cbs' mark strassmann has been monitoring it all from the kennedy space center. good evening, mark. >> reporter: errol, this crew just became the most successful tourists in space history. they splashed down off the coast of florida from the pad behind me where they launched on wednesday. a three-day camping trip in the cosmos ended with a splash off the florida coast. >> inspiration4, on behalf of spacex, welcome home to planet earth. >> reporter: inspiration4, a space voyage like no other. not a single professional astronaut aboard. that itself is not new. but by orbiting the earth in a spacex capsule 15 times a day... >> we're seeing the world every 90 minutes. >> reporter: ...the civilian crew did circles around previous adventures in cosmic tourism. mission commander jared isaacman, the billionaire who sharterred the flight. >> a big part of our mission here in inspiration4 is to inspire what can be done here in space. >> reporter: the wow factor was undeniable. here crew member chris sembroski takes pictures in the spaceship's cupola. crew member hayley arce

mark strassmann, cbs news, atlanta. >>> i don't think he's average in any room.rnings, in our emmy nominated series, note to self, halie arsenault shares a note to her younger self and colson whitehead talks about his new novel harlem shuffle and visits key locations in his book. actor andrew garfield talks about playing tell evangelist jim backer in the new movie "in the eyes of tammy faye." that's the "cbs morning news." thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. . >>> live from the cbs

cbs' mark strassmann is there. >> reporter: parents of all fifth graders got two hours notice, come getkids. a covid outbreak last month at eastside elementary in metro atlanta's cobb county. parent tini krisman. >> we're trying to prevent school transmission. >> reporter: since school began, covid has exploded week by week in cobb county schools withss hundreds infected in schools and staff to nearly 5,000. >> mask in class >> reporter: school masking policy divides the county. not chris ragsdale, the school's superintendent he's dug in. masks will stay recommended, not mandatory. >> the data clearly indicates a mask mandate does not provide a significant change in the cases. >> reporter: a c.d.c. study published last week showed that schools without mask mandates are three and a half times more likely to have outbreaks. >> my worst fear did become reality. >> bye, guys. >> reporter: tini krisman's two sons go to eastside elementary. three weeks after the major outbreak -- >> it was a third grader who showed symptoms and both tested positive on the same day. >> reporter: then she teste

mark strassmann, cbs news, at the kennedy space center. >>> meantime, the u.s. passed another grim milestone in the fight against the coronavirus. new figures show roughly one in 500 americans have died from covid. as of this morning, the virus has killed more than 666,000 people in the u.s. meantime, the fda will hold a key meeting tomorrow on booster shots. but there's no guarantee that a third shot will be made widely available yet. bradley blackburn is in new york with the latest developments on this. good morning. >> reporter: anne-marie, good morning. pfizer is making its case for booster shots, but of course there are still many people who refuse to get any covid vaccine at all. that is despite powerful evidence that the vaccines save lives, and this morning they ow pope. the covid-19 vaccines got a holy endorsement on wednesday. pope francis told reporters that humanity has a history of friendship with vaccines and urged everyone to get their shots. here in the u.s., a key meeting for possible booster shots happens tomorrow. the fda released new document

here's cbs' mark strassmann. >> reporter: caleb anderson is adjusting to big changes. >> this is calebia tech. >> i'm taking integral calculus. >> reporter: his new voice. >> i'm taking integral calculus, i have a studio for that. >> reporter: see, caleb just turned 13. by far the youngest wiz-kid at one of america's elite engineering schools. have you gotten some funny looks? >> yeah, definitely. you know, i also have had thoset college and, you know, this is incredible. >> reporter: at nine months, caleb learned sign language, reading at one. by two, doing fractions. >> two, three. >> reporter: at three, he qualified for mensa. and now an aerospace engineering major instead of a 7th grader. >> i'm being challenged. >> reporter: you're not the only smart kid in the room. >> oh, definitely. i think i'm average. >> reporter: classes easy, classes hard? >> class is definitely hard. the one thing that unites everybody in this school is the work is terrifying. >> reporter: but what scares him now could make him even smarter. mark strassmann, cbs news, atlanta. >> o'donnell: i like that he

here's cbs' mark strassmann. >> reporter: johnson & johnson's big news -- a second dose of its vaccineprotective against symptomatic covid in the u.s.. nearly 15 million americans already have received this single dose regimen. tonight's other headline affects a treatment for people with covid called monoclonal antibodies, synthetic antibodies that reduce death or hospitalization by at least 70% in high-risk patients. >> it's essentially boosting your own antibodies and immune system. >> reporter: the problem is, not enough supply-- especially in states like tennessee with low vaccination rates. barely half of eligible people here have been fully vaccinated, america's fifth lowest rate. until last week, most of the limited supply went to southern states, where vaccination rates are low. last week, the biden administration said it will reallocate supplies across all 50 states, and with more demand than supply, tennessee's new policy prioritized the unvaccinated. so vaccinated people who get breakthrough infections might have to go to the back of the line. the state department of health

