>> news updates are always on kpix.com. see you in 30 minutes. captioning sponsored by cbs >> tracy: tonight, hospitals overwhelmed by the unprecedented covid surge. i.c.u.s packed in some states as deaths rise nationwide, even as new infe infections in some regioning start to fall. >> reporter: i'm lilia luciano in l.a. county, which leads california in new infections, and hospitalizations are climbing. >> tracy: also tonight, the u.s. sends lethal aid to ukraine as tensions with moscow rise. >> reporter: i'm holly williams near ukraine's northern border with russia. on the other side of that frontier, russia has massed nearly 100,000 troops fueling fears of an invasion. >> tracy: plus biden briefed. national security officials update the president on ukraine as he marks a landmark court decision now under attack on the homefront. in new york, a gunman kills one

police officer and critically wounds another. >> reporter: i'm michael george in new york, where there's mourning but also anger over rising gun violence across the country. >> tracy: and later, life lessons learned on a school playground in texas. >> this is the "cbs weekend news." >> tracy: good evening, i'm ben tracy in new york. adriana diaz is off. the omicron-fueled covid surge has shattered records, infected tens of millions of americans, and pushes hospitals to the brink. now it appears to be relenting. there are now an average of about 724,000 new infections a day. that's down 10% over the past week. but it's not all good news, because deaths are still rising, now averaging more than 2,000 a day. cbs' lilia luciano is in los angeles with the latest. lilia, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, ben.

well, as those new infections are starting, finally, to plateau, the c.d.c. is now pointing to three new studies that show just how effective vaccines and boosters are at keeping people away from the hospital. omicron is retreating in parts of the country, but it remains relentless in many hospitals, straining i.c.u.s and push something healthcare workers to the brink. >> this is the worst. it's taking us out with it. >> reporter: covid heaingses jumped 30%, and deaths 44% in the past two weeks, with the west and midwest hit especially hard. >> every hospital is full, so trying to find a facility that has an open space with the appropriate care is difficult. >> reporter: the pace of first shots is slowing, with about a third of eligible americans still not fully vaccinated. and less than half are boosted, even as studies show that third pfizer or moderna shot reduces the risk of hospitalization with omicron by 82%. >> we have the saddest stories we've heard in your life of

orphan children and dead mothers and people losing their loved ones when they didn't have to. >> reporter: starting today, visits from mexico and canada, entering by car, train, or fer, must show proof of vaccination. but pub-back to vaccines and masking mandates rages on. a virginia mom is facing criminal charges after making a threat at a school board meeting. >> my children will not come to school on monday with a mask on. and i will bring every single gun loaded and ready. >> reporter: that parent apologized. and while more challenges to mandates keep making their way through the courts, the federal government is giving out the good masks, the n95, starting next week for free. they'll be available at pharmacies and health centers across the country. >> tracy: a strong wind storm is prompting alerts for more than 30 million people across the west. the gusts are fueling a wildfire near big sur, california. that's causing some evacuations

in the the area. so far about 1,500 acres have burned. in the east, a delta airlines plane rolled into the mud after landing at raleigh-durham airport friday night. it happened as winter weather hit parts of the southeast. thankfully, no one was hurt. tonight, sources tell cbs news the u.s. embassy in kyiv is in the process of authorizing the departure of nonessential diplomats and families. but they are not ordering them to leave ukraine just yet. this comes as russia has deployed tens of thousands of troops along its border with oxycodone and neighboring belarus. cbs' holly williams is there. >> reporter: well, we are around 35 miles from ukraine's northern border with russia, and on the other side of that frontier, russia has massed roughly 100,000 troops. meanwhile, russian missile systems and fighter jets are heading to neighboring belarus for military drills, leaving this u.s. ally now almost encircled, and that's what's fueling fears of a russian invasion.

