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Savannah Guthrie: "It's Never Too Late To Do The Right Thing"; Hundreds Of Prominent People Named In Epstein Files; Rubio: Entering "Golden" Era Of Relations Between U.S. And Hungary. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 16, 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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[07:31:15]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning a new message from Savannah Guthrie as the search for her missing 84-year-old mother Nancy stretches into a third week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC ANCHOR "TODAY": And I wanted to say to whoever has her or knows where she is that it's never too late, and you're not lost or alone, and it is never too late to do the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: "It's never too late," she said.

This new plea comes as investigators anticipate the final test results from DNA on a glove found about two miles from Nancy Guthrie's Arizona home, which the FBI says appears to visually match the ones worn by the suspect seen in the doorbell cam video. But a source close to the investigation stresses there are still no leading theories as to why Guthrie may have been taken.

Let's get right to CNN's Leigh Waldman live on the scene this morning with the latest. Good morning, Leigh.

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

That video of Savannah -- the latest plea from her for any answers on her mother -- her mother's safe return -- you can just see the desperation at this point as we're 16 days out since her mother was apparently abducted from her home here.

That glove that was recovered that investigators have said has DNA on it -- we know it's been sent off for testing to that private lab in Florida. Once the quality control is done the FBI is going to start running it through its unique database. All of this can take about 24 hours depending on the quality and type of DNA that's been recovered.

We also know that's there's been DNA recovered on the property of Nancy Guthrie. The sheriff not telling us exactly where it was found but saying they have DNA. It's not Nancy's and it's not anyone close to her. But the big question is who does it belong to? That's the overwhelming question here and one that we desperately need answered. In addition to running it through a criminal database, experts say that they'll likely run the DNA that's been collected through Familial DNA testing websites to see if there's any kind of match there.

There's a lot of unanswered questions here. There's still no leading theory as to what happened here. Was it a targeted kidnapping because of who Nancy Guthrie's daughter is? Was this a burglary gone wrong? We can't really eliminate any of those theories at this point.

So many questions lingering over here, but let's run through what we do know.

We know from the doorbell camera video and pictures that were released it was an armed and masked man who came to Nancy Guthrie's door. The FBI saying they have a preliminary profile of who that person is. It's man with a medium build between 5'9" and 5'10".

Neighbors in this area are still being asked to go through their surveillance video and submit anything that they have between January 1 and February 2 in a two-mile radius here. Anything that could be deemed suspicious -- a suspicious person, a suspicious vehicle. All of this trying to see if someone was casing this home or stopped by after this kidnapping happened.

A lot of unanswered questions here. And the neighbors in this community -- they're feeling it and wanting more information not only from the sheriff but also from the FBI, and they're pleading with the abductors as well return their neighbor back safely.

John, you can see behind me this growing tribute filled with beautiful yellow flowers. We spoke to the flower shop owner, and he tells us the yellow represents hope and support, and that's what this community is hoping to give to the Guthrie family.

[07:35:05]

I spoke with a woman over the weekend. She says that her mom plays Mahjong with Nancy Guthrie every week and said this couldn't have happened to a nicer family, and her heart is broken.

All of us still praying for the safe return of Nancy here.

BERMAN: And Savannah Guthrie herself saying that the family still has hope.

Leigh Waldman for us in Arizona. Thank you for all your reporting on this.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter, and former Boston police commissioner Ed Davis. Brian, just -- I want to just start with you as you continue to do

reporting on how this is impacting Savannah and her family and everything you've heard. Tell us about -- more about his new video that Savannah put out.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: With this video I thought this was the hardest one to watch yet and, in some ways, the most personal and the most raw. And she continues to use her Instagram feed signaling this is personal, right? Of course, it is. But signaling that she's not there using the trappings of NBC and not using the trappings of the "TODAY" show and not relying on the fancy cameras and studio lighting. She is just there as a daughter pleading for help.

