The Megyn Kelly Show

New Guthrie Ransom Note and Searches, Trump Post Backlash, Seahawks Win Super Bowl LX: AM Update 2/9

22 min
Feb 9, 20264 months ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

The AM Update covers the ongoing Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigation with new ransom demands and evidence collection, backlash over a racist image briefly posted to Trump's Truth Social account, Olympic skier Lindsey Vaughn's crash at the Winter Games, and the Seattle Seahawks' Super Bowl LX victory over the New England Patriots.

Insights
  • Law enforcement's use of VPNs and secure servers by suspects significantly complicates digital forensics and IP address tracing in kidnapping investigations
  • Bipartisan political criticism of controversial content can lead to rapid removal and damage control, but refusal to apologize can extend media coverage and backlash
  • Olympic athletes increasingly use the global platform to make political statements, creating tension between personal values and national representation
  • Alternative media platforms and independent streaming are fragmenting major event viewership, with conservative audiences choosing alternative halftime shows
  • High-risk athletic comebacks after serious injuries raise questions about athlete safety and decision-making in elite sports
Trends
Increased use of VPNs and encrypted communication channels by criminals to evade law enforcement digital trackingBipartisan political criticism becoming a pressure mechanism for rapid content removal and corporate accountabilityAthletes leveraging Olympic platforms for political activism despite potential backlash and national representation concernsFragmentation of major broadcast events across multiple streaming platforms and alternative media outletsGrowing tension between individual athlete expression and national team representation at international sporting eventsMedia coverage patterns showing rapid escalation and sustained focus on political controversies over substantive policy discussionAlternative conservative media platforms gaining significant concurrent viewership during major cultural events
Topics
Kidnapping Investigation - Nancy Guthrie CaseRansom Demands and Digital ForensicsVPN Technology and Law EnforcementRacist Content on Social MediaPresidential Social Media GovernanceBipartisan Political BacklashOlympic Athlete Political ActivismLGBTQ+ Rights and Political CommentaryWinter Olympics 2026Super Bowl LX ResultsAlternative Media StreamingAthlete Safety in High-Risk SportsACL Injuries in Professional SportsHalftime Show ProgrammingConservative Media Viewership
Companies
Truth Social
Platform where President Trump posted image depicting Obama as apes, sparking bipartisan backlash and rapid removal
YouTube
Platform where Turning Point USA's alternative halftime show drew over 5 million concurrent viewers during Super Bowl LX
X (formerly Twitter)
Platform where Elon Musk reposted controversial clip of Texas State Representative Jean Wu, amplifying anti-white rac...
CNN
Network where House Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries discussed Trump's refusal to apologize for racist video post
ABC
Establishment media outlet running headlines about Trump's refusal to apologize for racist post
CBS
Establishment media outlet covering Trump's response to racist video controversy
NPR
Establishment media outlet reporting on Trump's refusal to apologize for racist post
People
Nancy Guthrie
84-year-old missing person at center of ongoing kidnapping investigation with $6 million ransom demand
Savannah Guthrie
Nancy Guthrie's daughter making public pleas for mother's safe return in kidnapping case
President Donald Trump
Posted racist image to Truth Social, refused to apologize, criticized Olympic skier Hunter Hess on Truth Social
Jeff Bennett
Retired FBI agent explaining VPN technology and IP address tracing challenges in kidnapping investigation
Tim Scott
Republican Senator from South Carolina calling racist post 'most racist thing' from White House, demanding removal
Pete Ricketts
Republican Senator from Nebraska calling for White House apology over racist video post
Lindsey Vaughn
41-year-old Olympic skier who crashed 13 seconds into downhill run with partial titanium knee replacement
Breezy Johnson
Team USA skier who won Olympic downhill gold, first American woman since Lindsey Vaughn's 2010 victory
Hunter Hess
US freestyle skier criticized by Trump for saying he doesn't fully represent current US administration
Amber Glenn
US figure skater and LGBTQ voice discussing Trump administration's approach to LGBTQ+ community
Gus Kenworthy
Former Team USA freestyle skier now competing for Great Britain, posted vulgar anti-ice image to Instagram
Hakim Jeffries
House Minority Leader calling Trump's racist video 'disgusting' and demanding apology on CNN
Cash Patel
FBI Director reportedly set to arrive in Tucson for Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigation
Robert Kraft
New England Patriots owner seen yawning in sky box during Super Bowl LX loss to Seattle Seahawks
Quotes
"We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace."
Savannah Guthrie (Nancy Guthrie's daughter)Kidnapping plea segment
"The problem with the VPN is it's not just one bridge that I have to figure out. It's a thousand bridges."
