♪ judy: good, eveni i'm judy woodruff on the "newshour" tonight, presenting the ticket. kamala harris joins joe biden for for the first time hassas running mate. what this historic moment means foac the for the white house. then the qanon cpaign. conspiracy theorists score a big win as a supporter of an ultrat far-righ movement wins a republican primary in georgia. and desperate journey, migrants from aroe world risk death crossing the jungle between panama and colombia, one of the most dangerous places.n ear >> i would like to send a message to anyone thinking of it's very dangero if i knew this, i wouldn't have done it. judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour."

announcer: major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- consumer cellular, johnson and johnson, financial services firm ymond jes, women's suffrage centennial commission. >> supporting socialnd entrepreneursheir solutions to the world's mostsi presng problems. skole foundation. >> the lenilson foundation, coitted to improving lives in the u.s. and other countries. supported byhe john d. and

catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions this mrogram wase possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by ntributions to your pbs thk you.from viewers like you. judy: former vice president joe biden an his newly chosen running mate, senator kamala harris of california, made their campaign deb together this afternoon in wilmington, delaware. they offered a unifiedfo vision how they plan to defeat president trump in november's election. lisa desjardins begins our coverage. lisa: for the first time, the 20 docratic ticket appeared togeer, if on a socially distant stage.

one day after tweeting out that she was his v.p. pick, former vice president joe biden gave an in-person welcome to senator kamala harris. v.p. biden: kamala is smart, she's tough, she's experienced, she's a proven fighter for the backbone of this countrythe middle class, for all those who are struggling to get into the middle class. kamala knows how to govern, she cas. hard to ma she's ready to do this job on day one and we're both read to get to work rebuilding this nation. sen. harris: we don't have to accept the failednm govt of donald trump and mike pence. in just 83 days, we have a chance to choose a better future r our country. lisa: the team appeared at a high school in wilmington with ju a few dozen reporters in e crowd, no supporters to

cheer or applaud. a somewhat surreal pandemic version ofhat is usually a full-throated rally to show off a new vice presidential pick. the campaign hoped to sho digital emotion releasing video of the ment the vice president offered the job to senator harris. >> the answer is absolutely yes lirris' candidacy is the melt of many first ehe first black woman and first asian-american v presidential nominee on a maj party ticket. >> as an african american womanr used to being a target. it's not going to be anything new for kamala. i'm confident she can handle it. lisa: supporters like resident johnavis say it's her experience that has best preparedor herhe job. >> i know joe biden mentioned he was going to pick a woman as vi president but think she's the best candidate either way,

not just because she's a woman. lisa: scott schaeffer covered her time as attorney general. >> she was slow to embra legalizing marijuana in california, well behind many other democrats. she did not take a position on a statewide ballot manner that would haveeded non-violent offenses toisdemeanors. she pursued death penalty cases overturned by the courts. while she has embraced things like getting rid of cash bail, therare a lot of thing that give criminal justice refm advocates concern. >> kamala harrisan for president by rushing to thera cal left. lisa: president trump's campaign team quickly released a videos claiming haras too far left. on twitter, mr. trump said harris did noteaose a t to his re-election, saying she started strong in the docratic primaries and finished weak, fleeing the race with almost zero support.last night, the prs

for his democratic contender.ds v.p. pence: california senator kamala harris will be the democratic candidateor vice president. let me welcome her to the race. lisa: a welcome from sarahli first republican woman on a presidential candidate. she wrote that the experience will be the most amazing view in counl, writing, don't get muzzled and have fun. some advice o day one for the biden-harris team. like american voters, they face an inten 83 days until the election. for the "pbs newshour," i'm lisa desjardins.: jud lisa joins me now along with the "newshour's" daniel bush who h been on the ground in wilmington today reporting on the biden-harris event. dan, you did get thisp-ose look at what's going on there.

