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Guthrie's Plea to Mom's Kidnapper; Starmer Says Mandelson Lied about Epstein; Rep. Lauren Underwood is Interviewed about DHS Funding. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 05, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:29]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

It's half past the hour, and here's what's happening right now.

A nuclear weapons treaty between the U.S. and Russia expires today. The New Start Treaty was signed in 2010 and limits the numbers of long-range nuclear warheads that both countries could potentially deploy. Russia says the U.S. has not responded to its proposals to extend the treaty, and President Trump has previously brushed it off, suggesting there may be a better deal to make.

And the election office raided by the FBI in Georgia, well, they want their files back. Fulton County, home to Atlanta, is now suing the FBI for the return of all documents taken during a raid last week. Agents were focusing in on files related to the 2020 election.

And today, President Trump expected to launch a drug pricing website to help Americans save money. It's going to be called TrumpRX and will reportedly allow cash paying patients to buy medications directly from drug makers at discounted prices.

And this morning, a family's pain on full display as the search intensifies for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "today" show anchor Savannah Guthrie. Her children are speaking out for the first time with a direct message to their 84-year-old mother and her possible abductors. We want to play for you the full, uncut video message, which was released just a few hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NANCY GUTHRIE'S DAUGHTER: On behalf of our family, we want to thank all of you for the prayers for our beloved mom, Nancy. We feel them and we continue to believe that she feels them too. Our mom is a kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of goodness and light. She's funny, spunky and clever. She has grandchildren that adore her and crowd around her and cover her with kisses. She loves fun and adventure. She is a devoted friend. She is full of kindness and knowledge. Talk to her and you'll see. ANNIE GUTHRIE, NANCY GUTHRIE'S DAUGHTER: The light is missing from our

lives. Nancy is our mother. We are her children. She is our beacon. She holds fast to joy in all of life's circumstances. She chooses joy day after day, despite having already passed through great trials of pain and grief. We are always going to be merely human. Just normal human people who need our mom.

Mama, Mama, if you're listening, we need you to come home. We miss you.

S. GUTHRIE: Our mom is our heart and our home. She's 84 years old. Her health, her heart is fragile. She lives in constant pain.

[06:35:02]

She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive. And she needs it not to suffer.

We, too, have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media. As a family, we are doing everything that we can. We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know, without a doubt, that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen. Please, reach out to us.

Mommy, if you are hearing this, you are a strong woman. You are God's precious daughter Nancy. We believe and know that even in this valley, he is with you. Everyone is looking for you, Mommy, everywhere. We will not rest. Your children will not rest until we are together again.

We speak to you every moment, and we pray without ceasing and we rejoice in advance for the day that we hold you in our arms again. We love you, Mom.

A. GUTHRIE: We love you, Mama.

CAMERON GUTHRIE, NANCY GUTHRIE'S SON: We love you, Mom. Stay strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, Savannah Guthrie and her siblings there in a plea on Instagram.

CNN's Marybel Gonzalez actually joins us live from Arizona.

Can you talk about -- I know there's like a vigil. People are starting to gather nearby.

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Audie, good morning.

That's right. And you heard in that video how loved Nancy Guthrie is. That is the sentiment that we're hearing here on the ground from folks who didn't know her directly, but saw her perhaps on TV when Savannah would invite her on the show -- on her show. She is loved here by many people. And the Arizona community is rallying together for a vigil. They did so last night. They're praying for her safe return.

Let's take a listen to what one of the people who attended that vigil had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALLY SHAMRELL, FRIEND OF SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: I thought a lot of people are feeling kind of helpless right now. We can't -- all we're doing is sitting by waiting for the next alert, and that is -- that is not what Savannah and Guthries are all about.

We need to come together, wrap our arms around each other and lift each other up in hope and, you know, just light and just truly bond together to wish and hope Nancy comes home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GONZALEZ: Now we know that help to find her is urgently needed. President Donald Trump yesterday saying he has spoken with Savannah and said he's directing all federal law enforcement to assist the Guthrie family and local law enforcement in their search for Nancy.

