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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Authorities Release New Timeline Of Guthrie's Disappearance; U.S. And Iran Gather For High Stakes Nuclear Talks; Keir Starmer Under Fire Over Mandelson's Relationship With Epstein; Sam Darnold Journey From Bust To Playing To Super Bowl; Bad Bunny To Perform At Super Bowl LX Halftime Show; Bad Bunny to Perform at Super Bowl LX Halftime Show; Guthrie Case Shines Spotlight on Other Infamous Abductions; Trump Urges Congress to Pass New Voting Restrictions; Team USA Wins First Women's Hockey Game at Olympics. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 06, 2026 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: On shelves until supplies run out. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has now approved six natural colors as food dyes. Beetroot red was just added to the list. Along with the expanded use of Spirulina extract. The agency has also tweaked food labels to make spotting artificial colors easier.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been pushing to get rid of synthetic dyes in the U.S. which have been linked to increased health risks, including cancer in some cases.
Thanks so much for watching this hour of The Story Is. The next hour starts right now.
The story is desperate plea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are waiting for contact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: A new video from Savannah Guthrie's family as their mother remains missing.
The story is happening now. Talks just getting underway between the U.S. and Iran. We take you live to the region.
And the story is Bad Bunny.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAD BUNNY, PUERTO RICAN ARTIST: This is going to be fun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: The Super Bowl halftime performer speaking out. Joining us live, entertainment journalist Segun Oduolowu and Dr. Vanessa Diaz, who literally wrote the book on Bad Bunny.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, The Story Is with Elex Michael.
MICHAELSON: Thanks for watching the story as I'm Elex Michelson. And we begin with a renewed plea for the return of missing Nancy Guthrie. Her son, the brother of TV anchor Savannah Guthrie, released this new message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMRON GUTHRIE, NANCY GUTHRIE'S SON: This is Cameron Guthrie. I'm speaking for the Guthrie family. Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven't heard anything directly. We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward.
But first we have to know that you have our mom. We went to talk to you and we are waiting for contact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: The sheriff investigating Guthrie's disappearance says that he believes she is still alive even as investigators are up against a possible deadline. According to the FBI, the ransom notes for Nancy Guthrie mention deadlines at least one of which has now passed. But there is no evidence that the ransom demands are authentic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEITH JANKE, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI: So the ransom note that was distributed to the media did make a demand for 5:00 p.m. today. And if a transfer wasn't made, then I think a second demand was for next Monday. We're not going to go beyond that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Officials did not say what would happen if the demands were not met. According the FBI, the ransom notes did not include proof of life and provided no way to contact the sender. We also know they demanded bitcoin.
We're also getting chilling new details about Guthrie's disappearance. The sheriff confirming that the blood found on the front steps of her home indeed belong to the 84 year old. Ronald Tunkel served as a criminal profiler for the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He is now the owner of a behavioral analysis and threat assessment consultancy. Welcome to the Story is for the first time.
RONALD TUNKEL, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Thank you. Good evening. Good morning.
MICHAELSON: So thank you. Good evening. Good morning. You're with us from North Carolina. Thanks for staying up late, whatever time it is there. So how do you analyze the language of the ransom note? We're hearing about some of it. What do you make of what we're hearing in terms of the language?
TUNKEL: OK, I have not seen the note. I really would like to. What I've heard about it on the news. I mean, first of all, we'd be looking at -- we'd be doing like some sociolinguistics to try to figure out, you know, the person's background, his biography. We'd be doing some psycholinguistics to try to figure out what type of personality we're dealing with. And we'd be doing statement analysis to see how committed they might be to see if they're telling us the truth.
Obviously, we want to know what's going on here. Is this legit? Does he have Nancy? Is he planning to complete his side of the transaction? I'd like to know immediately. Is this plan doable? I don't know anything about it. Our cyber experts are looking at it probably, certainly.
And they would be able to tell us, yeah, this is a legitimate way to transfer money. Is the amount asked for reasonable? You know, $12 billion, that would not be reasonable. Is it amount that the family could come up with?