did you get a sense of what these two are going to be like as they try to appeal to american voters a a team? daniel: judy, this was their kickoff, their first opportunity to appear on stage together. they did seem comfortab but theigns of covid were everywhere, covid-19. they both wore masks. they kept their distance. harris delivered all the traditional notes of a running mate, talking about her course, going after president trump. it's going to be interesting to see how the campaign proceeds from here. the campaign right now is being tight lipped about how it is that they're going to harris in the days ahead. we know that right now they just left for aai funr at a hotel nearby, a virtual harris is a dynamic public speaker and did struggle a bit at times in her campaign last year. it will be interesting to spa how she cns in this new virtual reality that we're in. judy: and lisa, from watching

this up close, are you getting to -- what is their message?ng how are they going to try to appeal to vers? lisa: i've covered both of these people in the u.s. senate, biden and harris. and i think what we saw tonight was a one-two punch. bineld was the -- biden was ling on aigger message, of identity. went straight to president trump and charged that trump is distorting the american identity as one that is about even prejudice. he talked about charlottesville. today is the third anniversary inwhat happened charlottesville. biden said that was inspiration for him. he said their campaign is about all ideologies and creating anit american ide full of possibilities and diversity. now, harris followed that up ash her own personal story dan said, and that's one of diversity. it's compelling. she also did a her job talked about why she thinks her boss is her note, these are two

people who are not scared to show emotion and they're both expressing what they see as the urgency of the election. they want their voters to be .ghly motivat judy: we know coming up to this choice, there was a lot of speculation about whether the pick that ntce presi biden made would excite the democratic base. and you've had a chance today to talk to some voters who physically showed up around the high school there in wilmington and you talked to some of them. what are they saying? daniel: judy, i should note, this is, of course, home turf, home territory f biden. we are not far away from his home where he has been spending most of the time during the pandemic.so a lot of democrats e to several people who were excite about his pick of harris, noting the historic nature of it. one woman said mat theent that she got the text message that the campaign put out to supporters with theice, she went online, downloaded an image

of the biden logo, an image of harris together and put them togethernd had her homemade sign today so a lot of support on the democratic side. there were, however, some protestors here, in particular, wh boppose joeen's view on abortion, as well as some trump supporters walking around a minute ago behind me waving trump signs. so alreadye' seeing the divides that are going to play out from here through election day. judy: certainly making their message heard. lisa, back to you, you've been tching kamala harris. you watched her campaign when she was running herself. what did you learn -- what did we learn, do you think, during th time, about the voters she appeals to that may tell us something about the kind of appeal she'll have right now? lisa: i love looking at these kinds of numbers and see what they tell us. when you look at kamala harris as the candidate for president, last summer, when she was at her peak, her appeal, judy, was

mostly broad. her largest group she was appealg to in july when she was at her peak were people who said they were paying close attention to the campaign. one reason for that might be that she had that viral moment with vice president biden when she went after him on stage. she sawer biggest bounce from that debate performance. that's something the biden campaign may like in the matchus agvice president pence. but, judy, overall, her appeal was broad and that is one reason she might not he advanced farther. she didn't have aiche of core voters to push her ahead. that i something maybe the biden campaign likes in a vice presidential candidate, she appeals to many different people. looked into the high school that this appearance was at today, alexis dupont high school in wilmington,de greenville, ware. this is a high school part of a school district in the 1d0's which so try to keep segregation going as the court

this is a high school she likely could not have attended but retoday this is wamala harris became the first black woman to be aice presidential nominee on a presidential ticket for a major party. judy: so interesting. it certainly was a rollout like no other we've seen, a nominee bringing his running mate. you didn't see the han together or anything like what we've seen but that's the world we live in. daniel bush, there in wilmington, lisa desjardins here, thank you. lisa: you're welcome. judy: with less than thr months until election day, much of the attention has been on the presidential race. but amna nawaz looks at how a conspiracy theory cou make its way to the halls of congress

after the election. >> america's the greatest country in the world. amna: on tuesday, marjorie taylor greene won the republican runoff in georgia's 14th congressional district. >> i'm a conservative republican. amna: it's an overwhelmingly favored to win in november. >> we have an islamic invasion. amna: after politicoovered green's previous islamophobic, anti-semitic and racist remarks about black people, g.o.p. leaders distance themselves, condemning her words as appalling and bigoted. but republican leaders remain largely silent about green's support fo a far right support for a conspiracyheory known as qanon. >> q is a patriot. he is someone tt is very much loves this country and he's on the same page as us and is very pro trump. amna: qanon first emerged in the months after president trump

