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Blinken Returns to Middle East as Ceasefire and Hostage Talks Between Israel and Hamas Reach Climax; Haiti's Agreement with Kenya to Deploy Police Officers in the Violent-torn Nation is Stalled; Turkey's Inflation Rose to 67 Percent as Lira Weakens; Zionist Organization Hopes for a Return of Israeli Settlements in Gaza; Japanese L.A. Dodgers Star Fires Interpreter After MLB Opener in Seoul; Depression and Anxiety Patients Now Rely on Ketamine Therapy. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired March 21, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, America's top diplomat makes his sixth visit to the Middle East as Israel and Hamas inch slowly towards a possible ceasefire and hostage deal.
Fierce fighting around Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza as the Israeli military says it has killed more terrorists in the area. A closer look at what we know about the complex operation.
And an agreement for hundreds of Kenyan police officers to restore order in violence ravaged Haiti is on hold. We'll have a live report from Nairobi.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on his way to Egypt for more talks to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages held in the enclave.
Blinken says negotiators are getting closer to reaching an agreement but stressed it's up to Hamas to accept the deal. Blinken met Wednesday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and underscored the need to urgently address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
This comes as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a ground operation in the southern city of Rafa would proceed, quote, "to complete the victory over Hamas. And an evacuation plan for civilians in the city would be approved soon".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I want you to know that I have already approved the IDF's operational plan. And soon we will also approve the plan to evacuate the civilian population from the battle zones.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Meantime, the Israeli military is still surrounding the Al- Sheba hospital in Gaza. It claims to have killed more terrorists around the facility and detained a senior Hamas operative allegedly involved in the kidnap and murder of three boys 10 years ago.
Eyewitnesses tell CNN Israeli forces detained Palestinian journalists and health workers, blindfolded them and stripped them down to their underwear in the cold. The Israeli military claims senior Hamas terrorists were using the facility. CNN cannot independently verify the IDF's statements.
CNN's Nada Bashir is following all the developments. She joins us now live from London. Good morning to you, Nada. So what is the latest on the situation on the ground in Gaza amid Israeli airstrikes and a humanitarian crisis?
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, the situation continues to deteriorate, Rosemary. We are continuing to see, of course, airstrikes across Gaza and looming warnings of, again, a ground operation in the south. The Israeli leadership says they have operationally approved military action on the ground in the southern city of Rafah, where we know, of course, some 1.5 million people are now displaced. And as we know, the humanitarian situation is only growing more desperate by the hour.
We've heard that warning from the U.N.-backed report suggesting that a famine, an outright famine in Gaza could be declared and officially declared within the coming weeks, if not days. We are hearing, of course, of the severe, the catastrophic levels of starvation being faced by so many now, particularly in northern Gaza.
And it is, of course, in central and northern Gaza where it continues to be extremely difficult to get any sort of aid or humanitarian supplies to those most in need. And, of course, the situation around the Al-Shifa Hospital in central Gaza is also raising serious concern.
As we know, an Israeli military operation is said to be ongoing at the hospital. But this is a complex where some 3,000 people, including civilians, medical staff and patients, are said to be sheltering. And, of course, real concern for their safety and security, given the troubling eyewitness accounts and testimonies that we, as well as other aid organizations and international partners, have been receiving over the last few days.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASHIR (voice-over): I only left to find flour, to find food, this woman screams.
Where are they? Her husband, children and other relatives are nowhere to be found.
Their home destroyed in an Israeli airstrike while she was gone. Moments later, her nephew is pulled from the rubble.
[03:05:10]
But he is barely clinging on to life.
In central Gaza, as bombs continue to rain down, so do these foreboding leaflets.
A warning from the Israeli military for civilians to flee southwards, directed at those living in the El Rehman neighborhood and the thousands currently sheltering in the nearby Al-Shifa Hospital complex.
This was the scene at the beleaguered medical complex on Monday. The alarming sound of artillery fire echoing through the early hours of the morning.
Nobody has been able to reach those injured or killed at Al-Shifa, this eyewitness says, filming discreetly.
Some 3,000 people are believed to have been sheltering in and around the hospital when the raid began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israeli military vehicles, seen here in video filmed by a doctor in the hospital, have surrounded the complex for days. On Tuesday, one civilian trapped inside sent CNN this audio recording.
The hospital is still under bombardment. There has been heavy shelling and live fire, Lamya says. One man was just looking out of the window on the second floor when he was hit by a sniper and killed.
The Israeli military says it is conducting what it has described as a precise military operation targeting senior Hamas militants operating within the hospital complex. Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari accused Hamas on Monday of using the hospital as a command center.
