The Megyn Kelly Show - Guthrie Case DNA Results Delayed, RFK Fights Processed Foods, Canada Curling Scandal: AM Update 2/17
Aired: 2026-02-17
Duration: 17:51


=== Premature Clearance of Suspects (05:10) ===

[00:00:00]  Hey there, Line.
[00:00:02]  I often wait at I'm in the boutique to determine what we should have for the midday.
[00:00:06]  And there I'm in my way around and think about other things.
[00:00:09]  So what should we have for the midday?
[00:00:12]  What with one pot of pasta with skylling and tortellini to 178,50 kroner, Line?
[00:00:17]  With family-middag to under 200-lappen has Rema samled a fast, good and simple midday at the same place in the boutique.
[00:00:23]  So you don't think about it.
[00:00:24]  For the simple is often the best.
[00:00:26]  Rema 1000.
[00:00:27]  Always a price.
[00:00:32]  Good morning everyone.
[00:00:34]  Good morning everyone.
[00:00:34]  I'm Megan Kelly.
[00:00:35]  It's Tuesday, February 17th, 2026, and this is your AM update.
[00:00:40]  Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, for the first time, saying some people have been ruled out as suspects in connection with the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.
[00:00:51]  It's important to understand how important the relations between leaders are to the relations between countries.
[00:00:57]  Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Hungary on strengthening alliances and navigating global rivalries.
[00:01:04]  HHS Secretary RFK J signaling upcoming action to crack down on ultra-processed foods.
[00:01:13]  And Canada dropping the NICE Act on the world stage, both the men's and women's Olympic curling teams facing accusations of cheating.
[00:01:22]  All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.
[00:01:29]  International disputes, inflation, rising national debt, digital currency.
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[00:02:31]  A new development in the search for missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, as Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos says he has ruled out members of Nancy's family as suspects for the first time.
[00:02:43]  In a statement released yesterday afternoon, Sheriff Nanos writing, To be clear, the Guthrie family, to include all siblings and spouses, has been cleared as possible suspects in this case.
[00:02:54]  The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case.
[00:02:59]  To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel.
[00:03:02]  The clarification coming just one day after the sheriff told the Daily Mail that no one had been cleared in this case.
[00:03:09]  And on the same day, as a senior member of law enforcement familiar with this case, told the Megan Kelly show that no one had been ruled out.
[00:03:17]  NBC's Tom Winter reporting, There's no indication this is the result of any new evidence.
[00:03:25]  We asked the Sheriff's Department what changed between his first two statements to allow investigators to definitively rule out the Guthrie family, but did not receive a response.
[00:03:34]  Fox News's Matt Finn questioning the department on whether DNA evidence helped clear the family.
[00:03:40]  Sheriff Nanos replying, Not going there.
[00:03:43]  They're victims, and I will not stand quiet when they are re-victimized.
[00:03:47]  News Nation's Libby Dean reporting last night that the DNA from the gloves found about two miles from Nancy's home is still undergoing quality control in the private Florida lab and has not yet been compared against the FBI's Combined DNA Index System or CODIS.
[00:04:04]  The quality control process typically takes about 24 hours.
[00:04:08]  That gloves sent to the lab on the 12th.
[00:04:11]  The reason for the holdup is unclear, but it's yet another delay for the Guthrie family awaiting justice in this case.
[00:04:18]  MK True Crime host Phil Holloway, a lawyer and former law enforcement officer himself, breaking down Sheriff Nanos' decision to reverse himself and publicly rule out the family yesterday.
[00:04:29]  Well, it seems like it might be a little premature, just generally speaking, in any criminal case to issue a blanket clearance like that until you know who your suspect or suspects in the plural might be.
[00:04:43]  I think that this statement is more of a reflection of pressure that the sheriff is undoubtedly receiving because the public has speculated and many have claimed that certain family members might be considered suspects.
[00:04:59]  So I imagine the sheriff is under some political pressure to try to tamp that down.
[00:05:04]  But I think he may have miscalculated because this statement is simply, I think, doing the opposite.

