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Erin Burnett Outfront
Washington Post: Suspect In Kirk Killing Told Friends "It Was Me"; Trump Defends Not Lowering Flags For Slain Minnesota House Dem; FBI Chief, Facing Growing Criticism, Praises Handling Of Kirk Killing; Epstein Prosecutor And Daughter Of James Comey Sues DOJ Over Firing. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired September 15, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:18]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, quote, "It was me". Those are the words of the suspect in the Charlie Kirk murder, according to "The Washington Post".
And tonight, we are learning about more messages Tyler Robinson reportedly posted in the hours after the shooting. The reporters who broke these stories are our guests.
And just hours before Robinson makes his first court appearance, the suspect is in a special housing unit, not cooperating with authorities. What charges is he about to face?
And Maurene Comey prosecutor in the Epstein case, former FBI Director James Comey's daughter. She is fighting back against her sudden firing. Was it all political? We'll find out.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, an apparent confession. The alleged killer of Charlie Kirk reportedly confessing to the assassination just hours before his arrest. According to "The Washington Post", Tyler Robinson posted an online message at 7:57 p.m. on Thursday, telling friends, quote, "Hey, guys, I have bad news for you all. It was me at UVU yesterday. I'm sorry for all of this."
Now, that message was posted on discord, a messaging platform that is popular with video gamers, and it continues. He says, quote, "I'm surrendering to a sheriff friend in a few moments. Thanks for all the good times and laughs. Youve all been so amazing. Thank you all for everything."
Well, two hours later, Robinson did surrender to authorities, and the breaking news from "The Washington Post" comes just hours before the Utah County attorney lays out the charges against Robinson. Just before Robinson makes his first court appearance, which we will all see.
The report comes on the heels of a "New York Times" report with more details about what Robinson was posting to another chat group, with about 20 people in it. Another group on Discord that happened earlier on Thursday, and it happened just after the FBI had released the first grainy images of Robinson, which, you know, when we saw them, I think initial reaction was, look, if you know that guy, you're going to know he's that guy.
So, an acquaintance of Robinson writes in this group on Discord, according to "The New York Times", WYA, which means where you at? Along with a skull emoji.
Robinson responding within seconds, saying his quote, doppelganger was trying to get him in trouble. Now, that was reportedly on Thursday afternoon. He was still on the run. This was 24 hours after he allegedly killed Kirk, so it was about nine hours before he was apprehended.
The message continued, at times making light of Kirk's death. Robinsons reported messages are offering now a crucial glimpse into his mindset before and after the killing and what he was doing when he was on the run. Right? He's in these chat groups. So in a moment, I'm going to speak to "The Washington Post" and "New York Times" reporters who broke these stories.
I want to begin, though, with Danny Freeman. He is OUTFRONT. He is live in Orem, Utah.
And, Danny, the first court appearance is hours away. So, what are you learning tonight?
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, Erin, we have learned so much more about the suspect here, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. But it's really been a slow drip over the course of the past few days since that shooting. Well, now, Utah officials are promising that tomorrow we're going to be learning a lot more information. A lot more is going to be released to the public. And that's so crucial because so many here in Utah are desperate for more answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREEMAN (voice-over): FBI Director Kash Patel revealing DNA evidence now connects 22-year-old Tyler Robinson directly to the crime scene.
KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: I can report today that the DNA hits from the towel that was wrapped around the firearm and the DNA on the screwdriver are positively processed for the suspect in custody.
FREEMAN: But law enforcement officials are still working to understand what may have driven this young man to allegedly open fire on Charlie Kirk.
BEAU MASON, COMMISSIONER, UTAH DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: We are still conducting follow up interviews, and a lot of investigative leads to determine any relationship that may have played into this, whether that be political or personal or any of those.
FREEMAN: Investigators are focusing in on a note that Robinson may have written prior to the shooting that the FBI director says has since been destroyed.
PATEL: We have evidence to show what was in that note, which is, and I'm going to summarize basically saying I -- the suspect wrote a note saying, I have the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I'm going to take it.
FREEMAN: Another area of interest and help to authorities so far has been Robinson's roommate.
GOV. SPENCER COX (R), UTAH: The roommate was a romantic partner, a male transitioning to female. This partner has been incredibly cooperative, had no idea that this was happening, and is working with investigators right now.
FREEMAN: Officials are still investigating whether the roommate relationship may have factored into a potential motive. Robinson lived and grew up here in southwest Utah in a conservative family. Acquaintances told CNN, and according to the governor, Robinson moved very far left in recent years.
