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Prosecutors Fail to Indict Democrats; More Than 18,000 Tips Since Guthrie Went Missing; Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) is Interviewed about the Bondi Hearing. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 12, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:34:16]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): You know it has rallied, you know, the community in Tucson. We've been through like hard stuff like this before.

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AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: The hunt for evidence. Investigators spent another afternoon combing the property in Nancy Guthrie's neighborhood. Are they any closer to finding her? We're going to have more on that story in a moment.

Good morning. Thank you for being with us. I'm Audie Cornish.

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

A sudden airspace closure in the skies over El Paso, Texas, is over. And it was over hours after it suddenly started. Sources tell CNN the airspace was closed due to Customs and Border Patrol using a counter- drone laser in the area to shoot down balloons.

[06:35:01]

So, the FAA closed the airspace due to potential threats to commercial flights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES VAN DER BEEK, ACTOR, "DAWSON'S CREEK": I should have made you go. But I was selfish and I didn't want you to go. I wanted you to stay here with me.

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CORNISH: And James Van Der Beek, the star of the 1990s teen drama "Dawson's Creek," has died. In a statement, his family said, quote, "he met his final days with courage, faith and grace." The 48-year-old announced he was battling stage three cancer back in 2024. And you may have noticed some billboards popping up across the country telling soldiers to refuse illegal orders. There are at least eight signs nationwide placed near military bases. They are funded by nonprofit group Veterans For Peace. They say the signs are in support of Senator Mark Kelly's lawsuit against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over Senator Kelly's video, which had the same warning about illegal orders.

We're going to talk more about that video because it was also the focus of President Trump's attempt to indict the Democratic lawmakers involved, which has failed. A grand jury decided not to move forward with charges. Now, President Trump had called these lawmakers seditious. The grand jury disagreed. The Democrats accused Trump of abusing his power.

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SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): Twenty anonymous Americans we will never meet, who made up that grand jury, told us more about the values of America than Jeanine Pirro or Pam Bondi or certainly this president.

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): This did not happen in Russia or China.

It happened less than a mile from this building in the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: All right, group chat is back.

We wanted to talk about this because this was such a firestorm when this video came out. We were looking at actually just the percentage of indictments that get declined. It's like 0.003 percent. So, this is actually really rare.

Do you read anything into a grand jury sort of rejecting this?

MATT BAI, NATIONAL AFFAIRS COLUMNIST, "ROLLING STONE": Yes, I read a lot into it. And it's great that you have that statistic of 0.003. But as, you know, as someone -- a lot of us started out covering courts or crime.

CORNISH: Yes.

BAI: I mean do you know how hard it is? I know you -- I know you know this. Do you know how hard it is to not be able to win an indictment. The old saying about a ham sandwich is basically no defense lawyer, this is -- it is the minimum bar of law enforcement. That you can't -- that you not only can't indict these cases, but that they've had a streak of these now.

I find it very reaffirming, actually. What it tells me is we -- you know, it's very fashionable in Washington for people to say the institutions are broken and the public doesn't care and this is what the people want and, you know, to be down on the country. But here you have, you know, here you have a bunch of ordinary Americans basically saying like, no, not --

CORNISH: Yes.

BAI: That's just -- no, we're not -- we're not doing that. We're not -- that doesn't meet the very minimum bar. The system does work, and they should be embarrassed and they should stop.

CORNISH: Now, while I'm doing this here, I actually have -- I needed a scorecard, Pam Bondi-style card, to show all of the federal cases against Trump's critics. And I wish I could show tape from her responding to this, but, like, this is not a question she answered yesterday.

Charges against Letitia James. So far, indictment dismissed. The grand jury's declining to reindict. James Comey, indictment dismissed. Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, those are the journalists they're going after, right now they've been released. The case is ongoing. There was Sean Charles Dunn, who was accused of assaulting a federal officer. I'm pretty sure this is the person who threw the sandwich.

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The sandwich.

BAI: The sandwich.

CORNISH: So, justice for the sandwich guy acquitted and case closed.

BAI: So, you can indict a sandwich, you just can't -- you can't indict a guy for throwing one.

