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The Lead with Jake Tapper

FBI Tests DNA From Glove As Nancy Guthrie Search Hits Week Three; Authorities Say Social Media Rumors Could Harm Guthrie Case; Tech Startup Pays Experts To Train Their A.I. Replacements; Obama Clarifies Alien Comments After Saying "They're Real"; Oscar-Winning Actor Robert Duvall Dies At 95. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 16, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Dana Bash in for Jake Tapper.

This hour, investigators are making it clear all of Nancy Guthrie's family members, including siblings and spouses, have been cleared as possible suspects in her disappearance.

[18:00:00]

It comes as law enforcement reveals they're analyzing DNA from a glove, which appears to match the one worn by a suspect in doorbell camera footage. This latest from Arizona is coming to you more in moments.

Plus, as California Governor Gavin Newsom fuels more 2028 chatter, I'll be joined live by one of his allies, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. What does she think of Newsom's recent moves and the new attacks Trump is leveling at her governor today.

Also, would you take a job for a hundred dollars an hour if that job was training your own replacement? One company is asking professionals to teach A.I. how to do their jobs. We'll show you how it works ahead.

And is anyone out there? Former President Barack Obama attempts to clarify his comments about whether or not aliens exist. We've got his explanation this hour.

The Lead tonight, right now, DNA results from a glove recovered near Nancy Guthrie's Tucson home are being analyzed to determine the identity of a possible suspect that glove visually matches the ones worn by the person seen on Ring video footage at Guthrie's front door on the night of her disappearance more than two weeks ago.

The DNA results could prove to be a pivotal development in this case, which has no suspects. Any evidence recovered from the glove will be run through CODIS, the FBI-managed DNA database that holds more than 19 million offender profiles. It will also be crucial to determine whether the glove DNA matches the DNA sample recovered inside the home, which authorities said did not match Guthrie or anyone in her immediate circle.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is on the ground in Tucson. Ed, so we're waiting on word about those DNA test results, but there has been a different significant development today coming from the Pima County sheriff. What is it?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, over the last few weeks, there has been a great deal of online speculation, mostly in social media and in some reports suggesting that someone from the Guthrie family might have been responsible for the abduction of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.

The Pima County sheriff coming out just a short while ago and essentially putting all of that to rest, saying that the siblings and their spouses are -- have been cleared or not considered suspects in any way, and saying essentially that the speculation about them has, quote, been cruel. So, that is significant. And this is really the first time we've heard from investigators that anyone on any level has been cleared in this crime as this search for Nancy Guthrie is now entering its third week.

And we're awaiting those DNA tests, as you mentioned, a very pivotal moment. It could be crucial and helpful. As you mentioned, if they're able to match the DNA found on this glove to the match inside the home that was found here on the property, then that could lead investigators to a new person and a new avenue of investigation.

And, Dana, I also want to point out that the other thing that hasn't gotten a lot -- hasn't been talked about a lot is that there are multiple cameras. That front doorbell camera that provided the stunning and haunting images of the suspect approaching Nancy Guthrie's front door was recovered. It took ten days because of painstaking work partnering with private companies to resurrect that video from those cameras.

There are other cameras on the property, and the sheriff told me on Friday that the work continues to try to resurrect that video. So, that could be something, and who knows how long that could take, if it can even be done, but it could be something that provides and helps investigators with even more stunning images. Perhaps there is the vehicle that was used to bring the suspect here to the house or something else that could help them dramatically in this moment. So, we will see how that plays out as well.

BASH: Ed, I am so glad you brought that up. We are definitely interested in seeing if that -- those other cameras produce any kind of video or images, at least like the ones that we saw from the front door last week.

Thank you so much, Ed. I appreciate it.

Let's discuss with CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller and Frank Figliuzzi, former assistant director for the FBI's Counterintelligence Division. Thank you both for being here.

