mandate for federal workers. covid's toll on teachers: dozens of districts forced to cancel classes. >> our staff members are not well enough to even teach virtually. >> o'donnell: antiabortion activists gather in the nation's capital. thousands rally outside the supreme court in hopes of overturning "roe v. wade." breaking news in the gabby petito case: who claimed responsibility for her murder? tonight, the rocker known as meat loaf dies at the age of 74. ♪ and i would do anything for love ♪ but i won't do that ♪ >> o'donnell: and "on the road": a small town's rescue from an unlikely group of volunteers. >> this is the "cbs evening news" with norah o'donnell reporting from the nation's capital. >> o'donnell: good evening, and thank you for joining us. we have a lot of news to to get to tonight. a massive winter storm is bearing down on the southeast, bringing snow, sleet, and freezing rain. but the big concern tonight is ice causing widespread power outages and states of emergency have been declared in the carolinas and virginia ahead of the storm. we'll get to the forecast in just a moment. but we want to begin with what is the biden administration's latest foreign policy crisis: rising tensions with russia. secretary of state antony blinken today describing this moment as critical as he sat down with his russian counterpart over the situation in ukraine. with putin continuing to amass troops on the border, the u.s. and its allies are sending more weapons to kyiv. now the uss "harry s. truman" and its strike group have moved into the region to participate in nato maritime exercises. both sides left the high-stakes meeting with no breakthrough but agreed to keep talking. cbs' holly williams joins us from inside ukraine. good evening, holly. >> reporter: good evening, norah. as the u.s. pursues a diplomatic solution to this crisis, it says it is not simply a regional dispute between russia and ukraine, but instead about defending democracy and stopping russia from turning its neighbors into puppet states. the secretary of state said today the u.s. is defending ukraine's freedom. >> that includes those that would impede the sovereign right of the ukrainian people to write their own future. there is no trade space there, none. >> reporter: moscow maintains it has no intention of invading ukraine, but these russian missile systems are heading to belarus for military exercises, and roughly 100,000 russian troops and their weaponry are already massed close to ukraine's border. to the north, east, and south, russian forces are almost encircling this u.s. ally. "we do not expect a breakthrough," said russia's foreign minister today, even before the talks began. president vladimir putin claims russia is threatened by the expansion ofinate oh, the military alliance binding europe and north america. the u.s. says it's moscow that's the aggressor in ukraine, and it's backing the country with training and arms. today, the ukrainian president thanked president biden for america's unprecedented diplomatic and military assistance. >> we are prepared to respond to any russian invasion of ukraine with swift and severe consequences, along with our allies and partners. we're also ready to continue dialogue and diplomacy. >> reporter: it's been 30 years since the end of the cold war, but now a european capital is again looking down the barrel of a russian gun. citizens of this young democracy told us today they're worried. >> we are really, really independent country, and we deserve the best future as ukrainian. >> we like peace, and we don't want to be, i can say, under the russian occupation. >> reporter: the u.s. says it will give russia a written response to its security concerns next week. today, secretary blinken did not rule out a meeting between president biden and president putin. norah. >> o'donnell: holly williams inside ukraine for us. thank you. now to that major storm. more than 60 million americans woke up to bitter cold temperatures, and for some parts of the country, things are about to get worse. cbs' lonnie quinn joins us now. lonnie, this is a rare ice storm. >> oh, you bet. to put that all in perspective for you, this is the first time ever that the national weather service in morhood, north carolina, has ever issued an ice storm warning. if you zoom in tight, look at the purple color. the purple is the most dangerous. that's rain falling in the atmosphere, his the surface and freezes on contact with roadways and tree limbs. the good news is it moves through quickly so by 7:00, 8:00 in the morning it's basically done with that area and lingering offshore to the northeast. but it puts some snow down, 4-6 inches in nowsk, virginia, and that's about a year's total in one storm. you pick up two to four inches around raleigh, one to two for portions of south carolina. it's the ice we believe will be the most dangerous portion of this storm, up to a quarter inch of ice. all you need is a little covering on the roadways to make your cars spinout. it doesn't melt right away. look how cold those tems are. favoriteville doesn't get above freezing for the first part morning. that's the way we see it. it will be better the next day, but you have to get through.irst >> o'donnell: turning now to big covid news, a texas judge ruled today that president biden doesn't have the authority to force federal workers to be vaccinated. the justice department plans to appeal the ruling. and the c.d.c. released new data today that shows booster shots are 90% effectitive at preventig omicron hospitalizations. the report also found that unvaccinated seniors are nearly 50 times more likely to be hospitalized than their boosted peers. all right, tonight, dr. anthony fauci is walking back his comments about when kids under the age of 5 could be eligible for a covid vaccine, saying he doesn't know when the f.d.a. will authorize such a shot. and it comes as infections among children are soaring across the country. here's cbs' carter evans. .