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Isa Soares Tonight

New Video Appears To Show Wagner Boss In Belarus; U.S. Soldier Who Crossed Into North Korea Faced Charges In South Korea Prior To Crossing The DMZ; Trump Says He'll Soon Be Indicted for a Third Case; Trump Says He's Target of Special Counsel Probe; Europe Suffering High Temps; Heat Index In Persian Gulf Extremely Dangerous; Russia Ends Grain Deal; Tupac Shakur Murder. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 19, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: Welcome to the show everyone, I'm Isa Soares. And tonight, new video appears to show Wagner boss, Yevgeny

Prigozhin just as the chief of Britain's MI6 says Putin had to cut a deal with the mercenary leader, quote, "to save his own skin". Then what we are

learning this hour about the U.S. soldier who crossed into North Korea apparently willingly, including what charges he faced in South Korea.

And then later, a new perspective on the heat wave making Europe's tourists sweat. Our Richard Quest is feeling the heat in France, he'll join us live.

But first, Yevgeny Prigozhin's whereabouts have been a mystery after his short-lived mutiny in Russia, if you remember, last month. Now, for the

first time since the Wagner Group founder is re-emerging, new video appears to show him greeting his mercenaries in Belarus.

Moving there if you remember was part of the deal Prigozhin made with President Vladimir Putin to call off the mutiny and not be prosecuted.

Well, CNN cannot definitely say whether the speaker is in fact, Prigozhin. CNN has though geolocated the footage towards this huge military base,

southeast of Minsk, and the meta data suggest it was filmed on Tuesday.

Meantime, the West has largely stayed silent on the man who defied Vladimir Putin, but our team sat down with the head of MI6; the British spy agency

to try to understand what's really happening inside the Kremlin as Ukraine's of course, counteroffensive carries on. Here is what he told our

Nick Paton Walsh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD MOORE, HEAD, MI6, BRITAIN: If you look at Putin's behavior 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. So there are some things I know, even the chief of MI6 finds a little bit

difficult to try and interpret in terms of who is in and who is out.

He really didn't fight back against Prigozhin. He cut a deal to save his skin using the good officers of the -- of the leader of Belarus. So, look,

even I can't see inside Putin's head, but the only person who has been -- it's -- well, the only people who have been talking about escalation and

nuclear weapons are Putin and a handful of henchmen around him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Richard Moore was speaking to our Nick Paton Walsh, of course, important to point out, it's rare for the head of MI6 to make these kinds

of comments publicly. And Nick joins me now from Prague. And Nick, as this video emerges of Prigozhin in Belarus, I wonder what you -- what Richard

Moore told you in terms of the drama.

What he made of the drama surrounding Prigozhin, the deal that was cut. How did he interpret that deal and what critically happens next here?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, it's interesting asking Sir Richard Moore about the whereabouts and whether or not Prigozhin

who hadn't until this apparent appearance of him in this grainy, dark video being seen since the Saturday night after the failed armed rebellion in

Rostov in the back of an SUV.

Asked whether he was alive and healthy, and Richard Moore said look, we believed he was floating about. Now as part of the speech he gave, taking

questions afterwards from journalists here in Prague, rare public comments as you say. He outlined essentially as you heard in those televised

comments, a vision of what had gone down during that failed mutiny that was very similar to the public statements that the Kremlin had indeed made.

Now, it may sound odd, but so much of what you would expect the Kremlin to put out to be misinformation, misguided, it's in a whole separate story to

be happening behind closed doors. But that was not it appeared from this reading from basically the most public statements we've heard from western

Intelligence on that issue since it happened.

That was pretty much what they believe really went down. That indeed, Prigozhin seem to have moved towards Moscow, changed his mind on the way

and then Putin seems to have accepted this deal from Alexander Lukashenko; the president of Belarus because he felt he had to.

[14:05:00]

And so, that flip-flopping you heard about the remarkable quote there of the breakfast, he's a traitor, by Supper, he's pardoned, and then a couple

of days later, he's having tea, was, I think about trying to express how weak they see Putin after that extraordinary moment, how it's exposed

fissures in the Russian elite.

