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Nancy Guthrie's Children Post New Plea, We Will Pay; Ghislaine Maxwell to Appear for Deposition Before House Oversight Committee; Seattle's Defense Dominates Pats in Super Bowl LX Win. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 09, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The hunt for Nancy Guthrie intensifies ahead up today's deadline to hand over millions in ransom to her abductors, a ransom her family now says they will pay.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Standing by for testimony today from Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted of conspiring to sex traffic minors, along with Jeffrey Epstein. New reporting on what she will say or perhaps not say.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And the Seahawks defense, the halftime show, and the ads, all the hits and misses, and the football mixed in between, the Super Bowl moments people are still talking about this morning.

I'm Kate Bolduan with Sara Sidner and John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: Right now, the search for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie is entering its second week as a 5:00 P.M. deadline in demand for a ransom for her safe return is approaching for the Guthrie family. Citing a ransom note sent to the station, CNN-affiliate KGUN reports that Nancy Guthrie's possible kidnapper or kidnappers are demanding $6 million in Bitcoin by 5:00 P.M. today. They also say the note includes a threat to Guthrie's life if that deadline is not met.

Now, over the weekend, Guthrie's children, Savannah Guthrie, and her brother and sister, posted a new plea for their mother's return.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NANCY GUTHRIE'S DAUGHTER: We received your message and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: It is so hard to watch that family go through this. Officials are looking at the authenticity of a second message sent to a different local T.V. station on Friday. That note included sensitive information but no deadline. And over the weekend, authorities were seen at the home of Savannah's sister, Annie. Investigators also returned to Nancy Guthrie's home on Sunday.

CNN's Ivan Rodriguez is outside Nancy Guthrie's house in Pima County, Arizona, this morning. What are you learning this morning?

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sara, good morning. Right now, we have a sheriff deputy parked outside of Nancy Guthrie's home, and the Guthrie family had requested that the Pima County Sheriff remain outside of the home to guard for these next couple of days. So, we're going to continue to see that law enforcement presence here. We've seen a sheriff deputy exit the vehicle, walk into the driveway area right in front of the home, just constantly patrolling.

Now, as you mentioned, over the weekend, we did see quite a bit of action from investigators, just looking at specifically into yesterday, at least two investigators were seen examining a septic tank near Guthrie's home. They were also seen with this large stick caught on video examining it, poking inside of the septic tank itself, using a flashlight to get a better look inside as well.

The Pima County Sheriff didn't confirm any details as to what exactly they were looking for, but what they did say is that they're going back to multiple locations to continue their investigation, and that's exactly what we saw as well, where on Saturday night, three unmarked vehicles were parked in the driveway of Annie Guthrie's home. And although the lights were dim inside of the home and the blinds were drawn, it did appear that in investigators were taking photographs inside of the home because of bright flashes that could be seen from the street.

Now, when investigators left Annie Guthrie's home, they did leave with a bag that was placed in the backseat of one of the vehicles. And a sheriff deputy was also seen wearing blue latex gloves. And, again, we'll remember that Guthrie was at Annie, her eldest daughter's home the night before she disappeared.

And, Sara, I also want to take a moment to talk about Nancy Guthrie's health, because last week, the Pima County Sheriff said that she needs to take daily medication that, quote, could be fatal for her to go without, and she's now potentially been without that medication for a week. We know that authorities have been contacting different pharmacies as well as local hospitals in the area, trying to see if anyone has tried to pick up any sort of medication in an effort to get it to her.

[07:05:04]

Still, Sara, no suspects have been named, and like we've heard in the last few days now, no new press conferences are scheduled. Pima County Sheriff Nanos had mentioned that there would be one scheduled if there were sort of any sort of new evidence, but still nothing yet to report on that front either.

SIDNER: Yes. One thing to just keep reminding people is of the numbers for any information, literally anything that they saw or that they've heard, that they have any information on this, there are two numbers to call and they're there on your screen from the Pima County Sheriff's Department. That's the local number. And then you have the FBI number, 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Thank you so much for your reporting from Pima County, Arizona this morning. John?

BERMAN: All right. This morning we are standing by for Ghislaine Maxwell to appear before the House Oversight Committee. She will testify virtually from prison where she's serving 20 years for conspiring to sex traffic minors with Jeffrey Epstein.

Now, the panel's chair says he expects Maxwell will assert her Fifth Amendment rights and not answer questions, but he hopes she will change her mind.

Let's go right to CNN Senior Legal Analyst, former Federal Prosecutor Elie Honig. You know, Maxwell's lawyers are also saying she's going to, you know, assert her Fifth Amendment rights here. What are those rights in her case, given that she's already been convicted in her case, and also given that she spoke at length to the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Right, John. So, it might seem unusual that somebody could invoke the fifth after a person like Ghislaine Maxwell has been tried and convicted, and she's tried out and lost her appeal. She went to the Court of Appeals. Her appeal was rejected. She asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case. They said no. So, a person might say, well, then how could she still have a Fifth Amendment right?

