Return to Transcripts main page
CNN News Central
Day 2 of Trial for Father of Georgia School Shooter; Interview with Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA): White House Rejects Latest Democratic Offer to End DHS Shutdown; Civil Rights Pioneer Jesse Jackson Dead at Age 84; Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Testifies in Court Tomorrow. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired February 17, 2026 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... He goes out there to make sure he's supporting other teachers, making sure everything's OK. And as he's walking the hall, Jay Hall, he's arm to arm with Richard Aspinwall. This is one of the four victims, one of two teachers killed that day.
And as they round the hallway, they see a young man holding a rifle, he testifies. They scattered. But as he's going back into his classroom, he notices that something's off.
And we can see in the video him crawling back into the classroom, a pool of blood around him. And as he's crawling, he makes sure, Boris, in that moment, to close the door to keep his students safe. Ultimately, he would need surgery, he says, to completely rebuild his hip, a problem that he's still experiencing to this day.
One of the more powerful moments, too, came from a student named Natalie, who was in a different algebra class where two of the students were killed. And she recalls looking down, seeing a hole in her hand and going, oh, my God, I've been shot. She actually vocalizes, I've been shot, I've been shot, I'm a kid, I've been shot.
This is the same student that we heard the sheriff of Barrow County, Judd Smith, testifying yesterday, who told him in that moment, do not cover me with that sheet, do not cover me with that sheet. Please, I don't want to die. And the same student he helped apply a tourniquet on.
Now, this is what Natalie was thinking about in that moment, shot, worried about her life. This is what else she was worried about. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATALIE GRIFFITH, APALACHEE HIGH SHOOTING SURVIVOR: I think I was subconsciously trying to not. Once I registered that it was blood and what exactly it was, my brain kind of blocked it out. And I just, I knew what it was.
It was a hole. I was also worried that I was going to die and how that would affect my parents. Because my dad has a heart problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSALES: And we noticed that Colin Gray was looking between the witnesses and his notes and the witnesses, but his facial expression didn't change at all during that testimony that we could see. There was no cross-examination of these students. Now, a senior staff attorney at Piedmont Circuit says the state has 80 names on the witness list.
We don't know if all of them will be called. So far, 32 have taken the stand -- Boris.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Isabel Rosales, live for us in Winder, Georgia. Thank you so much. You can catch more of this trial on CNN All Access by scanning that QR code you see on the right side of your screen.
Still to come, Democrats sending the White House a new counteroffer in their fight to bring change to the Department of Homeland Security and end this partial government shutdown. We're going to speak with Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss about this when we come back. Don't go anywhere.
[15:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: This just into CNN. President Trump has rejected Democrats' latest offer to end the partial government shutdown, according to a White House official. Late Monday, Democrats sent a counteroffer to the White House on changes they want to see made to the president's immigration enforcement operations.
And we don't know the details of that proposal, but a White House official says it's pretty far apart from the administration's position. The partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security is now in its fourth day.
Congressman Jake Auchincloss is with us now. He's a Democrat from Massachusetts. Congressman, thanks for being with us. Can you tell us what Democrats proposed in this latest offer that the White House rejected?
REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): Good afternoon. Thanks for having me on. Yes, Democrats believe in the rule of law and law enforcement, and our offer reflected that.
It reflected the fact that if you have a badge and a gun, you should not also be wearing a mask. It reflected our belief and mainstream America's belief that ICE needs to stop conducting these warrantless, dragnet operations near hospitals and churches and schools and start prioritizing criminals and border security. And it reflects the belief that nobody is above the law in this country, including federal agents, and those federal agents involved in the killings of U.S. citizens need to stand in front of a judge and a jury for that. KEILAR: What would you say is the biggest friction point, or are all of those friction points that appear to be at an impasse between Democrats and the White House?
AUCHINCLOSS: The biggest friction point is the Trump White House's hallucination and gaslighting about this issue. They're stuck in the mentality of a year and a half ago when immigration was candidly an issue that the president had tailwinds on. That has changed.
He has broken whatever mandate he may have had at the beginning of his term because he has morphed from law enforcement into a paramilitary. He has sown fear amongst American cities, which he said should be used as target practice, instead of upholding the United States as both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. So this White House just doesn't realize how politically bankrupt they are on this issue.
They think their negotiating position is stronger than it is, and Democrats are not going to back down on our core demands because they're demands that reflect a free people. And we know that Americans are on our side about this.
KEILAR: You're a Marine veteran, still in the reserves, I believe. Your state is home to quite a bit of military. You've got multiple Coast Guard stations and sectors.
You have industries that rely on them. What do you say to the families of those service members who are concerned about their next paycheck in the middle of this shutdown?
