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Person Detained and Released in Guthrie Case; Kyle Vonwinkel and Mary Ellen O'Toole Are Interviewed about the Guthrie Case; FAA Reopens El Paso Airspace; Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) is Interviewed about the Bondi Testimony. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired February 11, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Back in 2021, when Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were shot and killed at the family's hunting property.

The attorneys for Alex Murdaugh are also appealing a 2024 denial of a motion for a new trial that was over allegations of jury tampering by the clerk of court during that murder trial, Becky Hill.

Now, the retired chief justice who presided over an evidentiary trial determined that Hill did make improper comments to the jury at that time but said that she didn't influence it. Well, they say she did because she has since pleaded guilty to perjury, and that information will be introduced today as well, part of this degree (ph). They're going to -- no new evidence, no new witnesses and no Alex Murdaugh as well. He is not attending. It is important to note, we're not going to get a verdict, any kind of opinion today from those justices. It could be months before they publish a written opinion. But Alex Murdaugh could potentially get a new murder trial. He's not going to get out of prison though. He's serving 27 and 40 years state and federal sentences for those financial crimes.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and the saga continues. Thank you so much, Dianna. Really appreciate it.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking news this morning, new questions after a person questioned in the kidnaping of Nancy Guthrie is released. That as the FBI looks for new clues in the chilling video from her doorbell camera.

Also breaking, just seconds ago, we got an announcement from the FAA that they have lifted -- lifted the closure of airspace over El Paso. This was a shocking and unprecedented move. They'd announced they were closing this airspace for ten days. No one had seen anything like it. It was connected to some kind of military activity. But now, literally just seconds ago, they say it's all over. So, what's going on here? We're going to try to find out.

And then even more breaking news. A brand-new jobs report with better news than expected, showing a jobs market that could be heating up. Sara is out today. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. We've got a lot

of breaking news all at once. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BOLDUAN: Let's get to some of the breaking news this morning.

A man speaking out now after he says he was detained, questioned and ultimately released without charge -- being charged in this -- connected to the search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie. Authorities had said that they detained a person during a traffic stop in Rio Rico, Arizona, which is about 60 miles south of the Tucson area where Guthrie was last seen and where she lives. They also searched a vehicle and a home there.

So, a man identifying himself to "The New York Times" only as Carlos says that he was stunned when he was picked up, detained, and that he has nothing to do with Nancy Guthrie's disappearance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLOS: I hope they get the suspect, because I'm not it. They better do their job and find the suspect that did it so they can clear my name. And I'm done. Look at what I'm putting my family through.

REPORTER: You're on national news now.

CARLOS: Not just them. Not just them. You know, my parents in Tucson. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This comes really just hours after a major break in the case. This video. The FBI releasing video and images showing a masked armed person outside right at Nancy Guthrie's door the night she disappeared. Google technicians and working with the FBI recovered the video from Guthrie's Nest camera. And this is several days into the investigation because that camera was gone when investigators arrived on the scene. A law enforcement source, though, making clear, even with all of this, they say they still do not know where Guthrie is right now.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is live on the ground in Pima County.

So, you now have all of this developing overnight, Ed. How big of -- is this a setback? Is that what this is being viewed as, this man taken in for questioning and released? What are you hearing?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, I think given that we are now entering day 11 of the search and the investigation into the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, you know, obviously it's viewed as a -- kind of another frustrating moment as there has been so few answers as to where she might be. And that's really the ultimate question that everybody here wants an answer to. Of course, nobody more than the Guthrie family themselves.

But all of this is happening and it was an incredibly fast moving, kind of a chaotic night as the -- Carlos' mother-in-law came out and was speaking with us as all of this was unfolding and the agents there descended on that neighborhood in Rio Rico.

But, you know, whether or not it's a setback, I don't think we have a clear picture on that at all at this moment. But I think it's fair to say that, you know, the investigation is also continuing in other parts of the area.

[09:05:05]

We do know that investigators aren't just simply focused on one thing. They are chasing down many different leads.

