--:-- [Sound of a news theme]
--:-- John Bickley: Authorities race to track down Charlie Kirk's killer as more details emerge. What this man did was disgraceful, so hopefully we'll have him and we will deal with him very appropriately. I'm Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's Friday, September 12th. This is Morning Wire. We don't know if this was the supporter shooting their gun off in celebration, so we have no idea.
--:-- John Bickley: The legacy media's response to Kirk's death sparks widespread backlash and high-profile firings. And Secretary Hegseth issues a call to action on 9-11 as he lays out the hard-hitting mission of the Department of War.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Department of War will always honor the service of our warriors and all they left behind. Never straying from the warrior ethos they and those on 9-11 embodied and deserve.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Georgia Howe: New details have emerged on the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk as authorities race to track down his killer. Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips is here with the latest.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So the nation's still reeling from this heinous act. On Wednesday, we've been watching this manhunt with interest. What did we learn yesterday?
--:-- Georgia Howe: So throughout the last 24 hours, authorities have been working to piece together the assassin's timeline on Wednesday afternoon. Based on security footage, a slender male who appeared to be in his 20s arrived on campus at 11:52 a.m. just before the event kicked off.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He then entered a building adjacent to the event venue, climbed the stairs, and made his way onto the roof. Moments after taking his shot, he's then seen again on camera, climbing off the roof, jumping down, and running into a nearby residential neighborhood.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But it's there in a nearby wooded area that police found the bolt-action rifle with a scope that they say was used in the attack, along with a screwdriver that they believe may have been used to assemble and then disassemble the rifle before and after using it, presumably so the shooter could avoid suspicion.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But perhaps most notably, a Wall Street Journal report Thursday cited a law enforcement bulletin which said the ammunition found with the rifle was etched with a number of pro-transgender and anti-fascist phrases.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We're still waiting for official confirmation on that report, but if true, it would appear to play into a potential motive. Kirk was outspoken on the issue of transgenderism, including after last month's Catholic school shooting that was carried out by a trans individual.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: All right, so some potential clues to the motive there. What is the latest on the manhunt?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, it's been a chaotic manhunt to say the least. Two men were detained in the hours after the shooting, but both were released shortly after.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And then on Thursday morning, the FBI said that they had identified a person of interest. Initially, they opted against releasing images to the public, though, saying they were working to identify him on their own.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But ultimately, they did share images of that person of interest. It shows a man wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a black shirt, offering $100,000 for anyone who could provide information about his whereabouts.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But at the time of this recording, the actual identity of that man is still unknown. We have nothing. No name, just those images.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Obviously, with each minute that goes by, the fear is that he could be getting further and further away from the crime scene. Right. Time is definitely of the essence here.
--:-- [Audio clip of an interview with a student]
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, you got the chance to talk with one of the students that was at the event yesterday. Tell us about what you heard.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, I spoke with Nolan Kramer, a college freshman who attended the event with friends and was standing just a few dozen feet away from Charlie when the shots first rang out.
--:-- Nolan Kramer: I saw basically him kind of like start to fall but then all of his security guards just jumped up to him. Everyone was calling their parents screaming crying. I heard four or five people scream to their friends like, "Yeah, Charlie got shot. He's dead."
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And I was just like, I mean, I just kind of stood there in shock for a second. I think where it fully hit me about just how real the situation was is I looked down at his booth, he had his table and everything, and there was just blood all over the table.
