cnn breaking news. welcome to the lead. we have some breaking news for you. i'm jake tapper. moments ago, we learned there is a settlement a settlement in the high stakes trial between dominion voting systems and fox dominion was suing fox for $1.6 billion, saying that the network showed complete and utter disregard for truth and facts and accuracy. when they allowed guests and hosts to push false conspiracy theories that the 2020 election had been stolen from donald trump. cnn's oliver darcy is outside the courthouse in delaware. oliver. what do we know about the settlement? we know right now. the judge just announced actually moments ago, jake that this case has been settled out of court. we don't know any details about what happened. but there was this unexplained two hour delay in court proceedings. this settlement really comes right before the clock struck struck midnight jake opening statements were set to begin at 1 30. they did not as scheduled, and there was an unexplained delay. lawyers were seen going in and out of court, and now we're getting word from the judge that this $1.6 billion the case has been settled by both dominion voting systems and fox news. this of course averts a trial that would have been an agonizing process for fox news. you would have seen top stars like sean hannity. tucker carlson have to testify along with rupert murdoch, the aging fox chairman is 92 years old. he would have had to come down to wilmington's take the stand. and so none of that's going to happen because there has been a settlement reached. the judge just dismissed the jury, and this case is coming to a really stunning conclusion after two years of making its way through the court to the brink of trial. and oliver were their settlement talks in the days leading up to this trial settlement talks that didn't pan out. it seems that there were obviously they did settle, so there must have been settlement talks. we know that rupert murdoch's wall street journal reported on sunday evening. there was a late push by fox to settle this case, and that was matched by a few other outlets, but the jury selection did resume earlier today, and they did get sworn in by the judge. and so it looked. you know, like this trial was going to happen, and people were, you know, going into court earlier at 1 30 for opening statements. there was that unexpected delay. we did see our cnn's marshal cohen in court. he saw a fox lawyer, take out a piece of paper and show it to dominion lawyer. then they went outside the courtroom. it was unclear what was discussed. but it seems right now, given the news that they were talking about a settlement, and that has been reached, really averting a really excruciating process for fox news that was set to take place here in wilmington, delaware. over the next six weeks. jake and oliver, i can't help but recalling that we learned after the 2020 election. that the family of that poor murdered dnc staffer seth rich had also reached a settlement with fox for its lies about seth rich and part of the arrangement that fox had with the family of seth rich and the insane and cruel conspiracy theories. they pushed what was that? a would. there would be an a nondisclosure agreement. so the family of seth rich can't talk about it and be that news of it wouldn't even come out oliver until after the 2020 election. is sarah come, and it will be interesting to see whether a public apology is part of this settlement. we don't really have any details again. this just broke seconds before we came on the air, jake, but you know, this is such an interesting moment. this would this trial would have really put fox on trial for the election lies they told in the wake of the 2020 contest. this was really going to hold the network potentially accountable for that, so we're not going to see this public trial where people like murdoch would have had to answer to this jury. why they allow these deranged conspiracy theories to take hold on the networks air despite as we know as a result of this trial as a result of the discovery that they knew these lies were not true, they were unhinged from reality. we're not going to see that process takes place in court, jake. i know there are a lot of people that wanted this process to take place in court because outside the you know the media defamation case. this was also a really, to some extent, a trial built about made about democracy and democracy at large and elections. so you know this is going to avert all of that. it's going to save fox. i think a lot more added embarrassment. but again, jake this case has been settled outside of court. it will be interesting to see what those details are, oliver, we see what you mean through discovery, though we have learned why fox did. what they did with the release of all those tax messages and emails. they allowed these lies to go forward because they were afraid that. their viewers who believed the lies. we're going to change the channel. ah because they are far more about profit than they are about journalism. i mean, that's what came out and discovery, right? that's exactly right. jake. this trial really underscored that fox news lacks the most basic basic news ethics . a lot of things that we saw would have been fireable offenses any any legitimate news organization, but a fox this stuff came from the top and you really saw in black and white. as a result of this trial, you saw messages where they talked about, fearing the audience was going to leave to other smaller right wing talk channels like newsmax, and he saw them. carlson talking about the stock price tanking, really remarkable, stunning. inside details in the wake of the 2020 election that it showed the panic inside of fox news and why they protect but perhaps you know how these elections lies to take hold on the network. you know, it gave us a view inside fox that frankly, we have never seen before. of course, we would have learned more during this trial, seeing someone like rupert murdoch being forced to take the stand and being cross examined by dominion. but we have learned a lot about how fox operates the dishonest way it operates as a result of the proceedings that led up to the potential trial, and we also saw that when reporters like kristin fisher, who now works at cnn, not coincidentally, tried to fact check people at in the executive branch of fox. other anchors hosts in the primetime opinion hours would get mad they would get mad when people asserted facts on their air people in the news division and, in fact, a lot of people. kristin fisher, who's now at cnn, but also a lot of other people, like chris dyer, walt and others who were trying to assert facts. were ultimately let go from fox. yeah i mean, it was really remarkable to read these details because