Return to Transcripts main page

Don Lemon Tonight

Mark Meadows Complied With DOJ; Meadows' Testimony Might Hurt Donald Trump; Mourners Never Stops From Coming; Intrigue Circulating Royal Siblings; Rail Transport Strike Threatens U.S. Economy. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired September 14, 2022 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Let's hand things over to Don Lemon who's standing right next to me. Standing right to me. How are you, Don?

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: What a fascinating day, Anderson.

COOPER: Incredible.

LEMON: This all unfold. There are certain times, certain stories that you, you know, that you're in the middle of history and this is one. Is that, came over here seeing the queues.

COOPER: Yes.

LEMON: As they say here, the lines of people still trying to get into Westminster.

COOPER: Even now at 3 a.m. in the morning here.

LEMON: Yes.

COOPER: And the lines are still extremely long.

LEMON: Yes. Good to see you.

COOPER: Yes.

LEMON: Wish it was under better circumstances.

COOPER: Yes.

LEMON: So, there's a whole lot going on here in London tonight, and we are going to talk about all of it. Everything we have seen and heard later in the broadcast. But first we have some new exclusive CNN reporting to bring to you.

Let me get straight to CNN's Evan Perez with more on that. Evan, good evening to you.

Mark Meadows, I hear responding to a subpoena from the DOJ. What are you hearing? What are you learning?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, look, this has been one of the big mysteries during all of the recent uptick in activity from the Justice Department is what happened to Mark Meadows.

Well, now we know the answer. The answer is that he has responded. He's complied with a subpoena from the Justice Department as part of the January 6 investigation. Now this makes him the highest-ranking Trump official to comply with a subpoena as part of this criminal investigation.

And, you know, in addition to him, we also know that Ben Williamson, one of his aides, a very top aide of Mark Meadows, has also been subpoenaed as part as this big push. We recently reported more than 30 subpoenas went out to people in the Trump org.

But now with Mark, with Mark Meadows what we know is that he has provided, you know, all of the materials that he had given to the January 6th, the house committee that is investigating January 6th. That's thousands of e-mails and text messages from the period that, you know, covers everything from before the election to up to, obviously January 20th.

So that's an important window into what was going on inside the White House during that key period, Don.

LEMON: And what exactly will they be looking for, Evan? Do you know when they -- when they -- when they look at these new materials?

PEREZ: Well, Don, you know, for the FBI, you know, one of the things that they want is to get an idea of everything that Donald Trump was doing in that period. Mark Meadows was involved in a lot of communications with officials trying to push this idea that, that there was evidence of vote fraud, things to support the former president's claim that the election was stolen from him.

These are things that he was doing, not only with officials around in the states, but also at the Justice Department, he was sending them some of the conspiracy theories that they believed showed that there was proof of some kind of fraud.

Of course, we now know that -- we know that none of those turned out to be true. There was no evidence of widespread fraud, but those are the things that the FBI is going to be looking at to see, you know, Mark Meadow's involvement in that. And it also could lead them to, you know, ask questions of other witnesses who were again, right on the -- on the front lines of what Trump was trying to do to try to overturn the election results in 2020.

LEMON: So, Evan, this new development again highlights that the DOJ seems to be very focused on anything to do with the former president's effort to overturn the 2020 election.

PEREZ: Yes. Don look, they're trying to connect all of the dots and it appears that everything from the fundraising to the effort to seat these fake electors in the states to try to keep the former president in power, everything is being connected now as part of this investigation.

This is. You know, we've heard from the Justice Department that this is the largest investigation in the department's history and what you get a sense of from the number of subpoenas that have gone on. And of course, reaching up to the very, very top of the White House, you can't get closer than the former chief of staff at the former president.

It tells you that they are going all guns blazing to try to figure out whether there's any charges to be brought here against everyone who might have been involved in the effort to overturn the election, Don.

