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Buffalo Shooter Radicalized Via Social Media; Turkey Not Sure to Accept Finland and Sweden Inside NATO; More than 260 People Rescued from Azovstal; Russian Troops Target Military Base Near Poland; Controversies Could Jeopardize a Candidate's Bid; McDonald's Leaving Russia; Afghan Leader Shows His Face on Camera; A Hero Killed in Buffalo Shooting; Pfizer Booster for Kids is On the Way; Baby Formula Shortage Making It Hard to Find for Americans. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 17, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom, and I'm Rosemary Church.

Coming up, a mass shooting fueled by racism and hate was months in the making. The latest on the supermarket massacre in Buffalo, as the community begins to mourn the loss of 10 innocent lives.

Plus, the battle for Azovstal appears to be nearing its end in Ukraine as final efforts are being made to rescue those still trapped inside.

And it's a high stakes election day in five U.S. states with Donald Trump's influence looming large over some key primary races. We'll take a look.

UNKNOWN: Live from CNN center, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us. U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to Buffalo New York in the coming hours, where he will meet with families of the victims of Saturday's racially motivated shooting.

A White House official tells CNN, the president will make remarks in Buffalo and condemn the shooting as terrorism motivated by a hateful and perverse ideology. And he is expected to call on Americans to quote, "give hate no safe harbor."

This comes as we learn new details about the 18-year-old accused in the attack that killed 10 people.

CNN's Brian Todd has the latest.

JOHN GARCIA, SHERIFF, ERIE COUNTY: This was a straight-up hate crime, pure evil. BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police revealing details about the

meticulous planning that went into the massacre of 10 people at a Buffalo store and how it could have been worse.

JOSEPH GRAMAGLIA, BUFFALO POLICE COMMISSIONER: He had plans, had he gotten out of here, to continue his rampage and continue shooting people. He'd even spoken about possibly going to another store.

TODD: Eighteen-year-old Payton Gendron is accused of murdering several people in the parking lot. He exchanged gunfire with a security guard and shot more people in the store before surrendering to police.

GRAMAGLIA: He was very heavily armed. He had tactical gear. He had a tactical helmet on. He had a camera that he was livestreaming what he was doing.

TODD: CNN obtained a 180-page statement attributed to the suspect, which was posted online just before the attack. The document's author says he was inspired after seeing a clip of another racially motivated attack in New Zealand in 2019, where a gunman livestreamed his murder of 51 people at two mosques.

The document details how the shooter has been radicalized by online message boards, describing the Great Replacement theory, which suggests the false belief that the white race is dying out.

LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL: They had the "n" word, which unfortunately was carved into one of his weapons. Clearly, he was bent on hate.

TODD: CNN has obtained a photo of two other rifles the gunman brought to the scene that have writing on them, including the phrase "white lives matter." The shooter allegedly wrote he'd chosen the Buffalo store based on the racial makeup of its zip code. And he had been serious about carrying out the attack since January.

GRAMAGLIA: The individual was here a few months ago back in early March.

TODD: He'd been buying ammo, surplus military gear, and shooting irregularly, and had mapped out the store, intending to shoot all black people. The main gun, a bushmaster XM-15 was bought from this gun store before he illegally modified it.

But according to the New York Times, he had no problem purchasing the weapon even after an incident at the Susquehanna Valley High School last June when he was a student, on the honor roll, school documents show.

GARCIA: The gun dealer was able to sell these weapons to this individual because there was no red flags that came up.

TODD: A spokesperson for the school district tells CNN the suspect was interviewed by police after he made an ominous reference to murder/suicide in a school project, although there was no specific threat.

GARCIA: He stated a facility. I'm not sure if it was a hospital or a mental health facility for a day and a half.

TODD: The gunman's neighbors we spoke to didn't want to give their names. They are frustrated.

UNKNOWN: Something got missed. You know, if he was flagged in high school, why didn't he get the mental health care he needed then? And the system failed him that caused this tragedy to occur.

TODD: They say the shooter was quiet and seemed like a normal teenager.

