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Israel Admits Responsibility for Hostage Deaths; Hostage Deaths Become Rallying Cry; Jump in U.S. Homelessness. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired December 17, 2023 - 03:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00]

NICK WATT, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our all our viewers watching from around the world. I'm Nick Watt live in Los Angeles.

Ahead on CNN Newsroom, Israel released details of the deaths of three Israeli hostages killed by IDF soldiers but says operations in Gaza will continue.

Thousands rally in the streets, calling for negotiations with Hamas to resume to bring the remaining hostages home.

And the number of homeless Americans has reached an all-time high. A 12 percent increase in just one year. We look into the how and the why.

We begin in Israel where the families of some hostages held in Gaza are demanding a new plan to bring them home. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to suggest that talks could be under way in an effort to get more hostages released.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Without the military pressure, we would not have succeeded in creating an outline that led to the release of 110 hostages. And only continued military pressure will lead to the releases of all of our hostages. My directive to the negotiating team is based on this pressure without which we would have nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: He spoke publicly for the first time since IDF troops mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages while they were shirtless and waving a white flag. Israel's military now says it had no advance intelligence about those hostages and that soldiers did not expect to be approached by them. A preliminary review of the incident has been completed by the IDF with the victims' families notified of the findings.

Meanwhile, a source tells CNN that Israel's spy chief, Mossad Director David Barnea, is expected to meet Qatar's foreign minister in Europe for continued talks about hostages. It's unclear if the meeting has already happened.

But in Israel, the deaths of those three hostages has created a political firestorm for Mr. Netanyahu with protests continuing into a second day, on Saturday.

For more, Elliott Gotkine joins us from London. Elliott, what are those protesters demanding?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: They're demanding the government to bring those hostages home and to bring them home right now. They don't think that the government has been doing enough. They think it's been prioritizing the military campaign, the destruction of Hamas, over getting those hostages home. They feel that it's their pressure that got that first truce in place in the first instance, enabling Israel to get 110 hostages back home, and feels that now is the time to put more pressure on this government.

There's a lot of anger among those people. You saw thousands gathering in the renamed hostages square, which is opposite the Israeli Ministry of Defense's headquarters. There is disbelief that something like this could happen. And I think this is really for them just kind of heaping trauma upon on top of the trauma of October the 7th, when Hamas carried out that terrorist attack and kidnapped those Israelis and some foreign workers as well.

So, they want the government to do more. The head of the chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, and also the defense minister accepting responsibility for what happened, but as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last night, the fighting will continue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOAV GALLANT, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: This event is one of the most tragic and difficult events I can remember, because we were so close to succeeding in creating different circumstances. The soldiers did not know the circumstances. It is a difficult event that we are experiencing, and what has been done cannot be undone.

The price of war is a heavy one. We pay it every day. But when you know your goals, when you know you are fighting for a worthy cause, you know you have to pay a price.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOTKINE: Now, Israel's perspective, as outlined by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in your introduction, is that it is the military campaign that is putting pressure on Hamas and that will ultimately lead to talks that will get those hostages back home.

[03:05:11]

But at the same time, it's worth remembering that, so far, since Israel launched ground operations, it's only managed to rescue a female soldier. There have been a number of attempts to free some of those Israeli hostages. All of them have ended in failure. This shooting of three Israeli hostages by the IDF is really just, I suppose, underlining for the families, people that have loved ones who are still being held captive in the Gaza Strip, that trying to free them militarily simply isn't working. There have to be talks to try to get those hostages back home, and they're not really singing from the same hymn sheet as the prime minister and the government that the military campaign what is will help their loved ones come home.

They want to see negotiations, they want to see their hostages coming home, and gathering in Tel Aviv last night, they hope this will heap more pressure on the government to heed their calls and to make getting those hostages back in Israel the number one priority rather than the military campaign. Nick?

WATT: Elliott in London, thanks very much for your time.

Israel's defense minister says he held what he describes as painful conversations with the families of the hostages killed by the IDF in Gaza, but Yoav Gallant asked the public for understanding and for their continued support for the goal of eradicating Hamas.

The defense minister also hosted a meeting with the country's military and intelligence leaders on Saturday focusing on how to bring the rest of the hostages safely back from Gaza.

Mark Regev is a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He joins me now from Tel Aviv.

