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Talks In Doha, Qatar Over Gaza Ceasefire Expected To Resume; Ukrainian Forces Continue To Take Control Of Russian Territory; Harris Campaign Heads To The Battleground State Of North Carolina; Japan Braces For Typhoon Ampil; 10 European Countries Under Heat Alerts; 5 Charged In Connection To "Friends" Actor's Overdose Death. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 16, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:22]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead here on "CNN Newsroom", more than 40,000 Palestinians dead in Gaza. A staggering number, adding urgency to ceasefire talks, set to resume for a second day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's startling to see the steady flow of military vehicles just passing through the Russian border point here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Ukrainian forces push on into Russian territory, now though meeting stiff resistance. First-hand look at Ukraine's bold gambit. Also --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Be advised, we will hold you accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Though no friends of Matthew Perry, the five people now charged in connection with the star's drug-related death.

VOICE-OVER: Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with John Vause.

VAUSE: Talks in Doha, Qatar over a Gaza ceasefire are expected to resume in the coming hours. Delegations from Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar will pick up where they left off on Thursday when no deal was reached.

While Hamas officials were a no-show Thursday and not expected to be there again today, they have made it clear there will be no deal without a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. This just a day after Hamas officials announced the death toll in Gaza after 10 months of war with Israel has passed 40,000.

While Israel disputes that, the staggering number of dead, most of them women and children, has brought renewed pressure on both Hamas and Israel to make a deal and end the fighting. In the meantime, thousands marched in Tel Aviv Thursday, demanding the release of hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GADI AMICHAI, NEPHEW OF HOSTAGE HELD IN GAZA: If it won't happen now, we believe that none of the hostages will be alive. It is the last chance to bring them all here to Israel alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Live now to London and Elliott Gotkine with the very latest on the ceasefire talks. It just seems these are so precarious, they could break down at any moment. And they're just progressing, if they're progressing at all, it seems to be a sound space.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: It does, John. I mean, look, we heard from a U.S. official telling CNN that there had been a promising start to these talks. But let's not forget that over the past nine months since the last, the one and only ceasefire ended, these talks have been dragging on.

We have heard from officials, you know, routinely telling us that they were cautiously optimistic that a deal was going to be done. We even had President Biden at one point in February saying that a deal was going to be done by the weekend.

And all of these occasions, things came to naught. So, you know, while it's important to be hopeful, the cautious optimism perhaps that we've been told we could have or we were entitled to have on previous occasions may not necessarily be there.

We also hear from U.S. officials saying that, look, the bulk of the work has been done, but there are still four or five main sticking points. And we understand from a regional diplomat that at least as far as Hamas is concerned, those main sticking points are Israel wanting to be able to screen the people moving to the northern part of the Gaza Strip to prevent armed men from moving north and reconstituting themselves as a fighting force in areas that Israel says that it has cleared.

It wants to be able to veto some of the identities of the Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for the hostages who were kidnapped on October the 7th. And it also wants to remain in control of the so- called Philadelphia corridor, which runs along the border between Rafah and Egypt because Israel feels that that's the main conduit, certainly in tunnels underground for weapons and other materials to be smuggled in towards Hamas.

And those are quite big sticking points. And somehow what these mediators need to do is find language that will satisfy Hamas' demand that this agreement will lead to a permanent ceasefire and complete ceasefire.

And at the same time, enable Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say that Israel still has the option of going back to war after the first phase, this six-week phase of this kind of three-phase ceasefire deal that President Biden outlined in the event that it feels the need to do so.

And I don't think it will have escaped many people's attention either that, of course, the far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition have threatened to bolt that coalition, effectively bringing down the government, if Netanyahu signs up to a deal. And that's another reason, actually, why now may be a good time, may be a good chance of getting a deal over the line, because the Israeli Knesset, the parliament there, is on recess.

It won't be returning until October. And it's highly unlikely that Netanyahu would have to face a vote of no confidence in the event that those far-right members of his coalition did indeed carry out their threat to bolt the coalition.

