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U.S. And South Korea Signal Desire To Restart, Expand Military Drills; CNN: U.S. Believes North Korea May Be Fueling For A Missile Test; "Operation Fly Formula" To Deliver 132 Pallets Of Baby Formula To U.S. More Than 35 Million In Northeast Under Heat Advisories Today; CDC Votes To Recommend COVID Boosters For Kids Five To 11; Depp's Former Friends, Associates Testify On Alleged Substance Abuse. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired May 21, 2022 - 12:00   ET

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

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[12:00:10]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there. Thanks for joining me on this Saturday. I'm Alex Marquardt, in today for Fredricka Whitfield.

We start this hour with the latest developments from a pivotal overseas trip for President Joe Biden. The president is in the South Korean capital of Seoul today, he's aiming to shore up and strengthen alliances in the region as China, North Korea and the war in Ukraine, of course, loom largely in the background.

Now, today, the president and his South Korean counterpart have signaled a desire to restart military drills in response to North Korea's growing nuclear threat.

President Biden also left open the possibility of meeting in the future with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond is in Seoul with the president. Jeremy, what do we know about these plans to restart these military drills?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, both President Biden and President Yoon of South Korea, agreeing to begin discussions to expand these military drills between the United States and South Korea.

Now, this marks a dramatic shift from President Biden's predecessor, former President Trump, who not only scaled back to the move to scrap those exercises altogether, calling them too costly, and provocative as he pursued this kind of grand bargain diplomacy with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

President Trump, of course, met three times with the North Korean leader, but ultimately, was not able to make any progress, any meaningful substantive progress toward the ultimate us goal of denuclearization of North Korea. Now, President Biden is really resetting U.S. foreign policy as it relates to North Korea, during this five-day trip to South Korea and Japan. What we're seeing from President Biden is a move towards a much more traditional U.S. foreign policy.

What the senior administration officials have told me is a careful and calibrated approach to North Korean diplomacy, aiming for lower level working talks with North Korea to try and get incremental progress.

Of course, the North Koreans have been refused to engage altogether with the United States so far, including refusing or not responding, it seems, to offers from the United States and South Korea to provide Coronavirus relief to this big outbreak of coronavirus that's happening right now in North Korea.

President Biden addressed the question about whether or not he would meet with a North Korean leader. Here is his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With regard to whether I would meet with the leader of North Korea that would be depend on whether he was sincere and whether he's serious.

DIAMOND: Now, senior administration officials have told me that they have no indication that the North Korean leader or any North Korean officials are serious and sincere about engaging with the United States.

In fact, they've been ramping up their ballistic missile tests over the last several months. And there is still this looming possibility, according to U.S. intelligence that North Korea could test fire a ballistic missile or even a nuclear weapon, while President Biden is in the region.

MARQUARDT: All right, Jeremy Diamond in the South Korean capital Seoul. Thank you so much.

Now, Susan Glasser is a CNN global affairs analyst and a staff writer for The New Yorker.

Susan, we're going to get to the president's trip in Asia. But I want to talk about something that just came out. The Russians have just published a list of almost 1,000 Americans. So, 963 Americans that they are banning from entering Russia.

Some of the names on the list include President Biden, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, some journalists, including yourself. And the reason that they are banning these Americans, they say is because these 963 names, they say, incite Russophobia. What more do we know about this list?

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST (on camera): Well, you know, this is the first I heard of it. This morning was from a friend who also follows Russia closely. It's a pretty random list. It includes everyone from Morgan Freeman to the president. As you pointed out, Democrats, as well as Republicans are on there.

And, you know, it just makes me very sad, really, that this is what it's come to Russia can ban individuals, but it's not going to ban, you know, the truth about Russia from coming out.

MARQUARDT: All right, sounds like you might have someone at the door. But before you go answer it. Let's talk about the president's trip in Asia. What do you make of this reversal of the Trump area -- a Trump- era slowdown of joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States? Your reaction to this news that they might ramp up again?

