Meet the Press NOW — February 9

Hi there, and welcome to MEET the press. Now. I'm Ryan Nobles in Washington. And we begin with breaking news and the new developments in the search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of our beloved NBC News colleague Savannah Guthrie.

Moments ago, Savannah posting a new video on Instagram on her mother's disappearance. We want to play that video for you in its entirety. Hi there, everybody. I wanted to come on and just share a few thoughts as we enter into another week of this nightmare.

I just want to say, first of all, thank you so much for all of the prayers and the love that we have felt, my sister and brother and I, and that our mom has felt because we believe that somehow, some way, she is feeling these prayers and that God is lifting her. Even in this moment, in this darkest place, we believe our mom is still out there. We need your help. Law enforcement is working tirelessly around the clock trying to bring her home, trying to find her.

She was taken and we don't know where. And we need your help. So I'm coming on just to ask you, not just for your prayers, but no matter where you are, even if you're far from Tucson, if you see anything, you hear anything, if there's anything at all that seems strange to you that you report to law enforcement. We are at an hour of desperation.

And when you drop this post comes, of course, less than 48 hours after Savannah, alongside her siblings, posted a new video with a message to their mom's captor. We received your message and we understand that we celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.

A3 officials tell NBC News that their video message was in response to a new no that was sent Friday to a local Tucson TV station. The station saying that message did not include proof of life. Investigators did conduct another search of Nancy Guthrie's home and property this weekend, as well as a search of the home of her daughter Annie, which a spokesperson says was part of a follow up search in the normal course of the case. NBC News chief justice and national affairs correspondent Kelly o' Doll joins me from Tucson.

Also with me is NBC News national law enforcement and intelligence correspondent Tom Winter. Kelly, let's start with you. Obviously, this video from Savannah just posted a few minutes ago on Instagram, but I'm struck by the word and the use of the word desperation and the fact that she's asking anyone, no matter where they are, that if they saw something even a little off, to contact authorities. It seems it just shows just how little progress has been Made in the search for her mom.

Well, certainly we can appreciate that Savannah Guthrie, as the daughter, is certainly trying to convey something that will make an appeal to the public. And I think in many ways she captures what we are sensing on the ground, which there are many resources being brought to bear here, but there has not yet been that kind of clue or breakthrough that leads investigators in a very specific direction. That is not to say there isn't massive work being done, because there is. We've been in touch with all of our sources, especially with the FBI that has many offices, from the FBI in the west to some Phoenix and beyond, sending personnel here to do a lot of the painstaking work of reviewing key evidence that is at a level where it is looking for the needle in a haystack, reviewing cell phone data, reviewing digital and video information, trying to find something that generates a clue.

What Savannah is doing in her message, it appears, is trying to speak more broadly to those who might know someone who saw something, said something, or has some bit of information from their own experience that could help break through all of that digital work and all of that record search for the kind of old school human contact that might be able to bring about some clue that law enforcement can act on. It is really a moment where she's also speaking separately from the efforts that relate to the notes that have gone to media outlets and then by extension to the family seeking some kind of ransom payment. Again, we don't know if those notes are actually at all connected to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie and if they are credible in any way, but the family has kept that pathway open and talked about a willingness to pay. Not in this message.

Savannah Guthrie speaking without her siblings this time. The fourth message we've had from the family collectively is asking for a breakthrough and also thanking everyone for prayer, support and the work that's going on. She reinforced that they have confidence in the work of law enforcement and what they're doing, but they need something. An hour of desperation is not only what she is feeling, but in a palpable way.

It's what you sense here on the ground that there was work being done, but a real need for a breakthrough moment. Right. And to that point, Kelly and Savannah makes note of this in her message. We're now entering the second week since her mom went missing, and you mentioned how desperate the investigators are there.

What is their mood like? Are they still just as intense as they were in the hours after her mom went missing? It's hard to answer that, but this is a professional, large scale national level involvement. And I think that's very significant.

Clearly, Pima county has a role to play. They have been handling parts of this investigation. There's been work we've seen over the weekend that takes some of the physical search to a new level. Some of that is about new teens coming on board, needing to get a sense of visual of the area.

We're talking about the home. That is to get every home where she was last seen, the wider area, looking for potential evidence, doing some of the kinds of, of basic shoe leather law enforcement that allows them to say, we know we search these areas, we can move on to the next thing that's going on. That included the search man, Guthrie's home, the last place that Nancy Guthrie had been known to be on that Sunday night, having dinner with family. That is a standard kind of a part of a search.

A lot of the work that is continuing is being done through the electronic availability of information like cell data, digital information, videos that they've been able to get from businesses. And so there is considerable effort. We know there's been a lot of public pressure as well as great interest. From aside, the president of the United States who has said he is very interested in knowing more.

I checked with the White House. They tell me that he's getting regular updates and is very interested in this. So there could not be more pressure on a high profile case like this, a very personal one for Savannah and her family in the community here in the neighborhood where she has called this place home for decades. So there is a sense that time is not helpful when you're Talking about an 84 year old woman who's missing.

