weijia? >> jiang: charlie, thank you. with us now is sue on, former deputy director of national intelligence. >> great to see you. >> jiang: as we heard from charlie, there are americans and afghans still trying to get out. the biden administration has repeatedly said that their ability to carry out an attack like the one we saw at the airport is very didifferent from their capability of striking the homeland. is that true? >> it is. i think one of the things to understand is the 20 years of our counterterrorism efforts, including that time in afghanistan, has seriously degraded the ability of extremist forces to rally, gather their resources, and then to operate at distance. that does not mean that they can't create havoc within afghanistan, disrupt the formation of any new kind of government, and over time reconstitute themselves in a way that could be problematic for us. >> jiang: so 20 years later, can you answer if we are safer or not? >> oh, i think from a counterterrorism perspective, we are decidedly safer. we hav

cbs's weijia jiang is going to lead us off from the white house. good evening, weijia. >> reporter: good evening to you, norah. not only did president biden call out those vaccine holdouts, tonight, he has a clear message to the roughly 100 million americans who will be impacted by the new requirements-- get vaccinated, or pay the consequences. >> we're in the tough stretch, and it could last for a while. >> reporter: tonight, president biden acknowledged that the covid challenge is crippling the country, warning things won't improve until the unvaccinated get their shots. >> many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million americans who are still not vaccinated, even though the vaccine is safe, effective, and free. >> reporter: and so, today, the president announced the most sweeping rules to date. all nine million federal and contract workers must be vaccinated, or face losing their jobs. private sector companies with over 100 employees must require vaccinations or weekly testing. that accounts for 80 million workers. businesses that don't com

cbs' weijia jiang is going to lead us off tonight from the white house. vening, weijia. >> reporter: good evening to you, norah. republican leaders are accusing president biden of bullying and coercion, and they promise to take steps to stop those new requirements from taking effect. but tonight, the president is not backing down, stressing that lives are at stake. tonight, new c.d.c. data reveals how deadly the delta variant can be as cases soar across the country. >> those who are unvaccinated were about four and a half times more likely to get covid-19, over 10 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 11 times more likely to die from the disease. >> reporter: at a middle school in washington, d.c., president biden urged young people to get their shots. >> that's it, simple, plain, straightforward-- get them vaccinated. >> reporter: the push came just one day after the president rolled out the toughest federal vaccine mandates to date, including a new rule that employers with at least 100 employees must require workers to get their shots or get tested e

norah. >> o'donnell: weijia jiang, thank you. is news about covid boosters for millions of americans who got moderna shots. the f.d.a. is reportedly leaning towards authorizing half doses for those third moderna shots. in another big development, youtube says it is banning users who spread vaccine misinformation, and that include anti-vaccine activist robert f. kennedy jr. but tonight, our reporting on the pandemic takes us to an overrun hospital in montana, where cbs' marga cbs' meg olivee access. >> what we're seeing right now say they% of the covid patients we have are unvaccinated. >> reporter: in billings, montana, emergency room doctor jaimee belsky can barely keep up with the surge of new covid patients. have you run out of beds? >> so we are, we're getting short on beds. we're running out of beds, took frank with you. >> reporter: here in billings clinic, the largest hospital in the state, the i.c.u. is running at 150% capacity with younger and sicker patients admitted daily. the national guard is on hand to help care for

cbs' weijia jiang joins us now from the white house. good evening, weijia. so what are we learning? what's new in this plan? >> reporter: well, good evening, norah. white house officials say what's new is a target on private- sector businesses and schools that could require new mandates for vaccines and making testing more accessible. he'll also announce measures to ensure that kids are adequately protected in the classrooms, and there will be new safety guidelines, depending on whether you are vaccinated or not. cbs news has also learned that the president will raise the issue of covid vaccines on a global scale with other world leaders when they meet at the united nations general assembly later this month. >> o'donnell: yeah, i mean, you see that the president's approval rating is falling. he staked his presidency on trying to contain this pandemic. is that why we're hearing from him now? >> reporter: the white house certainly knows this is a pivotal moment because those ratings fell for the first time on his handling of the pandemic since he took office. this week also marks back

i'm weijia jiang. texas now has the strictest anti-abortion law in the country.ure after the sixth week of pregnancy and provides a $10,000 incentive to the public to police abortion. last week in a 5-4 decision, the u.s. supreme court declined to block that law from taking affect, and now lawmakers in at least six states are considering enacting similar laws. texas congresswoman veronica escobar condemned the supreme court's decision. she joins us now from el paso, texas. good morning, congresswoman. >> good morning, a pleasure to be with you. >> jiang: it is great to have you. you called the new law one of the most draconian state laws to date.

the president repeated his side of the story in a defiant address to the nation yesterday and as weijia jiang reports, mr. biden said this was the right time to end america's longest war. > i was not going to extend this forever war and i was not extending a forever exit. >> reporter: president biden praised the u.s. military for its final mission in afghanistan, calling the airlift of more than 120,000 people an extraordinary success. but more than 100 u.s. citizens are still trying to evacuate, even though the president made this promise two weeks ago. >> if there's american citizens left, we're going to stay until we get them all out. >> reporter: administration officials said since then, growing threats in kabul from isis-k changed the timeline, pointing to a suicide bombing that killed 13 service members last week. president biden also said his decision to leave afghanistan serves another purpose. >> this decision about afghanistan is not just about afghanistan. it's about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries. >> reporter: that declaration helps to define