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Former CNN Anchor Don Lemon and Independent Journalist Georgia Fort Arrested After Minnesota Church Protest; Alleged CEO Killer Luigi Mangione Won't Face Death Penalty. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired January 30, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, former CNN Anchor Don Lemon is arrested by federal agents and how it's tied to the St. Paul church protest. We're going to explain all about that and what we're learning.

Plus, new CNN analysis of the movements of the two officers involved in the killing of Alex Pretti.

And winter wallop, parts of the Southeast are bracing for snow and hurricane force winds this weekend. We are tracking the storm as it intensifies off the coast of North Carolina.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Pamela Brown. Wolf Blitzer is off, and you are in The Situation Room.

And we began this hour with that breaking news, former CNN Anchor Don Lemon has been taken into custody. Lemon was with dozens of anti- immigration protesters as they interrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, last week. Now, Lemon said he was there as a journalist, not a protester.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, FORMER CNN ANCHOR: I'm just here for -- I'm not -- I'm just here photographing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you okay --

LEMON: I'm not part of -- I'm not part of the group. I'm just here photographing. I'm a journalist.

We don't know. That's what they're saying. So, we're here just chronicling and reporting. We're not part of the activist, but we're here just reporting on them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that's why we're here demanding justice for Renee Good and letting them know that this will not stand. They cannot pretend to be a house of God while harboring someone who is directing ICE agents to wreak havoc upon our community and who killed Renee Good, who almost killed a six month old baby. Enough is enough. I am a reverend on top of being a lawyer and an activist. So, I come here in the power of the Almighty God, for righteousness, truth and justice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our church had gathered for worship, which we do every Sunday, and we were interrupted by this group of protesters. We asked them to leave and they obviously have not left. So --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: His lawyer, Abbe Lowell, says he was taken into custody by federal agents last night. And in a statement, Lowell said, quote, instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention, and resources to this arrest. And that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case. This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing its administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.

And just last week, a federal magistrate judge rejected the Justice Department's initial attempt to bring charges against Lemon, a source previously told CNN. This morning, Attorney General Pam Bondi posted this to social media announcing additional arrests. Quote, at my direction early this morning, federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy in connection with a coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Joining us now is CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter and CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson. Brian, I want to start with you because this is a significant escalation and a moment for our country.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALST: Yes. A serious escalation and exactly the kind of action the media lawyers feared might come in Trump 2.0. The notion of arresting a reporter for live streaming and covering a protest, this has been high on the list of potential First Amendment threats. This is the kind of thing we have been concerned, what could happen, the kind of authoritarian action by an administration that wants to suppress the press.

Now, the government's going to argue it out. They're going to unseal these charges. Lemon's going to be in court. We're going to find out exactly what he is been charged with. The same is true in the case of Georgia Fort who was taken into custody. She's a popular live streamer and journalist in Minnesota who was also taken into custody.

Lemon might be seen as a convenient target. For one thing, he's been a long time Trump foe, someone that Trump has attacked many times. For another thing, Lemon's a one man band, an independent journalist now, no longer working for a big media outlet like CNN, but instead live streaming on YouTube and Instagram and other platforms with his own startup media enterprise. And Fort is in a very similar situation, working in Minnesota, gathering the news and sharing it with her own community.

So, this is exactly the kind of threat that press freedom groups have feared. And we are seeing widespread condemnation this morning from groups like the Community Prep Journalists and PEN America.

[10:05:00]

Lemon, I mentioned, has been a long time Trump adversary. You know, the president has demeaned him and denigrated him over the years, including when Lemon worked here at CNN. I remember the night that Lemon had to evacuate the CNN studio because there were bomb threats called in trying to threaten his show. We went outside to the street. He used a cell phone. He continued to anchor his show from outside in the cold. And I remember once the all clear was given and he was able to go back inside the building, we walked back inside and Lemon got back to the news. He started covering the news again. That's what he wanted to do. He didn't want to be the story that night, and he probably doesn't want to be the story right now.

But Lemon did expect after this church protest that something like this could happen. Trump administration officials made noise about wanting to arrest him. Some MAGA media loyalists demanded the arrest of Lemon, wanting to see him punished. This very much has Trump retribution vibes. But Lemon said on his Instagram and on his YouTube live stream, after the first attempt at charging him failed, that he expected the government would come around and try this again.

And he decided anyway to go ahead and fly to Los Angeles this week because he was planning to cover the Grammy Awards. He was very excited to be on the red carpet, to be interviewing celebrities this weekend at the Grammys, and that's where he was taken into custody late last night.

So, it's an example of Lemon just wanting to work, sometimes covering entertainment, sometimes reporting the news in Minnesota. He didn't want to be the story today. He wanted to be covering the news. But now we wait to see what exactly the charges are, both in his case as well as in the case of Georgia Fort. Pamela?

