The freeman foundation. By judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. And by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Fires meet covid in the amazon forest for the brazilians 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 of lesbos. New bby bob woodward says President Trump downplayed the pandemic deliberately but at what cost . Looking at what lurks beneath the surface in antarctica. New Research Casts light on why a major glacier is melting. Katty welcome to world news america on pbs and around the globe. When it comes to the glol cod pandemic, latin america has some of the worst affected rauntries. Takel, which has more than 400 million recorded infections and 127,000 deaths. Most recently, the virus has been spreading inland, even as those areas, especially near the amazon,cr have endured pling fire season. Katy watson has been looking at the impact. Brazils amazon is once again going up in smoke. A year after International Outrage over the extent of the fires, they are back, and as devastating as ever. But they arent just killing the rain forest. They are also choking its this doctor has been working relentlessly for six months dealing with covid19. He is the best chance for tse residents, who otherwise have tr el eight hours to the nearest intensive care bed. The situation isnt easing here, he says. Evy day. Ill seeing new cases now, it is fire season, and the team isnt just battling covid19. Every day, i have patients rerning with problems that arein geworse because of pollution and the fires in the area. Theyont know it is because of the smoke. They think they have covid19 again. Ye 2old this 27yearold woman was the first person in town to be diagnosed with covid19. With no Previous Health issues, feared for her life. Family sometimes, i am at a loss for words to explain how difficult it was. I wouldnt wisht upon anyone. Even today, i have shortness when the weber the weather is smoky or polluted. I start to feel pain in my lungs, pain in my chest. Across town, the doctor has takean emergency call. To get there, yohave 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 the rry is gone and is not expected to return for another hour. This is the reality of Emergency Services an thezon. Finally, we are on our way. E doctor has been thrown in the deep end. The day after he gradted in march, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic. This 62yearold has all the symptoms of covid19, and her son is in hospital with the virus. The team tests her, but the s are negative. Itould be two things, the doctor tells her. Perhaps it is too eay to do the test. In these parts of theth amazon, only have access to rapid tests rather than the more reliable swab test. While the doctor suggests it could be smoke inhalation. I am t ruling out covid19. The patient has a cough. Weak and has bod pain. Ain. Coronavirus is still coursing its way throh the community. At their problems are bigger than covid19. People here are on the front lines, living inhe crosshairs of both the virus and the fires. Katty katy joins me now. You went literally to what looked like the end of theoad to fin those cases. How are they coping with both the fires and covid . It is a different reality from here in sao paulood. Everis Wearing Masks here, there is a quarantine. When youd travel hours urs along roads, dirtel roads, it like people have almost given up, that very few people are Wearing Masks. There is concern. Speaking to the doctors, they say they havent seen the curve fall. They a still very busy. It is fire season now and the fire season looks like it isg go be as bad. There are concerns it could be worse 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. T lets look peru. They have a recorded cases of 691,000, deaths of 29,000, but look at h this. Theye a fatality rate of 93 deaths per 100,000. Compare tha to the u. S. , which only has a for tally rate of 57 deaths per 100,000. Why is peru suffering so badly . It is interesting, because the presint, when the pandemic hit, he locked down quickly. It was the toughesquarantine measures we saw across latin america. But the proble is, and i think what is interestg is,rn the gont felt it had no choice. They knew the Health System couldt withstand it so they had to lock down toeake s they could prepare themselves in terms of intensive cares, in te 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 ia country where there are millions of peopleking inse thenformaor. 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 harderth to achieve. E is no such thing as isolation when people li 10 to one or two rooms. Poverty combined with a lack of access to decent healthare is what we have seen in the last few months. 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 st iln the top 10 worst countries around the world. Different from peru, not such a what happened in argentina . Not such a poor country but a country that has been in economic crisis will before the pandemic. It was a country that is deeply divide politically. Many peoplpraise the country for coming together politically the most important think for the country. It had one of theanoughest, that peru were probably the ertoughest quarantine me imposed in the region. Most of the inftions were in buenos aires and the capital. Economic pressure, trying toe reopen after a really tough lockdown. As the country started to open, the numbers went. Is is a region that is poor. People need to work, and the tradeoff between the economy visibly in argenti seeing very 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 speed bump. The trial of a vaccine by oxford and astrazeneca has been temporarily halted after a participant fell i and was admitted to hospital. An independent investigation will review the data before regulators decide wheer 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 