LEMON: All right, Evan, I want you to stand by. Because I want to bring in now CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI deputy director, Andrew McCabe, and senior legal analyst, Elie Honig. Also, CNN chief political analyst, Gloria Boger.

Good evening to everyone here.

I'm going to start with you, Andrew. I want to -- I'm going to begin by getting your reaction to this new CNN exclusive reporting that Meadows complied with the DOJ subpoena. He had direct access to Trump, and his state of mind on January 6th.

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, Don. This is the old adage that, you know, be careful when you poke the lion because you just might wake him up. And it appears that the lion that is DOJ is now awake and fully on the prowl.

[22:05:04]

We have over 30 subpoenas that have gone out that we know about in the last week or so. And this latest development that we now -- that know that Mark Meadows has complied with the Justice Department subpoenas in January 6th investigation is, is really a very interesting develop.

It also shows you the difference between a congressional subpoena, which Mark Meadows is -- has received from the January 6th committee in which he is still fighting in litigation, and a grand jury subpoena. A grand jury subpoena is a much more serious thing. There is really no dodging a grand jury subpoena. You must appear, you must produce the records and the materials and documents that have been demanded of you. And it seems that Mark Meadows is doing exactly that.

LEMON: I want to place our viewers can remember some of what Cassidy Hutchinson said in her testimony about what Mark Meadows was doing during the riot. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, FORMER AIDE TO WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF MARK MEADOWS: I remember Pat saying something to the effect of, Mark, we need to do something more. They're literally calling for the vice president to be effing hung. And Mark had responded something to the effect of, you heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it, he doesn't think they're doing anything wrong, to which pat said something, this is effing crazy. We need to be doing something more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Would that have been the kind of thing investigators pressed him about?

MCCABE: Without question, without question. They are going to want to know everything that Mark Meadows saw and heard and conversations he was involved in, his impressions of what was happening in and around the White House and the people who are coming to visit and speak to, and talk with the president.

Now to be clear, many of those questions he will likely decline to answer as a result of where he'll claim executive privilege. And that's fine, but you have to show up to claim that privilege. You have to sit in front of the grand jury, you have to listen to those questions and you have to invoke the privilege to each and every one that you feel that you shouldn't be answering. So, this is going to be a really (Inaudible).

LEMON: Gloria Borger, you know, this is the highest-ranking former Trump official that we know that has been subpoenaed in the federal investigation. How is this news going to be received in Trump's orbit, do you think.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't think it's going to be a huge surprise in Trump's orbit, because Mark Meadows was at the center of everything. He was at the center of the effort to overturn the election. One source I spoke with a while ago about this called him Trump's enabler on that -- on that particular issue.

And so, I think now that you see how this has kind of gone up the food chain here and that you've seen 30 subpoenas, and we know that the January 6th committee wanted to talk to him, we know he gave them text messages as CNN has reported, but we do know that he refused to comply with the subpoena before Congress.

And now of course, it's clear that he is regarding a subpoena from the DOJ very differently. I want to recall for everyone that while he was found in contempt by the Congress, the DOJ declined to prosecute him for that. And so now they're coming to him and saying, we are handing you our own subpoena and you need to tell us everything you know about January 6th.

The other question I have, and we don't know the answer to this yet, obviously, is that he was also the person in charge of sort of gathering all the documents for the archives. That were to be handed over to the archives when Donald Trump was leaving office. We know that he's handed more documents over to the archive since the search at Mar-a-Lago. And I have to wonder whether eventually that will be among other questions that he has to answer.

LEMON: Elie, I want to bring you in and get your reaction as to what you think where this is leading and what this means in for the former president and his associates. ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Don, this is potentially

a major breakthrough for the Justice Department if they play their cards right. Mark Meadows, I think we all agree is one of the, or potentially the single most crucial witness in this whole incident. He was Donald Trump's chief of staff. He was by Donald Trump's side in the weeks leading up to, and during January 6th, as we just heard from Cassidy Hutchinson.

