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Investigators Return To Nancy Guthrie's Home; Lindsey Vonn Breaks Leg In Crash, Stable After Surgery; Seahawks And Patriots Face Off On NFL's Biggest Stage; Lawmakers Far Apart As Friday DHS Funding Deadline Approaches; Russia Blames Ukraine For Assassination Attempt On Top General; Lindsey Vonn Breaks Leg In Crash, Stable After Surgery. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired February 08, 2026 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The cause of that crash still unclear. Whoa.

All right, and finally in the deep freeze of a Wisconsin winter, a decades old tradition is back. At Madison's Winter Carnival, an inflatable Lady Liberty appeared on the frozen ice of Lake Mendota. She has become an iconic symbol of the winter celebration for the last several years.

All right. Thank you so much for joining me today, this weekend. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jessica Dean right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

We do have new details on the disappearance of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie. Officials were seen at Nancy Guthrie's house this afternoon. One investigator seen holding a notepad while walking around the property and in the backyard there.

Today does mark day eight in this search. Still no named suspects. We're learning some new details about a ransom note received earlier this week, including a deadline set for tomorrow.

I do want to bring in CNN's Ed Lavandera, who joins us now there from Pima County, Arizona.

Ed, you have been there now for days covering all of this. Tell us where this investigation currently stands now day eight.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's now been a full week since Nancy Guthrie was abducted and taken from her home against her will as investigators here have been saying throughout the last week. And still, the latest update from the sheriff's investigators here is that there is no suspect, no person of interest that they can report on at this moment. But this all continues as we've seen the latest video from Savannah

Guthrie essentially communicating to the author of these alleged ransom notes that they will pay. Clearly a very dynamic and ongoing situation there. All of that happening very much behind the scenes and out of public view. So we know some scant details about what is going on in those communications based on the fact that those notes have gone to news media outlets.

But those news media outlets also keeping much of the content of that out of public view, out of respect for the investigation at this moment. So all of that continues to happen. And then here on the ground in the neighborhood where Nancy Guthrie lives, investigators are back for another day. We've seen a number of investigators going again around the property, as well as other parts of this neighborhood as well.

This is also happening the day after we saw investigators, a small group of investigators go to the home of Nancy Guthrie's daughter, who lives about 15, 20 minutes away from where we are. They spent about 30 minutes inside the home. We saw an investigator coming out with a latex gloves. Another investigator putting a bag of -- we do not know the contents of in one of the law enforcement vehicles.

So clearly a lot of law enforcement activity once again there at that site as well. So we're seeing a lot of activity. We just don't know exactly what it all means and what could be transpiring that we don't know of about this time.

But the bottom line is here, Jessica, is that the most important part of this investigation and the search has not changed. And it's simply no indication yet as to the fate of Nancy Guthrie or where she might be.

DEAN: All right. Ed Lavandera, with the very latest there from Arizona. Thank you so much.

And let's turn now to former assistant director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division, Frank Figliuzzi.

Frank, thank you so much for being here with us. We just heard from Ed there kind of laying out where things stand now on day eight of this investigation. We got that new video from the Guthrie siblings last night. What is standing out to you today?

FRANK FIGLIUZZI, FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI COUNTERINTELLIGENCE DIVISION: So first, it is dismaying that we don't yet have seemingly proof of life. We don't have a suspect or even a person of interest, and that may be triggering the reentry of law enforcement into the home throughout the neighborhood, trying to broaden their scope in an abundance of caution to try and develop some suspect.

I also observe, when we take a step back, that we are now entering a new evolution of kidnap and ransom. What do I mean by that? I mean, back when I started my FBI career, we were getting ransom demands via phone booths throughout a city, and FBI agents would be posted at phone booths throughout town waiting for that next call, seeing if they could spot a potential captor. And what did the captor want? A sack of cash put under a tree.

Where are we now? Electronics. Digitalization. We're getting a demand via anonymous e-mail that can't be traced. We're getting a request for bitcoin that is very difficult to trace. And sadly, all of this means a much greater challenge for law enforcement.

DEAN: Yes, that is really important context that you give us there because this does seem really unlike anything we've seen previously in recent memory.

[16:05:04]

I certainly can't think of a scenario of this scale and like this that we've seen recently.

