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Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) On Murder Of Charlie Kirk; Two Students Remain Hospitalized After Colorado School Shooting; Qatari Prime Minister Says Doha Strike "Killed Any Hope" For Israeli Hostages. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired September 11, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:24]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. The very latest on the manhunt for the person who killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk. It has now been more than 17 hours since a single fatal shot was fired at Utah Valley University.

CNN's Kyung Lah shows us how it unfolded moment by moment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The kickoff for Charlie Kirk's 14-city tour was here in Orem, Utah, about 40 miles away from Salt Lake City at Utah Valley University.

Thousands of people, mainly students, were gathering in a large, open courtyard. Minutes before the shooting video from Kirk's own X account shows an open space and a barrier between the tent and the students with multiple security guards standing at the fence line. Police say there were six campus police officers there as well.

CHARLIE KIRK, CO-FOUNDER, TURNING POINT USA: A lot of people, Utah, I'll tell you that.

LAH (voiceover): Kirk was a rockstar among young conservatives largely because of events like this, meeting college students up close on campuses across the country. Police say roughly 3,000 people showed up for this one, all watching and listening as it happened.

Kirk was answering a question about mass shootings.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?

KIRK: Too many.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, now five is a lot, right? I'm going to give you -- I'm going to give you some credit. Do you mind -- do you know how many mass shootings there have been in America over the last 10 years?

KIRK: Counting or not counting gang violence?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great.

(Gunshot)

(Crowd screaming)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down! Get down! Get down!

LAH (voiceover): Kirk is rushed into an SUV and taken to the hospital. Panicked crowds ran as police jumped in.

UTAH COUNTY PUBLIC SAFETY BROADCAST: All units be advised UVU in Orem has had an active shooter at the Charlie Kirk event. We're getting several calls and we're trying to get more information.

LAH (voiceover): In the scramble after Kirk was shot video taken from inside a building captures what appears to be someone running across a rooftop. That rooftop is this building called the Losee Center, less than 200 yards away from the spot where Kirk was hit. If that runner was the shooter he would have been positioned about here.

From this shot you can see the rooftop of the Losee building is pretty easy to access. It's connected to another building by an elevated walkway which, as you can see, is only separated from the roof by a railing. Aerial footage after the shooting shows police tape on the roof of the Losee building.

And at about 12:36 p.m. an officer describes a possible suspect.

UTAH COUNTY PUBLIC SAFETY BROADCAST: He's wearing jeans, a black shirt, black mask, long rifle. He is on top of the building on the far north side, just east of the library, wearing jeans, black shirt, black vest.

LAH (voiceover): Six hours later Utah Valley University issued an all- clear, saying the threat is over. Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old father of two young children, did not survive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And that is our Kyung Lah reporting. Kyung, thank you so much for that.

And students who work for the Utah Valley University's independent newspaper were at the event covering it for the UVU Review. They, themselves, then becoming witnesses to this tragedy.

And joining us now are two of those reporters, Logan Topham and Chase Hughes. Guys, thank you for being here.

Logan, just hearing my colleague Kyung walk through everything that happened yesterday which -- what you experienced, knowing that you're waking up and there's still a search for whoever did this, how does -- how are you doing right now?

[07:35:10]

LOGAN TOPHAM, STUDENT, UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY, EXECUTIVE NEWS PRODUCER, THE UVU REVIEW: Yeah. I honestly think I'm doing probably as well as I could be given the circumstances. Yesterday was obviously a really long day for most of the students on campus. But knowing that they are doing everything that they can to find the person responsible is reassuring, but it is still a little scary that he is still out there.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. And Logan, what are you hearing among students about this? And did -- and what did you hear from them kind of throughout the day yesterday as you were trying to cover this and as you were also trying to get yourself to safety?

TOPHAM: Well, immediately after the event there was some discord among students. Lots of yelling and lots -- and lots of panic going on just trying to figure out what had happened. And there was some blame being shouted from some students to a group of protesting students there.

But on social media afterwards what we saw was actually mostly unifying people saying that no matter what your political views were -- if you were on either side of this it was -- the action was wrong and it should never have happened. So it is good to see that after there was a lot of unity that was found on social media between at least the people I know.

BOLDUAN: Chase, it's a surreal experience that we see in these videos that went on out there that you all saw, reported on, and had to experience.

Do you feel safe on campus today given what -- you know, I was just talking about with Logan? The fact that there is someone still out there who did this. What are you hearing from school leaders?

CHASE HUGHES, STUDENT, UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY, EXECUTIVE NEWS MANAGER, THE UVU REVIEW: We have gotten a lot of emails and messages from the school that have been very helpful. And I would feel safe on campus. The law enforcement during the event, right as it happened, did an incredible job and it was very terrifying, but I would -- I would -- if I went back to campus today, I would feel safe.

