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Mother of Savannah Guthrie Missing; Liam Ramos Freed From Detention; Partial Government Shutdown; House to Hold Clintons in Contempt?. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired February 02, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Amazon spent $40 million to buy the film and another $35 million to market it. Ticket sales reflected the red-blue divide in America. Industry sources tell CNN the top-performing markets, including Dallas, Orlando, Tampa, Phoenix and West Palm Beach.

Thanks for joining INSIDE POLITICS today.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Holding the Clintons in contempt, a key vote coming up that could decide if the former president and secretary of state, Bill and Hillary Clinton, will face consequences for defying a congressional subpoena.

Plus, a Lone Star State upset -- why a single Texas state Senate seat is giving Democrats hope for the midterms, as it worries Republicans.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And a plea to the public. Investigators are asking for help in learning what happened to the missing mother of "Today Show" anchor Savannah Guthrie, as police describe her home as a crime scene.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We begin this hour with new fallout over the Epstein files.

This week, we could see the House vote to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress. Both have refused to testify in the House Oversight Committee's Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

The upcoming vote coincides with last week's release of millions of new files on Epstein. Notably, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying of that release, there is nothing in there to prosecute anybody.

Let's go live with the White House with CNN's Kristen Holmes.

Kristen, what else did we hear from Blanche? KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, and

this is going to be disappointing to a lot of people who were hoping that people would be held accountable, particularly after the release of all of these documents.

Now, it's not that surprising, given what we have seen from both the White House and the administration, that they have been desperately trying to move on from the Epstein saga that has really taken over the narrative of President Trump's second term.

Now, Attorney General -- or Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that despite the fact that there was so much disturbing material there, they were not going to be bringing any extra charges.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, U.S. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: I can't talk about any investigations, but I will say the following, which is that in July the Department of Justice said that we had reviewed the files, the -- quote -- "Epstein files," and there was nothing in there that allowed us to prosecute anybody.

Now, there's a lot of correspondence. There's a lot of e-mails. There's a lot of photographs. There's a lot of horrible photographs that appear to be taken by Mr. Epstein or people around him. But that doesn't allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, of course, again, there's a lot of people who are likely to be disappointed by this news.

We all have gone through a lot of those documents, and they are incredibly disturbing. Now, President Trump said that, even though he is mentioned more than 1,000 times in this latest batch, that these documents absolve him. That's what he told reporters on the plane over the weekend.

But it's still clearly getting under his skin because today he was threatening to sue Trevor Noah for a quip that Noah made at the Grammys last night over the Epstein files and Epstein's island.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

Kristen, lawyers for some of Epstein's survivors have also asked judges to force DOJ to take down some of what's been released in part because there have been thousands of redaction failures, names of victims that were supposed to be blacked out that were actually published.

On top of that, you also have some new "New York Times" reporting about nude photos that were apparently released as part of this. What are you hearing?

HOLMES: Yes, Boris, I mean, this is really egregious.

According to "The New York Times," they went through these millions of documents and found at least 40 images, nude images that included no redactions, included faces. They seemed to be part of Epstein's personal file. And since then, the Department of Justice has taken them down after they were flagged to them by "The New York Times."

Of course, how long were they up there before they came down? And we did get this statement just moments ago from the Justice Department spokesperson, who said: "The Justice Department takes victim protection very seriously and has redacted thousands of victims' names in the millions of published pages to protect the innocent.

"The department had 500 reviewers looking at millions of pages for this very reason to meet the requirement of the act while protecting victims. When a victim's name is alleged to be unredacted, our team is working around the clock to fix the issue and republish appropriately redacted pages as soon as possible. To date, 0.1 percent of released pages have been found to have victim-identifying information unredacted."

[13:05:04]

I do just want to make one thing very clear, Boris. Even if it's just 0.1 percent, I mean, these are people's lives. There are a lot of victims who didn't want to be publicly associated with this, who didn't want their name out there.

Of course, we have seen those victims who were out there and the public face of this, but that is not all of Epstein's victims. So even if it's just 0.1 percent, that is too much to these people who have been trying to move on with their lives and now being publicly exposed here in these documents.

SANCHEZ: Kristen Holmes, thank you so much for that update from the White House -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Happening now. We're following the latest developments on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers are racing to avoid another prolonged government shutdown.

Speaker Mike Johnson says he's confident the House can send a Senate- passed funding package to President Trump's desk by tomorrow. Senators agreed to a deal over the weekend that would fund most of the government until September, but it only funds the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks to give both parties some time to negotiate reforms to immigration enforcement.

