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The Lead with Jake Tapper

FBI Releases Images And Video From Nancy Guthrie's Doorbell Camera; Images And Video Show Armed, Masked Person At Guthrie's Door Camera; Secretary Lutnick Confirms He Visited Epstein's Island With His Wife And Kids; French Authorities Confront Rising Threat Of Crypto Ransom Cases; FBI Releases Images & Video From Nancy Guthrie's Doorbell Camera. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 10, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: 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 on the morning of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance, which is now ten days ago.

[18:00:13]

The images were recovered from Nancy Guthrie's front door camera. You can see the person here, a masked, gloved individual carrying a backpack. You can also see a holster with a handgun around this person's waist much more clearly in the video here. Seeming to notice the camera, then going to pick up some plants from the garden to cover or grab the camera, which was disconnected at 1:47 A.M. on the morning of Nancy Guthrie's abduction.

FBI Director Kash Patel says this video was recovered with residual data located in backend systems. We know also that that was done with the help of Google engineers, Google, which owns the Nest camera company. NBC News reports that the Guthrie family was shown the videos and images before it was released to the public and they do not recognize the person in the videos.

Let's take a closer look now at the photos and videos released today and how investigators are hoping that these images can help them crack open the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER (voice over): The FBI released six brand new still photos and three videos of a potential subject captured from the front door camera of Nancy Guthrie's home on the early morning she disappeared. Nancy Guthrie's daughter, Today Show co-Anchor Savannah Guthrie, posted the video shared by the FBI and wrote, someone out there recognizes this person. We believe she is still out there. Bring her home.

FBI Director Kash Patel had said it appears the individual tampered with the camera but these photos and videos were recovered through residual data located in backend systems. The FBI says, the Bureau had been working over the last eight days to recover any footage from Guthrie's home after the recording devices had been removed.

The reason why the break in the case was so significant today with the Nest camera footage recovered from Nancy Guthrie's porch is because it was thought that all that footage either did not exist or had been destroyed. And for the Nest cameras and Ring cameras and other security cameras over the houses around here, there is so much foliage like this that separates the houses from the roads and the houses from each other. None of it was any help at all.

Let's break down each of the photos. Here in the first batch of photos that the FBI released, the first image shows a masked individual wearing gloves and appears to have a gun at the front of their waist. You can also see the straps of a backpack. The second image, the person appears to hold up a plant as if to block the camera lens. In the third image, the person is holding up their gloved hand to the camera. And the fourth image, the last from the first batch of photos the FBI released, you can see closer at the subject's eyes and mask.

In a second batch of photos the FBI released, you can see the person's full body gripping what appears to be a gun at his or her waist. In another photo, you can see the build of the person right before the subject approaches the camera. The FBI also released video showing the person approaching the door with his or her hand on the holster. After spotting the camera, the person tries to cover it. As they turn around, you see a backpack with no label. Then the person walks back to the entryway and bends over to grab something and appears to tamper with the camera. In the last video, the person approaches the door looking down. You can see the person's gait, how they move.

The White House today also weighing in.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president encourages any American across the country with any knowledge of the suspect to please call the FBI who continue to assist state and local authorities who are leading this investigation on the ground.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER (on camera): Let's get to CNN's Ed Lavandera, who's also here in Pima County. He's outside Nancy Guthrie's home, where Savannah Guthrie grew up, her childhood home.

And, Ed, this video and these images, it could be a break in the case.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jake, you would imagine that right now this is probably triggering a great deal of tips and leads coming into authorities here, not just in Tucson, but the FBI investigators as well. So, they're probably going through a lot of that. And we also know, Jake, this afternoon, shortly after those videos were released by the FBI, investigators are back out in the neighborhood not too far away from where we are, about 15 minutes away, where Nancy Guthrie's daughter, Annie, lives Savannah's sister. That is the neighborhood where Nancy Guthrie had gone to eat and has

had dinner with her family. They were playing cards, we were told, before coming back here to her house. So, that was the previous this -- almost ten days ago that all of that happened.

And we understand investigators have been going through that neighborhood, canvassing the area, knocking on doors and talking to people. So, we're trying to gather more information as to what exactly they're asking about and what they're looking for, and was it something that was triggered by the release of the videos that prompted investigators to go back there?

