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First Baby Formula Shipment Flights To The U.S. Hours Away; Tiger Woods Drops Out Of PGA Championship; Average California Gas Prices Jump Above $6 A Gallon; Dow Finishes Eighth Straight Weekly Loss, Longest Streak Since 1923; Social Platform Professionals Speak Out Over Twitter "Overhaul"; Trump Looms Large In GA Primary Fight For Governor. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired May 21, 2022 - 20:00   ET

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

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[20:00:32]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's still downed power lines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that whole block, that whole neighborhood just got wiped out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More than 35 million Americans are under heat advisories today.

UNIDENTIFIED AMS METEOROLOGIST: You have records potentially being broken everywhere from Texas all the way up to New Hampshire.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paul Vercammen. I'm here at the Crenshaw Farmers Market in Los Angeles. And here you'll hear stories from customers and especially supply vendors who are getting jackhammered by rising inflation, especially the cost of gas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember when gas was $2.50 a gallon. It's kind of like hard to fill up your tank for just $40 now.

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Today, at Ramstein, we've been watching servicemembers put together these pallets, 1.5 million eight-ounce bottles of infant formula.

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we are following several major stories for you this hour on the Saturday night.

Happening now, two U.S. military planes are set to leave Germany in the next few hours loaded with supplies to help ease America's baby formula crisis. And then extreme weather across America. Residents in Michigan are

picking up the pieces after a devastating tornado while more than half the country bakes in record heat.

Also tonight, Tiger Woods has just dropped out of the PGA championship following his worst ever score at the tournament.

And a group of social media big hitters have a message for Elon Musk about free speech on Twitter.

And we begin tonight with the apology from the head of the company at the center of the nation's baby formula crisis.

Abbott's CEO Robert Ford is defending the formula recall that only added to the nationwide shortage after bacteria was found in its plant in Michigan.

In a new opinion piece in "The Washington Post," Ford adds, quote, "We're sorry to every family we've let down."

And he outlines a series of steps including a $5 million fund for families needing help with medical and living expenses.

The CEO writes, "These steps that were taken won't end the struggles. Some will take weeks, others longer. But we will not rest until it is done. I will not rest. I want everyone to trust us to do what is right and I know that must be earned back."

One week before the Indianapolis 500, a much more important race is headed to that city tomorrow there. The first U.S. military flight rushing to get baby formula from overseas.

It's going to touch down in Indianapolis late tomorrow morning. And it's coming from Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

That's where CNN's senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, shows us exactly what kind of help is on the way in the next few hours -- Elizabeth?

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COHEN: Pam, here at Ramstein Air Force Base we've been watching servicemembers putting together these pallets. You can see them all throughout here.

It's 1.5 million bottles, each bottle eight ounces. And 1.5 million bottles sent by a European company to the United States. The Department of Defense is doing the shipping.

Let's take a look at what they're sending. If you look at this you can see it says nestle, a Swiss company. Alfamino, that's a formula that's hypoallergenic.

That's because, a lot of parents in the United States, parents having trouble finding formula, often those children have particular medical conditions or they have allergies and they're looking for a particular kind of formula like a hypoallergenic formula.

So there's a lot of hope it could help families in the U.S.

These pallets will be loaded onto a plane tomorrow and flown to Indiana, also arriving in Indiana tomorrow.

Now, we want to be clear-eyed about this. As great as it is to have these 1.5 million bottles, this will not solve the infant formula shortage. There are other steps being taken, too.

But even all put together, this will not solve anything. Hopefully, it will alleviate it to some extent. But as far as getting those shelves full again, that could take many, many, many weeks -- Pam?

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BROWN: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, reporting from Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Well, there's better than a 50/50 chance that you're facing extreme weather tonight or soon will. Nearly half the population of the lower 48 states, some 170 million Americans, will face temperatures of 90 degrees or more over the next few days.

[20:05:09]

Today, records fell in a number of cities. And heat advisories covered 35 million people from Philadelphia to New York to Boston.

And northern Michigan, in moments that must have felt like an eternity, a tornado reduced a small-town neighborhood to a debris field. Two people are dead and at least 44 are injured.

In New Mexico, the largest wildfire in state history is now burning into its sixth week. More than 300,000 acres burned and only 40 percent contained.