Now, as far as those ransom notes that you heard Savannah mentioned in the video, investigators have not said if those are legitimate. But we are expecting to hear from the Pima County sheriff later this morning for an update in their investigation.

Audie.

CORNISH: OK, Marybel Gonzalez, speaking to us from Pima County, Arizona.

Now I want to turn to this. There's a world leader facing a political crisis over the Epstein files. It is not Donald Trump. It's British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer is facing growing criticism from his own party over his appointment of former British ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson. Mandelson was friends with Epstein and appears in the newly released files.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: Mandelson betrayed our country, our parliament and my party. Mr. Speaker, he lied repeatedly to my team when asked about his relationship with Epstein before and during his tenure as ambassador. I regret appointing him. If I knew then what I know now, he would never have been anywhere near government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Starmer removed Mandelson from his post last year, but now U.K. investigators are looking into documents that suggest Mandelson may have leaked secret market moving information to Epstein at the height of the 2008 financial crisis.

So, we're bringing in CNN politics senior reporter Stephen Collinson. Garrett Graff has stayed with us. Stephen, I wanted to talk to you because you just wrote an article

overnight about how the Epstein storm is touching all of these places, but not really the U.S.

[06:40:03]

So, first, just give us the deal with the U.K. Why is this hitting Starmer so hard?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: I think there are three real reasons. And it's not just because it's all about Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein is the catalyst, and it plays into a number of ongoing stories in the U.K.

First of all, there's a massive speculation about whether Starmer can survive as prime minister less than two years after winning a massive mandate in the election.

CORNISH: So, he's politically vulnerable already?

COLLINSON: He's very vulnerable. And this is a new blow to him and his credibility and his judgment about choosing Mandelson for the ambassador.

Secondly, Peter Mandelson is a 30-year epic drama of triumphs and crashing disasters and resignations and scandals. He's a very sort of interesting figure. This is the latest twist of the tragedy.

And of course, this is also a royal story. Prince Andrew, he's been under scrutiny for Epstein for years. Every email release that comes out, that makes him look worse. And there's this big debate, not just about Prince Andrew's behavior, but the style that some of these royals a little bit further away from the line of succession had been living --

CORNISH: Like Fergie. Is this your --

COLLINSON: Yes, exactly. Fergie and Prince Andrew, the former Prince Andrew, was forced to move out of his home in Windsor and has gone to rather less salubrious quarters in Sandringham.

CORNISH: Like a normal, is what you're saying?

COLLINS: Yes.

CORNISH: Yes. OK.

So, the reason why I wanted to talk about this is because, as you mentioned, King Charles stripped Andrew of his remaining titles and his home. You've got this criminal investigation into Mandelson. The Slovakian government impacted by a document dump leading to like a high profile resignation.

Then I saw one in Lithuania and Sweden. The royal family having to deny significant ties in Norway. A public apology for poor judgment. Here in the U.S., we're just like bickering about the documents themselves. Why do you think this has not actually caused resignations, apologies, big statements?

GARRETT GRAFF, FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT JOURNALIST: I think one thing is, it actually has had a couple of major effects on public life and -- or public figures in the United States. I mean yesterday you saw the longtime chairman of Paul Weiss, you know, one of the country's most powerful law firms, resign as chairman of the firm --

CORNISH: Oh, yes, I did just see that.

GRAFF: After he was linked in some of these emails to exchanges with Jeffrey Epstein. Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary, former Harvard president, you know, has, you know, removed himself from public life, stepped back from all of his public commitments based on his ties in these documents.

I think the other aspect of this in the United States is that the underlying controversy is much more baked into the political polarization of our landscape. That this is --

CORNISH: What do you mean by that?

GRAFF: You know, you have to remember, these documents are coming out as part of sort of a political conspiracy theory about the extent of Donald Trump's involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. You know, the, you know, you -- the Trump administration, Justice Department sort of initially being seen to cover up these documents, that I think this is coming out in the United States in a way where we sort of have a pretty high bar for this scandal coming into it already.

CORNISH: Yes.

