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Connect the World
Video Appears to Show Wagner Chief in Belarus; Ukraine: 38 Russian Air attacks Overnight in South; 2023 Tournament Kicks Off with Record Attendance; Protests Flare over Tax Hikes; Investigating Trump; Historic Tournament Begins in New Zealand & Australia. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired July 20, 2023 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: This hour Wagner forces trained Belarus soldiers after video purports to show Yevgeny Prigozhin with his
forces. What will this mean for the feared mercenary group?
But first at least one person was killed when Russian cruise missiles hit Southern Ukraine. This is the third night in a row of attacks in Odessa.
Russia says it's retaliating for the attack on the Crimean Bridge.
Iraq is asking Sweden's Ambassador to leave after controversial anti-Islam protests was allowed to go forward in Stockholm that protest igniting fury
in Baghdad. At least three people are dead following anti-government protests in Kenya. Kenyan President Ruto is calling on police to "Be firm
on hooligans".
I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi, welcome to our second hour of "Connect the World". I want you to take a look at this, Wagner fighters in Belarus
training Belarusian soldiers. They're in a town near the border of Poland a NATO ally.
It comes less than 24 hours after a video appeared to show the Mercenary Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. This is the first time he has been seen since his
failed mutiny against Russia last month. CNN's Fred Pleitgen takes a look at how this is all unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Nearly a month after Wagner's mutiny the private military company and its
Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin say they're back. This grainy video which CNN cannot independently verify purportedly showing Prigozhin welcoming his
fighters to Belarus. Welcome to the Belarusian land, he says we fought with dignity we have done a lot for Russia. What is happening now with the
frontlines is a shame in which we do not need to participate.
We need to wait for the moment when we can prove ourselves fully. Prigozhin as critical as ever of Russia's Defense Ministry and apparently signaling
its fighters could return to the front lines of Ukraine. Various social media accounts had already reported movements of what appeared to be large
Wagner convoys on the move towards Belarus.
A CNN analysis of satellite images from Planet Labs and from Airbus showed a convoy of Wagner fighters had already arrived at a formerly abandoned
base South East of Minsk. Some of the Wagner fighters training Belarusian troops, as seen here on state media.
They have been in combat and this is undoubtedly a very useful experience for our army this Belarusian soldier says. They saw some of the heaviest
combat in Russia's war against Ukraine but after their mutiny seen as a major threat to Vladimir Putin's power Prigozhin was labeled as a traitor
by Russia's Leader.
And Wagner had to shutter its main base in Southern Russia. The base ceases to exist this fighter says Wagner private military company is relocating to
new areas. Belarus seems to be one of those new areas, Putin apparently coming to the conclusion he still needs the mercenaries and their leader.
The Head of Britain's Intelligence Service MI6 telling CNN Prigozhin is "Floating around after the rebellion".
RICHARD MOORE, UK'S MI6 CHIEF: If you look at Putin's behaviors on that day Prigozhin started off I think, as a traitor at breakfast. He had been
pardoned by supper, and then a few days later, he was invited for tea.
PLEITGEN (voice over): And one of Prigozhin's top commanders Dmitry -- vowing the mercenaries will come back even stronger. It's not the end he
says it's only the beginning of the biggest work that will be done very soon. And finally, welcome to hell. Frederik Pleitgen, CNN Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: And we cannot stress enough that this is a man who less than one month ago attempted a coup on the Kremlin. Just take a listen to Prigozhin
after briefly taking over Rostov-on-Don, Russia's southern military command.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, WAGNER CHIEF: Again, we came here. We want to receive the Chief of General Staff and Shoigu and so they aren't here. And so they
aren't here we will be located here, blockading the City of Rostov and we'll go to Moscow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: And now it seems Wagner is back in action. So tonight we asked are Putin and Prigozhin working together again. Former CNN Moscow Bureau Chief,
Jill Dougherty joins me now live from Washington D.C. And she can perhaps answer this question.
[11:05:00]
I have to say there's just so much happening here. Let's talk about what you think has happened based on what we've seen over the last 24 hours?
JILL DOUGHERTY, FORMER CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: You know Eleni, I think of it as kind of like a Rubik Cube. You know, this is complicated, and even
the Head of MI6 said that nothing -- it's really not clear.
So I think it would be useful to look at where the characters main characters are right now, after this rebellion. So you just saw from Fred's
report, you've got Prigozhin in Belarus. Now, he says, we're not going back to Ukraine yet.