I want to go back to what you were saying about we're seeing these investigators return to her home there in the backyard of the property. We don't know what they're looking for. And as we've noted many times, both on our program and across the network, obviously they could be holding some information very close to the vest of course to protect the investigation.

But what kind of evidence could they be looking for? And it says, it seems to me, based on what you said, you think that they're going back and essentially triple checking to make sure they haven't not caught anything, that there's nothing they haven't caught.

FIGLIUZZI: Right. We don't know for sure whether something in the more recent communiques from the alleged captors has triggered the search for something new, or whether this is simply let's go over it again and broaden the scope. But they're looking for anything. Literally did a potential kidnaper drop something? Did they drop a cigarette, a piece of gum? Did a shoelace come off? Almost anything is possible here.

DEAN: Yes. And I also want to talk about that latest video message that we got with Savannah Guthrie speaking. She was there with her brother and her sister. It appeared, look, it was a very short video, but it was very specific. And there were very -- it seemed like the words were chosen quite carefully. What do you think?

FIGLIUZZI: Yes, for sure the FBI has coached them through this. And look, it seems to me with the some of the unusual language in there that this video was triggered by the last communique. What do I mean by that? That something has convinced them more so than in the past, that maybe this is for real. Maybe their mom is in possession of these captors, and they're willing to pay for it. And language like she is valuable to us. We understand.

That's language that likely parrots back language used in the last communique. And they're very upset. They're showing their humanity. And it may be that they don't know whether they're negotiating with a real captor, whether they're negotiating for the return of their mom's body. I hope that's not the case or whether they're absolutely negotiating for the live return of their mother. But we know one thing for sure. There is a deadline of Monday evening, and they've decided to pay.

DEAN: It is unfathomable. It's just, it's so hard to even wrap your brain around what they must be going through. When -- you and others have said the FBI can help them, can coach them through this, obviously, it's ultimately up to the family to decide how to move forward with these sorts of videos and communication. But knowing your background, your experience, what kind of -- when we say coaching or consulting with the family, what are they saying? What are they likely telling the family? What would they say in a situation like this?

FIGLIUZZI: So every FBI field office has a well-trained cadre of crisis negotiators. Those folks come alongside the victim family and work them through every detail of what to expect and then how to respond based on the last communication from the alleged captors. The key here is to gain some leverage to identify with the captor, but help the captor see the human side of the victim, and then to try to gain some control.

And this gets back to what I said earlier, which is I don't like the lack of control here. And it's a -- it signifies where we are digitally in today's kidnap and ransom situation. You have no control that all the power is being held by the abductor here. You're not going to get a word from me. This is the wallet that you send this to electronically. You're not going to hear from me unless you come forward. It's -- they are in control. And that's not what crisis negotiators want.

DEAN: All right, Frank Figliuzzi, thank you for your time. We appreciate it.

FIGLIUZZI: Sure.

DEAN: And still to come this hour, a very disappointing sad end for U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn as she tried to make that comeback despite her ruptured ACL. The latest on the Olympics just ahead. Plus, back here at home, it is the biggest night of the year in football, in sports. We're live from the stadium as Super Bowl LX gets ready to kick off. And later we are just days away from another funding deadline on Capitol Hill. How Republicans are responding to Democrats' demands to reform immigration enforcement.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[16:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: New tonight, I think everybody has seen this by this point. U.S. skiing star Lindsey Vonn recovering from a broken leg after crashing today in the Olympic women's downhill race. According to the Associated Press, the 41-year-old underwent surgery on the same leg she ruptured her ACL on just nine days ago.

CNN's Don Riddell is joining us now with more.

I think there was just a collective gasp when this happened all over the world, Don. What more can you tell us?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that collective gasp was louder nowhere more than on the mountainside where I just think, Jessica, nobody could believe what they had witnessed. And this is just a tragic culmination of a story which has been playing out over the last few weeks, months and days.

[16:15:02]

And it's just not the story anybody was hoping for, obviously. It was a spectacular end for Lindsey Vonn. The downhill race earlier on Sunday, lasting just 13 seconds for her before she clipped a gate and went cartwheeling down the mountain. She had to be airlifted off to a nearby hospital where, as you say, she underwent what I've heard being described as an orthopedic operation to stabilize the left leg, which was fractured in that accident.

