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The Situation Room
Civil Rights Leader Jesse Jackson Dies at 84; Sheriff Says, Guthrie Family Members are Victims, Not Suspects; Trial of Georgia School Shooter's Father in Day Two. Aired 10-10:30a ET
Aired February 17, 2026 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[10:00:00]
PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, remembering the Reverend Jesse Jackson, his life and legacy as a civil rights pioneer.
Plus, awaiting DNA results in the Nancy Guthrie case, as investigators sift through tips. They are ruling out the Guthrie family as suspects. We are live in Tucson.
And landmark trial, the case involving tech giants could shape the future of social media. We're going to speak to a Meta whistleblower on what these companies know about their effects on users.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And a day of diplomacy, talks between the United States and Iran conclude as discussions about Russia's war in Ukraine get underway. We're live in Geneva.
Plus, reliving the deadly school shooting in Georgia, survivors and first responders on the stand sharing what happened that day, as prosecutors blame the shooter's father.
And taking a courageous stand, we're going to hear from one of the last living members of the Little Rock Nine.
Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.
And we begin with the breaking news, sad news announced this morning, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, a towering figure in American civil rights and politics, has died at age 84. For decades, Jesse Jackson was a force for social justice in this country, and he was a Democratic trailblazer, with his fiery speeches and one of his signature phrases, keep hope alive. He ran for president twice in the 1980s and helped pave the way for others, like Barack Obama and Kamala Harris.
CNN's Abby Philip looks back at one of the most consequential Americans of our time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Jesse Jackson's life was defined by a relentless fight for justice and equality.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: I was born in Greenville, South Carolina, in rampant, radical, racial segregation. I had to be taught to go to the back of the bus or be arrested.
PHILLIP: Those early experiences drove Jackson to join the Civil Rights Movement.
JACKSON: The fact is against the odds, we knew they were great odds. We were winning.
PHILLIP: In 1965, he began working for Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
JACKSON: I learned someone from him, such a great source of inspiration.
PHILLIP: King named Jackson to lead Operation Breadbasket in Chicago, an economic justice campaign for black people. However, some say King was frustrated by Jackson's brashness and ambition.
JACKSON: I'm sure he thought I needed more time. I was 24 years old.
PHILLIP: Both men were in Memphis in April 1968 to support striking sanitation workers. King and other civil rights leaders were staying at the Lorraine Motel.
JACKSON: He said, Jesse, you know, you don't even have on a shirt and tie. You don't even have on a tie. We're going to dinner. I said, Doc, it does not require a tie, just an appetite. We laughed. I said, Doc, and the bullet hit.
Everything changed at that moment. It was a defining moment in the history of our struggle.
PHILLIP: With King gone, his movement was adrift. Years later, Jackson formed Operation Push, pressuring businesses to open up to black workers and customers, and adding more focus on black responsibility, championed in the 1972 concert Wattstax.
JACKSON: In what we have shifted from burn, baby, burn to learn, baby, learn.
PHILLIP: And he expanded his own global reach too, helping to free U.S. Lieutenant Robert Goodman, who was held by Syria after being shot down and later other Americans held in Cuba and Serbia.
JACKSON: I learned how to negotiate as an African American growing up among white people. We have to negotiate every day.
PHILLIP: The reverend set his sights on the White House in 1984.
JACKSON: Milking cows in Iowa, they're coming back to the inner cities. And so I learned a lot during that period.
PHILLIP: First thought of as a marginal candidate, Jackson finished third in the primary race with 18 percent of the vote.
That campaign almost went off the rails when Jackson used an ethnic slur to refer to New York Jews.
JACKSON: Just mistakes and they hurt.
PHILLIP: He ran again in 1988, this time doubling his vote count and finishing in second in the Democratic race.
JACKSON: Keep hope alive for tomorrow night (ph).
[10:05:01]
PHILLIP: At the time, it was the farthest any black candidate had gone in a presidential contest.
