Flow, t thint jst rainwater, ia toxic mix raw sewage from neighboring tiajuana, draining into Southern California on lower ground, eventually emptying into the pacific ocean. So it effectively its like a toilet flushing straight into ticking has anyone ever brought back something from mars . No. It will be the first roundtrip adventure to any other planet. Four previous mars rovers have paved the way for this mission. The last rover, named curiosity, has been exploring and sending back images like this for eight years, but perseverance is the first rover that will be able to look for evidence of ancient life and collect samples that nasa plans to bring back to earth. That does not sound possible. ticking im lesley stahl. Im Bill Whitaker. Im Anderson Cooper. Im sharyn alfonsi. Im scott pelley. Those stories, tonight, on 60 minutes. ticking this portion of 60 minutes is sponsored by progressive insurance. Save when you bundle auto, home, or motorcycle insurance. Visit progressive. Com. Im scott pelley. Those stories tonight on 60 minutes. This portion of 60 minutes is sponsored we progressive insurance. Save when you bundle auto, home, or motorcycle insurance. Visit progressive. Com. Bill whitaker this past week, america passed a grim marker. Av now died of covid19. Until there are new drugs available to treat it, experimental therapies remain the only option. One currently being tested at numerous hospitals is actually very old; more than 100 years old. Its called convalescent plasma therapy it relies on blood plasma from people who have recovered from disease, whose immune systems have produced viruskilling antibodies. The plasma is given to ill patients and has been shown to speed their recovery. At the peak of the covid19 pandemic in new jersey, Hackensack University medical center, rushed to stand up a distinct plasma study of its own, zeroing in on donors with the most potent antibodies. It began april 4th, and we joined them just days later to witness their breakneck battle against this deadly disease with the promise of plasma. Its early evening inhack, neeya 30 minute drive from midtown manhattan. Medical oncologist michele donato, the Principal Investigator of the therapeutic study is armed with an arsenal of donated blood plasma loaded with potent antibodies. Michele donato this is convalescent for, sars cov2. Whitaker doctor donato is engaged in an allout battle to save patients, who have been flooding the hospital for two months now, from the relentless onslaught of the killer virus. This is what hope looks like in the depths of despair. Youre watching this unfold in real time. Donato yeah. Whitaker whats whats that like for you . Donato its really terrible. I mean, we want to get out of this. And maybe theres fewer patients coming into the hospital. But theyre still suffering. Theyre still dying. We have to find a solution. I think were just a piece of that puzzle. David perlin until we have an effective vaccine were going to take the position that we need drugs. Pati andhosew, our best drug isf individual frs Whitaker David perlin is a biomedical researcher and chief scientific officer at Hackensack Meridian Health center for discovery and innovation. He has traveled to hot zones around the world responding to Infectious Disease outbreaks, including sarsone and pandemic flus. Hes also dr. Donatos partner in this search for something to fight this virus. There are other therapies being tested out there. Why did you decide to focus on plasma therapy . Perlin if youre looking for something that you know is antiviral, antibodies we know are antiviral. Its just a question of how do we identify those individuals who are producing high quality antibodies that either kill or neutralize the virus. Whitaker in early april, david perlin and doctor donato got expedited approval from the arollectndrug administration to test the most powerful antibodies against the virus. What makes what youre doing here unique . Donato so what we wanted to see is can we handpick the best donor . See, in transplant, we handpick the best donors for leukemia all the time. So lets do the same thing for plasma. So we select donors who appear to have had the best immune response. Whitaker as chief of stem cell transplantation and cellular immunotherapy at hackensacks john theurer cancer center, dr. Michele donato has spent her career matching donors to recipients for stem cell transplants; years of experience fighting cancer shes now using to combat this novel coronavirus. Who are the best donors . Donato it looks like about 20 of people have really, really an extraordinarily good immune rese. And what were looking at is if giving a quantity ofishe best way to approach it. But thats what this study will tell us. Whitaker so far, thousands of covid19 survivors have offered to donate plasma for the Hackensack University medical centers study, but fewer than onethird of them have qualified. Each donor must meet the threshold of having no remaining trace of the virus and they must produce an extraordinary number of antibodies that kill the virus. Its like finding a needle in a haystack and david perlin is finding and testing those antibodies here, in a secure level 3 Biocontainment Lab designed to work with highly usrtagious pathogens. Th covid19 . Perlin just covid19 right now. Whitaker down the hall, we were able to see what the Research Scientists saw, but without having to don space suits. In the first slide are healthy cells; in the second those cells have been ravaged by the coronavirus. The third shows what happens when the potent antibodies are introduced. The virus appears to be vanquished. So what does that tell you . Perlin this tells me i have an antiviral. Antibodies that have the potential to be protective, this is what i want. I want these antibodies at a high level that we can then use for our therapy. Whitaker david perlins lab delivers a list of potential donors to dr. Donatos inbox. She huddles with staff to review possible recruits. Donato hes a four