cb ♪ ♪ ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs >> brennan: tonight, the surprising jobs report. hiring surges in july with u.s. employers adding 528,000 new jobs, more than double what economists expected. but underneath the blockbuster numbers, worrying economic signs that inflation may get worse. and some small businesses are still struggling to find workers. extreme weather: a lightning strike kills three near the white house. a water spout in maryland. >> oh, no! >> brennan: and the flash flood risk returns to hard-hit eastern kentucky. breaking news: a jury orders conspiracy theorist alex jones to pay tens of millions more in damages. global tensions rise. china cuts off contacts with the u.s. on vital issues and stages military drills off taiwan's coast.

the white house warns it's provocative and irresponsible. our interview with taiwan's top representative to the u.s. are you ready for what may be coming? plus, russia finally says it's ready to talk about a prisoner swap. and basketball star brittney griner. the c.d.c.'s new covid recommendations. the nation's top public health agency agency is expected to ease guidelines, just as students return to schools. and "on the road": how one woman's passion for grammar is taking her across the country. ♪ ♪ ♪ this is the "cbs evening news" with norah o'donnell, reporting from the nation's capital. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> brennan: good evening, to our viewers in the west, thank you for joining us. i'm margaret brennan, in for norah. tonight, america's economy has recovered from the pandemic. the labor market has regained of tens of millions of jobs lost when covid first hit u.s.

shores. a stunningly strong jobs report shows a hiring surge in july. employers added 528,000 jobs last month, the biggest gains since february. the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5%, matching the lowest rate in more than 50 years. the gains were across many sectors, including leisure and hospitality, business and professional services, government, and construction. but there are still flashing warning signs ahead as inflation remains high. we have a lot of news to get to tonight, and cbs' kris van cleave is here to start us off. good evening to you, kris. >> reporter: margaret, that 3.5% unemployment number comes with a caveat, because the overall labor pool is getting smaller. 63,000 people left the workforce last month alone, and while low unemployment is usually a good thing, the recovery remains uneven. a summer surprise: the labor

market bouncing back, taking 2.5 years to undo what covid did in a matter of weeks. >> we're almost at 10 million jobs. almost 10 million jobs since i took office. that's the fastest job growth in history. >> reporter: the stunning july job numbers mean the economy has now recouped all 22 million jobs lost early in the pandemic. >> it is very difficult to square the fact that we can create a half a million jobs in the month of july, and also believe that the u.s. is in a recession. so i think we put the "r" word off to the side, at least for another month. >> reporter: but the news is not all good. small businesses, like ford's fish shack in loudon county, virginia, still cannot find enough workers. >> you know, i could take 10-12 people right now and start them to work tomorrow in each one of my restaurants. >> reporter: even after raising wages, owner tony stafford is down at least 20% of his workforce and his costs have jumped by a third. customers are also cutting back. >> people are not buying that other bottle of wine or that extra appetizer, so i really see people kind of closing their wallets up in our restaurants.

>> reporter: that has to be a concern for you. >> all of a sudden we're not getting the guests coming in the front door which is more concerning. >> reporter: wages grew by over 5% last month, well behind the rate of inflation, meaning many workers are making more but living with less. the food pantry at st. thomas episcopal church in richmond is seeing triple the number of families in need. >> we see people who are working their tails off at jobs every single day coming to our food pantry on the way home from work picking up food for their children. >> reporter: what the employment numbers won't do is slow down inflation, and that may prompt the federal reserve to pursue another substantial rate hike as soon as next month. margaret. >> brennan: thank you, kris. in congress, senate democrats are on the verge of a major legislative victory on a spending package aimed at tackling climate change, expanding healthcare, and capping drug prices. cbs' scott macfarlane is here with why things on capitol hill

are so fragile. >> reporter: no margin for error this weekend, margaret. let me take you inside the capitol and show you yp in the u.s. senate where there are 50 democrats, 50 republicans, any one democrat can derail any legislation, and there are two pivotal moderates this weekend. joe manchin of west virginia, he helped broker this deal. arizona's kyrsten sinema appears to have been the last holdout and they made a change to her for the tax provisions. the bill includes a 15% tax rate for major corporations. a big boost in funding for the i.r.s., and there was a $14 billion plan to change how investments were made for investment funds. but that's been eliminated. senator sinema wanted it out. what's all the money for? partly for climate change investments, including making it easier for people to buy electric cars. expanding access to the affordable care act and health

