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Savannah Guthrie Makes New Plea for Mother's Safe Return; New Round of U.S.-Iran Nuclear Talks Set for Tomorrow; Flash Flooding and Debrie Flow Risks as Storms Hit California. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired February 16, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

DAVID LAWLER, DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, AXIOS: Sure, so Anthropic is a massive player in the AI spaces. You could argue it's the most important company in America, in the world right now, in terms of what they're building. And so what the Pentagon is saying is basically, you know, you can't have, you can't pick and choose how you do business with the Pentagon.

You give us your tool, and we use it for anything. And so the supply chain risk factor would be, look, Claude, the software that Anthropic makes is in most of the biggest companies in the world right now. A lot of those companies also want to do business with the Pentagon.

And so what the Pentagon would be saying is you can either do business with us or you can do business with Anthropic. And so, you know, the argument is, OK, your Pentagon contract is not a huge piece of the pie for your company, but if it's your Pentagon contract and anybody who wants to do business with the Pentagon, all of a sudden, you know, we have some leverage in these negotiations.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's really fascinating and unfolding, really, as we speak. How big of a loss this would be for Anthropic versus how big of a loss it would be for the Pentagon yet to be seen if this kind of explodes even further. Great reporting, Dave.

Thanks so much for jumping on and telling us more about it. Dave Lawler with Axios.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new message this morning from Savannah Guthrie. It's never too late to do the right thing. What we see in this message to get her mother back. And we're standing by for DNA tests on a glove that could be key to the case.

An incredible rescue, a woman pulled from a burning vehicle after a carjacking and a crash.

And curling controversy, allegations of cheating and foul language, actually not just allegations when it comes to the foul language. I heard the swearing myself. All of it right across the hog line.

Sara is out today. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BOLDUAN: There is still hope and there is still time. That is the new message and plea from Savannah Guthrie as authorities are racing to try to find her mother, 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie. The search is now entering a third week with investigators still trying to identify a suspect and still trying to figure out why this happened in the first place.

Savannah is also now making a direct appeal with a new video, a direct appeal to the apparent kidnapper on social media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, "TODAY" ANCHOR: We still have hope and we still believe 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. And we are here and we believe and we believe in the essential goodness of every human being.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: One big focus right now is the glove. Investigators are awaiting final DNA test results which could come back as soon as today on a glove found about two miles from Nancy Guthrie's home in Arizona. A source close to the investigation says that there is still no leading theory behind her disappearance, but this is -- we'll show you again, the description of the suspect, a male, 5'9 to 5'10 with an average build and the FBI says that he was wearing a black Ozark Trail hiker backpack, a brand sold by Walmart.

Let's talk about where things stand. Joining us right now is former FBI hostage rescue team operator and crisis negotiator Kyle Vowinkel and Daniel Brunner, a former FBI special agent. Guys, thanks for being here.

Daniel, what stands out to you about this investigation and where it is right now?

DANIEL BRUNNER, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, this investigation is, as we know, is moving forward, you know, at a certain pace. The FBI is the best team and possible to be working this. But I think that they, you know, moving up until this point where the video was released, I think that the investigation was progressing.

I think the release of the video was too soon. One of the things I noted when the video was released was, I had stated on the air that I believe that the FBI had had this for a number of days but then with certain things that happened afterward, the height differential, the other analysis of the backpack, it came to the conclusion that the video was released immediately upon retention.

[08:05:00]

And that that's not what an investigator wants. Investigators want to take the video and really squeeze it for all it's worth before the individuals, the subjects know that they have it. So I think that this video was released too soon.

I suppose it was FBI leadership who made that decision. And I think that was that harmed the investigation and overwhelmed the Arizona division with a number of tips that didn't need to be had. And it just it I think it hampered it, slowed it down.

It's not going to stop it. It's not going to slow it. It's not going to change it. But I think it was it was definitely a hindrance to the investigation team on the on the ground.

BOLDUAN: Kyle, Savannah Guthrie in this new video that she posted saying that it's never too late to do the right thing, you know, speaking in some regard to the abductor or abductors. With your deep experience in this area, what do you hear in that message?

KYLE VOWINKEL, FORMER FBI HOSTAGE RESCUE TEAM OPERATOR AND CRISIS NEGOTIATOR: Well, having sat down with families and crafted these suggested talking points, I first off know how heartbreaking and you can feel that just weight on her shoulders. You know, she's playing to the captor. So she's actually trying to provide him a little bit of a safe psychological off ramp to his current actions, because she says two interesting things in there.

