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CNN's Breaking News Coverage on the Manhunt for the Shooter Responsible for Charlie Kirk's Death. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired September 11, 2025 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.
BRIAN ABEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Hello and welcome, I'm Brian Abel in Washington, D.C.
The FBI is asking for the public's help amid an ongoing manhunt for the person who shot and killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
Vigils honoring Kirk have been held in Utah, here in Washington, and around the country. The 31-year-old was a hugely successful Republican youth organizer, credited with helping President Trump in his re- election bid last year.
Kirk was shot Wednesday at Utah Valley University in the middle of a packed outdoor event sponsored by the group he created, Turning Point USA. He was responding to a question about mass shooters when a single gunshot rang out.
We're going to play for you the moments leading up to the shooting, but a warning, this video is disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?
CHARLIE KIRK, CO-FOUNDER, TURNING POINT USA: Too many.
UNKNOWN: The number is five. Okay, now five is a lot, right? I'm going to give you some credit.
Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?
KIRK: Counting or not counting gang violence.
UNKNOWN: Great--
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Now you heard the gunfire there, we paused the video before that moment, but after that, Kirk's body went limp. He appeared to recoil backwards, seemingly shot in the neck.
President Trump condemning the attack in a video recorded in the Oval Office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Charlie was a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate and the country that he loved so much, the United States of America. He fought for liberty, democracy, justice, and the American people, he's a martyr for truth and freedom. Today, because of this heinous act, Charlie's voice has become bigger and grander than ever before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Officials believe only one person was involved in the shooting, and the FBI is asking anybody with photos or videos of the incident to come forward. Authorities are scouring surveillance camera footage with one official saying that's all investigators have to work with at the moment.
CNN's Kyung Lah has more on how the shooting unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN U.S. SR. INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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.
Kirk was a rock star among young conservatives largely because of events like this, meeting college students up close on campuses across the country. Police say roughly 3000 people showed up for this one, all watching and listening as it happened.
Kirk was answering a question about mass shootings.
UNKNOWN: Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?
KIRK: Too many.
UNKNOWN: The number is five. Okay, now five is a lot, right? I'm going to give you some credit.
Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years? KIRK: Counting or not counting gang violence.
UNKNOWN: Great--
LAH (voice-over): Kirk is rushed into an SUV and taken to the hospital. Panicked crowds ran as police jumped in.
UNKNOWN: And as we advise, UVU in Orem has had an active shooter at the Charlie Kirk event. We're getting several calls. We're trying to get more information.
LAH (voice-over): 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.
[03:05:08]
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.
UNKNOWN: He's wearing jeans, black shirt, black mask, long rental. He's on top of the building on the far north side, just east of the library, wearing jeans, black shirt, black vest.
LAH (voice-over): 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 VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Our thanks to Kyung Lah there.
Joining me now to help us try and make some sense of this, really, is Natasha Lindstaedt, professor of government at the University of Essex. Natasha, I first want to hear your initial reaction to this murder, the circumstances, the moment.
NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROF. OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Well, I mean, it's just sort of the cliche that you're shocked, but not surprised. We have growing levels of political polarization. We have had experience with political violence in the past, and firearms are readily available.
And renowned researcher on political violence, Robert Page, said that at the moment, the U.S. is like a tinderbox. We are on the precipice of something that could be very explosive. And, of course, there are huge concerns for Charlie Kirk and his family, but also what is going to happen next.
We had these similar concerns after the assassination attempts of President Donald Trump as well. But I think that there is more anger on the right at the moment that they need to avenge this death. We heard from Fox News personalities talking about this live on air, and this is a moment when we really need to urge calm.
ABEL: This is certainly far from the first killing or attempted killing of a public political figure in the U.S., both sides of the aisle targeted. Given your academic background, how do you feel we've arrived here, and what's the path out?
LINDSTAEDT: Well, it has to do with the fact that we don't have any kind of tolerance for the other side anymore. And we've seen this by just looking at polling data, survey data, that shows that we're more extreme than before. But also we are more willing to accept either authoritarianism to get what we want or to accept political violence.
That there's growing levels of Americans on both sides that are willing to accept the use of force to oust a President that they don't like or the use of violence against their political opponents. And so we've had a huge shift in our culture, our political culture, of what is acceptable. So with this loss of tolerance and civility, we're at a point where there may be more of these tit-for-tat sort of assassination or assassination attempts or acts of violence against different groups, targeting specific groups that either the far-right doesn't like or members of the left don't like.
