CSPAN - Washington Journal 09/11/2025

All Episodes

Previous Next

Sept. 11, 2025 07:00-09:00 - CSPAN

01:59:53

Washington Journal 09/11/2025

Participants

Main

mike bost

rep/r 05:32

mimi geerges

cspan 24:06

Appearances

charlie kirk

01:27

donald j trump

admin 02:16

george w bush

r 01:28

mike johnson

rep/r 00:36

robert gaylon ross

00:44

spencer j cox

03:42

Clips

al green

rep/d 00:04

mark adams

00:20

patty murray

sen/d 00:08

sean duffy

admin 00:04

spencer cox

00:17

Callers

mike in alaska

callers 00:07

tony in texas

callers 00:05

Large

Audio Only |

Scroll

Show episode speakers

Speaker	Time	Text
unidentified		Mike Bost of Illinois, chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee, will discuss the 9-11 anniversary, veterans issues, and the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
		Also, Texas Democratic Congressman Mark Veazey, a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, will discuss the 24 years since the September 11th attacks and the shooting death of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
		Washington Journal starts now.
		Join the conversation.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
		It's Thursday, September 11th.
		Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed yesterday.
		He was at an event at Utah Valley University.
		The 31-year-old is the founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative youth organization.
		He was shot in the neck about 20 minutes after he began speaking.
		Police are searching for the shooter.
		We're getting your reaction to the death of Charlie Kirk this first hour.
		Here's how to reach us: Democrats, 2028-8000.
		Republicans, 202-748-8001.
		And Independents, 202-748-8002.
		You can also send a text, 202-748-8003.
		Include your first name in your city-state.
		And you can post your thoughts on social media, facebook.com/slash C-SPAN and X at C-SPANWJ.
		Welcome to today's two-hour Washington Journal.
		The House gavels in at 9 a.m. Eastern Time.
		It's also the 24th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks that happened this morning.
		We'll get your thoughts on that later in the program.
		We'll have for you a, you can see there on your screen the unfurling of the American flag at the Pentagon here in D.C.
		And we also have a view of the ground zero.
		That's a live look there at New York City.
		But we will talk about that later.
		Back to our story for this hour.
		And here's the front page of the Washington Post.
		Charlie Kirk shot dead at Utah campus.
		Trump ally, voice of youth on right.
		No suspect yet identified.
		Political world left dazed.
		And here's the Washington Times: conservative activist Kirk assassinated.
		Message resonated with young voters.
		Quote, prove me wrong table, opened minds.
		Here's the Wall Street Journal: conservative activist Kirk is shot dead.
		Trump ally struck down at long range while giving a talk at Utah University.
		And finally, the New York Times: Charlie Kirk dies after being shot on a Utah campus.
		A close ally of the president and a voice of young conservatives was 31.
		And take a look at Utah's governor, Republican Spencer Cox.
		He was with law enforcement officials yesterday, and he talked about what the killing says about the state of our politics right now.
spencer j cox ▲ ● ▼		Our nation is broken.
spencer cox ▲ ● ▼		We've had political assassinations recently in Minnesota.
spencer j cox ▲ ● ▼		We had an attempted assassination on the governor of Pennsylvania.
		And we had an attempted assassination on a presidential candidate and former president of the United States and now current president of the United States.
		Nothing I say can unite us as a country.
		Nothing I can say right now can fix what is broken.
		Nothing I can say can bring back Charlie Kirk.
		Our hearts are broken.
		We mourn with his wife, his children, his family, his friends.
		We mourn as a nation.
		If anyone in the sound of my voice celebrated even a little bit at the news of this shooting, I would beg you to look in the mirror and to see if you can find a better angel in there somewhere.
		I don't care what his politics are.
		I care that he was an American.
		We desperately need our country.
		We desperately need leaders in our country.
		But more than the leaders, we just need every single person in this country to think about where we are and where we want to be.
		To ask ourselves, is this it?
		Is this what 250 years has wrought on us?
		I pray that that's not the case.
		I pray that those who hated what Charlie Cook stood for will put down their social media and their pens and pray for his family and that all of us, all of us, will try to find a way to stop hating our fellow Americans.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		We'll have more for you from Republican Governor Spencer Cox of Utah.
		We'll also have portions of Charlie Kirk's appearances on C-SPAN for you, but want to get straight to your calls.
		This is Marvin Decatur, Georgia, Republican.
		Good morning, Marvin.
unidentified		Yes, I want to say that I believe that this was a professional hit and that it was the drug cartel because Mr. Trump blew up that boat that they sending a message to Mr. Trump said, we can get you too.
		So I think we need to be very careful about these people because they have professional hitmen all over the place.
		And that's my theory.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Art in Schaumburg, Illinois, Independent Line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Art.
unidentified		It's a sad day.
		Even though I was not a fan of Charlie Kirk, he had a right to his opinion.
		The First Amendment gave him that right without recrimination.
		And for someone to do this to a man in the prime of his life because he happened to have a political agenda that was counter to whomever shot him is a crime that cannot be even be done.
		So reprehensible, so unbelievable that this person would create the issues that are now going to happen in this country due to this man's unbelievable act.
		There are going to be repercussions from this that will ripple through this country like a tsunami.
		And I'm so happy.
		I personally believe, and I don't believe in executions either, that if this man is caught, or person, I shouldn't say a man, and goes to the judicial system and is found guilty, he should be the very first public execution, execution in this country in over 100 years.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, and here's Corey, Sykesville, Maryland, Republican line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Corey, good morning.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
		I'm a longtime listener, first time caller.
		I'm a little bit on the younger side.
		I'm just from a Charlie State, and I didn't even know who Charlie Kirk was.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Sorry, sorry, Corey.
		We're having a real hard time hearing you.
		If you don't mind giving us a call back, maybe when you get a better connection, it sounds like you're driving, but give us a call back.
		Here's John in Queens, New York, Democrat.
		Good morning, John.
unidentified		Good morning.
		You know, this, you know, political violence is not the answer.
		If you disagree with somebody, this is just going to make Charlie Kirk a moderate.
		But if you look at his words, he was an anti-Semite.
		He wasn't racist.
		He said that God, that Democrats love things that God hates.
		He said it at a Trump rally.
		So let's remember who he was.
		Let's not canonize him.
		He's not a saint.
		But political violence is not the answer.
		Is there going to be retribution killings?
		This is what things like this lead to, so we better be careful.
		And probably the person who did this is very mentally unstable.
		And it's probably not.
		I mean, he was famous.
		So some of these mentally unstable people like to get their name by assassinating someone who's famous.
