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Trump On Kirk Suspect: "I Think We Have Him". Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 12, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Believe that he matches the description. And they certainly are looking closely that this is the person that they've been looking for, for now two days. John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Evan, before letting get back to the phones, just quickly, is this all occurring within the Orem, Utah area geographically? Is this all close to where the university is?

PEREZ: It's not far. Well, you know, Utah is actually a pretty big state, but it's the area we're talking about is certainly driving distance of Orem and the sort of the greater Salt Lake City and Provo area. And so that's, you know, they had to go pick him up and bring him up to be questioned as part of this investigation.

Again, this is fortuitous if it indeed turns out to be the person that the investigators have been looking for. He didn't go very far, at least based on our reporting and based on what the President is sort of describing in bits and pieces there on the couch at "Fox News." But certainly, you know, it's fortuitous if indeed they have the right person this time.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Evan, get back to the reporting. Please bring us what you're picking up because we're sincerely appreciative of that, as always.

Davis, back to you on this. Commissioner, when you hear that he actually wasn't, he was within driving distance of where this crime was committed, how does -- what does that say about is it, how helpful is it? What does that say about the manhunt that has ensued for the last 40 hours to find him? What do you mean?

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, on a general -- in a general sense, most crimes are committed within just a couple of miles of where the offender is living. So this could very well be a case of an opportunity presenting itself to someone who lives in the area and him having very strong feelings.

One thing you have to remember on this is once they got that picture and are going to be able to identify this individual, it can only go one of two ways. There can either be a shootout and going out in a blaze of glory with somebody trying to take people with him, or it can end up like this, where someone intercedes and talks the suspect into giving up. Thank God it happened this way. And it gives us the opportunity to get into his mind a little bit and to find out what he was thinking and what caused this to happen. So the interrogations that are happening today are extremely important. Hopefully he'll cooperate. And when he put writing on the bullets and sort of left all the evidence that he did in the area, it almost gives you the impression that he wants to get a message out there.

So the Chances of him speaking this morning, I think are pretty high in comparison to the average offender.

BERMAN: Yes, again, we don't necessarily know what's on what those writings are. It hasn't been confirmed by officials. But if there is anything there, obviously that would be crucial in this investigation. Chris, if we can bring you back in here, I just want to follow up on something the commissioner just said. Based on your experience, and I know that no two cases are alike, but the fact that we have not heard that this ended in a shootout, that this person may not think there's any way out of this other than to cooperate. What do you think, based on your experience dealing with people in this situation?

CRHIS SWECKER, FORMER FBI ASST. DIRECTOR FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION: We have had occasions where a family member turned somebody in, so to speak. It's not unheard of. And when that's the case, they do that out of compassion and love for their, you know, their relative to avoid just that, avoid the shootout, avoid the violence, avoid a suicide, and get that person to, you know, submit to a peaceful arrest. That's what everybody wants.

So, you know, it does also lend itself somewhat to some cooperation on the part of the subject. And as was just pointed out, you know, you get one shot at that. The very second someone says the word attorney, then that interrogation will have to stop. But you want to try to leverage all of this. This is the actually the best case scenario for an arrest situation in circumstances like this, that someone that was very close to them, that cared about them, turned them in.

And so I don't foresee a trial here unless there's an insanity defense somewhere in there, because I see an overwhelming case being built here very quickly. I'm not sure they really need his confession, but I think, of course, it's very helpful to get some context around why he did what he did and how he did it and how he planned it and that sort of thing. But this guy appears to be one -- another one of those individuals that acts on impulse and plans very well up to the deed itself, but doesn't plan for the aftermath of it and doesn't plan for not leaving behind all that evidence and actually getting away.

[08:35:01]

So this is, you know, obviously a very, it's an assassination. It's high profile. We don't know whether they'll be federal or state charges yet, probably both. But, you know, we're moving into a whole different stage here.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Let's listen to what the President said announcing this just moments ago. Let's listen to this again together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody, right, in custody. Everyone did a great job. We worked with the local police, the governor. Everybody did a great job. You know, getting somebody that you start off with absolutely nothing. And we started off with a clip that made him look like ant. That was almost useless. We just saw there was somebody up there and so much work has been done over the last two and a half days. You know, it's amazing, actually, when you start off with that and then all of a sudden you get lucky or talent or whatever it is. But, yes, we're -- I think we're in great shape. He's in custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: All right. That was just moments ago from the President. And again, to just to remind everyone, we are standing by. Coming up in minutes, really 9:00 a.m. or at any time, we will be hearing from the governor of Utah, the FBI director, as well as the head of Utah's public safety, who's been really leading the charge and laying all this out. We assume this is what we're going to be getting.

