her majesty strips prince andrew of all his military roles and royal duties, as he faces a sexual assault lawsuit as a private citizen. dangerous winter storm. heavy snow and arctic cold, from the midwest to the east coast, heading our way. voting rights defeat. just days after the president vowed to pass landmark legislation, tonight, the serious hurdle he faces. "eye on america:" the two unlikely heroes hoping to bring vital services to one of the nation's poorest communities. and, riding to freedom. one afghan woman's journey from taliban rule to the american dream. 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. we start tonight with some very significant decisions by the u.s. supreme court-- a mixed pair of rulings that will directly impact nearly 100 million americans. the court's conservative majority says the biden administration does not have the authority to impose a vaccine or test rule on private companies, but it does have the ability to mandate covid shots for most health workers. president biden says he was disappointed by the decision to "block common sense requirements for large businesses," but that keeping the rule for doctors, nurses, and others who work in settings that receive federal aid will save lives. the decisions come as the u.s. is facing a surge in new cases and record hospitalizations. and as we come on the air, nearly 63% of americans are fully vaccinated. cbs's meg oliver joins us with all of the day's developments. good evening, meg. >> reporter: norah, good evening. we have new details about those rulings, and the news comes as president biden announced new resource for hospitals facing staffing issues like this one. and the administration will buy 500 million more covid-19 at-home tests for americans. tonight, a blow to the biden administration, as covid cases careen out of control across the u.s. the supreme court blocking the president's plan to require employees at large private companies to be vaccinated or test weekly for covid. but the court is allowing the mandate for most healthcare workers. this comes as the president called in the military today to help overwhelmed hospitals in six states survive the surge. >> and if you're unvaccinated, if they test positive, you are 17 times more likely to getsiti hospitalized. as a result, they're crowding the hospitals, leaving little room for anyone else who might have a heart attack or an injury in an automobile accident. >> reporter: today marked the highest seven-day average for hospitalizations since the pandemic began. and in new jersey, hospitalizations are up more than 320% compared to this time last month. at university hospital in newark, more than 300 workers are out, while patients continue to stream in. nearly half are infected with covid. 17 of them are on ventilators. how dire is your staffing shortage? >> it's extremely dire right now. it's really bad, and i'm being transparent with the public, but i'm also being transparent with my staff. >> reporter: 23 military medics will arrive here next week to help out for a month. >> the risk of rationing care, the risk of losing even more hospital staff every day, all of that does keep me up at night. >> reporter: one out of every five hospitals has a critical staffing shortage nationwide, and six states report an i.c.u. capacity of less than 10%. you've reached the breaking point? >> i really do think so. i think our nurses, who have been working, again, for weeks on end, and our doctors and our support staff really are at the limit. >> reporter: there is a glimmer of hope. over the last four days here, dr. elnahal says cases have leveled off-- but the severe staffing shortages could last several weeks, if not months. norah. >> o'donnell: thinking of our healthcare workers. meg oliver, thanks. we turn now to a significant new development into the sprawling investigation into the january 6th attack on the capitol. the justice department today, for the first time, filing the most serious charge yet against members of the oath keepers: seditious conspiracy-- alleging the group conspired to overthrow the u.s. government with force. cbs's jeff pegues has all the stunning new details. >> reporter: prosecutors say the 11 oath keepers charged today with seditious conspiracy began planning for an attack shortly after president biden's victory became official. >> it's just amazing that trump will let the election be stolen out from under him, and will let our country be stolen like this; our government. >> reporter: the far-right extremist group's notorious leader, stewart rhodes, a former army paratrooper with a yale law degree, sent a message to a group chat on november 5: "we aren't getting through this without a civil war." over the next month, prosecutors say rhodes-- arrested today in texas-- used encrypted apps to organize the january 6 assault. members of the oath keepers, outfitted in full combat gear, were seen marching in a military-style stack formation through the crowd, up the east steps of the capitol. prosecutors say rhodes, who was not inside the capitol, was directing them via cell phone and a chat app. the indictment alleges that the stack split in two once inside the capitol-- one towards