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White Man Charged with Shooting Black Teen Who Went to Wrong Address; $1.6 Defamation Trial Against Fox Begins After One-Day Delay; GOP Struggling to Unite Amid Debt Ceiling Debate. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired April 18, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: We have the latest from inside.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, it may happen at any moment. The Supreme Court could determine the fate of a commonly used abortion drug as soon as today, these stories and more coming to CNN News Central.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, after police let him go, an 84-year-old man is charged with two felonies in the shooting of 16- year-old Ralph Yarl, who is accused of shooting the teen through a glass door after Ralph mistakenly showed up to the wrong address. He was really trying to pick up his younger brothers.

Andrew Lester told police he was scared to death when he saw the teen at his doorstep, saying he fired his gun because he thought the teen was trying to break in.

This is a photo of Ralph at the hospital after the shooting. He is miraculously back at home recovering. His mother spoke this morning about what happened. Listen.

(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 why 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)

SIDNER: Shot in the head but survived. CNN's Lucy Kafanov is following all of this for us. Lucy, what are the charges that are being levied against the suspect this morning?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, this whole incident took place effectively on the porch of that home behind me. The focus now is on this alleged gunman, 84-year-old Andrew Lester, who is now facing two charges. The first one is armed criminal action. That could earn him 3 to 15 years behind bars. The more serious charge, first- degree felony assault, that could see him spend the rest of his life behind prison.

This whole incident unfolded again at that home on April 13th. That's when Ralph Yarl made a mistake. He thought he was picking up his younger brothers on 115th Terrace. That's one block away. Instead he rang that doorbell in 115th Street. That mistake nearly costing him his life.

The mayor of Kansas City on our air earlier talking about the amount of time that it took to bring these charges forward. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR QUINTON LUCAS (D-KANSAS CITY, MO): 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 people of Kansas City and our entire country should expect better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAFANOV: And we know that Ralph Yarl was shot twice in the left forehead and the right arm. He ran across the street. My producer, Bill, actually interviewed one of the neighbors who saw him. She was bleeding. He was alert. She described him as incredibly brave and actually got incredibly emotional when talking about this. She said, quote, this is somebody's child. I had to clean blood off of my door, off of my railing. That was someone's child's blood. I'm a mom this is not okay.

Ralph is recovering at home with family right now, Sara.

SIDNER: it really is miraculous. He's shot in the head close range and survives.

We have also heard from Ralph's aunt this morning. She talked to CNN. What did what did she say?

KAFANOV: Well, you know, one of the most important things that she started, the most emotional things, is that a part of Ralph's died on that day on April 13th. And what she was talking about, Sara, is something that you and I unfortunately know all too well, which is what the survivors of violence have to go through after the physical injuries heal.

Yes, he's alive. Yes, the physical injuries will heal. But he has this emotional trauma that he has to effectively process and come to terms with, that he was shot for, as the aunt described it, doing nothing wrong at all. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes. You think about young black boys in this country and the dangers they face. It is truly startling, what happened in this case. Thank you so much, Lucy Kafanov. John? BERMAN: So, in Upstate New York this morning, a man has been charged with second-degree murder, accused of shooting this young woman who accidentally turned into his driveway. 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis and three friends drove into the wrong driveway while looking for a friend's house Saturday night. Police say the homeowner, 60-year-old Kevin Monahan, allegedly fired two shots at the car from his porch. One struck Gillis, who later died as her friends tried to help.

CNN's Brynn Gingras joins us with the latest here. You know, Brynn, not unlike Kansas City and that guns in property involved, race not a factor here, but this is so tragic.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it's so senseless, and this family grieving, having a GoFundMe page of for her, really a loss of words here.

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It makes no sense. The sheriff couldn't even make sense of it as he tried to give this news conference.

I've been making calls all morning, John, trying to figure out the status of Kevin Monahan, that 65-year-old suspect. He is charged with second-degree murder. It's not clear yet if he has appeared before a judge.

But just to go back over what you sort of described, what happened here over the weekend, this happened in Hebron, New York, which is very rural area of New York State. And, essentially, what the sheriff's department says in Washington County that this young victim, Kaylin Gillis, 20 years old, was in a car with three of her friends.

They didn't have GPS or any cell phone reception because it was in a rural area and they were just trying to find a friend's home. They drove down the driveway of Kevin Monahan and realized they were at the wrong house, started to leave that driveway when authorities say, Monahan came out onto the porch to the side of the house and fired two shots at that car. And, in fact, the friends rushed out of that area, drove quickly out of that area, tried to get an area of cell phone reception. It took about five miles before they can finally get a 911 call out. Paramedics arrived at the scene where they were in a totally different town and tried to resuscitate Gillis.