But he does say we will go back to Africa. We know that they have been forced to give up some of their heavy weapons. They apparently do not have
the really heavy weapons with them. They had to give them over to the regular Russian military according to that agreement that was brokered by
the President of Belarus to end the rebellion. And then they say we'll be training the Belarusian army.
So where do you know, how do we analyze that? Well, it looks as if Prigozhin is continuing to hold up his part of the deal. But he is
continuing his really strong criticism of the Russian military. And then he is maintaining, let's say, operations in Africa, he says, but there are
reports that he had to sell assets in order to pay his people.
So again, complicated, but it looks as if he has not been totally punished. But his wings have been clipped. And don't forget that Prigozhin and Putin
go back a long time to St. Petersburg a very long time ago. And then if you look at Putin, OK, the Generals Shoigu and Grosimov (ph) who were
criticized by Prigozhin are still there.
Other generals and members of the military who seem to be on the side of Prigozhin are punished. You know, kicked out, et cetera, demoted. And then
finally, I would say very interesting, Putin appears to be paying off his loyalists specifically runs on -- who is his own forces?
GIOKOS: Look, I have to say -- saying this is a Rubik cube that we have to solve. We have to align all the colors first, right? And there's a long way
to go. You mentioned something on Africa that Prigozhin says he's returning to Africa rather than Ukraine. I want you to take a look at what he said in
this purported video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRIGOZHIN: We should keep on preparing ourselves, we should keep on developing. We have a new road ahead of us to Africa. Maybe we will return
to special military operation at a time when we will be sure that we won't be made to cover ourselves and our legacy and shame.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: What do you make of this? What does this mean returning to Africa rather than Ukraine?
DOUGHERTY: Oh, I think Africa no question is where he made his money. Huge amounts of money providing security and training in African countries that
were undergoing conflict. And we know that some of that, of course, had to be shared with the Kremlin with the Russian government.
So you would -- I don't think it's surprising that the African operation continues. And there are services that Wagner provides to the Russian
government, so that the Russian government doesn't have to admit that it's involved. So I don't think you're going to see a complete shutdown at all a
Wagner, but it may be renamed or reorganized.
GIOKOS: I want to take a look at the region that Wagner fighters right now are training close to the City of Brest very close to Poland's border,
right on NATO's doorstep. Is this all part of a project that's trying to show strength against the West?
And I remember Jill, just before the war started with Ukraine; we saw military exercises, again, across borders, which made the West very
nervous. I mean, not reading too much into this, should we be worried about the message versus sending?
DOUGHERTY: Well, I think that you're right. The message is that there's a threat, you know, potentially something could happen from let's say, from
Belarus. But you know, dealing with the Wagner fighters is very complex, because they're very unpredictable.
You just look at that video when you hear Fred mentioned it. Dmitry Utkin (ph) saying, this is just the beginning, you know, and welcome to hell.
These are fighters who are not predictable. So I think that even the Kremlin and Belarus must be wondering you know exactly what can you rely
on?
[11:10:00]
That's why I think they'd been somewhat defamed by taking away their heavy weapons.
GIOKOS: Yes. And as you said, it's been an interesting 24 hours before the video of Prigozhin emerged. This is what we heard from the Spy Chief Rights
MI6, Richard Moore, he said a lot about Putin's response to the failed rebellion. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOORE: You really didn't fight back against Prigozhin he cut a deal to save his skin, using the good officers of the Leader of Belarus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: I mean, firstly, it's completely rare to have heard from Richard Moore in this sort of, you know, very public capacity talking about Putin
cutting a deal to save his skin. Prigozhin now really a battle of messaging between Putin and Western allies it's a lot. So again, here how are you
analyzing this?
DOUGHERTY: Well, that phrase saved his skin is one that I have difficulty with. I mean, obviously, this is man who is steeped in intelligence and
knows a lot more than I do. But save his skin. I'm not so sure. You know Prigozhin always said I'm not after Putin. I'm after the military that are
ruining the war in Ukraine.
But this appeared to be a threat against Putin. So again, I think you'd have to ask the Head of MI6 what exactly is save his skin. It did not
appear that we're going to go after Putin and kill him? So save his skin maybe Putin still needs Wagner he still needs Prigozhin and has sent him
off. You know, through this deal with Lukashenko to Belarus to be used for a future project. We don't know what they're going to be doing in the
future.
GIOKOS: Jill Dougherty, always great to have you on. Thank you so much for your insights. Now Russia is calling it retaliation. The EU's top diplomat
describes it as barbarism for third straight nights. Russian missiles rain down on Odessa and Mykolaiv in Southern Ukraine.