took office, spreading to social media. adherents allege, among other things the target of so-called deep state actors, high ranking officials plotting against him. the conspiracy took off and the presatent's supporters led on to the mysterious q. signs and t-shirts appeared at trump's campaign rallies. last year, the f.b.i. labeled the movement a potenti domestic terror threat. i stand with q and the team.ump, thank you anons and tnk you patriots. amna: now qanon has taken root in the 2020 campaign trail. >> everything that i've hrdf q, i hope that this is real. amna: some congressional candidates promoted the friendlyy theory to media outlets beforer lat calling qanon fake news. according to media matters, a le leaning watchdog group, 20 candidates, all republicans and one independent, with varying

support for qanon theories, have advanced to the november general election and now marjorie taylor greene's ne will be on the ballot, as well. and spread of the qanon the conspiracy theory on the campaign trail, i'm joined by travis view, co-host of the qanon anony puscast. welcome to the "newshour." you have been following the qanon conspiracy theory and its followers for a long time. let's start with the basics for those who haven't been. explain to us where and how did the qanon conspiracy begin? travis: the qanon conspiracy theory originated on october of 2017. though it has origins in pizzagate. the basic premise is that a group of high-level military intelligence officials close to president trump, q and the followers believe, are sending out sret coded messages on these image boards about this great grand battle of good versus evil in whichnd trump

what they call the q team are working to des aoy global cabal of satan worshiping pedophiles which the qanon community believes is controlling everything including politicians, entertainment and the media. amna: and what is the endame, if you believe in the conspiracy theory, what double -- do you believe will happen as a result? >> they're awaing two b events, one called the storm, a massive arrest event in which over 100,000 people from the highest levels of power and entertainment are arrested and face a great d of reckoning. the other event that they're waiting for is called the great an event in which everyonecal reales that qanon iight the whole time and that would allow us to enter into great grand new utopian age na: what you've just laid out

seems sbviously irrational that a lot of reasonable people might just dismiss it and yet it has picked up real speed i recent years, right? it was reported recently that facebook found thousands of groups and pages with millions of followers and members supporting qanon so what has helped to fuel this idea so well? >> it's a really appealing story. you happen to feel really disenfranchised and you want to believe that the world is about to change in a really important, revolutionary way. it's also appealing because it allows t qanon followers to believe they can take part in this grand revolutionary change. nfey think they're basically conducting anmation war so that by going on social media and posting qan memes and spreading qanon conspiracy ceories, they help usher in the great awakening so it soundr lus and it is but this story has a lot of appeal to people who might otherwise fl

they hav no voice in the political system. amnathe fact that president trump has been retweeting some of these conspiracyor ts, congressional candidates are saying they support these ideas and are winning, likel ending up in congress, what does that say to you about t potency of this conspiracy theory? >> let it is some historical precedent of a conspiratorial movement gaining a share of power in congress. in 1833, thereas anti-masonic party dedicated to theon proposihat the free masons were controlling the world and they gained 10% of r e house resentatives. there's always been an undercurrent of conspiracy thking and paranoia in american politics and occasionally can it rise up and get significa political power so this is something we're seeing again. am m: youtioned the pizzagate conspiracy theory in 2016 and it resurfaced again

recently. what happens with the conspiracy theory? do you see a point at which this goes away? >> no,bsolutely not. this is something that has started for small a couple of years ago and has only gained in popularity and speed. if you go by the trajectory, this is something t will almost certaly be with us for at least a generion and amna: that is travis view, co-host of the qanon anonymous podcast. thanks so much, travis. judy: as schools are preparing for the start of another year,ny istricts say they are not ready to bring students back into the buildings becausethf spread of covid in their communities but president trump is dialing up the pressure on em to do so. he tried to make the case for

that again today athe white house. kellyanne conway is counselor to president t ump and she joins now. kellyanne conway, welcome back as we were saying, the president is trying to get the schools to open up physically but this comes at the very same time we are lanage that -- learning that there's been a 90% increase in the number o children diagnosed or with thisn, infectomething like 100,000 children diagnosed at the end of july. now we have the american academy of pediatrics and association of chilen's hospitals saying please hold off on in-person schools. how does that square with what the president is sayin kellyanne: judy, our message today in our discussion with parents, teachers, scientists ynd doctors and students themselves was vlear. let's reopen safely. the word safely iritically

