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White House Declares Drug "Tranq" An Emerging Threat In U.S.; Judge Sanctions Fox In Dominion Defamation Lawsuit; NPR Quits Twitter Over "Government Funded Media" Label; Buckingham Palace: Prince Harry Will Attend King Charles' Crowning. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired April 12, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: The White House is sounding the alarm on a drug "Tranq." It's fentanyl laced with animal tranquilizer.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard recently sat down with the White House drugs czar to talk about the threat that it poses. Jacqueline, what did he tell you?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Well, Bianna, the drugs are -- Dr. Rahul Gupta told me that we are now finding fentanyl laced with the tranquilizer Xylazine in almost all 50 states, and that combination raises the risk of someone overdosing.

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People using illicit fentanyl might not even realize that it's laced with xylazine. Now by the Biden administration declaring this an emerging threat, that means that the White House is working on a national response that we can expect to see in the next 90 days. It also means that proposed funding to tackle the opioid crisis, the Biden administration has proposed $46 billion to tackle this. Some of that money could be used to take a close look at the role that xylazine is playing in the ongoing opioid epidemic.

We do know that last year the DEA says that it found xylazine in 23 percent of fentanyl powder that was seized, seven percent a fentanyl pills that were seized. But Dr. Rahul Gupta at the White House says that while we are seeing this proportion of fentanyl mixed with xylazine, there could be other contaminants out there that we need to keep an eye on. Have a listen.

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DR. RAHUL GUPTA, WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY: Xylazine is one of the contaminants into fentanyl. But there could be others. So, I think with declaration of emerging threat we're sending a clear message to producers and traffickers of illicit xylazine and illicit fentanyl that we're going to respond quicker. We're going to match the challenge of evolution of these drugs supply. And then we're going to protect lives first and foremost.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOWARD: So, in response to this, Erica and Bianna, and we could see more testing for xylazine, we could see more data being collected. So, it will be interesting to see what we hear from the White House in the coming days -- Bianna and Erica.

GOLODRYGA: I know you'll continue to follow this for us. Jacqueline Howard, thank you.

HILL: Still ahead, hew developments in the Fox News $1.6 billion defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems. We're live outside the court next.

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HILL: This just into CNN. The judge in Dominion's defamation lawsuit -- that $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News -- just sanctioned -- sanction, excuse me, the media giant. This is yet another blow today after the judge also said he'll appoint a special master to investigate whether Fox withheld evidence. The right-wing network is trying to fend off at $1.6 billion suit. Which Dominion file of course in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.

GOLODRYGA: So, let's go now to CNN's Marshal Cohen with more. This is a significant development, Marshall. What more are we learning?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, another day and another setback for Fox News. I'm standing outside the Delaware Superior Court here in Wilmington, where a judge just imposed a sanction against Fox News and its attorneys. This is all about whether the right-wing network withheld evidence from Dominion in its defamation case.

Now Dominion accuses Fox of misrepresenting to the court the true role of Rupert Murdoch within the company and of withholding key materials as part of the discovery process. The judge was not happy, and he seemed to agree with some of Dominion's arguments. He imposed this sanction against Fox. That's going to allow Dominion to take additional depositions of Fox witnesses if they want to. Fox is going to need to make those witnesses available and pay for the depositions.

Not only that, guys, but the judge said he's going to appoint a special master to investigate Fox, to look into the possibility that they have misled the court and withheld key material like emails or text messages that Dominion is legally allowed to get as part of the case.

For its part, Fox denies that it did anything wrong. Fox says they didn't defame anyone, and Fox says that they never withheld anything from anyone. But guys, this is all unfolding on literally the eve of the trial. Jury selection is supposed to start tomorrow morning. So, there's a tremendous amount of drama. It has not been a very good day for Fox, and there is much more to come here in Wilmington -- guys.

GOLODRYGA: Never a good day for the defendant when the judge appoints a special master to investigate the discovery process. Marshal Cohen, thank you.

Well, the district attorney in Travis County, Texas, says that they have full confidence in the guilty verdict handed down in the case of a U.S. Army sergeant who killed a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020. Attorneys for Daniel Perry say they want a new trial, and Governor Greg Abbott has called for a pardon.

HILL: CNN's Jake Tapper is going to have more on this story today on "THE LEAD." So, Jake, I know you're supposed to speak with the district attorney Joe Garza. Jose Garza rather, excuse me. The question so many people have this case -- what's your biggest question at this point?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I'd like to know what grounds Governor Abbott is opposing this conviction other than stand your ground arguments, which is obviously the law of the land in Texas. I want to know how the Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza feels about that argument from Governor Abbott. And also, about the argument that evidence that suggested that the victim in this case, Garrett Foster, was behaving in an instigatory way that that was excluded from the trial. What he thinks about that argument.

You know they're -- I always want to believe that a jury is able to make mistakes. We are -- the juries are only as good as the fallibility of humankind. But that said, this was a very quick and unusual decision by Governor Abbott to step in, in a case, in a cap -- it's not a capital case rather -- but in a murder case and get involved.

