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CNN News Central

Bad Bunny Brings the Heat in Super Bowl Halftime Show; Guthrie Family Begs for Mother's Return, Says We Will Pay; Ghislaine Maxwell Pleads the Fifth at Congressional Deposition; Officials Release New Details About Brown University Shooting; Trump Taking Steps to Install Columbus Statue Near White House. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired February 09, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

ADRIAN CARRASQUILLO, NATIONAL IMMIGRATION CORRESPONDENT, THE BULWARK: -- all the islands, and then he ends with the United States, right?

So to me, he was -- that show yesterday was affirming our humanity at a time when this administration and people in charge have been denying humanity to so many people, including U.S. citizens. So, I mean, just again, right, the party, the dancing, it was very much in opposition to what we've seen culturally over the last year, I would say.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Yeah, listen, it was great. I mean, it was just -- it was fun to watch. No doubt about that. Adrian, Dominic, thank you so much to both of you for the conversation.

And a new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": At a loss, Savannah Guthrie's family left pleading for her mother's return as investigators struggle to figure out where Nancy Guthrie could be. A deadline may be adding urgency to that search.

And job insecurity, we're all worried about how A.I. could lead to job cuts, but one career in particular has become the ultimate case study for why that may not actually happen.

And a Super Bowl shutdown. Seattle Seahawks defense crushing the New England Patriots, leaving no doubt about who is the best team in the NFL. We'll bring you the highlights as we follow these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

KEILAR: A critical juncture in the abduction of Nancy Guthrie. The 84-year-old was taken from her Arizona home nine days ago now. So let's go right to CNN's Jake Tapper, who is there now in Pima County, Arizona. Jake, give us the latest. What do you know?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, from this very depressing story, Brianna, greetings from outside the sheriff's office here in Tucson. So, we know that today is a very important deadline day. According to our affiliate here, KGUN, the kidnappers, presumably the ransom note has been verified at this point, have demanded that the family pay $6 million by 5 p.m. local time, so 7 p.m. East Coast time today. So that is a big, important, crucial deadline in this whole nightmare.

Over the weekend, just to get people up to speed, Savannah Guthrie and her brother, Camron, and her sister, Annie, appeared once again on social media making a plea. This is their third plea message to the kidnappers. And they said, Savannah said, "We beg you now to return to our mother, so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace."

Savannah also said, we will pay. Obviously, a lot of people are trying to interpret that language, which does not necessarily suggest the best news, but we all, of course, remain hopeful. Just to remind folks, Savannah has previously said about her 84-year-old mother, Nancy, that her heart is fragile, that she's in constant pain.

And the sheriff here has noted that she takes medication every day, and it could be fatal if she misses a day. It is already, obviously, more than a week since she disappeared. Some of the updates since I was last on air, a spokesperson from the Circle K convenience and gas station chain told CNN that law enforcement went there and asked to review surveillance video from one of the Circle K stores in Tucson as part of their probe.

The investigation obviously continues. We saw over the weekend, late Saturday, law enforcement went to the home of Annie Guthrie, Savannah's sister, and took some material from there, took some photographs. We also know that law enforcement went to the home of Nancy Guthrie on Sunday.

They were seen searching a septic tank. This is all, I'm told, following up on leads, following up on tips that they have gotten. There are lots and lots of flowers outside the home of Nancy Guthrie right outside Tucson. Some other little details from the investigation, the camera, or some sort of a detecting camera alerted at 2.12 a.m. two Sunday mornings ago when Nancy Guthrie was abducted, that a person was detected, but there was no actual video of a person, so the thought is it could possibly have been an animal.

We know that the blood on the porch of Nancy Guthrie's home has been identified as hers. The front-door camera is missing, and that Nancy Guthrie's pacemaker was connected to her smartphone which was left behind at the house. And that disconnected, her pacemaker, from the smartphone at 2.28 a.m. again, February 1, two Sundays ago. There have been two ransom notes and law enforcement have, of course, been checking on how real those are.

[14:05:00]

But right now, we're waiting to hear it. There was a rumor that there was going to be a sheriff press conference later today. As of now, I'm told there is nothing scheduled, but that's the latest here from Tucson as we all continue to hope and pray for the very best for Savannah Guthrie, Nancy Guthrie, Cameron, Annie, and all of the family.

