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nick valencia has the latest on vaccination efforts across the country. >> reporter: a major milestone the country, with half the total u.s. population fully vaccinated. but the grim count of covid deaths is rising fast. a 52% increase over last week's seven-day average. florida reported more covid-19 cases over the past week, than any other seven-day period during the pandemic. data published friday by the state health department reported 134506 new covid-19 cases over the past week for the average of 19,215 cases each day. unvaccinated virginia man reminded people to get the shot before it's too late. >> -- so far that i made the mistake to be make which is not to get vaccinated. i can do better as a parent, as a human. and i hope to god everybody else can, too. >> reporter: the gulf coast region has particularly suffered. mississippi's top health official giving a dire warning. >> as everyone is wear, we have an phenomenal increase in the number of daily cases with covid this is entirely applicable to the delta variant which is sweeping over mississippi like a tsunami. >> reporter:

nick valencia is in tennessee. it's ground zero and heart breaking.ven the surrounding areas were impacted by this. it was last night that we tried to get into where we are right now, and we came across roads that were impassable. washed out bridges. you can tell by the force, you know, the scenes left behind, the force the water came through. this brick housing complex lower income housing was -- we understand that residents tried to get to the top of the roofs but some people got swept away. i want to show you what caused really compounded the problem here. behind this housing complex, there's a creek that runs through this town of waverly. effec effectively, it acted by a levy. there's a bridge that acted a levy, a bridge that was dammed up by the debris. once that busted, it acted just as a tidal wave of water that came through town. the creek is a lot lower. it normally has water in it, but this was devastating. people's belongings are everywhere here. we've seen clothes in trees and a lot of family members coming here looking for their missing l

nick valencia, cnn, humphreys county, tennessee. >>> henri has weakened to a tropical depression, but a threat to the northeastern u.s.. the storm has slowed significantly since making landfall early sunday. a flash flood watch is in effect until monday evening for parts of central new york and northeast pennsylvania. henri came ashore as a tropical storm along the coast of rhode island. meteorologist derek van dam is there tracking some of the developments. >> new england is in damage assessment mode with tropical storms passing across western rhode island. it made landfall in westerly, rhode island. this is the newport harbor. you can see occasionally we get tropical storm force gusts. the rain has come to an end and we were spared the worst that the tropical storm could have potentially brought to this region. but at the peak of tropical storm henri, there were numerous trees that fell across some of the coastal communities knocking out power. this is a state and a region that is very vulnerable to power outages, especially when tropical systems move through just like this. there w

nick valencia, cnn, new orleans. >> let's talk about this.rician and former president of the american academy of pediatrics. so good to see you, doctor. >> thank you for having me to talk about this important topic. >> it is important. i wonder what are your thoughts, what's going through the minds of anyone that objects to mask wearing for young people, especially when you look at the pictures of young people who are suffering who are fighting covid. >> this is not last year's covid. this is worse. our children are the ones that will be effected by it. what american academy of pediatrics said all along, we need layers of protection, especially as they go back to school. we want them in school, we have to have good hand washing, physical distancing and mask wearing to keep our children safe. >> we have seen the devastating effects of delta variant in chairman. what role are you playing to help convey importance of mask wearing, then you have parents, adults saying they object to kids wearing masks in school for a litany of reasons. >> we're j

. >> our nick valencia tonight on the fallout from the border surge. >> we are facing a serious challengeenges of course made more acute and more difficult because of the covid-19 pandemic. >> reporter: a surge in migrant traffic unseen in over two decades. an unprecedented number of migrants are escaping worsening conditions in their home countries, braving the summit of the sweltering summer heat. global temperatures in july the hottest on record. last month alone over 212,000 apprehensions were made along the border during a time of the year when numbers historically drop. the astronomical numbers were helped by repeat offenders. an estimated 27% of july crossings were made by those who tried and failed to cross in the last year due to a trump era policy that allowed authorities to turn migrants away at the border. warning they'll be denied entry or excelled not enough to deter those seeking refuge. >> it is critical that intending migrants understand clearly that they will be turned back if they enter the united states illegally and do not have a basis for relief under our laws. >> re