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So, I'd like to know what his best arguments are and have the DA respond to them.

HILL: Yes, it's great. Well, I will certainly be tuning in for that, my friend. Appreciate it, Jake. Thank you.

TAPPER: Thanks, guys, good to see you.

GOLODRYGA: And still ahead, NPR stands up to Twitter owner that and decides to ditch the social media platform. We'll tell you the reason, up next.

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GOLODRYGA: So, NPR now says that it is quitting Twitter after clashing with the social media company over a controversial new label.

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Last week, Twitter labeled the radio broadcaster as a state affiliated media organization, which is really akin to foreign propaganda outlets like those seen in Russia. Twitter later revised the label to the one you see here, which says government funded media.

HILL: CNN's Oliver Darcy joining us now. So, NPR is the first major news organization to say, Twitter we're done. What are what are they saying in terms of that decision, and how they came to it? Was it just about the label?

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: Yes, well, they're saying I'll read to you part of what the statement, it says. It says --

We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility.

And I think this is actually quite interesting. This is the first news organization, as you said, that has left Twitter. But you've seen Elon Musk effectively spit in the face, if you will, of news organizations, not just NPR, other news organizations. And they've acted a lot differently. It'll be interesting to see whether this sort of is the first domino to fall now and whether other news organizations follow suit.

Keep in mind that the BBC is now also labeled as public publicly funded media. And there's been a whole host of like bizarre moves from Elon Musk on this whole issue.

GOLODRYGA: Speaking of media organizations, some are banding together now and suing for access to the Capitol Hill surveillance of the insurrection that happened on January 6th. Obviously, these are videos that Speaker McCarthy had given to Fox News. What more do we know about this lawsuit?

DARCY: News organizations have always wanted access to this video, and now that they have given access or Speaker McCarthy's office has given access to Tucker Carlson's show, news organizations are suing for this access.

So, nine organizations, including CNN, have sued and are hoping to get these tapes. Because they want to go through it so they can accurately tell a story of what happened on January 6th. And so, it's not filtered through the very distorted lenses that Tucker Carlson and his producer presented to the public. We'll see what happens. But they've been fighting for this for a while, and this is the latest development.

HILL: All right, we'll be waiting to see when they're -- when -- when and if they are released.

HILL: Oliver appreciate it, as always, thank you.

Brittney Griner is writing a memoir about her detainment in Russia, the WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist, spent 10 months behind bars there after being detained at an airport in Moscow last February. Griner says that day was, quote, the beginning of an unfathomable period in my life, which only now am I ready to share. She says she wants to bring attention as well to other Americans wrongfully detained overseas. Her book is due out next spring.

And still ahead for us, Buckingham Palace revealing whether Harry and Meghan will attend the coronation of King Charles next month. We'll have more details after the break. [15:55:00]

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HILL: Royal watchers, the wait is over. Some big news out of Buckingham Palace today. Turns out Prince Harry will attend his father, King Charles coronation next month after all.

GOLODRYGA: But he's going solo because the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, and their children will not attend. Here's CNN's Isa Soares.

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Bianna, Erica, for weeks, there has been endless speculation here in the U.K. Will they, won't they? Well, now we know for sure. Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, says he will be attending his father's coronation on May the sixth, but he will be doing so alone. His wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will remain in the U.S. with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Now, we don't know why Meghan isn't attending. But we do know that she was invited. But she has the excuse that it's Archie's birthday. It falls, in fact, on the same day as the coronation.

One thing is certain, though, without Meghan here it will be less of a media circus at a moment of such significance for the royal family and for the King. But it does show, doesn't it, the rift within the royal family and the unresolved issues as well as the tensions.

And for Harry, well, this will be the first time he will be seeing the royal family since his bombshell memoir "Spare," and its spectacular fall out and the interviews that followed because of that. And in that memoir, if you remember ladies, he talks about a desire to sit down with senior members of the royal family. We don't know whether that's going to happen.

We also don't know what role Harry will play in that coronation. Where he will sit. Whether he will appear at the balcony after the coronation. And all this is important because it will tell us whether the differences are being put aside.

For now, perhaps it's not being seen as a family reunion, but as a moment of reconciliation. Of course, to see his father crowned as King Charles III -- Erica, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: It'll be a big moment. Thank you so much, isa Soares. I hate it when I get people's names wrong. Bianna Golodryga should get every person's name right.

HILL: I think Isa will understand she's pretty -- she's pretty understanding and fabulous. So, there you go. You need to mark your calendar so you can watch to see whether Harry appears at the balcony. Whether there's any love lost between the royals.

GOLODRYGA: You've got a big special coming up.

HILL: A big special coming up just ahead of the coronation. New details on that to be released soon.

GOLODRYGA: You've spent a lot of time working on this, Erica.

HILL: Face. Thanks so much for joining us today. I'm Erica Hill.

GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.