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The Lead with Jake Tapper

FBI Releases Surveillance Photos Of Potential Subject At Nancy Guthrie's Door; FBI Doc: Police Chief Said Trump Told Him In Mid-2000s "Everyone Has Known" About Epstein Misconduct. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired February 10, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:00:29]

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Thanks very much for watching. Don't go anywhere. Jake Tapper is standing by for The Lead in Tucson, Arizona as we continue to cover all this breaking news in the search for Nancy Guthrie. Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Thanks so much, Kasie. We'll see you back in The Arena tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper live in Tucson, Arizona. I'm outside the Pima County Sheriff's Department. And we're going to start with the breaking news. A shocking this afternoon in the search for Nancy Guthrie, one that could end up bringing the much needed break in this high profile case involving the missing 84-year-old mother of NBC Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie.

The FBI releasing six still photographs and two videos, three videos rather, of a masked armed individual. These images from the front door camera of Nancy Guthrie's home taken in the early morning of February 1st when she disappeared last week, of course, we learned that front door camera had been disconnected at 1:47 a.m. Sunday morning, February 1st.

Today, FBI Director Kash Patel says it appears that this individual tampered with the camera. These photographs and videos were obtained through residual data on back end systems. We're going to have more on that in a second as the search for Nancy Guthrie here in Arizona hits day 10.

It cannot be said enough how critical these images could be to bringing her home. They provide the Guthrie family for perhaps the very first time in this awful ordeal. One simple thing. That's hope.

Let's take a closer look at these images one by one. In the first image, the person appears at Nancy Guthrie's front door in noticeably nondescript clothing, trying to hide their identity. The person is masked, glove seems to have a gun positioned at the front of his waist. You can also see the straps of a backpack. A second image, the person holds up a plant as if he or she is trying

to obscure the lens of this family camera, this nest camera, security camera. Then in the third image, the person is holding up a gloved hand to the camera as well. And in this one, too, this Is the last image in that first tranche of photos from FBI director Kash Patel. It gives a closer look at the subject's eyes and mask.

The FBI director then released a second batch of images that included photos and video. In this fourth photo, or fifth photo rather, you can see the person's full body and a clearer look at how they're gripping what looks like a gun at their waist.

In the sixth photo, not quite as clear as the rest, it's much harder to see the backpack or the gun, but you did get a good sense of their build.

Now, in addition to the motives, the FBI also released three videos. In one of the clips, you're going to see the person approach the door with their hand again on that holster at the waist. They appear to see the camera and try to cover it, messing with it for a moment with a gloved hand first. As they turn around, you get a clear look at this backpack. No labels on the backpack. The person then walks back to the entryway, the archway to the front lawn, as it were. The garden area bends down to grab something.

What is it? It appears to be a plant from that second video, and they appear to use it to tamper with the camera or obscure the lens. Not entirely clear. Then there's this last video that was released. It's the person approaching the door to begin with, seeming to bend their head down a bit. Here you get a possible pretty good look at the person's gait, how they move.

NBC News is reporting that the Guthrie family was shown this prior to the release of the images. Does not recognize the person in the videos, hence the release to the public asking for help. Savannah Guthrie posting these videos on her Instagram page writing someone out there recognizes this person and also shared the photos with the caption, we believe she, meaning her mother, is still alive.

Anyone with information can leave a tip at 1-800-CALL-FBI or the Pima County Sheriff's Department. 520-351-4900.

Let's get right to CNN's Ed Lavandera, who is outside Nancy Guthrie's home outside Tucson but still in Pima County. Ed, law enforcement officials, they're back in the neighborhood of Nancy's daughter Annie, who lives in the area. What do we know about that?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that has started to develop here within the last hour or so, but we know that sheriff's deputies are back in that neighborhood and they are going door to door canvassing the area.

[17:05:04]

Everything appears we don't see anybody like taken into custody or anything like that, but it appears all very voluntary, having conversations with the residents there in that neighborhood. This is coming just hours after this batch of photos and videos were released by the FBI.

We should also point out that we have seen police and law enforcement activity in that neighbor over -- in that neighborhood by where the daughter lives several times. And most recently Saturday night. There was a small group of sheriff's deputies that went to the home of Annie Guthrie and spent several hours there. When were there late Saturday night, there was an officer that was leaving the scene with latex gloves, another officer carrying a bag of something, putting the back in one of the unmarked vehicles there at the scene. Sheriff's deputies would not say what they were looking for or what they left the scene with.

