Midmorning With Aundrea - August 20, 2020 (Part 1)

With many child care centers closed due to the pandemic, many parents are looking for fun and educational activities for their young children.

And a new documentary describes the humiliating debacle in 1980 in which the Carter Administration attempted to rescue 53 hostages in the American embassy in Iran.

Well with many child care centers across the nation closed, parents are left looking for fun and educational activities for their young children.

Danya bacchus shows us how some are making sure that's as easy as opening a box.

The frustration of juggling work and childcare is all too familiar for parents-especially ones with preschool aged children- "hi everyone w want to welcome you to preschool it's the reason why kt tidwell and melaine haines felt compelled to offer a solution.

"we felt like w were leaving our families hanging.

And we have had this idea for a long time of extending school to home."

They temporarily closed their child care center when the pandemic hit.

To help parents- they created joey school preschool boxes- a monthly box full of everything a parent needs--from ribbon wands to flashcards-- to do lessons and hands on educational activities with their children.

"it cover everything from phonics to music and art.

So it's everything that we would cover in our preschool curriculum."

According to the national association for the education of young children, -18 percent of the more than five- thousand child care centers surveyed remain closed.

If they are open, on average, enrollment is down by 67 percent.

"can you find th color yellow."

That means parents like amber walunas-are left trying to figure out learning on their own.

I just like burnt out, like, i can't teach a first grader and teach a preschooler and try to entertain the two-year-old.

For her, the joey school box takes out the guesswork.

"i mean yo honestly just have to read the instructions.

I mean, and it tells you, day by day activity by activity."

There are other monthly subscription boxes available- sensory theraplay is designed for children on the autism spectrum or with sensory processing needs.

And wonderkits are for science and math activities.

"letter a says ah ah, ah" the joey school box subscription costs 99 dollars a month and amber says it's well worth it.

Danya bacchus, cbs news, los angeles.

The joey school also offers a weekly virtual interactive experience for kids.

Some nurses and other frontline healthcare workers will soon be walking down the wedding aisle in style thanks to a local bridal shop.

Elise preston reports.

It took a pandemic for many people to recognize the heroic efforts of healthcare workers&..and now one bridal shop in virginia is finding another way to honor the women on the front lines of covid-19.

I put the veil on and started crying.

Taylor bass is one of 75 medical workers getting a free designer wedding dress from "ava clar couture bridal" i virginia beach.

"we need to b giving them the utmost support and appreciation because they're putting themselves out there.

They're the real heroes."

Owner alex fleehar feels it is the least she can do for engaged women who have risked their lives for months.

A number of designers helped with donations&.

Some gowns are worth up to $4000.

I feel very beautiful, kind of puffy.

"it just took weight off our shoulders and i'm very appreciative for the opportunity."

Over 600 medical workers from all over the country applied for the give-away.

Elise preston, cbs news new york.

It's all-but- impossible to hug those near and dear to us from six feet away.

So - what to do?

Luke burbank has been asking the experts: vo: you might have seen this video when it first went viral - you know back in the "befor times" vo: it's adorable, sure - but it also demonstrates something about us humans& about something we need&that we're not getting enough of these days.

Emiliana simon- thomas: 00:11:52 when we hug a person /// both people in that exchange release oxytocin.

Vo: that's right, we're not getting our daily requirement of hugs& says emiliana simon- thomas who studies human happiness at uc berkley& 00:12:10 when we release oxytocin, we feel pleasure, we feel warmth, we feel-- that sense of-- of safety.

Our stress physiology becomes quieter.

Oxytocin is a really important part of our collective demeanor as-- as a species.

Vo: a species that these days, is ásupposed to beá socially distanced which& while safer&can feel very isolating.

In just a few months we went from this to this &and to&well&well even the slightly more absurd& vo: of course hugs& can get a little awkward sometimes but zero physical contact can be bad for our health& emiliana simon thomas says& there are some ways to keep connected to each other.

Emiliana simon- thomas: 00:16:31 i think it's gonna' be a challenge.

And i think we are gonna have to take on some compensatory behaviors.

If it's something like making eye contact more deliberately with other people who we encounter, even at a six foot distance, in times where previously we would've just walked by, we need to make that eye contact.

