After about eight and a half hours of deliberation, jurors reached a verdict that CNN did defame a former U.S. government operative.

In the CNN case, Zachary Young, a U.S. Navy veteran, was awarded $4 million for any lost earnings and lost earning potential, as well as $1 million for any pain and suffering, mental anguish,

Zachary Young alleged CNN smeared him by implying he illegally profited when helping people flee Afghanistan on the "black market" during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021.