important because as you point out, roughly 50% or so of the nation's students are not retuing to a physical structure on day one of the so what does that mean?s fall. it means that those that still have low infection rates, knowing that children are still at relativow risk from fataliti adults and thethe covid average age is 78 but having said that, people are very coakerned and we wanted to sure we amplified and acknowledged those concerns and came up with eight different things the president is announcing tonight that we think will help schools to safely reopen. among other things, the inding thats r through the cares act we've allocated $13 billion in resources to help schools safely reopen. some may want to invest in thermometer tayts, some want to do testing and some may want a contingency flan older educators who feel at higher

risk. judy: i understand you're giving specific recommendation. that may work for some dtricts where the prevalence is very low but you do have rising casesn more talf the states right now are seeing a resurgence of covid. the school district in georgia that this past week opened up early, one district, 900 students and staff are nowbe quarantineuse of what they've done. so there are cauon flags all around. kellyanne: yes. and i'm raising them actually in this inter and in the discussion we had today because that is indubitably true that some people are very concerned. m not saying open schools now. i'm saying open them safely and each district will have to decide what that mea but this is a good time to prepare for that. there are protocols in the social distancing, the mask wearing, the hygiene, making sure thatn young child understand what we've all learned in how critically important that is and

recommending no cafeteria eating, perhaps eating at your desk, limiting indoor activities like assemblies and i've heard epidemiologists recommend the more we can do t outsin inside for any of us, including the students, the better. each sool will need to make those decisions. the kseramily foundation health tracker survey revealed that 67% of parents are worried about their children falling behind socially and a majority worried about falling behind academically. wee not saying do it today, tomorrow, next week, but let's do itafely and let's not lock down children indefinitely.ju : there was another survey done by "the washington post" showing that more than 80% of parents said that they think schools should be at least partially online.

only 16% areor fg fully in-person education. kellyanne: we were seeing many districts have thisri h starting virtual with a promise no reassess in october or november and i some cases longer. we heard stories today from folks already back in schoo lubbock, texas, and some other places came to say we're already back in school. a mother and from father who have a down syndrome, special needs child in columbia, this is the worst possiblel outcome for that child because he ruires so many services with specialists. that shows you there's no one-size-fits-all mandate and we want to dohat.overnment don't we do want to remind the states that the $13 billion available, roughly 4% has been tapped into so folks out there in the states, you have resrces ready to help t youo plan to reopen schools when you feel it is best to do so.

judy: i think our question is, at a time when we're getinng new rmation about children at risk and even about how children can be strong spreade of it'sery mixed message that -- the american people are getting from the white house about this. but kellyanne conway, let me ask you quickly about the big news on the democratic presidential ticket. joe biden has introduced his running mate, samatora harris. the president's first reaction in his comment at the white house yesterday were to call her nasty and horrible. he's called other women politicians, hillary clinton, nancy pelosi, nasty.st the tone that is going to mainly come from theto president rd her and toward this ticket? kellyanne: i have said, judy, w that i think can take a moment and pause and say good for history. we have a you a fragile democracy anfor a woman of color to be on a mor party ticket is something to

otlebrate. judy: that'shat the president said. kellyanne: i'm standing in front of the white house saying it to you and even thos w would pretend they're forward looking woulsay we're going backwards. kamala harris and joe biden are for abortion the ninth month. that is the most extreme position y can have. e list goes on and on. is she forefunding the police? because she made joyful noises abt it when los angeles proposed it recently. judyjoe biden is not for defunding the police. kellyanne: the ticket will be thi ticket. ink it's their policy positions. run healthcare and talking about trillions of dollars and ban air travel and gas -outhis is ide the mainstream of america. judy: there are a lot of policy positions you're throwing out there and b as you know joen is not for medicare for all and

neither is senator harris. i want to the ask you about president -- tweeted this morning about surban housewives wanting safety and threatening that cory booker wen hato be the only african american senator, male senator today, would invade their neighborhood with low income housing. thecurious, why would president mention senator booker just right after joeid chooses a black woman, a woman of asian descent, to be his running mate, people are calling this a racial dog whistle? kellyanne: i've not discussed that issue with the president but i correct that. there is another african american male senator, cory booker is not the only one. judy: i meant to say the only african american democratic senator. kellyanne: i believe everybody wants public safety and i would look at the gallup poll from

