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Manhunt for Shooter Who Killed Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk; Nation Marks 24 Years Since September 11 Terror Attacks; Trump to Speak This Morning After Killing of Charlie Kirk. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 11, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, a huge manhunt underway, the search for the gunman who killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk in front of thousands of people on a college campus. Utah's governor calling his death a political assassination.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: In Colorado, two wounded after a teenager opens fire on students there. We've got new information on that investigation.

In 24 years since this September 11th attacks, ceremonies in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania, a somber day on so many fronts.

Sara is out. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: And to the breaking news this morning, an urgent, truly all- out manhunt now enters his second day for the shooter who killed Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist. There is so much video out there from this event, there are 3,000-ish people that were there, including the moment right after the single fatal shot was fired. The crowd at Utah Valley University, as you can see, just breaks out into a run, chaos, trying to search for safety.

There's another video that also appears to show a figure ducking and running across a rooftop. You'll see it highlighted right there in a building that's just opposite the event, opposite of where Charlie Kirk was shot.

As of now, no suspect has been publicly identified. Two people were taken into custody but then released yesterday.

Kirk was just 31 years old, a father of two children, and he was a leading figure among young conservatives and also in the broader conservative movement as well. Leaders from across the political spectrum are speaking out condemning this political violence, condemning this tragedy with Utah's governor calling it a political assassination.

Charlie Kirk was also very close with President Trump. And the president spoke directly to camera in a video from the Oval Office last night, expressing his grief, shock, and anger. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Charlie was a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate and the country that he loved so much, the United States of America. He fought for liberty, democracy, justice, and the American people. He's a martyr for truth and freedom and there has never been anyone who was so respected by youth.

This is a dark moment for America.

My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Nick Watt is on the scene force in Utah. Nick, what is the very -- let's talk about the fact that there is still a search for the person who did this. What is the latest there?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, it is coming up on 17 hours now since Charlie Kirk was shot, that single bullet, as you mentioned on this campus here in Utah. And as one analyst told us, time just means the ability to get further away for that suspect.

Now, as you mentioned, two people were detained, questioned, and released. According to the governor, he believes they are looking for one person. He calls this a political assassination and intimated that if this person is caught, the death penalty could be sought in this case.

Now, we are told by Utah officials that crime scenes -- there are now multiple crime scenes based, we're told, on where the suspect and the victim traveled.

Now, I want to take you through what we know. We have some video that was shot from inside a building in the immediate aftermath of that shot. You see people running. Of course, when one shot is fired on a campus in this country, people suspect a campus shooter. They suspect that there will be more rounds fired. There were not. But in that video, you can see one person running on a rooftop.

Now, if that person running was the shooter, they would probably have been positioned on top of the low sea (ph) building, which is about 200 yards away from where Charlie Kirk was sitting. There is a direct line of sight across the roof of another building to Kirk.

Now, that building, the low sea building is connected to another building by an elevated walkway. It is easy to access.

[07:05:00]

There's just a railing that somebody could jump over. And in the hours after the shooting, there was police tape, police activity on that roof. So, that is where we suspect that the shot was fired from.

At about 12:36, so maybe 15 or 16 minutes after the shooting, an officer called in a description of a suspect. He's wearing jeans, black shirt, black mask, long rifle, described as being on top of a building.

Now, we also heard from Utah officials that they do have some security camera footage of the person they believe to be the suspect. But those officials were eager to point out that that video is perhaps not of the best quality. So, that is what we are working with now.

And, listen, people who were at this event said there was security, sure, but there was more security for somebody rushing at Kirk with a knife, not necessarily somebody shooting from 200 yards away from the top of the building. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Nick Watt, thank you for being there. I really appreciate it. John?

BERMAN: All right. With us now is CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Andy, nice to see you this morning.

As Nick points out, 17 hours now into this manhunt, what needs to be happening in order to catch this perpetrator?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes. So, first of all, John, you're absolutely right to start with a clock. The clock is not your friend, if you are in the middle of this investigation, as Nick mentioned, every hour that goes, by the killer gets further away, has a better opportunity to seek shelter, support, things like that, and, of course, to travel.