And the most important part of yesterday was, you know, as soon as these video images and the still images were released from the front door camera here at Nancy Guthrie's home, you know, that has generated a large number of leads for investigators to chase down as people dissect the video looking for any kind of traits in the -- in the subject that was there in that video and whether or not it might be somebody that they know, and then they can call in a tip. That's what investigators are clearly hoping for. And presumably, you know, many of those calls continue to pour in. So, the amount of leads that these videos and still pictures have generated for investigators is really going to be a dynamic.

But I do know in talking to other neighbors and people who have been in the area and have been canvased that, you know, investigations continue to work on other fronts as well.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Multiple fronts now as you, as you, as you said day 11 that Nancy Guthrie has now -- has been missing and the search for her continues.

Ed, thank you so much for being there and great reporting, as always.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now, retired FBI Special Agent Kyle Vowinkel, and former senior FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole.

We'll get to the man who was questioned, then released, in just a second, but I do want to talk about the information that we do now have, which has really changed the nature of this case. Here are some still frames of this video. You can see the individual from the doorbell camera. You can see the gloves. Obviously, also you can see the mask, maybe a mustache there. You can see distinguishable shoes. All these characteristics now that maybe, maybe investigators can use to match, to try to -- to try to drill down on who this person could be.

So, Kyle, to you. Now that investigators, the FBI, local law enforcement has this information and that whoever did this, this person knows that the FBI has this investigation, how does that change the situation and possible communications they might be having?

KYLE VOWINKEL, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, it changes the operating environment that the captors previously had been comfortable operating in. The captor was anonymous. He knew that law enforcement had no one. Now, his face is plastered all over the media. And he has gone into probably hiding mode or fleeing mode. He's -- he knows everyone that's ever spoken to him in the past five years could recognize him and report on him. So, he's absolutely going to be changing his behavior. And that's what the public needs to be on the lookout for.

And it's not just, as we look at the video, you mentioned, the FBI is going to analyze each and every article of clothing, but that's not that -- even though this could result in actionable investigative leads, what's even more important to me are the -- are the biometrics, the behavioral biometrics that the video reveals because even though he covered up his hands with gloves and the face mask, he still -- his identity still leaked through the video through his gait, through his body geometry, and through his movement patterns. Because you can't change those things.

And now that we have a signature of him, we have several signatures of him in the video, they're going to cross-reference that signature across the vast amount of other video sources to hopefully find a match which has a better face picture, which I think will even further accelerate the victim -- or, excuse me, the offender identification.

BERMAN: Yes, we do have a pretty close look at some of these pictures of the face, albeit masks, but there are some perhaps distinguishing characteristics that poke through there.

Mary Ellen, when you look at the video, how the person carried himself, what exactly he did, what behaviors jump out to you?

MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, FORMER SENIOR FBI PROFILER: The one behavior for me that is so impressive is that he walks around the porch in a very casual way. He doesn't seem agitated. He's not looking around. He's not bent over, other than when he entered the porch, looking around as though to see, is anybody watching me? Is anybody aware I'm here? He was very relaxed. He was very casual about it.

And keep in mind that that's moments before he enters a home and kidnaps somebody. So, just having that behavior manifested in that way I think is very significant. And it can go to two things, we're not sure yet, but it can go to the fact that this person has been there before and knows the environment, knows the neighborhood, and knows the layout of the home. It can also go to the traits of his personality that allow him to feel so comfortable in a very stressful situation.

BERMAN: So, Kyle, the idea that this person may have been there before clearly had targeted this individual, but seemed to not be necessarily ready for the doorbell camera and had to go and get the leaves or whatever, the foliage, the plants to cover it up.

[09:10:09]

So, how do you sort of juxtapose those maybe competing factors? VOWINKEL: Well, it shows his premeditation, right? He clearly prepared

for this event. But it shows also that his confidence far exceeds his competence because he was not confident, for example, in his weapon carry. A very unprofessional way to have that pistol right in the front of your groin area. And also the holster doesn't match the pistol. So, to me, also to Mary's point, he -- I also assess he's very comfortable in his area and did not travel that far, at least on foot that far, because that weapon would not stay in that holster. Again, it's not designed for that specific type of weapon. So, it would have come out very easily.