And certainly they'd like to have some kind of a breakthrough that could lead to a more meaningful piece of evidence that could give us some answers. All right, let's turn to Tom, which we at that point. Tom, walk us through your reporting. Obviously, we don't know, we're not privy to all the different things investigators have collected, the lead that could potentially be chasing.

But do we feel any closer today to finding Nancy Guthrie than we did, say a week ago? I wish I could say yes, Ryan. I'm not so sure about that. Look, there's a number of different things that they're looking into and a number of different items that they're trying to, you know, get a handle on.

One of them is a car is a story that we broke back on Friday that there's a vehicle they're looking into to determine whether or not it's not that vehicle to be Clear. That was actually the car from Nancy Guthrie's. That was her car that was taken from her house to be looked at, to be forensically processed. That occurred on Friday evening along with searches of that residence.

On top of that, apparently there's a vehicle that they want to know a little bit more about, whether or not that becomes a vehicle of interest, which is a phrase reporters know about. I'm not so sure law enforcement does, but that the person who would be inside of that vehicle could, of course, be somebody of interest to them. And that's something that they're going to look into. That's.

That's definitely something they're trying to get some more information on. On top of that, you'll get some video from the. From somebody. Guthrie's sister's house, Annie's house.

They were there searching on Saturday night, taking number photographs inside the residence. That was the last place, and those were the last people to see. To see them, Nancy Guthrie alive. And so it makes sense, that's where your investigation starts.

And there's no indication, authorities have said there are no suspects. There's no. There's no, you know, new information as far as people of interest. But that would be a logical place to.

So that's what we know in terms of investigation. They're back at the house. You're looking at that video now yesterday afternoon, at one point, looking into manhole cover. So, yeah, a lot of work being done, a lot of different things that they're looking at in order to try to gather more evidence, get more clues.

And that's really what this case needs to be at the moment. Right. And Kelly and Tom, the Guthrie family we saw, release another video message late Saturday. What do we know about what led to the making of that video and who was involved in it?

Yeah, so this video was put out, as you said, on Saturday. And it's our understanding that this was in response to the second message that these people that purport to be the kidnappers sent. Sent to a TV station, dislocated Kold tv, located in that area of the country. And basically it's just a.

It's a response back to them. And what's interesting is they don't talk about proof of life. What is potentially important is that they. They're the ones that are putting the offer forward.

And so the question is, what was exactly in that second mess and is there some sort of a change as far as the negotiations or the back and forth of the people that sent that message? We should know that there's been no confirmation that whoever's been sending these messages to these news outlets and then, excuse me, presumably on the Guthrie family, that those are in fact the people that took Nancy Guthrie out of her house against their will. And aside from the on site searches, Tom, what type of data and information are investigators using in this search? Well, it's a little bit of art and science coming together.

But one of the things that I'm curious about is if the CAST team, the cellular analysis in survey team, that's FBI's CAST team, if they've been able to uncover any more information. It's kind of looking for a needle in a sack of needles. But you have to figure out what the needle is that you're looking for first, to use as many metaphors as possible. So it's a bit of a challenge.

And what they have to do is they have to determine areas that they want to search, times that they want to search, and then the devices that might be in the area. And it's a timing. It's not just as easy throwing up a map and saying, okay, let's look at every cell phone that's near Nancy Guthrie's house. Yes, that is kind of the idea.

But you have to serve subpoenas on the cell phone companies to download the data off the tower and then to be able to compare that to other towers and overlay that. There are programs for this. The FBI has been doing it for some time. There's exigent circumstances where they can get this information without having to wait a particularly long time.

We saw it, by the way, be put to use in recently in the January 6th pipe bomber case. It came into use there. It was very helpful in going back and look at the movements. The Boston Marathon bombing suspects, the Tsarnaev brothers, they were able to kind of figure out their movements prior to and just after that bombing that led to some critical evidence.

So it's very, very helpful information. It does take time, and it takes time to process all this information and then run down those leads. So that's kind of the backstory on how that technology works. We'll see how successful it might be here, Ryan, coming up.

Okay, Tom, thanks for your on this, Keller. Donald, thank you for your work on the ground as well. Obviously, if you guys get any new information before the end of this broadcast, let us know. We'll put you back on.

If you have any information on this case, you can contact the FBI tip line. That number is 1-800- call FBI. And coming up, we have more on the search for Nancy Guthrie. And the breaking news with Savannah Guthrie saying the family believes their mother is still out there.

Plus, President Trump's super bowl halftime report is in and he's not happy lashing out at the Grammy winning artist Bad Bunny for delivering a historic Spanish language performance. You're WATCHING THE PRESS now. Welcome back. And we turn out to latest here in Washington.

With the calls for transparency surrounding the Epstein files continuing to grow both in the halls of Congress and by survivors, even after the Justice Department's release of millions of Epstein related documents last month. It comes as lawmakers are getting their first opportunity today to review the unredacted versions of those files. Congressman Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, spoke to reporters this afternoon after getting his first look at those unredacted files. There were to be no redactions in order to spare people embarrassment or political disgrace.

