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Russia's War On Ukraine; Extreme Weather; Monkeypox Outbreak; Coronavirus Pandemic; Reproductive Rights; Monarchs At Risk Of Extinction. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired July 24, 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]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us. here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, there's international outcry after missiles strike Odessa's port right after an agreement to ship much-needed grain.

California's governor declared a state of emergency as a wildfire nears Yosemite and it rages uncontained.

It is a scene playing out in parts of Europe. The toll of record breaking temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere. Details in a live report from Rome, plus the forecast from the CNN Weather Center.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM. With Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: We begin in Ukraine, which says its food export agreement is still on, despite a Russian military strike on its port city of Odessa. The strikes came just one day after Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement in Istanbul, which would allow Ukraine to resume grain exports, which much of the world desperately needs.

Now condemnation of the attack has been swift, with Britain saying Russia's word can't be taken at face value.

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LIZ TRUSS, U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY AND MINISTER FOR WOMEN AND EQUALITIES: It is absolutely appalling that only a day after striking this deal, Vladimir Putin has launched a completely unwarranted attack on Odessa.

It shows that not a word he says can be trusted. And we need to urgently work with our international partners to find a better way of getting the grain out of Ukraine that doesn't involve Russia and their broken promises.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: The U.S. secretary of state echoed the sentiment saying, quote, "This attack casts serious doubt on the credibility of Russia's commitment to yesterday's deal. Russia bears responsibility for deepening the global food crisis."

The European Union also condemned the attack. So for the latest, CNN's Ivan Watson is in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine. And Nada Bashir joins us from Istanbul.

Starting with you, Ivan, condemnation has come quickly and strongly. Take us through the fallout of this attack.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Ukrainian officials across the Ukrainian government denouncing this. And it has been particularly striking. Just earlier this week I covered the aftermath of another Russian missile strike in a different part of Odessa.

But what was telling here was that it was the actual port that was hit. As Ukrainian officials said, a pumping station -- and the Ukrainian president said that there was also damage to some of the historical buildings in this kind of cultural icon of Ukraine, to the Odessa museum.

Take a listen to an excerpt from what the president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said last night.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today's Russian missile attack on Odessa, on our port, cynical. It turned out to be a blow to Russia's political position. If anyone in the world can still say that some dialogue with Russia and some kind of agreement are needed, see what has happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: The denunciations have also been echoed by the U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, who says these attacks cast serious doubt on the credibility of Russia's commitments.

The European Union's foreign policy chief also condemning the attack. And it's important to note that we got a statement from Ukraine's deputy minister of infrastructure.

Despite the strikes on the Odessa port, on Saturday, he says that a technical group meeting of this new grain agreement that was signed Friday evening will, in fact, be happening today in Istanbul.

He went out to say that the grain export infrastructure in the Odessa port was not damaged. But among the things to be discussed at this meeting in Istanbul, which presumably would include Russian representatives as well as Ukrainians, would be the discussion of the attack on Odessa.

A final point is that the Ukrainian foreign ministry is now putting pressure on both Turkiye and the U.N., who kind of mediated this agreement on Friday, for them now to hold Russia to account for this alleged missile strike.

[03:05:00]

WATSON: They're saying, it is up to them now to make Russia respond for what they say is this attack on their port. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, so for the Russian side of this, let's go to Nada Bashir in Istanbul.

What has been the response from Russia and from Turkiye, which helped broker the deal?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, there is always a lot of skepticism around how this deal would be implemented and whether it could be implemented successfully, particularly, because there was no hard cease-fire agreed on Ukraine's southern Black Sea port.

Although it was understood that both Russia and Ukraine had agreed to not undertake any attacks on civilian vessels or commercial vessels or on port infrastructure involved in this grain initiative.

So seeing this attack less than 24 hours after that deal was signed here in Istanbul, is a real blow to months of mediation and negotiation brokered by the Turkish government and the United Nations.

And now, of course, there is mounting pressure on the Turkish government to prove that this deal can work, that it can be implemented successfully.

And we heard from the Turkish defense minister reacting to these attacks yesterday. He expressed Turkiye's concern and said that the Turkish government was disturbed to see this attack launched so soon after the agreement had been signed.

