Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Manhunt Underway After Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk Shot Dead; After Kirk Shooting, Security Fears Intensify In Congress; Charlie Kirk Shooting Suspect Captured On CCTV by Neighboring Houses. New Video in to CNN; Manhunt Underway for Killer of Activist Charlie Kirk; South Koreans Detained in ICE Raid Returning to Seoul; Gaza City Takes Damage As IDF Prepares for Its Conquest; U.K. Ambassador to the U.S. Fired over Ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 12, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:53]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: It is the top of the hour here in the CNN Newsroom. Welcome to everyone watching us here in the United States and around the world. I'm Erica Hill.
We do begin, of course, this hour with the breaking news as we continue to follow developments in the manhunt for the killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. That manhunt intensifying authorities, though, do have yet to publicly name a suspect.
They are, however, releasing new video and images in hopes that the public will be able to help identify the person they are now saying is the suspect.
So in this new video released just a short time ago, you see the man, who again authorities say is the suspect climbing off of a roof and then you're about to see him jump down there to the ground. The man then drops as you see walking across that grass, eventually making his way through the parking lot into a wooded area.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the shooter's identification and arrest. Authorities have also been highlighting the man's distinct T shirt in these images, as well as his baseball cap and con sneakers.
As for where the search itself is focused, at this hour, Utah's public safety commissioner telling NBC News they frankly have no idea whether he's even still in the state at this time.
Meantime, the FBI is analyzing a high powered rifle that was recovered from the area where the gunman is thought to have fled. Utah's governor says when caught, the killer will be facing the death penalty and he also issued a warning for the public about disinformation in the wake of this assassination. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPENCER COX, UTAH GOVERNOR: There is a tremendous amount of disinformation. We are tracking our team, the state team, and I'm sure the federal team as well. What we're seeing is our adversaries want violence. China, we have bots from Russia, China, all over the world that are trying to instill disinformation and encourage violence.
I would encourage you to ignore those, to turn off those streams, and to spend a little more time with our families. We desperately need some healing. We'll have more to say about that in the days and weeks to come. More than anything, we are going to catch this person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: CNN's Veronica Miracle is following all these developments, joining us now live from Los Angeles. What more did we learn in that press conference, Veronica?
VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, as we head into now in just a few hours, the third day of the manhunt, there really isn't a whole lot more information that authorities are releasing. But they did release that video you highlighted and some new surveillance videos.
And they're really calling on the public for help. They are really relying on people and their tips to get them information so that they can find this individual. They pointed to the moment when he jumps off of that rooftop as an important point because they said that authorities said that this individual left some palm impressions as well as some smudges, and they're trying to obtain some DNA from that, from those smudges and from that palm impression.
They also say when he jumped off of the roof, he left a shoe print, which they say clearly is a Converse sneaker. They also -- you could see that very clearly in the surveillance images that they released as well. They highlighted the clothing that he's wearing and they're asking people, have you seen this person? Do you have any video, anything that can help authorities try and track this person down? Here's what they had to say at the press conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COX: We cannot do our job without the public's help. Right now, we, the public, has answered our call for action. So far, we've received more than 7,000 leads and tips.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MIRACLE: And one of those thousands of tips came from a Utah Valley University student who just told CNN that they submitted a tip to the FBI. They haven't been contacted yet. However, they said that in the last two weeks, they recalled seeing an individual on a rooftop twice. They thought it was weird at the time. They even saw a professor try to flag that person down. And so they took that information, they submitted it to the FBI. [01:05:00]
Authorities say they have 20 agencies working through and trying to assist and trying to go through all of those tips. They have conducted 200 interviews. So it'll be interesting to see if this student himself gets contacted.
Meanwhile, Charlie Kirk's body, as well as his family was escorted by Vice President Vance on Air Force Two back to Phoenix. And it's there where a makeshift memorial is growing outside of the Turning Point headquarters in Phoenix. And we caught up with CNN, spoke to an individual, very emotional, who was there tonight. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNA GILL, PHOENIX RESIDENT: This was a really heartless act. And I feel so sad. And I feel like when we're trying to be silenced, we need to come together as a whole and be a family. I think that, you know, this is beautiful. There's so many people here. And it just goes to show that we are alone in anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MIRACLE: And Erica, at this point, a funeral date has not yet been announced, but President Trump says when that date is confirmed, he will be there. Back to you.
