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Israel Conducts Major Military Operation In West Bank; Violence Eases As Mayors Appeal For End To Riots; Zelenskyy Questions Putin's Grip On Power In Russia; Vladimir Putin Expected To Address SCO Summit; Vladimir Putin Expected To Address SCO Summit; U.K. Had Its Hottest June On Record; Barbie Banned In Vietnam. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired July 04, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:51]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, Israel's assault on Jenin. The IDF carries out more counter terror operations, as Palestinian families flee the West Bank refugee camp.

Addressing the unrest in France, calm is restored, but the root causes of the violence remain for Emmanuel Macron to address.

And we're an hour away from a virtual summit where Vladimir Putin is set to make his first appearance at an international event since the Wagner insurrection. We will have a live report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us.

Well, hundreds of Palestinians are fleeing the West Bank city of Jenin as Israel presses ahead with its largest military operation there in more than two decades.

Civilians say Israeli forces roll through with bulldozers and trucks, tearing up streets and damaging vital infrastructure. And this is the devastation that many woke up to this morning in the Jenin refugee camp.

After 24 hours of Israeli attacks, it says we're meant to destroy terrorist facilities and weapons.

Palestinian militants have been fighting back with stones and guns, and Palestinian officials say, at least, 10 people have been killed, and almost 100 injured.

This is the second Israeli raid into Jenin in little more than two weeks, and is much more intense.

The first left five Palestinians dead.

CNN's Hadas Gold has been following this story and has more now from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN POLITICS, MEDIA AND BUSINESS REPORTER (voice over): Hundreds of Israeli soldiers descending on Jenin. Massive raids supported by airstrikes and bulldozers, tanks on the outskirts of the city.

The largest incursion into the West Bank in two decades since the days of the second intifada.

LT. COL. RICHARD HECHT, SPOKESMAN, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: We want to break of the camp being a safe haven for terrorists.

GOLD: Easier said than done, Israeli forces facing stiff resistance. The Army bulldozing its way through. Airstrikes hitting what the military said was terrorist infrastructure.

Soldiers firing from nearby homes and their hunt for weapons, explosive, tunnels, at what they say are militants.

Palestinian authorities have condemned the raid, calling it a new war crime against our defenseless people.

MAHMOUD ABBAS, PRESIDENT OF THE STATE OF PALESTINE (through translator): We renew our demand to the international community of the need to provide urgent international protection for our people and to impose sanctions on the occupying entity.

GOLD: In Jenin, some residents say they were overwhelmed by the sheer force of the Israeli attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are unarmed people. We don't have anything in camp to respond to this force. There is nothing safe in the camp. They dug all the streets with bulldozers.

The Israeli government says it's not at war with Palestinians like Zaida (PH). But with these men were blamed for violence against Israelis.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Our troops are battling the terrorists with unyielding resolve and fortitude, while doing everything, everything to avoid civilian casualties.

GOLD: The latest raid on Jenin, building on over a year and a half of regular military operations, following a recent wave of Palestinian attacks on Israelis. But the cycle of violence only intensifying. Militant group Hamas calling on its members to strike Israel by all available means. But for those caught in the crossfire is real warning the operation will last as long as necessary. Even if it says it doesn't want to hold ground.

HECHT: We are focused on the infrastructure inside the camp. It could be hours; it could be days.

GOLD: Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Let's go to CNN's Elliott Gotkine now, who joins us live from Jerusalem. So, Elliott, what is the latest on this operation and of course the fallout?

[02:05:05]

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CBB JOURNALIST: Rosemarie, this operation continues, airstrikes are continuing, Israel just in the last hour and a half or so, the IDF saying that it discovered a shaft, which was being used as a weapon storage facility.

It says that it's got 10 more targets in the Jenin refugee camp. All of them infrastructure targets it says. And it says it continues to confiscate weapons and to destroy weapons production facilities. And this operation is ongoing.

Now, we've seen some more than 3,000 people according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, leaving Jenin refugee camp. We saw some of those image -- images there before.

Israel also noting that it says that it is coordinating with the Palestinian Authority to try to get water and electricity restored to the camp.

At the same time, it says that the devastation you see of the roads there with the bulldozers tearing up the streets was in order to remove improvised explosive devices, which it says were in the streets there.

So, this operation continues. The death toll, as you say is 10, so far. Israel says that at least nine of those were militants and the injured, according to the Palestinians is around about 100, with 20 of them seriously injured.