Mark, we hear that the preliminary investigation is complete, that some of those findings have been passed to commanders and to soldiers. Should we expect to see the modus operandi of the IDF on the ground in Gaza change as a result of what happened to these three hostages?

MARK REGEV, SENIOR ADVISER TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: It already has changed, Nick. There was not an understanding. The intelligence assessment up until the tragedy where the three hostages were killed, up until then, the intelligence given to the troops was we expect to find our hostages in tunnels, in secret locations, in buildings, in some dark room. And the idea that they'd be walking around in a combat area, that was not part of the modus operandi. That wasn't expected, and I think that is one of the reasons for the tragedy.

WATT: But will the operation at all change in Gaza? I mean, obviously, it is very difficult to eradicate Hamas in this small area while Hamas are holding so many hostages, but you're going to continue with that track?

REGEV: Not only will we continue, we will beef up the pressure on Hamas. And the government -- we do not see a distinction between the military pressure and getting hostages out. As you said in your report, if two weeks ago we got out over 100 hostages, we believe Hamas only released those hostages because they were under immense military pressure.

Hamas are cold-blooded killers, very cynical in the way they look at human life. Their brutality was there for everyone to see on October 7th, the beheadings, the burnings alive, the shootings, terrible, terrible, gruesome violence that they inflicted. We have no illusions about who we're dealing with.

They're not going to release hostages because they've suddenly become humanitarians, on the contrary. But as President Joe Biden said, Hamas will respond to pressure. And the military pressure in the past helped us get hostages out, we believe there's a good chance it can do so in the future.

WATT: So, the military pressure continues. The prime minister has suggested today that talks are also under way. Can you confirm that?

REGEV: I cannot go into any details. I can only tell you and everyone watching that Israel will seize any opportunity that exists that will facilitate the release of hostages. It's one of the major goals of our military operation.

WATT: The prime minister also suggested that he has some fairly strong criticisms of Qatar. Can you elaborate on that at all?

REGEV: Well, Qatar, as you know, has this historic relationship with Hamas. Qatar hosts Hamas leadership in their capital.

[03:10:00]

And for years, people found this difficult to understand. You wouldn't host ISIS. You wouldn't host Al Qaeda. How can you host Hamas, which is, as President Biden said, worse than ISIS?

So, I think the Qataris are responding to this pressure by saying, well, we can -- through our relationship with Hamas, we can deliver the release of Hostages. And they have helped in the past. And I'd say now to the Qatari government, it's time now for you to do what you can. If you say this relationship is beneficial, let's see you use this relationship to get more hostages out.

WATT: You've quoted President Biden a couple of times. I mean, this week he also called the Israeli operation indiscriminate bombing and suggesting that some international sympathy and support is beginning to erode. We've got the U.K. and Germany calling for sustainable ceasefire. We have protests in Tel Aviv asking for more of a kind of negotiation rather than this stick that you're talking about. Does any of that pressure impact the policy that your government goes forward with?

REGEV: Of course, we listen very closely to international interlocutors and especially to our good friends, the Americans. Of course, we take what they say very seriously. And I believe what we say to them, they take seriously. And we are -- as we pursue Hamas, and we will defeat Hamas, we will destroy its military machine, we will end their rule of Gaza.

But as we pursue that campaign, we are very aware that we have to, at the same time, in parallel, work to safeguard the civilian population. We don't want to see unnecessary death, and at the same time, of course, augment the humanitarian effort. And as you know, just recently, we opened up the Kerem Shalom crossing for supplies to come in from Egypt to the Gaza Strip. We want to make sure that the civilian population of Gaza receives food, medicine, water, shelter. Ultimately, the target of operation is Hamas and not Gaza civilians.

WATT: Mark Regev in Tel Aviv, thank you very much for your time.

REGEV: Thank you for having me, sir.

WATT: Al Jazeera is accusing Israel of assassinating one of its journalists in Southern Gaza this weekend. The Qatari news network says, Israel Defense Forces are deliberating targeting its journalists in this conflict, something that Israel strongly denies.

CNN's Melissa Bell has the story. And a warning, her report contains graphic and distressing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The sounds of yet another family in Gaza torn apart by grief. Nothing it seems can shield the civilians from the nightmares of this war, neither age nor location nor profession.