We didn't want there to be a cover up. And yet what I saw today was that there were lots of examples of people's names being redacted when they were not victims. And so we still haven't gotten from the DOJ their privilege log explaining why certain redactions were made. But I can tell you that I saw a whole bunch of them that seem very suspicious and baffling to me.

Lawmakers today also expressing frustration with the lack of answers from Epstein co conspirator to Lee Maxwell would vote for Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination today during a deposition before the House Oversight Committee and refused to answer their questions. In a statement, Maxwell's lawyer saying, quote, if this committee and the American people truly want to hear the unfiltered truth about what happened, there is a straightforward path. Ms. Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump.

A lawyer going on to say that Maxwell clear both President Trump and former President Clinton for wrongdoing. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle reacting as expected. Glenn Maxwell took the Fifth and refused to answer any questions. This is obviously very disappointing.

We had many questions to ask about the crime she had Epstein committed as well as questions about potential co conspirators. We sincerely want to get the truth to American people and justice for the survivors. That's what this investigation is about. The fact that this woman is continuing to invoke the Fifth Amendment tells us exactly what my colleagues have already said.

She's a monster. She does not care. She has no remorse. She is not seeking to bring about some kind of closure for these women.

We will absence survivors calling for even More transparency from the Justice Department releasing this PSA on Super Bowl Sunday. Take a look. After years of being kept apart, we're standing together. Standing together because this girl deserves the truth.

Because she deserves the truth. Because we all deserve the truth. Joining me now, talk more about this Democrat, Congresswoman Melanie Sansbury of New Mexico. New Mexico.

Congressman, thank you so much. I know you're going to see the unreacted Epstein files tomorrow. What will you be looking for? Well, you know, there are a lot of unanswered questions, but I want to clarify that the Epstein Files Transparency act was very clear that the Department of Justice was to release all files except was able to redact files that either would reveal the identities of the survivors or include child pornography or acts of violence.

And the Department of Justice is breaking the law right now. Not only have they not complied with the subpoena that we issued at the end of the summer, they've only released about half of the files that they have in their jurisdiction. And they have over redacted files, including unmasking survivors, which the law told them not to do, and actually redacting files that implicate co conspirators and potential perpetrators. So I have a list of files I'll be looking at.

Department of justice spent many years investigating these crimes. We know that there are at least a dozen potential co conspirators who are named in various DOJ files and investigations. I'll be looking at specific emails, where they reacted, the names of individuals while discussing actual sex crimes with minors with Jeffrey Epstein. I'll be looking for the files that were completely blacked out, including the files in the Southern District of New York, as well as the memo that was internal work product of DOJ to understand why they didn't prosecute these crimes.

So we have a lot of materials that we plan to go over tomorrow at doj. And when you see this material, will you be able to come and tell the public what you found, or is there some prohibition about what the Department of Justice has hidden from the public? My understanding is that they are not allowing members of Congress to bring recording devices in to view the computers, but we can take written notes and I certainly plan to fully provide a full accounting of what I see in the files. Okay, let's talk more about some of the things that you've talked about in terms of how other countries have responded and taken action against their leaders who were named in the Epstein files.

To be clear, at this point, there's nothing that we know that specifically implicates President Trump. But are you suggesting that he should be removed from office or the contents of these files? Well, listen, nine or ten countries have now open investigations or, and or pushed their leaders to step down, not just because of criminal activity, but from your association with Jeffrey Epstein because of the stainless steel that it brings on the leadership of those countries. But let's be clear.

There are literally over a thousand potential victims of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. And we know that there are dozens of men who participated in crimes and sexual abuse of women and minors. And we know that Donald Trump was in fact investigated by Department of Justice. His name does appear in DOJ slides in the actual investigation of sex crimes.

So to say that he is not implicated is not true. It is actually in the files, and DOJ was tracking this. So part of what we're after looking in the unredacted files is what have they not released? And I think it's important to understand that going back to the Epstein files Transparency act, they are still holding on to half of the materials that they have deemed too sensitive to even put out into the public domain.

So there are a lot of unanswered questions. I think that there are a number of officials, including Donald Trump, Howard Lutnick, Elon Musk, and others who've been named in the files that need to answer for their association with Jeffrey Epstein and certainly need to answer whether or not they were involved in potential crimes. And if Democrats win back the majority, do you believe that that should lead to a subpoena of some of these candidate officials or even President Trump to answer some of those questions that you have? Well, it shouldn't have to wait until Democrats went back to majority, because if my Republican colleagues would step up and do the right thing, then we could actually subpoena many of the individuals that need to answer to Congress right now.

And so, you know, one of the things that I think is really important, if you look, for example, what is happening in the UK The Parliament is demanding accountability for national leaders. We need other Congress people here in Congress to stand up and man accountability from the President and his Cabinet. And they can do that today. They don't need to wait until the midterms to do that.