So I've heard all sorts of things in the media. Is this a hoax? Is, you know, what's going on here? And we had a pretty good -- we've got a pretty good linguistic analysis section at the Behavioral Analysis at Quantico, and that's where I was for 17 and a half years, at the FBI's Behavioral Analysis.
[01:05:07]
And we'd be looking at -- besides the robust cyber analysis capability. Again, we'd be looking at the language. What does it say about their commitment? What does it say about their background? What does it say about their sophistication about this crime? Is this person sophisticated criminally in the arena of cyber extortions? Is the language of this cyber extortion something we've seen before, suggesting that the person simply copied it and borrowed someone else's idea?
We'd be looking at how he, the offender, talks about Nancy, the victim, the tense he uses to see if, in fact she is harmed, her condition. And we really do a deep dive on it. I'm sorry. I'm interrupting. You go ahead.
MICHAELSON: No, no, that's OK. So I know you try to peel back the onion of a potential kidnapper --
TUNKLE: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- and try to understand what their personality is. I mean, if you were working there, what would you be doing right now? I mean, what's going on behind the scenes that maybe we don't know about, that. That's -- that you can give us some insight into.
TUNKEL: All right. And I'm going to be careful here. I don't want to give away trade secrets, but we're going to be wanting to again assess the note from a psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic, and a statement analysis, perspective. I'd want to know, too, about the victimology of Nancy. I don't know anything about her. I've heard reports that she's a wonderful woman, a wonderful mom, loving and caring. That would tell me about her mettle, her ability to withstand something about something like this.
From all reports, I've heard she's a wonderful woman. So that suggests a degree of emotional maturity, a degree of robust psychological strength. So I'm confident she has the ability to withstand this kind of treatment and captivity, if you will. I'd want to know about her victimology, what's going on immediately in her life. I'd want to know the same thing about Savannah Guthrie.
Is this person trying to get back at Savannah?
MICHAELSON: Right.
TUNKEL: Because, again, we've talked about motives. Is the motive simply profit, or is there something else in play? Is there a degree of revenge?
MICHAELSON: Yes.
TUNKEL: Oftentimes financial crisis.
MICHAELSON: I think we just lost his picture. I guess the person who was texting him may have messed up his thing. But we thank criminal profiler Ronald Tunkel for sharing his perspective and for staying up late for us. We appreciate you, sir. Thank you so much.
All right. We're going to move on now. Officials are encouraging anyone with information about Nancy Guthrie's disappearance to call the Pima County Sheriff's Department tip line. That number on your screen right now, 520-351-4900, or you can contact the FBI at 1-800- CALL-FBI.
Negotiators from the U.S. and Iran are set to begin new talks this hour aimed at resolving the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program. This envoy, Steve Witkoff and Iranian foreign minister set to meet in Oman. This is a live picture of from Amman where it is now 10:08 on Friday.
Jared Kushner, president's son in law, also part of these meetings. President Trump has sent a large U.S. military force to the region. He has told Iran's supreme leader he should be, quote, very worried, threatening new strikes on Iran if there is no nuclear agreement.
President Trump quit a nuclear deal with Iran and other world powers in 2018. Iran's supreme leader had his own warning. Any strike could lead to a regional war. Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. Say they will meet again soon after they wrapped up two days of peace talks in Abu Dhabi.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says the next meeting will be held in the near future. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the latest from Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems as though the talks, as Steve Witkoff, the U.S. envoy, put it, seem to have been constructive. And that's certainly something that we're hearing from the Russian side and from the Ukrainian as well. In fact, Kyrylo Budanov, who is, of course, the head of the presidential administration of Ukraine, he came out and said that they were extraordinarily constructive, as he put it.
The Russians for their side also said that there had been movement on the talks. However, those comments came from Kirill Dmitriev, who's the chief Russian negotiator ahead of that round of talks that happened today.
It was quite interesting to hear that Steve Witkoff also said that there had been some progress made on key issues, but he also said that difficult issues still remain.
[01:10:07]
And one of the things that appears to have happened in this round of talks is that first of all, they went into a trilateral meeting, which is sort of a large meeting with the us, Russian and Ukrainian delegations, but then also tried to compartmentalize things into working groups to try and work through some of those very difficult issues.
