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Guthrie Family Posts New Video in Search for Nancy Guthrie; Family Offers $1 Million for Tip in Nancy Guthrie's Disappearance; Interview with Eric Swalwell (D-CA): Trump Expected to Talk About Economy in State of Union Address. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired February 24, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

BRIDGET BRINK, (D) MICHIGAN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Of our country talking about nationalizing elections. I'm running to hold this administration accountable because while talk about nationalizing elections, while taking money and corruption at a level we've never seen in the White House and among people close to power, what's happening here at home is prices are going up, people are losing their health insurance and folks here don't believe that the American dream is possible. The American dream and the country that I so proudly served for 28 years, it seems much farther away here in Mid-Michigan, and we have to fight for it.

And I'm standing here and I'm running in order to hold this administration accountable and to be the country we need to be, to be strong and prosperous for all of us.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So let's see at least to begin what the president says and tries to present tonight in terms of all of what you've just pointed out. Ambassador, thank you for your time.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we do have breaking news in the search for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie. We now understand that Savannah Guthrie, Nancy's daughter, Today Show anchor, has just posted a new video on social media. We are going to play it in full.

This is just in, let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, TODAY SHOW ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm coming on to say it is day 24 since our mom was taken in the dark of night from her bed.

And every hour and minute and second and every long night has been agony since then of worrying about her and fearing for her and aching for her. And most of all, just missing her, just missing her. We know that millions of you have been praying. So many people have been praying of every faith and no faith at all, praying for her return. And we feel those prayers. Please keep praying without ceasing.

We still believe. We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home.

Hope against hope. As my sister says, we are blowing on the embers of hope.

We also know that she may be lost. She may already be gone. She may have already gone home to the Lord that she loves and is dancing in heaven with her mom and her dad and with her beloved brother, Pierce, and with our daddy. And if this is what is to be, then we will accept it.

But we need to know where she is. We need her to come home. For that reason, we are offering a family reward of up to $1 million for any information that leads us to her recovery.

All of the information about this reward and the details is in the caption below. You can call the 1-800-TIP line. You can be anonymous if you want.

Someone out there knows something that can bring her home. Somebody knows. And we are begging you to please come forward now.

We also know that we are not alone in our loss. We know there are millions of families that have suffered with this kind of uncertainty. And for that reason today, we also are donating $500,000 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for their work in helping families who are coping with loss and actively looking for those who are lost.

We are hoping that the attention that has been given to our mom and our family will extend to all the families like ours who are in need and need prayers and need support.

[09:05:00]

So please, if you hear this message, if you've been waiting and you haven't been sure, let this be your sign to please come forward, tell what you know, and help us bring our beloved mom home so that we can either celebrate a glorious, miraculous homecoming or celebrate the beautiful, brave, and courageous, and noble life that she has lived.

Please be the light in the dark. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Please be the light in the dark. That new message from Savannah Guthrie, praying for the return of her mother, Nancy Guthrie. We were all watching it alongside you for the first time.

Some major headlines from that video. Number one, the Guthrie family is now offering a $1 million family reward for any information leading investigators to Nancy Guthrie. She said, "Somebody out there knows something."

Also for the first time, I believe we heard Savannah Guthrie say it's possible that her mother, Nancy, may already be gone dancing in heaven with her father. That is the first time we've heard her say that, but she also made a plea that either way, they want her home. Again, now a $1 million reward. The new statement from Savannah Guthrie.

We want to bring in CNN's Ed Lavandera on the scene in Tucson. John Miller, CNN Chief of Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst with us as well.

Ed, first of all, the news here, I know you were watching that alongside us. What jumped out to you?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think we have to take a moment and just kind of like grasp the excruciating nature of what it is to watch someone like Savannah have to make these videos. The uncertainty that that family is dealing with now more than three weeks since Nancy Guthrie disappeared. You can see the anguish.

You can see the pain in her face. You can hear it in her voice. So I think first we just kind of want to take a moment and acknowledge all of that as we continue to try to like figure out what is the latest information in this investigation that is now more than three weeks into this ordeal for the Guthrie family.

And we have learned from a source, John, that the video, the dramatic video that was released back on February 10th by the FBI that showed the suspect at Nancy Guthrie's front doorstep wearing a mask, a backpack, holding a gun in a holster around his waist. We have learned from a source that says that one of those images, if you remember, showed the suspect without a backpack and without that gun. And there were questions raised on that day about where that image was coming from in the sequence of events.