KEILAR: Yeah, we certainly do. Jake, thank you so much for the latest from Pima County, Arizona. I want to bring in now former FBI Agent, Bryanna Fox. She's now a Professor at the University of South Florida. And Bryanna, as you heard there, Jake going through what we saw over the weekend, law enforcement at Nancy Guthrie's house overnight. They were looking at that septic tank. They were on the roof on Friday night. They were at Annie Guthrie's house as well.

What stands out to you in this investigation right now, ahead of this second apparent deadline later today?

BRYANNA FOX, FORMER FBI AGENT: There's a lot to unpack. One is that they are not just sitting around waiting for a payment to be made and for Nancy Guthrie to be returned. They are actively investigating this, which is a huge departure from other kidnapping for ransom cases.

I mean, normally, when a ransom note is left, it's usually before law enforcement is involved. Their goal is to avoid all of this, and we can see all that is occurring. They are actively trying their hardest to try to identify her, especially before anything bad would happen to her.

So this is unusual, but they're clearly doing everything they can. I think that they're doing searches, just trying to find, there could be that needle in the haystack, the one small thing, an interaction with somebody, some piece of evidence that was maybe flushed on the toilet, found in the septic tank, something like that that could hopefully break this case open.

KEILAR: And what did you think of this latest video from the Guthrie siblings?

FOX: Yeah, that was really tough to watch. Between the, I mean, just the emotional toll, I mean, it seemed like it was psychologically torturous for the family to have to do this. But clearly, there was something in this most recent note that was sent to KOLD that I think had a change in their tone. I mean, maybe it was just, there is no more negotiations, we are -- you pay up or that's the end.

And that could just have been the tone that we're seeing, which is almost like, OK, fine. And even though they did want things like proof of life, and they wanted there to be some communication, in the end, they may have made that very tough decision. They would rather pay and take the chance than to keep, essentially, arguing with potential kidnappers. I mean, that's certainly a possibility. That is what we're all hoping for, of course.

KEILAR: Yeah. And can you speak specifically about this $6 million Bitcoin demand, how hard it is to track?

FOX: Yeah, I'm not the expert on Bitcoin, but I do know, first of all, you know, it is a public space, all of the transactions are public. What happens next is where things either become a little more complicated or potentially even traceable. So if that money gets moved again, that's an opportunity to follow up on that because it's got to get moved somewhere, right, to be used to turn into another kind of currency, all of that means traceable.

Same thing goes from where these, the VPN that was used to send these letters, it's kind of similar to Bitcoin, it's anonymous, but there's just a chain. And the chain, it makes it more difficult to chase because you're going from one link to the next to the next, each of which requires more investigations, subpoenas, more investigative resources. But it is not impossible, both are very difficult, although I would say it's a little easier with the VPN than with Bitcoin.

KEILAR: That is very interesting. Bryanna, thank you so much. Really appreciate your insights on this. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Convicted sex offender and Jeffrey Epstein accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell refused to say a word during a closed-door deposition today before House lawmakers. Her attorney, though, did make one very big overture. He said if President Trump grants Maxwell clemency, she would talk and clear Trump's and former President Bill Clinton's names concerning their ties to Epstein.

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence. She invoked her Fifth Amendment rights during her appearance before the House Oversight Committee with a Republican Chair calling her decision disappointing. Elliot Williams is a CNN Legal Analyst and a Former Federal Prosecutor.

Elliot, Maxwell's attorney claims that she must remain silent because Ms. Maxwell has a habeas petition currently pending, that demonstrates her conviction rests on fundamentally unfair trial -- on a fundamentally unfair trial.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST AND FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Right.

SANCHEZ: What does that mean?

WILLIAMS: She is still -- we should be clear, she is allowed to assert her right against self-incrimination any time she testifies.

[14:10:00]

If there is potentially information that opens up the door to crime she could be prosecuted for in the future, or if she has pending things before courts, and her speaking here could provide evidence or testimony in that, she does have a right not -- to exercise that right. Now, look, it's not satisfying for us in the public and quite frankly, for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, who wish to have more information and closure here, but she's exercising constitutional right. That's just the way the system works and we sort of have to make peace with it.

