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Mass Shooting in Downtown Auckland Hours Before Women's World Cup Kickoff; Wagner Boss Appears in Public since Failed Rebellion Attempt; Nigeria Struggles After Fuel Subsidy Cut; Thailand's Progressive Leader Blocked from his PM Bid, Resigns from the Parliament; German Developer Creates Electronic Nose to Prevent Further Wildfires; John Rahm Plays for the Final Major Tournament this 2023. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired July 20, 2023 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching "CNN Newsroom" and I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW COSTER, NEW ZEALAND POLICE COMMISSIONER: No reason why the tournament should not proceed. The matches are safe to attend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The Women's World Cup gets underway in New Zealand just hours after a mass shooting. We will take you live to the region. Plus --
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Ukraine accuses Russia of trying to cripple grain exports as Moscow launches a third straight night of attacks on the port city of Odessa.
And Thailand in a political crisis. Progressives won the national election but parliament is blocking their leader from becoming prime minister. I'll ask my guest what comes next.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, the opening ceremony of the Women's World Cup tournament in Auckland, New Zealand is about to get underway. The tournament is already making history in women's football. It's the first time that 32 nations will be competing and the prize money is the biggest yet. Kicking off the month-long competition is co-host New Zealand facing off against Norway in Auckland's Eden Park Stadium.
But hours earlier, a tragic shooting in downtown Auckland threatened to overshadow the opening day celebrations. Two people were killed and six wounded by a lone gunman with a shotgun who also died.
At a news conference afterwards, the Prime Minister explained why the World Cup would go ahead as planned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS HIPKINS, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: There will be an increased police presence obviously around Auckland to provide public reassurance, but the police have indicated that they don't think there is an ongoing security or safety risk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: CNN's Angus Watson joins us 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 security at the World Cup?
ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: Rosemary, what we do know is that this tragic incident is separate to the World Cup. It happened in central Auckland around 7 o'clock this morning when a lone gunman entered his place of work, a construction site downtown and began firing as he moved through the levels of this construction site, killing two people and injuring several others.
One of those people that he did injure was a police officer. Police have been praised for their heroism. Arriving at the scene moments after he started shooting in the end, neutralizing the threat there. The gunman was found at the bottom of an elevator shaft with a bullet wound.
Now as you mentioned Chris Hipkins, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, quick to explain to the New Zealand people why he didn't believe there was an ongoing threat. Authorities say that it was an isolated incident, as I said, not related to the World Cup, but the world is watching Rosemary as New Zealand begins this historic tournament. Here's some of what Chris Hipkins had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HIPKINS: The governments spoken to FIFA organizers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned. I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the actions of one individual.
Auckland -- Aucklanders and those watching around the world can be assured that the police have neutralized the threat and that they are not seeking anybody else in relation to the incident. New Zealanders safety and the safety of our visitors is our first priorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now Rosemary, of course gun violence in New Zealand is rare, but any sort of public violence evokes immediately the sad memory of 2019 when a terrorist, a white supremacist, gunman attacked two mosques in the city of Christchurch, killing 50 people. This is separate to that.
Today's incident was not terror related, but it has cast something of a shadow over the soccer. We had the women's national team staying in New Zealand right now, very quick to release a statement offering their condolences. The U.S. Soccer team said, U.S. Soccer extends its deepest condolences to the family 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 and Aotearoa, New Zealand.
[03:05:07]
Now, Rosemary, security will be beefed up around New Zealand tonight, around Auckland where this incident happened in a fan zone where people had come to party and watch to celebrate won't be going ahead out of respect to the people who died Rosemary.
CHURCH: Does this mean for the start of the Women's World Cup New Zealand is about to take on Norway for the first round game?
WATSON: Well, Norway is one of the favored sides at this competition. They have an extraordinary team, one of the sides that will be giving Team USA a run for its money. USA may go as far as to be the third team, the first team to ever, I should say, win three competitions in a row. That wouldn't be an extraordinary achievement, but I can tell you that as the crowd builds here in Sydney, Australia for the next match of the night, Australia playing the Republic of Ireland here in Sydney. Australian fans are buoyant and they believe that their team, the Matildas, might be able to go all the way on the back of this wave of local support, Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right, Angus Watson joining us live from Sydney, many thanks.
