FBI: Ransom Note In Guthrie Case Has First Deadline Of “5PM Today”

6 Feb 2026 · 1 h 27 min · 31 chapters

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In short

Podcast Episode Summary: The Lead with Jake Tapper

Episode Title

FBI: Ransom Note In Guthrie Case Has First Deadline Of “5PM Today”

Podcast Description: CNN's Jake Tapper covers national and international headlines with a focus on underreported stories. This episode discusses the search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie, amidst rising layoffs in the U.S. and a new jobs report.

Key Topics Covered

  • Nancy Guthrie Disappearance
  • Nancy Guthrie, mother of Savannah Guthrie, reported missing from her Tucson home.
  • A ransom note with a 5 PM deadline was sent to media outlets, raising concerns for investigators about its legitimacy.
  • Evidence suggests a timeline of Nancy's last known movements, including her connection to Uber and issues with a doorbell camera that went offline.
  • The Pima County Sheriff’s department confirmed blood found on the porch matches Nancy’s DNA.
  • Family's Plea for Help
  • Savannah Guthrie and her siblings released a heartfelt video plea for their mother's safe return, emphasizing her fragile health and need for medication.
  • They have expressed concern regarding the legitimacy of the ransom note, while the FBI continues to investigate.
  • Investigative Comments
  • Discussions with FBI profiling experts highlighted that the case points to someone with prior criminal experience, showcasing the potential confidence and knowledge of the perpetrator regarding the home's security.
  • The effects of misinformation circulating on social media regarding the case were discussed, emphasizing the need for verified information.

Political Commentary

  • Trump and the Prayer Breakfast
  • President Trump made controversial comments at a prayer breakfast, questioning how people of faith could vote for Democrats, suggesting a connection between their faith and voter ID laws.
  • The episode also included discussions on Trump's ongoing claims about the 2020 election and his criticism of Democrats.

Economic Discussion

  • Jobs and Economy
  • The episode highlighted a troubling jobs report indicating rising layoffs and decreased hiring in America.
  • Statistics revealed a significant rise in layoffs, with major companies like Amazon and UPS reported as contributing significantly to the data.

Social Issues

  • Teen Gambling and Social Media
  • A conversation about the impact of sports gambling on adolescents, particularly boys aged 11 to 17, revealing concerning statistics about gambling behaviors influenced by social media advertising.
  • Expert Jonathan Cohen discussed the predatory nature of certain gambling apps targeting young people.

Epstein Files Release

  • Developments in the Epstein Case
  • New documents regarding Jeffrey Epstein's case were mentioned, including an email that substantiated the authenticity of a photograph involving Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre.
  • Discussions included the implications of these revelations on public perception and accountability regarding figures associated with Epstein.

Conclusion

The episode deftly navigates through a complex web of personal tragedy, political disputes, economic downturns, and social issues—all tied together by the narrative of missing persons and the larger implications of individual actions and societal responsibilities. As investigations into Nancy Guthrie's disappearance continue, the episode reinforces the importance of accurate information and the impact of public narrative in such sensitive cases.

Key Takeaways

  • The urgency in the search for Nancy Guthrie is emphasized by the FBI and local law enforcement.
  • Misinformation can significantly impact investigations and community responses.
  • The political landscape remains charged, especially concerning Trump's rhetoric and its implications for voter behavior.
  • The rise in youth gambling raises concerns about mental health and societal responsibility.
  • New revelations in high-profile legal cases continue to shape public discourse around accountability and justice.

--- This summary provides a condensed overview of the podcast episode while highlighting the significant themes and discussions presented by Jake Tapper and his guests.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Details of Nancy Guthrie's Disappearance

0:45 to 4:00

An overview of the latest developments in the investigation into Nancy Guthrie's disappearance, focusing on the ransom note and the urgency of the situation.

“I don't know how a person of faith can vote for a Democrat.”

Family's Heartfelt Plea and Evidence

4:00 to 8:00

The family's emotional appeal for Nancy's safe return and key evidence found in the investigation.

“Approximately 10 minutes later, 12 minutes later, our patrol teams arrive.”

Expert Insights on Investigation Dynamics

8:00 to 10:00

Former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole shares insights on the investigation's challenges and dynamics, including potential suspect behavior.

“And we learned today that the FBI was involved in the creation of that video last night that Savannah and her brother and sister released, although they did emphasize it was the family's decision to make and post it.”

Consequences of Misinformation

10:00 to 12:40

Discussion on how misinformation affects criminal investigations and the importance of accurate reporting.

“on some of the reports in terms of whether there was a prime suspect, in terms of whether or not the cameras in the house had been smashed, things that were just inaccurate.”

Epstein Files Reveal Connections

14:00 to 14:16

Learn about the newly released Epstein files and their implications.

“Listen to CNN's Terms of Service wherever you get your podcasts.”

Brad Karp's Resignation

14:16 to 16:15

Discover the circumstances surrounding Brad Karp's resignation amidst Epstein's revelations.

“pedophiles' wide-reaching global network of the rich and powerful.”

Bannon's Connection to Epstein

16:15 to 17:40

Examine the relationship between Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein through text messages.

“Despite stepping down as chairman, the law firm says Karp, quote, will continue to focus his full-time attention to client service at the firm.”

The Alabama Solution Documentary

17:40 to 19:54

Explore the documentary highlighting the abuses within Alabama's prison system.

“But first, the dangers of social media for those underage.”

Director Andrew Jarecki Discusses Prison Conditions

19:54 to 23:09

Gain insights from director Andrew Jarecki about the severe conditions in prisons.

“So I thought about you and your film last month when we learned that a Cuban migrant had died at a Texas detention camp.”

Juliana Arnold's Story of Loss

23:09 to 24:38

Hear Juliana Arnold share her daughter's tragic story linked to social media pressures.

“One of the directors of the Alabama Solution, Andrew Jarecki, thank you so much.”
Show all 31 chapters

Parents Demand Accountability from Tech Companies

24:38 to 26:39

Learn about parents' efforts to hold tech companies accountable for social media harms.

“her life and she won't have that opportunity now.”

Impact of Fentanyl on Young Lives

26:39 to 28:00

Understand the dangers of fentanyl and the impact on young people through real stories.

“For example, when it comes to selling drugs, selling pills, selling anything that a kid would ingest or a human would ingest, do you think they need to do due diligence there before they take ad money?”

Impact of Fentanyl on Families

28:00 to 28:47

Learn about the personal stories and the broader issues surrounding fentanyl use and accountability.

“And this kind of, for us, is so important because we've been talking about our stories for years now.”

Trump's Attack on Democrats at Prayer Breakfast

28:47 to 29:56

Explore President Trump's controversial statements at a prayer breakfast regarding voter ID laws and Democrats.

“Turning now to our politics lead a few minutes into his speech at what is supposed to be a nonpartisan national prayer breakfast.”

Faith and Politics: A Divided View

29:56 to 30:53

Discuss differing perspectives on faith and political alignment in light of recent comments by Trump.

“Mark, you're a person of faith, I believe.”

Kamala Harris's 2024 Campaign Strategy

30:53 to 33:16

Analyze Kamala Harris's approach to her 2024 campaign and its potential impact on midterm elections.

“And many Latino voters in places like Texas and all across the country are very Catholic.”

The ShamWow Guy Enters Politics

33:16 to 34:31

Delve into the unusual political campaign of Vince Shlomi against Republican Congressman John Carter.

“And I don't think that some of these statewide candidates and these members of Congress will be using her as a surrogate unless you're in a place like California or maybe places that she won.”

Economic Concerns: Job Openings and Layoffs Rise

34:49 to 36:11

Discover the latest reports on layoffs and job openings in the U.S. economy.

“So Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner.”

Bitcoin's Volatile Market Trends

36:11 to 38:08

Understand the recent fluctuations in Bitcoin and how they relate to overall market conditions.

“Our money lead today, not a good day for the U.S.”

The Ongoing Search for Nancy Guthrie

38:08 to 39:28

Learn about the current status of the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.

“That just makes it a harder market for people looking for a job today.”

Trump's Comments on the 2020 Election

39:28 to 42:10

Analyze Trump's continued claims about the 2020 election and the implications for future elections.

“but they remain, quote, waiting for that one big break.”

Trump's Claims and Election Integrity

42:10 to 45:00

An analysis of President Trump's unfounded claims regarding election integrity and the implications for the 2020 election.

“Today, the White House tried to defend Gabbard's presence there after President Trump was asked about it in an interview with NBC.”

Tulsi Gabbard's Role in Election Security

45:00 to 50:30

Discussion on Tulsi Gabbard's involvement in election security and the controversy surrounding her presence in Georgia.

