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Netanyahu Says Mistaken Hostage Killings An "Unbearable Tragedy"; U.S. Says Israel Will Now Focus On Precisely Targeting Hamas Leadership; Potent Storm Threatens Florida, U.S. East Coast; Ukrainian Morale Suffers Hit With Delayed Foreign Aid; IDF Taking Humanitarian Pause In Part Of Rafah; Trump Administration Responsible For Missing Intel On Russia; Arizona Governor Deploys National Guard To Southern Border; Prince Harry Wins Damages In Phone Hacking Case. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired December 16, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: A very warm welcome to all of you watching in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Isa Soares. Ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM:
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SOARES (voice-over): Growing anger and calls to bring hostages home as the IDF investigates why its troops accidentally killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza.
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SOARES (voice-over): America's mayor gets hit with a staggering judgment in a defamation lawsuit. We will find out how much a jury says Rudy Giuliani should pay.
And Ukraine's bid for the E.U. membership moves forward with no agreement on aid. How this delay could prove costly for Ukrainian troops as well as morale.
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SOARES: First this morning we begin with grief as well as outrage in Israel, after the Israeli military says it mistakenly shot and killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza after misidentifying them as a threat. Several dozen protesters gathered on the streets of Tel Aviv from Friday. Night have a look at This
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SOARES (voice-over): The crowd there chanting, "Everyone now," demanding the government take immediate action to bring the remaining hostages home safely. The IDF has identified the three Israeli citizens it killed in northern Gaza. You're seeing them on your screen. All three were kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7th terrorist
attacks. They're Yotam Haim, Samer Talalka and Alon Shimriz.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday described their deaths as, quote, "an unbearable tragedy." He says that Israel will learn the lessons of the incident. Israel's military says it's still gathering facts about the fatal shooting. It began reviewing the incident immediately. Our Alex Marquardt has the latest from Tel Aviv.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: In announcing the three tragic deaths of these Israeli hostages, the Israeli military said that this is a sad and painful incident and that the IDF bears full responsibility for what happened.
They launched an investigation into how these three men, Yotam Haim, 28 years old, Alon Shimriz, 26 -year old and Samer al-Talalka, 25 - year old, how they were killed.
What they know now and what they've told the public is that these three men were seen as a threat, when they were spotted by Israeli soldiers in the northeastern Gaza neighborhood of Shejaiya, where there has been heavy fighting.
The Israeli soldiers opening fire. When those bodies were taken back to Israel, they were confirmed to be among the more than 100 Israeli hostages. Now there are a lot of questions that still remain.
The IDF says that they had been fiercely fighting Hamas militants in the area, many of whom had been wearing civilian clothing, some of whom who weren't carrying weapons but they were suicide bombers.
A spokesman for the IDF was asked whether the men were shouting or speaking in Hebrew, whether they had their hands up. He said that will be part of the investigation.
But he did speculate that these three may have either escaped from captivity or they may have been released as militants, fled south because of the heavy pressure being put on them by the IDF.
The IDF also issuing a warning to soldiers in Gaza tonight to be much more vigilant about civilians and also gave tips on how to identify the remaining hostages.
Now in the wake of the news, a protest erupted in Tel Aviv at 10:30 in the evening. It started at HaKirya, which is where Israel's defense ministry is based. It's the equivalent of the Pentagon.
And marchers walked all across the city for some three hours, demanding that Israel's government bring the hostages home.
I spoke with one young man, who said he wants the government to do whatever they can to strike another deal, to bring more hostages home. I spoke with a retired general, who told me that tonight was supposed to be a night of celebration, that they were supposed to be marking three hostages who had escaped from Hamas captivity.
Instead, he said everyone in Israel is crying.
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MAJ. GEN. NOAM TIBORI, IDF (RET.): They need to announce that to bring back the hostages is the number one priority for this war. And I think, you know, the clock is ticking. And it's against the hostages.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): We want to do everything we can to bring back the hostages -- even to bring all the prisoners from Israel. I don't know. We just want our family. We just want our friends.
We are asking our government, our cabinet, to do the best they can, to find more solutions, because we want our friends and we want our family now.
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MARQUARDT: That general, Noam Tibori, is actually a hero, considered a hero here in Israel for his acts on October 7. He went on to tell me that the Netanyahu government has to make a deal with the devil.
