dr. anthony fauci. he answers the question, can a vaccinated grandparent hug their grandkids? andrew cuomo under fire. tonight the latest, as one woman's alleged assault is reported to the police. plus, dozens of fellow democrats demand the new york governor resign. prince william breaks his silence and responds to charges of racism, after oprah's interview with meghan and harry. weather extremes. spring-like temperatures in the east, as the west braces for snow. the former presidents unite. >> we urge you to get vaccinated when it is available to you. >> roll up your sleeve and do your part. >> this is our shot. >> o'donnell: their message for the nation. this is the "cbs evening news" with norah o'donnell, reporting from the nation's capital. >> o'donnell: good evening, to our viewers in the west and thank you for joining us. there have been few years in american history more consequential, more life changing that the one than began one year ago tonight. we began this broadcast that night with news that the world health organization had declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. well, then, fewer than 40 americans had been killed by the mysterious new virus that was spreading rapidly. and as we come on the air tonight, more than 530,000 people have lost their lives to covid-19 nationwide. few could have imagined the scope of the loss that we would suffer, or the depth of the pain we would feel. well, tonight things are slowly changing. a virus that once seemed only to spread is receding. vacc tonceeemed implausible are finally being administered. and businesses that once were closed are starting to reopen. and in just a few hours, in an address to the nation tonight, president biden announced he is ordering states to make all adults eligible for a vaccine by may 1st, and he touted the $1.9 trillion american rescue plan he signed earlier today. we have new details about just how soon you could see $1400 of that stimulus money in your bank account. and we'll talk to dr. anthony fauci about the long road ahead. cbs's jonathan vigliotti is standing by with a look at how drastically our lives have changed. first nancy cordes is going to lead off our coverage from the white house. >> reporter: president biden said tonight hebs he believes this new plan is realistic, that all states should make all adults available to get the vaccine by may 1st. >> biden: good evening, my fellow americans. >> reporter: speaking from the east room of the white house, president biden laid out what he called the next phase in a war-time vaccination efforts. >> biden: we're mobilizing thousands of vaccinators to put the vaccine in one's arm, calling active duty military, fema, retired doctors and nurses, administrators to administer the shots. >> reporter: he said the surge would require the deployment of 4,000 more active duty troops, bringing the total to more than 6,000. >> biden: we will launch, with or partners, new tools to make it easier for you to find the vaccine and where to get the shot. >> reporter: earlier today mr. biden signed the covid relief bill, authorizing $1.9 trillion in now spending, money that will go to schools, small businesses, restaurants, farmers, child care providers, transit systems, and more.ayment direct payments to roughly 150 million households will be transferred into some americans' bank accounts as early as this weekend. $1400 for most individuals. $5600 for a family of four. >> this is, of course, just the first wave of payments to eligible americans, which will continue throughout the course of the next several weeks. >> reporter: tonight the president urged americans to continue to wear masks and to get the shot when it is their turn. >> biden: i need every american to do their part. that is not hyperbole, i need you. >> reporter: four former president's are making that same case in a new set of p.s.a.s. >> i'm getting vaccinated because we want this virus to end as soon as possible. >> this is our shot. >> now it is up to you. >> reporter: tonight president biden argued that if everyone does their part, that life could get much closer to normal by july 4th, and that americans could even gather in small groups to >> o'donnell: some good news, nancy cordes, thank you. and at this point a year ago, scientists at the national institute of health were already working quickly toward developing one of america's first covid vaccines, which wouldn't be available until nine months later. but tonight, as we look back on a year of covid, we're seeing remarkable progress on the vaccine front. here's cbs's jonathan vigliotti. >> reporter: tonight, promising news from pfizer that could point to a way out of the pandemic. a study in israel showing the vaccine is 94% effective at blocking asymptomatic cases, extremely important in reducing the spread. and moderna says their testing booster shots to fight off variants. as vaccinations ramp up, so do re-openings. tonight, oklahoma becoming at least the third state in recent days to lift all restrictions. >> oklahoma, we are on track to get our summer back. >> reporter: but this coming in the shadow of sobering news-- a source confirming to cbs that a new report expected from the c.d.c. will show the u.s. death rate rose by 15% in 2020, officially making last year the deadliest in recorded history. one year ago the pandemic paralyzed america. sports arenas emptied. >> tonight's game has been postponed. >> reporter: seasons cut short. the normally bustling times square silenced, along with streets nationwide. the economy brought to a standstill. but covid's most devastating impact first hit us here, outside the life care nursing home near seattle, washington. each body bag, an insidious prediction of the losses to come. 28% of residents here died. families growing desperate. >> they're being held hostage in a petri