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Hong Kong Marks 25 Years Since British Handover; Russia Claims Military Gains in Eastern City of Lysychansk; Polish Woman's Family Says Her Death Should be a Warning about Abortion Restrictions; Italy Experiencing Worst Drought in Decades. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired July 01, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm John Vause.

[00:01:17]

Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, the ties that bind. Twenty-eight -- 25 years on since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, and President Xi Jinping makes no apologies for China's iron grip growing tighter.

They did it again. Less than a week after a packed shopping mall was hit by a Russian missile, now, a residential building in Ukraine has been targeted.

And climate crisis. The worst drought in 70 years has hit Italy's agricultural heartland and threatens the existence of one of the country's major waterways.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: It has been 25 years since the former British colony of Hong Kong was returned to China. It's also the halfway point in Beijing's promise of one country, two systems, a commitment to allow Hong Kong to keep the freedoms and liberties which were enjoyed under British rule.

On his first trip outside the mainland since the beginning of the pandemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Hong Kong for the swearing in of the city's new chief executive, John Lee. During his public remarks, Xi praised the city's response to COVID and defended the controversial national security law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): To those who support one country, two systems, support the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, whether you're from Hong Kong or from overseas, thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Earlier, the new chief executive took the oath of office, replacing Carrie Lam. John Lee is a former police officer and chief secretary of security, where -- and is credited with the harsh crackdown on anti-government protestors in 2019.

This historic day began with the flags of Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China simultaneously raised side by side.

CNN's Ivan Watson is in Hong Kong. We have Will Ripley standing by live in Taipei. And Steven Jiang also live for us with the view from the Chinese capital.

Ivan, we'll start with you. For those of you playing along at home, there were a lot of indications, a lot of less-than-subtle hints about the direction Hong Kong will be taking in the years to come. Some of those hints came from President Xi. Many came from his functionary, the new chief executive, John Lee.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's true. Here, you had Xi Jinping on his first trip outside of mainland China here to Hong Kong, repeatedly invoking this unusual formula: one country, two systems.

So as part of the arrangement, Hong Kong is supposed to be the freest corner of modern-day China, a place with a mini constitution, where there's supposed to be freedom of expression, and political parties, and demonstrations, and free press. Well, that's not exactly true today.

Newspapers have been shut. Opposition politicians have been rounded up and arrested, and you cannot have the protests, which welcomed Xi Jinping five years ago, his last visit here.

All of that has basically been smothered and crushed. And Xi Jinping is celebrating that in his remarks, saying that the chaos is now behind Hong Kong; and now that it's being ruled by patriots and only patriots can rule this place, Hong Kong can continue with its capitalist system and contribute to growth of China as a whole.

And he did send some messages, I think, to the international business community that he wants this to continue to be an international business hub.

[00:05:06]

The -- one of the problems with that suggestion, though, is that Hong Kong is one of the most isolated places in the world right now because of Beijing's zero-COVID policy, which means that not only does Hong Kong have some of the strictest quarantines in the world for international travelers.

But you also can't cross the boundary to mainland China. And as a result, it's hard to do international business here when you can't move around the world with the rest of the world having moved on from this.

So this is a vastly different Hong Kong that -- that Xi visited. It is also one that he did not apparently feel comfortable spending the night in. He arrived on Thursday afternoon, made some remarks, made some visits

to some places, and then went back to mainland China to spend the night before coming in for a few hours to swear in this new government -- John.

VAUSE: Yes, that trip to Shenzhen to spend the night across the border seemed very, very odd and doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. But I guess maybe we will find out why in the days to come.

Let's go to Will now in Taipei. Among some of the more notable comments from the new chief executive, was the way he was talking about the challenges which Hong Kong has faced in recent years. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN LEE, HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE (through translator): Hong Kong has experienced different challenges, including global financial crisis, and illegal occupation central, and also the social unrest in 2019, the foreign interference threatening stability in Hong Kong and the national security of China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It was that last bit. It was the bit where he was talking about social unrest and the foreign interference threatening the national security of China.

