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New Developments on the Search for Nancy Guthrie; Host Italy Trails Behind Norway in the Medal Tally as the Winter Olympics Enters Final Week; U.S.A Stars Wins this year's NBA All-Star Game. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 16, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world, I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.

A new message from Savannah Guthrie as the FBI analyzes DNA from a glove. We have the latest in the search for Nancy Guthrie.

The top U.S. diplomat brings President Trump's America First message overseas, details on how Marco Rubio's European trip is being received by world leaders.

Plus, what to expect when the U.S. and Iran high-stakes nuclear talks resume this week.

And the latest from an action-packed Winter Olympics. We'll go live to Milan.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: I appreciate you joining us.

And we begin this hour in Arizona with a desperate search for missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie. Now, stretches into a third week. On Sunday, Nancy's daughter, "Today Show" host Savannah Guthrie, appeared to address her mother's alleged abductor directly.

Here's her latest plea for Nancy's safe return.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, DAUGHTER OF NANCY GUTHRIE: We still have hope and we still believe. And I wanted to say to whoever has her, who 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 in the essential goodness of every human being.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: So far, no suspects have been named in Guthrie's disappearance. The FBI is awaiting final DNA test results from a glove recovered about two miles away from Guthrie's home in Pima County. The agency says the glove appears to match those worn by the person who was seen on doorbell camera footage approaching Guthrie's home on February 1st.

Guthrie was reported missing just hours after this video was captured. And authorities believe she has been abducted. The FBI has described this individual as a male, roughly 5 foot 9 to 5 foot 10 inches tall, with an average build.

He was seen wearing dark clothing, black gloves, and a black 25 liter Ozark Trail hiker pack.

And last hour, I spoke with former FBI agent Scott Curtis. I asked him about the agency's approach to DNA testing and how significant this type of evidence might be. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT CURTIS, FORMER FBI AGENT: The FBI will run those results through their CODIS database system to see if that DNA profile shows up with anybody that's been logged into their database system there. That would be great if it does because that would narrow our focus to a specific individual who that DNA sample belongs to, not saying it would connect us directly to the perpetrator that we see on the Nest camera footage.

That should take within a week or so. The fact that we've obtained DNA from this glove is not surprising at all in the year 2026. I think it's to be expected.

I would be interested to see if they could come up with some DNA from the outside of that glove. And it would be great if that DNA would match Nancy Guthrie's because then we would have a more solid direct link between that glove and the crime that occurred here.

CHURCH: Yes, and perhaps they are checking that as well. And of course, after more than two weeks now, no arrests have been made despite tens of thousands of calls into that FBI tip line and clues from the doorbell footage on the height and build of the suspect, along with the clothing, the backpack and, of course, the gloves. Why is it taking so long to track this person down or at least get a little closer than what they appear to be?

[03:05:03]

CURTIS: Well, a lot of factors. I mean, we have video footage like you mentioned there. But again, it's somebody concealing their identity.

And maybe that individual doesn't have family members who reside in that area or who can recognize that individual and the clothing, the backpack, the jacket. I'm waiting to hear what kind of sneakers this individual is wearing, because I think that will also narrow down who we may be looking for.

And from my experience, sneakers are something that people are not going to want to toss away and get rid of there. So the possibility of linking that once we do identify somebody, linking those sneakers to that individual and to this crime would increase in significance.

CHURCH: And when you look at what we know so far, what stands out to you in this investigation? And what questions are you asking at this time?

CURTIS: Well, let's go back to the original report and the original theories here that this is a kidnapping. From what we see from Savannah's latest release of a video there, clearly there's no active communications between her or her family and the kidnapper or alleged kidnappers or between law enforcement and these alleged kidnappers. So if this was a straight up kidnapping, why aren't the kidnappers having immediate direct communications with the family, making it clear what their demands are and the timetable of things so they can get what they want out of this situation and then they can return Nancy Guthrie or at least lead the family law enforcement to her whereabouts.

CHURCH: So what are some of the answers to that? I mean, if it appears that she's been abducted, but there's no communication at this juncture or no apparent communication between law enforcement and the possible abductor, then what do you think has happened?

