TODAY show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie's mother Nancy abducted, apparently for ransom.

 

File photo of Savannah and Nancy Guthrie. TODAY show/NBC.

TODAY show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie's mother Nancy has been abducted and ransom notes have been sent, in an extremely rare kidnapping for ransom plot. NBC News. Nancy Guthrie was reported missing on Sunday after she did not show up for church. Investigators say that she was apparently taken at night and blood was found at the scene, which was later confirmed to be hers. Ransom notes were delivered to media outlets demanding millions of dollars worth of bitcoin. Nancy Guthrie was in poor health and had several medical conditions, including a pacemaker. No suspect has been identified in the case. Savannah Guthrie sent a video begging for the safe release of her mother. President Trump spoke to Savannah and vowed federal resources to solve the case. 

My Comment:

This story is notable because abduction for ransom is extremely rare in the United States. When it does happen it's big news largely because of just how rare it actually is. The majority of kidnappings in this country are custody issues between parents. A break in abduction for ransom is something that is almost unheard of in the United States, though it is common across the border in Mexico. 

Why? Because America is actually really good at tracking down kidnappers. The majority of kidnappers for ransom get caught fairly quickly as the FBI is actually competent in these kinds of cases. It's a very low percentage crime and doing it to a relative of someone famous is even dumber as the President himself has taken an interest in this case. I would assume that the chances of the kidnapper(s) getting away with this as close to zero. 

All of this is strange as it seems like it was a competently planned crime. They were able to grab Nancy without too much trouble and they apparently did enough research to realize both who she is and who she is related to. That's not something you do on the spur of the moment during a home invasion, this was a planned crime. The idea that they are smart enough to pull this off but stupid enough to attempt in the first place is hard to square. 

Folks are naturally suspecting the involvement of Cartels or other organized crime. So far there is no evidence of that either way, but it is certainly possible. As I said before, kidnapping for ransom is a very common crime in Mexico and it wouldn't be surprising if they were involved. Doing so would be a huge escalation as it would invite law enforcement and possible military action, against them, so I would guess they are not involved. 

As for Nancy herself, I am very concerned about her survival. She's fairly old at 84 and she was at the very least bleeding as she was taken. She needs medication that she's probably not getting and her pacemaker tracking device has been turned off, which does not bode well. The kidnappers do have an incentive to keep her alive but so far they haven't released any proof of life. 

I do have to say that just because this happened we shouldn't think that this kind of crime is common. It absolutely is not and it's mostly notable because of how rare it actually is. I guess it could become more common if this case isn't solved, but I doubt that will be the endgame in this case. 

Suspected illegal biolab found in Las Vegas

 

Investigators at the clandestine lab in Las Vegas. ABC News/LVMPD photo. 

A suspected illegal biolab has been found in Las Vegas Nevada, raising major security concerns. ABC News. 1000 biological samples were found in the lab and the samples are being studied. Police arrived at the residence in response to code violations, but called in the Joint Terrorism Task Force after the samples were found. One person was arrested in connection with the incident, the property manager Ori Solomon. The owner of the property, Jiabei Zhu, has been identified as the same man that was arrested in 2023 for running a similar lab in California that had samples of many pathogens, including HIV, Covid, Malaria and even Ebola. 

My Comment:

This is a major update to a story that has largely been memory holed. The existence of a biolab that supposedly had some very serious pathogens and mice to test them on was obviously deeply concerning and it seems like a secondary lab was found. 

The original case was rather chilling. Zhu was running a lab in California. The lab was being used to create fraudulent HIV and Covid tests. At least that was what he was charged with. The fraud explanation does not really explain why he would have samples from many other diseases like Malaria and Ebola. The presence of humanized mice for biological testing was extremely concerning as well. 

This raid appears to have been a storage site and not an active lab. Given that the materials were locked up in a garage and the only one arrested was the property manager, I don't think that this lab was being used for anything at the moment. I am guessing everything was put into storage after the original lab was raided. It was probably put there in hopes that Zhu would eventually be released and once that happened he could resume his activities. 

Was these labs biowarfare or just an extremely advanced fraud scheme? I am guessing it is fraud. The lab was not advanced enough to really accomplish the kinds of things you need to do for biowarfare. I guess pathogens can be made and weaponized at a home lab, but nothing the government has released has shown that is what they are doing. Plus the pathogens mentioned either are difficult to spread, like Malaria, TB, HIV or Ebola, or are ones already everywhere, like the Coronavirus. None of those are good for biowarfare. 

Of course it doesn't have to be a biowarfare lab for it to be a major threat. There was a real chance that there could have been an accidental release of a pathogen from either of these labs. The chances were higher in the Las Vegas case because apparently a family was living at the house that contained the lab. Like I mentioned above, none of these pathogens are easily spread but there absolutely could have been a minor outbreak because of the improper storage at this lab. It would have caused an extreme panic for a few cases of Ebola, for example, to pop up out of nowhere. 

