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Turkeys Finally Agreed to Finland and Sweden; Former White Aide Gave Bombshell Testimony; Illegal Migrants Died Inside a Van; President Zelenskyy Wants Russia Out of U.N. Security Council; Hong Kong Commemorates 25 Years Under China Policy. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 29, 2022 - 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)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers from all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade live from the CNN center here in Atlanta.

Ahead on CNN Newsroom, NATO leaders are ramping up the pressure on Vladimir Putin as the alliance is poised to formally invite two more countries to join. Plus, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, FORMER AIDE TO WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF MARK MEADOWS: As an American, I was disgusted, it was unpatriotic, it was un-American. We were watching the capitol building get defaced over a lie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: A firsthand account of Donald Trump's actions during the capitol attack. Those close to Trump call it a bombshell testimony.

And 25 years since Hong Kong's handover to China, how promises of freedom of expression have been disappearing in the once autonomous city.

UNKNOWN: Live from CNN center, this is CNN Newsroom with Lynda Kinkade.

KINKADE: NATO leaders have started arriving for a critical summit in Madrid. Today's talks will kick off next hour and Russia's war on Ukraine is expected to dominate the agenda. But already allies are making significant progress in increasing the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long opposed the idea of an expanding NATO.

On Tuesday, Turkey agreed to support both Finland and Sweden's NATO bids, clearing the way for them to join the alliance. NATO's secretary general saying the decision shows the alliance's open-door policy has been a historic success. The inclusion would more than double Russians land border with NATO. The exact opposite of what Mr. Putin wanted.

Spurred by Russia's war in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden set aside decades of neutrality and formerly applied for NATO membership last month. Turkey initially objected, accusing them of harboring terrorist groups. But after weeks of talks, the breakthrough finally came during a meeting on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: Today we met, we discussed, and we found a good solution. And that's the way that we solve problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: CNN is covering the story from every angle. Our Atika Shubert is standing by for us in Turkey. But let's start with Kevin Liptak who joins us from Madrid. And Kevin, U.S. President Biden spent many, many months working to ensure that both Sweden and Finland should and could join the alliance. What's helped to push this deal over the finish line?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, it's not exactly clear what concessions Sweden or Finland made to Turkey to get this deal done. We do know that President Biden placed a very important phone call yesterday morning to his Turkish counterpart, to Turkish President Erdogan to sort of sound him out on his objections and to relate to him that it would be possible to arrange a formal bilateral meeting between himself and President Erdogan if this deal could be struck before the summit began today in Madrid.

And so, that deal was struck. Those two presidents will meet on the margins of the summit later today. But it is interesting President Biden had sort of, tried to keep the United States out of a direct role in these talks over the past several months as the parties progressed to try and bridge their differences.

He stepped in when it became necessary, but what a U.S. official said yesterday was that the United States made no concessions to get this deal underway. Now, striking this diplomatic arrangement will lend some winds to these leaders back as they begin this NATO summit here in Madrid.

Really, the top of the agenda is bolstering NATO's forces along the eastern flank, really strengthening the forced posture to a level that you really haven't seen since the Cold War. Yesterday, President Biden said he would send two additional U.S. Destroyers to the Rota naval station here in Spain. He is expected to make a number of other force posture announcements today.

Yesterday he said it would be by land, sea, and air that you would see those force postures increase. His national security advisor said that these forces would be more robust, more effective, more combat reliable, more capable, and more determined.

[03:04:55] So really, the focus of the summit is to increase this force posture here in Europe. President Biden spoke to a little of what he saw coming from the summit yesterday, listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Today NATO is united, and as united and galvanized as I believe it's ever been and we are ready to face the threats of Russian aggression, because quite frankly, there's no choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So, President Biden really trying to shore up NATO allies at a very critical moment in the war in Ukraine. Of course, the west has sent billions of dollars in aid and security assistance into that country. They have dumped tons of sanctions on Russia, but at the moment, the momentum still appears to favor Russia in that war.

