Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Five People Charged in the Death of Matthew Perry; Columbia President Resigns After Protests Over Israel-Hamas War; Biden and Harris Tout Cutting Drug Prices; Swift Returns to Stage in London After Foiled Terror Plot. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 15, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Officials are now charging five people, including two doctors, in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry. A short time ago, the officials announced they uncovered a suspected network of distributors, including one called the Ketamine Queen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE MILGRAM, ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION: Matthew Perry's journey began with unscrupulous doctors who abused their position of trust because they saw him as a payday. And it ended with street dealers who sold him ketamine in unmarked vials.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Our Stephanie Elam joins us now with more on this. And Stephanie, prosecutors painted a truly ugly picture of how this all played out.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Completely ugly, Jessica. When you take a look at how close these people were to Matthew Perry at a time when he desperately needed help. They're saying, according to the U.S. attorney, that Matthew Perry relapsed in September of 2023. And these people around him took advantage of the fact that he was looking for any kind of way to get ketamine that he could. So we are looking at two main people, the lead people, who are facing charges. Both of those individuals were arrested this morning, we're told, and will be arraigned later today.

Those two people are Jasveen Sangha, who is the person, individual, who's known as "The Ketamine Queen." They're saying out of her operations, they found a lot of drug-selling paraphernalia, as well as other narcotics that she was selling out of there as well. They say that it was her dosage that actually was injected into Perry that led to his death.

The other person is Salvador -- Dr. Salvador Plascencia, or otherwise known as Dr. P. They're both facing charges related to the distribution of ketamine and conspiracy to distribute ketamine.

We have also been told by the U.S. attorney that they uncovered text messages between Dr. Plascencia and another doctor, Dr. Mark Chavez, who's also charged in this case, where he said to him, quote: I wonder how much this moron will pay.

They also went on to say that they were charging extraordinary amounts to Matthew Perry for each vial, saying a vial could cost like $12 for Dr. Plascencia, but they were charging him so much more, thousands more. They sold 50 vials for $11,000 in cash. That's just one example that we heard about.

Now, the other three people in this case have received plea deals, we understand. One of those would be Kenneth Iwamasa, who was Perry's live-in assistant. They also alleged that he injected ketamine into Perry the day that he died in late October of last year.

[15:35:03]

And then also Mark Chavez, as I mentioned, and then Eric Fleming, who was a broker who was buying the ketamine from the Ketamine Queen. This is what we have been learning here. But take a listen to how the U.S. attorney, Martin Estrada, explained how these people were working and how little they cared about Matthew Perry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN ESTRADA, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA: These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves. They knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry, but they did it anyways. In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr. Perry than caring for his well-being.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And you're looking at, in the case of the Ketamine Queen, she could be facing up to life in prison for this if the charges were to go through. But all in all, it's just a very sad ending to a story about a man who was in desperate need of help, and these people, instead of helping him, let him fall.

DEAN: Absolutely, Stephanie Elam, thank you so much for that.

A surprise ending to a tumultuous, relatively short tenure for the president of Columbia University, Minouche Shafik. She suddenly resigned yesterday, effective immediately, and just three weeks before fall classes start. Shafik's resignation comes after months of protests gripped the campus over the war in Gaza. She was vilified for authorizing police to remove hundreds of student protesters.

She also came under fire for her testimony during a contentious congressional hearing about rising anti-Semitism on college campuses. She's now the third female Ivy League president who testified to step down following nationwide protests over Gaza.

Elisha Baker is a Jewish student at Columbia and a rising junior. Elisha, thanks so much for being here with us this afternoon. I know you're getting ready to go back to school, start your junior year. I just first want to know what your reaction is to President Shafik's resignation, especially the timing that you all are getting ready to go back so soon.

ELISHA BAKER, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY JEWISH STUDENT: Yes, thanks for having me. Obviously, resignation, effective immediately, is surprising. But all I can think about, and all that really matters right now, is what comes next.

I'm thinking about, you know, will the next president, obviously, as she steps into this role, you know, assert strong leadership to make sure that it's a safe campus for Jewish students and actually a safe campus for all students to be able to return to classes in person and to be able to have a healthy learning environment, which is what we all signed up for at Columbia.