The attacks killed at least three people and cause massive damage. Russia says it's responding to Ukraine's recent attack on the Crimea Bridge.
Ukraine and the EU say Russia is targeting grain facilities after withdrawing from the Black Sea Grain Deal. Alex Marquardt has more from
Odessa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This city has never seen anything like this since the beginning of this war. I can't
overstate the terror that the citizens of this city have had to experience over not one but the last three nights.
And it is no mistake that Odessa is home to Ukraine's most famous port. I want to show you some of the destruction from last night. This is an
administrative building. It looks like it was around four storey's high; you can see it has completely collapsed.
We are told this is still a search and rescue operation. We know that at least one young man was killed there were several people who were injured.
You can see those firefighters trying to put out the fires in this building of both from among the rubble and up on that ladder up there.
There are firefighters there are rescue workers. There are volunteers and residents of this neighborhood, who are just trying to make sense of what
we experienced last night. We are on the edge of the port, the one of the biggest port in Ukraine which we can't show you for security reasons.
But that is almost certainly why according to Ukrainian authorities, Russia has been carrying out these strikes on Ukraine. Now this attack started
just before 2 am local time. It was a combination of drones and missiles. We could hear those drones very clearly buzzing the rooftops in downtown
Odessa.
I want to play you some of the video that sorry I was just going to get out of the way this water. I want to play you some of the videos shot by Photo
Journalist Scott McWhinnie of one of the explosions of the missiles here in Odessa last night. Take a listen.
That is the kind of thing that we heard for an hour and a half. Now it was not just Odessa that was hit. It was also Mykolaiv which is another
southern port city. There 19 people were wounded. This was an incredibly sophisticated attack almost 40 drones and missiles.
Most of the missiles got through. Russia used long range strategic bombers, supersonic bombers they use for different kinds of cruise missiles. They
use those Iranian kamikaze drones, just the symbolism of what they use is sending a very large message to Ukraine. President Zelenskyy has said it is
very clearly Russia trying to target the grain infrastructure just a few days after Russia pulled out of that critical grain deal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[11:15:00]
GIOKOS: Well, that was Alex Marquardt reporting there from Odessa. Now to the growing diplomatic spat between Iraq and Sweden. Iraq asked the Swedish
Ambassador in Baghdad to leave and has recalled its top diplomat from its Embassy in Stockholm.
Iraq says Sweden allowed the desecration of the Quran. Earlier Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad and set it on fire. They
were angry over this demonstration. Iraq's the embassy in Stockholm. Iraqi officials claim the Quran and the Iraqi flag with desecrated.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is tracking the story for us from London. Salma a lot happening here, you've got protest action happening in Sweden, in Iraq you
have a response to this and severe consequences in of terms of what we'll see, from a diplomatic perspective. Take us through the latest.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's important to really emphasize here Eleni when you talk about protest action in Sweden, this is
protest by a single man, one individual who has taken these very inflammatory steps.
Yes, of course, with Swedish police permission to carry out this demonstration in front of the Iraqi Embassy today. The protests lasted
about 45 minutes this man -- who wants to point out is himself an Iraqi he migrated to Sweden about five years ago.
Last month, he had been involved in burning pages of the Quran. Today's demonstration, he was seen wiping his shoes with the Iraqi flag and
stepping on the Quran at one point it does not appear he burned the Quran.
But even before this demonstration took place, there was huge reaction, as you mentioned in Iraq in particular, just for the very fact that Swedish
police had permitted the gathering. I want to point out here that Swedish police say they permitted the protests.
But they do not give permissions for the specific events happening within the protest if you will. Still hundreds of people stormed Sweden's Embassy
in Baghdad overnight, angered and galvanized by the Shia Cleric, Muqtada Al-Sadr who of course emphasize how inflammatory how offensive, this is to
the Muslim world.
I want you to take a listen to what one of those protesters involved in that burning of the Swedish Embassy last night said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am one of the few who set fire to the Swedish Embassy. And this message is sent to the whole world. This religion is for
everybody, not just for Sadr's Movement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: Now, the Iraqi Government did take steps against those who stormed the Swedish Embassy saying that there were legal consequences for
some of those involved but at the same time as you mentioned, Iraqi authorities saying they were looking to potentially severed ties with
Sweden over this demonstration.
Steps towards that direction were taking place today with Iraq, recalling its charged affairs in Stockholm and expelling Sweden's Ambassador in Iraq.
