>> these are the top stories. the u.n. warning of a humanitarian crisis. children are at risk from the fighting. they are planning for as many to is 200,000 refugees. rebel forces say they have taken two major towns. republican leaders from the state of michigan say they are unaware of any information that would change joe biden's electoral victory there.

they said the state certification process should be free from threats and intimidation. we have more from the white house. >> it is not a great couple of hours for the trump campaign. we don't know exactly what happened in this meeting. they are going to press ahead. anchor: the u.n. secretary general has warned that yemen is inching forward to the most catastrophic drought in decades. he said a crumbling currency are obscuring efforts to prevent a

famine. he has been released on bail after being charged for actions likely to spread coronavirus. 37 people have died in protests. the united states recorded 215 coronavirus deaths on thursday. it is the first time the daily death count has crossed the 200 mark since may. pfizer and biontech have filed emergency authorization in the united states for their covid vaccine. if it is approved, a vaccine could be available within weeks.

♪ >> a decade of war, now i pandemic. covid-19 is spreading fast in syria's last rebel held province, especially amongst displaced people in camps. hello and welcome to the program. much of the world is battling to contain the coronavirus pandemic. it is even more challenging in syria. years of war have destroyed the health system. in the last rebel held province of idlib, social distancing and

handwashing are almost impossible for displaced people in camps. reporter: idlib province has been battered by the syrian conflict. most depend on eight -- aid to survive. idlib reported the first coronavirus infection in july. since then, the number of people infected has increased rapidly. >> after 10 years of dealing with bombing casualties and the targeting of health facilities, the pandemic has really increase the burden on us. if cases continue to increase, the health sector will completely collapse. reporter: idlib has eight hospitals like in tree patients. seven are already overwhelmed.

each one is desperately short of equipment. >> the beds in the intensive care unit are completely full. upstairs, we have another 30 beds. we have 30 patients in them. >> the outbreak has mostly affected idlib's city so far. but the worry is that it could spread to the camps. >> in one of the centers we have, we are at 90% capacity. we are really worried. reporter: the coronavirus

pandemic has severely tested the world's best health care services. syria is facing its biggest challenge yet. anchor: let's bring in our guests from idlib in syria. a doctor. from amman, the director of advocacy for save the children's response. and from norman, oklahoma, and editor. why is there such a sharp rise in the number of covid-19 cases in idlib right now? >> the number of confirmed cases is not the true number. it is much more. not all patients who are

suffering do the test. many in fact died in their homes and do not go to the hospital. some are afraid of going to the quarantine centers. anchor: there is concern that the number of cases right now does not accurately reflect the number of people infected. what are the steps that are being taken to limit the spread of covid-19? >> thank you so much for this. we and other humanitarian agencies are trying very hard to limit the spread of covid. starting from implementing some of the who measures, where we are doing nutrition work. we cut down on that to make sure

there is enough safe distancing for people. we have closed a lot of the face-to-face education. we are substituting some of the more creative ideas. sadly, in this situation, the main form of control, as of today, the best number we have is that 1,150 sites where people live in camps, they cannot possibly have the self-isolation that they need in the hygiene that they need to maintain some of the appropriate measures. we remain in a place where there are high levels of contact between people. people still need to continue to live, eat, work.

it is a very difficult situation for the families right now. anchor: despite the truce in idlib, they're still intermittent fighting on the ground. how fragile is the situation? >> it is pretty fragile. turkey has put in many more reinforcement. the syrian regime is eager to put pressure on idlib. it is determined to take back the entire province. russia seems to be backing syria. it is interested in keeping the truth. turkey has pushed ahead in libya. this is upsetting russia. russia is using idlib as the pressure point for turkey. it is a bowler will position for turkey. anchor: when it comes to the

spread of covid-19, what are the hardest hit areas? are they the cities or the camps for the displaced people? >> unfortunately, covid-19 is spreading right in all of the areas. especially in the camps. we mentions that in the camps, isolation is impossible. people live in tents with other members of their family. the unhealthy situation, the poor hygiene, until now, the situation is nearly under control. they know the situation is

nearly to exclusion. the number of deaths. anchor: i want to try to take a step back for our viewers and have you explain just how traumatic things are for the children in idlib and northern syria. you have the trauma they face for so many years when it comes to the violence. now you have this dread and this other form of trauma which is because of the spread of covid-19. how are they handling all of this? >> it is sadly a very bad time for children inside of syria. the news is still unconfirmed.

we are hearing that there has been three cases of deaths in northwest syria among children. families are in the situation where they now have to balance out to feed themselves, to feed their own children, protect themselves from the virus. in somehow recover from years and years of active conflict. you still look at more than 1.5 million people in northwest syria who are displaced. they have no place to live. we are seeing children displaying signs of trying to cope with all of this but without any resources. we here are pretty stories from children who either live with one pair close that they have been wearing for months. we have met children who lived in a car with no parents.

it is a very difficult time for them. they do not have a physical school to go to. they do not have enough food to eat. i need to go to school but i need to feed myself. even with children who are too young to take on this responsibility. they have to feed themselves and their own families. you end up in the situation where a 12-year-old has been working throughout the day and then studying in the evening. it is not a situation you want children to find themselves in. anchor: if the truce completely collapses and all-out fighting resumes, how much worse does this make the situation? would it be possible to see de-escalation efforts again? >> as your other speakers have

been saying, poverty and chaos, the lack of political organization, are the real killers here. we have heard that nepal is cutting back on its limits on covid. it will cut isolation centers, testing centers. because it said it cannot afford to do them anymore. it will save money for the vaccine. it cannot afford to buy the vaccine and distributed among people. that is happening in uganda, nep al, and many other poor countries. if you take syria, and italy province -- idlib province where there is this threat of continued warfare, it is out of control. there is very little that central authorities can do. people are living cheek by jowl in the same confined spaces.

