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FBI Director Says DNA Evidence Matches Suspect in Charlie Kirk Killing; New Details Emerge About Charlie Kirk's Suspected Killer; Trump Calls on NATO Nations to Stop Buying Russian Oil; Health Officials Weigh Narrowing COVID-19 Vaccine Guidance. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired September 15, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

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SETH ROGEN, ACTOR AND COMEDIAN: Again, that is sort of in many ways a love letter to Hollywood, and I think we try to strike that balance. So it seems though people could feel that in watching it.

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ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hollywood really loves a show or movie about themselves, but it seems that they are even okay with poking fun at themselves, John. Now, I also asked Seth Rogen, who are you going to thank when you get up there? And I reminded him, you better not forget to thank Tim Cook. His first award, he did it, and I kind of gasped in the audience, but then at the end. He remembered to thank Tim Cook.

Now, aside from the studio, which, by the way, broke records the most Emmy wins for any comedy in a single Emmy year, the big winner on the drama side was The Pit, and for the limited side, it was Adolescence from Netflix -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, fun, fun night with a lot of great shows there. Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you very much for that.

Brand-new hour of another great show. CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we are learning new details about the suspect and the killing of Charlie Kirk. Authorities combing through new evidence as they try to determine a motive, and also with the fact that he has stopped cooperating with investigators.

President Trump cracking down on NATO, trying to, giving them an ultimatum, what he is demanding of U.S. allies in order to make any new U.S. move against Russia.

And RFK Jr. re-examining recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccine. Who is eligible and who may need a prescription as we head into the fall?

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sara is out. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

So new evidence and new questions at this hour about this huge investigation into the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The FBI director, Kash Patel, is speaking out again this morning as investigators are still working to determine the motive behind that deadly shooting. The 22-year-old suspect is currently being held in the -- in the Utah County Jail under a special watch pending a mental health evaluation. Authorities say that he is not cooperating with the investigation anymore, but they are examining a ton of evidence, including a note he supposedly left behind.

Now back to the FBI director. Patel says that the FBI now has DNA evidence linking that man, the man behind me to the crime. I'm going to play for you what Kash Patel said just moments ago.

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KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: The DNA hits from the towel that was wrapped around the firearm and the DNA on the screwdriver are positively processed for the suspect in custody.

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BOLDUAN: There is also this, more surveillance video coming out of a man matching the suspect's description walking near the university hours before the shooting. Utah's governor says the suspect has a, quote, leftist ideology, but he's not giving more detail on that, saying the governor that much more will become known from documents around his first court appearance, which is set for tomorrow.

The governor also says that authorities are examining whether the suspect's romantic relationship with his roommate, who is transitioning from male to female, is part of that push to find the motive behind this tragedy.

CNN's Danny Freeman starting us off this hour live in Utah. A lot going on. And we now hear new information from the FBI director. What's the latest you're picking up, Danny?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, a lot of new information that we're learning over the past 24 hours, really, and that includes the new information that you just mentioned from Kash Patel from this very morning.

But I want to focus on some of the information that investigators have been looking into, which really sheds a little bit more light on what the suspect here, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, what his life was like prior to the shooting last week north of where we are in the area where Robinson lived in southwest Utah. The two main, let's say, revelations that we heard from the governor himself really focused on, as you noted, a potential note left behind by the suspect and also the suspect's roommate.

I'm going to start with the roommate for now. Basically, per Governor Cox, the governor of Utah, Robinson was roommates, as you noted, with a romantic partner, in his words, who was a male transitioning to a female. Now, the roommate has been incredibly cooperative with authorities, and according to Governor Cox, was genuinely shocked and surprised to learn that Robinson was the main suspect in this particular killing.

I'll note, Kate, that when CNN pressed the governor on if this roommate may have been directly connected to any sort of motive that might have led Robinson to pull the trigger last week. When it comes to Kirk, the governor said, well, it's easy to draw conclusions, but he declined to speculate further on any specific motive.

And this all comes as we understand that Robinson was living, frankly, a fairly normal life here in southwest Utah. He was part of a conservative family down here, but the governor said that he had been drifting left in recent years.

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And then, Kate, I also want to talk about this potential note. Now, the social and gaming platform Discord said late last week that a roommate and a friend of Robinson had mentioned, quote, contents of a note the suspect had left elsewhere. Well, the governor yesterday appeared to confirm the existence of that note to CNN but did not provide any more specifics. I want you to take a listen to what the governor said specifically about that note, and also about this roommate revelation. Take a listen.

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GOV. SPENCER COX (R-UT): Those are things that are still being processed for accuracy and verification and will be included in charging documents.

This partner has been incredibly cooperative, had no idea that this was happening, and is working with investigators right now.

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FREEMAN: Now, Kate, of course, the main date that we are all looking toward is tomorrow. That's when we're expecting to hear these formal charges announced. We're expecting to hear from prosecutors as well and hoping to see Robinson make his first court appearance here in Utah -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Danny, thank you so much for your reporting. Really appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now, criminologist and behavioral analyst Casey Jordan, thanks so much for being with us. With all the new details coming in, what picture are you starting to piece together of the suspect?

CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST AND BEHAVIORAL ANALYST: Well, it's going to be very interesting to find out what this note is that they're now referring to, that he left a note. You know, who was it written to? What did it say? You know, they keep saying that there's no motive confirmed yet, and yet they're trying to build one based on kind of a collection of all the evidence.

So you know, we do have DNA evidence now. I don't think anyone doubts that they're going to have an overwhelming amount of physical direct evidence linking him to this crime as the as the actual factual shooter, the real question is now what's going to happen next.

We have a court appearance tomorrow. He's not cooperating. I don't think anyone who's looking at the death penalty would cooperate. But then he's also up for a psychiatric evaluation, and that's going to be very interesting, because at this juncture, with the evidence so overwhelming, chances are an insanity defense is going to be his only hope.

BERMAN: The governor mentioned the possible influence of the dark Internet. In your experience, talk to me about that type of influence.

JORDAN: Well, you've got to keep in mind for this particular suspect. He graduated high school from in the middle of COVID in 2021. He went to college and dropped out in the very first semester. He was isolated. I think that's a massive understatement. Probably depressed. Everyone describes his describes him as incredibly intelligent, but very quiet. In other words, he doesn't have massive social skills.

That makes him incredibly vulnerable for getting sucked into this dark web. Now, I'm not going to say it caused it, but it definitely can contribute to a thought process of extremism. If they go rabbit holing down the wrong path and run into people who validate them, who affirm them, who make them feel like they are smart and special, then anyone in any direction can become indoctrinated.

I think that plus a combination of the complexities of the relationship he was in with this romantic partner roommate probably made him feel like he had a personal beef against Charlie Kirk.

BERMAN: Talk to me about the trend for follow-on events, follow-on attempts at crimes here, mimicking, perhaps, things that you've seen in the past. Luigi Mangione allegedly writing on the ammunition that he used in the attempted -- or the assassination, alleged assassination of the United Healthcare CEO, you know, written things on the ammunition here. Other examples of that, what impact there are you seeing?

JORDAN: I like that you call it follow-on instead of copycat, because when people hear copycat, they assume that somebody just sees something or read something, and then they just go out and out of the clear blue sky, start to copy it or copy it. But it isn't that much of a snap decision.

It is following and it is emulating, emulating the behavior and actually the tells of previous years. We know that almost all mass murders study other mass murders online on the internet. And they then become inspired by them. It's not so much copying as they have the same dark thoughts. And when they read about these other mass murders or political shooters, your Luigi Mangione's almost all of your school shooters, your shooter of the Minnesota lawmakers, your shooter of the Minnesota Catholic School, they feel normalized. They're like, I have those thoughts too. And this emboldens them to take violent action.

So there's really no workaround for them emulating. You know, we can't keep this stuff out of the media. It is real life.

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The trick is to make sure that we get their minds not so vulnerable in the first place to where they are inspired to emulate the violence they're reading about and seeing in the news.

BERMAN: Casey Jordan, as always, thank you for helping us understand what we're seeing out there.

All right, internet wipeout for thousands as Starlink goes offline for a time among those affected frontline Ukrainian troops.

The next city targeted for President Trump's crime crackdown, will they see National Guard come in? Do they want them?

And the Bad Bunny boom, the huge impact one performer has as he prepares to hit the road.

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BOLDUAN: Breaking overnight, we're learning about a Starlink outage that impacted Ukraine's frontline. Elon Musk's satellite Internet was out for hours, though it's begun to be restored. It also comes, though, as President Trump is ramping up pressure right now on NATO nations to take the lead in sanctioning Russia. The president saying that he is ready to impose major sanctions on the Kremlin, but only if NATO countries agree to stop buying Russian oil. Listen to this.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Europe is -- they're my friends. But they're buying oil from Russia. So we can't be expected to be the only ones that are, you know, full bore. But Europe is buying oil from Russia. I don't want them to buy oil. And the sanctions that are putting -- that they're putting on are not tough enough. And I'm willing to do sanctions, but they're going to have to toughen up their sanctions commensurate with what I'm doing.

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BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is CNN's Nick Paton Walsh for more on this. What are you learning and hearing about this, Nick?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the Starlink outage, the second we've seen so far this year, the first one in July. That first one caused some element of panic across the front line because Ukraine's drone units, essentially their main element of defense, are so reliant on Starlink to pass information to each other, often to communicate between drone units and drone period. So panic then. But when I went to the front line in July and asked what the damage

had been, many played it down, saying they had other methods, saying the disruption hadn't been that significant.

Now we have another outage of some substance, it seems, right about midnight, thousands reporting some damage to their access. That significantly dropped in the hours ahead, but still real concern potentially about how Starlink may not be as reliable as the Ukrainian and at times the Russian military who use it too for their drone warfare as well, need it to be. Ukraine has been urgently looking for some kind of substitute.

