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Elderly White Man Apparently Shot Black Teen At Wrong House; All Four People Killed In Birthday Party Shooting Identified; Judge Denies Trump Request To Delay Defamation Trial. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 17, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Four killed, 28 wounded. Police say they've got strong leads but no arrests so far, what investigators are looking for at this hour.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And he was protecting his online friends. A member of that same chat room led by the alleged Pentagon leaker is speaking out. He says the National Guardsman wanted his pals to know where their tax dollars were being spent. We are following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We have new developments in that shooting of a black 16-year-old boy in Kansas City, Missouri. The Kansas City Star is now reporting that Ralph Yarl is out of the hospital and recovering at home. The teen was shot on Thursday after police say he went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers. A witness said that Yarl was "very alert," but was bleeding from the left side of his head and his right arm while waiting for the ambulance.

Authorities say the homeowner who CNN has just learned is a white man in his '80s actually shot the team twice. Police released the shooter after only two hours in custody without charging him. That move sparking outrage across the city with protesters marching over the weekend, demanding justice.

CNN's Camila Bernal has been tracking all of these developments. Camila, bring us up to speed. What's the latest?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Boris. So we know that Ralph is responsive, that he is making good progress. The Kansas City Star talking to his father who says he spent three nights in the hospital and then was released.

The family has been saying, look, we're glad essentially that he's making physical progress. But you have to keep in mind here, there is a long road ahead, especially when you consider the mental and the emotional toll and recovery and how long that's all going to take.

This all happened on April 13th and Ralph was supposed to be picking up his two brothers and he was given an address. He was told to go to 115 Terrace and he actually showed up to 115 Street. It is a simple mistake, but once he went to the wrong house, he was shot as you mentioned twice. He was just a block away from where his brothers were and it was a neighbor who called authorities. That neighbor - one of those neighbors, at least, that we talked to,

that CNN talked to was told to stay inside the house. Eventually she came out and tried to help him. She described him as a very strong teenager and the family now very focused on his health, but also asking a lot of questions.

A lot of people are raising the question here as to race and what factor did it play in all of this. There are very different views here and I want you to listen to the Kansas City Chief of Police in what she says about race, but also what Benjamin Crump, one of the family's attorneys is saying about race and the role that race played in this incident, here they are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF STACEY GRAVES, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI POLICE: The information that we have now does not say that that is racially motivated, that's still an active investigation. But as a chief of police, I do recognize the racial components of this case. I do recognize and understand the community's concern.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR RALPH YARL FAMILY: 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 - unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And this teenager is just being described as friendly, as a good student, someone who loved music, play multiple instruments, always had an instrument in hand. So it's really difficult to hear all of this. The family says that all they want is for him to be able to live his dreams of graduating high school, for example. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yes, he also had aspirations to travel to West Africa before attending college.

BERNAL: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Camila, one of the reasons that police say they have not charged the homeowner is because of Missouri Stand Your Ground law. Walk us through what that entails.

BERNAL: Yes. So this law is in place in Missouri and essentially what the law says there is that you can use force. And I want to read part of it. It says you can use that force to the extent that he or she reasonably believes such force is necessary.

So the key word there is reasonable and that's what authorities are going to be looking at in terms of whether or not they charge him. We know that authorities have said that they want to talk to Ralph, that they want more evidence and that they need this investigation to continue. So we'll wait to see what they decide on these charges, but the family and the attorney is really demanding accountability here, Boris.

[15:05:06]

SANCHEZ: We will be awaiting those details from investigators.

Camila Bernal, thank you so much for that.

Jim, over to you.

BERNAL: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, Boris, another shooting. Police still searching for a suspect after gunfire erupted at a Sweet 16 birthday party and Dadeville, Alabama on Saturday night. It left four people dead, dozens injured. Officials have now released the names of all four of those people killed.

CNN's Victor Blackwell, he's on the scene in Alabama.

I know, Victor, that Dadeville Police say they have some strong leads here. First of all, I feel for you standing outside across the street from yet another shooting location. You and I, we - all of our colleagues have done this so many times. But this is unusual and that there doesn't seem to be a suspect at this point. Where does the investigation stand?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Jim, we've spoken with local law enforcement, county law enforcement, the state, the federal law enforcement all involved and one would hope or at least expect that they know more than they're saying about a suspect or suspects. They've not said whether they're looking for one person or more than one person, if they know specifically the suspect they're looking for or if potentially the suspect, the person responsible is among the list of the victims or those who are in hospitals, no clarity there.