CURTIS: I think it could be one of two or three things. It could have been maybe starting out as a kidnapping and then something went horribly wrong shortly thereafter and after that these individuals were looking to just separate themselves from Nancy Guthrie and hopefully disappear into our country or beyond. Or this could have been a home invasion robbery that went wrong and they decided that we didn't want to leave evidence of a more serious crime than just a robbery of a residence here so let's take her from the residence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban next hour. Rubio arrived in Budapest after a visit to Slovakia and on the back of the Munich Security Conference in Germany where he told European leaders that the U.S. and Europe, quote, "belong together." On Sunday, Rubio said the White House wants Europe to reduce its dependence on the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We don't want Europe to be dependent, we're not asking Europe to be a vassal of the United States. We want to be your partner. We want to work with Europe, we want to work with our allies, we want to work in cooperation with you and our point has been and continues to be the stronger you are, both on an individual basis in terms of countries and collectively as an alliance, the stronger the members of NATO are, the stronger NATO is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Melissa Bell joins us now live from Paris. Good morning to you, Melissa. So how was Secretary Rubio's marked change in tone received by European leaders at the Munich Security Forum after a previously pretty combative message from the U.S.?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There was an audible sigh of relief, really, and even a standing ovation from part of the room. So fearful, I think, were those who were gathered there that there would be a repeat performance of the tone and the substance of what J.D. Vance, the Vice President, had delivered at the same conference last year.

But in a sense, I think, beyond the sugarcoating of the message that Marco Rubio brought this year, it wasn't really that different in substance, essentially, that the United States believed that Europe was facing civilizational decline and that it was important that, as children of Europe, the United States, as friends of Europe, could continue to deliver them the hard truths that they needed to hear. So that sort of very MAGA message remained at the heart of what he had to say. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUBIO: We should be proud of what we achieved together in the last century. But now we must confront and embrace the opportunities of a new one.

Because yesterday is over, the future is inevitable and our destiny together awaits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: From Munich, the American Secretary of State then visited these two allies of the United States. In Europe, first of all, Slovakia. We heard him just a moment ago there speaking at that press conference alongside the leader, the Prime Minister, Robert Fico.

[03:10:07]

In a message, again, that reminded the world of the United States' alignment with countries like Slovakia and Hungary.

We expect to hear from Marco Rubio later today, speaking in Budapest. Remember also, Rosemary, that the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, is facing a very difficult election in just a few weeks' time.

So we'll see what the two men have to say there. But it is a strong signal, first of all, that he went to these countries rather than others in the wake of Munich. And again, a reinforcement of fundamentally what is the substance of the unchanged American message to Europeans.

And he is there in both countries, Slovakia and Hungary, to speak to them about energy ties. These are two countries that are very closely aligned with Russia as well, that are facing the difficulty of a European Union determined to phase out Russian gas, energy very much at the heart of their discussions. But it is the symbol, I think, of his visit to both Bratislava and Budapest that matters, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Many thanks to Melissa Bell, who brings us that live report from Paris.

It is Day 10 of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and six Gold medals are up for grabs. Here's where the medal count stands: Norway remains on top overall, extending its lead in the second week of competition; host nation Italy now has 22 total medals, officially its best Winter Olympics performance ever.

And joining me now live from Milan is world sports Amanda Davies. Good morning to you, Amanda, great to see you. So take us through all the Olympic highlights and, of course, what lies ahead.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Good morning, Rosemary. It was a late, I have to say, very heavy hitting night at the hockey rink, but the U.S. fans and the U.S. team did not mind.

Men's captain Austin Matthews describing it as a great team performance as they qualified for the quarterfinals unbeaten. It was another big win, this time 5-1 over Germany. So they're into the last eight, three wins in three and up against Sweden or Latvia on Wednesday as they look to claim their first Olympic men's hockey gold since 1980.

It's the semifinal stage at the women's hockey competition, though the U.S. there being dubbed the best American women's hockey team ever. Next up, they face Sweden. That's a rematch of their meeting at the same stage in Sochi in 2014, I remember that one.

Well, the U.S. winning 6-1 then en route to a silver medal, but hopes so much higher this time around of them getting their hands on that gold that they last won in Pyeongchang in 2018, that semifinal later on Monday.

