there he is. all right. thanks for watching kpix 5 at 6:00. y cbs ♪ ♪ ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs ♪ ♪ ♪ >> o'donnell: tonight, the major news involving your health. the antiviral pill to combat covid that could be available at your pharmacy soon. plus, the change in guidance for taking aspirin. what you need to know. a pandemic game changer? tonight, the biden administration secures 20 million courses of paxlovid. what is it? how does it work? we have all the details. and the breaking news about the booster and kids. plus, as the c.d.c. says most americans have had covid, vice president kamala harris tests positive. so, when was her most recent meeting with president biden? america's military housing crisis: lead, asbestos, mold, and mildew. the investigation tonight into the condition of homes for our service members and their

families. intense fighting in ukraine: as vladimir putin meets with the u.n., the warning tonight that radiation levels are abnormal at chernobyl, on the anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster. the health update: does an aspirin a day still keep the doctor away? tonight, the new guidance for your heart health. we break it down with dr. jon lapook. toxic water: the new technology that could clear potential cancer-causing carcinogens. >> you can't see it. you can't taste it. you can't smell it. >> o'donnell: safe and sound: the happy ending after a baby was kidnapped while his grandma unloaded groceries. ♪ ♪ ♪ and a celebrated orchestra looks to the future of classical music. ♪ ♪ ♪ this is the "cbs evening news" with norah o'donnell, reporting from the nation's capital. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> o'donnell: good evening, and

to our viewers in the west thank you for joining us on this we begin tonight with what could be good news; today, the white house took steps to make a pill for treating covid available to millions more americans. pfizer's antiviral drug paxlovid has been shown to reduce hospitalization or death in people with covid by nearly 90%. the drug that was once dubbed the biggest game-changer since the vaccine, hasn't had a true impact due to a lack of availability. well, the free antiviral drug is available at about 20,000 sites around the country, but now there's hope that could change. that's not the only headline on the pandemic tonight. there's this breaking news. pfizer just asked the f.d.a. to authorize its booster for kids ages 5-11. that's important because the c.d.c. says 75% of that age group has had covid at least once. and here in the nation's capital, we learned vice president kamala harris tested positive for covid-19. the white house says president biden is not considered a close contact. we have a lot of news to get to tonight, and we'll start with cbs' mola lenghi in new york city.

good evening, mola. >> reporter: well, good evening, norah. the vice president tested positive this morning after starting her day at the west wing. we should note, she is vaccinated and boosted. but that comes with the white house already having covid at the top of their agenda with the rollout of a new plan to make that powerful anti-covid drug widely available on pharmacy shelves nationwide. paxlovid is one of the most effective antiviral tools for treating covid. if only more people could get their hands on it. >> over the last few months, the administration has worked very hard with pfizer to increase the supply of paxlovid and acquire more and more doses for the american people. >> reporter: until recently, it was hard to find, but with production up, the biden administration today announced it wants to make paxlovid available for free and is launching an effort to double the supply, getting the pills into 20,000 more pharmacies over the coming weeks. >> if there were ever a drug to

ask your doctor for, paxlovid would be that drug. >> reporter: it reduces the risk of covid hospitalization and death by 89% in high-risk adult patients, and is already authorized for people 12 and over who are considered high risk, often with underlying conditions like obesity, hypertension, diabetes and asthma. but it must be taken within five days of symptoms, often igniting a race to find a pharmacy that actually has it in stock. >> as you can see, the cough is still working its way out. >> reporter: still there. it's a scramble gabe rice knows all too well have you noticed its impact? >> yeah, after a couple of days i definitely was feeling better, feel less fatigued, coughing less, less congested. >> reporter: another key tool in a return to normalcy: the antiviral drug, remdesivir which the f.d.a. just approved to treat children as young as 28 days old with covid, at a time when more than half of all americans, including three out of four children, have now

survived a case of covid. nationwide, covid cases are up 22% over the last week and 45% over the last two weeks. still, covid deaths down over that same period, falling 13% over the last week and 37% the last two weeks. well, also tonight, pfizer has requested that emergency use authorization for its booster shot in children ages 5-11 years old, based on data they submitted to the f.d.a. a third dose of their vaccine showed significant protection against the virus in that 5-11 age group. norah. >> o'donnell: lots of headlines there, mola lenghi. thank you. now to an alarming story that cbs news has covered for years-- hazardous living conditions in military housing run by private contractors. and tonight, the danger still exists for those who serve our country. cbs' nikole killion reports tonight on the on-going problems, even after one of the companies will was find tens of millions of dollars for wrongdoing.

