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Biden Bolsters Ties To Counter China's Growing Influence; Biden's Taiwan Comment Provokes Angry Reply From Beijing; Pence Campaigns For Georgia Governor Brian Kemp; Former U.S. Special Forces Helping Fight In Ukraine; Leaders of U.S., Japan, India and Australia Meet in Tokyo; Interview with South Korea's New President; Doctors Warn Families Against Mixing, Diluting Formula; Davos 2022: Inflation, COVID, Ukraine and Recession on Agenda. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired May 24, 2022 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:26]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again and welcome to help us here in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN Newsroom.

Just ahead, strategic ambiguity or strategic confusion? The White House walking back Joe Biden's comments over defending Taiwan, causing confusion and concern over a summit -- ahead of a summit between the U.S., Japan, Australia and India.

Live in prison for a Russian soldier who pleaded guilty in the first war crimes trial in Ukraine. And revenge fantasy. With primary races in five U.S. states, it's Georgia, but Donald Trump most once a win for his endorsed candidates to ask the elected officials who stopped his illegal bid to overturn the 2020 election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vauseh.

VAUSE: At this hour, the second in-person summit of the quad is underway in Tokyo. Leaders of this informal alliance between the United States, Japan, Australia and India are holding one on one talks with a meeting between Mr. Biden and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said to begin later this hour.

Just a day earlier, the U.S. President launched a new partnership aimed at boosting trade ties with several Asian-Pacific countries. All part of a push to bolster the U.S. reliance in the region and counter China's growing dominance. But for all the former meetings and photo ops, it's what Biden said when he went off script during a withdrawing (ph) Beijing's fury right now. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You didn't want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons. Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are?

BIDEN: That's a commitment we made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The White House was quick to downplay those comments and insist U.S. policy on China and Taiwan has not changed. And in just the last hour, Mr. Biden himself clarified, the policy hasn't changed. But Beijing is already pushing back telling the United States not to meddle in internal affairs.

CNN is covering the story with Kevin Liptak, he's following the developments in Tokyo. We also have Steven Jiang standing by in Beijing with reactions from China. But Kevin, first to you. So what exactly is President Biden saying now about what appears to be another gaffe (ph)?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, this comment is still kind of looming over the President's Day. He was asked whether his comment meant that this U.S. policy of strategic ambiguity had changed. And he said, no. So the President really kind of trying to tamp down on the suggestion that he had discarded with this long standing U.S. stance.

Now the President has comments -- has generated plenty of reaction among other world leaders. But I will say in talking to the President's aides today, there is not a great deal of consternation that he seems to have gone off script slightly. And I think that the President and his team really kind of think that calculus in the global environment has changed somewhat by Russia's war in Ukraine, by the invasion in Ukraine.

And the President himself even said yesterday that the burden on the world to respond if China invades Taiwan was greater now that Russia had invaded Ukraine. And so today, the unspoken, but very clear a target in all of this is, of course, China.

And today, when the leaders are meeting, this quad summit meeting, some of the announcements that they'll be making kind of have China in the background. One of them has to do with maritime accessibility and maritime accountability. So that's certainly something that has been a point of contention between the U.S., China and other nations in the region.

But there is another unspoken audience in the President's references to the war in Ukraine, and that's the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who the President will be meeting one-on-one later this hour. India has been reluctant to condemn the war in Ukraine. It hasn't gone along with these Western sanctions. And so the President will be having that conversation with Modi as well.

But certainly, the President trying to tie all of this together on his final day in Asia, and you heard him speaking about the war in Ukraine earlier, he said that this is more than just a European issue. It's a global issue. And the Japanese prime minister said that we cannot let the same thing happen in the Indo-Pacific. So certainly, that crisis still kind of looming over the final day of the President's trip to Asia.