nick valencia spoke to her son. >> oh, my goodness. oh, my goodness. >> reporter: this terrifying video might have been the last thing linda bryant filmed before she died. you could hear the fear in her voice. >> well, if anyone seen me on facebook live, we're being flooded right now. in waverly. this is varry. >> reporter: her son wished he had more time. >> i screamed for my mom a couple times but i didn't see her. and i just knew i had to fight for myself. >> reporter: the 55-year-old was among 18 people who died after unprecedented flash floods in this rural county of tennessee where rico was raised. as the water started to rise, he drove to his childhood moem looking for his mom. there he found jeff, a man he never met but had a boat. together they jumped in and started pulling people out of the water. >> i know we helped people. and to hear them scared and in fear for their lives, i think we helped get them to safety. >> you heard those screams of december per december ter race. >> yeah, hoping that you could actually get to them

nick valencia has our report. all >> reporter: when you think of people infected with covid-19, think of nelson, a 17-year-old with down syndrome has been in the pediatric icu at the children's hospital of new orleans for a week. every breath he takes is a struggle. hard to breathe? is that oxygen helping you? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: a little more than a week ago, nelson's parents knew something was wrong when he stopped eating. his mother says things got so bad, they thought he was about to die. when they brought him into the hospital, he was immediately placed in the icu. his parents say he has since lost 20 pounds. >> he was very sick. >> yeah, he was vomiting. he vomited a lot. he was sweating more. >> oh, yeah. >> he expressed his discomfort more. just knew it. >> reporter: it has been a widely held belief that it virus doesn't get kids as sick as adults, but with the emergence of delta variant, that may be changing. >> the icu is being paed here with covid patients. this small girl behind me isn't even two y

cnn's nick valencia is in mcallen, texas, with more. >> we are facing a serious challenge at our southernallenge is of course made more acute and more difficult because of the covid-19 pandemic. >> reporter: a surge in migrant traffic unseen in over two decades. an unprecedented number of migrants are escaping worsening conditions in their home countries, braving the summit of the sweltering summer heat. global temperatures in july, the hottest on record. last month alone, over 212,000 apprehensions were made along the border during a time of the year when numbers historically drop. the astronomical numbers were helped by repeat offenders. an estimated 27% of july crossings were made by those who tried and failed to cross in the last year, due to a trump era policy that allowed authorities to turn migrants away at the border. pleas from the homeland security secretary to migrants, warning that they will be expelled not enough to deter those seeking refuge. >> it is critical that migrants understand clearly that they will be turned back if they enter the united states illegally and do not

. >> cnn's nick valencia joins me from a reunification center. at have you seen on the ground there? >> reporter: well, this storm is called catastrophic, devastating event. we saw glimpses of that as we try to work our way into the hardest hit area. there were washed out roads and a bridge washed out on our way there which is why we couldn't get to the center. we got to a reunification center where we joined christi brown. she's part of the department of education helping with donations. you lived through this this weekend, tell us what it was like. >> terrifying. devastating. many of our close friends and family, students have been impacted. they lost everything. many have lost their lives. we're still looking for a lot of them trying to account for them. so it's just been an unbelievable event. >> it's been personal for you. you said that you actually know somebody or know people that are part of the missing. >> yes. >> is that right? >> well, working for the department of education, overcouovf course, i know a lot of the families and students

cnn's nick valencia is live in atlanta. nick?n many parts of the country. atlanta public schools, today is is the big day for an estimated 50,000 students in this school district, many of whom haven't been back in the classroom since before the pandemic. there is a notable amount of anxiety and apprehension among the parents according to the superintendent here. if only because there's growing concern of the delta variant, which is why students and staff will be mandated to wear masks in indoor settings here, especially one of the schools behind me. we're focusing on atlanta public schools. there's been a varying approach to what it means to reopen safely. while there will be surveillance testing here every week and also a push for vaccinations, other school districts in the more rural parts of the state have not required mask mandates. some parents like that. they think that that requires or that's a requirement of masks is unnecessary and they want their children the freedom to express themselves, even if that comes at the risk

nick valencia, thank you. >>> joining me live to discuss dr. peter hote zoo, co-director of the director of vaccines at texas children's hospital. the biden administration is wants to highlight vaccines requirements. do you think these requirements are behind the spike in vaccinations we're seeing? >> i think it's probably a mixture of what we're seeing, yes. some mandates, particularly now that there's advanced notice that pfizer/biontech vaccine may be approved sooner rather than later. they may be buoyed by that but here in the south they are suddenly realizing that this delta thing is real. with all of the hospitalizations, especially young people, you know, it's getting to the point where many, many people here in the south actually know someone who is being hospitalized, and it's scary, and so i think you're starting to see a bit of an autocorrection. you know, it's not ideal having to do this now during the surge because it takes time to fully vaccinate people, but better late than never. >> they are seeing firsthand the reality of what