[19:05:05]
COX: These are the facts that are being presented to us. Family discussions, parents, this is what they're saying.
FREEMAN: In Robinson's hometown, his community mourned Charlie Kirk while processing that the suspected assassin was a neighbor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really hard. You just don't -- can't imagine someone from around here do something like that.
FREEMAN: Sherrie Staheli Tate's family has been here for five generations and told us Robinson went to school with her daughter.
SHERRIE STAHELI TATE, SOUTHERN UTAH RESIDENT: I said, well, how would you describe him? And she said I would describe him as, you know, those kids that are -- they're kind of too smart that they're not commonsense smart.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREEMAN (on camera): And now, Erin, I'll also say that community in southwest Utah also made a point to pray, not just for Charlie Kirk and his family, but also for the Robinson family. Erin, all eyes now here, back up in northern Utah on tomorrow, because that's when that first court appearance is expected to take place -- Erin.
BURNETT: Danny, thank you so much, on the ground in Utah.
OUTFRONT now, the two reporters who obtained these Discord messages sent by Tyler Robinson in the hours before he was taken into custody, Hannah Knowles of "The Washington Post" and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of "The New York Times". Both of these reporters received messages from people in these two different chat groups.
And so, Hannah, you know, let's start with this group message that you saw, Robinson confesses in the message you saw to about 30 people in a group. And the quote of the message that you obtained was, hey, guys, I have bad news for you all. It was me at UVU yesterday. I'm sorry for all of this. Hard to imagine how a group would even react to something like that, whether they would even believe it.
I mean, from what you saw, what more can you tell us about what he said in his confession and how people in that group responded?
HANNAH KNOWLES, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: So Tyler's account on Discord went on to say he was going to turn himself into law enforcement momentarily through what he called a sheriff friend. And then he sort of said goodbye to his friends in a way. He said, thanks for everything. Thanks for the good times.
BURNETT: I mean, it's pretty incredible, Hannah, to even think about this, right? I mean, about 30 people the day after Robinson's arrest. I mean, you've been looking at these messages and you say that a friend wrote in the same group chat that we're talking about here, while Charlie Kirk's politics were not acceptable to some, I asked that we all say a prayer for him and his family during these confusing times.
Now, this is obviously after Robinson's arrest, right, for allegedly assassinating Kirk. So presumably at this point, 30 people now know that this guy in their group is the one accused of doing this.
So, how would you describe the relationship between Tyler and everyone else in this particular group chat?
KNOWLES: Yeah. So I don't want to get into too much of who was in this group. Beyond that, they were friends of Tylers who interacted with him online on this platform. But yeah, what was really interesting was after Tyler's account posts this on Thursday night, the night after the shooting, the chat just goes silent. And there is no response that night.
And then the next day after Tyler's name is now out in the news, after he's been arrested a friend eventually chimes in to say, you know that note you mentioned? Basically asking people in the group to pray for Tyler and also to pray for Charlie Kirk and his family.
BURNETT: But there was silence when they find out it's him. And at least in terms of their conversation on Discord that you're looking at, they're not discussing that somebody they knew, somebody in their group is accused of this.
KNOWLES: I would imagine some of them were probably talking about it somewhere if they saw that message, but not in that channel.
BURNETT: Right. It's pretty stunning.
Okay. So, Nicholas, the messages you obtained are sent by Robinson earlier in the day. So, this is on Thursday afternoon to a discord group of about 20 people. So, this is a different group. It's another 20 people. So, this is at least 50 people that are having these conversations. I'm just sort of doing basic math. Who knows how many groups? But this is this other group.
And, it was shortly after the FBI released a photo. So, at this point, he hadn't turned himself in. They didn't know who he was in the group. What you've seen Robinson's friends start joking that that looks like him. And then within a minute you say that he wrote back. And I quote Nicholas from your reporting that he posts, "My F-ing doppelganger trying to get me in trouble," and then you report somebody joked the group should turn him into the FBI to get the reward money, to which Robinson replied, from your reporting, "Only if I get a cut."
This is incredible stuff, Nicholas. Tell me more about the messages you saw.
NICHOLAS BOGEL-BURROUGHS, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yeah. That's right. I mean, this is, you know, this is 24 hours after the assassination has taken place. Like you said, the FBI has just released these first sort of grainy photos.