BERMAN: I will say it. It's a relatively extraordinary situation right now, which is that President Trump, the President of the United States, is the one who made --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: -- the announcement that there is someone in custody, though he said he's not 100 percent sure yet, but he thinks it is the person.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: It's President Trump who very publicly is releasing these details --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: -- about the gunner.

BOLDUAN: I was just -- he said, I was just told five minutes before walking on to sit down with you. So there's -- this is an extraordinary situation. Andy McCabe, back to you hearing that from the President. But also now there becomes a big question of how do you suss out motivation? Because that clearly has been a huge part of the discussion while they have been searching for this killer, you know, all throughout the manhunt.

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes. So those are all good questions. I think it's helpful to think about that based on what we've heard, certainly from the state officials in terms of their intention to pursue a death penalty charge. And also that might likely -- that might -- I would expect that'll also happen at the federal level. I think Chris is right. The likely outcome here is you're going to see charges at both the federal and state level and either one can pursue the death penalty. So knowing that this guy has, this person in custody has a very strong incentive to cooperate and plead guilty simply to avoid losing his life in the process. And so that's, I would guess that's a lot of the leverage that they, if they're still talking to him now, that's what they're using to convince him to talk. Like, if you start cooperating, take this in the right direction, there's a chance to avoid that end.

So, you know, there's a lot hanging on the table. It's not a typical case where, you know, you would -- you might decide you're that good and left that little evidence, you take your chances and try to avoid trial. So, yes, it's -- I think this young man has got a lot to figure out in the next couple of hours. And he made -- it's very possible that he makes the decision to talk to the investigator. So if that's the case, then we'll find out what he was trying to do.

It's also not dissimilar to situations that we have seen. I'm sure everybody on this panel has been, and I've been in quite a few of them with terrorists where, you know, you get some committed ideological warrior who tries to pull off a mass casualty event, fails and ends up in custody. And you would think that somebody like that is so hard and so dedicated to their cause that they would never cooperate with law enforcement. But many, many times they do.

And the reason is because they are so committed. They have this ideological bet that they want that to get out. They want people to know why they did it. They want to -- maybe they want the fame and notoriety for it, or maybe they just want the attention to their cause. And so you could be looking at a situation like that here as well. If he is very deeply ideologically motivated, which seems like a fair guess at this point based on the horrific crime that he -- that this person, allegedly, this person engaged in, he may just want the story out.

He want -- he may want -- it may be that important to him. So I really feel like every possibility is on the table at this point. And obviously, you know, we'll know once he's indicted from the statements that are included in the affidavit supporting the indictment.

[08:40:01]

BERMAN: Let's just bring people back up to speed where we are right now. President Trump announced just moments ago that he believes there is a suspect in custody right now in the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The President also provided other details in this interview suggesting it was the father of this suspect who noticed the photos that had been released, thought it was his son, kept him somehow in custody until he could be taken into possession by U.S. marshals. CNN has confirmed much of what the President has said, but where we are right now is there is a suspect in custody in a news conference scheduled for about 20 minutes from now.

We want to go to Alayna Treene, who is at the White House, who could explain to us sort of how the President has been briefed, really must be overnight up until right now when he started talking and how this announcement came to pass. ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, I mean, it is interesting that he kind of broke this news, John and Kate, before the FBI. We know that they're going to be making announcement. The President said as much before they had a chance to, but clearly eager to be the one to share that the suspect in the shooting, Charlie Kirk's suspected assassin, is now in custody.

There was a few moments from that interview with "Fox News" that struck me. One was that he said that he hopes that Kirk's killer gets the death penalty. He said he's been in close contact with Utah's governor and that of course, Utah has the death penalty and that he believes that the governor is going to pursue that. But, of course, we're still waiting for more information and for that press conference to get underway.

But look, I mean, I can tell you from my conversations with people in this building behind me that they have been very closely monitoring this investigation and the manhunt that had been underway over the past several days now and really wanting answers. I think a lot of people here, the President himself, but also the people he is closest with, people like his son, Donald Trump Jr. The Vice President, of course, who we saw yesterday taking Charlie Kirk's casket, helping escort it on to Air Force Two to transfer his remains back to Arizona.

I mean, people had very, very close relationships with him. And as people had been kind of sorting through that, a lot of that is now turning to anger. And they very much have been wanting to, of course, have his suspected shooter in custody, but wanting also to get more answers and try to find some way to, you know, move on from kind of the grief and disbelief that they are feeling into trying to have some real action. And so hopefully we'll see more of these details released during this press conference. But it's been fascinating to watch the President kind of being interviewed through all of this.