I noticed a column from The Washington Post columnist Monica Hesse last week about the same. What would it be like if your professional skills -- your professional skills -- in this case, Savannah's skills on TV were suddenly required for the most crucial and terrifying personal matter? And that's exactly what we're seeing. She's having to communicate through the camera lens trying to speak to these apparent abductors directly and telling them it's never too late to do the right thing.

I just -- I found it even more heartbreaking than the earlier videos, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, and investigators looking at where things stand right now. They're testing a glove that they say appears to match what the suspect was wearing in the doorbell videos. Test results could come back today.

Could a glove crack this case?

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER (via Webex by Cisco): Absolutely, but some things have to line up first. The fact that they found a glove that's similar to the glove in the photo doesn't necessarily make it the right one. And it's quite common to find DNA on that type of a piece of evidence that your hand was inside and that you were sweating in. So someone's DNA is there.

The key thing right now for me is whether or not the DNA they found in the glove matches the DNA samples they said they found in the house. If they did that will most certainly be the suspect, and then they can move to CODIS and Familial DNA to try to run this down. It could break the case wide open.

BOLDUAN: Ed, also with that in mind, a source has -- tells CNN that investigators -- they don't have a leading theory for why Nancy Guthrie was abducted.

Does that surprise you? I mean, what could help determine a motive, you know, short of finding said suspect and reaching a conclusion in this case?

DAVIS: You usually try to extrapolate a motive from the evidence you find at the scene and the activities of the individual. This one is a real head-scratcher. This doesn't make any sense in any conventional kidnapping process that we're familiar with.

If your motivation is money you don't go to a TV station and demand money. If your motivation is some type of an attack on the family, then the high-profile nature of this is actually detrimental to your twisted goals. So I think that's why they're having trouble trying to establish a motive here and it may be that we're not going to get a motive until we find who is responsible for it, if ever.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

Brian, another thing that's happening now are these self-described internet sleuths and true crime streamers. They're showing up in droves apparently --

STELTER: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- in Arizona. And now local leaders are saying that -- they're speaking out saying that they're doing more harm than good.

One state representative just had posted even on X, "Please GO HOME. Let law enforcement do their jobs. Stop following them during swat operations and playing detectives. I am sick of the constant LIES from those who can't even spell Tucson and clearly have never been to our city."

What's going on here?

STELTER: I've been noticing this as the days turn into weeks -- this flock of true crime influencers. That is a real thing nowadays and it's not all bad and it's not all good, it's just really complicated. You know, the influencer content we're seeing from Tucson is much more raw, much more personal, and often much more speculative in nature than what you're seeing from traditional media.

And some of these influencers cross lines that journalists are taught to avoid for legal and ethical reasons. Sometimes there's open speculation about a possible suspect. People naming names without any evidence whatsoever.

And I understand why this can be appealing to some viewers. The content feels more participatory than traditional news coverage. You feel like you might be involved in solving the crime. You're putting the clues and the pieces together. That can be a powerful feeling, but it might not be a reality-based feeling.

[07:40:03]

I was speaking with someone involved in the investigation who told me yeah, some of this chatter on social media has been downright unhelpful. But the person also said to me, "There's a recognition that the breakthrough tip could come from anyone from anywhere."

So there is acknowledgment here that this is mostly happening in good faith. People want to help. It creates the illusion of participation. But there are definitely times when these TikTokers, these Instragramers, and these YouTubers -- they have meddled or they've gotten in the way so to speak, even in times when the sheriff's office has had to remind everyone not to share misinformation or order pizza delivery to the crime scene.

So, you know, look, social media connectivity, it's not all bad, right? We've seen Savannah use Instagram to share her pleas for help. But it is worth scrutinizing what happens when a crime -- an actual crime moves into the true crime genre, and you have people trying to glom onto it for their 15 minutes of fame.

BOLDUAN: Yeah -- complicated, as you said, Brian, for sure. It's good to see you. Thank you.

Ed, thank you so much. It's very good to see you -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning lawmakers are demanding more answers after the Department of Justice sent Congress a list of hundreds of prominent people named in the Epstein files. The list includes presidents, business leaders, and celebrities, including some who have been dead a long, long time. Now, some we knew about, some we did not. Some are merely featured in news articles and did not appear to be linked to Epstein himself.