“How does Caroline Levitt continue to try to explain this away?”

FBI Investigation and Ransom Note Details

50:30 to 55:40

Coverage of the ongoing FBI investigation into the ransom note in the case of Nancy Guthrie.

“And like the idea that she's willing to politicize intelligence is something that she's already done, according to her critics.”

Impact of Social Media on Investigations

55:40 to 56:00

Exploration of how social media influences investigations and the spread of misinformation.

“So many people who provide information are influencers who are focused more on getting clicks and growing an audience than they are in providing accurate information.”

Impact of Online Misinformation on Investigations

56:00 to 58:03

Learn about how unverified social media information affects crime investigations and families.

“And I wonder, what is the real world result of influencers pushing unverified nonsense for clicks?”

Technology and Verification in Kidnapping Cases

58:03 to 59:19

Discover the challenges the FBI faces in verifying communications from kidnappers in the AI era.

“We live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated.”

Understanding Risks of Gambling for Young Men

1:00:01 to 1:04:58

Learn about the psychological effects of gambling on young men and how to approach the topic.

“Seeing these second half odds, I'm going to live bet them to win.”

Political Fallout from Epstein Case

1:04:58 to 1:10:00

Examine the political ramifications surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and Prime Minister Keir Starmer's connections.

“In our world lead, if you ask President Trump about the Justice Department's most recent Epstein document dump, it's time to move forward, he says, and leave the past in the past.”

Discussing Virginia Giuffre's Impact

1:10:00 to 1:17:32

Hear the emotional reflections of Skye and Amanda on their sister's legacy and the ongoing fight for justice.

“And it reads in part, quote, I was in London when Redacted met a number of friends of mine, including Prince Andrew.”

Health and Cultural Updates

1:17:34 to 1:18:49

Latest news on prescription drug costs and cultural events like the Super Bowl.

“Our last leads start in our health lead in just moments.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:02A ransom note in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie included a 5 p.m deadline. The lead starts right now. Law enforcement authorities revealing new details in their search for the mother of Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie, Nancy Guthrie, after Savannah's heart-wrenching plea on social media with her sister and brother for their mother's safe return. Among the developments and details, a deadline in a ransom note that authorities are investigating, a doorbell camera going offline before Nancy was reported missing, and an Uber driver question. We're going to go live to Arizona. Plus, President Trump had a traditionally nonpartisan prayer breakfast this morning.

0:47I don't know how a person of faith can vote for a Democrat. I really don't. Okay, so here how else he went on the attack in a way that his critics say was wildly inappropriate. And the new jobs report in America layoffs way up. Hiring's way down. Is it just a blip or reason to worry?

1:13Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to start with the breaking news in our national lead. The clock is ticking for investigators in the tragic disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie, reported missing from her Tucson home on Sunday. The FBI special agent in charge appearing to at first let it slip this afternoon that the ransom note sent to several media outlets has a rapidly approaching deadline today. Here's what the FBI agent said when asked again. So the ransom note that was distributed to the media did make a demand for 5 p.m.

1:49today. 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. Presumably that's 5 p.m. Arizona time. The FBI would not say what would happen if the ransom demand is not met or if they're 100 percent sure that this ransom note is legitimate. Officials did confirm today that the FBI assisted the family with the emotional video that Savannah Guthrie and her brother and sister posted on social media last night. Our mom is our heart and our home. She is 84 years old. Her health, her heart is fragile. She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine.

2:37She needs it to survive. She needs it not to suffer.

2:45We too have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media. As a family, we are doing everything that we can. We are ready to talk. Tough to watch. CNN's Ed Levandera is on the ground in Tucson with more details on the investigation. The Pima County Sheriff revealed key details in the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, including evidence that showed blood found on her front porch matches the 84-year-old mother and grandmother. Investigators also laid out a timeline of her disappearance, according to her family and data from digital devices, including multiple cameras in the Guthrie's home and a front door camera that is missing.

3:31On Saturday at 5.32 p.m., Nancy traveled to visit her family in an Uber. At 9.48 p.m., Nancy is dropped off at home by a family member. And then at 9.50 p.m., Nancy's garage door closes. On Sunday at 1.47 a.m., the doorbell camera disconnects. At 2.12 a.m., the sheriff says software detects a person on camera. Then at 2.28 a.m., her pacemaker disconnects from the app on her phone. After receiving a call that morning at 11.56 a.m., the family checks on her home and finds that Nancy is missing. At 12.03, the family called 911. Approximately 10 minutes later, 12 minutes later, our patrol teams arrive.

4:11They see the scene and we start our response with our search and rescue teams and our detectives from homicide and various units. Also, the FBI announced a$50 ,000 reward, but investigators say there are no suspects yet. We believe Nancy is still out there. We really just want mom back. FBI agents were on scene at Guthrie's home late Wednesday conducting an additional search of the crime scene, using detection dogs and taking bags of evidence. At the same time, Savannah Guthrie, along with her sister and brother, posted a heartbreaking video painting a loving picture of their mother. She is full of kindness and knowledge.

4:51Talk to her and you'll see. She chooses joy day after day, despite having already passed through great trials of pain and grief. The siblings asked for proof of life while reaching out directly to anyone involved. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen. Still, officials say there is no evidence that reported ransom notes are legitimate, though they are still investigating, including one sent to media outlets that set today as a deadline for payment. First, I think it was 5 o 'clock today, and then it had a second deadline after that.

5:39So we are continuing. In a normal kidnapping case, there would be contact by now. The FBI says at least one of the ransom notes is fake. We have made one arrest related to an imposter ransom demand, and a complaint will be presented to a magistrate judge later today.

5:59And Jake, we spent some time this afternoon speaking with the sheriff. He told us that Uber driver had been interviewed. It was a female driver, that they had seen video from inside the car, that everything appears to be fine. It does not appear that that driver is going to be a suspect in any way. And the sheriff also told us that all of Savannah Guthrie's family members continue cooperating with investigators. and the sheriff still remained striking an upbeat tone, believing that they will be able to find Nancy Guthrie alive. But with every passing day, everybody knows that the urgency of this moment just intensifies even more than it already is.

6:38Jake? All right, CNN's at Lavender in Tucson, Arizona. Thanks so much. Let's bring in Mary Ellen O'Toole. She's a former special agent and senior profiler for the FBI. Mary Ellen, what was your biggest takeaway from what officials told us today? One thing that really struck me today is when the sheriff talked about the offender may not have forced his way into or their way into the residence. So there may not have been indications of forced entry. And I think that that consideration is very important because when a profiler is looking at the fact pattern of this case, they're looking at a low-risk victim in a low-risk environment when they were approached.

7:23And then if the offender was able to access that house without breaking down the front door, that would suggest that there was some kind of recon that was done on that property before the kidnapping ever took place, which is consistent with what we're seeing thus far, that this offender probably had knowledge of that neighborhood, probably had knowledge of the house and the comings and goings within that house, which is consistent with certainly other kidnappings that I've worked. And when you see that fact pattern begin to shape it with those variables, it suggests someone that, again, has knowledge of that property and the pool of suspects begins to narrow.

8:07And that's important for investigators. And we learned today that the FBI was involved in the creation of that video last night that Savannah and her brother and sister released, although they did emphasize it was the family's decision to make and post it. And there did seem to be a suggestion in that message that they were speaking to whoever is holding their beloved mother and that the proof that they have her wasn't necessarily credible enough. Is that what you took from that? It is. And I've been involved in cases where I've scripted the family on what to say. And I thought it was very well done because it communicated two themes to me.

8:48The first theme was to humanize their mother, and I thought they did a beautiful job of that. Now, that would not appeal to the kidnapper because kidnapping tends to be a crime for offenders who are very cold and callous and have no regard for their victim. So it would not have appealed to the kidnapper, but that's not who it was intended for. It was intended for if there were any co-offenders that are involved in this case who don't have the same personality traits or someone who knows the offender suspects that they may have been involved in this case and they would have been touched by the appeal, the emotional appeal by the family.

9:28And the second theme, though, of the appeal was very transactional. You do this, we'll do that. That would have appealed to the kidnapper. the kidnapper. So I think there were two themes and both were very effective. We're in what people call a post-media age, meaning that a lot of people get their information from influencers, from YouTubers, from folks who don't have the same editorial standards or techniques or protocols as legacy media. And the sheriff today felt the need to push back on some of the reports in terms of whether there was a prime suspect, in terms of whether or not the cameras in the house had been smashed, things that were just inaccurate.

