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Testimony Begins in Alleged Trump Assassination Plot Trial; Manhunt Underway for Suspect in Charlie Kirk's Killing; UK Fires Ambassador to U.S. Over Ties to Epstein; Veterans Group Working to Ensure Nation Never Forgets Fallen Heroes of 9/11. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired September 11, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Happening right now, testimony in the trial of Ryan Ruth. He is the man accused of trying to assassinate President Trump last September at the President's Florida golf course. Ruth is representing himself at trial.

CNN's Randi Kaye has been in court all day. Randy, what's the latest? How is this going?

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, it's been a really interesting day in court. It started off pretty well for Ryan Ruth. He seemed to be in good spirits. He was taking notes. He was using a highlighter during some of the opening arguments and testimony. But it got off the rails for him during his opening statements.

That's when he said to the jury, thanks for being here. I'm sorry to disrupt your lives. And then he launched into a rant about genocide, about Putin, Netanyahu and Hitler. Also started crying at one point. And the judge eventually, after just less than five minutes actually, cut him off and said I have limited patience. Don't make a mockery of this courtroom. She said that he had relinquished his right to conclude his opening statement. So that was the end of that.

But the prosecution had a more traditional opening statement telling us about the several aliases that Ryan Ruth had allegedly used. Also the 17 trips that he allegedly had made to Trump's golf club before this incident. He also showed a handwritten list that he said that Ryan Ruth had made. It was called a gear list, which included diapers because he was going to be there for about 10 hours laying in wait, allegedly. And also a note to himself to wear bug spray.

There were two witnesses so far today, Brianna. One was a Secret Service agent who had allegedly spotted Ruth along the fence line there at the golf club. He described being five feet away from Ryan Ruth and saying to him, hey, sir, when he noticed him, he said that Ruth smiled at him and then groaned.

Now Ruth cross examined the Secret Service agent and he said to him on the opening, good to see you. Is it good to be alive?

There was also a second witness. This was the man who spotted Ruth fleeing allegedly and took pictures of him and ID'd him for authorities. Ruth said to him in the end, you're my hero. You're a good man. You're the man. You're an American hero.

And then before closing his cross examination, he asked this witness, are you a Trump supporter? That was stricken from the record -- Brianna.

KEILAR: That is a strange day in court. Randi Kaye, thank you for taking us through that. We appreciate it -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We are continuing to follow the latest on the manhunt for the killer of Charlie Kirk. The FBI just postponed its press conference that was set to begin just minutes from now because of what they described as rapid developments in the case.

We want to talk about all of the implications of Kirk's death with former congressman and CNN senior political commentator Adam Kinzinger. Congressman, thank you for being with us.

Something you posted online yesterday struck me. You described this as a moment in which democracy is failing. Why?

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, look, politics and particularly self-governance, it was invented so that we didn't have violence. Because if you look at, you know, way back in the day, maybe the caveman days, or you look at, you know, human history, usually political differences kind of historically were solved at the barrel of a gun or with power or, you know, whoever has the bigger stick.

And democracy came along and frankly, the United States came as close to perfecting it as we have, because we realized that in a country with very different people, I mean, we have people from all different ethnic backgrounds, all different religions, basically every different, you know, variation of human in the United States, in a country like this, we had to find out a way to work through our differences without resorting to violence.

We resorted to violence, you know, kind of multiple times in our history, particularly in the Civil War, the 1960s. And each time we came to realize that wasn't worth it.

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And so this, to me, just shows that not with everybody, not with most people, but democracy is failing when people feel the need to make it violent. I said the same thing on January 6th, as well. That was a violent action taken to change a legitimate outcome.

And we need to reject this in all forms, and particularly what we saw yesterday was, you know, obviously intensely egregious.

SANCHEZ: I wonder what you think the blame that's now getting pushed out there, the politicization of Kirk's death does for those who are eager to see this democracy fail, whether they're adversaries abroad who are posting bots on social media, targeting supporters and opponents of Kirk's message, or domestic extremists, accelerationists that want another Civil War. KINZINGER: Yes, I mean, they love it. They love it.