But that reminder of Ukraine's frailty on the front line comes as we hear this extraordinary pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump towards NATO an ally, the European members of NATO, to instead bolster their sanctions against Russia, while ultimately right now it's Europe waiting for President Trump to make good on his repeated suggestion that he will toughen up sanctions, not just on Russia, but also potentially on China and India, the purchasers of Russian hydrocarbons.

Now, Trump has put in a 50 percent tariff against India, hasn't really so far changed Delhi's calculus. In fact, we're hearing reports they're buying indeed more. He's instead now saying that if he wants to implement or Europe wants the United States to implement tough sanctions against China, India, and indeed Russia, then Europe should stop buying Russian hydrocarbons.

Doesn't particularly sound like a complex ask, particularly ethically, if you're asking the U.S. to stop buying Russian hydrocarbons, Europe, why don't you do it yourself? Europe significantly weaned itself off Russian gas since the start of the war, but geography means that it's pretty dependent, and it's already hit many European pocketbooks over the course of the war. But Trump wants it all to stop, and ultimately, it's probably the U.S. that Europe will buy it from instead.

But now we are seeing Europe preparing its 19th sanctions package potentially in the days ahead. That might involve further bans on tourist visas for Russia's traveling to Europe. But really, Europe is going to have to do a lot, it seems, to push Trump towards the sanctions he's long previewed. And once again, the case, potentially, of when Trump has to make a tough decision against the Kremlin, he reaches for further pressure against his allies first -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and is there going to be another deadline set and another deadline that Vladimir Putin blows on through, as we've now seen over and over again from the president? It's great to see you, Nick. Thank you, I really appreciate it.

Coming up for us, the former CDC director is getting ready to have her say, about to testify on Capitol Hill this week about how and why she was pushed out of the job. We'll have more on that.

This also comes just as the agency is weighing major changes to vaccine recommendations.

And Jeffrey Epstein's inbox turning out to be a treasure trove of information about his crimes. What's revealed in some 18,000 e-mails?

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BERMAN: All right, this morning, new questions about the future of COVID vaccines here in the U.S. Officials working under Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. are looking to tie the vaccine to safety risks for pregnant women and children. They're also considering if older people should still be encouraged to be vaccinated. The FDA's Dr. Marty Makary hinted at that right here.

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DR. MARTY MAKARY, FDA COMMISSIONER: We are getting the data that was never made available before, including adverse event data. That is young people who have died from the COVID vaccine. And we're going to make that available to the medical community in full transparency, because this is the question that Americans are asking.

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BERMAN: All right, CNN's Meg Tirrell is here now. So what's going on with this?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right? So we have to set the stage by saying later this week is a very influential meeting happening.

BERMAN: Huge week.

TIRRELL: That's right. So we both have the former CDC director just ousted testifying on The Hill. But then after that Thursday and Friday, the outside group of advisors to the CDC on vaccines, that new group that's been put in place by Robert F. Kennedy Junior is meeting and they plan to discuss COVID-19 vaccines, recommendations and also votes.

And so, at that meeting, what we have learned, and that's been reported by the Washington Post in New York Times as well, is that there are expected to be presentations prepared by FDA officials looking at potential safety risks of the COVID-19 vaccine in pregnant women and in children. And now it's thought that they might be using a database, among others, known as the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS.

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And the thing about this is the CDC itself -- its own scientists -- have been scrutinizing that database since the beginning of the pandemic, and they've said that the COVID vaccines are among the most extensively studied in history, and they haven't seen these kinds of risks that we are hearing may be included in these presentations. And so there is a lot of concern about that.

And then separately, we also learned that they are weighing whether to discuss moving the age recommendation for the COVID-19 vaccine from 65 and older to 75 and older. And for folks under that, they could probably still access the vaccine, but it might get more complicated. It might only be recommended for people with certain underlying conditions that we aren't sure if they're actually going to do, but it is something we've heard is being discussed.

BERMAN: I got to say, I mean, if you were interested in public health and the future of vaccines, this is a pivotal week. So what else are we expecting from these meetings?

TIRRELL: Yes, so we know that on the agenda there also scheduled to discuss the measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox vaccine combination and also potentially the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. We should also note we did reach out to HHS about these things that we've been hearing and what they told us is that the FDA and CDC staff routinely analyze VAERS -- that database we mentioned in other safety monitoring data -- and they say those reviews are being shared publicly through the established ACIP process. And they're saying they're hewing to gold standard science. All of that will be discussed in public this week, Thursday and Friday There are going to be big days to watch, and we'll be there.

BERMAN: You're going to be very busy this week. We're lucky to have you help us understand it. Meg Terrell, thank you very much.

So that economic tremor you are feeling, it comes from Bad Bunny. Turns out Bad Bunny is big business, and that's a lot of Bs.

All right, NASA says it potentially found new signs of life on Mars. That seems like a big deal. Why a rock could rewrite what we know about life in the universe?

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