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CNN International: Five Americans Freed From Iran En Route to U.S.; Trudeau: Credible Allegations Link India to Sikh Murder; Wagner's Africa Operations After Prigozhin; Entrepreneurs Seek to Start Agritech Businesses in UAE. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired September 19, 2023 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Joining me now here in London, Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House. Thank you so much for joining us again, Sanam. It's going to be, you know, great news, isn't it, personally, for all of these five people to land back in the U.S. and there be a lot of celebration, and rightfully so.

But the fallout politically is going to continue. All this talk about the Biden administration appeasing the Iranians, that sort of language. I know it's a hot political atmosphere in the United States right now. But where do you sit on whether or not this was appeasement or something that just had to be done?

SANAM VAKIL, MIDDLE EAST AND NORTHERN AFRICA PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thank you for having me back. I sit strongly on the side of I'm very happy to see the American hostages come home. They -- and I think everyone who has languished in prison -- would like someone to come for them. And I'm glad to see that President Biden wasn't afraid to put himself on the line.

Indeed, Iran is a toxic asset. It is a partisan issue in the United States and many countries around the world. What is really needed is for policymakers in Western capitals to develop a bipartisan strategy to manage policy relating to countries like Iran that are -- take hostages. There needs to be a coordinated Western approach to prevent this hostage taking from snowballing.

FOSTER: Former President Donald Trump said he manages to bring -- he managed to bring hostages home and money never exchanged hands. What do you think of that?

VAKIL: Iran remains this pendulum swing between Republicans and Democrats. President Trump also withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement, where Iran was compliant and its nuclear agreement was constrained. He set the ball in motion for tensions with Iran to escalate, and he didn't get a bigger, better deal. He's very critical of everyone else's policies, but not particularly critical of his own.

FOSTER: And I mean, some Democrats saying that they were just being honest here, the White House because they, you know, they said that money was part of this deal, even if it wasn't American money. Whereas many of these exchanges happen with money passing hands, but no one really finding out about it. How true is that?

VAKIL: That's I -- I can't really speak to that. That's very hard to say. But I think the reality is that it's important that hostages that are held abroad -- and there are many more still left behind in Iran -- do come home and do get the support of their governments. And this is exactly what's happened.

FOSTER: OK. And in terms of what you expect to see today, obviously two of the Americans aren't being identified, but do you expect to see some celebrations on the ground there or what will we actually see when they land, which could happen anytime now?

VAKIL: I don't know if these two individuals want to be known or unknown, but I can say that we should be celebrating people coming home. Nobody should be languishing in jails abroad and I hope that the international community led by President Biden will make a big push to bring the remaining of foreign nationals and dual nationals held in Iranian jails home and there are other cases in other countries as well, and they deserve our attention.

FOSTER: OK, Sanam Vakil, thank you so much for joining us again on the program with your insight.

Former President Donald Trump is planning to ramp up his campaign in Iowa over the next few weeks. That's according to a campaign spokesperson who says Trump is looking to solidify his lead over the 2024 Republican field, including over rival Florida --rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Trump is expected to make five trips to Iowa through October with his first visit on Wednesday.

This comes as Trump is going after DeSantis for signing a Florida law that bans most abortions after six weeks into a pregnancy. Well, Trump, who appointed three Supreme Court justices that led to the overturning of Roe versus Wade, is now criticizing his party over its messaging on abortion as he avoids laying out a clear position himself. Trump told NBC he could negotiate a deal between Democrats and Republicans as he blasted Florida's six-week ban.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: DeSantis is willing to sign a five week and six-week ban.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you support that? Do you think that goes too far?

TRUMP: I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The Florida governor pushed back on those comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Anytime he did a deal with Democrats, whether it was on budgets, whether was on the criminal justice First Step Act, they ended up taking him to the cleaners. He's going to make the Democrats happy with respect to right to life. I think all pro-lifers should know that he's preparing to sell you out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The former president says he'll skip the second Republican presidential primary debate in California next week. Trump will instead give a speech to current and former union members in Detroit, where the United Auto Workers Union has recently gone on strike. He also skipped the first Republican debate last month and has said he's unlikely to debate any competitor but President Joe Biden.

Now relations between India and Canada are going from bad to worse, with Canada expelling a senior Indian diplomat and then India doing the same, kicking out a senior Canadian envoy. That's after Canadian Prime Minister -- the Canadian Prime Minister said India could be behind an assassination carried out on Canadian soil. Justin Trudeau says credible allegations linked the Indian government to the deadly shooting of a prominent Sikh leader in British Columbia. To Canada, he was a citizen. To India, he was a wanted terrorist. CNN's Paula Newton explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (through translator): In a startling accusation, Canadian officials say the killing of a prominent Canadian Sikh leader in the province of British Columbia in June may have been an assassination carried out on the orders of the Indian government.

[04:35:05]

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

NEWTON (voice-over): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he confronted India's Prime Minister with the allegations in a face-to- face meeting just last week as Narendra Modi hosted the G-20 summit.