not only were they promoting lies about the election, but they were disciplining staff behind the scenes for trying to tell the truth about the election. it's really showed and highlighted the fact free universe in which fox operates, which, actually, to some degree would have made this process of this trial of war to have happened, more agonizing. for the network because the network is used to sailing through controversies by misleading viewers. bad faith attacks on critics attacking the media. those things jake would not have been allowed in a trial , the judge would have compelled fox to put forth a honest fact based narrative for the jury. and so that would have been a very uncomfortable position. i think for fox, especially given the hand they had been dealt, i mean, it was very clear that they were dishonest about what happened in the wake of the 2020 election. the judge already ruled that they had broadcast false material so it would have been up to the jury basically to decide whether they had broadcast that false material with actual malice or reckless disregard for the truth, and i got to say, and i talked to a lot of first amendment lawyers, dominion had really assembled evidence from messages and emails that showed that you know, potentially they did. crossed that line into knowingly broadcasting false material, which would have been actual malice and which would have probably resulted or potential resulted in dominion winning this case, jake oliver darcy outside the courthouse in wellington, delaware, for us, thank you so much, so just to bring you this news, delaware superior court judge eric davis has praised both lawyers for fox and lawyers for dominion after they abruptly settled this case. dominion suing fox for defamation, the case was settled at the last second, the judge saying, quote i have been on the bench in 2010. i think this is the best lawyering i've ever had . judge davis went on to say, quote i would be proud to be your judge in the future. the hearing in the case are now over. let's bring in cnn legal analysts laura coates and elie honig laura a settlement just as the trial was set to begin, and we should remind viewers that dominion even though it was taking this stance against the lies of fox, and it was taking its this stance demanding accountability from fox. dominion is owned by a new york private equity, private equity firm, and so if they were given an opportunity to have a big check sent to them, they were probably going to take it. the idea here. what you're seeing is the power of pretrial motions, right? the emotions that you will hear that the judge will resolve before a jury ever hears anything. this is even outside of the court of public opinion, and we've seen a lot with all the things that would have been entered into evidence. text messages, confirmation that what they believed was very in contrast to what they actually said on air, but the second, the judge said, look, you're not going to be able to cloak yourself in the first amendment and tell this jury that everything you ever say is protected speech. without consequence at all that was really the probably the beginning of these serious settlement discussions because then the leverage and the power dynamic. instantly shifted in favor of dominion. because then they all they had to prove. jake was not that what you said was false check. they've already determined that but instead that you had either actual malice meaning you know what you said was false or you had every reason to believe that what you were saying response. and you said it anyway. and finally, you also have the notion here that you can't do a cleanup crew. the judge had already admonished the fox team on this very point. just because you maybe had a fact checker later on a different bride. catherine some point in the future. try to say well, actually, here's an alternate reality or the truth, as many of us know it. that doesn't mean you didn't either earlier, defame someone, so this is what happens and many, many trials across the country all the time that once the reality of a jury of 12 deciding the fate to the tune of, well a billion or more in this case, suddenly the party say, you know what? let's be more reasonable. ellie um, there's so fox does this not infrequently. they paid tens of millions of dollars when it came to settling sexual harassment and assault lawsuits reportedly against bill o. reilly there was a big lawsuit being threatened, or at least some sort of out of state settled out of court settlement was reached with the family of seth rich. and a lot of the details of those settlements. we just do not know the public does not know. will we learn the details of this settlement? if so, when, and is there a chance ? we'll never know. there is a chance. we'll never know jake. that's really part of this settlement itself. as you said, it's quite common for litigants , including fox news to have as part of the settlement agreement of confidentiality agreement around it, saying, no, neither side can disclose the number. of course, we're all very interested to know the number here. the reason that fox settles the reason any party settles is because jury trials are inherently unpredep. doble. there is inherently an element of risk here. and i think from fox's point of view, i'm you know, we'll see what the price tag is here. if i had to guess i would guess it's quite hefty because they were looking at major problems. first of all. they could get hit with an enormous verdict. if this went all the way through to a jury verdict, given the strength of the evidence against them. the second thing is they were looking at a potentially disastrous spectacle where they're leading hosts journalists. reporters would have to take the stand to be cross examined about their own contradictory statements. that would be absolutely devastating to fox. so i think you can readily understand their incentive here in settling this, laura, i'm i'm not a lawyer. i don't know much about this kind of thing. the dominion was doing for $1.6 billion. is that like a realistic price tag that they could have gotten from fox? what do you what do you think this situation? i mean, obviously, it's all speculative. but could they have gotten $1.6 billion? what do you think they would have had to fax would have had to offer to settle. fox believe that number was grossly exaggerated and not accurate, but what it was based on according to the dominion lawyers is the idea of either two things every time you're assessing damage, which results in either a reputational harm or otherwise, either the profit that you stand to lose. usually there is a fixed amount of time in terms of the impact statements that are made, you're a less profitable you calculate the profit the