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Reports: Ransom Note Demands $6M For Nancy Guthrie's Return; 78-Year-Old Jimmy Lai Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison; Seattle Seahawks Top New England 29-13 For Title. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired February 09, 2026 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hey everybody, it is wonderful to start the week with you. I'm Paulo Sandoval, live in New York, and the Super Bowl just wrapped up a short time ago with a strong defensive showing by this year's champs, the Seattle Seahawks, over the New England Patriots. We're going to have much more on that game. Even take you back out live to California, where the party is just getting started.
But first, some of your headlines, and we do want to begin with the intensifying search for the missing mother of Today show host, Savannah Guthrie, and this ahead of Monday's purported ransom deadline at 5:00 p.m. local time in the state of Arizona.
Investigators returned to Nancy Guthrie's home on Sunday, but they have still not identified any suspects linked to her disappearance, which was reported just over a week ago now. The alleged ransom note reportedly threatens Nancy's life and is demanding $6 million in Bitcoin in exchange for her safe return.
In a social media post by Nancy's children over the weekend, Savannah Guthrie said, we will pay. Let's go to CNN's Ed Lavandera, who is in Tucson with the very latest on the search for Guthrie.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It has now been more than a week since Nancy Guthrie was abducted from her home here in Tucson, and there is still no word on where she might be or what her fate is in all of this. So we're following this story in a couple different fronts.
Obviously, we're -- we know that Savannah Guthrie Nancy's daughter and her siblings had put out the latest video on Saturday afternoon saying and communicating to the -- the author of these alleged ransom letters that the family would indeed pay an affiliate here in Tucson, KGUN is saying that that amount could be as much as $6 million but we do not have any kind of follow up as to whether or not that response from the Guthries has triggered another response from the ransom letter writer.
We still await news on that, and we're also following and watching investigators continue returning home where Nancy Guthrie lives in this neighborhood in Tucson. We've seen them on Sunday going through continuing more searches around the property and in the surrounding area, and even on Saturday night, we saw a small number of Sheriff's deputies at the home of Nancy Guthrie's daughter, Savannah's sister, who lives here in Tucson, about 15-20 minutes away.
They spent about three hours inside the home. We saw an investigator come out wearing latex gloves, another investigator perhaps carrying a bag. We've done -- unsure of what the contents are, putting in one of the law enforcement vehicles as I said. They spent about three hours out there late Saturday night as well.
So Sheriff's deputies and investigators are saying that investigative work continues all across the city as well. All of this happening as there's still no word as to whether or not -- or we know that what investigators are saying that there is no suspect, no person of interest that they are officially announcing at this time. This, a week into this desperate search for Nancy Guthrie. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.
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SANDOVAL: All right, so the question, what does all this possibly mean? Let's bring in CNN Law Enforcement Contributor and Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent, Steve Moore, to dive a little deeper into this. Steve, it's always great to have your perspective on these cases. It is just absolutely awful what's been going on.
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you, Polo.
SANDOVAL: Now over a week here. Steve, you've been there investigating these kinds of cases at the federal level. With the purported ransom deadline approaching, what are authorities, including the FBI, focusing on right now?
MOORE: Well, they're certainly not sitting back by the phones waiting for the case to come to them. While they say there are no suspects, there are no persons of interest, I've never worked a case where, after this amount of time, there's not some leads, whether or not -- you know, if you have five or six, obviously, only one can be the right one.
Even if you know -- that's hoping that you get the correct person. So the bureau is out there, they probably have a number of things they're working on, a number of people that are potential suspects. And I see -- I think what I'm seeing right now with the evidence teams going back, is they're trying to go back -- you know, at the beginning, it was rushed.
You were trying to do something real quick, get it resolved within 24 hours, get the best result. But I think what happened is, now they're looking at it and saying, we've got some gaps here. Why don't we go back to the crime scene, start all over, retrace all of our steps and make sure there is not a single gap and that we haven't missed anything.
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SANDOVAL: Yeah, no, that's fascinating, because it really does bring up a very important point that you make, which is, despite the public reports from authorities that they don't have a person of interest or a suspect, you read my mind.
My next question was going to be, what are the possibilities that they do, perhaps have an individual or individuals in mind, but at this point, keeping it close to the vest. If -- again, we don't know if that's the case, but if it was, what would be the main reason for federal authorities to hold on into that -- hold on to that information instead of making it public?