BROWN: Right. So, Joey, what is the legal standard here and why is it so important this distinction that Don said when he was there, he was there reporting what was happening as a journalist and not part of the protests?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Pamela, good to be with you and Brian. I mean, you know, listen, when people go to religious services, certainly, and no one should dispute the fact that they have a right to worship. However, there certainly is a right to protest as well. And sometimes what laws do is they balance competing rights.

Just to be clear, with respect to the law itself, it's called the FACE Act, federally, and it deals with freedom of access to clinics, you know, and facilities. And so what ends up happening is that it protects reproductive freedoms, it protects religious services. But let's be clear about what the law says. It talks about violent, it talks about the threats of violence, it talks about obstruction, you know, in that regard. And I think it's important to note, so just because you're protesting, that's not making it criminal in and of itself, you have to engage in some other activities associated with the protest such that it does impede and such that it is a threat and such that it is a situation where you're interfering with rights.

To the core of your question though, Pamela, I think there's a distinction between protesters and analyzing the federal law that way and a person who is merely there to cover the activities that are being engaged in by the protesters. That's a foundational First Amendment right, the freedom of the press, the freedom of speech that we all enjoy. And when you start going and intimidating and arresting journalists from doing that, certainly, it's suppresses speech.

Last point, Pamela, and that's this. What's concerning about this is that a magistrate had been -- gone to by the Department of Justice to attempt to get a warrant, the magistrate said no, that there was not enough evidence here to do so. What then happened was is they went, that is the Department of Justice, to an appellate court. They said, by a 2-1 ruling, no, there's not enough. But now we still see him being detained. So, we'll see whether they went to a grand jury or not. But it's beyond concerning when we're in a world where journalists can be arrested for reporting activities of protesters.

BROWN: Yes, that's very important legal analysis there. And, you know, Brian, earlier you had mentioned that Attorney General Pam Bondi had said Independent Journalist Georgia Fort was taken into custody. Here's what Georgia posted online earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to wear my black --

GEORGIA FORT, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST ARRESTED AFTER MINNESOTA CHURCH PROTEST: You guys, I wanted to alert the public that agents are at my door right now. They're saying that they were able to go before a grand jury sometime, I guess, in the last 24 hours, and that they have a warrant for my arrest. I've talked to my attorney and I'm being advised to go with them, I guess, down to Whipple.

And my children are here. They're impacted by this. This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest as a member of the media. We are supposed to have our constitutional right of the freedom to film, to be a member of the press. I don't feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press because now federal agents are at my door arresting me for filming the church protest a few weeks ago.

Again, I don't have a long time here, you guys, but I wanted you to know for me, agents are at my door right now.

[10:10:00]

My attorney has spoken with them. I did send a relative outside to talk to them. They're showing some type of documentation apparently that they got an indictment from a grand jury. I knew that I was on a defendant's list. I did not publish it because it was under seal. And so we've done everything that we can to try and abide by, you know, the advice of our attorneys.

But right now, you guys, I wanted you to know, I'm going to have to hop off here and surrender to agents as a member of the press. I filmed the church protest a few weeks ago and now I'm being arrested for that. I, it's hard to understand how we have a Constitution, Constitutional rights when you can just be arrested for being a member of the press. And we've seen all of these violations.

All right, you guys, I got to go. They're knocking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, she's coming right now.

FORT: Give me one second.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go take her to the test (ph). That's what we would like to do expeditiously.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a very easy thing. Apparently, there's already a picture of it on the phone you're talking on, if you give me two minutes to take a quick look at it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure, sure. Okay. But --

FORT: I would have to send you the video.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you can -- we can take a picture of it for you and you can send it.

FORT: That would be great.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay. Well, this is really scary. There's kids in the house. You guys have not been really friendly in the community. And, to me, this seems a little -- can I finish, sir? This seems -- can I finish? Can I finish?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get your phone.

FORT: This seems a little bit aggressive to have all these cars in our cul-de-sac, two or three agents, and now I saw the one disappear to the back. So, to me, this is a little aggressive to just serve a warrant. Slide the warrant. Let me see the warrant.

Okay. And that, to me, what I have been told, is not a judicial warrant that has me to have to open the door and (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Brian, your reaction?

STELTER: Wow. Wow. I am amazed and impressed by that reporter's experience, by her calm and no nonsense demeanor. Look, she wanted to literally report on her own arrest and tell her followers and listeners and viewers what the government was doing in real time. She was streaming that on Facebook Live. And that really speaks and testifies to her journalistic instinct. I know many CNN viewers, of course, are very familiar with Don Lemon. They're fans of Don. They might not know who Georgia Fort is. Georgia is a longtime journalist, an Emmy Award winner, a former T.V. and radio host in the Midwest, now an independent journalist who produces content on Instagram and YouTube and other platforms. She has at least 70,000 followers on Instagram. She has a real core audience in Minnesota that learns about these ICE raids and other actions from her. And when these federal agents came knocking, her instinct was to report on it and show the viewers what was happening. And I'm grateful we were able to see that and know what it was like for her.