other way is kind of the enterprise. meaning what is the hit? you will take on a permanent basis to your actual business and the integrity that you will never be able to recoup over a period of time. it seemed that the bulk of their claim had to do with the latter of it. not only the idea that we're going to lose is business, but that they had taken such a fatal blow to their integrity. there are actual counties as you know, we've covered here on cnn that shows no longer to use dominion because of the allegations that were present and unfounded and that took a hit at an exponential level, so likely it's based on that. but as as ellie talked about juries have a mind of their own and when they believe that actual malice is involved, which could have resulted here, then you could have an even a significant 12. a different tune. what that number is, we might never know and also let's talk about the court of public opinion here. listen we all leaned in when we heard about these text messages we wanted to know about this. the idea of cash. what would this spectacle look like? and the irony that truth would actually be on trial and be what the main and star witness was out of the mouths of those who have been accused of never having told it. ellie is there any chance that fox would have to admit guilt or make some sort of public apology? as part of this deal that can absolutely be part of a negotiated settlement agreement ? the reporting has been that dominion was very interested in getting some sort of statement from fox. no matter what, though, jake, i think it's really important to know dominion has done its job here. even with this settlement, what they have done is a valuable public service and a couple respects. first of all, they got a pretrial ruling from the judge that foxes report. was false. the judge found that the evidence here was so strong that as a matter of law, fox's coverage was false. the only disputed evidence was going to be. was it knowingly false? the other thing is dominion by going through the discovery process here has exposed the lies behind foxes reporting because of dominion undertaking this lawsuit. that's why we've seen sean hannity and tucker carlson's and rupert murdoch's texts and emails. and so while dominion hasn't gone all the way through with this to the point of a jury verdict, they certainly have done a lot to expose the mendacity behind foxes reporting laura. does this settlement set any kind of precedent for defamation cases in the future or not just the settlement, but the entire case , let's let's be clear here. news organizations get sued all the time for defamation. usually the cases are thrown out of court because there is a first amendment in this country. it's very difficult. to prove defamation. this case looked pretty solid from where i said look, everyone who has a cell phone or has texted somebody or has engaged in online written memorialized communication. this sets a standard because now the statements that are made can be contrasted with what you've said privately vs on air, which makes it a little bit easier, according to the this new statement here about the actual malice doesn't mean that you're going to prove it because somebody has a difference of opinion from what is being reported. but if they there is some knowing disregard or recklessness regard for the truth. this has a price tag with it, and it has a looming one. and as ellie said, i'm going to interrupt right now. i'm sorry because i'm told the dominion lawyers are about to speak. let's listen in. would you like, please? please, just for us. appreciate it. thank you. justin nelson from suspend godfrey. proud council for dominion voting systems. the truth matters lies have consequences. over two years ago. a torrent of lies, swept dominion and election officials across america. into an alternative universe of conspiracy theories. causing grievous harm. dominion. in the country. today's settlement. of 787,000,500. represents vindication. and accountability. lies have consequences. the truth does not know. red or blue. people across the political spectrum. pan and should disagree on issues. even . of the most profound importance. but for our democracy to endure for another 250 years and hopefully much longer. we must share a commitment to facts. misinformation will not go away. it may only get worse. this litigation cannot solve all problems. all of us remain. ever vigilant. to find common factual ground. today represents a ringing endorsement. for truth. and for democracy. and with that , i'd like to introduce the ceo of dominion voting systems. john polos. yeah. thank you. fox and dominion have reached on historic settlement. fox has admitted to telling lies about dominion. that caused enormous damage to my company. our employees and the customers that we serve. nothing can ever make up for that. throughout this process, we have sought accountability and believe the evidence brought to light through this case underscores the consequences of spreading lies. truthful reporting in the media is essential to our democracy. dominion. our employees are people are partners are grateful to the court. for allowing us to process for the truth to come out. i cannot thank the election officials. that we serve enough without them. there is no democracy. and the work they tirelessly due to that end. and they deserve much better. we are grateful for all the support. we have received grateful to our legal team and want to acknowledge staple street capital. who have been unconditional in their support of dominion and our customers. i want to introduce you, tanya goose today principal and founder of staples street capital. just apologize to you personally. all right. oh, founder of staple street capital, which is investment firm. that owns dominion voting systems in partnership with john police and the rest of the management team. it's not every day. that an investment fund finds itself at the center of this type of dispute. for us. this case has always been about exposing the truth and holding those who knowingly spread lies accountable. we are proud to play whatever part, we could. in helping dominion achieve important goals. i would also like. to think all the dominion employees who have been through so much. and stuck with the company. through all this. we're all very proud of them. i also want to thank our attorneys have both susman godfrey. and claire lock for all their hard work. without their efforts and resolve. the truth that has been exposed. over the course of the last several months. may have never seen the light of day. thank you hi stephen shackelford with susman. godfrey. i am so proud to be here today representing dominion. it's a great day for the company, although a bittersweet day for