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Trump Spoke with Savannah Guthrie as Police Search for Her Mother; Sheriff Investigates Possible Ransom Notes for Nancy Guthrie; Washington Post Lays Off One-Third of Staff as it Cuts Costs; Trump Urges Americans to Move on from Epstein Files 3-3:30p ET

Aired February 04, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: ... to save his family which was stranded at sea, 13-year-old Austin Applebee was kayaking off the coast with his mom and two siblings when they were suddenly swept miles away from land. Austin first tried to kayak to get them help but his boat filled up with water forcing him to swim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AUSTIN APPLEBEE: I was fighting rough seas. I thought I saw something in the water and I was really scared. I was just thinking -- I was just thinking in my head, thinking I was going to make -- make it through. But I was also thinking about, like, all my friends at school and friends at my Christian youth. And yes, I just said, all right, not today, not today, not today. I -- I have to keep on going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Wow. A -- a rescue team eventually found his mother, brother and sister clinging to a paddle board. That young man is a hero. A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: New developments and new questions in the search for the mother of Savannah Guthrie. As the secluded location, an intense scrutiny put pressure on investigators to find Nancy Guthrie.

The President says his administration could use, quote, "a softer touch" in its immigration enforcement as the White House pulls 700 federal agents out of Minnesota, the latest on the significant shift in this crackdown.

And a dark day for The Washington Post. A third of its staff laid off. Fury and criticism now aimed at the newspaper's owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos.

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

We begin with the urgent search for "Today" show anchor Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother, Nancy. Nearly four days have passed since she was last seen at her home in Tucson, Arizona. And we're learning that President Trump called and spoke with Savannah earlier today as the investigation is now shifting to possible ransom notes sent to media outlets.

The notes reportedly demand millions of dollars in Bitcoin. CNN's Josh Campbell is with us now. And Josh, the first ransom note was -- I should say, purported ransom note was received on Monday, two days ago. Does it surprise you that officials aren't saying more about these notes at this point?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know they're looking into it and they're taking it seriously, but as, you know, we've been saying since this news first came to light, that a healthy dose of caution is in order because in these high-profile cases, you'll typically see leads come into law enforcement that end up being credible. A lot of other material that simply isn't, that is simply irrelevant or oftentimes, you know, we've seen people, mischief makers, you know, purposefully send in false information.

So, authorities are trying to run that to ground. The sheriff did say that they are, of course, looking into it. Any lead that they get, they will take seriously as they still try to determine where she is after being taken captive from her Tucson area home.

We're also learning new details about Nancy Guthrie's pacemaker and how that may apply to the investigation here. We're learning that her pacemaker had last connected to her cell phone, synced up with that phone around 2 A.M. on Sunday. And that's important because there's been this period of time between she -- when she was first seen -- last -- last seen on Saturday night and when she was ultimately reported missing.

What that could tell us is that -- that -- that may be the time that she was actually separated from her phone and removed from the house. We know that her cell phone was left behind. But we know authorities, there's a lot going on behind the scenes right now. They're not, you know, releasing every detail that they have. But, you know, I've been talking to people familiar who say that they're still pouring over leads. They're still getting tips from the public and they're still asking people if they have any information to certainly reach out and call the FBI.

KEILAR: And Josh, there's still questions about whether this was targeted, whether this was random. But we are getting some insight into what family members were initially concerned about when they first discovered Nancy Guthrie missing.

CAMPBELL: Yes, you know, this is an interesting data point. This is information our colleague Brian Stelter is learning. And that is after Nancy Guthrie was not seen at her home by, you know, her loved ones, people who knew her there. The first concern was that there may have been some type of medical distress situation. And their goal was to see, well, was she transported possibly to a nearby hospital, that appeared to be front of mind.

The reason why that's important from an investigative standpoint is because authorities always look at a victim, the so-called victimology. That is, who would want to harm this person? Who would have the means? Who would have the intent? Is this someone who has received threats in the past? Were they aware that they might be possibly targeted?

And so that's just interesting mindset that the -- the loved ones, the family members, that wasn't their first thought at all. It was, you know, is she suffering from some type of medical situation.