star i know. Pl donorhas been rollingre of up to dr. Donatos clinic. One by one theyre hooked up to a machine that spins and separates their blood cells in a process called plasmapheresis. Whats left is this gold colored liquid plasma. Its mostly water, and in this case, millions of antibodies. Donors are rated on a scale of one to four stars. The small number of recovered covid19 patients, who produce antibodies 10, 30, even 50 times more than others, are called super donors. Dan walsh no, breathing was not bad. Whitaker we watched, as dr. Donatos team drew the precious fluid they call liquid gold from one super donor at a time. What was going through your mind . Donato gosh, i hope his veins good enough. Whitaker the basics. Whitaker we met some of her super donors. Each had different covid19 symptoms, but they all wanted the same thing to help. Dan walsh is a retired currency broker. Walsh oh, its great. I think its great. Like, it gives me bragging rights to my friends i say, i saved a life. You didnt do anything today. laughter whitaker Rick Loshiavo is an investment m life to have these antibodies, but the fact that i have them maybe i was blessed with them to help somebody. Whitaker christopher jordan is a civil engineer. Chris jordan i just feel like we should do this like we should be giving back during these kind of times. Like if you can help your neighbor, help your neighbor. Whitaker Walter Dimatia is a fabricator. Walter dimattia itd be a great feeling to know that i helped someone, absolutely. I hope it does. Whitaker each donor provides one half liter of plasma to go to one covid19 patient. Dr. Donato is testing whether the best chance of recovery depends on timing when the patient receives the powerful antibodies. Shes focused on a crucial window the gap between infection and the virus taking over the body. Donato its during that gap that the virus causes damage. The virus invades the cells. It invades the lungs, and it causes tissue damage. From tissue damage, theres a cascade of inflammation that then follows. And thats what makes the patient so sick. So by preventing the virus from invading the tissues, invading the lungs, you help prevent that second wave of inflammation. Whitaker how quickly do you expect patients to respond to this therapy . Donato a few days. Whitaker a few days . Donato three, four, five days. Whitaker the 15th patient in the study was a gravely ill 37 year old construction worker and father of five, Segundo Guaman. Dr. Donato told us she administered the plasma hoping to keep him off a ventor often the hospitals last tool. We agreed not to show the faces of ill patients. This footage was shot by the hospital staff photographer. Donato you hang in there, okay . Whitaker the next day, dr. Donato delivered the promise of plasma to jose ramirez, a 49 year old father of three who manages a new jersey bagel factory. He had been in the covid unit for a week. Donato ill come check on you tomorrow, okay . High five. Whitaker no one knows better what these patients are going through than Robert Robinson, a 44 year old nursing director in the hospitals emergency department. He described the virus washing over new jersey like a tsunami and patients flooding his er. Rob robinson in the beginning, they would trickle in. But it started to go to, like, ten, 20. There was one point we would get 25 in an hour that were coming in. Whitaker he was felled by the virus in march and ended up in his own hospital. He told us he was close to death. Robinson they told me, youre lucky that we you were able to pull through. It was close. Whitaker before the plasma therapy study was up and running, Robert Robinson recovered and was welcomed back by his colleagues. He offered to donate his plasma because he believes in the value of this therapy. What do you hope to happen . Robinson i hope we start to get patients discharged sooner and healthier. I hope it works. S g early promise for many of dr. Donatos patients. Remember Segundo Guaman . Donato segundo, how are you . How are you feeling . I dont even recognize you whitaker he was one of doctor donatos critically ill patients, he was close to being put on a ventilator before he got an infusion of antibodies. She was amazed at how he responded. Donato pain in your chest or no more . No. Donato you look good whitaker then we got to witness this jose ramirez, the bagel factory manager, spent 11 days in the covid unit. Four days after receiving the antibodies, he was reunited with his daughter. Jose ramirez i feel much better. I can feel my lungs opening. Whitaker if you were to meet the donor, what would you say to him or her . Ramirez save my life. Thank and god bless him. Whitaker so far, 31 of the 46 patients who received plasma in this study appear to have recovered more quickly than those who didnt. David perlin cautions the study is a first step, and more rigorous trials are needed, but he is encouraged by the early results. Youre not seeing that with the general population . Perlin oh, definitely not. I mean, to go from being critically ill to going home is pretty dramatic. We dont typically see that now. Whitaker based on what you have seen so far, what does your gut tell you . Perlin my gut says that this is going to work. The initial response of the patients is incredibly encouraging. But as a scientist, im trained to be cautious. And so right now this is our best approach, we are going to take it, well be aggressive with it but well see how patients respond. ticking for more on our coverage of the coronavirus, go to 60minutesovertime. Com sponsored by pfizer. Lesley stahl the term crisis on the border typically refers to immigration issues or drugs being smuggled into the country. But it has one more meaning, as we discovered, when we went to the border in early february tens of millions of gallons of raw sewage that spill every year into the Tijuana River on the mexican side and flow across the border right into Southern California, polluting the land, mexico and the