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FBI Joins Search for Nancy Guthrie; Trump Repeats His Call for Federal Government to 'Take Over the Voting.' Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired February 04, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:08]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Today in the group chat, did someone kidnap Savannah Guthrie's mother? What police are now saying about ransom notes.

Plus, President Trump defends his call to nationalize election. Are other Republicans on board?

Tulsi Gabbard's reportedly the target of a secret whistleblower complaint? What that says she did with classified documents.

And why prosecutors in Paris want to drag Elon Musk into court. Hear from a reporter who tested that chatbot that undresses people without consent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every lead and tip is important. We are aggressively pursuing and looking into every single one. Again, please help us bring Nancy Guthrie home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: A desperate search for Nancy Guthrie, "Today Show' anchor Savannah Guthrie's mother. The motive, the suspect, both still a mystery this morning.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish, and here's where we begin.

The FBI has been brought in to help assist with the search for 84- year-old Nancy Guthrie. She was last seen Saturday night in Tucson, Arizona. Authorities believe she was taken in the middle of the night, against her will.

The sheriff's department says there's been no credible information that this was a targeted incident.

In the meantime, TMZ and a local news station in Tucson reporting that they received what appears to be a ransom note, but that has not been verified.

The sheriff says they're taking all tips seriously.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything in that note that seems credible at this moment, that you're giving weight to?

SHERIFF CHRIS NANOS, PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: The entire note. That's what I would tell you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The entire note?

NANOS: When the note comes to us, we look -- it's like any piece of evidence. You give it to us. You give us a lead. We're going to look at every aspect of that lead and work it as a lead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you're not dismissing this note at this point?

NANOS: Absolutely not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now to discuss, Casey Jordan, a criminologist and a behavioral analyst.

Good morning. Thank you for being with us.

I want to start with what we heard the sheriff just say. When you have -- when you're this public, right, in a crime, all kinds of tips come in. So, what do you do with something like these kind of unverified notes?

CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST: Well, the point is that it is unverified. And when it is reported to a TV station and TMZ already, you're wondering if that's a prankster.

You know, why wasn't this message delivered directly to the family or to the FBI or to the police, who are in touch with the family?

So, the first thing they're going to do, and of course, they have all of this information and we should not know it. You know, was it actually handwritten, scribed? Was it written, was it cursive? Was it printed on a laser printer on a dot matrix paper?

You know, was it little cut-out pieces of magazine taped to construction paper? Was it sent as an e-mail?

All of these things will help get them closer to the person who may have sent it. The point is, however, that so often in these very high- profile kidnapping cases. You have a lot of pranksters, you have a lot of people who, you know, for -- for a variety of mental reasons, want to intrude in the case.

But the biggest thing that I have read, and we aren't sure, is that the note may have contained description of the interior of the House and what Nancy was wearing. The problem is, nobody knows what Nancy was wearing when she was abducted in the middle of the night. Was it pajamas? Was it, you know, a night dress? So, the police are going to be going through all of these things. But

so far, I don't think there is anything in that note that really confirms that they believe it came from the people who may have abducted her.

CORNISH: Nancy Guthrie has been missing for about four days now. I want to play for you some of the questions that the sheriff received during a press conference on Tuesday, and how he answered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, do you believe that one or more than one person was involved in the kidnapping?

NANOS: I -- just no clue. It could have been one. It could have been more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any indication so far as to whether this was a random abduction or targeted?

NANOS: It's like I said earlier, you know, we're looking at all the leads, and we -- we don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:05:07]

CORNISH: Can you talk about how unusual it is to not talk about suspect or motive or even, surprisingly to me, I heard they weren't able to narrow down the window of time in which she may have gone missing?

JORDAN: Yes, I mean, I don't envy this sheriff. He is just a spokesperson, and it's his job to actually not give information out. So, you're going to be in an echo chamber.

Rest assured, they know way more than the public knows, as they should, you know. But the window of time, you know, between maybe 1 a.m. and 4 a.m.

Remember, we don't have Nancy. There is no body. We are going to assume she is alive. You have reports of blood droplets. But the biggest thing is that the Ring camera on her front door was allegedly missing.

And this just really shows that there was a great deal of planning involved in this. Whether it's one person, whether it's more than one person. Again, they just don't know more than they do know at this point.

The biggest concern to me, Audie, is that her Apple watch was left behind. And we understand that was synced to her pacemaker. And that really indicates was that Apple watch intentionally taken off her wrist and left behind so that she couldn't be tracked? Or did she take it off when she was sleeping, and she was abducted out of her bed? There is so much we don't know. The biggest thing that we do know is

that Nancy needs her medication and that, as the days tick by, things become more and more dire.

So, you can be very sure the police are tuning up their game and pulling out all the stops to see if they can find her as we come up on the four-day mark.

