Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2: This is a breaking news update from Bloomberg instant reaction
Speaker 2: and analysis from our three thousand journalists and analysts around
Speaker 2: the world. I'm Joe Matthew alongside Credie Gupta in Washington,
Speaker 2: where we come to you with breaking news.
Speaker 3: This evening.
Speaker 2: Conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been confirmed dead by the
Speaker 2: President of the United States. President Trump's posting quote, the
Speaker 2: great and even legendary Charlie Kirk is dead unquote.
Speaker 4: Kirk was speaking at Utah Valley University when he was
Speaker 4: shot on stage, prominent Republican Jason Chaffitt saying he only
Speaker 4: heard a single shot ring out. The shot that presumably
Speaker 4: struck and according to the President.
Speaker 3: Killed Kirk.
Speaker 4: Moments before the President confirmed his death, House Speaker Mike
Speaker 4: Johnson said this from Capitol Hill.
Speaker 5: This is the testable what's happened. Political violence has become
Speaker 5: all too common in American society, and this is not
Speaker 5: who we are. It violates the core principles of our country.
Speaker 5: Are Dude Juday of Christian heritage, our civil society, our
Speaker 5: American way of life, and it must stop. We need
Speaker 5: every political figure, we need everyone who has a platform
Speaker 5: to say this loudly and clearly. We can settle disagreements
Speaker 5: and disputes in a civil manner, and political violence must
Speaker 5: be called out and it has to stop.
Speaker 2: This is a fast moving story, and we have our
Speaker 2: reporters covering it with much more. Tonight, Bloomberg's Kate Sullivan
Speaker 2: joins us from the White House, and Bloomberg's Mike Shepherd
Speaker 2: is with us here in our Washington bureau. Sheppe, let's
Speaker 2: start with you right now, as someone who's covered politics
Speaker 2: for a long time around here in the element of
Speaker 2: political violence that has crept back into our culture over
Speaker 2: the past couple of years, something hard to ignore with
Speaker 2: regard to this young man, someone who started a movement
Speaker 2: as a teenager and helped to lift Donald Trump into
Speaker 2: the White House.
Speaker 3: What do we make of this latest turn.
Speaker 6: Well, this is Joe As who pointed it really does
Speaker 6: point to this fear many have had about an increase
Speaker 6: in political violence. We've seen the rhetoric over the past
Speaker 6: decade or so really intensify and an edge creep into
Speaker 6: the conversation comes to the core cultural and political and
Speaker 6: social and policy issues that surround daily life in the
Speaker 6: US and we've seen flashes of this violence actually manifest itself.
Speaker 6: Of course, more than a year ago then candidate Donald
Speaker 6: Trump himself was the target of two assassination attempts, the one,
Speaker 6: of course in Butler, Pennsylvania, that was so high profile
Speaker 6: when he emerged to say fight, fight, Fight. But then
Speaker 6: more recently in June of this year, we saw two
Speaker 6: Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota who were targeted in their homes
Speaker 6: at night by a gumman who was politically motivated, according
Speaker 6: to authorities there. So this is the kind of incident
Speaker 6: that stokes the concern that the rhetoric and the intensified
Speaker 6: back and forth between the various and quite divided sides
Speaker 6: here in this country can spill over into violence. And
Speaker 6: that's something that we just heard the House Speaker address
Speaker 6: moments ago.
Speaker 7: Mike, I think I'm.
Speaker 4: Asking you the question that a lot of people around
Speaker 4: the country are asking, which is is there a policy
Speaker 4: response and policy fallout that we can expect off the
Speaker 4: back of this.
Speaker 6: Well, for the immediate moment, there will be calls for
Speaker 6: prayer for Charlie Kirk and for his family in the
Speaker 6: wake of this terrible incident, and the calls from both
Speaker 6: sides really to step back from the brink of violence.
Speaker 6: But then the actual policy steps that always gets more
Speaker 6: tricky and sad to say, in many respects, it is
Speaker 6: to be expected that each side will fall back on
Speaker 6: the norm, with Democrats perhaps urging more control of firearms
Speaker 6: and access to firearms, and Republicans pointing to questions about
Speaker 6: extremism on the left left. And so when it comes
Speaker 6: to a policy prescription emerging from this or for example,
Speaker 6: the incident in Minnesota just weeks ago, the school shooting
Speaker 6: at a Catholic school in Minnesota, it is more of
Speaker 6: the same that we're likely to hear on this. And
Speaker 6: really the whole issue, Quitty is the question of political
Speaker 6: rhetoric and people now willing to take that next step
Speaker 6: and follow on their worst instincts and urges as we
Speaker 6: have seen fomented and promoted on social media for several
Speaker 6: years now.
