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Russia Fires Missiles At Odesa For Third Straight Night; Video Appears To Show Wagner Founder In Belarus; United States Investigating Why Soldier Bolted Into North Korea; United States Soldier In North Korean Custody After Crossing Border; Mass Shooting Won't Delay FIFA Women's World Cup. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 20, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:29]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, Russian airstrikes target two cities in southern Ukraine. We are live with the latest on the civilian casualties.

Plus, the American soldier now being held in North Korea. You will hear from someone who witnessed his mad dash across the border.

And in New Zealand, a mass shooting just hours before the first match of the Women's World Cup. Police say the threat is over. We will have a live report from Sydney.

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ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN NEWSROOM WITH ROSEMARY CHURCH.

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CHURCH: Thanks for joining us.

Well, Russia is conducting its most intense attacks on the Ukrainian city of Odesa since the war began. It fired a barrage of missiles on the southern port city for the third straight night, which CNN cameras caught live.

Ukraine's air defenses have been successful in destroying most of those missiles. Russia is also attacking Mykolaiv, a city near Odesa. Officials there say the city center was hit, setting a parking garage and an apartment building on fire.

Ukrainian officials are reporting fatalities and say, at least 18 people were wounded including five children.

And CNN's Clare Sebastian is monitoring this third night of airstrikes. She joins us now. Good morning to you, Clare. So, what more are you learning about the deadly Russian airstrikes hitting Odesa and Mykolaiv overnight?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good morning, Rosemary. I mean our team on the ground who have now witnessed these three nights running. So, that it was perhaps, the most intense yet and that coming on a day after the mayor of the city of Odesa, said quite frankly, that this was the biggest attack that they'd seen since the start of the war, on Tuesday night into Wednesday. So, there seems to be ever increasing intensity of these attacks.

We heard overnight from the Ukrainian military saying that they had detected eight strategic bombers heading towards the Black Sea, urging residents to take shelter because of the threat of cruise missiles. With good reason, we're hearing injury reports coming out of both Odesa and Mykolaiv.

Two people reported injured in the city center of Odesa, according to the Ukrainian regional military administration chief there.

Mykolaiv have much higher number than that. The injury toll, as you say, now up to 18. That includes five children, the youngest of which under 1, and also a 3-year-old.

City center of that sort of Black Sea city also hit. So, you know, the information is still coming to light here. We're still in the first few hours of daylight. But we have heard from the spokesman for the Ukrainian military and -- spokeswoman rather for the Ukrainian military in the South who says that she believes this was a mix of drones and missiles, the same kind of pattern that we've seen over the last few nights that they were launched, she thinks, from submarine in the Black Sea and also from aircraft. They don't know the exact types as of yet.

The question, of course, why this region? Why target Odesa and Mykolaiv? Well, the Ukrainians have been accusing Russia of deliberately targeting infrastructure related to that Black Sea Grain Deal that Russia, of course, pulled out of on Monday.

The spokeswoman for the military in the south calling this fire blackmail. So, that is what the Ukrainians are saying. We have not had any mentioned so far from Russia of them having hit any infrastructure related to that grain deal though. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks for Clare Sebastian, joining us there live from London.

Well, for the first time since he led a short live mutiny against the Kremlin, video has emerged appearing to show Wagner founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin alive and well.

It serviced on the same day another elusive leader. British spy chief Sir. Richard Moore, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had no choice but to cut a deal with Prigozhin to "save his skin."

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh shows us the video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, CHIEF, WAGNER GROUP: (INAUDIBLE).

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It is grainy, dark and doesn't show as much of use. But it does claim to be Wagner rebellion leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, finally in public and alive with his fighters in Belarus after 25 days of him vanishing from view.

It emerged perhaps by coincidence, a few hours after this man, the secretive head of Britain's MI6 intelligence agency told CNN in a rare public appearance that he thought Prigozhin was, "floating" about.

[02:05:08]

Providing the first confirmation from the west that he is alive. Britain's top spy seemed shocked at how weak Putin was forced into accepting the Belarusian president's humiliating deal that weekend.

RICHARD MOORE, CHIEF, UNITED KINGDOM SECRET INTELLIGENCE SERVICE: 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, even I, can't see inside of Putin's head.