Up in the mountains yesterday, though, we saw another goal for Italy's comeback sensation Federica Brignone, this time in the giant slalom as the hosts reached that record tally you mentioned for Winter Olympic medals, 22 in all so far. That's well past the 20 they got in Lillehammer in 1994.

There was disappointment, though, for Michaela Schifrin finishing 11th, but a really classy reflection on the mountain after that day. She said this was the greatest show of giant slalom skiing we have had in a really long time to do it at the Olympics where people actually have eyes on the sport.

So despite her disappointment, she could see the bigger picture there. There is still hope of medals to come for Michaela, though.

Brazil's new superhero Lucas Pinheiro Braathen is back in competition this morning as well, looking to add a second ever Winter Olympic medal for his country in the slalom to follow up that historic first gold in the giant slalom.

And a little bit later on this evening, Eileen Gu looks to defend her free ski big air title this evening, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Action packed. Amanda Davies, many thanks. Go off and do your reporting and we'll talk to you again soon, I appreciate it.

Still to come, the Trump administration says it prefers diplomacy when dealing with Iran. The next steps the U.S. plans to take. That's just ahead.

And later, the top House Democrat vows to win the redistricting war in the lead up to this year's midterm elections. We'll tell you why Hakeem Jeffries wants to strike back.

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[03:15:00]

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CHURCH: The U.S. and Iranian officials are expected to hold a new round of nuclear talks in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday. Sources say U.S. envoy Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner are set to attend.

And this comes as the Trump administration ramps up its military pressure on Tehran, sending a second U.S. aircraft carrier group to the Middle East. Satellite images show the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of Oman on Sunday.

President Trump says that if Iran wants to avoid a potential military strike, it should, quote, "give us a deal." But Secretary of State Marco Rubio insists President Trump is focused on a diplomatic solution.

H.A. Hellyer is a senior associate fellow with the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies. He joins me now from Cairo. Good to see you.

H.A. HELLYER, SR. ASSOCIATE FELLOW, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE AND SECURITY STUDIES: Thank you so much. Good to see you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So with these nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran set to resume on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is saying President Trump is focused on diplomacy. But we're seeing this second aircraft carrier heading to the Middle East. And of course, it's all despite Trump talking about regime change in Iran.

So how likely is it that these talks will end in a nuclear deal?

HELLYER: So what we've seen over the last few weeks in particular are conflicting messages from D.C., but I think you can actually explain them in a pretty consistent manner. Trump wants a deal.

I think it's very clear that he wants a deal, he wants the Iranians to give him a deal that he feels he can take and that he can promote and that he can show to the American people, look, I've got a better deal than President Obama. It's better than the JCPOA. It really makes a massive difference and so on.

[03:20:05]

The issue for him is that I don't think the Iranians are willing to give him that kind of a deal. The Iranians have a very clear red line when it comes to, for example, reducing their ballistic missiles and including when it comes to even the nuclear enrichment.

There's been a compromise deal that's been suggested by certain regional powers, including I think Egypt and Turkey, where some of the enriched uranium would be relocated out of Iran and that there might be a deal to be made on a very low level of enrichment going forward for the next few years. But I'm not sure this is going to pass muster with the Trump administration or not.

And as you've seen, he didn't just send one armada, as he puts it. Recently, Trump said that another set of assets are moving into the region in case talks fail. So none of this is boding particularly well.

CHURCH: So how critical is that buildup of U.S. military force in the region to pressure Iran to make the deal that Trump wants or to get close to the deal that he envisions?

HELLYER: I think it's very critical. I think that the entire movement of assets and the absence of having had them there before is frankly why we didn't see strikes on Iran in January at the height of the protests.

There were many calls for the United States to intervene and to strike and so forth. But I think fundamentally the decision not to do so was that there simply wasn't the right asset management within the region to actually, from the American side, to actually sustain such an attack.

What we've seen in reporting over the last few days is that the plans are being drawn up in D.C. at present for a weeks-long campaign if necessary. Now, we also know that this is also a negotiation tactic. The Iranians know everything that I've just told you.

It's very public, it's on secret. And they will also be wondering how they can avoid another massive strike, which wouldn't just be a few days but could be weeks, on Iranian territory, which would, I think, be really crippling to the regime.

