Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Black Teen At Wrong Address Apparently Shot By Elderly White Man; WSJ: Fox Makes Late Push To Settle Dominion's Defamation Suit; WSJ: Ex-Navy Member Behind Pro-Russia Accounts Helped Spread Leaked Docs. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired April 17, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: New information about that homeowner who allegedly shot a teenager after the teenager rang his doorbell. The 16-year-old had the wrong address shot twice, once in the head. We're learning new details about the condition of the teen and the growing outrage over this case.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: A community shattered, Dadeville, Alabama mourning the four people killed in a shooting at a sweet 16 birthday party. The number of people injured is staggering. But still, no suspect has been named as a small town waits to learn what caused such chaos.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, an abrupt delay. The blockbuster trial of Dominion versus Fox not underway today. So, does that mean the potential settlement is in the works or will we see a trial with more than a billion dollars at stake? We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SCIUTTO: Let's begin this hour with those new details we are learning about the man who appears to be behind a Kansas City shooting that left this 16-year-old boy, Ralph Yarl, in the hospital. The shooter apparently a white man in his 80s has not been charged with a crime. Yarl's family says the boy mistakenly rang that man's doorbell while attempting to pick up his siblings.

This was last Thursday. That homeowner allegedly shot the teen twice, shooting sparked a large protest on Sunday. The community demanding to know why the accused shooter was let go less than two hours after he was taken into custody.

CNN's Camila Bernal, she is following all of these latest developments, including what we're learning about the shooter. So, tell us -- or the alleged shooter I should say, tell us what we know.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Hey, Jim. So, authorities just not naming the shooter and CNN also not naming the shooter. But we do know that he is a white man in his 80s. We also know that this all happened on April 13. But he was taken and booked in jail on early morning hours. So, he got booked at around midnight that night and was released at 1:24 a.m. So, he was only in jail for a couple of hours.

The chief of police in Kansas City had been talking about this 24-hour holding period, that according to state law, you have to -- or you're allowed to keep someone for 24 hours. But after those 24 hours expire, you either release the person or you charge them. We know now that this man was only in jail for a couple of hours and he was not charged.

This was a mistake. This teenager went to 115th Street. He was supposed to go to 115th Terrace. He was a block away from where he was supposed to be picking up his brothers. And that's where he was shot.

Of course, the family is now focused on his health, but thankful that he is alive. Here's his aunt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAITH SPOONMORE, RALPH YARL'S AUNT: My nephew is alive. And he is human. It is not the story that that individual intended for us to tell. He is telling a story that is different from the stories that you normally hear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: Now, this family wants answers. The attorneys representing the families do say here that race is a factor that it is important to point out that a white man shot a black teenager who was unarmed. The chief of police says that race is not something they believe was a factor in all of this but she says she recognizes the racial components.

So, there's more to this story. There's a lot of questions here. And protesters outside the home yesterday just demanding answers. The attorneys for the family say it's just unjustifiable, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes. I spoke to the lawyer for the family last hours that also concerned about how short the alleged gunman was held. Camila Bernal, thanks so much for covering the story. Boris.

[14:05:03]

SANCHEZ: Frustration is certainly mounting and pouring into the streets as the investigation continues, so we want to bring in Kevin O'Neill. He's the Kansas City Councilman who represents the area where the shooting happened. Councilman O'Neill, thank you so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us. When you hear those details that this alleged gunman was an 80-year-old white man and that he was held for fewer than two hours, your response is what?

KEVIN O'NEILL, CITY COUNCIL, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI: Well, I think there is a -- definitely, the chief said that there is not a -- so far, we haven't seen a racial motivation here. But there's definitely a racial component here. And we have to be very sensitive to that. And we know that there is a lot of information that we don't have yet. But I attended a rally yesterday and we walked. And there was probably five to 600 people there. And one of the -- one of the kids -- one of the -- one of the students that went to school with Ralph told me that, you know, he was just a brilliant kid. He was -- he was full of life.

SANCHEZ: Councilman, can you hear us as?

O'NEILL: Can you hear me?

SANCHEZ: Yes, yes. We're fine. Go on, Councilman, please.

O'NEILL: I'm speaking -- I -- he -- and I was talking to some of the students and they were talking about how -- what a great kid he is, and what a great musician, and how he wanted to go to Texas A&M. And I'm just grateful that this isn't a situation where, you know, he was killed. He's going to live. I understand he's doing better. And so we're praying for the family and everybody involved.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Glad to hear that Ralph -- it appears we'll be OK. I'm curious, Councilman, do you feel that you're getting the answers that you need from the police right now? Have they given you any insight into exactly what transpired after Ralph rang the doorbell?

O'NEILL: You know, I don't. I have been asking and trying to get information. I understand that they did let him off. I think they call it a pending investigation right now.

