Transcript of DHS Funding Negotiations, UK Epstein Fallout, Latest On Guthrie Investigation New

One demand by Democrats in the immigration debate is for federal agents to show their faces.

Lawmakers want them to take off their masks and also want top officials to take questions before Congress, which some do today.

I'm Michelle Martin. That's Steve Inskeep. And this is up first from NPR News. How, if at all, should the UK prime minister be held accountable? Keir Starmer's cabinet still supports him. He's facing criticism because documents suggest Starmer's ambassador to the US Gave sensitive information to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Also, Today show host Savannah Guthrie posted another plea for her missing mother.

We are at an hour of desperation and we need your help.

A ransom deadline came and went. What happens now? Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day.

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Your podcasts, Here we go again. The Department of Homeland Security runs out of funding on Friday.

Congress is going through another last minute drama over the budget as some lawmakers try to shape the tactics of immigration agents. A House committee is also preparing to hear from immigration officials about how that enforcement is being conducted, conducted across the country.

NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt is here. Barbara, good morning.

Hey, good morning, Steve.

How are the talks going?

Well, a bit stuck right now, which feels familiar, right? Last week, top Democrats sent a list of proposals. Late last night, they said they received a response from Republicans. Neither side has described what was in that response, but Democrats said the outline of that counter proposal didn't include details or proposed legislative text, so they dismissed it as incomplete. And they said they'll be waiting for details to come their way.

Much more time to wait, it would seem.

That's right. With a Friday deadline, doesn't give them a Bunch of time to delivery. And if they don't reach a deal, then they need another stopgap bill to fund the department. So last night, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he's going to start teeing up a short term funding bill today, just in case an agreement can't be brokered in time.

Okay. Now, regular listeners to this program have heard discussion of the various demands that Democrats have, and there's real substance here in people's lives because it has to do with the way that immigration agents behave on the streets of places like Minneapolis and, and elsewhere. What on that list has begun to seem like it has bipartisan support?

Well, we know that there's general support from both parties on requiring officers to wear body cameras. In fact, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has already said that the department will send cameras to every field officer in Minneapolis and that that body camera program will be expanded nationwide as funding allows. Now, Democrats want to go a step further. They want to see that put into law. But other proposals remain much more of an uphill battle.

Okay, why don't you go through those?

Well, Democrats want officers to display identifying information like their last names, and they want to ban them from wearing face coverings. And this has seemed to be a non starter with a lot of Republicans who say that banning face masks would make it easier for people to dox federal agents. But Democrats counter that that would actually bring immigration enforcement officers in line with civil enforcement. You know, pointing out that sheriffs and police officers, for example, don't wear masks.

I'm noticing that there's a kind of a theme of transparency here, demanding transparency. Democrats at least want the person on the street who works for the taxpayer to identify themselves to this person, that they may be grabbing and taking down or doing any number of things to demanding identity. And at the same time, officials from ICE and Customs and Border Protection are, are supposed to more or less identify themselves before Congress and face questions about what they're doing.

That's right. And this will be the bulk of the hearing today. There will be another one before the Senate on Thursday. And it's interesting because Congress is actively negotiating on how to change dhs. And at the same time, this committee gets to question firsthand the people who conduct these operations, which, as you said, have come under so much scrutiny. In fact, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee requested that these officials testify after federal immigration officers shot and killed Alex Preddy in Minneapolis.

So what will you be watching for?

I'm curious how the congressional GOP majority will handle its questioning because they broadly support President Trump's immigration enforcement actions. But they're also contending with public polling that shows a majority of Americans say that enforcement has gone too far.

NPR's Barbara Sprunt, thanks as always.

Thank.

You. The Epstein files have tarnished a lot of Americans in politics and business, and they are also reverberating across the Atlantic.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is not implicated in the Epstein files, but he appointed someone who is and is having to defend himself.

NPR's Lauren Frere is following this from London.

Hi, Lauren.

Hi, Steve. Why is Starmer apparently facing some calls.

To resign over the man he appointed to be his ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson? So Mandelson resigned last year after an earlier batch of the Epstein files revealed he had kept up communication, friendship with the late sex offender after Epstein's conviction. Now, the latest batch show he allegedly passed sensitive UK Government information to Epstein. Mandelson denies wrongdoing, but police are investigating. And all of this has led to questions about Starmer's judgment in appointing him in the first place.

How does Starmer defend himself?

He admits he knew Mandelson was friends with Epstein, but says Mandelson lied to him about the extent of it.

Okay, so let's just remember there was a period recently in British history where they had a new prime minister every seven or eight minutes, it seemed. So is there a good chance that Starmer might really resign?

It looks less likely today than it did yesterday. Yesterday when two of his top staffers, Starmer's top staffers, abruptly quit. Then a close ally of Starmer, the head of his Labor Party in Scotland, Anna Sarwar, called a news conference to say this.

The distraction needs to end and the.

Leadership in Downing street has to change.

