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Unprecedented Rise In Respiratory Virus In Children Across U.S.; Federal Appeals Court Pauses Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness Program; Record Turnout For Early Voting In Georgia; GOP Super PAC To Stop Ad Spending In New Hampshire Senate Race; New Russian Strikes Knock Out Power Across Ukraine; January 6 Committee Subpoenas Trump To Testify; Car Found Buried In Backyard Of $15M California Mansion. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired October 22, 2022 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:30]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin this hour with an alarming outbreak that has some U.S. hospitals struggling. The common but potentially deadly respiratory virus called RSV is spreading rapidly among children. Doctors telling CNN the spike is unprecedented for this time of year.

CNN's Brian Todd has more on this troubling surge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REBECCA, MOTHER OF 5-YEAR-OLD WITH RSV: The drive to the emergency room was really scary and really intense.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: this mother of a 5-year-old who was hospitalized with difficulty breathing told us of an anxious drive to the emergency room.

REBECCA: Things eventually had gotten worse since we were admitted. I have seen starting last night that he is progressively having a harder time breathing.

DR. RUTH KANTHULA, PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES SPECIALIST, MEDSTAR GEORGETOWN: RSV is one of the scariest infections to see in a child, especially when it's in your baby. So you will see your baby breathing really, really fast and you feel like there is nothing that you can do.

TODD: Around the country doctors are reporting a spike in cases of RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, a common respiratory illness that is occasionally severe in babies and young children.

Pediatric hospital beds are more full now than they have been in the last two years. Some children's hospitals are overwhelmed scrambling to make space, using tents. And it's only October. Why is it spiking this year? Experts say one key reason is because kids are back in school after the pandemic. Many children haven't built up their immune systems and masks and social distancing are a thing of the past.

DR. KANTHULA: So for these kids, this is the first time they are seeing a lot of these viruses.

TODD: RSV symptoms sometimes seem similar to cold and flu, runny nose, decrease in appetite, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, and fever.

DR. KANTHULA: You should think about bringing your child to the emergency room when you notice that your child is having what we call respiratory distress or increased work of breathing. And so that's typically characterized by breathing really fast and a difficulty catching their breath.

DR. JIM VERSALOVIC, PATHOLOGIST-IN-CHIEF, TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: That should be an alarm for any parent. We can see this disease rapidly progress, children need attention quickly.

TODD: There is no vaccine and no specific remedy, but severe cases can be treated in a hospital with fluids, oxygen or even a ventilator and icepacks to bring down the fever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know how but she slept with the icepacks on top of her.

TODD: Four-month-old Lindy Green was taken by ambulance and admitted at Cook Hospital in Houston.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Started running a pretty significant fever, not eating as much.

TODD: Doctors say to avoid RSV, clean surfaces in your home, have kids wash hands, cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing. Don't share things like toys and cups (ph) and avoid close contact like kissing or cuddling.

For cases that don't require hospitalization, keep a child hydrated and give Tylenol or Motrin if they have a fever.

DR. KANTHULA: Day five is the peak of symptoms. So parents will notice that their child might be more uncomfortable at day five and then their symptoms resolve and they get better.

TODD: Dr. Ruth Kanthula says what worries her about this uptick in RSV cases is that unlike in previous years when the virus was seasonal and predictable, this time she says it has the potential to circulate beyond next spring when it might normally subside and extend into next summer or possibly even beyond.

Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: All right. I want to bring in now Dr. Kenneth Remy. He is a critical care physician at UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland. Dr. Remy, good to see you. So we just heard there that, you know, that more children are filling hospital beds than they have in the last two years. So why do you think this disease seems to be spreading so much right now?

DR. KENNETH REMY, CRITICAL CARE PHYSICIAN, UH RAINBOW BABIES AND CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, CLEVELAND: Well thank you, Fredricka, for having me today.

You know, I think first and foremost we are seeing a lot of children who weren't exposed to these viruses over the last two years because of good social distancing and stay at home practices. And that immunity gap, if you will, is sort of catching up with us in that respect.