Journalists are meant to be protected. A reflection of the importance of their work shining a light onto the dark horrors of a conflict now in its 11th week. Instead, it has now taken yet another journalist's life. Samer Abu Daqqa, a cameraman for Al Jazeera, was killed, according to the network, in the southern city of Khan Younis.

WAEL DAHDOUH, AL JAZEERA GAZA BUREAU CHIEF: We made the record, we filmed and we were done. The civil defense was with us. While we were leaving, they hit us with a rocket.

BELL: for Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief injured in the strike alongside his colleague, the cost of this war was already unimaginable. While Dahdouh lost his wife, daughter, son and grandson in an Israeli airstrike in late October, learning his family had been killed while on air, his 15-year-old son, Al Jazeera said, had hoped to become a journalist like his father.

The network issued a statement Friday saying that it holds Israel accountable for systematically targeting and killing Al Jazeera journalists and their families.

HISHAM ZAQOUT, AL JAZEERA CORRESPONDENT: This is a new crime against Palestinian journalists that adds to the crimes of the Israeli occupation.

BELL: CNN cannot independently verify the allegations. On Saturday, the IDF told CNN it has never and will never deliberately target journalists.

But just days ago, CNN's own reporting and analysis suggests that it was Israeli tank fire that killed Reuters journalists in Southern Lebanon in October. The IDF says the incident is still under investigation.

Within Gaza, Abu Daqqa is one of the more than 60 journalists killed since the conflict began, according to figures from the Committee to Protect Journalists, making this the deadliest war for reporters since tracking began in 1992.

[03:15:06]

Now, while Dahdouh, who buried his family just weeks ago, is grieving once again, and once again saying goodbye as the light of Gaza's journalism shines a little bit fainter.

Melissa Bell, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: Up next, Ukraine, new violence, enduring challenges, and why Kyiv is still waiting on support from its western allies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATT: A former Vatican chief of staff has become the first cardinal ever to be tried and convicted of financial crimes by a Vatican court after a historic fraud trial. 75-year-old cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu was sentenced to 5.5 years behind bars for his role in various financial crimes. Part of the case centered around a multimillion dollar London property deal that went wrong. Becciu has always denied the charges against him. This case has been called the Vatican trial of the century.

[03:20:01]

CNN's Vatican Correspondent Christopher Lamb is live in London with more details, please.

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, nick, you're absolutely right. This has been an unprecedented trial. Never before has a cardinal been prosecuted in a Vatican court for financial crimes. And Cardinal Becciu was convicted on multiple counts of embezzlement, including his role in a disastrous Vatican property investment in London's Chelsea neighborhood that lost the church millions of dollars.

He was also convicted of misappropriating funds by transferring over EUR100,000 to his brother for a charity that his brother was running in Sardinia, and also transferring hundreds of thousands of euros to a self-described security consultant, a woman called Cecilia Marogna, who was claiming she could help free a kidnapped nun in Africa. But Vatican prosecutors said that she was using the money on personal expenditures, including high-end fashion brands. So, some elements in this trial sounded like something out of a thriller novel, but this has been the pope's attempt to crack down on some of the real problems with Vatican financial management.

WATT: I mean, it wasn't just the cardinal. There were other people involved as well, as I understand it. I mean, is this the pope, a strong man, cleaning house, or is this the pope, an old man in a house of cards?

LAMB: Well, I think it's fair to say, given the unprecedented nature of this trial the pope has had to take decisive steps to get this to happen. The cardinal was one of ten defendants, as you say, to stand trial. It was a long and complex case that lasted 2.5 years.

There was some criticism of the Vatican prosecutors. This was their first time doing this kind of case. But I think what this case does is it sends a message to those in the church's H.Q. and central government of the church that financial mismanagement, misconduct, is going to be cracked down on seriously.

And the pope, who marks his 87th birthday today and is almost approaching 11 years as the papacy, I think it's a moment to see that there have been important steps taken to tackle this long-running problem, but also that there's still a lot more to do. Cardinal Becciu was really heavily involved with Pope Francis' papacy, that shows how deeply rooted some of the problems are that he has been convicted.

WATT: Christopher Lamb in London, thanks very much.

LAMB: Thank you.

