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Sheriff Says a Lot of Leads From Public Tips on Nancy Guthrie Case, No Clue if Multiple People Involved in Guthrie Disappearance; House GOP Passes Bill to Reopen Government, Temporarily Fund ICE; Ex- ambassador to U.S. Quits U.K.'s House of Lords Over Epstein Ties; Suspect in Charlie Kirk Murder to Appear in Court Soon; Lawmakers to Hear Testimony About Aggressive DHS Encounters Soon; Governor Walz Says DHS Shifting Focus of Immigration Crackdown Onto Schools. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired February 03, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": -- tracks or footprints. He seemed to indicate there were none unless he was just indicating he wasn't going to answer the question. But the way he answered it was to say there weren't any.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

KEILAR: And he was saying that there's not -- he's not saying there's blood inside or outside the house although the Los Angeles Times has reported, citing law enforcement sources, that there was some blood evidence.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Yeah, scant information there coming from Sheriff Chris Nanos, essentially saying that at this point, they don't have any identifying information of what Nancy may have been wearing or anything that could help the public identify her.

Further, they don't know how many people may have been involved in this abduction, nor whether she may still be in the area, whether they suspect she may be, have been moved elsewhere.

We did hear from John Edwards, an FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge, saying that they're looking at this from every angle, the FBI offering technical and analytical support. But that right now, they really need the public's help in figuring out where to head next in this case.

We have some experts with us, Josh Campbell and Jonathan Wackrow. First to you, Josh, what stands out to you from what you just heard from the sheriff and the special agent in charge of the FBI there?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is important to know. What we just saw there was the exasperation, I think, that law enforcement often feels in the middle of these investigations. And to be sure, the public as well is exasperated. Obviously, the Guthrie family, they want answers. They want to know where she is. But, you know, I think we live in this information age where we want instant answers. And I can tell you, you know, I've been in law enforcement, and Jonathan has as well. Oftentimes, there are these unrealistic expectations that the public sometimes has, fueled by you know, shows like 24 and CSI. There's actually a term called the 'CSI effect', where people think that things get done just so quickly. You can instantly uplink and download a video or run a DNA match on something.

These things take time, and we're in that period right now, where you can sense the exasperation there from the sheriff and law enforcement officers. Essentially, they've gathered a lot of information. It's now with third parties who are assisting them to try to process that.

I talked to a law enforcement source who said that one key thing they were focusing on was actually processing video camera footage from inside that home. But as the sheriff mentioned, that's something that the law enforcement agency may not have a proprietary ability to do that, so they send it to the company, bring them on board to try to access that information. And again, a lot of that just takes time.

It's frustrating, but that is exactly what we're seeing. There's another characteristic of this incident that we also have to keep in mind, and that is the relatively remote location where this is. Our colleague, Ed Lavandera, has been there. He drove around there in the evening time. It is sparse. I mean, it's not like a big city, obviously, where you might have there's a video there.

You're not going to have ring doorbell cameras near every single roadway that's there, nor license plate readers like a lot of major metropolitan areas will have in large quantity. And so, that's what they're dealing with. These are the realities of what's happening on the ground as far as where this took place.

That said, again, they continue to appeal to the public for information. If people may have seen something, if they obviously observed Ms. Guthrie anywhere in and around that area, they want people to pick up the phone and call 911. There's a lot of this stuff that's happening behind the scene.

It is frustrating. I get it. I'll end with this by saying that, I can tell you, I haven't (ph) worked in kidnap investigations. There are few worse feelings in the world than when the sun goes down and you know you're calling it a day. Your team is exhausted. You have to -- you have people that are continuing to work through the night.

But at some point, you realize that you have a victim out there who might still be being held against their will. That is a gutting feeling. That's something that certainly law enforcement is certainly feeling there.

But we know that there's a large team. There are a lot of people that are there. So this doesn't appear they are not getting the job done. Sometimes you just don't have the leads.

KEILAR: Yeah. Let's go to Ed Lavandera. Thank you, Josh, for that. If you could stay with us. Ed, you were there. We saw your footage. This is a very dark area. But also, there appear to have been cameras and questions about whether a camera is missing, questions about why it's taking so long to get some of that video evidence.

