> s tonight, tub sixtho vaping now makes headlines. meet the 18-year-old who almost didn't make it. ? it was terrifying. >> in the habit's savage grip. taking us inside her own harrowing vape journey. just one of an avalanche of cases across the country of lung illnesses possibly linked to e-cigarettes. plus, around the table. >> broccoli and amy's famous potato bombs. >> beto o'rourke kicking off our new series, at home with the presidential candidates. breaking braid breaking bread as they break

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ good evening. thanks for joining us. we begin tonight with the

growing vaping crisis across the country. hundreds of possible lung illnesses an inside one america teenager's addiction and the haunting health nightmare that followed. here's abc's adrian ban kert. >> reporter: you hid your vape under your pillow. and you gonts how long? >> i couldn't go without ten or 15 minutes. >> reporter: she never expected that what she thought was a harmless habit, vaping, would end um nearly killing her. >> it took two days for my lungs to fail. >> reporter: a tube still pumping oxygen to her failing lungs. in her hands, a call to action. >> i asked for a pen and paper. that was the only way i could communicate. i wrote i wanted to start a

no-vaping campaign. >> reporter: sima's story is the latest in a landslide of incidents linked to vaping, sparking what many are calling a national health crisis. >> what we've seen in the past month is an increased number of people coming in with respiratory problems as a result of vaping. >> reporter: so far the senders centers for disease control report 450 possible cases of illness linked to vaping and deaths in oregon, california, illinois and kansas. the cdc issued a stark warning. if you are vaping, no matter how old you are, you should consider stopping. >> i didn't think ofel a smoker. the vaping makes it seem like it's nothing, like you're doing nothing wrong. >> reporter: sima was in high school when she started vaping nicotine. >> i was 15 when i bought it. i was like, could i get a pack

of juul pellets, and they said how old are you? and i said 22. they said okay. it ended up being my oxygen. i couldn't live without it. because all my friends were doing it and nobody had symptoms like i had i wouldn't have imagined that maybe this is killing me. >> reporter: sima was an active, healthy teen. she'd been dancing for years, even making dance team the freshman year of college. but as her vaping habit increased, her ability to dance disappeared. she was smoking a cartridge a day. the same as a pack of cigarettes a day. her parents had no idea their daughter had become hopelessly addicted. >> this healthy dancer stopped dancing because of it. stopped living because of it. stopped going to school and college because of it. >> reporter: sima said she was feeling sick all the time. >> over a year i lost about 50

pounds without trying. >> reporter: 50 pounds. >> yes. >> reporter: she stopped going to college classes. her health issues were getting worse but no doctor could nail down what was wrong. did you not tell the doctors that you vaped? >> i actually did. i made sure every hospital, every er, every doctor's office i went to, i told them that i smoked. >> reporter: but you didn't tell them, i can't breathe, i feel like i'm going to die, maybe it's because i'm vaping. >> no doctor ever said maybe you should stop vaping. >> reporter: it came to a head on august 15th when sima's dad rushed her to the er. >> i said go fast. don't let me close my eyes, don't let me fall asleep or i won't wake up. >> reporter: why did you say that? >> because i knew i was dying. >> reporter: you felt death on you? >> yes, it was terrifying. the worst part was i couldn't let it, like my parents watch it happen to me.

>> reporter: what hospital staff couldn't figure out why she couldn't breathe. two days later doctors had to put her on a ventilator. >> i was begging them, vent her faster, vent her faster. s she's going to die. >> reporter: it was in that moment her cousin revealed her secret addiction. >> she said you know she smokes every day. i said what? what are you talking about? she smokes every day. she smokes that vape. said you go tell the doctors right now. and i ransacked her room. they looked like candy wrappers, little cute mascara wand. wand.. >> reporter: dr. kathryn is a pulmonologist and worked on sima's case. >> this was sima's chest x ray when she came into this hospital. this haze ey white area just sh that she could have a pneumonia.