Of course, what we've been hearing from both the U.S. and the Ukrainian side is that territorial concessions that Ukraine might have to make as part of any sort of peace agreement are still something that's very difficult for the Russian side.
Of course, they also say that they certainly want to have all of the Donetsk region of Ukraine as part of any peace agreement. Those are still some of the very difficult things to work through.
The U.S. side has said that at the same time as this is going on, the atmosphere is still very constructive. And certainly that prisoner swap that happened today, they say is also something that's a direct, tangible results of these negotiations and the constructive atmosphere that they're in again, 314 prisoners being exchanged.
The Ukrainian side saying that 139 of the prisoners that they received now had been in custody in the Russian Federation since 2022. So certainly a large step for the Ukrainians. That sort of sets the tone.
And one of the things we picked up on is that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, he also came out and said that they want to continue this momentum that has now started and want to have the next round of talks to happen as soon as possible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Fred Pleitgen for us in Moscow. Thank you, Fred. One week after the release of what the U.S. government says will be the last of the Epstein files, the fallout continues. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is fighting for his political life over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US.
Newly released files detail close connections between Mandelson and Epstein. Mr. Starmer says Mandelson lied about the full extent of his relationship with the convicted sex offender. Now the Prime Minister is apologizing to Epstein's victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I am sorry. Sorry for what was done to you. Sorry that so many people with power failed you. Sorry for having believed Mandelson's lies and appointed him. But I also want to say this. In this country, we will not look away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Still to come, the NFL handed out its most prestigious awards to the best athletes of the season. We'll have a wrap up as anticipation builds Ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl.
Plus, Bad Bunny getting ready for the big night. What he says we can expect from his upcoming halftime performance.
Plus, the author of literally the book on Bad Bunny and what he means to Puerto Rico with us live to talk about his controversial performance.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:17:15]
MICHAELSON: A live picture once again from Oman where negotiators from the U.S. and Iran are beginning talks this hour aimed at resolving the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program. Paula Hancocks is monitoring all of that from UAE. She joins us from Abu Dhabi. Paula, what should we expect today?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT Well, Elex, I think what we could expect first of all is agreeing on the --
MICHAELSON: Well, hopefully we can expect some better technical situation for them. We apologize. Thank you Paula for trying to give us that report. A reminder, they're going to basically be debating today over what to talk about. Set the parameters for that today and then there's going to be a discussion about coming to some sort of nuclear deal.
President Trump has threatened if there isn't a nuclear deal, there could be a military attack from the United States on Iran. Iran says let's do what we need to do to prevent that from happening. So all of that will be happening.
Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff are there for the United States, which of course is an indication that the president is serious about this. And because they clearly have his ear. OK, we got that out of the way. Let's have some fun. Bad Bunny says you don't need to worry about learning the lyrics to
his songs before Sunday's Super Bowl halftime show. The Puerto Rican superstar talked about his upcoming performance during a big press conference, which was wild with the amount of media there happening on Thursday. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAD BUNNY: Want to give any spoilers? It's going to be fun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: He's keeping his cards close to the chest on whether any special guests will be joining him on stage. Say people can expect a huge party and the parties already started in the Bay Area. The NFL honors were Thursday, showcasing the best in football. One of the biggest awards, MVP went to Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, 37 years old.
Andy Scholes joins us now from San Francisco. Andy, welcome back to The Story Is.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Happy to be here, Elex. You know super bowl week is always one of the best weeks of the entire year. Certainly a busy week, but it's a fun one as well.
MICHAELSON: Yes. So you have been all over this, talking to the players, talking to the coaches, telling us every storyline. Of all the storylines, which one are you most focused on? What do you think is the most important storyline going into the game?
SCHOLES: I think the best storyline, hands down, and it's not even really close, Elex, is the Sam Darnold redemption story and his career arc.
[01:20:07]
I was at NFL honors earlier tonight. I was asking people for their predictions. I kept getting, I want to see Sam Darnold win this game. And you know, for people who are not familiar, you know Sam Darnold, he was drafted by the New York Jets back in 2018, third overall. Jets fans were thinking he was finally going to be their quarterback, turn their franchise around. It did not work out at all.
