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New York City Delays In-Person Learning for Second Time; Trump Courts Voters in Battleground State of Wisconsin; Biden Holds Drive-In Town Hall in Pennsylvania; Kremlin Critic's Aides Say Poison Found on Water Bottle; Corruption Scandals Complicate S. Africa's COVID Response; Qantas Offers Scenic 'Flight to Nowhere' Over Australia. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 18, 2020 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Thirty million cases and counting. Think about that. It is the staggering toll of the coronavirus pandemic across the globe, and it is only growing by the hour.

[00:00:15]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He knew it and did nothing. It's close to criminal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: A CNN town hall unlike any you've ever seen, with Joe Biden. The Democratic presidential candidate calling on the U.S. president to step down.

Also, new information about the poisoning of a prominent Kremlin critic. Tests reveal the nerve agent wasn't in a cup of tea after all.

Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes.

Welcome ,everyone. It has now been nine months since the first coronavirus cases were discovered in Wuhan, China. And now, more than 30 million people have been infected around the world.

According to Johns Hopkins University, almost 950,000 people have died. Those numbers only expected to rise as countries struggle to contain transmission. A number of countries, as you can see there, are in deep red, seeing a sharp weekly increase in cases, many of those countries in Europe.

In England, the National Health Service says the number of people testing positive has jumped 167 percent since the end of August, leaving the World Health Organization to sound the alarm saying a, quote, "very serious situation" is unfolding in Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. HANS KLUGE, REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: In the spring and early summer, we were able to see the impact of strict lockdown measures. The September case numbers, however, should serve as a wake-up call for all of us. Although these numbers reflect more comprehensive testing, it also shows alarming rates of transmission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Meantime, in the hours ahead, Israel will begin its second national lockdown. Schools, restaurants, and entertainment venues, they will all close. And people must stay within 500 meters of their home.

Now here in the United States, the number of coronavirus deaths is fast approaching 200,000, but a former member of the White House task force says that could have been much lower, if not for President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY AID TO MIKE PENCE: Towards the middle of February, we knew it wasn't a matter of if COVID would become a big pandemic here in the United States. It was a matter of when. But the president didn't want to hear that, because his biggest concern was that we were in an election year, and how is this going to affect what he considered to be his record of success?

It was shocking to see the president saying that the virus was a hoax, saying that everything is OK when we know that it's not. The truth is, he doesn't actually care about anyone else but himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, that is Olivia Troye, who worked as a homeland security aid to the vice president, Mike Pence.

She also claims President Trump once said, maybe COVID was a good thing, because he didn't like shaking hands with what he called "disgusting people."

Now, the White House calls Troye a disgruntled employee who never raised objections while she was on staff. In her resignation letter, she describes her time on the coronavirus task force as an absolute honor.

Now, meanwhile, a new forecast from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the U.S. death toll could reach 218,000 by October 10. That means another 20,000 Americans could die in less than a month.

CNN's Erica Hill with more of today's headlines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Desks and hallways will remain empty a bit longer in New York City.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: This is a huge undertaking.

HILL: The nation's largest school system delaying in-person learning for a second time, until at least September 29.

MICHAEL MULGREW, PRESIDENT, UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS: We are doing what needs to be done to make sure that you have your education. But it is also safe.

HILL: The city also adding 4,500 educators to address staffing concerns, more than 40 percent of families in the city have already opted for fully remote learning.

In Massachusetts, 30 students at this high school now in quarantine, because a classmate came to school after testing positive for the virus.

MAYOR PAUL HEROUX (D), ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS: The parents knew they shouldn't have done that. The student knew he shouldn't have done that. I mean, we are six months into the pandemic, and that shouldn't have happened.

HILL: With more than 50,000 cases at colleges nationwide, quarantines and isolation are becoming more common on campus.

KEIR METTER, FRESHMAN, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: Obviously, I don't want to have COVID, but it seemed kind of inevitable.

[00:05:01]

HILL: New cases are up in 23 states over the past week. Much of New England, which was on the decline, now deep red. The numbers are also surging in Europe.