Speaker 4: Blomerus, Mike Shephard, we thank you so much for bringing
Speaker 4: us up to speed. I want to go to Kate Sullivan, who's.
Speaker 3: At the White House for us.
Speaker 4: Kate, just bring us up to speed on the reaction
Speaker 4: where you are.
Speaker 8: So we're seeing an outpouring of messages of prayer and
Speaker 8: condolences from across the White House and the broader Trump administration.
Speaker 8: If a president called Charlie Kirk legendary, he said, nobody
Speaker 8: understood or have the heart of the youth in the
Speaker 8: United States of America better than Charlie. You know, Charlie
Speaker 8: Kirk was a fixture on the campaign trail. I saw
Speaker 8: him at countless events across many different battleground states when
Speaker 8: I was covering the Trump campaign last year. The President
Speaker 8: has credited him with really boosting his voter his turnout
Speaker 8: among young people, and getting young people excited about his campaign.
Speaker 8: You know, he founded Charlie Kirk founded Turning Point USA,
Speaker 8: which specifically advocates for conservative politics on high school and
Speaker 8: college campuses. So we saw Charlie Kirk post many, many
Speaker 8: events across college campuses, particularly during the campaign season. You know,
Speaker 8: before news came out that he had actually died. Jd
Speaker 8: Vance posted three different times on social media, you know,
Speaker 8: posting a photo of himself and Kirk, saying Kirk would
Speaker 8: answer any question and talk to everyone. So you're seeing,
Speaker 8: you know, the close ties that Kirk has with many
Speaker 8: people in the White House, many different Republican officials. We're
Speaker 8: all just reacting to this horrific news right now.
Speaker 2: Somewhat unusual to have this announcement come from the President
Speaker 2: of the United States himself. Kate, is the Press Office
Speaker 2: or Communications office saying anything about the fact that the
Speaker 2: commander in chief told us this as opposed to Kirk's family.
Speaker 8: No, and that's a that's a great point in question.
Speaker 8: All we know is what Trump has posted, and we're seeing,
Speaker 8: you know, after he posted, then Jdvan's posted, and so
Speaker 8: a lot of people are of course taking cues from
Speaker 8: the President and reacting to this news that as you're
Speaker 8: completely correct that Trump broke.
Speaker 3: On true social himself.
Speaker 2: Bloomberg's Kate Sullivan at the White House, Kate, thank you.
Speaker 2: As always, we just heard from the President again on
Speaker 2: social media. He was typing while we were talking. In
Speaker 2: honor of Charlie Kirk. He writes, a truly great American patriot.
Speaker 2: I am ordering all American flags throughout the United States
Speaker 2: lowered to half mast until Sunday evening at six pm.
Speaker 3: Our political panel is with us here in studio.
Speaker 2: Christin Hahn, our democratic strategist partner at Rock Solutions, joins
Speaker 2: us alongside Marigi Lespie, Blue Stack strategies.
Speaker 3: It's great to see both of you.
Speaker 2: A Republican strategist, I'll start with you in this case, Moura,
Speaker 2: talk to about the significance of what this means for
Speaker 2: the Republican movement, if not the MAGA movement, and why
Speaker 2: the White House is so deeply involved. Wy did we
Speaker 2: learn this from the President?
Speaker 3: Well, I think that's no surprise.
Speaker 9: The President feels pretty strongly about his loyalists, those who
Speaker 9: have been his champions. And I think that the biggest
Speaker 9: takeaway for me is to say that this isn't about
Speaker 9: being Republican, this isn't about being democrat. This is about
Speaker 9: political violence in this country and why it's so prevalent here.
Speaker 3: That's a problem, and.
Speaker 9: I don't know how we screen for it. I don't
Speaker 9: know how you can't really necessarily see hate in someone's heart.
Speaker 9: And so we have a bigger conversation to have here
Speaker 9: because this is a man, whether you agreed with him
Speaker 9: or not, or viet really.
Speaker 7: Disagree with him.
Speaker 9: This is a husband, a father, someone's son. And I
Speaker 9: just think that we have lost sight of really our
Speaker 9: humanity when it comes to our political discourse in this country.
Speaker 9: Whether it was from Gabby Giffords, to steve'scalise to happen
Speaker 9: in Minnesota, to the President himself, and to watch this now,
Speaker 9: and for anyone who has been on social media and
Speaker 9: those videos are playing, whether you wanted to see it
Speaker 9: or not, it is truly. I mean, I was sitting here.
Speaker 9: I'm sure you're all feeling the same, but stick to
Speaker 9: my stomach about what this means, but also just seeing it.
Speaker 9: But we have to get a handle on it. And
Speaker 9: I don't know what that answer is, but it's not
Speaker 9: Republican or Democrat. It is us as Americans, and we
Speaker 9: have a problem here.
