The freeman foundation. By judy and pedar blum kovler foon; pursuing solutions for americs neglected needs. And by contributions to this s station from viewers like you. Thank you. Fires meet covid in the amazon forest fors the brazili who live there, it is terrifying. The largest migrant camp in greece is destroyed by fire, leaving thousands without shelter. We will have the latest from the island olesbos. A new booby bob woodward says president mp downplayed the pandemic deliberately but at what cost . Whlooking a lurks beneath the surface in antarctica. Cnew researchasts light on why a major glacier is melting. Katty welcome to world news america on pbs and around the globe. When it t comeso the global covid pandemic, latin america has some of the worst affected countries. Take bzil, which has mor than 400 million recorded infections and 127,000 deaths. Most recently, the virus has been spreadingnland, even as those areas, especially near the amazon, have endured a eaippling firen. Katy watson has been looking at the impact. Brazils amazon is once again going up in smoke. A year after international fires,are back, and ast of the devastating as ever. Thethey arent just killing rain forest. They are also choking its people. Been workinhas relentlessly for six months dealing with covid19. He is the best chae for these residents, who otherwise have to travelight hours to the nearest intensive care bed. The situation isnt easing here, he says. He is still seeing new cases rey day. Now, it is eason, and the team isnt just battling covid19. Every day, i have patients returning with problems that are getting worse because of pollution and the fires in the area. They dont know it is because of the smoke. They think they have covid19 again. 27yearold this 27yearold woman was the first person in town to be diagnosed with covid19. With no Previous Health issues, there were moments her family feared for her life. Sometimer aiwords to exhow difficult it was. I wouldnt wisht upon even today, i have a shortness when theeber the weather is smoky or polluted. I start to feel pain in my lungs,ain in my chest. Across tn, the doctor has taken an emergency call. To get there, you have to take a boat. It is not straightforward. We are trying to get across this river to follow an urgent case of suspected covid19, but ferry is gone and is not expected to return for another hour. This is the reality of Emergency Services in the azon. Finally, w are on our way. E doctor has been thrown in the deep end. The day after he graduated in march, the worldealth organization declared a pandemic. This 62yearold has all the symptoms of covid19, and her son i hospital with the virus. The team tests her, but the relts are negative. It could be two things, the doctor tells her. Perhaps it is too early to do the test. In these parts of the amazon, theyapnly have access to r tests rather than the more reliable swab test. While the doctor suggests it could be smoke inhalation. I am not ruling out covid19. The patient has a cough. She is weekend has body pain. Eak and has body pain. Coronavirus is still coursing its way through the community. At their problems are bigger than covid19. Here are on the front lines, living in the crosshairs of both the virus and the fires. Katty katy joins me now. You went literally to what looked like the end of the road to findes those c how are they coping with both the fires and covid . It is a different reality from here in sao paulo. Everybody is Wearing Masks here, there is a quarantine. When you travel hours and hours along roads, dirt roads, it s like people have almo given up, that very few peoplein are wemasks. There is concern. Speaking to the doctors, they say they havent seen the curve fall. They are still very busy. It is fire season now and the fire season looks liket is gog to be as bad. There are concerns it could be rse than what we saw last year. Katty can we have a look around the continent . We havent really taken a look at some of the other latin american countries. Some of them really are in a terrible state. Lets look at peru. Theyre have rded cases of 691,000, deaths o9,0, but look at this. They have a fatality rate of 93 deaths per 100,000. Compare that to the u. S. , which only has aorally rate of 57 deaths per 100,000. Why is peru suffering so badly . It is interesting, because the president , when the pandemic hit, he locked down quickly. It was the toughest quarantine measures we saw across latin america. I thie problem is, and what is interestg is, the government felt it had no they knew the Health System couldnt withstand it so they had to lock down to make sure ey could prepare themselves in terms of intensive care, in terms of access to help. They knew they would struggle. That is what we have seen. There has been a long lockdown. People have to work. This is a country where there are millions of people working in thenformal sector. People he been desperate to