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Laura Coates Live

Savannah Guthrie and Family Make Tearful Plea for Mother's Return; Trump Administration Withdraws 700 Federal Agents from Minnesota. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired February 04, 2026 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, SALEM RADIO HOST: I will not -- will not be topping that.

(LAUGHTER)

Mr. Blue Sky by ELO. It's an upbeat song. I like it because it's the opening song to "Guardians of the Galaxy 2." I think it's one of the greatest opening of the superhero movies. So, I'm a big Mr. Blue Sky fan. It would be hard to hide sloppy edges or hesitation with that music going on in your figure skating routines.

(LAUGHTER)

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Oh, wow.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sloppy edges. OK.

SELLERS: He was deep in the -- in the (INAUDIBLE).

PHILLIP: He's a -- he's a tough customer.

UNKNOWN: Yes.

PHILLIP: All right, everybody, thank you very much. Thanks for watching "NewsNight." "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is "CNN Breaking News."

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Good evening. I'm Laura Coates. Quote -- "We need to know without a doubt that she's alive and that you have her." Savannah Guthrie and her siblings trying to speak directly to whoever may have taken their Mother Nancy and asking for some proof of her life. The emotional plea comes four days after Guthrie was reported taken from her Tucson, Arizona home in the middle of the night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: Our mom is our heart and our home. She is 84 years old. Her health, her heart is fragile. She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive. She needs it not to suffer.

We, too, have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media. As a family, we are doing everything that we can. We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen.

Everyone is looking for you, mommy, everywhere. We will not rest. Your children will not rest until we are together again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: That video, I mean, it just guts you. Not just because you're watching this pain, but realizing that they haven't even identified, at least publicly, a suspect.

And as for the ransom notes, well, here's what we do know. The three media outlets have gotten them, TMZ and two local stations in Tucson, and they allegedly demand millions of dollars, but in Bitcoin. An anchor at one of those local stations is telling CNN it appears to include information that only someone who was there when she was taken captive would know. Now, the sheriff's office is still not publicly saying if they're even legitimate ransom notes.

But the Guthrie's plea, it was put out moments after we saw this: A ramped-up law enforcement presence at their mother's home, FBI agents with sniffing dogs. They put crime scene tape backup around the length of the property. And that's important because, remember, it was a full three days ago the police said they were finished searching the home and had actually turned it back over to the family.

Now, we don't know what they were looking for, but agents spent a lot of time combing through the back of the home. We also saw them go into the house through the garage. Some agents were even seen carrying evidence bags back to their cars. They were at the scene now for about two hours before taking the tape down and then leaving.

And we're also filling in more of the timeline. Nancy Guthrie had dinner at her daughter's home in Tucson before she was dropped off back at her house around 9:45 Saturday night. Guthrie's pacemaker last sent a signal to her iPhone around 2 o'clock in the morning on Sunday. And we know her iPhone, it was left in the house.

Police are also looking into a report of possible trespassing that occurred about eight minutes away from Guthrie's home back on January 4th, a month ago today. And our team actually spoke to the man who made that report. Now, he's in his 90s. He told us it was nighttime when his motion light in his backyard suddenly came on. He says he saw a man who then fled. And he called the police to report what happened. Now, we're told that law enforcement is now looking into any possible connection between that incident and Nancy Guthrie's disappearance.

The case now even reaching the White House. President Trump says he spoke with Savannah Guthrie and says he is offering federal law enforcement to be at the family's complete disposal. [23:05:01]

Now, we're covering all aspects of this story with our reporters and our law enforcement experts, but I want to begin with Briana Whitney, who has been reporting on this story from the very beginning. She's with Arizona's 3TV and CBS 5 and host of "True Crime Arizona Live." Briana, a lot happening, including that video from the Guthrie family asking for proof of life, and it really caps a day that saw the sheriff forcefully say that they have no suspects. What's happening?

BRIANA WHITNEY, REPORTER, ARIZONA'S FAMILY: Yes. So, I think this all really started with these updates about 24 hours ago last night when there were these other reports that there may have been a family member that was a suspect in this case due to sources that had allegedly come forward. And I ended up emailing the sheriff's department overnight, trying to get information on this. The FBI, you know, what is going on? Is there a suspect?

