washington, i am laura trevelyan. the growing threat to the environment in syria.nvironmentalistbelieve thawing permafrost could damage the environment. the president and joe biden will be vyi for support tonight. counting down to a ban on tiktok d we chat. the trump administration will stop americans downloading the chinese apps, claiminghey threat national security. ♪ plus, making music in a pandemic . we spoke to someone who created and produced an original album. ♪ for all of you watching on pbs and around the globe, welcome to as the u.s. deals with ts coronaviutbreak and the coming election, mother nature will not be ignored. there are still wildfires out west and hurricanes in the sout the issue of our changing climate is a growing -e.- global last week, we showed youhe wildfires. tonight, a special report from siberia. our team looked at how thawing permafrost is affecting landscapes and liveloods. >> something rather strange is happening in siberia. in the town, these are the scars of climate change. rising temperatus mean the frozen ground, the permafrost

laura trevelyan still in cleveland ohio.sible question but i have to ask you, what headlines from that debate what message? the message is that it was chaotic, confusing, shouting and that it ended with the president casting doubt on the president casting doubt on the electoral process under way and suggesting it could end up in the supreme court. joe biden said he would abide by the result. the question is, did it change the dynamic of this race? president trump is behind by roughly 7— eight points in federal polls, much closer into the swing states. did any undecided voters get clarity? has the presidentjust made it about his conduct? do we have a sense from it of what four more yea rs of sense from it of what four more years of president trump is make america would look like and what joe make america would look like and whatjoe biden's america would look like? well, that was a question but i think we have lost laura. we have a couple of other clips from the debate coming up but this is 34 days, five weeks till the electio

i'm joined now by katty kay in washington and laura trevelyan in cleveland. you in a second —— katty kay. i see two men nickering and does this seem men nickering and does this seem like a sensible way to choose a president of the united states? —— occurring. first off, mike, i know you would never do that. you are a sensible man and you always listen to what we have to say was not the problem with snipers make debate is it didn't really move the needle very much —— tonight's debate. you had donald trump coming to it some seven or eight points behind and by relentlessly attacking joe biden and interrupting him which joe biden then ended up doing as well, he didn't change any perceptions of himself. the american public knows what they have had for the last four yea rs. have had for the last four years. they know who donald trump is and they either love him or they really hate him and a very, very, very few people in the middle, perhaps in the suburbs of this country, perhaps many of them women, are undecided and wavering. 0ne perhaps many of them women, are un

washington dc, i am laura trevelyan a minute of silence in beirut for victims of the massive explosionrescue search the rebel -- rubble for survivors one month after the blast. officials cannot cope with the number of migrants risking everything to cross the mediterranean. >> ad in the is an explosive mix. laura: millions of americans are on the move for the labor day weekend, sparking years they could spread coronavirus. the president defends his handling of the crisis. ♪ welcome. rescue workers in beirut are in search of a miracle, trying to find a possible survivor of the haexplosion devastated the city a month ago. search efforts began after a sensor found what could be signs of life. rescuers cannot confirm if someone is still trapped. we have this report. reporter: probing for signs of life. hidden from view, sensitive scanning equipment in the hands of a specialist rescue team from chil on thursday morning, they picked up what seemed to be breath sounds. for two days, they have been searching. painstaking work. much of it, done by hand, a clawing awa ruin that could collapse any

i am laura trevelyan. so mucfor watching bbc world news america. ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this prodeam is proby... language specialists teaching spanish, french and more. raymonjames. the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for am and by contributions to ts pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [bright music] - pbs american portrait is... - a platform where anyone can come and share their stories - there's a whole great list of prompts to get you started. - when i was 18 and joined the marincorps. - when i decidxc to accept myself andel. - and it's been an amazing journey ever since. - this project can help bring us together. - to listen to each other. - to understand what it really meanto be an american. pbyou should be a part of s american portrait... because your story is powerful. - because it may inspire a change in life for others. thout your story. - to join, go to pbs... - .org - /americanportrait - in us, and be a part histor

reporting from washington, i am laura trevelyan. massive forest fires in the arctic circle.e have a special report on the blazes moving across siberia. reporter: what is happering here in has consequences for the whole world. scientists believe these forest fires are producing huge amounts of greenhouse gases. laura: coronavirus cases are on the rise in france, as hospital. are filling we are in marseille. and here in america, it is 47 days until the presidential election. we report from the carolina, ere some people are already voting by mail because of the pandemic. ♪ laura: for allf you watching on pbs and around the globe, welcome to "world news america." the u.s. has been seeg g a devastatres ravage the west coast but tonight we report from siberia where fires are also raging, is unusually hot and dry sean has left the arctic first vulnerable. our correspondent and his crew are the first foreign to to be allowed into the region. here is s report. >> in siberia, they call their forests "the lungs of the planet." if that is true, our planet is big trouble. we were given a

