Learn Russian: А что там? Там дерево и машина. - And what is there? There is a tree and a car.

Even though it is spelled with the letter ч (ch), the word что is almost always pronounced as if it were spelled што (shto). This is a very common pronunciation exception in Russian.

Why do we use что here instead of кто?

We use что (what) because we are asking about inanimate objects or things. If we were asking if a person or an animal was over there, we would use кто (who), as in кто там? (who is there?).

Where is the word for 'is' in these sentences?

Russian does not use 'is' or 'are' in the present tense. Because of this, что там? literally means 'what there?' and там дерево simply means 'there tree'.

The question starts with А (And), but later we see И (and). What is the difference?

Both can mean 'and', but they have different jobs. И simply joins things together, as in дерево и машина (tree and car). А is used to show a slight shift in the topic or to smoothly introduce a new question, similar to saying 'And what about over there?' in English.