UNKNOWN: Then when I found out it was from (Inaudible) county, I said, I sure as hell hope he isn't from Conklin. So. And then it turned out he was. And then it turns out he's lives on my street. So, we were all totally shocked about this whole thing.

[03:05:06]

TODD: The suspect is currently in custody and on suicide watch.

GARCIA: He's in a segregated unit aside from the rest of the general population, and that's for his safety.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: The suspect has pleaded not guilty to first degree murder. Law enforcement officials say prosecutors are working to bring possible federal charges against him in addition to the state charges. Officials say the suspect's attorney has withdrawn a request for a mental health forensic examination to be performed on him.

Brian Todd, CNN, Conklin, New York.

CHURCH: In another part of the country, a doctor who was killed in Sunday's church shooting in Southern California is being hailed for his bravery. The gunman opened fire at a Taiwanese church service, wounding five people and killing 52-year-old Dr. John Cheng.

Authorities say Cheng charged at the shooter giving others time to help subdue him. They say Chang's heroic actions helped save lives. Investigators have identified the gunman as 68-year-old David Chou, a U.S. citizen born in China.

They believe the shooting was politically motivated and that Chou was upset between over the tensions between China and Taiwan. They don't feel he had connection to the church or its members.

We are tracking new developments out of Ukraine. Ukraine says there have been casualties from Russian missile strikes on areas north and east of Kyiv and there are reports Russian troops have tried to cross the border with heavy fighting near Sumi east of the capital.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said that combat operations in Mariupol are over for troops holed up at the Azovstal steel plant. More evacuations began Monday, allowing more than 260 people to leave.

Well, elsewhere in Ukraine, officials said earlier a military base had been targeted by Russian missiles near the Polish border.

For the latest on the attacks there, and north of Kyiv, and Azovstal, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joins me now live from Lviv in Ukraine. Good to see you, Suzanne. So what is the latest on all of this?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, it was a very, very active night across the country here in Ukraine. Heavy series of military strikes and attacks from the Russians and really, a very significant uptick when you compare it relatively to the weeks prior here. A very active evening.

If you just take a look around the country we are talking north of Kyiv, that is where Ukrainian authorities say that Russian missiles struck in an area called Desna, it is an area that is just 40 miles from the border of Belarus. They say that there were many casualties that there are many wounded and those dead, they do not know yet what the intended target was. But they will certainly be getting more information and clearly going in to the areas to just see the kinds of loss and devastation to the Ukrainians this morning.

And then, here in Lviv, overnight, we were able to see and hear first- hand some of the explosions that happened here. The sirens we heard from our hotel here in Lviv, going off at about 12.25 just after midnight or so. Everyone getting to the bunker to the basement for a while and it was about 20 minutes after that, that is when we started to hear for ourselves a series of explosions.

Some on our CNN team were able to actually see some of the lights in the sky from the anti-aircraft defenses that had been put in motion. It was about 1.15 in the morning local time here that the final all- clear had been done.

It was not until this morning that we learned from Ukrainian forces that the intended target, the target that was hit was a railway infrastructure here in Lviv. And so, military analysts when they take a look and they see what is going on here inside of the country, they believe that the reason you are seeing this uptick and these missile attacks, as well as the cross-border fighting is because the Russians are trying to really occupy these Ukrainian forces and keep them from being deployed in the east.

So that they have things to fight and follow as opposed to really engage in the east where the Russians ss want to make further progress. Rosemary?

CHURCH: And Suzanne, there have also been significant developments overnight in the battle for the steel plant in Mariupol. What can you tell us about that?

MALVEAUX: Well, yes, it's a very significant development because the question becomes and Mariupol a symbolic, strong symbol of Ukrainian resistance. Is it going to fold? Are we going to see that city collapse under the Russian authorities and regime as the troops move in?

[03:10:04]

This is the last stand here. That steel plant, of course, and hundreds and hundreds of Ukrainian military soldiers had been wounded inside of that plant. No food, no water, no supplies for many, many weeks, left to die.