now, talks yesterday before secretary of state antony blinken and russia's foreign minister in geneva did not result in a breakthrough. and the big question now is what exactly russia's president, vladimir putin, wants. russia claims it's threatened by the expansion of nato. but some here believe that in reality, putin's deliberately ratcheting up tensions to try to extract concessions from the u.s. and its allies. others say putin's deadly serious about some kind of attack on ukraine, and that 30 years after the end of the cold war, he's trying to recreate a russian empire, perhaps to distract from russia's own domestic problems. the u.s. says that if russia invades, it will respond swiftly and severely with sanctions. and the u.s. is also training and arming the ukrainian military. the first shipment in $200 million worth of emergency military assistance from america arrived here in ukraine last night. ben. >> tracy: holly williams in ukraine tonight, thank you. president biden is meeting with

his national security team about the ukraine crisis at camp david this weekend. he's also marking today's 49th anniversary of the supreme court's "roe v. wade" decision that established the right to abortion. natalie brand is at the white house. natalie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, ben. in a statement, the president and vice president pledged to defend the constitutional right established in "roe" with every tool they possess. but advocates on the other side feel empowered by a new conservative majority on the supreme court. ( applause ) with decades of precedent now in question, antiabortion rights demonstrators feel energized, turning out saturday in texas. >> these are the voices. >> reporter: on friday, tens of thousands in washington marched to the supreme court, where justices could soon reshape abortion rights. >> i'm hopeful, of course, that they will make a choice for life that honors the rights of all

people, of all americans. >> our constitutional right to abortion is at the greatest risk it's ever been. >> reporter: both sides are closely watching a case that centers around a mississippi law that bana aortions after 15 weeks, a direct challenge to the now-49-year-old "roe v. wade" decision, which said states cannot ban abortion before fetal viability, typically around 24 weeks. a ruling is expected this summer, but a growing number of conservative states are already passing new restrictions, while more liberal states try to enact protections. >> essentially, what it's saying is that, you know, abortion access depends on where you live. >> tracy: natalie, we're expecting more demonstrations in washington tomorrow. what's that all about? >> reporter: that, ben, would be a rally again vaccine mandates. thousands are expected tomorrow on the national mall. among the expected speakers, robert kennedy jr., and this

comes as a growing number of cities nationwide, including here in washington, d.c., have put in place vaccination requirements for restaurants and other indoor spaces. ben. >> tracy: all right, natalie brand, thank you so much. today the arizona democratic party voted to formally censure kyrsten sinema. this is a mostly symbolic act taken in response to sinema's vote to maintain the filibuster rules. tonight, city leaders here in new york want the federal government to do more to get illegal guns off the streets. their demands follow a shooting that left one police officer dead and another fighting for his life. cbs' michael george is in harlem with more. michael, good evening. >> reporter: ben, good evening. tonight, officer william mora remains in critical condition here at harlem hospital as the n.y.p.d. and the city mourn his partner, officer jason rivera, and talk about how to address rising gun violence here and across the nation. >> we hear thousands of guns

being confiscated, but thousands of guns are still out there. >> reporter: today, new york city mayor eric adams held a frank discussion on gun violence one day after a horrific shooting ended the life of rookie police officer jason rivera, just 22 years old. rivera and two other officers were responding to a domestic disturbance in harlem friday night when a gunman opened fire without warning. hitting officer rivera and his partner, 27-year-old officer william mora. >> it's 2022. when is this going to stop? >> reporter: police say they recovered a glock .45, reported stolen in baltimore. >> we can't continue to have the overproliferation of guns that are coming in. >> reporter: gun violence is rising across the country. since the start of the year, more than 1,000 people in the u.s. have been killed in homicides or accidental shootings. and at least 17 police officers have been shot. earlier this month, former connecticut state trooper troy anderson told cbs news americans

should be alarmed by the number of line-of-duty deaths. >> there's never been a year like this. numbers are up across the board. the most important part of this is how we're going to make this job safer. how are we going to do it? >> reporter: and n.y.p.d. officers continue to keep vigil here tonight. this has been a particularly violent month here in new york. five police officers have been shot. just this weekend, an 11-month-old girl was hit by a stray bullet. ben. >> tracy: michael george, thank you. today, peru declared an environmental emergency after an oil spill polluted its coast. an estimated 6,000 gallons of oil has washed on beaches near lima. it's from an oil tanker hit by massive waves following the eruption of an undersea volcano near tonga. more than 16,000 miles away in tonga, the first flights carrying food, water, and medical supplies arrived after the island's main runway was cleared of ash. these satellite images before and after the undersea volcanic

eruption show the magnitude of the devastation on the pacific island nation. straight ahead on the webs sekd news, former vice president al gore on the climate crisis and the planet's future. and later, life lessons on the playground.