they cannot isolate from any one else. the real terrible problem is the desperate poverty. anchor: what kind of pressure is being put on the health sector there right now? how close to collapse is the health sector nin idlib? >> we know the area is a war zone. the large amount of displaced people this year, many people are living in other villages. they might only have one care center. they are 3000 meters from the

nearest hospital. they don't have youth health care. we have quarantine centers. i sent my neighbor to a hospital. but unfortunately, we did not find it into bed for him. state how and put backs today -- the next day he was dying. his son did his best. it was an impossible decision to be at his home. that was all he could do. these are not confirmed cases.

he is not counted in the statistics of death from covid-19. anchor: i want to take another step back and look at conditions in the informal settlements. the world right now continues to tell populations to social distance. when you are talking about the displaced, refugees. that is something that is nearly impossible to do. how are children and parents protected against this virus at a time when they living condition so dire that something as simple as social distancing is pretty much impossible? >> this is specifically the problem right now. we just saw last week that people have to take everything they own somewhere and find a new place to live. they have to escape explosive weapons.

25 children a day are dying from explosive weapons in the last few years. syria is one of the major countries in which children are being killed by explosive weapons. you have to escape for your life. you have to find a place to live. with very little economic resources. there is no work. we know how the economy is looking right now in syria. they find food and they find a tent to live in. they are trying to social distance. it is almost impossible to do with all of that at the same time. we have seen in countries, they are still struggling to deal with covid. you put a child in idlib who has been under but apartment for

years. they have no place to go to. they have to think, and i more scared of the virus or moms -- bombs? it is a constant thing families have to deal with. they are simply trying to get the best out of it that they can. anchor: where do things stand right now when he comes to the opposition and their fighters? >> they are in terrible disarray. we have seen constant fighting between the areas factions. turkey is trying to organize them and bring them under control. a lot of the fighters do not want to fall under turkish control. we have seen al qaeda and other branches break away from the main group.

we have seen other fighting groups split and fight among themselves. increasingly, the area is desperate. people have to fall in line with the turks. as they do that, they get accused of being proxies for another government. the revolutionary objectives are increasingly falling away. anchor: is personal protective equipment available to the population in idlib? do people have access to masks and hand sanitizers and others was -- supplies? >> it is not available to all medical staff.

especially the standard equipment in quarantine centers. my cousin has worked in a hospital. there is a quarantine center. it is an active center. they don't have the personal protective equipment. people cannot buy masks from the stores. how do you want to those people to buy masks if they cannot afford bread? to tell them to buy a mask, they will not be convinced. anchor: it looked to me as if you are nodding along to some of what he was saying. did you want to add to the point he was making? >> the situation, there is very

little that can be done to stem the spread of coronavirus. my son just had coronavirus. but we were able to not become infected as a family because he had his own room and we managed to find a bathroom for him to go to. we delivered the food to his door. for over two weeks, that is the way he live. but if you are living 10 people to a small shelter, there is no way you can do that. the infection will run rampant throughout the entire place. that is the desperation, the poverty that stops any of these mitigating efforts to be carried out. that can stall the spread. as the cold weather comes in, we are seeing the spread pickup. we heard that francis turned the corner. -- france has turned the corner. but in the u.s., it is going up day by day.

we are breaking records every single day. that is because the cold weather is coming in and people are getting exhausted trying to fight this virus. the hope is for this vaccine to come down. but how will a place like idlib get the vaccine? anchor: i hope your son is doing better. let me also ask you about a point you are making. when it comes to international community, do you feel they are stepping up at all when it comes the syrian people or have they just abandoned them? >> increasingly, unfortunately, the syrian people are being got. -- or gotten. the united states is trying to shift to asia. there are debates about where our policies should be in syria. i think this is true for the entire european community. we have seen a focus on lebanon.

they have better relations with the european community. there is division. the jordanians need help, the lebanese need help, turkey is just putting in new actions to stop the spread of covid. syria is being forgotten. once the spread of isis has been tamped down, it is unclear what europe and the u.s., the rest of the world -- western world, is toward syria. anchor: i want to talk about just how difficult it is getting aid into northwestern syria. not now, even before the pandemic. it was extremely difficult. can you talk at our viewers through the logistics of trying to get such much-needed supplies to such a desperate population? >> it has always been difficult.

it has gotten particularly harder since july of this year. we are looking at supplies that will come from anywhere in the world. but they can only go through one border crossing. if you look at today i,n aleppo, you could take 24 hours to get basic supplies and. -- in. this is an issue we see right now the international attention on syria is decreasing. the discussions around military need -- humanitarian needs

becomes less responsive. it is based on the politics of the different states. we currently are struggling to pay teachers salaries. for be able to reach children nowadays, we need mobile teachers. instead of having children come to the school. we are telling teachers to visit homes. anchor: we just have a couple of minutes left. let me ask you to expand on the point you were making before. how risky is it right now for health care workers in idlib? are they becoming infected at high rates with covid-19? >>'s they are the first line to treat the patients, they are the most affected people.

they don't have access to the standard of personal protective equipment. a few days ago, a doctor had covid-19. the next day he was dead. many people were infected. many have mild symptoms. just a few have severe symptoms. anchor: we have run out of time. we will have to leave the

conversation there. thank you so much for all of our guests joining us today. thank you for watching. into the program again anytime by visiting our website. for more discussion, go to our facebook page. you can also join the conversation on twitter. for the whole team here, goodbye for now. ♪