And this morning, the sheriff's department doubling down multiple times, saying, no, we don't have any identified person of interest, we don't have any identified suspect. And that is where they stopped today, though. They did not do any sort of other interviews. They were very adamant about the fact that they will come to us tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. and no sooner than that.

So, at that point, we kind of thought this day was going to be more about the vigil that was being held, this candlelight prayer for Nancy tonight at the church in Tucson, the community coming together. We truly thought that was going to be the focus and we would learn more in the investigation tomorrow morning. But, as you know, not one day has gone as usual in this investigation.

I cannot believe what we have learned instead. We thought that that crime scene was processed. The sheriff's department had said it was processed and that's why we were able to get that up-close view of Nancy's home yesterday where we were able to see what appeared to be blood droplets on the ground and then where that surveillance video camera was missing.

But now, you have the sheriff deputies back out there putting crime scene tape up, taking out pieces of evidence again. I mean, we saw what was kind of this large box-looking thing, like a rectangle, possibly the size of a mirror, it was covered, though, so we couldn't see what it was, taking that, hauling it out of the home, putting it in their cars, and leaving. And we know they've been doing some searches of the area, too, by helicopter yesterday evening and also in the neighborhood today.

So, that ramped everything up as is wondering what was it that made them come back to that crime scene after they said they were done processing the evidence. We don't know. And then just as soon as that was all coming in with video, Savannah Guthrie posted that video with her siblings, completely heart wrenching, truly asking for proof of life from this alleged abductor which, to me, really signals that they're taking that ransom note seriously. COATES: Briana Whitney, thank you so much. So many questions still. I want to bring in two former senior FBI officials, Katherine Schweit and Josh Skule. Let's pick up exactly on this point. When you have a crime scene that is actively being investigated, normally you would expect there to be some time that is taken before it is opened back up to people walking on the premises, the media, let alone the family returning. Do you have any insight as to why you would close it when they did, reopen it, and then do this again? Any thoughts?

JOSH SKULE, FORMER EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR INTELLIGENCE, FBI: Well, I don't think it's that uncommon. The sheriff's department went in, collected the evidence they thought as a part of this crime, and then the investigation is proceeding. The law enforcement is learning more about that. The FBI is working with them.

And now, they realized that maybe they had missed something and there may be additional clues left in the house, so they're going to go back in, get another warrant, or they probably don't need a warrant, the family is giving them access, and then secure those additional items of evidence.

So, I've seen this before. It's not necessarily problematic. And so, that's where I think that they are learning more on this investigation, and they're not sharing that with the public.

KATHERINE SCHWEIT, FORMER SENIOR OFFICIAL, FBI: And it could be documents, right? It could be something like documents that they might have not thought about collecting before, but now they have more information or more concerns or photographic evidence or other things where they think that based on the information that they have or that they gathered together from investigators so far, oh, maybe they didn't look in enough rooms, in another room, clothing, different things like that.

COATES: Things that wouldn't be on the outside of the premises. But let's talk about this video because, I mean, it is -- it is difficult to watch. People feel such a connection, obviously, to Savannah Guthrie, so you feel like you are part of this family as you're watching it. People have seen her mother on television for a long time as well. And I can't help but wonder about what would have led to this public request and appeal to whoever may have taken them.

Walk me through the idea of what you think is going on behind the scenes to get to this moment now four days in.

SCHWEIT: I think what we want for sure is proof of life.

[23:10:01]

And a lot of times, as sad as it is to say, there are so many people who are opportunists, and they're going to use whatever they can. And now, we know you can digitize voices and pictures. But also, they're going to send ransom notes out because they think it's funny, because they think they might be able to get money.

All of those people who do that, investigators are tracking them down so they can prosecute them, too. But they have to be certain that if they have a communication, which they need from somebody right now, they need to have the kidnapper or kidnappers contact, provide proof of life, and ask for something.

COATES: Yes.

SCHWEIT: You can't respond unless they're asking for something. And I think they may have some things based on that messaging, that they're getting some inquiries, but they don't have a very -- they're not very confident in the originality, the confidence that it's true information.

