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Sheriff Aware of Possible Ransom Note Linked to Nancy Guthrie; Three-Way Peace Talks Resume Between Ukraine, Russia and U.S.; Ryan Routh to be Sentenced for Attempted Trump Assassination. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired February 04, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: In fact, the show is also the second oldest sporting event in the country behind one of my favorites, the Kentucky Derby. Penny's win marks the fifth time a Doberman has taken the top prize at Westminster. Some of the other winners included Cookie, the Maltese from the toy group, and JJ, which is short for Jingle Juice, in the non-sporting group. The names are so good.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

This morning, the search for Savannah Guthrie's mom, Nancy, grows more urgent by the hour. New reporting on a possible ransom note days after the 84-year-old was taken from her home, authorities say against her will.

Also this hour, we are live in Moscow as trilateral talks begin between the United States, Russia and Ukraine. Moscow just unleashed its largest attack this year on Ukraine, ending a brief reprieve that Putin agreed to. Is peace even possible at this point?

Also caught on camera, a double scoop of karma for an ice cream burglar slipping and falling on his back. Talk about a rocky road.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan. John Berman is out today. The boys like that one. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's start this morning talking about what authorities know and do not. Authorities are pleading for the public's help as hours have turned into days now that Nancy Guthrie has been missing. The 84-year-old mother of NBC's Today show host Savannah Guthrie.

The FBI has now joined the search. Police believe that she was abducted from her home sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning. The Guthrie family reported her missing when she did not show up for church and a neighbor spoke to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF LAMIE, NEIGHBOR OF NANCY GUTHRIE: We were not aware that Savannah Guthrie was her daughter. I mean, just a very normal person in a community. Hello.

She had a dog at one time also. When we'd walk by, if she was in the front yard, just a greeting, just a normal person who lived here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: It's a normal person living a normal life. TMZ, though, is now saying that it has received what appears to be a ransom note that they have now turned over to investigators. That note has not been verified by the authorities, but at least one other local newsroom in Tucson says they've received a ransom note as well.

The sheriff has said he's treating both as potential pieces of evidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything in that note that seems credible at this moment that you're giving weight to?

SHERIFF CHRIS NANOS, PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: The entire note. That's what I would say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The entire note.

NANOS: When the note comes to us, it's like any piece of evidence. You give it to us. You give us a lead.

We're going to look at every aspect of that lead and work it as a lead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you're not dismissing this note at this point.

NANOS: Absolutely not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is potentially credible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: All of this comes as just so many questions about Guthrie's disappearance remain unanswered, of course, this morning. And you can hear that in the sheriff's tone there. Joining us right now is the former assistant director of the FBI's criminal investigative division, Chris Swecker, as well as former NYPD -- NYPD Lieutenant Darrin Porcher.

Thank you, guys, both for being here. Darrin, the sheriff's office, they are aware of this ransom note that TMZ has talked about. And we know that this other one I just mentioned. Again, it's not verified, which leads to the question of how do you verify it?

What are you looking for in a ransom note to authenticate it or dismiss it?

DARRIN PORCHER, FORMER NYPD LIEUTENANT: There should be a level of cooperation as it relates to a ransom note, which is somewhat unorthodox here. Generally these ransom notes come to law enforcement and not go to media outlets such as TMZ. So it begs the question of is this a hoax?

Oftentimes when you have these high profile kidnappings, you have a series of these, I want to say, false narratives that are placed by people that allegedly had leads. This is something the law enforcement still has to look into. But you have to take in consideration this came through means of an e-mail.

So there's an IP address attached to this. And another thing you have to take in consideration is I genuinely believe that there were cameras inside of Mrs. Guthrie's house because she was an 84 year old woman that had some physical disabilities. So this is quite commonplace for family members to place cameras inside of a residence.

So I believe law enforcement has information that they're keeping close to the breast. And that's how they're going to corroborate a lot of these instances or these issues that are introduced by these ransom notes to prove them either factual or false.

BOLDUAN: False. Very interesting. Chris, I want to get your take on this.

[08:05:00]

I mean, if one of these ransom notes is real, what does that mean for this investigation? What is that? What then would that have changed in your mind back on the job? How does that shift this investigation? What do you think?

CHRIS SWECKER, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION: Well, if there was a valid, credible ransom note, I think it would be actually a positive step or positive development, because if they could get proof of life, then, you know, that's that's a positive. That's the most positive news we've gotten so far -- number one.