COLLINSON: And the instruments of investigation and accountability in the U.K. and in these European countries are still independent. In the United States, the Justice Department, of course, is controlled by Donald Trump. Even though there was this revolt that forced the release of the papers among Republican lawmakers, it doesn't seem that those unique conditions are back that would allow those lawmakers to press the Justice Department and the Trump administration for more --

CORNISH: So, kind of, due to the politics in these other countries --

COLLINSON: Yes.

CORNISH: You're saying there is still a kind of at least independent or adversarial accountability?

COLLINSON: Right. And Starmer, yesterday --

CORNISH: Yes.

COLLINSON: He was standing up in parliament. He was under pressure from parliament. Even from his own side in parliament. Obviously, the president gets questions from journalists, which he doesn't really like very much about Epstein, but he doesn't have that kind of level of domestic, political scrutiny.

CORNISH: No. No. Especially like Kash Patel, who literally wrote about this in his book but is now at the FBI.

COLLINSON: Yes.

CORNISH: Todd Blanche, his former attorney, who was in the conversation that led to Ghislaine Maxwell being in an easier time in prison.

COLLINSON: Yes.

CORNISH: And all of these figures who were once on this conversation now saying there's nothing to see here.

I want to play for you House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is pointing out some -- in defense of the president, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, like some of the other names of people who have been brought up. They've not been accused of wrongdoing. But here's what Johnson had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Shouldn't Trump have to answer some questions, too? He's been named more than 1,000 times in these documents.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The president submits to press inquiries every day.

RAJU: Not under oath. Not under oath.

[06:45:02]

JOHNSON: Not under oath, but he's asked the questions all the time, and he answers them. We'll see where it goes. I mean, look, the Oversight Committee is doing its job. They issued a valid subpoena. Congressional subpoenas have to be complied with. And we'll see what it yields. But if they have nothing to hide, then then it'll be fine. I'm glad they submitted to it. They should have. That's the law. We'll see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, to your point, right now the only people being called to have a conversation of accountability are the Clintons.

COLLINSON: Yes. And a lot of people don't believe that this House Oversight Committee investigation is a genuine investigation. Among them, you know, survivors of Epstein who are quite frustrated with the way it's going.

I think one question that will be interesting is, if the Democrats win the House in the midterm elections, if we're going to see this be one of the main areas of oversight they will try to impose on the administration.

CORNISH: We have someone who may talk about that in just a moment.

Next on CNN, we're going to talk about the fact that Democrats have a list of demands when it comes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not some Democratic wish list. This is being demanded by the American people left, right and center.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, but can it get past the president's party? I'm going to ask Democratic Congresswoman Lauren Underwood about that. She joins us next.

And the redistricting wars. California's latest victory.

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[06:50:32]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think some people are living in a world that's ten years ago where we're having an immigration debate. This is not an immigration debate. This is a debate about whether or not Americans have basic constitutional rights anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, Congress is now working to reach a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security. And they have less than two weeks to do it. Democrats in the House and Senate sent their list of proposed guardrails for federal immigration enforcement. And that's going to include things like making agents remove their masks, having them wear some sort of identification, and then they want to pass these in a bill attached to the funding for Department of Homeland Security. And Democrats argue this is going to bring accountability. Some Republicans say there's a different motive at work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): Here's what my Democrat colleagues really want. They want to abolish ICE. And some of them are more candid about that. And listen, that's fine that that's their position. They're totally wrong about it. And I'm not going to help them do it. And I think what they really want in this funding bill is they want to hold hostage the Coast Guard, FEMA the Secret Service, all in order to impose restrictions on ICE that would effectively hamstring, if not eliminate, the agency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: We've got here Democratic Congresswoman Lauren Underwood of Illinois, joining us now in the group chat.

So, we wanted to talk to you because this is an inflection point, right? You guys decided not to shut down the government so you could have this conversation about homeland security. Respond to what Hawley had to say here, that this is really about abolishing ICE, not making any specific changes.

REP. LAUREN UNDERWOOD (D-IL): Well, certainly in communities like I represent in Illinois, we have lived under siege by agents of the Department of Homeland Security as they conducted Operation Midway Blitz. We've seen them go into communities from coast to coast and most recently in Minneapolis, where the American people saw on camera federal law enforcement officers shoot and kill U.S. citizens.

