Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN International: Fox to Pay $787.5 Million to Dominion to Settle Defamation Case; White Homeowner Who Shot Black Teen to Be Arraigned Today; Fighting Flares in Khartoum Despite 24-Hour Ceasefire; Justice Department Unveils Charges in Election Interference Plot. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired April 19, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster joining you live from London. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The world got to see what really went on at Fox News in 2020.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We see today's settlement is complete vindication and really a message that lies do have consequences.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm thankful that Mr. Lester has turned himself in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A charge does not mean justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: It is Wednesday, April 19th 9:00 a.m. here in London, 4:00 a.m. on the U.S. east coast.

We begin with a colossal settlement in one of the biggest media cases in decades. The two-year long battle between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems, finally ending with a whopping more than $787 million in damages to Dominion just before opening statements were set to begin. The deal exposing the networks lack of credibility.

Fox issued a statement saying it acknowledges the court found some of its claims about Dominion after the 2020 presidential election to be false.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEPHEN SHACKELFORD, DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS LAWYER: Money is accountability. And we got that today from Fox. But we're not done yet. We've got some other people who have some accountability coming towards them. And I'm very proud of the team from Susman Godfrey that has worked tirelessly for this case. And we'll move right on to the next one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: And this is just one of the cases that Fox is battling. Another voting tech company Smartmatic says the settlement proves Foxes wrongdoing.

Writing in a statement: Dominion's litigation exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox's disinformation campaign. Smartmatic will expose the rest.

NOBILO: And I believe that they are suing Fox for $2.7 billion. The Fox News settlement doesn't end Dominion's fight against election deniers who blamed the conspiracy for Trump's 2020 loss on them. The company has lawsuits pending against other right wing TV networks and several top Trump allies. CNN's Danny Freeman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just after the judge announced that there was going to be a settlement in this case, I got to say, the Dominion attorneys were all smiles today as they left the courthouse and they left the press -- and they left the press conference telling us that this was a good day for Dominion and a good day for democracy.

Now, this incredibly large settlement of $787 million was actually just less than half of what the meaning was initially asking for that $1.6 billion figure, but of course, still a sizable number.

And I should say there was a lot of lead up actually to this settlement. The jury was sworn in Tuesday morning. Opening statements were ready to go 1:30 in the afternoon. But then after a mysterious 2.5-hour delay, finally the judge came back and said that there would be a resolution to this case. The parties came together and they settled. And the judge even said to the jury, if you weren't there, the parties probably would not have been able to reach a settlement in this case. The judge made that announcement and then Dominion came out. And take a listen to what some of their attorneys had to say.

JUSTIN NELSON, LAWYER FOR DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS: The truth does not know red or blue. People across the political spectrum can and should disagree on issues even of the most profound importance. But for our democracy to endure for another 250 years and hopefully much longer, we must share a commitment to facts.

FREEMAN: Now in contrast, the attorneys for Fox News they did not take any questions from the press. They just walk down the street here in Wilmington, but they did release a statement later on saying in part: We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the court's rulings finding certain claims about Dominion being false. This settlement reflects Fox's continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.

So again, we're still waiting for certain details about the settlement. But as of now we do know that Fox does not intend to make any statement on its air about these false claims about Dominion. But again, we'll wait and see if that changes in the future.

Danny Freeman, CNN Wilmington, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Attorneys for Dominion Voting Systems say their client feels vindicated by the settlement. They explained why the timing of the agreement was so important.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[04:05:00]

DAVIDA BROOK, DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS LAWYER: I think that what we wanted, what we needed was accountability, and we got that in two forms. Both in the summary judgment opinion that they finally acknowledged today. They acknowledge that the statements that they broadcast on their air were false. But also, in the fact that this case didn't settle until now. This case didn't settle before the documents were made public. This case didn't settle until the world got to see what really went on at Fox News in 2020, and that was what we were focused on.

And today was about getting them some justice. Not just in the form of the single largest defamation verdict I think this country has ever seen, not just in the form of, I think, the single largest payout Fox has ever made, but in the form of giving them some closure. These are people, as you said, who have spent the last 2.5 years receiving vicious and horrific threats on their lives and their livelihood and to give them the peace to not have to come out here and relive that trauma and do so on such a public stage was something that we were really, really just happy to be able to give to them.

NELSON: What happened to Dominion was that it just got caught in this torrent of lies and got brought into this alternative universe where conspiracy theories dominated.

We see today's settlement as complete vindication and really a message that as your opening said, lies do have consequences. And it's about having come back to the shared facts because ultimately, we can agree or disagree on issues even to the most profound importance. But we have to have shared facts in this society to have a functioning democracy. And I think today's settlement was a real step in that direction.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: In the coming hours, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to weigh in on a proposed ban on abortion medication issued by Texas judge. Their deadline to respond is just before midnight. FOSTER: On Tuesday, a group of anti-abortion doctors asked the court

to restrict access to the drug whilst the matter is being debated. The claim the FDA hasn't done enough to study the drug's safety and is routinely placed politics above women's health.