And as leaders grow more concerned about fatigue setting in, about rising gas prices, about anger at home over the cost of this war, that really the goal of these summits this week is to sort of ensure that the alliance does not fracture, as this war grinds on, Lynda.

KINKADE: Yes. Certainly, a busy day of diplomacy there, and it looks like a beautiful morning in Madrid. Kevin Liptak, our thanks to you.

Well, I want to go to Atika Shubert. Because Atika, it is interesting to know that Turkey's president repeatedly said he wouldn't support Sweden and Finland joining NATO. What's changed?

ATIKA SHUBERT, JOURNALIST: Well, I think that a lot of things changed here, but especially Sweden and Finland basically saying that they were taking Turkey's concerns seriously. And I do think that Kevin is right. As you just heard, the nudge from U.S. President Joe Biden plays a big part in it as well, especially since now Turkish President Erdogan has an opportunity in the bilateral to push for the upgrade and purchase of several F-16 jets which Turkey has been warning for some time from the U.S. So, that might have been a carrot dangled in front of him if there could be an agreement done before the start of the NATO meeting.

I think most importantly, however, just that Sweden and Finland in this memorandum have agreed to deal with Turkey's concerns regarding Turkish independence groups, so in particular, for example, both Sweden and Finland have said they would not support the YPG, the Kurdish people's protection unit. And that they would view the Kurdish workers party, the PKK, as a prescribed terrorist organization.

I should point out, on the PKK in particular, this brings them in line not only with Turkish -- with Turkey's view, that the PKK is a terror organization, but also the U.S. and E.U.

So, it gets really all of them on the same page. There are also some other clauses, that there would be no arms embargoes between the countries. That there would be a mechanism for and sharing intelligence, particularly on Turkey's security concerns regarding Kurdish groups.

And perhaps most controversially, Sweden and Finland said they would work towards a legal framework that would expedite the extradition of individuals that Turkey sees as working with these terror groups.

And I should point out, there is very specific diplomatic language in there. That's just vague enough for interpretation. Working towards, you know, could mean many different things for different countries. So, it's a win for all involved. But for Turkish President Erdogan, it's certainly a big win for the pub -- to bring to the public back home.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly, but as you point out the wording just vague enough. Atika Shubert for us in Istanbul, thanks very much.

Well, in a hastily scheduled appearance before the January 6th committee, a former top aide in the Trump White House testified that the then president and his inner circle were well aware of the potential for violence on January the 6th. Cassidy Hutchinson revealed stunning details of the events leading up to it during the attack on the capitol.

CNN's Pamela Brown has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUTCHINSON: As an American, I was disgusted.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Bombshell testimony from surprise witness Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

HUTCHINSON: That evening was the first moment that I remember feeling scared and nervous for what could happen on January 6.

BROWN: Hutchinson telling the committee White House officials knew something big was brewing for January 6th. Testifying that four days prior Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani told her Trump himself planned to go to the capitol on the sixth.

HUTCHINSON: We're going to the capitol, it's going to be great, the president is going to be there, he's going to look powerful.

BROWN: And when she approached Meadows for more details, she says Meadows gave an ominous response.

HUTCHINSON: He didn't look up from his phone and said something to the effect of, there's a lot going on, Cas, but I don't know, things might get really, really bad on January 6th.

[03:10:04]

BROWN: After things did get really bad at the capitol, according to Hutchinson, lead White House counsel Pat Cipollone pleaded with Meadows to get Trump to do something to stop it, saying -- HUTCHINSON: Mark, something needs to be done of people are going to

die and the blood is going to be on your effing hands. This is getting out of control.

BROWN: And even when the rioters began to chant.

CROWD: Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence.

BROWN: Meadows told Cippollone Trump believed Pence deserves it.

HUTCHINSON: Mark had responded something to the effect of, you heard it, Pat, he thinks Mike deserves it, he doesn't think they're doing anything wrong.