And really the only way out of it is that we need leadership that will instead of try to fan the flames, try to show unity, to talk about the importance of civility as I already mentioned, and focus on the fact that political violence should not be tolerated.
ABEL: I want to explore more your read to that point on the reactions we have heard so far following Kirk's murder from leaders across the political spectrum. Is this moment being met?
LINDSTAEDT: I mean, so far I'm really concerned about the way people are responding. I mean, the Democrats, of course, have been trying to exercise calm.
And it's understandable that those on the right might feel incredibly angry because of how important Charlie Kirk is to the far-right movement. It's understandable that Trump might personally feel very angry and upset because he was really close to Charlie Kirk.
But I'm concerned that particularly on the Internet, but also on far- right radio and on far-right news stations and so forth, that they're going to be focused too much on getting revenge for what has taken place. Instead of trying to find the perpetrator and trying to focus on what unites us.
ABEL: Natasha Lindstaedt, I really appreciate your time. Thank you.
LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me. ABEL: Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma says all politicians, as
well as the media, share responsibility for the rise in political violence. Here's what he told CNN earlier.
[03:10:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): This hurts because it was so senseless. It was just because someone disagreed with him politically. We all hold a responsibility to this.
Republicans, Democrats, news outlets to the left and to the right. We in this country have faced some very difficult times.
And every time we've been at our worst, we've been able to hit a reset button and recover. And I hope, be it the rhetoric on the right and the left, that we can reset out of this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: We have much more to come on the death of Charlie Kirk, including reactions from the White House, how the conservative activists became close political allies with Donald Trump and his family.
Plus, two former Democratic presidents, Joe Biden and Barack Obama, share their reactions to Charlie Kirk's killing.
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[03:15:00]
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: It really blows my mind. Like, we have these amendments that are supposed to protect us. And it just blows my mind that someone would have enough hatred to, like, feel the need to do that to someone else just because they disagree with what they're saying.
So I think we can definitely work on loving others just like Christ would and being okay with people having other opinions than us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Vigils like the one you just saw there are being held in honor of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist gunned down at a college speaking event in Utah on Wednesday.
Donald Trump is also mourning the loss of Kirk, who had become an ally and personal friend of the president. He released a four-minute video expressing his grief and anger, vowing to crack down on political violence. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more on the reaction from the White House. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House is mourning the loss of Charlie Kirk, somebody whose sources told me President Trump viewed as his own son. We just saw a post, an emotional post, from Don Jr., President Trump's son, saying that "Charlie Kirk was like a brother to him."
And the thing to keep in mind here, it's not just political for so many of these White House staffers and advisors. It's also familial. It's also personal.
Charlie Kirk was a part of a very small group of loyalists, people who were loyal not only to Donald Trump but to each other, who helped get Trump elected in 2024. He spent time with these various staffers and advisors, with his family. They say that he was a devoted father, a devoted husband, and he gave up a lot of his time and energy to help President Trump not only get elected, but also to help with his transition, getting the right people that they believed were the right people into office, into the Cabinet positions with vetting and interviews.
President Trump has said on multiple occasions that he credits Kirk, at least in part, for his 2024 win. Take a listen.
TRUMP: I won the young people by 37 percent. No Republican's ever won, and I won by 37 percent.
And Charlie Kirk, we'll tell you, TikTok helped. But Charlie Kirk helped also.
He's done great, and I appreciate all the help.
Charlie is fantastic. I mean, this guy, don't believe this stuff when you hear the kids are liberal. They're not liberal.
Maybe they used to be, but they're not anymore.
And I want to express my tremendous gratitude to Charlie Kirk. He's really an amazing guy.
HOLMES: It should be noted that Kirk was one of a small group of people who had a direct line to President Trump. We are told that Trump respected Kirk, even if Kirk had a difference of opinion.
There were many who believed that Kirk had his finger on the pulse of young conservatism, of the MAGA movement, even more so than some of the people who serve on Donald Trump's Cabinet. This is a dark day, talking to these White House officials, to these advisors, to these people who were close to Donald Trump and to Charlie Kirk. For them, this is deeply personal.
Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ABEL: U.S. First Lady Melania Trump focused on the impacts on Kirk's family in the aftermath of his killing. In a social media post, she said, Charlie's children will be raised with stories instead of memories, and photographs instead of laughter, that there will be silence where their father's voice should have echoed.
Mrs. Trump also said that Kirk's life should be a reminder that what she called compassionate awareness elevates family, life, and country.
And two former Democratic presidents have offered their reactions to the death of Charlie Kirk. Joe Biden posting on X, "There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now."
And Barack Obama echoing that sentiment, saying that while the shooter's motive still isn't known, quote, "this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy." Both also offer their thoughts and prayers to Kirk's family.
And Wednesday's shooting has reignited calls from lawmakers for an end to political violence. House Speaker Mike Johnson, for example, called on every political figure to push for civil discourse to resolve disagreements, and to spread that message to their constituents. The House also observed a moment of silence in Kirk's honor.
Our Manu Raju has more reaction from Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A very emotional House of Representatives in the aftermath of the shooting and murder of Charlie Kirk. Of course, Kirk is aligned with the most conservative members of the House GOP and Senate GOP, given his very conservative politics, but Democrats and Republicans alike condemning in the strongest possible terms the political violence that we are seeing really is a trend, an increasing trend here in this country, whether it was just even this summer, two Minnesota lawmakers shot in their homes.
[03:20:05]
But also the assassination attempts of Donald Trump last year, the shooting at a Republican baseball game in the first Trump term. Gabby Giffords, a Democratic congresswoman from Arizona, shot during the Obama administration. But also the January 6th, 2021, of course, the violence that we saw here in the Capitol.
We're seeing these episodes occur time and time again. Now we're hearing more and more lawmakers saying it is absolutely time to stop.
Now, in the aftermath of this, there were some fiery moments, including from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was pushing back against some Republicans who were blaming Democratic rhetoric for putting Charlie Kirk in that position.
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO CORTEZ (D-NY): People can finger point all they want. Look at the record, look at the actions of what we are doing. I don't think a single person who has dedicated their entire career to preventing gun safety legislation from getting passed in this House has any right to blame anybody else but themselves for what is happening.
When a politician tries to blame words for an action, they need to look at their action and their record. Enough of this.
This is horrific, this is awful. And the assassination of Charlie Kirk risks an uncorking of political chaos and violence that we cannot risk in America.
RAJU: Now that came in the aftermath of a pretty heated moment on the House floor involving Congresswoman Ana Paulina Luna, who pushed back against some Democrats who had been objecting to how the Speaker of the House was moving forward with a prayer that was about to happen. Luna cursed at Democrats and blamed them for what happened for Charlie Kirk, someone she's actually very close to, and credits to recruiting her into politics. I asked her about that episode on the House floor as she walked off after the votes.
REP. ANA PAULINA LUNA (R-FL): Yes, they did cause this. That type of rhetoric, calling people fascists, you basically saying that we're Nazis taking away people's rights. Charlie Kirk was literally murdered.
And you can see that footage online. And I would encourage people, instead of sharing that, please share pictures of his story and the legacy that he left.
RAJU: But despite the back-and-forth, there's a really increasing call for more security for members of Congress. And all these episodes, including calls to increase the amount of money for members of Congress to spend on additional security measures. There are some members saying that this is something that they are not taking seriously enough, the escalating violence against officials here in the United States.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: From a young man who dropped out of college to a star of the U.S. conservative movement, still ahead, how Charlie Kirk made conservatism cool for many younger voters.
And Kirk's frequent challenge of prove me wrong gave critics an opportunity to confront him on a wide range of topics, what he said he wanted to achieve with the public debates. That's ahead on CNN.
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[03:25:00]
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ABEL: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Brian Abel. Let's check today's top stories.
A manhunt is underway after the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. It happened Wednesday while Kirk was speaking at a university in Utah, officials believe only one person was involved. Authorities are combing through surveillance camera footage and asking for help from anyone who may have more information about the shooting.
Qatar's Prime Minister says he feels betrayed after the Israeli strike on Hamas in Doha. During an exclusive interview with CNN, he called Tuesday's attack a barbaric action that killed any hope of saving the hostages. And he called for a corrective response from the region to push back against Israel.
Today marks the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States. Memorial services are planned for New York, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. U.S. President Donald Trump is set to attend a ceremony at the Pentagon in the morning before traveling up to New York to attend a Yankees baseball game, the Vice President is set to visit Ground Zero.