last week that says 86% of americans say they want the same or more police presence in their defunding the police or what we see in our great cities across going out every night and destroying property, it really belies the memory of those for whom the peaceful protestors began. this is violence.ful protesting. judy: let me bring this back to the central message from joe biden and kamala harri she said today, the president iled to take this virus seriously from the start. and said that, in other words, holding this president responsible and that's with whas campaign will be about, the fact that the united states is doing so much worse than most ofhe rest of the world when -- and the facthat the number of

cases in this country, far higher than the proportion of the u.s. population to the rest of the world. kellyanne: here's what i would say to kamala harris and joe bide if they've got a better way to tackle this pandemic, what are they waiting for? where have they been for five months? i sit in the coronavirus task force meetings behind doctors birx and fauci. i have been here saturday and sunday, the president and vice president worked around the clock trying to get this right for the american people. this presidene has s trillions of dollars in relief, taking the bold step to ban travel from areas highly infected. everybody who needed a ventilator got a ventilator. we are developing vcines at a record pace. nih directorli francis c said he's never seen something come together so quickly and so well. we have dealt with our g7 leaders because it's a global

epandemic that we h surge supplies, p.p.e. it goes on and on and congress wasn't even here. joe biden has been in wilmington. i told the president he should visit wilmington. judy: nancy pelosi and chuck schumer m with treasury secretary mnuchin, saying the ite house is not budging on its positio keyanne: secretary mnuchin told me that was inaccurate what eted out.osi t we want to get to the negotiation table. the democrats walked away on the president taking action on protecting from evictions and unemployment benefits and we are trying to do that because i the absence of congressional action and leadership, the president has no choice. we want to getding for schools, funding for small businesses and workers who need that relie but the president also today in his press briefing reviewed some of the greatic

econata that is happening. more jobs created in the last threonths than i think in a very long time and we are coming out of this recovery -- we love for kamala harris and joe biden to help the country now. are they waiting until november 4 to announce a big plan? let's help the country now. judy: we'll see an active debate between now and november 3. kellyanway, thank you very much. kellyanne: thank you, judy. stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with "newshour" west. we'll retu to judy woodruff after the latest headlines. covid-19 deaths in the u. topped 165,000 tonight as states weigh how to handlthe upcoming school year. in new jersey, an early hot spot in the pandemic, governor phil murphy cleared the w for in-person class. allowing public and private

schools from kindergarten to college to reope they observe safety measures. governor: we have held ongoing discussions with the leaders throughout our higher education system and we believe they ares ready for t step come the beginning of the school year in september, pns are in place to t ensu safety of students and staff. stephanie: the u.s. budge h defici hit a record of more than $2.8 trillion,th0 m into the fiscal year. the treasury department says that's largely due to stimulus aid to help keep the economy afloat during the pandemic. it pdicts b fiscal year end oe 2020 deficit will more than double a record. numbers out of britain reveal a pandemic induced recsion that worsening. statistics show its economy shrank by a fifth in the second quarter, the worst contraction in 65 years. economists fear the u.k.'s downturn may be the deepestth

amon world's leading industrial economies. and six hospitalized after a passenger train deraile about 100 miles northeast of edinboro flash floods.storms t access theite to rescue theo passengers from the train cars. in bella ruse, some 6,000 people have been detained afterhe third straight night of clashes between protestors and police. demonstrators insist the re-election of alexander lukashenko is illegitimate. last night, police assaulted jonalists and made widespread arrests.today, lukashenko callee otestors criminals. protestors are people with aed criminal past and those who are currently unemployed, those who don't have aob walk in the streets and avenues. that's why i'm kindly urginglo everyone uned to get a

job. stephanie: today in minsk, nearly 200 women marched against police brutality and urged thorities to release those detained. violent tribal clashes i sudan have killed at least 25 people and wounded nearly 90 more. the fighting began sunday in port sudan in the red sea province authorities deployed troops and imposed curfews. tensions between the beni amer tribe and the na tribe date back to 2019 and stem from resources.ver water and ck in this country, an f.b.i. investigation is underway after el air forceopter was shot at from the ground as it flew over virginia. the incident happened monday during aoutine training mission from joint base andrews near washington. it was forced to land in manassasegional airport in virginia. .ne crew member was hit in the ha a victory for conservationists in utah. the trump administration has canceled plans to auction off