Congressman Ro Khanna, the Democrat behind the file release law, says the department is "purposely muddying the waters."

His Republican partner, Tom Massie -- Thomas Massie -- is adding this concern about the redactions in the files.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): I know the DOJ wants to say they're done with the document production. The problem is they've taken down documents before we were able to go over to the DOJ and look at the unredacted versions. They took down some of the most significant documents -- two of them involving Virginia Giuffre's case and other things. The picture of Epstein at -- in a room where it's got CIA written on the boxes. That's been taken down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: With us now is CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig.

And Elie, I want to start with this list, which was turned over apparently by law to include the names of prominent people that were listed in the files somewhere. But the names include Elvis Presley who died in 1977. Janis Joplin who died in 1970.

So how serious is the compliance, you know, by the Department of Justice in turning over a list like this?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Well John, I'll do you one better. It includes Marilyn Monroe who died in 1962. This list is a nonsensical mess.

So it includes people who we know engaged in crimes. It includes Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. It includes people who we know were close to Jeffrey Epstein -- Prince Andrew, Les Wexner. And then it includes various celebrities and members of Congress.

And if you dig deep -- I took some time and I entered some of the names of members of Congress -- current members of Congress who are in there. The reason they're mentioned is because someone forwarded an email that mentioned something they said in Congress, or someone forwarded an email saying Congressman so and so is in favor of such legislation, having nothing whatsoever to do with Jeffrey Epstein.

So the end result is this undifferentiated mess of a list. You really cannot draw any conclusions from anyone being on the list. If you want to see someone you have to go to the search bar and enter their name. But even then, you're going to get results that have nothing to do with the actual wrongdoing of Jeffrey Epstein.

BERMAN: This is a subjective question, Elie, but does it seem like it's a purposeful mess? Does it seem as if that's what the department is doing here?

HONIG: Well, let's put it this way. I can't imagine anyone would have looked at this list and said yes, let's include Elvis Presley and let's include Marilyn Monroe.

And John, there is a lawyerly technique of essentially just burying the bad news -- what we used to call a "document dump." You just say OK, here is 10 million documents. Three of them in there are relevant. Good luck finding them and good luck making sense of this.

So I don't know for sure that that's the motive here, but this list is so all over the map it's hard to conclude there was any sense to it.

BERMAN: Right. And if you put it in the bigger context here the attorney general, Pam Bondi, says they're done, they're done. They've turned over the documents now.

But how much are they in compliance with the law in terms of what they've released? In terms of the --

HONIG: Well --

BERMAN: -- redactions that still exist?

HONIG: So I think there's two big questions on this.

First of all, in the letter, Pam Bondi says we did not redact any names because of fear of political or personal embarrassment. However, we have all seen many, many emails where, for example, it's a person asking Jeffrey Epstein on an email about some girls, but the sender's name is redacted. So it appears they actually have redacted some of those names.

[07:45:00]

And then second of all, John, DOJ says in the letter that they're using this thing called "deliberative process privilege." Now that's a real thing -- it exists. Ordinarily, it would mean that prosecutors don't give over their internal memos, their internal strategy conversations.

However, the Epstein Files Transparency Act specifically says that DOJ does have to produce those documents. Let me just read it because this is the actual text of the law.

BERMAN: Yeah.

HONIG: "DOJ must provide internal DOJ communications, including emails, memos, and meeting notes concerning decisions to charge, not charge, investigate, or not investigate."

So this deliberative process privilege I don't think applies here. I think the law makes it quite clear that it intends to override that. Representative Massie and Khanna have noticed the same thing, and we'll see if they take further action.

BERMAN: Yeah. One wonders -- look, there's an election coming up in November. If Congress -- if Democrats do take the Congress, will that provide them some legal standing? Will the majority have some legal avenue then to press the case that the Department of Justice is not complying?

