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Erin Burnett Outfront
News Station Says It Received New Message In Guthrie Disappearance; Trump Says He Only Watched First Part Of Racist Video, Won't Apologize; L.A. Olympics Chief Named In Epstein Files Faces Calls To Resign. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired February 06, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:28]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, a Tucson television station receives a second message in connection to Nancy Guthrie's disappearance. At this hour, increased police activity at the Guthrie home.
Mary Coleman, an anchor from the station that got this message, along with TMZ's Harvey Levin, who received the original ransom note and has new reporting this hour, are both OUTFRONT.
And the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House. That's a direct quote from the only Black Republican in the United States Senate tonight, referring to President Donald Trump's racist post. Will there actually be consequences?
And more breaking news from the Epstein files this hour. The head of the Los Angeles Olympics now under pressure to resign after messages he sent to Ghislaine Maxwell surfaced.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, a new message. The Tucson television station that received one of the ransom notes for Nancy Guthrie has a new message this hour. And in a moment, I'm going to speak to the KOLD anchor Mary Coleman, a familiar face on this show this week who's seen the message. She'll be with us in just a moment.
This is how her station just broke the news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RENEE ROMO, KOLD 13 NEWS REPORTER: There has been a potentially significant development in the Guthrie investigation at 13 News today. At approximately 11:45 a.m., received a new statement via tip email that could be connected to the Guthrie case.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Well, the Pima County sheriff's department is now releasing this statement saying the FBI and Pima County sheriff's department are aware of a new message regarding Nancy Guthrie, investigators are actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity.
It comes as we are seeing a new police presence right now at the home of Nancy Guthrie and about that, the Pima County sheriff's department says investigators are conducting follow up at the Guthrie home and in the surrounding areas. The roadway in front of the home is currently restricted to provide investigators space.
Well, Ed Lavandera is there OUTFRONT near Nancy Guthrie's home in Tucson. And you know, they're talking about that increased police presence that they're doing more follow-up, closing that street as we've got this new communication.
What is the latest you're hearing and seeing there?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, kind of describe the scene that we're seeing unfold here in Nancy Guthrie's neighborhood. This is the stretch of street that is in front of her house, and this is the area that has been cordoned off. And this was cordoned off shortly after the news of this latest message came in. So, the timing of that is interesting because it's also coming just hours or less than almost 24 hours after Camron Guthrie, Nancy's son and Savannah Guthrie brother, issued the latest video asking for the author of these ransom letters to communicate directly with the family.
But the investigation here continues. We are told by investigators that they're coming back out to continue more searches. But it's not just focused here on this particular street. We have seen agents, federal agents on Nancy Guthrie's property. We've also heard from other neighbors here in the area who say that there have been FBI agents and other officers not only just searching in these areas around home, but in other properties around Nancy Guthrie's home as well.
So, it's not exactly clear if there's new tips or new evidence or new clues that they're coming back out here to search, or as sheriff's investigators have said, that with the increased presence of more federal help, it was giving them a chance to come out to these properties and continue looking.
So, all of that once again, continue -- continuing to unfold here. And it's the third time this week that we've seen kind of late afternoon law enforcement investigative work being done here on this street -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much. And we'll be checking back in with you as you see what develops there.
I want to go OUTFRONT now, as promised to Mary Coleman. She's with KOLD, the affiliate station, which received the new message. And, Mary, we've talked through the week as you have broken so much
news on this. What can you tell us now? When did this message come through and what can you share?
MARY COLEMAN, ANCHOR FOR KOLD 13 NEWS: So, Erin, we got this at about 11:45. And you know, we've been -- we've been refreshing our email because that 5:00 deadline was yesterday. So, we were thinking, hey, maybe we would get something immediate. We didn't have anything.
But this morning, around 11:45, that message came in to the same tip line that that original message came into. And we were, needless to say, pretty alarmed by seeing this.
[19:05:00]
What I can tell you is we did send this over once again to Pima County sheriff's department immediately, and we did get some information from them. I'm going to read some of my notes here, so I don't speak incorrectly, but they say that this is not the same IP address, but it appears the sender used the same type of secure server to hide their IP address. So that's all that we know about the sender at this point, which unfortunately really isn't much.
And this new note does contain something that that the senders seem to think will prove to investigators that they're the same people or person who sent the first note.
BURNETT: And, I know, you know, depending what you can share here. But obviously, you've now seen both of them, Mary, because you received both of them. So, is it clear to you looking at the first communication and now looking at this one, which is trying to show that it's from the same sender, what that information is, that that individual or individual, those people think will connect them to the original ransom letter?
