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During Protests, Home of a French Mayor was Attacked; France's 5th Night of Unrest Saw 719 People Detained; Interview with France 24 Senior Correspondent Catherine Norris Trent; Police Shooting a Teenager Causes Unrest in France; In Light of Unrest, Macron Cancels His Trip to Germany; Continued Demonstrations by Tens of Thousands Against Judicial Reform; Sources: Trump Urged Governor of Arizona to Look Into Election Fraud; At a Rally, Trump Criticizes Investigations; July 1st, DeSantis's Signed Florida Laws Come Into Force; 4th of July Celebrations in U.S. Cities Get Underway Early; Parts of the U.S. Expected to Experience Record Temperatures and Severe Storms; For the Fourth of July, Millions are Expected to Travel; Travelers Prepare for Potential Weather Delays; Interruptions Around the Fourth of July Anticipated by Airlines; U.S. Spy Agency's Recruitment in Russia; Supreme Court's Stunning Shift to the Right; Russia's War on Ukraine; Ukraine: Attack in Kyiv Overnight, Every Drone was Destroyed; Ukraine's Military Trains Behind Lines of Danger; Hotel Workers' Strike Looms; LGBTQ Rights Suffer a Setback, Affirmative Action Gutted, and Plan to Reduce Student Debt Blocked by Conservative Majority; U.S. Shifts to the Right After Three Landmark Decisions; Texas Sends 41 Migrants to Los Angeles; Pressure Mounting on Commercial Real Estate Market; Maternal Mortality Crisis in the U.S.; Interview with Stanford University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Dr. Irogue Igbinosa; Not Your Grandfather's Artwork. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired July 02, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

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[04:00:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: And welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on "CNN Newsroom".

A mayor in France says, he was the target of an assassination attempt as the country endures another night of protests. We're live in Paris with the latest.

Donald Trump's campaign responds to the latest allegations of election meddling as the former president targets familiar foes on the campaign trail.

Plus, from extreme heat to severe storms. We'll look at what much of the U.S. faces this holiday weekend and how it might affect any travel plans.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN center, this is "CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber." BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll have those stories in a moment. But first, we're following police reports of a mass shooting in Southern Baltimore. Now, the exact number of casualties is still unclear, but it appears there are multiple fatalities and dozens of people wounded. We are expecting a news conference and we'll bring you the latest details as soon as we get them.

For a fifth straight night, France has been gripped by heated and sometimes violent protests sparked by the failed police shooting of a 17-year-old boy. In a Paris suburb of l'Hay-les-Roses, the mayor has reported an assassination attempt on his family. He says, a group of people rammed a car into his home, injuring husband wife and one of his children. It happened overnight as protests raged across the country. Police detained more than 700 people, some of whom set fires, overturned cars, and damaged buildings in response to last week's shooting of Nahel (INAUDIBLE).

Now, let's get more from Catherine Norris Trent, a senior correspondent for France 24. So, first of all, what's the latest on this alleged attack on the mayor?

CATHERINE NORRIS TRENT, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, FRANCE 24: Hi, Kim. Yes, this is a major story that is unfolding here in France. We've heard, overnight, from this mayor of a suburb south of Paris, l'Hay- les-Roses, who says that his wife has been taken to hospital, and one of his two young children injured in this attack, which he branded an assassination attempt. He said that around 1:30 a.m., a group of people rammed a car into his home and set it on fire, while he, himself, was away working at the town hall. So, he has condemned this attack in strongest violence and the strongest terms.

And we've seen a number of city halls and towns in France being the target of attacks out of anger from the rioters. Some of them have been set on fire. Some of the property has been damaged. This is something that people here in France are watching very closely as symbols of the French state, as authority have been coming under attack with this outpouring of public anger and rioting.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. So, with all of these protests, more pressure is mounting on President Macron to do more.

TRENT: That's right. And he has canceled a state visit to Germany, which he was supposed to be embarking on this Sunday. This was a major date in his diary. So, it just shows the kind of pressure he is under to try and dampen down this violence.

Now, the French government hasn't yet invoked a state of emergency, emergency powers, which it could use. They've drafted in 45,000 police officers to towns and cities across France to try and contain the rioting, but they are under pressure to do more, especially from the far right of French politics. We've had Marine Le Pen, who's the leader of the national rally party, the far-right party, calling for local curfews to be put in place and people from across the political spectrum calling for calm.