Retired FBI Agent Jeff BennettDigital forensics explanation
"I didn't make a mistake. I mean, if I'd look at a lot of thousands of things, I looked at the beginning of it and it was fine."
President Donald TrumpAir Force One interview about racist post
"This sport is brutal and people need to remember when they're watching that these athletes are throwing themselves down a mountain and going really, really fast."
US Ski and Snowboard Chief of Sport Anuk PattiLindsey Vaughn crash segment
"I just think if it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I'm representing it, just because I'm wearing the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the US."
Hunter Hess (US Freestyle Skier)Olympic press conference
Full Transcript
Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Monday, February 9, 2026, and this is your AM update. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. The search for missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie continues as investigators return to her home several times throughout the weekend, while her children make another direct plea to whomever took their mother. I didn't make it for a steak. I mean, if I'd look at a lot of thousands of things, I looked at the beginning of it and was fine. A Trump Truth social post sparks bipartisan backlash and a rare deletion. A terrifying crash for Lindsay Vaughn, the Olympic legend airlifted off the mountain after her downhill run in Italy, comes to an end. And the Seattle Seahawks crowned the champs at last night's Super Bowl, the biggest plays and the dueling halftime shows, all that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update. 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Friday, when a second message purportedly from the alleged kidnapper was received by local Tucson station K-O-L-D. Investigators have not publicly said whether they believe the new message is credible. The message reportedly does not share the same IP address as the original ransom note sent last week. However, it appears the sender used the same type of secure server to hide their IP address according to K-O-L-D anchor Mary Coleman, who also says the sender tries to make clear that they were behind the first ransom note as well. Retired FBI agent Jeff Bennett explaining on reporter Brian Entenshow what an IP address is and how it can be hidden with a virtual private network or VPN making investigators jobs more difficult. There's a lot of talk of, you know, these KFR kidnapped for ransom messages coming in and quite simply they are being, what from what I understand, they're being communicated through email. So that email is coming in through an IP address and through the viewers, an IP address is quite simply a bridge. It's a bridge from a user to an endpoint. An IP address is owned by a company. So as the FBI, if I can determine where that bridge is and who owns that bridge, I can go to that company and I could say, hey, who's on the other side of that bridge? But the problem with the VPN is it's not just one bridge that I have to figure out. It's a thousand bridges. So I have to cross one bridge and then I have to cross a thousand other bridges. So one of the local TV stations that received the first note and then the second note, their news director said the notes didn't come in through an email per se. They have like a form on their website where you can submit news tips. So you fill out your name, you fill out the subject, you fill out the, you know what I mean? And then it's like a form on the website. Yeah. So that's still going to use an IP address. Also on Friday, six days into Nancy's disappearance, investigators discovering and removing another camera from Nancy Guthrie's property. This one from her roof later that day, investigators also towing away what appears to be a blue Subaru from Nancy Guthrie's garage. Susan Trump Friday on Air Force One updating reporters on the investigation conducted in tandem between the Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI. You promised Savannah Guthrie's family the full support of federal law enforcement. FBI is now giving a little statement. I think we're doing very well on that regard. You probably surprised me or that. I think we're doing very well. Very well meeting. We have some clues. I think that are very strong and I think we could have some answers coming up fairly soon. The ancient wide search is a search going to Mexico. I'm going to about a search. I'm talking about a solution. We have some things. I think that will maybe come out reasonably soon from DOJ or FBI or whoever that could be a. Could be definitive. Yes. A lot's taken place in the last couple of hours. A lot of things have happened with regard to that horrible situation in the last couple of hours. Exactly what the president was referring to remains unclear. On Saturday, Savannah and siblings Cameron and Annie releasing another video plea. We received your message and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us and we will pay. KGUN now reporting the original ransom note demands $6 million due by 5 p.m. this evening. Late Saturday night investigators entering Annie's home for several hours. Journalists on the scene report seeing camera flashes through the windows. The family reportedly moved elsewhere earlier last week. Yesterday investigators returning again to Nancy's home searching the backyard area. One investigator seen searching in what looked like an open manhole. It is unclear if the pipe leads to a septic tank, water storage or some type of drainage pipe. Reporters also spotting a topographical map of the area used by investigators as the Bima County Sheriff's Department confirms searches underway in multiple locations. FBI Director Cash Patel reportedly set to arrive in Tucson today, though the Bureau says it was part of a pre-planned trip. Investigators have also not publicly clarified several unresolved questions, including the full data that has been recovered from Nancy's pacemaker, what proof exists that she actually returned home under her own power the night she disappeared, and whether any family members have been asked to submit to polygraph examinations. We'll bring you the very latest on the Megan Kelly show later today. Post