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Police Arrest Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor; No Suspects or Motive as Guthrie Search Nears Three Weeks; NYT: DHS Seeking Personal Data from Anti-ICE Accounts. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired February 19, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: This morning as we continue to follow this extraordinary, remarkable news out of London, out of the U.K.., that police there have arrested the former Prince Andrew, on suspicion of wrongdoing in office.

[06:00:11]

We're going to continue to follow this breaking news right here on CNN. Stick with us.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish, and here's where we begin. Major breaking news out of the U.K. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, has been arrested.

British police confirming the former royal was taken into custody earlier this morning. They have previously said they were assessing evidence related to the Epstein files.

Going to bring in now CNN's Salma Abdelaziz in London. And Salma, first, do we know what exactly they are focused on?

Hey there, Salma. I'm hoping someone can hear me out of London. We're going to be talking to her about the arrest of Prince Andrew.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Audie.

CORNISH: There you go.

ABDELAZIZ: The extraordinary news today that Andrew Mountbatten- Windsor, of course, the man who was known as Prince Andrew, has been arrested by police on suspicion of misconduct in public office -- office.

Now, these allegations date back to his time as a trade envoy for the U.K., when he represented this country abroad, again, as a trade representative to this country.

In the latest trove of documents that we saw, there appears to be times in which Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as Prince Andrew at the time, forwarded confidential information, government secrets, state secrets, potentially, to Mr. Epstein. Now, again, he has denied any allegations of wrongdoing. He has time and time again strenuously defended himself, Mr. Andrew Mountbatten- Windsor.

However, his brother King Charles has taken extraordinary actions in the last period: to strip him of his royal title last year, to strip him of his role within the monarchy. And just this month, to push him out of the royal residence he was staying at, Sandringham, which is where police are currently searching the property, we understand, with police vehicles on the scene.

These are absolutely unprecedented and shocking events for this country. We are talking about the royal family, of course, the monarchy which represents this country; and the man who is the brother of King Charles right now being in police custody.

Are they going to charge him? What will those charges be? What is it that prompted the police to take this extraordinary measure? We're still waiting on those details.

CORNISH: OK, we're going to be checking in with Salma later today with the updates on that arrest.

But joining me now in the group chat, Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN senior reporter; Meghan Hays, former director of message planning for the Biden White House; and Kristen Soltis Anderson, Republican strategist and pollster.

So, this is the kind of story where there -- it generates a flurry of texts, links, people trying to put together what they know now.

Can you remind us the state of play here in the U.S.? Right now, it's the House Oversight Committee, right? Like, who -- who is investigating what at this point?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a question that we don't actually know the full answer to. The House Oversight Committee is pursuing some depositions with the former Victoria's Secret owner. Wexner did a deposition yesterday. But also, there's this whole question.

CORNISH: And he's a major donor --

DOVERE: Yes, right.

CORNISH: -- which is why people are focused on him.

DOVERE: And the question of whether Bill and Hillary Clinton, what -- what their testimony will look like, that's been going back and forth but is expected in the coming weeks.

And but -- but I think that the -- the thing that is notable here is that, so far, the fallout from the Epstein files, which by the way, have still not been fully released despite the law that said that they needed to be, the fallout has been not in America, not in American politics in ways that people have really been feeling the kinds of results that have been happening in --

CORNISH: In Europe.

DOVERE: In Europe. Or people even stepping away from business dealings in the United States.

There are a lot of political figures who keep coming up in these documents.

CORNISH: Yes.

DOVERE: The documents don't -- are not necessarily things that -- that implicate guilty behavior.

But we have from the Justice Department from the beginning, this statement that there was nothing there was no nothing to follow up on in terms of criminal investigation.

We just don't -- and that -- that statement coming at the front of the release, when we see that other things have been followed up on.

CORNISH: I want to add one more thing to that, because Prince Andrew in the past has denied the allegations of sexual abuse from people like the late Virginia Giuffre.

[06:05:08]

He is accused -- and we don't know if that will be the case here -- of sending actual confidential government information back and forth.

The reason why this is relevant is the perception, I feel, like in the public is this is also about powerful people, how they share information, how they mix business with pleasure and sort of the who is the collateral damage of that. That's my perception. What does the world of polling tell you?

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, yes, I mean, I think that to me was the thing that stuck out the most in this reporting is that this is not that he is being arrested on suspicion that something new has come to light in the Epstein files regarding young women or anything along those lines. And that's what caused him to be arrested, necessarily.

That it is about this -- the trading of potentially confidential information among wealthy people.