DEAN: And this new school year is kind of beginning where the last one ended, frankly. There's a lot of turmoil. The president's resignation is coming just after three other Columbia deans resigned after the university investigated them for a series of text messages that the university said touched on anti-Semitic tropes.

What are you thinking about all of this? What are your classmates thinking about all of this?

BAKER: I mean, what you've seen on campus is a kind of a mob that has recently actually self-described itself as fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization. And then we have professors that have been supporting this mob in that agenda and actually kind of bringing that agenda into classrooms. And that's a scary thing.

So I think it's a big moment of reckoning. What is the culture that we want to create on Columbia's campus? Right? How will it be safe for students, but also productive and open for learning in a way that by last spring it really wasn't?

DEAN: Yes, and I hear you when you were saying in your first answer, you want it to be a safe place for Jewish students, for all students to be able to go to school. I mean, essentially you're there to learn, right? And to get a degree. Are you confident that Columbia can make you and your fellow classmates feel safe as you head into this new year?

BAKER: It's about leadership and governance. The question is whether policies will be clarified, codified and enforced. And I say enforced because that's really, really important.

Over the last year, there have been different policies enacted. It's kind of unclear going into the semester what exactly the time, place and manner regulations on protests are and what the punishments are for students and faculty that violate those time, place and manner regulations. And to me, the only way we stand a chance is if those policies are clarified, then they're codified.

And then the university actually follows through on enforcing them. And that's what I see as kind of the first step of really strong, you know, a strong start and strong leadership from this new administration. And I'm really hoping that that starts from day one.

DEAN: And so it sounds like what you're saying is, you know, I hear all the steps you'd like them to take. It's fine to protest in terms of free speech but make it where the rules are followed and everybody feels safe.

BAKER: Right, and no masks, right? Because there has to be a way to identify protesters.

[15:40:00]

Because protesters throughout the entire year have proven that they do not care about the policies. So when those policies are inevitably violated -- and again, these protesters have stated openly that encampments are just the baseline and that they intend to escalate and escalate. And again, remember, this is a protest against Western civilization and it's a protest against Jewish students on campus and it's a protest against the existence of the state of Israel. All of these things, substantively, are, in my view, deplorable.

But in terms of the actual manner, right, we have to be able to identify the students that are breaking rules so that we can hold them accountable before any change could happen on campus.

DEAN: All right, Elisha Baker, thank you so much. Good luck on the new school year.

BAKER: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, the Biden White House is taking a victory lap, claiming a win on cutting drug prices. We're going to take a look at the life-saving drugs that will now cost less for a lot of seniors.

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: We just heard from President Biden and Vice President Harris on stage together for the first time since the president left the 2024 race.

SANCHEZ: Yes, the two touting their historic Medicare drug price negotiations. They expect Medicare and its enrollees to save billions of dollars on popular prescriptions for diabetes, blood clots, heart failure, and more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Kamala and all of us in this room, we're going to keep standing up for big pharma. I fought too damn hard to yield now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell is here with the details. Meg, what are the details? MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're estimating that this is going to save $6 billion in Medicare spending. In 2026, when these price negotiations, the cut prices go into effect, that's based on 2023 numbers. The out-of-pocket savings for seniors, they estimate will be $1.5 billion. And this covers just 10 drugs to start with. But these are the drugs that have incurred the biggest spending from Medicare. These are blood thinners, diabetes drugs, drugs for heart failure, arthritis, cancer, chronic kidney disease, and psoriasis.

They amounted for more than $50 billion in Medicare spending in 2023. That's 20 percent of Medicare Part D spending. And so how will this affect people personally?

Well, seniors under Medicare, for example, a hypothetical example that the administration has given is for the drug Stelara, which is on the list. It's a psoriasis drug and treats other autoimmune diseases. Right now, a 30-day 25 percent coinsurance out-of-pocket would cost $3,400 per month for seniors.

With the new negotiated price, they say that's going to come down to $1,100 per month until a cap on out-of-pocket costs for the year kicks in, after which time they won't pay anything more. So that's 66 percent discount right there on that one drug.

Some people argue there were already discounts in the system, so it's not quite as big as it looks, but still 22 percent savings, they say, across the board, guys.

DEAN: And Meg, that's the first year. Then what's the expectation for what this looks like as we move forward?

