Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Massive Explosion Cripples Bridge Linking Russia To Annexed Crimea; South Korea Says North Korea Fired Two Short-Range Ballistic Missiles; New Accusation Lobs Against Herschel Walker; Undaunted By DeSantis, Immigrant Workers Are Heading To Florida To Help With Hurricane Cleanup; Justice Department Insists Trump Return All Classified Documents; Uvalde School District Suspends Its Entire Police Department After Massacre. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 08, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:08]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

Right now we are following developments overseas. North Korea has just fired two short-range ballistic missiles. It is their 25th missile launch just this year. We'll have a live report on that in just a moment.

But first, Russia's war effort in Ukraine today taking a major blow literally. This is the moment part of the Kerch Strait Bridge, a symbol of Russia's power, blows up. It's the second, or excuse me, the longest bridge in Europe connecting the Russian mainland to annexed Crimea and it's used extensively to resupply Russian forces. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a government commission into the explosion and Ukraine is not directly claiming responsibility.

But the fire has hardly extinguished by the time Ukraine began trolling Russia. The Ukrainian government's official Twitter account tweeting out this message, "Sick burn." The bridge was prominently featured in a Russian rom-com. Now Ukraine is giving it their own Hollywood treatment. Ukraine announced new stamps with figures resembling Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in their famous pose in "Titanic," but instead they're standing on the broken Kerch bridge.

Ukraine also considers this explosion a birthday gift for Vladimir Putin who turns 70 on Friday. To commemorate, they tweeted out a video of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe famously singing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy in 1962.

(MUSIC)

ACOSTA: Wow. Talk about sending a message. All right. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is following the latest on this from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Fred, how are the Russians and the Ukrainians reacting? I mean, I think we have some sense of it, but tell us more. FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well,

they're essentially blaming each other. It was quite interesting. There's a senior adviser to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he was indicating that possibly this could all be the result of some sort of infighting by Russian security services. Again there's really not much evidence to back all that up. And certainly the Russians doing things in the other direction, pointing the finger of blame squarely at the Ukrainians.

There was a senior official from the Crimea region who said this was Ukrainian vandals, as he put it. But that was by far not the only senior Russian official. Also some figures in Moscow as well saying that this was all due to the Ukrainians.

It is absolutely unclear at this point in time, Jim, who exactly is behind this. But certainly you're absolutely right. This is a massive blow to Vladimir Putin's war effort. You look at some of those videos, you can see just how big that explosion was. It happened in the early morning hours of today when it was still dark out. And essentially what the Russian investigative committee is saying, they say that they believe a truck blew up and then due to that explosion, there was a train also on the train tracks next to the automobile tracks that that train also essentially blew up several cars of that.

It was carrying fuel and that led to that massive explosion. Part of the automobile part of the bridge collapsed. And so therefore right now very difficult for any traffic to get through. The Russians are saying they've reopened part of the bridge, but it's really only a trickle of what would normally come through that bridge. It's actually now making it. They also say that one train has managed to pass the bridge as well.

But of course normally it would be a lot more. And the Russians do use that bridge very extensively, Jim, to bring military equipment to the front lines. First of all to Crimea and then to the front lines. And we're attacking about a time, Jim, right now when the Russians are struggling in the south of Ukraine anyway. The Ukrainians have been making massive gains in the south. And the Russians are having serious problems with logistics. So certainly this is something that is set to exacerbate that.

And as you can imagine, it's a big problem for the Russians. It's a symbolic defeat for the Russians, symbolic blow to the Russians but certainly very much also a strategic one to their logistics as well -- Jim.

ACOSTA: And what is the -- I mean, what's the reaction do you think among the Ukrainian people? Have you spoken to any at this point or picked up on any indications as to where their mindset is? Are they excited about this? I mean, this is striking a major blow at Vladimir Putin.

PLEITGEN: Yes. You know what, one of the things that we have to keep in mind is that the Kerch Bridge, the Crimean Bridge was always considered by many Ukrainians to be a slap in the face of Ukraine. It was something that serves almost cemented the annexation of Crimea, the occupation of Crimea. Of course the Ukrainians very much saying that Crimea is theirs and that they want to take Crimea back.

[15:05:03]

But that bridge certainly was a symbol to many of them and really a slap in the face considered by many Ukrainians. And so therefore there were a lot of Ukrainians today who celebrated all this on social media, but also only hours after the explosion took place the postal service of Ukraine put that stamp out commemorating the explosion of the Kerch Bridge. And I can tell you here in Kyiv, there were a lot of people who there was a giant stamp displayed in front of the main post office and there were a lot of people taking selfies in front of that giant stamp as well.