And I want you to hear from the sheriff because each and he didn't speak much about Gillis, said she was such a good person from a good family, knows them personally, but I want you to hear more about what he said about this senseless tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JEFFREY MURPHY, WASHINGTON COUNTY, NEW YORK: They're young adults. They were in the area looking for her friend's house. It's a very rural area with dirt roads. It's easy to get lost. They drove up this driveway for a very short time, realized their mistake and were leaving when Mr. Monahan came out and fired two shots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Now, a sheriff says that authorities went to Monahan's house to make an arrest. He was not cooperative, did not come outside. Actually, there was about an hour standoff, no words were exchanged nothing incriminating, said, according to the sheriff, but we're going to continue to get updates on this, John.

BERMAN: Knocking on the wrong door, pulling down the wrong driveway, getting people shot. Brynn Gingras, thank you so much.

I do want to know we are speaking to the sheriff from that county next hour. Kate?

BOLDUAN: We turn now to Dominion's historic $1.6 billion defamation case against Fox News. This long anticipated trial is this hour now getting underway inside a Delaware courtroom. Opening statements could begin really any moment once they wrap up jury selection.

Dominion is suing, as you'll recall, Fox News over false claims that its voting machines rigged the 2020 election. Fox News has denied wrongdoing. There's a long road to getting here.

Joining me now is CNN Anchor and former Federal Prosecutor Laura Coates. So, as we're waiting to hear more, jury selection wrapping up, opening statements to be to becoming, there's been some interesting moves in terms of legal strategy as we're heading into trial.

First, in terms of Dominion, I wanted to get your take, this number of $1.6 billion that they're asking in damages, they've now made a shift now arguing that this all has to do with damage to the company's reputation, whereas before, it was kind of divided into damages, reputational damage and also a loss in contracts. What do you make of this kind of last-minute shift in terms of that strategy?

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, they have to prove in some respect that there was a lessening of reputation in the actual community. That's part of what defamation requires, it is the actual malice standard that says, look, you either knew what you were doing was wrong or you acted in recklessness disregard. But they have to ultimately come up with a number in the civil suit and say, here is how we were harmed and hang their hook on it.

It could be also contract, also the idea that they can no longer get now as a result of that, so not actually mutually exclusive. But premises, they have to show that they were actually damaged and that can be the way to do it.

BOLDUAN: I'm curious what you think of what the Fox News -- like what their strategy in court could be. Because the judge leading up to today already before they got here has limited the First Amendment defenses that the company can use. A company spokesman said this about it all, saying Dominion's lawsuit is a political crusade in search of a financial windfall, but the real cost would be cherished First Amendment rights.

The judge says that many key First Amendment defenses here, they don't apply to the facts coming into this case. So, what can Fox present then in court?

COATES: This case is so monumental for that very reason. They're not able to go in court and say, look, the First Amendment protects all of our speech because there are limitations. You cannot defame and still have the First Amendment protections there. If you were a news organization in particular, you can't just -- so, you cannot defame people and say, well, hold on, here's the First Amendment. The court is saying, you can't make those arguments.

All that's left to prove is that there was actual malice, that you actually knew what you were saying was false or that you disregarded any truth. So, what they're going to present now without having the benefit of saying, look, the First Amendment protects us here and the freedom of the press is we believed it.

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Maybe we believe it was happening. You know, you have Dobbs' is actual deposition, saying, well, he believes election was stolen. So, if they don't believe themselves that it actually was a lie, if they repeat it, same thing.

But there has to be some reasonableness here with that, Kate. If all of the documents you see in the court of public opinion actually rang through, it really can fatally undermined the perception that they actually believed that they were saying the right thing. And the court has said just because you may have someone later on fact checking to present an alternate theory that disputes what you were thinking does not absolve you of having actually committed defamation.

So, this is going to be a monumental case. It's not one that Fox wants to be in the actual courtroom for, because all of their anchors that are part of the evidence so far might be fair game.

BOLDUAN: Are you surprised that it made it to a courtroom?

COATES: I am. The number is pretty high, but, overall, their entire budget over a year, what their bringing in, is in the billion. So, this would be obviously a hit. It would be the biggest one of any media corporation have this defamation hit, but there were apparently some sort of last-minute discussions on this point. But even Gretchen Carlson tweeted out now about not wanting this to settle because she wanted to have the truth of the matter out, that might be part of the motivation as to why they say, no, we're going to go full steam ahead.

