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Biden "Not Concerned" about Possible North Korean Missile Test; Australia's Labor Party Wins, Albanese To Be Next PM; Satellite Tech Exposing Truth about Russian Invasion; Operation Fly Formula to Deliver Baby Formula to U.S. from Germany; Sri Lanka Fuel Crisis. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired May 22, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Paula Newton.

Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, U.S. President Joe Biden wrapping up his South Korea visit before departing for Japan on a mission to boost alliances in Asia.

Plus, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy marks his third anniversary in office, on a defiant note, promising to deter Russia in the Donbas region.

And in Germany, a military aircraft takes off in the early hours of Sunday, with precious cargo: baby formula for mothers facing a shortage right across the U.S.

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NEWTON: And we begin in Asia, where U.S. President Joe Biden will soon head to Japan after wrapping up a three-day visit to South Korea. Now earlier, he met with military families and American troops stationed there.

The visit marks his first trip to Asia as commander in chief. And while Mr. Biden has tried to put the focus on bolstering America's economic and security ties in the region, the shadow of potential conflict is never far away.

On Saturday, the U.S. and South Korea announced plans to expand those joint military drills. And that is in response to North Korea's growing nuclear threat. Mr. Biden underscored that cooperation between the United States and its Asian allies is critical, to taking on both Russia and China.

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JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really do think we're at an inflection point in world history. Things are changing so rapidly that I think you're going to see more of. This is going to be a competition between democracies and autocracies.

And I mean that sincerely. And unfortunately, I think I'm being proven correct, not just here but around the world.

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NEWTON: Now in South Korea, Mr. Biden also met with the chairman of Hyundai, where he touted the automaker's plans to build a new electric vehicle plant, right here in the U.S. state of Georgia.

On Monday, Biden is expected to meet with the Japanese emperor and prime minister. On Tuesday, he'll join leaders from Japan, India and Australia for a Quad summit. Blake Essig is in Tokyo with a preview of what to expect from the Japanese leg of this trip.

But we start with Paula Hancocks and we will look toward what he's accomplished in South Korea.

Paula, as you've been telling us for the last couple of days, there has been this emphasis on economic ties. But militarily, the message was quite clear in terms of what is on the horizon with North Korea and what they want to continue to do for deterrence.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Yes, Paula, as you mentioned, they have both sides said that they wanted to discuss expanding the joint military drills. Now these are exercises between the U.S. and the South Korean militaries.

In the past, that always happened a number of times throughout the year, always annoyed Pyongyang and often would be met with increased rhetoric or even missile launches.

But they have been downplayed somewhat over recent years, in part because of COVID-19 but mostly, because the former president decided to postpone them or cancel them in certain times to try and negotiate with Kim Jong-un.

So it looks like as they were going back to where we were several years ago. And we also saw this in the past several hours or so, new president Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea touring the Korean Air Space Operation Center.

Now according to President Yoon, in some comments, this is really the center of the defense against North Korean missile attacks. It's where they would decide to target and engage a particular threat, if the necessity came about.

So just by touring that kind of facility, which is manned by both U.S. and South Korean air force, shows the interlocking relationship, militarily, between these two countries.

Of course, there are close to 30,000 U.S. troops stationed here in South Korea at any given time. So definitely, it was a nod to the military and security alliance, that President Biden had come here to cement, to show that he could cement these alliances, even while his attention has been elsewhere; notably, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But as you said at the beginning there, Paula, they would also like things to be about the economy.

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HANCOCKS: But even while standing next to the Hyundai chairman, President Biden was asked by our Kaitlan Collins about North Korea's leader and also about the fact that there has been intelligence assessments, saying they could be imminent missile or nuclear tests, while he was in the region. And she asked him if he was concerned.

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BIDEN: We are prepared for anything North Korea does. We've had -- we've thought through how we should respond to whatever they do. And so I'm not concerned, if that's what you're suggesting.

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HANCOCKS: She followed up by asking if he had a message for Kim Jong- un, to which he responded, "Hello," gave a couple of seconds' pause and then said, "period." So a very short and simple message for the North Korean leader there.

The U.S. has been reaching out. President Biden himself, saying that he is willing to offer vaccines or whatever is needed for a COVID outbreak that Pyongyang admitted to just over a week ago, which could be devastating for North Korea, a largely, if not completely, unvaccinated population.

NEWTON: A lot at stake when it comes to North Korea. I want to go to Blake in Tokyo.

Now this is where the next leg of the trip will be. I'm interested to hear about the fact that the Japanese are changing their posture, a little bit, as it were in terms of their defensive posture. And that there really hasn't been an outcry from the Japanese population about this.