COLEMAN: Yeah. Yeah, I would say so. I'd say they're, you know, making an effort to again, like you said, prove that they are the same persons or people, you know, people or person involved with these same two notes that we've received.
BURNETT: When, you know, interesting looking at that. The original ransom letter, you know, Harvey Levin, who's going to be on in a moment, described it as well written, that it was structured, that it was clearly put together, that there had been care and effort in it. It was precise.
Do you see the same here? Is there -- would you say it's the same tone and tenor, or is there any shift.
COLEMAN: Yeah, I would say it's just as coherent as the first. That's what struck us as odd about the first one is that, like you said, it was well thought out, clear thoughts put together well. And I would say that this second one has a very, very similar -- the way that it was put together was very similar.
BURNETT: And now I'm curious, Mary, because I know in the first letter, you know what Harvey was saying. It said, I will not contact you again, that this is it. This is the only communication. And now we have the second communication, which, you know, they're trying to make it clear that it's from the same person.
Obviously, I know we don't know for sure if it is, but do they give a reason as to why they are communicating when they had said that they would not?
COLEMAN: Not necessarily a reason, but I will say that this one also has some sensitive information in it, that unfortunately I can't share at this moment. Again, we're relying on FBI and PCSD to take that information and figure out the legitimacy of this one as well. But yeah, again, some of that information is just -- it's very sensitive.
BURNETT: Right. No, I understand and you've got to share with -- share what law enforcement says that you can. Was it -- was it longer or shorter the same in terms of the length of it, or was it -- are you able to characterize that at all?
COLEMAN: I would say a little bit shorter, a little bit shorter than the initial one.
BURNETT: And, and just in terms of, we understand that the initial one had obviously a very substantial ransom demand and these two deadlines, right. One of which was last night and then another one of which was far more consequential was Monday. Did any of that change in this one?
COLEMAN: I will say, you know, the FBI and PCSD were classifying the first as a ransom note. And I will say that I don't think that they will classify this second one as a ransom note. That's the best way I can characterize that.
BURNETT: Okay. Is there anything you can do to just have us understand that better? That would stay within, of course, Mary, what you're able to share?
COLEMAN: Sure. You know, there were deadlines in the first letter. The second one, there are no deadlines. You know, in my head, a ransom note is looking for something in return for something else. And this one is not necessarily that.
BURNETT: Did it, did it? I know that you know, Camron. And obviously Savannah had said and both of her siblings, right, that we just want to we just want to talk to you and we want proof that our mother is alive, a proof of life. They had asked for that. And then Camron followed up with that last night and explicitly said, we have heard nothing from you. Please contact us, give us proof of life.
Does it seem that that's what this letter is? Is it a response to those things, to those -- those, you know, the pleas of Savannah and her siblings? And does it include that proof of life or any claim to that?
COLEMAN: I can't disclose whether it includes that, but I will go as far as to say that it does seem like it is a response to some of those videos that were made.
BURNETT: Okay. And was it, you said described it as a little bit shorter. Mary, did it include any -- anything other than I mean, was this just essentially an email like black and white text, or were there any other -- kind of, I don't know, audio or pictures or anything like that did it that, that sort of thing?
COLEMAN: Yeah. Our system only allows you to send texts.
[19:10:01]
So that's what it was the same as the first. Just a text. And yeah, we aren't able to receive photos or video through the system that they sent that through. So, this was also.
BURNETT: I understand. And one more thing, Mary. I'm curious because I know originally you said there was no way to respond, right? Not for you, not for Savannah and her siblings, no way to respond. There was just that that bitcoin address, which I know that that that Harvey and you all had verified was a legitimate address.
Did this have any way that the sender -- I mean, are they trying to initiate a conversation with a way to respond?
COLEMAN: I would say not necessarily a way to respond, but as I mentioned, definitely a piece of information in there that indicates they are trying to show people that they are the same person who sent the initial note.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Mary, I appreciate your time and your answering so much as much as you were as able to. And thank you so much for that.
COLEMAN: Thank you.
BURNETT: All right. Mary Coleman, as I said, who has just, you know, truly been doing such and all of KOLD, incredible reporting on this.
Let's go now to Harvey Levin, founder of TMZ, which received a ransom note for Nancy Guthrie.
Harvey, you know, you just heard what Mary had to say, all the details that she was able to share. And you having the context of seeing that original letter. Okay? Do you -- what do you hear from Mary?