One, you are not alone, which is interesting because she's trying to appeal to his isolation and offer him a little bit of thread of connection. And the second thing she says, very interestingly enough, is it is not too late. Right.

She's trying to provide him lower the cost to him psychologically to provide information about her whereabouts. This reminds me of the Alabama bunker case back in 2013, one of the most complex FBI kidnappings in our history. And we had the sheriff publicly thank the captor for taking care of an innocent five-year-old that he had trapped in his underground lair.

So he went on national news and thanked the captor. It's very counterintuitive, but it was our FBI design message in order to lower emotions and encourage positive behavior, because these villains in their mind, these captors have done these heinous things. They don't want to view themselves as monsters.

They want to view themselves as justified in their actions. So similarly, what Savannah is trying to do is give him a safe out that's psychologically acceptable to him and appeal to that small part of them, which may still have some good and want to do the right thing and telephone in a location or release the mother somewhere.

BOLDUAN: It's really fascinating perspective. And also, Kyle, when you talk about this person, this abductor, we're talking about also the suspect in this doorbell camera video, you see and have noted that he looks composed, meaning he seems to be almost familiar with the area as is in this video. But so far, as we know, locals don't seem to have ID'd him at all.

What do you do with that? VOWINKEL: Well, the way I see this great question is that we've all watched that video and he looks calm, cool, collected on that porch. Unbelievably slow. So unbelievably so.

And the length of time he spent on target, you know, the 40 minutes in a gate, he had no concern about being caught, but he was familiar with the area. And the fact the FBI has now requested that video going back to January 11th, almost three weeks prior, thinks that -- the FBI thinks he likely conducted pre-target or surveillance activity. So to me, this reads someone who's familiar with the terrain, but he's not embedded in the terrain because after three weeks of sustained national TV coverage, someone in that community would have called him out because they would have recognized him.

So he is likely out of the country or is living off the grid in some RV somewhere where it's not surrounded by news coverage. That's the only way that he could escape friends, colleagues, others not recognizing and calling him in. So he knew the map, but he is off the map right now, I think.

BOLDUAN: Real quick, Daniel, the glove, DNA test results, final ones, they're waiting for that to come back. If they can link that glove that they found about two miles away to Guthrie's home, what do investigators do with that?

BRUNNER: Well, that's a lead. It's going to be a great lead for at least a direction. But that doesn't definitively show that that glove was the same glove in the video.

Again, I go back to what I said earlier and one of your previous segments is that the glove needs to be discovered. The glove needs to be seized upon it. And having the video released too soon gives the opportunity -- gives the criminals knowing that, well, the FBI knows about my video, knows about this glove, and they're going to -- or knows about the other things that I have on me, and they're going to destroy it. They're going to get rid of it.

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But it definitely is a good clue and a good lead. And they absolutely that the DNA, if it reveals an individual in the area that they can exploit and interview and interrogate and see if that individual breaks, it's a good lead.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Kyle, Daniel, thank you so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right, evacuation warning issued for parts of California as powerful storms are expected this week, drenching dangerous rain and feet of snow expected in some places.

A carjacking ends in a fiery crash and a rescue. We've got new updates on the driver's condition here.

And food that, quote, human biology was never intended to handle. New dire warnings about what could constitute about half of our diet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning, negotiators from the United States and Iran are preparing for talks to resume. Sources tell CNN a new round of negotiations is set for tomorrow in Geneva. These talks come even as President Trump has struck a somewhat pessimistic tone over a potential nuclear deal.

Let's get to CNN's Julia Benbrook, who is live this morning in West Palm Beach. What are you hearing this morning, Julia?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. We do expect the next round of negotiations between the United States and Iran to start soon. According to sources who spoke with CNN, those will take place on Tuesday in Geneva, Switzerland.

And both U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will be in attendance. Now, over the weekend, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that he believes Trump has made it clear that he prefers diplomacy when dealing with Iran and that the administration is focused in on negotiations right now. He did confirm those two representatives that I mentioned will be having important meetings soon.

And while he said the overall goal here is to come to a successful deal, he also emphasized the complexities of the situation. That's a point he reiterated in remarks today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Iran ultimately is governed and its decisions are governed by Shia clerics, radical Shia clerics, OK? These people make policy decisions on the basis of pure theology. So it's hard to do a deal with Iran.