VAUSE: Kevin, stay with us. We'll go to Steven Jiang in Beijing for more on the reaction there to those -- to the gaffe I guess into the clarification too, clarification stand from the White House. Will that bring any sort of appeasement for Beijing?

[01:05:09]

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Unlike, John. You know the reaction has come quickly and forcefully as you can imagine, because Taiwan is long consider their reddest of their so-called red lines because even though the ruling Communist Party here has never directly control the island, they do consider the island part of their territory. That's why they've warned the U.S. not to underestimate the 1.4 billion Chinese people's resolve and capability to safeguard national sovereignty.

But this kind of language obviously familiar by now. We have heard time and again over the years. The real question seems to be on the minds of many out of the allies, but likely, a lot of Chinese officials as well as how many of these presidential slips of the tongue or gaffes would it take to convince the senior leadership here that there is a real shift in U.S. policy towards Taiwan that the long standing strategic ambiguity has been replaced by strategic clarity no matter how the White House has since walked back on the President's remarks.

Now then the question becomes, how would that shift change the calculations of Chinese supreme leader Xi Jinping? Because, obviously, even though Beijing hates the comparison between Ukraine and Taiwan, one likely lesson they have taken away from the war in Ukraine according to many allies says, the longer they wait, the harder it may get to take over Taiwan by force given the possible even likely Taiwan improvement on defense capabilities with the U.S. are getting more serious in helping and preparing the island to fight that war.

So then, of course, the issue becomes trying to submit it to a capabilities. Now on paper, the People's Liberation Army dwarfs Taiwan standing army in size. China has also thousands of missile deployed along the eastern shore lines. Many of them if not most of them targeted at Taiwan. The PLA has also developed and deployed a lot of advanced weaponry in recent years. But this is a military that has not been combat tested for over 40 years. The last real war they fought was in 1979 with Vietnam.

But one thing for sure, John, is tensions across the Taiwan Strait unlikely to subside anytime soon, especially with this latest round of war of words between the U.S. and China. John?

VAUSE: This is true, Steven, thank you. Steven Jiang, our Beijing Bureau Chief. Also thanks to Kevin Liptak there with the very latest from Tokyo.

We'll have a lot more on the quad summit about 20 minutes from now. Very latest on President Biden's meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Voters head to the polls Tuesday for party primaries and runoff elections in five U.S. States. Donald Trump is not on the ballot, but his influence looms large in Republican races across the country. Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is running for the party's nomination for governor in Arkansas. Like many other candidates, she's hoping to capitalize on her close ties to the one- term president.

The Republican race for governor in Georgia will be the biggest test of Trump's influence. He endorsed former Senator David Perdue, who's looking to unseat Brian Kemp. But Brian Kemp, the incumbent, is also getting some high profile help as well.

Here's CNN's Jeff Zeleny.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mike Pence on the campaign trail, taking sides on the eve of the Georgia primary in a rare public stand against Donald Trump.

MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I'm a Christian, conservative and a Republican in that order. And I am here to support Brian Kemp. I'm here because Brian Kemp, frankly, is one of the most successful Republican governors in America.

ZELENY (voice-over): The former vice president rallying support for Governor Brian Kemp, who's not only running for re-election, but trying to move beyond relentless criticism from Trump, who's been nursing a grudge at Kemp and other Republicans for refusing to overturn the last election.

PENCE: I can honestly say I was for Brian Kemp before it was cool.

ZELENY (voice-over): To make his point, Kemp invited Pence for the final rally of the campaign, putting a fresh spotlight on the long simmering conflict between the former president and his once loyal partner.

PENCE: President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election.

ZELENY (voice-over): The governor is hoping for a big win over his chief rival former Senator David Perdue, who Trump convinced to challenge Kemp, and one of his riskiest gambits of the midterm campaign season.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Brian Kemp is a turncoat, is a coward, it is a complete and total disaster.

ZELENY (voice-over): Kemp has repeatedly declined to engage as he did again today on a call with reporters.

