consumer confidence rises as president biden declares christmas shipping problems solved. >> we're also working to un- stick bottlenecks between the ports and the stores. >> yuccas: day three and still no verdict. the jury remains out in the manslaughter trial of a former minnesota police officer. the capitol riot investigation: why the house select committee wants to speak to a republican congressman who is a top ally of former president trump. the war on cancer: how close are we to a vaccine for breast cancer? and a new york school teaches lessons in kindness, both inside and outside the classroom. ♪ ♪ ♪ this is the "cbs evening news" with norah o'donnell reporting from the nation's capital. >> yuccas: good evening, to our viewers in the west, and thank you for joining us. i'm jamie yuccas in for norah o'donnell. we begin tonight with a major milestone in the fight against covid. the f.d.a. has authorized the first anti-viral pill to treat the virus, though the white house warns it will not be widely available for months. the milestone comes as u.s. cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are all rising. and now, health officials are warning of a possible tsunami of new infections from the omicron variant that could overwhelm hospitals. the variant has been found in all 50 states, as well as washington, d.c. and puerto rico. and think about this: it has only been 22 days since the first case of omicron was detected in the u.s. covid has shut down professional sporting events, broadway shows, and concert venues. now a major college bowl game is in jeopardy, following an outbreak among players. all this as millions of americans crowd airports and plan christmas gatherings, which could cause the next big surge. we have lots to get to tonight, and cbs' nancy chen starts us off in new york city. good evening, nancy. >> reporter: jamie, good evening to you. here in new york, average new daily covid cases are up nearly 500% in just three weeks. the demand for testing is so great, that city m.d., a major health provider, has temporarily closed nearly 20 locations because of staffing issues. pfizer's covid pill is the first at-home treatment for coronavirus and it's a promising one. it's aimed for those who are at risk and shown to be nearly 90% effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths if taken within five days of experiencing symptoms. >> as quickly as pfizer gets the pills manufactured and delivered, we will immediately provide them to states and jurisdictions for distribution. >> reporter: but there are also snags as two of the most common monoclonal antibodies treatments that doctors have depended on are unlikely to be effective against omicron. israel is now trying to get ahead of the omicron surge by approving a fourth vaccine dose for those over 60. but even as the biden administration promises to send out 500 million at-home testing kits, it's not soon enough, with amount people can buy. there were long lines today outside libraries in the nation's capital for take home tests. washington, d.c., is also implementing proof of vaccination requirements for indoor venues, like restaurants and bars. california is mandating boosters for all healthcare workers. this as the omicron variant continues to rise exponentially. the dramatic increase of omicron in just the past week is seen here, not only taking over as the dominant strain but creating a surge engulfing the entire northeast, midwest, and much of the southwest. it's also leading to more holiday chaos. florida's gator bowl is the first major new year's bowl game in jeopardy as texas a&m dropped out because of a covid outbreak. still up in the air, new york city's ball drop. >> i'm going to encourage everybody to be smart. this is an outdoor event. it is something i don't see a reason why it couldn't go on. >> reporter: for those on the front lines, new dread. what is the fear of what could happen? >> it's really the unknown. we are in a perfect storm. >> reporter: mary ellen kochis- rouillard is the chief nursing officer at michigan's beaumont dearborn hospital, where the i.c.u.'s capacity remains at 98% and the u.s. military has deployed a team to help with staffing. >> to be here now, it really gets us down. i think if we can get more people vaccinated and with their boosters, that that will help us get through this surge, as well as any future surges that come. >> reporter: and the first federal emergency covid testing site opened today in new york city. meantime, some good news from overseas. in south africa, where the variant was first detected about a month ago cases are now starting to drop very quickly. but, jamie, it's still too soon to tell if that will happen here. >> yuccas: despite the surge in covid cases more than 100 million americans are hitting the roads and crowding airports at near-pre-pandemic levels. cbs' mark strassmann reports from a busy hartsfield-jackson international airport in atlanta. >> reporter: bundling up with p.p.e. for the holidays. it's beginning to look a lot like our first covid