Well, the latest now on the U.S. soldier in North Korean custody, Private Travis King, was supposed to be sent back to the U.S., but after passing through security at the Seoul airport, he told airline officials his passport was missing and was escorted back to the departures area and then he left.
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. U.S. authorities are trying to figure out his motive.
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KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The administration has and will continue to actively work, actively work to ensure his safety and the return of Private King to us and to his family, obviously. So that includes what we're doing is outreach to the administration of Sweden and also South Korea as well on this matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins us now live from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Kristie. So what is the latest on this U.S. soldier who fled across the border into North Korea, and how much closer are authorities, do you think, to figuring out why he would do this?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, U.S. officials are still trying to piece together why. Army Private Travis King crossed into North Korea willfully and without authorization. The White House says it is still working to determine his whereabouts, his condition as well.
The U.S. military has tried to reach out to North Korea to resolve the incident. They have yet to receive a response. So, King was not in uniform when he dashed into North Korea. He was on a tour of the JSA, the Joint Security Area, when he suddenly ran across the border. This photo that you see on your screen there, that was taken on Tuesday before he broke away from the tour group.
And you can see Travis King on the bottom left. He's wearing a black shirt and a black cap. Now that photograph was taken by Sarah Leslie. She is a New Zealand tourist who is there who witnessed the incident. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH LESLEI, TOURIST: Someone ran close to me very fast. And I thought, what is going on? He, I didn'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 film it or something like that. A couple of seconds after I saw him, that's when the soldiers shouted and started running after him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Leslie, in fact thought it was a TikTok prank. She also pointed out that there were no North Korean soldiers seen on the other side, but there were a number of South Korean and American soldiers on the South Korean side.
Now, King's motive not known. While in South Korea we do know he spent about 50 days in a detention facility for assault charges and King was released on July the 10th. He was set to board a flight, an American Airlines flight, to Dallas, Texas on July the 17th. But he did not board that plane. Citing that he had a missing passport.
We've also heard from the mother of the U.S. soldier. And she says she just wants her son to come home. She says she was shocked that her son would cross into North Korea. Back to you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right. Kristie Lu Stout, joining us live from Hong Kong. Many thanks.
LU STOUT: Thank you.
CHURCH: Russia is conducting its most intense attacks on the Ukrainian city of Odessa since the war began.
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Russia fired a barrage of missiles on the southern port city for the third straight night, which CNN cameras caught live.
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Ukraine's air defenses have been successful in destroying most of those missiles. Russia was also attacking Mikhailov, a city near Odessa. Officials there say Russia struck the city center, setting on fire a parking garage, and an apartment building. Ukrainian officials are reporting fatalities and say at least 19 people were wounded.
And Clare Sebastian joins me now live from London. Good morning to you Clare. So what more are you learning about those attacks overnight?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rosemary, not just destructive and potentially deadly to people on the ground but also another major test for Ukrainian air defenses. This third assault we're now hearing from the Air Force. And this involved 19 missiles of various types fired from the Black Sea and Crimea and 19 attack drones of which they were able to shoot down five of those missiles and 13 of the drones.
So you can see that they are really up against it in terms of the air defenses which you can actually see on those images shot by our team on the ground there. So another terrifying night and this third night also distinguished by the high number of injuries that we're getting. So far two officially reported in Odessa. But we've just seen this video posted by the mayor of Odessa in a nursery, a children's nursery, where he says one person was seriously injured and taken to hospital. They're looking for someone else under the rubble.
He says there's also a kindergarten nearby. So he's clearly very upset by what went on there. We're also hearing in Mikhailov to the east of Odessa along the Black Sea coast. So far the injury count there is 19, people of which five were children, two very small children, including one under one. And the regional chief there saying that they think there are also people who were killed in those airstrikes, but we don't have numbers on that as of yet. So a very destructive night, Rosemary.
CHURCH: And Clare, Ukraine has been accusing Russia of deliberately targeting grain-related infrastructure, global food supplies in further jeopardy. Any sense of how much damage has been caused?
SEBASTIAN: Yeah, we've been getting images out from official Ukrainian sources showing damages at not only Odessa port but also Chornomorsk, which is the neighboring port down to the west on that Black Sea coast. And according to official Ukrainian accounts, this is quite significant. The Agriculture Ministry coming out on Wednesday saying that in Chornomorsk, basically the port has been put out of commission.
