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Video From Guthrie's Home Shows Armed, Masked Person Obstructing Camera; Interview with Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX): Immigration Officials Testify Amid Backlash Over Enforcement Tactics. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired February 10, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Back to our breaking news, the FBI has released images and several videos that show a masked armed man outside the home of Nancy Guthrie, who was kidnapped 10 days ago. The person appears to be armed and again is wearing a backpack and gloves. FBI Director Kash Patel says the images were taken from residual data located in back-end systems.

Remember, Guthrie's doorbell camera was removed the night that she was abducted. With us now to get some perspective is Chris Swecker, he was an assistant -- the FBI's assistant director for the criminal investigative division. Chris, thanks so much for being with us.

When you look at these images, what stands out to you?

CHRIS SWECKER, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION: Yes, former assistant director. But what sticks out to me is that there's not enough data points, visual data points for a facial recognition, nor is there enough for an iris recognition. Those are two ways to identify people these days. But the clothes are distinctive, the backpack is full, it's distinctive.

His mannerisms I think are distinctive. I think he has a mustache that you can see that through the mask. I think his mannerisms are distinct.

And I actually see what I think are car headlights in the background. So I think there's enough data points there that if you know this person, if you know that person well, or you see them every day, I think you'd be able to make an identification off of that. I've seen people, I think we've all seen people make identifications off of less than that.

So this is the linchpin that you need in every case for the solution. And I think we'll see one very quickly.

SANCHEZ: Yes, certainly we hope so. What about the way that this person is carrying the weapon in front of them in that holster? How do you read that?

SWECKER: Yes, it is a conspicuously strange place to wear a handgun for those of us that carry and have carried every day. But I really think that's a way to hide the handgun with your hands folded in front of you as you walk. I think there's a reason for everything.

I don't think that's an accident. I think it's a way to conceal the handgun. That's just the way I read it and the way he moves about and the way he approached the house and that sort of thing.

To me, it would be if you're seeing him from behind, you would not know that he has a weapon in his belt.

SANCHEZ: And what else about the way that he is approaching the home stands out to you? He appears to be in what seems like the initial moment that he approaches the house, keeping his head down. He improvises at one point and appears to grab some shrubbery to try to cover the camera.

Does this seem to you like a person who had been there before, who had sort of cased out what this kidnapping might look like?

SWECKER: Yes, I mean, he does appear to be at ease. I mean, he's not rushing. Of course, it's 147 in the morning and it's really dark outside and that house is really offset by about 200 or 300 feet from the street.

So he knows he's not being observed so he can take his time. A little perplexing to me is if he knew of the place, and my theory is that this is someone he's either related to, to someone who has been at that house, and I'm not saying the family, I'm saying a contractor or a pool person or so or what have you, or a delivery person, that he would know more about the house. But he appears to be not ready to pry that nest camera off its base right away.

You would think that he would know that it's there and have that screwdriver ready to pry it right off. But apparently, he checks it out and then he goes back and grabs the plant and comes back again. So that didn't seem like that was well planned.

And then another part of it is, how did he get in the house from there? You know, for 1:47 in the morning, you would think that Nancy would not answer the door, but I've not heard a thing about forced entry. So, you know, there's still a lot of open questions here and it may be that the FBI has not shared that information at us that whether the door was forced open.

SANCHEZ: The other question, Chris, is what is this person now thinking? If they're out there and they're aware that these images are now circulating, that they're all over the press, that Savannah Guthrie has reposted them, asking for folks who have any potential identifying information to call the authorities, what must be going through this person's mind?

SWECKER: I would say a bit of panic, because once you get some kind of video out there, all the dominoes start to fall. And I think this person is trying to decide whether to just hunker down or get on the move. And again, if they get on the move, that's an easier way to capture them.

[08:05:00] I mean, when they're in a panic and they're moving about, I think it won't be long before we have a vehicle identified and that'll be the final lynchpin for the solution. You know who's driving the car and who it's registered to, just like in Brown University.

SANCHEZ: Chris Swecker, thank you so much for that analysis. Again, if you have any detail from these images that stands out to you, you're being asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI. Any tip could break this case open and lead to Nancy Guthrie potentially returning home.

Still to come on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, after weeks of outrage over the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, lawmakers just got the opportunity to grill top ICE and Border Patrol officials about their tactics. Some tense moments on the Hill. We'll bring them to you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:10:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Some fiery moments today on Capitol Hill as top immigration officials face some tough questions from lawmakers. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and others have been under intense scrutiny after the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, and for some of the tactics that are being used in the immigration crackdown. Today, Lyons would not say if any officers have been disciplined.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: How many ICE agents have been fired for their conduct under your leadership?