leases for thousands of acres of land fornd oil gas drilling near national parks. a land lease auction is scheduled for september but wili notlude the 87,000 acres near arches,apital reef and canyon lands national park which are popur with tourists and her business shift -- outdoor retailer rei is walking away from a new campus outside of seattle which itd expec to move into this summer. since march, the employees have been working remotely. the company is in talks telo the property. and billionaire mia mogul sumner redstone has died. he built an empire that included cbs, viacom and paramount pictures and helped shape the modern day entertainment industry. his final years were marked by corporate battles and legal disputes with former girlfriends. he was 97. still to come on the "newshour

with judy woodruff," young people face the realities of covi as they account for rising numbers of new infections. migran from around the world c risk deathssing the dangerous jungle between panama and colombia. announcer: this is the "pbs wshour" from weta studios in washington and in e west from the walter cronkite school of journalism a arizona state university. judy: young people make up a large portion of the new covid-19 cases that are being seen across the u.s. in some states, like arizona and florida, people undnt 45 acc for more than half of all cases. as stephanie sy reports, doctors are warning that young people need to take more precautions not only to keep from spreading the virus to older americans but for their own sakes, as well. stephanie: when florida eased its lockdown andllowed

restaurants and bars to reopen, 22-year-old nicky courtland was excited about the possibility of going out. for more than two months. orders >> theic ols stating things wero opening and they were tting safety measures into action. >> people have a drink, it's fine. >> so i began thinking, ok, you know, i just graduated college. i missed. my frien why notave one weekend in orlando. stephanie: armed wh hand sanitizer and masks, courtland anden her friends to dinner and then a bar. >> it was pretty crowded. you definitely did not socia distance. days later she got a fever and tested positive for covid-19. so did 30 other peoe shenew who went to the same bar. >> i'm trying to stay really calm but it'seally hard. stephanie: courtland's case was relatively mild but she said it wastill a horrible experience. >> i will never forget sitting

there and watching clock go from 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m., 5:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m. and not being able to get a deep breath. stephanie: courtland has been warning others that covid-19 should not be taken lightly. >> i want the to understand it can happen to you. stephanie: many aren't getting theessage.st several es have closed bars again but a young peoplere still going out. a survey from the democracy fund in ucla found that during the first week of august nearly half of gen z-ers and more than half of millenials socialized with people without maintaining social distancing. statistically speaking, the younger you are, the less likely you are to be hospitalized with covid, so many young adults are catching the virus that there are now more people age 18 to 49

hospitalized than age 50 to 64. dr. doshy worksn memial hospital in houston. >> multiple 20's, 30's, 40's'snd etting sick and ending up in.c. stephanie: he says people can't assume they're low risk because they're young. >> there's a big difference between chronological age andgi physiol age. there are lots of 30-year-olds who are inactive, obese, physiologically may be more like a 60-year-old. stephanie: there's evidence that millenials aren't as healthy as past generations. a blue cross blue shield association survey found that people born beten 1981 and 1986 are more likely to hav health conditions such as high blood pressure, cighlesterol and diabetes, risk factors for covid-19. but evenhy young hea people have gotten severe and deadly cases of covid.

yvette pause is a0-year-old single mom, army veteran and hauf-core workout who lives in los angeles. she didn't think much of it whe she woke up in march with a searing headache andch body. >> a burning sensation in my eyes and heaviness in my body. a sore feeling, almost like i had a really big workout. stephanie: the symptoms got worse. she tested positive for covid hd waspitalized that same day. she chronicled her experience on soyal media. >> doctor just left. he notified me that my white blood cells have been dropping really fast sce yesterday which is a little concerning. stephae: one night she says she feared for her life. >> i'm in the hospital bed. i feel like myungs now are totally immobile. i'm trying to breathe. i'm frantically pushing this button to get the nurse. stephanie: she eventually caught her breath and was released from the hospital after a total of

five days. three months on, she's feeling much better but sti has lingering side effects. >> i do get winded t easiern before. stephanie:hat's common among covid patients s and doctors they're still learning how covid-19 can cause long-term lung damage. >> we think that some of these patients may behave like a group of patients l thatg fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis or interstitial lung disease. stephanie: last month the doctor rformed a double lung transplant on a 28-year-old patient after she was spitalized with covid-19. >> she's patients, we see a lot of breathing into -- bleeding into the lung and formation of bloo clots. they form scar tissue. a lot of cavities that form insidehe lungs. stephanie: ramirez has an have mad her more susceptibleht to the virus and has begun her recovery.>> with the help of myy and support from the community and medical team, slowly but

