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The Situation Room

Savannah Guthrie Releases Emotional New Plea for Her Mother's Return; Trump Prepares to Deliver State of the Union Address Tonight; U.N. Security Council Meets on Ukraine Four Years After Invasion. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired February 24, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room. And we begin with breaking news, the Today Show host, Savannah Guthrie, releasing a powerful, very emotional, new video in the disappearance of her mother, Nancy.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Pleading again for her return and now offering $1 million for information in the case.

Here's the video in full that was just released a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, DAUGHTER OF NANCY GUTHRIE: Hi there. I'm coming on to say it is day 24 since our mom was taken in the dark of night from her bed. And every hour and minute and second and every long night has been agony since then of worrying about her and fearing for her, and aching for her, and most of all, just missing her, just missing her.

We know that millions of you have been praying. So many people have been praying of every faith and no faith at all, praying for her return, and we feel those prayers. Please keep praying without ceasing. We still believe. We still believe in a miracle and we still believe that she can come home. Hope against hope, as my sister says. We are blowing on the embers of hope.

We also know that she may be lost. She may already be gone. She may have already gone home to the Lord that she loves and is dancing in heaven with her mom and her dad and with her beloved brother Pierce and with our daddy. And if this is what is to be, then we will accept it.

But we need to know where she is. We need her to come home. For that reason, we are offering a family reward of up to $1 million for any information that leads us to her recovery. All of the information about this reward and the details is in the caption below. You can call the 1-800-TIP-LINE. You can be anonymous.

If you want someone out there knows something that can bring her home, somebody knows, and we are begging you to please come forward now. We also know that we are not alone in our loss. We know there are millions of families that have suffered with this kind of uncertainty, and for that reason today we also are donating $500,000 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for their work and helping families who are coping with loss and actively looking for those who are lost. We are hoping that the attention that has been given to our mom and our family will extend to all the families like ours who are in need and need prayers and need support.

So, please, if you hear this message, if you've been waiting and you haven't been sure, let this be your sign to please come forward, tell what you know, and help us bring our beloved mom home so that we can either celebrate a glorious, miraculous homecoming, or celebrate the beautiful, brave, and courageous and noble life that she has lived.

[10:05:00]

Please be the light in the dark.

BROWN: Let's go live now to CNN Senior National Correspondent Ed Lavandera in Tucson, and CNN Chief Law Enforcement Analyst John Miller.

Ed, I want to start with you, Savannah Guthrie saying they, she still believes her mother can come home and increasing that reward to $1 million. Could this reward be the thing that moves this investigation forward?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, remember, there's already been a $100,000 reward offered by the FBI in this case, and it is interesting that one of the things that has sparked the greatest amount of tips and calls into authorities was back on February 10th when the haunting images from the door camera were released that showed the suspect wearing the mask and the backpack, holstering a gun, and wearing the gloves, and that sparked an avalanche of calls for investigators.

But I was inside the 911 call center here in Pima County last Friday, and the officials there were telling us that in the days since then, the calls have started dropping significantly, I think, on some level. So, that rush of phone calls and tips that came in because of that video release has really scaled back since then, which really kind of speaks to the reality that we hear from Savannah Guthrie and her family here this morning acknowledging that for the first time that you know, they're coming to terms with that perhaps this might not end the way they had hoped and prayed for. And that is a reality that they're very much well aware of now.

But it will be interesting to see, and I've already got a call into the sheriff's department here to kind of figure out if this video today and the reward that the Guthrie family is announcing, if that is going to spark a new round of tips and calls and perhaps be the breakthrough that they're hoping and desperately praying for.

BLITZER: And, John Miller, we heard for the first time there Savannah Guthrie admit that her mother may no longer be alive. Is that a reality the family is facing now that they we are more than, what, three weeks into this heartbreaking case?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: It is, Wolf, and it's a reality they've been facing for some time in that blood was found at the scene, the blood matched to their 84-year-old mother. So, there were indicators from the beginning that she was injured in the abduction given her age, her medical condition, and the fact that there was what is believed to have been a credible demand for ransom and then a follow-up note after which that connection ceased. So, they have accounted for the idea that the person who apparently was motivated by money broke communications. That's another thing that made them believe this may have ended badly in a way not intended.

BROWN: I want to just follow up with you, John, because we're learning through our reporting that the suspect had visited Nancy Guthrie's home at least twice. How significant is that, John?

MILLER: It's significant, but not surprising. Meaning it has always been the investigative assumption in this case that this was planned in advance, that it wasn't a spontaneous event, that in the planning there had to be pre-operational surveillance, reconnaissance. And now that we -- and we asked that question in the very beginning, why is he not wearing the backpack in this picture?

