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Ransom Note Demand; Signs Of Progress After The US And Iran Engage In Rare Indirect Talks In Oman. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired February 06, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:50]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Soon the man charged with sending Nancy Guthrie's family a fake ransom threat will make his first court appearance in Los Angeles. The 42-year-old was arrested yesterday. Officials say the imposter sent text messages to the Guthrie family demanding Bitcoin shortly after they posted a plea on Instagram. Officials are working to verify if several other ransom notes sent to multiple media outlets are real, while calling the lack of contact by Guthrie's captors and the family unusual.

Joining us now is Josh Schirard. He's a former SWAT Team Commander and Director of Byrna Law Enforcement. Thanks so much for being with us, Josh.

I do want to ask, this man that's been charged with sending the Guthrie family these illegitimate ransom threats. The complaint says the man texted Nancy Guthrie's daughter and son after they posted that plea to Instagram saying he was waiting for a Bitcoin transaction. How do you think investigators were able to determine that threat was illegitimate?

JOSH SCHIRARD, FORMER SWAT TEAM COMMANDER: You know, really, it's determining that if it is legitimate, and if there are parts of that or facts in there that are valid, and then once you realize that there's no real detail, there's no validity in that, then you can start to say, OK, this is obviously fraudulent. This is obviously, you know, non-authentic. Now, how can we identify the person that's involved in this so that we can then, you know, arrest him and prosecute him as well, which they have obviously been incredibly aggressive about doing.

I'm sure that there are more of these fake ransom demands as well, and hopefully they'll be just as aggressive in identifying and arresting, and prosecuting these in the future. This action sends a definite message to people out there that this FBI is not going tolerate people and Americans out there capitalizing on tragedies like this. Obviously, this has been a very prominent case in the media and is going to be prone to fraudsters.

But hopefully this sends a clear message that this absolutely will not be tolerated. I mean, this particular individual is now looking at over 20 years in prison, in federal prison, so definitely a solid message there. SANCHEZ: So, Josh, the FBI surged resources to Tucson, including the FBI Critical Response Group, cell phone exploitation specialists, and trained intelligence analysts. What are those different groups do?

SCHIRARD: You know, when you have a case like this, a situation like this, especially where we really don't have a solid path to go down when it comes to leads. We're kind of running the gamut at this point and taking every lead as it comes and running it out until its conclusion, until we can rule it out and move on to the next one. So in that case, you really have to have a very broad spectrum of expertise in order to make sure that you can handle these leads as they come in.

That means physical teams, boots on the ground that can go out, interview people, bring home physical evidence, look at surveillance video. You need people with technological experience. You need to be able to process those surveillance videos. You need the guys that are experts in Cellebrite to pull phone data, to pull device data, to get text messages, call logs.

And then you need those that are extremely tech savvy to start looking at IP addresses, how people are using VPNs, email addresses on all these ransom notes to try to track those back as well. So really it's the combined effort of these teams that start tracking down these leads and punching them out one at a time until finally we hopefully get something that we can absolutely travel down and get positive identification of a suspect and know that Nancy is still safe.

SANCHEZ: And we are hoping that happens soon, if it hasn't happened already. Josh Schirard, thank you so much. Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We do have some breaking news into CNN. We have just learned of another high profile name linked to Jeffrey Epstein and CNN's Haley Britzky has this exclusive reporting. Haley, what did you find out here?

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes. So secretary of the Navy, John Phelan, this is a flight manifest from March 2006. So several -- many, many years ago, of course, before he was named Secretary of the Navy last year. The manifest shows that John Phelan was on board the flight with several others. There was 13 individuals, about six of those names are redacted so we don't know some of the people who were on this plane.

[15:35:16]

A close friend of Phelan's told CNN that, you know, this is the only time he and Epstein ever interacted. He was invited on the flight by another businessman by Bear Stearns CEO Jimmy Cayne. He didn't realize it was Epstein's plane when they -- until they on it, and that they never spoke or interacted after that.