the senate chamber to disrupt the certification, and the other toward the house in search of speaker pelosi. prosecutors also say rhodes had several armed quick-reaction forces on standby in virginia that could be called in to escalate the attack. today, about 20 oath keepers have been charged in connection with the insurrection. >> it wasn't just an unruly mob. >> reporter: harry litman is a former u.s. attorney. >> we're past the point of seeing this as some kind of spontaneous riot, and really into seeing it as an actual assault on the operation of u.s. law itself. >> reporter: tonight, rhodes' attorney disputed the charges contained in the court documents, including the allegation that, after all the violence here on january 6th, some of the oath keepers went to a restaurant in nearby virginia, and they celebrated, and also allegedly planned what was coming next. norah. >> o'donnell: jeff pegues on capitol hill. now to the weather. a massive storm system will bring up to a foot of snow for parts of the plains and midwest on friday, before taking aim at the south and east this weekend. cbs's lonnie quinn is tracking the storm for us. all right, what are we going to get, lonnie? >> reporter: all right, well, right now, first of all, norah, we're watching a storm that doesn't look like much of a storm at all, right now. it's going to develop. if you take a look at the radar picture, you know, off the west coast, looks like around seattle or so, it's just coming onshore right now. it's a mess. it gets organized, makes its push through the northern plains. and take a look at how the future-cast is handling everything. a place like des moines picks up oot e. by saturday morning, 6:00 a.m., it is snowing from omaha over towards st. louis. now, by sunday morning, we have snow as far south as jackson, mississippi, and that stretches all the way up to places like, let's say, north carolina or so. the icing is taking place from atlanta into raleigh. by sunday night, we have snowfall from atlanta through portions of pennsylvania. and i think the biggest totals of all, we are going to find, western north carolina, western virginia, upstate new york. and those numbers look like this: nashville comes in with six inches; asheville comes in with 16 inches. the biggest number, buffalo, about 20 inches. but the big northeast cities miss this one-- maybe about an inch around philadelphia, boston and new york city. norah, that's the way we see this storm. >> o'donnell: lonnie quinn, thank you. in a last-ditch effort to pass voting rights legislation, president biden made his way down pennsylvania avenue to capitol hill today to meet with senate democrats. but in a sign of how the meeting went, the president all but accepted defeat, admitting he doesn't have the votes to getepd the landmark bill through congress. here's cbs' scott macfarlane. >> reporter: mr. president, whose mind can still be changed? president biden tried to use his political capital to swing some u.s. senators today, but was disarmed before he even arrived. >> i don't know that we get it done, but i know one thing-- as long as i have a breath in me, i'm going to be fighting to change the way these legislators are moving. >> reporter: one of the two democratic senators the president needed, announced on the senate floor, she was not on board. >> while i continue to support these bills, i will not support separate actions that worsen the underlying disease of division infecting our country. >> reporter: democrats are pushing voting rights legislation that would make election day a federal holiday, require all states to allow early and mail-in voting, and make it harder for states to pass voter i.d. laws. but without all 50 democrats agreeing to change senate voting procedures and push through the new voting reforms, there is no path forward. former president obama tried to nudge the holdouts in an editorial, writing "america's long-standing grand experiment in democracy is being sorely tested." 19 mostly republican-controlled states have passed legislation restructuring voting, placing limits on ballot drop boxes and imposing tougher rules for voter i.d.s. >> we missed this time, and the state legislative bodies continue to change the law, not as to who can vote, but who gets to count the vote-- count the vote. count the vote! >> he's running scared. the left believes he's failed on multiple fronts, and they don't believe he's fought hard enough to bring about voting rights. >> reporter: cbs news has learned those two holdout senators are meeting at the white house tonight, but there's no indication of any spark to jump-start his stalled political effort. norah. norah. >> o'donnell: some late-night arm-twisting. scott macfarlane, thank you. a stunning turn in the prince andrew/jeffrey epstein scandal. queen elizabeth today stripped her son of all of his military titles and royal duties. buckingham palace made the announcement in a terse, two-sentence statement, just a month before the queen celebrates her platinum jubilee marking her 70-year reign as monarch. cbs's imtiaz tyab reports from london. >> reporter: of all that glittered in prince andrew's gilded life, it was the pomp and pageantry of