There's still, I think, is fair to say, working out where it really leaves Moscow at this particular point. One interesting thing though, is at this

stage, they believe Russia is still unlikely to regain momentum on the battlefield. And I think it's yet for us to see percolate through

necessarily to the frontlines of this war in Ukraine. Isa?

SOARES: Nick Paton Walsh for us this evening in Prague, thanks very much, Nick. Well, CNN is tracking the Wagner Group through satellite images and

social media videos. The first convoy of Wagner forces arrived at a Belarusian base on Monday, and more vehicles are now piling in. Our Fred

Pleitgen has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly a month after Wagner's mutiny, one of the biggest threats to

Vladimir Putin's power, the Wagner mercenaries are on the move to Belarus. Social media channeled posting videos of massive convoys rolling in that

direction.

And now, CNN analysis of satellite images from the company Planet Labs and from Airbus show Wagner fighters have arrived at a formerly abandoned base

southeast of Minsk with two more large convoys still on the way. The mercenaries are already getting to work, training Belarusian troops.

"They've been in combat, and this is undoubtedly a very useful experience for our army", this Belarusian soldier says. "We have not participated in

combat activities since the end of the Afghan war." They saw some of the heaviest combat in Russia's war against Ukraine and where some of Vladimir

Putin's most valuable fighters.

But after the uprising, they've had to shutter their main base in southern Russia. "The base ceases to exist", this fighter says. Wagner private

military company is relocating to new areas.

YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, HEAD, WAGNER MERCENARY GROUP: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

PLEITGEN: And Yevgeny Prigozhin, once a powerful businessman and mercenary leader is essentially AWOL. The most recent picture circulating on social

media channels affiliated with him showing Prigozhin in just his underwear on a cot, though it's unclear when and where it was taken. The Kremlin

recently even claimed officially Wagner doesn't exist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

PLEITGEN: It never existed, the Kremlin spokesman said, and this is a matter for further study and consideration, generally, this is a fairly

complex issue about the legal status of such companies. But Putin has also made clear he wants to retain the fighters. A spokesman saying the Russian

leader suggested putting this man, former Russian Colonel Andrei Troshev, nicknamed "Gray Hair" in charge of the Wagner Group.

But with Wagner now seemingly relocating to Belarus, the U.S. and its allies fear the mercenary outfit could not only re-emerge in Ukraine, but

even destabilized NATO's eastern flank. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: And later this hour, CNN is on the ground where Russia launched more airstrikes on Odessa. The city's mayor calls today's attack one of the

most horrible nights of the war, and of course, it comes just days after Russia pulled out of a deal that allowed Ukraine to safely export its grain

from Odessa's ports. A look at how the world's most vulnerable people may pay the ultimate prize as food insecurity reaches new heights. We'll have

that in about 20 minutes or so.

We are learning more about the American soldier who crossed the DMZ line into North Korea on Tuesday. An army official says Private Travis King has

faced disciplinary action prior to the crossing and spent 50 days in a detention facility in South Korea. And this is a new image just into CNN,

it shows the back of Travis King, that's him as you can see there in that black T-shirt and cap with his back to the camera.

He was with tourists on a tour of the demilitarized zone. Travis King was supposed to be on his way back to the United States, but let his guards and

went to the tour of the DMZ, of course, is one of the most heavily- fortified areas in the world and separates North from South Korea. Our Will Ripley has a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We're still a bit of a distance from the DMZ, approaching what's known as the

unification bridge. And you can see, even less than 5 miles out, you can still -- there's spike strips on the road, there's obviously all these

barricades, basically they do not want people getting close to the Demilitarized Zone unless they're authorized to do so.

Now, tour groups, they're suspended for the time being, they were allowed in, but there's a lot of protocol, a lot of security checks that you have

to go through. And -- but in fact, if indeed it was at Panmunjom, where this whole incident happened, then this young U.S. Army private, 23-year-

old Travis King may have actually stepped across in relatively the same way the President Trump stepped across when he went with Kim Jong-un, which is

just kind of -- we don't know if there's video that will ever be released that will show it.