[18:05:03]

I say that because we have seen over the last couple of days, there's been kind of a constant stream and a constant presence of investigators going back to neighborhoods that have already been searched and researched and they're re-canvassing. So, all of that work continues. But it's significant that this is happening just hours after the release of these videos, which have just been a monumental moment in this investigation.

So, we await word of just what kind of information, what kind of tips and leads this is generating for investigators in hopes that it could draw them closer to finding Nancy Guthrie. Jake?

TAPPER: CNN's Ed Lavandera, thanks so much.

I want to bring in right now CNN's Josh Campbell, who previously worked with the FBI. Also joining us is Nick Barreiro, a certified audio/video forensic analyst who has testified as an expert witness in this field dozens of times.

Nick, today, FBI Director Kash Patel said the video and images were recovered from residual data located in backend systems. Can you translate that for us? We know that Google engineers, Google owns Nest, which makes these camera, was able to recover the data once the camera was disconnected and some of the recording devices were removed. How was this done?

NICK BARREIRO, CHIEF FORENSIC ANALYST, PRINCIPLE FORENSICS: Yes. So, what that tells me is that the data was deleted. It was officially marked as deleted. That space that was being taken up by these files was available to be, used to be overwritten, but it just hadn't been overwritten yet. And that's why the search probably took an extended period of time because they were sifting through all of this unallocated space on the servers looking for these files that were essentially marked as deleted but not actually overwritten yet.

TAPPER: And, Nick, what do you make of the Pima County Sheriff initially saying that there wasn't any video that existed because Guthrie's -- she didn't have an active subscription to Google's video recording service? So, she had the basic Nest camera, which shows you who's outside, et cetera, but it wasn't being recorded because she didn't pay the monthly fee. BARREIRO: Yes. That would be the typical response from Google in a case like this. I think the only reason why these extreme steps were taken to recover this data was because of the high-profile nature of this case.

TAPPER: Josh, the suspect arrived wearing a mask and gloves but he was holding his firearm in a way that nobody who has ever carried a firearm would ever do so, because the discharge could hurt him or her. They -- the person tried to attempt to cover the camera with their hand and then with plants from the front yard. What does that all add up to you?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, the clothing is certainly interesting because it appears, as we've seen in past cases, that sometimes criminals will try to prevent leaving behind identifying information, such as a fingerprint or a hair fiber or even skin cells. So, he is fully clothed from head to toe. And, you know, that may have worked because we haven't yet heard officials say that they actually know of any identity. They certainly say that they don't have any suspects that are known to them right now.

But the question about the covering up of the camera, that's one of the more clumsy aspects that looks like on this video of this entire case that, you know, could suggest there wasn't a great degree of surveillance, reconnaissance that went in ahead of time, because if this person would've seen a doorbell camera that's so ubiquitous now in this day and age, you would think that they would've brought something to obstruct that not having to rely on, you know, flowers out in the yard in order to do so.

So, you know, one thing we're also waiting to hear, Jake, is, as far as the video access, we know that the person took the camera with them. That's what authorities have said. But we're waiting to see if there are any additional images that they are able to glean. You know, this has been a long process. That doesn't mean that there is an additional space that the company like Google would be able to search, you know, among its servers.

And so although this is critical, critical information, we can only hope that there's maybe potentially additional evidence that we'll also get.

TAPPER: Nick, what other types of data could investigators have recovered so far or might still recover? Is it possible -- I don't know what kind of cameras Nancy Guthrie had in her house, but it's certainly possible that there were other ones that were there that were just not recording. What other data might there be?

BARREIRO: Sure. Because all of that is unknown, the FBI could be working on, like you said, an unknown number of cameras that were there. But the way that this came out throughout the day today tells me that they're actively working on it, right?

[18:10:07]

The still frames came out first, and then we got a little snippet of video, and then we got a little more video. The way that's coming out is telling me this is almost happening in real time. They want to get as much info as they can as quickly as possible. So, as the FBI is getting it, they're putting it out. And so I wouldn't be surprised to see more footage, more still frames, just more data coming later.

TAPPER: And, Josh, Savannah Guthrie posted on Instagram what we all hope is true. Someone out there recognizes this person. Officials say they're already seeing and hearing an increase in calls. The Pima County Sheriff's Office told me that calls have spiked. Their investigators are going through them right now. What stands out to you as key identifiers?