Speaker 4: Kristen, just way in your immediate reaction, I.
Speaker 10: Mean this obviously, I totally agree. This is not a
Speaker 10: one party problem or the other, as we've clearly seen
Speaker 10: throughout the years. And you know, I was on Capitol
Speaker 10: Hill working for the Bluetdog Coalition, of which congress Woman
Speaker 10: Gifford's was a member, and you know you're a communications
Speaker 10: person trying to write statements. I remember just breaking down,
Speaker 10: crying and them trying to gather myself and pull myself together.
Speaker 10: I think an element, you know, it's hard to figure
Speaker 10: out exactly how to get at this, but an element
Speaker 10: is the rhetoric that's coming out of you know, besides
Speaker 10: the isisle sometimes and toning that down, treating people like
Speaker 10: humans and your leaders and the present starts with the
Speaker 10: President of the United States. People listen to what he's saying,
Speaker 10: and you know, I mean, and members of Congress and
Speaker 10: members of the Senate and having an honest dialogue that's
Speaker 10: civil with you know, your next door neighbor.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, is really important.
Speaker 10: I don't think that maybe fixes everything, because like you said,
Speaker 10: you can't see hate in somebody's heart. You can't necessarily
Speaker 10: tell what they're going to do, but you know, it
Speaker 10: can definitely start there.
Speaker 2: More reminds us of the Steves police shooting that was
Speaker 2: years ago. The Capitol police shooting was what nineteen ninety nine.
Speaker 2: This has been a conversation in Washington three years and
Speaker 2: whether we should provide more security for lawmakers who in
Speaker 2: many cases are dipping into allowances to find private security
Speaker 2: and protection for themselves. You worked for a former speaker
Speaker 2: in John Bayner Mara.
Speaker 3: Does that need to happen?
Speaker 9: You know, I think it's a conversation to be had
Speaker 9: about how much members make currently. You know, I know
Speaker 9: that that's not necessarily a popular conversation, but when you
Speaker 9: look at their salary, if they are, you know, in
Speaker 9: a situation where they need to get security, their salary
Speaker 9: is not really going to cover that plus their housing
Speaker 9: here in DC. So you think about that, that may
Speaker 9: be a conversation to have some built in funding for
Speaker 9: security needs. But I think it's Christian's point there about
Speaker 9: talking and how we use our words referring to our
Speaker 9: political opponents as enemies. That's a problem, right, We can
Speaker 9: do better, and I think that for every member of Congress,
Speaker 9: anyone who's running for office, and anyone who sits, you know,
Speaker 9: talking on politics on TV, should should try and do
Speaker 9: better and make a promise to try and do that,
Speaker 9: because I think that our words have impact, and how
Speaker 9: we talk to one another as a Republican talking to
Speaker 9: a Democrat and be on a panel together, that makes
Speaker 9: I do think that people at home watch that, and
Speaker 9: how we handle our discourse here really could make an
Speaker 9: impact at home well.
Speaker 10: And as far as the security needs go, just look
Speaker 10: at the members of the January sixth committee. Right they
Speaker 10: started getting they didn't have a secret service or Capitol
Speaker 10: Police security twenty four to seven until they all started
Speaker 10: getting death threats, a lot of them on both sides
Speaker 10: of the aisle, And people were going to their houses
Speaker 10: at home when they were here in Washington, d C.
Speaker 10: And going to their kids' schools, and so, you know,
Speaker 10: we afforded them the protection of the Capitol Police, who
Speaker 10: do such a wonderful job at protecting our officials. But
Speaker 10: you know, this is all members of Congress. I think,
Speaker 10: you know, the move to give them a little bit
Speaker 10: of money to you know, out of their current allotment
Speaker 10: to provide some of that security for theirselves and their family.
Speaker 2: Was probably think the result is unfortunately, fewer people wanting
Speaker 2: to run for elected office right when we're having conversations
Speaker 2: like these. Kristen Haunt and Morigi Espie, I thank you
Speaker 2: so much for the immediate response.
Speaker 3: Now as we turn to Capitol.
Speaker 2: Who joining us now live from the Capitol Republican Senator
Speaker 2: Mike ground So, South Dakota, member of the Senate Armed
Speaker 2: Services Committee. Senator, it's good to have you here. It's
Speaker 2: not what we expected that we would be talking about this.
Speaker 2: Can you weigh in on this, your reaction to what
Speaker 2: took place, how we got here, and whether we need
Speaker 2: to have a serious conversation about capital police security for
Speaker 2: lawmakers like yourself.
Speaker 1: Well, let me begin just by offering my condolences, my thoughts,
Speaker 1: my prayers to Charlie's.
Speaker 7: Family, to his spouse, and to their children.
