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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Fallout From Epstein Files Looms Over U.K. Government; Pentagon Pressures Anthropic To Drop AI Guardrails; FBI: Guthrie $1 Million Reward Generates Hundreds Of Credible Tips. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 25, 2026 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:31:43]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.

The U.S. president did not mention the Epstein files during his speech. Many Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, wore pins that said "Stand With Survivors, Release the Files." Several Democrats also invited survivors of Epstein's abuse to the speech as their guests.

And a group of Democrats and Epstein survivors held a news conference Tuesday to draw attention to the Trump administration's handling of the case even as President Trump has tried to downplay it. They expressed their anger and said they will not move on until justice is served.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): He must answer for why the Department of Justice has still refused to release three million remaining files and why they continue the massive coverup of a depraved Epstein class. He must answer to the people across the country and the world who see the powerful predators in government, academia, finance, and law have all been part of abusing and raping young girls and joking about it with zero accountability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Lawyers for Peter Mandelson say that his arrest in London was prompted by a baseless suggestion that he planned to leave the U.K. The former British ambassador to the U.S. was arrested and questioned on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office amid a Jeffrey Epstein investigation. He was later released on bail. His lawyers say that his overriding priority is to cooperate with police and clear his name. Mandelson has not publicly commented on the allegations and previously apologized for his association with Epstein.

Meanwhile, the British government is backing a proposal to publish documents related to the former Prince Andrew's appointment as a U.K. trade envoy in 2001 following his arrest last week.

CNN's Max Foster has details from London.

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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely consuming Parliament and Westminster -- this whole story -- and we're not even talking about Peter Mandelson who is someone else who has been facing similar sort of allegations. But in terms of Andrew, going into the succession debate you have to pass a law in 14 -- 15 different Parliaments, so that's one part of the story.

The other part of the story is this police investigation into Andrew's role as envoy -- whether he abused that position. He hasn't been charged around that, and Parliament doesn't want to get involved in the police investigation. But what they are doing is going to the government and saying we want to see all the files that relate to the fact that he was appointed to that position all of those years ago. So in order to do that they had to have a parliamentary debate. This is how complex this is all getting.

There's a -- there's a rule in Parliament that they're not allowed to debate the monarchy. That's the king, the heir to the throne, but also other members of the royal family. They're not allowed to talk about their conduct because the royal family in theory can't answer back. They're also a branch of Parliament as well.

So the speaker, today, had to give special dispensation for this debate to go ahead, which was extraordinary in itself. This is century's old traditions really burning up here. It just shows the repercussions the Epstein files are having here.

And then take a listen to this. So you're going to hear from a government minister, and they really did not hold back on Andrew.

[05:35:00]

CHRIS BRYANT, BRITISH MINISTER FOR TRADE: Colleagues and many civil servants have told me their own stories of their interactions with Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, and they all portray the same pattern. A man on a constant self-aggrandizing and self-enriching hustle. A rude, arrogant, and entitled man who could not distinguish between the public interests, which he said he served, and his own private interests.

FOSTER: Andrew, of course, denies any wrongdoing in relation to all of this and he hasn't responded to any of our requests for comment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Still ahead, AI firm Anthropic faces a Friday deadline to comply with the Pentagon's demands for greater access to its AI models, but the company has concerns about two major areas for potential misuse in the hands of the U.S. military. We'll have those details straight ahead.

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[05:40:30]

SOLOMON: Welcome back to EARLY START. The time now is 5:40 and this is your business breakout.

Let's start where U.S. futures stand ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, and at this point all three major averages look set for a positive open.

One thing investors will be keeping an eye on today is NVIDIA earnings being called the most anticipated earnings announcement this earnings season. That comes after the market close.

All right, let's take a look at some of today's other business headlines.

U.S. markets closed higher on Tuesday erasing some of the losses from Monday's big sell-off. The Dow gained 370 points and the Nasdaq finished about one percent higher.

Tech stocks leading the charge just a day after fears over AI disruptions rattled investors. Economists warn that this kind of volatility will continue as investors weigh the impacts that AI will have on a variety of sectors -- the reason why the NVIDIA earnings announcement is so anticipated.