It is the very same claim made by the IDF ahead of its raid on Al- Shifa back in November.
On Monday, the IDF released this video, showing a safe full of cash, an envelope with Hamas and Islamic Jihad insignia and a series of weapons, presented as evidence to justify its raid on the hospital. But much like the IDF raid in November, little other evidence was provided to prove the presence of a Hamas command center at the Al- Shifa hospital.
Hamas' military wing, meanwhile, has acknowledged that its fighters have been engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli troops in the area surrounding the hospital. Adding that Gaza's civil police chief, Fayek al-Mapouh, who led the coordination of food and aid deliveries to the strip, was killed during the raid.
In a statement, the IDF said Wednesday that approximately 90, quote, "terrorists" were killed, including al-Mapouh. The IDF also maintained that no harm had been inflicted on civilians or medical staff in the hospital.
But testimonies from Palestinians inside Al-Shifa tell a very different story.
We were informed by the Israelis that anyone moving within the hospital or around the hospital complex would be targeted by snipers, this medical student says. We can't leave the building to treat those injured outside. Some families attempted to leave, but they were targeted and killed.
Those who have been able to leave central Gaza are now forced to make the uncertain journey south. With no guarantee of protection or survival.
Stripped to their underwear and barefoot, these young boys say they are thankful just to have escaped with their lives. Recounting their harrowing experience, they say they were met with Israeli tanks and forced into an open square where they were interrogated and ordered to undress. Other men around them, they say, were killed.
Many evacuees have been badly wounded. Limp, bloodied bodies are carried by cart.
But there is little care available in the south anymore. And there is no telling whether these men, like so many others, will survive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASHIR: And of course Rosemary, the situation in southern Gaza where so many from northern and central Gaza are still attempting to flee or at least are being ordered to flee to wards by the Israeli military is also growing increasingly difficult with each passing day. Again, those warnings of a ground operation in Rafah have stoked concern not only amongst Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, but also amongst many in the international community, including some of Israel's closest allies.
[03:09:50]
We know, of course, that the White House and the Biden administration have been very vocal in calling on the Israeli leadership to do more, not only to protect civilian lives in southern Gaza, but also to allow more aid in, crucially through land crossings, where we have seen repeated obstructions, the U.N. accusing Israeli leadership of intentionally starving the Palestinian people.
And of course, as we anticipate further discussions and negotiations, particularly between the United States and Israel, it is expected that the situation in the south, and in particular the situation in Rafah, will be a primary focus.
The Biden administration is still saying they have not seen any credible plans just yet from the Israeli leadership or military for safe evacuation for civilians in Rafah ahead of this planned military operation on the ground. Rosemary.
CHURCH: Nada Bashir, joining us live from London. Many thanks for that report.
Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Senate Republicans at a policy lunch Wednesday and also criticized the recent speech by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who called for elections in Israel to form a new government. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson says he's considering inviting Mr. Netanyahu to address Congress, and a Republican senator says he plans to stand by Israel during its time of need.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. THOM TILIS (R-NC): Bibi will hear from us that we stand behind them. We stand behind the Israeli people, and we're not going to second guess. It's easy to be an armchair quarterback like Senator Schumer was last week. It's hard to lead in the circumstances that Mr. Netanyahu finds himself right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: In Washington, the clock is ticking ahead of a Friday night deadline to pass a funding package and avoid a partial government shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says Congress is making good progress, but admits it will be a tight squeeze to beat the weekend deadline.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing pushback from other Republicans who are frustrated over the deal he reached with the White House and Democrats to avert a shutdown. Once finalized, the package will head to the House floor for a vote.
A federal appeals court will now decide whether to allow Texas to temporarily enforce its controversial immigration law after hearing oral arguments in the case. The law, which is now on hold, is raising fears of racial profiling in a state where Latinos make up 40 percent of the population.
CNN's Rosa Flores spoke with one undocumented immigrant about the battle over the border and the message he has for Democrats and Republicans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GELACIO VELAZQUEZ, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT (translated): I am an undocumented immigrant.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gelacio Velazquez is an undocumented immigrant who has lived in Houston for 25 years.
VELAZQUEZ (translated): If I could vote at this moment, I would vote for Donald Trump. He's a nationalist and he wants this country to be well. My children born here and I want my children to be well.
FLORES (translated): And why else?
VELAZQUEZ (translated): I wouldn't vote for Joe Biden for this reason, Joe Biden has made the country an economic disaster.
FLORES: What would you tell Democrats who think that all immigrants are going to be on their side?
VELAZQUEZ (translated): Stop thinking that immigrants are ignorant. Democrats are kind nun you find on the street who tells you that they are going to help you. But when they have the power to help, they forgot their promises.