christmas everywhere you go. >> i'm wearing two masks, because even though i'm vaccinated, that doesn't mean i can't get covid. >> reporter: an estimated 110 million people will travel this holiday season, nearly 30 million more than last year's season. a.a.a. says traveling is almost at 2019 pre-pandemic levels. >> without a doubt, people have more confidence with the vaccines and the boosters. >> reporter: six million will fly, many of them skittish, packing their omicron trepidation with their toiletries. >> we also have hepa filters on our airplane, which really keep the air quality a high quality. there are emergency room equivalent. >> reporter: maybe so, but the airline's top medical adviser warns with omicron's high transmissibility, airline passengers are two, even three times more likely to catch the virus than with delta. bt overall, the plane's cabin remains a low-risk environment. long lines of covid test takers include the holiday's hosting families. >> family coming in from california. we're all vaccinated, but we just want to be double safe. >> reporter: most travelers, roughly 100 million people, will drive at least 50 miles. nationally, average gas prices run high-- $3.29 a gallon, more than $1 above last year, the hghest holiday price at the pump since 2008. despite paying up to gas up, and whatever the viral risk, one theory for this surge in holiday travel: >> people being cooped up for a year and a half. they need to see family and friends. >> reporter: atlanta's airport, america's busiest, will process thousands of passengers heading to the most popular holiday destinations -- theme parks, vegas, hawaii. it's also one of five u.s. airports that for international travelers will offer onsite, optional covid testing as soon as they land in this country. jamie. >> yuccas: mark, thank you. the other big concern tonight heading into the holidays, the weather. let's check in with cbs' lonnie quinn for the forecast. good evening, lonnie. >> reporter: good evening, jamie. right now, the biggest storm that we're watching is out west. it's right around the san francisco bay area. so let's take a peek here at the radar picture, because by the time we get into the night time hours tonight, into your day tomorrow, san francisco could get a couple of inches of rain. that storm will then migrate down to the south. los angeles, for tomorrow, into friday, picks up maybe one to two inches of rain. and christmas eve into christmas day, phoenix is just getting pounded with rain, but all the while, it's heavy snow. the sierra picks up-- you ready for this-- 10 to 12 feet of snow by the time you get to christmas day and maybe the day after. but elsewhere, it is so far from a white christmas. it is, as you were talking about, the warmest christmas ever for some spots out there. dallas will reach 83, with a record. houston hits 85, also a record. ashville, north carolina, 68. louisville, 69. those are all record high temperatures for christmas day, and those numbers are running 20 to even 30 degrees above average for this time of the year. so, again, some folks do get a very white christmas, others it's very far from that. jamie, it's all yours. >> yuccas: yeah, 10 feet of snow and 80s? america's economic forecast looks a little brighter tonight. u.s. consumer confidence is at its highest level since july with more people planning to make a big purchase or go on vacation in the next six months. and there's some relief tonight for americans with student loans. cbs' major garrett is at the white house. major, the white house gave an update on the supply chain bottleneck ahead of the holidays. what you can tell us about that. >> reporter: it sure did. good evening to you, jamie. white house said today-- and this is a direct quote-- said it had saved christmas. empty or nearly empty shore shelves haven't. americans should have no trouble finding whatever they need for the holidays. store shelves are at 90% capacity and americans should have no trouble finding whatever they need for the holidays. yet, inflation persists, and the omicron variant, at some level, is stalking the u.s. economy, so the administration said today it was giving some 40 million borrowers a bit of a break, extending for 90 days a long- running pause in student alone repayments. that pause, jamie, will now continue until may 1. >> yuccas: major i want to ask you about an update on the president's scare with covid last week. what you can tell us? >> reporter: we have two important negative tests at the top of the administration. president biden tested negative as did vice president harris. this is important because on friday, president biden was in the presence of an aide who tested positive, and on tuesday, vice president harris was in the presence of someone who later tested positive. their negative tests though, have reassured everyone here at the white house. >> yuccas: that's good news. major, thank you. the congressional investigation into the deadly assault on the u.s. capitol is entering a new phase, with lawmakers looking to question