And obviously many of them saying that, you know, that they're quite happy that this bridge has at the very least been hit. It certainly is something where people believed it could be a target of the Ukrainians but very few people believe that this is something that the Ukrainians could pull off. Again of course we have to say not clear who was behind all this at this point in time -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. Very quick work on the stamp actually there in Ukraine despite everything that's going on.

Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much.

Joining me now is longtime Putin critic and former Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, he's also the chairman of the Human Rights Foundation and Renew Democracy Initiative.

Garry, I suppose the "Titanic" comparison may be apt in all of this. They once said the Titanic would never sink. There appears to be some psychological warfare going on here.

GARRY KASPAROV, CHAIRMAN, HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION AND RENEW DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE: Yes. It's both psychological and a huge material damage as just was told by your correspondent from Kyiv. There is a celebration in Ukraine because it will make Russian war efforts in the south of Ukraine much more difficult. And also I'm watching now the report from occupied Crimea. Some video, telegram channels report panic. People are trying to buy food. They're trying to buy fuel.

Many Russian tourists is stuck there. So it adds on top of the logistical challenges. It's psychological which is panic and naturally it creates even more problems for Russian war efforts. And also I think it's important to point out that the explosion took place in the Ukrainian territorial waters. It's on the side of the bridge that is on the Ukrainian side of the strait. And also it's early morning. And for me it's a big difference because Putin's army is shelling Ukrainian cities also in the morning hours, but attacking civilian infrastructure, trying to maximize damage for civilians.

This attack took place at dawn. It was dark. And according to videos that we could see, there were also no cars there. So naturally those who conducted this operation tried to minimize casualties. And that's -- again that's another indication that the Ukrainians probably the most likely somehow prepared the operation and they didn't want to add more casualties among innocent civilians.

ACOSTA: Well, at the same time making, you know, a very big symbolic gesture here in going after this, I mean, this huge piece of infrastructure that Putin took a lot of pride in.

You know, even before this, Garry, there were already fears that Putin might use nuclear weapons. President Biden saying that the risk of nuclear Armageddon is the highest it's been since the Cuban missile crisis. The diplomatic community has said to have been working pretty hard to find Putin an off-ramp but I guess it's hard to find an off- ramp these days when bridges are being blown up.

KASPAROV: You know, I think it's wrong logic. It's not about bridges. It's about occupation of Ukraine, it's about genocidal war, and I don't understand how we can talk about off-ramp for a war criminal. There's only one way to end this war is to liberate Ukraine. Crimea included. Before it happens, I don't think any talks about restoration of relation between Russia and Ukraine could be possible.

And as for Putin's blackmail, threatening to use nukes, so what can we do? If you give in now, then he'll use the same blackmail against NATO countries. And also I have great doubt that Russian generals or admirals have any appetite to die because they all know that there is a very big chance that American Tomahawks will fly back in a few minutes.

And as long as America demonstrates its resolve to exterminate any military installation that will be responsible for a nuclear attack, was out widely using nuclear conventional weapons more than enough, I can bet you that Russian admirals and generals will never push the button.

ACOSTA: Interesting. And we're starting to see -- I mean, on that note, we're starting to see some serious dissent among Russians to the war. The Russian appointed deputy leader of Kherson even going so far as saying to the defense minister, a close ally of Putin, that he should kill himself. Let's listen.

[15:10:12]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIRILL STREMOUSOV, RUSSIAN-APPOINTED DEPUTY LEADER IN KHERSON (through translator): It's true. Many are saying that if they were the minister of defense who is responsible for this debacle, they would simply blow their own brains out just as a true officer should. But, you know, the notion of a true officer is a foreign concept for many.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And a top Russian state TV spin doctor making it clear he doesn't understand what's happening either. Let's watch this as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR SOLOVIEV, RUSSIAN TV HOST (through translator): There's a lot of fishy stuff going on. The fall campaign so far, to put it mildly, has not gone so well for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: How remarkable is it to see this kind of dissent or at least public questioning of Putin and what is going on right now in the war in Ukraine?