WATT: In the past few moments, we've heard that at least one has been killed in a Russian air attack on Ukraine. It happened in the Southern Odessa region, which was targeted by drones overnight.

Nick Paton Walsh has more from Kyiv as Ukraine waits on delayed western aid.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It really has been an appalling week for Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy returning to the country here, putting a brave face on it, extolling the fact that they have now begun membership talks with the European Union. But apart from that, he's traveled to Washington, traveled in Europe, trying to bolster the possibility of funding. And he's resolutely failed.

The United States Congress really unable to get themselves together to continue the billions of funding that Ukraine so urgently needs. And the European Union too, while being sunny in their disposition about the veto Hungary put in, preventing their $55 billion of aid coming Ukraine's way, and saying they'll have another go in January, it's a Putin sympathizer, Viktor Orban of Hungary, who put that veto in.

And so the morale impact on Ukraine's frontlines already palpable before we heard all of this bad news. The fact that the west was wavering, having a real impact on those in the trenches here facing a bleak winter ahead, facing a renewed Russia, a Russia with billions of dollars to spare and slowly getting its military industrial complex together.

It's really a group of fringe Republicans, it's fair to say, that are holding this up. Some suggesting Ukraine should be able to present a finite goal for a finite price tag. Some saying, well, hey, if you're losing the war, why should the U.S. give you more money if you're losing? If you're winning the war, why do you need it? And if you're at a stalemate, well, then maybe now is a good time to negotiate. Essentially blind to two things, the U.S.'s history of fighting long, complicated wars of choice.

They should be aware of the trillion dollar price tag of a messy state where an end goal is often elusive, and also, too, of Europe's previous century, the history of what a power-hungry, territory-hungry power can indeed do if not stopped at an earlier moment.

[03:20:03]

Desperately, Ukraine needing western assistance, desperately now, finding it not forthcoming, and Russia really re-equipping Hungary, as I say, to continue moving forward.

We visited many frontline positions over the past two weeks in the west around Kherson, where Ukraine is attempting a brave move across the river. There are suggestions that they are not seeing the progress they want. And Avdiivka, to the far east, they are losing ground, it seems, to Russia, trying to take yet another town of minimal strategic significance with whatever resources they can throw at it.

And at the same time, too, with a southern counteroffensive should have yielded with the most amount gain, we've seen troops there experiencing significant casualties, really struggling to hold the ground they've gained.

It's going to be a bleak winter ahead, but, really, there's been a staggering failure, frankly, of U.S. politicians and of European unity to get those billions continuing to move. It will impact Ukraine as early as January. So, a deep, dark few months ahead here for Ukrainians who have held on so long.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv.

WATT: Chileans will head to the polls the next hour to vote in a referendum on replacing the country's constitution. The current one dates back to Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. The proposed draft strengthens free market principles and imposes strict rules around immigration.

It's the second attempt at changing the charter. The previous one failed last year. And polls show the result is likely to be the same this time around.

The push to rewrite the constitution comes after protests four years ago over widespread inequality.

I'm Nick Watt. For our international viewers, Bold Pursuits is next. For those in North America, I'll have more news after a quick break.

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[03:30:00]

WATT: You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Nick Watt live in Los Angeles.

As Israel's war with Hamas enters an 11th week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to suggest that talks could be underway to get more hostages in Gaza released. But he's also making it clear Israel plans to press ahead with its military operations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU: We were in a war for our existence, in which we must continue until victory, despite the international pressure and despite the unbearable cost that the war is exacting from us and our fallen sons and daughters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Mr. Netanyahu spoke publicly for the first time since IDF troops mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages while they were shirtless and waving a white flag.

Meanwhile, a source tells CNN that Israel's spy chief, Mossad Director David Barnea, is expected to meet Qatar's foreign minister in Europe and continue talks about hostages. It's unclear if that meeting has actually already happened.

Israeli military officials say they are retaliating against more deadly attacks from Hezbollah. An Israeli Army spokesperson says two drones were launched from inside Lebanon on Saturday. One was intercepted and the other struck Israeli positions killing one soldier and wounding two others. Hezbollah claimed on social media that they targeted Israeli soldiers in support of Palestinians in Gaza. Israel's military says they responded by targeting Hezbollah positions in Southern Lebanon.

