the u.s. nearly doubles the number of flights deporting haitians. but cbs news has learned, more than 1,000 migrants have been released into the u.s. camp conditions in texas continue to deteriorate, as tempers flare in haiti as some of the deported migrants tried to rush back into the plane. plus, the steel barrier of s.u.v.s set up by the texas governor. >> reporter: the point is to build a wall of vehicles to prevent anyone from slipping into the u.s. >> o'donnell: manhunt intensifies: a dive team joins the search for brian laundrie. plus, how gabby petito's death has put a spotlight on the 90,000 people still missing in america. college protests: why hundreds of students are rallying at some of the nation's largest universities. bus stop shooting: what happened as kids waited for their school bus this morning in louisville. and, baking up brighter futures. the secret ingredients, new skills, and confidence. our sweet story, tonight. ♪ ♪ ♪ this is the "cbs evening news" withnorah o'donnell, reporting from the nation's capital. >> o'donnell: good evening captioning sponsored by cbs and thank you so much for joining us. we're going to begin with breaking news in the covid pandemic. tonight the f.d.a. is authorizing a wider use of pfizer's booster vaccine. a c.d.c. advisory committee could vos on the use of a third shot of the vaccine on thursday. the biden administration has been pushing for the third shot to be authorized for the general population. but the world health organization has strongly objected to giving a third shot when poor countries don't have enough vaccine for their first. and there is a starting figure tonight: the u.s. is again seeing more than 2,000 americans die from covid every day. cbs's nancy chen leads off our coverage from new york city. >> reporter: tonight the f.d.a. has given the green light for a pfizer vaccine booster shot, but the authorized use is limited to people over the age of 65and those at high risk for severe illness, which an advisory committee had recommended lait week. meanwhile, president biden held a virtual summit with world leaders on ending the pandemic. he also made this pledge. >> biden: the united states is buying another half billion doses of pfizer to donate to low and middle income countries around the world. >> reporter: the delta variant appears to be peaking nationally. they say cases and deaths will steadily decline now and continue through march, without a significant winter surge. but in states like kentucky, conditions remain critical. in sight st. claire medical center, i.c.u. beds are full and the staff is overwhelmed. >> you can't ask nurses to take care of anymore people than they're taking care of. >> reporter: which is why the kentucky national guard has come to help out. for this sergeant, this is personal. >> it hits you a little harder when it is your home town. i personally know at least five people with covid that is in this hospital right now. >> reporter: in kentucky, 91% of those 65 and older have received at least one vaccine dose. among those 18 to 29, it is just 51%. many of the unvaccinated wind up here. 29-year--year-old samantha wendell never made it home. she thought it might affect our fertility, something for which there is no scientific evidence. >> it is traumatizing, know you would never get to see them or hug them again. >> reporter: wendell was engaged, and her funeral took place inside the same church where she was to be married. here in new york, a judge has lifted a temporary pause on the city's vaccine mandate, which means that all teachers and other school workersobs, n must be vaccinated by monday or lose their jobs, norah. >> o'donnell: i can't get over that, in the same church she was supposed to be married. nancy chen, thank you. we wanted to begin tonight with the worsening humanitarian crisis at the u.s. southern border, and some heartbreaking images that are coming out of a migrant camp under a bridge in the texas border town of del rio. look at this-- thousands of mostly haitian >> reporter: good evening, norah. tonight, we have learned the biden administration has issued a request for a private contractor to help possibly house up to an additional 400 migrants at guantanamo bay, cuba, seeking guards who speak haitian creole. tonight, mixed messages from the biden administration. cbs news has learned, more than 1,000 mostly haitian migrants have been allowed to entertain u.s. as part of the legal asylum process, undercutting the administration's hard-line stance that anyone arriving at the border will be immediately deported. >> many of the individuals who we encounter claim asylum, and have a right to have those asylum claims heard, as our laws provide. >> reporter: border patrol has not explained how it determines who is released and who is deported. those who are allowed to enter have notices to appear in immigration court within 60 days. tiffany borow, who runs a nonprofit in the city, says her office is helping hundreds of migrants a day who are released. i don't know if it's safe to say, that during your time at this specific part of the border, that you have never seen anything like this. >> no, no, no. we are a tiny, rural community. i mean, that's half the size of our town. >> reporter: texas governor greg