Every reaction like this from the government provokes a counter- reaction, and I'm very curious to see how the public will react to a video like that, whether they believe that's an American process, something that looks like America to them.

Now, PEN America this morning, the free speech group, says this is part of a, quote, growing pattern of government overreach that threatens press freedom. But I know, and I think you know, Pam, journalists are not going to be intimidated by these arrests. If anything, they're going to take it even more seriously to make sure we are documenting what happens at these protests. Yes, within the bounds of the law, but documenting these protests so that everybody else can see what's going on in Minnesota and beyond.

BROWN: What stands out to you, Joey?

JACKSON: I mean, everything stands out to me. What stands out to me is the environment and climate in which we're living. What stands out to me is if factually this is true, that she's simply taping and filming and doing other things associated with being a press member, why an arrest would be warranted? Where is the criminality? What stands out to me is the fact that you had a magistrate say there was nothing to see here. What stands out to me is that you had an appeal by the Justice Department saying the same thing, and then you go to a grand jury.

And let's be clear about a grand jury. A grand jury consists of 23 members, a majority, they don't vote guilt or innocence, a majority, right, of the 23, that's 12, determined two things, whether there's reason to believe that a crime was committed and that the subject of that proceeding committed it.

[10:15:11]

However, grand jury proceedings are done by prosecutor. There's nothing from the defense perspective that's in there. There's not a balancing of evidence. So, what I'm concerned about is that grand jury process. What information, if this indictment is true, was given to that a grand jury to evaluate? How were they instructed as to the law that they were to consider? Were any fabrications given to the grand jury? Because I would refuse to believe in 2025, in the United States of America, if a grand jury simply knew and was given information about a journalist at a protest involving a church, that they would be indicted for engaging in illegality associated with the FACE Act, which has to do with freedom access of clinics, right, and you're talking about a journalist who was simply there who was trying to do that. And so I'm just extraordinarily, Pam, concerned about this in all respects.

BROWN: Yes. Let me just jump in on this question, because I'm just reading here what the initial judge said when DOJ went to the judge asking for a warrant, and this was Judge Schiltz. And this judge said in response that Lemon and his producer were not protesters at all. Instead, they were a journalists and his producer. There is no evidence that those two engage in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so. So, clearly, then DOJ went and found another judge to sign off, but like how significant is that, Joey?

JACKSON: I think it's very significant and it's quite frankly very bizarre. To what length will you go? You are judge shopping to determine someone who is going to ultimately side with you. And then, again, in the event, for example, that this you know, Georgia Fort arrest was done by a grand jury, I'm just curious and a defense attorney's attack all the time the procedural mechanism of a grand jury, the information that the grand jury evaluated, what specifically they were told.

If we're in a society now, Pamela, where we're not arresting people predicated upon lawful violations, but just predicated upon hurt feelings or upon things that are said that we don't trust in, believe in, maybe you don't like Don Lemon, right, maybe if you're the president, obviously, he's a critic of the president, you think he shouldn't be a journalist at all? Is that a basis upon which to arrest someone? It's not.

And so I just -- I think, Pamela, we need to be really, really careful in the world in which we are living in, where we're just seeing the denigration of law and lawlessness, and it's just -- it's alarming and shocking, to say the least.

BROWN: And, Brian, I understand you have a development.

STELTER: FBI Director Kash Patel just tweeted about these arrests, repeating some of what Attorney General Pam Bondi said. Patel saying, early this morning, the FBI and our partners arrested four individuals in connection with the coordinated targeting of Cities Church in Minneapolis.

I think that language is really key here. The government's going to portray this as an attack against the church, a coordinated targeting of that church. They're going to argue, it seems, that Lemon and Fort knew in advance what was going to happen and they were there as part of the coordinated attack, at least that's the public language. We'll see what's in the actual legal court filings.

But, notably, from Patel and from Bondi, there's this argument about coordination, and it raises this question, right? Lemon was in Minneapolis covering the protests. He did know something seemed to be planned because he told his YouTube viewers to stay tuned and then he drove to the church. Notably, his cameraman did not go inside until there was a skirmish, until you could hear a protester speaking. So, Lemon was aware of the situation, to some degree, it seems, but he was also aware that he was there as a journalist with a microphone trying to talk to people, trying to find out what happened.

So, we're going to hear from the government this idea of coordinated targeting and maybe, if it gets to a jury, we'll find out if a jury agrees.