But this is what the Alabama law enforcement agency is saying and I wrote it down here, no public safety concern at this time. The follow up then is: Well, how can you be so sure? No answer to that. Here's what we know that it was 10:34 on Saturday night at this Sweet 16 birthday party here, near the main drag here in Dadeville. Alabama, teenagers, young people dancing and then the shooting started. Twenty- eight people injured. At least 15 teenagers shot and taken to hospitals, four who were killed.

I just a few moments ago, walked down here, just not far, a woman was putting up a ribbon and I asked her if that was in mourning. And she said yes, because so many people here are connected to, in some way, a degree or two away from children who are at that birthday party. They want some answers. Hopefully police know more about the suspect than they are making public right now.

SCIUTTO: Personally, I hate this stage of the shootings because you see the faces of the victims and as you say that they're children, but we are learning the names of the four people who were killed. Tell us what we know.

BLACKWELL: Yes. We are seeing the faces and hearing a bit of their stories. And they're in this phase of life. They're in their late teens, early 20s, where this is supposed to be a fun time. They're transitioning from childhood into adulthood. Here's what we know about those four killed: Phil Dowell, 18 years old, a star football player. People called him a hometown hero. He earned a scholarship to play football at Jacksonville State University. I want you to listen to the assistant football coach what he knew about Phil.

All right. So we don't have that.

Let me tell you about Eke Smith. Eke Smith, a senior at Dadeville High School. She was someone who ran track. She had an injury. She became a trainer, someone known as - who was always smiling.

We've also learned more about 19-year-old Mariah Collins. He was taking a gap year between high school and college, aspiring musician, was planning to go to Louisiana State University in the fall.

And the fourth person killed, Corbin Holston, 23 years old. Again, in addition to those four, at least 15 teenagers who were shot. Those 15 went into ambulances, went to a hospital, four went to the coroner's office at this Sweet 16 birthday party here on Saturday night, Jim.

SCIUTTO: If you think of those moments they take those pictures showing the school they're going to be going to with all that excitement all that hope.

Victor Blackwell, it's good to have you there. Thanks so much. Brianna.

KEILAR: Tomorrow, one of the most consequential trials for journalism and the media is supposed to begin following today's surprise delay. Dominion Voting Systems is suing FOX for a whopping $1.6 billion, accusing the network of perpetuating false claims that Dominions machines rigged the 2020 election against Donald Trump.

Now, it's not clear why this trial did not start today as expected. But the abrupt delay has fueled speculation that a settlement may be close. CNN's Marshall Cohen is outside the courthouse for us in Delaware.

At this point are all signs pointing towards this actually starting tomorrow, Marshall?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Brianna, yes, unless there is a last minute settlement, something that would be announced tonight or maybe early tomorrow morning. But if that doesn't happen, then this case is going to kick off in earnest tomorrow morning.

[15:10:01]

But I'll tell you what happened this morning here, the judge convened a very brief hearing, basically to announce the delay. And it kind of sounded like he was trying to calm things down a little bit, because he said that this is a six week trial. This is normal. This is not unusual, things happen. That's what happened in court.

But, of course, it's what might be happening outside of court that everyone's talking about. Just last night, The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by the same owner as FOX News, Rupert Murdoch, the Journal reported that FOX was making a late push for a settlement that they wanted to get back to the table and possibly reach a deal. So that's what everyone has been wondering about whether it materializes, we will see but if not, everybody will be back here tomorrow morning at 9 am for the trial. Brianna?

KEILAR: Kind of an interesting sight in this hearing today. Tell us about what you saw, Marshall.

COHEN: Well, I walked in like I always do and in that first row, typically, the first row of the pews, are the lawyers from each side. Dominion's on the left side, FOX is on the right side. But today, on the Dominion's side, there were no lawyers sitting there, it was all boxes, I counted more than 40 boxes, maybe even 50 boxes of evidence.