10:12I'm wondering, what does, what kind of impact does that have on the investigation? What kind of impact does that have on the actual criminal to see the confusion here? Sure. When, when my concern is that when there are theories or misinformation that are put out to the public, the offender is watching the press conferences. They're paying attention to how the investigation is evolving. And if it looks like the investigators don't know what they're doing or there's conflicting information, that empowers an offender. And we don't want that. We want to show a show of force that we know what's happening and we're making progress.

10:56That's really important because otherwise, when you empower an offender, he's less likely to make mistakes. Right now, we want this offender to make mistakes. That's important. So when we misinform in the public, it can have critical consequences for the investigation. The sheriff confirmed today that the investigators were able to identify the blood on the front porch of the home as Nancy Guthrie's home due to DNA testing. What do you make of that, given what we now know about the timeline? Well, I think that's important. And, of course, the blood spatter pattern is going to be important as well.

11:31How did that blood fall from the victim to the floor? What does that indicate in terms of the injury pattern? So that's certainly one thing. But I think the other thing that's important about that is if there is other blood that was co-mingled with Nancy's, They would have run it through CODIS, which is the acronym for the FBI database that where we can put in a sample and maybe hopefully identify someone. It doesn't seem to be the case here, but it doesn't mean that it ends there. The FBI has other techniques which they can use in an attempt to identify any other blood that is not consistent with Nancy's and come up with the name of somebody.

12:10Mary Ellen O'Toole, thank you so much and thanks for your expertise. For anyone out there watching or listening who may have any information, no matter how big or how small you think it is, related to Nancy Guthrie's disappearance, regardless of what nonsense you hear on social media about this investigation, please call the Pima County Sheriff's Department at 520-351-4900. 9000. That's 520-351-4900. Or call the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI. Or reach the agency online at tips.fbi.gov. That's tips.fbi.gov. Coming up here on the lead, the president's contradiction, adding a new layer of questions about why exactly the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, felt the need to fly to Georgia to be on site as the FBI raided an election office in Fulton County to seize ballots from almost six years ago.

13:01But first, some of the details emerging in the newly released Epstein files, and a major resignation stemming from private emails now public.

13:16I'm CNN tech reporter Claire Duffy. This week on the podcast, Terms of Service. Americans bet around$150 billion in total on sports in 2024. And that means for individual betters, there can be serious money on the line too. I wanted to dig into how these apps work and their impact on users. And that's why I invited Harry Levant into the studio. Harry is a gambling counselor, and he serves as director of gambling policy with the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University. With online gambling and apps immediately accessible on your phone, we have normalized and now we deliver a known addictive of product at light speed in partnership between the gambling industry, the sports leagues, media, and the tech companies.

14:03Listen to CNN's Terms of Service wherever you get your podcasts.

14:11In our Law and Justice lead, new details from the released Epstein files revealing the deceased pedophiles' wide-reaching global network of the rich and powerful. Remember, it was August 2006 when Palm Beach police went public with their investigation. August 2006 when police said Epstein had committed unlawful sex acts with and lewd and lascivious molestation of five underage girls. 2006, Epstein would, a couple years later, be convicted on two counts of solicitation of prostitution. One of those counts involving a minor. So that's 2008. Yet, these individuals associated with Epstein years after those facts were well known.

14:51So today, let's start with a prominent name with which you might not be familiar, Brad Karp, the now former chairman of Paul Weiss, one of the nation's top corporate law firms, representing some of the biggest companies in the world. Karp abruptly resigned yesterday following the release of his email exchanges with Jeffrey Epstein, such as this 2015 email, in which Karp profusely thanked Epstein for hosting him, writing, quote, quote, I can't thank you enough for including me in an evening I'll never forget. It was truly once in a lifetime in every way, though I hope to be invited again, unquote.

15:23Epstein responded, writing, quote, you are always welcome. There are many, many nights of unique talents. You will be invited often, unquote. Unique talents. These sort of cringy, chummy emails between Epstein and Karp continued as recently as February 2019. that's the year that Epstein showed up dead in his cell, later ruled a suicide, and only months before he would face a second set of criminal charges for sex trafficking minors. In a previous statement to the Wall Street Journal, the Paul Weiss firm said, Mr. Karp never witnessed or participated in any misconduct. Mr. Karp attended two group dinners in New York City and had a small number of social interactions by email, all of which he regrets.

16:05I bet he does. Karp's own statement says, quote, recent reporting has created a distraction and has placed a focus on me that is not in the best interests of the firm. Despite stepping down as chairman, the law firm says Karp, quote, will continue to focus his full-time attention to client service at the firm. We're also getting our first look at the hundreds of friendly text messages between Epstein and former Trump advisor, Maga Svengali, Steve Bannon. They include crude sexual jokes about women and Trump and discussions on countless other topics. Put together, the communication suggests a much closer relationship between the two that was widely understood.

16:43There's also a nearly two-hour long, largely sympathetic interview filmed around 2019 that Bannon conducted with Epstein, which was reportedly originally intended to be part of a documentary intended to, we believe, rehabilitate Epstein's image as something other than a pedophile and predator and trafficker in child rape. Several exchanges from the interview stand out, such as this one where Epstein is asked about being a sex offender. What are you, class three sexual predator? Tier one. Tier one's the highest and worst? No, I'm the lowest. You're the lowest. Tier one, you're the lowest. But a criminal.

17:25Yes. Bannon has not responded to CNN's request for comment. We should note that Bannon has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Later here on The Lead, the far-reaching fallout of the Epstein files, how the scandal could cost British Prime Minister Keir Starmer his job. But first, the dangers of social media for those underage. A group of parents need you to know their stories, and one mom is going to join us next.

17:54Our buried lead now, that's what we call stories we feel deserve more attention than they're getting. In The Alabama Solution, a documentary that we should notice distributed by our sister company, HBO, the filmmakers go inside one of the nation's deadliest prison systems by using inmate videos to capture shocking accounts of abuse and systemic failures endured by men incarcerated in Alabama's Department of Corrections, also known as ADOC. We have record numbers of people leaving out of here body bags. They don't want the public to see what's really going on on the inside. How can a journalist go into a war zone but can't go into a prison in the United States of America?

18:37The state is selling one lawsuit after another. There's no consequences for their actions. It's not the inmates that kill them. The documentary has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Joining us now is one of the film's directors, Andrew Jarecki. Andrew, so good to see you. So this documentary has been six years in the making. What sparked your interest in making this film? Well, I was always interested in incarceration and the problems that we have in this country around locking people up. And I had made a number of films around that, The Jinx and Capturing the Freedmen's, and ultimately learned that the situation in Alabama was very dire and then went down there, met a prison chaplain who said, why don't you just come in as a volunteer?

19:23And I said, you know, we're filmmakers. They're not going to let us in here. And he said, no, you don't have to film anything. Just come in and you'll see what's what. And when we went in, we started talking to the men inside. And it was so shocking what we learned. And it was so desperate, the situation, that we realized we needed to make a film about it. And then we discovered that these men inside, that there was sort of a network of them who had access to contraband cell phones and had been documenting for years the horrific experience that they have in that system. So I thought about you and your film last month when we learned that a Cuban migrant had died at a Texas detention camp.

20:03U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement initially claimed that he died after experiencing medical distress. They didn't give him much detail about what led up to his final moments. But then just a few days ago, a medical examiner ruled that his death at that Texas facility was actually a homicide. And it made me think about your documentary and how abuse by law enforcement in the U.S. happens every day and is covered up every day, regardless of all the officers and guards, et cetera, who do their jobs well and effectively. Yeah. In the United States, prisons are often treated like black sites, and the public sort of drives by and sees a little sign on the side of the road that says XYZ Correctional Facility, and they think, well, you know, if anything really bad is happening back there, somebody would probably tell me about it.

20:51But the truth is the press is not really allowed inside, and so you don't find out what's happening inside these places where we're essentially, able to disappear people. And when you don't have that light, when you don't have journalists or filmmakers able to go in and see what's happening, very bad things happen. And we're seeing that in the detention centers as well. Yeah. And you tell me that the three main prisoners featured in your documentary are right now in solitary confinement. Why? Well, you know, they've been activists for years. The amazing thing about them is that they've always done this on behalf of the other 20 ,000 people who are in that system.

21:31Both of the main people in the film are people who have life without parole sentences. So they're doing this work and they're always doing it in a nonviolent way. They're very much, they sort of take the Mandela philosophy, which is like, we've got to get there through nonviolence. And always the authorities react to them with violence. In this particular case, there had been a number of things happening, but things that these men are able to do, namely to get the word out, to motivate other prisoners. They've been involved in a lot of work strikes over time, which interferes with the Department of Corrections' ability to generate now$450 million a year in free labor.