That's a reference to Hamas, of course. He says that he is willing to pay a very high price to get these hostages home -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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SOARES: U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan says Israel will transition to a new phase of the war, focused on, quote, "more precise ways of targeting Hamas leadership."
He made those remarks on Friday in Tel Aviv after meeting with Israeli president Isaac Herzog. Sullivan also says the U.S. wants to see results on Israel's intent to avoid civil casualties in Gaza.
Sullivan then traveled to Ramallah in the West Bank to meet with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. The White House said they talked about getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
And Sullivan, quote, "stressed the importance of enhancing the protection of civilians."
Let's get more on all of this. Joining us from Ramallah is Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. He is the president of the Palestinian National Initiative and a member of Palestinian parliament.
Good morning, good to see you. Let me pick up with what we have heard from Jake Sullivan, saying that Israel will transition to what he called a new phase of the war but also calling for more care to limit civilian casualties. Your reaction to what we heard. DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, PRESIDENT, PALESTINIAN NATIONAL INITIATIVE: I
think what Mr. Sullivan is saying is not enough at all. On the contrary, he's advocating the continuation of this terrible war for months to come.
If we count the Palestinians who have been killed, including the ones that are under the rubble, there are more than 25,000 Palestinians killed and 10,000 children killed. Include an addition to 50,000 people injured.
How many more people should die?
I think this solution is not the continuation of this terrible war, which will take lives of Palestinians as well as Israelis, but to stop the war. Since the 7th of October we have been saying that the best solution is a complete, permanent cease-fire and an exchange of prisoners.
Today, as you have mentioned, Israelis are shooting their own prisoners. Up until now, it's not just the last three; 19 others were killed by the Israeli bombardment. And, it is now estimated that more than 300 of them were also killed on the 7th of October by Israeli planes.
The solution is immediate and permanent cease-fire and not the continuation of this war.
SOARES: On that last point, to point out to our viewers, that has never been verified. We did report just now of, course on the growing anger as well from Tel Aviv to bring the hostages home.
As the IDF looks to investigate, as you know, (INAUDIBLE) troops accidentally, in their words, killed three Israeli hostages. Let me talk to you about the politics. I would like to get your thoughts on this.
We have seen, this week, a growing rift between the U.S. and Israel in what relates to this so-called day after. The U.S. has said, the Palestinian Authority should assume governance. (INAUDIBLE) in Gaza after the war.
But Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected the idea, saying, it would not happen as long as he's prime minister.
What challenges do you see?
How does the U.S. thread this needle?
BARGHOUTI: Well, the challenge is in Netanyahu's government. It is a very extreme government. It has fascist elements in it like Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. And Netanyahu himself is interested only in one thing, the continuation of this war forever.
Because, if he loses his position as prime minister, he will go to jail. This is for sure. The reality here, is that what Netanyahu speaks about is the reoccupation of Gaza and then finding some other country or some other structure to take care of the civilian needs of the people under his occupation in violation, by the way, of international law.
The Americans say they want to bring in the Palestinian Authority but it has to be a check (ph) and a different kind of authority. I don't know what kind of authority, secured, more securitized authority, which will not work.
The reality is that nobody can impose on Palestinians who should govern them. That should be the standard. Palestinians have to choose their leaders through democratic, free elections, of which we were deprived from since 2006.
But the reoccupation of Gaza will only complicate the problem. What we need is to end the occupation, which has been there for 56 years, and not expand it into Gaza.
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SOARES: And on the war that we have been seeing this week, we heard the Israeli defense minister basically saying, as he was meeting Jake Sullivan, that the war in Gaza will last more than several months.
If this continues, from a geopolitical perspective, how much damage does this do to the U.S. reputation in the Middle East?
BARGHOUTI: It has already caused so much damage. But it will be worse. I don't think the Arab countries and many other countries in the region can relate to the anger of their own people.
The people are out in the streets. You see them everywhere. People are so angry about these massacres that are committed against the Palestinian people, the war crimes like genocide and the collective punishment and the transfer of Palestinians, the ethnic cleansing that has happened.
Ninety percent of the people have been forced out of their homes several times. This has to stop. And I think that the United States will lose a lot, not only in the Middle East but worldwide.
You have to be aware also the fact that the USA and Israel and many other Western countries are sending the world one message, that we don't have international law anymore. And the law of the jungle is prevailing.
This will have severe consequences in other parts of the world, like Southeast Asia and many other countries, like in Europe as well. So they are playing with fire. And this has to stop and the only way to stop it is to have immediate, permanent cease-fire.