AUCHINCLOSS: They're being failed by the false choice put forward by Republicans, who have control over the House, the Senate, and the White House.
[15:40:00]
The false choice is that if you want to be able to go through an airport and have TSA screen you in an expeditious manner, if you want the Coast Guard to interdict drugs, then somehow you must also want to accept that ICE can act as thugs and disregard the rule of law and due process. I think Americans are smart enough to know that that choice is bogus and they refuse to be gaslit by this administration about it.
KEILAR: ICE, as you're well aware, is already super well-funded, into the future through Trump's Big Bill, and Secretary Noem has a lot of discretion in how to use those funds to make sure, for instance, that they can continue their operations, that they are paid. Is it worth it, from your perspective, for families, like those of Coast Guard families, TSA, FEMA, to be losing out potentially on pay, or even just really stressed out that they're going to, when the impact on ICE here could be negligible?
AUCHINCLOSS: You're right that ICE was given a blank check last year. Republicans tripled its budget such that now there is more money going towards ICE than there is towards crime, gun trafficking, drug trafficking, corruption, counterterrorism combined at the federal level. I think Americans think that's a misallocation of resources and priorities, and they want to see that if there is going to be further appropriations towards ICE, those appropriations come with policy riders that reflect rule of law, due process, and protections of civil rights.
I agree with you that Democrats had more leverage when the appropriations process had six different funding bills as opposed to just one in front of us, which is why it was frustrating to see 21 Democrats defect and vote with Republicans to fund those five other bills. But in Washington, you use the power that you have at the moment that you have that leverage, and we are going to use the power that we have as a party to reflect Americans' demands for individual freedom and respect for the rule of law.
KEILAR: I do want to ask you about Iran. The U.S. is increasing military pressure on Tehran as the countries are discussing a potential deal. Speaking of impasses, there are certainly areas where they are not in agreement on, and we've been covering that.
Iran wants relief from Western sanctions, among other things. Should that be on the table, that relief from Western sanctions?
AUCHINCLOSS: As part of a package of coercive diplomacy, everything needs to be on the table. That's the point of talking. The president's, though, pre-deployment of military assets cannot be done, or cannot be threatened, I should say more precisely, without congressional authorization.
He doesn't have congressional authority to strike Iran, and so he needs to get a scoped authorization for the use of military force from Congress if he wants to be able to credibly threaten that. Otherwise, it's just another session in congressional powers to the presidency that has gone on for far too long and has made this country, I think, less secure and its foreign policy less stable. I do support, though, strong coercive diplomacy against Iran.
It has to incorporate not just its nuclear program, but also its ballistic missile development and its funding of proxy terror forces throughout the Middle East that destabilizes the entire region.
KEILAR: Congressman Jake Auchincloss, really appreciate you joining us. Thank you so much.
AUCHINCLOSS: Good afternoon.
KEILAR: And ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, remembering the iconic civil rights leader, the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Stay with us.
[15:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: A force of nature and a moral voice for those in power. These are just some of the tributes coming in for the Reverend Jesse Jackson who died today at the age of 84. The social justice icon reshaped the civil rights movement after the assassination of his mentor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jackson's speeches electrified audiences with empowering phrases that forever will define his legacy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. JESSE JACKSON: Our flag is red, white, and blue. But our nation is rainbow, red, yellow, brown, black, and white. We're all precious in God's sight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Here to reflect on Jackson's extraordinary legacy is Michael Eric Dyson, a distinguished professor of African-American and diaspora studies at Vanderbilt University, also the author of "Tears We Cannot Stop, a Sermon to White America." Sir, thanks so much for being with us. I wonder how you reacted to hearing that Reverend Jackson passed away.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, PROFESSOR OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: Well, we lost a titan. As W.H. Auden wrote in the introduction to Dag Hammarskjold's extraordinary book "Markings". A great light has gone out.
And this titanic force of social justice, this man who gave his life in defense of the vulnerable, not only among African-American people, but among LGBTQIA, among Latinas, among every range of Asian communities. He fought for the little person. He fought for those who didn't have a voice that was nearly as amplified as his own.
His haunting eloquence, his transcendent poetry made his words ring with the hallmark of truth and gave those people who looked toward him, looked up to him, a vibrant and vital leader to state their cause. And he did that with extraordinary and inexhaustible power. You couldn't get up earlier than him.
You wouldn't go to bed later than him. And I traveled across this world with him. I was working on a book with him at one point.
[15:50:00]
And he was a man who was so deeply and profoundly dedicated to doing the right thing that we rarely have been able to understand the depth and breadth of his achievement.
