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Defamation Trial Against Fox to Begin; Wrong-House Shooting Suspect to Turn Himself In; Quinton Lucas is Interviewed about the Missouri Shooting; Texas House Considers Gun Reforms; FBI Probes Pro- Russian Accounts in Leak. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired April 18, 2023 - 09:00   ET

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

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[09:00:29]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Moments from now, a generational showdown over the First Amendment. Fox News could be on the hook for some $1.6 billion in an historic defamation lawsuit. We have the latest from inside the courtroom.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Charged. The man accused of shooting a teenage boy is now facing two felony counts. We're live in Kansas City as they wait for Andrew Lester to turn himself in, and the family of young Ralph Yarl is speaking out to CNN.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Follow-up from the leak of highly classified Pentagon documents after the arrest of the alleged leaker. Authorities are now looking at what role of pro-Russian social media account played in the case.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: At this moment, in a Delaware courtroom, Dominion's historic $1.6 billion defamation trial against fox News could soon get underway. This is by far the most significant defamation trial in generations and most significant case against a media company perhaps ever. It all comes after this mysterious 24-hour delay that did raise questions about possible settlement talks. But, if one is not announced in the coming minutes, and believe me we are monitoring it very closely, opening statements will begin after a jury is seated. Now, if Dominion gets what it's asking for, it would mark the largest defamation decision against a U.S. media outlet.

CNN's Danny Freeman is outside the courthouse in Delaware.

Danny, brings us up to speed about what's happening right now because the delay was until about right exactly at this moment.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. Good morning.

Well, right now we're expecting the judge to come out and begin jury selection in the courthouse behind me. And the judge, I should say, is very prompt and has been all throughout this court proceeding so far. So, we should expect him any minute.

And then, after that jury selection, we're expecting opening statements to take up the bulk of the majority of the day.

Now, as you said, yesterday at this time there was a delay in this case for about 24 hours, prompting a lot of speculation about a potential settlement. But I can tell you today, neither side is expecting a settlement at this point. And both sides are getting ready and preparing for those opening statements and to embark on this potentially six-week trial.

I want to read you some statements kind of as a scene setter from both Dominion and Fox. First, Dominion said, quote, in the coming weeks we will prove Fox spread lies, causing enormous damage to Dominion. And we look forward to trial. Meanwhile, Fox, this week, also released a statement saying, Dominion's lawsuit is a political crusade in search of a financial windfall, but the real cost would be the cherished First Amendment rights.

Now, again, we've been watching these two parties go back and forth for a number of weeks, really since -- for two years since this case was first brought up, this lawsuit first filed. But now opening statements expected sometime later today.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, it's game on. It certainly looks like it. Of course, it is no game for either of these two major companies involved.

Danny, opening statements could begin today and then witnesses, including high profile witnesses, faces that people know. Who are we talking about that we could see soon?

FREEMAN: Very high profile witnesses, John. And I just want to say, and set the stage for you out here. Obviously, as you can imagine, there are a lot of media members out here all covering this trial from all over the world. But the interesting thing is, while this is the main entrance of the courthouse, there is actually a back entrance of the courthouse where sometimes sensitive or high-profile witnesses do have the option of going through. We were able to get some shots of that yesterday. And that may be in use for some of the witnesses that we potentially could see over the course of the next few weeks testifying at this trial.

That could include Rupert Murdoch, of course, the chairman of the Fox Corporation, Lachlan Murdoch, his son, Suzanne Scott, the current president of Fox News, and, of course, the highest profile perhaps would be many of those Fox News personalities, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham. We're not sure 100 percent right now which, if any, frankly, of those will be called to testify, but we expect that Dominion would want at least some of those folks to take the witness stand as this trial gets underway to prove their case, saying that Fox News defamed them. Of course, Fox, still standing strong.

But again, the trial seems to be, as you said, game on starting today and this morning. John.

BERMAN: I know you're there for us watching it very closely.

Danny, great to have you here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Great work. Thank you.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, there are 20 specific Fox broadcasts or tweets that Dominion's lawyers say were defamatory, or, said a different way, straight up lies that they argue Fox hosts knew were lies.

[09:05:09]

Let's walk through five of them. The first was on November 8, 2020. Remember, that's five days after the presidential election. That's when Fox host Maria Bartiromo interviewed Trump lawyer Sidney Powell.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS HOST: Sidney, we talked about the Dominion software. I know that there were voting irregularities. Tell me about that.