And there is a real sense that this has fed into the frustration that average Americans have had around this Epstein case all along: that the wealthy in the U.S. and around the world just get to play by kind of a different set of rules.

That part of why, you know, people want to think if you work hard and play by the rules, you can get ahead. But they feel like that's not necessarily the case, because there's a class of people that has access to information and networks that they never will. And that means that they have just the ability to have -- CORNISH: And some of that is just the relationship alone. It's not

always about the sexual abuse.

I just want to read something, just because the paper happens to be in front of me. "The New York Times" are talking about the commerce secretary, Lutnick.

And they mentioned that he -- it says, "He's not the only prominent Trump administration official to appear. The records show that RFK Jr., obviously of DHS, once went hunting for dinosaur fossils with Mr. Epstein.

An email file shows that Dr. Mehmet Oz, who's at CMS, invited Mr. Epstein to a 2016 Valentine's Day party none of these things are criminal, but they're also part of this dialogue that says the elites. There's an elite out there. They're all buddies. They all hang out with each other, and they accrue the benefits of that.

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING IN BIDEN WHITE HOUSE: Yes, absolutely. And also, in 2016, he was a convicted pedophile. Why are you hanging out with this man in general?

And I just am hard-pressed to find that people didn't know that -- of his behavior. And then, they also lied about it, and they lied to the American people.

Lutnick actually lied to people and said, I had nothing to do with it. And then he's like, Oh, wait, I did have lunch on the island.

It's like, who do you believe anymore at this point? And I think, to your point, the American people, I think, are so interested in this because of the power dynamic, because they see that they'll never be able to get ahead. They're not in these elite circles. They're not in this weird class of people that do things and get -- and aren't held accountable and get to play by different rules.

CORNISH: Right.

ANDERSON: But I also think another thing that sticks out to me when you read through the different revelations that have been coming out of these files, is that I think a lot of Americans think, like, Oh, there's, you know there's Republicans and there's Democrats.

But actually, among the elite, they're not really as different as you think.

And these are files that include everyone from Naomi Campbell to Steve Bannon going and allegedly hanging out on this island. And so, it's like wait a minute. This is not -- this elite is like -- it's different than, like, right versus left.

DOVERE: That's -- that's where it plugs into the bigger political thing going on here. There's this phrase -- you guys have both used the word "class" to talk about it.

Ro Khanna, the congressman from California who wrote the bill that was the Epstein files, he has -- has this phrase, the "Epstein class," which has now gotten some pickups.

CORNISH: Oh, yes. Or the "Epstein administration," I've heard him say.

DOVERE: Yes. But the Epstein class, I think, does get into the -- like, people have a feeling that there -- there's -- there are people -- there are some who are getting ahead, who are getting wealthy while a lot of Americans are struggling and are -- are not able to break through. They see this going on.

And this -- what's in these files, at the very least, does seem to confirm that for a lot of people: that there are this -- there's this rich network of people. They go hunt for dinosaur fossils together. They do. They hang out on an island.

And then you add in all of the illicit behavior, all this. It's -- it's stuff that is remote from anything that most people are dealing with and makes this -- the economic, the -- the stratification going on in American society feel much more real.

CORNISH: Yes. It puts a literal face on it.

We're going to be talking a lot about this this morning as we learn more about the details of this arrest.

Coming up, I want to turn to something else. Mark Zuckerberg on the stand. He had to answer the question: Did his company intentionally make Instagram feel addictive? Well, CNN THIS MORNING is going to start right now on that.

Plus, why one Canadian airline is canceling all flights to the U.S.

And it's the largest sewage spill in U.S. history. Is the health of residents beginning to be -- let's say -- overshadowed by the political fight?

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we're really concerned about is the potential for people to interact with the sewage and the bacteria that can be contained in the sewage. And so, there's much more interaction.

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[06:14:22]

CORNISH: It's almost 15 minutes past the hour. Here are five things to know to get your day going.

The U.S. military prepared to strike Iran as early as this weekend. Top national security officials met Wednesday in the White House Situation Room.

Sources say President Donald Trump has yet to make a final decision. New satellite imagery show that Iran is rapidly fortifying several of its nuclear facilities, and photos show concrete and large amounts of soil being used to bury key sites. And that's happened in recent weeks.

Eight skiers now confirmed dead and one other still missing and presumed dead. This is the worst avalanche in California's history.

They were part of a 15-person group that was on a three-day backcountry trip in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Six skiers were actually rescued. One of them remains hospitalized.