But here's the thing that's interesting. As Gloria said, Mark Meadows was subpoenaed by Congress, by the January 6th committee. He started to comply. He turned over all these texts, but then he just stopped and he was faced with no consequence whatsoever.

[22:09:58]

Now this is an entirely different ballgame. This is a criminal grand jury subpoena. Evan's reporting is that all Meadows has turned over so far is the same materials he already turned over to Congress. So, if I'm DOJ, I am not settling for half of the stuff for part of this stuff. My subpoena says, I want everything. I want all the stuff you gave to Congress. And I want everything else you have.

And as Andy said, he really doesn't have much of a way to fight that. He can claim executive privilege. DOJ will probably take him to court if that happens. And I suspect DOJ will prevail. So, DOJ is halfway there with this subpoena. It's good that they got all the stuff that the committee has, but DOJ has the power and the authority to get it all. And we'll see if DOJ has the will to go after it all.

LEMON: If Mark Meadows complied with this subpoena, Gloria, does that change the calculus for any the other members of Trump's orbit who receive subpoenas from the DOJ and whether they should go along with it?

BORGER: Well, I think anyone who receives a subpoena from the DOJ ought to go along with it. And as we've seen, a lot of -- a lot of people are. Mark Meadows is so key as Elie was saying, to all of this, because he was around Donald Trump all the time. He was the person Donald Trump turned to when he said, I want to get this done. I want to get that done. He showed up in Georgia during, you know, the election investigations there.

He was on the phone with the secretary of state and yes, Brad Raffenspenger. So, you know, this is a man who is very key to the DOJ's investigation into fundraising and into fake electors. So, there's a lot that they need to cover with Mark Meadows. And the January 6th committee could not get it out of him. So, I assume the DOJ will be able to, and that I think that'll have an effect on, on other people in the White House orbit.

LEMON: I think, Evan Perez is still with us. Evan, I want to ask you, but if there's anything, I'm not asking, this is new reporting. Because I think CNN had previously reported that Mark Meadows spoke with Trump about the documents brought to Mar-a-Lago that the National Archives wanted to return. Could that have come up in this conversation? PEREZ: Well, we don't know the full context of what -- where this will go, Don, at this point. We know that at least at the beginning here, he has turned over these documents that he had previously given to the committee. But, you know, as Elie has pointed out, you know, these are -- this is a criminal subpoena. This is a criminal investigation.

And so, we can't imagine that the FBI is going to stop here, right? Because we know, for instance, that the Justice Department is ready, they've already prepared to challenge the former -- the former president's claim of executive privilege because they believe that they can pierce that with the -- with the approval of a judge.

So, you can bet that once they get to that point, you know, they want to do it with not only with Mark Meadows, but Pat Cipollone, Pat Philbin, as well as the former vice president's aides. These are people who have information that the FBI and the Justice Department want. And I think we know that one of the things they're doing is they're getting ready to challenge all of that before a judge.

And once they do that, they can go everywhere. They can go to where you just talked about, including the Mar-a-Lago, the documents, the classified documents that were taken to Mar-a-Lago that the Justice Department says had no business going to Mar-a-Lago. So, you know, I think everything is on the table now that this at least has happened.

LEMON: All right. I want everyone to stick around. We have much, much more to come on this. Mark Meadows complying with a DOJ subpoena. We'll continue reporting this.

There's also a lot going on here in London. Take a look at this. Thousands of people are paying their respects to the queen, Queen Elizabeth. These are live pictures of Westminster Hall. They're waiting on line all through the night. We're back in a moment.

[22:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. So, we have some CNN exclusive reporting, and it says that former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows has complied with the subpoena from the Justice Department's investigation into events surrounding January 6th, 2021.

That makes him the highest-ranking Trump official known to have responded to a subpoena in the federal investigation.

Back with me now, Andrew McCabe, Elie Honig, and Gloria Borger.

So, Elie, Trump has been counseled to cut contact with Meadows. If his former chief of staff feels the heat from any possible legal exposure, is there a chance that he could become more cooperative with the investigators in the future?

