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COVID Cases Worldwide Hit 30 Million; Disgruntled Employee Attacks President Trump; Israel Back to Nationwide Lockdown; Elderly People Most Affected in England; Presidential Candidates Working Double Time; Corruption Amidst a Pandemic in South Africa; Corruption Scandal Complicates South Africa's Covid Response; E.U. Travel Industry Pushes for Cohesive Restrictions; U.S. Airlines Plead for Federal Aid as Job Cuts Loom; CNN Brazil Crew Flies Over Scorched Pantanal Wetlands; Kremlin Critic's Aides Say Poison Found on Water Bottle. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 18, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Natalie Allen. Welcome to another hour of CNN Newsroom live from Atlanta.

The global coronavirus count takes past another landmark number. That as Israel goes into lockdown and Europe battles a renewed surge of cases.

Also 46 days until the U.S. Presidential election and both Donald Trump and Joe Biden are reaching out to the voters. They were doing that Thursday night. We'll have the highlights.

Also.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything is cheaper. You could see those leaks.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So where did the money go?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The money. I think they know it. They know it, the contractor and the president who give the 10 to the contractor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: CNN's David McKenzie investigates alleged corruption in COVID- related construction in South Africa.

Thank you again for joining us.

Our top story, more than 30 people worldwide have now been infected with the coronavirus since the disease first appeared in China back in December. According to Johns Hopkins University, the staggering figure is tripled what it was just 12 weeks ago. And the global death toll is climbing rapidly to be one million mark.

Europe now experiencing what some fear is a second wave. Cases have been rising sharply in recent weeks, especially under among people under age 50. But just three countries account for more than half of all the world's cases. That would be the United States, India, and Brazil.

The U.S. surpasses all other countries with more than 6.6 million total cases and close to 200,000 deaths. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now forecasts up to 20,000 more Americans will lose their life to COVID by October 10th.

The start of a new school year is bringing its own challenges in relation to the pandemic. A new study has found more than 40 percent of all school employees in the U.S. are at an increased risk of contracting the virus.

For more about that, here's CNN's Erica Hill.

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Desk and hallways will remain empty a bit longer in New York City.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY): This is a huge undertaking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: With more than 50,000 cases at colleges nationwide, quarantine and isolation are becoming more common on campus. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANS KLUGE, WHO REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE: Weekly cases have no now exceeded those reported when the pandemic first peak in Europe in March.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

MIKE RYAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: It is important that we have consistent messaging from all levels. I'm not turning that into some kind of political football. It's about genuinely communicating with people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The push for a vaccine moving into overdrive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANE BANCEL, CEO, MODERNA: Our base plan, our most probable plan is November.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you have a vaccine that is highly effective but very few people get vaccinated, you are not going to realize the full important effect of having a vaccine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:05:01]

HILL: Until then.

CARLOS DEL RIO, PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE AND GLOBAL HEALTH, EMORY UNIVERSITY: I want to emphasize that we have a vaccine right now, it's called wear a mask.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: 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 one percent for several weeks. Nationwide, it's currently inching closer to six percent.

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

ALLEN: A former top aide to the U.S. Vice President Vice President is slamming President Trump's response to the pandemic. Olivia Troye is accusing the president of failing to protect the American people. We see her right there sitting behind Pence.

She was the vice president's lead aide on the Coronavirus Task Force before resigning in July. Here's how she now describes President Trump's handling of the crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER WHITE HOUSE AIDE: 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 this was 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 knew that it's not. The truth is he actually doesn't care about anyone else but himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Troye says she now supports the president's Democratic rival, Joe Biden. Despite what she now says about President Trump, Troye, in her resignation letter, describes her time on the task force as, quote, "an absolute honor." The White House is branding her a disgruntled former employee who never raised objections why she was on staff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEITH KELLOGG, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: I think Olivia's comments were egregious. They're flat wrong. In fact, when I -- and I've got a copy of (Inaudible), you've all got a copy of it now, when she left the organization in the end of July, she talked about how valiantly everybody was working and that we were an inspiration to her and everything we had done.