the company. as i was preparing today to give the opening that we never got to never got to give i was reminded of the hell that the dominion employees went through and continue to go through to this day. money is accountability. and we got that today from fox. but we're not done yet. we've got some other people who have some accountability coming towards them. and i'm very proud of the team from susman godfrey that has worked tirelessly for this case. we'll move right on to the next one. thank you. did you get that apology from track statement from fox coming? anything else? anything on fox air? is there anything else in this settlement besides money? davina brooke assessment, godfrey. one last. thank you, which is really to all of you. for being with us on this journey. we appreciate what you've done to help us and to help expose what we were able to discover over the course of this process. and so thank you, and we'll see you at the next one. technology, so we just heard from lawyers representing dominion. after the company settled with fox, the attorney justin nelson, announced. the deal. it's really unbelievable figure, fox is going to pay dominion voting systems 787 million. 500,000 dollars. dominions lawyers saying quote today representative ringing endorsement for truth and for democracy, fox trying to put a positive face on what can only be interpreted as one of the ugliest and most embarrassing moments in the history of journalism. fox uh, issued a statement saying, quote we are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute. dispute with dominion voting systems. we acknowledge the court's rulings finding certain claims about dominion to be false. the settlement reflects i'm sorry. this is going to be difficult to say with a straight face. this settlement reflects foxes continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. we are hopeful that are just sorry. we are hopeful that our decision to resolve the dispute with dominion amicably instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial. allows the country to move forward from these issues. unquote let's bring back cnn legal analysts laura coates and elie honig. wow so laura 787,000,500. i can only assume that fox is cutting this check because they feared that after a jury trial, not only would they have to pay more, but it would become even more obvious. that they. are not a journalistic organization that their organization that is just chasing ratings and viewers and it doesn't really matter what they say. whether it's true or not. that's what their business model is, as my father would say, that's not chump change. you're not going to go ahead and pay that amount of money because you believe that you were ultimately truthful and that you were going to prevail. this is a huge amount of money. they probably already endured quite a bit of attorneys fees. this is about half of the $1.6 billion that they had asked for from the dominion side, saying that money is accountability. but let me tell you the part that made me lean in and that's when they said we're not done yet. there are others who still need accounting. this is not the end of the road, because, remember, it's one thing you were talking about fox news, but there were also people individuals who are also vocalizing similarities. and you asked about whether a precedent was set. you better believe that everyone who is related to this particular news working ization that made these statements knowing later with the consciousness regard also are subject to some of the similar requirements of not shaming someone. and so if this is what fox is willing to do, you can imagine what the individual would need to do. and it seems very clear. i'm glad they mentioned because we remember it wasn't just the company individuals were threatened physical harm was threatened the lives of employees who were simply just trying to do their jobs. it's a heck of a message to send today and there are other cases going on. i believe those two election workers in georgia are suing the right wing website for lying about then ellie. uh the fact statement did not have an apology to its viewers or to dominion. it did have this one line quote. we acknowledge the court's rulings finding certain claims about dominion. to be false. so translated. that means fox acknowledges. that they aired and pushed lies about dominion. is that what that means? translated it means we got caught lying pie. the judge , and i think that's exactly why we are seeing this absolutely jaw dropping number. i mean, let's be clear. this is an unequivocal rebuke of fox news of their reporting of their quote unquote journalism. i don't know. i'm not exactly a historian, but i don't believe i've ever seen a jury verdict or a settlement on the amount of 787 million million dollars now . yes this is half of what dominion was asking. but as you and i have discussed on air, i didn't think there was any way they would get $1.6 billion even when they proved their case, even if they approved it overwhelmingly to a jury, let's remember. by its own estimation , dominion value the entire company at somewhere between 30 and $80 million. this settlement is 10 times the value of dominion as an entire company. that's how strong a statement this is with this number. and i guess that answers the question . i was going to ask laura, which is and we noted this minutes ago before the press conference. dominion is owned by a private equity firm. so a 787,500,000. check worth much, much more than the company really solves the problem right ? even though dominion talked about the reputational damage the company faced they can just shut down dominion start again under a different name and move on, i guess. you know the point is, though they ought not to have had to, and that's what this number suggests, and what they rebuke from. the court also dictates that this is that they did not have to, but for the lies that were told and confirmed by a judge, remember 12 members of a jury. we're going to hear things that we had heard in the court of public opinion, but likely even more things, including having anchors having key executives take the stand and try under oath. remember, we always talk about you can lie. right to the press , right? you don't have to tell us the truth. there's not an oath for us, although you want that credibility, integrity, but a court of actual law is wildly different. and this sets a very powerful precedent here. you know, the first amendment actually means nothing if there are truly no standards or accountability, it means it's a free fraud. and you can say what you want and under the cloak and guys of saying it as the first amendment, but the first amendment actually has restraints. it actually has things you cannot