[02:05:03]

And, of course, in the meantime, Netanyahu may be able to placate them in some other way. So, for that reason, for the reason that the families of the hostages being held have outlined, and also not least because the death toll has now, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, reached 40,000.

And also because there is the hope that a ceasefire deal could forestall an attack by Iran and or its proxy Hezbollah in response to the assassination of the top Hezbollah military commander and the head of Hamas' political bureau, Ismail Hanea. So, for all of those reasons, that is why many people are saying it's now or never. John?

VAUSE: Just very quickly, too. We also have this looming possible strike by Iran on Israel. That could come at any time and could obviously have an impact on these talks.

GOTKINE: Very much so. And as I say, the hope, I think, certainly from the U.S.'s perspective, is that these talks, as long as they are ongoing and they don't break down, that that will give this kind of window of opportunity to prevent an Iranian and or Hezbollah attack on Israel, which could drag the region into all-out war.

And of course, those two have said that they will punish, in their words, Israel for those two assassinations. Israel hasn't claimed responsibility, I should note, for the assassination of Ismail Hanea. And they certainly, up until the end of last week, seemed that a strike by Iran and or Hezbollah was imminent.

And indeed, there was a big expectation that it was going to happen on Tisha B'Av, which was a fast day that was happening on August the 12th. That didn't happen. And the hope, John, will be that these talks will continue, they'll succeed, and an attack by Iran and or Hezbollah will not happen. VAUSE: Elliott, thank you. Elliott Gotkine there in London, following

all the developments out of Gaza and Israel. Thank you. That death toll, that 40,000 number of people dead, does not include the number of missing. Tens of thousands of victims buried under the debris and rubble, does not include the wounded, the children who've lost limbs or are now orphans.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh takes a look now at what is facing everyone in Gaza every day, the misery and the squalor, the depressing sight. And first a warning, some of the images in her report are graphic, and as you imagine, they're difficult to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Everything we're about to show you was filmed over the course of four hours in a single day, a snapshot of 10 months of war for Gaza's children. Nothing can erase what these little eyes have seen, but they've come here to try to forget, even if just for a little while.

Most of these children were on their way to queue up for water, one of the new-found hardships of this miserable life, when they stop for a makeshift puppet show. Cans, cardboard and string, it's a distraction, but kids have to relate to their make-believe friends with stories just like theirs.

HALA, TWELVE-YEAR OLD WAR VICTIM (through translator): When the war happened, everything was bombed and destroyed. We were displaced to the south. Dad was worried about us and we are searching for safety.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Twelve-year-old Hala longs for the days when she had a home in Gaza City.

HALA (through translator): Life is unlivable. I only live for my siblings and parents. Here, I stop and think about all that's on my mind. I watch the show and play with the kids.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): This might seem like a surreal scene, but at times of war, life does go on, as does the horror. In the same area of Gaza, injured children arrive into one of the last hardly standing hospitals.

It's a constant stream of casualties from an Israeli strike nearby. Among them, a severely injured toddler. He clings on to the stranger who brought him here. There's no room left, they leave him on the floor. His cries, his pain, drowned out by the chaos.

Outside, another ambulance pulls up with another boy, here for the morgue. It wasn't the bombs that killed him. He starved to death, his father says. As they prepare him for burial, his emaciated body lays bare for the world to see what Israel's siege has done to Gaza's most vulnerable.

JABER ABU KALOUB, SON DIED OF STARVATION (through translator): Put us somewhere safe and then fight as much as you want. I wish God would take us all and let us follow this child. I'm holding it together now but when I leave here, I'll probably collapse. Maybe I'm pretending to be strong. But inside, I can't take it anymore.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): A broken father, like so many parents who've helplessly watched their children die in their arms.

[02:10:00]

Their suffering has become a statistic by which the world, that watches on, measures the awfulness of this war. His name was Mohamed Abu Kaloub. He was only nine. Born with cerebral palsy, he died by a garbage dump, where his displaced family was forced to camp.

