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FBI: Footprints, Palm And Forearm Prints Found Near Scene; FBI Release Photo Asking For Help Identifying "Person Of Interest" In Connection With Charlie Kirk Shooting; Kirk's killer At Large But Authorities Cite "Key Breakthroughs"; Bipartisan Horror At Murder Of Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk; America On Edge Amid Rising Political Violence. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired September 11, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Welcome to Inside Politics. I'm Dana BASH. And we're following breaking news. A critical development in the manhunt for the assassin who gunned down conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Officials just released this image. They are asking for the public's health and -- help in identifying the person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting.

CNN's Nick Watt is following this breaking news. Nick, you are in Orem, Utah. This is a really significant moment that this is being put out to crowd source.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. So, Dana, we were told that they made some key breakthroughs overnight. One of those breakthroughs was good, clean video image -- images of this suspect. Now, we were told by two and a half hours ago that investigators were using technology to try to find an identity from that video image.

We were told they were pretty confident that they could do that, but if they couldn't, then they were going to release the images to the public to try and get the public's help. They have now released those images on X, on other platforms, and it shows, as we were told earlier, a college aged male who, as investigators say, could very easily have blended in with the crowd here on campus. 3000 people here to see Charlie Kirk yesterday.

They described this young male suspect as college age, able to blend in. So, the other key breakthroughs that they discussed, they have found a weapon, a high-powered bolt action rifle with some writings. They are going through those writings. FBI analysts, looking at the writings, also at the weapon, also trying to find an identity.

It is now coming up on 22 hours since the shooting. And of course, with every hour, this task gets harder. They found a weapon in a wooded area behind the campus, in the direction that they know the suspect fled, but the suspect himself was not found in that wooded area. And as an FBI special agent said this morning, they don't know how far he has gone. So, they've been gathering video imaging from security cameras from the many students who obviously had cell phones on them. We've seen the image of a person running across the roof just after the shots were fired.

They now have all the doorbell camera video from the neighborhood through which the suspect fled, and of course, they will be trying to piece this together to try and track this suspect as far as they possibly can. But this is a major, major breakthrough.

This is also a major admission that they have not been able to, I would assume, use the technology they were using on those images to try and draw an identity themselves. That is why they have now thrown this open to the public, asking for the public's help, as they have been from the moment the investigation started.

The FBI says they've had over 130 tips by this morning. Images, video, they want more of that, and now, they want the public's help in trying to identify the person shown in these images. Dana?

BASH: I also understand that we have some new information about some words and phrases that were imprinted on the gun that certainly could give some indication of perhaps at least some of the motive here.

WATT: Correct. This is reporting from my colleague, Evan Perez that there was some writing found with the gun, with the ammunition, and they are obviously analyzing that to see if this writing leads them to an identity of the suspect, or if it is perhaps, you know, ramblings on current cultural events. Analysts are going through that right now.

Now, Evan Perez also reports that they found a screwdriver with that weapon. Because one of the questions that I've had is, OK, sure this suspect could have blended into a crowd on a college campus. But could a suspect blend into a crowd on a college campus while carrying a long gun?

Now, one theory, perhaps, is that that screwdriver that they found would have been used to disassemble and assemble that rifle. Now we've also heard from authorities that they put together a timeline. They believe that the suspect arrived just by the campus at 11:52 am local time, that is 28 minutes before the shooting, eight minutes before the Charlie Kirk event began.

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They have tracked the suspect up stairwells across the roof to the shooting position that we believe is on top of a college campus building with about a 200 yard straight shot to where Charlie Kirk was sitting when he was hit.

So, major developments, Dana, but still no suspect in custody. They have arrested -- not arrested. They have taken in two people for questioning. Over the course investigation, they have been questioned and released. They are completely out of the picture in terms of investigation. No stigma on them whatsoever. They are searching for this person. They've just released the images of the person who they desperately want to find. Dana?

BASH: All right. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. Very important reporting and on these new developments, we're going to continue the conversation with retired FBI Special Agent, Daniel Brunner. Thank you so much for being here.

First, what is the fact that they have released this photo tell you, as somebody who has been involved in FBI investigations like this?

DANIEL BRUNNER, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, it tells me that the investigation is going through its normal course of action. I believe that this is just another step in putting more pressure on this individual to make a mistake, and that right there is the key where investigators are looking for, is they want this individual to make a mistake.

He may have planned the next 24 or 48 hours after the incident, but at some point, he's going to get tired. He's going to make a mistake, he's going to get hungry, he's going to get cold, very much similar to the Luigi Mangione manhunt, where he made a mistake. And that's all that it takes is one small mistake, and he's on the run.

So, this individual planned for this. He prepared his escape plan, but he's already making mistakes by leaving the rifle, leaving the screwdriver, and clearly, you know, getting digital evidence where he was tracked across the campus. And they're going to go backwards from there.