FLORES (translated): And for Republicans?
VELAZQUEZ (translated): Republicans like us like an electoral pinata. We're guilty of rapes. We are guilty of the drug consumption. But that's a great lie.
FLORES (voice-over): Velazquez says one of the measures used by Texas Republicans to terrorize the undocumented community is SB4, the Texas immigration law that's in legal limbo.
UNKNOWN: You see somebody crossing the river, automatically you know that he's violating that law.
FLORES (voice-over): Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the law to go into effect after a district court previously blocked it. Hours later, an appeals court blocked it again, causing confusion across the state.
UNKNOWN: I think even legal experts are calling this judicial whiplash.
FLORES (voice-over): Today, more whiplash as the appeals court hears oral arguments and Texas Governor Greg Abbott is vowing to enforce the laws already in the books.
GOV. GREG ABBOT (R-TX): Even without SB4, Texas has the legal authority to arrest people coming across the razor wire barriers on our border.
FLORES (voice-over): One Texas sheriff says the situation makes it difficult to implement the law and puts an undue burden on local communities.
CMDR. RYAN URRUTIA, EL PASO COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: This could put us in a situation where we could see jail closures because we would be at capacity.
FLORES (voice-over): Despite Velazquez's criticism of Republicans and their use of anti-immigrant rhetoric.
FLORES: He says he wants Donald Trump to win. Why Donald Trump? VELAZQUEZ (translated): He's a racist and of course I don't like that
he's a racist. Of course, I don't like Donald Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric, but at the end of the day it's just politics. Some will judge me, 'You want Donald Trump to win.' Well it's because he's a nationalist, that's why I want him to win. Nationalists love their country.
[03:15:01]
FLORES: And if you're wondering how can Gelacio Velazquez support Trump, given the anti-immigrant rhetoric. Well, Gelacio Velazquez says that he doesn't believe that Trump would actually act on that rhetoric. He says that he uses anti-immigrant rhetoric to get to the White House. And I specifically asked him if he would support Trump. And I specifically asked him about Trump's plan to put undocumented immigrants like him in camps and deport them.
And he says that he doesn't believe that Trump is going to do that because that plan would be inhumane and illogical. He says that it would be illogical to think that anybody would round up millions of undocumented immigrants who've been here for decades, who have U.S. citizen children and deport them. He says he just doesn't believe that Trump would do that. And he has this piece of advice for Republicans. That if Republicans stopped using anti-immigrant rhetoric, that they would secure more Hispanic votes.
Rosa Flores, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: The U.S. has started to evacuate its citizens out of Haiti as the gang violence intensifies. But an agreement for hundreds of Kenyan police officers to help restore order in Haiti is on hold. A live report from Nairobi after the break.
Plus, inflation is nearly 70 percent. The currency worthless. How Turkey is dealing with a devastating economic crisis. We'll have that and more after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Now to the ongoing tragedy in Haiti, where more U.S. citizens have been taken safely out of the violence ravaged nation. Flights organized by Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis are bringing people from Haiti to Orlando, Florida. About 360 Floridians are still in Haiti, according to state officials.
And the U.S. State Department says chartered helicopters carried 15 American citizens from Port-au-Prince to Haiti's neighbor, the Dominican Republic, on Wednesday. The Dominican Republic said on Wednesday it has helped nearly 300 people escape the escalating gang violence. The evacuees include personnel from the EU, the U.N., financial institutions and the Canadian and Cuban embassies.
Meantime, a deal signed weeks ago called for the deployment of a large Kenyan police force to reestablish order in Haiti. And CNN's Larry Madowo is live for us in Nairobi, Kenya. So, Larry, what is the status of that deal?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, this deal is in limbo. Kenya is awaiting a new administration in Haiti. And as soon as that is in place, President William Ruto has promised that a reconnaissance team will be in place and Kenya will not abandon Haiti at its time of need.
But there is opposition to this deal here in Kenya from civil society groups and others in the security sector who feel that this needs a military intervention, not a police force.
[03:19:59]
And that Kenya does not have enough police officers to maintain security here in the country. Their argument is if the Kenyan police have not been able to stamp out low-level crime and banditry here in Kenya, will they be able to deal with the gangs of Haiti?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MADOWO (voice-over): Kenyan President William Ruto marching ahead with a plan to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti despite strong opposition to the deployment at home.
Elite units of the Kenyan police are expected to lead the U.N.-backed multinational force to crush Haiti's gangs and restore order once a viable government is in place. Opposition lawmakers like Edwin Sifuna tried to block it.