The National Weather Service now says the tornado that ripped through Gaylord, Michigan, was an EF-3. That means winds were blasting at about 140 miles an hour when these R.V.s were hammered like bowling pins.

Michigan's governor has declared a state of emergency for that area.

And the hardest-hit area is the Nottingham Forest Mobile Home Park where two people died. They were each in their 70s. The county fire chief says 95 percent of the homes are destroyed, 95 percent.

One man describes the terrifying helplessness of being right down the street and watching the tornado descend into his neighborhood.

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DECLAN CLAYTON, LOST HIS NEIGHBORHOOD TO TORNADO: We actually lived over in Nottingham where the epicenter started. And that whole block, that whole neighborhood just got wiped out. I was actually right up the road at the gas station when I saw the

clouds and I called him because he was back in the House with our dogs. And I was like, get your stuff, get ready.

As soon as I hung up the phone, it touched down and ripped through before I could even blink. And I called him, made sure he was all right.

By the time I got back to Nottingham, the neighborhood was gone. People being pulled out of rubble.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, the town's mayor says people have set aside their own losses to help the community. And he says that seemingly anyone with a chainsaw or a rake has helped clear roads or assist neighbors.

And turning now to breaking news, Tiger Woods has dropped out of the PGA championship. This is just his second tournament since being in that terrible car accident over a year ago. Well, today he played the worst round he's ever had at this tournament.

"CNN WORLD SPORT" host, Don Riddell, joins us from Tulsa, Oklahoma, the site of the tournament.

Don, Tiger put up nine over par today then announced he is out. Any more details?

DON RIDDELL, CNN HOST, "WORLD SPORT": Literally, we've just heard in the last few minutes, Pamela, that he is withdrawing from the tournament. He will not be competing in the final round on Sunday.

There was no statement to accompany it, but those of us who have been watching him today are not at all surprised.

He did brilliantly to make the cut. And I say that brilliantly by the standards of the experience he's been through in the last 15, 16 months.

He walked up here saying he thought he could win the tournament, definitely. And, of course, that's the Tiger Woods that we all know and love. So much confidence and bravado.

And drawing on all his previous experience, you should never discount him. His fellow athletes have said here, he just continues to amaze.

He did pretty miserably in his first round and crucially he looked like he was in a lot of pain. He actually came down the steps on his first hole reversing his club and using it like a walking stick to come down.

And then he birdied the hole. And people were thinking, maybe he's still got it. By the end of the round on Thursday, he was visibly grimacing. And seemed to turn it around on Friday, he did much, much better. He made the cut.

He was excited about contending. He was saying, you know, I've won tournaments from this kind of position before.

But today, on Saturday, it was a completely different story. It was cold. It was wet, it was miserable and he looked miserable. He had a triple Boeing. His ball was in the water.

He made five consecutive bogies at one point. He didn't birdie until the 15th hole. When he did. he let out a sort of wry smile. He knew it had been a miserable, miserable day.

And afterwards, he was asked, are you going to play tomorrow, and he said, well, I'm sore, I know that is for a fact. We'll do some work and see how it goes.

He has withdrawn in the last 20 minutes. If he was playing tomorrow, he would have had to be up at something like 4:00 in the morning. His tee time was early, 7:00.

He said it takes about three hours just to get his body up and running and ready and get some heat into the muscles in his back and leg to allow him just to be able to get around the golf course.

I guess he's concluded tonight that it's just not going to be worth it.

BROWN: Yes, he sure did.

All right, let's bring in on the phone CNN sports analyst and "USA Today" columnist, Christine Brennan.

Christine, Tiger barely made the cut for this tournament as you know. What is your reaction? Are people surprised he dropped out after the third round?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST (via telephone): Pamela, as he just described it was a difficult day for Tiger at this second men's major championship of the year, the PGA championship.

[20:10:01]

For Tiger to drop out means that he's really hurting because there's no more competitive athlete on earth an Tiger Woods, even now at 46.

Even with that, of course, terrible right leg with pins and screws and rods. As Don said, it takes him hours to get ready and all the ice he has to put on it after every round.

How much he must hurt to withdraw, to give up. I mean, that says it all. It was terrible for Tiger.

