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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

U.S. Weighs Strike On Iran; Search For Nancy Guthrie; Police Arrest Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired February 19, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:24]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon. It is Thursday, February 19th, 5:00 a.m. here in New York.

And straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Sources tell CNN the military is prepared to strike Iran as early as this weekend if President Trump gives the order.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president has always been very clear, though. Diplomacy is always his first option, and Iran would be very wise to make a deal.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are entering day 19 of the search into the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, and it does not appear clear that investigators are any closer to finding out who took her.

SHERIFF CHRIS NANOS, PIMA COUNTY, AZ: The challenge in the fact that there's so much technology out there, you have to be careful of the legalities of that technology.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Les Wexner, the billionaire who was the primary source of Jeffrey Epstein's wealth, sat for a deposition on Wednesday.

REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): Mr. Epstein would not be the wealthy man he was without the support of Les Wexner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

SOLOMON: We begin this hour in the Middle East, where the U.S. military is prepared to strike Iran as early as this weekend. Top national security officials met Wednesday in the White House Situation Room but sources say that President Donald Trump has yet to make a final decision on the issue, and that he has privately argued both for and against military action and polled advisers about it. The White House says that Iran is expected to provide more details on its negotiating position in the next couple of weeks, but would not say if President Trump would hold off on military action during that time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAVITT: Well, there's many reasons and arguments that one could make for a strike against the -- against Iran. The president had a very successful operation as commander in chief with Operation Midnight Hammer, as you know, as you just said, totally obliterated Iran's nuclear facilities. The president has always been very clear, though with respect to Iran or any country around the world, diplomacy is always his first option, and Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump and with this administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: According to new satellite imagery, Iran is rapidly fortifying several of its nuclear facilities. Photos show concrete and large amounts of soil being used to bury key sites. In recent weeks, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expected to travel to Israel next week to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and provide updates on the situation with Iran.

Meantime, President Trump is expected to convene the inaugural meeting of his board of peace in the coming hours. Officials from dozens of countries are expected to be there, either as members or observers. But several major U.S. allies have already rejected membership.

President Trump has previewed big announcements for the meeting, including billions of dollars toward rebuilding Gaza and personnel for an international stabilization force.

Let's get live now to Abu Dhabi and CNN's Paula Hancocks.

Paula, I think for a lot of countries visiting from the Middle East, especially Iran will likely be on their minds during this meeting. What more do we know about the agenda here and what will be discussed?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, we're certainly expecting Iran to be one of the topics. It's not officially on the agenda, but when you have, as you say those many countries, including many from the Middle East meeting, it is inevitable that that this will be a significant topic of conversation. Officially, though, this agenda is about the board of peace. It will be chaired by the U.S. President Donald Trump.

We're hearing from sources familiar with how this is expected to happen that it will almost be like a U.S. cabinet meeting, that there will be different speeches made by some U.S. officials that are key to this process. Steve Witkoff, for example, the special envoy, also will be hearing from the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., the U.S. secretary of state, and Tony Blair, the former U.K. prime minister, who's part of this executive board.

And then we are also expected to hear according to these sources from a number of the countries, more than 20 of them, according to the White House, that will be represented there, although it's pointed out they may have between 90 seconds and two minutes to speak and to update the president on what their country is doing.

[05:05:00]

So, it will be interesting to watch. It is important to point out there are some key European allies or traditional European allies that will not be represented today, that have -- have not agreed to be part of this board of peace as they're worried about the broader implications and mission of the board of peace itself -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: And, Paula, on the Iran of it all, I mean, these developments that the U.S. may be ready to potentially strike carry out some sort of operation as early as this weekend. What are we hearing from the Iranian side? What's the reaction been like there?

HANCOCKS: Well, Rahel, we have been seeing from satellite imagery that that Iran is trying to fortify some of its nuclear facilities. We certainly have been hearing some bellicose responses from Iranian officials. But this is what we have been hearing over recent weeks. And nothing unexpected at that point.

Now, the U.S. military, we understand, will be ready to carry out a strike by this weekend. It doesn't mean that this is what is exactly going to happen. We're hearing from sources familiar with President Trump's thinking that he doesn't appear to have made a decision at this point, that he is still polling advisers allies, as to whether or not there should be this strike that goes ahead.

We've heard from Tehran that if a strike goes ahead, then it will be a wide regional war that will ensue, that there will be U.S. personnel, U.S. assets in the region that will be targeted. And of course, that is one of the reasons that that this is not a quick decision for the Trump administration. The fact that it's uncertain exactly what could ensue, what the -- how big the retaliation could be from Iran and whether or not there are others in the region proxies, for example of Iran, although they are vastly weakened, that could get involved as well -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah, the ramifications of course, could be massive.

