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Andrew Young is Interviewed about Jesse Jackson; Carol Moseley Braun is Interviewed about Jesse Jackson; Roberto Villasenor is Interviewed about the Guthrie Case; Youth Hockey Game Shooting; U.S. and Iran Hold Talks. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired February 17, 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]

RAUL TORREZ (D), NEW MEXICO ATTORNEY GENERAL: Have the ability to compel his personal appearance in court here in Santa Fe, but he's going to have to, you know, be present in front of the jury, explain his decisions, and he's going to have to be present, you know, in a room where people who have been harmed by his products are going to have an opportunity to look him in the eye. And how he responds to that questioning, I think, is going to be very telling.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Attorney General Raul Torrez, thank you so much for your time this morning.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The life and legacy of pioneering civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson. Tributes that we are now hearing, we've got many more coming in after he passed away early this morning.

And the Pima County sheriff publicly clearing Nancy Guthrie's family now in her disappearance, calling any suggestion otherwise "cruel." Now investigators are turning to Walmart for help with a crucial piece of evidence.

And a deadly shooting in the middle of a youth hockey game in Rhode Island. Why police there call this a targeted attack.

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news this morning, civil rights icon, a towering figure in politics and in American life, Jesse Jackson has died at the age of 84. A longtime activist, a two-time presidential candidate, who dedicated his life to fighting for racial justice and economic equality. Jackson marched alongside Martin Luther King Junior, founded the Rainbow Push Coalition, which was a movement focused on political empowerment. His legacy helped transform the modern Democratic Party. In 1988, the convention in Atlanta, his signature line, "keep hope alive" remains a call to action today. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: When you see Jesse Jackson, when my name goes in nomination, your name goes in nomination. I was born in the slum, but slum was not born in me. And it wasn't born in you. And you can make it. Wherever you are tonight, you can make it. Hold your head high. Stick your chest out. You can make it. It gets dark sometimes, but the morning comes. Don't you surrender. Suffering breeds character. Character breeds faith. In the end, faith will not disappoint. Yu must not surrender. You may or may not get there, but just know that you are qualified and you hold on. And hold out. We must never surrender. America will get better and better. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive. On tomorrow night and beyond. Keep hope alive. I love you very much. I love you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: With us now is Andrew Young, also a towering figure in the civil rights movement, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Ambassador, thank you so much for being with us this morning. It is an honor to get to speak with you.

Tell us about your friend Jesse Jackson.

ANDREW YOUNG, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. (via telephone): Oh, it's an honor to be called, but it's still painful.

And Jesse Jackson, I met in Selma. He was still a student. And we had people backed up in the church because the police had pushed us there. And to keep people from being hurt, I was standing there, and I'd been there all day, and he came up to me that night and he said, look, I'm -- I can hold this place for you. You really need to go get some sleep. And I was very grateful.

And from then on, he was always a young man looking at how he could help somebody. And he helped me that night. And things went quietly. And I talked to Dr. King, and I said, you know, I met a young man last night. He's from Chicago. When we go there, we need to look him up. And -- but he looked us up.

And we were -- we were good friends. We worked closely together. But like the civil rights movement in general, there were always differences of opinion. And he had a northern view, although he was really from South Carolina, he -- North Carolina, he had settled, my wife says, North Carolina. I think it was South Carolina.

[09:05:06]

But anyway, it -- he rallied to the problem that Chicago had almost two million black folk. But the products produced by black people could not get on the shelves in the mainline stores. And so, he started Operation Breadbasket, just trying to get -- I remember it was Joe Lewis milk. And Joe Lewis, Perdue (ph), had a dairy in Chicago. And that they wouldn't let him sell his milk in a black community. And that was just unacceptable. And that was one of the first targets that Jesse rallied the churches in Chicago not to buy anything if they couldn't find Joe Lewis milk in the stores. They, of course, changed rather rapidly. And in a few years he had -- he had integrated the shelf space in the Chicago stores. And that was the beginning of Operation Breadbasket

BERMAN: Operation Breadbasket. The Rainbow Push Coalition. I didn't know that you met him in Selma. That's a remarkable story. He wanted to take your place there because you needed to get some rest.

I mean from Selma, to Memphis, you were both there when the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior was killed.

YOUNG: Yes, we were. And we pretty much stayed together, though -- I spent the coldest winter of my life in Chicago. I think in 1966. And so, we were marching south and north. And I don't know what happened. Your competition's coming on television.