TRUDEAU: Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government. Last week at the G- 20, I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms. Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves.

NEWTON (voice-over): The killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar remains unsolved. Royal Canadian Mounted Police say Nijjar suffered multiple gunshot wounds while sitting in a vehicle outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Colombia. Homicide investigators say two masked suspects described as heavier set males, fled on foot and then possibly in this 2008 silver Toyota Camry. In the earliest days after the homicide, protesters demanded justice,

saying the killing was politically motivated and chilling retribution for Nijjar's activism and support for Sikh independence in India. At the time RCMP would not comment on a possible motive, but now Canadian officials are speaking loud and clear about their suspicions.

MELANIE JOLY, CANADIAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER: The allegations that a representative of a foreign government may have been involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen here in Canada on Canadian soil is not only troubling, but it is completely unacceptable. If proven true, this would be a grave violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other.

NEWTON (voice-over): That stern rebuke was followed by swift action. Canada expelled the head of India's spy agency in Canada, one of India's top diplomats in the country.

In a statement, the Indian government responded saying the allegations are unsubstantiated and accused Canada of sheltering terrorists.

Trudeau considers the intelligence so credible that his foreign minister says he raised the issue with both U.S. President Joe Biden and Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The killing of Nijjar and its fallout is now a potential political powder keg in both India and Canada, home to one of the largest Indian diasporas anywhere in the world. Sikh independence has long been a dangerous fault line in Indian politics. Canada now fears that conflict may have been brought to its shores with deadly consequences.

Paul Newton, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Next on CNN NEWSROOM, what happened with the Wagner militia in Africa now that their leaders gone? CNN travels to the Central African Republic to see how Yevgeny Prigozhin's death is changing the way that his fighters operate.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Almost a month after Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash, Russia has been moving to consolidate Wagner's operations across Africa. CNN's chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward travel to the Central African Republic, one of the world's poorest nations and one of Wagner's first operational sites on the continent, to see how Wagner's work and Russia's influence might be changing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the Central African Republic, the message from Wagner is clear. It's business as usual. Less than one month after their boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash, masked mercenaries still guard the president and cut an intimidating figure on the streets of the capital.

Faces covered, as Wagner protocol dictates, they are unapproachable and untouchable. These are the first images of Wagner fighters in the country since Prigozhin's death.

WARD: So they're clearly still very much a presence here in Bangui.

WARD (voice-over): That presence runs deep. The markets are full of cheap sachets of vodka and beer, made by a Wagner-owned company and the locals seem to like it.

WARD: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WARD: Right. They say they don't drink beer, only Russian beer.

WARD (voice-over): We've come back to the center of Prigozhin's empire in Africa, right as his death raises questions for the regimes he protected and the mercenaries whose loyalty he inspired.

Our last visit was in Wagner's early days here. Run like the Mafia, providing guns and fighters, and propaganda, in return for gold, diamonds and timber. Using intimidation and brutality along the way.

WARD: That car full of Russians have been following us for quite some time. We don't know why. We don't know what they want.

WARD (voice-over): But in this lawless, war-scarred country, one of the poorest in the world, that ruthlessness and the security it brought, is celebrated by many.

FIDELE GOUANDJIKA, SENIOR PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Welcome to Berengo's palace.

WARD: Wow, that is quite the T-shirt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, a beautiful T-shirt.

WARD (voice-over): Presidential advisor Fidele Gouandjika says the nation is in mourning for Wagner's dead leader.

GOUANDJIKA: He was my friend. He was my friend, best friend. A friend of all Central African people.

WARD: Why exactly was Mr. Prigozhin so popular here, in your mind?

GOUANDJIKA: Because our country was in war. So Mr. -- Mr. Putin give us some help with Prigozhin.

WARD: So aren't you nervous, now that he's dead, that things might change?

GOUANDJIKA: But Mr. Putin called our president. He told him that everything will be like yesterday. Nothing will be changed. Nothing.

[04:45:00]

WARD (voice-over): But according to a diplomatic source here, hundreds of Wagner fighters left the Central African Republic in July after Prigozhin's failed mutiny. Those who remain, including his top lieutenants, have agreed to work for the Russian Ministry of Defense. Fighters have already been pulled back from frontline outposts to population centers in an effort to cut costs, the source says.

What's less clear is what becomes of Wagner's civilian presence here. This is one of the last places that Prigozhin was seen alive, during his final tour across Africa. It's called the Russian Cultural Center. Only it has no connection to Russia's official cultural agency and was run until recently by Prigozhin's closest associate here.

Photographs taken on that visit show a new face, a woman known as Nafisa Kiryanova.

After days of asking for permission to visit, we decided to film covertly.

WARD: So you were here, then, when Yevgeny Prigozhin when he was here, in the photographs. There's the photographs of you with Prigozhin together.

NAFISA KIRYANOVA, ASSOCIATE OF PRIGOZHIN: Oh, my God. Can you show me that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WARD: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was just over in that corner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you are.

