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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump: Republicans Should "Nationalize" Elections; House Moves Closer To Passing Bipartisan Spending Bill; "Today" Host's Mother Believed To Be Abducted; Epstein Files Put High-Profile People In Spotlight. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired February 03, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:25]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon. It is Tuesday, February 3rd, 5:00 a.m. here in New York.

And straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump said that Republicans should nationalize elections, which, according to legal experts, would be unconstitutional.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: I promise you, if Donald Trump actually tries to execute this, every federal judge in this country will strike it down.

REPORTER: Police in Arizona say "Today Show" host Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie's disappearance is no accident. It's a crime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were circumstances on scene that we believe are suspicious in nature.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The newly released Epstein documents put a number of high profile people in an unwanted spotlight.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are a lot of questions about it, but nothing on me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

SOLOMON: We begin this morning in Washington, where President Donald Trump is proposing a radical solution to his unproven claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. He is calling on Republicans to nationalize future elections in some areas, taking away the constitutionally assigned duty of states and localities.

The president floated the idea during an interview with Dan Bongino, the former deputy director of the FBI. And it comes just days after the FBI searched an election office in Fulton County, Georgia. Agents seizing 700 boxes of election materials as part of an investigation into alleged voter fraud. Georgia and Fulton County, in particular, have long been targets of Trump's claims, without evidence that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TRUMP: 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. We have states that are so crooked and they're counting votes.

We have states that I won that show I didn't win. Now you're going to see something in Georgia where they were able to get with a court order. The ballots. You're going to see some interesting things come out. But, you know, like the 2020 election, I won that election by so much.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SOLOMON: CNN's senior legal analyst Elie Honig explains why the president's plans are unlikely to succeed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: So two major problems here. First of all, the entire factual premise that this election was stolen is provably false. Second of all, this notion of nationalizing or federalizing our elections is wildly, aggressively unconstitutional. Article One, Section Four, it is up to the states, and that is by design. The reason our Framers chose this decentralized model of elections is to prevent precisely this type of in-house federalized power grab coming from the White House or coming from the federal executive branch.

I promise you, if Donald Trump actually tries to execute this, actually tries to federalize our state election, every federal judge in this country, 9-0 in the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito on down will strike it down. It is that flagrantly constitutional. It's anathema to our constitutional structure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: The partial U.S. government shutdown now on day four, but could end in the hours ahead, because we're told that two Republican House holdouts will vote for the bipartisan spending deal after speaking with President Trump. It's worth noting that House Democrats are not on board. Republicans have a razor thin majority in the house and can only afford to lose a single vote from their members.

CNN's Manu Raju picks up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Speaker Mike Johnson has virtually no margin for error in order to pass a bill to end the government shutdown of President Trump's second term. Now, it started on Saturday. It is going to go on to at least until Tuesday. But can it end on Tuesday?

There is a sign that it could, in a key development, two conservative holdouts, Congressman Tim Burchett, Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, met with President Trump at the White House on Monday afternoon. They had conversations with Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

They had been pushing for a vote on their voter ID legislation. They're pleased with the discussions that have happened, and both of them told me that they're signaling that they're going to vote yes on this first procedural vote that must be adopted by the full house before the larger spending package could come forward.

[05:05:00]

Johnson, of course, since he can only afford to lose one Republican vote. Getting those two in his column, that's a very good sign. A sign that potentially he has the votes to advance this bill because Democrats are saying they will not help at all. They are not party to a deal that they said was that was cut by Senate Democrats and the White House.

So, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries says that this is not our deal. We're not going to vote for it. You worry about getting the votes yourself, and that is what's causing a lot of tension and concern within the ranks about whether Johnson and Trump can finagle enough Republicans to vote yes, despite their reservations over this package.

And there are warnings from some Republicans who say that if any of their members defect and sink this bill, they'll essentially be siding with Democrats and against the president.

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): I mean, you're voting with the Democrats, not on this. This is a good bill for our defense. If all the other measures we have on there and they're bipartisan, not even overwhelmingly bipartisan bills that have been hashed out. Tom Cole has done a great job on this, and we should get it done.

REP. MARIO DIAZ-BALART (F-FL): Voting against the rule is just absurd. It really is. I mean, we all have, you know, for things that -- not for anything that's in the bill, but things that may not be in the bill that they want. You know, that's detrimental when you're voting against a rule, you're just basically giving, handing the floor over to the minority party.

RAJU: Now, this bill would reopen much of the federal government. Not all the government is closed, but much of it is, including the Defense Department, the Labor Department, Health and Human Services Department, Housing and Urban Development. So many programs people cannot access, many -- some thousands of employees, federal employees have been furloughed and they can't go back to work until the government is reopened.