Back inside the emergency room, that toddler is still on the floor, barely conscious. Surrounded by medics, but no family by his side. No one knows his name. Thousands of children like him have arrived to hospitals injured and alone throughout this war.

We found that toddler days later at another hospital. His name is Abdelkamal Al-Aqqad, in intensive care. He hasn't uttered a word since the attack. The shock is still clear behind his glassy eyes. The dirt still under his fingernails.

It's his aunt who's here with him. His mother was seriously injured. Kamal still doesn't know his 14-month-old sister is gone.

Days after our cameraman filmed him in the ICU, we received the news that Kamal did not survive. He was three. This one day, showing how fragile existence is in this place, where life, death, and stolen moments of joy meet. Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Ukrainian forces continue to take control of Russian territory. An almost two-week-long stunning and bold offensive, which seems to have caught the Kremlin off guard. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirms the Russian town of Sujan is now under Ukrainian control, and Ukrainian forces have advanced 35 kilometers into Russia, reportedly taking more than 80 settlements and over 1100 square kilometers of land.

Meanwhile, two senior U.S. officials tell CNN, Russia appears to be moving thousands of troops from Ukraine back to Russia to try and stop the advance by Kyiv. Ukraine denies that, but the White House believes it is happening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER: It is apparent to us that Mr. Putin and the Russian military are diverting some resources, some units, towards the Kursk Oblast to ostensibly counter what the Ukrainians are doing.

It doesn't mean that Mr. Putin has given up military operations in the northeast part of Ukraine or even down towards the south, towards places like Zaporizhzhia. There's still active fighting along that front. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: This Ukrainian operation is the biggest invasion into Russian territory since World War II. A major embarrassment, to say the least, for the Kremlin. As CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports now from the Russian border, Ukrainian troops are facing no resistance, at least as they cross over into Russian territory.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATON WALSH: This is where Russia begins. It's startling to see the steady flow of military vehicles, that probably an ambulance, and armor, just passing through the Russian border point here. That is the border post that clearly got heavily hit when Ukraine moved in hard over a week ago.

Russia's border's here, completely undefended. It's also remarkable, the freedom with which the Ukrainian military are moving around here. They simply aren't afraid of the drones that have hampered their every move for the past months. That says the border service of the FSB, the Russian security services of Russia. There's a bullet hole above the rules and bullet holes in the rules themselves.

Now, this is what's so startling about this offensive, the volume of Western-supplied armor that we're seeing passing back and forth. Their passage through here, up into Russia, unimpeded.

PATON WALSH (through translator): Did you get it?

UNKNOWN (through translator): There's a task, we're doing it, no more, no less. The final result? No one speaks about that now.

PATON WALSH: Just saying about how frequently they've been going back and forth over the last week or so. And you get a real sense of the euphoria. But ultimately too, the enduring question is, what is all this for? What is the end game?

Yes, it's a huge embarrassment for Vladimir Putin, but they're sending some of their best equipment deep into Russia. And I'm sure in the back of the minds of these troops is the question of what ultimately are we going to achieve? And we still don't know the answer to that.

Ukraine has also said that they've had an extraordinary number of prisoners of war that they've captured as they advance, particularly into one Russian military base, saying that they captured in one day alone 102, replenishing what they refer to as the exchange fund that they're going to use these Russian prisoners to exchange them for Ukrainians caught by Russia.

A remarkable development, though. You saw at that border the confidence and the ease in which Ukrainian forces are pushing up into Russia. And I've got to tell you, after all the months of seeing drones holding Ukraine back, the fact that they're not a threat suggests some extraordinary technological advantage, frankly, on the battlefield. And I'm sure Kyiv will be exploiting that in the days ahead. (END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Twelve years in prison for treason, the crime to donating $50 to Ukrainian charity. The sentence was handed down to American Russia, Ksenia Karelina and it's been described by the White House as vindictively cruel. She pleaded guilty to the charges, which the U.S. dismisses as ludicrous.