The Blackbird Mountain Guides released a statement saying, quote, "In addition to the mourning of the loss of six clients, we also mourn the loss of three highly experienced members of our guide team. We are doing what we can to support the families."

The A.I. impact summit underway in India. The country is considered a critical A.I. industry growth market. Several world leaders and big tech chief executives are attending including the CEO of Anthropic, who had this dire warning about artificial intelligence.

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DARIO AMODEI, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, ANTHROPIC: We are now well advanced on that curve, and there are only a small number of years for A.I. models surpassing the cognitive capabilities of most humans for most things.

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CORNISH: One notable absence at that summit, Microsoft founder Bill Gates. He was supposed to deliver a keynote address, but canceled hours before he was scheduled to speak.

No reason was provided for this very abrupt withdrawal, but Gates is facing recent controversy after he was named in the recently released Epstein files.

Canadians seem to be pulling back on traveling to the U.S., and airlines are noticing. Starting in June, Air Transit will end all flights from Canada to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, its only U.S. destinations.

And WestJet, Canada's No. 2 carrier, announced recently it's suspending more than a dozen routes to the U.S.

And fresh off his appearance at the Super Bowl halftime show, Bad Bunny is landing his first movie lead in a new historical drama about the island where he was born.

It's called "Puerto Rico," and the cast includes Hollywood A-listers Viggo Mortensen, Javier Bardem, Edward Norton. The movie's release date yet to be announced.

Finally, investigators are turning to a new tool in their desperate search for Nancy Guthrie. So far, no suspect.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department now looking into genetic genealogy options.

It's been nearly three weeks since the 84-year-old was abducted from her Arizona home. Now, investigators are also reviewing thousands of hours of surveillance videos that they have obtained from homes and businesses, even government agencies all across the greater Tucson area.

They're still hoping to find clues that might lead to a breakthrough in the case.

CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us now with the latest details.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Audie, we are entering day 19 of the search and investigation into the abduction of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.

And as we sit here this morning, it's not clear that we're any closer to finding out who might have abducted her or where she might be. And that is the painful reality the Guthrie family continues to face.

We are tracking, trying to track, as best we can, some of the investigative efforts that are being done. We have learned that U.S. Investigators have shared and briefed with U.S. Border Patrol, as well as Mexican border officials on the Guthrie case.

And that is significant because, you know, from the very beginning, Audie, there has always been some question that's kind of lingered over this entire case as to whether or not whoever took her might have fled down to Mexico, given Tucson's close proximity to the border, about 70 miles or so.

So far, investigators have never said that they believe that that is a possibility. However, given where we are this far into the investigation, with no clear answers, it kind of speaks to the wide net that investigators are casting here to try to find something.

And investigators also continue to work the DNA front on the DNA of an unknown person that was found here on the property of the Guthrie home in the days after she was abducted.

But we know that the investigators are working with genealogical services to try to track that down, in these -- the databases of private companies like 23andMe.

But that is an effort that is going to be laborious and is going to take some time, it sounds like.

But it has proven fruitful in other cases, where after some time, they've been able to find and get leads on potential suspects from that work.

But again, that is a slow, tedious process and not the kind of news that the Guthrie family is hoping to hear as they desperately want a much faster resolution to this horror story that they're living -- Audie.

CORNISH: OK. That's Ed. We're going to be checking in with him in Arizona later today.

After the break on CNN THIS MORNING, have you actually criticized immigration agents online? Well, you could have just landed yourself on a list.

Plus, a heated rivalry. Who will take home the gold medal when the U.S. and Canada's women's hockey team meet today?

And as we go to break, please check out the fast and, yes, furious debut competitor at the Winter Olympics. A dog sprinted across the finish line with the women's cross-country skiing sprint free race.

[06:20:02]

Don't worry, this isn't a wild dog. His owner told NPR he escaped the house earlier in the morning.

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TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: We're going to create a database where those people that are arrested for interference, impeachment, assault. We're going to make them famous. We're going to put their face on TV. We're going to let their employers, and their neighborhoods, and their schools know who these people are.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One and two.

CORNISH: Border czar Tom Homan not trying to hide it. DHS is building a database. And if you publicly criticize ICE or try to track their movements, you could find yourself in that database.

"The New York Times" reports that Google, Reddit, Discord and Meta have all received hundreds of administrative subpoenas, not judicial ones. Administrative subpoenas from DHS demanding data and personal information about what they call anti-ICE accounts.

Google, Meta and Reddit have already complied with some of those requests.

