this is "nightline." >> tonight, inside the horror of astro world. >> help, help! >> one man who fought to save others. >> it makes me want to make sure this never happens ever again. >> families of victims demanding accountability. >> he's a small, innocent child, he didn't deserve that. >> what we now know about the operations planned for the concert. what was missing. plus climate desperation. deep in central america's dry corridor, families facing a stark choice. starve or leave. we journey to remote guatemala. >> the extreme weatherions, sevo muchhe me, iscr and ait it,

s hy climate extremes are forcing unprecedented numbers of people to head north. and happy news on malala. the teenager who the taliban tried to kill, her bright future ahead. you have always loved vicks vapors. and now you'll really love new vicks' vapostick. it goes on clear and dries quickly. no mess. just the soothing vicks' vapor for the whole family. introducing new vicks vapostick.

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thanks for joining us. tonight, we take you to a place where few americans venture. a place where climate change is leaving so many with stark choices. migrate or perish. nowhere that is choice more dramatic than rural guatemala, where families who have lived off the land for generations are now starving, their children unable to get what they need to grow and thrive. we recently traveled there as part of abc's "climate crisis: saving tomorrow." >> reporter: she's nearly 4, but little ana looks half her age. chronically malnourished. at just 19 pounds. she should weigh twice that. >> she's below the average by far. this is normal, she's way down there. >> reporter: ana's mother

jacinta and all these moms bring their dangerously underweight children here every two months to this popup clinic in guatemala, the region hardest-hit by climate change. these bags are full of rice, oatmeal, cooking oil, black beans. staples for the families who have come. over here they're waiting patiently. you can see the women are dressed in very colorful chorti outfits, one of the indigenous tribes in guatemala. the oldest children helping shoulder the load, getting these heavy sacks home, crucial as jacinta has five more kids waiting hung really. these bags all that stand between them and starvation. they clamber aboard a crowded pickup, mostly standing for the long, winding trek back to their rural home. welcome to the dry corridor. once the fertile cradle of mayan civilization, now a swath of

drought-battered central america, from guatemala and honduras all the way to costa rica. guatemalans are especially vulnerable because half live in poverty. now one-quarter face malnutrition. jacinta grinds corn for tore toe yaz, as they have for millennia here. she never went to school and speaks only her native chorti, an indigenous mayan language. there are days when her children go without. that brown liquid in ana's bottle, coffee. motors like jacinta know caffeine can curb hunger pangs. it's that desperation that's driving 500% spike in migration throughout central america. many heading to the u.s. one-third of migrants say extreme weather forced them to leave. so we journeyed to these remote

guatemalan villages, over hours of rugged terrain, to see what's driving unprecedented numbers of people away. this dead corn represents calamity, literally starving families. because the farmers who live in these guatemalan hillside villages are already so poor, and yet the extreme weather conditions, severe drought, or too much rain at the wrong time, is destroying crops. and along with it, families' hopes and dreams. it's been seven straight years of failed crops and decades of dwindling yields due to el nino fluctuations. mother nature has turned cruel, leaving people with stark choices. starve or migrate. santos' family is looking for an escape plan. the 16-year-old shows us his home. walls and ceiling made of palm fronds. this is the house you all sleep in? >> si. >> your mom cooks here? >> si. >> then you sleep over there? >> si.

>> reporter: no toilets, no running water. >> this is the family farmland. >> reporter: after months of back-breaking work in the cornfields, lots of failed corn. a harvest of misery. santos is one of the 2.2 million people in the dry corridor in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. santos' parents took their life save actions and borrowed even more to give their oldest son a shot at surviving the deadly gauntlet through smugglers and drug cartels to the land of opportunity, the united states. do you remember the day your son left? >> what was going through your heart? >> reporter: santos left the

village armed with a first grade education. in his pocket, $300. and a tattered list of phone numbers. were you scared? a little bit? >> no. >> reporter: santos says he slept in warehouses, eating crackers, and made it almost to mexico city when he was caught by mexican authorities. what did they do to you once they caught you? >> reporter: but there's precious little to go back to. circe core done is working to change that. the engineer is working to develop drought-resistant varieties of corn.

it's the rainy season, but it's been dry over three weeks. >> normally it's twice, two or three times high. this is stunted. they didn't even bother to harvest these. >> reporter: nearby on a wind-swept hilltop, circe points out black bean plants, a vital source of protein. when these crops fail, famine follows. she fears this whole region could be uninhabitable in 20 years. >> when you see this, what goes through your mind?

>> reporter: already 1 million guatemalan children suffer from stunting, which means they're shorter here than anywhere else in the western hemisphere. according to the world bank, that means 40% less brain development by age 3. this is also a human toll that this takes. >> reporter: in santos' rural town, roughly 10% of his neighbors have migrated. either to larger cities or all the way to the u.s. just about one able-bodied person per family. santos' uncle washes dishes at a

restaurant in new york. he's been sending money home for a few years, enough to feed his family and build a better life. just a stone's throw away from santos' humble home, his uncle has built a four-bedroom cinder clock construction project. wow, this is impressive. this is quite different than santos' house. amazing. bonita. grande. around here, they call it a castle because it evokes the grandeur and riches sent home by loved ones toiling in america. four bedrooms, amazing. so when will it be finished?