Obviously, it was probably caught on multiple security cameras given the sensitivity of this location. But whether or not that will ever see the

light of day, we don't know.

[14:10:00]

What we also don't know, Christina(ph), is exactly how long Mr. King is going to be in North Korean custody, pretty complicated situation

considering the two sides have not had any official lines of communication for a very long time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: That was Will Ripley there. So, what's next for Travis King; the American soldier detained in North Korea? Joining us from the Pentagon is

CNN's Natasha Bertrand. And Natasha, we've heard, I believe from the State Department and from the White House, what is the White House saying? What's

the very latest here?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Isa, so the White House is essentially acknowledging that they still don't know where Travis

King is and what condition he is in. But they are continuing to try to get in touch with the North Koreans to figure out how this issue can be

resolved. Now, we did hear from U.S. military officials that they have reached out to their North Korean counterparts and the North Korean

military.

But they have not yet received a response, and this is not unusual, given that throughout the entire Biden administration, the North Koreans have not

responded to any kind of outreach from U.S. officials. So, this is going to be very challenging for the U.S. to try to resolve here in this very kind

of bizarre case frankly. We're learning more about what exactly happened when Travis King was on this tour of the Demilitarized Zone.

He according to an eyewitness, all of a sudden just took off in a sprint and crossed the demarcation line, kind of running past everyone as soldiers

on the South Korean side yelled at him to stop. And they yelled -- they yelled out, get him as they tried to stop him from crossing into the North

Korean side. Of course, it was too late by that point, Travis King had already crossed over, and that was when he was detained by North Korean

guards.

Now, Travis King was facing disciplinary charges in South Korea. He actually was in a detention facility for 50 days, just nearly two months

after facing assault charges for allegedly assaulting members of the South Korean public, and he was set to be removed from the military altogether

and return to the United States.

But just one day before he crossed that line over into North Korea, he was at the airport expected to board that plane back to the United States, and

he actually never got on the flight. U.S. officials realized when he didn't show up at Fort Bliss, Texas, that something was awry here, and they've

been trying to figure out how to get Travis King back ever since.

Obviously, his family is very concerned about him, and his mother spoke to "ABC", and she said that she can't imagine Travis doing something like

this. And she'd only -- she had spoken to him only a few short days ago, and that -- and he said that he was heading back to Texas. But in the end,

of course, all she wants is for him to come home, Isa.

SOARES: Natasha Bertrand there for us at the Pentagon, thanks very much, Natasha. Now, Israel's president is reassuring U.S. lawmakers that his

country's democracy remains strong despite what he calls its imperfections. Isaac Herzog addressed both houses of Congress today, thanking the U.S. for

its steadfast support, calling it Israel's greatest partner as well as friend.

Herzog is looking to smooth over tensions between U.S. and Israel's hard- line government headed by the leader with the real power, and that's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Herzog addressed concerns over the pushed

overhaul and weaken Israel's judiciary, an ongoing effort threatening to tear Israel apart. Have a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISAAC HERZOG, PRESIDENT, ISRAEL: The momentous debate in Israel is painful and deeply unnerving, because it highlights the cracks and the holes within

the entire whole. And as president of Israel, I am here to tell the American people and each of you, that I have great confidence in Israeli

democracy. Although, we are working through our issues, just like you, I know our democracy is strong and resilient. Israel has democracy in its

DNA.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: I want to bring in Kevin Liptak in Washington, who was listening to that. And Kevin, I think it's fair to say there is widespread support for

Israel on both sides of the aisle in Congress. But some house Democrats skipped this address. Just tell us why?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, it was a handful, only about five or so of the most progressive Democrats in Congress, and what they

were protesting was Israel's treatment of the Palestinians really. But more broadly, this idea of Israel backsliding in terms of democracy, and that is

something that you hear from many Democrats, not just the ones who skipped the speech today, but real concerns about this proposed judicial overhauls

that are underway in Israel now as well as expanding settlements in the West Bank.