SANCHEZ: So, how are you reading that in contrast to this push from her attorney, essentially saying that she would clear President Trump, former President Clinton, as long as she gets clemency or a pardon? WILLIAMS: Yeah. It's kind of a reminder of how awful the pardon power is in our world right now, because the framers drafted it, did not put any guardrails on it, and for the last 240 years or however long, nothing's been done to restrain it. Presidents have abused the pardon power for a long time and quite frankly, if President Trump wants to pardon her to clear his name and clear Bill Clinton's, he's allowed to because that's how vast the pardon power is in the Constitution.

It's sickening how it all works, how folks can go to the White House and ask for a pardon and ultimately get one, and President Trump's been quite aggressive in giving out pardons.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

WILLIAMS: That's sort of how the game is played here in the country and frankly, it falls to Congress to limit that.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: (Inaudible).

WILLIAMS: Yeah, make some change if you wish.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. I want to ask you about what's going on in the U.K. because former Prince Andrew is now being investigated for sharing -- allegedly sharing, confidential reports with Epstein when he was the U.K. Trade Envoy. This is theoretically information that would boost --

WILLIAMS: Right.

SANCHEZ: -- Epstein's financials. How does an investigation go about this? Could he be charged?

WILLIAMS: Potentially. I mean in the United States, of course. Now, what prosecutors would have to work on is how, whether the things he was charged with are within or beyond the statute of limitations. A lot of crimes at this point, because of how long ago this all took place, would be beyond the statute of limitations and couldn't be charged. Now, sex trafficking and trafficking of minors does have an indefinite statute of limitations, so you could be charged there. So for financial crimes, it's hard to see what exactly he'd be charged with.

But it's a reminder of how vast all of this is through Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Washington, Wall Street, and quite frankly, the British Crown, if you want to call it that.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

WILLIAMS: -- the ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

SANCHEZ: Well, it's also the former U.K. ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson.

WILLIAMS: Yes. SANCHEZ: He's being investigated for a similar crime. Would there be any difference based on his position?

WILLIAMS: Oh, I don't think so. No, certainly not in the United States. I think now, obviously, there would have to be some diplomatic arrangement between the two countries if somebody is a member of a royal family or whatever else. But if the conduct is there and the charges do exist, of course, it would fall to U.S. prosecutors to investigate them and charge people with crimes if they broke the law in the country. The big problem is going to be some of that procedural stuff like those statutes of limitations. It may just be too far removed from when the crimes happened.

SANCHEZ: We'll see what comes next. Elliott Williams, thank you so much.

WILLIAMS: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.

Still to come, we have our first look at the police response to the deadly mass shooting on the campus of Brown University. What body cam footage reveals. And later, we'll discuss the career path that may provide you the best job security in the age of A.I.

And as President Trump moves to install a Christopher Columbus statue near the White House, he's sparking strong reactions from both supporters and critics. We're going to look at the complicated history around the man that Trump calls the original American hero. That and much more, next.

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[14:18:18]

KEILAR: Officials in Providence, Rhode Island releasing 9-1-1 calls and police body camera video from the deadly shooting at Brown University late last year. Two students were killed on December 13th when a gunman opened fire inside a building on campus. Nine others were injured and authorities say the suspected shooter then fled the state and shot an MIT professor two days later. The 48-year-old suspect was found dead by suicide in a New Hampshire storage unit. CNN's Danny Freeman is with us on this story.

Danny, what can you tell us about the new audio and the video the police have released here?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna. These new video and audio recordings really give the public a close-up view at the intensity of the aftermath of that Brown University shooting. We got a lot of dispatch between law enforcement agencies in the area in the aftermath of the shooting and then we also got about 20 minutes of body camera footage from one particular officer.

It's the Providence police officer who was the responding officer in charge, which meant that he was basically the person who was controlling the scene after that shooting took place and you can see in this body cam footage, this officer really directing other police officers, SWAT members, all throughout that engineering building where the shooting happened, trying to search for that suspect and, of course, get other students out to safety.

But you'll notice, Brianna, that there are a lot of redactions in this video for a number of reasons, first, of course, to protect the identities of many students and victims, but also frankly, to hide some of the more gruesome parts of the scene that were captured on body camera video, but again, you can't see. For example, where the auditorium was, where a lot of the shooting did happen, we don't have any footage of that.

But you can hear the intensity in the voice of all of the officers on the scene as they were really treating this as an active shooter situation, again, as they go methodically door to door.