do and cannot go beyond and one of them is defamation. you cannot use your platform and to try to hide behind the first amendment by saying lies and there's lies had consequences to individuals to a corporation. and don't forget the larger picture here. we're talking as we go into an election year presidential election year from the last one, but it has people believing that somehow this company was integral in trying to promote an election related lie that did not happen and let's remember there's still another defamation trial. i believe that fox is facing from smart, manic, a different, uh, election technology company. stick around . we're going to take a quick break. we'll be right back with more coverage of this breaking historic day. an epic c crime story. when they come for you become at what you love most in life, two of the most respected writers in the world loved on winslow's city of dreams. city of dreams is a crime classic stephen king. city of dreams is a mesmerizing coast to coast crime epic, james patterson. it's the godfather for our generation. or now. liberty mutual customis your car insuranc. so you only pay for what you need. with the moy we saved. we tried electric unicycles. got it, okay. doggy paddle. only pay for what you need the liberty liberty. first time your sales reached 100 k with go. daddy was also the first time your profits left you speechless. at the counter or on the go save 20% with the lowest transaction fees and keep more of what you make. start saving today at go, daddy dot com the team kevin bought the team. i put it on my chase freedom, unlimited cards and cash back on a few other things, too, starting with the sound system from deep, that's okay. i prefer the old intros. what's better? i don't think so. one more thing. the team owner gets five minutes a game. cash bros. i like it. i'll break the clay cash back like a pro with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cash back chase make more of what's yours. new projects means new project managers you need to hire. indeed indeed you do when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates whose resumes on indeed, match your job criteria . visit indeed dot com slash higher and get started today. next on behind the series performance was legendary. they just piled it on roast beef, ham oven roasted turkey all on the subway club. repeat that's great three meat. that's average subway series, the greatest menu of all time. got damaged during hurricane ida last august, when i went to start researching different roofers in my area, i was overwhelmed. the weight was incredibly long. the bids were outrageous. then we got on, angie. next thing we knew we were put in contact with our angie pro. it was just insane, how quickly things went. and then that weekend they came out. they were there for a day day and a half. and we had a brand new roof, got a home project. get started and angie dot com today to grow more vibrant flowers. step one. feed them with miracle gro. shake and feed . that's it. miracle gro, you need to know to grow to grow delicious ubs step one use miracle gro potting mix. that's it. miracle growth or you need to know to grow. what. looks like allergy season is back time to start saving on your prescriptions. another good reason to check out r x what's this severe vergara collection at america's best, wow, amazing styles and unbelievable prices. now that's quite the duo get two pairs of severe vergara frames plus a free exam for 89 95 for a limited time in america's past closed captioning brought to you by meso book .com. we offer a free book on mesothelioma call for the free book and receive so much more call 1 808 31 37 100. and we're back with our breaking news coverage, just as opening statements were set to begin in what was going to be a historic trial. dominion voting systems suing fox for defamation, lawyers on both sides reached a settlement and absolutely enormous settlement. a lawyer for dominion announced that fox would be paying dominion. 787. and in a statement, fox admitted quote we acknowledge the court's rulings finding certain claims about dominion to be false, which translated means that yes , they spent months and months lying to their viewers about dominion voting systems among other things, and as a result were in such fear of what a jury trial might create in terms of both the settlement and embarrassment for the company. they wrote a check for $787 million 500,000. cnn's oliver darcy is outside the courthouse in wellington, delaware. um oliver, i assume we're not going to hear remarks from fox's attorneys. um one question i have is that newsmax and o a n. which are these much smaller right wing propaganda channels they were forced to read statements on air in which they acknowledged the falsehoods they shared with their viewers. is anybody who is watching fox going to learn about this? well jake, the dominion team was asked in this short press conference after the settlement was announced. whether there was more to this settlement, will fox anchors have to read statements saying that they misled viewers will there have to be an apology may be coming from rupert murdoch. has rupert murdoch called and apologized. we didn't hear anything from the dominion side as of yet outside the money figure, and we did hear dominion attorney say that money is accountability so unclear whether we're going to get more from from the outside that fox statement you just read , which is basically acknowledges what the court said, which is that they did tell lies on their channel. i also think it's important to keep in mind jake that dominion wasn't the only voting technology companies suing fox news. you also have smartmatic, which has filed two against fox news. for more than $2 billion, and so that's making the way through the core system as well. smartmatic actually just put out a statement their lead attorney, i want to read it to you, jack. we just got this, he said dominions litigation exposed some of the misconduct and damaged caused by fox's disinformation campaign. smartmatic will expose the rest . and so there is more litigation jake for fox news to deal with down the line, but still $787 million is not is not a small figure for fox to have to shell out for those lies no and as was noted earlier by elie honig. the company isn't even worth $100 million, much less $787,500,000. oliver darcy, thanks so much. keep telling us news as it develops. let's bring back cnn legal analysts laura coates. and elie honig, ellen. and what do you make about the fact that the settlement amount was not confidential? i'm sure fox would have preferred that it was, of course, this is a really surprising and important detail here, jake that the amount is not confidential. and that's why we