if we choose an x ray from less than 48 hours white haziness here is inflammation from just day one to day three is remarkable. >> reporter: the doctor is on the front lines of what health officials fear is an emerging crisis. the national youth tobacco survey found a 78% jump in e-cigarette use in students alone. >> part of it is heating oil and inhaling oil. that's not something the body is used to inhaling. with that comes an inflammatory reaction that produces phlegm and sputum and gives it the wet cough property. >> reporter: that sounds terrible and dangerous. >> yes. >> reporter: last month, 17-year-old tristan described how he spent 18 days in the

hospital fighting for his life after vaping. >> i woke up throwing up everywhere. my heart was pounding out of my chest. >> reporter: tristan lost 15 pounds and said he had to re-learn how to walk. and just yesterday a texas teen had to be rushed to the hospital after vaping at school. >> he hit it. he passed out and would not wake up. >> reporter: in wisconsin today, a man was arrested for making thousands of illegal thc vaping cartridges. the state of new york is taking an aggressive approach in an attempt to find answers and crackdown on black market products. >> you shouldn't be saudi arabiaing products thaw don't know what you're smoking or vaping. >> reporter: many vaping products are popular with teenagers, but no company has taken more heat than juul. they say it's designed to get adult smokers off cigarettes. fwhu week, the fda sent a letter to juul accusing it of marketing

them as safer without proof. juul responded saying we share these concerns about youth vaping. they shut down their instagram accounts and ganbegan deployingw technology. >> the fact that they market this crap to children and they turned into pretty pink packaging candy pisses me off. >> there's a lot we don't know. so i would just say don't. >> reporter: in the weeks since sima has worked to rehab her lungs. >> i don't necessarily crave the nicotine or the weed. it's craving the act of smoking. >> reporter: but she hopes going public with her story can help keep her and countless others

alive. what would you tell somebody who's thinking about vaping and says i'm just going to try it one time to see what it's like. >> i would show them my pictures and say i tried it once, too, and i tried it another time and then another time. it's just remembering that you don't need it, like it's going to kill you. >> reporter: for "nightline," adrian bank kert in los angeles. up next, breaking bread while breaking new political ground with a presidential candidate. our cancer patients- e care for like job. when he was diagnosed with cancer, his team at ctca created a personalized care plan to treat his cancer and side effects. so job could continue to work and stay strong for his family. this is how we inspire hope. this is how we heal. we love you, daddy. good night. i love you guys. cancer treatment centers of america. appointments available now.

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now to our new series launch "achd t "around the table." real voters getting face time with the presidential hopefuls. we're kirki we're kicking things off at beto o'rourke's house. >> we're going to start with otato bombs., broccoli and >> reporter: we're in el paso, texas. at the home of beto o'rourke. abc news has carefully chosen three undecided voters to have dipper wi dinner with the presidential candidate. caleb, tess and viviana, a retired federal worker who has voted for both democrats and republicans in the past. they'll bring their questions to the table for a frank conversation. >> if you go toe to toe with trump. how are you going to do this. >> reporter: to help them decide

who will get their vote for the democratic presidential primary. welcome to "around the table." >> evangelicals have gotten that if we are evangelical we are anti-immigrant, we are not, you know, we're not liberal, we're not involved in social justice. none of those things define me. we feel politically homeless. i didn't vote in 2016 in the presidential election because morally, i couldn't. why should a pro-life christian, who is not okay with trump, vote for you? >> this is a conversation i've had with my mom who raised us in the catholic home and as this state has restricted the right for a woman to make her own decisions about her own body and has closed down so many clinics that provide abortions, they're also closing down clinics at that provide cervical cancer screenings and family planning help.

