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New Details Emerge About Charlie Kirk's Suspected Killer, FBI Says DNA Evidence Matches Suspect in Charlie Kirk Killing; Investigators Scouring Life of Charlie Kirk Murder Suspect; U.S. Stocks Hit Record Highs Despite Economic Gloom, Consumer Sentiment Hovers Near Record Lows; Rubio Visits Doha After Israeli Strikes on Hamas in Qatar. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired September 15, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:01:41]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We have new details on the investigation into Charlie Kirk's assassination. Just moments ago, Utah's Public Safety Commissioner joined us and shared this update.

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BEAU MASON, COMMISSIONER, UTAH DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: We are still conducting follow-up interviews and a lot of investigative leads to determine any relationship that may have played into this, whether that be political or personal. More of this will come out as charges are filed and we can start to release more of the evidentiary process.

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KEILAR: Kirk suspected killer is expected to face formal charges exactly 24 hours from now when he appears in court for the first time. But earlier today, FBI Director Kash Patel, in an unusual move, revealed a lot more about their findings, including alleged DNA evidence and a new note that they found. CNN's Ed Lavandera is live for us in Orum, Utah. Ed, what are you learning?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we'll get into some of those details that the FBI director is releasing. He says that there have been messages sent by the suspect that say that he had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and that he was going to take it. As you mentioned, these are highly unusual details being released, very specific details released by the FBI director who has come under fire over recent days for his handling of this case.

But, the FBI director in an interview this morning did not really give any full context of that message and in what form the message took. He did say that the message had been destroyed, but recovered by investigative authority. And as you mentioned, this is -- comes at a time when the FBI director has been under some criticism he is defending himself.

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KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: I even walked into the wooded area in the ravine. So I knew from my investigative experience, what I could bring to the table and what decisions I needed to make. And I can report today that 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So those are some other details that the FBI director putting out there today. And that -- he's referring there to the firearm that was used in the shooting and killing of Charlie Kirk, which was found in a wooded area just on the edge of campus through next to the neighborhood by which the suspect was able to escape from the scene. And the FBI director saying that the towel that that gun was wrapped and a screwdriver contained the DNA of the suspect.

We've also learned from the governor who confirmed that the suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson was in a romantic relationship with his roommate and that that roommate was in the process of transitioning from male to female. But the governor does stress that all of these relationships, it's still far too early how any of this played into the motive for the shooting. And Brianna, as you mentioned, these formal charges expected to come tomorrow afternoon. Tyler Robinson will not appear directly in court. He will pay -- he will appear virtually.

KEILAR: All right, we'll be looking at that. Ed Lavandera, thank you. FBI Director Kash Patel's unusual approach here in this Charlie Kirk case fueling questions about his leadership, including his decision to go on Fox this morning to reveal those new investigative details.

[14:05:00]

Something FBI officials and DOJ prosecutors typically avoid, certainly at this stage, because they're afraid that it could damage their case. We have CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez, who is with us now. Tell us about how this is being seen.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's being seen as highly unusual. There's a lot of people inside Justice Department who are not happy that Kash Patel has been seemingly more focused on his social media. If you remember, last week, he tweeted that there was a suspect in custody when it was not true, and then had to walk that back. And the fear is that this does affect the prosecution of this case.

If you are his attorney, you will raise these questions and a judge could very well raise the question of whether this damages the fairness of any trial that could go for this suspect. And of course, that's the goal here. The goal is to bring this man to justice. And the fact remains, as you heard from the Department of Public Safety Official that you had on earlier, they have not made any conclusions as to the motivations behind this. But Kash Patel and the president of the United States have, of course, have already ascribed this to left- wing ideology. Listen to this.

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PATEL: His family has collectively told investigators that he subscribed to left-wing ideology and even more so in these last couple of years. And he had a text message exchange. He, the suspect, with another individual, in which he claimed that he had an opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and he was going to do it because of his hatred for what Charlie stood for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: And Brianna, look, I mean there's two things going on here. One of them is Patel is under fire, including from people on the right, people conservatives who believe that he did not manage this very, very well, this entire process. He was one of the people who pushed for the video to be put out, for those images to be put out, which is what ended up getting the father to actually tell his son and actually confront his son about the fact that he recognized him. And so, there were aspects of this investigation that were -- that were helped by that move.

But there is also the aspect that this is an FBI director who is, again, very focused on what is said about him on social media, especially conservative social media. And a lot of that appears to be driving some of his appearances on Fox today and his comments about what this investigation is about.

KEILAR: Yeah, really interesting. Evan, thank you so much for that report. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Let's get some analysis now from Donell Harvin. He's the former Chief of Homeland Security for Washington, D.C. Also a member of the faculty at Georgetown University Emergency and Disaster Management.

Donell, thanks so much for being with us. When you hear FBI Director Patel talk about this note from the suspect, it having been destroyed and then recovered, it pertains to having the opportunity to take Kirk out. What do you make of that?