>> reporter: at children's mercy hospital in kansas city, covid is taking a terrible toll. this week, they set a record for pandemic hospitalizations and now have 32 child patients, especially heart breaking: 14 of them are under the age of two and three are in the i.c.u. >> it's sad. you know, it's so unnecessary. >> reporter: dr. angela myers says that's because the vast majority are unvaccinated, some kids too young. and she says too many parentsevd up here. >> some do have preexisting conditions, like obesity or asthma. but a lot of them are just healthy kids. we have young children all the way down to three months of age in the hospital without any preexisting condition. >> reporter: the surge is cloing schools across new jersey. >> our staff members are not well enough to even teach virtually. >> reporter: do you feel people here are doing enough in this city to protect themselves? >> right now, i have grave concern that people aren't doing enough. >> reporter: kansas city mayor quinton lucas says the battle is over misinformation. it's also personal. his nine-month-old son was infected and recovered, and so did he. >> i know that i was lucky, and part of the reason was because i'm vaccinated and boosted. it was one night of some symptoms but nothing that was nearly as tragic as people being intubated, people dying. >> r reporter: and some children may soon have easier access to vaccines. a bill introduced this week in california would allow kids 12 and older to get vaccinated without their parents' permission or knowledge. norah. >> o'donnell: that's pretty interesting. carter evans, thank you. next year marks 50 years since the supreme court afirmed a woman's right to an abortion, wth the landmark "roe v. wadare different with opponents feeling embowdenned as states have imposed tighter restrictions. ris' jan crawford reports. anus, tly yognd pe, camearch f life. >> the kids don't get to choose life, and we're here for them, to march for the people that couldn't speak up. >> reporter: it came with church groups on buses from florida to oklahoma. >> we took about 24 hours. >> reporter: braving freezing tmperatures in the 49th annual march to the sprerk with the most momentum yet in their fight to overturn "roe v. wade." >> "roe" is not settled law. ( cheering ) >> reporter: is there a different energy here with the mississippi case pending? >> absolutely. prolifeers are very energized with the possibility of "roe" being overturned, which would mean abortion legislation would go back to the states. >> reporter: the conservative supreme court signaled during arguments last month it would allow mississippi's 15-week abortion ban and possibly let states ban it entirely. shannon brewer is director of mississippi's only abortion clinic. >> there will definitely be an apportion in mississippi, immediately and several other states, too. >> reporter: mississippi is on of 12 states with laws in place to ban abortion if themeo, like the law now being challenged in texas, which the court has allowed to remain in place. dissenting justice sonia sotomayor said it was a grave disservice to women in texas who have a right to control their own bodies. predicting how the supreme court is going to rule is always dangerous. justices can change their minds. so we won't know until we get a decision, probably in june, whether this will be the last time they're marching to overturn "roe." norah. >> o'donnell: jan crawford at the court tonight. thank you. threats against local election officials have skyrocketed. a new justice department task force is looking at 850 cases and is is planning to enhance security for workers who face those threats. here's cbs' jeff pegues. >> reporter: investigators say 54-year-old chad stark, arrested today in texas, was angry about the results of the 2020 election. and cbs news has learned he threatened georgia officials, including republican secretary of state brad raffensperger and republican governor brian kemp. >> the election was totally rigged. >> reporter: both were being pressured by former president trump to overturn the election results in the state. >> the secretary of state, who is really-- he's an enemy of the people. people. your governor should be ashamed of himself. >> reporter: according to the indictment, stark posted on craigslist the day before the january 6 attack on the capitol in washington, "georgia patriots, it's time for us to take back our state from these lawless treasonus traitors." and "we need to put a bullet in here behind the ears." they're under more threat nationwide, including those who sit on school boards, now regularly threatened over masking policies. this was a parent last night in virginia: >> me mask mandates. my child, my children will not come to school on monday with a mask on. all right. that's not happening. and i will bring every single gun loaded and ready to-- i will call every-- i'll see you all on monday. >> reporter: today, attorney general merrick garland issued a warning: >> there is no first amendment right to unlawfully threaten to harm or kill someone. >> reporter: threats against election workers are usually handled at the local or state level, but because there have been so many threats nationwide, the feds are stepping in to help. norah. >> o'donnell: jeff pegues, thank you. well, now to some sad news. comedian louie anderson has died. anderson shot to stardom in the 80s doing stand-up comedy and was later named one of the 100 greatest stand-up comics ever. he starred in films like "coming to america," and he channeled his mother for his emmy-winning performance as "christine," in the hit tv series "baskets." he died today in las vegas of cancer. louie anderson was 68. and rock superstar and actor meat loaf has died at the age of 74. the larger-than-life performers burst on to the music scene with his 1977 debut "bat out of hell" which became one of the bestselling albums of all time. vladimir duthiers looks back on a career that spans six decades ♪ i remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday >> reporter: meat loaf was a rock star among rock stars. he was known for his operatic rock anthems, turning hits like "paradise by the dashboard lights" into platinum and rock station classics ♪ see paradise by the daskboard lights ♪ >> reporter: in 1977,s he released "bat out of hell" ♪ like a bat out of hell i'll be gone when the morning comes ♪ >> reporter: which would become one of the top-saling albums in history with over 40 million copies sold. >> how you doing? >> reporter: not only a gifted singer, he made a splash in more than 65 movies, including his scene-stealing performance in 1975's cult classic "the rocky horror picture show." but the gargantuan success of "bat out of hell" came with a price, a combination of touring and exhaustion contributed to a temporary loss of his singing voice and took a toll on his physical and mental health. >> i was not ready for. i had a nervous breakdown. >> reporter: born marvin lee aday in 1947 in dallas, meat loaf said he acquired his unique moniker as a kid. after a lull in his career, the 1990s brought a new era of success ♪ i would do anything for love ♪ >> reporter: his chart-topping hit "i'd do anything for love," earned his only agreement award. he released "bat out of hell 2 and 3" achieving one of the most stellar comebacks in rock history. vladimir duthiers, cbs news, new york. >> o'donnell: well, there's still much more news ahead here on tonight's "cbs evening news." the f.b.i. reveals new evidence in the murder of gabby petito. n for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. nope - c'mon him? 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