BROWN: Hutchinson said on January 7th Meadows encourage Trump to condemn the rioters to salvage his legacy.

HUTCHINSON: He's already talks about breaking his 25th amendment, you need this covered.

BROWN: And Hutchinson described seeing Trump express rage various times over stories regarding his 2020 election loss. One such time after his former attorney general told the Associated Press that he had not seen widespread fraud that would change the election.

HUTCHINSON: There's ketchup dripping down the wall and there's a shattered porcelain plate on the wall. The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general's A.P. interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall.

BROWN: A former Trump loyalist, Hutchinson testified that watching the violence and destruction unfold on January the 6th most devastating.

HUTCHINSON: It was unpatriotic, it was un-American. We are watching the capitol building get defaced over a lie. It's something that I -- I still struggle to work through the emotions of that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Another revelation coming from Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony is that Mark Meadows, her former boss and Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani sought presidential pardons related to January the 6th. Now we do want to note that Secret Service released a statement in the wake of the allegations that the former president lunged at the wheel in the presidential motorcade because he wanted to go to the capitol.

Now in response to that, the Secret Service says that it has been cooperating with the select committee since its inception in spring 2021, and will continue to do so, including by responding on the record to the committee regarding the new allegations surfaced in today's testimony.

Pamela Brown, CNN, Capitol Hill.

KINKADE: Earlier, I spoke to CNN analyst Ron Brownstein. He tells me the testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson is the most damning revelation from the January 6th hearings yet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: In fact, the two most damning and significant revelations were one, that Trump was clearly told that the crowd, included people who are armed, with a variety of weapons. And his reaction was both to try to take down the magnetometers that screen people, and still to send them toward the capital, fully aware that they -- that there were people in the crowd who were armed.

And the other of course which is the incredible detailed revelations that were as bad, maybe worse than it looked from the outside, that Trump was clearly informed during the day about the violence at the capitol and indicated through his chief of staff that he didn't want to do anything about it, that he did not think the rioters were doing anything wrong and that maybe Mike Pence deserved what they were chanting, hang Mike Pence.

KINKADE: I do want to ask you whether the Republican Party itself will say enough is enough and whether this will make it easier for Republican presidential hopefuls to challenge Trump should he try to run again.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, it is -- it is striking how few Republicans have validated the importance of these hearings. It's an enormous contrast with Watergate, where you had elected Republicans at every stage of the process saying yes, this is significant, yes, the revelations are important, ultimately it was Republican leaders who convinced Nixon that he had to resign.

We are not seeing that. So those Republicans in the party who do want to see it, steer way from Donald Trump, they are choosing to remain silent, to allow the loudest voices in the party to be those who are condemning or trying to, you know, discredit the hearing like the hosts on Fox.

But having said all of that, I do think that among the people who fund campaigns, among political leadership in the states, there are going to be more people who feel that Donald Trump is too tarnished after all of this to win the presidency again, along the lines that I was discussing a minute ago. And that will provide I think more support for other candidates.

And he said that he still has a lot of support in the party. And it's going to be challenging for anyone to deny him a nomination, not impossible, but challenging.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:15:00]

KINKADE: Ron Brownstein there. And he also says the house select committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol has laid the groundwork for the Justice Department to indict Trump, but we'll have to wait and see what happens. Well, still ahead on CNN Newsroom, new video of the missile strike on

that shopping mall in Ukraine, how the images appear to disprove Russia's version of events.

Plus, police make new arrests in the case of dozens of migrants found dead in a truck in Texas. We'll have the latest on the investigation when we return.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NELSON WOLFF, JUDGE, BEXAR COUNTY, TEXAS: Today we mourn for those 51 immigrants who came to us to breathe that fresh air. But instead, found death in the state of Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. A U.S. Homeland Security agent calls Monday's deadly migrant tragedy in southern Texas, quote, "the worst human smuggling event in the United States."