And then we are just seeing a huge uptick, you know, in time where we are just going to RSV season. We saw a first year out of the pandemic, we saw that in June where we don't see RSV, we saw an uptick. And so this is a continuation of that and certainly filling our hospital beds.

WHITFIELD: So what are you seeing at your hospital?

DR. REMY: So we're seeing a predominance right now in our intensive care unit of RSV. What we are seeing is that, you know, certainly we have got a pandemic for many years before the pandemic of shortages.

[11:04:50]

DR. REMY: And so we are filling our beds with beds that we can staff like most places in the United States and RSV is accounting for at least 40 percent of at least the positive cases that we're seeing in the intensive care unit.

WHITFIELD: So then what are some of the challenges that your hospital and others are facing when you've got a surge like this which is atypical of this season? It usually comes a little bit later. But what kind of accommodations are you having to make?

DR. REMY: So trying to keep children in emergency room and other spaces outside of the intensive care unit or in-patient beds is a common place now. You're seeing some institutions putting up tents to actually care for this excess load of patients that previously they were unable to take care of due to this capacity.

You know, and I think the big fundamental question is when is influenza or some of the other viruses going to hit and if they hit on top of this RSV that certainly is going to be devastating to capacity and it means that we'll likely have to continue to cancel surgeries and elective procedures as we try to face this sort of pandemic we are seeing with nursing shortages, respiratory therapists, et cetera.

WHITFIELD: Are you concerned that this isn't even the peak, that it just might get worse? DR. REMY: So, you know, I wish I could give you the direct answer. But

the truth is we don't know, I mean. So things are acting differently than previously pre-pandemic. And so the fact that RSV came in June of last year and is now rearing its ugly head here in September means that we may have a prolonged period of time for RSV, but we may have influenza and (INAUDIBLE) virus and influenza all on the heels of this and that's what makes this complicating to at least predict.

WHITFIELD: What do you recommend parents need to look out for, caregivers? I mean look, my twins, they are now 10, but they got RSV when they were just 1-month-old and it was really serious. One of my kids was in ICU for ten days. I mean he barely made it through.

I didn't know what it was at the time. But if not for the keen, you know, watchful eye of a good friend who said you need to take them to the ER, I wouldn't have known. So what do people look for?

DR. REMY: That was a great question. First and foremost I want to put people at ease. So even though we see 2.1 million cases of out-patient cases of RSV for children under 5 years and this accounts for about 60,000 children younger than 5 with hospitalizations annually, we only see 1 to 300, thankfully, of deaths.

So most far and away children will survive this. So as you point out, it's a disease of really newborns, those under the age of 2. And so if your child is having respiratory distress or increased work of breathing or is a premature child or has other comorbidities or problems, these are children that when they start to exhibit those symptoms, you want to bring them to the emergency room as soon as possible.

Furthermore, protect those that are above age 65. About 14,000 Americans that are over age 65 will die of RSV as well. And so we've got to be cognizant to wash our surfaces and wash our hands more frequently in the season.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And while you talk about the at-risk children who are usually under 2, in that piece we saw a 5-year-old. Can it really, you know, impact kids of all ages?

DR. REMY: Absolutely. So by age 2, before the pandemic, almost every child has been exposed to RSV that lives here in the United States. But now certainly with the pandemic and the influence that's had on that immune gap that we've just talked about, certainly we can see the symptoms now for first exposure to the virus rearing its head for those that are 3, 4, 5 years of age now that are having actual symptoms that may not have been sick previously.

And then if you've got other conditions like asthma or other comorbidities, certainly any RSV at any point in your timeframe as a child may actually have deleterious effects that bring you to a hospital.

WHITFIELD: All right. Again, everyone can make a difference, help. Just wash your hands. Real basic stuff.

Dr. Kenneth Remy, good to see you. Thank you so much.

DR. REMY: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. One of President Biden's key midterm initiatives has hit a roadblock. A federal appeals court put a temporary hold on his student debt relief program.