We've always said it's hard, but we're going to try. That's what the president is trying. I'm not going to prejudge those talks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: So the overall message that Rubio has been sharing is we're going to try, but it's complicated. Taking a step back here to look at the recent remarks we have heard from Trump on this subject, on Friday, as he left the White House, he was pressed by reporters on if the ongoing negotiations would be successful. And he said that ultimately, he thought that they would be, and if they're not, that it would be a bad day for Iran.

Just a few hours later, though, he struck a more pessimistic tone when speaking about this, saying that the Iranians do not have a good track record when it comes to this, that they do a lot of talking, but there's not a lot of action. And he even said that regime change could be the best thing that could happen. Now, in a recent move that puts even more pressure on Iran as these talks take place, the United States recently dispatched a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East.

And the president says that that is in place if a diplomatic solution is not reached.

BERMAN: Julia Benbrook, following the president in Florida this morning, thank you so much for your reporting.

Swearing, covert filming, and accusations of cheating over curling, of all things. Curling, the one sport you could probably drink during the competition. So what's going on here?

And then a missing ship found more than 150 years after it sunk to the bottom of Lake Michigan. Call Gordon Lightfoot.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: A wave of storms is setting up to hit California this week. More than 19 million people are under a flood threat today, with heavy rain triggering evacuation warnings in Los Angeles County, especially in those areas that are still recovering from the horrible wildfires last winter.

CNN's Allison Chinchar is tracking all of this for us. She joins us now. And Allison, what are you seeing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, we're seeing multiple waves. I think that's kind of the key thing here is that it's not just going to be one storm. There are three systems that we are expecting to see over the next few days.

So here's a look at the first one. Again, you can already see some pretty heavy rain and snow across portions of northern and central California. But you're already starting to get some of that light moisture sliding in across southern California.

But really, you can see around San Francisco, Sacramento, up through Lake Tahoe. This is where we are seeing some of the heaviest amounts of rain and snow coming in at the moment. And this is, like I said, just the first of three rounds that we could be looking at this week.

But even into southern California, you'll notice essentially from San Francisco all the way down through San Diego, there is a risk for excessive rainfall, which could in turn cause some flash flooding. And namely, because of how much the volume, really, of water that is expected to come in over the next 24 hours, but also how it relates to a lot of those wildfires that we had recently and the result that it would have on some of the burn scars. So here's a look at that first wave.

Then the second wave comes in as we head into the day Tuesday. And then the third one is we wrap out the latter half of the week. So back-to-back systems here that we are going to be dealing with into the West Coast.

And rainfall amounts are going to be highest along the coast. We could be looking at three to five inches total out of all of the different systems. But the snow, this is what's going to be really impressive. You look at some of these areas of the Sierras, you are talking three to five feet of snow. Again, incredibly high amounts, not just for the Sierras, though even the Rockies are going to get significant amounts of snow. And that's actually a good thing because many of those areas, especially across Colorado and Utah, they are looking at snowfall deficits.

So they could use the snow coming into some of these regions. Now, out on the other side of all of these systems we've been talking about in the center portion of the country, we are looking at record warmth for these areas. And that warmth is going to spread eastward in the coming days.

So here you can see all these dots represent a record high of some kind at some point from today all the way through Friday. And some of those cities could end up breaking multiple records several days in a row. So this is going to be very impactful for some of these areas.

Take Chicago, for example. OK, 36 is their average high. That's where they normally would be this time of year.

They've got not one, but two days where they will double that. They're going to be in the 60s for those high temperatures this week.

BOLDUAN: Chicago's getting 60 today? Oh, my gosh. That is, man, oh, man, I can't track this.

I often, Allison, I'm like, that's got to be a graphic error when I know it is clearly not. But it's so unusual that I'm like, something's got to be wrong here. Well, something is wrong.

It's called climate change.

[08:25:00]

Anyway, it's great to see you, Allison. Thank you so very much.

Still ahead for us, the new message from Savannah Guthrie. It's never too late to do the right thing. She speaks directly to her mother's kidnapper in a new plea.

And HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. says that he wants to take on, in a bigger way, the makers of ultra-processed foods. And he is getting new backup on this effort from an unlikely source.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: So where is Nancy Guthrie? The search for the 84-year-old now enters a third week. Her daughter, Savannah Guthrie, is speaking out with a direct message now to the apparent kidnapper, with a new message.

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