But all of that happened late Saturday night. This focus that we're watching unfold right now this afternoon is happening in the houses surrounding that particular neighborhood. So we'll continue to monitor that, Jake, and see what comes of it.

TAPPER: All right, CNN's Ed Lavandera, thank you so much. I want to bring in two former FBI agents. Bryanna Fox, now an associate professor at the University of South Florida. Also with this, Josh Campbell, who is, of course, now a CNN senior correspondent.

Josh, you first. I want to ask you about this last image that appears to be different from the others. It is harder to make out the backpack or the gun in this image. What stands out to you?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, in these images in the video, we don't actually get timestamps, so we can't see exactly when each one was taken. But as you made reference to, there was one image that the FBI released where you see this individual who's coming up there to the porch. You don't see the firearm. You don't see the backpack that's on them.

And so what that could suggest is that, again, we don't know what the motive was. There's so much that we don't know about this case right now. But if they had made some kind of approach to that home in an effort to try to gather details about, you know, what was happening there, obviously you'd be presented less of a threat, you know, rather than walking up with a firearm that's clearly presented there at your waist.

But again, we don't know the specific timeline, but that is notable. I mean, I will tell you that the fact that you see the person then come up to the camera and didn't have anything to cover it up maybe suggests that there wasn't a lot of reconnaissance going into this. But certainly these images are critical.

TAPPER: Yes.

CAMPBELL: It's chilling, but authorities hope that this could lead to the big break.

TAPPER: Yes, there's so much we still don't know about this and yet we know infinitely more now than we did when we woke up this morning. Bryanna, what do you take away from these images? What strikes you about his demeanor, the build, the gait about this person?

BRYANNA FOX, FORMER FBI AGENT: Right. The biggest thing is how he almost saunters up like that's his house. The lack of concern that he's going to be caught. I did my PhD on burglary and one of the biggest things they said is trying not to get caught in those first few moments. Entering and exiting is the biggest thing that they're aware constantly on their mind.

The other thing is now we have a for sure timestamp of, you know, about 1:47 a.m. is when he arrived and Nancy's pacemaker disconnected around 2:28. So that's 40 minutes that is unaccounted for. That is a huge amount of time that is so dangerous for somebody who's trying to commit a crime to get away with it for 40 minutes.

So I just, you know, as he's picking up leaves and, you know, trying to put it on the camera, he didn't come prepared for that. But he still has this kind of air bravado, like he's going to be able to get away with this.

TAPPER: Josh, the fact that there's only one person in these images, do you think it's likely that this person was acting alone?

CAMPBELL: I think we just don't know right now. I mean, we have seen kidnappings that were done by one person, some done by other people. I heard one former law enforcement person speculating this looks like a very sophisticated group. I don't think we know any of that.

What we do know right now is based on, as you mentioned, the imagery, we can see this one individual that is armed. You look at everything about this person with the ski mask down to the firearm, I mean, there's non-sinister reason someone would be approaching a residence like this at this hour. But authorities are continuing to crowdsource they're asking for information.

One thing I will predict, Jake, is, you know, I don't think if we continue to hear silence from law enforcement after this, I don't think we should read into that too much and think, well, that means that they're not getting anywhere. It could be quite the opposite.

If, in fact, someone does come forward and says, I know who this person is, they help authorities identify them. That's not something authorities would try to announce until they safely have that person in custody. So we're in this waiting period to see if these tips are actually fruitful.

TAPPER: Yes. The Pima County Sheriff's Office told me that since this broke, they've received a huge uptick in calls since the news, and investigators are combing through leads. So this is bringing public interest and public response.

[17:10:00]

Bryanna, it's clear obviously the person tampered with the camera. We know the camera was missing. Do you have any theories about what was being attempted with the use of the plant there, where they just -- they came unprepared to block the image of the camera? What do you think?

FOX: Yes, exactly that, you know, kids that I know were arrested for vandalism come with spray paint, you know, to block off the camera. So I'm just shocked that wasn't part of this person's thought process. If it's as premeditated as it appears. The balaclava, the firearm, I mean, this is somebody who almost has this, again, like, air of bravado, but really doesn't know what they're doing. So that does help you kind of limit down what you're looking for.