laura trevelyan is in cleveland, oh for us. she joins us. igreat to have ycleveland tonight.is not going to be the kind of presidential debate we are use to tonight. does that playor to onther candidate advantage? reporter: it might be t big crowd president trump likes to referff only between 80 and 100 people are allowed in the hall, not the 900 as usual. you go -- don't get the big applause lines you would usually expect. each candidate is only allowed 20 guests each. i spoke to the top joe biden ally, senator chris coons. he said, we can expect "rock him ccer him robots" and th's what he is expecting. the challenge for joe biden is to get the message out against the image of donald trump as a robot bangingp against him the whole time. katty: i guess the expectation is joe biden has a lot more tose lose in the that the trump campaign h said quite often that he's not up to the job they, suggested he needed a drug test going into the debate. could that paradoxically work into joe biden's favor? reporter: it is true that the bar is very low. atif you trump campaign ads, if joe

laura trevelyan is in new york.you have president xijinping lead us not politicise the pandemic, and tony go to the air is a saying that some have a political divide, and i'm listening to this thinking has that already happened 7 i'm listening to this thinking has that already happened? absolutely and what you are seeing here at the united nations albeit remotely as the world body marks its 75th anniversary is really a retreat from multilateralism in the conventional sense with the us in the lead. you have china and are trying to protect itself as the country that is all about multilateralism that will fill the void filled by us leadership under president trump's america first policy but the tension is palpable. present she had to go so far as to say china doesn't seek a cold or hot work. so it's the tensions between washington and beijing that are dominating this gathering. it's interesting you say that xijinping is gathering. it's interesting you say that xi jinping is seeking to emphasise their motivators interes

let's head over to cleveland, ohio and my colleague laura trevelyan.y both have arrived not too long to go. that is right. the atmosphere here is becoming electric, even despite coronavirus and the fact that only 80 to 100 people will be inside of the surrogate for both candidates are doing the rounds of the supporters, donald trump candidates are doing the rounds of the supporters, donald trumer has been here saying his father has been incredibly badly treated by the press over reports he only paid $750 in taxes in 2016. i have been speaking to congressman tehran of 0hio, a democrat. iasked him what can we expect from joe biden tonight. i think you will see someone tonight. i think you will see someone who will look like they can be president. he will be calm, he'll be president. he will be calm, he'll be deliberate. it will be a good contrast to donald trump with this really lack of knowledge and trunk will be very aggressive. and he will look very presidential, which he is. joe biden has released his tax returns, clearly is trying to put pressure on

hello i'm christian fraser in london and laura trevelyan is in washington.onavirus cases are on the rise across europe — the who says it is speading at an alarming rate. a number of countries have reported a surge in cases in recent weeks. spain recorded almost 5,000 new infections in 2a hours, up from just over 3,000 the previous day. almost two—thousand were in the madrid region which is planning targeted lockdowns. in the netherlands, the number of new cases has hit a record high for the third consecutive day at 1,753. and in the uk the government announced almost 3,400 new infections on thursday. the world health organisation says the situation is "very serious" as europe has seen the number of cases double in the last two weeks. we know what has to be done. and it's tricky. we saw in the first place some countries the best peoples of the class have a very tough time. in that sense, the key issue is to stand together. amplify a collective effort of implement what we know is working. the uk is no exception to this uptick in cases and because of that — alm

laura trevelyan looks back at her life and career.uth bader ginsburg was born in brooklyn new york in 1933. child of recent immigrants, she attended cornell university, meeting her husband marty there, the love of her life. despite excelling at harvard law school the young mother could not get a job at a law firm when she graduated, experiencing sex discrimination first hand. she worked to promote women's rights at the american civil liberties union in the 70s, arguing in front of the us supreme court that women faced discrimination in employment. rbg was involved in the first case that the supreme court ruled that sex discrimination was unconstitutional. she read the brief, rbg co—wrote the brief, for the aclu that basically ended up providing all the reasons why sex discrimination had to be unconstitutional under the 14th amendment. as ruth bader ginsburg's reputation as a trailblazer for women's rights grew, she was made a federal judge by president jimmy carter. then came the ultimate honour. i, ruth bader ginsburg, do solemnly sw

let's head over to cleveland, ohio and my colleague laura trevelyan. they are both there.he most to lose? it is a very good question. certainly for president trump, it is an opportunity to reset the race as he seems to be behind in the polls but forjoe biden, who is a virtual campaign strategy has hurt him well, of course this is risky because he goes 90 minutes man on man against donald trump, the most unpredictable debater, but you can feel the atmosphere building here tonight, both candidates have gone and done their walk—throughs, the debate hall and there will be on stage ina hall and there will be on stage in a couple of hours' time. i have been speaking to congressman tim ryan, a democrat of ohio and he will be there tonight, when it's when he supported thejoe biden who was allowed in and i asked them what can we expect from the former vice president tonight. i think you will see someone who will look like they can be president. he will be calm, he'll be deliberate. it will be a good contrast to donald trump with his really lack of knowledge and he will be very aggr