Now, the Palestinian Authority, we've heard the condemnation there from Mahmoud Abbas, the Jordanians, Egyptians, and the Emiratis have also condemned this incursion.

The United States, for its part has reiterated its support for Israel's right to defend itself while highlighting the need to avoid civilian casualties.

But, of course, the danger is that as this operation continues, that there is more possibility for it to escalate further. And the IDF saying that it could go on for a few hours, or perhaps another day, there is no specific endpoint in sight.

But this operation does continue. And as it continues, the greater the likelihood of more casualties and the greater the likelihood of escalation. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Elliott Gotkine, bringing us that live report from Jerusalem.

I want to turn to France now, where President Emmanuel Macron will meet in the coming hours with the mayors of cities hit hard by violent protests.

An uneasy calm has returned to the streets of Paris and its suburbs after a week of riots and looting.

It was sparked by the shooting death of a 17-year-old boy by police during a traffic stop. CNN's Melissa Bell reports.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was another weekend of violence here in France with the violence that seemed to taper off by Sunday night. Just over 150 people were arrested way down from the numbers we'd seen on Saturday and on Friday night.

Part of that, key to that may have been the appeal from the grandmother of young Nahel, the 17-year-old of North African descent who was killed last Tuesday at the police stop. She appealed for calm on Sunday, urging people to stay home.

Now, that may be part of the answer as to why the violence has dropped off. But also, some of the shocking scenes that we saw on the night from Saturday to Sunday when a burning car was rammed into the house of a local mayor in suburban Paris, when his wife and two young children were inside.

A peaceful protest in L'Hay-les-Roses, that suburb where it took place, led by the mayor, appealing for calm, is saying that at this stage, a line had been crossed.

Still, French authorities taking no chances. They will remain on the streets of France since Monday night, the 45,000 police men and women that had patrolled the streets over the weekend as well.

The police chief here in Paris, saying that they want to make sure that there are no more incidents. There is also what the politicians are now trying to do to calm the minds of those in the suburbs, not just here in Paris, but elsewhere in France.

Emmanuel Macron meeting on Monday with the heads of Parliament. He will meet on Tuesday with the leaders of some 220 villages and communes, where much of the violence took place, the mayors who have been so directly impacted.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

CHURCH: Let's bring in Sophie Pedder now. She is the Paris bureau chief for The Economist. Appreciate you joining us.

SOPHIE PEDDER, PARIS BUREAU CHIEF, THE ECONOMIST: Pleasure to be with you.

CHURCH: Wonderful. So, it has been a week, of course, since the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy at that police traffic stop. And it sparked violence across France, and while tensions have eased, President Macron needs to find a way to calm the situation and get to the root cause of systemic racism within his own law enforcement. How likely is it that the president can get this done?

PEDDER: Well, I think the first thing to say is that it is calmer already. We've had two nights which have been much calmer than they were for the first five nights of the -- of the rioting.

So, I think that it looks as if for the moment at least, that nobody's going to want to call the end to this yet, but it looks as if things have begun to calm down quite considerably.

[02:10:00]

And I think the second thing would be that the French government, I mean, you use the word systemic racism in the French law and order forces.

I mean, the French government doesn't recognize this. I think one has to be quite careful. It's difficult to establish the fact because France doesn't collect ethnic statistics. So, you don't know for sure what share of minority populations are actually stopped, you know, relative to the rest of the French population.

So, it's difficult to establish. There are clearly incidents, it very much. When I spent my time at the end of last week in Nanterre, where the riots started, it's very much something that people feel on the ground, that's for sure.

But it's a -- it's a -- it's a sensitive subject in France. So, I think, you know, one has to be aware of that. And that is probably why is this is going to -- it's going to take them some time, I think, to work out how to grapple with this.

CHURCH: Yes, indeed. And of course, we know that President Macron meets today, with the mayors from various cities across France who have been affected by the violent protests.

What will that meeting likely achieve, then? Will it just focus on law and order?

PEDDER: I think it's mostly about supporting these mayors, you know, because some of them, as you mentioned in your report, one of them, in particular, had his family attacked in his home in a really unpleasant act of violence on Saturday night, and other mayors have had either the town halls burnt down or a lot of the facilities.

I mean, this is one of the paradoxes of these riots, is that a lot of them are being aimed at the public services that have been built or renovated in the -- these areas themselves, in these neighborhoods.

So, you have libraries, you have a sporting facilities, you have schools, you have buses, that have all been burned, yet torched to the ground, and that is something that --

CHURCH: All right, looks like we have lost our guests there. Sophie Pedder joined us there from Paris, the bureau chief for The Economist.

