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Sheriff: "Several Items of Evidence, Including Gloves" Found in Search; Investigators Looking into a White Van as One of the Many Tips in Guthrie Disappearance; DHS Shutdown All But Certain After Senate Dems Block Funding Bill; Trump Repeals EPA's Ability to Regulate Climate Pollution; Repeal of Major Climate Policy Tees Up Legal Battle; Trump: Relations with Venezuela have been "Extraordinary"; U.S. Energy Secretary Tours Venezuelan Facilities Alongside Acting President Delcy Rodriguez 3-3:30p ET

Aired February 12, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:34]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: New searches, new tips and new evidence. We're breaking updates in the abduction of Nancy Guthrie.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And we just got one step closer to another partial government shutdown, the latest as Democrats and Republicans fight over just how much to rein in ICE.

And the EPA administrator calls it the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States, the major rollback just announced at the White House.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We have breaking news in the search for Nancy Guthrie. The Sheriff's Office, just a short time ago, saying they're now investigating several items of evidence that have been recovered, including multiple gloves. Officials also just expanded their request for security footage from people who live near Guthrie's home. They now want video from January 1st to February 2nd. We also have new reporting on one of the things they could be looking for. CNN's Nick Watt is live for us in Tucson, Arizona. \

Nick, what more can you share?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, yes, we've just heard that one of the tips they are chasing down involves a white van. But the source cautions, listen, this is not confirmed, and investigators, Boris, are going through thousands of tips.

It has been fascinating to see how this investigation has evolved and perhaps accelerated since that door camera video of the suspect standing on Nancy Guthrie's porch in the early hours of the morning, masked and armed. Fascinating to see how things have changed since that was released about 48 hours ago.

So earlier today, we got word of a request that was put out to everybody within a couple of miles of Nancy Guthrie's house for video from very specific dates. January 11th, between 9 P.M. and midnight. So, that's about three weeks before Nancy Guthrie disappeared. And then, also from the day before she disappeared, anything from 9.30 to 11 in the morning. There was talk of perhaps a suspicious vehicle seen near here at around 11.

Now, the issue is going to be with this video. This is not a built-up urban environment. In fact, the zoning means all these houses have got to be 30 feet back from the road at least. Many are a lot more. So, it's unclear what we're going to get from a lot of that surveillance video, but investigators will likely be trying to patch it together to try and work out a timeline and try and track that suspect.

Now, the other thing, gloves, plural, that is key. So yesterday we heard that investigators who were going over this whole area again, having seen that suspect in the surveillance video, they knew a little bit more what to look for, the mask, the gloves. Yesterday, a glove was found. We heard from local sheriff this morning that gloves multiple have been found along with some other evidence.

And of course, more analysis of that suspect's video, the backpack, we believe that that was bought in Walmart. They will be trying to track that down. Also, just the demeanor, behavior of that suspect. Some experts have said that the way that the suspect had his weapon holstered suggests that he was not trained to handle firearms.

So, right now, as you say, this broad request for any video from January 1st to February 1st, anything that anybody thinks is suspicious, a vehicle, a person, anything, that's what investigators now want, Boris.

SANCHEZ: And in the meantime, Nick, we saw a new post today, an emotional one from Savannah Guthrie. Tell us about that.

WATT: Yes, so she posts on Instagram what looks like home movies of her and her siblings and their mom. And, you know, listen, I cover a lot of these things. I see a lot of these things. I was moved by it. You've got to -- I mean, you can't help but be moved by it. And then Savannah Guthrie wrote next to it, our lovely mom, we will never give up on her.

This is now day 12 since she disappeared and still we, in the public, don't know if investigators really are any closer. As I say, the investigation seems to be accelerating, but still no suspect named. Boris.

[15:05:00]

SANCHEZ: And, of course, they are asking for the public's help. So, if you know anything out there, please call that tip line on the bottom right of your screen, 1-800-CALL-FBI. Nick Watt from Tucson, Arizona. Thank you. Brianna. KEILAR: Back here in Washington, a Department of Homeland Security

shutdown is now all but certain. Senators are leaving town for a week- long recess, likely meaning that funding for the DHS will lapse Friday at midnight. Democrats are demanding major changes to immigration enforcement, like requiring agents wear body cameras or remove their masks.