KLUGE: Weekly cases have now exceeded those reported when the pandemic first peaked in Europe in March.

HILL: One of the easiest ways to slow the spread? Wear a mask.

DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, EPIDEMIOLOGIST: A mask is the single greatest, most important tool that anyone of us has to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities from COVID-19, full stop.

HILL: Clear science, which the president continues to ignore.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think there's a lot of problems with masks. The mask is not as important as the vaccine.

DR. MIKE RYAN, HEALTH EMERGENCIES PROGRAM, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: It is important that we have consistent messaging from -- from all levels and not turning that into some kind of political football. It's about genuinely communicating with people.

HILL: The push for a vaccine moving into overdrive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our base (ph) plan, our most probable plan, is November.

HILL: But having a vaccine is only the first step.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you have a vaccine that is highly effective, but very few people get vaccinated, you're not going to realize the full important effect of having a vaccine.

HILL: Until then --

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: I want to emphasize that we have a vaccine right now. It's called wear a mask.

HILL (on camera): The U.S. Surgeon general, Dr. Jerome Adams, noting on Thursday that the U.S. actually doesn't need to wait for a vaccine to get this virus under control, saying the tools are there in the community, that we need the will of the people to come together.

And he also pointed to New York City. Here, the positivity rate has been under 1 percent for several weeks. Nationwide, it's currently inching closer to 6 percent.

In New York, I'm Erica Hill, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Joining me now in Mill Valley, California, epidemiologist and CNN medical analyst, Dr. Larry Brilliant. Always a pleasure, Doctor.

It is a sad thing that, you know, public health emergency becomes so impacted by politics, but it is stunning, I have to say. And I think Charles -- Chuck Schumer called this monstrous, in fact.

The president suggesting how much better the country's coronavirus death numbers would be if you just took out the blue states, the Democrat states. How harmful to the -- is that sort of talk to the messaging on this virus? I mean, the virus doesn't care who you vote for.

DR. LARRY BRILLIANT, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Michael, it's really good to be with you again, and I'm sorry that it has to be on this topic, and in fact, on this day.

Let's -- let's just look at where we are. We're about to crest 1 million deaths worldwide; 954,000 I believe is where we are. And we've just crested 200,000 deaths in the United States. Thirty million cases worldwide. Just think about where this disease is right now, compared to where it was nine months ago. It's such a short period of time. So many people have died, many of them needlessly, in the United States.

And if we think about where we're headed, we're just about to get the bump from our Labor Day weekend. We're going into flu season, which will comingled these two diseases. We're then going into the cold season, where we start to congregate indoors, in places with low ceilings and poor ventilation, instead of outdoors, which favors the virus. And then just -- we just go right into a whole new cadence. We go into Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. Every one of those are accelerating of the virus events.

HOLMES: It's terrible when, you know, 1,000 deaths a day has just become the norm. And that is a horrible thing, 1,000 a day in the U.S.

And you know, you mentioned people congregating. The president holding an indoor rally with supporters, again holding a rally on Thursday, everybody jammed together. They share his disdain of masks.

And of course, the president throwing the CDC director under the bus on the mask issue, saying he misspoke on mask effectiveness when he clearly did not. Again, the messaging and the harm that it causes?

BRILLIANT: Well, first of all, since you mentioned 1,000 deaths a day, I don't want to pass the day without noting that there are three countries that had over 1,000 deaths today: the United States, Russia -- the United States, India, and Brazil, with Russia just right below a little bit. That's a tremendous burden for us to think about, 1,000 deaths a day.

But let's talk a little bit about the Trump rallies. We know that Mr. Cain died, probably, from going to a Trump rally in Tulsa. We see the number of people around the president, in the Secret Service, and the people in the president's committee, eventually getting coronavirus.

It's a frightening thing that someone with the stewardship of the entire nation practices such un -- practices such unsavory public health behavior.

[00:10:08]

We know that masks are effective. In fact, what Dr. Redfield said was, in his mind, a face mask is as good or better than a vaccine, certainly since we don't have a vaccine right now. We should all be wearing face masks. We should be looking at the countries that do wear face masks. And they're the winners in this battle. South Korea, and Taiwan, and Thailand, and Singapore.