GIOKOS: Yes, I mean, really fascinating context there. Could you give me a sense of who Muqtada Al-Sadr is? Why he is important? And why his voice
matters?
ABDELAZIZ: His voice deeply matters. And I think that's why you saw such a huge reaction, of course in Iraq last night. Muqtada Al-Sadr is one of the
most prominent if not the most prominent Shia Cleric in Iraq he raised to prominence after the invasion in 2003.
He was able to assemble an effective militia against U.S. forces. That militia was leader disbanded, but it was also seen as a movement that
inflamed sectarian tensions in the country and led to a great deal of bloodshed between Sunnis and Shias in Iraq.
But in this particular moment, when Muqtada Al-Sadr is speaking about the burning of the Quran in many ways, he's speaking to everyone. This is
something that is seen as deeply inflammatory, deeply offensive, and deeply harmful to all Muslims, regardless of what sect they identify with and to
step out and speak on this.
He was able to quickly mobilize his supporters something that he is quite famous for hundreds of them, again storming the embassy today. And you have
to remember Muqtada Al-Sadr's power is not just his religious position, but his political one, as well.
He stepped out of political office, but he has many of his supporters in offices in high positions across Iraq. So there is going to be a huge push
within the government structure of Iraq to react to the Swedish government on this.
GIOKOS: Yes, Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much. Well, you're watching "Connect the World". Up next, the Women's World Cup is here and the early
action has delivered on the hype. We'll break it down just ahead.
[11:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: The Women's World Cup is officially underway after deadly shooting just hours before the first match in New Zealand. Two people were killed
and six others wounded, but authorities say it does not appear to have been an act of terrorism. Angus Watson reports for us.
ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: A shadow cast over the opening day of the Women's World Cup in Auckland, New Zealand. The first match between the
hosts and Norway opened with a moment of silence for two people killed Thursday morning and several others injured by a lone gunman who took a
shotgun to his place of work a construction site in downtown Auckland early Thursday and began shooting, killing two people and injuring several others
including a police officer.
Police were commended for getting to the scene shortly after he began firing and ultimately neutralizing the suspect he was found with a gunshot
wound in an elevator shaft. Now every time that there is a case of public violence in New Zealand thoughts immediately go to 2019 when a white
supremacist terrorist attack two mosques in the city of Christchurch killing 50.
This attack however, was not deemed to be a terrorist incident. The killer was not deemed to be ideologically motivated by police that it was an
isolated incident and not a national security threat. So the authorities there in New Zealand believed that the game was OK, it was safe enough to
go ahead and it did so.
There are several World Cup teams at the moment station in Auckland including Team USA, who was quick to state their condolences after the
tragic incident posting a statement to social media reading. U.S. Soccer extends its deepest condolences to the families of the victims who were
killed in the shooting in downtown Auckland today. We are saddened by the inexcusable loss of life to gun violence and our thoughts are with the
people of Auckland/Tamaki Makaurau and Aotearoa New Zealand.
Now, the games of the World Cup are historic this time around more tickets have been sold than any Women's World Cup previously. And 32 teams will
this time take part with Team USA. The favorites will all hope that the shadow of this terrible instant Thursday morning will not loom too large
over the competition. Angus Watson in Sydney, Australia the CNN!
GIOKOS: Well, FIFA says it is confident the tournament can go on as planned. As the world's top footballers played before record crowds in
Australia and New Zealand, both of those host nations scored wins in their opening matches especially meaningful for New Zealand whose football ferns
got their first victory in the history of the competition.
CNN's World Sports Anchor Amanda Davies is following all of the action from London. I'm sure you wish you were there, exciting times, New Zealand
making a mark in their first match. What a fantastic win.
[11:25:00]
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, and the good news is Eleni, I am heading there. If I've learned one thing from today is that, I really do
need to pack my coats because the huge numbers of people who have headed out to the fan festivals and to the great games; they are all wrapped up
with big hats and scarves.
But the good news for them is that they have seen their teams so far put on a real show. We've been talking about this as the biggest and best Women's
World Cup yet. And so far, it's very much lived up to expectation with those record attendances that Angus was talking about both at the game in
Sydney, that Australia played also the game that kicked off the tournament in New Zealand.
And it really has been a historic moment for the football fans. They had sets as their target to claim their first ever World Cup, win something
they haven't done it in five World Cup finals tournaments, that is 15 matches they'd played prior to this one at the World Cup finals. They've
never produced their victory.