Okay, let's talk about today's deposition with Lane Maxwell. Obviously not that very fruitful. She invoked the Fifth Amendment during her deposition. Notably, she did not do that when she met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in July, but that was because she was granted limited immunity.

Should that be on the table in this conversation? Should she be given the opportunity for some level of immunity or clemency so you could get these answers that you're looking for. Well, first of all, when she was sent the subpoena and called to appear before Congress for this deposition, she requested immunity because she claimed at the time her case was pending in front of the Supreme Court. She was granted an extension before she had to appear for her extension.

And now she's filed this last minute habeas petition in the Southern District of New York and is claiming that her Fifth Amendment rights are being invoked for that reason. But I think it's very telling that she not only had her lawyer make a statement in that position, but then he put it out into the public domain and you read it and that she would invoke her Fifth Amendments unless she was granting granted clemency. Let me be clear, that's not how this works, my friend. If you are subpoenaed to speak before Congress on a matter, you are allowed to invoke your Fifth Amendment rights to protect yourself from further incrimination.

But you don't get it as a quid pro quo for a pardon from the President of the United States. And so that was a message to President Donald Trump saying that she would essentially absolve his sins if he would grant her a pardon. Okay. Congressman Saper, thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it. Thank you. Join me now to talk more about this NBC News senior Washington correspondent Hallie Jackson who's been closely following the Epstein survivors reactions to all of this and NBC News correspondent Halangi who was in London where this is creating turmoil in their government. Pretty shocking turmoil.

Howie, let's I'll start with you here. I mean how are the survivors and their families reacting to this Maxwell decision to unpop the fifth of them and burn her deposits? I didn't want Maxwell to speak because I don't Congress to speak to Maxwell in the first place. Right.

Like that was something. And survivors are not on the list. But survivors we've been talking to were furious that Congress has been taking into account a woman who they have described as a predator. They say she is not trustworthy.

They say she is not honest. It was interesting to hear a conversation with the congressman there because one of the things that came up, this clemency issue, her attorney has suggested she would be more willing to speak freely. Maxwell would choose clemency. That's one of the several things that have infuriated some FCW survivors about all of this here.

That the idea that the clemency we even potentially be on the table that President Trump has a ruled out. The other thing that I think is really infuriating to Barbers is the fact that Gilly Maxwell remained at that lower security prison camp that she was controversially transferred to last summer. And we're hearing today from the siblings, the brother and sister in law, Virginia Roberts Dufrey, the most prominent FC users who died by suicide last year. They're saying we ask Congress to support our continued efforts to ensure that Maxwell is held fully accountable for her actions and place exactly where she belongs in a maximum securing prison.

They want to say we ask you to continue this fight with us and every survivor to continue this pursuit of justice with the tenacity and strength of Virginia, not out of vengeance but out of justice. I think that gives you a sense of where the survivors are as many men are looking ahead to this hearing. High profile here and potentially exclusive with Deterrence General. And let's talk more about that because we saw this PSA that many survivors released around the super bowl this weekend.

They want more transparency. What are they going to, what are they looking for from Cambodian this hearing. They want more commitments that more files will be released that these this redaction issue that has been dogging these survivors really in the Johnson since December when as you know that Epstein document drop first began to unfurl. They want to see that handled.

And I think they might hear that there will be the pursuit of justice or accountability or something else in this process. When the deputy attorney general first from Ben Top Blanche when he came out and suggested, you know, refer back to that memo last July, it suggested there was no evidence to be found that words of further criminal investigation that was extraordinarily upsetting against some of these revivers. So everyone hear more from his General Campani and candidly any kind of communication because while there have been some representatives who understand that maybe have been touched with the doj, some of these survivors have said to me hey, I asked for meetings, I want to talk to this administration and they are not talking to me. So I think that face to face potential again not, not in the hearing setting perhaps in the room or outside in the halls.

And it could be critical. It's not just about getting this information out there. It's about this information being out there and leading to some level of accountability. And there is a prosecutorial bar that we need to be reached in order to pursue criminal investigations.

These survivors like many of them are saying hey let's at least explore that. Let's at least see that it was notable that you hear from Congress, from Jean Rasking today. It is inconceivable that you have these years and years and years of abuse being committed by Epstein and only two people be criminally charged. Right.

So we're talking about accountability here in the United States. Let's talk about it on the other side of the pond, and that's in the United Kingdom. The fallout from the Epstein files there just hasn't been limited to the US. UK's Prime Minister Starmer's Chief of staff resigned over the weekend over his decision to appoint Peter Mendelssohn as the ambassador to the U.S.

despite his ties to Epstein. What more can you tell us about this? Well, the latest batch of Epstein files has revealed closer communication between the former UK ambassadors, the us, Peter Anderson, the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And as a result, you mentioned that there, Ryan, one of the top aides of the Prime Minister in this country, Kirstar, resigned, taking responsibility for having advised Prime Minister Sarmer to appoint Peter Mendelssohn to the point post.