CAMPBELL: Well, the main thing that we see is since we have actual video, you can see the movement of the individual, the so-called gait. This is something that investigators will do as part of investigation, the gait analysis, but they're putting this out to the public because they want all of us, members of the public, to do our own gait analysis and look at that video and say, you know, that person walks very similar to someone -- the way someone I know walks. It's very difficult to try to hide or alter your gait even, you know, with the greatest attempt to try to do so. So, seeing that I think is critical.

And then the last thing, Jake, is you know, looking at that clothing as well. You know, we don't know if this was attire that the person had for quite some time. Maybe they procure procured it for the sole purpose of committing this alleged crime.

But that's the hope as well, is there's someone out there who, you know, has a friend, associate, a family member who has the same type of clothing or for that matter, you know, a retail salesperson who said, you know, there was someone in the store who was buying a mask and a jacket and, you know, these heavy pants. Again, anything is possible right now with only just want as many eyeballs on these videos as they can to try to spur someone to recall something that might be helpful.

TAPPER: Nick Barreiro, Josh Campbell, thanks to both of you, I really appreciate your time and your expertise.

We're going to have much more on our breaking news in moments. I'm going to be joined by a former detective from the Pima County Sheriff's Department right behind me here for his thoughts on how this investigation has been handled so far, and what kind of leads these new images could provide.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: And we're live in Tucson, Arizona. We're right outside the Pima County Sheriff's Office and we have brand new comments from a neighbor who lives near the home of Annie Guthrie. Annie Guthrie is the daughter of Nancy Guthrie, who also lives in the area as authorities were searching her neighborhood earlier today. Nancy Guthrie had dinner at her house on Saturday night, the night before she disappeared.

Let's take a listen to what the neighbor had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: You know what's going on?

LORENZO JENSEN, NEIGHBOR OF ANNIE GUTHRIE: You tell me.

REPORTER: What were they asking?

JENSEN: They want to see the outside of the property.

REPORTER: Outside of the property. Anywhere, specifically?

JENSEN: Outside.

REPORTER: Just outside?

JENSEN: There is an arroyo in the back. They were looking at that.

REPORTER: What was it?

JENSEN: An arroyo, a wash.

REPORTER: A wash, okay.

REPORTER: Did they ask you like if you see anything suspicious or anything?

JENSEN: No.

REPORTER: Is this the first time they've been by since all this started out?

JENSEN: There were a couple of FBI agents by five, six days ago just for a question, canvassing the area, I presume.

REPORTER: What did they ask then?

JENSEN: Name, did you hear anything.

REPORTER: Hear anything?

JENSEN: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I want to bring in Kurt Dabb, a retired homicide detective from the Pima County Sheriff's Department. Kurt, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

So, we're in day ten of this search. What does it say to you about this investigation that the public is just now seeing these images of a potential subject on the morning of the disappearance? Obviously, it took a while for the Google engineers to recover these documents. What do you make of it?

KURT DABB, RETIRED HOMICIDE DETECTIVE, PIMA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Well, I think definitely that it has taken a while, but it's given the public a little bit of comfort, if you will, that, you know, this investigation just didn't stop. The work behind the scenes continues and it's going to continue for the foreseeable future.

TAPPER: As a law enforcement official, as a former law enforcement investigator, what's your response to these videos and images? What do you think? What stands out to you?

DABB: Well, there's a number of things that stand out to me. The biggest thing is that this individual seemed to be extremely calm, cool and collect. It doesn't look like your average, ordinary home invasion, where people are coming in a house, breaking down doors, screaming, you know, with guns in their hands. This individual had a backpack that was full of some type of implements. It looked heavily packed, like it was a planned event.

And then to try to cover up the camera, you know, he didn't have any burglary tools in his hands. What I'd like to know is how he got in the door. And I'm hoping that the FBI has more video than they released that is going to answer some of those questions. But he looked extremely comfortable.

TAPPER: The sheriff previously said that there were no videos available from the home surveillance, home security cameras. You have been critical of the sheriff, Chris Nanos. Do you disagree that he should have made that kind of statement publicly last week? Do you -- what are your thoughts on that?

