so much for joining us. it was a devastating day here in new york city. one of the deadliest fires in decades has killed at least 19 people, including nine children. dozens of others have been injured. the massive fire broke out just before noon. it began in a third-floor apartment of a 19-story building in the bronx. investigators believe the cause was a space heater. at least 200 firefighters responded. cbs's tom hanson is there for us tonight. tom? >> reporter: good evening, jericka. paint a terrifying picture for the hundreds of people living at

this apartment complex. one woman we spoke to says the smoke was so thick, she couldn't even see the steps in front of her and neighbors say they felt helpless as they watched the tragedy unfold. >> reporter: officials say it may be new york city's worst fire in more than three decades. >> this is a horrific, horrific, painful moment for the city of new york. >> reporter: firefighters say they arrived just three minutes after the call went out. >> it was just pitch black in my huse in the daytime. the fire, they were putting out the fire and all you could see is just black smoke in front of my win dose. >> reporter: new york city fire commissioner says the door to that apartment was left open, allowing smoke to pour out and filling the rest of the building. >> this smoke extended the entire height of the building. completely unusual. members found victims on every floor in stairwells and were taking them out in cardiac and respiratory arrest. >> reporter: the victims were

rushed to nearby hospitals. now, this may be the deadliest fire since 1990. that's when an arsonist set fire to the happy land social club in the bronx. 87 people tom. so many lives forever changed today. thank you. the latest covid surge is setting new records, straining hospitals, and causing more uncertainty. right now, the u.s. is averaging about 700,000 new cases per day. that's double from the previous peak a year ago. cbs's lilia luciano is in santa monica tonight. you know, this latest covid variant, lilia, is not backing down. >> reporter: it's not. not anytime soon, jericka. and here, in la county, it's b been relentless. today, we hit yet anothe pandemic record of new cases and with the spiking number of cases, of course, there is a spiking increase in a demand for testing. anxious americans are standing in long lines, and staring at empty shelves in the scramble

for scarce covid tests. the rush, fueled by omicron's rapid spread. >> there is a lot of people walking around with mild illness or asymptomatic infection who don't know it, who are spreading it. >> reporter: new covid cases are soaring with 99% of americans living in areas at high risk for infection. hospitalizations are up nearly 30%, straining many medical centers. >> i don't know when the finish line will be. i don't see one. >> reporter: when millions of kids return to school tomorrow, they'll face covid cost staff shortages, and increased infections. more than 5,400 schools reported disruptions of in-person learning. >> it's completely empty. it's pretty crazy. there is no one there. >> reporter: a chicago stalemate with teachers to return to class drags into a second week. the nation's largest school districts -- new york and los angeles -- aretayingen. evyone's tryinghe keep kids in becae,at thend ot' an badther s have rles strugglt

flights were cancelled. this testing site is free for people who have an appointment, but for those who want to get their hands on the rapid at-home test, well those have been hard to come by and the biden administration hasn't started shipping them out, yet. it could still be weeks, before they reach people's mailboxes. and cases are spiking almost everywhere. jericka. >> lilia luciano for us. testing is key. thank you. to australia, where the world's top-ranked tennis star gets his hearing today. novak djokovic, who is not vaccinated, arrived in melbourne last week for the australian open but his visa was cancelled when he arrived. he's been restricted to a hotel, ever since. a court will decide if he gets to stay and play, or be required to leave the country. the world health organization reports covid cases spiked by 71% around the world last week. cbs's elizabeth palmer reports from bangkok tonight.

>> reporter: for the second winter in a row, covid is exploding in northern europe. france is reporting more than 300,000 new cases a day, and in britain, hospitals are operating at capacity with admissions rising and some routine treatments postponed. the omicron variant does appear to cause less serious disease, but covid is still lethal. and the uk became one of only seven countries this week to mark 150,000 covid deaths. by contrast, asia's covid deaths remain low. but china's government is on edge. as it puts the finishing touches on flts for the winter olympics next month, an army of health-care workers is fighting to keep the virus at bay. a heavy-handed tactics include welding shut doors of anyone suspected of having been exposed to the virus. the outbreaks haven't stopped.

the latest was in commuting distance from beijing where the city's 14 million residents are now being tested en masse, after two omicron cases were confirmed. in the northern city, state tv showed government food deliveries that have kept some of the 13 million citizens going during their lockdown that began on the 23rd of december. china has now rolled out a vast booster program for anyone over the age of 3. most western public-health officials think its zero-covid policy is unsustainable. but so far, there is no sign of china changing course. elizabeth palmer, cbs news, thailand. now, to the crisis in eastern ukraine, where russian forces there appear poised for an invasion. tonight, u.s. and russian diplomats are meeting in geneva for talks aimed at defusing tensions. cbs's holly williams has more from the frontline in ukraine. >> reporter: well, here in ukraine, they have been fighting

a war against separatists, who are backed we russia, since 2014. and spent the last two days in freezing conditions in the trenches that now slice up this country. it is a conflict that's cost more than 14,000 lives according to ukraine. but now, this winter, russia has massed tens of thousands of troops -- up to 100,000, by one count -- along ukraine's border and there are fears everywhere from here to washington of a russian invasion. now, russia's president vladimir putin claims that russia a victim of western aggression. and he is demanding security guarantees in return for defusing this crisis, including rolling back nato troops from eastern europe. but some people here believe that president putin is deliberately ratcheting up tensions in order to extract concessions from the u.s. and its allies. the u.s. gave ukraine nearly half a billion dollars in military assistance last year, and president biden has threatened sanctions if russia invades but he's ruled out sending american combat troops. jericka. >> story we continue to follow.