>> reporter: it's the envy of all who live in this indigenous community and inspires those who see it to dream of america. which is why 16-year-old santos is willing to risk his life yet again, as soon as possible. his family's survival depends on it. what's the hope, what's the dream? >> reporter: do you think you'll try to go to the u.s. again? why risk so much to try again? you don't see a future here?

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>> stop the show, stop the show! >> reporter: they are the alarming and frightening cries of desperation. >> turn the lights on! >> reporter: these videos posted on social media are giving us a firsthand look at what happened at the astroworld music festival friday night. >> water, anyone got water? >> reporter: fans caught in a crushing, tangled pile of people. [ screaming ] as the concert rages on around them, one person seen dialing 911. at least eight people were killed, all of them younger man 30. dozens more seriously hurt. 9-year-old ezra blunt, who attended the astroworld concert, is fighting for his life. >> i just want there to be some accountability. >> reporter: his grandfather talked to abc affiliate ktrk. >> for my grandson to end up the way he did something terrible happened. you know, he's a small, innocent child.

he didn't deserve that. >> people were begging for help, they were overwhelmed, the security there wasn't enough security. everyone, everyone needed help. >> reporter: stephanie sandoval was also at the concert. she says what happened still haunts her. >> i had people's bodies compressing against my chest where my chest -- i wasn't even able to have the luxury to take a deep breath. i thought i could hang for the first song, but i was officially at that point asking vip, whoever was in vip, hey, can you please get me out of here? i need to get out. >> i've dealt with many crises since i've been mayor. this is the only one where it's been difficult to sleep at night. and in large part it's because we're dealing with kids. >> reporter: houston's mayor, sylvester turner, told me the families of the victims deserve to know what happened. what progress has been made, to your knowledge, in terms of having a better understanding of what went wrong here? >> this investigation is going to take weeks if not months.

but i think it is important to just look at every single thing, looking at the security operation plan, looking at where people were positioned, looking at who was -- who had the responsibility of monitoring the crowds. >> reporter: live nation, the organizer of the event, has said it will continue to support and assist local authorities in their investigation. documents obtained by abc news showing the festival's operations plan did not specifically account for crowd surge, and that only the executive producer and festival director had the authority to stop the show. but today houston's fire chief said scott should have called an end to the concert once he saw what was taking place in front of the stage. it wasn't clear if scott was aware or informed of the seefrts of the situation. >> i want to see some ragers, man. >> reporter: in this video around 9:30 p.m., a bar of music starts playing and then stops. the camera pans and then you can see movement in the crowd. people appear to be making

space. at this point, you can see travis scott looking out into the scene. the music restarts soon after. >> the fact that mr. scott was able to finish his set. >> reporter: attorney rick ramos is representing some of the concertgoers. >> mr. scott took the approach, in my opinion, that the show must go on. but the show must go on doesn't mean people got to die at your show. >> reporter: sources tell abc news travis scott will provide actual refunds for all attendees wo bought tickets to the astroworld show, and he will not perform at this weekend's day in vegas festival. scott has pledged to cover funeral costs and help provide therapy sessions for those affected. ♪ scott is one of the highest-paid rappers in the music industry. hits like "sicko mode" breaking chart records. the singer known for his high energy and often chaotic

concerts featured in this 2019 netflix documentary "look, mom, i can fly." a member of his entourage explains how crowded the shows can get. >> you'll see a lot of crowd surfers, also a lot of kids trying to get out, get to safety, because they can't breathe. >> reporter: the 30-year-old feeding off the energy of his fans who reencourages to, quote, rage in this video, "how to rage with travis scott." >> ready to go, whether it's your drugs or your water or your orange juice or your alcohol. whatever you want to do, man. >> reporter: many of his followers are kids and teens. like 18-year-old aidan cruz. he and friends couldn't wait to attend friday night's concert. little did they know it would be a traumatic night. >> there's a girl behind us screaming frantically. she's -- she's losing her mind. and i try to hold it down.

and instantly i just feel like, this is like -- this is not going to be good. we have to get out of here. and i start to push back. it feels like a brick wall. i start screaming "help." >> reporter: iden can be seen here, desperately pleading with the concert crew to stop the show. >> there's a lot of the people saying, well, if travis scott ended the show, they would have raged onto the stage, or it would have been even more chaos. but i liketo -- i'd like to say that that -- i don't think that's true. >> reporter: now aidan hopes some good will come out of so much pain. >> it makes me want to make sure this never happens ever again. i just want them to practice this, practice these scenarios before hosting a big festival. >> our thanks to marcus.p next,

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finally tonight, no bell peace prize winner malala yousafzai. once the world's most fams er, now married woman. the r actist w a taliban assassination attempt has tied the knot with asur malik, a general manager for the pakistan cricket board. the pair holding a small ceremony at their home in birmingham, england. congratulations to the happy couple. that's "nightline." you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back