--:-- Nolan Kramer: And I think at that point, I literally could not believe what was going on.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, as you guys can imagine, this assassination has resulted in real concern from lawmakers around the country, many of whom canceled scheduled events over the next week due to security concerns.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: President Trump's team even relocated a planned 9-11 ceremony yesterday out of an abundance of caution with the killer still on the loose.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Across the country this week, tens of thousands of folks have turned out for candlelight vigils to grieve, honor Charlie's memory, and of course, pray for his wife and two small children.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: For his part, President Trump did announce that Charlie would be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It is the highest civilian award we give. Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty, and an inspiration to millions and millions of people.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The date of the ceremony will be announced, and I can only guarantee you one thing, that we will have a very big crowd.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Also on Thursday, Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha traveled to Salt Lake City to be with Charlie's family. The two of them were very close.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: From there, the Kirks joined the second family and flew on Air Force Two as they carried a Charlie's casket back home to Phoenix one final time. A powerful moment for Charlie's family.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Kappa, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Absolutely.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Charlie Kirk is a divisive figure, polarizing, lightning rod, whatever term you want to use. That was MSNBC host Katie Turr talking about Charlie Kirk after news broke that he'd been shot.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: It's just one of many responses from the legacy media that has sparked widespread criticism.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo joins us now. So, Amanda, we covered on yesterday's show all the outpouring of love and support from media figures, including Daily Wire hosts, many of whom knew Charlie well.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, well, one of the most widely criticized moments came on MSNBC. Immediately after the shooting, it was strongly implied on that network that Kirk was to blame for his own murder, that this was a justified murder in a sense.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This is Matthew Dowd on MSNBC. He's been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: And I always go back to hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. That comment sparked instant backlash.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And within a few hours, MSNBC issued a statement apologizing for the comments. And then it was later reported that MSNBC had fired Dowd.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The New York Times also found itself being accused of horrible insensitivity. Its report on the assassination originally smeared Kirk as a provocateur, and they accused him of spreading supposed unsupported claims and outright lies.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, there's also been a lot of discussion about CNN's recent coverage of Kirk, particularly in the past few days just leading up to this event.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, not even a week before Kirk was assassinated, CNN host Abby Phillip and CNN political commentator Van Jones went after Kirk for his comments on the brutal murder of Ukrainian refugee Irina Zerutska.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Kirk said the murder was racially motivated. He highlighted audio from surveillance video where the suspect appears to say, "I got that white girl."
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: People like Charlie Kirk, Van, they've been looking for opportunities to make this some sort of like reciprocal George Floyd situation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: For Charlie Kirk to say, "We know he did it because she's white when there's no evidence of that. It's just pure race mongering, hate mongering."
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Someone like Charlie Kirk, he should be ashamed of himself.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And notably, in response to all of this, Kirk invited Jones on his show to discuss this matter respectfully.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: That right there is what Kirk was known for, for engaging the other side, for having civil discussions and debate.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In fact, as we know, Kirk was engaging young people on college campus with differing views the moment he was assassinated.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Now, is it fair to say this is part of a larger pattern when it comes to coverage of Kirk?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, no question. We've seen this again and again over the years with left-wing or so-called mainstream coverage.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The Sacramento Bee once falsely said that Kirk called for the, quote, lynching of trans people. They had to retract that.
--:-- Georgia Howe: MSNBC once branded Kirk's grassroots organization Turning Point USA a, quote, MAGA white supremacist cult. They also had to walk that back.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg falsely accused TPUSA of letting in neo-Nazis at an event that was also retracted.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And Far Left Southern Poverty Law Center, which claims to monitor so-called hate groups, just a few months ago, they added TPUSA to its hate map.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: For context, this hate map also includes KKK chapters.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, what about political leaders on the left? Have we seen a more tempered response from them?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, we've seen a lot of more generic statements condemning violence. But then we've also seen some victim blaming and both sidesing.
--:-- Georgia Howe: For example, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker disavowed political violence, but seemed to blame President Trump for Kirk's assassination.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: In this country, I think the president's rhetoric often foments it. We've seen the January 6th rioters who clearly tripped a new era of political violence. And the president, what did he do? He pardoned them.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I mean, what kind of signal does that send to people who want to perpetrate political violence?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Mere hours after Kirk was confirmed dead, GOP Rep Lauren Boebert asked House Speaker Mike Johnson to follow up a moment of silence with a verbal prayer.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But Democrats erupted. There were reportedly about a dozen Democrats who protested any prayer.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Sort of hard to make out what's being said there, but reports say one Democrat shouted, "Pass some gun laws."