[19:10:00]
And someone who knows Tyler in this discord chat says, you know, like you said, where are you at? And he responds by basically suggesting that his doppelganger is trying to get him in trouble, making jokes about it.
At some point, they made a reference to Luigi Mangione, who's accused of the, assassination in Midtown Manhattan, and they told him, you know, don't go to a McDonald's. They're sort of joking around with him. And he keeps joking back saying, you know, I better get also get rid of this manifesto and exact copy rifle I have lying around.
And this is, you know, about nine hours before he ultimately turned himself in.
BURNETT: Yeah. Okay. So then, Nicholas, you've got another message sent around the same time that some news outlets were incorrectly reporting that ammo had been engraved, referencing transgender ideology. And you report that Robinson wrote about this, and I quote from your reporting, I heard the ammo had something about trans stuff on it, but they aren't releasing photos or exact quotes. And also the claim wasn't backed by the official FBI, just some dude in the briefing room.
So, obviously, at this point, it's very clear from this. He's following it very closely, maybe even testing to see how closely others in the group are following it. Right after they'd seen the images. What was the -- what was your sense as you look through that and other messages around that time? At this point, hours before his arrest?
BOGEL-BURROUGHS: Right. I mean, from what he's saying, it sounds like someone who is closely following the news developments of the shooting, who is, you know, discussing it with his friends and sort of just trying to distinguish what is confirmed information and what's not. So, it shows that it's someone who's, you know, definitely keeping an eye on this, this major shooting.
BURNETT: So, Hannah, I know obviously, you're not -- you're not talking about some of the individuals in the group, but just in the context of J.D. Vance saying he's going after terrorist cells and all these groups, you know, and you can imagine them looking at 30 people in a chat here, 20 in a chat here.
What do you know about these people? Were they -- were they were they in person friends? Were there other things in this chat that would have indicated how he felt about Charlie Kirk? Or, you know, what are you able to tell? And is Discord cooperating right now with the FBI?
KNOWLES: Yeah. So, the answer is maybe a bit frustrating to my knowledge. You know, I am not aware of any other messages in this discord server that would speak to, you know, Tyler's motive here. And Discord, has also said that, that Tyler was not like, planning this, shooting on Discord, but they are cooperating with law enforcement. They've shared this confession message with law enforcement. And so I'm sure it'll be part of the investigation.
BURNETT: Absolutely. And, Nicholas, what about you, the group of 20 that you were reporting on here? What more can you tell us about who those people are?
BOGEL-BURROUGHS: Yeah, the extent of, you know, that I know about who is in this group is just people who would play video games together and chit chat. And, you know, I think when, when this thing happened, obviously some of them are based in Utah and it was big news regardless. And then when they see this photograph that looks like they're their friend they were obviously immediately, wanting to post about that and make jokes about it.
BURNETT: Yeah.
BOGEL-BURROUGHS: Before they knew, of course, that it was, you know, that he was actually accused of this.
BURNETT: Of course, of course. But it's such incredible reporting as to piece all of this together.
Hannah and Nicholas, thank you so much for being with us and sharing it.
BOGEL-BURROUGHS: Thank you.
BURNETT: All right. Next, the suspect in Charlie Kirk murder is about to make his first court appearance. We're hours away from that. Questions are swirling, actually, tonight about whether he even has an attorney.
Plus, the vice president hosting Charlie Kirk's podcast, making it clear who he blames for Kirk's death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Something has gone very wrong with a lunatic fringe, a minority, but a growing and powerful minority on the far left.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And breaking news a former federal prosecutor who worked on the Epstein investigation takes on Trump, saying her sudden firing was all about getting back at her father, James Comey.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:18:32]
BURNETT: Breaking news of new information on the suspect in the murder of Charlie Kirk. Right now, Tyler Robinson is in a special housing unit. And we understand now that he will remain on special watch pending a mental health evaluation. Now, it is unclear at this time whether he has an attorney, but we are just hours away from his first court appearance, so it's a pretty crucial question.
Mary Ellen O'Toole is with me. Phil Mudd is with me as well.
And, Phil, we understand Robinson's in this special housing unit as they're calling it. And then he's on special watch, which I know you think is very important in the context of making sure nothing happens to him, like Jeffrey Epstein, for example.
PHIL MUDD, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: Yeah, I think that's right. I mean, if you look at what's happening to him now, it's not necessarily a declaration that they think there's something wrong with him. If you imagine yourself, Erin, as somebody who's in a state or federal or local position in Utah, you cannot afford, you cannot afford anything to happen to this suspect.
