>> announcer: this is "nightline." tonight, empty shelves. the crippling shortage of baby formula nationwide. >> i check all of them. target, walmart, amazon, gerber. every day. just to see if it is there. but it's not. >> as some anxious parents struggle to find needed nutrition for their newborns. >> i'm living can to can with what we can find. plus, ashley judd's heartbreaking interview as she grapples with her mother's passing. >> when we're talking about mental illness, it's very important to be clear and to make the distinction between our loved one and the disease. >> the country legend leaving a legacy of love. >> i knew there would come a

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good evening. thank you for joining us. a voluntary recall of baby formula from the biggest manufacturer in the u.s. ballooning into a supply chain crisis as millions of parents nationwide have been left helpless without the formula the newborns need to survive. abc's arel reschef has the story. >> reporter: for long island mother jillian jonas every drop of formula counts. >> my supply shot up. i'm living can to can with what we can find. >> reporter: her 3 1/2-week-old daughter mckenzie relies exclusively on formula and these days the food her baby needs is hard to come by. >> i've gone to at least five to six stores. my sister in jersey is looking for us. family in queens is looking for us. and we live on long island. >> reporter: jillian's struggle is not unique. a national shortage of formula has become a crisis for families of millions of babies and infants that depend on it. shelves empty at supermarkets

and drugstores. retailers like cvs and walgreen's limiting the number customers can buy because of limited supply, sending panicked parents scrambling. >> it's kind of a mess out there. i check all of hem. target or walmart, amazon, gerber, every day just to see if it is there. but it's not. >> all of a sudden we go to buy formula, everything is gone. >> not only can we not find it but when we do find it there's always a 20% markup on it. >> reporter: ongoing shortages from supply chain issues were exacerbated in february after formula manufacturer abbott voluntarily recalled three popular brands of a powdered infant version. this due to reports that four infants developed severe illness. two of them died. >> this shortage really represents a trifecta of increased demand on formula, a glaring issue with our supply chain and the reliance on three companies to make 90% of infant formulas, and one factory being shut down because of a virus.

>> reporter: abbott is the largest manufacturer of infant formula in the u.s., making similac, elementum, and elecare. since the recall roughly 40% of formula brands are out of stock nationwide. abbott saying in a statement today, "since the recall one of our priorities has been to mitigate the supply issues. we know that the recall has worsened the industrywide infant formula shortage and we have been working to get as much product into the hands of parents as we can." the company also saying it's waiting for the fda to give them the go-ahead to start manufacturing again. then getting formula back on shelves, which could take six to eight weeks. but the fda is still investigating safety conditions at the troubled facility. >> good afternoon, folks. >> reporter: for the second day in a row the president pressed about efforts to replenish the nation's supply. >> there's nothing more urgent. we're working on than that right now. and i think we're going to be making some significant progress very shortly.

>> reporter: the dire situation, especially affecting babies with specific medical needs. >> there's not a lot of flexibility in terms of finding something else that these babies can eat safely. so when you take a huge portion of the specialty formulas off the market you leave these babies who are most vulnerable already in a really tricky spot. >> reporter: some parents already turning to another alternative, donor breast milk banks, hoping this option is more reliable. >> if you're not sure about what a donor milk bank does, you can think about it like a blood bank. just like you can donate your blood, you can donate your extra breast milk and babies who are in need can receive that milk. >> reporter: lindsay croft, executive director of the human milk bank association, says they've seen a nearly 20% increase in demand. >> what we're hearing from our members across the country is that the phones are ringing and parents are stressed trying to find the best possible solution. >> donor breast milk is a popular alternative. for a lot of families out there. parents just want to make sure

they're getting their donor breast mill frk a reputable source such as a certified donor breast milk bank. these banks are going to make sure that the milk is screened for any potential drugs, infections and just make sure it's safe. >> reporter: more commonly, others are turning to social media forums and facebook groups to buy from parents who have a little extra. >> i even went as far as traveling outside of my city to try to find it. and i still couldn't locate it. >> reporter: first-time mom aleya gainds finding formula for seven-month-old cairo through her local killeen, texas facebook group. >> when i was pregnant, people had given me boxes, like gift set boxes with formula in them. but i produced enough milk for my baby and i really didn't have any use for it. >> reporter: nadette branch offering the same formula aleya's son needed. >> i was like let's see if someone could have a good use for it. >> i quickly commented and was like can i please get this

