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FBI Releases Images And Video From Nancy Guthrie's Doorbell Camera; Lutnick Confirms Epstein Lunch After Saying He's Cut Off Contact; Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) On Trump's Threat To Military Buildup In Middle East If No Iran Deal. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 11, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:33:18]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news. A person taken in for questioning in the search for Nancy Guthrie, and now that man has been released by police and he's talking to reporters. At the same time, investigators searched a home connected to that man in Rio Rico about 60 miles south of Tucson. This comes -- that came hours after a break in the case. Authorities releasing these images and also video showing an armed, masked person outside Nancy Guthrie's door the night she disappeared.

CNN's Ivan Rodriguez is on the ground with much more on this. And what is the very latest you're picking up? A lot happened overnight.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, absolutely. From 24 hours ago until now it feels like we've had a lot of movement in this case.

As you mentioned, that man who was initially detained during a traffic stop has now been released. That man also speaking in front of reporters saying that he was shocked that he was connected to this case and that he does hope that they do find that suspect.

And we also heard from another woman in Rio Rico, which is about an hour south of Tucson near the U.S.-Mexico border. She says that her home was also searched and that she believes that they were looking for her son-in-law, but she says that her son-in-law has nothing to do with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. She even says that when she came back home to Rio Rico from Tucson that authorities had already broken down her door. Now, authorities have completed the search of that home as we are aware.

And there's clearly a lot of interest in this case from so many people online as well. The Pima County Sheriff's Department has been getting a lot of calls in, in these last 24 hours since those images from the FBI were released. They're also asking people though not to call in with any theories or any opinions on this case. And they want to make sure that their -- you know, those lines are open for that one crucial tip that could help solve the mystery of this case.

[07:35:12] And that video -- I mean, it really is incredible to see that doorbell video in front of Nancy Guthrie's home. Behind me is Guthrie's home and it's been so crucial because it's very hard to get any real doorbell footage or surveillance footage in this neighborhood because you can see -- I mean, a lot of bushes and foliage behind me. And this is what this road looks like here in this neighborhood.

It really is very difficult to get a solid image from a doorbell camera here because the homes are so far off from the road. So now that we have that clear image authorities are really hoping someone will call in with that crucial tip.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. It seems like right now they need that crucial tip.

Thank you, Ivan -- appreciate it -- on the ground for us -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, with us now is CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter, and former FBI profiler Gregg McCrary.

And we're going to get to these new images -- the new video from the doorbell camera in a minute. But I want to take them down because I don't want to imply to the man that the FBI and people were talking to overnight and was released was the person we saw in that video.

Brian, first to you. NBC broke into their Olympic coverage with the fact that they were questioning this person. Fox News had Kash Patel, the FBI director, on saying that they had persons of interest identified but this morning we understand that person has been released.

How much is the family being told as each step goes on here with these developments?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yeah. The family learns about these developments shortly before the rest of the country does.

For example, with the photos yesterday, the Guthrie family -- the siblings -- the children of Nancy Guthrie were shown the imagery ahead of time but not a long time -- not many hours in advance. Those images had just become available on Tuesday morning. They were shown to the family and then shown to the public.

And the same with this development overnight. You know, the family members, the loved ones, Savannah, and Annie, and Cameron's friends and family -- they are, of course, hanging on every development and holding their breaths hoping for a breakthrough. But in this case, it does not seem to be coming yet. And now we wait to see if the imagery is going to shake loose --

BERMAN: Yeah.

STELTER: -- other tips, other information the police now have -- the authorities now have that might lead to some other possible person.

BERMAN: Yeah. Look, there certainly must have been a sense that this was a big deal or promising last night for NBC to break into the Olympic coverage to bring people up to date on the fact this person was being questioned.

STELTER: Yeah.

BERMAN: Gregg, now I want to ask you a little bit about this new video. We've seen this individual from the doorbell camera. There are 44 seconds of video. There are some identifiable characteristics inside the video. You can see a gun right here. In this picture right here you can see the individual may have a mustache poking through right there in the opening of his mask.

But what I want to ask you about is this. This is a freeze of him putting some kind of, you know, plants on the doorbell camera itself.

And this -- what does it indicate to you that he knew what he was doing, that he had been this close before, or what?