EDWIN SIFUNA, NAIROBI SENATOR: Our police officers are going to harm's way in Haiti. This is not a situation that our regular police officers are used to. They have never encountered something like that. Their training does not extend to, you know, operations in fields of war.
MADOWO (voice-over): Kenyan police have been involved in peacekeeping missions for the past 35 years, including in Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Croatia, East Timor and Sierra Leone. Kenya currently has police serving in Somalia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a parliamentary report.
CHARLES OWINO, FORMER KENYAN POLICE SPOKESMAN: In all those missions, Kenya has not lost a single police officer on any combat.
MADOWO (voice-over): They're ready for Haiti, this senior policeman believes.
OWINO: Kenya has well-trained paramilitary officers from the General Service Unit. They have well-trained officers from Administration Police Special Operations Group. These are officers who have both local and international training, some of the best institutions in Israel, in the U.S.
MADOWO (voice-over): Haiti would be the most challenging deployment yet for Kenyan police, with criminal gangs and militias controlling the capital Port-au-Prince and holding the nation hostage.
WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT: It is a historic duty because peace in Haiti is good for peace in the world as a whole.
MADOWO (voice-over): President Ruto should push for a well-armed military contingent to take over, says this security analyst.
FRANCIS MAINA, SECURITY ANALYST: Our police officers cannot and can never be able to contain the threat of the criminality in Haiti. You need to send thousands of military personnel to come and disarm.
MADOWO (voice-over): The Kenyan parliament approved the planned police deployment to Haiti after an acrimonious debate in November.
SARAH KORERE PAULATA, RULING PARTY MP: When Haiti is not safe, we are not safe.
OPIYO WANDAYI, OPPOSITION MP: You cannot use our policewomen and men as guinea pigs at the altar of rent-seeking.
MADOWO: Civil society and opposition groups here in Kenya maintain that President Ruto's plan to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti remains illegal and unconstitutional, even after his government signed a reciprocal arrangement with the former prime minister of Haiti.
MADOWO (voice-over): The unelected Ariel Henry witnessed the signing of the legal requirement in Nairobi, but he never made it back to Haiti and resigned a few days later.
SIFUNA: That agreement does not hold any weight because you signed an agreement with an entity that does not have the mandate to call itself a government. Some of us think that it is because of the monetary incentive.
MADOWO: So you think President Ruto is doing this for the money?
SIFUNA: Absolutely.
MADOWO (voice-over): Kenya says the police are in the pre-deployment phase as it awaits a new Haitian administration.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MADOWO: While Kenya is in this pre-deployment phase, waiting to send this reconnaissance team to Haiti as soon as there's a new administration, there are calls for that reciprocal agreement signed between President Ruto and Ariel Henry to be released because it's not being made public.
And if it were to be made public and Kenya were to go ahead with this, there is likely to be another legal challenge in court. And the lawmaker you saw there, Edwin Sifuna, says if this is attested in court again, it will crumble because there's no legal basis for that. So that's one aspect of it.
The other is about the knowledge of the language and the terrain. Haitian, Creole and French are not widely spoken here in Kenya. And as many have pointed out, here in the country, Rosemary as well, there have been many previous interventions in Haiti that have failed by the United States, by Canada, by other countries in the region.
So what does Kenya bring to the table that these other better armed, better equipped teams from other countries have failed to do?
CHURCH: Larry Madowo, joining us live from Nairobi. Many thanks for that report.
The U.S. has finalized new regulations on tailpipes for passenger cars and trucks in a significant win for President Joe Biden's climate agenda.
It will push carmakers and U.S. consumers toward electric vehicles and hybrid cars. But the victory required some compromise. The rules will be phased in more slowly than planned and automakers will have more options for compliance.
Here's how the head of the Environmental Protection Agency explains it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL S. REGAN, ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY: This technology neutral and performance based standard gives the auto industry the flexibility to choose the combination of pollution control technologies best suited for their customers.
[03:25:07]
Let me be clear. Whether it's battery electric, plug in hybrid, advanced hybrid or cleaner gasoline vehicles, we understand that consumer choice is paramount.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Labor unions are concerned with how the regulations will affect auto workers and car companies say there are serious challenges with affordability and supply chain issues. Still, a former EPA official calls the new rules the single most important climate regulation in the history of the country.
Investors on Wall Street are cheering the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank's decision to keep interest rates unchanged. All three major indices closed at new record highs on Wednesday. The Dow up 1 percent, the Nasdaq gained 1.25 percent and the S&P closed above 5,200 for the first time ever. Interest rates in the U.S. are at a 23-year high, but the central bank is predicting three rate cuts later this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: The economy has made considerable progress toward our dual mandate objectives. Inflation has eased substantially while the labor market has remained strong. And that is very good news. But inflation is still too high. Ongoing progress in bringing it down is not assured and the path forward is uncertain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Policymakers say they see the Fed's key interest rate between 4.4 percent and 5.4 percent for the year ahead.