But according to Turkish officials, Russia has reached out to Turkiye and denied any responsibility for this recent attack. Take a listen.

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HULUSI AKAR, TURKISH DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): The Russians told us in no uncertain terms that they had nothing to do with this attack. They are monitoring the situation very closely and in detail.

It really concerned us that such an event happened after we signed a deal on grain shipments. We are disturbed as well. But we continue to fulfill our responsibilities in this agreement. And we also expressed in our meetings that we are in favor of the parties to continue their cooperation here calmly and patiently.

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BASHIR: Now there is pressure mounting on Turkiye to hold Russia to account. This is not the first time the Russian government or defense ministry has denied any involvement in civilian targeting in Ukraine, contrary to the evidence on the ground.

Now it is up to Turkiye to establish its joint coordination center here in Istanbul to oversee these grain shipments. And of course, to ensure that these shipments are carried to a safe corridor without the risk of being targeted by Russian forces. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much.

Finally, Ivan, just looking at the state of the battlefield, what is the latest from the southern front in Ukraine?

WATSON: It continues to be active with strikes taking place on both sides of the front lines. The Ukrainians claim they captured a small village in the occupied -- largely occupied Kherson district. They also claim to have carried out long distance strikes against suspected Russian ammunition depots and collections of Russian troops.

Meanwhile, the Russians continue to pound this front line city of Mykolaiv in the south with cruise missiles, hitting it early in the morning on Saturday, then in the evening. And then there were explosions reported before dawn this morning again after the evening strikes.

They were still trying to figure out if there were any civilian casualties with the school hit and so on. I returned to the city of Zaporizhzhya where I'd been in March and April, which was much quieter, much more subdued. There were strict curfews. Most of the businesses were closed.

And what is remarkable, in the month since then, since April, is much more of it is open right now. People feel more comfortable, even though cities like this are only about 30 kilometers from the front lines.

And I think that says something about the confidence people have in the Ukrainian military and its rings of security and bunkers to stop a potential Russian ground offensive. That does not apply, however, to the Russian cruise missile strikes, which rain down daily across Ukraine, on Ukrainian towns and cities.

BRUNHUBER: That's interesting. Thanks for the updates to you both. Ivan Watson in Zaporizhzhya and Nada Bashir in Istanbul.

Well, the war's a daily fact of life for almost every Ukrainian, regardless of how far he or she is from the fighting. But in Russia, it is a very different story.

So joining me now from St. Petersburg is Andrei Kolesnikov. He's a senior fellow and chair at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Thanks so much for being here with us. I want to talk about this attack on Odessa. You start to see now, plenty of people in Ukraine and in the West speculating about Vladimir Putin's motives.

Why would Russia attack Odessa less than 24 hours after signing an agreement on grain?

I'm wondering what you think is behind this?

ANDREI KOLESNIKOV, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: It is Putin's typical message that the war is going on.

[03:10:00]

KOLESNIKOV: And he meant, by this, that this simply an agreement, which would work for sure. But he will behave like he wants. This is the perfect demonstration of his personal attitude toward Ukraine, toward any kind of agreement, peace agreements, trade agreements, whatever.

BRUNHUBER: So I wonder how this incident is being covered in Russia.

Are they just framing it as, we didn't do it?

It's just another case of Ukraine attacking itself?

Or is it just not being covered all?

KOLESNIKOV: It is covered but in a very specific way. Frankly, I don't follow official television and I really don't know how they interpret it. But usually it looks like a bunch of light or self justification or something like that or simply demonstrating that the targets were strictly military and not civic.

BRUNHUBER: More broadly, I mean, you have recently written about the atmosphere there in Russia. It sounds as though, for the most part, Russians, you know, it is just business as usual for them. Give us a sense of Russia at war right now.

KOLESNIKOV: It is a contradictory story, because it was, at the very beginning it was a real shock for the majority of Russians, including those who are supporting Putin. But now, this is like five months of this war.

And ordinary Russians realize that the special operation is not going to be over anytime soon. And they prefer to survive simply, to live life as usual. So Putin doesn't lead them into trenches. He didn't announce any kind of general military mobilization.

