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The Situation Room

Now: Luigi Mangione Is Prepared To Plead Guilty In Federal Case. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 14, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Pamela Brown. Wolf Blitzer is off. And you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin this hour with the breaking news. Any moment now, Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is expected to appear in federal court. Sources tell CNN he could plead guilty to federal charges as soon as today. This infamous video captured the chilling seconds before that deadly shooting. Thompson was gunned down in 2024 right outside his New York City hotel.

Mangione previously pleaded not guilty to both state and federal charges. Today's hearing is with the federal judge overseeing the case, prosecutors and Mangione's attorneys. Sources tell CNN plea discussions have been ongoing, but they note talks have been fluid. The judge would also have to sign off on any potential plea agreement.

CNN senior crime and justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz is right outside that courthouse. Bring us up to speed on what's going on there, Shimon.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: So yes, Pamela, we're just waiting for news. This is supposed to start at 11:00 a.m. I'm just looking at the laptop here. Our reporter Kara Scannell is inside the courthouse here. It's federal court, so there are no cameras, so every piece of information we're getting is coming from her, who -- she is seating in the courtroom.

And what she's telling us is that the family, Brian Thompson's family, the victim in this case, the former CEO of UnitedHealthcare, who was gunned down execution-style in the early morning hours in December 2024 as he was on his way to a conference at a Midtown hotel. And his family is here. This will be the first time in this nearly two-year case that we have seen his family signaling perhaps that they are in support of whatever deal may be on the table here.

They are seated inside that courtroom. We are waiting for Luigi Mangione to make his way inside the court. His attorneys are inside. The prosecutors are inside. They have been conferring, speaking to each other. We are waiting for Luigi Mangione. We are also waiting for the judge to take the bench. And we should note here, pretty quickly here in the next few minutes, if this happens at 11:00 a.m. as it was scheduled for, what the deal is.

What's going to happen here? Is he going to take the plea? Is Luigi Mangione going to plead guilty? Or is there going to be some hesitation and then all this prep and all of us being out here was for nothing? That is the big question. No one that our sources, our reporters have talked to, they have been giving us all kinds of caveats because no one really knows what is in the mind of Luigi Mangione and will he go forward with this plea.

The other thing that's so significant here is that if he does say, yes, I want to plead guilty, he's going to have to tell the judge what happened here, what he did, and what the judge will do is the judge will ask a series of questions to Luigi Mangione and it will be the first time that we get to hear from him in this case.

And that is so significant because a plea of guilty here today could significantly, significantly impact the state case because of New York laws and double jeopardy, which says, listen, if you are charged with a similar crime, the same act in the federal case and you plead guilty, then there is a chance that your state case will get dismissed. So that case was supposed to start on September 8th, it was supposed to go to trial, that could get delayed as they hashed us out.

But we are waiting for this big moment here for Luigi Mangione to come into the courtroom, for his attorney to stand up and tell us what is happening here today. But very significant seeing the people who are inside this courtroom. We have the U.S. attorney here for the Southern District who is now inside, prosecutors, the defense team, and we are just waiting for the judge and for Luigi Mangione to come inside the court.

BROWN: I see some people behind you. I mean, this is a case that has garnered national attention. Tell us more about the mood outside the courthouse this morning. What's it like out there?

PROKUPECZ: You know, it's a lot of anticipation. Certainly, the reporters here who have been covering this now for this nearly two years, I was covering this from the very beginning when this happened in December of 2024, being out in the street trying to figure out what happened and just how horrific this crime was. All of it captured on that surveillance video. And for many of the reporters who have been covering this, there's been a lot of anticipation about what was going to happen.

[11:04:56]

Interestingly enough, Pam, I've covered this a few times as it made its way through the court system. I'm not seeing as many of those fans or those Mangionistas or those Luigi Mangione fans out here. It's 11 o'clock now. I've not -- I've seen maybe one person holding a sign out here saying, no vengeance, but he's actually over here. He's, his sign says justice, no vengeance, but there's no indication if he's for Luigi Mangione or what.

But we're not seeing those crowds that, you know, we sort of would normally see anytime he would be in court.

BROWN: Interesting. The Mangionistas, as you call them. Shimon Prokupecz, thanks so much.

I want to bring in civil rights attorney and legal affairs commentator Areva Martin to put this all in perspective. I mean, as Shimon laid out, we don't really know how this is going to play out. There could be a plea deal today. What would the hearing look like potentially?

