has not reached its verdict. national guard troops are standing by as the city holds its breath awaiting a decision on the teenager's fate for shooting three people, killing two at a violent protest. cbs's nancy chen is at the courthouse. >> the second amendment right to defend yourself. >> reporter: a crowd of demonstrators grew wednesday on the steps of the kenosha county courthouse as inside kyle rittenhouse's defense team asked for a mistrial. the argument concerning this drone footage showing rittenhouse shooting and killing joseph rosenbaum. rittenhouse's lawyers say they only recently learned there was higher quality video. >> we're talking about a potential life sentence here. so i'm making that request. >> reporter: jurors asked to see the video in their second day of deliberations along with several
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others. rittenhouse faces five counts including first degree intentional homicide for killing two men and seriously injuring another. with no verdict residents like scott carpenter hope to avoid a repeat of the violence that engulfed parts of kenosha and burned his family-owned furniture store to the ground. >> i pray that it stays peaceful, that cooler heads will prevail and we realize that burning down our town is not how to act. >> reporter: and the judge has yet to rule on the defense's motion for a mistrial today or on a previous request for one. in total jurors have been deliberating for about 16 hours and will be back tomorrow morning, norah. >> nancy chen, thank you. the "cbs overnight news" will be right back.
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♪ >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." i'm ben tracy in washington. thanks for staying with us. the fda is expected to authorize the pfizer covid booster for all adults as soon as this week. the drugmaker is also asking for emergency approval of a new covid treatment. it's a pill that promises to keep most high-risk adults out of the hospital. naomi ruchim has the latest. >> reporter: almost 200 million americans are fully vaccinated against covid-19, but breakthrough cases are surging across the country. with the latest spike creating a
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new urgency, the fda is expected to authorize the pfizer vaccine booster for all adults as soon as tomorrow. >> cdc will quickly review the safety and effectiveness data and make recommendations as soon as we hear from fda. >> reporter: the cdc currently recommends boosters for people 65 and older or at high risk. but at least seven states aren't waiting around for the federal government to revise that policy. >> anyone who wants a booster can get a booster shot. if you have been vaccinated and it's been six months, now you can get a booster shot 18 and over. >> reporter: and as the holidays approach, many americans may heed warnings about indoor masking. a recent survey found about half of americans will ask their holiday guests to wear masks and nearly 3/4 say they plan to celebrate with members of their households. polls also show the majority of people hosting thanksgiving dinners will not ask their
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guests about their vaccination status. naomi ruchim, cbs news, new york. wednesday marked two years since china recorded the world's first known case of covid-19. but the question of how the pandemic got started remains unanswered, and many countries are still struggling to beat back the virus. ian lee reports from london. >> reporter: even as china vaccinates millions against covid, the origins of the virus remain a mystery. efforts to discover how it started have come up empty-handed. beijing is stonewalling international investigators, barring any further visits to wuhan, where the pandemic emerged two years ago. >> the covid pandemic. >> reporter: chinese president an xi jinping hasn't left the country since the outbreak. this week he and president biden held a virtual meeting with the virus one of many topics on the table. >> it was a good meeting. we have a lot to follow up on. >> reporter: the two main theories continue to be covid either jumped from animals to people in a local market or
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escaped from this chinese lab which was experimenting with a similar virus. experts say we may never know the source of covid-19. but the virus i russia hospital keep patients alive. each day is deadlier than the last. while in germany this intensive care unit is full and doctors worry how much longer they can cope. parts of europe have taken a tough line against the unvaccinated, with many countries imposing new restrictions in the run-up to christmas. police in austria are on the lookout for anyone unvaccinated. those without the shot can't leave their homes except for work, food or medical reasons. ian lee, cbs news, london. there are new signs the economic recovery from the pandemic is picking up steam. retail sales in the u.s. shot up last month in the largest increase since march. but many businesses say they can't find enough workers to