22:14And so, you know, they're often targeted. And in this particular case, they were sort of taken out of circulation before a planned work strike. And that's really a horrible thing. It's not just that they're alone, right? It's that they're in a windowless cell in an institution where they have no contact with anybody. They're not allowed to talk to other prisoners, and they're not allowed to have contact with their families. Their lawyer visits are cut back. They can't have pencils or pens. It's a very brutal mini system within an already brutal system. So they're sort of treating them like Hannibal Lecter.

22:51Nobody can go near these people, even though they're incredibly thoughtful, brilliant guys who have been running a nonviolent protest movement. And that's the fear right now is that there's so much of this brutality and that it's being done undercover, that it's not something that the public is allowed to see. One of the directors of the Alabama Solution, Andrew Jarecki, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you, Jake. Is former Vice President Kamala Harris plotting some sort of political comeback? The message she posted online that sure seems to suggest so. Hear it for yourself next.

23:47And we're back with the push from hundreds of parents trying to raise awareness today about the dangers of social media for their kids. Juliana Arnold is back with me. We're hoping her signal holds up here. Juliana, your daughter Coco, who we can see behind your left shoulder there, she was only 17 when she died of fentanyl poisoning. She got that after an Instagram drug dealer sold her counterfeit Percocets. Tell us more about Coco, what you want people to know about her story and why it has led you to this moment. Sure, Jake. Thank you. First of all, I'll say thank you very much for having me here.

24:22My daughter, Coco, was a bright, adventurous, curious, sometimes a smart ass, I have to say, who always told the truth. She was very blunt. She was also very sensitive. And so she really, really resonated with people who were in pain and trying, she really wanted to do good with her life and she won't have that opportunity now. And Coco struggled because she was a sensitive type to social media, you know, and she became, it kind of got control of her and we really worked hard to, you know, help her and to, you know, do all the things that parents should do to keep their kids safe online. And it didn't work.

25:03And she just got more and more addicted to her phone and it was a tough time for us. And this is how it ended. And for years, you and other parents have been raising the alarms about the risks of social media for kids. In 2024, Metta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Metta owns Instagram and Facebook, directly apologized to families whose children were harmed by his platforms. And now this social media addiction trial is unfolding. What are you and other parents who have lost your children because of the harms and threats of social media? What are you hoping to get out of this trial? Well, I think first and foremost, we're looking for the truth.

Read the full transcript

25:42I mean, we've sat in a number of congressional hearings and listened to the testimonies of these tech CEOs and have them say that their platforms are safe. They're doing everything in their power to make these platforms safe. But what we know now is this information is coming out from the trial. And what we will see when they're sitting on the stand and testifying under oath, as they were in congressional hearings, what the truth is. And if it's different than what they told, you know, the legislators on the Hill. And we just want the truth. We want the truth to be known that they are intentionally designing their platforms to hook our kids and to get them to have more engagement because that's how they fuel their business model and make the billions of dollars that they're making.

26:26And our kids should not be the collateral damage on this road to innovation. So this trial is a chance for these companies to take accountability. What specific protective features do you think these platforms should have? For example, when it comes to selling drugs, selling pills, selling anything that a kid would ingest or a human would ingest, do you think they need to do due diligence there before they take ad money?

27:00well yeah i mean i'm not sure the drug dealers are doing ads like that they're really doing more homegrown stuff in my opinion but um you know i think most most of all they need to stop some of the addictive features that are getting our kids and really causing a lot of this mental health issues that we're having and harms um like the you know infinite scrolling you know the notifications that are very addictive for kids because they get a dopamine hit and things like that. And then I also think as far as the drug deals go, they have all this technology. I mean, these are the top companies in the world, you know, and they have the ability to find and remove illegal content, illegal content.

27:43And this is, but the issue with this trial is not about content. We're talking about the design features of these platforms and that we now have seen through the internal documentation that these companies, they knew, CEOs knew that their platforms were causing harm. They did internal research, yet they chose not to do anything about it. And this kind of, for us, is so important because we've been talking about our stories for years now. Some of the parents I work with have been doing this for decades, a couple of decades. And still, this is the first time that we're really going to see what's really going on under those companies and have them.

28:20It's a road to accountability. Yeah. Just so you know, I mean, we've been covering this story for a long time. And we told the story at one point of Eli Weinstock, who was a college student and the nephew of former Congressman Ted Deutsch. And Eli bought, I think he thought some like herbal supplements or something, something legal and had fentanyl in and he died as well. It's just horrible. Julianne Arnold, thank you so much for sharing your story and Coco's story. May her memory be a blessing. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Turning now to our politics lead a few minutes into his speech at what is supposed to be a nonpartisan national prayer breakfast.

28:54President Trump attacked Democrats over their opposition to imposing strict nationwide voter ID laws. I don't know how a person of faith can vote for a Democrat. I really don't. And I know we have some here today and I don't know why they're here because they certainly don't give us their vote. I certainly know that we're not going to be convincing them to vote for a little thing called voter ID. When you go to the polls, you show, yes, my name is so-and-so and I live in the country. I'm here. I can vote. They say, that's not allowed. And everyone's trying to figure it out. And they do something to win.

29:34You know what it is? They cheat. Senate Republicans are trying to pass what's called the SAVE Act, which would, among other things, require voter ID and proof of citizenship at all polls in federal elections. It is already, of course, against the law for people who are not U.S. citizens to vote in federal elections. And experts say it does happen, but rarely and seldom enough, if ever enough, to influence an election. My panel joins me now. Mark, you're a person of faith, I believe. What's your take on President Trump saying no person of faith could ever vote for a Democrat? I don't understand it.

30:05Well, I think the National Prayer Breakfast has had a proud history of having a bipartisan format and celebration, honor our God. And, you know, I think he's entertaining, but there's a time and place for that. And I think that for the National Prayer Breakfast, I think, has lost some sponsors in recent years because of its politicization and allowing that. So it was a proud and long history of having a wonderful breakfast. We'll see what it moves forward with. But look, I support the president's position there. There's just a time and a place for it. There's just a time and a place for that sort of speech.

30:38Well, and the legislation, you're saying. Yes. Yeah. So, again, I believe that you are a person of faith. And you are. Not only do you vote for Democrats, you are a Democrat. I am a Democrat. And I am Catholic. And what I find interesting about his comments there is that we saw, what we saw in Tarrant County recently was a 50-point shift with Latino voters. And many Latino voters in places like Texas and all across the country are very Catholic. and you're seeing them switch from Republican to Democrat. And so that is what I find interesting, is instead of having a sort of positive message of faith and how we believe that we must be inclusive and, you know, the ICE tactics went too far and things like that, he is sort of turning off those voters that he actually once won, right?

31:23And he did target them with a message of faith through mail and TV, etc. So it's interesting that he's doing this route. I feel like he's alienating some of these voters, and I don't think it'll help in 2026. So former Vice President Kamala Harris dusted off her 2024 campaign accounts today. She posted this video under the handle headquarters underscore six seven. Take a listen. So Kamala HQ is turning into headquarters, and it's where you can go online to get basically the latest of what's going on, and also to meet and revisit with some of our great courageous leaders, be they elected leaders, community leaders, civic leaders, faith leaders, young leaders.

32:05I'm really excited about it. The updated presence on TikTok and X is an effort to reach and turn out young voters ahead of the midterms. First of all, I think we can fairly say if this is if the 6-7 reference is a reference to Gen Z doing 6-7, I think we can officially declare that meme dead. If a presidential, no offense to Kamala Harris, but if a presidential candidate is using it, I think. But what do you think? Look, I think there's nothing better for Republicans than for Kamala Harris to remain the face and leader of the Democrat Party. And to the extent that she's out doing that, it's going to continue to be good for our side.

32:37I think that, you know, for a lot of voters, there was obviously dissatisfaction with the four years of Biden-Harris. I think that her campaign was pretty lackluster. And so I think there's probably a bigger headache for Democrats right now to see her continue to put herself out front. So, Sochi, Republican Senator Bernie Moreno's chief of staff reacted by posting, quote, Wow, a 6-7 joke in the handle, too. The kids will love it. No chance she crashes and burns against relaunching like this. What do you think? I think she's trying to build her list for 2028. And she wants to, it's under the guise of trying to help candidates and community leaders in 2026.

