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Stockton Police Arrest Serial Murder Suspect; Four Bodies Found In Oklahoma River Amid Search For Missing Men; New Footage Shows Congressional Response During Capitol Riots; Ukraine Counter Offensive In Kherson Is Underway; Military Families Struggles As Inflation Outpaces Pay Raises; Navy Investigation: SEAL Trainee Died Of Pneumonia During "Hell Week"; U.S. Following Reports Of Incident At Iranian Prison "With Urgency"; When Kids Might Need Anxiety Screening. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired October 15, 2022 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Comes with its challenges.

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Don't miss an all new episode of Stanley Tucci Searching for Italy, tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN. And the next hour of CNN Newsroom starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): My opponent has a problem with the truth.

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BROWN: The highly anticipated Georgia Senate debate in the books.

HERSCHEL WALKER (R), GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATEE: On abortion, you know I'm a Christian. I believe in life.

WARNOCK: I've never pretended to be a police officer.

WALKER: There's not a problem. This is real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Four bodies pulled from an Oklahoma River near an area cyclists were reported missing last week.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All four bodies were submerged in water for what appears to be an extended period of time. I do suspect foul play.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in the Kyiv region critical power infrastructure was struck by those kamikaze drones.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the same time though, we are hearing that Ukrainian forces are in fact moving forwards in the southern direction around Kherson. There's a race here to prepare new positions so they can't be seen by Russian drones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington and you are in the CNN Newsroom.

And we begin this hour with a breakthrough for police and a sigh of relief for people in Northern California, the city of Stockton. That's where officials believe a serial killer has been claiming victims since the summer at least six people and all in tonight and arrest, major breakthrough and police officials who hope they finally caught this killer.

Let's bring in CNN's Camila Bernal, along with CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem. Camila, first to you. A man is in custody. He is a local police say he was out hunting. That is their word when they caught him. What more can you tell us?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the chief of police using the words hunting and on a mission to kill. Those were the exact words that the chief of police use. So you can just see from those words how serious this is.

Now, they say they have their suspect. The person they believe is responsible for all of this. His name is Wesley Brownlee and he is 43 years old from Stockton. Police saying that they were able to arrest this man, thanks to two things, the first being the tips, the community's help. And the second being just old fashioned police work. They say thanks to the tips, they were able to zero in on one possible suspect. And they started following him trying to watch what he was doing, seeing if there were any patterns to what he was doing on his daily life.

And they say that at around two in the morning today, they were following him they saw him leaving the house. And according to the chief, it was a similar pattern, he would go to a dark place or a park, look around, stop, get back in his car continue to move.

And so they believe that this is when he was quote unquote hunting. And that's why they decided to arrest him. When they arrested him, he was wearing dark clothing. He had a mask around his neck and he had a gun. So here is how the mayor in Stockton, Kevin Lincoln is now describing all of this.

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MAYOR KEVIN LINCOLN, STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA: We will use every resource at our disposal to make sure the people of our city are protected, it feels safe, and that no parent has to worry about taking their kids to a park that nobody would have to worry about looking over their shoulder when they go to the grocery store. And that our unhoused population here in the city of Stockton will be able to rest a little bit easier tonight, as we take the next steps towards getting them help in healing in their life.

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BERNAL: Now the chief this is the man that has lived in different cities. He says that he does have a criminal record and we are waiting for charges. He's expected to appear in court on Tuesday. And that's when those charges will be announced in terms of motive. Well, we don't have one right now. We asked the chief, you know, why did this happen? And he still does not have an answer to that. Pam.

BROWN: All right. Thanks so much Camila. I want to bring in Juliette now. I mean, these are some dramatic words Juliette. Basically police saying they made this arrest when he was out hunting for his next victim on a mission to kill.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, I mean, it's exactly right. And Stockton is about 40 percent Hispanic. Most of the victims to date have been Hispanic men. We don't know if there's a racial targeting to it but just the demographics of Stockton but this was -- based on these tips I hear is a killer who's just in it for the hunt.

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So unlike most serial killers or many serial killers that many of us will remember, there's other things going on. There's a sexual assault, a hostage taking something that is specific target for the shooter. This was more like the DC sniper where someone has a gun. They're getting some sort of user criminal thrill out of the simple hunt. And they were very, very lucky to catch him before. I mean, he's late at night. He's got a gun, and he's got a mask. And he was unknown suspect. And so that's telling you, you know, chances are they have the person.