The White homeowner who shot and wounded a Black teenager in Kansas City last week, is expected to be arraigned later today. Andrew Lester, on the right here, turned himself into authorities on Tuesday and was released hours later on bail. The attorney for 16-year-old Ralph Yarl on the left is calling out police for how long it took to arrest Lester. The attorney says the shooting was a case of racial violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE MERRITT, ATTORNEY FOR RALPH YARL'S FAMILY: But what Andrew Lester was referring to in terms of the size and how fearful he was of Ralph is a euphemism about blackness. Ralph is 5'8". Ralph is 140. He is the least imposing kid that I've come across. He's a 16-year-old musician. He is not known for his physical prowess. The truth is when Mr. Lester looked out and saw a Black child, he decided like this common in America that his skin alone was a weapon. That Blackness was the threat.

And that's the reason we're having racial conversation, racial violence conversations. That's the reason that we're treating this case as a case of racial violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: High school students led a unity walk on Tuesday to show support and demand justice for Yarl. CNN's Lucy Kafanov has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Andrew Lester, the 84- year-old white homeowner charged with shooting Ralph Yarl, a 16-year- old Black teenager, turned himself into authorities today and was released on $200,000 bond and a prohibition on him possessing weapons.

Community leaders and Yarl's attorney speaking out today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A charge does not mean justice.

REV. DR. VERNON HOWARD, SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE OF GREATER KANSAS CITY: We don't want him out, but we understand that's part of the process.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Yarl's mother spoke with CBS News about the events of that night when Yarl went to pick up his younger brothers from a friend's home.

CLEO NAGBE, MOTHER OF RALPH YARL: His brothers were supposed to run outside, get in the car, 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.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Lester faces two felony charges in the shooting, assault in the first degree and armed criminal action.

KAFANOV: The incident unfolded on the front porch of the home behind me, the homeowner telling police that Ralph Yarl came up to his front porch. He rang the doorbell, but Ralph had made a mistake. This home is located at 115th Street, the home he was supposed to go to is one block away right there, 115th Terrace.

KAFANOV (voice-over): According to the probable cause statement, Lester told investigators he was in bed when he heard the doorbell ring, then picked up his gun before responding to answer the door.

[04:10:00]

He said after opening the main door, he saw a Black male, approximately 6 feet tall, and he believed someone was attempting to break into the house and shot twice within a few seconds of opening the main door.

He also told investigators that no words were exchanged, and it's quoted as saying he was scared to death by the teenager's size and by his inability to defend himself.

LEE MERRITT, YARL FAMILY ATTORNEY: He had to face an ugly reality here in the states that the color of his skin is often seen as a threat in and of itself.

KAFANOV (voice-over): According to prosecutors, there's no evidence Yarl ever crossed the threshold into Lester's home.

NAGBE: You just cannot wrap your head around it from being shot for doing absolutely nothing wrong.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Yarl told investigators he fell to the ground after being shot in the head and was then shot in the arm. He said the man who shot him said, don't come around here. Yarl then ran away, going to multiple homes asking for help.

Investigators say they observed blood on the front porch, blood on the driveway, and blood in the street after the shooting.

NAGBE: Ralph was shot on top of his left eye. I would say in the left frontal lobe. And then he was shot again in the upper right arm. That injury is extensive, and the residual effect of that injury is going to stay with him for quite a while.

KAFANOV: Another condition of Lester's release is that his phone is subject to monitoring. He is not allowed to have any contact with Ralph Yarl or his family. It's unclear when he will appear in court for an initial hearing. This as protesters take to the streets of Kansas City for a second time on Tuesday to demand justice and action.

Lucy Kafanov, CNN, Kansas City, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: The attorney for a man who fatally shot a 20-year-old woman in his upstate New York driveway, says his client felt menaced. Kaylin Gillis was the passenger in a car that mistakenly turned onto the man's property while they were looking for a friend's house. She was struck with a bullet as the car drove away.

FOSTER: Now 65-year-old Kevin Monahan is charged with second degree murder. According to his attorney, Monahan says several vehicles, including a motorcycle, were revving their engines and drove up his driveway at a high rate of speed. But the sheriff says Monahan was not threatened at all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JEFFREY MURPHY, WASHINGTON COUNTY, NEW YORK: He has not made any statement. He obtained a lawyer before he came out of the house. He's not made any statements and, quite frankly, it's not shown any remorse in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Friends and family are remembering Kaylin Gillis is a sweet girl with a kind heart. She was a member of her high school cheerleading team before graduating in 2021.