And as Israel's war against Hamas rages on, Iran-backed proxy groups, like the Houthi rebels in Yemen, are ramping up attacks against U.S. and Israeli-linked targets in the region.

CNN's Katie Bo Lillis has the details.

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: A U.S. Navy ship shooting down 14 drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, this according to U.S. Central Command, this is the latest in a series of attacks by Houthi militants on apparent U.S. targets and on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that the group says is in response or in retribution for the Israeli war inside of Gaza.

The Houthis are a broadly Iran-aligned militant group that U.S. officials believe are opportunistically seizing the moment to try to cast themselves in the region and at home as defenders of the Palestinian cause. They're not under direct command and control from Iran, but Iran does offer them weapons, training, funding.

The issue for the United States here is that while they are deeply concerned about securing shipping in the Bab al Mandab Strait and beyond, so that the global economy isn't impacted, they also want to avoid a situation where the Israel-Hamas conflict sucks in Iran and the United States directly.

So far, U.S. officials believe that Iran is calibrating its response to the Israeli invasion of Gaza by allowing proxy groups to launch attacks on the United States and Israeli-linked targets up to a certain threshold, but not beyond.

That's why in part that you have seen the U.S. act with restraint so far and avoid responding directly to these Houthi attacks. They're trying to keep the situation from escalating.

U.S. officials also largely believe that they're capable of dealing with many of these Houthi-launched munitions. They have repeatedly shot down one-way drones, homegrown Houthi ballistic missiles, aren't seen as especially accurate, and the cruise missiles, a little bit more accurate, but it's not clear that they could actually sink a ship.

So, in this situation, it's likely that the Houthis were trying to use what's known as a swarm tactic, launching multiple drones to try to confuse and overcome U.S. air defenses by sheer numbers. Clearly, it doesn't appear that this worked in this instance.

So, I think the thing to watch here will be at what point does the Biden administration consider that these ongoing attacks from the Houthis have become so risky to international shipping that they can't go unanswered. At this point, not clear that that threshold has been reached.

Katie Bo Lillis, CNN, Washington.

WATT: Former U.S. President Donald Trump is once again lashing out at immigrants coming into the U.S. At a campaign event in New Hampshire on Saturday, he railed against migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border, which hit new highs in September.

[03:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: They're poisoning the blood of our country. That's what they've done. They poisoned mental institutions and prisons all over the world, not just in South America, not just the three or four countries that we think about, but all over the world. They're coming into our country, from Africa, from Asia, all over the world. They're pouring into our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: President Biden's campaign reacted to that rhetoric, saying Trump is parroting Adolf Hitler.

Trump also quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin and praised Hungary's authoritarian leader, Viktor Orban.

The U.S. is experiencing its highest level of homelessness since the government began conducting its annual point-in-time count back in 2007. The latest count, taken one night in January of this year, found more than 650,000 people without a home. That number is up more than 70,000, or 12 percent from 2022, or look at it another way, roughly one in every 500 people in the U.S. is homeless.

CNN Correspondent Camila Bernal has more on this growing epidemic.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Startling but not unexpected, that's what one expert told me about the findings in this new report, a 12 percent increase in the number of homeless individuals in the United States. In total, it's about 653,000 people that are reported to be homeless in the United States. And it's a 70,000-person increase in comparison to last year's numbers.

Now, the Department of Housing and Urban Development does this count one day every single year. It's what they call a point-in-time count. And even though this year's was done in January, experts do tell me that those numbers likely reflect what we're seeing today as well.

What that report also found was the highest number of homeless individuals since they began reporting this data in 2007, and the department points to the housing market, the high rent prices, and also the end of pandemic aid as some of the reasons as to why the increase here.

I want you to listen to what one of the experts told me about the increase.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX VISOTZKY, NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS: Everybody's crisis looks a little different, but I think the thing that we see in common is that just a lack of affordable housing to support them and housing that's just too expensive is the common denominator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And the report also indicates that people of color are most impacted by homelessness. They said that of the people they counted, four in ten said they identified as black, African-American, or African, and one-third of those counted identified as Hispanic or Latino.

Now, Alex, the expert I talked to, told me there is a solution. And he believes that is investing and spending money on programs that not only help people get out of homelessness, but also in programs that prevent homelessness.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

WATT: Still ahead, the role of ketamine in the death of Friends star Matthew Perry. We'll speak with a medical expert. That's next.