SOARES: Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, as always, great to speak, you thank you very. Much sir.
BARGHOUTI: Thank you.
SOARES: Rudy Giuliani, the man once known as America's mayor, is now on the hook for nearly $150 million. After more than 10 hours of deliberations, a Washington jury ordered Giuliani to pay more than $148 million in damages to the two Georgia election workers he defamed following Donald Trump's 2020 presidential defeat.
After the verdict Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman, the two women at the center of this trial, spoke out about the personal cost of Giuliani's lies. This is what they said.
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SHAYE MOSS, PLAINTIFF: We hope no one ever has to fight so hard just to get your name back.
RUBY FREEMAN, PLAINTIFF: I can never move back into the house that I called home. I will always have to be careful about where I go and who I choose to share my name with.
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SOARES: Giuliani said he plans on appealing the judgment, saying, quote, "the absurdity of the number merely underscores the absurdity of the entire proceeding."
Some 70 million people are under threat of severe weather today, as a powerful storm system threatens Florida and the entire East Coast. The possibility of flooding and severe winds already prompted Florida's governor to activate the National Guard. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses could lose power.
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SOARES: The allies delayed the next round of aid for Ukraine just as it faces another brutal winter. Still ahead, we talked to a former defense minister about how long Ukrainians can hold out without more aid. This story after the break.
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SOARES: Welcome back.
Ukraine is fighting political headwinds to keep foreign aid for its war efforts coming. On Friday, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban blocked the next batch of E.U. military aid worth $55 billion.
That happened after an even bigger U.S. aid package became stalled in Congress. Because of that, Ukraine's will to fight is taking a hit. Nick Paton Walsh reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Even if U.S. and E.U. billions do end up finding their way to Ukraine, the damage of this delay on both parts has been to Ukrainian morale. This has been a ghastly summer for Ukrainian troops, trying to prosecute a counteroffensive that hasn't had the success they wanted.
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WALSH (voice-over): Now they face a winter where their invigorated Russia, using everything they possibly can -- Drones, prisoners -- to attack their positions. But no longer, do they feel that the pretty much the West unified has their back.
That is essentially the big change this week. I think it will slowly deteriorate Ukraine's readiness here. It is going to be a very difficult winter. But it is going to be, frankly, impossible to continue their defense, if the U.S. and E.U. money dries up.
One medic I spoke to, who had lost a friend in the last month, he said to me, without this aid, we are finished.
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SOARES: For more we are now joined by Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former Ukrainian defense minister. He's also the chairman of the think tank Centre for Defence Strategies and is a distinguished fellow at The Atlantic Council. He's speaking to us from Kyiv.
Great to see you this morning. I don't know if you heard our correspondent there, showing us really the harsh reality on the front lines with Ukraine. Clearly as you saw, facing another cold as well as bleak winter, while being locked, of course, in this military stalemate.
Talk to what we've seen the last few days. The E.U. aid $55 million, blocked by Hungary's leader.
What does this mean for Ukraine's, war as well as the counteroffensive? Here
ANDRIY ZAGORODNYUK, FORMER UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: It's very simple. If Western supporters are walking away, which I sincerely hope is not going to happen, because it will be completely ridiculous.
But if that's happening then it will mean that there will be substantially more deaths on the front line because we will need to bring more people in order to do something, which we could do with the weapons provided by the West.
There would be a lack of ammunition, a lack of weapons. It absolutely doesn't mean that Ukraine will suddenly decide not to fight.
Of course, we will be standing. But it just means that substantially more casualties, substantially more death, potentially more lost territory and civilians as well.
Russians are trying to advance in the areas, which are populated by civilian populations, which will then live, in a nightmare of their occupation. Of course, there's still bombing. For example Kyiv, tonight was bombed, they tried to bomb them with tens of different rockets and drones and so on, which will be downed by the air defense.
Of course that would not be happening. So that is the consequence.
SOARES: That is a consequence. The solidarity, though the funding, the money isn't there. The solidarity though with Kyiv is still there right. We saw that with the accession talks getting the green line this week with continued support from President Biden.
This political gridlock in the U.S. on Ukraine funding, what is the risk, though, the long term risk here for Ukraine if it doesn't get this? Aid
I wonder, can it go it alone, without U.S. funding?