norah. >> o'donnell: mark strassmann, thank you.well, president biden faced a tall challenge today as he made his first address at the united nations. he hoped to convince world leaders to join the u.s. in fighting covid, climate change and a host of other pressing issues. we get more now from cbs' ed o'keefe. >> all weekend now to create... >> reporter: world leaders gathered at the united nations for the first time since the pandemic amid heightened security. an f-16 had to intercept a single engine plane that violated restricted airspace. inside, president biden was on the defensive, addressing the strained relationship with china and the botched withdrawal from afghanistan, as even traditional u.s. allies voiced concern about american leadership. on china, the president said he's focused on competition not conflict. >> we are not seeking a new cold war or a world divided in the ridged blocs. >> reporter: he never mentioned china by name but clashed the rivalry as a clash of democracies and autocracies. the u.n. secretary general

we begin with mark strassmann in orlando. >> reporter: instead of widespread booster, the biden whitese got a shot of rejection. an f.d.a. advisory panel on friday recommended pfizer boosters only for vaccinated seniors and high-risk patients. a decision-making a challenging process even more so. >> you want to roll out booster shots to the population, but you can't flip a switch and make that happen overnight. >> reporter: not in covid america, where the virus now kills around 1900 people a day. the highest average in six months. by any measure, covid sorrow stocks florida with a vengeance. more than 50,000 floridians already dead. an average of 350 more every day tops in america. >> we've got to get vaccinated. >> reporter: dr. vincent shoo works at a advant health orlando. they have 50 hospitals with 1700 covid patients. more than half of them in central florida. >> there is still a lot of issues with taking care of these patients, supplies, space, as well as staffing. >> reporter: continuous surges remain a threat? >> we always have to be prepared for another surge. >> reporter: c

cbs senior national correspondent mark strassmann is in atlanta with the latest on covid's impact. >>eporter: covid's back to school lesson: how vulnerable kids are, making up more than one in four new covid cases. >> how are the parents okay with that? how are they just okay with that over a mask? >> reporter: for the sickest covid kids, hospitalization rates spiked almost 10-fold since late june. alarm in los angeles, the second largest school district just mandated vaccinations for eligible students. >> that's why there isn't measles and mumps and rebrubella in our schools, because we vaccinate. >> reporter: on friday, a judge upheld the governor's ban. >> let the parents make the decision that is best for their kids. if you want the masks, do it, if you don't, don't, that's fine. >> reporter: but florida's pandemic politics has consequences. in miami, eve coleman, an elementary math teacher for three decades, died of covid. >> he was a great co-worker to many people. >> reporter: coleman became one of 13 miami-dade teachers and staff to die of the virus already this school year. a

for the first time, an all- civilian crew of four will be sent intrt cbs' mark strassmann reports tonight from the kennedy space center in florida. >> our first all-civilian crew. >> reporter: civilian space voyagers. for inspiration 4s crew, that dreams both in the stars and the countdown's final hours. thy suited up this afternoon and headed into their spacex crew dragon capsule. crew member sian proctor: >> every day is just gets better and better. >> reporter: on the launch tower, high above pad 39-a, jared isaacman, the mission commander, back in may showed us their walkway to the cosmos. >> this is where the rocket launch is. this is where you get strapped in. >> reporter: the billionaire chartered the flight. the price tag? reportedly about $200 million. >> this is a first, that's significance, that's responsibility. >> reporter: responsibility being the first that there will be a second and a third? >> absolutely, you have to get this one right for all the other great missions to follow.te forg some 360 miles above the planet, about 100 miles higher than the international space st

mark strassmann, thanks so much. and we want to turn now to the covid pandemic, which has now claimed the lives of one in every 500 americans. and get this-- for those 85 years or over, it's one in every 35. cbs' omar villafranca has new details tonight on the intensifying battle over booster shots. >> reporter: tonight, pfizer and now moderna are making a major push for booster shots, but the food and drug administration is staying neutral. today, the f.d.a. released new documents from pfizer ahead of an advisory panel's meeting on friday to discuss covid booster shots, claiming that protection from its vaccine loses some effectiveness after six months, but improves to 95% after a third dose. but in a separate document, f.d.a. staff noted that they've yet to verify some data that would support an additional dose, saying the current vaccines still afford protection against severe covid-19 disease and death in the united states. but in much of the u.s., the issue isn't third doses. it's convincing americans to get the