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meet the demand. meg olits from montclair, new jersey. comhe managernotid hiring beca difficult after the summer. they're usually inundated with applications after they post a job. but after their most recent listing they received nothing. >> we got a little bit here and there but we just really aren't getting the responses we used to get. >> reporter: jessica woodward runs montclair bread company. she doesn't usually hire seasonal workers, but this year she's relying on them to stay open. >> it's going to be a little crazy next week, especially for thanksgiving. that's our biggest one to get through. but i mean, we'll get through it. >> reporter: she's working extra hours to get by and turning to high schoolers. could you stay open on the weekends without your high school employees? >> probably not forever. or not always. we can handle it in the short term, but it's just like all our other staff would get burned out. >> reporter: it's not just mom-and-pop shops thatai cins a
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to it lraround seasonal workers to keep up with the greater demand according to the national retail federation. amazon is hiring 150,000 new employees. kohl's needs about 90,000. and ups needs to hire more than 100,000 workers. >> we have a new process. apply and if you have a clean work record you can get a job offer in 30 minutes or less. >> reporter: why the 30-minute process? >> we want to give an opportunity to people who want to work immediately to get that position. >> reporter: larger companies are also offering more incentives to attract new employees. amazon, walmart and macy's are among many raising wages and offering signing bonuses, health care benefits and even tuition reimbursement. but many small businesses can't compete. >> i think customers getting frustrated with service being slower in places have to understand that that's the way things are going to be right now. >> reporter: businesses like this bakery are facing a perfect storm with increased demand,
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staff shortages and rising prices for ingredients like flour and shortening. >> the "cbs overnight news" will be right back. facing expensive vitamin c creams with dull results? olay brightens it up with new olay vitamin c. gives you two times brighter skin. hydrates better than the 100, 200, even $400 cream. see, my skin looks more even, and way brighter. dullness? so done. turn up your results with new olay vitamin c my skin can face anything.
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it's non habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. new zzzquil ultra. when you really really need to sleep. nasa is getting ready to launch the most powerful rocket ever built that could one day take astronauts back to the moon. mark strassmann got an inside look at the final preparations for the rocket's first test launch. >> reporter: both iconic and daunting, nasa's vehicle assembly building is one of the largest in the world. >> you obviously need something this big for a vehicle this big. >> reporter: towering inside, a new rocket that makes you feel just as puny. it's called the space launch system, or sls. >> this thing is massive. it's about 322 feet tall. so that's taller than the statue of liberty. >> reporter: we had to step way back with nasa test director dan flores to get a good look at the most powerful rocket ever built.
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if you look past the scaffolding, you can see the nose of the two boosters. >> yep. >> reporter: how powerful? >> so the boosters provide about 7 million pounds of thrust at lift-off. that's a lot of power. it's a lot of power. >> reporter: nasa spent 11 months stacking this mega rocket piece by piece. the core stage, 212 feet long, arrived by bargain. its four engines will produce another 2 million pounds of thrust. >> you've got a rope up in there. >> reporter: cranes gingerly lifted and lowered billions of dollars of space hardware into place. and then at the very top? >> the very top you have orion. >> reporter: orion is the crew capsule. flores took us up 311 feet for a closer look. >> when you look at it this close you look at all the hundreds of thousands of nuts and bolts that have to be torqued, the hours spent by our technicians getting this work done to get us to this major milestone. >> reporter: and every one of those bolts better be perfect. >> they better be, right?
