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Biden Voices Optimism For GOP Support On New Gun Laws; Nestle: 40 Percent Of International Shipment Going To Stores This Week; Moms Donate Breast Milk To Others Amid Baby Formula Crisis; Daily COVID-19 Cases Five Times Higher Than Last Memorial Day; Heavy Shelling In Donbas As Russia Tries To Encircle Ukrainian Troops; Russian Foreign Minister Denies Putin Is Ill; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Husband Charged With DUI. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired May 30, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Dave, I only have a few seconds left. I know you talked to Gabby Giffords about it. What did she say?

DAVE CULLEN, AUTHOR: Yes. I had a question and answer with her in "Vanity Fair," that I posted yesterday.

A couple of things. The biggest thing is to understand the difference between your enemy, or your adversary and potential negotiator. The adversary is the NRA. They are excrement that do not represent most of their membership.

Gun owners, most of them, want to do something. They say over and over that they want sensible gun safety. Those are the people we need to be collaborating with.

One of the key things is gutting the idea of "gun control." Never use that phrase again. It's "gun safety." They're huge advocates of gun safety.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CULLEN: That's something we can figure out with them. Start talking about it that way.

CAMEROTA: Dave Cullen, great to talk to you despite the circumstances. Thank you so much for the insights.

CULLEN: Thanks for having me.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Daily COVID cases in the U.S. are five times higher today than they were last Memorial Day. We'll talk about what this means for you as summer travel picks up.

CAMEROTA: And many parents remain desperate for baby formula. So one mother is taking the crisis into her own hands. That's next.

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[14:35:49]

CAMEROTA: There's some relief in sight for parents struggling with the baby formula shortage. Nestle says tens of thousands of pounds of baby formula from overseas was sent to stores this weekend.

BLACKWELL: CNN's senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is with us now.

So, do we know where the formula is going specifically?

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Victor, ultimately the formula will be going to hospitals, doctors' offices, WIC, Women, Infant and Children Programs.

We don't know exactly which ones. We don't know how they chose where it will go. And also to stores.

Let's take a look at what's happening and what will hopefully happen in the future.

Tens of thousands of pounds of formula was sent to stores this weekend. We do not have any evidence that they arrived and if they are on shelves. We are waiting for that. We have not seen that yet.

Also, the FDA has allowed an Australian company to export enough infant formula for 27.5 million eight-ounce bottles. That's a lot. That's more than the Ramstein stuff that's been done so far.

But we don't know when that will happen. They're just allowing -- they've announced that they're allowing it.

Also, half a million cans of Danan formula is expected to reach U.S. parents but in the first half of July.

You can see this is not happening right this very minute. Parents should not expect to go to stores and find a difference today, tomorrow, the next day. This will take several weeks to really play itself out.

CAMEROTA: Elizabeth, how about the stories of moms who have sharing their own breast milk with other families?

COHEN: Alisyn, these women are amazing. They heard about this crisis and they are literally giving of themselves to help others.

So let's take a look at three moms that we talked to.

So we spoke to Marie Millen, a nurse in Oregon. She's breastfeeding her 6-month-old and she's donating milk to a milk bank. In one day, she donated more than a gallon of milk. That's a lot of milk in one day.

Also, Hillary Demen (ph), a filmmaker and professor in Pittsburgh. She's mom to 1-year-old Remy (ph). She's done nursing. Hillary(ph) is done. But she is going to pump for six more months so that she can give that

breast milk to families having trouble finding formula. So she's pumping just for others, not for her own child.

Also, Cori Callahan. Cori is doing something really interesting. She's got three daughters. The youngest daughter, she stopped nursing here a year and a half ago. So Cori has not had milk for a year and a half.

So with the help of La Leche League, she is trying to bring her milk supply back so that she can pump for other families near her in Missouri.

So she is pumping every couple of hours, waking up in the middle of the night to bring her milk back. This is an incredible thing to do.

I remember when I was pumping, it is not fun. No one really enjoys it. And to be doing this for others is quite incredible.

Let's take a listen to Cori on why she decided to do this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORI CALLAHAN, MOTHER DONATING BREAST MILK: There's so many different ways that you can show love to people and what better way to help a mom feed her baby.

This is just kind of a way where I can give something to these babies and help moms out and show the love of Christ. It's kind of just the whole thing for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So what we've learned here is that these ladies and many, many other ladies are really doing their best to try to improve the situation for others -- Alisyn, Victor?

BLACKWELL: Yes, an amazing donation, and certainly some very grateful families out there receiving them.

Let's talk about COVID. There are obviously a lot of big public and some private gatherings this Memorial Day weekend. Where do the numbers stand?

COHEN: So the numbers are actually way higher than they were Memorial Day last year. You can take a look at those and see they're way higher now than they were a year ago.

And I know that seems odd because we were talking about COVID so much more a year ago, but actually the numbers are higher.

Now, the variant that's prevalent now is much less dangerous than the variant that was prevalent a year ago. It spreads quicker, but it doesn't make people as sick. So that's definitely good news.

[14:40:00]

But the numbers are increasing. There's definitely concerns about a summer surge.

BLACKWELL: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

CAMEROTA: Now to Ukraine. Russian forces surrounding Ukrainian troops in Luhansk and Donetsk. What this means for the war, next.

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[14:45:02]

CAMEROTA: In Ukraine, heavy shelling continues as Russian forces try to surround Ukrainian troops in the Donbass region.