just saw dominion get out and proudly announced this really astonishing figure. i mean, it is, as we just said, it is 10 times what dominion is worth. and so this dollar figure is, of course, about the bottom line. like you noted. dominion is not a large company. it's a privately held company they have about 202 150 employees. this is an overwhelming amount of money , but it's also a statement. it's also about the message that this dollar amount sends to fox news into the public about fox news lies laura oliver mentioned that fox is still facing this other major defamation lawsuit from smartmatic, another voting technology company that was smeared by fox after the 2020 election. that case is still in the discovery process. um how might this as far as i can tell historic settlement $787,500,000 . how might that affect the smartmatic case? well, it's about 700. what 85 million tea leaves now to read for the other legal team defending against this action and all the automatic. remember what's really important about this is this number is not appealable. it's not as if it was a jury. verdict in the finding of damages where they can then go back and then litigate through a protracted proceeding and try to maybe even take it all up the supreme court and a variety of ways. this is what they have agreed upon, and they are stuck with this number will also factor in that for talking about fox news and what their overall bottom line will be. if you imagine what kind of pool of money you're going to have access to, in order to be able to pay out settlement you're factoring in not just before you in front of you on this main plate of this trial, but what might be down the road. going to significantly impact what is now available as part of that overall pot down the road. and so this shaving of about half of the amount that was requested before now opens up more room for salman opportunities for smartmatic to then say, well, hold on, i'll take the other half that you may have been willing to pay and anyone else who comes along. it does not guarantee they'll get it. but it does sweeten the power dynamic and leverage that now dominion has to say if we can get one judge to essentially say what you have said. said is a lie. the jury will not even hear your argument about why it's not a lie or the first amendment that bodes well for their ability to persuade the next set of litigants about this issue. laura coates, thanks to both of you appreciate it, new reaction coming in after the $787 million settlement was reached in the dominion lawsuit against fox also had americans very quick to pull the trigger. now one young woman is dead and a young man's life is forever changed new information in that case from kansas city next. did youou know there's no tion? skechers talking about fool mr t is always in sketches, tmd sketches , tmd sketches. that's even the t and d sketches. there's no dance catchers, sketches, teeth, just comfort businesse nationwide are switching to vezon business internet. it's a perfect fit for m small business.erizon has business internet solutions nationwide, not so small business to get internet that keeps your business ready for anything. from verizon. what will you do? will you make something better? create something new. our dell technologies advisors can provide you with the tools and expertise you need. to bring out the innovator in you. secret spy agency. six look like a woman that plays for the minor league. behind you. it's pretty easy, right? all across the country. people are working hard to build a better future, so we're hard at work, helping them achieve financial freedom, providing greater access to investing with low cost options to help maximize savings. from the plains to the coasts. we help americans invest for their future. and help communities thrive. invested in the future of americans. black rock. mhm meat noodles, part short hair. and part ninja. meet the new bissell cross wave hydro steam. it's part vacuum mop steamer and ninja nemesis. this is a new breed of clean time .com. we've been hard at work finally did it. did you make it so i can finally see my real payments and shop with thousands of cars with no hit to my credit. yes. all night with no credit hit. valentine .com and get approved with no credit hit fungus is tough to kill, and it can spread its time to start using fungi nail maximum strength. fungi nail is so powerful it cures and prevents fungal infections. plus it has a low and tea tree oil to restore skin health. say goodbye to toe fungus with fungi. nail a hey, get away! 10 years ago, i invented the ring video doorbell for moments like that, and ring security cameras for moments like this video protect your home away. i do learn more at ring dot com. there's a new breed of hornets sweeping the nation. are you picking this up? country by swarm the all new dodge hornet. good morning, everyone we do begin with breaking news. joining us now are two lawmakers from different sides of the aisle also live in ukraine, dr. sanjay gupta award palestinian denver. everybody in hockey, you know, it's gordo st . john guy's a legend. he's like hockey experience. expert tnt has got the i screwed up. mhm. i got us t-mobile home internet. now cell phone users have priority over us. and your marriage survived that? you can almost feel the drag when people walk by with their phones. oh i can't hear you... you're froze-- ladies, please! you put it on airplane mode when you pass our house. i was trying to work. we're workin' it too. yeah! work it girl! woo! i want to hear you say it out loud. well, i could switch us to xfinity. those smiles. that's why i do what i do. that and the paycheck. bridgett is here. she has no clue that i'm here. she has no clue who's in the helmet. are you ready? -i'm ready! alright. xfinity rewards creates experiences big and small, and once-in-a-lifetime. home. cardio mobile is now available for just $79 order at cardio mobile .com or amazon. i'm jessica schneider at the supreme court, and this is cnn. big breaking news this hour a $787,500,000 settlement reached in dominion voting systems lawsuit against facts facts agreeing to that historic paycheck in light of all of the lies that channel allowed. pushed during and after the election of 2020. we're gonna have more from wellington, delaware in a moment, but let's turn to our national lead right now. two cases of young americans shot only because they accidentally showed up. at the wrong house in new york man has been charged with second degree murder. after police say he fired two shots into a car that had turned into his driveway on saturday night. officials say the group and the car realized they were at the wrong home and their rural new york neighborhood north of albany, and we're trying to leave