[15:05:01]

The last thing I'll note is that authorities say that there's still work that they are trying to do right now at the home itself, particularly as it relates to any cameras that may have caught what was happening inside that home. Authorities say they're working with a third-party company that makes those cameras to try to access that information. And you know, people might be wondering, well, what is taking so long here? You know, these investigations sometimes take time, particularly with camera footage. We don't know if that was set to record over itself, in which case they have to bring in these technical experts to try to resurrect that data. But authorities continue to stress, just because they're not providing those updates, you have now well over a hundred law enforcement officers involved in this.

KEILAR: Yes. Josh, thank you for the very latest there. And we do want to stress that anyone who has any information in this case is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI. Boris.

SANCHEZ: Today, White House Border Czar Tom Homan announced that 700 DHS personnel will immediately be withdrawn from Minnesota. The reduction in force follows weeks of outrage and protest over the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Homan says 2,000 officers will remain to conduct immigration operations, but even that could soon change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: My goal with the -- with the support of President Trump is to achieve a complete drawdown and end this surge as soon as we can. But that is largely contingent upon the end of the illegal and threatening activities against ICE and its federal partners that we're seeing in the community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has been following this story in Minneapolis. And Shimon, I -- I wonder how residents there that you're hearing from have reacted to this news.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, look, the bottom line is they think even 700 being withdrawn is not enough. They still feel the presence of ICE officers in their neighborhoods. They're still seeing them. There are still interactions with observers and these ICE officers that remain.

You know, it was interesting Tom Homan pointed out, someone asked him there, well, how many ICE officers, what's the normal footprint for this -- for this area, for Minnesota. He said 170. So, that just gives you an idea that we're still -- there's still a surge, 2,000 immigration officers in Minneapolis in -- in the Minnesota area. That's still a lot of people.

And it's interesting because the more you hear Tom Homan, of course, he's taken such a different tone from what we were hearing two weeks ago when Greg Bovino was running the operation, was much more aggressive. Things have certainly cooled down, but it's still not enough. And that's why, you know, we're hearing from Mayor Frey there in Minneapolis who's saying that while all of this may be heading in the right direction, the 2,000 is still too much and he wants it to end now.

And, of course, the governor there, Governor Walz, saying that this surge is not making the city and the state any safer. Really when you hear Tom Homan still speak, even today he's talking about public safety issues. But when you talk to residents there, when you talk to the police there, when you talk to community leaders and political leaders there, they have no idea what they're talking about, because no one there felt unsafe.

And so, this idea that there's still some kind of public safety threat, many people feel that it's the immigration officers that were creating the chaos. So, we'll see. It's certainly the people there feel that they're heading in the right direction. Very obvious that there is a continued de-escalation there. And I know for a fact just in talking to people there today, they are hoping that they will -- will further be able to, that is the Trump administration, further be able to de-escalate and we could just go back -- for them, they could just go back to the way it was and perhaps, you know, these operations continuing but not in such an aggressive manner.

The fact is, Boris, the ICE operations in -- in any city are just not going to go away. I think people understand that there. They just need to continue and really hope that it continues to de-escalate.

SANCHEZ: Shimon Prokupecz, thank you so much for that update.

And you will hear directly from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey later this afternoon on The Arena with Kasie Hunt, so stay tuned for that. It's coming up in the next hour.

Still to come, there's been a major shakeup in the news industry as The Washington Post lays off a third of its staff, while many are pointing at the finger -- are pointing the finger at the owner, Jeff Bezos.

Plus, as new details emerge over the Epstein files, President Trump thinks everyone should, quote, "get on to something else." A lawyer for some of the victims will react.

And later, Fulton County, Georgia, challenging the FBI's seizure of its 2020 ballots in court. The details on that, next.

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[15:14:06]

SANCHEZ: The Washington Post is gutting about a third of its newspaper staff, yet another major restructuring for the once venerable publication. Sources tell CNN that employees were told to stay home while notices went out today.