We'll see if we can reconnect with her. But we'll move on for now.

And back here in the United States, police in Philadelphia have a suspect in custody in connection with a mass shooting, which left four people dead Monday night.

Those victims are all men, ranging from 20 to 59 years old. Two children, a 2-year-old and a 13-year-old are injured but said to be in stable condition. Police say the gunman was heavily armed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIELLE OUTLAW, COMMISSIONER, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: This male was wearing a bulletproof vest, with multiple magazines in the vest. He also had a scanner and an A.R.-style rifle and a handgun underneath his body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The motive right now is unclear. Police say the shooting spanned several blocks. They also arrested another person, they believe fired back at the gunman during that rampage.

Well, coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, Ukraine is reassuring the world that its month-old counter offensive is going as planned. We will take a look at the progress it's making.

Plus, it's been a little more than a week since the Wagner rebellion stunned Russia. Now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling into question Vladimir Putin's hold on power. We'll back with that and more in just a moment.

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[02:15:39]

CHURCH: All right. We have reestablished contact with Sophie Pedder. She is the Paris bureau chief for The Economist and appreciate you joining us.

And of course, before we were cut off, we were talking about the situation on the streets of Paris. And since the fatal shooting of that young, 17-year-old boy, there have been riots, they have ease now, there is calm. We need to emphasize that.

But we were talking about how President Macron deals with this going forward. And we were talking about his meeting today in the coming hours, in fact, with the various mayors from cities across France, who have been impacted by these violent protests.

And we were talking to about what that meeting may achieve. Because as you were pointing out, there is no recognition that there are issues with the law enforcement in France that may have problems at the root of racism, systemic racism.

So, does this just become a discussion about law and order and how these mayors have personally been impacted by this?

PEDDER: No, it's not about the mayors themselves, although the one mayor, in particular, was impacted. It's about -- it's about the violence. And obviously, one of the questions at the French will be looking at is the use of force by the police.

The French police are armed, and the use of force, lethal shooting in France is, you know, much lower than it is in America. If you look at it, in sheer -- as a sheer of population, but nonetheless, there is the use of force each year, and which leads to death at the hands of the police.

So, there are rules that govern that, and those rules have been loosened over the years. So, there will be questions about whether those rules ought to be tightened again.

It's a question -- that's a question that the French can look at, independent of whether or not minority populations are in disproportionately targeted.

So, I think that those conversations are certainly going to be had, as well as, you know, the more underlying causes. Why do people feel so angry in these neighborhoods? What is it about France? What is it about the structure of French society that makes these places so particularly, you know, vulnerable or susceptible to this kind of violent outbreaks.

CHURCH: Yes. And with the President Macron's approval rating hovering in the low 20s, does he have the backing, and perhaps, even the political will to make the necessary changes to come the streets, not just for now, but on a more permanent basis to create a better balance between law enforcement and maybe the interaction between law enforcement and some of these migrants living in some of the poorer parts of Paris, particularly?

PEDDER: Well, it's just a good question. But I mean, I think one would need to put that in perspective, because earlier this year, we had a lot of protests that turned violent, that had absolutely nothing to do with the neighborhoods, we're just -- we've been discussing.

You know, these were violent protests against the pension reform that he brought in. He brought in a change, which was going to ask or does ask the French to work two years longer in life before they get their pension.

Now, those pension riots, which were very violent, you remember the images from the beginning of this year, they had nothing to do with the neighbor -- these neighborhoods, the housing projects on the outside of French cities. This was a much more -- this was a white demographic that was more impacted by pension reform.

So, I think, you know, there's a problem of unrest in France that he's got to grapple with. France is a place with a history of unrest. So, you know, there is a kind of iconography of unrest, which does, I think, you know, come into play. But it's also a question of Macron's political authority.

He runs a minority government. Don't forget, he was reelected as president last year, but he didn't get him a majority in parliament. And he has two very strong blocks at the extremes on the far left and on the far right, which are both capitalizing on these riots.

So, it's going to be difficult for him to find the right tone, and then to find the right policies to try to restore his authority at this moment.

But, you know, he's come back from these things before. So, I think it will take time, but he'll probably manage it.

CHURCH: All right. Sophie Pedder joining us live from Paris. Many thanks.

Well, Ukraine's President acknowledges that the fighting in the past week has been difficult for his forces.

[02:20:04]

But he insists they are making progress slowly but surely.

