what we're learning about how quickly al qaeda is rebuilding in afghanistan. ♪ baby, can't you see ♪ >> o'donnell: the judge rules that her father will no longer control her life. the breaking news. fuel crisis: short tempers and panic buying in the u.k. why isn't gas getting to the pumps? building explosion: multiple injuries in dallas after an apartment collapses. a step towards equality: the big announcement tonight from n.c.a.a. basketball. and, an american hero. the kansas priest who died in a prisoner of war camp 70 years ago comes home. tonight, the lives he saved. 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 so much for joining us. tonight, president biden is facing one crisis after another in a week that could prove critical for his presidency and his legacy. as we come on the air, we're a little bit more than 24 hours before a potential government shutdown, and if congress lets that happen, hundreds of thousands of federal employees could be furloughed, and millions of social security payments could be threatened. now, solving that could be easier than getting his two signature pieces of legislation passed-- the infrastructure bill and his social safety net program. the total price tag is in the trillions of dollars and mean new tax hikes, and it is a few fellow democrats who are standing in the way. the white house has gone into overdrive tonight to try to win last-minute support. multiple meetings have been held with senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema, who have balked at the enormous price tag. now, getting all this done this week could be a very tall order. cbs' kris van cleave is going to lead off our coverage tonight from the capitol, with that new information. kris, what is happening? good evening. >> reporter: norah, to call the path forward an "obstacle course" might be understating how complicated this could be. speaker nancy pelosi, after meeting with president biden tonight, said she's going to move forward with that infrastructure vote, even though it's not clear if there will be enough votes to pass it. republicans are pouncing, saying this is an example of democrats in disarray. >> we should never, ever let the government shut down. that's simply unacceptable. >> reporter: senate democrats are closing in on a deal tonight to fund the government through december 3 and avoid furloughing hundreds of thousands of workers and impacting critical federal agencies during a pandemic, a measure aimed at garnering bipartisan support tomorrow.nerg bipartisan sup >> democrats don't want to shut down the government. republicans don't want to shut down the government. >> reporter: and with the treasury running out of money to pay the government's bills, a possible economic default looms october 18 if congress does not raise the federal debt limit. >> this would literally be a default of stupidity by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle. >> reporter: tonight, the president is working the phones and twisting arms, hoping to save his legislative agenda ahead of next year's midterm elections. >> we're obviously at a precarious and important time in these discussions. >> reporter: progressives are promising to sink mr. biden's key infrastructure bill tomorrow in the house, if there's no deal on their priority: his massive $3.5 trillion social spending bill. standing in the way are two senate democrats, arizona's kyrsten sinema and west virginia's joe manchin, whom the president has negotiated with numerous times in recent days. >> i'm looking forward to having good negotiations in a good-faith manner, okay. >> reporter: and tonight, senator manchin is doubling down, calling the plan to spend trillions of dollars "fiscal insanity." he says he is open to good-faith negotiations, but he's making it clear there will not be an agreement before that infrastructure vote tomorrow. norah. >> o'donnell: kris van cleave, thank you. and we should note that $450 billion of that larger spending bill being debated on capitol hill aims to lower the cost of child care and increase access. that is an important issue to parents nationwide. a new treasury report calls the current system "unworkable." cbs' chief white house correspondent nancy cordes reports tonight on the rising cost of child care. >> reporter: heidi ford of jackonsville, florida intended to go back to event planning full time after having her daughter, willow. but then, she discovered that dt even par even part-time child care would cost nearly as much as her rent. >> all of the women that i work very closely with are all moms, and so they're struggling with the exact same thing. >> reporter: nationwide, the average cost of care per child is $10,000 a year. in 32 states, infant care is more expensive than in-state college tuition. >> the system's shattered. >> reporter: lynette fraga is the c.e.o. of child care aware, which advocates for affordable care. she calls the $3.5 trillion bill that's consuming congress thisll that's consuming con week "historic." what does this bill do to bring down the cost of child care? >> so, it provides opportunities for families not to pay more than they can afford. >> reporter: for starters, the bill would subsidize care, so most families of young children would spend no more than 7% of their income on it. the bill would also fund universal pre-k. for three- and four-year-olds, and boost wages for the early childhood workforce. the average pay right now? $12.24 an hour. >> we're professionals. we have degrees. >> reporter: jody lamberti co-owns a daycare in columbia, maryland. >> we