to fire on protesters without warning, while calling on moscow to restore order. in a historic first, a u.s. navy aircraft carrier deploys under the command of a female captain. >> there is no greater honor than taking over the responsibility for this incredible crew. >> sargent: and later, two communities far apart look for common ground in a divided nation. >> this is one opportunity to actually bring people together. >> this is the "cbs weekend news." >> sargent: good evening. i'm irika sargent in chicago. adriana diaz is off. the highly contagious omicron variant is smashing covid records and overwhelming hospitals and healthcare staff from coast to coast. the number of americans currently hospitalized with the virus has reached its highest level in a year with providers reporting record surges and cases. new cases are averaging a staggering 648,000 each day. that's a 228% increase from two weeks ago. cbs' lilia luciano in los angeles leads us off tonight with the latest. lilia, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you, irika. omicron is placing a huge burden on the nation's healthcare system. here in california, at least 600 people are being admitted into hospitals every day, and it's showing no signs of slowing down. ( sirens ) some hospitals are turning away ambulances and running low on i.c.u. beds as they confront a breaking point, many filled with the unvaccinated, including young children. >> we're back where we started, where everybody is looking all over the country for beds. >> reporter: it's not just the crush of new patients. nationwide, one out of every four medical centers is now experiencing a critical staff shortage. hospitalizations, fueled by the omicron wave, are up 60% in the past week. dr. caroline goldzweig of cedars-sinai: >> we've been seeing just an incredible explosion of covid over the last few weeks, unfortunately. >> reporter: who are these patients? >> the patients who are dying from covid, by and large, are ones who are not vaccinated, and they're more likely to get that long covid. >> reporter: near chicago, brian dunleavy says his 83-year-old brother waited 17 hours in a hospital e.r. >> nobody asked him how he was. nobody asked him if he was hungry, nothing. he slept in a wheelchair. >> reporter: with omicron cases soaring nationwide, so is the stampede for covid tests, as cbs' michael george reports. >> reporter: here in new york, more than 11,000 people remain hospitalized and the demand for testing is still strong. the state just hit a new daily record of more than 90,000 new cases, leaving many new yorkers anxious. >> i think we're doing best we can. it's really hard. it kind of hit us by surprise. >> reporter: governor kathy hochul also announced the state is requiring healthcare workers to get boosted with no testing option. >> reporter: los angeles just hit a pandemic record of new daily covid cases, and now california is joining at least 23 other states in activating the national guard to help. many hospitals across the nation are canceling surgeries that are not emergencies. and starting today, new york hospitals, 40 in total, 40 total new york hospitals, are having to push nonessential procedures for at least two weeks. irika. >> sargent: lilia luciano in los angeles tonight, thank you. now here in chicago, a bitter standoff over covid safety concerns between chicago public schools and its teachers' union. after three days of canceled classes for one of the nation's largest school districts, tonight, no deal or even a timeline for students to get back to class. we turn to cbs' charlie de mar. >> reporter: two days after chicago public school students returned to the classroom after the holiday break, they were sent home. the teachers' union says it's not safe to be in class when covid cases are spiking to new highs. the rank and file voted to teach from home, but the city said no to remote learning and called off classes, leaving parents feeling left out in the cold. >> it's going to be hard for me with three kids in the house. so, you know, it only gets harder. you know, you have to stay with them all day. >> it's a scramble i think both logistically, as well as mentally. >> reporter: mayor lori lightfoot, who has repeatedly clashed with the teachers' union over covid policy, said the city won't buckle under what she calls an illegal work stoppage. >> we are going to fight to get our kids back to in-person learning. >> reporter: with only 33% of children ages 5-17 fully vaccinated, new pediatric cases are rising across the country. of the five largest school districts, only los angeles requires a negative test before coming to class. the others rely on social distancing and masking. and in new york, as cases and hospitalizations increase, the city's new mayor insisted the only option for the nat only option for the nation's largest school district is keeping kids in the classroom. >> this is beyond deja vu. >> reporter: in philadelphia, nearly half of the public schools were forced to go virtual because of staff shortages due to the virus. that's where maya mcgeathey's kids are back home and learning online. >> yes, it is very frustrating. but for their safety and their well-being, i will be glad to do it. >> reporter: with omicron cases soaring and no real end in sight, schools across the country are faced with tough decisions on classroom safety for both students and staff. irika. >> sargent: and thanks to you, charlie de mar. today in las vegas, two american presidents and other democratic leaders were among those gathered to commemorate former senate leader harry reid. president biden led those eulogizing the former senate majority leader who died december 28 at age 82. >> whether you served with harry for decades or you were new to america just a few days ago, you wanted harry in your corner. let there be no doubt: harry reid will be considered one of the greatest senate majority leaders in history. >> sargent: tonight, the president is headed back east. joining us from the white house, cbs' christina ruffini. christina, there's news tonight about officials meeting with russia next week and its military buildup near ukraine. >> reporter: that's right. ahead of those talks a senior u.s. official said today although some of the russian demands are nonstarters, like, for example, no new countries be admitted to nato, there are three key places where they think the u.s. and moscow might be able to do some negotiation. the first of those involves offensive missile systems in ukraine. russia has said american or nato placement of those types of systems in that country would be an act of aggression, but the white house said today it has no interest in doing that. the second involves medium-range missiles in europe. now, russia and the u.s. were until very recently in a treaty that banned both sides from having them, and the u.s. said it is willing to revive some sort of deal. the third is military exercises. the u.s. said if russia agrees to do the same, it would be willing to freeze sending ground forces or bombers on maneuver near each other's territory. of course, the white house reiterated today the number of u.s. troops in europe is not up for negotiation. irika. >> sargent: christina ruffini, thank you. the year has gotten off to a very bad start in khazakstan. it began with a sudden and steep increase in the cost of fuel, sparking deadly protests and an official "shoot to kill" order. cbs' imtiaz tyab has the details. >> reporter: this is a nation on the brink. what started earlier this week as a peaceful protest against a sudden hike in fuel prices rapidly escalated into a full- blown uprising. thousands of kazakhs filled the street of the capital, almaty, attacking government buildings and demanding an end to over three decades of oppressive one- party rule. state security forces fired stun grenades and tear gas to try to disperse the crowd, with the president, kassym-jomart tokayev, later appearing on state tv, to accuse demonstrators of being foreign- backed terrorists and ordered troops to "shoot to kill without warning." kazakh media have reported that at least 18 security personnel have been killed in the unrest,5 and around 25 demonstrators. but that number is likely much higher, with this woman saying, "it's really scary. we feel we have no protection." across the city and the still smoldering signs of unrest can be seen across the city center, as a russian-led alliance of former soviet nations mobilize thousands of troops at the request of the kazakh government. the crisis comes at a complex time for moscow. it's already sent tens of thousands of troops to multiple borders with ukraine in recent months, stoking fears it could soon invade. but the unrest in almaty could see russia drawn into an entirely different conflict, one not of its choosing. now, in a statement, the kremlin said president vladimir putin had a lengthy phone call with the president and gave him assurances the system was stabilizing. the question now is given all that happened, can it last? irika. >> sargent: imtiaz tyab, thank you. tonight the uss "abraham lincoln" leads a strike group on its way to the western pacific. the deployment is also historic. cbs news national security correspondent david martin explains why. >> reporter: it's always a majestic site when an aircraft carry sets out to see, but when the uss "abraham lincoln" left san diego this week, it was also an historic site. for the first time ever, a u.s. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was commanded by a woman, captain amy bauernschmidt. >> we have a ship of 4,000 sailors right now. average age is 21.8 years old. i want to get up each day and make sure they have all of the training and resources they need. >> captain, united states navy, arriving. >> reporter: she took command last august and is now bound for the western pacific at a time of rising tensions with china. it's a breakthrough for women in the military, a moment bauernschmidt has been preparing for since she graduated from the naval academy in 1994, the year congress repealed the law barring women from combat. >> that law absolutely changed my life. we were the first class that graduated knowing and feeling honored that the privilege to be able to go serve along the rest of our comrades in combat. >> reporter: bauernschmidt spoke with jan crawford of cbs news four years ago when she was serving as executive officer on the "lincoln," also a first. she rose through the ranks as a helicopter pilot, and now will command a ship that carries the navy's most-sophisticated jet fighters. >> there's a lot that goes into getting to this point in my career. i have spent about 27 and a half years in the navy. a lot of hard work has gone into it. >> reporter: in addition to the endless duties of running a warship three times longer than a football field, she will also serve as a role model for women under her command. it happened on her previous tour aboard the "lincoln" when jordan gould asked bauernschmidt to perform the honors at her reenlistment. >> i think it's because i can see a little bit of myself. it's okay to be assertive. it's okay to be in control... sorry. >> oh! >> with each of those of jobs, i've also been able to lead sailors, watch them grow, typically better, faster, and farther than i grew, and being able to lead them in all these different environments has been the greatest honor of my career. >> reporter: there are women in the navy who outrank bauernschmidt, but none who have ever held such a high-profile job as commanding officer of one of the most prominent symbols of american military power. david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. >> sargent: leading and inspiring so many. congratulations, commander. straight ahead on the "cbs weekend news," caught on camera: parts of a massive cliff collapses on two boats in brazil. the arctic tundra is melting fast as rising temperatures transform the once-reliably frozen landscape. and later, nasa completes the unwrapping of its next great telescope. i've been telling everyone... the secret to great teeth is having healthy gums. crest advanced gum restore. detoxifies below the gumline... and restores by helping heal gums in as little as 7 days. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america. cranky-pated: a bad mood related to a sluggish gut. miralax is different. it works naturally with the water in your body to unblock your gut. free your gut, and your mood will follow. you founded your kayak company because you love the ocean- not spreadsheets. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire such tree-mendous views. i'm at a moss for words. matching your job description. when a cough tries to steal dad's punchlines, he takes robitussin naturals powered by 100% drug-free ingredients. are you gonna leaf me hanging? soothe your cough naturally. ready to shine from the inside out? try nature's bounty hair, skin and nails gummies. the number one brand to support beautiful hair, glowing skin, and healthy nails. try jelly bean vitamins with two times the biotin. maybe it's another refill at your favorite diner... or waiting for the 7:12 bus... or sunday afternoon in the produce aisle. these moments may not seem remarkable. but at pfizer, protecting the regular routine, and everyday drives us to reach for exceptional. working to impact hundreds of millions of lives... young and old. it's what we call, the pursuit of normal. ♪ ♪ >> sargent: caught on >> sargent: caught on camera today in brazil, at least six people were killed after a massive part of a cliff collapsed on tourist boats. some 20 more are missing, dozens more injured. the collapse came after days of rain. at least one of the boats sunk under the falling rock. in pakistan today, at least 22 people, many of them children, are known to have died in a massive snowstorm. victims were stuck and stranded in their vehicles overnight on a highway near a mountain resort town. the snow measured four feet deep in some areas. the latest assessment of the once-reliably frozen arctic is causing alarm among climate scientists. in tonight's "eye on earth," cbs' roxana saberi reports the changes could ripple across the entire globe. >> reporter: the scientists say the changes they're seeing in the arctic are undeniable and alarming. snow and sea ice are rapidly melting. the long-frozen tundra is growing green. and on the highest point of greenland's ice sheet, rain was recorded for the first time last summer. >> should we be concerned? absolutely. >> reporter: climate specialist rick tomen helped write the annual "arctic report card" the 16th released by the u.s. government's national oceanic and atmospheric administration. >> even if some records were broken, we did have in part of the arctic, the warmest fall, 2020. the theme is really continued disruption in the arctic. >> reporter: disruption, he says, to the lives of arctic animals and people. >> the changes have already occurred. they can't be undone in short order. >> reporter: even wildfires are scorching land that was once permanently frozen in siberia, which the u.n. says hit a record high of around 100 degrees fahrenheit in 2020. >> the heat that we saw in siberia in 2020 would have been almost impossible without climate change. >> reporter: the report warns if we don't curb greenhouse gas emissions, the changes in the arctic could unfold elsewhere with melting ice and warming water raising sea levels and speeding up global warming. so, what can we do? >> we have to reduce very dramatically the amount of carbon dioxide that humans are causing to be put into the air. there's no doubt about that. it's late, but the best time to take action was 50 years ago, and the second-best time is right now. >> reporter: the sooner we act to protect the arctic, he says, the more we can keep dramatic disruptions there from cascading to the rest of the planet. roxana saberi, cbs news, london. >> sargent: still ahead on the "cbs weekend news," a milestone birthday for a duchess known as "the reliable royal." what makes febreze air effects different? while cheaper aerosols rely on artificial propellants... febreze uses a 100% natural propellant. check it out! pressure created by what's in your air makes the bottle spray. which means freshness everyone will love. febreze. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete balanced nutrition for strength and energy. woo hoo! ensure, complete balanced nutrition with 27 vitamins and minerals. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. ♪ ♪ why hide your skin if dupixent has your moderate to severe eczema or atopic dermatitis under control? hide my skin? not me. by hitting eczema where it counts, dupixent helps heal your skin from within keeping you one step ahead of eczema. hide my skin? not me. and that means long-lasting clearer skin... and fast itch relief for adults. with dupixent, you can show more skin with less eczema. hide my skin? not me. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines, don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor. when you help heal your skin from within you can change how your skin looks and feels. and that's the kind of change you notice. talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent, a breakthrough eczema treatment. we're eating and drinking foods and beverages that are very acidic. talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent, it can soften the enamel. pronamel repair, what it's doing is driving more minerals deep into the enamel surface, that's going to help actively repair. pronamel is taking it to another level. 