Now, Peter Mendelson resigned from his ambassadorial post, but the latest batch of Epstein files, as I mentioned, revealed closer ties and also potentially, and police are investigating this, having shared secret documents with Jeffrey Epstein. So this is something that's being investigated politically. It's having huge ramifications. And obviously this is something that is putting tremendous pressure on the Prime Minister.

Ryan. Yeah, and let's expand on that because as far as I know, the Prime Minister has not mentioned at all in the absence of files, despite the fact here in the United States President Trump's mentioned repeatedly. But could there be enough pressure around the situation with the Prime Minister where we could actually see a change in leadership in the United Kingdom? It is absolutely possible.

Now, his cabinet ministers today are standing by him mainly, some analysts say, because there are no contenders that are in a very strong position to replace him. But the pressure on him has grown to such an extent that the leader of the Labour Party in Scotland has called on him to resign. And this is why Prime Minister Starmer called a meeting today to get the support of his cabinet ministers. But there are by elections and special elections in the next few months.

If the Labour Party underperforms in those races, then it is possible that Keir Starmer's days are numbered as Prime Minister. Ryan. And it's not just the Prime Minister of the royal family, of course, taking quite a bit of heat. They put a new focus on former Prince Andrew's connections to Jeffrey Epstein.

What's the latest and how's the British royal family responding? Well, talk about pressure, political pressure. This is tremendous pressure on the king himself. He's breaking his silence on this Andrew Mountbatten Windsor situation.

This, of course, is the previously known as Prince Andrew. The royal family, they're releasing, or Buckingham Palace, I should say, releasing a statement and I'm going to read it here to you. The king has made clear in words and through unprecedented actions, unprecedented actions referring, of course, to stripping Prince Andrew of his titles and his royal role. He's made clear his profound concern and allegations will continue to come to light in respect of Mr.

Mountbatten Windsor's conduct. While the specific claims in question are for Mr. Mountbatten Windsor to address, if we are approached by Thames Valley police, we stand ready to support them. Their Majesty's thoughts and sympathies have been and remain with the victims of any and all forms of abuse.

So there you have it. It's pressure on Keir Starmer, the prime minister and also on the royal family here. Ryan. Okay, Hollywood in London, thank you for that report.

Up next, we're turning back to the breaking news in Arizona in the search for Nancy Guthrie after our friend colleague Savannah Guthrie just released a new video asking for the public's help in finding her mother. In this desperate hour, law enforcement expert weighs in next. You're watching MEET THE Press. Now as the day wraps up, get the scoop on what's been happening with here's the Scoop, the podcast for NBC News with your host gaze.

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And we have more now on the new developments in the search for Nancy Guthrie, her daughter. Our dear NBC News colleague Savannah Guthrie posting a new video on Instagram about an hour ago. Here's part of it. We believe our mom is still out there.

We need your help. Law enforcement is working tirelessly around the clock trying to bring her home, trying to find her. She was taken in. We don't know where, and we need your help.

Joining me now is Jim Cavanaugh, retired ATF Special Agent in Charge, and he's now in D.C. news Law Enforcement analyst Jim, thanks so much for joining us. We saw Savannah just released a video in which she appears to be kind of speaking off the cough more so than she has her previous, previous videos. Do you make anything out of that in her message today?

Well, it's right from the heart. I mean, it's. It's so genuine. It's gonna.

It's gonna touch everybody and touch everybody, hopefully that they'll pay attention to the case and keep it on the forefront of their mind. So it's a good move by Savannah and the family to do this, reinvigorate everything. On this Monday after the super bowl weekend, this first Monday back, the business week starts. Everybody's back to work, back in the routine.

You know, let's start singing and hearing something. What's going on? They need to just, you know, go aggressively on all the leads. In her previous messages, though, it did appear, I mean, in fact, the last one before this one I posted today, there appeared to be a very specific message for her potential captors.

And this video clearly does not have that same sort of tone to it. Would that indicate to you that the FBI is working with her and the family to try and message this correctly to the captors, or is there something behind that that we should read into? No, I think we should be just reading the tartes from the family. I mean, they're consulting with agents and negotiators, and.

Of course they are. But, you know, if you're the abductor watching this, this is what the family wants. They want to help. They want to communicate with.

You really want your mom back. And that's what's most important. I think that, you know, we're in a critical phase of the case. I mean, if she was abducted for ransom or some reason sent a message out, we should have had a valid communication.

Now, Garrett, and we don't. I mean, we don't have the. We don't have anything where someone can prove that they're the actual abductor. So, you know, investigators are gonna have to look at this closely and, you know, come middle of the week, they may have to start looking harder at other motives.

Could somebody have done this for power, hate, revenge, to get back at the family or Savannah or somebody, or could even be the wrong address. We've had that happen in many violent crimes, bombings and killings and so forth with higher killers go to the wrong address. And so all these things are possibilities. But I think right now the FBI's doing a good job playing this out to see if there's abductors want to communicate, leaving the door open, tell us something.

