Has US star Savannah Guthrie’s mum been abducted?

0:02Savannah Guthrie:Sky News, the full story first.

0:08David Blevins:Coming up, the kidnapping that's captured a nation. The elderly mother of one of the United States most famous broadcasters went missing days ago. Now the president's getting involved.

0:23Savannah Guthrie:She is very limited in her mobility, right? We know she didn't just walk out of there. She did not leave on her own.

0:30David Blevins:The sheriff of Pima County, Arizona, believes that 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie's disappearance suggests foul play. In a case that's gathering international attention, even the president's talking about it.

0:41Savannah Guthrie:I'm going to call her later on. I think it's a terrible thing. I always got along very good with Savannah.

0:46David Blevins:The Savannah the president just mentioned there is NBC's Savannah Guthrie, Nancy's daughter, and one of the most famous faces on U.S. television.

0:54Savannah Guthrie:We are here at the White House. We might run into a senior administration official. You know what's better than a gold medal? 23 gold medals.

1:03David Blevins:Now, Savannah is broadcasting directly to those she believes have taken her mother.

1:08Savannah Guthrie: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.

1:19David Blevins:David Blevins is Sky's US correspondent and co-host, of course, of our sister podcast, Trump 100.

1:24Niall:I have to say, as soon as I heard this, that it was Savannah Guthrie's mother that she was missing from her home and police were not treating it as a normal missing person case. Call it old fashioned journalistic instinct. I just knew this is a story. There is something significant going on behind this. And it's still a story because we don't know the answer. How big a story right now? Massive. It is gripping America. And that is largely, I think, because of who Savannah Guthrie is. She is not just a co-host of the Today Show with an audience of several million people. She is the voice of America that brings this nation together at its key moments.

2:05Niall:She hosts the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. She hosts the lighting of the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center. And most significantly for many people, she hosts the Olympics as well. In fact, she's had to suspend her plan to go to Italy to commentate over the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. So she's a household name, an absolute star in the United States. If you were to compare her to a personality in British television, what sort of level are we talking? Combination, perhaps, of Susanna Reid and Gabby Logan, or because of the star quality of Savannah Guthrie, I would say even Claudia Winkleman.

2:40David Blevins:David, this is a moving story, and of course, we all hope it moves in the best direction. We are speaking Thursday lunchtime, British time. When did this story first emerge?

2:48Niall:The story broke on Sunday when it became clear police were not treating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie as a missing person case. They said they were treating it as a criminal investigation, which is a very unusual thing to say at such an early stage. She had not turned up for church that morning. She was a regular church attender. So her family went to the home, couldn't find her and quickly reported her missing.

3:14David Blevins:Why would the disappearance of an 84-year-old immediately be treated by the police as potentially a kidnapping? Let's call it what many people are.

3:22Niall:Police very quickly said there were signs of forced entry at her home and they used this term concerning indicators. They later elaborated upon that, Neil, and said it was spats of blood, some DNA evidence. The other thing that they thought was unusual was her cell phone was there, her wallet was there, her car was there. So that's what convinced them this 84-year-old hadn't just wandered off into the night. Something unusual had happened at that home. Nancy Guthrie had some health issues, but they were physical issues. She's limited mobility, but there was no cognitive problem. She didn't have memory issues.

4:01Niall:She had no history of wandering off in the night, for example. And it's also very difficult terrain, of course. We're talking about the foothills of the affluent Catalinas in Arizona. It's not territory you could wander too far if you were 84 years of age.

4:16David Blevins:I'm presuming, therefore, that there has been a search effort and a fairly extensive one then.

4:20Niall:Yes, they brought in search dogs, they brought in the drones, they brought in other infrared technology, and they did carry out a search over a wide area very quickly. But it was during that search they decided to announce in a press conference that they weren't treating this as a normal missing persons case.

4:37David Blevins:Tell me a little bit about the video statement that we have had from Savannah and other members of the family. Very, very pointed, very, very much directed at the people who we presume may be holding Nancy right now.

4:51Niall:Well, Neil, there had been reports of ransom notes having been received by a number of media organisations. Police were very cautious about what they said in relation to those. They said they were aware of those reports of ransom notes. They said they were treating it as a lead at that point rather than as a ransom motivated crime. But I think it was telling when the family video was released that they referred to the ransom notes. They will not have done that without permission of law enforcement. And they were very carefully scripted. And of course, Savannah Guthrie is a journalist. She knows the importance of getting the wording right.

5:30Niall:She was speaking directly to her mother at times, as was her sister. And it was very powerful. They called her mommy. They talked about her faith. They talked about her strength of character. They assured her they were looking for her. But also they spoke directly to anyone who may be holding her, because, of course, that will be one of the possibilities. And by referring to the ransom notes, I think they gave much more credibility to the story that has been circulating over the last couple of days.

