The Daily Briefing

YOUR MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP

Thu Feb 5 2026

Nicole Fallert
Reporter & Newsletter Writer

Hi there! Welcome to the Daily Briefing. Here's what's breaking this morning:

•	ICE will patrol elections, an ex-Trump aide says.
•	Hundreds gathered in Ohio to show support for Haitian immigrants.
•	Pizza Hut is shuttering 250 locations.

Nicole Fallert here, feeling grateful my job isn't to ski jump. We have Thursday's news, from Savannah Guthrie's latest plea involving her mother's disappearance to Bill Gates' reply to allegations involving Jeffrey Epstein. Plus: Meet Snoop Dog, Olympic coach.

Guthrie family pleads for mom Nancy to 'come home'

"Today" show host Savannah Guthrie delivered an emotional plea Wednesday as the search for her 84-year-old mom continues.

TMZ and CBS affiliate KOLD News have confirmed that their newsrooms received Nancy Guthrie ransom notes , which are currently unverified as the FBI works with local Arizona law enforcement on the search.

In a video posted to Instagram the evening of Feb. 4, Savannah Guthrie and her siblings addressed those reports.

Sitting between her sister Annie Guthrie and brother Camron Guthrie, Savannah Guthrie said, "We, too, have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media." As she continued, she appeared to speak directly to a possible kidnapper, telling them, "We need to know without a doubt that she's alive and that you have her." The trio also shared messages of love for their mother.

Savannah Guthrie video mother disappearance

"Today" show cohost Savannah Guthrie, accompanied by her siblings Annie and Camron Guthrie, speaks in a video message addressing a possible kidnapper who might be holding her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie in this screen grab obtained from social media video taken at an unspecified location and released Feb. 4, 2026.

Savannah Guthrie, Instagram, via REUTERS

Read Savannah Guthrie's full statement here.

Meanwhile, Nancy Guthrie's Arizona community gathered for a vigil Wednesday evening while the world can't look away from an incident that is deeply, horrifically sad and frightening.

More news to know now

•	Bill Gates says he "regrets every minute" spent with Jeffrey Epstein. Gates denied allegations of his involvement with Epstein, including that he used Epstein to facilitate trysts with women and that he hid a sexually transmitted disease from his then-wife, Melinda French Gates.
•	Keep that winter jacket handy. A major change to the polar vortex is expected this month, so the frigid temperatures that have been plaguing the country's eastern half won't go away anytime soon.
•	Are space data centers a thing? Potentially. Elon Musk is merging his SpaceX rocket company with his artificial intelligence startup known as xAI in a move meant to push forward the mogul's agenda of building data centers in space.

Olympics 2026

'Coach' Snoop Dogg

U.S. Olympians Stacy Gaskill, Faye Thelen, Brianna Schnorrbusch take selfies with Snoop Dogg at the Team USA Welcome Experience at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics on Feb. 3, 2026 in Milan.

Joe Scarnici, Getty Images

No one loves the Olympics like Snoop Dogg. The rapper joined American athletes in Milan this week as Team USA's first-ever honorary coach and a torchbearer for Milan Cortina. We're one day from the 2026 Winter Olympic opening ceremony, but the Games are already in action Thursday.

Health & Wellness

One in three cancers is preventable

Good news for those who want to lower their risk of cancer. A new study published this week in Nature Medicine found an estimated 7.1 million of 18.7 million new cancer cases in 2022 — about 37.8% — were attributable to 30 modifiable risk factors such as tobacco use, alcohol consumption and high body mass index.

Sports corner

•	We talked to Tom Brady about co-parenting.
•	A Tennessee softball player made NIL history.
•	This US women's hockey player was cut before the last Olympics. Now, she's indispensable.