So, so much is riding on at this moment. And even though this bill, if it does indeed pass on Tuesday, there still would be only two weeks of additional funding for the Department of Homeland Security. That was a big concession.

The White House had made to Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, in order to get this through the Senate, because Schumer wants changes to how Trump has been deploying ICE agents around the country. And that's going to be the next negotiation that would happen over the next two weeks. Can they get a deal on that? If not, then the Department of Homeland Security potentially could shut down in a couple of weeks.

But at the moment, the big focus is on the Tuesday vote to pass this bill to fund much of the federal government through the end of September. Johnson is feeling confident at the moment, but in the United States House, anything can go wrong.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Now to Arizona and the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie. Authorities are offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for her disappearance, the mother of "Today Show" anchor Savannah Guthrie was last seen Saturday night near her home just outside of Tucson. The Pima County sheriff says that evidence at the scene indicates that she was taken in the middle of the night against her will.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF CHRIS NANOS, PIMA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: 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)

SOLOMON: Earlier, Savannah Guthrie posted this plea for prayers on Instagram. She said, quote, "We believe in prayer. We believe in voices raised in unison and love and hope. She went on to say thank you for your prayers with ours, for our beloved mom, our dearest Nancy".

CNN's Ed Lavandera has more now from Tucson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (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.

SGT. DAVID STIVERS, PIMA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: 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 was removed from that scene against her will. Time is of the essence. And so we also initiated our homicide, our criminal investigation team out there.

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): The Pima County sheriffs department calls Nancy a vulnerable missing person, but says her disappearance is not dementia related and that she is sharp as a tack.

News of her disappearance headlined "The Today Show" Monday morning.

CRAIG MELVIN, TODAY SHOW CO-ANCHOR: A deeply personal story for us. Nancy Guthrie, Savannah's beloved mother, has been reported missing in Arizona.

[05:10:02]

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 (on camera): While investigators have said they believe that Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will from her home, CNN did ask the sheriff if they believed that this could be a kidnaping ransom situation, the sheriff telling CNN that they do not believe that that's the case at this moment, but they are not sharing any details as to what they found inside the home that makes them believe that Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And there's still a lot we don't know about the investigation into Guthrie's disappearance. A former FBI profiler spoke with CNN about what stands out so far in this case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM CLEMENTE, FORMER FBI PROFILER: The fact that they said that it is a crime scene and she did not leave on her own is concerning. However, it's probably a good thing if they don't have an indication that she was killed at the scene, because if they kept her alive to remove her, there had to be a reason for that. Now, if it was a kidnaping, we know the motive, which is money. So, you have to have a ransom demand for it to be a kidnaping.

But an abduction could be for reasons of revenge or personal ideology or some kind of, well, delusional, other reason that we don't know the best and certainly the smartest thing for them to do now would be to bring her anonymously, drop her off at an ER or at a fire station, because the full weight and force of law enforcement, local and the FBI will come down on these people if they don't do that right away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: All right. And still ahead for us, the Clintons agree to depositions before congress after months of resisting the meetings. We'll tell you why lawmakers think they had a change of heart.

Plus, we'll take a deep dive into the latest release of Epstein files. What they reveal about President Trump. Britain's former Prince Andrew and others, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:17:28]

SOLOMON: Just in to CNN, the Paris prosecutors office says that its cybercrimes unit is searching the offices of Elon Musk's social media platform X in the French capital, as part of an investigation opened in January of last year. The prosecutor says that Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, is also involved. We'll bring you more details as they become available to us.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have now agreed to appear for in-person depositions by the House Oversight Committee. They had been resisting subpoenas to testify in the congressional investigation of Jeffrey Epstein. The Clintons reversed course just as the house is expected to vote this week on whether to charge them with criminal contempt over the matter. Oversight committee James Comer says that the details of their agreement have not been set.

And last week's release of more than three million pages of material from the Epstein files is raising more questions about other people connected to the late sex offender. It's also raising new criticism of the Justice Department for errors in the release. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, acknowledging that mistakes were made in the latest release, the DOJ failing to properly redact some victims information that was posted online. The department says that they have now removed all documents identified by survivors or their lawyers.

Now, President Trump initially resisted bipartisan pressure to release the files. Now, he says the Justice Department needs to move on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. And in fact, if you look at the DOJ, they announced -- they released three million pages. It's like this is all they're supposed to be doing. And frankly, the DOJ, I think, should just say we have other things to do because that whole thing has turned out, I mean, other than Bill Clinton and, you know, Bill Gates and lots of people that have there are a lot of questions about it, but nothing on me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: CNN's Tom Foreman has more on Trump's claims and other prominent people who appear in this latest batch of files.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I didn't see it myself. But I was told by some very important people that not only does it absolve me, it's the opposite of what people were hoping.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The newly released documents do contain a list compiled last year by the FBI of unproven allegations that President Donald Trump committed sexual assault, including one woman saying he raped her when she was just 13. That same woman sued Trump in 2016 over the claims, but dropped the lawsuit shortly after bringing them.