MOORE: Well, number one is you don't want to tip them off. I mean, if you're following somebody, if you've got an entire surveillance team on them, 24 hours a day, and you say that, well, we've got this suspect, or a suspect, that person is going to immediately start looking in their rear view mirror.
It makes it very hard to go forward when you release information. And you know it's -- after 25 years in the FBI, I never can -- I can never remember a time where releasing sensitive information during a kidnapping or during an extortion like -- similar to this ever helped anything.
It didn't help us get to the suspects or the perpetrators sooner and complicated matters completely.
SANDOVAL: What do you make of the most recent activity, especially what we saw over the weekend with investigators back at the at the Guthrie residence?
MOORE: I think the people who came in there was the Evidence Response Team, and they came in like the -- like the 101st Airborne. And so what they do, their -- their capabilities are just astounding. First thing they do is they will map the entire property as if -- as if it was somebody buying the property and trying to find out, you know, where everything was to the inch.
They're going to map the entire thing. That way they can precisely graph and map every bit of evidence they find. They are going to start and just go down in places to microscopic levels and bring it all the way up to an overview, where they can just tap into their computer and get views of certain areas. So they didn't do that at first.
SANDOVAL: Steve, we know that the FBI has, as we heard from previous press conferences, that they've helping -- have been helping the family essentially craft their own message for the potential abductors. This message that we received on Saturday, in which Savannah says we received your message and we understand, and also, we will pay.
I'm just curious again, based on your federal experience, what did you make of that most recent message from the Guthries, that another heart-breaking plea? MOORE: It was very heart-breaking. And first of all, the FBI is not
going to tell you what you should do in these situations. They're not going to say don't pay, or they're not going to say, don't talk to them here. But if you decide to respond, the FBI, who works -- has worked thousands, tens of thousands of kidnapping cases, has a lot of experience, and can help craft the -- craft the communications, or facilitate ransom demands in a way that people who are going through this terror, the first time really can't do.
SANDOVAL: Yeah, and again, the message quite clear from investigators, they are proceeding with this. Certainly hopeful that they will be able to make her, or at least find her. I did -- before we wrap things up, Steve, I also had just wanted to pick up on that last thing you also mentioned specifically about some of the last communications that we saw from the family.
Did it seem that it was perhaps more direct, aimed directly at potential captors, versus what we saw from family members before, which seemed to be more of a general plea for any information about their mother.
MOORE: Yes, I suspect that they didn't get proof of life, but they got very specific information linking the ransom note writers to the kidnappers. And I think that was important. And then the response back was interesting, because there were some words that just didn't seem to belong in any kind of response like that. Like the word celebrate. There -- there just seemed to be a pattern to it.
SANDOVAL: Yeah, no, that stood out to me as well. It is certainly going to be something that we'll be watching on Monday. Steve, as always grateful for your expertise. It helps us to better understand this absolutely heart-breaking situation. Thank you.
I want to go now live to Phoenix, Arizona and Perry Vandel. He's a Public Safety and Breaking News Reporter with AZ Central. Perry, it's good to have you join us. Thank you so much for your time.
PERRY VANDEL, PULIC SAFETY AND BREAKING NEWS REPORTER, AZ CENTRAL: Thank you for having me.
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SANDOVAL: So I'm wondering if you could just bring our viewers around the world up to speed. What is the latest right now on the investigation based on your reporting?
VANDEL: So right now, it -- there -- there -- I believe I heard, you know that latest video that Savannah Guthrie and her family posted, you know, begging once again, for their mother's safe return, that they are willing to -- to pay, whether that's the ransom or, you know, some other thing, and are essentially asking -- they didn't in the latest message, but in this one, they've previously asked for proof of life and anything that suggests that their mother is alive and able to be returned safely.
So at this point, I believe they're still waiting on a response. I haven't heard of any reports of a new note, either being sent to a media outlet or to the family directly, or if they have any means to be able to do that.
SANDOVAL: So essentially, there is currently still no indication that they have received any proof of life?
VANDEL: That's my understanding. Law enforcement has been a bit less forthcoming as of late. They essentially are at a point where they're saying we're not calling any news conferences to -- until we have an update that we're able to give you. And I believe that was last Thursday, and as far as I'm aware, there haven't been any additional news conferences held.
SANDOVAL: What are your sources saying about -- about the communications that have been taking place, specifically the ransom notes that are being sent to -- directly to news outlets versus the family?
VANDEL: Yeah, you know, I spoke with a former Special Agent with the FBI, and he said that the would-be captors' decision to share these -- these ransom notes, with the media, rather than with the family directly, is highly unusual. Typically, if someone is going to be abducting someone and seeking a ransom, they're going to share that -- that message with the family directly.