HOLMES: Just before we go, I want to ask about vaccines. You mentioned that, and it's a good one to ask about the politics of vaccines in this climate.

I mean, there is a sizable anti-vaccine movement, regardless of coronavirus. And let's remember, the president once alleged links between autism and vaccines, some years ago.

But then you throw in the concerns that the process is being rushed and fears over safety protocols perhaps being short-circuited. Are you worried not enough people will agree to get the vaccine, even when it is out, even if it is safe?

BRILLIANT: I am. I'm worried about the math. You know, in order to get herd immunity, we need to reach about 65, 67 percent of people getting vaccinated. We understand that 45 percent of Americans have said they would not take the corona vaccine. And they -- and 65 percent said they wouldn't take it if it was rushed.

By rushing this, and cutting any corners, we run the risk of giving the anti-vaxxers some -- some good reasons to worry about some vaccines. We give them bad reasons to worry about this critical and vital vaccine and reduce the number of people who are willing to get vaccinated. If that happens, it's bad for the people who don't get vaccinated. It's bad for the rest of us, and it's bad for the country.

HOLMES: Dr. Larry Brilliant, always a pleasure. Thank you so much.

BRILLIANT: Really nice to talk to you, Michael. Thank you for having me.

HOLMES: Turning now to the race for the White House, Donald Trump spending Thursday night speaking to supporters in the battleground state of Wisconsin. He called it a friendly protest, not a rally so he could get around local limits on crowd size due to the coronavirus.

CNN's Ryan Nobles was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump continuing his very busy campaign schedule, with a trip here to Wisconsin. He came to north central Wisconsin, about two hours north of Madison, where he delivered a speech to a county where he won by big margins in 2016.

The president has a special focus on Wisconsin. He believes it's a state that he needs in the win column. And former Congressman Sean Duffy among those in the crowd today, potential candidate for governor of Wisconsin. He told me before the event that this is a one-point state, and he really put a heavy emphasis on the president being here. He said that Wisconsin is a retail politics state.

Now, this stands in stark contrast to how Joe Biden is conducting his campaign. He is not traveling nearly as much as President Trump is, and of course, he's not holding these big rallies because of the risk of coronavirus.

And the president and his campaign not paying much attention to those risks. In fact, these rallies continue to be packed, filled with people shoulder to shoulder, and very few, if any, masks being worn by the participants.

So this is a calculated risk the Trump campaign is making right now, but they believe in a close election, it could be the difference between winning and losing.

Ryan Nobles, CNN, Mosinee, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now, the Democratic White House hopeful, Joe Biden, says Donald Trump should step down because of his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. The former vice president appearing at a CNN drive-in town hall in the

parking lot of a baseball stadium in Pennsylvania. He also responded to comments from the U.S. attorney general, William Barr, who said on Wednesday COVID lockdowns are the greatest intrusion on civil liberties since slavery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: What Bill Barr recently said is outrageous. That is like slavery? You're taking away freedom? I would tell you what takes away your freedom. What takes away your freedom is not being able to see your kid, not being able to go to the football game or baseball game, not being able to see your mom or dad sick in the hospital, not being able to do the things, that's what cost our freedom. And it's been the failure of this president to deal, to deal with this virus, and he knew about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And joining me now from Washington, CNN Politics White House reporter, Stephen Collinson. Good to see you, Stephen.

So Joe Biden's first town hall since his nomination, a drive-in town hall, no less. How important was this performance for Joe Biden? And how did you rate it?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think he did pretty well. This, of course, was the second town hall this week. The president did one two days before. And you really got to see the contrast that's on offer for American voters in this campaign.

Biden was logical. He was coherent on the issues. He appeared to have been briefed on the coronavirus and to have formulated a plan and taken in those details. And he was largely truthful, though, like all traditional politicians, you know, he shaded the facts on occasion.

[00:15:15]

The contrast was Donald Trump two nights ago. He did a town hall where he was congratulating himself for doing a great job on the coronavirus, notwithstanding the fact that nearly 200,000 Americans have died. It was a -- a blizzard of misinformation and lies.