when one of the shots killed 20 year old kaylan gillis. the shooting happened just days after a black teenager in kansas city, missouri, was shot twice by a white homeowner after going to the wrong address to pick up his little brother's covering both of these shocking incidents, starting with cnn's lucy cavanaugh. in kansas city and lucy the suspect. in the case in kansas city 84 year old andrew lester. he turned himself into police this afternoon. but we're learning he was. he was just released. that's right, jake. i mean, the story keeps changing by the hour this morning, we were wondering when this 84 year old suspect maternal himself in he finally did. we just learned that he has posted bond and been released, according to the sheriff's office spokesperson. bail was apparently set at $200,000. some of the conditions included prohibiting lester from possessing weapons of any type. he may not have. any direct or indirect contactitralph. you're all the 16 year old who he was accused of shooting and lester's phone is now subject to monitoring and it is not clear at this point jake whether lester is going to appear in court for an initial hearing were obviously trying to continue to speak to the legal representation of what lester in terms of the charges that he's facing. we know that he is. this is five days after he allegedly opened fire on this teenager for showing up at the wrong address. he is apparently facing two charges he could be if convicted on those charges. facing life behind bars. we know that he has been accused of shooting ralph ural through a glass storm door with a 32 caliber revolver, according to a probable cause statement that cnn obtained. lester told investigators that he was in bed. that night on april 14th when he heard the doorbell ring. he apparently grabbed this weapon walked up to the door, he said after opening him the main door, he quote saw a black male, approximately six ft. tall and he believed someone was attempting to break into the house and shot twice within seconds of opening the main door , lester said. no words were exchanged. vural told officers that he heard the man say, don't come around here before shooting him twice. we are right now by city hall, where we are expecting a protest in support of ralph barrel to begin any second now. it's jake. lucy kalfan oven. kansas city, missouri. thanks so much. let's go to new york now where we find cnn's bridging grass. brynn walk us through. what exactly happened when this 20 year old woman was shot in upstate new york. so jake, according to the sheriff's department, there, it was not just one car. there was actually a several groups of cars two and a motorcycle that pulled up this driveway after kind of going up and down the street with no gps access, because there's not great cellphone reception reception in that area of new york. look headed up this driveway realized quickly. they were not at the home they are trying to reach and then quickly decided to leave, and that's when they say shots were fired at the cars and the motorcycle as it was leaving one of those shots hitting right there. you see her 20 year old kaylin gillis. she actually died about five miles from the scene of that shooting as her friends raced away from the scene trying to get cell phone reception calling 911 at paramedics arrived and she died. there at the scene. now i did talk to the attorney for the man who is charged in this case. that man's name is kevin monahan. he's 65 years old. he's still awaiting a bail hearing on a second degree murder charge. now his attorney says he actually believes he was threatened by this group that approached his house. now i brought that to the sheriff, and he says that's just not possible ballistic show that he fired these shots as the group was leading us. does witness accounts so it will be certainly interesting to see how this case plays out in the court system. but of course, at the end of the day here, jake there is a 20 year old that has died because of this senseless tragedy. i want to read a statement that was given to me from her family talking about kailyn. they said kaylin was a talented artist and honor student, a disney fanatic and loved animals. she was looking forward to starting college. in florida to pursue her dream of becoming a marine biologist. she was taken from us far too soon, and we are devastated. and there was a go fund me page for that family, jake. alright bridging grass. thank you so much. let's bring in cnn contributor stephen gutowski. he's the founder of the reload that's covers guns and gun policy in the u. s. so stephen, let's start with brynn just left off this cave had a case out of upstate new york. um i don't know what the laws are in every state. there's stand your ground laws, which allows, uh firearms and self defense. if you think that you're being threatened the castle doctrine, uh does it do either of them legally allow individuals just to shoot people for coming on their property? no uh i mean bottom line. they don't what stand your ground laws do and castle doctrine. they're related . to some extent. stand your ground is about limiting the duty to retreat. once you have already established that there is a reasonable threat to your life. um so in essence, you can use deadly force if you reasonably believe fear for your life without having to retreat or something. something along those lines. the castle doctrine essentially says that once someone has unlawfully entered your home someone has broken in . you can assume that that person is a deadly threat. uh and move forward from there. you don't have to be in your home in your home. uh or if they're trying to break in. this may be relevant in the kansas city case because of what the shooter there has claimed. but i think in both of these situations, it's going to be extremely difficult for these two shooters to meet the reasonableness standard for a jury, you know, in case let's talk about the kansas city case because the suspect in that case has been charged after media attention. we should note they hadn't charged him and he only did like two hours in the police in the in the police station before being allowed to go home after shooting this young man, this shooter in kansas city. he told police he was quote scared to death because of ralph charles size. he's about six ft. tall. i guess he's 16 years old. um a six ft. young man showing up at somebody's door, knocking on it, trying to open it. that's what the shooter alleges happened. he was trying to open the door. i have. i have no idea if that happened or not, but even that is that a threat is that does that constitute? um is that enough justification to use deadly force? probably not. i will say that there's obviously a disparity between the two of them