CORNISH: Yes. And I want to put up that image of Nancy Guthrie again. And the tip line, the police tip line for people who do have credible information. We encourage you to call in.

And, Casey, we obviously just have more questions than answers. Thank you so much for talking about it with us.

JORDAN: Great to be here.

CORNISH: Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, the fight over Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics. The brothers of the woman killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis speak out.

Plus, the ex-husband of a former first lady now charged with murder.

And President Trump singing an old tune. 2020 was stolen, he claims. So, should we take his threat of nationalizing elections as a result seriously? I know the group chat is going to have some thoughts on that, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: If they can't count the votes legally and honestly, then somebody else should take over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:18]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: President believes in the United States Constitution. However, he believes there has obviously been a lot of fraud and irregularities that have taken place in American elections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: President Trump, doubling down on his call to Republicans to, quote, "take over the voting and nationalize the 2026 midterm elections."

Last week, the FBI raided an election office in Fulton County, Georgia. They seized ballots from the 2020 election. The county is now suing, calling that act illegal, all while the president continues to make false, debunked claims about widespread voter fraud. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Take a look at Detroit. Take a look at Pennsylvania. Take a look at Philadelphia. You go take a look at Atlanta. Look at some of the places that horrible corruption on elections.

And the federal government should not allow that. The federal government should get involved. These are agents of the federal government, to count the votes. If they can't count the votes legally and honestly, then somebody else should take over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me in the group chat today to talk about this: Jasmine Wright, White House correspondent for "NOTUS"; Charlie Dent, former Republican Pennsylvania congressman; and Antjuan Seawright, Democratic strategist.

Jasmine, I want to start with you, because while the president is out there calling for this unconstitutional concept -- nationalizing elections -- the House Republicans have been pushing this Save Act, which has a bunch of sort of election reforms: mostly demands for showing various forms of identification at the polls and things like that.

So, is this one of those one-two steps where the White House pushes something super extreme, with the hopes that it builds momentum for the slightly less extreme thing?

JASMINE WRIGHT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "NOTUS": It could be. I mean, fundamentally, you have President Trump saying we should nationalize elections. Then you have White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, actually, he's talking about the Save -- Save Act, which is two different things.

CORNISH: Yes, but the slightly less version of it.

WRIGHT: And then -- and then if you go to our "NOTUS" newsletter this morning --

CORNISH: Yes.

WRIGHT: -- we talked to a litany of Republicans last night on the Hill. And they don't actually really know what the president is talking about either.

They say, if he's talking about the Save Act, that's something that we can get behind. But we believe in the independence of states' rights for their own elections.

And so, I think you're kind of going around to different Republicans, people who should be aligned with the president's agenda, people who understand how animated he is about those 2020 election claims that he continues to make now, you know, six years out. And they aren't aligned in exactly what he means.

CORNISH: Yes. So, here's an example of trying to --

WRIGHT: And so that's fundamentally important, yes.

CORNISH: -- create that alignment. Senator -- Senate Majority Leader John Thune, of course, was asked about like, well, what's the end game here? And here was his interpretation of what the president said.

[06:15:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): I think the president has clarified what he meant by that, and that is that he supports the Save Act. So, with respect to whether or not that signifies ensuring that only citizens of this country vote in our elections, that's something I think we all agree with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: I want to ask you about this, because I feel like Republicans in the last couple of months under Trump specifically, have gone from a states' rights party to a federal rights party. And constantly demanding overreach from the federal government.

CHARLIE DENT, FORMER REPUBLICAN PENNSYLVANIA CONGRESSMAN: Well, yes, I mean, I remember a time not so long ago when Republicans were very concerned about federalism, the role of the states.

And this -- and I choose to take the president literally here. I think he means what he says when he wants to federalize elections. And I just can't imagine Republicans in Congress voting for this.

If you represent a state, a red state like South Carolina, maybe, you -- are you going to tell your governor you're no longer in charge of the election system, and the president of the United States is going to take over?

It's just not going to happen. It's a terrible idea, and it's -- it's obviously -- it's unconstitutional. So, I can't even imagine why anybody is wasting their breath on it, except the fact that the president says this. And this is not voter I.D.

CORNISH: Remember, when he wanted redistricting, a bunch of state- level Republicans tried to give it to him.

DENT: And they're regretting that decision, because the juice was not worth the squeeze. They're just not going to net out the seats, and they're already regretting that one.

CORNISH: This is on top of Trump, his DOJ demanding voter data, voter rolls from a number of states. I want to put up that map so you can see. Because there's -- there's a couple of swing states or states he'd hope to be swing states on here.

And people, especially on the left, are putting this sort of together in a narrative about how the president is going to go into the midterms and what he is seeding the ground for with this conversation.