33:13I will say that I agree with you. I don't think it is helpful. And I don't think that some of these statewide candidates and these members of Congress will be using her as a surrogate unless you're in a place like California or maybe places that she won. But I think that if you're in a swing state, in a state that is a swing Republican or Dem district, you're probably not having her campaign there. Where she can be helpful, and I'm actually surprised about this, is she can give money to candidates. Yeah. Instead of having a public sort of platform, going out and giving speeches, having this Kamala HQ.

33:44If I were her, I would start raising money and start giving out checks to vulnerable Democrats in or in Republican districts. And it's unfortunate that that's what she's doing. Well, that's certainly how you get friends. That's how you get friends. And also, that's how you win. I mean, Democrats are being outspent across the country. You would think that she would try to raise for these Democrats. So prominent infomercial salesman Vince Shlomi, a.k.a. the ShamWowGuy, is taking on 84-year-old incumbent Republican Congressman John Carter, who represents the northern suburbs of Austin, Texas. He's out there with an ad and describes John Carter as a guy who says, vote for me, a guy who's not half dead.

34:27Stop having a politician that's worse than Biden. You've seen the ad. What do you think? Look, Judge Carter has represented that area for quite a long time. This guy lives in California, has a part-time residence in Miami. He doesn't even reside in Texas. He's not really spending money on this. He's just a showman who's looking to try and get attention. So I'd be really shocked if the ShamWow guy ends up getting more votes in the primary district than Judge Carter does. So Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner. You guys rooting for anybody in particular? Bad Bunny. My team's out. Yeah, me too.

35:00But in any case, here's a campaign ad from the conservative group One Nation backing Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine. Obviously, that is an important race for the midterms for Republicans. Take a listen. When lives are on the line, they don't hesitate to run towards danger. Unfortunately, the same gear that protects them from deadly flames can be hazardous to their health. Senator Susan Collins to the rescue. Susan helped introduce legislation that protects firefighters and first responders. So if you missed that on Sunday, it's also going to air during the Winter Olympics. Some people tune into the Super Bowl just to watch commercials.

35:38Do you think that one's going to stand out? I think it already has. I mean, the fact is we're talking about it here. I was hearing a lot of other shows today talking about the ad. I think very few people actually watch political ads anymore, Jake. I think a lot of consultants make money on those. But in this case, if you're actually stirring other stories and getting more attention throughout other news cycles, then it's a productive ad. All right. Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. A new report shows layoffs are way up in America and hirings are at a notable low. Is there reason to worry or is this just a blip?

36:06We're going to get some context from our business team. That's next.

36:14Our money lead today, not a good day for the U.S. economy. Wall Street adding to it, the Dow, the S &P, the NASDAQ all ended their day down. And earlier today, we learned the estimated number of job openings in the U.S. dropped to about 6.5 million at the end of December. That's the lowest level since September 2020 during the pandemic. CNN's Vanessa Jokievich is tracking the numbers and the potential impact. Vanessa, what else stands out to you? Yeah, so investors were a bit nervous today as they got news about AI enhancements affecting the job market, but also two pieces of news regarding the labor market.

36:49The first came from Challenger Gray and Christmas, which reported that in January, companies announced 108 ,000 layoffs. That is the most since 2009. And compare that to January of last year, up over 100 percent. So you're talking about twice as many layoffs this January as last January. Compare that to just December, a month ago, three times as many layoffs announced in the month of January compared to just a month ago. The biggest companies reporting layoffs, you have Amazon and you also have UPS making up 40 percent of all layoffs that are coming in January. And And that is simply because those two companies actually cut ties with one another.

37:33And those feed into the reasons of why companies have announced layoffs. The contract loss there between UPS and Amazon. You also have people having questions about what the economy is actually looking like. Restructuring, closing of some companies, and artificial intelligence. That has been creeping up in terms of reasons why companies have been announcing layoffs. Jake, that's not great for people looking for jobs right now. 6.5 million open jobs compared to the number of people looking for jobs right now. 7.5 million. Jake, you can do that math. That just makes it a harder market for people looking for a job today.

38:13Vanessa, some other big news. For the first time in 15 months, Bitcoin fell below the$70 ,000 mark. What's going on there? Yeah, a notoriously volatile market to begin with. But certainly coming off some of those staggering highs that we have seen with Bitcoin. This is the nervousness that usually feeds into Wall Street, feeding into crypto. People are worried about geopolitical volatility that they've been seeing. Bitcoin often referred to as digital gold, which is considered a safe haven. So we're looking at the gold market, the silver market, usually safe haven assets for investors also feeling nervousness.

38:50Look at this. Gold is trading about$4 ,800 an ounce. Just a week ago,$5 ,500 an ounce. Look at silver,$7 ,600 an ounce. Just a week ago,$110 an ounce. You can just see how investors are still continuing to be nervous about what's happening with the overall economy right now, Jake. All right. Thank you so much, Vanessa Yurkiewicz. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. For this hour, investigators believe that Nancy Guthrie is still alive, as the search for NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie's mother is on day five. The sheriff, in a one-on-one interview with CNN, revealing that investigators have gone through more than 100 tips, but they remain, quote, waiting for that one big break.

39:33A former FBI criminal profiler will join us live in moments to analyze the new details. Plus, the latest release of the Epstein files contains an email that appears to confirm that this photograph of Prince, then Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre is legit. The now former royal previously suggested that the picture could be a fake. He said he doesn't even remember ever meeting her. Virginia's brother and sister-in-law call these developments vindication and they're going to join us ahead. Also, more than one billion dollars are expected to be wagered during this weekend's Super Bowl and the odds are a young man in your life could be one of those gamblers, somebody under 18.

40:12We're going to talk to an expert on how sports betting has targeted this one specific part of the population. And for some, it's the countdown to kickoff. For others, it's the countdown to halftime. Bad Bunny gave fans a preview of what they can expect during his performance this Sunday in the Super Bowl. And we have the details.

40:34All of that coming up this hour. But the lead tonight, President Trump remains laser focused on rewriting his 2020 election loss while calling on Republicans to, quote, take over the voting in future elections in 15 places that he lost. This morning at a prayer breakfast, Pastor Trump questioned how any person of faith can vote for Democrats regardless of the commandment, thou shalt not bear false witness. Trump then veered into the holy topic of the FBI seizing 2020 election ballots from Fulton County, Georgia, elections office. Georgia was central to Trump's false, debunked claim that the 2020 election was rigged, which it was not.

41:15Trump tried to explain sort of why his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was present during that FBI search. We have our director of national and international intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. She took a lot of heat two days ago because she went in And at Pam's insistence, she went in and she looked at votes that want to be checked out from Georgia. They say, why is she doing it? Right, Pam? Why is she doing it? Because Pam wanted her to do it. And you know why? Because she's smart. Pam is Pam Bondi, the attorney general. But why send Gabbard? It's a question that is baffling many senior intelligence officials and election law experts who say that Gabbard's job as director of national intelligence gives her no legal authority over an FBI search.

42:12Today, the White House tried to defend Gabbard's presence there after President Trump was asked about it in an interview with NBC. Why is Tulsi Gabbard there? I don't know. But, you know, a lot of the cheating comes from it's it's international cheating. China or any of these countries are involved in our elections that would bring her into it. And everybody knows that Russia, they talked about Russia, turned out to be a hoax. It was Hunter Biden. It wasn't Russia. Look, we have to have honest elections. There should be nothing wrong with the fact that they went in, got ballots from a while ago, and they're going to look at it.

42:50And now they're going to find out the true winner of that state. Oh, you want to know the true winner of the state of Georgia in 2020, President Trump? I can clear that up. It was President Biden. No matter how badly you wish that were not true, the idea that Trump won Georgia has been thoroughly debunked by Republicans and multiple recounts and audits and top officials in Trump's first administration, even the Republican governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, refuted Trump's claims back in August 2023 when he tweeted, quote, the 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen. For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward under oath and prove anything in a court of law.

43:33Our elections in Georgia are secure, accessible, and fair, unquote. But the truth is not what this is apparently about for President Trump. It's about his ego. But that's not my interpretation of this. That's what he said today. I rigged the second election. I had to win it. Had to win it. I needed it for my own ego. I would have had a bad ego for the rest of my life. Now I really have a big ego. Beating these lunatics was incredible. The first time, you know, they said I didn't win the popular vote. I did. Remember, that's at a bipartisan prayer breakfast. President Trump, again, did not win the popular vote in 2020.

44:14The real issues here, though, when it comes to whatever investigation the administration's cooking up when it comes to these ballots is, A, the Trump administration and President Trump regularly lies to the public about even things that we can see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears. And B, we already know what happens when President Trump requires a preordained outcome in law enforcement activities related to his political desires. Just look up FBI Director James Comey or New York Attorney General Letitia James. Hence, Attorney General Bondi understanding the assignment and sending Tulsi Gabbard down to Georgia.

