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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Justice Department Releases Millions of Epstein Files; Don Lemon Released After Federal Court Appearance; Bomb Cyclone to Bring Snow and Coastal Flooding. Award-Winning Actress Catherine O'Hara Dead At 71; Lindsey Vonn Crashes In Final Race Before Olympic Games. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired January 30, 2026 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[18:00:00]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper.

This hour, an avalanche of new files from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation were released today, more than 3 million pages to be exact, but Democrats say the Justice Department is still holding on to millions of other files. Why and will the public ever see them? I'll ask the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

Also accused killer Luigi Mangione will not face the death penalty for allegedly shooting the CEO of the UnitedHealthcare outside a New York hotel. That decision announced today by a judge who also made another key ruling about evidence that is allowed to be shown during the trial.

Plus, nearly 30 million Americans are under winter storm alerts tonight as a bomb cyclone is expected to form in the coming hours, bringing heavy snow damaging winds and coastal flooding. CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has the latest forecast in just moments.

And from Home Alone, to Schitt's Creek, tonight, we are honoring the life and legacy of a legend, Catherine O'Hara, who died today at the age of 71. The tributes have been pouring in from around the globe as the world honors her comedic brilliance.

Tonight, the Justice Department today says it has completed its review of records related Jeffrey Epstein, and it has now released millions of additional pages of documents in that investigation. Now, CNN team has been reviewing all of them throughout the course of the last several hours. Here is some of what we know so far. The documents contain multiple instances of victims' names appearing unredacted. There are multiple 302 forms, quote, that are really a written documentation of interviews the government conducted with some of the survivors. There is financial information on Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's accomplice. There are lots of email exchanges featured in the documents. And President Trump's Justice Department last year compiled a list of tips that made allegations against Trump.

CNN's Paula Reid was in the room at a really lengthy detailed press conference earlier today. Paula, what do we know right now?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: All right. So, I think one thing that really has people talking is this document that was released, and it is a list of allegations against President Trump, and it appears that the FBI compiled this list last summer, but many of the allegations appear to have come from unverified tips. I mean, officials even say that some of these were based on secondhand information received through a tip center where you can submit tips electronically or by phone.

Now, some of these were followed up on. One was referred to the Washington office for the FBI. Some were deemed not credible. So, I think when you see a lot of these reports, these details about specifically President Trump, it's important to remember that context because the president has long denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein. So, when people see these allegations, I think it's important to remember that this is a list of allegations, not necessarily things that were verified.

This is also, Phil, why you usually don't just take an investigative file and dump it so the public can see things that haven't been completely vetted. I mean, one of the big questions is, of course, why did the FBI compile this list of allegations?

Now, this document has been removed at least twice today, last I checked, it is back up. We've asked the Justice Department why that was the case. But the fact that these allegations have even surfaced likely to prompt more questions for the Justice Department and the White House, but I underscore, these are allegations.

MATTINGLY: Yes, really important point. Definitely more questions to be coming, but a lot of questions were taken today in a press conference. I've covered DOJ a little bit. I pay closer attention to what you and our DOJ colleagues are doing. Not often does the -- anybody from the Justice Department take questions for a long period of time, live on camera, largely unscripted at various points. And it also wasn't the attorney general. It was the deputy attorney general.

REID: Yes.

MATTINGLY: Why?

REID: Well, let's start with that. We all know that Attorney General Pam Bondi's handling of the Epstein files has been roundly criticized. People inside the White House were extremely frustrated with how she's handled this issue, so not surprising that they sent out the deputy attorney general.

Now, he runs the entire Justice Department, so certainly someone who can speak to this, he's been helping to oversee this entire review. But as you noted, Justice Department officials come out, they make announcements. I've been covering them for a decade. Sometimes they just walk off the stage when they're done. If they take a question, they take a few. They usually have tightly scripted answers, especially because they're being asked about ongoing investigations. Not so much for Todd Blanche. He answered questions for about 30 minutes. He took a question from almost every journalist in the room. Now, we didn't always understand the answers. He got a little combative a few times. He made a joke about Don Lemon. It's highly unusual. It's a departure from the way most Justice Department officials handle it. But I think it's notable that he came out and he answered questions, because everybody wanted to know what's going on in Fulton County, what are you doing in Minneapolis? He clarified that there's a civil rights investigation there. Follow-up questions about how he's handled the so Epstein issue with the White House. It was an important opportunity to ask him questions.