HONIG: Yeah. So it's a complicated issue as to whether a member of Congress, whether in the majority or minority, can go to court and sue and say this law has not been complied with. It's harder to do than you might think. There's been exceptions carved out --

BERMAN: Um-hum.

HONIG: -- over the years.

But, yes, if Democrats do take the House, they can compel more hearings. They can compel more testimony. They can -- you know, it depends how determined Congress is to get to the bottom of all this.

BERMAN: We will -- we may find out in the fall.

Elie Honig, great to see you today. Thank you very much.

New reports on a battle brewing over how the military can use artificial intelligence.

And that is a lot of Samoas. The girl who just set the record for the most Girl Scout cookies ever sold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIM NEILL, 6-YEAR-OLD WHO BROKE NATIONAL RECORD FOR GIRL SCOUT COOKIE SALES: Hi. My name is Pim. Do you want to buy some Girl Scout cookies?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[07:51:18]

BERMAN: New this morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio just wrapped up a meeting in Budapest with Hungary's authoritarian leader and Trump ally Viktor Orban. The secretary highlighted the close ties.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: But the relationship between the United States and Hungary today is as close as I can possibly imagine it being -- and it's not just close rhetorically; it's close in action. We are entering this golden era of relations between our countries and not simply because of the alignment of our people but because of the relationship that you have with the President of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And Secretary Rubio delivered a high-profile speech at the Munich Security Council. Hillary Clinton, who once held Rubio's job, was also there and slammed the Trump administration for failing to honor alliances.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: He has betrayed the West. He's betrayed human values. He's betrayed the NATO charter, the Atlantic charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A lot of what has been done before to try to make sense of how difficult it is to restrain people who want unaccountable power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Let's get right to CNN's Melissa Bell who has been watching all of this. There was a lot of anticipation I think about what the official U.S. representatives, like Secretary Rubio and others, would say, and I get the sense the Europeans are still sort of processing it all.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think that's right, John. There was a sense of this almost audible sigh of relief simply because the Secretary of State had been less belligerent, less rhetorically aggressive than JD Vance had at the same conference a year ago.

But when you unpick actually the nature of what he had to say -- the substance of his speech, John -- it was quite remarkable. And I think continues to make waves here in Europe, essentially suggesting that until -- since the end of World War II, Western civilization had been on the retreat. Until then it had been expanding by its pilgrims, its conquerors. I mean, quite astonishing stuff in terms of what he was telling us about where the United States stands ideologically and who its allies in Europe now are.

And I think that was also reflected in his choice of stops. After Munich he headed to Bratislava where he stood alongside Robert Fico, another MAGA-aligned leader of Europe, as is Viktor Orban. And what was remarkable about what he had to say alongside the

Hungarian prime minister who, remember, John, on April 12 faces a very tough poll. He's facing his toughest challenge yet in the shape of Peter Magyar who had been part of his Fidesz party and is now standing against him and could well win, suggests the polls, or certainly give Viktor Orban a run for his money.

Standing alongside the Hungarian prime minister, Marco Rubio spoke of the strong ties between President Trump and Viktor Orban, but also spoke to the fact that the proximity of this relationship, which is not just ideological but also to do with the natural leanings of both men there -- friendly relationship and the fact that they've been able to build this important bond -- had important, very tangible consequences for Hungary in the shape, he said, of some 17 investments that have been made in the country by American firms since January 2025.

So suggesting that if you are friendly with President Trump, you may well be seeing American investment in your country and encouraging Hungarians to think long and hard about the fact that proximity will remain as long as Viktor Orban is in charge, John.

BERMAN: Yeah, a lot of political consequences to the type of statements that the secretary has been making.

Melissa Bell, thank you very much for that report.

All right. This morning incredible new video out of Italy. A rescue team pulling a hiker out after an avalanche.

[07:55:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bravo!

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BERMAN: The man was buried under nearly five feet of snow. The rescue comes after officials say a separate avalanche killed two skiers and injured another near the border between France and Switzerland. It has been a deadly stretch. Thirteen people have died in the Italian mountains -- they did over the week ending February 8.