44:52We'll see what they come up with. With us now, CNN anchor and chief White House correspondent Caitlin Collins, also CNN chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid. So Caitlin, this afternoon, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt once again tried to explain, if not sane-wash, Trump's comments on having Republicans take over elections in 15 places where Democrats won, or battleground states, even though the Constitution very explicitly gives that power to the states to run their elections without federal interference. How does Caroline Levitt continue to try to explain this away? So what she has pointed to repeatedly is that the president, she says, is talking about what they're trying to pass on Capitol Hill right now.

45:33Some Republicans, what they want to have a vote, which is this act that would essentially require you to prove your citizenship before you could register to vote. It's called the Save America Act. and repeatedly she has said that is what the president is talking about since he called for this a couple of days ago and he's only doubled down on it since he has not talked about it himself specifically you asked him about a tuesday and he didn't bring up the save america act despite the fact he was standing there with the house speaker right behind him and several other top senators from the republican party he did truly about a minute ago while you were reading that introduction tweet about the save america act and call on it to be passed but when you look at that jake and what it's talking about what it wants americans to do before they can register to vote It's not what the president is talking about where he's talking about having essentially what he's implying is the federal government counting the votes or administering the elections.

46:20Because when I asked him about it the other day, he was arguing the states are agents of the federal government and that they cannot do that in good manner, essentially, because he's arguing there's fraud. But he only named places, cities, Jake, and states that he lost in 2020. And obviously he has not disputed what those states also did in the last election when he won. And so I think that has been something that it's been this difficulty for even his own administration to defend because, one, it goes against the Constitution and Republicans have shot it down. Some of them. Some of them have actually reported it.

46:52And it's not even clear exactly what he's saying. I think it's the ambiguity, though, that has concerned people because what could he do with that is their question. Yeah. And when you asked him what 15 places he's talking about, he actually listed a few of them. Philadelphia. All places he lost in 2020. Fulton County. What a coincidence. Um, Paula, what exactly does Tulsi Gabbard's job have to do with elections, if anything? Jake, it's unprecedented for ODNI to have a role like this in investigations into elections. I want to give the White House a chance to weigh in here. Our colleague Kristen Holmes asked about all this today.

47:24Let's take a listen to what they said. Do you have any evidence that there was international interference in the 2020 election in this election center? What I do have evidence of and what the media seems to be undermining is why Tulsi Gabbard is there in the first place. And I would point you again to federal law that clearly assigns the DNI and the office with the statuatory responsibility to lead counter intel matters related to election security. It is more than appropriate. In fact, it is Tulsi Gabbard's job to ensure that our elections are safe and secure. And that's exactly what she's been doing on the ground in Georgia.

48:02Nutsche did not answer Christian's question, which is the question, because why are they down there in Georgia when we know the first Trump administration's Justice Department looked into these claims of voting problems down in Georgia, didn't find enough to even investigate. So is there new evidence? Is that why you are down there? Or are you down there for some little investigative theater to appease your boss? So far, no one can answer that question. And remember, they don't really have a lot of credibility here because the roughly 60 lawsuits that they brought with these election claims, almost all of them were tossed out of court.

48:34Now we'll note, a judge signed off on this search, so I leave open the possibility that there is new evidence. But so far, no one can answer that question that Kristen asked. Kaylin, where do you think this is all headed? I think part of this also has to do with Tulsi Gabbard's standing in the administration and where that has sorted out. Remember when the Nicolas Maduro capture happened, she was someone who was not included in that decision-making process in the last-minute details. She wasn't there at Mar-a-Lago when they were kind of sussing this out and when it actually went through. So part of that has been, you know, this is something, a game that all the cabinet members and the president's administration play where they are trying to do things that he wants them to do.

49:11And obviously he's obsessed with the 2020 election and still talks about it regularly, as you noted. I think one question that people have and that obviously so many Democrats have raised is when the president says things, People take him seriously in terms of nationalizing elections and calling out 15 states because they are conducting raids when it comes to Fulton County, Georgia. They're also trying to look into what happened in Puerto Rico in 2020. And so I think people are taking it seriously, given how much the president talks about what happens if Republicans lose in the midterms. And he knows for him it is going to change fundamentally his presidency.

49:44And Paula, we know Tulsi Gabbard's office also obtained voting machines from Puerto Rico and probed them for security vulnerabilities. What's that about? So this is some great new reporting from our colleague, Sean Lundgrass. He's reporting that she obtained these voting machines from Puerto Rico to probe them for security vulnerabilities. Now, in a statement, ODNI claimed to have found, quote, extremely concerning cybersecurity and operational deployment practices. Now, in justifying this probe, they're citing publicly reported claims relating to elections in Puerto Rico. But I reiterate, this is unprecedented.

50:15This is way beyond their authority or their expertise. Sean reporting that this happened last spring and it's unclear if they're ever going to make any of this public. So the other thing that's interesting about the Tulsi Gabbard of it all, Caitlin, is that she pushed forward some theory last year that nobody with like real knowledge or expertise took seriously about like Obama, like trying to sabotage Trump. right? And like the idea that she's willing to politicize intelligence is something that she's already done, according to her critics. Well, and also when she came out to that briefing to talk about that, I had heard concerns from people inside the administration that they were trying to go after John Brennan, potentially for an indictment.

50:58And they thought actually publicly revealing what she was talking about that day could hurt that, something the president obviously wanted to see. And so I do think a lot of this is having to do with what the president here wants. But on why she was present there, I mean, to Kristen's great question in the briefing today, it's just there's a complete lack of clarity from the administration. And it matters, obviously, given it's typically not her purview. And she said one thing in a letter to Congress. The president immediately said when he was asked last night, I don't know, even though she said it was at his direction.

51:27Then today he was saying it was at the attorney general's. And the White House says that people are playing semantics with that. But obviously, if this does become something that they turn into, try to turn into real investigations or that does affect the midterms, it will really matter who's in charge. And I think after January 6, 2021, people are willing to take seriously any theory about where this is going. And also remember then, the president was going to basically anyone who would do what he wanted in the Justice Department. When the attorney general wouldn't, he would go to the next person in line.

51:57They had ideas to install people in those roles to basically have people who wouldn't. Now he doesn't need to do that because the people in his cabinet are very obedient. I think it's fair to say. Paula Reid, Caitlin Collins, thanks so much. Don't miss Caitlin on her show, The Source of Kate Collins. Her guests tonight include Democratic Senator Mark Warner. That's tonight at 9 Eastern, only on CNN. Local officials confirming to CNN that a front door camera is missing from Nancy Guthrie's home. What else they're revealing as day five of the search drags on with no suspect yet publicly identified.

52:28And we're back with the breaking news at our national lead. in that urgent search in Arizona for Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie. Officials in an update earlier today say there remains no prime suspect or person of interest in this case. The FBI did reveal the two deadlines listed in a ransom letter sent to media outlets, the first one coming at 5 p.m. today, presumably Arizona time, the second next Monday. CNN's Ed Lavender had just sat down with Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, who says he believes Nancy Guthrie is still out there and alive. People are always asking, do I believe she's alive?

53:04Absolutely. Absolutely. There's nothing to say she isn't. And so we have to live on that. And we have to, that I hope keeps us motivated because we do know the dangers of each passing day. Let's bring in former FBI profiler Candace DeLong and CNN chief law enforcement analyst John Miller. John, so the FBI is leading the investigation into this random letter. Do you think they believe it could be legitimate based on what we've heard in the last day from them and from the Guthrie family? People within the investigation have different opinions and levels of confidence about that letter. But because the letter contains certain information that had not leaked out at the time the email was sent about the appearance of the inside of the crime scene and some things that only somebody who was there during the abduction might know, and it comes with a deadline and a threat, it's the kind of thing that they can't afford to not treat as 100 % real until they can eliminate that possibility.

54:09thus the push to try and make that a two-way conversation. So Candace, put on your FBI profiler hat. What kind of person, what type of person would try to pull off this type of crime preying on an 84-year-old woman for ransom? First, I think it's somebody that probably has some kind of criminal history. This is not a first-time offense. But in terms of a personality type, when you think about it, somebody would have to be enormously confident in themselves and narcissistic. You have to be narcissistic to think a couple of things in modern day crime fighting. One, that you can get away with murder, And two, that you could get away with the crime of this magnitude with the ability these days of the FBI and other law enforcement to figure things out.