SIDNEY POWELL, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL FLYNN: That's to put it mildly. The computer glitches could not and should not have happened in -- at all. Those - that is where the fraud took place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: All right, four days later, Fox Business host Lou Dobbs interviewed then Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani on November 12th. Giuliani falsely stated Dominion was, quote, owned by Venezuelans, and claimed they were founded to fix elections. Two days later, Dobbs then retweeted this, a key false quote from Giuliani. His tweet, in part, read all about Dominion and Smartmatic voting companies, and you'll soon understand how pervasive this Democrat electoral fraud is.

That same day, on November 14th edition of "Justice with Judge Jeanine," Sidney Powell again was allowed on the air and touted conspiracies, calling for an investigation. And host Jeanine Pirro agreed with her.

And on January 26, 2021, came this interview between host Tucker Carlson and Trump ally and My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE LINDELL, CEO, MY PILLOW: I had the evidence. I dare people to put it on. I dare Dominion to sue me because then it would get on faster. So, this is -- you know, they don't -- they don't want to talk about it.

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: No, they don't

LINDELL: They don't want to say. They just say, oh, you're wrong. And I'm going, you know what, that would -

CARLSON: You're not making conspiracy theories go away by doing that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: And Dominion did sue, but sued Fox News.

And this is what Carlson privately texted someone months earlier. Carlson said the claims against Dominion were shockingly reckless, and yet they kept being spread by Fox News.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: This morning, an 84-year-old man is now charged with two felonies for shooting 16 year old Ralph Yarl. Allegedly shooting the teenager through a glass door after the teen mistakenly showed up to the wrong address to pick up his younger brothers. Andrew Lester told police that night that he was, quote, scared to death when he saw young Ralph Yarl at his doorstep. He also says that he opened fire because he thought the teen was trying to break in.

But this is a photo of Ralph Yarl at the hospital as he's -- just after being shot. He's now home, recovering. And his mother spoke out this morning.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLEO NAGBE, MOTHER OF TEEN SHOT: He went and rang the doorbell. And he was supposed to stay outside and his brothers were supposed to run outside, get in the car, and they -- and they come home. And that was what was supposed to happen. And while he was standing there, his brothers didn't run outside, but he got a couple of bullets in his body instead of a couple of twins coming up -- out and giving him a hug.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Geez.

CNN's Lucy Kafanov is following this for us. She's joining us now.

Lucy, the prosecutor there has made clear that he - as he - as he put it, thinks there is a racial component to this case. Walk through what the charges are that Andrew Lester now is facing.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kate. As we wait for the 84 year old Andrew Lester to turn himself into police custody, we can talk about the charges. He's facing two of them. One is armed criminal action. That could earn him about three to 15 years behind bars. There's also the more serious charge of first-degree felony assault. That could see Andrew Lester spend the rest of his life behind bars in prison.

Now, this whole incident unfolded effectively on the porch of that home behind me. It was on April 13th that Ralph Yarl showed up here. He was intending to pick up his younger siblings, but he had made a mistake. When he rang the doorbell of that home behind me, he was actually supposed to be 115th Terrace (ph). This, Kate, and 115th Street.

Now, according to court documents, Andrew Lester told police that he had just laid down in bed that evening. He was going to go to sleep. He heard the doorbell ring. He said he picked up a 32 caliber revolver. He went to the front door to check who it was. He didn't recognize the teenager at the door. He described this as a stranger who was six feet tall, pulling at the storm door. He told police that somebody -- he thought somebody was trying to break into his house and that he was, quote, scared to death of Yarl's size and so he shot twice.

Lester said no words were exchanged. But Yarl told police -- that the teenagers said to police that he heard the man say, quote, don't come around here.

Now, Yarl was shot twice. The bullet -- one of the bullets hit him in the side of his head. The other one grazed his arm. He ran across the street. My producer actually spoke to one of the neighbors who saw him bleeding. She said he was alert. He was taken to the hospital. He's going to survive.

[09:10:01]

But neighbors say -- pardon me, his family says this is going to be a long road to recovery, not just the physical injuries, but the emotional and mental trauma.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and that's the -- that's almost the least of it, absolutely.

Lucy, thank you very much.

We're waiting for Andrew Lester to turn himself in, as Lucy lays out, Sara, but still so many questions.

SIDNER: This case so disturbing. Amazing, though, that he is alive and able to communicate right now.

All right, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas joins us now to discuss this case.

I want to talk to you first -- and thank you so much for coming on our show. We appreciate your time. I know you're a busy person.

A man shoots a black teenager in the head a few seconds after the teenager rings his doorbell. Do you think that police did the right thing by letting the suspect go after talking to him, initially anyway?