GREGG MCCRARY, FORMER FBI PROFILER, DIRECTOR, BEHAVIORAL CRIMINOLOGY INTERNATIONAL (Coughing) Excuse me. I think it shows kind of criminal -- a lack of criminal sophistication. It looked -- it looked as though he saw the camera. He goes oh, I've got to do something. Goes out, finds some weeds, and tries to cover it. It's very -- not very sophisticated at all.

But I think the whole crowdsourcing thing is very important and I want to make a couple of points here about the behavior.

We look at -- this is a targeted crime. This guy just didn't show up and knock on the door, and it happened to be Savannah Guthrie's mother. So that means there is some pre-abduction behavior and post- abduction behavior.

He likely would have targeted her, so there may have been some contact with her or the family, or somebody around them. And people around this offender -- they have known that he was somewhat fixated or interested in her for some reason.

But the other big thing is the post-abduction behavior. That would have disrupted his normal daily routine. So in addition to looking at the videos, which is fine, keep in mind that this individual -- his normal routine would have been disrupted. He would have been totally consumed by this abduction -- handling the victim, watching the media, all of that, and now this has just amplified that issue now that these videos are out there.

So keep in mind that yeah, he's been disrupted. You want to look for that. He's been consumed, and now he's scared. He's probably more rigid and overcontrolled. So all those things together -- if you see something like that you need to call and report that.

[07:40:05]

BERMAN: Yeah. And based on what you know, when you see -- if you are someone carrying out a kidnapping like this and all of a sudden yesterday afternoon you see this video released in public. Right here you can see the backpack that he was wearing. Here you can see, you know, shoes maybe identifiable that he was wearing. So if you are this kidnapper out there and you know this video has

been released to the public, how does that alter your behavior?

MCCRARY: Yeah, it sends him into -- I mean, he's scared because he can be identified now. He may be getting rid of that stuff to try and distance himself from -- you know, from that material.

So again, I think that what the -- what the viewers need to know is this guy has changed his behavior. He's panicky now. And don't get into denial. I've worked these other cases where --

BERMAN: Yeah.

MCCRARY: -- people say, "Oh, it looks a lot like that guy. He's behaving a little weird, but I really don't think he'd do it." If there's any --

BERMAN: Yeah.

MCCRARY: -- hesitation at all, get over that and call in and report it up.

BERMAN: Yeah, and one other thing I want to point out to people. There appears to be, you know, a cell phone perhaps in his pocket there. Maybe that gives something to the authorities to try to identify.

And Brian, just very quickly before I let you go --

MCCRARY: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- how is it that this video came to light so many days later?

STELTER: It's an incredible story that's still being pieced together because these cameras -- this is one of those Nest cameras owned by Google. Google was able to find an archived copy of some of this raw material, but it took many days of painstaking effort to do so. So far, Nest has not commented on exactly how it was accomplished but there were probably backup copies somewhere out on the internet cloud that were found and recovered.

And that raises the question are there other raw material copies? Are there other extracts the government can help get thanks to Google and possibly release in the coming days? We don't know.

BERMAN: And look, yeah, this case is in a whole different place today than it was yesterday. That much is for sure.

Brian Stelter, Gregg McCrary --

STELTER: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- thank you both for being with us -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: The White House says President Trump is standing by Howard Lutnick as calls mount for his resignation over ties to Jeffrey Epstein. He is the president's commerce secretary, of course, and he took questions during a Senate committee hearing yesterday during which admitting he did -- and acknowledging he did visit Epstein's island long after he had previously claimed that he had cut ties.

Lutnick saying that he had "barely anything to do with Epstein." The casual response to it all not sitting well some lawmakers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD LUTNICK, U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY: I looked through the millions of documents for my name just like everybody else, and what I found was there was a document that says that I had a meeting with him.

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): No. Everyone isn't worried about their names being in the Epstein files.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Kevin Liptak following all of this from the White House. Kevin, what are you hearing about Lutnick, how the hearing went, and what now?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. You know, the people I've talked to -- you know, officials -- people close to the White House -- do not believe that Howard Lutnick is any -- is in any serious risk of being fired at the moment, in large part because the White House just wants to move on from the Epstein matter. And firing someone over it -- I think the belief here is that it would just provide legitimacy to the entire thing. So at least for now Lutnick seems to be safe.

But certainly he is being heaped with scrutiny -- probably the most scrutinized official in the administration, aside from President Trump himself, for his ties to Epstein.