The answer is, first of all, she has an ongoing sort of alternate style of appeal going on here called collateral appeal, called habeas corpus. So, that's even after you apply -- you appeal to the Supreme Court. So, she does have that level of ongoing appeal. The other thing is she could still at least theoretically be charged by state authority. She could theoretically be charged with crimes in the State of Florida, in the State of New York, perhaps other places. So, courts do generally give people in Ghislaine Maxwell's very broad discretion, very broad latitude when it comes to invoking the Fifth Amendment.

Now, yes, she did answer a series of questions this past summer when she sat down face to face with Todd Blanche. And Ro Khanna and others on the committee are saying, well, then she waived it. She gave up her Fifth Amendment right. But what Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers are saying is, yes, but she might be asked different questions now. And they're also saying new information has emerged, so the calculus has changed.

So, yes, Ghislaine Maxwell, if she does invoke the Fifth Amendment right, that very likely will be all that we hear from her.

BERMAN: Is there any way to compel her to testify?

HONIG: There is Congress could give her immunity, which is a power that Congress has, that would essentially mean anything that she says cannot be used against her. It also would mean as a practical matter, that she cannot ever be prosecuted again for anything that she testifies about.

Now, would they want to do that? Would they want the political appearance of immunizing Ghislaine Maxwell, of potentially giving Ghislaine Maxwell a future free pass? That's going to be a political calculation. I don't expect that that will will be there in Congress.

BERMAN: You know, in the sphere of political calculations, if you have a witness who makes clear she's going to assert her Fifth Amendment rights, why bother having her at all, Elie?

HONIG: Well, there's certainly an element of political theater, John. I will tell you that as a prosecutor, if you get a letter from a witness' lawyer saying he or she is going to invoke the Fifth across the board, you don't then drag the person into a grand jury or into a court and make them go through the steps of actually saying, I take the Fifth. But it does sound like Congress will do it here. I'm sure there's a political element to that.

I think what Ro Khanna would say, and other Democrats on the committee, other members on the committee would say, well, we still want to pose the questions to her one at a time so we can be clear exactly what we want to know from her and exactly where she's claiming the Fifth. So, there could be some benefit to that exercise to at least make a record, but largely it will be for show.

BERMAN: All right. Well, we will watch and monitor the show as it were to see what does happen.

Elie Honig, thanks so much for your analysis here. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Also Bad Bunny at the big game, the Super Bowl halftime show that has everyone talking still including the president.

Plus, a new update on Lindsay Vonn. The downhill legend had two operations for a fractured leg after that terrifying crash in yesterday's Olympic final.

And a huge explosion inside an elevator after gas-filled balloons catch fire, what happened and how those people are doing this morning.

[07:10:02]

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: So, this morning, the Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl champs. Yes, yes, yes, you're like. Kate, I know this. But the big reason behind their win is, well, they aren't the Patriots and also they have really good defense.

[07:15:04]

CNN's Andy Scholes is live in San Francisco. Do you have a voice and what's the -- and this is like where cliches reign supreme, defense wins championships, Andy? ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. I mean, Kate, I would grade Super Bowl 60 a D, but that D is for defense because, I mean, that was an all-time great performance from Mike MacDonald's group. I mean, Drake Maye could not do anything all game long. And that Seahawks defense, they were pitching a shutout through three quarters of Super Bowl 60. It's just an incredible performance. They sacked Drake Maye six times in this game.

And, you know, for a while there it looked like that Seahawks kicker, Jason Myers, was going to be the only person that was able to score any points in this game. He made a Super Bowl record five field goals in this one. And the Seahawks defense just made play after play after play, a huge one happened near the end of the third quarter, Derick Hall sacking Maye, forced to fumble, Seahawks would recover. And then we finally got our first touchdown in the fourth quarter, Sam Darnold to A.J. Barner for the score. That made it 19 to nothing. Might as well have been a hundred to nothing at that point with the way the defense was playing, and later on, the Nwosu putting an exclamation point on this one in the fourth quarter at that interception, 44 yards for the score. Final would be 29-13. It really wasn't even that close. Running Back Kenneth Walker, he was the game's MVP after rushing for 135 yards.

And for Sam Darnold, he completes one of the best comebacks in NFL history. You know, he was once considered a bust but he just never gave up. The Seahawks were his fifth team. Now, he's a Super Bowl champion. I got this special moment that Darnold shared with his family there on the field as he completed his epic comeback journey, and afterwards he said it was his family that got him through it all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM DARNOLD, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS QUARTERBACK: I'm here because of their belief in me and they believed in me throughout my entire career, and I think that's why I was able to believe in myself almost ad nauseum. Like I -- some people called me crazy throughout my career for believing in myself so much and having so much confidence, but, you know, it was because of my parents, because of the way that they believed in me throughout my entire career. And it allowed me to go out there and play free and have a ton of confidence.

