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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Manhunt Underway for Suspect in Charlie Kirk's Killing; V.P. Vance to Escort Kirk's Casket and Widow on Air Force Two; Source Says, U.N. Security Council to Meet Friday on Russian Drone Incursions into Poland's Airspace. Officials: Denver School Shooter Had Been "Radicalized"; Florida Judge Interrupts Defendant's Opening Statement In Trump Attempted Assassination Trial. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired September 11, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome to The Lead, I'm Jake Tapper.

The breaking news this hour, manhunt, the manhunt is on for Charlie Kirk's assassin, still very much active right now, the Manhunt. We're tracking the latest developments as authorities have released photographs of a person of interest.

Plus, at least two Colorado students injured, and yet another school shooting, the 47th in America this year. Colorado Governor Jared Polis joins The Lead for the latest on that investigation.

Also, President Trump moments ago was asked what he thought about the Russian drones that ended up in Poland this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It could have been a mistake. It could have been a mistake, but regardless I'm not happy about anything having to do with that whole situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: We will discuss the emergency meeting happening this week.

Plus, the newest member of Congress joins The Lead to discuss his first move in Congress that could impact the potential release of the Epstein files.

The Lead tonight, a manhunt still underway for the shooter who assassinated right wing influencer Charlie Kirk yesterday afternoon before a campus crowd in Utah, Kirk leaving behind a widow and two children. Today, the FBI released the first photos of a person of interest and offered a $100,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

CNN's Nick Watt is in Utah following the latest developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This man now the focus of a manhunt that's nearly 28-hours-old. The FBI is asking for the public's help identifying this person of interest. He appears to be a college age male, according to investigators.

BEAU MASON, COMMISSIONER, UTAH DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: Suspect blended in well with a college institution.

WATT: Among the 3,000 or so who came to hear Charlie Kirk speak.

ROBERT BOHLS, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Investigators have also collected footwear impression, a palm print and forearm imprints for analysis.

WATT: Investigators say the suspect arrived on campus 11:52 A.M. local time Wednesday, made his way through stairwells across a roof to the shooting location, believed to be on top of this building, about a 150 yard shot to where Kirk was sitting.

SKYLER BAIRD, EYEWITNESS: He was well-guarded against, you know, someone running up with a knife or trying to fight him personally. He was well-guarded from that sense. But security in the general area, it was just a normal campus day.

WATT: But not against that one fatal shot fired at around 12:20 local time, pure chaos.

MASON: After the shooting, we were able to track his movements as he jumped off of the building and fled off of the campus and into a neighborhood.

WATT: The alleged weapon, along with some ammunition was found in a wooded area near campus. CNN has learned with initials and phrases related to cultural issues scrawled on.

BOHLS: The FBI laboratory will be analyzing this weapon.

WATT: Along the suspect's escape route, officials have gathered eyewitness testimony and doorbell camera footage.

BOHLS: We're doing everything we can to find him and we're not sure how far he has gone yet. We are and will continue to work nonstop until we find the person that has committed this heinous crime and find out why they did it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (on camera): So, about three hours ago, a press conference was postponed because of, quote, rapid developments in the case. We are still waiting to hear what they are. Kash Patel, director of the FBI, is apparently on his way here, and J.D. Vance, the vice president, is here. He will be flying on Air Force Two to Phoenix, Arizona, with Charlie Kirk's body and his young family. Jake?

TAPPER: Leaving behind a widow, Erica, and two very young children's, a little girl and a little boy. Nick Watt in Utah, thank you.

Let's bring in my experts as we continue to track the latest in this manhunt for this vicious killer, CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez and retired FBI Special Agent Daniel Brunner.

Evan, officials were supposed to provide an update this afternoon that was canceled, as Nick noted, due to rapid developments in the case what have you learned about what's happening on the ground right now in this investigation?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, it's still unexplained really what those rapid developments are. It's clear that they do not have a suspect. They don't have an arrest. It doesn't appear that they're very close because they've got this $100,000 reward. They've also just invited the U.S. marshals to join this manhunt. Again, that indicates that they really need a lot more help to try to get this investigation to where they can at least try to find this person.