Ukrainian military officials say, Russia has deployed more than 180,000 troops to the two major eastern France. And those troops reportedly include air assault units, new assault companies, and people with criminal histories.

The commander of the Ukrainian land forces, say there are some 50,000 troops near Bakhmut. The fighting is fierce and tricky, with the same position changing hands several times a day.

Meantime, Russia is continuing its attacks on civilians. At least, two people were killed in the city of Sumy, after a Russian drone assault struck two apartment blocks and an administrative building. 19 people were wounded, including a 5-year-old child.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CNN's Erin Burnett in an exclusive interview, that Russian President Vladimir Putin's response to the Wagner rebellion in late June was, "weak," and that he was losing control of his own people.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Mr. President, you know, you recently said that you have dealt, and I'll quote you the way it -- the way it quoted, with the different Putins, it's a completely different set of traits and different periods. Now, of course, he's faced a rebellion, an attempted coup from Yevgeny Prigozhin. Have you seen any changes in how you think he's acting, in his behavior since the attempted coup?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Yes, we see the reaction after certain Wagner steps. We see Putin's reaction. It's weak.

Firstly, we see he doesn't control everything. Wagner's moving deep into Russia, and taking certain regions shows how easy it is to do. Putin doesn't control the situation in the regions. He doesn't control the security situation.

All of us understand that his whole army is in Ukraine. Almost entire army is there. That's why it's so easy for the Wagner troops to march through Russia. Who could have stopped him?

We understand that Putin doesn't control the regional policy, and he doesn't control all those people in the regions.

So, all that vertical of power he used to have, just got crumbling down.

BURNETT: Do you believe he's fully in charge of the military right now. When it comes to your front line and this counteroffensive, do you believe Putin is fully in charge of the Russian military?

ZELENSKYY: I don't think he fully controls all the processes. He gives orders to the commanders. It's understood. They are scared to lose their jobs. But he doesn't understand and doesn't control the middle layer of the Russian military, nor the lower-rank officers and soldiers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And you can watch Erin Burnett's exclusive interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Russia's Defense Ministry is accusing Ukraine of launching a drone attack on Moscow. These five drones were intercepted near the capital, though there are no reports of injuries or damages.

Moscow's mayor says some flights were diverted at one of these cities' airports because of the alleged attack. But now, the airport is operating as normal.

Well, just ahead, Vladimir Putin will soon address a major summit of his allies and what will be his first appearance on the world stage since the Wagner rebellion?

We have reporters covering every angle of this story. Back with that in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:26:10]

CHURCH: We are less than an hour away from the start of this year's Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, being hosted virtually by India. The SCO is a broadly pro-Russian regional security grouping, led by Beijing and Moscow.

One U.S. defense analyst says many of the leaders at this summit look to Russia and China almost as models for how they want to run their societies as authoritarian regimes.

Vladimir Putin is scheduled to address the summit about 90 minutes from now, in what will be his first appearance on the global stage since the Wagner mutiny.

Experts believe the Russian president will use the forum to project an image of power and reassure Moscow's partners that he remains firmly in control.

And CNN is covering every angle of this story. I'm joined by a Vedika Sud in New Delhi, Clare Sebastian in London, and Marc Stewart in Tokyo. Welcome to everyone.

So, Vedika, India was hosting the event this year as a virtual summit. What is Prime Minister Modi hoping to achieve during this event? And how will he balance his partnership with participating nations and, of course, his relationship with the United States?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: That's a tough one, Rosemary. But, as we all know, India has been and continues to navigate a very tough diplomatic terrain in this world of multipolarity India's attempt and its Prime Minister Narendra Modi's attempt is to strike a balance between its ties with the east and west.

Now, this SCO summit is significant, and that's because of the timing of it. It comes, like you said, just weeks after the insurrection that we've seen by the Wagner Group, and also after a highly successful meeting between the U.S. President Biden and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was recently in Washington, D.C. on his first state visit. That was keenly watched by two countries, Russia, as well as China.

Now, we do know that all the members of the SCO group have not openly come out and condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine or even condemned it in the U.N. resolution until now. India has always said that there has to be a peaceful resolution that the both -- that both countries have to achieve.

So, at this point, India's going to be walking on a very tight rope. It has to balance its ties with the east and the west -- with Russia, as well as with the U.S.