The other thing I would say is that firearm being put in the waistband. I'm sure Josh would tell us from our training in the academy, you would never do that. The risk of an accidental discharge is so great in such a bad location. So that tells us it's probably not law enforcement or military involved. No training like that.

TAPPER: Josh, the person in the video concealing his or her identity with a mask, with gloves, with unmarked clothing, no brand on the backpack. But images that were less clear than this have helped break open past cases, the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Charlie Kirk.

What do you think is still recognizable about this person in the video that might alert some people out there who are watching and think they might know who this person is?

CAMPBELL: Well, this video is so rich. And, Jake, when you first reported earlier today for us that were expecting something from the FBI, some type of imagery, there was this big question, well, how clear is that actually going to be? We've seen CCTV footage and cases just get a glimpse, you know, a profile shot of someone who might be walking by the camera.

Here you can see full on, you know, this individual. And just because this person is wearing a mask doesn't mean that there's not someone out there who will say, well, you know what? I think that I know who that person is based on, you know, the gate of this individual. As Bryanna was saying, based on some of the other traits, if this was someone who had acquired these -- this clothing ahead of time, maybe even for the sole purpose of just committing this one act, did someone else see that?

And so there are little clues that may not stand out, you know, alone. But if there's someone who might recognize something about them, authorities are hoping that they'll be able to piece all those together. And the last thing I'll say, Jake, is that going on behind the scenes. And, you know, Bryanna knows this from all their investigations as well. Authorities are working behind the scenes on things that they're not going to release, and that includes trying to find out where every item that person had on him was purchased, where was the backpack purchased, where was the mask and the clothing.

Because we've seen in so many cases in the past, authorities able to go to the store where something was purchased, talk to an employee canvas, and then get financial records from the actual point of sale. It's hard work. I don't want to, you know, make it sound like it's not. It's tedious, but we've seen that be fruitful in past cases. The hope is that could be the same here. TAPPER: Bryanna Fox and Josh Campbell, thanks to both of you for your

expertise. Really appreciate it. If you have any information about the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie or the person in these new photos and videos, if you think you know who that might be, there are multiple ways to alert authorities and you can do so anonymously. Call the Pima County Sheriff's Department, 520-351-4900. Call the FBI at 1-800-CALL- FBI. You can also reach the agency online at tips.fbi.gov. Please reach out if you have any information.

In just a few minutes, we're going to talk more about how technology led to this major break today and how the private sector is helping to crack this case. And later, new developments in the Epstein files. What the White House says now about Donald Trump's conversation decades ago with the Palm Beach County police chief about Jeffrey Epstein. Stay with us.

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TAPPER: So we're back live outside the Pima County Sheriff's Office in Tucson, Arizona with breaking news on day 10 of the search for 84- year-old Nancy Guthrie, a search that has gripped the nation. She is obviously the mother of NBC News Today Show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. Today, The FBI released six still photos and three videos of a masked and armed intruder outside Nancy Guthrie's front porch early in the morning. She disappeared on February 1st.

I want to bring in CNN's Brian Stelter and CNN's Brian Todd. Stelter to you first. You're learning more about the involvement of Google in helping investigators get these new images off the Google Nest cam. Tell us about that.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: That's right. These security cameras at Nancy Guthrie's home were made by Nest, which is a company that was acquired by Google back in 2014. A person familiar with the investigation tells me that today's breakthrough came in large part thanks to technical expertise provided by Google.

Employees at Google were able to recover data from those Nest made doorbell camera from that camera at Guthrie's front door. There were other Nest cameras at the home as well. We don't know if any video has been able to be obtained from those or at least not yet. But the source tells me the recovery process took several days and it was so technically complex that investigators didn't know whether it would be successful.

Nest has not yet commented and I know this revelation may raise privacy concerns since Guthrie's home did not have a Nest subscription into the cloud for backup recordings. Ordinarily, this would mean that the cameras were providing live feeds from the home but not archived videos.

However, somehow these technicians were able to find some material. FBI Director Kash Patel said today the government was able to work closely with, quote, private sector partners in this case, meaning Google, to recover the imagery. He said the video was recovered from, quote, residual data located in back end systems.

So far, Nest has not commented. This raises lots of questions about how it was able to get these images, but at least in this specific case, a big success for the investigators now that we all have these images. Jake.

TAPPER: Brian Todd, you've been talking with tech experts over the past few days.