FOSTER: Now in the coming hours, Alabama authorities will hold a news conference to share the latest developments in a mass shooting investigation. Four people were killed over the weekend and dozens more wounded after shots were fired at a sweet 16 birthday party.

NOBILO: Alabama's law enforcement agency will be joined by police from neighboring areas as well as multiple federal agencies. Investigators say that they have had strong leads about the attack but haven't shed details so far, and no arrests or motive have been announced as yet.

In Nashville, Tennessee, students at the Covenant school returned to classes on Tuesday for the first time since the deadly shooting there three weeks ago.

FOSTER: The school says classes will resume on campus through several phases. Some classes temporarily being held over the nearby church. A 28-year-old former student shot and killed three children and three adults before being killed by police.

And on the same day the school reopened, a protest was held to demand Tennessee lawmakers pass gun safety laws.

NOBILO: Called Linking Arms for Change, the protest featured a long human chain of demonstrated through downtown Nashville. The organizers of the event said the cause is not a political issue. It's a safety issue.

Airline industry leaders will testify Wednesday before U.S. House committee on what they call the coming tsunami of pilot retirements. The head of the regional airline association says this shortage could result in a further collapse in air service.

FOSTER: She says 42 states now have less airline service than before the pandemic. 136 airports have lost at least a quarter of their service and 11 airports have had flights completely cut. Right now, this mostly impact smaller cities and smaller airlines.

NOBILO: Over 15 million people in the U.S. are under threat for severe storms today. Authorities are warning that parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa may experience very large hail, tornadoes and severe gusts. Over 40 million people will be under threat for severe storms on Thursday.

FOSTER: Now a fragile ceasefire in Sudan has fallen apart just hours after it went into effect. Witnesses in the capital Khartoum have reported explosions near the presidential palace and the army headquarters. The World Health Organization says at least 270 people have been killed in five days of fighting.

[04:15:00]

NOBILO: Some people in Khartoum are packing up their belongings and trying to leave the city. Gunmen have reportedly raided the homes of U.N. staff and other international groups, sexually assaulting women and stealing cars.

CNN's Larry Madowo is following developments and joins us live just south from Nairobi. It really does give the sense of chaos setting it, settling in certainly into the capital.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does and this is now day five and we're supposed to be into maybe hour 14, 15 of this 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire. But it's not holding and both sides are accusing the other of having first violated it. So right now, even this morning, people have woken up to more sounds of gunfire and bombardments, bombings. I want to show you this video of smoke rising up in the south side of Khartoum sent in by somebody who told CNN they were too afraid to reveal their identity because they don't want to be targeted. But that's the reality for them, living through what is supposed to be a ceasefire.

Right now, Medicines Fund here or Doctors Without Borders, telling CNN that at least half of the hospitals in the capital of Khartoum are out of action. They've been bombed or shelled. Doctors, nurses, medical professionals are afraid to go in because it's not safe for them. And the few hospitals that are functioning are getting inundated. At least one hospital alone saw 138 wounded people brought in just one day. So that's the scale of this.

And the fact that hospitals are getting targeted not just in the capital and other places. A short while ago Doctors Without Borders tweeted that in their region in the Nyala compound in Darfur, it was raided by armed men and they stole everything, including vehicles and office equipment. And they don't even know the exact scale of what's left there because they still don't have access and it's not safe for them to do so. That is the situation on the ground. We saw, for instance, in one university, the University of Khartoum,

there were about 100 students who had been stranded there for four days were finally rescued and evacuated with the help of the Sudanese armed forces. But this conflict is still grinding on, on day five.

That is why you see the Japanese saying there will be among the first countries to evacuate the citizens there. There are 60 of them. No injuries reported so far, but food and water is running short and they're standing their self defense forces to do. A lot of other countries have told their citizens to shelter in place as they figure out the ways the best ways to either take them out or if the situation improves -- Max, Bianca.

FOSTER: OK, Larry, thank you so much for joining us from Nairobi.

NOBILO: Just ahead. The U.S. Department of Justice unveiled charges tied to alleged Russian attempts to interfere in U.S. elections. We'll have a report from Washington.

FOSTER: Plus, detained American journalists, Evan Gershkovich heads to court in Moscow. We'll details on his appeal to leave prison whilst he awaits trial.

NOBILO: And a deadly fire sweeps through a hospital in Beijing, the latest on the blaze and the dramatic attempts to escape it.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is looking for support from Congressional Republicans for his expected presidential run. He met with a select group of lawmakers behind closed doors in Washington on Tuesday, but his rivals are piling on the criticism for his ongoing battle with Disney. He is now threatening to build a prison next to the company's Florida theme park.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CHRISTIE, FORMER U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's not the guy I want sitting across from President Xi and negotiating our next agreement with China. Or sitting across from Putin and trying to resolve what's happening in Ukraine. If you can't see around a corner that Bob Iger created for you, sometimes in politics, you just have to admit when you screwed up and you got taken. It happens. It's hard to admit because it happens to you on a public stage and everybody gets to see your mistake.