This morning, Senate Democrats rejected the White House's counteroffer, claiming its reforms fall short. Here's President Trump responding.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They want our law enforcement to be totally vulnerable and put them in a lot of danger. They have some things that are really very hard to -- very, very hard to approve, frankly.

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KEILAR: All right, let's turn now to Lauren Fox, who was up there on the Hill following all things shut down. All right, Lauren, where do things stand right now?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, the fact that you have seen lawmakers in both the House and the Senate leave town for a week-long recess without any resolution here, like you said, all but guarantees that a shutdown is going to happen tomorrow at midnight.

Obviously, the fact that they are skipping town days ahead of this deadline says a lot about where the state of negotiations were. Back and forth between the White House and Senate Democrats, it just didn't develop very quickly. Over the course of the last two weeks, what we've seen is really a very slow, methodical back and forth. This is not the kind of intensity, the kind of members -- White House officials coming up to the Hill that you would expect to see if there was going to be a resolution. Instead, this has just been a really slow-moving train. No detail as to what papers were being traded back and forth.

That can sometimes be a good sign that negotiators are working in good faith, but the fact that lawmakers have now left and it is 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Thursday, the deadline tomorrow is midnight, gives you a sense that no one thought they were close to a deal.

And, you know, Republicans in the Senate had tried to force Democrats to support a short-term funding measure so that the department would not shut down tomorrow at midnight, but Democrats rejected that, saying essentially that the negotiations just hadn't gone far enough.

Now, the impacts of this shutdown are going to be a lot narrower than perhaps what folks back home might be expecting. Because of the President's signature policy bill, there are tens of billions of dollars for ICE, for CBP that were already injected into what the Department of Homeland Security can spend when it comes to immigration enforcement. So, the very thing that Democrats are arguing is that they don't want any more money going to ICE and CBP, but the reality is that money is going to be there.

So, the impacts of this shutdown are largely going to be felt on agencies like TSA, on the Coast Guard, and other various agencies. So, that gives you a sense that this is a narrower shutdown, but how this ends remains to be seen. Because once you go through the motions here, it's really hard to find the off-ramp to reopen this agency. Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. It's a really good point. Lauren Fox, thank you so much.

Still to come, President Trump has just stripped the federal government of its power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The lasting impact that could have on the climate.

And Minnesota Governor Tim Walz asked the Trump administration for compensation after its huge and deadly immigration crackdown there.

Then later, just one day after the death of actor James Van Der Beek, new research finds colorectal cancer is now the deadliest form of cancer in young adults. What you need to know.

We'll have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: So, the President this afternoon just stripped the EPA of its most powerful tool to regulate air pollution and greenhouse gases. In a White House event, Trump announced he's rolling back what's known as the endangerment finding, which links specific greenhouse gases to public health. In turn, helping the government cut emissions and create substantial climate policy ever since the Obama era.

KEILAR: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin hailed the move as the nation's largest act of deregulation, claiming it will save more than a trillion dollars in regulatory costs, bringing consumer costs down.

The President added this.

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TRUMP: Over the generations, fossil fuels have saved millions of lives and lifted billions of people out of poverty and ...

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KEILAR: Critics say the move is reckless to public health. They accused the President of pandering to polluters. CNN's Rene Marsh is here with this story. All right, Rene, tell us what more this rollback means to people in their day-to-day lives.

RENE MARSH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, in a nutshell, I mean, the science has been quite clear. It means dirtier air, more pollution. But this also is going to face really long, long -- many years of legal challenges. I mean, just within minutes of the President's announcement, we saw that health organizations already announced their intent to sue the American Lung Association and several others saying that they intend to sue to stop the administration from repealing this Obama-era endangerment finding, which essentially said that these six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, are a harm to human health.

And because of that determination, it allowed the EPA to have the legal authority to limit how much of this pollution is coming out of cars, power plants, and the fossil fuel industry.