COATES: How do you go about vetting to see if they are even legitimate, to your larger point, let alone the way that they're responding over Instagram, the way that ransom notes were reportedly received whereas two news agencies or TMZ and other local outlets? There's a distinction of how they've received versus how they're responding. How do you vet them?

SKULE: Well, that's a challenge. They're going to be asking specifically for, as Kate said, for proof of life. And so, it will be on the kidnappers to go ahead and show that.

You know, going back several years, it was a newspaper, you know, that held up with a date. So, now, it could be pictures that are timestamped for which the law enforcement will then have to vet those. All of this stuff can be superimposed. Much more challenging today, but that's what they're getting to do.

The other thing with the message that I notice is they're pleading for the kidnappers to keep their mother alive. I mean, it is standard to humanize her. She's a good person. It has been a long time since we've seen a kidnapping for ransom, as we assume this is, that has been this high profile.

COATES: The idea to humanize her, to make sure that this was known, at least in this public way, this is not just some story, this is a person talking about her faith, talking about her as a mother, that these three adults need their mother as opposed to if this was perhaps a younger person who had been taken and had younger children, they would likely appeal to the idea of this being a mother of small children and her babies need her. Describe to me your evaluation of the method of trying to humanize her.

SCHWEIT: I think that's essential to any messaging because, you know, I worked to an 88-year-old woman who was kidnapped, a true kidnapping for ransom many years ago, and the idea is she's old and she's frail.

And remember that even the kidnappers or kidnapper, they're human beings and they have feelings. And if you can reach their feelings to say, look, you want money, money means nothing to us compared to the value of her life, so please keep her alive, please understand that we want you to take care of her enough to keep her alive, to get her back to us because it's not about the money for us, it might be for you, but it's not for us. COATES: Is there any way of being able to decide or decipher if this is one person who's involved in this, multiple people that could have been in a position to execute this taking and not have a trace that has led to a public disclosure of a suspect?

SKULE: I don't think there's a way to determine how many people are involved right now based on the information we have.

COATES: But would you need to know that? A confession of somebody, somebody slipping?

SKULE: A confession, forensics? You know, the blood that was found, footprints, tire tracks around the footprints, some other indication that there were multiple people there. Law enforcement may, in fact, believe that right now. They're just not sharing that.

COATES: Why wouldn't they share information?

SCHWEIT: Not their job. Law enforcement's job right now is to get that woman back alive.

SKULE: That's right.

SCHWEIT: It's not their job to keep the public informed about the investigation.

COATES: Even besides that, is there some reason that it could hurt the investigation to be public?

SKULE: Absolutely.

SCHWEIT: Absolutely. You now are giving folks warning about what you have and what you know. And they can then destroy that evidence. You know, move her to a location or, unfortunately, take a more extreme resolve because they feel like law enforcement is closing in.

SCHWEIT: Right.

SKULE: What the best thing that can happen is that they get her back safe and sound and that -- then the manhunt begins. That would be the best case. She's alive, she's well taken care of, dropped off on the corner, called, and that's where they pick her up.

COATES: Does the high-profile nature of this case complicate the ability to get her home safely? Does it increase or decrease or have no impact on the likelihood of somebody panicking knowing who they have?

SKULE: Certainly, this puts a lot of pressure on those that took her. There's a media bonanza for this case, and that is putting a lot of pressure on them right now. In some regards, good pressure, because they want to get this resolved as quickly as possible to their benefit.

COATES: Let me ask you about, Katherine, the idea of the president of the United States directing all federal law enforcement resources to be at Savannah Guthrie and her family's disposal.

[23:15:04]

Obviously, this is a -- there's a huge range of federal resources available. But what might that look like in terms of the coordination of who is handling, overseeing or even assisting?

SCHWEIT: Yes, all federal law enforcement resources are always at the helm when something like this happens. And the person who's running a kidnapping, there's a federal crime for kidnapping and state crimes for kidnapping. So, it's not so much about what you're prosecuting as it is who's working on it.