		So let's just remember that about Charlie Kirk and about this whole situation.
		It's 9-11.
		Let's remember those people that were killed by terrorists.
		That's much more important than this.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And we will certainly talk about that as well, John.
		Let's hear from Charlie Kirk.
		He spoke at Inauguration Day in January, and he alluded to the assassination attempt in Butler on now President Trump.
charlie kirk ▲ ● ▼		What we have seen these last couple of years was the intentional destruction and obliteration of our homeland.
		And in just one day, we're going to understand the very simple truth that decline is a choice.
		That when your country is failing, it's because our leaders have decided to allow it to fail.
		And President Trump, I really believe, is on a mission from the Almighty to save this country in that millimeter miracle where he very well could have been not just shot, but unspeakable things could have happened in Butler, Pennsylvania.
		And the reason that they wanted to take out Donald Trump so bad, 700 years in federal prison, every possible way imaginable, is because he brings you guys into the room.
		It's because he brings you into the negotiation.
		You see, this was supposed to be a managed decline of the United States of America.
		And just understand what you are living through.
		You're living through a new American renaissance.
		And honestly, there were a lot of people that said there's no way they'll allow Donald Trump to be president again.
		They're going to steal it.
		They're going to use the machines.
		And I understand all that.
		They're going to try to take him out.
		But never underestimate the will of the American people and the sovereignty of God towards righteous and good purposes.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And this is the front page of the Daily Herald from Utah.
		It says Charlie Kirk slain at UVU.
		And it's got some pictures here.
		Conservative activists assassinated at event on campus.
		And we're taking your calls.
		Here's David, who is in French, Indiana, Republican.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Obviously, a sad day.
		I was consumed with this most of the night last night.
mark adams ▲ ● ▼		Also, considering how C-SPAN was going to handle this, the hate and the divisiveness stems directly from Congress.
unidentified		It spilled over into our country.
		This is a sad day as well with September the 11th.
		I think it's an unfortunate day that these two days have been combined, but it shows what hatred can do.
mark adams ▲ ● ▼		If C-SPANs allow one person to spout any hate toward this man today, it'll reflect on you.
unidentified		You are the conduit.
unidentified		Do what's right.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		This is a Guardian Congress.
		This is Politico with the headline, Shouting Erupts Amid Moment of Silence for Kirk.
		Representatives Lauren Bobert and Anna Paulina Luna broke the quiet observance.
		It says, a moment of silence on the House floor for conservative commentator Charlie Kirk devolved into a moment of chaos as a pair of Republicans called out Democrats.
		With every lawmaker standing up in quiet observance, Representative Lauren Bobert, a Republican of Colorado, demanded a spoken prayer.
		Quote, silent prayers get silent results, she said, leading to jeers from Democrats with some shouting about a school shooting that also happened Wednesday.
		Here is the moment that that happened on the House floor.
		Take a look.
mike johnson ▲ ● ▼		For what purposes does a gentlelady from Colorado rise?
unidentified		Shh.
mike johnson ▲ ● ▼		Let's, let's, let's.
		Wait a minute.
		Wait a minute.
		The House will be in order.
		The House will be in order.
unidentified		Shh.
mike johnson ▲ ● ▼		The house will be in order, we, the house will be in order, we.
		We will join prayer right after this, okay?
		The chair lays before the House a communication.
		The House will be in order.
		Thank you all.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And President Trump did put this on Truth Social.
		He said, in honor of Charlie Kirk, a truly great American patriot, I am ordering all American flags throughout the United States lowered to half mast until Sunday evening at 6 p.m.
		And some shots for you around town of the flag at half mast.
		That's in front of the Capitol building and also in front of DC's Union Station.
		The flags are at half mast.
		Jason is in Alabama, Independent Line.
		Good morning, Jason.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
		I think we can call something a tragedy without lying.
		Charlie Kirk was not a saint.
		He was not anybody that shouldn't have died, first off, but the victim of the very policies he advocated.
		He advocated for free, unrestricted access to guns.
		And somewhere between 80 and 100, or around about 100 people die or murdered every day in America, most of those people to guns.
		And when those regular people die, the people that now are decrying Charlie Kirk being shot and killed do nothing.
		They say thoughts and prayers just like we just played.
		And the Bible says that faith without works is dead.
		So you can pray all day long, but unless and until you're actually going to do something to address it, of course, at some point, the violence, gun violence, specifically in America, is going to stop at the doorstep of people like Charlie Kirk.
		And, you know, today they're going to mourn and they're going to clutch their pearls.
		But a week from now, when Charlie Kirk is put in the ground, they're going to go back to business as usual.
		They're funding public services for mental health, making sure that everybody can get a bazooka and moving on with their life.
		When children can be killed in a church frame and nothing happened, miss me with all of this stuff about Charlie Kirk.
		We don't know why he was shot.
		We don't know if it was politically motivated or not.
		But in a country with 300, with over, with more guns than people, yeah, people are going to get killed by guns.
		Charlie Kirk is not special in that regard.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Jason.
		And we have a fact check from Snopes.
		Charlie Kirk once said some gun deaths, quote, worth it in order to have the Second Amendment.
		So this website, Snopes.com, has the full transcript of what he said.
		He was asked by an audience member.
		This is in April 2023.
		I had a question related to the Second Amendment.
		We saw the shooting that happened recently.
		A lot of people are upset, but I'm seeing people argue that they want to take our Second Amendment rights away.
		How do we convince them that it's important to have the right to defend ourselves and all that good stuff?
		It has the full remarks of what Charlie Kirk said about that, but here's what's getting a lot of attention.
		He said, but I am, I think it's worth it.
		I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.
		That is a prudent deal.
		It is rational.
		Nobody talks like this.
		They live in a complete alternate universe.
		Here's Jim, Butler, Wisconsin Democrat.
		Good morning, Jim.
unidentified		Yes, I would like to say Charlie Kirk had a great life.
		He had a beautiful wife, beautiful children.
		But like some other people are saying, he was no sane.
		Look at the rhetoric he pushed.
		And the other thing is, I don't know this for sure, but the rumor was when he was younger, he met Donald Trump.
		His friends said ever since he met Donald Trump, he changed.
		Donald Trump is brainwashing, and he's the problem.
		He preaches violence.
		He said in an election, it depends on the Democrats.
		If they don't total line, there'll be blood in the streets.
		Well, look what's happening.
		We're having blood in the streets.
		We're having shootings over and over and over.
		I have friends that own 30, 40, 50 guns.
		I've talked to them.