He talked about how he believes the Turning Point Action, the organization that Charlie Kirk founded, is going to continue sharing tidbits about their relationship and through all of this as well. Another interesting thing that I took from that interview is that the President, you know, he was asked about security, about how people are canceling events, including some Democratic lawmakers, and he said, look, you have to move forward. He mentioned his assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, last summer and saying, I learned from that you have to move forward. So a lot of interesting things there that he's revealing, of course, the biggest being that the suspect is now in custody. John and Kate?

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Alayna Treene at the White House. Get back on Alayna if you're hearing any more about what you're hearing behind the scenes there.

Let's -- Chris Swecker, let me bring you back in. Now that we're about to hear from the FBI here -- from federal law enforcement and state law enforcement on this with -- we would assume, would be this announcement. Do you expect them to reveal more or less now that you have him, and then you need to be preparing for trial, right, building a case? Do you think it's going to be -- they've been pretty revealing in what they've released at least overnight. What do you think, more or less that we're going to hear now?

SWECKER: Yes. Before the FBI, I was an assistant district attorney. And so I look at it from both angles. Investigators want to talk about the case, and they want to satisfy the public interest in all of the details. This is a point where you have to have a lot of discipline. You are protecting a trial. The attorneys are going to be very circumspect if they're -- if they go true to form here. And they will make sure that they get some information out there. And there are guidelines on this, especially in the federal system, from the U.S. attorney's Manual and DOJ guidelines.

You put out the basic facts and, you know, what would essentially be in the arrest warrant or the indictment itself. And make sure that you tell them that this is a -- these are accusations only. And this is not, you know, we're not holding a trial in the public arena here. And as I said earlier, now you got to protect your witnesses and any, you know, any evidence that's being produced and make sure that their recollection is not based on details that are being fed out from the podium.

[08:45:01]

You know, we all know a lot about it right now, but there are a lot of details that only witnesses will know. And they don't want to put that type of information out there. So you got to protect the prosecution now and have some discipline and resist the urge to put it all out there. But that's going to be hard for some people because some of these folks because I think some of them very much enjoy the press activity and that the attorneys are going to be the ones that are pulling back on the reign, the potential prosecutors here.

BERMAN: You're looking at live pictures right now from Utah where we are standing by for this news conference where we expect officials to fill in some of the details on what President Trump said moments ago. He said, I think we have him. They believe they have a suspect in custody wanted in the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Ed Davis, former Boston Police Commissioner, I think if anyone understands this situation that we're in right now, it's you. You were in Boston after the Boston Marathon bombing, that investigation which lasted, what, three days between the marathon itself and when the shooter was apprehended. Talk to us about the comparisons there between the photographs and the information that ultimately led to the arrest and then the comparisons with the moment we're in right now. In Boston, there was that shootout when they were taken into custody.

DAVIS: Right. There were a lot of similarities between the two cases. The ending was different and thank goodness for that. But we, you know, we had a lot of very strong conversations about the strategies to follow during the course of this investigation. People were reticent to release any kind of photographs. I was always advocating for the community policing style of sort of reaching out to the community and engaging in it.

On the other hand, I very much came up through the same system that Chris spoke about with assistant district attorneys and assistant U.S. attorneys, and I understand the importance of keeping this information close to the vest now that he's in custody. There is no benefit to putting this information out there right now on television. But one of the problems that we have is if the head guy, the President of the United States, is making comments about everything that's coming out of the investigation, the prosecutors will really need to sort of tell the structure, the power structure, how detrimental that is to the actual trial and how comments about what punishment should happen to somebody like this may actually affect the ability to provide that punishment.

So I think we all need to be responsible about this and make sure that as we did in the marathon, things were done by the book and in the case that Carmen Ortiz, who was the United States attorney at the time, was able to put together, put this guy in jail for the rest of his life and quite possibly the death penalty, which is on the table for Tsarnaev. So that's the way we want to go in this case. But we all also need to recognize that the process has to be respected.

[08:48:09]

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Gentlemen, stick with us, please. We have reporters in Utah at the White House. Evan Perez, breaking news from our bureau as well in Washington. And we're keeping an eye right here in Orem, Utah, where we are waiting, standing by for an update from FBI, from Utah, from Utah Public Safety and the governor all going to be there. That's clearly what we can anticipate could be a very big announcement after this 40 hour plus manhunt for the assassin -- for the killer of Charlie Kirk. We're going to take a break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, welcome back. John Berman with Kate Bolduan here. Major breaking news, just moments ago, President Trump said that a person is in custody in connection to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Four sources tell CNN that authorities do have someone and they are questioning that person right now.