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): I've never said anything bad about him. I don't plan on doing that. I'm not mad at him. I think he's just mad at me. And that's something that I can't control.

ZELENY (voice-over): His campaign has not been about Trump, but rather focused on a potential rematch with Stacey Abrams, who's running unopposed in the Democratic primary. Heading into Election Day, more than 857,000 people have already cast their ballots, a record early vote for an off-year race in a battleground where voting rights is at the center of the debate.

While many Republicans have made clear they're eager to look forward, Trump's obsession with nearly losing Georgia has loomed large up and down the Georgia primary ballot.

[01:10:07]

He endorsed Congressman Jody Hice to challenge the state's top election official, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

TRUMP: Jody is running against one of the worst secretary of states in America, RINO Brad Raffensperger who is trying to turn the tables on me because I'm fighting for election integrity.

ZELENY (voice-over): Raffensperger famously refused to help Trump overturn the election. In a call that remains part of an ongoing criminal investigation into election interference. GOP voters will determine his fate Tuesday.

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: As long as I am secretary of state, Georgia will lead the nation election security and election integrity and accessibility.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: The former president attacked his former vice president for coming to Georgia to campaign. He said it was a desperate move parachuting in to try and become relevant. As for Mr. Pence, he followed the Kemp playbook and did not mention Mr. Trump at all, simply ignoring him. But he said this election in Georgia on Tuesday is about the future of the Republican Party that indeed spoke volumes.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Kennesaw, Georgia.

VAUSE: Ron Brownstein is CNN's Senior Political Analyst and the Senior Editor for The Atlantic is with us live from Los Angeles. It's been a while. It's good to see you.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

VAUSE: OK. So it seems Georgia is where Trump wants to win most for his endorsed candidates. He's been campaigning for the former Senator David Perdue who's challenging the incumbent, Brian Kemp. He's part of Trump's campaign. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Brian Kemp is truly a embarrassment to the Republican Party because of what's taking place in your great state, Georgia. And David will make a massive upgrade as your governor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Yes, it's been the sort of over and over again, nasty abuse of Governor Kemp and, you know --

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: -- that was after, you know, he endorsed Joe Biden's win in 2020. But Trump's vitriol hasn't actually helped to do a whole lot. Incumbent -- Kemp has maintained the solid lead. So what do we read into that? Is that a sign of Trump's influence and it's waning, or is it some kind of outlier?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, I think what Donald Trump said, Brian Kemp has been an embarrassment, I think what Brian Kemp will be is an embarrassment to Donald Trump, right. There was no race probably that he wanted to win more than this. No Republican elected official that he wanted to punish more than the governor of Georgia.

But he picked, you know, kind of a plodding horse in David Perdue, who ran a very uninspired campaign, didn't raise a lot of money. And he was running against someone in Brian Kemp, who is governed in a very conservative manner to the point of being polarizing. I mean, this is a governor who has passed a six-week abortion ban, who has passed a law that has drawn broad condemnation from Democrats for restricting access to the vote who has taken steps to make it tougher to talk about race in classrooms in Georgia.

So in a lot of ways, he has fortified himself in the Republican Party. Donald Trump overreached in Georgia, as well, John. I mean, he endorsed candidates against Republican incumbents for Governor, for attorney general, for Secretary of State. And I think from the Republicans I've talked to there, there was a backlash against the sheer breadth of him coming in, and essentially, you know, putting the scarlet letter on all of their Republican officials. But I think it would be a mistake to read, but it's probably going to be a disappointing night for him as a sign that his influence has waned in the Republican Party, especially around these claims of election fraud and the kind of candidates are running to control the 2024 election in Secretary of State Attorney General positions.