WALSH: It was a week of Putin's disappearance and then displays of grandeur after wildly flip-flopping over Prigozhin, all of which the MI6 chief admitted left him struggling to read.

MOORE: If you look at Putin's behaviors on that day, Prigozhin started off, I think, as a traitor at breakfast, and he had been pardoned by supper, and then a few days later he was invited for tea. So, there are some things and even the chief of MI6 finds a little bit difficult to try and interpret, in terms of who's in and who's out.

WALSH: But the head of MI6 used here, Prague, the last European capital before the invasion of Ukraine, to see Russian tanks roll through it.

To launch a wider appeal that's really a reflection of how weak they think Putin is right now. He appealed to disaffected members of Russian elite, angry at the invasion of Ukraine to bring their secrets to MI6. Effectively, a rare public appeal for them to spy for the West.

MOORE: I invite them to do what others have already done this past 18 months. And join hands with us. Our door is always open. We will handle their offers of help with the discretion and professionalism through which my service is famed. Their secrets will always be safe with us. And together, we will work to bring the bloodshed to an end.

WALSH: Chaos so startling, its full impact is yet unknown.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Prague.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: New details are emerging about how an American soldier wound up darting into North Korea. Officials say Private Travis King told his military handlers he was about to board his flight back to the United States. But then, told airline staff, his passport was missing. They sent him back to the departures area of the main Seoul airport. And from there, he took off.

The next day, King went on a tour of the Joint Security Area of the demilitarized zone. And an official says that's where he ran to a North Korean facility and was taken away by guards.

CNN -- CNN's Will Ripley reports from just outside the DMZ.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There were about 40 people who were on that tour group. And they would have had to pass by this Unification Bridge, which is where we're standing right now. This is actually the closest that we're allowed to get because all tours have been suspended.

But on the day that this happened, King and the other tourists, they were on a bus and they passed by this checkpoint here. This is the gateway to unification.

They keep driving past all of this barbed wire, these checkpoints, and they get to this Joint Security Area, less than five miles down the road there.

Now, in order for him to actually be able to get out of the bus and get into this highly sensitive area, he was on a passenger manifest that would have been approved by the United Nations command here.

Apparently, that manifests must have been approved. There were no red flags, even though he had -- was supposed to be on a flight out for disciplinary action back in the United States in Texas, after serving almost 50 days in a detention facility here in South Korea.

And then, what happened next was pretty fast, according to the tourist from New Zealand, who told -- who told us what happened.

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SARAH LESLIE, WITNESS: Someone close to me ran very fast. And I thought what is going on and he -- I don't think anyone who was sane would want to go to North Korea. So, I assumed it was some kind of stunt to, you know, run to the North Korean border fence and have someone filmed that or something like that.

A couple of seconds after, I saw him that is what the soldiers shouted and started running after him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: Now, the officers that were there did try to get him, but there were no shots fired, which is very different from when people try to cross from the North into the South, in that exact same area.

There actually was a soldier from North Korea that successfully made the crossing, but his colleagues in North Korea opened fire on him and he was seriously injured before they successfully retrieved him here in the South.

We don't know exactly where Private King is now. He was whisked away in a North Korean band. And the North Koreans have not -- had any at least publicly, any contact with the United States, because they don't have any open lines of communication right now.

But they're going to have a lot of questions for him about his military service here in South Korea. And it could be quite some time, analysts say before we even know what his status is, frankly.

[02:10:02]

CHURCH: Military analyst Malcolm Davis joins me now from Canberra. He is also a senior analyst on defense strategy and capability with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Appreciate you being with us.

MALCOLM DAVIS, SENIOR ANALYST FOR DEFENSE, STRATEGY, AND CAPABILITY, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Thanks. Good to be here.

CHURCH: So, we are learning more about the circumstances leading up to this U.S. soldier making a run for the cross the border into North Korea, after surreptitiously joining a tour group visiting the DMZ.

But what we don't know is why he did this? Where he is right now or his current condition? What do you make of all of this?

DAVIS: Look, it sounds like a carefully planned defection to the North, by this soldier, Travis King. The interesting question is, did the North Koreans have advanced knowledge of it, because there's now some suggestion that he was taken by the North Koreans into a van, it was waiting at the area?

