Hi! Welcome to the daily briefing. This morning’s breaking news is:
nicole farato Here I am grateful that my job is not ski jumping. From Savannah Guthrie’s latest plea about her mother’s disappearance to Bill Gates’ response to allegations about Jeffrey Epstein, we’ve got the news for you Thursday. Plus: Meet Olympic coach Snoop Dogg.
Guthrie family begs mother Nancy to come home
“Today” host Savannah Guthrie made an emotional appeal Wednesday as the search for her 84-year-old mother continues.
TMZ and CBS affiliate KOLD News have confirmed that their newsrooms have received Nancy Guthrie’s ransom note, but it is currently unverified as the FBI is working with local police in Arizona to investigate.
Savannah Guthrie and her siblings addressed these reports in a video posted to Instagram on the evening of February 4th.
“We’ve been hearing reports in the media about the ransom letter,” said Savannah Guthrie, sitting between her sister Annie Guthrie and brother Camron Guthrie. She appeared to speak directly to the possible kidnapper as she continued, “We definitely need to know that she’s alive and that you keep her.” The trio also shared a message of love for their mothers.
Read Savannah Guthrie’s full statement here.
Meanwhile, Nancy Guthrie’s Arizona community gathered for a vigil Wednesday night as the world watched from a deeply, horribly sad and horrific incident.
More news you need to know right now
- Bill Gates says he ‘regrets every minute’ of time spent with Jeffrey Epstein. Gates has denied any involvement with Epstein, including using Epstein to facilitate secret meetings with women and hiding sexually transmitted diseases from his then-wife, Melinda French Gates.
- Keep a winter jacket on hand. The frigid temperatures plaguing the eastern half of the country won’t end soon, as major shifts in the polar vortex are expected this month.
- Is there a space data center? Potentially. Elon Musk is merging his rocket company SpaceX with an artificial intelligence startup known as xAI in a bid to further the mogul’s plans to build data centers in space.
2026 Olympics
“Coach” Snoop Dogg
No one loves the Olympics more than Snoop Dogg. The rapper joined American athletes in Milan this week as Team USA’s first-ever honorary coach and Milan-Cortina torch bearer. There’s only one day until the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, but the games have already begun on Thursday.
health and wellness
One-third of cancers are preventable
Good news for people who want to reduce their cancer risk. A new study published this week in Nature Medicine found that an estimated 7.1 million (about 37.8%) of the 18.7 million new cancer cases in 2022 will be attributable to 30 modifiable risk factors, including smoking, alcohol intake, and high body mass index.
sports corner
Have feedback about the daily briefing? Email Nicole at NFallert@usatoday.com.
