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"High-Powered Bolt-Action Rifle" Recovered from Charlie Kirk Shooting; Witness Describes Kirk Shooting; Who Was Charlie Kirk?; Qatari PM Casts Doubt on Ceasefire Talks, Fate of Hostages; Wave of Political Violence Sweeping America in Recent Years; Remembering 9/11. Aired 10:20- 11a ET
Aired September 11, 2025 - 10:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos live in Abu Dhabi.
Let's get straight to the latest on the investigation into the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. He was fatally shot
Wednesday during an outdoor appearance at Utah Valley University. At a briefing last hour, an FBI agent said the shooter's weapon has been
recovered. Listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BOHLS, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: This morning, I can tell you that we have recovered what we believe to be -- is the weapon that was used
in yesterday's shooting. It is a high-powered bolt-action rifle. That rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: The shooter apparently fired a single round from a rooftop about 180 meters away. A Utah State official says law enforcement was able to
track the shooter's movements before and after the killing. And they have good video of the suspect, who they say is of college age.
Kirk co-founded the group Turning Point USA, a political movement focused on getting young people involved in conservative causes. He was a big
supporter of president Donald Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half- staff across the United States.
Kirk was 31 years old and leaves behind a wife and two young children. CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem joins us now.
Juliette -- and we actually are getting new information. According to sources, that are close to the investigation, CNN has just learned that
they found a plethora of new evidence.
And this includes basically cultural issues that were scrawled on a rifle as well as ammunition found in the woods, as well as a screwdriver. That is
the latest that we're hearing. Tell me about how this impacts the manhunt, which is still underway.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. Well, first of all, let's just start with the rifle. The rifle will have a serial number. That
serial number will be tied to someone or someplace. So that's going to narrow the pool, if he got it lawfully or if it was friends or someone who
can identify, who this is.
[10:25:00]
The other materials are interesting. And I, as I was saying yesterday, look, this is -- this was a well-planned assassination. This is not some
random political violence. This is this is someone who understood the building.
The screwdriver is suggesting that that he may have needed it for locks or doors or anything else. He had an exit plan, relatively quickly. And seems
to now have evaded authorities because the FBI doesn't appear to have anyone in custody.
I will say, given what the FBI is saying right now, it's clear they have an image of who this is. And we have enough information and whatever was
disclosed on the rifle in terms of motivations, that it is more likely than not they know who they are looking for by name. But they can't find this
person. So this is a very, very intense manhunt right now.
GIOKOS: So let's go through what law enforcement have said, because they say he's of college age. So perhaps blending in with students. Footage of
him being on the stairwell on the roof and then able to jump off, going into a neighborhood.
So really interesting on this timeline. So tell me about, as you say, this seems relatively planned. One of the interesting things that -- and,
crucially, is that law enforcement say they will not release the footage that they have.
Why do you think that is?
KAYYEM: My -- based on my experience, law enforcement releases information to the public when they do not know who they are looking for. In other
words, there's images and they're trying to figure out who this person is. And they're warning the public of a potential fear.
So think of someone who does random violence and you're worried about a community. You want them to be aware.
In this instance, the fact that they are not releasing images would be consistent with behavior, that they know who it is and that they are on the
trail right now. And that actually engaging the public doesn't add anything and actually could be harmful at this stage.
Look, there is no threat to the rest of the public. This is not an incident where you need a public to, you know, be worried about someone who's
escaped prison. This was a targeted political assassination. This person wanted Charlie Kirk. We don't know the reasons why but we do know this was
a political assassination.
GIOKOS: Yes. And this is obviously a race against the clock. I mean, the longer this manhunt continues, the further he could be getting away.
I want to show you this video. And this, of course, is in addition to, you know, law enforcement saying they're not releasing their footage but this
is what we do have.
And this video of a figure on the roof after the shooting, potentially the shooter. I want you to take a look. I want you to break that down.
And how does that help investigators find the shooter and create a timeline of their movements?
KAYYEM: It's going to help a lot. A lot of people have been on air talking about security at the rally. But this was not a security breach at the
rally. It was a security breach in -- because they didn't anticipate a sniper on a roof.