The plan would forgive up to $10,000 in debt for individuals making less than $125,000 a year and couples making below $250,000. Borrowers who received Pell Grants could see their student debt shrink by as much as $20,000.

CNN's Jasmine Wright is live for us in Washington. So Jasmine, I mean, nearly 22 million people have already applied for student debt relief and that ruling came just hours after the president boasted of his college debt relief plan. So now what happens?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Fred, the White House wants people to still continue to apply on that Web site. But it is a tough blow it to the president's agenda here. and it's having people question how long will it last because Sunday is when the White House identified would be the soonest day that some borrowers could see their debt canceled. Obviously that's going to be pushed back because that administrative hold the court of appeals has given the White House until Monday to respond and those challengers then have until Tuesday to respond to the White House.

[11:09:51]

WRIGHT: Now, of course, it comes here at a precarious time. We are just three weeks and under to the midterm elections and of course, as you said, we saw President Biden on Friday leaning in finally to this controversial executive order really touting the benefits of who would get their debt canceled.

Now, of course, the White House hopes that this is going to galvanize their base with the particular eye towards young voters and young black voters that could benefit largely from this move that the president takes.

So last night when responding to this new order -- excuse me, this hold, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in addition to telling people to continue to apply, she said in a statement, we will continue to move full speed ahead in our preparations and compliance with this order. And the administration will continue to fight Republican officials suing to block our efforts to provide relief to working families.

So very clear here that this White House is not backing down as they continue to attack Republicans who want to oppose the student debt cancellation.

WHITFIELD: And Jasmine, what's the latest thing the president has said about whether he plans to run again in 2024?

WRIGHT: Well Fred, he gave his clearest answer last night in an interview with MSNBC. He said that he had not made a formal decision yet but it was still his intention to run in 2024. Take a listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The reason I'm not making a judgment about formally running or not running, once I make that judgment, a whole series of regulations kick in and I have to be -- I treat myself as a candidate from that moment on.

I have not made that formal decision but it's my intention -- my intention to run again and we have time to make that decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: Now, of course, that decision is going to loom large over the midterm elections happening, again just under three weeks here as the president remains unpopular.

Though of course, some of the things that he passed like the bipartisan infrastructure bill are popular.

And then, of course, it's his age, right. He is 79 years old, America's oldest president so far. And so there are some questions about his public schedule so far in this midterm election and that's going to come back around potentially in 2024.

But still the White House is barreling towards the midterm elections here just in under three weeks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Hard to believe. Jasmine Wright, thank you so much.

All right. Record early voter turnout in fact, in Georgia where the U.S. Senate race could determine the balance of power in Washington. A live report straight ahead.

Plus, Russia striking Ukrainian infrastructure and forcing blackouts for more than 1 million people. How Ukraine is responding.

And a mystery in California's Silicon Valley. Authorities are checking for possible human remains in a car that was buried in the backyard of a mansion. Details straight ahead.

[11:12:43]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

Voters in Georgia continue to turn out in record numbers for the midterm elections. New numbers just out. The state says more than 660,000 voters have already cast their ballots. That number is not far off the early voter turnout for the 2020 presidential election. And it's nearly double the early voting turnout for Georgia's 2018 midterms.

CNN's Nadia Romero is at a polling place in Atlanta. What's happening today on a Saturday?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On a Saturday, the first Saturday of early voting here in the state of Georgia. You're only going to have two Saturdays to do it. So we do anticipate there being a good turnout.

No lines so far but we have seen a steady stream of people coming to this polling location here in Fulton County and Atlanta. And you can see people will make their way past the sign letting them know, hey you're in the right place. Early voting available here.

They'll go through those double doors, they'll make their way inside to vote in person or to drop off those absentee ballots.

And if you take a look at those numbers that just released from the secretary of state's office, we're talking about more than 660,000 people all across the state of Georgia who have already voted. The majority of them, of course, in Fulton County, more than 85,000.

And then if you look at the day alone, Friday, just yesterday, that's when we saw the majority of the ballots being cast, the highest number more than 140,000 on Friday alone. That's up 51 percent from the same time period back in 2018, our last midterm election.