KASPAROV: It's a very simple explanation. Unlike Tucker Carlson, the Russian official TV recognizes they're losing the war. And all these complaints is trying to find a scapegoat. Of course nobody can ask Putin, so they look for military, they look for local commanders that made the mistakes. But at the end of the day there is only one conclusion. The war is going in the wrong direction for Putin's Russia and in the right direction for Ukraine.

Ukraine is winning. And hopefully they will receive enough weapons to finish off Putin's armies before next spring.

ACOSTA: All right. Garry Kasparov, making the point that there are some in Russia more grounded in reality than some of the commentators over here.

Garry Kasparov, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it.

KASPAROV: Thank you for inviting me.

ACOSTA: And now to the developing story we are following out of North Korea. South Korea confirming North Korea has just fired two short- range ballistic missiles.

CNN's Will Ripley joins me now. Will, what more do we know?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Jim, this is just really something. You remember the fire and fury days with former President Trump back in 2017. Even then the pace was not what we're seeing this year. Now of course as the world are on what's happening in Russia and Ukraine, and so Kim Jong-un is just, you know, he's fired seven missalettes, seven missiles tests just in the last two weeks.

He fired two missiles we've learned, you know, just in the last couple of hours or so. I got some new info on the, you know, kind of the timing and everything of them. First one was around 1:47 a.m. Japan local time, 12:47 Eastern. Second one 1:53 a.m. or 12:53 Eastern so, you know, five minutes apart. Both of them traveled around 220 miles or so and hit a maximum altitude of 62 miles. So it seems like these are probably, you know, the shorter range type. They didn't fly over Japan, unlike that very highly provocative launch earlier in the week that got the world's attention.

But of course, Jim, we know that there are even more provocative tests potentially to come in terms of, you know, a nuclear test, which is believed to be, you know, ready pretty much at any time. And this aggressive acceleration of North Korean weapons testing is really ratcheting up tensions around here. And it's also -- what we're seeing is this, you know, for the first time in five years, trilateral anti- submarine exercises between the U.S., Japan and South Korea. Then U.S. and South Korea engaging in precision bombing drills.

So every time that North Korea is doing a test, there's now this military show of force on the U.S. and South Korean side, which make -- you know, gives the feeling at least like tensions are really, really ratcheting up here. Even though a lot of analysts still believe that probably the bigger hot spot that we need to, you know, focus on in the immediate future is not so much North Korea but what's happening with China and Taiwan.

But that said, North Korea is managing to get a lot of attention just days before this crucial communist party gathering in Beijing where one would think that they probably would stop, Jim, the testing during Xi Jinping's big moment when he gets his third presidential term because China is, for the moment anyway, you know, vetoing any significant punishment or sanctions against North Korea, and kind of staying silent on this whole thing because they are working along with Russia and frankly North Korea as well, you know, this authoritarian alliance that seems to be ironclad no matter what the other one wants to do.

ACOSTA: All right. Will Ripley, thanks for keeping an eye on things so early in the morning over there in that part of the world. We appreciate it. We'll keep an eye on this as well.

Coming up, he has advocated for a nationwide ban on abortion without exceptions for rape or incest. But now a new report about Georgia's Senate candidate Herschel Walker says he not only paid for a woman's abortion, he also urged her to terminate her second pregnancy as well. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:54]

ACOSTA: The controversies keep piling up for Georgia's Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker. The "New York Times" is now reporting that an ex-girlfriend who said Walker paid for her abortion back in 2009 also says that two years after that Walker urged her to terminate yet a second pregnancy. According to the "Times" the relationship ended when she refused and she had a son who is now 10 years old.

Important to note, CNN has not independently confirmed the "Times" reporting and has not heard back from Herschel Walker's campaign for comment. Of course he is welcome on this program at any time. The Senate nominee has been struggling to defuse allegations around this story for days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERSCHEL WALKER (R), GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: I never asked anyone to get an abortion. I never paid for an abortion. And it's a lie. It's sort of like everyone is anonymous and everyone is leaking and they want you to confess to something you have no clue about.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you reached out to any of the mothers of your children? WALKER: No.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why not?

WALKER: Why do I need to? When I said no, I said it's not correct. That's a lie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Let's bring in our CNN political commentators, former Clinton White House press secretary Joe Lockhart, and Republican strategist Alice Stewart.

