Return to Transcripts main page
Erin Burnett Outfront
Sherriff: Savannah Guthrie's Mom "Abducted" From Home; Dem Flips Texas State Senate Seat In District Trump Won By 17 Points; Five-Year-Old Back Home In Minnesota After Judge Rips Government, Orders Release. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired February 02, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:25]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, Savannah Guthrie's mom abducted according to the sheriff who told CBS News moments ago she was taken while asleep in her home. The Pima County sheriff joins us in a moment with the latest.
And a stunning upset. Democrats flipping a Senate seat in a Texas district Trump won by 17 points. Panic for some Republicans. Well, tonight, we'll speak to the winner, Democrat Taylor Rehmet.
And, reunited. The five-year-old boy taken by ICE sent to Texas along with his father to a detention center is now back in Minneapolis. How is little Liam tonight? His principal is OUTFRONT.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good Monday evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news abducted. That is what officials say happened to Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother.
The Pima County sheriff telling CBS News that she was taken against her will as she slept. Guthrie's mother, Nancy, who lives alone and is said to have no cognitive issues and is sharp as a tack, was reported missing by her family on Sunday around noon. She was last seen in her home in Arizona around 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
Police say the scene at her home is concerning, and that she did not leave on her own will.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF CHRIS NANOS, PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: We saw some things at the home that were concerning to us. We believe now after we processed that crime scene, that we do in fact have a crime scene, that we do in fact have a crime. She did not leave on her own.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Now the sheriff who will join us in just a moment, stopped short of saying exactly what crime might have been committed at that time. But it is a race against time, as police say, the Nancy Guthrie needs daily medication to survive.
The FBI is now on the case, along with Customs and Border Protection.
Ed Lavandera begins our coverage tonight live OUTFRONT in Tucson, Arizona.
And, Ed, what is the latest you are learning on this truly shocking story? The search for Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, not only shocking, a nightmare scenario for Savannah Guthrie and her family as detectives continue to work the crime scene. And it is a race against the clock.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Eighty-four-year-old Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her home in the foothills of Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday night. More than 40 hours later, officials say her home is considered a crime scene and are asking the public for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still a very active and investigation, there were circumstances on scene, that that we believe are suspicious in nature, I think is the best way to put it.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): A widespread search of the area was shut down once officials say they determined she did not leave her home alone.
NANOS: She is very limited in her mobility, right? We know she didn't just walk out of there. That is that we know there are other things that the that the scene that indicate she did not leave on her own.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The mother of "Today Show" co-anchor Savannah Guthrie lived near Tucson, about 60 miles from the U.S. border with Mexico. She appeared on the set of the "Today Show" in 2023, holding a cane, and on the show last November, when Savannah returned to her hometown.
NANCY GUTHRIE, SAVANNAH GUTHRIE'S MOM: Cheers, cheers.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, TODAY SHOW CO-ANCHOR: I love being home.
What made you want to stay in Tucson and plant roots?
N. GUTHRIE: So wonderful. Just the air, the quality of life.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): News of her disappearance headlined "The Today Show".
CRAIG MELVIN, TODAY SHOW CO-ANCHOR: A deeply personal story for us. Nancy Guthrie, Savannah's beloved mother, has been reported missing in Arizona. LAVANDERA (voice-over): Savannah's colleagues are asking for her safe
return.
JENNA BUSH HAGER, TODAY SHOW CO-ANCHOR: Nancy Guthrie, Savannah's beloved mom, that she takes daily medication and she needs them for survival. She's without her medication. So we are thinking of our dearest, dearest Savannah.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): And Savannah shared a statement on behalf of the Guthrie family that says, quote, "Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom and asks anyone with information to contact the Pima County Sheriff's Department."
Savannah Guthrie frequently spoke of her close relationship with her mother on "The Today Show".
S. GUTHRIE: If she would say to you, "You can do it, I believe you can. Now get out there and go for your dreams," I believed her.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): And included her in segments about Mother's Day.
S. GUTHRIE: You may have heard me talk about my idyllic childhood growing up in Arizona.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Even taking her mother back to Australia, where Savannah was born after her dad was transferred there for work.
S. GUTHRIE: We got you from the store here.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Time and again, referencing her mother's unwavering support as a single mom of three. Savannah's father died when she was just 16 years old.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And, Erin, the sheriff's officials say that the Guthrie family member called 911 Sunday afternoon, which initiated a search in the area around where she lives in the Tucson foothills. But that search extended well into the early hours of this morning, before it was scaled back. And authorities here now believe, as they mentioned this morning, that the scene at her home is indeed a crime scene, a horrifying day here in Tucson.
BURNETT: Ed Lavandera, thank you very much in Tucson tonight.