=== Trump's Messaging on China (04:37) ===

[00:05:11]  It's drawing more attention to the issue that people were trying to make go away.
[00:05:17]  Holloway says that reversal highlights an alarming pattern with this sheriff's department.
[00:05:22]  You know, on the one hand, if they say that nobody is going to be cleared until they have a suspect, and then they turn around the next day and say, all of these people who meet this description and fit in this category, all of those people are cleared because they've been cooperative.
[00:05:38]  It's inconsistent messaging at best.
[00:05:41]  And there's one thing that's been consistent with this sheriff's department from the beginning, and that is that they're inconsistent in their messaging.
[00:05:51]  I think some media savvy folks need to perhaps take over the messaging at the Sheriff's Department.
[00:05:58]  I'm not sure where it's coming from, but the inconsistent messaging certainly is not helping them.
[00:06:03]  Meanwhile, President Trump telling the New York Post he will instruct the Justice Department to seek the death penalty for Nancy Guthrie's kidnappers if she is found deceased, warning that those responsible would face, quote, very, very severe consequences.
[00:06:19]  Secretary of State Marco Rubio touching on a range of topics at a press briefing yesterday in Budapest.
[00:06:24]  The secretary signing a nuclear cooperation agreement with Hungary, then appearing alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close ally of President Trump.
[00:06:34]  Orban criticized by some on the left over moves to clamp down on the media and the judiciary, while some on the right praise his hardline stance against mass immigration and his pro-family policies.
[00:06:46]  Secretary Rubio yesterday reiterating themes from his much-praised weekend address at the Munich Security Conference, highlighting the strength of U.S.-Hungary ties and pressing Orban's close working relationship with President Trump.
[00:06:59]  Mr. Rubio highlighting the tremendous advantages to forging a strong working relationship with the U.S. and President Trump.
[00:07:07]  We are entering this golden era of relations between our countries, and not simply because of the alignment of our people, but because of the relationship that you have with the President of the United States, and that relationship's grown even closer.
[00:07:18]  And it's important to understand how important the relations between leaders are to the relations between countries.
[00:07:25]  I can say to you with confidence that President Trump is deeply committed to your success because your success is our success.
[00:07:31]  Because this relationship we have here in Central Europe through you is so essential and vital for our national interests in the years to come.
[00:07:40]  That, you know, if you face financial struggles, if you face things that are impediments to growth, if you face things that threaten the stability of your country, I know that President Trump will be very interested because of your relationship with him and because of this importance to this country to us to finding ways to provide assistance if that moment ever were to arise.
[00:08:01]  One reporter pressing the Secretary on Hungary's ties to China, asking why closer U.S. cooperation is not conditioned on Hungary cutting ties with a top U.S. adversary.
[00:08:11]  The Secretary continuing the theme that strong, trusting relationships are what allow nations to manage differences when priorities do not fully align.
[00:08:20]  Under President Trump, it is our expectation that every nation on earth is going to act in their national interest.
[00:08:26]  That's what nations are supposed to do.
[00:08:28]  So in those instances in which our national interest and some other countries' national interests are aligned, that is an opportunity for extraordinary partnership.
[00:08:37]  Where they're not aligned or where we have some differences, that's where these deep ties to one another are so important because that's where you can find accommodation.
[00:08:44]  That's where you can hear each other out.
[00:08:45]  That's where maybe you can work together on.
[00:08:47]  But as an example, the United States, we have trade and relations with China.
[00:08:51]  The President is going to travel in April to China.
[00:08:54]  Why?
[00:08:54]  Because China's a big country.
[00:08:56]  It's got a billion-something people, second-largest economy in the world.
[00:08:59]  They have nuclear weapons.
[00:09:00]  It would be crazy.
[00:09:02]  It's insane for the United States and China not to have relations and interact with one another.
[00:09:06]  Secretary Rubio departing from Hungary shortly after the press briefing.
[00:09:12]  Coming up, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the administration will act on a major petition targeting ultra-processed foods.
[00:09:21]  And cheating, eh?
[00:09:23]  Tensions boiling over on the Olympic ice as the Canadian men's and women's curling teams face accusations of breaking the rules.
[00:09:38]  You know Pure Talk's favorite holiday?
[00:09:40]  It's President's Day because they believe wireless service should cost you only a couple of presidents, just a Jackson and a Lincoln, to be exact.

