cbs' lilia luciano has the latest from santa monica, california. lilia, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, adriana. around six million people are expected to travel through airports this weekend. i'll tell you, i was one of them and it was hard to even find a seat. tonight, a travel boom as americans mark the unofficial start to summer. >> we're headed to hawaii. >> to atlanta. >> arkansas. >> new york. >> reporter: nearly two million flyers packed planes on friday alone, a pandemic-era record. >> when i got the ticket, they said it was the last seat available. >> reporter: vaccinated or not, masks are required. southwest and american airlines have both pressed pause on plans to resume full alcohol service, citing a rise in passenger disruptions. most travelers are hitting the road even as gas price surge to a seven-year high. pump prices nationwide now average just over $3 a gallon; they were less than $2 this time last year. >> it's kind of hard for the pocketbook. >> reporter: traffic at some national parks is also bumper- to-bumper. you wo

lilia luciano has more from los angeles. >> reporter: confident crowds out and about in l.a. county where 60% of angelenos 16 and older are partially vaccinated. and a pandemic first -- the hollywood bowl is back in business. almost half of all u.s. adults are now vaccinated, but with more than 200 million still not fulled protected, the white house is intent on boosting numbers. >> when you get vaccinated, you become a dead-end to the virus. >> reporter: nationwide, new covid cases have plummeted. the seven-day average peaked at roughly 250,000 a day in january. now just over 33,000 a day, down nearly 87%. ♪ big celebrations at l.a.'s coliseum as usc graduates filled the field. it's the first commencement there in 71 years. 14 ceremonies over seven days and 36,000 diplomas for the class of 2020 and 2021. about 1,500 graduates plus guests will be here, and the celebrations will continue with twice-a-day ceremonies through friday. lilia luciano, cbs news, los angeles. >>> more than 1,000 people are out of their homes under mandatory evacuation orders this morning as an out-of-

cbs' lilia luciano joins us from los angeles, lilia, what are you seeing today? >> reporter: masks, jericka because they are still required here in california despite the c.d.c.'s guide lines. here at l.a.'s coliseum u.s.c. graduates are getting their diplomas today in person because more vaccinations mean more public celebrations. confident crowds out and about today in l.a. county where 60% of angelinos, 16 and older are partially vaccinated. and a pandemic first, the hollywood bowl is back in business. almost half of all u.s. adults are now vaccinated. but with more than 200 million still not fully protected, the n white house is intent on boosting numbers. >> when you get vaccinated, you become a dead end to the virus. >> reporter: nationwide new covid cases have plummeted. the seven day average peaked at roughly 250,000 a day in january. now just over 33,000 a day, down nearly 87%. big celebrations at l.a.'s coliseum as u.s.c. graduates filled the field it is the first commencement there in 71 years, 14 ceremonies over seven days and 36,000 diplomas for the

norah. >> o'donnell: lilia luciano, thank you. in north carolina, an emotional funeral was held today for andrew brown, jr. he was shot to death by deputies attempting to serve an arrest warrant. mourners included relatives of other black men killed by officers. brown's family was only shown a brief portion of body cam video and is demanding all the footage be released. now to a shocking announcement that seemed to come out of nowhere. bill and melinda gates, among the richest couples in the world, are splitting after 27 years of marriage. cbs' ben tracy on this billionaire's breakup. >> reporter: it was a match made at microsoft, and now it's over. over. in a statement on twitter in a statement on twitter today, bill and melinda gates said after a great deal of thought and a lot of work on their relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage. the couple first met when melinda gates was a marketing manager at microsoft. the company bill gates co- founded. >> i could sense that he was a bit interested, and-- >> oh, do

cbs' lilia luciano is in santa monica where people there are anxious to get outside. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, jericka, that's right. the boardwalk here is busy as more americans are eager to not only get outside but get out of town, in travel rush is on. despite covid outbreaks hitting some states hard. crowds enjoyed the out doors toins mo vaccines and fewer iec boost optimism in the nation's fight against the pandemic. >> i'm fully vaccinated and completely comfortable with being out in public. >> reporter: that confidence is driving up summer plans. 72% of americans are booking a vacation compared to 37% a year ago. but millions refuse to give the vaccine a shot despite the danger. >> the more this virus continues to circulate, the more it will continue to mutate. >> reporter: oregon is fighting another outbreak. governor brown has put most of the state under extreme risk restrictions. >> as your governor, i chose to save lives. >> reporter: but more states including georgia and connecticut are lifting restrictions. in oklahoma city there is no long

major. >> garrett: lilia luciano, thank you.ty verdict in a murder case that became part of a bitter american political debate. the victim: a young iowa woman who had been out jogging. the man now convicted: an undocumented farm worker. cbs' adriana diaz has closely followed this case. >> cristhian bahena rivera, guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree. >> reporter: the verdict came on the first full day of deliberations in a case that rocked the heartland. >> he knew where the body was, and that was a big piece of the corroboration of his story. >> reporter: the disappearance of 20-year-old mollie tibbetts, who was last seen on a jog in july of 2018, consumed the town of brooklyn, iowa. surveillance video of tibbetts and this black malibu led investigators to rivera. the arrest of rivera, an undocumented dairy worker, became a lightning rod over illegal immigration. >> do you have anything to say? >> reporter: rivera told investigators in 2018 that he followed tibbetts, who he found attractive, and when she threatened

