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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

NY Post: Investigators Find Black Glove Near Nancy Guthrie's Home; Sheriff's Department Reports 4,000 Calls in 24 Hours Since FBI Shared Footage from Guthrie's Doorbell Camera; New Bodycam Video; Bondi Clashes With Democrats During Contentious House Hearing; Grand Jury Rebuffs Trump DOJ Attempt to Indict Democratic Lawmakers; Body Camera Footage Released of Border Patrol Agent Shooting Woman Five Times in Chicago. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired February 11, 2026 - 20:00   ET

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

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: -- there was one, just one moment of bipartisanship when the Attorney General agreed to work with lawmakers across the aisle on the issue of threats being made against lawmakers -- Erin.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Paula, thank you very much and I mean, just incredible to watch all of that.

As you said, in 10 years of covering it -- and just wow, I -- sometimes there just aren't words for things we are seeing these days.

Paula Reid, thank you very much for all of that.

And thanks so much as always to all of you for being with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow.

AC360 with Anderson begins now.

[20:00:35]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Tonight on 360. Breaking news in the abduction of Nancy Guthrie. Police find a black glove not far from her home. We'll have the latest on that and the search for more evidence.

Also tonight, Attorney General Pam Bondi grilled by lawmakers over Jeffrey Epstein and allegations she's turned the Department of Justice into the Department of Presidential retribution.

And later, an American citizen shot five times by Border Patrol. They say she rammed them, what this new body cam video of the shooting and the moments before, now show.

Good evening, thanks for joining us.

A lot to get to. Take a look at this image. It's from "The New York Post," which says it's a black glove that FBI agents recovered from the roadside a mile-and-a-half from Nancy Guthrie's home. Now, this is video of them actually finding it. The glove again, according to "The Post," resembles the one worn by the armed individual caught on Miss Guthrie's doorbell camera the night she disappeared two Sundays ago.

We do not know whether it is, in fact one and the same. What we do know is that the FBI has been conducting what it calls an "extensive search" along multiple roadways near the Guthrie home. What's not clear is whether authorities believe it is to be the same glove.

Now, they and other authorities are also dealing with the thousands of calls they've gotten since the doorbell camera video was released, 4,000 in the last 24 hours, 18,000 since Nancy Guthrie was reported missing.

Tonight, a lot of attention on the kidnapper's backpack. We know investigators are looking at images of it closely. CNN has cross- referenced the backpack, and it appears to be an Ozark Trail Hiker. There's a lot we could learn in the hour ahead in addition to our team of law enforcement experts tonight.

We have CNN's Jake Tapper live from the Pima County Sheriff's Office and Nick Watt at the home. I want to start with Jake Tapper.

So, what more do we know about where the investigation stands and the tips that are coming in? I mean thousands of them, it's remarkable.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "THE LEAD" WITH JAKE TAPPER: Yes, that's right. I mean, ever since the three videos and six still images were released by the FBI yesterday afternoon roughly 4,000 tips have come in to the Pima County Sheriff's Office that's on top of another 14,000 since Nancy Guthrie disappeared on Sunday, February 1st.

So, that's a total of 18,000 tips. Obviously, some tips are worth more than others but law enforcement officials federal, local, state are combing through trying to figure out if any of these tips are worthwhile. There was a tip that came in yesterday, we're told and obviously that resulted in a detain, somebody being detained and questioned, a gentleman by the name of Carlos, but he was released. There were no charges against him. He said he had nothing to do with this.

But the search, the hunt continues. It remains an active investigation and a tragic story that we still hope has a peaceful and happy ending, but it is a tough, difficult slog right now.

COOPER: Yes. Jake Tapper, thanks. We'll check in with Jake throughout the hours warranted. We're joined now by our panel of experts. Former NYPD Detective David Sarni, retired FBI Profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole, CNN chief law enforcement intelligence analyst, John Miller, and retired FBI Hostage Negotiator, Richard Kolko.

First of all, John, let's start out with you. Just today, I mean, the finding of this glove, how important is that, potentially?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: It could be very important. So, you know, you walk into it on the assumption that this is connected then you bag it, you send it to the FBI lab at Quantico, and they have enormous case capability. What could be in there? Could be an DNA. COOPER: Let's put up pictures of the glove both the door from the doorbell camera and also gloves from that post photo.

MILLER: Could be DNA from skin cell, could be sweat DNA could be a hair that was transferred from the person to their hand to the glove. So, it's a potential really great collection point if it's connected. And it's also a validation of what they want to do.

The idea of extending the search out because they knew something starting yesterday or the day before that they didn't know at the beginning, which is this is what we're looking for. We might be looking for a ski mask. We know we might be looking for a glove. We might be looking for a discarded backpack.