TODD LYONS, ACTING DIRECTOR, ICE: Sir, I can get you that data. I'll get that back to you.

SWALWELL: Can you tell us if at least, God, I hope at least one person has been fired for their conduct since these operations have begun? Are you telling us you can't even say one person's been fired?

LYON: Sir, I'm not going to talk about personal actions, but we will get back to you.

SWALWELL: But two people have been killed so far. Is that right? A nurse named Pretti and a mom named Good. Two people have been killed so far.

LYON: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: We're joined now by a member of the Homeland Security Committee, Republican Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us. I do want to note you have heralded Tom Homan's model in Minneapolis since he has taken over leadership there from Gregory Bovino.

But what policy changes are you looking for specifically to change when it comes to these immigration operations?

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Well, I think the way Tom Homan has come in as a consummate professional. Remember, I was chairman of this committee, but also a federal prosecutor after 9-11, getting known or suspected terrorists out of the country using ICE, which, by the way, I authorized into law, overwhelmingly bipartisan. So where are we today after the 10 to 12 million came in illegally, the aggravated felons?

What Homan is trying to do is restore the ICE's core mission of, you know, these strategic law enforcement operations. And that's where it needs to be. I think these roving patrols, with Mr. Agent Bovino coming in with roving patrols, those should be limited to areas around the border, not in the major cities in the United States. The other problem was it's a sanctuary city, so that ICE detainers were not honored by the locals, so they couldn't pick them up out of the prisons.

Now Tom Homan is restoring that process. He's also working with state and locals to do the crowd control that, quite frankly, Brianna, ICE and CBP are just not trained to handle crowd control situations.

To answer your question specifically, the Border Patrol cameras now are being put back on the agents. And I think, again, state and local cooperation is very important here. Otherwise, you're at war with the state and locals.

And we saw what happened. It was not working well. We need to de- escalate the situation.

KEILAR: It is noteworthy that Gregory Bovino and Tom Homan, they're operating under the same leadership structure, right? And that leads me to this question because Bovino was empowered by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Even as things deteriorated rapidly, that continued for some time.

She has misrepresented what we have seen on video. And I wonder if you think she needs to go.

MCCAUL: That's a president's decision. I'm very pleased --

KEILAR: Do you have questions about --

MCCAUL: -- the president made the decision.

KEILAR: Do you have questions about her leadership? Because that is an oversight role of Congress. Do you have questions about her leadership?

MCCAUL: I just have questions about putting Agent Bovino in charge of this operation. I mean, Tom Homan should have been in charge of this from day one. He's showing how you can do this as a professional and without theatrics.

So that's the last thing. We needed someone to bring theatrics into all this. Bovino is very good at that. But that's not what the nation -- most Americans agree with removing criminal aliens. Prior administration let a lot of aggravated felons in. They're OK with that.

What they're not OK with is harassment of the public at large, the way these roving patrols were done. That called into question a lot of the -- we need to get back to the core mission of ICE and not doing these theatrics. And so I'm glad the president's going with Mr. Homan. I think it's really a model for the nation. This is how we ought to be doing it across the country now.

[08:15:00]

KEILAR: The Trump administration, and this is actually even by Pam Bondi, this idea of getting sensitive voter registration information has even been linked in Minnesota to immigration operations there. But more broadly, from a number of states, the Trump administration wants this sensitive data, this sensitive voter registration data. Your state of Texas is actually one of two dozen states that is using a federal database that was overhauled last year to try to verify voter citizenship.

And election officials across your state of Texas have actually identified many citizens who have been flagged in error there. Do you have any concerns about that affecting the vote and about American citizens being disenfranchised this fall?

MCCAUL: Well, first of all, law enforcement operations should never be targeted in terms of how one person votes or party affiliation. I do think, you know, there's a concern about voter ID. It's why the Congress were voting on the SAVE Act this week to ensure that if someone is registered to vote, they're a U.S. citizen. As required by law, the problem hasn't been effectuated in all states. But you never use law enforcement for political purposes, at least in my tenure at the DOJ. That would be very much against tradition.

KEILAR: You have a passport, but a lot of people -- I'm assuming you have a passport. A lot of people do not, right? They don't readily --

MCCAUL: Unofficial and unofficial, yes.