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Mail reporter John Michael Rausch said that this was possibly the ugliest moment he's ever witnessed in politics.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, you know, we debated whether or not we would even highlight some of these responses on this show, but we felt it was important to put on record.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: No problem.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The White House marked the 24th anniversary of 9-11 yesterday with a solemn ceremony punctuated by a powerful statement from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
--:-- John Bickley: War is an enduring aspect of the human condition, a tool that when wielded wisely, ruthlessly punishes enemies intent on terrorizing or subjugating our nation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: War must not become a mere tool for global social work, eager to risk American blood and treasure for utopian fever dreams.
--:-- John Bickley: We should hit hard, wreak vengeance, and return home.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Joining us now to discuss is retired Marine Corps Major Chris Lovell. Major, thank you so much for joining us and thank you for your service.
--:-- Chris Lovell: Thanks John, thanks for having me on.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Before we talk about the new look military under Hegseth, I wanted to ask you first about 9-11. For 24 years, we've been looking back at the events of that day and the fallout since.
--:-- Chris Lovell: What did we see that day as far as the response from the country, our leaders, our first responders? Obviously, it was a shocking event.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You know, people can recall the exact moment when they found out the president had been assassinated. So for us, we remember that.
--:-- Chris Lovell: I think the thing that reminds me the most of that day was the following day, President Bush went to the Twin Towers and climbed on a pile of rubble in that famous line, "I hear you and the people who brought down these buildings will hear you really soon."
--:-- Georgia Howe: That meant that we were going to war.
--:-- Chris Lovell: I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I remember as a young captain, when it happened, I was actually stationed here in Pensacola.
--:-- Chris Lovell: And I went into my unit and I gathered my Marines and I said, "Hey, you know, this is a terrible event. But be prepared. We're going to war."
--:-- Georgia Howe: And we did for a long time.
--:-- Chris Lovell: It was refreshing for me to see, you know, I think the number was 173,000 Americans, young Americans, go to the recruiting stations and sign up after 9-11 as a sign of resolve in their patriotism.
--:-- Georgia Howe: They could have done a lot of different things with their lives after, but almost 200,000 signed and said, "I'll go, send me."
--:-- Chris Lovell: Now, turning to the present day, we've seen under Trump and Hegseth a dramatic shift in tone and mission from the previous regime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Do you feel that we're in a good place now?
--:-- Chris Lovell: We are in such a good place with the military, you know, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. What a great choice, right?
--:-- Georgia Howe: He's one of us too. And the things that he's done, you know, specifically just getting rid of the DEI distractions, the woke distractions.
--:-- Chris Lovell: You have young men and women that may have been standing on the sidelines for the last four years.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I think recruitment is full. Like they've never been fuller.
--:-- Chris Lovell: Like, you know, these great young men and women of the next generation are saying, "Hey, this is the kind of organization I want to be a part of. I want to serve and I want to defend the nation."
--:-- Georgia Howe: And the great part about it is the focus is just now let's lethality. It's not about equality or, you know, being fair.
--:-- Chris Lovell: Young men and women don't want to join the military for fairness. They want to challenge and they want to serve their country.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I think that's what this new administration is giving them. And it's very good to see.
--:-- Chris Lovell: Final question. You touched on it there, but what do you think the perception of the role of the U.S. military is now? What is the mission as new recruits understand it now?
--:-- Georgia Howe: The mission is clear guidance from leadership. You know, we're going to be lethal. We're going to defend the interests of the United States of America.
--:-- Chris Lovell: And we're going to have leaders that support us and have our backs.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I think that's what I'm seeing and hearing and reading from, you know, the current morale in the active duty forces.
--:-- Chris Lovell: They're happy to have clear guidance and leadership. And that's a huge boost in morale. Just to know you've got leaders that are going to use resources wisely and in the defense of the U.S.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, as you laid out, the recruitment numbers appear to really back that up.
--:-- Chris Lovell: Major Lovell, thank you so much for joining us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're watching on YouTube, please like and subscribe. We'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.
