♪ judy: good evening. on the newshour tonight, the coronavirus takes its toll. the u.s. records its deadliest day in august as new potential hotspots emerge. i talk with dr. anthony found she about the ongoing response. then a potential breakthrough in the middle east. israel and the united arab emirates strike a single diplomatic agreement. plus, mailing it in. as the u.s. election approaches, the trump administration intensifies efforts to undermine mail-in voting and the postal service. and desperate journey, migrants crossing the dangerous journal between colombia and panama

often arrive at immigration outpost with nothing left. >> it took me 14 days with many ambushes along the way. i twice at bandits. the first ones robbed all my money and the second ones robbed all my family's food. judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> when the wld gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor recommendations to your life. that is fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. financial sayer versus firm raymond james.

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contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: claims for jobless benefits in the u.s. fell below one million last week for the first time since the pandemic began, but new labor department statistics show millions of americans still out of work amid rampant layoffs, all as negotiations over a federal aid package from installed. meanwhile, the u.s. reported its highly deus death toll from the coronavirus since mid-may, nearly 1500. i spoke this evening with dr. anthony fauci, director of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases. dr. fauci, welcome back. let's talk about this virus. the good news is that the number of new cases does seem to be slowing, but on the other hand, the daily death toll has more than doubled what it was a month

ago. there were 1470 deaths yesterday, more than any other day in the month of august. the united states -- [indiscernible] dr. fauci: it is certainly not where we want to be. [indiscernible] [indiscernible] judy: there have been more deaths in the state of florida

over the past two weeks -- [indiscernible] altogether in the countries of japan and south korea. that is a pretty big indictment of efforts to get this under control, isn't it? dr. fauci: we really need to get it under control. it is within our power, if we pull together any unified, consistent way. what i've said so many times, it has been shown in other countries and it has been shown in parts of our own country, that if you do five or so fundamental things, not only do you prevent the surges, but when the surges occur, you bring it down. uniform and universal wearing of masks. physical social distancing. avoiding crowds. outdoor things always better than indoor things. and wash hands as often as you possibly can. an addendum to that is we should

stay away from bars and those places that can, close the bars. those are hotspots of transmission. unfortunately, that is what we saw in some of the states that surged. judy: you've been an advocate of doing everything possible to make it safe for children to go back to school, but we now see what has happened in a number of states. georgia, something like 1200 students and adult are now or 19 as a result of opening in -- are now quarantined as a result of opening in-person classes. are we looking at many months of distance learning before we are able to safely real everywhere? dr. fauci: in some places that may be the case. we've heard that the default position should be to get the schools open, but the thing that is important in this country is

that if you look at the green, the yellow, and the red state as the definitions that you know so well about percent positive k says by 100,000. in the green areas, you can open the school with a degree of impunity because the level of infection is so low. when you get to the yellow states, you've got to realize you have infection in your community, so you've got to have the capability of protecting the children and teachers by doing certain thing. you leave it to the local authorities to figure out what is best for them, but they are well spelled out in the cdc guidelines. using masks, windows open, outside if you can. i must say that if you are in a red area, then you really better think carefully before you just jump into school. and the people who don't like my saying that should realize that

the best way to get your school open is to get out of a red zone , into a yellow zone into a green zone. if you want your schools to open, get your community level down, down to a safe level. judy: and again, we hear you and we know there are still skeptics out there among the american public. i want to ask about a vaccine. your original projection that we will have one by the end of this year or early next year, but given thisnnouncement from russia this week -- it was met with great skepticism -- how confident are you that when this vaccine comes in this country, from a project called warp eed, that people are going to be willing to be vaccinated? dr. fauci: two aspects to your question. the firsone, let's take the russian situation.