Downing street, of course, the UK Equivalent of the White House. In a parliamentary system, the ruling party can replace the prime minister. And that's what Sarwar is calling for to happen here. But rather than trigger a sort of cascade of more resignation calls, Sarwar was kind of left hanging alone because Starmer's cabinet rallied around him and every single member of his cabinet and also some backbenchers, members of his party who aren't in the government have issued statements in support of Starmer to stay in office. So Starme looks like he's living to fight another day. I just want to say this is not like an impeachment in the U.S. these are the normal machinations of a parliamentary system. You know, two long serving British prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, were both ousted by their own parties in this way and not in elections.

Yeah, the party can fire their leaders, so to speak.

That's right.

Where do the royals fit into all of this, given that the king's own brother is in the files?

Yeah, Former Prince Andrew. We don't call him that anymore. He's stripped of that title. He settled a lawsuit with one of Epstein's underage victims a few years ago. He denies wrongdoing. But police are now looking into whether Andrew also leaked sensitive UK government information to Epstein when Andrew was a UK trade envoy. Andrew's not commented on those allegations, but the king, his brother has been getting heckled over this. And here's what it sounded like yesterday.

Charles, how long have you known about Andrew and Edster?

Then you hear people sort of saying, oh, get out of here, you know, and cheering for the king. There was a mixed crowd there. But last night, the king issued a statement saying he is willing to cooperate with police if asked about his brother. He's already stripped his brother of his royal titles. He's booted his brother out of a royal cottage on Windsor Castle grounds. So all of this is raising really big questions about the future of the monarchy. The heir to the throne, Prince William and his wife Kate, issued their first statement on the Epstein files this week.

Saying they are deeply concern about the potential image of the police dropping by to question the king. Lauren, thanks so much.

You're welcome.

That's NPR's Lauren Frayer. Today show host Savannah Guthrie has released another video pleading for her mom's return.

We are at an hour of desperation, and we need your help.

The video was posted on Monday evening around the time of a deadline outlined in a ransom message. Nancy Guthrie was last seen on Saturday, January 31, in Tucson.

NPR's Bill Chappell is following this story, which really has captured the attention of a lot of people across the country. Bill, good morning.

Good morning, Steve.

Does this video, I mean, it really is touching to watch this video. It really catches you. Does it give you any new information?

It is wrenching. And in it, you know, Savannah Guthrie just pleads for the public's help in finding her mother. She says her family's now in the second week of a nightmare.

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.

And Guthrie also thanks people for their prayers and support. This is the fourth public appeal the families made for Nancy Guthrie to be returned to them. But it didn't tell us much new information.

I guess we should note here it could be that nothing is going on, nothing is being learned, or something is happening in law enforcement that is not clear to us that we will learn, learn later. Sometimes these cases evolve that way. What do we know based on public information about progress by law enforcement?

Right. There are multiple local and federal agencies that have helped to try to find Nancy Guthrie, but we don't have a sense they're any closer to doing that. And several local media outlets in the Tucson area and TMZ have reported receiving ransom messages. At least one of those evidently included details about the scene at Guthrie's house. The FBI says it takes those messages seriously, but it's not said definitively that it's sure one of those messages came from people who took Nancy Guthrie. The FBI did say last week it's investigating a ransom note that included demands with that deadline of Monday. But in her message, Savannah Guthrie did not mention paying a ransom. And on on Monday, also, the FBI told news outlets it wasn't aware of any, quote, continued communication between the Guthrie family and the suspected kidnappers.

Oh, so the implication is there's been no follow up to these supposed to ransom notes. Has anything changed since this deadline last night?

I mean, not that we can tell. Around that time, the sheriff's department issued a statement really similar to what we've seen from them before. It said investigators haven't identified suspects or persons of interest or vehicles that were connected to Nancy Guthrie's disappearance. You know, last week, the police really were emphasizing electronic analysis of things like cameras and cell phones and license plate readers. But the latest statement from the sheriff's department really echoes Savannah Guthrie's message, which they're asking anybody who might have information to call the FBI or the sheriff's department. The FBI also has a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to getting Nancy Guthrie back or to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearing.

In the absence of any hard information, what is the latest sense of Nancy Guthrie's condition at the age of 84?

Well, her family says Nancy Guthrie is physically fragile. They say she has limited mobility. She relies on a pacemaker and needs daily medic. We don't have new information about that, of course, but, you know, authorities say she's mentally sharp. The combination of Nancy Guthrie's physical and mental condition and other circumstances is really what led police to suspect early on that she'd been taken from her home against her will.

NPR's Bill Chappell. Thanks so much sure thing, Steve. And to get our ongoing coverage of the search for Nancy Guthrie, you can follow the up first podcast wherever you get them. Today's top stories will be waiting for you, delivered straight to your phone every morning. And that's up first for this Tuesday, February 10th. I'm Steve Inskeep.

And I'm Michelle Martin. For coverage of the Olympics, check out Up First Winter Games. That's a new video podcast from NPR. New episodes drop throughout the games every afternoon at YouTube.com NPR.

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