work 50 hours a week taking care of the children, so that everybody else can go to work. >> reporter: but overhauling an industry isn't cheap. republicans say the bill adds too much to the debt, so the president needs every democrat to get on board. the outcome could impact tens of millions of parents. >> i don't think that there should be anything debatable about that. they need to make the decisions to get this passed so that we can work. >> o'donnell: and nancy cordes joins us now. all right, so what happened to that mom that you talked to, heidi ford? what's she going to do? >> reporter: well, she says for now she's working part-time. but that even if she could afford full-time day care, she says she's on the wait list. wait list, and that is a problem so many parents are and that is a problem that so many parents are facing. they say even if they had the money, they can't find a suitable space for their child. a third of parents say that. >> o'donnell: so much of that happened because 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 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 phone calls to china after the insurrection at the capitol on january 6. milley reassured beijing that the u.s. was not going to attack, amid concerns that former president trump would engage in erratic behavior.age n erratic bifer. >> will you >> will you now resign? >> i serve at the pleasure of the president. >> reporter: wyoming congresswoman liz cheney, also a republican, rushed to milley's defense. >> i want to apology for those members of this committee who have done so, and i want to thank you for standing in the breach, when so many, including many in this room, failed to do so. >> reporter: the white house said president biden's view of milley has not changed. >> i would say, first, he absolutely has confidence in chairman milley. >> reporter: as for milley's assessment of al qaeda, tonight, white house officials tell cbs news they acknowledge that terrorists are looking for new spaces to grow and regenerate. but they insist that the u.s. has significantly more counter-terrorism capabilities and sophisticated tools than it did before 9/11 to respond to those threats. norah. >> o'donnell: all right, weijia jiang, thank you. and there is news tonight 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 now banning users who spread vaccine misinformation, and that includes anti-vaccine activist robert kennedy jr. but tonight, our reporting on the pandemic takes us to an overrun hospital in montana, where cbs' meg oliver got rare access. >> reporter: so, what's the problem, why are you seeing another surge? >> what we're seeing right now is 80% of the covid patients we have are unvaccinated. >> reporter: in billings, montana, emergency room dr. 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, to be 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 and screen new patients. >> people need to get vaccinated because right now, we're hurting. >> i struggled with it, being on a ventilator. >> reporter: 59-year-old frank miller was hospitalized with covid more than two weeks ago. the unvaccinated engineer spent more than a week on a ventilator. how scared were you? >> oh, i was scared out of my mind. >> reporter: you were scared out of your mind? what did you think was going to happen? >> because you don't know. you don't know what's happening. afterwards. i thought i'd come right out of it and i'd be okay. and all of a sudden, i couldn't move my hands. i couldn't feed myself. i couldn't feed mys >> reporter: in the past week, montana averaged about 108 covid patients in hospital i.c.u.s, breaking the record seen during the winter of 2020. have you reached your-- your breaking point yet? >> you have good days, you have bad days. i have days i have to call my college buddies and say, "hey, man, it's been a bad day. ( sighs ) we lost a tough patient last night." and, they're great about coming up and saying, "hey, what can we do?" >> reporter: the patient, frank, we spoke to here, regrets not getting the vaccine, and plans to do so. he still has a long road ahead of himself, including rehab, to learn how to walk again and to feed himself. norah. >> o'donnell: and this has put so much on our healthcare providers and doctors. meg oliver, thank you. there is breaking news in the britney spears case tonight. she's closer to winning herdend. spears is getting incredible support from her fans outside the l.a. courthouse. cbs' lilia luciano is covering the hein ( cheers and applause ) >> reporter: members of the "free britney" movement are rejoicing tonight-- their favorite pop star finally gets justice. a judge ruled today that britney's father, jamie spears, is suspended as conservator, effective immediately. a temporary replacement has been named to manage her financial affairs. jamie spears has had control over his daughter's financesis since 2008, and nearly every other aspect of her life. britney spears has told the court the conservatorship is abusive, that she's been traumatized, forced into a psychiatric program that cost her $60,000 a month, even psychiatri prevented from having a baby because she wasn't allowed to remove an i.u.d.. >> they openly talked about monitoring her. >> reporter: and now, more salacious allegations have surfaced in two new documentaries, including one by the "new york times" that claims jamie spears had surveillance devices secretly installed in his daughter's bedroom to record her coersations. meanwhile, a netflix documentary alleges early paperwork for the conservatorship