VAUSE: We'll get to the overall picture in a moment. But first, Perdue wrapped up his campaign with what is essentially a racist remark about Stacey Abrams. She's the Democratic candidate for governor, this is what Perdue's at least part of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PERDUE, GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: When she told Black Farmers, you don't need to be on the farm and you she told black workers and hospitality and all this, you don't need to be -- she is demeaning her own race when it comes to that. I am really over this. She should never be considered for material for a governor of any state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Yes, there's a lot more to this and whole thing was based on a falsehood and twisted words. But why go this route at this point in the campaign?

BROWNSTEIN: Look, this is also part of the legacy of Donald Trump. He has made it possible to say these things out loud that people might have once muttered under their breath, you know, in a bar somewhere and he has kind of made this language acceptable in the Republican party when he told for women of color in the House to, quote, go back where they came from, and there was no meaningful condemnation within the Republican Party. I think he has kind of created, you know, he has opened the door to this kind of language and rhetoric and anxiety and hostility to the changing demographic and cultural face of America is fundamentally most powerful fuel in the engine for the Trump coalition.

[01:15:02]

Polling is very clear on that. And I think Perdue was kind of reaching out to that in a final kind of gesture but it's obviously not going to be enough for him.

VAUSE: OK, so according to Politico website 538, more than 70 percent of Trump's endorses believe the 2020 election was fraudulent.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: So combine that with the Republican Party where the opinion polls continue to show majority believe, despite no evidence that Joe Biden's election was illegitimate. What does that outcome look like as we head into 2024?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, the number is actually the same, by the way, among Republican voters in the last CNN poll. 70 percent of Republican voters say that Joe Biden's election was illegitimate. And that's in part because as we're discussing on race, there has been so little pushback from other voices in the Republican Party, whether elected officials or business group challenging the big lie.

And one of the results is that candidates espousing the big lie are running to control the election machinery, as I wrote tonight on cnn.com, in virtually all of the states that will decide the 2024 election. Whether we're talking about the five states that switch from Trump in '16, to Biden in '20, which are Georgia, Arizona, and Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, other contested states like Nevada and Minnesota, and Colorado, in state after state. We see Republicans have either already nominated candidates for the big lie, candidates who espouse the big lie for control of Secretary of State Attorney General and governor positions like Mastriano in Pennsylvania, or they are serious contenders for those nominations, as the summer goes on. And this is a crisis that is rolling toward the country in slow motion. You know, one Republican former state chair said to me yesterday that this could induce chaos in 2024, for example, in Georgia, where Jody Hice, who says that if the election had been fair, Donald Trump would have won Georgia. He has a very reasonable chance of taking out Brad Raffensperger.

And what will happen if in a good Republican year, a reasonable number of these candidates get, you know, elected in the fall, they -- you will have these candidates who are espousing Trump's conspiracy, there's controlling the election machinery in the states that will decide the White House. And that's a recipe for enormous social and political turmoil.

VAUSE: We'll see what happens. Ron, thank you so much. Ron Brownstein, as always, it's been good to have you with us. Thank you, sir.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, John. Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: OK.

Well, be sure to follow all the key races right here on CNN. We're expecting first results Tuesday 7:00 p.m. that's East Coast time. And if you're watching from Hong Kong or the Asia region, that's around 7:00 a.m.

We'll take a short break. When we come back, a milestone for the war in Ukraine, a conviction in its first war crimes trial. Also, a group of foreign former Special Forces are now helping Ukraine fight the Russians. We'll hear from one of them in an exclusive report.

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[01:21:54]

VAUSE: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warns as Russia ramps up a military offensive in the east. Up to 100 people could be killed each day. The head of the Donetsk regional military administration is now reporting heavy fighting in the direction of lineman in Luhansk. At least one civilian has been killed therefore others injured.

Other nearby towns have been hit by heavy Shille (ph) and rocket attacks. This comes as Vladimir Putin faces growing opposition at home for the invasion, including from a longtime Russian diplomat. In a rare public protest, a 20-year veteran of Russia's Diplomatic Service announced his resignation Monday and criticize what he called an aggressive war unleashed by the Russian president.