Paula Hancocks for us there -- Paula, thank you.

Now to Arizona where local and federal investigators are said to have been poring over thousands of hours of video hoping to find new clues in the search for Nancy Guthrie, a law enforcement official tells CNN that authorities have canvassed homes, businesses and government agencies in the Tucson area for surveillance video more than three weeks since Guthrie's alleged abduction, investigators still have not identified a suspect nor her whereabouts.

The Pima County sheriff says that investigators are also still processing evidence obtained from search warrants. Two people detained and released in the investigation have been cleared.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is following developments from Tucson, Arizona.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are entering day 19 of the search and investigation into the abduction of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie and even this long into the investigation it does not appear clear that investigators are any closer to finding out who took her or where she might be, but we're still trying to track and follow the investigative pursuits as best we can.

We've learned that U.S. investigators have briefed U.S. Border Patrol, as well as Mexican Border Patrol, about the Guthrie case. Obviously since the beginning, given Tucson's close proximity to the border, there was always question as to whether or not the suspect in this case might have taken her across the border to escape U.S. law enforcement. We have no indication that that is what has happened, but we've learned that investigators are briefing those officials along the border.

However, we've also talked to local and state officials on the Mexican side of the border across in Nogales. And there hasn't been a lot of communications or requests for cooperation, from what we have gathered in talking to people there on the ground. So that information seems to be being shared in a limited way on some level. And whether or not it really, you know, everyone is fully aware of this case, and there are many people on the Mexican side of border who are completely aware of what is happening just 70 miles away. So, we'll continue to monitor that as well.

But there's also still the question about the DNA tests and how long that could take. We do know that there have -- there is a DNA of an unknown person inside the home that investigators found here at the Guthrie property, and that the officials here are using the genealogy, genealogical services to try to, like, pinpoint who that might be, if it's even possible to do that. But that is going to take some time, and investigators are continuing to pursue those leads as well.

So again, you know, day 18 into this tragic, horrific story and the abduction of Nancy Guthrie and still no clear indication that authorities are any closer to finding out where she might be.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[05:10:00]

SOLOMON: Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe spoke to CNN about the cooperation between U.S. and Mexican authorities and how that could possibly help in the search for Nancy Guthrie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: In the least case scenario, you want to at least be sharing intelligence with our law enforcement and intelligence colleagues in Mexico. You want to be -- you want them to be aware of the situation. You want them to have all the information about Nancy Guthrie, who she is, what she looks like, what her health conditions are. You want them to go one step further and really hit their -- what we

call HUMINT or human source network. So those people who are out in the criminal community who talk to Mexican law enforcement authorities and intelligence authorities, you want them to be aware of this because they're -- they could possibly stumble across people who are talking about this situation or may be involved in it.

So, you -- they were probably doing that sort of coordination with Mexican authorities right from the very beginning. And then as you get additional leads or tips or information that comes in that indicates that there might be more specifics to work on. You want to keep those pipelines of information going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Now to northern California, where whiteout conditions are preventing crews from recovering the bodies of multiple people killed in an avalanche. The sheriff's office says that a group of 15 skiers were returning from a trip when the deadliest avalanche in Californias recorded history struck. Eight of them were killed and one skier is still missing and presumed dead near Lake Tahoe.

CNN's Stephanie Elam has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the final leg of a three-day cross country skiing trip when the avalanche hit. Eleven skiers and four guides were traversing the backcountry at Castle Peak, a more than 9,000 foot summit in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Lake Tahoe when catastrophe struck.

SHERIFF SHANNON MOON, NEGVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: They were nine women and six men. We were able to rescue one man and five women.

ELAM (voice-over): Eight people died on the mountain.

MOON: All six were rescued off of the mountain. Two of the six were not mobile. They could not walk. One was a Blackbird Mountain guide and five survivors were clients on that tour.

ELAM (voice-over): According to the Sheriff's Department, the survivors said the group was trying to get out when someone saw the deluge of snow and yelled, avalanche. An avalanche of snow, ice, rocks and debris about as long as a football field, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The local sheriff's office received a 911 call around 11:30 Tuesday morning saying much of the party was trapped.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Castle Peak, reported as nine to 10 people buried, three others attempting to dig them out.

ELAM (voice-over): There were storm warnings to avoid the area as early as Friday. The National Weather Service in Reno issued a haunting forewarning, will you be able to make it home? With forecasters predicting that the storm would drop several feet of snow when all is said and done.