Tell us what you have seen in the area and what the expectation is from people there about what kind of evidence can and cannot be gleaned.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, I think one of the difficult things in this situation is that you have a really large window of time where they're asking people to go through what they have.

So she's last seen around 9:30, 9:45 p.m. Saturday at her home after she had been dropped off. And then it's not until about 12 hours later that church members call, reach out to the family, saying she hasn't shown up. And then a search begins there in the area.

So, we're looking at a 12-hour window where we don't have a lot of information right now as to what exactly has happened.

[14:05:00]

And I asked the sheriff if there's anything that could help people pinpoint maybe a specific time and say, I have a ring camera. I'm going to go look at three in the morning or two in the morning. And he was very hesitant to do that because he didn't want to narrow the window down. I think they're trying to keep the floodgates open, if you will, for as much information as possible.

So, they clearly did say they are getting some video. Obviously, they've brought in FBI teams to help them analyze the video, cell phone tower information. So they're doing -- they're getting something. They're getting a lot of that kind of work.

But what struck me as I drove and I wanted to drive through this neighborhood at night because this would have been the scene that whoever is behind this would have been driving through. And I was incredibly struck by just how much you could not see.

So, this is not a traditional neighborhood where you have a row of homes very close to each other, close to a sidewalk. There are no sidewalks. The houses are very spread apart. It's very secluded, off of the main road. You have to drive through -- wind your way through a number of roads to get to where Nancy Guthrie lives.

And I think that's one of the reasons why, at least when you kind of take all of that into account, that perhaps this doesn't feel random in nature. That, you know, it's like it's just -- this isn't a place where you end up by accident, at least on the surface. And of course, I say this as like kind of speculation as we're trying to analyze the evidence and the information, and kind of put it into the best context possible for people following this story.

But, it could very well have been random. We just don't know. So, but the views from inside that neighborhood are very limited. It's incredibly dark. The houses are spread apart. It's very hilly. So, you can be at one house and the property next door might be above or below you.

So the views that cameras on front porches, I think, are going to give will be extremely limited. But despite all of that, they are still urging people to continue doing. I mean, I think they feel right now, at this point, it's going to be some sort of clip of video, something that captures a car, maybe a license plate at an odd time of our hour -- time of that 12-hour window that triggers something for these investigators piece together with another piece of information.

So, but clearly, the sheriff, the bottom line says they have no idea where she is at that point. And that is the terrifying thing for the Guthrie family at this moment.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, no doubt. Ed, please stand by. Let's go to Jonathan Wackrow. Jonathan, how do you read what we just heard from officials there in Pima County?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Boris, you know, frustration is the theme of the day. Frustration from law enforcement. Obviously, they are waiting for more items of evidentiary value to present themselves through different forensics. They're out canvassing the neighborhood.

They're trying to piece together video. We're hearing that the time horizon in the expectations are extending. You heard from the sheriff just how frustrating, in his voice, this situation is for him.

We then heard the pressure that's coming from the press and the media in that press conference, really looking for answers. And unfortunately, this press conference really left us with more questions than answers. Right?

There was really no new information provided. There was no more detail of the information that was previously provided. There was no rationale for why is this residence considered a crime scene? We did not get confirmation, even though it was asked if blood was found at the scene, just that the scene was being processed and DNA may or may not have been collected.

And so, again, we're walking away from this, both from the law enforcement side, from the Guthrie family side and from the public's perception right now, with this level of frustration. There was one key question that I thought was really critical was, how did they know that the public is safe?

And when you get in front of a camera as a member of law enforcement in these critical moments, you need to be prepared to reassure the public that public safety is doing everything that they can and that there's no additional danger if there -- if that is actually true. I didn't hear that to the extent that it should have been conveyed. And I think that that was a missed opportunity.

And again, the level of media coordination and public availability of information moving forward does seem to be stretching out. We heard that the next press conference is now going to be more than 24 hours out unless something breaks.

And again, not having a lot of information from this press conference, again, is going to let this time horizon foment more frustration of the public, the family and the investigators at large. So, I think that moving forward, I would like to see more direct information to the extent that they can confirm items or investigative actions that they've taken.