on President Trump's Truth Social Account sparking bipartisan backlash after briefly displaying an image depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama with her faces superimposed onto ape bodies. The image appearing late Thursday in the final seconds of a video about alleged 2020 election fraud. At the end of that election fraud clip, a separate video appears to autoplay for roughly one second. The full autoplayed video, not posted on Trump's account, shows a number of Democrat political figures edited onto animal bodies while the song The Lion sleeps tonight plays with President Trump depicted as the lion. The brief frame captured from that autoplayed video showing the Obama's depicted as apes, quickly circulating online and drawing criticism from both Democrats and some Republicans. Senator from South Carolina Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate posting to ex quote, praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House. The president should remove it. Senator Pete Ricketts, Republican from Nebraska posting quote, even if this was a lion king meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this. The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake, remove this and apologize. As backlash swelled, someone removing the post shortly before noon on Friday, the White House releasing a statement quote, a White House staffer erroneously made the post, it has been taken down. President Trump Friday aboard Air Force One asked about the controversy. Who sent it and are you going to fire? No, I looked at it. I saw it and I just looked at the first part. It was about voter fraud in someplace, Georgia. I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of a people don't like, I wouldn't like it either, but I didn't say it. I looked at the first part and it was really about voter fraud and the machines. I've looked at it as I'm disgusting it is. Then I gave it to the people to generally look at the whole thing, but I guess somebody didn't. They posted and we took it down. The number of Republicans are calling on you to apologize for that post. Is that something you're going to do? No, I didn't make a mistake. I mean, if I'd look at a lot of thousands of things, I looked at the beginning of it and it was fine, but that was a takeoff with the Lion King. And a lot of people were covered in different positions. But I spoke to Tim Scott. He was great. Tim is a great guy. He had to say that 100%. And the very least, you condemn the racist parts of the video? Of course I do. From there, the establishment media, including but not limited to ABC, CBS, NPR and more, running out headlines about Mr. Trump's refusal to apologize for the post. And of course, the controversy, a focus of the Sunday shows yesterday, House Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries yesterday on CNN. I do want to ask about a video that President Trump shared, erased his video and it depicted former President Obama first lady Michelle Obama as apes about 12 hours later. The White House blamed a staffer for the post, removed it, but the president says he doesn't need to apologize because he didn't make a mistake. He definitively needs to apologize. It was a disgusting video and the president was rightly and appropriately and forcefully denounced by people all across the country, Democrats and even a handful of Republicans who finally showed some backbone and pushing back against the president's malignant, bottom feeder-like behavior. In the meantime, a clip of Texas State Representative Jean Wu, who was born in China from a podcast in 2024 getting new attention this weekend, after Elon Musk reposted it, writing, Shaman him. Many pointing out the hypocrisy of those including some on the right who rushed to condemn President Trump for an errant post by a staffer that accidentally included a racist video, but who allowed this kind of anti-white racism to go unchecked all the time. The outrage over the president expected to continue until the next outrage which will inevitably come any day now. Coming up, US Olympic skier Lindsey Bond in a shocking crash during her downhill run, and we have a super bowl champion. One of the biggest problems in American healthcare right now is access. Usually can't get medication until you're already sick. Healthcare should not only work when it is convenient for the system though, it should work when people actually need it. That's where all family pharmacy is different. 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From USA skier Lindsay Vaughn crashing just 13 seconds into her downhill run at the Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, Vaughn's run, one of the most highly anticipated events of the games, the 41-year-old returning from nearly six years in retirement, now competing with a partial titanium knee replacement in her right knee. On top of that, just nine days before the race, Vaughn crashing in Switzerland, rupturing her left ACL. Someone choosing to stay in the competition, but adding a knee brace to the uniform. During yesterday's run Vaughn's right ski pole clipping a neon orange gate, sending her airborne before crashing hard back onto the mountain, briefly disappearing in a cloud of snow before tumbling to a stop. Medical crews securing Vaughn in a gurney and airlifting her off the course. After an initial stop at a clinic in Cortina, she was transported to a hospital about two hours away where doctors say she underwent an orthopedic operation to stabilize a fracture in her left leg. US ski and snowboard chief of sport Anuk Patti telling the Associated Press quote, she'll be okay but it's going to be a bit of a process. This sport is brutal and people need to remember when they're watching that these athletes are throwing themselves down a mountain and going really, really fast. Vaughn a four-time World Cup champion had been favored for gold before the earlier ACL crash, saying before the race quote, this would be the best comeback I've done so far, definitely the most dramatic. Ultimately, Team USA's breezy Johnson capturing the gold for America. Johnson earning Team USA's first gold medal of these Olympics and becoming only the second American woman to win Olympic downhill gold the first since