it's about saving lives in this country and our communities. >> we're in your home in el paso, texas. your community just endured a horrific mass murder. how has your view on gun control evolved, changed, if at all, since the shooting? >> we have too many guns in this country that are too easily accessed. in every place, almost every place, you can buy a weapon like the military-style assault rifli that was used in el paso that was designed for no other purpose than to quill people. >> what is common sense gun reform look like? >> it would begin with a background check on every weapon purchased and every weapon transferred, ideally. i think you should also have to have a license for owning firearms. >> you know, we see these murders and perpetrators that

areri white supremacist manifestos who go out there. what are you going to address that? >> acknowledging our past and the foundation of this country was built by people enslaved and forced to do it. there's also been, when it comes to communities of immigrants an undercurrent of racism or nativism, and at least we attempted to form a more perfect union. we never stopped trying until now where you have a president who is so openly nativist and racist. and though it is a strong word, it is accurate. >> aren't you saying that people who support him are also racist? >> no, and i don't think, as a country, regardless of the politics, we can afford to write anybody off. and there may be any number of

reasons that somebody supports president trump. and i want to be very respectful of that. and i think it's important to describe his actions, his decisions, the consequences of them and make sure that people can make an informed decision going into 2020. >> hmm. >> reporter: the dinner conversation turns to immigration and whether to decriminalize illegal border crossing. so you want to decriminalize? >> the permanent residents, the green cardholders already here, make them citizens. the dreamers and address refugees and asylum seekers from central america. in those exception where you have to cross seeking asylum we're going to take care of you. if you still insist on defying our laws, i will reserve the

right to criminally prosecute you. >> i have an aunt. she first came in legal into the country, got her paperwork done. brought in her husband, then eventually her kids. because it took so long. the courts are inundated with that stuff. two of her kids end the up coming into the country illegally, but it took her 20 years, beto, and a lot of money. after she brought everybody in, two years later she passed away. so it has to be easier, easier for good people that just come here to work. >> thank you. >> what if you have strong feelings about education and how you pay for that? >> i'm about to graduate, and i'm more scared than anything that i won't be stable. i wouldn't be in college if i didn't have a loan. i remember freshman year being at texas tech university and calling my mom, i can come home, do you need me to come home? this is too expensive.

we need college to be affordable. >> a big priority for us. when it comes time to go to college or choose a career, every young person should be able to make that choice without regard to cost. so debt-free higher education and not just tuition, but room and board and books. >> i love everything you're saying, but i also am like, how? how? >> it's not inexpensive. and it would require a serious investment. but, it would produce an extraordinary return for this country. >> it's delicious. >> this is not the best meal for your heart, but. >> can i ask you a question? if you go toe to toe with trump, how are you going to do this? i feel like you're respectful of other people, but we need a bulldog in there. >> when it comes to debates, to be honest with you, this idea that you can release a canned attack line that you have rehearsed, that stuff is not me. and you were asking me about

this earlier. what is success like for you. and success is winning the nomination. success is defeating trump without compromising myself. and if that's the price, it's going to be somebody else. i got to be me. but you're right. it's a challenge. it's absolutely a challenge. >> thank you, sir. >> reporter: any last thoughts? >> i enjoyed the conversation. anytime you're in el paso. anytime you're in the neighborhood, you're welcome to come over. and in our next "around the table", voters sitting down with new jersey senator cory booker. and the top-polling democratic candidates square off in the first single-night debate right hire on abc at 7:00 central, 5:00 p in the west. when we come back, the tiny little hug making great big waves. way too busy. who's got st and hair? so now, i use heavy duty swiffer sweeper and dusters. for hard-to-reach places, duster makes it easy to clean.

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[ chuckles ] i'm done with this class. -you're not even enrolled in this class. -i know. i'm supposed to be in ceramics. do you know -- -room 303. -oh. thank you. -yeah. -good luck, everybody. -oh. thank you. -yeah. face buried in your phone. stop! look up. look both ways. let's start looking out for each other again. it's a busy world out there. and we're all in it together. go safely, california. finally tonight, the hug giving the whole world all the feels. meet finnegan and maxwell. the 2-year-olds have known each other half their lives, and it shows. running toward each other like they haven't seen each other in forever, when it was actually only a couple days ago.

the tell us they play tennis, take music class together and are excellent dancers. and it's quite clear the boys make quite the lasting impression wherever they go. it's a smile that lingers. that's "nightline." remember you can always watch our full episodes on hulu. good night, america.