ban menthol cigarettes. why it could save hundreds of thousands of lives. sailor suicides: after at least seven service members take their own lives, we hear from sailors aboard the u.s.s. "george washington," about substandard living conditions. "eye on america": our nation's teacher shortage, and the need for black male educators. and helping our military and their families find a dress for all occasions. and helping our military and their families find a dress for all occasions. ♪ ♪ ♪ this is the "cbs evening news" with norah o'donnell, reporting from the nation's capital. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ 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 on this thursday night. tonigh aart,le c sn tig ukraine will likely drag on for months or even years. president biden today asking congress for an additional $33 billion to support ukraine's defense against the russian invasion. the proposal includes more than $20 billion in military assistance, such as artillery and armored vehicles. the war ramped up again today with russian forces launching a barrage of new attacks across the country, including at least five missile strikes on the capital city of kyiv. explosions could be heard during president zelenskyy's meeting with the u.n. secretary-general in the capital. we'll get to cbs' chris livesay in ukraine in a moment, but first, let's start with cbs' weijia jiang at the white house. good evening, weijia. stresses tn administration's belief that there is a long road ahead before this war comes to an end. today, the president vowed that as long as the atrocities and assaults continue, the u.s. will keep providing military help. >> basically, we're out of money. >> reporter: president biden urged lawmakers to move quickly on a new aid package for ukraine, because money for military support, including heavy weaponry, needed on the battlefield, is almost depleted. >> the cost of this fight is not cheap. but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen. >> reporter: the president is asking congress for $33 billion for economic humanitarian and defense funding. on top of the $13.6 billion already approved last month. top republicans today signaled they support the measure. >> they've earned it. they've shown their will to fight stronger than the morale of the russians. >> reporter: with some russian officials arguing the risk of newly war is now brewing, nuclear war is now brewing, president biden today called that claim irresponsible. >> no one should be making idle comments about the use of nuclear weapons or the possibility they would use that. >> reporter: meanwhile, trevor reed is back in the u.s. after landing in san antonio overnight as part of a prisoner swap. reed, a marine veteran, spent nearly 1,000 days in a russian prison and now undergoing aian medical evaluation for his declining health. the wife of w.n.b.a. star brittney griner, who has been detained in russia since february, posted that her heart is overflowing with joy for the reed family. and paul whelan, who has been in russian custody since 2018 for alleged espionage, said he was thrilled, too. but in a statement, whelan asked, "why have i been left behind? why wasn't more done to secure my relief." my relerse?" >> my goal is to get him home to see our parents once manufacture before they die. that's a little bit grim, but that's the reality that gets me up every morning. >> reporter: as the war rages on, president biden announced he is making new expedited procedures to seek yachts and luxury homes, and liquidating the assets and using the funds to rebuild ukraine. norah. >> o'donnell: weijia jiang, thank you. on the ground in ukraine, the secretary-general said he waskre 234u67 shocked by how close the missiles landed near the hotel where he was staying. president zelenskyy called today's attacks an effort by russia to try and humiliate the united nations. cbs' chris livesay reports tonight from the capital. >> reporter: kyiv, once again in the crosshairs, after five missile strikes on the same day in the same city, the head of the united nations witnessed the russian devastation with his very own eyes. >> there is no way a war can be acceptable in the 21st century. look at that. >> reporter: from irpin to borodyanka, and bucha, antonio guterres visited where these bodies once lay. in mariupol, hundreds of soldiers and civilians, many of them wounded, continue to resist bombardment inside this steel mill. nearby, in the black sea, russian forces fire cruise missiles at ukrainian positions, they say striking weapons supplied by foreign countries, like the u.s. weapons ukraine desperately needs as the battle intensifies in the eastern donbas region. north of kyiv, ukrainian soldiers show us the open terrain that now typifies the warfare they're facing. this is the tangled aftermath of a russian position that was completely taken up on the by completely taken out by ukraine's long-range artillery. it's what they need more of in the donbas region, and they desperately hope to get it from the united states. but it's not only weapons they need. >> night vision. >> reporter: plus drones, medical kits, other and crucial equipment