nancy cordes, thank you.heard some chilling words today from the nation's top military officer. general mark milley told congress that a new intelligence estimate says al qaeda could rebuild in the next six months. now, that does not mean the terror group could attack the american homeland, but it is a shorter timeline than we have heard before. cbs' weijia jiang reports. >> reporter: tonight, general mark milley is warning that al qaeda could be months away from reconstituting in afghanistan. >> it's a real possibility in the not-too-distant future. six, 12, 18, 24, 36 months. >> reporter: the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff saidd the taliban takeover of the country has given terrorists a new lifeline. >> i think the taliban sitting in kabul significantly emboldens the radical jihadi movement globally. the analogy i've used with many others is, it likely will put a shot of adrenaline into their arm. >> reporter: republicans grilled milley about the u.s. military withdrawal in afghanistan, and over his

they need to make the decisions to get this passed so that we can work. >> and nancy cordes joins us now. so what happened to that mom you talked to? what is she going to do? >> reporter: she says for now she's working part-time. but even if she would afford child care, she's on the wait list. and that is a problem that so many parents are facing. they said that even if they had the money, they can't find a suitable space for their child. a third of paren >> so much of apped becae of the pandemic. nancy cordes, thank you. >>> well, we heard some chilling words today from the nation's top military officer. general mark milley told congress a new al-qaeda could rebuild in the next six months. now, that does not mean the terror group could attack the american homeland, but it is a shorter time line than we have heard before. cbs reports. >> reporter: tonight general mark milley is warning that al-qaeda could be months away from reconstituting in afghanistan. >> it is a real possibility in the not too distant future. 6, 12, 18, 24, 36 months. >> reporter: the chairman of the joint chiefs

nancy cordes, thank you. well, turning now to covid.dy out today finds more than 280,000 covid hospitalizations this past summer could have been prevented by vaccination. and listen to this-- the medical bills for those patients totaled more than $5 billion. here's cbs' manuel bojorquez. >> reporter: there are more signs tonight of covid's worsening grip. both cases and deaths nationwide remain dangerously high, equal to levels from last winter's devastating surge. the latest hot spots: west virginia, pennsylvania and tennessee. in florida, one of the nation's hardest hit states, governor ron desantis is not just pushing back against the biden administration's call for vaccine mandates. he's doubling down. >> if a government agency in the state of florida forces a vaccine as a condition to employment, you will face a $5,000 fine for every single violation. >> reporter: according to one analysis, in june, less than 10% of hospitals in the u.s. were at or near capacity in their i.c.u.s. now, one out of every four hospitals has at least 95

decides that it's the right time. >> o'donnell: nancy cordes, thank you so much. and on top of all that, america's oldest ally, france, is furious with the biden administration. the french have recalled their ambassador to the u.s. to protest a u.s.-brokered deal to build nuclear powered submarines for australia. the french had their own deal to build subs for australia, but that's been scrapped and the french are not happy. happy. tonight police here in wanted are taking no chances as they as they brace for tomorrow's rally in support of those charged with storming the u.s. capitol. there is late word of new online chatter about potential violence. we get more from cbs' jeff pegues. >> reporter: capitol hill on high alert tonight. layers of barricades, fencing and security cameras, caninecurm canine units patrolling nearby union station. today the capitol police chief acknowledged violence was a possibility. in your view, are those threats of violence credible? >> we don't know with any certainty, but what we do know is this: that the chatter thattd we heard prio

norah. >> o'donnell: nancy cordes, thank you. and we should note, minaj now says she's going to get the vaccine before she goes on tour. the other big story tonight is here in washington, as capitol hill once again resembles a fortress. the fence is back up, and security is tight, ahead of a rally on saturday in support of those charged with storming the capitol. cbs' jeff pegues reports on new threats that have popped up on social media. >> reporter: with eight-foot- high fencing now surrounding the capitol, cbs news has learned that capitol police aren't just gearing up for saturday's rally. they're concerned about the day before, too. the f.b.i. has flagged social media posts which suggest storming the capitol on friday. and a new homeland security bulletin is warning of lone offenders, or small groups, that could spark violence. rally organizer matt braynard, a former trump campaign staffer, says the event, which will include calls for the imprisoned january 6 rioters to be released, will be peaceful. >> the capitol police kn

norah. >> o'donnell: nancy cordes, thank you. and we want to turn now to afghanistan and how the taliban's takeover will impact women and girls. malala yousafzai survived an assassination attempt by the taliban in pakistan for speaking out about education for women. well, earlier, we spoke with the youngest nobel peace prize laureate. what do you think will happen to the gains made by women and girls in the past 20 years? >> there were zero girls in school in the past government of the taliban. right now, so many children were in school, getting their education. and 39% of those children were girls were in school. they may not be able to go to their schools again, and the women and girls i have talked to, a lot of them right now want to be in a safe place, or they want the taliban to actually guarantee them they are safe. >> o'donnell: what are you hearing from your afghan friends about how women and girls are doing right now? >> girls are afraid to go to school. they had dreams and they're worried that they may not be able to si

norah.e, minaj now >> o'donnell: nancy cordes, thank you. and we should note, minaj now says she's going to get the vaccine before she goes on tour. all right, now to south carolina where disgraced lawyer alex murdaugh surrendered to authorities today after being accused of hiring a hit man to kill him in a botched insurance fraud scheme. cbs' nikki battiste is following this increasingly bizarre case. >> reporter: 53-year-old alex murdaugh and his family of powerful prosecutors once held a commanding presence at this hampton county, south carolina, courthouse. but toght, he's a defet acinchae fraud and filing a false police report. murdaugh is accused of hiring s 61-year old curtis smith to shoot him in the head with hopes of leaving a $10 million insurance windfall to his older son. when the alleged plot failed, murdaugh told police he was shot while changing a flat tire. earlier today, a $55,000 bond was set for smith, who faces five charges ranging from assisted suicide to insurance fraud. it's the latest twist in a string of ongoing cri

nancy cordes is at the white house. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we are talking about the centerpiece of the president's platform and it all comes to a head this week. house speaker nancy pelosi says she is aiming to hold a vote on a bipartisan infrastructure package on thursday, but that hinges on her being able to round up the votes for another spending package that is three times the size. >> this is the vision of the president. >> reporter: democrats had a warning for potential holdouts sunday, the president's priorities are on the line this week. >> this is the president's democratic agenda. >> a key part of the president's agenda. >> this is joe biden's bill. >> reporter: joe biden's bill is a huge $3.5 trillion package that includes new funding for the child tax credit, universal pre-k, home health care and much more. >> we will keep government open. >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi says 95% of house democrats are now on board, but with such a slim majority, her party will need to do even better than that. >> if somebody wants less th

take a live look at the white house where president biden zip cord in his own party over these pair of spending bills. steve: house speaker nancytoday. they are there are going to be a bunch of vote on capitol hill today. brian: she said if it's not going to pass i will never bring a bill to the floor. what's requesting on? peter doocy joins us from the white house as progressives promise to tank the vote unless they get what they want. peter? peter: good morning. and joe biden heard something usually reserved for a nemesis of the nationals from the republican side of the stadium last night. listen here. >> there he is. [crowd boos] president biden making an appearance here. i. steve: boos out for president biden as he was trying to save a bipartisan infrastructure bill that may already be dead because progressives thought it was attached to a multitrillion dollars wish list and joe manchin is not going to let that happen. saying late last night what i made clear is spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs when we can't even pay for the essential social programs like social security and medicare is the de