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FBI Releases New Description of Suspect in Guthrie Kidnapping; Partial Government Shutdown Looms Over ICE Funding Talks; Lawsuit Alleges Social Media is Clinically Addictive. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired February 13, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Details of the deal remain unclear still, including the price tag.

[06:00:05]

Justin Bieber sold his music rights several years ago for a reported $200 million. Primary Wave is already home to the catalogues of artists like Whitney Houston, Prince, and Stevie Nicks.

All right. So, I guess now we know where we're listening to Britney.

Thank you so much for joining us here on EARLY START. I am Danny Freeman here in New York. We hope your day continues on very, very well. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Today in the group chat, the FBI expands that timeline and doubles the reward. Will any of that lead them to Nancy Guthrie?

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never had the FBI knock at my door before. That was a little unusual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Agents make a new appeal to neighbors as one of them spots a mysterious white van.

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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Democrats will not support a blank check for chaos.

KRISTI NOEM, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The Democrat [SIC] Party doesn't think that protecting America is safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: No money for the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats say they are doing what the people want. But what if that leads to airport delays?

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SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): This president has a habit of doubling down on (EXPLETIVE DELETED) ideas.

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CORNISH: Another court setback for the president's revenge tour. Any chance the Trump Justice Department changes its strategy?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I don't think it's appropriate for anybody to be tracking that.

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CORNISH: Did the Trump administration spy on Democrats' Epstein searches? That may be a bridge too far for some Republicans.

And CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

GRAPHIC: SavannahGuthrie - our lovely mom. We will never give up on her. Thank you for your prayers and hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: "We will never give up." That's the message from Nancy Guthrie's family this morning as investigators release new information about who they think abducted the 84-year-old.

I'm Audie Cornish, and good morning. Here's where we begin, with the new clues about the suspect.

Investigators say they're looking for a man with average build who is between 5'9" and 5'10". A source tells CNN they have found multiple gloves near the scene, and that they have also received a number of tips about a suspicious white van.

Investigators have requested doorbell footage from neighbors within a two-mile radius from the past four weeks. And they're specifically looking at two key dates: January 11 between 9 p.m. and midnight, and January 31 between 9:30 and 11 a.m.

Guthrie's neighbors say they are scared, but they're still hopeful.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never had the FBI knock at my door before. That was a little unusual.

There's some fear, but mostly it's just anguish and disbelief. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I certainly hope they find her and find some

resolution to this, no matter what the outcome is. So, wishing -- wishing them our best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now, Derek Gaunt, former hostage negotiator.

First, I just want to show the audience some of the new details on the suspect, because we are at this point talking about his height, talking about his build. A little detail on the backpack. And then this tip about a white van.

So, help me understand what investigators are trying to accomplish when they're sharing this level of detail.

DEREK GAUNT, FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: They're getting more eyes out there to generate more leads, because they're going to -- they're going to try to unravel this thing one thread at a time.

And the problem with the video that -- as it came out is average build, 5'9" to 5'10", that's -- that's half of the American population. And so, while it's helpful in some regards to give people an idea as to the framework of the person that we're looking for, it's still -- it's still a needle in a haystack full of needles.

CORNISH: You've done negotiations. And the thing that's been stuck in the back of my mind is that deadlines have passed at this point. We were talking on Monday about a 5 p.m. deadline.

Help me understand deadlines in this process, when it seems like the investigation is still happening and the family is still making public appeals.

GAUNT: Yes, that brings into question whether or not the person who is generating the ransom notes and the demands are actually involved in this. This -- this may be somebody who's seeking a -- 15 minutes of fame.

But deadlines have passed. There's been relatively little communication except with one specific media outlet. And so, while we are going to hold on to the ransom notes as possible evidence, the focus now is not so much on the ransom note as it is on uncovering that piece of evidence that's going to lead us to recovering Nancy.

[06:05:13]

CORNISH: Lastly, heavy rain expected today, which typically, maybe -- I don't know if that would make a difference. But we've been seeing so many images of people conducting the search outside, literally kind of beating the bushes, looking for things.

BAUNG: Yes. Yes, weather is always a problem, regardless of where you are in the country. That county, I understand, is almost 10,000 square miles. And so, the -- the elements are going to be a factor in recovering any

piece of evidence that is out there. So, time is -- when you're talking about weather, is always of the essence.

CORNISH: OK. We're going to be following developments today. Derek Gaunt, thank you so much for being with us early this morning.

And please note, his book is called "Fight Less, Win More," and it's out now.

Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, turns out those tariffs the president promised would punish other countries are kind of punishing you.

So, why is the U.S., in the meantime, beefing up its presence in the Middle East?

And lawmakers head home without a deal to fund DHS. How long will Democrats hold out? The group chat actually has some thoughts about that.

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[06:10:58]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOEM: This is a dangerous situation that we're in, that the Democrat [SIC] Party has chosen to shut down the department that was created after 9/11.

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CORNISH: The Department of Homeland Security likely headed towards a partial shutdown, because DHS runs out of money at midnight tonight, and lawmakers are headed out of town for a weeklong recess without finding a solution.

Democrats are blocking any funding unless the Trump administration meets their demands to address the conduct of ICE agents following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and that crackdown in Minnesota.

Meantime, the administration is claiming success in the state. They're pulling federal agents out. Residents don't quite see it that way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The community have lost their business; have lost their friends. Normal life will be back. I hope so.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It isn't like that's going to take care of all the problems they left behind.

Maybe we'll see some change, legislative change because of it. But still, this little boy is never going to have his mom back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean they've murdered two people in broad daylight with zero repercussions.

I think the plan is to continue to remain vigilant. I'm hopeful that they will leave, but I'm doubtful it's going to happen in the way that they're saying it will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now in the group chat, Elliot Williams, CNN legal analyst; Noel King, co-host of the "Today, Explained" podcast; and Lulu Garcia-Navarro, CNN contributor and "New York Times" journalist.

So, the reason why I wanted to talk about this is because this would be a partial shutdown. OK? So, there's just a couple of agencies.

But ICE and DHS has so much money.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes.

CORNISH: Like, ICE in particular has so much money, it wouldn't actually stop any operations for ICE.

So, what do you think Democrats are trying to do here? What is their leverage, why the administration is even playing ball?

NOEL KING, CO-HOST, "TODAY, EXPLAINED" PODCAST: I think Democrats are in a difficult position here, because if you look at American attitudes, especially among people on the left toward ICE, you see that sentiments like "abolish ICE," which once upon a time was something you just didn't say, is now -- it's now, like, really popular.

And so, I think if the Democrats want to respond to their constituents who are saying, no ICE, no ICE, no ICE, they are forced to kind of play this out. Even if it means -- I mean, even if the reality is nothing will actually happen to ICE. ICE will keep going.

What's going to happen is TSA agents are going to be selling their plasma and sleeping in their cars again, because they won't get paid.

WILLIAMS: That's more important (ph).

CORNISH: OK. I asked a lawmaker about that. Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove, yesterday. She's on the House Judiciary Committee. She was among the people questioning Pam Bondi.

And I basically said the same thing. Are you willing to let other departments bear the brunt of this negotiation over ICE? And here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SYDNEY KAMLAGER-DOVE (D-CA): 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, they do feel like the public is with them. If you could just turn to them and say, but look what happened.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: What has happened in Minneapolis has been a catastrophe for the administration. This was a climb-down of them pulling out. They clearly have seen the polling.

Their biggest signature issue, which is immigration. Now you're seeing the majority of Americans turning against them.

CORNISH: Yes. Let me put up the polling while you're talking here.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes.

CORNISH: Because people have been asked what you think about immigration agents going into cities and things.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And look at that number. Look at that number: 62 percent of people saying they believe it has gone too far.

And this has been, you know, the administration sending in someone like Greg Bovino, pushing out all that kind of very, very violent imagery on all their social media channels. This has been an issue that they have tried to really ramp up and show this kind of very masculine energy around.

[06:15:00]

And what we've seen instead is people turning against it.

Now turn to what we are -- what the Democrats are doing now. This is dangerous for them. I'm not going to lie. This is dangerous, because at the end of the day, they are winning on this issue. We are going into the midterms.

And you know, what -- they have so far not really gotten much when they have done these shutdowns. What can we say that they got from the last shutdown?

CORNISH: I was on the Hill talking to some lawmakers this week. They actually felt the polling showed that they won the shutdown.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: They did win the -- they did win it.

CORNISH: And so, they feel like they are ready; that this issue, with the kind of moral concern around Pretti and Good deaths, is not any worse for them than health care.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Maybe. I mean --

CORNISH: What do you think?

WILLIAMS: Yes, I think the problem is that the Department of Homeland Security is not just ICE. Frankly, that's the biggest failing of the Department of Homeland Security, because I think it's 21 or 22 different agencies that were smushed under one big banner.

But that would -- a shutdown would imperil not just TSA, but FEMA, the Coast Guard, and a whole bunch of intelligence agencies and so on.