abbott sent a fleet of state-owned vehicles as a symbolic barricade along the border. just outside the bridge camp, there are state troopers lined up as far as the eye can see, in either direction here. the point is to build up a wall of vehicles to prevent anyone from slipping into the u.s. inside the camp, conditions continue to deteriorate, as thousands await their fate. the u.s. is preparing to nearly double the number of haitians deported by air. more than 1,000 haitians have been deported since sunday. ( yelling ) tempers flared in port-au-prince as some of the deported migrants tried to rush back into the plane. back at the border, the anxiety over deportation is palpable. these teen girls left haiti with their family for south america when they were just babies. so you know no one in haiti. if they deport you, you'll be on the streets? >> si. >> reporter: officials say the number of migrants still at that bridge camp has dropped dramatically, from a height of about 15,000 to now just over 5,000. norah. >> o'donnell: manny bojorquez, thank you. well, tonight, the search for gabby petito's boyfriend is still focused on a vast nature preserve in florida. a preliminary autopsy found her death to be a homicide, and her boyfriend hasn't been seen in more than a week.r boyfriend hasn't been seen in cbs' jericka duncan reports, the case has brought new attention to the search for tens of thousands of other missing people. >> reporter: today, veteran dive teams were called in to search underatern th 24crrese th'r and boats, in addition to helicopters and drones. still, no sign of 23-year-old brian laundrie, who hasn't been seen since the 14th, according to his parents, and is a person of interest in the death of gabby petito. a newly-released witness statement from the day police pulled the couple over details the argument that led to this body cam footage. the witness says the two were fighting over petito's phone. laundrie was trying to keep her out of the van. in wyoming, the coroner's office says final autopsy results for petito will take another two to three weeks. signs that petito will not be forgotten include this memorial in florida, and ribbons tied around trees in her new york home town. the f.b.i. credited the online community for sharing valuable information and images to help lead authorities to the 22-year- old. but petito's disappearance and subsequent death have raised questions about other missing persons cases-- nearly 90,000 nationwide. >> first and foremost, my heart goes out to her family... >> reporter: derricka wilson is with the black and missing foundation. >> ...but you know, at the same time, there are gabby petitos in the black and brown community, and these families are desperate just to get their cases heard. missing persons isn't a black issue, it is not a white issue, it's an american issue, and we all have to come together to bring these missing people home. >> reporter: laundrie's parents appear to be holed up at their florida home-- not a lot of activity there today. tonight, petito's immediate family it is back on long island where she is from. and we're learning that many in that community plan to light candles from their home on friday in memory of gabby petito. norah. >> o'donnell: jericka duncan, thank you very much. tonight, we were intrigued by this story, because there are students at several universities that are demanding action, after reports of sexual assaults at fraternities. cbs' nikki battiste report onepus whe tempers are flaring. >> reporter: the anger and frustration has been mounting ever since an anonymous post alleging sexual assault at a fraternity house on the umass campus went viral last weekend, part of a reckoning of sexual violence within the university's party scene in amherst, massachusetts. today, nearly 100 students gathered inside this building to share their stories. >> don't lose your education over this! >> reporter: it comes on the heels of days of protest outside theta chi fraternity house, where the alleged sexual assault occurred-- a gathering that turned violent, with shattered windows and a flipped car. what is happening here on campus? >> ( sighs ) a lot of sexual assault. >> reporter: gala cares is now a junior, and says she was sexually assaulted at a different fraternity party when she was a freshman. she still lives with the trauma. >> he grabbed me, threw me against the wall, by grabbing my hair at the scalp, very hard, to the point where it hurt. but i do know that he was groping me. he was just grabbing at me like i was a thing and not a person. >> reporter: cares says she never reported the alleged incident because she didn't think she would be believed. >> we believe you! we believe you! >> reporter: there's been a groundswell of protests against sexual violence. last week, hundreds of students, from auburn university to kansas, held rallies to support all victims of sexual assault. brandi hephner labanc is the vice chancellor for student affairs at umass. >> our process actually relies on students to come forward, relies on the title ix office to look at situations and assure that we can hold them accountable to our student code of conduct. >> reporter: late this afternoon, the theta chi fraternity told cbs news in a statement, fraternity