In Turkey, the annual inflation rate climbed to almost 70 percent in February. The lira was weakened by almost 10 percent this year, leading to higher prices for food and other essentials. CNN's Scott McLean looks at how people are coping with the economic crunch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Ottoman arches and domes of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar are a good reminder that empires rise and fall. When it comes to the value of the Turkish lira, lately, it only falls.
In a dimly lit alley of the market, exchange traders buy and sell foreign currency and gold for their shops, responding to the slightest of price movements.
MCLEAN: It's a little hard to figure out what's going on right now. Everybody shouting.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Today, gold and U.S. dollars are in high demand. The Turkish lira is not.
Right now, our money is almost worthless, he says. Because people haven't seen inflation fall, they don't trust the Turkish lira anymore.
But this ancient city never lost faith in a currency that's endured through the ages. Gold, coins, bars, even tiny one-gram chips.
People used to buy real estate or land, says this dealer. Right now, because the interest rates are so high, they either put money in the bank or buy gold.
Just outside the gates of the bazaar, it's all about the Benjamins. There is so much demand that exchange offices are paying even more than the market rate.
Because so many people are buying the dollar, we have to buy them at a higher price, and we sell them at a higher price, he tells me.
MCLEAN: It sounds like you think that the lira is only going in one direction.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Right now, that's how it is.
MCLEAN: The Turkish Central Bank has hiked the interest rate now to 45 percent in an effort to tame inflation, but so far, it hasn't. The official inflation rate is now 67 percent. And unofficial estimates suggest it is much higher.
MCLEAN (voice-over): In January, to help the poorest Turks cope, the government doubled the minimum wage from a year ago, just ahead of the coming local elections. But some economists believe that has only made inflation worse.
KERIM ROTA, ECONOMIST: In order to break that cycle, you have to do something. So we will see after the elections if the government is serious about fighting inflation or not. Central Bank increased the credit card rates last week, and it is monthly 5 percent. Monthly 5 percent means 80 percent on an annualized rate. And if you add up the taxes, it's around 113 percent.
MCLEAN: Who can afford that?
ROTA: Nobody can afford that.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Across the Bosphorus, on Istanbul's Asian side, people are stocking up on iftar essentials this Ramadan. Freshly baked pide, fish and meat.
Prices are crazy. This year, it's too much, this woman says.
You can say you're young, you can work. But I do work, and I still can't make a living. And I have two jobs, this man tells me.
MCLEAN: Do you keep your money in Turkish lira or do you keep it in American?
[03:30:00]
MELIK ALKEZ, PRESCHOOL TEACHER: I can't keep anything. I can't save.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Preschool teacher Melik Alkez also has credit card debt at sky-high interest rates.
MCLEAN: How do you dig yourself out of that hole?
MELKEZ: You see, she's asking for the money for bread.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Scott McLean, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Next on "CNN Newsroom", return of the settlers. After almost six months of war, thousands of Jewish settlers, forced to leave Gaza almost 20 years ago, now want to go back for good. We'll have a report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Almost two decades ago, Israel left the Gaza Strip and evicted settlers who didn't leave voluntarily. Now, in the wake of the October 7th attack, far-right Israelis are pushing for a return to the settlements. CNN's Clarissa Ward reports from the West Bank.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): High in the hills of the occupied West Bank, a flag flies in the face of a Palestinian village. God is king, it says. Two young settlers guard this illegal outpost. Construction hasn't even begun. But we are not welcome.
WARD: So they're asking us to leave. They don't want to talk to us. They said they've been here for about nine months.
WARD (voice-over): Dotted across the landscape, more signs of the fight to assert Israeli control over Palestinian land. The Arabic names on signposts crudely erased.
Under international law, the Beit Hagla settlement is illegal. But last February, the Israeli government officially recognized it, along with eight others, a move the U.S. strongly opposed.
We're here because God promised us this land, as Real Picar tells us.
Now, these settlers have set their sights on a new prize, one that seemed utterly impossible before October 7th.
Returning to Gaza, they cheer. That is the goal of Zionist settler organization Nachala, one of more than a dozen groups now advocating for the reestablishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza.
A recent promotional video even boasts that Gaza will become the next Riviera.
Daniela Weiss is the godmother of the movement. She's already started recruiting from the 700,000-strong settler community of Israel.