What we are demanding is accountability. Very common sense, popular measures that would insist on reining in an out of control Department of Homeland Security.

CORNISH: I want to just highlight for the audience some of the things that we've seen. Obviously we've talked about not wearing masks. But also sensitive locations, I guess.

UNDERWOOD: Yes.

CORNISH: Is that referring to churches and schools?

UNDERWOOD: Churches, schools, hospitals, polling places. We heard from Steve Bannon earlier this week on a podcast saying the quiet part out loud. And, you know, I think that they maybe thought that we weren't paying attention. We are taking this very seriously.

CORNISH: Yes, we actually have that clip of Steve Bannon. I want to play it for you guys as well. Where he was talking about the potential role for ICE going forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BANNON, FORMER SENIOR TRUMP ADVISER: You're damn right. We're going to have ICE surround the polls come November. We're not going to sit here and allow you to steal the country again. And you can -- you can whine and cry and throw your toys out of the pram all you want, but we will never again allow an election to be stolen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Could you prevent ICE from being in and around polling stations?

UNDERWOOD: That's subject to this negotiation. And we have incredible leaders sitting down at that table with our Republican counterparts laying it all out. And as Democrats, we are united in standing firm and saying that as U.S. citizens we have a right to vote. We expect to have free and fair elections. And Donald Trump will not be stealing this midterm election or 2028.

CORNISH: Garrett and I were talking during the break about what on this list is the most important, and I thought it was going to be this stuff about use of force standards. And you said it is the mask. Why?

GRAFF: I think the most important thing is the masks. America has no tradition of masked policing prior to the behavior of immigration officers in the last year. And I think removing the masks removes the sense of impunity that these agents and officers are operating under.

CORNISH: Like their behavior would change?

GRAFF: Their behavior would change, I think, in an instant. To me it's the simplest, clearest way that we could draw a new line.

CORNISH: You've also talked about constitutional violations, wrongful detentions.

UNDERWOOD: Yes.

CORNISH: But here's the president acknowledging that there is some backlash here. He was in an interview on NBC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Maybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch, but you still have to be tough.

It should have not happened. It was a very sad -- to me it was a very sad incident, two incidents. And, you know, they mentioned the one now. They don't mention the other. Well, I think they were both sad. And, you know, who feels worse about it than anybody? The people of ICE.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:55:03]

CORNISH: Do you think that's true?

UNDERWOOD: Well, I think that we have a lot of opportunity to make a real difference and demonstrate to the American people that we are serious about reining in ICE, Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, and making sure that the American people can move around their neighborhoods with confidence.

Donald Trump ran on a promise, saying that he was going to root out the violent criminals and make sure that he was protecting the safety of the American people. He also said he was going to focus on affordability and the economy, right? We know that he has no credibility on these promises.

CORNISH: Yes, but I think you're looking at that kind of response and you see political vulnerability.

UNDERWOOD: Yes.

CORNISH: Are you saying you're see -- looking at someone who does not acknowledge the extent of the problem?

UNDERWOOD: And --

CORNISH: And is that something you take advantage of?

UNDERWOOD: Well, I wouldn't say take advantage of. I would just say creates an opening for us to have a conversation with the president.

CORNISH: I want to turn to something else, because we've got some congressional lawmakers doing some infighting down in Texas. And this has been all over social media. These reports about Colin Allred basically being -- what -- how can we describe this, reports that he had made comments complaining that he thought he'd be in a race, not against a mediocre black man, but an intelligent black woman, speaking highly --

UNDERWOOD: Talarico --

CORNISH: Talarico, of Jasmine Crockett.

I wondered when I watched this conversation play out if it also reflected the tension in the party over the role of black women and black men, which we saw surface with Kamala's loss, and which we heard a lot because of black men in some quarters moving to Trump.