staff members continue to gather facts and currently are not aware of any formal complaints filed against the chapter or members. norah. >> o'donnell: all right, nikki battiste, thank you so much. well, tonight, president biden's approval rating has hit a new low. a gallup poll finds 43% of americans approve of the job he's doing, and 53% do not. only president trump had a lower approval rating at a similar point in his presidency. and tonight, some of mr. biden's most-ambitious plans are facing opposition. cbs' ed o'keefe is at the white house. so, ed, i just want to go through, because there were some big developments today. first, is the centerpiece of the president's ambitious legislative agenda now on life support? >> reporter: it very well could be, norah, which is why he held separate meetings today with members of his party who are feuding about the details. first, moderates, led by guys like west virginia's joe manchin, who are concerned about the size and scope of the proposed $3.5 trillion budget plan. then he met separately with progressives like bernie sanders, who want as big a deal as possible, to address big concerns like tackling climate change or affordable healthcare. but the president is eagerly trying to bring them together, given the slim margins his party faces in the house and senate. >> o'donnell: and then of course, the president's other top priority, ed, was police reform, in the wake of the george floyd murder. there had been some republicans that were willing to help out on that. why did that fall apart today? >> reporter: yeah, a major setback for him, because he had called for congress to get this done on the anniversary of george floyd's death back in may. democrats say republicans backed out of the talks, which were supported by police unions, over issues like greater federal control or oversight of police forces, republicans pushing instead to allow local officials to keep an eye on police forces. the president said he'll continue working with congressional democrats on the issue, and may take new executive action. norah. >> o'donnell: all right, ed o'keefe, thanks so much. we want to turn now to the alarming surge in covid cases among pregnant women. just last month, a pandemic record of at least 20 expectant moms died from covid in the u.s. and over the summer, about 1,000 per week were testing positive. the c.d.c. recently updated its guidance, officially recommending that pregnant women should get vaccinated. cbs' mireya villarreal reports now on covid's tragic toll on one family. >> reporter: nine years after austin and bianca carrington met, the two were married in the backyard of their arlington, texas, home, and were overjoyed when their son hollis was born. >> i pretty much dedicated my life towards making her happy. >> reporter: at 29, bianca was pregnant with their second child when she got sick with covid in july. austin had just gotten vaccinated, but she was waiting. >> her ob/gyn said, yeah, it's safe, but we still wanted to find out and get even more verification. >> reporter: within days of being admitted into the hospital, bianca was intubated, miscarried, and then put on life support. >> the last time she was conscious, she wasn't able to speak. she just took my hands and... put them on her belly... and, i just-- ( clears throat ) i just said, "yeah, i know. i know, i heard." >> reporter: soon after losing their baby, austin lost his wife. >> it's not supposed to be this way. >> reporter: dr. rachel morris is a high-risk ob/gyn at the university of mississippi medical center. >> i have never in my career been this afraid for the patients i care for. >> reporter: in less than four weeks, her hospital lost five pregnant women, all of them unvaccinated. new data shows an increased risk of severe complications and death for pregnant women, and only about 30% have been fully vaccinated prior to, or during pregnancy. >> you know, i'm glad for the mask. they can't see the tears in my eyes, the fear in my own face. because i know, when they get intubated, that they're probably not going to make it off the ventilator, but that we're going to do everything we can. >> reporter: now, austin is left to raise 15-month-old hollis alone. >> i thought we were playing it safe by not getting the vaccine, because of the baby. and... now, it turns out, getting the vaccine would have been the safe bet. >> reporter: mireya villarreal, cbs news, arlington, texas. >> o'donnell: this is so heartbreaking. i wish people would listen to their doctors that are trying to help. we also learned from a study today that vaccinated pregnant women actually pass protection from covid on to their babies. so it's worth getting the vaccine early. and there is still much more news ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news." high school students shot as they wait for their school bus. also, just how many americans say they're drinking heavily to cope with the pandemic. and, the "sex and the city" ladies remember a beloved cast member. -absolutely. -there you go. that way, [whistles] let's put away the parking talk, maybe, for a minute. parking is where the money is, though. can you imagine what this place pulls in on parking alone? 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