And there is a real divide among Democrats about how to approach those issues with Israel, because certainly, most Democrats along with most

Republicans are very supportive of Israel, and you saw that in the speech today. Real bipartisan support in terms of applause lines, in terms of

support for the Israeli or President Herzog.

But there are concerns about the state of democracy in that country when it comes to the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.

[14:15:00]

So the Islamickers(ph) who skipped the speech today, I think really trying to take a stand against what's happening on the ground there. Now, we

should say it's not rare necessarily for lawmakers to boycott these speeches, and in fact, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke before Congress in

2015, 53 members of Congress boycotted that speech.

There are far fewer who boycotted today, but I do think it speaks to this challenge that Democrats find themselves in, and how to navigate this

criticism of the Netanyahu government without necessarily criticizing Israel itself. Isa?

SOARES: Yes, and on the day of this address, of course, the "New York Times" had an interview, I'm not sure whether you saw this, Kevin, with

President Biden --

LIPTAK: Sure --

SOARES: Conducted by Thomas Friedman, in which he said, I want to read part of it from Biden. "Finding consensus on controversial areas of policy means

taking the time you need for significant changes that's essential. So my recommendation to Israeli leaders is not to rush. I believe the best

outcome is to continue to seek the broadest possible consensus here."

And then he went on to say after about an hour and 15 minutes of conversation, and Tom Friedman kind of put it together and to hit -- how he

analyzes. He said he's basically pleading with Netanyahu and his supporters to understand. "If we are not seen to share that democratic value, it will

be difficult to sustain the special relationship that Israel and America have enjoyed for the last 75 years for another 75 years."

Was this last part of the message that we just heard there, was that conveyed to Netanyahu during that call between Netanyahu and Biden that

they had on Monday?

LIPTAK: You know, I think it was. And what American officials are reading out of that call after it took place on Monday, they were clear that

President Biden was very forthright with his Israeli counterpart, that democratic ideals are the underpinning of the U.S.-Israel relationship. And

that degrading those ideals could have the potential of degrading the relationship overtime.

And it was interesting in that column, Thomas Friedman said that President Biden felt he couldn't be silent on this issue. So many things when it

comes to Israel and the United States are so politically fraught, certainly, Republicans have been targeting President Biden for not

necessarily supporting the Netanyahu government, quoting(ph) it with not supporting Israel in its security, in its regional issues.

And I think it's important that President Biden in this interview with Thomas Friedman made clear that while he supports Israel, he is a staunch

supporter of Israel. He cannot support some of the issues that Netanyahu is talking about when it comes to this judicial overhaul. And certainly, no

one in the United States wants their relationship to degrade. It's a very important Intelligence relationship, military relationship, in addition to

the highly symbolic relationship with the world's only Jewish state.

And so, certainly, President Biden walking a very fine line in that interview and in public when it comes to talking about these issues,

talking about Israel, and talking about Prime Minister in Benjamin Netanyahu, who he is expected to meet later this year, that will be a very

important meeting for all of these issues to kind of come to ahead, Isa.

SOARES: Later this year, but no date yet, right? So, Kevin Liptak, appreciate it, thanks very much, Kevin.

LIPTAK: Sure.

SOARES: And still to come tonight, will we see a third indictment against Donald Trump? How a criminal case in Michigan plays into the former

president's legal woes. We'll break it all down for you just after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:20:00]

SOARES: Well, for the first time, so-called fake electors are facing criminal charges for their alleged role, trying to overturn the 2020 U.S.

election in favor of former President Donald Trump. Michigan's Attorney General has charged 16 people with a range of felonies including forgery as

well as conspiracy. The charges come as Trump faces new legal troubles of his own.

His lawyers say they are appealing a judge's ruling in the E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse as well as defamation case. And they include the $5 million

judgment against Trump and the judge denying him a new trial. This as the ex-president and current candidate, of course, says he is the target of

special counsel Jack Smith's criminal probe.

