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FBI Director Patel Faces Criticism Over Handling of Kirk Case; Memphis Mayor "Not Happy" About National Guard Deployment; Rubio and Netanyahu Holding a Joint News Conference. Aired 6:30-7 am ET

Aired September 15, 2025 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[06:30:53]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everyone, I'm Audie Cornish and thank you for joining me on CNN This Morning.

And here's what's happening right now. Vice President J.D. Vance preparing to host the Charlie Kirk show podcast today at noon. Kirk's accused killer Tyler Robinson is not cooperating with investigators and he's going to make his first court appearance tomorrow. He's being held without bail at the Utah County Jail.

And CDC workers returning to the agency's main offices in Atlanta this morning. For some it's the first time back since a gunman fired hundreds of rounds at their buildings last month. The union representing local workers says the return to office mandate is too soon for some employees.

And history at the Emmy Awards. Apple TV's "The Studio" picked up a total of 13 awards including Outstanding Comedy Series. One of the most emotional moments came from Stephen Colbert whose "Late Show" won its first Emmy just before its final show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT" HOST: Thank you, thank you, thank you for this honor. I want to thank CBS for giving us the privilege to be part of the late-night tradition which I hope continues long after we're no longer doing this show. Is anyone hiring?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Colbert's show will be canceled by CBS citing financial pressures. It's going to wrap in May. And FBI Director Kash Patel is about to face some tough questions when he testifies this week on Capitol Hill after some mistakes in his handling of Charlie Kirk's assassination investigation.

Conservative activist Charles Rufo posted this -- Chris Rufo posted this. "It's time for Republicans to assess whether Patel is the right man to run the FBI." Adding that he performed terribly in the last few days. So, Patel prematurely announced the suspect was in custody. He also

appeared to take credit for the FBI's release of images that ultimately led to the suspect's arrest. Here's how Utah Governor Spencer Cox sees it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SPENCER COX (R-UT): This was a co-lead operation. So, the FBI was co-lead with the state. We worked very closely together. I think Director Patel would tell you it was flawless. It was everybody just trying to decide is this a good idea? The reasons to release it I think are pretty obvious, right? It makes it easier for lots of people to see it and maybe find someone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Group chat is back. I wanted to bring this up because these questions were sort of coming from inside the house so to speak and we were pointing out Rufo's tweet in particular because it was not just some flyby post of like this guy is bad. It was a long explanation of why he thinks people should assess this.

What do you think is happening with Patel? We were talking about the fact that he wasn't on the Sunday shows this weekend.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Right. The White House has specifically asked Utah Governor Spencer Cox to sort of be the face of the of the investigation but also just the point person talking about this. But the Kash Patel criticism has been going on well before the assassination Charlie Kirk.

CORNISH: Because of Epstein?

ZELENY: Largely because of Epstein and other just there's a lawsuit against the FBI for the termination of some key employees. That's part of it. But the rank-and-file has been growing increasingly dismayed by his leadership.

CORNISH: Epstein, yeah, there's a lawsuit by these former employees.

ZELENY: But I think the Epstein thing is probably much more of a -- of a challenge for him. But look he's going to appear before a House committee on Wednesday I believe and that is going to be a central issue. I'm skeptical even though at the White House I've heard people sort of not thrilled with his leadership. But --

CORNISH: Yeah. So, I can give you more than that. Here's Steve Cheung who's the White House Comms Director. He says, "Anyone who doubts Patel's resolve and dedication especially when Charlie was such a close friend to him is simply is using this extremely sad moment in a disgusting act of political gamesmanship."

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah look and the issues with Patel go back to his appointment to the job in the first place, right? Remember that the FBI director quit the -- Chris Wray was -- should have had more time on his term but he got out of the way because he knew he was going to be fired for Patel who a lot of people thought was not the right person for the job to begin with.