They're going to watch him where he approaches campus, and from there they're going to go even further back. Did he walk down around campus? Did he approach campus? They're going to look at all the digital evidence that's out there.

But another key, you know, thing that they're doing here is pushing this photograph out, is people who have digital phones, they may have captured his image. Then that's why it'll motivate individuals to say, well, maybe I'll turn in my phone now for evidence, which will increase the amount of intelligence that they can get.

BASH: Oh, that's interesting. That this might be a way for them to just get more, more information and more, as you said, evidence from people who have not yet given that to law enforcement. Can you just explain when you talk about the digital element of the investigation, what that looks like?

BRUNNER: Well, there's multiple aspects of the digital evidence. There's, you've got your telephones, you've got your cell phones, you got cameras, you got multiple things coming in from different sides. We live in a digital world. We live in a digital world where things can come in. You got aircraft, you got cell phones, computers. He's going to leave a digital signature out there, and that's what they're going to look for. That's what they're going to try and find.

BASH: And the fact that there was writing on this weapon. Again, we don't know, of course, this could suggest motive, or a set of motives. But does that do anything for investigators when it comes to tracking this person down?

BRUNNER: Well, the FBI has a lot of tools at their disposal. And one of the biggest -- the greatest tools is the Behavioral Analysis Unit, the BAU, at Quantico. I'm sure they're all getting all of this data. They're getting all of the digital evidence along with the writing. They're going to analyze it. They're going to try and paint the picture of who his mental state was leading up to the attack, during the attack.

They're going to look at everything. Then nothing will get unturned, nothing is going to be not analyzed. So, they're going to try and figure out where he may be next, where he is going to proceed. And they obviously have the direction of travel, where they recover the weapon. And they're going to look at possibly if -- does he have other resources? Is he communicating with other people?

They are going to look at cell phone towers to see what cell phones were being utilized in the area. And they're going to look at that and see if there is a pattern. If there's one common number that seems to have moved across campus, they'll start analyzing that. It's a lot of data. There's a lot of information, but putting this out there, putting his face out there, increases the number of people that are looking out their window.

The best thing that happened in this community here is everyone knows in that community, knows their streets. They know their neighborhood. They're going to look for an individual, matching this description that just doesn't fit the neighborhood. The FBI has just increased the number of eyes that are looking around for this individual now.

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BASH: Yeah. It has been almost 24 hours, though, obviously the scope of the search has got to be much wider because presume, I mean, he couldn't be still in the neighborhood, but he could have gotten pretty far. I just want to ask you about the single shot, because the fact that this individual was able to hit his target, the man he wanted to assassin -- assassinate, and do it with that kind of skill. What does that tell you about who he is?

BRUNNER: It's not an easy shot. It's not impossible, but an amateur probably wouldn't be able to make a shot this accurate. It was a single shot. And you can see if that video evidence that we're seeing where we see an individual moving across the roof. If that's the shooter, then that shooter knew immediately, once he made the one shot, he then moved away, because he could have had another opportunity to take shot two or shot three and continue the attack.

As you see in the butler attack, there was multiple shots taken by the individual. This was a single shot, you know, the shooter knew what he was doing. I think he knew he would train for this. I think he had practice for this. So, I think that the FBI, along with the ATF and homeland security, are going to be looking at everything in the area. They're going to be looking at the rifle, the order of purchase, who purchased the weapon, where did it move to? And along the lines of like, where he may have trained, long range, outdoor, outdoor range to training. Those are the sorts of things that he's going to be -- they're going to be looking for.

BASH: All right, Daniel. I hope your puppy is OK. I've been there. Thank you so much for being here and sharing your expertise. Appreciate it.

BRUNNER: Thank you.

BASH: CNN's Kristen Holmes is at the White House. Kristen, let's just talk about this. We're going to talk a lot more about the human side of this and the political impact that Charlie Kirk has had for his very short time in politics. He was very close, personally, to a lot of people in that building behind you.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Dana. In personal, close relationships, many of them on social media in the last 24 hours or less than 24 hours, crediting him with their success, saying that he's an inspiration. He's someone who always believed in them. And actually, you're seeing them, try their own way to participate in this investigation.

They are retweeting the FBI. They are pushing out the information that we just saw this photo of a person of interest. They have a lot invested in Charlie Kirk, again, both politically and emotionally, personally. I do think it's important to point out some of the tributes that we saw coming in last night for Kirk. One of them in particular from J.D. Vance, the Vice President, somebody who changed his plans, and is flying to Utah now to be with the family and to be on the ground there.

This is what he posted. He was a true friend. You could instinctively trust the people Charlie introduced you to. So much of the success we've had in this administration traces directly to Charlie's ability to organize and convene. He didn't just help us win 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.