The U.S. State Department says that resignation shows there are Russians who profoundly disagree with what Mr. Putin is doing, despite all the state-run propaganda. And there are still questions over the Russian president's overall strategy regarding Ukraine, with the U.S. Defense Secretary saying that remains unknown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: At the very outset, he envision using overwhelming force and speed and power to very rapidly take down the capital city and replace the government. They failed in that. So we've seen them really proceed at a very slow and unsuccessful place on -- pace on the battlefield. And you would expect that he would seek to use other levers of power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: After three months of relentless fighting, the war Ukraine hit a milestone on Monday, but not on the battlefield but in a courtroom. A 21-year-old Russian soldier was sentenced to life in prison by Ukrainian court for war crimes. He had pleaded guilty to murdering an unarmed civilian during the early days of the war.

The soldier also apologized to the victim's widow during the trial. But the country's top prosecutor says this is just the first of many war crimes cases that must still retry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IRYNA VENEDIKTOVA, UKRAINE'S CHIEF PROSECUTOR: Today, more than 13,000 cases only about war crimes. And now we have a first sentence, butt it's not enough. It's only the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ukrainian forces are getting help from foreign volunteers who've arrived with years of combat experience. And that includes former elite Special Forces from the U.S. CNN's Sam Kiley has spoken with one of them in this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): How'd you know where to go?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We then -- we just knew that enemy was this way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll just hop to these backyards and clear through here.

KILEY (voice-over): It's not as straightforward as it sounds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going to go to that building.

KILEY (voice-over): Veterans of years of counterinsurgency warfare, this small team of American and British fighters is under Ukrainian command. And they now look at war down the other end of the barrel and have asked us to conceal their identities for their own security.

This is a war that has a moral clarity for these volunteers in Ukraine's international legion. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, people keep saying, oh, you're doing it

for democracy. It's really not, you know. It's really comes down to good versus evil.

[01:25:04]

I never figured out why they were killing women and children. And it wasn't by accident, it was murder. I mean, we found many people just out into the street that were bound together and shot, thrown on the side of the road.

KILEY (voice-over): Many in Kevin's team X Special Forces operators have had millions spent on their training in the West in countries that won't send troops to war with Russia. Among the first into Irpin, they took over this house behind enemy lines. He says the team killed dozens of Russians in the park below.

He says that the fighting and the shelling and the Russian killing of civilians was relentless.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two pro-Russians in here.

KILEY (voice-over): As Kevin's team advanced, he says they got trapped in this health spa for several days. It was steadily torn apart by Russian artillery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was the house of hell. This was for really miserable days of really little sleep, really heavy artillery, really heavy infantry presents from the Russians.

KILEY (voice-over): Kevin small team is funded largely by donations to the Ukrainian legion. It operates mostly behind Russian lines. And they were stunned at first at being on the receiving end of airstrikes and heavy artillery. But they're applying the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan to Russia, and believe that they're having an effect on the enemy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's definitely a psychological aspect to it. We do know that the Russians were talking about, hey, they're -- like we can't figure out where they're at. We don't know what's happening. We are being artillery. It's so heavy that we put this chair here so we could jump out this window if we had to in a hurry.

KILEY (voice-over): Deeper into the spa, he comes across evidence that Russia plays dirty, even in local defeat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So a lot of the Russians came back through some of these places and remind them will probably be traps and you can see this cable goes back into the ground where it's been intentionally buried, and then it's tied off here.

KILEY (voice-over): So far, this group has not lost a soldier.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely a nightmare.

KILEY (voice-over): But that time may come. It's a risk, he says. He's prepared to take because for the West's former warriors in the war on terror, Ukraine has given them something back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One way or the other, they've either been lost or they've lost everything. So this has given them another chance. You know, they come back here. And it's like they've put their life back together.