And I want to go OUTFRONT now, as promised, to the Pima County sheriff, Chris Nanos.
Sheriff, I appreciate your time very much. And it's just shocked and saddened to be speaking to you about this.
I know you say that Nancy Guthrie has been abducted. What makes you say that?
SHERIFF CHRIS NANOS, PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: You know, there's a -- first and foremost, we know that Ms. Guthrie is -- got every just like we said, sharp as a tack. Her wits are about her. She -- that's -- this isn't somebody who wandered off.
This is an elderly woman in her mid-80s who suffers some ailments that makes her mobility her ability to walk around very difficult. The family told us she couldn't go 50 yards. And that in and of itself is a concern.
But then we also have some things at that scene that indicate to us that she was removed from that scene against her will. I can't go into all those details. It's not -- it's not that I'm trying to be secretive. I get that everybody wants to know and they all want to help, and we appreciate it so much. But there is a case that we need to protect that integrity. And continue working with our investigative leads.
BURNETT: But you are confident, Sheriff, just to be clear, that it was an abduction?
NANOS: You know, I've been doing this for 50 years. I have a gut feeling, but, you know, it came to me that yesterday, in the early afternoon that she was. That she was abducted. We didn't know who she was, but we knew that we had this middle aged, this this mid-80s woman missing from her home.
And so, we had our search and rescue team out there who does great work all the time. And they are out all the time. I mean, it's almost daily. They just are. But something that they told me about that scene made me believe that there's more than, just than just a missing person.
So, we wanted to continue with that search and rescue mission. We -- today, we still hope she's alive. And we continue with those missions of search and rescue. But our efforts have to -- we can't -- you just can't ignore what you're seeing at the scene and put that off.
Time is of the essence. And so, we also initiated our homicide, our criminal investigation team out there to start their investigation.
BURNETT: And so, when you say it's -- your gut on things at the scene, is there anything you can share that that led you to that gut without sharing too much about the scene? As I know you're unable to do?
NANOS: No, I really can't at this time. You know, we have people in the field right now doing some things, with, of course, canvasing the neighborhood. Our search teams are backing out, are back out there just to make sure we didn't miss some areas. Those are standard procedures, but what we also know is there's some evidence that were trying to retrieve and whether it's from cameras or, digital evidence from cell phones, those that technology that's so critical to us, our license plate readers, all of that.
We think that once we get those things downloaded to us and have a look at them, we'll be in a better position.
BURNETT: So, I know you had asked people for Ring cameras or any other kind of information. Is that what you're referring to? I mean, have you been able to look at any of that to see, I mean, you know, whether she was taken in a car or a truck or a van or, are you able to ascertain any of that from video footage that you have at this point, or is that still unknown?
NANOS: It's still unknown. We're getting a lot of leads, and a lot of that information is coming in, and we are looking at some, some cameras, but there's nothing specific to us. We're looking -- our priority right now is, the home had some cameras that we need help in, in the download of they're not -- they're not cloud based. There may be on a server somewhere.
But, you know, I'll be honest, we've been getting great help from not just our law enforcement partners, the FBI, the local law enforcement agencies in our state law enforcement partners. But even private businesses, Google, Apple, name them. They're made up. They've all been offering up assistance and help, and we greatly appreciate it.
This is a -- this is a big case to this community because it's not often that it never really that we see somebody in the middle of the night in their safe home environment and bed. All of a sudden disappear.
BURNETT: So you mentioned and I don't know if I -- just making sure I heard you correctly, you said when you first found out about this, you didn't know who she was. And I think the first thing people wonder is, well, was this a kidnaping for ransom? Because her daughter is who she is.
Do you think this is a kidnapping for ransom? Do you have any, any kind of ransom note or anything that would indicate that? Or at this point, do you not know if that's the case?
NANOS: No. We've been working with miss Guthrie. Savannah Guthrie's security team and researching any potential threats there or anything. But no, we're not hearing anything like that. We've not seen that.
We'll never rule it out. But no, we're not -- we don't. That's not, the direction we're going in right now.
BURNETT: Well, so do you think -- I mean, and I guess, again, I know a lot of this is your gut at this point, so I know you know, you'll -- you'll know what you know and you know it. But I mean, do you think this could have been random?
NANOS: Anything is possible. You know, like I say, I -- I go with gut instinct sometimes. And sometimes I'm wrong, you know? So. So we just got to be careful and follow our protocols, our procedures and, and just kind of systematically work our way through this.
You the media has been tremendous help in getting us leads that were able to chase down and, and work on and this community's always -- always supported us. When we come out and ask for help, they're right there. And so, it is a, you know, Ms. Guthrie, Savannah is a member of this community, even though she may not live here. She's a strong part of our family, if you will. And this reaches out and they're a part of this case as well.