Remember, she was skiing just nine days after she crashed out on the eve of the Olympics in Switzerland. On that occasion, she completely ruptured her left ACL. Her right knee had previously been built and was made of titanium, and she was coming back after basically being out of the sport for six years. She had retired, but last year she decided that she was going to try this comeback, have one more go at the Olympics, and at the age of 41, she got herself into a position where she could have medaled today.

We'll never know. We'll never know what would have happened if it wasn't for the injury last week or nine days ago. But she had said that she was, you know, she was going to go for it, and she absolutely did. I think that's probably why she clipped that gate. We haven't heard from Vonn herself yet, but she was flying down that mountain. She was giving it everything that she had. And unfortunately it ended in tears.

An interesting quote coming from the head of the U.S. ski team who said, "This sport is brutal and people need to remember that these athletes are throwing themselves down mountains really, really fast. And sometimes it ends like this."

DEAN: Oh, that is true. Don, who did win the race? What was the final outcome?

RIDDELL: So it was a day of mixed emotions for the American team because, of course, Lindsey Vonn, the legend, the skier that they all look up to crashed out. But it was another American, Breezy Johnson, who took the gold medal. And this also completes an extraordinary narrative arc for her. She's 30 years of age. It was on this very mountain four years ago that she crashed, which cost her a place in the Beijing Olympics in 2022.

So she was making her Olympic comeback. She skied down first, ahead of Lindsey Vonn. She watched what happened from the bottom and she ended up on the top step of the podium, holding the gold medal. But I would imagine a very, very mixed emotions for her, given everything that happened. But a very successful day for her and the American team ultimately. DEAN: Yes. All right, Don, thank you for that update. We do appreciate

it.

Coming up, the biggest sporting event of the year now just hours away. And it will be a battle of the East Coast versus West Coast. We're live outside Levi's Stadium with a preview for you.

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[16:22:15]

DEAN: In just a couple hours, the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will kick off the Super Bowl LX. The Seahawks are in the big game for the first time since losing to the Patriots 11 years ago. The Patriots are in it for the first time since Tom Brady and Bill Belichick left the team. And an historic halftime performance from Latin superstar Bad Bunny set to draw attention from all over the world.

Let's bring in CNN's Andy Scholes, who's joining us from outside Levi's Stadium.

Andy, everyone is really excited. A lot of anticipation. And hey, it's sunny and it looks pretty warm out there, which from the East Coast sounds pretty appealing. How are things out there?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Jessica, I mean, there's nothing quite like a Super Bowl Sunday. You could just feel the energy here around the stadium. And as you said, I mean, you couldn't ask for a better weather. It is 65 degrees and sunny. Going to be great for the Super Bowl. And all the Patriots and Seahawks fans have already started going into Levi's Stadium. They're all of course hoping to dreaming of leaving that stadium tonight as Super Bowl champion.

And of course for this one, all eyes are going to be on the two quarterbacks. Drake Maye of the Patriots, just 23 years old, looking to become the youngest quarterback ever to win the Super Bowl. Sam Darnold meanwhile, he's looking to complete one of the greatest comeback stories the NFL has ever seen. And both quarterbacks say they're just relishing this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DRAKE MAYE, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK: I'm really excited. You know a chance to, you know, play in this game is a dream come true. And what you work for all year long, I still don't know as much as a lot of people do here. But, you know, trying to figure out, you know, what's at stake and how much, you know, work needs to put in to come up with come up with, you know, come up with wins in the win column.

SAM DARNOLD, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS QUARTERBACK: I've just learned a ton throughout my career, and every single year I just -- I do what I can to make sure that I don't get ahead of myself. And I take it one day at a time because I feel like that mindset, you know, has proved successful for me in every aspect of life. You know, whether it was growing up, high school, college, and now here, you know, on the biggest stage, I'm just continuing with that mindset.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes. Now Darnold was drafted third overall back in 2018 by the Jets. And we know it did not work out there for him. But he never stopped grinding. Just kept working. And in his very first season in Seattle he now has them playing for a Super Bowl title.

You know it's a story so good you can almost really make a movie about it. And Saturday on the Fanatics red carpet, well, I asked legendary actors Kevin Costner and Jamie Foxx what they thought of Darnold's journey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN COSTER, ACTOR, DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER: It's a pretty great -- good story for sports because athletes don't care what you think, and they, and you know, people were, you know, when he played at SC, you know, you know, Heisman type player. Right? You know? And so what we're dealing with is sports, you write your story.