And Todd, we welcome you back next week and every week for the next three years, because we always have a lot of questions at DOJ.

[18:05:01]

MATTINGLY: Yes, definitely a lot of questions, especially these days. And also like, yes, let's not make it a one-time thing. I think there's a ton of value that everybody gets.

REID: Janet Reno did it every week.

MATTINGLY: Janet Reno. Janet Reno did it every day. Are we getting old? We're getting old. You're not getting old. I'm getting old.

Paul Reid, great work, as always, my friend. Thanks so much.

Well, here to discuss, Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia of California. He's the top Democrat on the House of Oversight Committee. Congressman, I really appreciate your time.

As you and committee members make your way through these millions of documents, what stands out to you?

REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): Look, I think a couple things. One is obviously there's an enormous amount of documents that have to be reviewed, and, obviously, there are millions and millions of pages. But let's be really clear, what Todd Blanche actually said today was that essentially the Department of Justice was going to withhold about 50 percent of the files that they would not release for a variety of reasons. So, they are basically saying that their investigation and their document production is over when half the files are still in their possession.

And I'll remind the deputy attorney general that the subpoena that's been in place since the summer, which is separate of the law that Congress passed, there's no exemptions for ongoing investigations. There's no exemptions for internal discussion amongst department heads. And now we're seeing that survivor's names possibly are being -- are appearing in documents. We're seeing the mentions of Trump, and there are hundreds of mentions of President Trump that we're going through are being put in place, then pulled back, then dropped, and then removed.

So, this continues to be a White House cover-up, and it's clear that Donald Trump and Pam Bondi continue to hide. And we're not sure why we do not have the names of the pedophiles and the powerful men that abused, raped and trafficked girls and children. We're demanding those names be released.

MATTINGLY: You know, kind of to one of the points you're making there, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche talking about whether the White House had oversight of documents released today was an interesting moment. I want you to take a list.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: There's this mantra out there that, oh, you know, the Department of Justice is supposed to protect Donald J. Trump, and that's what we were telling. That's not true. That was never the case. And we are always concerned about the victims.

I can assure that we complied with the statute, we complied with the act, and there is no -- that we did not protect President Trump. We didn't protect or not protect anybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Do you have specific examples where that's explicitly not the case?

GARCIA: That's a lie. I mean, first, they have, on multiple occasions likely in this batch, but certainly in the last one as well, they had the names of victims and survivors unredacted. In addition, in multiple batches that have come out in the last batch, they produced information about President Trump and photos and they removed them. And only until we go in and cause an uproar, they then put pictures back, or in the case of today, have put some documents back into place, but now redacted with less information. So, both of those statements are actually untrue.

We need the Department of Justice and Pam Bondi to stop hiding the release of these files. Why? Why will the White House and the DOJ get to keep over 50 percent of the files when the subpoena in place by the Oversight Committee clearly states that they have to produce those? And there's a lot of information that is coming out today that we're going to have to review. I mean, look, there's a report there that Commerce Secretary Lutnick, who had said, according to him, that he had not had any contact with Jeffrey Epstein post 2005. We now know that's actually not true.

So, there's a lot of information in these documents that we need to review, but the fact that we're only going to get you to see half of them highly redacted, God knows what they're actually hiding, should concern every single American. And our message to Pam Bondi and Donald Trump is our investigation on the Epstein files is just getting started.

MATTINGLY: What's the recourse? And, again, knowing that you've been running a parallel investigation, which, by the way, actually reached out and has received documents from the Epstein estate, unlike the Justice Department up to this point, what recourse would you have to force the Justice Department to release these documents?

GARCIA: Well, first, we're going to push our Republican colleagues on the Oversight Committee who would, quite frankly, been quite weak in their calls to releasing all the files. They seem to be okay with these partial release. I would ask that the head of our committee, James Comer, and Republicans join us in calling for a full release of the files and to actually comply with the subpoena.

We've tried to hold Pam Bondi in contempt that's been pushed back. Republicans voted unanimously to deny that and to get Pam Bondi in front of our committee. Again, why has she not come and testified in front of the Oversight Committee?

[18:10:01]

What we want is the truth. And it's clear that this cover-up continues.