It will take a year to repair it they say and in addition to that the 60,000 tons of grain were actually destroyed, grain that was destined to be shipped 60 days ago they say under this very deal, this grain deal that Russia pulled out of. Definitely one of the terms of that deal was that Russia was actually not supposed to attack port infrastructure so clearly this is sending a very clear message.
We know that now supplies are something that we have to worry about and so are prices, wheat and corn prices on the rise again this morning after soaring on Wednesday wheat was up, you can see it's up now about 1.6 percent, corn also over 1 percent but it was up wheat in particular 9 percent on Wednesday. So still well below the highs of last year but overall the trajectory is up and that affects all consumers around the world. Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right, Claire Sebastian, joining us live from London. Many thanks.
For the first time since leading a short-lived rebellion against the Kremlin, Wagner Boss Yevgeny Prigozhin made a public appearance with a video message on social media. At the same time, British Spy Chief Richard Moore says Russian President Vladimir Putin had no choice but to cut a deal with Prigozhin to quote, "save his skin."
CNN's Frederick Pleitgen explains.
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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SR. 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 Belorussian land, he says. We fought with dignity. We have done a lot for Russia. What is happening now at the front lines is a shame in which we do not need to participate. We need to wait for the moment when we can prove ourselves fully.
Prigorzhin, as critical as ever of Russia's defense ministry and apparently signaling, his fighters could return to the front lines in Ukraine.
Various social media accounts had already reported movements of what appeared to be large Wagner convoys on the move towards Belarus.
And 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 southeast of Minsk.
[03:15:00]
Some of the Wagner fighters training Belorussian troops, as seen here on state media.
They have been in combat and this is undoubtedly a very useful experience for our army, this Belorussian 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, Prigogine is quote, "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 Utkin, 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.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: In Baghdad, hundreds of demonstrators stormed the gates of the Swedish Embassy and set it on fire.
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They're furious over the Swedish government's decision to allow a protest outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm today, where reports say organizers plan to burn a Quran. CNN cannot confirm that information.
According to Agence France-Presse, Swedish authorities stress 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 of the country inside Stockholm's main mosque. Iraq's government has launched an investigation into the embassy attack, calling it a major security threat.
Still to come, soaring fuel prices are the new normal in Nigeria. We'll go live to Lagos to find out how residents are coping after fuel subsidies ended.
Plus, protests turned violent in Kenya after demonstrators speak out against the country's president. We'll have the latest on that.
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CHURCH: It has been weeks since Nigeria's new president announced an end to a long-standing fuel subsidy that had kept gas prices low for decades. Now Nigerians are being forced to make drastic changes to survive amid rising transportation and electricity costs.
CNN's Stephanie Busari has more now from Lagos.
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BOLA TINUBU, NIGERIAN PRESIDENT: So, fuel subsidy is gone.
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SR. EDITOR, AFRICA (voice-over): It was a moment that caught many off guard. Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu accelerating ahead, announcing his first major policy at his inauguration in May. Triggering panic buying at petrol stations with fuel prices tripling immediately and soaring to record highs.
The shift in 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'll have to borrow money and feed. Since 80 percent of my salary goes into transportation.
BUSARI (voice-over): 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, and the third impact is when will relief come?
BUSARI (voice-over): That relief, however, is not in sight yet, with Tinobu pleading for patience.
(on-camera): It's rush hour on this busy street in the heart of Lagos Island. And typically, the street will be gridlocked with cars stuck in Lagos' legendary go-slow traffic. It seems an unintended consequence of the fuel subsidy removal is that people simply aren't getting into their cars.
(voice-over): 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.
EJIRO AMOS TAFIRI, DESIGNER: Be flexible with our hours to make sure that we're maximizing on the resources that we have. So that once the generator is on, we're maximizing production and then when we are powering down, we know we're powering down.
BUSARI (voice-over): Meanwhile, offices are also turning off their lights, with work from home policies being introduced to combat soaring costs.
STEVE BABAEKO, ADVERTISING AGENCY OWNER: 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 hits Mondays anyway, so we just took Mondays off.
BUSARI (voice-over): 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And CNN's senior editor Stephanie Busari joins me now live from Lagos. So Stephanie, as your report shows Nigerians have been struggling with the cost of living since these fuel subsidies ended. So how bad is this expected to get?