cnn's nick valencia on the scene in waverly where those floods hit. till have a couple dozen people still missing. what's the latest? >> reporter: you know, it is devastating. and the search and recovery effort here is methodical, it's deliberate and seen local residents chip in -- a shed turned over and here in this creek, it's people's belongings, pieces of wood, pieces of the surrounding structures in the area. you see a cooler. for some of these residents who were lucky enough to get out alive in time, it's the first time they're assessing the damage these men came here to see this boat here that ended up from two miles away, two miles away, in this creek and of course the focus right now is on trying to find those who are still missing. hey, mike. you want to come over here, we're live on cnn. mike's niece, lily bryant, 15 years old, last seen in this area. she thought by coming here, according to her family, she would get to higher ground, but she hasn't been seen since, since being swept under that water. you came from illinois. >> yes. >> tell

cnn's nick valencia is on the scene of where those floods hit. nick, i look at those pictures.g out of a hollywood film, cars upside down, swept away like toys. what are you seeing there firsthand? >> reporter: a catastrophic event, no doubt. you look behind me, you see this car that is nose down on the edge of a creek. just look at the force of the water, jim, what it did here to this bridge, cracking the road here. i mean, there is damage all around here. people's clothes are hanging in the tree. as we just showed up here to waverly a short time ago we met -- let me put my mask on here. you guys actually survived this, lived through this. what was it like? >> it was scary. i was afraid i wanted to cry much it was really scary. >> reporter: is this your stuffed animal, one of them that made it? >> yeah. >> reporter: you're lucky to have that possession. i bet you're grateful for that. >> yeah. >> reporter: i want you to come here, sayed, you're 11 years old. you didn't think it would be that bad? >> i was thinking it would go to the house but not halfway. i thought it would go

. >> c's nick valencia has the latest on america's fight against this virus including arkansas's mandates reporter: parts of the united states are going back to school amid a staggerinnumber of new fections. thu.s. looks poised to cro an ave of 100,000 new coronavirus cases per day again, a 48% increase from last week. hospitalizations are up, too, with florida and texas leading the way, accounting for about one-third of the surge in case numbers. >> driven by the more transmissible delta variant, cases are continuing to rise. these cases are concentrated in communities with low vaccination rates. >> reporter: in arkansas where vaccination rates are lagging behind, the legislature met for a special session to debate whether to revise its law-banning mask requirements in schools and other public places amid growing concern of the highly infectious delta variant. as of thursday, there were just 25 icu beds available in the state. me nearby mississippi has been ravaged with overall rates ticking up across the deep south. about 95% of americans live in a county where the cdc recommends maskin

cnn's nick valencia is in atlanta for us. nick? >> reporter: wolf, more georgia schools opreopened this week, b many had a question of how to do that safely as concerns grow of the highly contagious delta variant. last week a group of parents gathered to protest news of a mask policy, holding what they called an unmask our children event. some chatted that they want the decision as to whether or not students should wear masks. in rural georgia, students and teachers would have that choice. berry county opened this week without masks. they said they want it to be a personal decision. their 14-year-old daughter wants the freedom to express themselves, even if that risk comes at the cost of getting herself or other people sick. >>> the former cdc director, dr. tom frieden. dr. frieden, thank you so much for joining us. we just heard that lloyd austin is seeking to make vaccinations necessary for all active duty military as soon as next week. is that what we need to see if we want to get through this pandemic? >> i think the attitudes

nick valencia, cnn, humphreys county, tennessee. >> thanks, nick, for that. >>> sticking with weatherrn u.s., henri has weakened to a tropical depression. it is expected to produce heavy, heavy rainfall in the region and ahead. sunday is a tropical storm along the coast of rhode island. flash flood warnings and watches were issued for parts of new jersey, new york and pennsylvania as well. henri also downed trees and left more than 100,000 utility customers without power in four states. brian todd is in connecticut where he's been assessing some of the damage from the storm. brian. >> reporter: just before tropical storm henri passed through this area of new london and groton, connecticut, we talked to local officials, mayors and fire schchiefs who s they were worried about firestorms and trees being down. i talked to the fire chief of new london. by and large they dodged a bullet in flooding and that kind of damage. downed trees came down on top of this house on montawk avenue here in new london. the tree came crashing down on this older house. i just talked to the homeowner nate hal

