FBI releases Nest footage as investigators seek key tips (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: The FBI has just released an actual video, and we're looking at it now. Ed and Jake, are you able to see what he's doing?

[00:00:09] Speaker 2: Yeah, we can hear you. We can hear you. So FBI Director Kash Patel just two minutes ago released new images. One of them is just another. Two of them are still images of this assailant walking up to Nancy Guthrie's front door. But then the videos, one of them has him holding his glove over the Nest camera and then walking backward and getting a tool or a rock. No, it's not a tool. What is it going to be?

[00:00:37] Speaker 3: It looks like he goes back out from the porch and grabs some shrubbery off the ground or grass or something. Oh, he's grabbing shrubbery. Okay. And it looks like he was trying to cover the ring.

[00:00:46] Speaker 2: Oh, he's trying to block the Nest camera. Okay, I see. So it looks like he's trying to block. And that's the second image, the second video, I should say, of him taking the... ...these shrubbery, these plants from the yard and trying to block the camera.

[00:01:00] Speaker 3: And so at some point he gives up on that and then just decides to take the camera.

[00:01:03] Speaker 2: And then he just decides to take the camera altogether. But while he was doing that, the camera was indeed recording. And because of the work of the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff working with the private sector, working presumably with the folks behind these Nest cameras, they were able to get this video. And we're almost 10 days into this missing persons case, but it is pretty impressive information that they were able to get.

[00:01:31] Speaker 3: I do wonder, Jake, as I'm watching this, you know, we're all trying to figure out, is this someone who planned this deliberately? How long was this planned for? But this suggests to me, and people smarter than me can opine, but you would think you'd know that there was a camera there. It's almost like he seems unprepared to cover it up. Like he would... He seems to me like if you knew the camera was there, you would have brought something to cover it up or you would have just knocked it off immediately.

[00:01:58] Speaker 2: Or gone right to it. It does suggest, and you and I are not sleuths, but just as humans watching this, it does suggest a lack of familiarity with the security in the front porch.

[00:02:09] Speaker 3: But then the way he's dressed and covered up and clearly prepared. I mean, the gloves. I mean, there is not an ounce of skin. Clearly someone who's probably thinking, I don't need to drop any kind of DNA around this scene whatsoever.

[00:02:20] Speaker 2: Yeah, although as Brianna points out... If you zoom in on the close-up of the mouth in his face mask, it does seem as though there could be a mustache there. It's unclear. Let's bring in Josh Campbell, our colleague who used to work for the FBI. Josh, correct me if I'm wrong, but these images seem potentially very valuable. They are much more clear on this suspect than images we... We've seen related to the UnitedHealthcare executive killing or the Charlie Kirk assassination. And both of those resulted in alleged murderers being captured. These seem even better in terms of the quality and in terms of what's revealed in the images.

[00:03:10] Speaker 4: Absolutely. And this shows you the advancement in this camera technology that's now available to just the average consumer at their homes. And as you mentioned, in other cases, we have seen where there's a suspect. Who maybe walks by a camera on a street and then you get some type of image. Of course, what's so notable here is that the camera is at the front entryway of this home where this person is, you know, appears to be attempting to be entering. So you get all these different views of this individual. The point that you, gentlemen, made just a second ago, I think, is spot on when you see him coming up. I say him, the person, the possible subject here. It looks like this person then goes and finds some type of foliage or... Plant or flower or something there, perhaps with the intention of trying to obscure that camera. We do know that the camera itself was eventually removed. And that is why authorities have been taking so much time in order to try to access this image. The FBI says that they were working with private sector companies. When information is deleted, that doesn't mean it's just, you know, it's completely gone. Oftentimes, these computer analysts can go through and look in, you know, what's called the slack space of different hard drives, depending on where information might be. And so, you know, there's a lot of information out there that we don't know exactly what they're going to be backed up to in order to try to resurrect some of that imagery. But you're spot on, Jake, that this is crystal clear. This is certainly much clearer than I think many of us were actually expecting. We do see some other things in this video as well. Obviously, the person appears to be trying to obscure not only their face, but you see the gloves that are on there. You know, as I was mentioning earlier, again, there's a lot we don't know. But criminals these days are often smart in the sense that they don't want to leave it behind any type of DNA or fingerprints. The question here is that why this person is going through these links to try to, you know, shield this person's hair to ensure that no fingerprints actually make their way in. And then the last point I don't know, Jake, is that there's a lot that investigators would have been assessing before they even released this publicly. And that is every single item that you see on this individual, the backpack, the gloves, this clothing, all of that will be analyzed to try to determine where it came from, what companies sell that. Was there someone who recently was, you know, in a particular retail store, buying that type of material? It takes a lot of work. It's tedious, but that's what would be underway.