BROWN: Yes. And Camila, they have the person in large part because of the tips that came in that police credited for helping to capture him. What more can you tell us about that? And just the community wanting to help find this person?

BERNAL: Yes, this is a story we have been following for a long time now. And one of the biggest things was that video that they released, the chief of police was constantly telling people watch the video, because when you were watching the video, you would see that this man had a particular way of walking. And the chief kept pointing to that and asking people, Hey, if you see someone walking in a similar manner, just be on the lookout, be just alert and let us know.

So I think that's one of the things that led to so many tips. People really were looking and trying to figure out who this man was. A lot of people in Stockton also not going out at night, not going out alone, because those were the things that police were telling the people of Stockton to do, but it's also part of the reason why they were terrified. But thankfully, because of the tips, and because of the police work, they have arrested a person they believe is responsible for all of this.

BROWN: And if this is the person likely saved lives, Juliette, how will federal authorities be included in this case?

KAYYEM: May be if there's a federal nexus in the sense of if there's a federal hate crime, that would be the sort of the only Nexus I would see at this stage, that this will be a local jurisdiction, possibly state prosecution against the suspect at this stage.

But as we're both saying, you know, that it's not just the victims. I mean, the terror that that goes through a community like this about the randomness of it is really something that that you can't measure in any way. And so hopefully, the city will begin to open up.

I want to add one other thing. This crowdsourcing, and these investigations, we're kind of used to it now. I mean, it's really so novel and helpful. I mean, in other words, you're engaging the community, that's the victims. I think this is really important. And so you can help us. We grew up in a time when law enforcement would give nothing. And I think because of the nature of cameras, the nature of our ability to identify people's willingness to come forward if they are asked ransoms rewards, because reward was increased recently, all of those things helped to engage a community to help law enforcement because it's the community itself that's targeted. And so that's sort of where I think this is going to go right now.

BROWN: Yes, they obviously have a huge incentive. Right? Because they want to feel safe. They want to feel like they can leave their homes at night. And now, thanks to this arrest, perhaps they can again if this is -- if this is the correct person, as police say he is. Juliette Kayyem, Camila Bernal, thank you so much.

BERNAL: Thank you.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

BROWN: A grand discovery in Oklahoma last night. The bodies of four males were pulled from a river at about 35 miles south of Tulsa. This comes after four men all close friends went missing from a town nearby last Sunday after reportedly going for a bike ride.

Now police say they do not know what the bodies pulled from the river last night are the missing men. And they also say there -- they aren't sure how the men died, but they do suspect foul play.

We have new extraordinary behind the scenes video of how Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders on January 6 as they evacuated the Capitol while it was being overrun by rioters. And the new footage shows in vivid detail how the nation's senior most lawmakers transformed a nearby military base into a command center.

They frantically worked with the Vice President to quell the violence and develop contingency plans to certify the election results. I want to bring in CNN Zachary Cohen, you have been reporting on this Zachary, what stands out to you? Walk us through this.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Pam. Like you mentioned, this footage really is extraordinary because the first time we can see with our own eyes inside this secure location where they took top Congressional lawmakers after they evacuated them from the U.S. Capitol on January 6, then I think most of all, there was a moment that's captured where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on the phone with then-Vice President Mike Pence who is still hunkered down in a secure location at the U.S. Capitol.

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They're on the phone, talking about contingency plans, how are we going to vote to certify the 2020 election while rioters are bearing down on Mike Pence's location. So, take a listen to this because it really is remarkable moment.

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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: When she was here, we met him earlier.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY) MAJORITY LEADER: We will not get the Capitol cleared out for two, three days, we should do it here.

PELOSI: I appreciate that. I appreciate that. It seems like the overriding wishes to do it at the Capitol. What we are being told very directly is it's going to take days for the Capitol to be OK again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So obviously, we know now that it didn't take days for the Capitol be OK again, and lawmakers returned that night and did vote to certify the election. But a few things jumped out about that video. One is the level of genuine concern about the security situation at the Capitol during that time.

But another is the coordination across party lines. You have Mike Pence, Republican, obviously, the Vice President to then-President Donald Trump, talking with one of Donald Trump's biggest political enemies and Nancy Pelosi. And they're both working toward a common goal, right? They're looking to find a way to certify the election results, regardless of whether it happens at the Capitol or at a military base nearby.