So regardless of whether or what you assess of the person's mental state, you have to ensure that overnight, tomorrow night, Wednesday night, nothing happens. This person, you've got to put them in a preventive state, so that -- so that the -- that if they decide that they want to do something to this themselves, nothing can happen.
BURNETT: Right, I know.
MUDD: -- isn't necessarily that you're concerned.
BURNETT: Yeah. And we know, you know, at least according to the reporting that he had told his father he would rather die or kill himself than turn himself in.
[19:20:03]
MUDD: Yeah, yeah.
BURNETT: And he did end up turning himself in. So that context, I guess, matters. I mean, Mary Ellen. You know, the Discord chats that we were just
talking about these two groups that "The New York Times" and "Washington Post" reporting on 50 people in them. "New York Times" had the chat where Robinson, the picture get posted, right, of Robinson at the time. It just looked a lot like him to the people in the group, and they're like, you know, looks like you. He replies that it's his doppelganger trying to, quote, unquote, get me in trouble from these.
You know, this is the window we have. It's a small window, but it's a window into what he was saying and thinking in the hours after the killing and before he was caught.
What do you make of his mindset from what you see?
MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, FORMER SENIOR FBI PROFILER & FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, if you just look at his comments, they do appear to be flippant and very callous and certainly, very cold in terms of what just happened.
However, what we would do in the FBI is that we, rather than take that small snapshot of what, he wrote and say, well, this is his personality. He's very cold-blooded. He's heartless, he's very callous. You have to go back and say, is this representative of the way this individual wrote, say, a month ago or two months ago?
And if it's not, then what would be the reason for that and what they'll look at is what would have been contributing to those changes. And could it have been this immersion into this -- these dark video games? So, they have to look at that and not jump to conclusions because you want to know what's representative of this person. And maybe what has caused some changes that don't represent his personality.
BURNETT: So, Phil, there's another message. We don't get to talk to you with the reporters, but that they were reporting on. He posts in one of the groups. I'm actually Charlie Kirk wanted to get out of politics, so faked my death. Now I can live out my dream life in Kansas.
Obviously, spending a lot of time in this in these group chats, talking about this, talking about the evidence. Right? I mean, he's obsessed with it, I suppose, as you would expect. But, you know, posting things like that where he's showing both an obsession and a flippancy. What do you make of that demeanor? Again, these are the hours after the killing, before his apprehension?
MUDD: Well, this is really interesting, Erin. Let me give you a couple of perspectives.
First, for the person in the group chat, I don't blame them. I don't do social media. But let's assume there are 10,000, 20,000 group chats going. Somebody makes a completely inappropriate comment about the murder of Charlie Kirk. What are you supposed to do? You're supposed to call the FBI?
So, I don't blame the people in the group chat. I think the interesting thing is the perspective on the individual who committed the murder. My experience in these cases is that the emotional investment is in the murder itself. The murderers do not determine what they're going to do afterwards. In this case, the murderer is separating himself from what he's done and joking about it, because there's almost a psychological separation from the killing of another individual to how I'm going to interact on a chat room afterwards.
Really interesting. What do I do? And what do I say afterwards? This is almost two different individuals talking to themselves.
BURNETT: Yeah. Mary Ellen, we now know a little bit more about the suspects background. Conservative family, was known for that. But apparently they're saying that changed recently. We don't know how recently.
We do know, however, he was in a relationship with someone who was transitioning from male to female. We know that this individual is also cooperating with authorities. According to governor cox of Utah, how important is this information?
O'TOOLE: It's very important information because it may contribute, again, to develop a much better understanding of what contributed to his decisions, to act out in such a violent way. So, you have to get the whole picture, not just on the day that the homicide occurred, but what -- what was happening to this individual. The offender in the weeks and days that were leading up to -- to the murder.
So, what was upsetting him? What was making him angry? What was making him feel maybe disenfranchised from close friends and maybe family members?
BURNETT: Yeah.
O'TOOLE: Those kinds of events, facts in his life could have contributed to his motivation. And I've seen this repeatedly. There is never just one motivation for a violent crime. There are multiple reasons for why somebody would do this.
BURNETT: So, Phil, you know, when we talk about the person's roommate that he was in a romantic relationship, right? The governor of Utah said this person is, I just mentioned, is cooperating and said he did that. This individual didn't know anything about this. All right?
So I'm just going to take that at face value for the point of this question, Phil, which is, is it possible that nobody knew?