AREVA MARTIN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Yes, it should be fairly short in terms of the statement about whether he is going to plead guilty or not. But as Shimon said, there has to be an allocation. And that is a statement made on the record by Mangione about this crime. He basically has to admit that he committed this crime. And as Shimon also said, that could prove to be very problematic for him if the state court case moves forward.

Many folks believe that this is a strategic play by Mangione to prevent the state court, hoping that he can establish before the state court that a conviction in federal court prevents him from being further prosecuted in that state court case. But Pam, a really interesting development. We know the district attorney for the state of New York has written a letter apparently to the federal judge asking that judge not to allow a plea deal to go forward. Stating that he's still intent upon moving forward with the September trial that has been slated to begin in a state court in New York.

So lots of interesting developments could happen. And we know that Mangione had earlier said he was going to continue to plead not guilty. So not clear that we're going to get a guilty plea entered this morning. And if so, even what it means. What has the federal prosecutors offered him in exchange for him pleading guilty?

BROWN: Yes, tell us a little bit more about that. I mean, why a defendant would change their plea in a case like this?

MARTIN: Yes, there are some hope apparently by the defense team that a guilty plea in this federal case could prevent the state court case from going forward. One thing to note, too, Pam, is that we know the federal charges that could have brought the death penalty were dismissed earlier by a federal court judge. So there are only two federal charges still remaining, and those have to do with the stalking charges.

Very serious charges in federal court could still result in a life, a sentence, life in prison for Mangione. So not clear what he's going to get in exchange, since the death penalty is already off the table. But we know there's been a lot of fighting between this defense attorney and prosecutors about double jeopardy, the New York law being somewhat more liberal even than the constitutional standard on double jeopardy.

So the belief is, again, a plea of guilty in this federal court case could make him immune from that state court murder charge that is still pending and set to go to trial in September.

BROWN: All right, Areva, Shimon, thank you both. We await to find out what will happen this morning.

And still ahead, poor conditions, food shortages and reports of service members jumping overboard or at least one service member doing that. The growing demand for answers about what's happening aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and how the Pentagon is responding.

[11:08:47]

And a passenger in the window seat nearly gets sucked out of the plane head first. The nightmarish new detail we're learning just ahead. You're in The Situation Room and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Breaking news, we are live in New York where Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has just arrived in federal court. CNN senior crime and justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz is right outside with a new development. Shimon?

PROKUPECZ: So Luigi Mangione, Pam, is now seated in the courtroom. He is seated in between his two attorneys. They have been going over paperwork. They are reading. He's reading it. His lawyers have been reading it. And what our reporter inside Kara Scannell is telling us is that he just initiated something with a pen that would indicate that whatever deal perhaps is on the table by him initiating this, reading this document, that could be the plea deal. We don't know that yet, but certainly that is what that is pointing to.

We do know that he walked into the courtroom with U.S. marshals by his side. He is wearing a beige prison outfit. His ankles are shackled, but his wrists are not. He is now seated at the table. This is different from what we saw in the last court appearance in state court where we were able to have cameras inside here in federal court, we're not. And you saw him on the last court date in a gray suit and a white shirt.

[11:15:02]

He is not wearing that today. He is wearing a prison jail suit because he was just transported from the Brooklyn Federal Jail to here. And every indication at this point is that we are on our way here now and we are just waiting to see what it is that he signed in those documents that his attorneys presented him.

The key thing here now, whatever it is that he signed there in those documents, now it will be the moment where, what happens? The judge will ultimately ask him some questions if, in fact, we do have a plea here and whether or not he agrees to this. He will have to take -- be sworn under oath and then answer those questions from the judge. But we are still waiting, waiting to see if, in fact, there is a deal but significant that Luigi Mangione is in court. The family, Brian Thompson, seated in that front row of that courtroom. That moment for them to be there in the front row facing Luigi Mangione, the man who's accused of so brutally murdering their loved one. And for the first time for these family members, they will have that opportunity to face them. This is a big part of the justice system for the families and for victims to have their moment in court like this to face someone who's accused of murdering their loved one.