I mean, just ask yourself, you know, is our adversaries, we'll take adversaries overseas. Are they sitting there going, gee, I wish, hopefully political leaders can come out and create peace in this. Or are they saying, man, I hope this descends into more chaos. And it's the latter. They want this to descend into more chaos.

You know, look, we should call out every act of violence, call out every act of anybody celebrating violence. I think back to the assassination of the health care CEO, and then what I've seen with Charlie Kirk and what I saw with Paul Pelosi and go back and forth on this. We should call that out. But we can't paint one side with it.

If we simply say this is a problem of the far right or the far left, then all we're doing is creating a cycle that speeds up. It's like one of these perpetual motion machines. It speeds up until it descends into a point we can't get away from.

And honestly, there's not a single person, probably, that you would ever talk to that was in a failing democracy or in a country with civil strife or civil war that would ever tell you that the country ended up in a better place because of it. And so anybody out there that is even launching blame yet, you know, we probably know the motive of this shooter, but we don't know yet.

We need to be very patient, very careful, and all political leaders need to use this moment to try to bring calm and not to further create more strife, because this is just a cycle that is going to affect everybody, not just one side.

SANCHEZ: And I wonder, given the way that you describe this as as a sort of spiral, many young people getting engaged in politics now looking up to people like Charlie Kirk and even people who disagree with them, they've grown up in an era where this kind of political violence and extreme rhetoric is far more common. So what do you think this assassination means for young people, whether he appealed to them or not?

KINZINGER: It could be one of two things, and this has been a big worry of mine is if you look at politics in the last 20 years, you know, 25 years, whatever it is, you know, people that are 35 and younger today don't remember a time when politics was anything but basically, you know, proverbial life and death out there.

And so when you see what happens to Charlie Kirk, one of two things could happen. I mean, it's possible this could, again, spiral further. This could lead to young people becoming disengaged in politics. Or the good thing could be this could lead to young people being more engaged in the art of debate, of argument, and recognizing that they are basically the generation that my generation is going to pass the torch off to, and they don't want to live like this. This is their choice.

I mean, certain generations in America right now have already chosen to fail the next generation. It's up to us to leave the next generation a better legacy, and now that generation, the ones that, you know, Charlie Kirk inspired or folks on the left inspire, they're the ones that have to make a decision now what kind of a country do they want to live in. I know what kind of country they want to live in, but it's up to leaders to get them there and get past this, like, petty, everyday, back-and-forth stuff and recognize we can be super passionate.

Like, I didn't agree with a lot of Charlie Kirk, but I really respected his ability to make a debate point, and we've got to get back to that.

SANCHEZ: Former Congressman, Adam Kinzinger, appreciate you joining us.

KINZINGER: You bet, take care.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, the Jeffrey Epstein scandal reverberating around the world why the British prime minister just sacked the ambassador to the U.S.

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SANCHEZ: New fallout today after the release of Jeffrey Epstein's now infamous birthday book. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sacked his country's ambassador to the United States.

KEILAR: This is Ambassador Peter Mandelson, who has been facing intense criticism for his ties to the convicted sex offender, especially since the discovery of his letter in the book celebrating Epstein's 50th birthday. In a handwritten note from the book, Mandelson calls Epstein, quote, my best pal. And now a new report shows an even deeper relationship between the two men than was known previously.

CNN's chief global affairs correspondent, Matthew Chance, is joining us now from London. Matthew, tell us about this relationship and what the reaction is to him being sacked.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, well, I mean, the reaction is, I think, on the part of the British government, one of kind of embarrassment to try and limit the damage that's been caused by all of the questions that have been raised about the nature of the relationship between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein. What the government knew about it and when.

Of course, there was always known to be a relationship between the two figures before the appointment as U.S. ambassador from Britain was made.

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But then that birthday book came out last week where he talked about Epstein as being his best pal and talked about him, you know, all those photographs of him saying that he enjoyed being with his interesting friends and you know, things like that.

But then what really did it was that trove of e-mails. released between Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Mandelson, which came after Jeffrey Epstein had been convicted of child sex offenses, in which Mandelson continued to support, you know, Jeffrey Epstein and offered him solace. Saying that he was furious about the conviction and talked about ways in which he could fight back.