SANCHEZ: He was also notably a powerful organizer, and he frequently organized boycotts and economic protests and, in a sense, used a model from the civil rights era to transition to a newer era, right?
DYSON: Absolutely. Well, look, I wrote a piece in the today's New York Times on him. And one of the things we can look toward Reverend Jesse Jackson for is the ability to adapt.
Yes, he was 26 years old when Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered. And then he became the foremost civil rights leader in America. But he not only focused on, you know, civil rights in terms of access to voting, though he kept that up.
He talked about economic inequality as Martin Luther King Jr. did at the end of his life. And then he began to speak about how we could have access to companies like Nike or even news and media companies and automobile industries. He really integrated the capital of those organizations and those businesses to make sure that Black people had equal access.
And he talked about education and he spoke about the need for us to have justice among a number of populations. So yes, he was a civil rights leader, but he became so much more as he advanced and saw that the world was in need of his unique moral vision.
SANCHEZ: He'll also be remembered for his gifted oratory, right? His ability to move people with his speech. Is there one particular speech or moment in his career that stands out to you?
DYSON: I mean, there's so many, but think about the 1984 convention speech, Our Time Has Come. And you played a part of that briefly. Here was a man at the height of his majestic oratorical powers.
And when you think about America in the 20th century, Martin Luther King Jr. in terms of social justice, Mario Cuomo in terms of the political pulpit, Bob Costas in terms of sports and journalism and articulating what Red Smith did on paper, he did in the broadcast movement. Jesse Jackson was able to conjure with his speech the most vibrant metaphors that made you understand what he was speaking about. And then he could rhyme as well, down with dope and up with hope.
It might sound hokey, but you could never forget that. I am somebody. And let me share with you, on the last time that I saw him shortly before he died. In his room with his wife and a friend, I walked up to him. His eyes were closed, but he was still awake.
And I grabbed his hand and I said, I am somebody. I may be locked in a bed of rest and pain and receiving medical care, but I am somebody. And he grabbed my hand even more tightly.
This is a man whose words continue to fill our minds because of their unique poetry, but because they were so accessible and made the high truths of social justice, available to everyday and ordinary people.
SANCHEZ: Such a moving tribute, Michael Eric Dyson. Thanks so much for sharing that with us.
DYSON: Thank you for having me.
SANCHEZ: We're going to take a quick break as we honor the legacy of Reverend Jesse Jackson, passing away at 84-years-old.
[15:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is preparing to face some grieving families tomorrow in the landmark social media trial. The plaintiffs are a 20-year-old woman and her mom who claim that social media companies design the platforms to be addictive.
KEILAR: Meta says it strongly disagrees with those claims. CNN's Clare Duffy has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yes, Boris, Brianna, this is without a doubt going to be one of the biggest days in this trial. Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, testifying for the first time before a jury about these claims that his platforms have harmed young users. And crucially also expected to be in the audience tomorrow, are families who say their children were harmed or died as a result of social media.
And what I find really remarkable is that among those parents that are flying from around the country into L.A. in hopes of securing a seat in this courtroom tomorrow, are parents who were all 2024 on Capitol Hill. In that moment, you'll remember where Mark Zuckerberg turned around and actually apologized to families for the harms that they say their children experienced online. Now, we expect that tomorrow Mark Zuckerberg is going to be asked questions that try to get at the reasonableness of the actions the company has taken to protect young users.
Meta throughout this trial has talked about features like parental control tools, teen accounts, which provides default privacy and safety settings to young users accounts. And really, they'll try to get at whether the company has done enough, what they knew about the potential risks to young people and whether these features actually mitigate those risks. And there are internal documents from Meta that have come out in the course of this litigation that suggest, for example, that at this time last year, that only a small fraction of teen users were actually enrolled in those parental oversight tools.
So those are the kinds of things that we expect that Mark Zuckerberg will get asked about tomorrow. And as I talk to legal experts about this, they also say it's going to be very important how he presents on the stand. Does this jury find him likable and trustworthy?
So that is all what we will be watching for tomorrow. And just a reminder of the stakes here, Meta and YouTube, who are the defendants in this case, if they lose, this could set a precedent for how hundreds of other cases are resolved, potentially putting these companies on the hook for up to billions of dollars in damages and also requiring them to make changes to their platforms. And this moment is especially critical for Meta because Meta, at the same time that this L.A. trial is going on, is also standing trial in New Mexico in a separate case that accuses the company of essentially being complicit in child sexual exploitation on its platforms.
So two really huge cases going on at the same time. Lots to be watching for as Mark Zuckerberg prepares to take the stand tomorrow. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: You can bet we'll be keeping an eye on that story tomorrow. Clare Duffy, thank you so much for that.
"THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now. END