BOLDUAN: It seems so interesting, and it's all getting underway in a Delaware court room, as we speak. It's good to see you, Laura. Thank you so much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right as soon as today, the Supreme Court's could decide the fate of the abortion pill, Mifepristone, and whether millions of women can have access to it. The anti-abortion group that initially brought the case has less than two hours to submit filings for the high court.

The hold on a lower court's ruling restricting access to the drug is set to expire at 11:59. P.M. tomorrow night.

CNN's Jessica Schneider is outside the Supreme Court. Jessica, is there any indication about when and what the Supreme Court is going to do in this particular case?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, it's likely the Supreme Court will actually not act on this until tomorrow. That's because after the briefs are due from those anti-abortion doctors, we're expecting the Justice Department of potentially the drug manufacturer, Danco, to actually reply. Plus, you know, the Supreme Court has said that 11:59 P.M. deadline tomorrow night, so there are several more hours before their stay expires.

Okay. So, what could the Supreme Court do here? They have a few options. First of all, they could extend that pause on any changes or any additional restrictions to the abortion pill. They could extend that as the appeals process moves forward. Because, remember, the challenges to the underlying case are moving forward in the Fifth Circuit, the Fifth Circuit already set arguments for May 17th, or the Supreme Court could decide not to act at all.

And then what would happen then? Well, all of the restrictions that the Fifth Circuit have said that they would put in place, those would go into effect. That would include women past seven weeks of pregnancy would not be able to take the pill. Currently, they can take it up to ten weeks. And they also wouldn't be able to get the pill via mail or via telehealth. They'd have to do everything in person.

Now, the FDA has already talked about the fact that these are huge burdens that would be put on the FDA if these changes did go into effect. And also, you know, Senator Dick Durbin was on the floor of the Senate yesterday talking about the chaos that this has really resulted in for women and doctors, just a lot of confusion.

So, it looks like the Supreme Court will be getting those briefs from the anti-abortion doctors by noon today, and then the clock is ticking to 11:59 P.M. tomorrow night when it's before then the Supreme Court is expected to rule. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes. I think more than half of abortions in this country are done with the use of Mifepristone and the other drug that has to be combined with it. So, it's a it's a really important case, and we'll all be watching. Thank you so much, Jessica Schneider there from a very windy Washington, D.C. John?

BERMAN: All right, Sara. An incredible story, four Oklahoma county officials facing calls to resign after audio seems to capture them talking about lynching black people and threatening journalists. We're going to play some of that sound for you.

And everything, not what it seems when it comes to House Republicans, the behind the scenes strife that plagues the majority.

Vladimir Putin unexpectedly on the ground in the Kherson as he zeroes in on the situation in Southern Ukraine.

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BOLDUAN: On our radar this morning, a Moscow court just denied the detention appeal of Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich. He's been held in Russia for nearly three weeks on espionage charges that the Biden administration says are baseless. His attorneys say that they offered bail of over $600,000 in hopes that the reporter could be moved to house arrest, as this whole process continues, but the court denied bail.

Later today, President Biden will be signing an executive order aimed at expanding access to long-term care and childcare. The White House says that it will make care options more affordable and boost job quality for early educators and aid workers. But a White House official has admitted to CNN any additional funding for long-term and childcare programs will face a steep uphill battle in Congress.

And more than 3 million people across the southwest and into the plains and the Rockies are under a critical fire risk threat right now. The National Weather Service is warning that people need to avoid burning anything outdoors at this moment, as they describe it, any ignitions will have the potential to burn out of control quickly.

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Sara?

SIDNER: All right. This morning, a secret audio recording is igniting outrage and calls for resignations in Oklahoma. The conversation that's now been exposed allegedly captures several county level officials making racist remarks about lynching black folks and talking about killing journalists.

CNN's Rosa Flores is joining us now. Rosa, Oklahoma's governor says he is appalled and disheartened by this and the video and -- the audio is just terrifying. Can you walk us through what happened here?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. This audio is very disturbing and the governor there is asking for an investigation. He issued a statement saying in part, quote, there is simply no place for such hateful rhetoric in the state of Oklahoma, especially by those that serve to represent the community through the respect of office. I will not stand idly by while this takes place.

Now, the governor is recommending for these four individuals who were allegedly involved in these conversations to step down. These individuals include Kevin Clardy, the McCurtain County sheriff, Mark Jennings, a commissioner there, Alicia Manning, a sheriff's investigator, Larry Hendrix, a jail administrator.