DONELL HARVIN, FORMER CHIEF OF HOMELAND SECURITY, WASHINGTON, D.C.: Yeah, so rarely do we see these type of cases where there's no leakage. And leakage is what we call when individuals kind of express either online or in person with others, their intent. Sometimes that leakage is reported to law enforcement and you have an interdicted would-be assassin, and sometimes it's not. And so this is what they're doing. The FBI has very sophisticated methods by which they can actually recreate deleted emails or deleted texts. And so this is the process that they're going through now in the investigation.

SANCHEZ: FBI officials and Justice Department prosecutors generally don't give investigative details in this kind of case, fearing that it could potentially damage the prosecutorial work that's being done. Why do you think we're hearing these details now before the suspect's first court appearance, before state charges have even been filed? HARVIN: Yeah, I'm not an attorney, but I, having worked with prosecutors for a long time doing forensics and leading forensics, I will tell you, you're not supposed to talk about the details of the case, particularly when it comes to forensics. You can take jury pools, potential jurors, and this can be brought up in trial selection -- jury selection during the trial. I don't know why this is -- why this is being put out now.

Kash may feel the heat as your lead-in talked about. It is very, very unusual. If you can look back, Boris, at some of the other incidents that we've had over the last year, you didn't see the FBI come out ahead of the investigation, and I think you've seen this now, and it could bear fruit negatively for them, later down the road in the jury. But he may not be really concerned with jury selection right now. He's just trying to really put out a word out there.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. I wonder when it comes to building the case, how officials go about specifically outlining a motive.

[14:10:00]

Because right now, there's a lot of speculation and certainly some indicators, but nothing that directly ties a motive together. And I wonder what you make of the reporting that the suspect was carrying on a romantic relationship with a roommate, who happens to be a transgender, and how that is now being spun to suggest that that has something to do with this it. At this point, it's unclear that it does, but how do investigators determine that?

HARVIN: Oh, the first thing I want to be on record saying is that, I think that's not only helpful for the investigation to put that out, but it's not really helpful for the tone and tenor of the radicalization of our country right now. We've seen time and time again over the last year, how people of the trans community have been blamed for a whole host of things. And so, I think that putting that out there and if you look online like I do, you see a lot of people picking that up on the far right. They're looking to demonize and blame trans people. It's not helpful.

What the FBI is doing right now, what officials are doing right now is they're trying to cast a large net to make sure that this individual was not acting alone. And so, in that space, they're interviewing individuals that he knew, particularly individuals on the dark or deep web that he may be communicating with to see if he communicated these threats in advance, if they helped him, or if they were complacent in that space.

SANCHEZ: And tell us about that aspect of it, the dark web or the deep web as you call it, because some of the writings of this suspect pertain to memes and a lot has been made, especially by Utah's Governor Spencer Cox, of the way that the social media, the internet helps to radicalize people and expedites that radicalization. Where are these investigators looking and what are they looking for?

HARVIN: I mean, this is what we teach in my class every week. We talk about the online environment and how individuals become radicalized. And by the way, it's not illegal to become radicalized. What is illegal is to mobilize to violence. And we don't understand the threshold, what really triggers people to go from radicalized to doing an act of violence. These people in these online groups, these hate groups, they have a whole different language. Boris. They use memes as you mentioned. They'll use sentences that don't really look like anything for the untrained eye, but for investigators and law enforcement officials, they can pick up certain words.

And so, this is how they kind of communicate. They're really operating with free autonomy online because there's no real true guardrails in some of these platforms like Reddit or Discord. And so, they're able to radicalize themselves, radicalize each other. Christopher Wray warned us about this in the last administration about the salad bar ideology and the salad bar is actually happening online.

SANCHEZ: Donell Harvin, thanks so much for joining us.

HARVIN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, following Charlie Kirk's murder, there are new calls to upgrade security measures for lawmakers. Plus, Secretary of State Marco Rubio meeting with Israeli leaders, trying to find a path to peace just as new airstrikes are launched into Gaza. And up next, the stock market hitting record highs as consumer sentiment slips near historic lows. We're going to dig into the disconnect when we come back.

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[14:18:04]

KEILAR: Consumer sentiment in the U.S. is sliding to near historic lows as Americans grow increasingly frustrated with the economy, but don't tell that to stock traders. The S&P 500 has hit four record highs this month. So, why is Wall Street so upbeat when many Americans feel like the economy is lousy? Let's get some answers and break down the numbers with CNN Senior Reporter Matt Egan and CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten. All right, Matt, to you first. What's going on here?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Brianna. Look, the mood on Wall Street has been unbelievably positive and optimistic. The stock market has taken off basically like a rocket ship. Ever since the president paused those Liberation Day tariffs, the S&P 500 has added almost $14 trillion in value just since those April 8th lows. It's been a stunning increase in value in a short amount of time. And the NASDAQ is on track for its six consecutive record high today.