dish. >> reporter: those who lost loved ones at nursing homes told it was too dangerous to say good-bye. people like sally merit-braciak whose bother died. whose mother died. >> i want to take their hand and tell her that it is okay to go, and i will miss you every day more and more. >> reporter: it breaks my heart that you never got to tell your mom that. >> mine too. >> reporter: last march dr. deborah birx made this stunning statement: >> we have great concern between 80,000 and 160,000, maybe even potentially 200,000 people succumbing to this. that is with mitigation. >> reporter: but it was about to get much worse. >> i don't think we expected that a year later, half a million americans would be dead. >> reporter: dr. ashish jha said the u.s. had stumbled on the road to recovery but now. >> i do believe that the worst is behind us. >> reporter: why do you feel so confident saying that? >> the ticket out of this pandemic are these vaccines. they are extraordinary, then the pandemic comes to an end. we can have barbecues outside, get together with our families, we can hug each other, do all the things that really matter to us if we can get vaccines into people's arms. >> reporter: california has given 15 million doses at sites like this one, the most out of any state, and alaska is the first in the country to give shots to anyone over 16. doctors say we are reaching a turning point, norah. >> o'donnell: jonathan vigliotti, thank you. joining us now is dr. anthony fauci, president biden's chief medical advisor and the nation's top infectious disease doctor. dr. fauci, thank you for joining us. >> thank you, norah, thank you. >> o'donnell: you look at the national numbers, the u.s. is seeing about 60,000 new cases on average, nearly 1,500 deaths a day. are you satisfied with where we are right now? >> oh, absolutely not. we have to keep up the public health measures. that is unacceptably high. that is risky for triggering another surge. now we have something very much in our favor now, because we have vaccinations. it has to go way down, well below-- i would say, my estimation would be clearly below 10,000 per day. >> o'donnell: you're very plain- spoken, and people are confused about some of the guidance that came out this week. nursing homes, visits now allowed even by people who haven't been vaccinated? does that make sense? >> you know, the reason is, if we get too strict about it and say something like "everybody needs to be vaccinated," by the time that happens, i think there would be a lot of people who emotionally would suffer from not seeing loved ones. is not as if they are saying "don't get vaccinated." what they are saying is, as long as-- as you-- you wear a mask and do the other things of the public health measures. but i think it is showing a quite reasonable and welcome degree of flexibility that in the long run is going to be for the overall health of the people in the nursing home. >> o'donnell: my parents are vaccinated. is it safe for their grandkids to hug them? >> the answer is yes, if your grandchildren, which i know are, are healthy. if the grandchildren are healthy. because i have seen them, they are healthy. and the thing is, if you have a situation where even you or your children do not have an underlying condition that would make you at severe risk of getting an adverse outcome of your illness, then your mother-- i.e., their grandmother-- can come and hug them if she is vaccinated. >> o'donnell: do you have any early indications of how children are reacting to a covid vaccine? >> thus far, not enough information for me to make a statement. but given the kinds of things we've seen with the adults, i would think that by the time we get through with the testing, we don't project that there is going to be any issues. >> o'donnell: hindsight is 2020. what is something you wish that you knew on march 11, 2020? >> by the time we got to march, we started to see things that we didn't fully appreciate early on. namely, how extraordinarily capable this virus is of spreading from person to person. if we had known that fully early on, there very likely would have been differences in how we approached it. >> o'donnell: thank you for all your guidance this past year. and, it is greatly appreciated. >> thank you for having me, norah, i appreciate it. >> o'donnell: and we're going to turn now to breaking news tonight on the sexual harassment allegation against new york governor andrew cuomo. lawmakers have just launched an impeachment investigation. and it comes as a growing number of new york democrats are calling on cuomo to resign. here's cbs's jericka duncan. >> reporter: tonight the allegations by a sixth woman were referred to albany police by the governor's office itself because of a legal obligation to do so. police say they have not opened an investigation, but say what allegedly happened may rise to the level of a crime. more than 55 of the state's democratic lawmakers and the mayor of new york city want the governor out. >> it is disgusting to me. and he can no longer serve as governor. >> reporter: a person who the "albany times union" said has knowledge of the latest claim told the paper a female aide to cuomo alleges he summoned her to the executive mansion, to help him with a technical issue involving his mobile phone. the article goes on to say the governor aggressively groped her late last year by reaching under her blouse and fondling her. governor cuomo responded to the new allegations, saying "i have never done anything like this. the details are gut-wrenching." last week, another former cuomo aide charlotte bennett detailed her sexual harassment allegation against cuomo in an exclusive interview with norah. >> he asked me a few questions about how do you use his iphone, and sends me back to wait. and then he finally calls me in and asks if i found him a girlfriend