The fact that he decided to voice this conspiracy theory during his inaugural address kind of says a lot about how he plans to deal with unrest and dissent in the future, doesn't it?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is the belief of the pro-Beijing side, that countries like the United States, money flowing from Taiwan, money and ideas flowing into the protesters in Hong Kong and that somehow, their actions were orchestrated by these capitalists, you know, Western or Western-allied places and nations.

In the case of Taiwan, trying to claim Taiwan as its own territory, but Taiwan has had its own government for more than 70 years.

But the point is, they believe that it was that the protestors were being influenced by the outside, kind of ignoring the fact that you can Google how to do a lot of the stuff that they were doing.

And for those who were covering on the ground, it felt like an organic movement, where people were texting on Telegram and gathering here and gathering there. It is very spontaneous. It didn't seem to, you know, be orchestrated from a reporter's perspective, anyway.

But that's the belief, is that -- is that when they say colluding with foreign forces, you know, if somebody gave an interview to a foreign news outlet, that could be considered potentially colluding with foreign forces.

Certainly, in the case of Jimmy Lai, that was one of the things that they said when they wanted to charge him.

You know, he said that Hong Kong is going to become the envy of, you know, Western nations. But there aren't a lot of people in cities where they actually have freedom to express themselves and to gather in groups and protests. There's not a whole lot of envy there.

A cultural hub. Hong Kong was a cultural hub when -- before the restrictions, you know, required content creators to essentially muzzle themselves. What is the cultural hub going to be now?

And then, of course, you mentioned housing, which is true. You know, and that's probably one thing that China really can deliver on, is to get better quality housing for people in Hong Kong, because they did it in China. They did it very quickly. A lot of people in Hong Kong, low-income people, do need better housing.

And so that will be a big, probably, selling point that they'll use to try to win over the many, many people in Hong Kong who are very suspicious of the government, who don't trust the government, haven't trusted them since 2019, since those protests; and now are watching their city's new ruler, you know, proclaim that this is going to -- things are going to change.

And for those who can't flee, those, you know, expats leave, people move out, but there are a lot of people in Hong Kong. This is their place where they live. This is their life. This is the rest of their life moving forward. This is the system they're going to live under.

And after having spent the first part of their life in a very different, very kind of colorful and -- and flowing and energetic place, and now you're going to move into something more like the mainland, some people might thrive in it, and others might find it to be absolutely difficult.

I think I've talked to people on all sides, John, and this is the reality. This is happening. You know, it's been said by President Xi this is happening. And you should voluntarily, people of Hong Kong, go along with this, because if you do that, you're going to have an exciting life. And if you don't, well, you saw what happened to all of the activists. More than 150 activists, politicians who have been put behind bars -- John.

{00:10:0]

VAUSE: Yes. John Lee also notably said that they'd perfected the electoral system, a man who was elected with 1,400 votes, 99 percent of them by a select committee.

Let's go to Beijing now. Steven Jiang, our Beijing bureau chief, standing by there are now, as well.

You know, this is Xi Jinping, all powerful, all glorious, you know, more powerful than Mao in many ways, taking a victory lap, mission accomplished there in Hong Kong. And he looked very imperial, if you like, you know, like the emperor. The Hong Kong legislature there, the new government, the officials, lined up one by one and bowed before him and then bowed to the audience. You know, this is a man who is very much, it seems, at the peak of his power.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: That's right. So powerful, yet his officials that he just censors don't seem to be confident enough to let viewers here in China to hear what Ivan and Will have to say. Because here, they see a censored screen, colored bars with the message, "No signals, please stand by."

But I think Xi Jinping has sent a very clear signal to his audience that, you know, of hailing the "one country, two systems" formula as an internationally recognized success. Which of course, many people around the world would beg to differ.