HILL: All right, Veronica, appreciate it. Thank you. Well, in Washington, as Veronica just noted, the president is closely following developments, also saying earlier today authorities, according to him, were making big progress in that investigation. Kristen Holmes has more now from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House still reeling after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. All eyes on the investigation, trying to get answers. We talked to a number of people within the White House who said they're monitoring every move that the FBI makes, every piece of this investigation incredibly closely, but part of them is still in disbelief.
We talked to advisers who talked about how difficult the last two days have been. Some of them moving from sadness to anger. During an interview with Scott Jennings, the chief of staff, Susie Wiles said this about Charlie's death.
SUSAN WILES, THE SCOTT JENNINGS RADIO SHOW: Charlie was very much a part of this family and maybe the highest profile MAGA person outside of those that are working here. So, I think it shook everybody to their core.
I called everybody in before they went home last night and said, go home, hug your children, hug your spouse, be careful, take precautions and don't let your voice get softer. HOLMES: And on Thursday, Vice President J.D. Vance canceled his plans
to go to New York for a commemoration of 9/11, instead going to Utah to meet with Charlie Kirk's family. He was a close personal friend of Kirk's, of his family. And then take Kirk's remains back to Arizona. Charlie Kirk is based in Arizona.
A very powerful video scene of J.D. Vance carrying the casket, loading it onto Air Force Two before that plane took off and headed to Arizona for Charlie Kirk's final resting place. Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: A short time ago, I spoke with retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jason Pack, and we began by discussing that tip that Veronica just mentioned. A student who told CNN they had shared with authorities that they saw a man walking on or near the roof twice in the last two weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON PACK, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: I think it's going to be an important piece of the case. So that gives them time to go back and try to pull video footage from those time frames. If they haven't done that already. If they've gotten that tip and the person said he hasn't been interviewed yet, that doesn't mean they're not taking action on that tip.
So these video canvases become really important part of these cases, these high profile manhunt cases. And each little piece of evidence leads you to a new place to start another canvas. And so hopefully they'll be able to piece these bits and pieces of information together.
We saw tonight at the press conference the part about the shoes and the part about the shirt with the flag, those types of things, somebody out there is going to recognize him and the tips will be coming in.
I know in the Boston Marathon bombings, I helped with that press conference. Once we put that photograph out, we had a photo before, it wasn't very good. And then once we got that clear photo of white hat and put that out, the tips just started pouring in. And that really was what was the crack in the case to kind of bring this to a head.
So hopefully that's where we'll be. They put the photos out that they have. And so hopefully this is going to be just the start of the apprehension of the subsect.
HILL: Given what technology is nowadays given. To your point, the cameras that we know exist everywhere and these images that they have released are actually fairly clear in terms of a face. Are you surprised that at this point in the investigation we're talking, you know, now going into the second day here, there that there is not an identification that has been released.
PACK: I think the key point here is there's not been a public identification.
[01:10:00]
It's possible they may have a name or they may have an alias or something like that, but they really can't take a chance on coming out with a name that they think they need to be able to prove that name. I know in the Nashville bombing on Christmas Day a few years ago, the subject there, the authorities had that name. We had his name early on, but we wanted to make sure through DNA and those types of things that it was absolutely that person and not just somebody with that person's identity.
HILL: And we did see early on. Right. There were some issues with that. So it is an important point. I was struck by the comments from the Commissioner for Public Safety when he was asked by NBC whether the suspect was still close by or even in the state.
He said, we have no idea. We don't know where this guy is. We don't know if he's still in the state. We don't know where he could be. What does that tell you about where things may stand in this moment?
PACK: Well, I think it's good that the FBI and the federal authorities are involved. That's exactly why this partnership between them and the Department of Public Safety and the local officials is so important. Because no matter where this person runs, no matter where the shooter runs, there's going to be law enforcement. They're able to handle it.