HARVEY LEVIN, TMZ FOUNDER: She sounds somewhat alarmed. When she kind of describes as much as she said she could. It doesn't seem coincidental to me that on the heels of this, they went back out to the house and Mary said that they want to really show that they are the people, or this is the person who has Nancy Guthrie. And it seems like the investigators are going out to the house to verify what is in that letter. I mean, I think that seems kind of clear. It would be very coincidental that they would clear the area of media after days and then suddenly go over there the way they did on the heels of this.
So, it's going to be very interesting to see what the authorities find. And I think it was also particularly interesting that Mary said that this letter is somewhat of a reaction to the pleas that Savannah and her siblings made. I think that's especially interesting.
BURNETT: Well, especially because I know, Harvey, you've been so clear that one of the things in the original note was this was all you will hear from me, right? This was it. Yeah. So, this has changed.
LEVIN: You know. Erin --
BURNETT: Yeah.
LEVIN: And I mean, I never really believed that because, you say that and then you their end game, at least in the first letter, was getting money. And if they think they need to show something additional and the family is asking for something, you know, there is a pot of gold at the end of this for them.
And, you know, I think they're not just going to stand by the first letter and say, I'm not sending you anything more. If they sense that they might get something more, if they give something up. And remember, Savannah said, we're ready to talk. I think that kind of baited them. So it doesn't surprise me at all that there's a second letter.
BURNETT: All right. So then there was something -- a few things -- I, you know, you had said there were things in the original letter which if we were trying to figure out if that were real, that stood out, right? One of them, obviously the floodlight, but another was the Apple Watch that she was wearing, and specifically, its location, you know, in the home. So, Mary is reporting that the new letter is the sender is trying to make it clear that they're the same person, and that from reading the first one, it is very clear to her what the items are or what the details are.
In the second letter that make it, you know, seem that the same person wrote them both. You know, knowing that and hearing that, what do you think that could be?
LEVIN: I don't think its the same item, because the apple watch, it was the placement that was important. And that's already out. I really thought the floodlight was interesting. They didn't say -- the letter doesn't say a damaged floodlight. It says destroyed. That's an interesting word when you say destroyed, you know, somebody destroys something.
And what you got to what I wondered was there a floodlight on that might have illuminated somebody and they kicked it or something. So that word destroyed really stood out to me. I know that Mary said that there's something in the letter that, that further verifies who they are, but this wasn't a ransom demand. And she said there was -- I don't remember the exact words, but it sounded to me like she was saying, there's something very sensitive, and it almost felt alarming.
So, I don't know what that is. I don't know whether it has to do. What I do know is that in the first letter, they say that Nancy was okay but scared and that she was aware of the ransom note and the demands. And so, I don't know whether this has to do with Nancy or whether this has to do with proving something to Savannah. I just don't know that.
What I find kind of interesting that Mary said is that they are not able to see if there's an attachment of a photo or a video or something like that. The way this unfolded the first time around, KOLD got this letter before we did about 12 hours before we did. So, I don't know if we're going to get another letter.
I think we have the ability to get attachments, on our tip line. So again, I don't know, A, if we're going to get the letter and B, if we do, whether there will be an attachment or not. But so far, we haven't gotten it.
BURNETT: Well, all right. So -- and that's obviously hugely significant because you know when you describe -- Mary's having some alarm -- I share that. There seemed to be concern, right? Concern.
And the way she characterized this letter when I asked specifically, right, was there any change in either the ransom demands or the deadlines that have been put out specifically Monday? She said no, and that she would not have characterized -- she would not characterize this as a ransom letter. And she's saying that in the context of having seen the ransom letter itself, the original, right? But then she obviously, you know, wasn't going to comment on whether it addressed proof of life. So it does -- it does seem that there may be there may be details about Nancy Guthrie situation in there.
LEVIN: Possibly her health.
BURNETT: Yeah. So you have, Harvey, gone through as best you could looking at the letter, which interestingly, she described this new one as just as coherent as the first, which I really was stuck on your description of it, you know, that you were talking about how coherent and organized and, and put together it was. You went through it and, and found geographic clues that you were putting together, right? And putting things together.
And I know you're not -- you're not -- you're not putting this as -- as a, you know, hard and fast. But you did find some clues that gave you a feel for when it when it said something like, okay, this is how long after the deadline it would take us to return her, for example, that gave you a way to look at how far away she might be?
LEVIN: Yeah. You actually kind of triggered that for me, Erin, when you asked me about that yesterday, and I spent the evening reading and rereading and rereading this letter, and, it really finally struck me that, yes, they said that if we get the money, there's going to be a period of time that it will take to get her back. And they said as long as and they gave the number of hours and they said she would be returned to Tucson.