[06:25:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This obviously completely violates our First Amendment right in the Constitution to free speech, as we are 100 percent allowed to critique any government agency, department, or law enforcement as we please.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: DHS says this is about safety. OK? But many people are worried that it could be misused or misunderstood. You think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's fascinating To me that there are Republicans that would support this type of government overreach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, DHS claims it has broad administrative subpoena authority and needs the information to keep immigration agents in the field safe so the group chat is back.

This has long been a conversation that Tom Homan, in particular, has talked about. And I just want to play one more piece of tape for you about how this is playing out on the ground. Witness this exchange January 23rd in Maine, between a protester and an ICE official.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not illegal to record.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what we're doing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Why are you taking my information down?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because we have a nice little database.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now you're considered a domestic terrorist. So have fun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For videotaping you? Are you crazy?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: It was that line, "Now you're a domestic terrorist," kind of tossed off. But in a report when you file that, that becomes a real problem for someone.

DOVERE: Yes. And I think part of what's going on here is that, you know, anybody who uses Gmail or Facebook or any of these things, likes to think this is my personal data, but actually it's the company's data once you put it in there.

And the companies can do with it what they want to, for the most part.

What's different here is that this is yet another time where we see the government moving in to collect data, collect information on people. We don't know for what, to what extent they're going to be using it or how they're going to be using it.

But they may not even need to go through the whole subpoena process, right?

CORNISH: I was going to ask about that. So, I was noticing --

DOVERE: The companies may just give it.

CORNISH: In L.A., a federal judge rejected the government's argument that protesters tracking federal officials met the bar for interference.

In Chicago, a bunch of people who were arrested for this, dismissed, let go.

And somehow, the administration, when it finally has to get to court. So, is it really the journey is the destination? Is it just about scaring people off of the speech?

HAYS: I think so, I think it's about the threats here. I think it just makes -- and it also is something that's going to rile up the left. It's going to rile up the -- the progressives and the base and make it even more intense. And it'll be more talking points.

But they're actually not probably going to be able to do anything with this data or I mean, as soon as a new president comes in, they're going to wipe all of this clean.

This is just -- it's a really un-American thing to do, as we know. It is a violation of their First Amendment. And I just -- it's just more scare tactics by the administration.

CORNISH: I want to ask you something that I found out. Because during the break, you were talking about Europe, sort of this divide between free speech in Europe versus here.

As we speak, Reuters reported this morning that the U.S. Department is developing an online portal that will enable people in Europe and elsewhere to see content banned by their governments, which include alleged hate speech and terrorist propaganda.

ANDERSON: Well, yes. And if you -- if you spend any time on, like, the conservative Internet, you will frequently see stories coming out of places like the U.K. that get people up in arms. Because they are genuinely insane, where people have the cops come kick in their door because they tweeted something that the government didn't like, or that was considered maybe, possibly --

CORNISH: Or they have different hate speech laws.

ANDERSON: -- hate speech. They have --

CORNISH: Yes. Genuinely insane is not a statutory description. But yes.

ANDERSON: But -- but the -- essentially, that there are lots of conservatives who will look at things like the very strict rules around speech that exist in other countries and go, that's terrible. It's so great that we don't have that here. We have the First Amendment.

And yet, we're also in this era of kind of big government Republicans where the Rand Pauls in the party, who have been saying pretty consistently, regardless of who's in power, for a long time, civil liberties matter. We shouldn't be invading.

You know, think about what would have happened during the Tea Party era when the shoe's on the other foot, about how upset conservatives would have been at the idea of the government tracking their speech in any kind of way.

And so, I always just think it's useful to imagine, like, what if the parties were flipped here? And I think a lot of conservatives would be in -- would be unbelievably outraged, and rightly so, if a Democratic administration was trying to track them.

DOVERE: There's the concern about what the government is doing. But again, most of what's going on is these -- all these giant corporations, with all the power that they have, have all the data, right? And they -- and -- and the level of concern about that doesn't get raised in the same way, strangely.

I mean, look every one of those posts that we just -- those videos are people posting onto another one of these private companies with saying -- complaining about what they're doing as if they -- and we -- so many of us use all these, whether it's fact-born (ph) or whatever it is, right?

CORNISH: I understand what you're saying. But I don't think we have understood yet the legal ramifications of DHS's reliance on administrative subpoenas, which in the past were used to, like, go after child traffickers and things like that.

And now it's like administrative. They think that the administrative subpoenas and warrants are the law. And I'm not clear -- and I don't think the courts are.