[18:20:00]

DABB: Well, my thoughts on that are the fact that, at the time, I don't think that they realized that there was video. I'm a little dismayed with having to go back and grab other cameras a couple of days later. But, you know, at the time that the cameras were discovered, maybe that's what they believed that, yes, we don't have any video, there was no subscription. We'll hand it over to the technical experts and hopefully they'll be able to garner some information from that, and thank God that they did.

TAPPER: The individual shows up. You note that he seems calm, he or she seems calm, wearing a face mask, wearing gloves, but also doesn't have supplies, as you note, to cover the camera. You'd think at the very least some duct tape or something like that would be available. Do you think this is somebody who's done this before? Do you think this is somebody, who is working with someone else? What does your gut tell you?

DABB: Well, he could have been working, and I say he, because on one of the photographs it looks like you can see a mustache and part of the beard --

TAPPER: Right.

DABB: -- in the mouth area of that ski mask.

To me, this is a pretty daunting exercise to go in and kidnap a nearly non-ambulatory 84-year-old woman. So, I would think that there would be other individuals involved. But as of right now, we've just got this one what appears to be male subject, carrying a handgun in a weird place, in a weird holster.

So, these are things that should stick out, hopefully will stick out to community members to hopefully identify this individual.

TAPPER: Do you think, do you have faith in the community, whether it's Tucson, Arizona, or just the United States, that there's enough information in these videos, in these still images that somebody will recognize this person and call 1-800-CALL-FBI?

DABB: I think so. You have -- you know, you can see the individual walking, so you can look at his gait. I know the FBI has the ability to take measurements at the house and compare them on the video so they could get approximate height and possibly weight of the individual.

This guy, it looks like he had on multiple gloves on his hands, something that I used to do and many homicide detectives do, because we're constantly changing gloves after dealing with body fluids and DNA and stuff like that. So, this guy definitely came planned and I think, I hope, with the video that's been released, that someone in the country would recognize this individual.

And you know what, Jake, if they're not able to within a day or two, they're not getting any good leads, hopefully, the FBI has more video that they're able to extract and provide. But it'd be really interesting to see how he got in that front door.

TAPPER: Retired Detective Kurt Dabb from Pima County, thank you so much, sir. I appreciate your time. Yes.

If you did -- if you have any information about the person in the new photos and videos released by the FBI today, there are multiple ways you can alert authorities, and you can do so anonymously if you want, if there's anything that makes you think that this is somebody I know, please call the Pima County Sheriff's Department, that's at (520) 351- 4900, or you can call the FBI I at 1-800-CALL-FBI. You can also reach the agency online at tips.fbi.gov. That's tips.fbi.gov.

We're going to have more in our breaking news in moments, but we're also following another major story today, the White House defending a member of President Trump's cabinet after he was accused of lying to the public about his ties with Jeffrey Epstein. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead today, CNN has now confirmed that Casey Wasserman, the entertainment executive and sports agent, has dropped out of an NBC/Telemundo speaking event in the run up to NBA All-Star Weekend. Wasserman also heads the coordinating committee for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The Epstein files showed he exchanged messages with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's co-conspirator, in 2003. In one exchange, Wasserman asks Maxwell, quote, so what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit, unquote.

Wasserman has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, and 2003 is years before Epstein was named publicly as being under investigation for inappropriate criminal behavior with young women.

Wasserman's agency has been losing talent, however, since the revelations that he's in the Epstein files emailing with Ghislaine Maxwell, most notably Grammy-winning singer of Chappell Roan, who announced last night that she was breaking ties with Wasserman's agency because of Wasserman.

Another name facing questions over his ties to Epstein is Howard Lutnick, the U.S. commerce secretary. He spoke today on Capitol Hill after lawmakers from both sides of the aisle accused him of having misled the public about his ties to the sexual predator.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: I did have lunch with him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me as were my four children and nannies. I had another couple with. They were there as well with their children. And we had lunch on the island. That is true, for an hour, and we left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife all together. We were on family vacation. We were not a part to suggest there was anything untoward about that in 2012. I don't recall why we did it, but --

[18:30:01]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: 2012 is an interesting time because that was years after Epstein went to prison for inappropriate contact with a minor.