coronavis vaccine trial. Many of them are elderly. Some, do to receive a second oster dose this week. That has been put on pauser fter a volunts admitted to hospital. Oxford University Said it was a routine actionhich has to happen whenever there is a potentially uxplained illness a study. So for now, no one at any of e sites around the world, and the united states, can bel, vaccine. D with the we need to make sure that these vaccines work, ty work we enough, and they are safe. Therefore, a pause is not good you would rather not see any side effects but inevitably, you do see some ended it is sensible to look at that seriously and wderstand what is going on. N will we have a vaccine . There are at leastru 32 coronavaccines 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 of the year. Er are no guarantees. Meanwhile, nine leading Pharma Companies have signed a pledge to put safety first, and uphold scientific and ethical standards in the search for a vaccine. Ttrazeneca, gsk, pfizer and others say they will only apply for Regulatory Approval once all stages of the clinical tria are complete. Volunteers on the oxford trial are still having blood tests and other routine exams. Vaccinations could restart within days, although the final decision rests with the medical regulators. Katty we are waiting for results of that investigation in oxford, but it is an indication of the constant tussle between speed and safety. Everybody wants the vaccine fast. It has to be safe. On the greek iand of lesbos, left homeless after a huge fire destroyed their overcrowded facility. Some 45 firefighters battled the blaze in the camp which was meant to house 3000. There has been anger over quarantine after dozens of op tested positive for vid19. Germany urged eu membs to take in the migrants. At camp ofteninalled a tickg 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 sunn itself wasre as a desperate attempt to douse the flames continued. Inside, homes, now a wasteland. Pictures from the charity show the gutted remains of europes largest migrant camp. The govnment said the fire was deliberately, a protest after 35 migrants tested positive for coronavirus and were isolated. Strong winds fanned it. The Prime Minister hit out at arsonists. M i express sorrow over yesterdays events in moria. Conditions, but n is anlt excuse for violent reactions to Health Checks and for such extensive unrest. Us hundreds of tds have passed through here, waiting for asylum claims that wet nowhere. Th were repeated warnings that the boteneck couldnt last. Its charred remains, a symbol of how the eu turned a blind eye. Ncy, in a scramble toof house the migrants and quarantine those iected. Ey had barely anything, but at least they had shelter. No more. Katty people who had so little, nolosing even that. Emergency resnders in california continue to struggle with multiple wildfires that are moving across the state at incredible speeds. There are at least 25 major fires that are out of control, and strong winds and a heat wave are making it worse. So far, more than 2 million acres have been burned, which is a record. Th crisis in belarus continues to escalate with another prominent Opposition Leader being detained. The key figure in what the opsition calls its Coordination Councils disappearance comes after another person was snatched. Authoritieare targeting opposition figures after antigovernment protests. Theolume of tell all books involving President Trump would strain any bookshelf, but the ostest from washington journalist Bob Woodwards out from the rest, in particular for handling of covid. Mr. At one point, during 18 different interviews president says he is actively trying to downplay the pandemic even as the evidence was mounting over how deadly the disease could be. Even asorhe cavirus began claiming scores of american lives, the u. S. President publicly talked down the threat. Itill go away. You know it is going away. It will go away. We are goingeo h a great victory. At the same time, donald trump was telling the watergate Journalist Bob Woodward that he deliberately played down t pandemic, even though he understoodhe deadliness of the virus. I think really, to be honest, still like playing it down. Down. Because i dont want to create a panic. Dismiss as fake news. E instead, the president tried to explain his comments. I am a cheerleadertr for this co i love our country and i dont want people to b frightened. I dont want to create panic, as you say. Certainly, i am not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy. His democratic rival joe biden is leading in the polls. He weaponized what the president s critics will seize lon as a covid smoking gun. Hed to the American People. He knowingly and willingly lied about theea tto the country for months. He had the information. He knew how dangerous it was. S as tadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job on purpose. Donald trump keeps trying to change the conversation to law order, but we keep returning to the Health Crisis that has claimed the lives of more than 190,000. America this feels like a covid campaign. Katty you are watching bbc world news america. Still tosc come, shockines from sudan as the nile rises to its highest level in over a century. Farms have been flooded and the government is declaring a naonal emergency. Katty the british Prime Minister announced tough new restrictions on social gatherings in england from monday. Grf more than six people gathering inside or outside will be illegal. This is o not the staa new draconian regime everywhere. It is not yet the beginning of another national lockdown, but it is a big moment and a big reintroduction of some limr s on ves. The Prime Minister said it broke his heart to have to do this manatt eveto be able to say things might be normal christmas. They believe the rising cases in steep enough to require new National Measures rather than relying on local lockdns to try to choke off the spread of this disease, to try to stop it taking off in the way it didis earlier ear. That means more than six months after this all began, the rules are being tightened instead of beineased off. Katty in sudan, entire farms are underwater and a state of reergency has been dec after the nile river rose to its highest leve in over a century. 