Now, most of these aren't things that touch everybody's lives. But you think the administration is not going to be out there with images of people who need water during these snowstorms or long lines at airports or whatever else.

Now, the administration has sort of flopped on their own --

CORNISH: Yes.

WILLIAMS: -- communications strategy a lot of times.

CORNISH: But that also sheds some light on why they would do this drawdown in Minnesota. You don't want to have to keep showing live images of people going back and forth.

I want to play for you, Charles Schumer yesterday, the Senate minority leader, talking about what he thinks the path forward is with that list of demands from Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHUMER: The path forward is simple: negotiate serious guardrails that protect Americans; that rein in ICE; and stop the violence.

Americans are watching what's happened in neighborhood after neighborhood across the country. They know it's wrong. They know it's excessive. And they want Congress, the Senate, to fix it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: One of the things I've been interested in is this is not a discussion like we saw many years ago. There are children in cages being detained. This is a moral issue.

We are hearing Democrats instead say, Hey, how many of your rights have been violated in the process of doing this? Is it your first? Is it your fourth? Should there be warrants? Is there due process?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's your second, too.

CORNISH: Is it your second?

WILLIAMS: Right. Yes.

CORNISH: So, I think they sort of feel like there's a different way of framing this. I don't know. How do you --

WILLIAMS: I think you're right. Something -- something definitely shifted with respect to immigration, which was the administration's real strong point from the day pretty much the president announced his candidacy back in 2023 or whatever else.

But there's always a risk of overplaying one's hand. And I just think, you know, you -- fortunately, it's not a travel season right now. It's not -- it's not right before Thanksgiving, where you see the long lines at airports.

And it's so -- the public forgets very quickly.

CORNISH: Yes.

WILLIAMS: Even -- even moral outrage. It just takes a couple of days to move onto the next story.

CORNISH: I know. That's actually why I thought this negotiation was interesting, delaying this part of the conversation for two weeks.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Right. Right.

CORNISH: Of course, Republicans would say yes, because it's like maybe in two weeks, it'll be a little less crazy.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: The only thing, I think, where the Democrats actually do have some power, which is this just lends itself to this narrative of chaos; that -- that is, you know, that Democrats try to push under this administration: that everything's chaos, that nothing works.

Look at -- look at what happened in Minneapolis.

Now, you know, the government shutdowns. You know, this is -- like, the -- the collective memory of this era is going to be one of a lot of turmoil. That is something that the Trump administration plays into by their constant sort of, like, advertising of a new thing every day. And something's happening, and horrifies --

KING: Pam Bondi freaking out.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Pam Bondi freaking out. And it just -- you're kind of overwhelmed the whole time.

But again, you know, I mean, it's not like Democrats are popular. You know what I'm saying?

CORNISH: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's not like people are like go, Democrats, we love you. That isn't the sentiment.

CORNISH: OK. Well, the last partial -- the last shutdown, I think, went more than 40 days. So, we'll see who are the holdouts; who actually decides that they're going to stick this out over this conversation with a public that says, We've given ICE a bunch of money. Should we give them guardrails, as well?

You guys stay with me. We have a lot more to talk about this hour.

After the break, a judge slaps Pete Hegseth in a new ruling on Mark Kelly's illegal orders case.

Plus, is social media clinically addictive? The landmark trial going on right now.

And good morning to Philly. The sun rising over the city.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:23:59]

CORNISH: Social media execs testifying in a landmark trial over claims that their apps are clinically addictive.

So, the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, is the first exec to take the stand. He says the app is not addictive, but it can become problematic.

The suit is brought by a now 20-year-old woman who alleges the company's intentionally developed addictive features which harmed her mental health. Her lawyer calls them digital casinos.

Now, even Mark Zuckerberg is set to take the stand next week.

Joining me now, senior policy writer at "The Verge," Lauren Feiner.

Thank you so much for being here.

LAUREN FEINER, SENIOR POLICY WRITER, "THE VERGE": Thanks for having me.

CORNISH: So, I've been following this issue for a long time. I remember when parents went to the Supreme Court to say we should be able to sue companies, because they're violating Section 230.

But I haven't seen people sue on this point: saying you're making something that is clinically addictive. Is that what they're arguing here?

FEINER: Yes, that's essentially the argument here. They're saying, you know, that these companies develop these products in ways with specific design features that they chose to incorporate in their products, and that they were negligent in how they designed these products and how they failed to warn consumers about the potential harms.