BERMAN: Oh, well, you turn them down, turn us up, Ambassador.

YOUNG: But, I turned it off. My wife did.

BERMAN: What is it --

YOUNG: But it's --

BERMAN: What is it that you want people to remember most about Jesse Jackson?

YOUNG: Well, the -- my wife reminds me that he was on a plane flying somewhere, and he -- flying home to North Carolina. And he got off the plane and came by the hospital to visit her. So, in spite of his national and global publicity, he still was a local pastor. And we, in the last year or so, it was painful to try to hear him talk with Parkinsons. And he -- but he was -- he was always trying to look out for other people.

BERMAN: He was, over all 84 years of his life, his role, you know, his life left an indelible mark on this country, as has yours, and does continue.

Andrew Young, a former ambassador to the United Nations, we do appreciate you sharing these memories with us. Please give our best to your wife, who's listening in, as well. Thank you, sir.

YOUNG: Well, thank you very much. And God bless you and CNN.

BERMAN: Appreciate that so much.

With us now is Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate, former U.S. ambassador to New Zealand.

What a morning, you know, Ambassador, just to get to talk to Andrew Young, telling me stories about the day he met Jesse Jackson in Selma. It's a little bit overwhelming, I have to say, because you're faced with the history, the good and bad, but very much the history of this country all in one place, and that's what Jesse Jackson represents.

CAROL MOSELEY BRAUN, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NEW ZEALAND: Yes, he did. And I want to thank you for having me on this morning. And it's such an honor to follow Ambassador Young. I am a great admirer of his. He's a great man.

BERMAN: You, of course, are from Chicago, which is where Jesse Jackson was born in South Carolina, but Chicago, Illinois, is, you know, he made his mark. It was ultimately his home for a long period of time. Talk to us about his presence there and how he inspired you to a career in Cook County and ultimately as an Illinois state rep and then as a groundbreaking U.S. senator.

BRAUN: Well, if I may reach back, and I don't know that Ambassador Young even knows this story. But when I was yet a teenager, I worked as a volunteer at Operation Breadbasket, when Reverend Jackson opened it up in a theater on the -- on the southwest side.

[09:10:01]

And I can remember taking the baskets around and collecting, you know, donations. Try to keep the place open. And so, that was my first involvement with Reverend Jackson.

And I'm just so grateful to have had him in my life in any way possible because the man made a difference in this world, made a difference for me personally, but he also made a difference in this world. He helped a lot of people, and that's a great legacy to have -- that you helped other people along the way.

BERMAN: I'm sure he never forgot you were there in Operation Breadbasket, nor did Ambassador Andrew Young either.

Talk to me about the political side, because his presidential runs in '84 and '88 were groundbreaking. We're actually showing pictures here. And it's so interesting to hear from all the Jesse Jackson delegates who are still so central to American politics. So, as a political figure, what did he mean for the Democratic Party?

BRAUN: He was an inspirational figure. He galvanized a major part of the -- of the voting population to support Democrats. He was really active in the community. And people knew of his activism and knew he delivered on things. He made a difference in the lives of a lot of people. More people than will be on the television today. But -- myself included.

But he was really inspirational and as well as an aspirational person. He really gave himself to try to make things better for people to make -- to improve conditions, living conditions for ordinary folks. And he made a big difference in this world. And so, you know, no -- there's no greater legacy than to say somebody had that kind of -- was that kind of impactful in the -- in the times in which they lived.

BERMAN: You know, we're a 24 hour network, but even we don't have the space to fill the day with people who say they had their change -- their lives changed by Jesse Jackson. What was it like to hear him speak? You know, we've been playing clips

from the '88 convention. You listen to the '84 convention. And what could he do to a room?

BRAUN: He was an electrifying and galvanizing speaker. I mean I -- he was gifted in that way. He could just put words together and make people feel what he was saying, trying to communicate. And he was -- he was very gifted and very eloquent. And so I, frankly, tried to take a page -- I wish I could have taken a page from his example in that regard. I was never as gifted as he was. But he really could motivate a room full of people just by his presence. When he opened his mouth, he put words together in a way that made people respond.

BERMAN: Well, Carol Moseley Braun, ambassador, former senator, you know, one pioneer speaking about another, thank you so much for sharing your memories of Reverend Jackson. Appreciate it.