Sam Kiley, CNN, Irpin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: A one-on-one meeting in Tokyo soon for the leaders of the United States and India. And coming up, a live report from New Delhi on tension within the quad of India's refusal to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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[01:31:59]

VAUSE: Coming up to 32 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and everyone around the world.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

We've got the latest now from Tokyo and the Quad summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from Japan, Australia, and India meeting for their second in-person gathering this year. Mr. Biden's scheduled to meet with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon. Now countering China's influence was meant to be the main focus but now adding Joe Biden's recent comments on Taiwan.

There's also some tension between Joe Biden and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Despite good relations with the U.S., New Delhi has not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Notably India has strong military ties with the Russians.

CNN's Vedika Sud, live this hour in New Delhi. And Quad is this informal alliance between four nations with shared beliefs on things like liberty and freedom. And one of these nations is not like the others when it comes to that on Russia and Ukraine, and that would be India.

VEDIKA SUD, CNN PRODUCER: Absolutely, John. Because India is yet to condemn Russian's actions and invasion of Ukraine. While the other three countries have called out Russia's actions, India has been sitting on the fence.

As far as the U.N. statements are concerned, India has gone ahead and gone as far as condemning the violence and the killings, but they have not directly condemned Russia. And that has been a bone of contention when it comes to the west.

There have been relentless pressure on India over the last few weeks to come out and take a clear stand against Russia, but like you pointed out, India's ties with Russia go back decades. It's heavily reliant on Russia for its defense supplies. So at the core, you have three countries who are more or less on the same page when it comes to Russia's actions in Ukraine, but India has been actually very focused on maintaining the balancing act until now.

I spoke to an analyst, a senior fellow at the Brooking Institution, Tanvi Madan, and she also had to say that it's the bigger picture that the Quad has to look at. At this point in time, they have to find common ground. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TANVI MADAN, SENIOR FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: I think it's about managing divergences. One thing about the Quad, like a lot of issue and interspace coalitions, this is not about same-minded countries coming together, it's about like-minded countries. That there is a set of issues on which there is convergence that brings them together.

And in the Quad's case it is really about a shared vision of the Indo- Pacific which they do want to see as a pretty open, prosperous, inclusive, rules-based region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUD: Biden's administration is absolutely conscious of the fact that India is the geopolitical alternative and the economic alternative in the region when it comes to China. And that is the reason why they really can't push India beyond a point.

Also in the bilat meet, what's really going to be focus -- what the two leaders will be focusing on is also food security, given that India very recently has banned the export of wheat, John.

[01:34:56]

VAUSE: Vedika, thank you. Vedika Sud, live for us in New Delhi. We appreciate that.

Now, Yoon Suk-Yeol's political career is off to a whirlwind start. South Korea's new president is a foreign policy novice but he's already been thrust on to the world stage after a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden. Just two weeks into the job, President Yoon is tackling his country's relationship with North Korea head on.

President Yoon spoke exclusively with CNN's Paula Hancocks in his first interview since his inauguration. Paula joins us now live from Seoul, Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello John.

Well, it seems to be a dual track approach when it comes to North Korea, from what I heard from the President Yoon Suk-Yeol. On the one hand, he is still offering help for North Korea when it comes to COVID, but on the other side he is saying that there will be a stronger and firmer response if there is, as some intelligence agency believes there could be a seventh underground nuclear test on the way saying that they will be coordinating with the United States. But clearly he has said that he believes the previous administration's approach has not worked. He said it has been a failure and he will do it differently.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: South Korea's new president, Yoon Suk-Yeol sets up a new sign for his desk. A gift from U.S. President Joe Biden, who was just in Seoul. A popular quote from the late President Harry Truman.

A former prosecutor just two weeks into his presidency and fresh from a summit with Biden, Yoon is now dealing with a North Korea expected to launch a long-range missile or conduct an underground nuclear test any day.

YOON SUK-YEOL, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Our response will be stronger and firmer than it has been before. We will coordinate closely with our U.S. counterparts.