The simple fact is what she is seeing is not true. I've been through every single task force coronavirus meeting. I've been in the Oval with the president when we met with Tony Fauci, or Bob Redfield, or Stephen Hahn. We've been in those meetings, we've talked about it, and the president has repeatedly said, we're trying to get it right for America, and we're trying to get it right for people.

He said he wants to get people well. That's the reason, Wolf, he's push so hard on Operation Warp Speed on getting a vaccine. And he's got the three right now in phase three trials with the Pfizer, with AstraZeneca, and with the Moderna. And we think we're getting ready to finish those phase three trials up. And then it goes to the data monitoring and safety board for them to come up with an efficacy and safety and get that out, going forward, the vaccines out.

And we're already -- we're already producing today, management at risk are monitoring the flow of the vaccine, we're producing it right now so the minute we get the go ahead from the FDA and U.E., we can start going out and shooting people with the vaccine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Troye also said President Trump once said maybe COVID is a good thing because he didn't like shaking hands with what he called disgusting people.

England and Israel are both dealing with recent spike in coronavirus cases, and it is forcing both countries to re-evaluate their re- openings. England has seen a 167 percent surge in cases since the end of August, and as the government faces criticism on testing, it is imposing new restrictions Friday in the northeast.

On Thursday, Israel closed schools as infections climbed past 4,500 just a day before the entire country goes back into lockdown.

Let's talk about both of these stories with our reporters in the region. CNN's Scott McLean is in London. Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem. Hello to both of you.

Scott, let's begin there in England with this surge and what people might expect now that the country is talking about going backwards and locking down.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You're absolutely right. You know, throughout the summer as restrictions sort of eased, things at least here in London are starting to resemble some sort of normal, but as now as we start to see resurgence of the virus, things are undoubtedly moving in the opposite direction.

Now the good news is that, the virus has been primarily contained within younger parts of the population but it is starting to creep into older, more vulnerable parts. And even in care homes as well.

Yesterday, the British health secretary said that more than one-third of all coronavirus tests in this country are being set aside for care homes alone.

[03:10:01]

The government is having to prioritize who gets a test and who doesn't because there simply aren't enough of them despite the fact that the U.K. does more tests than any other major country in Europe. Because, again, of rising rates, especially in different parts of the country.

One -- or 1.5 million people in parts of Northeast England are now facing severe new restrictions that essentially ban almost all in- person socializing outside of people from your own household.

The WHO yesterday called the situation in Europe very serious and said, the latest numbers ought to serve as a wake-up call. Europe's second wave has actually eclipsed the first one, and as the WHO points out, you know, more testing will obviously capture more cases. And to some extent that is true.

Consider in France that they are seeing two or three times the daily cases today than they were back in April, yet, they have only one- sixth the number of people who are actually in hospital because of the virus. The worry though is what happens next.

In Spain, for instance, they've seen more than 400 deaths over the past week. In the U.K., here, they've seen more than twice the number of people on ventilators today than were at the low point in August. Lately, the British government's plan, their strategy here, has been to impose restrictions that have a minimal impact on the economy and then local lockdowns, local more severe restrictions where needed. But if those things don't help stem the tide of the second wave, Natalie, they're going to have to asking themselves, what's plan b.

ALLEN: Absolutely. All right. Scott, thank you so much. Now let's switch to Israel and our Oren Liebermann where they may soon see new restrictions as well. hello, Oren.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Natalie. And listening to Scott, it feels like Israel has already been through that process of trying localized restrictions. And at least in this case here, it wouldn't work. More than 5,200 cases yesterday according to ministry of health data as Israel continues its upward rise in cases.

And it's part of almost two different stories here. One is the success of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has had overseas at the White House this past week. And the other is the difficulty, the challenges, and failures he's had here.

On the South Lawn of the White House it was the celebration Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted, and the distraction he needed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This week is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. And what a blessing we bring to this New Year, a blessing of friendship, a blessing of hope, a blessing of peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: The ceremony with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain was an historic achievement of Netanyahu's foreign policy, a picture for the ages. If only the success extended to his domestic policy.