Now, look, we're going to go through a lot of information in the course of the next few days, but the idea that they're going to withhold over 50 percent or around 50 percent of those, it's incredibly concerning. What are they hiding?

And, to me, and I think to the American public, until we get the names of Jeffrey Epstein's co-conspirators, and the men that were involved in the trafficking and the abuse of children and women, that is not justice, and we need justice for the survivors.

MATTINGLY: When you talk about the survivors, which, again, people need to remember are the most important part of this entire story that we've been covering, this entire process that's been underway, they're the reason for it in their efforts. There are survivors that tell CNN, many victims' names appear unredacted in the files. One woman who has chosen to remain anonymous, as Jane Doe, already has her -- has found her name in multiple places. The deputy attorney general addresses today saying, quote, mistakes are inevitable. What's your reaction?

GARCIA: Completely outrageous, disgusting, shameful, especially when they've actually done this before. In previous releases, they did the exact same thing. And we have demanded that they be more careful. According to Pam Bondi, these files have been on her desk for months since the beginning of their administration. What have they been doing this entire time? And they find new files. Now, they won't release all the files. And what they've released, they're actually exposing survivors and victims.

It's horrifying. I'm horrified to know what is happening, what the survivors are going through, and the president needs to do the right thing. He has the power to release all of the files, end this nightmare and get truth for the survivors and the American public who also want justice for all the people that have been impacted.

MATTINGLY: Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia, top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, thanks so much, sir. I appreciate it.

We're following the breaking news from Minneapolis, protests against the Trump Administration's ICE crackdown. You are looking at a human chain on a frozen lake spelling out SOS. We're monitoring this scene and several others across the country.

Also, another round of dangerous winter weather is on the way with a bomb cyclone expected to start forming tonight before slamming parts of the East Coast. We're going to get an updated forecast up next.

Plus, our small business series takes us back to Maryland tonight and the company we visited when we began the series back in April. How have Trump's tariffs affected that company since then? We're going to find out.

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[18:15:00]

MATTINGLY: Breaking news in our Law and Justice Lead, former CNN Anchor Don Lemon has just appeared in federal court to face charges related to live streaming and reporting from an anti-ICE protest during a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota. Lemon was arrested overnight, as was Independent Journalist Georgia Fort.

I want to get straight to CNN's Nick Watt outside the federal courthouse in Los Angeles. Nick, what's the latest?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Phil, the latest is Don Lemon will be released on his own recognizance. He will not have to surrender his passport. He will not have to limit his travel within the country. He will have to ask the court for permission if he wants to travel overseas. The judge already said he's got a plan trip to France in June. That is good.

Now, the government was asking for Lemon to surrender his passport. They were asking for no travel except to New York and Minnesota. And they were saying this is a very serious potential crime that he committed. And they pointed to various clauses in the indictment, in the complaint, and the judge really wasn't having very much of that.

Now, the only thing that everybody agreed on is that Lemon will not contact any potential known witnesses or victims or co-defendant. Everyone said that that was fine. Lemon himself was wearing a beige, double-breasted suit with a matching T-shirt, eyeglasses. He seemed very calm. He was respectful to the judge, answered, yes, Your Honor, no, Your Honor. Next appearance, February 9th in Minneapolis, in the district where he has been charged. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Nick Watt with the latest in Los Angeles, thank you very much, my friend. I appreciate it.

Well, in our National Lead, parts of the Southern United States are bracing for their second winter storm in a week. The storm system is threatening to drop several years-worth years of snow in parts of the Southeast and bring hurricane force winds major coastal flooding.

CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is live in Virginia Beach. Derek, have conditions that are actually started to change already. DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Not yet, Phil, but they'll go downhill by tomorrow morning and certainly throughout the day on Saturday. It's really hard to believe that we're facing a second winter storm, high impact winter storm, in roughly a week's time. It's even harder to believe that the beaches of Virginia Beach will be covered in snow by this time tomorrow. We've got the backdrop of the Historic Cavalier Hotel in the -- behind me.

And this winter storm, there's a lot of firsts associated with it, and one markedly is the first time that the National Weather Service has ever issued an extreme cold warning for Central Florida. There's cold alerts that stretches far south as Miami Dade County. Get this, the air that is going to follow behind this winter storm is originating near the North Pole, and that's going to travel as far south as Key West and Miami. That's mind boggling.