BOLDUAN: Logan, there's a lot of political leaders and people in power speaking about this from the governor of Utah, lawmakers in Washington, the President of the United States in shock and grief and in anger. A lot of -- a lot of people calling once again for everyone to bring the temperature down in the face of this tragedy. Leaders sending that message to you, to me, to -- sending it to everyday Americans.

But what is the message that you have -- that you would want to send to those very same leaders about this -- about this tragedy now?

TOPHAM: Well, if could say anything it's probably just that no matter what our views may be and no matter how we feel about the situation that we all need to learn to love and support one another better, especially with those who disagree with us. Because I'm guessing most of the actions that happened, and Charlie Kirk's death were caused by political disagreement.

And I think that we all need to learn to recognize one another as members of the same human family and just learn to work together even through our defenses, and learn to find unity even if we don't agree on everything --

BOLDUAN: And --

TOPHAM: -- just to prevent things like this from happening in the future.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

Chase, how about you? What would your message be to those political leaders today?

HUGHES: I think I would -- I would probably speak on behalf -- I would agree with everything Logan said. And then I would say that I'm heartbroken, clearly, by this horrific and tragic thing that happened. And I just want it to be known that UVU is not a place of fear, but a place of learning.

And that if people on both sides of the aisle are afraid to come -- that we need people who are willing to speak about what they believe in on campus. And I want them to know that if they want to come, we want to have them, and I will greet them at the door.

BOLDUAN: Logan and Chase, thank you very much. I really appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: All right. With us now is Congressman Warren Davidson, a Republican from Ohio. Congressman, thanks for coming on this morning. And let me just say we always appreciate our conversations with you, so thank you for the dialogue.

I don't know if you knew or how well you knew Charlie Kirk personally but just talk to me about what he meant to you.

[07:40:00]

REP. WARREN DAVIDSON (R-OH): Well, he was an icon for people that shared his faith, his love for Jesus, his love for family, and his love for this country. He was really one of the most effective spokespersons for what a lot of people believe, and he engaged in civil discourse and drew crowds.

Sometimes people came there to shout and rant and be angry, and really try to shout him down, and he was always patient and very effective at cutting through that and engaging in dialogue. And people came to see it and participate in it.

But I think unfortunately, whether there was just the -- certainly one person pulled that trigger and fired one shot. There may have been other people involved in it.

But people had given up on speech and debate. They've wanted to just shout and rant and not be heard. They really just want to dehumanize and not engage in speech and debate. And that's the antithesis of what Charlie Kirk stood for. And I think in the wake of this people are going to cling to those views and values even more strongly and they recognize the sacrifice Charlie Kirk made. But people aren't going to be silenced, and Charlie Kirk's voice will be heard for a long time.

BERMAN: You talked about your faith, and you talked about this moment. Obviously, there's a lot of soul-searching from a lot of people -- from everyone, hopefully.

What do you think you can do personally to help heal this country?

DAVIDSON: Well, the healing -- let's look at where the healing is coming from. I mean, this has been -- he called out in April -- April 7 post that he put on Twitter or X talking about assassination culture and the views on the left, saying more than half of the country thinks that it would be OK to murder Elon Musk and more than half thought that it was OK to murder President Trump.

And the kind of dehumanizing rhetoric that once they lose the debate -- people are saying -- they can't just engage in facts and reason. It has to be, you know, insults -- like, well, this person must be a racist or a bigot or a misogynist or whatever. A Christian nationalist, you know. They even created MAGA to -- any way to dehumanize people.

And then yesterday, unfortunately, lots of people were celebrating Charlie Kirk's murder and assassination. And let's be clear, those people would celebrate the murder of me and many of my colleagues. That's what in their heart.

That's not what Charlie Kirk was giving back to those people but that's what was directed at him, and that's what's directed at a lot of people today.

So where does that need to go? Well, the people that are -- that are working to dehumanize their countrymen because we disagree about the politics, whether it's we disagree about our faith, the size of the government, the scope of the government, or just a complete level of irrationality when the name Donald Trump is mentioned.

BERMAN: Obviously -- look, there was the shooting of Steve Scalise. There are the two assassination attempts on Donald Trump. But there was also the assassination of Minnesota speaker Melissa Hortman, Democratic politician, and John Hoffman there. The shooting at the CDC. The shooting of the United Healthcare executive also. I think the point is there's just too much of this all the way around.

So again -- and I appreciate you talking to us about your feelings this morning, but I think the question -- we heard it from those Utah Valley University students -- is what can each of us do? So my question specifically to you is where can you go, what do you expect to do personally I think maybe to reach some of the people who disagree with you?