You know, I want to make clear there's no allegations of wrongdoing against Phelan, but it certainly was something that had previously been not reported of his interaction with him. And he declined to comment ultimately through a spokesperson. KEILAR: It lists Phelan along with 12 other passengers, including Epstein and apparently Jean-Luc Brunel, who is someone associated, right, for a long time with Epstein's sex trafficking.

BRITZKY: Right. So those two individuals are two of the main names here. And so, Jean-Luc Brunel, who was charged with sexual assault, including of a minor, is French modeling agent and he passed away years ago, was found dead in his prison cell. And so, there's no indication at this point that John Phelan had any kind of relationship with these men or continued any interactions.

Like I said, the close friend of his said they, in fact, did not -- that he did not continue emailing or speaking with Jeffrey Epstein after this incident or after this flight. But certainly they flew from London to New York together according to this manifest.

SANCHEZ: OK. So just to be clear, so the response you're getting is that he's saying it was a friend of his who invited him basically on another friend's plane and he didn't sort of realize the specifics of it.

BRITZKY: That's right. So John Phelan worked in the finance world, and so several of these other individuals are folks who worked in that world as well back in New York. And so, this close friend said that, you know, Jimmy Cayne invited, John Phelan on the flight flying back to New York. He didn't realize whose plane it was until he got on board the flight and did not interact with him further after they landed in New York.

SANCHEZ: Very interesting. Haley, thank you so much for the reporting. Iran's foreign minister called it a good start. The country agreeing with the US to continue talks following a high stakes meeting today. We'll break down what they talked about after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:41:51]

SANCHEZ: We're hearing some signs of progress after the US and Iran engage in rare indirect talks today in Oman. A source now tells CNN that the two sides have agreed to hold further discussions likely to again be held in Oman. The Trump administration is looking for concessions from Iran on its nuclear and ballistic missiles programs.

KEILAR: And the US is keeping the pressure on. After the talks, the Trump administration rolled out new sanctions on Iranian oil and 14 vessels carrying it. Let's talk about this now. CNN National Security Analyst and former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner. All right.

What is your assessment here because we're hearing a little bit from the Iranians? What's your assessment of first round of indirect negotiations went?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, we aren't bombing, so that's I guess good news depending on what part of the equation you sit on because there are a lot of hawks who actually want us to bomb. But if you are in the, like, we actually want something to come out of this, some kind of deal, I would say that right now, the Iranians -- I feel like we're playing by the Iranian playbook.

You know, first they asked us to move the venue, right, to the place where they feel most secure.

KEILAR: From Turkey to Oman.

SANNER: To Oman, that's their best friends. And then they said, yes, I know, you want to talk about all this other stuff, like missiles, like support for proxies, human rights. No, we want to just talk about nuclear. And after the meeting, the foreign minister of Iran came out and said, yes, we only talked about nuclear.

So I feel like we are on their timeline, their pace. There are going to be negotiations about -- negotiations about a framework agreement. So, like, where are we really?

SANCHEZ: We're going to talk about talking --

SANNER: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- in the future.

SANNER: Yes, we're kicking the can down the road.

SANCHEZ: When does that change? Does it?

SANNER: So it changes if President Trump decides that he is out of patience. And sometimes he gets out of patience, and we are moving a lot of forces in. Now, I would say that not everything is in the region that we would like to be in the region. There's still air defenses moving in, there's still some other kinds of, you know, just hardware moving in. Maybe submarines, things like this are still coming into the region.

So we're probably, you know, it's fine to have another round, but I would say in the next week or, you know, we'll probably have to make some sort of decision if they're not moving at pace. And right now, they're moving at their pace, which is called snail's pace.

KEILAR: CENTCOM commander at the meetings, what does that --

SANNER: Yes.

KEILAR: What does that signal to you?

SANNER: Seriousness. You know, I guess if you're talking about the nuclear portfolio, there's a little bit there in terms of it. I think it was more about the ballistic missiles. But with the foreign minister coming out and saying, we didn't talk about that, I really don't know.

And remember, most of this was indirect. There was probably a handshake between, directly between. But these guys are sitting in the other room and I think it's very good to have someone with a lot of experience in the region advising Kushner and Witkoff about, like, is this reasonable, is this not reasonable, what are we talking about.