BRAUN: It's my pleasure. Thank you for having me. Yes.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: We are standing by right now this morning for a potential big development in the search for Nancy Guthrie. DNA test results could come at any time on that glove found about two miles from Guthrie's home near Tucson, Arizona. And with the investigation now entering day 17, the sheriff there is publicly saying for the first time that Guthrie's family, including her children and their spouses, have all been cleared as possible suspects in the case.

Joining me right now is a former police chief of Tucson, Roberto Villasenor.

It's good to see you. Thank you so much for coming in, Chief.

ROBERTO VILLASENOR, FORMER CHIEF OF TUCSON POLICE: Very good to be here.

BOLDUAN: Just in general, as we've watched this now enter day 17, what do you think about the pace, kind of the shape and direction of this investigation so far?

VILLASENOR: Well, these things sometimes take too much time is what everyone is experiencing right now. And I understand that frustration people have, but it's not like TV. It doesn't happen in a, you know, a 48-hour period. It just -- each case is individual. So, they have such a volume of information to go through here. I think we're up to over 30,000 tips is what the sheriff is saying they've received. And they have to follow up on them. They can't just ignore any of the tips because they don't know what is going to bring resolution to the case.

So, I'm watching it and, you know, I'm not involved. I'm retired here. But I am watching. I have interest in this. It's my community. And I see what's going on. And I just would be very hopeful. They continue the work and they have synergy with all the different agencies working together. BOLDUAN: And I was going to ask you, from your unique perspective of

being, you know, leading a law enforcement agency in Tucson, what tens of thousands of tips feels like to you. When you hear that number coming in on any type of case, and also then having the coordination with federal agencies, what -- talk to me what that workload, as you put it, what that -- put that in perspective for me.

VILLASENOR: Well, it's really difficult because that is a mind boggling number of tips for one individual case. So, you're going to have to set up an excellent triage method and hopefully you can have other agencies assisting.

[09:15:04]

You can have volunteers that come in. And you have to try and narrow down -- try and get to the important tip as quickly as possible. Some of them you can, you know, count out right away. You just know that they're silly. But others, they could be duplicates. They could add information on previous tips, but you need to have an excellent and a robust triage method to try and make sure that you get to the tips, and you just keep plowing through them. There's no other way to say that. It's just a tremendous amount of tips. And it's going to lead to further police action because you get something that sounds good or looks good, you have to follow up on it. And then that causes more tips because people see what happens with the news media coverage, and then they start calling in. And that's good, but that's more work.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

The sheriff, Sheriff Nanos, the Pima County sheriff, has been front and center and kind of the public face of the investigation as it began and has continued. He's had to walk a few things back during this investigation. He even honestly, he said himself, that he's not used to people hanging on his every word. There have been discrepancies that he's had to clarify. Discrepancies on how local law enforcement and the FBI are working together included. What is your assessment and take on how the sheriff's handling this?

VILLASENOR: Well, I don't want to, you know, grade the sheriff or anything like that. But I do know, in these type of situations, you need to be tied in very closely with your investigators. You need to be talking with them on a daily basis, or sometimes hourly basis, and definitely before you do any interviews so that you know what you're able to say and what you can't say. You have to look at it from a perspective of protecting the integrity of the investigation and making sure that the public is informed to the limits they can be. The problem is, the public likes to be informed a lot more than they should be, because you need to hold back some of that information so that only the investigators and a potential suspect, when you find one, know about certain things of the case. That's a good way to find out if you're dealing with an authentic suspect or someone who's just looking for notoriety from some, you know, sick or perverted type of cause.

So, you have to be very careful on what you talk about, and you have to walk a very fine line, work closely with your investigators. If you have a public information officer that works with the media all the time, try and use them as a resource. So, there's a variety of methods that you want to do to make sure that you're saying the right things, keeping the public informed, but above all protecting the integrity of the investigation and the privacy of the family.

BOLDUAN: With a very bright spotlight shining on you, your city, your county, at the very same time.

VILLASENOR: Right.

BOLDUAN: Former chief of police of Tucson, Roberto Villasenor, thank you so much for coming in. Really appreciate it.

John.

BERMAN: All right, new details this morning. A shooting at a youth hockey rink leaves two people dead, three others critically injured.

The high stakes talks between the U.S. and Iran have come to a close this morning. So, what we are learning about what progress, if any, they made.