So we are seeing record voter turnout that started on Monday and continued through the week. Likely to see that good turnout happening today as well as many people have off work and want to come out and support.

Now, we have interviewed a lot of people this morning, just talking to voters. I want you to hear from two women who said not only did they want to make sure they came out, participate in early voting, but they also brought their family as well. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VERONICA HAYGOOD, GEORGIA VOTER: I think it's very important because we have to teach those, because if we don't, then that generation will be lost.

And I believe that, you know, teaching my kids, because I have one that's like -- no, we're going as a family. So yes, I think it's very important to do it as a family.

MIA EVANS BUCKNER, GEORGIA VOTER: Your future is on the line. I have a 19-year-old son and I have heard, you know, some of the fodder about, you know, it's not important, I don't matter. Yes, we do.

And as a parent, it's really important for us to note the history of how far we've come as African-Americans, not only in the state of Georgia, but as a whole nationally. And we have done that through legislative action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: And it really is a family affair. You can tell that people waited until Saturday so they can get their kids, their grandparents, their parents to all come out together to get those stickers that say I voted, to make sure that their voices are heard.

And it's those key races people tell me and key issues that are bringing them out, issues like abortion, inflation. We are seeing that definitely here in the state of Georgia and in the Atlanta area with skyrocketing prices for groceries and for housing.

And when it comes to key races, we have a governors race here that's on the line, a rematch, if you will, of Governor Brian Kemp, the incumbent Republican, and his Democratic challenger, Stacey Abrams.

[11:19:59]

ROMERO: But also in the Senate race here, this could flip the power in the Senate. And as you know, Fredricka, this is such an important race nationally. That's why so many people here in Georgia are making sure to get out and cast their ballot for that race as well.

WHITFIELD: Right, very impactful. And it's good to see what the turnout, clearly people recognize that.

All right. Nadia Romero, thank you so much.

All right. Top Republican super PAC led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has decided to cut off ad spending for a critical Senate race in New Hampshire. The decision effectively means the GOP is giving up on Republican Senate nominee Don Bolduc's chances of defeating the Democratic incumbent Senator Maggie Hassan.

The stunning decision comes as New Hampshire Republicans have suddenly become united.

CNN's Gloria Borger has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: New Hampshire, home to the first presidential primaries and now --

DON BOLDUC (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE SENATE NOMINEE: Get me in the Senate.

BORGER: -- home to a crucial Senate race. Attracting voters with fiercely held views.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, who doesn't want to make America great?

BORGER: That's the goal, of course. But watching Republicans try to unify this election season is like watching a bunch of arranged marriages. In New Hampshire between a more conventional and successful incumbent governor with a Senate candidate calling for a new breed of party outsiders.

What would you call yourselves?

BOLDUC: We're patriots. Right? We're a new ilk of the Republican party.

BORGER: That's retired Brigadier General Don Bolduc who served ten tours in Afghanistan and narrowly won a packed primary as a border protecting and election denying conservative once opposed by the Republican establishment.

BOLDUC: The establishment has become the problem and people want a solution to that.

BORGER: So what exactly is the Republican problem?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are not audacious enough. They're not aggressive enough.

BILL BORDEAUX, NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTER: Trump was like a hand grenade thrown into the Republican Party.

Love him or hate him, he definitely changed things up.

BORGER: Bolduc was not endorsed by Trump. He's an underdog in this race against former governor and one-term senator Democrat Maggie Hassan.

She's talking a lot about abortion politics. He is talking a lot about the economy and immigration.

BOLDUC: Will you vote and support the southern border?

Yes, baby.

BORGER: And he is getting a lot of money from a political action committee aligned with Senate Republican L1eader Mitch McConnell, the ultimate insider and not a Bolduc favorite.

His PAC has given you $23 million.

BOLDUC: Well -- and thank you very much.

BORGER: And yet, the self-proclaimed change candidate seems unchanged.

BOLDUC: I want leadership to change in the United States.

