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Memorial Service For Charlie Kirk; Thousands Gather To Honor Life And Legacy Of Charlie Kirk; Memorial In Arizona For Slain Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk; Trump Calls On AG Bondi To Use The DOJ Against Political Foes. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired September 21, 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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[13:59:59]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Hello. Thanks for joining me. I'm Dana Bash.

Happening now, a massive gathering underway in Arizona. Tens of thousands of people have now poured into the State Farm Stadium in Glendale for a memorial service for conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

In the coming hours, we're going to see a lineup of speakers from the highest levels of the U.S. government and the MAGA movement, including President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Mrs. Erika Kirk who has taken over the leadership of her late husband's Turning Point U.S.A. movement. She's also going to speak today.

At any moment we are expected to hear a bagpipe version of "Amazing Grace".

We have a team of correspondents covering this memorial service. And I want to go back to Arlette Saenz inside the stadium, and then Josh Campbell, who you see there, who is outside, Arlette.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, any minute now, we expect this memorial service honoring Charlie Kirk to kick off here.

Organizers are encouraging people to get to their seats. They're trying to fill every last seat at the stadium as tens of thousands of people have come to celebrate the life of Charlie Kirk.

This is someone who was never elected to political office but has had a profound impact on the conservative movement, especially among young people.

And you can see the influence he has had in Republican politics by just looking at the guest list for this event today.

President Trump is traveling here on Air Force One currently, where he is expected to speak and deliver personal remarks about Charlie Kirk.

But then there is also Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other cabinet officials who will be speaking about their friend, someone that at times they have credited with helping bring them into the MAGA fold.

Now we have spoken to so many attendees here about why they decided to come to this memorial service. Many said they want to honor his life. There were young conservatives who said that they were drawn to Charlie Kirk because of his faith, his Christian faith.

And then others also talking about the need for the country to unite in this moment.

Take a listen to one of those people we spoke with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH ALEXANDER, ATTENDING CHARLIE KIRK MEMORIAL: If you believe in something that somebody else doesn't, that your life could be taken from you.

People willingly give up their lives to fight so that we can speak our minds and believe different. And I think we really need to focus on that kind of stuff instead of hating on each other and spreading hate.

I think there really needs to be more coming together from both sides to stop the violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, the majority of attendees are dressed in red, white and blue, a request from his organization, Turning Point U.S.A., as they're looking for ways to honor Charlie Kirk's life, honor his family and his influence on the conservative movement as well.

BASH: Thanks, Arlette. Appreciate it.

Now, Josh, tell us what's going on outside the stadium.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Dana. Right behind me, the 30 acres that makes up the State Farm Stadium is among one of the most highly-protected locations in the country right now. And that is because of who will be here.

We know that President Donald Trump will be in attendance, as well as the vice president. Numerous members of the Trump administration's cabinet will also be in attendance, paying their respects to Charlie Kirk. Many of them will actually be speaking.

We've seen a massive security presence here with the Secret Service, state, federal and local law enforcement locking this down. It's been given a designation of what's called Tier One, that's one of the highest security levels that the Department of Homeland Security assigns an event similar to the Super Bowl and other major events just because of the nature of what will be taking place inside here.

So we've seen that that high security posture outside. We've also been talking to a lot of the attendees who came here. I want you to listen to some of them. There are a couple of themes. A lot of them, they're trying to grapple

with both mourning while also obviously celebrating the life of Charlie Kirk. A lot of them looking to what this means for future generations. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GONZALEZ, ATTENDING CHARLIE KIRK MEMORIAL: A lot of his message was Christ based and it means a lot to support him not just in death, but even when he was alive. A lot of his message was for the youth.

MARIE WHITEHURST, ATTENDING CHARLIE KIRK MEMORIAL: It's just amazing to know that this massive amount of people could actually follow. Follow good and righteous.

And hopefully it'll hit people who are -- have negative thoughts about just our nation. And maybe we can all come together because that's what we need to do.

CAMPBELL: Thanks for talking to us.

WHITEHURST: Thank you.

CAMPBELL: Thank you so much.

WHITEHURST: God bless you.

CAMPBELL: Yes, you as well.

WHITEHURST: God bless you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:04:44]

CAMPBELL: Now there are tens of thousands of people obviously inside that stadium. People are now being turned away who arrived. But Dana, there are multiple overflow areas where they can go.

So although they may not be able to get into State Farm Stadium itself now because of capacity, they've made a point to ensure that there are other places where people can come pay their respects and watch the ceremony that's about to begin shortly.