JACKSON: But 20 years later, when President Barack ran, we were laying the groundwork for that season.
PHILLIP: In 2017, Jackson had a new battle to fight, Parkinson's disease. But that didn't stop him.
JACKSON: If you hold on, if your cause is right and your grip is tight, you'll make it.
PHILLIP: Late in life, he was still fighting. He was arrested in Washington while demonstrating for voting rights. His silent presence at the trial of Ahmaud Arbery's killers prompted defense lawyers to ask that he leave the courtroom. Jackson stayed.
JACKSON: I am.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am.
JACKSON: Somebody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody.
JACKSON: I am.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am.
JACKSON: Somebody.
PHILLIP: From the Jim Crow South through the turbulence 60s and into the Black Lives Matter movement, Jesse Jackson was a constant, unyielding voice for justice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Abby Philip, thank you so much for that. And Abby wrote a very important book on Jesse Jackson entitled, A Dream Deferred. I got to know Jesse Jackson well over the years, especially when he hosted his own talk show here on CNN back in the 1990s.
We're going to have much more on his truly remarkable life later this hour. May he rest in peace and may his memory be a blessing.
BROWN: Absolutely.
Well, happening now, new developments in the search for Nancy Guthrie. The Pima County sheriff has cleared her adult children and their spouses of any suspicion. He says to suggest any involvement in her disappearance is cruel. And TMZ says it has received a fourth email demanding money in the case with the sender implying that Guthrie was taken to Mexico. TMZs founder shared more of that email with CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARVEY LEVIN, FOUNDER, TMZ: I know what I saw five days ago south of the border, and I was told to shut up so I know who he is. And that was definitely Nancy with them. So, he says them, plural. And in another email, a previous one, he also referred to the kidnappers in the plural.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: CNN's Ed Lavandera's in Tucson. Ed, what's the latest there this morning?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're still awaiting the results of the DNA tests that are being done on the glove that was found about two miles from Nancy Guthrie's property. FBI authorities had said several days ago that more than a dozen gloves were found in the area by investigators canvassing the area. And one of those gloves, which appears to match the glove worn by the suspect on that front doorbell camera has DNA and that is being tested. And then, of course, that's going to try to be matched with the DNA that the sheriff told us was recovered here at the property.
This morning, the sheriff tells me that he is hopeful that those DNA tests could come back today, the results of all that could come back today. And, of course, that could potentially be significant, if there is a match that obviously raises the level of interest in all of this and perhaps if it can be matched to someone in a database that would give them someone to go after. But that is getting kind of way ahead of ourselves here at this point. We'll have to wait and see just exactly what these test results bring back Pamela. So, all of that work continues.
As we know, investigators are also trying to chase down leads, for example, the backpack, working with Walmart to try to identify who might have purchased that if it was purchased here in the Tucson area as well. So, all of that work continues right now.
BROWN: All right. Ed Lavandera, thanks for bringing us the latest there. And, again, we just want to put it out there, if you have any information that could help investigators, please call the numbers on your screens. The FBI tip line is 1-800-CALL-FBI, and the Pima County Sheriff's Department is at (520) 351-4900. Wolf?
BLITZER: So, important that you call. Also happening now, we're learning more about a deadly shooting at a youth hockey game in Rhode Island. Two people were killed, three others critically injured Monday after a gunman opened fire inside an hockey rink, an ice rink. One player described the scene this way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like bop, bop, and I thought it was balloons, but it just kept going and it was actually gunshots. And after the gunshots, me and my teammates ran right to the locker room and we just bunkered up and we pressed against -- my bad, I'm sorry. We pressed against the door and just tried to stay safe down in there. But, no, it was very scary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Police say the shooter took his own life and apparently was targeting family members. The Pawtucket Police chief said one person in the stands tried to disarm the shooter and help end the attack.
