NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Friday, February 6, 2026

Episode Date: February 7, 2026

Investigators analyzing new message regarding Nancy Guthrie as search enters sixth day; Opening Ceremony kicks off Milan Cortina Olympics; Trump account deletes re-post of racist video after outrage. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight, we're live in San Francisco with the massive security operation ahead of the Super Bowl, plus the Winter Olympic Games officially underway. But we have breaking news right now in the search for Nancy Guthrie. Police now possibly looking for a vehicle. The new message regarding Savannah Guthrie's mother just received, the FBI says they are now analyzing it. What we know right now, plus the new video from Savannah's brother, and more on the possible new lead in the case.

Also tonight, the world uniting as the Olympic Games officially begin. The highlights from the over-the-top opening ceremony, including Mariah Carey, singing in Italian, and the must-see moment when Team USA enters the stadium. Securing Super Bowl 60, we're in the air and on the water in San Francisco as the massive security operation gets underway, what it takes to protect more than a million people. Dangerous coal-threatening millions from Maine all the way to North Carolina,

car after car spinning out on a snowy highway. President Trump posting and then taking down a racist, truth social post depicting the Obamas as apes, the outrage from both sides of the aisle. West Wing actor Timothy Busfield indicted on child sex abuse charges the tragedy for Grammy award-winning rapper Lil John, his son, found dead in a pond. What we're learning tonight.

A car bursting into flames on a busy highway, cars driving through a wall of fire, what happened next? And skiing icon, Lindsey Vaughn, completing her first training run since that devastating injury. My interview with the racing legend and what drove her to her Olympic comeback. Nightly News starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News. Live from the Super Bowl, reporting tonight. from San Francisco. Here is Tom Yamas. And good evening. We are live in San Francisco tonight with the Super Bowl now just 48 hours away. Just behind me here, fans pouring in to the NFL experience.

You can see them. So many Seahawk fans ready for that big game. Fans around the world coming together to watch the spectacular opening ceremony as well as the Milan Cortina winter games officially begin. We'll take. you to Italy in just a moment, but we want to big it in tonight with that breaking news coming into our newsroom about Nancy Guthrie, the mother of our good friend Savannah. NBC News has just learned that law enforcement has looked into a vehicle, possibly more than one, that may have been connected to her disappearance. It comes as a new message has been received in the case, sent to a Tucson TV station from someone claiming to be holding her. The FBI is now investigating that new

message and our team has now reviewed a copy of that original email described by authorities as a possible ransom note. We have two reports tonight. We want to begin with Liz Kreutz again from Tucson. Tonight, during the agonizing wait for answers, now six days into the search for Nancy Guthrie, the FBI and Pima County Sheriff's Department say they are aware of a new message regarding Nancy Guthrie and are actively inspecting it for its authenticity. Authorities have not said what the message contains. But NBC News has reviewed a copy of what authorities describe as a possible ransom note sent to three news organizations earlier this week. The contents of that first letter are consistent with the descriptions provided by the FBI, including the two deadlines,

last night at five and this coming Monday. Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. Moments after the first deadline passed from that original ransom note, Savannah posted this video of her brother pleading for whoever may have taken their 84-year-old mother to send proof of life. We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward. But first, we have to know that you have our mom. It's unclear if the new message tonight is connected. Experts say waiting is now all the family can do. Haptors are the ones in control right now. They are controlling everything from information to the to the health and well-being of Savannah's mother. And they're also gating the ability to be in contact with them or not.

This, as investigators on the ground, continue their search. The sheriff tells us they've now spoken to everyone who regularly worked at Nancy's home. I think there was a landscape crew, a pool, maintenance crew, maybe a housekeeper. They've all been very cooperative. They've provided certain information that was helpful to us. Detectives are also still searching the neighborhoods for any video evidence. We also go outside to our businesses and say, could you do us a favor? and every came you have facing out to the roadways, get us that.

And we've gotten some great response from different large businesses. This is one of the biggest intersections close to Nancy Guthrie's home. Beyond just the businesses, they're also looking at the cameras on these streetlights. In fact, the sheriff tells us they have the footage from here, along with every intersection with cameras across the city. Part of the challenge finding footage from those overnight hours is that the residential area is also extremely dark with few street lights. This is what it looks like driving at night. The disappearance of Savannah's mom igniting an outpouring of love, from her fans to her dearest friends.