insurance, and an attempt to lower prescription drug costs. but this bill is a fraction of the original multitrillion- dollar plan president biden pitched last year. if they get it, it's a big win for president biden and for all those men and women in the blue seats, margaret. >> brennan: indeed it will be. we'll be tracking that. thank you so much, scott. tonight, a line of severe weather is moving across the country from the ohio valley to the northeast. heavy rains and thunderstorms will bring threats of flash flooding, strong winds and dangerous lightning. kentucky is also bracing for more rain in an area already devastated by historic floods.tf another storm turned deadly last night outside the white house. justin michaels from our partners the weather channel report. >> reporter: the lightning bolt split the sky, striking four people in lafayette park just across from the white house. today, we learned the names of two of the three people who died. 76-year-old james mueller and 75-year-old donna mueller, both from wisconsin. one other person is in the hospital. they all were struck near a tree during the storm.

>> all of a sudden, this lightning came. and i'm not exaggerating, it came this close to us. and we were going, whoa! >> oh, no! >> reporter: that storm also spawned this water spout, which made landfall as an ef1 tornado on maryland's smith island. high winds ripped through homes, leaving a path of debris. tonight, hard-hit eastern kentucky is bracing for more. >> biggest concern today is weather. we have a slow-moving thunderstorm that could lead to heavy rainfall at times through saturday. >> reporter: debris from last week's storm is still piled high, leaving many roads blocked. in the the town of arie, mud still cakes classrooms and the high-water mark is still visible on the walls.s >> we have a community that's hurt. >> we're hopeful that we can get school back. we're hopeful that we can get our community back. >> reporter: unwelcome weather

here again in eastern kentucky tonight with more rain in the forecast. also, a flood watch in place until 8:00 tomorrow moring. also today, margaret, we learned the president and first lady will be here monday. margaret. >> brennan: justin, thank you. well, president biden is dealing with rising tension on two fronts tonight-- russia and china. as mariya putina's war in >> reporter: brittney griner's ukraine and imprisonment of americans continues, now china's leaders of warning of risk of war with the u.s. steven portnoy is tracking new developments at the white house. >> reporter: >>eer inspired every day.

>> reporter: brittney griner's w.n.b.a. teammates huddled last night in a moment of solidarity after she was sentenced to spend nine years in a russian prison. president biden said today he's hopeful she'll be returned. >> we're working hard. >> reporter: the u.s. has proposed a prisoner swap. it reportedly involves the u.s. sending back viktor bout. in cambodia, the russian foreign minister said his side is ready to discuss the proposal, but sergey lavrov called public discussion of the swap a problem. secretary of state antony blinken was all in cambodia for a southeast asia summit but the two men never met. >> they are prepared to engage through channels we've established trood just that. >> reporter: blinken also blasted china for what he called

an over-reaction to house speaker nancy pelosi's recent visit. the chinese have begun a series of missile launches towards taiwan. >> there is no justification for this extreme, disproportionate, and escalatory military response. >> reporter: china has also called off planned talks with the u.s. on a range of defense matters, transnational crime, and even climate change. on thursday, the white house summoned china's ambassador for a formal rebuke, ambassador qin gang responded in a "washington post" op-ed, calling the question of taiwan one of the very few issues that might take china and the united states to conflict. the way the chinese see it, speaker of the house is the third highest ranking official in the u.s. government. they say that nancy pelosi's visit to taiwan violates america's long-standing pledge not to have formal relations with taiwan. margaret. >> brennan: steven portnoy. we'll be tracking that story and the u.s. has committed to helping taiwan defend itself but it remains unclear if the u.s. would militarily intervene to stop a chinese invasion of that self-governed island. we spoke earlier with china's top diplomat in the u.s., bi- khim hsiao. president biden indicated the military wasn't enthusiastic about speaker pelosi visiting. she spoke openly about the risk of her plane being shot down. did taiwan ever have that level of concern that there was a risk here? >> yeah, we have been livingivig under the thre under the threat from china for decades, and we cannot let their ongoing threats define our