And he didn't show the kind of same empathy towards some of the questioners that Biden was able to do. He's a really good retail politician.

I mean, I think the question is -- and this gets to the knob of the election. Are Americans looking for a more traditional president, who will use the government to try and conquer the virus in a more traditional way? Or are there enough Americans to frame an Electoral College majority that are buying Trump's anti-elite, antiestablishment, anti-science, cultural warfare message? The choice is pretty clear, and we'll see it again on the debate stage in about ten days' time. HOLMES: Yes. You know, I suppose, for those who -- who were saying --

you know, raising the issues of dementia with Joe Biden, and yet, coming out after this and saying he must have had the questions in advance. Those two things don't really gel, do they?

Both candidates do face concerns about their age and -- and acuity, though. How important are the upcoming debates going to be to that end?

COLLINSON: Well, you know, traditionally, debates don't necessarily change the course of an election. But they can be important for voters to see if they see a president on stage, to kind of close the deal.

The fact is that Biden is going into this set of three debates with the lead. He's seven points up in national polls. He's leading in most of the battleground states, and Trump really needs to try and turn this around.

Of course, Trump is such an unorthodox debater that it's going to be a challenge for Biden to get his message across.

I think what we saw, tonight, though, is that the former vice president was energetic. He was on top of his brief. He wasn't really recognizable from the picture of a doddering old man who is senile, who forgets his lines, who reads answers in interviews from a teleprompter that the president has been painting.

And, you know, debates are all about expectations. So if Biden does a reasonable job, comes across as fairly coherent, I think the president's caricature of him might actually backfire and come back to haunt him.

HOLMES: Yes. Yes, lowering the expectations, and -- and so on.

I wanted to ask you this, too. A former top aide to Vice President Pence saying Thursday that Donald Trump was more worried about reelection than coronavirus spread.

And meanwhile, at CNN.com, you were writing about the president's stunning interference in the science of coronavirus and the strategy to fight. As you put it, quote, "kneecapping" his own CDC director on masks and vaccine timelines, as well.

But none of -- none of it seems to dent the support of his core block. I mean, there's not many votes to shift, are there?

COLLINSON: No. I think -- you know, there was a CNN poll a couple of weeks ago that said that there were about nine percent of voters who say they may change their mind in this election.

That, probably, in reality, is an even smaller figure in some of these closely-contested swing states through the Midwest, out West, and in Florida that will decide this election.

I think, you know, this election has been exceedingly stable. Biden has had the lead for months. And Trump, really, ever since he took office, his approval rating has been down at about 42, 43 percent.

If you look at the history of elections, of presidential elections of the United States, notwithstanding the big shock in 2016, presidents who have an approval rating of below about 48 percent have a real difficulty running reelection.

So, somehow, Trump has to find around 6 percent of voters. So he has to probably win two-thirds of those people who say they might change their mind.

Given the dynamics of the race, given what your previous guests were saying about the coronavirus potentially getting worse and worse in the coming weeks, in the United States, that really does seem to be difficult. It's hard to see that he can latch onto something that he has not already done to disqualify Biden as a potential president in the minds of voters.

HOLMES: Yes. And -- and remember -- worth remembering, this is a president who said the only way he can lose as if the election is rigged. How that narrative plays into what happens in November, yet to be seen.

Stephen Collinson in Washington. Check out his article on CNN.com. Thanks, Stephen.

[00:20:02]

COLLINSON: Thanks, Michael.

HOLMES: And stay right here. If you missed CNN's presidential town hall with the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, you can watch a replay of that in the next hour: 6 a.m. in London, 1 p.m. in Hong Kong.

And we're getting new details on how the Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was poisoned. He became sick about a month ago, and his family fought for him to be transferred to Berlin, where you can see, he is now recovering in hospital.

Germany has said it found traces of a powerful chemical agent, developed years ago, by the Soviet Union.

CNN's, Matthew Chance, with the latest details for us from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, traces of poison were found on a bottle of water drunk by Alexei Navalny in the Siberian hotel room where he stayed before being taken seriously ill. That's according to the Russian opposition leader's political team, speaking as Navalny himself continues to recover in a Berlin clinic from his ordeal.

