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Don Lemon Tonight

A Thorn Taken Out of Andrew McCabe's Chest; Race for the White Getting Hotter for the Democrats; The Democrats Hit the Campaign Trail Ahead of Nevada Caucuses and South Carolina Primary; Dozens of Accusers Emerged After Andrew Yang's Wife Reveals Sexual Assault; The New CNN Original Series "The Windsors: Inside the Royal Dynasty" Takes You Behind the Palace Walls For an In-Depth Look at the World's Most Famous Royal Family. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired February 14, 2020 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon.

A big, big day for Andrew McCabe, the former FBI deputy director. The Justice Department announcing today it is dropping its criminal investigation of him without bringing charges. McCabe was under scrutiny for two years over a leak to a reporter.

And sources telling CNN that President Trump was angry about the DOJ's decision. McCabe has been one of his top targets. Remember he launched the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. And I spoke with Andrew McCabe shortly before we came on the air tonight. Here's the interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good to be here.

LEMON: How did you get the news?

MCCABE: You know, I was -- I'm down at southwestern Virginia at a swim meet for one of my -- one of my kids. And I got an e-mail from my attorney who said that they had out of the blue been contacted by the district, the D.C. U.S. attorney's office who told them they needed to get on a phone call in the next 30 minutes.

So, they let me know. And not expecting that sort of contact we all immediately thought the worst. So my wife and I left the swim meet and went out to the car to be able to, you know, take the phone call in a place that was quieter.

And we just sat and stared at the clock and I started thinking about, you know, how this would likely play out, that they were likely going to tell me that I'd been indicted, and I needed to surrender and make arrangements for that or, you know, how those things are done.

We just sat and stared at the clock until we knew -- while we knew the phone call was taking place at about 11.35 this morning and my lawyers called and said, you know, is Jill there, we need you both to hear this together, and then he said they're dropping the case. It's over.

LEMON: What would --

MCCABE: I mean, it -- we were just stunned. We were just absolutely stunned. This has been such a -- such a terrible experience. It's been so stressful on my family, on my wife and children.

And to suddenly have that, you know, terrible kind of cloud hanging over your head all of a sudden in the stroke of the pen disappear, it's just remarkable.

LEMON: Yes, it's --

(CROSSTALK)

MCCABE: You know, but honestly, Don, I have a lot of -- I have conflicted feelings about it. As glad as I am that they made the decision they made, which is the right decision and would have been the right decision two years ago, I just am -- it's just an absolute disgrace, and a dishonor on the Department of Justice and the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office that they took so long to get to this very obvious conclusion.

LEMON: You know, I was just going to ask you when I interrupted you there, I don't know if it felt like -- if it feels like vindication, or if it's -- I'm sure it's mixed emotions, probably vindication, a huge relief, and stunned that the department or the government that you worked for and serviced, did service for so long, would come after you like this. I mean, this took two years, Andrew, why did it take so long?

MCCABE: Two -- yes. There's absolutely no reason for it to have taken that long and to answer your question, I mean, absolutely a huge relief. But I did not need to be vindicated. This should never have happened.

I knew all along and have said from the beginning if they simply followed the law and the facts that this thing would go away, there would be no prosecution. There was absolutely no reason to do this.

It is a simple matter. There were very few people involved, there were very few people to talk to. If they wanted to investigate it legitimately, they could have done that quickly and would have very obviously come to the conclusion that there was no case here.

Why it took so long for DOJ and the department to do that, you know, I can't tell you. I have my own theories about that. I am sure that they were probably spending a lot of time thinking about trying to figure out what to do with this investigation knowing that doing the right thing would incur the significant ire of the President of the United States.

[23:05:09] LEMON: White House officials are -- or one White House official says that the president is fuming that you weren't charged and we saw similar reports over the former director Comey.

I mean, what goes through your mind when you hear --

MCCABE: Yes.

