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Russia Returns Body of American Killed in Ukraine; U.S., Japan, South Korea Warn Pyongyang of "Unparalleled" Response; Judge Orders Trump Aide Meadows to Testify in GA Election Probe; DOJ Asks Judge to Force Trump White House Lawyers to Testify in 1/6 Probe; Man Convicted in Wisconsin Holiday Parade Attack that Killed 6; Iowa Woman Claims Her Father Killed Up to 70 People. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired October 26, 2022 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- the remains of Joshua Jones repatriated so that his family can have closure and have a proper good-bye. And today it finally happened.

And we were fortunate enough to be with them, these two Ukrainian lawmakers, as they drove to the front lines in Zaporizhzhia, where you've seen a number of prisoner swaps happening over the last few weeks.

We drove into No Man's Land. There was an agreement between the Russian and Ukrainian side that there would be two hours of cease- fire. So it was a very eerie, tense, quiet.

Really unthinkable to move in these No Man's Land areas under normal circumstances for journalists. But this was a very particular occasion.

We then stopped a little bit short of the actual handover for our own security. And a small convoy with just a few military intelligence officers went forward, got the body, put it in an ambulance and brought it back to our -- to the area where we were standing.

The Ukrainian lawmakers then identified the body. And they could see, after studying this case closely for a couple of months, that it was, indeed, Joshua Jones.

And that body is now being taken to Kyiv. And from Kyiv, it will be -- begin the journey home to Joshua's parents, who obviously have been waiting and really longing for this moment -- Ana?

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: It's so heartbreaking. As parents, I cannot imagine.

Clarissa, what more do we know about Joshua?

WARD: Joshua is from Tennessee. He was just 24 years old.

When he first announced he wanted to come to Ukraine to fight with Ukrainian forces in the foreign legion, his father told CNN he initially discouraged it, but that Joshua had said, what could be better than fighting for freedom?

He had served in the U.S. military for a few years. And he arrived here, joined the foreign legion. Quickly found himself on the front lines and was killed in August alongside another foreign volunteer from New Zealand.

But I think today's news is really just so important for the family. We spoke -- CNN spoke to the father, Jeff Jones, Joshua's dad, who said -- who was weeping on the phone, and said, you know, finally, we're bringing him back.

And one can only hope and certainly the hope of Ukrainian officials who really pushed to make this happen is that this will offer them some kind of closure.

But also make it clear how Ukraine honors the families and those volunteers who do come here to fight -- Ana?

CABRERA: Too many lives lost in this war that's just so unspeakable.

Thank you, Clarissa Ward, for your reporting.

In South Korea, the Navy, Marines, the Air Force are holding joint military drills as the government there, along with Japan and the U.S., issue a stark warning to North Korea: There will be an "unparalleled response" if Kim Jong-Un conducts its first nuclear test in five years.

CNN national security correspondent, Kylie Atwood, joins us from the State Department.

Kylie, unparalleled response. What does that look like?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Right. So this -- it was a South Korean official who said that. And significantly, they said, we agree, there should be an unparalleled response.

Meaning that they were speaking for South Korea, Japan and the United States because all three officials were together meeting just this week in the region.

And when you talk about an unparalleled response, U.S. officials are very clear in that they don't want to detail exactly what that could look like.

But you think about it likely being coordinated because these three allies are making it clear that they would act in unison together.

That could include bringing additional U.S. military assets into the region, additional military joint drills that they have already been doing but more of them.

And, of course, you also look to what they could do to further go after North Korea's economy, with tightening of sanctions in place or adding new sanctions.

It's very clear that they want to send a direct signal to North Korea that they should not conduct another nuclear test.

And we should note that North Korea hasn't conducted a nuclear test since 2017. So it's been a while now.

But this has been a tumultuous year in the region because North Korea has carried out about two dozen missile tests. And they say that some of those are preparations for them using tactical nuclear weapons.

And the Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who was there in the region for meetings this week, said that what South Korea has been doing with these tests in the last year are irresponsible, dangerous, and destabilizing -- Ana?

[13:35:03]

CABRERA: Kylie Atwood, thanks for being on it for us.

A judge orders former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, to testify in the Georgia election investigation, calling him a, quote, "necessary and material witness." Details next.

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[13:40:06]

CABRERA: New today, a judge ordered Mark Meadows, President Trump's former chief of staff, to testify before a Georgia grand jury investigating possible meddling in the 2020 election.

Saying, quote, "I'm going to find that the witness is material and necessary to the investigation."

Let's get right to former federal prosecutor, Michael Moore, on this.