But there is no -- I'm hoping there's videos involved. In today's world, you think there would be. But at this point, we don't have a lot of information. And hopefully, we'll get that very soon. We're now in day four and I'm a little disappointed that it's gone this long.

SANCHEZ: So, CNN heard in the last few hours from Benjamin Crump, a family attorney for the Yarl's. And I want you to listen to how he described the situation. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR RALPH YARL'S FAMILY: To have black people ring a doorbell and then have a white citizen shoot him in the head first, and then shoot him a second time, I mean, there's no way you can justify this. I mean, think about how ludicrous this is. You have people who are delivering packages with Amazon and FedEx.

And so, are we going to start tolerating, if it's a black citizen, that you can shoot them, and then go home and sleep in your bed at night after the police question you? It is unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: You're to use that Ralph Yarl --

O'NEILL: He's absolutely right.

SANCHEZ: You're saying he's absolutely right. Go on.

O'NEILL: Yes. I mean, I think -- you know, I grew up in the urban core. I was never -- I was never taught by my parents how to walk into a white person's house. I was never taught, you know, when I'm driving, you know, I think they call it driving as black. These are all things now they have to teach our kids how to ring a doorbell.

And I mean, this is ridiculous that we're in a world where this kind of thing can happen. And I'm just infuriated that this happens in Kansas City, and I'm just -- I'm overwhelmed at how hard it is for parents to raise children in a city or -- and this is across the country where people are getting shot for no reasons at all.

SANCHEZ: Kansas City Councilman Kevin O'Neill, thank you so much for the time, sir. Please keep us up to date with the latest that you're getting from police.

O'NEILL: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Brianna?

KEILAR: A small community in Alabama is trying to put the pieces back together today after gunfire erupted at a Sweet 16 party. It left four people dead, dozens more injured. And this all happened on Saturday night in Dadeville, Alabama.

The two young faces that you see here, they are two of the victims who were killed. Their names are Philstavious Dowdell and Keke Smith, both teenagers and seniors in high school with bright futures ahead of them.

[14:10:11]

CNN's Victor Blackwell is on-scene in Alabama. And, Victor, officials have now released the names of all four people who were killed. What more can you tell us?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Brianna, all four were in that phase of life that's supposed to be as carefree as we are from transitioning from childhood to adulthood, late teens, early 20s. We now have the names of the four who lost their lives, who were killed on Saturday night. You mentioned two of them.

First, 18-year-old Phil Dowdell. He was transitioning into Jacksonville State University. He was the brother of the birthday girl. You're going to hear from his football coach in a moment. He had a scholarship to play at that school.

Also, 17-year-old Keke Smith. She was a senior at the Dadeville High School, ran track, and had an injury so she transitioned to be the team manager. People who knew her say she always had a smile. Also, 19-year-old Marsiah Collins, and 23-year-old Corbin Holston, the four who were killed.

In total, we know that at least 15 teenagers were transitioned to hospitals because of gunshot wounds, of the 28 that we know had been injured. And as I promised, I want you to listen to Phil Dowdell's football coach, talk about the kind of young man that he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL TAYLOR, ASSISTANT FOOTBALL COACH: Out of the biggest I knew she didn't understand why. Why did it happen, you know? We don't -- they don't have any enemies. Phil just told me about a month ago. He said coach, if anything ever happened to me, even when I go to college, take care of my two sisters. I never dreamed that he was talking about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Bri, we heard from a local pastor who says this community of about 3000 people is not the type of community that you'd expect this. But as we've seen many times this year, and for many years that this happens in all parts of our country, big cities, small towns, regardless of typical crime. And because this town is so small, it's very likely that everybody here knows someone or has a degree or two away from someone impacted by the shooting that happened here on Saturday night. Still, so many questions.

KEILAR: Yes. It is crushing that community. We heard that from a local pastor, Victor. We also know that -- we don't know who the suspect is. And police are very tightlipped about that. Where are they on finding the person responsible?

BLACKWELL: You know, law enforcement is not asking -- answering really the basic pressing questions about a shooter if they know who they're looking for, how many shooters potentially they're looking for. The Dadeville City police, they say that they have strong leads. But they're not leading this investigation. This state is. The Alabama law enforcement agency, they're leading this and they're not answering any questions about potential suspects.

They are saying though, "no public safety concern at this time." However, the natural follow-up is if you don't have the suspect in custody, how can you be so certain? What justifies that confidence that there is no public safety concern? That follow-up they're choosing not to answer.

Now, we need to make a distinction between the questions that maybe they can answer like the ones I just asked, and those that maybe they don't have answers to yet, like why. Why would someone go to this Sweet 16 party and start shooting, the guns that were potentially used, and was there a specific target?

So, we're still waiting for some answers. But some of these questions, not just for us, but for the people who live here in this city, they can answer now. We're still hoping to get some of those answers about the person or persons responsible for the shooting Saturday night, Bri.