Again, you know, the importance here is that we've had, what, 28 hours since the shooting, and, you know, the investigators are still now asking the public to provide tips based on the photographs, which is taken from some surveillance video.

[18:05:00]

We do know that the FBI director and the deputy FBI director on their way there, which is an indicator, Jake, of how important this investigation is to this administration.

TAPPER: So, Daniel, obviously there are people out there who can look at these photographs of this person of interest, and they know who this is. Whoever he is, he's only -- he's been on the run for just over a day, 24 hours -- over 24 hours, about 28 hours, as Evan said. What kind of slip ups, what kind of mistakes is law enforcement likely watching for that could help catch him?

DANIEL BRUNNER, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, there's a lot of different things that law enforcement is doing in this investigation to hopefully push him to make a mistake. And that's exactly what you said is what they're hoping that he makes a mistake. He gets tired, he gets hungry, if he hasn't planned or if he's only thought about the next 24 hours after the shooting.

He clearly showed a propensity to prepare for this. He knew how to get to the roof. He knew the different access routes. He knew how to slip out of the crowds, so he was prepared and he took one shot. To me, that indicates very clear and calm that he was going to take the shot. It wasn't multiple shooting, like other mass shootings we've seen.

So, for me, I think that he has definitely planned this. Now, how far out he's planned this? We'll know. Is it an Eric Rudolph where he was prepared to go into the woods and hide for months? It's possible. This type of rifle, a bolt action rifle, could be a hunting rifle. So, if he has experience in the woods, he could be hiding in the woods for months. If not, he could be -- he really could be anywhere at this point with 24 hours head start. He could be at the border, he could be in New York, he could be anywhere.

TAPPER: How do officials have to shift techniques and technology as the search develops, if, for example, the person acquires a vehicle or if you learn that they're not working alone?

BRUNNER: Well, that's exactly what it is, is trying to figure out and trying to have multiple people looking out in their eyes. So, pushing out this photograph increase -- it does two things. One, it multiplies exponentially the number of eyes that are looking out into a neighborhood, that are looking out and seeing somebody who's suspicious. Most likely, he's probably changed his clothes and changed his appearance, possibly to get himself a little bit more a head start, but also it creates the pressure upon him that there's more people looking for him.

Not only is he worried about law enforcement. Now, he has to worry about the person that he's walking past down the road. Are they looking at him suspiciously? That's going to cause him anxiety. That's going to cause him to make a mistake, trip up and say something, or look in the wrong direction. And all it takes is one tip, one phone call.

TAPPER: And, Evan, officials have discovered the rifle and ammunition used in the murder of Charlie Kirk, and messages were apparently written or etched on the ammunition and the rifle. What have they been able to glean about the shooter from that, if anything?

PEREZ: Well, that's part of the problem, Jake, because we don't have a suspect, we don't have more information. The ATF, which put out a bulletin overnight that describes some of the markings, some of the engravings that they believe were there, and they were interpreting some of those. For instance, they said that they interpreted -- the analysts who looked at it, interpreted some of the markings to be expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology.

Now, I've talked to law enforcement officials about this, and, you know, they said they're not sure, you know, whether those interpretations that were made on the spot, whether those are accurate. There's still some time for it to be analyzed in the lab.

You know, one of the things they did is they looked at a series of arrows, and because of that, they Googled it essentially, and they saw some references to transgender -- the transgender gender community. They have no idea whether that is actually what the intent here was, what's the motive has anything to do with this, or if this person was simply trolling, you know, the investigators and try to provide false clues.

Again, because we don't have an I.D. on someone who they are focused on, they simply do not know at this point. And so that's really, at this point, just raw information that investigators are holding onto until they know more.

TAPPER: And, Daniel, Evan reported separately that three former senior FBI officials are suing the FBI director, Kash Patel, and the Trump administration alleging that their firings were part of a White House directed purge driven by social media bullying from MAGA loyalists. And this report is relevant, I'm bringing it up because it says that -- it portrays rather Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino as particularly concerned about their social media profiles.

And I raise this because yesterday. FBI Director Patel tweeted that a suspect had been taken into custody. This was before local officials provided their update. And then Patel tweeted that the suspect had been released. It led to a lot of confusion. What do you make of Patel's performance in this investigation so far?