		They teach people at gun clubs for nothing how to use guns so they don't shoot themselves.
		They're in favor for background checks.
		The Democrats don't want to take guns away.
		They want to make sure the wrong people don't have guns.
		There's a trouble in America.
		There's too much rhetoric.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		This is what Utah Governor Cox posted on X.
		He says, this was yesterday at 4.46 p.m.
		I just got off the phone with President Trump, working with the FBI and Utah law enforcement.
		We will bring to justice the individual responsible for this tragedy.
		Abby and I are heartbroken.
		We are praying for Charlie's wife, daughter, and son.
		And FBI Director Kash Patel says, the subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.
		Our investigation continues, and we will continue to release information in the interest of transparency.
		He says we are closely monitoring reports of the tragic shooting involving Charlie Kirk.
		Our thoughts are with Charlie, his loved ones, and everyone affected.
		Agents will be on the scene quickly, and the FBI stands in full support of the ongoing response.
		And back to the phones, Chris, Heightsville, Maryland, Republican.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Yeah, hi.
		It's so sad that the world we live in is just the Democrats spew so much hate and anger and violence, and they're the violent ones.
		Whether it's the media, just fashion Trump, you know, they created this monster.
		You know, they created this monster.
		I don't know if he's a Republican or Democrat, but spewing all the hate and the vile.
		You don't get that from Republicans.
		You know, we're full of love and compassion and unity.
		And the Democrats spew hate.
		They created this monster, and it's going to get worse.
		It's not going to get better.
		But one thing's going to come out of this is he's going to become a martyr, and his legacy is going to continue.
		This is just the beginning.
		You know, we have to fight this scourge, this anger, and vile rhetoric and meanness that these people have.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		How do you think is the best way to fight it, Chris?
unidentified		We got to call them out.
		Whether it's Crockett or just Maxine Waters, we got to call them out and then just call them for what they are.
		They're just mean, vile, angry, twisted people.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Chris.
		And here is a posting on X by Gabby Giffords, who, if you remember, was shot.
		She's a lawmaker who was a lawmaker.
		I'm horrified to hear that Charlie Kirk was shot at an event in Utah.
		Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence.
		John Fetterman, Senator from Pennsylvania, our family grieves for Charlie Kirk's family.
		We must collectively find a way forward during these polarized times.
		Here's Governor Tim Waltz of Minnesota.
		An open forum for political dialogue and disagreement was upended by a horrific act of targeted violence.
		In America, we don't settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.
		I'm praying for Charlie, his family, and his young children.
		Here's Governor Gavin Newsom of California.
		The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible.
		In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in every form.
		Here's Merle in Wilson, North Carolina, Independent Line.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		You said a lot there.
		We must reject it.
		We surely must.
		But you know what really got me was this speech that Trump gave right away: blaming the left and the radical left and all this.
		Trump is the white elephant or whatever kind of elephant, orange elephant in the room.
		Nobody is looking at Trump.
		Trump started all this.
		We always had discourse, but not to this effect until Trump came along.
		And the media just gives him a free ride.
		I don't understand.
		Another thing, C-SPAN.
		Now, a guy got killed at the CDC.
		I think they fired like 500-something shots.
		You guys said nothing about it.
		A black guy got killed.
		But nothing was said about that.
		All over the news, just like you.
		I mean, C-SPAN too, everyone is talking about this thing and this thing today.
		Another thing, C-SPAN, Trump just suspended.
		Ask Trump.
		Why don't you ask Trump or some of the Republicans?
		Is he going to reinstate Harris's detail?
		All these people that he's taking security details from, these are putting targets on these people's backs.
		This is simply telling people as the president.
		That look, i'm taking these targets off their back now they could be easy to play.
		I'm not saying he's saying go out there to kill them, but these people, when you got people on edge, like you've got these sick people in this country, that's what they take it as all right.
		And sometimes it makes me wonder ma'am yep yep, yep.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So we heard that Meryl, and let's hear from president Trump now.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		He posted a video statement after the fatal shooting.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		This is a dark moment for America.
		Charlie Kirk traveled the nation joyfully engaging with everyone interested in good faith debate.
		His mission was to bring young people into the political process, which he did better than anybody ever, to share his love of country and to spread the simple words of common sense on campuses nationwide.
		He championed his ideas with courage logic, humor and grace.
		It's long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree, day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible.
		For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals.
		This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.
		My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials and everyone else who brings order to our country, from the attack on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania last year, which killed a husband and father, to the attacks on ice agents,
		to the vicious murder of a health care executive in the streets of New York, to the shooting of House majority leader Steve Scales and three others.
		Radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Back to your calls now.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		This is Dennis Delfos.
unidentified		Oh Democrat, good morning hey, good morning, uh.
		Basically, after just listening to what the president had to say, i'm very sorry that Charlie Kirk uh got shot.
		It's uh, but the rhetoric that Trump just gave in his speech, it's all hate rhetoric.
		I mean, he took the speaker service detailed away from Biden and Harris.
		He's just saying, go ahead and take a shot at him.
		We're in a sad shape in this country.
		We got a leader in the White House that preaches hate, and I just don't understand what people see in this man.
		Everything out of his mouth is pretty much a lie.
		We're in serious trouble in this country, and I hope and pray that people come to their senses.
		And all we can pray for is that the good Lord touches people's hearts, and we can try to show some care to one another.
		If we have different opinions on politics, it's okay to give your opinion, but there's just so much hate rhetoric in this country.
		And I'm sorry that we're in this situation, but it's gotten worse since President Trump has taken office.
		Thank you for taking my time.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And Dennis, just a quick correction.
		Yes, former Vice President Harris's Secret Service was canceled after it was extended by former President Biden.
		But President Biden and his spouse get lifelong protection from the Secret Service.
unidentified		Well, I did not know that.
unidentified		I'm glad you corrected that.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		And here's Jeff, a Republican in Hidden Knight, North Carolina.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Well, I've learned one thing this morning from the Democrat college.