cited dementia, which is highly unusual for someone that young. >> i think a lot of people in america suffer from mental health issues, and they're not put in a conservatorship. so, you really have to look at the motives. >> reporter: in her ruling, the judge said this outcome is in britney spears' best interest. and norah, this is exactly what britney wanted. the replacement for her father was hand-picked by her team. >> o'donnell: lilia luciano, thank you. well, tonight, we're hearing for the first time from one of r. kelly's former girlfriends, who testified against the singer at his sex trafficking trial. the defense team said kelly was surprised by his conviction, but azriel clary told cbs' gayle king, he shouldn't have been. >> i know that he knows that he is guilty. people told him. people tried to warn him. people tried to help him. he didn't care. he was selfish. he was greedy. he was a pedophile. and he never, not once, wanted to get help. >> reporter: you said people tried to warn him. what do you mean? how so? >> meaning, like, assistants. they would tell him, you know, these people are minors. >> o'donnell: well, there's more of gayle's interview with azriel clary tomorrow on "cbs mornings." turning overseas, tonight, britain's economy is in danger of grinding to a halt because of a serious gasoline crisis. that's right, the military is now on standby to help deliver fuel to empty pumps. cbs' holly williams on what is causing it. >> reporter: the british government insists there's no fuel shortage in this country, but gas stations are running dry, panic buying has set in, and tempers are flaring. ( yelling ) >> all the doctors, all the nurses, all the teachers-- they all rely on fuel. >> reporter: the real problem is ruck drivers, a shortage of around 100,000 of them, affecting the supply chain of everything from fuel to groceries. experts say it's a perfect storm. since the u.k. left the european union-- known as brexit-- it's been harder for many foreign workers to come here. the pandemic encouraged others to return to their home their hm countries, and left a backlog of trucking license applications. the government's issuing 5,000 temporary visas for truck drivers, but it's too little, too late, according to steve taylor, who owns one of britain's biggest berry suppliers. >> the worst-case scenario is we can't deliver it to our customers. >> reporter: he told us he's already lost nearly 10% of this year's crop because of brexit. many of his seasonal staff from eastern europe can no longer work here. >> that's just rubbish now. >> reporter: it's died on the vine-- >> yes. >> reporter: --before you could get to it and pick it. >> yes, through lack of pickers. >> r >> reporter: the politicians who campaigned for brexit promised more control over immigration, not long lines for gas. but with no end in sight, some business leaders are predicting shortages through the holiday season. norah. >> o'donnell: holly williams, thank you. and there is still much more news ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news." firefighters and victims are rushed to the hospital after a a devastating gas explosion. and, march madness just got more inclusive. what this means for female athletes. ale athletes. check it out! pressure created by what's in your air makes the bottle spray. which means freshness everyone will love. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ since suzie's got goals, she'll want a plan to reach them. so she'll get some help from fidelity, and she'll feel so good about her plan, she can focus on living it. that's the planning effect, from fidelity. hi, i'm steve and i live in austin, texas. i work as a personal assistant to the owner of a large manufacturing firm. i've got anywhere from 10 to 50 projects going at any given time. i absolutely have to be sharp. let me tell ya, i was struggling with my memory. it was going downhill. my friend recommended that i try prevagen and over time, it made a very significant difference in my memory and in my cognitive ability. i started to feel a much better sense of well-being. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. >> o'donnell: in dallas tonight, seven people are hurt, including three firefighters who were critically injured when a natural gas explosion partly destroyed an apartment building. firefighters were investigating a gas leak when the building went up. some other big headlines tonight-- dollar tree is breaking the buck. the store where nearly everything sells for $1 is now raising prices by up to 50 cents on some items to cover rising costs. but, i don't think the name dollar-fifty tree has the same ring to it. just sayin'. all right, and march madness is expanding. the phrase has been used to market the n.c.a.a.'s men's basketball tournament for decades. well, now, it will be used for the women's tournament as well, starting-- yes-- this season. another step towards gender equality for those players. all right, coming up next, homecoming for an american hero. some say he performed miracles on the battlefield. acles on the battlefield. oh! you're doing it wrong, man! what's wrong with action figures? nothing, except buying them without capital one shopping. what's that? samuel... mr. l... jackson. capital one shopping instantly searches for available coupon codes and automatically applies them. just download it to your computer. whoa! you're my hero. yeah... i can tell. you like it? i look good in miniature. capital one shopping... it's kinda genious. 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