People are hyping up the involvement of China, but that's an old issue. It does seem very likely that they were helping Zhu with the original lab. There is very little other explanation as to why this guy had all these pathogens. They were probably profiting off the fraud that Zhu was committing. It's just another example as how China does all kinds of nasty things like this. 

Federal police in Minneapolis will be issued bodycams.

 

Federal police in Minneapolis. AP. 

Federal police, including ICE, CBP and other Homeland Security officers, will be issued bodycams. AP. Secretary Kristi Noem said that the program will be expanded nationwide as more funding becomes available. The policy comes in the wake of two officer involved shootings in Minneapolis during attacks on federal law enforcement. No bodycam footage was recorded in the Renee Good shooting, but several CBP officers had bodycams on during the Alex Pretti shooting, but they were not released yet. Legislation has been proposed to fund more bodycams but is currently held up in the Senate. President Trump endorsed the idea, saying that it was up to Noem but that he liked them because they generally made it hard to lie about what happened during an incident. 

My Comment:

I absolutely support bodycams. Trump was right, they absolutely prevent people from lying about what happened during a police encounter and they have vindicated officers a lot more often then they condemn them. 

Indeed, though there was not bodycam footage in the Renee Good shooting, there was cell phone footage from the officer that vindicated his actions, showing without a doubt that not only did Good hit him with her car, but that she was happy about it. That didn't stop the dedicated folks on the left from not believing their lying eyes, but it had a major effect on the perception of the case from people that weren't dedicated political pundits. 

I generally think that no policy has backfired more for the left than bodycam footage. The Black Lives Matter narrative was that police were shooting innocent people. That narrative was proven to be ridiculous when dozens of cases showed how out of control criminals are. 

It’s actually insane how every single body cam video looks exactly like this https://t.co/wwsuEtdKo5 pic.twitter.com/OY382gw4EU

— Mostly Peaceful Memes (@MostlyPeaceful) September 3, 2025

I think that's a reason why Black Lives Matter is a spent force. Folks saw how these cases went down and folks realized that BLM was full of it. And the same thing happened in these cases. More than one person said that what you thought about the Renee Good shooting depended on how much bodycam footage you have watched. If you are someone that views it regularly, you have seen video of officers being hurt or killed because they hesitated when someone drove their car at them.  

I also think that if people really saw raw, unedited footage, of how insane these leftist protesters are they would lose a lot of sympathy for them. Indeed, that's what happened in the Alex Pretti case. Pretti was filmed 11 days before he was shot and he was utterly deranged, spitting on officers and kicking the taillight of a police SUV. 

MUST WATCH: Footage of an a man who looks like Alex Pretti with a gun in his waistband, spitting on and attacking federal law enforcement officers and kicking the tail light of their vehicle on January 13.

Bombshell report from the BBC.

Important context: Pretti was not a… pic.twitter.com/snzEO8rU8w

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 28, 2026

I do wonder why federal police didn't have bodycams in the first place. It sounds like it is a budget issue. It's frustrating as bodycams should be something that everyone supports. I would think though that the Democrats are willing to block it because as demonstrated above, it hurts their cause. 

Indeed, the Democrats hate this kind of transparency. They don't want the public to know just how badly their activist base acts when the cameras are off. That's they antifa and other protest groups often attack journalists and why Will Stancil, one of the more famous activists in Minneapolis and a lolcow beloved by the right, got kicked out of the movement. Stancil had the temerity to film what he was doing and regularly talked to journalists and now he's persona non grata in the movement, to the point where he was punched. 

 

ANTIFA PUNCHED WILL STANCIL pic.twitter.com/u55XO4SWYE

— Aetius (@AetiusRF) February 2, 2026

So yes, I fully support bodycams for ICE, CBP and any other federal officers. They are absolutely going to show that their actions are legally justified and that the leftist activist movement is totally out of control. In theory, if an officer does screw up, they will be held accountable too. It's win win for everyone but the activist left.  

Despite saber rattling on both sides, Iran and the United States appear ready for high level talks to avoid conflict.

 

President Donald Trump and Ayatollah Khamenei.. Times of Israel/AP. 

Iran and the United States appear ready for high level talks in Ankara Turkey to avoid a conflict. Times of Israel. Tensions between Iran and the United States have been high ever since wide scale anti-regime protests broke out and were put down by the Iranian government. The United States has deployed significant forces in the region, including a carrier strike group. However, reports from sources in the Trump administration say that a meeting is being arranged between Iran's diplomats and Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Both sides are still publicly saber rattling, with Iran saying that a regional war could break out and President Trump agreeing with the statement. 

My Comment:

I am guessing that diplomacy will win the day here. I know that both Trump and the Iranian government are yelling at each other right now, but anyone who knows anything about how Trump does things understands that he often does that. Trump and Kim Jong Un were pretty acrimonious before their meeting and despite that they had a pretty productive meeting. It doesn't always work, Trump ran into a brick wall in trying to end the Russia-Ukraine war, but it does appear to be what is happening here. 