I don't think it would cause the regime to fall, but I do think that it would be quite a massive blow against it and damage its standing even further in the eyes of the Iranian people.

CHURCH: And if no nuclear deal is made and this ends in U.S. military strikes on Iran, what will be the likely consequences of that, given Iran has vowed to strike back with massive force if that happens? HELLYER: So, I think this is why you see so much of the regional

leadership in the broader Arab world, Middle East, be so opposed to strikes on Iran. With the exception of the Israelis, who are actually very keen to escalate against Iran and have been embarking on all sorts of adventurous campaigns, quite destructive ones throughout the region over the last few years?

The vast majority, I would say down to every single leadership in the region, really opposes a strike on Iran. Not because of sympathy for the Iranian regime. There's very little sympathy, if any, for most of the region in that regard.

The region remembers and knows what Iran did with regards to Syria, supporting the Bashar al-Assad regime, support for proxies and allied militias in places like Lebanon or in Yemen or in Iraq. I mean, the Iranian regime is not a preferred partner, let's say, for nearly every leadership in the region.

But they're very concerned about what would happen in the event of an American strike, because the Iranian regime would respond. There would be reprisals, these reprisals would be visited within the region. It's all well and good from their perspective.

It's all well and good for the United States to talk big when it comes to Iran. But it won't be American soil and the American homeland that will be targeted in the same way that you'd see regional actors be targeted that have American assets within them. And that's why you've also seen this massive flurry of activity from different regional powers in the Gulf, in particular, go to Tehran, partly for negotiation and to mediate, but also to let the Iranians know if the Americans do this, it's not because of them, they opposed it, so please leave us out of it.

I don't think that'll work, but you can see that there's a huge amount of energy going in that particular direction to avoid an escalation that could lead to a much wider regional conflict.

[03:25:08]

CHURCH: H.A. Hellyer, many thanks for joining us. I appreciate your analysis.

HELLYER: Thank you. My pleasure.

CHURCH: And still to come, multiple U.S. agencies have been affected by the partial government shutdown. We will have the latest on the push to reopen the Department of Homeland Security. That's just ahead.

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check today's top stories for you.

The U.S. and Iran are set to hold a new round of nuclear talks in Geneva on Tuesday. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the Trump administration wants diplomacy. But this comes as the U.S. is moving another aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, satellite images show the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of Oman on Sunday.

It's now been more than two weeks since 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie was reported missing, but her family is still holding on to hope. Her daughter, "Today Show" host Savannah Guthrie, appeared to address her mother's alleged abductor directly on Sunday. In her latest social media post, she said, quote, "it is never too late to do the right thing."

The FBI is analyzing DNA from a glove recovered about two miles away from Nancy Guthrie's home in Pima County, Arizona. The agency says the glove appears to match those worn by the person seen on doorbell camera footage approaching Guthrie's front door on February 1st. At this time, there's still no suspect named in her disappearance.

[03:30:01]

The high-profile case has drawn many true crime live streamers and podcasters to Arizona, and not everyone thinks they're helping the search.

State lawmaker Alma Hernandez took to social media to accuse them of undermining the investigation, saying in part, quote, "I am so sick of watching the reporting, grifting, insane speculation, lies, and B.S. by random wannabe journalists and YouTubers who have now caused more harm than good to this entire situation and put this serious case in jeopardy. Please go home. Let law enforcement do their jobs."

A Tucson native herself, Hernandez warns the influx of true crime enthusiasts could harm the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALMA HERNANDEZ (D-AZ), STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Everyone in our communities, everyone in Arizona really wants to make sure that Nancy comes home to her family, both safe and unharmed. However, at the end of the day, what we're seeing in our community, in our city right now is just not normal, right?

We have individuals who are calling themselves journalists, who are YouTubers and quite frankly, just really random individuals who are out there with their cameras and live streaming. But I think at the end of the day, what we need to be talking about is the fact that these individuals are actually, like I said, causing more harm than good.

I have, you know, just on social media these last few weeks, we've seen a rumor start that individuals posting videos and pictures of people that have nothing to do at all with anything in this case. And they're trying to point at, you know, they're trying to find anything at this point to stay relevant and get the clicks on social media. And it's extremely frustrating.