ZAGORODNYUK: For some time yes --
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SOARES: For how long?
ZAGORODNYUK: We're talking about -- it depends on the systems and weapons. Some systems and weapons like Patriot missiles we completely rely on the United States. In this case we're talking about weeks sometimes months.
But on some weapons we need them right away. We're talking about weeks again. Of course we have support from Europe, we have support from Britain and they are providing whatever they can. But in many, many cases the U.S. is the sole supplier of certain items.
SOARES: I'm sure you saw as some of my viewers did see this week, President Putin and his conference, four hours conference, where he sounded and looked kind of like he was winning. He said in as many words, that he believes that European and Western support for Ukraine is dwindling.
What does the dithering, the political dithering from the U.S., what does it do for President Putin?
ZAGORODNYUK: First of, all it gives him a very good media opportunity. Putin is capitalizing on anything he can. Because actually, as the United States government confirmed, we have killed or wounded 90 percent of their original army.
So for any country that would be devastating. But Putin, using the situation in the United States to its benefit, he is trying to project confidence and so on. He actually doesn't have much around him for the confidence.
Even with the current lack of support, he's probably extremely limited. And they're trying to put all resources in one location, which is north of Donetsk and several other locations but more in that area. And their progress is extremely difficult.
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ZAGORODNYUK: But he is projecting like he is almost winning the war, which is not the case. But he is using the despair and confusion in the West to his benefit.
SOARES: And to the propaganda which we have seen. Let me bring it back to the war in Ukraine. We're two years, and I'm keen to get a sense of the mood. I imagine there's huge fatigue, that's probably an understatement.
Speaking to an analyst in Kyiv just last week, who told me, Ukrainian women, wives, mothers, partners are calling for the men to return and be replaced, for a break.
What is the mood right now in the Ukraine?
ZAGORODNYUK: Generally the mood is resolved, as it was for all this time. People understand that there is nothing worse than Russian occupation. So there is actually no desire to walk away or whatever or to give in.
Statistically, there is a small percentage for some kind of concessions. But these are extremely small and mainly based on the constant media discussions, especially in the West, about whether a negotiated outcome is possible in this situation or not.
But the vast majority of the Ukraine population understand that there is absolutely no other way. We do not have a plan B. We have to fight with Russians, because where they come, the territories are occupied. It's just a living hell. So there's no way out for us. We need to win this war.
SOARES: Andriy Zagorodnyuk, as always, great to get your insight, thank you very much.
That does it for me, I'm Isa Soares in London. For our viewers in North America, we'll have more news in a minute. For our international viewers, "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS" is next.
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SOARES: Welcome back to our viewers in North America, I'm Isa Soares and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
Israel says its military is taking a, quote, "tactical pause" in operations today for four hours in Rafah in Southern Gaza for humanitarian purposes. Israel says the pause is meant to allow civilians to replenish basic supplies such as food and water.
But it's unclear how many people in the area might be aware of the announcement. The internet monetary agency Netrocket (ph) said on Friday that connectivity in Gaza collapsed for more than 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Israel's military is investigating after its soldiers mistakenly shot and killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza. The IDF says the three hostages were misidentified as a threat during a military operation in northern Gaza.
A UNICEF spokesman says Gaza is now a, quote, "graveyard for children and living hell for everyone else."
He warns the kids there are suffering without enough food, water, as well as medicine. Our Jomana Karadsheh has more in this report although we warn you it contains graphic images.
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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the desperate cries of a father left with nothing but his voice, a father who can no longer protect his three vulnerable children.
"I can't survive. They destroyed my house," Abu Hamid (ph) says. "I can't get food. I have no one to support me. I spent the night moving from tent to tent."
For more than 60 days he's tried to stay strong until he could no more.
His disabled children, homeless, hungry and hurting from Gaza's war.
"What do you do when your child needs you when you've got nothing left to give?
"Have mercy on us," Abu Hamid (ph) says.
No mercy for the people of this besieged land, it seems. Rain of blessing, they used to say. Now it only brings more to spare. For those forced out of their homes, life has become this miserable existence, as rains flood their makeshift camps. It's a harsh winter that's only just beginning.
Omali (ph) shows us the tiny tent she lives in with 11 others, her two daughters and grandchildren. She spent the night, trying to catch the rain that dripped through the roof of their flimsy shelter.
"This is humiliation," Omali (ph) says. "I have these children without a father. I can't take it anymore. Even children now hate life," she says.