I mean, this is the -- this is how sophisticated the planning was. So look, there's going to be physical features that they get from the fact that they
now have this image of how it was done in particular, when and how he accessed the area.
Now they can rewind and find out whether he had been there before, whether someone had been on the roof before, in the days before and the weeks
before. The Charlie Kirk event was well known on campus.
On the backside, after he leaves, that's going to obviously leave a trail in terms of how well did he know the university, the fact that they're
saying it's a college age person suggests maybe that's someone with affiliation to the university or someone who tried to meld into the into
the university.
It is likely he's changed clothes. It is likely, you know, he's changed cars or had an exit plan. That's the hard part here. This is -- this person
who planned this assassination so well very likely planned an exit strategy as clearly.
GIOKOS: Juliette Kayyem, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for weighing in on this story.
KAYYEM: Thank you.
GIOKOS: Charlie Kirk was killed while debating students at the Utah Valley University, the first stop on his 14-city American comeback tour. Kirk had
frequently traveled to college campuses, where he would debate and take questions from the audience.
[10:30:04]
Now witnesses who attended the debate have come forward with their stories. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN DEVRIES, EYEWITNESS: One of my friends told me that Charlie Kirk was going to be on the campus this Wednesday. This was seven days ago. So a
week ago. And I said, oh, I've got some questions for him. Like, I'm ready. I'm ready to debate Charlie in good faith.
I -- again, I align a lot with what Charlie has to say. However, I have a few topics that I disagree on. And I was really looking forward to having a
conversation with him. I thought it would be a very cordial conversation.
Charlie Kirk talks about gang violence and, right as he finished that, he was shot in the neck. I was about 50 feet away. Again, I was -- I was more
focused on wedging my way through the crowd to speak to Charlie than actually what was going on.
And I did, for a brief second, see Charlie's head like slump over and then the crowd just pushed back. It was a stampede.
Given my following of Charlie Kirk since Trump came down the escalator in 2015, I've watched his podcast. I've listened to him, I followed him, I've
followed his Turning Point USA events.
And to be going up to ask him a question at my first Turning Point USA event and witness a political assassination, there's just -- there's --
it's a lot heavier, I would say, because it's premeditated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Charlie Kirk was a successful Republican youth organizer, credited with helping U.S. president Trump in his reelection bid last year. Now the
31-year old was also a popular conservative influencer, drawing half a million listeners a month to his podcast. More than 5 million people
followed him on the X platform.
CNN political director and Washington bureau chief David Chalian joins me now.
David, great to have you with us. I want you to explain to our viewers Charlie Kirk's enormous impact on people, specifically the MAGA movement
and, importantly, inside the White House, by mobilizing the youth.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. I mean, Charlie Kirk got his start in politics before Donald Trump came down that escalator. It was back
when Mitt Romney was running against Barack Obama, who successfully won his reelection in 2012.
And he was, you know, 18 years old. And he was thinking through some concerns he had about what he saw as liberal bias on American college
campuses and that he wanted to lead -- form and lead an organization that could rally a conservative viewpoint in full debate with that liberal
ideology among America's youth.
And he did just that. So then he forms Talking Points USA, this group aimed at mobilizing young conservatives at the same time that Donald Trump is
rising in American politics. And the Trump forces aligned with Charlie Kirk, saw the power in what he was building.
And Kirk came on board the MAGA movement and became one of its most influential voices. And in the most recent Trump election in 2024, when he
was reelected to the White House, Donald Trump himself will point to what Charlie Kirk did through his organization.
Mobilizing young, specifically young men, which was a critical component, a critical building block electorally for Donald Trump's success. And that
was in large part mobilized on the ground with registering these young voters, persuading them to come out and vote. That was through Charlie Kirk
and his efforts.
GIOKOS: Yes. I also want you to take a listen to part of Donald Trump's address about Charlie Kirk last night, given that this year we've seen a
plethora of politically motivated attacks. Listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the
organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials and everyone else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: So how do you believe there's going to be a crackdown on politically motivated attacks, which have been on the rise, particularly
this year?
CHALIAN: They have been on the rise and it is so unacceptable. You can't have a functioning -- small d -- democratic society if political violence
supplants political debate. And the uptick in incidents is alarming.
It's a pretty dark moment for the body politic in the United States. And what you hear there from the president is an attempt to try and clamp down
on this and go after those that might fund political evildoers, if you will. But you know, I think that our politics are at such a broken place,
because, here in America, we're so polarized.
[10:35:00]
Everything is so divided and you have politics really taking place on these social media platforms. And online technology that are driven by algorithms
that that really invest in and incentivize division.
And that's how you get attention. And in this economy that is driven by attention, we're in a pretty dark place politically. And so hearing people
now try to look beyond these moments of political violence and find a path to bringing Americans back together, I think everybody would like to see
that.
I just think it's pretty murky on how we get from here to there.
GIOKOS: Yes. So David, I mean, as you were saying that this polarized America, it's pretty evident because we're seeing it manifest in these
political attacks, I also want you to take a listen to an official from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, describing the changing
attitudes on college campuses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICO PERRINO, EVP, FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION: So every year we survey 70,000 college students and we ask them their
acceptance for using violence to stop a campus speech.
And this year, we found that 34 percent of college students support, to some degree, using violence to shut down a campus speech. That's up from 24
percent in 2021. That's showing a cancer in our body politic, in our public debate. I mean, again, free speech is what we do instead of violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Using violence as a means to end things they don't like to hear, 34 percent of college students said they would use -- they think that
violence is probably a, you know, a solution.
That is shocking. You know, you were asking the question about what is it going to take to bring the temperature down, essentially. You need a
unified leadership that is going to create tolerance for debates, for differing views.
What are you hearing in terms of how government right now is perceiving this reality?
CHALIAN: Yes, I mean largely you're hearing across the board from leaders such -- Speaker Johnson was on CNN last night with our colleague, Kaitlan
Collins, and spoke to this.
We heard from the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries; former Democratic presidents like Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill
Clinton all denounced this.
And from former president George W. Bush, we heard not only him offer prayers for, of course, Charlie Kirk's family in the aftermath of this
horrific tragedy but also a prayer for America to move toward a more civil America.
And to your point, all those political leaders are hitting the right notes. I would say the problem is that, if you were to look online or look at
things that people on the Left and the Right have posted, the vitriol, that polarization that is still present in the aftermath of this.
It's an interesting contrast, I would say, given all the coverage we were just doing about the 9/11 Memorial for 24 years later; 24 years ago, on
this day, when the U.S. was attacked and the day after was probably the most unified America has ever been in my lifetime.
And it was in response to that horrific attack. That seems an impossibility in today's world to have that kind of unified America, even in denouncing
unacceptable political violence like -- that took place yesterday with the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
GIOKOS: David Chalian, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for your insights.
CHALIAN: Thank you.
GIOKOS: All right. Coming up after the break --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER: This is the terror. That's what I call it.
GIOKOS (voice-over): The prime minister of Qatar speaking out about Israel's attack on his territory in an exclusive interview. That's coming
up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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GIOKOS (voice-over): Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Eleni Giokos. Here are your headlines.
The FBI says the weapon used in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been recovered. He was fatally shot Wednesday during an
outdoor event at Utah Valley University.
An FBI agent says the shooter used a high-powered bolt-action rifle. A Utah law enforcement official says investigators have good video of the suspect,
who is said to be of college age.
A somber tradition underway in New York this hour as America marks 24 years since the deadliest-ever terror attack on its soil.
These are live pictures from the 9/11 Memorial, where family members have been reading aloud the names of the nearly 3,000 people who lost their
lives on September 11th, 2001.
Earlier, president Trump and the first lady laid a wreath at a separate service at the Pentagon.
Egypt is warning that any Israeli attempts to operate on its territory will have catastrophic consequences. An Egyptian official tells CNN the message
was sent to the United States following Israel's strike in Doha, targeting Hamas leadership earlier this week.
GIOKOS: In Gaza, the Israeli military has killed over 70 Palestinians in the last 24 hours. That's according to local health officials. This is the
moment the IDF hit a high-rise building yesterday in Gaza City.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS (voice-over): Israel ordered the complete evacuation of the city just hours before it attempted to take out Hamas leadership involved in
ceasefire negotiations in Qatar on Tuesday.
Parts of the enclave remain in the grips of famine, with seven more people dying from malnutrition in the past day.
And as we've been reporting, ceasefire talks are basically nonexistent after the attack in Doha.
The funeral for those killed in that strike, including a member of Qatar's security force, was held a short time ago. On Wednesday, Qatar's prime
minister sat down with CNN's Becky Anderson in an exclusive interview. Here's part of their conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL-THANI: It's not only an undermining for our sovereignty and our sovereignty. It's undermining for the USA force (ph). Honestly, I have no
words to express how rage we are from such an --
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: If you could describe it in one word, what would that be?
AL-THANI: This is theater. That's what I call it.
ANDERSON: Do you feel betrayed?
AL-THANI: We are betrayed. Yes.
ANDERSON: By the U.S.?
AL-THANI: No, I cannot -- I cannot say it's by the U.S. The U.S. has expressed in many occasions their support to us.
And by the way, at the same day I was -- I was meeting one of the hostage's family that morning, the morning of the attack. The -- carrying a message
that the families, they are counting on this mediation. They have no other hope for that.
And I think that what Netanyahu has done yesterday, he just killed any hope for those -- for those hostages.
ANDERSON: Well, in the past hour, he has doubled down on his position.
He has said, and I quote the Israeli prime minister here, "I say to Qatar and to all nations who harbor terrorists" -- his words, not mine -- "you
either expel them or bring them to justice, because if you don't, we will."
Do you take that as a threat of further action here?
AL-THANI: Well, we don't accept, first of all, such a threat coming from someone like Netanyahu.
[10:45:00]
And he's calling about bring them to justice, he needs to be brought to justice. He's the one who's wanted by the ICC.
ANDERSON: Where are the Hamas members right now?
And will you shut down their offices?
AL-THANI: Right now we are reassessing everything about the whole process.
ANDERSON: The future of these talks, at this point, not clear.
AL-THANI: I mean, I don't have an answer for this because, really, I don't see -- I see a meaningless talk. Right now, right now what we are doing --
and I think that being -- rethinking even about the entire process for the last few weeks, that Netanyahu was just wasting our time. He wasn't serious
about anything.
There is a collective response that should happen from the region. And this collective response, we are hoping for something meaningful that deter
Israel from continuing this bullying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: British prime minister Keir Starmer has fired Peter Mandelson, his ambassador to the United States, over Mandelson's links to disgraced
financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
It comes after Bloomberg released a series of emails the former ambassador sent to Epstein, offering support in Epstein's 2008 case involving teenage
girls. I want to bring in Clare Sebastian from London for the latest on this story.
Clare, give me a sense of Keir Starmer's decision to fire Mandelson. And, of course, importantly, the timing of this.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think, look, striking, because we heard Keir Starmer in the House of Commons on Wednesday, offering
support for Peter Mandelson, saying he had full confidence in him. And that even came after a number of days of criticism around Mandelson's
relationship with Epstein.
There was a letter that emerged from the House Oversight Committee files, this birthday book compiled for Epstein's 50th birthday, where a letter
from Peter Mandelson described him as "my best pal." That was from 2003.
But the clinching factor came later on Wednesday, after the appearance in the House of Commons, when Bloomberg released an investigation with a trove
of emails showing that Mandelson had, in 2008, after Epstein's conviction for soliciting prostitution of a minor in 2008, had offered support.
And even suggested that he felt that that conviction was wrong. And so the foreign office saying that, in light of those emails, that new information,
they say that they show the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known
at the time of his appointment.
Now look, the strong sense is Peter Mandelson didn't want to leave. He didn't heed calls to resign. He came out and tried to get ahead of the
story in a podcast interview with "The Sun" newspaper on Wednesday, saying that he deeply regretted his relationship with Epstein. Take a listen to
some of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER MANDELSON, FORMER U.K. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: I regret very much that I fell for his lies. I fell and accepted assurances that he
had given me about his indictment, his original criminal case in Florida. Like very many people, I took at face value what he said.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: But, of course, it wasn't enough. He had to leave his post just seven months in. And, of course, this comes just six days before president
Trump's state visit to the U.K., really, the centerpiece of Keir Starmer's efforts to safeguard that transatlantic relationship.
Massive implications in terms of trade and economics and, of course, global geopolitics. And he certainly will not want that visit in any way
overshadowed by the Epstein saga, which, of course, Trump is trying very hard to tamp down at home. Becky (sic).
GIOKOS: All right. Clare Sebastian, thank you so much. Good to have you with us.
We're going to a short break. We'll be back with more on the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Stick with CNN.
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GIOKOS: The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk is just the latest example in a wave of political violence sweeping America in the
past few years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: Political violence has become all too common in American society and this is not who we are.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), MEMBER, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: We saw it in Minnesota. We saw it in Butler, Pennsylvania. It's got to stop.
SEN. JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D-CO): The country's divided. There's a lot of bitterness. Violence is no solution.
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): The assassination of Charlie Kirk risks an uncorking of political chaos and violence that we cannot risk in
America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: And now, you may recall, then presidential candidate Donald Trump was targeted twice when he was clipped by a bullet during a rally in
Butler, Pennsylvania, in July of 2024.
And just two months later, another alleged assassination attempt against Mr. Trump at a Florida golf course. The trial for that suspect, Ryan Ruth,
is currently underway this week.
Now Democrats have also been attacked. In June, former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in their home in what
the FBI called a horrific act of targeted violence.
Minnesota state senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot but survived.
And Pennsylvania Democrat Josh Shapiro escaped with his family in an alleged arson attack on the governor's mansion in April.
I want to bring in CNN Politics senior reporter Stephen Collinson to break this down for us.
And Stephen, when you write in your new analysis, quote, "The risk is that America's latest murder of a political figure will unleash unknown
consequences in a nation that is angry and already confronting a fractured political era," I mean, the question becomes, where does America go from
here?
You have been talking about a very polarized nation for quite some time, a divided nation. And I wonder if you're thinking that the leader needs, you
know, of any country, frankly, needs to be a unifying voice and not someone that divides.
I mean, could that solve some of what we're seeing?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think it possibly could but that's also a little bit of a utopian thought, unfortunately, in
America right now, because all of the political incentives trend toward figures who sow division.
And I think you had David Chalian on before the break. And I think he put his finger on something about social media, because what social media has
done is provide a bigger public square for people with extremist views to come together.
They're driven together by algorithms, which reflect other people's anger back at them. And then this becomes a more powerful force. And I think it's
a motivating factor in many of these shootings and acts of political violence.
America has always been, throughout its history, a violent country. Just think back to 1968, the killings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby
Kennedy, politically motivated killings. But it does seem to be accelerating over the last year or so.
And unfortunately, you heard those politicians, as they always do, come out and say, well, we need to unify. We need to step back from heated political
rhetoric. You always hear that after the political killings. And it never stops the situation.
So unfortunately, you know, obviously, more unifying political leadership would help. But I think some of it has to come from below in the citizenry
as well as from the top.
GIOKOS: All right. Stephen Collinson, great to have you with us. Thank you.
All right. We're going to a short break. We'll be right back.
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GIOKOS: America is honoring and reflecting today on this 24th anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks.
These are live pictures from the 9/11 Memorial in New York, where family members have been reading aloud the names of their loved ones who lost
their lives on September 11th, 2001.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Petty Officer First Class Brian A. Moss, United States Navy.
GIOKOS: And at the Pentagon, a bell was rung for each of the victims killed in that attack. President Trump spoke at the commemoration, which
was also attended by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: That terrible morning, 24 years ago, time itself stood still. The laughter of school children fell silent. The rush of our traffic came to an
absolute halt. And for 2,977 innocent souls and their families, the entire world came crashing down so suddenly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: A giant flag was unfurled on the Pentagon building at sunrise ahead of the service. Really moving pictures there.
All right, well, that's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Thanks so much for joining us today. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next. From me, Eleni
Giokos, we'll see you next time.
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