We're joined now by CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju.

Manu, we're just a few hours away from a key vote on this funding package. Where do things stand?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's really uncertain, Brianna. This government shutdown, it could be over tomorrow. It could be

extended for days. We really don't have -- and, remember, this started on Saturday. So this is -- will it go 43 days? That seems unlikely. But the way that this is going to play out is, the speaker plans to begin the process this afternoon.

The House committee is going to take up the first procedural step to bring up this package. Tomorrow is going to be the key day. That's what he's going to have to bring to the floor the first procedural vote on the House floor. This is the catch. He has to get all Republicans, nearly every single Republican, to vote for that, because the Democrats are saying, we're not going to help you here in the House.

This is up to Mike Johnson to get his conference in line. And what we have seen time and time again, he's very much struggling to do so in this very narrow majority. And now he's going to have one vote he can lose. And there are a number of Republicans who are concerned about various aspects of this package. They say they're going to oppose it.

Will they decide to defy him? It's most likely going to take Donald Trump himself to get on the phone with these members, strong-arm them, pressure them to fall in line. Oftentimes, he's successful in doing that in the House. But it could be a very bumpy ride until we get there.

And if he does not get the votes, Brianna, Mike Johnson, tomorrow, then he's going to have to go back to the House, Democrats, and they're going to demand a pound of flesh for their votes.

KEILAR: Certainly, at least, right?

RAJU: Yes.

KEILAR: So what about Democrats? Is the Senate leader, Chuck Schumer, in line here with the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries?

RAJU: This has been a really fascinating dynamic, because, remember, this deal was cut by Chuck Schumer and the White House last week.

We also saw Donald Trump back off of his demands, really capitulate to what Chuck Schumer wanted, which was to separate out this Homeland Security funding package as part of the larger deal to fund most of the federal government through September. He wanted a short-term deal for DHS funding.

He got that for two weeks to allow for time to negotiate a larger package to rein in ICE, everything from ending roving patrols to requiring the ICE officers to wear body cameras to force them to take off their masks, changing how they get judicial warrants, changing use of force policies.

He wanted all that to be part of a separate negotiation that would happen over the next two weeks. And then what does Hakeem Jeffries do on Saturday? He calls up Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, and he says, we're not going to help you pass this bill by Monday night on a fast-track basis. You got to get the votes on your own.

But the reason why is not necessarily because Jeffries and Schumer, I'm told, are in different places strategically, is that Jeffries was not part of this negotiation between Schumer and the White House. And the message that they're sending Republicans is that, if you do want our votes, you need to negotiate with us, and then we will lay out our demands, which shows you, if that happens, this shutdown could drag on for some time.

KEILAR: All right, Manu, thank you very much.

And still to come: What is next for 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his father? The Trump administration says it may appeal a federal judge's ruling ordering the pair's release from a detention facility.

Plus, the mother of "Today Show" anchor Savannah Guthrie has now been missing for more than 36 hours, and police say they're now treating this disappearance as more of a criminal investigation, rather than a missing person's case.

Then, later, some brand-new reporting about President Trump's sudden plan to close the Kennedy Center and whether renovations are really what's prompting it.

We have that and much coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: To critics, his young face in a bunny hat has become the symbol of what they view as the Trump administration's overreach on immigration; 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian, are now back in Minneapolis after a federal judge ordered their release.

The two left Texas yesterday, where they'd been held at a family immigration detention center. Homeland Security officials say that Adrian entered the country illegally. His attorneys counter that, saying that the Ecuadorian national was following the legal process of seeking asylum.

In his ruling, the federal judge issued several severe rebukes of the federal government, even referring to a -- quote -- "perfidious lust for unbridled power bereft of human decency." The judge ended his order with a viral image of Liam and a reference to two Bible verses.

One says -- quote -- "Jesus said, let the children come to me." The other reads: "And Jesus wept."

CNN's Whitney Wild joins us now with the latest on this case.

So, Whitney, what is next for Liam and his father?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: That is simply not clear, Boris. DOJ has made clear that they may consider possibly appealing the

judge's order. As you pointed out, that judge's order was short, but it was sharp. And, Boris, it also mentioned that that court and others have sent undocumented immigrants to prison and deported them before, but not like this.

[13:15:16]

It was really the process that the judge took serious issue with and said that administrative warrants do not mean that there is probable cause, and saying that, if that were the case, then that would be the fox guarding the henhouse.