[19:25:04]
MUDD: I think so. I think you have to look at cases in two basic categories, that is individuals and people who participate in the conspiracy. Once you participate in conspiracy, you're talking to somebody else who is sharing ideas for you about why you're doing this, how you're doing this.
Once you get into all the individuals who act by themselves, there's a theater that's operating inside their heads. And to guess that we can understand whether you're a lover, a friend, a family member, that we can understand what's going on in their heads. In my experience, is good luck. I don't think so.
BURNETT: Phil, Mary Ellen, thank you both.
And next, as Trump blames Democrats for Kirk's assassination, the president faced this question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Do you think it would have been fitting to lower the flags to half-staff when Melissa Hortman, the Minnesota House speaker, was gunned down by an assassin as well?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not familiar. Oh, the who?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, Trump's FBI director facing major questions as his handling of the Kirk investigation takes one strange turn after another.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:30:52]
BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump defending not lowering flags to half-staff when Melissa Hortman, the Democratic Minnesota house speaker, was assassinated by someone posing as a police officer in the middle of the night at her home, she opened the door. She was assassinated. He also then said he didn't know who she was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Do you think it would have been fitting to lower the flags to half-staff when Melissa Hortman, the Minnesota house speaker, was gunned down by an assassin as well?
TRUMP: I'm not familiar -- oh, the who?
REPORTER: The Minnesota house speaker, a Democrat who was assassinated this summer.
TRUMP: Well, if the governor had asked me to do that, I would have done that. But the governor of Minnesota didn't ask me. I didn't -- I wouldn't have thought of that. But I would have if somebody had asked me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He said he wouldn't have thought of it. Of course he did think of it with Kirk. Within hours of Kirk's murder, he announced that flags would be lowered to half-staff.
Trump's comments coming just hours after Vice President Vance filled in as the host of "The Charlie Kirk Show" today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: We have to talk about this incredibly destructive movement of left wing extremism that has grown up over the last few years, and I believe is part of the reason why Charlie was killed by an assassin's bullet. But by celebrating that murder, apologizing for it and emphasizing not Charlie's innocence, but the fact that he said things some didn't like, even to the point of lying about what he actually said. Many of these people are creating an environment where things like this are inevitably going to happen.
So, when you see someone celebrating Charlie's murder, call them out and hell, call their employer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT. Now, former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger. Bakari Sellers, also OUTFRONT, the former Democratic South Carolina state representative. And of course, as you are both aware, bunch of people have been fired for saying things after the Charlie Kirk murder.
Congressman, so when you hear J.D. Vance hosting that podcast, the sitting vice president of the United States hosting the Kirk podcast today, I know you had a chance to listen to much of it. You know, what did you think?
ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, look, this is the weirdest time. It's -- it's, you know, there's only as I see it, only one kind of group of people trying to make this a very divisive thing. And that is people like J.D. Vance. I mean, I've only seen, like, we can all go on twitter and see people that celebrate it. They're usually faceless, nameless people, and it's disgusting.
But every Democratic leader I've seen has expressed remorse for what happened, has expressed concern, has expressed compassion for the family. It's like they're trying to stir this thing up. And it's -- this is so dangerous. That's the thing is, this is such a dangerous moment because a cycle of violence is what I fear, and a cycle of violence doesn't end well for anybody.
Nobody wanted this to happen to Charlie Kirk. This is awful. And for the vice president to say he knows who did it and the motivation -- I don't even think law enforcement has said that there was a specific motivation behind it.
BURNETT: Right.
KINZINGER: So, this is really dangerous.
BURNETT: Right. He's talking about, you know, left wing extremism as a group, right at that -- at -- that's the -- that's the motive. That's what's behind it.
So, Bakari, in this podcast, Vance also interviews the White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller. Now, obviously, Stephen Miller has an incredibly large amount of power right now. So, what he said on this is really important. I'll play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: We are going to channel all of the anger that we have over the organized campaign that led to this assassination to uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks. It is a vast domestic terror movement. And with God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people. It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie's name.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Just to be clear, Bakari, investigators so far have said they believe Kirk's suspected shooter acted alone.
[19:35:05]
Okay? But what you heard there from Stephen Miller, as a matter of fact, presented as that, was that there was an organized campaign that led to this assassination and that they are going to uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks.
So, what do you hear when you hear that?
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, unfortunately, they're using Charlie Kirk's murder as a pretext to go out and suppress and take away further rights from individuals who they disagree with.