HANCOCKS: But in Kim Jong-un, you have a leader who has given a five year plan of what he wants to achieve, militarily. He seems to have no interest in talking whatsoever. How do you convince him to talk?

YOON: I think the ball is in Chairman Kim's court. It is his choice to start a dialogue with us. I do not want North Korea to collapse. My hope is for North Korea to prosper alongside South Korea.

HANCOCKS: At the same time, Yoon says he believes his predecessor's priority of prioritizing dialogue with North Korea has failed.

YOON: Just to temporarily escape North Korean provocation or conflict is not something that we should do. Many call it servile diplomacy, but the policy of being overconcerned about the other side's feelings does not work. And it has proven to be a failure in the past five years.

HANCOCKS: South Korea is one of 30 nations President Biden announced today as joining his new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework already criticized by China, South Korea's largest trading partner.

YOON: Even if we strengthen our alliance with the United States in security and technology, it does not mean that we think our economic cooperation with China is unimportant. So I do not believe it is reasonable for China to be overly sensitive about this matter.

HANCOCKS: President Yoon says he believes China should abide by the- rules based international order. At a time when that order is under pressure around the world, South Korea's president is clear that his country's future, at least for the next five years, it's firmly by the sides of the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: And when it comes to COVID, he has urged the North Koreans to accept his offer of aid. He said he can do it through a third party, through an international organization that it is a human right of North Korean people to have health care, John.

VAUSE: Yes, Paula. Thank you. Paula Hancocks live for us in Seoul. We appreciate the report.

Still to come here on CNN, the U.S. prepares for another airlift of baby formula, as children fall sick and parents take some desperate measures.

[01:38:42]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: With the United States facing a nationwide shortage of baby formula, doctors and health experts are warning of the dangers of mixing or diluting formula. The U.S. military's Operation Fly Formula will soon see a second delivery from overseas.

CNN's Brian Todd has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Indianapolis, 35 tons of baby formula arrives on an American military transport plane from Europe. The first of the Biden administration's emergency shipments dubbed "Operation Fly Formula".

But these first pallets won't go on to store shelves. This shipment is hypoallergenic prescription formula.

TOM VILSACK, U.S. AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: Formula for moms and dads who have children who have allergies, where the regular formula just simply will not work.

TODD: While the Biden team promises that more regular formula is on the way, the formula shortage in America has still deepened in recent days. Children's hospitals in Tennessee and South Carolina have reported young children including babies have been hospitalized in recent days for complications related to the shortage. Their parents sometimes trying desperate measures.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They try an alternative and it doesn't go well.

TODD: Doctors say many parents are making the mistake of trying to mix their own formula or they dilute the formula they have with water or something else. Then --

DR. ADRIENNE COLLIER, PEDIATRICIAN, KAISER PERMANENTE: We can see problems with electrolyte imbalance such as hypo or hypernatremia. This increases the risk of seizures.

We can also see hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia, essentially low blood sugar or high blood sugar which can also cost seizures and have detrimental effects.

TODD: What sparked the crisis? In February, the company Abbott Nutrition recalled certain lots of three brands of its formula, batches labeled Similac, Alimentum, and EleCare after some infants got sick from a bacteria and two died. Abbott had to shut down its plant in Sturgis, Michigan.

As the crisis has worsened, the Biden administration has scrambled to avoid looking flat-footed.

[01:44:55]

FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, USA TODAY: The White House has been really trying to show while the president has been abroad, that it's still focused on this issue with those shipments coming in, with the next one coming, and also signaling through the use of DPA, the Defense Production Act authorization that it's also getting materials and supplies to Abbott and other companies.

TODD: Abbott's CEO says his company's recall was the correct move, but in an op-ed in the "Washington Post", he wrote that Abbott was quote, "sorry to every family we've let down".