And everybody is working on it. It's an all hands case. So, the local offense is in that town, Tucson. So, that local sheriff's office is responsible. But the FBI has jurisdiction in terms of kidnapping, and they're going to apply all the resources that they have as well as any other federal resources. There's going to be no shortage of resources on this, whether this is Savannah Guthrie's mom or somebody else's. A kidnapping is a kidnapping.

COATES: I want to stick with this. Stand by. I have so many more questions, and our audiences, too. We have so much more in the breaking news ahead. We've got retired U.S. Navy SEAL commander and top hostage negotiator Dan O'Shea joining with his perspective. And later, the physical search on the ground for Nancy Guthrie. We'll take you inside the elite border patrol team that has been assisting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUTHRIE: We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen. Please reach out to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: We're following the breaking news. Savannah Guthrie and her siblings coming out with an urgent and emotional plea, asking for proof that their mother, Nancy, is still alive.

I'm joined now by Dan O'Shea, a retired Navy SEAL and former hostage working group coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Katherine Schweit and Josh Skule are back with me as well.

I want to begin with you here, Dan, because you just heard Savannah Guthrie say, we want to hear from you and we are ready to listen, please reach out to us. Does this video look like the start of a negotiation to you? And I wonder how that coordination of contact would even happen. DAN O'SHEA, FORMER NAVY SEAL COMMANDER, FORMER COORDINATOR OF HOSTAGE

WORKING GROUP AT THE U.S. EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD: Well, from what the family is implying, that they reported in this ransom demand, but it was not sent directly to the family. So, she's pleading. Her daughter is pleading for the kidnappers to reach out directly to the family, that we're ready to talk. And, really, what they're asking for is proof of life. And so, this is obviously a strategy.

They're also humanizing their mother. I watched the entire video. It's heart-wrenching to watch. But it's very important because what they're doing is sending an important message, trying to get the kidnappers to look at their mother as a human being, as a good soul. And this is all part of the strategy. And hopefully this will lead to communication and hopefully some resolution on this situation.

COATES: Does that video suggest to you that they believe that the ransom notes are, in fact, legitimate?

O'SHEA: Well, it's unknown. I mean, I saw that the first ransom came into TMZ. Why would they be sending a ransom note? And, again, when these cases happen, especially high-profile cases like a very notable -- you know, Samantha Guthrie is a morning talk show host, well known. This happens in a lot -- this is very common around the world where the crazies come out when they go after a high-profile case. So, you know, I don't know.

Again, I'm not in the situation room. Local law enforcement is handling this. Certainly, FBI is involved directly, helping on the case. These guys are experts at this. Crisis response team, this is trained hostage negotiators. So, all that evaluation is being done. That information is not going to come out publicly because that's very sensitive and close hold.

But the fact that the family had to make that plea tells me that the kidnappers have not reached out directly to the family yet, and that's what the family is asking for, but specifically proof of life that their mother is still alive.

COATES: We were watching them read from a piece of paper. It was obviously choreographed in the sense of they each had a part to say in that. At different times, you saw Savannah and her siblings looking off camera different ways. Do you think that hostage negotiators helped to draft or choreograph this message?

O'SHEA: Well, there's no question the families are receiving an outpouring of support from both trained hostage negotiators within the Pima Sheriff's Office, but you know the FBI is involved. So, they're getting advice. That message was set up for a reason, and there's a lot of clues in that message, what they're asking for. So, they're being advised and this is part of the process, making this play, unfortunately.

COATES: What do you expect to possibly happen next? I mean, I go back to her ending statement. We are ready, we want to hear from you, we are ready to listen, please reach out to us. Do you think that a possible abductor would reach out with proof of life? Where would things go from there if they did?

O'SHEA: Well, to be honest, most kidnapping cases are resolved in the shadows. But this case has gotten such attention, such media attention. This is very similar to the case I had in Iraq when we have a proof of life video get released, and then the outpouring of, you know, demand.

So, it makes it more complicated, to be honest, because there's so much attention now on this case. The heat is going to be on these kidnappers and/or kidnapper. So, it actually raises the threat level and raises the stakes, unfortunately. But this is -- unfortunately, this case has such an interest nationwide. The president has reached out directly to the family.