John, I'm going to start with you. Let's start with the DNA testing that's being done right now on that glove, and whether or not -- I guess one of many questions is whether or not that will be the same or be a match for what was already found inside the home. JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, the good news would be that if it is a match, then that gives authorities two pieces of evidence. One, a glove found near the scene, and, two, DNA matching that glove found in the scene. That means if they ever connect the person to that glove to that scene, you know, they have somebody who they can put in the house who, in all likelihood, didn't belong there.

[18:05:03]

So, that's strong.

On the other hand, it's an unknown contributor in both places if it's a match. Now, that means it doesn't tell you who the DNA belongs to. You'll have to develop that in investigation.

On the flipside, if it doesn't match but the DNA and the glove comes back to a known contributor, well that gives you a name suspect from the FBI's CODIS system. And that's someone to actually go after. That could take them to a prime suspect.

BASH: So, we've got the DNA from that glove that was found, and, Frank, we also have investigators working to get information about the backpack worn by the suspect in that doorbell footage. It is a black 25-liter Ozark Trail backpack, which is Walmart's private label brand. What -- if this backpack was bought years ago or outside the Tucson area, I guess my question is, how important is this basic information for the FBI where when Walmart backpacks are sold all over the country and it could have been sold years ago?

FRANK FIGLIUZZI, FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI COUNTERINTELLIGENCE DIVISION: You know, this may seem like the proverbial needle in the haystack, but I absolutely, in my 25 years at the Bureau, have seen cases solved on even less than this, to include, by the way, nails put as shrapnel in a mailbox. Now, you would think you can't possibly trace the purchase of nails. How different could they be? But they are. And the FBI, in a case that I worked, actually was able to track nationwide the brand, the make and the place it was sold.

So, teams are working on every item of clothing that's been identified, including that backpack and it's actually great news that they've limited to -- limited it to a Walmart proprietary brand, because that gives them essentially one set of data to run with computer assistance and analyze credit card usage, time of purchase. I believe they will come to a conclusion on that. And, of course, everybody's got their fingers crossed with regard to the DNA, as you said, about 20 million samples in the FBI system, some -- many come from crime scenes that are not solved, so that's interesting. And the others are called offender index, which means they come from prisoners, they come from people who've been convicted or arrested of certain felony crimes.

BASH: And, John, yesterday, Savannah Guthrie released a new video appealing to whomever has her mother. Let's listen to part of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NANCY GUTHRIE'S DAUGHTER: It's never too late and you are not lost or alone. And it is never too late to do the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: She's giving the perpetrator a safe space to end the saga. Meanwhile, President Trump is calling for the most severe penalties if Nancy Guthrie is not returned, even the death penalty, he said. As a former investigator, how do those messages, maybe mixed messages, sit with those trying to actually find the suspect?

MILLER: Well, the people giving the messages obviously have different agendas. Savannah Guthrie is simply saying, if this was a kidnap for ransom, if you botched the kidnapping, if our mother was hurt, if you couldn't provide the proof of life for the ransom, let's put all that aside. You know, we want her back. It's never too late.

She's appealing to humanity. She's appealing to the goodness in someone who we already know doesn't start out with goodness kidnapping an 84-year-old lady, that even you can be redeemed by doing the right thing now, and it's an important message. I mean, we don't know, given her mother's medical condition, the blood on the scene, whether she survived this period of time. I hope to God that she did. But I think Savannah Guthrie's message is whether she is or is not, whatever condition she is in, we still need her back.

BASH: And, you know, as somebody who knows Savannah, and I think the world knows this also just by watching her, it's genuine. She is a person of faith and she really means what she's saying to the people out there.

Frank, I do want to ask a bigger picture question because a few days ago you were critical of the Pima County sheriff. You said there's no lead agency, that the department is working together with the FBI but no one is really taking control. Do you still think that's the case?

FIGLIUZZI: I do, and I think there's a reason for it. I don't think this is a kumbaya moment for law enforcement.

[18:10:00]

I think rather if the FBI -- in my experience, if the FBI felt there was absolute evidence of an interstate kidnapping, they would be asserting lead authority here. The fact that the sheriff says there's no lead seems to indicate to me that there's a lack of certainty that this is an actual interstate kidnap. That's from my experience.