By sharing with the media, it seems to really only add more publicity to the whole thing, and doesn't necessarily increase the likelihood of the family paying the ransom or doing what the (inaudible) would be abductors would want. So that, to me, has been and to law enforcement, has been a very unusual aspect about what's already a pretty astounding case.
SANDOVAL: Yeah. Bottom line, the fate and location of Nancy Guthrie remain unknown. Perry Vandel, thank you so much for all your reporting and bringing this up to speed.
A Hong Kong media tycoon, Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in a landmark national security case. The sentence handed down just hours ago. It is the culmination of a year's long legal saga for the 78-year-old billionaire.
The media mogul has been in detention since 2020 on charges related to Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement. Let's get the latest now from CNN's Kristie Lu Stout who has been following this latest situation here from Hong Kong. Kristie, tell us more about -- about him and also his background. Why is this case so significant?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Polo, I'm standing outside the court here in Hong Kong where the former media mogul and long-time China critic, Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. In December, he was convicted, found guilty of sedition and two counts of colluding with foreign forces.
Here in Hong Kong, collusion is a serious crime under the Beijing imposed National Security Law. It's punishable by up to life in prison. And earlier, Jimmy Lai had denied these charges. Now it was back in December when the three judges presiding over this case convicted Lai, and they called him a quote, mastermind of conspiracy, and the same language was used today in court.
They point to his lobbying of U.S. officials during the first Trump administration, they also pointed to the use by Jimmy Lai of his newspaper, the Apple Daily, to call for international sanctions against China and against Hong Kong during the 2019 Hong Kong protests.
Now this has been the most high-profile national security case since Beijing imposed the sweeping law on the territory in 2020 and this case, the trial and the law itself has been roundly criticized by Western governments. The United States and other countries have called for the release of Jimmy Lai. In fact, last year, U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly pressed the Chinese leader Xi Jinping to quote, free Jimmy Lai, but China has repeatedly warned against any intervention or interference if Hong Kong insists that Jimmy Lai has received a fair trial.
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So what happens next? Now, any appeal made by Jimmy Lai and his legal team will be a long and drawn out process with a very low chance of success. As you point out, Jimmy Lai is now 78 years old. He is facing 20 years in prison. He's already served five years behind bars. Polo?
SANDOVAL: Yeah, a live update from Hong Kong and CNN's Kristie Lu Stout on that case. Thank you so much, Kristie. More of your headlines, including an update on the Super Bowl when you return.
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SANDOVAL: Well, you can now consider the Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl champs. Again, team getting revenge against New England 11 years after the Patriots took the Super Bowl title in 2015. This time it was a Seahawks and quarterback Sam Darnold coming out on top, 29 to 13 in a game that was absolutely dominated by an outstanding defensive performance.
Most of Seattle's points, it was scored by kicker Jason Myers, who racked up a Super Bowl record, five field goals as well as a stand-out running back Kenneth Walker III. He was actually named Super Bowl MVP. This is the second Super Bowl win for Seattle, the last, that was in 2014.
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But it's the first for head coach Mike Macdonald in just his second season with the team. CNN's Elex Michaelson and Andy Scholes, they have been there together, watching this very closely from the start, all the action out of Santa. Clara. Gentlemen, welcome back. Look, I love the conversation that you guys had with head coach, Mike Macdonald, spelling out the secret sauce, synergy in a killer defense.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and that is something Polo, we talked to a lot of his players who all sort of gave him the credit for that. This mindset that went beyond just the X's and O's on the field, but really their tight bond as a team. And you heard that from player after player.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, certainly Elex and the thing about this Seahawks team was, it was a different player basically every game that stepped up and would come through when they needed it. You know, in this Super Bowl 60 against Patriots, it was that defensive line, right that was one of the more dominant performances we've ever seen from a defensive group, six sacks.
Drake Maye was running for his life the whole time, and, you know, it was only 12-0 in the third quarter, but it seemed like way more than that.
MICHAELSON: And in the NFC Championship, the guy that stepped up was Sam Darnold, the quarterback who really has had this incredible arc, came in as the number one pick in the draft, New York Jets, widely seen as a bust. This is the fifth team he's played with. That right there is some video I shot right after the game with Sam Darnold and his family, and you can see the relief, the pride on their faces. They've been through it together.
They've been there with him every step of the way. And after the game, he talked about his family.