[23:25:01]

So -- but this is the reality. And, hopefully, it will open up a channel of dialogue and bring this abduction or kidnapping to a resolution.

COATES: I want to bring back in Josh and Katherine. And I should mention, I think you and Dan had a connection from 2006, I want to say, in Iraq or something. It's amazing to think about the two of you crossing paths in this way.

But let's talk about where he was describing because the Pima County Sheriff's Department and our own team reached out, confirming that they are reviewing a nearby trespassing case that came back in early January. And Josh, that happened a month before this. When you think about that, how would they try to trace that back to try to ascertain if there is indeed a connection here?

SKULE: Well, they're going to re-interview the person that reported it. They're going to try and get a description, although dated, from that individual. I know he's a --

COATES: In his 90s.

SKULE: He's in his 90s. There's also a report of somebody, another neighbor, who also had a similar experience and actually had photos that were reported today that she was going to turn over to the sheriff's office. All of this is interesting because it's -- this case is very high profile.

And, as you can see, people aren't coming to the forefront until days later and remembering things that happened months ago. So, now, the investigators are going to have to go and try and recreate that, and then try and figure out if this is related at all, which takes time and resources.

COATES: Katherine, you've been clear about the amount of resources and time that this really does take to even try to approach an investigation like this. But there's also the minutiae, and that includes even details like when her pacemaker last synced with her cellphone that we know is still in the home. How important is a detail like that? SCHWEIT: All of that is so important. And that's really what the investigators are doing. When you have an incident that occurs like this, you work backwards. And so, every single piece of information you can gather, you put on a timeline and timeline it backwards in case there's somebody else who might have interacted or some other car might have come by.

Then when you go and you canvas the neighborhood and you talk to the neighbors, you say, were you there? Was your car here? Do you have cameras in your car? Have you seen -- it takes a long time to interview and then re-interview neighbors.

But what you're trying to do is piece all of that together to see whether or not you can come back to some commonality. I mean, somebody running surveillance, who is going to kidnap somebody, may have run surveillance for months, for months.

COATES: I want to talk about the surveillance because there's some really interesting footage from where her home is. And, you know, I'm not familiar with the Tucson area. Many of you are not. I want to give you an idea of what it looks like, say, at night when you're driving through this neighborhood, OK?

I mean, this was from our CNN crew that was driving around. Frankly, it's hard to see past the length of your own headlights' vantage point, right? And so, when you look at that, Josh, and you think about, you know, what somebody may or may not have seen or the ability of even other people's homes' cameras and surveillance to pick up footage, this adds to the complexity of the investigation.

SKULE: Certainly, the time adds to the complexity of the investigation. However, we don't know when they were conducting surveillance and what other clues. Were they going by during the day? Was somebody set out during the day that was not a part of the neighborhood? Did they see them multiple times? And did they look suspicious? And now, the neighbors are starting to come around.

And then I want to double down on something that Katherine said, which is you do all these reports, you do the police reports, and then you have somebody review them. And sometimes, investigators may miss something that another investigator asked. So, now, you got to go back and try and get additional information from all of these folks, and then the totality of that, then you have the forensics, then you have the cellphone analysis, then you have the digital forensics. All of that coming together takes time.

COATES: Dan, I want to have my last question with you. Talk to me about the investigation. How normal it would be to interview the people who last saw her, her daughter, whoever she had dinner with, etcetera? Describe the almost routine nature of trying to figure out all the people she may have come in contact with. Does that give you some insight as to where the investigation is going or is that part of the checking off of the boxes?

O'SHEA: Well, as was previously stated, you have to do the timeline, go all the way back to the beginning of the kidnapping, and then retrace all your steps. Interview everyone on the scene, and then follow up leads. I mean, it's exhaustive.

And as it's coming out, new details are coming out, new neighbors are recognized. Well, I saw this car two or three times in the neighborhood or this individual, because kidnappings are not something that happen randomly. There was definitely probably pre-target surveillance by the individual who did this abduction. And if two or three neighbors can connect those dots, it's only going to help tighten the noose around the individuals and/or individual who did this abduction.