But if you're not used to that, then don't get in this business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: DeSantis is considered a likely contender along with former President Donald Trump. But a number of Republicans tell CNN they won't endorse anyone until later on in the primary season. FOSTER: U.S. Senate Republicans blocked a request to temporarily

replace Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein on the powerful judiciary committee. Some Republicans praised her but ultimately held the line in denying the appeal from the Democratic Senate majority leader.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY) U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: If you have accomplished as much in office as Senator Feinstein our colleague and friend has made her wish clear. That another Senator temporarily serve on the Judiciary Committee until she returns.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The reason this is being made is to try to change the numbers on the committee in a way that I think would be harmful to Senate and to pass out a hand full of judges that I think should never be on the bench. So, for that in mind, and with all due respect to Senator Feinstein, I object.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Feinstein who is 89 has missed weeks of work and 58 votes while recovering from shingles. She's under pressure from some within her own party to resign.

More than five years after the white nationalist march at the University of Virginia, a grand jury has indicted three people for burning objects with the intent to intimidate that night. In August of 2017, schools of people marched through the streets of Charlottesville, carrying flaming torches and chanting such white nationalist slogans as Jews will not replace us. The county attorney filed the charges after his predecessor who was in office when the march happened, declined to press charges against anyone.

FOSTER: The U.S. Justice Department is accusing members of small separatist political groups of working with Russian government agents in hopes of influencing a local Florida election and possibly the 2020 presidential race. And now charges have been unveiled. CNN's Evan Perez has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: U.S. prosecutors filed charges against four U.S. citizens who are leaders of small separate -- separatist groups in Florida, accusing them of working with an alleged Russian FSB operative to help the Russians influence a local election and sow discord online among Americans.

The Justice Department says that the eventual plan was for the Russians to try to use the playbook to influence the 2020 presidential election.

[04:25:00]

The court documents unsealed Tuesday say that four Americans recruited to act as illegal Russian agents ran political organizations in Florida, including the African People's Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement. Prosecutors say that the Russians sought to use their ties with the U.S. political groups to try to show that there was popular support in the United States for the Russian annexation of Ukrainian territory.

But the charges expand on earlier charges that were brought against a Russian national, Aleksandr Ionov. In a statement to CNN, Ionov dismissed the accusation as an absurdity.

In a separate case announced Tuesday, U.S. prosecutors announced charges against another Russian national. She's accused of recruiting Americans from universities and research institutions. The goal again, to help spread Russian propaganda.

Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: The Air National Guardsmen accused of leaking U.S. classified documents is expected back in court today for a detention hearing. 21- year-old Jack Teixeira faces charges including unauthorized transmission of national defense information. Authorities say he ran a chat room where information from classified documents was shared.

FOSTER: U.S. officials say there is evidence some of the leaked documents have been doctored. And investigators are still trying to wrap their arms around the damage of the leak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON: We know that some of the documents have been sort of doctored or manipulated in some way, not all of them but some of them. So certainly, there's a case to be made that not all that information is valid. No bones about it. We're taking this seriously. We still don't know the full scope of what's out there. What has been disclosed inappropriately, and we want to get our hands around this bit matter a lot better.

I think it's important to remember that security protocols when it comes to classified material, it's never a static thing. It doesn't just sit state -- it's in stasis. We're constantly reviewing it. We're constantly trying to make it better. And clearly, we're going to take a look at this incident to see what kind of changes need to be made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: You had a briefing yesterday from Western officials about what impact this leak has had.

FOSTER: Yes, so they wouldn't be drawn on it because they didn't want to go into deep classified material. But they did say it hasn't had any impact on the ground, so ultimately, the leak hasn't damaged the operation in Ukraine they say.

NOBILO: North Korea is getting into the spy satellite business. State media report Kim Jong-un ordered the military to prepare to launch the first of several reconnaissance satellites. FOSTER: The North Korean leader made the announcement during a visit

to the National Aerospace Headquarters on Tuesday and along with his daughter. Pyongyang claimed back in December that it's finished testing a spy satellite. Kim calls the program indispensable to national security and self defense.

Just ahead, "Wall Street Journal" reporter Evan Gershkovich made his first public appearance since being arrested in Russia late last month. We'll tell you what happened during his court hearing.

NOBILO: And the U.S. issues a blunt warning to Russia about American technology inside a troubled Ukrainian nuclear power plant when we come back.