BUSARI: Well, Nigerians have been struggling with the cost of living even before these subsidy removal went ahead. And one analyst tells me that people should prepare for pain, more pain -- more paying ahead. There will be gains, the analyst says there will be gains, but not much until much later, perhaps towards the end of the year.
But now people have to contend with rising transport costs in a place where public transport is not as developed as other parts. Many people relied on their cars and the price of fuel being artificially low for many years is what enabled them to really move around in cars. But now people aren't getting in cars. More people are walking. They're just considering cycling. And the retail price of petrol affects the cost of everything here, Rosemary. So there's a lot of hardship ahead for Nigerians.
CHURCH: Yeah. All right. Stephanie Busari reporting from Lagos. Many thanks for that.
Well, anti-government protests in Kenya are set to continue for at least two more days despite violent clashes with security forces. Demonstrators angry over high living costs and tax hikes have been met with tear gas and water cannon by police.
Our affiliate Citizen TV has reported numerous injuries among protesters and at least one death, though CNN cannot independently verify those claims.
More now from CNN's Larry Madowo reporting from Nairobi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (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.
[03:25:02] 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 Elijah Mwangi says he was on his lunch break nearby when he got hit.
ELIJAH MWANGI, CONSTRUCTION WORKER (through translator): 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 him to hospital.
Armed with 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.
(on-camera): Do you support the protests?
UNKNOWN: I do, 100 percent. I support the protests. And it needs to continue until the president hears our cry. The cost of living is high. And the president should look at this situation. At least he can reduce the cost of living.
MADOWO (on-camera): A heavy 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.
(voice-over): But President William Ruto remains defiant, saying Kenya's politics should be devoid of violence.
WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT: 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 earned condemnation from 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 U.N. statement inaccurate and misleading.
ALFRED MUTUA, KENYAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Who are those 23 people who they say died? I'd like to know them, their names and others. So they're just throwing names and figures out there. You know, that is bad manners for an organization of such stature.
MADOWO (voice-over): Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: Still to come this hour, Thailand mired in a political crisis. The progressive party leader suspended from parliament and denied the role of prime minister.
Plus former U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing for the worst, beefing up his legal team ahead of another potential indictment.
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[03:30:00]
CHURCH: 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 the election laws which he denies. This is the second time in a week that lawmakers fail to elect Peter as Prime Minister despite his party's majority in Parliament.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PITA LIMJAROENRAT, MOVE FORWARD PARTY LEADER (through translator): Currently, the Constitution's court order to suspend myself from duty has arrived. I would like to speak through you, the House Speaker, that I acknowledge the order and will follow it until otherwise. I would like to take this opportunity to bid you farewell until we meet again. I would also like to thank my fellow members of Parliament to continue to oversee the people's well-being.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Sunai Phasuk is a senior researcher on Thailand with Human Rights Watch and he joins me live from Bangkok. Thank you so much for being with us.
SUNAI PHASUK, SR. RESEARCHER ON THAILAND, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Hello, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So lawmakers in Thailand appear determined to prevent the leader of the country's Move Forward Party, Pita Limjaroenrat from becoming prime minister despite his party's parliamentary majority. And of course now this court has suspended him. What is going on here?
PHASUK: Well, first of all, it is totally absurd that a leak agents used in the parliament to block Pita's nomination is all about the monarchy. The reformist Move Forward Party that Pita is the leader, proposed to reform Thailand's royal defamation law, which is known to be draconian and repressive.
But inside the parliament, his opponents are saying that attempts to reform this draconian royal defamation law amounts to attempts to overthrow the monarchy. So, this is the fault line. And more than that, most of the attacks against Pita come from appointed senators, senators who were handpicked by military junta, who staged a coup in 2014. They have no legitimacy. They don't represent people's voice. So now
we are seeing 250 senators all appointed by military junta, stealing the voices of millions of Thai people who want to see Pita and his Move Forward Party launch comprehensive reforms in the country, return democracy to the country, return respect for human rights to the country.
CHURCH: You see this all as politically motivated. Pita has now been temporarily suspended from office by that court, as we mentioned, while he's investigated for claims he violated election laws, allegations he denies. So what happens next and what is behind those claims? Is it just the politics? Is it?
