Navy Vet Warned CNN It Had False Info. CNN Aired It Anyway

Evidence presented to jurors on Wednesday in the defamation trial against CNN shows U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young warned CNN on multiple occasions that its “facts” were inaccurate prior to CNN airing the allegedly defamatory segment.

Young sued CNN, alleging that “The Lead with Jake Tapper” aired a segment that falsely accused him of exploiting Afghans by offering evacuations from Afghanistan on a “black market.” A court also found that Young did nothing illegal. Young alleges the segment “rendered Young permanently unemployable” because the use of the term “black market” in the chyron implied Young was involved in illegal conduct — with his defense contracts expressly prohibiting involvement in “black markets.”

During Wednesday’s hearing, lawyers for Young presented two sets of messages, the first between Young and Katie Bo Lillis, a senior reporter at CNN. During the initial exchange, Young expressed willingness to speak off the record if CNN could guarantee Young would not be referenced in the story. Lillis said she could not guarantee that.

Lillis then asked for more details about the “price model” for evacuations.

“Our understanding is you’re asking [for] $75k for a vehicle to Pakistan and around $15K for a single person to the UAE. That seems exorbitant for folks who clearly don’t have that kind of money?” Lillis asked.

“Pricing always depends on local resource availability at any given time in a highly unstable environment. No afghan is expected to pay for evac[uation] costs, none would ever be able. Rather, we’ve focused on aligning corporate sponsors who have the resources to support with those afghans most in need, the ‘kill list’ variety,” Young explained.

Lillis then said she was reviewing “text exchanges with a potential evac[uation] case who you ask if he has a sponsor to cover the 15k cost — and when he didn’t, it looks like you ended the engagement. That’s not exactly ‘lining up sponsors.’” Lillis also asked again about the pricing for evacuations and whether Young has successfully evacuated anyone.

“I do quite a lot, whether they have a sponsor behind them or not. I’m not sure whoever brought me to your attention knows that and has their own motivation for promoting slander,” Young responded before warning CNN to ensure it has the “facts” right before “running” with the story.

“Again, please make sure you have your facts aligned before taking a few text messages and running with it,” Young said in a message to Lillis.

Young then testified that a week passed between his exchange with Lillis and the exchange he had with CNN’s Alex Marquardt, the reporter who presented the segment. Marquardt gave Young a two-hour deadline to respond to a litany of questions, despite Young’s repeated insistence that that was not enough time to respond.

Eventually, Young responded: “That’s definitely not a realistic deadline. In any case, I can tell you for sure, some of your facts/assertions [are] not accurate, and if they are published, I will seek legal damages.”

Nonetheless, CNN aired the segment later that day on “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” The segment was later re-aired and shared on social media and CNN’s website.

Young is now seeking punitive damages.

CNN’s lawyer David Axelrod argued on Tuesday during opening statements that the use of the “black market” chyron did not refer to illegal activity but rather “covert” operations to help evacuate Afghans.