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. >> today in texas, a train hauling about 30 rail cars derailed, with three of them containing denatured alcohol catching fire. it happened about 200 miles northwest of dallas. no injuries are reported. a crucial milestone today for nasa's new space telescope. it unfolded the last of its giant origami-stacked gold- plated mirrors, as seen in this video, before it was launched december 24. the $10 billion project is the largest telescope ever launched. its mission: to scan deeper into the cosmos than ever before possible. a major royal birthday to note. today, buckingham palace released pictures of the duchess of cambridge, kate middleton. she'll mark her 40th birthday tomorrow. no party, we're told, but she will celebrate with her family at home. plenty of cake and presents, i'm sure, to be had. next on the "cbs weekend news," two communities divided by geography and politics search for common ground, one newspaper column at a time. want more from your vitamin brand? get more with nature's bounty. from the first-ever triple action sleep supplement... to the only 24-hour vitamin c to heart-healthy support every day. get more with nature's bounty. oh yeah, we gotta take off. you downloaded the td ameritrade mobile app? yeah, actually i'm taking one last look at my dashboard before we board... and you have thinkorswim mobile- -so i can finish analyzing the risk on this position. you two are all set. choose the app that fits your investing style. ♪♪ 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. your heart is at the heart of everything you do. and if you have heart failure, entrust your heart to entresto. it's the number one heart failure brand prescribed by cardiologists. entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital. heart failure can change the structure of your heart, so it may not work as well. entresto helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. and with a healthier heart, there's no telling where life may take you. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto for heart failure. entrust your heart to entresto. >> sargent >> sargent: finally, this week marked one year since the violent siege at the u.s. capitol, a time when many people say the nation has never been more divided. but don't tell that to residents of two small communities 1,000 miles apart and far from washington, d.c. here's cbs' janet shamlian. >> this was the project that we did this past year. >> reporter: guy trammell co-writes a column for alabama's "tuskegee news." >> hey, guy, how you doing? >> reporter: but his collaborator lives nowhere near the historic southern city. amy miller is in south berwick, maine, more than 1,000 miles away, a town almost as white as tuskegee is black. >> i had had this idea, anyway, about doing a column from a white perspective and trying to match it with somebody doing it from a black perspective. >> reporter: the shared column appears in both communities' newspapers, launched after south berwick and tuskegee joined together as sister cities, hoping to bridge a rational divide. what was the initial reaction here to the proposal? >> it sounded like something that was healthy. our country was going through some turmoil. >> reporter: karen hopkins was the first to co-write with amy. >> when you are sharing the stories, you're actually getting to know each other. >> reporter: guy trammell took it over a few years ago. what has this relationship meant to you? >> this is one opportunity to actually bring people together. instead of a divided states, we're the united states. >> reporter: and two communities united. residents of each have visited the other, sampling food, learning history. >> many have now learned from people that they know and like and care about what they went through as black people in america. >> reporter: do you feel like you personally have a better understanding now of the people of that community? >> we're a lot alike in that we value community, we value family, we value education, history. we're a lot alike. >> reporter: across miles and divergent histories, tuskegee and south berwick finding friendship and common ground. janet shamlian, cbs news, tuskegee, alabama. >> sargent: a great and shovel way to show there are far fewer differences between us. that's the "cbs weekend news" for this saturday. don't forget, "sunday morning with jane paulie" first thing tomorrow, followed by "face the nation" with margaret brennan. i'm irika sargent reporting from cbs station wbbm in chicago. good night. captioning sponsored b cbs i'm back. >> more than 900 days for this moment. klay thompson is coming back and a return to the court is just hours away. >> people are being more cautious. >> of sobering prediction for struggling local restaurants as the bay area mayor is making a plea to congress to help save them. the city warning about fake cope and testing sites. while laboratories are overwhelmed what one county is doing to ease the overload. bay area creek are overflowing and salmon making a triumphant return. we begin tonight with the comeback that the warrior fans have been waiting 31 months for. five-time nba all-star klay thompson will return to the court since the 2018 finals for the first time. >> the road to return have been an uphill battle for sure. charlie walter e joining us and his return cannot come at a better time. >> reporter: an easy way to settle the fan base. bring back one of the greatest nba players in history and do so with the team has struggled to shoot it. 943 days later the countdown will end. >> the nation. i'm back. >> thompson will return tomorrow against the cleveland cavaliers and will be the first time he has played in chase center and comes against a cavalier organizathe