Earlier, CNN spoke with Amy and Jeremy King who witnessed the attack on Charlie Kirk. This is what they told us when we asked them about security at the event.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMY KING, SHOOTING WITNESS: I had just two minutes before he was shot, said, where's all the security? You know, literally, two minutes before, I looked around and I had scanned with the thing my phone and there was no security. We were able to walk right in.
I had a ticket, nobody checked my ticket. We were able to go through the door and go through some students and go all the way down to the front row.
JEREMY KING, SHOOTING WITNESS: Now, I will say, I looked over and I watched his security the whole time scanning the crowd. I know that the guys around him were doing their job.
A. KING: Yes, he had a lot of security.
J. KING: It feels like other than his immediate security, it was wide open for anyone to go to that event.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: In many ways, Kirk rewrote the rule book for how the conservative movement in the U.S. can reach young voters. He blended his public appearances and political field work with blunt talk on his podcast and TikTok post.
[03:30:08]
As Tom Foreman reports, that earned him a lot of praise from President Trump. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRK: Taking guns is the beginning of the end of the rest of your freedoms.
Having children is more important than having a good career.
Well, I think that we should put Americans above foreigners.
There's a revival happening in this country right now, Lawrence, and praise God.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Combative, clever, energetic, and just barely in his 30s, Charlie Kirk was a major link to younger voters for the political right. Praised by President Donald Trump as a key to retaking the White House.
TRUMP: Charlie is fantastic. I mean, this guy, don't believe this stuff when you hear the kids are liberal. They're not liberal. Maybe they used to be, but they're not anymore.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Growing up in a Chicago suburb, Kirk took to conservative ideas early. Criticizing what he called liberal bias in education, minority hiring practices, and more. Co-founding the right- wing political group, Turning Point USA, and hitting the airwaves while still just a teenager.
KIRK: A lot of kids are feeling the effects of what we like to call, you know, with the Washington economy, with a lot of debt plummeting small business, with higher regulation and high taxes.
FOREMAN (voice-over): When he did not get into West Point, Kirk dropped out of college and turned to political activism with a fury.
KIRK: Universities are not about the pursuit of knowledge, they're about the forceful pushing of a left-wing worldview.
White privilege is a racist myth that is rooted in bigotry, trying to classify people based on their skin color. If a woman is going to have an abortion, is it 50 percent the man's decision?
FOREMAN (voice-over): His outspoken ways drew a huge following and fierce opposition.
UNKNOWN: How do you feel about being called a fascist? What's your opinion on that?
KIRK: I don't care being lied about.
UNKNOWN: Why is it a lie? Because I'm not a fascist,
KIRK: I believe in a free society.
Let me ask you, who's the fascist? The guy that's smiling in the sun, or the 500 people barking trying to prevent me from speaking? FOREMAN (voice-over): Through it all, the married father of two
engaged with not just political friends, but also foes. Forever spreading a gospel of more.
KIRK: In order to create more conservatives and more people who love the country, you need to have the three M's. Young people need to get married, they need to mate, and get a mortgage. The three M's are three things the Democrat party is against.
FOREMAN: It is, of course, now impossible to know what else Charlie Kirk might have done with his life, just as it is unpredictable to determine what the left and right in politics will do in the wake of his death.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: Our thanks to Tom Foreman there.
Utah Valley University, where Charlie Kirk was killed, says it will remain closed until Monday. And the school's vice president says they do not condone any form of violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAL L. PETERSON, VICE PRESIDENT OF ADMINISTRATION AND STRATEGIC RELATIONS, UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY: On behalf of Utah Valley University, we are shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Charlie Kirk. We express our sincere condolences to the Kirk family. We grieve with our students, faculty, and staff who bore witness to this unspeakable tragedy.
He was invited by the student group Turning Point USA to speak on our campus. We firmly believe that UVU is a place to share ideas, and to debate openly and respectfully. Any attempt to infringe on those rights has no place here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: A video recorded after the shooting shows people frantically searching for shelter from danger. Kirk was invited to speak by students who are part of the university's Turning Point USA chapter.