Here is what we know right now. Fifty-one people are dead after being found in sweltering conditions inside a semi-trailer in San Antonio. Officials confirmed citizens from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras were inside. Two Mexican nationals who authorities say were in the U.S. illegally have been arrested on firearm charges in the case, though they've not been directly linked to the migrant's deaths.

And the owner of a trucking company says the semi discovered by police had falsified I.D. info from one of his company's vehicles. Earlier I spoke with the immigration attorney about the risk migrants face crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

NATALIA TROTTER, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: We see a lot of smuggling rings that take advantage of people who are in vulnerable situations who operate across the border, or operate throughout Mexico and take advantage of people who are arriving in the U.S. border and who are in extremely situations of desperation and vulnerability and exploit their needs for protection.

And so we've seen this happen. And unfortunately, this is at a huge tragic level. But this is a situation that happens frequently at the border where these rings take advantage of people in need.

KINKADE: A Texas congressman says that this particular semi-truck went through a checkpoint near Laredo. And a drive from that city to San Antonio where the truck was found is just two and a half hours. Do you know what happens at these checkpoints? The truck doors opened and inspected?

TROTTER: It depends, sometimes they are, sometimes they are waved through. It's kind of an inconsistent process at this point. So sometimes people are stopped, and their papers are reviewed, and for these trucks are open, and simply people review. But oftentimes they are waved through.

[03:19:59]

So, unfortunately in this situation, these migrants weren't provided the necessary water and things that they should have at an earlier point.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, a vigil was held on Tuesday for the victims and there's now a memorial with crosses and candles near the bodies were found.

We have some dramatic video. New details about the deadly Russian strike on a shopping mall in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says these images show the moment when a Russian missile hit the shopping center, killing at least 18 civilians.

CNN cannot independently verify exactly what the missile is hitting this video. The drone footage shows that there is not much left of the mall.

Well, I want to go to Kremenchuk, Ukraine, CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us now live. Salma, the Ukrainian president is calling on the U.N. Security Council to stripped Russia of its permanent seat after this horrific attack on this shopping mall which left civilians dead. What more can you tell us about this attack?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, Lynda, when you look at the devastation, the ruins of this mall, it's hard to even tell it was a shopping complex. I'm just going to walk you through, so that you can get a sense of this rather horrifying scene. Right now, there are still cleanup operations ongoing. They have been going all the way through the night 24 hours, nonstop. Hundreds involved, police, firefighters, soldiers.

And it's dangerous clearing this rubble. Overnight, two people were injured by falling debris. I'm just going to walk you through so you can get a sense again of how decimated this building is. Russia hit it with a missile that is capable of carrying up to thousand-kilogram warhead, a missile that's usually used to takeout ships.

There's very little left of this building. That shows that it was a shopping mall. But you can see here just kind of the outlines of a shop there. We know so far 18 people killed; dozens more wounded. Several of them very seriously injured. But there's a lot of concern about the 21 who are still considered missing, Lynda.

Again, you look at this building and you can only imagine that authorities at some points are going to have to declare those missing dead. But what's worrying for their families, what's really scary here, is this devastation is so horrifying, that fire raged for so long after the missile strike, that there might not be remains left behind.

President Zelenskyy is clear. He says that this is a war crime. Now Russia claims it was hitting a weapons depot that had weapons from the United States and other allies but you can see here, this is obviously a mall. That's why President Zelenskyy says Russia is targeting civilians. He wants the U.N. Security Council to take action. He is calling for Russia to be made listed as a state sponsor of terror.

Now, none of that is likely, but this is a continuation of something we've seen, Lynda, over the last few days. As world leaders have gathered for the G7 and now the NATO summit, as President Biden has met with his counterpart, what Russia has been doing is escalating its attacks here in Ukraine, showing that it can hit the country anywhere, anytime, Lynda.

KINKADE: Yes, certainly absolutely frightening, devastating scenes, just incredible seeing it there. Salma Abdelaziz, our thanks to you.