But there is so much more to it, and that, of course, is the snow and the potential of blizzard conditions where I'm located and across the outer banks of North Carolina.

So, let's get right to it because 200 million Americans plus are under these cold alerts. That's one part of the story, but how about the 40 million Americans that are under the winter storm warnings across the Carolinas and including Atlanta. This is because of a rapidly strengthening low pressure system that'll take advantage of the relatively warm waters off of the Atlantic seaboard, the Gulf Stream there, and that will allow it to strengthen quickly. It'll be a big wind maker. It will brush the cape area on Monday. So, Boston into Cape Cod, heads up, you will get some snow from this.

[18:20:01]

But the potential here for astronomical high tide and several inches of light powdery snowfall means that coastal flooding and whiteout conditions are a real concern where some of these heavier wind gusts set up. Look at that on my map, showing 80 miles per hour across the cape. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Remarkable stuff, great reporting, as always, Derek Van Dam for us. Thanks so much.

Well, President Trump is suing his own Treasury Department and the IRS for $10 billion, with a B, dollars over his leaked tax return. So, does he actually have a case here? That's next.

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MATTINGLY: In Law our Justice Lead, the death penalty is off the table for Luigi Mangione. Federal prosecutors suffered a major setback today when a judge dismissed the murder charge against Mangione, although he still faces other charges in the 2024 killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

[18:25:00]

I want to bring in CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig. And, Elie, just to start, for people who probably heard that and said, wait, what, why was the federal murder charge against Mangione dismissed?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: So, Phil, this was a very technical decision. It had nothing to do with Luigi Mangione's ultimate guilt or non-guilt. Now, the judge here, Margaret Garnett, is a former violent crimes prosecutor, and she threw out two charges, using a gun and causing a death through a crime of violence. And the alleged crime of violence here was stalking. However, Judge Garnett looked at the very technical definition of stalking and said it does not meet the technical definition of a crime of violence.

The judge actually voiced some frustration. She said that she understands, and I'm reading from the opinion that her decision might be seen as tortured and estranged, but she said, I'm constrained by the letter of the law and under the letter of law and under prior Supreme Court decisions, stalking does not meet the definition of a crime of violence. Arguably, it should, but she said it does not. Therefore, those two out of the four charges are out. Those are the two death penalty eligible charges, Phil. So, as a result, Luigi Mangione is no longer looking at the possibility of the death penalty,

MATTINGLY: What federal charges still remain?

HONIG: So, there are two charges left relating to stalking. So, stalking is, of course, illegal, but it's not a crime of violence. So, the two charges that remain are stalking resulting in death, importantly, both of those charges do carry a life imprisonment as the potential sentence. So, the stakes are still very high here.

But there could be another problem down the road for prosecutors because the technical definition of stalking says conduct that the person who's being stalked would know about and would put the person in fear or would reasonably be likely to put the person in fear. It's not entirely clear that the victim, Brian Thompson, would have known about what was happening. But even if all the federal charges go away, let's remember, there are also separately state charges across the street in New York, Manhattan County State Court.

MATTINGLY: While I've got you, I want to ask you about another matter that I've been on the brink of texting you about throughout the course of this week, but I also respect your time. It's been a rather busy week. President Trump suing the IRS and Treasury Department, which he oversees, the president of the United States and the executive branch, for $10 billion, claiming leak tax returns during his first term harmed him and his sons financially and reputationally. Is there an actual case here?

HONIG: You know, in some respects, Phil, some limited respects, this is sort of a normal case. A person who worked as a contractor for the IRS wrongly obtained Donald Trump's tax returns and then leaked them to the media. That person has been prosecuted and convicted, so Trump's claim as well, IRS was negligent in allowing this person to obtain those tax returns and harm me.

Now to the stuff that's not usual. First of all, this $10 billion figure is just out of nowhere. And second of all, he's suing his own Treasury Department, his own IRS, who is in position now to pay him a huge settlement.

MATTINGLY: It is certainly unusual. Elie Honig, as always, my friend, thank you very much.

Well, former CNN Anchor John Lemon is speaking now outside federal court in Los Angeles. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: I stand with all of them and I will not be silent. I look forward to my day in court. Thank you all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: You were just listening to Don Lemon speaking after his court appearance, after he was arrested last night on charges from the Justice Department, something Justice Department officials have made very clear they wanted to pursue. They have pursued. Pam Bondi, the attorney general, putting out a 15-second video making very clear that it was their intent to pursue and threatening to pursue more if required. We will continue to follow that story.