Then third, of course, there's the absence of Donald Trump himself. And as you've mentioned previously, Trump looms large over this footage because he is the president. But he does not appear in any of these clips. And we know he didn't do a whole lot as far as stemming the violence that day, so.

BROWN: Yes. And it's Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker and the former vice president, who were there trying to figure out how do we get back to finish the peaceful transfer of power, as you said, working across party lines.

I also want to talk about the Secret Service. It is responding to allegations that they and other law enforcement agencies had advanced information about potential violence on January 6, what can you tell us? COHEN: Yes, Pam, we've obtained some new documents that include internal communications from the U.S. Secret Service. And these are among the documents that were handed over by the service to the House Select Committee investigating January 6.

And what they show is that the Secret Service along with its law enforcement partners, like the Capitol Police, and the FBI, they were really talking about these online posts, these social media right wing online posts that were talking about violent at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, and these agencies were sharing information about these posts.

But really, there was no formal intelligence assessment that says, Look, this kind of attack on the Capitol is going to happen, no agency predicted and it's really sort of a murky picture of why wasn't more done if these agencies knew that these posts were out there. And these are really detailed. Some of these posts are really detailed talking about bringing guns to the Capitol on January 6, talking about bringing extra ammunition. Why wasn't more done the lead up to that, and that is still a question the committee has for the Secret Service.

Take a listen to what Adam Schiff, a committee member said on our air just on Thursday night after the hearing.

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REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA) JANUARY 6TH COMMITTEE: We intend to bring people back in from the Secret Service. You know, some who may have testified in ways that we don't find credible now that we have obtained this documentary evidence, but other witnesses potentially that we haven't heard from as well. So we intend to follow up in that way. And of course, you know, the big witness we want to hear from is the former president himself.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, of course. I do want to get to that Congressman Allison is here with Laura, as well. But I just want to ask you one more thing about the Secret Service. What did they do about those threats? I mean, since you presented this evidence that they knew they had a heads up, they knew that there were direct and credible threats against members of Congress 10 days or more before January --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Morning and some case.

CAMEROTA: I mean, they had for days, they knew about this. And so why didn't they do anything? What should they have done? And did they lie? Did some secret service agents lie to the committee about this?

SCHIFF: Well, that's a very good question. And we're trying to determine whether people were candid with us when they testified before. We're also looking into issues which I can't go into the particulars, that there may have been efforts to obstruct are getting information about some of the incidents that we talked about in a hearing today.

So there is more to get to the bottom of in terms of why they didn't do more, to try to protect their -- those that they're meant to safeguard and guard. It's a very good question.

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COHEN: And so Pam, the Secret Service argues that telling us in a statement tonight that look they executed their core mission on January 6. They protected Vice President Mike Pence, they protected Donald Trump and the others that they're really assigned to make sure are safe.

But at the end of the day, the committee as Congressman Schiff made clear there, the committee wants to know why wasn't there more preparation? Why when the Secret Service and all of these law enforcement agencies knew that people were talking about attacking the Capitol in January 6, why wasn't there more security in place to prevent that from happening.

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BROWN: Yes, or like a wider bulletin sent that we know law enforcement agencies often do. Steal some questions for sure. And Adam Schiff says they're going to keep probing on that front. Still ahead. Thanks so much Zachary Cohen. Still ahead for you tonight on this Saturday nearly a dozen Russian recruits killed in a region near the border with Ukraine. What's behind this latest setback and Putin's war.

Plus, as inflation keeps hurting us all military families, they are being especially hard hit. So what can be done to help them.

And for the first time a key group is recommending kids even older get screening for anxiety. The major impact it could have on their mental health. Just ahead.

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BROWN: Turning now to the latest in the war in Ukraine and the conflict extending be beyond its borders.

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Russia state news agency is reporting the two gunmen have opened fire on military recruits in a training session in Russia's Belgorod region. The defense ministry is quoted as saying the gunmen are believed to be from former Soviet states. They were shot dead after reportedly killing 11 people and injuring 15 others.

Also in Belgorod today, a Russian official says a missile fire from Ukraine hidden oil depot. This week, Russia's secret service accused Ukrainian forces of increased shelling of Russian territory. And today and southern Ukraine, Russia reportedly launched missile and drone attacks on the city of Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine says at least 11 civilians have died just in the last day.