HONIG: Absolutely, Don. That's how and why people flip. Look, if you gave me as a prosecutor, if you said to me, you can have any person's cooperation full and truthful cooperation in this whole matter. I choose Mark Meadows. I think he is perfectly situated if he comes fully clean to be the ideal cooperate.

Now it's important to note, he's not there yet. This reporting only shows him part of the way. According to Evan's reporting, he's only turned over the same items that he already turned over to the committee. We know that he stopped his cooperation, so that's not full cooperation.

And Don, in the federal system, as Andy knows, we don't do partial cooperation. You're either fully in, fully truthful, you give up everything or you're not going to hack it as a cooperator. So, the question is, will DOJ be able to get Mark Meadows over that line to where he gives them everything. And if they subpoena him, he really doesn't have much of a choice in the matter, other than to take the fifth.

LEMON: Gloria, so this news that Mark Meadows complied with the subpoena, it comes after weeks of revelations over the classified documents held in Trump's Florida resort. How could these investigations heating up impact the former president as he looks towards 2024? This will definitely play in his, into his decision. No?

BORGER: Yes. But again, it's hard to tell these days what will play into Donald Trump's decisions regarding the presidential race. I think certainly, this is more of a headache for him. And I think definitively, you know, we just -- we, we ought to say that this isn't, you know, this isn't good for him.

[22:20:00]

The January 6th committee wasn't -- wasn't good for him. The fact that 30 of his former people have been subpoenaed and his former chief of staff has been subpoenaed, is not good for him. So, it's, you know, it's very hard to say Donald Trump is very good at turning himself into a victim as he did after the search at Mar-a-Lago. I presume he would continue to do that.

I think the big question here, is what does Mark Meadows decide to do. And what can the Justice Department get out of Mark Meadows?

LEMON: We know, Andrew, that even when he handed over thousands of messages to the January 6th committee, he still withheld hundreds more. Could the DOJ get their hands on those?

MCCABE: Well, certainly they could Don. But it's Meadows is a kind of a fascinating character in this story because he's been on really both sides of the fence from the very beginning. He wrote a memoir in which he said a bunch of things that the former president probably didn't appreciate.

Then he -- then he resisted the efforts, the efforts of the committee and then he cooperated with the committee by providing thousands of texts, and then he stopped cooperating with the committee and he's now fighting their subpoena in court. So, this kind of figuring out whether Meadows is going to land

permanently forever on the side of Donald Trump or on the side of the investigators has been really, is still a ball in the air. I think DOJ has the leverage and the power of the grand jury subpoena.

Now that's a totally different factor for Mr. Meadows to have to consider. He is going to have to answer that subpoena in one way or another. There's no way to kind of push this off through litigation like he's done to Congress. And my suspicion is that at the end of the day, DOJ is going to get what they want if, as Elie says, they have the will to fight for it.

LEMON: You want to talk about that a little bit more, Elie? If they have the will to fight for it. And do you think they have that will?

HONIG: Yes, so that's a big question, Don. You know, we used to say to people who were potentially cooperators, don't jump halfway across the ditch. Either you're going to jump all the way across and join us here on the DOJ side, or stay over there and we'll deal with you as necessary.

So, if there's been a subpoena already that essentially says, hey Mark Meadows, give us everything you've already given the January 6th committee, the next subpoena, if DOJ has the will should say, now give us everything else. And if he resists that, then potentially he becomes a target, potentially he opens himself up to criminal charges.

So, DOJ has some tactical decisions here, but if they're serious about trying to get full testimony from Mark Meadows and flip him, they have way more powerful tools, tools that are way more likely to be enforced by courts than Congress or the January 6th committee ever had.

LEMON: All right. Thank you all. I appreciate you helping us out with this new reporting. Thanks so much.

Thousands of mourners standing in line for miles tonight to pay their respects to the queen. And they could be waiting days. We have all the sights and sounds of this amazing day in London. That's next.