Well, Ukraine's first lady tells CNN that it's been very difficult to hold on for five months of war. And people can't see an end to the suffering. Olena Zelenska spoke to our Christiane Amanpour, an international TV exclusive. She says many Ukrainians has thought the war would be a sprint. But now they realize it's more likely to be a marathon. And she talked about how it has affected her family, as well as people across her country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: First Lady Olena Zelenska, welcome to our program.

OLENA ZELENSKA, FIRST LADY OF UKRAINE (through translator): Hello, Christiane, and thank you for inviting me to do this interview.

AMANPOUR: Well, I'm really happy to talk to you. But obviously, it comes at a very sad moment for you, for your country and a moment where yet again everybody realizes that anybody can be a target. After that missile attack on the mall, Kremenchuk, you know, nearly 20 people dead. What is your reaction to that? How are ordinary people reacting to that?

ZELENSKA (through translator): Well, of course, we cannot react in any other way than be shocked. This is indeed terrorism. We cannot call this any other name. Yesterday, in Kremenchuk, more than 1,000 people were in the shopping mall. This is an ordinary shopping mall. There were children and adults there.

[03:25:04]

And you just said how many people died, we still don't know that final number. We are all shocked. And unfortunately, we are shocked yet again in this war. We were shocked many times. I don't know what else the occupiers can shock us with.

AMANPOUR: So, let me ask you, it is now into the fifth month of this war. Your husband, the president, told the G7 leaders that this war had to be ended by the end of this year. Can I ask you about morale? Your morale, your children's morale, the people's morale because everybody has been so impressed by the heroic resistance that Ukraine has mounted. But what is the morale five months in now?

ZELENSKA (through translator): You know, in the first week and months, we were like sprinters. We were doing a short run at high speed. We gave it 200 percent. But now, everybody now is running a marathon. We need to calculate our strength. We need to hold on, as you said it's very difficult to hold on for five months. We cannot see physically or mentally. We cannot see the end of our suffering. So, we need to accumulate our strength. We need to save our energy. And all Ukrainians must do it.

And it's very difficult for all of us. And, we need -- we are trying to find joy in simple things. Maybe stroke a cat or do something simple. But we're all looking -- we all look forward for this war to end.

AMANPOUR: That's really poignant what you say, try to do simple and beautiful things. How do you specifically feel about your safety? We know you told us when we last talked over e-mail in April, that at the beginning of the war it happened. You barely able to say goodbye to your husband. He sent you and the kids somewhere else in Ukraine to be safe.

Now, I understand you can come back to Kyiv more often, more regularly. How do you specifically feel about yours and your family safety?

ZELENSKA (through translator): Yes, fortunately, those two months when I didn't see my husband at all that's in the past, I can see him sometimes for a short time and not very often. But I can physically feel him next to me. This isn't normal. It's not a normal relationship when children cannot see their father and have to talk to him on the phone. So, our relationship is on pause, just as it is for many, well, all Ukrainians.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: We can watch more of Christiane Amanpour's interview with the first lady of Ukraine any time at cnn.com.

Still to come, Turkey's drone has played a critical role in Ukraine's fight against Russia. Now they are back in focus as leaders meet at the NATO summit. We'll explain why.

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

In the coming hours, U.S. President Joe Biden is set to meet with his Turkish counterparts from the sidelines of a NATO summit just one day after Turkey agreed to support Finland and Sweden's NATO membership bids. And with that move, Turkey could be set for potential windfall from the sale of its homemade drones.

CNN's Nina dos Santos explains. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Bayraktar TB2, Turkey's most effective drone and one of its president's most assertive foreign policy tools. With NATO members meeting in Spain, Turkey's leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan is lobbying hard to lift embargoes on Ankara's weaponry.

Just as he held out against Sweden and Finland joining the bloc into obtaining security guarantees at the 11th hour. Finland had previously hinted that it would potentially buy Turkish drones if admitted to the alliance. While the U.K. may be the next to acquire them according to Turkey's industry minister.