And on Sunday, the Blackbird Mountain Guide, the company leading the trip, forecasted a weak layer of snow that could create unpredictable avalanches. Then on Monday, the powerful winter storm began, pummeling the Sierras before Tuesday's tragedy struck.

Now, as recovery efforts continue, an urgent plea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please avoid the Sierras.

ELAM (voice-over): Stephanie Elam, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: All right. Let's get to some breaking news out of London, where British media are reporting that police have arrived at the home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, previously known as Prince Andrew. We're waiting to find out if this is in connection with the Epstein files. But there was a report earlier this month that Andrew while prince allegedly shared confidential information with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, King Charles has said that he is ready to support British police in their investigation.

What I'm hearing from the control room now is that police have actually arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. This is coming in momentarily as we speak. I know that we are working our crews. We're trying to get our crews up on this story.

But in the meantime, again, what we are hearing is that police in London, in the U.K. have arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. I do believe now we have CNN's Salma Abdelaziz who is up.

Salma, as I said, these details coming in as we speak. What more can you tell us?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. So, we do now know that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, of course, former Prince Andrew, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. This is according to the police. We've just received the statement.

It comes just after we heard that police had arrived at the home of Andrew Mmountbatten-Windsor and that the police had been previously assessing evidence in relation to revelations in the so-called Epstein files.

Now, what do we know? So far, it has been a tumultuous few months, of course, for former Prince Andrew. He has been pushed out of the monarch's estate, essentially shoved into Sandringham, where he has lost all of his royal titles as well since last year, stripped of royal titles by his brother King Charles.

[05:15:12]

An anti-monarchy group filed a complaint against him after the most recent trove of documents was released, accusing him of violating his role as a trade envoy for the U.K. by sending secrets, by sending state information, by sending details of economic packages that Britain was working on to Jeffrey Epstein.

Now, Mr. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has denied any wrongdoing, but these are absolutely extraordinary events for someone of this title, someone of this status, the brother of King Charles, to right now be arrested again. We are waiting for more information.

But we also know that King Charles had previously said he is willing to work with the police if it comes to that, and it is clearly come to that moment. There's going to be a lot of questions now about what happens next. Are there any official charges? What does this look like?

All of this, again, is going to be centered around his role as a trade envoy for a certain number of years, in which it seems that this latest trove of documents at that time, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor at that time, Prince Andrew, representing Britain as a trade envoy, may have passed on state secrets and state information to Jeffrey Epstein. It's going to be centered around that issue.

But you can just imagine right now that the country is absolutely going to be astounded with this news. There is a sense on some level that the monarchy, those in the monarchy are a very upper class of society. Yes, they are not politicians but they are part of the ruling class of this country.

It's going to be extremely concerning for so many people to hear this. Many people are going to think of the royal family in this moment as well. You have to remember that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has two daughters.

He is again the brother of King Charles. He is related to all of these people. And you have to remember, at the end of the day there is a family at the heart of this issue as well.

So, there's going to be concern for his daughters. They've already been in the press for days now, with questions swirling about what they didn't know and might have known. Their names are mentioned dozens, hundreds of times, potentially in the Epstein files.

So, serious questions right now about what happens next. But what we do know so far and what we can report right now is that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor the former prince Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles, who was pushed out of the royal residence to Sandringham, is now facing perhaps an even more watershed moment in the arrest that has now been announced by the police.

SOLOMON: And, Salma, just take us into a little bit more about how we learned about this. I mean, I imagine that CNN, as well as crews around, certainly the U.K., are sort of mobilizing to get there and try to get images and try to piece together more of what's happening.

But how did this come to our attention? I mean, did we get a -- just sort of walk me through sort of the process and how we've learned about it? And also, I mean, what more we know about these secrets allegedly at the -- at the heart of perhaps these charges? ABDELAZIZ: Yes. Well, I mean, there's a very strong British press

here obviously, as you know, Rahel. And there was an alert that sort of went out to the media. We quickly heard that the police appeared to be at the home of Mr. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and that they were searching that area, our team just behind me here on the news desk, worked to verify that information. They received a police statement as well from Thames Valley Police.

We also saw that the BBC, of course, the national broadcaster here has been reporting this. This is absolutely right now being blasted into everyone's homes. There is not a person right now, I imagine, in Britain who is not listening, looking reading, discussing this.

This is absolutely extraordinary. We are talking about the ruling class of this country. We are talking about a man at the very head of society here in Britain, someone who has been stripped of his royal titles in this scandal, of course, and is now being arrested by the British police.