They end up just letting him go. He then bounces around the league. He played for the Panthers. He then came here to the 49ers in 2023 to back up Brock Purdy. And he really credits that year as a backup behind Brock Purdy. Learning from Kyle Shanahan is what really helped turn his career around.
Then of course, we all know what he did last year with the Vikings leading them to a 14-3 record. Just incredible. Then this year, getting the Seahawks to the Super Bowl. You know, Elex, we really never seen a quarterback go from bust to coming leading a team to the Super Bowl and potentially winning it.
You know, Trent Dilfer, he won it with the Ravens, but he was certainly was not the reason the Ravens won that Super Bowl.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
SCHOLES: So, you know, Darnold can really make some history and he's really got a sentimental backing for this game against the Patriots.
MICHAELSON: Well, and of course you got a great start at USC, my school as well. So the Trojans are proud of Sam Darnold, the first Trojan to ever start a Super Bowl. So I'm coming up on Sunday and I will be co-hosting with you on the field a post-game show right after the Super Bowl. It's something you've done the last few years with our pal Coy Wire, who's headed to the Olympics to cover that.
What can we expect and what's your advice for me?
SCHOLES: Well, you know, I would come in and you know, have a plan in your mind of how you think it's going to go, but then be ready for that plan to just be thrown completely out the window. Because Elex, a couple years ago when we were doing this, we had the show kind of written down, everything. Then The Chiefs and 49ers went to overtime.
So that basically, you know, delayed everything by 20 minutes. And we run out on the field, throw the camera sticks down and basically start a show immediately. So, you know, you never know what's going to happen in the Super Bowl. You never know what the talkers are going to be. You Know, like if you go back to 2015, Malcolm Butler, I tell you this, they fixed this problem, Elex.
We used to have to wait in a tunnel to run out to the Super Bowl. And they didn't have any TVs or anything. And you know, this is back before YouTube TV worked on your phone or anything.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
SCHOLES: We're standing in the tunnel trying to listen on a radio and they're like, we're all like, oh, you know, we all have our scripts. The Seahawks are about to win the Super Bowl. They're on the one yard line. That's, you know, it's all over. Malcolm Butler intercepts the ball. We, none of us saw it before we got to run out on the field because we were all in that tunnel.
Luckily, that's not going to be a problem anymore. But that's what I'm just saying, Elex, just be ready for anything to happen, but certainly be ready to have a lot of fun because it's the Super Bowl.
MICHAELSON: It's going to be great. So that's you and me and hopefully everybody watching right now, right after the game, 11 o'clock Eastern, 8 o'clock Pacific Time. Andy Scholes, thank you so much. And we'll see you tomorrow for more coverage.
SCHOLES: Sounds good.
MICHAELSON: Let's bring in Vanessa Diaz, who is co-author of the book "PFNR: How Bad Bunny Became The Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance." And our friend and returning champion Shagun Oduolowu, Emmy Award winning journalist and media personality. Welcome to you for the first time on the show. Thanks so much.
Of course, Segun, great to see you. Congrats on the book. This is like literally the perfect book to talk about this moment. And not only do you have this book, but you've got a new article that just came out in Rolling Stone today which has new reporting on how this happened. Sort of taking us behind the scenes of how Bad Bunny, doing a Spanish language show, became the choice of the National Football League. What happened?
VANESSA DIAZ, CO-AUTHOR, "HOW BAD BUNNY BECAME THE GLOBAL VOICE OF PUERTO RICAN RESISTANCE": Yes, it was really exciting. This article is actually the first piece to all three organizations who are part of the organization of the halftime show on the record. So that's NFL, Roc Nation and Apple Music, the sponsor.
MICHAELSON: And Roc Nation is Jay Z.
DIAZ: And Roc Nation is Jay Z. And you know what's so fascinating about this is it was actually a really cohesive decision. So Roc really drives the decision. They go to NFL and as Roger Goodell himself has said, like he really trusts in Jay Z, he really trusts in Roc and they make that decision and then, you know, there's dialogues with Apple Music, but the real decision centers with Roc. And then Apple Music kind of takes it from the artist side. And for them, it's this really special thing where if you actually look at the history of Bad Bunny's career, Apple Music really launches it in that they put him on streaming for the first time.