But we've seen although perhaps overnight from Saturday into Sunday was a little calmer than previous nights, there were still more than 700 people arrested and disturbances across the country in various towns and cities. So, the government is, no doubt, going to be holding more crisis talks on what they can do to try to contain the anger. We know Emmanuel Macron has called on social networks to stop publishing some sensitive content, as he said, calls for people to gather together and protest or riot. But it remains to be seen what action will be taken on that front.

BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll keep monitoring this story throughout the day. Catherine Norris Trent, thank you so much.

[04:05:00]

And then in the next hour, I'll speak with Rokhaya Diallo, a journalist and filmmaker. And I'll talk to her about the language some in France have used to describe the protesters and how this unrest compares to the protests here in the U.S. over George Floyd's death.

The cries for democracy continue in Israel. Tens of thousands took to the streets yet again to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposed judicial reforms. The demonstrations are now in their 26th consecutive week, and come days after lawmakers began debating the bill that would limit the Supreme Court's powers. The protesters thronged at the heart of capital -- of the capital, Tel Aviv, waving Israeli flags and chanting "Democracy."

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).

CROWD: (Speaking in a foreign language).

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BRUNHUBER: Just days ago, Netanyahu said he had dropped the most controversial aspect of the plan which would allow lawmakers to overturn Supreme Court rulings. But critics say, the new bill would still open the door to corruption and weaken Israel's democracy.

The Trump campaign is pushing back against reporting that says the former president targeted Arizona in his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Donald Trump lost the state to Joe Biden by fewer than 11,000 votes. A source tells CNN, the current Republican front-runner pressured Arizona's governor to help overturn his loss in that state. A Trump spokesperson responded saying, "These witch hunts are designed to interfere and meddle in the 2024 election in an attempt to prevent President Trump from returning to the White House."

CNN's Jeremy Herb has details from New York.

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JEREMY HERB, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Sources telling CNN. new details about President Trump's efforts to pressure Then-Arizona Governor Doug Ducey after the 2020 election. President Trump had a phone call with Governor Ducey that we previously knew about, but Governor Ducey had not shared details about what President Trump told him. Now sources tell CNN that President Trump pressured the governor to try to find enough fraud in the state to overturn the election in Arizona.

Sources also tell CNN new details that President Trump tried to enlist his vice president, Mike Pence, in this effort. Vice President Pence, he called Governor Ducey several times after the 2020 election to discuss the election. But a source tells CNN that Vice President Pence did not follow through with the request to pressure the governor. And this all comes as Special Counsel Jack Smith is ramping up his investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including some of those efforts by the president and his allies to reach out to state officials.

Now, the governor's spokesperson, he downplayed the significance of this call to us. Saying in a statement to CNN, frankly, nothing here is new nor is it news to anyone following this issue the last two years. Governor Ducey defended the results of Arizona's 2020 election. He certified the election, and made it clear that the certification provided a trigger for credible complaints backed by evidence to be brought forward. None were ever brought forward.

Now, the spokesman also told CNN that the special counsel's office has not reached out to Governor Ducey to set up an interview and talk about this call. The special counsel did interview this week another state official, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about the call that he had with President Trump in 2021 about finding enough votes for the president to win the election in that state. Jeremy Herb, CNN, New York.

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BRUNHUBER: Now, none of all of these seems to phase Donald Trump, including those special counsel and Georgia investigations, 37 felony charges related to classified documents, a New York indictment related to a hush money payment, and losing a $5 million defamation case, in which a jury said it believed he committed sexual assault.

The former president held one of his signature rallies on Saturday, his first since those felony indictment. Thousands of his supporters turned out in sweltering heat to hear him blast the charges and the investigations, Joe and Hunter Biden, and his top Republican rival, and his top Republican rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Here he is.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Never forget, our enemies want to stop me, because I am the only one who can stop them. They want to take away my freedom, because I will never let them take away your freedom. I will never let it happen.

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BRUNHUBER: DeSantis' home State of Florida is one of several states instituting a raft of new laws with the start of July from tighter restrictions on abortion and gender-affirming care, to hours that minors can work, to carrying firearms. A new legal landscape is taking shape across the country. As Isabel Rosales reports, few states are instituting the number of new laws that Florida is.