Also happening now, day two of testimonies underway in the trial of Colin Gray. Right now, we're hearing from students who were injured in the mass shooting back in 2024 at their high school in Georgia.
[10:10:06]
Prosecutors say, Colin Gray is at least responsible. The shooting was carried out by his teenage son. Colin Gray has pleaded not guilty to nearly 30 charges, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
On Monday, jurors heard harrowing 911 audio and emotional testimony, including from Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith. He was one of the first responders on the scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF JUD SMITH, BARROW COUNTY, GEORGIA: We rolled her over and I noticed that she had extensive injuries to her forearm and wrist, devastating injuries.
She said, do not cover me with that sheet. Don't cover my face. Please don't let me die.
And I said, we're not going to let that happen. And I remember asking her name and she said, Natalie. She's a beautiful girl. And she said, please don't cover me. I said, we're not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: CNN Correspondent Isabel Rosales is inside the courthouse for us. Isabel, we heard some really emotional testimony this morning from the students at the school. Tell us about that.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for the first time, we're hearing directly from these students who were inside that ninth grade algebra class that Colt Gray shot into. This is the first time in court that we're hearing this, and, in fact, one is up on the stand right now, right behind me in courtroom three.
And it's been incredible emotional testimony, them describing the moments that this hail of bullets came raining down on them, the pain that they felt once they realized that they had been shot, the fear that they might not be able to survive, and the continuous trauma and lifelong consequences to their bodies that they continue to feel to this day since the shooting.
We heard from Melanie (ph), who was crying, sniffling, pausing, as she described seeing Colt just shooting, aiming anywhere. And she saw Christian and Mason's (ph) bodies as she was being taken away. Those were two of the students that got killed. She had to have surgery on her shoulder. She's been in counseling ever since.
We also heard from Nautica who was inside that classroom as well. She got shot in the leg. She rode in the same ambulance as that first student, Melanie. She says she can't play sports anymore. Being in cold weather, she can get -- feel her leg giving out at times because of all this nerve damage.
And then we also heard from Taylor, who was inside of that classroom as well. She says she got scared. Once she realized she had been shot. She passed out holding a friend's hand. She was airlifted by helicopter and stayed in the hospital for months with multiple surgeries. She says that it is hard to walk to this day because of her inability to use her foot. She said there in court that she once enjoyed playing volleyball. No longer can she do that.
I want you to listen directly to these students.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATALIE, APALACHEE HIGH STUDENT AND SHOOTING SURVIVOR: I remember standing up and I turned around and I didn't know I was shot, but I was, but my body was telling me to like hold my arm. So, I was holding my arm and I hid between the pillow that she had between her smart board and my desk.
I think I was just in shock and scared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And were you afraid for your life that day?
NATALIE: Yes.
NAUTICA, APALACHEE HIGH STUDENT AND SHOOTING SURVIVOR: Her blood was like getting on the side of me. I was like kind of like laying on the side of her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And take your time, Nautica.
NAUTICA: I remember my teacher telling me to stay awake because I was really tired.
I felt like a really hot spot at the bottom of my leg. And then I reached down and noticed that I got hit. And then my friend, Brittany (ph), took off her jacket and wrapped it around my leg, and then I passed out after that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROSALES: Extremely difficult to listen to that.
And, Wolf, the media's in the front row there, right behind the defense and the state. The family members are just a row behind us. So, I could audibly hear these family members breaking down, one of which is the mother to one of the students that testified right there.
And we heard from the top of the story, Jud Smith, Sheriff Jud Smith, who testified about having to apply a tourniquet on a student. Well, that was Natalie who took the stand.
[10:15:01]
She was the one who told him, do not cover my face with that sheet. Do not cover my face with that. She please don't let me die. Well, she testified that she knew she was shot because she looked down and saw (INAUDIBLE) extremely painful yelling in that moment, I got shot, I got shot. I'm a kid. Don't shoot me. She says that she was worried about dying (INAUDIBLE) her parents, including her dad, who has a heart condition.