fellow members of congress. we learned today the committee wants to speak with republican jim jordan of ohio about his communications with president trump on january 6. and the efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election. tonight, a u.s. congresswoman is a victim of the surging crime that's being seen in so many cities. representative mary gay scanlon was carjacked at gunpoint by two men at f.d.r. park in philadelphia. she was not hurt. the robbers, though, took off with her 2017 acura, her personal and government cell phones, her purse, and i.d. philadelphia has recorded more than 500 homicides this year. tonight, still no verdict in the trial of the former minnesota police officer who shot and killed a young black man after reaching for her gun instead of her taser. we get the latest from david schuman of our cbs minneapolis station wcco. >> reporter: the jury in the trial of excop kim potter pushed through a third day of deliberations after indicating last night it could be deadlocked. potter's charged with two counts of manslaughter in the shooting death of 20-year-old duante wright. the former minnesota police officer claims she mistakenly fired her gun, thinking it was her taser, during a traffic stop in april. >> i just shot him! i grabbed the wrong gun! ( bleep ). i shot him! oh, my god! >> reporter: the prosecution argued potter, a 26-year veteran, acted recklessly when she killed wright. >> this was no little "oopsy." this was a colossal screw-up. a blunder of epic proportions. >> reporter: on the stand last week, potter broke down when asked why she didn't help wright after the shooting. >> you didn't run down the street and try to save duante wright's life, did you? >> no. >> you were focused on what you had done because you had just killed somebody. >> i'm sorry it happened. >> reporter: the jury has asked the judge what they should do if they're unable to agree on a verdict. legal analyst joe tamburino says if there is a mistrial, potter could be tried again. >> now, that new trial would not happen next month. there could be a whole host of motions and things that would happen from now until then. but she could be tried again. >> reporter: tamburino says the judge will only declare a mistrial if the jury says it cannot reach an agreement, even with more time. deliberations are coming up now on 24 total hours. jamie. >> yuccas: david, thank you. tonight, we continue our special series on the war on cancer 50 years. cbs' dr. tara narula looks at the holy grail of cancer treatments-- a vaccine for breast cancer. >> it's like finding a needle in a haystack. >> it was a matter of... tenacity. >> reporter: the protein that could be the key to a vaccine that would prevent the most deadly and aggressive type of breast cancer known as triple negativ. the vaccine works by jump starting the immune system and attacking any tumors thating anh contain a specific protein that should not be present unless a woman is lactating. >> once we've established that we can produce an immune response, we want to rapidly move it earlier to the disease process, again, to the prevention setting where we think it will have an even greater impact. >> reporter: dr. vince touhy and dr. thomas budd are leading a trial still in the early stages. if successful, the vaccine would be given to young healthy women at higher risk for triple negative breast cancer. how is this different from anything that we've seen before? >> it's prophylactic. we need a 21st century vaccine program to develop immune defenses and primary immune defenses against diseases we confront with age. >> reporter: these types of studies offer hope to women touched by cancer. when did that diagnosis happen for you? >> i was 35 years old. >> reporter: kristi blair was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer just four years after her own mother died from the disease. >> my mom was fighting it, and that was our daily life, and my aunt was diagnosed. i was diagnosed later, so it's part of our family now. no hot flashes. >> reporter: after her diagnosis, she participated in a vaccine trial at the university of washington. blair hopes that her four daughters will benefit from advances in science like these. >> it's tangible hope. you are participating in advancing the research that does ultimately affect patients in the future, and if not right now. >> reporter: a medical achievement unimaginable 50 years ago now a possibility. dr. tara narula, cbs news, new york. >> yuccas: incredible. still ahead, a young afghan girl missing in texas. the latest on that search. google is dethroned as the world's most popular web site. and what is inside a 134-year- and what is inside a 134-year- old time capsule? 