And, you know, the belief at the time was, well, he walked up to the door, he saw the camera, he knew he needed his gear. He may have gone back to a vehicle and then, you know, come back with a gun in the backpack ready to go into where he was mission-oriented to start this abduction. It turns out that's not the case that that was taken at an earlier time, which is very likely one of those trips made there to do that kind of reconnaissance and to see what was needed to get in what needed to be compromised in terms of cameras.

You'll remember that there was a reference in one of the notes that went to TMZ about a spotlight that had been destroyed on the property. That was the alleged kidnapper hinting at the idea that they had damaged property there. It's one of the kinds of things that if you were operating at 2:00 in the morning and there was a motion-activated light that you'd probably want to get rid of.

BROWN: All right. John Miller, Ed Lavandera, thank you so much.

And, of course, we want to reiterate if you have any information that could help investigators here, please call the number on your screen. The FBI tip line is 1-800-CALL-FBI and the Pima County Sheriff's Department at 520-351-4900. Wolf?

BLITZER: Heartbreaking indeed.

All right, there's more news we're following right now. Happening now, President Trump preparing to deliver his State of the Union address just hours from now with the president noting it will be a, quote, long speeches, his words, a long speech, and that the U.S. economy will be front and center.

[10:10:12] Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We have a country that's now doing well. We have the greatest economy we've ever had. We have the most activity we've ever had. I'm making a speech tomorrow night and you'll be hearing me say that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All of this comes as new poll numbers show that the economy is a major sticking point for voters and just 32 percent, only 32 percent of Americans now say that President Trump has had the right priorities.

Let's go live right now to our White House Correspondent Alayna Treene. Alayna, what do we expect to hear from the president tonight?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, he is expected to walk through a series of what he and his top advisers deem as his top accomplishments over the past year or so. But a key question, of course, is really how he's going to be addressing the issue that is concerning for a ton of Americans and is really is seen as one of the president's biggest weaknesses, which is that issue of affordability.

I know from my conversations with top Trump advisers that they have been trying to get him to stay on message when it comes to that and strike a more sympathetic tone when it comes to the cost of living in this country. It's something that the president has struggled with, and as you mentioned, Wolf, it's something we've seen in the polling that Americans are not really satisfied with.

Now, we did hear the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, address this, saying that he plans to take on this issue of the economy head on during his remarks tonight. Listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He will obviously tout the administration's accomplishments over the past year, and he will, of course, lay out a very ambitious agenda, I think, for the working people of this country to make America more affordable and prosperous and safe and make the American dream more attainable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, reason why this is such a focus, of course, for the president is because this speech night is going to have a lot of people with eyes on the November midterm elections. And affordability is one of the issues, of course, that Republicans believe that, many people believe Republicans could either win or lose on.

Now, I'm also told that the president spent much of yesterday and the weekend practicing and reviewing the speech tonight. He's also supposed to talk about tariffs. That'll be interesting because some of the Supreme Court justices who ruled against him on Friday will be sitting in some of the first rows face on with the president. And he is also expected to address foreign policy, especially as we know that we're seeing that massive military buildup in the Middle East as he debates what to do on Iran. And today is the four-year anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine. That's expected to come up as well. Wolf, Pam?

BLITZER: All right. Alayna, we're also hearing that a growing number of Democrats, members of the House and the Senate, are planning to skip tonight's State of the Union address, won't attend in person. Tell us who's on the list.

TREENE: Yes. There's at least a dozen Democrats, both in the Senate and the House, that are planning to skip this. There's actually going to be some sort of counterprogramming to this on the National Mall. It's called the People's State of the Union. And people like Senator Chris Van Hollen, for example, he's actually going to be a part of that lineup tonight.

But there's other members, you know, the Senators, we have Chris Van Hollen, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Chris Murphy, Tina Smith. Those are the senators that we know of as of now the Democrats who are not going to be attending. There's also a long list of Republican -- or, excuse me, of Democratic House members including Veronica Escobar and Pramila Jayapal.

I should note as well, we will hear the Democratic response, which is always common with the State of the Union that will be given by the newly elected or semi-newly elected Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger. We'll also be hearing from Senator Alex Padilla. He will be giving the response in Spanish. Wolf?

BLITZER: Alayna Treene reporting from the White House for us, Alayna, you're going to be busy all day today, thank you very, very much. And to our viewers, please join CNN for in-depth coverage and analysis of the State of the Union address later tonight. Our special coverage begins 8:00 PM Eastern here on CNN, or you can watch on the CNN app.

BROWN: So, Wolf among those who will be in attendance at the State of the Union, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse. I'll speak to one of them just ahead about the Trump administration's handling of the files.