Well, is Lindsey Vonn's Olympic dream over before the Winter Games even began? What the skier is saying about her injuries after she was airlifted to the hospital today.

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[18:30:00]

MATTINGLY: I want to turn to breaking news in our Politics Lead, where the U.S. Senate is voting right now on a deal to fund key parts of the government and a temporary stop gap agreement for the Department of Homeland Security's funding. That won't actually stop at least a partial government shutdown, but it's a clear step forward. Now we wait for the House and how that's all going to work.

We're going to get straight to CNNs Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill. Lauren, let's start with this. Bring us up to speed. How did we get here?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, over the course of the last 24 hours, Phil, you have seen a lot of movement in the United States Senate and that in part is because last night we expected them to hold this vote. They couldn't quite get it together. They weren't able to get all of the senators, all 100 of them, to agree to move expeditiously.

But here we are at 6:30, just a few hours before this deadline, and senators are voting right this moment on an appropriations package that includes five of the major bills. And then they have broken out funding for the Department of Homeland Security. That will be funded for just two weeks, while lawmakers will then get to work on trying to make substantial reforms to that agency.

That was the demand of Democrats. The White House agreed with Democrats that that was a process they wanted to engage in. But, obviously, there's a lot of work ahead, first on the government funding piece. We expect the House of Representatives will return on Monday. They will then have to pass this legislation.

Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican leaders set on a call earlier today that they expect they are going to need some Democratic support to get that across the finish line. That's code word for their going to try to move this under suspension, which means they're going to need two thirds of the House of Representatives in order to move this forward.

And, again, there's just so many question marks right now, because returning back to that Department of Homeland Security bill, lawmakers are going to have to engage in a very contentious debate about the scope of ICE's practices in this country, what exactly Democrats want to see changed, and then they're going to have to see whether or not Republicans, who control both the House and the Senate, are willing to go forward with that. So, there's the government funding piece of this, but there is also that larger question of what happens to funding for the Department of Homeland Security once that two-week stopgap measure runs out.

[18:35:01]

Again, Phil, the government is technically going to go into a partial shutdown over the weekend, but House Republicans are hopeful that they'll return, and they'll be able to move this quickly and they'll be able to reopen the government in short order essentially.

MATTINGLY: And, naturally, you and I were texting back and forth about the actual process of a shutdown order over the weekend, which is very on brand for our lengthy relationship as Hill reporters and nerds.

Real quick before I let you go. I want to step back, like it is remarkable that this happened over the course of less than a week. Like I'm stunned, to be frank, that the Senate moved this fast, that there does look like there's a pathway in the House. But to your point about the next two weeks, not to be a cynic, but having covered DHS- related issues and immigration related issues on Capitol Hill, is there any way there's an outcome that actually passes here?

FOX: Yes. Our colleagues who are standing outside of the Senate, they actually just caught up with Senator Lisa Murkowski, and she acknowledged this is going to be tough, but it's time to get to work. They are hoping to find some kind of compromise. But, you know, I talked to Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, who said he saw the list of demands that Democrats put forward just a few days ago to reform these agencies as just that, demands. These are not suggestions. These are not things they're willing to negotiate on.

The White House may see this very differently. Republicans in the House may see this very differently, and you're already hearing from people like Senator Lindsey Graham. They want to defund sanctuary cities. They want this to become a bigger fight perhaps than what Democrats had imagined.

MATTINGLY: Yes, it'll be fascinating to watch play out. 6:30 on a Friday, the Senate magically figures out a way to move votes. How about that?

Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill, I appreciate you always, my friend. Thanks so much.

Well, tributes are pouring in after the passing of award-winning actress and comedian and legend Catherine O'Hara. A look back at her iconic career, that's next.

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[18:40:00]

MATTINGLY: Really sad news today in our Pop Lead. Actress Catherine O'Hara, who starred in the iconic films, Beetlejuice, Best in Show, I mean, the list is very, very long. She's died. She was 71 years old. She's perhaps best known for playing the McAllister family matriarch in the Christmas classic, Home Alone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just stay up there. I don't want to see you again for the rest of the night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to see you again for the rest of my whole life, and I don't want to see anybody else either.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope you don't mean that. You'd feel pretty sad if you woke up tomorrow morning and you didn't have a family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I wouldn't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then say it again. Maybe it'll happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope I never any of you jerks again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Well, Home Alone co-star Macaulay Culkin paid tribute to O'Hara on Instagram today, writing, quote, mama, I thought we had more time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you, but I had so much more to say. I love you. I'll see you later.

