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Trump Calls to Nationalize Elections After FBI Search in Georgia; Sheriff Says, Savannah Guthrie's Mother Abducted from Her Bed; House GOP Moves to Tee Up Passage of Government Funding Bill. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 03, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, take it over, nationalize the vote, or at least in 15 unnamed states that Trump believes he should have won but did not in 2020. Why the president is now calling to upend the Constitution when it comes to U.S. elections and what does DNI Tulsi Gabbard have to do with it?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, the search intensifies for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today Show Anchor Savannah Guthrie. Investigators are now saying evidence found in the 84-year-old's home leads them to believe she was abducted from her bed.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And a huge explosion at a mental health center with dozens of people inside. New reporting this morning on what might have caused the blast.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: So, this morning, ahead of this year's midterm elections, President Trump is now saying something like the quiet part out loud, now calling on Republicans to nationalize elections, taking over voting in more than a dozen states is what he would like to see. It is all rooted in his continued disdain over the 2020 election results, which he continues to falsely claim that he won.

I'm going to play for you what he told podcaster Dan Bongino, the same Dan Bongino that until almost moments ago was Trump's deputy FBI director.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: The Republicans should say, we want to take over -- we should take over the voting in at least many -- 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.

And then we have states that are so crooked and they're counting votes. We have states that I won that show I didn't win. Now, you're going to see something in Georgia where they were able to get with a court order, the ballots. You're going to see some interesting things come out. But, you know, like the 2020 election, I won that election by so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The Constitution explicitly gives the power to establish the times, places, and manner of holding elections to states, not the federal government. We've gone over this many, many a time since 2020, of course, but add this new move now to what we are already seeing happening on the ground. Fulton County, Georgia, right there. The FBI searched an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, seized 2020 ballots. There are a lot of questions about not just what they were doing there, but why the director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was on site during the operation. Sources now tell CNN Gabbard even put the president on the phone with some of the FBI agents who carried out the search. Gabbard now saying the president asked her to be there and that during the call, he did not ask any questions of the agents nor give any orders.

CNN's Alayna Treene is live at the White House to start us off this morning with much more. What now?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. Look, I mean, there is a common through line between what we are seeing play out with what happened in Georgia last week, but then also the president's comments here, which is that he's continuing, Kate, to sow distrust in America's election system and the integrity of the United States elections.

There is no secret, of course, that the president has long had this deep distressed himself of the United States' election process. He's often said that if, like you mentioned, a falsely claimed that he won the 2020 election, but he also has continued even as president in his second term to argue that Democrats are trying to find different ways to, you know, have fraudulent elections in the country, specifically this idea of trying to prop up undocumented immigrants to vote in elections, something, of course, where there is no evidence of this, it's a vast conspiracy.

But I do want to go back because we've seen a couple things that the president has done. You mentioned one of the big ones, of course, some of the news dominating headlines this week, which is the FBI agents seizing ballots and other voting records from the 2020 election from that election center in Fulton County, Georgia, where Tulsi Gabbard, the national -- the director of National Intelligence, was present.

But we've seen some other things as well. We know that the Justice Department is demanding that several states, including Minnesota, turn over their full voter rolls as the Trump administration is trying to build this national voter file.

[07:05:02]

We also know the president tried earlier last year, I should say, actually. In March, he signed an executive order that tried to make significant changes to the electoral process, some of it including requiring documentary proof of citizenship and demanding that all mail ballots received by the times that polls close on Election Day. He has been rebuffed in some of those moves by the courts. But, again, it also speaks to this idea of the president continuing to want to have the Trump administration really exert some of its control over this process.

Now, to get back to the main issue of nationalizing elections, that, of course is not allowed by the Constitution. And already I've been hearing from some Republicans in my conversations that this is just not what they want to be talking about. I'd remind you that Republicans are big about having states' rights, moving power away from a centralized government. This is obviously the opposite of that. It's also, again, against the Constitution. They would rather be talking using this time before the midterm elections about the issues they know they need to work on, including affordability and pricing and selling some of the accomplishments from their legislation over the past year or so. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Alayna Treene starting us off at the White House, thank you so much, Alayna. Sara?

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate.

A desperate search is underway now for the mother of NBC Today Show Anchor Savannah Guthrie. Authorities say they believe 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie was abducted from her home on Saturday night. She was reported missing when she didn't show up for church the next day. Investigators are analyzing DNA evidence now found at the scene.

On Instagram, Guthrie posted a thank you to supporters and asked for prayers. She also wrote in part, raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment. Bring her home.

Joining us now is CNN Senior National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem.