All the while they're trying to sweep a lead on a car, cell phone or something, you know, something small that could lead them to something big. You know, we used to do on cases like this, major cases like this, we would send out a whole phalanx of agents and officers at 2 o' clock in the morning at the time the crime occurred, all over the streets where the crime occurred, all over the neighborhood where it happened, and stop every vehicle and interview them, you know, who are you? What's your name, sir? Where are you going?

Want to work? I work at the plant. Okay. Do you usually come this round every night at 2:00 clock or what?

Yes, I do. Do you see anything last, you know, Saturday night or whatever? And not only do you get some good interviews about people who are out at that hour of the night, but you also, you know, kind of glean some information about who might be moving around and you might get some cars you can eliminate on cameras. Those are technique we use a lot and sometimes paid off big for.

So there's a lot of things they could do. Maybe they've done that already, I don't know. But it's only a week out, so they can still do things like that. They still have.

They're still fresh in the mindse, so they can still do a lot of that stuff. And you mentioned maybe something small can turn into something big. Is that part of the reason that we saw investigators go back to the house while they impounded her car, while they went to the daughter's house? Is it just hoping, maybe just going back over the things they've already gone over just in case they might have missed something?

Exactly. Look at taking Nancy's car, for example, an abductor might just touch the car. It's a metal surface. Glass surface is smooth.

It would retain fingerprints. So if an abductor just touched it or brushed up, you know, their hand while they're going to the front door or something, there could be fingerprint evidence on it. Of course, abductor can use her own car, could take her keys and use it for something, take it from somewhere in her own car, go back a short distance. So you just don't know.

So you just have to be so thorough, searching deceptic tanks, any culverts, ditches, you know, where she could have been harmed and secreted. So that's good work. I think it's being thoroughly and they just got pushed on every little lead. Now, it's a good message from Savannah.

It's a good message to all of us in America. Let's pay attention. Somebody knows a little bitty thing and there's a $50,000 reward out if you got a little bit of information on, break this case open. Okay.

Jim Gavin, thanks as always for your expertise. We appreciate it. After the break, the super bowl performance everybody is talking about, including the president as Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny shines the spotlight on the island's rich and vibrant culture at halftime performance that President Trump decried as an affront to the greatness of America. The panel is next under Press.

Now, While the Congress is facing a major time crunch before funding lapses for the entire Department of Homeland Security at the end of this week, and there are no signs that Republicans and Democrats are anywhere close to a deal, Senate Democrats did release a draft legislation over the weekend that includes their wish list of immigration reforms to ICE and Border Patrol in exchange for funding dhs. And party leadership is not budging from those demands. They include targeted operations, no masks for agents, and enter racial profiling practices, among other things. Republicans and the White House have said that there is room for negotiations, but they called some of the Democratic Party's demands, quote, ridiculous and non starters.

Joining me now is NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Alan Sonoma and NBC News senior Homeland Security correspondent Julia Ainsley. Let's start with you. Lawmakers are making their way back to the Hill this afternoon after a long weekend. What are you hearing about a deal coming together before Friday?

Is it even possible? Well, a lot of pieces have to fall into place in order for a deal to come together by Friday. But, Ryan, there have been some signs of movement because over the weekends, Senate and Democrats did formally give their legislative proposal to Senate Republicans reiterating some of those demands that you laid out there. And notably our colleague Julie Circuit reports that White House official says that they're not really anything out and that while some of those demands are more challenging, other demands are actually worth discussing.

But at this point, those negotiations are only taking place at the staff level. I would probably take the principles, including President Trump getting involved, to actually clinch a deal. And meanwhile, GOP leader John Thune saying today that Republicans have their own list of demands, are intending to offer a counter proposal. So there's still a long ways to go before they actually reach a deal.

A long ways to go. Tell us all the time on Capitol Hill because there is a lot of time. I mean, is there any way they can get this done before Friday? Is there any willingness to do a short term stopgap bill to give more time for them to negotiate?

Even if they reach a deal in principle by Friday, it's almost impossible that they would be able to pass it through both the Senate in the House. That would just be a huge undertaking. But if there is some good faith negotiations going on, Democrats might be willing to support a short gap spending bill. Just depends on how long it would be.

Certainly that's something Republicans are going to try to pass regardless because the clock is ticking. And this agency, Department of Homeland Security, a critical agency that is set to shut down at Friday at midnight. Okay. Now let's turn now to Julia for more on her side of all this.

And Julia, I want to turn to the reporting that you did for your upcoming book, undue Process about the Trump administration's deportation program. You interviewed the White House boards RM Homer over the summer where he forewarned about the fallout we've been seeing over Minneapolis. What did he tell you? That's right, Ryan.

When I spoke with Tom Homan On June 16, we had no idea the position he would be in now, taking over from Greg Bovino in Minneapolis after the Trump administration's tough tactics ended, of course, in the shooting of two US Citizens. And what he said then really explains a lot about his tactics now and was a warning sign that was not heated up until those federal shootings. What he said to me is I think the vast majority of the American people think criminal illegal aliens need to leave. And if we stick to that prioritization, I think we keep the faith of the American people.