Today, Hoda, joining the Today Show. I think there's like this helpless feeling. I mean, we're all so close with her, and we all want to help her. And like, I'm looking at us, and I was thinking, like, who was first in the hospital room when Hope was sick? Savannah. Right. Who hopped on a plane when your parents?

Oh, my gosh. Savannah. Who was sitting by Uche? How about when your brother passed? I mean, she was there. And I was thinking this morning, I was like, what, you know, they say, like, love is patient. Like, love is kind. Like, we'll be patient.

And put prayers up. And, you know, that's what we can do. This is the feeling of helplessness. Yeah. And we're not helpless because. Yeah. It's prayer. Yeah.

It's hope. We got that. Prayer and hope. Uh-huh. Prayer and hope. Prayers and hope. Exactly what the family is asking for. And Liz joins us now live.

Liz, we are learning about it. possible vehicle of interest in this case? Yeah, Tom, that's right. We should stress that we do not know if ultimately this is going to be connected to Nancy Guthrie, but NBC News has learned that law enforcement received a tip about a possible vehicle or vehicles of interest at a local Circle K gas station. A spokesperson for Circle K says that officials did show up at their store and reviewed their surveillance footage, and they are now cooperating with the investigation.

Tom. We hope and pray that's a potential lead. there. All right, Liz, we thank you for that. I want to bring in Tom Winter. And Tom, you've been talking to law enforcement sources all day. What can you tell us about this new message we know about? Sure, Tom. So three officials briefed on this letter. Tell NBC News that it came into a local station, KOLD TV earlier today, and they notified law enforcement immediately. Officials say confirming the authenticity in origin of the email will take some time, though. That's because this email, and the one sent earlier this week, were both sent in ways that

make them very difficult to trace. So not only are investigators trying to confirm if they are both authentic, but they're working to determine if they were sent from the same account, as well as if they actually came from whoever took Nancy Guthrie over six days ago. All of this takes time, and it's already been an incredibly agonizing wait for the Guthrie family, Tom. It has. Okay, Tom Winter with that new reporting, Tom, we thank you. We're going to take a turn now in the broadcast to the Olympics. The games are now officially. underway. Stephanie Goscis is in Milan first and has all the highlights from the opening ceremony, which wrapped up just moments ago. Let the games begin. Milan's 100-year-old San Ciro Stadium

exploding in a celebration of winter sports and Italian culture, raising the theme of harmony, global superstar Mariah Carey singing the classic Volare entirely in Italian. The opening ceremony launching the first Olympic Games officially hosted by two cities. Caldrons 250 miles apart in Milan and Cortina lit simultaneously. The U.S. team joining the parade of nations in long white coats and sweaters with stars and stripes. While speed skater and flag bearer Aaron Jackson's family watched from Ocala, Florida. Some of the athletes have already started competing. Figure skaters take into the ice in the team event.

married U.S. ice dancing pair Madison Chalk and Evan Bates, putting on a nearly flawless performance to Rennie Kravitz. Absolutely fantastic. Followed by pairs team Ellie Cam and Danny O'Shea and Alyssa Lou, who felt mixed about her skate. There's some things I wish I could have done better, but unlike I'll be a W downer, I still did really good. Team USA finished day one in the lead.

The skaters just wrapped up. The way the team competition works is there are, eight sessions. It's the combined total score that determines the winner. Tomorrow is going to be the men's singles short program, and it could be the first time we see the quad god himself, Ilya Malin. In Cortina, the women's downhill briefly stalled because of fog. After a quick line dance, it lifted. And Lindsay Vaughn gave that knee a spin, testing out its stability after rupturing her ACL. Hope is also building for the U.S. mixed doubles curling Corey Dropkin and Corey Tisi now undefeated in the round robin stage.

Getting caught up in the excitement, Dropkin's mom and Snoop Dog. I looked over and I saw him smiling at me and then he put his arm around my mom. You can already feel that Olympic excitement. Stephanie joins us tonight from Milan and Stephanie the first medals will be handed out tomorrow. Yeah, that's right Tom. In Borneo, you have the men's downhill. They're going to have medals. But keep your eye on the big air.

competition in snowboarding. Ollie Martin, 17 years old, the youngest guy on the big air slope style team. He qualified for the finals, and he could be an outlier and a sleeper and a medal winner tomorrow. Stephanie, Gossack for us from Milan. Stephanie, thank you. And we're here in San Francisco tonight because it's Super Bowl Sunday, now just two days away, and the security in place around the big game is just massive.