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[03:40:00] WATT: An international investigation is underway after a Canadian man was arrested for selling so-called suicide kits online. Kenneth Law has been charged with 14 counts of second-degree murder and is due in court next week.

CNN's Paula Newton has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID PARFETT, SON DIED BY SUICIDE: Tom was just such a gifted kid.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They are fathers an ocean apart --

DAVID RAMIREZ, DAUGHTER DIED BY SUICIDE: Such a, such a light of bravery and freedom.

NEWTON: -- share a bond of anguish and outrage over their children's suicides, deaths, they say, would have never happened if someone had not allegedly marketed and sold them so-called suicide kits online.

Tom Parfett died in 2021 in England, Noelle Ramirez in 2022 in Colorado, both died from using a substance legally found in smaller doses as a meat preservative but can be fatal if used in larger quantities.

Canadian Kenneth Law is now charged in Ontario with 14 counts each of second-degree murder and counseling and aiding suicide. Police say all 14 alleged victims are in Canada, but the investigation continues right around the world.

INSPECTOR SIMON JAMES, YORK REGIONAL POLICE: We are collaborating with law enforcement agencies on a daily basis globally, from countries all over the world.

NEWTON: Inspector James says Law may have sold more than 1,200 toxic packages online intended for self harm to people in more than 40 countries.

JAMES: We ask that the public continue to be cautious and vigilant of their online activities.

NEWTON: In a statement to CNN, Law's lawyer says he will be pleading not guilty to all charges and that those charges will be, quote, vigorously contested in court. While the investigation continues so far without any charges filed outside of Canada, both fathers believe more can and should be done.

PARFETT: Within two to three months. I'd actually ordered poison from Ken Law. At the time, I did not know that it was the exact same path as my son had taken, but it really demonstrated how easy it was. It's actually cost lives. There was an opportunity there for police, for authorities to close this down and close this down quickly.

RAMIREZ: You can't buy a bomb online and have it delivered. This chemical is deadly. NEWTON: A bipartisan group of us lawmakers is trying to pass legislation that would ban the sale of the substance in higher concentrations. But for now, it remains available online in the U.S. and many countries.

The British National Crime Agency tells CNN it believes at least 89 people have died in the U.K. alone in a recent two-year period after purchasing the toxic packages online.

RAMIREZ: Well, even if just for 14 there in Ontario, I know that it should mean that hopefully he'll never be able to hurt anyone else. But, again, there're just so many other families who have been impacted and who are hurting that I hope that they can feel some justice as well.

NEWTON: Tom and Noelle's family share an unrelenting belief that were it not for the poison their children bought online, they'd be alive today.

PARFETT: Without any doubt.

RAMIREZ: I believe with my whole heart that my daughter would be here.

[03:45:01]

She was a good person. We kept her safe. We kept her safe. We couldn't -- I guess we couldn't keep her safe from everything.

NEWTON: Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health or suicidal thoughts, help is available in Canada and the U.S. Text or call 988. The lines are open 24 hours a day. If you live elsewhere, you can go to findahelpline.com.

And now for a closer look at the drug ketamine and the role it played in the death of Friends star Matthew Perry back in October. The autopsy revealed he died from, quote, the acute effects of ketamine and subsequent drowning.

Perry was found unconscious in the hot tub of his home in Pacific Palisades, California. According to the autopsy report, the star had been receiving ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety a week-and-a-half prior to his death.

I want to bring in family physician Dr. Scott Miscovich. He joins us from Kailua, Hawaii.

First of all, Doctor, can you just give us a little bit of the history of this drug? I mean, as I understand it, it's an anesthetic, mainly been around since the 60s.

DR. SCOTT MISCOVICH, FAMILY PHYSICIAN: Yes, it really is. It's one of those things that we all kind of look at and tilt our heads with all the advancements in medicine. And this was used back in the 60s, developed in Michigan, and it was an anesthetic that some of the findings they had, they ended up coining it as a dissociative anesthetic. Because one of the things that people complained of is they felt attached from their body, and hence they gave it the term a dissociated feeling. That's followed it throughout.