V. SPEHAR, DIGITAL JOURNALIST AND CREATOR, UNDER THE DESK NEWS: Yes. There we are.

CORNISH: Well played. Well played. Matt Bai, you're locked in. That's your seat forever now.

How are you feeling?

SPEHAR: I think people are over it. I mean, protests are up 133 percent since 2017 to 2025. I think folks see through the reality show that Trump puts forward. They see that it's his ego and a grievance that is coming after American heroes like Mark Kelly, or even sandwich guy.

CORNISH: Yes.

SPEHAR: Like, we hope that the president is spending his time on more important things. And instead, he's out there trying to equal the playing field because he got called seditious for the things that happened on January 6th. So, now everybody has to be seditious so that he's not like somehow out.

CORNISH: Yes.

SPEHAR: And I think it's nonsense. And I think people are obviously seeing through it. I think they're sick of it. So, we'll see. CORNISH: And that point is the journey, the destination. Meaning, is the point of all of this to force all these people to go through the perceived humiliations that he went through. GOLDBERG: Oh, for sure. The process is part of a punishment in all of this kind of stuff. I mean I was very tangentially involved in the Dominion lawsuit with Fox, where I had to go testify. And that alone cost me thousands of dollars, right? And like -- and so you multiply that by 100,000 fold for what some of these people get put through.

[06:40:05]

I will say, look, I thought the original video was pretty politically stupid. But I think the charging of sedition, which is what -- you know, Trump literally said sedition, crime punishable by death.

CORNISH: Yes.

SPEHAR: Right.

GOLDBERG: And this gets to the broken institution point. There was a time where Congress, regardless of partizan affiliation or partizan control, would have -- would have gone hammer and tongs at the executive branch for daring to try to indict someone like this.

SPEHAR: A hundred percent.

GOLDBERG: Members of the Senate like this, or the Congress. And -- but what I -- I haven't seen the reporting on who actually tried to get -- like the actual lawyer. But one of the dynamics here is that the really talented lawyers who are actual professionals still in the DOJ, I think they tank a lot of stuff. And the ones who don't tank and are true believers are not very competent. And so, I think that explains why some of the indictments don't go through, is that the true believers are loyalists to Trump and they don't do their homework, and the ones who know how to do their homework kind of wink and nod and slow walk a lot of these things.

CORNISH: I mean I -- maybe that's the case. I think I'm also looking at other factors, like there's a U.S. attorney that a federal judge, I think it was in New York, like tried to install, and the administration was like, no, no, we don't want that U.S. attorney.

GOLDBERG: Yes.

CORNISH: And also we've seen in some of these court cases around immigration, them coming to court and be like, we don't know. They didn't tell us anything. So, I don't know if it's a wink. I don't know if sometimes the administration is, in a way, not really helping their attorneys out in this process.

GOLDBERG: Also, there are -- there are -- there are also scads of cases where judges are saying, you cannot lie -- the executive branch is literally lying to judges --

CORNISH: Yes. GOLDBERG: Which is breaking an institutional arrangement and an assumption of good faith that has served the country well for like a century.

CORNISH: Yes. OK, you guys, stay with us. We have a lawmaker. We're going to talk about that in a moment.

I just want to return very briefly to the search for Nancy Guthrie. At this point, 18,000 tips have poured into Pima County, into the sheriff's department there in this search. And investigators were back at her home yesterday. They were trying to find new clues. Looks like they may have found something.

Joining me now is CNN correspondent Leigh Waldman.

First, tell us, what did they find and how are they talking about it?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Audie, it's good to be with you this morning.

We know from a post by "The New York Post," a photo that's been shared, that investigators seem to have found a black glove less than two miles away from Nancy Guthrie's home. Now investigators are not confirming at this point if this was the glove that was worn by the person seen in that doorbell camera video, the armed person seen right outside of Nancy Guthrie's home. They're not telling us if it's definitively connected, but it does go to show that these investigators, they're continuing to comb the area surrounding her home, looking for any clues, any evidence that's been left behind, really focusing in on what that person in that video was wearing that day, analyzing the backpack that the person had on, any kind of characteristics.

We are hearing from the man who they thought was connected to that video, the person who was detained for questioning. He says he was detained, taken from one vehicle to another for more than eight hours.