And the back-and-forth over whether Netflix or Paramount will control CNN's parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has escalated. Paramount presenting a new proposal, which includes raising its offer to $31.00 per share. Netflix and WBD had come to a merger agreement, which does remain in place. And analysts believe that Netflix will likely match Paramount's new offer.

Spirit Airlines has struck a deal to pull itself out of bankruptcy after struggling since the pandemic. The budget-friendly airline has suspended several domestic routes and even sold aircraft and gates to try to raise cash and reduce debt. While things are looking up, analysts say that Spirit will still offer nearly 40 percent fewer flights and seats this summer compared to the same period in 2024.

Well, the Pentagon is threatening AI firm Anthropic to remove some of its safeguards on its AI model or risk losing lucrative U.S. military contracts, but sources say that Anthropic is not willing to budge on two key issues, the use of AI-controlled weapons and mass surveillance.

CNN's Hadas Gold reports.

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HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon is giving AI company Anthropic until 5:01 p.m. on Friday to drop some of its internal guardrails or risk not only losing their $200 million Pentagon contract but also potentially being put on what amounts to a military blacklist.

This all came to a head on Tuesday morning at a meeting at the Pentagon between Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. At issue is this contract because the Pentagon wants Anthropic to drop some of its internal guardrails because they want to be able to use their Claude AI system for all lawful use.

But Anthropic has a few concerns. One of their concerns is that they don't want AI to be used to autonomously control weapons. They don't believe that AI is reliable enough yet for that sort of use.

They're also concerned about AI being used for mass domestic surveillance of American citizens. A source familiar with the situation telling me that they just -- Anthropic just doesn't believe that there is good rules and laws in place to help govern how AI could be used in surveillance of American citizens.

But this has angered the Pentagon. A Pentagon official telling CNN that not only will Anthropic risk losing their Pentagon contract, but they are also at risk of being deemed a supply chain risk. Now what this means is that any company in the United States who has a contract with the military will have to make sure that any of their work with the military doesn't touch an Anthropic product. And a lot of Anthropic's business right now is with these big corporate clients who use their Claude AI system. This could be a huge hit on Anthropic's bottom line.

The Pentagon has also threatened to also compel Anthropic to work with them under what's called the Defense Procurement Act, which gives the government the ability to almost force companies to work with them when it -- when it comes to national security concerns.

A Pentagon official telling CNN that "Legality is the Pentagon's responsibility as the end user." And claiming that "The Pentagon has only given out lawful orders."

Anthropic, for their part, says that they continued the good-faith conversations about their usage policy on Tuesday in this meeting with the Pentagon. They went on to say that Anthropic will continue to support the government's national security mission in line with what their models can reliably and responsibly do.

The deadline though is looming -- 5:01 p.m. on Friday. A source familiar telling me that it doesn't seem as though Anthropic is going to be budge.

Hadas Gold, CNN, New York.

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[05:45:00]

SOLOMON: Still ahead, Savannah Guthrie makes her first public plea in more than a week and offers a new higher reward. CNN goes inside the room where officials are getting tips about her mother's disappearance. We'll take you there after this break.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. I'm Rahel Solomon. And here are some of the stories we are watching for you this morning.

President Trump claims that his tariffs and economic policies have ushered in a new golden age for the U.S. During his State of the Union speech he blamed President Biden for the affordability crisis. He says now prices are falling, wages are rising, and more Americans have jobs.

[05:50:00]

And during his speech, President Trump gave Congress and the world insight into his approach towards Iran. The president said that he will "never allow Tehran to have a nuclear weapon but that he's still prefers to cut a deal." Iran's Foreign Ministry responding, saying that President Trump repeated "big lies about Iran in his address."

And schools in the Mexican state of Jalisco are set to resume classes Wednesday after the violent response to the death of cartel leader El Mencho. Flights are getting back to normal as well. And the U.S. State Department has lifted its shelter in place alert for tourists in the impacted areas.