Also, from my experience, I think it's important that there is a designated lead agency because that allows someone to be accountable for what's happened.

BASH: All right. John Miller, Frank Figliuzzi, thank you both for being here. I appreciate it.

And if you have any information that could help investigators in this case, you can call the Pima County Sheriff's Department at (520) 351- 4900, or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. You can also reach the agency online at tips.fbi.gov.

Much more on our Lead story in moments, including the statement put out by investigators clearing the family of Nancy Guthrie after days of really pretty terrible conspiracies pushed online.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

BASH: Back with our National Lead, the Pima County Sheriff's Office just released a new statement saying, quote, the Guthrie family, to include all siblings and spouses, has been cleared as possible suspects in this case. To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel. Please, I'm begging you, the media, to honor your profession and report with some sense of compassion and professionalism.

Now, this appears to be a reference to unfounded conspiracy theories, some of which have gone viral online as true crime influencers, so- called true crime influencers, have flocked to Tucson.

I want to discuss this with Democratic Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, who represents a border district that includes parts of Tucson. Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.

And just on that note, there are several instances, more than several, of influencers accusing various people of being involved in the disappearance without any facts to back it up. What's your message to those perpetrating the rumors?

REP. ADELITA GRIJALVA (D-AZ): Well, first, I want to take a moment to acknowledge how painful this moment is for the Guthrie family. Let's remember what's at stake here. A family is looking for their mother. And as painful as that must be already, imagine it being broadcast on television 24/7 and, unfortunately, we're seeing these journalists exploit the situation for clicks and likes. It's reprehensible. And I believe it's also a direct result of Trump discrediting legitimate journalism as fake news for the past ten years.

This has led to a rise of online bloggers pretending to be real journalists that are spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories, and, unfortunately, someone I'm close to has fallen victim to this. Someone tweeted that he was a suspect and now he's being doxed online. His family's receiving death threats, and all of this is a distraction from what really needs to happen is legitimate investigation from our law enforcement to try to find the perpetrator or perpetrators and bring Nancy Guthrie home.

BASH: I'm so sorry that happened. That's just awful. And I'm glad you said so-called journalists. I would just use the M word, media, because they're involved in social media and absolutely, which is I think what you're getting at, not journalists at all.

GRIJALVA: Yes.

BASH: Absolutely.

GRIJALVA: Yes.

BASH: Yes. Many people who live in and around Tucson have given authorities Ring video footage showing suspicious activity they have seen on their own properties, and these separate incidents so far don't appear to have anything to do with the Guthrie case. What are you hearing from your constituents there about this hunt and the way that people are -- stepping it apart from what's happening online, but the way that people are clearly trying to contribute to find Nancy Guthrie, but also are, I would imagine, very much on edge?

GRIJALVA: Yes. I mean, what I've heard from people is do we have -- are we any closer to finding who this is? We have video. How do we connect what we think we might know? There are people that are like looking at the perpetrator's eyes, trying to see if it's someone that they know.

And what is unfortunately happening with our law enforcement is that they're being inundated with all of these other people that are these media influencers, bloggers, they think they're investigative reporters. They're putting out a lot of misinformation, which is causing, as a result, like an overwhelming number of people reporting someone they think might be the perpetrator, but it's not based on the actual description of the perpetrator.

I'll give you an example. The person that I know is 5'4". The perpetrator they're looking for is clearly taller than that individual. But, I mean, when someone puts something out there that is wrong, our law enforcement is dealing with an overwhelming number of like people that are really trying to be helpful, but they're responding to an inaccurate description.

BASH: Yes. I mean, it's really tough. We put up the number for people to call with tips because that is how some of these -- and I'm putting it up right now, that is how some of the most high profile incidents have been solved in recent years.