[15:45:04]

SANCHEZ: The Iranians sort of have to know that at some point Trump is going to have to make a decision about this. And given what we saw last summer, Midnight Hammer, the strikes on the nuclear facilities, what do you think their estimation is of the risk that they're taking on by kicking the can down the road?

SANNER: So, you know, I think the Iranians don't have a lot of choices here, right? They don't have the wherewithal to deal with the pressures at home, but they are a regime that is designed, literally designed to absorb an attack. I think they believe that President Trump does not want a sustained military operation against Iran.

No American wants that. He does not want that. He wants one and done. So maybe they're thinking we'll kick it down the road, see where we are, maybe give later. But if they strike us, we're going to survive.

We survived the 12 day war, the Hammer, and we can survive this. And they have no choice but to try to survive in any case. So they're busy moving their weapons out of strike zones as much as they can and probably preparing for that, but trying to avoid that by giving.

But if they give too much, they literally are putting themselves on the dime in the future, either by taking away their deterrence missiles or by opening up things at home which will, you know, really be a problem for the regime.

SANCHEZ: Fascinating analysis. Beth Sanner, thank you so much as always.

SANNER: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: The big game just days away. We're live in the Bay Area as the Seahawks and Patriots get ready for the Super Bowl.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:14]

KEILAR: It's the big football game on Sunday, and the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks are going to face off Super Bowl LX.

SANCHEZ: Yes. CNN Sports Anchor Andy Scholes is in San Francisco. Andy, set the scene for us on this Friday before the big game.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, guys, the time for talking it's over here in the Bay Area, the teams, they met with the media one final time yesterday. Now it's down to business, fine tuning those game plans ahead of Super Bowl LX.

And Patriots head coach, Mike Vrabel, who won coach of the year last night, well, you know, he knows all too well how to approach the final days leading up to a Super Bowl. You know, he won three as a player for the Patriots. And he says, you know, he's drawing on all of those past experiences as we hit the home stretch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE VRABEL, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS HEAD COACH: To be intentional with the schedule, but also just trying to keep them engaged, keep them locked in and get them to believe that something that we do at practice today is going to come up in the game. And how we handle that or how we execute that is, you know, could make the difference. And so, that's how we've tried to approach all our practices, is that something that you're going to do today is going to help us win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now, the Patriots, they're four and a half point underdogs to the Seahawks in the game on Sunday. The Super Bowl, it's always the most bet on game of the entire year. And earlier, I caught up with FanDuel CEO Amy Howe and asked her which side is seeing the most bets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY HOWE, FANDUEL CEO: The bet count is skewing towards the Patriots. Everybody loves the underdog story, but the handle is flowing more towards the Seahawks, so. And then of course, the over is -- a slight skew to the over because everybody loves a high scoring game.

SCHOLES: So you want a low scoring Patriots win, is that what you're saying?

HOWE: I really wanted was the Buffalo Bills to be in the super bowl, but if I can't have that, yes, that's --

SCHOLES: I'm there with you. The Texans disappointed all around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, but it's Patriots -Seahawks. And, guys, the Patriots, they're going to be wearing white jerseys and white pants. It's a combination they've never worn in the Super Bowl before. They were 4-2 when they wore white jerseys and blue pants.

And Seahawks, meanwhile, they're going all blue. Blue jerseys, blue pants. They're 0-2 when they worn that combination in the Super Bowl. So, you know, if you're superstitious, you're looking at these things like, oh man, why did they pick that.

And actually wearing white is very good luck in the Super Bowl. Over the past 21 years, the teams wearing white jerseys are 16-5. So definitely good news if you're a Patriots fan.

SANCHEZ: So, Andy, I've been waiting all week to ask who you got.

SCHOLES: Well, you know the Patriots win so many Super Bowls, right? They already got six. You know, I think the Seahawks are going to pull this one out because Sam Darnold would be the best story, right? SANCHEZ: Cheers to that. Andy Scholes live for us in San Francisco. Thank you so much.

The Super Bowl Halftime Show is set to draw even more attention this year with Bad Bunny becoming the first artist expected to perform entirely in Spanish.