[22:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're back now live in London. And right now, here in London, people are lined up for miles, waiting all through the night to pay their respects to the late queen.

I want you to take a look at this because we have never seen anything like it. The British people are giving, really a master class in queuing or lining up, as we say. Look at these people lining up just to walk past the queen's coffin. It's a little after 3 a.m. here in London, like how beautiful this city is.

They've been waiting for hours and this is going to go on all day and every day until the morning of the queen's funeral on Monday. The line stretching nearly three miles. That's according to the government's official live tracker.

So, it is a massive undertaking here. Thousands of people, thousands and thousands of them filing past the queen's coffin in absolute silence. Every step of this, all the pageantry we have seen today carefully planned and signed off on by the queen herself.

CNN's Richard Quest and Bianca Nobilo are here with me. They have been with me throughout the days fairly about a week of reporting here.

Hello to both of you. Thanks so much for joining us.

Richard, let's talk about what we are witnessing, what we've witnessed and what we're witnessing. All of these people, thousands of them queuing, as they say past, the queen's coffin paying their respect there.

I want you to take a look at this. The procession with the coffin making its way through London. What was the most striking moment to you?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: For me, it was the music, the funeral marches of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Chopin, and the starkness of just the coffin with the crown and the princes and the family behind. It was dignified. And it was extremely moving because it had been so well planned, but this was a saying goodbye and recognizing this the stewardly backwards and forwards between royalty and personality.

[22:29:52]

LEMON: You know, I noticed that when Richard and I and our colleague Christiane Amanpour were there in front of Buckingham Palace, Bianca, just it was, I couldn't imagine having to go through this being a family member.

You look at Princes William and Harry, the difficulty of having to mourn in public like this and then keep your composure and follow all, you know, all of the things that you're supposed to do as royalty. In a sense, you can't really be human.

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: It's an entirely foreign concept to most people as Max Foster reminded me the other day, you know, these people have been raised with this expectation. It's also what they've been surrounded with and what they've witnessed their entire lives. And we had a reminder of that today when we saw Prince William and Prince Harry walking side by side behind the coffin.

I think people in the crowds were heartened by that, seeing it as possible indication of symbolic unity between the brothers again. But what it did remind a lot of people of was the two gentlemen when they were much younger, 25 years ago walking side by side behind their mother's coffin.

So, this has been an expectation their entire life. And people might think it's cruel or even inhuman at times when they're so young, but it is their life and what's expected of. QUEST: That's a very good point. I mean, they're trained for this in a sense. This is their life.

LEMON: Yes.

QUEST: And I, I agree they didn't choose. And if you look at say, Harry, who's now chosen to leave it, but they were have been brought up as indeed as Charles from the very day one duty. That's what the queen was all about.

LEMON: I have a very strong feeling that he'll be back. I really do think that that will happen.

QUEST: I'm not going into that.

LEMON: OK. Well, we'll see. Well, let's talk about something else. But what I do want to talk about though is, is that King Charles, obviously he's a king, right? There's this focus on him. There's focus on William and Harry for obvious reasons, but the person who's really, I think, taken the lead role and has been, you know, the most austere, and I don't mean that in a negative way, but sort of stiff upper lip, holding composure is Princess Anne.

She has really, you know, held herself well in this. Can you imagine having to do what she's walking behind your mother's coffin and she's the, you know, the only daughter.

NOBILO: And that's another symbolic thing that we've seen in all this, the queen. It was her wish for Princess Anne to follow behind her coffin. Her daughter in prime position. That isn't something we would've seen in monarch's past in history. So, that's an -- that's an elevation and inequality between female and male children.

But Princess Anne is someone who is associated with never shirking duty and really having an understanding of the importance of that.

QUEST: Standing no lost, Princess Anne. If there's -- if there's one person who would use fruity language, one of her dogs bit somebody in a park once, and that -- and that caused a bit of a roar. She's been done for speeding before. She's very, very forthright and will let you know. She doesn't suffer fools gladly and will let you know when she doesn't agree with something.