Before I let you go, I do want to turn to your job in Washington, which is representing your district in Arizona, and there is now a partial government shutdown. The standoff is over federal immigration enforcement. Senate Democrats are demanding reforms to rein in agencies in exchange for a funding package. The border czar, Tom Homan, said the lapse in funding really isn't impacting immigration operations nationwide, because, as you know, they already got a big chunk of change from a bill that was passed by Republicans last year.

[18:20:07]

What's the endgame here?

GRIJALVA: Really, we just have to be clear, it's Republicans who are shutting down DHS, and because they refuse to hold ICE accountable. When a law enforcement agency murders two of its citizens, you would think that passing common sense reforms, like banning paramilitary face coverings wouldn't be controversial, but they refuse to even take the most basic actions to ensure accountability.

Now, aligning ICE standards with those of other law enforcement agencies is the absolute minimum that should be done, but that's just the start. I have zero confidence that ICE will operate in good faith under this administration, which is why I believe it should be completely overhauled and dismantled. And I think that you were right to point out the Republicans handed ICE $75 billion in their big, ugly bill, and this came at the expense of programs that help working families afford groceries and healthcare.

BASH: Congresswoman, we're out of time, but I really appreciate you being here. Thank you so much.

GRIJALVA: Thank you for having me.

BASH: And up next, a wide variety of jobs that A.I. is being trained to replace, and the list may surprise you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

BASH: In our Tech Lead, how much would it take to get you to train your own replacement? Well, for some experts, it was about $100 an hour. One Silicon Valley startup hopes to facilitate that process by teaming professionals from all sorts of industries with A.I.

CNN Hadas Gold spoke with one such expert who went from teaching future doctors to teaching machines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Meet the people training AI to replace your doctor, lawyer, banker, and even your sommelier.

What is the most surprising role that you have hired for to train an A.I.?

BRENDAN FOODY, CEO, MERCOR: Lots of fun ones. We've hired wine experts who are able to recommend what pairing you should have with your dinner.

GOLD: Brendan Foody is the 22-year-old co-founder and CEO of Mercor, one of the hottest startups in Silicon Valley, valued at $10 billion.

They manage a network of some tens of thousands of professional experts who helped train the major A.I. models to think, act, and talk like them.

Most people, I think, believe that A.I. just learns off the internet and what's out there. Why do you need humans involved in the process?

FOODY: The largest driver of A.I. progress right now is how do we effectively identify model mistakes, measure those mistakes, and allow models to learn from them. And so the A.I. labs are hiring large armies of people to help create these data sets and teaching models how to learn from them.

GOLD: The average expert is paid $95 an hour, although some specialized roles can earn up to $250 per hour. The most popular subject is software engineering, followed by finance, then medicine and law.

Are these people not kind of training their future replacements?

FOODY: The way I think about it is that we're not going to run out of things to do. As a society, we have so many problems that we need to solve. We need to cure cancer. We need to solve climate change and making everyone ten times more productive so that they're able to better work on those key problems is going to be a huge, huge benefit to how we make progress as a society.

GOLD: Mercor experts present the A.I. they are training with a prompt, then grade their response using a rubric they've created in consultation with other experts in their field.

Dr. Alice Chiao is one of these experts. She used to teach at Stanford University's medical school. Now, her student is an A.I. model.

So, tell me what it's like when you sit down in front of the computer. What are you doing?

DR. ALICE CHIAO, A.I. EXPERT: I am looking at the AI model that I'm working with, and I am posing real life questions or challenges that I've faced or I've seen patients face. And I ask the model, provide me with the potential diagnoses, suggest several treatments, and list the evidence that you used to support these diagnoses.

GOLD: I've heard from doctors that sometimes medicine is a lot about a gut feeling. Can you train an A.I. on that?

CHIAO: So, this is where it's really important to know that the A.I. is not a doctor, it's not a human being, it does not have the 20 years of clinical experience that I or another one of my colleagues might have. This is where you need to be really careful.

GOLD: Do you ever feel like you're training your replacement?