		It must have been Trump responsible for his death, or it was the guns.
		It's the craziest thing, man.
		I watch this show, but I'm having trouble here lately.
		I'm getting away from it more and more for letting these morons come on and go on and on.
		When you're again killing babies, when you're again homosexuals getting married, adopting kids, men playing in women's sports, you're Nazi.
		You're somehow wrong.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And Jeff, relate that back to the killing of Charlie Kirk.
unidentified		Charlie Kirk was a good man.
		He stood for the very things I'm talking about.
		They can't nobody that's called in this morning say anything bad about the man.
tony in texas ▲ ● ▼		I know where he's at, and it makes me more proud to be a Republican today.
unidentified		Thank God for people like Charlie Kirk.
		Thank God for him.
		I know where he's at.
		He's home.
		You're going to have to kill a hell of a lot more than that.
		These people like him everywhere.
		They woke up a giant.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Well, let's hear more from Charlie Kirk.
		This is him speaking at CPAC in 2020 on his advocacy work on college campuses.
unidentified		30 years ago, we beat communism and we brought down that Berlin wall.
		We beat communism in Europe, but then communism just came straight on our college campuses and it came into our school boards.
		And that's the second thing.
		People say, Charlie, what can I do?
		Because I want CPAC to be a place of action.
		We're a place where people make decisions to do something.
		The left has continually and routinely taken over our school boards all across the country.
		And if every single conservative in this room got as involved in school board races as we do with national elections, our country would be in a much better place with getting involved in what they're doing with our textbooks, getting involved with what they're doing at the very elementary, local level.
		And the third thing that people can do is they say, does your kid actually need to go to four-year college?
		I'll tell you, going to some of the quote-unquote best schools in the country and visiting them, I would not send anyone that I care about to those schools unless you are willing to play Russian roulette with their values.
		We need to ask our high school seniors, hey, why are you going to college?
		Not where are you going to college?
		We need more plumbers and welders, electricians, and HVAC and policemen and firefighters and veterans.
		And we need far less people that are hyper-educated in the humanities and communications and psychology, but they know everything possible about why America is a flawed country.
		And it seems as if they're the ones that can't find, that are so unhappy and unsettled, and they're saddled with student loan debt.
		And so every single person in this room has to understand that higher education is the cartel of the colleges, is that they exist using our taxpayer funding, taking the minds and futures of our young people as a way to not just continually keep their power structure at a certain status quo, but also to create a future political base of left-wing Democrat activists.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And back to your calls now on the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
		This is Keyport, New Jersey, Independent Line.
		Edward, you're on the air.
unidentified		Yep.
		Thank you.
		So, well, I'm not calling today to make a conspiracy theory based January 6th deniers that think that the one time that someone on the left said the F-word is equivalent to beating cops with flagpoles and I'm publicly debunked lies.
		I'm calling today on behalf of the majority of Americans who may lose their health insurance, like carry medical debt or bankruptcy, believe in medical science, a zoonotic and foodborne.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So, Edward, we are focused on the death of Charlie Kirk.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Do you have something on that specifically?
unidentified		Well, yeah, I'm getting there.
		I'm saying that, you know, that the fact is that everyone in America that believes in climate change and everyone that believes in having student loan deaths and against mass Gestapo, et cetera, et cetera.
		The fact is, is that, you know what I mean?
		Sorry.
		That the radical right has a proverb has a proverbial and literal gun to the heads of all the Americans that I just listed.
		And it's amplified by people like this, Mr. Kirk and C. Peck, and that we need to study our history.
		And if you would look back in 1919, Germany, which gave rise to the Nazi Party, I guess you would know that the same thing was happening there, that the right would kill a whole bunch of people and nothing would go on.
		And then the left would kill one person and they would amplify it to the max.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Edward.
		Here's Aaron, Alexandria, Virginia, Democrat.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
		I'd like to tell the truth this morning.
		First and foremost, the caller who made like the sort of veiled threat, I suggest you guys find his number, report him.
		It's not appropriate to threaten anybody or C-SPAN for the viewers that call in with their particular views.
		Back to Charlie Kirk.
		Charlie Kirk did not deserve to die for his political views.
		He opened up a forum for him to discuss his own views.
		This is what makes America so wonderful because we should have the ability to say what is on our mind and heart without losing our life.
		But let's tell the truth for a second.
		Charlie Kirk amplified a lot of what is disgusting in this country.
		When you start speaking, and I saw this online and posts and such, the blaming of the left and calling for civil war, be careful when you say things like the radical left, the radical right, the Democrats, red versus blue, blue versus gray.
		Be careful of the things that you say.
		When you say, hey, it's okay if some people die and that person becomes your husband because Charlie Kirk's wife, I'm not sure if she tried to pull him back and say, babe, you're saying too much and doing too much.
		And he said, no, I'm fine.
		I'm a white man in America.
		I'll be just fine.
		Be very careful.
		I don't think that he deserved to die, not in that manner.
		That was disgusting.
		It was horrible.
		And as someone who's a gun owner, as someone who believes in the Second Amendment, who's also a Democrat, we'll let you know that most of us think that's disgusting.
		But the callers who are calling in right now saying the left is just crazy, they're the violent ones.
		They're the party that was, you know, created slavery until the racists decided to go elsewhere.
		When you start speaking like that, be very careful of the consequences and the repercussions that you're enabling to happen.
		We don't need any more violence.
		But even our own president, and I hope he's listening, he speaks in violent terms where he can punch somebody or knock the hell out of this guy or do this and do that.
		Those are the language, that's the language he uses, even when he talked about the assassination attempts.
		Scalise and three others.
		He didn't talk about the Democrats that were attacked as well.
		So he's clearly on one side.
		Okay?
		So why don't we try to aim more towards the middle and realize that in this country where there are more guns than people, where people have guns, Democrats have guns too.
		And there are people with mental health issues.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Aaron, we got that point.
		This is Larry in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, Republican line.
		Good morning, Larry.
unidentified		Good morning.
		How are you doing?
		I predicted this almost 10 years ago.