But the thing is, you know, many people, including those in Hong Kong, have been mourning the loss of freedoms and civil liberties. But those in the eyes of Beijing are considered positive changes, as Ivan was saying, because only this led to the restoration of stability and order in the territory, putting it back on track in terms of a path towards prosperity. That's the Beijing narrative, not only by officials and state media, but also believed by many ordinary citizens who have been bought into the Xi Jinping brand of patriotism and nationalism.

So that's why, increasingly, we've been hearing this term of Hong Kong's second return, meaning back in 1997, China regained sovereignty over Hong Kong. But now the power -- not the power to govern because of all those opposition figures, not to mention so-called subversive and hostile forces in the territory.

But now, with all of them being wiped out, Hong Kong has finally become a truly Chinese city, thanks to the iron fist of Xi Jinping. And that, of course, in their mind, is a very good thing.

And that's why even though Xi Jinping did not overnight in Hong Kong, I think he would very much feel at home in Hong Kong, a city increasingly in lock step with Beijing politically, economically, ideologically, not to mention the security and COVID rules.

And it's real interesting, because on top of Xi Jinping's speech, he made a reference to the British rule of Hong Kong being one example of China's century of humiliation. Obviously, only the Chinese Communist Party changed that.

But that's also why, not surprisingly, Hong Kong textbooks now no longer allowed to call Hong Kong a former British colony because, in the orthodox Chinese Communist Party view, China has never formally ceded sovereign of Hong Kong to -- to Great Britain. So the U.K. was merely illegally occupying the territory for over century.

So all of those are just another reflection of how Xi Jinping's ideology of reasserting the party's absolute control over every aspect of society and over every corner of the country has now very much extended to Hong Kong.

And he obviously needs this as he prepares to take an almost unprecedented third term as China's top leader later this year -- John. VAUSE: It is all very Orwellian in nature, in so many ways. Steven --

Steven Jiang in Beijing, Will Ripley in Taipei, Ivan Watson in Hong Kong, thanks to you all. We appreciate you.

Yair Lapid is spending his first day as Israel's new prime minister, following the Knesset vote to dissolve Parliament. After the dissolution, he symbolically switched seats with his predecessor, Naftali Bennett. The two later held a handover ceremony in the prime minister's office in Jerusalem.

Bennett's stint as prime minister was one of the shortest in Israeli history, but he says he's happy to hand the job over to his former foreign minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAFTALI BENNETT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): This is a very special role. And this state, it does not belong to one person. It belongs to all the people of Israel. And I'm passing to you this holy baton and the responsibility for the state of Israel. And I wish that you will protect it, and God will protect you.

YAIR LAPID, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): And we have a commitment to the past, and we have a commitment to the future. We have brought the future with us. And we will do our best for a good, strong, prosperous and democratic Jewish state, because that is the job, and it is greater than any of us.

Thank you, my brother.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Lapid will act as caretaker prime minister until elections November 1. That will be the fifth time in less than four years Israelis are headed to the polls.

When we come back, a small rocky outpost in the Black Sea once again back under Ukrainian control. We'll explain why recapturing Snake Island is so important to Ukraine.

Also ahead, the U.K. announces a major infusion of military aid and equipment to Ukrainian forces. Those details also after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:17:18]

VAUSE: NATO leaders have ended an historic summit in Madrid, declaring the alliance to be bigger, stronger, more united than ever. NATO's secretary general called it a victory and proof the alliance has the ability to adapt to a changing world.

NATO has invited Finland and Sweden to join, promised more military support for Ukraine, and will prop up its security presence in Europe in order to put more pressure on Moscow. In his statement, U.S. President Joe Biden offered little hope the

conflict between Ukraine and Russia will end anytime soon. But he did emphasize the Ukrainians can count on NATO.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are going to stick with Ukraine, and all of the alliance are going to stick with Ukraine, as long as it takes.