You know, the leadership in Japan seems to have the backing to really change this architecture. And that's what President Biden will be hearing about when he is sitting down.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, there's no question that the security environment surrounding Japan is about as bad as it has been since shortly after the end of World War II.

So security is going to be one of the main things that is talked about with President Biden, when he has that bilateral meeting on Monday, with Prime Minister Kishida. Now it's always a big deal when a sitting U.S. president visits any foreign country.

And from the Japanese perspective, this visit is a huge opportunity, both internationally and domestically. You know, for Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida, who's only been in office since last October and has an upper house election set for the summer, this is a chance to show that the country he's now in charge of, that he's a respected international statesman.

And he's capable of taking relations with Japan's most important ally to that next level. From the U.S. perspective, President Biden's first trip to Asia, it's also critically important, after four years of the former president, that many experts say undermined the faith, trust and confidence that key allies had in the United States.

And more recently, the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. There are a lot of people, in this part of the world, questioning the political will of the United States to deploy troops abroad.

Now that being said, when President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida meet on Monday for their bilateral meeting, we expect the two sides will release a joint statement, pledging to deter and respond to China's increasingly active military in this region.

And for President Biden, to make it clear that the United States will defend Japan, including with the use of nuclear weapons, if attacked. Now it's worth noting that a big part of that pledge to deter and respond to China falls on Japan.

And Paula, as a result of the rise of China territorial disputes, with both China and Russia, a potential war with Taiwan and a nuclear armed North Korea, members of the Japanese ruling party realize they must do more to protect themselves and take a more proactive stance.

NEWTON: Now when you put it that way, Blake, really, there's quite a list of security issues for Japan on the table there. Our thanks to both Paula Hancocks in Seoul and Blake Essig live in Tokyo.

Now Australian voters have ended nine years of conservative rule by ousting Prime Minister Scott Morrison's coalition. Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese will be the next prime minister. You see him there.

Albanese and the new government will be sworn in Monday. CNN's Anna Coren takes a closer look at the new leader and explains why Mr. Morrison's coalition lost.

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ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Anthony Albanese, Australia's 31st prime minister.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, INCOMING AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Thank you for this extraordinary honor. Tonight, the Australian people have voted for change. I'm humbled by this victory. And I'm honored to be given the opportunity to serve as the 31st prime minister of Australia.

COREN (voice-over): Many down under were fed up with Scott Morrison, a leader many see as lacking empathy and integrity.

GRACE TAME, 2021 AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR: All Anthony would have to do is none of the things that Scott has done.

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COREN (voice-over): With such a low bar, Albanese presented an option for safe change instead of appealing to traditional Labor values, like big spending on health and education or higher taxes on the wealthy, values that Albanese himself has long campaigned for.

ALBANESE: My whole life I believe that Labor governments make a positive --

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COREN (voice-over): Raised by single mother in public housing, Albanese is a working class stalwart of the party's Left faction. Many expected him to announce bold strategies on climate but instead he is keeping to what he says is economical: a 43 percent emissions drop by 2030.

That perceived lack of ambition has driven many voters to environmentally minded independents, who may still hold the balance of power after Saturday's vote.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is the essence of democracy. This is -- a lot of people are moving toward independents, probably due to dissatisfaction with the current political system.

COREN (voice-over): As Australians get to know their new government, there is not long for the world to wait to find out more about Anthony Albanese. His first diplomatic test comes Tuesday at the Quad meeting in Tokyo, when he meets U.S. President Joe Biden and other allies -- Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.

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NEWTON: A critical shipment of baby formula is on its way to the U.S. right now as families cope with a nationwide shortage. We'll have a live report from Germany, as Operation Fly Formula gets underway.

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NEWTON: The Russian military is claiming it destroyed a large shipment of U.S. and European weapons in Western Ukraine on Saturday. There's been no confirmation of that but Ukrainian military officials in the city of Rivne say missiles struck military infrastructure.

And in Eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military says the Russians destroyed a bridge between Sievierodonetsk and a neighboring town. Now Ukraine's president, marking his third anniversary in office, was as defiant as ever in his nightly address. Listen.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russia has used virtually all its resources to destroy us. The situation in the Donbas is extremely difficult. As in previous days, the Russian army is trying to attack Slovyansk and Sievierodonetsk. The armed forces of Ukraine are deterring this offensive.

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NEWTON: We're learning that Friday's missile strike on a town near Kharkiv, you see it there, it was even more damaging than the video shows, if that's possible.

Besides destroying the newly renovated cultural center, the mayor says the blast actually damaged more than 1,000 apartments and numerous schools. President Zelenskyy says more than 1,000 educational facilities have been destroyed across the country since the war began.