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SAM DARNOLD, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS QUARTERBACK: I'm here because of their belief in me. And they believed in me throughout my entire career, and I think that's why I was able to believe in myself almost ad nauseam, like I -- some people called me -- called me crazy throughout my career, for believing in myself so much and having so much confidence. But you know, they -- it was because of my parents, because of the way that they believed in me throughout my entire career, and it allowed me to go out there and play free and have a ton of confidence.
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MICHAELSON: His teammates believed in him, and they all believed in their coach.
SCHOLES: They certainly did. And what a, you know, rising star coach Mike Macdonald is. He's only 38 years old, the third youngest coach to ever win a Super Bowl. You know, he rose up that defensive staff for the Baltimore Ravens. Was the defensive coordinator, was one of the hottest coaching names, got the Seahawks job, and it's just his second year, Elex able to build a team and have them win a Super Bowl.
It's a very rare thing, and we got the chance to talk to him right here right after he won the Super Bowl. Take a listen.
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SCHOLES: We're joined right now with the head coach, Mike Macdonald. Coach, congratulations on just completing this journey and winning the Super Bowl. How do you feel right now? MIKE MACDONALD, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS HEAD COACH: Couldn't be any better. I
mean, it's, honestly, it's surreal right now. You look at the Jumbotron, it was -- you know, their quarterback just with our team, can't wait to go celebrate with them. It's -- it's pretty unbelievable.
MICHAELSON: We've talked to a bunch of your players already who really credit you, and not only the way that you have changed them on the football field, but the way you've changed them as men.
MACDONALD: Well, I'll tell you what. It's not -- it takes -- it's a team effort. So we have an incredible staff, coaches, people that really care about our players. And it's a -- it's an incredible building. It's incredible organization. John Schneider deserve a ton of credit for putting all these people together. A lot of these people were here before I showed up.
MICHAELSON: You deserve some credit too.
MACDONALD: I appreciate that, but like my job is to make it come to life and bring it together and also go in the same direction. And I'll just tell you how much fun it is to do it.
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MICHAELSON: He's having a great time. We're having a great time. We're going to be back with you from the field for a special live edition of World Sport about 20 minutes from now. More of those interviews as the party continues. Polo, in the meantime, back to you in New York.
SANDOVAL: All right, gentlemen, hopefully get to enjoy some of that party. That's Elex Michaelson, Andy Scholes on the sideline of Super Bowl 60. Thank you so much, guys. Other than the final score, the next biggest moment of Sunday night was the much anticipated halftime performance from rapper and singer, Bad Bunny and the recent Grammy award winner, made sure to bring the block party from Puerto Rico all the way to California. Take a look.
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Video is shown of Bad Bunny's performance at halftime.
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SANDOVAL: Quite literally bringing the house down during this halftime show. Bad Bunny's performance featured many of his greatest hits, as well as appearances from Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin. Big surprises for folks in that stadium and watching around the world.
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Joining me now is Anamaria Sayre, Co-Host of Alt.Latino on NPR, and Producer for NPR's Tiny Desk concert. Welcome to the show, Anamaria. Great to have you with us.
A: Thanks for having me. SANDOVAL: Such a fan of what of what Tiny Desk does, and featuring not
just Bad Bunny in the past, but -- but also other amazing Puerto Rican voices, especially recently, leading up to the Super Bowl. But look, we'll get to the message in a second. What did you make of the halftime show?
ANAMARIA SAYRE, CO-HOST, NPR'S ALT.LATINO: Oh, my God, somehow he managed, once again, to beat all of his own records. Something that was really key to me about tonight is, you know, he's always focused on Puerto Rico. That has been like his headline, audience message since the beginning, all throughout his career.
But I think one thing we can do with Bad Bunny is we can really pay attention to first words from him. I went to his residency. I spent some time at his shows, and he started every single performance this past summer saying, you know, Puerto Rico, (FOREIGN LANGUAGE). Puerto Rico, we're -- we're at home. And what he did tonight, he said (FOREIGN LANGUAGE) were the first words that we heard on tonight's stage.
And I think that's really a key way to define what tonight was. It was about Puerto Rico. Yes, of course, always. But using Puerto Rico as this way to unite Latin America on an American stage. It's like taking all the in between this of what it is that is Puerto Rico and making it feel right for Latin America in the United States.
