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FOX News Producer Alleges Attorneys Coerced Her Into Providing Misleading Testimony; Grand Jury Indicts Sheriff's Deputies & Hospital Staffers Charged With Second-Degree Murder Of VA Black Man; Fed Faces New Interest Rate Dilemma After Bank Failures; New Research: Online Shoppers Seeking Cheaper Goods; Novak Djokovic: "No Regrets" On Missing Tournaments Over Vaccination Status. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired March 21, 2023 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:34:09]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We've got new developments for you in that $1.6 billion defamation case against FOX News.
A producer for Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson just filed an additional pair of lawsuits alleging that the FOX legal team coerced her into providing misleading testimony in the Dominion Voting Systems case.
Both sides have been asking the judge to just end this thing and make a decision without sending the suit to trial.
Dominion is arguing that the internal emails and texts from FOX anchors and executives that they've put out there have already proven malice, that they were promoting false claims about Dominion rigging the 2020 election.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: But also, if the case goes to trial, Dominion wants Fox chairman, Rupert Murdoch, and his CEO to testify.
CNN justice correspondent, Jessica Schneider, is live outside of the courthouse.
[14:35:01]
Jessica, what more can we expect to come out today?
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: We're hearing these arguments that have been ongoing since 9:30 this morning. This judge will determine whether or not this case will go to trial or if this judge will just decide the case on his own with the evidence that's been presented so far.
So while all of this is swirling inside the courthouse behind me, there's also that lawsuit from that FOX News producer, Abby Grossburg.
She's alleging that lawyers for FOX News coerced her into giving misleading testimony when she was doing her deposition for this lawsuit.
She says that she was coerced into giving statements that could really shift culpability away from FOX News executives and FOX hosts.
She said FOX News attorneys coerced Ms. Grossburg to deliver shaded and/or incomplete answers during her sworn deposition testimony, which answers were clearly to her determent but greatly benefitted FOX News.
Now FOX News is responding to this citing attorney-client privilege and saying that they cannot exactly comment on this.
Interestingly, just in the last few minutes, there's been a development in that case. FOX News had filed for a restraining order against her, trying to prevent her from saying that she was coerced into misleading statements by these FOX News attorneys.
FOX News has dropped their request for a restraining order.
In the meantime, this producer is on administrative leave and all of this plays into this huge $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit.
Dominion's lawyers have been up in court arguing that the FOX News host and as their executives full well knew that the information they were putting out there repeatedly on FOX News was false when they said that Dominion Voting Systems had rigged the 2020 election.
FOX News has consistently pushed back here saying that everything they have done is fully protected under the First Amendment.
So that is something that the judge could decide today or sometime in the next few days. If he lets this case go to trial, though, the trial will begin before a jury at some point likely in April - Guys?
SANCHEZ: Even more twists in a case where we've already seen so many twists and turns.
Jessica Schneider, thanks so much for that reporting.
DEAN: Disturbing new surveillance video released today shows the moments leading up to the deadly encounter between Irvo Otieno and seven sheriff's deputies in Virginia.
Prosecutors allege the 28-year-old black man was smothered to death while in custody as he was being transferred to a mental health facility earlier this month.
The deputies and three hospital employees are facing second-degree murder charges. And all 10 have now been indicted by a grand jury.
SANCHEZ: Let's go to Brian Todd who has been following this story for us.
Brian, the video is said to be extremely disturbing. The family says it shows officials smothering him until he's motionless.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is some of the most important pieces of evidence in this case.
We just got this video a short time ago from the commonwealth's attorney's office. As you mentioned, it shows the moments leading up to and during what the prosecutor called the process of them smothering him to death.
At first, the video shows the sheriff's deputies bringing him into the intake ward at the Central State Hospital in Petersburg, Virginia. That's a mental health facility. This is on the afternoon of March 6th.
The video shows them bringing him in. They're not dragging him. He's being supported and he's in shackles and leg irons. They get him seated on the floor by a chair.
Then the video shows him essentially on the floor in a couple of different positions, but almost all the time, for about 12 minutes, you have several sheriff's deputies on top of him.
At one point, I saw a video and the prosecutor points out, 10 people are on top of Irvo Otieno putting pressure to bear on his body, trying to restrain him.
At certain points, there are seven, certain points, there are eight. At one point, there are 10 people. And seven of them along with three security guards.
It shows a bit of a struggle where his body may flinch a little bit and the deputies adjust their positions. We see at least one deputy putting his knee on Irvo Otieno's neck.
The operative part of this video plays out for 12 minutes until the prosecutor says he died of asphyxiation.
We also got recordings of 911 call that is were made that afternoon starting at about 4:40 p.m. from the hospital staff to try to get paramedics to the scene. Take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
[14:40:00]
EMPLOYEE: We need an emergency. What do you call this? An EMS here at the hospital. The patient is a new admission. Still in the admission unit. He's very aggressive.
911 OPERATOR: What building?
EMPLOYEE: Building 39. It's a maximum-security unit.
They're doing CPR right now. There's no pulse anymore.
911 OPERATOR: Is the patient aggressive or is he not --
EMPLOYEE: He used to be aggressive. They're trying to put him in restraints. Eventually he's no longer breathing. 911 OPERATOR: Are they doing CPR?
EMPLOYEE: Yes, they're doing it right now.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
TODD: And there are several points during these videos where you see hospital staff and others trying to perform CPR on Irvo Otieno in just a failed attempt to revive him.