Take a listen to what he had to say.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They told me, like, you're being -- you're being detained. And all of a sudden the FBI pulled out the Miranda rights, and he read me my Miranda rights. And that's when I asked, am I being arrested? They're like, no, we're just reading you your Miranda rights so we can ask you some questions. What kind of questions? It's about a kidnaping? What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)? I didn't kidnap no one.

So, I started asking my name and all that, but all of a sudden I felt like they were trying to incriminate me in something I didn't do. So, I just plead the Fifth.

REPORTER: What do you want from (INAUDIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To clear my name. That's all I want.

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WALDMAN: Now, new this morning, Audie, we are hearing from CNN affiliates that authorities are asking people who live in this neighborhood around Nancy Guthrie's home to check their Ring doorbell cameras for two specific dates in January. The first one being on January 11th between 9:00 p.m. and midnight. And also on January 31st from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Now, those outlets are reporting that they are noting a suspicious vehicle seen around 10:00 a.m. on January 31st. So, it just shows you the efforts that they're going through as they continue on in this investigation.

In fact, just a few moments before we came to you, there's a sheriff's deputy's vehicle parked at Nancy Guthrie's home. And we saw that deputy making his way through, shining his flashlight around this street, looking for anything that's potentially left behind here.

CORNISH: OK, that's Leigh Waldman with the update from Arizona. Thanks so much.

And if you missed that update, if you want to catch up on our conversation, know that we are a podcast. So, if you scan the QR code now you can find it. CNN THIS MORNING is available anywhere you get your podcasts.

And next on CNN THIS MORNING, Pam Bondi facing tough questions on how she handled the Epstein files.

[06:45:00]

I'll talk to Democratic Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove, who questioned the A.G. yesterday.

Plus, we'll have this.

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SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): What we're spending on DHS I think is unconscionable

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CORNISH: Democrats are ready for a fight on DHS funding, but will this be a repeat of the health care battle a few months ago?

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CORNISH: OK, Attorney General Pam Bondi, as we mentioned, came with receipts and popped off at anyone who questioned her during yesterday's House hearing.

So, here's an example. This exchange with Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove, who was questioning Bondi about political violence.

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REP. SYDNEY KAMLAGER-DOVE (D-CA): Stop taking down reports that you know the American people need to know about.

[06:50:03]

There are violent, dangerous people out here with real threats.

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: There are, in your district.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: And the dishonesty from your agency comes from the covering up of these threats that could hurt American people and put our lives at risk. Do better.

And with that, I yield back, Mr. Chair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gentle Lady yields back. The gentleman from North Carolina is recognized.

BONDI: May I have one moment?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You may.

BONDI: Her district includes Culver City. And she's not talking about any crime in her district. Nothing about helping crime in her district. She's not even worth getting into the details.

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CORNISH: We have that congresswoman here today joining the chat.

Quite the moment. I noticed you didn't like -- you weren't like, here's a question, right? Is it because you had watched everyone go through this and you decided she wasn't going to answer?

Well, actually, I did have a question.

CORNISH: Yes.

REP. SYDNEY KAMLAGER-DOVE (D-CA): The question was, why did they take down the report from 2024 that said that there's been an uptick in right wing extremist violence.

CORNISH: Yes.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: She had no answer for that. So, she's going to try and like gang bang on Culver City.

But I'm asking questions that my constituents have. That the American people have. You come to Congress because we have oversight over the administration. It is our job to keep an administration accountable. What are you doing? How are you doing your job? Why are these things not happening?

So, she didn't come to answer those questions. She came with her little nasty book so that she wouldn't have to answer the questions that all of us are asking.

CORNISH: I was surprised on that one because they've talked so much about left wing violence, and that felt a little bit like that was going to be an opportunity to do that. And it sounds like that's not where it went.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Well, she was silent. She had no response to any of the questions that I asked. I said, why -- you know, Donald Trump said, oh, it's left-wing crazies. You know that's not true. Your research arm published information that said it's not true. The Anti-Defamation League has published information saying that's not true. You know it's not true because you indicted the suspect who killed the Hartmans (ph) and their dog. So, talk to us, talk to the American people about what we should be concerned about when we're talking about domestic terrorism, when we're talking about right wing extremist violence.