I think that it's clearly pre-planned. It wasn't some sort of knee jerk spur of the moment decision. He made a choice to go to the Joint Security Area and defect.

And so, the question is what happens to him now? It's really hard to say. But there have been instances in the past of U.S. soldiers defecting and living in North Korea. I don't get the impression that he'll wanting -- he'll be wanting to come back.

CHURCH: Yes, interesting and extraordinary too, of course.

And the White House says the U.S. is still working to ascertain the wellbeing and whereabouts of this U.S. soldier in North Korea. But given no direct diplomatic engagement exists between the two countries. What needs to happen now and what's likely happening as the U.S. tries to get this young man back home to America?

DAVIS: Well, firstly, he has -- he has to want to come back. It's not certain that he wants to come back. Secondly, as you say, there is no direct diplomatic engagement between the U.S. and North Korea. So, I believe it's Sweden that handles all the diplomatic discussion on the U.S. part in Pyongyang. So, there will be discussions, I think, on the behalf on part of Sweden, to essentially approached the North Korean government to get what is his condition, whereas his location, is he essentially alive and well?

And I think that the best we can do is try and hope for some sort of agreement with the North Koreans that they hand him back. But there's no guarantee that they will, and there's no guarantee he wants to come back.

CHURCH: And given what we've seen in the past, when U.S. nationals have been held by North Korea. How do you think this U.S. soldier is being treated? And what will likely happen to him in the end, do you think?

DAVIS: It's impossible to know. I think, if he's a willing defector, then they'll incorporate him into their society. But, you know, they will try and make some sort of propaganda mileage out of him. They might get him to speak and make statements against the United States and against the South Koreans.

But, you know, he is a private in the U.S. military, he is not a high- level defector. He wouldn't have access to classified information or sensitive information. And he clearly has some criminal issues. Some criminal problems that, you know, wouldn't -- would make him probably have less value and less interest to the North Koreans than someone who is of higher level.

So, I do think that probably the North Koreans will basically accept him, but he won't be given star treatment. I don't think.

And how else might North Korea exploit the fact that they now have this U.S. soldier? And how will this play into the bigger picture of increasing tensions between the U.S. and North Korea?

Look, I think the bigger issue here is not so much this individual that's defected across. I think the bigger issue is what North Korea is currently doing with its nuclear and missile programs.

That's the cause of so much tension on the peninsula. It's the fact that North Korea is dramatically expanding its nuclear weapons capabilities, including developing tactical nuclear weapons, which would give them the ability then to coerce South Korea in a crisis whilst relying on their strategic nuclear forces to deter any sort of retaliation by the United States.

So, that's the big picture. That's the key issue. This incident with this soldier, I think, is just a tiny part of that. He'll be exploited to the best advantage of the North Koreans. But really, he doesn't give them a great deal. He doesn't bring much to the table. And he certainly doesn't have access to classified information. So, I don't think he's of great use of value to the regime in Pyongyang.

CHURCH: All right. Malcolm Davis, thanks so much for joining us and sharing your analysis. Appreciate it.

DAVIS: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, when the Women's World Cup officially opens next hour in Auckland, New Zealand, it will mark a turning point in international women's football.

[02:15:03]

Never before has the global competition reached this scale or this level of prize money. But lingering over the ceremony will be the tragic events of earlier in the day, when a gunman in downtown Auckland killed two people and wounded six others. He was later found dead.

The government quickly tamp down fears of a national security threat. But the incident has been deeply unsettling, of course, in a country where gun violence is extremely rare.

And CNN's Angus Watson joins us now live this hour from Sydney, Australia. Good to see you, Angus. So, what more are you learning about this deadly mass shooting in New Zealand and how it's impacting the world cup?

ANGUS WATSON, CNN NEWSDESK PRODUCER: Well, Rosemary, what we can say straightaway is that this shooting was not connected to the World Cup. It was in a different part of town to the stadium, and it wasn't -- it is not being considered a terrorist incident, an ideologically motivated attack, or a national security threat. The New Zealand authorities are very quick to say that, and say that it is safe enough for this World Cup game to kick off, this evening when New Zealand plays Norway in the tournament opener.

That said though, a shadow across that very exciting prospect. We had a man, a 24-year-old man enter his place of work, a construction site, at around 7:00 local time this morning, firing a pump action shotgun as he moved through the floors.

