inv invasion. for more news download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm tom hanson, cbs news, new york it's thursday, march 3rd, 2022. this is the "cbs morning news." battle for ukraine. russia says it captured a major city as the death toll rises. why u.s. leaders fear the attacks will only get worse. breaking overnight, criminal conspiracy allegations against former president trump as lawmakers reveal new documents in the capitol riot investigation. when i returned fire, it was to protect fellow detectives that were stuck in that -- stuck in that breezeway. >> taking the stand. a former officer testifies about the raid that led to breonna taylor's death. why her mother stormed out of the courtroom. well, good morning, and good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green.

one week after invading ukraine, russian military forces are stepping up attacks in major cities. russia's defense ministry said it now has control of the port city of kherson. it has a population of about 250,000 people. if true, it would be the first big ukrainian city to fall. officials in ukraine say that they are still defending the area. a cbs news crew captured some explosions after finishing a report in kykyiv. charlie d'agata and his crew had just signed off when the blast happened yesterday. they're okay. meantime, the u.s. is sending more troops to europe to show support for nato. nearly 4,000 soldiers based in georgia had just one week to prepare before yesterday's deployment. laura podesta is at the united nations following the very latest on all of this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie.

and after three days of discussion, the united nations general assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution demanding russia stop the attack. the u.n.'s attention now turns to helping the people of ukraine. the united nations says one million refugees have fled ukraine in the past week. some of them ended up here in berlin where volunteers are offering shelter and supplies. >> i had to get out from this hell. now i'm here. i hope i'm in a safe place. >> reporter: back in ukraine, authorities say more than 2,000 civilians have been killed. >> russian strikes are hitting schools, hospitals. >> reporter: the prosecutor of the international criminal court announced an investigation into russia's possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. >> we're keeping the door open to a diplomatic way forward. that's going to be very hard to happen without military deescalation. >> reporter: yesterday the united nations general assembly

voted to condemn russia's actions. the u.s. ambassador says russia is preparing to increase the brutality of its campaign. >> we've seen videos of russian forces moving exceptionally lethal weaponry into ukraine. that includes cluster munitions and vacuum bombs which are banned under the geneva convention. >> reporter: russia's been caught offguard by the might of ukraine's resistance like this civilian blockade preventing troops from taking a nuclear power plant. >> when history of this era is written, ukraine will have left russia weaker and the rerest of the world stronger. >> reporter: while russian troops in some areas appear to be stalled, officials say they have captured a port in southern ukraine. in a videotaped statement posted to facebook overnight, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy called on ukrainians to keep up the resistance and said russian

soldiers are, quote, confused children who are being used by their government. anne-marie? >> laura podesta at the united nations. thank you so much, laura. ahead on "cbs mornings," we're going to be talking with ukrainian parliament member lesia vasylenko about the situation on the ground and how she's protecting her family. breaking overnight, the house committee investigating the january 6 capitol riot says that former president trump may have engaged in a criminal conspiracy in efforts to overturn election results. in court documents, lawmakers allege that trump and his associates spread false information about election fraud and pressured state officials to overturn the results. the panel could not bring charges on its own, but it can make a reference to the justice department. the documents are part of an effort to compel trump's former league adviser john eastman to cooperate with the investigation. and meantime, an alabama man linked to the far right group the oathkeepers pleaded guilty

to seditious conspiracy for his role in the capitol attack. army veteran joshua james is the first person involved in the insurrection to be convicted of the rarely used charge. he's agreed to cooperate with the investigation. oathkeepers' founder, stewart rhodes, and nine others have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and other charges. the white house unveiled its plan to move past the covid pandemic. the roadmap details how the country will prepare for future outbreaks. mola lenghi reports. we are moving forward safely. >> reporter: the new covid plan includes an aggressive monitoring system that the white house says can detect new variants earlier and trigger a faster response with vaccines and treatment. >> the president's plan launches a new test to treat initiative to provide individuals access to testing and treatment for free all in one stop. >> reporter: it's those new variants, warns dr. peter hotez, that could slow the progress the country is now making. >> i think the only asterisk

that you have to put on that is that this is more of a pause than the end of the epidemic in the united states. so many of us are anticipating the rise of another variant of concern. >> reporter: still, baltimore, boston, and philadelphia are dropping indoor mask requirements this week. los angeles county is expected to lift its indoor mandate friday. new york city public schools remain masked, but the state school mandate expired. >> it's very exciting because we get to see each other's faces and how everyone's going to react to this is amazing. >> reporter: florida governor ron desantis admonished a group of students at the university of south florida for wearing masks. >> you do not have to wear those masks. please take them off. it's not doing anything. we've got to stop with this covid theater. so if you want to wear it, fine. but this is ridiculous. >> reporter: here in new york city, the mayor plans to make an announcement friday about the public school mask mandate.