KEILAR: All right, Victor, we know that you'll stay on it. Thank you. Boris, over to you.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, new fallout from the major Pentagon leak. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a former Navy service member helped spread classified documents on social media. We have details on that ahead.

Also, a Kremlin critic's sentenced to 25 years in prison for condemning Russia's war on Ukraine. And with just minutes on the clock, SpaceX and NASA scrubbing the manned rocket launch. We're going to tell you exactly why. Straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:18:28]

KEILAR: No word from a judge today on why he delayed the start of one of the biggest defamation trials ever, Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News. It was supposed to start this morning. The judge said about the delay that things happen and that this is not unusual.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Fox News is making a last- minute push to settle this case out of court. Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in damages over the network's repeated false claims that Dominion's voting machines rigged the 2020 election.

Let's turn now to CNN Legal Analyst Elliot Williams. He is a former federal prosecutor. So, Elliot, when you look at this here, what would Fox most want to avoid in a trial that they're trying to keep this out of court?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Getting those four people to testify on the stand. Fox, really -- look. Nobody has an incentive to go to trial ever, Brianna. It's time-consuming. It's expensive. It consumes resources.

But most importantly, Fox has a reputation here. They don't want to put their executives, potentially, Paul Ryan Former Speaker of the House is on their board on -- to be in public view testifying about some of these text messages that went on behind the scenes over there.

KEILAR: You really couldn't miss if you were a court observer, something that happened, which is a wall of boxes, at least 40 of them that were on the Dominion's side so filled with files and documents, right? That's the expectation here. What -- is that normal? What does that tell you?

WILLIAMS: Well, there's a lot of evidence. Look, you know, the $1.6 billion figure was what we were talking about a little bit earlier. And litigation, like we said, it's expensive and time-consuming. And there's a lot of evidence at stake here.

[14:20:04]

Again, all these parties you know probably want to do is settle this case. The problem is that they have a lot of reputation behind them. In order for Fox to settle this case, what they have to do is admit wrongdoing and say that they did something wrong. And I think that's a tough call to do when it's either that or go to trial and spend lots of money and maybe lose. KEILAR: Because very clearly here, Dominion suffered some damages right to its reputation.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

KEILAR: What then incentive would Dominion have to keep this out of court?

WILLIAMS: Because they'll -- they'd be guaranteed to get the money, right? The one -- the one nice thing.

KEILAR: If Fox would agree to pay up.

WILLIAMS: If they agree to pay up. The one nice thing about the settlement is that you get something out of it. If you go to trial, you might lose, spend all that time, all that blood and toil, and then also have to pay the other side's attorney's fees. So, it's a big risk.

Now, look, Dominion has a decent case here. They have this electronic evidence. They have some of the law on their side. But you never know what's going to happen when you put a case in front of a jury.

KEILAR: Because they have to prove intent, right? The judge has been clear here. These statements were false. That's not a question.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

KEILAR: These statements were false. The question is, what is the intent? And that can be difficult to prove in court.

WILLIAMS: And it's literally called actual malice. You have to prove as a news organization, not just that the statement was untrue, but that the people who put it on knew it was untrue and either reckless -- were so reckless in their decision to do so or made the decision to put false information on air. That's actually harder than you think.

Now, look, Dominion does have some text messages and e-mails where executives at Fox were questioning some of the allegations. They were -- the information that we're putting on camera. But it's still -- again, actual malice is a pretty high burden under the law to hit.

KEILAR: Yes, it could be very damaging. Is it damning? We're not so sure at this point. Elliot, always good to have you. Thank you so much.

WILLIAMS: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: Boris?

SANCHEZ: The 21-year-old Air National Guardsman charged with leaking highly sensitive Pentagon documents has yet to formally enter a plea. But already some attention is now being turned to a second person allegedly tied to that leak. Wall Street Journal is reporting that a former noncommissioned naval officer who's behind a series of prominent pro-Russia social media accounts was key in spreading the classified documents after they were first posted on Discord.

Let's get some expert analysis now with Mark Esper. He's a former defense secretary under President Trump and the author of A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times. Mr. Secretary, it feels like we're in extraordinary times when it comes to classified documents showing up where they shouldn't be. I'm curious to get your thoughts, your major concerns about this most recent discovery with Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old.

MARK ESPER, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, good afternoon, Boris. It's good to be with you. Look. It's a very damaging release with all these documents that that young airman put online and hurt us tactically with our Ukrainian partners, that hurt us strategically with the Russians and our ability to gain insights about what they're doing in Ukraine and around the world.

And, of course, it hurt us politically with our allies, ranging from Seoul, Korea, to Israel, to other places. So, it's very damaging, and I don't think we know the full extent of it yet either.