PHASUK: Well, Human Rights Watch consider allegations that Pita has violated election law-election law as trump up. These charges are bogus. He is accused of owning shares in media company. But the company in this case is a TV station which has gone defunct over a decade. It is no longer operational.
And Pita has served already one term as member of the parliament, and the election commission had no problem with him then. Why now? So this is clearly politically motivated. And the investigation of Pita is far from being considered a fair process. He hasn't been given a chance to defend himself at all, either at the level of the election commission or soon at the level of the constitutional court. This is not a fair and transparent process and clearly biased, politically motivated.
CHURCH: So how likely is it that Peter will ever be Thailand's Prime Minister and if not him, who will likely become the next leader of the nation?
PHASUK: It appeared that this ongoing coordinated attack aimed at stopping Pita and his Move Forward Party at all costs from remaining on political landscapes. So they won't stop at blocking Pita from taking office as Thailand's new prime minister.
[03:34:59]
They aim to get rid of his Move Forward Party from the parliament altogether. And perhaps the allegations that- he and his party seek to overthrow the monarchy. That lead to a lifetime ban from politics. It carry jail term. It carry dissolution punishment of the party. So this is the game plan that seem to be brewing up. So -- As of now, it is not just the matter of whether Pita can eventually become Thailand's new prime minister or not. It is about the survival, political survival of himself and his party.
CHURCH: Sunai Phasuk in Bangkok, Thailand, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your analysis.
PHASUK: You're welcome. Thank you.
CHURCH: Donald Trump has added a criminal defense 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 Trump could be facing charges related to three different statutes. And the special counsel's grand jury is expected to meet in the coming hours.
CNN's Paula Reid has the latest now from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA REID, CNN SR. LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Attorneys for former President Trump have been caught off guard by this target letter indicating that he will likely be indicted.
For nearly a year, the former president's attorneys have insisted that their client would not be charged in the investigation into January 6. But, this letter indicates that the special counsel is contemplating a case that's much bigger than even Trump's lawyers could have imagined.
So sources tell CNN that they're now going around trying to figure out if the special counsel has additional witnesses or evidence that they are not aware of.
Now, Trump's legal team, they are pretty well connected in terms of this investigation. A Trump-linked political action committee underwrites the cause for defense attorneys for several key witnesses. And that's one of the ways that Trump lawyers really stay in the know about what's going on. It's making it all the more significant that they were really caught off guard by this news.
If the former president is charged in Washington, D.C., we can expect that the strategy will be to delay. I was in court in Florida Tuesday with the former president's lawyers even referenced the possibility of charges in the January six investigation as they laid out for the judge just how much work they're currently having to do to keep up with all these various legal cases.
Now, they were making that argument in an effort to try to delay any trial in Florida until after the 2024 election. It's unclear if they will be successful, but we would expect that they would employ a similar strategy if, if the former president is charged in Washington D.C. in connection with January 6th.
Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Israeli President Isaac Herzog is praising his country's ties with the U.S. just as their relationship is being put to the test. Mr. Herzog addressed a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday amid tensions between the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That's partly because of his controversial proposal to overhaul the judicial system. Mr. Herzog referred to that in his address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ISAAC HERZOG, ISRAELI PRESIDENT: I am well aware of the imperfections of Israeli democracy, and I am 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 hole, within the entire hole. 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: But Mr. Biden told the "New York Times" on Tuesday that the US-Israeli special relationship could be on the line. According to the newspaper, he said it will be hard to sustain the relationship if the two countries don't share democratic values. Crowds gathered in Peru on Wednesday calling for the resignation of their president.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
Demonstrators don't just want President Dina Boloate 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 marches."
Well time for a short break. When we come back. The mercury is rising across southern Europe. We are live in Rome with the latest records and recommendations for beating the heat. Plus new technology that could help sniff out wildfires before they start. The company behind it calls it an electronic nose.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: The heat is on across southern Europe again today with nine regions in France under an orange alert. The World Health Organization says the weather is taking a harsh toll on the people least able to manage its consequences, including the elderly, children and the homeless. And the heat is putting pressure on health systems around the globe.
Today will be another scorcher. Madrid and Rome are looking at highs in the mid-30s. It'll be even hotter in Greece. wildfires are burning near Athens. Planes from France and Italy are joining the firefighting effort along with crews from Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia. Fire officials say 66 new wildfires broke out in Greece in just 24 hours.