55:11Digital footprints are left all over the place in addition to real footprints, things like that. So and I imagine this person, they're not a nebbish. They're not they're not shy and retiring. They're bold and confident. And after they're caught, people that know them will go, wow, yeah, this guy was real. He was just always out there, you know, taking command of a room. And that's how. So, John, we are in what some people call the post news media era. We're in a social media era. So many people who provide information are influencers who are focused more on getting clicks and growing an audience than they are in providing accurate information.

55:57And that reared its head. Law enforcement had to comment today about a number of unverified, if not completely false claims about suspects and evidence to dispel the rumors. And I wonder, what is the real world result of influencers pushing unverified nonsense for clicks? What's the impact on the family? What's the impact on the investigation? Well, I mean, if you listen to the sheriff today, he was kind of, you could see he was upset. He said, you know, we have never said there was forced entry or wasn't forced entry, but people are reporting that. We have never said there's a prime suspect or any particular suspect.

56:36We have, you know, never said that the doorbell camera was destroyed. Where do people get those things? And these are inaccurate. it, but the dangers of kind of the online sleuthing or the social media scoop that's not based on reliable information are manifold. I mean, remember the Boston Marathon bombing. Online sleuths identified two people and put their pictures out there as the suspects. It made its way into the newspaper and these two people were in great danger and almost assaulted and had to be really rescued from, you know, the mob. On the other hand, if you look at this case where they've talked about prime suspects and intimated a family member and everything else, A, the sheriff says that's not the case and B, it inhibits people who have information from coming forward because they read that reporting on their social media feeds, they think it's real news and they may say, oh well they already know who did it.

57:34I think I have this tip I should pass on, but I probably won't. That's another bad result. People need to make sure that they get vetted information from places where they know what they're talking about. And social media is not always high on that list. I would also imagine it would be very time consuming for the family and for law enforcement to have to chase down and tell legacy media, that's not true, that's not true, that's not true, instead of actually spending that time trying to find who did this. It's a distraction. Yeah. Candace, in this gut-wrenching video from the Guthrie family last night, Savannah and her brother and sister, Savannah mentioned how technology can make proof of life much more difficult for victims of hostage taking these days.

58:15Take a listen. We live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. we need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her we want to hear from you and we are ready to listen please reach out to us Candace how does the FBI verify communication from kidnappers in this era of AI I'm not exactly sure. That wasn't my specialty, but you did hit the nail on the head regarding AI. Somebody that knew what they were doing could produce some kind of video that very much looked like Nancy Guthrie and have her talking. But the FBI does have the ability to tell the difference between fact and fiction.

59:18Candace DeLong and John Miller, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. For anyone who might have any information about Guthrie's case, regardless of false theories making the rounds among influencers, please call the Pima County Sheriff's Department at 520-351-4900. 520-351-4900. Or call the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI. Or reach the agency online at tips.fbi.gov. Tips.fbi.gov. As we head into Super Bowl weekend, there are growing concerns about the number of teenagers, especially boys, who will be wagering on the big game. And that story's next.

1:00:01I don't know. Seeing these second half odds, I'm going to live bet them to win. $200 instantly. Just for betting five bucks. Get daily boosts on Super Bowl 60 all week long. And our tech lead, if you watch TV, especially sporting events, you have probably seen ads like those for popular sports betting apps. But even if you have not, chances are a young man in your life has seen them. A recent study by Common Sense Media found that 36 % of boys ages 11 to 17 have gambled in the past year. 30 % with the greatest chair among 16-year-olds at 51%. And among those boys, 60 % reported seeing betting ads on their social media feeds.

1:00:46Joining me now to discuss is Jonathan Cohen. He's the author of Losing Big, America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling. Jonathan, thanks for joining us. What do you think makes adolescent boys particularly susceptible to online gambling? Well, I would say first and foremost is that gambling still feels adult and it still feels cool. And the fact that, legally speaking, you technically need to be 21 to gamble on a website like DraftKings or FanDuel, I think that sort of adds to the mystique and the allure. Not to mention the fact that, and I'll say this as a once 16-year-old man, young man, I love sports and I wanted to prove to my friends how much I knew about sports.

1:01:23And I wanted to try to make money off of my sports fandom. So all those things, plus the social media influence that you mentioned, I think create this sort of toxic cocktail for young men in particular. So the American Gaming Organization estimates a$1.76 billion. $1.76 billion are going to be waged in the Super Bowl this Sunday. How should adults approach the young men in their lives about the risks associated with gambling? Yeah, I would say, first of all, to start with this concept that the young man in your life is probably already gambling, whether you know it or not, whether they know it or not, because there are so many video games these days that have gambling mechanics built in that someone might literally be gambling without understanding that that's what's happening.

1:02:06So I think taking a sort of just say no or an abstinence only approach is not going to work. And you're probably already playing from behind. And I think what young men might not understand is what gambling can do to their brain chemistry and the ways that they can become addicted or develop a problem or gamble more than they can afford or than they intend without even realizing that that's what's happening to them. Not to mention the fact that these companies are, in some cases, sort of predatorily seeking out young people and trying to get them hooked. So I hope that all those messages are more inspiring and would be more resonant for a young person than just sort of wagging our finger at them and telling them not to gamble.

1:02:45All right, so let me do two quick follow-ups on that. One, how are they predatorily going after like 15, 16-year-old boys? And two, what does gaming, gambling do to a young person's brain? Yeah, well, I'll just start with the second question. And gambling is, of course, it's not a substance that you ingest into your body, but it actually has a similar effect to your body like drugs or alcohol in that once you start using it, you might need a larger dose to get the same so-called high that you've gotten from previous doses. So gambling with$5, you might be able to gamble with$5 for a long time, but then at some point you might chase your loss.

1:03:24You might switch over to$50 bets and all of a sudden you need$50 to get that same excitement that you once got. And that's a dangerous journey. And that's sort of something unique to gambling relative to other behaviors that are out there. And what about predatorily? Like, how are they doing that? I mean, all the major sports betting apps and companies have rules that, in theory, prevent boys, prevent people under 21 from gambling. But clearly, they're finding ways around it, both the boys and presumably the companies. Right. So the companies actually, they have, as best they can, age verification systems.

1:03:57And if a 16-year-old, for example, is gambling on DraftKings, it is because they have the social security number of an older relative or a sibling or something. And they don't want, I think, for the most part, these legal companies don't want young people on their platforms. The problem is these gray market or black market operators that have weak or nonexistent age verification systems. I'm not even going to name them because they're the absolute scum of the earth. But they are these are the companies that are sort of inundating young people's social media platforms, offering them the chance to gamble either with real money or you buy sort of tokens and you gamble with those tokens and you convert them back into money.

1:04:33And those have no age verification system at all. And that's why I insist that regardless of the legal status of gambling in your state, the young person in your life has access to gambling if they want to find it. So it's not a matter of whether they're going to gamble. It's what they're going to gamble on. Again, the book is called Losing Big, America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling. The author is Jonathan Cohen. Thanks so much, Jonathan. Good stuff. Thanks, Jake. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer apologized earlier today to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein as the questions grow around one of Starmer's former ambassadors, ambassador to the U.S., in fact, and his ties to the dead sex trafficking pedophile.

1:05:13We're going to explain in moments.

1:05:20In our world lead, if you ask President Trump about the Justice Department's most recent Epstein document dump, it's time to move forward, he says, and leave the past in the past. But as CNN's Melissa Bell explains, the rest of the world, particularly our friends across the pond in Great Britain, well, they're not yet ready to heed that advice. There was a conspiracy against me, literally, by Epstein and other people. But I think it's It's time now for the country to maybe get onto something else. But the rest of the world is not moving on, with the British leader now fighting for his political survival.

1:05:56Prime Minister Keir Starmer apologising on Thursday to Jeffrey Epstein's victims. I am sorry. Sorry for what was done to you. Sorry that so many people with power failed you. Thank you very much. It was beautifully stated. What a beautiful accent too. I'd like to have that accent. My mother would be proud. Here's Starmer's former ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, at the centre of the political firestorm. It had been publicly known for some time that Mandelson knew Epstein, but none of us knew the depth and the darkness of that relationship. London's Metropolitan Police launching a criminal probe into allegations of misconduct when Peter Mandelson was business secretary back in the late 2000s.

1:06:49But the Prime Minister's judgment is also now under scrutiny. I regret appointing him. If I knew then what I know now, he would never have been anywhere near government. Given the fallout, there is also the question of what Epstein was doing and why. The Polish government is now investigating whether Russian intelligence services may have been involved. It is highly probable that this was a premeditated operation by the Russian KGB. This so-called honey trap, a sweet bait, a trap set for the elites of the Western world, primarily the United States. Allegations the Kremlin has dismissed as a waste of time, even as the fallout continues.