get back to work. As the economy started to reopen, people have had to get backo work and social distancing and some of these poorer countries is so much harder to achieve. The is no such thing as isolation when people live 10 to e or two rooms. Poverty combined with a lack of access to Decent Health care is what we have seen in the last onfews. Peru is struggling to keep the numbers down. Katty another country in the top 10 globally also comes from latin america, argentina, recorded cases their 500,000, deaths 10,000. The fertility rate is lower, 23 deaths per 100,000 people, but in terms of infections, argentina is still in the top 10 d the countries aro world. Different from peru, not a poor country. What happened in argentina . Not such a poor country but a country that has been in ecomic crisis will before the pandemic. It was a country that is deeply divi politically. Many people praise the country for coming togetherolitically and realizing that lockdown was the most important think for the country. Had one of the toughest, that and peru were probably the toughest quarantine members imposed in the region. Most of thenfections were in buenos aires and the capital. But there is that pressure, the economic pressure, trying to reopen after a really tough lockdown. As the country started to open, the numbers went up. This is a region that is poor. People need to work, and the tradeoff between the economy and health, we are seeing very visibly in argentina. Katty katy watson taking us on a tour of latin america. As latin america struggles to contain the pandemic, theoad to a coronavus vaccine has hit a speed bump. The trial of a vaccine braoxford and aneca has been temporarily halted after a rticipant fell ill and was admitted to hospital. An independent investigation will review the data before regulators decide whether the trial can restart. Here is our medical editor. More than 10,000 volunteers have been immunized in the u. K. As part of the oxford Coronavirus Vaccine tal. Many of them are elderly. Some, do to receive a second booster dose this week. That has been put on pause after a volunteer was admitted to hospital. Oxfo University Said it was a routine action which has to potentially unexplained illness in a study. So for now, no one at any of the sites around the world, including south africa, brazil, and the united states, can be immunized with the oxford vaccine. We need to make sure that these vaccines work, they work well enough, and they are safe. Therefore, a pause inot good. You would rather not see any side effects but inevitably, yom do see ended it is sensible to look at that seriously and understand what is going on. Hen will we have a vaccine . There are at least 32 coronavis vaccines in Clinical Trials. They are recruiting 280,000 volunteers in 34 countries around the world. We might get early indications that one of them works towards the end the year. There are no guarantees. Meanwhile, nine leading pharma mpanies have signed a pledge to put safety first, and uphold scientific and ethical standards in the search for a vaccine. Astrazeneca, gsk, pfizer and the others say they will only apply for regulatory approvalll once stages of the Clinical Trials are complete. Volunteers on the oxford trial are still having blood tests and other routine exams. Vaccinations couldestart within days, although the final decision rests with the medical regulators. Katty we are waiting for the results of that investigation in oxford, but it is an indication of the constansptussle between d and safety. Everybody wants the vaccine fast it has to be safe. On the greek island of lesbos, nearly 13,000 migrants have been left homeless after fire destroyed their overcrowded facility. Some 45 firefighters battled the blazeth i camp which was meant to house 3000. There has been anger over quarantine aft dozens of people tested positive for covid19. Germany urged eu members to take in the migrants. At camp often called a ticking time bomb has exploded. Moria, four times over its capacity, has been completely destroyed, an inferno in a place where life was already hell. The 13,000 migrants here, mostly afghans fleeing again, this time in europe. At first light, it seemed the sun itself was on fire as a desperate attempt to douse the flames continued. Siin, homes, now a wasteland. Pictures from the charity show the gutted o remainsf europes largest migrant camp. The govnment said the fire was started deliberately, a protest after 35 migrants tested positive for coronavirusd. Nd were isola strong winds fanned it. The Prime Minister hit out at arsonists. I expressed my sorrow over yesterdays events in moria. I recognize thefi dlt conditions, but nothing is an excuse for violent reacthens to healths and for such extensive unrest. Hundreds of thousands have passed throughere, waiting for asylum claims that went nowhere. There were repeated warnings that the bottleneckt couldn last. Its charred