desire to make friends internationally. if you have a kid being bullied at school, you don't say, "you don't go to school." you try to find a way to deal with the bully. and that's exactly what taiwan is doing, working on making our society stronger and more resilient, fortifying our defenses. >> brennan: beijing has sent 68 warplanes, 16 warships right off your coast. do you believe this is just a drill? >> china's behavior is unprecedented, and from the scope and, you know, the actions it appears that they have been preparing for this for some time, way before speaker pelosi decided to visit taiwan. >> brennan: taiwan's defense minister said just last year that china weathercaster capability to launch an invasion by 2025. are you ready for what may be coming? >> we do not intend, nor are we able to engage in an arms race with china.

but we are going to be smart and asymmetrical about our own capabilities. >> brennan: when you talk to biden administration officials, they will say xi jinping, the president of china is taking notes. he is watching what mariya putina is doing right now in ukraine as a test case to see what he can get away with in taiwan. >> i think we are all learning lessons. we have to be stronger in our own self-defenses. we have to work hard to galvanize international support in working to deter that tragic scenario from ever happening. >> brennan: you can watch more of our interview with representative hsiao, sunday on face the nation. israel unleashed air strikes in the gaza strip today. palestinian officials say dozens were wounded and at least 10 people were killed, including a

five-year-old child, as well as a senior militant. tensions in the region have been on the rise following the arrest of another senior militant in the occupied west bank. there's breaking news in the alex jones defamation trial. we'll have the details when we we'll have the details when we come back in 60 seconds. in vann and i write mystery novels. i have flinn and a new puppy. as i was writing, i found that i just wasn't as sharp and i new i needed to do something so i started taking prevagen. i realized that i was much more clear and i was remembering the details that i was supposed to. prevagen keeps my brain working right. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

. >> brennan: a texas jury has >> brennan: a texas jury has ordered conspiracy theorist alex jones to pay $45.2 million in punitive damages to the parents of a first grader killed in the 2012 sandy hook elementary school massacre. that's in addition to $4.1 million in expensatory damages. the right wing radio host falsely claimed the 2012 mass shooting that killed 20 children and six adults was a hoax. in northeastern pennsylvania, a criminal investigation is under way tonight after a house fire

killed 10 people, including three children. a volunteer firefighter told a local newspaper when he arrived at the scene, he realized the victims were his own relatives. he said 14 people were living in that house. the youngest victim was five years old. up next, c.d.c. is expected to ease its covid-19 guidelines. what that means for students as they head back to school. fields "open". who doesn't love "open"? offices. homes. stages. possibilities. your world. . possibilities. t thaten w opay. ♪♪ ready to shine from the inside out? say “yes” to nature's bounty advanced gummies and jelly beans. the number one brand for hair, skin and nails. with two times more biotin

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those new guidelines could mean big changes in how schools manage covid infections. cbs' nancy chen has those details. >> reporter: as students go back to class, cbs news has obtained a copy of the c.d.c.'s draft document expected to ease code guidelines controlling the spread of the virus. michael osterholm is an infectious disease expert. >> this virus is going to be here with us in the days ahead, and we have got to learn to live with it. >> reporter: while the guidelines are not final yet, we're learning some of the proposed changes. de-emphasizing six-feet social distancing and removing the so- called "test to stay" recommendations, in which students exposed to covid-19 take regular tests to stay in the classroom. >> the c.d.c. is going to say we should go back to school relatively normally are minimal restrictions, then count me in. >> reporter: michael cornell, a superintendent in western new york, says his students need to get back to normal. >> we have to focus on making sure our kids experience joy, value, and connection in school. >> reporter: another possible change: unvaccinated people exposed to covid-19 will no

longer need to quarantine, instead masking for 10 days, and testing five days after exposure. the proposed changes are raise something concerns with less than half of school-aged children fully vaccinated, and the majority of americans living in community with high rates of covid. but osterholm says virus is still evolving. >> as this virus continues to change over time, we might be revising these guidelines again. >> reporter: the latest guidelines would be part agency's plans to help americans live with covid for the long term, margaret. >> brennan: nancy, thank you very much. "on the road" is next, and we end this week with a big exclamation point. ek with a big.