[15:20:02]

Alice, you've advised a lot of Republican candidates for a while now. How much political trouble is Herschel Walker in right now? And I know you care a lot about this issue, this issue of abortion. Should the anti-abortion movement disavow Herschel Walker?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, the allegations are not good. They are extremely troubling and we continue to hear more and more. I have talked with people that have asked Herschel point black many, many, many times about this. He continues to say that he did not pay for this woman's abortion and had no knowledge of this. That being said, if all of this is true, it's extremely concerning.

And the key here is the hypocrisy of someone if he were to do this to turn around and support an all-out abortion ban across the board. But the pro-life community and the people that appreciate the sanctity of life and social evangelicals, they are relying on the fact that Herschel Walker is vowing to go to Washington, D.C. and advocate for pro-life policies and advocate for conservative principles. They are willing to look past what are transgressions in the past, many years ago, in exchange for what he has promised that he will do when he gets to Washington, D.C.

The NRSC, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, they are all in. This week we're going to have Senator Rick Scott and Senator Tom Cotton go to Georgia and campaign for him. And he will also have the big debate on Friday night. More senators will be going to Georgia.

Look, Georgia is my home state. I'm a Georgia bulldog. And this is something I've talked with a lot of folks there. They are troubled and concerned. But Republicans there look at this as the alternative is much worse. Having Raphael Warnock, a rubber stamp for Biden's policies, back in office, they just don't want that.

ACOSTA: Joe, what do you think?

JOE LOCKHART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think this is in some ways the definition of political irony. There isn't a progressive in the country who thinks Herschel Walker did anything wrong. But what he's done here is underlying the point they've been making all along. That there's going to be a two-part system. People who can't afford abortions, who can't afford to go someplace for an abortion, who have to -- who deny the abortion. And then the elite people, the special people, the people who have money or power or fame who can do it.

Alice is right. This is the definition of hypocrisy. And I think -- I'm glad she brought up the evangelicals. This really encapsules what's so hard to figure out about the midterms because we don't know who is going to turn out. This will once again fire up women around the country to get out to the polls.

Evangelicals, I think the numbers, I think she's right, they will never vote for Warnock. But if you look back at 2000, which is I think the thing I'll to compare it to, you know, Karl Rove famously said Bush's drunk driving conviction that came out just before the election had four million of their voters stay home. Most of them evangelicals. So the question is, while they won't flip over, the question is whether they'll just stay home? Whether this to them is troubling enough that they just can't cast a vote for Herschel Walker.

ACOSTA: And Alice, I mean, you were just mentioning this a few minutes ago because this latest story, Republicans were standing by Herschel Walker, Senator Rick Scott saying Democrats know they are on the verge of losing the Senate. They know that Herschel Walker is winning. So they have cranked up the smear machine.

Alice, you know, we've got, what, three weeks until the midterms? I mean, isn't there the potential that other shoes will drop?

STEWART: There's always that potential.

ACOSTA: Other baby shoes will drop?

STEWART: Exactly. And there's the potential that something could come out on Raphael Warnock. Of course we can't ignore the fact that there were some allegations made against Raphael Warnock concerning his wife, but again --

ACOSTA: Why hasn't Herschel Walker put out any, you know, anything to say this is not true other than just --

STEWART: He's answered this question many times.

ACOSTA: He's answered the question.

STEWART: And they also plan to really forcefully refute all of this at the debate on Friday. Look, the senatorial committee is all in. They've already put $12 million in the state of Georgia. That's a huge investment. And right now they're looking at recent polls at split. It is tied race right now. 45 apiece. They are going to have some more internal polling out in the field this week. And that will give them a better indication of how to progress moving forward.

But, you know, again, there's not much time left. But we're going to see more senators out there putting this more as a reflection of Democrats' desperation in a state that they really want to win and using this as a smear campaign against Herschel Walker just for the sake of winning a seat.

ACOSTA: No, I mean, all politicians, Joe, are desperate to win. Nobody wants to lose. I have to ask you this. As somebody who is a professional political practitioner, if you're Raphael Warnock's campaign, do you bring this up in their debate that's coming up? How do you bring it up?

[15:25:09]

LOCKHART: Well, I mean, the old adage is if someone is hanging himself, don't give them any more rope. They can do it themselves. So I'd stay out of it. I think the media will drive this. But I think the more interesting thing beyond Georgia is this is going to happen again and again. We just know this. We know that it's going to come out all around the country that politicians, members of Congress all over the place, people who are now promoting and supporting an inclusive ban on abortion have actually participated in one themselves.