And it covers the aftermath of the 2020 election and the January 6th, of course, insurrection as you can see right here. Trump has already been

indicted over the mishandling of classified documents. He's been investigated for election interference in the state of Georgia, and don't

forget, he is indicted in New York over hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

CNN's Tom Foreman has a look at the case in Michigan and how it could fit into the special counsel's probe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Up in Michigan, state officials have now charged 16 people as false electors, posing as if they were the

official electors from that state in the election. That fits in very well with the litany of accusations, suspicions that the special counsel has

been scrutinizing. False electors, legislative nullification, pressure calls in at least seven different states.

Those calls to state officials, saying they should overturn the election in Trump's favor. What else did team Trump tried to do to overturn this

election? Sixty court filings around the country, they lost all, but one, all but one. They lost virtually everything, but when the Supreme Court

turned one down, Trump went online and again said the "Supreme Court really let us down. No, wisdom. No courage."

What else did they try? There has been scrutiny of an Oval Office discussion from December of 2020, where there was allegedly talk about

seizing voting machines, declaring martial law, anything rather than accept the fact that Trump actually lost the election. There was all that pressure

on Vice President -- then Vice President Mike Pence to block certifications, something that we know legally, he could not do.

And of course, we all saw what happened on January 6th, when the then President Donald Trump rallied his supporters, told them to go to the

Capitol, and said to them at one point, you need to fight like hell to defend your election here, what he called his victory in all of this. All

of that we saw, all of that testifies to the fact that there was a concerted effort by team Trump in many places to try to overturn this

legal, fair election that he lost."

And yet, Trump's response to all of this in the latest news is, "I have a right to protest an election that I am fully convinced was rigged and

stolen." Only question from many legal analyst here is, when did he go and did he go beyond merely protesting into something much more serious?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: That's Tom Foreman there. Let's get more analysis on this. I'm joined from Washington by National Security Attorney Bradley Moss. Bradley,

great to have you on this show. We have learned today that the letter that Trump received that he calls -- he said he was a target in the 2020

election probe, that he mentions three statutes from what I saw.

Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights and tampering with the witness. Does this suggest to you that the

special counsel is prosecuting a much bigger case here against Trump?

BRADLEY MOSS, NATIONAL SECURITY ATTORNEY: It's a much more significant case, but not necessarily bigger, in the sense that a lot of people

including the January 6th Committee have recommended -- made criminal referrals with respect to seditious conspiracy, with respect to

insurrection.

[14:25:00]

There's no indication Jack Smith is going down that road, and I don't think he needs to. I think he has a very clean and direct case to make here just

based off the media reporting that we have. Just based off the documentation and testimony that came out before the January 6th Committee.

We know the efforts taken by Donald Trump to subvert the peaceful transfer of power, steps that were taken to -- Smith -- false electors to the

National Archives and to Mike Pence.

Steps that were taken to subvert the Justice Department's role and try to have it put pressure on individual states to decertify their electoral

college decisions. All those make for a very simple and straightforward case. The only question right now is how long can Donald Trump delay if he

is indicted to try to push this off until after the election?

SOARES: And we'll talk about that in a moment because we've got different investigations ongoing, but in terms of an indictment here, Bradley, do you

think that is -- a third indictment, do you think that's highly likely. How soon though could it come, you think?

MOSS: So, the grand jury on this matter will reconvene tomorrow, Thursday, so in theory, it could be as early as tomorrow, I believe they have one

more witness they need to hear from at least. But in theory, that could certainly be the day that the government chooses to present for indictment,

so we could have something tomorrow night.

It could be Friday or it could be next week, but given what we've seen, given the fact that a target letter was sent out with the notice to Donald

Trump, you have four days to come before the grand jury. It certainly seems like it's any day now. I don't anticipate any reason to believe they'll go

into August. It will be in July one way or the other.

SOARES: And in the target letter, was not the only sign of course that more accountability can be looming now, Tom Foreman that you just heard there

put that all into perspective for us. We've also had Michigan's attorney general announcing multiple felony charges against 16 fake electors. What

impact does that -- does this have, indictment have on these charges from Michigan or even vice versa here, Bradley?

MOSS: Well, the Michigan indictment, and don't forget there's also still a matter going down in Georgia with Fani Willis in Fulton County, and there's

a separate investigation in Arizona. These -- the Michigan indictment goes after the local officials, the people who corrupted the local state process

because in the end, in the United States, our elections, even national elections for a president, all handled at the local level.