And here we are game number 16 on the home soil are one of the most iconic sporting venues in the world. Eden Park finally getting that victory,
thanks for the single goal from Hannah Wilkinson is seeing them take victory in style rally against a star studded Norwegian side. What do we
take from this as an opening game?
Well, we get Norway are going to be really, really disappointed they were hoping to have made up some ground after a disappointing performance out of
the European championships last year. But they will be really disappointed for New Zealand. They have a really good shot of going one better than
this, not only their first win.
But now potentially qualifying out of Group A with the Philippines and Switzerland the other two teams in that group. Their co-hosts Australia
also produced the victory that they were hoping for perhaps not in such a convincing manner for them against tournament debutants their Republic of
Ireland.
But they'll take the win in the circumstances you would think particularly given the fact this match came so quickly off that breaking news, the
really shocking breaking news that their star player one of the superstars expected to be at this tournament.
Their top scorer their captain Sam Kerr has been ruled out not only of their opening game, but also their second game because of a calf injury. It
may be something a little bit tactical, leaving her out of the next game against Nigeria for safety. That is because they're big group being counter
takes place against Canada.
Canada, of course, the Olympic gold medal winners but yes, certainly a fantastic opening day and setting up a brilliant month to come, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes, absolutely brilliant, Amanda. Fear not Amanda, you live in London, you can handle any cold weather. I've been in London I was not
handling at all. So I'm happy that you're heading down there. Great to see you, thank you Amanda Davies for us.
Still ahead on "Connect the World" anti-government protests in Kenya turned violent after demonstrators clashed with security forces. Now there's also
a cost of living crisis in Kenya and Nigeria with high fuel prices becoming the new normal, we'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
GIOKOS: Welcome back to "Connect the World". I'm Eleni Giokos. Your headlines this hour, Ukraine is pleading for better air defense systems in
southern regions after the latest devastating round of Russian attacks. Ukraine's Air Force says Russia fired nearly 14 missiles and drones in
overnight strikes on Odessa and Mykolaiv, hitting ports, peers, residential buildings and retail stores.
At least three people were killed, dozens more wounded. And there's plenty of scrutiny at this hour on what's happening near Poland's border. That's
where that no mercenary troops are holding joint combat drills with forces in Belarus. It comes one day after this video emerged.
It appears to show Wagner Founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in control of his troops in Belarus. Now we're seeing massive fires in Greece and they're
forcing evacuations in parts of the country. Take a look at this live video out Agios Sotiras in Greece. They're seeing temperatures of 44 degrees
around the country.
Anti-government demonstrations across Kenya have turned deadly. According to local media reports there, three people were shot and killed in clashes
with security forces during Wednesday's protests. Kenyan opposition leaders have called for three days of protests that began on Wednesday.
The United Nations has expressed concern about the use of violence by police. Kenya's President William Ruto speaking out in support of the
police, have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT: We must protect this country and the police must be fun on hooligans, on criminals, on people who want to destroy other
people's business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, Kenyan demonstrators are protesting tax hikes. Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has led calls for protests
accusing the current government of raising the cost of living and consolidating power.
President Ruto, who took office nearly a year ago promised to work for the country's -- , but he has raised taxes say it was necessary to help repay
debts and fund job creation initiatives. The Kenyan court ruled against Mr. Ruto's Finance Act. But the president defied the court order and increased
taxes on fuel, which has led to a rise in cost of transportation and basic goods.
CNN's Larry Madowo is live from Nairobi with the latest, Larry, great to have you on the ground. I mean, to be honest, if you look at this tax
amendment bill is widespread. It's a little bit of tax on so many different parts that hit people, hit the most vulnerable. But tell me about the
protests action, how it's extending far beyond what we've seen on the tax front?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's correct. Today is supposed to be the second day of these three days, anti-government protests called for the
opposition. And, if unchecked, Kenya risks rolling into a political and security crisis. I want to show you three major Kenyan newspapers have the
same headline today.
They say, save our country. And these editors, they rarely do this all major papers with the same front page, they say, unless the voices of
reason prevail, Kenya could burn. So that is a really dangerous warning. And part of the reason is this. This is how the Kenyan government has been
preparing for the protests.
You see this anti-rival police, it's almost 7 p.m. here they're already with their tear gas canisters and the batons and all of that. That's part
of the criticism here that the Kenyan security forces have been clamping down heavily with widespread violence against mostly peaceful protesters.
The UN has criticized that and the Kenyan government has shut back very strongly saying these are not protesters. They're economic saboteurs. But
this is what happens when you see in a major city. You see an armored water cannon truck which is being used in neighborhoods often with kids. And
they're still preparing here in case something happens, they're ready to pounce.
