PANAMA CITY, FL -- U.S. Navy veteran and Plaintiff Zachary Young continued his testimony Wednesday in the $1 billion defamation trial against CNN. The morning’s testimony featured the jurors being shown fairly damaging messages between Young and CNN reporters Katie Bo Lillis and Alex Marquardt. The messages showed Young was lied to about the nature of CNN’s reporting and Young warning them what they were about to air on TV was factually inaccurate. The jurors looked on intently and were taking copious notes.
The jury was first shown how Lillis made contact with Young under the false pretenses that she was doing background research on the situation in Afghanistan. "Please let me know if I can assist with any Afghan evac requirements," he told her. "Is CNN involved with rescue efforts..." he asked, wondering if they wanted to sponsor an evacuation.
Lillis said CNN wasn't interested in his service but rather "working on some reporting related to ongoing efforts to help get at-risk Afghans out of the country..." Young testified that he thought she was doing "general reporting" about the situation.
As a "quiet professional," Young said he was more than willing to talk with her off the record.
Lillis ominously told him she wanted to talk and allow him "the opportunity...to make your case to keep your name out of it." "I'm a straight shooter, I'll be frank with you about where we are," she claimed.
That was a lie. CNN ended up blindsiding Young and publishing their allegedly defamatory report, giving him only two hours to respond, which came up later with Young’s interaction with Marquardt. "To me it feels like something is being hidden," Young said of his mind set at this point in their conversation, seemingly picking up on the deception.
"We've been doing a series of stories on evacuations and the various different models folks are following...and just want to talk about the lay of the land," Lillis lied to Young.
"I would have been happy to [talk off the record]," Young reiterated. "No Afghan is expected to pay for evac costs, none would ever be able," he told Lillis in a text message. He also told her it was "a highly unstable environment."
Young told Lillis that whoever brought him to her attention had their own motivations for doing so. As noted yesterday, that person was CNN's source Jill Kornetsky, who accused Young of being a mercenary and “pocketing” millions, without evidence.
"As you proceed, I would just appreciate if you would take the time to make sure you have your facts right to avoid libel," Young warned Lillis. Young testified that at that time he was not aware that CNN was working on a story targeting him. That would come later with his interaction with Marquardt.
The jury was shown messages from Marquardt where he falsely told Young he "tried calling you last week but you didn't pick up." "We are going to be running a piece in which we detail your interactions with people inquiring about your services..." Marquardt ambushed Young and again lying about previously reaching out.
"Hi Alexander. Please provide a list of questions, as well as the facts and assertions about me you intend to publish. I will need some time to review and provide comment," Young wrote back. When Marquardt said Young only had two hours to respond, Young warned him: "That’s definitely not a realistic deadline. In any case, i can tell you for sure, some of your facts/assertions for [sic] not accurate, and if they are published, i will seek legal damages."
The jurors appeared to be studying the text messages intently when they were shared on the TV screen.
All six jurors and two alternates watched intently as Young’s lead counsel Vel Freedman showed them teasers from Jake Tapper’s show The Lead, where he told viewers they would hear a news report about people who "preyed" on Afghans and wanted them to "pay up big time to get out." In a second teaser, Tapper falsely claimed Afghans need to "pay the price" for evacuation.
There was similar language used against Young in all six airings of Marquardt’s report, both domestically and internationally on CNN International. All of them claimed Young was operating a "black market" operation. One CNN International anchor said people like Young were "unscrupulous."
Multiple jurors took notes about how often CNN played the allegedly defamatory report from Marquardt; and the repeated use of "black market." One juror also didn't seem to appreciate CNN's lead counsel David Axelrod calling comments on CNN's Facebook video of Marquardt's report "irrelevant."
Young testified he had a "breakdown" after the report aired. "Panic was like a snowball rolling downhill," he told the jury. Recalling his training about "getting off the X" in a combat zone, Young testified he deleted a bunch of his posts and things that led back to him.
The jury was also shown a post from James Daniels, a purported math and history professor who falsely claimed Young sent him a computer virus and was "masquerading as a Navy vet."
Young testified that he never interacted with Daniels.
During cross-examination, Axelrod claimed to the jury — without evidence such as timestamps — that the Daniels post was made prior to the CNN report, and held up the negative opinion of Young. But again, the post also falsely claimed that Young was not really a Navy vet; bringing into question the veracity of the whole post.
Following lunch, things would get heavy after that point as Young got emotional while explaining how the CNN story "completely destroyed" him and was rough for his aging mother.
Freedman asked his client, "Have you worked since the CNN broadcast?" and "Have you made any money since the CNN broadcast?" To both, Young answered "no."
Young testified he was having "multiple panic attacks a day" and barely slept after CNN's report aired. He wanted to hide and stop all the hate he was getting from "trolls" online who were tracing him down and harassing him.
"I know I'm not the same man that I was. I'm not the man that my wife married," Young said, with emotion in his voice. "I feel like a total failure." The emotion overtook Young as he admitted it had harmed the “intimacy” with his wife. “I'm the rock. I've always been the rock. It's not that way anymore," he added. "I have to rely on her for that. It shouldn't be that way."
In addition to talking about how he’s now on antidepressants and other strong medications, Young added further:
I stopped taking care of myself … I was wearing the same clothes for three to four days at a time. I stopped using deodorant, I stopped showering … I don’t believe myself … I feel like I have just been completely destroyed, embarrassed and emasculated … I'm still in psychotherapy. It's not something improving or getting better...this is my life.
CNN’s cross-examination took up the rest of the day and didn’t seem to go well for them judging by the reactions from the jury.
Axelrod spent a lot of time going over Young's tax returns and the large carryover of losses in the years prior to the CNN report. Only a couple of the jurors were taking notes during that dense conversation and a couple more were glancing around the room, one of them even yawned.
A lot of that conversation revolved around Young's classified work for the U.S. government as a contractor, which the jury was not privy to, thus it was filled with allusions to what was in documents. Some of the jurors seemed confused as they tried to keep up. Some were trying to take notes.
Toward the end of the day, the cross-examination seemed to be dragging and, from inside the courtroom, it was evident in the body language of the jury with a few rocking in their chairs. Another had a hand over their eyes; that juror also yawned.
The cross-examination of Young will continue on Thursday.