[15:15:02]

The American Lung Association saying in their release that this is a dark day for science, this will mean more air pollution, it will make lung health worse. And the President was actually asked this very question about what do you say to people who are concerned about the impact this will have on human health and here's what he had to say.

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TRUMP: There's nothing to do with public health. This was all a scam, a giant scam. This was a rip-off of the country by Obama and Biden.

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MARSH: So again, at the top of that was a little hard to hear, but he said this has nothing to do with human health. Of course, that's in conflict with decades and decades of science that says indeed that, you know, toxic air pollution, and there are many studies out there that show people who -- in communities living in the shadows of fossil fuel industry have a lot more trips to the ER, have struggled with issues like asthma, have lung health issues. So, the science certainly does not reflect what the President is saying there. But again, expect this to potentially draw out in the courts for as long as the rest of his presidency. And, you know, we expect it to most likely find its way back to the Supreme Court.

Remember in 2007 and 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA actually does have the authority to -- to regulate these greenhouse gases. But what we saw just last summer is the Department of Energy, they put together this report. It was authored by five researchers who have for many years sown doubt in climate science. And -- and this new report basically said that this issue of climate change is overblown. It's not a catastrophe.

And in part, they were relying on that new report to justify the repeal here that we saw them do today.

SANCHEZ: Rene Marsh, thank you so much for that reporting.

MARSH: Sure.

SANCHEZ: President Trump describing the U.S. relationship with Venezuela as extraordinary now that Nicolas Maduro has been removed. The Energy Secretary is going to join us. He is in Venezuela right now. We'll be live after a quick break.

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[15:21:48]

President Trump is now calling the budding U.S. relationship with Venezuela extraordinary. He posted on Truth Social that his administration is dealing well with acting president, Delcy Rodriguez. Trump says oil is starting to flow and that the money raised will soon be helping the people of Venezuela. We want to take you there live because Energy Secretary Chris Wright is in the country touring oil and natural gas facilities alongside the interim president. The Secretary joins us now.

Secretary Wright, thank you so much for sharing part of your day with us. You've said that the goal is to transition to representative government and free trade in Venezuela and that Delcy Rodriguez recognizes that free elections are a necessary condition, yet she still claims that Nicolas Maduro is the country's legitimate leader. How do you explain that contradiction and what has she been told about her role in the country's future?

CHRIS WRIGHT (United States Secretary of Energy): Look, Delcy is the interim president right now. She's working with the United States, I would say, in tremendous cooperative efforts to engineer President Trump's just landmark change in diplomacy. Here, a country that was sinking deeply is on the rapid rise without any bullets fired, without any American troops on the ground and no American taxpayer funds. So, we're -- we're focused on the future and where Venezuela's going. Myself, Delcy, the U.S. government and the authorities in Venezuela.

SANCHEZ: Do you know what she's been told about her future role in government in Venezuela? Should she be allowed to run in future elections?

WRIGHT: Oh, look, yes, it's not us that are going to tell Delcy what her future role is. You know, that's ultimately going to be up to the Venezuelan people, not -- not up to the United States government. We are here to steer reforms that'll enshrine property rights, rule of law, improve the conditions for people in Venezuela so that -- we've had eight million people flee the country. We want conditions good so people come back to Venezuela. The crime and drug threat to the United States gets reduced and then we have enormous commercial opportunities for Venezuelans, for Americans and the whole hemisphere. But Delcy's role in the future of Venezuela, that's going to be up to the Venezuelan people.

SANCHEZ: And obviously those reforms are -- are directly tied to energy and U.S. investment in infrastructure. I wonder if U.S. energy companies begin investing in Venezuela before elections are held, what leverage would the administration still have to enforce those reforms should those elections not come first?

WRIGHT: Oh, those investments are already happening, already. We're here at a Chevron facility. They are already meaningfully stepping up their investments in Venezuela. We have dozens of American companies that have come down or about to come down and are looking at opportunities. We have former large players here looking about the right way to come back.

So, look, things are not going to wait till elections to start moving in the right direction. Of course, the full reform and transformation won't be done until after elections. But in the meantime, there's so much that can be done.

