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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Nancy Guthrie's Ransom Deadline Approaches; Seattle Seahawks Wins Super Bowl LX Title; Japan's Ruling Party Wins Snap Election. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired February 09, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

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RAHEL SOLOMON, ANCHOR, EARLY START: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world, I'm Rahel Solomon, it is Monday, February 9th, 5:00 a.m. here in New York, and straight ahead on EARLY START.

The search for Nancy Guthrie intensifies as a second ransom deadline approaches for the missing mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie. Plus, the Seattle Seahawks get revenge in Super Bowl 60 with an incredible defense against the New England Patriots.

And a stunning snap election victory for Japan's ruling party. The coalition can now override votes and the Upper House of parliament. We begin this morning with the race against the clock in Tucson, Arizona. The search this morning intensifying for the missing mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie ahead of today's reported ransom deadline of 5:00 p.m. local time.

Investigators returned to Nancy Guthrie's home on Sunday. At this point, they still have not publicly identified any suspects linked to her disappearance just over a week ago. The alleged ransom note reportedly threatens Nancy's life and is demanding $6 million in bitcoin in exchange for her safe return. CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Tucson with the very latest on the search.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): 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 are following this story in a couple of 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 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 sheriffs 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 and other investigator perhaps carrying a bag.

We're 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, sheriffs' 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 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: CNN law enforcement contributor Steve Moore was asked why investigators may be keeping some information close to the vest, and he explained that revealing too much, too quickly could tip off potential suspects.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: The most recent release of the Epstein files by the Justice Department is shedding light on Jeffrey Epstein's links with billionaires, royals and government officials in the U.S. and abroad. In the coming hours, Epstein's long-time accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell is expected to give a virtual deposition to the House Oversight Committee.

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Her lawyers say she is likely to assert her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and not answer questions. Now, this latest release of Epstein files is also causing a deepening scandal in Europe. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeney, has now resigned. His resignation comes as Starmer continues to deal with blowback over

his appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S. Let's go to CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, who is following this story from London. Salma, this scandal doesn't seem to be going anywhere for Starmer. What's McSweeney's connection to all of this? Why is he resigning?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The political earthquake that is caused by the Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues, and so does the royal earthquake. I actually want to start with a statement that we just received in the last hour from the Prince and Princess of Wales.

This was a statement that was given by a spokesperson for them. This is a palace spokesperson who says, and I'm reading the direct quote here, "I can confirm the prince and princess have been deeply concerned by the continuing revelations. Their thoughts remain focused on the victims."

Rahel, I just want to emphasize how rare it is to hear from them in such a direct manner. This is, of course, in response to the latest dump of millions of more documents about ten days ago. In those documents, there were these images that appeared to show Prince Andrew or now the former Prince Andrew on all fours, standing over the body of what appears to be a girl or a woman.

There is no context around this. He is, of course, denied any allegations of wrongdoing. But there is not a dinner table that has not had this conversation in Britain since. So, this is very much the prince and princess coming up front and saying, we too are concerned. We too are deeply worried.

Now, to the political turmoil. Just yesterday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's scandal surrounding, of course, the key character here, lord Peter Mandelson; a person who was Britain's ambassador to the United States until he was let go, fired last year over his connections that were revealed in a trove of documents last year.

But then this latest trove showed not only that was that relationship between lord Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein quite close. It also appears to show that he could have accepted tens of thousands of dollars of payments from him, and even taken secret -- government secret memos from him that were forwarded along.

Of course, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is now being questioned over his appointment of lord Mandelson, and is in a firestorm of fury from his party. He has so far fired his chief of staff, called the police investigation into lord Mandelson and apologized to victims.

But is it going to be enough for them? Well, later today, he'll be meeting with his party and walking that very tight rope to find out.

SOLOMON: OK, we shall see. Salma Abdelaziz in London. Salma, thank you. Let's take a live look at pictures of Capitol Hill, where Friday's deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security is fast approaching. Lawmakers will return to Washington today with just days to find a solution or see the agency shut down. Democrats are demanding reforms to federal immigration enforcement,

and House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries says he's not willing to accept anything less than their full list of demands. Here's what he had to say to CNN's Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): In our view, the ball is in the court right now of the Republicans. Either they're going to agree to dramatically reform the way in which ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies are conducting themselves so that they're behaving like every other law enforcement agency in the country, or they're making the explicit decision to shut down the Coast Guard, shut down FEMA, and shut down TSA. And that will be very unfortunate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: The Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl champions. The team getting revenge against New England, eleven years after the Patriots took the Super Bowl title in 2015. This time, it was the Seahawks and quarterback Sam Darnold coming out on top 29 to 13.