[23:30:02]

COATES: Dan, Katherine, Josh, thank you all so much for your expertise. So much we need to know. Up next, an elite border patrol team has been called upon to assist with the physical search for Nancy Guthrie. A member of that team will join me with a new insight into how the search may now be unfolding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:35:00]

COATES: Investigators searching for Nancy Guthrie have enlisted the help of an elite border patrol team. A Border Patrol spokesperson confirming to us that the Tucson Sector's Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue team, aka BORSTAR, was called in earlier this week to support the search efforts.

Joining me now is a former agent on that team, former federal agent Vince Vargas. He is also the host of the Borderland Narcosis" Podcast. Thank you so much for being here. Vince, I'm interested particularly about the capabilities of this team. Why would they have been called in to help?

VINCENT VARGAS, FORMER FEDERAL AGENT, BORDER PATROL SEARCH TRUMA AND RESCUE: BORSTAR is a highly-trained unit and, one, the location is probably why. That's their terrain. That's the area of operation for BORSTAR. What they're great at is tracking. They have dogs, they have skill sets. The Border Patrol job career field is all about tracking human beings. And so, there must be some kind of idea that they might have been walking on foot or left on foot or some case. And so, their capabilities are everything you can think of in a search and rescue team. On top of that, the highly-trained dogs they have.

COATES: Walk me through how they would use these search dogs. You talk about on foot and beyond. But how are these dogs -- are they surveilling particular parts of it? Is it acres? Are they smelling objects in the home, trying to trace something else? What do you -- how are they doing it?

VARGAS: Yes, the dog handler is going to have some kind of article of clothing or something from the woman who is missing. And what they're using is her scent to hopefully try and track in the surrounding areas. The Border Patrol agents, these Border Patrol agents are very well known in the area, so they know some high traffic routes that have been used in the past, and they're probably going to try and look for those first.

COATES: She lives in a pretty quiet community in the Catalina foothills, I understand. It's surrounded by some pretty substantial and vast desert. Does that kind of terrain make it easier or harder to find any clues or signs?

VARGAS: Yes, it's absolutely going to be challenging terrain, but that's what the Border Patrol does in that area. They know these roads inside and outside. They've been doing it their whole career. And so, this is nothing but another day for them. But now, they have to find track, a specific scent. So, that is challenging, especially with different kinds of weather conditions. But, you know, that's the terrain they work in every day.

COATES: What would be the most important information for them to have to understand where they should focus their search? And I'm assuming they would be able to be very-well versed in potential hiding places or things that, unless you knew where to go in these foothills, you would not know are there.

VARGAS: Yes. If they believe they've went on foot, then there's going to be a list of areas that they know have been used in the past by human trafficking organizations, drug trafficking organizations. So, I'm sure they're going to check those high routes of travel that they know from the past. And so, they're probably going to start there as well as they'll start from the house itself. From that home itself, they'll be able to hopefully identify if there's any patterns of her walking anywhere in that area or outside of that area.

COATES: Is this team equipped with medics as well?

VARGAS: They are medics. Every single one of them is a medic from different levels, from paramedics to osteo medics to regular EMT medics. They also carry weapons with them at all times as well. So, they're the most highly-trained medical personnel you can find inside of the nation.

COATES: It's really fascinating to think about them being called in. Are we talking about -- is it a vast network? Is it a couple of units? How do they work amongst themselves?

VARGAS: They're a very tight unit. You know, there's probably going to be somewhere around 15 of them that are available, and they'll be working day and night in rotations. And the way they work is nonstop. They use GPS coordinates and they kind of -- they'll be almost jumping ahead of each other as they find any kind of sign or foot traffic or any kind of footprints on the ground. And so, they work as a very tight unit. They do this every day. This is what their expertise is.

COATES: Vince Vargas, thank you so much.

VARGAS: Absolutely. Thank you very much.

COATES: And, of course, if anyone has any information whatsoever, you are asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or the local sheriff's department in Pima County, 520-351-4900. And a reminder, the sheriff is set to hold a press conference tomorrow morning, which we're going to carry here on CNN live at 1 p.m. East. Here's the number.