See Patterson sought up close. Tonight, the air above Super Bowl 60 protected by military might, backed up by deadly force. Armed Air Force F-15 jets locked and loaded for potential threats, 30 nautical miles of airspace around the stadium, close to all traffic. The Coast Guard patrolling the waters near Levi's Stadium and Black Hawk helicopters ready to deploy tactical teams at a moment's notice. Customs and Border Protection's air and marine operation keeps a constant vision. Vigil, monitoring the ground, prepared for low and slow threats like aircraft or even drones.

The Super Bowl is a Sear-1 event. It's one of the most complicated security operations all year. Thousands of law enforcement officers all coming together to keep this area secure. With an estimated 1.3 million people flying through San Francisco's International Airport for the big game, taking part in more than 250 events before kickoff, police here focused on a strong ground game. All days off being canceled. Everyone's been deployed out to work. We're really saturating the city with ground level police officers. Thanks for you guys. Thank you for being out here. Appreciate you guys. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is proud to say crime in his city dropped 25% last year. We met up with him at the police department's state-of-the-art real-time investigation center,

dozens of digital age operators using a fleet of cameras and drones to spot threats. The message that we are sending to the world is that you don't come to, San Francisco to commit crime. We're going to catch you and we're going to prosecute you. And they're doing incredible work here. And Steve joins us now live here in San Francisco. So, Steve, what do we know about the possibility of any ice activity on Sunday during the big game? Tom, right now, what we know is what the NFL is telling us, which is that they are very

confident. There is no immigration activity planned during the Super Bowl this time. All right, Steve Patterson, for Steve, good to see you here. This brutal winter in the eastern half of the country is about to get even worse. 84 million people are under extreme cold alerts as the most frigid air of the season is set to blast into the mid-Atlantic and northeast this weekend. It will feel as cold as 20 to 40 degrees below zero in some parts. All right, we want to turn out of that racist video of the Obama is that President Trump's truth social account had reposted, then deleted, following bipartisan outrage. Here's Garrett Haig.

Tonight, President Trump speaking out following that rare reversal, taking down a video, reposting, posted by his social media account. After the Senate's only black Republican, South Carolina's Tim Scott, a strong Trump supporter, called the decision to repost it, quote, the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House. I didn't make a mistake. I mean, if I look at a lot of thousands of things, and I looked at the beginning of it, it was fine. Nobody knew that that was in the end.

The AI-generated video, depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, was reposting. by the president's truth social account just before midnight and deleted this morning. White House press secretary Caroline Leavid initially defended reposting the video, writing, this is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the king of the jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage. But after Scott's stinging criticism and more Republicans piling on, the abrupt U-turn, with a White House official telling NBC news a, quote, staffer erroneously made the initial repost. It comes, after Tom pressed the president about inflammatory posts he amplifies on truth social, including

about election integrity. Some theories about Italians and satellites. I mean, do you believe that stuff? No, no. No, I didn't cheat. I sometimes will retweens. All as a New York Times analysis of satellite images shows Iran appears to have made only limited fixes to major nuclear sites destroyed by the U.S. The president also told Tom Iran is looking to rebuild. Are they trying to restart the nuclear program? Well, I heard that they are, and if they do, and I let them know, if they do, we're going to send them right back and do their job again.

Garrett Hake, NBC News, the White House. And you can see more of my interview with President Trump on Super Bowl Sunday right here on NBC. When we return in 60 seconds, no ACL, no problem. Lindsay Vaughn flying down the mountain today in her bid for one more Olympic gold, what the skiing legend told me about her unprecedented comeback. That's next. We are back now with more on Lindsay Vaughn's Olympic comeback and her decision to fight through an ACL tear to compete one more time. I caught up with Vaughn just before she headed to Italy.

Here we go with Bib number 10. Lindsay Vaughn, we've been waiting for her to push out of the start gate. What a difference a week makes. Smooth in the turns. Watch Lindsay Vaughn fly down a mountain going 75 miles an hour during a training run in Cortina today. Lindsay Vaughn makes it to the finish line. Exactly one week after crashing in Switzerland.