And moving even further south to the Kherson region, Russian officials say Ukrainian forces have begun to counteroffensive to recapture territory. All right, so let's bring in retired Lieutenant General Mark Hurtling he is a CNN military analyst and former commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and seventh Army General. Nice to see you.

Russia says Ukrainian forces have launched their counter offensive in the south, the Kherson region. Tell us why recapturing that area so important? It's one of the regions of course that Russia annexed quotations last month.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, if you look at the map that you have up now, Pamela, you'll see that there's a river right next to that town of Kherson, that's the Dnieper. Russian forces have gone over that river for the last couple of weeks. I've been watching this particular fight, they didn't launch the counter offensive today. It's been going on for a while.

And in fact, there's an estimated between five and 15,000 Russian forces on the western bank of that Dnieper River. If Ukraine can continue to stop the escape of those soldiers, there could be a very big capture bagging a very large Russian force. They have been executing very good operations to try and force the Russians into a beachhead, if you will, along the western bank of the Dnieper. And if they can get them, so they can't escape, there will be a very decisive battle at that site.

Kherson is important, because it is one of the provinces that has a direct connection to that province to the south of that autonomous region of Crimea. And it controls Russian logistics forces coming in and out of that autonomous region, because Russia has a military base and a couple of air base or a naval base and a couple of air bases on Crimea.

BROWN: So I'm wondering, is there more of a sense of urgency right now, given the fact that winter is coming?

HERTLING: Yes, I think it is. But there's also a sense of urgency because Ukraine has generated a momentum over the last several weeks, their forces are moving extremely well. The Russian forces are on their back feet. They're trying to get more mobilized forces into their formations. The Russians are and they have been incredibly unsuccessful in doing so.

You know, there's been a recruitment drive, if you want to call it that within Russia to get close to 200,000. Putin says that there are 16,000 new soldiers at the front. I find that hard to believe. And even if there are those are untrained forces being funneled into units that have already suffered dramatically over the last couple of nine months, and that are under the constant guns of the Ukrainian force.

BROWN: Yes, I mean, and you have Russia constantly struggling with getting supplies to its troops. I mean, the issues go on and on when it comes to what Russia is facing. Meantime, Russian President Vladimir Putin says his troop mobilization will end within two weeks. More than 220,000 Russians drafted out of the plan 300,000. What will this do? Will this give the rest of military a boost? HERTLING: I got bad news for Mr. Putin. I think his mobilization drive ended several weeks ago. They are having some real challenges getting forces to the front across the board. You just reported on the fact that there was a fratricide, a major fracture side by soldiers against other Russian soldiers in that force in that training area near Belgorod.

You know, when you have that kind of a fratricide estimated 15 soldiers killed by what is reported is two Tajiki soldiers that were in that camp, that creates some real problems within morale of the force, as if Russia didn't have enough morale problems. This is going to generate more because they don't know who to trust, and they're not getting the right kind of recruits.

Mr. Putin also said yesterday that he's made some major mistakes in terms of recruiting forces, that he's recruited married men, older men, men with health problems. Well, gee whiz, that's -- that kind of hits the big three and when you're talking about getting a lot of forces to the battlefield, I'm telling you Pam, my guess is it is not going to work out well for Mr. Putin or the Russian force.

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BROWN: General Mark Hertling, always great to have you on. Thanks so much.

HERTLING: Thanks, Pam.

BROWN: Well, you were in the CNN Newsroom on this Saturday. Inflation is affecting virtually all of us across the country but many military families they are feeling an even bigger pitch from rising prices. Journalist and former Navy SEAL Kaj Larson joins us next to explain.

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BROWN: Well, new inflation numbers show that consumer prices came in hotter than expected in September.

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The increase in the consumer price index was down slightly compared to August, but still, prices are 8.2 percent higher than they were last September. Fuel is up 18.2 percent, food 11.2 percent, and shelter 6.6 percent. Unfortunately for potential homebuyers, mortgage rates just keep climbing and are now at a 20-year-high. The average rate sits just below seven percent. They've more than doubled in the past year as the Fed pushes forward with its aggressive interest rate hikes.

Well, some Americans will get some relief though, the roughly 70 million Social Security recipients will see the largest cost of living increase in over 40 years. The average retiree will see their monthly payment rise by $146.