BORGER: Leadership but?

BOLDUC: I want it to change.

BORGER: Bolduc is among a large chorus of right-wing warriors who now find themselves welcoming both money and newfound support the very party poohbahs they once dismissed.

BOLDUC: He's a Chinese communist sympathizer.

BORGER: That was about the popular Governor Chris Sununu seeking his fourth term who had no kinder words for Bolduc.

CHRIS SUNUNU (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE GOVERNOR: Kind of a conspiracy theorist type candidate.

BORGER: But post-primary an embrace and a nod from the governor.

SUNUNU: He is an amazing individual with his background, his war hero background that just wants to stand up and serve.

BORGER: And now needs to reach out beyond his conservative base.

BRAD TODD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: New Hampshire is an ornery state. There are more independents than there are members of either party in New Hampshire. And as the Independents goes, so goes New Hampshire.

BORGER: And so a Bolduc switch on the legitimacy of the 2020 election from this --

BOLDUC: I signed a letter with 120 other generals and admirals that Trump won the election and damn it I stand by my --

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: -- to this.

So you believe the election was not stolen?

BOLDUC: Not stolen but irregularities and fraud.

BORGER: The state Republican Party chairman says it's all for the greater good.

STEPHEN STEPANEK, CHAIRMAN, NEW HAMPSHIRE REPUBLICAN PARTY: If we are going to change the direction of this country, you have to support our entire Republican ticket. Because if you don't, the Democrats win and the direction of the country doesn't change.

BORGER: Unity at all costs, not only in New Hampshire, consider Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin's support for election denier Kari Lake.

GOV. GLENN YOUNGKIN (R-VA): The Republican Party has to be a party where we are not shunning people.

What Arizona deserves is a Republican governor.

BORGER: Bolduc supporter Paul Grant hopes the harmony lasts.

PAUL GRANT, BOLDUC SUPPORTWER: I think Republicans sometimes are amateur when it comes to politics. And by that mean I don't agree with a lot of the policies or stances of the Democratic Party, but they play to win. They do. They stick together.

BORGER: There is just one small problem on the horizon.

[11:24:55]

TODD: It would be one thing to say that the Republican Party is not just a big tent. It's a big tent with a bar fight. BORGER: And it's not about to reach last call anytime soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Gloria Borger, thank you so much.

And again, now the McConnell-led super PAC is cutting off ad spending for the Republican nominee Bolduc.

All right. Coming up, a barrage of

Russian missiles raining down on parts of Ukraine targeting critical energy infrastructure and leaving more than a million homes and businesses without power. We are live in Ukraine next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:29:55]

WHITFIELD: All right. New developments today out of Ukraine. Officials say power is out after a barrage of Russian strikes targeted energy infrastructure. The strikes come as Ukraine sounds the alarm over an alleged Russian plot to blow up a major river dam posing a safety risk to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joins us live now from Kyiv. So Nic, how is Ukraine responding to these latest attacks?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's trying to repair as quickly as it can. Now, when the strikes are taking out power lines or, you know, where there are transformers outside, they are relatively quick fixes. But where the strikes have been hitting and heavily damaging the sort of power-generating equipment, those repairs take a lot longer.

The impact today, according to Ukraine's energy company, has been worse than that Monday about two weeks ago when Russia first started targeting the energy infrastructure, critical infrastructure.

Remember that day? There was a huge barrage of missiles and drone strikes. Well, the Ukrainians have upped their game in terms of air defenses. It's not perfect. They are protecting the city of Kyiv here. There were a number of missiles fired here. Those were all taken out.

Lviv in the west of the country, seven missiles fired at that city. The air force took all those out.

Odesa in the south, several missiles fired there. Most of those were taken out although a power-generating station was hit there.

But where the Russians are finding weaknesses are some of the outlying towns and villages. So you have about five towns in the west of the country, about four or five hours from the capital here, and then towns headed south, about an hour away, two hours away, five and six hours away -- excuse me -- several towns have had their energy infrastructure hit. 11 regions in this country now having rolling blackouts. 1.5 million

Internet subscribers have not been able to get on the Internet today because of outages.

