Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Leaders of U.S., Japan, India and Australia Meet in Tokyo; Biden's Taiwan Comment Provokes Angry Reply From Beijing; U.S. Voters to Cast Ballot in Five States; Pence Campaigns for Georgia Governor Brian Kemp; Zelenskyy: Kyiv Ready for Prisoner Exchange with Russia; Grim Outlook at World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired May 24, 2022 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London. And just ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I am here to support Brian Kemp.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has divided our party. He allowed him to steal the election. He denied it. He is now covering it up and he suppressing evidence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've done exactly what I told people I would do. That's what Georgian's want. They want somebody who's fighting for them.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're navigating the dark in our shared history. Russia's assault on Ukraine only heightens the importance of those goals, the fundamental principles of international order.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Isa Soares.
SOARES: Welcome to the show everyone. It is Tuesday, May 24th. And right now, U.S. President Joe Biden is wrapping up his diplomatic tour in Asia. Earlier Mr. Biden kicked off the second in-person quad summit alongside -- as you can see there -- the leaders of Japan, Australia, as well as India. The controversy hung as a part of their meeting after Mr. Biden's comments on Monday suggested a more hardline approach to China and Taiwan. He later clarified that U.S. policy on the issue is unchanged.
Well, in the last few hours Biden also spoke one-on-one with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. One key topic, Russia's war on Ukraine which Mr. Modi has been reluctant to condemn. The war was a major topic across the summit, as we have reported, Mr. Biden addressing it in his opening remarks. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Russia's assault on Ukraine only heightens the importance of those goals, the fundamental principles of international order, territorial integrity and sovereignty, international law, human rights must always be defended regardless of where they are violated in the world. So, the quad has a lot of work ahead of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: CNN has reporters covering every an angle of this story. Our Kevin Liptak and Blake Essig are live in Tokyo. Steven Jiang is in Beijing for us and Vedika Sud is standing by in New Delhi. I want to start with Kevin. And Kevin, the president's comments it seems still very much looming over this last day of the summit. Has the clarification eased nerves or has the calculus simply changed here?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I do think that this comment has been following the president around today as he convenes this quad summit. And a reporter asked him if his comment meant that the long time U.S. policy of strategic ambiguity toward Taiwan was dead, and he said no. So, trying to tamp down on the suggestion that he was breaking with years of policy.
But really when you talk to the president's aides today, you really don't hear a lot of consternation that the president seem to have gone off script. And I think that's because Biden and his team really do think that the calculus has changed somewhat. And that is really because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And they kind of think that if there is ever a time to put China on notice and to back Ukraine publicly, it would be now.
And you see that in this quad gathering that the president has really kind of revitalized. He has brought together these leaders really as a counter to China in this region. And of course, the White House says that these countries do have other things that they need to talk about. They have areas of cooperation that they will find that don't really have anything to do with China. But that is kind of the looming backdrop to this whole gathering.
And now, in their talks they did come up with some modest announcement on information sharing, on maritime issues, distributing COVID pediatric vaccines. But really what the president wants do as he gets ready to head back to Washington is to show China that the United States is a player in this region.
SOARES: And Kevin do stay with us, let me go to Steven. And Steven, as you heard Kevin say, there's no consternation that Biden has gone off script. So, what has been the reaction from Beijing following those comments and that clarification?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Isa, the Chinese foreign ministry just responded to Biden's clarification. Basically, dismissing it as part of Washington's word games and they reiterated Taiwan remains the reddest of China's so-called red lines even though the ruling Communist Party has never controlled the island, they do consider it part of Chinese territory. That's why officials here have been lashing out at Mr. Biden's remarks on Monday and warning the U.S. not to underestimate Chinese people's resolve and capability to safe guard national sovereignty.
[04:05:00]
Now this kind of fiery rhetoric obviously not new and not surprising. The real question on the minds of many analysts and likely many Chinese officials seem to be how many of these presidential gaffes if you will would take to convince the Beijing leadership here that there is a real shift in the U.S. policy toward Taiwan. That strategic ambiguity has been replaced by strategic clarity, regardless of backtracking from the White House afterwards.