Lunick, of course, has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing, but the lunch he just described does not square with what he told the public just a few months ago before these files came out. Here is Lutnick last October describing Epstein, who was his neighbor in 2005.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUTNICK: And in the six or eight steps it takes to get from his house to my house, my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again. So, I was never in the room with him socially, for business or for even philanthropy. If that guy was there, I wasn't going because he's gross.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Yes. See, that's not consistent with having lunch with him socially.

Also today, revelations that Donald Trump called the Palm Beach County Police chief in 2006 after the investigation was made public to tell the chief that Epstein's activities with underage girls was well known in New York and Palm Beach. This, of course, flies in the face of the president's consistent assertions that he had no knowledge whatsoever of Epstein's sex crimes.

CNN's Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins joins us now. And, Kaitlan, the White House press secretary was pressed on this new report this afternoon. What did she have to say?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. Obviously, this is an interview or a conversation the president would've had with the police chief in Palm Beach about 20 years ago when this investigation was becoming public. It's something we learned about as a release of these documents, including a document that mentions this interview and the police chief's recollection of his conversation with then-Candidate Donald Trump, obviously a mainstay in the Palm Beach scene.

And the White House was asked about this today, Jake, and instead of the point that people have made that it raises questions about what the president knew, or at least what he thought about Jeffrey Epstein at the time, they argued instead that it corroborates what the president has said about Jeffrey Epstein.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: 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)

COLLINS: And she also argued there in that press briefing today, Jake, that it was time to move on from the Epstein story. When she was asked about the Howard Lutnick inconsistencies on their own, Karoline Leavitt said that he remains a treasured and valuable member of the president's team and then chastised the press for not asking questions about other topics, including the Dow reaching 50,000 last week.

Obviously, Jake, it's safe to say this is still a story and still something that is going to be facing this White House amid questions about this.

Part of what the president also told the Palm Beach police chief was about Ghislaine Maxwell. And according to the police chief in this interview, said that the president told them in the mid-2000s that they should focus on her and that she's evil. That also raises questions given it was his Justice Department, Jake, that moved her from that prison that she was initially being held in where she's serving out her sentence for sex trafficking on behalf of and inclusion with Jeffrey Epstein to a lighter security prison that she's now in.

TAPPER: Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much, I appreciate it.

And don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins. Her guests tonight include Republican Congressman Thomas Massie. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.

Investigators this afternoon we're seem canvassing neighborhood where Nancy Guthrie's daughter, Annie, lives. What could they be looking for? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

TAPPER: In our National Lead now, we're live here in Tucson, Arizona, following the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. In a big break in the case earlier today, the FBI releasing six photographs and three videos of a masked intruder outside Nancy Guthrie's front door that early morning of her disappearance on Sunday, February 1st.

Let's bring in former FBI Special Agent Michael Harrigan, who served as chief of the FBI's Firearms Training Program.

Michael, as you analyze these images, what sticks out to you? What do you notice? What would you be looking for?

MICHAEL HARRIGAN, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: What would sticks out immediately to me is when the individual goes up to the front door, you know, he appears to pause, to look around, look down, looking for something to cover the camera, which is a little surprising that he wasn't prepared when he got there to either mask the camera or remove the camera immediately. It almost like he saw the camera and then he kind of figured out -- trying to figure out how to fix that, how to conceal the camera's view. So, that's a little bit odd here. You'd think that somebody who planned this out would've been prepared for that.

TAPPER: The FBI recovered these photos from residual data located in backend systems from Google engineers working with the FBI. What are the next steps for the FBI now that they have these images?

HARRIGAN: You know, I think, Jake, I think what you have here is they've got a lot of forensic information by this point, a lot of electronic information, which these videos are part of. Now, whether they came up with this today, I would think -- I would tend to think they've had this for a bit. But I think what they've done is they've pretty much run down all this information.

And now by putting this out, they're really looking to include the public closer in this case, through the media, to get hopefully some more information flowing in. And by putting images of this person out there, you have the potential someone will recognize him or what he's wearing some of the aspects of how he moves.

[18:40:00]

That can, you know, spur some good investigative leads here that would hopefully result in return of Ms. Guthrie.

TAPPER: Following the release of the photos, investigators were seeing canvassing in the neighborhood where Nancy Guthrie's daughter, Annie, lives. We know that Nancy Guthrie was last seen by friends and family the night before she disappeared. She went to Annie Guthrie's home, Annie and her husband. What do you think they were looking for at that property?