So, the sheriff says that there's evidence that indicates that she was taken from her bed against her will, but won't say anything more about the details, which is not unusual because they have to keep some information in order to do the investigation properly. But what would they have seen that would indicate that?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, they the home may have been disrupted, things may have been on the floor. The door may have been open or smashed open. So, they've got -- unfortunately, they've got plenty of evidence that would lead them to make this public conclusion that this was, of course, against her will. And now the investigation will go to, why is that?

Nancy Guthrie was a bit of a public figure to the extent that she appeared with her daughter, who is, you know, obviously quite famous and in journalism. So, they're going to be looking at, I think, two pieces here. One would be any relation to her daughter or anyone who sort of tied them. And then the other is -- then the other is going to be, you know, regarding whether this was related, unrelated to anything but someone taking advantage of an elderly woman. This happens, unfortunately, a lot. So, there's -- unfortunately, all we know is that this was against her will and time is pressing. The sooner that they get her, the better. The longer it takes, the more, you know, the more bad things that can happen.

SIDNER: Yes. I mean, it's really, really disturbing for her to just sort of all of a sudden be gone and not make it to church the next morning.

I do want to ask you, you know, some folks would jump to the conclusion, which is a natural conclusion that her famous daughter that she was well known, that maybe this is some sort of ransom attempt to sort of kidnap and get money. But authorities are saying, look, we don't believe that's what this is, but we are not ruling anything out. What do you make of that?

KAYYEM: I believe that they would only say that if they have some working theory of what is going on. Look, the implication of someone going after a reporter's mother is quite terrifying for all reporters, all people who are public figures. Sometimes, unfortunately, this happens that someone has taken advantage of or someone knows that she's living alone. It's rarer to have this kind of kidnapping as compared to a robbery. And then maybe there are ransom requests going forward, we just simply wouldn't know or being requested at this stage.

But I think what the police wanted to do is to make it clear that this might not have a bigger meaning related to, you know, the sort of threats that many journalists face. But we don't know that yet, and that is why I think this is -- it's not only a national story because of Savannah Guthrie, but because -- you know, because all reporters and public figures worry about their family.

[07:10:02]

SIDNER: Yes. Juliette, I just want to remind people what they can do, and there is a tip line that you can go to and call. We want to remind people that if they've seen anything, that, if have any idea of what could have transpired here to call this tip line, 520-351-4900. There is also a Q.R. code that you can use. But, again, that tip line, 520- 351-4900, or you can use your phone here and go to the tip line. But, again, Nancy Guthrie has gone missing and police believe there is foul play.

Thank you so much for walking us through that right now, and our hearts go out to the family, especially to Savannah, who's probably having to report on this as well and deal with this as well. Thank you so much, Juliette. All right, John?

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, police raided some of the offices of X or Twitter, Elon Musk's social media network. New reporting on what they were looking for.

And overnight, Don Lemon goes on Jimmy Kimmel, new details on what he says happened at the time of his arrest.

And a state trooper walks away from a crash after a truck slammed into his cruiser during a traffic stop.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, a House vote could come as soon as today to end the partial government shutdown. Republican holdouts now appear to be backing down after meeting with President Trump at the White House. Speaker Mike Johnson can only afford to lose one Republican on any party line vote now.

With us now, Congressional Reporter at Axios Stephen Neukam. Sir, great to see you this morning. What does this tell us about President Trump's power? I should be clear, it does look like now that this rule will pass, which will begin the process to end this government shutdown. This is what President Trump wanted right now. What does it tell us about his power over Republican?

STEPHEN NEUKAM, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, AXIOS: Yes, good morning. I think we should always, it's important to pay attention to, you know, these sort of loyalty tests, especially in election years. I mean, this is a year, which, at the end of it, Republicans are going to face voters in a really tough political environment. I think if -- you know, if you were prognosticating, you would say that Democrats have, you know, a pretty good chance of taking back the House and even a chance of taking back the Senate.

But as you said, you know, it looks like the president, after being involved in this pressure campaign, we know he was working the phones yesterday afternoon, last night. He is moving some Republicans into this yes category to get this government funding bill across the finish line in the House.

BERMAN: Oh, it appears as if Stephen --

NEUKAM: The speaker has a very fine margin.

BERMAN: All right. And, Stephen, you froze there for a second. Hopefully, you'll be able to hear me and answer this next question here.

They may get through today. In the government, these six agencies may reopen as soon as today. But what happens over the next ten days because Homeland Security is only funded for another ten days? Democrats want all kinds of changes. Are they going to get them?

NEUKAM: Well, it opens up a really critical two-week, ten-day, two- week span for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has declared that Democrats will not continue to fund ICE at the levels that it's funded without reforms. And the Democratic base and the grassroots are going to want Chuck Schumer and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to get changes, extract changes from the White House. And if they don't, then they need to be willing from the basis perspective to shut down DHS in two weeks' time. So, that's the fight that we've got ahead of us over the next two weeks. And I will just say, given the preliminary conversations, the timing on the Hill, it seems very unlikely at this point that there's a deal between Democrats and the White House that can get through Congress on DHS funding in two weeks' time.