Up next, president once again suggests it is time for a softer approach to Minnesota as his border czar, Tom Homan, announces that some DHS agents will, in fact, be leaving. But is the number they gave enough? Well, I'll ask a state's lieutenant governor who is standing by to respond, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR: I have announced, effective immediately, we will draw down 700 people effective today. My goal, with the support of President Trump, is to achieve a complete drawdown and end this surge as soon as we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, announcing a shift in strategy in Minneapolis, pulling immediately hundreds of federal agents in light of what he calls increased local cooperation. Well, how do state officials see it?

Minnesota's lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, is here to weigh in. She's also running for Senate. Lieutenant governor, thank you for joining me.

[23:45:00]

We have heard the news that now, 700 federal officers are leaving Minnesota. but that still, doing the math, means that thousands, thousands still remain. Is this drawdown a good sign? Is it not going far enough? And do you have a timeline of when it might?

LT. GOV. PEGGY FLANAGAN (D-MN): I mean, I think it's a step in the right direction, but it is certainly not enough. The drawdown needs to be faster. And, frankly, ICE just has to get out of Minnesota. The chaos, the fear, the impact on our children in this moment is palpable. So, these folks, they need to go home.

COATES: Do you have any idea about that 700? Are they coming from a particular area? Are there surveillance or patrolling? Do you know how that would change with their departure?

FLANAGAN: I don't know the exact details of that, but what I can tell you is that a lot of the tactics continue. Just this morning, you know, there were ICE agents who are outside schools in Fridley, Minnesota, right? We continue to see these agents and their tactics on full display. So, I think it is absolutely time for them to leave completely.

And I also think it's important for us to be very clear that once ICE is out of Minnesota, you know, that's, frankly, not enough. Just what the federal government has laid at our doorstep, they need to make sure that they restore and repair and heal what they've broken.

I think about our young people right now who -- some of our children in Minnesota are going to have an ACE score, an Adverse Childhood Experience score, because of federal agents in Minnesota. And so, there's just -- there's an incredible amount of damage that is being done. Our children, our families are suffering because of it. And it's all a manmade crisis at the hands of these ICE agents.

COATES: Well, President Trump touched on tactics just this evening, telling NBC tonight that a softer touch might be needed for immigration enforcement. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I learned that maybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch. But you still have to be tough. These are criminals. We're dealing with really hard criminals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: How do you interpret his statement about an approach that he may or may not take?

FLANAGAN: I mean, it's just -- it's just false, right? When I think of, you know, Liam Conejo Ramos, the five-year-old in the little bunny hat with the Spiderman backpack who was brought to Texas, and I'm so glad that Liam is home, two-year-old Chloe, 10-year-old Elizabeth, right? Are those the worst of the worst hardened criminals? I don't think so.

And so, I understand that, you know, they're trying to, you know, maybe project a different sort of image. But the problem is that people have eyes, right? And as we've had constitutional observers in the street, Minnesotans, just regular folks who are showing up for their neighbors and documenting, you know, what's happening here, it's hard to, you know, actually take that seriously.

COATES: On that point, lieutenant governor --

FLANAGAN: So, I certainly believe --

COATES: Excuse me, I don't want to interrupt you, but your statement made me think about what the border czar, Tom Homan, suggested about one way that he might pull more agents more quickly. But he identified this caveat. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOMAN: We want to get back to the normal operational footprint here. But that depends on the people out there putting up illegal roadblocks. That depends on people that want to intimidate and interfere and put hands on ICE officers. Tone down the rhetoric.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Do you think that the response from residents and Minnesotans should have an impact on the decision of whether ICE ought to change its tactics?

FLANAGAN: Well, here's what I've seen from Minnesotans: I have seen Minnesotans step up in a major way to take care of their neighbor. I have seen moms and dads outside of daycare centers and schools.

[23:50:00]

I have seen people delivering food and mutual aid to folks who haven't been able to leave their home in two months. This is having a real impact on people. You know, I am seeing over 50,000 Minnesotans in negative 15, you know, degree weather marching through the streets to call for justice for the killing of Renee Good. And now, people raising their voices because Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who worked at the VA, was killed by these agents.