It's handled by state authorities, under state laws, and they present those votes to the electoral college and decide who will be the next president.

So, having local authorities bring these charges against these local officials under the applicable state law is very necessary step of legal

accountability. And it kind of takes that burden off the feds, and particularly off Jack Smith, to bring federal charges where it's more than,

you know, easily handled by the state law enforcement authorities against those individuals.

And just as we were coming on air, you know, you guys were talking about the Manhattan hush money case. Federal judge just remanded that back to

state court and rejected Donald Trump's arguments, trying to keep that in federal court.

SOARES: I mean, so -- I mean what we've just outlined there in the last few minutes with you, Bradley, is that we could really be looking at a legal

logjam here. How then do you schedule multiple trials and give Trump a fair trial without slowing down, let's say, the wheels of justice here?

MOSS: Yes, that is going to be a master class in scheduling, because it's not going to be easy. Even if Donald Trump wasn't heading for president,

and he is, and he's got to, you know, compete in these various primaries just to get the nomination. We know he's got the Manhattan hush money case.

We know he's got a civil case against the New York State Attorney General.

He's got the defamation case with E. Jean Carroll. He's got the Mar-a-Lago documents case, and now he's going to likely have this one. It is going to

be an extremely difficult year or so for him of legal scheduling. His only goal right now, his top priority is to delay the federal cases in

particular as long as humanly possible. And trying to push everything off until after the election in the hope that he could pardon himself on a

federal charges, and possibly, get some stay of punishment on any state charges for which he's convicted.

SOARES: But what's the legal argument for delaying then, Bradley?

MOSS: Part of it simply going to be scheduling. That there is different cases going on, that the different courts have to handle their own dockets

and he can't be in two places at once. Part of it will be the (INAUDIBLE) where he's required to be as opposed to where it's only optional, so, it

certainly gives the courts some more flexibility.

He will likely won't be president at the civil trials in New York with E. Jean Carroll and New York Attorney General regarding his corporation. He

won't be present for most of the criminal proceedings, but he has to be there if there's a trial. So they're going to have to schedule these

various different actual trials for periods of time that don't overlap with the other cases. And so, for the next 12 to 16 months, it's going to be

which trial is he in now? Which trial is he in coming up next?

[14:30:05]

SOARES:Bradley Moss, we appreciate your analysis. Thank you, Bradley.

And still to come tonight, wildfires rage across southern Europe where temperatures, they're expected to rise. We will have the very latest on the

intense heat just ahead.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

SOARES: Welcome back, everyone.

Europe is grappling with intense heat that continues to wreak havoc; 17 European nations are currently under high temperature alert with southern

Europe being hit the hardest. Crews in Greece are backing wildfires with the third day in a row and there could be no end in sight. Temperatures are

expected to rise later in the week.

Switzerland is also dealing with a new forest fire which broke out on Tuesday. Officials say the fire danger there is likely to rise over the

next 48 hours. A very concerning picture indeed.

Well in France, nine regions are now under in orange warning for intense heat on Thursday. Let's get more from Richard Quest who is in Nice for

work. He is in the south of France.

And, Richard, if you are still with us, can you hear me?

(MUSIC PLAYING)

SOARES (voice-over): Do we have Richard?

We are trying to get Richard.

(CROSSTALK)

SOARES (voice-over): Fantastic.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: Yes, go ahead, how can I help?

SOARES: Orange warning, how hot are we talking about here?

What does this mean?

[14:35:00]

QUEST: Just bear with me one second, Isa. As you can imagine, there are all sorts of technical problems that cause on this sort of night. It is

actually quite hot, here it's 81 degrees in the moment, 29 degrees Celsius.

And across southern France, along with the rest of Europe, it is the heat, it's the humidity that is simply unbelievable in many cases. I have been

filming here along the Cote d'Azur for the last five days. And people are exhausted, people wondering just what is happening, how hot is it going to

be?