BASH: Josh, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Now let's bring in our panel of experts and reporters.

Alex Thompson, a CNN political analyst and national political correspondent for Axios. Kristen Holmes is CNN's senior White House correspondent. Xochitl Hinojosa is CNN political commentator; is also former DNC communications director. And Brad Todd, CNN political communicator -- commentator -- all of the things -- and GOP consultant and strategist.

Brad, I want to pick up where some of the people Josh was talking to left off talking about this.

I mean, we're in Washington. We live, eat, breathe politics. And what -- and obviously Charlie Kirk became so well-known because in large part because of his political juggernaut that is Turning Point U.S.A. But so many people who are going there are talking about his faith.

BRAD TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Charlie shared his faith boldly. And, you know, gospel of John says, Jesus said greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

And he's going to be treated as a martyr today, as someone who went fearlessly into places where a lot of people didn't, disagreed with him politically, but also didn't share his religious faith. And he talked boldly about both. I think you're going to see that flavor today.

I think also, Charlie Kirk appealed to a lot of people who were disenchanted with Republicans and Democrats both. He comes from outside the political movement. He was a political figure, but he's outside organized politics if you will.

BASH: Excuse me. I'm just going to interrupt you. Let's listen in.

(MUSIC)

BASH: Beautiful rendition of "Amazing Grace". Brad.

TODD: Well, I was saying Kirk came from outside the political establishment. He really wasn't a creature of the Republican Party.

[14:09:49]

He was a creature of the -- creature of the conservative movement and of the evangelical religious movement. He shared both of those two things pretty boldly and pretty fearlessly.

There are a lot of voters who don't like either party in Washington. They don't trust them. They think they're a bad character.

And they look to figures like Charlie Kirk, who are outside the political movement for some sort of hope and inspiration that maybe things can change. I think he represented that to a lot of people.

XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, I also think that you heard several people talk about they're obviously there to mourn the loss of Charlie Kirk. Likely also, I'm assuming some Trump supporters that are there as well.

But they're talking about the need for our country to come together. And I think that is a very important point, because ever since his death, you have just seen both parties really try, sort of a firestorm ignite, when it comes to everything about how the left is responsible for this, et cetera.

But the reality is -- and I've seen this in polling, and now we're seeing it in what your coverage -- is that people actually want our elected leaders to come together.

And so my hope is that the tone today, as people are mourning is that it is a respectful one, and it is one where people can actually respect one another and come together.

I'm not sure that will be the case in those speeches, but my hope is that it comes from Democrats too.

BASH: Let's talk about his widow, Erika Kirk. She talked to "The New York Times" today, and she said the following. "I'm allowing myself to feel this so deeply without medication, without alcohol. The Lord is giving me discernment."

Obviously she is a grieving widow, mother of very small children, but now she's also the CEO of this movement.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you can tell from the call to action that she gave in the wake of Charlies Kirk's assassination that she really believes in the -- in the movement. That she wants to be an advocate for the movement and she believed in Kirk himself. She thought that he was the voice of a generation.

And part of what she has said about him, and is one of Charlie Kirk's big things was about how younger people need to get married and have families. And she has, you know, obviously also said that and built off of that.

But one of the things she always said was that she was kind of there to be his biggest cheerleader and to support their family while he did this.

And it's not just Erika Kirk who feel that way. When you talk to a lot of the people who were close to Charlie Kirk, there is some fear as to what happens to the Turning Point movement now, because they believe that Charlie Kirk was such a powerful voice.

And one thing I want to note, you know, our team on the ground just reported that Elon Musk walked into the memorial to cheers. And that is incredibly notable for a number of reasons.

One of the things that Charlie Kirk did best was kind of be the bridge between warring factions within the party.

And two things to note when Scott Bessent and Elon Musk got into their physical/verbal altercation, Charlie Kirk spoke to both of them separately, saying he wasn't going to take sides. He had both of them on the show, but he said that it was best interest for the country and for Donald Trump for them to not do that again.

And after the falling out between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, Charlie stayed in contact with Elon Musk a lot and was one of the voices who was encouraging him, Musk, to stop -- to stop talking about the Big, Beautiful Bill, to stop talking about the fact that he said Donald Trump was in the Epstein files. Essentially saying you are part of the problem here and I support you,

but you are causing, you know, causing a rift. And I think that's interesting because at the same time, Musk is showing up today, showing that the way he did it and the way that he spoke to not just Musk, but to anyone in these kind of conflicts, was a way that they still believed he was on their side.