cnn's nick valencia is live from the scene. nick, the pictures are just unbelievable.lash flooding. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, brianna. residents here have not either and the governor here in tennessee calling the event a devastating event and looking at the imagings you can see why. our crew tried to make our way into the hardest hit area. it was simply unsafe for us to pass at these dark hours. the rain fall that happened over the weekend was unprecedented for this part of the state, just over 17 inches of rain fell in 24 hour period. they got a third of their yearly total in that span. at one point the storm system was so bad there was a tornado warning in effect. residents here said they had never seen anything like it. >> there's houses moved off their foundation, cars and trees. i mean, this is almost a biblical proportions here like a massive tornado come through here. >> it was so much more water than i have ever seen in my life. >> next thing i know, the water is in my house and it's up to my chest and my house fell off the foundation while we were still

nick valencia is joining us by phone from tennessee. where do things stand? >> the national weather service calling it this a devastating and catastrophic situation. we have at least 21 people that have perished as a result of this severe weather system that passed through really starting on thursday when that heavy rain started to fall. just released a short time ago from the waverally police department -- >> we're going to have to cut in. >> particularly in the community of wavera waverly there's been d amount of rainfall that created devastating flooding in this community. tremendous loss of life, a number of missing people on the ground, homes washed off their foundations, cars strewn around the community. it is a devastating picture of loss and heartache in one of our tennessee communities. we have also seen a tremendous outpouring from surrounding communities, churches that are opening up as shelters. we've also seen swift response from highway patrol, from the national guard, from first responders from counties all over the state. a number of them work

nick valencia is on the border in texas with the latest on the dire situation. >> reporter: fredrickaty in rio grand valley is covid-19, an issue brought up a few weeks ago, one now being addressed with catholic charities and nonprofit run by sister norma, huge voice in the community and helps migrants, along with world central kitchen who is helping feed them once they cross. there are temporary tents set up for covid-19 testing. migrants are isolated and quarantined, if they test positive, but right now, according to sister norma and catholic charities, there's lower test positivity rate among migrants than the state average. right now it is 12, 13% test positivity rate among migrants, and numbers are massive. you can't get the scope and scale from camera view. better if we had a drone. but there are flight restrictions. 1200 to 1500 migrants are currently in this park waiting for test results. as they wait, there are tents set up with air conditioning, you see a line behind me here for food. some of them, it is the first meal they've had in days. what is striking to the crew is how

nick valencia, cnn, humphreys county. >>> in the northeast, the storm is expected to produce heavy rainfallg across the region in the hours ahead. we'll bring in our meteorologist. what are you seeing in the frost for the tropical depression? how bad do you think it will be? >> reporter: once the sun comes up, i expect the atmosphere to destabilize a little bit and thunderstorms to through rich a little bit more. at this hour, we're seeing conditions quiet down just a tad here as we're seeing, of course, the daytime heat and. with the sunrise here expecting thunderstorms coverage to pick up in intensity. and looking at the historic track of henri it took the vout south of bermuda. it looked like southern potential u.s. landfall. category i at one point. making landfall as a tropical storm. and pushing back inland before we expect it to make a sharp right turn over the open waters. with that said, quite a bit of rainfall in place. gusty winds at times. gusting up to 70 miles per hour. strong enough to leave upwards of 100,000 customers in the height of the storm without power. still watching

nick valencia is in new orleans. what are you seeing in the hospitals there? >> reporter: good morning. hospitals here are overwhelmed. and there was a widely held belief that it wasn't transmissible among small children but the delta variant has leveled up the virus and changed that. here at the hospital the icu beds are at capacity and have been for about five or six weeks now and in the proediatric ward they have kids trugling to get oxygen. those are that verbal compress to doctors how distressed they are and how difficult it is to breathe. and the staff is no stranger to deal with small children but they tell me this is specially difficult for them to see because of just how unnecessary it is. dr. mark klein saying this is a result of those not being vaccinated and it is our time to step up as adults to protect those most vulnerable, the children that could not get get vaccinateds are dependent on adults to protect them from this disease, erica. >> you spoke with dr. klein who i mentioned as i was tossing to you. what does he believe in the key to protect

