Up First from NPR - Guthrie Investigation, Ghislaine Maxwell Deposition, Seahawks Win Super Bowl LX

Episode Date: February 9, 2026

The search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, enters a second week as her family says they’ve received a message from the people who took her and investigators continue to look for suspects.Ghislaine Maxwell is set to be questioned by members of Congress about Jeffrey Epstein, his crimes, and the powerful figures connected to him, even as she continues to challenge her own conviction.And the Seattle Seahawks win Super Bowl 60, beating the New England Patriots 29-13, using a dominant defense to secure the franchise’s second championship.Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today’s episode of Up First was edited by James Doubek, Megan Pratz, Russell Lewis, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Adriana Gallardo.It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ava Pukatch. Our director is Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.(0:00) Introduction(01:58) Guthrie Investigation(05:37) Ghislaine Maxwell Deposition(09:30) Seahawks Win Super Bowl LXLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Today's show hosts Savannah Guthrie and her siblings posted a new video saying they received a message from their mother's kidnapper. Investigators still have no suspects in the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie. I'm Leila Faudil. That's Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News. Members of Congress will question Gillen Maxwell today about Jeffrey Epstein and the powerful people in his orbit. She's already serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking minors. Could lawmakers learn from someone still challenging her own conviction? And the Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl champions, shutting down the Patriots in a defense-dominated game.

But even the fans say it wasn't pretty. We're over the moon, ecstatic, but at the end of the day, this was not a great game. How did Seattle secure the win? Stay with us. We'll give you news you need to start your day. This message comes from Wise, the app for international people using money around the globe. You can send, spend, and receive in up to 40 currencies. with only a few simple taps. Be smart.

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We have to be able to differentiate sleep from the different ways that we can rest. On the Life Kid podcast, the seven types of rest, and why each one is important to living a full, healthy life. Listen to the Life Kid podcast in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. It's another difficult morning for the family of Nancy Guthr. As the search for today's show, co-host Savannah Guthrie's mother is now in its second week. The Guthrie family says they have received a message from the people who took Nancy Guthrie from her home in Arizona. NPR's Bill Chappell is following the story, and he's with us now. Good morning, Bill. Good morning, Michelle.

The Guthrie family put out a new video about their mother over the weekend. What did they say? Right, so Savannah Guthrie posted a video message on Instagram Saturday afternoon. It was really short. And from the start, Savannah Guthrie, speaks directly to the people who took her mother. Here's how it starts. We received your message and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her.

So she went on to say that getting Nancy Guthrie back is the only way her family will have peace. And she said the family's willing to pay for that. In the video, Savannah sits next to her brother Cameron and her sister, Annie. Yeah, I've seen the video. It's hard to watch and they do look very distrable. Yeah, I mean, you can only imagine the toll this has taken on them, and as she spoke, Savannah and her older siblings were holding hands.

The message implies that the people who took Nancy Guthrie have been in touch somehow. Do we know anything about that? Yes, there are multiple reports of ransom notes being sent to local media in Tucson. One local TV station, KGUN, said they received a ransom note that demanded $6 million by Monday evening, and that's later today. Police have not publicly confirmed details about ransom in concrete terms, but the FBI that's been working with the local sheriff's department has said that while it's advising the Guthrie family in this case, any decision about whether to pay a ransom or not is up to them. Proof of life also comes into play sometimes when there's a ransom. That's complicated, the FBI says, because for anybody to prove they have Nancy Guthrie and she's okay, there's no way they can tell if AI hasn't been used to create a video. that could be fake but very convincing. And this video from the Guthrie family comes a week after they last saw their mother. Right. Nancy Guthrie ate dinner with relatives last Saturday night and then got back home around 9.50 p.m.

She didn't show up for church the next Sunday morning, though. And after the family tried to check on her, they called 911. That set off a massive search using tracking dogs, drones, and helicopters. The police who were at her house found that there were drops of Nancy Guthrie's blood. blood on the front porch. And Sheriff Chris Nano said later that a doorbell camera at the front of the house was disconnected. He also said Guthrie's pacemaker disconnected from a phone app around 2.30 that morning. And to remind you, we're talking about an 84-year-old grandmother who lives alone in the Catalina of foothills north of Tucson. Police say Nancy Guthrie has limited mobility and her family

says she also needs daily medication just to survive. And is there any sense that the police have made any progress in this case? Well, on Sunday, the Pima County Sheriff's Department put out an update, essentially saying they're still working to find Nancy Guthrie, and investigators have repeatedly been seen working in and around the house this past weekend even, but the Sheriff's Department also said on Sunday that they haven't identified any suspects or people of interest or vehicles that might be connected to the case. And I'll add that for all three of the video messages that Guthrie's have put out since this started, the captions end with the same plea. And to quote, It just says, bring her home.

That is, and Paris, Bill Chappell. Bill, thank you. Thank you, Michelle. Gieland Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking minors for sex with Jeffrey Epstein, is set to be deposed virtually and behind closed doors with lawmakers on Capitol Hill later today. Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have called on Maxwell to answer questions about Epstein, his crimes and the powerful people, including President Trump, who associated with. with him. Those people include politicians, entrepreneurs, academics, and entertainers. Maxwell's appearance before Congress comes a week after the Justice Department released what it says

will be the last batch of documents related to Epstein. NPR Scott Newman has been following all this, and he's with us now to tell us more. Scott, good morning. Good morning, Michelle. Before we talk about Maxwell specifically, would you just tell us what we've learned from the publicly available documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein? So far, there was this huge sort of data dump of documents and people have been combing through them. Right. What we know is that a lot of powerful people appeared in these documents. But in many cases, it's Epstein and someone else making only casual reference to them. In other cases, it's more aspirational with Epstein or someone else discussing a dinner or a meeting with an important person.