Now, in addition to her work and movies, O'Hara also made her mark in television starring in the critically acclaimed sketch comedy show, and she won an Emmy for best lead actress for her scene-stealing performance every single episode in the comedy, Schitt's Creek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Next step is to fold in the cheese.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does that mean? What does folding the cheese mean?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You fold it in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand that, but how do you fold it? Do you fold it in half like a piece of paper and drop it in the pod, or what do you do?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: David, I cannot show you everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. Well, can you show me one thing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney remembered O'Hara today writing, quote, over five decades of work, Catherine earned her place in the canon of Canadian comedy. Canada has lost a legend.

O'Hara is survived by her husband, Bo Welch, and sons Matthew and Luke. May her memory be a blessing.

Here to discuss Catherine O'Hara's incredible life and career, Deadline Executive Editor Dominic Patten. And I think what was most striking today is my kind of social media world that I inhabit as a political reporter is mostly a dumpster fire every single day. And there was -- this was the first time that literally everyone across the political spectrum, age groups, everything like that, was all kind of in the same space of talking about how legendary her career was. Why do you think that was?

DOMINIC PATTEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DEADLINE: Well, I think in many ways, my friend, it's because her career was so long and so broad. You know, you talked about her Emmy win with Schitt's Creek. She won that Emmy in 2020. Catherine O'Hara won a previous Emmy almost 40 years beforehand in 1982 as part of the writers and performers for the legendary SCTV.

And you think of all the films, the Home Alone films, Beetlejuice so many films. In fact, just in this past year, she was one of the main cast members of the award-winning Apple T.V. series, The Studio, where she played a former studio boss, the mentor to fellow Canadian Seth Rogan's main character. So, she was beloved. You talked about Mark Carney, mentioning her. Justin Trudeau talked about her. Many, many other people have talked about her and the legendary feeling and approach they had.

And what's interesting is they talk about her as a person. You mentioned Macaulay Culkin. Michael Keaton talked about the person who played his onscreen wife and onscreen rival and everything else, and how much he adored her. Everybody spoke about her like that. She was one of the last probably truly class acts.

MATTINGLY: The durability of a career over time across kind of every different platform you could be on co-star, you could be with the emergence, like the reveal in the Apple T.V. show with Seth Rogan is like the mobile where everybody's like, oh, she's in this, this is so great. And yet I can't help but always go back to Home Alone on some level, like, you know, the moment when she left her son behind. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's it. I forgot to close the garage. That's it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, that's not it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What else could we be forgetting?

[18:45:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kevin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Which does actually connect stem-winding thoughts, because that has become a meme, which is another platform through which she has become kind of a dominant, pervasive presence.

[18:45:15]

DOMINIC PATTEN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, DEADLINE: Yes. And but I will also say this. I mean, look, her tour de force in "Schitt's Creek" was just amazing. And certainly, to follow that up with the studio and other stuff, she never stopped.

You know, we saw her on the red carpet for the Emmy's back in September and, you know, she looked a bit more frail than usual. So surprising. But there's one particular element of Catherine -- of her that really strikes me.

Years and years ago, I believe it was on SCTV, she did a scathing satire of Brooke Shields, just destroyed Brooke Shields. Today, Brooke Shields talked about what a great person Catherine O'Hara was, how much she loved that skit, and how much it made her laugh.

And that, to me, is the beauty of her. It was -- it was all the harsh fingers and yet all the kindness at the same time. I think about her now. Maybe that's a very Canadian trait, but Canadians aren't always so nice. So, you know, maybe that's not true, but I think it's something about -- tell something about her talent. The years she spent in improv, the years she spent in drama, as you said, all the genres that she appeared in and how she always triumphed.

MATTINGLY: Before I let you go, first of all, it's incredibly important point that you're making. The relationship with Eugene Levy that played out over decades. I think it was just like some of the best stuff I've ever watched in my life. Tell people about that. Yeah.