BRUNNER: Well, I think Director Patel's getting onto social media as quickly as possible was not the right move and clearly the result is, you know, the mistake that he has to, you know, retract it, that this person was in custody.

There are probably seven or eight different leaders between the case agents on the streets and the director of the FBI. The case agents are really the ones that are really working this and they're the ones that have the best knowledge. And most likely, their supervisors and their chain of command in the Salt Lake division know really what's going on. And by the time it gets to the director, it could be hours after a lead or an investigation area is conducted.

So, for the director of the FBI to get onto Twitter and to tweet that a suspect is in custody, I think, was ill-advised it. You know, that's why there's a public affairs office. The director of the FBI has never done that before. We're in a new age. I understand that we're on social media. But there are people who are trained to do this. The street agents are the ones who are conducting the investigation, and they're the ones in the best position, and they're funneling all that intelligence to the mobile command center and the command center that's in the Salt Lake division right now.

TAPPER: Yes, it was certainly confusing.

Evan Perez and Daniel Brunner, thanks to both of you.

Charlie Kirk's widow, Erica, and their two children, young children, a daughter and a son, they were actually in attendance at the event in Utah where he was shot and killed. We have new details about how both President Trump and Vice President Vance are working to try to support the Kirk family.

Plus, what exactly are the Russians up to? Some of its drones turned up in the skies over Poland, a NATO country. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: And we're back with our Politics Lead. While we continue to track the manhunt for the person of interest in the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, top Republicans are mourning Charlie Kirk today. Among them, close ally and friend, Vice President J.D. Vance, who flew to Utah to be with Kirk's family. Sources say Kirk's remains will be flown from Utah to his home in Phoenix, Arizona, on Air Force Two. Kirk leaves behind a widow, Erica, and two very young children.

Let's bring in CNN, Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, what do we know about how this all came about for Vice President Vance to go to Utah to help the family and help bring his remains back home to Arizona?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. He was actually scheduled to do some 9/11 events today, but the vice president's team canceled that because obviously they felt that this took priority just in terms of being able to go there and to meet with Charlie Kirk's family and in Utah, of course, where he was assassinated yesterday. And not only that but to take the family and his remains and the casket back to Arizona where he lived with his family. And so the vice president touched down in, in Utah earlier, and this is what we are told is expected to be the plan for the next few hours with Air Force Two.

And, really, Jake, it's just a sign of reverence for Charlie Kirk and also just signifies the impact of the relationship that J.D. Vance and Charlie Kirk had. He posted an incredibly lengthy tribute to Charlie Kirk just a few hours ago and was basically detailing how they met, the conversations that they had when he was running for the Senate race in Ohio back when he was a complete newcomer on the political scene and detailed his relationship with Charlie Kirk and how he said just how instrumental he was and posted a tribute to him and about the work that he did.

And he said he exemplified a foundational virtue of our republic, the willingness to speak openly and debate ideas. So, they're just heralding what was, you know, the, kind of the cornerstone of something that Charlie Kirk did, which was debate people even if they strongly disagreed with his own opinions. And so that was something that the vice president was paying tribute to.

And, Jake, obviously you should expect to see more of this from the administration since the president announced earlier, he is going to award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And also that he does plan to attend Charlie Kirk's funeral when it happens.

TAPPER: And, Kaitlan, we also heard from President Trump briefly today talking personally about Charlie Kirk. What did he have to say?

COLLINS: Yes, we saw him leaving the Pentagon earlier after that 9/11 ceremony. And he told us that he planned to speak with Charlie Kirk's family this afternoon. That conversation has now happened, and he was just speaking to reporters as he was leaving the White House to head here to New York City, and this is what he had to say about Charlie Kirk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: He was an advocate of nonviolence. That's the way I'd like to see people respond. I spoke to Erica, his wife, and we had a long talk, and she's devastated. She's absolutely devastated, as you can imagine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: He's referencing Charlie Kirk's widow there, and the lengthy conversation that I'm told that they had earlier this afternoon.

But, Jake, I also think what he said there at the beginning was important because he was asked what is his message to supporters -- to his supporters about what they should do in the wake of Charlie Kirk's death and talked about Charlie Kirk's own advocacy for nonviolence and instead debating your ideas. And the president himself said he believes that nonviolence is the best response in response to all of this.