[11:35:00]
Because the Kenyan government in -- has said they will not allow this process to happen. The reality is they are happening. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MADOWO (voice over): Violent confrontations between Kenyan police and demonstrators in a neighborhood of the capital Nairobi. Even tear gas did
not keep these young men away for long. They responded with even more stones or anything else they could throw at the police.
The first day of the opposition's planned three day anti-government demonstrations came down to these battles with security forces, or cat and
mouse games in some areas. Construction Worker -- says he was on his lunch break nearby when he got hit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if it was tear gas or a bullet. It just hit me and I passed out.
MADOWO (voice over): He was still bleeding even after first aid with no ambulance available. This motorbike taxi was the only way to get into
hospital. Ahmed water cannon trucks keeping demonstrators away from the roads in a different part of Nairobi. But some residents concerned about
the sharp increases in the prices of basic commodities are ready to endure the crackdown.
MADOWO (voice over): Do you support the protests?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do, 100 percent, I support the protest. And it needs to continue until the president he has arrived. The cost of living is high
and the president, he look at this situation. At least he can reduce the cost of living.
MADOWO (on camera): I have a security presence made sure that there were no major street demonstrations today. But the opposition still did score a win
by managing to bring the capital of Kenya almost to a standstill. These running battles between police using water cannons and tear gas and young
men throwing rocks has been the order of the day.
MADOWO (voice over): But President William Ruto remains defiant, saying Kenya's politics should be devoid of violence.
RUTO: We must protect this country and the police must be firm on hooligans, on criminals, on people who want to destroy other people's
business.
MADOWO (voice over): That firm police action and condemnation on the UN Human Rights Office last Friday, when it said it was concerned about
widespread use of violence by officers. Kenya's foreign minister called the UN statement, inaccurate and misleading.
ALFRED MUTUA, KENYAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Who are those 23 people they say died. I'd like to know them, their names and others. So they are throwing
names and figures out there. You know, that is bad manners for an organization of such stature.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MADOWO: So Kenya's Foreign Minister might be rubbish in these claims, but the Kenyan opposition is crying foul. In fact, they're using very strong
terms. They're calling this genocide in the making and crimes against humanity. CNN cannot independently verify a lot of these claims. But that's
what they're saying Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes. Yes, a very worrying images that we're seeing there and brilliant piece, in terms of, you know, understanding how people are
feeling. But Larry, we've given the context about the tax hikes, which clearly were bubbling under the surface, but you've got an economy that is
under pressure, you've got a currency that is taking a knock.
And then you have the dilemma of trying to find ways to raise money, and you're putting the burden on the most vulnerable. So what are the realities
then now for average Kenyans?
MADOWO: Eleni, even those who don't support these protests agree that their life has gotten harder. In the 10 months since President William Ruto
became president they have seen the cost of commodities increase exponentially. You mentioned at the top that, for instance, fuel prices are
up, because despite a temporary court order to ban to block these increases in the taxes that did go ahead.
And what happens when you have an increase in fuel prices that leads to an immediate increase in most other basic commodities. That's what happening,
but people who are struggling when inflation is at an almost 10 percent. People, who are seeing the lives getting difficult, cannot quite wrap
around a president who promised that he would be for the hustlers.
He's made a whole big thing about being from nothing to this presidency. And he promised when he was campaigning that if he was elected, he would
make a country, this country for everyone.
GIOKOS: Larry Madowo, thank you so very much, great to have you on the show. Well, fuel prices are also up in Nigeria, ever since the country's
new president ended a subsidy that had kept gas prices low for decades. Transportation and electricity costs are now on the rise, forcing Nigerians
to make drastic changes to survive. CNN's Stephanie Busari is in Lagos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SENIOR EDITOR, AFRICA (voice over): It was a moment that caught many off guard. Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu is accelerating
ahead announcing his first major policy at his inauguration in May, triggering panic buying as petrol stations with fuel prices tripling
immediately and soaring to record highs.
[11:40:00]
The shifting gears angered Nigerians who in the past have protested previous attempts to remove the fuel price caps. Nearly two months on and
people are feeling the pinch.
REJOICE CHUKWUNEKE, MARKETER: At the end of the month, I have to borrow money and food since 80 percent of my salary goes into transportation.
BUSARI (voice over): The rise in petrol price has poured fuel on economic fire, with inflation now hitting nearly 23 percent.