JAMIE FOX, ACTOR, COMEDIAN, SINGER AND PRODUCER: As a quarterback, it's high anxiety.

[16:25:01]

And there are certain people that will tell you there's certain tiers of quarterback. Then there's the middle. Then there's the bottom. Sam sort of fluctuated in the downturn. So to see him be stick to it and now to have his day to silence the critics, you know, that's what it's really about. And if you know football you understand how hard that is because once you get pegged as like, or you can't do it, it's hard to fight out of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes. Now, according to the American Gaming Association, a record $1.76 billion is expected to be legally wagered on the Super Bowl this year. And when it comes to the Super Bowl, I mean, you can bet on anything. For example, you can wager on what Bad Bunny's first song is going to be during his halftime performance. "Titi Me Pregunto" is the favorite there. You can also bet on what color Gatorade will be poured on the winning coach. Yellow the big favorite. It was the winner last year.

And hey, since we're in the Bay Area, this is a new one. Never seen this one before. You can bet on, will they show the "Full House" house at some point during the broadcast? So, I mean, all kinds of wagers out there, Jessica. And of course, you can bet on the coin toss before the game. And in case you were wondering, tails is actually -- this is the Super Bowl LX. Tails is winning 31 to 28. So I guess heads is due, right?

DEAN: I guess -- you would think, right? Will the "Full House" house be shown? I don't know. I'm going to think on that. I don't know what bet -- what side of the bet I'd take on that. Andy Scholes, thanks so much. It's really good to see you. We

appreciate it.

And don't forget a replay of the new CNN Original "BAD BUNNY AND THE HALFTIME SHOW: RHYTHMS OF RESISTANCE" airs tonight at 6:00 Eastern and Pacific only on CNN. You can also stream it on our CNN app.

Still ahead here this afternoon, a deadline fast approaching as Democrats call on the GOP to agree to 10 demands for reforming ICE or risk funding for DHS. We're going to talk with Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:32:04]

DEAN: With the Friday deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security fast approaching, the top House Democrat indicates the next move belongs to Republicans. Hakeem Jeffries, saying he will not accept anything less than Democrats' full list of demands for reforming ICE. They want ICE agents to wear visible ID, use body cameras, remove face masks. They also want ICE to end roving patrols and for agents to be able to obtain judicial warrants, among other things, before entering property.

Camila DeChalus is joining us now.

So how are things shaping up for this week, Camila?

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN REPORTER: Well, that's right, Jessica. There's a real sense of urgency right now on Capitol Hill because we're just days away from funding for the Department of Homeland Security potentially lapsing if lawmakers cannot come together and really come up with an agreement.

Now, the big deadline that's looming is this upcoming Friday, February 13th. And Democrats are really saying that they will not support any spending bill for DHS unless it includes having the Trump administration implement a lot of reforms around immigration enforcement. Now, some of these reforms look like having agents wear body cameras, removing their face masks, and also visibly displaying which agency they're from. That way, the public knows when they are approaching them.

But so far, Democrats say that they haven't heard anything from the White House. Now, Republicans on their end, their main argument is saying, hey, if Democrats are withholding their support in order to teach a lesson about to ICE and try to remove funding for that federal agency, well, then that point is really moot, because even if there's a lapse in funding for the def homeland security, it won't impact ICE operations.

But Democrats are really arguing that its not just about the funding. It's also about holding the Trump administration accountable and also the federal agencies under this department. Take a listen to what the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, had to say about it. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: In our view, the ball is in the court right now of the Republicans. Either they're going to agree to dramatically reform the way in which ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies are conducting themselves so that they're behaving like every other law enforcement agency in the country, or they're making the explicit decision to shut down the Coast Guard, shut down FEMA, and shut down TSA. And that will be very unfortunate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DECHALUS: Now, this is the really important thing here, Jessica, is that even if this funding does last for the Department of Homeland Security, it doesn't just impact agencies related to immigration, it will also impact other agencies like FEMA, the Coast Guard, and also TSA and other DHS operations. So there's a lot at stake here.

DEAN: There certainly is. Camilla, thank you for that reporting. We appreciate it.

We're joined now by Republican Representative Carlos Gimenez of Florida. He serves on the House Homeland Security, Armed Services and Select Committee on China.

Congressman, good to have you here on this Super Bowl Sunday. Good to have you.

I do want to start with where Camila left off there. We have this Friday deadline. These negotiations are mostly happening in the Senate.