And what we understand, and it is, it is as different sides describe it differently. The Ukrainians are calling it a victory as they actually took them out of -- out of that plant to hospital area -- hospitals, the Russians are calling it a victory on their side, that this was some sort of political or diplomatic win as a result of negotiations.

The question still remaining of course, there are still soldiers inside that area. There are still some ongoing talks. And where does that city, that town stand now that it looks like their military says they have completed that combat mission. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right, Suzanne Malveaux joining us live from Lviv, many thanks and take good care there.

Well, Russia's war is driving a historic change in European security. On Monday, Sweden announced that it would join neighboring Finland and seek NATO membership. They would reverse decades of military non- alignment and mark a major expansion of the NATO alliance.

But those plans are already hitting roadblocks. Turkey's president is doubling down on his objections, accusing Finland and Sweden of housing terrorist groups. NATO leaders have said they are confident that Turkey won't block the bids but membership decision requires unanimous consent from all 30 NATO states.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday, that the expansion wouldn't be an immediate threat but he warned that moving weapons on to Finnish or Swedish territory would provoke a response.

And for more, we want to bring in CNN's Nina dos Santos who joins us live from Stockholm. So, this is fascinating really, isn't it? Because in the first instance, we know that Vladimir Putin, part of the reason why he went in and invaded Ukraine was because he felt that NATO was infringing and encroaching upon Russian soil, now of course this will become a reality if it goes forward.

But talk to us about Turkey's attempt to block this, and of course, now, Sweden joining behind Finland to want to be a member of NATO. Talk to us about that whole process too?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a huge political decision for a country like Sweden and also, it's neighbor next door, Finland, and it will redraw the security map in this part of Europe where right on the Baltic Sea, which of course is an area that Vladimir Putin also has a foothold in, with his enclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea, which is only about 200 kilometers away from parts of Sweden.

So, this really is significant. It expands NATO's border with Russia, hugely doubling it, and in fact and it will have political ramifications going forward. Because remember that Sweden and Finland are relatively rich, profligate, Democratic countries with big military might as well.

But there is another country that has big military might inside NATO as you pointed out that is being a bit awkward about this. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey reiterating yesterday his concerns and even stronger language said before about Sweden and Finland harboring individuals from the Kurdish community.

Kurdish separatists, members of the PKK and also the other organizations, the YPG that he deems as terrorists and he is trying exert some political leverage over these talks.

And Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State over the course of the weekend had some meetings with his Turkish counterparts in Berlin when there was an informal NATO members meeting there, and appeared to come out confident that he would be able to assuage Turkey's concerns. But then just a few days later we have another reiterated statement from Turkey.

It's unclear where the diplomatic negotiations are likely to go from here this week. We've got a delegation from Sweden heading to Ankara to meet with their Turkish counterparts to talk them down from this kind of rhetoric. Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying don't bother even sending your diplomats.

So, he is clearly making it clear that he is going to play hardball over this. But in the meantime, that hasn't stopped Sweden from proceeding and Finland as well.

So let me give you an idea of what's happening here today. We've just seen in the last hour or so, Ann Linde, the foreign secretary of Sweden signed the paper work for NATO accession. This is a huge moment. She said it felt a very big moment, a very serious moment.

Finland is expected to hate a vote later on today, and to do so perhaps as early as tomorrow. The Finnish president, Sauli Niinisto is in town here for a state visit. He'll be addressing the Swedish parliament in a few hours' time. And then he'll be addressing the world's media alongside the prime minister of Sweden here in Stockholm. Rosemary?

[03:15:06]

CHURCH: Yes, it is an extraordinary move and the world is watching this very closely. Nina dos Santos joining us live from Stockholm, Sweden, many thanks.

A U.S. House Republican with a long list of scandals and gaffes is seeking reelection. Many in his party want him gone. But can the backing of Donald Trump give Madison Cawthorn a last-minute boost. We'll take a look. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:19:58]

CHURCH: Later today, voters in five U.S. states will choose their candidates for November's midterm election. And one of the most closely watched races is in North Carolina where a Republican House freshman with a history of misconduct is at risk of losing his party's nomination.