GLASSER: You know, I think that it, it shows that, you know, there's a lot of elements of the Trump policy, especially towards North Korea that obviously were just outliers.

Trump's love affair with Kim Jong -un did not produce a nuclear deal. His impulsive demand and his first summit with Kim, in fact, to suspend nuclear exercises was, you know, a shock even to his own advisers. It obviously didn't produce any kind of long-term positive result with the North Korean regime.

[12:05:20]

GLASSER: So, it's not a surprise that, that part of the Trump policy has been scrapped. But North Korea remains this enormous challenge. And, you know, as report pointed out, there's even the possibility of another test from the North Koreans while President Biden is in the region.

MARQUARDT: Yes, a major concern there. Susan, President Trump had been repeatedly criticized for meeting with Kim Jong-un without really getting any deliverables or any concrete promises from Kim Jong-un.

What do you make of President Biden now saying that he would consider sitting down with Kim Jong-un if he were sincere and serious?

GLASSER: Yes, I think that if you were sincere is a sort of loophole you can drive a truck through. I mean, the bottom line is I took that to mean that President Biden isn't going to be meeting with Kim anytime soon.

You know, if U.S. policy is to have a non-nuclear North Korean regime, and North Korea views nuclear weapons as fundamental to its survival as a government, as a regime, then, there's very little room to negotiate. And so, I wouldn't expect President Biden to be sitting down anytime soon with Kim.

MARQUARDT: And President Biden was also asked about COVID in North Korea, Susan. The country itself has admitted that there's an explosive number of -- millions of cases of what they're calling fever.

Now, of course, you're not an epidemiologist, but knowing what you do about North Korea, and how closed off it is, how concerned do you think the global community should be about these COVID cases in North Korea, considering that they are admitting that it is quite a dire situation?

GLASSER: Yes, look, the bottom line is that the, you know, kind of zero-COVID policy, we've seen a different iteration of that. And China, you know, was bound to fail. It's striking that it's taken this long, really for an epidemic of the size to break out in North Korea in more than two years, well, more than two years into the pandemic. That does speak to how isolated the country is.

And we'll see. I'd be very interested in whether the North Koreans take up President Biden on his offer of assistance right now. Recalls, you know, the question of whether North Korea would accept food aid during the various famines of Kim's father and grandfather.

MARQUARDT: The president is moving on from the Korean Peninsula to Japan, where there's going to be meeting of the so called Quad. They're going to be discussing the Indo-Pacific economic framework.

But what do you think the priorities are for Biden in those meetings in Tokyo?

GLASSER: Well, first of all, I think just the timing alone is extremely important, while he's even overseas signing an urgent, the $40 billion aid to Ukraine bill that just passed Congress this week, which is a major measure.

At the same time, it's very important, I think, for the United States and for Biden to signal that he hasn't entirely given up on his policy of bolstering U.S. allies and focusing on the Asia Pacific region at a time when concerns about China are paramount in American national security circle.

So, I think the timing is very important. This is the first trip to Asia by the president. And it comes at a moment when of course, the focus here in Washington has largely been on Russia and Ukraine.

And so, that alone, I think, is very important. But there is this question, what is the economic policy of bolstering opposition to China in the region? Trump, as you know, blew up the Trans Pacific Partnership, the American roll in it, which was meant to be the key.

Can Biden reinvigorate something new? It's not clear where the new administration has been on trade, keeping many of Trump's policies and tariffs, will that now change? I -- it's really a question mark.

MARQUARDT: All right, Susan, thank you so much for breaking down all those different topics for us.

GLASSER: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: Take care.

MARQUARDT (voice over): All right. Well, coming up, as the baby formula shortage worsens, the first American military aircraft carrying baby formula to the United States is scheduled to leave Germany tomorrow and make its way over here.

[12:09:11]

MARQUARDT: We'll be heading to Ramstein Air Base next with a live report.

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MARQUARDT (on camera): U.S. military cargo planes will soon be transporting European baby formula to the United States in order to counter the critical shortage that is across this country.