So that is how we found out. That's how we're breaking it down. What do we know about the details? Well, I have to emphasize again that Mr. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has denied any wrongdoing. He has denied these allegations of misconduct.

But you have to remember that the latest trove of Epstein files contain these images that absolutely sent shivers down people's spines. One of those images showed former Prince Andrew on all fours kneeling over the body of what looked like a woman or a girl. That was an image that absolutely shook people here.

And yes, there has been a denial of any wrongdoing. Yes, the images don't necessarily show that there was any criminal conduct there, but they are deeply concerning.

[05:20:01]

And they resulted in Princess Kate and Prince William actually releasing a statement saying, you know, we are with you. We understand, we are concerned, essentially because of what's in this -- in these documents.

However, for now, the police investigation is not going to be centered I imagine around the sexual misconduct allegations. It is going to be focused on a complaint that was lodged by this anti-monarchy group that through the emails that were released in those Epstein files made the accusation that former Prince Andrew passed on state secrets, state information when he was representing this country as a trade envoy.

What was in those details? Well, something like economic packages, something like Prince Andrew's schedules that he was going to, you know, his scheduled events, his diary essentially for his trips, heads up for potential deals that may be struck between countries. These are the types of high-level state secrets that may have been passed, may have been passed on, or are allegedly have been passed on. So, you can imagine from Jeffrey Epstein's side, the accusation would

also be, does that allow him to make investment decisions, economic decisions that would have gotten him ahead because of the information that was passed by former Prince Andrew?

SOLOMON: And, Salma, stick with me for just a moment. I want to read for you while you've been on the air speaking with us, a statement came out from the Thames Valley Police. I want to read it for you and let's discuss it in just a moment.

So, it says, as part of the investigation, we have today arrested a man in his 60s from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk. The man remains in police custody at this time. We will not be naming the arrested man as per national guidance. Please also remember that this case is now active, so care should be taken with any publication to avoid being in contempt of court.

This is a quote now from the assistant chief who says, following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office. It's important that we protect the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work with our partners to investigate this alleged offense. We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.

Salma, your thoughts. He's clearly still in custody. This just happened moments ago, but it sounds like they carried out this search at multiple addresses, and they are not naming him. As per the protocols, apparently of the Thames Valley Police, although it has become clear through reporting that this is in fact the man who has been arrested is, in fact, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

ABDELAZIZ: It's extraordinary. I mean, honestly just reading a police statement that is essentially linking us to Prince Andrew, former Prince Andrew, rather, it -- I cannot imagine that every jaw in this country has absolutely dropped right now. This is extraordinary to say that there is an investigation in place to say that a man has been arrested, to say that the case is now active. That's some part -- that's the part that really stood out to me, is the case is now active and care should be taken with any publication to avoid being in contempt of court.

That means the police are doing their work right now, Rahel. That means that potentially, the king may need to answer calls from the police. That means we're looking at the royal family of this country potentially having to speak to the police about an investigation into the brother of King Charles for misconduct in public office. And that's going to really hurt, and that's going to really damage, because the monarchy prides itself on representing this country and representing it well.

And so, if here the allegation is that when Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was representing this country as a trade envoy, he passed on state secrets, he passed on private information. He behaved in a manner that now is the core of an investigation into misconduct that is damaging, that is damaging to the royal family. That is hurtful to the image that they want to project.

We have seen throughout these weeks and months, Rahel, King Charles tried to take the steps to show that he is ahead of this. He stripped, of course, his brother of all of his royal titles. He told him to leave the royal residence.

He even put out a statement before this has happened and said, "I am willing to work with the police. King Charles is willing to work with the police," but it seems like no matter what King Charles does, he simply cannot get ahead of this. This is here to catch up with him.

SOLOMON: Salma Abdelaziz, I imagine there is a lot sort of happening in the newsroom behind you. A lot of emails, a lot of calls that you want to make. We want to give you a few minutes to go ahead and do the reporting that you can do from the London bureau.

We're going to take a quick break, but don't go anywhere. We'll be back with you, Salma, in just a few minutes. Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:29:14]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

We have an update now on our major breaking news out of London where police have arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, the brother of King Charles. Police say that he has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. This follows a report that Andrew while prince allegedly shared confidential information with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any wrongdoing over his ties to Epstein.

I want to now bring into the conversation, CNN's royal correspondent Max Foster, who is following this live from London. And just for your understanding, watching at home, Max is actually driving, so he's on the phone with us. He has just pulled over so he can safely speak with us.

But, Max, you've been covering the royals for more than a decade. Your reaction to this news this morning?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, it is extraordinary news. And it does suggest that the police have had some sort of major development. And what we're talking about here is specifically.