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♪ this is the "cbs overnight news." >> i'm jericka duncan. thanks for staying with us. legendary actor sidney poitier passed away last week. he was 94 years old. poitier's seven-decade career is studded with awards, including becoming the first black man to win an academy award for best actor. but he was also larger than life off screen. in 2009, president obama awarded him the presidential medal of freedom. queen elizabeth named him knight commander of the order of the british empire. and poitier even spent a decade as bahama's ambassador to japan. several years back, he discussed

his life and career with our leslie stall. >> you hang on to me the best wayitier's life has been a series of firsts. in 1959, he was the first black man nominated for an oscar as best actor for his role of an escaped convict, alongside tony curtis. >> kiss me again. >> reporter: he was the first black man to kiss a white woman in a movie. >> has sent me a big, strong man. >> he didn't say anything to me. i was just passing by. >> reporter: and when he won the best-actor oscar in 1964 -- >> a long journey to this moment. >> reporter: -- he was not only the first black actor to do so, he remained the only one till

2002. after starring in over 50 movies, poitier says his career choices were less about being first, and more about the image of his characters. you wouldn't play anybody who was immoral? >> no. >> no? >> no. if you go through my i didn't, ever. >> reporter: his typical character was dignified, proud, and ethical. >> pretty sure of yourself, ain't you, virgil? >> virgil. that's a funny name for a boy that comes from philadelphia. what do they call you up there? >> they call me mr. tibbs. >> reporter: take virgil tibbs -- a philadelphia homicide detective, who reluctantly helped a small-town police chief in mississippi, played by rod steiger, solve a murder. >> why'd you two come here? >> to ask you about mr. coburn. >> but before signing on to play

the role, poitier asked the movie studio for a major script change to this scene -- >> was mr. coburt ever in this greenhouse, say, last night about midnight? >> i said, if he slaps me, i am going to slap him back. you will put on paper that studio grease that the film will be shown nowhere in the world with me standing there taking the slap. >> reporter: god, yad wrn into the cont? >> that's right. >> you saw it. >> i saw it? what are you going to do about it? >> i don't know. >> reporter: and of course, it is one of the great, great moments in all of film -- all of film -- when you slap him back. >> yes.

i knew that i would have been insulting every black person in the world. >> reporter: the youngest of seven children, sydney was born three months premature, while his bahamian parents were in miami to sell tomatoes. uncertain whether he would survive, his dad purchased a tiny casket while his mother consulted a palm reader. >> lady took her hand, and started speaking to my mother. and she said "don't worry about your son, he will survive." he will walk with kings. >> reporter: at 16, sidney left for new york where he tried his hand at acting, even though he had only two years of schooling. >> okay. here is my big question. you couldn't read. you had a very thick bahamian accent. >> i did. >> and you decide to try and become an actor?

>> i did. >> why did you go that route? it kind of makes no sense. >> i had no way of knowing that there is a madness to what i'm trying to do. >> reporter: after a disastrous audition with the american negro theater, where poitier could barely read the script, an act of kindness at his job as a dishwasher changed his life. >> one of the -- a jewish guy, elderly man, had a -- a -- a newspaper and he walked over to me. and he looked at me. and he said what's new in the paper? and i looked up at this man and i said to him, "i can't tell you what's up in the paper." i said, "because i can't read very well." he said let me ask you something. would you like me to read with you? >> reporter: wow. >> i said to him, yes, if you'd

like. now, let me tell you something. every night, every night, the place is closed. everyone's gone. and he sat there with me. week after week after week. i learned a lot, a lot. and then, things began to happen. >> reporter: like, landing an acting apprenticeship with the very same theater company that had laughed him out of his audition. there, poitier learned alongside actors, like rbd, ossy davis and harry belafonte. >> what are you going to do now? >> i am trying to help your

brother. why don't you just shut up? >> you watch yourself, black boy. watch how you talk to me. >> shut up. >> reporter: and then, in 1950, h was cast in his first starring role in a movie in "no way out." >> okay. this is it. >> reporter: he played a doctor facing overt racism from a prisoner played by richard woodmark. >> please, help me. >> no. >> look, he's sick. he's crazy. he's everything you said but i can't kill a man just because he hates me. >> reporter: from the beginning of his career, poitier insisted that he portray men who were upright, well-educated, and often stronger of character than the white people around him. >> i did not go into the film business to be symbolized as someone else's visionme. if the screen does not make room for me in the structure of their