TAPPER: Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much. And don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins. That's tonight and every weeknight at 9:00 Eastern only here on CNN.

Sources say the United Nations Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow after NATO jets scrambled to shoot down Russian drones that flew over NATO member Poland this week. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

TAPPER: In our World Lead today, a source tells CNN that the United Nations Security Council is expected to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss this week's Russian drone incursion into Poland. Dozens of drones crossed into Poland Tuesday night into Wednesday. NATO fighter jets scrambled and shot some of them down. A total of 16 were found scattered across Poland yesterday.

Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement that it carried out a strike against Ukraine that night, but, quote, no targets on the territory of Poland were planned for destruction, unquote. By the way, we're not talking about little baby drones like you can buy online. We're talking about big ones like the one you're looking at in this footage. Once they're on, they can do significant damage.

Let's get some insights now from former Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk. Brett, thanks for joining us. So, Polish officials say that the sheer number of drones made it clear that this was a deliberate act by Russia, and that was echoed by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy today, who's comparing the drone incursion to Russia's annexation of Crimea. What do you think the Russians are up to here?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: If I had to speculate, if you look on a map, it's hard to suggest that that was a mistake. If I had to speculate, I think they're kind of probing, testing how NATO responds. Look, Jake, this is a completely unprecedented event. But, unfortunately, I don't think it's a first. I think this drone warfare is the wave of the future, no pun intended.

And if I look at NATO's response, it's good there was a response. You don't wake up every morning seeing the Dutch defense minister saying our F-35s were in the sky downing Russian drones in NATO airspace. This is totally unprecedented. At the same time, to use F-35s, the most expensive air platform in the world, to take down these really Iranian drones that Russia produces, very cheap, very easy to make, that's not the most cost effective way to do that.

[18:25:12]

So, I know Poland has triggered Article 4 of the Atlantic Charter, meaning we need immediate consultations. And those consultations should really be focused on the defenses in the eastern flank of NATO against drones. You can't rely just on F-35s, you know, electronic warfare, all sorts of defensive systems that I know have been in development that have been deployed. But I think this event, I think Russia's probably probing but NATO has a lot of work to do to really harden those defenses.

TAPPER: Here in D.C. today, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators pushed for passage of a bill adding Russia to the list of state sponsors of terrorism under U.S law, specifically for kidnapping Ukrainian children and taking them into Russia. Take a listen to Republican Senator Katie Britt of Alabama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KATIE BRITT (R-AL): It is clear that Putin will never do the right thing without being forced to, and now is time to make that happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Lawmakers also are demanding a vote on imposing more sanctions on Russia. Do you think either of those actions would make a difference in Vladimir Putin's behavior?

MCGURK: Well, Jake, they're not decisive, but the senator is, right. I think look where this is heading, just as an analyst, I think this war is heading into an escalation phase through the winter. I think Putin very clearly, he is targeting the electricity grid inside Ukraine. He's trying to make sure that the winter months in Ukraine will be unbearable. The Biden administration spent a lot of time working to harden those electricity grids to make sure the heat can stay on in the heating season. Putin is going after it. There have been 3,000 attacks since the spring directed against that electricity and heating structure inside Ukraine. So, this is going to continue.

The only way for diplomacy to succeed, you need leverage. Diplomacy without leverage, I've said before, is like music without instruments, and that means economic sanctions, that means military support for Ukraine. That is just the course we're on unless we just want Putin to continue this for as long as he sees fit and he is all in.

So, yes I think the senator's right, that's not a decisive action. You need sanctions, you need military support for Ukraine, you need coordination with allies to make clear to Putin that this is not cost free for you. And, of course, the Russians are suffering. They've taken almost a million military casualties. Their economy's in rough shape. But you got to keep the pressure on if you want the president's policy to succeed, and we all should, we want this war to end, we want diplomacy to work, but you have to back up the diplomacy with leverage.

TAPPER: Just put this in the context of the Alaska summit, which was August 15th. It is obviously September 11th today. We're approaching the one month anniversary. Do Putin's actions when it comes to drones in Poland indicate that that summit was a failure?