For more, I want to bring in Kaj Larsen, he's a journalist and a former Navy SEAL. So, Kaj, we talked about Social Security recipients and cost of living increase for them. What about military? Inflation is hitting military families special hard -- especially hard, the DoD adjusted its budget to a 3.9 percent inflation number, higher than the year before, but still falling way short of the inflation we've seen in 2022. Military pay just jumped 2.7 percent only. What kind of changes would you like to see going into the next fiscal year?

KAJ LARSEN, FORMER NAVY SEAL: Well, Pamela, you describe the economic climate and forecast precisely. And unfortunately, this is disproportionately impacting our military families and our military service members. So that 2.7% pay raise you describe that's set by Congress, in light of the latest CPI numbers, the latest inflation reports, inflation seems to be really sticky around that 8, 8.5 percent. That means effectively, the military got a six percent pay cut this year. So you're seeing once again, those that are asked to sacrifice the most are being compensated the least.

And so, I think it's really important that DOD steps up to the plate and does something about this. They've recognized it as a critical national security issue. And they've even gone so far as to do things like incentivize the commissary to lower food prices by 25 percent so that military families can afford food.

This is a -- this is a real crisis. And it's one that the DOD alone can't solve. So that's why we've kind of grabbed the Wall Street bull by the horns over at my company Guild and tried to focus on raising the financial health and literacy of the military community.

BROWN: Yes, I mean, it is just absurd to me. I mean, when I think about it, these are -- these are people serving our country. And so many of them have to -- they barely can pay their bills, they're experiencing food insecurity because of inflation. I mean, in 2020, even before this inflation, there was an analysis that showed 24 percent of active duty service members experienced food insecurity, inflation is only going to make this worse. I mean, tell us about what it's like when you talk to these military families. I mean, do you hear about the families worried about where they're going to get their next meal.

LARSEN: Yes. Unfortunately, our military families, I mean, the nation is hurting. But our military families particularly are feeling this -- these acute effects of inflation, everything from food prices to when you're describing the increase the Fed rate hike and mortgage lending rates, that also disproportionately affects military families because they have to move every couple of years. So they carry these very burdensome, sometimes 30-year mortgages, right? And that can be an extra complicating factor for military families. So once again, across the board, the slope is slanted against the people who are on the front lines serving our nation.

BROWN: And that anything about how often they have to move and then trying to sell a home and buy a new home or rent in this environment is really tough too.

All right. I want to shift gears a bit here. There was an investigation that found that a 24-year-old Navy SEAL candidate died of bacterial pneumonia just hours after completing Hell Week. That's a particularly intensive part of the Navy SEALs basic training program. You have been through it, Kaj. That's where candidates rarely sleep. They are work to exhaustion, they are exposed to high stress environments. The Navy added new medical checks and screenings in the wake of his death but no actual changes to how it works. What do you think about this? Do you think the Navy needs to do more?

LARSEN: Well, first and foremost, I want to say that I extend my sympathies to them the Mullen family, which was the sailor who died that sparked the -- a lot of this investigation that we're currently hearing about. Those of us in the military community, and especially those of us in the Naval Special Warfare community, understand what it's like to lose our brothers and to lose our loved ones. So my heart goes out to the family of SEAL Mullen.

[20:35:06]

That being said, I think it's really important to, one, acknowledge that there have been specific changes made at BUD/S, Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL training to address the specific circumstances of what happened in the case of this death that sparked all these investigations.

But in the broader context, I think it's really important that the public understands that SEAL training is brutal and it's hard. It's the hardest military training in the world. And it probably has to be that way. And that's because we're asking these young men to undertake the hardest missions on the planet, you know, you can't raise baby Tigers with milk alone, we have to simulate as close as we can -- approximate as close as we can, the conditions of combat and that's combat that starts from our heritage on the beaches of Normandy, all the way up to urban warfare, and Iraq and Afghanistan. So that's an extremely difficult task, and we need to make training as challenging as possible while still being safe in order to prepare our men for that mission.

BROWN: But what about potential abuse of drugs for these trainees trying to -- you know, performance enhancing drugs so that they get through Hell Week, this really, really tough, tough week as they're trying to become a Navy SEAL. Do you think that's a problem should more be done to combat that?