And so, when you look at the number of hours that it might have taken, and you know that they're going to return her to Tucson, at least according to this letter, then how would they return her? They're not going to return her by plane because she'd have to show ID. That's not going to happen. So clearly, it's driving. And if they're driving, they're not going to drive at 100 miles an hour, because if they get stopped for speeding, the game is over. So, they would probably drive at around 60 miles an hour. The speed limit.
And so, we looked at the speed limit and the number of hours. And we use Tucson as the center and drew a radius around the outer limits. And what we found was, you know, a lot of the western United States, but at least it provides kind of a geographic clue. That's contained, as opposed to saying somewhere in the United States or somewhere in the world it seems that if you take the letter at face value, that that circle would encompass an area where Nancy is, if you believe the person who wrote this ransom note, and at least that hones in a little bit.
And what I was thinking was, you know, Nancy was taken in the middle of the night. She needs medication. They need to keep her healthy and alive. And is it possible that they went to a pharmacy and got somebody to write a prescription? Did somebody write a new prescription for the drug that she was taking?
And I'm just thinking about ways that investigators might be able to kind of connect the dots here. And at least -- there's -- it's a big area, but at least they're able to, you know, maybe put an APB out on something like that. So, I think the area might be significant to the investigators.
BURNETT: Right. Well, interesting as you point out, if they're doing that, right. That could be whether it's in Idaho or Oklahoma. But all of a sudden it does give you an outer perimeter, a possibly.
[19:20:00]
I just found that your work there fascinating.
So, Harvey, have you spoken with Savannah or others in her family since you've gotten the letter?
LEVIN: I have not. I have not. I know she got the letter, but I have not.
BURNETT: And in terms of the -- of the one other thing that I want to ask you, because I know you had, you know, verified that the bitcoin address was, was real, but you also got the original communication. Interesting that when KOLD sent it right into the sheriff's office, they came back and said it's the same secure server that was used, but not the same IP address.
You know, what does that say to you, Harvey?
LEVIN: That's unsurprising to me. Whoever did this knows their stuff. I mean, they know how to maintain anonymity. So, if this is the same person. And I find it really interesting that Mary was saying its the same structure as the first letter, and its it feels like it could have been written by the same person, because that letter really did strike me the way it was written. And it seems to strike her looking at the second one as well.
But they were sophisticated, so if they change something in terms of the way that they send it out, they know their stuff because my I.T. team couldn't crack it. And as far as I know, the feds weren't able to crack the -- that in the first letter as well. So, changing it doesn't surprise me.
BURNETT: Yeah. No. And at least at this point, you know, they've obviously you know, they're telling us what they're telling us. But it doesn't appear at all that there had been any break in that.
All right, Harvey, I really appreciate you.
LEVIN: I do have one other thing.
BURNETT: Yeah. Go ahead.
LEVIN: I just do have. I do have one other thing. I think its really significant and really interesting. That KOLD got the first note. They got their note about 12 hours before we got ours the first time. And, if this were somebody outside the Tucson area it seems more improbable that they would send it to a local station, and it just feels like, you know, whoever wrote this note and possibly has Nancy is somebody in that area because they are focused on local TV stations there. And I think that's relevant. I think it's relevant.
And then the issue is, you know, was it somebody watching TV and said, oh, Savannah Guthrie is rich and famous. Do we want to see if we can find a relative in kidnap, or is it somebody who said, oh, Savannah Guthrie lives in my town? Nancy Guthrie lives in my town. And her daughter is really famous and rich. And here's what we can do.
And it just feels like it's the latter. And especially that these local stations are getting these emails first.
BURNETT: Yeah, yeah. Which is a really important point, right. Because you have to know exactly, you know, their call letters where they are. Right. It's not easy to get access to that sort of thing if you're not in that area.
LEVIN: Right.
BURNETT: All right, Harvey, thank you so much.
LEVIN: My pleasure, Erin.
BURNETT: And next, the breaking news continues on this new message that our affiliate KOLD just received in Nancy Guthrie's disappearance and what investigators are looking at right now to confirm if this is from the same person, a former NYPD hostage negotiator and criminal profiler next.
Plus, Trump just moments ago, ignoring questions about his racist post about the Obamas. The White House's story about the post is changing.
And the head of the Los Angeles Olympics now facing growing calls for resignation over messages he sent to Jeffrey Epstein's former associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:27:46]
BURNETT: Breaking news, the FBI right now going door to door to interview neighbors of Nancy Guthrie. The FBI and Pima County sheriff's department confirming that they are right now investigating a new message believed to be connected to Nancy Guthrie's disappearance.