[14:10:00]

I think that will go a long way of reassuring the public and showing just how complex this case actually is.

KEILAR: Yeah. So many unanswered questions at this point and a lot, though, of thoughts and prayers for Savannah Guthrie and her family as they are enduring the unimaginable here. Thank you to everyone for talking to us about what we just heard from that Pima County press conference.

We do have some more Breaking News right now. The House has passed a bill that would end that brief partial government shutdown. It wasn't, though, without some drama.

SANCHEZ: Let's go to CNN's Manu Raju, who joins us on Capitol Hill. Manu, take us through that drama.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it looks like the final vote was 217 to 214, passing again by the narrowest of margins to reopen the federal government after a four-day government shutdown, the second government shutdown of President Trump's second term.

And we've seen -- we saw members on both sides really flip, just under two dozen Republicans voting against this, just under two dozen Democrats voting for this plan, which is the reason why ultimately it was approved in this very narrowly divided Republican House by the closest of margins.

This came after a key procedural vote was cleared earlier today by just a single vote to Mike Johnson and a party line vote, that was a party line vote. The other one was, can only afford to lose two Republican votes. He lost one after spending significant amount of time on the floor flipping some key votes.

Now, what this bill does is funds, essentially, the entire federal government. About 95 percent of the federal government will now be fully funded through the end of September now, reopening key agencies that have been shuttered since Saturday, like the Defense Department, like the Labor Department, the State Department, Health and Human Services, a bunch of other federal agencies will now reopen as soon as President Trump sends this -- signs this into law.

But here's the catch. Only for two weeks is funding extended for the Department of Homeland Security. That was a key concession demanded by Senate Democrats when ultimately Donald Trump -- ultimately capitulated to in the aftermath of the second deadly shooting in Minneapolis involving federal immigration officers and U.S. citizens.

After the Alex Pretti killing, Donald Trump changed course. He agreed to go ahead with just two weeks of funding for the Homeland Security Department. That's going to set up a very complicated negotiation between Senate Democrats and the White House over how to change policies when it comes to deploying these ICE agents around the country to enforce federal immigration laws. That's going to be very complicated.

Already tons of pessimism on Capitol Hill about whether they can reach a deal within two weeks on such a politically fraught issue and whether it could set up yet another cliff, potentially a third shutdown of President Trump's second term. This next over the Homeland Security Department. So that is the next big, big fight.

But at the moment, a huge hurdle cleared by the speaker and Republicans and the president and with some Democratic help too, here in the House, pushing this through. The federal government set to reopen. Guys?

KEILAR: All right. Manu Raju, thank you so much, live for us from the Hill.

Still to come, Britain bombshell, a top U.K. official and former ambassador to the U.S. resigning from the House of Lords after damaging revelations about his Jeffrey Epstein ties. We're live from London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:18:17]

KEILAR: The Epstein files fall out once again spreading across the Atlantic to the U.K. Britain's former Ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, is resigning from the upper house of parliament over his ties to the late sex offender. Even more stunning, one British royal is calling out another.

Prince Edward did not directly mention his older brother, Andrew, who has been stripped of his royal title over his Epstein ties. But listen to Edward's comments to CNN at a summit today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE EDWARD, BROTHER OF ANDREW MOUNTBATTEN-WINDSOR: I'm not sure this is the audience that is probably the least bit interested in that. They all came here to listen to my education solving the future. And but no, I think it's all really important always to remember the victims and who are the victims in all this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Andrew is facing more scrutiny after the latest document drop revealed this photo of him on the floor with an unidentified woman or girl. And the photographs at this point do not suggest any wrongdoing. Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. But obviously, a lot of questions raised here. CNN Royal Correspondent, Max Foster is with us now from London. Max, give us the latest on the fallout where you are.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've got lots of reports about Sarah Ferguson, Prince Andrew's ex-wife, but they were living together for a very long time and she had lots of relationships with Epstein as well coming out through these files. So, for example, she's talking about not having 20,000 pounds for rent. She was desperate to get hold of that.

So a very deep relationship there, much bigger than we thought. Here in the UK, the focus is much more on the former U.K. Ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson, because that has really roller-coastered today.