And, you know, I felt like I needed to call it out because every single day when I log on to social media, and I live here in Tucson, every day I log into social media, it's a random, you know, quote, unquote, reporter, if you want to call it that, who's saying, you know, oh, I'm following FBI, I'm on the mission to go and find these individuals that they're serving a warrant on. And I just think that's extremely inappropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: High tensions in Washington this week as lawmakers clash over funding proposals for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But little movement could come this week since both chambers are in recess.

Among the Democrats' demands for agreeing to funding are mandatory body cameras for immigration agents and rules to prevent agents from wearing masks. Democrats also want to require immigration agents to use judicial warrants instead of the easier-to-obtain administrative warrants they've been using and put an end to roving agent patrols.

Despite the partial shutdown, many DHS employees will still be required to work but won't be paid. That includes agencies like FEMA, the Coast Guard, TSA and even the Secret Service.

Well the surge in immigration enforcement may be winding down in Minnesota, but questions over the behavior of the officers are not going away. At its height, around 3000 federal agents were deployed to the state. Public outrage grew as cameras captured aggressive clashes between federal officers and protesters, including the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens.

White House Border Czar Tom Homan says racial profiling did not occur during the crackdown, and he says federal officers wear masks to protect themselves. Homan also says he has ramped up efforts to follow up on allegations of misconduct.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: I've seen videos and there's been pieces of videos and pieces of videos in any instance where there's been allegations of misconduct or working outside the policy has been referred to internal affairs. My first press conference in Minnesota, I said I was bringing in more internal affairs officers to review the allegations and those allegations are now being investigated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Still ahead, the U.S. military intercepts and boards another oil tanker in the Indian Ocean as the Trump administration seeks to take control of Venezuela's oil. The details after the break.

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[03:35:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well here are your business headlines.

Uber is planning to expand its food delivery business, Uber Eats, across Europe. Those plans involve entering seven new European markets this year, including Austria, Denmark and Greece. Uber expects to move to generate an additional $1 billion in gross bookings over the next three years.

Japan is showing signs of returning to economic growth after contracting in the third quarter of last year, but just barely. Growth came in at just two tenths of a percent in the October to December quarter. The new reading suggests a gradual recovery from the impact of U.S. tariffs.

Moviegoers were in the mood for love this Valentine's weekend. "Wuthering Heights" took the top spot at the box office, making nearly $77 million worldwide. The film stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi and is an adaptation of the 1847 novel by Emily Bronte.

Well the U.S. military says it has apprehended another oil tanker linked to Venezuela in the Indian Ocean. The Pentagon claims the ship was trying to defy President Trump's quarantine on Venezuelan oil being brought out of the country.

The seizure comes days after President Trump praised Venezuela's acting President Dulce Rodriguez, saying their relationship is now at a 10. CNN's Stefano Pozzebon has more on the increasingly cordial ties between the two nations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): The threats, the pressure, the daring night raid, it all led to this. The United States is getting what it wants from Venezuela, but it wants more of it. And this visit by Energy Secretary Chris Wright is conveying that message.

POZZEBON: Now, all of the oil that is stored in this massive tank already goes directly to the United States. It goes to Houston. But that is just a tiny fraction of what this country could produce.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Wright and acting President Delcy Rodriguez touring this facility, a partnership between U.S. major Chevron and Venezuela's PDVSA.

It pumps out 40,000 barrels a day, and it could produce 7.5 times more. But obstacles remain.

[03:40:04]

CHRIS WRIGHT, U.S. ENERGY SECRETARY: It's just to get the political and economic arrangements as smooth as possible between our countries.

POZZEBON (voice-over): The arrangements the U.S. wants don't seem to align with those of student protesters in Caracas.

Oil is secondary here. They want the Trump administration to finish what it started and to see hundreds of political prisoners being released.

UNKNOWN (through translator): They can't release one, two, three. They must all be freed immediately.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Six weeks since the U.S. forces stormed Caracas, capturing and taking President Nicolas Muturo, things have changed in Venezuela. Relations with the U.S. are on demand, and a new hydrocarbon law was passed to attract investment. Prices are dropping, and the country's National Assembly is discussing an amnesty bill for political prisoners.