This message was sent to our local affiliate, KOLD. And you just saw Mary Coleman, the anchor there. She saw the message and she told us a whole lot about it a few moments ago. They got it at 11:45 local time this morning through their tip email, and she said that it was shorter than the first one and contained sensitive information. She described that. Then she said that the sender included information that they believe would prove they are the same person who wrote the first letter. She said the writing style was very similar, precise, coherent, similar in tone.
John Miller is with me, along with Wally Zeins, who's a former commanding officer of the NYPD hostage negotiating team. Casey Jordan is also with us.
So, John, we got a lot of information there from Mary, who has seen it and from Harvey. What do you take away from all of this?
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So, it appears that what it may be is a response to Camron Guthrie's plea last night, which is we need to hear from you. Now, what the Guthrie family was asking is talk to us directly. Let's not go through another media cutout. But apparently they're going back through the station that they sent one of the first ransom. The first ransom demand to.
The question is, and I don't know the answer to this, does this communication have a pathway to communicating with the family directly? Or is it just I'm going to stick with this communication and reiterate my demand.
BURNETT: And -- right. And she described it not as a ransom note this time. Right, Wally? Is it not necessarily changing the terms?
Interesting. Something John just said, though, that this, that this, this sender is choosing to go through a local television station. This is a person who is obviously highly sophisticated with technology, using secure servers, untraceable, bitcoin, all of this. And yet they're going through something that's existed since the 1950s. A local television station. Okay, that juxtaposition might be really important.
[19:30:00]
WALLACE ZEINS, FORMER COMMANDING OFFICER, NYPD HOSTAGE NEGOTIATING TEAM: Yes, it can be very important. That person might have had good connections with that station in the past. Maybe even had worked there. Knows the nomenclature, knows everything that takes place there. And when you talk about saying the sensitivity, the second part, not
asking for a ransom, I think what comes out of that is her mother's condition. Her health condition, getting certain answers. How is mom? Mom? Is this. Et cetera. Et cetera.
So they're trying to make her feel comfortable. But on another point of view, it's very interesting. Is that the letter is being is now a negotiating point for the negotiator. He can negotiate with the letter to savannah or whoever's going to talk.
BURNETT: Kasie, what does it say to you that the person who sent the first note said, first deadline has passed, second deadline Monday with an awful consequence and that give us the money and there will be no more communication. And yet the families asked for communication, and the sender has provided additional communication. Assuming that this letter is real, we are making that assumption based on all the information that we have. I don't know that it is.
But if it is, what does it say to you that the sender is now suddenly going against what they originally said?
CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST: The only legitimate reason I can think that they would have sent this additional communication is to convey proof of life, and something, probably information that only Nancy could know that they're going to pass along. Because again, there's no video, there's no photographs. But inside information that only Nancy could know may be in there.
Again, the indication is it's extremely specific. If there is nothing like that in there, then the police may go in a different direction and start to wonder whether or not this is a hoax. They know they're not going to get any money, any bitcoin, until they prove that Nancy is alive. So, I have to believe that that is what the nature of this communication is.
But if they did not offer any proof of life, you have to wonder why. Why are they playing a cat and mouse game? Because really, nothing about this case is consistent with what we basically think about for ransom kidnappings. So many things just don't fit the mold.
I think the FBI, the police, the families still have to consider that Nancy is missing and that whoever is sending these messages could be unrelated to that abduction. That there are too many moving parts going on in real time today. But we have to consider that if they're not negotiating, if they're just informing that maybe they don't have anything to negotiate with.
BURNETT: Wally, what do you think of that? And I will say this, the images on our screen right now, that is the roof of Nancy Guthrie's house. So that's obviously that large structure. And then that adjacent structure, you see people on the roof.
And we know that after the letter was received, Harvey Levin was saying it appears clear the two are connected. I don't know if they are, but it's certainly a valid assumption to make that that is when they went back with all this police presence to go back to the house because of something in the second letter to verify or check, but we can see them there on the roof.
What do you think? You know, in response to what Casey is saying, but also the fact that they're immediately back there looking.
ZEINS: Well, here's something, you know, you have over 100 investigators hitting the street boots on the ground, and every single one of them has to write a report to the incident commander so they can decipher which direction to go. And they might have some sort of information that there was something regarding the roof.
And also, you have to expand the crime scene. You know, they you can never tell. Maybe as they left the place, someone threw something the camera or whatever threw it and went over the roof or something. They have information of that respect.
MILLER: I think you also got to go back to what Casey said, which is, first of all, they can't be myopic here. They're going to focus on this ransom letter, and they're going to pull that thread as far as it goes, but they're not going to stop everything else. So, you've got the neighborhood association back out searching.
You've got the FBI back at the scene, you've got them checking the house to make sure that while they're focused on that letter, they're doing all those other things because if the letter isn't from the kidnappers and --
BURNETT: Right, if it's all -- yeah.
MILLER: -- and she's somewhere in the area of that house, it can't be because they stopped doing everything because of this letter.
BURNETT: Right. All right. Thank you all very much.
And next, breaking news, President Trump just speaking. And he is addressing the racist video that he posted about the Obamas. It was posted on his Truth Social account. Hear his response when asked whether he will apologize. And the man leading the Los Angeles Olympics, I'm sorry, suddenly finding his job in jeopardy after newly released emails from the Epstein files reveal him sending flirtatious emails to Epstein's former associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:39:09]
BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump is now breaking his silence as he is facing bipartisan, widespread backlash for posting a racist video depicting former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I looked at the first part and it was really about voter fraud and the machines, how crooked it is, how disgusting it is. Then I gave it to the people to -- generally, they look at the whole thing, but I guess somebody did. REPORTER: Mr. President, a number of Republicans are calling on you to
apologize for that post. Is that something you're going to do?
TRUMP: No, I didn't make a mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay, well, he did eventually remove the post. It had been up for nearly 12 hours, but he did remove it. And I want to warn before we show it to you that it is racist and offensive.
[19:40:00]
But it's important to show, because this was posted on the official account of the president of the United States, right? This is what was posted there.
You can see here the faces of the Obamas put on to bodies of apes. And his decision to take the post down came after the White House initially doubled down on the post itself. The Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, quote, "This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the king of the jungle and the Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public."
Well, that was said. But then the backlash got loud. Republican Senator Tim Scott, the only black Republican in the senate, came out calling it the most racist thing out of this White House.
Astead Herndon and Andrew Yang are OUTFRONT now.
Pretty incredible. Instead. Okay, on a lot of levels but it takes them 12 hours to take this down. At first, they say owning exactly what it was, not trying to say it was about voting machines. And I didn't see the part about the apes. They actually owned the whole part about the apes, and then still took it down.
ASTEAD HERNDON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah. The initial response was to defend it, as it always is with the Trump white house. And then after the blowback started, we have seen these kind of further retractions. I mean, when I saw this this morning, it is both shocking and not shocking at the same time. Right?
Like at one, you have the reality of the president, United States engaging in offensive racist behavior, but you also have a president who has had his whole political rise tied to those very same things. I mean, the origin story of Donald Trump is a racist conspiracy about Barack Obama. So, I mean, we could not extract Donald Trump from the trail of racism that he has left or encouraged.
But I think this reflects the White House is increasingly at a credibility loss to they have they are putting their officials out there, Karoline Leavitt included. And whether its Minneapolis or whether it's Trump's health or whether it's this video, they're increasingly asking the public to not believe what's in front of them. And I think that has contributed to Donald Trump's increasing unpopularity with the electorate.
BURNETT: So, you know, Andrew, the White House obviously now trying to blame it on a White House staffer. Okay? Which, I mean, there's just -- there's so much irony in that. You can take the Rob Reiner post. You can take so many posts that they actually haven't even tried to blame on a staffer. Right?
He goes ahead and posts his own stuff that that I don't know anybody thought was okay in this case. A Trump allies are calling to fire the staffer. Bill O'Reilly said, you got to fire the staffer right away. Pastor Mark Burns, after speaking with Trump, says my recommendation to the president was direct and firm. The staffer should be fired immediately, and the president should publicly condemn this action, which he didn't do. Right. He said he didn't make a mistake.
But a source familiar with Trump's social media, as I said, with Rob Reiner, he posts on Truth Social all the time by himself. He posts in the middle of the night by himself. Right? So suddenly, in this case, it's not. It's this, this one somehow upset enough people that he's going to put the fig leaf up.
ANDREW YANG, INDEPENDENT, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yeah, the backlash was truly bipartisan, which is something of a rarity in today's politics. I agree with Astead. Aside from, how vile and disgusting the video was, the first thing that came to mind for me was distraction, because the actions of ICE in Minneapolis, wildly unpopular, even with many people who voted for Donald Trump. This week, a job report came out saying that it was a worst, the worst January for people looking for jobs since 2009.
BURNETT: Seventeen years.
YANG: Yeah. And so, I thought to myself, okay, this is Trump throwing something out there to change the news cycle.
HERNDON: Yeah, I mean, I think there has been speculation that he has done that before. We know that that's his instinct is to like get the get it back on his terms. I just think even as they lurch at some of their more familiar topics via social stuff or driving what they used to call wokeness or fighting against that, this isn't that way. This is way beyond.
YANG: That very, very bad.
HERNDON: And so I'm saying even, even as they try to draw Democrats into culture wars, I think they have miscalculated the moments in which Donald Trump goes way beyond that. The Rob Reiner post is one of that. I think this post is another.
YANG: Yeah, worse. Yeah. I mean, the Rob Reiner post didn't get this much from Republican senators. And you had administration allies coming out and saying, fire this guy, apologize immediately.
BURNETT: So you've got a new book that just came out. I got it here. "Hey Yang, Where's My Thousand bucks?" Which was the central promise. I love the title because you were talking about when we came on air
about possible titles. I love this title because this was it. This was the premise, right? This was the thing where initially, you know, Yang gang and you went viral in part, you know, this was one of the things.
So, the freedom dividend. You call this book, though, a blueprint for finding optimism. And I just got to say, give us some optimism.
YANG: You know the single biggest thing that's making us mad and sad, Erin, our phone. You know, if you put down your phone and do just about anything, walk outside, talk to a neighbor, read a book, you'll feel better. And this book was my effort to make light of some of the very serious issues that are coming down the pike, including the fact that A.I. is real.
[19:45:03]
It's here. I was talking about that in 2019, 2020, in Iowa. And frankly, a lot of people looked at me like I was the crazy, magical Asian man from the future. Wanted to give --
(CROSSSTALK)
BURNETT: Yes, you're talking about all the job losses. I know you were proven right. You were on that debate stage. Yeah.
YANG: And now the future is here. It's going to be very, very harsh for a lot of workers, and I think we should start distributing the gains from A.I. as quickly as possible.
HERNDON: Yeah. One thing I think about is how lost this conversation was in the last presidential election cycle. I mean, you were bringing up these issues in 2020 and things like A.I., things like, kind of the future of work should have been front and center in our kind of last political cycle. And it wasn't. And I think part of that was age of candidates. Part of that were two parties who weren't really there dealing with it. But the impact is a public that hasn't really been included in something that will affect.
YANG: Amen, and part of it is the Democrats didn't have primaries, so there wasn't a real conversation.
HERNDON: Yeah.
BURNETT: All right. Well, there hopefully will be. Now where's my 1,000 bucks?
YANG: It's coming, hopefully coming to America.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much.
And next, the chair of the Los Angeles Olympics, under pressure to resign after messages he sent to Ghislaine Maxwell. Plus, more on our breaking news. This new message tied to Nancy Guthrie as we are learning more about Guthrie -- and Savannah Guthrie's faith, and how it is helping guide the family now. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, the chairman of the 2028 L.A. Olympics facing calls to resign. He's in the Epstein files. Newly released emails show Casey Wasserman exchanging flirty and racy messages with Epstein's ex- girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, more than 20 years ago, asking Maxwell back in 2003, quote, "So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?"
Wasserman has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein or Maxwell.
Elex Michaelson is OUTFRONT.
And, Elex, what else are we learning about Wasserman's ties to Ghislaine Maxwell and his appearance in these, you know, Epstein email files?
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, Casey Wasserman is not denying the fact that more than 20 years ago, while he was married with young kids, he exchanged flirtatious messages with Ghislaine Maxwell. In one email from 2003, Maxwell offers to give Wasserman a massage that would, quote, drive a man wild. Wasserman asked her to book a massage in one email and then asked to see her. As you mentioned, in a tight leather outfit in another.
Now all this happened decades before Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking for Epstein and other crimes back in 2021. She's now serving a 20-year sentence. Now, for some context, for folks who may wonder who is Casey Wasserman -- well, he's one of the most powerful and best connected people in all of southern California. He's the CEO of his own sports marketing and talent agency. In 2017, he chaired the effort to bring the Olympics back to L.A. in 2028. He's currently at the Olympics in Milan, leading L.A.'s delegation there.
Now, after the emails with maxwell came out this week, L.A. County supervisor Janice Hahn, City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, City Comptroller Kenneth Mejia, District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, our County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath all called on him to step aside.
Here's what Horvath told me on the set of our show, "THE STORY IS".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDSEY HORVATH, L.A. COUNTY SUPERVISOR: They need to have a leader who maybe isn't affiliated with a convicted human trafficker. We need L.A. '28 to take seriously their relationship to the women who are coming to these games. And we need to make sure that Los Angeles is putting its best foot forward. And I think this is going to continue to be a distraction at best, in order for the city to get that work done.