LEMON: -- the most powerful person in the world wants you behind bars and is appearing to use his own Justice Department to go after a political rival, if you will?

MCCABE: You know, that's the truly insidious part of it, right. So the fact that this president doesn't understand how the justice system works and how you don't just, you know, just demand that perceived political enemies be thrown in jail, that people have rights and investigations are to be conducted fairly and grand juries get an opportunity to weigh in as to whether or not they think people should be charged, he doesn't understand any of that but the Justice Department certainly does.

And the fact that they have played a -- they have been complicit in this politicization of the most sacred work that we do, is really, really concerning.

You don't have to just look at my case. It's not just about me, this is a much bigger issue about what kind of influence this president has had on the Department of Justice through Attorney General William Barr.

LEMON: I'm glad you said that. Because there are many people who have been caught up -- not just in the administration or the Justice Department, but just in this political environment and being accused of things and having people believe it when it's not true and you can't defend yourself because it's a legal situation.

I don't think people understand just how -- how hopeless or how you feel about that, that you can't even defend your own self and that you're being wrongfully persecuted. I don't think many people can understand how that feels except for a few people in this current political environment.

MCCABE: That's absolutely right. You know, I am a little bit lucky, and also a little bit crazy. I took a fairly unconventional tact with this entire situation; I have continued to speak out and to weigh in on these issues that I think are important about justice and about investigations and about kind of what we're all experiencing today through the really concerning things that have been happening.

And that's, you know, that was taking a significant risk. But, you know, I believe very strongly from the beginning that I had nothing to fear.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Bu you think, did you ever think that once said that -- I don't know if this was possible, but did you ever want to take some sort of plea, or bow out in any way because of the pressure?

Because for you to do this and to continue to believe -- I'm sure this took obviously you were worried, I'm sure you've aged, just to be honest --

MCCABE: Yes.

LEMON: -- and also it took considerable resources monetarily on your family.

MCCABE: It's brutal, Don. And to answer your question, the answer is an absolute unqualified no, I never, at any time considered, ever, agreeing to or pleading to anything having to do with this case. It absolutely should never have been brought.

We obviously know that now and I was prepared to take this, the distance to a trial and court in D.C. if that was necessary. Which is a frightening prospect, right. LEMON: Yes.

MCCABE: But when you have faith in what you know and what you've done, you know there comes a time that you have to stand up for that. And look, I'm just -- I'm obviously very glad for the way things turned out today.

LEMON: Andy, what do you think of the timing of this? Is it at all convenient? I mean, this is coming after impeachment, after the Roger Stone decision the same day that we heard A.G. Barr is re-examining the Flynn case and that he's, you know, telling the president to stop tweeting because he's undermining his position as the attorney general, what do you think of the timing of all this?

MCCABE: It's really concerning. It's hard to divine, partially because there are so many things happening in the same very compressed time period.

I mean, there's no question the president has been on this kind of, you know, tour of retribution following his impeachment acquittal. And as soon as I saw that happening to Colonel Vindman and to his brother and to Ambassador Sondland I knew that things would heat up for me so I was kind of buckled in, and getting ready for bad news to begin with.

But there is clearly -- there's been a lot of turmoil provoked within the Justice Department over the decision to retract the original recommendation in the Roger Stone sentencing.

And, you know, I -- it certainly seems like the attorney general is in a position to want to kind of calm some of that down, certainly with his statements to ABC News yesterday, it was an attempt to do that.

[23:10:01]

Whether or not this announcing this decision about me played a role in that I can't say for certain. But it's certainly a good question. LEMON: Andy, if you had to do it all again, would you still have

opened the case against Donald Trump? I mean, was it worth the hell that you've been put through?

MCCABE: Without a doubt, Don. It was absolutely the right thing to do then. And I would do it again tomorrow if I was in the same situation and looking at the same facts.