the military that saw him on parade. and now, that's gone. in a brief statement from the queen tonight, she stripped her second son of a range of military affiliations and royal patronages. a palace source confirmed prince andrew would no longer use the title "his royal highness." this spectacular fall from grace comes just a day after a manhattan court judge rejected his efforts to dismiss a sexual assault civil lawsuit against him by virginia giuffre. giuffre says convicted sex offender, the late jeffrey epstein, trafficked her to the prince in the early 2000s when she was just 17, and says she was raped by andrew-- allegations he denies.ns >> so the idea of a financial settlement is not the thing that's of interest to her, then, is it? >> a purely financial settlement is not anything that i think she's interested in. >> right. >> reporter: this latest twist comes after more than 150 british military veterans wrote to the queen to ask her to strip the prince of his honorary military roles. andrew hasn't performed any official duty since 2019, and is rarely seen in public, but was pictured leaving his home in windsor today just hours before the queen's announcement. a source close to prince andrew tells cbs news this case is "a marathon and not a sprint," and that andrew will continue to defend himself. but after tonight, that defense, the palace says, will be as a private citizen. norah. >> o'donnell: imtiaz tyab in london. some breaking news-- california governor gavin newsom has denied parole to robert f. kennedy's assassin, sirhan sirhan, after more than a half- century behind bars. newsom rejected a recommendation from a two-person panel of parole commissioners, saying 77-year-old sirhan sirhan was an unreasonable public threat. the kennedy family says they're deeply relieved by the decision. we turn now to a hidden crisis that's threatening lives in our most vulnerable communities. many are living without things that most of us take for granted, like running water and sanitation. the new trillion-dollar infrastructure act provides nearly $12 billion to fix that. in tonight's "eye on america," cbs's adam yamaguchi takes us to rural alabama, where help is desperately needed. >> reporter: america in the 21st century hides its shame in the backyards of the rural poor. in lowndes county, alabama, perman hardy knows all about it. >> when there's a lot of rain, you cannot flush the toilet. >> reporter: and if you did, it would be all over your house. >> yes. when it goes bloop, bloop-- get ready, here it comes. >> reporter: in the un-incorporated areas of this county, where martin luther king famously led the selma to montgomery march, there's no municipal sewage system. and for an estimated 80% of households, no adequate septic system either. >> it backs up in the shower, backs up in the tub, gnats everywhere. >> reporter: raw sewage regularly flooded kenneth gordon's 83-year-old mother's house. >> this is the tub, the toilet that had the most problems. >> reporter: he had to move her out. were you concerned about her health? >> yes, very, very concerned about her health. >> reporter: untreated sewage can lead to bacterial infections and intestinal parasites. the only solution is a new system. but the hard clay soil here requires specially designed septic systems that can cost as much as a median household income in lowndes county. >> with the brown car. >> yeah, the brick house. >> reporter: which is why sherry bradley of the alabama department of public health, and perman hardy, are taking matters into their own hands. >> this is the first meeting of the black belt unincorporated waste water program. >> reporter: bradley and hardy raised $700,000 in donations to install working systems. qualifying residents make a one-time down payment, then pay a $20 monthly fee. >> every time it rains, people-- they know what might happen. they know that sewage may shoot out and come back in the house. >> reporter: what sort of damage does that do? >> i can't imagine. i just can't imagine. thank you so much for helping out here. >> reporter: but on this day, bradley and hardy's teamwork paid off. they got a new septic system installed at earnestine gordon's place. >> i am so happy that i don't have to come outside and look at this. it's going to go that way instead of that way. >> momma is like, hallelujah! hallelujah! >> it's a great day. >> been a long, hot day. >> reporter: renna gordon can only hope she's next. do you know when it might happen? >> i really don't know. i hope it will be soon. >> reporter: adam yamaguchi for "eye on america," cbs news, lowndes county. >> o'donnell: and now we've learned the justice department is opening an investigation into the state. well, still ahead here on tonight's "cbs evening news," a wild video of a brazen car-jacking in new york city. with unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans, there's so much to take advantage of. like $0 copays on virtual visits... - wow! - uh-huh. ...