The U.S. Congressman who represents the district where Kirk was fatally shot says he and his constituents will keep speaking their minds despite Wednesday's violence. Republican Utah Representative Mike Kennedy says political violence is entirely unacceptable, and it will not intimidate him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE KENNEDY (R-UH): Sadly, this kind of violence has been going on for a long time. We know back in the day with MLK and RFK and JFK that these kind of things have happened. And some people, they have no capacity to deal with these things in a civil fashion. And the full weight and justice of the American system of justice will
be brought to bear upon these people for their violent efforts.
I've had death threats on myself as a state legislator, and I've also had vandalism to my house for efforts that I've had to move legislation forward.
I'll just tell you, I'm a doctor, and I talk to people on a regular basis in the office prior to coming to Congress, and I still do some doctoring. The hearts of people are waxing cold. Their hard- heartedness and unnatural approach to the world where people are callous and unwilling to engage with one another in a civil fashion.
And where is the fix to this? It's in the hearts and minds of our people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Over the years, Charlie Kirk created a new model for political advocacy among conservatives. He expanded commentary with get-out-to- vote drives and public gatherings where he issued an invitation to critics to debate with him.
[03:35:04]
CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter looks at how Kirk came to play such a pivotal role in conservative media and politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Prove me wrong. Those are the three powerful words that Charlie Kirk used to promote his events on college campuses and some of his appearances in his videos on social media. He invited people to try to prove him wrong.
You can see those words actually printed on the tent at the University in Utah where he was slain on Wednesday. That event was supposed to be the first stop on Kirk's fall semester tour of colleges across the U.S.
There were more than a dozen other tour stops listed on his website, and some of them were specifically billed as Prove Me Wrong events where he would encourage people from other ideological backgrounds to come and take him on.
Kirk liked doing these Prove Me Wrong events because, as he once told me, he wanted to encourage dialogue between people who disagreed with him.
Now a lot of liberals doubted his intentions in doing so. They thought he was just trying to gain clicks, he was trying to create content for social media. And indeed, the videos of his appearances did oftentimes go viral and helped build both his personal brand as well as his nonprofit organization's presence.
Kirk was able to build up Talking Points USA into one of the most powerful parts of the GOP political advocacy operation and get-out-to- vote operation. And really, Kirk pioneered a merger between multi- platform media commentary and in-person events and political advocacy on the ground at the grassroots level.
In one minute I would see Kirk on Fox News promoting Trump's agenda, the next minute he would be on Instagram encouraging high school students and college students to launch their own chapters of TPUSA.
Kirk was many things rolled up in one. He was a TikTok influencer, a nonprofit leader, he was a radio host and a podcaster, and a popular public speaker. And he really did prioritize live events like the one on Wednesday.
In an interview ahead of time with a Utah newspaper, he described his ambitions for his organization going forward. He said, quote, "We want to be an institution in this country that is as well-known and as powerful as 'The New York Times,' Harvard and tech companies. And we believe we are creating that."
It's a tough quote to read now in light of his death. But it speaks to the ambitions Kirk had at age 31 to try to build the conservative political movement in the U.S. even beyond Trump's four years in office.
Now, of course, both his friends and his rivals and some of his wannabe imitators all speaking out, all testifying to his importance and influence, and how Kirk's death will leave a big void in the conservative advocacy space.
Brian Stelter, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: And we are also following news out of Colorado after a high school shooting in the Denver area on Wednesday, at least two students were injured after a government open fire at Evergreen High School. The suspect, a male student at the school, was taken to the hospital with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but has since died, according to officials. The tragedy marks the 47th school shooting in the U.S. this year.
Gaza ceasefire talks now in limbo. We'll have an exclusive interview with the leader of Qatar about whether mediation efforts can continue and what this means for the hostages.
Plus, an attack called a significant provocation for Europe and NATO. More than a dozen Russian drones violating the airspace of Poland, a NATO member. Reactions from the West and new details on the incident, next.
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[03:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ABEL: And today marks the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the U.S. Memorial services are planned in New York, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to attend a ceremony at the Pentagon in the morning before traveling up to New York to attend a Yankees baseball game, the Vice President is set to visit Ground Zero. In New York, there will be a reading of names of the victims along with moments of silence in a tribute to those who are sick or have died as a result of illnesses related to 9/11.