[03:35:05]
WARD: We're just arriving now at a settlement in the occupied West Bank, and we're heading to a talk that Daniela Weiss is giving to a group of people who are potentially interested in resettling Gaza.
We are for the land of Israel and Ben-Gvir, she says. About 20 people gather in the living room of a family home. Weiss knows that for many in this community, there is deep nostalgia for Gush Katif, a block of 21 Israeli settlements that were forcibly evacuated by the IDF in 2005 when Israel left the Gaza Strip.
This is the vision of Gaza, she says. You see all the nucleus groups. A map has already been drawn up, with six groups laying claim to different parts of the enclave.
WARD: So they've just been handing out these little booklets that say people of Israel return home, and then underneath a call to return to the settlements of Gaza.
One of the organizers tells the group they have a representative flying to Florida to raise money. Nachala gets support from a number of groups in the U.S., including AFSI, Americans for a Safe Israel, which co-sponsored a recent webinar on the return to Gush Katif, even as the Biden administration has cracked down on settlements in the West Bank. DANIELLA WEISS, DIRECTOR, NACHALA: There is a very strong support from very prominent, from very, I would say, wealthy people, wealthy Jews in the U.S.
WARD: Can you name any names?
WEISS: No, I cannot. No.
WARD (voice-over): Back at her home in Kedumim settlement, Weiss tells us she's already enrolled 500 families.
WEISS: I even have on my cell phone names of people who say, enlist me, enroll me, I want to join. I want to join the groups that are going to settle Gaza.
WARD: I have to ask you though, because we're sitting here talking, and we're listening to the call to prayer.
WEISS: Yeah, I'm listening. I hope you are listening too.
WARD: Which is a reminder, I think, of the people who live here, but also the people who live in Gaza. What happens to them in this vision of this new settlement with Jewish settlers even in Gaza City?
WEISS: What I think about Gaza, the Arabs of Gaza lost the right to be in Gaza on the 7th of October. Yes, I do hear the mosque, I do hear the prayer. Things were different until the 7th of October. No Arab, I'm speaking about more than 2 million Arabs, they will not stay there. We, Jews, will be in Gaza.
WARD: That sounds like ethnic cleansing.
WEISS: The Arabs want to annihilate the state of Israel. So you can call them monsters, you can call them cleansing of Jews. We are not doing to them, they are doing to us. I couldn't make it clearer when I said that myself, as a person who is preoccupied with settling the land, until the 7th of October, I didn't have plans of returning to Gaza. It's clear, I'm not interested in cleansing.
WARD (voice-over): What is clear is that Weiss' views, traditionally seen as extreme in Israel, have become more popular since October 7th.
In late January, jubilant crowds packed an auditorium in Jerusalem for the Victory of Israel conference, calling for the resettlement of Gaza.
A poll that month from the Jewish People Policy Institute found that 26 percent of Israelis advocate the reconstruction of the Gush Katif settlements after the war is over.
Among supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition government, that number jumps to 51 percent.
Several ministers were present at the conference, including far-right heritage minister, Amahai Eliyahu. In a rare interview with Western media, he tells us his political decisions are guided by the Torah. WARD: Is there anything about Gush Katif in here?
AMAHAI ELIYAHU, ISRAELI HERITAGE MINISTER: Yes. Yes.
WARD (voice-over): And that settlements in Gaza are needed to prevent another October 7th.
ELIYAHU (through translator): The language of the land says that wherever there is a Jewish settlement, there will be more security. Doesn't mean there will be absolute security, but there will be more security.
WARD: Why would you advocate for something that many would say is illegal, is immoral, is not supported by the majority of Israelis, and is also very harmful to Israel in terms of its international standing?
[03:40:00]
ELIYAHU (through translator): Why do you think it's immoral to take land from someone who wants to kill me? Why is it immoral to take my land, which my ancestors lived there, which I've even given up, to someone who slaughters, rapes, and murders me? What is more immoral than that?
WARD (voice-over): Netanyahu has called resettling Gaza, quote, an unrealistic goal, and most Israelis agree. But that hasn't stopped scores of IDF soldiers fighting there from posting videos, calling for a return to Gush Katif. For many supporters of the settler movement, what was once a distant fantasy is now a fervent dream.
Clarissa Ward, CNN, The Occupied West Bank.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: At least ten people are wounded after a new Russian strike on Kyiv. That is according to the city's mayor, who says two of the victims are hospitalized.
Officials say the capital took fire from cruise and ballistic missiles Thursday morning. Ukrainian air defenses reportedly shot down about three dozen of them, but the missiles that got through caused significant damage on the ground.