BISMARCK REWANE, ECONOMIST: The first impact is on inflation. The second impact is on income. As he said in practice, when will relief come?
BUSARI (voice over): That relief however is not inside yet, with Tinubu pleading for patience.
BUSARI (on camera): It's rush hour on this busy street in the heart of Lagos Island, and typically the streets will be gridlocked with cars stuck
in Lagos as legendary go slow traffic. It seems an unintended consequence of the fuel subsidy removal is that people simply aren't getting into their
cars.
BUSARI (voice over): Increased operating cost, including fuel power generators to combat the country's erratic electricity supply are also
forcing some businesses to press the brakes. While others such as this clothing store in Lagos are finding creative solutions to stay afloat.
EJIRO AMOS TAFIRI, DESIGNER: We're flexible with our eyes to make sure that we are maximizing on the resources that we have. So there wasn't generators
on we're maximizing production and then when we are powering down, we know we are powering down.
BUSARI (voice over): Meanwhile, officers are also turning off their lights with work from home policies been introduced to combat a soaring cost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Post pandemic will reduce work into like maybe four days a week. But now with the removal of subsidy, we've reduced to three days a
week. So people work from home on Mondays. Everybody hates Mondays anyway, so we just took Mondays off.
BUSARI (voice over): While the road ahead remains bumpy for miles to come, Nigerians who have shouldered many hardships in recent years are continuing
to display their usual resilience and determination in the face of difficulty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Brilliant story there brought to you by Stephanie Busari. She is in Lagos for us. I have to say pretty shocking to hear that during rush hour,
cars can move across certain streets in Lagos. If you've been there, you know how crazy the traffic is. But what really standing out to me here is
that firstly, you've got a grid that does not give you electricity for the full day.
If you're lucky, you get 46 hours. The issue of the subsidy is very expensive for the Nigerian government; it was bound to come to an end. But
then you've got the other issue this crisis, that government, it means that people cannot have their lights on. People were using, you know, generators
in the streets of Lagos to keep their little businesses afloat. What does this actually mean, in real terms for the economy?
BUSARI: Eleni, life has changed drastically for many Nigerians and people are making choices that were unimaginable just a few months ago. They're
walking long hours in the scorching heat. You've been here you've seen how hot it is. They're sitting in the dark in their homes, simply because, as
you say, the National Grid gives only a few hours of electricity per day.
And so many people were forced to buy generators powered by petrol. Now they simply can't afford it. So people are sitting in darkness, because
it's just the only choice that they have. And then you're looking at the poorest of the poor Nigerians. What choices do they have to make in already
quite difficult circumstances?
And you know it's just a lot of tough decisions that Nigerians have to make. The petrol prices are now at record high. People are walking; they're
just not fueling their cars. And you walk into stores, there's signs everywhere, saying oh, we regret that we plan to increase our prices. It's
just a knock on effect across the board, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes, a really tough decision that a Nigerian government had to make because it was, of course, very expensive to keep this up, Stephanie
Busari, great to have you on this story, to give us a little bit of perspective of what it means in real terms. Well, coming up on ""Connect
the World" a Grand Jury is meeting at this hour to discuss possible charges related to Donald Trump's actions on January 6, and whether he tried to
overturn his 2020 election loss. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
GIOKOS: Former U.S. President Donald Trump is beefing up his legal team ahead of a possible third indictment that could come down by the end of the
day. Trump added a new criminal defense attorney. A grand jury is meeting right now for the special counsel's election interference probe.
Sources say Trump's legal team believes it is less than 24 hours now to respond to an invitation from the special counsel's office to bring their
own witnesses or own evidence. CNN's Katelyn Polantz is at the courthouse in Washington where the grand jury is meeting. A lot of unknowns right now
a lot of waiting and seeing what are we expecting in the next few hours?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, we are expecting something to happen in that the grand jury is at work today here
at the federal courthouse in Washington, DC Downtown. And the reason they're at work today, even if Donald Trump himself does not want to
testify to this grand jury to speak to them and tell his side of the story. There are other witnesses coming in today.
So that's the primary thing that we are expecting to see at some point. They're very likely already hearing from at least one witness a close
personal aide to Donald Trump who also worked in the White House, that witnessed a man named Will Russel is coming back to the third time to
testify here.
And we do expect at least one other person to testify today. And so the grand jury is working on that, but it does appear Eleni that Donald Trump
and his legal team is fully aware and indictment could come at any time. When the grand jury is in session, they can be asked by the Justice
Department to vote on and to approve charges, federal criminal charges against the former president.