NOBILO: She also became the first female relative to stand and take part in those vigils that we saw as well.

LEMON: Yes.

NOBILO: So, some of this is historic and see that that true parity between men and female relationships.

QUEST: How don't you compete in the Olympics (Inaudible) Montreal has been the question.

LEMON: Yes, listen, I think it's, you know, as we said, you can't almost -- there's something that doesn't really allow you to be human, right, because you're doing it so publicly and in front of so many people.

But I've been watching the reports here locally in London about, you know, the king and that he is, you know, hasn't -- he's a little snippy. And so, have you seen that he's sort of crushing people away and --

QUEST: Pen gate.

LEMON: Being short with people, but he hasn't had any sleep.

QUEST: Pen gate. No, there's a, yes. He -- there's a -- there is an element of --

LEMON: Personality. Yes, go on.

QUEST: Well, Tina Brown's book, it puts it very -- the man has been brought up in a way of getting what he wants and being able to people saying yes. And sometimes he has a reputation for her being sharp. I think is the way one might describe it. He doesn't suffer fools. He wants things done when he wants them done.

And we saw that twice with pens once when he, and then when a pen wouldn't work. And those who know and have seen him will say, it's not, he perfectly ordinary, you know, he'd sometimes get it overwhelmed.

LEMON: I'm paraphrasing. And I sign the wrong, wrong darn date on something. I sign the 12th and it's the 13th. And the pen is leaking all over me and, you know.

NOBILO: Some people take their rage out in the gym. Some people with calligraphy in their stationary.

LEMON: I can relate. It happened to me. You're traveling, someone left a pen and the luggage bin and --

(CROSSTALK)

NOBILO: They dropped on your shoe.

LEMON: And they dropped on my shoe, but you know, I didn't -- it didn't happen in front of cameras where the whole world could see it.

I appreciate both of you. Thank you very much.

NOBILO: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Thank you so much. As we mentioned, William and Harry marching side by side today, paying tribute to their grandmother, but is it all a sign of a thaw in their relationship? We'll discuss.

[22:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: As people across the United Kingdom and around the world mourn Queen Elizabeth, they're also keeping a keen eye on Princes William and Harry. The brothers bound by the tragedy of their mother's death when they were just boys. But as adults, their relationship has become strained and really complicated. Well, even Harry, at least for today, side by side.

More tonight from Richard Quest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST (voice-over): Princes William and Harry marching somberly together behind their grandmother's coffin on Wednesday. Echoing a painful memory of another tragic time. Twenty-five years ago, when the two young brothers united in grief walked heartbreakingly behind their mother's casket, their bond seemingly unbreakable.

[00:04:54]

From the time they were little, the so-called heir and the spare were always together, whether on royal duty or just horsing around.

[22:40:04]

PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: He's definitely got more brains than me. I think we've established that from school, but when it comes to all that, I think hand I'm much better hands on --

(CROSSTALK)

PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: I've got more brains but -- he's pretty rich coming from a ginger.

QUEST: Harry was best man when the future prince of Wales married Catherine. Then it was Harry's turn to wed. William also serving as best man for his little brother. The two sharing a private funny moment caught on camera as they waited for his bride. The American actress, Meghan Markle.

But it wasn't long after that, that signs of a royal rift appeared to show. Whilst on a tour of Africa, this eyebrow raising comment by Prince Harry revealed much even though it said little.

PRINCE HARRY: We'll always be brothers, and we're certainly on different paths at the moment.

QUEST: In 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that decision to step back as working royals, the extent of that fracture glaringly obvious.

Prince William then forced to carry alone royal duties that the brothers had been expected to shoulder together. And then there was the tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey from the accusation that Catherine, Princess of Wales had caused Meghan to cry a few days before her wedding.

To the more serious allegations of racism in the royal family and a lack of support from those he was once close to. PRINCE HARRY: The relationship is space at the moment.