And for more, Sebastian Shukla joins us now from Berlin. So, Sebastian, what more do we know about this morning's attack on Kyiv?
SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Rosemary, after a 44-day hiatus, Ukraine has come under attack from Russia, or the Ukrainian capital has come under attack from Russia again. So, in recent times, it's really quite rare that Kyiv would come under or see a barrage as it saw this morning.
As you mentioned, only ten people have been injured. There are no fatalities, thankfully. But it all comes just hours after Jake Sullivan was in Kyiv meeting with the Ukrainian president in what was largely publicly, anyway, appears to have been more of an optics tour to say that, look, Ukraine, we are still standing with you.
The United States is still standing with you because it's been 13 months since Joe Biden or Jake Sullivan have even been in the Ukrainian capital. And with that $60 billion military aid package still stuck in Congress, I think the White House wanted to get the message across saying, bear with us. We're going to do our best. We think we will get this over to you, but we can't promise when it will be.
Pivoting, as we come back into Europe, there is an E.U. Council meeting today of E.U. leaders where Ukraine will once again be top of the agenda. And the European Council President Charles Michel in his note that goes to E.U. leaders ahead of the meeting has already suggested that Ukraine is going to be the number one billing.
I want to read to you what he wrote, which is, into the third year of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, we face a pivotal moment. Urgency, intensity and unwavering determination are imperative. Our foremost task is the swift provision of military aid to Ukraine and fast-track procurement and delivery of ammunition to Ukraine.
So that idea of military aid is becoming increasingly fraught for the Ukrainian army as they see they continue to lose small bits of ground and they are coming under renewed attack again from Russia.
But one of the interesting things Rosemary to look out as well in today's Council or over the next couple of days is the idea that Ukraine, Russian frozen assets, the profits of which could be used to fund, help Ukraine fund its war and reconstruction as it goes into its third year and these are frozen assets held within European central banks. Rosemary.
CHURCH: Sebastian Shukla in Berlin, many thanks for that report, I appreciate it.
And still to come, lost in translation, the Los Angeles Dodgers fire the interpreter for superstar Shohei Ohtani after the first game of the season. We'll explain.
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[03:45:00]
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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. A major league scandal is brewing on baseball's opening day. The Los Angeles Dodgers have fired the interpreter for their star player Shohei Ohtani.
Earlier ESPN and the "L.A. Times" reported the interpreter was accused of massive theft. Ohtani's legal team says the translator stole millions of dollars and placed bets with a bookmaker. The Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres in Wednesday's MLB season opener in Seoul, South Korea and the interpreter was there with Ohtani at the time.
CNN's Hanako Montgomery is following developments for us. She joins us live from Tokyo. So Hanako, what more are you learning about these allegations and of course the fallout?
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rosemary. So as you mentioned, Mizuhara has been fired from the L.A. Dodgers and also we're learning from a statement provided to CNN from Ohtani's lawyers that and I say and I quote, "in the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities".
This is provided again to CNN by Ohtani's lawyers and now also from an ESPN interview with Mizuhara on Tuesday, we learned that Mizuhara has denied ever betting on Major League Baseball games and that Ohtani has never been involved in any of the gambling.
Now Rosemary, I have to say this has been a huge, huge shock for fans in Japan, especially given the fact that there is so much excitement around Ohtani being in Seoul playing for the Major League Baseball season opener and also the recent news that he got married.
And you know, adding to this is the fact that Ippei Mizuhara is no stranger. He is the longtime translator and friend of Ohtani. The pair have actually been working together since 2013 when Ohtani was still playing professional baseball in Japan and in fact, because Ohtani trusted Mizuhara so much, he asked the translator to move with him to Los Angeles when he first made the move to Major League Baseball back in 2018.
And also, their relationship isn't just all about business. It's actually one of friendship. The two are always seen together. They are practically joined at the hip. Mizuhara in the past has joked about how he spends more time with Ohtani than he does with his own family. So because of their relationship, Mizuhara's profile has also been, you know, extremely elevated.
So because of the nature of their relationship, again, this has been such a shock to Japanese fans. Many of them are concerned. They are worried about how this emerging gambling scandal could affect Ohtani's performance given the fact that also this season has literally just begun.
So again, it remains to be seen how this gambling scandal will affect the pair's relationship, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Alright, Hanako Montgomery, many thanks for joining us live from Tokyo.
Still to come, the rise of ketamine therapy. A growing number of people are turning to the medication to help them cope with depression and anxiety. The science behind the treatment. That's next.
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[03:50:00]
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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Elon Musk is opening up about using ketamine for his mental health. The billionaire Tesla CEO revealed in an interview that he takes a prescription form of the drug about once every other week.