		I said that if the media doesn't stop Derettic and their demagogue against Trump, somebody's going to get killed.
		And sure enough, I was right.
		And I blame a lot of, not just the Democrats, but it's the media too.
		Because every night when you turn on your TV, it's hate, hate, hate.
		Yeah, racist, white supremacist act, fascists, whatever.
		And after a while, it just kind of gets old.
		And back in my days, when I was a kid, I watched Walter Conquer, Howard Kate Smith, Huntley Brinkley.
		And they didn't like Johnson or Nixon, but they never, ever thought of trying to use their media power to take out a president.
		And today's media has a lot to blame for this.
		Every day we get up, we hear how we're racist, we're hoba pool, we're this and that and everything.
		And it gets old, actually.
		Wow.
		But I got to say this about C-SPAN.
		I'm very disappointed on Brian Lamb.
		I'm surprised he hasn't got up here and said to the staff, when a caller comes in and calls the president parophile, a rapist, and makes false allegations that you let this go on.
		It's not fun.
		I used to get up and I used to enjoy turning on Washington Journal.
		And lately, it's just been miserable.
		The Democrats have so much hate, but I got to ask the Democrats of all the hate every day in, day out, what good is hate?
		I would love to have a Democrat explain to me what good hate does.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Larry.
		And here is former President Barack Obama posting on X.
		We don't know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy.
		Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie's family tonight, especially his wife Erica and their two young children.
		There's also a posting on X by Ezra Klein.
		Now, he's from the New York Times, and he recently wrote a book titled Why We're Polarized.
		And he says this: In the last few years, we've seen the plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the storming of the Capitol and pipe bombs left at the RNC and DNC, the break-in to kidnap Nancy Pelosi and the brutal attack on Paul Pelosi,
		multiple assassination attempts against Trump, the assassination of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the shooting of a state senator, John Hoffman, and his wife, Luigi Maggioni's assassination of Brian Thompson, the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
		Political violence is contagious.
		It's spreading.
		It is not confined to one side or belief system.
		It should terrify us all.
		The foundation of a free society is the ability to participate in it without fear of violence.
		Political violence is always on attack against us all.
		You have to be so blind not to see that.
		That was Ezra Klein of the New York Times.
		Cliff, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Independent Line, good morning.
unidentified		Yes, Charlie gave his life for what he believed in.
		And we all should have the right to do that and have our own opinion, whether it's left, right, or whatever.
		My problem is that I think that this may be somebody from the mega organization or the that's kind of turning on what's happening.
		I hope I'm wrong.
		I mean, I didn't believe 9-11 when I seen it happen.
		I didn't believe this yesterday, but I think this is only the beginning of what's going to happen.
		In America, there's just so many people upset on both sides.
		And this is the kind of stuff that comes out of it, whether you agree with what Charlie speaks or what the Democrats or what the independents like me speak.
		But I think it's the caller talked about waking the giant.
		I think they may have woke the giant up what's happened here in America in the last nine months to everybody's health care.
		Everybody's, you know, don't know what's going to happen now with the economy, with the tariffs.
		So we're in a kind of a big question time in American history.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And on the line for Democrats, Al Griffith, Indiana.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Yes, Mimi.
		Obviously, this is a tragedy, but it was an avoidable tragedy, just like Ashley Babbitt was avoidable.
		On Dem's side, we have attempted to talk reason and convince people like Ashley Babbitt and Charlie Kirk not to traffic in so much violent and targeted language against so many people that aren't white males.
		They've been caught up in a whirlwind of violent rhetoric now ever since Rush Limbaugh.
		And it's been decades of targeting minorities, a decade of targeting vulnerable minorities people.
		And when you're subject to that, I'm sure Charlie Kirk listened to Rush Limbaugh for decades.
		It's an accumulation over time, and that is what Trump and the Oval Office is trying to capitalize on: a grand change here.
		And change is coming because the economic change is going to happen.
		And the religious right is depending on a cataclysmic and violent overthrow of the current state.
		And it sure seems like they're making it happen as best they can.
		And unfortunately, Charlie Kirk was a part of that dialogue.
		He contributed to that, like many other talk shows.
		AM Radio across America has been broadcasting for decades and planning, speaking, and targeting and advocating for an abundance of guns in this nation.
		It's all coming together in this insane hurricane of hate.
		I hope reason prevails.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Al.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And here's Curvin in Nacogdoshus, Texas, Independent Line.
unidentified		And good morning.
		And when I ever get in, I always say I love my Lord Jesus Christ, and I think he is the way.
		And what's going on, Satan is really working.
		He got people thinking that as long as you're in my camp, hate ain't hate.
		But when same time you hear that talk in the other camp or somebody doing something in the other camp, exactly the same thing in their camp, Satan say that they evil.
		They deserve to die or however.
		But in their camp, they're doing the exact same thing.
		But we love God.
		We Christ-like.
		Tell me what Christ said, you kill for him.
		He don't say kill.
		He says we die for him.
		He said we show love for him and compassion for one another.
		He said, once you dishonor your brother, that's anybody, you dishonor me.
		When you lift somebody up, you lifting me up.
		So they worshiping Satan.
		I don't care what party you're in.
		When you worship man or you look up to man to guide you other than my Lord Jesus Christ, because all he wants you to do is show love and compassion.
		So I can't understand when they say, hey, this person been in office too long when you got another person been in that exact same time in a party.
		This person over here is rich, but in a same party, you got people that's just as rich as the other person, but they evil.
		But over here, we loving and caring.
		That's Satan talking to you.
		That's Satan getting you to go against God.
		That's when we have some in the proper.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And here's Clark in Peach.
		No, we lost that one.
		This is Rochelle in Winchester, California, Democrat.
		Good morning, Rochelle.
unidentified		Hi, let me read my TV real quick.
		Okay.
		Hi, how are you?
		I just, okay.
		Can you hear me?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yes, go right ahead.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		We're listening.
unidentified		Okay.
		First, I want to say condolences to the family of Mr. Kirk.
		I never heard his speeches until you just played one about 10 minutes ago.
		So I'm going to go off of that.
		I did not know who he was, period.
		Okay, first of all, he mentioned about four-year colleges.
		He would not take his kids, something to that effect.
		I don't want to quote him because I might misquote him.
		And so he said he would not want them to run up a debt.
		Well, my daughter goes to UCI, and she's going to graduate in three years.