So very embarrassing on that level in terms of judgment for the British government but also embarrassing because it comes just a few days before President Trump is going to be here on a state visit to Britain. And of course, Trump himself is embroiled in allegations about the nature of his relationship with Epstein. And so if he thinks he's going to escape that issue by coming here, he's going to be very sorely disappointed, guys.

KEILAR: Really interesting and a big fish to get caught up in all of this. Matthew Chance, thank you so much for the report.

Coming up, fulfilling the promise to never forget. We talked to the founder of the 9/11 Heroes Run that is helping bring Americans together to honor first responders on the 24th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.

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KEILAR: On today's HOME FRONT and this anniversary of the 9-11 terror attacks, a veterans group is working to honor the first responders who gave their lives 24 years ago. The Travis Manion Foundation is kicking off its annual 9-11 Heroes Run in communities across the country. The goal, unite people and make sure the nation fulfills its promise to never forget.

We're joined now by Ryan Manion, the CEO of the Travis Manion Foundation and Gold Star sister of Marine First Lieutenant Travis Manion, who was killed in Iraq while protecting his fellow Marines in 2007. Ryan, thank you so much for joining us.

I should note, this is actually the 18th year that you were doing this incredible Heroes Run, and it's grown a lot. It's just part of what the Travis Manion Foundation does. Tell us about all the people that you're uniting through this.

RYAN MANION, CEO, TRAVIS MANION FOUNDATION: Sure. So we started the 9- 11 Heroes Run shortly after the death of my brother in 2007. And here we are 18 years later.

And this year we'll have over 100 events, bring out 60,000 people across the country to like you said, honor our commitment to never forget. And I think it's so important, even more now than it ever once was, that we galvanize communities to come together and unite.

KEILAR: So Travis was so aware of how his service was inextricably linked to the losses that we suffered as a nation on 9-11. He actually visited the FDNY before he deployed and you went back to visit with them, which we have some photos of. What was that like for him and what was that like for you?

MANION: You know, shortly, very shortly before he left for Iraq on a second deployment, he went up to Rescue One and he spent the day with the firefighters there and they gave him a hat. And on the back of the hat, it said 9-11, never forget. And he gave that hat to my dad and said to my dad, you know, wear this while I'm gone. And remember, this is what we're fighting for. He never made it back from that deployment.

And I went to Rescue One and sat down with those firefighters that spent the day with them. And, you know, you look at the span of 24 years ago, 9-11 led to a 20 year war. And so the sacrifices that were made on that day and the years that follow are just so profound.

KEILAR: Yes, they certainly are. And before he deployed to Iraq, Travis said, if not me, then who? That was his mantra.

How do you think about that now? How do you think that other people can think about that as a guiding principle, especially today on 9-11?

MANION: I mean, I think that those five words that my brother spoke before leaving for that deployment are indicative of our entire generation of men and women who have stepped up to serve. And I think now more than ever, each and every one of us need to adopt that motto into our own lives. Come together.

Remember not just September 11th, but remember what September 12th felt like. Remember how unified we were as a country. And gosh, today, more than ever, we need that so much.

KEILAR: Yes, we certainly, certainly need it. And, you know, I think that that was an event that brought so many people together and it sort of provided a path forward for people. We are at a time where there is so much division.

I wonder how you're thinking about that and about this event, where I know you get a lot of feedback about this bringing people together. And so many years after 9-11, folks are very clear they really need that.

MANION: They do. And I think more importantly, too, it's about educating our next generation. Right. You and I remember where we were on September 11th, but there's so many that weren't even here. And so let's make sure that we teach them about what happened, the sacrifices and the incredible heroism that was made on that day.

But let's also teach them about what it means to come together as a community, to be neighbors with each other, to be OK with differences of opinion, but come together under the common goal that we love this country and we love what it represents.

KEILAR: Yes, Ryan, we need that more today than we need it any day. And thank you so much for sharing this with us. And thank you so much for the sacrifice of you and your family. And we're thinking of your brother on this day as well. Thank you.

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MANION: Thank you.

KEILAR: Coming up, House Speaker Mike Johnson says there will be a deliberate review process -- that's what he called it -- to figure out how to ramp up security for lawmakers after the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk. We are live from the Hill ahead.

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