Vo: simon-thomas says there are still things we can do to boost our oxytocin - engaging in small talk with strangers, and even hugging ourselves, solo, can help make up for some of this loss of human connection..

Vo: but the big question is&.

Is hugging someone outside your bubble ever okay these days?

Linsey marr: 15:09:16 /// if you want zero risk, don't hug.

Vo: linsey marr is an environmental engineer at virginia tech and a leading expert on how the virus is transmitted&she says there's still hope for the hug - but there are some rules.

Linsey marr: /// if there's-- there's someone you really wanna hug-- i think the safest way to do it is to, first of all, make sure both people are wearing a mask.

Second of all, keep your faces away from each other, in fact, pointing in opposite directions.

/// when you come in, you know, if you're gonna hug, do it kind of, start from a distance, cross that distance quickly to get to your hug vo: if you're having trouble visualizing it, the new york times published this handy guide to safe, or at least safe-er hugging... for reference...based on marr's recommendations.

Vo: meanwhile, in washington state, where i live, some of the strict quarantine measures were lifted... which had me excited to hug my daughter for the first time in 3 months... luke on camera / cell footage: /// so i printed out this helpful graphic from that ny times article and texted it to her, so we're on the same page about safe hugging and she just showed up, so um let's see how this goes... luke burbank: 15:12:31 /// can we analyze this hug that i-- i gave my daughter-- dr. marr?

Linsey marr: 15:12:55 the hug was-- was great, because you were both wearing masks.

It looks like you pointed your faces away from each other.

You didn't talk during it.

It was-- it was fairly-- it was, you know, a normal length hug.

/// 15:13:12 i guess if i had to critique one thing, there was a bit-- you know, maybe a few seconds where you kind of lingered at a distance of a few feet, like, taking each other in.

And that is-- that's where you kind of want to sprint to-- to get to your hug, do the hug, and then sprint away from each other.

But otherwise, i would say that's a pretty good hug.

Vo: a pretty good hug, and when in doubt, says simon- thomas, even the memory of a good hug can go a long way.

Emiliana simon- thomas: 00:29:36 absolutely.

I think we all have to sort of figure that-- equation out for ourselves.

And then i also think for adults in particular, we can use our powers of visualization.

We can imagine the times that we have been touching people who we trust and care about, and when we've gotten that kind of physical contact from them.

Vo: so go ahead and watch all the adorable hugging videos you want..

After all, it's self- care.

Something we can all use a little more of these days.

A a rescue mission that made into the history for all the wrong reasons.

We preview a new documentary when we back in the spring of 1980, president jimmy carter gave the order to rescue 53 hostages held in the u-s embassy in iran.

The debacle that followed is the subject of a new documentary and national security correspondent.

David martin has the details.

It is an indelible image of american military failure.

The wreckage of the disastrous attempt to rescue american hostages from iran 40 years ago.

Schaefer 154754: it's 40 years, yes, and it's something you never get over.

You think about it a lot.

Jim schaefer was badly burned when the helicopter he was flying crashed into a troop transport at a place called desert one in the middle of iran's great salt desert.

Schaefer: there's no scarring left on my face.

Martin 154603: what are your injuries like today?

Schaefer 154609: mainly i suffer a lot because i dream about that almost every night.

The neck is very sore and i have a hard time turning.// other than that, the burns have all cleaned up.

Martin 154841: no scars on your face, but it sounds like you still have plenty of scars.

Schaefer 154848: all my scars are in my head and i think about that to this day.

53 americans were being held hostage by iranians who seized the u.s. embassy in tehran, and president jimmy carter ordered a mission to rescue them.

Ishimoto: personally, i didn't think we had much of a chance, but that was my personal opinion, which i did not voice because clearly when the president of the united states says go, you go.

Wade ishimoto was a member of delta force, a hostage rescue team led by a charismatic army colonel -- charging charlie beckwith.

Ishimoto 013016: you either loved him or you hated him and sometimes you did both on the same day.

Beckwith and his force of 123 men -- looking pretty scruffy for a military unit -- took off from an isolated air strip in egypt.

Beckwith has since passed away.

Jerry boykin was one of his squad leaders and bucky burruss was his deputy.