It's moves like these that have revamped the image of Turkish drones, one subject to embargoes due to their use in contentious conflict including in Africa.

ULRIKE FRANKE, DRONE ANALYST: The image of drones in general has changed overtime, there really have been these waves of moment where -- moments where drones were seen as a negative and evil, and now indeed in Ukraine they're seen as a really important systems to be used by Ukraine against the Russian invasion.

DOS SANTOS: Turkey's drones have become such a called military item that they've inspired this pop song filmed on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The Turkish economy may be stuck in the doldrums but sales of drones have soared since the war in Ukraine started, meaning a boom for the drone's maker Baykar, co-owned by Erdogan's son-in-law, which last year's posted record profits. But will Turkey's drone diplomacy, as it's being called, work?

FRANKE: One of the reasons why Turkey has started its drone program was indeed that it couldn't buy armed drones and others around from, especially the United States because the United States didn't want to export them. And then on the back of it, it realizes, well, I can also export these systems to countries that may also not get American or Israeli or indeed now Chinese systems.

DOS SANTOS: With the second largest army in NATO, Turkey is an unlikely country to be focusing so heavily on unmanned combat. But with drones like these for sales, one of Turkey's priorities at NATO is putting more of them on the market.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: And Nina dos Santos joins us now live from the capital of Lithuania, and Clare Sebastian is standing by for us in London. I want to start with you, Nina. You are in the capital Lithuania where people have purchased Turkish drones.

DOS SANTOS: Yes, that's right. These drones are so cheap and so effective and have proved their worth on the Ukrainian battlefield that Lithuania that feels great solidarity with the people of Ukraine has decided, at least from a civilian perspective, to raise several million dollars to buy one of these Bayraktar drones to gift it to Ukraine.

Now in a great P.R. win for the Turkish president linked firm that makes these Bayraktar drones, they actually got winded this early and gifted this drone and said to the Lithuanian people well, save your money and send it to Ukraine for other types of munitions that they so badly need.

But it just goes to show how Turkey has been increasingly aggressive in these unmanned aerial vehicles space which has proved so effective and change the dynamics of wars that we are seeing today not just here in eastern Europe, but also in places like Libya and North Africa, and of course in Ethiopia as well.

[03:34:51]

This has changed the image of these drones and it's also given the Turkish president a lot more leverage of the international stage. And that is part of the backdrop, too, what happened at NATO yesterday evening when he dropped his concerns against Sweden and Finland's accession to this alliance.

Now, the backdrop of these NATO meetings is also keenly felt here in this part of Europe because we are literally on the border between Russia and the Kremlin's allies in Belarus. That means that NATO later on today is likely to announce that it's going to be beefing up the two presences in places like Lithuania where I am, very, very significantly over the next few years. What will that mean? It will mean of course more weapons that will need to be given to countries like Lithuania and other Baltic states to try and protect from Russian aggression.

That weaponry obviously as we've seen in the context of Turkish drones, and also U.S. fighter jet programs that say Turkey itself has been frozen out over the recent years and others bone of contention for the Turkish president is also highly politicized. And that is something the people here of the eastern flank of Europe also know very, very well. Lynda?

KINKADE: Yes, no doubt of all, very fascinating piece. Nina dos Santos, our thanks to you.

I want to go to Clare Sebastian in London. It's hard to believe, Clare, that earlier this year Russia is claiming it had no plans to invade Ukraine. And obviously, at the time Russia was concerned about NATO expansion. Russian officials were meeting with NATO officials. If anything, though, Putin's invasion his war in Ukraine has strengthened NATO.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, undoubtedly, Lynda. The sharp turnaround that we've seen from Finland and Sweden that the membership of Finland, in particular will double the land border between NATO and Russia, this is the exact opposite of what Russia wanted. In terms of the response to what we're seeing, that Turkey removing

its objection to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, not sort of overt shows of anger as such from Moscow, but they are not leaving this unanswered. We heard from the Kremlin on Tuesday that the ministry of defense is working out plans to strengthen Russia's western borders in view of NATO expansion.