Now modern technology, phones, drones and satellites are being used to expose the horrifying reality of Russia's invasion. CNN's Gary Tuchman met some researchers and military experts in San Francisco, who are tracking Russia's moves from thousands of miles away.

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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A picture from space.

MELISSA HANHAM, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: This is the port town of Mariupol and the steel plant that's been in the news, is located here.

TUCHMAN: Right here.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): This image taken from a satellite about 280 miles over Earth. This company, called Planet, has more than 200 satellites in orbit that resemble this one and this one, displayed in its San Francisco headquarters.

The satellites can pinpoint just about any location and show it in great detail, like this satellite image of a cemetery in Mariupol, which helped lead to a horrifying conclusion by this Stanford military expert, who's a client to Planet.

TUCHMAN: So how do you know these are new graves?

HANHAM: So up here, you can see there's trees, there's tombstones, there's little dots that show each plot for each person.

Here, now, this is fresh ground dirt. And they're been using bulldozers that we saw in earlier imagery, to slowly dig out these trenches. Around just the town of Mariupol, there are three mass graves. And I would say that they're ready for 5,000 bodies or more.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The images captured here are important, because they add to what can be an incomplete picture.

Remember when the Chernobyl nuclear plant was under attack?

This video was incomplete at best, leaving a lot of questions. There's no hiding the facts with a satellite image.

HANHAM: And here is a convoy of tanks coming through here and military vehicles. They set up bases here. They dug into the radioactive soil and they dug trenches in here.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): And then, there is another aspect to this war, the continuing destruction of Ukraine's agricultural sector, something that's very hard to capture when trying to photograph on the ground.

TUCHMAN: Let's zoom it in. And this is a couple of weeks ago. You see a grain silo, Ukraine is a very important agricultural country. And let's see what happens a few days later.

What happened here?

HANHAM: So there is a huge gravity bomb dropped here. You can see kind of the concentric circle ejecta, as it hit the dirt, buried and then exploded out. And the explosion was so percussive that it took out these four silos here, as well as the grain storage here.

And then all of the sort of light yellow that you see spread out is wheat.

ANDREW ZOLLI, CHIEF IMPACT OFFICER, PLANET: The food security crisis is a crisis on a crisis. We're going to feel its effects reverberating all over the world in the next year or two.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Planet's clients include the U.S. government and many other governments, also the media, universities and notably humanitarian organizations.

ZOLLI: I have no doubt that our data can and is used today around the world in Ukraine and well beyond its borders, to help support humanitarian efforts, to reduce suffering, to save lives. There is no question about that.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Turning back to the most current images of Mariupol, we asked to zoom in. We are told that, this time, it is too sensitive to show on TV.

ZOLLI: We just don't want to accidentally reveal information that would compromise those humanitarian efforts.

TUCHMAN: Planet says its small satellites like these last about 3-5 years in orbit and take millions of images every single day. The larger satellites don't take as many daily images. But the resolution is superior and they last longer, up to eight years in orbit.

The company launches about 2-5 large satellites a year; the smaller satellites, up to 80 are launched annually -- this is Gary Tuchman, CNN, in San Francisco.

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NEWTON: An American military flight is now en route from Germany to here in the United States, carrying more than 130 pallets of baby formula. Americans are dealing with a nationwide shortage.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is prioritizing shipments of a formula specialized for children with digestive issues. Now it's in short supply due to temporary closure of a key production facility, a formula maker, Abbott. Here is what one mother told CNN.

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ADRIANNA EITH, MOTHER: I don't sit here, 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 past my son, there are kids with greater health issues.

How do they eat?

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NEWTON: The CEO of Abbott wrote this apology in "The Washington Post," Robert Ford says, quote, "We're sorry to every family we let down since our voluntary recall exacerbated our nation's baby formula shortage."

CNN's Elizabeth Cohen is now in Ramstein Air Base in Germany for us.

And I'm happy to have you there on the ground. I mean, you've been following, you know every twist and turn of this story and it's agonizing. That mother we just heard from, Elizabeth, said she only had two weeks left. So in terms of the pallets that are on their way now.

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NEWTON: What difference will it make?

And how many more of these shipments can we expect?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So we are told that it will make some difference, Paula. This is 1.5 million 8-ounce bottles of baby formula, the hypoallergenic type, as you just described, Paula.

So I don't think that parents are going to wake up tomorrow morning or the day after or the day after or the day after and see full shelves because of this shipment. Might it make something of a difference in some areas of the country, sure.

But remember, with 1.5 million bottles, there are millions of babies in the United States, 1 year or younger. So this is not going to take care of it.