CHIAO: No, I do not. I don't want to see it as A.I. taking over our job. I want to see it as A.I. taking over the aspects of our jobs that prevent us from being good doctors, good healers, and good listeners.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLD (on camera): And, Dana, while Mercor is paying millions of dollars per day, they say, to these professional experts, there are some things that can't be taught. They told me that they tried to make one of the leading A.I. models funnier. They brought in experts from the Harvard Lampoon and they just found that humor is something that is so subjective. That's at least one area where humans have the upper hand. Dana? BASH: Well, that's good to know. Hadas, thank you so much.

Up next, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will be here live in studio as a partisan fight over immigration enforcement in America's cities has led to a partial government shutdown.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

BASH: In our Politics Lead, we are now in day three of the partial government shutdown, as negotiators try to find a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats are calling for reforms to ICE and the Border Patrol agency in order to try to change what the tactics are on the ground in cities. Republicans have rejected most of the proposed reforms. They say they're overly burdensome to immigration enforcement.

Let's discuss with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Thank you so much for being here. It's nice to see you in person.

I do want to play what Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma told Jake Tapper about why he says he and his GOP colleagues are rejecting the proposed reforms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): As far as having, you know, like a photo I.D. exposed, absolutely not. Why? Because the Democrats, we've seen, has been doxing them. They went into their place of worship where they thought they might be at. They went into their hotels, they went into their restaurants. What are you going to do? Expose their faces so you can intimidate their families? What we want is ICE to be able to do their job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Your response?

MAYOR KAREN BASS (D-LOS ANGELES, CA): Well, first of all, what happened here, and remember, they came here first. If you can just imagine masked men in dubious uniforms pulling up on the side of the street and literally snatching people off the street, how do people know who they are? How can you say you are protecting them? Our police department, when they make arrests, they're not masked.

So, this, the idea of what he said does not match the reality of what cities are experiencing on a daily basis. And although a lot of the headlines are not focused on L.A. or Chicago or other cities, where the deployment has been reduced, make no mistake, these raids happen every single day.

[18:35:08]

It is still going on. BASH: So, the mask issue is just one of the reforms that Democrats want. Another is to change the warrant process to make sure that judges are involved in getting warrants to go in if they think somebody undocumented is there. Are there things just as a mayor where, you know, you're here on the ground in a big city, as you said, where ICE came first, that you could live with or without on a federal level that Democrats are pushing for?

BASS: Sure. I think if they followed what they were originally said they were going to do, which is use warrants to arrest violent criminals. They're not using warrants at all. They are literally chasing people through car washes, chasing them through the streets, through Home Depot, and they have no warrants. I know that there might be an occasional warrant here or there, but that does not characterize what happens here on a daily basis.

And this has had a profound impact on the economy in Los Angeles. We've lost hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. We have sectors of our economy that have been crippled in terms of hospitality, construction services, and in a time when we're trying to rebuild. This is completely inappropriate. It's had devastating impact. And, by the way, I'm really, really appreciative of my former colleagues in Congress for standing up and holding the line the way they are.

BASH: So, they're standing up, but they can only do so much about ICE because ICE is sort of awash in money.

BASS: I understand.

BASH: And so the shutdown is affecting other agencies. Just real quick, you want them to keep on keeping on?

BASS: I do. I want them to hold the line for as long as they can, and I certainly understand the situation that they're in.

BASH: Your city, Los Angeles, is -- has been in the spotlight a lot for good things and bad. There's a good thing coming up, which is the 2028 Olympics. I know you worked very, very hard to get those here.

I do want to ask about the Olympic chief, Casey Wasserman. He, last week, stepped down from his own talent agency, his own firm, which he's now selling. And the reason is because of emails that surfaced in the Epstein files that he sent to Ghislaine Maxwell. The memo that he wrote to his staff said those unsealed DOJ files had, quote, become a distraction. Should he also step down as the Olympic chief in Los Angeles?

BASS: Well, let me just say that here, L.A. 28, which is the committee that is in involved with the Olympics, has the discretion. The board made a decision. I think that decision was unfortunate. I don't support the decision. I do think that we need to look at the leadership.