What, look, what we have seen through the multiple investigations so far, all of the work of the I.G., looking at everything, each one of us did, the decisions we made, the communications around them, everything you could possibly imagine, millions of documents, even the biggest critics have concluded that we were absolutely authorized in opening the case as we did.

In my judgment, it would have been a dereliction of duty not to open the case as we did under the concerns that we had and the facts we were working with at the time. We are guilty of doing our jobs and nothing else.

LEMON: I have to go but I want to ask you, was it your son or daughter in the swim meet and how did they do?

MCCABE: It's my daughter and she had a great race today. She dropped some time and swam a personal best. So good day in the McCabe household.

LEMON: I was going to say, it's a good day for the McCabe family. Andy, thank you so much, I really appreciate you doing this.

MCCABE: Thanks, Don. It was great. Thanks for having me on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And one of my next guests knows a lot about the kind of pressure Andrew McCabe has been under. John Dean is here, along with Alice Stewart, Max Boot, and Doug Brinkley. I appreciate all of you joining us this evening. We'll talk on the other side of the break.

[23:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, you heard Andrew McCabe told me the case against him should never have been brought and you heard him say he and his colleagues were only guilty of doing their jobs. So why did it take two years for the Justice Department to decide to drop the investigation?

Let's discuss now. Republican strategist Alice Stewart is here, former Nixon White House counsel John Dean, as well, and global affairs analyst, Max Boot. And also, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley. So on the other side of the break I said, you know, before, welcome, and welcome again.

John, I'm going to start with you. Andy McCabe has been under intense scrutiny, threatened for jail -- with jail for over two years. You heard the interview. You can identify with that kind of pressure and what his family -- what they're feeling tonight.

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's relief tonight but it's been an awful two years for them, notwithstanding he didn't mention how Trump had arranged to have him removed from the FBI two days before his retirement kicked in. I think he has a civil suit on that and I hope he pursues it.

But on the bigger issue, Don, one of the things that's going to happen to him is this is not going to go away. The president's apologists are going to stay after him, the conspiracy theorists are going to be there. When you take on a president, his followers never go away. They dwindle but they never give up.

LEMON: Max, the judge was told months ago that this case was ending but it wasn't announced until today. Was this all about the president wanting to keep McCabe dangling for political reasons?

MAX BOOT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It's certainly quite possible, Don. I don't think we know exactly what happened. I think, you know, as Andy McCabe himself suggested in the interview there's good cause to think that the Justice Department was reluctant to announce that they weren't going to bring charges because they knew that this would antagonize the president.

It's quite possible they decided to finally make the announcement today simply because of this perception that justice has been compromised, that the president is politicizing these decisions and perhaps somebody at the U.S. attorney's office in Washington wants to show that's not the case.

But I would add one thing, which is aside -- I mean, I think it's very good news that they're not going to prosecute Andy McCabe. But let's keep in mind that beyond the formal mechanisms of prosecution Donald Trump is still persecuting Andy McCabe, he is still persecuting Jim Comey, he is still persecuting Lisa Page and Peter Strzok.

I mean, he is demeaning them, he is insulting them, he is libeling them. We have never seen a president vilify private individuals in the way that Trump does, especially individuals who are lifetime civil servants, members of the FBI.

It's absolutely disgusting what the president does and he continues to do it even though his charges have been disproven by the inspector general at the Justice Department.

And so, my heart really goes out to these men and women who have served this country for all these years. What they've had to go through because of President Trump is just unconscionable. And frankly, their suffering is still unfortunately not going to end even with the threat of prosecution taken away from Andy McCabe.

LEMON: Alice, I want to bring you in. Excuse me. I want to talk about the timing of all this. Because this announcement comes on the same day that Barr ordered the re-examination of Michael Flynn's case. Are we supposed to believe that this was really a coincidence?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I clearly think it was. I think this was a case where they've really felt as though there wasn't enough to move forward with the criminal aspect of the McCabe case.