UNDERWOOD: Well, in three weeks, folks in Texas are going to be going out to vote. They have a very important Democratic primary. And in the context of Democratic primaries, black voters hold a lot of power. And we are really setting the agenda, and we take great pride in picking our nominees as Democrats. And so, when we see candidates who are disrespectful to our elected leaders, when we see candidates who maybe step a little bit over their skis in their assertions, when we see candidates who maybe don't present themselves fully and authentically, we take notice. And I think that black voters are a very sophisticated electorate, and we'll be heading out to the polls in Texas and all across the country as these primaries begin.

CORNISH: There's also been this -- this kind of conversation around Crockett herself. I remember the comedian, Bowen Yang, kind of catching a lot of flack for saying that people should not donate her, but -- donate to her. But then there's all this reporting about who is. And I want to mention some of the people who have been listed. Marc Andreessen, the Winklevoss twins --

UNDERWOOD: That's right.

CORNISH: Brian Armstrong. There -- there's a conversation being had that says, there are -- there's Republican interest in having Jasmine run, Jasmine Crockett run for Texas because they don't think she can win, and that they are taking a page from Democrats' books during the sort of Trump era of pushing more Trumpy, quote/unquote, extreme candidates that they don't think can win. Is that what you think is happening here?

UNDERWOOD: Well, Republicans have underestimated Congresswoman Crockett from the beginning. And we know that they were gloating when she stepped into the Senate race, thinking that she wouldn't even be competitive in a Democratic primary. And now she is head to head with Mr. Talarico.

And so, I think that Jasmine is formidable. She has been an excellent representative and member of the Democratic caucus. We are sad that she's choosing to leave us, quite frankly, because she is a very strong voice for our party. And I think that whoever wins that primary, Texas is in play in 2026, and the Republicans are scared because of the weakness of their own nominees -- or their own candidates.

CORNISH: Is Texas in play for 2026, reporters?

COLLINSON: You know, we hear this every single cycle, that Texas could be in play in '26. There have been some races where Democrats have had good candidates, where they've come close. I think a lot of people are still a little skeptical. But, of course, it depends on, I mean, the candidate and the Republican race.

CORNISH: Yes, what do you think is the tipping point?

UNDERWOOD: I mean, have you seen Donald Trump's numbers? Nobody likes Mr. Cornyn. You know, you got Paxton and his scandals. And Wesley Hunt is just in the fight. And so, no matter who it is that the Texas Republicans decide to nominate, those guys are going to be bruised and battered. And then we have Congresswoman Crockett, who is crushing it. We have Mr. Talarico, who likes to say, oh, he's very smooth and very eloquent.

CORNISH: Social media sophisticated.

UNDERWOOD: Yes, very, very smooth. And so --

CORNISH: All right, since you're new to the group, what's in your group chat? I suspect your group chat is lit.

UNDERWOOD: My group chat is lit. But right now I've been talking to my nursing colleagues. You know, I'm a registered nurse.

CORNISH: Yes. Yes.

UNDERWOOD: And Donald Trump just moved forward with this regulation to make it so that professional nurses, so advanced practice nurses, are no longer considered to be professional degrees.

CORNISH: Yes.

UNDERWOOD: And so what that means is that nurses who want to further their career can't get access to subsidized federal loans. You know, nurses have to pay for their own education. It's not like some of the physicians out there who get some taxpayer funded dollars.

CORNISH: Yes, we've talked about that. Some other people have talked about the fact that some of the professions that have been, let's say, demoted in this way, not given access to funds, are ones that tend to be populated by women.

UNDERWOOD: And people of color. And it is outrageous. It's only going to make health care costs go up.

[07:00:00]

It's going to limit access to care in rural communities. It's going to exacerbate an already really challenging nursing shortage. But, you know, the regulation is not final. And so I'm asking all nurses --

CORNISH: Yes.

UNDERWOOD: Anyone who cares about health care to speak up and go to federalregister.gov and submit a comment.

CORNISH: Well, I'm hoping we can talk to you as the year goes on with midterms ahead.

UNDERWOOD: Yes.

CORNISH: Really appreciate you being here, Congresswoman.

Thanks to my group chat. And thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish, and the headlines are next.