BASH: Alex, stand by. We're going to get to you. I just want to sneak in a quick break. Don't go anywhere.

[14:13:46]

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BASH: Right now, tens of thousands of people are gathered in Glendale, Arizona to honor the life of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. That includes President Trump, Vice President Vance and Mrs. Erika Kirk. They are all expected to speak at today's memorial.

And we're going to continue to bring you those speeches when they begin.

I want to go back to my panel.

Alex, I didn't get you to weigh in on what you're hearing from your sources about kind of the moment that we're in.

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, and I think Vice President Vance speaking is going to be really interesting to watch because Charlie Kirk is one of the biggest reasons why JD Vance is vice president right now. Charlie Kirk was one of the reasons why Donald Trump Jr. ended up meeting and ended up supporting JD Vance in his Senate race.

And then during the sort of internal politicking Kirsten talked about earlier about, you know, how he was this connector of all these relationships.

Charlie was one of the people working to lobby the president to pick JD Vance as a MAGA successor. And he could end up being one of the reasons why JD Vance, you know, is the nominee in 2028 and ahead.

BASH: And if you go back in time, Charlie Kirk was one of the reasons why JD Vance became senator from Ohio.

THOMPSON: Yes.

BASH: That was a pretty competitive primary there. Charlie Kirk supported Vance.

[14:19:47]

THOMPSON: Yes. And that led to Donald Trump Jr. endorsing Vance, which then eventually led to Donald Trump himself supporting JD Vance in that primary. BASH: Yes. And one of the things that Arlette was reporting -- Arlette

Saenz who was there is reporting, Brad, is the fact that obviously this is a memorial. They are, remembering and celebrating a life cut way too short, way too young.

It's also a political event. And I say that because she reported that they are using it to sign people up and to get their information just like one would do at a political rally in modern times in order for Turning Point, which is a huge organization to help elect Republicans.

TODD: Turning Point U.S.A. in my mind, Turning Point action is one of one. There are -- there are exactly one of them in the United States right now. It's the organization that is most on fire with young people.

And, you know, Donald Trump's growth among young men between his 2020 election and 2024 was 16 points. Now it's the same Donald Trump.

What changed? People like Charlie Kirk, who organized on campuses and organized young people. And Charlie Kirk was just 31. We've not seen someone with this much accomplishment cut down this early in life since Bobby Kennedy in 1968.

And I think Charlie Kirk's legacy is a young-ification (ph) of the Republican Party. And I think that that's what Republicans will have to continue to do to maintain momentum going forward.

BASH: Yes. And -- go ahead.

THOMPSON: And I was going to say to your point among some people he made MAGA cool. And, you know, growing up that -- that had not happened to the Republican Party since a long time.

TODD: It's an Oldsmobile party and Charlie Kirk was a motorcycle. You know, it's and it is -- it is radically changed what the Republican Party.

BASH: Let me just give you an anecdote to back up your point. I have a 14-year-old son who, you know, thinks that what we do in covering politics is super boring, which makes him a normal 14-year-old kid.

But he knew who Charlie Kirk was because and, you know, and others in the movement --

HINOJOSA: Gavin Newsom said that his kids were impacted.

BASH: Exactly, exactly. And the reason is -- isn't necessarily because at least initially, these young men, in some cases young teenage boys are totally invested in the politics of Charlie Kirk.

It's because he -- Kirk was so fluent in this and in social media and in getting and engaging with people in a way that they could respond to.

I went to pick up my son that day at school, and I could hear people, and it was unfortunately, just after we learned that Kirk had died. And I could hear the people, particularly the boys, screaming the news to one another.

TODD: I spent a lot of time with young men for the same reason. I have a teenager and they all use common -- one word. He was fearless. He went into places where he knew he was outnumbered and still expressed his opinions, and took on challenges. That sense of fearlessness is attractive, particularly to young men.

HINOJOSA: Yes, and I'll say I don't agree with Charlie Kirk on anything. I mean, maybe our faith, but that's about it.

And I will -- I do have to give it to him. He was someone who would go out and seek out conversation and debate -- again, did not agree with him in any way.

But our colleague Van Jones just recently wrote about how Charlie reached out to him after they had a spirited debate about the Ukrainian woman who had passed away.

And he said, you know what? Why don't you come on my show? Why don't we talk about it some more? Right? And that is sort of the opposite of the conversation that sort of Trump is having right now about free speech, right.