But it's really important to keep in mind and put in perspective, while clearly this is a huge relief for McCabe and his family, and this terrible cloud has been lifted, it's really important that this cloud did not come out of complete thin air.

This all started, the origin of this came from leak of information unclassified leak of information, or unauthorized leak of information. And he went forth and provided false information. And even the FBI itself has said that he lacked candor and gave misleading information four times, three times under oath.

[23:20:58]

So, this is an important aspect of this. So, he is not completely without scrutiny here. And so that is an important aspect of this.

But clearly, as we've gotten to this point two years later there has been a situation where they feel as though it's not worthy of moving forward with criminal charges but it's not to say that this is not completely baseless to begin with.

LEMON: Max, do you want to respond to that?

BOOT: Well, clearly, I mean, there was some question about whether McCabe had, you know, had testified untruthfully under oath and I think there was a legitimate ground for an investigation. There is certainly according to the Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

But the fact that the investigation dragged out all these two years I can't see any justification for that and I certainly can't see any justification for the really vile vilification that Andy McCabe and his fellow FBI office agents have undergone at the hands of Donald Trump.

LEMON: Yes. Doug, I want to bring you in. And again, you know, it's Michael Isikoff has told us this started from an Obama appointee investigation, started this investigation, started with that.

Doug, listen, when you look at what's happened this week what Roger Stone and now Michael Flynn, is this Justice Department being weaponized? What do you think?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Without question. I think Bill Barr is following the Rudy Giuliani line, just do the bidding of the president. I mean, there were high hopes that Barr would be a real attorney general, somebody who would act more like Elliott Richardson did during the Watergate period.

Instead he's behaving more like a John Mitchell kind of figure, meaning doing hack work for the president. The good news is Attorney General Barr is going to, on May 31st, have

to come in front of the House judiciary committee and hopefully we'll be able to get a drill down on, board down what in the world is going on with DOJ?

You know, since 1870 the Department of Justice is this honorable institution and right now things are coming apart at the seams. I think that President Trump, unfortunately always wants to get involved and demonize people that in any way, shape or form criticized them.

And we just saw that with your very wonderful and important interview with Andrew McCabe, somebody who did nothing but try to blow a whistle to say there's interference in our election, 2016. We might have it in 2020, and yet he's gone through a living hell, the insect in the jar, turning Trump's forces against him.

The fact that Andy McCabe had a wife who was in Democratic politics, God forbid, in Virginia made Trump hate him even more. So, it's a troublesome scenario we have going on right now with the Justice Department.

Bill Barr is a folk hero for the right, but people in the center and the left of this country are feeling that he's the worst attorney general we've seen in our lifetime.

LEMON: Listen, the attorney general has asked the president, you know, he said -- at least he said it publicly not to tweet because it's interfering with him doing his job.

But John, Trump tweeted today that he has the legal right to intervene in criminal cases. What about the separation of powers in this country?

DEAN: Well, the Department of Justice is a part of the executive branch, and Bill Barr does have an exaggerated perception of presidential power that indeed he should be able to reach into any agency or department in the executive branch.

There was, for years, after Watergate, because Nixon reached into the department and tried to fix the case against his aides, Haldeman and Ehrlichman, his chief of staff, top domestic adviser against my testimony, he brought the head of the criminal division into the Oval Office and sat there and talked with him day after day after day and fed what I was telling the prosecutors to the people who were targets.

So that's when the wall came up, Don. And it's been since then that no president or White House, except through counsel to the -- either to the attorney general or the deputy attorney general, had any communication at all. And it was never in the substance of cases like this.

LEMON: Yes, listen, we --

(CROSSTALK)

DEAN: So that norm is gone. LEMON: We could talk about this all evening but we are unfortunately

out of time. It is a fascinating conversation, and it will continue here on CNN. But I wish I could talk to you guys more but I've got to run. Thank you all. I appreciate it.

BRINKLEY: Good night.

STEWART: Thank you, Don.

DEAN: Thank you.