just to say you have a vaccine doesn't mean that you should be administering the vacne. we have a half a dozen vaccines, but before you give it to the american public, you want to be absolutely certain that it is effective and safe. which gets to your second question, which is the issue of warp speed. in some respects, that is a bit of an fortunate terminology every a it tends to subliminally suggest reckless speed. it is not. what has happened is that the technology that has allowed us to go from the seat and's that we knew in the beginning of january two getting a vaccine into a phase one trial and then quickly going into phase two and three has nothing to do with safety, judy. it is doing something based on technology and operating at a financial risk instead of a safety risk, so i have changed my projection. i still think we can have it by

the end of the year, the beginning of next year in a safe, way. judy: just continuing on the vaccine question, we are seeing a number of state officials, public health experts, who are starting to express publicly concern that there is no federal plan that they know of to distribute the vaccine. one of them pointed to the mishandling of the treatment drug remdesivir and they said this could be a slow-motion train wreck when it comes to a vaccine. how confident are you that it is going to be handled right? dr. fauci: as you know as part of operation warp speed, we have two individuals leaving it. the scientific aspect of it and then the technical supply chain distribution. he has been part of it and the representative of the department of defense. right now, there are plans in

place already manufacturing and getting ready for distribution. the critical thing we want to make sure we do is that the trial itself is conducted in a way where there is equitable distribution of demographic groups, so that you know it is safe and effective in everyone. african-americans, latinx, whites, asians. the other one is in the vaccine occurs, there is a standard way of getting a recommendation through the advisory, which advises the cdc, getting the national academy of medicine involved to make sure we get equitable distribution. i'm confident that will happen. judy: something we saw this week and this has to do with the future. medical historian wrote and said this pandemic may be here for a lot longer than people are acknowledging.

because he said both because of vaccine complications and frankly difficulties with outbreaks and the management, the monitoring of this pandemic. he said there is a good chance it may not be fully over until 2024. dr. fauci: you know, judy, you can always make those kinds of speculations and modeling in different ways. of course. if we do not handle it operably, if there is, this could go on for a few years. however, we have certain things within our grasp and within our power that i believe are going to make that projection inaccurate. and that is we can control this from a public health standpoint. if you synergize and superimpose good, solid, careful, prudent public health measures with a vaccine that is effective -- it does not have to be 100% effective -- you get a vaccine

into 2021, throughout the year i believe by the year 2021, the end of the year, we will be as good back to normal as we possibly can. i want to be clear. that doesn't mean you are going to eradicate this virus. the only virus we have ever eradicated in the history of the planet has been smallpox for humans, but we could get it under good enough control that it is so low that it does not interfere with the kind of normal life that we want to get the economy back, to get employment back. i do not think it is going to be 2024. i think it is going to be more like the end of 20 21. judy: two other quick questions. one is about americans -- an american passion -- and that is for college football. two major conferences have said in the last few days that they are not going to play sports

this season. the geographic -- and we know the other conferences seem to be ready to go ahead. these decisions don't seem to match what is going on in these different geographic regions of the country, but my question to you is what vice do you have to the men and women making these decisions? cards in college or not? dr. fauci: when you have contact sports like that, there is an issue of having transmission. i don't want to be a gatekeeper for anybody, but my advice is that if you are going to have these student-athletes play, make sure at you have in your system everything possible to safeguard their health, their welfare, and the well-being of these individuals. not only the players, but the staff. if you are in a situation where

you can get a high probability that you are going to get into trouble, you should pause and see if you can modify your plans , modify by delaying or whatever it is. the fundamental public health principles are very, very clear, that you want to safeguard their health. if you can't do that, you should reconsider whether you want to have a season or not. judy: finally, we are entering the thick of the presidential campaign, the election season. both sides need to address this pandemic, how it is being managed. we know how politicized, how polarized the country is right now, how polarized the rhetoric is. how concerned are you that in some way the management of this, the progress of this pandemic could be set back by the fact that it is being talked about in a potical way this season? dr. fauci: obviously, anyone who