And then a bald eagle rescued on Presidents' Day of all days. Look at that. Does it look even real? I think it's real. How the injured bird was found and saved.

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[09:22:28]

BERMAN: This morning two people are dead, three others in the hospital in critical condition after a shooter opened fire during a youth hockey game at a rink in Rhode Island. Police are calling this a targeted attack, with the shooter apparently going after his family, then dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

CNN's Jason Carroll following this story with the very latest.

Jason, what have you learned here?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, just terrible. You can imagine how awful it was for the high school players who were there, for those who were in the -- in the arena, anyone who was there who heard those shots ring out.

It was yesterday afternoon at the Dennis L. Lynch Arena. This is in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Several high school players were out there. They were in the arena on the ice. Once the shooting started, it was, as you can imagine, a frantic scene. People in the stands running for cover. Some of the players trying to get off the ice, took refuge inside a locker room. Some of them were able to make it out across the street at a convenience store. Cameras caught up with one of the players there. Here's what he said about what he witnessed and how he escaped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like, pop, pop. And I thought it was balloons. But it just kept going. And it was actually gunshots. And after the gunshots, me and my teammates ran right to the locker room. And we just bunkered up and we pressed against -- my bad. I'm sorry. We pressed against the door and just tried to -- tried to stay safe down in there. But, no, it was very scary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Very scary indeed.

Pawtucket police have a pretty good idea of what happened here. They say this has something to do with a family dispute. That the suspect got to the arena and targeted family members. Police say it was a good Samaritan who actually got in there and, in all likelihood, prevented this shooting from being even worse.

All of the students who were involved with the hockey game, they are safe. The suspect, dead, as you said, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Two others were killed. Three people still at this point in critical condition.

BERMAN: Had to be terrifying for all the people in that arena.

CARROLL: Without question.

BERMAN: Including the people on the ice. I mean, you think about it, you're kind of in a fishbowl literally there when you hear the gunshots.

CARROLL: And just looking for escape. Yes.

BERMAN: Thank you so much for that report. Keep us posted when you learn more, Jason.

CARROLL: All right.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, the world's standing by for details as this morning's high stakes meeting between Iran and the United States just wrapped in Geneva. The big question now, did they make any progress toward a nuclear deal? Overnight, we heard new comments from Iran's supreme leader saying even the strongest army in the world can be, quote, "slapped."

[09:25:02]

Khamenei was responding to President Trump's recent threats towards Iran of military action and his significant buildup of U.S. military power in the Middle East now to include a second aircraft carrier.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Geneva, where these talks took place.

Fred, what are you hearing happened inside?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kate.

Well, we haven't heard anything from the U.S. delegation yet, which is really no wonder because they have a lot on their plate today. They went out of those Iran talks and immediately came to the area where I am right now to continue with trilateral talks with the Ukrainians and the Russians.

But certainly, the meeting with the Iranians that happened earlier today, it was about two, two and a half hours long. And we have heard from the Iranian foreign minister after those talks. He said that the talks were constructive. He said the talks were serious. He also said that the two sides mapped out a way forward, guiding principles on how they can work to a possible agreement.

Now, the Iranians are warning reaching such an agreement will be very difficult and it will become more difficult as they get to some of the important nuances. But it seems as though both sides are saying that they believe right now there is a certain degree of momentum there. The Iranians are also saying that they believe there will be another meeting with the U.S. delegation in the future. The Iranians going home for now. However, it's not yet clear when exactly that meeting will be.

Now, of course, we have been reporting over the past couple of weeks that time is really of the essence as far as these negotiations are concerned, especially with that U.S. military buildup going on in the greater Middle East with President Trump threatening military action. But at the same time also saying that for the United States a deal is preferential.

We do understand these negotiations are about Iran's nuclear program, not about ballistic missiles, not about proxy forces in the Middle East. But certainly as far as the Iranians are concerned, they say that the road ahead is still going to be difficult. But they do say that the talks were a lot more serious, with a lot more serious proposals being exchanged this time than at the last talks that we saw a couple of days ago.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, Fred, it's great to see you. Thanks for being there. Really appreciate it.

Still ahead for us, get ready to pay more. The companies announcing new price hikes and pointing right to President Trump's tariffs as the reason why.

And Taylor Swift calls them showgirls on ice in a new hype video. A look at the -- they're now calling themselves the Blade Angels as they get ready to take center stage in Olympic figure skating.

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