SANDOVAL: Absolutely, with a very special meaning to him. And then, of course, U.S. President Donald Trump, took to Truth Social after the performance. He said, according to the president, he wrote, nobody understands a word this guy is saying. Of course, the President, that guy happens to be the most streamed artist last year on Spotify, but we'll put that aside.
What about the clear messages, though, in English, including on the Jumbotron, the only thing more powerful than hate is love. And then also at the very end, viewers may not have been able to make it out, but when he holds up a football before he spikes it. You can read on that ball, "Together, we are America." Do you think that those messages in English will -- will resonate all the way to the White House?
SAYRE: You know, he's been pretty intentional lately with how he's been speaking in English. He hasn't typically in the past, but lately, you know, we heard him say basically those exact same words about -- about choosing love over hate last week in his acceptance speech for his Grammy. And I think that he really, you know, like I said, he's typically always chosen to speak almost exclusively to Puerto Rico.
That message has expanded recently to be kind of this larger Latin America, Latin American diaspora with -- with this latest album, (FOREIGN LANGUAGE), and I think what we saw both at the Grammys last week and at the Super Bowl stage is he's now assuming this position of being this person who's interested in using his platform actually, to speak, not only to but for Latinos, principally, it seems, in the United States. SANDOVAL: Yeah, I don't -- look, I completely forgot to mention the
other message that he shares in English, God bless America. Before -- he then shared -- appears to share this big message of unity, where he and some of the background dancers are quite literally shouting out the names of different countries in North and in South America. So finally, just a couple of seconds that I have left with you, what do you expect next to come from Benito, Bad Bunny?
SAYRE: I think that moment that you called out is key, because he says, God bless America, Osea (ph) which Osea (ph) is this beautiful word in Spanish that is to clarify an idea, usually. And so there he is clarifying what America means. And I think that that's what we can expect, really, it seems as he's turning the corner to really be -- assume his position as this unifier for all of America as he's clearly defined it tonight.
SANDOVAL: Anamaria Sayre, thank you and all the folks at NPR for everything you do. Appreciate your time.
SAYRE: Thank you.
SANDOVAL: Still to come here on CNN Newsroom, Japan's first ever female Prime Minister was gambling on her popularity when she called for a snap election. Well, it paid off in a very surprising way. We'll explain.
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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York, and these are today's top stories. The family of Nancy Guthrie pleading for her return ahead of a possible ransom deadline on Monday. The alleged ransom note, it reportedly threatens Nancy's life if her family does not pay $6 million in Bitcoin by 5:00 p.m. local time in the state of Arizona.
Her children, including Today's show Host Savannah Guthrie, have said that they will pay it as a search for their mother continues. Hong Kong Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai, he's been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Lai was found guilty of two national security charges and a sedition charge in December. His year's long legal saga, it has really come to define Beijing's crackdown on the semi-autonomous city. Lai has been in detention since 2020 and he will not be eligible parole until his late 90s.
The Seattle Seahawks, they are celebrating a Super Bowl win. Millions around the world watched as the team took the title just hours ago, topping the New England Patriots 29 to 13. This is now the second championship for Seattle and the first for their head coach, Mike Macdonald in his second season in the post.
Japan's Prime Minister is thanking voters who handed her a pretty massive majority victory in Sunday snap election. Sanae Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party, secured a two thirds majority in the Lower House of Parliament, and that's the LDP's best ever result, and this is expected to give the ruling coalition the ability to override votes in the upper house of parliament.
For more on what the Prime Minister's victory means for Japan, let's go to CNN's Hanako Montgomery joining us live from Tokyo. Hey, Hanukkah.
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Polo. It's good to see you. So as you just outlined there, Sanae Takaichi, the first female Prime Minister of Japan secured a landslide victory for her Liberal Democratic Party.
Now I've been speaking to some experts this morning, and even though most opinion polls showed that she would secure a majority in parliament, in the Lower House, it's actually quite astounding to see that the Liberal Democrat -- Liberal Democratic Party, excuse me, was able to secure that two-thirds majority.
Now what that means is they will be able to pass through any legislation, or any bills, really, with no opposition. And of course, if you are the ruling party, that will be music to your ears, you'll be able to pass these bills much more easily. Now Takaichi's popularity, as we've seen in recent opinion polls, are higher than we've seen in recent years, compared to other recent Japanese prime ministers, and really there are four main reasons for that.
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The first is because many moderate voters and conservative voters who were dissatisfied with the way the Liberal Democratic Party was being run in the previous election, they chose other parties, they chose the opposition parties. But now that Takaichi has been -- has been re- instilled as the party president and also as leader of Japan, they feel very comfortable with her leadership, and they feel as though they should vote again for the party.