because he's 84 years old and smaller and more frail that that could create a situation that that address just looks at more favorably to someone who you know if you have equal size and someone threatens you, that's different than if you're of equal, you know, fighting strength and someone although we have we i mean, but we should just know he hasn't even alleged that the guy that they haven't threatening him. it was just that maybe he was trying, you know, knocking on the door and this is where the big problem comes in. i think for this shooter because he opened the door, he sees someone he claims was trying to get in. through a locked screen door nuts, glassdoor storm door and then he shot him through the locked door and i think it's going to be very hard for anyone in a jury to believe that there was a reasonable fear for life at that moment when he pulled that trigger, and that's that's going to be a big key in both of these situations and driving away, you shoot at a car that's driving away from you. how are you going to establish that? that's that you reasonably feared for your life when they were leaving? right? you say that somebody was threatening your life when you didn't even exchange work, a single word with them and you're there behind the door that's locked. it's very hard to see. given what we know. now there may be more information that comes out to change the story, but it's difficult to see how these end up as justified shootings. all right, stephen gutowski. thank you so much really appreciate you coming in. thanks for being patient with the breaking news. appreciate it. we're gonna go back live to delaware. next. we're new reactions coming in. after attorneys for dominion voting systems reached $787,500,000 settlement with fox fox writing a big fat check for all those lies stay with us. they need a long back fast a and you need scotts turf builder. rapid grass grows grassss two times faster than just see the loan given you a stronger lawns mill that's freedom, a field a rapid grass. today it's guaranteed feed it long feed it aircle circle building a digitalollar. that's actlly dollar backed 1 to 1 is a future where money will travel at the speed of the internet for fractions of a penny. and no, i don't think about it because it'll just be the way we work. me circle. tentative. didn't get that funny . you need a hug. you also need consumer self, the exact same coverage as the nation's leading carriers and 100% us based customer support starting at $20 consumer cellular business premier card is made for people like sam who make everyday products design smarter, like a smart coffee grinder. fresh beans for you, genius for more breakthroughs like that breakthrough card. with 2.5% cash back on purchases of $5000 , or more unlimited 2% cash back on all other purchases and with greater spending potential, keep making smart ideas. brilliant reality. business card from chase for business make more of what's yours. one of them professionals, customizing install systems. do you think featuring google nest products for any kind of home? so you have no worries brought to you by a d t going to pull over and stretch my legs. i think he was supposed to keep left there. what is this place side of the rest of bundles as far as the eye can see, looking for our first mate, i know a guy. me i'm the guy, okay? four types of jerky. this is where i live. now you can save a ton with progressive by bundling your boat or rv with your home and auto guys. free bags. just giving them away. f r e oh, yeah. free. get a free eye exam when you buy two pairs of glasses starting at just 79 95 exam today at america's best .com family life can get really messy care .com can help with lots of great housekeepers to put your place back together again. when it's right for you. it costs less than you think. the housekeeping help you need care dot com when moderate to severe ulcerative colitis keeps flaring in check with revoke a once daily pill when you see god unpredictable, i got rapid symptom relief with one vote and left bathroom. urgency behind check. you see god in my way, i got lasting steroid free remission with invoke check. my gastro saw damage invoke, helped visibly repair the colon lining check. rapid symptom relief lasting steroid free remission and a chance to visibly repair the colon lining. check. check and check. and lower your ability to fight infections, including tv, serious infections and blood clots, some fatal cancers, including lymphoma and skin, cancer, death, heart attack, stroke and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred people 50 and older with at least one heart disease. risk factor have higher risks. don't take if allergic to rainbow cause serious reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. you see in check and keep it there with rainbow gastro about invoke and learn how abby could help you save. these that's more like it the first time you connected your go daddy website and your store was also the first time you realized we can do anything. cheesecake cookies, cookie sales from one place with a partner that always puts you first started today at go. daddy .com. welcome to the lead. i'm jake tapper this hour , beaten inside a russian penal colony. lawyers for russian opposition opposition leader alexei navalny say putin critic was dragged and kicked by prison guards. now navalny is facing new charges that could add time to his sentence. we're going to talk to the vice president of navalny's anti corruption foundation coming up, plus for a second day word of major charges from the justice department. u. s citizens allegedly working as illegal foreign agents yesterday was china this time its agents of the russian government and leading this hour just as opening statements were set to begin. a blockbuster settlement was announced the dominions defamation lawsuit against fox fox cutting a huge check 787 million. $500,000 for its lies paid from fox to dominion along with an admission from fox. it yeah. they aired lies. to its viewers in the aftermath of the 2020 election. cnn's danny freeman is outside the courthouse built delaware and danny dominions lawyers are celebrating this. mind bogglingly large settlement, but we still don't know all the full details. that's true, jake and i gotta tell you dominions attorneys. they were all smiles as they left the courtroom and that press conference that he played in the last hour and they said to us, it's a good day for dominion. this incredibly large settlement of $787 million is just less than half of the 1.6 billion that they were hoping for in damages, but again still a sizable amount of money and i want to say, jake while we still don't know. all the details, perhaps of the settlement. i want to paint a picture of the