HARRIGAN: You know, I think what they're looking for is other evidence. It's hard to surmise at this point, but the fact that they went, they're looking at close relatives and friends is fairly typical in these cases, a little atypical that you'd go in and collect evidence. But I think given the high-profile of this case and the exigency they have with this woman being missing for so long, and the fact she is so frail and in real danger here is I think they're probably approaching this by leaving no stone unturned.

So, most relatives, they want to take a look and maybe looking to see if there's any blood evidence in any of those houses, they're just being thorough at this point. But if there is a larger strategy here behind the scenes, of course, we won't know that until the case is over. Because, again, they have to be very careful in how they proceed here because they don't want to put Ms. Guthrie's life in any danger. They know if she's taken, they have to walk very carefully and really control what information gets out there.

TAPPER: Michael Harrigan, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

We know that investigators were looking into multiple potential ransom notes in the Guthrie case, including one with a ransom demand in Bitcoin. Are there any more clues that law enforcement can get from that? We're going to discuss that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:35]

TAPPER: And we're back live from Tucson, Arizona, outside the Pima County sheriff's office, following the major developments in the search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today Show" anchor Savannah Guthrie.

Before today's release of these surveillance images showing a masked intruder at Nancy Guthrie's doorstep, law enforcement previously had been going into looking at another possible clue an avenue for investigation, a ransom message demanding $6 million in the cryptocurrency bitcoin.

CNN's Saskya Vandoorne reports now on the disturbing trend of crypto- linked kidnappings around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PARIS BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): A daring kidnapping attempt gone wrong. This attack last year on the daughter and grandson of a cryptocurrency executive stopped by a passerby who chased the would-be kidnappers off.

It was a warning of what was to come. A string of attacks of the past 12 months. The latest this month, the targets once again the family of a partner in a crypto venture. Attackers targeted a 35-year-old magistrate and her mother, eventually dragging the women into one of these garages. Then came the demand, a ransom to be paid in cryptocurrency and a threat to mutilate them both if it wasn't paid.

THIERRY DRAN, LYON PROSECUTOR: They were able to take advantage of the absence of their captor to free themselves, to call for help, in particular by banging forcefully on the garage door.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): A passerby heard the sounds and helped free the mother and daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just came to take my car when I heard women hitting and screaming. I opened the door and two women came out. They were a little dirty. I was happy. They said, "Thank you".

VANDOORNE (voice-over): A chance encounter that may have saved their lives.

DRAN: After their release, and it's important to say this, no ransom was paid.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Police officers have made six arrests in this case, with one being a minor. So, what is the crypto connection and why are kidnappers increasingly demanding in bitcoin or other currencies instead of cash?

Some say it's the belief that crypto is untraceable, anonymous, a perfect vehicle for moving stolen money across borders without detection.

RENAUD LIFCHITZ, IT SECURITY EXPERT: It's very hard to spend the crypto on cities stolen because crypto works on a blockchain, and the blockchain is a public registry where everything is visible. Everything is trackable.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Every bitcoin transaction is recorded on a public ledger. Every movement of money leaves a digital fingerprint. Law enforcement can see it. Blockchain analysts can trace it.

The reality is the opposite of what the kidnappers assumed. In the meantime, French authorities continue to confront a rising threat.

Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE) TAPPER: Saskya Vandoorne, thank you so much.

Let's bring in Bezalel Eitan Raviv. He is the CEO of Lionsgate Network, which is a blockchain forensics and cryptocurrency recovery firm.

So, Bezalel, thanks so much for joining us.

We just heard about arrests made in a crypto linked kidnapping in France. And you say cryptocurrency is not contrary to popular opinion, not some untraceable payday that criminals might think. Explain why.

BEZALEL EITHAN RAVIV, CEO, LIONSGATE NETWORK: Because it's recorded on a public ledger and everyone can see it. And it takes an expertise to trace it and recover it, and this is exactly what we are seeing right now. We're seeing cyber criminals enjoying the fact that few people speak the blockchain language. And of course, law enforcement is not enjoying this so much because they have neglected a lot of cases where crypto is the crime and now we're paying the price.

TAPPER: You also say just one simple transaction can provide useful data. What types of details can you learn from these transactions?

