PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA — Several CNN employees have testified on the network high damage test vs. accuser Zachary Young spoke out against the radio pardon granted to him.
Mocha, a US Army veteran, says CNN defamed him in a November 2021 report that premiered on “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” suggesting he profited illegally from people desperate people trying to escape Afghanistan after The Biden administration demobilization, implying that he was involved in “black market” transactions and damaging his professional reputation as a result.
CNN applied for a pardon in March 2022 after Young issued a legal threat against the network, though he said he was unaware at the time that a pardon had been issued.
“In November, we did a story about Afghans desperate to flee a country they were facing paying more than ordinary Afghans. The story included a leader and a banner across the story. which was about the black market.' The use of the word 'black market' in this story was a mistake.
“We did not intend to suggest that Mr. Young was involved in the black market,” he continued. “We regret that mistake, and to Mr. Young, we apologize.”
CNN's Pamela Brown apologized to Zachary Young on behalf of the network for its use of the word “black market” in its airing. (Screenshot/CNN)
Former CNN reporter Fuzz Hoganwho served as the senior editor tasked with reviewing the report, said Friday he disagreed that CNN should have apologized, which he repeatedly called a “correction.”
“I didn't think the correction was necessary,” Hogan said, later adding that he stood by the on-air report and called CNN's online report “excellent.”
CNN reporter Fuzz Hogan testified that he “didn't think the correction was necessary.” (Fox News Digital/Law & Crime)
On Monday, CNN reporter Alex Marquardt, who led the report against Young, also indicated that he did not think CNN needed to apologize but that it was “good” that it did.
He went on to say that he thought the term was appropriate to describe the state of chaos in Afghanistan, a sentiment Hogan reiterated in his testimony.
CNN'S ALEX MARQUARDT REFUSES TO ADMIT HAS MADE MONEY LIKE WAR AREAS: 'I DON'T GO THERE TO BE PAID'
CNN reporter Alex Marquardt insisted that the term “black market” is more accurate to describe the chaotic situation in Afghanistan. (Fox News Digital/Law & Crime)
Three other CNN employees also shared their opposition to the pardon on air in a videotaped indictment shown to jurors on Tuesday.
When asked where he “agrees” with the pardon, CNN anchor Michael Conte replied “not at all.”
“I'm not sure if it was a mistake for the word 'black market' to be used,” Conte said, later adding, “I don't believe it was a mistake.”
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Virginia Moseley, CNN's deputy assistant editor, testified that she was not involved in the apology on CNN's plane and when asked if she agreed with it, she replied ” in general, I'm not.”
“The reason I don't agree is that I don't have, as we talked about before, the negative meaning of the black market, so I'm not sure, like I wouldn't, you “You know, don't think the market is bad, so I won't agree with the criticism,” said Moseley.
CNN executive producer Michael Callahan told Young's legal team that he defines “black market” as an “unregulated market” and how that term applies to the situation reported in Afghanistan.
CNN's editor-in-chief, Virginia Moseley, testified that she did not agree with the apology because she did not consider the term “black market” to have “a negative connotation.” (Fox News Media/Law & Crime)
The only CNN official who offered any defense of the on-air apology was Adam Levine, CNN's Washington-based executive vice president, who spoke extensively of “the legal department ” of the internet.
“That was a mistake based on the fact that Mr. Young felt and (Young's attorney Vel Freedman) suggested that was how it was received by Mr. Young, and they they opposed that. And we felt that the discussions that were there, had to be fixed, or at least our legal department felt that way,” Levine said. said.
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Levine acknowledged that the apology was made in the hopes that the network would erase the “possibility of a lawsuit” by Young, but spent several minutes asking questions about whether CNN thought the concern of Young was “reasonable” enough to issue a pardon.
“This was a decision made for legal reasons, and the amendment was issued at the behest of our legal department,” Levine said. “So CNN thinks the legal department's decision was the right one for a company based on them as our legal department.”
The trial will continue on Wednesday and will continue live Fox News Digital.