But as Dianne Gallagher reports, he has a very powerful ally insisting on a second chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The mountainous tree covered landscape of western Carolina has become an ugly political battleground.

UNKNOWN: Cawthorn will lie about anything.

GALLAGHER: As Republicans wage an all-out war on embattled but trump- endorsed congressman, Madison Cawthorn. He faces off against seven GOP challengers in Tuesday's primary who cast the scandal plague representative as absent, fame hungry, even dangerous.

WENDY NEVAREZ (R), NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE CANDIDATE: A lot of things that he said and done recently has aired in other countries as propaganda that goes back to a national security issue.

GALLAGHER: Pitching themselves to the very red district as more serious, less destructing alternatives.

CHUCK EDWARDS (R), NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE CANDIDATE: Instead of talking about what lingerie that our congressman might like to wear in his spare time, we need to be talking about inflation and real issues.

GALLAGHER: Republicans have rallied around the other candidates like state Senate Chuck Edwards who has the backing of North Carolina's most powerful players, including Senator Tom Tillis.

UNKNOWN: Putin used Cawthorn's claims.

GALLAGHER: And the six figures that Tillis connected super PAC has dropped on attack ads.

REP. MADISON CAWTHORN (R-NC): I've really never seen the swamp launch such a coordinated attack against any individual politics except for Donald Trump.

GALLAGHER: Former President Donald Trump endorsed the 26-year-old Cawthorn more than a year ago, though he's generally stayed away from the race. But on the eve of the primary, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, rehashing Cawthorn's background while adding, recently he made some foolish mistakes which I don't believe he'll make again. Let's give Madison a second chance. And we found plenty of voters in Cawthorn's hometown of Hendersonville

who plan to do just that.

UNKNOWN: I think he is a good kid. It's political. Everybody is trying to do what they can to make themselves look good and make the opponent look bad.

UNKNOWN: A lot of it is made up, fabricated stuff.

GALLAGHER: But for others between the unflattering headlines, four congressional attendants and fights over whether he shut down district offices, it's just too much drama.

UNKNOWN: He is a narcissistic and I'm just not into that.

GALLAGHER: North Carolina's 11th district is massive and rural, making voters both physically and digitally hard to reach. But one Cawthorn misstep that did seem to reach the entire district, his move late last year when new maps were drawn to leave it behind.

CAWTHORN: I will be running for Congress in the 13th congressional district. This move is not an abandonment.

GALLAGHER: But a lot of people took it that way.

UNKNOWN: So, when Madison Cawthorn decided to leave the congressional district and run in Charlotte, he asked me to step in and run as the America first candidate.

GALLAGHER: And when the court redrew the maps, Cawthorn came back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER: Now adding to the unpredictability of Tuesday's race here are the unaffiliated voters. Those are voters who are not affiliated with either party but can choose which primary race to participate in. More than 40 percent of all of the ballots that have been cast in the Republican primary here in this district are from those unaffiliated voters.

Adding to this, in North Carolina, a candidate must get at least 30 percent of the vote during a primary in order to avoid another run-off election. Experts say that could bode well for Congressman Cawthorn as this fractured large field of Republicans could give him that 30 percent.

Dianne Gallagher, CNN, Hendersonville, North Carolina.

CHURCH: And last hour, I asked political analyst Michael Genovese about the power of Trump's support, and what he expects to happen in the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: In this race, you need a 30 percent threshold to win. And in a crowded race, which is what it is, a known candidate with name recognition has a bit of an advantage also the Trump endorsement might help.

But here's an example of Trump endorsing someone who was thought to be a rising star in the Republican Party, but who has fallen from grace and who's support has been disappearing faster than cupcakes in a pot party.

He is an embarrassment to the party, monumentally flawed. He has been -- he's accused other Republicans of inviting him to sex orgies and cocaine parties. He's been pictured -- we've seen pictures of him in women's lingerie. There are videos that are embarrassing floating around.

And so, Trump has picked an odd person to put his reputation on. It may help Cawthorn. He may be able to pull it through. But it's a really long shot because the Republican establishment really doesn't like this guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And the polls are open in North Carolina in just a few hours from now.