LARSEN: Yes, there's been a lot of headlines lately about performance enhancing drugs and potential drug abuse within the SEAL training pipeline and within the seal trainees there. And to be honest, I think this fundamentally misses the mark. This is a case of outsiders looking in.

Hell Week is one of the hardest evolutions on the planet. But the mistake that people make is thinking that it's a physical evolution, the kind of physical evolution that would be enhanced by performance enhancing drugs. And that's fundamentally wrong. Hell Week and BUD/S, by extension, is fundamentally a test of mental toughness. And there's no steroid in the world that can help you with that.

BROWN: Yes, that's a really important message. Kaj, really great to have you back on the show. Thanks so much for all you're doing also to help our military families as well. We appreciate it. LARSEN: Thank you, Pamela.

BROWN: Well, you're in the CNN NEWSROOM on a Saturday. And tonight, the United States issues a warning to Iran after a fire broke out at a notoriously brutal prison where many political dissidents are held.

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[20:40:47]

BROWN: Well, there are several growing crises in Haiti that are grabbing the attention of the White House and the world. A U.S. official confirms that the Biden administration is drafting a United Nations resolution to support the deployment of a rapid action force there.

Haiti is facing unfolding disasters in both health and security. And just minutes ago, we learn the U.S. Air Force also delivered to Haiti's National Police, some armored and tactical vehicles. There are shortages of food and fuel widespread protests, a cholera outbreak, and unchecked gang violence.

Yesterday, the U.N. released a stark report saying Haiti's powerful gangs are using rape as a tool to intimidate and control.

And in Iran, protests continued to Royal the nation after a young woman died in the custody of the morality. Police were allegedly not wearing their hijab properly. Amnesty International reports, at least 23 children are among those killed by security forces.

And also this happening right now and official says a fire is under control at the notoriously brutal prison in Iran where political dissidents are held. At least eight people are reported injured. State Department spokesman Ned Price had this to say, quote, "We are following reports from this prison with urgency. We are in contact with the Swiss as our protecting power. Iran is fully responsible for the safety of our wrongfully detained citizens who should be released immediately."

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is following this for us. Jomana?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, a fire broke out on Saturday evening at the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran that infamous facility where political prisoners, lawyers, journalists, some of Iran's best and brightest are held, as well as foreigners who are arrested in the country.

We can't independently verify what is going on at Evin Prison and what caused the fire. But we are getting information coming in from different sources. According to the activist group, Tasveer, 1,500 Tasveer, they were the first to share video of what is going on that showed this thick black plume of smoke rising over Evin Prison in northern Tehran. Some of the video clips also you can hear gunfire and alarms going off. They reported that special forces were heading to Evin. According to the pro-reform news outlet, Iran wire, they say they spoke to a source inside the prison who says that a revolt took place in a part of the prison and that a fire ensued.

Now, Iranian state media says that this fire was started by a group of thugs in the prison who set fire to the clothing warehouse. They say this situation right now is under control and that those so-called rioters have been separated from other prisoners.

But, of course, this is coming at a time where the Iranian regime is facing one of its toughest challenges in years. These protests entering the fifth week appear to be gaining momentum, appear to be spreading, and morphing according to some into what they're describing as a national uprising calling for regime change.

[20:45:04]

So you have a lot of human rights activists and Iranians who are questioning the government's version of events considering what is going on in the country right now. But they say that no matter what caused this fire, the biggest concern right now is for the safety and the wellbeing of those political prisoners. Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Thanks so much. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. There are new recommendations tonight for kids and mental health screenings. Up next, a therapist joins us to explain when and what parents should watch for.

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[20:50:02]

BROWN: Beginning at birth, our children are constantly being screened for a wide variety of health conditions, blood tests, hearing and vision tests. It's a given, right?

But for the first time ever, an influential taskforce is now recommending mental health screenings. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has eight children, 8 and older, should be screened for anxiety. And it's also urging screening for depression in children 12 and older.

Marriage and family therapist, Jon Hershfield, joins us now with more. He's director at the Center for OCD and Anxiety at Sheppard Pratt. Hi, John, thanks so much for being here.

So you actually -- you reached out to me, and you sent this article to me. And you talked about what you're seeing in the clinic there. Before I talked about -- we talk about what you're seeing first-hand, let's talk about these recommendations. I mean, these recommendations apply to children who don't already have a diagnosed mental health condition, and who are not showing recognize symptoms of anxiety or depression. What does that say to you?