She was detained after visiting her grandparents, and her lawyers say they will appeal this verdict. The conviction comes just two weeks after Russia and the West carried out one of the biggest prison swaps in decades. Karelina was living in Los Angeles. She was in Russia at the time when she was arrested. She became an American citizen in 2021.

When we come back, Joe Biden hitting the campaign trail with Kamala Harris and against a backdrop of golf and groceries, the Republican challenger, Donald Trump, unleashes a new flurry of false claims about his opponent. And the youngest daughter of Thailand's former prime minister, one of them, there's been quite a few, about to become the next prime minister.

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[02:18:22]

VAUSE: The Harris campaign heads to the battleground state of North Carolina and the rollout of the Democrats' economic policy in the hours ahead. That's after Vice President Harris was joined by President Joe Biden on the campaign trail for the first time since he bowed out of the race. More details now from CNN's M.J. Lee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND CURREN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE (D): Our extraordinary President Joe Biden.

M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time in three and a half weeks.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She's going to make one hell of a president.

LEE (voice-over): Retiring lame duck President Joe Biden appearing at an official event alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, the brand- new Democratic nominee for president.

HARRIS: Thank you, Joe.

(CROWD CHANTING)

Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Joe.

LEE (voice-over): Harris first paying tribute to the man who chose her as his running mate four years ago.

HARRIS: There's a lot of love in this room for our president.

LEE: The pair promoting the administration's work to lower the costs of prescription drugs, a popular idea that heavily affects senior and black Americans.

HARRIS: Two years ago as vice president, I was proud to cast the tie- breaking vote that sent the bill -- that gave Medicare the power to negotiate.

LEE (voice-over): Thursday's event coming as Harris is quickly establishing her own campaign with distinct policies and messaging and offering an early preview of how she might try to navigate Biden's low marks on the economy.

UNKNOWN: How much does it bother you that Vice President Harris might soon, for political reasons, start to distance herself from your economic plan?

[02:20:04]

BIDEN: She's not going to.

LEE (voice-over): Harris, who until recently was eagerly making statements like this.

HARRIS: Bidenomics is working.

LEE (voice-over): Now, carefully assessing how to selectively break from Biden. She is not expected to carry the banner of Bidenomics. Instead, she is poised to highlight specific policy prescriptions aimed at lowering prices. On Friday, Harris will travel to North Carolina to propose a federal ban on price gouging to lower grocery costs.

HARRIS: Our president, Joe Biden.

LEE (voice-over): Meanwhile, Biden said to be still smarting from being forced out of the 2024 race last month. Sources say he won't soon forget the Democrats who played the most active roles in pushing him to drop out, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Biden now focused on burnishing his own legacy and preparing to be an active surrogate for the new Harris-Walz campaign.

BIDEN: The guy we're running against, what's his name? Donald Dump or Donald whatever. They want to get rid of this.

LEE: Now, as for the vice president's economic policy rollout speech in North Carolina on Friday, we are learning that as a part of those remarks, the vice president will be unveiling a four-year plan that is aimed at trying to lower the cost of housing, including, we are told, a $25,000 down payment assistance for first-time homeowners, as well as the construction of new housing and tax incentives for the building of starter homes.

Of course, high costs in food and housing are among some of the most stubborn economic challenges for the Biden administration, so it's no surprise that she is trying to address those issues as the vice president is clearly trying to put a little bit more distance between herself and President Biden's economic record. M.J. Lee, CNN, at the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Donald Trump decided his New Jersey golf club would make an ideal backdrop to talk about the rising price of food and other necessities and the impact on working families. The Republican presidential nominee then blamed Kamala Harris for the rising cost of pretty much everything, groceries to housing to electricity. And in Donald Trump's words, "wrong," and again, he made all of this personal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (R): I think I'm entitled to personal attacks. I don't have a lot of respect for her. I don't have a lot of respect for her intelligence. And I think she'll be a terrible president. And I think it's very important that we win. And whether the personal attacks are good, bad, I mean, she certainly attacks me personally. She actually called me weird.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: He also described Harris' plan for a federal ban on price gouging to lower costs of everyday goods as communist price control.