Two, you know, ransom these days are not those bricks and mortar, you know, extortions back in the day or ransom notes back in the day. They're usually asking for Bitcoin or, you know, or some other type of electronic currency that's hard to trace, which makes it more difficult. You used to be able to do a physical delivery of cash at the corner of walk and don't walk and you generally would be able to be in a position to arrest the suspect and get hopefully get the victim back.

So I view that it's in a little bit of a sideways way as a positive development if it were, in fact, true. But I'm with, you know, Darrin, think that these notes are very commonplace.

You know, it's very easy to write a ransom note and try to get some money out of the family. So, yes, I got to view these with caution, but it could be a positive development.

BOLDUAN: And Chris, just where is your head on this? You know, under the third-ish day that Nancy Guthrie has been missing. A federal law enforcement source has told CNN, the U.S. Marshals Service, as we know, is so highly trained and capable of finding victims and criminals has yet to be asked to join the search. Where's your head on where things have landed as of today?

SWECKER: Right. Well, U.S. Marshals are manhunters. They're not, you know, they're not going to do the whodunit part of it.

They don't have a lot of original federal jurisdiction and investigations unless it has something to do with a federal judge and threats to judicial officers and that sort of thing. So my my head is there are too many rumors floating around right now on day three. Very little information coming out.

And usually that's a, you know, that's justified. You don't want to leak details out to the press. You want to be able to test any, you know, any information that comes in against what you know privately and know that that information didn't come out of the press.

So there -- but they need to start addressing some of these rumors that are going around about blood, about why, you know, why the camera of the ring camera cloud based if it has indeed a history hasn't been retrieved yet. You know, we'd like to get a little bit more details if there is a ransom note. I mean, those are rumors that are floating around out there.

And you might as well go and go ahead and address them at this point. Otherwise, you know, there's these press conferences have been fairly useless. It just leads us to believe and leads me to believe that they're nowhere on this investigation.

So I think it's time to enlist the public and get their help in a very proactive way.

BOLDUAN: It's very interesting, Chris. Thank you. Darrin, is your -- are you viewing this in the same way that it's time for law enforcement to give a little more to the public to get them more engaged right now?

Because time -- you can say this over and over again, but time is everything. Is a huge factor in all of this. The number of days that tick on. We know that she has medicine that she needs to survive that she clearly doesn't have with her.

It's believed she does not. What do you think?

PORCHER: I'm a strong proponent in bringing in the public to work in tandem with law enforcement, such as getting out leads, getting a picture of who the potential suspects may be. But at the same token, I understand the aspect of keeping things close to the breast --

BOLDUAN: Hopefully, yes.

PORCHER: -- because they don't want to spook the person that may be the captor. Granted, this is a person that takes heart medication.

So it's of optimum importance that we're able to bring her back as quick as possible. But there have been more questions than answers as it relates to the press conference that was introduced by the sheriff yesterday.

BOLDUAN: Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much for coming in. I really appreciate it, Darrin. Chris, thank you as well. Thank you very much.

Also happening right now, you the United States -- oh, there's just a reminder. Apologies. Here's the tip line. If you or anyone obviously have any information, they are asking to call this tip line. 1-800- CALL-FBI.

Coming up for us. The United States, Russia and Ukrainian officials are sitting down together coming after Russia launched its biggest missile and drone attack on Ukraine so far this year. Bringing you updates from that.

Plus, the man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump will learn his sentence today. Prosecutors are pushing for him to spend the rest of his life in prison.

[08:10:00]

And authorities found a suspected bio lab inside a Vegas home. There's new video this morning of the of what they discovered.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Happening as we speak. Negotiations for the U.S., Ukraine and Russia are resuming. Critical talks in Abu Dhabi happening now aimed at, of course, ending the war in Ukraine. The talks come one day after Russia launched its largest attack on Ukraine so far this year.

[08:15:00]

Video shows extensive damage to a power plant from the assault. President Trump says Vladimir Putin kept his word by not attacking Ukrainian cities for a week. But that pause ended with this latest siege as temperatures are frigid. They're trying to attack the electricity to hurt the population and make them more uncomfortable.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow now. Fred, what are you learning?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Sara. And one of the things that the Ukrainians said after that massive attack that you were just talking about is that they're going to change their approach to these negotiations. They, of course, still want a just and lasting peace, as they put it.