KIRYANOVA: OK, OK. That's good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this is Mr. Prigozhin, no?

KIRYANOVA: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How was he?

KIRYANOVA: Normal.

WARD: Do you think he knew they were going to kill him?

KIRYANOVA: My gosh. What is the question there? Who knows such things?

WARD: What does it mean for your work here? Does it change anything?

KIRYANOVA: Does it change anything if, I don't know. If the president of your country dies? Does it mean that your country stops to exist?

WARD (voice-over): She shows us one of their daily Russian classes. As we step back outside, we see a Wagner fighter.

WARD: Hi. Who are you? (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WARD (voice-over): You can just make him out, retreating to the back of the center, where according to the investigative group, The Century, Wagner sells its gold and diamonds to VIPs, and manages its timber and alcohol operations.

WARD: Who is that?

KIRYANOVA: A personnel.

WARD: A person?

Can we see what's there? That's weird.

KIRYANOVA: Actually, well, what are you going to see there?

WARD (voice-over): Like most of Wagner's activities here, it's clear there is still so much that is hidden from view. We've pushed the visit far enough. It's time to go.

No matter who takes over here, Western diplomats say they don't expect much to change. At the local Orthodox church, the Greek lettering has been painted over. Its allegiance now is to the Russian patriarchy.

And even in the skies above the empire Prigozhin built, Russia's dominance lives on.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Bangui.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: We'll be back in just a moment.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: So far, 2023 has been marked by a spike in food prices in several parts of the globe for countries that highly rely on food imports. This instability is also a cause for concern. The UAE imports around 90 percent of its food from abroad, and as the country seeks to diversify its food supply, entrepreneurs are seizing the opportunity to set up agritech businesses in the capital. Here's the story on the startup trial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): They are wonderfully intricate and delicate and yet incredibly strong.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's good. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Entrepreneur Bronte Weir set up her

agritech company, Below Farm, in 2021. From oyster to lion's mane, Below Farm currently says it produces one ton of mushrooms per month right here in this facility in Abu Dhabi.

BRONTE WEIR, BELOW FARM, CO-FOUNDER, BELOW FARM: So we saw an opportunity for growing mushrooms here in an area where food security was really, really important. And getting a lot of attention, but really no one was looking into the mushroom space, especially specialty mushrooms.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Like many agritech startups, Bronte's business may find room for growth in Abu Dhabi. The Emirates has allocated over 130 million U.S. dollars in incentives for SME's in this sector.

Today, about a third of the United Arab Emirates's GDP is dependent on the oil and gas industry, but the country wants to diversify the economy and is investing in its non-oil sectors, helping boost entrepreneurship. It aims to give support to more than 8000 startups and small and medium enterprises by 2031.

CHRISTOPHER SCHROEDER, CO-FOUNDER, NEXT BILLION VENTURES: Abu Dhabi, of course, has a tremendous capability through the different funds and sovereign wealth funds to help fund funds and entrepreneurs. All of a sudden, smart and sophisticated ecosystems are looking at their area and saying I'm not limited by anything. I can look at something like agritech because I can leapfrog the challenges of agriculture they were before. And in a way, a nation like UAE in Abu Dhabi, there's startup countries and startup cities leveraging these capabilities to be able to make a difference.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): More than just a passion project, Below Farm hopes to quadruple output by the end of the year and secure over $1 million in funding in 2024.

WEIR: Yes, there is a lot of funding opportunities around that said, there are plenty of challenges that we're dealing with. Especially, we're quite a CapEx intensive business. So it's never easy raising money for CapEx. So just to you do the best that you can do, you know. We have built something that I think is really wonderful. It's just, you know, doing everything that you can to maximize that.

[04:55:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): As funding opportunities continue to grow, burgeoning startups in Abu Dhabi are seizing the moment to secure their own slice of success.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Stories in the spotlight this hour, London's Metropolitan Police say, are looking into allegations of sexual assaults in 2003. This comes after three British media outlets published a joint investigation, citing four women who accused Russell Brand of sexual assault between 2006 and 2013. London police are not naming the British actor and comedian in their -- in their new inquiry but they say they are aware of the media reports and Brand has denied all the allegations so far.

A non-paying visitor caused the scare at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida on Monday. Some rides at the Magic Kingdom were shut down after a black bear was spotted in Mickey Mouse's neighborhood. The bear was eventually captured in a wooded area. No injuries were reported and the rides have been reopened. And the Disney bear, who is described as an adult female, is now being relocated to a nearby National Forest.

Now a viral cheese pulling trend on TikTok has taken to new heights by one of the world's most popular tortilla chip makers. In Somerset, England, Doritos pulled off this pretty amazing stunt. It dunked a giant nacho into a tall pile of cheese to see how far it would stretch, and it didn't disappoint. The cheese spanned the length of almost 15 meters, or 49 feet, without snapping, or according to the World Talent Organization, it was indeed a world record. So all that effort didn't go to waste.

And thank you for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Max Foster in London. "EARLY START" with Kasie is next.

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