And it was the right step because people feel themselves in safety. All the young boys and families could be in danger. But the Kremlin is intuitively (ph) feeling that it must demonstrate that this is not a real war but a special operation.

And people in cities, in big cities, can't leave their own everyday life. This is kind of a business as usual for them. People are accepting it, that this is kind of a social contract between the authorities and average Russians.

BRUNHUBER: So then, when it comes to Putin himself, I mean, it is always hard to gauge his popularity accurately, given the amount of repression, lack of media independence and so on. But how has his popularity fared as this war has dragged on, now for

months, much longer than most Russian s would have expected?

KOLESNIKOV: The people are disoriented. They can't understand how to explain it to themselves what is happening. They prefer to borrow the opinion from official sources, from Putin himself. Putin is a teacher of history, he's the main (ph) teacher at the same time. So being so -- yes?

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KOLESNIKOV: And I would say that people prefer to support the war leader. Putin's strength is that (ph) his personal authority, paradoxically, (INAUDIBLE) primarily because he demonstrated that only he is a person who is controlling the situation.

And to the broad (ph) masses of people who understand they can't see any kind of alternative figures, they see that they are in safety, being defended by Putin. So we are talking about (INAUDIBLE) majority, not about the Russian people as such because around 15 percent or 20 percent of the population are strongly against the (INAUDIBLE).

When we're talking about figures, this is simply -- this is not political phenomena, I would say; this is psychological (INAUDIBLE) on how to defend yourself, how to explain to yourselves this is a disaster and how to calm down your own feelings.

I don't want to see any kind of alternative sources. I believe to my president (INAUDIBLE) this is my country. This is one of the most, let's say, popular positions.

BRUNHUBER: We will have to leave it there. But really appreciate getting an insight into Russia right now as it goes through this war, a completely different experience obviously from that of millions of Ukrainians.

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BRUNHUBER: Andrei Kolesnikov in St. Petersburg, thanks so much.

Two Americans recently died in the Donbas region of Ukraine. That's according to the U.S. State Department. There are no details on the individuals or circumstances of their deaths.

But the State Department says it is in touch with families in providing assistance.

A major heat wave isn't letting up in the northeastern U.S. In fact, the worst may be yet to come. We'll look at how cities are adjusting to blazing temperatures ahead.

And it's not just the U.S. facing these sweltering conditions. Temperatures are also soaring across parts of Europe and China. We'll have a look at the forecast after the break. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: You're looking at what is now a two-day old wildfire near Yosemite National Park in California. Fire officials say the Oak fire involved almost 12,000 acres by Saturday. That is about 5,000 hectares.

Authorities say at least 10 structures have been destroyed with another five damaged.

A major heat wave isn't letting up in the northeastern U.S. New York City will likely hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit for six consecutive days.

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BRUNHUBER: It's the city's longest streak in nine years. And Philadelphia and Boston are set for some of their hottest temperatures in decades this weekend. CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sunday will bring another challenge for people throughout the eastern parts of the United States do anything they can to keep cool, especially in the Northeast, where heat advisories and alerts will remain in place in major cities like Boston, Philadelphia.

And here in New York City, that yearly triathlon has been scaled back considerably as the cycling and the running portion of it has been shortened. The concern there is over potential heat related illness.

Also, similar concerns the city of Boston, where their triathlon has been scheduled for next month instead of this Sunday.

We do know that cooling centers are set up about the area. The New York City area offering people a way to keep cool. We will be seeing now this heat wave potentially last into next week, which will be one of the longest lasting heat waves that we've seen in recent times -- Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

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BRUNHUBER: Flash flooding in southern Iran has killed at least 21 people. Officials say two others are still missing. Video from local media shows cars being swept away by the rising waters, as you can see there.

Officials say at least 15 vehicles were submerged by the floods. Iran has been suffering some of its worst drought conditions in decades, which dries out the soil, making it harder to absorb sudden heavy rainfall.

It's of the just, the U.S. dealing with the scorching hot temperatures. In China. More than 50 cities are currently under red alert, the country's highest heat warning. Temperatures in those areas are expected to spike above 40 degrees Celsius.

And in Europe, millions of people are sweltering under dangerously high temperatures. The brutal heat wave sweeps the continent. The soaring temperatures are also fueling wildfires in several countries.