That doesn't mean that there isn't a risk of strikes. We do have large forces in the region. In addition to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which has an air wing, supporting warships, and, most likely, cruise missile submarines, we also have a few squadrons of F-15's in the region as well. Not to mention our long range strike capabilities using B-2 bombers. 

It's also important to note that Iran's defensive capabilities have been greatly reduced by Israel during their 12 day war last year. Their air force, already obsolete with outdated MIG29's and ancient F-14 Tomcats, was largely grounded during that conflict and they lost quite a few of their jets through airstrikes. And their air defenses? Blown up as well. They have managed to rebuild some of those forces, but not anywhere near enough to actually defend themselves against an American attack.  

Iran is probably also receptive to diplomacy after the successful raid in Venezuela that saw President Maduro reduced to a federal prisoner. Such an operation targeting Khamenei isn't at all likely given that Iran is a lot more formidable than Venezuela even in it's reduced state, but it does show that Trump is crazy enough to try something with Iran and have a real chance of pulling it off. And it's not like Iran found out for themselves just how bad it could go after their nuclear sites were wiped out last year. 

Though the protests in Iran probably caused this, any talks would likely not be about them. The protests have winded down, at high cost in terms of human lives, but they are over now. The real problem is the nuclear deal. Though effective, the strikes against Iran's nuclear sites were not enough to end the nuclear program entirely. A deal, that would involve inspections of Iranian nuclear sites, is what is needed to ensure that the program doesn't start up again. 

I do think that Diplomacy will win the day. Iran is in a very bad position right now. They are practically defenseless and barely survived the latest round of protests. They are also crippled economically, I have mentioned in their past that their inflation was running around 40% a month, and that's not counting food inflation being even worse. Their capital even has a water crisis. They have every incentive to make a deal here. 

And we also know enough about President Trump that he wants a deal as well. He's not afraid to saber rattle, but he is absolutely willing to talk as well, and his whole personality is built around making deals in difficult situations. It's what fuels him and I think he wants to be the one that finally brought peace to the middle east. And I think as long as nothing goes wrong, he will probably pull it off. 

President Trump risks alienating young people over comments about keeping housing prices high.

 

President Trump. USA Today/Reuters.

President Trump said that he wants to keep house prices high in remarks today. USA Today. Trump said he wanted to make it easier to buy a home by lowering interest rates, but did not want to lower prices as it would affect current homeowners. Trump has made some efforts to make housing more affordable, such as banning investors from buying family homes and purchasing mortgage backed securities to lower home loan rates. But prices remain high and the median age of a new home owner is now 40. 

My Comment:

I am mostly happy with President Trump. He's done a lot of things I like in foreign policy, immigration and social policy. But every once in awhile he says something ridiculous and this is one of those times. Nobody that doesn't currently own a home wants to hear the words "higher prices" unless it's is followed by "won't be a thing anymore". 

I think it is an example of how Trump's age is a liability to him. He's a member of the Silent Generation, a generation that came up with low housing prices. I am not sure Trump realizes just how desperate it is for people in the Millennial and Zoomer generations. I know as an older millennial myself that still rents, the last thing I ever want to hear is that prices are going to not only remain high, but go up. I saw this headline and rolled my eyes and swore out loud. For me, it really seems like there was a window for me to buy a house and I may have missed it. For the Zoomers, they realize that they are never going to be able to buy one as the window closed years ago for them. 

I do understand that any policy to lower home prices is also a liability for the Republicans and Trump. The Boomers, the remaining Silents and the Gen X and older millennials that got out on the last chopper from Saigon (or Kabul) want these prices to be high. Should prices drop to affordable, many of those people would lose their shirt. 

That's little comfort for people like me though. As someone who has been financially responsible and worked very hard to get a large down payment for a house, it does feel like a slap in the face to say that prices should stay high. I don't really care if the boomers lose their shirt, it's well past time I get some of the prosperity and luxury they took for granted for decades. 

Some of this is just optics though. Folks would absolutely be helped by lower interest rates. Indeed, that's my problem. I have a rather huge down payment secured but with the interest rates the monthly payments (along with insurance, utilities and things like association fees) are well above the amount I am currently paying for rent. Lowering the rates would bring the loan cost down and it would help me afford a home, even in a hot real estate market where prices are likely to increase no matter what Trump does. 

Had Trump waited to mention this after interest rates had been reduced it might not have been so poorly received. But his timing couldn't be worse. Though rates have decreased slightly since their high, he made the announcement right after the Fed said they wouldn't reduce the rates for awhile. Trump's other actions might help but the timing could not have been worse. 

And I do think that both Trump and the Republicans underestimate the anger over this issue. It's one of those things where people might be willing to compromise on what they are willing to tolerate from the Democrats if they just vow to lower home prices. The Democrats are just as out of touch on this issue as Republicans so I don't expect them to pounce, but there is a potential for defection here. If the Democrats would ever get smart and drop their insane opposition to popular things like deportation and social issues like transgenderism, they could actually make gains because of gaffes like this.