PATTEN: Well, I mean, look, these are two of the original SCTV years, and if some of your viewers don't know SCTV, SCTV was Saturday Night Live before Saturday Night Live, but it just wasn't on tv. Usually in Toronto, actually, mainly Canadians like Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, and a lot of them went to second city in Chicago, et cetera, et cetera. But then it became a big hit show in Canada for many, many years. John

Candy was a member of them, et cetera, et cetera. It was kind of the training ground of the training ground. That relationship between Eugene Levy, that relationship which you saw in the clip that you played earlier with Eugene Levy son, Dan Levy, who was one of the creators of "Schitt's Creek", you know, that went over years and years the comfort and the chemistry you saw between them was a whole other thing.

MATTINGLY: Yeah, it was next level.

Dominic Patten, I know you had to hustle and I'm very grateful for that hustle throughout all the different things you're working on right now to get here today and share your perspective. Thanks so much

PATTEN: Thank you, my friend.

MATTINGLY: Well, turning now to our sports lead and what could be a heartbreaking twist to one of the best sports comeback stories in years, 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn airlifted to the hospital earlier today, losing control and crashing in her final race just before next week's Winter Olympics.

Vonn, sharing on Instagram that she injured her left knee. But that, quote, "If there's one thing I know how to do, it's comeback. My Olympic dream is not over."

CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan, fellow Ottawa Hills Green Bear, is with me now.

It's great to see you.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: I wore as much green as I could find just for you, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Good to see you.

Hated to see this.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

MATTINGLY: Have loved the story of Lindsey Vonn for who knows how long at this point. Can you walk people through the comeback?

BRENNAN: Oh, absolutely. I mean, she was, first of all, she was skiing, you know, forever. I mean, you know, I remember my favorite story about her was the 2006 Olympics. Yes. 20 years ago, Phil, where she crashed. Kind of like this. It was the Olympic training run. They are lifted her off the mountain. They sent her to the hospital. She checked herself out of the hospital, worked her way to the top of the mountain and finished eighth in the Olympic downhill.

That was Lindsey Vonn. And that was my, I think in many ways my, you know, kind of introduction to her. So, she wins the gold in 2010, in Vancouver, I was there covering that amazing, the downhill. Certainly, the triumph of the peak of her Olympic career. 2014, she's injured. 2018 she's competing. And then she decides, hey, I've done it. I'm retiring.

MATTINGLY: And the totally logical thing to do. Well, based on how amazing her career.

BRENNAN: Well, and you're going at breakneck speed and, you know, she's in her 30s at that point. The difference here was she had that knee surgery and she had titanium put into her knee. The other knee, not the one that's injured right now. The right knee.

And she -- you know what? She missed it. And she's also excellent. And we've seen already in this World Cup season that she's been winning. Again, this isn't just a lark. This isn't someone I'll give it a shot. She wants to win. She thinks she can win the gold medal. And that's exactly where this has been at this point.

So, yeah, in several years in the making, obviously coming back at the right time, the Olympics is the key. All the promotion, all the stories, all of the interest. Obviously now hanging on the next tweet or the next social media post from her.

MATTINGLY: And I want to underscore what you said like podium after podium after podium this season. This is not just kind of a I want to get one last thing. Like she -- she's in --

BRENNAN: She's the real deal.

MATTINGLY: Anybody can make it through the injury. It would be her. I do want to shift over to Jordan Chiles real quick because last Olympics for people probably remember she had a bronze medal on the floor exercise, stripped away during the 2024 Olympics -- Paris Olympics.

[18:50:05]

Chiles' legal team just scored a court victory. What does it mean?

BRENNAN: Yeah, it means that she's going to get a chance to go back to the court of arbitration for sport, which basically said, we're done with you. She went to the Swiss federal tribunal. The only place she could go. And they said, no, no, it needs to go back because of video evidence.

The whole point here was that the court of arbitration for sport, which, Phil, is like the Supreme Court for sports, and that's where you go to - whether it's a doping violation or something exactly like this. So, they basically looked at this and they said -- the U.S. had -- the U.S. gymnastics had video evidence showing the U.S. coach had put in an appeal within the minute time frame to allow Chiles to get the extra 10th of a point. Tiny little measure, but that would make her give her the bronze medal.