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>> reporter: that's because early next year this rocketing capsule will roll to the launch pad for a critical test flight. artemis 1. sls will launch orion on a course 40,000 miles beyond the moon and back. no astronauts will be on board this flight, but it's the first in a series of increasingly complex lunar missions. >> we've got a moon-bound rocket stacked with a crew capsule for the first time since apollo 17 in 1972. >> oh, this is a big deal and it is beautiful. and it is away monster. >> reporter: after more than $30 billion in development costs nasa administrator bill nelson knows the pressure's on for that test flight to go well. >> i am an optimist by nature. true space flight is risky. and there are penalties that you pay because mistakes are made by human beings. >> reporter: the next mission,
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artemis 2, will have a crew. it's due to fly around the moon by may 2024. nasa's now hoping artemis 3, a moon landing using spacex's starship, happens sometime in 2025. that crew will include the first female moon walker, and astronaut kayla barron's one of the candidates. if they ask who wants to go to the moon first you're raising your hand? >> oh, yeah. we all raised our hands. like who would not want to go to the moon? whatever the crew ends up being we're going to be pumped for each other. >> reporter: but first the most complex rocket in history has to work. america's lunar future depends on it. mark strassmann, at the kennedy space center. millions of acres of u.s. forest land go up in smoke every year due to wildfires. in many cases the charred landscape makes it difficult for nature to recover and regrow. anthony pura shows us how drones are now being used to restore
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those areas. >> reporter: as the country experiences more large and destructive wildfires, it's become harder for nature to bounce back. >> u.s. forests are really at a crisis point. we have seen catastrophic wildfires. >> reporter: david lidle with the u.s. forest service says some forests need help to regrow. the process usually demands crews hand-planting lab-grown seedlings in scorched areas. it's be labor intensive and time-consuming. but some are speeding up the process with drones. >> if natural regeneration is occurring less and less because the fires are high severity, what we need to do is we need to be able to step up and be able to as humans reforest faster. >> reporter: grant canary is ceo of drone seed, a company in washington state. workers deploy swarms of drones in fire-devastated areas often over rough terrain. they map out the area, and the drones are programmed to drop seed vessels in locations marked
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ideal for their survival. the seed vessels are about the size of a hockey puck. inside seeds of native trees and other elements that assist in the growing process. how much can one drone plant versus one person? >> so generally we take a look at difficult terrain, we're seeing drones can navigate and fly across that terrain about 60 times faster than humans. >> reporter: while the u.s. forest service is exploring ways to partner with companies and organizations that use drones to reforest, lidle says hand-planting seedlings is often more successful. >> it has a higher likelihood of survival because it's grown to a larger size and is more developed than a seed would be. >> reporter: university of california forestry specialist william stewart says because drones are still relatively new to the reforestation picture it's difficult to measure their cost effectiveness and success rate. >> there's no reason to just say we can only do it the old way or only do it the new way. i think we're going to see both of them out there on the
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we end this half hour with the remarkable bond between a mother and son and the will to rise above great challenges at any age. here's cbs's lilia luciano. >> happy birthday. >> reporter: this view from the face of yosemite's el capitan is one few people get to experience. for deirdre walanik it was the gift she gave herself for her birthday. her 70th birthday. >> it was quite the day. >> happy birthday. >> reporter: walanik, who didn't even start climbing until she was nearly 60, recently broke the record as the oldest woman to summit el cap. >> i've reinvented myself many times. >> how does it feel to get your hands back on the wall? >> i love it. >> reporter: always an intellectual, she says she's
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never really been athletic but she wanted to find a new way to connect with her son. >> my son is alex honnold and that's his entire life. it's a foreign language. and i'm a foreign language teacher. >> reporter: honnold is one of the world's most famous climbers, featured in the oscar-winning documentary "free solo." >> i think she's a perfect example of getting inspired by something, getting passionate about something and discovering it in middle age. she's not the fastest and she's not the strongest but she is willing to stick with it for a long, long time and just keep grinding. >> anything that you can dream of that you want to do you can do. it's just one baby step at a time. >> reporter: proof that your peak can be reached at any age with true grit and a firm grip. lilia luciano, cbs news, sacramento, california. >> and that's the "overnight news" for this thursday. for some of you the news continues. for others check back later for "cbs mornings." and follow us online anytime at cbsnews.com. reporting from the nation's capital, i'm ben tracy.
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this is "cbs news flash." i'm tom hanson in new york. pressure is mounting to grant clemency to oklahoma death row inmate julius jones. convicted of murder in 1999. the state's parole board recommended his release from prison, and now the decision falls on the governor. jones's execution is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. central time. president biden is calling on the ftc to investite whetheral conduct could be causing a spike in gas prices. the average cost of gasoline is up nearly 50% from a year ago to $3.41. the ftc says they're looking into it. and this week marks a new era in cleveland baseball as the indians will officially change their name to the guardians.
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the team's website and social media will transition to the new name on friday. for more news download the cbs news app on your cell phone or it's thursday, november 18th, 2021. this is the "cbs morning news." >> i want to give my side of the story. >> travis mcmichael testifies the man who shot and killed ahmaud arbery explains why he pulled the trigger. 11th hour plea. the growing movement to save a death row inmate set for execution today. tensions flare. arrests outside the courthouse of the kyle rittenhouse trial as his lawyers make a new argument for a mistrial. good morning, and good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green.
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