Two people tragically killed, several more injured, including one police officer. Police have been praised for their bravery, attending the scene moments after he began shooting at police. Ultimately neutralizing him as a threat. His body was found in an elevator shaft with a bullet wound.

Now, of course, gun violence in New Zealand is rare, as you say, that any form of gun violence immediately evokes the sad memory of 2019, when a far-right wide extremist terrorist was attacking two mosques in Christchurch, killing 50 people.

That this is a very separate incident one way in which the gunman seems to have been quite targeted in his efforts at his workplace. Police will now be going over that investigation as the soccer is set to begin. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Angus Watson, joining us live from the Sydney.

And still to come, why hundreds of Iraqis broke into the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and then set it on fire?

Plus, Israel's president makes an historic address to U.S. lawmakers amid strained relations between the two countries. We're back with that and more in just a moment. Do stay with us.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

In Baghdad, hundreds of demonstrators stormed the gates of the Swedish embassy and set it on fire.

They are furious over the Swedish government's decision to allow a protest outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm today, where reports say organizers are planning to burn a Quran. CNN cannot confirm that information.

According to Agence France-Presse Swedish authorities stressed they only gave permission for a public gathering and not whatever activities that may include.

This anger in Iraq comes just weeks after a man set fire to a Quran outside Stockholm's main mosque. The Iraqi government has launched an investigation into the attack in Baghdad, calling it a major security threat.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is touting his country's relationship with the U.S. as unbreakable. On Wednesday, he became the second Israeli president to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.

But as Hadas Gold reports, he spoke during a low point in U.S.-Israeli ties.

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HADAS GOLD, CNN POLITICS, MEDIA AND BUSINESS REPORTER (voice over): A historic speech by the Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday during a critical and tense juncture in Israeli-U.S. relations.

President Joe Biden having called some members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government the most extremist in Israeli history and calling on Netanyahu to pump the brakes on the massive judicial overhaul legislation that will completely change the Israeli Supreme Court.

The Israeli president acknowledging the recent fissures.

ISAAC HERZOG, PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL: I'm well aware of imperfections of the Israeli democracy and I'm conscious of the questions posed by our greatest of friends. The momentous debate in Israel is painful and deeply unnerving because it highlights the cracks in the whole.

GOLD: Receiving several standing ovations, including while extolling the very institution that Netanyahu is trying to overhaul. HERZOG: A strong Supreme Court and independent judiciary.

GOLD: Some empty seats, though, as progressive Democrats boycotted the address, including Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who recently caused controversy after calling Israel a racist state, later walking those remarks back, but still, a no-show.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Should the Speaker not have invited him?

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): I think this is not a good time for that to happen.

HERZOG: From all sides of --

GOLD: At the Oval Office on Tuesday, with President Biden, warm words contrasted with a stark split screen back in Israel, as protests raged again over the judicial overhaul Netanyahu has vowed to push through.

Shortly after meeting with Herzog, Biden granted New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman an interview, whose own interpretation of Biden's feelings making major waves in Israel.

Biden is "basically pleading with Netanyahu and his supporters to understand: If we are not seen to share the 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."

Herzog, who has been trying to mediate a consensus on judicial reform, leaning into history and the Bible in his address to push Congress to keep that relationship going strong.

HERZOG: Mr. Speaker, dear friends, the sacred bond we share is unique in scope and quality because it is based on values that reach across a generations, across administrations, across governments and coalitions, carrying us through times of turmoil and elation.

GOLD: Hopeful words for a country facing an uncertain future.

Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Donald Trump has added a new attorney to his legal team as he faces a possible third indictment. This time, in the special counsel investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump's legal team has less than 24 hours now to respond to an invitation from the Special Counsel's Office to bring their own witnesses or evidence.

Multiple reports say the former U.S. president could be facing charges related to these three statutes. He has already been indicted twice this year, in a New York hush money case, and in the mishandling of classified documents probe.

Well, lawmakers in Thailand have once again blocked the leader of the progressive move Forward Party from becoming prime minister.

Pita Limjaroenrat bid farewell to the parliament on Wednesday after a Constitutional Court temporarily suspended him from office. It's investigating claims that he violated election laws which he denies. This is the second time in a week that lawmakers failed to elect Pita as prime minister, despite his party's majority in parliament.