Charlie was all about free speech. He was all about having these conversations. And I think that that is that authenticity, I think, is what younger people like your son and others like, you know.

BASH: Which is why we are seeing some pushback from some of the most conservative voices out there -- Ben Shapiro, Tucker Carlson --

HINOJOSA: They're going to speak today.

BASH: -- who's going to speak today -- push back on what they say explicitly is their concern about President Trump's quashing of some free speech.

HOLMES: Yes, many of them going after President Trump, also going after Attorney General Pam Bondi. And we'll hear them today. We'll hear what they say about free speech and Charlie's legacy.

I've spoken to a number of people who are speaking today. And what they really want to convey in their speeches is that this was a turning point for obviously, literally -- and literally and figuratively for the country.

And also talk about what Charlie Kirk's legacy is going to be. And they believe that free speech is a part of that.

BASH: All right. Everybody, stand by. We're going to continue to watch the memorial for Charlie Kirk in Arizona.

The vice president, the president, a lot of members of Trump's cabinet are there and expected to speak. We're going to bring you those remarks live.

[14:24:49] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Right now, the Charlie Kirk memorial is underway in Glendale, Arizona. I want to get straight to it and listen to Pastor Rob McCoy, who is not only somebody who has been Charlie Kirk's personal pastor, but also co-chair of Turning Point Faith.

PASTOR ROB MCCOY, CO-CHAIR, TURNING POINT FAITH: From the thin veil of heaven Charlie declares to all earthly powers and principalities who will gather here, they have come into the presence of the God of all creation.

Charlie wanted his Savior to be the guest of honor. He wanted all of you to receive this gift from him -- the why and what he did. Charlie was never afraid because he knew his life was secure in the hand of God.

[14:30:08]

Jesus left the glory of heavens throne for the humiliation of an earthly cross. He was fully tempted, yet was without sin. For those of you who struggle with the word sin, it's real simple. It's an archer's term.

Where the bullseye is and where the arrow lands, that's called the sin distance. How far you've fallen from perfection. And there are none righteous? No. Not one. We've all missed the mark, the bullseye.

And we try to get to God by our efforts. But there is no effort that will bring us back into the presence of a of a righteous God. You see, the wages of sin is death. Charlie knew this, and at an early age, he entrusted his life to the savior of the world.

Jesus came to this Earth, was tempted in all ways, yet was without sin, was crucified upon a cross. His blood was poured out because blood must be shed for the remission of sins, and his death upon that cross was sufficient for all the world's sins, but only efficient for those who, like Charlie, would receive him as their savior.

Jesus has come to seek and save that which is lost. And I would say this to all of you. The Lord loves you. He wants to save you. He wants to give you a new life. He wants to cover the multitude of your sins by the blood he shed upon the cross.

The bible says, if you believe in your heart and you confess with your tongue, Jesus is Lord, you will be saved of the glory of the father. You see, Charlie looked at politics as an on-ramp to Jesus. He knew if he could get all of you rowing in the streams of liberty, you'd come to its source. And that's the Lord.

In the time I have remaining, I'm going to ask all who profess Christ as their savior to remain seated. The Bible says, if you profess me before man, I'll profess you before my father in heaven. It requires an act of faith. You stand.

That's what Charlie did every day on campus with death threats. He stood because he knew in whom he had trusted. And he wants to give you the gift of the why and what he did. And that is his savior, Jesus.

While believers are seated, if there's any in this room and across the globe, that would desire to receive Jesus as their savior, Charlie did, as a young man. And now is in the presence of his savior. I'm going to ask you to put action to your faith, and I'd ask you to stand right now to receive the Lord.

Don't be ashamed. Stand. Amen, amen, amen.

(APPLAUSE)

MCCOY: The Bible says -- the Bible says that when one sinner gives their heart to the Lord, the angels in heaven rejoice. And I got to tell you, there's one up there right now. Charlie Kirk. He's stoked and he's excited about your commitment to his savior. For this remaining moment, if you've given your heart to the Lord and someone is seated next to you, I want that person who's a believer to stand and pray with you and please, up on the screen, I want you to take a picture of this QR code.

We are going to give you everything you need to walk this walk with Christ. Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of God, and it's time to get into a bible believing church. And pastors, if you didn't want to give Charlie Kirk the time of day, these folks are going to be showing up at your church and they're there because of his life. God bless you and may the Lord keep you. Amen.