MICHAELSON: And he's the biggest streaming artist in the world, right? 19.5 billion streams.
DIAZ: Yes.
SHAGUN ODUOLOWU, EMMY AWARD WINNING JOURNALIST AND MEDIA PESONALITY: Well, see, but that's the biggest thing. I think it's a no brainer that Bad Bunny is the halftime show.
[01:25:02]
If you think of what the NFL is trying to do by growing the game, they opened the season in Brazil. They have games in Mexico City. They have games and they're trying to put games all over the world. You have the largest streaming artist in the world speaking a language that billions of people speak. Why not have Bad Bunny?
As we saw at the Grammys just a few days ago, the album of the year is Bad Bunny. So here's him performing at the Super Bowl feels like the crowning achievement of a great idea.
MICHAELSON: But there is some pushback, as we know.
ODUOLOWU: That pesky thing called, you know, jingoistic, you know, clouded racism with the other halftime show that they're doing.
DIAZ: The white supremely halftime show.
MICHAELSON: Oh, this -- you call it the white suit.
ODUOLOWU: Say that again.
DIAZ: No, that's what it is.
ODUOLOWU: That's really what it is.
MICHAELSON: At a minimum, the idea of calling it the all American halftime show and which is you are inherently suggesting that Bad Bunny is not American, which is because he's from Puerto Rico, which is factually inaccurate.
DIAZ: It's factually inaccurate. But the thing is that at the end of the day, what we know is that Latinos, regardless of where they come from, regardless of their citizenship, are always construed as foreign others. And Bad Bunny is no different. Even though he's an American citizen, he speaks Spanish, he's seen as culturally different. And that is not what is being talked about as American in this context.
MICHAELSON: But there are these sort of, you know, traditional Republican in the middle of the country, football fans, Friday night light folks who will see a Spanish speaking halftime show as kind of a middle finger to them and their culture.
ODUOLOWU: See, I don't understand how that can be with a Ted Cruz and a Marco Rubio. Like, I don't understand how Latinos everywhere should not use this moment not only to stand up for good, but Americans everywhere.
Like whether you like the food, whether you like the culture, you are stealing from it's in some way shape or form. And now you have an artist that has won all the awards, is on all the streaming services and plays to sold out crowds wherever he goes. That's what you want to see.
You call the winners of the Super Bowl the world champions. Why wouldn't you have an artist that speaks to the world in a language the majority of the world, a lot of the world speaks in? It doesn't make any sense to me. And this counter culture other concert is nothing more than white supremacy.
When you're saying it's all American, it's disrespectful to Puerto Rico, which has been disrespected before. Remember President Trump throwing paper towels at them after a hurricane, which is absolutely nonsensical.
But, professor, not only an author, you teach a class at LMU about Bad Bunny.
DIAZ: Yes.
ODUOLOWU: Aren't your students, and shouldn't the younger people, shouldn't they be out en masse on social media crying for Bad Bunny? What's going on in your classrooms?
DIAZ: In my classrooms right now, well, everyone's excited. But I think what's this point you made is that Bad Bunny has always used his platform to talk about the things he believes in. And that starts with his first appearance on American television in 2018. He goes on Jimmy Fallon and he goes, you know, Hurricane Maria happened a year ago and people are still without electricity. Thousands of people have died. And Trump is in denial. So his first time on American television, he speaks out against Trump.
MICHAELSON: Well, and it was interesting also at the Grammys on Sunday, he spoke out against ICE.
DIAZ: Yes.
MICHAELSON: But the way he did so reminded me a lot of the language of Martin Luther King Jr., which it did..
ODUOLOWU: OK.
MICHAELSON: I mean, a student of him because he couched it with let's talk about -- let's be activists through love. That the way that we win is through love, not through hate. And through this idea of not making your opponent your enemy. I thought from a political perspective, it was interesting.
DIAZ: I see what you're saying and I get that, like that sentiment of non-violence. I also think there's a whole other thing to have a conversation about the way that Martin Luther King's legacy has been pacified.
ODUOLOWU: Well, I would just say, let's say co-opted. Because Martin Luther King also said that protest is the language of the disaffected. Right.