But it's worse. It's getting to really critical infrastructure for the government in Rivne, a town to the west of here. There buses have been taking water to the local hospital because the hospital can't get water because the electricity has been taken out. The air-raid siren warning system in the town has been taken out by these strikes as well because it's taken out the electricity.

So the police are having to drive around with loud speakers and tell the population when there is an air raid happening. So it's easing into the country's ability to function normally.

And just think, two weeks ago none of this was happening. Now you have 11 regions across the country that are significantly and seriously affected despite the fact that the Ukrainians have been able to up the air defenses 50 percent takeout on cruise missiles, about two-thirds of all drones taken out.

But those that are getting through, they are still damaging.

WHITFIELD: That cascading effect that clearly that was Russia's intention here. So the Russian-backed authority is also telling residents of Kherson to immediately leave today as shelling intensifies. Where are they going to go?

ROBERTSON: The Russians want them to go east towards Russia. They don't really have an option to go west towards, you know, Ukrainian- controlled territory which is obviously what the Ukrainian citizens there would like to do, because the Ukrainian army is trying to take the town. And this is what the Russians are saying. You have to get out. In fact, you must get out because the Ukrainian military is coming.

But CNN's talked to a resident in Kherson today who says look, no one wants to leave. There is only a few people actually left in the town. We know that the Ukrainian military wouldn't target us.

But what's worrying the Ukrainian government at the moment, and Russia denies this, the Ukrainian government saying that there is a hydroelectric power generating station on a dam just up the big Dnipro River from Kherson and the Russians, the Ukrainians, are going to blow it up. They have got trucks full of explosives on it. They've been mining some of the (INAUDIBLE) ways. There would be this downstream effect that could flood out towns and villages. Kill people there.

But upstream -- the upstream effect could be even more dangerous because the river, and it's a huge river down there behind the dam provides the cooling water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. And without cooling water for those nuclear fuel rods, everything could go really bad really quickly. And this is what the Ukrainians are worried about.

WHITFIELD: Nic Robertson, thank you so much. Appreciate it, from Kyiv. Let's talk further about all this. I want to bring in Steve Hall for

more analysis. He's a CNN national security analyst and the former chief of Russia operations for the CIA. So good to see you.

[11:34:46]

WHITFIELD: So just listening to, you know, these cascading events, I mean the consequences of one action that leads to another. I mean, this really sounds like terrorism, you know, on top of the physical destruction taking place from Kherson to near Zaporizhzhia, et cetera.

STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, Fred, I mean I think it is the Russian state, you know, sort of doing state-sponsored terrorism against another state largely because they really don't have that many other military options except to lob whatever weapons they might have.

And reporting is that they are going to run out of those pretty quickly as well, taking them back to using Soviet era weapons. But basically all they're left with is sort of lobbing bombs across the lines of contact into some of the -- in the population centers in Ukraine.

And that, of course, with the winter coming, is going to be -- it's going to cause significant difficulties for infrastructure inside of Ukraine.

Russia hopes that it will lessen the will of Ukrainians to fight. I have some serious doubts about that. Really again, that's probably about the only thing that's left for Russia militarily right now.

WHITFIELD: So these strikes are, you know, further crippling the country. And when you talk about Russia perhaps they want to, you know, break the will of the Ukrainians. You doubt that.

What about this effort or this, I guess, instruction to relocate Ukrainians? Do you think they will respond to that?

HALL: Well, you know, Ukraine as a country has a lot of different parts to it. There are some Ukrainians in a small minority now I think that are more Russian-oriented, especially in the east. But you know, after seeing what the Russian military has done to a lot of cities and towns in Ukraine, especially places like Kherson and other places in the Donbas further east, you know, I think it's less and less likely that Ukrainians are going to want to run into the arms of Mother Russia.