Now, that's because investors are really fired up about the Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. They tend to boost stock prices. They make stocks look more attractive than bonds. They can boost the economy And so, that's what investors are focused on. But the mood on Main Street is anything but euphoric. We learned on Friday that consumer sentiment fell again this month. I like to look at independents because we know there is some partisan divide in those numbers

And independents, at this point of President Trump's first term, they were feeling really good. But consumer sentiment is almost half of where it was at that point. And what's been incredible is that investors have been totally unfazed by signs of trouble in the real economy. Sure, hiring has slowed to almost a halt and unemployment has started to tick up, and inflation is at a seven-month high. But investors, they're focused more on better than expected corporate profitability.

[14:20:00]

They are loving the A.I. boom that has boosted Nvidia and Oracle and so many other companies. And yes, they're focused on the Federal Reserve. Investors are increasingly confident the Fed is going to cut not just this week, but in a series of cuts in the coming months. Of course, the Fed is not cutting interest rates because inflation has been defeated, right? It hasn't. The Fed is cutting interest rates because they're trying to shore up the job market.

And veteran market strategist, Art Hogan, he told me that celebrating the Fed coming to the rescue is kind of like celebrating an ambulance arriving to your house early, until you think about why you needed an ambulance in the first place. So Brianna, that's where we are right now. A lot of focus on when the Fed is going to cut and by how much, a lot less focus on why.

KEILAR: All right. Harry, tell us more about what Americans are feeling about the economy and what they believe is important because it sure isn't what investors think is important.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: No, and that talk of ambulance just reminded me a few minutes ago, I got a call, apparently my LDL is up through the roof, so I might need that ambulance. Anyway, what are we talking about here? U.S. economy is getting worse. This trend line is no bueno. In November of 2024, when Donald Trump was reelected, it was 42 percent. Look at where we are now, up to 56 percent. The clear majority of Americans believe that the economy is getting worse, less than a third think that the economy is getting better.

This is a very, very troubling trend line and of course, as Matt was talking about, what is -- what are the top concerns for Americans at this particular point? The top issue for you right now Hello? What's number one on your list? It's inflation. It's 34 percent. The economy is 16 percent. You add the two of those together, that is a majority 50 percent of the American public who say either inflation or the economy is the top issue for them right now. Nowhere on here, do I see the stock market because, obviously, the stock market's doing pretty gosh darn well at this point.

KEILAR: Well, how many people own stocks?

ENTEN: Yeah. OK. I think this is sort of the big giveaway here, right? This is what we're talking about. If the stock market was the economy, then everyone would be smiles and everyone would be fantastic. But here's I think the thing that's so important to note. American families who own stock, any stock including indirectly, that's 58 percent. Of course, you're talking ETFs, mutual funds, retirement accounts, et cetera. But directly, the folks who really probably are keeping their eye on the stock market every single day, that's only 21 percent of American families.

So, the stock market doesn't equal the economy. Yes, the two of them are oftentimes tied up together. There's certainly some correlation going on here. But when we're talking just a fifth of Americans who own stock directly, no wonder there is this massive, huge, wide-open gap between what the stock market is doing and those who are involved in the stock market daily and what the American families are doing. Because at this point, they're just swimming in totally different directions.

KEILAR: Yeah. Thank you so much, Harry and Matt, for taking us through that. It's illuminating and we appreciate it.

Still to come, Secretary of State Marco Rubio heading to Doha to deal with the political fallout over Israel's airstrikes there a week ago. Plus, the medical breakthrough that is allowing a man to see again by implanting part of a tooth That's right, a tooth in his eye. We have that a much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

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[14:28:15]

SANCHEZ: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is wrapping up a visit to Israel after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. There are new tensions between the two allies after Israel's recent strikes on Hamas leaders in Qatar last week. Well, Netanyahu is standing firm on the strikes. Rubio is trying to contain the fallout with other regional allies, especially as he heads to Doha tomorrow to talk about the future of the U.S. security partnership with Qatar CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now live from Jerusalem.

So Jeremy, where do things stand?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio is in Israel today and will travel to Doha tomorrow, very much doing diplomatic cleanup following that Israeli strike in the Qatari capital aimed at Senior Hamas leaders. The United States, of course, stuck between these two major allies. Qatar were the U.S. has the biggest military presence in the Middle East. Israel, of course, a long-time stalwart ally of the United States.

And so, the Secretary of State avoiding condemning this strike which President Trump made clear he was not happy about. But really it seems like the Secretary of State is trying to look forward to tell the Israelis that the U.S. views it's important for Qatar to continue to have a role in mediating a potential ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of the hostages, and then he will travel to Qatar to make sure that Qatar remains involved in that effort going forward.

What's unclear is whether Rubio is able to secure any kinds of commitments from the Israelis, particularly as the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was very much not apologizing and even doubling down on his decision to carry out this strike against Hamas leaders on Qatari soil. And so, it remains to be seen what Rubio will be able to deliver to these Qatari officials tomorrow. But it comes as Arab and Islamic leaders met in Doha today to discuss some kind of a joint response --