And we've learned from a source that that image came from a day different than the early morning hours when Nancy Guthrie was abducted. And this is significant because it really gives the sense that there are other days that investigators are looking at and perhaps this is not a targeted situation if this person had come to this door before, were they plotting, were they trying to case the house and that sort of thing. And when those images were released, the FBI director said that those images came from the early morning hours when Nancy Guthrie was abducted.

But we should also put in context that in the week since she was abducted, the FBI has come forward asking neighbors in the area to look for any kind of suspicious video dating back from January 1st to February 2nd. And we've also known of some neighborhood alerts that have gone out where investigators are searching for more specific dates, a couple in particular. One was from January 11th from 8 p.m. to midnight, that was put out to neighbors as well as earlier in the day on January 31st, the last day that Nancy Guthrie was seen alive as well. So this kind of matches with the timeline and the request for information that investigators have been pouring through and trying to get people to look through their videos. Should also point out that the Pima County Sheriff after these reports

were made saying that there are no timestamps on these videos and so any kind of talk about when exactly they were taken is quote speculative at the moment. So that's the latest we have from here -- John.

BOLDUAN: Ed, stick with us. Also joining us right now is John Miller for more on this. John, what's your kind of take when you hear this new message from Savannah Guthrie offering up this $1 million reward from the family for information leading to her mother's recovery?

Also for the first time acknowledging that maybe she is no longer alive.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So this is one of these things that the family has always been prepared to do from the beginning of this ordeal for them.

[09:10:00]

This according to people who are familiar with the family's thinking, but also talking to people familiar with the investigation, the number of tips that were coming in, the nature, the specificity of the tips coming in. Remember, they were flooding in in the beginning.

That has slowed down. Everybody who knew something or thought they knew something has come forward in that regard. But the family still believes and investigators concur with this, that there's still someone out there, maybe more than one someone who actually knows, that has specific information and that has reasons, whether they're personal reasons or reasons of fear or other reasons that they haven't come forward yet.

So I think in consultation with the FBI, with the sheriff, the family who's always been willing to take this step financially, the decision was made, it's time to put some more behind this reward money. It's time to see if we can coax that person out with the kind of money that could be, in someone's circumstances, more life-changing, that could break that log jam about why they're not coming forward. So that's some of what's behind this.

And I think in that context, if you look at the additional half million dollars donation to NCMEC or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, that is a nod to the fact that they understand that there are families in positions with missing people who don't have those resources, particularly with children in cases that don't get this kind of attention and that they are trying to take a step towards helping those cases as well.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: John, stay with us. I want to go quickly back out to Ed Lavandera, who's been on the scene for some time now. And Ed, I'm just getting -- I want to get a read from you. Have you heard anything from the neighbors? Because now we know that there are these two images, one of which we all saw where we saw the video of the abductor going up to the door and ringing the doorbell, but there is a second image that they're now saying, look, these are from different days, and it appears he was casing the joint. And I'm curious if you've heard anything from neighbors about anyone who's been prowling around their properties.

BOLDUAN: It looks like Ed's shot might've frozen.

SIDNER: No. OK, it's frozen right now. We've got some technicalities there.

I think we now also have Brian Stelter who is with us and just went to remind people, there is a number there, and we heard from Savannah Guthrie begging people to please, if you have any information, she said, if you've been waiting and you haven't been sure, now is your chance. Please be the light in the dark. Those numbers up there for the FBI and for the local sheriff's department.

Brian, give us some sense. This was a really, really tough message for her to have to give, because for the first time she acknowledged not once but twice that her mom may no longer be with us. As she said, she may be with the Lord she loves.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: A major turning point for the Guthrie family. Savannah speaking on behalf of her siblings as well. My sense is that this message from Savannah is echoed and is also felt by her brother and her sister.

And this is a real turning the page moment for the siblings as they acknowledge what everyone else has also been thinking about and maybe not wanting to say out loud about the status of this case. It was two weeks ago. I think it was actually two weeks ago this week.

I remember seeing Savannah. She had a book party for her book, which was all about her faith, all about her relationship with God. And in the book, she thanked her parents, Nancy and Charles, for instilling that faith, that belief in God, that giving her that principle for her entire life.

The book's called "Mostly What God Does," the idea being mostly what God does is love you. And when you hear Savannah in this message talking about the necessary prayers, the continued appeals to a higher power, that is so genuine, that is so real, and it's something that she has relied on so much in the past few weeks. She's using, if you think about it, on camera, her professional skills, the reason that we all know Savannah Guthrie, being able to get in front of the camera, to communicate to the public.