I'll stand by here. We have some breaking news here. We are now getting information from inside court. That Mr. Mangione from our reporters inside, Mr. Mangione is prepared to plead guilty to the indictment at this time. So there it is. Those documents that he signed, he has now agreed, according to his attorney before the judge, to plead guilty. We are now waiting to see what the parameters, what the conditions of this plea is and, of course, the moment now he will have to stand up perhaps or he could do it seated.

But he will have to tell the judge what it is he is pleading guilty to. There are two stalking charges here, one of them obviously involving the death of Brian Thompson. Will he be able to say freely, Luigi Mangione, what he wants? Or is there a prepared statement that his attorneys have given him? They want to keep this very strictly around the federal case. So they're going to try to keep some control.

I have some new information here. Luigi Mangione, as I said earlier, he is being sworn in now. So this is the moment. This is the moment that he is going to speak. He is now being sworn in. And he says, yes, I do. He's saying that to the judge in response to his agreement to being sworn in and to tell the truth. And so he said, yes, I do. This is a big moment in this case.

Many people wondered, his own team, prosecutors, others, whether or not Luigi Mangione would do this today. And it's very apparent that we are now moving in this direction. Luigi Mangione saying, his lawyers saying that he is going to plead guilty to the federal indictment. Those two counts of stalking. And now we await to hear what Luigi Mangione will tell the judge.

There will be a series of questions here, Pam, that he will have to answer. It's called an allocution. And that allocution will involve him having to admit, having to admit to what he did here. It has to satisfy the law and it has to satisfy the judge. And at that point, if the judge is satisfied and believes that this plea meets the legal parameters, the judge will then accept it.

But significant because we now hear from Luigi Mangione, he's being questioned before Judge Garnett, who warns him he could be prosecuted for perjury if he answers any questions about his decision to plead guilty falsely. This is routine. This happens in cases when defendants plead guilty. And so we're now being told he's being asked about his education and Luigi Mangione is speaking now in court. He's telling the judge that he has a master's degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania.

[11:19:54] They're now going through Luigi Mangione's state of mind and his mental state. And this is all part of the series of questions that the judge is asking him. And Mangione says that he has never been treated or hospitalized for any mental illness or addiction. He said he took Trazodone two days ago for sleep. Of course, Mangione's been jailed as he's been awaiting trial. He's telling the judge that he took Trazodone two days ago for sleep, but said it was not affecting his ability to follow the proceedings.

And when asked, and this is significant, when asked if he's believed his mind was clear to you today, he said, I do. So everything is going according to plan at this point and as it should. The judge is now saying that she find -- that the Judge Garnett, says that she finds based on his current demeanor and answers. This is significant. So far that Mangione is in a state to enter a plea of guilty at this time.

Mangione's telling the judge he had the opportunity to confer with his lawyers about the consequences of pleading guilty. And he is satisfied with his lawyer's representation. And now the judge is explaining his rights. We will hear soon start to hear a series of questions where Luigi Mangione is going to have to describe what he did.

He has agreed at this point to take responsibility, to plead guilty for what happened to Brian Thompson. Now he's standing up in court and we'll tell the judge we expect, Pam, exactly what he did. The judge will run through a series of questions, but right now everything is going as it's supposed to. The judge feels his mental state is OK. He knows what's going on. He's aware.

And so now the judge is going through his rights. And as you know, this will involve saying that basically by pleading guilty, he loses his right to appeal. He loses his right to a trial. He loses his right to stay silent because he's going to have to stand up and tell the judge, this is what I did. Imagine that moment for this family, for Brian Thompson's family, for so many people who have been following this case, to now hear from Luigi Mangione in his own words, coming from his mouth, what happened here.

And of course, important because there was also a state case here that's pending and anything he says, what he tells the judge could potentially be used against him in the prosecutor's case in state court. If it gets to that, if we even get to that at this point, a lot of it depending on the law, depending on what happens here. Having the family, Brian Thompson's family in that courtroom tells you everything, tells you that they are behind this.

They are behind this plea. They approved for the prosecutor to go ahead and to offer Luigi Mangione this plea because under federal law, you can't really do this without the cooperation of the victim's family, as you know, Pam. So we are just waiting. The judge is continuing. This is where it gets a little lengthy because the judge has to go through the whole process and the law and kind of put everything on the record. So that's what -- that's where we're at right now. I'm just reading from inside court.