On Saturday, firefighters in Greece worked to contain a fire that broke out inside a national park. With more let's bring in CNN's, Barbie Nadeau, in Rome.

So Barbie, more than 1,000 heat deaths; raging fires, as I just spoke about. Take us through how Europe is being hit by all of this.

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, they're getting a little bit of relief in the northern part of Europe but southern Europe's still sweltering. And there's just no end in sight.

We're talking about maybe some storms next week. But for the most part, people here in the south part of Europe are suffering. And these temperatures just aren't giving any relief at all.

So people are doing everything they can. They change a lot of daily activities just to stay indoors. A lot of people don't have air conditioning. And it has just been really difficult, especially on the elderly and on the vulnerable.

BRUNHUBER: It is not just discomfort and danger, right?

This extreme heat and the fires. All of this is taking a toll on European economies as well.

NADEAU: That is right. The economic cost of these wildfires is starting to grow. It started to make news around Europe. A lot of these forests have burned -- for the beekeepers in Greece or the violin makers in northern Italy, they're going to suffer economic losses.

And there's a lot of livelihood lost. And it costs a lot of money to fight these fires. We're seeing thousands of firefighters out there, working in very difficult conditions. And they need equipment, they use gas. Gas prices are rising. All those things are having an impact as well.

That is a very worrying thing especially if the fires continue. Many of them are contained but not many of them are extinguished.

Britain Sounds like things are getting worse for a lot of people. Barbie Nadeau in Rome, thank you so much.

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BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber. For those of you here in North America, CNN NEWSROOM continues after a quick break. For international viewers, "INSIDE AFRICA" is next.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States and Canada. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

The World Health Organization is declaring the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. According to the agency, there have been more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox in more than 75 countries and five deaths in Africa. The director general explained why the WHO was making this designation.

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DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: WHO's assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region, where we assess the risk is high.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: WHO also cautioned against being passive about preventing measures -- preventive measures, saying vaccines can take up to three weeks before they're fully effective.

Earlier, we spoke with Dr. Jorge Rodriguez and asked him if these increasing case numbers are just the tip of the iceberg and who's most at risk?

Here he is.

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DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST AND VIRAL RESEARCHER: I believe, unfortunately, that it is. And if you look at the mathematics of this, the curve is growing exponentially.

Now the next month is going to tell a lot. If the efforts that are being done in the United States and throughout Europe to vaccinate populations that are at greater risk, if those work and if the education, for example, what we're doing now, if this works, we should see a plateauing of the cases.

So again, we started with this a lot more quickly than we did with COVID. And it is a different virus that doesn't spread as quickly.

So do I think it's the tip of the iceberg?

Yes, I think there will probably be tens of thousands more cases of monkeypox.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Who is most at risk of getting the virus?

And since mask-wearing won't necessarily protect you in the monkeypox situations, what can the general public do to protect itself?

RODRIGUEZ: Well, first of all, everyone is at risk of getting monkeypox. Where it is being seen now most predominantly is in men who have sex with men, bisexual men, transgender men.

This is not because there is anything inherent in that population. Let me just say that. But I, as a gay man, am saying that this is not something that is just in gay people. And if people think that, then we're going to be in a lot of trouble because anybody that is in close contact with anyone else, listen, an epidemic has to start somewhere.

And in this case, the majority of them, maybe it's because of June being gay pride throughout the world and there were a lot of celebrations and that's where it started. But what people need to do is they need to be careful not to be skin-to-skin with anybody that may have fever, chills, sore throat, that has blisters.

And, you know, and be careful that way. Also, if you are someone that has multiple sex partners, this may be the time, you know -- not maybe. This is the time to probably cut that back considerably. So it is with human interactions that monkeypox is spread. And it is a very close contact that spreads it.

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BRUNHUBER: And he added that the designation from the WHO is important in raising awareness about how quickly the virus is spreading and the need to take action now.

The number of global COVID cases fueled by the BA.5 subvariant is on the rise. You can see on this map the virus is surging, especially in North Africa, Asia and Latin America. Our health reporter Jacqueline Howard has more.

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JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Tokyo, people go about their daily lives. Japan was looking forward to a rise in tourism during the summer months as its economy struggles to get back to prepandemic levels.

But a recent uptick in COVID-19 cases is spoiling those plans. Out of the country's 47 prefectures, 30 reported daily new highs. This is Japan's seventh wave of coronavirus. And the government says it doesn't plan to bring back any COVID rules.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): As for the rapid spread, I think that maybe, since the spring, everyone has calmed down and gone back to normal. So it was predictable, to a certain extent.

HOWELL (voice-over): And it's not just Japan. Many parts of the world are seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases.

[03:35:00]

HOWELL (voice-over): Health officials are blaming a combination of relaxed social restrictions, as well as the spread of Omicron subvariant BA.5. It's more transmissible than the original Omicron variant and is now the dominant strain.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: And this variant does seem to be pretty different than previous variants, which means that your previous immunity, either from infection or from vaccine, may not be as protective.

HOWELL (voice-over): In the United States, infections are on the rise in at least 40 states. And hospitalizations have jumped 20 percent in the past few weeks. More than 1 million Americans have died of the virus since the pandemic started.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We probably are currently seeing somewhere between 600,000 and 800,000 new cases per day, most people being tested at home. So there's a tremendous amount of virus around. What's worse is that there's no sense of urgency in this country.

HOWELL (voice-over): Europe is not just battling a heat wave. The number of COVID-19 cases there has tripled in the past six weeks. That's according to the World Health Organization. Nearly 3 million new infections were reported the week of July 10th.

DR. HANS KLUGE, WHO EUROPE: The virus has never gone away. People sometimes ask, is the virus back?

It's never gone away, it's still there, it's spreading, it is mutating. And unfortunately, it's still taking a lot of lives.

HOWELL (voice-over): Health experts are urging people to get vaccinated, warning that if you haven't gotten a COVID-19 vaccine this year, you're not protected against serious illness from the new variant -- Jacqueline Howard, CNN, Atlanta.

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BRUNHUBER: President Biden's physician says his symptoms continue to improve following his COVID diagnosis on Thursday.

Dr. Kevin O'Connor says Biden has a sore throat, runny nose, body aches and a loose cough. And he's using an inhaler as needed. The doctor also says the president has completed his second full day of Paxlovid, the antiviral COVID drug. According to the White House, Biden is still working and participating in virtual meetings.

U.S. lawmakers are working on a bill to protect same-sex and interracial marriage under federal law after the reversal of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court.

The Democrat led House passed the Respect for Marriage Act this week but it faces uncertainty in the Senate. Daniella Diaz has more.

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DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now that this legislation has passed the House, it goes to the Senate, where Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has already taken procedural steps to advance this legislation that would codify same-sex marriage in the United States and make it federal law.

Remember, because of how the Senate works, even if all 50 Democratic senators support this legislation, there needs to be at least 10 Republicans to sign on and advance this to break that 50-vote threshold for the filibuster.

Right now we know of five Republicans who have said that they plan to support this. Those are Rob Portman of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

We also know of eight Republicans who will not support this legislation as well as 15 Republican senators who have not yet said where they stand on the issue.

But, look, it's because there's still not enough votes. It's unclear when the vote will be scheduled but the clock is ticking. Democrats were hoping to put this on the floor for a vote before they leave for a month. Both chambers leave for August recess.

And of course, the closer that this vote is to the midterms, the more Democrats could use this as a midterm rallying call, to get voters to turn out, which is why they're trying to do this before Republicans can't support this.

It's incredibly notable that there is even discussion that Republicans could support this legislation, considering that just a few years ago there was almost unanimous opposition against same-sex marriage across the entire Republican Party.

So just in the last few years, that has changed. It is incredibly telling, because 47 House Republicans supported this legislation when it went to a vote in the House last Tuesday. So it really shows how this issue has changed in the party.

That is why Democrats want to codify same-sex marriage. But as I said, the clock is ticking and Democrats are hoping they can pass this legislation, as well as other packages they want to pass, including legislation that would increase production of semiconductor chips, a priority for both parties, and a separate economic package that would pass along party lines.

So, of course, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer still hoping that they can do that before August recess. But it remains to be seen -- Daniella Diaz, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: We're already seeing the result of controversial rulings the U.S. Supreme Court has already made, overturning Roe v. Wade, which protected abortion rights.