United States each thinks the other should be doing more to clean it up, with no effective solution found on either side of the border, for decades. This is where the Tijuana River crosses the border into the United States. This cement structure was built to contain flooding from rainfall. But this isnt just rain water, its a toxic mix of raw sewage from neighboring tijuana, draining into Southern California on lower ground, eventually emptying into the pacific ocean. Amber craig so it effectively, its like a toilet flushing straight into this river valley. Stahl Border Patrol agent amber craig took us on a tour of the sewage infiltration, showing us that what doesnt flush out to sea, washes up on land mountains of plastic bottles, furniture, and tires. Craig and this is a concern for us, too, not just because its debris and waste, but because the mosquitoes love to nest in it, so. Stahl its a health concern, an eyesore, and its hindering the Border Patrols main mission. She took us to see president trumps newly erected wall along the border just this sixmile stretch cost an estimated 50 million. What we found is that under the wall, theres a network of basins and tunnels built 30 years ago to try to capture the e red me, nt to agent amber craig, inside one of those concrete sewage collection basins. Its connected on either end to tunnels from mexico to california that were constructed right under the wall. So you think of the smugglers and the migrants building tunnels to go under the wall. But the u. S. Government built this tunnel that goes under the wall. Craig yes, we built this so that the water would flow freely into the United States. Stahl it has to flow freely, because four decades ago the u. S. Signed an agreement with mexico not to cause backup flooding at this area of the border. These metal grates at the ends of the tunnel let the water in while keeping the rubbish out. Drher, not when ks fine during raig the am of wa through like a torrent. It is very, very dangerous. It is a raging river when it rains. Stahl with the tires and the barrels and everything. Craig full of debris and garbage. Thats correct. Its very dangerous. Stahl the debris and garbage can hurtle down here with such force that Border Patrol agents have to open the grates to prevent the system from clogging. That means trash flows into california unobstructed. Its also an opening for migrants. The purpose of the wall is being totally defeated by this obligation of yours to lift the grates. Craig you well, yup. It does make it a little more challenging to have to have that open. Of course, we dont want to have it open. Stahl if they go through that tunnel, theyre in the United States. Craig if the grates have to be opened, then we have to have a personnel, an agent, on the other side, keeping stahl so as they come out. Craig thats correct. Stahl how do the smugglers know that the grates are lifted . Craig they watch. Stahl they watch . Craig sure. Therere smugglers watching us probably right now. Stahl migrants are routinely caught risking their lives crossing in the sewage some need to be rescued and decontaminated. Let me read you a list that we found of stuff that is in this water fecal coliforms, drug resistant bacteria, benzene, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium medical waste, and ddt, which has been banned for years in the United States. Craig yes, maam. Stahl i hear that sometimes the water turns funny colors . Craig it does. Weve had bright, bright purple, a bright pink, neon green, dark black. Stahl so the migrants are going into this . Craig yes, maam. Stahl and the patrol agents are going into this. Are they getting sick . Craig agents have reported various health injuries. Rashes are very common. Stomach issues. Weve had one agent who had a flesheating bacteria. And he almost lost his arm. Stahl how angry are you and the other agents . Craig were frustrated, very frustrated. Agents know our job is dangerous. Weve signed up for a job where we could be shot at, where we could die in a car accident. And we accept that. Nobody thought that they were gonna come here and be exposed to this, to the sewage, and the chemicals and the smell. Stahl Congress Just allocated 300 million to address the sewage issue all along the border, a fraction of whats needed. Especially here, because of the rapidly growing population of tijuana. Craig it is a difficult situation. Were having to deal with another country. And the city of tijuana, its just a huge city, its overpopulated. Their infrastructure isnt isnt prepared to handle this kind of flow. So it just comes right over the sewage authoritynvited us to in tijuait oen breaks doue to mechanical failures. So workers have to wade underground in black sludge to repair the buckling facility. While we were there, one worker got so overwhelmed by toxic fumes he required medical attention. According to the mexican authority, the last line of defense keeping the sewage out of the u. S. Here is a small crew of sanitation workers who unclog drains by hand along the border. We found one of them, a man named abel, clearing trash with a rake. Get collected is pumped into these giant pools six miles south of the border, where the sewage is supposed to be treated and discharged through this massive pipe as clean water into the ocean. But the facility hasnt worked for years, so what youre looking at is untreated sewage emptying directly into the pacific. We stood by the torrent with fay crevoshay, an environmentalist with wild coast, a Watchdog Group of concerned citizens from both sides ofthe border. How much sewage are we talking about . Fay crevoshay yeah. The local Authorities Say that its 25 million gallons a day. We think its 40 million gallons. Stahl and its just gushing, gushing, gushing out. Crevoshay thats what we have here. Stahl making matters worse, entire shantytowns have popped up in tijuanas canyons along the border. Many of these makeshift shacks were thrownup by people who moved here for jobs, at fact