(APPLAUSE)

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please stand and join us for the national anthem.

(NATIONAL ANTHEM)

[14:37:23]

BASH: Steve Amerson singing a very powerful rendition of the national anthem. Brad?

TODD: This is going to be quite a day. I think, you know, you're going to see a lot of people who are going to be comforted in mourning, but evangelical Christians believe that there's greater glory that goes beyond this world. And you're going to see a big celebration today of Charlie Kirk's life and of the saving power of Jesus. I think you're going to see a religious experience. It may turn into a political rally by the end, but I think that what we've seen thus far has been a celebration of not only of his life, but of grace.

HINOJOSA: I agree, and I think that what you've seen so far is obviously reflects his faith and his values. And I think also just very telling, just the amount of people Ted Cruz just walked in. You -- that are there from the cabinet. You know, I don't know anyone from the cabinet who's not there at this point. And I think -- they're going to you're going to hear a lot of stories

about seems like faith is the theme of today. So far, it also seems like there are somewhat of a unifying message on faith.

But let's hope -- it stays like that.

HOLMES: Yeah. And I would just note, I mean, I think the pastor set the tone there. Its not as though this is a pastor who hasn't been political in the past. He has, even since Charlie Kirk's death, been doing interviews in which he condemns people who are talking about conspiracy theories. That's actually conspiracy theories on the right that he has been condemning over the assassination of Charlie Kirk. And you didn't hear any of that from him there.

So, you know, one of the things I was waiting to hear was if this was going to start talking, wading into the politics of all of this early on and clearly, so far, we see the message, and the message is one that that's what Kirk's family hoped it would be, which is that of religion and God.

BASH: Yeah. And for people who are watching, who, maybe aren't churchgoers and aren't familiar and aren't fluent in the language of Christian faith and just the notion of martyrdom, I think we're going to hear that a lot.

THOMPSON: Martyrdom is, you know, one of the most powerful political forces in the world and was the political force behind the rise of Christianity in the first place.

BASH: Yes.

THOMPSON: And I do not think you can underestimate how much you know. And that's what also made Charlie Kirk sort of a unique force is that while some of it was about certain policies, it was actually also about lifestyle. You know, he talked about not drinking. He talked about not watching pornography as young men. He talked about that he thought the best way to live your life was to get married young and to have children.

[14:40:05]

There was something about -- this is the -- if you are depressed and you feel like you do not have purpose in life, he was trying to funnel that not just through, you know, supporting tax cuts, but supporting an entire lifestyle.

BASH: And faith.

THOMPSON: Yes. And the faith was incredibly a huge part of that.

BASH: Yeah. All right. Absolutely. Thank you so much one and all. Don't go too far.

We're going to take you back to Arizona, where the memorial for Charlie Kirk is continuing. We'll be right back.

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[14:45:19]

BASH: Right now, tens of thousands of people are at a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kirk supporters are waiting to hear from Mrs. Erika Kirk, President Donald Trump and members of his administration to celebrate Kirk's legacy. We'll bring that to you when they happen.

In the meantime, politics is certainly continuing here in Washington. The president is now praising his attorney general, Pam Bondi, after he took to his Truth Social platform last night and called her out by name for not taking more aggressive action in prosecuting his political opponents. He lamented that, quote, nothing is being done and urged Bondi to be more aggressive with the Justice Department's power, specifically naming Senator Adam Schiff, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Kristen Holmes is back with me.

Kristen, can you walk us through what's going on behind the scenes here?

HOLMES: Yeah, this is all about what we've been reporting on for days, about the U.S. attorney in the eastern district of Virginia. And what we saw last week was essentially Erik Siebert, who is the U.S. attorney quitting from his post. This started because of a number of high-profile political cases that Siebert office was being pushed to pursue, including that of Letitia James. And what was being billed as a mortgage fraud case.

Now, we spoke to a number of sources who have been briefed on the material and the evidence that they had in that case, and we're told that they did not have enough to bring charges. And that's what Siebert, the U.S. attorney, believed to be true. And that essentially because of that, there became a pressure campaign against Siebert. It was led by a number of administration officials, including Bill Pulte, who is obviously led the mortgage fraud case against Lisa Cook, the federal reserve governor, to fire Siebert and to put someone in who is essentially willing to do this.

So, you saw him again, as you noted, putting out this Truth Social addressing Pam Bondi, it seemed to be an attack in some ways, saying you're not moving fast enough.