MCGURK: I don't want to call it one or the other. I would say, you know, we have -- President Trump likes to say this war never would've started if he was president in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. Impossible to prove or disprove that, I think that claim is probably dubious. But one thing we know is a fact, the three largest attacks of this entire war have happened this year between June and August of this year. The largest attack was just two weeks ago. So, Putin has escalated and he has escalated since the summit.

Look, the summit had some merit in distilling the issues you need to get to an agreement. What do you need? You need agreement of land swaps along that line of contact in Eastern Ukraine coupled with -- this is key -- coupled with security guarantees for Ukraine, because they're not going to be able to give up territory without a security guarantee to ensure that Putin is not just reloading to launch another invasion over the coming years. Those are the two issues.

There's been work since the summits on what a security guarantee can look like. The Europeans are working with us on that. That has to be sharpened up. But in the meantime, I go back to my first point. Without leverage here demonstrating to Putin that you, this is not cost free for you, economic pressure is going to increase. There's bipartisan support in Congress for this. And, you know, the White House has to put those tools in the kit. Otherwise the diplomacy is going to continue to flail.

TAPPER: Brett McGurk, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it, sir.

MCGURK: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: Just one more signature, one more signature is needed on a Republican congressman's petition that would force a full House vote to release all of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The newest member of Congress just signed his name to it. He'll join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

TAPPER: We have some breaking news for you in our World Lead. Brazil's Supreme Court just sentenced the country's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, to 27 years, three months in prison. This after convicting him on several charges, including attempting to overturn Brazil's 2022 election and trying to abolish the country's democratic order by force. That coup attempt went down January 8th, 2023, with protests that looked quite a bit like the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol back in 2021.

In our Politics Lead, Speaker Mike Johnson's narrow Republican majority in the House just got a little narrower. Yesterday, Democratic Congressman James Walkinshaw of Virginia was sworn in just the day after winning Tuesday's special election by 50 points over his Republican challenger. It's the district once held by the late Congressman Gerry Connolly, and now Speaker Johnson can only lose two Republicans on a party line vote.

Joining us now is newly sworn in Congressman James Walkinshaw of Virginia. Thanks so much for being here. Congratulations.

REP. JAMES WALKINSHAW (D-VA): Thank you. Thanks for having me.

TAPPER: Democrats don't have a lot of good news these days. You are one of -- you overperformed. It wasn't just that you won in a relatively safe district. You overperformed how Democrats normally do.

WALKINSHAW: That's right. I think Democrats have had some good news in special elections around the country and ours is the latest example of that. We ran about 16 points ahead of Vice President Harris in the same district a few months ago in 2024.

TAPPER: Just moments before you were sworn in, shouting erupted on the House floor during a moment of silence for Charlie Kirk.

[18:35:05]

How are you approaching this moment of extreme polarization in Congress?

WALKINSHAW: It was a tense day on the floor yesterday. Emotions were running very high. The speaker asked for a moment of silence, and there was some shouting about the possibility of a spoken prayer. And I appreciate the way Speaker Johnson handled it. And I was sworn in shortly thereafter and gave a floor speech, or I laid out the concerns that I have with the Trump agenda and the Congressional Republican agenda and their impacts on my district in Northern Virginia.

So, it's a hard time. I think it is really important for all of us to do what we can to lower the temperature right now. The worst thing that we can do is be blaming one side or the other politically given the violence that we've seen.

TAPPER: In one of your first official acts was to sign this discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files. You were the 217th signature. Tom Massie, the Republican from Kentucky, whose discharge petition this is, only needs one more signature. Are you guys going to get it?

WALKINSHAW: I pledged during the campaign that I would sign the petition on day one. I had hoped, especially after hearing from the survivors over the last week, that another one of my Republican colleagues would sign it before I was sworn in. That's right before have, I was hoping another would before I was sworn in. I was hoping to be 218. I just don't understand how you can listen to what those survivors said, hear their please, and not sign that petition to give the American people the full story of what happened with Jeffrey Epstein.

TAPPER: Well, I think the answer is that the Trump White House has said that they would view it as a, quote, hostile act if Republicans do join the petition.

WALKINSHAW: That's right. Look, I think there's one of two things happening here with respect to Donald Trump, either one, he was lying to his supporters for years about the contents of the file when he said there were deep, dark secrets about powerful people in America in those files. That's one option.