SANCHEZ: I'm wanting to get into some of the content of what was uncovered specifically in the context of Taiwan. But first, Secretary, this was on a closed chat room group -- on Discord for roughly a month before it came to public attention. The Pentagon actively recruits on Discord.

So it's not just a vulnerability for the military. Do you think something needs to be done to shore up the way that classified documents are shared internally, and then something to expedite discovery once they are posted in something like a private chat group?

ESPER: Sure, absolutely. Look, there's a number of things that need to be looked at is, you know, what is happening in these chat rooms, do we have the ability to monitor them? What happened in his place of work? Was he being properly supervised? Was the chain of command negligent? Who else was involved?

And we had this report today from the Wall Street Journal about a retired sailor who might have been involved somehow. And then, you know, again, why did he do it? What is the reason behind this?

Because I'm fearful that there might be some type of foreign influence at some point. So, I think we need to understand all these things as soon as possible so we could close the holes and plug up the gaps and do a better job going forward about protecting information.

SANCHEZ: Secretary, as you might imagine, there are a lot of differing opinions on the war in Ukraine within the United States among lawmakers. But having this naval officer apparently pushing Russian propaganda on these social media accounts, are you concerned that that might boost even lawmakers who are now defending someone like Jack Teixeira who illegally leaked sensitive information?

ESPER: Yes. Look, it's -- I read the story. It's disappointing. It's troubling. I don't understand why a veteran of the United States military would be pushing frankly, Kremlin propaganda and talking about this and -- in these chat rooms and entertaining according to the report, Russian hosts, Russian moderators, or other people to speak on this.

[14:25:08]

So, I think it's very troubling. This is going to be another part of the investigation that the FBI and others need to pursue and find out what is the extent of this. And, look, everybody has First Amendment free speech rights, so there's that. But I think this will be part of the investigation.

SANCHEZ: Secretary, I mentioned that I wanted to ask you about Taiwan because one of the most alarming things that was in these classified documents was a US assessment of their ability to defend against the Chinese air attack. Essentially, the documents reveal that the Pentagon is not confident Taiwan can defend against one and that would give China a significant advantage in a potential invasion.

Taiwan has rebutted those claims. When you were at the Pentagon, what you saw in those classified documents, does that match your assessment of Taiwan's ability to defend itself?

ESPER: Well, let me just speak from my assessment over the past year. And I was in Taiwan last summer and I said, look, the Taiwanese cannot defeat the Chinese, at least in a conventional fight. I mean, the Chinese Air Force is multiple times larger than the Taiwanese which is why I and others had been arguing that the Taiwanese need to adopt what's called a porcupine strategy where they harden up and they defend themselves. And they don't try to go toe to toe with China.

By the same means, they need to buy the right equipment to fight that type of fight with just like long-range anti-ship missiles, things like that, and not necessarily fighter aircraft. So, this is not a new thing. It doesn't help that it came out in these leaked documents.

But that is where we, the United States, have been pushing the Taiwanese to go for some time now. Because if they do so, it can be quite a deterrent and actually prevent a war in the Taiwan Strait.

SANCHEZ: I guess if you have to find a silver lining in these classified documents being leaked, it's that maybe it'll bring more attention to the situation and more urgency to getting Taiwan the help that it needs.

ESPER: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, thank you so much for the time.

ESPER: Thanks, Boris. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Jim?

SCIUTTO: We just have this breaking news into CNN. Just learning that Ralph Yarl, that's the teenager shot in the head by a Kansas City homeowner after ringing the wrong doorbell. He was released from the hospital on Sunday night. Great to hear, frankly.

CNN's Camila Bernal is back with us now. Just three nights in the hospital. I mean, his family must have just tremendous relief here. Tell us what we know, and how was he able to get out so soon.

BERNAL: Absolutely, Jim. So, we're learning that he is responsive, that he is making very good progress. This is thanks to reporting from the Kansas City Star, the local newspaper there citing an interview with the father.

And the father is saying that Ralph spent three days at the hospital and is now at home recovering. It is his mother who is taking care of him. She is a nurse. We have reached out to the family for comment.

But we do know that really what they wanted is to focus on his health. Even though they are doing that, they still have a lot of questions as to what happened here and why.

CNN also talking to a neighbor who says she was told to stay inside the house. She said she had to clean the blood but wanted to say that this was a brave young man who stayed awake and tried to tell her look, I am in the wrong house. So, again, this is just a devastating story, but thankfully he is OK, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Listen, and lucky too. The reporting is he was shot twice, once and then once again while he was on the ground.

BERNAL: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Camila Bernal, I know you'll continue to cover closely. Thank you so much. Brianna, over to you.

KEILAR: Sudan's military chief says calls -- or is calling the deadly clashes with a powerful paramilitary group an attempted coup. Details on the power struggle engulfing Africa's third largest country, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)