You know, the question is not whether Lutnick committed any crimes here; it's about how long he maintained his relationship with Epstein after saying in a podcast interview last year that he had cut off all ties with Epstein in 2005.

You know, the two are longtime next-door neighbors on East 71st Street in New York City. They had had interactions, but what Lutnick said is that after visiting Epstein in 2005 he was so disgusted by him that he was never in the room with him again.

But these documents show that, in fact, he was. There were two instances of them engaging with each other, including in 2012 when Howard Lutnick visited Jeffrey Epstein's island in the U.S. Virgin Islands alongside his family.

So a lot of inconsistencies in how he's described all of this. But at least the White House yesterday very much behind Howard Lutnick, saying that the president fully supports the secretary.

BOLDUAN: Kevin, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Let's turn now to this. New exclusive reporting from Axios. President Trump saying that he is considering sending a second aircraft carrier strike group, he calls an armada, to the Middle East to prepare for military action in the event that peace negotiations or nuclear negotiations fail with Iran.

[07:45:05]

Just days ago the first round of talks between the U.S. and Iran concluded in Oman. There are discussions for a second meeting as President Trump insists there is still a diplomatic path to solving tensions between the countries. He says -- he says, and he's adamant, that he believes Iran wants to make a deal.

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As you know, we have a massive flotilla right now going over to Iran. We'll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal, and I think they'd be foolish if they didn't. We took out their nuclear power last time and we'll have to see if we take out more this time.

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BOLDUAN: Someone else also keeping a very close eye on these talks, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in Washington and who will meet with President Trump at the White House in just a few hours.

Joining me right now is Democratic Congressman Gabe Amo from Rhode Island. He's a top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, thank you so much for coming in.

The president says that Iran wants to strike a deal. Do you believe that, and do you know what kind of deal the President of the United States would agree to?

REP. GABE AMO (D-RI): Well, good morning. Thanks for having me.

Well, I do hope that there is a diplomatic solution that goes forward here. I think it's incumbent on the president to lead with that as he continues talks and sends administration officials over.

As far as what type of deal to expect that's sort of the unknown with Donald Trump. And so we in Congress need to hear the details. I expect and certainly demand that before the administration takes any dramatic steps, that they come brief lawmakers, and especially if they are keeping a military option open, we cannot see again unilateral action from the executive branch in this regard.

BOLDUAN: And a reminder to everyone where this began. This began with the President of the United States promising the mass protests against the Iranian regime in Iran -- promising those protesters that help was on the way.

In -- do -- in your mind does a nuclear deal with the United States have anything to do with protests that have been going on and the horrendous crackdown that the Iranian regime has been bringing upon those protesters in Iran?

AMO: Well look, I think the two are linked. I believe that it was the wrong signal to send to say to protesters that help was on the way and then not deliver it. Not have a way to follow through on that message. I think you have heroic people who are standing up for the cause of freedom on the ground.

Now, at the same time as we see the president take on and pursue a nuclear deal, I do believe he has to be consistent with finding solutions to the problems that the people of Iran have long encountered.

BOLDUAN: You've got a few days left also where you're facing down on Capitol Hill before DHS funding runs out. And it does not feel like there is progress in the attempt for Democrats and Republicans to find a path forward -- a compromise on policy changes for ICE in order to get that funding approved.

The Attorney General of the United States Pam Bondi is testifying before the Judiciary Committee today. What would you like to have her answer for when it comes to her role in carrying out the president's aggressive ICE raids and deportation plan?

AMO: Well first, I would hope that the lawmakers who grill her today tell the attorney general that she as, you know, and in coordination with her colleagues in the cabinet, have perpetrated terror in the communities across this country through the aggressive actions of ICE and CBP, all under this administration's really lawless path to enforce compliance with their aggressive immigration policy across this country.

And so I want to hear from her very directly how the administration is going to hold up the Constitution freedoms and stop the terror that we see in communities across this country.

BOLDUAN: She definitely is going to be facing questions about that and about immigration, the ICE raids, and much more.

When it comes to the path forward on DHS funding there are many Democrats who are fine seeing this funding lapse. Many Democrats who have said they would like to see ICE abolished as we know it.

We also though have Republicans saying essentially -- I'll read what Sen. John Barrasso said when it comes to the shutdown that could be coming. "Senate Democrats have a choice to make. Option one, fund the Department of Homeland Security. Option two, Democrats can once again side with the radical left and force a shutdown of vital services to the American people.