1:07:32consuming also the reputations of European royalty. Norway's crown princess Metmarit expressing embarrassment for her close friendship with Epstein. And the former prince Andrew further disgraced by the latest revelations and now evicted by his brother King Charles from Windsor. Revelations that may cost Mandelsen his title too. Starmer has called for legislation that would strip the man once known as Labour's prince of darkness of his peerage making Lord Mandelson plain old Peter. Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris. And our thanks to Melissa Bell for that report. Those are not the only developments in the Epstein files related to the man formerly known as Prince Andrew.

1:08:13And in moments, I'm going to be joined by the family of Virginia Giuffre after an email in the latest release appeared to confirm that this photo showing Virginia and then Prince Andrew is completely legitimate.

1:08:35In our Law and Justice League, emails in the new Epstein files appear to confirm this photograph of Britain's disgraced former Prince Andrew with his arm around the waist of Virginia Giuffre is authentic. Giuffre, who died by suicide last April, was one of the most outspoken survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's child rape trafficking ring. The former prince has long denied allegations said he sexually assaulted Jufre when she was a teenager and has long questioned whether the photo had been doctored. Just to clarify, so you think that photo has been faked? Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored, but I don't recollect that photograph ever being taken.

1:09:22And you don't recollect having your hand round her waist in Gerlaine Maxwell's house on any occasion, even if it was a different date. I'm terribly sorry, but if I, as a member of the royal family, and I have a photograph taken, and I take very, very few photographs, I am not one to, as it were, hug. And public displays of affection are not something that I do. Okay. Among the millions of documents the Justice Department released last week, there is a 2015 email to Epstein. from his longtime accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. And it reads in part, quote, I was in London when Redacted met a number of friends of mine, including Prince Andrew.

1:10:06A photograph was taken, as I imagine she wanted to show it to friends and family. And joining us now to discuss are Skye and Amanda Roberts, the brother and sister-in-law of Virginia Giuffre. First, Skye, it is nearing a year since your sister has been gone. How are you doing?

1:10:34That's a hard one. I ask myself that every day. You know, it's very difficult. We wish she was here to see all the impact that she's making, especially from beyond. You know, there's so much momentum that's gaining traction. And, you know, we get to talk to survivors every day and many of them credit for coming forward. and even just being here today to her. And so, you know, I'm just, I'm very proud of her. Yeah. For everything she was able to accomplish and everything she keeps accomplishing from God. I'm like, girl, whatever you're doing from beyond, it's, you know, quite incredible. So, you know, we're just really, really proud of her, Jake.

1:11:16And we're doing okay. I really appreciate you asking that. You should be proud of her because her courage is all the more notable now, the courage that she had in speaking up. Amanda, it must be, I mean, I know there's almost nothing good about any of this, but there must be some vindication that your family feels to see these documents, including that email from Ghislaine Maxwell about that photograph of Virginia and disgraced Prince Andrew. Yeah, I remember it being brought to my attention yesterday. And I had a moment where I did, I broke down for a minute because it felt so vindicating in that moment.

1:12:03And, you know, when these things happen, we're usually calling each other and screaming and just, you know, giving her that credit that she's owed. And so it was bittersweet. I wish that I could pick up the phone and tell her like you're doing it and I'm so proud of you. But it was so vindicating. Virginia had been telling the truth every single time. And it brought me back to a quote that she said in her interview is that I know what happened. He knows what happened. And only one of us is telling the truth. And I know that's me. And just her conviction to the truth. It's just amazing to see it actually in fruition right now.

1:12:42Just for the record, there are a lot of us who knew she was telling the truth. And it looks like there are a lot of people in the royal family who knew it too, even if it took them forever to act. There's another email that reveals that the day after the British press published that photograph, Prince Andrew emailed Epstein and said, quote, it would seem we're in this together and we'll have to rise above it. Otherwise, keep in close touch and we'll play some more soon, unquote, play some more. Sky, how do you process and deal with the fact that to this day, Prince Andrew continues to deny all the accusations she made against him, no matter how much evidence and how much the royal family distanced himself from him.

1:13:25Yeah. I mean, I think right now you're seeing a strong form of social justice come through. I think you're seeing, you know, people out there that are incredibly demanding, I would say. I think, you know, from a social environment, a social standpoint, point, we want to hold them to account. And so he knew it the whole entire time. I mean, not only, you know, was it that he knew it, but there was others around him that also knew it as well, including his very good friend, Ghislaine Maxwell. And so you can tell they actively tried to silence victims, including my sister, for so long. And, you know, she was just so headstrong in her truth.

1:14:08She knew, as Amanda just said, she so bravely said only one of us is telling the truth. And so, you know, Jake, I think that his day is coming and we hope that they open up a criminal investigation on him, quite frankly. Yeah. Since last November, which is not really that much time, there have been three times that women reporters have confronted or asked President Trump some pretty basic questions about the Epstein files. And all three times he lashed out once he said, quiet piggy to a reporter, female reporter. And then just earlier this week, he attacked our own Caitlin Collins, again, doing her job, asking questions.

1:14:46And at the same time, President Trump said it's time for the country to move on. Amanda, what was your response to hearing that? I'm just curious as to why he's so triggered every time. And specifically when we're talking about survivors, every time the reporter, especially Caitlin Collins, when she He brought up survivors. She's asking him to address the victims, right, who were girls. They were children, okay? We see them as women now, but they were children. And he's asking them to address their feelings. And he's so triggered by that. I find that so astonishing, number one, that he gets so triggered by that.

1:15:26And no one can, should, or can move on from child abuse, okay? We should never move on from child abuse. And the culture is shifting, right? We are finally in this space of saying this, whatever has been happening, this power, this position, it's time for it to change. It's not working. We are not protecting our children, and that should be our priority. And so I just find it astonishing that he's just so triggered by survivors. Sky, you talked about social justice for Prince Andrew and his shunning and all that. What does full justice ultimately look like for you and your family and the memory of your sister?

1:16:15Yeah, it's a really good question, Jake. I think we're living it right now. You know, you have the DOJ violating the law. You have Pam Bondi and her team violating the law by unredacting the names of the survivors and redacting the names of perpetrators. We need to uncover who these people are. We need to understand the magnitude of what this took place in our own very government. And so, and we got to hold them accountable. We've got to, I mean, as you just said, Jake, socially, we can do that right now. It takes no time. They should be stepping off of boards. We should not be supporting their businesses.

1:16:46We should be calling on people to take action in our own social community to not allow them to hold places of power. But in terms of actual justice, we need to see our Department of Justice hold them to a standard. We need to get past this. There should be no statute of limitation. There should be no statute of limitations for child sexual abuse. And quite frankly, they need to come forward, any of these perpetrators, and prove their innocence. It's not about the survivors anymore proving if they're right or not or if they're telling the truth. It's about you proving your innocence. You are in these files.

1:17:15You have questions to answer, period. Skye, Amanda, thank you both. I know it's not easy talking about this stuff, but it's so important to keep the story going and keep the fight for justice going. May Virginia's memory be a blessing. Thank you. Thank you. We'll be right back. Our last leads start in our health lead in just moments. At 7 p.m. Eastern, the Trump administration plans to unveil an updated TrumpRx website. This is part of the president's efforts to lower prescription drug costs by connecting patients directly with drug makers. It is not yet clear if this direct-to-consumer approach will actually result in lower costs for patients, but we certainly hope so.

1:17:59In our money, leads say goodbye to a household staple, Minute Maid Frozen Juices. The brand's parent company said today that after 80 years, the frozen juice concentrates will be discontinued in the coming months due to less demand. Consumers can still get their favorite flavored frozen juice while supplies last. And in our pop culture lead, the Super Bowl halftime show is almost here. And Dad Bunny says fans should not worry if they don't know Spanish. Some football fans stressed about the language barrier as he will be the first Spanish language artist to headline the show. But to that, Bad Bunny says it will be a huge party or fiesta and that viewers only need to, quote, worry about dancing.

1:18:40Aaron Burnett Out Front starts right now. See you tomorrow.

1:18:48New cycle making your head spin? The Have I Got News for You crew is here to help with a comic take on the week's headlines. New episodes, Saturdays at 9 on CNN and next day on the CNN app.

From the publisher

Law enforcement authorities reveal new details in their search of the mother of ‘Today’ show anchor Savannah Guthrie. Plus, the new jobs report in America shows layoffs way up and hirings way down. 
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