		She's going to be a doctor.
		And here's my thing about what he said about the Department of Education.
		We were paying for her undergrad, and this administration cut plus loans for parents paying for their kids' education.
		That's number one.
		Number two, he's from, okay, a guy called in and said something about Democrats have hate in their heart.
		Okay, I beg to differ.
		I want to answer this question.
		I have a degree in journalism.
		I always go off of facts.
		Okay?
		I don't know anything but facts.
		And it seems that I won't even say the Republican Party.
		There's a lot of people under Trump, and Trump does not care about facts.
		He wants everybody to go up at what he says when the majority of what he says is a lie.
		Now, he's sitting here dispersing all these soldiers on the street.
		This is another thing that Mr. Kirk said in the video that you played.
		They're dispersing all these people on the street, and they're letting Putin and Israel get away with everything.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Rochelle, I do have to move on.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's hear more from Utah's Republican Governor Spencer Cox yesterday on the killing of Charlie Kirk.
spencer j cox ▲ ● ▼		This is a dark day for our state.
		It's a tragic day for our nation.
		And I want to be very clear that this is a political assassination.
		We are celebrating 250 years of the founding of this great nation.
		That founding document, the Declaration of Independence.
		That this great experiment on which we embarked together 250 years ago, that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.
		The first one of those is life.
		And today, a life was taken.
		Charlie Kirk was first and foremost a husband and a dad to two young children.
		He was also very much politically involved, and that's why he was here on campus.
spencer cox ▲ ● ▼		Charlie believed in the power of free speech and debate to shape ideas and to persuade people.
spencer j cox ▲ ● ▼		Historically, our university campuses in this nation and here in the state of Utah have been the place where truth and ideas are formulated and debated.
		And that's what he does.
		He comes on college campuses and he debates.
		That is foundational to the formation of our country, to our most basic constitutional rights.
		And when someone takes the life of a person because of their ideas or their ideals, then that very constitutional foundation is threatened.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		That's Utah's Governor Cox, and this is Kelly, who's in Clemens, North Carolina.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Republican, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, Mimi.
		First off, I'd like to say thank you, God, for the man from Texas.
		He was so well spoken and did it just right.
		And I also want to say, God, please pick up the Kirk family and comfort them in your arms.
		Now, I want to say that Charlie Kirk was a very good man.
		And I urged anyone who thinks they know how he was to go and watch his videos.
		Go and watch them.
		They won't hurt you.
		Just watch them.
		He was not an angry man.
		He was nice and he smiled.
		And all he wanted to do was debate people.
		And he had a little sign that said, Prove me wrong.
		Come up here and debate with me.
		That was not violent.
		And he had no violent rhetoric either.
		I don't know where y'all are getting that from.
		Probably the media.
		But I also want to tell you something else.
		Whoever did this, whoever you are, and for those who were happy about it, you better understand that there are now thousands of Charlie's.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And we do have much of his public speeches on our website.
		If you'd like to take a look and go through those and hear for yourself, as the caller suggested, it's c-span.org.
		You can just do a search.
		Scott, Corey, Pennsylvania, Independent Line, you're next.
unidentified		Hello, this is Scott.
		Sorry, I'm just getting up and a little hoarse.
		Let's get rates straight to reality.
		What's this all about?
		I am really sick of all the killings.
		I've been sick of all the killings for years, especially when the kids started getting killed.
		Especially my kid had to go through something like that.
		I really feel for all the kids that have to suffer and be scared in schools because they're afraid to get killed.
		My daughter's afraid to send her kids to school.
		I'm really sad for all the people that are getting killed, not just this guy.
		I never even heard of him.
		I'm really sad for his family, yes, but we've got to start with reality.
		Reality is who's creating all this evil?
		It started when Trump started having his hate rallies after he was elected for the American people, the American people, all of us.
		But then he continued with his hate rally.
		Guys, I thought I wanted a strong president, so I listened to him.
		First thing out of his mouth, hit them reporters right in front of kids.
		Go hit them reporters.
		Now, from then on, if you ever, anybody, you that speaking right now on this show, anybody ever told the truth about Trump and his followers, followers didn't like it, they were evil.
		They're the ones that started all this.
		They can stop it.
		Be honest.
		Trump is evil, period.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Scott.
		Here's Dale, North Dakota Republican.
		Good morning, Dale.
unidentified		Good morning.
		First, I'd like to say that I hope that Charlie Kirk's wife and children can be lifted up in this and given strength and courage to get through it.
		I'd also like to say that Charlie Kirk was a good man.
		I was very familiar with his work.
		Charlie sought a debate.
		He sought a dialogue.
		He wanted people to come to him and challenge him with their ideas and prove his ideas wrong.
		That's what America is about.
		We're supposed to have these conversations.
		That's supposed to be what our colleges are about, and that's why Charlie started Turning Point, because he thought colleges needed to be more of a place where ideas were debated and had to be proven and upheld.
		And Charlie won most of his debates with common sense logic and his ideals.
		I spent a lot of time in the military as an expert rifleman, and I can tell you that it was a coward that shot Charlie from about 200 yards away.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		This is Taylor in Asheville, North Carolina, line for Democrats.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
		Well, first, I want to start out by sending my Sending to the Kirk family the same condolences and support that they sent other school shooting victims in the past.
		I hope that they get the exact same sympathy that they sent out for those people.
		And also, I want to call out the great Uniter, Trump, for go ahead and preemptively blaming the left and some liberal when we don't know who did this yet.
		And also, I want to thank him for extending to Kirk the same reverence and support that he did for Melissa Hortman when she was shot.
		You know, like when he lowered the flag to half mask, when he tweeted about her, when he called and was supportive for her.
		Oh, wait, he wasn't?
		The great Uniter wasn't supportive of an assassination victim when it wasn't on his team.
		Wow, color me surprised.
		Also, I just want to point out that I want the same empathy for Mr. Kirk that he supports.
		Oh, wait, he thought empathy was weakness.
		He thought that some gun deaths were worth it for the Second Amendment.
		You know what?
		You can't prove him wrong because he proved himself right by being a victim of a school shooting and gun violence that he loves so much.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Will in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Independent Line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Will.
unidentified		Hey, hey, good morning from Tulsa, America.