BROWN: Go ahead. Is there something else? PROKUPECZ: Mangione is -- yes, he's saying that he understands. He's saying -- he's repeatedly confirming to her that he understands what she's saying, the judge, and he's just answering yes at this moment. We're getting close to that moment, Pam, where we're going to get really into the meat of this and where Luigi Mangione is going to have to tell us what happened here.

BROWN: And as we wait for that moment, I want to get some legal analysis from Areva Martin. What is the significance of all of this that Shimon just laid out, Areva?

MARTIN: Well, this is what we thought would happen, Pam, when we heard that the prosecutors and defense attorneys wanted this hearing this morning, we have been told that it was likely that he would plead guilty again, many believing that this guilty plea is done and it has been done in an effort to avert that state court trial, which is scheduled for early September, knowing that his defense attorneys have been arguing from the beginning of the charges in this case, both the federal and state charges, that this was double jeopardy, that he should not be tried in both the state court and federal court.

We should expect to see if this guilty plea is accepted by the judge, that the defense attorney runs into state court asking the state court to dismiss the charges against him, to dismiss the charges that are leading to the trial that's set to begin in September.

We know that from the reporting, again, there wasn't leniency promised to Mangione as a result of this plea deal. So this was a strategic move by his defense team to, again, prevent him from being tried in state court, expecting -- we should expect to see, again, that double jeopardy argument raised by his defense lawyers.

[11:25:15]

But again, that's not automatic. It's not automatic that the state case will be dismissed, nor is it automatic that this federal judge is going to accept the plea that's been offered by his attorney.

BROWN: Shimon, I want to bring you back in because you have some more news from inside that courtroom from our producers.

PROKUPECZ: Yes, I want to take you back inside the courtroom. The judge is continuing those questions to Luigi Mangione. She just said to him, you will have to admit and acknowledge your guilt. Do you understand that? To which he replied, yes. So we are getting again to that moment. The moment that so many here, from the prosecutors to, of course, Brian Thompson's family, I just -- I am so struck because we have never seen them in court before.

And they are sitting there in the front row watching this unfold. A family that has been through so much to see their loved one murdered in this way and the man responsible now standing up in court and going to admit to what he did. We're told now from our Kara Scannell, who's inside that courtroom, she was watching all of this, that Mangione has turned to face the prosecutor as he explains the elements they would need to prove. That is what Mangione, we believe, will now be getting into the elements of this crime that he will need to explain to the judge to satisfy her acceptance of this plea. That's the big question here. Will the judge accept what Luigi Mangione has to say? Remember in the beginning here when Luigi Mangione sat down, there was paperwork that was given to him by his attorneys and he signed that paperwork.

That's significant. That's going to get filed. We're going to know what the plea deal here is. Luigi Mangione is facing the rest of his life in prison, in a federal prison. And essentially with this plea, what he is doing is he's throwing himself at the mercy of this judge, hoping that somehow one day he may be able to be free. He's 26 years old.

A lot will depend now if this plea is satisfied. If things go as planned, a lot will depend now on the sentencing. Taking you back inside the courtroom now, the prosecutors are going over what some of the elements are. It said one of the elements for the charges is that, "the defendant's conduct resulted in Brian Thompson's death." So the prosecutors are now going over the elements of the crime.

And we are just waiting to see at this moment what Luigi Mangione will say. Will he simply be able to answer yes or no? Does he say more than that? I'm sure his attorneys have prepped him to keep it very short, to keep it very concise. I'm sure they went over everything they think he needs to say and nothing more. And so this is a moment right now for this case, for what this -- what happened here and what this for the country and how people responded to what happened here.

And so we are just waiting now again, Pam, for Luigi Mangione. The judge is now telling Luigi Mangione that he is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison. And where -- by pleading guilty, you are exposing yourself to at least the possibility of any combination of punishment of at least up to the maximum, which is life in prison. He is essentially, like I said, his attorneys are throwing him into the mercy of this judge who will ultimately decide the sentencing and perhaps hoping that they can present facts during the sentencing phase that could help mitigate a life sentence.

But this is what he's facing now by this plea. We are still waiting for the allocution here. We are waiting for -- to hear what Luigi Mangione. This is the big moment. We are on our way here to hearing this, and this is what we are waiting to hear from him. And then the big moment here when he speaks and what happens next, of course.

BROWN: Remind our viewers, Shimon, what he is pleading guilty to right now that the judge is questioning him on.

[11:30:07]

PROKUPECZ: So it's two stalking charges, Pam.