Lindsay Vaughn's win in 2010. As the American national anthem played and the stars and stripes were raised, Breezy with her hand on her heart in the number one spot on the winners podium, saying and held back tears. Perhaps unsurprising but to many disappointing, these games seeing a number of Team USA athletes, not like Breezy, who are choosing to make political comments disparaging the country they are representing. The first skater Amber Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, whatever that is, becoming a prominent LGBTQ voice, asked about the Trump administration's approach to the LGBTQ plus community. Yeah, it's been a hard time for the community overall under this administration. It isn't the first time that we've had to come together as a community and trying to fight for our human rights. And now, especially, it's not just affecting the queer community, but many other communities. And I think that we are able to support each other in a way that we didn't have to before. And because of that, it's made us a lot stronger. Glenn notably, not addressing the many countries competing in these games where same-sex relationships remain criminalized. Or did she indicate which rights gay people have lost under the Trump administration, which features several openly gay people in key positions? Yesterday, Glenn coming in third in the Women's Free Skate portion of the team event. However, due to a strong performance from teammate Ilia Melinin, Team USA securing the gold. Former Team USA freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, now competing for Great Britain, partly because that team is easier to make, posting a vulgar anti-ice image to Instagram, appearing to show the phrase, F-ice written in urine. Kenworthy is set to compete in the Halfpipe event beginning February 19th, where we certainly hope he'll lose. The strongest backlash coming against US freestyle skier Hunter Hess, after he made these comments at a Friday press conference. It brings up mixed emotions to represent the US right now, I think. It's a little hard. There's obviously a lot going on that I'm not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren't. I think for me, it's more, I'm representing my friends and family back home, the people that represent it before me, all the things that I believe are good about the US. I just think if it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I'm representing it, just because I'm wearing the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the US. So yeah, I just kind of want to do it for my friends and my family and the people that support me getting here. President Trump weighing in on Truth Social writing quote, US Olympic skier Hunter Hess, a real loser, says he doesn't represent his country in the current Winter Olympics. If that's the case, he shouldn't have tried out for the team, and it's too bad he's on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. This is scheduled to compete February 19th in the men's freestyle half-pipe qualifiers. Any athlete unsure of how to handle political questions on the Olympic stage might look to 2020 freestyle wrestling gold medalist Tamira Mensa stock following her victory in Tokyo. I love representing the US. I freaking love living there. I love it. And I'm so happy I get to represent you. This night the Seattle Seahawks taking on the new England Patriots in Super Bowl 60 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Minutes into the game, the Seahawks striking first with a 33 yard field goal. Patriots quarterback Drake May sacked twice in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Seahawks Kenneth Walker, who had more twists and turns than a Harlan Coban novel, breaking off with two big first down runs, driving his team well into Patriots territory. The Seahawks taking a 90 lead into halftime. Puerto Rican reggaeton pop star Bad Bunny performing the halftime show and you needed English captions to understand him singing almost entirely in Spanish, bad, or is it bunny? Did refrain from wearing a dress or making overtly anti-ice statements as he has in the past, although given all the Spanish, we can't really be sure. Lady Gaga making a surprise appearance singing in English, thanks. Ricky Martin also joining for a brief song toward the end of the show, Bad Bunny saying in English, God bless America and then listing off all countries on the American continents. Many on the right opting to turn the channel to Turning Point USA's All American Half-Time Show featuring artists Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Bryce and Gabby Barrett. Charlie Kirk show producer Blake Nav reporting on X, the TP USA halftime show drawing more than 5 million concurrent viewers to its YouTube channel with an additional million viewers on Charlie's channel not to mention the other platforms it aired on. Singing under his real name, Robert Richie, Kid Rock closing out the show with Cody Johnson's till you can't, adding a special extra verse in a stunning performance. There's a book that's sitting in your house somewhere that could use some dust and off. There's a man who died for all our sins, the hanging from the cross. You can give your life to Jesus and you can give you a second chance till you can. The game resuming and in the third quarter, the Seahawks racking up a fourth field goal, this one from 41 yards, bringing the score to 12-0. The fourth quarter saw Hawks, QB, Sam Donald throw to tight end AJ Barner for a 19-0 lead. New England then finally putting some points on the board, wide receiver Mac Hollens scoring the touchdown for a score of 19-7. But the Seahawks defense was just too much for the young Patriots quarterback and his offensive line. Another Seahawks field goal followed by a touchdown, the Patriots scoring one more time, attempting two extra points but an incomplete pass leaving the score at 29-13. The Seahawks winning their second Super Bowl, the Pats not putting up much of a fight, owner Robert Kraft was seen yawning in the sky box, a response shared around the nation. And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for the MK Show live on Series XM's The Megan Kelly Channel 111 at movies on youtube.com slash Megan Kelly and on all podcast platforms.