CORNISH: OK, I want to ask you about something else, about that binder. There was a viral photo that showed this document. And in the document it mentioned a particular lawmaker. I think it was Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. But it says, search history. Now, I know you guys went into a facility to look at the unredacted files. Did you know that they were watching your search history?

KAMLAGER-DOVE: So, I believe that they're surveilling all of us. They want to know what kinds of questions we have. The reality is, the American people are concerned about this callous and reckless release of the Epstein files, which has also been incomplete.

I'm going there today. I am sure they're going to be watching what I'm searching. When you log in, you go in, you go to a computer, you have to log in, you have to put in your information as a congressperson. And there are DOJ staff there in the room. So, we know we're being watched.

But we are trying to find the files that the American people are saying, how come this was redacted? How come this wasn't? Why are you covering up names of pedophiles and predators and then releasing the names of young survivors?

SPEHAR: Do you think this is indicative of the administration's paranoia surrounding the Epstein files? I mean they spent so much money, so many agent hours trying to get Trump scrubbed out of them, trying to get his friends scrubbed out of them. Now you're getting to see them unredacted. Do you think they're tracking you so they can try to stay ahead of, like, oh, she saw about this person, she saw about that person, to kind of, you know, deal with that?

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Absolutely. I mean this man ran on a platform of, you know, releasing the entire Epstein files.

CORNISH: Right.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: He gets into office. He doesn't want to talk about it at all. You know, he's in the files, he's not in the files. He knew Epstein, he didn't know Epstein, right? All of the numbers are inconsistent with regards to how many times he's in the files or not. Isn't it interesting that they have allowed congresspeople to go to read and look at the files two days before the woman (ph) was supposed to show up at our committee, because she knew we were going to ask about the Epstein files.

So, I do think they're trying to play catch up with the American people, but they're not sharing the truth with the American people.

CORNISH: So, the Clintons are expected to testify. It's still unclear whether that will be behind closed doors, as Jonah would like, or public, as they've requested. Should their testimony be public, be on camera?

KAMLAGER-DOVE: No. I mean we saw Pam Bondi's performance yesterday. She was feral. And this is important information that we are trying to get out of folks. This is not a TV show. This is not about a circus or a performance.

CORNISH: But doesn't it turn it into a TV show?

KAMLAGER-DOVE: It does. So, I don't think it should be --

CORNISH: Especially with Clintons.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: I do not think this should be publicized. This is not -- I mean this is not a reality TV show. I did not run to be on real housewives of Washington, D.C. in the Capitol.

[06:55:01]

And so, we should be taking this seriously because it's important.

CORNISH: OK. One last question on this topic and then I want to move on.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: OK.

CORNISH: What is the end game here? You're not getting answers. The survivors are being yanked around, exposed, not getting the answers they want. Other than scoring points against Trump, where does this go? And I know I hear terms of, oh, it's about the survivors, it's about this or that. It also looks like a political football.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Well, I think this is about exposing the fact that you have incompetent, ill qualified folks in the administration.

CORNISH: Yes.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: And it's also about showing that --

CORNISH: But if you win the House, are you going to try to impeach someone over this?

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.

CORNISH: Are you still going to be holding these hearings if you win the House?

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Yes, ma'am. The goal is to win the House and then to subpoena everyone and investigate everyone and actually expose the fact that this administration has complete disregard for the institution and has completely disrespected the American people for the entire tenure of its term. Why? So that we do not allow anything like this to happen again.

CORNISH: OK, we're going to check back with you if this -- KAMLAGER-DOVE: OK. Yes, ma'am.

CORNISH: All these -- there's a lot of ifs there, but we'll check back.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: (INAUDIBLE).

CORNISH: So, the thing I want to talk about is a Friday deadline, right, to deal with DHS funding.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Yes.

CORNISH: After the shootings of protesters in Minnesota, clearly Democrats said, look, we need to find a way to rein in ICE, and we're going to start to make those demands using what they have, the power of the purse.

So, I know there's a negotiation to say, if I -- if you guys give us x amount of demands, body cameras, make them wear masks, make them get judicial warrants, all kinds of things, you will vote to fund DHS. The White House is not playing ball so far.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Why not?

CORNISH: What's your red line? What's the one thing you need to vote for DHS funding?