Back at home, protests have swelled outside the prime minister's residence, where thousands of people have come out every week and called on Netanyahu to resign. Unemployment remains about 18 percent according to the Israel unemployment service, and a fragile economy will take another hit with a second general lockdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MK YAIR LAPID, ISRAELI OPPOSITION LEADER: We have a dysfunctional government. I mean, good at producing ceremonies in the White House, bad at running a country. And this -- this is the worst failure Netanyahu ever experienced and we are experiencing it with him all because of him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: Restaurant owners smashed plates in protest, frustrated as their fate a closure that threatens their livelihoods. And then there is the coronavirus.

Netanyahu boasted about making peace with two Arab countries in 29 days from August 13th to September 11th. During that same timeframe, according to the ministry of health data, there were 62,000 new cases of coronavirus, about a third since the beginning of the pandemic. And there were 446 deaths in that same period. That's about 40 percent of those who have died.

Israel's coronavirus numbers have soared in recent weeks, among the highest in the world per capita. Schools, restaurants, entertainment venues all closed in this lockdown as Israel becomes perhaps the first country in the world to reimpose closure.

The political situation is hardly better. A unity government meant to handle the coronavirus crisis has spent more time bickering about who is in charge and who to blame. The country's last passed a budget in 2018, the head of the budget division quit, as well as the head of the health ministry's public health division.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOHANAN PLESNER, PRESIDENT, ISRAEL DEMOCRACY INSTITUTE: Supposedly, this should been a national unity government that is stirring us out of the crisis creating the necessary reforms to prepare us for the post-corona era. And instead, it's a government that is in total paralysis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: Yet, none of that is Netanyahu's biggest problem. Israel's longest serving prime minister has been charged with bribery and fraud and breach of trust. He has maintained his innocence all along attacking the attorney general, investigators, and the judicial system, accusing them of an attempted coup driven by the left wing and the media.

His trial begins in earnest in January when a panel of judges will begin hearing from witnesses and there will be no White House ceremony big enough to draw attention away from those proceedings.

[03:15:07]

Part of the frustration here has been the question about what are the current restrictions. Because they are changed and updated from the time, they are essentially introduced to the time they are implemented. And that has caused its own level of confusion and frustration with the second general closure.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in fact, met last night with health experts to see if the restrictions should be tightened because of the rising numbers. In the end the only change that was made was that, instead of staying within 500 meters of your house, you're now allowed to go within a 1,000 meter of your house.

So, in fact, that restriction was loosened as the country heads into a second general lockdown. Netanyahu, himself, stress the wearing of masks and of social distancing, two things that were notably absent at the White House ceremony he attended just a few days ago.

ALLEN: All right. Oren Liebermann for us. We'll continue to follow what happens next there. Thank you so much.

And just ahead here, Joe Biden takes questions from voters at a drive- in town hall in Pennsylvania. Find out what he had to say about coronavirus lockdowns in this country.

Also, President Donald Trump on the attack in the battleground state of Wisconsin, promising a COVID vaccine and economic prosperity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: We are just 46 days away from the U.S. presidential election with Donald Trump and Joe Biden holding dueling campaign events on Thursday night. The president was in the battleground state of Wisconsin, where he could aim at his Democratic challenger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: On November 3rd, Wisconsin will decide whether we will quickly return to record prosperity or whether we will allow Biden and the Democrats to impose a $4 trillion tax hike.

(CROWD BOOING)

TRUMP: Ban American energy, confiscate your guns, which is what they want to do. Shut down the economy, destroy the suburb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris are planning to do exactly none of those things. The president also falsely claimed Democrats are against a coronavirus vaccine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's amazing how all of a sudden, they hate the vaccine. When they thought it couldn't be done, they said, well, you got to get a vaccine. And then all of a sudden, they're looking like it's going to be very close. We are doing great. We're doing great with vaccines and therapeutics, remdesivir, all sorts of other things that are bringing the rates down like at numbers that nobody can believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Joe Biden says Donald Trump should step down because of his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. The former vice president appeared at a CNN drive-in town hall in the parking lot of a baseball stadium in Pennsylvania.