JON HERSHFIELD, MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPIST: Well, it doesn't come as a huge surprise, Pamela, when you think about it in 2019, the CDC was saying that there are 5.8 million children with anxiety, and that's before the pandemic. So we know that anxiety -- everybody's anxiety has arisen since then. I know mine has specialists in these conditions.

So we're looking at the fact that children who go undiagnosed and untreated for anxiety disorders are likely to develop more severe anxiety disorders or related disorders in adulthood. So early screening can be very important.

BROWN: Well, you say that teen anxiety is exploding, you're seeing it first-hand there, what exactly are you seeing and what -- you know, when you throw around anxiety, specifically, what's the kind of anxiety that teens are experiencing right now that is exploding, that's so bad?

HERSHFIELD: When you think about what anxiety really is, it's a stress response to uncertainty. So something is scary, but you can't quite put your finger on it, you don't know when you're going to be harmed, or if you're going to be harmed.

So a lot of teens are dealing with increasing pressures to perform well on standardized tests to get into college. And they're being given a lot of black and white thinking about success versus failure. So they're very afraid of not, quote, unquote, making it. They're spending a lot of time on social media, which is encouraging them to look out into the world through an avatar as opposed to face to face, and to constantly compare themselves to others, and try to achieve some level of perfection that is impossible to attain.

And so they're just feeling a lot of -- a lot of pressure. And then they're looking out into the world and their parents are also anxious and try to figure out, what am I supposed to do? And that's all on top of the fact that just being a teenager, your body is changing, you're turning into something that you weren't before it. There's a lot of reasons to have normal amounts of anxiety, but it's just seems to be piling on and on and on.

And we're seeing it at every level of care at Sheppard Pratt, people coming in for outpatient, people who need higher levels of care like residential. It's definitely a supply and demand problem in terms of finding people who are specialized to treat anxiety and related disorders to meet the demand.

BROWN: I'm glad though that people are seeking the help, right? And that, hopefully, the stigma is going away. I've been very open about my anxiety battles on this show. I think it's really important to reduce that stigma. What should parents look for, though, to understand, you know, what their child needs, if they're having anxiety that's just beyond the normal day to day anxiety? What -- you know, what exactly should they be screened for?

HERSHFIELD: I think there's several things to look for. But first and foremost, it's going to be avoidance. They might be avoiding going to school, they might be avoiding the tasks that they used to be doing sort of shutting down and avoiding not talking to you is a good early sign to consider that maybe anxiety or mood issue is occurring. Kids will also present anxiety in terms of somatic symptoms, you know, they might have more stomach aches or headaches or things like that.

They -- some of them might seek more reassurance, excessive reassurance seeking and parents are used to giving their kids reassurance, you know. It's going to hurt me and parents is, no, of course not. But when the questions keep coming, and they seem to never end, that might be an indication of an anxiety disorder, or disorder like obsessive compulsive disorder.

But I think the most important thing to look at, besides things like grades going down and things that might be surface things, is just how much is your child communicating with you? How much access do you feel like you have to them when you talk to them?

BROWN: I'm already worried. My 4-year-old already shuts me down and won't tell me anything about his school and I'm like, oh, great. Is this what's to come? But I think it is important to keep a close eye, according to what we're learning on your kids, 8 and up, for those anxiety screenings. It's such an important issue. John Hershfield, thanks for shining a spotlight on this. We appreciate it and we'll be right back.

HERSHFIELD: Thank you for inviting me.

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[20:55:25]

BROWN: Well, the bright lights of Broadway went dim tonight in tribute to Angela Lansbury. About an hour ago, theater owners turned down their lights for one minute to honor the lead actress who died this week at the age of 96. Lansbury, who made her theatrical debut in 1957 hosted or co-hosted the Tony Awards five times more than anyone else. And tonight, her talent and spirit are being honored.

Well, pro basketball hall of famer to, Dikembe Mutombo, is fighting a brain tumor. The retired NBA superstar is reportedly in great spirits this weekend despite this diagnosis. Mutombo was a legend in the NBA, four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and an eight-time All-Star. Mutombo retired after 18 seasons and dedicated himself to charities and humanitarian causes.

Well, thanks for being here with me this evening. I'm Pamela Brown. See you tomorrow. The CNN Original Series, "The Murdochs: Empire of Influence" is next.