So, you know, I have seen -- frankly, I think this is the federal government at their worst, and I have seen Minnesotans at their best. So, I just -- I know that we are going to continue to show up for each other in, you know, nonviolent resistance and peaceful protest, and that Minnesotans are going to continue to step up and take care of each other because that's who we are and it's what we do.

COATES: We're just showing a picture of Alex Pretti, who you've identified. The vice president responded today to the idea of apologizing to his family for reposting claims that alleged he was an assassin. Did you hear what he said? Let me play it for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP NIETO, POLITICAL REPORTER, DAILY MAIL: You plan to apologize to the family of Alex Pretti?

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: For what?

NIETO: For, you know, labeling him an assassin with ill intent.

VANCE: Well, again, I just described to you what I said about Alex Pretti, which is that he's a guy who showed up with ill intent to an ICE protest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Your reaction?

FLANAGAN: I think that's interesting in the most Minnesotan way possible. I have to tell you, what I know about Alex Pretti was that he was a healer. He took care of someone in my life who is very important to me and did so with great heart and gentleness. And I gathered outside of the V.A. with hundreds of other people to honor him at a vigil just this week. And people told incredible stories about Alex Pretti and, you know, thought about his words and his words being, are you OK? As his last words to a woman that he was trying to assist in a moment of chaos.

So, I think J.D. Vance is simply telling on himself in this moment, and we will continue to lift up the good man that Alex Pretti was. That's how I will respond as well as, you know, thousands of other Minnesotans.

COATES: Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, thank you.

FLANAGAN: Thank you.

COATES: Up next, an Olympic victory before the games even start.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: Well, it's almost midnight here in Washington, which means it is time to toss things over to the West Coast. Hi, Elex. How you doing?

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Laura. Good to see you.

COATES: I want to talk about some good news, please, because you got an Olympic figure skater who almost couldn't perform his routine because of a copyright dispute over his music. I mean, I see the "Minions" app right now. He wanted music from the "Minions" movie, of course, for his "Minions"-themed routine. Why else would you want that? He has been performing this routine all season in costume, yellow shirt, denim overalls. I personally need to see this, multiple times. How about you?

MICHAELSON: Yes. I mean, why not? It's fun. People love the "Minions," right? And it's going to bring some more attention to the Olympics. I think it's great.

COATES: I mean, I think about what song Elex would possibly skate to in his Olympic routine, costume or not. What is that song?

MICHAELSON: Well, I have worn the Superman costume for about five years in a row on Halloween because I was too cheap to buy something new. So, there's part of me that would do Superman with the Superman theme like Shaq used to come out to. But I also love the beginning of "Don't Stop Until You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson, and I feel like that would be a great opener for the routine. What about you, Laura?

COATES: You doing a triple axel with that? I'm all for it. Well, for me, it's hands down. It's "What a Feeling," Irene Cara. Full stop. I have played this moment in my head multiple times since watching "Flashdance," and it will happen.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

COATES: It will happen for me one day. MICHAELSON: Have you ever figure skated? Have you ever done that?

COATES: Yes, in my head. Every Olympics.

(LAUGHTER)

And I kill every single time. It's amazing.

MICHAELSON: Not the Tonya Harding way, but you just kill.

COATES: No. But you know what?

MICHAELSON: Yes, yes.

COATES: The Margot Robbie way. You never know.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

COATES: Think about that. Listen, you've got a great interview with EPA Chief Lee Zeldin coming up. How's that for a transition?

MICHAELSON: Yes.

COATES: Tell me about it.

MICHAELSON: Yes. He is now in charge of the federal response to the L.A. wildfires. And there's a big fight between Governor Newsom and President Trump on this. Billions of dollars are at stake. Lee Zeldin showed up today after this new executive order where President Trump says that now there's going to be federal permitting. So, we get into all of that with him tonight here on "The Story Is."

COATES: Well, you know what?

[00:00:00]

You should first start by asking him about what would he figure skate to because that, that, my friend, that's an interview. Have a great show.

MICHAELSON: And he had quite the outfit on today, too.

COATES: I mean, hey, that could be the outfit. I don't know.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

COATES: I don't know. Have a great one. Bye.

MICHAELSON: Have a great night.