[06:25:12]

CORNISH: And this is something that's come up before. I remember this -- we were pointing out during the break, the Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen. People may not remember her name, but she's one of the people who came out and said, Look, they sat in meetings saying, what, that people had addictions? Or how did they characterize it?

FEINER: Yes. Well, I think part of this is that they did some research behind the scenes on, you know, what were the harms of these products? And, you know, on the one hand, I think Meta, for example, would say

that the fact they did this research was a sign that they actually cared about this, and they wanted to see what issues there were.

On the other hand, they didn't publish this research. So, I think that seemed to a lot of people like they were hiding something.

CORNISH: Do -- what's the set? I don't know. We've all done episodes of our shows on this about clinical versus not.

KING: I mean, this is so fascinating to me, because, yes, it's like the conversation around, like, alcohol or drugs. It's like, do you have alcohol use disorder; or are you an alcoholic; or are you just someone who likes to drink a lot? So, I find that fascinating.

But more so, I think that these businesses did what is good business. Every company wants the consumer to use their product as much as humanly possible.

So, I guess there's part of me that's, like, isn't -- I hate to say it, but is this not just capitalism? How is this judge going to rule?

WILLIAMS: Oh. You know?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Well, I just want to say, having done an episode exactly on this, you know, the person that I interviewed called this digital drugs.

CORNISH: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And that this was -- the distinction, I think, that is being made is, was this specifically designed to hook you? And that is the thing.

Not is it problematic? But was there an actual sort of plan, that the companies knew that our brains work in a certain way, and they were trying to sort of make sure that we kept on coming back?

CORNISH: Yes. Is this going to be a battle of the researchers? Like, are we going to see doctors taking the stand?

FEINER: Yes, yes, I think we are going to see expert witnesses here discussing, you know, what is actual addiction? You know, is this something that you can really be addicted to, like a drug, or is it different from a drug?

And it's something that, yes, you can consume too much, and it can interfere with parts of your life. But it's not that you'll actually get withdrawal symptoms if you stop using it.

CORNISH: Well, I would -- if you've met a couple of 12- or 13-year- olds, I would honestly argue with that.

WILLIAMS: I agree. I agree.

CORNISH: But yes. WILLIAMS: I would say the same thing. Look, I think it is capitalism, but in many respects, so was the fight over tobacco for decades, right?

Which was when a product is used as it was designed and was designed in a certain manner and functioning properly --

CORNISH: To cause harm.

WILLIAMS: -- not even negligently, you know, it can cause harm.

Now, of course, it's not a perfect analogy when you talk about, you know, nicotine can addict you as a substance.

But again, if you've ever been around a teen or a tween who is still -- whose brain is developing, and you put YouTube on in front of them. And before long, they're watching slop from Estonia that just is being fed to them. You can't tell me that it doesn't have some effect on their brains.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Don't talk about teens. Talk about me.

CORNISH: OK. So, Mark Zuckerberg. What are -- what is the testimony you're most looking forward to? Or what's something you heard this week that you wish more people paid attention to?

FEINER: Yes, I think I'm really looking forward to hearing from Mark Zuckerberg and Neal Mohan from YouTube about, you know, how they're going to account for the kinds of harms that this plaintiff said she experienced from their products and see how they defend themselves.

You know, a lot of the defense here is going to revolve around that, you know, a lot of -- that, A, a lot of this is about speech and content on the platforms; that the tech companies are protected from legally.

CORNISH: Under Section 230.

FEINER: Yes. And then the other concern here is going to be, you know, what other factors were going on in this plaintiff's life that might have contributed to her mental health struggles?

CORNISH: OK, I'm supposed to go, but I have to ask you this question, because it has come up in my group chats, which is related to the Nancy Guthrie case with her being missing.

When I was -- started the week, like talking about this story, it was there's no video from the doorbell cam. Then later, there is now video.

And I went down the rabbit hole trying to figure out, like, well, wait a second. Where did this come from? And am I correct that it came from Google? Like, they were able to work with law enforcement to recover doorbell footage?

I am happy they have this footage. I have questions about, like, if I don't have my doorbell video turned on, companies can still get video out of it?

FEINER: Yes, I think this was a kind of unique scenario where, you know, my colleague did some great reporting here and found that, you know, in this particular case, Google was able to kind of piece together video that was stored on cloud servers in multiple locations, it seems like. And this is the sort of thing that wouldn't happen in most cases.

CORNISH: But is it ever off? Is it ever truly off?

FEINER: I mean, I think part of it is that, when files are deleted, they're not necessarily immediately overwritten in a way.