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Well, the one thing we need is accountability. We're not going to get that.

CORNISH: Yes.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: We want all of those demands.

CORNISH: But you had a ten-point plan to accountability.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Yes.

CORNISH: Are there three that you need to get the job done?

KAMLAGER-DOVE: All of them.

CORNISH: OK.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Real talk. This is -- these are common sense demands. And when you're driving around your neighborhood and maybe you get stopped by your police officer or local sheriff, they're obeying all of those things. They're doing all of those things. So, how come ICE can't?

So, I'm not taking anything off the table.

CORNISH: All right. But then how long would you allow DHS funding to be shut down? Because, to be honest, OK, your district is still recovering from the Palisades and Eden Fires and we're talking fire programs, Coast Guard, FEMA. Those are the things that are going to be shut down. And ICE, which Houses has approved stacks and stacks of money for, not a single operation will stop.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Audie, it's the principle. And at some point you have to take a stand.

We know that they have been funded, but we also know that the majority of the American people say that ICE and Department of Homeland Security have gone too far. So, why are we going to roll over?

I get on a plane every week and I have to go through TSA. They're also impacted if we have a shutdown. And I have to tell you, the TSA officer that works with me, he said, you know what, Congresswoman, do what you have to do, because the videos that I see on the television are too much. And this is someone who just came off of a shutdown where they hadn't gotten a paycheck for over a month.

CORNISH: Yes.

OK, since you're new to the table, a lot of you are, you should know on this show, we're into each other's group chats.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: OK.

CORNISH: OK.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Sexy (ph).

CORNISH: And I can imagine the House Judiciary group chat was lit, as they say, with many fire emojis. OK, it's --

SPEHAR: Glitz (ph). Popping off. We are vibes this morning.

CORNISH: Yes, all the terms. All of the terms.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: (INAUDIBLE). Yes.

CORNISH: What are people talking about in your group chats?

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Well, definitely that Pam Bondi was a hot mess. And her little chica (ph) in the back giving her nasty things to say didn't go over well. But what's also blowing up my group chat is Culver City. Why's she coming for my little city in the heart of my district?

BAI: I love Culver City.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: I'm saying --

CORNISH: I know. I know. I've been to Culver City. And I was like, why is Culver getting in here?

KAMLAGER-DOVE: I know. Home to NPR and Titos (ph) tacos --

CORNISH: Yes.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: And Erewhon (ph) with $20 smoothies. So, I was like --

BAI: Yes, I've been there, yes, in Culver City. KAMLAGER-DOVE: You might want to come back.

BAI: I have come back.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: You -- the wildest thing about Culver City is that it's home to the Culver Hotel, and the Munchkins stayed there when they were making "Wizard of Oz."

CORNISH: It's a deep cut.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: And supposedly they had a whole bunch of parties, late night parties, and the popo's (ph) had to show up. So, I mean.

CORNISH: (INAUDIBLE). You have a new column for the "Rolling Stone." Please try and beat Munchkin parties in your --

BAI: How many Muppets (ph) can share a room in a -- in a -- I don't know what the rules are on that.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Quite a few. Quite a few.

CORNISH: Don't get us in trouble. What's in your group chat?

BAI: You know, I -- as much as the political stuff fascinates me, it's -- baseball starts this week, which is a passion of mine.

CORNISH: Hey, yay.

BAI: You know, pitchers and catchers have reported. And by my count, four players have gone down with the same injury in the like 48 hours. A hamate bone, which does not happen to the rest of us.

CORNISH: Oh, unusual.

BAI: And every year it feels like there's an injury. This is the -- the hamate is the new oblique. I don't know what's causing it. I'm interested to hear theories.

[07:00:01]

But I'm waiting to see somebody get into that.

GODBERG: Vaccines.

CORNISH: Yes.

SPEHAR: Oh, God.

BAI: It could very well be the mRNA vaccine. SPEHAR: Trump derangement syndrome is causing the hand injury.

CORNISH: We have just a few seconds, but I have to know what's in your group chat.

SPEHAR: Oh, it's all Epstein files.

CORNISH: Oh.

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CORNISH: Thank you for being here. Thank you for waking up with us. The headlines are next.

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