In our news wrap Tuesday, the FBI released images and videos today of a masked person outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home the night she went missing, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says a dispute with President Trump over a new bridge that connects Michigan and Ontario will be settled and Estonia says Russia has no intention of stopping the war in Ukraine.
Geoff Bennett:
In the day’s other headlines: The FBI released images and videos today of a masked person outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home the night she went missing. The footage shows someone with a backpack and long sleeves walking up to the 84-year-old’s front door and then attempting to use gloved hands and plants to cover a security camera. The person also appeared to be wearing a holster.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the previously inaccessible new images were recovered from residual data located in back end systems of a doorbell camera. Guthrie’s daughter, Today Show co-host Savannah Guthrie, posted the footage on social media, asking the public to help bring her home.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says a dispute with President Trump over a new bridge that connects Michigan and Ontario will, in his words, be settled. The two leaders discussed the Gordie Howe International Bridge in a call this morning, named after the Canadian hockey legend.
That’s after Mr. Trump threatened to block the project, writing on social media last night — quote — I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated.”
At a briefing today, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed the president’s claims that the U.S. has not benefited enough from the project.
Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary:
The U.S. should own at least half of the bridge, have shared authority over what passes across it, and participate in the economic benefits generated by its use. This is just another example of President Trump putting America’s interests first.
Geoff Bennett:
In fact, Canada paid for the construction of the $4.7 billion bridge, which is jointly owned by the Canadian government and the state of Michigan. Detroit’s regional Chamber of Commerce said any effort to block the bridge would have, in its words, tremendous consequences for the region, state and country.
Turning now to the war in Ukraine, Estonia says that Russia has no intention of stopping the fighting, despite recent talks aimed at ending the conflict. In their annual assessment, Estonian officials instead found that Moscow is using the negotiations as a tool for manipulation to buy time to build up its military.
Estonia is a NATO member that borders Russia and has backed Ukraine in the war. The country’s intelligence chief says that, while Russia does not plan to launch a military attack on any NATO state this year or next, nearby countries should still be prepared.
Kaupo Rosin, Estonia Foreign Intelligence Service:
In order to keep that situation in the mid and long term, from the NATO perspective, we have to invest in our defense today, defense capabilities, also internal security. That’s how we are able to manage and contain Russia also in the future.
Geoff Bennett:
Meantime, Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine continues. Officials in Eastern Ukraine said today that Russian planes dropped seven powerful glide bombs, damaging more than a dozen buildings and killing at least two people, including a child.
A group of Buddhist monks completed their 15-week Walk for Peace today. Wearing saffron robes and moving in single file, the monks crossed into Washington, D.C., the last stretch in a 2,300-mile journey that began in Texas. They say the walk is meant to promote mindfulness and inner peace, especially during a time of deep division and uncertainty.
That message has resonated across the country, with thousands gathering along their route to watch them pass, along with their ever-present rescue dog, Aloka. Millions more have followed their journey online. The monks plan to make a final appearance at the Lincoln Memorial tomorrow.
Paramount is once again sweetening its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. The company says it would pay Warner Bros. shareholders extra cash if the deal does not close by a certain date, plus a breakup fee if Warner Bros. agrees to drop its deal with Netflix. But the underlying offer from Paramount remains unchanged at $30 per share. Warner Bros. stock jumped more than 2 percent after the news.
Elsewhere on Wall Street today, stocks ended mixed after a disappointing report on retail sales. The Dow Jones industrial average continued its record run, adding about 50 points. The Nasdaq went the other way, losing more than 130 points. The S&P 500 also ended lower.
And at the Winter Olympics, the U.S. added to its medal count today, though gold was hard to come by. And a warning: We have some spoilers ahead.
Team USA won two silvers on the slopes, plus a bronze across freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing, and the alpine skiing team event. But star Mikaela Shiffrin’s team just missed the podium, coming in fourth.
In mixed doubles curling, the U.S. settled for silver today against Sweden. Those wins helped put the U.S. at fourth on the total medal count, with seven overall at last check. Norway and home country Italy lead the pack.
In other Olympics news, U.S. figure skater Maxim Naumov made an emotional Olympic debut today just a year after losing his parents in an air collision over Washington, D.C. And the U.S. women’s hockey team beat Canada 5-0 in a group stage matchup, as the two nations renewed their historic rivalry on the ice.