It's just too much for parents to bear when you can't even keep your children dry, warm and clean, as diseases start to spread and the aid they so badly need now a weapon in this war.
"I want to protect my children," this mother says. "The bombings and destruction are not enough. On top of that now we have the rain, cold and illnesses."
To be a parent in Gaza is a blessing turned into torture for those who no longer wonder if but how they and their children will die.
Abu Hamid (ph) says he was sitting, thinking of how he will feed his children when an airstrike hit.
"Where do I take my children?" he says.
"I fled and came here to die?
"I gave my children my everything. Who will take care of them if I die?"
Like many in Gaza, it's not only Israel they blame. They want Hamas to stop a war for which they paid the price, abandoned, alone as the world won't stop their pain.
Six-year-old Lana (ph) was under the rubble of her home for three days.
"Mommy and daddy are underneath it," she says. "I just want mama. I want baba. I want my family," Lana cries.
To be a parent in Gaza is to live in the fear of this, that you no longer are there when they need you the most -- Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.
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SOARES: Heartbreaking report there.
A CNN investigation found that in the final days.
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SOARES: Few days, I should say, of the Trump administration, a binder of U.S. and NATO led intelligence about Russia went missing from the White House after being transported by the CIA.
Sources tell CNN that the file contained information about the E.U. government assessment that Vladimir Putin had sought to help Trump win the 2016 election.
So where could this mystery binder be and why does it matter?
CNN's Katie Bo Lillis has more for you.
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KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So this binder that was brought to the White House contained raw intelligence that the U.S. and NATO allies collected on Russia's efforts to meddle in the 2016 election, including sources and methods, some of the most sensitive information in the intelligence world. What we're talking about here is the underlying intelligence that
formed the basis of the U.S. government's assessment that Vladimir Putin sought to help Trump win the 2016 election.
The disappearance of this binder was so alarming to intelligence officials that they briefed Senate Intelligence Committee leadership about the situation last year and were told by one U.S. official familiar with the matter that this was not among the classified items found in last year's search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
So more than two years later, it appears this binder is still missing. But my colleagues and I closely followed the trail of this intelligence from the CIA to the White House. Trump had spent years trying to declassify material that he said would prove his claims that the Russia investigation was a hoax.
And this intelligence was part of a massive collection of documents that he ordered brought to the White House. There was a sort of frantic scramble in the final days of the administration to redact them, so they could be declassified and released publicly.
Now on his last full day as president, Trump did issue a declassification order for some of the materials and the FBI has published some of it on its website. But after that, things get a little murky.
We don't know what happened to the binder that went missing. there is one theory that has emerged from testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, the former top aide to former chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
She told the January 6th committee that she was, quote, "almost positive" it went home with Mr. Meadows. She said it had been kept in a safe in Meadows' office when it was not being worked on.
And she also wrote about this in her new book, claiming that, on January 19th, the final night of the Trump presidency, that she saw Meadows leave the White House with an unredacted binder, quote, "tucked under his arm."
Now Mark Meadows' attorney strongly denies this. He said in a statement, quote, "Mr. Meadows was keenly aware of and adhered to requirements for the proper handling of classified material.
"Any such material that he handled or was in his possession has been treated accordingly. And any suggestion that he is responsible for any missing binder or other classified information is flat wrong."
So at this point the mystery of this missing binder remains just that, a mystery -- Katie Bo Lillis, CNN, Washington.
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SOARES: Former first lady Melania Trump made a rare public appearance on Friday at a naturalization ceremony in Washington. Ms. Trump applauded the 25 immigrants being sworn in as U.S. citizens. It was part of the National Archives Annual Bill of Rights Day
celebration. The Slovenian-born former first lady shared the challenges she went through to become an American citizen in 2006, from researching immigration law to organizing a mountain of paperwork.
She emphasized the hurdles immigrants often face to secure their citizenship.
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MELANIA TRUMP, FORMER FIRST LADY: My personal experience of traversing the challenges of the immigration process opened my eyes to the harsh realities people face, including you, who to try to become U.S. citizens.
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SOARES: The growing migrant crisis along the southern U.S. border has prompted the governor of Arizona to mobilize the National Guard to the region. The governor is also urging President Biden to reopen some points of entry that were closed, because workers have been reassigned to take migrants into custody.
CNN's Rosa Flores reports from one Arizona border town.