The idea that they stretched, they extended that search area out. And it also suggests if you find one glove that appears to be on the road, the kind of place it would be if you had thrown it out the window of a moving car. Extend the search more to another mile and another mile, and see if you find the other one or maybe the ski mask.

The kinds of things that someone would have used as a disguise during the actual job, but that they would not have want to get caught with in a car stop if they were pulled over. So, I think that it's important that they're doing what they're doing.

[20:05:30]

COOPER: And David, I mean, it's interesting because that glove, which glove, which in the in the surveillance video, the door cam, it looks strange. I mean, it looks sort of like its puffy or blown up. It's not like a tight rubber glove on somebody's hands. It looks very much like there could be other gloves underneath it, which may be, I guess, to in case there was a cut to stop any DNA from getting out.

DAVID SARNI, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: Yes, absolutely because when we talk about gloves, everyone thinks about rubber gloves. But there's always different types of gloves. So, I guarantee you, not only are they analyzing the glove they look at the type of glove it is. They're going to look at the manufacturer for that glove. They're going to see if there's any purchases or sales of that.

COOPER: If in fact the photo from the post is the glove that was found. If there's other gloves underneath it, that would be a blow, because it lessens the chance there's DNA.

SARNI: There is a chance and you take a chance for everything. The whole thing about this, is it probative? Yes. You know if it's the glove, will there be something will be trace evidence on that glove. There's a hope and a potential of that, given the fact it's about a mile or change away, that gives you something as a lead like everything else, leads you exhaust them till you get the answer. And this is a question and can we answer it with the DNA analysis afterwards.

MILLER: You look for that slip, which is let's say the person puts the gloves on not to leave DNA, but let's say instead of being double gloved, he put the one glove on with one hand and then the other glove with the gloved hand that still gives you a chance that there's human DNA on one of the two gloves.

COOPER: Is it possible with a rubber glove to have a fingerprint impression?

SARNI: Always possible, the thing is, we don't know the size of the individual's hand in there. How he got the glove on? Because again, we're looking for the mistakes. That's how investigators look. This is a mistake, by throwing the glove out there and leaving the glove and having the opportunity to obtain it. Even though it's far away from the residence, it doesn't matter. It's still a probative piece of evidence that they're going to use.

And again, you have one glove, where's the second glove? Where's the backpack? All these things. Was he disposing of these items as he went? That backpack was filled of something we do not know. But the gloves, if this person felt they could get rid of one glove. And if they're taking that glove off, they're taking it off with their other glove. And then maybe that's the other glove that was removed. So, we don't know, we'll figure it out.

COOPER: And again, we don't know if this glove found on the side of the road is the glove that's seen in the video, remarkable though that they would find a glove all this time, later on the side of this road not far from the house. Mary Ellen, I mean what do you what stands out to you, the questions you have about the glove, what else we've seen today?

MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, RETIRED FBI PROFILER: Well, I think finding the glove is important and they have -- really, they have no choice but to send it back here to the FBI laboratory. And I think sometimes the general public thinks in terms of well, would somebody that is this organized, would they really be throwing evidence out, out the car window or getting rid of it? Yes, they would for exactly the reasons that John stated that they something may have happened, they don't want it in the car with them. So, they toss some things out the window. And I think that's why you see the agents and the investigators walking through that area to make sure that they are looking for any other evidence that might have been thrown out.

And the other thing that's important, again, is that if these people are familiar with this area, they may have been up there before and they may have discarded things that they were using or that they had in the car with them on a prior occasion. So, it's a lot of work and it's tedious, but it's critical that they be able to do this.

MILLER: And just one more observation, which is we know there's blood on that front step outside that front door.

COOPER: Yes, is there blood on the glove?

MILLER: And we know that that DNA came back to Nancy Guthrie. So, it's a, if the person who went in with that glove carried a person out with that glove, there's a good possibility you could have trace amounts of blood or more. COOPER: Richard, when you hear these numbers coming in through the tip line, 18,000 calls, 4,000 in just the last 24 hours. From your own experience on cases, how much of the substance of those calls do you think results in actionable information? How do you and just how do you get enough manpower, woman power to go through 18,000 tips?

RICHARD KOLKO, RETIRED FBI HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: That's what the FBI is trained at doing. They have a command post that's run by intelligence analysts, intelligence agents. And what they're doing is, you're right, 18,000 or 4,000 leads that come in, you're not going to just do them in the order they come in. So, there's people that are trained at this. They do an assessment and they prioritize those leads.

And then what they do is they say, Anderson, here's the ten leads I need you to cover. Rich, here's your 15 leads, John, here's your dozen or so, and agents have to out carry out that lead, come back, do the paperwork they have to reenter that into the system. And the paperwork is little different than just normal FBI paperwork, because there's a lot of different agencies that don't necessarily have access to the FBI does paperwork.