DAVIDSON: Well, I just held a town hall in my district that we were basically targeting people that disagree with us, and it worked. We got about a 4-1 turnout. And maybe it was a little naive. There were people saying don't do it because they just want a platform to elevate their voice. But they didn't really want a voice. They didn't want to engage in speech and debate.

We took questions and I gave answers, but then people just wanted to shout. And it started with even the pledge and people were -- felt that the word "for all" was somehow divisive so they started chant there. If you mentioned the word "illegal" -- oh, that's a trigger. If you mentioned Donald Trump -- oh, that's a trigger. And it's just shouts and rants.

There was no dialogue there. There was no single question that I was able to finish without interruption. And I said look, we're just going to answer less questions and I'm not going to talk over you.

That's the kind of thing Charlie Kirk did very effectively and drew crowds of lots of people who were mostly there because they agreed with him but some who did disagree, and he would field those questions. And I think Charlie Kirk set a great example, and it was effective, and that's why someone killed him because it was effective.

And they didn't have good answers for his answers. They wanted his voice silenced. And let's be clear, it's not going to be silenced. I mean, his words will echo for generations, and they should.

BERMAN: Well, let's hope there is a dialogue. Let's hope people out there do listen to each other.

[07:45:00]

Congressman Warren Davidson, thank you for coming on this morning -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Also this morning two students in Colorado are still in the hospital after being shot at their school yesterday. It happened at Evergreen High School just outside of Denver. And let me play for you what another student at the school said about what they experienced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENNER JOHNSON, STUDENT, EVERGREEN HIGH SCHOOL: Um, I was scared and I felt, like, sick because I was worried.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you text mom, dad?

JOHNSON: I texted mom -- my mom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what were those messages kind of like?

JOHNSON: Um, I just told her what was happening and that I was safe but, like, you know, scared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Whitney Wild is following this. Whitney, two victims in the hospital. The shooter is dead. What is the latest here?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Kate, there's very little information at this point but here's what I can tell you about how this day unfolded.

These 911 calls for a shooting came in the third week of school. It was 12:24 mountain time. Immediately, law enforcement swarmed the area. Kids started running. You saw just a quick clip there and we're going to go back to it. That was video from a doorbell camera that caught swarms of kids trying to flee, looking for anywhere they could find safety as more than 100 police officers descended on this school within two minutes, Kate.

Within five minutes they were able to contact the shooter. They say law enforcement did not fire a weapon but instead, that student who committed this atrocious crime died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound later at the hospital.

This was immediately throwing a pretty large school, Kate -- I mean, there are 900 kids at this school. Immediately throwing those 900 children into terror, into chaos.

Here's again some doorbell video that caught the moments those kids were trying to run. They had found a home nearby that they were trying to enter. So you see one student here, and then if you look in the back, you'll start to see streams of other kids coming in. And then eventually it's a small crowd of kids trying to seek refuge in this home.

And Evergreen, just to give you some context, is an area that sits in the mountains and so these homes are sort of spread among the trees, among the mountains. It is an otherwise idyllic, beautiful area that again was just thrown into horror yesterday.

Again, two students shot. One remains in critical condition.

Law enforcement says that while they responded as quickly as they could there is never enough time. These shootings happen so quickly, and this is an area that knows that too well. Colorado has had a string of atrocious school shootings, so they are sadly very routine responses for law enforcement there. They know how to respond to them quickly but sadly, they always know that no matter how well you do in those situations it is just not enough time.

Here is what one parent said about this experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANNON TAYLOR, MOM OF EVERGREEN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: We've got to fix this. It's our turn. We've got to fix it, and it's got to change. These kids deserve safety. The staff deserves safety.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mom, when you see that line of parents back there -- I mean, you have your little boy. You are, I'm assuming, going home. But when you see that line what do you think? TAYLOR: My heart is with them. They're devastated. This is not OK. And I feel for them and I'm sending everybody love and I'm so sorry. It's going to get better. I have hope we're going to fix this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: This investigation is just beginning. Law enforcement, as of last night, was working on obtaining a search warrant for the shooter's home. And we have to assume at this point that search warrant has been obtained but we will bring you the very latest on what evidence they find from that search warrant and more information as the day unfolds, Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, Whitney. Thank you very much for your reporting on this. We're going to have much more on this throughout the morning.

Protesters outside Israel's military headquarters, and Qatar's prime minister telling CNN Israel's strike on Hamas in Doha, in his words, "killed any hope for the hostages."

And it was 24 years ago today, September 11, when the September 11 attacks occurred shaking this nation to its core and changing the world forever. Soon, President Trump will be leaving the White House to attend a ceremony at the Pentagon. We'll have all of the important moments commemorating this day for you ahead.

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[07:53:40]

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight the British ambassador to the United States has been fired over his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Prime Minister Keir Starmer dismissed ambassador Peter Mandelson who was featured in the Epstein birthday book released by the House Oversight Committee this week. It included a handwritten note describing Epstein as "my best pal."