So, then the question becomes whether and how that shift would change the thinking and calculation of Chinese supreme leader, Xi Jinping. Many seem to think instead of deterring him from attacking Taiwan, he would accelerate preparations and planning because as much as Beijing hates the comparison between Ukraine and Taiwan, one likely lesson they have drawn from the war in Ukraine, according to observers, seems to be the longer you wait, the more difficult it may become to take over Taiwan by force given the likely improvement in Taiwan's defense capabilities with the U.S. getting more serious in preparing the island to fight that war -- Isa.
SOARES: Very important context. Stay with me. Let me go to Vedika. And Vedika, we understand President Biden has been meeting with Narendra Modi. Who you and I have talked about this before, has been reluctant to criticize Russia's invasion of Ukraine. What more are you learning about this meeting -- this one-on-one meeting that took place?
VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Isa, India continues to stand from as far as its position on Russia's invasion of Ukraine as concern. But just ahead of the bilateral meeting between the U.S. president and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Biden did mention that India and the U.S. will be talking about Ukraine.
Now, one of the things that Biden said and he described the war of Russia and Ukraine as unjustified and brutal, and he said that the negative effects and how to mitigate these negative effects of war would be discussed between the two leaders. Along with that, he also said that they will be talking about the impact on the entire global world order as far as this war is concerned.
What's clear is a couple of weeks ago, we heard from the U.S. President Joe Biden where he said that India's stand on Russia is somewhat shifty. Now ever since you've had a lot of top U.S. officials talking about India's stand in press conferences where they've come out and acknowledged India's situation. They do realize that Russia and India share historic ties. They do realize that India depends heavily on Russia for defense supplies. And also, just recently, about a day ago, you had a top U.S. administration official come out and say to the press that we do understand that countries share different historic ties, they have different outlooks and different views. So, somewhere down the line U.S. has accepted India's position. They're not happy with it, but this is something that will be discussed in detail during today's bilateral -- Isa.
Will take you from Vedika in New Delhi to Tokyo -- and Blake Essig joins me now. And Blake, this is of course a quad meeting, something that we've been talking about for days now. And a meeting that really has been in place since the early 2000s -- this quad summit. Talk us through the regional goals and whether any of these goals were achieved here.
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Isa, when the four leaders of the quad came together in Tokyo today, Prime Minister Kishida says that they all had a frank discussion about the impact of the war in Ukraine and that impact that it's having here in the Indo-Pacific. And all agreed that the rule of law, sovereignty and territorial integrity must be upheld no matter the region.
The leaders also addressed the situation in Myanmar as well as North Korea's continued effort to develop its nuclear and missile program. Saying each country would work in partnership toward advancing North Korea's complete denuclearization. And while the quad leaders also addressed issues relating to climate change, vaccines, humanitarian assistance and infrastructure, all important issues to this region, experts say the quad mainly exists to counter China's influence and territorial claims in the region.
And Kishida says that the leaders expressed grave concern over China unilaterally trying to change the status quo in the east and South China Sea. Now although China's economic growth is beneficial for its trading partners in the global economy here, quad members are looking to encourage Beijing to abide by international law, play by the rules and keep the seas free and open.
Of course, China sees the quad as a coalition of countries trying to limit its economic growth and says that it reeks of military confrontation. Although, Isa, the quad isn't a NATO mutual defense like commitment. Experts do say they continually upgrade security cooperation between quad member states is incredibly important for toward maintaining maritime security.
SOARES: Blake Essig, Kevin Liptak, Vedika Sud and Steven Jiang, thank you very much.
Now voters go to the polls today for primaries and runoff elections in five U.S. states. Donald Trump's influence looms large in Republican races right across the country. Former White House press sent Sarah Huckabee Sanders is running for governor in Arkansas.
[04:10:03]
And a slew of other candidates are hoping to capitalize on their connections to the former president. In the Georgia governor's race Trump is backing former Senator David Perdue. While former Vice President Mike Pence has endorsed the incumbent Brian Kemp. Trump is also supporting former football star Herschel Walker's Senate bit and a challenger to the incumbent Secretary of State. Our Jeff Zeleny has more for you.