doesn't realize we are in a divisive side he is not paying attention. it is a fact of life. from a scientific standpoint, for the things that i and my colleagues at the nih do, that that will not under any circumstances be influenced by any political considerations. we have assurances from our colleagues at the fda that they feel exactly the way we do about science will decide the policy and the decisions despite the fact that we are in a divisive society and that we are in an election year, so i could view my word that when it comes to the science, that will not be influenced by any political considerations. judy: i know a lot of people will be reassured to hear that. dr. anthony fauci e, we thank you very much. dr. fauci: thank you, judy. it is always good to be with you. thank you for having me. ♪

stephanie: we will return to judy woodruff and the full program after the latest headlines. tonight, oregon state police said they are withdrawing protection from the federal courthouse in downtown portland. last night near that federal courthouse, officers used tear gas to push back crowds. police said the crowds threw rocks and bottles at them. a statement from a state police captain the move came out of frustration over the county's decision not to prosecute protesters that have been arrested. for the last two weeks, the oregon state police had been supplementing the local police, but beginning tonight, they will not be there. firefighters in southern california are braving a blistering wave as they battle a wildfire that has already scorched more than 10,000 acres. authorities say they have no containment of the fire. it broke out yesterday in dense

forest north of los angeles and exploded in size overnight due to the tinder, dry brush, and steep terrain. more than 100 homes were forced to evacuate. president trump announced a deal that normalizes relations between the united arab emirates and israel. the two countries will open embassies and signed bilateral agreements over trade and technology. the uae becomes the third arab country to have full diplomatic ties with israel. >> by uniting two of america's closest and most capable partners in the region, something which they say could not be done, this deal is a significant step toward building a more peaceful, secure, and prosperous middle east. stephanie: under the deal, israel would suspend its controversial plan to annex occupied land sought by palestinian. israeli prime minister benjamin

netanyahu welcomed the agreement as a new era in arab relations, but he stressed his plan to annex the west bank was only on temporary hold. >> implementing sovereignty will only take place in coordination with the united states. president trump, who is israel's greatest ally, asked that israel should wait temporarily regarding the implementation of sovereignty, but i did not remove or will i remove the sovereignty issue from the agenda. stephanie: a spokesman for the palestinian president condemned the diplomatic deal as treason by an arab country and demanded it he reversed. judy woodruff will talk to president trump's national security advisor about all of this later in the program. the fbi will be joining the investigation into what caused last week's deadly blast in beirut, lebanon, that killed more than 170 people.

the lebanese parliament approved a state of emergency, granting the military broad powers in the wake of the government's resignation. in belarus, the government has issued a rare apology for injuring protesters and started releasing some of those thousands that were detained. since the presidential election, demonstrators have been out in force, many women holding flowers in lines of solidarity. families describe the chaos. >> if you can, show up here at night. what is going on here, there is real torture. there are such screams. i've served in the military and i've never heard such a thing. stephanie: the interior ministry said all protesters would be released by early friday. six term president alexander

lukashenko claimed 80% of the vote in the election. a two-year justice department education found that yale university is illegally discriminating against asian american and white applicants, the latest move in the trump restrictions group of affirmative action. yale called the findings meritless and hasty. president trump said he would probably deliver the republican nomination acceptance speech from the white house lawn, defying critics. he had floated the idea of giving his speech at gettysburg, pennsylvania, but he suggested in the interview that it would need to hot. late this evening, president trump was questioned about kamala harris not being legally qualified to be vice president and he did not knock it down. for the record, she is eligible. she was born in california and the suggestions mirror false questions about president obama's birth. the trump administration is rolling back rules designed to

limit the impacts of climate change. the environmental protection agency finalized plan to undo the rules that had limited methane emissions from oil and gas fields and pipelines. still to come

the uae will be okay. keeping this diplomatic arrangement as it is, even if israel goes back to annexation what we don't think the israelis

are going to are going to extend sovereignty at this point. this is a very important deal for israel and and brings peace between them and one of their neighbors. it's a great accomplishment of prime minister netanyahu. and so unless the u.s. gave the israelis the green light to extend sovereignty. i don't think that's going to happen. so i think all the parties are very satisfied with the arrangement today, you mentioned the palestinians and how these see there's you say you hope it there can be some something worked out between the u.s. and the palestinians, but clearly they are not happy with this. they are saying they feel they've been sold out by an ally given that what are the palestinians even a factor for the united states? anymore in this because they obviously turned down the most recent u.s. proposal for peace in the middle east. well, look this deal is going to take a long time to work out between the israelis and the palestinians and president trump. who's a great deal maker knew that from the start and in fact one of things i've said earlier today is a president trump is

