PANAMA CITY, Fla.—CNN anchor Jake Tapper never apologized for airing a "devastating" report that falsely portrayed Navy veteran Zachary Young as an "illegal profiteer" operating in a "black market" during America's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, Young testified Tuesday.
Young is suing CNN in a Florida court for $1 billion in damages. He argues that Tapper's November 2021 portrayal and an accompanying segment irreparably harmed his reputation and destroyed his contracting company, Nemex Enterprises, by airing false and defamatory claims about his efforts to get Afghans out of the country as the Taliban took control.
The trial has been over two years in the making, with CNN facing a number of setbacks in the lead-up. Young rejected a settlement offer from the network and pointed to its disparaging coverage of Fox News's $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. Jurors during Monday's selection process appeared open to forcing CNN to cough up a 10-figure payout to Young.
CNN removed the term "black market" from the online version of its segment. The network also issued an on-air apology acknowledging Young had not broken any laws, but anchor Pamela Brown was filling in for Tapper that day.
"Did Mr. Tapper deliver that apology?" the plaintiff's lead attorney, Devin Freedman, asked.
"No, he never did," Young replied.
During his testimony, Young produced his 2018 contract with DynCorp. It included a clause indicating that he would be terminated without severance if he participated in a "black market" in his host country.
"It's hard to explain to someone outside my world how devastating" it is to be accused of operating in a black market, Young testified. "It's devastating when you're labeled a criminal all over the world."
Before proceedings began, Judge William Henry told the jury that Young "did not act illegally or criminally" and "did not take money from Afghans."
Young said the CNN report took a toll on his family, particularly his disabled, 75-year-old mother, whom he financially supports. Jurors were shown photos of her, and some smiled at a picture of Young and his German Shepherd. During Monday's selection process, only 1 of the roughly 40 prospective jurors admitted to "regularly" watching the network, and only 2 said they knew who Tapper was.
The November 2021 segment on The Lead with Jake Tapper centered on private contractors using an illegal "black market" and charging "exorbitant fees" to evacuate people from Afghanistan as the Taliban regained control during the Biden-Harris administration's chaotic 2021 withdrawal. The segment singled out Young, who was given only two hours to respond when CNN national security correspondent Alex Marquardt reached out for comment.
"CNN felt they had a sensational story that would drive ratings and they didn't care about the truth," an attorney for Young, Kyle Roche, said during his opening statement Tuesday. "CNN chose theater over truth and destroyed the life of an American patriot."
He said Young helped 22 women evacuate Afghanistan on behalf of Audible and Bloomberg L.P.
"The facts didn't matter," Roche said. He noted that CNN's editors admitted in internal messages that the segment was "full of holes like Swiss cheese" and "80% emotion and 20% obscured fact."
Lead CNN attorney David Axelrod, during his own opening statement, called CNN's reporting "tough and fair and accurate" and argued that it "never implied Young did anything criminal."
"There is no there there," Axelrod said. There's "no evidence in this case that there was anything sensational about this story."
He also admitted that President Joe Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan was a "disaster."
"I served a very important job that the [U.S.] government wasn't able to do," Young said during his testimony.
CNN has faced a number of pre-trial losses since Young filed suit in June 2022. Henry ruled Thursday that, at trial, Young could use Tapper calling Fox News a "cancer on the democracy we have" and other disparaging remarks he made about the network in November 2023. He also ruled that Young's attorneys could present text messages that the veteran says will show that CNN employees had an agenda to smear him as a war profiteer. In one, Marquardt told colleagues he wanted to "nail this Zachary Young mfucker." In another, CNN senior editor Fuzz Hogan called Young "a shit."
CNN's legal team is set to cross-examine Young starting Wednesday morning.
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