(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 VICE PRESIDENT: I'm a Christian, a 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 reelection, 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 (voice-over)Senator David Perdue, who Trump convinced to challenge Kemp, in one of his riskiest gambits of the midterm campaign season.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: Brian Kemp is a turncoat, he's a coward, and he's a complete and total disaster.
ZELENY (voice-over): Kemp has repeatedly declined to engage, as he did again today on a call with reporters.
KEMP: 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 is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Heading into Election Day, more than 807,000 people have already cast their votes, 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 it clear they're eager to look forward, Trump's obsession with narrowly losing Georgia has loomed large, up and down the Georgia primary ballot. 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 (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: As long as I am secretary of state, Georgia will lead the nation in election security and election integrity, and accessibility.
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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: And be sure to follow all the key races right here on CNN. We are expecting the first results Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. if you're watching on the east coast. That's midnight if you're watching us here in London and 7:00 a.m. in Hong Kong.
Well, it's finally something to cheer about on Wall Street the Dow soared on Monday looking to bounce back from its longest weekly losing streak -- along with this century. Strong earnings there JPMorgan Chase and other banks really driving the rally along with comments from President Biden about maybe, maybe, I should say, lifting some of the tariffs on China.
But if we look at futures, the futures for today, well, the rally could be short lived as you can see. Red arrows right across the board with the Dow down 1 percent, S&P and Nasdaq down more than 1.25 percent also.
Now, more relief is on the way for U.S. families coping with the nationwide baby formula shortage. The White House says a second flight of formula will be leaving Germany on Wednesday -- Wednesday morning in fact and heading straight for the U.S. The shipment is expected to contain more than 100 pallets of Gerber infant formula, this along with the first delivery on Sunday is the equivalent about 1.5 million ounces of bottles. I think I've got that right.
[04:15:00]
The delivery is part of the Biden administration "Operation Fly Formula" meant to address the shortage. In the meantime, doctors are warning parents and caregivers not to dilute or mix their own formula.
The White House is tracking the monkeypox outbreak as new suspected cases are reported in Florida, as well as in Washington state. The U.S. CDC is in the process of releasing vaccines from a national stockpile for high risk people. Health officials warn anyone can get the virus, but some groups may have a greater chance of exposure in this outbreak particularly the LGBTQ+ community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. RAJ PANJABI, SR. DIR. FOR GLOBAL HEALTH, SECURITY AND BIODEFENSE, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Those who are most at risk of getting it are those who are in direct contact with those skin lesions or in contact with the respiratory droplets of someone who is infected with the virus. It cannot be transmitted as far as we know in past outbreaks as well as so far in this one through airborne transmission like COVID can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: A CNN tally confirmed cases in at least 15 countries, the U.K. and Portugal reported additional infections on Monday while Denmark confirmed its first case.
Up next right here on CNN NEWSROOM, officials say the U.S. could send forces to Ukraine to protect the U.S. embassy in Kyiv. We have all the details for you.
Plus, the war in Ukraine front and center at the World Economic Forum. How Russia's invasion has dealt a major blow to the world economy, that is next.
[04:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: U.S. officials tell CNN the Biden administration is considering sending U.S. special operations forces to help guard the U.S. embassy in Kyiv. But they say the discussions are in the very early stages. The embassy reopened, if remember last week after being closed for three months.
Meanwhile heavy fighting is being reported in parts of eastern Ukraine where Russia forces have been intensifying their attacks in recent weeks. One official says Russian missile strikes have damaged the railway infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kyiv is ready for a prisoner exchange with Russia even as early as tomorrow. And he called on allies to keep political pressure on Russia.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is tracking it all live from Lviv in western Ukraine. And Suzanne, what more do we know at this stage about this possible prisoner exchange with Russia and whether any of the Azovstal fighters will be part of this critically?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, this is really in the phase of discussions. This really is not a real effort at this moment. We'll see how this plays out. But President Zelenskyy telling the audience through video in a conversation in Davos, essentially saying that look, his country, his government is ready for a prisoner swap even tomorrow, he said. Really underscoring the sense of urgency here. But also saying it is a humanitarian effort but it's a very political effort here and it requires the cooperation of many, many states, partners and allies to pull these kinds of negotiations and this type of prisoner swap off.