DOJ did not respond directly to the judge's comments, but said this over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLANCHE: The immigration law, the body of immigration law, is much different than our typical criminal process, because of the administrative nature of what we do every day.

And so to the extent that we need to appeal that judge's decision, I promise we will.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC "THIS WEEK" ANCHOR: To clarify, the lawyer for Liam Ramos and his father say they were following the legal process for asylum.

BLANCHE: I don't know what that means. There's a very meaningful dispute about whether they had properly applied for asylum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Boris, that -- those comments from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche over the weekend, again, make clear that it is possible that DOJ will appeal that judge's ruling, but we have not yet heard if they have made any actual movement toward filing that appeal.

So their fate is still very much in question while they are sitting at home in Minnesota, Boris.

SANCHEZ: And, Whitney, separately, there is some new reporting regarding the shooting death of Alex Pretti and the federal officers involved in that killing. What is that reporting?

WILD: ProPublica is reporting the names of those two agents and providing more information on their background, saying that the first is a Border Patrol agent who joined that agency in 2018.

The second is a Customs and Border Protection officer who joined that agency in 2014. That Customs and Border Protection officer is also a member of their special response team. That's basically a SWAT team. Both men are from South Texas.

DHS would not confirm the names of those two officers, saying that these attempts to dox these officers and agents working on these immigration cases present a real risk not only to the agents, but to their families, saying that this matter remains under investigation, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Whitney Wild, thank you so much for that reporting.

Up next, a concerning update in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today Show" host Savannah Guthrie, as police say their search has moved from a missing person's case to a criminal investigation.

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KEILAR: Right now, authorities are pleading for the community's help in finding the mother of NBC's "Today Show" host Savannah Guthrie.

Eighty-four-year-old Nancy Guthrie was last seen Saturday night near her home in suburban Tucson, Arizona. The sheriff saying a short time ago that they are treating her home as a crime scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS NANOS, PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA, SHERIFF: So we have shut down our search-and-rescue mission. Right now, we don't see this as a search mission as much as we do a crime scene.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Josh Campbell is with us with details on this.

Josh, what more are we learning from the Pima County sheriff?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, this has certainly taken a dire direction.

What began as a missing person's case is now being called a crime by the sheriff. As you mentioned there, they are saying that the home where Nancy Guthrie lived is now being considered a crime scene. Authorities gave an update just a short time ago. They didn't get into specifics about what they found at the home, but they say that it is concerning enough.

And they are still trying to determine where she is. Of course, the question is raised, if it's a crime, committed by whom? Authorities haven't released any information about a possible suspect either. The sheriff did go out of his way to say that, look, this is not a dementia case, someone who they believe wandered off.

But I'll let you hear from the sheriff. He said that time right now is of the essence. They are essentially racing against the clock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANOS: This is a 84-year-old lady who suffers from some physical ailments, has some physical challenges, is in need of medication, medication that, if she doesn't have in 24 hours, it could be fatal. We need her back. We need to find her. And time is very critical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, authorities are appealing to the public, especially neighbors in and around that Tucson area, to check any type of home surveillance footage they might have.

Authorities say they are also using license plate readers in order to try to identify any possible suspect vehicle, but still a lot of questions and a lot of concern. No indication from officials there that they have any idea right now, Brianna, where she is.

KEILAR: And officials are staying tight-lipped about why they're treating this as a crime scene.

CAMPBELL: They are.

And there's always this calculation that law enforcement has to undergo whenever there's a suspect potentially at large and obviously a victim that they're looking for as well. That's how much do you keep close to the vest and how much do you release in order to help the public possibly act on that information.

It is clear right now that, whatever they found at that home, they are not yet prepared to disclose, and, again, not that unusual when authorities are trying to zero in on a possible suspect. They obviously want to get the jump on that person if they are able to identify who may be responsible for this alleged crime.

[13:25:10]

But, thus far, they're just creating just general awareness, asking people if they have any tips, if they have seen anything to pick up the phone and call law enforcement, and, again, really going out of the way to ask citizens there to proactively search anything that they may have at their own homes, video and the like, if they remember seeing anyone driving around that area.

They want to hear from everyone. They say that no tip is too small right now.

KEILAR: All right, Josh Campbell, thank you so much. Of course, we're praying that Nancy Guthrie is home safe and sound.

We do have some new reporting about how the Department of Justice plans to ramp up probes into those who investigated President Trump. We will have that next.

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