And particularly with the FBI field offices across the country, they're in tune. They're waiting for leads to come in. They're probably already covering leads from tips all over that are coming in. I know that in Boston, we sent leads out to most every state that came in to check out.
So I think once they get those tips and they'll be able to act on them, they're going to take them seriously and make sure that they're covering every need thoroughly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: And our thanks again for Jason Pack for his insight there. Just before he was shot, Kirk was asked a question about transgender mass shooters. Here's that moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?
CHARLIE KIRK, POLITICAL ACTIVIST: Too many.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: That conversation, of course, abruptly ended by the gunshot. Just seconds later. Hunter Kozak, who's a student at Utah Valley University, asked Kirk that question. And Hunter's now speaking out in a video shared with CNN, stressing while he does not agree with Kirk's views, violence, in his view, is never the answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTER KOZAK, WITNESS: It's a tragedy. And I don't -- it's hard to grapple with, and I'm part of a community that's struggling to grapple with it right now. And people have obviously pointed to the irony that I was -- the point that I was trying to make is how peaceful left was right before he got shot.
And that only makes sense if we stay peaceful. As much as I disagree with Charlie Kirk, I'm on the record for how much I disagree with Charlie Kirk. But, like, man, dude, he is still a human being. Have we forgotten that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Well, the assassination of Charlie Kirk is continuing to raise fears of more political violence on the horizon. U.S. lawmakers now pushing for greater security and scaling back their public events. Those details after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:17:28]
HILL: American lawmakers are increasingly concerned about their own personal safety in the wake of Charlie Kirk's killing, which has also, as we understand it, sped up conversations about boosting their security. Discussions include the possibility of a security detail for every senator when they're back in their home districts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN CRAMER, U.S. SENATE RUPUBLICAN: I like being accessible, but being accessible is starting to look like being vulnerable. So I think there's a lot of us that are concerned about that.
MARKWAYEN MULLIN, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN: Different people have different threat levels. Those different threat levels may require a different stance, may mean a different look for their further detail. So, it's not one size fits all. We're going to have to be fluid and be able to build a flex when we need a flex and build a doubt down when you need a doubt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Now, while there may be unity when it comes to concerns over security, it is tough to find in this bitterly divided Washington to find lawmakers coming together on much else in the wake of Kirk's killing, lawmakers doing little to turn down the temperature of political discourse.
The blame game and those heightened security fears from both parties really underscoring what a tense and bitter time this is for American politics. Joining me to discuss is Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst
and Bloomberg opinion columnist. Ron, always good to talk to you. It is --
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Erica.
HILL: Hi. It's remarkable how quickly before we knew anything, frankly, and there's still a lot we don't know. We don't have an identity of this shooter. We have no idea what the shooter's political leanings are. We have no idea what the motive was.
And very quickly, we heard lawmakers come out pointing fingers. The president talking about extreme left rhetoric. How would you characterize this moment?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, I mean, I think whatever the motivations of this shooter, we know we have a political violence problem that extends across the political spectrum. I mean, we've seen targets of the left and targets on the right and on both sides. We have seen the pace of political violence accelerate.
You know, on the day after January 6, a senior official, former senior official in the Trump Department of Homeland Security, said to me that she feared we had transitioned into our own version of the Troubles. You know, of Northern Ireland in the 70s and 80s, where political violence is just much more common, much more of a backbeat to our lives than we had seen before.
That's where we are. These cycles are very difficult to get out of. You need really strong leadership across the political spectrum to discourage this kind of behavior. But what we saw from the president, characteristically was kind of this vision of putting out fires with gasoline.