[17:20:00]

Walk us through why it likely took more than a week to recover these images from the doorbell cam, from the Nest cam that ultimately was disconnected and I think taken from the house, likely by the intruder.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jake. As we've been reporting, that camera was disconnected and then removed from the house. Now, motion was detected on the camera, but because, as Brian mentioned, Nancy Guthrie did not have the appropriate subscription for it, that video from that motion was not available.

One expert, Dr. Pratik Satam from the University of Arizona, told us that if you don't have a paid subscription, the video just kind of keeps getting overwritten. Sometimes it's sent to the cloud only temporarily, but it's constantly being overwritten. And so that might not have been available immediately there.

I also spoke to Mark Rasch. He's a former Justice Department prosecutor who focused on technology cases. He reiterated a lot of what Brian Stelter just said. He said when motion is detected, the Nest camera begins streaming video to Google's cloud. And then, even without a subscription, as Nancy Guthrie apparently did not have one, this video data can be temporarily uploaded for real time processing, and they can analyze it from there. A lot of what Brian just talked about there.

So that seems to be, Jake, what took a few days for them to kind of get straight. You know, the camera's gone, the video is not available. They got to figure out whether it was overwritten, whether it's gone forever. And then they, of course, tapped into what Brian was just talking about, the Nest camera, and that seems to have provided them this breakthrough.

TAPPER: And Brian Todd, continuing with you, what other tools could help provide new clues for investigators?

TODD: Well, I'm told by experts that it's surveillance video, and it's not just, Jake, the surveillance video from Nancy Guthrie's home. I spoke to Joseph Scott Morgan. He's a forensic scientist from Jacksonville State University in Alabama. Here's what he had to say about a video that they're going to be taking from other sources. Take a listen.

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PROF. JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, FORENSIC SCIENTIST, JACKSONVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY: So I think the bread and butter here are going to be ring cam, CCTV, anything that they can, you know, kind of pull in. And they will have gone to, I would imagine, just about every residence up and down that street, and also places like churches, convenience stores, maybe a dry cleaner, anywhere where a car would have passed through that area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: And Morgan also told me that they're also going to be analyzing the data from the connection between Nancy Guthrie's pacemaker and her cell phone. That connection was severed in the early morning hours before her disappearance was reported, but they're going to still be analyzing some of that data.

And Jake, if there is a payment made on bitcoin, they're going to be analyzing that transaction as well. Experts tell us you cannot tell when a bitcoin transaction is going on, who it's being sent from and to. But at some point, if a bitcoin transaction is made here, they're going to have the person getting the money is going to have to try to convert the bitcoin to cash. At that point, they're going to have to set up, go to a bitcoin exchange. When they do that, it makes them a little bit more vulnerable to being traced. So let's watch for that.

TAPPER: All right. Brian Todd and Brian Stelter, thanks to both you. Appreciate it. A man who lives near Nancy Guthrie's home, Savannah Guthrie's childhood home will join me next. What he is picking up after looking at these new images and video from the FBI. That's next.

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TAPPER: And we're back live from Tucson, Arizona with today's major new developments and the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of NBC Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie.

Today, the FBI released six new still images and three videos of a masked intruder at Nancy Guthrie's front door in the early morning hours of February 1st when she disappeared.

I want to bring in Jeff Lamie. He is a neighbor of Nancy Guthrie in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood. And Jeff, I understand you've lived near Nancy Guthrie about six years. What was your first impression of these new images taken from her porch just a few blocks from your home?

JEFF LAMIE, NANCY GUTHRIE'S NEIGHBOR: Disturbing. But I also imagine how terrifying this was for our neighbor.

TAPPER: Yes. In hindsight, do you recall any conversations with Nancy Guthrie about anything that might be relevant to this? People visiting or have yourself noticed any activity of an odd nature in the neighborhood or at her home? Because having been to her neighborhood now it's pretty remote, not a lot of through traffic, not a lot of or I didn't see any commercial activity, no stores or anything like that. It would seem like somebody might stand out in the neighborhood. LAMIE: As mentioned, it's a very, very safe neighborhood. It's a

neighborhood where in the summer when it's warm, people go jogging 11, 10 o'clock at night, walk their dogs. This is anomaly. This is a very unusual occurrence.