surely things have gotten a lot better. stephanie: research shows that covid can cause lung damage even in asymptomatic patients. then there's the mental health to. in the u.k., psychiatristsav recommended screening covid-19 patients for post traumatic stress disorder. the vet pause knows firsthand be. traumatizingovid-19 can >> >> i was having dreams where i died in theospital. stephanie: her experience brought back the ptsd she had from her time in the military and recently she's developed agoraphobia, a fear of going outside. >>t out to a store one day and i was in line and i freaked out and i noticed this was happening more and more so there's only certain places that i can go to where i feel safe. stephanie: the worst part of covid-19 is the uncertainty. the uncertainty about whether it's damaged her lungs for good and about whether she could get

the disease again. doctors say over the last few months they've learned how to beer treat the virus but there's still a lot they don't know. >> we don't know wther you're going to get really sick or not. all we know is it's possible. that's thallenge. this is a brand new virus. this has never affected the human race before. stepha,e: and it's w experts say, all humans, even young ones, should stard on gua for the "pbs newshour," i'm stephanie sy. judy: life around the globe for refugees and migrants fleeing war, persecution, climat change and economic misfortune routinely find thes in peril along migrant trails.e perhaps ost perilous path anywhere, through the darian gap, a lawless stretch that

straddles colombia and panama. last fall, before the pandemic, correspondented nadia drost and photographerrico put themselves at risk to show us everything about those making their way west. images may disturb some viewers. >> where south america meetsam centraica lies one of the world's wildest jungles. roadless, lawless, almost entirely uninhabited. the darian gap. underneath theun soaringe canopy, migrants from around the world risk death crossing the jungle in a desperate bid to reach e u.s. and canada, with no map and noti instrucs on how to make it through one of the world's most dangerous migration routes. >> i would like to send a message to anyone who i inking of doing this route.

it's very dangerous. if i knew this, i wouldn't have done it. >> many migrants spend a weekr two on this trail before they reach village and safety. but these journeystarted long before. migrants from asia, the middle east, and aica flew into uador or brazil where visa requirements are somewhat lax. haitians also use thiss route a springboard north but to get from colombia to panama they have to cross the darian gap by foot. it's the oy missing 66 mile peak in the american highway from the tip of argentina to alaska. migrants go first to thend of the road in colombia, the port town, to head west along the caribbean. the passenger manifest was global. most had little idea of whatay ahead.

they dock in a tourist town, now a trailhead for migrants heang into the route. weet out to join up with the migrant trail and reached a makeshift camp where smugglers ntit for mig at dusk, a group of cameroonians and pakistannians arrived. theyere exhausted and relieved to find the last spot where they can get hot food. morning broke with torrential rain. th o trail is othe wettest places on the planet. the environme could hdly be more different from from the hih mountain of pak ttans group called home. >> the taliban targeted our family. >> with guides we hired, we followed the migrantss they set out on a day-long ascent of a mountain ahead. the sep terrain was tough for

everyone but impossible with an injury. this woman could barely put weight on h knee and exhaustion took over. >> it's too much. >> up the mountain, the smuggler theer camoonians and pakistanis hired demanded payment. as we hiked, young men carrying square backpacks filled with cocaine passed up. we were told to expect heavily armed security patrolling so we put our camera away. >> my foot! >> after a steep descent, the group made it to this river. they were almost out ofood. smugglers won't venture any farther intore panama w they could face over a decade in prison if caught. this one wished smugglers weren't prosecuted so they could help migrants safely complete

their journey. >> i've had to see mothers who tell their children they can't go on, to ge themselves up to god. for anyone who has a family or kids, that breaksour heart. >> another smuggler told us he came across this migrant who had been injured and spent twoee on this mountainside. >> he was only crawling, crawling like a child. it's common, most people who injure themselves die because the's no help for them. >> from here on, migrants are on their own. the next morning ae cameoss george, a cameroonian man. injured, he had been left behind bias group. by his group. forging ahead alone, he fell and diocated his shoulder. our guides popped it back into he was one of many cameroonians be fully identified, fleeing ato brutal conflict in his country. >> you know when you're running

for youry, safou don't care what is happening to you. you don't care what is in front of you. you just want to have safe ground. >> just like his group of friends had, we left him behd, hobbling onwards. the trail and river banks wer littered with signs of desperation. before long, a largeroup of haitians andri lankans appeared. a father of two. >> it's beenay six we're walking without stopping. the children cry of hunger. there's no food, there's >> there was nothilse for them tdo but try to go ahead. these haitians had been living legally in brazil or chile. among them, six children and three pregnant women. dusk fell and the haitians made camp high above the river. it was hard to find woo enough to make a fire and harder to find food to cook. the night's catch, a few fish.