What's in those boxes, we couldn't see. But over the past few months, we have seen in court filings, some of the mountains of evidence that Dominion thinks it has against FOX, things like emails and text messages from 2020 that have revealed by and large that there were a lot of people inside the right wing network, who simply did not believe the election denialism that was being promoted on its shows.

That's why Dominion thinks it has a good shot to win this case to prove actual malice. But, of course, we'll see if this trial actually happens. We'll have to come back tomorrow. And if it does happen, Brianna, they think it's going to last about six weeks.

KEILAR: All right. Marshall, we'll be waiting and watching. Thank you so much for that. Jim?

SCIUTTO: Yes. We'll see if there's a surprise settlement.

Well, new fallout from the major intelligence leaked. The Pentagon just announced it is still trying to find out if there are more classified documents leaked online - that's alarming - details ahead.

Plus, Republicans say the Manhattan DA is more focused on going after Donald Trump that its city's own crime. But what do the numbers actually show? This is important. We're going to show them to you.

And two years after his conviction was overturned, Crosley Green is headed back to prison to serve out his life sentence. CNN spent one of his last days of freedom with him. We're going to bring you his story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:45]

KEILAR: This just in to CNN, Sen. John Fetterman has returned to the Senate today after receiving inpatient treatment for clinical depression. This is video of his arrival earlier in Washington, D.C. The Democrat from Pennsylvania telling reporters it's good to be back but he didn't answer any questions. Fetterman was released from the hospital last month after spending several weeks at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Jim? SCIUTTO: Yes. Good to see him back there.

Well, other story we're following, a team member of the private Discord chat room where sensitive Pentagon documents were posted is defending the suspected leaker. A 17-year-old member of that online group tells CNN that Air National Guardsman, Jack Teixeira share the material to keep other members informed "so that we won't be shocked by the news cycles." Well, it's classified information.

The Pentagon is still assessing if more classified documents is spread online and the department is conducting a worldwide review of exactly who has access to this kind of information.

Let's speak now to CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst, former FBI Deputy Director, Andrew McCabe.

So, Andy, I mean, this - one of the many troubles here is that we've been here before.

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Absolutely.

SCIUTTO: We have someone like this or like a Chelsea Manning who had access to materials far beyond their job or their remit. I mean, just big picture here, where was the failure? Who's responsible but beyond the leaker?

MCCABE: Jim, I think you have to first look to this as a failure of supervision both on the human level like this young man worked for individuals as a part of that air wing in Massachusetts, but also on the technical side. The fact that we are so many years following the Snowden leaks and we still don't have adequate systems in place to warn supervisors when their employees are looking at materials or accessing or downloading and printing out materials they shouldn't be looking.

SCIUTTO: I mean, that's the thing. It seems like they close one barn door and another one opens.

MCCABE: That's right.

SCIUTTO: Like for instance, you have these restrictions on thumb drives, right, to correct one problem, but you're not correcting this problem and you're not - using thumb drives. We did have a Pentagon press conference a short time ago where the Deputy Press Secretary said that they are now conducting a review of who exactly has access. Let's just listen to what they have to say because I want to see if you think it's sufficient.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And just to be clear, as part of that review, you'll be looking at who has access to this type of information, that is ...

SABRINA SINGH, DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the correct of the review.

SINGH: That's part of the review, yes. Who has access to - who is able to access and review classified information, sensitive information and part of that is not just looking here within the building, but our - across our components worldwide. So that is something that our team here is looking at, but also this isn't - this is also an interagency effort.

It's not just the Department of Defense who has stakes in some of these. The unauthorized disclosures of docks that were posted online. There are other agencies that were impacted, our allies and partners as well. So it is an interagency effort.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: I mean, so we're talking about thousands - 10s of thousands of clearances to review. Can they do that?

MCCABE: They can, but they should do it in a very prioritized manner.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MCCABE: Right?

[15:20:00]

So we know If we learned anything from Snowden that these employees who are technical masters, people who understand the systems and who are brought in to help guys like you and I, figure out how to get back to our email when we've lost access, those folks have - can reach substantive material far beyond what they need and they - that's probably a good place to start looking.

SCIUTTO: So the other issue here are these groups like Discord, because - or the groups within Discord and it's not the only platform that has them. But it's a closed environment. It's not - it's not like something you could monitor social media, it's closed. Is there a fix to figure out what kind of stuff including potentially classified materials shared within these groups?