KEILAR: The announcement sparked both celebration and also backlash. And CNN explores the Puerto Rican identity that shaped Bad Bunny in a new documentary. His rise has coincided with some of the most turbulent years in Puerto Rico's modern history, including Hurricane Maria and its tragic aftermath.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We may never know the exact number of deaths that happened in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria, but the general understanding is that it's in the thousands, perhaps upwards of 3,000. But see, there's a generation after Maria that is less afraid to speak up.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

[15:55:17]

ROSALES: All of these crises together have shaped Bad Bunny's generation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Joining us now to discuss is the former mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Yulin Cruz. Yulin, thank you so much for being with us. What is this performance going to mean for the island?

YULIN CRUZ, FORMER MAYOR, SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO: Well, you know, a lot of people here don't follow American football, that they're going to watch the Super Bowl this weekend. It means that the future is multicultural, is multilingual. It means that it is bold, unafraid, and intentional.

And Bad Bunny, one of the things that he does is wherever he goes, he takes his Puerto Ricanness with him. And the fact that he's choosing, it's a choice, right? Bad Bunny has already been in the Super Bowl, and he sung a song that was half in Spanish, half in English. So he's making a choice at a very important time in the United States where people can be profiled just for speaking Spanish amongst each other or just for the color of their skin.

It is definitely a statement of saying, we are here and we're not going anywhere.

KEILAR: And, Yulin, I wonder what you think about how some people have come out and said they'd prefer a "American artist" headline the Halftime Show.

CRUZ: Well, you know, it depends how you define American. If you define it in the ample sense of being part of the Americas, Bad Bunny is Latin -- part of Latin America. If you like Puerto Rico, understand and know, like the majority of Puerto Ricans, that Puerto Rico is a nation, we can understand.

But, you know, just because you have a citizenship and a passport, it doesn't make you part of the ethnicity or of the culture of that other country. We are intertwined, the US and Puerto Rico, but we are a nation. We are Puerto Ricans. And what Bunny is saying is, look, we can look at you eye to eye, but we're different. And being different doesn't mean that we're not the same.

SANCHEZ: We saw how he addressed some of the aspects of current events that you're talking about with ICE actions across the country during the Grammys. And we heard from Roger Goodell this week, the commissioner of the NFL, saying that he believed that Bad Buddy knew that a Grammy stage is going to be somewhat different than the Halftime Show at the Super Bowl. So I wonder how you're expecting Bad Bunny to approach that if you think he's going to send a message.

CRUZ: He's probably going to send a message about. He's sending a message to his (inaudible) about the language, right? People, again, are being just discriminated against because of their language. But he is going to send subtle messages. There's going to be subtle messages about the Puerto Rican flag, which right now, to this day, has to be flown at the same height as the American flag in governmental offices or else it's illegal in Puerto Rico.

There was a time where people were killed by just hosting the Puerto Rican flag. And the color of the Puerto Rican flag that he will probably choose, which is light, just light blue as the sky. It is the original color of the Puerto Rican flag. And that statement is usually attributed to people that believe in sovereignty.

So he will be making statements. They will be subtle. He may choose to say something at the end. But just as present, you know, there are probably three huge stages in the world, the Super Bowl, the soccer World Cup and the Olympics. And definitely this is one of the biggest ones of their -- probably the one that will be watched at the highest levels of the Super bowl for 60 years.

KEILAR: Yulin, we have like 20 seconds left, your favorite song that you were hoping to hear on Sunday.

CRUZ: "Debi Tirar Mas Fotos," I should have taken more photographs, because it says, oh, (foreign language), and it talks about the gentrification that is going on in Puerto Rico to the hands of billionaires. So that's it.

You know, we're a nation divided by 6 million in the US 3.2 in Puerto Rico, (foreign language).

KEILAR: The former mayor of San Juan, Yulin Cruz, thank you for a very special conversation. We really appreciate it. And do not miss the new CNN Original Film, "Bad Bunny in the Halftime Show: Rhythms of Resistance." It airs tomorrow at 10pm Eastern in Pacific only on CNN and streaming the next day on the CNN app. SANCHEZ: THE ARENA WITH CASEY HUNT starts right now. Enjoy the Super

Bowl.