Ryan, he said this in many different iterations over the course of our interview that day. That was just as the operations that really began to sweep immigrants and Home Depot parking lots, the Garment District of LA began. And he was saying that he thought that people would have more room to complain. He was worried about losing the faith of the American people.

And he said that they needed to focus on their operations targeted on people who had committed crimes. And this was just as this other strategy to do this, real broad sweeps of places that Greg Bovino was leading had really come into power and into favor by the administration. Now we've seen a switch and Homan is trying to put the genie back in the bott and chart this new course. Of course, it's in the aftermath of these two shootings and as those negotiations really ratchet up in intensity on the Hill.

And you've also been reporting that ISIS plowing ahead with plans to build and buy mega warehouses to keep detained immigrants. How does that fit with these targeted operations? Well, exactly right. It seems that why would they be spending all of this money on mega warehouses that could hold as many as 8,000 immigrants?

For context, the country's largest federal prisons hold 4,000. So that would double that amount. But we know that they've already taken contractors out to these warehouses. They were built to be Amazon warehouses.

There's one right there in Surprise, Arizona. And they've also gone to places that were built to be server farms. These huge warehouses, they're sitting empty across the country. I just want to do something unusual.

And they want the government to buy these and have them run by contractors. Previously. Contractors require the space and they make sure that it's outfitted and security can be provided and that they can staff it. So a lot of contractors we've spoken to, as well as members of Congress, including Republican Senator Roger Wicker, who is concerned about facility in Mississippi.

They say that this would be really unsafe because they would be able to staff these to the adequate ratios they would need to safely and humanely run a nice attention center. It also shows there's more money coming. They're putting a lot of money toward this. And of course they have a lot from the one big beautiful bill and from previous appropriations.

But it shows that perhaps a real winding down of this sweeping policy might not be coming anytime soon. Okay, Mel and Julia, thank you to both of you. We appreciate it. We're turn now to what a lot of people are talking about, like millions of Americans.

And the President was tuned into last night's super bowl matchup between the CLC Hawks and the New England Patriots. But his focus apparently wasn't the Seahawks down in defense or Rick Mace historically poor quarterback playmates, but instead on the halftime performance by Grammy Award winning artist Bad Bunny, who made history as the first Spanish language solo artist to headline the event. The president lashing out on social media writing, quote, nobody understands a word this guy is saying. And the dancing is disgusting.

And this show is just a slap in the face to our country. Those comments coming as the president faces bipartisan backlash for reposting a racist video that included a depiction of the Obama as apes. The president saying on Friday he won't apologize for it. I looked at it, I saw it and I just looked at the first part.

It was about voter fraud in some place, Georgia. Then I gave it to the people who generally they look at the whole thing, but I guess somebody didn't it. They posted and we took it down. Something you're going to do?

No, I didn't make a mistake. I mean, I look at a lot of thousands of things and I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine. The president was also asked, at the very least, he condemned the racist parts of the video he posted and he said, quote, of course I do.

Yeah. Joining me now is our panel, Leanne Haldon, the chief Washington correspondent for Puck, Taryn Rosenkranz, a Democratic strategist and CEO of New Blue Interactive. And Michael Dunkey, former Trump White House communications director. So, Leanne, we knew that this was gonna happen, that the halftime show was gonna become polarizing because we have anything nice in this country.

But does this really matter to the president that who was a performer of this halftime show, or is this just another way for him to posture himself against the establishment? I think it's probably a little bit of both. Right. The president, of course, would take issue with something that, that he finds offensive, especially the fact that in English, I think that is critical to the Republican base and what Republicans think is necessary if you're going to live in this country, even though, of course, Bad Bunny is an American.

But yeah, it's a way to stir up controversy. It's a way to get people riled up, to get people a motive and back in their corners as well. And you're absolutely right. Does this larger conversation matter?

I mean, not really, but Bad Bunny has a tremendous amount of following, especially among a very critical voting bloc in this country. Funny. Really quickly, my colleague, my former colleague at the Washington Post, she said over the 2024 election, when everyone was talking about Taylor Swift endorsing who she was going to endorse, she said, what's really going to matter is who Bad Bunny endorses, if he does at all. And so this has been just a.

He's been a political phenomenon for quite some time, and the president doesn't miss an opportunity to. To steal the show. Yeah, Mike, I wonder, you know, one of the areas the president made such incredible gains with in the 2024 was with Hispanic and Latino voters who love Bad Bunny. I mean, how does the president focus just on the fact that he spoke Spanish, I guess, was his biggest complaint.

How does it not have racist undertones? How does that break through with that community? I don't know that it has racist undertones. I mean, look, this is one of the biggest gigs, I guess you could say, out there.

We knew Bad Bunny was going to be performing. The halftime show at the. At the super bowl is one of the biggest shows that one could be on. I thought it was a bit unusual that it was entirely in Spanish for the.