LEMON: The 2020 Democrats ramping up their campaigns in Nevada and South Carolina as the presidential race takes on a whole new shape. Who has the most to gain, the most to lose? Next.

[23:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: And now the state of the race and Nevada caucuses are just days away followed by the South Carolina primary and Super Tuesday. And what we see over the next few weeks could tell us a lot about where this race is going.

Let's talk to Mr. Mark McKinnon now. Mark McKinnon is the executive producer of Showtime's The Circus. Good evening, sir. Good to see you.

MARK MCKINNON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Happy Valentine's, Don.

LEMON: Happy valentine's Day to you, and also to Annie, your wife.

MCKINNON: Thank you.

LEMON: Please tell her. Sorry, I miss her. I know she's in New York and you guys are having a date so I wish I could join you at the end of the evening just to say hello. But listen.

MCKINNON: She says hello.

LEMON: The Nevada primary just over a week away and then it's South Carolina, and the dynamic still, still fluid right now. Who's got the most to lose at this point, do you think?

[23:30:03]

MCKINNON: Well, clearly the vice president does, Elizabeth Warren does. This is the time when good gets better and bad gets worse and things are going badly for the vice president, for Elizabeth Warren. They've got to make a showing in one of the next two states and a significant one.

I mean, the way this is really playing out is that Bernie has got a hot hand. He has a good position. He has got a lot of resources. So, he's going the distance. He's likely to have a good couple nights coming up and then it goes to Super Tuesday where he's going to break in position in places like California. The vice president has planted his flag in South Carolina.

What's really the key here is how things settle out between Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. Amy Klobuchar got a little momentum. Pete still got a hot hand as well. The question is: Who between those two is going to try and emerge in that middle lane, that centrist lane, and can they emerge enough to take on Mike Bloomberg on Super Tuesday? Increasingly, it's looking like Michael Bloomberg has really played a smart strategic hand by --

LEMON: Isn't that crazy?

MCKINNON: Yes, it is nuts. And like you, Don, it's like your mother, I'm hearing from people all over Democrats who typically were not Bloomberg supporters saying --

LEMON: All right, can we talk about that?

MCKINNON: Yes.

LEMON: OK, let's talk about that.

MCKINNON: That story.

LEMON: I know people are going to be like, stop it, stop it, stop it!

MCKINNON: Yes.

LEMON: So, if you will remember, Mark, I'm not sure -- if you will remember back in 2015 and 2016, I said on the air many times, people would whisper to me about Donald Trump. I'd be in the elevator. I liked your interview with Trump or I saw your town hall or I saw you that -- whatever you did with Trump. I like him. They'd look around and they say I like him.

I'm hearing the same things about Michael Bloomberg and even from people you think would not be his constituents, even from young African American men saying the same thing. What is going on here, do you think?

MCKINNON: Well, same thing, Don. It's really -- I suppose it's an example of what money can do because I'm hearing from Democrats not -- you know, who normally would not be Bloomberg supporters.

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

MCKINNON: And lots of my old friends in Texas, lots old Democrats who have been out of work for years and suddenly they're all employed. And they're just, you know, all they're seeing is Michael Bloomberg. All they're hearing is Michael Bloomberg. While the rest -- a lot of people had their hopes pinned on Vice President Biden. So they see him collapsing, suddenly they're like, where do we go?

They kind of like dating Pete, they like dating Amy, but they like the guy who can take them to the prom in the best looking gown, best looking dress and the biggest flowers, and that's Mike Bloomberg because he has got the box. I think it's a pragmatic decision. They're just saying, you know what, I'm not in love with the guy, but I just think, you know, this becomes a thing about who can take on Trump. And they're looking at the resources that he has and saying he's got the money, he can go the distance, and he can bring it.

LEMON: And also, you know, they had the Twitter war back and forth. Usually, you would hear from Democrats, oh, my gosh, you know, the president shouldn't be doing that, let's have some civility. But you know what they're saying about that? Go, yes, go, that's good, right? Am I lying?