[01:20:05]
HILL: You talk about the need for strong leadership. It's also, I think, fascinating to look at how we got here and even if we go back. So Patti Davis was on earlier speaking with Anderson, talking about, in her view, how much the country has changed since that attempt on her father's life. This was in 1981.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
HILL: Here's her reflection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATTI DAVIS, DAUGTHER OF PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN: One of the things that I find not helpful is when elected officials go on air and say, well, this is not who we are. This is not what America is about. Really? Because from where I sit, this is exactly who we are right now. And I don't know how we change that or how we fix that unless you look at it straight on and take ownership of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HILL. Right. Taking ownership, of course, would be that strong leadership that you were alluding to. I mean, is humanity at this point, is that compassion that she's talking about? Is that a thing of the past in the America of 2025?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I don't entirely agree. I mean, we have always had a lot of political division in America. We have a lot of guns in America, we have a lot of gun deaths in America, we have a lot of gun related violence in America.
But we have not always had our disagreements. Our political disagreements translate into this level of kind of political violence. We did see something like this, maybe even worse in the late 60s and early 70s, assassinations, bombings, and we did get out of it.
So, you know, I don't know if we are doomed to live this way. The one thing I do know is that we are clearly on a trajectory that is going to get worse unless we make a conscious effort broadly across the society to change it.
And you know, you don't get there when you have the President, you know, essentially saying this is a problem of left attacking right and just astonishingly ignoring both all of the attacks that have gone in the other way and his own language over his entire career, I mean, describing his political enemies as vermin and you know, saying they hate America.
This is something that requires a very different approach because the road we're on, I think going to continue to see more of these kind of horrific events.
HILL: I'm going to put you on the spot there a different approach. I mean, do you have a sense of what that approach is that might actually work? Because to your point, I mean, we are seeing a very clear level of hypocrisy, right. And selective amnesia when it comes to some people in the way that they are addressing this moment?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, you know, I don't think there is, you know, I don't think there's an obvious answer, but I think the answer is fundamentally to -- it does no good to deny the level of disagreement and discord that exists in our society.
But, you know, as I often say, in every other element of your life, a disagreement is where the conversation starts, not where it ends. Think of your relationship with your family, your neighbors, your co- workers, you know, your friends. People disagree all the time and find a way to work through it.
We have to decide whether we really want to continue to live together as one country, because if we do, so many of the things that are happening are unraveling the core bonds of America.
I mean, I wrote a piece this week about the way conflict between red and blue states is escalating to a level we haven't seen since at least Jim Crow, segregation and maybe since the Civil War. Fundamentally, you need leadership that reminds people that there is a
lot that unites us and that you find ways to work through disagreements in every other aspect of your life. You should be able to find a way to work through it in politics and marginalize.
There are always going to be people who are at the fringe of society who are willing to undertake violence to advance political goals or maybe just because, you know, they are -- they have mental health issues. But can you marginalize that again to a greater extent than we have seen in recent years? I think the answer is yes.
Certainly we have various points in our history, but it's not easy.
HILL: Perhaps it's also a moment to normalize working across the aisle. Right. And working with those who -- you're never going to agree with everybody on everything, but there are places, plenty of moments where Republicans and Democrats can come together. Well, it'll be interesting to see if we can see some more of that. Ron, always good to talk to you. Thank you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
HILL: President Trump says Charlie Kirk's widow is, in this moment, understandably, absolutely devastated. Just ahead, a closer look at the family that Charlie Kirk, of course, created with his wife and what has now been left behind.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:29:55]
HILL: As we continue to follow new developments out of Utah where officials are hoping the public can help to track down Charlie Kirk's killer, we have new video to show you obtained by CNN, which shows a person matching the description and images of the suspect.
What you see in this video is a person walking on a residential street. This is in the moments leading up to the shooting, before the shooting.
CNN was able to geolocate this video to a neighborhood near the Utah Valley University campus. The person in the video appears to pause at a tree before turning and then walking toward the university.
Investigators on Thursday night also sharing this new video, which they say shows the suspect. So if you look at the top of your screen on the right there, were going to push in and highlight it for you.
They say this is the suspect running across the roof of the building and then as you can see here, jumping down. Once he is on the ground, he makes his way across that grassy lawn there, ultimately into a wooded area.
Now the suspect, it's important to note, has not been named publicly. Utah's governor, though, says the FBI has already received more than 7,000 tips in the case. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPENCER COX, UTAH GOVERNOR: We are truly hopeful that this video and new photos will lead to even more tips. We are processing -- we have an incredible team -- a state and federal team working together to process those tips.