Look, I agree with Adam Kinzinger. You have a young man who was -- whose life was taken away from us, far too young, whose children will have to grow up without a father, and whose wife will have to have this life without a husband. There is no person who should celebrate the fact that Charlie Kirk was assassinated, murdered. And there's no one who should celebrate that.
But we can also do that without sanitizing the man. We can also do that with, without having to be fearful about calling out the racism or the bigotry or the misogyny or the divisiveness that came out of Charlie Kirk's mouth while he was alive. And so, when you have somebody like the vice president of the United States and you have somebody as powerful as Stephen Miller doubling down on the divisiveness, I mean, you have to wonder where we are as a country. I'm afraid to say we've hit rock bottom because tomorrow we can go even further.
But what Stephen Miller's talking about is chilling. And Adam -- Adam knows this as well. Democrats, we fell in love with cancel culture. It wasn't but four or five years ago, Democrats were just trying to cancel people for being ignorant or just not knowing or saying stuff. And I spoke out against it. A lot of not enough people spoke out
against it, but now, you see Republicans firing people because of what they tweet. You're calling people's jobs because if Charlie Kirk is this free speech martyr, this seems to be the antithesis thereof. And so, I'm concerned about where were going and what we're using it for.
BURNETT: I want to get to the word martyr that you mentioned in a moment, because I think it's really important. But first, you know, Bakari, what do you say to President Trump today saying he never ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at Melissa Hortman's murder, he said frankly, because he never would have thought of it, and also because the governor never asked him to do it? Obviously, in this case, he thought of it. He didn't need to be asked to do it. He at first said he, you know, didn't know who she was.
SELLERS: No, the flags did not need to be lowered for Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk is a murder victim. My heart goes out again. He should not have been killed.
But there's no reason that our flags were lowered. I mean, you have individuals like a young black police officer who saved lives at the CDC recently. The same day Charlie Kirk was murdered. You had children who were killed in elementary schools.
I just think that we have gotten so far off kilter in this country where everything is political gamesmanship, everything is one- upmanship, everything is divisive.
And so, look, I think that whatever the president wants to do on his private time to acknowledge the death of Charlie Kirk, please do it. But there are so many people who were hurt by his words while he was here. And so, I pray that we utilize this moment to be better.
But unfortunately, J.D. Vance and Donald Trump, they aren't echoing those same sentiments.
BURNETT: Congressman, I want to get back to the martyr in this context, okay? And that is this word martyr that is being used by many President Trump himself, right? That Charlie Kirk's murder has made him a martyr. I'll play a few.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: He's a martyr for truth and freedom.
ERIKA KIRK, CHARLIE KIRK'S WIDOW: Now and for all eternity, he will stand at his savior's side, wearing the glorious crown of a martyr.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Charlie died a martyr.
STEVE BANNON, PODCAST HOST: He's a modern day Christian martyr.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Steve Bannon, at least, Congressman, put the word Christian in front of it. Right? Martyr is a religious word. It is very much a religious word. That is the definition.
So, what do you hear here, when you hear again and again and again, that word being used about a political figure?
KINZINGER: Yeah. I mean, I hear what I think they're trying to get out, which is it's almost a religious movement. I mean, look, it's -- I've seen people talking about praying that he's risen from the dead and serious about this.
And you know, as a Christian myself, it's very disturbing to watch somebody put anybody on a pedestal almost equal to Jesus Christ, it seems. But I think it's an inappropriate use of the word. It's attempted to be this kind of call to action.
And when people like Stephen Miller talk about going after folks who disagree, let's be very clear. They're trying to intimidate people from having a political opinion. You know, we talk about the fact that not everybody liked Charlie Kirk's political opinion. And everybody I've heard said, but he had every right to go out and say it.
Well, that's the same for people that these folks disagree with.
[19:40:01]
And now they're trying to put the chill on it.
Look, I mean, if you're on social media, literally celebrating the death, then you're an idiot. And maybe there are repercussions that should happen. But simply to have an opinion that's different -- my goodness, I just -- I'm almost speechless because this party that I used to, you know, 10 years ago was nothing like this. It's totally turned on its head.
BURNETT: Yeah. Thank you both very much. I appreciate the conversation.
SELLERS: You bet. Thank you.
BURNETT: Next, FBI employees telling CNN they're growing frustrated with Kash Patel, especially after he took all the credit for catching the man they claim killed Charlie Kirk.