And in recent weeks you see some folks doing maintenance, you know, doing work in the neighborhood, the Uber Eats drivers, et cetera. But in general, it's a very, very quiet, bucolic neighborhood. So this was highly unusual and nothing prior to this unfortunate event.

TAPPER: What are other neighbors saying as you all talk to each other and this search continues into its 10th day?

LAMIE: You know, I -- I -- I know that folks are deeply concerned about our neighbor. I think today I've not spoken to two neighbors since the images were released. But I imagine, I know for myself and ourselves this gives us hope that perhaps there may be a breakthrough.

[17:30:05]

I know there's been such diligence with the investigation, with the drones, the helicopters, the volunteers scouring the neighborhood, the FBI. There's been a robust response, and its -- it gives us some degree of hope that perhaps this could help us get to a positive, ideally positive resolution.

TAPPER: Some folks out there might be wondering, how could a kidnapper take Nancy Guthrie without detection by neighbors? I was in your neighborhood earlier today. It's covered with dense desert trees, bushes, cacti that block houses from -- block the view of houses from the road, block the view of houses from neighboring homes. It's easy to see why other cameras would not have picked up who was coming and going from her house.

LAMIE: Yes, absolutely. The lots are approximately an acre, but not only are they large, but as you noted, the foliage, the cactus, et cetera, the scrub, it's very dense. Our camera, for example, captures the front of our yard, but not the roadway, just because of the distance. So it captures a courtyard and nothing beyond that. And that's not atypical.

So unfortunately, when people reached out to investigate, you know, there was nothing at that time forthcoming, that my understanding, that was helpful. But the nature of the neighborhood, once again, a very safe neighborhood, a wonderful neighborhood, but because of the topography, because of the layout, it's not been helpful.

TAPPER: Yes, and you've mentioned how since Nancy Guthrie's disappearance, neighbors are talking more amongst themselves.

LAMIE: Yes, yes. I think this realization --

TAPPER: Well, tell me about that.

LAMIE: Yes, not just our neighborhood, not just Tucson, but just universally. I think, you know, we live in our silos, we live on our screens, and it sort of propelled more conversation than I've experienced before, where people are reaching out. You know, beyond a hello, a greeting, or niceties, just making yourself available that if there is a need for help or assistance, to know that you can knock on our door, that you can, exchanging numbers that perhaps weren't exchanged before.

So this is a very dark cloud, you know, and this is obviously a horrific event, but there seems to be some small silver lining that I think this realization has occurred, and I truly hope it continues.

TAPPER: Yes, Jeff Lamie, thank you so much, appreciate it.

[17:32:56]

The breaking news, this hour, law enforcement scouting the home of Savannah Guthrie's sister, Annie, and that surrounding neighborhood. Plus, new photographs and videos today of a person at the front door of Nancy Guthrie's home the morning she disappeared. Experts are standing by to weigh in. We're back in a quick second.

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TAPPER: And we're back live outside the Pima County Sheriff's Department in Arizona. Today, a major development in the urgent search for today's show anchor Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother, Nancy, the FBI releasing six still images and three videos of a masked armed person, armed person outside Nancy Guthrie's front porch. It's a huge set of clues that hopefully will lead to a breakthrough in the case.

I want to bring in someone with some experience leading major cases. Jeff Halstead served as police chief in Fort Worth, Texas. Jeff, what stood out to you from the images the FBI released today from Nancy Guthrie's doorbell camera?

JEFFREY HALSTEAD, FORMER FORT WORTH POLICE CHIEF: Well, first and most importantly, you can actually take the word professional off the list. This definitely looks like an amateur criminal. If you look at some of the video, there are some defining things here that can be digitized and enhanced, the jackets, the lining, the reflective material on the backpack, the shoes.

But that holster is positioned in a very, very bad place. But it's a right-handed draw holster. And they'll do some enhancements on that weapon and possibly get a potential make or model of the weapon, which is really going to enhance the investigation.

TAPPER: So let me ask you, so nobody can be expected to be an expert in everything. So the FBI at Quantico enhances the image of the backpack, enhances the image of the gloves. Do you then -- do they then, or the local sheriff's office here, then go to somebody who works at L.L. Bean, somebody who is an expert at backpacks, somebody who's an expert on gloves? How do you figure out exactly what kind of gloves, what kind of backpack?