He says he doesn't abuse it and it's helpful for getting him out of a negative frame of mind. Musk is among a growing number of people who have turned to ketamine for medical help.
The drug is primarily used in hospitals as an anesthetic and it's increasingly being explored as a potential treatment for depression, anxiety, PTSD and other mental health issues.
Dr. Gerard Sanacora is a Professor of Psychiatry and the Director of the Depression Research Program at Yale University. Thank you doctor for being with us.
DR. GERARD SANACORA, DIRECTOR, YALE DEPRESSION RESEARCH PROGRAM: It's nice to be here, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So we are seeing rising popularity in the use of ketamine therapy to treat mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. And Tesla CEO Elon Musk has talked openly about his use of the medication. What exactly is ketamine therapy? How does it work and what does it entail?
SANACORA: So ketamine itself is a medication. It's actually an anesthetic medication. It was originally approved by the U.S. FDA in 1970. So it's a medication that's been around for a long time.
About 20, going on 25 years ago now, it was found to have rapid onset of antidepressant effects where a single dose could generate dramatic improvement in a patient's mood. A patient suffering from depression, that could last for several days or even weeks.
Since that time research has continuously shown that it can generate antidepressant responses in people that haven't benefited from the standard oral antidepressant type treatments.
But now we're starting to learn a lot more about the fact that although it can generate a rapid onset of effect, for most people it's going to require several doses and for some people it's going to require maintenance doses that go on over time.
CHURCH: And what are the benefits and the dangers also of this type of therapy for various mental health issues?
SANACORA: Yeah, so the real, the biggest benefit is this rapid onset of very robust antidepressant-like effects. Especially in people that haven't benefited from the standard oral antidepressants or from talk therapy. And that has really been demonstrated quite clearly.
However, it doesn't come free of risk. There are some more immediate physical risk changes in heart rate and blood pressure that could create real problems for people at risk. But there's also psychological risk to it.
People have pretty dramatic changes in their cognition and perception while they're taking this medication. And for most people that can be managed easily in the appropriate setting. However, for some people that could be a very difficult experience.
CHURCH: And Elon Musk has revealed in a recent interview that he has a doctor's prescription for ketamine and uses what he says is a small amount once every other week to get himself out of what he calls a negative frame of mind or depression. And he says that investors, his investors, should want him to keep taking it. He says, if you take too much, you can't function. So he just takes enough to get the job done. But he's known for his sometimes erratic behavior, isn't he? So is that linked in any way to ketamine use or is that one of the reasons he would be using ketamine?
SANACORA: Well, it would be impossible for me to know anything about Mr. Musk specifically. But we have to remember that a version of ketamine, S-ketamine, has actually received FDA, U.S. FDA approval back in 2019.
[03:55:09]
So we know quite a bit about this medication. And in that case, the approval has come with what the FDA calls a risk evaluation mitigation strategy.
So it really controls the frequency of the dosing, the amount of the dosing, and very importantly, it requires that it's administered by a healthcare professional in a healthcare setting.
I could not tell from what Mr. Musk said how this was being done, but this is an FDA approved treatment that many people, you know, now we have reports on well over 50,000 people and coming up on a million administrations. So we know quite a bit about the FDA approved version. The further we get away from that standard use of the medication, the less we know about it.
CHURCH: So how readily available is ketamine therapy? And do you have any advice for people who might be listening right now who are considering using it?
SANACORA: So it's questionable how easy it is to get ketamine therapy, and it does vary somewhat by region.
But again, it is an FDA approved treatment in the form of S-ketamine.
So that is available throughout most of the U.S. and in several parts of the world. So that is readily available for most people.
The intravenous ketamine comes at a little bit harder to find.
We have less evidence overall, although there's growing evidence to suggest that the intravenous ketamine therapy is effective. But as I said, the further we get away from that, what we know from the FDA trials, the less we know about it. What I recommend to people is that you really go to a reputable place.
The FDA approved medication comes with a very strict REMS so that you have to use it a certain way or you can't use it. But a lot of physicians go around that and they just use the off-label treatment, but you can use that however you want.
We have to be very aware of the fact that this is not a medication like Prozac, for example, that you take daily, that you're always looking to have this medication on board. This is a medication that you take pulsatile, you take it at a time and then you leave periods of time for your brain to have time to heal from it or time to have the reaction that seems to be generating that antidepressant response.
CHURCH: Dr. Gerard Sanacora, thank you so much for joining us. I Appreciate it.
SANACORA: You're welcome, Rosemary. Thank you.
CHURCH: And thank you for spending part of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with Bianca Nobilo.
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