When the war will and, I hope it ends sooner than later. But for it to and, they have to be in a position where the -- the Ukrainians have all that they can reasonably expect we can reasonable expect to get them in order to prevent -- provide for their physical security and their defenses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: That continued Western support is crucial as Ukraine struggles through one of the most difficult periods of this four-month-old war.

The U.K. on Thursday pledged another $1.2 billion in additional military aid to Ukraine, including air defense systems, drones and, quote, innovative new electronic warfare equipment.

This brings total British commitments to $2.8 billion, second only to the United States.

Meantime, Russia continues to fire missiles, rockets and artillery at civilian targets with pretty much abandonment. At least 14 people reported killed early Friday when missiles slammed into a residential building in Odessa.

In the Donbas, Russia claims it's captured half of the city of Lysychansk, including the local oil refinery. Ukraine disputes that, say it still controls some of the industrial site.

Just down the coast from Odessa, Russian forces have now been driven from Snake Island after weeks of Ukrainian attacks. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the significance of retaking this tiny piece of real estate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Snake Island is a strategic point. It significantly changes the situation in the Black Sea. It does not yet guarantee security. It does not yet ensure that the enemy will not come back. But this significantly limits the actions of the occupiers. Step-by-step, we will push them back from our sea, our land, and our sky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN's Scott McLean has late details reporting in from Kyiv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the battle for Ukraine's Eastern Donbas region, the Ukrainians are losing ground slowly.

The Russians continue to borrow the city of Lysychansk, making escape for those who remain extremely difficult or even impossible.

[00:20:05]

Farther West, the search for bodies at a bombed-out shopping mall in Kremenchuk seems equally hopeless, as people lay flowers for those found dead and those who may never be found at all.

But Ukraine can claim one victory on Snake Island. The rocky outcrop in the Black Sea near Odessa now back in Ukrainian control, thanks to an overnight artillery assault that forced the Russian occupiers to flee.

NATALIA HUMENYUK, SPOKESWOMAN, UKRAINIAN MILITARY SOUTHERN COMMAND (through translator): The Russians truly understood that they had to do the right thing, gather that things and got out as soon as they could.

MCLEAN: The Ukrainian military released this video showing recent strike in its weeks-long campaign to take back the island. New satellite images show the scars of war left behind, but no Russians.

Russia claims it withdrew from the outpost as a goodwill gesture to Ukraine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This solution will prevent Kyiv from speculating on an impending food crisis, citing the inability to export grain, due to Russia's total control of the Northwestern part of the Black Sea.

MCLEAN: In response, the Ukrainian foreign minister tweeted that "The Russians always downplay their defeats this way. Partners should not be wary of providing Ukraine with more heavy weapons so that we liberate more of our lands."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: I am a Russian military ship. Put down your arms and surrender.

MCLEAN: Snake Island has played an outsized role in the war, from the very first day, when a Russian warship ordered Ukrainian troops stationed there --

GRAPHIC: Put down your arms and surrender or you will be bombed.

MCLEAN: -- to surrender and got this response.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Russian warship, go (EXPLETIVE DELETED) yourself. MCLEAN: Since then, that defiant response has been immortalized in a postage stamp, reprinted on every kind of souvenir, and is still a source of national pride.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will never give up, you know, like never, ever. You know? Like the people from, like, Snake Island, they knew this is, like, a fight they cannot win, right, but there were still like, "(EXPLETIVE DELETED) you."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It would be great if the next Russian goodwill gesture would be Putin shooting himself in his bunker.

Scott McLean, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: With me now from Los Angeles, Daniel Treisman, a professor of legal science at UCLA and coauthor of the book, "Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century."

Daniel, thank you for being with us.

DANIEL TREISMAN, PROFESSOR, UCLA: Thank you.

VAUSE: Let's start with Snake Island, OK, because Ukrainian President Vladimir Putin [SIC] said in his nightly address on Thursday that Snake Island is free again. Russia called it a strategic withdrawal.