formula? she was like yes, of course. i just was so ecstatic. >> reporter: in long island jillian has family across the tri-state area fanned out to help her find formula to no avail. she says a fellow mom she found on facebook was able to provide her with the special formula her baby takes during the eight needings a day. >> that mom who donated the formula to my daughter, i spent 45 minutes driving one direction to pick it up. i'm fortunate in that i had to go 45 minutes in one direction. but then that was an hour and a half round trip. but then last night i was back at it looking for it. and i was on the phone with the pediatrician this morning seeing what our next steps could be. and you know, she's like you just have to look. >> there's a lot of stress. it's already stressful enough having a baby, especially during a pandemic. and this is creating an additional layer of stress and an additional layer of expense for families. so many families are having to drive even with the increased

gas prices. >> reporter: and while some parents with fewer options may feel the squeeze to stretch the little formula they do have, pediatricians warn not to give in to this urge. >> it is not recommended for anyone out there to make a home formula, and especially not to dilute formula. this can be absolutely dangerous for young babies and you may not be matching the nutritional content that babies need. we've actually seen children hospitalized because of homemade formula or diluted formula. >> reporter: with parental anxiety rising the white house stepping up its efforts to help, giving families that rely on government assistance more flexibility to purchase any brands available. taking steps to import more formula and cracking down on price gouging p. president biden asked why he didn't take steps sooner. >> if we'd been better mind readers, i guess we could have. but we moved as quickly as the problem became apparent to us. >> reporter: the fda insists the supply of formula in the country is stabilizing but it could still take weeks before the shelves are full again. that's providing little comfort

to parents like jillian whose babies need food now. >> it's our last can, the only can we've had. and after that we don't know what our options will be. >> it's all i've been thinking about. >> our thanks to ariel. up next, country legend naomi judd's life in the words of one of her devoted daughters. did you know there are surfaces in your home that look clean but a closer look shows there are often layers of invisible dirt left behind. try mr. clean magic eraser for a deep down hygienic clean. magic eraser removes the messes you can see as well as more of the dirt and grime you don't. all you do is wet, squeeze and start erasing dirt and grime all around the house and try magic eraser sheets for a deep clean in hard to reach places that you can toss when your done. mr. clean magic eraser. for a deep down hygienic clean all around the house. before treating your chronic migraine— 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more you're not the only one with questions about botox®.

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the passing of country music singer naomi judd has been felt by millions of her fans, but none feel that grief deeper than

her daughters, ashley and wynonna. abc's diane sawyer sat down with ashley at the family's home in leaper's fork, tennessee. >> reporter: it's so beautiful in the hills of tennessee where the amazing judd family has lived in separate houses but minutes apart. and through the years they've spoken publicly about their challenging family life. with a mother who ssnut fille with dreams and drive. as we arrived, ashley waited at the door. >> good morning. >> reporter: her grief shared by her sister and the stepfather they call pop. the kind of grief where the darkest heartbreak is framed by the brightest light. >> it's so beautiful. >> reporter: as someone said, the size of the loss is the size of the love. >> hmm. >> reporter: and that can be infinite. >> and you know, i appreciate so deeply and really want to start by thanking everyone for their

outpouring of love and condolences. and that my sister and i, we have a depth of gratitude. we're very -- we also want to address, diane, why we're doing this. and i say as i'm here as an individual sitting with you by myself, but both sister and pop have sort of deputized me in certain ways to speak on behalf of the family at this early time, before things about the 30th of april become public without our control. you know, whether it's the autopsy or the exact manner of her death. and so that's really the impetus for this timing. otherwise, it's obviously way too soon. and so that's important for us to say up front. >> reporter: where do you want to begin? >> there are many places to

begin. i think that i would start with my mother knew that she was seen and she was heard in her anguish and that she was walked home. she was walked home. and that there's -- when we're talking about mental illness, it's very important to be clear and to make the distinction between our loved one and the disease. it's very real. and it is enough to -- it lies. it's savage. and you know, my mother, our mother couldn't hang on until she was inducted into the hall of fame by her peers. i mean, that is the level of