nick valencia is with us from tennessee with the latest. nick, what are you seeing there?ic, devastating. catastrophic and looking at the scenes behind me, you can understand why. i want you to walk with me and see for yourselves how bad things were. the force of the water came through with such force. it's knocked down the brick buildings. the walls here on the low income housing complex which is one of the hardest hit areas here. eyewitnesss tell us there were residents just simply caught off guard by how fast the water came through here. there's a creek right behind this housing complex that added to the water as it came through. people trying to get on top of the roofs, and just didn't have enough time. we understand according to eyewitnesss some people were swept away by the water. we know that the search and rescue teams have come through the area marking them empty. but behind me, this creek, the debris field stretched for blocks and blocks. and behind me in the shrubs, there are local volunteers adding to the first responders going through house to house to see if

nick valencia is joining us from atlanta with more. the state of florida just reported a new batch of covid data, and it is clear the situation there is extremely dire. >> reporter: wolf, florida continues to be the hot spot in this latest surge of cases with new data released by the state health department showing they recorded new cases over any seven-day period throughout this entire pandemic. today a major milestone for the country with half the total u.s. population fully vaccinated. but the grim count of covid deaths is rising fast, a 52 increase over last week's seven-day average. florida reported more covid-19 cases in the last week than any other seven-day period during the pandemic. data published friday reported 134,506 new covid-19 cases over the past week. for an average of 19,215 cases each day. one unvaccinated virginia man reminding people to get the shot before it's too late. >> i'm so sorry that i made the mistake to not get vaccinated. vaccinations are so important, and i could do better as a parent, as a human. and

cnn's nick valencia has the debate dividing one community right outside of atlanta. >> reporter: dalel georgia where this week the school year started without a mask mandate. good morning, blazers. we could not be more excited to see you this morning. there's often butterflies on the first day of school, especially these days. but for simpson the feeling is more sense of relief even while the pandemic rages on. are you putting students at risk by not requiring mask? >> i think in our school system we're really honoring the parents and the students' personal decisions. >> reporter: and to those who say those personal decisions are making others less safe, what do you say? >> one thing that we are doing as a school system is monitoring the numbers. >> reporter: outside a dropoff, most parents we spoke to in the county, a conservative community between atlanta and athens weren't worried about wearing masks, even with covid cases on the rise in the county, with a seven-day average of more than 20 cases per day. the area is listed on the cdc tracker as having a high community transmission

cnn's nick valencia went down to the border to find out why do they make this dangerous journey. >> reporter the young faces of those crossing the u.s./mexico border. day after day, sometimes hour after hour. they're coming to the u.s. in record numbers in groups no smaller than this. what are you guys running from? the unprecedented number of illegal crossings include this 21-year-old single mother fearing retaliation from the gangs in el salvador who she says want to kill her and her toddler daughter. why are you crying? you're scared? for years the u.s. has seen central american families like this come looking for asylum. but many of the migrants we spoke to like this young father say between existing gang violence, a hurricane in november, and the pandemic, there's no future left for his infant son. so now he's here looking for work and a new life. it's the same for this group of teen boys who tell us the pandemic gave them no choice but to look for a better future here in the united states. each of them came alone without their parents. the 16-year-old crossed without his parents. he sa

nick valencia joining us. in a state like tennessee where have you less than half the population vaccinated and infection rates climbing, this could have serious implications for the people who look to loche as a leader. >> it left elbow already has and the pastor has been on a mission of crusade calling covid-19 a fake pandemic, saying that the vaccines are a scam. his crewusade continued over th weekend when he ordered his congr congregants not to wear masks and get the covid vaccine. this, after sochl his congregants already died. and saying that the president's days, quote, are numbered. >> i am not apologizing for what i said on this platform last week. the delta variant was nonsense then, it is nonsense now. you will not wear masks in this church. you will not wear masks in this church. i am telling you right now, do not get vaccinated, do not get vaccinated! i don't care what you think about me. i don't need your money. i don't need your hand clap. i don't need more people on social media to follow me.

. >> cnn's nick valencia is in waverly in humphries county, tennessee. , i'll toss it out to you. >> reporter: yeah, many of those who died were height here in this housing complex. some are still missing. and we're joined by jody. jody, take me inside your home here and show us. brandon, come in on in, this is your neighbor. >> right. if it wasn't for our little neighbor lady across the street banging on my door, we had just a few seconds to get out. >> how high did the water get up? my god, there's nothing left in here. >> there's nothing left. it got all the way up to here. i had actually cooked breakfast that morning before this happened. >> reporter: did you guys have any warning at all whatsoever? >> no warning, nothing. >> just a little lady across the street. and by the time i'd answered that front door, the lady next door, ms. lisa, was banging at my back door. by the time that they had told me to get out, we just had enough time to pull the car up here, jump in, and just go. >> reporter: and who helped you guys? was there any first responders he