		We're all sad or shocked or not shocked by the death of Charlie Cook.
		And yeah, his two little boys will grow up and see daddy on video because the one-year-old won't remember daddy, the three-year-old will barely remember daddy.
		But my comment is this: he wants to replace Rush Limbaugh.
		He wants to replace Tucker Carlson.
		He's an opportunist, cashing in on the hatred in this country, the division in this country.
		I voted for Ronald Reagan twice.
		I voted for Barack Obama twice.
		I keep saying it every time I call C-SPAN.
		Do not vote for the party.
		Vote for the person.
		Find the best person, man or woman, for the job, and elect that person.
		And all Charlie Kirk did, like Limbaugh, like Tucker Carlson, is tap into that hatred and rev it up and stir the pot.
		He is an opportunist.
		Am I disappointed that he's dead?
		Sure.
		Violence is not the answer.
		Am I surprised?
		I am not surprised.
		That's my comment.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Sal, a Republican in Sewell, New Jersey.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi, Domimi.
		You just hear that last quarter.
		These people sound off.
		They don't even know nothing about this poor guy, Charlie Kirk.
		I watch him often on C-SPAN and then all day on the religious channel, TBN.
		And I should go on YouTube.
		This poor guy didn't have a bad bone in his body.
		These people saying he stirred up rhetoric and all this stuff.
		These people are nuts.
		And this is what I blame.
		I have blame, and I don't like blame.
		The media started it, and the politicians, Schumer and Waters, and all of them started on Trump.
		He got shot at.
		Then all the lies and all the stuff they said about him Hitler, this and that.
		Then they started on probably this guy, Kirk, at the colleges.
		He let kids speak and say to speak their mind.
		And he debated calmly.
		He never hollered, never tried to yell at people.
		What a class act.
		And you got these politicians, Schumer, and talking bad things about everybody.
		Maxine Waters and the rest of them.
		And this is where the media should stop reporting things that are lies about anybody.
		They should be held accountable, the media.
		You can't be spreading lies and rumors about people, and then you wonder why they're getting shot at.
		This is why I'm disgusted about what goes on in the media, and they could get away with saying freedom of speech is one thing, but don't promote lies about people.
		And this is why you get people shot at.
		And that's what they should look at.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Jackie in North Carolina, Democrat.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Jackie.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I'd like to remind all Americans that a house divided cannot stand.
		And our enemies must be very, very happy with the way that Americans are going after each other.
		Beware.
		We should stick together.
		We should not point fingers at each other.
		We cannot survive being divided as a country and stop making Putin and Netanyahu and all of the rest very happy with the way our country, the direction in which our country is going.
		That's all I'd like to say right now.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		LG in Grove City, Ohio, Independent Line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yes, hello.
unidentified		It's a terrible thing.
		Yep.
		Absolutely terrible thing.
		It's happened to our country yesterday.
		You know, September 10th and September 11th is going to be embedded into our memories forever.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Is that all you wanted to say, LG?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Or did we lose it?
unidentified		I'm just collecting my thoughts here.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Sure.
unidentified		Charlie spoke the truth, and the truth hurts.
		Our country really needs to look towards the prayer and forgiveness of people.
		You know, I really hate to say this, but it almost like I feel that there needs to be a Jack Ruby in this deal so his wife and children do not have to go through the prosecution of this man and see all this and deal with this.
		Because Charlie was, like I said, he only spoke the truth.
		You might not like what he had to say, but it was the truth.
		Thank you for your time.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Perry in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Republican.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You're on the air, Perry.
unidentified		Oh, hi, thank you.
		I'd just like to extend my condolence to the Kirk family in their entirety.
		It's a sad situation.
		But there's a little bit more that meets the eye to this.
		I mean, Charlie Kirk had a very good tour with his Prove Me Wrong, and a lot of these people who he did have debates with didn't admit that they were wrong.
		Here's a guy here who turned a lot of the youth vote this last couple of elections, and that's the problem here.
		He's became too big.
		And whether people want to realize this or not, this was a professional hit.
		This was not an act of random some crackpot decided to kill Charlie Kirk.
		Because if that was the case, he would have taken a few more people out yesterday.
		Like, it's a clean getaway.
		Nobody knows where this guy's at today.
		And it's sad because we lost a voice who was reasonable and who listened to people and let people talk.
		And he explained to them his view, and he gave everybody an open forum.
		And it's sad to say that in this country no more speech, freedom of speech is being taken away from us just like it's being taken away over in England.
		You can't even fly a flag in England anymore.
		And it's going to become like that over here.
		And I blame the media in part too, because just like that moron from MSNBC, Mr. Dow, with his remarks for yesterday, he deserved it.
		No, no one deserves to be assassinated.
		You deserve to be debated.
		You deserve to have an open forum like Mr. Kirk gave everybody to show their viewpoints, but you don't deserve to be killed.
		And like I say, I'm sorry for the loss.
		Thank you for my time.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Stephanie Modesto, California, Democrat.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Stephanie.
unidentified		I just wanted to bring up a point about sorry.
		No one has said why he was killed.
		I don't know why.
		We're all assuming it was because of his speech.
		There is nothing said because we don't know who the shooter is.
		Also, it doesn't, no one knows whether he was far right, far left.
		Trump has said that he is extreme left, and that could cause so much division.
		We should stop trying to play the blame game until we find the facts.
		Who was this person and why did he kill them?
		And stop all the assumptions.
		We need more fact-finding.
		That's all I have to say.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Well, after the break, we will continue to take your calls about the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk yesterday in Utah and also that today's anniversary is the anniversary, the 24th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks.
		And you can start calling in now.
		We'll also hear from two members of Congress in the next hour on this sad morning, Republican Mike Bost of Illinois, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and Democrat Mark Vese of Texas.
		The numbers are Democrats 202-748-8000, Republicans 202-748-8001, and Independents 202-748-8002.
unidentified		This morning, watch C-SPAN's live, all-day coverage of the commemoration ceremonies marking the 24th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
		Coverage begins at 7 a.m. Eastern on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, and then at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, we'll take you to the remembrance ceremony at the 9-11 Memorial in New York City with Vice President JD Vance in attendance.