MICHAELSON: You want him to step down?
HORVATH: I think if he doesn't, L.A. '28 board has to step in and make that happen. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: You heard her there, Erin. She mentions the L.A. '28 board who would have the power to essentially fire Wasserman. It's important to point out not one person on the L.A. '28 board has called on him to step down. Not one. We reached out to several of them for comment. None of them have given any public statements.
The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, who is not on the board, said that Wasserman's future is up to that board, Erin.
BURNETT: So, Elex, what is Wasserman himself saying? Obviously, he's no stranger to controversy.
MICHAELSON: Yeah, well, he's in Milan right now where he's leading the delegation. And there have been times where he's had the potential opportunity to interact with the press, and he's reportedly gone out of his way to avoid Q&A sessions with reporters there.
He denied our request for an interview. He did issue this statement. We'll put it up on the screen. Quote, I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell, which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light. I never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and this is important, Erin. There have been no elected officials who have called for Wasserman resignation in the last three days. Wasserman has no plans to leave his job. Erin, it seems like for now, he's in it.
BURNETT: Yes. No, it certainly does. And of course, there are others who may, may, may have consequences but well before he does, if he has any. Thank you so much.
MICHAELSON: Thanks, Erin.
BURNETT: And we have breaking news next. Trump just talking about the investigation for Nancy Guthrie. Details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:30]
BURNETT: Trump just telling reporters that investigators have some very strong clues in the search for Nancy Guthrie, saying we could have some answers coming up fairly soon. That's a quote. As Savannah Guthrie right now is leaning on her faith.
Jason Carroll is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC "TODAY SHOW" HOST: On behalf of our family, we want to thank all of you for the prayers for our beloved mom, Nancy.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Guthries like to say that God is actually the sixth member of their family. GUTHRIE: Mommy. If you are hearing this, you are a strong woman. You
are God's precious daughter, Nancy. We believe and know that even in this valley, he is with you.
CARROLL (voice-over): Long before the tragic events that led to her mother's abduction, God has been at Guthrie center. She says one of her earliest childhood memories is that of her mother and father being baptized. Here's how she remembered turning to her faith after losing her father when she was just a teenager.
GUTHRIE: I remember being asked by friends, how can you still believe? And I remember saying, oh no, this is when I need him the most. I can't lose my dad and lose God at the same time.
CARROLL (voice-over): Guthrie has carried that faith throughout her life and career.
GUTHRIE: Hi, everybody. I'm Savannah Guthrie and this is my new book.
CARROLL (voice-over): Last year, she released an illustrated children's book she wrote titled "Mostly What God Does is Love You".
GUTHRIE: Just look at what God does. He hangs the stars every evening and every day, summons the dawn. But mostly what God does is love you.
CARROLL (voice-over): In 2024, she published an adult version of the book. She also appeared on "The Jesus Calling: Stories of Faith" podcast.
GUTHRIE: When we are consumed by the grief of the world are our own griefs, we are usually looking inward and sometimes we need to look up and out for help.
CARROLL (voice-over): Prayers from across the country for Guthrie's mother, Nancy.
GUTHRIE: The greatest gift my mother gave me was faith and belief in God. It changed my whole life.
CARROLL (voice-over): Guthrie, describing her as a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant. It was a friend of her mother's from church who first reported her missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring her swiftly to safety.
CARROLL (voice-over): The pastor from that church, Saint Andrew's Presbyterian, delivered a special prayer Wednesday. Saint Andrew's Facebook page offered these words, "Dear God, we pray for our dear friend Nancy. Guide the search teams, law enforcement and those seeking answers."
At another Arizona Church, Saint Phillips, a candlelight service for Nancy Guthrie. Sally Shamrell, who has been friends with Savannah for 30 years, helped organize it.
SALLY SHAMRELL, FRIEND OF SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: I thought a lot of people are feeling kind of helpless right now. We can't -- all we're doing is sitting by waiting for the next alert, and that is -- that is not what Savannah and the Guthrie's are all about.
CARROLL (voice-over): These simple words are what the Guthries are all about.
GUTHRIE: God is all around, and mostly what God does is love you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: You know, during that podcast back in 2024, Guthrie talked about, you know, working in the news business and how reporting on so many terrible things can weigh on a person. And she said she never sugarcoat. She said what she does is look for the light. That is what faith has taught her.
And in all likelihood, that's probably what she's doing now.
BURNETT: Jason, thank you very much.
And on that powerful note, we will leave it there for this Friday. Thank you for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.