So I think the Republicans have set themselves up for a problem on hypocrisy writ large and we're just going to see how this plays out. I don't think we've heard the end of this in Georgia. I think we're going to see this around the country.

STEWART: Just one to follow up on that point with regard to people mulling over his position on abortion, whether private versus politically. People in Georgia are also looking at other issues that are really important to them. And Joe, you know full well that the economy is a huge issue for voters. And many are looking at what he's planning to do outside of the abortion issue in terms of his plans that he's has put out with regard to the economy and our safety and security as well as pursuing the American dream.

And they're going to look at those types of policies in contrast to what Raphael Warnock has put forth. And that's going to be more of a motivating factor for a lot of Republicans.

ACOSTA: And Alice, I mean -- go ahead, Joe.

LOCKHART: I mean, and I don't have to sit here and defend. I don't have to defend Raphael Warnock here. But I don't think -- I think Alice is right that evangelicals are not going to come out in droves for Warnock now on this. The real question is, will they actually come out? Who is more motivated to vote? That's what's going to decide these very close Senate elections. And something like this I think motivates Democrats, progressive women -- and women more that it motivates evangelicals.

I think they look at this and they wonder, you know, are these people true believers? And, you know, while for evangelicals, they have become transactional when it comes to getting the abortion bans, but they have them now. And the question is will they just look past this like they did with Trump, you know, on a variety of issues, and that's why the midterms are going to be so interesting. Because we'll get some of these answers on who this motivates more or who this suppresses more.

ACOSTA: And Alice, I don't know if you saw this but there was this incredible moment where anti-abortion Republican Congressman John Curtis, who is up for re-election in Utah, made an admission that even stunned his Democratic opponent. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN CURTIS (R-UT): I get it. If you're a woman, it stinks. But most of these legislatures are men. Most of these decisions are made by men. I wish it were -- other than that, I wish as a man I didn't have to make this decision. I wish women could make this decision. And that being said, it falls on state legislatures to thoughtfully decide in their state what they want to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: What do you think about that, Alice? I mean, if it stinks for women, why would they vote for it?

STEWART: Well, I think you have to applaud him for recognizing what a lot of women say, like why are we allowing men to decide decisions that are a woman's decision to make. And look, the key here is all the more reason why this should not have been in the hands of the Supreme Court. It should be in the hand of elected officials at the state level, which is where it is now. And those people, while many of them are men, they are listening to their constituents.

And more than half of the voters are women, and if they are telling them this is what they want, whether it is pro-choice or pro-life they're going to enact legislation that is reflective of the people. So I guess my takeaway from that is, let's nominate and elect more women into public service so women can be the ones making legislation pertaining to the abortion issue.

ACOSTA: All right. All right. Alice Stewart, Joe Lockhart, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Coming up next, why migrants bussed out of Texas are making their way to another the state of Florida. The governor there says migrants are not welcomed but their hard work is deeply appreciated now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams has declared a state of emergency to respond to the influx of migrants into his city. This comes as Texas Governor Greg Abbott has sent thousands of migrants to Democratic-led cities. And Mayor Adams says more than 17,000 migrants have been bused to New York since April. And CNN's Polo Sandoval joins me now from New York. Polo, there seems to be no sign that this is going to let up either. What is the state of emergency declaration going to allow the city to do?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the mayor hopes, Jim, they'll at least begin to free up more resources as the city's struggles to try to keep up with the demand to house this growing number of migrants that continue arriving here in New York City. You mentioned at least 17,000, that number likely even closer to 18,000 by now.

And the city really caught me -- the city really calling on the federal government to step in and assist in at least two ways, the mayor said, with funding and also with expedited work authorization for many of these migrants that are basically left to just sit idly by waiting for their job for the applications for work authorizations to clear a massive backlog. And as we saw firsthand, many of those recently arrived migrants here in New York are instead pursue work opportunities in hard hit Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[15:35:04]

SAKET SONI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, RESILIENCE FORCE: There's going to be far more work than workers here for two, maybe three, maybe four years.

SANDOVAL: All you have to do is walk down these streets.

SONI: All you have to do is walk down these streets and look at it.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Saket Soni leads Resilience Force, a national nonprofit advocating for workers who descend on disaster stricken communities, helping fill demand for essential cleanup and recovery jobs.