Well, the Bangkok now and the youngest daughter of a former prime minister set to be the next prime minister of Thailand. On Wednesday, the current prime minister was dismissed by the Constitutional Court for ethics violations. Thailand's ruling coalition Pae Tong Tan Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra, to take his place.

Now, Thailand's parliament just approved that nomination, but there is another step to go. The Thai king is yet to have the final approval. CNN's Marc Stewart following all of this. He has the very latest. Okay, so we're waiting for the king.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are waiting for the king but for all intents and purposes, John, Pae Tong Tan Shinawatra was elected as the next prime minister of Thailand, number 31. She is the second female to hold this position -- the youngest person to hold this position.

She also comes from a political dynasty in Thailand that has had a presence for the last two decades. A powerful family, at times divisive, but she is certainly very familiar with the political landscape. The parliament giving that approval in the last hour or so, almost seen as a formality.

Her coalition had a majority in the parliament and said that they would support her. So, this was not necessarily something that was not expected. She takes over, though, as the previous prime minister was ousted because of some concerns about a cabinet member of his while he was in office.

Let me tell you a little bit more, though, about Pae Tong Tan Shinawatra. She is 37 years old and, as I mentioned, comes from this very well-known political establishment in Thailand. Her father is the former prime minister. He's a former prime minister. He was ousted, though, in a military coup. That was back in 2006.

Also adding to the intrigue of all of this, her aunt was also prime minister, the first woman to serve in that position. So, there is a bit of a family legacy. And, you know, analysts over the years have suggested that she, too, would be part of this family political power, if you will, saying that her foray into politics was very much a long time coming.

[02:25:02]

She was often seen following her father, sitting by him at political events over the years. She has some challenges ahead. Obviously, she is following in the footsteps of a prime minister who was dealing with a lot of challenges, including the economy, did a lot of work to increase spending, or not necessarily spending on projects, but on jobs and different initiatives to get people back to work as this economy deals with a very wobbly time.

John, it's going to be interesting to see what she does because as part of becoming a prime minister, she will be able to establish a political cabinet of her own. It will be interesting to see if these economic priorities take center stage, as we have seen in the past, John.

VAUSE: Marc Stewart, thank you. Marc Stewart there, live in Beijing with the very latest. Appreciate it. Japan's eastern coast bracing for typhoon Ampil, now the equivalent of a Category four hurricane. Thousands have been ordered to evacuate. Electricity has been cut to some homes. And Ampil is expected to continue to strengthen as it moves closer to Tokyo.

Live now to Tokyo, CNN's Hanako Montgomery there with the very latest. So, I guess, how bad are they expecting this to be? What's the possibilities here?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, John, this typhoon can develop to be something very destructive and very, very bad, depending on how much farther inland this typhoon travels.

For instance, if it does get closer to the eastern region of the country, that could mean we see stronger winds, also more rain, potentially leading to devastating landslides and flooding. But right now, I am in metropolitan Tokyo, more in the city center. And as you can tell from the scene behind me and also above me, it's drizzling right now. We're not seeing heavy amounts of rain. Also, the wind has died down a little bit.

John, a few hours before we started speaking, the wind did pick up, not enough to turn over cars or trucks, as the Japanese government warned it might, but still strong enough to affect pedestrians walking along the street here.

Now, in terms of how the Japanese government is preparing for this very strong typhoon, in fact, the strongest typhoon we've seen so far all season, it has advised several thousand people to evacuate, especially those who don't have homes or buildings that are strong enough to withstand these strong gusts of wind and heavy rain. It's also created these evacuation shelters for people to stay in.