MCKINNON: Yes, I know. I think they like that he's punching back. And listen, he has a very, very sophisticated team, Don.

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

MCKINNON: These are the guys -- an "A" team. He's got the best team that money can buy. They've been thinking about this for a long time. Mike Bloomberg has wanted to run for president. Now, he's finally doing it and they're doing it right.

I mean, we just had -- my co-host Alex Wagner was down in North Carolina. Every stop is just -- it's so buttoned up. Everybody has got placards just like amazing food. You know, it's just they're doing it right. That's pretty rare that you can have the kind of resources to just like come out of the shoe, build a corporate enterprise like this overnight and have it look pretty good.

LEMON: I'm just surprised at the numbers considering he hasn't been on one ballot yet, right? He hasn't done one primary. He hasn't really been tested. And listen, it's still really early now. I mean, he just has ads. Once he's tested, who knows what's going to happen. I do agree with you something is happening here.

Let's talk about Bernie Sanders campaigning in North Carolina today. I want you to watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We won the popular vote in Iowa.

(APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: We won the New Hampshire primary.

(APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: And I'm getting the very strong feeling that we're going to win here in North Carolina.

(APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: I think all of you know we're getting the establishment just a little bit nervous. (APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: They look around and they say, oh, my god, people are beginning to stand up and fight for justice. Well, the establishment is getting nervous. That is a good thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He says the establishment is getting nervous. He said it a couple times. Should they be?

MCKINNON: That sounds really familiar to me, Don. Who said that in 2016? That's a very populous message, very anti-established message --

LEMON: Trump.

MCKINNON: -- very much like Donald Trump. His supporters are passionate. They're fanatic. They're very much like Trump supporters. He's got the heat right now and that matters in a democratic primary. He could very easily be the nominee.

[23:35:00]

MCKINNON: And by the way, he could very easily beat Donald Trump.

LEMON: There you go.

MCKINNON: Maybe not easily, but he can beat Donald Trump.

LEMON: Right. What you got this week for us on "The Circus?"

MCKINNON: Well, we got an amazing, you know, New Hampshire insights. We had the -- we start off with the James Carville but we end up with Guy Cecil, who is running at the American Priorities. We sort of start off the week with, you know, last week Iowa being such a cluster and everybody panicking, and Carville kind of blowing the whistle and throwing flares.

We come around at the end of the week with somebody like Guy Cecil, who is a longtime Democratic operative who is spending $160 million right now for Democrats. So, if everybody on the democratic side is kind of panicking, Guy Cecil is coming and saying settle down, folks, we got to plan, we had a strategy, we got a lot of money, we know how to win this thing and we're going to do it.

LEMON: All right. Showtime's "The Circus" this weekend, Sunday night on Showtime. Thank you so much, sir. It is always a pleasure. Good to see you. Thank you.

There is a shocking update to a story that we brought you from Andrew Yang's wife who says that she was sexually assaulted by her doctor while she was pregnant. Now, dozens more women are stepping forward with their stories about the same doctor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:40:00]

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LEMON: More than 35 new accusers have come forward since Evelyn Yang, the wife of a former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, said in a CNN exclusive interview that she was assaulted by her OB/GYN. That brings a total to nearly 70 women who say they too were victims of the doctor.

He got a sweetheart plea deal in 2016. He didn't spend a single day in prison. Now, the district attorney in New York is being pressured to file new charges. Here's CNN's Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An attorney now representing dozens of former patients say this man, Dr. Robert Hadden, could be one of the most prolific sexual predators in New York City's history, all the more stunning to his accusers that this former OB/GYN has never spent a day behind bars.

EMILIA HECKMAN, FORMER HADDEN PATIENT: He's retired. He raped, molested all these women, and nothing has been done. That makes me furious. How can that be?