meanwhile, one possible game changer in the nation's effort to get back to normal is the president's new test to treat initiative which provides anti-viral medication on the spot to those who test positive. mola lenghi, cbs news, new york. closing arguments could start today in the trial of the only person charged in connection with the death of breonna taylor. former louisiana police officer brett hankison is not on trial for taylor's death, though, but for endangering taylor's neighbors when he fired shots during a raid at taylor's apartment in 2020. he testified in his own defense yesterday. when asked if he did anything wrong during the raid, he said absolutely not. taylor's mother then stormed out of the courtroom. >> if my daughter was shot at or -- bullets came into our house, that would be concerning, and i he faces uptoyes in pn. and supreme courst

ketanji brown jackson will begin on march 21st. senate judiciary committee chairman dick durbin announced the hearing's schedule yesterday. he met with jackson during her first round of meetings with senators on capitol hill. hearings will last four days. democrats are hoping the senate can vote on her confirmation by mid-april. coming up, pulled from the cockpit. a jetblue pilot is suspected of being drunk before takeoff. later, an unlikely excuse. how a driver tried to get out of a speeding ticket by blaming russia's president. this is the "cbs morning news." welcome to allstate. ♪ ♪ here, safe driving saves more than just your cargo. ♪ ♪ safe driving saves you 40% with drivewise. ♪ ♪

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officials blame climate change and rising sea levels. nobody was hurt. a new wildfire broke out in southern california, and a pilot was pulled from a plane after failing a breathalyzer test. those are some of the headlines on the "morning newsstand." "the new york times" reports a jetblue pilot was removed from the cockpit of a plane in buffalo because he was suspected of being drunk. officials say when 52-year-old pilot james clifton went through security at buffalo niagara international airport yesterday, a tsa officer noticed that he may be impaired. authorities say that a sobriety test revealed the pilot had a blood alcohol content more than four times the federal limit for pilots. >> people saw what was going on, and that has got to be very frightening for people. at the airport we try to do everything we can to ease people's stress already when they're going on to a plane. i can only imagine what this was look for passengers. >> the pilot was not arrested, but he could face federal charges pending an faa

investigation. the "orange county register" said a crew battled the wildfire this southern california's cleveland national forest. what's being called the jim fire was reported yesterday morning. firefighters on the ground and in the air battled the blaze which spread to roughly 500 acres. no structures were threatened. the fire erupted on the last day of a winter heat wave with temperatures in the 80s. an investigation is under way to determine the cause. and "the salt lake tribune" says two black hawk helicopters that crashed in utah were recovered. the choppers went down near a ski resort last week when they attempted to land during a training exercise for the utah national guard. both helicopters were damaged, but no one was seriously hurt. a massive nevada national guard helicopter hoisted the damaged choppers into the air yesterday and flew them to a nearby airport. still to come, smartwatch recall. why people who own a certain fitbit should immediately stop using it. should immediately st

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ on the cbs "money watch" now, a nationwide investigation into tiktok, and a fitbit smartwatch is under recall. diane king hall is in new york with those stories and more. good morning, diane. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. stock futures are pointing to a flat open this morning. yesterday federal reserve chair jerome powell told a house committee he backs raising interest rates, a more moderate quarter point later this month to fight inflation. some feared he would recommend half a point, so the dow rallied 596 points off the back of that. the nasdaq added 219, and the s&p 500 gained 80. tiktok is under the microscope for its possible harmful impact on the mental health of young users.

attorneys general in at least four states are launching the investigation. tiktok has an estimated one billion monthly users and is especially popular with teens and younger children. texas recent leap opened an investigation into tiktok's alleged violations of children's privacy. the company is pledging to cooperate. meantime, fitbit is recalling one million of its ionic smartwatches after dozens of users reported burn injuries because the battery overheated. fitbit's gadger maker says consumers who bought the watches with the model number fb503 should immediately stop using the product. it comes after more than 100 reports of the device overheating which led to 78 burn injuries. the company owned by google now stopped making the watches in 2020, those watches. affected consumers can receive full refunds along with a discount to purchase other fitbit products. and some unpublished illustrations by legendary children's author dr. seuss will