Plus, breaking news, Maurene Comey, the daughter of James Comey, suing Trump's administration, claiming she lost her job as a federal prosecutor because Trump wants revenge.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:45:27]
BURNETT: Tonight, Kash Patel facing growing questions about his competence and professionalism. The FBI director, who has no law enforcement experience, is under scrutiny for his handling of the investigation into Charlie Kirk's murder. Patel on defense, saying he has no regrets after prematurely tweeting law enforcement had the, quote, subject of Kirk's killing in custody, only to backtrack less than two hours later.
He said, was just -- it was an incorrect thing. He then used the interview to burnish his reputation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATEL: We made -- I made an executive decision on an investigative and operational need, and it turned out to be the right move. So, I made the tough calls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Brian Todd is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The FBI director continued to give extraordinary detail to the public today on the bureau's investigation into Charlie Kirk's murder, telling Fox News of a note from the alleged shooter before the assassination.
PATEL: The suspect wrote a note saying, I have the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I'm going to take it. That note was written before the shooting.
TODD: And even more detail from the director on DNA from a towel and screwdriver found with the gun used in Kirk's killing.
PATEL: The DNA hits from the towel that was wrapped around the firearm, and the DNA on the screwdriver are positively processed for the suspect in custody.
TODD: Contrast Kash Patel's comments with what Utah's public safety commissioner told CNN when asked for similar detail.
BEAU MASON, COMMISSIONER, UTAH DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: There's not much that I can speak to of evidentiary, without compromising the integrity of the case.
TODD: This comes amid mounting questions surrounding Patel's handling of the Kirk case. Some FBI employees telling CNN they're frustrated with Patel, starting with his post on social media just hours after the shooting that a suspect was in custody, a claim that Patel had to walk back a couple of hours later.
FBI employees also told CNN it galled them that Patel claimed personal credit twice in the same news conference for the most successful turns in the investigation.
PATEL: At my direction, the FBI released the first set of FBI photos of the suspect at 10:00 a.m.
At my direction, the FBI released a never before seen video of the suspect.
TODD: Then there was the personal message Patel gave to his deceased friend from the podium.
PATEL: To my friend Charlie Kirk, rest now, brother. We have the watch. And I'll see you in Valhalla.
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: What you don't want is accusations that because of personal friendships or relationships or passions about the crime that the FBI did something untoward or beyond procedure or wrong, involving evidence.
TODD: Kash Patel was a controversial choice for FBI director from the start. Known before he took the job as a Trump loyalist who would seek retribution against perceived enemies even over false claims about the 2020 election.
PATEL: We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government, but in the media. Yes, we're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections.
TODD: Patel also defended some people charged in the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Tonight, amid the new scrutiny of his handling of the Charlie Kirk case, Patel's actions have led some of President Trump's allies, like right wing activist Christopher Rufo and conservative commentator Erick Erickson, to question whether Patel is up to the job.
One FBI official defended Patel to CNN, saying the suspect in the Kirk shooting was only apprehended after a family member saw photos of him that Patel had ordered released.
Patel has also defended himself, posting on X, quote, against all law enforcement recommendations, we demanded the video footage and enhanced stills of the suspect be released to the public.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (on camera): There is no indication that Kash Patel job is at risk. A source familiar with the matter telling CNN, Patel had spoken to President Trump after the arrest of the alleged Kirk assassin and that Trump was pleased with his work -- Erin.
BURNETT: Brian, thank you very much.
And next, the former top prosecutor, Maurene Comey, suing the Trump administration for her sudden firing. Could it be because she was handling the Epstein case? Or because her last name is Comey? Her attorney will be OUTFRONT next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:54:25]
BURNETT: Breaking news, fighting back. Maurene Comey. The former federal prosecutor who worked on Jeffrey Epstein's case and led the case against Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, is suing the Trump administration after she was suddenly, totally abruptly fired this summer.
Now, Maurene s the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, and Maurene Comey alleges her termination was done in retaliation against her father. When asked directly for the reason behind her firing, Comey claims she was told, quote, all I can say is it came from Washington. I can't tell you anything else.
Ellen Blain is OUTFRONT now, a lawyer for Maurene Comey.
And, Ellen, I really appreciate your time.
[19:55:00]
And I know a lot of people have been waiting to see what she would choose to do. This, firing coming so abruptly.
So, she's suing the Department of Justice, I guess. Just to cut to the bottom, bottom line of this -- I mean, is her firing political payback, literally because her name is Comey.