And what this does, Pamela, it really takes a step back. This miraculous sports miracle, if you will, of Tiger coming back from that terrible car crash and playing the Masters and playing the first three rounds of this tournament.

This is a reality check. It's like, oh, this is going to be really tough for this man and it's not easy and it's not going to get any easier.

And so I think sports fans around the country and the world are looking at this and saying, uh-huh.

You know, this is tough. This is a guy in pain and this is going to be a long, slow slog for Tiger to try to come back to any semblance of what he was before the car crash.

BROWN: Yes, I mean, on that note, Christine, what do you think? Do you think we will see Tiger back on the course any time soon or do you think this is the last potentially we're seeing of him?

Of course, I want to know, as Don said, you never underestimate Tiger. I think everyone has learned that lesson. But what do you think?

BRENNAN: Right, well, exactly. A great question, Pam. As you know well, you know, you never want to say Tiger is done. Never. And I would never say that here.

But this is a question that everyone is asking because, if you look at his face, the grimace, the pain, it is so apparent. Again, he's not 25 years old anymore. He's 46. He'll be 47 in December. This is tough. This is tough for him.

I do think he will keep trying. He is not one to go away any time soon, as you well know. He is so competitive and so tough and wants to play in front of his kids, who are now old enough, of course, to remember and watch this and enjoy Tiger.

He is going -- he's planning to play at the British Open. Loves that golf course, St. Andrews. It's a couple of months away.

And I think if he gets the treatment, if he gets therapy, and if he can get that leg feeling good again, I absolutely think that Tiger Woods will come back and give it at least one more try, if not several more tries.

BROWN: So, Don, I want to bring you in because you've been there, you've been watching him.

And you talked about the fact that he did OK the last couple of days, right? I mean, maybe not the best performance of his life but he did well and then this happened today and he dropped out.

Tell us what you saw. Tell us more about what you saw, because I know you mentioned it earlier and also, is this a difficult course to walk around? Do you think that is playing a role in him dropping out here?

RIDDELL: Well, it is tough to walk around. Oklahoma is famously flat. But this is called Southern Hills for a reason.

It's not as tough as Augusta where he played the Masters last month, which is like a roller coaster in comparison but it's not easy.

I mean, I think a number of things have played into what's gone wrong this week as regards to how he's playing. Sure, at times he was having a nightmare. But there were other times where he looked absolutely fabulous.

Even in the midst of difficult rounds he was playing sensational bunker shots, and he was like, ah, the old Tiger is still in there.

You can't get away from the fact that his body has been through so much and described himself as Humpty Dumpty yesterday. And that's exactly what it feels like.

He's been pushed off the wall and smashed into pieces and they keep trying to put him back together. But eventually, that will catch up with you.

The one thing he has to reconcile with at this point is he wants to compete at the highest level because he still thinks he can win. If he doesn't think he can win, is it worth it?

And if he's only playing one tournament a month and they are the biggest tournaments in the world, can you really contend when you're going up against some of the best guys in the world who are much younger than you, much fitter and healthier than you?

And it's hard. It's hard playing four rounds. I think this is why people get excited when he makes the cut because he does so at the expense of so many others.

For example, Scottie Scheffler, world's number one and defending Masters champion, didn't make the cut this week. It's not easy making the cut. But neither is it easy playing four consecutive rounds at this level.

And maybe he just doesn't have the stamina to get through it. Never mind, the pain that he's suffering.

We know he can put up with pain. He's put up with pain his entire career. It's not something new to him. He seems to have an incredibly high tolerance for pain.

But that is a factor, again. And the stamina is a factor, again. And if you're not playing and competing every single week, it is difficult to walk up to a major and think you can beat everybody before you.

BROWN: Yes.

All right, Don Riddell, Christine Brennan, thank you both.

Gas prices hitting new record highs. It comes as inflation surges and the markets fall. How can you protect your Monday? I'll ask economist Justin Wolfers up next.

[20:15:05]

Plus, Elon Musk's free speech plan for Twitter. Why some social media experts say it's not easy as the billionaire might think.

As the Infant formula shortage gets worse, some are ask asking why mothers don't simply breast-feed? Well, the answer is not at all simple.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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BROWN: Well, Americans are hurting at the pump across the country. You probably know what I'm talking about. You probably experienced it yourself if you drive.