And hundreds of South Korean workers detained by the U.S. government last week have been released according to CNN affiliate NBC. They're set to board a plane at the Atlanta airport in the coming hours to return home after they were taken into custody in a massive immigration raid. It happened at a plant in Southern Georgia, jointly operated by South Korea-based companies Hyundai and L.G. Energy Solution, Korean officials say President Trump offered to allow the workers who stay in the U.S. to train American workers, but only one person chose to do so.
Israel's strike on Hamas and Doha has left the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks in limbo. Qatar's Prime Minister is accusing Israel of killing any hope for the hostages and says that the Israeli Prime Minister has been, quote, "wasting our time with meaningless talks." A senior Hamas official confirmed no one is talking about a ceasefire right now.
[03:45:00]
Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu says countries that, quote, "harbor terrorists must expel them or bring them to justice because if you don't, we will."
Qatar has confirmed the identity of one of the five Hamas members killed in the attack. He was the director of the office of Hamas' chief negotiator.
The Qatari Prime Minister spoke exclusively with CNN's Becky Anderson, and here is part of their conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED ABDULRAHMAN AL THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER: It's not only an undermining for our sovereignty and infringing our sovereignty. It's undermining for the entire negotiations, undermining for the U.S. effort.
Honestly, I have no words to express how raged we are from such an --
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR, "CONNECT THE WORLD": If you could describe it in one word, what would that be?
AL THANI: This is state terror. That's what they call it.
ANDERSON: Do you feel betrayed? AL THANI: We are betrayed, yes.
ANDERSON: By the U.S.?
AL THANI: No, I cannot say it's by the U.S. The U.S. has expressed, in many occasions, their support to us.
And by the way, at the same day, I was meeting one of the hostages' family that morning, the morning of the attack, carrying a 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 hostages.
ANDERSON: In the past hour, he has doubled down on his position. He has said, and I quote the Israeli Prime Minister here, "I say to Qatar and to all nations who harbor terrorists," his words, not mine, "you either expel them or bring them to justice because if you don't, we will." Do you take that as a threat of further action here?
AL THANI: Well, we don't accept, first of all, such a threat coming from someone like Netanyahu and he's calling about bring them to justice. He needs to be brought to justice, he's the one who's wanted to the ICC.
ANDERSON: Where are the Hamas members right now and will you shut down their offices?
AL THANI: Right now, we are reassessing everything about the whole process.
ANDERSON: The future of these talks at this point, not clear.
AL THANI: I mean, I don't have an answer for this because really, I don't see, I see a meaningless talk. Right now, right now what we are doing, and I think that been rethinking even about the entire process for the last few weeks, that Netanyahu was just wasting our time. He wasn't serious about anything.
There is a collective response that should happen from the region and this collective response, we are hoping for something meaningful that deter Israel from continuing this bullying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Poland's President says his conversations on Wednesday with U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that NATO allies are united following a Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace. The incident is seen as a significant provocation for Europe and NATO amid Moscow's war on Ukraine. The E.U.'s foreign policy chief called the incident the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began.
More on the incident in Polish airspace now from CNN's Nick Paton Walsh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A sight common in Ukraine, a Russian drone flying in the night's darkness, intercepted. But this was across the border, inside NATO, in Poland. The largest military alliance in history, scrambling Dutch and Polish jets and police around the border areas overnight and waking up to a new reality, that Russian drones had made 19 incursions into their territory.
The remains of Shahed-type Russian drones found at seven locations, several not containing explosives, said initial Polish reports.
But that didn't make them harmless. A roof torn away had at least one home. And the scale, all 19 breaches, belied claims it may all have been a navigational error.
Russia's defense ministry said they didn't target any Polish sites for destruction. But that isn't a denial: the fragments collected here were their drones. Airspace closed for hours, even Warsaw's main airport.
What lingered in the air after the drones, a sense of shock that Moscow had dared violate the airspace of its biggest, wealthiest adversary, NATO.
In all likelihood, we're facing a large-scale provocation, said the Polish Prime Minister. This is the first time Russian drones were shot down on the territory of a NATO member state.
MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: Whether it was intentionally or not, it is absolutely reckless. It is absolutely dangerous. But as I said, the full assessment is ongoing.
[03:50:05]
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Five European defense ministers gathered in London to discuss Ukraine and found their Polish colleague had urgently gone home.
JOHN HEALEY, BRITISH DEFENSE MINISTER: Last night, Putin hit a new level of hostility against Europe.