And then the Romanians were against that. And then the court of arbitration for sports said, no, we're not listening to that. We don't want to see your video. Now they have to see the video. And the U.S., in fact, did put in that appeal. 47.7 47 seconds into that minute, Phil, which means that I think she will end up getting that bronze medal.

MATTINGLY: Real quick, one word answer, because I've watched her in the last couple of weeks, just hit ten after ten after ten on the floor, and does she is she in the Olympics?

BRENNAN: Oh, I think so. I think so. She's that good.

MATTINGLY: Christine Brennan, it's great to see you, friend.

BRENNAN: Great to see you, Phil.

MATTINGLY: We're back in moments with Jake Tapper and a special interview. You don't want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:55:36]

MATTINGLY: We're back with Jake Tapper's conversation with acclaimed comedy director Judd Apatow on his latest project, a documentary on legendary comedian Mel Brooks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In our pop culture lead the producers of "Blazing Saddles", "Young Frankenstein", these are just a few of the timeless works of Mel Brooks. Brooks has made generations of audiences laugh with roles like the 2,000-Year-Old Man. Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, and dozens more. And now you can watch him play his funniest character yet himself.

In a new two-part documentary from HBO, Mel Brooks, the 99-year-old man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: Is it important to you that people know your story? You care about the legacy?

MEL BROOKS, COMEDIAN/ACTOR: I know -- not so much about me, but about little, short, funny-looking Jews who are trepidatious about entering show business.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah.

BROOKS: I said, if I can do it, you can do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And the documentary's director and producer, Judd Apatow, joins me now.

Judd, it's fantastic. Congratulations.

As someone who's been a lifelong -- a lifelong fan of Mel Brooks, what was it like to get the access to him, to ask him about anything you wanted to?

JUDD APATOW, DIRECTOR: Well, I feel like my whole life I've been stalking him, just trying to get enough credits together that he would be willing to meet with me in any way. And he used to, you know, go to his office to just, you know, sit at his knee and ask him questions. This is just the first time I put it on tape.

TAPPER: What do you think audiences will be most surprised by? By what they see in this doc?

APATOW: Well, I think it's the first time that he's really opened up emotionally. We've seen him our entire lives be riotously funny, but I think probably a little bit guarded about his privacy. And he was willing to open up and talk about World War Two and the depression and the hard things that happened in his life, periods where, you know, he had impostor syndrome and really was worried about his career.

And he also talks about his first marriage and grief a lot. You know, there's a lot of discussion of loss because he's 99 years old and he's really had to deal with being, you know, the last man standing.

TAPPER: He had a tough life. In a lot of ways, his dad died when he was only two. He served in World War Two. How much do you think he would be as funny as he is without all that struggle?

APATOW: I think it deepens what he did. I mean, he said he got funny because he was one of four brothers and I think he was small and became very loud as a way of, you know, finding his place in the world. And he said he was the real storyteller in the neighborhood. But going through World War Two, where, you know, he was in the army corps of engineers and, you know, he had to defuse bombs and locate booby traps. You know, he really went through a lot of stuff. And I think it made him a moral comedian.

A lot of his work is satirizing fascism, attacking racism. Theres a real ethical core to everything he did. And I think that's a result of what he'd been through.

TAPPER: So, you got your start in in high school with a tape recorder, going to comedians who were older than you and, you know, successful or coming up and interviewing them. And then you would air it on your high school student radio station. And what's interesting about your career now, Judd, is that, yes, you've done some incredibly popular comedies, but lately you've done so many documentaries. Is this just like the natural chapter? Given the fact that you started interviewing really funny people and now you're -- not ending, but like in this chapter, you're doing a lot of true stories about funny people?

APATOW: Well, I feel like it's all connected. You know, when I was a kid, I just wanted to know more. You know, in the eras before podcasting, I think I just wanted something like that to exist. But I think it's also connected to the work because Garry Shandling always taught that it's about getting to the deepest truths to, you know, getting to the core of people. And so, in documentaries, you really can go all the way to truth. TAPPER: The HBO original documentary, "Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old

Man, is out now on HBO and HBO Max, which I am obligated to remind you, is part of CNN's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.

Judd, it's always great talking to you. Thanks.

APATOW: Great to talk to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Well, coming up Sunday on "STATE OF THE UNION", Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin, Republican Senator Ron Johnson. That's Sunday at 9:00 a.m. and noon Eastern on CNN.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.