The first flight is scheduled to leave Germany tomorrow. That's where we find our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, she's at Ramstein Air Base. Elizabeth, you're standing in front of those pallets. How much of an impact is that baby formula that you've seen today going to have on this shortage?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Alex, it's 1.5 million eight ounce bottles of baby formula. And so, certainly that's a lot of baby formula. But remember, there are millions of babies under the age of one in the United States.

So, will this make a gigantic difference right away when it arrives in Indiana tomorrow? No, it will make a difference. The hope is the put together with other measures, it will make a noticeable difference but still, this shortage is probably going to be go, go on for quite some time.

So let's take a look at what is happening in Ramstein. So, today we watched as they put together all of these palettes. You can see here, it says Nestle. That's the Swiss company that is sending this formula. It's Alfamino, which is a hypoallergenic formula.

The reason for that is a lot of the parents who have been having issues, it's with children who have allergies or other kinds of needs, and they can't always take just the regular formula that most other children can take. So, again, the hope is that this will make a difference.

And Alex, when I was talking today, the service members, they really were quite emotional about how they ship things in people for a living. That's what they do all the time.

But they said this felt different that they were sending something that could save babies in the United States back to their home country.

[12:15:09]

COHEN: I will say that it feels to me a little bit bittersweet the sweet part is that this milk will get there, that the service members feel great about the incredible contribution they're making.

The bitter part is why does the United States need Europe to be sending them formula? That's certainly a question that lawmakers and others will be asking for quite some time to come. Alex? MARQUARDT: Yes. So, on our reporting that the soldiers there were told that they wouldn't be called in on their day off, but if you want to come in, we are literally saving babies.

COHEN: Right.

MARQUARDT: Elizabeth Cohen at Ramstein Air Base tracking those shipments. Thanks very much.

Now, in addition to those military flights, the Biden administration is taking additional steps to help parents struggling to find baby formula.

The president signed a bill this morning to expand access to families in need and to fight price gouging.

CNN's Polo Sandoval joins me now. Polo, do parents have alternatives in terms of formula for their babies until these inventories get back to normal?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): You know, that really depends, Alex. I'll give you an example. Yesterday, I had an opportunity to spend some time with the family in Long Island, New York,

Adrianna and Justin Eith, they wish they had more options here. The thing is, a very difficult situation gets even more complicated because little Cooper that you see there that just turned four months yesterday, he has not only digestive issues, but also a dairy allergy. So, this couple has tried like four different formulas, they finally found PurAmino, which is not only hypoallergenic, but it's also very difficult to find these days, because of that increase in demand.

So, what they've done, they've basically expanded their search to cover from New York, to California, lean on family and friends to scope out to pharmacies, because this is a prescription only formula.

So, they're relying on people there. They're also turning to social media and fellow parents to see if they can potentially flag an opportunity to track down this formula.

So far, they've been able to secure at least two weeks-worth. But with the Food and Drug Administration announcing that it's likely going to be weeks before those shelves are stocked again, the concern is what about the long term nutritional needs for little Cooper and other babies just like him?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADRIANNA EITH, MOM: And I don't sit here, you don't wanting to make it seem that my son has a greater need because I believe every baby has a need. Every baby needs to be fed, but it is scary when there is a medical need. And even pass my son because there are kids with greater health issues. How do they eat?

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANDOVAL: So, Reckitt is not only the nation's second largest for baby formula producer, but it also happens to be the manufacturer of the formula that little Cooper uses.

They released a statement yesterday basically saying that they have been able to maintain about a 35 percent increase in their product. They've also authorized unlimited overtime for their employees to try to ratchet up their supplies.

But the big question here is, you know, how soon will they be actually able to keep up?

They do expect them to continue to hold that significant increase. But when you talk to these parents, Alex, pictures like the ones that Elizabeth just showed us, it is what's giving them hope.

But they also remain extremely skeptical, that what the Biden administration is finally doing to address this will immediately work, and the answer is they don't expect that to happen.