I mean I have seen stories about Americans making jokes about Europeans not drinking water. I can tell you everywhere that I am here, people are

drinking vast amounts of water, myself included.

Ultimately, you can hear, Isa, what happens. Ultimately, my voice is gone. Ultimately the sheer into air conditioning, out into the heat, backwards

and forward, it is really taking its toll.

Now the interesting question is whether or not people believe it is climate change.

Or are they just happy to be having a very nice summer holiday?

SOARES: Yes. I will let you rest your voice because I know you are anchoring "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" in about 20 minutes or so. Richard Quest

for us there, thank you very much, Richard.

Blame the heat for those technical gremlins.

Now the Middle East is facing dangerous levels of heat too. The heat index, that's what the temperature feels like to the human body, hit 152 degrees

Fahrenheit in the Persian Gulf on Sunday. That is roughly 67 degrees Celsius.

To put that into perspective, a heat index of 160 degrees Fahrenheit is widely considered the upper threshold of what people can endure for any

more than a few hours.

(WEATHER REPORT)

[14:40:00]

SOARES: And still to come tonight, why the world's most vulnerable people may pay the price, now that a grain deal between Russia and Ukraine has

been terminated. This story after the short break.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

SOARES: Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is accusing Russia of deliberately attacking sites used to export grain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES (voice-over): These grain terminals were hit in the southern city of Odessa. Earlier today, the Russian defense ministry announced all ships

sailing in the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be considered potential carriers of military cargo beginning Thursday.

According to that ministry, countries whose national flags fly on these ships will be considered part of the Ukrainian conflict back in Kyiv. All

of this coming just days after the Kremlin pulled out of a deal that allowed Ukraine to safely export its grain from Odessa's port.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: For more on what is at stake, for millions of people in developing countries who rely on this grain, I want to turn to David Harland, the

executive director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. For more than 20, years his U.N.-backed organization has helped secure peace agreements

and reduced human suffering caused by war.

David, great to have you on the show. We appreciate your time this evening. You have helped broker, I, believe the initial talks that led to the grain

deal.

Where are we right now in trying to get Russia back on board?

DAVID HARLAND, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR HUMANITARIAN DIALOGUE: Well, it's good to be with you, Eva (sic). No, it's going to be very hard to get

back Russia into the agreement. They've gone very far now.

I, mean today, you presumably have been reporting that maybe 60,000 tons of grain storage in Ukraine has been targeted by Russian missiles. So that was

cargo destined for China.

[14:45:00]

HARLAND: So Russia has taken a fairly dramatic action. You have reported on the announcement they made, that they will treat as hostile any vessels

moving across the Black Sea toward Ukraine's ports. That is essentially a threat to sink them. So it will be very hard at this point to get Russia

back.

SOARES: And President Putin has said, David, Russia would return to the table if its demands are met. Explain to our viewers what Putin wants.

What are the demands?

HARLAND: Right, so the structure of the deal that we originally proposed was that Ukraine would be allowed to export its grain, which is essential

for keeping world food prices, down particularly in the poorest countries.

And in return, which would also help alleviate global hunger, the United Nations would help Russia with its own agricultural exports. But Russia is

unhappy with how much has been done on that account.

Actually, Russia's grain exports are not sanctioned. So it's mainly a dispute about the financial arrangements, about the banking systems that

undergird the trade. And Russia is not happy with those. And so it has pulled out.

SOARES: I wonder, what, then is left in terms of options?

Apologies to say, this but you sound pessimistic that we can actually bring Russia on board.

What other options there are?

I spoke to the president of the Ukrainian Grain Association. I spoke to him on Monday. Have a listen, David, to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKOLAY GORBACHOV, PRESIDENT, UKRAINIAN GRAIN ASSOCIATION: Of course, I am sure that Ukraine can export grain without Russia. I absolutely agree with

the President Zelenskyy.

But for this, we need international support and on this support can be like a Turkish fleet or international insurance, for example, from Lloyd's or

guarantee from Ukrainian army.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Do you think shipments can continue if Turkiye's on board?

If others are on board?

Or do we need Russia also to be on board?

