Today on “Face the Nation,” U.S. health officials say the war against COVID-19 has changed and the U.S. is back at the #1 spot of the highest number of new infections around the world. Source

CBS News’ Mark Strassmann reports that as COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths rise, fear is a motivating factor, with vaccination rates up 30% nationally. Source

Host Jane Pauley answers correspondence from our audience. Source

Correspondent (and former MTV host) Serena Altschul discusses the birth in 1981 of the cable channel devoted to music videos, that became a broadcast pioneer of pop culture, news and reality TV. This is no longer your grandmother’s MTV! Source

With the dog days of August at hand, “Sunday Morning” takes us among prairie dogs in the South Dakota Badlands. Videographer: Kevin Kjergaard. Source

The artist known as Wyland has painted more than 100 murals around the globe featuring life-sized depictions of whales and other sea life. Correspondent Tracy Smith joined Wyland as he touched up a mural in Seattle, to discuss his creation of what has come to be a worldwide aquatic gallery – each artwork a public love letter to the ocean and its inhabitants. Source

For a small town, Butte, Montana is rich in history – from being, at one time, the largest city between Chicago and San Francisco, to being the site of one of the world’s most productive copper mines. But the closing of mines, and their distinction of being home to one of the nation’s largest Superfund sites, have long cast a shadow over the place. Last summer the residents of Butte turned a corner in their efforts to reverse environmental damage and be delisted as a Superfund site. Correspondent Luke Burbank reports on how the town’s past is informing its march forward. Source

Oscar- and Grammy-winning actress Jennifer Hudson received “marching orders” from the legendary singer Aretha Franklin, who hand-picked the “Dreamgirls” star for her true dream role. Hudson talks with contributor Kelefa Sanneh about paying tribute to the Queen of Soul with her performance in the new biopic, “Respect.” Source

While hate crimes in the U.S. increased last year by 2% overall, hate crimes against Americans of Asian-American and Pacific Islander descent rose by 146%; they have had to weather discrimination and violence many times before. Source

For decades salesman Ron Popeil hawked household gadgets to millions of TV viewers, mastering the airwaves with his informercials for the Veg-O-Matic, the Pocket Fisherman, and countless other devices you just couldn’t live without. Jane Pauley looks back on the life of Popeil, who died this week at the age of 86. Source