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Emilia Heckman, the latest to come forward, said she trusted Hadden, even believed he was doing her a favor, squeezing her in to be his last patient of the day back in 2012. She was told to completely undress and says while naked on an exam table, he assaulted her.

HECKMAN: The exam went from a rubber glove examination to a tongue and beard. And I recoiled, tensed up. He just abruptly got up and I put my clothes on really fast because I didn't know -- we were the last ones in the office -- and I didn't know if he was going to rape me or --

GRIFFIN (on camera): You didn't know if the attack was over?

HECKMAN: Yes. Yes, I didn't. I ran out.

GRIFFIN (on camera): And you never saw him again?

HECKMAN: I never saw him again.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Heckman was a young model at the time. She said she didn't tell anyone about the assault, worried no one would believe her. Years later, she learned there were many others. In 2012, New York police first arrested Hadden for allegedly licking another patient's vagina.

But prosecutors didn't file charges and Hadden returned to work at Columbia University's medical clinic for more than a month. That's when he allegedly assaulted at least two more women, including Evelyn Yang, wife of former presidential candidate Andrew Yang.

EVELYN YANG, WIFE OF ANDREW YANG: What happened to me should have never happened. He was arrested in his office, and he was let back to work.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Two years later, Hadden was arrested again, this time indicted on nine counts involving six of his patients. But even though the office of Manhattan district Attorney Cyrus Vance knew of 19 potential victims, prosecutors cut a deal. Dr. Hadden pleaded guilty to two charges, gave up his medical license, and walked away. No prison time, no probation, not even community service.

YANG: It's like getting, you know, slapped in the face and punched in the gut. The DA's office is meant to protect us, is meant to serve justice, and there is no justice here.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Since Evelyn Yang told her story on CNN last month, her attorney says dozens more former patients have forward saying they too were assaulted. Amelia Heckman and 40 other patients who were not included in the plea deal want the DA's office to reopen the case.

HECKMAN: I want the district attorney to revisit some of these cases. I want to be included. I wasn't included before.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Heckman and Yang along with dozens of other women are suing Dr. Hadden and Columbia University, his former employer, saying Columbia did nothing to stop the serial sexual abuse on countless occasions. In legal filings, Columbia says he did nothing wrong. Hadden has admitted guilt involving just two of his patients.

Heckman, listed in her lawsuit as Jane Doe number 23, says after Evelyn Yang came forward, her husband James Heckman, a media company executive, encouraged her to go public.

HECKMAN: I think the more victims come out and show their face, like hey I'm a real person, you know, not just Jane Doe, you know, maybe the district attorney will listen to that.

[23:45:07]

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Emilia Heckman says she plans to present her complaint directly to the district attorney.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Don, the Manhattan district attorney, Cy Vance, has not spoken publicly about the Hadden case. He has refused our requests for interviews. But in a statement, the DA did tell us that while we stand by our disposition of this difficult case, we regret that this resolution has caused survivors pain. The alleged survivors of Dr. Robert Hadden say that's just not good enough. Don?

LEMON: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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LEMON: There's news tonight on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle surprise decision to step back from their royal duties. The couples' office at Buckingham Palace will now close. This is far from the first controversy to engulf the British monarchy. The new CNN original series "The Windsors: Inside the Royal Dynasty" takes you behind the palace walls for an in-depth look at the world's most famous royal family.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) of history.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Twenty-seven million people watched this ceremony.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): I know I'm in love with this girl and I hope that she's in love with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): The public totally in love with this ideal couple. And yet, the public can't see everything.

Edward leaves, and he throws the monarchy into chaos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Throughout much of Diana's marriage to Charles, there was a third figure hovering around.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): She called herself the queen of hearts which really stuck a knife in the queen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): This is a woman of color who married into the royal family, and within two years of them married, she wants out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): There is this terrible balance that they've got to strike between being extraordinary and being ordinary.