Now, when the state asked her, what would you tell the shooter? It was at that moment, she turned to Colin Gray and said, can I, and then launched some expletives his way, saying, you F-ing, A-hole. I'm pretty sure I'm going to kill you. I was very angry because I thought that they were going to amputate my hand.
So, we're seeing here, Wolf, on display raw emotion from all of these people that were impacted that day, September 4th, 2024. Wolf?
BLITZER: Isabelle, thank you very much and I want to play this clip.
This is Natalie, the young girl who was shot. And listen to what she said, what she testified on the stand just a little while ago. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were you all doing that morning in that class? Do you remember?
NATALIE: I can remember what happened right before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't remember?
NATALIE: I can --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.
NATALIE: -- to the best of my abilities, I'm pretty sure Ms. Ryan was teaching us some stuff and we were about to group off into groups so that we could practice the content on our own name of each other. And then she was most likely going to then have us come back together to, you know, check our work and stuff. And as she was giving the instructions, we heard a bang.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where did you hear the bang coming from?
NATALIE: Outside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.
NATALIE: Outside the door, like around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. What did you do when you heard that bang?
NATALIE: I was crocheting, I stood up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, you were what?
NATALIE: Crocheting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crocheting?
NATALIE: Yes. I do it to -- with my -- to give my hands something to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.
NATALIE: I stood up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You stood up?
NATALIE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you look towards the door?
NATALIE: I think I did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you see anybody at the door?
NATALIE: No. It happened really fast. I didn't really process what was happening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. What happened?
NATALIE: It happened really quickly. I'm pretty sure they were gunshots, but the thing is my brain didn't process any of the sounds that were coming into my ears.
Next, withhold (ph) my hand, all of a sudden it felt weird and I heard a ringing in my ear and I looked down and there was blood and seemingly a hole in my wrist, and around right up here. It was hurting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said that you -- you're speaking softly, so I'm just going to repeat it.
NATALIE: Sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said you felt a tingling in your arm, or --
NATALIE: It felt -- it was painful, but it felt weird.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. Which arm was this?
NATALIE: Hmm?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which arm was it?
NATALIE: My left.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. That's the first thing you remember was the pain in your arm, that weird feeling?
NATALIE: Yes. It was painful, but it was also like an absence of feeling, like something almost frozen off, but not cold.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. And what happened after that?
NATALIE: Afterwards I started to scream. I started to scream. I was screaming that I got shot, I got shot. I was yelling that I got shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When did you first know that you got shot?
NATALIE: When I looked down on my wrist and I saw it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you see?
NATALIE: It was very blurry because it was very quick. I was trying -- I think I was subconsciously trying to not. Once I registered that it was blood and what exactly it was, my brain kind of blocked it out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.
NATALIE: And I just -- I knew what it was. It was a hole.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a hole? Where in your arm was the hole?
Okay. So, kind of the wrist and towards your elbow?
NATALIE: Yes. And then I didn't know this at the time, but I had also had another one up on my -- around my shoulder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you were shot more than once?
NATALIE: Yes, seemingly twice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twice?
NATALIE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. So, you've now noticed you've been shot and I think you said you were screaming?
NATALIE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were you screaming?
NATALIE: I got shot. I got shot. I'm a kid, and I got shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. And what happened at that point?
NATALIE: It was very quick. I think I fell over, or Ms. Ryan was telling us to get down. I can't remember anything that anyone really said. I might have blacked out for a moment, but I was. At some point, I got on the -- I was on the floor and I was laying down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. Where about in the room were you on the floor laying down?
[10:20:00]
NATALIE: On the side of the wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. Was anyone with you?
NATALIE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who was with you?
NATALIE: Ms. Ryan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. And what was she doing?
NATALIE: She was holding my hand. She made -- I'm pretty sure she made a tourniquet. I wasn't really looking because I was trying to not see it. She was -- I think she was making a tourniquet or she was covering my hand so that I wouldn't see it.