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ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some of these laws have certainly garnered national attention, and some have been the focus of lawsuits. Supporters of these laws say that they make Florida safer and they protect individual rights, while critics of these laws say that they are attacking already marginalized communities.

[04:10:00]

Let's get into immigration. Three of the laws that I'm highlighting here, starting with Senate Bill 1718, and here's what it does. It forces companies with 25 employees or more to use E-verify, to check the immigration status of new employees. It also repeals a law that previously allowed undocumented people to become lawyers. And now, it also bans undocumented people from driving in the State of Florida even if they have a license from a different state. And hospitals are now required to ask about immigration status on admissions forms. Now, critics are saying that Florida's economy is going to feel the pain here, specifically in the agricultural, construction, and hospitality sectors.

All right. Let's move on to a series of restrictions here, impacting the LGBTQ community. Gender-affirming treatments for minors. So, this is -- things like hormone blockers and sex reassignment surgeries are now prohibited for transgender minors. Bathrooms, transgender people using bathrooms. They must now match not their identity, their self- proclaimed identity in government building, but they must use bathrooms matching the sex assigned at birth.

Pronouns, there's now a restriction on which pronouns are to be used in school. The pronouns must match the sex that is stated on the birth certificate. LGBTQ advocates are saying that these restrictions are an effort to erase them, not only from Florida schools, but from society overall.

Finally, let's move on to education. Governor DeSantis signed legislation to defund diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Meaning that all state universities are barred from spending state or federal monies on programs that advocate for DEI or promote/engage political or social activism. The governor calling that a distraction. Isabel Rosales, CNN, Atlanta.

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BRUNHUBER: Now, you see there, cities across the United States getting a head start on the 4th of July celebrations. Now, this was the view from atop the CNN Center here in Atlanta, fireworks display at Centennial Olympic Park. The holiday for us marking the day in 1776 that the U.S. declared its independence from Britain. Now, this is a bit humid here, but otherwise, Atlanta will likely be spared the worst of the extreme weather other parts of the country can expect this weekend.

So, what those other parts can expect is merciless heat and storms bringing heavy rain, hail, and possibly tornadoes. More than 100 million people are under risk of severe storms today from the Rockies to the East Coast. Plus, parts of the southeastern U.S. could see record-breaking temperatures and high humidity. And there could be dangerous heat levels in Central California and parts of Nevada and Arizona with temperatures well into the triple digits.

Now, despite that weather, more than 50 million people are expected to travel by plane or by car over the 4th of July holiday. CNN's Gloria Pazmino tells us how airlines and travelers are preparing for the worst.

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GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, it's already shaping up to be a record-breaking weekend. The transportation security administration tells us, so far, they have screened more than 2.8 million passengers, that is the highest number since the agency was created in 2001, and the number is expected to increase. The agency estimates they will screen 17 million passengers by the time the weekend is over.

Now, we are at Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the nation. And passengers I've spoken to here told me that they came prepared, expecting to run into problems, especially after last week, when there were so many meltdowns across different airports in the country that left thousands of people stranded.

PERRI DORSET, U.S TRAVELER: I actually think that the weather is more of a problem than anything else. I think if you fly certain airlines, everything seems to run smoothly, but the weather has been more of a problem than anything. Do you agree with that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're seasoned travelers, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know how to deal.

MATTHEW GYORGY, U.S. TRAVELER: Zero problems, whatsoever. I've seen a bunch of stuff on social media of people in airports for days, but now I got lucky.

PAZMINO: Now, United Airlines specifically has been under intense scrutiny. That airline has struggled to bounce back after last week's disruption. In fact, as of Friday, they were still dealing with 1,300 delays, more than 200 cancellations And the CEO of the company acknowledging how difficult the past few days have been. He sent a letter to his employees, Scott Kirby, writing that last week was one of the most operationally challenging weeks I've experienced many my entire career. Kirby is also vowing to work with the FAA to improve conditions for both passengers and his employees.

In the meantime, it looks like what is expected to be a record- breaking weekend is off to a good start. Reporting at Newark Liberty International Airport, Gloria Pazmino, CNN.

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[04:15:00]

BRUNHUBER: The top U.S. spy agency is hoping for a bonanza with its recruitment efforts in Russia. And that will report would be -- with a lot to do with President Putin and his invasion of Ukraine. We'll explain that just ahead.

Plus, the Supreme Court ends its term with stunning decisions that reveal how far the court has moved to the right. We'll have those details and more when we return. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine is claiming success in the latest Russian strike on the capital Kyiv.

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BRUNHUBER: Officials say, Russia fired a barrage of missiles and Iranian made drones overnight, but Ukrainian air defenses had a perfect score shooting them down. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, Wagner mercenaries have suffered enormous losses during the war. He says, Ukrainian troops have killed 21,000 of them and left 80,000 more wounded. Zelenskyy spoke after meeting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday. Now, CNN can't verify those claims.

So, for more, CNN Correspondent Scott McLean joins us from London. So, first, Scott, let's start with that attack on Kyiv. What more can you tell us?

[04:20:00]

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kim. Yes. So, this is according to the Ukrainian air force which says that there were 11 incoming missiles and drones that were shot down. Eight Shahed, Iranian made Shahed drones and three caliber cruise missiles, these are both long- range weapons that would have been fired either from occupied parts of southeast Ukraine or from over the Black Sea.

And the local governor says, despite all of them being successfully shot down, there was still damage caused on the ground to three homes due to falling debris, one of them was a home that actually caught fire. There was also one person that had a leg injury, but no one was killed, amazingly.

And this is also the first time, according to the air force, that those Iranian-made drones have been used to attack the capitol in 12 straight days. What is especially unusual here, Kim, is the 100 percent success rate in actually shooting them down, which is why the Ukrainians have been, for so long, calling for more western support when it comes to air defense.

They already have the Patriot air defense system, the most advanced in the world, but they don't have enough batteries. According to the Ukrainian president and -- who made clear last month that, look, they don't have enough air defense to successfully protect both cities and front-line soldiers which means that, at the moment, both are still very much living in fear.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. And then, Scott, in the spirit of not letting any good crisis go to waste, the CIA saying the unrest in Russia could be seen as an opportunity. Take us through that.

MCLEAN: Yes, an opportunity for recruitment that the CIA director, William Burns -- Bill Burns says, they are not going to let go to waste. In fact, a few weeks ago, they made clear that they would like to recruit Russians who work in tech or cyber or finance to, essentially, be CIA sources. And so, they created this very slick, highly produced, dramatic video appealing to Russian's sense of patriotism. And it was their very first video posted to their Telegram account, which Bill Burns pointed out yesterday in a speech here in England that it got 2.5 million views in just the first week that it was posted. Here's what Burns said about this once in a generation recruitment opportunity. Listen.

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WILLIAM BURNS, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR: Disaffection with the war will continue to gnaw away at the Russian leadership beneath the steady diet of state propaganda and practiced repression. That disaffection creates a once in a generation opportunity for us at CIA. At our core, a human intelligence service. We're not letting it go to waste.

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MCLEAN: Obviously, the CIA had previously said that they have definitely gotten contacts. They wouldn't say, obviously, how many people have been recruited, though. I should also point out, Kim, that according to a U.S. official, Bill Burns has also reached out to his Russian counterpart, the head of the foreign intelligence service of Russia, Sergey Naryshkin to stress that the U.S. had nothing to do with the mutiny attempt led by the Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin a couple of weeks ago. This is a message that he also stressed yesterday in a speech in England. Saying, "This is an internal affair in which the U.S. has had and will have no part."

We know that American diplomats have also stressed the same mention to their Russian counterparts. The Kremlin though has yet to comment on any of this. Kim? BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much. Scott McLean in London.

The Ukrainian military says the most intense fighting right now is along a 62-mile corridor in eastern Ukraine, from Bakhmut in the north to Marinka in the south. And for the Ukrainian troops on the front lines, there is little rest, even dropping back for a few days is no respite. Instead, that means getting more battlefield training. CNN's Erin Burnett had a firsthand look.

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ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR (voiceover): About 15 miles from the counteroffensive front line, members of the 128th infantry brigade are here training. They're the ones doing the hand-to-hand frontline combat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).

BURNETT (voiceover): They train here for two to three days. After that, day go right back to the front line, and then they stay there for three to four, and then do this cycle again.

VLAD, UKRAINIAN SOLDIER (through translator): Yes, we are ready. We are waiting for this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).

BURNETT: What you're watching right now is them actually practicing storming a Russian trench. This is what they would do, actually, going in to take over an enemy trench.

BURNETT (voiceover): Some of them are wearing lasers on their bulletproof vests and when the lasers light up, it means that they're dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).

BURNETT (voiceover): Nateem (ph) was working at an online retailer before the war. After fighting the past year, he's now a trainer.

[04:25:00]

NATEEM (PH), UKRAINIAN SOLDIER (through translator): It's very important, even for defense. You already know the tactics of your enemy, what they will do.

BURNETT: The front line, of course, is massive, but most of the fighting is happening in incredibly small spaces, just like these, along tree lines on the counteroffensive front lines. What these soldiers are doing is actually practicing laying trip wires with grenades on the end. And that is what so much of the combat is right now, both offensively and defensive, finding and laying these trip wires.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes, we've seen them. But they weren't set by professionals. If professionals set them, they're impossible to see.

BURNETT: With real artillery booming in the distance, these troops are practicing. They come into the forest, they're practicing to see if they can find those traps, and practicing to see whether they'd live or die.

You heard the explosion. You see the smoke. That's the practice grenade. Something that they're practicing for here, but in just a couple of days on the front line will be the grim reality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).

BURNETT (voiceover): It's a reality that all of these men embrace. Men like Vlad. He was a history teacher and he hasn't seen his family in a year. But his commitment is not wavering.

VLAD (through translator): Yes, I miss them. I really want to see them, but not later. A little later, after our victory.

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BRUNHUBER: All right. Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom", thousands of hotel workers are set to go on strike this holiday weekend in California. Just ahead, details of their key demands. Stay with us.

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[04:30:00]

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

All right. We're following police reports of a mass shooting in Southern Baltimore. Now, the exact number of casualties is still unclear, but it appears there are multiple fatalities and dozens of people wounded. Now, we are expecting a news conference and we will bring you the latest details as soon as we get them.

A series of stunning rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court last week left an indelible mark on the country, from gay rights to Affirmative Action. The three landmark decisions all by six-three votes will reshape society for years to come. They also signal just how far the conservative majority is willing to go on some of the most divisive social issues of the day. CNN's Ariane de Vogue has our report.

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ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: In the last few days, we've really seen just how robust this conservative majority is. It blocked President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan. It said a business could decline to create a custom product for LGBTQ customers. And it gutted the Affirmative Action plans at colleges and universities.

That Affirmative Action case really illustrates how this court divided between liberals and conservatives is really at loggerheads on some issues. Chief Justice John Roberts said that the schools, in order to take race into consideration, had to reach a high bar, and he said the schools here failed to do so. And he suggested that thwarts the ideal of a color-blind society. Justice Clarence Thomas, he went even further and said he thought that those programs tainted the applicants.

Whereas the liberals on the court, led by Justice Sonia Sotomayor seemed mystified. She said we don't live in a color-blind society right now. And that, in fact, these programs were necessary. They were still needed because there's still discrimination.

In that LGBTQ case, there was a business owner who wanted to expand her business to create websites to celebrate weddings, but she didn't want to work with same-sex marriages because she doesn't believe in same-sex marriage. There, the conservatives led by Justice Neil Gorsuch really saw that case through a lens of free speech. And he said that the government couldn't force her to create a custom product with a message that she disagreed with. And again, the liberals came back and said, this isn't about the first amendment. They said, this is really about discrimination.

Again and again, this court really on the issues that grab the public's attention are on opposite sides. There have been unanimous opinions and there have been opinions that had strange bedfellows with conservatives coming over to the liberal side. But in those cases that most attract the public's attention, the court is moving significantly to the right. and that could last for decades. Ariane de Vogue, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: 41 migrants arrived in Los Angeles on a bus from Brownsville, Texas on Saturday afternoon, 11 of them children. A tweet from Texas Governor Greg Abbott's account on Thursday said, his state had sent more than 40 migrants to Los Angeles and more to other cities. He's been protesting the Biden administration's immigration policies.

An immigration activist noted that they had been allowed into the country based on credible fear, meaning that they demonstrated to an immigration officer that their life is in danger if they're sent back. One advocate explained how overwhelmed the immigration legal system is right now. Here she is.

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LINDSAY TOCZYLOWSKI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, IMMIGRANT DEFENDERS LAW CENTER: So, our immigration system is incredibly backlogged in Los Angeles. There are nearly 100,000 open cases. And because of that, court days can be pushed out. The first court date can be several months from now.

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BRUNHUBER: Dozens of major hotels in California are bracing for a workers strike this holiday weekend. Thousands of staff from more than 60 hotels are expected to walk off in a push for better wages. CNN's Camila Bernal has more.

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CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is significant, because we are talking about 15,000 hotel workers. These are the people that greet you when you get to the hotel, the people that are behind the scenes, that are cooking and cleaning. And they have a number of demands. They're, of course, asking for higher wages and better pensions, specifically, they're asking for a $5 an hour increase. But they're also asking for better health benefits, for safer workloads, and they're also focused on a housing fund.

And part of the reason is that the union says that a lot of the employees, the workers, cannot live in the areas where the hotels are, where they work. They're pointing to members who are having to commute two, three hours a day, just to get to where they work. And so, they say this is making it extremely difficult for them. And I want you to listen to what one of the union members says about being an essential worker.

[04:35:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: During the pandemic, we were called essential workers. Now, there's no pandemic, employers think that we are not essential anymore, and they think that they can run without us, but we all know that's not true.

BERNAL: And a person familiar with management plans has told us that the hotels plan to stay open. That they offered a $2.50 increase. We are waiting to hear from both sides in terms of an update on those negotiations and those numbers. But there is this notion on the part of the hotels that it is L.A. City leaders who should be focused on affordability here. Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

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BRUNHUBER: After decades of booming growth, the commercial real estate industry has hit a wall. Property values are plummeting. Offices in many cases stand empty and rising interest rates could pressure the industry even further. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich explains how big the problem is and if it could get even worse.

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VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): They're statuesque, vast, and staggering, and they're empty. Skyscrapers and office buildings once stacked high with businesses are experiencing high vacancy rates in the U.S., nearly 19 percent, five and a half percent higher than before the pandemic.

STEVEN DURELS, EVP AND DIRECTOR OF LEASEING, SL GREEN REALTY CORPORATION: I think it's a very unique moment. Nothing like any disruptive marketplace that I've experienced over the past 40 years. YURKEVICH (voiceover): The pandemic emptied offices around the country. Today, the number of people returning to in-person work is less than 50 percent in 10 major metro areas, forcing companies to rethink physical office space. Half of the biggest global companies say they'll need less real estate in the next three years. Living landlords with loans to pay in a bind.

YURKEVICH: If there's no tenant, you're not making money.

DURELS: Right.

YURKEVICH: what do you?

DURELS: There's no recouping, you know, lost income for down time.

YURKEVICH (voiceover): Steven Durels runs the leasing at SL Green, New York City's largest commercial landlord. With more than 30 million square feet of space to rent, the collapsing demand for office space means their tenant vacancy rate shot up from three percent pre- pandemic to 10 percent today, that calls for some creativity.

AMANDA WEISENTHAL, HEAD OF SALES AND PRODUCTION, BACKLOT: You can build the set in here. You can have a fight scene in here.

YURKEVICH (voiceover): SL Green is now working with Backlot, a company that connects landlords at 332 buildings across New York and New Jersey with film and TV companies. This episode of "Law & Order" was filmed in this vacant office in mid-town Manhattan, "The Watcher" on Netflix, in these east side offices.

WEISENTHAL: I think people are starting to look holistically at how they can support a revenue stream.

YURKEVICH (voiceover): This year, SL Green says it will earn $3 million from film and TV shoots.

DURELS: It's really helped mitigate the loss of income during the downtime periods.

YURKEVICH (voiceover): Empty office buildings could be turned into residential, a big need. This project in Washington, D.C., once an office building is being turned into apartments. But that's not an easy quick fix process. Less than one percent of apartments nationwide are converted from commercial properties.

And across the river in Arlington, Virginia, the city is trying to get ahead of its empty office space problem at 22 percent.

RYAN TOUHILL, DIRECTOR, ARLINGTON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: I'm sitting right today in northeaster's D.C. campus. Last year, a university was not allowed to take up space in a -- in an office building.

YURKEVICH (voiceover): Thanks to new city zoning laws, that's now possible, along with seven new types of commercial businesses, like animal boarding, hydroponic farms, and pickleball. It's already happening in South Jersey. This 22,000 square foot pickleball facility was a vacant Burlington coat factory in a strip mall. Regional mall vacancy is at a record high.

YURKEVICH: Were there a lot of options like this on the market?

ANDREW PESSANO, CO-OWNER, PROSHOT PICKLEBALL: Yes, I think we had more opportunity than we thought there would be in the market.

YURKEVICH: Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America.

PESSANO: Mm-hmm.

YURKEVICH: So, does that mean that the sport needs to find places to play quickly?

PESSANO: The greatest threat to the growth of pickleball is the lack of facility.

YURKEVICH: Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.

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BRUNHUBER: All right. Still ahead, a new study finds maternal deaths in U.S. hospitals are declining, but birthing complications are on the rise. We'll break down the findings and tell you who's at greatest risk. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: New data presents a mixed picture when it comes to maternal mortality rates in the U.S. But two things are clear, one is that, overall, this country lags far behind other wealthy nations when it comes to preventing these deaths. The other is that certain groups tend to be impacted for more than others.

So, let's start with the recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open. It indicates the number of women dying of delivery-related causes in hospitals has dropped by more than half in recent years. So that's the good news. But it also found a rise in unexpected complications of labor and delivery that can have a significant impact on a woman's health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that most pregnancy-related deaths happen within seven days to a year after a woman gives birth. And both in the hospital and afterward, woman of color faces significantly increased risk of death compared with white patients. The commonwealth found -- fund -- found late last year, it found that women in the U.S. face the highest rates of maternal mortality compared to women in 10 other wealthy nations.

Dr. Irogue Igbinosa is a maternal-fetal medicine fellow at Stanford University and she joins me now from Palo Alto, California. Thank you so much for being here with us, Doctor. So, the recent death in childbirth of U.S. Olympic sprinter, Tori Bowie, during -- I mean, it shocked people around the country but it highlighted a problem that is more common than it should be here in America. I mean, the -- America's overall maternal mortality rate is simply awful compared to other similar nations. Why is that?

DR. IROGUE IGBINOSA, DEPARTMENT OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: First, thank you for inviting me to speak on this important topic. And I do think, you know, anytime there's news of a maternal death, it, kind of, recenters and raises awareness on the issue. I think to restate it, black maternal mortality occurs at a rate of two or three times that higher that -- than that of their white pregnant patient counterparts.

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And the reasons a multi-fact electoral. Factors that come into play include structural racism. How does society intentionally or unintentionally reinforce discrimination, access to health? Then, there's social determinants of health, which are the conditions in which people may live, how they work. Those -- all these things, they're baseline medical conditions. And the list kind of goes on. But it is an important issue that requires so many different people and so many stakeholders to address.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. And in one -- unfortunately, might expect the problem to get worse, because we're hearing of so many people, doctors, nurses, leaving the field of maternal health in part because of the crackdowns on abortion in many states. And I know reports have shown that states with more abortion restrictions have higher maternal and infant mortality. So, how does that factor into all of this?

DR. IGBINOSA: Yes. I -- so, first, I think it's important to like reframe what is the definition. Like, how are these statistics being informed? And pregnancy-related mortalities, whether that be from a termination or from a pregnancy is death from a pregnancy related event up into a year of the end of pregnancy. And so, then when you look at the timing that these maternal deaths occur, about 25 percent may occur during pregnancy, another 25 percent may occur on the day of delivery or within a week after. And then, over 50 percent occur seven days to a year after the pregnancy.

So, you know, I think that, even there, that understanding that the risk is not just when a woman is carrying the pregnancy, it's beyond. You know, it's the factors that led up to them carrying that pregnancy, and then what we're providing for them afterwards. And I think to answer your question, that's where the factors that come into play, it could be policy, in terms of health policy, in terms of access, or does the patient live in a maternity care desert. Where, you know, where is their nearest birthing center or hospital to receive obstetric care? And then you add on the layers of racism that are always at play, it just makes it a very difficult issue.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. And according to the CDC, 80 percent of maternal deaths are preventable. You said, you know, it's multi-factorial. Obviously, there are no easy solutions. But from an institutional point of view, what more can be done?

DR. IGBINOSA: There are things that are being done at the institutional level, which I think need to be done, and that is providing standard, evidence-based care and implementing that quality care. And so, I think that's something that institutions should be actively trying to address and understand what is the risk factors and data unique to their area.

BRUNHUBER: Do you have any more advice for women who are pregnant or planning to conceive?

DR. IGBINOSA: I think -- it's not just for the -- I would say, it's for the family unit. Understanding what are those risk factors. There's a Hear Me campaign that's on the CDC's website, it kind of lists the, you know, most urgent maternal warning signs. And that could be, do you have a new headache? Dizziness that doesn't go away. Fever, chills, pain, a new onset of high blood pressure?

And I think it's really important, not just, really -- you know, after a patient has delivered or has one child or some cases multiple, they're in a very vulnerable state. And so, this is where I really kind of try and encourage the support team to really, you know, like, this is -- these are the resources available. This is how you can advocate for your loved one.

BRUNHUBER: Really important issue. Really appreciate having you on to talk about it. Dr. Irogue Igbinosa, thanks so much for speaking to us.

DR. IGBINOSA: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Well, obviously, working while pregnant can be a challenge. Bt a new federal law that went into effect this week might make things a little easier for women in the U.S. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires businesses with 15 or more employees to reasonably accommodate employees, pregnancies, and childbirth.

Measures could include longer breakers, shorter working hours, and time off for medical appointments and recovery for workers who need them. Advocates have been fighting for more protections for pregnant workers for more than a decade. It's estimated the law could help nearly 3 million pregnant and postpartum workers across the U.S. each year.

All right, when we come back, he calls himself an augmented reality artist and his paintings really pop after adding some special elements. We'll have his story coming up, stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: On Saturday, millions of Canadians marked Canada Day, the country's national holiday. Overcast skies didn't dampen people's spirits as special concerts, festivities, and parades were held coast- to-coast to mark the nation's 156th birthday. In the capital, Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hailed the country's diversity, saying Canada stands for compassion, engagement, openness, and democracy. The celebration included ceremonies to swear in new citizens around the country.

Well, there's plenty of rain in Nepal. Farmers didn't mind the mud. They got down and dirty wrestling and dancing in the paddies as the rice planting season began. It's an annual festival that coincides with the beginning of the monsoon after the fields have been prepared.

An artist in Lagos, Nigeria is fetching about $10,000 for each of his paintings. But he's no ordinary artist and his art, no ordinary art. As Zain Asher shows us, his collections really come to life because of a key artistic element, technology.

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ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voiceover): A singing painting that makes you dance. An art work, smoking a cigarette. A colorful painting of a woman that gets butterflies when you sing her praises. These are the works of Nigerian visual artist, Ife Olowu.

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He's carving a niche for himself at the point where art meets technology.

IFE OLOWU, VISUAL ARTIST: Basically, we've been seeing them -- my own paints on canvas. I said, OK, let me create my own movement entirely. Do something unique, do extraordinary. So, you know, I decided to infuse the A.I. technology into my paintings, whereby I bring them to life.

ASHER (voiceover): The magic begins on a canvas, then he takes a photo of the painting, uploads it online, and uses tech tools to augment the art. Sometimes, he adds sounds. Other times, visuals. Guests scan a bar code, turn on their cameras, and enter the world of Olowu's digital art. He says the goal is to convert an exhibition into an experience.

OLOWU: For the art lovers and the collectors, you know, people would be able to see these hidden messages. You know see hidden scripts. You know, see hidden magic in my canvas.

ASHER (voiceover): Visitors at the studio say they got the message and are in awe of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The art was talking to me. You hear sounds, like Ojuelegba, you know, very iconic places in Lagos. So, it's an experience you need to experience.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The art talks, very amazing. I was expecting something ordinary, but -- I mean, it's something extraordinary.

ASHER (voiceover): Olowu's augmented reality art is a collection of eight pieces titled "Colored Reality." He says, each painting is worth about $10,000. Zain Asher, CNN.

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BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more "CNN Newsroom" in just a moment. Please stay with us.

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