let's head over to cleveland, ohio and my colleague laura trevelyan.the atmosphere building. 0nly you can feel the atmosphere building. only an hour to go until showtime. both donald trump andjoe until showtime. both donald trump and joe biden have been here. they have done their walk—throughs. we are told they won't shake hands in an hour's time. they will be on stage in a socially distance manner without masks. as you say, only 70-80 without masks. as you say, only 70—80 people are only inside that hole behind me. instead of the usual 900. the audience really is the 84 million plus who are estimated to be watching. that is how many watched in 2016. when hillary clinton and donald trump first debated will be could be up to 100 million foot of each candidate to have 20 supporters of their own inside the hawk andi of their own inside the hawk and i have been talking to congressman tim ryan from here in ohio. yeah inside the hall. i asked him what we can expect from joe biden tonight. luna i think it looks like ——. from joe biden tonight. luna i think it

laura trevelyan looks back at her life and career. ruth bader ginsburg was beloved by american sport championing women's rights. despite excelling at harvard law school, the young mother couldn't get a job, experiencing discrimination first hand. she worked to promote women's rights in the 70s, arguing infront promote women's rights in the 70s, arguing in front of the us supreme court that women faced cremation in employment. rbg was involved in the first case which stated sex discrimination was unconstitutional. she wrote the brief for the aclu writing all of the reasons why sex discrimination needed to be unconstitutional under the 14th amendment. as a trailblazer, she was made a federaljudge by presidentjimmy carter. then came the ultimate honour. i, ruth bader ginsburg, do solemnly swear... it was president bill clinton who nominated her to the supreme court in 1993. in the hearings, she defended a woman's right to choose an abortion. she became only the second female justice in history to find those concerned about her age. in hi

laura trevelyan is in cleveland, ohio where it all happened.rote notes underneath and ijust it and i wrote notes underneath and i just wrote it and i wrote notes underneath and ijust wrote it it and i wrote notes underneath and i just wrote it was it and i wrote notes underneath and ijust wrote it was chaos and ijust wrote it was chaos andi and ijust wrote it was chaos and i wondered what undecided voters would make of it. i also wondered what the next debate will be like and how the moderator will handle it, if indeed there is a next debate because the fact was that president trump didn't stick to the rules, each candidate was supposed to get two minutes to speak uninterrupted and then they were supposed to have two minutes on each topic where they would discuss and so then of course the rules went com pletely of course the rules went completely by the wayside and joe biden didn't stick to them either. but i suppose, if you think, president trump wanted to reset the race, not sure he reset the race, i think hejust made it — there were a lot of

laura trevelyan is our correspondent in cleveland. it was exhausting, watching that.s, it was combative, it was volcanic, it was chaotic, it was challenging to follow the discussions about policy because they always seem to end up with crosstalk so really the question tonight is what did you do if anything, to change the dynamic of the race, and what did it do to persuade those 6— 10% of voters who say they still have not made up their mind which way to vote. the president's and going into this was to change the dynamic of the race because he is behind roughly seven to eight points on poles, but much closer in the swing states, but in the end by being so aggressive towards joe in the end by being so aggressive towardsjoe biden, has he actually made the conversation about his own behaviour, rather than i got you moment democrats were going very — were going very nervously into this, and they will be somewhat reassured by the whole tenor of the debate leaves a nasty taste, so the next... did we get a clearer idea or a picture of the vision that both men had for their po

laura trevelyan is in cleveland, ohio for us, where tonight's debate is taking place.mally i would be there, christian would be there, the whole american political world would be there, but this is not a traditional american presidential debate tonight as it? not at all because of coronavirus there will only be 80 — 100 people in the hole behind me. not the usual 900. just imagine, each candidate can only bring 20 guests so how will that affect president trump who loves to riff off a crowd? of course the real audience is outside the hall and 84 million people watched that first debate in 2016 between donald trump and hillary clinton. as you said there could be 100 million watching tonight. polling suggests 1196 watching tonight. polling suggests ii% of watching tonight. polling suggests 11% of voters roughly are undecided. tonight at prime time they get to see the two candidates face off in what should be an extraordinary debate. i am really boring about body language, i love nights like this. i want to see the opening exchange. i know there is no handshake but i am gu

laura trevelyan looks back at her life. ruth bader ginsburg was born in brooklyn, new york, 1933.hts at the american civil liberties union in the '705, arguing in front of the us supreme court that women face discrimination in employment. a5 ruth bader ginsburg's reputation as a trailblazer for women's rights grew, she was made a federal judge by presidentjimmy carter. applause. if we talk about the us as a nation of laws, ruth ginsburg was someone who championed those laws but also championed those laws for the most vulnerable. she was someone who focused on ensuring that women had equality and women's rights were protected. a5 ruth bader ginsburg's reputation as a trailblazer for women's rights grew, she was made a federal judge by presidentjimmy carter. applause. then came the ultimate honour. i, ruth bader ginsburg, do solemnly swear... it was president bill clinton who nominated her to the supreme court in 1993. in the hearings, she defended a woman's right to choose an abortion. she became only the second femalejustice in history, defying those concerned about her age. i was