But no clear indication whether the meeting ever took place. But there are definitely other cases where Epstein was involved in chatty and sometimes lurid email exchanges. I'll just throw out a few names here, billionaire Elon Musk, self-help guru Deepak Chopra, author and linguist Noam Chomsky, just to name a few. President Trump and former President Bill Clinton are both in the documents and what appears to be a summary of unsubstantiated allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct. And it has to be said that simply appearing in the documents is not an indication of wrongdoing for all the reasons you just cited. But say more about how Maxwell plays into all of this. Well, in 2021, Maxwell was found guilty of sex crimes in connection with Epstein. She says she met Epstein in 1991, and despite her conviction four years ago, she's continued to deny any knowledge or involvement in Epstein's crimes, including those involving minors. But the Justice Department has described her as a partner in crime with Epstein. Prosecutors have said she helped Epstein recruit and groom girls for massages that often included or led to sexual abuse. And the Department of Justice interviewed Maxwell last year. Tell us more about that.

Right. After she was convicted, Maxwell was sent to a low security federal prison in Florida to serve her time. But in July of last year, she got an unorthodox visit from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Blanche interviewed Maxwell in prison and according to transcripts of their discussions, parts of which are redacted. Maxwell told Blanche that although she knew Donald Trump when he and Epstein were friends, that Trump never did anything illegal or received misconduct. Shortly after that, Maxwell was transferred to a minimum security federal prison for women in Texas known as Club Fed. That sparked outrage from some in Congress with top Democrats criticizing the transfer, saying Maxwell had gotten concierge-style treatment as part of a political deal with the White House. Well, remembering that Todd Blanche in his previous life was Donald Trump's personal attorney. So what do we expect Maxwell to say? Not much, actually. Maybe nothing at all. She's challenging her conviction. in court and isn't likely to say anything that would jeopardize her appeals.

Some lawmakers would like to know the names of 25 men who Maxwell said in court papers entered into a secret settlement and were not part of the Epstein investigation. But she's expected to make liberal use of her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. And again, this will all occur behind closed doors and lawmakers will be questioning her over a video link. That is. NPR Scott Newman. Scott, thank you. Thank you. There's a new king of the hill and professional football, the Seattle Seahawks. Yeah, in Super Bowl 60 yesterday, Seattle defeated the New England Patriots 29 to 13.

It is the second time the Seahawks have won the NFL's title game. Steve Futterman was at the game in Santa Clara, California, and he is with us now. Good morning, Steve. Good morning, Michelle. Wake yet after a late night? Oh, yes. All right. So Seattle was the favorite going into the Super Bowl.

Turned out the odds makers knew what they were talking about. They did indeed. You know, Michelle, I've been to many Super Bowls. Some of the games are beautifully played. They just take your breath away. This was not one of them, especially if you like to see team score, which most fans do. The key difference maker yesterday was Seattle's solid defense. It held the Patriots scoreless for the first three quarters, but Seattle was also having trouble scoring. Steve, I've got to be honest, I stayed up late, too. I'm not sure it was worth it. So explain what happened.

Well, the Seahawks were able to drive into Patriot territory, but repeatedly they had trouble getting into the end zone for the touchdowns. Four times Seattle had to settle for a field goal. After three quarters, the Seahawks led 12-0. That is not a classic contest. Finally, early in the fourth quarter, Seattle did score a touchdown. That made it 19-0. Then the Patriots finally started scoring two,

but it was way too late at that point. Now, the Seahawk fans here were elated, definitely. Some of them like Leon Wexler, though, acknowledged while this was a great moment, it was not a classic game. It will go down in Super Bowl history as one of the worst Super Bowls in history, despite the positive outcome for our Seahawks fans. It's an unbelievable win. We're over the moon, ecstatic, but at the end of the day, this was not a great game. And I bet the Seattle Seahawks don't care at all. You're absolutely right.

Take a listen to Mike McDonald, the Seattle coach, during the football. presentation of the Lombardi Trophy. He did not sound distraught. I had 100% confidence. We got the best teams. We got the best fans in the world, 12s. We never wavered, man. We believed in each other.

We loved each other. And now we're world champions. Now also he later was the Seattle quarterback, Sam Darnold. His story's been reported quite a bit as the lead-up to the game took place. He was the number three draft pick in the 2018 draft, but repeatedly failed. to live up to expectations. He was considered pretty much what they call a bust until last year. Now he has led his team to a Super Bowl.

He was emotional. Me and my dad don't really cry very often. And, you know, I told my dad I was, you know, and my mom. I'm here because of their belief in me. Some people call me crazy throughout my career for believing in myself so much and having so much confidence. But, you know, it was because of my parents. Okay, before we go, can't ignore the Patriots.

They did have quite a year. Not quite a year. It wasn't a historic year. Last year, they won just four games. This year, they won 17. They have a highly respected coach, a quarterback. The future seems bright, but any player in the NFL will tell you a lot of things need to go right for a team to make it to the Super Bowl. That is Steve Ferman in Santa Clara, California. Steve, thank you. Thank you, Michelle. And that's up first for Monday, February 9th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Leila Fawz. Today's episode of Up! First was edited by James Dubek, Megan Pratz, Russell Lewis, Mohammed Edbertisi, and Adriana Gaiardo. It was produced by Ziad Butch and Ava Puketch.

Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hines. Our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow. On Wait, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, it's not so much we get to talk to celebrities. It's that we get to talk to celebrities about other celebrities, like we did with actor Nathan Lane.

I remember having to tell George C. Scott that I was leaving the show to do this musical. And he said to me, you're leaving me to do a fucking magic show? Listen to Wait Wait in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.