BOLDUAN: And the wording here, of course, matters, and it has all along. At any moment now, the FBI is going to be holding a news conference to update us on these major developments. Let's play for you, there's a live look in the room in Utah, let's play for you now what we heard from the President what he said just earlier on "Fox News."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Somebody that's close recognizes even a little tilt of the head, which nobody else would do. And somebody that was very close to him said, hmm, that's him. And essentially went to the father, went to a U.S. marshal who was fantastic, by the way. And the person was involved with law enforcement, but was a person of faith, a minister. And they brought him to a U.S. marshal who was fantastic. And the father convinced the son, this is it. And again, I'm always subject to be corrected, but I'm just giving you based on what I'm hearing. They'll give you a much more active. I just heard about it five minutes before I walked in. As I'm walking in, they said, looking real good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Worth saying, as John noted earlier, how extraordinary it is to have the President laying this out before the official announcement coming from law enforcement. As you heard him say, this is just what I'm hearing. But still, we have a lot to come. We have team coverage on this major breaking news. Let's begin with CNN's Evan Perez. Evan, you have been working your sources all throughout the night. Even before we heard this from the President, you guys were getting information coming in. Lay out what you've learned and how this capture came about.

PEREZ: Well, it appears somewhere late last night, some of this started going down. The father, as the President just laid out there just a few minutes ago on "Fox News," the father notified authorities, the U.S. Marshals in this case, and said that he had believed that he -- his son was the person who matched the description in those images that were released by authorities yesterday, and that he had spoken to his son and believed that his son was indeed the shooter.

[08:55:20]

Now, I don't know whether the son made statements that confirmed this or confessed, but that's the rendering that was told to authorities. And so the U.S. Marshals notified some of the other investigative agencies, the FBI, the Utah Department of Public Safety, and they went to pick him up. And this is in Southern Utah. This is some distance away from there, but again, driving distance from where the shooting occurred.

And over the period of hours, in the overnight hours, the investigators have questioned him. Now, we don't know whether he said anything, whether he has made any additional statements, but certainly the father's account, from what he talked to his son, anything he may have gotten from his son will be key part of this as well, if the son is not cooperating. Again, there's a lot we do not know at this hour, but certainly the release of those images appears to have finally been the key thing.

The video, certainly releasing the video late last night, may have actually gotten this to where they were able to get the right tip, to bring this person in. So the question I think we'll all be asking later on is, you know, should that have been done earlier? Certainly because you're now a couple of days into this manhunt. But the U.S. Marshals became part of this manhunt yesterday afternoon. And so now all of these agencies have been working to try to confirm and try to verify some of this evidence.

Kate and John, you know, obviously, they correct -- they collected DNA evidence where they could. They have the footprint, they have the converse footprint there on the ground. They have the forearm image there that they took from the rooftop where he was prone when he allegedly fired the shot. So all of those things are being done. The DNA evidence is of course going to be key. We expect that that's probably maybe a few hours away from the work being done there. So all of that stuff was happening overnight. And certainly this is the biggest, biggest break they've had. Now the warning, of course, that the President even himself is cautioning everybody because they've had a few false starts in this investigation. You remember, of course, the FBI director went out, tweeted that they had received, that I believe they had arrested the shooter and that turned out to not be true.

So we'll see at this new press conference that is coming up in the next few minutes, whether this is indeed the shooter that they have. But certainly they feel this is the best, they feel that they have the right person based on those images, based on the father and the statements that have been made by the father about what he heard from his son. I think that's why they have a feeling they have the right person.

BERMAN: Do we have Nick Watt for us in Utah? We're getting live pictures back from the room right now. You can see them setting up the news conference. Well, we have Nick before he has to go sit down. Let me just get a sense, Nick, of the atmosphere on the scene there as we've been getting this information from the President of the United States that they believe they have a suspect in custody.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously anticipation. We are waiting to get more information. We are waiting for the opportunity to ask questions to try and fill out some more of the details to add to that fantastic reporting that Evan was just giving you on air now. I would guess that by the level of preparation, this is not going to start. Just hearing now, it's going to be at least 30 minutes, John, before this press conference starts here on the campus in Orem, Utah, where we will be getting more information.

We expect that Kash Patel, the director of the FBI, will be here. I imagine that the governor of Utah might be here. Of course, the Utah Public Safety will be here. And they have in the past given us information and they have also taken a limited number of questions. So we are hoping to get that chance to fill out, to ask questions, to really get more of a picture, more of an idea of how this transpired. John?

BERMAN: Yes, the news -- I don't think it's surprising, frankly. Nick Watt, thank you very much. I don't think it's surprising that officials have pushed this back a few minutes. If they have a suspect in custody, if they are questioning that person, they've got to get everything lined up because this needs to be meticulous, the way they release this information.

[08:59:45]

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Let's bring back in Andy McCabe right now. Andy, one piece of reporting from Evan Perez and the team that I wanted to get your take on is this. It's two sources said that the man confessed to his father that he was the shooter. His father told authorities and said he had secured his son until they could arrive to pick him up.