RAVIV: There's a lot of data we can mine from just exposing the crypto wallet. So, the moment we have the crypto wallet, we at Lionsgate Network are able to trace and mine a lot of information and provide it to law enforcement officials. Remember that whenever you send a single cent or $1 million, we can present evidence to its current location, even if it has been dispersed in millions of pieces.

[18:50:10]

So, effectively, if you are creating or generating a crime around and when crypto is involved, then you should know that we are able to trace it, we just need more effective law enforcement to take charge and supercharge the operation that they can do where we have no word, the seizure, the subpoena, all of the back end legal and law enforcement related operation.

TAPPER: So, let's talk about the bitcoin wallet that was reportedly set up to receive the $6 million ransom demanded of the Guthrie family, although we still don't even know if the kidnapper is related to the person that did this ransom.

Can you tell whether the owner of that bitcoin wallet is located in the United States? What can you tell about that person?

RAVIV: We can tell nothing about that person because we don't have the wallet address. The wallet address is cloaked and is at the hand of law enforcement agencies. So, until we have the wallet address, there's no information or dialog we can conduct.

What we can do, if we have the wallet, we could have probed it by sending a single cent, which would basically reveal to us all kind of information that would reveal more than the suspect behind the scenes would have wanted. And this is something we are very eager to do but again, we don't have the first sentence to complete the conversation.

TAPPER: Bezalel Eithan Raviv, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time and expertise.

The trauma that the Guthrie family is likely going through every day that this search goes on, we're going to get to the emotional side of this harrowing case. That's next.

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[18:56:12]

TAPPER: In our national lead, the nightmare images of a masked armed intruder at Nancy Guthrie's door in the middle of the night are startling and upsetting to us all.

Joining us now to discuss is Shari Botwin, a trauma expert and licensed social worker who has written extensively on healing from trauma.

Shari, I can't imagine what the Guthrie are going through right now, though it must be conflicting emotions to a degree. They got the first break in the case in ten days, but still that nightmare image -- talk about that, if you could.

SHARI BOTWIN, LICENSED CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER: That nightmare image is one they're never going to be able to get out of their head, but at the same time, there may be a little bit of hope because now at least they have a face and they can see something actually happen, and now they can focus on finding this person.

TAPPER: For our viewers, the idea that this armed intruder can just walk up to the home of a kind, 84-year-old woman with limited mobility, makes them feel vulnerable. What advice would you give them as they're watching this horrific story unfold?

BOTWIN: For anyone watching this story, it is really important to understand and know what is happening. But for anyone that knows Nancy or loves Savannah and the siblings to remember that it's okay to see the images but once you've seen it, don't keep watching it over and over.

You can't get those images out of your head, and we're going to see them over and over because we really -- we want to find this person. But you say to yourself, I saw the image. I saw what that person looked like. Now, I'm going to do whatever I can to try and help, even if whether it's somebody in the neighborhood or somebody that knows Nancy or people that are friends with Savannah and her siblings.

It's about focusing on catching him and trying to capture the image but not stay in the horror of it, because it's absolutely horrific.

TAPPER: These images will hopefully lead to identifying a suspect and potentially locating Nancy Guthrie, and we all hope, of course, she'll be returned to her home in a healthy and well condition. Do you think that these images, as horrifying as they are, do you

think that they might provide hope in some weird, alter -- you know, twisted way?

BOTWIN: You know, it's not weird. I think that when you're experiencing this kind of trauma, you grasp at straws. They for nine days have not known anything about who this person is where this person came from, the idea that they can have that image and say, well, now we know we're looking for somebody. There is hope in that, and there's no reason for them to lose hope, because until we find out that there's no hope left, they need to stay connected to hope.

And I think today for this family, even though I haven't spoken to them, I imagine that they are reeling and horrified. But I think that they also may feel a tiny bit of relief, because maybe they're going to find out now what happened to her.

TAPPER: Yeah, and hopefully, she'll be returned to them safely. Sherri Botwin, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

The video release here has been a major story, and if you think you recognize this person seen in the image on your screen right now, if you have any information that can help in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, if that reminds you in some way of somebody you know, please call the Pima County sheriff's department, 520-351-4900, 520-351-4900, or call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. You can also reach the agency online at tips.FBI.gov.

You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram and Threads and Bluesky and X and TikTok @jaketapper. You can follow the show on X, Instagram @TheLeadCNN.

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"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.