QUEST: The airing of the royal dirty laundry rippling like an earthquake across the Atlantic. The normally stoic and quiet future monarch defended his family against the accusations.

PRINCE WILLIAM: No, we're very much not a racist family.

QUEST: When their grandfather, Prince Philip passed in April last year, many had hoped it would be the catalyst to start the healing process. It was a hope that seemed to be in vain. Now with the passing of their beloved granny, and opening an opportunity.

A surprise joint walkabout of the prince and princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Windsor where they greeted mourners. The first time in years the couple had appeared in public together. Later sharing an intimate dinner with the rest of the royals on Tuesday night at Buckingham Palace, a sign that perhaps this royal rift might finally be on the mend.

Richard Quest, CNN, Buckingham Palace, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Richard, thank you very much. I appreciate that.

Joining me now CNN contributor, Trisha Goddard, the host of The Week with Trisha Goddard. It's good to see you Trisha, once again. Thanks for joining us. I really appreciate it.

What do you think of this moment? What do you think this moment is like for Princes William and Harry, especially after a couple of years of distance and turmoil?

TRISHA GODDARD, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I feel really sorry for them because you know, they -- the last time, as we said when there were children united in grief, but grief can also tear our families apart.

I think that the press scrutiny of all of this only adds to it because I mean, we forget they are human beings. And you know, it's -- every -- the minute they look at each other, anything, everything is interpreted.

I really hope that they can come together. I do think though, there are some major impediments. Prince Charles when he extended, you know, he said, wished -- sent his love to Harry and Meghan and their new lives in the states.

I really do believe that unless Prince Charles does something to stop the incessant war between a certain tabloid that's been sued successfully three times and Harry, nothing is going to change. Because I think Harry has been very open about the fact. They thought that by moving away from Britain they would get away from that kind of tabloid intrusion.

Now, the other thing is that Harry is starting to see, and he said that before a part of life, he probably never really saw before that headline when everything was supposed to be good of almost straight out of Compton. Then a cartoon of them leaving the hospital with a monkey and what have you.

Now in America that would never be allowed. And Meghan is very Hollywood. She's, you know, I don't think they've always made the mess -- best choices. I don't know that they've surrounded themselves with the best people. But it has been incessant bullying, it's nonstop. And I really think unless Prince Charles says enough. Because there's a weird synergy, there's a weird relationship between certain newspapers and the royal family.

[22:44:59]

And I do believe those newspapers have been allowed to overstep the mark and keep overstepping the mark. So, I think if Harry saw his father or any member of his family turn around and say enough, you know, we might not all get on as a family, but enough, this is bullying. Stop. I think that's what he needs to hear. I really do, before things can really mend themselves.

LEMON: Interesting. I want to -- we're looking at the video of them marching today and we saw it here all play out live. And as the procession was going past me at Buckingham Palace, I couldn't help but focus on Harry who was, you know, obviously, the most recognizable because he wasn't wearing a military uniform.

What did -- what did you make of him wearing this morning suit throughout the day's events despite having served in the military. He was actually on the front lines. His brother, who is the new prince of Wales was not.

GODDARD: Well, so was Prince Andrew. But it's different from the states. In the U.K., you know, in the states, a veteran can wear their uniform at special occasions. In the U.K. once you leave the armed forces, you cannot wear the uniform. You can wear the metals over a suit, but you can't wear the uniform.

But if you are an honorary member of, you know, the army or any particular, then you can. So, there's this weird thing where, for instance, Prince Edwards who didn't even complete the Marines can wear his uniform of medals in a -- with an honorary title, and so can his brother.

But the two serving, you know, members, Andrew and as well as Prince Harry, whether they were still serving royals or not, unless they were given an honorary position within the armed forces can't wear the uniform.

Now, a lot of newspapers have been very quick to say that, well, Harry has been cast out and Andrew has been cast out. And to put Harry and Prince Andrew in the same sentence is beyond stupid.