Now also, Takaichi has been really showcasing how she's very good at foreign diplomacy. She's shown that despite years of resentment and of course, really tough and strained ties with South Korea, a country that Japan militarized for many, many years during the Second World War, she was able to develop really shuttle diplomacy between Japan and South Korea.
She's also shown that she's been able to develop ties with Italy, the U.K., and, of course, the U.S.. Actually, in fact, the U.S. President Donald Trump just congratulated her again for her victory and said that he was looking forward to meeting her again in March, when Takaichi is expected to visit for a bilateral meeting.
Now, of course, in terms of foreign policy -- foreign policy, that will be, of course, music to voters in Japan who feel as though Japan needs to be on a much bigger global scale, Polo.
SANDOVAL: And she does all this while forming a massive following on social media, which is just absolutely impressive. Hanako Montgomery with that live report out of Tokyo. Thank you. We're going to be back with more of your headlines in a moment.
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SANDOVAL: Relief from the winter chill is on its way for parts of eastern United States, but only for a moment. You see warmer temperatures, they are expected to arrive earlier this week before another temperature drop returns by the end of the week.
Here CNN's Allison Chinchar with your forecast.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Quite a change in the forecast, especially for those in the Eastern U.S. Now this was a look at Sunday. You can see all of that cold air that was really focused over the Northeast and the Mid Atlantic, but relief is on the way.
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All of the warmth that was out to the West has now started to spread in through much of the Eastern U.S., and will continue to do so as we head into at least the middle portion of the week. A lot more orange color there, across the Midwest, the Mid Atlantic and even into the southeast. But for some it's going to be short lived, because by the time we get to the end of the week, we start to see more of those cooler temperatures begin to set back in.
So let's take a look at what I'm talking about. Atlanta, not too bad for the next couple of days, well above average. Washington, D.C., New York City, you're going to gradually start to see those temperatures going back up by the middle of the week. But they don't necessarily last. Look at Raleigh, for example. Here's that jump up in temperatures.
You're looking at five to almost 10 degrees above where they normally would be, but then we fall right back again, especially as we head into next weekend, where we get some rain showers in the forecast.
Atlanta, very similar again, very warm days, the next few days, all the way through Thursday, but then just in time for the weekend, we start to see those temperatures dropping back off. So a little bit of a hint of what spring should feel like, but it's just not going to last for very long.
SANDOVAL: Yeah, the cold grip of spring, it won't let go. After this next break, we'll get you back out to Elex Michaelson and Andy Scholes in San Francisco for World Sport coverage. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.
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SCHOLES: And welcome to World Sport from Levi's Stadium on the field where we just witnessed Super Bowl 60. We watched the Seahawks beat the Patriots in an epic defensive showdown. Elex Michaelson joining me here for the show and Elex, we -- we came into this game not really knowing what to expect. The Seahawks were favorites, but they proved that they were the best team in the NFL.
MICHAELSON: And they proved they had the best defense in the NFL, which they had all season long, and that defense was dominant early.
SCHOLES: It was and they just proved that they were -- you know why they were the number one ranked unit from the start. We'll show you how it all went down in Super Bowl 60. That defense just getting after Drake Maye, from the very first quarter. He was running for his life for much of this game. And then this one, the defense pitching a shutout for the first three quarters.
They sacked Drake Maye six times. For a while there Seahawks kicker Jason Myers was the dominant force in this game. He made a Super Bowl record, five field goals. And with a huge play into the end of the third quarter Derick Hall sacking Maye, forcing the fumble.
The Seahawks would recover and then we would finally get our first touchdown of Super Bowl 60, as Sam Darnold hits A.J. Barner, not too far from where we're standing, right here on this field, for the touchdown. That made it 19 to nothing, might as well been 100 to nothing, Elex, because the way that Seahawks defense was playing, they were just dominant.
Uchenna Nwosu putting an exclamation point on this one with late in the fourth quarter at the interception, rumbled 44 yards for that score. In the end, 29 to 13, Seahawks and it wasn't even that close as they claim their second Super Bowl title. And one thing about this game, Elex, you really just got to be happy for Sam Darnold.
MICHAELSON: Got to be happy for Sam Darnold and Mike, his coach right there, who we're looking at there. Sam Darnold, who started in the league as a New York Jets, number one pick in the draft, widely seen as a bust. This is his fifth team, and he is now a Super Bowl champion. We've never seen a story quite like that. Sam Darnold crediting his family.