[03:20:03]

He also responded to comments from U.S. Attorney General William Barr who said on Wednesday COVID lockdowns are the greatest intrusion on the civil liberties since slavery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What Bill Barr recently said is outrageous. That is like slavery. They were taking away freedom. I will 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's costing 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)

ALLEN: Joining me now from Los Angeles, CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for the Atlantic, Ron Brownstein. Hello, Ron. Thanks for coming on.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to be with you, Natalie.

ALLEN: Well, let's start with Joe Biden at CNN's town hall. He reiterated that he isn't going to be the Democratic president, he'll be America's president. And he works to embrace his blue-collar background. What do you think of how he did?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, overall, I thought it was a very strong performance. I mean, in particular, it was energetic, it was crisp, it was forceful. It's Joe Biden. I mean, at times, he got tangled trying to explain some of his policy ideas, but I think he put forward a few broad themes, as you mentioned, kind of this contrast.

I'm a guy from Scranton. He is a guy -- President Trump is a guy from Park Avenue. Which is interesting, because, you know, obviously, the core of the president support are those blue-collar, white voters, that Biden was appealing to there.

But even I thought more impressive than that or more effective than that, was when he turned around the argument that we heard from the attorney general just the other night. That, you know, this is the lockdown for the coronavirus has been the biggest infringement on civil liberties since slavery.

And Biden said, look, who has cost you your liberty? It's the president. His failure to deal with coronavirus means that you don't have the liberty to send your kids to school or see your parents or go to a ball game. And I think that is certainly an argument you can bet we're going to hear in the debates in just a couple of weeks.

ALLEN: Right. Because when the attorney general said that, when he likened the COVID lockdowns to slavery it certainly rankled and understandably, black leaders in the U.S. Congress.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, absolutely. And look, I mean, the entire speech that he gave in which he basically said, that he should, in fact, be directing the, you know, prosecutorial and other decisions of the Justice Department in effect at the political direction of the administration and disparaging the career prosecutors.

The entire speech I think was a very stark indication of where a second Trump term might go. I mean this idea that they simply feel no shackles, no constraints in the arbitrary exercise of executive power.

But even in the context of that kind of overall picture that Attorney General Barr was painting, the idea that this is, first of all, an infringement on civil liberties to begin with as opposed to a response to a public, you know, the biggest public health crisis in over a century. But leaving out, you know, comparing -- not only comparing it to slavery, but the Japanese internment, I mean, Jim Crow.

I mean, the idea that this is an infringement on liberty of that magnitude really gives you an idea of kind of where their -- the angle of which they are coming from on this. And one, I think it's pretty clear that most Americans do not accept. I mean, when they talk about, you know, masks as a kind of constraint on people's ability to make their own choices, they're talking to a quarter of the country.

ALLEN: Absolutely. Well, meantime, at his rally in the important state of Wisconsin, Trump claimed Biden is neglecting that battleground state. How does Wisconsin look for either candidate? BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, it is surprisingly good for Biden right

now. You know, if I -- if you ask me of, you know, what happened in 2016, of course, was that three states in what had been termed, actually by me in 2009, the blue wall, the Democrats, the 18 states Democrats have won in every election since '92 fell to Donald Trump. That's why he was president.

It was Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. If you would have said six months ago which of those would've been the toughest for Biden to win back, I think most people, myself included, would have pick Wisconsin because it's the most rural, it has the most non-college whites which as I said are Trump's kind of foundational group, and it has the fewest African-Americans.

But in fact, Biden is pulling quite well in Wisconsin. He consistently had five, six, sometimes by bigger margins in polling. He is winning 60 percent of college educated white voters, and he's holding his deficit among those blue color whites to a manageable number, minus 10.

So, the president, you know, does have to lay seeds there. It is -- it is, I think very hard for him to get to 270 if he's not winning Wisconsin.