And at this point in time with Donald Trump receiving that target letter on Sunday, it appears very likely that the Justice Department is prepared to
do that very soon. We don't know exactly when the grand jury would be coming in next after they finished their work today. And we don't know if
that indictment would indeed be today.
But we are watching. We are waiting. And there is a lot of other unknowns too about exactly what would be in this case, exactly how many charges what
the charges would be. What we do know is that it has been an expansive investigation around what happened at the White House after the 2020
election leading up to January 6, and also what the Trump team was trying to do across the United States.
GIOKOS: Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much for that update. Well, Cuba is seeing a new wave of small business owners just ahead. We'll take a look at
the business boot camp mini eye rolling in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
GIOKOS: So for a long time, capitalism was a dirty word in Cuba for a new batch of budding entrepreneurs, have more freedom to go into business for
themselves, but no place to learn the ABCs of business. As Patrick Oppmann reports, they're now getting a crash course courtesy of the U.S.
government.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A business seminar and hotel meeting room may not seem that groundbreaking, but not long ago in
Cuba world capitalism used to be outlawed, it would have been impossible to imagine.
All the more so since the man teaching this business boot camps organized by the U.S. embassy in Havana are Cuban American development expert Gustavo
Arnavat, who left the island as a young boy to flee Fidel Castro's revolution? He's been invited by the U.S. government to share his knowledge
with Cuba's trailblazing entrepreneurs.
GUSTAVO ARNAVAT, BUSINESS SEMINAR INSTRUCTOR: What they need is they need capital, they need an idea, they need persistence, they need to really work
through very difficult times. Every entrepreneur is going to have good days and bad days, some bad days are going to be extremely challenging. They're
probably want to you know, give up, again, no different than any other country. But here's particularly difficult.
OPPMANN (voice over): Particularly difficult because for decades following the 1959 revolution, all private enterprise was banned in Cuba, Cubans were
required to work for the state. Then following the collapse of the Soviet Union, official prohibitions on self-employment slowly began to ease.
OPPMANN (on camera): The first entrepreneurs in a generation here face a unique problem. There are no business schools scarce knowledge that can be
passed down about self-employment. Cuba's budding capitalists have had to learn by doing.
One Carlos Blaine is turned a side business selling hamburgers into a restaurant franchise, a small supermarket and logistics company. Altogether
he says he employs more than 60 people attending the business boot camp, he says helped him to identify areas of future growth.
OPPMANN (voice over): We've done courses on E-commerce marketing, risk capital private financing, he says, they're very current things very modern
and things that we can use a lot.
Even though the U.S. government says it wants to help Cuban entrepreneurs, U.S. economic sanctions intended to impact the Cuban government also hurt
business people here, making it all but impossible for them to access the U.S. banking system or receive financing. The U.S.'s top diplomat in Havana
says the Biden Administration is steading if sanctions can be eased for Cuban entrepreneurs.
BENJAMIN ZIFF, CHARGE D'AFFAIRES, U.S. EMBASSY IN HAVANA: There's a shortage of food, there's a shortage of gases, there's a shortage of water.
The Cuban state economy is no longer able to provide for its people. And the answer to that is not a necessary evil private sector it is more
better, more empowered private sector.
OPPMANN (voice over): So far, the U.S. embassy in Havana says about 200 entrepreneurs have taken this boot camp. And the hope is that they can move
beyond the decades of hostility between the U.S. and Cuba to not only transform their lives, but their country. Patrick Oppmann, CNN Havana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: For our parting shots tonight, fireworks light of Eden Park in Auckland, kicking off the opening ceremony of the 2023 FIFA Women's World
Cup. Look at that joy, people dressed up in illuminated suits dancing to celebrate what is said to be the biggest woman's sporting event the world
has ever seen.
A record 42,000 people were in the stands for the opening game, setting a record for any soccer match in the country men's or women's. And
neighboring Australia supporters turned out in full force to watch the game against Ireland, waving flags and banging drums.
[11:55:00]
This opener also sets a new single game attendance record for a women's soccer match in the country with over 75,000 fans in the stadium. For the
next month of action, 32 teams will battle it out over 64 matches across the two nations for the right to be crowned World Champion.
The U.S. women's national team arrives as the two time defending champion and arguably the favorite to win and unprecedented third consecutive title.
Can anyone stop them from defending their title? We'll be here watching and bringing you the very latest. Well, thanks so much for joining us. I'm
Eleni Giokos. "One World" is up next with Zain Asher, have a great evening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:00]
END