[06:35:10]

I do think that what one of the things that Patel is going to need to explain maybe to even to the people on the Hill in this hearing is on Wednesday after Charlie Kirk was shot as Patel was the putting out these tweets that were putting out information that were -- that was not correct, he was at a fancy restaurant in New York having dinner. He was at Ralph's, right, which is itself and if Kirk was his close friend I don't -- I've never had a close friend assassinated. It is a choice to then go to an exclusive restaurant in New York City and have some pasta.

SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: Yeah, and I think to Jeff's point about some of the rank-and-file being very frustrated.

CORNISH: Yeah.

FISCHER: Kash Patel seemed to come out and take a lot of personal credit for finding this suspect when in reality if you listen to Governor Cox they feel is that it was a joint effort with the local law enforcement on the ground and the FBI and then also typically when it comes to the FBI it's such a bureau first mentality. It's not an individual first mentality.

You typically are going to cite officers and investigators within the bureau opposed to, you know, sort of citing taking your own credit for it. Another thing that I'm watching just the way that Kash Patel is managing his own and the FBI social media is very curious.

CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: So, to say, one, that you have a suspect in custody and then to have the Utah local law enforcement say that there is still a suspect at large, having the FBI have to scramble and come back out and say that they released the person. It was a very preemptive social media post that made the FBI look very disorganized.

I also just caught recently he screenshotted something from "Fox News" citing FBI sources in a very professional situation. You yourself as the FBI don't need to cite a news organization citing sources from within your bureau.

CORNISH: Right.

FISCHER: You just say something yourself.

CORNISH: And it gets at this issue of like as he's come in he's brought the talents that the administration has appreciated, right? The loyalty, the ability to communicate but did he -- has he done things within the ranks that actually are creating real problems for investigations.

DOVERE: Yeah, one of the things that we see in other investigations about other things in past administrations is that the Justice Department doesn't usually say that much. The FBI doesn't say that much for a while.

CORNISH: So, it's kind of an unforced error.

DOVERE: This is part of why they don't --

CORNISH: Yeah.

DOVERE: -- and it drives those of us in the reporting world crazy because we want to know more information but sometimes the information is not verified or it's incorrect and they're trying to hold it back until it goes public.

ZELENY: But again the criticism of him was happening before the Charlie Kirk assassination and I'm wondering now talking to people will this assassination and all the outpouring of Charlie Kirk actually sort of help Patel politically because they did arrest someone and will that become the focus of the hearing as opposed to the other issues with Epstein and other things which are very real inside the bureau.

CORNISH: You take those things sort of off the table.

ZELENY: Right.

CORNISH: OK, yeah that will be interesting to see what lawmakers focus on. You guys stay with me.

I want to turn to something else because weeks after the president's federal takeover of DC's police force and the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops we know Memphis, Tennessee is going to be the next place for troops to touch down. The White House claims the DC surge is a success with more than 2,000 arrests in about a month. Numbers from the Metro Police Department show violent crime rates fell by about 10%.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: The president is very engaged on this issue. He's grateful for the partnership of those local leaders and we're looking forward to making a big difference there for the people that are in Tennessee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Tennessee's Republican governor is welcoming the attention from the White House which will include the Tennessee National Guard. He says in part quote, "I'm grateful for the president's unwavering support and commitment to providing every resource necessary to serve Memphians." And Memphis Mayor Paul Young has a different view. He told CNN this weekend he was blindsided by the decision to send in National Guard troops and doesn't support the deployment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR PAUL YOUNG, MEMPHIS: I'm certainly not happy about the National Guard. I am looking forward to trying to find ways to invest in the things that we're already doing to address crime in our city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The mayor went even further on social media saying National Guard armored vehicles, quote, "don't bring peace, they bring war, they don't bring safety, they bring fear. I hope the occupation of Tennessee is called off before it begins."

Joining me now to discuss Tennessee State Representative Antonio Parkinson. Thank you for being here this morning.