PATON WALSH: But how do you stop it happening again? How do you stop it happening next week? What is the deterrent that you're able to present here to change the Kremlin's thinking?
HEALEY: Ultimately, the big deterrent for President Putin is a NATO that is now more united, a NATO that is now bigger than when he launched his full-scale attack on Ukraine.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): President Trump said he'd talk to his Polish counterpart and posted, what's with Russia violating Poland's airspace with drones? Here we go.
Not exactly the cast-iron guarantees of U.S. military protection that's been at the heart of the NATO alliance for decades. Poland is closing its border with Belarus Thursday, ahead of Russian military exercises there Friday. Tensions have been growing for months, NATO more and more sucked into Moscow's invasion of Ukraine next door.
But this is something new, unanticipated and troubling, as Europe has no immediate response. And that may have been the answer Putin was waiting for.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: And there were scenes of unrest across France on Wednesday, with protesters in the streets as a new prime minister took office. They're frustrated with the country's political class, and CNN's Melissa Bell explains why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A day of protests across France that's been called, let's block everything.
Riot police out across the country, some 80,000 policemen and women have been put on the streets of France and already there have been a number of arrests, not just here in Paris, but in many of France's smaller cities, where a lot of very determined protesters have been trying to get in the way, essentially, of the functioning of France and of its economy.
At the heart of a lot of their anger, the political chaos that we've been seeing in France these last few weeks, we've had the nomination now of a new Prime Minister, but at the heart of many of these people's grievances, and a lot of them come from the left or the far left, the fact that they feel that there's a disconnect between the way the government is running the country and their demands.
UNKNOWN (through translator): With the new government, it's sure that won't change things. We are also here to denounce that, but we will continue to protest because it's our only way of denouncing it.
We try petitions, no one listens to us; we try protests, no one listens to us. We come here in the hope that things will change, but do I really have a lot of hope? I don't know.
BELL: What's made it difficult for the police today, the numbers are not huge, what's made it difficult for the police, though, in many different areas has been these disparate groups really trying to get in the way of roads functioning, of people getting in and out of different parts of cities, as they have here blocked this Chatelet area of Paris.
The much bigger day of protests and industrial action, though, threatens to come next week on the 18th of September, when you're likely to see a lot of unions take part as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: -- reporting there. Returning to our top story now, the killing of conservative activist
Charlie Kirk in the U.S., CNN is getting first-hand accounts of what played out just before and after the shooting. One witness said it all started as a normal event day on campus, as thousands of students gathered to see and hear Kirk, then the fatal shot rang out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYDON DECHENE, SHOOTING WITNESS (on the phone): All of a sudden, I heard just one pop, Charlie, all of a sudden, his head kind of fell back, and blood was just gushing out of his neck. And then at that point, I kind of turned my head, looked up, because it felt like it came from up behind me, and then I saw everybody dropping, so I dropped down, and then the next thing I know, they said, run, so we all took off running.
DALLIN SMITH, SHOOTING WITNESS: We heard two pops, and we ran, and a lot of people ran with us. When I was standing by the door kind of overseeing what was happening, some people were standing there still taking videos, so I went back out to look over the railing to see like maybe someone just did some firecrackers, something like that, but more and more people were screaming, crying, dispersing super quickly from the scene.
More and more people were headed Charlie's way, and yes, just pure craziness. And then after getting back into the building, just tons of people flooding to go outside, get away from the scene.
EVA TERRY, REPORTER, DESERET NEWS (on the phone): Charlie hit the ground, we saw him fall, but it looked like the shot came, and it hit, so he was facing us, and it looked like it hit the left side of his neck. To be perfectly blunt, it felt like so much blood came out of his neck immediately, and then we all took to the ground. I can't tell you what happened immediately after.
PHIL LYMAN (R), FORMER UTAH STATE REPRESENTATIVE: There was a handicapped person there that wanted a hat, and so I was trying to get Charlie's attention, and he saw me, and he came right over and handed us a hat, and it was really very kind.
[03:55:00]
I'm just sitting there watching. I'm thinking, wow, he's taller than I thought he was, and he's so energetic, and he's so happy, and he's throwing these hats out, and the crowd is just going nuts, and it was a huge college crowd.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Thank you for staying with us, I'm Brian Abel. I'll be right back here with "Early Start" after this short break.
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