So, there's a lead generated system, but they all use that system together. And then after that, after they enter the results of their investigation, then there are analysts that look at that again, because maybe one lead that John Miller followed up on and one lead I followed up on could lead to another lead. So, it's not just those 4,000 that have come in since the photos. There's going to be more leads and we can expect this to continue on and on, which is exactly what we want to happen, exactly what we heard Savannah Guthrie say in that last video message, please pick up the phone, and that's important.

[20:10:47]

COOPER: So, John Miller, does that mean that those 18,000 calls, a human has heard every one and quickly made an assessment of, like it goes in this basket of, you know high importance, lesser importance? Is that how -- has a human done it? Or is there an A.I. programs now?

MILLER: No, there's a human doing this and if it's coming into the Pima County Sheriff's Office, it's coming into their command center for these leads, if it's going to the FBI number, it's probably going to the National Threat Assessment Center, where this is what they do for a living, is they take calls about, you know, threats and information, and they have a system where once they get the lead in, they'll actually do the work-up on the lead. They'll run the address, the phone numbers, the records on that person, and then push as a package to that lead center.

COOPER: And are those leads left on a voicemail, or is it like a human answering the phone?

MILLER: No, there's somebody taking that information.

COOPER: Because I imagine somebody may not want to leave a phone number. MILLER: Yes, and I mean, you know, people may want to leave a contact number, they may not. But, you know, when you're dealing with that volume of leads, you know, they've got thousands. But just since the video they took in 4,000 leads. So, let's say that five percent of those are actually actionable. That's a couple of hundred leads where you're going to send out, you know, ideally instead of Sheriff's guys going with Sheriff's guys and FBI goes with FBI, you would pair them up, agent and sheriff together and send teams out so everybody's getting the same information back.

COOPER: Mary Ellen, when you look at the video came out yesterday as a profiler, what stands out to you?

O'TOOLE: Well, the video to me is really important and I've watched it several times today and there's some interesting things that I'm seeing on the video that I didn't see yesterday.

And one of the things is there are lights in the background that don't seem to be lights associated with other homes in the area, almost to suggest that maybe there was a second person there.

There's also something by the flowers where the offender or the subject goes to pick up those flowers and then comes back to the camera. That seems to be some kind of a box so the question is did the offender bring that box or was that something that was already there? If Nancy had an external key to the house, where was that maintained?

And again, I think I've heard a lot of people say, well, this is somebody that's obviously not very familiar with cameras or how they work, and that may be true, that he was a little bit awkward with the camera, but the way he was dressed and again, the way he came in to address the camera situation, I mean, this was someone that was prepared to address whatever issues he had to before he entered that house.

And that again underscores for me that this is somebody that has been in that has been on that porch before and has done a surveillance of that area again, which underscores the importance of doing a search around that house.

COOPER: Yes, I don't know if we can take that image that's on the right that I circled in full because you do see that that the light that Mary Ellen is, is talking about there's not another house, Mary Ellen, right across from there.

O'TOOLE: And if you look at it even a little bit closer, when the offender gets up close to the camera with the flowers that he's holding, that light seems to be even a little bit brighter. There could be explanations for that but I think we've all considered the possibility that yes, this could be a loner, but it's also possible that that there was somebody else with him.

COOPER: We're going to have to take a quick break. Coming up next. We'll continue the conversation, get the latest from the crime scene.

And later, what new body cam video reveals about one American citizens near fatal encounter with Border Patrol, shot five times, she was, and leaves authorities with serious questions to answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been struck. We've been struck.

Don't you (bleep) move.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:18:57]

COOPER: Back with the breaking news, what could be an important break in the search for Nancy Guthrie. "New York Post" reporting that investigators combing the area near her home and found a black glove on the side of the road. That's the picture of it we don't know if it could be one of the gloves worn by the person seen on Guthrie's doorbell camera. CNN reached out to the FBI, which declined a request for comment. CNN's Nick Watt is outside Nancy Guthrie's home right now.

First of all, what is the latest there on the scene there and how far from where your location is was that glove found?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That glove was about two miles away from here, Nancy Guthrie's home. And as you mentioned, agents, FBI agents have been searching this area again today, going through the vegetation, the gravel by the side of the road the arroyos.

Theres a huge empty lot opposite Nancy Guthrie's home. They are looking, they were looking for anything that might have been discarded by that person that we see in that Nest camera video from the door with the mask, armed. They are looking for anything that that person may have discarded dropped, either coming to or more likely, leaving the scene.

Now, we've also heard in the past couple of days that agents have also been looking again around Annie Guthrie's home, that is Nancy Guthrie's daughter. She lives about four miles away. One neighbor told us that agents had come around about a week ago, just canvasing looking for information. They came back and asked this neighbor if they could look on the back of his property that adjoins Annie Guthrie's home.