KEILAR: That's right. And an internal email reviewed by CNN revealed the Post is shutting down or drastically reducing nearly every news division. That includes sports, the book section, the Metro desk, and foreign news coverage. Owner Jeff Bezos has not commented on the cutbacks. Employees and critics are lambasting the changes and questioning Bezos' motives.

Former Washington Post media reporter, Paul Farhi is here. He spent 35 years at the Post as a staff writer.

Paul, thank you so much.

This is a sad day for folks at the Washington Post, anyone connected to it. How are you seeing these cuts?

PAUL FARHI, FORMER WASHINGTON POST MEDIA REPORTER: It's devastating. It's grim. It is the largest restructuring, if you want to call it that, in the history of the Washington Post.

[15:15:04]

It's basically a gut punch. This morning when I heard the news, I felt personally a bit nauseous. I know so many good people over there, and this is a wipeout, and it seems also unnecessary to me.

SANCHEZ: What are you hearing from those former colleagues?

FARHI: They're shocked. This was in the buzz for some weeks. They knew a big layoff was coming. They didn't realize it was going to be this big and affect this many sections. And you know, it's not a great time in the media business generally. They're going to be in a bad situation.

KEILAR: You covered the Bezos takeover of the Washington Post as a media reporter while you were there. How are you mapping the path to this decision? How do you see his role in this and publisher Will Lewis' role?

FARHI: Well, some of this is self-inflicted, and that is to say self- inflicted by Jeff Bezos himself. One, he didn't invest further in the publication after having done so for a number of years. But then he made two critical decisions. One, he decided right before the election in 2024 to stop endorsing candidates, stop -- stop the Post from endorsing candidates. That led to a devastating cancellation by subscribers.

A few months later, he decided that he wanted to change the editorial focus of the opinion page. It led to another frenzy of cancellations. So, those two things really hurt the Post. Those two things were completely unnecessary and could have changed, to a large extent, the trajectory of the Post.

SANCHEZ: A former fact checker for the Post, Glenn Kessler, said in a column earlier this week that Bezos is not trying to save the Washington Post, he's, quote, "trying to survive Donald Trump."

FARHI: Yes, every decision that has been public suggests exactly that point. The editorial change, the -- the non-endorsement decision, various decisions by Amazon, including marketing Melania Trump's documentary, these all line up for a suggestion that it's kowtowing to the President, which is exactly what you don't want a media organization as an independent entity to ever do.

KEILAR: The -- the Post is also an essential local outlet in Washington, D.C. I mean, that's one of the things about it. You live here, and you have the national coverage, and you have the local coverage, and that Metro desk is getting so purged. What is that going to mean?

FARHI: Yes. Well, the Washington Post sort of built its franchise on local journalism, and up until fairly recently, the Metro staff itself was larger than most regional newspapers. This is basically an indication that they don't see their market as local readers, that the remaining market is national and international.

Although the international piece is in question, too, with the cutbacks in the foreign staff. So, it's hard to see what the long-term strategy is going to be.

SANCHEZ: It -- it was two Metro reporters, correct me if I'm wrong, that broke Watergate, right? So -- so what is the loss to not just people here in -- in D.C., but nationally, that this venerated institution is being dismantled this way?

FARHI: That's -- that's exactly right. You know, Woodward and Bernstein are legends for their journalism, local journalism at the time. The legacy here is going to be on Jeff Bezos. He's the man who built -- bought the Post, built it to some extent, and then let everyone down by withdrawing his support. And history will not judge him well.

SANCHEZ: Paul Farhi, thank you so much for being with us.

FARHI: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, President Trump thinks everyone should move on when it comes to the Epstein files. After the break, a lawyer who represented multiple victims for almost two decades is joining us with his reaction.

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[15:23:40]

KEILAR: President Trump says it's time for the country to move on from the Epstein files. When pressed by CNN's Kaitlan Collins, he also declined to address concerns from survivors about the extent of redactions and files released by DOJ.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, THE SOURCE: A lot of women who were -- are survivors of Epstein's are unhappy with those redactions that came out. Some of them entire witness interviews are totally blacked out. Do you think that they should be more transparent?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, they're also happy with the thought -- that they released too much. You know, I heard that and you tell me something else. No. I think it's really time for the country to get on to something else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're joined now by Spencer Kuvin, Chief Legal Officer for GOLDLAW. He has represented nine victims of Epstein's over the years, including victim number one in the initial case against Epstein in Palm Beach, Florida. That victim was just 14 at the time she was abused.