What's much more likely is that the Russian military forces can try to force people into -- we've heard the use of these filtration camps by the Russians in the past, which is then basically pulling people together and sorting through them to try to find out where their loyalties lie, how they can be useful to Russia or whether or not some sort of action needs to be taken against them because they are Ukrainians. So a lot of people I think are facing that as well in Ukraine. WHITFIELD: And then there is this issue of, you know, Russia declaring

martial law in territories of Ukraine, you know, under occupation by Russian forces. Ukraine in turn though condemned the declaration, calling it a new state of terror. But does that suggest anything new about Ukraine's strategy as well?

HALL: You know, I always find it kind of silly on the Russians' part to say we are imposing martial law in parts of Ukrainian territory that they don't fully control. You know, what's really going to change if your military is in a town and all of a sudden martial law is declared.

I am not sure it makes that big of a difference and besides that, they don't control a lot of the areas that they claim to have annexed and trying to impose martial law on to.

What to me is of more interest is the surrounding Oblast, the surrounding regions around the war zone in Ukraine, but on the Russian side of the border where martial law has been declared because to me what that states is that Russians are very concerned about sabotage and paramilitary operations that the Ukrainians might be able to conduct on the Russian side of the border in response to Russian military action inside of Ukraine. So that to me is actually much more interesting than trying to declare military martial law in an area that you don't really control.

WHITFIELD: Iran. Iran is denying that it is supplying these suicide drones to Russia, all while Russia denies using the drones. So in your view, is there any credibility to denials coming from both places?

HALL: In a word, no. There is not. This is something -- use of these drones, I think, is easily verifiable because, of course, these things are designed to crash and blow up. Inevitably not all of them will blow up completely.

And so we're seeing you know, photographs of incoming drones. We're seeing the remains being recovered by the Ukrainian intelligence services and their military forces which are, of course, being compared to the intelligence that the Ukrainians have.

You know, and they are also comparing it, of course, to the intelligence that the west has. In my mind there is very little doubt that the Iranians are indeed providing these drones.

What is fascinating and breathtaking to me in a way is that the Russians are having to rely on Iran, and in some cases North Korea, to help their military win this war. I mean this is supposed to be, you know, one of the most, you know, impressive militaries this the world. And it turns out, not so much.

WHITFIELD: How sustainable is that, in your view?

HALL: You know, it's -- I think what we're seeing is we are beginning to see reports out of Russia that said that they have actually worked their way through many of their higher capability munitions, especially long-range munitions like the caliber and other cruise missiles.

These are very expensive for anybody to produce. But if your country is under the level of sanctions and having the economic problems that Russia has had, I think they're going to simply be less and less capable of producing them.

[11:39:59]

HALL: And so they're going to turn elsewhere or as noted earlier, they're going to have go back to these Cold War-era 1950s, 1960s produced weapons, which again is just shocking to people who thought that the Russian military was, you know, this great modern force. It's clearly not.

WHITFIELD: Turning out to be very revealing in so many ways.

All right. Steve Hall, thank you so much. Good to see you, appreciate it.

All right. Still ahead, the January 6th committee making good on their promise, hitting former President Donald Trump with a subpoena to testify and to hand over key documents. But will he comply? The latest straight ahead.

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[11:44:48]

WHITFIELD: All right. The House Committee investigating the January 6th attack officially subpoenaed former President Donald Trump on Friday. This historic move stems from the committee's effort to compel him to testify and hand over crucial documents. Those documents and his testimony are all expected in November.

Joining me right now is CNN's Capitol Hill reporter Annie Grayer. Annie, so talk us through what's in the subpoena.

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well Fredricka, the January 6th Committee subpoena to Donald Trump outlines the committee's belief that Trump is at the center of the plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election. And the subpoena letter draws on evidence that the committee has presented throughout its hearings to make that point. It says that Trump enacted a wide ranging pressure campaign across our government from the Department of justice to state officials to even former Vice President Mike Pence to try and get his help in this plan.

The letter references Trump's efforts to insert fake electors, oversee the fake elector plan, where states submitted fake electors to Congress on his behalf.