Now, this video clearly is a major piece of evidence right now, 4,000 tips. One of those tips was somebody who allegedly saw that video and said they recognized the eyes and the eyelashes underneath the ski mask, and that is what led to that man being detained and questioned last night and then released.

So, that video, clearly you can see the gate, you can see the mannerisms, you can see the size of the person. So that and whatever else they can find that might have been dropped by that suspect.

[20:20:59] COOPER: Yes.

WATT: They could be key in trying to solve this mystery.

Now, Kash Patel of the FBI says you know, they're looking at persons, plural persons of interest. No more details on that -- Anderson.

COOPER: Nick Watt, thanks very much. Back with David Sarni, John Miller. Richard Kolko, also joining us, Chip Massey a former FBI hostage negotiator. Chip, what stands out to you? I mean, in this day of the investigation.

CHIP MASSEY, FORMER FBI HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: You know, I think really what's interesting is the amount of pressure now that's being exerted. It's kind of like the tables have turned, right? Because what we say is that there's always fear, uncertainty and doubt in any high conflict situation. And it was it was the family that was suffering from that, right?

There was fear in a ransom note with a deadline. There's uncertainty if you don't have a proof of life and there's a lot of doubt when somebody is contacting the media instead of the family directly. But now we've got that switch. It's kind of on its head now.

Now, the captors, their world has gotten so very small and their pressure is on them. There's national billboards, the President is involved. There is, you know, the tip line. Somebody knows these people.

COOPER: And John, I keep coming back to a comment somebody made yesterday, which I thought was really important, which is whoever is involved in this and whoever may recognize somebody in that video, they very likely have very much altered their behavior over the last week or two. You know taking care of a hostage dealing with all the stuff they have to deal with. So, it's not just somebody who may recognize the person in that doorbell image. It has that person disappeared from their job for the week or whatever?

MILLER: I mean, that's extraordinarily important because it's going to be a life-changing event. That's a person who's going to be kind of off the grid, not around, people who might reach out to him or her. This is a person who's going to say, I don't have time to talk right now it's going to be the kind of thing that is a full-time occupation. And as Chip said, it's also going to be a person who is going to appear to be under unusual stress or pressure.

Again, this is for somebody who thought they might do a kidnapping that might be a bit of a blip in the news. It's become a runaway train.

COOPER: Yes, I mean, David, have you found that I mean, in your many decades career with the New York Police Department that people think they can, you know, do something, they can do a burglary, do a crime, but it's a lot harder the pressure on them all of it, it takes a toll.

SARNI: Absolutely, because I do not think anyone thought the magnitude of all the resources available to law enforcement would be put upon this case.

Again, this comes back to did they were abducting personally? Did they have an idea who that person was? And I don't think they realized the wrath that they would face by law enforcement, how detail oriented the Police Department; the FBI are involved in this case.

They are scouring and the work that they're doing is herculean if you look at it that way because you thought you got away with this, and now you realize how much law enforcement, the resources they have available to find you. And it does put pressure, and I guarantee you if this is more than one person, one of them is going to crack and just do something out of the out of the ordinary that they've already been doing.

COOPER: Chip, the, you know, the TMZ note about Bitcoin for ransom, does that at this stage seem real to you?

MASSEY: Could be, right? You're going to see all kinds of people come out of the woodwork, right? Whenever this much money is on the line, whenever it has this kind of celebrity around it. So, it's an expenditure of resources. We got to, you know, track that down, see if there's any validity to it. But that's a part of the constant ongoing of information gathering and pressure from the public.

COOPER: And Richard, I mean, the items we saw in the video released yesterday, the backpack, the flashlight, the firearm, how planned out does this seem to you, given the fact that this person, I don't know, maybe seems surprised by this camera and is, you know using shrubbery to try to cover it in some way, that seems unimaginable.

[20:25:13]

KOLKO: I don't think it was overly planned out. I think as far as his preparation, just like the jacket he wore, was very unique. That will be easy to determine what kind of jacket it was.

As you said, your people have already figured out what kind of backpack it was. They'll figure out the shoes and the rest of the equipment that he has and where that was purchased who manufactured it, what stores it ended up in. Those are a whole separate group of leads that leads that are being followed up on by detectives, special agents and others and that will help narrow things down.

Just by having his better description now, you can eliminate a lot of people and that makes it a more fine-tuned investigation.

We know it's not somebody six foot four, we know it's not somebody below five foot seven. Theres lots of things they can do to eliminate things. And the more you eliminate, the more fine-tuned you can get toward your investigation and the FBI and their partners are very good at this.

COOPER: Yes, Richard Kolko, David Sarni, Chip Massey, John Miller, thank you very much, appreciate it all. We're of course, going to continue to monitor the story for any new developments throughout this hour, bring them to you. Also, ahead tonight Border Patrol says the woman they shot five times. They claim she rammed them first new video from an officer's body cam raises questions.