we know she'll be here for mother's day. >> o'donnell: lilia luciano, thank you. well, tonight, as the u.s. withdraws from its 20-yearlong war in afghanistan, a new large- scale military offensive is under way there. taliban forces are wasting no time trying to seize as much of the country as they can, and cbs' charlie d'agata reports from kabul. (heavy machine gun fire) >> reporter: from the moment u.s. troops started pulling back, the taliban went on the offensive. a fierce firefight shows afghanistan forces battling against taliban militants trying to overrun an outpost in laghman province. cbs news has obtained video of the taliban in that very region, a show of force right on the door step of the capital, kabul. the afghan military told us coordinated taliban offenses are ongoing in 20 provinces across the country, including volatile helmund province, where u.s. troops handed over a base to afghan forces just two days ago. despite deploying elite afghan troop reinforcements to the southern province, local leaders warned today that helmund is on the verge of c

cbs's lilia luciano is in pasadena, california tonight and leads us off. good evening, lilia. >> good evening to you, jericka. health officials with optimistic about those numbers but they're still pushing for more people to get vaccinated. meanwhile there's new concern fr young people. tonight the cdc is investigating rare cases of heart inflammation among vaccinated teens and young adults. the agency says the complications were more common in males than females. we're seeing more often following second doses and were within four days after vaccinations. >> these are complicate-- complicationed that were not totally unexpected but are very, very rare and manageable. i can't emphasize it enough, the virus can be deadly. >> so you are saying teens and young adults should still get the vaccine. >> there is no question about it. right now 12 and old should get there vaccine. the vaccine is remarkably safe. >> but vaccinations nationwide have slowed down. in ten states mostly in the south less than half of all adults have been partially vaccinated. the northeas

well done, lilia. >> lilia luciano. don't you love -- i love her name. lilia luciano.g alert ♪ the bacon double stack™ is back in the biggie bag for just 5 bucks. only at wendy's. ♪ bag alert ♪ major bag alert ♪ >>> we liked it so much, we want to show you again. the moment where dr. jill biden walked in to surprise the teacher of the year. there was concern, guys, that the teacher might not recognize dr. biden with her mask. she definitely recognized her right away. i thought that was a very great moment. >> so sweet. >> tough year for teachers, but she stood out. >> congra >>> good morning. it's 8:55. i am len kiese. a vegetation fire is now contained. the 13-acre sparked around 3:00. it was threatening boats at one point but crews kept it from spreading. >>> a big rig jack knifes spilling more than 100 gallons of fuel. this happened this morning on west bound 580 in dublin. four lanes had to be closed temporarily as crews worked to clean the mess. no word yet on injuries. >>> san francisco back in the yellow tier, less restrictive tier allows indoor bars, wineries,

cbs' lilia luciano is in hollywood, california. evening to you. >> reporter: good evening, jericka, it is a very busy hollywood boulevard tonight. here in california, masks are still man dated but elsewhere in america, it is a holiday weekend with way fewer restrictions. america's pastimes are making a big comeback this memorial day weekend. >> start your engines! >> reporter: in indianapolis 135,000 racing fans revved up at the indy 500, the largest crowd at a sporting event since the start of the pandemic. >> in washington, d.c., thousands of bikers rolled through the nation's capitol, raising awareness for missing service members. in boston, fenway park is packed again. even c.d.c. director rochelle walensky was there throwing out the first pitch, while travels soars to pandemic peaks. it is all possible because half of american adults are fully vaccinated in less than six months-- but covid still kills, the u.s. death toll pushing past 594,000. and tonight new concern about a variant detected in vietnam. there is the biden admin

cbs' lilia luciano has the emotional reunion. >> reporter: today feels like a dream to 18-year-old bryan chavez. outside the port of entry in san ysidro, california, he anxiously waits for his mother, sandra, who is crossing from mexico. the two haven't seen each other since being separated at the at0 border in 2017, part of the trump administration's zero tolerance policy. seeking a safe haven from mexican cartels, bryan, 15 at the time, was placed in a refugee shelter while his mother was deported. ( crying ) finally tonight, a family ripped apart is reunited. and mother and son hold each other tight. other tight. >> there's clearly no words to describe the happiness that i'm feeling right now, ask i'm really grateful with all the people that did this amazing work to allow my mom to come them. eir pants.or freunder doeo what does a moment like this mean to our whole country? >> you know, i think when we saw babies being ripped out of their mom's arms at the border, whenln we saw children crying in cages, when we saw that level of cruelty, we really need to-- we needed to move quick to

as lilia luciano learned, they often find themselves caught in the middle of the battle between drugrs and u.s. border patrol. >> reporter: an hour away from tucson, arizona, and another two traveling through the unpaved roads of the sonoran desert toward the border, we arrived at the first building structure for miles. we're in tohono o'odham nation about four miles from the border with mexico visiting francine. she's lived here all of her life, and she frequently receives migrants, traffickers, and border patrol all coming through her property. francine jose says every few days she finds people on her property on their way into the united states from mexico. >> the other day was someone came and they were -- >> reporter: usually how long have they been in the desert? >> the lady that came said she was out there for three days. >> reporter: she gives them food and water, whatever she can offer. can you afford it? >> not so much. >> reporter: francine knows her generosity has to be limited. she says she's often questioned by agents roaming and surveilling the area even on her own pro

listen to what he told our lilia luciano. >> you just don't expect that as a kid to be separated fromthem to tell you, oh, no, you are going alone. like she has to go somewhere else. >> imagine how difficult that is to be separated. >> i can't. >> from your mom when you've come to the united states seeking a better life. >> and now he's working to help others. that's the other thing that i thought was -- i saw it yesterday. the fact that he now wants to help others who have been through this. it was really nice to see the two of them together, though. the love that you felt between the two of them was so palpable. it's inexcusable, too, that they were separated to begin with. let's not forget that. we did that. >> they're going to be staying in california. >> that's right. one of the things that i thought was cute is his mom said -- you know, when your parents haven't seen you in a while, even if you're at college, you come back for your first spring break, and you kind of look different. >> yes. taller. >> his mom was like, he's taller. exactly. very, very cute. cute ending to that.