We are going out in tandem to interview any potential person of interest or suspects. But we need again, we need as many as much help as we can possibly get. Any videos or photos that you might have, the public, should be submitted to our digital media tip line, which is www.fbi.gov/utahvalleyshooting -- all lowercase.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: CNN's Nick Watt has more now on the investigation from the site of the shooting. He's from Orem, Utah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEAU MASON, COMMISSIONER, UTAH DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: The suspect blended in well with the college institution.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Among the 3,000 or so who came to hear Charlie Kirk speak.
ROBERT BOHLS, FBI SALT LAKE CITY SPECIAL AGENT: Investigators have also collected footwear impression, a palm print and forearm imprints for analysis.
WATT: Investigators say the suspect arrived on campus 11:52 A.M. local time Wednesday. Made his way through stairwells across a roof, to the shooting location believed to be on top of this building. About a 150- yard shot to where Kirk was sitting.
SKYLER BAIRD, EYEWITNESS: He was well-guarded against, you know, someone running up with a knife or trying to fight him personally. He was well-guarded from that sense. But security in the general area, it was just a normal campus day.
WATT): A normal campus day until that one fatal shot rang out fired at around 12:20 local time.
Investigators say they have tracked the suspect's movements after he fired the shot. They say he jumped off the roof that was the shooting location and fled this way, north of campus and in to this neighborhood over here.
This is where we have footage of officers searching, looking for the suspect, looking for eyewitnesses, looking for more security video to give them some indication of which way he went.
No sign of the suspect. The FBI says they do not know how far he might now have traveled.
In a wooded area near the campus, officers found a weapon they believe was the suspect's weapon, described as a high-powered bolt-action rifle that was found along with some ammunition.
CNN has learned that on that rifle and ammunition were scrawled some -- a range of phrases related to current cultural issues. Could they point to a possible motive. Also, initials -- could they point to a possible identification?
BOHLS: The FBI laboratory will be analyzing this weapon. We are and will continue to work nonstop until we find the person that has committed this heinous crime and find out why they did it.
WATT: In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the U.S. Marshals who gather fugitives from around the country, they offered their help. That offer was rebuffed. Today, that offer was accepted. U.S. Marshals have joined this hunt.
There's also now from the FBI, a $100,000 reward for any information. You know, with every hour that passes, the search for this suspect gets harder.
Nick Watt, CNN -- Orem, Utah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Well, Charlie Kirk's casket is now in Phoenix, Arizona, where the activist lived.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha, the second lady, escorting Kirk's body back to Arizona. His wife and their two young children, also aboard Air Force Two, with the vice president and the second lady.
[01:34:49]
HILL: In a somber moment, you see there, Vance placing his hand on the coffin as it is carried toward the plane.
Plans for Kirk's funeral are now underway. The president, weighing in on those earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to go to Charlie Kirk's funeral, sir?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will be.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You will.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know when that will be?
TRUMP: I believe it's in Arizona. And they've asked me to go, and I think I have an obligation to.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know when that will be?
TRUMP: I'm hearing the next -- I hear next weekend. (CROSSTALKING)
TRUMP: Whenever it is, I'll be going.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: President Trump has also described Kirk's widow, Erica, as being absolutely devastated. The former Miss Arizona is also known for the faith-based podcast that she hosts.
Here's CNN's Sunlen Serfaty with more on Kirk's widow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The beautiful, legendary Erica.
ERIKA KIRK, CHARLIE KIRK'S WIDOW: I love you so much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love you.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For 36-year-old Erica Kirk --
E. KIRK: I literally won the jackpot with my husband.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vice versa.
SERFATY: Her marriage to 31-year-old Charlie Kirk became the center of her life, with much of it playing out in public.
E. KIRK: I love you.
CHARLIE KIRK, CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST: I love you, too.
SERFATY: Second only, she says, to her first priority, her faith.
E. KIRK: Now more than ever, your faith has to be so on fire.
SERFATY: The two have been married for four years, getting engaged two years after their first meeting.