yet. >> reporter: governor cuomo says he is confident in the investigation lead by the state's attorney general's office. tonight, we learn that investigators for the a.g. have set up a new website where anyone can submit information about the governor. norah. >> o'donnell: jericka duncan, thank you. tonight, we are hearing from a family in new jersey who, in the early weeks of the outbreak, lost five loved ones to covid. the virus spread quickly through their family after they gathered for a dinner. cbs's nikki battiste has their story in our series "pandemic: one year of covid." >> reporter: italian and catholic, grace fusco nourished her 11 children-- body and soul in freehold township, new jersey. >> do you want another is or is six enough? >> the only thing we're guilty of, is being a family we were tolls where weapons >> reporter: we talked to joe, tony, adrian and liz, one year after what would be their last family dinner. during the dinner, were you even thinking about the coronavirus? >> not a thought in any of our minds. >> unbeknownst to us, we were spreading this horrible disease, to us, in our family. >> reporter: the following week, grace fusco and six of her kids were in the hospital. >> and before you knew it, mom, carmine, vinie, they were all on a ventilator. >> reporter: it was seven days of heartache. first, their sister rita died at age 56. then five days later, big brother carmine's, 55, and their 73-year-old mother grace. the next day, another brother, vinny, died. he was 53. and a month later, they lost their aunt maria. >> you just can't replace them, in our lives. >> reporter: tony, now 55 was battling covid in the same hospital that week. >> and i was petrified of everything, because in my mind, i'm thinking i'm going to die, and we're all just going to die and they'll take our whole family. >> i can't believe, and i was like this is it, we're-- i'm next. >> i just remember pounding into my head, over and over to myself, you have got to wake up. you have to wake up. >> reporter: after 30 days, joe did wake up. >> i'm lucky. i'm lucky to be alive. >> reporter: there is no telling how many lives have been saved by the story of the fuscos and the amazing grace. >> her passing, in a way, helped the world immensely. they learned a lot from her and her children. >> but how i wish i could just see her making us lunch, i would just give my last breathe forr it. it. just to hug her one more time. >> reporter: nikki battiste, cbs news, freehold, new jersey. >> o'donnell: amazing grace. amazing mother. there is still much more news ahead here on tonight's "cbs evening news." what britain's prince william said about accusations of racism an record-breaking warmth in the east, but a major winter storm will impact tens of millions in the west. we'll show you where, when we come back. mi >> o'donnell: today, britain's prince william broke his silence on accusations of bigotry within the royal family made by his brother harry and meghan markle. >> have you spoken to your brother since the interview? >> no, i haven't spoken but i will do. >> can you just let me know, is the royal family a racist family, sir? >> we're very much not a racist family. >> o'donnell: queen elizabeth had said the allegations will be addressed privately. some female british lawmakers are expected to call for a public debate on how the british tabloids have reported on meghan. tens of millions shed their winter layers today and enjoy a spring-like temperature in the 60s and 70s in the northeast. several cities hit record highs, including 79 degrees here in washington, d.c. and 74 in philadelphia and boston. but this last weekend of winter is expected to bring deep snow across the rockies and northern plains, and powerful thunderstorms across the southern plains. and coming up in a moment, some reflections on what we've lost and what we have gained in this last year. >> o'donnell: one year ago, our world was turned upside down, but our perspective turned right side up. the things we took for granted, we won't take for granted again. a year ago began this year of loss. how much we missed hugging our parents and grandparents. how much we missed school and missed sports and work. our broadcast, that was produced in a new york control room, moved to a new york hotel room for the day. our broadcast center, like so many businesses-- shuttered. and thus began a year of learning and discovering what truly matters in life-- that we must celebrate our health care workers as heroes. that workers who harvest, produce, and deliver our food are the backbone of this country. that science saves lives. that inequality requires justice. but most of all, we learned that by missing human connection, hearts open to offer help. donating generously to those in need. because, this year, we also learned the most valuable of all lessons-- that kindness is everything. and we will be right back. >> o'donnell: tomorrow, steve hartman with the most unassuming grammy nominee you'll ever meet. and if you can't watch us live, set your dvr so you can watch us later. that is tonight's "cbs evening news." i'm norah o'donnell in the nation's capitol. see you tomorrow. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org right now 7:00, that new details about an elderly asian- american man who was viciously attacked. why wasn't the suspect behind bars despite his criminal past? we're live. >> this is not a new problem. >> we will continue to take steps necessary to fix a badly broken criminal justice system. and arrest just announced after this wild bay area uber. why another arrest is looming tonight. just minutes ago, new details released in an east bay police shooting. what the suspect was holding one officer opened fire. we ask why only 4% of the shots have been given to black residents at one of the bay area's biggest vaccination