MARQUARDT: And Polo, you can just hear the helplessness in their voice. Polo, thank you so much for that report. Polo Sandoval in New York.

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Alex.

MARQUARDT: Now, days after Finland applied to be a member of NATO, there is an apparent retaliation from Russia. That's coming up next.

And President Joe Biden is on an important diplomatic trip to South Korea, taking a moment to approve billions more in military aid for Ukraine. We're going to have a live report from Kyiv, coming up.

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[12:23:13]

MARQUARDT: We are monitoring a lot of new developments out of Ukraine. Russia's Defense Ministry is now saying that it has destroyed a large cache of European and American weapons that were sent to Ukraine.

And this comes as President Biden signed a new $40 billion military and humanitarian aid package for Ukraine. He did that today while he was visiting South Korea.

Russia is also taking new action against its neighbor Finland. Cutting off natural gas exports, saying that Finland has not paid up essentially.

CNN's Melissa Bell is live in Kyiv. Melissa, Russia has long said that they would target these weapons shipments that are coming into Ukraine, from Europe, from the United States. What do we know about this alleged Russian strike?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, we know that it happened about two hours from here in Kyiv. It was a missile strike on a train station, essentially, one of those railway points through which these weapons have been coming into Ukraine, the ones that have been provided by NATO allies, the United States, but other NATO allies as well.

And that have been so crucial, Alex, to Ukraine's efforts to try and slow down and indeed reverse the tide of the Russian invasion. We don't know much about the precise nature of the weapons that were destroyed, simply that it was at a train station as they were coming in.

So, a successful missile strike from Russia, in this case on one of its targets that it made clear it was going to be seeking to target. And I think something that we might continue to see more of those attacks on infrastructure, and specifically, the railroads that allowing Ukraine to win this war for the time being, Alex.

MARQUARDT: Yes, I think you're right. That's probably a fair assumption. Melissa, we know that talks between Russia and Ukraine have all completely fallen apart in the past few weeks, but we do -- we did just hear from President Zelenskyy saying that he believes this war will end with diplomacy.

[12:25:00]

MARQUARDT: So, what is this diplomatic route that he sees?

BELL: It's an interesting comment, because it comes in force in the -- in the contex, Alex, of a severe blow to Russian forces in the fall of Mariupol. Now, confirmed as the last fighters have been forced out of Azovstal, and are now in the hands of Russia as prisoners of war.

And when you look at that -- at that land that has now been taken between Crimea and the Donbas and is now in Russian hands. I mentioned a moment ago that Ukraine was quite successful in pushing back what had been Russians Russia's initial ambitions. But it's important to note that it is also suffering defeats. And I think in the context of that, it is interesting to listen to what President Zelenskyy had to say last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): The victory will be extremely difficult too. It will be a bloody victory in the battle. However, the end will definitely be in diplomacy. I'm convinced, because there are some things which we would not be able to end without a negotiation table, because we want to take back everything. But the Russian Federation doesn't want to return anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: Bear in mind, Alex that those comments come in the context of entirely suspended negotiations between Ukraine and Russia on a diplomatic solution to this crisis.

Essentially, Ukraine has ended those conversations for now put an end to the negotiations, because it's says that Moscow is being unreasonable and not recognizing that things have changed, essentially, recognizing that Ukraine holds the upper hand at the moment. That's why they walked away from the table.

For Ukraine, It is unacceptable that there should be any idea of a partition of their country. Do you understand reading between the lines of various statements that have been made these last few days.

And again, looking at what is now in the hands of Russia, that, that may be what Russia is now looking for, and what Ukraine is resisting? So, I think what Zelenskyy is doing by making this particular statement at this particular point, is trying to put extra pressure on Russia, to think again, about its negotiating position.

And with the pressure of the international community, perhaps, behind him trying to make Russia see that he's going -- that it's going to need -- to think again about its positions, what its ambitions are, and what it can hope to gain from this war.