E. KIRK: Do you think that I had an issue understanding where Charlie stood when he looked at me across Bill's Burgers' table and said, I'm not going to hire you, I'm going to date you.
SERFATY: They went on to have two kids, a one-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl.
E. KIRK: Motherhood is not a pause. It's a launch pad.
SERFATY: She's committed herself to homeschooling their kids while supporting him.
E. KIRK: I love submitting to Charlie because he's a phenomenal leader. And the way that he loves me like melts me to want to be able to help. How can I help you?
SERFATY: By his side, as he traveled the country, but also speaking out herself.
E. KIRK: I want you guys to be able to just live such an abundant, joy-filled life. That you know how to battle in the trenches of this world and the foxholes of this culture.
SERFATY: Not just espousing his political beliefs.
E. KIRK: My husband, Charlie Kirk, is a force.
SERFATY: But complementing his with what she says are her more conservative values.
C. KIRK: I am a moderate. Compared to Erika. Erika is very conservative and yes --
E. KIRK: I was raised well.
SERFATY: Raised in Scottsdale, Arizona by her mother, her parents divorced when she was young. Her grandfather was an immigrant from Sweden.
She studied political science in college and is working on her doctorate in Christian leadership and biblical studies. She was briefly an NCAA women's basketball player.
E. KIRK: Everyone thought I was a little boy because I wore Jordan and all these different types of athletic clothes.
SERFATY: Crowned Miss Arizona in 2012.
E. KIRK: I love to work out. I love to spend time with my family. I love to play with my dogs.
SERFATY: She has a nonprofit.
E. KIRK: Internationally, we support and sustain several orphanages throughout Europe.
SERFATY: A devotional podcast and a Christian clothing company.
E. KIRK: I guess you could say I'm a social entrepreneur where I find little pockets within a culture that I like to disrupt.
SERFATY: Her partnership in life and politics with Kirk often tinged with concern for their well-being, something she mentioned during her most recent podcast.
E. KIRK: You know my husband is on college campuses getting screamed at by college kids as he's trying to share with them the truth. And he is so calm.
Would I be calm? No I wouldn't. I barely go to those only because I don't trust myself not climbing over the table and like attacking someone in the crowd because I'm very protective of my husband.
SERFATY: She acknowledged his appearances made them vulnerable. But in conversation with her husband, committed to stay their chosen course together.
E. KIRK: Do I get hate? Bring it on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.
E. KIRK: I'll have a -- I'll have a velvet steel spine by the end of -- end of my life. So bring it on. I have nothing to fear.
SERFATY: Erika was with her kids at Wednesdays event when her husband was killed. Her last post on social media, just hours before he passed away, was a bible verse which said, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
Sunlen Serfaty, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: We are now learning more information about Wednesday's school shooting in Colorado, including the name of one of the victims.
The family of Matthew Silverstone says the 18-year-old was injured in the violence at Evergreen High School. At last check, he and another student are in critical condition at local hospitals.
Also on Thursday, authorities identifying the shooter as 16-year-old Desmond Holley, saying that he brought ammunition with him on the school bus, then roamed the campus, shooting at windows and lockers.
Officials believe that locked classrooms, though, did prevent him from hurting more students. They also say the shooter appeared to have been quote, "radicalized" by some extreme network.
Still ahead here in the CNN NEWSROOM, Britain's ambassador to the U.S. fired over his ties to convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
[01:39:50]
HILL: What the now former ambassador wrote in Epstein's birthday book, when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: A chartered flight carrying more than 300 South Korean nationals detained in U.S. immigration raid is set to arrive soon in Seoul. That ICE raid last week targeting a Hyundai plant which was under construction in the state of Georgia.
[01:44:49]
HILL: The plant itself is a joint effort between the South Korean carmaker and South Korea's LG Energy Solution.
Well, the raid triggering an outcry from South Korea, a key U.S. ally, and also raising new questions about foreign investment in the United States. CNN's Mike Valerio is live at South Koreas Incheon International
Airport, awaiting the arrival of that flight. And that flight actually coming with a lot of questions.
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I think that could be the understatement of the afternoon. Well, said, Erica.