And next, Attorney General Bondi's five plus hours before the House Judiciary Committee, the heat she took and gave.

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[20:30:28]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST OF "ANDERSON COOPER 360": When Attorney General Bondi appeared before the House Judiciary Committee today, she had plenty of sharp questions to answers and it turns out, plenty to say. Much of it seems scripted in advance and consulted before she answered in what Democratic member, Jared Moskowitz called her 'burn book.' She called the Ranking Democrat, Congressman Jamie Raskin washed-up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JAMIE RASKIN, (D-MD) RANKING MEMBER, HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: You can let her filibuster all day long, but not on our watch. Not on our time, no way. And I told you about that, Attorney General, before you started.

PAM BONDI, UNITED STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL: You don't tell me anything, washed-up --

RASKIN: Yeah. I did tell you because we saw what you did in the Senate.

BONDI: -- loser lawyer, not even a lawyer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: This went on for five plus hours, many questions stayed mostly though, not exclusively from Democrats, concerned her department's handling of the Epstein Files. Several referred to survivors in the hearing room, including this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL, (D-WA): Attorney General Bondi, you apologized to the survivors in your opening statement for what they went through at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein. Will you turn to them now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through with the un -- absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein Files and their information?

BONDI: Congresswoman, you sat before -- Merrick Garland sat in this chair twice.

JAYAPAL: Attorney General Bondi, I am going to --

(CROSSTALK) BONDI: No, can I --

JAYAPAL: -- she ask Merrick Garland this.

BONDI: Twice.

JAYAPAL: I'm reclaiming my time --

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That last bit about her predecessor in the Biden administration was one of several forms of deflection that she used today, again, much of it seemingly written out or work-shopped in advance and contained in her crib sheets, which she consulted while the question is being asked to check who is the representative asking the question.

Here's another one that also seems to be directed toward her most important audience, the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONDI: The Dow, right now, is over -- the Dow is over 50,000. I don't know why you're laughing. You're a great stock trader as I hear, Raskin. The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7,000 and the Nasdaq smashing records. Americans' 401(k)s and retirement savings are booming. That's what we should be talking about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Again she's reading those lines from notes. The Attorney General had targeted comments for specific lawmakers, of course, Congresswoman Deborah Ross from North Carolina, when Bondi was asked who signed off on Ghislaine Maxwell's prison transfer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONDI: She was transferred, I learned after the fact, to the same level facility and that is a question for the Bureau of Prisons. I was not involved in that at all. The same level facility, I don't know why, but instead of talking about Ghislaine Maxwell who hopefully will die in prison -- hopefully will die in prison, you should be talking about Iryna Zarutska --

REP. DEBORAH ROSS, (D-NC): I have a couple of other questions.

BONDI: -- who died on a subway.

ROSS: Right, and I absolutely --

BONDI: You don't talk about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: The woman she's referring to, you'll remember, was fatally stabbed last September in the Congresswoman's state allegedly by a man with a long criminal history. The Attorney General also deflected a Vermont Congresswoman's question by bringing up a Border Patrol officer killed in her district. Her other form of deflection was to accuse the questioner, in this case, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, of being deranged by the president's success. That plus a bonus Merrick Garland deflection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONDI: This guy has Trump derangement syndrome. He needs to get -- you're a failed politician.

My position is any victim who comes forward, of course, we would love to hear from them. 1-800-CALL-FBI. Did you ask Merrick Garland that, the last four years? Did you talk about Epstein at all?

REP. THOMAS MASSIE, (R-MA): I am reclaiming my time. I'm glad you're asking about Merrick Garland.

(CROSSTALK)

BONDI: You cannot reclaim time when you don't -- you can't --

(CROSSTALK)

MASSIE: Because this is bigger than water gate.

BONDI: -- when I don't answer a question the way you want.

MASSIE: This goes over four administrations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, the Attorney General also took criticism from Congressman Raskin over the DOJ's attempt to prosecute the president's political opponents as well as the department's recent failure to indict six Democratic lawmakers and former service members in connection with the video they made reminding active service members, they have a duty to refuse illegal orders.

I spoke with one of those six, Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, just before airtime.

[20:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Senator, I want to play some of what Congressman Raskin had to say today about the Justice Department under Pam Bondi.

RASKIN: You've turned the People's Department of Justice into Trump's instrument of revenge. Trump orders up prosecutions like pizza and you deliver every time. You replace real prosecutors with counterfeit stooges, who robotically do the president's bidding. COOPER: When you and your colleagues first put out that video last fall, the president suggested it was, "seditious behavior punishable by death." That was his quote in a social media post. Did you expect Pam Bondi's Department of Justice to actually attempt to indict you over it?

SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN, (D-MI) HOMELAND SECURITY & ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: You know, I think in this environment, in 2026 America, yes. I mean, I think we knew that that was a distinct possibility, at least. He asked for investigation, arrest, and then, obviously hanging, and the investigation came in December. It started, you know, their inquiry And you know, a lot of people said, hey, just stay quiet and hopefully, it'll all blow over.

You know, Christmas comes and goes and then January 5th, here we are, yet another letter from the Department of Justice saying, we want you to come and sit for this inquiry And so, I think at a certain point, we just decided that you can't just wait and play defense. You have to go on offense and we told them we weren't going to sit for this inquiry.

It was public video, nothing to hide. And then seven days later, they tried to indict us in front of a grand jury. So, they're doing his bidding and I think we have to understand that intimidation is the point.

COOPER: I mean also, it is intimidation of the sitting members of Congress. It certainly sends a message to any civilian or whistleblower, anybody, I mean if they're going to go after you, they're going to go after everybody else. Do you expect the DOJ to try to indict you again?

SLOTKIN: I wouldn't be surprised.

COOPER: Congressman Jason Crow also appears in the video. He has alluded to potential legal action against the White House. Is that something you'd support?

SLOTKIN: Yeah, I mean the other day, when we said we weren't going to sit for their for their inquiry, I also sent a separate letter saying, hey, you better retain all your records related to this case because I reserve the right to sue in support of my constitutional rights. I mean it is freedom of speech we're talking about, especially, certainly as a member of the Senate, but just as a citizen. And for me, all options are on the table.

COOPER: I've had Republicans on this program, supporters of the president, who've argued well look, every Justice Department under all presidents, Democrat or Republican, do the will of the president. Do you believe there's any truth in that?

SLOTKIN: Well, look, every -- these people serve at the pleasure of the president, but there's a standard of law that you must pass in order to prosecute those cases, right? I mean, do you know how rare it is to go to a grand jury and try to get an indictment and fail? It's like a very, very rare thing historically. This administration does it constantly. And that's because they don't have the goods in these cases. If they had a legal basis for getting an indictment, they would have gotten it.

COOPER: Given your experience, obviously, this sends a message to everybody else out there who may speak up against the president or against something in the Department of Justice. And for a lot of people feeling intimidated, what is your message to people?

SLOTKIN: Yeah, my message is, we're going to be able to get through this moment of our history but we're going to have to fight for it. And I'd ask, I don't expect the average person to do acts of regular bravery every single day. I'm asking you to do a couple inches more than you're used to doing because, I think, while fear can be contagious, so is courage. And if you look at what's going on in a place like Minneapolis, peaceful protest, people holding these folks accountable, right now, in our country, the examples of how to defend democracy and protect our values are coming from the ground up, not from the top down.

It reverses the paradigm that I grew up with, right, where you look up to these leaders on kind of how to chart a path forward. The path forward is what we were taught in third grade about freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of protest, and I'm just asking folks to -- just to realize that if we all do a half an inch more, to just call balls and strikes on this administration, it is contagious and it helps turn the tide.

COOPER: Senator Slotkin, thank you for your time. Appreciate it.

SLOTKIN: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, still ahead tonight, we're going to revisit the Guthrie story. What we have been learning about Nancy Guthrie, her impact as a mom, and how she has handled other unthinkable challenges before with grit and faith. Also, new body camera video the moment before Border Patrol agent shot an American citizen five times, what the new video may reveal about whether that shooting, as authorities claim, was justified or not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) Be advised, we've been struck. We've been struck.

(GUNSHOTS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:43:58]

COOPER: A major new development tonight in a story involving Border Patrol agents who shot a U.S. citizen in Chicago five times The federal government then labeled her a domestic terrorist. Now, this happened back in October to a woman named Marimar Martinez. She was accused of ramming her vehicle into an SUV of federal agents, at which point, they opened fire. She was shot five times, survived.

Prosecutors charged her with assault and impeding federal officers, but the case fell apart. One major reason why, body cam video recorded by one of the Border Patrol agents. Now, we're going to talk to her attorney in a moment because, tonight, we finally have the video. Here's just part of it, which Martinez and her attorney asked to be made public.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to make contact. We're boxed in. We've got (inaudible) out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are boxed in. (Inaudible) Be advised, we've been struck. We've been struck.

(GUNSHOTS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't you [expletive] move.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: CNN's Omar Jimenez has more.

[20:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cameras on.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is newly released body camera video. A team of three Border Patrol agents is driving through a Southside Chicago neighborhood, two have guns drawn. Marimar Martinez, an American citizen and schoolteacher, is driving next to them, honking her horn, warning people to the presence of federal immigration enforcement.

Another vehicle is behind the agents, also honking the horn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. It's time to get aggressive because they are trying to box us in.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): It all happens in seconds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be advised, we've been struck. We've been struck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out.