Well, time for a short break. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, help is on the way for firefighters in Greece.

[02:25:03]

But the flames are spreading fast with dozens of new fires in the past 24 hours.

Plus, food shortages are likely to get worse following the collapse of the Black Sea Grain Deal. Our next guest will discuss the potential impact on East Africa.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Well, a top international negotiator says it will be hard to get Russia back onboard with the Black Sea Grain Deal. Moscow pulled out of the agreement on Monday, and now any ship bound for Ukraine will be considered a potential carrier of military cargo.

The U.S. says Russia could target civilian ships and later blame Ukraine for it. The collapse of the deal could make food shortages worse in many parts of the world, including East Africa.

The International Rescue Committee says 50 million people there already have trouble putting food on the table. Food prices shot up by about 40 percent this year, even before the deal collapsed.

About 80 percent of the region's grain usually comes from Russia and Ukraine.

Shashwat Saraf is the East Africa regional emergency director for the International Rescue Committee. He joins me now from Nairobi. Thank you so much for being with us.

SHASHWAT SARAF, REGIONAL EMERGENCY DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE, EAST AFRICA: Thank you.

CHURCH: Now, since Russia ended its participation in the U.N. brokered grain deal on Monday, there has been global condemnation for Moscow's actions.

And, of course, concern for how this will impact poor nations desperate for Ukraine's grain. How will this likely threaten people living in countries in East Africa?

SARAF: It will impact massively. We saw a massive spike in prices of essential foods when the conflict between Ukraine and Russia started, because of the uncertainty of food coming out of Ukraine.

As you mentioned, almost 80 percent of the food imports into East Africa come from Ukraine or Russia.

[02:30:04]

And there is a massive dependence on essential food grains coming from Ukraine. We have already started to see in some ways if we look at the U.S. wheat futures or the European wheat future markets. There already has been a jump of eight percent but we think that the price impact in East Africa, in countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, would be much, much more.

And we already have more than 50 million people in East Africa alone, who are food insecure. So, there will be an impact on availability and access, but also on affordability of food prices for populations that are already vulnerable and dependent on either food assistance through humanitarian aid, or are dependent on the food inputs that come in.

CHURCH: Yes. And world leaders say ending this Grain Deal will result in severe food insecurity and political instability. And as you mentioned, in addition to this food prices will rise and that, of course, is a real concern for poor nations. Let's look closer at the impact that would have, I mean, if prices go up, and countries in East Africa can't afford to pay for any of that food, what happens?

SARAF: We will see a rise in rates of malnutrition amongst children under five specially. It's very difficult for populations to cope. They -- we'll see, if you look at Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya alone. There has been too long years of drought and populations are just coming out of a very long drought period. Which means that the dependence on food imports and food assistance has increased because the domestic food production has reduced. And if you look at what's happening in Sudan today.

CHURCH: All right, it looks like we have lost our guests there. Shashwat Saraf was joining us there. We will see if we can reconnect at his juncture. But let's move on for now and still to come. They're sweltering in Seville and roasting in Rome. We will have the latest on the heatwave stalled over southern Europe. Back in just a moment.

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CHURCH: The heatwave scorching Southern Europe is making life extremely difficult for firefighters in Greece. Planes from France and Italy are joining the effort along with crews from Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia. Three major fires are burning in the Attica Region near Athens destroying homes and farms. Forecasters are warning the temperatures will continue to rise over the next few days, reaching 44 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country.

[02:30:18]

Well, the heat is expected to continue today across Spain, Italy and Greece. CNN's Barbie Nadeau is live this hour for us from Rome. Good to see you, Barbie. So, the heat is unrelenting, isn't it across southern Europe? What is the latest on how people are coping with the intensity of these conditions?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yes, you know, Rosemary, that's really the issue here. It is the duration and the intensity, and it just goes on and on and on. Of course, there are two sides to the story. The tourists who come and go, who have what we say, you know, air- conditioned hotels who, you know, are out in the sun in the middle of the day. The -- you know, authorities don't want them to be doing that. But it's really becoming more difficult for the people who live and work here.