$0 copays on primary care visits... ...and lab tests. - wow. - uh-huh. plus, $0 copays on tier 1 & tier 2 prescription drugs. - wow. - uh-huh. unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans. including the only plans with the aarp name. most plans have a $0 premium. take advantage now. wow! hello, how can i? take advantage now. sore throat pain? ♪honey lemon♪ try vicks vapocool drops in honey lemon chill for fast acting sore throat relief ♪ahhh!♪ wooo! vaporize sore throat pain with 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 my name is douglas. i'm a writer/director matching your job description. and i'm still working. in the kind of work that i do, you are surrounded by people who are all younger than you. i had to get help somewhere along the line to stay competitive. i discovered prevagen. i started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. it was a game-changer for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. >> o'donnell: tonight, a new york city police officer is in stable condition after trying to stop one of two carjackings that took place in manhattan on wednesday within a span of an hour. one carjacking was caught on camera. a suspect armed with a taser forced his way into a black audi suv and plowed into several other cars while the officer tried to stop him. tonight more than 400,000 peop tonight, more than 400,000tu people with student loans will get some debt relief, after one of the nation's largest student loan companies reached a multi-state settlement. navient agreed to cancel debt for some and will pay more than $140 million to others. the company was accused of pushing students into long-term debt instead of offering less- costly repayment plans. navient denied acting illegally, and did not admit to any wrongdoing under the settlement. coming up next, a young woman's ride to freedom, from taliban rule to the american dream. eam. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh ♪ ozempic® is proven to lower a1c. most people who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. and you may lose weight. adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. in adults also with known heart disease, ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. ozempic® helped me get back in my type 2 diabetes zone. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? 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>> yeah, i'm flying in the sky. i feel peace of mind. i'm free. >> reporter: as a young girl in afghanistan, peace and freedom were a constant struggle. >> women weren't allowed to ride a bike. >> reporter: were you afraid? >> yeah, i was afraid in, like, if someone is seeing me, like, they will beat me or maybe they will harass me. >> reporter: she persevered, ultimately leading the afghanistan women's cycling team, which was nominated for the nobel peace prize. but then last summer, the taliban resumed control. what was behind your decision to get out, and were you afraid then? >> i'm sorry... >> reporter: after four>> dangerous days of waiting, she finally got a flight out. >> i left my bicycle, my-- everything; my family. >> reporter: she's starting a new life in virginia, pursuing her goal of becoming a dentist and joining a competitive bike team. her focus? to compete in the olympics. what flag would you hope to represent? >> for my country. >> reporter: for afghanistan? >> for afghanistan. >> reporter: and for all the young girls still there. jan crawford, cbs news, fairfax, virginia. >> o'donnell: we are cheering her on. we'll be right back. a heart va. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin that's a trail i want to take. eliquis. eliquis reduces stroke risk better than warfarin. and has less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis has both. don't stop taking eliquis without talking to your doctor as this may increase your risk of stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. # stewart stewart try new vazalore. aspirin made amazing! manhood looks different from guy to guy. but when yours bends in a different direction, you might feel bothered by it. so talk to a urologist. because a bend in your erection might be peyronie's disease or pd. it's a condition that involves a buildup of scar tissue. but, it's treatable. xiaflex is the only fda- approved nonsurgical treatment for appropriate adult men with peyronie's disease. along with daily penile stretching and straightening exercises, xiaflex has been proven to help gradually reduce the bend. don't receive if the treatment area involves your urethra, or if you're allergic to any collagenase or any of the ingredients. may cause serious side effects, including: penile fracture or other serious injury during an erection, and severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. seek help if you have any of these symptoms. do not have any sexual activity during and for at least 4 weeks after each treatment cycle. sudden back pain reactions after treatment may occur. tell your doctor if you have a bleeding condition or take blood thinners as risk of bleeding or bruising at the treatment site is increased. talk to a urologist about what your manhood could look like. find a xiaflex-trained urologist at bentcarrot.com do you struggle with occasional nerve aches talk to a urologist about what your manhood could look like. in your hands or feet? 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