And CNN's Barbie Nadeau joins us live from Rome this hour. Good to see you again, Barbie.
So the heat has proved unrelenting, hasn't it, across southern Europe. What is the latest on how people are coping with these conditions where you are?
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, it's not just the intensity of this heat. It's the fact that it's relentless. It's so long, the duration of this heat wave, the second, you know, of the summer, where we've seen a 20 percent increase in emergency room calls for heat-related issues and things like that.
There's an emergency number now in Italy. People can call if they have a heat-related emergency. They're trying not to get these people to be clogging up the emergency services for other issues, you know. It's really, really difficult for those who work outside. Now, the Labour Ministry in Italy is meeting today to try to stave off a strike that's being threatened by the garbage collectors.
You know, all of these sorts of things are collateral damage when it comes to a heat wave. The tourists are hot, they go to their air- conditioned hotel, but the people who work in this heat every day are really starting to feel it, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yeah, absolutely. And, Barbie, what are world leaders saying about efforts to address climate change?
NADEAU: Well, you know, I mean, we always have this sort of rhetoric and it's just too little, too late on so many levels. You know, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is urging people to put leaders to put politics aside, but one has to question whether that'll work. Let's listen to what he had to say.
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JOHN KERRY, U.S. CLIMATE ENVOY: And the climate issue is not a bilateral issue in our judgment. President Biden believes, as I think most of the world does, that the climate crisis is a universal threat to humankind, and we all have a responsibility to deal with it as rapidly as we can. And we hope we will leave other issues to the side.
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NADEAU: And you know Rosemary, other issues to the side, politics will be politics, but you know the question remains is how is, what is the, you know, global strategy to deal with this? It's always reactive, everyone's reacting to the heat after it gets here. It's what can be done to sort of, you know, to bring these temperatures down. These will become unsurvivable, as many experts say at some point, if they continue to rise like this. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Absolutely, it's true. Barbie Nadeau, joining us live from Rome, many thanks.
A German company is hoping its new technology will help cut down on wildfires. Sensors acting as electronic noses can detect fires while they're still smoldering. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has details.
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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Fires are raging across the world. In Greece, Switzerland, Canada and California. Whether they are caused by extreme heat, lightning or human activity, wildfires spread quickly because they're usually detected too late.
One company based in Germany is working to close this gap using a sensor that they say can detect wildfires ultra early.
JURGEN MULLER, CO-FOUNDER, DRYAD NETWORKS (through translator): This means that we can detect an emerging fire in just a few minutes, 10 or 15 minutes, before there is an open fire. This means we can fight it quickly and thus significantly reduce the damage compared to optical systems.
VAN DAM (voice-over): For this 69 year old forestry expert, the forest is his workshop. He makes fires using pine branches and trains the green and black sensor device to distinguish between different types of smoke and gasses.
MULLER (through translator): We are here in our laboratory teaching the sensor to use artificial intelligence for different forest fires. This sensor is the electronic nose. They now sniff out the smell of smoke coming from a pine or beach forest, and artificial intelligence maps this pattern, this ecosystem.
We also look at how sensitive the detectors are to light smoke and rising smoke so that we can reach our objective of detecting a fire in a few minutes.
VAN DAM (voice-over): Brandenburg is the German region most affected by wildfires. The man responsible for fighting them attests to the value of the dryad system.
RAIMUND ENGEL, BRANDENBURG FIRE PROTECTION OFFICER (through translator): In recent years we have been able to significantly reduce the size of the average fire area because the system of early detection of forest fires means we can detect many of the fires early enough that major damage can be prevented.
VAN DAM (voice-over): The dryad sensors rotate 360 degrees and promise greater fire monitoring than the human eye can achieve. Though A.I. fire detection is not new, Dryad says 10 countries are experimenting with their sensors, including the U.S., Greece and Spain. The company hopes to reduce forest fires by deploying 120 million sensors around the world by 2030, saving lives and property.
Derek Van Dam, CNN.
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CHURCH: Still ahead on "CNN Newsroom."
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JOHN RAHM, 2023 MASTERS CHAMPION: When you know you've won the tournament, that walk down 18, there's nothing like it. And I've heard that from every major champion possible. They've all said the same thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: The Open Championship will end on Sunday, and the Spanish golfer, John Rahm, is hoping he'll be lifting the Clara Judd trophy
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CHURCH: For a long time, capitalism was a dirty word in Cuba. Now, 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.