known as a great deal maker. i think history is goingo remember president trump as a great peacemaker having brought peace to israel and and the uae only the third arab country to have recognized recognized israel, but he's very committed to the and then people and the vision for middle east peace that he's laid out of with as a two-state solution has massive leaders will start to recognize that this is a great opportunity for them to sit down with an interlocked or and israe but also with with president trump who would like to broker a great deal between palestine the palestinians and the israelis and hopefully we can make some progress in the meantime. i think you'reoing to see some other other arab countries following the uas footsteps, and and that's going to be great for the middle. it's gonna it's gonna be bright for the region. so you mentioned other countries twice now. uld there be other countriesse involved in this same thing by the time you sign this in september, you know, i don't know if they'll be here for the signing and that's certainly going to be a big event between

the emiratis and the israelis, but president trump has been reaching out to leaders in the region. his diplomats have been reaching out to folks in the region from secretary pompeo to senior to senior advisor kushner to myself and we are some real appetite for a number of these countries that see how dynamic israel. i mean, it's got israel is called the startup nation and how they want to they want to have a security ties economic ties tourism ties one of the the untold stories here. is it now muslims and arabs are going to be able to travel from the airport and abu dhabi or dubai these great airports fly into the airport at ben gurion airport at tel aviv and go visit the al-aqsa mosque on the mount. what a great for religious freedom in the in region to have muslims and arabs be able to travel to israel and god. temple mount and worship at the al-aqsa mosque. so we think that this is going to we think that this is going to really lead to some momentum and we're hopeful that there can be some other countries that follow and the uas footsteps. i want to come back to something my colleague nick schifrin mention and that is that the

u.s. and the uae have been working together for a number of years shared concern over iran. i'm sure you know some observers are looking at all this and they say this is really more about attempt to get. iran to oppose iran than it is truly about diplomatic coming together on the part of israel and the united arab emirates. well, look at this is about israel in the uae, but having said that i'm sure iran is not happy about it because iran is tried to stoke a divisions and contention between arab states and israel for many many years iran's the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the region and the uae has a very capable military and they've got a very strong leader in crown prince mohammed bin zayed that that is stood up to ran across it even though it's a small country. they've stood up to the big country just across the straits from him and now israel and and the uae working closely together with the united states and other allies in the region. i'm sure that's something that doesn't make a man happy, but that's not that's not the impetus behind this. although it's a great side

benefit. final question different subject ambassador brian and that has to do with the intelligence community report late last week that the chinese and the iranians are working in their own way to support joe biden in this presidential campaign, but the russians who have a much more sophisticated interference campaign underway are working again to support president trump. so my question is, what is the administration doing to counter the russians? well, it's not just counting. the russians is countering any state or organization that wants to disrupt our elections are the free and fair elections are the foundation of our democracy. they're what make thisountry great country, and we're not going to tolerate any outside country whether it's china on behalf of j biden, by the way, i dispute the one thing i would just be it. i think the chinese have the most sophisticated global influence programs and strategies and at abilities and capabilities in the world. but but a chinese who are trying

to electro biden or the russians who are denigrating joe biden or the iranians or the venezuelans are cubans or any other country. they have to stay out of our elections. we've hardened our election infrastructure. we're working with our secretaries of state across all 50 states and and the us territories will be voting for president. we're putting on pressing them out of amounts of money into make sure that they're not vulnerable our election systems are vulnerable to cyber attack. and so this is something we're taking very seriously. we're taking it very seriously in my shop at the nsc president trump is taking it very seriously. paisley and look there is zero place in an american election for foreign powers, whatever they are, whatever they want to do or whatever the however they want to influence this country. no place for it. ambassor robert o'brien national security advisor to the president. we thank you. thank you, jody. the pandemic is pushing voters to cast ballots by mail. but president trump is claiming