5:59David Blevins:Well, we certainly know that the politicians in the United States are becoming increasingly concerned about this. And that involves Donald Trump, not someone that I thought was particularly friendly with any journalist in the United States.

6:09Niall:She's the sort of figure that is known to bring the nation together. And the Trump administration will recognise that. We often talk about how the president is heavily critical of journalists, especially female journalists. This is an opportunity for them to take control of the narrative as well and suggest, well, actually, he's not that opposed to female journalists. He's very empathetic, it seems, about Savannah Guthrie's case. The White House posted that they were making all federal resources available. Savannah Guthrie thanked them for that. And in fact, yesterday, the president telephoned her directly and spoke to her from the Oval Office.

6:45David Blevins:Do we know anything about that phone call?

6:46Niall:Yes, we know because the president had just done an interview with NBC and their presenter, Tom Yamas, was in the Oval Office. And afterwards, he reported back that the president had reached out to Savannah shortly after the interview. Tom Yamas says he stepped outside the Oval Office as the call was placed. The president assured the family every resource was available as needed. He talked about knowing how close Savannah is to her mother. And Savannah thanked him for taking time to speak to the family. She said they were devastated and praying that what the family needs more than anything is some answers.

7:21Niall:Do we know much more about Nancy herself? She uses a pacemaker to manage her cardiac issues. Police have said that pacemaker last synced with her Apple Watch at 2am on Sunday morning, which will be a real concern for the family. That doesn't necessarily mean the pacemaker is no longer working. It just means it's a considerable distance away from the Apple Watch. She takes medication as well, we understand, for high blood pressure. And police have said that's a daily medication. And so the longer she goes without it, the more dangerous it becomes.

7:53David Blevins:How much do we know about the investigation, the manner in which it's being conducted? I mean, you've mentioned Donald Trump saying from the Oval that federal resources are there if necessary and will be deployed. What does that actually mean?

8:04Niall:The investigation is being led by Prima County Sheriff's Department, but they're coordinating with the FBI. So it is a combination of state and federal law enforcement. But they haven't actually put that much in the public domain. They do tend to hold daily press conferences. But here we are four days after this woman was reported missing and there is still no named suspect. There is still no known motivation. So they appear to be drawing a blank at this stage. Now, as you've said, there's going to be a press conference shortly. Perhaps they have new information to put out there. But they've said all along that this is a crime that's going to be solved by the public.

8:42Niall:They've urged the public to come forward with any information, people who may have dash cam footage, door camera footage, any of that.

8:50David Blevins:I don't want to be unduly pessimistic, but time is of the essence when it comes to this investigation.

8:55Niall:I think there was a very real sense of that in that video from Savannah Guthrie, her sister and her brother, when they released it last night. They were tearful at times. The emotion was very apparent. The passage of time, I think, showed even on their faces how long they've been waiting. You can only imagine they won't be sleeping at night. There's a real pressure in their lives and they are a very close family. It seems they've often talked about that. Savannah's talked about her relationship with her mother, her two older siblings. and they must be absolutely heartbroken and living in hope but also living with the reality that time is passing.

9:35David Blevins:The United States is a bitterly divided place at the best of times these days. I'm just wondering whether in some sense people are uniting, at least in terms of hope and we hope not grief.

9:48Niall:Neil, you and I know no matter what you do in broadcasting you tend to divide opinion. There are those who will love you and there are those who will loathe you. Just read your timeline every morning and you find that. In the case of Savannah Guthrie, she has had an amazing ability to navigate all of that in a deeply polarised America. And I think one of the ways she has done that is by sharing her story. A year after she started hosting the Today Show, she returned to Australia where she had been born and where she lived for a year, took her mother on that journey and shared that with all of her audience.

10:23Niall:Then she later went back to Tucson, Arizona, where she'd grown up and again went to local restaurants with her mother, shared that with her audience. She's brought them into her world and they feel very much like her family. And that has endeared her to the American audience. And I think that is why her story has brought the nation together to some extent, has brought the president onto the side of a journalist, as you point out, in hope that there could be a positive ending to all of this. The other thing I think I should say about Savannah Guthrie is the reason she is, I think, universally admired is because she crosses the spectrum in terms of what she does.

11:06Niall:If you're a news junkie, she's a woman you will know. If you're a sports fan because of the Olympics, she's a woman you will know. My granddaughters who live in Rhode Island are aged five and three. They dance in front of the television every Thanksgiving day watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. So she transcends generations as well. And I think it's that admiration, indeed love for Savannah Guthrie that has brought the nation together on this.

11:32David Blevins:David, thanks very much indeed. And as mentioned, this is a developing story. So for the very latest, just head to the website skynews.com. The Daily's back tomorrow.