Also, we've seen hundreds of flights in and out of the capital canceled, bullet train lines also suspended. We've also seen a couple of highways closed because of the expected heavy rain and also strong gusts of wind. Also, we know that Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea will be closed a little bit earlier today to avoid any amusement park goers from getting severely injured.

Again, though, this is very disruptive to many people's summer holiday plans. Right now, we're actually going through a holiday called Obonjan, which is a time when thousands across the country go visit their family members, go see their relatives. But again, because we've seen flights canceled, bullet train lines suspended, highways closed, people just can't get home and just can't get to their families. John.

VAUSE: Hanako, thank you. Hanako Montgomery there with the very latest. The thing I took away from that is that Disneyland is closed, so I appreciate the update. Taiwan was shaken Friday morning by a 6.1 magnitude quake, the epicenter just off the east coast Friday morning. No tsunami threat, no immediate reports of damage.

The island has frequent quakes due to its location between two tectonic plates. This happened near the epicenter of a deadly earthquake that hit the island back in April. And when we come back, federal authorities charging multiple people, five in all, in their investigation into last year's death of Friends actor Matthew Perry.

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[02:31:46]

VAUSE: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

At least ten European countries are still under heat alerts today, sparking wildfires in Greece, while the Northern Balkans and Italy are sweltering.

Meantime, heavy rain in Spain. Storms overturned boats and forced flights to be canceled. The northern region of Mallorca saw an extreme red warning for heavy rain, flooding and hale or reported in other regions. Residents are being urged not to travel unless it's an emergency.

Well, major developments in the investigation into the death of "Friends" actor Matthew Perry. Five people have been charged by federal prosecutors, all of them in connection to the drug, which is believed to cause the fatal Perry's overdose last year.

Authorities in Los Angeles announced a new set of Thursday's press conference. Three of the five charged have reached a plea agreement, with defendants include two doctors, Perry's personal live in assistant, as well as a drug kingpin authorities referred to as the ketamine queen. All accused are conspiring to supply the actor with ketamine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN ESTRADA, U.S. ATTORNEY: 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)

VAUSE: Areva Martin is as a civil rights attorney and legal affairs commentator. She's with us now live from Los Angeles.

Nice to see you, Areva. It's been awhile.

AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL COMMENTATOR: Hi, John.

VAUSE: Okay. So about the five people charged, the two doctors there, they're the prime defendants now and they're the ones who accused a supply in the ketamine, which other doctors had refuted prescribed period because they are worried about addiction.

Ketamine is used to treat depression, and all this. Perhaps one of the most piece of evidence is this, a discussion via text allegedly between both doctors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ESTRADA: He wrote in a text message in September 2023, quote, I wonder how much this moron will pay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The moron being Matthew Perry.

And here's the sort of money they were making. Again, listen to this. It's D.A. official.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE MILGRAM, ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. DRUG ADMINISTRATION: They supplied Matthew Perry with large amounts of ketamine in exchange for large sums of money, charging Perry $2,000 for a vial that cost Dr. Chavez approximately $12. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: This really seems to go beyond your garden variety drug dealers selling bad blow, other bad drugs. These guys are actually what they were doing and know essentially killing it.

MARTIN: Yeah. This is such a horrible case, John. We think about it, doctors whose job it is to preserve life are engaged in this illicit activity -- activity that led to his death. Using coded language should discuss a drug deals referring to the ketamine as Dr. Pepper, as cans as bots. A text as you just reported out, saying, how much, you know, will this moron -- calling Matthew Perry, someone who has a true substance abuse problem, a moron, this is really a despicable case.

[02:35:01]

So glad that the district -- whether the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of California brought this case, and now, we know that one of the individuals involved -- one of the defendants in this case, is also involved in another case involving, again, supplying illicit drugs to an individual. I can't think of a case its more deserving a prosecution than this case.

VAUSE: What's interesting about this is seems to be similarities between the death of Matthew Perry and the investigation and the death of Michael Jackson and the investigation back in 2009.

So how these two things sort of related, if you like?