Now, we all know that the U.S. sees India as a counterweight to China, in the region. But India also needs Russia, which we all have always been very, very aware of clearly because of the oil that it's -- that gets from Russia, as well as, the weapons. More than 50 percent of the imports of weapons for India happens from Russia. So, at this point, according to a lot of experts, the concern also is that Russia and China will try to make this an anti-West block -- an anti-West grouping. And that's something that India will want to stay away from, given its independent foreign policy, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Vedika Sud, many thanks.

So, I want to go to London now. And Clare, this will, of course, be the first international appearance for Vladimir Putin since his authority was challenged by the brief Wagner rebellion.

How desperate will he be to show the world he is back in control?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rosemary. This was a pre- scheduled virtual summit, obviously. But Putin only confirmed his attendance on Monday after the -- on the Monday after the rebellion.

I think it's a crucial part of the strategy of getting out there of trying to show not only his people that he's still in charge in control, then, of course, the activation of Moscow's air defenses this morning with those five drones being shut down not the best look going into this.

[02:30:04]

But also, to show the world that they have failed to isolate Russia over the war in Ukraine, a point that Russia has continued to make over the month -- over the last 16 or 17 months of this war. I think that clearly the insurrection will be the elephant in the room here, if not directly addressed that put to the test that policy of neutrality that we've seen from these allies.

Really led to questions over whether they are actually correct in doing that, or does it carry too much political risk. And it -- and it sort of threatened the economic relationships here. They were concerns at one point during the rebellion, that Russian oil supplies could be threatened, leading to price rises, causing the likes of China and India to have to compete with the West for oil supply.

So, I think that will have rattled these allies of Russia. But I think this is also a moment, of course, the Russia needs the likes of China and India. Those countries who are buying much of its oil that's displaced from Europe. It needs them more than ever, oil revenues are down for the first five months of the year. Down by about half on last year because of sanctions, but also because the oil price itself has dropped precipitously. So, this a critical moment economically for Russia, and also politically, of course, with the insurrection in the background.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, indeed. Our thanks to Clare Sebastian joining us live from London. And Marc, let's go to you, what's Beijing hoping to get out of this summit?

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rosemary, look, Beijing and all of China is in a bit of a tricky position. Certainly, it is one of the founding members of this SCO organization, along with Russia and former Soviet States. But it is dealing right now with severe economic challenges. And as we have seen in recent weeks, China is looking beyond its borders, and it's beyond his comfort zones to try to get some help.

So, it has to be very careful about the image it projects during this meeting. So far, China has not condemned Russia for its role in the war in Ukraine. And as we heard from one analysts, Russia or China does not want to do anything that would certainly make itself an even bigger target of NATO. Yet, it is part of this organization which my colleagues have all rightly said is seen as this block against the West. This is a visit though that is getting a lot of attention starting to get a lot of attention in mainland China.

I want to just read you a portion of a commentary that was from Xinhua, which is the leading state news agency in China. And in it, it says, "Today's human society is undergoing accelerating changes unseen in a century. Regional conflicts are raging, the cold war mentality and group politics are resurfacing, and so are unilateralism and hegemonism. Economic global challenges are -- economic globalization that is it. Accelerated headwinds, a more turbulent and intertwined world is calling for a closer SCO community."

So, how will that be done? Rosemary, look for discussions on areas where there can be common ground things such as trade such as security and multi-literalism. But China having to be very careful about what it says.

CHURCH: All right. Marc Stewart, joining us from Tokyo many things. Steven Fish is a Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. And author of Democracy Derailed in Russia: The Failure of Open Politics. He joins me now from Berkeley. Good to have you with us.

STEVEN FISH, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, U.C. BERKELEY: My pleasure.

CHURCH: So, let's start, big picture. What impact has Russia's invasion of Ukraine, of course, more specifically, that shortly Wagner mutiny had on President Putin standing on the world stage, particularly with allies like China and India.

FISH: Well, you know, prior to the invasion, Putin was really the head of the global anti-democratic movement. He was the guy who had developed most elaborately a real illiberal ideology. And he was the one who is traipsing around the world trying to aid forces of anti- democracy that is illiberal forces around the world from a right-wing forces in eastern Europe, ethno-national forces, Nativists and as well as in Western Europe. And in the United States as well. In fact, he intervened as we know, on behalf of Trump during the 2016 campaign, and he might have even tipped the election.

His prestige in the kind of autocratic world at that time was very high. But since the invasion of Ukraine, his status as the spearhead of global illiberalism is really declined. His judgement was obviously fatally flawed in his invasion of the Ukraine -- of Ukraine. There's really no way he was ever going to be able to make that work. Then the corruption and ineptitude of his military only enhanced at the degradation of his status in Ukraine.