including again this morning that vote by mail is riddled with fraud congressional democrats have sought to include billions of dollars of funding in the next aid bill in order to support the us postal service and to expand mail-in voting but an interview today with fox business network dismisses the effort. so they need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. but if they don't get tho two items that means you can't have universal mail-in voting because they're not equipped to have it in response a spokesperson for joe biden's campaign. andrew bates said in a statement that president trump is quote sabotaging a basic service because he wants to deprive americans of their fundamental right to vote safely during the most catastrophic public health crisis in over. years. meanwhile the us supreme court today let rhode island retain a policy for now that lets residents their vote-by-mail without witnesses present

william brangham explores how the vote-by-mail process works. judy five states already conduct their electionslmost entirely by mail right now. and for the most part they're experienced over the last two years has been a good one. but as you're saying given the pandemic it's likely that millions more americans will be trying to cast their vote this way come november to help dispel some of the myths and allegations about this technique. 'm joined again by jessica huesemann. she's a reporter of propublica and has made the election beat her beat for many years now jessica great. see you again. coulyou just help us for people who are not familiar with this basically speaking what is voting by mail voting? my nail is very similar to what we have always done except for instead of casting a ballot in the precinct to you are casting a ballot through the mail. so everything stays the same ones the ballot is received by the local administrator. they counted in the exact same way that paper ballots would be cast inside the precinct. it's the steps before it that

are a little bit different and so in every state it's just a bit different there are five states and now a couple of a cole more that have entirely recalled their system to accommodate vote by mail and so they will automatically send voters about it. but in the vast majority of states, you have to request a ballot and then your and then and then you can receive one and so your ballot is mailed to you generally along with instruction packet andnd sometimes a book of information on the candidates. you can make your choices at at your leisure at home and then you have real ways to return that valid in most states. you can of course mail it back in you can drop it off to secure drop off location and in many states, you can return them directly to the polls so you could in theory go to your precinct and hand them your mail and valid instead of casting it there which might save you a little bit of time. the president has alleged that voting by mail is is rampant with fraud and rampant with the potential for fraud. how true is that?

you know, it's not true at all. i think that you know voter fraud does happen and i don't want to put anyone under the impression that it is a complete myth does happen, but it is an exceedingly rare there have been multiple studies that show that you're far more likely to statistically get struck by lightning than be the victim of or perpetrate voter fraud. and so we're tking about something that already happens at a very very low rate and what we've seen over the last year is that states have really ramped up the way in which they verify ballots to begin with and especially mail ballots because they know that this is coming and many of the security techniques that are necessary for ensuring that these ballots are appropriately cast or easy to do and low budget options. and so we've seen states across the country implement those and so now, you know because we have standardized this process because we professionalized it there was a very low risk that anyone's ballot could be fraudulently cast we have seen

some recent changes happening at the post office new postmaster general has instituted some new changes. he stopped over time and we've seen reports of delays in postal delivery around the country. is there a concern shared by a lot of people that those delays could hamper a sudden tidal wave of ballots going through the mail come november, you know, i think that that is a real concern and one that i share. i think that our post office is already strapped and we are relying on them more heavily to essentially serve democracy than we ever have in the past and we have seen the usps work very tightly and appropriately and quickly with the five states that setup vote-byail. we by mail. we know that those usps offices. i have a very specific process that they follow to identify ballots to ensure that their postmarked and ensure that they arrive on time my concern is that the states that do not have as much lead time as those five states might not do the basic homework that they need to do.

with their local usps to ensure that those processes even if only in part are still in place. so for example one of the biggest reasons that ballots don't arrived postmarked at the end location is because it's not extremely clear that the envelope contains a ballot and that's not the case in the five states that we've about they have very specific envelopes. those envelopes are recognized and can be identified easily by usps, but that requires a lot of organization getting your hands on thousands of envelopes that all look the same making sure that every single post offices in the state is aware of the process and if you can have those lines of communication, then it's not as difficult as you might think to organize. so let's say someone is heard about potential delays concerns about fraud they want to get they want to guarantee that they get their ballot and they it back in time so that 's counted. where do people start. is that their county board of elections their state? where do they begin? you should always begin at the place closest to home.