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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jason Owens, the U.S. border Patrol chief, says his agency is overwhelmed by the unprecedented migrant surge with thousands of people entering the U.S. illegally every day.
One hot spot, Lukeville, Arizona, where Maida (ph) and her three children from Ecuador waited in the cold overnight to be transported for immigration processing.
JASON OWENS, THE U.S. BORDER PATROL CHIEF: It's the border being exploited by the criminal elements, the transnational criminal organizations.
FLORES: Owens says some border patrol facilities are 200 to 300 percent overcapacity with about 20,000 migrants in custody. The federal government has temporarily closed three ports of industry -- Eagle Pass, Texas; Lukeville, Arizona and a pedestrian crossing in San Ysidro, California, interrupting lawful trade and travel.
OWENS: It's frustrating for all of us.
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FLORES: Owens says several dozens employees at the crossings have been reassigned to process migrants.
GOV. KATIE HOBBS (D-AZ): That's certainly not the right response. FLORES: Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, wrote a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to use the National Guard to reopen the Lukeville crossing.
HOBBS: The tourism is being greatly impacted in Rocky Point.
FLORES: Rocky Point is a resort town on Mexico's Sea of Cortez, where many Americans own investment property like Bo Ruelcava (ph) from Utah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's only our source of income.
FLORES: He owns seven vacation properties and says he has lost $35,000 in cancelled reservations since the Lukeville crossing closed. It's how Americans access the beach town.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It makes me very upset because I feel like our leaders are failing us.
She said that it's on TikTok, that it's on Facebook, that the border is open.
Apparent misinformation fueling the flow.
What's the backup in Lukeville?
OWENS: It's a very remote location.
FLORES: Owens says the cartels have dropped off thousands of migrants in the rugged Arizona desert, creating a logistical nightmare for agents.
OWENS: And while we're doing that, we can't be out on patrol. So guess what the cartels and smugglers are doing?
They're using that opportunity to cross other things.
FLORES: Like fentanyl, cash and criminals, he says. Apprehensions of people on the terrorist watch list have spiked, 15 in fiscal year 2021, 169 in fiscal 2023.
OWENS: These are the things that keep us up at night. There is nothing that crosses our borders illicitly that's not in the control of TCO and the cartels.
FLORES: Scary thought.
OWENS: It's very scary.
FLORES: Owens says the only things scarier are the gotaways, the people detected on the border but not apprehended. There's been more than 1.1 million since 2019.
OWENS: They're making millions, tens of millions of a week.
FLORES: A few after hours after talking to Chief Owens on this boat ramp, an apparent coyote used the same ramp to smuggle a man into Laredo, Texas.
OWENS: These folks probably are the ones that have the criminal histories, that are coming in with bad intent.
FLORES: I asked the U.S. Border Patrol chief what he needs to keep the border safe. Take a look at this wide shot of the scene. You see the Arizona desert, the border wall and Mexico on the other side. Owens says he needs technology, infrastructure and more border patrol agents.
In the past few days, there's been a steady flow of migrants walking down this path. Let me show you how they get into the U.S. smugglers on the Mexican side cut the border wall. Then on the U.S. side, you see these white markings, these are repairs to the border wall. These pieces of metal are welded on to close the gaps.
Take a look at this one because this is not just a freshly cut border wall. It was just repaired last week. Now I do not want to mess with the integrity of the border wall.
But if I were to swing this open, this would swing and that is how migrants are able to slip into the United States. This just shows you all of these repairs, just how relentless the smugglers are at crossing people into the U.S. and making a buck -- Rosa Flores, CNN, Lukeville, Arizona.
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SOARES: The autopsy report for former "Friends" star Matthew Perry has been released. We'll have the details on that when we come back. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
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SOARES: The autopsy report of the late "Friends" star Matthew Perry has been released. It reveals he died of the acute effects of ketamine and subsequent drowning. According to the autopsy, Perry's live-in assistant found him unresponsive in the pool of his Malibu home. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a closer look at the report here.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sadly, here's what we do know after reading this 30-page report from the medical examiner's office. They list acute effects of ketamine as the cause of his death, Matthew Perry's death, along with drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects.
To give you some context of the ketamine, the dosing that they found, the levels that they found were around 3,200 nanograms per milliliter. To tell you what that means, sometimes ketamine can be used in anesthesia and typically the levels there are seen between 1,000 and 6,000.