remains, a symbol of how the eu turned a blind eye. Lesbos is in a state of emer ancy, incramble to house the migrants and quarantine those infected. Th had barely anything, but at least they had shelter. No more. Y ka people who had so little, now losing even that. Emergency rfoponders in caia continue to struggle with multiple wildfires that are moving across the state incredible speeds. There are at least 25 major fires that are out of control, and strong winds and aeat wave are making it worse. So far, more than 2 million acres have been burned, which is a record. The crisis in belarus continues to escalate with another prominent Opposition Leader being deined. The key figure in what the opposition calls its coordinationouils disappearance comes after another person was snatched. Authorities are targeting opposition figuresmefter antigove protests. The volum of tell all books involving President Trump would strain any bookshelf, but the latest from Washington Post journalist Bob Woodwards out from then rest, particular for its description of mr. Trumps handling of covid. At one point, during 18 different interviews, the president says he is actively trying to downplay the pandemic even as the evidence was mounting over how deadly the disease could be. Even as the corclavirus began ming scores of american lives, the u. S. President publicly talked down the threat. Ityo will go away. Know it is going away. It will go away. We are going to hav a great victory. At the same time, donald trump was telling the watergate Journalist Bob Woodward that he deliberately played down the pandemic, even though he understo the deadlinessf the virus. I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down. Because i dont want to create a panic. This was imposble todismiss. Instead, the president tried tom explain his ts. I am a cheerleader for this country. I love our country and i dont want p panic, aant to create you say. Certainly, i am not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy. His democratic rival joe biden is lding in the polls. He weaponized what the president s critics will seize upon as a covid smoking gun. He ld t the American People. He knowingly and willingly lied about the threafoto the country months. He had the information. He knew how dangerous it was. As this deadly disease ripped through our nion, he failed to do his job on purpose. Donald trump keeps trying to change the conversation to law order, but we keep returning to e Health Crisis that has claimed the lives of more than this feels like a covid campaign. World news america. Still to come, shocking scenes from sudan as the ne rises to its highest level in over a century. Farms have beenloed and the government is declaring a national emergency. Katty the british Prime Minister announced tough new restrictions on social gatherings in england from monday. Groupsf more than six people gathering inside or outside will be illegal. This is not the start of a new draconian regime ierywhere. It not yet the beginning of another national lockdown, but it is a big moment and a big reintroduction of some limits on our ves. The prim minister said it broke his heart to have to do this manatt even to be able to say things might be normal by christmas. Believe the rising cases in the last five or six days is steep enough to National Measures rather than try to choke off the spread of thisse dis, to try to stop it taking off in the way it did earlier thisear. That means more than six months after this allhe began,ules are being tightened instead of being eased off. Katty in san, entire farms are underwater and a state of emergency has been declare after the ni river rose to its highest level in over atu c. The floods are another blow for a country struggling t emerge from conflict, political upheaval and economic turmoil. Our Senior Correspondent has the story. This is the island where the blue and wte nile rivers nvergent sudan. The country is experiencing the worst flooding since records began. Satellite images show how bad the situation is. This was bore the rains. Now, see howe sudan farms on the banks of the nile have disappeared in the water. Lives have been lost. Livelihoods, destroyed. Hos have been damaged. I took my children and left. Their beds and everything are still inside. All i took was some clothes. When the neighbors wanted to save the rest of the furniture from the homes, the water level incrsed again. Natural disasterone. Clared sudan putting more peopl risk se, water levels continue to rise, putting re people at risk. We are tryingpeo convince the le of the island to leave, but they wont. We tried to convince them to save their lives. We told them people will stand by them a their houses can be replaced. The scramble totop natures destruction. Some areas of thtt country are g swamped for the first time in living memory. Important archaeological sites are under threat. It is n just in sudan and neighboring