[16:35:01]

But I'm curious if you're hearing anything about the status of these negotiations from your Republican House leadership.

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): No, not really. I think when we left, it was pretty clear that the negotiations were going to be done by the Senate Democrats, Chuck Schumer, and the White House directly, and that we were going to hear about what the outcome was. And so, we haven't heard from that.

And so, we don't know what the president has agreed to, what he's not agreed to. And so, you know, we come back -- we come back to D.C. tomorrow, and I'm sure they're going to give us an update of what's going on.

DEAN: Do you see any room for compromise? Are you open to any of those points that Democrats are asking for? Things like face masks, removing face masks, visible ideas, no enforcement in schools, hospitals, churches, among other things?

GIMENEZ: Well, look, I've -- I've said that the ICE enforcement has gone a little bit too far. I think everybody is in complete agreement with shutting down the border. Deporting criminals, gang members, people with active deportation orders. And that, you know, it should be -- after that, it should be on a one to one basis, and it shouldn't be this roundup.

And so, there are things that I could agree to. When I was mayor of Miami-Dade County, we put body cameras on all Miami-Dade County police, probably eight or nine years ago. I thought that that was a really good way to make sure that whenever we had an incident, you'd get the full picture.

As far as face masks are concerned, you look a lot of times those face masks are there to protect the ICE agent themselves because they may be undercover. And so, it needs to protect their identity putting what agency you're from, I have no problem with that.

But again, you know, it's funny that when the Democrats were in charge and somehow the Republicans, you know, said that we may shut down the government, which we never did, they would blame it on the Republicans. And now that we're in charge and then they're shutting down the government, they're still going to blame it on us. I just find that, you know, a little bit -- a little bit strange, let's put it that way.

DEAN: Yeah. There's always a blame game when it comes to a government shutdown. There is no doubt about that.

GIMENEZ: Yeah.

DEAN: I do want to ask you, you sit on the homeland security committee in the house, the leaders of ICE, Border Patrol and citizenship and immigration services are all going to appear before your committee this week. What questions do you have for them? What do you want to know?

GIMENEZ: Look, I want to know how people are chosen. And so, like I said, I have no problem with --

DEAN: People who they're arresting you mean?

GIMENEZ: Exactly.

DEAN: Okay.

GIMENEZ: How they get to those folks. Okay? And I want to make sure that we are we are homing in on the people. We should be homing in criminals, gang members, people with active deportation orders. I want to know there's something else.

Why is it that other folks are being rounded up and I don't think that that's good policy. And so, you know, I'm going to ask about that. I want to ask about, you know, why aren't they wearing body cameras? Because we funded body cameras in the Big, Beautiful Bill, and maybe they're getting to it, but it's something that I think every -- every law enforcement agency should wear body cameras because it takes away this, you know, he said/she said, no, I did it right. No, the person was a threat, et cetera. It was right in front of you. And then you can get that.

And that's why I did it when I was mayor of Miami-Dade County. And so, when you do that, you find that a 95 percent of the time, the actual law enforcement officer is actually in the right. And so, again, why they took him so long to do that? I don't know why, but they needed to get that done ASAP. And then, you know, depending on their testimony, I always end up asking questions, depending on what I'm hearing from the people that are testifying before our committee.

DEAN: I -- okay, I also want to ask you about another subject, which is Cuba, because the foreign minister there is telling CNN that Cuba is ready for, in their words, meaningful dialogue with the U.S., but is not willing to discuss regime change. And this comes as the Trump administration is obviously trying to cut off oil deliveries to the -- to the island.

Do you see an opportunity for diplomacy here

GIMENEZ: No, I don't. It's time for the regime to go. It's been 65 years. They haven't had any elections, no freedom of the press, no freedom of religion. They just put in jail some 20-year-olds that that put up a video saying that, you know, they want to make Cuba great again. They put them in jail.

So, it's political repercussions, repression. No, it's time for the regime to go. The people of Cuba are suffering because of the regime. It's time for them to go. It's time for freedom. It's time for democracy to come back to Cuba. And so that this, this nightmare that we've had for the last 65 years can finally be put into the, you know, into the dustbin of history.

DEAN: And so, if you're saying you don't -- no time for diplomacy, you're -- clearly, you're very ready to see this change happen. Would you then support military action? What does that look like to you?