So he had a lot of ketamine in his system. A couple of important points, it is still incredibly rare, even at those levels, for someone to die of ketamine intoxication. Unfortunately, he was also in the swimming pool at the time. And it sounds like that, in combination with the ketamine, is likely what led to his death.
As one medical examiner told us, the ketamine probably is not what ended up killing him but made it more possible for him to drown. That is kind of what we know at this point.
They do know that some ketamine was found in his stomach, which suggests he swallowed it. Ketamine can be taken in swallowing it, you can snort it, you can inject it. And there's different rates of onset. Injection is obviously the fastest.
If you swallow it, it can take a half hour to an hour for it to take effect. It's possible he took this ketamine before it really took any effect. He was in the swimming pool. The ketamine caused a significant disassociation, which is what it typically does.
And that's ultimately what led him to drown. He also had buprenorphine in his system, which is a synthetic opioid. We don't know why he was taking these together. But at times buprenorphine can actually be used to help dampen some of the hallucinogenic effects of something like ketamine.
It's a sad story. It's just sad all around. But this is what the medical examiner has concluded, that ketamine, in conjunction with him being in a swimming pool, is most likely what led to his death.
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SOARES: Thanks to our Dr. Sanjay Gupta there.
Prince Harry described a U.K. high court's rules as vindicating and affirming. On Friday it found that he had been the subject of, quote, "extensive phone hacking" by a British tabloid newspaper group. Royal correspondent Max Foster has the details for you.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: A clear victory in 15 cases of shocking invasions into Prince Harry's privacy, which he says blighted his younger years and left him paranoid and depressed.
The court ruled voicemails intercepted and personal information stolen through deception. His lawyer gave a statement on Harry's behalf.
DAVID SHERBORNE, PRINCE HARRY'S LAWYER: Today's ruling is vindicating and affirming. I have been told that slaying dragons will get you burnt. But in light of today's victory and the importance of what is -- doing what is needed for a free and honest press, it is a worthwhile price to pay. The mission continues. [04:50:02]
FOSTER: That's the mission now by Prince Harry's team, to encourage the British authorities to press charges, as Harry continues with his cases against other British tabloids. This is one battle in his wider war against the so-called red tops. This case hinged on stories published in the 1990s and 2000s by Mirror Group Newspapers, MGN.
MGN responded today by saying, quote, "Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologize unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation."
Harry became the first British royal in about 130 years to give evidence in a court of law when he faced two days of questioning at the high court in June. He said he was targeted by MGN for 15 years, though the judge said Friday he only found evidence of phone hacking for the period 2003 to 2009.
The judge awarded Harry damages of around $180,000, not a big financial win but a hugely symbolic victory.
GODWIN BUSUTTIL, MEDIA LAWYER: It's a major victory. It's a major battle which he has won. And I say that because there has been a trial where he gave evidence and he has largely -- his claims have largely been upheld.
FOSTER: In Harry's words, a great day for truth and accountability -- Max Foster, CNN, London.
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SOARES: Argentina's President Javier Milei fulfilled an unusual campaign promise on Friday. The newly elected leader raffled off his last paycheck as a member of congress on Instagram and announced the winner on the social media platform.
Milei says his number one focus is the country's economic woes, calling it, quote, "the worst inherited crisis in history."
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JAVIER MILEI, ARGENTINE PRESIDENT (through translator): Today my top priority is hyperinflation. Today inflation in Argentina is at a daily 1 percent. This means that it's 3,678 percent per year. We are totally committed to ending inflation, to weakening hyperinflation.
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SOARES: Earlier this week the president's government devalued the peso by more than 50 percent as part of emergency economic reforms. Yet with the country's poverty rate at roughly 40 percent and rising, some fear the measures will have a devastating impact for much of the population.
We'll have much more ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM.
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SOARES: Welcome back, everyone.
Rudolph's red nose ain't got nothing on this light display. Have a look.
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SOARES (voice-over): More than a thousand people in California were treated to a holiday display like no other, fireworks on top of incredible Christmas lights, put on by the owner of Magical Light Shows, Tom BetGeorge.
His company specializes in dazzling light displays. The 30 minute show was free to families. BetGeorge says he does it because he enjoys it and he likes to give people a sense of magic.
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SOARES: It does look magical, indeed. And that does it for us, thanks very much, I'm Isa Soares, I'll be back with more news in just a moment. don't go anywhere.