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ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®. oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! you may pay as little as $25 for a 3-month prescription. finally getting there...is the best! but with febreze freshness in your car... ...driving there is pretty darn good too. enjoy 30 days of freshness with febreze car. ♪ la, la, la, la, la ♪ we love our new home. lots of windows, great light- but the birds. they're back. yes, i hear them. uh-oh. why are these birds so angry?! at least geico makes bundling our home and car insurance easy. we save a lot. i'm going...i'm going. aaaahh! hurry, hurry! i know, i know! for bundling made easy, go to geico.com. >> yuccas: across texas tonight, an intense search is under way for a three-year-old girl who disappeared monday from a playground at her parents' apartment complex in san antonio. the parents of lena khil thinks she was abducted. the islamic center of san antonio is offering thousands of dollars to help find lena and bring her home. >> you know, i was thinking as i was driving here, it is the season of giving. so i'm glad the islamic center has stepped up, and i hope other people do, too, and we all-- if we all pitch together, band together, hopefully we'll find her soon. >> yuccas: the girl and her family are refugees from afghanistan who came to the u.s. two years ago. if you watched a tiktok video this year, you helped the viral video web site become the most popular on the planet. according to the tech security company cloudfare, tiktok jumped from seventh place last year to number one in 2021, even topping the search giant google. in september alone, tiktok had 1 billion active users. in virginia today, workers carefully opened a 134-year-old time capsule found last week in the base of a statue of robert e. lee. the container, made of lead, held an 1875 almanac, two other books, and a silver coin. old newspaper articles suggested it might contain a rare photo of abraham lincoln in his grave, but that didn't turn up. up next, instead of snacks or soda, these vending machines dispense books, paid for with kindness. my hygienist cleans with a round head. so does my oral-b my hygienist personalizes my cleaning. so does my oral-b oral-b delivers the wow of a professional clean feel every day. >> yuccas: tonight, we have the story of an elementary school in harlem where reading, righting, and arithmetic are an elementary school in harlem, where reading, writing, and arithmatic are not the only subjects on the curriculum. cbs's meg oliver reports. >> good morning! >> reporter: at mosaic prep elementary in harlem, new york, getting pulled out of class is a good thing. five-year-old king ortiz knows he has done something special. >> what did you do to earn those coupons? >> i was being nice. >> reporter: 25 coupons scores you a shiny token for the vending machine. no chips or candy; only books fall. why did you want a book vending machine? >> during the pandemic, i noticed that people were reading less and less online. i saw in kansas and texas they had a book vending machine. i thought, you know what? i'm going to get that for my school. i started writing letters and begging people for support. >> reporter: when the vending machine arrived, what happened? >> the vending machine arrived, and it couldn't get through the door. >> reporter: she dug into her own >> reporter: the determinedlter. >> i principal dug into her own poket to retrofit the machine. 95% of students here are low income. a third live in shelters. >> i just really believe in making sure all of my scholars have books at home. >> reporter: how does it make you feel when you read a book? >> excited. >> reporter: what do you want to say to your principal? >> thank you. >> reporter: meg oliver, cbs news, new york. >> yuccas: big thank yous. always pays to be kind. we'll be right back. >> yuccas: just in time for christmas, cbs' steve hartman has the perfect gift for you. cbs news is now streaming a one- hour holiday special featuring the heartwarming and inspiring tales from his "on the road" series. you can find it all on our digital and streaming platforms. that's the "cbs evening news." for norah o'donnell, i'm jamie yuccas. why being fully vaccinated is no longer enough to get into certain businesses or work certain jobs. a must-have that is so hot. it doesn't have a chance to hit the shells before flying off. drizzle and light rain. heavier rain to the north will move in. >> a small plane ends up in pieces on the roof of a home. a major break in the murder of a security guard who died defending a local news crew. why the case is far from closed. the air is so thick, it is practically liquid. other areas are still dry. it is just hours until the rain returns. let's get to a check of what is on the radar and what is ahead. >> more rain on top of what we already picked up which in some spots have been more than one inch of rainfall. the rain began more than 24 hours ago. 1.5 inches for kentfield. most of us less than an inch. less than one quarter inch for san jose. you have seen a trace of rain in the last hour and more on the way. the bulk of the measurable rain is hung up in the santa cruz mountains. a few showers elsewhere. and have missed him drizzle. there is actual rain to the north. that will sweep through tonight into early tomorrow. it could