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>> brennan: you may not know it from the text messages and emails you receive, but cbs' steve hartman found out grammar still matters, at least "on the road." >> reporter: what would you think if you were out walking, shopping, or doing some other gerund, hello. >> reporter: out of nowhere a woman on the street propositioned you. >> over is a preposition, under is a preposition. >> reporter: you might think who is this crazy lady. >> do you have any grammar questions. >> reporter: who sees grammar as such an imperative she sets up a table to talk about it. >> because i love grammar so much-- >> reporter: you couldn't think of anything so much. >> it's the anchor. right now we are using words.

we would just be looking at each other. >> reporter: as we first reported in 2019 ellen jovin runs a company training people in business communications, but her real passion is linguistics so to share her knowledge and have some fun, ellen began setting up her grammar table around new york city where she lives, and it worked so well she took the table to the collective noun that is america. we caught up with her here in new hope, pennsylvania, where ellen reminded people how to diagram sentences, explain when to use who and whom, and even answered something i've always wondered about: does the period have to go inside the quotation mark or can it go outside in certain circumstances? how about "the story steve did on the grammar lady was interesting." where does the period go there. i'm using "interesting" in an ironic way. >> yes, i understand that, completely. but it always goes inside. in this sentence. >> reporter: ellen says her favorite part is settling grammar disputes between husbands and wives. >> in my experience, usually if

a couple comes up, usually the woman is right. i 19, in my limited-- limited-- >> reporter: i'm grammarless right now. she hung me out like a dangling modifier, but you gotta love her passion. since we first told this story, ellen has taken her table across the country and even written a book about the experience called "rebel with a clause." ellen says americans are way more interested in grammar than some cynical reporters would have you believe, and she may be right. >> yes! >> reporter: i mean, this guy at a red light just had to know, "do you always capitalize after a colon." >> if it's only a piece of a sentence, definitely no cap. >> okay. >> reporter: that made her day, one more proper usage in ellen's never-ending quest to make us, 'all gooder at wording stuff.' >> thank you for stopping by. >> reporter: steve hartman, "on the road," in new hope, pennsylvania. >> brennan: we'll be right back with an amazing photo that was too good to be true. positive.

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in store or online. >> brennan: tonight, a prominent french scientist is apologizing after tweeting a photo he claimed was the image of a distant star taken by the james webb space telescope. thousands of people viewed the image, but it turns out, it was actually a close-up photo of a slice of chorzio sausages. he said it was supposed to be a joke. and that's tonight's "cbs evening news." for norah o'donnell, i'm margaret brennan. good night. ♪ ♪ ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs

captioned by media access group at wgbh right now at 7:00. >> more than 100 performances and tens of thousands of excited fans. outside lands is back in swing in san francisco's golden gate park. >> good food, good drinks. >> laakland >> we'reo serve our he bacwn. community by any means necessary. restaurant in oakland's little saigon ransacked by burglars. at least six other businesses hit the same night. now owners are questioning why it took police hours to respond. >> they came a little earlier, then at least. so businesses would have been fine. right now on the kpix 5 news

at 7:00 and streaming on "cbs news bay area," a live look at the main stage at san francisco's outside lands where lil uzi vert is about to perform followed by the headliner sza. good evening. i'm elizabeth cook. >> i'm ryan yamamoto. chopper5 flew over thereha 200, expected for that three-day event. max darrow checked out the festival, even heard from one of the performers. ♪ >> reporter: outside lands is back in full swing. outside lands, baby. >> excited for music, good food and drinks. >> reporter: she snagged a spot as close to the stage as she could. >> it's amazing. a lot of artists that i really wanted to see are here and from just looking at the set list i was able to find a bunch of new artists i like. >> reporter: more than 100 artists p