The game, dominated by an outstanding defense on the offense, running- back Kenneth Walker III was named Super Bowl MVP. This marks the second Super Bowl win for Seattle. Now, chances are if you were up this early, perhaps you didn't watch it. But don't worry, because CNN's Andy Scholes was there and he has all the action and more from Santa Clara.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Seattle Seahawks odds to win the Super Bowl before the season were 60 to 1. Boy, were those odds wrong because in the end, the Seahawks proved to be the best team in the NFL.

And the Seahawks defense, which gave up the least amount of points this season, just dominated the Patriots in Super Bowl LX, pitching a shutout through three quarters. They sacked Drake Maye six times in this game, and for a while, it was Seahawks kicker Jason Myer's world, and we were all just living in it.

He made a Super Bowl record five field goals in this one, and a huge play near the end of the third quarter. Derick Hall sacking Maye and forcing the fumble. The Seahawks would recover, and then we finally got a touchdown in the fourth quarter as Sam Darnold finds AJ Barner for the score that made it 19 to nothing.

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And it might as well have been 100 to nothing, the way the Seahawks defense was playing. Uchenna Nwosu putting an exclamation point on this one in the fourth quarter, returning the interception 44 yards for the score. Seattle would end up beating the Patriots in Super Bowl LX by a final of 29 to 13 to claim their Second Super Bowl title. And for Sam Darnold, he completes one of the best comebacks in NFL

history, and he's once considered a bust, but he never gave up the Seahawks his fifth team, and now he's a Super Bowl champion. Darnold sharing a special moment with his family on the field as he completed his epic comeback journey.

SAM DARNOLD, QUARTERBACK, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: 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, 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.

SCHOLES: Now, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, 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 in Seattle. And he joined CNN right here on the field after becoming a Super Bowl champion.

How do you feel right now?

MIKE MACDONALD, HEAD COACH, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: I couldn't be any better. I mean, it's -- honestly, it's surreal right now. And you look at the jumbotron, we just -- it was, you know, the quarterback, just with our team, can't wait to go celebrate with them. It's pretty unbelievable.

SCHOLES: Now, 11 years ago, Malcolm Butler broke Seattle's hearts with that epic interception to win Super Bowl XLIX for the Patriots. But those tears, a distant memory as the party is now on in Seattle as they celebrate their second Super Bowl title.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: All right, after the break, the latest on the war in Ukraine, and we'll dive into the just released Munich security report on the state of global politics. Plus, Japan's first ever female Prime Minister was gambling on her popularity when she called for a snap election, and it did pay off in a surprising way. We'll explain coming up next.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. Russian investigators say that Ukrainian Intelligence is behind an attempted assassination in Moscow on Friday. A suspect in the shooting of Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev has been arrested after being detained in Dubai.

Ukrainian officials have denied any connection to the incident. Meantime, Ukraine's southern city of Kherson regional officials say that eight women were injured and weekend Russian strikes on residential areas. This follows last week's devastating drone and missile attacks that left many Ukrainians without power.

It's the latest in a pattern of targeted strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, as the country struggles to cope with extreme Winter cold. And the war in Ukraine is indicative of larger trends in global security concerns as indicated in the just released 2026 Munich security report that was passed through the report. Let's bring in CNN's Clare Sebastian reporting live from London. Clare, fill us in.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rahel, the report argues in one interesting section that Ukraine may actually be one of the first what it calls victims of the new type of ordering, as it puts it, of the world led by President Trump, as values essentially give way to more transactional methods when it comes to conflict resolution.

Look, big picture. This is a report that sort of sets the tone for the Munich Security Conference that starts at the end of this week. It's this big diplomatic gathering where, you know, informal meetings are held between top leaders and diplomats, usually aimed at conflict resolution.

Last year, J.D. Vance made a very closely-watched and controversial speech where he roundly criticized Europe, which was essentially waiting to see what the new administration would do in terms of foreign policy. He said that there was a threat from within. That free speech was in retreat in Europe.

All of that intensely controversial and led to a lot of backlash in Europe. This report really reads in part, as a sort of considered retort to that, and also as a sort of moment of acceptance and resignation, that this is now a permanent situation, and we are in a period of intense disruption at the hands of what it calls demolition men, leaders who want to destroy existing institutions and those led by Trump.

This is the central premise, I want to read it to you. It said, "the world has entered a period of wrecking ball politics, sweeping destruction rather than careful reforms and policy corrections is the order of the day." Now, it's not just Trump, they're talking about other leaders as well.

But he is the most prominent figure. And the argument, the questions that it raises is whether or not this sort of wrecking ball politics is actually going to make the world safer. It seems to suggest that the evidence so far is that it will benefit the strong and wealthy and leave the vulnerable even more vulnerable.

And that ultimately, the U.S. is traditional. Allies need to now act more boldly and with extreme urgency to counter this, and that particularly focused towards Europe, where, of course, the urgency has now been stepped up over the past years for it to take more responsibility for its own security and defense.