ALLEN: Well, that's why Trump went to Wisconsin for sure.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

ALLEN: All right. We always appreciate your insights, Ron Brownstein for us. Thank you, Ron.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

[03:25:02]

ALLEN: In the next hour here on CNN, we're going to bring you an exclusive interview with the outgoing U.S. ambassador to China. There are compelling questions about why he is leaving his post right before the U.S. election. Especially with ties between Washington and Beijing so frayed right now. And what role President Trump might be playing in his departure.

Our David Culver will interview Terry Branstad in our next hour here on CNN Newsroom.

South Africa's president says the coronavirus is bringing corruption like a pack of hyenas circling its prey. We investigate what happened at this emergency COVID housing project, and what officials say they are doing about it, coming next here.

Also, the European and U.S. travel industries are pleading for relief after the coronavirus nearly brought them to a screeching halt. We'll have a live discussion about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ALLEN: We turn 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 the 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 does the death toll. So far, the virus has killed nearly 950,000 people.

South Africa has more than 655,000 cases, the most in Africa. On top of that, people are fed up with government corruption. Some scandals involved deals between officials and businesses providing medical equipment, food, and emergency housing during this critical time.

David McKenzie has been investigating the story, and he joins me now from Johannesburg with more about it. Hello, David.

MCKENZIE: Good morning, Natalie. You know, this was a time when South Africa pull together and the government put a huge amount of money into fighting COVID-19 as the pandemic spread. But it seems like many South Africans are wondering whether this once in a lifetime pandemic ended up being a once in a lifetime opportunity to steal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE: The ruling ANC Party flag covers Elsie Monyela's (Ph) window. The floor of her newly constructed government home is already bending under the weight of just her and her two-week old baby Dipur.

[03:29:57]

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.

[03:30:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything is cheaper. You can see those things.

MCKENZIE: So, where did the money go?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The money? I think they know, the contractors and the person who gave them the contract.

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about them?

MCKENZIE: The contractor didn't say much on the phone. We still had questions.

I thought it would be easier if we could talk in person. How are you sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you are insisting? MCKENZIE: Yes. It could be great, because I think you want to get

your side of the story across, if possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you need?

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, there was no price that were inflated on this. 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 men, there is no corruption in this. That one, I'm 110 percent guaranteeing.

MCKENZIE: 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, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA: Every instance of alleged corruption must be thoroughly investigated.

MCKENZIE: South Africa's presidency, also, declining 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 dollar government PPE contract was initially awarded to her husband's company. In a statement, the couple denied corruption but sought to cancel the contract, adding that 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.

RAMAPHOSA: All money stolen or overpriced should be recovered.

MCKENZIE: For (inaudible), even the shacks is better than the plastic shelter to use to live in. Without money, or political connections, she says she is happy to accept whatever she is given.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE: It is those most vulnerable, and also doctors and nurses, struggling in a state system that is often underfunded. That fuels a great deal of anger on this alleged corruption. The special investigating unit, Natalie, told us that of course, not all of those cases there looking into, including the construction will end up being convicted or even shunned to show corruption. But the staggering levels of this accusations are just eye watering for South Africans who are struggling with both the economic and health impact of this pandemic, Natalie.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Right, your report really shows that it is kind of overwhelming the issues. So, what is the ruling party saying about it?

MCKENZIE: Well, as you saw there, President Ramaphosa, who is also the leader of the ANC has taken the zero tolerance policy of corruption, but the criticism, it's a lot of talk and at this stage at least no concrete action in terms of prosecutions. The ruling ANC has said that if any of their members now are charged with corruption or fraud, they will have to leave their positions within government or within the party, but again, the talk of hyenas and the talk of zero tolerance is really, can only go so far, until you see the money being given backed, or people in prison. Natalie?

ALLEN: All right. We appreciate your report so much. David McKenzie for us there in Johannesburg. David, Thank you.