And you know, there are two things going on here. This is a key location, at least if, you know, you believe what the Ukrainians are saying, and that's sort of, what, a big win on the battlefield.

But there's also the P.R. value of taking back this island, you know, where a handful of Ukrainians told the Russian warships to go "F" themselves. So which is the bigger point here?

TREISMAN: Well, I think strategically, it is important that there aren't Russian missiles being fired from there.

But I think the Russians have basically decided that there isn't going to be an amphibious assault on Odessa, which is what the presence as Snake Island seemed crucial for.

So we're seeing withdrawal there, retreat, which is definitely a credit to the -- to the Ukrainian forces. And as you said, tremendous symbolism.

But it really fits into the general picture that we've seen, of Russians focusing really terrible force on the East and South and withdrawing from the further more extensive objectives that they started out with in Kyiv and ultimately Odessa and the whole Southern coast.

VAUSE: Yes. This is the new sort of concentration on Donbas is grinding along and making some incremental gains. All the time, though, we're hearing from Joe Biden about the unity

among NATO members. We're also hearing there, as well, from the NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: We live in a more dangerous world, and we live in a more unpredictable world. And we live in a world where we have, actually, hot war going on in Europe, with large- scale military operations we haven't seen in Europe since the Second World War.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, the reality is among NATO members, there is agreement and there is compromise, but that is not unity. It's a long way from unity, in many ways.

Vladimir Putin, what would he be making of this talk of unity? Is it something which, you know, is convincing him that NATO is more united than ever?

TREISMAN: I think he really doesn't believe it. He's -- I'm sure he's been quite disappointed and surprised by how much unity there has been.

[00:25:00]

But I think he always anticipates that it's going to prove temporary. That the divisions are going to emerge again. And of course, that's what he's working on in every way he can, through influence networks and through his strategic choices.

So he's hoping anticipating that the Germans, and the French and the Italians aren't going to go soft, and this current determination to support Ukraine will wear out and transform into war fatigue over the next month or two.

VAUSE: You may recall on Sunday, Prime Minister Trudeau and Johnson of the U.K. and Canada, poked a little bit of fun at Vladimir Putin and his shirtless horseback riding pictures. Well, Vladimir Putin has decided to hit back. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I don't know if they wanted to strip down to the waist or below the waist. But I think it would have been a disgusting sight either way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I guess a little bit of fun in the midst of a war. But we have Putin now sort of traveling around central Asia, meeting with leaders and sort of looking, you know, very much presidential in many ways.

This is, though, pretty much an image right now, how long can this sort of we are find, everything is going great guns in Ukraine, how long can that continue for?

TREISMAN: Well, we'll have to see. It depends on the state of the economy. And I think at the moment, Putin is feeling relatively pleased that he's managed, or I should say, his economic team, has managed to stabilize the Russian macro economy in the short run, so the ruble had stabilized. They're still making more in revenues from oil and gas exports, and they were last year.

So despite the sanctions and everything else, they're OK in the short run in that respect. But at the same time, we see huge disruption in the -- in the real economy.

So car factories are having to close down. Steel production has gone down maybe 25, 30 percent. Lumber is down 80 percent.

So it's -- there will be a delayed reaction when they get past the first few months and they have to start laying off large numbers of people.

And we're in that intermediate period, where Putin is trying to put on a brave face and look presidential, as you said, look -- and project this image of normality and calm and control, because that's what he needs to project to Russians at home.

VAUSE: Yes, those sanctions, I guess, are going to do so much long- term damage. And when they kick in, they will kick in in a major way. But we will wait to see what happens with that.

Daniel, thank you so much. Daniel Treisman there in Los Angeles.

TREISMAN: Thank you.