For example, garbage collectors in the city of Rome, angry that they're forced to work during the heat of the day, when say, construction workers, are told they shouldn't be. So, you know, we've got some issues like that going on the hospitals here, across Italy have seen an increase about 20 percent. In some places higher of heat related emergencies and things like that. There's a -- there's a hotline that's been set up for people to call if they have a heat related emergency, so that they don't take the space for someone who maybe has another type of health situation.

So, there's just a lot, you know, of kind of infrastructure things, but it's always sort of a reaction. Some of these things one might argue should have been put in place, because summers are always hot here. And it was predicted to be a very hot summer. So, there's some argument here on the ground, about whether or not more could have been done to sort of prevent the kind of emergency now that everyone's reacting to, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And any evidence of the tempers flaring on the streets?

NADEAU: Oh, absolutely, you know, especially among some of these workers, you know, you see sort of the police force and the garbage collectors and, you know, people are, you know, the tourists are having fun throwing their garbage on the street. But, you know, somebody's got to pick that up.

And so, you know, there has -- there's a talks today with the labor ministry, for example, to try to avert a strike by the garbage collectors who have been threatening that. So, there is some anger also because, you know, when you're telling everyone to stay inside during the heat of the day, and people aren't doing that, it puts pressure on the system.

This little protection is now out on the street, to try to get people who may be vulnerable, or, you know, taking trying to seek shelter and parks, to get try to get them to go inside places that are cool. Now, we don't have air conditioning centers or anything like that. But there are places where people can go to keep cool, even if it's a shopping center or something like that. So, you know, as this goes on the situation, it just intensifies for the local authorities here on the ground, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes, understood. Barbie Nadeau joining us live from Rome, many thanks. Well, it's been a week since Nigeria's new President announced an end to a long-standing fuel subsidy, that had kept gas prices low for decades. Nigerians have been forced to make drastic changes to survive amid rising transportation and electricity costs. CNN's Stephanie Busari has more now from Lagos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOLA TINUBU, NIGERIAN PRESIDENT: The fuel subsidy is gone.

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN EDITOR, AFRICA (voiceover): It was a moment that caught many off guard. Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu, accelerating ahead, announcing its first major policy at his inauguration in May. Triggering panic buying as petrol stations with fuel prices tripling immediately and soaring to record highs. 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 feed. Since 80 percent of my salary goes into transportation

BUSARI (voiceover): The rise in petrol prices 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 we -- when we relieve to come?

BASURI (voiceover): That relieve however, is not in sight yet, with Tinubu pleading for patience.

BASURI: 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 is legendary go-slow traffic. It seems an unintended consequence of the fuel subsidy removal is that people simply aren't getting into their cars.

BASURI (voiceover): Increased operating costs 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.

[02:40:06]

EJIRO AMOS TAFIRI, DESIGNER: In flexibility with the arts to make sure that we're maximizing on the resources that we have. So, the once generator is on, we're maximizing production and they were powering down, we knew we're powering down.

BASURI (voiceover): Meanwhile, offices are also turning off their lights, with work from home policies been introduced to combat a soaring cost.

STEVE BABAEKO, ADVERTISING AGENCY OWNER: Post pandemic, we'll reduce work into like, maybe four days a week. But now with the removal of subsidy, we reduced to three days a week. So, people work from home on Mondays. Everybody hates Mondays anyway, so we just took Monday's off.

BUSARI (voiceover): While the road ahead remains bumpy for miles to come. Nigerians who've shouldered many hardships in recent years, are continuing to display their usual resilience and determination in the face of difficulty. Stephanie Busari, CNN, Lagos.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: In Colombia, hundreds of retired soldiers and military reservists filled the streets of Bogota to speak out against President Gustavo Petro. Protesters carried signs calling for the President to step down. Many are angered by budget cuts to veteran services who were hoping for more government assistance after serving in the military. Others claimed Petro has stripped security away from Colombians and taken power away from the military.

Well, further south in Peru, protesters are also calling for the resignation of their President. Demonstrators don't just want President Dina Boluarte gone, they're also calling for early elections and a new constitution. The President is accused of illegally removing her predecessor from office last December.

And she's also being investigated for quote genocide and other violent acts committed during previous matches. And thanks so much for joining us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church, I will be back with more news at the top of the hour, "WORLD SPORT" is coming up next.

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[02:45:00]

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