We saw him on the field with that family, originally from Orange County, California, and very tight knit. They were with him through all the ups and the downs and now the up again. Sam Darnold talking about them after the game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAM DARNOLD, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS QUARTERBACK: I'm here because of their belief in me. And they believed in me throughout my entire career, and I think that's why I was able to believe in myself almost ad nauseam, like I -- some people called me -- called me crazy throughout my career, for believing in myself so much and having so much confidence. But you know, they -- it was because of my parents, because of the way that they believed in me throughout my entire career, and it allowed me to go out there and play free and have a ton of confidence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Sam Darnold, the third pick in that NFL draft, now a Super Bowl champion in 2026.
SCHOLES: And Elex, never seen anything really like it, right? Got the whole fan base considered him a bust, and now he leads the team to a Super Bowl Championship. Just incredible what he was able to do, also incredible what Mike Macdonald has done with the Seahawks team. He at 38 years old, is now the third youngest coach to ever win a Super Bowl, and he did it in just his second season in charge of the Seahawks.
We talked to a lot of players tonight, Elex, everyone raves about Mike Macdonald, and we were lucky enough to have him join us right here on the field after the big win.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: We're joined right now with the head coach, Mike Macdonald. Coach, congratulations on just completing this journey and winning the Super Bowl. How do you feel right now?
MACDONALD: Couldn't be any better. I mean, it's, honestly, it's surreal, right now. You look at the Jumbotron, it was -- you know, their quarterback just with our team, can't wait to go celebrate with them. It's -- it's pretty unbelievable.
MICHAELSON: We've talked to a bunch of your players already who really credit you, and not only the way that you have changed them on the football field, but the way you've changed them as men, and that the culture that you've created. Describe the Seahawks culture. What you want in terms of these guys, not only on the field, but off.
MACDONALD: Well, I'll tell you what. It's not -- it takes -- it is a team effort. So we have an incredible staff, coaches, people that really care about our players. And it's a -- it's an incredible building. It's incredible organization. John Schneider deserves a ton of credit for putting all these people together. A lot of these people were here before I showed up.
MICHAELSON: You deserve some credit too.
MACDONALD: Well, I appreciate that, but like, my job is to make it come to life and bring it together and us to go in the same direction. And I'll just tell you how much fun it is to do it, and it takes a lot of faith from our players to be bought in and kind of say, OK, let's give this thing a shot and, man, it's just been such a -- such a special group, so much fun, really proud of them. I mean, it's just incredible.
[00:50:00]
I'm just so happy for the guys, because you realize what they do every day and the amount of work that it takes to get to this point. And, man, it's just -- it's just -- just incredible.
SCHOLES: And, coach, you're only 38 years old for all the people watching that don't know that, the third youngest coach, yeah, third youngest coach to ever -- to ever win a Super Bowl. I mean, when you were on the Raven staff, and, you know, you know, getting -- you know, promotions and, you know, make it to the defense coordinator, and then here, did you think you were able to be able to do this so fast?
MACDONALD: No, you know, it's hard to have expectations. And I think what we did, did a great job, was to say, look, we had a vision of what we want to want -- what we wanted to create, and we just went to work. And there's some things that didn't go our way sometimes, and we had a lot of support to help us. And you learn along the way.
You just keep growing. Get around the right people, and this is the type of stuff you can do, so it's pretty awesome.
MICHAELSON: And lastly, what can we learn about leadership from this team, especially this defense.
MACDONALD: 12 is one synergy, man. It really matters when you're connected like that, the way our guys are connected, the way they love each other, it's a part of the -- football teams are the coolest things ever. I mean, you got guys from all over the place that came together for a common goal, all different backgrounds, you learn off each other. I mean, doesn't get any better than that.
MICHAELSON: And speaking of the 12, The 12 was here tonight.
MACDONALD: That's right.
MICHAELSON: Loud fans for the Seattle Seahawks described as the best fans in the league.
MACDONALD: Well, they backed it up today. I don't know how much more evidence you need, but if you saw our playoff atmosphere and our games this season, they absolutely backed it up. They're the best. They need to get ready, though, because we're going to be partying this week.
SCHOLES: What are you looking forward to the most?
MACDONALD: I made a prayer (ph), seeing my wife first. You know, seeing my son who's pissed off and tired right now. He's about a year old, loved the confetti. Everything, man, just enjoy the experience. Going to be awesome.
SCHOLES: Congrats again, Coach.