VAUSE: When we come back, a new U.S. Supreme Court decision now makes it harder for the Biden administration to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Also ahead, a woman whose sister-in-law died because of Poland's strict abortion laws believes her death should be a warning. That heartbreaking story in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:26]

VAUSE: Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as the newest U.S. Supreme Court justice Thursday, making history as the first black woman to ever serve on the nation's highest court.

After law school, she clerked for three judges, including Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, the man she replaces on the bench. She was confirmed by the Senate 53 to 47 in April, but did not start the job until Thursday, when Breyer officially stepped down.

Also on Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled the White House can end the so-called "remain in Mexico" immigration policy. This Trump-era administration rule required some migrants to wait in Mexico, while their asylum cases were heard.

The Department of Homeland Security applauded the ruling and quoted a 2021 memo by the DHS secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, saying "the prior administration's Migrant Protection Protocols has endemic flaws, imposes unjustifiable human costs, and pulls resources and personnel away from other priority efforts to secure our border."

But the court did deal a blow to fighting climate change by curbing the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants.

The defeat for the Biden administration efforts to slash emissions amid growing concerns about global warming. A source tells CNN the agency will still take steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, in spite of the ruling.

Gavin Newsom, governor of the country's most populous state, California, weighed in on the decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): If you don't believe in climate change, you've got to believe your own eyes. Come to California. The extremes, extreme weather, extreme heat, extreme drought and, of course, the ravages of the wildfires. The idea that the U.S. Supreme Court moved to take away one of the most significant and historically powerful tools to address the ravages of climate change is incomprehensible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And courts in at least two U.S. states are taking issue with new laws aimed at limiting abortion.

In Kentucky, a state court issued a restraining order, targeting two laws restricting abortions around six weeks of pregnancy.

And a Florida judge ruled a new state law banning abortion at 15 weeks is unconstitutional.

This comes a week after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which nearly 50 years ago, made abortion in the United States legal.

While at the NATO summit in Madrid, the U.S. president criticized the high court's decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: The one thing that has been destabilizing is the outrageous behavior of the Supreme Court of the United States in overruling not only Roe v. Wade but essentially challenging the right to privacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Outrage over strict abortion laws isn't only being found in the U.S. Poland has one of the toughest abortion policies in Europe, a near total ban, even in cases of fetal defects. The only exceptions are for rape, or incest or the mother's life is at risk.

But even that last exception is no guarantee, as one Polish family found out. CNN's Melissa Bell has our story from Warsaw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A grave in Southern Poland that should serve as a warning, says Barbara Skrobol that, in trying to protect the unborn, Poland is now sacrificing the living.

Barbara's sister-in-law, Izabela, desperately wanted a sibling for her 9-year-old daughter, but at 18 weeks, prenatal tests showed the fetus had severe abnormalities and would live no longer than a year.

"They went to the doctors and asked if they could terminate the pregnancy," says Izabela's sister-in-law. "They said no. Then, as she was looking to travel abroad, her waters broke."

BELL: Abortions in Poland have been illegal for nearly 30 years with just three exceptions: cases involving rape or incest, those involving a woman's life being in danger, or fetal abnormalities.

That third exception, which had accounted for 90 percent of all known abortions, was struck down in 2020 by the country's highest courts. There were massive protests, with polls showing just one in ten people supported the move.

There's also concern within the medical profession here in Warsaw.

BELL: Abortions are now only possible in Poland in cases of rape, incest, or where the life and health of a woman is clearly in danger. And that is open to interpretation.

It also places a great deal of power in the hands of doctors.

BELL (voice-over): And some are too scared now to help even those women who are in danger.

MAGDALENA DUTSCH, WARSAW WOMEN'S INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH: I talk with my friends when they tell me, Listen, I have this patient yesterday who should have an abortion due to legally allowed reasons, but I was afraid to give her information where she can get it, because I was afraid that someone might consider this as a breach of law.