lying smugglers often tell migrants they're almost to their destination which is why many had alreadyhe tossed clothing and food. >> the bread, finish right now. i have nothing. nothing. nothing. >> your bible. >> my bible, yes, my bible. my book. >> dawn broke after a night of heavy rain. theyle barely. they are soaking wet and very hungry but we are stuck here for now. that's because overnight the rain made the river rise dramatically. it was too high to cross. the rivers often pulled childrer their parents' arms and

swept migrantso their deaths. worries took over the haitians, like rosie bentoim. >> som i think if i was not this poor wouldn't have got into this situation. >> the river level dropped and we fin oly set again. later, we were joined by 15 bang bangladeshi men with nothing but the clothes that you were weing. they had been robbed four times on therail of everything. a man we're calling sd explained. >> a group of five toeven mafias came to us. they pointed a gun towards us and took away our bags and. everythi they left nothing for us. they even took away our food. >> the river was dangerously high and we cut the day short and set up camp. the next morning eight migrants

from haiti and ghana who began the ossing with th haitians but fell behind suddenly showed a. among them, woman and her boyfriend from haiti were robbed by bandits days earlier. one grabbed the boyfriend's arm, threatening to cut it with a machete. helpee pierre from haiti tell us what happened. >> after the thief said go off and leave the woman behind so he's walking but looking behind and sees these guys lowering his wife's underwear. >> one of the men assaulted her, penetrating her intimate parts with his fingers, looking fordo migrants of hiding.ct later, we heard many stories of this and other abuse on the trail. after another night of heavy rain, the river is very, very high. it's going to be risky to cross it but we simply cannot wait any longer because we have run out of food. pierre found a pregnant haitian woman he had been searching for

and we got oayn our trying to side-step the river.r afght days on the trail, rosiena botang' family from ghana had run out of food. >> when is it going to fish? i lost hope. i already lost hope. >>tos were empty, legs were quivering. because the river was tooigh, had to make a detour, winding up into the forest and dimg -- dimming all hopes of reaching a settlement in panama by night. the next day, minds were racinth ne question, will we make it out of here? there were foreboding reminderse ofho did not. but these migrants joined the legions of survivors crossing the darian gap. as the river opened up, a driver and his outboard canoe appeared. we were finallyur on way to a village. this mht, the groupe its

way out of the darian gap but the rest of their journey is as opaque as the black waters ahead. from the darian gap in man p -- panama for the "pbs newshour." judy: just incredible reporting and tomorrow nadia will report on the uneasy waiting game in panama for the migrants who make it through the darian gap. that's thewshour" for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again herrr to evening. for all of us at the "pbs newshour," thank you. please stay safe and we'll see you soon. announcer: major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no-contract wireless plans designedo help people do more of what they like. our u.s. based customer service team can help flad a that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv.

>> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated adviser can tailor omvice and rndations to your life. that's fidelity wealth management. >> johnson & jnson. financial services firm, raymond james. women's suffrage centennial commission. the ford foundation working with visionarie the front lines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institions.

this program was madebl pos by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute which is responsible for its caption content and accucy.] hi >> is "pbs newshour" west from weta studios in washington and from our burthu a walter cronkite school of journalism at awrs -- arizona state university. lidia: buon giorno. i'm lidia bastianich,

and teachingodou about italian has always been my passion. i want to taste it! assaggiare! it's all about cooking together... hello? ...as i re-create childhood memories... good to the last drop. ...restaurant classics, and new family favorites. that everybody's favorite part? whatever you're baking, lick the spoon. tutti a tavola a mangiare! venite! announcer: funding provided by... the culinary her iag of authenticlian foods by offering over 100 specialty italian products for the american kitchen. cento. trust your family with our family. grana padano. authentic. italian. rich in tradition yet contemporary. for ov 140 years, auricchio traditional