[14:20:00]

One of the other chilling things, Brianna, that you can see on this footage is a number of rooms where there are backpacks and coats seemingly left by students who after hearing gunfire fled that particular building. Now, the unfortunate part, Brianna, is that in this video, in these recordings, there was not much new information when it comes to that main question that so many of us have. What made the suspect here, Claudio Neves Valente, ultimately carry out this shooting, not just at Brown, but then of course, as you noted, of the MIT professor as well a few days later?

Nothing really in these videos or documents to shed light on that. I want you to take a listen to how the mayor of Providence described that very problem still.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BRETT SMILEY, (D) PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: We've seen what the FBI has released from the storage unit in New Hampshire and if there's one big outstanding question, it is why did these poor kids get targeted by someone? None of the camera footage will answer that question and in fact, those questions may never be answered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Now, Brianna, the mayor said that they released this footage and these recordings because they've gotten a tremendous amount of public records requests and they felt that it was part of their duty to be transparent. That's why they released what they were able to, though there were a lot of other body cam footage out there that the mayor said he would not release. This would be the end of the video released here because, frankly, the other body cam videos are a little bit too gruesome and also don't show, in their words, the complete picture of what happened in the aftermath there.

So again, still a lot of questions about why this shooting happened, but this is the latest, I should say, the closest view that we've gotten to what that scene looked like after that shooting, Brianna. KEILAR: All right. Danny Freeman, thank you for the latest there.

Still to come, the president reportedly wants a statue of Christopher Columbus placed near the White House here in D.C., a city that does not celebrate Columbus Day, and it's causing a lot of controversy. We'll have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

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[14:26:48]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SOPRANO, PLAYED BY JAMES GANDOLFINI, THE SOPRANOS: He discovered America is what he did. He was a brave Italian explorer. And in this house, Christopher Columbus is a hero. End of story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That moment from "The Sopranos" is resurfacing because of a new reported move by the White House, reigniting a decades-long debate over the legacy of Christopher Columbus. But what is often missing from that debate is why the 15th century Italian explorer became a symbol and a holiday in the United States, a country he never actually stepped foot in.

Now, President Trump wants to go a step further. New reports say he's seeking to install a Christopher Columbus statue near the White House. And not a new Columbus statue per se, but according to three sources who spoke to "The Washington Post," a reconstruction of one, first unveiled in Baltimore by President Reagan in the 1980s, where it stood until July 4th, 2020.

After the murder of George Floyd, Columbus' slaughter and enslavement of indigenous people helped fuel the fervor of social justice protesters. They dumped Columbus' monument into Baltimore's inner harbor. Since then, a group of Italian-American businessmen and politicians recovered the destroyed pieces and rebuilt it, and according to "The Post," now President Trump reportedly wants it for President's Park, just south of the White House.

When asked, the White House wouldn't confirm the reports, but cited that line from fictional mafia boss, Tony Soprano, telling the AP, quote, "In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero, and he will continue to be honored as such by President Trump." Now, those who share the view that Columbus is a hero argue that the Italian explorer bravely ventured into seemingly uncharted water, overcoming the odds to spark a new world of modern global trade that helped lay the foundation for globalization.

Critics, on the other hand, argue that he massacred and enslaved untold numbers of indigenous people and, as governor of what's now the Dominican Republic, his tactics were so brutal that fellow colonists had him arrested and he lost his governorship. He also, notably, was not the first European to discover North America. Leif Erikson is believed to have done it 500 years before Columbus. But at least for President Trump, celebrating him is good politics. He wants Italian- Americans to vote Republican. He said as much a few weeks ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Officially reinstated Columbus Day. I like the name Columbus Day. The Italian people are very happy about it. Remember, when you go to the voting booths, I reinstated Columbus Day. That was an easy one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: But that leads to an important question. Does Trump truly know the history behind Columbus Day? Not about Columbus or anything he did or didn't do, but the origins of why we started celebrating him in this country. Let's go to the magic wall, because to understand, we have to go back some 135 years to a time of intense anti-immigrant sentiments, specifically toward Italian-Americans.

They were among the largest demographic moving to the U.S. at the time, and they were frequently depicted this way, as in this political cartoon from the era, as vermin, as rats, subhuman animals dumping murder and mafia right under Uncle Sam's nose into the United States. And that sentiment went beyond political cartoons --