Navalny's team has posted video of them scouring his hotel room in the Siberian city of Tomsk shortly after they heard he'd fallen sick on a flight back to Moscow last month. You can see empty water bottles, clearly. One Navalny aide told CNN that the intention was to preserve as much as they could and put every -- they put everything in plastic bags and sealed them, he said, in case there was some poison on them.

The Kremlin denies any responsibility, but the German government says, Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition figure, was poisoned with a chemical nerve agent, Novichok. The conclusion has been supported by two other labs in France and Sweden.

The Russian authorities have so far refused to open an investigation into the alleged poisoning, saying they want the Germans to send them any evidence first.

Well, after weeks in a medically-induced coma, Alexei Navalny recently posted a photo of himself sitting up in bed. And his spokeswoman says that he eventually intends to return to Russia.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, many on the U.S. Gulf Coast are having to navigate flooded roads and piles of debris, what is left of Hurricane Sally. And, the threat of even more flooding. That's still to come here on the program.

Also, as coronavirus rips through Latin America in the Caribbean, gig workers find themselves facing even longer periods of economic insecurity. We'll discuss when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back. Just take a look at the damage left by Hurricane Sally in Alabama, right along the Gulf Coast.

There's also major flooding. There are a lot of power lines down. More than 425,000 customers, reportedly, without power, actually, in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.

[00:25:08]

Sally, now a post-tropical depression, moving over the Carolinas towards the East Coast, still bringing heavy rain along with it. Many afraid there's more flooding to come.

And it is not just the Atlantic dealing with hurricanes right now. The Mediterranean is bracing for what is called a medicane. I want to bring in CNN's Tyler Mauldin for more on this.

I must admit, Tyler, I'd not heard that word until today.

TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Michael, that's because these are rare. We get maybe one or two medicanes per year.

Now, a medicane is very similar to a hurricane out in the Atlantic, or a typhoon on the Pacific. It packs hurricane-force conditions, and it forms in the Mediterranean Sea.

Out ahead of this medicane is Greece. And Greece is at the highest threat level for severe weather. That may surprise you when you look at -- look at this medicane on severe -- on the satellite imagery, because it's just so small. I mean, this thing is tiny. It's sitting right here in the Mediterranean Sea, pushing to the east. And it is packing winds in excess of 120 kilometers per hour. And it's also producing some very heavy rainfall.

Over the next 48 hours, we could see upwards of 250 to 500 millimeters of rainfall across Greece. You know how easily Greece floods? Well, yes, we could potentially see some flooding out of this situation.

We then zoom out the image, and we push out to the west; and right off-shore of Portugal and Spain, we have this area of low pressure the hurricane center is watching, giving it a 30 percent chance of developing. It's pushing some showers and thunderstorms into the region there, some much-needed rainfall.

And we continue to push to the west, and we take a look at the entire Atlantic basin. And notice that there is a lot of activity happening out here.

The two noteworthy systems, at the moment, would be Hurricane Teddy, which is a major hurricane at the moment. It is a Category 4 hurricane, and it has Bermuda in its sights.

And then way out there in the western Gulf of Mexico, we have Tropical Depression 22, which formed earlier, just a few hours ago. And it could, potentially, form in the next 72 hours into hurricane Wilfred. That is the last name storm on the 2020 list. After Wilfred forms, we then have to go to the Greek alphabet -- Michael.

HOLMES: All right. Tyler, thanks very much. Appreciate that. Now we now all know what a medicane is.

Unprecedented fires devastating tropical wetlands in central Brazil. This was as the scene -- I want to show you that right now. There it is. As a CNN Brazil crew flew over the Pantanal area. The land, still smoking. You can see the burnt trees there, horrific damage done.

Brazilian officials say more than 20 percent of that biologically- diverse and important area has now gone up in flames.

Volunteers working to save wildlife, including endangered jaguars. Fires have also devastated the Amazon to the north.

Major environmental impact there. Now, coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, mariachi music, a cultural touchstone in Mexico, but coronavirus, well, it's changed everything. We'll show you how musicians are fighting for their livelihoods and their art.