. >> cnn's nick valencia is focusing on the covid hot spots.e's starting with florida, which now leads the nation in new infections. >> reporter: covid cases on pace to surpass 100,000 a day again with the delta variant spreading as easily as chickenpox. now accounting for almost all new covid-19 cases in the country. >> what has happened is that public health is no longer being followed in many places, and when you don't follow the principles of public health, you should not expect good results. >> reporter: florida remains one of the hottest hot spots in this surge, leading the nation in number of adults and children admitted into the hospital. republican governor ron desantis says he's not backing down in his fight against masks and vaccine passports. >> in terms of imposing any restrictions, you know, that's not happening in florida. it's harmful. it's destructive. it does not work. >> reporter: in louisiana, the emotional toll on frontline workers is evident. the state currently has the highest rate of new covid-19 infections per capita in

>> nick valencia, oftentimes kids seem to be fine with it in many places.about their safety. the national association of county and city health officials says it is seeking -- seeing an uptick of threats and intimidation from anti-maskers. they've become a target. cnn health reporter jacqueline howard joins me now. so, you have folks attacking folks trying to keep the public healthy for making health recommendations. is that basically where we are? >> that's basically where we are. it's interesting to me, jim, how early on in the pandemic we saw the tension and debate on public health officers. now more than a year later, we're seeing it happening again. and specifically what the national association of county and city health officials is doing, they have tracked the well-being of their membership all throughout the pandemic, and again, they are encouraging officers to report any harassment or threats and they're taking a close look at that, especially as we've seen an uptick in anti-mask protests around back to school. the head of the association, lori tre

nick valencia is out front. >> oh, my goodness.a bryan almond said before she died. >> if you can see me on facebook live, we're being flooldeded ri now in waverly. this is scary. >> i looked for my mom a couple times and i didn't see her. i knew i had to fight for myself. >> reporter: the 55-year-old was among 18 people who died after unprecedented flash floods in this rural county of tennessee, where rico ralston was raised. >> we probably helped 25 to 30 people. >> reporter: as the water started to rise, ralston drove to his childhood home looking for his mom. there he found jeff best of your recollection -- burkett, a man he never met, but he had a boat. together they started pulling people out of the water. >> to hear them scared and in fear for their lives, i think we helped get them to safety. >> you heard the screams of desperation. >> yeah, that was the scariest thing, hoping you can get to them in time and hoping you actually get to them. >> this was my safe haven when rico rescued me. on my top bunk with a karaoke machin

nick valencia is "outfront" with this cnn exclusive. >> reporter: when you think of people infected withs. the 17-year-old with down syndrome has been in the pediatric icu at the children's hospital of new orleans for a week. every breath he takes is a struggle. are you having trouble breathing? >> uh-uh. >> reporter: is it hard to take a breath? >> yeah. >> reporter: a little more than a week ago, nelson's parents knew something was wrong when he stopped eating. his mother says things got so bad, they thought he was about to die. when they brought him into the hospital, he was immediately placed in the icu. his parents say he's since lost 20 pounds. >> he was very sick. >> he was -- >> he couldn't -- >> he was vomiting. he vomited a lot. he sweating more. >> oh, yeah. >> he expressed discomfort more. you just knew it. >> reporter: it was a widely held belief throughout the covid-19 pandemic the virus doesn't get kids as sick as adults but that may be changing, especially here. the ic us packed here with covid patients. this small girl behind me isn't even two years old. there are 18 chi

cnn's nick valencia reports. >> we are facing a serious challenge at our southern border and the challengef the covid-19 pandemic. >> reporter: a surge in migrant traffic unseen in over two decades. an unprecedented number of migrants are escaping worsening conditions in their home countries, braving the summit of the sweltering summer heat. global temperatures in july the hottest on record. last month alone, over 212,000 apprehensions were made along the border during a time of the year when numbers historically drop. they helped by repeat offenders. an estimated 27% of july crossings were made by those who tried and failed to cross in the last year, due to a trump-era policy that allowed authorities to turn migrants away at the border. pleas from the second of homeland security to migrants not to come to the u.s., warning they will be denied entry or expelled. not enough from those seeking refuge. >> it is critical that intending migrants understand clearly that they will be turned back if they enter the united states illegally and do not have a basis for relief under our laws. >> report

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