[00:35:16]

BELL (voice-over): The last Izabela Sajbor's mother heard from her was a series of texts she sent from hospital when her waters broke at 22 weeks.

"The doctors can't help, as long as the fetus is alive, thanks to the anti-abortion law." Worrying that her fever was rising and hoping that she wouldn't get sepsis, because then she wrote, "I won't leave this place." She died about 12 hours later.

Thousands took to the streets under the banner, "Not a Single Woman More."

Her family's attorney says she died of a heart attack on her way to surgery, after the baby died, but an official cause of death has not been released. It is now part of a criminal investigation, say prosecutors.

The hospital denies malpractice, saying in a statement, "All medical decisions were made taking into account the legal provisions and standards of conduct in force in Poland."

The hospital also says the two doctors on duty at the time have been suspended.

It's unclear why Izabela's doctors did not perform an abortion.

In response to questions from CNN about the tightened ban, the government said that the termination of a pregnancy remained legal in Poland where a woman's life is in risk.

But Izabela's family believes her fetus's faint heartbeat prevented her doctors from acting in time. The two now share their final resting place beneath the gravestone that bears the slogan, "Not a Single Woman More."

Melissa Bell, CNN, Warsaw.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: When we come back, climate crisis in Italy's agricultural heartland. The worst drought in 70 years means crops could fail; livelihoods are at risk; even waterways could disappear, raising concerns there's worse to come on a warming climate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: For the fourth day, power shortage warnings have been issued for parts of Tokyo. Officials urged households and businesses to go dark Thursday to conserve electricity use amid a surge in demand because of the heat wave, which is straining the power grid.

[00:40:05]

An unexpected power plant shutdown has also affected millions of people.

This is Tokyo's hottest June since records began. Temperatures topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That's around 38 degrees Celsius.

In Italy, it's not just the heat, but the country is now in the middle of an historic drought, with far-reaching impacts.

CNN's Barbie Nadeau has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The River Po, which runs from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea, usually floods the land, but this year is far below normal and dropping fast.

The river is the longest in the country, some 650 kilometers and whole regions rely on it for a hydro power and transport. 30 percent of Italy's food is produced an agricultural land that lies on either side of this river.

And the area is suffering the worst drought in more than 70 years.

The situation is the same across Northern Italy, where some communities are already rationing water. Here on Simona Minelli's (Ph) dairy farm, things are dire.

As he watches the water level of the Po River drop, he worries about the future of this family farm. He's fearful he will have to cut the size of his herd.

SIMONE MINELLI, FARMER (through translator): We will see. We will see. We are living day-by-day. It's logical when you don't have enough feed for the animals you have. You have to reduce.

NADEAU: The cattle are even sprayed with water to keep them cool in the stifling heat.

He tells us that water is fundamental to his operation, especially for the production of milk. And the milk from these cattle needs to meet a very high standard to be awarded the seal of authentic Parmigiano Reggiano parmesan cheese from this region.

All this sand used to be underwater. Now Minelli and his friends need to walk far to reach their boat.

Further up the river, this pumphouse supplies water to 150,000 people. Ada Giorgi (ph) has been the president of this local water consortium for the last 20 years. Her customers still have water, but she has never seen the pump in such distress.

To keep the water pumping, they have to move the riverbed away from the intake. They have also had to add one liter of pipe to lower the pumps as the river drops. She blames climate change.

ADA GIORGI, PRESIDENT, WATER CONSORTIUM 'TERRE DEI GONZAGA": We are missing rain. There's no snow. There are high temperatures. This creates the famous perfect storm, and we are in an extreme crisis.

NADEAU: And the forecast doesn't look good. For centuries, people who have lived along this mighty river feared it would destroy their crops and homes. Now, they fear it will disappear entirely.

Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, on the River Po, Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. I'll have a lot more CNN NEWSROOM at the top of the hour. In the meantime, please stay with us. WORLD SPORT is up next after a very short break. See you soon.

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