Michael, an attorney for Meadows says they plan to appeal the ruling. But first, what does this ruling signal when the judge says, "Meadows is necessary" to the probe?

MICHAEL MOORE, PARTNER, MOORE HALL & FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, I'm glad to be with you.

I'm really not surprised at all to see this ruling. Essentially, the "necessary" language is something out of the judge's order when the subpoena is issued out of state.

And so it allows for the court in Atlanta to issue the subpoena, the prosecutor in Atlanta, and then for that to be served on a witness who is not within the jurisdiction of this court. So is there has to be something moving for that. And you saw early on the D.A. did that.

In her order, said these witnesses were necessary to the case and may have material information. So the judge is just tracking that language.

I'm not surprised they're going to appeal at all. That's just a game to run out the clock and they're trying to run it out past the midterms to see if, in fact, you know, there could be some different -- I guess people would place.

But it wouldn't necessarily affect the Atlanta investigation here.

CABRERA: The prosecutors in this case or the grand jury wants to talk to him about that Trump/Raffensperger phone call.

Meadows was involved in that in some way, in our understanding. There was the December 2020 White House meeting related to election fraud claims that are baseless that Meadows might have knowledge of.

And so there are a number of issues that are clearly pertinent to their investigation.

The bottom line here, if Meadows has to testify, how big of a deal is that?

MOORE: Well, it's a big deal. I mean, they've claimed executive privilege all along and have lost. So executive privilege is just -- essentially shields the delivery of process. But that belongs to the current president not the former.

So he does have information, specific information about the facts of the case and what he observed. And in particular, whether or not he was in the room and listening to that phone call between Trump and Raffensperger.

There's a question on who knew whether or not the call was being recorded. Who might have known whether it was Trump, Raffensperger said he didn't know.

This may be something to sure up another witness on the Trump side to say that he heard the call and he heard, in fact, what Trump said so that there's no question about the recording itself.

CABRERA: That's the Georgia investigation. Federal investigators are also trying to get testimony.

Sources telling CNN the Justice Department is asking a federal judge to force Pat Cipollone and Patrick Philbin, the deputy White House counsel, along with the White House counsel during Trump's time in office, to testify as part of its January 6th probe.

And prosecutors want answers about their conversations and interactions with Trump.

Michael, Trump has been trying to block former advisers from testifying, citing executive and attorney/client privileges. But we do know two advisers to Vice President Pence were compelled to testify over the last couple of weeks.

Do you think a judge will grant the DOJ's request in this case?

MOORE: I think it's likely. Remember, we're talking about two different privileges, whether it's executive privilege that may apply to aides or attorney/client privilege. The problem that the Trump team has on this is that Cipollone and

Philbin did not represent Trump. They represented the presidency. They were White House counsel.

And so that's public information that -- and a public client that I'm not sure that they're going to allow -- that the judge would allow their testimony to be shielded by the attorney/client privilege in this case.

I think there may be times that they could testify about what they saw, what they heard, you know, other statements made surrounding certain events involving the election and certainly the insurrection on January 6th.

There may be times when they pause and say, I can't answer that because it may, in fact, involve some specific attorney/client privilege matter. But that will be taken up by the judge.

I think, at this point, it looks to me like the judges are moving ahead. The prosecutors are moving ahead. And it's very likely that Mr. Cipollone and Mr. Philbin will testify in the case. And I think it's probably appropriate at this point.

And, again, a lot of these moves, especially for the federal investigation, are designed to run the clock out through the midterms in the hopes that the committee will be disbanded and there will be a move away from interest in January 6th.

So I think Cipollone's been a fairly agreeable witness thus far. And I expect you'll see him appear in the investigation, the federal prosecution in D.C.

CABRERA: OK, Michael Moore, thank you so much for being there for us.

MOORE: Glad to be with you.

CABRERA: Great to have you with us.

[13:45:00]

Meanwhile, heated moments in a Wisconsin courtroom as a jury finds the driver accused of plowing his SUV into the Waukesha Christmas parade guilty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Burn in hell you piece of (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: Hey, you are to be removed right now. You will not do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: That was a victim's family member.

Now, a jury convicted Darrell Brooks on six counts of first-degree intentional homicide. That means a mandatory life sentence.

Six people died, including an 8-year-old boy, when Brooks drove his vehicle into the dozens gathered in Waukesha last November for its annual holiday event.

CNN's Josh Campbell joins us with more on the horrific attack and today's jury verdict -- Josh?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ana, this verdict, the culmination of one of the more unusual trials we've seen in recent years. The defendant here representing himself. He originally had an attorney. He fired that attorney.