Could you repeat the question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's fine. So, you're laying there by the wall and Ms. Ryan's with you.
NATALIE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you move away from that wall before anyone, like medical people get there?
NATALIE: No, I couldn't get up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. Did you see anything else that was happening around the room while you laid there?
NATALIE: Yes, but also, you know, I was kind of --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you remember?
NATALIE: I remember afterwards when things settled down. I was looking around the room. I saw the plushie that I would use, what's it called, as like a fidget toy across the room and it was laying down and there was a splatter of blood on it. I saw --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A fidget toy?
NATALIE: Yes. I saw Ms. -- I saw Coach Edwards and I think Tyler, I'm not sure. They were barricading the door, moving desks and chairs in front of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.
NATALIE: And I remember when the police got in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.
NATALIE: I heard a bang. So, they were banging on it and then finally they got in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. How long was it before the police came in?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Just hearing that voice of Natalie, she was shot. She goes to school one day and all of a sudden she's shot in school and hearing her testimony at this trial, that's ongoing right now, so painful.
BROWN: Painful and powerful. And you just think about the shock she was experiencing, the way she described that, of not understanding what was going on and then realizing, wait a second, I was shot. I'm just a kid, and pleading with that sheriff, who we heard from earlier, don't let me die. Don't put that white sheet over my face. I don't want to die.
Fortunately, she survived, Isabel Rosales. But we are hearing this kind of testimony from students, just like Natalie, who are going back and sort of reliving that trauma in this trial.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many of the juveniles who were there --
BROWN: All right. We just lost her audio. But Isabel --
BLITZER: We'll reconnect with her.
BROWN: Yes.
BLITZER: And fix it. But it's just so painful to think about what happened at that school in Georgia. This kid goes in there, starts shooting up other students. And, you know, the father is now being tried for his involvement in handing over that weapon to the son who went to school --
BROWN: Yes.
BLITZER: -- and started shooting people even though he had been making threats to other students during the course of a few several days leading up to that.
BROWN: Yes. We are going to continue to monitor this trial. Isabel is there. And as we do that, we have other news to get to.
Coming up here, how a federal judge used the novel, 1984, to rebuke the Trump administration's effort to remove museum exhibits on slavery. We'll be back.
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[10:25:00]
BROWN: Well, for the past several months, I've been working on a special project examining the growing influence of Christian nationalism in America.
If you're not familiar, Christian Nationalism is an ideology rooted in the belief that our country was founded as a Christian nation and that our laws and institutions should reflect Christian values.
In the lead-up to my hour-long documentary this weekend, we're going to bring you a preview of what you'll see starting off with the assassination of Charlie Kirk last year. Experts say it was a pivotal moment for the movement and an occasion where the tragedy of his loss unified Christian nationalists and the Trump administration as they honored him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice over): September 21st, 2025.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: America is a nation in grief, a nation in shock and a nation in mourning. Charles James Kirk was heinously murdered.
ERIKA KIRK, CEO, TURNING POINT USA: That young man, I forgive him.
BROWN: Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and prominent Christian nationalist, was assassinated. It became a rallying call for those who believed in his message.
TRUMP: Our greatest evangelist for American liberty became immortal.
BROWN: And it was a call to action.
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: My charge to all of you put Christ at the center of your life as he advocated for giving his.
MATTHEW TAYLOR, VISITING SCHOLAR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY CENTER ON FAITH AND JUSTICE: Memorial service was one of the most potent examples of this shift in our culture that we're experiencing right now where a large segment of American Christians are being activated by these ideas, radicalized by these ideas that say that they are the persecuted ones and that they need to stand up for Christians' rights.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way we had all these political leaders proclaiming the name of Christ at his funeral, it was amazing.
[10:30:00] BROWN: Do you think it marked a turning point for --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For America?
BROWN: -- your mission and for America?