Travel and tourism industries are trying to recover after the coronavirus brought business to its knees. In Europe, industry leaders are urging E.U. members to rethink quarantine by creating a coordinated, travel restriction and testing policy.

While in the U.S., airline CEOs are begging the White House for more federal aids saying the industry could face thousands of job cuts in October.

[03:35:10]

For more, CNN's John Defterios joins me now from Abu Dhabi. And John, let's talk about that deadline. Why is October significant for the airlines?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, you know, the stimulus package fades away come September 30th, Natalie. So, we are in that crunch time here. We often talked about the front lines of COVID-19, and I would like to, say the airline industry is front and center. So, what they're looking is $25 billion for the commercial passenger market. And another $7 billion for the cargo sector as well.

And this was supposed to be part of a much bigger $2.2, $2.3 trillion package on the house or $1.5 trillion. It looks like the compromised. The Republican Senate came with something much lower that even the White House wasn't supporting. So you can see the politics ahead of the November elections playing out here. And the American airlines CEO said, look, can we get bipartisan support, we need to move quickly. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG PARKER, CEO, AMERICAN AIRLINES: There is enormous bipartisan support for an extension of payroll support program, which will keep those people employed. And the only problem we have, we do not have a vehicle for getting it done. We need to have a COVID relief package that includes that. So, we are just here to plea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS: Extraordinary language, from a CEO of American Airlines. We are here to plea for support. We are looking at 30,000 jobs. And then meanwhile, the European Union, we have the European carriers and the travel associations going to Brussels, the capital of the European Union saying having 27 different states come up with their own quarantine policies is not working.

And that is evidence of that in the numbers of September, the first two weeks down 73 percent, over the last year. And it was about 65 percent for August, Natalie. So this is something with all of the different changes, and the second wave. Travelers just don't want to get on the airplane and the hospitality sectors suffering as well.

ALLEN: Absolutely. Well, beyond the airlines, give us an assessment on how COVID is impacting businesses, what businesses, and whether they will be able to bounce back.

DEFTERIOS: Yes, well, we are starting to see this in the stock market where we had a 10 percent correction in the NASDAQ over the early parts of September going into mid-September now. And this indicative of the fact that evaluations are high but the second that I'm talking about is severe.

Even Yelp, which is a company listing organization in the United States was saying that the 163,000 businesses on their website United States, a 100,000 mainly restaurants, of course and small businesses which employ about 75 to 80 percent of the Americans will not reopened, Natalie.

So, all the stimulus money, $3 trillion so far in the United States and more to come. It is just holding up the inevitable, which is a restructuring, probably a deep one in 2021.

ALLEN: John Defterios for us. We always appreciate you, thanks, John. Next here, new details on how Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned. We take you inside his hotel room where his supporters say they found the crucial evidence.

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[03:40:00]

ALLEN: We've been talking a lot about the fires in California, but unprecedented fires are also devastating tropical wetlands in central Brazil. This was the scene here as a CNN Brazil crew flew over the Pantanal area with the land, still smoking.

Brazilian officials say, more than 20 percent of the biologically diverse area has gone up in flames. Volunteers are working to save wildlife, including endangered jaguars. Fires have also devastated the Amazon to the north.

We are learning more about how Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was poisoned. He's now recovering in a Berlin hospital after waking from a coma. Several laboratories confirmed there were traces of a powerful chemical nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union, found on a water bottle, in his hotel room.

CNN's Matthew Chance, has more about it from Moscow.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL 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 leaders political teams 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 him fallen sick on a flight back to Moscow. That last month, you can see empty water bottles clearly one Navalny aide told CNN, the intention was to preserve as much as they could, they put everything in plastic bags and sealed them.

He said in case there were 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 has so far refused to open an investigation into the allege poisoning. Saying they want the Germans to send them any evidence first. Well, after weeks in (inaudible) coma, Alexei Navalny recently posted a photo of himself sitting up in bed. And he's spokeswoman says that he eventually intends to return to Russia.

Matthew Chance CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. Thanks so much for watching and I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Instagram. CNN Sports is up next. And I'll see you this time tomorrow.

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