And emails obtained by Bloomberg also show that Mandelson continued to support Epstein after his first conviction on sex charges, then writing to Epstein, "I think the world of you and feel hopeless and furious about what happened."

A gas truck exploded in Mexico City killing at least four people and injuring 90. The prosecutor's office says the explosion generated a shockwave that damaged 32 vehicles. Forensic experts are working now to figure out what happened and if the company that owned the tanker complied with regulations -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Just in this morning, Egypt's new warning for Israel. What -- essentially, what you did in Qatar, don't try anything like that here. An Egyptian official telling CNN that a message was sent to the U.S. that any Israeli attempts to operate on their territory will have catastrophic consequences.

Now, Israel conducted a targeted strike in Qatar, in Doha, Tuesday trying to take out Hamas' leadership. And Qatar is where all of the negotiations for a ceasefire and to get that return of the hostages have taken place.

[07:55:00]

And now the Qatar prime minister, speaking to CNN, says this attack undermines all of their efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL-THAN, QATARI PRIME MINISTER: At the same date I was -- I was meeting one of the hostage's family that morning -- the morning of the attack. Getting the 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Yet, the Israeli President Isaac Herzog is still saying even after this strike and the growing fallout that Israel is ready for a complete deal to end the war with Hamas.

Joining us right now is CNN global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh, and former and longtime State Department Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller. Thank you both for being here.

Aaron, you say that Israel essentially pulled off an own goal here in a big way with this attack. How and where do you think things stand here?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: Uh, first of all, it's great being with you, Kate, and with Sabrina.

Look, I think the Israelis now have something Kate they've not had -- the state of Israel has not had it since it was created, and that is escalation dominance. Israel's military can escalate in ways that none of its adversaries can.

This prime minister, it seems to me, has made certain judgments about his tactics and strategies. He's prioritized avenging the dead and remaining in power with his right-wing coalition over redeeming the living.

And I think this strike reflects not an effort to blow up negotiations. I don't think there was a chance that Hamas was going to accept this proposal to release 48 hostages, living and dead, on the first day of a ceasefire without ironclad assurances that Israel would end the war and withdraw its forces from Gaza -- slim to none.

I think the prime minister is frustrated but I also think he believes that politically, he can gain additional points and demonstrate Israel's strength. These guys -- all of them -- the internal leadership and the external leadership were marked on October 7. Where and when Israel is choosing. He's not going to do it in Cairo, not going to do it in Turkey. So he picked what I think he believed to be the least complicated target in Doha, but it clearly was not that at all. BOLDUAN: Yeah.

Sabrina, there's a lot of -- it's not just messaging to Israel that we're hearing from Qatar. There's a lot of conversation and messaging to the President of the United States and what role he can play in this, or maybe what influence he may not have any more in this.

What do you think should be the role of President Trump and where do things go or don't now?

SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR, FORMER DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I think what you saw with Israel's strike in Doha was clearly a tactical mistake. I mean, the targeting of Hamas leadership -- they didn't even hit their intended targets. On top of that, Israel, with this strike and then actions within Gaza, is further isolating itself on the world stage. I mean, hitting a key U.S. ally.

So to your question of what can the president do, I mean, the United States still retains incredible levers of power when it comes to Israel. I mean, we're still continuing to send weapons to Israel as they continue their fight within Gaza, both defensive and offensive weapons. And then, of course, there's diplomatic powers that we control as well. It's whether this administration decides to use those.

And right now what we're seeing is a lot of rhetoric back and forth and the administration expressing concern or being upset at the actions taken and not being warned about this strike beforehand.

But the reality is if these actions are not -- if these words are not meant with actions there's really no teeth in the game. And so Netanyahu is going to continue this war and going to continue to conduct Israel's military in a way that is going to further isolate Israel but also hurt our relationships with our key allies and partners in that region.

BOLDUAN: And Aaron, kind of in the broader sense -- like, Trump has made it a huge goal of his to reset and change the relationship that the United States has in the Middle East, especially when you're talking about Saudi Arabia.

And I'm wondering what you then make -- when you take that kind of as the context here, what you make of the -- this warning from Egypt and also the Qatari prime minister telling CNN -- the way he put it is "There is a collective response that should happen from the region." I'm just wondering what that could be.

MILLER: It's a great -- it's a great question.

Look, I think the Egyptian piece of this is serious. It's one of two treaty obligation partners that Israel has. Geography is destiny. The Egyptians can play a critical role in Gaza, both in mediating and in when their day-after plans emerge.

As far as the broader issue Kate, I have to say we've now watched -- and it's hard to believe that we're within weeks of the second -- marking the second year of October 7.