And it was used probably successfully in the Vietnam War in the field for rapid anesthesia for the unfortunate soldiers in the field. After that, there were so many other better things that came up. It just kind of faded away until -- there was always small studies, but, eventually, 2019, we had some pretty solid studies out of Harvard and Johns Hopkins that kind of resurrected it again.

WATT: And it was used then to treat anxiety and depression, right?

MISCOVICH: Well, primarily, they did studies for what we call refractory depression. And that would be something where people were failing everything. They've tried all the oral medicines and they were usually picking out people that were literally having active suicidal ideation, and that their lives were just -- couldn't -- they had no feeling of worth and they were often contemplating suicide.

Now, people would have seen one of the alternatives on T.V. shows. And that was a lot of these people would have proceeded on with what we call ECT or electroconvulsive therapy, where they're hooked up and they're put into a convulsive and shaking.

I mean, so when you now have a medicine like ketamine to replace that type of aggressive treatment with really good success, it really started to take off. And I do have patients that are using it. And it really -- when used effectively, it's a terrific medication.

WATT: But listen, clearly, it's -- ketamine is being pointed to as a major contributor to Matthew Perry's death. So, how can this drug kill?

MISCOVICH: Well, you know, in the autopsy report with Matthew Perry, you know, he had an I.V. infusion like, you know, a week-and-a-half prior. Well, one of the reasons it's used I.V. is it was used as an anesthetic that rapidly gets into your bloodstream within about 45 minutes and it fades out. So, that was no way near his system and it was gone. They did find it. It was in his stomach and the half life for oral ingestion, it's about four to four and a half hours.

And put this in perspective. They found 3,540 nanograms of medicine in his blood. Normally, it takes about 2,000 for anesthesia. So, he basically had enough of that medication in him to be anesthetized. So, that's not something you want to be having in your system and being around a swimming pool or behind a wheel of a car or walking along a steep edge.

WATT: And, I mean, this disassociated feeling that you mentioned earlier, I imagine that makes ketamine popular as a recreational drug as well?

[03:50:03]

MISCOVICH: Absolutely. There has been a recent spike. It's still not used as much as some of the other things, like ecstasy and things in the clubs, but it is definitely being used and it's being used in the standard forms where it will be snorted, it will be smoked, it will be put into drinks.

And so, unfortunately, in the club scene, we've seen that it's common in the 18 to 25-year-old age group and it is unfortunately a date rape drug because it also has this amnestic feeling with it, where after you have enough of it, people will not remember what happened.

So, you know, I feel strongly we need to have a better look at this in our FDA to start saying, you know, where is it and is it being used safely.

WATT: Dr. Scott Miscovich, I'm sorry, thank you so much for your time. I mean, fascinating and just a tragic end.

MISCOVICH: Very tragic.

WATT: I appreciate your time.

MISCOVICH: Thank you.

WATT: Thank you. And we will be right back.

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[03:55:00]

WATT: Almost 50 million people are under threat of severe weather today as a strong storm system moving out of the Gulf of Mexico is expected to bring flooding, power outages and travel headaches across the east coast through Monday. It's already moved in over Florida and continues to strengthen.

Much of the state will get a good soaking today along with the threat of strong storms and even isolated tornadoes. The fast-moving storm will spread north through the Carolinas, reaching the mid-Atlantic later in the day and affecting the northeast and New England by Sunday night. Up to four inches of rain are expected across 17 states, from Florida to Maine.

Disney is marking a big moment at one of its parks. For the first time in seven years, an African elephant was born at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida. Her name is Cora and she weighs more than 200 pounds. After bonding for several days, Cora and her mother will join their herd, where she will meet her grandmother, Donna and her aunts. Cora is also the first second generation calf born at the park.

The Animal Kingdom's veterinary team will monitor mother and daughter to ensure Cora is being fed and gaining even more weight.

A major milestone in the restoration of Paris' famed Notre Dame Cathedral, the placement of a gigantic copper rooster. A local archbishop blessed the rooster, which is replacing the one that crashed through the roof in that devastating fire back in 2019. Then a crane lifted the weather vane to the top of the church's nearly 100- meter high spire that crews are rebuilding. The chief architect called it a phoenix.

Notre Dame is set to reopen for religious services and to the public next December.

That wraps this hour of CNN newsroom. I'm Nick Watt. I'll have more of today's top stories after a quick break. Stay with us.

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[04:00:00]