Now the Biden administration is taking other steps. For example, they used the Defense Production Act to say, hey, these ingredients that could go to many products, they're going to be prioritized to go for baby formula. And that certainly will help. But none of this is going to solve the crisis and anytime soon. Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, Elizabeth, I don't have a lot of time.

But what do you think will help?

Because I know medical experts said this should've been done months ago.

COHEN: Yes, I, mean this shortage actually started back in November. It didn't get lot of attention but it started back in November. So the second biggest manufacturer of formula, which is Reckitt or Mead Johnson, they actually, back in February, ramped up by 25 percent, ramped up production. So that's a lot.

But you'll notice even having them ramp up by that much, that also didn't take care of it. They really need to get that Abbott plant in Michigan back up and running. That will happen in the next few weeks. It couldn't happen soon enough for U.S. parents.

NEWTON: Absolutely not. Incredible. Elizabeth, this is happening in 2022. Good to have you there on the ground. Elizabeth Cohen, our senior medical correspondent, appreciate it.

Just ahead, Sri Lanka is in the middle of a terrible economic crisis. People there are affected, from their jobs to what they eat.

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NEWTON: And you are seeing there live images of U.S. President Joe Biden, leaving South Korea on his way to Japan. He is at Osan Air Base there. Now he is on Air Force One, heading as we say, to Japan. Again, security issues in the region will be top of mind.

It's a short flight, less than two hours from now but a very busy day expected, as he's expected to hold talks with the prime minister.

But then, on Tuesday, in, fact a meeting with the Quad. And that, again, with Japan, India and Australia. There will be an issue in terms of discussing the security alliances and all the challenges that are ahead there for them. And we will continue to bring you more of Joe Biden's visit to Asia in the coming hours. Stay with CNN.

In the meantime, we now turn to what seems to be no end to the economic turmoil plaguing Sri Lanka. The country defaulted this week on its foreign debt, forcing citizens to adjust to chronic shortages of just basic everyday items. Vedika Sud has our story next.

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A 36 year old man and driver has spent two nights at this gas station in central Colombo. It's been an endless wait to refuel his three wheeler. Petrol pumps are all but dry across the city.

THUWAN HAMEED, AUTO RICKSHAW DRIVER (through translator): At every petrol station we go ,to they tell us they have run out of gas. Our day goes in lining up at petrol pumps.

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SUD (voice-over): With no fuel, Thuwan has been out of work. He leaves his rickshaw in the care of friends and heads home to meet family, where the situation is equally dire. There has been a crippling shortage of cooking gas across the island nation.

Thuwan's wife, Fathima, has been cooking on a kerosene stove for the last three months.

FATHIMA HAMEED, THUWAN'S WIFE (through translator): I only have this one bottle of kerosene left. It will finish after I heat the food tonight.

SUD (voice-over): This family of five has no choice but to skip meals.

F. HAMEED (through translator): We do not eat in the mornings. We eat rice for lunch and dinner.

SUD (voice-over): About five kilometers or three miles away from their home, Sagarika Samanthi can barely sit in this 30-inch white balcony, where she cooks the day's meals. She uses coconut husk, paper and kerosene to get the firewood stalks started.

SAGARIKA SAMANTHI, COLOMBO RESIDENT (through translator): Since the 30th of April, there has been no cooking gas. We're now using a firewood stove.

SUD (voice-over): Earlier, she would cook three meals a day on a gas stove. It's now down to one.

SAMANTHI (through translator): My husband and my children have never let me down. This country has. It makes me sad and angry. I don't foresee things getting better anytime soon.

SUD (voice-over): Weeks of protests forced all the Rajapaksas except the president to step down from senior government posts. On Monday, Sri Lanka's new prime minister, Wickremesinghe, warned that things would only get worse before getting any better. Four days later and, for the first time in its history, the country defaulted on its debt.

MICK MOORE, UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX, U.K.: Unless the government reaches an agreement with the IMF or future resources and simultaneously an agreement with its foreign creditors about rescheduling, then the situation looks frankly impossible. SUD (voice-over): Where talks with the International Monetary Fund

aren't away, landmans (ph) like Thuwan are losing patience and hope. He says he voted for the Rajapaksas in the last election. He now, not only wants them out of power but out of the country -- Vedika Sud, CNN, New Delhi.

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NEWTON: I want to take you now to Osan Air Base in South Korea. U.S. President Joe Biden, wrapping up the first leg of his first trip to Asia as commander in chief. He is now headed to Japan, where he will not only have bilateral talks with the prime minister of that country but also meet with India, Australia, Japan and the United States will meet together in the Quad.

A lot of security issues there on the agenda. We will follow it for you in the coming hours. I want to thank you. In the meantime, I'm Paula Newton. Stay with us. "QUEST'S WORLD OF WONDER" is next.

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