(GUNSHOTS)

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Martinez was shot five times and survived. In this surveillance video, you can see the front of the agent's SUV come to a stop. Four seconds later, Martinez's silver Nissan drives off, she says, fearing for her life. The Department of Homeland Security was quick to accuse her of attacking federal law enforcement, saying Border Patrol agents were "ambushed by domestic terrorists that rammed federal agents with their vehicles."

FBI Director, Kash Patel posted on social media about the incident, quote, "Attack our law enforcement and this FBI will find you and bring you to justice." The post also included a link to video of a car ramming, but it had no connection to Martinez's case. And the body camera video tells a different story. In the lead-up to the collision, you hear agents say they are going to collide with Martinez.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to make contact. We're boxed in.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): And just before the moment of impact, it's Agent Charles Exum who sharply turns his steering wheel in the direction of Martinez, proof according to her attorney that they hit her vehicle, not the other way around. And as for the claim of being boxed in, this surveillance video calls that comment into question, with nothing in the path ahead of the border agents' vehicle.

The court also released text messages and emails from after the shooting, including one message from Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, just hours after the incident, offering to delay the retirement of Agent Exum who shot Martinez. In light of your excellent service in Chicago, you have much left to do. And then a text message exchange between Agent Exum and someone whose name was redacted. Are they supportive, someone asked. Big time, everyone has been, including Chief Bovino, Chief Banks, Secretary Noem, and El Jefe himself.

In various texts, to and from fellow agents, the mood was celebratory. Good job, brother. You are a legend among agents. You better effing know that. Beer is on me when I see you at training. That's awesome, you did real good. Damn, it man. Good shooting.

The day after the shooting, Martinez was indicted. According to the complaint, she "forcibly assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated, and interfered with an officer of the United States." After her attorney viewed the body camera footage and other evidence emerged that undermined the government's version of events, prosecutors made an extraordinary move and asked the judge to drop their own case. The judge agreed, but not long after she told me the shooting still haunts her.

MARIMAR MARTINEZ, SHOT FIVE TIMES BY BORDER PATROL: I don't want to remember that day. You're laying there at night and you're just thinking about it like, what's going to happen, like it's really emotional to me. So it's like -- it's hard for me to talk about it. I'm trying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (on camera): And that's part of why Martinez pushed to get all this information out because she believed that allows people to have a greater understanding of how agents might react after something like this, no matter the city, and to further clear her name because the Department of Homeland Security has never retracted his accusations against Martinez even after the case was dropped.

Now, the shooting agent, Charles Exum, Customs and Border Protection said he's been placed on what was described as routine administrative leave pending further investigation, Anderson.

COOPER: Omar Jimenez, thanks very much. Joining me now is Ms. Martinez's attorney, Chris Parente.

Mr. Parente, despite the charges against your client getting dropped and now the public release of this video, DHS, as Omar was saying, has never retracted the accusations about her, just today called her a rioter. Does it surprise you? And is it important that -- for Ms. Martinez, that she has these accusations retracted?

CHRIS PARENTE, ATTORNEY FOR MARIMAR MARTINEZ: I mean, Anderson, nothing surprises me anymore, especially about this case and with our current government. I mean, these people are pot committed to this narrative that she's a domestic terrorist. It's why they fought the release of this evidence for months now. Because once it's out there and once the American people can see it, they can see that their government is lying to them.

I mean, it's black and white. They were not boxed in. The agent admitted to FBI agents after the incident that he veered to the left to "create space." I mean, he's telling the FBI that he hit her and yet, you know, the DHS is putting out these press releases that she rammed into them. It's just -- it's absurd.

[20:50:00]

COOPER: The heavy weaponry just that we're seeing is rather remarkable here in and of itself and, obviously, was used against Ms. Martinez. As Omar reported, right after it, Greg Bovino praised the agent who fired the shots and then you have this quote from the agent saying, everyone has been positive about it, including Chief Bovino, Chief Banks, Secretary Noem and El Jefe himself, according to Bovino. Do we know who he's referring to as El Jefe?

PARENTE: We believe, just based on the order of that text message, that El Jefe is President Trump. And what's more concerning, Anderson, is that this is what they're doing with their agents at DHS and this is why Marimar fought to get this released. We knew what happened in Minneapolis was going to happen before it happened, because we saw Greg Bovino, the Commander of Border Patrol, is personally emailing Agent Exum who shot Marimar three hours after the shooting before there's any investigation, while Marimar is in the hospital fighting for her life.