So to my left and right, every single news channel from South Korea gathered here at Incheon International Airport for this one moment of just relief on the part of the nation that these 316 citizens of South Korea have come back.
They're going to be reunited with their families. No black marks on their immigration statuses, voluntary returning, and not technically deported.
But you're right. So many questions about what the future will hold for any company that has massive investments right now with the United States, or is planning to have investments with the United States.
And on that front, we heard from South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung talking about that yesterday. It was his 100th day in office. So he had a huge news conference where that certainly came up.
Let's listen to him and what exactly he told the nation and the world. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE JAE MYUNG, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): From the perspective of companies, they will be concerned about disadvantageous treatment or facing difficulties when they're building factories in the United States.
That could probably have a significant impact on direct investment in the U.S. in the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALERIA: So he's certainly admitting that there will be, on the forefront of corporate investment, investments coming in the days, weeks, months to come this question of, is anything going to change with the visa system?
And to that end, in that same news conference, we heard President Lee saying that there are discussions underway, Erica, to perhaps create a new classification of visa, where if you're a company having a large- scale investment in the United States, perhaps you get a new certain type of visa that would be established after this whole mess and imbroglio with perhaps the visa quota for South Korea be heightened?
A new number range of visas that are given out per year for South Koreans. So that is the main question that's coming back on this flight.
What, if anything, is going to change because the atmosphere right now is certainly tense. There are companies like LG Energy Solution, for example, that confirmed with CNN a couple of days ago that all of their business trips are on hold.
If they had personnel who are in the United States a couple of days ago, they were instructed to stay in their accommodations or leave immediately.
This plant that we've all been focused on in Georgia, the Hyundai, LG Energy Solution EV and battery plant, it's going to be delayed for two to three months because all of these people are coming back who were working on it back to South Korea and are not, as far as we know, going back to America.
They could, but were not so sure. So a lot of unanswered questions. And the main one is what is going to change with the visa system, because this country, certainly the United States, does not want to go through that all over again with such a close ally, Erica.
HILL: Yes, such important points. Mike, good to have you there. Appreciate it. Thank you.
VALERIO: Yes. Thanks, Erica.
HILL: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is vowing there will be no Palestinian state. That pledge coming on Thursday while he was signing a document to expand Israel's controversial settlements in the West Bank, including through its so-called E1 plan.
It makes a contiguous Palestinian state virtually impossible because it splits the West Bank, separating it from East Jerusalem. Palestinians, of course, want East Jerusalem as their future capital.
Several nations have criticized that E1 plan. The European Union's foreign policy chief says it further undermines the two-state solution.
And of course, this is all happening as some Western countries are preparing to recognize a Palestinian state later this month.
Meantime, Qatar's prime minister, we're learning, will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday, according to a person familiar with those plans. The meeting itself, coming a day after the U.N. Security Council condemned an Israeli strike this week -- news of the meeting, I should say, after that was condemned the strike, the Israeli strike this week in Qatar's capital. That strike was targeting Hamas leaders.
Qatar's prime minister telling the council his nation will not stop its diplomatic work toward peace in Gaza.
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. said the strike did not advance Israel's, nor the U.S. goals. Hamas says Israel went after its leaders just as they were discussing their response to the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal.
Meantime, Israel's prime minister also set to meet his top security officials in the coming hours to discuss his plans for what officials are calling the conquest of Gaza City.
Local officials say Israeli strikes in Gaza City have now destroyed more than 130 residential buildings in just the past week alone, leaving more than 50,000 Palestinians homeless.
As Jeremy Diamond reports, the toll is staggering.
[01:49:47]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: This is Gaza from above. In early August, CNN joined the Jordanian military on a cargo flight, delivering aid to starving Palestinians. The scale of the destruction, hard to grasp.
And yet Gaza City has been one of the areas least scarred by Israel's two-year war. The Zeitoun neighborhood, for example, was largely still intact, as also seen in this satellite imagery at the time.
One month later, the area has been leveled. Four schools, dozens of businesses and hundreds of homes destroyed.