>> reporter: u.s. army captain samuel choe traveled all the way from his post in south korea to capitol hill. >> no one else will stick up for my daughter. >> reporter: describing in painful detail the severe eczema she suffers after her family lived in a mold-infested home at fort gordon, georgia. >> her skin, once youthful and supple, and now reptilian in nature, to where there are numerous times she would wake up in the middle of the night, hands covered in blood. how do you explain to an eight- year-old child why she should endure something like that. >> reporter: choe was one of several service members who testified before a senate investigative committee, probing balfour beatty, one of the nation's largest private military housing companies. a panel report found the contractor has engaged in ongoing mistreatment and mismanagement that has put the health and safety of military families at risk. senator jon ossoff chaired the review. >> we're talking about lead, asbestos, mold, and mildew,

ceilings falling in, requests for urgent maintenance, never acted on. it's completely unacceptable. >> reporter: last year, the company pleaded guilty to fraud and was fined $65 million for falsifying work orders to obtain performance bonuses from the military. >> why should we believe, mr. taylor, a company that engaged in major fraud against the united states is fixing this? >> things go wrong. we don't always get it right the first time. we're not perfect. >> their explanation, i believe, is very coached. >> reporter: at this point, what do you want? >> there is no resolution for my daughter. but i would like for her to have the quality of life that she deserves. >> reporter: at least one advocacy group says it has fielded hundreds of complaints from military families. chairman ossoff told me he plans to follow up with the pentagon and the justice department. norah. >> o'donnell: let's turn now overseas to ukraine where president volodymyr zelenskyy just made a surprise visit to a children's hospital in kyiv to

visit orphans who lost their parents from the russian bombings in mariupol. meanwhile, after meeting with the u.n. secretary-general in moscow, russian president vladimir putin agreed in principle to a plan to evacuate citizens from that steel plant in mariupol. cbs' chris livesay reports tonight from kyiv. >> reporter: putin continues to build up forces in ukraine's east, but now, signs of russian aggression moving west, starting with ukraine's biggest port city of odessa. the scene of recent missile strikes. the latest taking out a key bridge to romania, a nato ally. this is ukraine's last coastal stronghold. you lose this city, and you lose this sea. and possibly the war. odessa is also on the way to transanistria, the pro-kremlin breakaway region of moldova, where russian troops are based. and for two days, the scene of mysterious explosions, including

government locations. moldova, ever more vulnerable to a possible russian invasion, says the blasts were aimed at creating pretext for straining the security situation. in moscow, state tv asked russian foreign minister sergey lavrov about the threat of a nuclear world war iii. "the danger is serious, real, and we must not underestimate it," he said. in recent days, russian missiles have repeatedly flown directly over ukrainian nuclear facilities, hardly the first brushes with disaster. europe's biggest nuclear power plant in zaporizhzhia was seized by russian forces last month. ukraine's nuclear power authority tells cbs news that it narrowly avoided a catastrophe unlike anything we've seen since the explosion in chernobyl 36 years ago today. early this morning, the sky was pitch-black as survivors marked the anniversary in slavutych,

the nearby town built from scratch specifically for evacuees like alexey, who worked at the react. at the reactor. "we never could have expected such a disaster," he says, "just as we never expected russia's invasion of ukraine." with the threat of shelling high, no light is allowed, save for these candles to honor the dead, now, not for one tragedy but for two. and it's hard to overstate the risks russia is taking. when we spoke to the head of ukraine's nuclear energy program, he said he fears the people who would fire on nuclear facilities are the same kind of people who could fire nuclear weapons. norah. >> o'donnell: chris livesay in ukraine, thank you. tonight, a mother is speaking out as she seeks justice in the death of her 14-year-old son who was killed in a fall from an amusement park ride in orlando. nekia dodd says her son's death could have been prevented, and she's demanding changes. here's cbs' michael george.