The former president, Dmitry Medvedev who is now the deputy head of Russia's Security Council, he sort of, played down somewhat in a newspaper interview that he gave this week. He said that Finland and Sweden won't threaten us with anything especially new, he said if they feel better and safe from joining the alliance. They are welcomed. But he did make a specific threat about Crimea, he said that if any -- if there's any NATO sort of any attempt to encroach on Crimea by NATO, he said that would constitute World War III.

So that was a pretty serious threat, although he has sort of a recent history of somewhat sensational comments. As of President Putin, though, he is on his first foreign trip. He was in Tajikistan on Tuesday. He's now in Turkmenistan today, an emphasis there on regional alliances that show that he is not left friendless by this conflict. Lynda?

KINKADE: Yes, certainly trying to shore up any allies that he has. Our thanks to you, Clare Sebastian for us in London. We are going to take a quick break. We'll be right back, stay with us.

[03:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. Security is being ramped up in Hong Kong ahead of a visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday to mark 25 years since the city's handover to China. But years after Beijing promised Hong Kong would retain its freedoms, many China critics now wonder how much autonomy is really left.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After Margaret Thatcher reached a deal with the Chinese on the return of Hong Kong, a local reporter took the iron lady to task.

UNKNOWN: You've signed an agreement to China promising to deliver over five million into the hands of a communist dictatorship.

LU STOUT: Thatcher claimed that mostly everyone in Hong Kong was happy with the deal and told Emily Lau.

MARGARET THATCHER, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: You made the solitary exception.

LU STOUT: So, what do you make of that answer today in 2022? EMILY LAU, FORMER JOURNALIST: Many of the journalists who

subsequently stood up, they asked similar questions. So even in that room I wasn't a, quote, "solitary exception."

LU STOUT: July 1, 2022 marks exactly halfway through 50 years of the one-country two-systems autonomy Beijing promised to Hong Kong at the 1997 handover. It aims to preserve the city's freedom of expression and assembly, as well as its institutions including an independent judiciary.

But in the wake of the 2019 protests, pressure on the city's freedoms intensified, thanks to a new national security law. Supporters say the law ended the chaos of 2019 and restored order. But it did more than that. Scenes of mass protests like this are no more. At least 186 people have been arrested under the law included a 90-year-old Catholic cardinal.

The opposition is virtually wiped out with many of the city's pro- democracy figures in jail or exile. Politically-charged artworks like the Pillar of Shame Tiananmen Memorial have been removed. Dozens of civil society groups, including the city's largest independent trade union have disbanded.

And national security investigations have led to the shuttering of news outlets like the Apple Daily. When asked about charges of diminished freedoms, a Hong Kong government spokesman told CNN that many freedoms and rights are not absolute and can be restricted for reasons including protection of national security and public safety.

So, as former security chief, John Lee, prepares to lead the city from July 1, what is left of Hong Kong's promised autonomy?

JOHN BURNS, EMERITUS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: We have autonomy in religion, in education, in media, including social media, in the internet, in how we manage our civil service. The second system is still here and it is functioning. It's under stress.

LU STOUT: Lau has always been a skeptic of one-country two-systems, as a reporter, a lawmaker, and former chair of the Democratic Party.

LAU: I will not say that one-country two-systems is completely finished. The fact that I can stand here in the Democratic Party office to talk to you shows that there is some freedom. And there are some differences, but they are getting less and less.

LU STOUT: Lau says that she is staying in the city to support her friends and colleagues in prison, abiding by her mantra.

LAU: Be bold, be wise, and be careful.

LU STOUT: Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, thanks so much for joining me. I'm Lynda Kinkade. My colleague Max Foster has more news in just 15 minutes. But first, Inside Africa is next.

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(INSIDE AFRICA)

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