But it's trying to sort of besmirch them, if you like, that they're not allowed to wear the uniform. No one is, once you've left the armed forces, unless you are in an honorary position, no member of the armed forces is allowed to wear the uniform once they have left.

LEMON: Trisha, I always learned so much from you. We love having you on. Thank you so much. Be well.

GODDARD: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: A last minute scramble to avoid a looming railroad strike that could have huge economic consequences. Will there be a deal to stop 60,000 workers from walking off the job?

[22:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: High stake talks between railroad and union officials heading into the late-night hours as a potential strike looms. About 60,000 workers could walk off the job as soon as Friday. And that could cause massive damage to the economy. Amtrak already canceling all of its long-distance routes ahead of the potential strike and warning there are more to come.

Here is CNN's Pete Muntean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is the latest effort to put the brakes on a possible rail worker strike that could deal a major blow to the economy. Bosses representing unions and railroads met with the labor secretary in a last-ditch effort to reach a deal by midnight Thursday. That's when 60,000 workers could walk off the job in solidarity with train engineers fighting for sick time.

A strike will mean freight rail, which makes up 40 percent of all freight in the U.S. will grind to a halt, impacting everything from parts for cars, to fertilizer, for farming.

TOM WATERS, SOYBEAN FARMER: Transportation is a big part of the cost of -- to the consumer and I don't believe there's one person in the country that it won't affect.

MUNTEAN: Starting Thursday, some railroads will stop accepting shipments of grain, critical to feed livestock and potentially further driving up costs at supermarkets. Rail passengers will be impacted too.

Amtrak is canceling all of its long-distance routes outside of the Northeast corridor. In Chicago, nine of 11 commuter lines will stop when a strike begins.

NIGEL JOHNSON, RAIL COMMUTER: I've been commuting from the suburbs to Chicago now for over 30 years, I could never remember this happening. It could take two hours if I'm driving. On train, it's 40 minutes.

MUNTEAN: With midterm elections on the horizon, the pressure is on the Biden administration to reach a resolution. The president himself has called unions and employers pushing them to resolve their differences.

If a freight rail shutdown does happen, trucking companies say they cannot pick up the slack.

PATRICK ANDERSON, CEO, ANDERSON ECONOMIC GROUP: It starts with a very small impact, but it grows geometrically.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MUNTEAN (on camera): One more possible impact of all of this, water treatment facilities are now worried they will not be able to get chlorine, which is often sent by rail and critical to cleaning water. They are warning that boil water advisories may start popping up nationwide if this rail worker strike does in fact happen. Don.

LEMON: All right, Pete Muntean, thank you very much. I appreciate that.

And next, more on our CNN exclusive reporting, the former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows has complied with the DOJ subpoena in the January 6th probe.

[22:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Our CNN and exclusive tonight. Sources say that former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has complied with a subpoena from the Justice Department -- Department's investigation into events surrounding January 6th, 2021. Making him the highest-ranking Trump official known to have responded to a subpoena in the federal investigation.

I want to bring now CNN's Evan Perez, also a former Nixon White House counsel, John Dean, and former federal prosecutor, Elliot Williams.

So happy to have you all on to go with this new reporting.

Evan, this is your reporting. You're part of the team behind this exclusive reporting. What are you learning?

PEREZ: Well, Don, we know that the Justice Department served a subpoena on Mark Meadows. He is the, of course the former chief of staff for the former president. And what they've gotten is sent is thousands of texts and e-mails. These are ones that he already provided to the House committee that's investigating January 6th.

And as you pointed out, this makes him the highest ranking official, Trump official to known to have been served a subpoena as part of this criminal investigation. Mark Meadows, of course, had a front seat to all of the efforts by the former president to overturn the election. He was in touch with state officials. He was trying to push prosecutors at the Justice Department to say that there was evidence of fraud. When we of course know that there was no evidence of fraud to certainly to the level -- to make a difference in the election.

[23:00:06]