MICHAELSON: Congratulations. And I love that, that necklace. What's that about?
MACDONALD: It says mob. You guys will learn about it. Mob ties.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: I'll tell you what Elex, he's going to get mobbed when they get back to Seattle. That's going to be quite the party there, and it was quite the party here in San Francisco, I should say the Bay Area. We're in Santa Clara as after the Seahawks won, the party was on in the locker room. But luckily, many of those guys came out here to join us, and we're going to bring you some of those interviews after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHOLES: And welcome back to the field here at Levi's Stadium, where we just watched a dominant performance from the Seahawks in Super Bowl 60. 29 to 13, they beat the Patriots to get their second Super Bowl title. Elex, what from this game really stuck out to you?
MICHAELSON: I mean, it was the defense. I mean, we've -- just complete domination. It felt like Drake Maye could not get anywhere, do anything, without being smothered. And even though, at a point when they were only down two scores, it felt like that was an impossible hill to climb.
SCHOLES: And at one point, I mean, into the fourth quarter, it was 12- nothing, right? We were all talking like, well is Jason Myers going to be the MVP in this game? He's the only one scoring points. He actually made a record, five field goals in this game. And I know you caught a special moment with him and his family, when they were out in the field.
MICHAELSON: Yeah, and they were, they were hanging out, and I said, you made history. He's like, who would have thought, you know, and he was so happy, his family, so happy. His kids hanging out in the confetti and enjoying the moment. It was really, really cool to see that. And we got a chance talk to a lot of players here tonight.
[00:55:00]
SCHOLES: We did and what -- I think the theme we got from this is just how tight knit of a group this is, they were always pulling for each other. They are all, you know, knew the mission, what -- that was at hand in here. Let's take a listen to some of the great interviews we got here, right here on the field.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
A.J. BARNER, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS TIGHT END: Our defense has played incredible all year. The amount of great players that we have on our defense, that's the expectation, and they did it again.
GEORGE HOLANI, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS RUNNING BACK: We want to do the best we can out there and, you know, go out there and operate, but our defense always has our back. And you know, we're grateful for those guys.
JARRAN REED, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS DEFENSIVE TACKLE: By time we got the Thursday, we was ready to play, man. We had to slow down, man. Guys was ready to hunt. We just ready to come out here and just to let it all out, man, to come win this -- win this ring.
CONNOR O'TOOLE, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS LINEBACKER: Like Coach Mike said last week, it's always been about us, since OTA, since training camp, since week one to the Super Bowl. You know, we just do what we do every single week. We treat every week like it was a Super Bowl, another week, and it was just another game for us. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: So Connor O'Toole right there with a nice stokey (ph) that he was smoking on, that he was very proud to have. The team is partying. We saw some video from the locker room of the celebrations, the beers, the fun there. They're going to be heading to Disneyland tomorrow, some of them because, of course, that you know, that as campaign.
And then later in the week, they're going to be having their big parade in Seattle, which is going to be quite something. We know The 12, as they're known, The 12th Man, their fans among the loudest, if not the loudest in all the NFL.
SCHOLES: And they were loud here.
MICHAELSON: Very loud.
SCHOLES: We were -- we were sitting right behind this end zone. And I could -- you know there were definitely more Seahawks fans and Patriots fans. But again, they had a lot more to cheer about in this. We don't see a lot going well for New England. But you know, Elex, another special part of this Super Bowl championship for the Seahawks, they were 60 to one odds before the season to win the Super Bowl. That's -- that's a very rare thing these days.
MICHAELSON: Yeah, somebody's making a lot of money. What you're saying, somebody's doing well tonight in Seattle.
SCHOLES: Correct, correct. But, I mean, that's just such a rare thing these days in the NFL, for a team to really not be considered even in -- in it right, to go through what they did and then win the Super Bowl. And, like I said, Mike Macdonald isn't going anywhere. He's 38 years old.
MICHAELSON: He's not. And the Patriots also, nobody thought they would be here. So what a successful season to come here and Mike Vrabel's first season as well. We got about 15 seconds to wrap things up.
SCHOLES: Well, I'm going to remember this Super Bowl as just dominant defense. That would be my two words for it. What about you?
MICHAELSON: I will as well. And look at the pictures in Seattle. The party is well underway in the Pacific Northwest.
SCHOLES: All right, that's going to do it for this edition of World Sport from the field here at Levi's Stadium for Andy Scholes. He's Elex Michaelson. Thank you so much for joining us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