REP. ANTONIO PARKINSON, (D-TN): Thank you for having me --

CORNISH: One of the reasons why I wanted to talk to you is because you were quoted as saying that this might be a lemons to lemonade situation, that essentially this could be an opportunity to create some sort of win. What would a win look like to you?

PARKINSON: Well, let me be clear first, you know, we didn't ask for this. We didn't want it. This is a decision that was solely made between the governor of this state and the president of the United States.

But, you know, Memphis is known for taking lemons and turning it into lemonade, probably the best tasting lemonade you've ever had. And so there's opportunity here, right? You know -- we have -- we need -- we got positions that we need to feel to, you know, in our jails. We have positions that, you know, these individuals may bring that are administrative positions that we can backfill in our police department, put more officers out on the streets, right?

[06:40:10]

It's a great recruitment tool, you know, while National Guard members are here would be recruiting for some of these jobs that we have openings in. And so my thing is this, you know, we have the opportunity to choose a perspective. We can choose a perspective that it's going to -- to be gloom and doom, or we can choose a perspective that we're going to take this situation and make the best of it. It wasn't our choice, it was done by force, but we can always flip it and find a way to make the best of it.

CORNISH: You've also warned about political overreach, and I've talked to activists from other cities who are worried about this being kind of power grab, undermining them. Do you agree with that?

PARKINSON: I do, I do. This -- you know, it is political overreach, and it's interesting to, when I talk to my Republican or my Libertarian colleagues, you know, they're the first to say, we don't want bigger government, we don't want political overreach, but we don't hear anything from those individuals right now as they are sending these troops into our city.

CORNISH: You've also been a person who has talked about violence prevention programs, right, who's talked about rehabilitation programs, and I have to ask, because for so many years, this was the stance, right, that there is another way to do policing. Does it undermine that argument? Is this some kind of admission of failure that now the government is stepping in and just literally putting people with guns on the ground?

PARKINSON: Absolutely not. If it's an admission of failure, it's an admission of failure on the state of Tennessee, because we create the policies, you know, that exasperate some of these criminal activities, such as permitless carry, and some of the other things, keeping -- you know, storing guns in your vehicles, and so on and so forth.

But I want to say this also, another opportunity, right? You think about it, OK, they're going to make this surge into Memphis, Tennessee, right? What is that going to cost the federal government? What's that budget going to be?

And when they pull out, what happens in that vacuum? So, if we understand and can quantify that dollar amount of what it's costing the state, I mean, I'm sorry, the federal government to make this surge, then we should have a right to request that -- that budget, you know, when they pull out for the next budget season and bring that money back into the market so that we can continue these efforts. Because think about this, President Trump is going to say this was a success, right?

OK, President Trump, if it's a success, then send us that budget that it costed to send these individuals into our state so that we can continue, quote unquote, "your success," opportunity, and everything.

CORNISH: Representative Antonio Parkinson of Tennessee, thank you so much.

PARKINSON: No, thank you, thanks for having me.

CORNISH: Next on "CNN This Morning," President Trump says he's getting tough on Russia, but is he going easy on Putin again?

And Senator John Fetterman has a warning for Democrats learn from 2024 or lose again.

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[06:47:20]

CORNISH: Developing right now. U. S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are holding a joint news conference. This is a live look at that right now in Jerusalem. So, the two had met behind closed doors earlier today in the wake of Israel's attack on Hamas leaders inside Qatar and the U.S. is hoping to ease tensions between the two key allies. We're going to hear a bit now from the secretary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: As far as the president's been clear on the ongoing issues in Gaza, and that is that every single hostage, both living and deceased, needs to be home immediately. Hamas can no longer continue to exist as an armed element that threatens the peace and security, not just of Israel, but of the world and that the people of Gaza deserve a better future, one that cannot begin until Hamas is eliminated and until all of the hostages, both living and deceased or home. And he remains committed firmly to that objective.

