cbs's debora patta remembers the giant of the antiapartheid movement. >>. >> the tiny man way twinkle in his eye, a massive loss. born in the township of south africa desmond tutu went on to become a nobel peace prize winner. a global campaigner for human rights and a man who always spoke truth to power. with whether it was with awhite racist regime or dictatorship. >> as south africa's first black archbishop he unhesitatingly usedhis office to bravely challenge the brutal racism of the country's apartheid rulers. >> the white people don't want to hear, this the primary terrorism in this country comes from the government. and until that system goes, there is no hope at all of any civility in this land. >> but equally he could turn that righteous fury on his own supporters. in 1985 tutu fearilessly broke up an angry south african mob and prevented them from burning a man to death on suspicion of been an apartheid spy. when the dark days of raiks hatred finally ended and tutu's long time friend and former south african president nelson mandela was released from 27 years behind bars, the

cbs' debora patta reports from south africa. >> reporter: this is ground zero for omicron. scientists in this high-risk biohazard lab arm themselves for another day on the covid battle front. they are hot on the trail of the new mutant strain circling the globe. >> i'm going of coming to give you a box from the freezer. >> reporter: here, they are growing live omicron, which will be tested against the blood of fully vaccinated people, as well as those who were previously infected. heading up this team at the africa health research institute is virologist alex sigal. >> this is probably the most mutated virus we've ever seen. >> reporter: the variant has more than 50 mutations, over 30 in the spike protein, making it easier to attach itself to human cells. >> it's more of a frankenstein than others, but it's always something new. i mean, the virus keeps surprising us. >> reporter: now they are collaborating with other scientists to determine if the variant blunts vaccine immunity. this lab has received multiple requests for samples of omicron, which have been packed to be sh

here's cbs' debora patta. >> reporter: it started as an internal rebellion, morphed into an ethnic conflicta famine. forced starvation has become a weapon of war with hundreds of thousands of children in dire need of food. these images were filmed in october. aide workers say it's even worse now. the world food program's claire neville, in addis ababa, told us they have been struggling to get food to 18 million people behind battle lines. food to 8 million people behind battle lines. we really need all authorities to allow us to access to reach the vulnerable populations wherever and whenever needed. >> reporter: some areas haven't had supplies for four months. trucks started going back into tigray last week but, only with enough to feed under half a million people. >> we must get food and assistance to people immediately to avert any further catastrophic levels of hunger. >> reporter: the conflict isn intensifying, while the country's leader nobel peace prize winner abiy ahmed swapped his business suit for battle fatigues. here you see him on a satellite phone leading his troops, andh behi

margaret. >> debora patta, thank you. still ahead, our interview with a man who is starting a new life after serving decades behind bars for a crime he did not commit. plus, the winter of baseball's discontent. that works different. it could mean a chance to live longer. opdivo plus yervoy is for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread, tests positive for pd-l1, and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. it's the only fda-approved combination of two immunotherapies. opdivo plus yervoy equals... a chance for more time together. more family time. more quiet time. opdivo and yervoy can cause your immune system to harm healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. these problems can be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have a cough; chest pain; shortness of breath; irregular heartbeat; diarrhea; constipation; severe stomach pain, nausea or vomiting; dizziness; fainting; eye problems; extreme tiredness; changes in appetite, thirst or urine; rash; itching; c

norah. >> o'donnell: debora patta, thank you.e want to turn now to the trial of a former minnesota police officer who said she madd a fatal mistake drawing her gun on duante wright, instead of her taser, shooting and killing the unarmed 20-year-old. david schuman of our minneapolis station wcco was in court for the opening statements. >> "i killed a boy." those were the defendant's words. >> reporter: prosecutors said p former police officer kimberly potter was reckless and culpable for the death of 20-year-old duante wright. potter's body camera captured the moment the routine traffic stop turned deadly. last april, outside of minneapolis, potter and a rookie officer stopped wright after spotting an air freshener illegally hanging from his rear- view mirror, and expired tags. potter's partner tried to arrest wright for having an outstanding warrant on a misdemeanor gun charge, but he resisted and tried to drive away. >> taser! taser! >> reporter: during the struggle, potter shouted a taser warning, before firing her handgun, kil

debora patta has the latest from johannesburg. >> reporter: the lights are on and schools are out.'mmer holiday when children should be thinking about carefree days ahead. but the rise of covid cases amongst kids in south african hospitals is a worrying trend. doctors on the front line put it down to high community transmission. the infections are mostly incidental, says pediatrician dr. gary rubinson. >> we're seeing children being emitted for surgical procedures testing positive. we've seen children who have fractures and other traumas completely unrelated. >> reporter: vaccinologist stresses omicron is not targeting children in a more severe way. >> certainly not. because it is more infectious and more transmissible, you might expect a slight increase in children that development covid-19. >> reporter: earlier this year the third deadly wave overwhelmed south africa's hospitals, but the devastation then might be a sir lining now. high levels of naturally induced immunity from previous infections, experts say, could be why omicron so far is less severe. >> for this particular wave

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cbs' debora patta reports >> reporr: firmly he grf a covid storm driven by omicron, south africa's fourth wave looks nothing like previous ones. six months ago, ward was overflowing with patients. now it's completely different. it's half empty, despite soaring infections across the country. this was the same hospital during the delta-fueled third wave, overwhelmed, desperately short of oxygen, and running up on the of i.c.u. beds. but this time around, says covid doctor fareed abdullah, patients so far have had mild symptoms with very few requiring oxygen. >> we've never seen that before. normally in a covid ward, you would have 80-90-- i would even go as far as saying 95% of patients would be on some form of supplemental oxygenation. >> reporter: south african scientists have released the first results of omicron's potency, finding it significantly reduces vaccine protection, but completely. alex sigal believes will antibodies from vaccines or previous infections will stop the disease from becoming more severe. >> i'm hopeful that because of all the previous immunity, that while other pe