CIA-trained Navy veteran describes ‘very devastating’ impact of CNN segment on his life: ‘Labeled a criminal’
PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA — U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young testified Tuesday that the CNN segment at the center of his defamation lawsuit against CNN had an “immediate and very devastating” impact on his life.
Young claims CNN smeared him by suggesting he made illegal money helping people flee Afghanistan on the “black market” during Biden administration military withdrawal from the country in 2021. Young believes CNN “destroyed his reputation and business” by branding him an illegal profiteer” who exploited “desperate Afghans” during a Nov. 11, 2021, segment that first aired on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
The high-stakes trial, which began Monday with jury selection, saw Young called as the first witness on Tuesday after both sides made their opening statements. Young said it was “hard to explain to someone outside of my world how devastating” it was when the “black market” was used to describe where he operated.
“You’re labeled a criminal all over the world,” Young said when questioned by his lead attorney, Vel Freedman.
Zachary Young testified Tuesday that the CNN segment at the center of his defamation lawsuit against CNN had an “immediate and very devastating” impact on his life. (Jessica Costescu)
Young testified that he was interested in the national security of the United States and wanted to pursue a career beyond his time because the world is a “big place” and the government can’t do everything to keep America safe, so he believes private entrepreneurs are vital.
“I’m not a mercenary, and I don’t like that term,” Young said, explaining his work for Blackwater and other contract roles after his service in the Navy
14th Circuit Judge William S. Henry, who is presiding over the trial in Bay County, Florida, has already ruled that Young “did not act illegally or criminally” despite what the network reported on air. Judge Henry also announced that the court found that Young “did not take money from the Afghans.”
Tapper first teased the 2021 segment at the center of the lawsuit, warning CNN viewers of “desperate Afghans still trying to escape a country being pillaged by people who are asking them to pay well to get out.”
Later in the show, Tapper reminded viewers that the next story is about “desperate Afghans” who are “prey.”
Once the twice-promoted segment began, Tapper said CNN Correspondent Alex Marquardt found that “Afghans trying to get out of the country face a black market filled with promises, demands for exorbitant fees, and no guarantee of safety or success.”
U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young believes CNN “destroyed his reputation and business by branding him an illegal profiteer exploiting desperate Afghans” during CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” segment on November 11, 2021. (CNN/Screenshot)
Tapper pitched to Marquardt, who said “desperate Afghans are exploited” and have to pay “exorbitant, often impossible amounts” to escape the country.
Marquardt then singled Young out, putting a picture of his face on the screen and saying his company was asking $75,000 to transport a vehicle with passengers to Pakistan or $14,500 per person to end up in the United Arab Emirates.
“Prices are far beyond the reach of most Afghans,” Marquardt, who is expected to be called as a witness in the defamation trial, told viewers.
CNN then broadcast Marquardt allegedly trying to call Young, who did not answer the phone.
“He told CNN in a text message that Afghans trying to leave are expected to have sponsors pay for them,” Marquardt said, adding that Young said the cost of evacuating the network was “very variable and based on the realities of the environment.”
Marquardt then said Young “repeatedly refused to describe the costs or say if he was making money,” before playing a clip of an anonymous sympathetic man who couldn’t afford to evacuate his family from Afghanistan.
Marquardt got back to Young, saying he had received another text message.
“In another message, this person who was offering these evacuations, Zachary Young, wrote, ‘Availability is extremely limited and demand is high’ … he goes on to say, ‘That’s how the economy works, unfortunately,'” Marquardt told viewers.
Tapper replied, “Unfortunately, hmm,” before thanking Marquardt for the report.
No other person or company was named besides Young.
Two different anonymous Afghans were interviewed during the segment. They were worried about their families stuck in Afghanistan and whether they could afford to evacuate them, but two people CNN spoke to had any contact with Young.
Young testified that he never communicated with either man. It is unclear why their concerns were merged with the Young report.
“It had an immediate and very devastating impact on my life,” Young testified.
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Attorney Kyle Roche, part of Zachary Young’s legal team, made his opening statement Tuesday. (Jessica Costescu)
CNN issued an on-air apology that Judge Henry deemed inappropriate. During Tuesday’s trial, Freedman noted that Tapper never apologized to Young. It was CNN’s Pamela Brown who replaced Tapper on the day CNN issued its on-air apology, four months after the segment aired.
During his testimony, Young detailed his extensive work history after graduating from the Navy, including that he constructed the SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape) training program for U.S. allies in the United Arab Emirates. He said the program teaches the skills needed to get out of dangerous situations, such as the one in Afghanistan in 2021 after the failed military withdrawal of the Biden administration.
He also testified that he was eventually hired by DynCorp in 2018 for about $361,000 a year. The jury was shown his contract, which contained a number of ethical and legal clauses.
Among them, it is noted that he could not violate the “black market” laws of his host country because otherwise his contract would be terminated without interruption. Because CNN used the term “black market” in a segment centered on the case, jurors leaned forward and took notes during this testimony.
Young, who trained for the CIA, described his extensive training in things like “passage brushing” and other sophisticated ways to exchange sensitive information in hostile areas without being detected. His legal team appeared to make sure the jury was well-versed in the special skills required to safely leave someone from a dangerous war zone while Taliban members search for people trying to escape.
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CNN anchor Jake Tapper and correspondent Alex Marquardt during a segment at the center of the defamation lawsuit. (CNN/Screenshot)
Testimony then turned to Young discussing how difficult it was to evacuate people from Afghanistan in particular, comparing it to a frog carefully hopping from pad to pad until it reaches a “very stressful” border.
“The environment is very stressful,” he says.
Young, who was paid by both Audible and Bloomberg to evacuate “their people” from Afghanistan, explained that the costs of moving people out of Afghanistan were high and he had to make a profit as a private entrepreneur building a business. He has repeatedly said that he only wants to accept money from “sponsors”, which are essentially large corporations like Audible and Bloomberg owned by Amazon, and that he does not do business with private citizens who would scoff at his prices.
“I’m a businessman, I’m a patriot,” Young said.
He advertised his services on LinkedIn and said his network consisted mostly of people from the security or military industries, and admitted he either ignored or blocked people he knew he had no chance of helping.
Late Tuesday, jurors learned that Young had been exchanging messages with someone who eventually became a CNN source. The woman gave Young a hard time about how much he was charging to help people evacuate.
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“It sounds more like a pension scheme than a mission of mercy,” a potential CNN source told Young.
Young began to explain and finally told her to “screw you.” After she continued to message him, Young said she didn’t have to defend her prices to some “mean b—h on LinkedIn” and blocked her.
The jury didn’t seem particularly upset by Young’s sweet language in the messages he exchanged with the possible CNN source, but he expressed regret nonetheless.
“I’m a little rough around the edges and I said something I shouldn’t have,” Young testified.
Young’s testimony will continue on Wednesday and will be broadcast live Fox News website.
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