A new eruption in Kilauea in Hawaii. The National Weather Service says the plume reaches 35,000 feet above sea level. The U.S. Geological Survey says this marks the volcano's 42nd eruption of lava fountaining since December of 2024. That is a lot of lava fountaining, I'm reliably told.

All right. Happening now, live pictures of what might be the world's largest street party. This is the Rio Carnival in Brazil. They look like they having almost as fun -- as much fun as we are here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL this morning. This is a five-day party much like our weekly five-day party, leading up to the celebration of Lent, filled with lavish parades, glitzy balls, samba dancing, dramatic costumes. It is expected -- and I think everyone's fully clothed here, which is an upset victory for us. It's expected to draw six million people to Brazil this year, bringing nearly $200 million into that country's economy.

In New Jersey, an ice cream truck made almost entirely of snow -- there it is. It looks pretty cool. Robert Schott built it in front of his home in Cranford. It is fully operational and kind of meta when you think about it because you can get a snow cone from a truck made of snow. All of the proceeds are going to a children's hospital foundation.

A 6-year-old girl -- excuse me, a 6-year-old Girl Scout from Pittsburgh is rewriting the record books. Pim Neill has sold more than 100,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies reaching customers in all 50 states, fueled by a social media campaign that has reached millions of viewers. Officials with the Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania call her achievement "unprecedented." That is a lot of cookies, Kate.

BOLDUAN: And a lot of cuteness --

BERMAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- which is a perfect combination, cookies and cuteness.

Also cute, AI -- kidding. Let's transition to this though. What could be a major fight is brewing between the Pentagon and AI right now. This is according to new reporting in Axios. A senior administration official tells them the Trump administration is threatening to cut ties and essentially cut off Anthropic, one of the biggest AI firms out there and the creator of one of the most advanced AI systems in the world. The fight is over the Pentagon -- of what the Pentagon can and can't use their technology to do.

Now the Pentagon has been working with four companies -- Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and xAI -- to try to let -- get and let the military use their tools and models for "all lawful purposes." The tension here is reportedly that Anthropic appears to be pushing back and wanting to set some guardrails and wants key areas to be off limits to the military. And just this morning new reporting on how the Pentagon is preparing to possibly punish Anthropic if it doesn't get on board.

Joining me right now is one of the reporters behind the story, Dave Lawler, deputy managing editor for Axios. Dave, your reporting here is fascinating on not only what you have found out has happened in terms of these discussions but also now what could be coming if this fight continues.

First, lay the groundwork for everyone. What exactly is this fight over?

DAVE LAWLER, DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, AXIOS (Via Webex by Cisco): Sure. So Anthropic was the first company whose AI is used in classified settings for the Pentagon. And we actually just reported on Friday that it was used during the Maduro raid. It helps take in all sorts of real time data and makes sense of it for, you know, operators on the ground. It's also used in back office stuff for the Pentagon. So it's quite a useful technology for them.

But the Pentagon has said we're tired of running into these guardrails in your system for what we can and can't use it for. We need you to take all of those out and make it available for whatever we want to use it for as long as it's legal.

And Anthropic has a couple of red lines. They're saying you can't use our stuff to develop fully autonomous weapons. That's weapons that fire with no human involvement. And you can't use our stuff to surveil Americans.

And so that is the current fight between Anthropic and the Pentagon, and it's gotten so nasty that the Pentagon -- this is what we reported this morning. They're saying we're not only willing to walk away from the contract, but we will label Anthropic a supply chain risk so any company that's doing business with the Pentagon can't do business with Anthropic. So it's really heating up between those two right now.

BOLDUAN: And this new reporting -- this supply chain risk -- it means -- it means what if the Pentagon would pull it off. And also really says how important they think -- to me it says just how important Anthropic is to future operations.

LAWLER: Sure. So Anthropic is a massive player in the AI space. You could argue it's the most important company in America -- in the world right now in terms of what they're building.