However, my job as mayor of Los Angeles is to make sure that our city is completely prepared to have the best Olympics that has ever happened in Olympic history. So, my focus is a little different, but the behavior of Maxwell, what they were involved in is abhorrent and it's an issue that I've worked on for a long time.

BASH: I just want to be clear that I understand what you're saying. You don't have a role, you can't fire him, obviously.

BASS: I cannot fire him.

BASH: But you have an opinion and your opinion is?

BASS: My opinion is that he should step down. That's not the opinion of the board.

BASH: Because he said he was going to sell his talent agency in order to spend more time dealing with the Olympics.

BASS: Exactly. But, again, my focus has to be on preparing the city and I will continue to do that.

BASH: I want to ask you about just one other political situation happening, which is the governor, Gavin Newsom.

BASS: Yes.

BASH: He has been out and about a lot. He was just in Munich over the weekend at the at the security forum there. Is it your -- and, obviously, he's being talked about for 2028, is a possible presidential contender? Is it your view that that is helpful to California or is it not?

BASS: Well, I mean, I don't think it's focused on California, but I work very closely with the governor, especially on issues related to homelessness and in preparation for the World Cup and the Olympics. And there has been no interruption in that, and I think that's what's most important.

BASH: And what about the governor's race here?

BASS: The governor's race, highly contentious, although I made my choice known many, many months ago, and that's Antonio Villaraigosa.

BASH: Yes. Well, it's definitely going to be a very interesting time here.

BASS: It certainly is.

BASH: There is no question about that. Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it.

BASS: Thank you for having me on.

BASH: Thank you so much, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

And on this President's Day, the Democratic Party may need to dust off the history books, the one leader they appear to have left off a celebratory post. [18:40:00]

That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: In our Politics Lead, the Munich Security Conference just wrapped and it was a host to a slew of Democrats with potential 2028 aspirations. Governors, senators, members of Congress made the trek to Germany hoping to burnish their foreign policy credentials.

Let's discuss all of this with CNN Political Commentator Bakari Sellers and CNN Senior Political Commentator Scott Jennings. Hello to you both.

Bakari, I want to start with you, and I want to play something that Bill Maher told our colleague, Elex Michaelson, about this year's Munich conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL MAHER, HOST, REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER: I feel like Munich has replaced Iowa as the first primary state.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

MAHER: Because he is not the only one over there.

MICHAELSON: Right?

MAHER: Yes.

MICHAELSON: Gretchen Whitmer is there. Others are there as well.

MAHER: Well, I think AOC is there.

MICHAELSON: AOC, yes.

MAHER: Well, you know, I mean, the 2028 presidential election is well underway.

I would like to have a strong Democratic candidate to get things back to a little bit of normal.

MICHAELSON: Is Newsom the strongest he is right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Bakari?

[18:45:00]

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think he's right. I think that there are a lot of people who are doing whatever they can, whether or not, as Gavin Newsom or Ruben Gallego or the list goes on and on and on, by trying to firm up those foreign policy credentials. For example, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, you don't necessarily think about her in foreign policy in the same sentence. And so she has to get out there and be on the stage and do those things necessary to kind of burnish those, brandish those credentials.

But at the end of the day, I can't tell you who is going to be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States. I can tell you that it's probably going to be a governor. It's probably going to be a governor with some track record of success.

I want to make Scott really, really excited by saying one of those people could be Andy Beshear from the great state of Kentucky. You know, so it's wide open. This isn't -- I'm not about to crown Gavin Newsom because he came to South Carolina and hugged a couple of black women. He's going to have to do a lot more work and becoming more appetizing to the general public.

BASH: Do you want to take that bait, Scott?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm surprised to hear Bakari say it was going to be a governor and not Kamala Harris, who's currently leading the Democrats in the polls. And I know Bakari was such a big fan of Kamala in the 2024 election. She looks like she's coming back to me, which, by the way would be an amazing outcome for the Republican Party.