[03:24:59]

Still to come, one country stands in the way of the E.U.'s plan to ban Russian oil imports. The latest on those efforts and how Russia's economy is fairing when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, Russia may have avoided another blow to its economy, at least for now.

[03:30:02]

E.U. leaders were unable to convince Hungary to lift its veto of a proposed ban on Russian oil imports, a move which would be the group's harshest sanction yet over Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, McDonald's is pulling out of Russia for good and will permanently close and sell its more than 800 restaurants there, making it one of the biggest global brands to exit the country since the war began.

And CNN's Clare Sebastian joins me now from London with more. Good morning to you, Clare. What impact will the departure of McDonald's and other foreign businesses have on Russia's economy? And what has been the real impact so far of sanctions and limited oil import bans?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, Rosemary, so take first the issue of McDonald's and let's add to that Renault, which is a French car company which announce it was selling both its stake in Lada maker Avtovaz and its shares in Renault Russia on Monday.

Together the two of those companies in Russia employed more than 100,000 people. So, I think the most immediate concern to the Russian authorities with exits like that is unemployment. What to do with all of the people. This is why you see the Moscow mayor coming out. The city of Moscow, by the way, bought the shares in Renault Russia from Renault.

He says they are now going to turn Renault's Moscow factory around and start producing Soviet era cars under the Moskvich brand, a very Soviet, very sort of iconic car brand there but clearly an effort to try to prevent mass unemployment from these foreign companies leaving.

This is why you see other companies like Ikea, for example, that continues to pay its staff in Russia. They say they are going to continue to do that through August. But on the flip side, Rosemary, the Russian economy has shown remarkable resilience in the face of sanctions.

The ruble, for example, is at its strongest against the U.S. dollar right now since February 2020. So even before the pandemic and this is why the oil embargo to the E.U. you're discussing is so crucial. Because while they fail to reach consensus, they continue to find it difficult to reach consensus on that, Russia is still making money from its energy exports.

And in fact, it's making more money from them because of the disruption to the market and then the resulting higher prices. So, this is why this issue is so crucial, because until they can reach consensus on this issue, the E.U. of course being the biggest customer for Russian energy, the Russian economy will still be able to afford this war in Ukraine and will still be able to cushion itself against the sanctions.

CHURCH: What would it take to change the situation? When you look at it, it's just astounding that Russia has been able to survive with those sorts of sanctions?

SEBASTIAN: Yes, look, I mean, so far, it's been able to survive largely due to the efforts of the Russian Central Bank, which, by some orthodox measures including raising rates to 20 percent, it's now by the way cut them down to 14 percent and various capital controls.

They manage to sort of protect the ruble and the financial system and avoid a collapse. But things like import bans, exits of foreign companies, the risks are mounting every day, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Clare Sebastian joining us live from London. Many thanks for that analysis. I appreciate it.

Well, there is a $10 million bounty on the head of a deputy leader of the Taliban. The U.S. calls him a specially designated global terrorist, with blood on his hands and he's never spoken with a western journalist, or shown his face in a TV interview until now.

[03:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well, now to a CNN exclusive, one of Afghanistan's top leaders under Taliban rule says they want good relations with the U.S. Sirajuddin Haqqani is the Afghan acting interior minister and a deputy leader of the Taliban. He has never spoken on camera with a western journalist until now.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour sat down with him in Kabul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I do have to ask you, Mr. Haqqani, because, you know very well that you are under personal sanctions by the United States which also has a multi- million-dollar bounty on your head.

This is what a top western official told me just before I got here. He said we are in a new world. The guy, that's you, has a huge amount of American blood on his hands. He's got in the Taliban the tightest ties to extremist movements. He was also one of the first to put women back to work in his ministry. We have seen his ministry take promising steps to contain terrorism. To call it a paradox is an understatement. This is not just my opinion. It's the opinion of every single envoy who works on these issues.

So, on the one hand, they belief you are a terrorist. I'm sorry to say, that's "they" who say that, and on the other hand, they think they can work with you. What do you say to that?

