The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper S01E01 - The Trek: A Migrant Trail to America

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh travels with thousands of migrants through the jungles of South and Central America and tells their stories of danger, grit, and determination to make it to America.

The journey through the Darien Gap is a perilous jungle crossing between Colombia and Panama that many migrants must face as they head north to seek asylum in the United States. Over five harrowing days, Paton Walsh hikes the entire 66-mile roadless route, documenting the heroism of everyday people, milked for cash by drug cartels and unwanted by any country, as they battle the dense rainforest in search of a better life.  In this episode, Paton Walsh hears the heartbreaking stories of his companions on the passage, from unaccompanied children, Venezuelan university students whose classmates have been killed, and a mother carrying her disabled daughter desperate for the medicine to treat her epileptic convulsions. As they traverse the mud-packed mountain slopes and treacherously opaque riverbeds, the dangerous trek reveals the enduring humanity of those who embark on this expedition together, sharing their already limited resources with the injured and helping the elderly carry heavy cargo.