HARLAND: No, no. They --

(AUDIO GAP)

SOARES: Unfortunately we seem to have lost his signal, he is breaking. Up

Oh, have we got you, now David?

Apologies, we missed the beginning of the sentence. You said no, it's not impossible. Go ahead.

HARLAND: No, it is not possible for Ukraine to export grain across the Black Sea without Russian consent. Russia has to agree because Russia

controls the -- militarily the whole northern part of the Black Sea. So I think it has to involve Russia.

But at this point, Russia is not cooperating. And in my view, if there is going to be a new deal, Russia has done so much now to speak out against

the agreement and to deny. It now that any new deal will have to be of a different nature.

SOARES: So what kind of nature?

What are we looking at in terms of a deal then?

Because you don't sound very optimistic, David.

HARLAND: No, I'm not at all optimistic. Having been involved in this from the very beginning, I think this is the worst moment. And I think -- my

sense is that it will have to be smaller and bigger.

I think there are a group of African presidents going to Russia quite soon. And Putin is scheduled to go and see President Erdogan in Turkiye quite

soon. And I think there will be a lot of pressure on him.

But I think, given how far they have gone, they will probably find it hard to walk back. So they will probably only agree to humanitarian shipments. I

think the World Food Programme could step in, I think if Russia would agree to, that so that at least the world's most needy people in the world's most

--

[14:50:00]

HARLAND: -- food-short countries would get supplies from Ukraine, which is such a big contributor to the grain market.

But I don't think that the big deal, which is the one where -- which is pushing down global food prices, is going to change. As you know, global

food prices, global grain prices, wheat futures in the Chicago commodities market rose 8 percent. Today 8 percent inflation in one day.

So I doubt we're going to get back there. I think next time there will be a big deal. It will probably be in the context of the deal that ends the war.

SOARES: David Harland, we appreciate you taking the time. Important context. Thank, you David.

We'll be back after the short break.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

SOARES: This just in to CNN. Local media reports from Kenya say at least one person is dead and several people have been shot as well as wounded

after protesters and security forces clashed during anti government protests.

A cost of living crisis across much of Africa worsened by Russia's war in Ukraine is spurring this. Unrest earlier, police fired tear gas and dozens

of protesters tossed rocks and set fires in the streets of Nairobi.

As the first of three days of planned demonstrations got underway, opposition leaders have called on Kenyans to make their voices heard, as

anger grows over a slew of unpopular tax hikes that threaten to worsen the economic strain already facing many in the country.

Despite a court order to temporarily halt the hikes, the government went ahead and increased a levy on petroleum products, causing a jump in fuel

prices. In the meantime, U.N. said it's very concerned about the widespread use of violence by security forces after 23 demonstrators were reportedly

killed in recent protests. CNN will have a live report from Nairobi in the next hour on "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS."

Turning into a very different story, now police in the U.S. state of Nevada say they've carried out a search warrant in connection with a decades-old

murder case that has rocked the music business.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES (voice-over): Tupac Shakur was on top of the rap world when he was murdered back in 1996. His killing has remained unsolved.

[14:55:00]

SOARES (voice-over): And prompted massive speculation ever since. Now Las Vegas Metropolitan Police confirmed to CNN that they executed the warrant

in the city of Henderson on Tuesday. No word on what they were looking for or what they may have found. We will stay on top of this story, of course.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Lego is more than just a kid's toy and an artist is proving it.

These are just some of the sculptures that Canadian artist Ekow Nimako has. Built he specifically only uses black leather (ph) pieces for his

creations, highlighting the importance of creating black art. It takes him between 50 to 800 hours to make each sculpture, painstakingly adding each

piece to make creations more dynamic.

They are pretty stunning. And creating these Lego sculptures are the building blocks of his life and Nimako says this.

"This is fine art. It's not a hobby. It's not a toy. It's not part of the Lego fandom. It is not goofy."

They are pretty beautiful.

That does it for us this evening. Thank you very much for your. Time to stay right, here Richard Quest is up next. With "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS," who

will be live from a very hot Nice.

[15:00:00]

END