GIMENEZ: I think that we need to see the people of Cuba rise up, which they are. But it's tough for them to rise up. Every time they rise up, they get beat down by a repressive regime that that beats them, basically really beats them, okay, and then puts them in jail.

[16:40:04]

They're the only ones with guns. And so, you know, the people have a tough time rising, but the people want change. The people need change.

This used to be -- you used to have the second highest standard of living in the western hemisphere. Now it's even lower than Haiti. Why? Because of the regime. Why? Because communism doesn't work.

And these people are -- hide behind their ideology basically to steal the Cuban people blind. We know that the leaders have offshore accounts with millions of dollars in them. And so, this regime has to go. They are an enemy of the United States. They are a threat to our security. They have been.

They also, you know, give shelter and aid to our enemies like China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. They all operate in Cuba.

And so, yeah, we need regime change. And the faster it comes, the better it will be for the people of Cuba to finally put this nightmare behind them.

DEAN: All right. Congressman Carlos Gimenez, thanks for your time. We appreciate it.

GIMENEZ: My pleasure.

DEAN: Still to come, Russia accusing Ukraine of an assassination attempt on one of its top generals. How this could impact U.S. efforts to secure a deal to end the war between the two countries.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:16]

DEAN: Russian investigators are tonight claiming Ukraine is behind an attempted assassination of a top general. According to state media, the Russian general regained consciousness Saturday. Russia saying the alleged gunman was arrested in Dubai after fleeing Moscow. Ukraine's foreign minister claims Kyiv had nothing to do with the attack.

We're joined now by CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier.

Kim, good to see you.

This is just the latest in a series of attacks targeting senior figures in the Russian military and security services. What's your take on this?

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I'm not surprised that the government hasn't claimed responsibility. They've only done that a couple of times since Russia's full scale invasion in 2022. If this was indeed Ukraine behind this attack, but they have demonstrated this kind of reach deep inside Russian territory, taking out some top commanders with car bombs and other explosive devices.

I actually met with a Ukrainian intelligence commander the last time I was there, who explained that the same way the Ukrainian military was allegedly riddled with Russian operatives, former Russian commanders, et cetera. And it was though many of those were expelled after 2022, the Ukrainians also spent time with Russian security services. They, many of them, speak Russian fluently.

So, as he was saying, it is really easy for us since they're people we know well, to blend in on the Russian side of the border. And that is how they carry out these attacks, which are a way to fight back when they're not able to win on the battlefield.

DEAN: Yeah. It is. It is really fascinating to see that play out. Do you anticipate that we'll see more of this? I mean, obviously, the context being that the U.S. trying to get this deal done and this sort of thing is still happening.

DOZIER: Well, the plan always was that if they lost the conventional war, that they would continue with this resistance underground. Actually, U.S. Special Operations Forces before the 2022 invasion were teaching that to Ukrainian special forces.

So, yes, something like this would continue. You see it happening behind enemy lines in the Donbas, where commanders on the Russian side or mayors who run village for the Russians will get assassinated by unknown actors.

DEAN: I do want to talk about Iran as well. Obviously, the U.S. and in talks with that country's government. Today, the country's foreign minister saying uranium enrichment must continue. The U.S. has rejected that.

There's a number of other things that I think the U.S. and also Israel would like. We can talk about Benjamin Netanyahu coming to the U.S. in just a second. But what does success look like in these negotiations at this point.

DOZIER: Well, that's what's -- it's hard to tell, because President Trump keeps moving the goalposts. He was talking about, overthrow the regime. He was calling on the Iranian people to continue to rise up. Remember, he said that the U.S. was locked and loaded, et cetera.

Of course, at the time, the U.S. wasn't locked and loaded. It didn't have a carrier strike group in the gulf. And the other types of munitions. Youd need to do a strike on Iran. So, we had to buy time for a couple of weeks. Now he seems to be leaning towards continuing with talks, but he's also changed from the demands were no more ballistic missiles. You've got to stop funding the proxy groups in Yemen and Syria and Lebanon, and you've got to stop any nuclear weapons refinement, et cetera, and any steps towards a nuclear weapon.

But now, his latest comments, he's talked about the nuclear pile would be enough. And that sounds like a watered-down version of the Obama deal that he walked away from in his first term. Surely, that's why Benjamin Netanyahu is getting on a plane, coming to Washington to say to President Trump, while we have the Iranians on the rope, we've got to go for as much as possible.