for the ukrainian military from the nonprofit "come back alive." they've raised $100 million since the start of the war. >> so in a war, even a printer and a telephone, those are deadly weapons. guns win battles, but logistics win war. >> reporter: the u.n. secretary-general also met with president zelenskyy. both said they were optimistic about reaching a deal with russia to rescue those trapped inside the mariupol steel mill. moments later is when those russian missiles hit here in the center of kyiv. norah. >> o'donnell: chris livesay in the capital tonight, thank you. well, back here at home, millions of parents with young children finally got the vaccine news they've been waiting for. moderna today asked the f.d.a. to authorize its two-dose covid vaccine for children as young as six months. that means 18 million more children could soon be eligible to get a covid shot. here's cbs' nancy chen. >> one, two,. >> reporter: moderna's vaccine is a major step toward protecting some of the country's youngest children. how would you characterize this step in the fight against the pandemic as a whole? >> i think it's a key step. you know, these kids represent. >> reporter: it would be administered in two doses a month apart. the strength would be a quarter of the adult dose. moderna's trial included nearly 7,000 participants between six months and five years old. it found the vaccine was effective against symptomatic infection from nearly 40% to 50%, depending on age. what do those rates of efficacy say to you? are they high enough? >> we think these vaccines will be highly protective against hospitalization and death in kids. >> reporter: still, some parents seem reluctant to get their children vaccinated. currently, only 28% of kids five to 11 are fully vaccinated, this as overall cases are rising in 39 states, up more than 19% week over week. >> all other age groups have access to a vaccine, but how about these, you know, youngest little kids don't, and that's nerve-racking. >> reporter: anne rodriguez, from deerfield, wisconsin, enrolled her twins, theo and sam, in moderna's trial, to protect not only high-risk family members but the boys themselves. >> these vaccine feel like a light at the end of the tunnel, especially for those who do have small kids. we're still negotiating all of these things. >> reporter: and the f.d.a. has said it will move fast on moderna's application. and moderna tells us that once authorized, the vaccine could be available starting in late spring or early summer, norah. >> o'donnell: so important for parents. nancy chen, thank you. now to a milestone decision by the f.d.a. which announced a plan to ban all menthol cigarees and flavored cigars by-- in the united states. the move is being called the f.d.a.'s most aggressive action against the tobacco industry in history, and would impact nearly 20 million cigarette users. cbs' omar villafranca has more. >> reporter: the food and drug administration says the proposed menthol ban could prevent more people from getting addicted and could save as many as 654,000 lives over the next 40 years. >> there's data that has shown that smoking cessation leads to improved survival from lung cancer. >> reporter: dr. raja flores, with mount sinai school of medicine, says he supports the ban because many of the patients, particularly people of color, are addicted to these cigarettes. >> they're a big source of profit. it's the same population that does worse with lung cancer, that gets less access to treatment, and their survival is much worse. so to me it's a no-brainer. >> reporter: the f.d.a. says menthol's cooling effect make it easier to start smoking and harder to quit. menthols make up 37% of the cigarette market. they're the choice of 85% of black smokers, compared to just 24.6% of whites, and more thanse mentho half of young smokers choose menthol. menthol cigarette sales made more than $30 billion. >> when i actually want to go and i'm craving to find those cigarettes and i can't find them, i think it will give me a little bit of an extra push to not smoke anymore. >> reporter: a spokesman for the maker of newport cigarettes told cbs news, "we do not believe the public science supports regulating menthol cigarettes differently from non-menthol cigarettes." experts say it could be a year or two before this ban goes into effect. norah. >> o'donnell: omar villafranca, thanks so much. now to big news about steps the navy is taking following our recent reports on the suicides among sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier u.s.s. "george washington." we are learning more about the poor conditions on the ship, often lacking running water and working bathrooms. here's cbs' david martin. >> reporter: when the aircraft carrier "george washington" moved into the shipyard at newport news, virginia, for overhaul, it was the beginning of a nightmare. today, the navy acknowledged three more suicides occurred in 2019 and '20, bringing to seven the number of sailors who took their own lives while the ship has been in overhaul. the three most recent deaths, all of them young and low ranking, occurred in the space of a week earlier this month. last