In California, gas is hovering above $6 a gallon. More expensive gas could mean a higher cost of doing business for some small business owners.

And it has left many with a difficult choice, pass the pain onto their customers or close up shop.

CNN's Paul Vercammen has the latest from a Los Angeles area farmer's market.

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[20:19:58]

VERCAMMEN: Pam, while most people are upbeat as you expect at a farmer's market, the talk is inflation and these gas prices. Just under $6.10 in Los Angeles.

We have these vendors coming throughout the region here, some of them telling us they used to pay about $80 round trip to bring their fruits and vegetables here and now they're spending $200.

And the basics, the staples are causing all the prices to be driven up. The consumers are struggling with them.

This is Mommie Helen's Bakery. Very popular here. Famous for a number of items, not the least of which is a five-berry roseberry pie.

But because the staples cost so much, for example, sugar as well as things like the berries and the peaches, they raise their prices and they have to try to accommodate the consumer, whose are telling us they are now making choices.

Things like entertainment and all sorts of other things for disposable income. That trip to the nail salon, they are no longer going.

And the people are choosing to go to the bakery or get their fresh fruits and vegetables. But they are, indeed, having to make serious choices as they navigate these horrific gas prices here in California.

Reporting from the farmer's market in Crenshaw, I'm Paul Vercammen.

Back to you, Pam.

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BROWN: Thanks, Paul. Now for a broader look at the economy, I want to bring in Justin

Wolfers. He's a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan.

Hey, Justin. Good to see you again.

So, let's talk about what's going on here with the Dow. It posted its eighth straight weekly loss. That is the longest streak since 1923.

Help us make sense of this. Is this just a blip or does it signify something bigger?

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS & PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: Well, let's get some perspective on it. A lot of talk is that there's a bear market, which means that stocks are falling by 20 percent from their peak. But that peak was a couple of months ago.

Let me give you a different number. If you went back to the start of the pandemic, and you bought stocks then, two and a half years later. they'd still be up 20 percent.

So if I went back to you and I said, all of the terrible things that are going to occur in our lives and country, stocks will still rise by 20 percent over the next two years, you wouldn't have believed it.

And so there definitely is news in the latest blip that things are not quite as good as we had hoped. But really, if you look over a somewhat longer time period, stocks are still doing pretty darn well.

BROWN: I always like how you put the positive spin in there, right? It makes us feel better. Puts things in perspective but it's realistic.

The talked about the fact that it fell briefly into a bear market on Frida before it pulled itself out before the markets closed. Can you walk us through what a bear market is and the ramifications it can have?

WOLFERS: Yes, the economy is in a funny place right now. It's important not to lose sight of the fact that some parts of it are really, really good.

Unemployment is quite low right now, which means that just about everyone can find a job. And people in jobs are finding ways to, you know, people are quitting jobs they don't like, moving to jobs they feel better about. And some people are getting pay raises as well.

The thing is, it's hard for an economy to sustain such low unemployment. And the broader issue is to remember that we're all still recovering from the pandemic.

And so just as you in your own way might be sorting out some of the kinks, when you return to work, how often you return, whether you drive or catch the bus, the economy as a whole is still sorting out some of those kinks.

And that's why we're getting some confusing signals and some difficult times along the way.

BROWN: So what advice would you give Americans who are heavily invested in the market?

WOLFERS: The first one is, avoid really bad ideas. There's a lot of nonsense going on.

For instance, at the moment with cryptocurrencies and the like.

BROWN: Yes.

WOLFERS: And my advice, regular families, if someone is trying to sell you a financial product you don't understand, it's probably because they're trying to fool you so stay away from it.

And the other thing is, honestly, check the stock market a little less. It tends to rise almost as often as it falls. If you check it every day, that's a lot of nightmares.

Why not just tell yourself you'll have a look every January 1st and I guarantee you it will save you a lot of heartache.

BROWN: You look at all of this combined, right? The stock market is down, cryptocurrency has cratered, inflation running high.

I'm wondering, how long do you think this is going to go on, especially for, you know, inflation just impacts so many of us day to day?

I was speaking to Susie Orman, the financial expert, earlier in the show, and she said she thinks it will be around for a while and people should plan accordingly. What do you think?

WOLFERS: I'd say it's going to last as long as the pandemic is a major factor in our lives, plus another year or two to work out the kinks.