countries. Across central and westfrica, more devastation. The outskirts of senegals capital remain inundated days after exceptionally heavy thrainfall. Country recorded in just one day more rain than they usually receive in a wet season lasting about three months. Residents are desperate to minimize destruction. In this community, they are trying to save their Health Center as fears of disease outbreaks increase. Continue pounding all theto affected areas on the continent in the coming weeks there is no respite insight. N sight. Katty extreme weather affecting those who are the most vuerable. The biggest glacier in west elting at ais alarming rate, releasing billions of tons of water in the ocean every year scientists is covered one of the reasons why. They say deep cnnels und the ice appear to be letting in it tor water, causin melt. Justin has been to see it d sent us this report. Next call will be 1740. This e antarctic lakeshore is the size of the u. K. , and is alrey responsible for 5 of world sea level rise. The rate the glacier is melting celerated fivefold in th last years. In the last 30 years. Last year, britishnd american scientists set up camp on the glacier. It is one of t most remote places on earth. By measuring the gravitational thpull oseabed under the ice, they discovered a network of deep channels, a key step in understanding why the glacier is changing so rapidly. These are important because they are links to the deep ocean. Although the surface waters around antarctica are really cold, the deep ocean waters are somewhat warmer. These warmer ocean waters are getting in to the ice and yo can see rapid changes. This is what they think is happening. A series of huge channels, some healmost a kilometer below ice, and warmer allowing warmer water to lt the glacier increasingly rapidly. Another team of scientists work from an icebreaker ship at the front of the glacier. Exceptional sea ice breakup last year meant they can survey over 2000 square kilometers of the seafloor in front of the ice shelf. It is so important to understand what is going on in antarctica, particularly these big glaciers, because they are changing quickly as the climate warms and as they melt, they are feeding more and more water to our global oceans, which is increasing the rate of sea level rise. Tre is up to three and a half meters of sea level rishe locked up ince in west antarctica. That is enough to reshape the p of the earth, flooding many of the worlds greatest citie. Understanding w this remote area is changing and how quickly it will do so isti ess if the world is to prepare for the rising waterto come. Katt before we go, if you cant get no satisfaction from shopping trips, consider a visit to londs carnaby street. The Rolling Stones have opened their First OfficialRetail Outlet on the famous shopping strip. They sell stonesrelated items like a 700 crystal decanterco r a ra that will set you back 300. For those who are a bit more health andhile it conscious, you can buy a stones facemask for about 13. One could question the wisdom of opening a shop during a pandemic, but the Rolling Stones never played by the rules. They want it they want it to be the store where you can always get what you want. I will be paying it a visit next time i am insondon. The n is on our website. This is bbc world news america. Thanks for watching the program. Narrator funding for this presentation of th p program vided by. Language specialists teaching spanish, french and more. Raymond james. The freeman foundation. By judleand peter blum kfoundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. And by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Yu i came to the unitedpbs. States when i wai 24 years old. D not speak any english. I felt very, very lost, really not knowing what to do with my life. One day on tv there was sesa street. Ernie anergrover and cookie mon and its not only thatn learned to speakglish, now i know how to live in the united states. This is how you do it now i know do anything i want. C i will make myself learn how to do it. I bought my first set of paints and brushesm pbs. And i practiced. My path is childrens books. And i have found who i wanted to be. Ha which isperson who has something to say. Pbs and sesame street, they opened all the world to me. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc wdruff good evening, im judy woodruff. On the newshour tonight, on the record new audio recordings reveal the president admitting to misleading the American People about the severity of covid19. Then, the west coast is burning. High winds fan the flames of uncontrolled fires across the region as all National Forests more Power Outages are expected pltters of justice the federal government moves to defend the president against a 25 year olrape allegation, ving the case to federal court. And, the racial divide covid 19 hits communitess of color hain the u. S. , furthering al