He withdrew an original insanity defense and decided to represent himself. And that set in motion this nearly three-week trial where we saw the defendant often combative with witnesses, with the judge, interrupting the judge, very often.

At times, she actually removed him to a separate courtroom when he became particularly combative and disruptive.

But last night, what we heard were the closing arguments in the case. And we saw somewhat of a different defendant. You didn't see the bombast.

We saw him very emotional. He appealed to the jury to make the right decision, saying that he did not intend to drive through this crowd.

Of course, the state's case all along was that this was intentional.

That prosecutors stood up and gave a very forceful response to his claim. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN OPPER, WAUKESHA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: When you drive through a parade route and roll over children, children with band instruments, to the extent that your vehicle heaves up and down, your intent is known, Mr. Brooks. It doesn't have to be guessed. It's known.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: And after nearly three hours of deliberation, the jury agreed with the prosecutor that this was intentional. He was found guilty on six counts of intentional homicide that will require a mandatory life sentence -- Ana?

CABRERA: Josh Campbell reporting, thank you.

CAMPBELL: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: She says she knows where the bodies are buried. Because she helped. Police in Iowa are now investigating after a woman says her dad was a serial killer. More on this wild and disturbing story when we come back.

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[13:51:59]

CABRERA: Companies keep dropping deals with Kanye West. And now Forbes has dropped him, too, from its list of billionaires.

Forbes said West, who goes by the name Ye, is now worth a mere $400 million or so. West came under fire this month for his anti-Semitic comments. Adidas and Gap have cut ties.

But can his music survive the self-inflicted damage? We'll see. His long-time label, Universal Music group now says its relationship with West ended last year. His publisher, Sony Music, says it's no longer working with him.

Streams of his music dropped by 23 percent in the U.S. last week. And Spotify says it won't renew his music unless the label asks. Air play fell by 13 percent.

Meanwhile, music industry analysts are wondering if any company would even consider licensing his music.

This is quite the story. A woman in Iowa says her late father was a serial killer with as many as 70 victims. And she says she knows this because she helped get rid of the bodies.

Our Brynn Gingras joins us with more on this disturbing story.

Brynn, police are now looking for the remains of the alleged victims. Have they found anything?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, both disturbing and puzzling, right? Even to authorities right now, Ana.

These claims come from 53-year-old Lucy Studey, who says her father, Donald, was a serial killer, buried bodies in a well on a property in rural Iowa in a county basically 40 miles south of Omaha, Nebraska. She says she knows this because she helped.

Authorities listened to her claims. They went out to that area. They brought cadaver dogs.

And I want you to hear from the local sheriff what happened with those dogs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN AISTROPE, SHERIFF, FREMONT COUNTY, IOWA, SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: We did bring a couple cadaver dogs. Cadaver dogs looked in there and -- or, you know, looked around the area and they did indicate in the area. I'm not going to say it was right over the well or where. But they did indicate in the area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Now, listen, authorities who I have talked to admit cadaver dogs can't exactly be the most reliable.

So they are taking this seriously, bringing in other departments to help with this investigation. But this is an active investigation based on those cadaver hits and her claims.

CABRERA: It's just so hard to fathom. It's hard to believe. Is it possible that this woman is lying?

GINGRAS: I mean, it's possible. Listen, her sister, who is two years older than her, says this isn't true, I would know if my dad was a serial killer.

I think we have a full screen of what she said. I want to read it to you.

She said, "My father was not the man she makes him out to be. He was strict, but he was a protective parent who loved his children. Strict fathers don't just turn into serial killers. I'm two years older than Lucy. I think I would know if my father murdered."

Now, of course, authorities are going to also look into what she is saying. But big thing to note, there's no rush here. This man died almost a decade ago. There was no active serial killer on the loose.

But certainly, all these investigators want to get to the bottom of what's happening here, did this actually happen? And they may not get some answers for quite a while.

[13:55:04]

CABRERA: Brynn Gingras, lots to discover in this one. Thank you.

Let's end on a high note, shall we? An 8-year-old is currently hanging from the side of Yosemite's El Capitan on purpose. Sam "Adventure" Baker is on a mission to become the youngest to reach the summit of the shear peak in California.

He and his dad started this grueling climb yesterday. Expect to reach the summit within four days. Meaning they will sleep up there, too, in hammocks hanging in midair.

El Capitan is a class-five climb. That means it is the highest and the most difficult classification. Again, Sam is just 8 years old and he is an experienced climber. Clearly, a very brave young man.

That does it for me. I will see you back here tomorrow, same time, same place.

The news continues right after this.

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