SONI: Yes, they're earning money and sending it home to their families. But the cost of doing this work is enormous. There's costs to their health, costs to their safety.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Soni says, a significant chunk of that workforce are migrants, many, though not all, are undocumented. And that's the irony here.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We are not a sanctuary state.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): In the wake of Hurricane Ian, migrants are flocking to Florida just weeks after its governor flew wheeling asylum seekers from Texas to Martha's Vineyard in an effort to score political points.

DESANTIS: Unfortunately, there's a lot of folks that come across, where do they want to end up? A lot want to come to -- because everyone wants to come to Florida. And so we've worked on innovative ways to be able to protect the state of Florida from the impact of Biden's border policies.

SONI: Governor DeSantis needs these workers. He needs these immigrant workers. He is now presiding over a recovery. He's also aspiring to higher office and will be evaluated on how he leads this recovery. And the one thing he cannot do without is workers.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): As Hurricane Ian made its way through Florida, this group of Venezuelan men made the trip there from states where their immigration proceedings are playing out, among them Krisman (ph).

We first met the young Venezuelan father this summer, he and his family were among the thousands of migrants who found themselves on buses to New York City from Texas after making a long and treacherous two-month 10 country track. When he heard there were opportunities to earn money in the cleanup effort. He spent some of the little he has to make his way back down south.

He sends video dispatches back to New York where his family waits for his return. Just like I'm starting from zero says, Krisman (ph) many of the people here are doing the same. I came here, happy to help, says Krisman (ph). It's impossible to know exactly how many migrants like him may be working off the books as part of relief efforts in Florida.

DESANTIS: You know, I'm going to have a brief --

SANDOVAL (voice-over): DeSantis changed the subject when asked by CNN specifically about laborers like Krisman (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are Venezuelan immigrants, asylum-seekers in New York that are being reportedly recruited to come to the state of Florida and work on the hurricane recovery. I'm wondering what your response is to those reports and whether you would turn them away.

DESANTIS: So first of all, our program that we did is a voluntary relocation program.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Florida, not the first state to see this transitory migrant workforce after natural disasters, Johnny Arburto (ph) says he has offered his services throughout the country since Katrina. The Nicaraguan father, who now lives in Louisiana says he doesn't do it for the money, but to help bring relief to people. Johnny (ph) says that despite the politics at play on the ground, he's proud to be among the migrants helping Florida rebuild.

SONI: I mean, look at that house and that one, this street alone is three months of work just to get this street, this one city block back up and standings. There's enough work for immigrants and the locals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Expecting migrants not only here in New York City, but in other parts of the country to continue to take up these post hurricane cleanup gigs. I've spoken to multiple migrant advocacy groups here in New York, Jim, they are actively trying to educate the migrant population and saying that if they do decide to take up these job offers by subcontractors then they need to be careful and also know their rights, even if they're working off the books.

ACOSTA: All right, but it's great to see them lending a hand. There is so much work to be done down in Florida. Polo Sandoval, thank you very much.

[15:39:08]

Coming up, does Donald Trump still have classified documents taken from the White House? The Justice Department seems to think so. So what do they do about it? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: CNN has learned that in recent weeks, the Department of Justice has demanded Donald Trump return any outstanding documents he may still have marked as classified, making clear they do not believe he's returned all materials taken when he left the White House. CNN's Marshall Cohen joins us now to break down the latest whether the FBI rounded up all the sensitive federal records that Trump possessed has been a question that has loomed over all of this for some time now. What more do we know?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Jim, there might be more.

ACOSTA: Yes.

COHEN: That's apparently what the Justice Department believes at this time. And a source tells CNN that is what the Justice Department has communicated to Donald Trump and his team in recent weeks. It was a message delivered by a senior Justice Department counter intelligence official, basically telling the Trump lawyers that if they've got anything left at Mar-a-Lago that's marked classified, that this is the time to return it to the federal government that is their legal obligation still, to do so.

Jim, this is pretty remarkable considering the long and tortured path that we've traveled to get to this point. The history really matters. Donald Trump left office almost two years ago. He spent all year last year negotiating with the National Archives over these documents. Remember in January, he turned to over 15 boxes. In those boxes when they opened them up, they found 184 classified documents. That triggered the investigation. The FBI got involved. The DOJ got involved. They were able to get a subpoena in June.

Trump and his lawyers gave 38 documents back to the DOJ after that subpoena. The investigation continued. Prosecutors came to believe that that still wasn't all that was remaining at Mar-a-Lago. And of course, they got the search warrant in August. And when they executed that search, they took more than 100 documents. So, Jim, you can sort of see a pattern developing. It's almost like Charlie Brown in the football, sort of this cat and mouse game for these classified documents. But it seems at this point, the DOJ has come to believe that there still might be some stuff left there.