>> reporter: nekia dodd can't stop thinking about the last conversation she had with her son. >> he turns around and says, "i'll see you saturday or either sunday." and that was my last time speaking to my son. >> reporter: 14-year-old tyre sampson died last month after he slipped through the seat of an orlando free fall ride. dodd says the phone call she received broke her heart. >> it was like a movie. i think i'm in a movie. am i dreaming? no, no. i mean, the worst nightmare ever when you see your child on a vacation with family and friends, and he didn't return from the vacation. that's-- that's gruesome. it's horrible. >> reporter: sampson's parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against icon park, the manufacturer and operator of the ride. a recent state safety report concluded tyre's seat safety censors were manually adjusted at some point and the left the

gap between the harness and the seat more than twice the typical size to accommodate the 380- pound teen. >> reporter: the manufacturer required maximum weight was 287 pounds and it's right in the manufacturer's manual. >> reporter: miss dodd, to you, was this more than an accident? >> it's a tragic accident, yes. me, my personal opinion, it's murder. >> reporter: orlando slingshot, which operates the free fall says it is cooperating with the investigation adding, "all protocols, procedures and safety measures provided by manufacturers of the ride were followed." tyre's mother now wants accountability for the son who was affectionately called the gentle giant. >> he did not deserve this. >> reporter: the family believes a simple $22 seat belt could have saved tyre's life. they're calling for them to be installed on similar rides. norah. >> o'donnell: michael george, thank you. tonight, a major reversal by an

influential physician advisory task force on who should take an aspirin a day to prevent heart attacks and strokes. cbs news chief medical correspondent dr. jon lapook is here to explain. good to have you, dr. lapook. why was this change recommended? >> for years there's been a been a gradual evolution of guidance about who should be taking low-dose aspirin to prevent a first heart attack or stroke. we have seen a shift away recommending it widely because of the risk, especially bleeding into the gastrointestinal track or the brain. there were two major recommendations today. first, adults 60 and over should not start taking aspirin toingo prevent cardiovascular disease for that group, the risks are felt to outweigh the potential benefits. the second recommendation, if you're 40-59 and have an estimated 10% or greater 10-year risk of having a heart attack or stroke, starting low-dose aspirin at say, 81 milligrams a day, may provide a small benefit. your healthcare provider can calculate that risk using an on- line calculator. >> o'donnell: who should keep taking their low-dose aspirin?

>> reporter: so important. people who have symptoms or evidence of cardiovascular disease. for example, somebody who has already had a heart attack or stroke should keep taking their aspirin. and this new guidance is also not for people who need to take aspirin for some other condition, and it's also not for people who need to avoid aspirin because they have an increased risk of bleeding. and finally, if you're already taking aspirin and you don't fit into those categories-- that's lots of people out there-- check with your healthcare provider. >> o'donnell: check with your doctor. dr. jon lapook, thank you so much. tonight, researchers estimate that more than 200 million americans in all 50 states could have toxic chemicals in their drinking water. they're called pfas, which until now has been virtually indestructable.s, which until now has b cbs' mark strassmann shows us a new technology that could calm our water worries. >> it's incredible the amount of pfas. >> reporter: sandy wynn-stelt discovered too late her michigan home sat across from a former