MAYOR QUINTON LUCAS (D), KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI: I think the police department will review the entirety of the situation. In Missouri you can have a 24-hour hold. It is clear here that this was two or three hours where they questioned the suspect. He was able to go back home that evening. The investigation continued.

I share the outrage and the concern of many in asking why. We will make sure we do that. There will not be a - any hesitance in doing that sort of thing, but that's something that will be part of our investigation, following up on this very important investigation which brought charges yesterday.

SIDNER: Mayor, I think this begs the question that a lot of people are asking as to whether or not the outrage that you just spoke of from the family, from some members, particularly of the black community, and the publicity that followed may have had influence here on the decision to arrest this man after they let him go. Do you think that's what happened?

LUCAS: I think there are two ways to see that. The first of which is, I think the collective outrage starting with people here in the Kansas City community, Ralph's family and others did help lead to more attention on this incredibly tragic issue. I think secondary to that, though, is that these are solid charges, this was strong investigative work, and that this is a case that I believe should be one that ends in a conviction when this goes to trial.

I think we do need to look at the fact, though, not just this case but many others, where we have these incidents involved with black teens in too many situations. It seems like we need a public groundswell to get full attention. I will admit, and I'll look to my own office and our own review, I didn't know about the details of this case until several days later. That is problematic. And this is the sort of thing that the people of Kansas City and our entire country should expect better. You shouldn't have to need Halle Berry tweeting about you to get justice. And I think we're going to continue to make sure that whatever happens here, particularly with the delayed (ph) issue, we investigate and we make sure that people know that we're addressing these issues faster.

SIDNER: I do want to quickly ask you, you said that you did not hear about this until a few days afterwards. How did you hear about it? Did you hear it from a Halle Berry tweet or from somebody from the community that came to you, or did you get the information from officials, from police or the DA's office?

LUCAS: My initial information came from the public as well.

SIDNER: Wow.

LUCAS: Often people will start kind of calling about these sorts of things. I don't -- and I'll say this with respect to our police, they don't tell me about every shooting because there are too many. And I think that what was missed here was perhaps the magnitude of the situation. I did -- then did talk to the chief on Sunday morning. We had a press conference after. But there's a lot we need to discuss here of how to do better.

SIDNER: This 16-year-old was an incredible student, a musician. The family, incredibly lucky that he is alive and able to speak after what he went through.

I do want to lastly ask you, because you brought up the racial disparity potentially here. Do you think that this was a scenario that if it - had it been reversed, if it had been a black man who had shot a white teenager, that the same treatment would have happened because a lot of people in your community who I've been able to get on the phone have been really concerned that there is a racial bias here in how police acted in this case. Do you agree with that?

LUCAS: I won't assign racial bias to the police without further discussion and investigation, and I think that we did have officers, white officers, for what it's worth, who did a lot of hard work to get this case file to the prosecutor, having charges filed shortly thereafter. That being said, to pretend that race is not a part of this whole situation would be to have your head in the sand. This boy was shot because he was existing while black. And he knocked on the door of someone who clearly, clearly fears black people, black boys, black children. And I think that that is -- that is clear as day. And so I hope that is not mistaken or forgotten, the reason why many black people and black parents, myself included, are concerned is because if one day it's ringing on the doorbell that can get you shot, then what else is next?

[09:15:03]

This is normal existence in life, and somebody came to a door and shot through a door, not once but twice. That's what is horrifying. That's why I think I'm glad to see this first step towards justice and why we all need to investigate how we handle this and how we can do better in the future.

SIDNER: Mayor Lucas, thank you so much for joining us and being so candid about this case. And we're so happy to hear that the teenage boy is doing all right this morning. Appreciate it.

John.

LUCAS: Absolutely. Thank you.

BERMAN: Sara, sweeping new gun safety bills up for consideration in Texas today in direct response to the Uvalde school shooting where 19 children and two teachers were killed.

For the first time since his arrest in Russia, 'Wall Street Journal" reporter Evan Gershkovich stands before cameras. What he was asking for inside a Russian court.

And, an inside look at the real life heroes who rescued one of the Avengers. The newly released body camera footage after actor Jeremy Renner was nearly killed in a snowplow accident.

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SIDNER: All right, want to catch you up on the stories on our radar.

Many more people are crossing the U.S./Mexico border. U.S. border authorities say migrant border crossings have jumped 25 percent. The increase coming as the rule allowing the U.S. to keep people out who are legally seeking asylum due to the public health concerns is set to end next month.