Bovino is rewarding this agent, promoting him, and saying great work in Chicago. You have much work left to do. I mean, he's talking about the shooting of a peaceful protester. So, we knew when we saw that this was the culture that Border Patrol was creating, this embracing, this celebrating, and this promoting of agents who shoot peaceful protesters. We knew this was going to happen in Minnesota and it's going to continue to happen until that agency stops and disciplines their agents for reckless shootings. COOPER: And they called her a domestic terrorist. This was back in October. Were you surprised when you heard that same term being used in Minneapolis a number of times?

PARENTE: No, it's the playbook, and it's the reason, these agents, they saw what happened to Charles Exum. They said, hey, look, he shot this woman and he gets embraced by President Trump, Secretary Noem, and Greg Bovino, and now they're extending his retirement age and in promoting him. So, what do you think the next guys are going to do? They want to be the shooters.

The reason they're not helping Ms. Good while she's bleeding out on the streets of Minneapolis is because they're checking their phones to see if Bovino has emailed them and offering them something. It's disgusting and it will not change until the American people say enough is enough, and we want accountability from our elected officials.

COOPER: You plan to file suit against the federal government. How -- I mean, that seems like a complex process.

PARENTE: It is a complex process, but it's the only thing that seems to get their attention. So, we will be filing suit against DHS and Marimar is going to continue to fight because she's one of the few people who survived these bullets. Unfortunately, these guys are excellent marksmen, and they've been able to kill Ms. Good. They've been able to kill Mr. Pretti. They killed Silverio Gonzalez here in Chicago.

She survived the bullets. We were entitled to this discovery. And that's why we released it, so people can see that they're sending these texts and these emails, and that this guy is a legend among agents for shooting people. That is not -- I'm a former federal prosecutor. That is not how federal agents handle themselves. Typically, the last thing they want to do is shoot people. Yet, there is this subculture in our U.S. Border Patrol that seems to celebrate this and it's scary because they're going -- they're coming to your city next.

COOPER: Chris Parente, I appreciate you being on, thank you.

PARENTE: Thank you.

COOPER: Coming up, more on the search for Nancy Guthrie, the kind of mom, grandmother and woman of faith she is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:57:28]

COOPER: We're continuing to follow breaking developments in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, including the reported discovery of a black glove not far from Guthrie's home. There's been plenty said tonight about that. There's been less said though, about Nancy Guthrie herself.

CNN's Tom Foreman has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, "TODAY" SHOW ANCHOR, NBC NEWS: I'm going to kill you. Are you kidding me?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To fans of the "Today" show, Nancy Guthrie is more than just Savannah's mom. She is a mahjong player, an avid reader, an octogenarian with character to spare.

S. GUTHRIE: So, this won't be one of those easy at home recipes.

NANCY GUTHRIE, SAVANNAH GUTHRIE'S MOM ABDUCTED 10 DAYS AGO: No.

S. GUTHRIE: OK, tell me about what we have.

N. GUTHRIE It's not very healthy either.

FOREMAN (voice-over): While closer to her home, some know Nancy primarily as a pleasant neighbor.

JEFF LAMIE, NANCY GUTHRIE'S NEIGHBOR: We were not aware that Savannah Guthrie was her daughter. I mean, just a very normal person in a community.

FOREMAN (voice-over): On a winter day in 1942, with the Second World War raging, just south of Cincinnati, Nancy Ellen Long was born in Fort Wright, Kentucky. That's her in this old family photo on Instagram, where other pictures show how she grew up, went to college, married an engineer, Charles Guthrie, and they started a family while chasing his career around the globe.

When they settled in Arizona, life remained busy, but good.

S. GUTHRIE: On Christmas Eve, my father would always gather us around and we would read the Christmas story in the Bible. And we always really loved that because I think it connected us to the holiday.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Then Charles died from a heart attack, leaving Nancy just in her mid-40s to take care of the kids on her own. Savannah, the youngest, was 16 at the time.

S. GUTHRIE: She has met unthinkable challenges in her life, with grit, without self-pity, with determination, and always, always with unshakable faith.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Nancy eventually went to work in administration for the University of Arizona, excelling professionally and personally.

N. GUTHRIE: My kids are absolutely amazing.

FOREMAN (voice-over): As the proud mother of a pilot, a poet, and a journalist.

S. GUTHRIE: My mom, she's a truth teller, so she doesn't BS, if I guess I can say that. (LAUGH)

S. GUTHRIE: Sorry, Mom. And when I was in my 30s and wasn't sure I would ever have kids, she said, of course you will, honey, of course you will have your family.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Through it all, and despite declining health, her faith has deepened to hear the family pastor tell it.

REV. MICHAEL RUDZENA, GOOD SHEPHERD NEW YORK (via telephone): Over the years, we've gotten to know what makes her tick in some ways from a faith perspective. The songs that mean something to her, the scriptures that are meaningful for her.

FOREMAN (voice-over): And yet, for all everyone knows about this outgoing, optimistic, accomplished woman, it's the unanswered questions that trouble --