[15:25:01]

And the leverage we have is we control the flow of the largest, the dominant industry of Venezuela. We control the flow of funds from oil. Delcy wants to work with us. We want to keep that money flowing. And, of course, as -- as you say, if Delcy has aspirations to be a leader in Venezuela in the long run, she's certainly got to deliver for the Venezuelan people to raise popularity.

SANCHEZ: Can you tell us what specific plans U.S. firms have shared with you or members of the administration about investments in Venezuelan oil?

WRIGHT: Oh, look, as we stand here right now, this is a major crude processing facility. You know, north of a hundred million dollars will be invested to upgrade and increase the throughput capacity of this facility. That's a Chevron facility. We were at a Chevron field earlier today. They're on target to double production in that particular field in the next 12 to 18 months, and probably quintuple it over the next five years. Those dollars are already flowing. That activity is already there.

There's a bunch of other companies -- service companies that want to come down and serve the large oil and gas production companies. We're talking to people that are very interested to work on the electricity grid. Venezuela's also had a collapse in their electricity production. You want to improve people's lives, you got to get more electricity. All of this stuff, I think, is going to happen relatively quickly.

SANCHEZ: A lot of that, Secretary, is in contrast to what we've actually heard from many of these energy companies who say that they're uncertain about the future of Venezuela, not only because of political issues, but also even in Trump's first term, the administration had accused the state oil company, PDVSA, of corruption and even criminal activity, and they still owe something like $60 billion in external debt. You're asking these companies to work with them. So, what security guarantees are you offering?

WRIGHT: So, we're not going to -- the U.S. government is not going to offer physical security or economic security. American businesses and international businesses, they do -- they do business all around the world in all different political and risk environments. Venezuela's no different in that. It's just, it was one of the absolute riskiest, worst business environments there was two months ago. Today, it's meaningfully better. Is it Norway? Of course not. That's going to take time, but it's moving that direction. There's already a new hydrocarbon law.

I think there'll be modifications and enhancements to that. You're going to see other reforms in Venezuelan laws that are driven by the government here in Venezuela. Their whole incentive profile, the whole mission of the Venezuelan leadership has changed.

SANCHEZ: Secretary, I do wonder how then you respond to, for example, the CEO of ConocoPhillips, Ryan Lance, saying that the first priority of the company is making sure that the significant debt that is owed by the Venezuelan government is paid back. If -- if they're focused on collecting debts and you're saying that they're interested in investing, but that the money that is now going to be recruited from these profits of oil sales is going to go to the Venezuelan people, how do you square that?

WRIGHT: Ah, that's what businesses do. You know, certainly, ConocoPhillips, of course, is in active dialogue with the government of Venezuela. Who knows if a deal will be struck? But I think you're going to see multiple deals where the debt that's owed them is swapped, meaning used as payment, to buy assets in Venezuela. So instead of bringing cash, they're going to convert their debt into rights and oil reserves and operating facilities, and they'll move forward from there. But those are business negotiations. But you're going to see plenty of those deals.

Venezuela has very serious fiscal problems, as you've just said, Boris. They're not going to be gone in a year. They're not going to be gone in two or three years. But they were only headed one direction before. Now the prospect of realizing value from those large debts, whether it's through cash repayments or swap into assets, now that's real. Those dialogues are active, and you'll see announcements on that in the coming months and certainly in the coming years.

SANCHEZ: And Secretary, as you know, U.S. control over Venezuelan oil interests has meant that oil imports to Cuba have ground to a halt. There are daily blackouts that have worsened. Essential services are being cut. It's only going to get worse. The concern is that that will mostly hurt the people of Cuba, not the leadership, which is largely insulated. So, what is the U.S. prepared to do there? Are you aware of specific conditions that need to be met by the Cuban government to restore energy imports?

WRIGHT: So, look, the situation in Venezuela was driven in part by the dire state of the population in Venezuela, and you're right. That same condition is occurring in Cuba. I'm headed in the right -- the wrong direction. What's the U.S. interest there? It's the same idea, like there's 10 million people there. We wish had a better quality of life. We wish we didn't harbor Russians and Iranians in nearby states.

[15:30:06]

So, might President Trump also use his creative diplomacy ...

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