[14:20:00]

Initially, we heard a statement from the speaker of the house. He read out a statement, effectively, from Peter Mandelson, who's a member of the House of Lords. Let's just have a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL FORSYTH, LORD SPEAKER, HOUSE OF LORDS: My Lords, given the public interest and for the convenience of the House, I've decided to inform the House that the Clerk of the Parliaments has today received notification from Lord Mandelson of his intention to retire from the House effective from 4th February. I will formally notify this to the House tomorrow in the usual way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: So he leaves the House of Lords. He keeps his title of Lord. But in an extraordinary move, the prime minister has introduced legislation tonight calling for his title to be stripped from him too.

Why? This is because there were correspondence in the Epstein files between Epstein and Mandelson which suggests that Mandelson, as Business Secretary under Prime Minister Gordon Brown, was leaking internal government information, market sensitive information, which Epstein could have used to make money effectively.

And the government launched an investigation, very quickly found correspondence, which they were alarmed about. They've sent that to the police. Gordon Brown sent correspondence to the police as well. And tonight, in the last half hour, we've heard the British police are now investigating Peter Mandelson, the first criminal investigation coming out of this latest drop of Epstein files.

KEILAR: That is quite the bombshell. Max Foster, thank you so much for the latest there.

And still ahead, the man accused of shooting and killing Charlie Kirk will be back in court at any moment. Why his legal team wants prosecutors from the case tossed out of it. And soon, Renee Good's two brothers are set to appear on Capitol Hill. They'll testify about federal agents' use of force almost a month after their sister was fatally shot inside her car by an ICE officer. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:26:40]

KEILAR: Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk last September, will return to a Utah courtroom today as his attorneys try to disqualify the entire prosecutorial team. A judge will continue hearing defense claims that county prosecutors have a conflict of interest and should be removed from the case because an 18-year-old child of one of the assigned prosecutors attends Utah Valley University where the shooting happened and was in the crowd when Kirk was shot and killed.

A county attorney testified last month that the adult child did not witness the shooting. That attorney will be back on the stand today, as will the father prosecutor in question and his adult child.

Tyler Robinson is facing multiple charges and has not entered a plea. His preliminary hearing is set to begin May 18th. Kirk was shot and killed in a sniper-style attack that took place while he was speaking before hundreds of people at an outdoor event on the campus of Utah Valley University. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are about to hear from the brothers of Renee Good, the 37-year-old woman killed last month by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis. Their testimony is said to be part of a larger conversation about aggressive DHS tactics that officers have been utilizing in operations across the country.

CNN's Whitney Wild is following the latest live from Chicago. And Whitney, we just heard from Minnesota Governor, Tim Walz. What did he say?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: He spoke about his major concerns about children being put into federal custody. This, of course, comes after Liam Ramos was sent home by a federal judge. He had been taken with his father to a Texas facility. A federal judge wrote a scathing rebuke and sent Liam and his father back to Minnesota.

Today, Governor Walz said he sent a letter to DHS Secretary, Kristi Noem, demanding clear answers about how many kids are in custody, where they are, why they were taken, and what their due processes are.

Further, he said that he is still working with federal law enforcement to figure out a solution for Minnesota, but made very clear that they are not buckling on their core principles. And Walz went on to say that he did not believe that this was as it seemed and said that this was, in so many words, basically said this was a political effort here. As we know, DOJ -- U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi had sent a letter to the state of Minnesota making a list of three specific demands. And one of those demands included the state of Minnesota giving DOJ voter rolls. And so, Governor Walz talked about that and said that is what this is really about. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ, (D-MN): The letter I received last week around the voting rolls was the central theme of this entire situation that we're in, and that proved true down in Georgia, and it proved true by the president's own words yesterday, as he said, the Republicans need to federalize the elections, especially in the 15 states, which would include Minnesota.

So we know what this is about, but the thing that we're about, and the reason that we're here today is, is this is about protecting Minnesotans and most especially, our children and our most vulnerable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Boris, he went on to point out we do not know how many other children might be in federal custody because they didn't have a viral photo that people latched on to, that became so widespread and a symbol of what many believe is over-aggression by ICE. He went on --