SIRAJUDDIN HAQQANI, AFGHAN ACTING INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): I would say that this is a judgment that they should make. I have mentioned this before that they have fought us intensely and in order to defend the country and ourselves, our response was the same.

[03:40:04]

But the commitment and the form of governance in order to create secure Afghanistan we send a positive message to the world and send a positive message to our nation. While the previous situation had concealed our real picture and currently, praise God, and that the conditions of freedom, our conduct is being revealed gradually to the international community. And also, this is being revealed to certain circles within the country who are thinking negatively about us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And you can watch part two of that exclusive interview with the deputy Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani Tuesday on Amanpour. Tune in at 6 p.m. in London right here on CNN.

And thanks for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. For our international viewers, African Voice Changemakers is next, and for those of you here in the U.S. and Canada, I'll be back with more news in just a moment.

[03:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: More on our top story now. The racially motivated mass

shooting in Buffalo, New York where 10 innocent people were gunned down inside a supermarket. One of those victims was a courageous security guard named Aaron Salter.

CNN's Jason Carroll has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He died while trying save others, that's how those knew Aaron Salter say he should be remembered.

MAYOR BYRON BROWN, BUFFALO, NEW YORK: He was a strong individual. He was a warm individual, a real caring person, cared about the community, someone who devoted a lot of his life to public safety to keeping the community safe.

CARROLL: Buffalo's Mayor Byron Brown knew Salter for years back when Salter was a Buffalo police officer.

BROWN: I remember first meeting him through his parents, Aaron and Carol Salter very warm people. They had a business in the community. And I saw him as a loving son, always trying to take care of his parents. Make sure his parents were OK. That's the kind of person that he was. He had a caring spirit, and a desire to take care of other people.

CARROLL: That desire helped Salter rise through the ranks in the police department, he eventually became a lieutenant, his love of community and law enforcement was one of the reasons he went to work as a security guard at the Tops supermarket after he retired from the force. Saturday, armed only with a handgun, he engaged the shooter.

JOSEPH GRAMAGLIA, BUFFALO POLICE COMMISSIONER: He went down fighting. He went towards the gunfire and he went towards the fight. He shot the individual, but because of his armored plating vest, it had no affect on him.

CARROLL: Law enforcement officials say it is clear he saved many lives.

UNKNOWN: My daughter was crouched down in the front end for the entire shooting.

CARROLL: His actions it gave Fragrance Harris Stanfield (Ph) who works at the market with her daughter the time they needed to take cover.

UNKNOWN: Everyone started running, I grabbed my daughter and kept running and kept running until I got all the way to the back door.

CARROLL: Those who knew Salter say even though he retired from the force he never stopped being a police officer.

BROWN: I think he would want to be remembered as someone who cared about his community. Who cares about -- cared about his family. And someone that did his job and stood up when other people were in danger trying to keep others safe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: Salter was 55 years old, and even though he was not a police officer at the time of his death. And due to his actions, there is a movement in Buffalo to have a formal funeral for Salter as if he was an active duty police officer killed in the line of duty. The mayor says he is behind that idea. He is simply waiting to hear from the family to do what is best.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

CHURCH: The United States is about to reach a devastating milestone. The country is less than 200 deaths away from reaching one million killed by the pandemic. That is according to Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize a booster doze of Pfizer's COVID vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11 as early as Tuesday. Now this comes as the number of new cases among children in the U.S. grew nearly 76 percent last week from two weeks prior, that is according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

And this is the fifth consecutive week in which child cases have increased. And now, kids make up about 18 percent of all the weekly reported cases in this country. The CDC also updated some of their travel guidelines and are now encouraging all domestic travelers to consider getting tested as close to their departure as possible, as well as getting tested after their travels.

[03:50:06]

Well, earlier, I spoke to Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, internal medicine specialist and viral researcher and I asked him about the nearly one million COVID deaths in the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JORGE RODRIGUEZ, BOARD CERTIFIED INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST & VIRAL RESEARCHER: Well, Rosemary, I think so, the number is staggering and tragic and unfortunately, I think so many people have become nun -- I mean, numb to that number, it's more than World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War put together almost by double.