Look, this Munich security conference put on full blast the fact that we've only got one adult political party in the United States right now, and it's the Republican Party. Marco Rubio gave the speech of a lifetime over there. He laid out a clear foreign policy vision that defends Western values and western civilization and the brightest Democrat over there, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez crapped the bed. Okay?

She wants to be president. She wants to run. And she's one of the most popular Democrats and gave one of the most embarrassing performances you could possibly do.

Gretchen Whitmer, one of the governors that Bakari is touting, said she knows even less about foreign policy than AOC. And Gavin Newsom has repeatedly embarrassed himself every time he's gone to one of these international conferences whether it was Davos a few weeks ago or Munich he can't even rebuild a single house in the Palisades in Los Angeles and California, people are running out of there like crazy right now.

The bottom line is this these international conferences have been a disaster for Dems, and they have showed Republicans in the name of Marco Rubio this time around to be adults who have a clear-eyed view of what the United States has to do in the future.

BASH: Go ahead, Bakari.

SELLERS: No, I was going to say, if I may, I think that the bar and many people know when it comes to foreign policy and individuals who can articulate complete sentences is extremely low when you come to President Donald J. Trump. And I think what you're seeing, though, is people getting their footing. I think Alexandria, Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez getting her footing. Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro -- I mean, the people who we know are running for president of the United States the list is long.

We haven't even spoken about Mark Kelly, who is more than formidable. We haven't talked about Raphael Warnock, who is more than formidable. We haven't spoken about the Pete Buttigieg. Right. I mean, so the list is very, very long.

And if Kamala Harris does get in the race and that's her decision to make, then well we can recalibrate and have that discussion. So, I am not afraid. I don't think any Democrat, Bill Maher to Bakari Sellers is afraid of Marco Rubio or J.D. Vance running for president of the United States. I think what we want to see, though, is that just an all-out figurative brawl for the Democratic nomination, which is what we're seeing.

And I love Scott Jennings, but Scott Jennings is not necessarily going to be determinative of the type of voter that will decide the primary. Instead, that's going to be my mom and her friends.

BASH: Bakari, we're all talking about potential future presidents. But let's talk about past presidents. Today is Presidents Day. And to celebrate that the DNC put -- the Democratic National Committee, put out a tweet showing recent Democratic presidents. You can see Kennedy, Obama, Biden, LBJ, Carter, even FDR. But there is a striking omission, and that is President Bill Clinton.

What's going on there?

SELLERS: Oh, that's crap. I mean, whoever -- whoever designed that, I mean, Ken Martin -- look, you know, President Bill Clinton is somebody who actually brought this country together when we were talking about legislative accomplishments. He's the last president. And I know that Republicans cringe at this, but it's a fact. He's the last president to have a budget surplus.

He created 22 million jobs. I mean, unemployment rate was 4 percent. And he's going to hold himself to account for Jeffrey Epstein and whatever involvement he had in that, I'm looking forward to having him and Hillary Clinton testify. Hopefully that's done in public.

Unlike Donald Trump, who's mentioned second in the Epstein files, only to Epstein himself.

And so, I know that there's some hesitation and consternation. But Democrats we need to understand and grow a backbone sometimes and be able to tell our story. Our story is inclusive of Bill Clinton with all the warts that may come from that. And the fact is, he was a president that people remember for his presidential success and sometimes people remember him for his character lapses and moral failures as well.

[18:50:08]

But you got to take the -- you got to take the good with the bad. You got to look at a holistic picture. And so, I think it's crap that he's left off. It's ahistorical. And you can't lie to people.

We just can't erase him from history. We can't lie that he was a successful president, that he was about his success as president. We should go about telling that story.

BASH: Scott, I want to go back to something that you said before, because I've been thinking about it. Of course, listening to every word that Bakari is saying. But you talked Scott about Rubio, Marco Rubio being the adult in the room. Are you saying that you think that he is somebody who the party should seriously consider over the sitting vice president?