She's having to use those skills now in the worst, in the hardest way, in the most emotional way, as she once again, I think this is the sixth or seventh video, where she is communicating both to the possible abductors, but also to the wider world about the reality of the situation facing her mom.

[09:15:00]

And I do, I say this is a turning the page moment for her, because she is acknowledging and grappling with what everyone else has been grappling with. And once again, trying, whatever she can, to get through to anybody who might know something in order to provide closure. Because ultimately, Sara, this is about closure. And for the Guthrie family right now, a lack of closure about Nancy's status.

BERMAN: Look, we'd all give anything, were she not to have to give and put these videos up right now.

BOLDUAN: It's almost unbelievable here.

BERMAN: It is excruciating to see, but obviously Savannah and the family do believe it's important, which is why we think it's important to show people these videos as they come in. It's been some time since the family posted one.

I want to bring in John Miller to what Brian was just talking about there. The first time that the Guthrie family or Savannah has acknowledged that Nancy quote, "she may already be gone." John Miller, from an investigatory standpoint, from a messaging standpoint to the potential abductor, why is that important?

MILLER: I think what they're trying to tell either the abductors or the people who know the information about either where she was or where she is now, that simply because there's the possibility that she may have passed away in the course of this kidnapping, which would be understandable given her age, the violence of the kidnapping, her medical condition, that it is still just as important to the family to recover her, to bring her home. You know, the words they used, she may be lost, she may be gone, but we need to know where she is. It is something that Savannah Guthrie hinted at in a very carefully worded video a couple of weeks back where she said, "We need her back, we need to celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace."

They're drawing that message out a little bit further now, a little bit more plainly to say that we want her back in whatever the condition is right now. And it comes at a time when the investigation, I shouldn't say has slowed, the investigation is still going at a tremendous pace in that the FBI and the sheriff are doing a lot of work with places like Walmart where the backpack and they believe possibly the other items worn by the abductor may have been purchased, may have been purchased together.

They're still doing work with the cellular analysis survey teams to try and figure out if there is a signal or a phone connection common to the first date that that picture was taken that Ed Lavandera was talking about that you guys brought up a minute ago and the second date. There's still a lot of work going on. What's not going on at this point is the deluge of tips, including those high quality tips that people were going out on right away.

Most of the people who knew or thought they knew something have already come forward. So they're using this pivotal moment to re- inject the investigation into the news, re-inject energy into the motivations for people to come forward and remind people about to quote Savannah Guthrie, "Our mom who was taken in the dark of night from her bed. We still believe, we still believe in a miracle."

She may be lost, she may be gone, but they still want to know. And the million dollar donation to the reward. So let's break it down now.

There's a $100,000 reward from the FBI. There's $100,000 from Crime 88. The local kind of Crime Stoppers effort that's in Tucson that was created from a donation from a donor. But this million dollars is obviously a big boost to that.

So that means if someone had information, they would be available for the entire $1.2 million. But they also said up to a million dollars. What does that mean?

That means as in, we saw in the Luigi Mangione case, for instance, if more than one person came forward or three or four people came forward with information that led to this answer. And it is not tied in her case to arrest or conviction. It's tied to recovering their mother that that reward could be split among multiple people if they supplied information that closed this.

BOLDUAN: John, thank you so much for jumping on to walk us through this. Brian, thank you as well. Ed Lavandera on the ground, continuing to follow this now into day 24 as Savannah reminded of the search for her mother.

SIDNER: Heartbreaking.

[09:20:00]

All right, ahead. It's going to be long, and the economy is going to be a major focus. More details trickling out about what President Donald Trump will say during his State of the Union address.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, just in, we're getting some new details about what President Trump plans to say in his State of the Union address to Congress and the American people. Tonight, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt just spoke with reporters. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: A large portion of the speech will, yes, focus on the economy. The President will lay out the case for why he and Republicans are better suited to tackle, continue tackling the affordability crisis that was created by the Biden administration and Democrats on Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: With us now is Congressman Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California. He is running for governor of that state. Congressman, I don't know if you just heard what Karoline Leavitt is.

Do you care to respond to what she just said?

[09:20:00]

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): Well, Americans, including myself, who will be in the chamber tonight, want the President to focus on lowering the costs. He promised day one, John, I'm going to bring down the costs. It's like day 410, he's 0 for 410. People want to see that he's going to stop the community tear.

He's going to see 200 plus Democrats who aren't going to give him a penny to conduct public executions. We're done funding ICE. And he's going to see a lot of Epstein survivors.