SCHOLES: Now, Seahawks Head Coach Mike MacDonald, he painted a defensive masterpiece in this game. And at just 38 years old, he's the third youngest coach to win a Super Bowl, and he did this in just his second season in charge in Seattle. And he joined me and Elex Michaelson on the field after becoming a Super Bowl champ.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE MACDONALD, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS HEAD COACH: Synergy man, it really matters. When you're connected like that. The way they, our guys are connected, the way they love each other, it's a power -- the football teams are the coolest things ever. I mean, you got guys from all over the place that came together for a common goal, all different backgrounds. You learn off each other. I mean, it doesn't get any better than that. ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: That's, we get the 12 though, the 12 was here tonight.

MACDONALD: That's right.

MICHAELSON: Loud, the fans for the Seattle Seahawks described as the best fans in the league.

MACDONALD: Well, they backed it up today. I don't know how much more evidence you need, but if you saw our playoff atmosphere and our games this season, they absolutely backed it up. They're the best. They need to get ready, though, because we're going to be partying this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes. And it was 11 years ago that Malcolm Butler just broke the hearts of all of Seattle with that interception on the one yard line to beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl 49. But, you know, Kate, those tears are now a distant memory. John Berman's the one crying those tears because the Seahawks are now champions and the party's just going to be going on through the streets of Seattle, I'm sure, throughout the week.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I mean, that was like a quite the warning. Get ready to party. It's a day. It's Monday, John Berman.

BERMAN: It's over. Turn the page. Turn the page.

BOLDUAN: Yes. That's what it -- there's a sense of that in the studio today, Andy, and I'm just here to be supportive of all.

Thank you, Andy Scholes. Thanks Andy. Mr. Berman?

BERMAN: All right, we got other news. His son allegedly killed four people in a school shooting. This morning, the father on trial for murder in a landmark case.

And then disaster delivery, an Amazon drone goes down. What happened, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: New this morning, jury selection set to begin in the murder trial of Colin Gray. He is the father of a Georgia teenager accused of killing two students and two teachers at Appalachee High School in 2024. Prosecutors say Colin gave the weapon to his son, who was 14 at the time, despite warnings about his dangerous behavior. Gray has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

CNN's Jean Casarez is here with this case, which feels like others, but has some unique characteristics.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does. This is the third time in this country, James and Jennifer Crumbley being the first two in Michigan, that a parent has been charged with crimes that his son allegedly committed because his son has not been tried yet. He has pleaded not guilty. But even though he didn't pull the trigger, and his name is Colin Gray, that's the father, his jury selection is going to start in just hours.

Now, the defense had asked for a change of venue because it's a small town, it's a community, right? And so they got another county for jury selection, Hall County, and then they'll go to Barrow County for the trial. But, John, it's 27 miles from the courthouse to where the high school is, 27 miles. It's the same television stations, it's the same media.

[07:25:00]

And I know from covering the Crumbley case from the beginning, the emotions that surround a mass school shooting, they can -- they permeate the walls of the courtroom.

Now, Colin Gray was charged with very serious crimes, 2 counts of murder, 2 counts of involuntary manslaughter, 20 counts of second- degree cruelty to children, and 5 counts of reckless conduct. He could live the rest of his life in prison.

But here's the difference between this case and the Crumbleys case, and they were convicted also, but a year before this happened, his son allegedly wrote on social media, I'm going to shoot up the school. The police found out. The school found out. There was a meeting with the father, Colin Gray, now defendant, and the school and the police saying, look at what your son wrote.

Well, months after that, he bought him a Christmas present. It was a gun. It was an AK-15 rifle. And months after that is when allegedly the son, Colt Gray, shot the school and, yes, murdered, killed two people, injured two people, but many young children, 14 years old were injured.

BERMAN: And he has pleaded not guilty here.

CASAREZ: He's pleaded not guilty. We want to see what the defense is because he's got challenges here. This case has major challenges, all about the knowledge, consciously, knew about a risk and disregarded the risk.

BERMAN: So, the prosecutor will very much focus on that meeting where the father was told extensively about the things that his son has been saying.

All right, Jean Casarez, we know you're following this, thank you very much for being with us. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Just ahead, we are just hours away from the reported 5:00 P.M. ransom deadline for the return of Nancy Guthrie. What we know about the kidnapper's demands for the mother of Today Show Host Savannah Guthrie.

And surveillance video catches the moment a bunch of balloons explode in an elevator. New details this morning on what caused that explosion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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