Now, before you hear this audio, I have to warn you that it is graphic, it is disturbing to hear and that CNN has not been able to independently authenticate this audio and that CNN has also not been able to determine who says what in this audio. What we can tell you is that this conversation was happening and what they're discussing is what they would do when they encounter a reporter. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this were back in the day, (INAUDIBLE) you take damn black guy whup their ass and throw them in the cell, I'd run for (EXPLETIVE DELETED) sheriff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, well it's not like that no more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know. Take them downhill to a mud creek and hang them up with a damn rope. You can't do that anymore. They got more rights than we got.

I know where two big holes are if you ever need them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got an excavator.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But these are like pre-dug.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, the thing of it is, you know, I know two or three hit men that are very quiet guys and would cut no (EXPLETIVE DELETED) mercy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now, all of this is happening in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, which is about 200 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.

Now, what's going on there is happening at the newspaper there. The newspaper is the McCurtain Gazette News. Now, according to our affiliate, KJRH, it is the William -- the William -- Willingham, excuse me, Willingham family who publishes that paper and it's the reporter who is the son of that family.

Now, I want to make clear that CNN has reached out to the four officials who are -- who are these allegations who are part of these -- allegedly part of these conversations, and we have not heard back, what we have heard from the Willingham family attorney and that attorney has said in part, quote, for nearly a year, they have suffered intimidation, ridicule and harassment based solely on their efforts to report the news from McCurtain County, and, Sara, as we discussed before, the Oklahoma governor is asking for an investigation in this case, the A.G. there is already investigating. Sara?

SIDNER: After listening to that audio, it's shocking, it's disturbing and there is a fact-check we should put out there, which is you hear one of the officials saying black folks have more rights than we do, speaking of white people. The absolute opposite has been true for decades and decades and decades in this country. Rosa Flores, thank you so much for bringing us that disturbing story. John?

BERMAN: We have news from behind closed doors in Washington. Now, it's been just over 100 days since Republicans took control of the House and the party's lawmakers are struggling to maintain a united front amid several disputes on a bunch of issues, including raising the debt ceiling, the budget, how to handle the crisis at the border.

CNN's Manu Raju live on Capitol Hill for us this morning. Manu, I understand you come bearing news from this closed-door meeting among Republicans.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, talking to a number of Republicans who just attended this meeting, where Speaker McCarthy is beginning the process to try to get his conference in line behind the proposal to raise the national debt limit for one year, coupled with a range of spending cuts, ranging from dealing with rolling back domestic spending levels for the over 2022 levels, which would amount to a significant cut to a range of domestic programs, as well as imposing new COVID-19 -- sorry Medicaid work requirements for people who are beneficiaries, too, that entitlement program, as well as rescinding money that was enacted for COVID relief, among the variety of issues that they're trying to convince their conservative members to support, along with raising the debt limit, to avoid the nation's first ever default as early as June.

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This coming, of course, as the White House has resisted any negotiations, whatsoever, instead calling on the house Republicans simply raise the national debt limit without any conditions attached, something Republicans reject.

Now, Kevin McCarthy just detailed some of these ideas behind closed doors and House Republicans are trying to pass their bill as early as next week on GOP votes alone, meaning that Kevin McCarthy can't lose more than four Republican votes. So, the wrangling has begun. John, and I just spoke with Patrick McHenry, who is one of the key members of Kevin McCarthy's team, and he indicated confidence that they could get the votes next week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: What happens if you don't get to 218 votes next week?

REP. PATRICK MCHENRY (R-NC): There are a lot of things that don't happen if nothing happens, right? But it's not the right question. The question is what does the White House then do once we pass this package? We clearly stated there is no clean debt ceiling will pass the House.

So, we'll have the first opening offer here, and we'll see if the president is willing to come to the table and negotiate, like previous presidents have.

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): I'm open to it, but, still, I told them I'm still a no vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So, that last comment, significant. That's Tim Burchett. He's a congressman from Tennessee, a Republican, said, I am still a no vote. That is a problem, of course, for McCarthy. If he cannot convince common lawmakers, like Burchett and others who are skeptical of voting for a debt ceiling increase, no matter what. So, a very, very delicate dance here for McCarthy, trying to get his members on board, trying to convince the country that they will not barrel into a potential first ever default and here in the United States all while trying to get the White House to agree to negotiate. John?

BERMAN: Raju on Capitol Hill asking the right questions, never mind what Representative McHenry had to say about that. Thank you so much. Keep us posted on all of this. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Newly released data from U.S. border officials show a jump in border crossings last month. What this signals as officials prepare for the expiration of Title 42.

And we're going to speak to one of the people involved in the recent settlement with the city of Minneapolis, the settlement over unreasonable use of force used by former Officer Derek Chauvin years before he was convicted of murdering George Floyd.

We'll be right back.

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