DIAZ: Yes.
ODUOLOWU: Like we're talking. And what Bad Bunny did with his speech at the Grammys, like we, you talked about the first speech, and oftentimes with Martin Luther King, we talk about one speech. But the last speech that Bad Bunny gave was all in Spanish. And that was the middle finger to everybody else that isn't understanding what he's going to bring to the Super Bowl.
As you earlier in the opening, if you don't know -- you don't even need to know Spanish to appreciate his music. And that's -- and you didn't need to know Spanish to appreciate his day.
MICHAELSON: He basically said, you need to know how to dance.
ODUOLOWU: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And music, as we know, is the universal language.
ODUOLOWU: Which is why the Kid Rock video or concert will be problematic because they're on the 1 and 7 instead of the 2 and 4. And they're not going to give you the nice shoulder movement that Bad Bunny's concert's going to give you. DIAZ: The whole point of our book is to say that music and dance are also key parts of resistance, particularly in the Puerto Rican tradition. And so, for him to encourage that dance, right, he is actually invoking these histories of resistance that come with him.
MICHAELSON: And you see that in the slave tradition, too, that -- that music was a big part of that new resistance.
[01:30:00]
ODUOLOWU: Well no, music -- yes. Like music -- music has always been counterculture. It's always been subculture, or it's been used as a way to get messages across when speaking it out just in -- without the rhythm, without the melody will get you in trouble.
MICHAELSON: Yes. We've talked about the people that are upset by this. Now let's talk about the people who are inspired by this. Bad Bunny talked about that today.
Let's listen to some of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAD BUNNY, RAPPER/MUSICIAN: I'm excited about this performance. I'm excited. But at the same time, how I said before is I feel more excited about the people than even me, about my family, about my friends. people that I know that they always have believed in me and they happy. Because this moment, the culture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: -- this mean to the Latino community, especially the Puerto Rican community this moment, seeing him, the representation.
DIAZ: Yes. I mean, I think at a moment like right now where Latinos are being targeted, they're being criminalized. The Spanish language is being criminalized, that we absolutely need to see a loud, proud Latino performing in Spanish who is unapologetically himself, proud to be himself, proud of his culture. We need that.
And frankly, we need it to inspire us to keep fighting for the justice that we need. And so I think that's where enjoying it through dance, enjoying the music that that's also part of what we need to do to keep resisting.
And this idea that Bad Bunny like NFL keeps saying, well, Bad Bunny really understands his platform. He understands the platform. And Bad Bunny's platform has always been about invoking protest.
And so I think it's really interesting that that's the perspective. But ultimately this is a business decision that the NFL made. They know what they're doing.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
DIAZ: And it just so happens that good business in this case is also the world's most popular artist and is also an artist of protest.
ODUOLOWU: And look at the people on the field. Look at the people on the field, the majority of the people on the field are black and brown.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
All right. Well, we want to encourage people to tune in to CNN. We have a special presentation called "BAD BUNNY AND THE HALFTIME SHOW: RHYTHMS OF RESISTANCE". That airs Saturday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.
And a reminder that your book is available right now. Congratulations. Thank you so much.
DIAZ: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: And great to hear from both of you.
DIAZ: Thank you for having me.
ODUOLOWU: Thank you. It's a pleasure.
MICHAELSON: Still ahead, the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie is the latest case of a celebrity family member apparently being abducted and held for ransom.
A look at some of the most notorious cases of the past century, next.
[01:32:33]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson.
A look at today's top stories.
High stakes nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran set to begin in this hour. U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff meeting with Iran's foreign minister in Oman. Happening after President Trump threatened with new strikes on Iran if it doesn't agree to a new nuclear deal.
The Trump administration's highly anticipated prescription drug platform is now up and running. TrumpRx.gov will connect patients with drugmakers selling certain products directly to those who want to pay cash and forgo insurance. But it remains to be seen how much savings the site will offer. Some medications selling for the same price at local pharmacies.
The son of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie issued a new video begging for her return. Camron Guthrie said "Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you."