BLITZER: And CNN goes one-on-one with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the world marks four years since Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine. We're live in Kyiv.

Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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[10:15:00]

BLITZER: Happening now, exactly four years after Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations Security Council will hold a special meeting later this afternoon to discuss the war that has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands on both sides of the conflict.

Today, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the European Parliament with a special message for Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Russians must learn that Europe is a union of independent nations and millions of people who do not tolerate humiliation and will not accept violence.

Thank you.

Please continue to defend the European way of life. Please support Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: As negotiations drag on to try to end the war, President Zelenskyy says, Europe must be ready to support Ukraine if Russia violates an eventual peace agreement.

[10:20:06]

He spoke with CNN's Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENSKYY: For me, it still is not clear that if Russia will begin against Russia against us. What I wanted very much to have in this security guard, my question is how partners will react on the aggression of Russia if it'll be? The answer is that it'll not be. It's not the answer to me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, you want a very specific in writing guarantee --

ZELENSKYY: I want very -- we have good things in these guarantees. It's true. Between us, it's true. But I want very specific answer. What partners will be ready to do if Putin will come again? And I think this is what Ukrainians want to hear, just want to hear. I'm sorry, it's not pleasure. It's just to understand

WARD: If you get those security guarantees, would you be willing to accept a frozen frontline whereby Russia keeps the territory that they have already seized?

ZELENSKYY: We already said that we are ready for the compromise to freeze the points where we stay, the places, it's a frozen contact line. We are ready for this. It's not very good position for us. But in any way, we have defending lines. We have these fortifications. But if Russians or partners with in dialogue with Russians want just to withdraw our army from our fortifications. I mean, this, we can't be such, sorry, foolish guys. We are not children.

WARD: What would you like to hear from President Trump tomorrow at his State of the Union address?

ZELENSKYY: I want him to stay on our side.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And CNN's Clarissa Ward is joining us now live from Kyiv. Clarissa, how do things feel on the ground there some four years later?

WARD: Wolf, I can tell you, having spent a lot of time here during the course of this war, that this is definitely the most bleak that I have seen it. Morale here is very low. It has been a bitter and brutal winter, the coldest in recent memory. And on top of that, you have had this constant bombardment by Russia of the energy infrastructure, which has led to relentless power outages, heating outages.

We spent an afternoon with a young single mother, with a three-year- old who was going up ten flights of stairs just to get in and out of her apartment almost every single day. And this is the first time, I would say, where you Ukrainians seem to feel kind of fed up or at a breaking point. A Ukrainian woman sent me a message saying, if I never hear the word, resilient, again, it will be too soon. Because there's a feeling I think here that the whole world expects them to be so resilient, so superhuman, and in reality, they are exhausted and many of them are broken and desperate for this war to come to an end. Although, of course, they want to see it end on terms that are fair to Ukraine. Wolf?

BLITZER: Clarissa Ward on the scene for us, as she always is, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: Well, Wolf, coming up, Americans stuck in Mexico after weekend violence. CNN's David Culver is live in Guadalajara for us. David, what is it like there on the ground?

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, still very much a backlog of folks who are trying to get out of this region, out of this country and return to their home countries. And at the same time, there's a real effort to try to calm the tensions, try to restore some order here, but just ahead on the other side of this break, I'm going to walk you through some of the damage that's left behind, the pieces they're trying to put back together, and really the challenges that lie ahead to get Mexico back to a place where they feel like there's a sense of normalcy that's returned.

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[10:25:00]

BROWN: Happening now, Mexico's president says life is returning to normal this morning after the killing of the country's most wanted cartel leader triggered violent attacks by his gang members. Cars, buses, and businesses were set on fire and travelers, including American tourists, had to shelter in place. The State Department has told as citizens to minimize their movement there.

CNN Senior International Correspondent David Culver is in Guadalajara, one of the cities rocked by violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CULVER: We're about to touch down. This is one of the few commercial flights that's actually able to land in Guadalajara today.

This plane will be fully booked with a very long standby list of people eager to get out.

I mean, this is what you see as soon as you walk out of baggage claim. You've got crowds of folks who are sitting with all their luggage. You've got people who have turned their luggage into furniture, propping their legs up, some of them essentially camping out under blankets. And many of them seem to be here without even anywhere to go. They don't have flights. They don't have a confirmed ticket. They don't even know if they have a ticket, if the plane will take off.

How confident are you that you'll be flying out tonight?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hopefully.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like it's 50-50.

CULVER: You don't feel internally at ease?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. It feels like eerily quiet right now. And then like you read online that, okay, maybe the cartel is like regrouping and maybe it's going to get worse now.

[10:30:02]

CULVER: And you just want out of here at this point?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, 100 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to go home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

CULVER: You just want go home?