BURNETT: Sheriff, do you believe that Nancy was hurt when she was taken? I mean, I know it was against her will, so. I mean, do you think, you know, we heard Jenna talk about, her needing her medication? I mean, do you know anything about her condition
NANOS: I -- we know, and, of course, we don't want to get into her medical history, but we know that she, like I said, sound mind capable. All of those things. She just had some physical ailments that that that limited her ability to move to get around.
But my goodness. We just know that -- without getting into too much, we just -- we -- it is our belief she was removed from that home against her will. We hope we're racing the clock here. You said that earlier. Her meds are important, and the family has told us 24 hours without those meds could be fatal. And here we are at 30-plus hours or more.
We really need. If somebody knows something, just call us. Just let her go and we'll come get her if that's the case we just hope, you know, we never give up hope. We'll always be hopeful that we find her safe and sound. But there is a side of this that we have to. We just can't ignore. When we see things in front of us, we would -- we would not be doing our job if we did that.
BURNETT: You know, as people try to I mean, everybody, of course, anybody who knows anything would, would call you. Do you know I guess what state she would be in as to whether she was hurt in that incident? Maybe you were obviously able to see evidence when you were in her home, but any kind of an injury that you might have thought she sustained in her abduction?
NANOS: Yeah, I just can't really speak to that right now.
BURNETT: Yeah. All right, I understand. Is there anything else, sheriff, that you want people to know about this, about her that might help people be able to help you find her.
NANOS: You know, yeah. If you see someone, take a look at that pictures. The photos we put out there. If you see someone that you think even resembles that, you know, get your phone out and videotape it, take a quick picture. Send that to us.
We're right now putting up a link. I think that will allow anyone across the country to lock in and deliver us any kind of link they may have. Every -- every piece of information is important.
[19:15:01]
Do not -- we hear all the time? I didn't want to bother police. It didn't seem that important.
Let us be the ones to dismiss that information. Share it with us. We'll -- we'll go through it and prioritize it and decide whether it's valid or not. But again, this is a great community. I am so blessed to be able to be
a part of this community. And they always -- they always come through for us. And I really believe that we'll find her.
My team is solid, good young men and women. They've never let us down. They -- this case. We will get there.
BURNETT: All right. Sheriff, I appreciate your time very much. And one last question before you go. Just so people know, it sounds like you don't know necessarily the way in which she was abducted. Right? So, is it safe to say that she could be anywhere?
I mean, we know Border Patrol was involved. Does that mean you think a border could be involved? Obviously, Tucson's right along the Mexican border.
NANOS: No, no, let me -- let me -- let me. First of all, I do not -- I do not want this to be a political piece. This is about a elderly woman who lives in our community and went to bed in her safe home and is missing, removed from her home. That is it.
Border Patrol helps us all the time when we have missing hikers, or they have some dogs that do tremendous work and that's what they did. They came out with their dog team to help us. We helped them.
BURNETT: Do the search outside.
NANOS: FBI -- we take a very strong regional approach to law enforcement in this community. The Tucson Police Department, the sheriff's department, other 10 other local agencies in this valley. I've heard from them all, everybody.
This -- I am again, very blessed to be a part of, not just my team, but the entire law enforcement community here in Tucson. We take care of each other. It doesn't matter, federal, local, state we know that that the value everybody brings, different resources, different skill sets. And last week, we went down and assisted the FBI. They asked us to handle a shooting involving a Border Patrol officer. Those are commonplace here.
BURNETT: Right. Well, I appreciate it, because I think it's important for people to understand that here, CBP, they don't know what they -- you know, what role or whether that means the border was involved. So, I think it's important. Thank you for being able to explain that.
All right. So, Sheriff, just one final thing here as were trying to have the details here to understand. So, she was taken, as you understand, Saturday night, and, she was, am I correct, literally asleep in her bed when this happened from and I guess as part of that, do you know if there was one or more individuals involved or at this point, you don't know that either?
NANOS: You know, we don't that it could be one. It could be. We just don't know.
But we do know that, she was brought home by her family after dinner out with them at around 9:30, 9:45 Saturday night. They got her inside. She went to bed.
The only thing we know after that is at 11:00 in the morning, Sunday morning, the family got a call from members of her church saying she wasn't there. They went to the home. Did some looking around and made some calls, I'm guessing, and eventually called us, and we took over from there.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Sheriff, I appreciate your time very much. And thank you so much for taking the time to answer all of the questions as best as you could so that it could help people try to help you. And thank you.
NANOS: Well, thank you. We really appreciate all the hard work by everybody. And, and the media's been tremendous on this.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I know everybody will do everything they can. Sheriff Nanos, thank you so much.
NANOS: Thank you.