>> tracy: u.s. greenhouse gas emissions which contributed to global warming roared back in 2021. al gore has been sounding the climate change alarm for decades. we sat down with him recently and found he's still optimistic we can avoid catastrophe. how big is the farm? >> this farm is 400 acres. >> tracy: former vice president al gore took us for a ride in his electric a.t.v. i bet most people don't think of you as farmer al. >> no.

i don't think so. truth to tell, i don't have many callouses on my hands, either. >> tracy: but this land outside nashville is also gore's climate change laboratory. >> and then just push it in. >> tracy: he's collecting a soil sample as he experiments with what's known as regenerative farming. >> that means cut back on the plowing. there are better ways to plant. >> tracy: there's actually three times more carbon stored in the topsoil of the earth than all the trees and plants combined. by plowing less and making that soil more fertile, scientists say farmers could help trap massive amounts of addition planet-warming carben emissioning in the ground. >> job number one is to stop using the sky as an open sewer for all of this manmade global warming pollution. and that's what's making the weather crazy and dangerous. >> tracy: he says mother nature is now making the most effective argument for climate action, and he's encouraged by the rapid growth of solar and wind power. but the planet is still rapidly

warming as we continue to pump near-record amounts of pollution into the sky. there's all this progress being made, but is it enough? >> a realist will tell you, look, we've done some damage. some of it, regrettably, is not recoverable. but we go from where we are. >> tracy: it's amazing how precise this is. gore is a major investor in a new tech platform called climate trace. it uses satellites, censors, and artificial intelligence to track greenhouse gas emissions around the globe. gore believes this will be an important tool to hold countries accountable for their pollution. >> we're not the climate cops. we're maybe the neighborhood watch. but our neighborhood is the whole world. we're in constant communication with the scientific community. >> tracy: al gore has been sounding the climate alarm for more than four decades, first as a young congressman... >> the artic is experiencing faster melting. >> tracy: ...and then 15 years ago, with his planetary powerpoint in the film "an inconvenient truth."

>> the crisis is still getting worse faster than we're deploying the solutions. there is a remaining question about whether we will solve it in time. >> what do we want? >> climate justice! >> tracy: he's still optimistic, mainly because of young people all over the world now deunderstand maaing change. >> i want them to, in the words of "spinal tap," i want them to turn it up to an 11. >> tracy: feet to the fire. >> absolutely. and the more they can march, the more noise they can make, the more demands they insist upon, the faster progress we'll make. i'm a firm believer in that. >> tracy: and he still believes the climate crisis we created is one we can also solve. >> the direction of travel is clear, and i do believe that we will get there. >> tracy: gore does say this is the year world leaders need to make good on their promises to dramatically cut their global warming emissions. still ahead on the "cbs weekend news." protecting one of our nation's most beautiful bays.

>> tracy: san francisco bay is one of the world's most beautiful natural harbors, but keeping it clean and safe is a big job. in tonight's "weekend journal," max darrow of our san francisco station kpix, shows us how they do it. >> reporter: at the crack of dawn, captain kixon meyer and his crew get out on the water. they're aboard the "john dillard," civilian members of the army corps of engineers, their mission is to keep the bay safe. >> i have been doing it for 12 years, that's true. i like it because every day is different. >> reporter: typically, that means collecting debris and removing navigational hazards, like this, from the bay. but on this day, it involved a special operation. helo-ops with the u.s. coast guard. so in this training exercise, the u.s. army corps of engineers is working with the u.s. coast guard to simulate if the helicopters were needed for search and rescue here on the

bay. the first exercise directly involved the "john dillard." a guardsman lowered from the helicopterra to the deck. >> basically to give them practice to deliver an e.m.t. or rescue swimmer down to a boat. >> reporter: after numerous reps, the coast guard conducted a second exercise in open water. >> roger, good, copy, standing by. >> reporter: both exercises show the incredible precision needed to pull off real-life rescues. >> i was in the coast guard for 23 years. and that helicopter absolutely has to know how to do its job in any kind of conditions they find themselves in. and that will save somebody's life. >> reporter: once the operation ended, it was back to business as usual at the hyde street pier. the crew pulled this out of the busy waterway. >> it looked to me like a plank from a fenderring system on an old dock. >> reporter: the latest edition of their growing pile of junk they grabbed from all around the bay. >> it would be more hazardous to transit through, i know that for sure. it wouldn't be as pretty, that

is for sure. it wouldn't be such a fun place to hang out if we didn't clean it up once in a while. >> reporter: max darrow, cbs news, san francisco. >> tracy: next on the "cbs weekend news," a prickly premiere at the national zoo.