ANTJUAN SEAWRIGHT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, it seems as if the modern-day Republican Party does not think the Constitution is worth the paper it's printed on.

I take the president's very serious when he said the first time that this could be the last election that we participate in. I take that very serious, because we have an election-denying president, vice president, and speaker of the House.

And if you look at the pattern and practice and behavior of these folks, they've hinted at this along the way. And now Mike Johnson almost went full throttle stop the steal -- stopping the election yesterday in his press conference.

CORNISH: Can I play a clip from him, just so people can hear what you're talking about? This is Mike Johnson when he was asked again about the president going against the Constitution and calling for federalized election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): What you're hearing from the president is his frustration about the lack of some of the blue states, frankly, of -- of enforcing these things and making sure that they are free and fair elections.

We had three House Republican candidates who were ahead on election day in the last election cycle, and every time a new tranche of ballots came in, they just magically whittled away until their leads were lost.

It looks on its face to be fraudulent. Can I prove that? No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEAWRIGHT: And that's just intellectually dishonest. The fact of the matter is, throughout the night, as vote totals come in, the election dynamics change. But here's what, as a black American.

WRIGHT: Mail-in ballots lean Democratic.

SEAWRIGHT: Here's what I'm concerned about as a black American. The president, in his remarks yesterday, named predominantly African American cities where he alleged that there was some sort of fraud that was taking place in those elections.

CORNISH: He even changed from Pennsylvania to Philly.

DENT: He said Pennsylvania.

CORNISH: Yes.

SEAWRIGHT: I think that's dangerous. When you think about the fact that we're just a few years after the Voting Rights Act has been signed into law, and there's been intentional efforts to roll back our opportunities to participate at the ballot box.

So, we should all take it seriously as Americans. This is an American issue, not a Democrat, Republican, black versus white.

DENT: The question, too, is about voter registration data. In my state, that's all public. You know, my -- where I live, when I vote, what my registration is, that's already publicly available. So, I'm not sure what he's talking about in terms of voter data.

CORNISH: Well, they're demanding more, right?

SEAWRIGHT: They're demanding Social Security numbers. And we filed lawsuits in South Carolina to do away -- do away with that. But yet, we have governors who are turning over that information.

And that's what Minnesota was all about. If you look at Pam Bondi's letter: turn over election data, and we will remove ICE from that.

And so, we have to just pay attention to the strategy, the long-term strategy that they're trying to put in place around the midterm election cycle.

CORNISH: Yes. And the intersection between ICE and immigration customs enforcement and voting in the pursuit of the constant concern over undocumented migrants voting.

I want you guys to stay with me. There's a lot to talk about this morning.

Elon Musk summoned for questioning after X offices were raided. Now, a new investigation is underway in the UK.

Plus, Lindsey Vonn not ready to hang up her skis just yet, even after another ACL injury.

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[06:24:17]

CORNISH: OK. It's almost 15 minutes past the hour. Actually, its 23 minutes past the hour. Here are five things to know to get your day going.

The man found guilty of trying to assassinate Donald Trump in 2024, we are going to learn his fate today. Ryan Routh is set to be sentenced in federal court in Florida on five charges. He faces a potential sentence of up to life in prison.

And the ex-husband of the former first lady, Jill Biden, well, he is now charged with first degree murder.

William Stevenson is accused of killing his current wife, Linda. He was taken into custody Monday. Stevenson and the former first lady were married in 1970 and divorced just five years later.

And Iran agreeing to nuclear talks with the U.S. Friday, even as tensions escalate. Yesterday, a U.S. aircraft carrier shot down an Iranian drone that was, quote, "aggressively approaching" the ship in the Arabian Sea.

Just hours later, two Iranian gunboats threatened to board a U.S.- flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

And Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn is not going to let a ruptured ACL stop her from competing in the Winter Games. She intends to ski in Sunday's downhill competition on a left knee that has a severed ligament and a right knee that's been reconstructed with titanium.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDSEY VONN, OLYMPIC SKIER: I'm still here. I think I'm still able to fight. I think I'm still able to try, and I will try.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: This is actually Vonn's third career ACL tear. She suffered the injury last Friday in a race in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

And if you don't have a team in the Super Bowl, maybe this lion in Iowa can help you decide between the Patriots and the Seahawks.

Zarina sniffed it out before choosing the Seahawks. The zoo says its animals have been correct nearly 80 percent of the time, and the lion is aligned with Vegas on this, because betting odds also favor Seattle.

OK, straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, the Clintons ready to testify in the Epstein scandal. Democrats warn that they'll haul in President Trump, too.

Plus, there's a new top dog in Westminster. Meet the winner next. In the meantime, good morning, Santa Clara, California. We're looking at Levi's Stadium, home of the Super Bowl.

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[06:30:00]