soon see the light of day. random house children's books says it plans to work with a diverse roster of fresh new voices to develop the seuss studios line. the announcement comes exactly one year after the business founded by the family of theodor geisel, aka dr. seuss, announced it would stop publishing six titles because they included racist and insensitive images. the new works are due out next year. anne-marie? >> glad to hear that. "oh, the places you'll go," one of my favorite books, satellite. >> it's a good one even to get when you're graduating. even when you're not a little kid. that onere i love the classic "cat in the hat." you know, there's other ones that you gain a new appreciation for when you have kids. you know, "one fish, two fish." >> i know. so simple yet effective. diane king hall in new york, thank you. >> you got it. up next, a far-fetched excuse. why a florida driver blamed russia's president when he got caught allegedly speeding.

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ a huge piece of space junk is on track to crash into the

moon tomorrow. the three-ton leftover rocket will smash into the far side of the moon at 5,800 miles per hour. telescopes will not be able to see it. scientists say that it could create a 60-foot crater on the surface and send moon dust flying hundreds of miles. some experts believe that it's part of a chinese rocket from 2014. alunar mission then that's been tumbling through space. china denies that. a florida driver had an unusual excuse when he was pulled over for allegedly speeding. he blamed it on russian president vladimir putin. >> i just found out that putin is just -- he said he's going to launch nuclear thermal war against the world. i was trying to get to my house. to find out what's going on. i'm freaking out here. okay? i got people in ukraine. >> so the driver was reportedly going 50 miles per hour in a 30-mile zone when he was stopped last thursday. that's the day russia invaded

ukraine. the putin excuse, it did not work. he still got a ticket. and celebrated actor james earl jones is getting his name on broadway lights forever. the owner of new york city's court theater says that it is renaming it the james earl jones theater in recognition of jones' lifetime contributions to broadway and the artistic community. it comes after the theater industry agreed to reforms ensuring diversity and inclusion. the theater will be dedicated to the 91-year-old tony award winner once renovation work is finished. and coming up, an exclusive on "cbs mornings." billionaire philanthropist melinda french gates sits down with gayle king for her first tv interview since her divorce from bill gates. i'm anne-marie green. this is the "cbs morning news." m bill gates. i'm anne-marie green. this is the "cbs morning news."

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or our top stories this morning -- russian forces are stepping up attacks on ukraine cities. russia's defense ministry claims it controls kherson. ukraine says more than 2,000 civilians have been killed since the start of the war. in a videotaped address overnight, ukraine's president called on his citizens to keep up the resistance. and the house committee investigating the january 6 capitol riot says evidence suggests that former president trump engaged in a criminal conspiracy in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. in a federal court filing, lawmakers allege trump and his allies spread false information about election fraud and pressured state officials to overturn the results.

last year the marshall fire was a nightmare for colorado families who lost everything. more than 1,000 homes were destroyed. as janet shamlian reports, there's some hope after the tragedy. oh, my god -- >> reporter: for those who know the frustration of assembling kids' furniture -- >> one's really tall -- >> reporter: this is a labor of love. but these parents don't know the children they're creating bedrooms for, only that they're just like the rough boys. >> your guy's fort was here. >> reporter: children whose treasures turned to ash in the marshall fire. what gave you the idea for this? >> for my kids, i would want them to be in a safe place and to feel comfortable and safe and loved again. i said, let's build a bedroom. >> reporter: this is lindsay's garage full of everything needed to create a dream bedroom for a child who lost theirs. >> all kinds of stuff -- >> reporter: donations pouring in for her group hope lives here colorado. >> how did they know i love --

>> reporter: for 6-year-old brooke and her 8-year-old sister emily, a small slice of normal. >> like the husband and i, we finally sat on the couch, and it was like a collective exhale that like the girls are okay. >> oh, my -- >> what is that? >> reporter: and better than okay at the rental home. >> the it melts my heart every time they walk in. >> reporter: 30 times so far, but another 100 children on the waiting list for dream bedrooms and new memories. janet shamlian, cbs news, superior, colorado. coming up, an exclusive on "cbs mornings." billionaire philanthropist melinda french gates since down with gayle king for her first tv interview since her divorce from bill gates. plus, first on "cbs mornings," republican senator lindsey graham talks about the response to russia's invasion and the upcoming hearings on supreme court nominee ketanji brown jackson. and a celebration of the oscar-nominated song "dos agitas" from "encanto."

songwriter lin-manuel miranda and singer sebastian yatar stop by the times square studio. that's the "cbs morning news" for this thursday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. ♪ een. have a great day. ♪