Many of us hope the pandemic is behind us. In parts of the country, it may well be. But it's not behind China. It's not behind the rest of the world.

This is all happening a whole lot more slowly than many of us hoped, which means we're going to still continue to get some confusing signals. And for many families, difficult times over the next few months.

[20:25:10]

But I do want to remember the optimism, which is, if you go back, remember how terrible you thought things were two years ago. At least we're doing better than that.

BROWN: Yes, that's right. Look at the silver lining, right? That's how -- what we always have to do to keep it in perspective, keep moving forward.

Justin Wolfers, thank you. WOLFERS: A pleasure.

BROWN: So is free speech the solution to social media's problems? A group of experts have published an open letter to Elon Musk about his plans for Twitter. And up next, one of them, a former Facebook employee, joins me live to talk about it.

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[20:30:13]

BROWN: Welcome back, everyone, live look here of the White House, 8:30 P.M. Eastern Time, the nation's capital on what has been a very hot and muggy day here. We appreciate you spending a part of your Saturday evening with us.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk is pushing back against allegations that he sexually harassed a SpaceX flight attendant back in 2016. Business Insider says the attendant accused Musk of exposing himself and asking for a sexual favor. Musk denies the claims and dismisses the story as, quote, politically motivated. Business Insider says SpaceX paid the attendant 250,000 and required her to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

Well, the reports of Musk buying the silence of his accuser adds to a growing buzz of criticisms and concerns as Musk really devoted to free speech with his promise to buy and overhaul Twitter. Our next guest has words of caution for Musk. Shanique Ghosh is a former Facebook employee and now a fellow at the Integrity Institute that is a nonprofit group of social media professionals striving to protect people and societies on the social internets.

So your Integrity Institute sent an open letter to Musk pushing back against his criticisms of those like you making the tough calls on balancing free speech and responsible content. Why did you feel that was necessary?

SAGNIK GHOSH, FORMER FACEBOOK EMPLOYEE: Thank you so much for having me, Pamela. So we at the Integrity Institute felt that as we were seeing this unfold, we watched a lot of musk comments, as did the rest of the world. And some of the comments that he was making, for example, around algorithmic transparency, and how we should open source the algorithm just didn't feel quite right to us, and around like how free speech should be debated and so on.

Like these are problems that are just incredibly complicated. And we at the Integrity Institute are a group of professionals who have been working on this problem for years now. And we've worked across -- we have members across all platforms including Twitter, as well as many others, which I won't name here. And these problems are very, very difficult and complex. And so we wanted to write this letter to highlight the complexity of a lot of these issues.

We agree that transparency is a really critical component towards engendering trust from the public, but how to do that is a very difficult question. And so we wanted to lay out in this letter a blueprint that could enable us to look at this and see what are some of the ways that we could actually get to a transparent ecosystem that would engender the public trust, for example --

BROWN: And I want to point out -- oh, go ahead.

GHOSH: Oh, for example, metrics transparency is a big one, like, how much hate speech and misinformation and violence are on the platform that you have? How much of that exists on Twitter today? That's a -- there's a lot of opacity around that. And that's something that we wanted to highlight in this letter, as well as several other things, including algorithmic transparency. But you show that to users in a way that users don't understand.

BROWN: And I do want to point out that the open letter in this interview have reflect your own thoughts, not your employers. That said, I do want to read some of this letter to Musk. This is what we have what we pulled from it, quote, "Social media can be used as a tool to foster democracy, but we have also seen high-profile users harness disinformation to drive political instability, leaving a space open to misinformation, spam, and incitements to violence doesn't work. The process is important, but doing the process the right way is important, too.

Musk says he would allow former President Trump to return to Twitter. Trump was banned, as you know, after the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Is Trump someone you had in mind with those words of caution?

GHOSH: So when we wrote this, we had many countries across the world in mind here, when we said that we think that social media has been used to promote instability. This has been used across multiple countries across the world, including authoritarian regimes and Russia and the Philippines, as well as many others.

And we've seen that play out, I think, especially with Putin's regime, for example, both domestically and abroad. And this is what we wanted to highlight in this letter that how social media has been used for those purposes. We didn't have any particular target in mind, but we have seen that it has been used to promote less democratic ideals across the globe, including within the United States.