The other option is there's something in there he really doesn't want the American people to see. And we're he getting this trickle and trickle of information coming out of it, the strange birthday card, the strange drawing. And American people want to know what else is in those files and what does Donald Trump have to do with it.

TAPPER: We should just note, for fairness sake, President Trump denies that he drew that picture and signed that birthday card, whether or not, you believe him.

WALKINSHAW: Yes.

TAPPER: Stay with us, Congressman. Let's bring in the rest of our panel.

There's a lot of reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk on Capitol Hill today. I want you to take a listen to what two senators, a Democrat and Republican, had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): We are at a precipice in this country when public discourse will no longer be possible, when public appearances will be reduced because of the legitimate fear that a single crazy person can imperil public officials.

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): And this has already been a concern considering what happened up in Minnesota. And so I think you're going to see some changes.

I think it's undeniable now that you've got to beef up security on every member.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So that's both Senator Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, and Senator Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, talking about how horrible things are in terms of security, in terms of not even -- politicians being afraid to even speak. What do you think?

MAURA GILLESPIE, FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL, BLUESTACK STRATEGIES: I think it sets a precedent here for what members of Congress have already been experiencing. We saw that in the January 6th committee members were being targeted and didn't have the means to protect themselves necessarily, and so Capitol Police stepped in.

I do think it's a conversation that needs to be had about the MRA and how it's used, and maybe it does need to be increased to include security. It's not just about the members themselves. The district office --

TAPPER: That's the members' budget. Is that what you --

GILLESPIE: Yes, I'm so sorry. It's the MRA. This is my Hill --

TAPPER: Yes, I know. I'm here to translate for the people at home.

GILLESPIE: But I just -- I think about the district offices. A lot of them are spread throughout the country and they're not staffed by many people, but they're pretty open. People can just walk in and that's how we wanted our government to be designed, where you can walk in, ask a question, seek help for things like passports and renewals and different things, but if now they're under attack and fearful and afraid to go to events in their own communities, that's a problem. And it should be a problem for all of us to sit there and think about who is going to step up to be leaders? Who's going to want to run for office putting yourself and your families in this -- in harm's way? It shouldn't be like that. We have let our political identities circumvent our humanity.

TAPPER: Yes. And, Adrienne, I want you to listen to Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was responding to President Trump speaking last night in the Oval Office. And they posted the video where he blamed entirely the, quote, radical left for the murder of Kirk and for all the violence going on, political violence. Here's AOC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Using rhetoric of vengeance and violence, whether it is a member of Congress, whether it is the presidents of the United States, to assume and assert and half blame when the FBI has failed to even apprehend the assailant is absolutely an irresponsible action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[18:40:17]

TAPPER: What do you think?

ADRIENNE ELROD, SENIOR SPOKESPERSON, HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN: Look, I think both sides have got to take the temperature down. I mean, I wish President Trump last night had used that moment to really unify the country and use his bully pulpit, which is very strong as the president of the United States, the president of the free world, to emphasize that we need to turn the temperature down. We are human beings, Jake. And I believe that, you know, most of Americans live what I call between the 20-yard lines, which is we all agree on most things. We just maybe have a different way of getting there. And politics have just gotten to such an extreme level in this country. And I think it's incumbent on both sides, especially individuals with a huge platform to just take it down a couple notches.

I also want to say something that you said about the member's budget in Congress. I was the chief of staff for about five and a half years. That was about 15 years ago, but it was not nearly as dangerous as it is now. And the fact that members have to use their campaign budgets to pay for security, it should come out of their official campaign budgets. You also want your office to have a storefront so that members of community, your community can come in. And it's just a shame that we've gotten to this level.

TAPPER: It does seem, Congressman, as though that this horrible tragedy with Charlie Kirk is only balkanizing us more. It does seem like so many Republicans can't see that there is violence coming from the right towards the left, and so many Democrats, not Democratic officials, but certainly Democratic voices or progressive voices on social media, and I'm not equating them, but it does exist and it is ugly, rejoicing. And how do you fix it? I'm not blaming you and I'm not holding you responsible for fixing it but how do you do this? How do you even accomplish this?