At Miraflores, where Muturo used to live, another sign of change. The stars and stripes now hoisted on the doorstep.

WRIGHT: We want to set the Venezuelan people and the economy free.

POZZEBON (voice-over): But as time goes by, many wonder if the U.S. is actually interested in change or just wanted a more cooperative leader in Caracas.

Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Caracas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And we'll take a quick break now. For our viewers in North America, I'll have more news in just a moment. And for our international viewers, "World Sport" is coming up next.

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[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and Canada. I'm Rosemary Church here in Atlanta.

When they go low, we strike back. Those words coming from the top House Democrat as he vows to fight Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries promises to spend tens of millions of dollars on redistricting efforts to give Democrats more seats across the country.

In an interview with CNN's Manu Raju, Jeffries said he's all in on the effort and willing to spend whatever it takes to ensure his party ends up on top in this year's midterm elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), U.S. HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Republicans started this redistricting war and Democrats have made clear we're going to finish it. We're forcefully making sure that the overall national map is free and fair. And so whatever advantage Republicans thought they were going to obtain by gerrymandering in red states across the country, we are making sure those advantages are completely and totally wiped out.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: I spoke with CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein about the midterms and I asked him if the tactics by Democrats will be enough to take control of the House. Here's part of our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST, AND OPINION EDITOR, BLOOMBERG: The redistricting war, amazingly enough, is probably going to end in something very close to a draw. I mean, President Trump triggered it by demanding that Republican states undertake an unusual mid-decade redistricting, believing that it could net Republicans as many as eight, 10, 12 seats in the House of Representatives. But Democrats have fought back in California, potentially a seat in New York, and now in Virginia.

It's unlikely that Hakeem Jeffries is going to have to spend tens of millions of dollars, I think, to pass this. I mean, if you look at the results of the election last year for governor in Virginia, it gives you a pretty clear indication that the electorate there right now is pretty cool on what Donald Trump is doing. And as we saw in California, that hostility to Trump can be a very powerful argument for this sort of redistricting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban next hour. He arrived in Budapest after a visit to Slovakia and after assuring European leaders at the Munich Security Conference that the U.S. remains committed to their partnership. But while in Slovakia, Rubio said the White House wants Europe to reduce its dependence on the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUBIO: It is the view of the President of the United States, President Trump, and of the United States under his presidency, that we expect every country in the world, we expect every country in the world to act in their national interest. That is what countries are supposed to do, that is what leaders of other countries are supposed to do. I don't know why that is a strange consideration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger joins us now. He's also the author of the book "New Cold Wars - China's Rise, Russia's Invasion and America's Struggle to Defend the West." Good to have you with us.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Great to be back with you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So we saw considerable relief at the Munich Security Conference when Secretary Rubio said the U.S. and Europe belong together. How significant is that shift in U.S. rhetoric from a previously combative and confrontational posture from both President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance? And what do European leaders make of this apparent shift in tone?

SANGER: Well, as you suggest, it's a shift in tone. But I think when you go in and you sort of dig through the Rubio speech to the Munich Security Conference, it's not really a change in substance.

He definitely filed the edges around the very hardball speech that Vice President Vance gave a year ago. And there was a lot of relief about that.

He had, for example, not said simply that Europe is facing civilizational erasure if it doesn't control its borders. He said Europe and the United States are. He described the United States as in many ways a child of Europe because of the flow of European immigrants, who, of course, helped found the nation.

[03:49:57]

But when you listen to him carefully, he was basically making the fundamentally same argument, which is that Europe needed to go back to a Europe, clear European identity, which seemed to suggest cutting off the waves of immigration. And then he made the interest argument, which I think the Europeans themselves now believe in, that they've got to spend much more on their own defense. The question is, can they make up for lost time?

CHURCH: Right. And David, attention now turns to ending the war in Ukraine with the next round of talks set to take place in Geneva with delegations from the U.S., Ukraine and Russia. President Zelenskyy is frustrated about the U.S. talking more about territorial concessions being made by Ukraine and not by Russia. What can those talks actually achieve if the U.S. fails to pressure Russia to make more concessions?