Families like Samantha Stephen's, she says she was running dangerously low and had to turn to a collection drive on Long Island to feed her two-month-old son Cameron.

SAMANTHA STEPHEN: It's terrifying, yes, because this is what he relies on to live. So, it's scary.

TODD: And we've learned a second flight of Operation Fly Formula will leave Ramstein Air Base in Germany early Wednesday morning carrying the equivalent of about 1.5 million 8-ounce bottles of formula. It will travel to Dulles Airport outside D.C. then be transferred to a Nestle facility in Pennsylvania for distribution.

Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech is sharing new data on their COVID-19 vaccine. Preliminary results from drug trials shows three doses of the shot appears safe and promotes strong immune response in children from the age of six months to five years. So far, children younger than five are not yet eligible for COVID vaccines in the U.S.

Pfizer's chairman and CEO says he hopes to make the shots available to younger children as soon as possible with authorization. Pfizer says they'll submit the finished data to the FDA this week.

Well, the outlook at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland may be grim, but at least the weather is nice. Coming up, Richard quest trades his skis for a bike. We can't wait on a different kind of Davos.

[01:46:41]

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VAUSE: Another public appearance for Britain's Queen Elizabeth. She attended the Chelsea Flower Show in London on Monday and she was traveling there in style, a tricked-out golf buggy with reclining leather seats. Call it the queen mobile.

The 96-year-old monarch has had recent health problems certainly but she has been out and about and next month Britain will celebrate her Platinum Jubilee in honor of her seven-decade reign.

The World Economic Forum is back for its meeting in Davos, Switzerland this week. The International Monetary Fund is warning of a grim economic outlook. And from Ukraine to COVID and inflation there's a lot on the agenda, much was not good. But there isn't snow on the ground.

And as CNN's Richard Quest reports the new weather means he has to find new metaphors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: The Davos we have known for decades. Battling up the mountain in snow to improve the state of the world. It's not rocket science to tell what is different at Davos this year.

So where is the snow? This is (INAUDIBLE) for Davos. There should be snow.

This year's worth is less "Ice Station Zebra' and more "Sound of Music". Everything from the place to the geopolitics is different, often in dramatic ways.

This is Cafe Schneider (ph) normally, it is an excellent cake shop here in Davos. In recent years it has been taken over by India, which is still here now and also Russia. This was the Russia House.

Well, look closely. It is sort of the same but different. Now, it's the Russia War Crimes House. Ukraine has its own place of honor in the prestigious promenade.

I guess this is one thing that will never change in Davos. How many limos does it take to improve the state of the world?

Besides the war, there is a raft of economic issues on the agenda. High inflation, higher interest rates, lockdowns in China, the possibilities of recession.

Over the years in winter, I have used just about every analogy and metaphor you could think of for skiing in the global economy.

The mountain is in a dreadful condition and arguably, the global economy is exactly the same.

Like the global economic system, this snow is not fit for the purpose of building a snowman.

There is always the risk in the global economy, that something goes wrong. Now with Davos in the spring, I've got a whole new vehicle to play with. So my mountain bike is the global economy. It has got all the mod-coms (ph) you can think of. Power to drive it forward when needed. Interest rates are breaks to slow things down when it is too hot. The latest technology, it is all here.

We think we know what we are doing, and then you look at what is ahead. That hard slog to get it right.

[01:54:40]

QUEST: This is why the next few years are really going to be so difficult. Because no matter what policy action's taken, there are going to be huge challenges, ramifications, difficulties, but eventually, we should be in a good position to carry on the hard work.

In the end, it does not matter whether it is snow or spring. The challenges are ahead, and we have just got to stay the course. If we do that, there'll be smooth ground ahead.

Richard Quest, CNN, Davos.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Sorry. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

CNN NEWSROOM will be back with my friend and colleague, Rosemary Church and hopefully Richard as well.

See you tomorrow, no see you next day.

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[01:59:58]

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