MCCABE: It's a much tougher question.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MCCABE: Access into those closed servers is very hard to do unless you have a fully predicated case already open and you retrieve some sort of court authorized surveillance capacity. But you can imagine, it's almost like a ticking time bomb. You could have classified material lurking out there in these private servers just waiting to be released into the wild and you wouldn't know it until it was too late.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And another problem here, right, they've deliberately tried to recruit young folks who use those kinds of things. Is that - that's where a lot of the talent is.

MCCABE: That's right. SCIUTTO: The trouble is it opens up another can of worms.

MCCABE: That's right.

SCIUTTO: Andy McCabe, always good to have you.

MCCABE: Thanks.

SCIUTTO: Boris?

SANCHEZ: Now, some of the other headlines we're watching for at this hour. Today, a Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the second degree murder conviction of Derek Chauvin on the death of George Floyd. In his appeal, his attorneys argued that among other things, extensive pre-trial publicity and the court's refusal to change the venue were grounds for a new trial.

The former police officer was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. Remember video of him using his knee to pin down and choke Floyd triggered widespread protests back in 2020.

And these are live pictures out of Paris. Protesters lashing out after an address from French president Emmanuel Macron in an effort to calm public outrage over his wildly unpopular plan to raise the country's retirement age from 62 to 64. Macron has faced weeks of widespread protests and labor unions are planning a nationwide strike on May 1.

And mission scrubbed, a pressure issue today forced engineers to cancel the scheduled launch of the most powerful rocket ever built. It was SpaceX's first attempt to launch its starship rocket after years of testing. The rocket was scheduled to complete one full orbit of planet Earth. CEO Elon Musk says it is a step toward his mission of sending humans to Mars, Brianna?

KEILAR: Republicans are holding a hearing in New York today in an attempt to prove Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, cares more about prosecuting Donald Trump than tackling crime in his own city. Is that what the numbers show though? We have them.

Plus, a judge just denied another request to delay the start of a battery and defamation trial against Donald Trump. Next up, jury selection, we'll go live to New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:41]

KEILAR: Here's a look at some of the major stories that we are following this hour: Police in Dadeville, Alabama said they have "some strong leads in their investigation." No suspects have been arrested yet after someone opened fire at a Sweet 16 party Saturday night. Four people were killed and 28 were injured.

Also new developments in that shooting of a black teen in Kansas City, Missouri. The Kansas City Star is now reporting that 16-year-old Ralph Yarl is out of the hospital and recovering at home. He was shot Thursday after police say he went to the wrong house to pick up his siblings, shot in the head and the arm.

And a monumental trial for FOX News is set to begin tomorrow after a surprise delay today. Dominion Voting Systems is suing FOX for $1.6 billion, accusing the network of perpetuating false claims that Dominions machines rigged the 2220 election against Donald Trump. No word on what prompted today's delay, Jim.

SCIUTTO: All right. Also in the courtroom, a federal judge denied for a second time former President Donald Trump's request to delay a defamation trial set to Begin in New York next week. Jury selection will begin next Tuesday in E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit that alleges Trump raped her in a dressing room in the mid 1990s and then defamed her years later when he denied that took place. CNN's Kara Scannell, she's with me now. So tell us, given this judge's ruling now, Kara, is the trial now back on track?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Jim. So this trial is still scheduled to start next Tuesday with jury selection and Trump is 0 for two in their efforts to try to get the judge to delay this trial. In this particular instance, one of Trump's attorneys had asked the judge to delay the trial one month for what they said would be a cooling off period. This because of all of the media attention and publicity around former President Trump's indictment last month on hush - a cover up to hush money payments. Those are the 40 - 34 accounts of falsifying business records.

And now in this case, Judge Lewis Kaplan was saying, a lot of the attention was because of what Trump did. His own rhetoric, him telling people he was going to be arrested and asking people to come to the courthouse in Manhattan and protests. So in denying Trump's request, here's what Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote.

[15:30:00]

He said, "It does not sit well for Mr. Trump to promote pretrial publicity and then to claim that coverage that he promoted was prejudicial to him and should be taken into account."