But at the same time, of course, skeptical of some of the things that the Russians are saying. Now, we know that these talks are now underway there in the United Arab Emirates. One of the things that we heard before the talks is that apparently, they're going to start once again by trying to speak about all the problems in a venue basically containing all the people who are taking part in these talks but then break into working groups to try and work on compartmentalizing some of the problems that are at hand. Of course, one of the ones that we've been talking about a lot and that both sides have been talking about a lot is the talk of territorial concessions of territories, as to which territories the Ukrainians might have to cede as far as any peace agreement is concerned. Of course, one of the things we know that the Russians want is the rest of the Donbas region, especially the Donetsk Oblast in the east of Ukraine. And the question is, what are the Russians willing to give back if that's something that can be achieved?

Other things include security guarantees for Ukraine, what can happen in that matter, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is, of course, one of the biggest, if not the biggest in Europe, and some other matters as well. What we heard recently from some of the talks is apparently that the atmosphere is not actually that bad. There was, of course, more talks leading up to what's going on in the United Arab Emirates today. Like, for instance, Kirill Dmitriev, the main negotiator for the Russians heading to Miami to speak with Steve Whitkoff, the special envoy of President Trump.

So all of that the U.S. hopes will culminate in the not-too-distant future. However, it does seem as though both sides are still pretty far apart, especially as far as the territorial question is concerned. We just heard from the Kremlin, actually, a couple of minutes ago before we went on air, the spokesman for Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, they're saying that the Russians are going to continue what they call their special military operation, which, of course, includes pounding Ukraine's energy infrastructure until an agreement is reached -- Sara.

SIDNER: Well, talking is better than no talking at all, but the damage in Ukraine is done. We will see what happens here. Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much for reporting there from Moscow for us this morning.

Coming up, quote, "I was foolish." We are now hearing from Bill Gates about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein after more information came out in the Epstein files.

Plus, artificial turf or real grass. Dr. Gupta is here to answer your questions about one of the biggest debates in the sports world as the Super Bowl nears.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Today, the man found guilty of trying to assassinate Donald Trump in 2024, he will learn his fate. Ryan Routh is set to be sentenced in federal court in Florida and seen as Randi Kaye is standing by for that.

And Randi, it was quite a trial, to say the least. What could happen now today?

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly was a memorable trial. And Kate, the car carrying Ryan Routh, just arrived here at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce. So he is here. But as you know, last fall, the prosecutors told the jury that Ryan Routh wanted Donald Trump dead. And they believed him. And in about three hours time, they convicted him on all five federal charges he was facing.

Those do include attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, also assault on a federal officer, as well as possession of a weapon with an obliterated serial number. So today, Kate, the judge will determine Ryan Routh's fate. She will decide what he should be sentenced to.

Federal prosecutors here are seeking a life sentence for Ryan Routh. They also are adding what they call a terrorism enhancement. That could only up his sentence.

And we do expect him to speak in court, which certainly could be colorful, because when he represented himself during trial, he often veered off course and had to be reined in by the judge. So we'll see what happens. But I did speak to his attorney, Martin Roth.

This is a new attorney hired after his conviction. And I asked him what we can expect. And he told me, quote, "He's his own man, he doesn't follow the advice that lawyers give him, but he's well within the rights to say whatever is on his mind and whatever is on his chest."

So I said to him, well, what will he say? And the lawyer told me that it will, quote, be unusual and that it will only be partially about the case. Now, Ryan Routh, Kate, has always argued that this was about intent, that he never had any intention to kill Donald Trump. He said, quote, if the attempted assassination was not taken, it is not an attempt.

That's what he said at trial. So one other thing that we will be looking for today is whether or not Ryan Routh is handcuffed, because after he was convicted, he attempted to stab himself in the neck in those moments with a pen and had to be restrained by Deputy U.S. Marshals. So we will see whether or not he is in handcuffs today to make sure something like that doesn't happen again -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean, all of those details and so much more. And that commentary that you just got from his attorney, it's only going to be partially about the case. I mean, all right.

We will stand by -- to stand by for sure. Randy, thank you so much. Wow.

Also still ahead for us, there's new CNN reporting coming in, why an improper leak of documents may have led to a Trump ally being pushed out at the Department of Justice.

And it's really become a tale of two winters. The West Coast warming up just as the East Coast, well, continues to feel the frigid freeze, the delightful freeze of February.

[08:25:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: All right, in the next hour, we are expecting to hear from Trump Border Czar, Tom Homan. He is going to hold his second press conference from Minneapolis after saying he would begin drawing down the number of agents there. He was dispatched to Minnesota earlier last week to attempt to find a solution to the tense ground situation that has rocked the state in the wake of two fatal shootings at the hands of federal agents.

This morning, there is intense focus on the behavior of ICE officials and the conditions at the detention centers that migrants are being sent to, specifically the Dilley Center in South Texas.

[08:30:00]