So, what needs to be happening, there are kind of two fronts on this investigation right now. There's, of course, the crime scene and they're going to want to exploit every aspect that they possibly can for investigative leads. The most important location being, of course, where we think the shooter delivered those routes from. That may still -- they may still be thinking that location is the roof, the part of the roof that we saw taped off. And if that's the case, they'll be going over it with a fine tooth comb.

The next piece is expanding out from that shooter's perch, and that is obtaining any potential piece of video capture that is anywhere in the area that could lead to that roof. So, you're not just looking for video of the roof, you're looking for every hallway, every parking garage, everything in which where somebody could have traveled in front of a camera in an effort to get there.

Everyone who's picked up on that video has to be located, has be identified, located, and interviewed. You're going to want to look then further out towards vehicles that entered and exited the campus, and particularly that parking garage. If they have that sort of coverage on their parking facilities, they're going to identify those vehicles. They're going to identify the owners of every single one of them, wherever they may be, and those, interview those people as well.

While this crime scene, this expansive crime scene work is going on, the Bureau's also going to be working with Mr. Kirk's security team and his business associates to understand as much as they can about his communications and any communications he may have received that were threatening.

In this day and age, that can be a lot, right? He was a guy with a big social media presence, a provocative person. And so they are going to try to identify all of those communications that seem even remotely threatening and trace them back to their -- to the people who made those and hopefully identify and interview people out of that batch as well. It's a very broad -- very, very broad aperture they're working with right now, but, unfortunately, that's what they're that's what they're stuck with.

BERMAN: So, broad, particularly because this was a public event. It was meant to attract as many people as possible. There was nothing secretive about the location or, in fact, the movement surrounding the event itself.

Andy, there is someone who carried out an assassination of a prominent political figure on the run this morning. How dangerous could this individual still be?

MCCABE: The danger presented by that subject is limitless. This is a person who engaged in an exceedingly violent act of violence in front of thousands of people, and was able to pull it off with a high degree of skill. There was planning that went into this in the acquiring of the weapon and transportation to the location, in knowing how to escape, figuring out escape routes, and then, of course, the training that goes into delivering a shot like that.

It's not impossible. And in a place where like -- you know, a place like Utah that has a pretty expansive gun culture, there's a lot of hunters and sports shooters in the state. So, there are potentially a large pool of people who have the skills to be able to do that.

But this person knows that capture means certain prison for the rest of your life under the best circumstances.

[07:10:04]

It could also mean the death penalty. So, facing those kinds of stakes, this person wants to get away more than anything else in the world. And anyone who gets in who obstructs him in his escape is someone who's taken their life in their hands.

BERMAN: And the clock very much the enemy.

Andrew McCabe, stay close this morning. Obviously, we're following all the developments in this investigation. Thank you. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes, and we will have much more ahead on this manhunt for this person who committed this horrible killing. We're going to have updates throughout the show and we'll be bringing them to you.

We're also following the story, breaking overnight out of the U.K. The British prime minister has fired their ambassador to the United States over his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Brand new details we are learning about this, this morning.

And a shooting at a high school in Colorado, two victims in the hospital, both students. Investigators are now working to piece together what has led now to the 47th school shooting so far this year in the United States.

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BOLDUAN: This morning, America is honoring and reflecting on this September 11th, 24 years since the terror attacks that changed the world. Right now, families are gathering in Manhattan at the site, the beautiful site, it's so moving, the site of the World Trade Center memorial for the somber tradition of the reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed on September 11th, 2001.

And throughout the morning, the nation will observe six moments of silence, as we always do, to mark that day and paid tribute to those who lost their lives here in New York, in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon, where President Trump will be visiting next hour.

CNN's Jason Carroll is at the 9/11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan for us. I was there last year on this day, Jason, and it is difficult to describe the way it feels to be at that site and with those families on this particular day. What are you seeing there?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Kate, I mean, you said it best. I mean, it's very difficult. And even though it has been 24 years, it's still very much still resonates with the families who lost loved ones, with people who were here. And remember that day, 24 years ago, actually, right now, some people are already starting to gather here in Lower Manhattan to pay their respects.