so that's your county election if that's your county election office and depending on the problem the state can certainly at least advise you on how to proceed but the vast majority of questions that are going to be answered and the specificity around where you need to turn up to vote how you're going to get your mail ballot. that's all going to come from the county offices. so i guess the the the takeaway is get it done get it done early ask questions if you are confused, but don't wait exactly and not waiting is a really big point c you hear activists all te say you need to make a plan to vote. because the virus is fast-moving , the polling location that is assigned to you today might change tomorrow. for now, things are moving so quickly, i would tell voters to rely on the county website.

>> as always, thank you for your advice. >> thank you. ♪ judy: last night, we brought you part one of special correspondents reports filmed before the pandemic from one of the most dangerous migrant paths and remote spots on earth. the lawless expansive nearly impassable jungle that straddles northern colombia and panama. tonight, with the support of the pulitzer center, they report what they saw after their passage through the jungle. >> in the remote region of eastern panama, migrants and asylum-seekers from around the world arrived in the indigenous hamlet, the site of nonstop

confusion as panama's border police organize groups to leave on canoes. >> i will try to understand you with a little english i know, >> i speak spanish. >>they have to pay $25 for a boat ride to get to the next town. they thought it would be easier from here, just through the most dangerous section of their long journey, a wild expansive jungle that blankets the border region between colombia and panama. migrants from africa, southeast asia, the middle east, cuba, haiti converge here, all trying to get to the u.s.. many get lost, assaulted, injured, or run out of food along the way. >> it is very dangerous. it is a matter of life and death. >> this is the first settlements migrants arrive at. they expected this place to be a refuge, but the reality is

assistance is incredibly minimal. >> all the stuff, it is raw food. >> no stove? >> no stove, nothing. >> usually, after several days, migrants board canoes where they register with migration officials. two immigrants from ghana took 14 days to cross the gap, by the end of the trip they had no tent, no food, and no money. >> we need diapers. >> on the outskirts of the jungle, this small outpost merges panamanian and u.s. security and border enforcement. panamanian migration agent

registered biometric information. >> we are taking the principal data from all people immigrating. >> with equipment and training, panama submits the information into the u.s.'s registration system. >> then when we collect the data , they can inform us if they are in the database. >> last year, panamanian authorities counted nearly 24,000 migrants, 4000 children among them, from outside south america, trekking through the gap, three times as many as 2017. >> in the next page, we have more africans present, angola, burkina faso, congo. >> only after getting vetted can migrants leave here, boarding buses that bring them to the

border with costa rica. no more than 100 per day are allowed to enter. the u.s. also funds panama's border police charged with fighting narco trafficking. now, they are frontline responders and panama's migration crisis. while robberies are routine and robberies -- rapes, there was a different concern. >> they are greatly affecting our environment, they are leaving loads of organic and inorganic waste. plastic bags, plastic bottles, discarded backpacks. >> it took me 14 days with many ambushes along the way. the first ones robbed all my money and the second ones robbed all my families food. >> we first met this man in columbia where he boarded a boat with his wife and three children to reach the trail.

later, he told us the jungle and swollen rivers took a crushing toll. >> while we were crossing the river, i was with my children. all of us, me, my son, my two daughters. we fell in the water. when i fell in the water, i managed to save only two children. my daughter is gone. i lost a nine-year-o daughter just like that. >> he told us he uprooted his family from angola because he wanted to give his children a better future. later, as he tried to explain to a security officer where his daughter was swept away, he knew that finding her would change nothing. >> i have nothing left. i don't know how to move on and go forward with the rest of the family. >> if they cannot do it, then they shouldn't be doing it because they are putting their lives in danger. >> i don't know why they insist on going nine days through the jungle from colombia to panama. >> they insist because of panama