He did then clarify afterwards, talking positively about Bondi. I do want to play that sound quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Pam Bondi is doing a great job. I think Pam Bondi is going to go down as one of the best attorney generals of the ages.

(END VIDEO CLIP) THOMPSON: So, clearly, they're backtracking a little bit after he sent out what seemed to be a scathing attack on her. I will note one thing. Now, President Trump has nominated his former personal attorney, Lindsey Halligan, who was a former insurance attorney, to be the U.S. attorney of that district. He is hoping that she will bring these various cases against his opponents.

The thing to watch here is that this doesn't appear, doesn't seem to be from talking to sources, a one off. It is likely you are going to start seeing a lot of U.S. attorneys who are looking over these cases against President Trump's political enemies start to either move in the direction of pursuing a case or indicting in a case because of that political pressure, or this could be the beginning of a number of other firings and potential replacements, as President Trump is trying to get these cases in front of a judge and trying to pursue these cases against his enemies.

BASH: So, to sum it up your reporting is and we're seeing from the president himself in that stunning post last night that he is expecting the prosecutors who work for the federal government, who are tend to be appointed by the president to go after legally, his political opponents. And if they cant find prosecutable information on them, they're going to be removed.

HOLMES: They could be. And I do want to -- Dana, I just want to say one thing.

BASH: Yeah.

HOLMES: Erik Siebert, the person we've been talking about, he is a Republican. He is known conservative, and he was appointed by Trump and is known to be a Trump supporter. So, it's not as though this is just an attack on Democrats. It's essentially an attack on anyone who's not going to go along with what President Trump wants to do.

BASH: Kristen Holmes, thank you so much.

And we are going to take you back to Arizona, where the memorial for Charlie Kirk is underway, after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:54:19]

BASH: Welcome back. Part of my panel is back with me.

Xochitl, I want to start with you and pick up where my conversation with Kristen Holmes left off about the post that President Trump put up yesterday, directed publicly at his attorney general, saying that the people who are his political enemies are clearly guilty and that he was upset that she has not been more successful in going after them criminally in court. He also did say that he still supports her. He did that this morning.

Xochitl, you worked for the DOJ during, I think most of the Biden administration. Can you just talk about protocols? And I know that they've been sort of blown out.

[14:55:03]

And that's certainly not what president Trump is about, about following protocols. But why it matters in this case?

HINOJOSA: Well, the reason why you have the sort of a wall between the Justice Department and the White House is because you don't want your investigations to be political in any way.

Here, this is a clear example of Donald Trump attempting to communicate with Pam Bondi. And I think he thought he was communicating privately with her. And accidentally truthed it about why, about going after his political opponents.

He's very clear in that message because he ends that message with saying, they came after me. They impeached me, they indicted me. And he does not believe that it is fair that they were able to do that because, again, there are serious allegations about wrongdoing, especially in the Justice Department indictments against Donald Trump. But he believes that now they should go after him.

I will say Trump also just handed a big sort of gift to Adam Schiff to Comey, to Tish James. And I think even in the future, to Jack Smith and other people, he might go after because now if they do bring charges, those attorneys can make the case that this was a wrongful prosecution, that they were being targeted for political purposes.

So, at the end of the day, this taints any sort of investigation moving forward, making it very difficult for Pam Bondi to do her job in the Justice Department. If they did, if they were planning on bringing charges. And honestly, I could see these charges being thrown out by a judge.

BASH: Brad?

TODD: Well, you know, I think Donald Trump has often been upset with his attorney general, jeff sessions, during the first administration. He -- there hardly was a day he was not unhappy with Jeff Sessions.

He -- a lot of presidents, the Biden administration, they didn't think Merrick Garland was moving fast enough to go after Donald Trump as Xochitl well remembers.

And so, it's normal for presidents to be a little unhappy with the fact that they aren't also attorney general at the same time.

That said, in this case, Pam Bondi has appointed Maggie Cleary, who is a respected attorney. She's worked at -- capably as a prosecutor in the state of Virginia. She was actually assistant U.S. attorney during the first year of the Biden administration.

So I think that she will administer the law fairly and to do her job as she does as an attorney.

BASH: All right. Thanks to you both. I know you'll be here for many hours as we continue to cover what is going on in Phoenix.

There you see President Trump deplaning Air Force One. He is, of course, the most high profile speaker who we are going to see today, going not just as a president but as a very dear friend of Charlie Kirk.

Stay with CNN's coverage on this memorial. We'll be right back.

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