SANGER: Well, I think one thing that we saw in Munich and President Zelenskyy was there was a continuing divide between the United States and Europe on how to go deal with Ukraine. The Europeans funneling $90 billion in funds, arms, intelligence to them, to the Ukrainians. The Americans are selling those arms to the Europeans, but they are not providing them directly to Ukraine.

And I think what had most of the European leaders I spoke to particularly concerned was that the Trump administration was already discussing its potential business deals with Russia, desire to get into the oil and gas sector and so forth before they even have a peace deal.

Now, whether or not the administration can get away with that, we don't know. And whether or not they'd even try it before there was a peace deal, we don't know. But Zelenskyy was warning against this at every turn.

CHURCH: And David, I did want to ask you why you thought Secretary Rubio chose to visit Hungary and Slovakia after his trip to Munich instead of, say, England, France or Germany. And what message that sends?

SANGER: Well, the message intent was pretty clear. He went to the two European countries that are most hardline, run in relatively authoritarian ways. He saw, you know, Viktor Orban and basically went to the two countries that share his view of this concept that you go back to a traditional European identity.

And, you know, had he gone to Britain or France or elsewhere in Germany, obviously he was in Munich, he would have been in countries that have changed their reflection. You know, British and French and Germans population does not look like it did 20 or 30 years ago. I think he was going back to an ideal that doesn't exist, you know, in his mind, an ideal that does not exist in the very multi, multi- racial, multi ethnic societies that Britain, France, Germany and many other places in Europe have become.

CHURCH: David Sanger, I want to thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate your analysis.

SANGER: Great to be with you.

CHURCH: Thank you.

A former Ukrainian energy minister has been detained in connection with a major corruption scandal while trying to leave the country. Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Bureau did not name the minister, but said that the official was detained as part of the Midas case.

It's a wide ranging investigation into corruption in Ukraine's energy sector that sparked a major political crisis last year. Investigators said about $100 million had allegedly been siphoned off from state owned businesses.

In the U.S., multiple storm systems are lining up to hit the Pacific coast, bringing heavy rains and winter weather advisories as they move inland. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has the forecast.

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ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Winter weather alerts are already in place across portions of California, Nevada, as well as Oregon, as they brace for not one, but two systems that are set to arrive in the coming days. Now, the first wave already started to spread across portions of northern and central California Sunday evening.

Now, the bulk of that moisture is expected to spread eastward into the next 24 to 48 hours. You can see by Monday morning local time areas of central and even southern California starting to see their rain chances increase as well as snow by later on into the afternoon and certainly by the evening. More of that moisture spreads into portions of the Intermountain West and into the Rockies.

But at the same time, the secondary system is right on the heels, meaning that some of these areas really aren't going to get much of a break in between the two systems. There is the potential for flooding due to the excessive rainfall. That highest risk is going to be right here, stretching from San Francisco all the way down to San Diego and that does include the greater Los Angeles area.

[03:55:06]

By the time we push into Tuesday, most of the focus is really just going to be in southern California for that flood threat.

Now, overall, we are talking pretty substantial amounts of rain and snow for many of these areas. Rain is going to be highest along the coastal regions of Oregon, as well as northern and central California, where we could be looking at two to five inches of rain. Snowpack is going to be measured in feet across not only the Sierras, but also into the Rockies, and the Rockies desperately need it.

In fact, much of this western region here is actually dealing with portions of severe and even extreme drought. California, not so much, but they desperately need to see some more of that increased snowpack, and it looks like they're going to get it across portions of Colorado.

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CHURCH: Tyler Reddick is the latest champion of the Daytona 500. Reddick won the race in a Toyota owned by Michael Jordan.

But the race came down to the wire with Reddick securing a victory at the last moment after Chase Elliott crashed. Michael Jordan met Reddick in the victory lane with a hug and joined him to lift up the Daytona 500 trophy. The former NBA superstar said it felt like he won another championship.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards has led his USA Stars squad to victory in the NBA's All-Star tournament. LeBron James connected on this three-pointer in his 22nd All-Star appearance, but his USA Stripes team fell to Edwards and the youthful USA Stars 47-21 in the championship game. Edwards was named the MVP and said he likes the new three-team round robin tournament.

I want to thank you so much for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "American Pulse" is next, then stay tuned for "Early Start" with Rahel Solomon beginning at 5:00 a.m. Eastern.

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