I'm bringing Teresa Helm. She, for 23 years, has sought justice against Epstein, and she's going to be in the same room as the attorney general, maybe the FBI director if he's gotten back from Italy, and the President of the United States demanding that accountability finally happens.

BERMAN: You're bringing an Epstein survivor. What are your plans for during the speech itself? Your leader, Hakeem Jeffries, has said, look, if Democrats don't want to show up, don't show up.

But he's also indicated that if you do go, he wants you to sit in silent defiance.

SWALWELL: Well, I will be there in solidarity with Ms. Helm. And that's because I believe, as a former prosecutor and a dad of a little girl, and you don't have to have a little girl, but I do, that we have to do everything to stand with sexual assault victims. I certainly understand why some of my colleagues don't want to go.

But this president is going to be, you know, facing a Congress that just wants him to do his damn job and lower the costs, bring justice for sexual assault victims, and protect the most vulnerable, the immigrants who are running through the factories and fields where they work, in our communities.

BERMAN: What do you think the chances are that he'll actually address the Epstein investigation?

SWALWELL: The square root of zero.

BERMAN: You brought up ICE, and you said Democrats will not give another dollar to ICE. Karoline Leavitt, one of the things she said she was going to do was call on Democrats to end the partial government shutdown, the shutdown of Homeland Security.

What's your response to that call?

SWALWELL: Well, stop the public executions, take off the masks, put your identification out, no more dragging women by the hair and putting them in unmarked vans, no more roving terrors, targeting people based on their accents, color of their skin, and where they work. Maybe go see a judge before you pound on someone's door and knock it down. And God forbid, no more public executions in our streets.

You stop doing that, we'll come to the table, but we're not going to fund that any further. BERMAN: Kate, last time you talked to Kate Bolduan here, she was pressing you on if you wanted to abolish ICE. And you said you wanted to crush it. You didn't quite say abolish.

Has that changed over the last week? What's your feeling on whether ICE should continue as an institution?

SWALWELL: It's got to go.

BERMAN: OK, so Jim Messina, who ran Barack Obama's 2016 campaign, has a warning for Democrats who say they want to see the abolishment of ICE. Listen to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM MESSINA, FORMER OBAMA CAMPAIGN MANAGER: People do want accountability for ICE. They want people held to action. They want smart enforcement of our immigration laws.

What they don't want is to get rid of a federal agency that they think is responsible for keeping our borders safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: What do you say to that?

SWALWELL: I'm not aware of a federal agency that is responsible for keeping our borders safe. I have seen a federal agency who has publicly executed a nurse named Pretti and a mom named Good.

And I see Californians that I represent terrified. One woman asked me, who works at a grocery store, if I go to the parking lot at the end of my shift late at night and someone comes up to me wearing a mask and tries to put me in an unmarked van, is that a bad guy or is that ICE? You shouldn't have to ask that question in our country.

And I'm not going to fund another penny for any organization that conducts itself like that.

BERMAN: So Jim Messina, and there are others who argue that calls to abolish ICE is tantamount to the calls in some quarters to defund the police after George Floyd. What do you think about that?

SWALWELL: Yes, well, ICE, they're not the police. I'll work with the police. And by the way, I'm supported by the police chiefs in my race in California.

I'm supported by the firefighters. I'm the public safety candidate there. They can distinguish between what they do, which is lawful, which is helping people in the community and the terror that ICE is bringing across California.

We've been under attack in California. We've got troops in the streets, people running through the fields where they work, seeing women dragged by the hair. John, people are fed up of it, and they don't want it to be funded a second longer. BERMAN: And before I let you go, Congressman Tony Gonzalez of Texas. There are these text messages that have been provided to CNN from the husband of a former staffer of Gonzalez who took her own life. Text messages purporting to ask for sexy pics of this staffer.

There are some members of Congress, including Republicans now, calling on Congressman Gonzalez to resign. What do you think should happen?

SWALWELL: Yes, if he sent those, he should go. And, you know, Republicans have created a mess right now in the House.

[09:30:00]

They have shown no interest in governing.

They are completely distracted. And the best thing we can do as Democrats is to bring a level of seriousness on all issues and show that, put us in charge, and it's going to be a different Congress.

BERMAN: Congressman Gonzalez, up until this point, has denied an affair and says he thinks he is being blackmailed. Congressman Eric Swalwell, thank you for being with us today. Appreciate it.

SWALWELL: My pleasure.