[03:40:00]

BRUNHUBER: How abortion laws are creating medical nightmares for women who suffer miscarriages. Ahead, a report on one woman's ordeal in Texas.

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BRUNHUBER: A man suspected of attacking a candidate for governor in New York state has been arrested again on a federal assault charge. Evan Perez has details.

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EVAN PEREZ, CNN SR. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Federal authorities have arrested and charged a man accused of trying to assault New York congressman Lee Zeldin on stage at a campaign event.

David Jakubonis is charged with assaulting a member of Congress with a dangerous weapon. Zeldin is a Republican, running for governor of New York. The suspect made his first appearance in federal court on Saturday, on a charge filed by the U.S. attorney for New York's Western District.

He was initially arrested on Thursday on New York state charges. And he was quickly released, which prompted criticism, given the nature of the attack. A photo of the alleged weapon shows an apparent keychain device with two sharp points, that the FBI describes as a self-defense weapon.

Video of the attack shows the suspect holding the object in his hand as he gets up on stage to confront Zeldin before being tackled by other people at the event.

According to the federal criminal complaint, the suspect allegedly told the FBI that he had consumed whisky on the day of the attack and that he must have "checked out," as he walked on stage and asked if Zeldin was disrespecting veterans.

He told the FBI that he did not know who Zeldin was at the time. He's an Army veteran, who served in Iraq in 2008 and 2009. He is next scheduled to appear in federal court on this charge on Wednesday -- Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris held the latest in a series of listening sessions with state lawmakers on the Biden administration's efforts to preserve abortion rights across the country.

[03:45:00]

BRUNHUBER: During the meeting in Virginia on Saturday, the vice president again reiterated the president's support to temporarily suspend the filibuster in the Senate in order to pass legislation on abortion and voting rights. Over the past two weeks Harris has held similar meetings in Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and North Carolina.

In states that ban abortions, there are questions about whether doctors can legally perform procedures to help pregnant women who suffer miscarriages, because those procedures can also be used in abortions. For one Texas woman, the anti-abortion law forced her to carry her dead fetus for two weeks. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has the story.

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ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marlena Stell and A.D. DeSilva have always wanted a little brother or sister for their daughter Adelina. Instead, what they got was a nightmare because of a Texas anti-abortion law.

MARLENA STELL, WAS REFUSED MISCARRIAGE TREATMENT: I get so angry that I was treated this way because of laws that were passed by men who have never been pregnant and never will be.

COHEN (VOICE-OVER): Stell's nightmare started out as a dream come true. After months of trying she became pregnant late last summer.

STELL: We were super-excited because we didn't think I could get pregnant.

COHEN (voice-over): An ultrasound at 7 1-2 weeks showed all was well. But at an ultrasound two weeks later --

STELL: She said there is no heartbeat. There is no viable pregnancy. COHEN (voice-over): Stell asked her doctor for standard treatment --

a surgery to remove the fetal remains. She says her doctor refused. That surgery, commonly known as a D&C, is the same procedure used to abort a living fetus.

STELL: She said, well, because of the new law that's passed you're going to have to get another ultrasound for me to be able to even do anything for you.

COHEN (voice-over): Overwhelmed emotionally and physically --

STELL: The pain would get so severe it would be hard to walk.

COHEN (voice-over): -- she went to get a second invasive ultrasound at an imaging center, describing it later in a YouTube video.

STELL: Someone shoves a wand in my sensitive area and tells me hey, you lost your baby again. I shouldn't have to go through that twice.

COHEN: So you had to hear it twice that you lost a baby?

STELL: It's gut-wrenching. Sorry.

COHEN: That's OK.

STELL: Because you already know what you're going to see. It's just like seeing it twice and being told that you're not going to be a mom.

COHEN: Even after that second ultrasound --

STELL: Yes.

COHEN: -- would your obstetrician give you the surgical procedure?

STELL: No, no.

COHEN (voice-over): Stell had to get yet another ultrasound showing her dead fetus.

COHEN: So you were walking around carrying a dead fetus?

STELL: And just emotionally carrying it around and just knowing that there's nothing you could do, it just feels very -- it's like I can't grieve or most past is because I'm just walking around carrying it.