BERMAN: So, technically speaking, DHS could very well be shut down just two weeks from now. Stephen Neukam, thank you so much for sharing your reporting from Axios on this. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Thank you John.

Just ahead, a rare face-to-face meeting between top U.S. and Iranian leaders, what we expect as Iran tentatively agrees to resume nuclear talks.

And will Lindsey Vonn compete in the Winter Olympics after her crash? What we could know just a bit later today, we will find out the answer potentially.

Those stories and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

SIDNER: It was Super Bowl opening night in the Bay Area.

Carolyn Manno joins us now. It was business as usual, mixed in with a little bit of humor. I've never done this. I don't know how. I've never gone to this. This is much fun.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: We got to get you to one of these.

SIDNER: Yes.

MANNO: You would be great at one of these. It's become a Super Bowl hallmark. I mean, three hours sports chaos, what could be better than Sara Sidner and sports chaos features everything from serious football questions to all these quirky interviews that Sara was just mentioning in the official kickoff to Super Bowl 60 taking place at the San Jose Convention Center, where the opening night media circuits officially introduced the world to this year's contenders.

Seahawks Quarterback Sam Darnold, Patriots Quarterback Drake Maye, they were the focal points. Darnold speaking about how redemptive this season has been with his fifth NFL team while 23-year-old Drake Maye touched on potentially becoming the youngest NFL quarterback to win the sport's biggest prize,

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DRAKE MAYE, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK: Man, I think it'd mean the most just for this team. I think, you know, the stat of the youngest or if I was the oldest, just being a chance to win the Super Bowl in general is what I'm most, you know, worried about and knowing that this team, how far we've come, and just not to come this far, just to come this far and make it worthwhile.

SAM DARNOLD, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS QUARTERBACK: For me, personally, like I really, I don't think it's anything more than just doing my job every single day. I don't think about anything else. I just, you know, think I have a job to do and I have a job to do every single day. And if I can lock in on that, you know, I won't have time to think about any other, you know, B.S. I guess that I might be able to think about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: This is a rare year with two of the biggest sporting events in the world overlapping, from touchdowns to triple corks, to the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics officially kicking off this Friday. And our Andy Scholes had some fun asking players which Olympic sport they would compete in if they could.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hockey.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hockey? Are you good Hockey player?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've skated since I was three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I had to choose, it'd probably be bobsled.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the bobsled?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Skiing? Is that a winter sport?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Snowboarding would be fun. I've never done it. But I'd be willing to try it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me about a year, I could be really good at curling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Honestly, no, there isn't one. I don't think I'd be good at any Winter Olympic sport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: And, Sara, I know you mentioned Lindsey Vonn. We're waiting for a press conference today at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time from Milan Cortina for an update on how she's doing. She crashed in her last downhill before the Olympics, devastating setback for the 41-year-old. She's always optimistic. She continues to be optimistic.

[07:25:00]

So, hopefully, we'll learn a little bit more about what's going to be possible for her over the next couple of days.

But what winter Olympic sport do you think you would take part in? Any?

SIDNER: Yes, I would like to do the ski jumping. MANNO: Oh, okay, yes.

SIDNER: because I feel like even if I crashed, it would be cool to fly for a few seconds.

MANNO: Okay.

SIDNER: I'm sure I'd come down hard.

MANNO: Yes.

SIDNER: It would be a bad scene but I'd enjoy the seconds that I was in the air.

MANNO: Got it.

SIDNER: That's what I do.

Carol, thank you so much. I'm not sure who to go for, because, obviously, I want to be kind to my friend and colleague, John Berman, about who wins a Super Bowl, and I dislike the Seahawk so much because they beat the Rams. So, I think I might go for the Pats this time, which really hurts my heart.

MANNO: That's nice for everybody in the studio.

SIDNER: It is. Maybe, I don't know. Kate?

BOLDUAN: We'll see how that all pans out, guys.

Ahead for us, former CNN Anchor Don Lemon sits down with Jimmy Kimmel to detail what happened around his arrest for just covering an anti- ICE protest in Minneapolis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: And I pressed the elevator button and these, and all of a sudden I feel myself being jostled and people trying to grab me and put me in handcuffs and I said, what are you doing here? And they said we came to arrest you. And I said, who are you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Much more on what Don is detailing and what happens next, that's coming up.

And the verdict is in. A jury finds Brendan Banfield guilty of murdering his wife and another man in that elaborate scheme that he hatched with the family's au pair. What he is now facing at sentencing.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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