MARQUARDT: Yes, President Zelenskyy is certainly hoping that he would have the upper hand in any potential negotiations.

Melissa, before I let you go in the city of Kherson, in the south near Crimea, Ukrainians are warning of a deepening humanitarian crisis. What more do we know about what's happening there?

Well, this is a city remember, there's been in Russian hands now for several weeks. And I think what's so interesting beyond the harrowing quality of the stories of these refugees now trying to flee the city and make their way to Ukrainian-controlled parts of the country, they are coming under attack, we're hearing, because essentially, Russian forces have given them the choice of staying in Kherson, or going to Crimea, of course, that part of Ukraine that was annexed by Russia back in 2014.

So, essentially, giving them the choice of staying where they are, or heading further into Russian controlled territories. Those that are trying to flee are coming under attack, and they're seeing with tales of what's happening inside those Russian controlled areas. Speaking of forced disappearances, the lack of food, the lack of supplies, giving a very bleak picture of what's going on, on the other side of the line, and one we don't have much access to, Alex.

MARQUARDT: Now, lots of reports of Ukrainians being forced to head into Russia. Melissa Bell, thank you so much for all your terrific reporting in Ukraine. Melissa Bell is in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Now, to a CNN exclusive, Marine veteran Trevor Reed was recently released by Russia after being imprisoned for nearly three years. Now, for the first time, he is speaking out. And he's doing so with CNN's Jake Tapper, and he tells him what happened in that interview.

Here is a quick look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TREVOR REED, MARINE VETERAN RELEASED BY RUSSIA: Because of Paul Whelan's case, I almost did not travel to Russia. So, this is going to sound stupid, because of what happened, but the only thing that, you know, I was like, oh, well, like, I will go. Was that I had already bought a ticket by the time that I found out about Paul Whelan's case.

And I was like, I don't want to pay that $200 to change my ticket. But at that same time, I thought, OK, they've like, clearly taken this marine hostage. There is absolutely no way that they are going to do that a second time.

Like, even just from that first time, you know, that's completely embarrassing. That's completely just demonizes the Russian government, and I thought, like, there's no way that they will do that again. Because before Paul, you know, Russia was not like going and taking Americans hostage. That wasn't like something that the Russians did. That's something that that North Korea does.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So, a lot of people have been following your case, for your almost three years of detention.

[12:30:04]

TAPPER: They want to know what your message is. What is your message?

REED: The first one is that Americans should be aware that this is happening to Americans all over the world, not only in Russia. But, you know, especially with regard to Russia, you know, I would like Americans to know that I'm not the only American political prisoner there. So Paul Whelan has been there for, you know, three and a half years, he's been in there longer than I have.

He was an FSB prison there for a year, which is brutal. We need to do absolutely everything we can, as Americans to advocate for those Americans who are, you know, being held illegally overseas and do every single thing we can possible to get them out? We have to do that. And, and I think that that's a duty of all Americans to do that.

You know, when they told me that I was leaving. I thought that Paul, you know, was leaving with me. And when I found out that they left him here. That was tough.

TAPPER: You didn't want to go without him. You didn't have a choice, Trevor?

REED: Sorry.

TAPPER: You didn't have a choice. There's nothing you could do.

REED: Yes, I realized that, but the fact is that the United States should have gotten him out and we have to get them out at any cost.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: You can watch the full special report, Finally Home: The Trevor Reed Interview. That's tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time Only here on CNN.

Coming up, extreme weather is gripping all parts of the United States, a powerful tornado leaving behind this catastrophic damage in the Midwest. While here in the northeast, more than 35 million people are enduring a heat wave that's expected to break dozens of records. We'll have the latest weather forecast coming up next.