To New York now. The FBI has arrested two alleged Chinese agents they say we're operating a secret police station inside this building in New York City's Chinatown neighborhood. Federal prosecutors have also charged dozens of others with working to silence and harass Chinese dissidents here in the United States. China is calling it a smear campaign.

Also, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is now the highest paid player in NFL history. Hurts signed a record-breaking $255 million five year contract extension with the Eagles. The deal reportedly contains a no trade clause, a first in the team's history.

John.

BERMAN: This morning, the Texas state legislature is holding a hearing on more than a dozen guns safety bills. The measures include background checks, mandatory reporting for some gun purchases, restricting unlawful transfer and carrying permits. It has been nearly one year since the Uvalde elementary school massacre that killed 19 children and two teachers. The gun safety bills being considered today are supported by the families of the victims.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is in Austin, Texas. I should say Polk Award winning Shimon Prokupecz is in Austin, Texas, this morning covering this hearing.

And I say that, Shimon, because you've covered the situation in Uvalde, in the aftermath, for so long and in such depth. You're there today. These families are asking for these bills. How are their pleas landing with the legislators?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the fact that they're even here today, and we're going to see many of the family members, and even some survivors, showing up here is significant. They never even thought they would get this day to be able to come and speak before the select committee here at the state capitol. So, it's certainly a significant day for the family members who really are just asking for what they think are simple changes, things that can protect other loved ones from having to ever face something like this, John.

One of the big things that they're asking for is raise the age. They want the state to raise the age, the legal age, when someone can purchase an AR-15 style rifle, an assault rifle, which is what was used in the Uvalde massacre, from 18 to 21. This is something that Governor Abbott, the Texas governor, says it's unconstitutional. They don't really have the backing of legislators here, the majority of legislators, to see this law, to see the change.

But certainly, that's not stopping family members. We're going to see them here today come before this select committee. This was kind of a late add. They didn't expect that even this committee would take this up, but they are taking it up. And then we'll see. We'll see if it leaves the committee and goes to the full house, the full floor, the senate and house here, for a vote. It's unlikely. They're not very optimistic. But the fact that they're getting this day, the fact that they're getting this to even happen on this day is significant.

And, John, you can already see several people here gathered to come to this hearing. Moms Demand Action. This is a group of mothers who are demanding, you know, all sorts of gun reform all across the country. They are coming here in mass to also be heard and to try and push for this change.

BERMAN: A determined group, Shimon, but a group that has already lost so much. We thank you for being there. Please, keep us posted on the events of the day.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Officials are digging into a new aspect of the leaked classified Pentagon documents. Now, multiple sources tell CNN, the FBI and Navy are now investigating whether a pro-Russia social media account played a crucial role in spreading the highly sensitive information online. Sources say investigators have been in contact with a former U.S. Navy officer linked to the account.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand has this reporting. She's joining us now.

Natasha, what is this about?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Kate, so this really centers around a pro-Russian Telegram account called Donbass Devushka, which roughly translates to Donbass Girl. And it has about 70,000 subscribers. So, not an insignificant amount of followers here. And it's run by roughly 15 different people.

And what we're told is that this account is being investigated by the FBI, as well as by the Navy, for its role in spreading photos of these classified documents that have leaked online within the last several months.

[09:25:05]

And so one aspect of this investigation has involved reaching out to one of the administrators of this Donbass Devushka account, who is a former Navy non-commissioned officer who left the military late last year. Now she told CNN that she has been contacted by the FBI, but that she was not part of the cadre of people who posted those documents on this Telegram channel. And those documents were posted on April 5th. That is really when they started circulating more widely after they were initially leaked in a very - in a much smaller group chat by the airmen who -- allegedly by the airman who has now been arrested by the FBI. So, the reason why the FBI and the Navy are now investigating this

account is because they want to know basically what their role was in getting these documents and then spreading them wider. And then, as part of that, they have spoken, we are told, to this former Navy non- commissioned officer, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and a lot of it gets to motivation, even if this Navy officer has nothing to do with Jack Teixeira, there's a lot of questions still to go around.

It's great reporting, Natasha, as always. Thank you.

John.

BERMAN: "The Wall Street Journal" reporter detained in Russia appeared in a Moscow courtroom this morning. New details on what happened when Evan Gershkovich appealed the terms of his pre-trial detention.

And we are just minutes away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Futures higher this morning. Look at that. Investigators are watching corporate earnings. Bank of America just reported its profits rose 15 percent to $8.2 billion. The CEO says consumers are still spending in this economy. Goldman Sachs also beat expectations on earnings but missed the mark on revenue, sending its first quarter profit down 19 percent. After the markets close, Netflix reports its earnings.

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