MARTIN: Well, you have doctors in both cases. You have medical doctors who are involved in the care of these individuals then rather than again, preserving the life of the individuals they are engaged in conduct that is actually causing the death of the individuals.

We know the ketamine can be used in a safe way that it's used for anti as an antidepressant. Its used for individuals who have substance abuse issues to help them beat their substance abuse, and what we know about this case is that Matthew Perry had been prescribed ketamine, was under a doctors care, had received an injection about a week-and- a-half before he was actually found dead at home in his own, pool.

But yet, when used in this way, when given to his personal assistant who they said gave him at least 27 shots, John, in the five days leading up to his -- we know that again, that the use of this drug like is Michael Jacksons case can be deadly.

VAUSE: So we know that the assistant, as you say, he's been charged as well, he's brought them plea deal. Those who do these plea deals, will they now then testify against these through doctors?

MARTIN: Absolutely. We should expect that these individuals who have pled guilty already will become prime witnesses for the prosecution against these doctors.

And it's important to note, John, these are not just a run of the mill cases, a run of the mill charges. These are very, very serious charges, including conspiracy to distribute ketamine, distribution of ketamine resulting in death possession with intent to distribute.

Again these doctors are facing as well as all of the defendants charged in this case very serious charges of carrying a minimum of ten years of federal prison time even up to life in prison, if the charges hold and if there are convictions in these cases.

VAUSE: I want you to listen to U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada on how the queen of ketamine, as she's known, as well as the other doctor, reacted after they heard news reports that Matthew Perry had died.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ESTRADA: That same day, the ketamine queen, Jasveen Sangha, sent messages to delete all texts to the broker who is assisting her. In addition, we found that the doctor, Dr. Plasencia, had actually begun to falsifying medical records, medical notes, to make it appear that he was doing something legitimate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Nothing quite says guilty as charged as a hurried attempt to try and cover up a crime. But then this obviously makes everything just so much worse for these doctors.

MARTIN: We see that so often, though, John. In a case of someone who is engaged in criminal conduct, it's not just the criminal conduct that they are engaged in. It's the cover up.

And in this case, the cover, the evidence of the cover-up we can and should expect to see used against these individuals, you know, encouraging someone to delete text messages as if there's not a footprint on the Internet of everything that you do online.

So, none of these efforts by this factor are going to be helpful in terms of trying to defend them in this case, these, again, very serious charges. The evidence seems to be extremely compelling. Against these defendants and in some ways, hopefully this brings some closure to those family members, those friends who have all long known that Matthew Perry was in many ways -- a subject of victim of the activity of these individuals.

VAUSE: Yeah. It's so important to know, addiction is a disease and those taking advantage of a disease.

Areva Martin, as always, thank you. So good to see you.

MARTIN: Thank you, John.

VAUSE: Well, in a moment celebrations in Hong Kong after a panda mommy gives birth to a boy and girl, twins. I'll update you on Ying Ying's historic journey into motherhood.

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VAUSE: Harry and Meghan, the duke and duchess of Sussex, arrived in Colombia Thursday to get their support to initiatives to protect children from online harm.

They attended a traditional Colombia performance with the vice president, Francia Marquez, who are promoted the need to combat cyber bullying, online exploitation and the mental health impacts of this kind of threat.

Marquez also took the opportunity to support Harry's Invictus Games particularly in light of Colombia's large population of military veterans resulting from a long internal conflict.

Pandas -- two giant pandas at Hong Kong now proud parents of twins. Ying Ying, the oldest female panda on record, to give birth for the very first time. She did have a little help from Li Li, her partner, delivering a female and male cub just one day before her 19th birthday. That's about 57 years in humans and after a very rough pregnancy that lasted five months.

Officials at Ocean Park say the cubs are fragile, need some time to find their feet -- and a couple of months before they actually make their public to boo and everyone is waiting for one to sneeze.

I'm John Vause. "WORLD SPORT" is next. And Kim Brunhuber will have more CNN newsroom at the top of the hour. Hope to see you right back here next week.

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