So, I've stood on porches before with the hostage rescue team about to make entry, and we are calm, but we are precise in our movements and our actions. What I saw in that video was no precision whatsoever. He kind of came up there and started winging the plan once he saw the camera. He grabs those flowers to obscure the camera. All he would need is a piece of tape, you know, on his thigh that he could already pre-cut and put that on the camera to cover it up to accomplish, you know, one of the most easiest tasks to do. So, to me, he's, obviously, very amateurish in his execution.

BERMAN: So, all this video, these pictures came out, Mary Ellen, before this individual was taken for questioning and then released. Again, doesn't appear to be -- I'll even take this photo off the screen, so we're not confusing the conversation about the person released with the person in this video. But what does that do to an investigation when maybe you get your hopes up that you have enough leads to speak to an individual, do a search at another location, only to decide that may not be the direction you need to go?

O'TOOLE: Well, based on my experience working cases, that really is not unusual. They're being very aggressive, as they should be, in an effort to identify people whose car, whose license plate may have come up. So, they're being very proactive, which they should be. So, I think there's a lot of this activity behind the scenes. We'll see more of it before they actually apprehend the person. So, that gives me a great deal of confidence that this is 24 hours a day, and it's going to be seven days a week. And there will be other people that will be pulled over, that will be contacted, that will be interviewed. But that's how one of these investigations goes.

BERMAN: And then, just finally, Kyle, you know, one of the traits here, one of the pictures, there's the gun, but there's also perhaps this cell phone sticking out of a pocket here. What kind of a lead is that? What can they do with that?

VOWINKEL: Well, I'm sure in our past cases one of the first things we do would geofence the actual area of interest or where the crime happened and look for every cell phone that was in that area. So, had this phone been on, right, that's the first question and it pinged off a tower, they would have been very quickly able to locate and identify that phone. So, I think it's a lead that is most certainly been pursued already by the FBI and its local partners. So, I don't make too much of that because I think it would have resulted in something -- a better yield than what we had so far.

BERMAN: Got it. Kyle Vowinkel, Mary Ellen O'Toole, thank you both so much for this.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, let's get back to other breaking news that we've been watching and it's really been unfolding as we speak.

The FAA now, just moments ago, announcing that it is lifting the unprecedented order that it had also just suddenly announced, closing airspace in El Paso, Texas, for ten days. Now the FAA announces that is being lifted.

CNN's Pete Muntean back with us.

Pete, what are you hearing? What is happening?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, this was a bit of a mystery. Now we have some more insight into why the Federal Aviation Administration took this airspace restriction into place without any sort of modern precedent. There has never been a ten-mile- wide ban of all aircraft, including airlines, medevac helicopters, police helicopters, in recent times. This is really significant, and we're getting this now from two different lanes here.

A source familiar with this incident and all of these restrictions briefed by the Federal Aviation Administration tells me that this is all related to military activity at Fort Bliss, specifically nearby Biggs Army Airfield and counter drone measures taken by the military, including some laser counter drone measures that were possibly interfering with civilian flights nearby. The concern was, by the Federal Aviation Administration, according to my source, that these restrictions were put into place because the FAA could no longer guarantee the safety of civilian flights going in and out of El Paso International Airport there.

[09:15:08]

It serves about 100 flights a day, about 1,000 flights over this initial ten-day period.

The big update now is that the Federal Aviation Administration has now lifted this all-out ban on flights around El Paso without much warning as well. Went into place without much warning. Went out of place without much warning.

We're also now hearing from reporting by our Kip Marr (ph) and Zach Cohen that there was some concern by the Department of Defense, by the Pentagon, that a Mexican cartel drone breached U.S. airspace, which may explain why this went into place so quickly without much warning.

There have been a lot of comparisons online to airspace shutdowns after the 9/11 attacks, or rather during the 9/11 attacks. That's pretty different because those were fluid and we also knew the reason. That was obvious.