TIRRELL: Right. So the way this was written into the Inflation Reduction Act, we have 10 drugs that will be in effect in 2026, the negotiations. Each additional year adds more drugs to that, 15 in 2027 and 2028, and up to 20 in 2029.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that'll save $100 billion over a decade. And guys, one of the most high-interest drugs is Ozempic. That is estimated potentially to be on the list in 2027 -- guys.

DEAN: All right. Meg Tirrell, thanks so much for walking us through that.

Still ahead, Taylor Swift is back on stage for the first time since a thwarted terror plot. We'll tell you about the increased safety measures that are now in place.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Happening now, Taylor Swift back on stage in London performing for the first time since authorities busted up a terror plot targeting her shows in Vienna, Austria last week. SANCHEZ: Yes, the singer's holding a series of concerts at Wembley Stadium. London police say they are well prepared, outlining their plans to keep thousands of fans safe.

Joining us now live near Wembley Stadium is CNN's Salma Abdelaziz. Salma, what is it like near the venue?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, as you can see, it's pretty quiet here and that's because those many, many Swifties are inside Wembley Stadium. And I can tell you the moment that Taylor Swift stepped onto that stage, everyone could hear it. That roar was absolutely enormous.

And we were speaking to Swifty fans, of course, about how they felt about security measures given what happened in Vienna. And many of them outlined, yes, of course, they were concerned. Of course, it was top of mind. But they felt confident in this venue behind me here, Wembley and the police forces here. Take a listen to what a few of fans told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Going into it, I think the overriding feeling was, let's come together, let's be together and have a good evening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We read the news and it was disconcerting, but we really wanted to be here. And I think they've taken precautions. And my sister reassured me.

ABDELAZIZ: And Grace, how did you feel? I know your mom read you the news report. You were aware. How did you feel coming here today?

GRACE: I felt like a little nervous, but mostly so excited to see Taylor Swift.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ (on camera): Now, in other cities where, of course, the Eras tour has been, we've seen many fans, thousands of fans even congregating outside of stadiums. That is not taking place, as you can see behind me here. Authorities have been very clear that if you do not have a ticket, you should not come to Wembley Stadium.

We've seen police walking up and down here, moving people along. Now, that is not specifically because of what occurred in Vienna with that terror plot being foiled by authorities. You have to remember that the U.K. has its own history. In 2017, the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, that was attacked. Twenty-two people were killed.

So since that time, security measures have really been tightened around these types of events across the U.K. But for the Swifties who are here celebrating today, they are meeting this with absolute compassion and loads of friendship bracelets.

SANCHEZ: Salma Abdelaziz, thanks so much for the update. Still ahead, Australian Olympic officials are defending viral

breakdancer Raygun as an online petition questions how she was selected for the Olympic Games.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Australian breakdancer Rachel Gunn, aka Raygun, is responding to backlash over her highly panned and now viral Olympic performance in a brand new Instagram video. Gunn says the hate that she's received online has been devastating. She adds that while she had fun at the game, she took her performance seriously and gave it her all.

SANCHEZ: Australian officials are defending Gunn following an anonymous online petition they describe as bullying. The petition claims that qualifying events were rigged in Gunn's favor and alleges that her husband, who is also a breakdancer, manipulated the selection process. The online petition reached nearly 55,000 signatures as of this morning, but it has since been taken down.

DEAN: Now, the Australian Olympic Committee refutes those claims. It says the qualifier was approved by the International Olympic Committee and the World Dance Sport Federation, and Gunn had no position that gave her favor. This was the first year breaking was featured in the Olympics.

It could be the last. It's not on the competition list for the 2028 LA Games as of now.

SANCHEZ: Some of these images, you got to say, they're just iconic. You know what? I sympathize with her.

[16:00:00]

You ever go to a party, Jessica, you get on the dance floor, you're feeling the music, you're really into it, and then you look around and your friends are looking at you like --

DEAN: That would be good. Yes, it would be very sad. And poor Ray Gunn just was feeling it. And now --

SANCHEZ: Yes.

DEAN: -- they say that they categorize it as bullying.

SANCHEZ: Well, I actually went on her social media shortly before we ran the story. And some of the comments were just unnecessary. You got to dance to the beat of your own drum. And she clearly did that.

Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. Yes, we very much appreciate your company.

"THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts in just a few seconds. Stay with CNN.