CNN staff seen in leaked depositions opposing on-air apology to Afghanistan veteran

Deposition videos show several CNN staffers opposing an on-air apology to an Afghanistan veteran who is suing the network for defamation. 

The footage comes from recorded video depositions shown to jurors on Tuesday, in the high-profile court case surrounding Zachary Young.

Young is suing the network for allegedly suggesting that he was part of a black market in evacuating people from Afghanistan when the US suddenly and dramatically pulled troops out in 2021. 

The network offered an on-air apology after airing a segment in which he was mentioned, but says it didn’t go far enough to clear his name. 

‘The story included a lead-in and banner throughout the story that referenced a “black market,” she went on.

‘The use of the term “black market” in the story was an error… We regret the error, and to Mr. Young, we apologize.’ 

In the depositions, senior staff say the network should never have apologized to Young.  

On Tuesday, two days before both sides’ closing arguments, the jury was shown a series of clips – three of which showed depositions from CNN Executive Vice President of Editorial Virginia Moseley, Supervising Producer Michael Callahan, and Senior Vice President of Washington Newsgathering Adam Levine, respectively.

CNN Executive Vice President of Editorial Virginia Moseley was among execs who said the network shouldn’t have apologized to the Afghanistan veteran 

CNN aired this image of Zachary Young with a strap on the bottom that read: 'Afghans trying to flee Taliban face Black Markets'. He is suing the network for tying him to the black markets

CNN aired this image of Zachary Young with a strap on the bottom that read: ‘Afghans trying to flee Taliban face Black Markets’. He is suing the network for tying him to the black markets 

Each said the same – that they did not believe such an apology was necessary, due to Marquardt’s segment making no such charge. The on-screen banner did.

The term ‘black market” was also used in the introduction of the report, when it first ran on ‘The Lead With Jake Tapper.’

‘In general, I don’t,’ Moseley said in December 2023 when asked by Young’s legal team whether she agreed with the 2022 apology.

‘The reason I don’t agree with it is I don’t have, as we talked about earlier, the negative connotation of “black market,”‘ she insisted, offering her argument.

‘So I’m not exactly sure, like I wouldn’t, you know – I don’t consider black market in a negative connotation.

‘I wouldn’t agree with the correction,’ she finished.

A few months earlier, in October, Callahan aired a similar stance – saying he defines ‘black market’ as an ‘unregulated market’ and not a disreputable one.

He argued such a term correctly applied to the situation then occurring in Kabul, and that the phrase black market did not have any particular connotation.

When asked what he believed the term meant, he insisted: ‘An unregulated market for goods or services.’

In June of last year, Levine said the apology was made in hopes of quashing the ‘potential for a lawsuit’, while spending multiple minutes dodging questions about whether CNN believed Young’s concern had been ‘reasonable’ enough to demand the apology.

CNN journalist Fuzz Hogan, a senior editor tasked with fact-checking the report, said a few days earlier that he also didn't agree that CNN should have apologized, and repeatedly called Brown's apology a 'correction'

CNN journalist Fuzz Hogan, a senior editor tasked with fact-checking the report, said a few days earlier that he also didn’t agree that CNN should have apologized, and repeatedly called Brown’s apology a ‘correction’

A few months earlier, Supervising Producer Michael Callahan aired a similar stance - saying he defines 'black market' as an 'unregulated market' and not a disreputable one

A few months earlier, Supervising Producer Michael Callahan aired a similar stance – saying he defines ‘black market’ as an ‘unregulated market’ and not a disreputable one

'The story included a lead-in and banner... that referenced a "black market," she went on. 'The use of the term "black market" in the story was an error... We regret the error, and to Mr. Young, we apologize.' Pictured, Kabul during the hectic August 2021 operation

‘The story included a lead-in and banner… that referenced a “black market,” she went on. ‘The use of the term “black market” in the story was an error… We regret the error, and to Mr. Young, we apologize.’ Pictured, Kabul during the hectic August 2021 operation

In June of last year, Senior Vice President of Washington Newsgathering Adam Levine spent multiple minutes dodging questions about whether CNN believed Young's concern had been 'reasonable' enough to demand the apology, before deferring to the station's legal department

In June of last year, Senior Vice President of Washington Newsgathering Adam Levine spent multiple minutes dodging questions about whether CNN believed Young’s concern had been ‘reasonable’ enough to demand the apology, before deferring to the station’s legal department

‘This was a decision made for legal reasons, and the correction was issued at the direction of our legal department,’ Levine said, 

‘So CNN thinks that the decision by the legal department was the right one for the company based on them being our legal department.’

When asked whether a correction was due, he said ‘at least our legal department felt that way.’

“It was an error based on the fact that Mr. Young felt and [Young’s attorney Vel Freedman] conveyed that that was how it was received by Mr. Young,’ he further explained. ‘And they took issue with that.’ 

CNN journalist Fuzz Hogan, a senior editor tasked with fact-checking the report, said a few days earlier that he also didn’t agree that CNN should have apologized, and repeatedly called Brown’s apology a ‘correction.’

‘I didn’t think that the correction was necessary,’ Hogan said, delivering this testimony before the jury. 

CNN correspondent Marquardt, the one who led the report about Young, said the same – before indicating he had not problem the network eventually apologized. 

CNN producer Michael Conte similarly said he did ‘not necessarily’ agree with the apology, at one point adding, “I do not believe [the report] was an error.’

Young, meanwhile, claims the report falsely painted him as an ‘illegal profiteer’ exploiting ‘desperate Afghans’ with ‘exorbitant’ fees – mentioning how he had been advertising his services online $14,500.

CNN host Pamela Brown told viewers apologized on behalf of the network on-air

CNN host Pamela Brown told viewers apologized on behalf of the network on-air

Young is suing the network in Florida

Young is suing the network in Florida 

However, he only took clients with corporate sponsors in his capacity as a security consultant, and his services were described alongside interview with Afghans who had no connection with young.

Instead, he was working to save workers from companies that had contracted him, which was all perfectly legal.  

Young’s attorneys, meanwhile, argued over the course of nine days that the dictionary definition of black market explicitly states such a network’s inherent illegality.

‘Do not let CNN rewrite the English language to avoid liability in this case,’ Freedman told jurors Thursday during close arguments, with jurors now set to deliberate.

DailyMail.com spoke with Freedman this week, who said he will not discuss the case until a verdict is delivered.

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