In this case, when this first posted overnight by the Federal Aviation Administration as a NOTAM, notice to airmen or temporary flight restriction, we didn't really know the reason. And so this really is unprecedented and now we are finding out more and more about the backstory here. Really starts to sound like there was a bit of a disconnect between the Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA, what's -- its imprimatur is to protect aviation and flights, civilian flights in the United States. Seems to have acted here. And now it's clearly been sort of smoothed over and now has taken this restriction out of place.

BOLDUAN: Yes. So, two things importantly. It -- one should assume flights will resume. Medevac flights are now allowed and commercial flights will now resume in and out of El Paso and around in that area. So, there's like one bit.

But also when you mentioned counter -- laser countermeasures, if I'm saying that correctly, and I'm sorry if I'm not, that is -- that is important if that is part of this because you, as a pilot yourself, and we've talked about this many times, how dangerous laser technology is for planes, for pilots. And when you're talking about what, you know, civilian, commercial aircraft, that seems a prudent measure if that was -- if that was playing out.

MUNTEAN: Yes, and I don't want to get too out of my depth here, but we know that --

BOLDUAN: Right.

MUNTEAN: Laser pointers that you can buy just on Amazon can blind pilots of commercial flights. And this happens over and over again. We're talking thousand report -- thousands of reports in the U.S. every year because of essentially pranksters on the ground doing this. Lasers are a specific concern to commercial flights. And so, if pilots can't see, then they cannot fly. The most important instrument in any airplane is your eyes. And so, that's a huge concern. And that may be the reason why the FAA acted with such swiftness here about a concern for safety. We don't know.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

MUNTEAN: And the problem right now is that the Department of Defense, the Pentagon, is referring us to the Federal Aviation Administration. The Federal Aviation Administration doesn't want to say much about the Department of Defense. Sort of unclear whether or not these tests were public or not.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

MUNTEAN: So, it's a big, big, big questions here about why this initially came into place. We have some idea and we need to learn more.

BOLDUAN: More information coming out. But it's this kind of like whiplash nature of how this has played out this morning that is also why everything needs a little bit more time to settle in as you're doing your great reporting. Pete, thank you so much for bringing us the latest updates.

MUNTEAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Pete's going to be all over it for us this morning.

We continue to follow more breaking news this morning.

A better than expected jobs report just came out. What this means for the state of the U.S. economy and the labor market. That's ahead.

And next hour, Attorney General Pam Bondi will be in the hot seat on Capitol Hill after being forced to unredacted more names in the Epstein files.

And Sunday's Super Bowl was reportedly the second most watched event in U.S. history. We got more on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:23:47]

BERMAN: All right, we are standing by to see Attorney General Pam Bondi very shortly this morning. This has already been quite a morning. A lot going on here. And this is going to be even more.

She testifies before the House Judiciary Committee. And this could get hot. Overnight we learned that a grand jury declined to indict six Democratic lawmakers who posted a video urging service members to disobey illegal orders. The very fact that the Justice Department put this before a grand jury at all is notable.

With us now is Congressman Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee.

Thanks so much for being with us.

Let me just start with that bit of news that the Department of Justice put this before a grand jury, trying to get indictments on those six members, and the grand jury said, no. What do you make of that?

REP. STEVE COHEN (D-TN): Well, you know, the old saying is that a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich. I just wonder what they're doing with the ham sandwiches. They didn't indict here the six congress people that just in an ad said was the law that you shouldn't follow an illegal order. They tried to indict Letitia James, the attorney -- district attorney -- the attorney general of New York state, and they refused to do it. And I think they had James Comey, and they couldn't get an indictment there.

[09:25:00]

They've had more ham sandwiches. They must have an inventory in their kitchen of ham sandwiches.

BERMAN: So, you will get --

COHEN: Probably had mayonnaise on them.

BERMAN: I do prefer mayonnaise than mustard on my ham sandwiches, but that isn't for now.