zone migration policies said the head of the panam office of the international organization of migration. >> the routes that migrants have established through the jungle is the result of the decision of panama's government to maintain a closed border. >> as long as migrants don't have a way to enter panama legally, they are likely to keep hiring smugglers to help them cross the border. those that have run out of money rely on scant handouts. whoever's hand reaches highest may get a blanket, rice, donated clothing. some migrants wait far longer than others. when this man fled the war in yemen, where rebels attacked him for joining -- refusing to join him, he had been in a camp 44 days. >> i wasn't expecting america to welcome me. i know there is a ban on yemen. >> it is here that he first

encountered an extension of america's security and border priorities. yemen is not only subject to the trump administration's 2017 travel ban, it has long been included on a growing list of countries the u.s. calls special interest because it considers them to produce or protect terrorist groups. migrants from those countries get extra scrutiny. >> obviously, there are countries where migrants are coming from that of more established as countries where a terrorist can come from. >> these pakistanis made bread while they waited. he said he understands why they are being vetted and degrees with it. >> this information is very necessary for everyone. we are happy to do this because we are legal persons, we don't have any crimes. >> but he said he is disappointed over how long they will have to wait, two months probably.

as migrants waited, they tried to call home. there is not much else to do. some dance the evenings away. we asked about the long waits for migrants from so-called special-interest countries. >who is going to determine when they can go? >> if they are not in the database, we have to take time to make sure, maybe 30 days, maybe 60 days. >> and those intelligence officers who go to the camp to collect informationare they pananian? >> no, we don't have that capacity. of course, we receive a lot of help from the u.s. in that area. >> he once was legally in the u.s., but returned to sued in. -- sudan. he eventually arrived here.

46 days later, he can find out why he was being held. >> player playing with mental stability. we are not going to eat no more and we are not going to drink. >> a couple of days after he and a small group started a hunger strike, he was not among the migrants selected to fill two buses to costa rica. but the strategy seems to have worked, his name was called. migrants still being delayed bid their friends a bittersweet goodbye, not knowing when or if any of them would make it to the united states. now, due to the pandemic, all migrants arriving at the camp have been stranded, unable to continue their journey,hese buses no longer run. from panama, reporting, pbs newshour. judy: such an incredible story. nick schifrin recently spoke

with nadia to update the situation for the people you've met in these stories and how the pandemic has affected their journeys. nick: incredible reporting. you were there about a year ago. what has changed along these routes? especially with covid. >> the coronavirus has basically completely stalled this route. as we know, planes have been grounded and migrants can no longer arrive from asia or africa to south america to make their route northward. but for the thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers who were already in route to the u.s. when the coronavirus hit, their journey has effectively been stalled. they are no longer able to continue on their route to costa rica and the rest of central america. i spoke with a local who lives near that camp, there are about

2000 migrants stranded at that camp since march when latin american countries started shutting their borders. there have been coronavirus outbreaks in the migrant camp. nick: i know you've stayed in touch with some of these characters whose lives, stories we've just seen. how are they doing? >> so, many of them are now in the u.s. they spend anywhere from three to seven months in ice detention facilities. many of them have been paroled and are able to continue their immigration cases outside of detention. i had visited a couple of cameroonians who we trekked through the jungle with who are now living in maryland and they are very happy in their new homes. they are basically waiting for their new lives to start. of course, the pandemic has made this all the more difficult. many of them are waiting for work permits, which has been

delayed because of the pandemic. and so even though they are incredibly grateful to be here and to feel safe, they are anxious to start working and start to get to know the communities that they are living in. nick: we are lucky to have your reporting. thank you very much. judy: we certainly are. what extraordinary reporting. thank you again to nadia and bruno federico. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again tomorrow evening. for all of us, thank you, please stay safe, and we will see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> the women's suffrage centennial commission, honoring 100 years of the 19th amendment. landmarks will light up in purple and gold for the forward into light campaign. learn more at womensvote100.org.

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this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ this is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is res

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