DEAN: Yeah. Okay. So let's talk about that, because the Israeli prime minister is coming to Washington this coming week. There is this board of peace meeting we now know that's happening February 19th. He's not waiting until then to see the president. He's coming now.

What does that tell you? And it sounds like, based on what you're saying that Netanyahu obviously has some thoughts about how these talks are going?

DOZIER: Well, what we were hearing was that the Israelis were very prepared to strike, very worried about, especially the ballistic missile threat that Iran was recovering its ballistic missile capabilities after the Israelis, together with the U.S., struck last June. [16:50:11]

And they thought President Trump was on the verge of striking again. Now that it feels like this momentum is being lost, I think Netanyahu wants to impress upon President Trump that he's getting spun from the Israeli point of view, and that they've got an opportunity. And the longer they let this play out, or get strung along by Iranian negotiators, the longer that gives the Iranians time to prepare for another attack on Israel.

DEAN: All right. More to come this week. Kim Dozier, always good to have you. Thanks for your time.

DOZIER: Thanks

DEAN: Investigators today searching outside the home of Nancy Guthrie as her family pleads for her return. We'll have an update for you. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:55:38]

DEAN: Skier Lindsey Vonn suffering a devastating end to her Olympic run in Italy, crashing on her final run and breaking her leg. Vonn already defying odds. She was skiing with a ruptured ACL.

Joining us now, orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, Dr. Neal ElAttrache. He was the senior onsite surgeon for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and is currently the head team doctor for the Los Angeles Rams and Dodgers.

Dr., thanks for being back with us. We spoke to you last night when we were preparing for Vonn to compete today, and you were saying she is an elite athlete, that she has the capability to compete at an elite level despite that significant injury. And, she -- you know, you were explaining how she could do that. She could visualize it.

And so, to see this today I think just broke everybody's heart. What did you think and read into what we saw today?

DR. NEAL ELATTRACHE, ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON: Well, it was certainly a tough thing to watch. But the really when you -- when you see the video, there's no clear evidence that that an instability event led to her fall. You know, it looked like she clipped a gate with her right arm, and that did alter her balance a bit and threw her back, which those unexpected changes in balance, in the way that you have to stand on your skis. That is something that an ACL deficient patient would be, or a skier would be vulnerable to, would be a sudden, sudden, unexpected weight shift. Something happening that's throwing their off of them, off of their patterning and their planned movements.

So -- but, you know, until we hear more from Lindsey, it's impossible to tell if she had instability event in her knee that that was associated with her fall.

DEAN: Right. Or if it was just like, like you were describing if she -- if she just caught that, that flag and that was that.

The surgery we know is on the same leg as that ruptured ACL. You are obviously an expert in these sorts of surgeries and what that might mean. What -- what should she expect when it comes to the recovery process and how long it might take to rehab that leg and that knee?

ELATTRACHE: You know, I haven't seen -- I haven't seen any films of the fracture. I -- we know that she broke her leg and so that was has already been operated upon. And stabilized. So, the typical trauma techniques that are, that are done to repair a broken bone in the leg would be -- would be different and separate from what may need to be done for her ACL, and certainly would not be done at the same time.

So, you know, her rehab and recovery would be geared towards her current trauma and dealing with her ACL insufficiency at a later time.

DEAN: Yeah. And again, she's one of the greatest female downhill skiers in history. Just your thoughts on her incredible career. And what we, you know, just also to the perseverance and dedication to ski today is incredible.

ELATTRACHE: Well, you know, certainly from the sports standpoint she, she earned the right to, to be there and to make that decision, whether she felt that she was stable enough and healthy enough to race. From the -- from the team standpoint, I think it was a huge boost and inspiration to have her there and to be part of that team.

Individually, this is a -- this is an athlete that has weathered a lot of injuries in her career, demonstrated that she's able to recover and retrain and train previous levels of performance, which is among the best in the world. And so, you know, it's tough to -- tough to look back and say that anything, any decision would have been done differently. But, you know, I think that she proved that she would be able to compete with what she had going into the race. Both the partial knee replacement on one knee and the more recent ACL injury on the other.

And, you know, if I -- if I had to pick an athlete, that would be a candidate to be able to, to perform with ACL insufficiency, it would be somebody like Lindsey Vonn, who is a very experienced athlete. She knows that venue.