One other major development that happened a short time ago. The attorney for one of the deputies - he's the attorney for deputy Randy Boyar - he spoke to reports for the first time.
One of the attorneys for the deputies has put a lot of this at the feet of the staff at the mental hospital, saying it was the hospital staff that was supposed to handle the intake of Irvo Otieno and to restrain him.
But that they failed in their responsibilities to take care of all of that. So the sheriff's deputies had to handle it.
We have reached out to Central State Hospital for response to that accusation and we have not heard back - Boris, Jessica?
DEAN: Tough to watch.
Thanks so much for that update.
Also today, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen underscoring her belief that the American banking system is, quote, "very strong and resilient." The question now is, does the Fed agree?
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[14:46:07]
DEAN: Look, Fed interest rate decisions have always been closely watched. But perhaps never more so than the one that we're expecting tomorrow.
The central bank's two-day meeting is under way and it follows the stunning collapse of two midsized lenders.
An event that some experts say should force the Fed to take a deep breath and pause its interest rate hikes despite stubborn inflation hovering over 6 percent.
Today, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke out trying to shore up confidence in the banking system.
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JANET YELLEN, TREASURY SECRETARY: Our banking system is sound. Even as it's come under some pressure. As I indicated, this is different than 2008. 2008 was a solvency crisis. We're seeing contagious bank runs. (END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Let's bring in Matt Egan.
Matt, what else should we expect from this meeting?
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Boris and Jessica, this is shaping up to really be one of the most important Fed decisions of the Jay Powell era. Just under 24 hours, the Fed is going to announce its decision here.
And over the past year or so, they've been waging this really aggressive war on inflation. We always knew there was a risk that that could backfire because history shows that the faster they raise interest rates and the higher they go, the more likely that they break something.
And so now we learn that something has broken, specifically the banking market with these bank failures.
And so now there's a question, what is the Fed going to do? A former FDIC chair, Sheila Bear, she wants the Fed to pause and survey the damage.
And Goldman Sachs has predicted they will pause, not raise interest rates so they don't worsen the pressure in the banking market.
But there actually is growing confidence among investors that the Fed is going to go ahead and raise interest rates despite the bank failures.
There's an 84 percent chance being priced into the market that the Fed races interest rates by 25 basis points tomorrow. And just about a 16 percent chance of no interest rate hike.
So we'll have to wait and see what the actual decision is going to be. But the stakes here are very high.
SANCHEZ: Yes, it's kind of like damned if you do, damned if you don't. If they don't raise rates, some people see that as a lack of confidence in the banking system, right?
I also wanted to ask you about new reporting that you've done on this research that shows more and more Americans are ditching high-priced items for cheaper alternatives online. It's a trend that indicates the pain of inflation.
EGAN: Yes, that's right. We have heard anecdotally about consumers trading down to cheaper goods. This new report from Adobe shared with CNN puts an exclamation point shows how this is playing out on online shopping.
If you look at groceries, the lowest priced tier of groceries back in January of 2019 had 37 percent of the market. And now if you flash forward to today, it's around 50 percent. We're seeing something play out similarly for personal care. When you
look at how the lowest priced goods there, back in January 2019, that had 27 percent of the market.
It has more than doubled its market share to 54 percent. That's for personal care.
So I think this shows how high inflation and persistent high inflation has really changed the way that we shop. It's changed the way that we think about prices.
But it's also sort of tapped some consumers out. They've already borrowed money, they've drained some savings, and so they're being forced to downshift.
[14:50:00]
Hopefully, the Fed will get inflation under control. Clearly, you know, it is weighing on consumers.
DEAN: No doubt about it.
Matt, thanks for breaking that all down for us.
SANCHEZ: Still ahead, all-time tennis great, Novak Djokovic, speaks exclusively with CNN and he vows he has zero regrets, no regrets after he ceded the number-one world ranking over his Covid vaccination. Hear from him, next.
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[14:54:55]
SANCHEZ: The 22-time grand slam tennis champ, Novak Djokovic, lost out on participating in two major U.S. tennis tournaments this month because of his vaccination status.
His refusal to get the Covid-19 vaccine prevented the Serbian from traveling to the United States.
DEAN: Djokovic spoke exclusively to CNN's Becky Anderson about the fallout from the decision.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NOVAK DJOKOVIC, TENNIS CHAMPION: No, I have no regrets. I learned through life that regrets only hold you back. And basically make you live in the past. And I just -- I don't want to do that.
I also don't want to live too much in the future. I want to be as much as in the present moment but, of course, create a better future.
So, I congratulate him. H absolutely deserved to come back to number one. I wasn't able to play in Miami. I love those tournaments. I had plenty of success there.
At the same time it's a conscious decision I made and I knew there was always the possibility I won't go.
It is the current state or current situation that I hope will change for later this year for the U.S. Open. That is the most important tournament for me on American soil.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: And the organizers have said they hope that you will be able to play. Do you share that confidence?
DJOKOVIC: More of a hope than a confidence, I would say. It's not really in my -- well, it's not really in my hands.
It's debatable because there's always something I can do, but, you know, I choose not to.
Of course, now whether I'm going to be allowed to play or not, it's dependent on, obviously, highest government decision. So, I'm just going to wait and see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Thanks to Becky Anderson for that.
Schools in the nation's second-largest school district are closed today. That means more than 500,000 students are home and not learning. We'll speak with the district superintendent about this massive worker strike, ahead.
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