[07:50:10]

How do you respond to that if this does shut down?

AMO: Well look, I stand strongly with any agencies under DHS that could be affected, including the TSA, the Coast Guard, and FEMA. However, we cannot give another penny to the Department of Homeland Security to merely bring terror to communities across this country and --

BOLDUAN: Senator Thune, though, Congressman, says that if you guys allow this to happen you will be -- the federal employees at TSA will be held hostage by Democrats.

AMO: Well look, that's a choice that Republicans are making. They are making a very clear choice that they would rather see a shutdown to essential agencies than come and work with the Democrats on a deal that protects the American people -- that stops warrantless arrests, that takes masked men off our streets, and that stops the abuse of U.S. citizens.

So there's a choice. Republicans have to make it. This is not something that they can merely pass along to Democrats because they don't want to do the hard work of standing up for the Constitution and against terror in our communities.

BOLDUAN: The choices Republicans have to make but obviously very clearly the reality is choices that Democrats need to make too, as well as this time ticks down.

Congressman, thank you so much for coming in. I appreciate your time -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking news from Canada. Nine people were killed and as many as 25 injured at two locations, including a school. Police say a shooter was found dead from self-inflicted injuries at the school and they think the shooter killed two other people at a home nearby. Police say they do know the shooter's identity but did not give any further details and would not say if it was a child.

All right, breaking news. The FAA grounds all flights at El Paso airport citing special security concerns. Experts say they haven't seen anything like this since 9/11. So what's going on here? What might be happening in that area?

A mass gang, an armored truck, and a chaotic explosion. Two men head to court today.

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[07:56:35]

BOLDUAN: Happening today in the Olympics all eyes on ice dancing as Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates go for gold in the free dance. And Team USA's backflipping star Ilia Malinin is sitting in first place after yesterday's men's short program.

Let's get over to CNN sports anchor Amanda Davies in Milan for more. What are we watching and what are we waiting for?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: I laugh in terms of Ilia Malinin -- back-flipping, hand-standing, cart-wheeling. I mean, you name it, he does it.

But three-time and reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates, as you mentioned, in their combined ninth Olympic Games in all but their first as a married couple. They're looking for gold number two here at Milan Cortina. After that Team USA success over the weekend, they're in second place behind the French pair heading into their free dance. They were left a little bit disappointed by their score after the short program on Monday but still hopes very high there.

And so, too, that 21-year-old Jordan Stolz from Wisconsin could become not only a new Olympic champion this evening but one of the faces of the games over the next 10 days. He's already a seven-time speed skating world champion across three individual distances. He has dominated for the last three years, and he begins his campaign as favorite in the men's 1,000 meters. It's the event he is world record holder in.

And somebody who knows what it's like to be the face of the games, Chloe Kim. Despite suffering that shoulder injury, you might remember, less than a month ago the two-time gold medal winner has topped qualifying this morning to make it into Thursday's half-pipe final and in the same event you mentioned where Ilia Malinin put himself into first place.

A word before I go on Team USA's Maxim Naumov. There really was not a dry eye in the house. He made his Olympic debut. Eleven and a half thousand people at the arena and so many more around the world willing him on as he took to the ice just a year after losing both of his parents in that Washington plane crash that killed 67 -- many of whom, of course, were part of the skating community. His parents, former world champions.

He said his performance there was seeing through the family dream they'd talked about since he was five years old. He looked to the skies afterward. He held up a photo of his family together the first time he was on the ice at the age of three. That was the photo.

In so many ways his score was irrelevant, but he did more than enough to make his parents proud. He sits in 14th heading into Friday's free skate. And afterward said he felt like he was a chess piece being moved around the ice by a higher power -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: That gives you chills. My goodness. All right, Amanda. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Much more to come from the Olympics. What a story -- John.

BERMAN: All right. New this morning protests in New York after the Trump administration removed a pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument. This is the country's first national monument for LGBTQ rights. The removal follows a White House directive restricting the types of flags which can be flown at national park sites.

Today two men are set to appear in Italian court accused of carrying out an armed robbery on an armored security truck. The gang attacked the truck and hijacked a student's car while trying to escape and set the vehicle on fire. The heist ended in a shootout with Italian police.