For the performance. Also, the performance itself was a little strange in the way, historically, these performances are set up for super bowl performances. I don't think it's necessarily racist, but I think they're put as well, taken in terms of Latino voters. This is a rather large block that helped him in 2024.

Should help Republicans in 2026 and. And the presidency in 2028. And yes, you need to take into account some of the largest stars, and Bad Bunny's one of them. So I tread carefully here, though.

It was a very. It was an unusual performance. He didn't even have a costume change, for God's sake. I mean, generally that, like, through American greatness, but all the female, you know, performers generally had three or four costume changes, and Bad Bunny didn't have.

Okay, so I'll ask you this question. Costume changes. How does that affect to American greatness? It shouldn't be.

I think what is so hard to kind of wrap your hands around is that there's this giant sign saying, like, love is greater than hate. And he goes in English and, you know, he goes and makes this sort of profound, hateful statement, right? Like right on the heels of this meme with apes during Black History Month about our first black president. Like, it's just yucky.

And it's certainly not love over hate. And I think Bad Bunny. And he's just miscalculated. He's picking the fight to distract from the issues.

But this is not a fight he's going to win because there were so many 134 million people dancing around enjoying that show. And that's sort of the response we're getting across the board. And I think the only people who are really saying anything negative about it. Are trying to say something about not speaking English and he's an American.

It's a very. It's the wrong fight to try to pick on this one. Leanna, could there be a leak here for President Trump? I mean, this is the second time in a row that we're at least having a conversation about race and racial undertones.

He had a lot of criticism, obviously, from his own party about this video that Taryn was talking about featuring Obama's. Is there a sense that the White House is not getting the message here when it comes to this criticism and that it could come back penalized them going forward? Well, anyone who expected Donald Trump to apologize, like he's never apologized, I feel bad for Melania, but. But this is.

People have known for a long time or assumed for a long time that Trump is perhaps racist or, you know, some things that he says could be perceived as racist. That did not matter in his 2016 election. It's not matter in his 24, 2024 election, because people looked at other issues that mattered more. It wasn't how he spoke about people of different ethnicities, of why people went to the polls to vote for him.

For the most part, it was the economy. It was issues that they cared about. And I think that that is still what is most important for most voters. These, these arguments are sideshows to them.

But it does start to play into this broader narrative, narrative of chaos. And if this is really what people want, especially on the heels, not necessarily just of the racist video that he put on True Social, but also what ICE is actually doing, are they going too far? And the broader issues they're in. So let's talk about these other issues that night, because the economy, once the strongest issue, he's beginning to show some fatigue there from the American people.

I want to play a little bit of our colleague Tom Yomsa's interview with him that aired during Super Bowl. Take a listen. In the last four days, it's only four days, the Democrats have not uttered the word affordability. They're the ones that caused the problem.

I took over a mess in every way. You said you inherited a mess from President Biden when it comes to the economy. But at what point is it on you? At what point are we in the trouble?

I would say we're there now. I'm very proud. First off, it's incredible. President is monitoring every single thing Democrats are singing for four days.

They know this. None of them said the word affordability. But I want to show you some numbers, Mike, right now about how he's handling these things. His overall handling of the economy is now underwater by 18 points.

Foreign policy, 21 points. Overall handling of the economy, 24 points. Can he turn this around before the midterms? I think he can turn parts of this around before the midterms.

But I think the word that you use, chaos, is appropriate here because there's messaging chaos when it comes to the economy, to immigration, to foreign policy. And I think you're seeing some of that in those numbers. I mean, we just had The Dow hit 50,000. 62% of Americans are in the stock market.

So there is a reason for Americans to care about that down number. We've seen inflation go from 3% to 2.3% over the last five months. So it is coming down. The vast majority of Americans care about that.

So there are things that are happening in a positive direction on the economy that should benefit the president. But I think chaos and messaging chaos and not being able to focus is causing those numbers that you put up on the screen and internal lay of last word. Can Democrats break through this messaging more than just not Trump right now? Absolutely.

Alternatives. And they got to say things which I think is being very upfront. You know, you're falling into the trap that everyone said democrats in the 24 election like, no, no, the economy's getting better. Don't you feel it?

And if they don't feel it and there's no alternative and it's just stay the course and think that everything's great, I think we're gonna really see that payoff thing for Democrats who are proposing pans for affordability. Their eyes at it. So we'll make sure he's attracting a Democrats on affordability. Thanks everybody for being appreciated.

Look forward to Bills in Super bowl next year. Go Bills. All right, Lehon, Karen, Michael, thank you all so much. We'll be back to tomorrow with more Meet the Press down, but much more coverage of the situation with Hansen Comrey and more ahead right now on NBC News now.

I'm Craig. Mel. Cheers. Cheers.

Cheers. I've always been a glass half full kind of guy and now I'm talking to some people who look at the world that way, too. Some really fascinating folks who share their defining moments, their triumphs, their challenges, their stories are funny. And I can so I hope you'll join me each week.

Who knows, you might just come away with your own Glass Half Full search Glass Half Full with Craig Milton From Today on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast.