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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Manhunt Ongoing For Shooter Who Murdered Charlie Kirk; Vigils Held For Murdered Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired September 11, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:18]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you for joining us on EARLY START. I am Brian Abel. It is Thursday, September 11, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington, D.C., 3:00 a.m. in Utah. And that's where the FBI is asking for the public's help amid an ongoing manhunt for the person who shot and killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

ABEL: Vigils like this honoring Kirk have been held around the country, in Utah, here in Washington, among others. The 31-year-old was a hugely successful Republican youth organizer credited with helping President Trump in his reelection bid last year.

Kirk was shot Wednesday at Utah Valley University in the middle of a packed outdoor event sponsored by the group he created Turning Point USA. He was responding to a question about mass shooters when a single gunshot rang out.

We are going to play for you the moments leading up to the shooting. We're going to pause the video right before it happens, but a warning, this video is still disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTIONER: Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last ten years?

CHARLIE KIRK, CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST: Too many.

QUESTIONER: Okay, there is five. Now, five is a lot, right? I'm going to give you -- I'm going to give you some credit.

Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last ten years?

KIRK: Counting or not counting gang violence?

QUESTIONER: Great.

(GUN SHOT)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down, get down!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Right after you heard those gunshots, Kirk's body went limp. He appeared to recoil backwards, seemingly shot in the neck.

President Trump condemned the attack in a video recorded in the Oval Office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a dark moment for America. Charlie Kirk traveled the nation, joyfully engaging with everyone interested in good faith debate. His mission was to bring young people into the political process, which he did better than anybody ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Officials believe only one person was involved in the shooting, and the FBI is asking anyone with photos or videos of the incident to come forward.

Authorities are combing over surveillance camera footage, with one official saying that's all investigators have to work with at the moment.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is on the Utah Valley University campus with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The presence of law enforcement is still rather significant. Much of the campus still cordoned off. If you look here in the distance, those the lights of those buildings, the courtyard area behind those buildings is where the shooting took place earlier today. And if you look there in the distance on the rooftop, you'll see two lights kind of illuminating a peak there on one of those buildings. That is the building that is getting a great deal of attention. In fact, here in the last hour. Weve seen what appear to be investigators up there with flashlights, walking around.

And investigators have said in these that there is somebody who was seen on the rooftop from that particular building that would have had a vantage point down into the courtyard where Charlie Kirk was talking to the people who had come out here to see him on this campus this afternoon. And in one of those videos, you can see somebody running -- running away just after the shots were fired.

So, a great deal of attention being paid to all of that. And the way this campus is situated is, you know, there's a major thoroughfare here, and then there's an interstate on the western edge of the campus. So, in that chaotic moment after the shooting, it was clearly the shooter, and the suspect was able to slip away. Now, whether or not he was able, how exactly he got away, we do not know at this point. And that is something that investigators are clearly, intensely working on at this hour, even into this late hour.

But now there have been a number of hours that have passed since all of this, and that just makes it even more difficult to to track this suspect down.

But let me walk you through a couple of the details that you alluded to there in the moments after two people were apprehended and taken into custody and questioned about the shooting, in those chaotic moments after the shot was fired. But both of those people, according to law enforcement authorities, did not have anything to do with the shooting and they were released. So, you know, very confusing situation in the hours after this, as we were watching all of this unfold.

But the bottom line is, is that the suspect is still on the run. And exactly where this goes next is not clear. There are a number of places where, you know, the suspect could theoretically escape to along the interstate or, you know, some other place, or maybe, you know, they're close by. I imagine all of those possible scenarios are the kinds of things that investigators are looking at.

Meanwhile, here, the campus has been cordoned off. And you heard from those witnesses talking to Anderson Cooper tonight about the -- what they viewed as the lack of security. According to law enforcement, there were six police officers, campus police officers, who were here at the event, plus the private security that came with Charlie Kirk to this number -- to this event. I'll leave it to others to determine whether that was enough for an event of this magnitude. But those -- that's the details and the information that we're getting at this point.

But right now, the campus very quiet. Officials here say they are shocked. They are stunned that all of this happened.

A great deal of concern for a lot of those young people who were very close and witnessed what was a gruesome ending to this event here today, when that shot rang out and so many people had a very up close front view -- view of the horrific scene that unfolded there before them, one the witness described, you know, just seeing blood gushing from the neck of Charlie Kirk, you know, the those kinds of images will -- will haunt a lot of these witnesses for many years to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Ed Lavandera there on scene.

I want to bring in Jason Pack, now a retired FBI supervisory special agent and an active first responder.

And, Jason, you saw editor there. Walk us through the scene and kind of the setup. What's your response to seeing what happened to Kirk in Utah.

JASON PACK, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: You know, Brian, I think what Ed is seeing and telling us now is the officers there on the scene currently are securing that scene. So, at first light, they'll be able to come in and start processing that scene.

That shooting clearly was horrific. And so now what the issue is, is preserving that scene. They want to keep control and custody of it because they have a case to lay out and to build against the suspect who carried out this assassination. So, they'll carry out the processing of the scene in the morning. They're making a plan for it, right now, overnight, the evidence response teams are coordinating with the local officials there who will help them. They'll bring in resources from around the country and surrounding field offices to be able to help with specialized things like trajectory.

And they'll use the ATF to trace any kind of bullets or use their NIBIN database to see if that weapon has been anywhere else should they find that casing. And then the forensic video unit will be used. We heard about that grainy video that they mentioned that they found in the security camera. They'll be able to maybe come in and enhance that a little bit and see if there is anything of evidentiary value they'll be able to pull from that security video and hopefully develop new leads from that.

ABEL: I want to ask you more about the evidence in just a moment, and how investigators are going to be able to map out this situation, but there is still somebody who orchestrated this that hasn't been caught yet. So what's being done behind the scenes right now to find that person.

PACK: Good question. The same thing. It's a multifaceted, very complex investigation. So, while you have the forensic aspect at the crime scene there, that's the visible part that Ed and the folks on your team are seeing. Theres also the manhunt aspect, and that's things you don't see.

That's people working with our -- the FBI cellular analysis. Survey team, that's the phone people that will be able to go and see what phones are on, what towers there. They'll be able to go put teams together to do video canvasses, interview witnesses, look at the leads coming in from the tip line. The FBI establishing that page for people to upload their video.

We saw this in cases like the Boston marathon bombing, where the FBI asks for the publics tips. They respond, and then they're able to find that one tip and then work backwards and find that.

Another question is investigative question. Did this person conduct surveillance beforehand? Is that going to be another video canvass? They're going to have to do and maybe go back and look at video from even earlier. So they're up right now in the joint operations center.

I was in touch with my contacts just a couple of hours ago. They're on the ground in Salt Lake. They're up working 24/7. They're bringing in shift work. So, you know, at first light, the team will relieve them and they'll be able to go and start in earnest with the crime scene processing. You don't want to do that at night. You might miss something. So it's smart to wait until first light for the crime scene. But meanwhile, the manhunt has been going on all night. The subpoenas for phone records, the search warrants and those types of things.

That's why it's important, Brian, to have the state partners with you, the Department of Public Safety there in Utah. If it's easier to get a state warrant to get things like this, or if its easier to get a federal warrant, whichever the easiest and the most efficient route is, that will still hold that case together. That's the route they'll take.

ABEL: And, Jason, just -- you mentioned the Boston marathon bombing.

[05:10:01]

I know that there was potential suspects that were falsely accused before the Tsarnaev brothers were identified. We've seen two people be taken into custody and released in this case already. What does that tell you? And what does it mean for this investigation as the hours pass by without a suspect?

PACK: Well, we do know also that the police don't tell the public everything that they know. So, we -- I actually worked the Boston marathon bombing. So, I remember that vividly.

It also shows that police are taking the tips seriously, though, when they stop and talk to people, they detain them and then they question them further to make sure they're not involved. Because you want to get this right.

So, in the early stages of any type of high profile case like this, there's always going to be information that circulates around that may or may not be accurate, but you have to act upon it. So, I think what you saw earlier was somebody that reported something that the police took seriously, and then the system worked.

At the end of the day, it was determined that they weren't involved.

ABEL: All right. Jason Pack, appreciate your expertise as always, sir. Thank you.

PACK: Thanks, Brian.

ABEL: All four former presidents are reacting to the death of Charlie Kirk. Joe Biden posting on X, quote, "There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now."

Barack Obama shared a similar sentiment, writing that while a shooters motive is still unclear, quote, "This kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy."

In a statement as well from George W. Bush, who said this, "It happened on a college campus where the open exchange of opposing ideas should be sacrosanct. Violence and vitriol must be purged from the public square. Members of other political parties are not our enemies. They are our fellow citizens." And a message from Bill Clinton, who says he is saddened and angered by Kirk's murder, adding that he, quote, "hopes we all go through some serious introspection and redouble our efforts to engage in debate passionately, yet peacefully."

All these former presidents also sending their thoughts and prayers to Kirk's family.

Ahead on CNN, Charlie Kirk's frequent challenge of "prove me wrong" gave critics an opportunity to confront him on a wide range of topics. What he said he wanted to achieve with the public debates.

Plus, how the state of Utah is responding to the manhunt for Kirk's killer and the chaos.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:16:58]

ABEL: Returning now to our top story. A manhunt is underway after conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during a speaking event Wednesday. Utah Valley University, where Kirk was killed, says it will remain closed until Monday. The school's vice president says they do not condone any form of violence. Their video, recorded after the shooting, shows people frantically searching for shelter from the danger.

Kirk was invited to speak by students who are part of the university's Turning Point USA chapter.

Now, over the years, Charlie Kirk created a new model for political advocacy among conservatives. He blended commentary with get out the vote drives and public gatherings, where he issued an invitation to critics to debate with him.

CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter looks at how Kirk came to play such a pivotal role in conservative media and politics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Prove me wrong, those are the three powerful words that Charlie Kirk used to promote his events on college campuses, and some of his appearances in his videos on social media. He invited people to try to prove him wrong. You can see those words actually printed on the tent at the university in Utah, where he was slain on Wednesday.

That event was supposed to be the first stop on Kirk's fall semester tour of colleges across the U.S. There were more than a dozen other tour stops listed on his website, and some of them were specifically billed as prove me wrong events where he would encourage people from other ideological backgrounds to come and take him on.

Kirk liked doing these prove me wrong events because, as he once told me, he wanted to encourage dialogue between people who disagreed with him. Now, a lot of liberals doubted his intentions in doing so. They thought he was just trying to gain clicks. He was trying to create content for social media, and indeed, the videos of his appearances did oftentimes go viral and help build his personal brand, as well as his nonprofit organization's presence.

Kirk was able to build up Talking (ph) Points USA into one of the most powerful parts of the GOP political advocacy operation and get out the vote operation. And really, Kirk pioneered a merger between multi- platform media commentary and in-person events and political advocacy on the ground at the grassroots level.

You know, one minute, I would see Kirk on Fox News promoting Trump's agenda. The next minute he will be on Instagram encouraging high school students and college students to launch their own chapters of TPUSA.

Kirk was many things rolled up in one. He was a TikTok influencer, a nonprofit leader. He was a radio host and a podcaster and a popular public speaker. And he really did prioritize live events like the one on Wednesday.

In an interview ahead of time with a Utah newspaper, he described his ambitions for his organization going forward. He said, quote, we want to be an institution in this country that is as well known and as powerful as "The New York Times", Harvard and tech companies.

[05:20:03]

And we believe we are creating that.

It's a tough quote to read now, in light of his death, but it speaks to the ambitions Kirk had at age 31 to try to build the conservative political movement in the U.S. even beyond Trump's four years in office. Now, of course, both his friends and his rivals and some of his wannabe imitators all speaking out, all testifying to his importance and influence and how Kirk's death will leave a big void in the conservative advocacy space.

Brian Stelter, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: In a moment, Congressman Mike Kennedy joins me to talk about Charlie Kirk's shocking murder and where things go from here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:25:00]

ABEL: The governor of Utah is calling the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk a political assassination. Spencer Cox said the murder marked a dark day for our state and a tragic day for our nation. He vowed authorities would bring the killer to justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SPENCER COX (R), UTAH: The investigation is ongoing, but I want to make it crystal clear right now to whoever did this: We will find you. We will try you, and we will hold you accountable to the furthest extent of the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Thirty-one-year-old Kirk was shot Wednesday at Utah Valley University during an outdoor event.

A manhunt is underway for the shooter after two people were considered suspects were released. There has been an outpouring of condemnation from both sides of the aisle. President Trump and some right-wingers have been blaming what they call the radical left for causing political violence. Others say it's yet another tragedy born of gun violence.

Joining me now is Republican Congressman Mike Kennedy, who represents the district in Utah where Charlie Kirk was fatally shot.

Congressman, welcome. And I want to share our thoughts to you, your constituents, the campus, there, certainly a difficult moment.

So, thank you for your time.

REP. MIKE KENNEDY (R-UT): Thank you. It's a sad day. September 11th and yesterday, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, both entirely unacceptable acts of violence.

And we will not stand down. The reality is, violence will not silence the American people.

ABEL: And, Congressman, I do want to get what your initial response was when you first heard the news of Charlie Kirk's murder. And what are you hearing now, at this moment from your constituents?

KENNEDY: I was devastated. The Charlie Kirk was a late -- he constantly advocated for his ideals without violence and was willing to engage with the public and his widow, Erika, and those two children, the community, there were thousands of young people that witnessed this tragic event. And in addition, Utah, as well as the United States of America should mourn for the loss of somebody who advocated for his ideals in a civil fashion. And we need more of that, Brian.

ABEL: Congressman, what was what is your message to people, both political leaders and the country, with such a political divide that's led us to violence like this on both sides of the aisle?

KENNEDY: Violence and intimidation will not make the American people stand down. We will continue to push forward with the work of the people. I know that's true. In Utah, our state legislators and the people of Utah got together last night at the state capitol to hold a vigil, and that was Democrats and Republicans joining together to share grief over the loss of a life who somebody who innocently was going about to do the work that he felt like he should do.

And I know the people of the United States of America, my colleagues in Congress last night, we had a moment of silence on the House floor, acknowledging the notable life that Charlie Kirk led and his willingness to engage with people in a civil fashion, and that that sentiment that is reflected in the people of Utah is reflected throughout the United States Congress.

We will not stand down in the face of violence, and that includes international violence as well as domestic violence.

ABEL: And, Congressman, it seems like that violence has continued over the years with targeted attacks on political leaders on both sides of the aisle. And usually in moments like this, we turn to blame the rhetoric for some of this, what's behind it. And it's hard to deny that the rhetoric is high right now and usually hyperpartisan.

How do we change that dialogue in Washington so that this violence like this, it doesn't lead to it?

KENNEDY: The deranged cowardice of this assassin is not attributable to all the people of the United States of America. And I know the good people of Utah, the good people that I represent, this -- this is in my district where this happened, that that is not how they approach these things. Even when we disagree, we do not disagree in a disagreeable fashion, and we do not do so with violence, not violent rhetoric. We also don't disagree, certainly, with physical violence.

So -- and I believe the vast majority of the United States of America are not reflective of this intensity of the rhetoric.

I have engaged now as a freshman for several months with my colleagues on the United States House of Representatives floor of the House, and these are decent, honorable people that want to do the work of the people. And I've been very impressed.

And I'll just say, Turning Point USA represented by Charlie Kirk as an individual, this may be a turning point. I feel like it should be a turning point, Brian, for our people that today, we make a commitment to ourselves, to all of those people that we represent, that we will stand forward, do the work that we should do, and do it in a civil and vigorous fashion, but not in a violent fashion.