One thing to note is, Charlie was an active participant in the transition. He essentially moved his entire life down to West Palm Beach. He was there, in and out of these meetings, vetting these various candidates, sitting in for votes on various candidates for weeks at a time. And he really left an imprint on this administration. He still remained up until yesterday, incredibly close to many, if not all of the cabinet secretaries.

I also want to point to a piece of a post that was made by President Trump's son Don Jr., who wrote this, said. Charlie wasn't just a friend. He was like a little brother to me and to millions of people around the world. He was a true inspiration. And I just think there are two big themes here that we've seen emerge. One, this White House, these administration officials, these Trump advisors, they viewed Charlie as a friend, and they also viewed him as a force. They knew how powerful and influential he was in MAGA world. They listened when he spoke. They respected him, and they knew how much he did to help Donald Trump win the 2024 election, and Donald Trump knows how much Charlie Kirk did.

I did hear from one source saying, Donald Trump viewed Charlie Kirk as part of their family. And it wasn't just Kirk himself, it was also Kirk's young family, his children, his wife, that were here, in and out of the White House. They're not based here. They're based in Arizona. But they would come for various events. They would come to see the president. It is an emotional time for everyone in that building, and right now, they just want answers.

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BASH: Yeah. And after January 6, when -- for a brief period of time, a lot of Republic shunned Donald Trump. Charlie Kirk was not one of them. He went down to Mar-a-Lago and helped the president plot his comeback, and obviously, did so successfully after four years.

Kristen, thank you so much for that reporting. Coming up. You're going to see a Democrat and Republican right here at this table, two lawmakers who have really different views, different political philosophies, but they are committed to bipartisanship because of their friendship. Our conversation, next.

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BASH: We're following breaking news on the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The FBI released the image that you're looking at. They call this person a person of interest, and they hope the public can help identify him. Meanwhile, there is palpable heartbreak, horror and fury across the country.

Joining me now a bipartisan pair of lawmakers, Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, and Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer. Thank you both for being here. Senator, I want to start with you. You knew Charlie Kirk very well. You considered him a good friend.

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): Yeah. Charlie was made such an impact in such a short period of time. I mean, you think about this guy, he entered somewhat of the limelight just short time ago, 12 years ago. And he built this following that is just almost unheard of. And at 31, his voice has already been silenced because someone didn't agree with his political views.

You know, unfortunately, there was a commentary on MSNBC that came out last night that said, you know, hateful thoughts bring hateful words, turns into hateful actions. And I'm just saying -- what I'm saying that --

BASH: And he apologized. (CROSSTALK)

MULLIN: But he didn't apologize. What I'm saying, I'm not bringing -- what I'm trying to make a point is Charlie didn't ever say anything hateful. He would debate with you, but he would debate with you on either historical constitutional facts or on his biblical beliefs. But he didn't belittle anybody. He provided an opportunity for those with opposing views to have an opportunity to have a voice.

He went to them. He was going to campuses way before any politician would even consider going to campuses. In fact, we still don't consider going to campuses and he never belittled anybody. He loved everybody. He loved his -- he loved his wife and loved his kids. And yet, because someone didn't agree with his point of view, you can't say, you're threatened by him because he wasn't a lawmaker. He didn't make laws, but it was just because of his political views.

There was two beautiful children today without a father. Erika, his beautiful wife. Truly, they were unbelievably in love with each other. Woke up this morning without a husband and someone robbed the voice of Charlie Kirk for all of us. And it is -- it is disheartening, it hurts. I've dealt with a lot of death in my life, for some reason this one hurts. And not just because he's a friend, but because it was so senseless and it should never happen.

BASH: And the reason why you're here together. I can say, Senator, you and I were texting yesterday about the moment that we're in and about coming the discourse and about the fact that there are real bipartisan relationships in the United States Congress. And you mentioned, Congressman Gottheimer, he mentioned you as a good friend. You don't agree on --

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): A lot of things.

BASH: -- most things I would say, politically. And yet, here you are, and the two of you are pretty close.

GOTTHEIMER: Very close. And, no, we're not only good friends, but our families know one another, and I think, you know, Markwayne is a very good person.

MULLIN: Our daughters are actually writing a book, a child children's book, together.

BASH: Is that right?

MULLIN: Yeah.

GOTTHEIMER: Yeah. I'm getting along because we both believe we've got to bring the temperature down. Yeah, we disagree on lots of things, but at the end of the day, we spend time to actually try to have debate and discourse the right way, where you actually go at it about policy differences. And then, at the end of the day you can have a beer and figure out how you're going to actually get stuff done for the country without screaming and yelling. And it's awful what happened yesterday. And you know, and I know Markwayne was close to him, and there's so many people who Charlie Kirk, whose lives were touched by him. And you know, I'm praying for him and his family, and all his supporters. But we've seen far too much of this, right? And you and I were talking about this yesterday that that how many people have been -- how many political leaders now, right, if you've got -- right, all these people have been affected, yeah.