And CNN has learned that the FBI is getting a surge of credible tips in the Nancy Guthrie investigation. The new calls come after Savannah Guthrie made an emotional plea on her social media. The "TODAY" show host offered up to $1 million for information about her missing mother. The source tells CNN that the Guthrie family first raised the idea of a reward early in the investigation but was advised against making an offer at that time.

CNN's Ed Lavandera reports now from Tucson, Arizona.

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SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC ANCHOR, "TODAY", DAUGHTER OF NANCY GUTHRIE: Hi, there.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The anguish, the pain --

GUTHRIE: I am coming on to say it is day 24 since our mom was taken --

LAVANDERA (voiceover): -- cut through Savannah Guthrie's voice in a video message announcing a million-dollar reward for information leading to the recovery of their 84-year-old mother.

GUTHRIE: We are blowing on the embers of hope. We also know that she may be lost. She may already be gone. She may have already gone home to the Lord that she loves, and if this is what is to be then we will all accept it. But we need to know where she is. We need her to come home.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): A source close to the Guthrie family says Savannah and her siblings first raised the idea of a substantial reward on the first day of the search for Nancy but investigators cautioned against it because of concerns the calls would overwhelm the tiplines. GUTHRIE: You can be anonymous if you want. Someone out there knows

something that can bring her home. Somebody knows and we are begging you to please come forward now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you describe him for me, please? Is he Black, white, Hispanic?

LAVANDERA (voiceover): The Pima County and FBI tiplines have received tens of thousands of calls since Nancy Guthrie disappeared, but that's changed with the investigation now in its fourth week.

LAVANDERA: And how is the influx of calls now?

JOANNE AMSTEAD, 911 DISPATCH SUPERVISOR, PIMA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT; It's starting to taper down a little bit. Unfortunately, we haven't had a lot of, you know, new breaks with this as of late, so as people are watching the news maybe there's not as much new things for them to call in and report about.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): It was these haunting videos and images of the suspect standing at Nancy Guthrie's front door that's generated the largest number of tips in the last two weeks. But one of those photos stood out because in it the suspect was not seen wearing the backpack and holstered gun around his waist. A source tells CNN that image was captured on a day before Nancy Guthrie was abducted.

The Pima County sheriff says, "There is no date or timestamp associated with these images. Any suggestion that the photographs were taken on different days is purely speculative."

But for weeks investigators have been asking Guthrie's neighbors for video dating all the way back to January 1, suggesting the investigators are looking to confirm if the suspect had previously staked out Guthrie's home to plan the abduction.

Outside Nancy's home the vigil of yellow flowers keeps growing with a message to the suspect to do the right thing and end this nightmare for the Guthrie family.

GUTHRIE: So many people have been praying, of every faith and no faith at all -- praying for her return, and we feel those prayers.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): The Guthrie's wait continues.

GUTHRIE: Please keep praying without ceasing. We still believe. We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home. Hope against hope.

LAVANDERA: An FBI official tells CNN that in the hours since Savannah Guthrie posted that announcement of a $1 million reward that it has generated 750 credible leads that have been passed on from the FBI call center to investigators here in Arizona. And as this official points out, they just need one of those to be the credible tip and lead that brings them to where Nancy Guthrie might be.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Tucson, Arizona. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And we'll be right back.

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[05:59:15]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

Pigeons used to serve as crucial messengers throughout history because of their ability to travel long distances and return to their owners.

Well now, in Iraq, they've gained the spotlight in the nation's popular bird sporting world. The center says that is has trained thousands of pigeons to withstand hours of continuous flight using electronic identification rings that allow them to track their movements. The center owner says that they typically train the birds for a year before entering them into competitions. One race recently drew 830 birds for a challenge spanning more than 450 kilometers.

And many people around the world fell in love with Punch the monkey last week and his substitute mother, an orangutan plushie. Zookeepers gave Punch that stuffed animal, which is from Swedish furniture brand IKEA selling for just under 20 U.S. dollars.

[06:00:07]

Punch's mom -- well, she became a popular item after his overnight fame. An IKEA store in Singapore said that the plushie has been sold out since Monday. And on auction sites they're going for as much as $350.

OK, that'll do it for us here on EARLY START. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.