This is the damage wrought by the opening moves of Israel's invasion of Gaza City, which the government announced days after CNN flew over the strip.
The initial assault has also pummeled Jabalya on the northern outskirts of the city, where more than 750 buildings have been destroyed.
All told, in the months since approving their plan to invade Gaza City, Israel has damaged or destroyed more than 1,800 buildings, according to a CNN analysis of satellite imagery.
Tent camps at Gaza City's perimeter emptied out, forcing displaced Palestinians to be displaced once again into ever-more crowded tent cities as the threat of an Israeli invasion looms.
Many more began to flee on Tuesday after the Israeli military ordered all Palestinians to leave Gaza City ahead of a major expanded offensive. Israel's assault continues as intended, striking multiple high-rise buildings that the military says are used by Hamas as terrorist infrastructure without providing evidence.
But on the ground, thousands of Palestinians sheltering around them are suffering.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were having a bite to eat underneath the building. Until suddenly we saw people fleeing from inside. No one warned us or told us to take our belongings. We only carried our children and sat on the adjacent street.
A little while later, they struck the building. We came back to find that everything was gone. There's nothing left. DIAMOND: These large-scale demolitions of entire neighborhoods in Gaza
rendering already fragile lives unlivable, and offering a glimpse into the ruin that may lie ahead.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN -- Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: In Brazil, the former president, Jair Bolsonaro convicted on Thursday for attempting to overturn his country's 2022 presidential election and sentenced to more than 27 years in prison.
Prosecutors arguing Bolsonaro had supported actions that would have led to violence and the assassination of then-president-elect Luis Inacio "Lula" Da Silva.
Protests were seen in the days leading up to the verdict, thousands turning out to support Bolsonaro just last weekend.
Meantime, of course, here in the United States, the President Donald Trump, has long been following the developments out of Brazil. Here's his reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I watched that trial. I know him pretty well and foreign leader. He was a good -- I thought he was a good president of Brazil and its very surprising that that could happen.
That's very much like they tried to do with me, but they didn't get away with it at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Well, the United Kingdom's ambassador to the United States fired over ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Recently, a group of U.S. lawmakers released a birthday book, which was compiled in 2003 for Epstein's 50th birthday. The book itself included a note written by Peter Mandelson calling Epstein, quote, "my best pal".
Here's CNN's Clare Sebastian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've seen days of mounting criticism of Mandelson's relationship with Epstein leading up to this decision, after a series of revelations this week.
First, the documents released by the House Oversight Committee on Monday contained a 2003 letter from Mandelson as part of a birthday book describing Epstein as, quote, "my best pal".
But the clinching factor was the emails obtained in a Bloomberg investigation released on Wednesday, revealing that Mandelson showed support for Epstein after he pleaded guilty for soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.
"I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened", Mandelson wrote in one of those emails.
The British Foreign Office said in a statement on Thursday, the email shows the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.
Now the strong sense is that Mandelson had hoped to keep his job despite this. He did not heed calls to resign, and in a long interview on a British podcast on Wednesday, Mandelson clearly tried to get ahead of this, saying he deeply regretted his relationship with Epstein.
[01:54:40]
PETER MANDELSON, THEN-BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: I regret very much that I fell for his lies, I fell and accepted assurances that he had given me about his indictment, his original criminal case in Florida. Like very many people, I took at face value what he said.
SEBASTIAN: But it wasn't enough. Just seven months in, he's now leaving arguably the most consequential posting in the British diplomatic service.
It's the third time in his long and turbulent political career that he's had to leave a post over a scandal, and it comes at a delicate moment for the U.S.-U.K. relationship.
President Trump himself under scrutiny for his past relationship with Epstein, something he calls a dead issue, is expected here in the U.K. in just six days' time on a state visit.
It's part of a major effort by the British Prime Minister to cement ties with the Trump Administration, and one that he won't want overshadowed.
Clare Sebastian, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Thanks very much for joining me here in the CNN NEWSROOM this hour. I'm Erica Hill.
Stay tuned. Much more ahead on the investigation into the murder of Charlie Kirk and the day's headlines coming up after a quick break.
[01:55:50]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