And one of the greatest failures that I think we've done is we have been too eager to drop our defenses, thinking that this is over. And it really, and I'm not trying to be a downer, but it is far from over. As we see now, there's surges with this new variant. Certain states are 25 percent higher this week than last. So, we can never, until this is completely gone, let our guard down.

CHURCH: Yes, very true. And of course, good news, at last, for kids, ages 5 to 11 with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expected to authorize a booster shot of Pfizer's COVID vaccine. A meeting is scheduled today. Once authorized how soon do you expect that booster to be made available to all of those kids and their parents who have been eagerly waiting for this added protection as new cases among children in the U.S. have been increasing significantly in the last five weeks or so?

RODRIGUEZ: Correct. If true for course, it probably will be available within a couple of weeks of the FDA and then the CDC approving it. And I'm just going to put a plug in here, because I have a 1-year-old niece-in-law, we need to move ahead and try to vaccinate those children under five years of age. But this is great news for kids. Great news.

CHURCH: It is great for that age group. But as you say, I mean, there's a lot of parents, they can't do very much in their families --

RODRIGUEZ: Correct.

CHURCH: -- with those younger kiddies who were just so vulnerable at this time. How much longer do you think they would be waiting to get their kiddies the shots?

RODRIGUEZ: I am hoping, because the information is out there, it's been presented. They need to get more data. Because nothing would be more tragic than to give an infant or a child that age something that is detrimental to them. But I am hopeful that it will be within the next three to six months, if not sooner, God willing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And that was Dr. Rodriguez sharing his perspective with me last hour.

A new deal between baby formula maker, Abbott, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could help solve the baby formula shortage here in the United States. Pending court approval Abbott says it could resume baby formula production and have products in stores in six to eight weeks' time.

Abbott closed its Michigan factory early this year after investigators found bacterial contamination at the plant. But other alternatives are available. The American Academy of Pediatrics says cow's milk may be an option for babies over six months old if infant formula continues to be unavailable. Toddlers' formula is also safe for a limited time for babies close to their first birthday.

Well, meantime, the White House says it has been working for weeks now to increase the supply of baby formula from both domestic and international sources, it's launched a new government web site to help parents find formula.

CNN's M.J. Lee puts those resources to the test.

M.J. LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Last week the White House was not able to offer clear federal guidance on what exactly parents should do if they are unable to find baby formula. And then on Friday, the White House announced a new hhs.gov/formula web site, they said that it should provide plenty of resources for parents that are looking to get their hands on baby formula.

So, CNN decided to try to try it out, we called some of the 1-800 numbers that were listed on that web site, tried out some of the web chat sessions that they were recommends and this is what we found. When we tried the Abbott's 1-800 hotline, and of course this is the company behind those major recalls we were told that they are not answering any questions by phone. They also have set up a form where pediatrician can fax over a form along with the doctor's order to try to get formula to parents, it's just really unclear how long that would take.

Next, we also tried Reckitt, their 1-800 hotline number. This is the company behind the popular formula Enfamil and the whole time hold there was 72 minutes at the end of which a representative got on the phone and they said that they are completely sold out of everything.

And the third company we tried was Gerber. We tried some of the chat functions and asked if they could recommend certain lines of formula that is similar to a certain line of a Similac formula and they said that they are out of stock as well.

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Some of the representatives saying my heart does go out to you during this time, clearly trying to show some empathy to parents that are looking for formula. And then when we went on the Gerber web site, we saw over the weekend that 16 of the 24 different formula lines appear to be out of stock.

So, it's worth noting that many of these representatives that we encountered they were pretty apologetic, they said some of these call times have been pretty normal, that it has been very difficult for parents to get their hands on baby formula.

So, this just gives us a little window in to the broad frustration that we are seeing and hearing about across the country during this nationwide baby formula shortage. Back to you.

CHURCH: Thanks for that. And thank you for spending part of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church. CNN Newsroom with Max Foster is next.

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