[15:45:30]

ACOSTA: Yes, in this case, the football is a trove of classified documents potentially. And martial, the battle over those documents are not the only legal case involving the former president. He's in hot water on a variety of fronts. There are also new developments in the Georgia investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. What can you tell us about that?

COHEN: This is a state level inquiry. It's been going on for almost two years now, does definitely pose some legal peril for the former president. It is being led by Fani Willis, the Democratic district attorney in Fulton County, which is Atlanta. We are approaching the next election, so this investigation is about the last election, but we are approaching the next election, the midterms.

And as we get closer to the midterms, the investigation is going to go quiet. This is a pretty common practice for prosecutors. They don't want to create the appearance of a conflict, the appearance of any attempt to politicize the probe. So the reporting is telling us that Willis is going to probably quiet things down for the next few weeks. But after the midterms as we get deeper into November, deeper into December, that could be the time for her to wrap up the grand jury and possibly if she thinks the evidence is there, look for an indictment.

ACOSTA: All right, fascinating. OK, Marshall Cohen, thanks as always, we appreciate it.

Months after a shooter killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, a long awaited move announced by that school district is -- has arrived, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:41]

ACOSTA: The Uvalde School District has suspended its entire police department months after 19 children and two teachers were gunned down inside their classrooms. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has more.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The Uvalde School Districts suspending all of its officers pulling them out of the schools in Uvalde and putting them into administrative roles. All of this of course happening after our reporting that a newly hired officer who came from the DPS, she resigned from the Department of Public Safety and was hired by the school district despite the fact that she was under investigation for her response while at the DPS to the Robb Elementary School.

The school somehow, someway hired her even though they knew they were told by the DPS that she was under investigation. Also a school administrator by the name of Ken Miller was also suspended. He retired because of that suspension. He decided that he's just going to retire. And then also Lieutenant Miguel Hernandez, he's the lieutenant. He's the commanding officer of the school police force. He also was placed on administrative leave.

And what are the standing is this lieutenant was the one who was behind vetting that officer, Officer Elizondo, the newly hired officer by the school district, and so really the school district here responding in decisive form taking all of their officers out, removing this administrator, and then also suspending this lieutenant. Of course, this is all welcome news for the families who have been fighting for justice, who've been fighting for accountability, wanting the school to take this kind of action, certainly after our report, but also since the shooting. They have not felt safe in that community with those officers and they've wanted accountability for the failures but also the failures that they believe occurred by the school district.

We're also told on one final note is that the Superintendent Hal Harrell, he plans to retire. That announcement is expected sometime possibly on Monday. So certainly a big shakeup there in Uvalde, something that the families didn't think they would get but finally some accountability for them, offering them some relief.

ACOSTA: Our thanks for Shimon for that report. Now to an incredible moment captured on camera.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call the police. I feel that guy is just stabbing his knife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: In Michigan, two frantic parents weighed down a Kelloggsville Public School's bus driver after their car was stolen with their two- year-old inside. Our affiliate WMX or XMI, I should say, reports the bus driver then called 911 and radioed to other drivers to be on the lookout. Another bus driver found the toddler near where this car was stolen.

The driver put the child in the bus and kept the boy safe. Just remarkable work here, take a look at this. Picking up the little boy bring him on the bus. Thanks to the quick action of the bus drivers, the child was safely returned to his parents, just an amazing piece of work there by those bus drivers.

This week's CNN Hero is getting hundreds of kids in Baton Rouge to pedal beyond adversity and towards a bright future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:55:06]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Inside, let's go, let's go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our kids in Southern Louisiana grew up knowing they have to be resilient from day one.

We could probably get you a whole new stem with a bar that has new grips. Is that what you would like the most? Something like that?

Our mission is to create safe spaces that empower our kids to learn about their intrinsic worth. As they learn, grow and build a bike.

I want you to take your lever and running around all the way. There you go. So now we have the insert, the tube next.

Our program is really open to any kid of any age to come learn mechanics and build it, earn it. In our space, our students get an opportunity to see themselves as creators and designers, dreamers.

Keep it up, keep it up, keep it up.

It starts to build on this thought of affirming who they are, that they are a wonderful person, that they are a person that makes the world better, that they are beautiful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)