So far, there's been no proof of life. The Sheriff says more than 100 tips have been received. The FBI, offering a $50,000 reward for any information. This apparent abduction of Nancy Guthrie, is the latest case of a
public figure's family member being thrust into a dangerous situation.
CNN's Jason Carroll takes a look at some of the most infamous examples of this in the past.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two heavily armed men forced their way in.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It ranks as one of the most sensationalized cases in U.S. history. February, 1974 Patty Hearst, the 19-year-old granddaughter of publishing titan William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped in Berkeley, California.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Patty, still screaming, was dragged out to a waiting car.
CARROLL: A radical leftist group called the Symbionese Liberation Army used guns to break into her apartment. SLA demanded the prison release of its members and to fund food distribution to the needy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love you, Patty, and we're all praying for you.
CARROLL: The case took a dramatic turn when pictures surfaced showing Hearst, along with SLA members, holding up a bank in San Francisco. The heiress later argued her captors brainwashed her.
Hearst was convicted of robbery and served nearly two years of a seven-year sentence before it was commuted by then President Jimmy Carter. She later turned to acting.
PATTY HEARST, KIDNAPPED HEIRESS: Do not get kidnapped by terrorists if you want to be an actress.
CARROLL: February 3rd, 1978. Famed fashion designer Calvin Klein's 11- year-old daughter, Marcy, is kidnapped after being lured off a New York City bus on her way to school. Roughly ten hours later, she was released after Klein paid a $100,000 ransom. Klein's former babysitter and two accomplices were arrested.
ALEX PIQUERO, CRIMINOLOGY PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: There is an intention to obtain money, so that's always the common thread with respect to the majority of kidnapping cases.
CARROLL: Money was the motive for kidnapping Frank Sinatra's 19-year- old son, taken from a hotel room in Lake Tahoe in 1963.
[01:39:47]
CARROLL: He was released days after Sinatra paid a $240,000 ransom. The kidnappers captured and convicted.
Perhaps the most infamous case involved famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, his 20-month-old son kidnapped from their home in New Jersey in 1932. Despite a $50,000 paid ransom, the child's body found some two months later in what was called the crime of the century.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His only slim hope now is for a pardon.
CARROLL: The suspect, a carpenter, convicted and executed.
PIQUERO: In one sense, we have a lot fewer kidnapping cases than we did many years ago.
CARROLL: Experts say, because there's much more surveillance now versus then. So it's more risky.
But celebrities are still targets. In 2016, Kim Kardashian was bound, gagged and held at gunpoint during a robbery at a Paris apartment.
KIM KARDASHIAN, REALITY STAR: Then he duct-taped my face. I think, like my mouth to get me to, like, not yell or anything.
CARROLL: Her captors made off with millions in jewels before they were caught and convicted, one of them writing a memoir titled "I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian".
Another noted case, the one involving John Paul Getty III back in 1973, held for $17 million. He was released after some of that ransom was paid.
Again, the common thread here being money in all of these cases. Also, in all of these cases, the person or persons responsible were eventually caught.
Jason Carroll, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Thanks to Jason.
Our thanks to you for watching THE STORY IS.
For our international viewers, WORLDSPORT is next with lots of Super Bowl coverage. For our viewers here in North America, I'll be right back.
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MICHAELSON: President Trump is stepping up his efforts to change the way the country votes. He's urging Congress to pass the Save America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, even though its already illegal for non-citizens to vote.
More now from CNN's senior White House correspondent, Kristen Holmes.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The administration continues to give mixed messages on why the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was at the Fulton County elections search with the FBI.
We heard at one point from the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, he didn't know why. And even the president, during an interview said he didn't know why.
Now that comes, of course, after Gabbard herself had said the president directed her to go.
Now we are hearing from President Trump essentially saying that it was that Pam Bondi, the attorney general's instruction that Gabbard go.
We tried to pinpoint down Karoline Leavitt today during a press briefing on why exactly she was there. Here's what she said.
You said that the president supports the fact that she was there. But last night when she was -- when he was asked about it, he said he didn't know why she was there. He didn't say that he directed her.
Can you clarify on that? Did she go by herself? And he learned later and supports it?