Lindsay Vaughn has crashed out. Another nightmare in Cromontana. Oh, no. The 41-year-old says even a ruptured ACL won't stop her from racing on Sunday. I will do everything in my power to be in that starting game. Vaughn is no stranger to injuries, something we talked about when we caught up before the games. The sport's tough.

It's grueling. It beats up your body besides. being incredibly dangerous. How do you push through that? I don't know. I think I just look at it as part of the sport. You know, it's something that you have to deal with. Your body is going to get beat up. Football players don't complain that they get bashed. They don't complain about that. That's just our sport. Oh, and Lindsey Vaughn goes down. In 2019, a string of brutal injuries, and she is down. And grueling recoveries pushed Vaughn into retirement. Five years later, she had a partial knee replacement, her other knee, and that changed everything.

I was so happy. It was the first time I was able to ski without pain in so, so long. Soon after, she made a bold choice. She would return to competition. Did you call anybody in your life to say, hey, I think I'm going to do this again? Well, I wasn't sure what my dad was going to say. So I sent him an email. An email?

Yeah. He's a lawyer. So like, okay, dad, I want you to just sit and process this before we speak. speak on the phone. And he responded, you know, Lindsay, I'm your father, and I know you. And this surprises me, zero. Oh, wow. Lindsay's on now. He's absolutely flying. Her unprecedented comeback, all building to this, her fifth Olympics, 24 years after her debut at the Games. You probably haven't heard much of this, girl. That's because she's only 17 years old. Is there anything that's similar to that teenager who was so competitive, who was a prodigy, and you now

What is the same? I'm the same person. I'm just a girl from Minnesota that wants to be an Olympic skier. Go on, Lindsay. I've grown and I've learned a lot, but I am the same little girl that just loves to go fast. But even before her ACL tear, Vaughn had plenty of doubters. Some of your fellow racers have been critical. Some have even sort of called you crazy for doing this.

What do you say to them? I mean, listen, I raise downhill and go 85 miles an hour down a mountain. Of course, I'm crazy. But what bothered me, I think, was that they thought that my life outside of skiing wasn't fulfilling enough. I don't need to be doing this, but I'm doing it because I enjoy it, and I know that I can still be competitive. So my answer is in my results, I guess. And she has taken the lead. Before her injury, Vaughn was at the top of her game and expected to contend for gold.

Lindsay Vaughn. She knows her latest injury will make it harder to achieve that storybook ending. But she says she's still determined to try. I don't think I would have come back to the Olympics if it wasn't in Quartina, to be honest. It's a special place for me, and I hope it's a great way for me to close out my career. Lindsay Vaughn, not giving up. We're back at a moment with the fiery crash caught on camera on one of the busiest highways in the country. That's next.

And welcome back. Actor Timothy Busfield has been indicted by a New Mexico grand jury on child sex abuse charges. Busfield was arrested earlier this year on accusations of abusing two young boys who appeared on a Fox series that Busfield directed and acted in. Busfield's attorney called the case unsound and says he will fight those charges. This is developing tonight. Police in Georgia say rapper Lil John's 27-year-old son, Nathan Smith, also known as DJ Young Slade, was found dead in a pond. Officials say the cause of death is still to be determined that the investigation does not suggest foul play. And look at this dramatic video of a car engulfed in flames, shutting down parts of I-95 in Florida. You see that wall of fire across the road from the burning car.

You even see cars driving right through the massive inferno. All right, when we come back tonight here in nightly news, it's the moment we've all been waiting for. Team USA back and bigger than ever. Finally tonight, at a time of such deep division in our country, this weekend, Americans will come together. We'll come together to watch the Super Bowl here in San Francisco, Two teams from opposite coasts uniting the country for at least a few hours. And we'll join together to cheer on Team USA in the Olympics. It was such a powerful moment today when the American athletes entered during the parade of nations.

232 athletes from nearly every corner of this great country, all there because they spent their lives working towards this one goal with the support of their families and their communities, and now all of us. That's nightly news for this Friday. I'm Tom Yamas. I'll be right back here tomorrow live from the side of the Super Bowl and Monday, live from the Olympics. And make sure to watch the opening ceremony tonight right here at 8 p.m. Eastern on NBC and Peacock. We thank you so much for watching tonight and always. We're here for you. Good night.