In another section, one of Jeffrey Epstein's victims says Ghislaine Maxwell presented her to Trump at a party.

[05:20:04]

When asked about this, the White House points to a Justice Department statement that the files may include, quote, "fake or false submitted images, documents or videos." And Trump has always denied such allegations.

TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: In July, the Department of Justice said that we had reviewed the files, the, quote, "Epstein files." There was nothing in there that allowed us to prosecute anybody.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Still, the files had put a number of high- profile people in an unwanted spotlight. A series of photos appears to show former British prince, Andrew, kneeling by a woman or girl on the floor. There is no context and CNN's requests for comment were not immediately answered.

Billionaire Elon Musk has previously said he refused an invitation to Epstein's island. The documents suggest he wanted to be there for the wildest party. After the release, Musk posted, "I have never been to any Epstein parties ever and have many times call for the prosecution of those who have committed crimes with Epstein."

Howard Lutnick, Trump's secretary of commerce, said he and his wife decided to cut ties with Epstein two decades ago.

HOWARD LUTNICK, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: My wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Yet the documents point to at least a couple of attempts to socialize with Epstein after that. The Commerce Department says "Secretary Lutnick had limited interactions with Mr. Epstein in the presence of his wife and has never been accused of wrongdoing."

Another one-time top Trump advisor, Steve Bannon, appears in the files at times mocking the president.

And the famous names go on though, notably, many show no links to any potential illegality. Dinner invitations for Woody Allen, Martha Stewart, and Katie Couric who said here, "I know you're not a foodie, but the lasagna was rocking!"

Billionaire Richard Branson, New York Giants owner Steve Tisch are mentioned. And so is Brett Ratner, seen in a photo on a sofa with Epstein and some young women. He's the director of that new "Melania" Trump film.

The new release brought at least one fresh controversy, too. "The New York Times" raised the possibility that the Justice Department had released nearly 40 unredacted images showing both nude bodies and the faces of the people portrayed, noting the people in the photos appeared to be young.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (on camera): Soon after informing the justice department of this, the times said officials have largely removed or redacted the images, and the DOJ says its working around the clock to address any victim concerns and additional redactions, which raises a subject many skeptics still want better explained. What exactly were the Department of Justice rules for all of these redactions, specifically? And could there be other information the public ought to know hiding behind those redactions, or in the documents we haven't yet been able to sift through?

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

SOLOMON: Tom, thank you.

A short time ago, CNN's Eleni Giokos had a chance to ask a member of the British royal family about the Epstein files.

Here's what Prince Edward had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE EDWARD, GREAT BRITAIN: It's really important always to remember the victims and. And who are the victims in all this?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.

PRINCE EDWARD: A lot of victims in this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: The son of Norway's crown princess has pleaded not guilty to four counts of rape, a trial that's expected to last seven weeks got underway Tuesday.

Marius Borg Hoiby faces 38 charges, including repeated sexual abuse. If convicted, he faces a total of 16 years in prison. The crown prince has tried to distance himself from his stepson's case. Neither the prince nor the crown princess will be present in the courtroom. The crown prince has made it clear that Hoiby is not a member of the royal house of Norway, and is outside the line of royal succession.

Still to come for us, Russia resumed missile and drone attacks across Ukraine overnight. Still ahead, we'll have a live report with the latest on the strikes and what it could mean for the upcoming peace talks later this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:28:45]

SOLOMON: Russia resumed missile and drone strikes on major cities across Ukraine overnight. CNN's staff report hearing strong explosions in the capital city of Kyiv, while other regions, including Kharkiv, Odessa and Dnipro were also reportedly struck. Officials say that primary targets were residential and energy infrastructure. Thousands of people are without power and heat as winter temperatures continue to plummet.

This latest barrage marks the end of a brief pause in attacks at the Kremlin had agreed to, at the request of President Trump last week. It also comes just days ahead of the next round of trilateral peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. in Abu Dhabi.

For more, let's get to CNN's Clare Sebastian live for us this morning in London.

Clare, the CEO of Ukraine's biggest private energy company, said that the company is in, quote, survival mode. The situation on the ground for us.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that pretty much sums it up, Rahel as well. I think people are simply hoping that they can make it through the last month of winter, and obviously, the timing of this overnight attack and this, by the way, was the biggest that we've seen in more than a month in terms of the quantity of missiles, over 70 missiles, according to the Air Force. That is a very unusual number that we haven't seen in many months.

So, this was a brutal attack overnight. And I think, crucially, is the timing, right? It comes after several days, five, possibly six days of no targeted attacks on energy infrastructure, as a result of this very brief and limited ceasefire.