BASH: If I may, we actually have a list, because I think it's important to show. Just in the past, I don't know, 10, 15 years, obviously, the horrible murder of Charlie Kirk yesterday. Then just in June, democratic state Rep Melissa Hortman and her husband were fatally shot in their home. And the same day, Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot. Luckily, they survived. Governor Josh Shapiro, there was an arson attack in his house.

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Obviously, we had the two assassination attempts on President Trump. Paul Pelosi hit by a hammer, you know, by somebody trying to kidnap his wife, Speaker Pelosi. Brett Kavanaugh, there was an assassination attempt in 2022. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot. Steve Scalise was shot and almost fatally killed and same goes for Gabby Giffords.

It is bipartisan, and I would argue non-partisan in some ways, because it is so senseless. The common thread is this, that is happening is not happening here, and it is not happening from a lot of leaders who have very big megaphones, both elected and --

GOTTHEIMER: And the media.

BASH: -- and media follow.

MULLIN: But I would say that it's a lot of all. It's all of our faults, right? I mean, we stir up the base. If you stir up the base, what do you expect is going to happen? If you stir a fire, coals are going to come out of it. If you pour gasoline on a fire, it's going to explode. And sometimes we gaslight the base.

And it's been happening a lot, and I'm not -- I'm not -- I am pointing fingers here because this happened to Republicans a lot lately, but it seems like the Democrats are gaslighting this a lot more. And it goes from calling the president a dictator, from saying that, you know, we are Nazis, that it's been an attack on Christian values.

You see it across campuses that you either agree with us or you're the enemy. There is no -- there is no course to be able to have a conversation. And that's where Charlie was actually going to. I mean, we saw it with what's happening with, you know, the Jewish students on campuses to true crude, you know, to true religious debate is not even considered a conversation anymore and it's and it's frustrating.

And so, we all play a role in trying to bring that temperature down. And Josh and I, who obviously -- we don't even agree on religious points of view, but we joke about it all the time. And in political views, but yet we are still very good friends. I mean, before we came, came on your show, we were sitting here, and we were actually laughing and having a conversation, but we can also be dead serious at the same time.

JOSH: And this morning, we met on policy.

(CROSSTALK)

JOSH: I just want to say one thing, because I think it's really important. And I get and if you're sitting in Republican shoes, you look at the other side, and you say, you know, I have problems with --

BASH: But you're Democratic.

JOSH: But if you sit in a Democrats shoe, come on, I look at and say, we shouldn't. One of us shouldn't say, it's the other side, because both sides are guilty of this, the president United States, right? I mean, calls Democrats vermin or the enemy from within, you know, the rhetoric.

And the worst thing that could happen to me right now is the president, or any of our leaders, coming out and saying, it's their fault and going after the other side. We need to do is take the temperature down and say none of this. To Markwayne point, we said earlier, none of this is OK.

MULLIN: Yeah.

JOSH: We have to get back to actually talking to one another, to having -- we met this morning with a group of senators and members of Congress, talking about issues --

MULLIN: 8:30 this morning.

JOSH: Right. Talking about issues, and actually made, it was, again, we disagree on different things, but he and I are working together to try to figure out a way forward there. We did it on the foreign aid package last year. That's what we should be doing.

BASH: OK. So, that's happening behind the scenes. And again, this is why I wanted to bring it into the studio, onto, you know, multi platforms, as you will be with this discussion. But I just want to go back to some of what you were saying about the rhetoric, because you're right. The rhetoric is out of control, but it is out of control.

I mean, just even yesterday, Senator Steve Bannon called Charlie Kirk a casualty of war. Elon Musk, the left is the party of murder. Jesse Watters on Fox, saying they are at war with us. Do you really think that? And is that inciting war?

MULLIN: I don't think it's inciting, but I just want you to look at, when I say that, I think Christian values inside the United States is under attack. I mean that. Those that -- this extreme left, and I'm not talking about Democrats. This isn't Josh, this isn't some good friends of mine. This is extreme left, like we have an extreme right. We have an extreme left. They're the same people that were saying they felt threatened and they felt that they would go on camera and cry, and say they don't feel secure in their own country because of maybe some Christian values that are pushing forward or a hat that said Trump or MAGA on it, or someone wearing a shirt that said Jesus loves you, and we all seen it.

This is -- I'm not making this up. This has all happened on video. But yet, these same people that said they don't feel safe. Christians weren't out there shooting up schools and churches. We weren't the ones that have taken assassination attempts on political leaders. That's only came from one side.

And so, you do have to look at it and go, hold on a second. We're not the ones that have shut down campuses.

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