[00:05:28] Speaker 2: One last thing before I throw it back to you, Brianna and Boris, is that Savannah Guthrie, obviously, whose beloved mother is was taken by this man, by this miscreant, just posted the four images that were initially released by the FBI from the Nest camera. Presumably she'll also post the other ones. But she she posted all four. Of them. And she wrote, we believe she is still alive. Bring her home. Anyone with information, please contact one hundred call FBI one and a hundred call FBI or the Pima County Sheriff's Department. Five to three. Five one four nine zero zero. That's five to three. Five one four nine zero zero. So Savannah getting those images out as well. And I'm sure so many of her colleagues who have millions of followers will do that as well. And somebody, somebody out there knows who this is, and somebody out there, there, we'll do the right thing and call the FBI.

[00:06:25] Speaker 1: That is certainly the hope. Let's bring Josh Gerard back in. And Josh, as we're now watching the videos, what do you pick up on from seeing this person moving around outside Nancy Guthrie's home that would be perhaps useful for those who know this person, who have seen this person, to be able to identify them and to lead to an actual substantive tip that gets investigators closer to them?

[00:06:56] Speaker 5: Well, obviously the clothing, the backpack, now that we can see the full backpack is incredibly helpful, but also kind of that gait analysis, right? The way people move. We recognize people more by the way that they move than by visual cues often. So understanding how they're moving, seeing them walk back and forth is definitely a great way to recognize something that you might know, even when you can't see those features. But what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to understand how they're moving. And I'm trying One of the things to note here as well is his calm demeanor. He's walking back and forth very calmly. While he may not have known about the camera, he's clearly not very concerned with it as he takes a very casual approach to trying to cover it up and trying to destroy that evidence.

[00:07:34] Speaker 1: As we look at this footage, let's bring in CNN's Josh Campbell, because Josh, there is quite a bit that you can glean about this armed person outside of Nancy Guthrie's home trying to obstruct that camera.

[00:07:48] Speaker 4: That's right. And, you know, I think it's worth noting that authorities, you know, may call this individual a subject or a person of interest until they, you know, have greater confidence. But I think, you know, if I'm working that case, you see someone show up at a residence like that in the middle of the night, dressed the way this person is, completely trying to obscure their face, trying to obscure their hands and showing up armed, which, you know, as you mentioned on the video, we can actually see what appears to be the handle of a pistol that's tucked in to what looks like a holster at the, you know, individual at his front. And so there is no discernible reason why someone shows up looking like that with that type of, you know, with a weapon, unless there are some type of sinister purposes. And so, again, they may say subject, they may say person of interest. This is the person that they're looking for right now. But it's so critical to release this footage now, and not just the imagery that we had earlier, but as, you know, we've been discussing, being able to look at this person's movement to see, you know, how they walk, to see what type is on. That could strike a chord with someone who might be watching. Either they know the person intimately, which, you know, is always a hope that you have a family member or a friend who, you know, tries to put the pieces together. This looks like someone I know. And by the way, you know, that person wasn't home or is now gone. It's those types of things that law enforcement, they're trying to essentially prime the public that we want anything that you have to obviously come forward. The video itself, Boris, as you mentioned, was able to be resurrected, by law enforcement working meticulously with the private sector. You know, people have been asking, well, what is taking so long to access those cameras? We know that because the camera itself was taken by presumably the person here, that authorities had to then work with this company to try to get any type of backup data. But now some very, very rich imagery that we're able to see. Authorities hope that someone will recognize something here and pick up the phone and call the FBI.

[00:09:44] Speaker 6: And Josh, that as well, but also that is a specific gun holster. That is a specific backpack. These are specific items on this individual that may have been purchased recently. How can law enforcement use that?

[00:10:01] Speaker 4: Everything that that person brought to that scene is going to be scrutinized. As you mentioned, the clothing from top to bottom, the type of apparent ski mask that this person has on. There is that moment where he then turns, you see him walking away and you have a fairly good shot of what type of backpack that is. Actually there. And as you mentioned, this is something that authorities have done, you know, time immemorial, essentially with the advancement of video camera technology. They will look and see, well, what, not only what type of material this is, who manufactures it, where is it sold? How many production lots could there have been for this particular type of material? Where did it go? What stores, you know, what were it shipped to? And then to try to see if, and, you know, especially in recent days or weeks that someone may have purchased this material for committing this one alleged crime. Same with the backpack, a little harder with the firearm, just based on the imagery that we see there, but it will certainly be scrutinized.