[20:35:17]

BROWN: All right. Sagnik Ghosh, thanks for your time tonight.

GHOSH: Thank you so much.

BROWN: Well, new testimony that Hillary Clinton personally approved sharing information with a reporter about alleged ties between Donald Trump and a Russian bank. The story is next.

And tomorrow night, former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed joins Jake Tapper after 985 days in Russian hands. He's ready to talk about what happened and how it came to an end. "Finally Home," the Trevor Reed interview begins tomorrow night at 8:00.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Have you been able to fully grasp that you're free?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A CNN exclusive.

TAPPER: You went to a party in August 2019.

TREVOR REED, FORMER U.S. MARINE: And the next morning I woke up in a police station.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Former U.S. Marine, Trevor Reed, talks with Jake Tapper about his 985 days in Russian hands.

REED: They have absolutely no value of human life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How it came to an end.

REED: They were never going to break. Maybe I would have died because they never would have broken me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Finally Home," the Trevor Reed interview tomorrow at 8:00.

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[20:40:58]

BROWN: Well, in political news, former President Trump has announced he is endorsing Republican Congressman, Barry Loudermilk. And it comes just one day after the January 6 Committee requested Loudermilk cooperate with its investigation saying evidence directly contradicts his claim that no one gave tours of the U.S. Capitol ahead of the riot.

CNN's Eva McKend has the latest on that and other races as the primary season heats up.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER CORRESPONDENT: Pam, Trump's endorsement of Congressman Loudermilk and other Georgia Republicans already favored to win their races in the final hour here indicate he's concerned about Tuesday.

Now he, not only coaxed David Perdue into running against Governor Kemp, but has made this endorsement very high profile. And it seems as though Governor Kemp just continues to have the momentum. It's not that his endorsement isn't prized or valuable in a Republican primary, and it is not that many Republican voters don't believe the big election lie that the 2020 election was somehow rigged or stolen, they do. It's just that they have other issues on their mind as well.

And David Perdue has just made the big lie of cornerstone of his campaign at the expense of all other issues. In recent weeks, he shifted his strategy a bit to argue that Governor Kemp, more generally, has sold out Georgians to corporate interests, but that is not a message that seems to have landed.

Meanwhile, Governor Kemp not taking anything for granted still imploring his voters to get out there on Tuesday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): Don't believe the polling, be excited by the momentum, but use that and encourage you even more to leave no doubt on Tuesday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: While Perdue continues to have Trump on his side, Governor Kemp has been campaigning with a slew of Republican governors from across the country. Former Vice President Mike Pence will be here on Monday. Pam.

BROWN: All righty. Eva McKend, thank you.

Well, as the midterm elections approach were still dealing with trauma from 2020 with all the lies about that election, but let's go back even further to the hotly contested race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016. CNN's Marshall Cohen reports on new evidence that Hillary Clinton herself approved a plan to link leak unsubstantiated allegations about Donald Trump's involvement with Russia. Marshall, the past is never past the politics, right?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Pamela. In the final stretch of the 2016 race, Hillary Clinton personally approved her campaigns plan to provide unverified information to a reporter about Donald Trump's ties to Russia.

The candidate herself authorized that plan, that's according to her campaign manager, Robby Mook, who testified yesterday in federal court. The campaign's opposition research led to news coverage about the supposedly internet back channel between Trump's company and a major Russian bank.

Now, Mook was on the stand at the criminal trial of Clinton campaign lawyer, Michael Sussmann, who was charged with lying to the FBI during a meeting in 2016 when he passed along the same information about Trump and the Russian bank.

Sussmann was indicted by Special Counsel John Durham, the Trump era prosecutor who has spent the last three years looking for misconduct in the FBI's Russia probe.

Durham claims that Sussmann concealed his political ties while meeting with the FBI and was trying to gin up news coverage of an October surprise that the FBI was supposedly investigating Trump-Russia collusion.

Sussmann has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers have slammed Durham for bringing what they described as an overzealous and politicized prosecution. The FBI ultimately was not able to verify Sussmann's tip about Trump. And the investigators there conclude that there weren't any improper cyber links between the Trump Organization and the Alpha Bank, which is the largest private bank in Moscow. Pamela.