Spencer, is it time to move on, as the President says?

SPENCER KUVIN, ATTORNEY WHO REPRESENTED EPSTEIN VICTIMS: No, in fact, for years, we're going on almost 20 years, the public was told that the Epstein investigation had reached an ironclad conclusion that there was nothing more to uncover. And what this latest group of documents show is that this narrative was built on trappings of legitimacy. It was just an absolute mess on how the DOJ handled this disclosure. These sealed files, quiet settlements, non-prosecution agreements and a culture of silence, just -- it forgets what's important here.

[15:25:07]

And that is the victims and the children that were involved in this conspiracy.

KEILAR: Spencer and our viewers out there, bear with me for this next question, but it does take some explaining here and I'm curious what you think about it. On the revelations of mentions of Elon Musk and current Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in the files, the President said, I'm sure they're fine. Otherwise, it would have been major headlines.

Well, for our -- our viewers who are trying to track exactly what this is, neither Musk nor Lutnick have been accused of wrongdoing. But there are a lot of questions about some of the communications that people had with Epstein after he took that plea deal in 2008 that officially made him a convicted child sex offender, and it was 2012. So, after that, when Musk, the documents show, emailed trying to coordinate a trip to Epstein's Island, he's wondering which night would yield the, quote, "wildest party," which contradicted his previous claim that he would refuse an invite.

He said on X on Friday, quote, "I have never been to any Epstein parties ever and have many times called for the prosecution of those who've committed crimes with Epstein. The acid test for justice is not the release of the files, but rather the prosecution of those who committed heinous crimes with Epstein."

And then on Lutnick in 2012, the now-Commerce Secretary was trying to get coordinates for his boat captain to link up with Epstein, presumably at the island for dinner. They later discussed meeting for lunch. And then, in 2015, Lutnick tried to invite Epstein to a political fundraiser for Hillary Clinton. A Commerce Department spokesperson telling CNN that the secretary had limited interactions with Epstein in the presence of his wife and has never been accused of wrongdoing.

What do you make of all of this?

KUVIN: It's absurd. I mean, that's the only way to put it is just absolutely absurd at how people are now trying to separate themselves from what these documents clearly show, which was that a numerous amount of very high profile, famous individuals were socializing with a known sexual predator and they didn't care or they didn't seem to care that this was a man that had abused young girls. They just wanted to continue this friendship that they had with him.

You know, I was just on interviews overseas with the BBC and they are absolutely taking this much more seriously than our government is. They have a House of Lords, a gentleman by Lord Mendelsohn and they're about to kick him out of the House of Lords and potentially criminally prosecute him because of his association with Epstein. They're discussing that over there, while at the same time here in the States, we seem to just be throwing up our hands and saying, oh, you know, Musk was friends with him or this other person was friends with him and there's nothing we can do. It's absurd.

KEILAR: Yes, we -- yes, we -- we covered -- we covered what they're doing in the U.K. When you're looking at people who were in touch with him, trying to, you know, physically be in his presence or to party with him after it was public that he was a known child sex offender, how -- what would it be for DOJ to truly investigate that in your mind?

KUVIN: They should call these individuals in. They should call them in and put them under oath and have them testify as to what they were doing at that property. Because until you actually put someone under oath and require them to speak, then there's, you know, no reason why anyone should have to tell the truth. Speaking to media or putting out a publicity statement, that's worthless because you can't hold someone to that. But when the FBI sits you down and starts asking you questions, you have to answer truthfully. Because if you don't answer truthfully, that in and of itself is a crime. That's what this would require.

KEILAR: Spencer Kuvin, thank you so much for speaking with us. We appreciate it.

KUVIN: Thanks for having me.

KEILAR: He was hired by the Trump campaign back in 2020 to investigate voter fraud. After the break, that software engineer joins us to talk about the President's repeated calls for Republicans to nationalize U.S. elections.

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