HALSTEAD: Here is what's really going to be critical in the next 24 to 48 hours. And the FBI, they're brilliant at this. Once they get this digitized and then the enhancements, and then they release that, it's the speed of that information and then making sure they can start narrowing the focus of this, keeping in mind at the same time they're canvassing the neighborhoods, they're trying to grab other imaging, other vehicles, and other items of evidentiary value. They're going to start piecing this together.

And this dragnet is going to drastically start closing in on potential suspects. On the side, those imaging enhancements will help them start narrowing down and getting more public information. Once they elevate this reward, because Arizona is one of the best states for these anonymous tip lines, they're going to start having criminals turn on one another. And we've seen this many, many times in high-profile cases.

[17:40:02]

TAPPER: It took more than a week for investigators working with Google engineers to be able to recover these images from the camera. The camera had been disconnected. People thought the images no longer existed, but they did, thankfully, with the engineers at Google and the FBI. What does it say to you that the FBI decided to release these images shortly after recovering them?

HALSTEAD: Yes, I'm really proud of the work the FBI did. Thankfully, they had this public-private partnership with our technology partners, because it is absolutely essential. You know, just a few days ago, we were worried, we in the law enforcement community, were worried that these images and these videos would not be able to be recovered. And here they are.

Getting them out immediately elevates this case. It's going to generate a massive amount of tips. People are going to start calling in things such as the shape of the eyes, potential facial hair, the manner in which they walk. You know, the manner in which suspects walk, their gait, their strides, can be indicators for someone to say, hey, that looks like so-and-so, or that reminds me of this person. And then that really elevates the priority of this intelligence to get assets on it and find out if it's valid or not.

TAPPER: And we have seen recent investigations where images like these released to the public, in fact, images not as good as these released to the public, helped break open a case. We remember the alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk, the -- I mean the -- yes, and the alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO. Have you worked on cases where even an image not as good as the ones we got today helps break open an investigation?

HALSTEAD: Absolutely. I remember we, in Phoenix P.D., we had one serial murderer and a serial rapist tied into the same investigation, and the killer would take a memento from every victim. One ring broke that case. It got tips. We narrowed in on the suspect. And then once the tactical element is then deployed, we're going to get closure with the rest very, very quickly. So yes, these are very good images. I'm proud of the FBI.

I'm glad they didn't hold on to this and get this out immediately, because our media partners getting this out is going to drive resolution and a successful closure to this case.

TAPPER: Is there anything that surprised you so far in this investigation? It's day 10, and we finally look like we have some sort of breakthrough. And anything that, as an expert investigator, has taken you, you know, by surprise?

HALSTEAD: It's just heart-wrenching that Nancy has not been found yet, that I think that is weighing heavily on every human being that is working this case, city, county, state, and federal partners, as well as the volunteer search crews and all others.

It's just so rare that it's a bizarre crime, and then victims not located, and you have to wait so long to get the quality evidence released. That is very, very rare, and it's just -- it really hurts so many people involved in this investigation. So continuing the hope, the optimism, and prayers for this family to get successful closure is all we can do at this point.

TAPPER: All right, Jeff Halstead, thank you so much. Appreciate your time and your expertise, sir.

The video here has been major. If you think you recognize this person, if you think you have information that can help in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, call the Pima County Sheriff's Department at 520- 351-4900, or call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. You can also reach the agency online at tips.fbi.gov.

[17:43:47]

Much more ahead from Tucson as new details come in about the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. We're also tracking, of course, new details in another big story, the Epstein files, what Donald Trump said about Epstein decades ago that seems to what he has said more recently. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: And welcome back to The Lead live here in Tucson as we see the very first photographs and videos of an intruder outside the home of Nancy Guthrie on the early morning hours of February 1st, the Sunday that she disappeared. We're going to have much more from our experts analyzing these images and what many hope will be a big break in the case.

But first, in the Law and Justice Lead, new documents released by the FBI detail what then citizen Donald Trump allegedly told the Palm Beach County police chief some 20 years ago about Jeffrey Epstein. Miami Herald journalist Julie K. Brown, who has broken so many of the stories involved in this case, went through the 3 million documents and found that Trump told the chief, Michael Ryder, "Thank goodness you're stopping him about Epstein. Everyone has known he's been doing this." The report adds that Trump told the chief to take a good look at Ghislaine Maxwell, labeling her Epstein's operative and saying "She is evil."