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LEMON: She knows all about royals more than anybody I know. That is CNN royal commentator Victoria Arbiter. She joins me now. Victoria, thank you so much. You know, the British monarchy is viewed as an ancient institution full of tradition. But the house in Windsor, the current royal family has had to deal really with scandal and change ever since its inception. Tell us about that.

VICTORIA ARBITER, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: It really has, Don. It was interesting. Someone asked me earlier today, what is the biggest scandal Queen Elizabeth has had to deal with? I think, really, when we are looking to answer that question, we go back right to 1936, the abdication crisis. No one ever thought the queen would actually become queen.

Her uncle, Edward the eighth, was thought to get married one day and have children of his own, so Elizabeth is going to lead a nice quiet life of a more minor royal. Instead, she has gone on to become the longest reigning monarch in British history. She is the oldest living British monarch. She is the oldest serving sovereign in the world.

She has had to contend with war, abdication, the death of Diana, now of course the departure of Harry and Meghan from the royal family which is unprecedented in and of itself. So what we see in the queen is just a beacon of stability and continuity. She had seen it all. She has weathered it all. She just keeps on going.

LEMON: Yes. She has got another challenge that she is facing right now. The latest one is, of course, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decision to step back from their duties as senior members of the royal family. What impact do you think that is going to have on the monarchy?

ARBITER: Long term, Don, probably not a huge impact. There is no question that Harry and Meghan are incredibly popular and Meghan really represented the very exciting time for the British monarchy when she married him because she is the first biracial member of the royal family.

She opened up this and Anglo white family to whole legion of people around the world who perhaps haven't been really interested in the monarchy beforehand. So, the fact that they left, it really hit some communities in particular very hard.

There is no question the queen will be disappointed. She adores Prince Harry. I think she was very excited about what the couple represented. She was excited about the work they could do on behalf of the commonwealth.

But when we look at the institution, that is ultimately what the royals are all about, protecting, the line of succession is safe. We have not just got Charles, there's Prince William, there's Prince George. He stands to be the first king of the 22nd century. So, in that respect, the monarchy is safe.

LEMON: You know what? I thought about that as I was asking that question because it's not like Harry was next in line. If it had been William, it would have a much bigger impact on the monarchy, correct?

ARBITER: Yes, it certainly would. But I think what people sort of forget is because the queen is still going, we are seeing her extended family doing so much work. I mean, at any given time, (INAUDIBLE) 20 people (INAUDIBLE) cousins.

When Prince Charles comes to the throne, he's been very clear about his vision for a slim down monarchy of the future. That monarchy included William and Kate and Harry and Meghan.

So now when we look at the future, William and Kate are going to be the only working members of their generation. So we go from 20 down to four. That is going to be a huge workload for four people to try and carry out on their own. LEMON: Listen, it's not like, you know, the interest across the pond, as we say here in America, but Americans are fascinated by the royal family. Why is that?

ARBITER: I think really a lot of it -- for a lot of Americans, it started with Diana. But really, if we look at the crown and we this compelling drama that has driven by the Windsors, this is a cast of compelling characters that take all the boxes.

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ARBITER: There is intrigue, romance, love, death, tragedy. It really just covers all the boxes when we are looking at the ultimate in drama and soap opera. Of course, these are very real people at the center of all of that, but I think for Americans that don't have anything like a royal family, celebrity is a step down from that.

I think people are just intrigued by it and then you factor in the pageantry that comes with it. It starts to become a very compelling institution to follow, not to mention a thousand years-worth of history wrapped up in there. We are witnessing history in the making.

LEMON: Yes, and the crown and the scepter and the jewels.

ARBITER: Jewels, all of that.

LEMON: Gowns, the castles, carriages, on and on. Victoria Arbiter, thank you. I appreciate you joining us.

ARBITER: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Be sure to tune in to all new CNN original series. It is called "The Windsors: Inside the Royal Dynasty." It premieres on Sunday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN. Thank you for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

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