And let's dive into some
of the complexities of this
shortage of baby formula,

including what it will take to
alleviate it more quickly and to
fix bigger problems over time.

Our Ali Rogin been reporting
on this. And she joins me now.

Ali, you have been looking
at this for quite some time.
And you're reminding us

that there's a bigger context
here. So remind us about the.

ALI ROGIN: That's exactly right.

Across the industry, people
have been telling me today that
the measures the White House

introduced, they can't hurt,
but they're not really things
that are going to address

the core issues here. A
lot of these companies,
they haven't had issues

obtaining those raw
materials that Brian
Deese was talking about,
materials and ingredients.

And, as he said, it's a
proactive measure. It's meant
to ensure that companies

that have ramped up
production can sustain
those levels of production
without any interruption.

The same can be said for
these flights that the
White House has introduced.

Industry representatives say
that this isn't a chief driver
of the crisis. But, again,

it can't hurt. For example,
a spokesman for Abbott
Labs today tells me that
they have already had

emergency airlifts of their
product from an FDA-approved
facility in Ireland. But they

say that, of course,
they welcome any measures
that might be able to cut
down on transfer time.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, we
know that this issue,
Ali, has been getting a
lot more attention from

lawmakers. They have
been pressuring the
White House, urging the
White House to do more.

The FDA commissioner
today testified on the
Hill. Tell us about that.

ALI ROGIN: Yes.

What Brian Deese did
not refer to, which is
important to point out,

is that the FDA is under a lot
of scrutiny for its timeline,
how quickly it acted. There was

a whistle-blower report that
came out in October of 2021.
The FDA did not interview

that whistle-blower
until December, and
then they did not do an
inspection of that Sturgis,

Michigan, facility, that was
the nature of the whistle-blower
complaint until January.

So there are a lot of
questions about that timeline.

Commissioner Califf
was before the House
Appropriations Committee today.

He demurred on a lot of those
specifics, citing an ongoing
investigation, but that

didn't really satisfy
a lot of lawmakers,
including Appropriations
Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro.

REP. ROSA DELAURO (D-CT):
You can't hide behind
investigation. We need
answers. We need them now.

ROBERT CALIFF, Commissioner,
Food and Drug Administration:
I know we have an oversight

hearing next week. And we will
be prepared to go into much
more detail at that point.

As I have said, we could do
better than we did. And...

REP. ROSA DELAURO: You
have an oversight committee

next week. You're on
before the committee
that funds what you do.

ROBERT CALIFF: Yes.

REP. ROSA DELAURO: So,

these -- this information
is relevant to this
Subcommittee of Appropriations.

ROBERT CALIFF: Well, I
appreciate what you're
saying, but it's -- the
investigation is not

completed yet. And so
I'm not in a position to
answer specifics like that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Ali, what are
seen to be then -- beyond what

the administration is
doing, what are seen to be
the chief solutions here?

ALI ROGIN: Yes.

To the immediate crisis,
it's all about getting
formula back on the shelves.
And the FDA announced

earlier this week that
it is working with Abbott
Labs to reopen that closed
facility in Sturgis,

Michigan. The reopening
process is going to take about
two weeks, and then it might

be an additional six to eight
weeks before we see any of
that product back on shelves.

But all of this reveals a
paradox, which is that the
two entities most responsible

for this crisis are also
the ones with the most tools

available to help get us out of
it. The House earlier this week
voted to approve an additional

$28 million in emergency
funding for the FDA to beef
up their food safety program.

And the FDA is also surging
resources to Abbott to help
it reopen this facility.

As Brian Deese noted, Abbott
and three other companies
make up 90 percent of the

American market share. And as
this crisis has revealed, these
companies are too big to fail.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And you were
telling us, Ali, there are
also seem to be longer-term

solutions that need
to be addressed, that
need to be looked at.

ALI ROGIN: Yes, this
is really forcing an
industry-wide reckoning.

Brian Deese talked about
increasing competitions.
And legislatures this
week -- legislators also

addressed a very important
part of this, which
is federal funding for
low-income infant nutrition,

which actually covers about 50
percent of all American infants.
It's a program known as WIC.

State WIC programs actually
went really quickly
in expanding access

for WIC beneficiaries state by
state. But that's because they

had existing flexibilities
because of the COVID-19
national health security crisis.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Right.

ALI ROGIN: And so
lawmakers today, the Senate
unanimously passed a bill

to make those WIC flexibilities
permanent. The House passed it

earlier this week with
nine no-votes. It now heads
to the president's desk.

Of course, the scrutiny of the
FDA is also going to continue.
Commissioner Califf, as well as

executives from three of those
four formula companies back
on the Hill next week. Judy,

they're going to be
testifying before the
House Energy and Commerce
Committee next Wednesday.

JUDY WOODRUFF: We're learning so
much about this industry, which

I think most of us
knew very little about.

ALI ROGIN: Absolutely.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Ali Rogin,
thank you very much.

ALI ROGIN: Thank you.