WALKINSHAW: Well, anyone rejoicing about this it's disgusting. And, you know, I'm thinking about the Kirk family today. He was a father and a husband. And I can't imagine the situation and the way that they're feeling today.

I agree. We have to take down the temperature. And, look, there's political violence on both the left and right on the extremes. It has been studied, the ADL, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, two thirds to 75 percent of political violence in this country come from the extreme right. But the rest of it comes from the extreme left.

And I think we have to, especially in a moment like this, avoid the urge to blame the other side, to demonize the other side. I wish we had a president who could really bring us together in a moment like this. That is not the president we have. So, it's up to the rest of us, Democrats and Republicans, to try to do that. I'm going to try to do that with my colleagues in the House because we have to prevent this from spiraling even further.

TAPPER: Final thought?

GILLESPIE: Yes. I just think that especially on this day, we're reminded of what leadership means. And I do feel as though President Trump has failed to meet the moment yet again, a moment when we need somebody to step forward and unify us. Because what happened to Charlie Kirk doesn't impact just Republicans, it impacts us as Americans. And we have to stop siloing ourselves as, oh, you're a Republican, oh, you're a Democrat. We are all Americans. And the fact that we have political violence and that we have become numb to it, that is a huge problem. This is not normal. This is not normal behavior. This is not normal for us and we should not allow it to be. So, it's on all of us, how we talk to one another, how we talk about one another. And any platform you have, I think that's what we need to be doing, is being cognizant of it.

TAPPER: And I think this talk of vengeance is really dangerous. And it's not, from what I understand of Charlie Kirk, and I'm certainly no expert, it's not what he seemed to stand for. He didn't seem to talk about anything other than winning arguments and victories at the ballot box.

GILLESPIE: Allowing for debate, allowing for conversation. We would want that for everybody. We should all want to be able to have conversations.

TAPPER: All right. Thanks to all of you.

Yesterday, as the nation grappled with the assassination of yet another political individual, yet another school shooting was playing out near Denver. Colorado's governor joins me next to discuss that investigation and the disturbing rise in political violence.

And some breaking news, President Trump moments ago arriving at Yankees Stadium, in the Bronx, in New York. He's greeting players at their clubhouse. We'll monitor this. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:48:31]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In our national lead, an update from the family of one of the students wounded in Wednesday's school shooting at a Denver area high school. The victim of the is now identified as 18-year-old Matthew Silverstone. The family saying that they appreciate the community's concern. They're asking for privacy.

County officials today identified the shooter as a 16-year-old student at Evergreen High School, whom they believe had been radicalized by an extremist network.

Here with us now is the Democratic governor of Colorado, Jared Polis.

Governor, thanks so much for joining us under such awful circumstances. This marks yet another high-profile -- high-profile mass shooting in your state. Tell us more about this new information we've learned about the shooter and this extremist network.

GOV. JARED POLIS (D), COLORADO: Well, I think we all await information about exactly how he was radicalized -- radicalized. Whether there were any signs to look for.

I just want to commend the actions of the teachers and the students at the school. The quick lockdown saved lives, and you'll be hearing more about this. The shooter in the hallways couldn't access the classrooms. There were two students very seriously injured. We're still hoping and praying that they're able to pull through.

But the brave actions on the spot in real time. Without those, this would have been a lot worse, Jake.

TAPPER: Can you give us any -- any indication about what kind of radicalization were talking about? I mean, that could really be anything from far right to far left to Islamist to anything. What do you have any -- any information?

[18:50:02]

POLIS: Yeah. Look, even though the perpetrator has now died to self- inflicted wounds, we want to make sure we give the Jeffco County sheriff the ability to do the full investigation. All of that information will be coming to light in the days ahead. And of course, looking at it and learning from it to prevent this kind of horrific tragedy from -- that we've all experienced far too often from happening again.

We all know this could be anywhere and everywhere, Jake. And parents across the country worry about sending their kids to school, and that's simply shouldn't be. And so, we need to do more. We need to make sure we send the message unequivocally that acts of violence are wrong, and try to detect some of those early indications of radicalization earlier to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening.

TAPPER: Do we know anything about where the shooter was able to get the gun?