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, did you look at the full entirety of his response? I was in the room for that NBC interview, Kristen. And he just said exactly what I told you, which is that election security is essential to national security. We need to ensure that our elections are free and are fair and are free of foreign interference. And he spoke about how Miss Tulsi Gabbard is involved in that effort.
So you're taking like the first three words that he said to one question and not looking at his entire response.
HOLMES: And we also asked the question as to whether or not there was any evidence at all of foreign interference in the 2020 election. We learned from Georgia officials that some of the documents taken from that election center were 2020 ballots.
There are a lot of concerns about the fact that those ballots have been obtained and what the FBI is doing with them. Leavitt did not indicate that she knew of any direct foreign interference, instead saying that everybody should be appreciative that they are looking into this as American citizens.
Kristen Holmes, CNN -- the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: It was not a good day for the U.S. Economy. The Dow, the Nasdaq, S&P all falling more than 1 percent. It comes as new U.S. Labor Statistics show that job openings sank to their lowest level since the pandemic in 2020.
The number of available jobs fell in December for the third month in a row, to an estimated 6.5 million.
Bitcoin suffered one of its worst trading days in years. The world's most famous cryptocurrency fell below $63,000 for the first time in 16 months. But it is now back in the green, which is not unusual since crypto is notoriously volatile. Bitcoin has lost 35 percent of its value this past year, and it has lost all its gains since President Trump's 2024 election victory.
The Winter Olympics officially open in just a few hours. Still to come, we'll preview Team USA's chances in the hockey rink and on the slopes.
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MICHAELSON: The opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics just a few hours away in Milan and Cortina, Italy. 2,900 athletes from more than 90 nations will compete.
Among them U.S. skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn. She is determined to take part in her fifth games, despite injuring her left knee when she wiped out on a course last week. The 41-year-old, showing off her intense workout on Instagram, saying that she is not giving up and working hard as she can to compete despite tearing her ACL. Her first of three events set for Sunday.
The competitions have already started with the U.S. women's hockey team overpowering the Czech Republic in their first game.
Vice President J.D. Vance, his wife Usha, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, all in the crowd.
CNN's Amanda Davies has the latest from Milan.
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AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLDSPORT: So the action is underway already here in Milan, and we got our first taste of it here at the women's hockey with a pretty ambitious Team USA looking to get their hands back on those gold medals for the first time in eight years, Comprehensively beating the Czech Republic, the fourth best ranked team in the world, 5 - 1.
But whatever organizers might hope, we got one of those pretty visual reminders that the politics is never too far away from these major sporting events, particularly the day ahead of the opening ceremony.
The U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, his wife Usha, and the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio were here watching on. But so too, a large contingent of largely USA supporting fans.
We've seen at Olympic games in years gone by, they travel really well. And from what we've seen here this evening, this games in Milan is going to be no different.
[01:54:45]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was great. I love seeing a 5 - 1 win and I thought we had a great -- we have a great team and I'm excited for the next rounds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought it was super exciting. I really enjoyed the hockey game. They were so many goals scored and the energy was incredible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I loved the whole scene and the stadium was full and the vibe was great and just so much fun. It was so much fun.
DAVIES: Host Italy got off to a decent start as well. They beat France 4 - 1 in their opener.
But up in the mountains in Cortina, fans of Lindsey Vonn were made to wait to see how she and that knee is faring after the women's downhill training session was canceled because of the weather.
But what a video she posted on social media. No ACL, no problem it seems, she wrote, "I'm not giving up. Working as hard as I can to make it happen."
That can also be said for the Italian team. A one, two, three fastest times in men's downhill training, raising hopes and expectations for the hosts of an early medal at the games and excitement about the official start, particularly now the Olympic cauldron has been lit here in the center of Milan at the Duomo -- ahead of what is set to be an iconic opening ceremony on Friday.
Amanda Davies, CNN - Milan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Thank you, Amanda.
Thank you for joining us.
Tomorrow, a live debate -- Brian Tyler Cohen versus Katie Zachariah.
Plus Nikolaj Coster-Waldau played Jaime Lannister on "Game of Thrones" and has a new Apple TV show with Jennifer Garner. They'll all be here tomorrow. Hope you will be as well.
See you then.
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