He says under no circumstance should there be concessions to Russia, but rather the world community should continue with the economic pressure, closing those businesses, the oil embargo, the sanctions, that all of that in its totality will push this to a point to the Russians, the breaking point, in which they would have some sort of exchange.
But President Zelenskyy also underscored really what he believes is the devalue that the Russians have of their own soldiers, their own people. He noted that there are tens of thousands of body bags filled with the corpse of Russian soldiers who were left behind. So, the question really being whether or not there are any kind of value, if you will, in those people, in those Russians when they talked about this kind of idea of a prisoner swap.
We did hear through Russian state media the deputy foreign minister saying that Russia was open to a prisoner swap. But also, we heard from the leader of the Russian controlled Donetsk region that says that they are now preparing documents for the tribunals that they plan to hold for those who are in captivity at this moment.
And Isa, I should let you know, I've been in touch with the wife of one of those in captivity from the Mariupol steel plant and she says she has not heard from her husband since he surrendered five days ago. There are no updates. She just continues to wait -- Isa.
SOARES: And I know that you will stay on top of this story for us. Suzanne Malveaux for us in Lviv this hour. Thanks very much, Suzanne.
Well in the coming hour, the European Commission president as well as NATO secretary-general are set to address the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. That means Ukraine and NATO expansion likely to be at the top of the agenda. Russia's invasion has dealt, as you know, a major blow to the global economy impacting energy as well as food supply.
This is a new satellite image -- as you are seeing there -- show Russian ships being loaded with what is believed to be stolen Ukrainian grain in the Crimean port of Sevastopol. The ships are seen set sail with one in the Aegean Sea and the other still in the Black Sea. For more on this, CNN's Anna Stewart joins me now. And Anna, so a lot for us to go through. Let's start off with what we expect to hear from the NATO Secretary-General. Yesterday we heard from President Zelenskyy addressing the Davos summit and he basically called for maximum sanctions on Russian. What more do you think we can hear today?
ANNA STEWART, CNN PORTER: Yes, so yesterday was Zelenskyy and I expect we're going to get some reaction from some of those demands yesterday -- wanting oil sanctions, wanting no trade with Russia. The EU Commission president will likely have to address that. They announced a sixth round of sanctions nearly a month ago now but all the delays and divisions within the EU particularly from Hungary have left that on the table for now. They should be responding to that. And the NATO secretary-general talking I think about Sweden and Finland wanting to join NATO but of course there are objections from Turkey. So, plenty for us to dig into. And those addresses are coming up in the next hour.
SOARES: And of course, we shall bring them to you as soon as they happen. Let me pick up though on the food security aspect.
[04:25:00]
Grain of course, wheat and grain, Ukraine is a huge producer for much of the world. Carl Schwab yesterday, the founder of Davos really, was saying that, you know -- asking President Zelenskyy, how can we help to sort this -- put an end to this crisis. What can be done at this stage? Because the risk is that the long term impact this will have on the poorest nations in the world.
STEWART: Russia and Ukraine collectively produce around 30 percent of the whole world's grain. So, this war is having a very real detrimental impact on populations far beyond Ukraine. Now the argument from the World Food Programme has very much been Russia needs to reopen the ports of Ukraine. That they are waging war far beyond the borders of Ukraine. And we had very strong comments from the executive director of the World Food Programme speaking on a panel with our Julia Chatterley. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID BEASLEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: Now because of this crisis we are taking food from the hungry to get to the starving. This is absolutely a crisis mode. What do you think is going to happen when you take a nation that normally grows enough food to feed 400 million people and you sideline that? What do you think is doing to happen? And so, you add the fuel costs, food costs, shipping costs, it's devastating to not just our operations but to global food security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: If something doesn't change, he says 49 million people around the world will be pushed to famine if nothing changes.
SOARES: That's staggering numbers. Anna Stewart, thank you very much indeed.
Still to come right here on the show, a manhunt is under way after a professional cyclist was murdered in Texas and authorities say the suspected killer may have been involved in a love triangle. We'll bring you that story.
Plus, new testimony in the Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard trial poses new questions, what expert witnesses had to say. After a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:30:00]