screenplay, i'd step back. i couldn't do it. i just couldn't do it. >> reporter: in 1967, sidney poitier was among the top-ten hollywood moneymakers and a top-ten leading man. in that one year, alone, he starred in "to sir with love," "in the heat of the night," in "guess who is coming to dinner" with spencer tracie and katherine hepburn. >> doc -- doc -- dr. apprentice, i am so pleased to meet you. >> i'm please pld to meet you. >> reporter: but that year, he began to face criticism from some in the african-american community who labeled him ung uncle tom for the purity of his rules. >> it didn't hurt you? >> for what? i just simply say i live by

certain code. i have to have a certain amount of decency in my behavioral pattern. i have to have that. >> that's right. >> reporter: in the 1970s, poitier turned to directing and surprisingly, the actor who so often personified elegance, grace, and earnestness directed comedies with slapstick. in the 1980s, he turned to writing books. producing three auto biographies. and when we spoke in 2013, sidney poitier -- then 86 years old -- had just written a novel. >> i was not intending to make

an impression. i was finding release for myself, within myself. i was looking for who i am at this point in my life. >> reporter: did you find out? >> somewhat, yeah. >> somewhat, yeah. >> reporter: who are 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'. (computer keys clicking) (mouse clicks) - shriners hospitals for children is awesome! my favorite people in shriners are the doctors and the nurses because they help people through life. wow, i was a really cute kid! (chuckles) but it's true! shriners hospitals for children is awesome! the first time i went to shriners hospitals for children, sincen, they have helped me with over 18 operations,

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country. he's collected almost a quarter of a million followers on twitter. in his pre-slacker days, morimoto bounced aimlessly from one job to another. out of desperation and on a lark, he decided to rent himself out. thousands of encounters later, rent a man's experiences have earned him royalties from four books, including a manga comic about jointing clients at museums in disneyland or providing moral support for a divorcing spouse. his signature blue cap and backpack, and his inexplicable success inspired a semi-fictional tv series last year. i have plenty of critics, he said. they say, get a job but i don't feel the need to answer to anyone. his next client was 44-year-old health-care worker tamami miyazaki. with my friends, i would obsess over whether they might like the bar i chose, she said. but with rent a man, there is no drama.

at 38, a father of one said he has no plans to retire. nothing's more fun, he says, than doing nothing.

this is elodia. she's a recording artist. 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. 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. around one-third of americans have at least one tattoo. and may see a flood of work coming in from europe. the european union banned a long list of inks and other chemicals used in tattoos -- mainly, red, yellow, and orange. eu claims they are hazardous. the tattoo industry says, that's ridiculous. ian lee has the story from london. >> reporter: french tattoo artist tin tin uses a rainbow of colors to make his mark but a new european union law aims to cap his creativity by restricting what he can use. >> we don't have any -- any colors or any ink to work with, what are we going to work with? >> reporter: eu regulators are banning 4,000 chemicals commonly used in colorful tat at that

time too inks and permanent makeup. >> the protection of the public health, our primary concern. >> reporter: officials say many of the inks can cause health issues, ranging from skin irritation to reproductive problems and even cancer, and argue the tattoo industry had time to prepare. >> for many of the chemicals which have been banned, there are actually substitutes. >> reporter: but alternatives for some of the most popular inks are in short supply. tattoo artists worry this could deal anothe blow to parlors, already, struggling from the pandemic. >> our position about this stupid law is, like, to -- to fight against it. >> tin-tin believes the tough new rules will force folks to go to the black market to get the colors they want. ian lee, cbs news. and that is the overnight news for this monday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, make sure you check back in with us for "cbs mornings" and follow us online anytime at cbsnews.com. reporting from new york city,

i'm jericka duncan. have a great week. this is cbs news flash. i'm elise preston in new york. beloved tv dad bob saget has died. the 65-year-old comedian was found unresponsive in his florida hotel room sunday. saget had been on a comedy tour. investigators don't suspect foul play or drugs. classes are cancelled for a fourth day for chicago students as the battle between the teacher's union and the city looms into a secod week. the city wants in-person classes, but educators want to teach virtually in light of the ongoing-covid surge. and a baby boy handed to a marine last august during the u.s. troop withdrawal in kabul will, soon, be reunited with his parents in texas. the infant is now in the care of

his grandfather, after being separated from his family for months. for more news, download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm elise reston, cbs news, ne it's it's monday, january 10th, 2022. this is the "cbs morning news." >> all about saving lives, and the loss of one life is sad for us, much less 19 lives. >> deadly apartment fire. 19 people killed including nine children. the possible cause of one of the deadliest fires in decades in new york city. breaking overnight, bob saget found dead in a hotel room. what authorities are saying and reaction from hollywood. also breaking, novak djokovic ruling. the judge's decision on whether the tennis star can stay in australia over a covid exemption.