BURNETT: And now just to talk about what the Pima County sheriff just shared with us, Gregory was a special agent in charge for the FBI. Mary Ellen O'Toole was a former senior FBI profiler.
So, I appreciate both of you.
So, Greg, you had a chance there. Obviously, we had an extensive conversation with the sheriff sharing what he could. There was a lot that stood out, but let's just. Why don't you go ahead and tell me what stands out to you from what he just said?
GREG EHRIE, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, NEWARK FIELD OFFICE: Well, it's a very difficult situation. I said, I think it's been categorized as a nightmare, but what needs to be done right now is just what the sheriff is explaining. They're working the evidence. They're looking for that lead, and they know when the start point is when she was dropped off after dinner. That's when the investigation needs to start.
BURNETT: Right.
EHRIE: But what was found in the house and the sheriff, rightfully so, is keeping things quiet because they will have more information than we do. We can't make that public at this point while that investigation continues.
I think what's important here is she didn't leave on her own. The first thing it sounds like the family looked at. Did she fall down? Did she go outside, look around the house. But there's something in that house that's saying, no, she did not leave on her own.
[19:20:02]
So, she was either --
BURNETT: Very specific evidence, which appears to perhaps from the way he was answering it, maybe there was some sort of an injury they believe she sustained during that abduction is what it appeared.
EHRIE: Yeah, very possible, but it's also the other evidence that's still in the house. Her cell phone, her keys, her vehicles. People don't leave those behind, you know, for any length of time.
So what they're going to be looking at now and what the sheriff alluded to is looking at who did she call? Did anybody try to call her? Look at those cell phone data for anybody who was in the area and start to backtrack it from there.
BURNETT: Mary Ellen, it was interesting that the sheriff was very clear that that this was an abduction, but it was his gut, right, that he was saying that based on the evidence that he had seen in the house, that obviously appeared to indicate she did not leave of her own, of her own free will.
But he said other I thought very important things. He said at first when this came in, this report came in. They did not know who she was, as in they did not know she was related to Savannah Guthrie, right? That that wasn't initially part of it. And then he also seemed to and I mean, well see where this goes. But in the direct conversation about a kidnapping for ransom said that, that they didn't have anything to indicate that at this point. Right.
So that was pretty blunt, I guess, on that one question, which I know many people have had. I mean, what did you hear, Mary Ellen?
MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, FORMER SENIOR FBI PROFILER & FBI SPECIAL AGENT: I actually heard the same thing. But I thought he gave some other information which filled in a little bit. And we're looking at an older woman who is what we call behaviorally, a low risk victim.
She did not lead a lifestyle that in where she engaged in criminal behavior. That's called a low risk victim. She was in her home in a safe neighborhood with neighbors. That means it's a low risk environment.
Those two things together make the -- tend to make the number of possible suspects much smaller. So if you were in a high crime area and you yourself lived a high crime lifestyle, many people could come and grab you or victimize you. That's not the case here. So, the number of suspects very likely has really reduced significantly.
And again, from a behavioral standpoint, when you have someone who goes into an environment, a home considered low risk home where a person doesn't live, that that criminal background, that's very high risk for them to do that. So, the likelihood of some sort of recon of that neighborhood, a recon of that home, probably had to occur so that they could get in.
They knew where the bedrooms were. They knew where the lights were. They knew who should or shouldn't be there. That very likely had to occur in order to enable this crime. At least the initial part of it to be carried out successfully. So, I think all that behavior for me was really pretty telling. And I
think when you factor in homicide detectives, which seem to be leading the investigation, that I think is very telling as well, they don't say lightly this was an abduction and they don't say lightly. We think that this is a crime scene. They know what they're talking about. And when they say it, it's based on their experience.
BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, Greg and he said it and he said it was based on their experience, but also his gut. And then he did mention homicide teams and search teams were back out again now.
EHRIE: And the as Mary Ellen said, the introduction of the homicide detectives should it be jumped to too lightly homicide detectives.
BURNETT: Right. He didn't say that. He didn't say that on the -- in passing.
EHRIE: But they are trained to look for that small minute evidence. What happened or put together a scene. What we're looking for right now is a motive. And Mary Ellen and the sheriff have alluded to it.
Why this person? Why this time? And what were they taking this person for? What were the intentions?
And time is not a friend here. The longer this goes on, even travel time, it just distances itself from that location.
BURNETT: I mean, Mary Ellen, I guess to that point you know, and having had been a colleague of Savannah and known her for a long time, I mean, choosing to go public with this is not something that that anybody would want to do, right? I mean, they obviously chose to do it knowing that it would have the platform that it had because they felt that they needed to. Right? I mean, because of -- because of the time that had passed.