BROWN: All right. Brian Stelter, Joey Jackson, thank you for putting this all into perspective. We appreciate it and we're going to continue to follow this.

And still ahead here in The Situation Room, we are following breaking developments in the case against Luigi Mangione. What a judge just ruled about key evidence.

You're in The Situation Room and we'll be right back.

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[10:20:00]

BROWN: Breaking news, Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, will avoid the death penalty if convicted.

CNN Correspondent Kara Scannell joins us now along with CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson. Kara, the judge also says, evidence seized from Luigi Mangione's backpack can be used in court, a lot of developments. What more can you tell us and what this all means?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pam, this is a huge win for Luigi Mangione's defense team. They had argued that he should not face this murder -- federal murder charge, which does carry the death penalty if he is convicted. And the judge sided with them, saying that the death penalty was off the table in this case because of a technical reading of the statute. And as it is, he was charged with four criminal counts, two counts of stalking, one count of murder and one count of a firearm offense, which is related to the murder.

The murder charge is the one that is death penalty-eligible. And in that charge by statute, the government would need to prove that the murder was committed as well as to furthering in connection with another crime of violence. The judge saying here that stalking is not a crime of violence, and so it does not meet that standard. So, she's throwing out of the case both the murder charge and the related firearms offense.

So, Mangione will go to trial on the stalking charges, and as the judge noted in her opinion, this is still going to be the trial about the alleged murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO. It will just be done through this lens of stalking.

Now, if convicted, he could face a maximum of life in prison without parole.

[10:25:02]

It is not, by any means, any less serious charge. It just means that the death penalty is now off the table in this case.

Now, the judge also made a key evidentiary ruling. Mangione's team was trying to get the items that were collected in Mangione's backpack at the time of his arrest at the McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, thrown out of the case. Inside the backpack was a firearm that was matched to the crime scene in Manhattan. It also included a loaded magazine and a diary. And this diary has Mangione's writings in which he talks about his distaste for the healthcare industry, that he wanted to hold bean counters accountable.

And what the prosecutor says was his planned attack of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson that would go to support their allegations of stalking. And also in addition, the judge is allowing in statements that Mangione made to law enforcement. What the prosecution wants to use from that is Mangione giving a false identity to the officer. That identity matches the name, used to check into the hostel in Manhattan, where authorities say that that is where the shooter had stayed before nights and days before the shooting of the CEO on the streets of Manhattan.

So, you know, a split decision in a sense since some of this damaging, potentially damaging evidence will come in. But, certainly, the death penalty is now off the table. And this is a second win here because in the state case, where Mangione's also facing charges, they were able to get a serious murder in furtherance of terrorism charge also thrown out, so two technical victories here. I mean, in this decision, the judge notes that this may not make sense to a lot of people, but she is following precedent set by the Supreme Court, and that is how she's reached this decision. Pam?

BROWN: Joey Jackson, does it make sense to you?

JACKSON: I really think it does, and excellently explained by Kara. I think that if you're going to be charging murder as it relates to, with a firearm and a crime of violence, the underlying crime for what you're using, the firearm has to be a violent crime. The analysis, of course, Pamela, is that an underlying crime of stalking in itself does not necessarily involve violence. Why? You can stalk someone and not necessarily do so in a violent way. You can stalk someone, and obviously the stalking in and of itself is concerning, the stalking in and of itself is intimidating, but it doesn't involve a crime of violence, like, for example, kidnapping or carjacking, or a number of other things that we can talk about. So, I think on the law, the judge made the right call.

And so the death penalty being off the table, let's just be very clear about this, we know there's two cases running parallel. In New York State, we don't have the death penalty, and so that was never a consideration. He, however, is charged federally, the federal government does. That's off the table now. But he's facing, as Kara noted, life in jail without the possibility of parole, very significant. On the evidentiary hearings, those could always go both ways. Obviously, it's a blow to the defense case and the event that you're allowing in the backpack. The argument is, hey, you need a warrant. The judge noting there's a public safety exception. We found them in public. As a result of that, you want to protect the public. And, of course, as to statements that are made, whenever your client makes statements that could be damning and the judge admits them, that's not helpful.

And so the case will proceed under the guise of these evidentiary rulings. We'll see how it affects the underlying jury when one is impaneled, that when the matter goes forward, and I do believe, and Kara can confirm, that, as of now, the state case is really slated to go first, I believe, sometime in July, followed by the federal case sometime in the fall in September.

BROWN: All right, Joey Jackson, Kara Scannell, thanks for bringing us the latest there on this very busy Friday.

And coming up here in The Situation Room, a powerful winter storm is brewing off the Atlantic Coast. Parts of North Carolina and Virginia could see blizzard conditions. Our CNN weather team has the very latest.

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