=== FDA Food Safety Standards (08:02) ===

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[00:10:42]  HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signaling the Trump administration will act on a major petition targeting ultra-processed foods.
[00:10:51]  Started by former FDA commissioner under Presidents H.W. Bush and Clinton, Dr. David Kessler.
[00:10:57]  The announcement coming Sunday night on CBS's 60 Minutes.
[00:11:00]  Dr. Kessler submitting the 66-page petition to Health and Human Services last August, calling for a regulatory crackdown on industrial food ingredients that dominate the modern American diet.
[00:11:13]  The petition focusing on highly refined sweeteners like corn syrup and certain refined flours used in mass-produced food products, not food, as well as some chemical additives.
[00:11:24]  Dr. Kessler arguing these substances were allowed into the food supply under the federal generally recognized as safe standard or grass standard, which permits companies to self-certify certain ingredients as safe without full FDA approval.
[00:11:40]  That standard originally applying to basic ingredients like salt, dairy, and eggs.
[00:11:45]  Secretary Kennedy's Sunday on CBS saying food companies now exploit the rule well beyond its original intent.
[00:11:52]  That loophole was hijacked by the industry and it was used to add thousands upon thousands of new ingredients into our food supply.
[00:12:04]  In Europe, there's only 400 legal ingredients.
[00:12:07]  This agency does not know how many ingredients there are in American food.
[00:12:12]  We do not know.
[00:12:13]  I do not know.
[00:12:14]  The estimates are between 4,000 and 10,000.
[00:12:18]  We have no idea what they are.
[00:12:21]  How do we know what is safe to eat?
[00:12:24]  There is no way for any American to know if a product is safe if it is ultra-processed.
[00:12:32]  Dr. Kessler on the same program describing the relationship between the introduction of these ingredients and the rise in chronic disease.
[00:12:40]  Over the last 40 years, the United States has been exposed to something that our biology was never intended to handle.
[00:12:51]  Energy-dense, highly palatable, rapidly absorbable, ultra-processed foods that have altered our metabolism and have resulted in the greatest increase in chronic disease in our history.
[00:13:07]  Type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, hypertension, abnormal lipids, fatty liver, heart attacks, stroke, heart failure.
[00:13:20]  From our food, from our food.
[00:13:23]  The Trump administration focusing heavily on revamping nutrition standards in the U.S., HHS working with food companies to voluntarily remove and replace certain petroleum-based food dyes, and rolling out a new food pyramid promoting whole foods, flipping the past pyramid literally on its head.
[00:13:40]  RFKJ telling CBS the administration will use what he calls gold standard science to review ingredients, but not specifying which parts of Dr. Kessler's petition regulators may ultimately adopt.
[00:13:53]  Earlier this month, the FDA declaring that in 2026, it will publish a proposed regulation requiring companies to formally notify the FDA when claiming new ingredients are, quote, generally recognized as safe.
[00:14:08]  Controversy rocking both the Canadian men's and women's Olympic curling teams in Milan after accusations of cheating.
[00:14:15]  Stay with me.
[00:14:16]  In curling, players must release the handle atop the stone before it crosses the hog line.
[00:14:24]  That's the boundary line marking the point where the stone must be let go.
[00:14:28]  Once released, a curler may not touch any part of the moving stone.
[00:14:32]  Not the handle, not the stone.
[00:14:35]  In fact, a curler is prohibited from touching the granite stone as opposed to the handle at any time that it's in forward motion.
[00:14:42]  Violations can result in a stone being removed from gameplay, which we don't totally understand, but sounds bad.
[00:14:50]  The dispute beginning Friday during Canada's preliminary men's match against Sweden.
[00:14:54]  Canada's Mark Kennedy appearing to release the handle before the hog line.
[00:14:58]  That's good.
[00:14:59]  But then Kennedy appears to poke the granite side of the stone as it was crossing the hog line.
[00:15:04]  That's bad.
[00:15:05]  The move drawing complaints from Team Sweden, leading to a dramatic confrontation between Kennedy and Sweden's Oscar Arickson.
[00:15:13]  Apparently, it's okay touching the rock after the hogline.
[00:15:15]  I don't know.
[00:15:16]  Or touching the rock.
[00:15:17]  Who's doing it?
[00:15:18]  You don't know it?
[00:15:19]  Who?
[00:15:20]  It's a couple.
[00:15:21]  It's a couple.
[00:15:22]  Who?
[00:15:23]  I haven't done it once.
[00:15:24]  You can't done it once.
[00:15:26]  I haven't done it once.
[00:15:27]  Okay.
[00:15:28]  I'll show you a video after the game.
[00:15:30]  How about you walking around on my PO the last day and dancing around the house here?
[00:15:33]  How about that?
[00:15:34]  Come on, Oscar.
[00:15:34]  This is in Olympic curling.
[00:15:36]  Teams are largely expected to self-police on the honor system.
[00:15:40]  There is no instant replay to review possible penalties, and calls ultimately come down to the judgment of on-ice officials, who in this case offered a warning to Canada for bad language, but did not impose any double-touch penalties.
[00:15:55]  Canada ultimately winning the match 8-6.
[00:15:59]  Scandal!
[00:16:00]  The following day, Team Canada receiving similar complaints from Team Switzerland in another preliminary round.
[00:16:06]  A Swiss player overheard on broadcast telling his coach he witnessed double touching or touching beyond the hog line after release.
[00:16:15]  Switzerland was not neutral.
[00:16:17]  According to the mirror, the Swiss player reported the double touch, once again accusing Mark Kennedy, expressing frustration that officials failed to act.
[00:16:26]  Team Canada ultimately losing that one 9-5.
[00:16:30]  Kennedy later complaining that he was videotaped by the Swiss.
[00:16:34]  Oh, and also denying that he cheated.
[00:16:37]  Later that Saturday, Canada's women's team facing a similar accusation during their match against Switzerland.
[00:16:44]  Officials ruling Canada's Rachel Homan did indeed illegally touch her stone by making contact with the granite, removing it from gameplay.
[00:16:54]  The bad thing.
[00:16:55]  Canada narrowly losing that match 8-7.
[00:16:59]  The teams play round-robin style with the top four advancing to a medal round.
[00:17:03]  Both Canada's men's and women's teams expected to advance.
[00:17:08]  We will have more on whether they cheat their way to gold on the Megan Kelly Show later today.
[00:17:15]  And that'll do it for your AM update.
[00:17:17]  I'm Megan Kelly.
[00:17:18]  Take me back here for the MK Show, live on SiriusXM's The Megan Kelly Channel, 111 at Nyn East, on youtube.com slash Megan Kelly, and on all podcast platforms.
[00:17:48]  Alti tilpono wat He'll smell so spider.