KEILAR: Exactly right. You've got all the passports, but a lot of people don't have that or their birth certificate readily available, which is part of the issue, as you're well aware with the SAVE Act. Do you have concern, though?

You're looking at your state of Texas, where in Denton County, 84 potential non-citizens were identified. In the case of 14, it turned out to be an error on the part of them being put in a system they never asked to be put in. They were very clear about their citizenship status.

And then there were actually more than a dozen people who provided documents that established their citizenship, and they remained on the rolls. But there's still dozens of people who haven't been reached, and they've had their registrations canceled, some of them, you know, perhaps wrongly. Is that raising concerns for you about whether this is actually a good idea to seek this registration information and do with it what the administration wants to do with it?

MCCAUL: Well you know, how it's implemented, I don't -- all I can tell you is that the law does require to vote in the United States, you have to be here legally, and you have to be a U.S. citizen. And so I think, and how do you implement and enforce that law?

You now, we have the REAL ID Act in my state of Texas, and it's linked to your driver's license. You have to have some identification to be able to vote, not just in person, but by absentee ballot. And I think one of the concerns is that people are voting, you know, in this country illegally who don't comply with federal law.

And so this puts the onerous on the states to basically effectuate what is required by federal law, and that is identify who's here legally and who's not, who's a U.S. citizen, who is not, and who can be allowed to vote.

KEILAR: Yes, it may be a concern. The numbers don't bear that it is something that is at all widespread, and that is according to a conservative think tank. I just want to be very clear about that.

MCCAUL: Well, we don't want to prohibit U.S. citizens from voting, that's for sure.

KEILAR: Yes. Congressman Michael McCaul, thank you so much.

MCCAUL: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: Still to come, breaking news as the FBI releases new video of a masked and armed individual. You see those pictures right here as that individual is trying to hide their identity, but there is a of their masked face caught in these videos. You can see how they walk.

You can see what their eyes look like. A number of things that people are going to want to take a look at these pictures from the night that Nancy Guthrie was taken. We'll be back with more.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Back to our major breaking news this afternoon, the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff's Department are now releasing new images and videos of a masked person armed at the front door of Nancy Guthrie's home on the morning she disappeared some 10 days ago. The footage was recovered from a Nest camera located near her door. Let's go to CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter.

Brian, what more are you learning?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Well, number one, what a change in direction for the Guthrie family and for the investigators. My sense is that the family only learned about these images this morning, Tuesday morning, just a couple of hours before the images were made public. So you can imagine -- try to imagine what it's like for these children of Nancy Guthrie who went to bed last night, who woke up this morning, you know, thinking that there was no breakthrough, there was no new lead, maybe wondering about the investigators and whether anything was going to turn up.

And then all of a sudden, this morning comes this word that these images had been retrieved. So a really sudden change of events and a hardening change of events, giving everybody a glimmer of hope this afternoon.

SANCHEZ: And Brian, walk us through what it took to get these images in part, because up until today, it did not seem that we were ever going to see footage from the camera system at Nancy Guthrie's home. Investigators had mentioned that apparently the family did not have a subscription. Yes, they didn't have a subscription.

And so they didn't know that they could get this footage.

STELTER: This is the technical part of the story that I want to learn more about, that I bet many viewers want to learn more about, because this is a key part of the breakthrough. My sense is that the engineers and the technicians at Google, the company that owns Nest, deserve a lot of credit for this breakthrough. And you can read between the lines of Kash Patel's statement and get that sense.

[08:25:00]

He said, working with our partners, they were able to obtain this video. Well, for viewers who aren't familiar how Nest works, these are some of the Nest cameras. So here's one of them that's for outdoor use.

Here's an indoor camera that's for indoor use. You plug these in, you're able to see whatever the camera sees. But unless you have a monthly subscription to the cloud interface, there's not a backup of the recordings. You're able to see the video live if you have it plugged in. You're not able to see a backup.

A lot of people don't bother to pay for the backup for $10 a month or whatever it is, because all you're ever going to see on your cameras is, well, in the Tucson desert, maybe a coyote every once in a while. But in this instance, according to the FBI, the Google engineers, these data forensics experts, were able to somehow retrieve the raw material that was coming off the camera live, that was being fed onto the servers live, even though there was not a subscription. There's going to be a lot of questions about that.

And so far, we've only seen the video from what seems to be the doorbell camera, and not from any other cameras around the home -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Brian Stelter, thank you so much for that update. A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END