Congressman, the attorney general appears before your committee. You're going to have a chance to ask her questions. Thomas Massie, who's also on the committee, a Republican, says he very well may move to hold her in contempt for the way that she's handled the Epstein files. How do you feel about that?

COHEN: Well, the entire six million files were supposed to be released. They released three million. They didn't release the other three million. And so, she is in contempt to -- the congressional acts said to dismiss them all and it said only redact for certain purposes. And they found redactions of six men who they -- Ro Khanna revealed their names on the House floor where he has congressional immunity. And they were six very wealthy men whose names were redacted. And there was no reason to redact them. They were not supposed to redact for embarrassment. And there was a place where Donald Trump's name was redacted so that people wouldn't know that he had talked to Jeffrey Epstein about some matters. That's not supposed to happen either.

So, I imagine there's an immense amount of redactions that are there to protect Donald Trump. And that's what the Justice Department has done. It's become -- it's -- the weaponization of the Justice Department was not under Biden. It's under Donald Trump. Pam Bondi does what Donald Trump wants. That's why she's had these ham sandwiches that she now has waiting for you, John, with mayonnaise on them. And she's, you know been an embarrassment really because she does whatever Trump says and whatever Trump wants. That's -- she hasn't -- didn't investigate the killings in Minneapolis, where a -- Ms. Good and Mr. Fretti were -- Pretti were killed by ICE agents and just killed. And they -- he didn't go anywhere for his weapon. But she has asked people to investigate Ms. Good's wife and whether or not she hurt the officer when she drove forward and turning to the right. Mr. Pretti, what about his gun? These aren't -- there's a -- they've simply become the arm of the White House and Trump. And by following Trump, they've been embarrassed and looked like the katzenjammer (ph) kids.

BERMAN: How do you plan to use your five minutes of questioning for the attorney general today? Knowing full well that when she has testified before, she is -- gets quite contentious. She gives it back to you all?

COHEN: Well, she did in the Senate. She brought up a lot of things that I thought was inappropriate and shot back at senators for maybe faux pas in their past or questions about it and became -- rather than answering questions, she became -- she attacked. We expect that. And everybody's kind of expecting it.

I did not bring a bucket of fried chicken. I thought about bringing it because I thought that might be what she throws out and I would toss her a thigh or something. But no, I didn't do that. I'm just going to play it straight.

BERMAN: One more question about the Epstein files, because Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is sort of now changing his story about when he did or did not stop communicating with Jeffrey Epstein. I just want to play two pieces of sound here. One isn't from that long ago. It's October 1, 2025, when he explains when he had cut off ties with Epstein's in the like 2006 era. And the other is from yesterday, when he now says he saw him again.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: My wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again. So, I was never in the room with him socially, for business or even philanthropy. If that guy was there, I wasn't going because he's gross.

I did have lunch with him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me, as were my four children, and nannies. I had another couple with -- they were there as well with their children, and we had lunch on the island. That is true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, he went from, I was never -- he went from, I was never in the room with him, to, I did have lunch with him with my wife and a whole lot of other people, years after, by the way, he was a convicted sex offender in Florida.

So, what questions do you have for Howard Lutnick, and do you have confidence in his ability to continue as commerce secretary?

COHEN: Well you know, it seems that they all thought he was gross, but then they thought he was a -- in retrospect, everybody said, oh, I wish I'd never had any contact with him. He was gross. He was disgusting, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. They all knew, as Trump said, everybody knew what Jeffrey Epstein was up to. It wasn't necessarily a secret. And that's why he had friends. And that's why people went there. You know, the prince didn't just decide that he wanted to meet Jeffrey Epstein. He heard something about Jeffrey Epstein, just like Elon Musk did, and Lutnick did, and people heard about his parties on the island and somebody, I think was -- was it Bannon that asked if he had -- could take his camera? There was some crazy stuff. And they knew it and they knew what they were doing. They're trying to bail out now. They've got a dead man who they want to avoid. But during life, they were all -- they were all his minions.

[09:30:08]

BERMAN: All right, Congressman Steve Cohen, thanks