And the letter says that Trump summoned the violent mob to the Capitol on January 6th because Trump knew that some of the protesters were armed in the crowd and yet he did not call off the rioters for hours as he watched it unfold on television. So in addition to laying all that out, the committee is asking Trump

for a wide range of documents to hand over, including all of his conversations on January 6th and whether or not he has spoken to any of the other committee witnesses as part of its investigation. And the committee is asking Trump to hand over all of those documents by November 4th, and sit for a deposition either in person or virtually November 14th.

WHITFIELD: And Annie, is there now a response from the former president?

GRAYER: So we're still waiting to see, Fredricka, how Trump and his team handles this. Trump's lawyers, who he's assigned specifically to handle this subpoena, have acknowledged receipt of it and say they are working through a more formal response.

But we are expecting this to be a real legal battle here. And time is not on the committee's side as it's expecting to finish the investigation by the end of this year. But the committee believes that Trump has important testimony that's crucial for their investigation to be completed, and they are willing to take any steps necessary to secure that testimony.

Listen to what Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren said on their air about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): He has a legal obligation to come in and talk to us just as importantly as a legal obligation to respond to the documents that we've ordered him to produce, all of which are important to finishing our investigation. So let's see if he lives up to what the law requires of him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRAYER: So Fredricka, we are going to have to see how Trump handles this going forward, but you know, we are really going to have to -- we really don't know how Trump and his team are going to handle this.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll be watching. Annie Grayer, let us know if you learn anything new. Thanks so much.

All right. Coming up, a car found buried behind a California mansion and now authorities are searching it for potential human remains. Details next.

[11:48:19]

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WHITFIELD: All right. Here's a mystery in California's Silicon Valley. After landscapers find a car buried in the backyard of a $15 million mansion. And now the search for answers.

CNN's Camila Bernal is in Los Angeles. So Camila, what do we know so far about this?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Fred. Look, this is a wealthy neighborhood, a multimillion-dollar home, and the owners decide they want to do a project so they call some landscaping crew and they begin working.

Once they do that, they find this car that authorities now say was about six feet underground, a car that went missing in 1992. So of course, the owners called authorities, tried to figure out what was going on. Crews come out, try to dig the car out.

Authorities are investigating and they bring in cadaver dogs and the dogs smell something. Here is what the police commander says those dogs found.

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CMDR. DAN LARSEN, ATHERTON CALIFORNIA POLICE: I've done a few questions with some different canine officers and they of said is it could be human remains. They could be reacting to blood. They could be reacting to old bones. They could be reacting to human vomit. It could be any one of those combinations of things that the dogs are reacting to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: So, no human remains yet, but it is definitely a mystery. And authorities are doing this carefully now because they know that there is the possibility of human remains, so they are digging carefully and taking their time, trying to really get this right.

This is a convertible Mercedes. They also say there were empty concrete bags in the car, so that's also another weird aspect of this entire story.

We know that the owner of that car has since died, and authorities have made it clear that the current owners of the home are not connected. They don't believe they are involved in all of this.

But this is definitely a mystery that authorities are trying to figure out as they dig this car out. They say part of it is already above ground, but there is still some work to be done here, Fred.

[11:54:50]

WHITFIELD: Are they saying anything about the investigation of the previous owners of that property?

BERNAL: I think they're looking into it. I think they have not been extremely out front about it because I think they have to figure it out before they tell us.

But there is something interesting there that they're looking into because they do say that he has since died, and it was a car that was missing.

So there is something there. We just are waiting for authorities to confirm what they're finding.

WHITFIELD: So you're saying the owner of the car is also the owner of the property previously?

BERNAL: Yes. That's what we believe is the case, according to authorities, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Camila Bernal, thank you so much. Keep us posted. It is a very curious mystery of course.

All right. And this quick programming note: join Stanley Tucci as he explores Puglia, the heel of Italy's boot, a region known for its fresh and simple food along with its famous olive oil. Don't miss an all-new episode of "STANLEY TUCCI: SEARCHING FOR ITALY" tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

[11:56:00]

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