COHEN (voice-over): Dr. Lillian Schapiro has been an OB-GYN in Atlanta for more than 30 years.

COHEN: When a woman is walking around with a dead fetus for weeks because she can't get a surgical procedure, what's the danger to her?

DR. LILLIAN SCHAPIRO, OBSTETRICIAN-GYNECOLOGIST IN ATLANTA: She can develop an infection that can make her sterile and never able to have children again.

COHEN (voice-over): Or even worse --

SCHAPIRO: When the baby dies inside, the baby starts to release parts of its tissue that can get into the mother's blood supply. And it can cause organ failure. It can cause death.

COHEN (voice-over): In Texas and some other states, a doctor who does the right thing and surgically removes a dead fetus could be vulnerable to an expensive lawsuit.

STEPHEN VLADECK, LAW PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS: Any private citizen can walk in the court and say I think Dr. Smith performed an abortion.

COHEN (voice-over): And citizens are incentivized to bring such cases. They can win more than $10,000. And even when doctors can prove the fetus was dead, the doctor still has to be responsible for their own legal fees.

VLADECK: They're going to lose even though they win and that's the chilling effect. They face this specter of potentially endless, ruinous litigation that they just can't stop. They can't avoid. They can't preempt.

COHEN (voice-over): As I spoke with Stell, I thought back to how between my second and third children I had a miscarriage that was handled very differently.

COHEN: They saw there was no heartbeat. They did a D&C. It allowed me to move on quickly and get pregnant again. And then I got pregnant again, too.

SCHAPIRO: Right and that's great. And that is the story that we want to hear from people.

COHEN (voice-over): Stell was not so lucky. She did finally manage to find a doctor to perform her D&C but it took two weeks. She worries the nightmare could happen to her again.

COHEN: Are you trying to get pregnant again?

STELL: No.

COHEN: Why not?

STELL: I'm worried about getting infected, have something happen to me and then my daughter's left without her mom.

COHEN (voice-over): Now they are contemplating moving away from Texas -- away from their extended family -- just so they can try to get pregnant again.

[03:50:00]

COHEN (voice-over): Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Conroe, Texas.

BRUNHUBER: We'll be back after a short break.

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BRUNHUBER: The beautiful migrating monarch butterfly is now at risk of extinction. The nation population of the colorful insect has dropped dramatically over the past decade. The reason: climate change. But experts say there are steps that can protect them before it's too late. Matt Rivers explains.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The migratory monarch butterfly is one of the world's natural wonders, known for flying thousands of kilometers from breeding grounds in the eastern United States and Canada, to spend winter in the forests of Mexico and California.

[03:55:00]

RIVERS (voice-over): But that awe-inspiring migration is officially at risk. On Thursday, the International Union for Conversation of Nature -- or IUCN -- declared the migratory monarchs endangered and added them to its Red List of threatened species.

KAREN OBERHAUSER, CONSERVATION BIOLOGIST: What's happening to monarchs is like death by 1,000 cuts.

RIVERS (voice-over): The classification comes after decades of falling populations, in part due to climate change.

OBERHAUSER: Monarch numbers are really tied to variation in year-to- year weather. And the conditions that are best for monarchs are becoming more rare. So the hot and dry conditions are not good for them through most of their range.

RIVERS (voice-over): But climate change is just one factor. The IUCN says deforestation has destroyed considerably areas of the monarchs' winter shelter in California and Mexico. And farming has also had a major impact, with pesticides and herbicides used throughout monarch breeding grounds, killing the main source of food: milkweed.

OBERHAUSER: There actually used to be a lot of the monarchs' host plant, milkweed, in corn and soybean fields. But as farmers changed their weed control methods, that milkweed disappeared. And because much of the breeding range of monarchs is used for farming, a lot of that habitat has just gone out.

RIVERS (voice-over): Experts say there are still ways to protect them, from planting native milkweed and nectar flowers, reducing pesticide use and supporting conservation groups. But these things must be done quickly, if the butterfly is to be saved; now, formally, one step further on a path toward extinction -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.

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BRUNHUBER: That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber and I'll be back in just a moment with more news. Please do stay with us.