And that's what we seek to talk about today, have talked about today and will continue to talk about. And that is the road forward on how to achieve those things. Those objectives remain. Those objectives remain in place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, we want to talk about this more. We heard a couple of things there. One about the objectives and discussion around hostages, which very much within domestic politics in Israel is an issue. I don't think people question it being a priority. It just is it the first priority, right, over the destruction of Hamas?

The other thing is he's going to be going to Doha, and this has been a real issue. This attack within the borders of Doha. How do you think the White House approach is picking up the pieces here, so to speak?

ZELENY: Well, look, I mean, we will see if Secretary Rubio in his private conversations with the prime minister actually had any stronger words about the attack last week --

CORNISH: Right.

ZELENY: -- because that is the actual issue here. If the White House is to be believed last week, they were taken very much off guard by the attack, and it really was not in the U.S. interest. Obviously, it slowed or derailed the hostage.

(CROSSTALK)

CORNISH: And just with these talks generally, yeah.

ZELENY: But I mean, uh, so many U.S. troops are in Doha -- right outside Doha at the Al-Udeid Air Force Base. So, privately, the U.S. is having much stronger conversations with the prime minister.

FISCHER: Yeah, and Doha isn't just a key national security ally, but it's also become a very key business ally for the United States, especially at a very untime -- uncertain time in the Middle East. So, to be going after Doha, to be doing those attacks and blindsiding the White House is actually what I think is the key issue here.

I think the White House supports Benjamin Netanyahu and trying to figure out how to go after Hamas. But to do so in a way we're catching us off guard with the key ally, especially because Doha's played such a key role in peace negotiations is where there's a problem that lies.

[06:50:05]

CORNISH: And -- well, we heard Salma earlier talk about the idea of normalization, that there is an attempt, certainly by this White House to create enough relationships in the Middle East to keep things stable around Israel. And is it me? They maybe look at this is disruptive to that effort.

DOVERE: Yeah, what we see is that Benjamin Netanyahu is going forward with what he is doing, seemingly not caring that much about what President Trump or the administration wants him to be doing.

CORNISH: So, do they have leverage, I guess?

DOVERE: Do they have -- and of course, we should not ignore the domestic political considerations for Netanyahu here. He's got an election next year that's coming up. We don't know exactly when it will be, but sometime next year. And there is a huge opposition to him among Israelis who feel like he who agree that the war in Gaza has gone on too long and that Netanyahu is not focused enough on getting the hostages out.

Now, obviously, he's got a lot of support too, but --

CORNISH: The domestic politics matter.

DOVERE: Yeah, all of this is coming together for him in -- in ways that affect his future as well, potentially.

CORNISH: OK, so I'm going to turn to a bit of our own. Democratic Senator John Fetterman wants his party to learn from the last election or be doomed to repeat the results. So, in an interview with CNN, the Pennsylvania Democrat said that many of his party's more extreme views were weaponized against them in 2024. He argues protesters shouting Hitler during a dinner in D.C. the other night isn't right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): We effectively lost two out of the last three cycles, and a lot of the things we've really kind of, really lost our -- our connection with American voters in ways. And I think we can't just be well, Trump is always wrong or -- or that we're going to set the country on fire or whatever. That's just not true either, of course.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, group chat is back. This -- this interview is fascinating for a couple reasons. One him mentioning people being the disconnect and you could look at the conversation about Israel and the war on the left and among Democrats.

But he also went after their -- their dialogue and how they describe the White House fascist, authoritarian, autocrat. His take is like, don't do that because it didn't work when Biden talked about democracy. Now, I feel like these are slightly different things, but I want to hear what you think.

DOVERE: I mean, there's a lot going on here. And, of course, John Fetterman's own politics in this. I do think it's important to note that in 2022 he says the Democrats lost two out of the last three cycles. In 2022, they did better than they expected. And part of the reason that a lot of Democrats, not just Joe Biden, felt that that happened was the focus on Trump and the anti-democratic stuff. Obviously, by 2024, things have turned against them again. But, you know, in 2022 is when Fetterman won his own seat.