home sat across from a for waste dump. >> my well tested at, i don't know, 25, 30 thousand parts for trillion and the e.p.a. health advisory is 70. >> reporter: her husband, joel, died of cancer six years ago. she has had thyroid cancer. for more than 20 years, they drank well water contaminated with possible carcinogens called pfas. >> you can't see it. you can't taste it. you can't smell it. you will not know there it's unless you test for it. >> reporter: pfas, manmade practically indestructible chemicals resist oil and water. they have been found in fire fighting foam, facial makeup, and nonstick cookware. and this is an issue in all 50 states. >> all 50 states, that's correct. amy dindal is with battelle, a scientific nonprofit with promise technology to eliminate the pfas threat. >> it's pumping the dirty water into our system. >> reporter: this dirty water is contaminated. >> this is where our reaction system is happening here. >> reporter: this is where the

pfas go away? >> that's correct. >> reporter: intense heat and pressure break down the chemical bonds. it takes seconds. >> i absolutely think it's an answer nobody has had before. >> reporter: brian recatto, c.e.o. of a waste management company partnering with battelle. >> we're hoping to have a scalable version of the plant in six to eight months. >> reporter: so end of the year. >> yeah. >> reporter: this new technology could put these forever chemicals in the past. mark strassmann, cbs news, grand rapids, michigan. >> o'donnell: and still ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news," a kidnapped three-month-old baby is found safe. what we know about the possible suspects. and the scary moment at a youth league game that sent everyone running for cover. ryoneer. nah i'm totally chill i just... wait... is it here? relax, our treats from chewy always arrive super fast.

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live bountifully. >> o'donnell: the chicago symphony orchestra's core mission it to enrich, inspire, and transform lives through music. it's doing just that by breaking down barriers and introducing a new and more diverse generation to the world of classical music. here's cbs' charlie de mar. >> reporter: from wednesday inside one of america's great symphony hall come the sounds of inclusion. >> there are so many great musicians of color, but you never see them all in one room playing together at once. >> reporter: anika veda is a high school senior from suburban chicago, and on this night, she's playing flute, alongside some of the best musicians in the world. nervous at all?

>> a little nervous. >> reporter: she's one of 50 gifted young musicians from 10 cities who spent a weekend with the chicago symphony orchestra, a symposium for diverse performers. >> this is the first time i've been in an orchestra where almost everybody is from the same background as me or looks like me. it's just an incredibly diverse array of musicians. >> reporter: anika and the others are getting an opportunity stanford thompson never did as a budding trumpeter in atlanta. he's now the chairman of a network that mentors classical musician of color. >> i think it kind of sends a signal that they aren't alone, that they are on this journey with others that are trying to become professional musicians. >> reporter: the first movement in a long journey to diversity in classical music with a finale yet to be written. ( applause ) charlie de mar, cbs news, chicago. >> o'donnell: and we'll be right back. back.

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. >> o'donnell: on >> o'donnell: on tomorrow's "cbs evening news," the drastic life changes that some retirees are making due to rising inflation. and that's tonight's "cbs evening news." i'm norah o'donnell here in our nation's capital. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

right now at 7:00. >> crazy. surreal. >> it is usually pretty quiet here. >> i kidnapped baby found safe after a frantic search in san jose. what we know about the people in custody and the tip that led . >> this is apparent's worst nightmare. we are fortunate this resulted in a positive outcome. elevated drought emergency. new water restrictions and possible penalties coming to people in the east bay. and the two big bay area cities that could vote any minute to prevent cars from a pair of popular destinations. right now streaming on cbs news bay area, police say the kidnapping of a three-month-old baby in san jose was no random crime. thank you for joining us this

evening. i am elizabeth cook. >> and i am ryan yamamoto. this morning about six miles from where he was taken yesterday afternoon. police say a person working nearby called in a tip after spotting the vehicle investigators were looking for. there is still no word on the motive for the kidnapping, but police say it was definitely planned because the man seen on camera walking away with the infant brought his own baby carrier. they also tell us there is some kind of connection between the baby's family and the three people in custody. >> this is still a very active investigation. even though we found the child, which of course is the most important thing, and we believe we have people in custody who are responsible. there is so much more for the detectives to do. >> pretty hectic. i never imagined it happening on this block. >> the 24 hour air deal can people awake all night. police canvassed the neighborhood. neighbors say they were happy tolp