Also, South Africa's president says, the coronavirus is bringing out corruption like a pack of hyenas circling their prey. What officials say what they're doing about it, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:31:10] HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

And let's go back to our top story now. More than 30 million people around the world have now been infected with the coronavirus. That is triple the number of cases from just 12 weeks ago, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The United States, India, and Brazil account for more than half of the world's cases, and as infections continue to rise, so too, the death toll. So far the virus has killed nearly 950,000 people.

We're seeing big spikes in Latin America, also in the Caribbean. The director of the Pan-American Health Organization says that is because several places are going back to the rhythms of normal life too soon. More than eight million cases counted so far in the region, Brazil accounting for more than half that number.

In some parts of Mexico, death rates are rising, and life is nowhere near normal, especially for vulnerable workers. CNN's Matt Rivers shows us why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Independence Day holiday is a big deal for Felipe Luma Sosa (ph), a mariachi in Mexico City.

FELIPE LUMA SOSA (PH), MARIACHI: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

RIVERS: "Let's see what this day holds, he says, as he and the other members of his group get dressed in his tiny apartment, their uniforms pressed firm. They say, God willing, we can do it, hoping for some divine intervention in a year that's been difficult, to say the least.

(MUSIC)

RIVERS: In any other year, they would walk out into a jam-packed Plaza Garibaldi, the unofficial home base for mariachis and those who love to hear them sing. But this is 2020, and the plaza sites empty and lifeless, a grim metaphor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

RIVERS: He says, "Before, it was birthday parties, quinceaneras, and now our work is primarily funeral-related. It's the saddest thing."

But at least funerals still pay something. The group lost 75 percent of their income during the pandemic. Their struggle so representative of the average worker and an economy where the GDP might fall double digits this year.

(on camera): So many jobs here in Mexico are in what's called the informal economy, jobs that are not regulated by the state like some mariachis, house cleaners and food vendors. Millions of those people have lost their jobs during this pandemic, and with no unemployment safety net, well, these are tough times.

(voice-over): Felipe's (ph) brother Mario says, "We have to pay rent. Credit cards, electricity, water, our savings are basically gone."

But these mariachis say they are determined to make this work.

So on this day, they're playing in an apartment complex, brought here by the local government to give people a way to hear this music without gathering in large public groups. To these musicians, this is clearly more than a job. They know that they can bring a unique joy to people, because you can't miss it on their faces.

He says, "On an important day, we're just trying to bring happiness to as many as we can."

Including themselves. But working a bit more, earning a bit more, things are slowly opening back up, and in Mexico, it really can't be a new normal without mariachis.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: South Africa has more than 655,000 coronavirus cases, the most in Africa by far. Now, on top of that, people fed up with government corruption. Some scandals involved deals between officials and businesses providing medical equipment, food, and emergency housing.

[00:35:09]

Now to David McKenzie, looking for the answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The ruling ANC Party flag covers Elsie Monyella's (ph) window. The floor of her newly- constructed government home is already bending under the weight of just her and her 2-week old baby, Dipure (Ph).

Months after it was proudly unveiled, this emergency COVID housing project in Limpopo province is falling apart. Independent contractors told us they could build permanent housing for less.

JERRY THEMA, TALANA RESIDENT: Everything is cheaper. You can see those things.

MCKENZIE (on camera): So where did the money go?

THEMA: I think they know, the know. The contractor and the person who gave the terms (ph) to the contractor.

MCKENZIE: Sir, it's David McKenzie from CNN. I'm a journalist. I'm looking to ask you about the Talana and Burgersfort developments.

PAKENG MOHLALA, AVENTINO GROUP (via phone): What about them?

MCKENZIE (voice-over): The contractor didn't say much on the phone. We still had questions.

(on camera): I thought it would be easier if we talk in person. How are you, sir?

MOHLALA: So you are insistent?

MCKENZIE: Yes, it would be great, because I think you want to get your side of the story across, if possible.

MOHLALA: What do you need?