O'TOOLE: Absolutely. With this kind of a crime, the more people are aware of what happened, the more people that can go back in their own minds and say, look, I saw this last Thursday, or I saw I realized something was a little amiss. Didn't think too much of it, but a little bit amiss. Didn't call it in.
So, it really does have to have a very high profile feature to it, because you're asking people to recall things that they saw that at first blush did not look unusual, did not look suspicious, but now you're asking them to come forward and say, reconsider that. Tell us what you saw. Don't look for what's suspicious.
Just tell us what you saw. So, it had to be raised to a much higher level.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate both of you very much. Thank you.
[19:25:00]
And for anyone watching, right? If this does do that for you, if you have any information about Nancy Guthrie, please call the Pima County sheriff's department. And the number is 520-351-4900.
And next I'll talk to Taylor Rehmet. He is the Democrat who just stunned the political world when he beat a Trump backed Republican in the red state of Texas, in a district that Trump himself won by 17 points. We'll tell you how he pulled it off.
Plus, new reporting tonight. The president Trump personally spoke to FBI agents in Georgia who were on the ground for a search of a Georgia election office.
And new details tonight on the five-year-old boy taken by federal agents along with his father back in Minneapolis tonight. His principal is OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, a shocking upset for President Trump in deep red Texas. Democrats flipping a state senate seat, a seat that Trump fought for and a seat that has gone Republican in every election since 1992.
[19:30:08]
And this is part of a larger trend that is worrying Republicans tonight. In this election, Taylor Rehmet, who will be my guest in just a minute, trounced his Trump backed opponent by more than 14 percentage points. Now, that would be massive. You'd say, okay, Texas 14 percentage points. But keep in mind you got to add it on to the fact that Trump won that very same district by more than 17 points. So, 17 plus 14.
Now, despite being massively outspent by the Republican, Rehmet won, Trump claiming though, that he had nothing to do with this massive loss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: In Texas, Democrat won the special election in an area that you had won by 17 points. What is your reaction to?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know, I didn't hear about it. Somebody ran where?
REPORTER: In Texas, a special election for legislators, the ninth state senate seat.
TRUMP: I'm not involved in that. That's a local Texas race. You mean I won by 17? And this person lost. Things like that happen.
REPORTER: Does it worry you about what --
TRUMP: You don't know whether or not it's transferable. You know, I'm not on the ballot.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Now, here's the interesting thing. You heard him there say, local Texas race. I'm not involved. I didn't hear about it. I don't know, somebody ran. Where? As if he knew nothing about it.
However, he tweeted support for the Republican candidate in this very race three times in the last two days of the race. Okay? So three times in the past two days of the race, he's tweeting about it and he says he knows nothing about it. That doesn't seem to add up.
He even tweeted about it on election day. And now some in the president's party are being a bit more forthright about their concern and sounding the alarm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN SPICER, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I texted a bunch of Texas folks, elected officials, et cetera. And said, okay, tell me how much I should be concerned about this? To a T, to a T, every one of them said, this is a problem. One person's direct quote was, this is 8.5 on the Richter scale. This is a big deal.
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: The message is we got to up our game and make sure that we're doing everything to give it, to give people, particularly voters in the middle of the electorate who decide these types of elections, a reason to vote for our candidates.
REP. DON BACON (R-NE): It should be a warning. And I think we got to respond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, since Trump returned to the White House, Democrats have flipped a number of state seats and counties, including in elections in Virginia, New Jersey, Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi and Pennsylvania.
So, now, you've got Texas on the list. And OUTFRONT now is Taylor Rehmet, the Democrat who flipped the Texas state senate seat.
All right. I really appreciate your time, Taylor.
So, you know, you heard Sean Spicer acknowledging there's an issue. You heard Senator John Thune acknowledging there's an issue, but then there are others saying, oh, it was just because there was low turnout or, oh, midterms are always bad for the party in power. So let's not worry so much about this.
How do you see it? Why do you think you were able to achieve a massive upset? I mean, the point swing here is 31 percentage points.
TAYLOR REHMET (D), FLIPPED TEXAS STATE SENATE SEAT IN DISTRICT TRUMP WON: Well, Erin, I think they're right. There is a problem. The problem is bigger than they think it is, though, because working folks have been left behind. And we need to start finding creative ways to lower costs and help folks out in this economy.
BURNETT: So, Trump made that late push for your opponent, as I just pointed out there. Right? He posted multiple times on social media, including on election day, three times, as I said in the -- in the last two days of the race. And let me just play again, because I know you heard some of it there, Taylor. But part of what he said when he was asked today about your victory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm not involved in that. That's a local Texas race. It's too bad. What can I say? I have nothing to do with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, putting aside that he, you know, acted like he didn't know about it when he did. This is a more specific question to what you're dealing with. Was he a factor in the race? Right?
He's saying my name wasn't on the ballot. So it's not about me. Was it at all about him do you think?
REHMET: Well, I don't believe he was able to vote in this race. He doesn't live here in Senate district nine. So, I mean, just being honest, I was so focused on, you know, talking to the voters here and meeting with them, the focus was really on community here. And I really was not looking to, you know, they say my opponent outspent me all these things, but you cannot replace hard work.
And that's what I was focused on. And we focused on the issues, listening to voters, not just talking at them, but talking with them and learning how to best serve them. So, clearly, it worked.
BURNETT: It obviously did. And it worked overwhelmingly. According to those numbers. You know, one thing that also stood out to me, Taylor, was how you did with Latino voters. I mean, there's a lot of talk in your district about the spike in support that you got from that group of voters. "Texas Tribune" said that Hispanics account for more than one in five eligible voters in your district.
[19:35:01]
And a lot of them did support Trump in the last election he won in Texas. He won 55 percent of the Latino vote to Harris's 45.
You know, why do you believe those voters turned to you now?
REHMET: Well, we showed up with Latino voters from the very beginning. I know the community. One of the big ones over here is the north side community. Often overlook definitely underserved. And that's where I started things. I wanted to make sure that I was showing up in every community, because I want to make sure that everyone has a seat at the table and can -- you know, have good representation.
BURNETT: So, you ran as a moderate. Okay. Moderate Democrat. You're a veteran from the Air Force, Taylor. You're a union leader, and a number of moderate Democrats have made gains for the party since Trump took office. But, you know, obviously, you have others who are pushing the
Democratic Party in, you know, much further, much further left. And it was interesting today, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee talking about your victory, told "The New York Times". To that point, quote, "They think they can deceive voters by having all these candidates who may appear moderate. But at the end of the day, they're all pushing the same radical socialist agenda that we've seen take hold from New York to California."
What do you say to that, Taylor?
REHMET: I would say that this wasn't about party. It was about this district. We're laser-focused on the issues voters care about so they can say what they want to say. All I know is that I stuck to what I said. I wanted to set out and focus on the bread-and-butter issues.
People -- I've knocked these doors. I know these people are. So, the people we have in this community are so fed up with the campaigns of outrage, the culture wars, all the same stuff that they're trying to use to divide us. This campaign was about unity, and we know that if were unified, we can have better conversations, we can work together and actually get legislation passed to help everyday working Texans. And I look forward to working on those things as a senator.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate your time, Taylor, and thank you very much for taking the time to be here tonight.
REHMET: Of course. Thank you so much.
BURNETT: And next, we have new details tonight on how the five-year- old boy, taken by ICE along with his dad, is doing. He's back home in Minnesota. Liam Conejo Ramos's principal is next.
And Marjorie Taylor Greene with a devastating takedown of the MAGA movement
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN: I think people are realizing it was all a lie. It was a big lie for the people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:41:51]
BURNETT: Tonight, Liam Conejo Ramos, the five-year-old boy who was taken with his father by ICE officials to a Texas detention facility. He was held there for nearly two weeks, but he is now back home in Minnesota with both his parents. His release ordered by a federal judge who slammed the Trump administration in a ruling, saying in part, quote, the case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently implemented government pursuit of deportation quotas. Apparently, even if it requires traumatizing children.
But the case appears to be far from resolved, as the Justice Department is signaling that it may appeal this judge's ruling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: To the extent that we need to appeal the judge's decision, I promise we will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Jason Kuhlman, he is the principal at Liam Conejo Ramos's school.
And it's good to talk to you again, Principal Kuhlman. I appreciate your time.
So, you know, they've had a chance here to be back together a short bit here. How is Liam doing? How is his family and his parents doing?
JASON KUHLMAN, LIAM CONEJO RAMOS' PRINCIPAL: I think they're elated. They got back together and they're just uniting as a family. Our full service community school coordinator was able to talk to him this weekend, and they were ecstatic. It's joyous to see him back together with his family. It's going to be great, when they decide we can get him back into school and when they want that to happen. So it's amazing.
BURNETT: Now, you just heard, you know, when you say decide to get him back in school, I can only imagine the fear and hesitation that they might have for so many reasons, but in part because of what we heard there, even from the deputy attorney general, right, when Todd Blanche said the administration might appeal the judge's ruling, right? The ruling that ordered Liam's release and to be sent home, I mean, gosh, what does the family even able to do about this?
KUHLMAN: That's a great question. I don't know at this time. I struggle with just them retrying it or, wanting to do that again. I just don't understand.
BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, and as far as him coming back to school, of course, it's understandable, right, that they might not want to send him back. I mean, but then you've got a child out of school. I mean, how do you even handle that?
KUHLMAN: Well, exactly. I mean, I know his older brother is online right now. And I totally understand with that, with mom and him being the only ones home as Liam and the family decide that they want to come back, we'll find a transition plan and see how we can get them back safely. Because we want to make sure that he's not, taken again. So we're going to take one step at a time and take the family's lead.
They know best. And what they're or what Liam needs and how to support them.
BURNETT: I know that you're dealing with your own, worry and trauma today as a community with the school, because you were unable to even open it today. And I know that was out of an abundance of caution, but it came on the heels, Principal, of emailed bomb threats to multiple schools in your district. Look, that's so --
KUHLMAN: That is correct.
BURNETT: -- upsetting and distressing and frightening to all involved. I mean, do you think that this is related to the fact that your school has been thrust into the spotlight, the fact that that you have chosen to talk about Liam and other children who have been taken by ICE?
[19:45:12]
KUHLMAN: I don't think it's directly related to us. Another district received the same emails and threats. But it was a big factor in us deciding this morning if we could have safe learning or not. And I think it's a -- it's an overall sense of our society right now that there's a lot of anger out there and a lot of angst. And so that was taken out on us through an email. That was very explicit. And, charged.
BURNETT: Well, I mean, you have things like that that you're dealing with, and then you have the, the tangible reality of the fact that your school, your, your student body is being physically impacted by the immigration operations. I mean, I know on Thursday you brought two brothers who were in second and fifth grade, and they were into federal custody after their detained mother had requested that they be with her, right?
So, she had been detained and then and then you helped her by bringing her children and I -- I mean, God, I can't even imagine what that's like, right? You want to help. You're doing the best you can for her. But, but that's what you're doing. I know you say it might have been the worst day of your 28 years as an educator. What was it like?
KUHLMAN: By far, it was the worst. You know, our job is to teach children, to keep them safe, to support them. And then we had to deliver them down to the Whipple Building to come back or to reunify with mom.
Mom was stepping out of a court mandated hearing. She is seeking asylum, and she's in a in an active case of asylum, very similar to Liam. And she finished the day in court and stepped out, and she was abducted. So, as she was brought down to the Whipple building herself, that's when she called us.
And so, we actually had to bring the boys from their classroom and tell them that their mom was abducted and that she wants them to be brave, but she also wants them to be with her.
And we're always going to respect the opinions of opinions of the parent. She wanted to be reunited with her boys. There was not family in the United States that she could place them with, so she felt that it was better to keep them together. But for us as educators to do that, we're essentially bringing, you know, were bringing students into detention. They're going to be held there, and we don't know what was going to happen.
And by 10:00 the next day, they're -- they're sitting in Dilley already.
BURNETT: So it's really -- it's hard to imagine the emotion of how you must have felt, how you do feel with what you're dealing with now.
Jason, I appreciate your time, and thank you very much.
KUHLMAN: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: Jason Kuhlman, as I said, the principal of Liam Conejo Ramos's school.
And next, Van Jones and Gretchen Carlson are here. They're right now standing by in the green room. And a lot to talk about with them, including Marjorie Taylor Greene calling the MAGA movement a lie. They're on their way out here now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:52:59]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Trump speaking directly to FBI agents who are on the ground in Georgia investigating his baseless claims of election fraud. We're learning that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, whose presence on the scene last week was already highly unusual, used her cell phone to call Trump and asked if he wanted to talk to the agents directly. Trump agreed and gave them a brief pep talk.
Now, Trump, speaking to frontline FBI agents doing the work in a politically sensitive investigation. Well, that is coming, as he is urging Republicans to nationalize the voting process to block Democrats from winning. Here he is today.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TRUMP: These people were brought to our country to vote, and they vote illegally. And the, you know, amazing that the Republicans aren't tougher on it. The Republicans should say, we want to take over. We should take over the voting -- the voting. And at least many, 15 places, the Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, Van Jones and Gretchen Carlson are here.
So, Van, let's just start with Tulsi Gabbard here first. She's on site and she's supposed to be dealing with international security threats, right? So, her presence there is already inexplicable. And, the event itself in a -- in an already many, many, many, many, many times investigated election in which there was no fraud in Georgia is inexplicable.
And now we learn Trump spoke to the agents on speakerphone who were doing the search. What's going on?
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Nothing good, nothing good. I we have to hope that the terrorist enemies of the United States are not watching the news and don't realize that the head of our security is fooling around in shoe boxes full of old, outdated ballots as opposed to making sure that we're safe. If there is a major terrorist incident in the United States, there's going to be a hell to pay.
What are they doing? What does this have to do with the security of the United States? Digging around in old election stuff? And the president of the United States should be doing other things besides cheering on FBI agents who are being distracted with this nonsense.
[19:55:03]
BURNETT: Right. And calling an action that would -- he said those comments, Gretchen, to Dan Bongino, who had just left, right, the FBI and is now back in his job as -- as a host. So, but it was to him that he said Republicans should take over the voting in at least 15 places. What does that even -- what does that mean?
GRETCHEN CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: And where are the Republicans standing up today saying, absolutely, that should never happen, because when it turns around and Democrats are in power, how would we feel if they do that? But we're hearing nothing about that.
Look, my whole point about this is what new evidence did they show a judge to get a search warrant to go back to all of these ballots from 2020, like what was their new -- they've been over this many, many times. So that's my first question. Then you come to the next question, which is Trump speaking to these FBI agents like a rah-rah like, do something for me, wink, wink.
And then you remember that Pam Bondi --
BURNETT: A personal call from the president?
CARLSON: Yes. And then you -- then you remember that Pam Bondi, the attorney general, in a letter to the Minnesota officials last week, said, if you just hand over your voter records to me, maybe ICE will go away.
Okay. Those are huge red flags to me that there's going to be something going on with the midterm elections.
BURNETT: Yeah. And by the way, that letter came out on Saturday, right? Saturday on the day Alex Pretti was shot. It came out right away because I remember Senator Chris Murphy came on with a letter and it was, you know, it was hours after that. It was an immediate reaction.
You know, Van. Yeah. You also have Marjorie Taylor Greene coming out. Okay. Now you enter in this, and I guess this lays in with the Georgia situation, but calling the entire MAGA movement a big lie, which is pretty stunning when she was, you know, one of the standard bearers for MAGA. Let me play it full.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GREENE: I think people are realizing it was all a lie. It was a big lie for the people. What MAGA is really serving in this administration, who they're serving is their big donors. Those are the people that get the special favors. They get the government contracts. They get the pardons or somebody they love, or one of their friends gets a pardon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Yeah. Well, surprise, surprise I think a lot of people, when they hear that, they're going to think, you know, it's good she's saying it now, but honestly, maybe she was trying to be one of those people that got those special favors, that got those special opportunities. And then she got her hand smacked and suddenly, now, she's kind of turned around. If she had been treated the way she wanted to be treated by Trump --
BURNETT: Right, would she be saying --
JONES: -- would she be saying this stuff now? Don't forget you're talking about somebody who got who was doing everything she could to get close to Trump and was spurned.
CARLSON: Yeah, but it was the Epstein files and her decision to support the survivors that had Trump turn against her. But I still believe that she is doing this. You know, she went on an apology tour for being very, you know, politically motivated with hate and said that she would not be that way in the future. I think that she's going to run for governor in Georgia as more of a moderate. And I think some of this is political genius on her part.
I also think that what she's talking about, it's not just big donors. Why MAGA should not be happy with Trump right now. He's getting them -- he's getting us involved in overseas wars. They didn't want that. He's weaponizing his enemies. I'm not sure they voted for that. The economy is not doing well. I'm not sure they voted for that.
There are a lot of other reasons why MAGA would be fractured right now.
BURNETT: You know, but it's interesting, Van, you know, people that want to see things a certain way will connect Marjorie Taylor Greene to Taylor Rehmet, who just won in Texas to the races in new jersey and Virginia and all those races. And they will say, well, there's something going on here, and this is all a big shift. In fact, "SNL", which would be the, you know, a place where you might expect that that worldview to manifest manifested.
JONES: Yeah.
BURNETT: Okay. Here's the skit from the weekend.
JONES: I loved it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I have to tell you is I may have changed my mind about Trump.
(SCREAMING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop it!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay. But do you connect all those dots and get people across the country suddenly changing their mind about Trump? Or do you see all those women in their gowns going to the Melania documentary and say, not so fast.
JONES: Look, it's a big country, but you can you can feel the backlash starting to build. I think when you have when liberal Democrats are the only people defending the Second Amendment --
BURNETT: Well, there is something odd about that unholy alliance of the NRA and Bernie Sanders.
JONES: Yes, exactly.
CARLSON: Yeah. But I think the Democratic Party also needs to sort of get its act together as well. It's also fractured. You just talked about that with your former guest. More moderates versus far left.
They really need to find a leader in all of this. And I think its going to be somebody that we don't know about quite yet. That may come out as that person, but there needs to be some coalescing there.
JONES: I think that's true. But I do think that there's fish to be caught now. We need a good fish fisherman, fisherwoman. But there's a lot of fish to be caught now. I think people are wrapping -- they're getting to understand that Trump is not who he said he was going to be.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you both very much.
And thanks to all of you for being with us on this Monday night. Great to see you as always. We'll be back here tomorrow.
"AC360" begins now.