JENNINGS: No, as far as I know, Marco Rubio has said that he's supporting J.D. Vance, if J.D. Vance runs for president, that's my expectation is that the vice president will run. And if he wants to be the nominee, he will likely be the nominee. Rubio says he's for him. The president himself has said he thinks they would be a great ticket.

And J.D. Vance tweeted out Marco Rubio's speech this weekend and said, everybody needs to watch this. Look, I think between Vance and Rubio, you have two clear thinkers. And yes, they do approach, I think their views and how they came to be Republican leaders in different ways, but they both have one thing in mind, and that's defending the future of western civilization.

And I think that's why they would work well together. But no, right now it is pretty obvious to me and most Republicans, that J.D. Vance is highly likely to be the nominee in '28.

BASH: Okay. So you mentioned Western civilization. Let's just talk for one second about civilization on a much, much lighter note. Bakari, former President Obama made some curious comments with regard to visitors from space. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOST: Are aliens real?

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: They're real, but I haven't seen them. And they're not being kept in -- what is it?

HOST: Area 51.

OBAMA: Area 51. Theres no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy. And they hid it from the president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, those comments were picked up all over the world, and the former president had to issue a statement clarifying his position saying, statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there. And I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!

Bakari? SELLERS: I don't know, I believe in the first answer. I'm going to go watch "Independence Day". All 67 of them. Look there's been so much that happened in our political just sphere over the past decade -- I mean, aliens could be approaching us any day if they're not here already.

BASH: Do we have bipartisan consensus on this?

SELLERS: Hats off to Barack Obama.

JENNINGS: I think they got to -- I think they got to Barack Obama. I think he was trying to be honest. And then they got to him, and it was pretty sad. I wish he hadn't walked it back.

He was trying to tell us the truth. He was trying to tell us something. They got to him, pretty bad.

BASH: See?

And people say everybody can't get along in Washington. We're proving them wrong right here. Come together on aliens.

Good to see you both, Bakari and Scott. Thank you.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:57:33]

BASH: In our pop lead, actor Robert Duvall is dead at age 85. His movie career spanned decades, beginning with 1962's "To Kill a Mockingbird".

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BASH: Duvall's career took off in the 1970s you may remember him as Tom Hagen, the consigliere consiglieri rather in the "Godfather" movies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have newspaper people on the payroll, don't we, Tom? They might like a story like that.

ROBERT DUVALL, ACTOR: They might. They just might.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And he spoke what may be the most memorable line of his career in the 1979 film "Apocalypse Now".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUVALL: I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Smells like victory. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Duvall won the best actor Oscar in 1984 for his role in "Tender Mercies", and was nominated for academy awards six other times. A statement issued on behalf of his wife says Duvall died peacefully at his home in Virginia on Sunday. May his memory be a blessing.

And in our pop lead, the classic film "All the President's Men" is coming to your screens in 4k for the first time ever. That is, ahead of the film's 50th anniversary this year. Jake Tapper and I both sat down to discuss the films legacy and working with Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: It's definitely very cool when I get to interview them or getting to know them at all. Both Bob and Carl are incredibly gracious individuals, and they remain completely relentless journalists

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bernstein, are you sure on this story?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Woodward?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sure

TAPPER: It's just an honor to know them, much less be able to pick their brains on live TV.

BASH: I'm the luckiest person in the world that I have been able to meet them both. And in the case of Bernstein, especially since he worked at CNN for some time to be able to work with him, to be able to work alongside Carl Bernstein. I mean, can you imagine, as a journalist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait outside, please, will you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no. No, no, no, I'm the reporter from "The Washington Post". We talked on the telephone yesterday, and you told me to come on down here and I'm here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, Yeah, I've got the press here. I'm going to have to call you back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: We should note, Warner Bros. Discovery, which is behind this project, also owns CNN.

Don't miss your chance to see "All the President's Men" in 4K out tomorrow.

You can follow the show on all of the social media apps, and you can watch the show on the CNN app.

Erin Burnett starts right now.