MCKENZIE: Well, we wanted to know about the allegations that this was a tender that had inflated prices. It is now suspended, so I just want to hear your point of view.

MOHLALA: No, there was no prices that were inflated on this term. The prices were fixed. This tender was given to more than 20 or 30 companies. I'm just one of them. I can assure you, my man. There is no corruption in this. That one, I'm 110 percent guaranteeing you.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): The housing development agency in charge of the tender refused to be interviewed, saying the project is under investigation. The minister in charge wouldn't talk to us either.

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: Every instance of alleged corruption must be thoroughly investigated.

MCKENZIE: South Africa's presidency also declined an on-camera interview.

Cyril Ramaphosa has promised to stamp out COVID-19 related graft, and it's a massive task. Many of the contracts under investigation, now made public, were given to people connected to the ANC, including the president's own spokesperson, who stepped down after it became public that a $7.6 million government PPE contract was initially awarded to her husband's company.

In a statement, the couple tonight corruption, but sought to cancel the contract, adding they deeply regret the error in judgment.

The special investigating unit told us they are looking into more than 700 companies linked to emergency COVID-19 contracts for possible crimes. Contracts worth a staggering 7.5 billion rand, more than $400 million.

From PPE to water supply, to construction, South Africa's president describing the wave of corruption as a pack of hyenas circling wounded prey.

RAMPHOSA: All money stolen or overpriced should be recovered.

MCKENZIE: For Elsie Monyella (ph), even this shack is better than the plastic shelter she used to live in. Without money, or political connections, she says she is happy to accept whatever she's given.

David McKenzie, CNN, South Africa. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed air travel, if you haven't noticed. Well, up next, a trip advertised as a flight to nowhere. And it sold out in just 10 minutes.

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HOLMES: Now, Australia has gone through severe lockdown restrictions since the coronavirus pandemic started, and yes, that can cause people to go a little stir crazy sitting at home. Don't we all know that? Well, Qantas Airlines has a remedy. Jump on a plane for a flight to nowhere. Richard Quest with the details.

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RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It may have been the fastest selling flight in Qantas history, a seven-hour trip around Australia, where you don't get off the plane at all. Demand is high. Tickets sold out in just 10 minutes. One of the pilots is just as excited to get going.

DAVID SUMMERGREENE, FIRST OFFICER: It's been a few months since I've been back in an airplane, and I can't wait to go flying. I cannot wait to see people on the airplane. I cannot wait to see excited, happy people going flying.

QUEST: The date of this Flight to Nowhere and back is October the 10th. And the plane is a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, one usually reserved for international travel. In fact, I flew on it on the Perth to London nonstop. This time though, it's a long, local cruise.

SUMMERGREENE: So we have a fantastic day planned, which will see us depart Sydney around midmorning. From there, we're going to head up the New South Wales coast. There will be some great viewing on both sides of the aircraft as we make our way up.

At this point, we'll follow the Great barrier reef or about 90 minutes, and we'll be doing some flights over certain reef marks at high and low altitudes. So it will be great viewing for about 30 minutes at the middle of the route.

Once we finish with that, we'll be then sailing back to Sydney. Upon arrival, which will be getting close to sunset, we'll be doing a flyover of the harbor and the beaches of Sydney before landing, finally, back in Sydney.

QUEST: Flights like these have become more common in recent months, as people who have been under stay-at-home orders because of the pandemic are itching to get back on a plane.

In July, Taipei's Songshan Airport became the first of three flights to nowhere, where passengers got on board a plane, and it never actually took off. Royal Brunei Airlines did a dine and fly sightseeing tour in August.

And Singapore Airlines is reportedly considering a new route, as well, to nowhere.

For Qantas, the flight has some additional perks. Food from the chef Neil Perry, a gift bag, and an auction of memorabilia from Qantas's recently retired 747's.

The beauty of these flights, as Qantas says, is there's no passport or quarantine required. And it's proving the old travel adage true. It is better to have traveled then to have arrived.

Richard Quest, CNN, London.

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HOLMES: That sounds like fun. Well, I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate you spending part of your day with me. Stay tuned now for WORLD SPORT after a quick break.

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