[20:45:10] BROWN: All right. Thanks so much. Appreciate it, Marshall.

So we have this incredible new video just coming in to the CNN NEWSROOM. Look at this. A look this from the California Highway Patrol's air unit. As a paramedic descends to rescue a man clinging to a Northern California Cliff several 100 feet in the air. Wow.

Authorities say a fisherman called local authorities near Daly City on Thursday, reporting the man stuck approximately about halfway down a 500-foot cliff. And you are seeing right now how that rescue played out. Can you imagine the sense of relief that man must have felt when he was rescued? Unbelievable.

Well, with infant formula supplies critically low, some people ask why new mothers don't simply breastfeed. Well, some of you know it is not that simple. A closer look "For the Record," next.

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[20:50:39]

BROWN: Tomorrow morning, the first flight of infant formula security from Germany by the Biden administration will arrive in the United States. This desperately needed formula comes at a critical time, store shelves across the country are bare. It's really hard to find formula and in some cases, specialty formula.

If moms, dads, caregivers are lucky enough to find formula after searching store after store, the rising prices may mean they can't afford it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyday, I worry about it, every day. What if she runs out? Like what do I do? I'm driving around different stores, different towns calling around and all the stores are saying they're out of stock.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And no doubt there are people who ask or suggest these women should just breastfeed instead, like award winning actress and singer, Bette Midler tweeting, quote, try breastfeeding, it's free and available on demand. After backlash, she would later go on to say, no shame if you can't breastfeed.

Or Eric Sammons, the editor-in-chief of Crisis Magazine, a Catholic media website, he tweeted that he had sympathy for parents who cannot obtain formula, but then goes on to say, quote, "I would also say that hopefully this is a wake-up call to become more self-sufficient. God literally designed mothers to feed their babies."

So it's not so simple that (INAUDIBLE). Let's remind everyone that only a few generations ago, some wealthy new mothers would hire women, sometimes called wet nurses to feed newborns with their breast milk or the babies could starve to death. For the record, not every mom has the choice to exclusively breastfeed her baby. In fact, with both of my babies, I had to supplement with formula and the early days, not by choice both had separate issues, requiring formula, low blood sugar and jaundice. The formula was, in fact, life-saving and a huge comfort at a time when my body was recovering from the stresses of childbirth, and my babies were trying to survive in a strange new world outside the womb.

So many mothers have their own stories about their breastfeeding journey. New mother, Blanca Torres (PH) says she had trouble breastfeeding after giving birth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLANCA TORRES, NEW MOTHER: It took about three days for me to produce milk (INAUDIBLE) because I didn't know if I was going to be able to produce or not if I was going to fill her as mother or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: She gave her daughter donated breast milk. And there are some mothers who do not make enough milk, others are not able to pump. There are plenty of medical reasons why a mother might not be able to breastfeed.

And don't forget that not every mother wants to breastfeed, it is hard, it can hurt, their baby may not cooperate, they may be experiencing post-partum depression. The bottom line, the most important thing at the end of the day is that the baby is fed. It's not easy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAE COLEMAN, MOTHER SEARCHING FOR FORMULA: I want everyone to know that this is serious. This is unacceptable. This is a basic need for babies. Something has to be done right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: This is serious. And what about the babies who could not drink breast milk? Not every newborn or baby or toddler or child can. They could have food allergies or other health problems, they can be tongue tied. Remember, this is not just a problem for newborns and babies. There are toddlers and even children who need formula to survive because of medical issues.

So for the record, a woman is no less of a mother if she does not breastfeed, looking out for her and her child's well-being should be first and foremost.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:55:58]

BROWN: Well this week, join Carlton McCoy in Ghana, West Africa. Find out why Ghana could be the next art center of the world. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's talk Jollof rice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No dishes 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You must have grown up eating Jollof rice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was part of the food so we didn't just always have Jollof rice like you did now. Growing up, you only had this when after graduation or during Christmas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it is special.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it was a very special dish right and you know like so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very familiar flavor.

To be honest with you, Jollof rice is the one dish I may have every night while I'm here, it is so good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The all-new episode of "Nomad" with Carlton McCoy airs tomorrow night at 10:00. Thank you so much for joining me this evening. I'm Pamela Brown. See you again tomorrow night.