Now, this all contradicts what Trump repeatedly has claimed, that he had no knowledge of Epstein's activities with underage girls. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about this earlier this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline, did he call the chief?

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, it was a phone call that may or may not have happened in 2006. I don't know the answer to that question. What I'm telling you is that what President Trump has always said is that he kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club because Jeffrey Epstein was a creep. And that remains true. And this call, if it did happen, corroborates exactly what President Trump has said from the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Not really. That's not what corroborates means. Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald, who broke this latest story, joins us now. Julie, first, your response to what the White House said about your new reporting.

[17:50:03]

JULIE K. BROWN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, THE MIAMI HERALD: Well, I don't think she really answered the question, quite frankly. I mean, you know, he -- she said she didn't, whether the call happened or not, so it doesn't sound like she checked with the president whether he had made this call.

TAPPER: Ghislaine Maxwell repeatedly invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination yesterday in this virtual deposition she did with the House Oversight Committee behind closed doors. Her lawyer said that she had the ability to clear President Trump and former President Bill Clinton, but only if she was granted clemency by Trump. Karoline Leavitt was asked about this, too. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAVITT: I haven't spoken with him recently. Last time we did speak about it, he said it's not something he's considering or thinking about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Could you see Trump granting her clemency? And how do you make sense -- how do you make any sense of him allegedly telling the police chief Michael Ryder that Ghislaine Maxwell was evil, and then years later she goes to prison and Trump as president wishes her well?

BROWN: Well, I think different people are going to look at it different ways. I think that probably his supporters are going to look at it the way Karoline mentioned it and think that he was basically saying, you know, that, you know, it's good that you took him and that you arrested him and I kicked him out of my club, and that he was sort of providing information much like an informant. I think other more skeptical people pointing to the comments that he has made pretty consistently about how he didn't know about these activities would say, since this conversation, this happened right when Epstein was arrested, it could have been a way to sort of get ahead of the story and say, yes, I knew about it and, you know, just to sort of cover your tracks.

TAPPER: So Republican Congressman Thomas Massie revealed that one of Dubai's most powerful businessmen, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, corresponded with Epstein and is the individual that Epstein had e- mailed about a so-called torture video. What more have you learned about this?

BROWN: Well, I've known for some time that there were a couple of victims who were sent, that Epstein sent to the Sultan. I've spoken with two of them and they're afraid to come out because, you know, of this publicity. I mean, some of these victims have really been attacked, especially on social media, and they worry about, you know, that here's a powerful man, you know, and they don't know what they're up against. So they have been unwilling to come forward. But this is even before now I had heard about these victims who had been sent to him and sent to him to have sex with them.

TAPPER: Some of the members of Congress who were able to see documents, Epstein documents that were unredacted, although many of them remained redacted and they complained about that, left their -- left Justice Department where they were let into a room and allowed to see these videos, just utterly shocked. Even people who had been skeptical previously about the Epstein files and all the attention to it, like Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis, talking about this was a horrific child rape trafficking ring. There are individuals who need to be named who they saw their names in the Epstein files. What did you make of all that?

BROWN: Well, those of us who have been following this case so closely knew that this was a worldwide sex trafficking operation. And if you look at some of these e-mails that are contained in there, you could see that this stretches over the world, that he had recruiters. Some of the men, by the way, who were helping him recruit young girls and young women for his own, you know, his own sexual use, his own effort.

But also we know that he sent some of these young women to other people, men in particular. And we're starting to find, I think, more and more information as we dig through these files and they unredact them, which they should. So hopefully we'll get a better picture of exactly who was involved and who helped him.

TAPPER: Julie K. Brown, she has an extensive Substack called The Epstein Files by Julie K. Brown. I subscribe to that. She's also the author of a fantastic book on the subject. It's called "Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story." And I bought that. And I recommend both to you. Julie, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

[17:55:03]

Back here in Tucson, new video and photos now confirm someone showed up at Nancy Guthrie's home. Early Sunday morning, an intruder armed with a gun, cut with a face mask. Our experts are analyzing these images and we're going to be right back with much more, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:59:49]

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. And we are live outside the Pima County Sheriff's Office in Tucson, Arizona. The Lead tonight, the FBI released six still images and three videos showing a masked armed intruder outside the home of Nancy Guthrie, the beloved mother of "NBC News" today show anchor Savannah Guthrie.