The program will get underway at 8:40 A.M. As you said, as we've seen in years past, there will be a moment of silence, six moments of silence, one for each time the north and south tower was struck, the time that the towers fell also to honor those who were in Washington, D.C., at the Pentagon, and, of course, the time that the Flight 93 went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

And, of course, Kate, there will be the reading of the names, nearly 3,000 victims whose lives were lost on 9/11. And though it has been 24 years, when you live in New York City, it's not unusual at all to still even now come across people and talk to people who lost a loved one that day, talk to people who still remember being down here in Lower Manhattan and watching the towers fall. It's still very, very real to these people.

Yesterday, for example, I spoke to Kate Levy. Her father was a New York City firefighter. He was doing what so many did that day. He rushed to the south tower, saved lives in the south tower. He died on that day. She was just ten years old. So, if you can imagine, she told me that she still remembers that particular day her father not coming to pick her up for school that day. You can see there's a picture of her that we have now, that picture from the 9/11 Memorial Museum showing her and her father, Joseph, who was just, when she was just ten years old on 9/11 when that happened.

So, still very real to so many of these families, Kate, and her family will be here later on this morning for the reading of the names. A number of dignitaries will be here as well, the mayor, the governor the vice president and the second lady. They were scheduled to be here. But, of course, now he will be heading to Utah. Again, the program's set to get underway at 8:40, just a little more than an hour from now. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Jason, we will be marking those important moments to remember right along with you. And thanks for being there for us, Jason, this morning. We're going to be bringing that all throughout the show as well.

And still ahead for us, back to the breaking news, the urgent search for a dangerous shooter, the manhunt to find the person who shot and killed conservative activists Charlie Kirk in broad daylight at an event on a college campus. We're going to bring you more on where that search focuses now today.

And we also have breaking news coming in in the Jeffrey Epstein saga. The British prime minister has now fired the U.K. ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson, over his alleged link to Jeffrey Epstein.

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More on that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: A dark moment for America. That is how President Trump is describing the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The president expected to speak again this morning after making remarks in the Oval Office last night.

Let's get right to CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House. Suffice it to say there are strong feelings in that building behind you.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. And, look, John, I mean, this isn't just political for really the majority of the people in the president's inner circle, those who sit near the Oval Office in the West Wing. This is deeply personal. They all had very close relationships with Charlie Kirk. He wasn't just someone, you know, that they welcomed in to the White House at times or helped him on the campaign trail. A lot of people here had very, very deep, close relationships with him, even the president some of our sources are telling us, kind of viewed him like a family member.

I'd pointed to some of the emotional posts we've now seen from high ranking people in kind of Trump's inner circle. You look at the vice president, J.D. Vance, he shared a 1,000 word eulogy really on X just before midnight at length, describing his deep close relationship with Charlie Kirk and the history that those two men shared. [07:25:11]

We also saw another emotional post from Donald Trump Jr., the president's son, describing Kirk as someone who was like a brother to him.

So, again, this isn't just about the political nature of this. The people in this building behind me and the people who are the closest to the president really viewed him within that small group of loyalists, someone who had a direct line to the president, someone they believed even when they disagreed with, had the best interests of really the movement at hand.

And so there's been a lot of shock, a lot of kind of disbelief in the building behind me. I know yesterday a lot of my sources, a lot of White House officials were watching the T.V.s, kind of glued to the screen, trying to get any sort of update on this.

And then, you know, we also did hear from the president. He shared a video on social media. It was over four minutes honoring Charlie Kirk. But he also laid out potential next steps regarding, you know, how we could potentially see this White House and the broader Trump administration try to respond. Listen.

(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 who brings order to our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, the reason I wanted to share that, John, I think is so important because, again, we are still waiting to see what these next steps look like, but there is a lot of anger and rage beneath a lot of the emotion and sadness that people are feeling. People want answers and they want retribution for what had happened, particularly at our time as we're seeing political violence rise in the country. All to say we're waiting to hear more from the president when he comes out and talks to reporters in about an hour. John?

BERMAN: Standing by for that. Alayna Treene at the White House this morning, thank you very much.

The deadly shockwave from a gas truck explosion, at least four people killed, nearly 100 injured.

And doorbell footage shows children fleeing to safety after a school shooting.

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