ELLEN BLAIN, ATTORNEY FOR MAURENE COMEY: Well, as we allege, the -- Maurene Comey was fired, right, on July 16th, and all we know is that she was fired pursuant to, quote, Article Two of the Constitution. That's all we know. No reason was given. And in fact, as we allege, no good reason exists.
As you well know, she served for more than a decade in Southern District, pursuing justice without fear or favor, following the facts and the law wherever they led, getting accolades up and down her chain, repeatedly getting promoted through the system, and even receiving accolades through three different political administrations through the first Obama administration, the first Trump administration, and the Biden administration, and even the second Trump administration.
So, what reason do we have left? Well, the reason that we have left is because her last name is Comey. And Congress passed a law specifically to prevent exactly this type of political retribution against federal employees, including AUSAs.
Not only has congress passed a law to prevent exactly this type of retribution, but the constitution protects her rights, too. And so critically, Ms. Comey does not bring this case just to vindicate her personal rights as a federal employee and as a citizen of this country, but also to hopefully protect in the future all those currently serving SNDY, AUSA and federal employees around the country.
BURNETT: So, when you say in the lawsuit the facts and circumstances reflect that Ms. Comey was terminated, not because of her performance or for any cause, but in retaliation for her association with her father, James Comey, and his constitutionally protected speech or because of her perceived political affiliation or both.
BLAIN: Yes.
BURNETT: Okay. So, how -- how do you plan to make this case? I mean, you're laying out a set of circumstances that obviously add up, but do you have the actual receipts for it?
BLAIN: Well, it's really up to the government to prove that they had good cause to fire her because as it stands now, there is no good cause. Theres no good cause that we see that exists. There's no cause in the facts. And there's no cause in the law.
BURNETT: They didn't try to attempt to give you one?
BLAIN: And they haven't. And we hope that if there is good cause, they would want to rush to discovery and show us exactly what the reasons were.
BURNETT: So, when we talk about her name being Comey and you've talked about that, okay, when this happened, it was stunning, in part because of its timing. So you mentioned the day, July 16th.
BLAIN: Yes.
BURNETT: That happened to be the day or the day after that when House Speaker Mike Johnson had said, he at that time was calling for more transparency in the Epstein files and wanted the Trump administration to release all of those. Trump also blamed James Comey, on that day, on the 15th, for making up the Epstein files when he started down his whole hoax line.
And there are many who wonder, did her firing have anything to do with the fact that she was playing such a key role? She led the Ghislaine Maxwell, you know, successful prosecution. She played a key role in the Epstein investigation. Trump's eye was on that very, that very part of the DOJ.
BLAIN: Well, we don't know yet is the short answer. All we know are the facts and the timeline, as -- as we all understand them as, as public citizens. We understand that Laura Loomer, you know, a very influential social, social media personality who has influence, we understand and allege in the White House when it comes to terminating federal employees and officials, publicly called for Ms. Comey's termination. May 16th, May 16th, a second time, and on May 18th and then, in fact, two months later, Maurene Comey was terminated. We can connect the dots, but now it's up to the government to show -- well, what is the reason? Is there a reason? Then we need to know what it is. And she has a right to contest it.
BURNETT: And I go back to this again. So, in other words, when she was fired, they didn't even do the pretense of a reason. They literally back to the quote that I shared at the beginning. They tell her, all I can say is it came from Washington.
BLAIN: Well, that's not even, Main Justice, right? She was in, as we allege, in her supervisor's office. She received an email from, you know, a bureaucrat at the Department of Justice and saying that she was fired pursuant to Article Two of the Constitution. And then the interim at that point, U.S. attorney walked in and said, as we allege, you know, in some in substance, all I can tell you is it came from Washington. We also allege that the White House press secretary said when asked
that same question, all I can tell you is this came from the Department of Justice. So, we don't know who actually pulled the strings. We don't know who actually made the decision. We don't know why the lever was pulled, but we do know that there was no good cause to fire Maurene Comey, who has been an excellent AUSA in the southern district for a decade.
BURNETT: I would imagine discovery would give you a lot of information on that --
BLAIN: And we have to have it.
BURNETT: -- as to how high it went and where.
BLAIN: Exactly.
BURNETT: Yes.
All right. Well, Ellen, I really appreciate your time, and thank you very much. Thank you.
Ellen Blain, as I said, a lawyer for Maurene Comey, and as we've been watching that story ever since July 16th, wondering if we were going to find out what would happen. And now perhaps we actually will.
Thanks so much to all of you for joining us.
"AC360" begins right now.