CORNISH: Right.

FISCHER: One thing I think that shifted a lot is the rise of these sort of, you know, not necessarily Trumpian, but sort of centrist, populist podcasters that have really captured the hearts and minds of young people. If you think about how they communicate, they're very much of the mindset that, you know, the sort of left has gone too radical. And that is a message that's being poured out to these younger people that I think really, really matters.

Remember, social media is still a very big groundswell for people to get their news and information, but podcasts, but videos, that has also become a very key place where young people are getting information. And I think what John Fetterman is acutely aware of is whatever we are trying to message to them is not getting through the way that that got.

CORNISH: So, you think he is more aligned ears to the ground on that?

FISCHER: Absolutely.

CORNISH: You're talking about more than what -- because sometimes I'll think like, OK, well, where are the bodies? Where are people out there actually standing up and buying a ticket? And it's like a Bernie Sanders oligarchy tour. That's like a different community, I think.

FISCHER: Yeah, it's -- it's just not as far reaching. You're talking about hundreds of millions of followers of these people online and their podcasts and their videos on YouTube. It's not making the same type of -- they're not making the same type of impact on trying to just do the ground game community to community.

CORNISH: OK, Jeff?

ZELENY: And John Fetterman, I mean, to Isaac's point earlier, has his own politics.

CORNISH: He's an outlier.

ZELENY: He's an outlier. He doesn't attend the weekly Democratic lunches. He told --

CORNISH: -- don't read into that?

ZELENY: He did. He told Manu Raju, who did the interview, he said that he's also not going to become an independent, so he's not going to go Joe Manchin on them. But a bigger question long term is John Fetterman going to run again in Pennsylvania. I have big doubts about that.

But between now and then, his vote is absolutely critical on things like the government shutdown and other things. So, the Democratic Party needs him, but he is frustrated many of the rank and file up there and many of his own staff to buy some of his own --

(CROSSTALK)

CORNISH: Yes, that's been going on for the last year.

ZELENY: A lot to say about John Fetterman. But he does make points that expresses the view of -- of some people in the party who believe it's gone much too far to the left here, so.

CORNISH: You know, what's interesting is I feel like the Democratic Party, they have more than enough people who are like diagnosing the problem, you know what I mean? I have a lot of diagnosticians. I don't have a lot of people with a solution.

[06:55:06]

DOVERE: Part of what's going on where the -- the poll numbers for the Democrats are so bad is because you have all these Democratic leaders who spend so much time saying, this is what's wrong with the party, this is what -- and -- and that leads to a depression among Democratic voters.

So, you know, you ask Republicans what they think of Democrats, they don't like Democrats, and you ask Democrats what they think of Republicans, and they say, I don't like Democrats either.

CORNISH: Yeah.

DOVERE: And that -- and it's feeding the cycle of it. I do think some of this is going to depend on what happens in the elections this year, particularly like the Virginia and New Jersey governor's races, and then what happens in the midterms next year. And there's a lot of thought always, oh, what's the brand of the Democratic Party? Much of that question inevitably needs to be answered by whoever the presidential nominee is.

CORNISH: It might be answered by governors if they're the ones having to run and put forth an actual slate of ideas and policies.

FISCHER: One thing that is so missing from the Democrats platform, by the way, is jobs. So, like right now in a Republican administration, all we keep hearing about is how hard it is for young people to get jobs right now because of A.I., resumes going through, they're being filtered and sifted by A.I., you know, that is such a key thing that I barely hear Democrats talk about. If the focus is all Trump, Trump, Trump, not how are we going to help you get your jobs? How are we going to lower --

CORNISH: Or even acknowledging you're having trouble getting one.

FISCHER: Yes, how are we going to lower grocery prices? Like, I think those types of messages are going to resonate with young people who are really struggling right now much more so than like blame the other guy.