Burruss 102639: colonel beckwith gave us a pep talk.

Jerry boykin lead us in prayer and then i .

Led us in singing gold bless america and off we went.

What happened on that high risk mission is relived in a new documentary by oscar-winning film maker barbara kopple.

Operator: hold for the president.

It includes never before heard conversations between president carter and joint chiefs chairman general david jones.

Carter: do you have any reports on the helicopters location?

Jones: they have passed the point of no return and they are only within 30 minutes of the landing point.

Eight helicopters had to fly nearly 700 miles to a desert landing strip where they would rendezvous with delta force, flying in on c-130s.

But one helicopter dropped out because of an impending blade failure.

The remaing seven had to grope their way through unexpected clouds of dust.

At first, jim schaefer thought it was fog.

Schaefer 152324: i licked my finger, stuck it out the little window on the side and brought it back in, and it was full of dust.

.152424: it was kind of harrowing.

.

We were about 300 feet and we couldn't see the ground at 300 feet, disoriented, another helicopter turned back.

The remaing six finally made it to desert one where delta force was having its own problems. a bus full of iranians had appeared on a dirt road that ran through the landing zone.

As illustrated in the documentary, delta stopped it with a grenade round and detained the passengers.

Then wade ishimoto saw another set of headlights coming and ordered one of his men to stop it with an anti-tank weapon.

Ishimoto 015012: and the next words out of my mouth are, "hol mackeral, a fuel truck."

We hit 3,000 gallon fuel transporter truck.

A mission which depended on delta force reaching the embassy without being detected was lighting up the night sky.

Burruss 100107: i remember looking at that thing burning and seeing this bus and these shadows and beckwith saying "welcome to worl war iii."

President carter called joint chiefs chairman jones to find out what was happening.

Carter: do you recall why we decided to land just adjacent to a highway?

Jones: it's not a highway, sir.

It's a little road.

It was the only place we'd been able to find so far that we could land.

But that was not the worst of it.

A hydraulic pump on one of the remaing helicopters was glowing red hot.

The mission was now down to five helicopters which was not enough to pull off the rescue.

Ishimoto 015930: in mission planning, the, the agreement in the plan said we must leave desert one with at least six viable helicopters.

With the mission scrubbed, the rescue force had to get out of iran as fast as possible.

Jim schaefer started moving his helicopter away from a c-130.

Schaefer 153702: not realizing that the air traffic controller guy on the ground was getting dust so bad into his mask that he was backing up.

153719: as he backed up, he was getting closer to the c-130 and i didn't realize i was kind of drifting sideways to the right.

Schaefer's rotor blades sliced into the c-130.

Schaefer 153738: the next thing i know we were on fire and on the ground.

Three marines, including his crew chief were in the back.

Schaefer 153801: he said, "i need som help."

153821: and heard this horrible scream.

Schaefer dove out his window to the ground but part of delta force was trapped in the back of the burning c-130.

Somehow they all got through a single door and escaped through the flames.

Burruss 100746: it looked like something from a movie.

These people walking out of, they looked like they were walking out of hell.

Eight americans were killed -- five crew members of the c-130 and three in the back of schaefer's helicopter.

Their bodies left behind.

Ishimoto 020951: the fire was so intense.

We knew it would be at least a couple of hours before it burnt out.// so the tough decision was made that we've got to leave those bodies.

Martin 155221: do you blame yourself in any way?

Schaefer 155228: i blame myself for a lot of ways, especially for the crash and the loss of the lives.

There was eight lives killed.

I hate to say it.

I hold myself personally responsible for it.

Burruss 103212: there was so much involved in this, in the disaster at the desert there, starting with the weather.

.

I'd hate to see the guy blame himself for that.

He, he gave it his best try, as we all did.

Ishimoto 022506: we had to try.

And we did.

And we failed.

It would be eight more months before iran finally released the hostages.

We'll never know if delta force could have rescued them had they made it to the embassy.

All we know is that four secret agents, shown here with president carter, had cased the embassy and one of them radioed back it would be a piece of cake.

Burruss 094549: those were his exact words - "piece of cake.

The show must go on.

We'll show you how next on mid morning.