And then finally, the recent invasion of Russian territory by Wagner troops coming up from Ukraine. That is Wagner troops those -- they were off of Putin is kind of main mercenary force in Ukraine, showed that Russia can't even protect its own borders. So, under these circumstances Putin's stock has declined radically in the world, not least, among fellow autocracies.

[02:35:18]

CHURCH: Interesting, and then of course, President Putin is expected to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit today, in the coming hours, in fact. But India's Prime Minister Modi, who's hosting this summit has opted for a virtual format, which means, of course, Putin won't have any photo opportunities available to him to help boost his image. How significant is that? And why do you think Prime Minister Modi chose to do this online?

FISH: Well, it is significant, especially for Putin that it's going to be online. Look, these things are all about photo ops. And what Putin wants is pictures of him being embraced by Xi Jinping, an arranger of Modi, there's not going to be any photos like that this year. And in fact, the desire to avoid those kinds of photo ops is part of the reason why Prime Minister Modi opted to do this online.

First of all, Indian and Chinese relations are deteriorating. There's a border skirmish going on to border controversy between India and China that's growing evermore ever, ever worse and it's -- and its effect on Chinese Indian relations. And Xi Jinping and Modi might not want to be seen embracing each other at this summit. What's more, Putin doesn't -- Modi doesn't really want to be seen embracing Putin at the summit.

Remember, he was feted in Washington recently, he was -- he was in Washington just about a week ago or so. And was treated very well by President Biden who gave him a state dinner, which is a big distinction here. He addressed a joint session of Congress. And it's clear that a price for that -- for that trip was probably holding the summit online. It would have been a very bad look for Modi and for U.S.-Indian relations, if Modi would have been seen embracing Putin just a week or two after he left the United States.

CHURCH: So, what actually happens at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit? Does it carry any global weight at all?

FISH: It doesn't really carry that much global weight in recent years, though, it really has become a kind of authoritarian International. And what's interesting about this is that Modi still really pretends to be a Democrat. He's moved India toward autocracy. But it's still by far the largest democracy and the most democratic major country in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Modi now wants to be seen as balancing between East and West. And so, he's not all that comfortable stepping into the role is kind of the leader of the anti-democratic movement in the world. That's actually something Putin has done. But let's remember now, that role now calls to China, because Putin status is radically diminished in the world. And it would show if they were meeting at this Summit in person -- in person.

CHURCH: Steven Fish, many thanks for joining us and sharing your perspective. Appreciate it.

FISH: My pleasure, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Still ahead, Barbie is banned in Vietnam. A live action movie about the American doll is creating an international incident. We will explain how when we come back.

[02:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Well, it was a record-breaking month in the U.K., but scientists say this record is not one to celebrate. Britain's met offers says last month was the hottest June in the U.K. since forecasters began tracking temperatures in 1884. The average mean temperature last month was 15.8 degrees Celsius, topping the previous record of 14.9 degrees, set in both 1940 and 1976. And experts warn it's part of a dangerous trend.

CLARE NASIR, METEOROLOGIST: So, all the numbers are suggesting that we're going in the wrong direction when it comes to the heat. The intensity of the heat and how prolonged it is. Obviously, this month culminated in some quite violent thunderstorms towards the end. And climate change trends do suggest that our summers are going to become hotter and also drier. But when we do see rain, it'll be more intense. So, a higher likelihood of things like flash flooding, and that's exactly how June played out this year.

CHURCH: Meteorologists say England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland individually also reported their warmest June's on record. Well, the new live action Barbie movie has been banned in Vietnam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGOT ROBBIE, ARTIST, PLAY ROLE AS BARBIE: Barbie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi Barbie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi Barbie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi Barbie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi Barbie.

SIMU LIU, ARTIST, PLAY ROLE AS KEN #2: Hi Barbie.

ROBBIE: Hi Ken.

LIU: Hi Ken. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The film which is distributed by CNN sister company Warner Brothers was slated to open in Vietnam on July 21st. But a state-run newspaper says the film won't be screened because it shows a map of Beijing's claims to the South China Sea, which is depicted in this U- shaped line. Vietnam considers some of the oil rich territory its own continental shelf and has already awarded drilling contracts there.

But it's part of China has refused to accept an international court ruling in The Hague, which rejected Beijing's claims. Warner Brothers has not yet commented on the latest ban. And thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church, "WORLD SPORT" is up next. Then I will be back in 15 minutes with more CNN NEWSROOM. Do stick around.

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