CORNISH: Well, it's the start of the week, so I really actually want to know what's going on in your group chats, what you're thinking about in the week ahead. And Sara, let's start with you.

FISCHER: I am thinking about the TikTok ban that seems to be going on forever, Audie.

CORNISH: Is there still a ban? I'm not even sure.

FISCHER: There's still a ban. So, OK, it's -- a law has been passed. Donald Trump passed an executive order to keep essentially kicking it down the road every 90 days. That next ban expires this week and we all assume that Donald Trump is going to again kick it down the can. He sort of alluded to last night the fact that this is in China's hands. They kind of have to let us sell the asset to a U.S. company. Ultimately, what does that mean for your viewers? TikTok's probably still going to stay on your phone and I imagine it will for the rest of the Trump administration.

CORNISH: Can I ask you one quick thing? Last week, when there was a dialogue about whether or not the images of Charlie Kirk's assassination needed to be taken down from social media, those videos, TikTok was among the first to jump in and say, we're looking at this, maybe we should step back. And I did wonder, like, they kind of have this sort of Damocles over them of the White House is what's helping them kick this thing down the road.

FISCHER: Yeah.

CORNISH: This is why there's no ban yet.

FISCHER: Yeah, they don't want to be -- well, they're in a really interesting place. Like, I think a lot of the other tech companies don't want to get caught up in the thing that they got caught up with the "New York Post" in overtly and quickly censoring something that they might get attacked for. I think TikTok is just trying to stay as out of the fray as possible. But remember, one of the things that you can do with these social media companies that we didn't have the technology to do as well before is instead of outright censoring things and blocking, you can just put up screens in front of those videos saying, hi, this might be disturbing content.

CORNISH: Warnings, yeah, and we didn't see that.

FISCHER: I think that's what you're seeing more of.

CORNISH: OK, Jeff, what's in your group chat?

ZELENY: Look, harvest is starting out in the heartland of America, where I'm from. It is a very hard time for farmers because of the trade war and tariffs. But Willie Nelson is still back on the scene. So, I was chatting with a lot of people yesterday. Willie Nelson was performing last night in the D.C. Area, but he's doing Farm Aid on Saturday in Minneapolis. We broadcast here on CNN. But separately of that, he's been at this for 40 plus years.

CORNISH: I had no idea of farm Aid had been going the whole time I feel a little sheepish.

ZELENY: It started in 1984, I remember watching it as a young kid in Nebraska growing up, but he's still doing it.

CORNISH: But here is what different, farmers are struggling this year.

ZELENY: Farmers are struggling.

CORNISH: We were just in the break talking about John Deere as a company with its sales down.

ZELENY: And soybeans in particular because of the China tariffs and trade war. So, Willie Nelson in his nineties is back trying to help the farmers.

CORNISH: OK, last to you, Isaac.

DOVERE: Keep it simple. The denim tuxedo that Nate Bargatze had on stage last night.

CORNISH: OK, you're an Emmy guy. You're one of the people who actually watch the Emmys in real time.

DOVERE: I watch part of the end.

CORNISH: Oh, OK.

DOVERE: I know what I'll be wearing at the White House Correspondents dinner.

CORNISH: Really? I can picture you in that. I can picture you in that.

I think I was fascinated by some of the winds last night, especially for "The Pitt," which is a show that isn't just a medical drama. It's about post COVID life for medical workers.

DOVERE: Yeah.

CORNISH: And that is way more complicated than something you would typically put in a kind of, you know, whatever, more soapy drama.

DOVERE: And also things on that show, like the fentanyl crisis and all that, loops in a lot of things there. The vaccines and measles.

CORNISH: Yeah, things were actually still wrestling with.

DOVERE: Yeah.

CORNISH: Very interesting. And you guys, thank you. We talked about a lot of things today, and it really helps us understand the week ahead.

We're going to have more headlines for you, and that's going to be on "CNN News Central." I'm Audie Cornish, and I want to thank you for waking up with us.

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