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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A business seminar in a hotel meeting room may not seem that groundbreaking, but not long ago in Cuba where all capitalism used to be outlawed, it would have been impossible to imagine.
All the more so since the man teaching this business boot camp organized by the U.S. Embassy in Havana is 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 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 going to want to give up. I can't know different than any other country, but here it'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.
(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.
(voice-over): Juan Carlos Blaine has turned a side business selling hamburgers into a restaurant franchise, a small supermarket and a logistics company. Altogether, he says, employees more than 60 people. Attending the business boot camp, he says, helped him to identify areas of future growth. 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 studying if sanctions can be eased for Cuban entrepreneurs.
BENJAMIN ZIFF, CHARGE D' AFFAIRES, U.S. EMBASSY IN HAVANA: Only there's a shortage of food, there's a shortage of gas, 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.
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CHURCH: The last major tournament of the men's golf season is upon us. The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool tees off later today. And these are the three major winners of the year so far who will join them, or will there be a repeat winner? That's what the Masters champ John Rahm is hoping for.
He told CNN's Christina McFarlane why winning at Augusta has lifted the pressure ahead of his opening round.
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RAHM: It's a bit weird to say because it's a completely different golf course, a completely different tournament, but you know, it's a bit just knowing that you already are a major champion this year, it's a bit of an added bonus and confidence.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN WORLD SPORT: And I know you've talked in particular about this major, how much you love the history of the Open. Obviously, your great hero Seve won it three times. What would it mean to you, not just personally, but as a Spanish golfer, to come here and be the next to put your name on the Claret Jug?
RAHM: It's truly surprising that no Spanish player has been able to do it in Seve, especially with how good at ball strikers both Italians and Sergio were known to be, not that the Sergio game was bad either, right? So to be the first since Seve to win it would be absolutely incredible. I think the Open Championship, being the oldest tournament we play, depending on your values it can be the most prestigious but from what I hear when you know you've won the tournament that walked down 18 there's nothing like it and I've heard that from every major champion possible.
They've all said the same thing and I would agree even if you're just playing late Sunday afternoon that ovation, that clap, it's a little bit different to anything else. The only one that I think comes close is 18 at Augusta this is the two crowds that I would say understand golf and the game of golf and the history of the game better than anybody else.
[03:55:27]
MACFARLANE: Well, we know of course that Roy McIlroy won here back in 2014 he's had a not bad week in the run up to this event --
RAHM: He did an incredible job last week. Especially last week. I was pretty special.
MACFARLANE: What do you make of his form? And clearly, he's one of the guys to beat this week?
RAHM: Rory's always a guy to beat. Rory's a ridiculously talented golfer, and he's very, very good at golf. And we've gotten to a point nowadays where it's not easy to win.
We had Scottie last year with four wins. We have myself with four wins. Scottie playing good, Max Olma. Anybody can get to a point where they can go on a two, three month stretch where they play really good golf.
But Rory's name is always up there. So he's always going to be a favorite. But he's given himself a lot of chances in the open. He's had a chance many, many times. He's been in position on Sunday many times, including last year, so not surprising that he's the favorite.
MACFARLANE: On the topic of some of your friends, we just saw your Spanish compatriot Carlos Alcaraz do the impossible that seems on center-court this week, winning Wimbledon. Did you have a chance to see any of the match?
RAHM: I did, most of it.
MACFARLANE: And what did you make of his achievement?
RAHM: First of all, it was an incredible final. I don't know what it is, you know, the -- the guy has it. Yeah. As a player, he has it. He has the physical attributes, and he has the mental attributes I want. He has to compete. And I mean, it's hard for me as a Rafa fan to say, but to be the greatest tennis player, whoever lived on center court when he was going for five in a row is very special. And at just 20 years of age, it's something incredible.
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CHURCH: And before we go, one lucky ticket in California has won the third largest jackpot in Powerball history. Wednesday's drawing will give the winner just over a billion dollars before taxes. It's the first Powerball jackpot won since mid-April. The ticket was sold at this store in downtown Los Angeles. Powerball says the odds of hitting the jackpot are about one in 292 million.
And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Christina McFarlane, next.
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