BLACKWELL: Russia's foreign minister says "liberating the area" -- his phrasing -- is the Kremlin's top priority. And right now, Russian forces are hitting Ukrainian troops with strikes described as "maximum intensity."

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Kyiv.

Nick, tell us what's happening.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, we're seeing potentially a moment of focus and resolve from the Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces here in Ukraine that may lead them to what they might try to package as a victory.

There's such intense Russian military pressure on the town of Severodonetsk that we are now seeing Ukrainian officials admitting, yes, certainly it's surrounded, yes, it seems that Russian troops are getting toward its center.

We stood on the neighboring city's hills and looked over into that town yesterday, and saw the intense devastation, wrecked by artillery by both sides now, frankly, as they scrap it out for this city.

Why is it so important? If Russia does take it, as looks like, not inevitable but quite possible at this stage, then the neighbor across the river is also vulnerable.

If those two population centers fall, then potentially the Kremlin can say they've achieved one of their massively reduced goals during the invasion.

And that's taking Luhansk, one of the key regions in Ukraine that's got a lot of separatist activity in it. They also want to take neighboring Donetsk.

So we're seeing, for the first time, perhaps, Russia concentrate forces, reduce its goals to something smaller and possibly begin to achieve them.

It's extremely important, because we've seen the narrative so far dominated, frankly, by stories of Ukrainian resilience, resistance, weapons supplies from the West. And now we're seeing possibly Russia able to claim a victory, just not on the battlefield, too, but possibly, also, in that important information war as well -- Victor?

CAMEROTA: So, Nick, Russia's foreign minister is dismissing claims that Vladimir Putin is sick. Do we know anything about Putin's health?

PATON WALSH: In short, no. If I had to give you the simplest answer, we don't. So much happens inside the Kremlin that is secret.

We know that governments, for decades, have employed hundreds of people to read the tiniest signals and who is sitting where in Kremlin cryptography.

We simply have no evidence that Vladimir Putin is experiencing a deterioration in health. But there has been a myriad of speculation in Western media, citing anonymous sources, some of which seem incredulously so.

And it seems that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov felt forced to say publicly that he's not experiencing any ailments or sicknesses -- paraphrase here -- and he's able to do his duties every day. Essentially, dismissing this barrage of what is speculation.

There's some possibility that a man of his age, who has been isolated as long as he seems to have been because of the pandemic, may be experiencing health conditions.

And there's been a lot of speculation as to how his face has developed a puffier appearance than in the past. But no evidence at this point.

But I should say, now we're seeing the foreign minister commenting about this publicly, it certainly means the speculation has reached critical mass -- Alisyn?

BLACKWELL: All right, Nick Paton Walsh for us in Ukraine's capital city. Thank you, Nick.

One of the most famous portraits in the world is the victim of a smear campaign.

CAMEROTA: Oh, I see what you did there.

BLACKWELL: Uh-huh. Up next, new details on a vandalism stunt against the Mona Lisa.

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CAMEROTA: Oh, and here are some live pictures of the National Memorial Day parade in the nation's capital. It looks like a beautiful day for it. There's marching bands, floats, classic cars.

They're all making their way down Constitution Avenue. This year's grand marshal is Tuskegee airman, James Harvey III. Everyone looks like they're having a grand time.

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[14:48:58]

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[14:53:48]

BLACKWELL: Paul Pelosi, the husband of speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence over the weekend.

CAMEROTA: Authorities say it happened Saturday in California's Napa Valley. The speaker was not with him.

CNN congressional correspondent, Lauren Fox, has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor and Alisyn, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, who's 82 years old, was arrested on Saturday for driving under the influence of alcohol.

This incident transpired in northern California. He was driving his Porsche, and according to the police documents, crossed into State Road 29 in Napa County.

Now, he was struck -- his vehicle was struck by a Jeep who was traveling. No one was injured in that accident.

But around 11:45 p.m., he's arrested and taken into custody for driving under the influence of alcohol. He's then released around 5:00 in the morning on Sunday.

Now, I reached out to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office to get a comment yesterday. They said that they will not be commenting further on what they view as a private incident.

But they did clarify that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was not in the vehicle. She was actually on the east coast because she gave the commencement address yesterday at Brown University.

[14:55:04]

Now, this incident is going to be further investigated by Napa County officials.

But again, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi not in that vehicle because she was actually on the east coast -- Victor and Alisyn?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: OK, Lauren Fox, thank you.

BLACKWELL: A man smeared cake frosting across the world-famous Mona Lisa.

CAMEROTA: This happened in front of scores of visitors at the Louvre in Paris. Museum officials say the man posed as a disabled person in a wheelchair in order to get close to the painting.

He then pulled a cake out of his bag and smashed it onto a glass shield that protects the painting. He was arrested and taken by police to a psychiatric ward.

Bystanders tweeted they heard him shouting in French, quote, "Think of planet earth. There are people destroying it," end quote.

This was as he was being escorted away. There was no damage to the painting.

BLACKWELL: Yes, but the cake was ruined.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: Which is problematic.

CAMEROTA: Thank you for the headline. Why didn't I see that headline?

BLACKWELL: Why do this to the cake?

All right, the Mona Lisa was vandalized in an acid attack back in the 1950s. That's why it has the bullet-proof glass shield that you saw there today.

CAMEROTA: Meanwhile, top Senate Democrats say they are hopeful that Congress can do something to stop mass shootings. One key lawmaker says he senses a different feeling now from his colleagues. We're live on Capitol Hill with an update.

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