week, when the master chief petty officer of the navy visited the "george wnshington," visited the "george washington," the entire crew was wearing hard hats, a sure sign the ship is still in overhaul, which, because of covid and unexpected repairs, is now in its fifthnd d repairs, is year. during a question-and-answer session, a member of the crew listed his complaints about life in a construction zone. >> cold water, hot water, living standards that aren't necessarily up to par. >> reporter: the navy's senior enlisted man replied those are just the realities of shipyard overhaul, and things could be worse. >> reporter: captain kenneth strong, the commanding officer in 2019 and '20 was forced to step down three months early due to what the navy calls "individual incidents of poor judgment." despite his early departure, strong was awarded the legion of merit at the ceremony in which he was replaced by the ship's current commanding officer. one of the ship's crew told cbs news, it feels like big navy has left us out to dry. nobody cares. "big navy" meaning the admirals who run the navy, has now directed that all 360 sailors living aboard the ship while it's still in overhaul be allowed to move ashore, if they want. the navy would pay for the housing, but first, it has to find suitable accommodations. norah. >> o'donnell: that's a significant development. good reporting, david martin, thank you. well, the nation's teacher shortage is getting worse by the day with more than 330,000 fewer educators in the classroom than there were before the pandemic. the crisis among black men who are teachers is even more dire. but in tonight's "eye on america," cbs' jim axelrod looks at a philadelphia program that's working to change that. >> reporter: every day that joseph harris shows up for work at the high school he attended in south philadelphia, he addresses his past and these kids' futures. >> you're about to graduate, man. i see myself again in some of these students. i've had the same struggles. yeah! i felt pain, like these students felt pain. >> reporter: at 22, harris, who was pre-law, is now working toward a teacher certificate. how many male teachers of color did you have growing up? >> i didn't have a male black teacher until my ninth grade year. >> reporter: do you think it matters? >> oh, for sure. >> reporter: in fact, one study shows just one teacher of color in third through fifth grade reduce a student of color's chances of dropping out before graduation by up to 39%. but black men make up just 2% of teachers in america, something sharif el-mekki is on a mission to change. nothing is more effective. >> nothing more effective. >> reporter: ...for black kid than having black teachers. >> absolutely. >> reporter: el-mekki runs the center for black educator development, a nonprofit aimed at attracting more black men into the teaching field. >> if a black child has a black educator, they're less likely to be expelled, suspended, or even referred for disciplinary actions. they're more likely to have a higher sense of belongingness in the classroom and within the school. and we say teachers of color are also important for white students as well. any progress? >> reporter: at the charles f. patton middle school in suburban philadelphia, imere williams is a student teacher. now a college sophomore, he didn't have a black teacher until mr. anderson taught him history in sixth grade. >> he told me to walk in my greatness, and hearing those words come from his mouth was, like, really liberating. it gave me a lot of confidence. >> reporter: had anyone ever said that to you before? >> no. >> reporter: that is exactly why el-mekki wants to quadruple the number of black male teachers over the next 10 years. >> it's as simple as if you can see it, you can be it. you have a black male, who you look exactly like, and it makes you think that they can do it, why can't i? great job today. >> reporter: which may be the most important lesson these kids can ever learn. >> have a good one. have a good one. >> reporter: for "eye on america," i'm jim axelrod in philadelphia. >> o'donnell: and still ahead right here on tonight's "cbs evening news," an update on that mysterious outbreak of severe hepatitis among children. ldren. ♪♪ we all need a rock we can rely on. to be strong. to overcome anything. ♪♪ to be...unstoppable. that's why millions rely on the strength and financial guidance of prudential to achieve their dreams. who's your rock? ♪♪ for copd, ask your doctor about breztri. breztri gives you better breathing, symptom improvement, and helps prevent flare-ups. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition... ...or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling,... ...problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. if you have copd, ask your doctor about breztri. bother the bugs... gotcha. ...not your family. zevo is made with essential oils which attack bugs' biological systems. it gets rid of the bugs plus is safe for use around people and pets. zevo. people-friendly. bug-deadly. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for whatchya... line? 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