catastrophe of what was going on inside of her because the barrier between the regard in which they held her couldn't penetrate into her heart. and the lie that the disease told her was so convincing. >> reporter: and it's the lie that you are not -- >> that you're not enough, that you're not loved, that you're not worthy. and i mean, her brain hurt. it physically hurt. and i'm tasked with an exceedingly difficult task in disclosing the manner of the way my mother chose not to continue to live. and i've thought about this so much because once i say it

cannot be unsaid. and so because we don't want it to be a part of the gossip economy i will share with you that she used a weapon. my mother used a firearm. so that's the piece of information that we are very uncomfortable sharing but understand that we're in a position that, you know, if we don't say it someone else is going to. >> reporter: it was a day like another day. >> it was a mixed day. so i was at the house visiting as i do every day. and mom said will you stay with me? and i said of course i will.

>> reporter: ashley went outside to bring in a comforting person who had arrived. when she came back -- know that the friend was there, and i discovered her. i have both grief and trauma from discovering her. >> reporter: she prays that everyone will honor the rest of the details as private. >> my mother is entitled to her dignity and her privacy. and so there are some things that we would just like to retain as a family. and so i want to be very careful when we talk about this today that for anyone who is having those ideas or those impulses, you know, to talk to someone, to share, to be open, to be vulnerable. there is a national suicide hotline. >> reporter: you're walking with your heart in your hand every day, worried? >> i really accepted the love my mother was capable of giving me

because i knew she was fragile. so when i walked around the back of their house and came in the kitchen door and she said, "there's my darling, there's my baby," and she lit up, i savored those moments. and every time we hugged and she drank me in, i was very present for those tactile experiences because i knew there would come a time when she would be gone, whether it was sooner or whether it was later. whether it was by the disease or another cause. >> reporter: but when the music was playing, naomi judd said that going on stage was like getting to fly. ♪ don't you want to be there by my side ♪ >> mom was a brilliant conversationalist. she was a star. she was an underrated songwriter. and she was someone who suffered from mental illness. you know, and had a lot of trouble getting off the sofa. except to go into town every day to the cheesecake factory, where

all the staff knew and loved her. and i know everything about them because she told me everything about them. dwayne at walgreen's, you know, who needs to get a dog. that's the way she was. and she always had $100 bills stuffed in her bra and she was passing them out to the janitorial staff. just an unfailingly kind, sensitive woman. she was very isolated in many ways because of the disease. and yet there were a lot of people who showed up for her over the years, not just me. >> reporter: including her sister wynonna, who sent a letter to share with us. >> so this is from sister. we talked a lot about doing this together, and what she shared is just so her. "i'm thinking a lot about you today. i love you," four exclamation points. "i've been looking at photos of us when we were little. laugh out loud. good lord," in capitals.

"you were such a cutie pie. i laugh and i cry and i thank god we have each other. i need to take some time to process, and i need this time to myself. i'm not ready yet to speak publicly about what happened. so i know you understand why i'm not there today. we will do this piece differently. we have each other, and i'm grateful we're connected as we walk together through this storm. i just can't" -- "i just can't believe she's gone. i'm here. this will take time. i love you, dear sister. i'm proud of you. and i'm here whenever you need me." >> our thanks to diane. if you're struggling with thoughts of suicide or are worried about a friend or loved one, help is available.

you are not alone. call the national suicide prevention lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. that number again, 1-800-273-8255. there will be a public memorial for naomi judd this sunday at the legendary ryman auditorium in nashville. up next, the royal horse race that the queen just couldn't miss. my a1c stayed here, it needed to be here. ruby's a1c is down with rybelsus®. my a1c wasn't at goal, now i'm down with rybelsus®. mom's a1c is down with rybelsus®. (♪ ♪) in a clinical study, once-daily rybelsus® significantly lowered a1c better than a leading branded pill. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away

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england's annual royal horse show today. [ applause ] with an appearance from queen elizabeth herself. the 96-year-old monarch, who's appeared at the event every single year since the show originated in 1943. sporting a wide smile from the stands, her pony winning the trophy to boot. that's "nightline" for this evening. you can catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time next week. thanks for the company, america. have a good and safe weekend. ♪ dude, great ride! right? this silverado keeps me connected and in control. and this touchscreen is my command center. ♪ ♪ my command center... the 2022 silverado lt. find new control. find new roads. very well-qualified buyers can get 1.9% financing on all