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 white nile rivers nvergent sudan. The country is experiencing the worst flooding since records began. Satellite images show how bad the situation is. Bthis wore the rains. Now, see how sudanese farms on the banks of the nile have disappeared in the water. Lives have been lost. Livelihoods, destroyed. Mehave 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 restf the furniture from the homes, the eater level ind again. The government declared sudan Natural Disaster zone. Auto levels continue to putting more people at risk water levels continue tomo rise, puttin people at risk. We are trying to convince the people of the islandt to leave, ey wont. We tried to convince them tes save their l we told them people willndtand by themheir houses can be replaced. S the scramble p natures destruction. E some areas of ountry are getting swamped for the first time in living memory. Important archaeological sdees are threat. It is not just in sudan and neighboring countries. Across central and west africa, more devastaon. The outskirt of senegals capital remain inundated days after exceptionally heavy rainfall. The 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, theyre ying to save their Health Center as fears of disease outbreaks increase. More rains are predicted to continue pnding all the 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 vulnerable. The biggest glacier in west anrctica iselting at an alarming rate, releasing billions of tons of water in thr ocean every scientists is covered one of the reasons why. They c say deepnnels under the ine appear to be letting in warmer water, cait to melt. Andin has been to see it sent us this report. Next call will be 1740. This one antarct lakeshore is the size of the u. K. , and is already responsible for 5 of world seaevel rise. Th rate the glacier isac melting halerad fivefold in the last years. In the last 30 years. Last year, british and american scientists set up camp on the glac tr. It is one most remote places on earth. By measuring the gravitational pull of the seabed underhe ice, they discovered a network of deep channels, a key step in understanding why the glacier is changing so rapidly. Tse 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. Cethese warmer waters are getting in to the ice and you can see rapid changes. This is what they think is happening. A series of huge channels, some most a kilometer below the warmer water to melt the glacier increasingly rapidly. Another team of scientists work from an icebreaker s 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 i shelf. It is understand what is going on in big glaciers, bechey are these changing quickly as the climate warms and as they melt, they are feeding morend more water to our global oceans, which is rate of Sea Level Rise. There is up to three and a half meters of Sea Level Rise locked up in the ice in west antarctica. That is enough to reshape the map of the earth, flooding my of the wos greatest cities. Understanding w this remote area is changing andilow quickly itdo so is essential if the world is to prepare for the rising waters to come. Katty before we go, if you cant get no satisfaction from shopping trips, consider a visit doto lonns carnaby street. The Rolling Stones have opened their First OfficialRetail Outlet on the famous shopping strip. They sell stonesrelated items like a 700 crystal decanter or a raincoat that will set you 300. For those who are a bit more health and while it conscious, you can buy a stones facemask for about 13. Coneld question the wisdom of opening a shop during a never played by the rules. Ones they want i they want it to be the store where you can ys get what you wan i will be paying it a visit next time i am inondon. The news is on our website. This is bbc world news america. Thanks for watching the program. Narrator funding for this presentation of this program is provided by. Language specialists teaching spanish, french and more. Raymond james. The freeman foundation. Ud byand Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pu americas neglected needs. This pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Yu i came to the unitedg pbs. States when i was 24 years old. I did not speak any english. I felt very, very lost, w really not knowingt to do with my life. One day onmev there was sesatreet. Ernie and grover and cookie monster. And its not only that i learned to speak in english, now i know how to live in the united states. So his is how you do it now im powerful. Now i know i can do his anything i want. i will make myself learn and i got that from pbs. I bought my first set of paints and brushes and i practiced. My path is childrens books. I anve found who i wanted to be. Which is that person who has something to say. Pbs and sesame street, they oped all the world to me. Judy good evening. Im judy woodruff. On newshour. Audio record. New recordings have the present admitting to misleading the American People about the severy of covid19. Then, the west coast is burning. High win fans the flames of uncontrolled fires across the region. Al National Forests in california are closed and more Power Outages are expected. Plus, matters of justice. The federal government moves to defend the president against a 25yearold rape allegation, moving the case to federal court. Add more racial divide. Covid19 hits communities of