The report says that really the final signal that the U.S. guarantee is not really guaranteed was the issue around Greenland that we saw play out recently, and that Europe really needs to act faster and bolder. And I think, interestingly, this also comes with the suggestion in this report that this America first posture from the Trump administration may not even benefit America as allies sort of retreat and close access to their markets and even diminish the value of the dollar.

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One more final quote I want to read to you. It says, well, proponents of President Trump's policies believe that they will make America great again. Critics argue that they essentially amount to the suicide of a superpower. So, the U.S. is sending a high level delegation to Munich, I think it will be interesting to see how this report is received. Rahel?

SOLOMON: Yes, really fascinating outlines there. Clare Sebastian, thank you. Markets in Japan, meantime, are soaring after the Prime Minister's massive victory in a snap election this weekend. Sanae Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party secured a two-thirds majority in the Lower House of parliament.

That is the LDP's best ever result, and it gives the ruling coalition the ability to override votes in the Upper House of parliament. CNN's Hanako Montgomery has more from Tokyo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Yes, Sanae Takaichi's huge political gamble, one where she literally put her job on the line has paid off, I mean, to the extent that we could not really expect. I mean, most experts I've spoken to really said that it was likely that the Liberal Democratic Party would secure a majority in Japan's Lower House of parliament.

But the fact that the LDP was able to secure more than two-thirds of seats is truly something unexpected and historic. And what that now means is Takaichi will be able to pass through any bills really, with little to no opposition. So, making her leadership and her really, I suppose, her job as a politician much easier.

Now, Takaichi has a long list, a long laundry list of issues that she must tackle from the get go. First, of course, is the Japanese economy. We've seen record high inflation, a sliding Japanese yen against the very powerful U.S. greenback, and of course, just voters feeling very frustrated with the fact that their wages aren't increasing.

So, she will have to tackle the Japanese economy to appease these voters, to appease the Japanese public and show that she's on the right track to make Japan a much stronger economy. Now, she must also deal with foreign policy. In her brief time as Prime Minister, less than four months, she has shown that she's quite able and adept at really tackling different foreign policy issues and developing deeper ties with foreign nations.

For example, Italy's Prime Minister, South Korea's president, also the U.K., Canada and including the U.S. President Donald Trump. In fact, when it comes to Trump, Takaichi has shown that she has a very good personal relationship with him. In fact, last week on Truth Social, Trump went so far as to endorsing her as the Prime Minister of Japan, and encouraging the people of Japan to vote for her in this very local election.

Now, Takaichi as early as Monday, so just a few hours ago, thanked Donald Trump for that endorsement and for his kind words, also adding that, quote, "the potential of our alliance is limitless." So, really just emphasizing the strength of the U.S.-Japan alliance here, also mentioning that her visit to the U.S. in March or expected visit will be one of greatness, and, of course, will be an opportunity to develop that alliance further.

So, again, long list of issues Takaichi must tackle. But for now, a moment of victory for the Japanese Prime Minister.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Hanako, thank you. Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in a landmark national security case. The 78-year-old was found guilty of two national security charges and a sedition charge in December.

His years long legal saga has come to define Beijing's crackdown on the semi-autonomous city. It's the longest sentence delivered under Hong Kong's national security law. The British Foreign Secretary is calling for Lai's release on humanitarian grounds, calling his prosecution politically-motivated.

Both Beijing and Hong Kong's government have repeatedly rejected criticism of Lai's prosecution. Still ahead for us, as Israel's Prime Minister plans a trip to Washington, his security cabinet is taking steps to tighten control of the occupied West Bank. The details straight ahead.

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SOLOMON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be visiting Washington D.C. this week. But ahead of that trip, Israel is taking broad steps to tighten its grip on the occupied West Bank. Israel's security cabinet has approved measures that would expand its enforcement powers in areas designated to fall under Palestinian security control.

It has also approved steps to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law. Let's go CNN's Nic Robertson, who joins us this morning from Jerusalem. Nic, critics say that this amounts to an annexation.

Trump previously said he does not approve an annexation, saying that he gave his word to Arab countries that it wouldn't happen. So, how high on the agenda do you expect this issue to be when the two meet this week?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it's really not clear precisely what they'll meet about, whether Iran and Israel's concerns that the negotiations so far only dealing with the nuclear issue and not the threat of Iran's ballistic missiles and its funding of proxies within the region here, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, those sorts of groups.

Or whether it will sort of go down a path of the President, you know, talking about this decision by the security cabinet that's been pushed by Bezalel Smotrich; the settler leader, a hard right member of Prime Minister Netanyahu's cabinet has always been sort of pushing and pushing for stronger rights for settlers.

And what the Palestinian Authority is saying here is that this is a dangerous escalation in the war against the Palestinian people. But if we go back and reflect on what President Trump had to say about this in the beginning, as you said, under pressure from Arab allies in the region to warn Israel about its threats to annex the whole of the West Bank.

And the President saying that he was not going to accept that. And he outlined in his 20-point peace plan for Gaza, a sort of a path for a possibility.