Speaker 1: This is not something that any of us on either
Speaker 1: side of any political I don't want to see happen. Ever,
Speaker 1: and so this is simply very very unfortunate, and we
Speaker 1: offer our thoughts and our prayers, and you know, look,
Speaker 1: this is just a bad, bad message from what we
Speaker 1: would hope otherwise would have been an opportunity for peaceful
Speaker 1: discussion on specific issues, talking about you know, our differences
Speaker 1: in a.
Speaker 7: Very very normal way, a way in which.
Speaker 1: People can have a discussion, having differences, having different points
Speaker 1: of view, and still remaining as friends and as colleagues.
Speaker 7: And so to see Charlie Kirk in.
Speaker 1: This particular method, I mean, this is just a terrible,
Speaker 1: terrible day for America. And once again it is something
Speaker 1: that I think with regard to what we do here
Speaker 1: in the capital of the United States and the way
Speaker 1: that we treat one another is something that should be
Speaker 1: an example that you don't have to have violence in
Speaker 1: the middle of political discussions.
Speaker 4: CenTra reums do we need to hear from the President
Speaker 4: in a call for unity to end some of this
Speaker 4: political violence. Is that what we're waiting for.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 1: I think the first thing that the President did was
Speaker 1: to offer his thoughts, his prayers, his condolences to Charlie's family.
Speaker 1: I think that's, you know, the first thing that we
Speaker 1: all want to do. And then along with that, it
Speaker 1: is an opportunity for us to once again tell the
Speaker 1: rest of America and the rest of the world that
Speaker 1: we can have different points of view.
Speaker 7: And not be violent about it.
Speaker 1: And so anything that any of us can do to
Speaker 1: offer as an example the way that we should treat
Speaker 1: one another with respect, that's a positive thing. I think
Speaker 1: that's what Charlie Kirk would have wanted to have had happen,
Speaker 1: And most certainly.
Speaker 7: That's something that I think we should continue to carry on, which.
Speaker 1: Is peacefully discussed, have your different points of view, argue,
Speaker 1: debate it.
Speaker 7: It's healthy for America.
Speaker 1: But our founding fathers wanted that to be done in
Speaker 1: such a fashion that we could still be one strong,
Speaker 1: unified nation even if we have different points of view.
Speaker 1: And there's nothing wrong with having differing points of view.
Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate your point of view on that, Senator.
Speaker 2: We were looking at some pulling from ipsos from back
Speaker 2: in July that asked voters about political extremism and threats
Speaker 2: to our democracy. This poll with Reuters showed twenty seven
Speaker 2: percent of Americans ranked political extremism as the most important
Speaker 2: problem facing the US.
Speaker 3: How about you.
Speaker 1: I can just tell you from personal experience. Here in Washington,
Speaker 1: we work across some of the most polarized areas in
Speaker 1: terms of ideas and ideologies. But if you talk to
Speaker 1: members of the Senate, Republican and Democrat.
Speaker 7: Alike, we get along with one another. We have business
Speaker 7: with one another.
Speaker 1: We go to lunch together, we have a prayer, breakfast together,
Speaker 1: we have Bible studies together.
Speaker 7: We are not enemies.
Speaker 1: We may have different points of view, but that doesn't
Speaker 1: get across very often. And so the example that we
Speaker 1: should be able to offer is one of unity in
Speaker 1: terms of making America better than what it is today.
Speaker 1: Our founding fathers said that they wanted to create a
Speaker 1: more perfect union. They didn't say our union was perfect
Speaker 1: to begin with. They wanted it more perfect. That's what
Speaker 1: we should be focused on here and sometimes in the
Speaker 1: middle of our strong emotions. Here we forget to finish
Speaker 1: with that particular part of the message, which is regardless
Speaker 1: of our points of view, we're Americans first. We treat
Speaker 1: each other with respect and with dignity. And here in
Speaker 1: the Capital, in the offices that we have, I can
Speaker 1: tell you personally and that behind closed doors, Republicans and
Speaker 1: Democrats alike get along. We respect one another, we consider
Speaker 1: each other as colleagues and friends, and we would hope
Speaker 1: that across to America, whether it's a coffee clotch, or
Speaker 1: whether it's a political meeting, a city council meeting, or
Speaker 1: a state legislative body, that we remember that we are
Speaker 1: all Americans and that we have a whole lot more
Speaker 1: in common than we'll ever disagree on.
Speaker 2: Senator, it's great to have you, and I appreciate your
Speaker 2: candor in talking about this very sensitive issue because I've
Speaker 2: been on that roatanda and I have seen Republican members
Speaker 2: like yourself get along quite well with Democrats, and I
Speaker 2: wish more people saw that side of the Capitol. Mike
Speaker 2: Grounds of South Dakota, thank you for being with us.