POLIS: I know it's been reported that the family has guns and went shooting in our state. You do have to be 21 to buy a gun on your own, but you can buy one with your parents at a younger age. And obviously, many families have guns.

And so, the access to gun piece again will be put together. What type of gun it was? But at this point, we want to stand in solidarity with the victims. Evergreen High School students, their families.

I'll be attending a vigil with many of the families at Evergreen High School right after this, just to show them that we know, we care. We have mental health resources for those in need to be able to continue on.

TAPPER: And this tragedy happened less than an hour after the assassination of Charlie Kirk in Utah, just the latest in a series of politically violent attacks this year. You've spoken alongside former Republican Governor Larry Hogan and current Utah Governor Spencer Cox about remedies for polarization.

I want to play some of what Governor Cox said yesterday in the wake of Kirk's assassination, and then get your response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SPENCER COX (R), UTAH: Nothing I say can unite us as a country. Nothing I can say right now can fix what is broken. More than the leaders, we just need every single person in this country to think about where we are and where we want to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: How do we unite the country? How do we end all this polarization?

POLIS: I really appreciate the sentiments, the words of Governor Cox. I encourage listeners to watch his whole speech. The devastating assassination of Charlie Kirk in kind of a fundamentally free speech area, right, at our universities. This is political speech at its core. This is what a healthy democracy is all about.

And to be taken down by a bullet in a horrific attack is undemocratic and un-American. What we need, Jake, is more love, more respect, more understanding. We need to understand that we need to disagree better. Disagreeing is not something we should -- we should be ashamed of.

It's fine to have arguments and debates, but they should not be settled by bullets or by knives. They should be settled through elections where we make sure that our voice, our beliefs, we let the people vote and we do our best because at the end of the day, whether you're left, whether you're right, whether you're center, most Americans feel deeply and care about our neighbors. We care about our families. We care about our country. And I think now more than ever, that needs to shine through.

TAPPER: Colorado Governor Jared Polis, amen to what you just said. Thank you so much for being here today.

POLIS: Thank you.

TAPPER: Coming up next, why a judge cut off the opening statement from the man on trial for attempting to assassinate President Trump last year.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:57:44]

TAPPER: In our law and justice lead, a dramatic day in court for the man charged in the assassination attempt of then candidate Donald Trump last year near Mar-a-Lago. Ryan Routh is representing himself despite no legal training. Not even five minutes into his meandering opening statement, the judge cut him off.

CNN's Randi Kaye is at a Florida courthouse.

Randi, what led to the judge's interruption?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was quite a day in court, Jake, with Ryan Routh representing himself. It started out well. He was taking notes, but then things sort of went off the rails as he began his opening statement, he launched into a rant about Putin and Netanyahu and Hitler and the judge right away said to him, I have limited patience. Don't make a mockery of this courtroom.

He actually began to cry at one point during that opening statement, and she said, you have relinquished your right to conclude your opening statement, and that was that.

Now, the prosecutors, during its opening statement said that there was a timeline and noted three aliases, at least three aliases that Ryan Routh was using. They also said that he made 17 trips to Trump's golf club before this incident occurred, and they also noted what they called a gear list. This was a handwritten list allegedly written by Ryan Routh that included items such as diapers because he was going to be laying in wait, allegedly for at least ten hours. Also, a note to himself to spray self with bug spray.

There were two witnesses. The first was a special agent from the Secret Service. He's the one who allegedly spotted ruth at the fence line. Now, he said that he saw him from five feet away, saw the barrel of the rifle in the fence line, and he said, hey, sir, to Routh. And that Routh smiled at him and then groaned. That's when he opened fire. And he says, Routh fled.

Now, Routh cross-examined that secret service agent, and the first thing he said to him was, good to see you. Is it good to be alive?

The second witness was the eyewitness who spotted Routh. He said, when he was allegedly fleeing. He described him as a tall white man with blond hair. When Routh cross-examined him, he said to him, you're my hero. You're a good man. You're the man. You're an American hero.

And he closed his cross-examination with asking him, are you a Trump supporter? That was stricken from the record -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Randi Kaye in Florida, thank you so much. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bluesky and on the TikTok @jaketapper. You can follow the show on X @TheLeadCNN. If you ever missed an episode of THE LEAD, you can listen to the show whence you get your podcasts.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.