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[12:36:56]

MARQUARDT: More than 35 million people are really baking under record high temperatures across the Northeast of the United States this weekend. Temperature gauges in some parts of New England, could come dangerously close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit today. That's 20 to 30 degrees hotter than normal. And it isn't even June yet. So let's get right to Allison Chinchar in the CNN weather center. Allison where's this heat hitting the hardest, I can see a huge stretch of red there.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think that's kind of the key Alex is how many people are really being impacted by this. You have potential record highs stretching from southern Texas all the way up into areas of New Hampshire all having the potential to break records, not only today but some places two days in a row also having some record-breaking highs yet again tomorrow.

We have heat advisories out across portions of the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic. It basically stretches from Northern Delaware all the way up into areas of New Hampshire. It's the combination of both the heat and even the humidity in some of these areas as well. Take a look at this again, Washington, D.C. the temp of 85 heat index up around 88.

You've got several of these that could end up reaching those upper 90s in terms of the heat index scale. We also have the form of severe thunderstorms. All those hot temperatures are helping to fuel severe thunderstorms. Now this is the same line that moved through the areas of Michigan yesterday producing that tornado now shifting a little bit farther to the east.

But everywhere from Maine all the way back to Texas has the potential for damaging winds, large hail and even some isolated tornadoes. You have some of those showers and thunderstorms already ongoing. But a lot more of them will continue to develop this afternoon and even into the evening and overnight hours.

So if you live in any of these red areas, please make sure you have a way to get those emergency alerts before you go to bed tonight, if those storms are still rolling through the area. One thing to note about the heat, though, is that we do start to finally see a drought back after that front moves through, take a look at this. New York going from 92 on Sunday, all the way back down to 66 on Tuesday, so from going well above average this weekend to actually about 10 degrees below normal once we get to the middle portion of the week.

And it's not just New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., all seeing that big drop in temperatures as we go through the next couple of days. And the other thing to note too, that cold air that's pushing into areas of the Northeast is already making its way across the center of the country. Alex, that's why we've been seeing snow in some unusual places such as Wyoming as well as Colorado.

MARQUARDT: Well, great to see that some of that relief will be coming our way and a great reminder from you, Allison to turn on those alerts. Allison Chinchar in the CNN Weather Center, thank you very much.

All right, coronavirus cases are rising again in 45 states all across the country. But the White House COVID czar Dr. Ashish Jha says that he believes that COVID cases are being substantially undercounted due to all the home tests we can do now. And he expects the current surge to only get worse. But children aged five to 11 are now eligible for more protection.

The CDC just announcing that they are authorizing a booster shot for that age group. Joining me now is Dr. Peter Hotez who is the co- director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital. Dr. Hotez thanks so much for joining me today. This booster approval is coming just as kids are getting ready to go away, to go to summer camps, getting ready for large summer gatherings. How much do you expect this booster for this young group of children to mitigate the surge that we're seeing right now?

[12:40:26]

DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR AND DEAN OF TROPICL MEDICINE AT BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, I think it could have an impact because as you rightly pointed out, we are seeing this big surge this wave. And that we were hoping it was going to be a bump unfortunately. It looks like it's going to be a pretty substantial wave almost as big as Omicron in terms of the number of new cases, although we're grossly under counting them, because a lot of these cases are not going recorded to being processed essentially to the state and federal government.

So I think having this third booster will help. We saw that after two immunizations with the 10 microgram doses, which is what we use in the 5 to 11-year-olds, we were seeing declining protection after a few months both against infection. And even though the numbers weren't there, in terms of statistical significance, it looked like there was a decrease in the impact on hospitalization as well.

So that third immunization, that first booster will do what it does for the older adolescents and for adults, which is give you that 30 to 40 fold rise of virus neutralizing antibody and help you weather these new variants much better. So I think it's a positive development.

MARQUARDT: Yes, another booster is now on offer being recommended. It's the fourth shot if you've gotten a double dose of the mRNAs. But doctor is there been research done on vaccines that that would stretch them, essentially making them longer lasting so many boosters are not needed. HOTEZ: Yes, you point out a really good point, which is that we are seeing declining protection after that third immunization, that first booster over -- after a few months, the Centers for Disease Control is reporting it goes down to 78 percent protection versus hospitalizations, 66 percent protection versus emergency room visits, still good, but not nearly as good as it was, so hence, the recommendation for the second booster.

But there are concerns that the protection from that mRNA second booster will also decline. And every time we ask the American people to take a booster, the percentage that agreed to do this is becomes less and less. So only about 100 million Americans have agreed to get the first booster about 30 percent of the country and who knows what that second booster is. So we need to come up I think with a more livable strategy rather than asking the American people to get boosted every few months.

And the question is, are there other technologies out there where if we boost after getting this mRNA series could give longer lasting, more solid durable protection lasting years, for instance, so we don't have to ask for a boost and we've had some discussions with the coronavirus response team from the White House and others about bringing to get convening experts on this point to really pin down whether there's some other options that that go beyond mRNA.

MARQUARDT: Yes, the head of the white -- the COVID response at the White House, Dr. Jha, he said that we're going to have to update the vaccines for the fall and for the winter, are you expecting as a result for these vaccines to essentially become a twice-yearly thing, in the same way that we're seeing the regular flu vaccine recommended once a year?

HOTEZ: Not necessarily. It depends where we go with this. If we stay the course with mRNA, that may be what's required, although I think the public acceptance of that is going to be modest. So the question is whether there's a different type of protein or protein particle based technology, that we could give us a booster to give that more long lasting durable protection. So I think there's going to be a need to really think out of the box a little bit and what would be needed to get really durable protection lasting for a period of years.

It may be that there are no other options that we have to ask the American people to boost frequently. And that may be your only option. But if that's the case, I'm worried that the acceptance and the compliance of doing that is going to be pretty modest.

MARQUARDT: Yes, that's a real concern. Switching gears a little bit doctor, the CDC is now monitoring six people here in the United States for possible monkeypox infections after they sat near an infected traveler on a flight from Nigeria. And we're also hearing from the CDC that they're investigating two other cases in Massachusetts, in New York City. Are you concerned that this, these monkeypox cases could turn into an outbreak?

HOTEZ: Yes, I'm concerned. But I think the outbreaks will likely remain small. And what's unique about what's happening with monkeypox right now is you have multiple foci of infection in several European countries, more than 20 cases in Spain, multiple cases in the U.K. and other European countries, investigating 17 cases in Montreal and Quebec. And now cluster of cases in the U.S. We haven't really seen that before where there's sustained ongoing human to human transmission outside of the Democratic Republic of Congo or Nigeria.

[12:45:12]

So the question is, why is this happening? Is there unique populations? The good news is this virus is not anything is nearly as transmissible as something such as COVID. And contact tracing is more straightforward because there's a telltale rash, and the fact that we already have in hand because of smallpox and there some cross protection because of concerns about bioterrorism around smallpox in the early 2000s.

We already have stockpiled at least three different types of vaccines for smallpox and two antiviral treatments. So we're much better prepared for this than we were for something like COVID. So I have some optimism about that, that we'll be able to keep this fairly contained, but it is quite interesting and concerning that we are seeing these multiple foci and outbreaks.

MARQUARDT: Well, it is good to hear that we have some of that protection already in place. And of course, we'll be keeping a close eye on that. Dr. Peter Hotez, thank you so much for your time today.

HOTEZ: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: In court actress Ellen Barkin calls her ex-boyfriend Johnny Depp a jealous and controlling man. You'll be hearing new testimony from Depp's multimillion dollar defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard that's coming up.

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[12:50:51]

MARQUARDT: This week in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial, former friends and coworkers of the actor Johnny Depp testified about his alleged substance abuse problems. And Depp will have a chance to respond to those claims next week. CNN's Chloe Melas has this update.

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CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER (voice-over): Fans cheered on Johnny Depp as he arrived to court Thursday, but inside it was silent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

MELAS (voice-over): Jurors in the actor's defamation trial against his ex-wife saw a series of taped depositions describing Depp as increasingly difficult to work with.

JOEL MANDEL, FORMER BUSINESS MANAGER: It became clear over time that there were issues with alcohol and drugs and that translated into more erratic behavior.

MELAS (voice-over): Former friends and associates testified that their relationships with the actor had deteriorated and his career suffered as his substance abuse worsened. Depp has instead alleged that it was a 2018 opinion piece, Amber Heard wrote in "The Washington Post," which did not mention him by name that falsely painted him as an abuser. He claimed that caused him to lose out on a multimillion dollar payday for a sixth "Pirates of the Caribbean" film. But a longtime Disney executive couldn't recall having seen the article.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you aware of any decision maker within Disney who has ever said they are not casting Johnny Depp in "Pirate 6" or any other role because of Amber Heard's op-ed?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

MELAS (voice-over): Depp's former agent of 30 years said his alleged substance abuse issues contributed to his unprofessional attitude on set, including needing to wear an earpiece in order to be fed lines during filming.

TRACEY JACOBS, DEPP'S FORMER AGENT: Because his star had dimmed due to it getting harder to get him jobs given the reputation that he had acquired due to his lateness and other things.

MELAS (voice-over): Depp's former business manager said he became verbally aggressive when confronted with his dire financial situation.

MANDEL: Pretty strange in his relationship with Amber, the use of alcohol and drugs made my job more challenging.

MELAS (voice-over): Depp sued Mandel's company in 2017, accusing him of mismanaging his finances. It settled in 2018.

MANDEL: The ability to coordinate and find times when he would meet became more difficult.

MELAS (voice-over): Actress Ellen Barkin testified how Depp was drunk most of the time during their brief sexual relationship in the 90s.

ELLEN BARKIN, ACTRESS: Mr. Depp threw a wine bottle across the room, the hotel room on one instance, in Las Vegas, while we were shooting "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

MELAS (voice-over): Barkin also said that he was jealous and controlling.

BARKIN: I had a scratch on my back once that I got him very, very angry because he insisted it came from me having sex with a person who wasn't him.

MELAS (voice-over): One of Depp's former friends also expressed concern about his drug and alcohol use and testified that he had seen injuries on both Depp and Amber Heard at one point, including a bruise on Heard's upper arm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell me more specifics about that bruise what it looked like?

BRUCE WITKIN, RECORD PRODUCER, FORMER FRIEND OF DEPP: Like I said, it just looked like she was grabbed. That's all. That's what I've seen the finger marks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did you ever talk to Amber about that bruise?

WITKIN: No.

MELAS (voice-over): Depp has testified he never abused his ex-wife.

WITKIN: I've never seen them physically abuse each other, no.

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MELAS: Now one of the standout moments from Amber Heard's testimony came when she stated that she had not yet completed her 2016 pledge of donating her divorce settlement pledged to the ACLU and the Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Monday begins the final week of the trial and the jury is expected to begin deliberating on May 27th. Back to you.

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Chloe for that report.

[12:55:00]

Now a quick programming note, in a new episode of Nomad with Carlton McCoy, Carlton heads to the beautiful coastal nation of Ghana in West Africa. Here's a sneak peek.

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CARLTON MCCOY, NOMAD WITH CARLTON MCCOY HOST: No dish in West Africa is more debated than Jollof rice, onions, ginger, scotch bonnets, sauteed in palm oil and crushed tomatoes, then the rice. It seems simple, but Jollof rice sparks a heated debate between Ghana and nearby Nigeria, both claiming that there's the best sort of like the battle over best pizza in New York City. Everyone's right. Everyone else is wrong.

Here at the alley, Jollof rice accompanies chicken quarters, butterflied, seasoned, and grilled over hot coals.

(on camera): You must have grown up eating Jollof rice?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, a lot. It was party food so we didn't just always have Jollof rice like you did now. Growing up, you only have this when after graduation or during Christmas. Yes, it was a very special dish, right, you know, like so.

MCCOY: It's a very familiar flavor.

(voice-over): To be honest with you, Jollof rice is the one dish I may have every night while I'm here. It is so good.

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