>> tracy: pucks drop this weekend at the u.s. pond hockey championships in minnesota. more than 250 te teams are competing in the amateur tournament on lake nokomis, in minneapolis. covid canceled last year's frozen fun. there is no stanley cup here, but the winning team will have their names etched into the golden shovel. well, the smithsonian national zoo has a cute but not-so-cuddly new addition. it's a porcupette, which apparently is what baby porcupines are called. this prickly little guy is the second child of parents beatrix

and quilbur, and joins his older brother, quillium. i guess you would call that one sharp family. when we return, the seven-year-olds passing on the importance of kindness. .

>> tracy: we end tonight with a reminder that some of life's most important lessons can be learned on a school playground. melissa correa of cbs station khou in houston has the story. >> reporter: crank up the sound and open your heart to the idea of just how much better our world could be if we all just passed the ball and cheered. this joy-inducing moment captured on a texas playground. seven-year-old andrew may was relentless, his first-grade friends happy to assist. >> andrew, do you love basketball? >> yeah. >> reporter: from the dribbling to the passing to the

roar of the crowd, andrew may just might be the basketball star we need. >> he is just like a ball of sunshine. he-- this is andrew all the time. he is happy. >> reporter: happy. among his sibling, around the slobz, or at school. >> your heart smiles. >> reporter: where principal jill price leads with kindness. >> this this pandemic, there are so many worries in the world, and he's are just kids playing at recess. >> reporter: trying so hard, getting so close, needing just a few more shots. >> it's just moment everybody deserves. we all need a cheering squad like that. that is what just touched us so much. >> yeah. >> was to see those boys in action when they didn't even know they were being filmed. as a mom, i wanted to just hug those other mothers of those boys. >> reporter: what do you think the world would be like if more of us rooted for others? >> awesome. kind, peaceful, i mean, wouldn't

we all sleep better? >> the patience. >> reporter: andrew lives with down syndrome. part of his day at buckalew elementary, is spent getting his needs met through specialized learning. the other half andrew shares with all of his friends. >> it is an environment of inclusion and love and respect. and it's from the top down. >> reporter: and practiced on the playground. >> it's a good reminder of what good vibes canndo. >> reporter: create the space, celebrate the win, pass it on. melissa correa, cbs news, houston. >> tracy: we can all learn a lot from those kids. that's the news for this saturday. don't forget "sunday morning with jane pauley," first thing tomorrow. followed by "face the nation" with margaret brennan. her guest tomorrow, secretary of state antony blinken. i'm ben tracy reporting in new york. have a good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh

access.wgbh.org live from the cps bay area studios, this is kpix 5 news. downed trees and power lines, strong wind leaving a big mess behind in some parts of the bay area. what to expect tonight. the wind fanning an inferno near highway 1, closing it in both directions. everywhere there is no appointment available. >> one bay area accounting offering tens of thousands of covered tests, but is it enough to keep up with demand? >> it's like $4500 per year. it was a lot for us, and then still we are struggling. business owners facing a tough decision, the city handing down parklet fees. thank you for joining us. powerful wind dying down

tonight, but parts of the bay area are still dealing with power outages, and a mess of downed trees. trees came crashing down overnight and one oakland neighborhood. this is the damage along one straight near montclair. trees uprooted, crashing cars, taking down power lines and rushing into front lines. one neighbor describes the moment that one of those trees came crashing down. >> i woke up around 4:00 a.m. there was a big bang, and the light filled up the room. it was really scary. from the explosion that happened outside from the power lines. >> we dodged a bullet, but i feel bad for the owner. they are lucky nothing happened to the house. on the peninsula, the strong wind pushed this tree down on top of a home in montero , a little north of half moon bay. the folks inside were able to get out.