		At 9 a.m. Eastern, the observance ceremony from the Pentagon with President Donald Trump.
		And at 9.45 a.m. Eastern, the Flight 93 National Memorial Ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
		Watch live all-day coverage of the commemoration ceremonies marking the 24th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
		This morning, beginning at 7 a.m. Eastern, on the C-SPAN networks.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		So you interviewed the other night.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		I watched it about 2 o'clock in the morning.
unidentified		There was a little thing called C-SPAN, which I don't know how many people were watching.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Don't worry, you were in prime time too, but they happened to have a little re-run.
patty murray ▲ ● ▼		Do you really think that we don't remember what just happened last week?
patty murray ▲ ● ▼		Thank goodness for C-SPAN, and we all should review the tape.
unidentified		Everyone wonders when they're watching C-SPAN what the conversations are on the floor.
al green ▲ ● ▼		I'm about to read to you something that was published by C-SPAN.
sean duffy ▲ ● ▼		There's a lot of things that Congress fights about, that they disagree on.
unidentified		We can all watch that on C-SPAN.
		Millions of people across the country tuned into C-SPAN.
		That was a made-for-C-SPAN moment.
		If you watch on C-SPAN, you're going to see me physically across the aisle every day, just trying to build relationships and try to understand their perspective and find common ground.
		And welcome aboard to everybody watching at home.
		We know C-SPAN covers this live as well.
		We appreciate that.
		And one can only hope that he's able to watch C-SPAN on a black and white television set in his prison cell.
		This is being carried live by C-SPAN.
		It's being watched not only in this country, but it's being watched around the world right now.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Mike said before I happened to listen to him, he was on C-SPAN 1.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		That's a big upgrade, right?
unidentified		Get C-SPAN wherever you are with C-SPAN Now, our free mobile video app that puts you at the center of democracy, live and on demand.
		Keep up with the day's biggest events with live streams of floor proceedings and hearings from the U.S. Congress, White House events, the courts, campaigns, and more from the world of politics, all at your fingertips.
		Catch the latest episodes of Washington Journal.
		Find scheduling information for C-SPAN's TV and radio networks, plus a variety of compelling podcasts.
		The C-SPAN Now app is available at the Apple Store and Google Play.
		Download it for free today.
		C-SPAN, democracy unfiltered.
		If you ever miss any of C-SPAN's coverage, you can find it anytime online at c-span.org.
		Videos of key hearings, debates, and other events feature markers that guide you to interesting and newsworthy highlights.
		These points of interest markers appear on the right-hand side of your screen when you hit play on select videos.
		This timeline tool makes it easy to quickly get an idea of what was debated and decided in Washington.
		Scroll through and spend a few minutes on C-SPAN's points of interest.
		Washington Journal continues.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back to Washington Journal.
		This is a two-hour Washington Journal.
		The House is going to be gaveling in at 9 a.m. Eastern.
		And what you're seeing is the memorial there at New York City.
		That's ground zero.
		We also have shots to show you of the Pentagon and there.
		And then finally, the memorial at Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
		And we have several events going on across the C-SPAN network.
		So here on C-SPAN, as I mentioned, the House will be coming in at 9 a.m.
		At 8:30 over on C-SPAN 3, we will have coverage of the New York City events.
		They'll be gathering at the original site of the World Trade Center for a reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 people who died.
		Vice President Vance will be in attendance for the ceremony.
		That live coverage starts at 8.30.
		Then at 9 a.m. over on C-SPAN 2 at the Pentagon, President Trump, along with defense officials, will take part in a ceremony to remember the lives lost from the hijacked American Airlines plane that crashed into the Pentagon, killing all 64 people on board and 125 people on the ground.
		Live coverage of that is at 9 a.m. Eastern over on C-SPAN 2.
		We also have Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
		They host a remembrance ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial, honoring the 40 passengers and crew members who lost their lives that day after crashing their plane to thwart a terrorist attack bound for Washington, D.C.
		That ceremony is live at 9.45 a.m. Eastern.
		It's on C-SPAN Now, which is our app and online at c-span.org.
		We are taking your calls this morning on the two topics, which is the death of conservative activist Charlie Cook, his killing yesterday, and the 24th anniversary of 9-11.
		About 9-11, let's take a look at a portion of then-President George W. Bush's address to the nation following the attacks on September 11th.
george w bush ▲ ● ▼		Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts.
		The victims were in airplanes or in their offices.
		Secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal workers, moms and dads, friends and neighbors.
		Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror.
		The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger.
		These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat.
		But they have failed.
		Our country is strong.
		A great people has been moved to defend a great nation.
		Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.
		These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.
		America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world, and no one will keep that light from shining.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		That is ground zero, and that was former President Bush speaking 24 years ago today.
		The 9-11 attacks happened this morning, 24 years ago, and we are taking your calls and getting your reaction to that as well.
		Here's Bernard Dundalk, Maryland, Republican.
		Good morning, Bernard.
unidentified		Yeah, good morning.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yes, go right ahead.
unidentified		What's that?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go right ahead.
unidentified		Okay.
		I just want to say my condolences to the family of Charlie Kirk.
		I've been watching him or my, I got an iPad, and I've been watching Charlie Kirk for, I guess, about six, eight months, and always picked up on what he said.
		There was one guy that said that he always told the truth, and that seems like the way it's happened.
		As far as the 9-11, I was holding when we watched the planes hit the tires in worst state.
		I'm a little older than most of the callers because I can remember the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
		I was alive dead.
		I can remember when Kennedy was shot.
		I remember where I was.
		There's a lot of these Daniel.
		I will remember when Charlie Kirk was shot.
		This was a bad time for the nation.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And this is Vicki calling from Lincoln, Nebraska.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Democrat, good morning.
unidentified		Yes, good morning, Mimi.
		I have a lot to address, so I'm going to talk as fast as I can possibly talk.
		On 9-11, I'm 64 now, but I remember I was working and I was just waiting on people.
		I was working at a local little grocery store, and a lady came through my line, and she was telling me what was happening.
		She saw it on television, and the naive, sweet girl I was then, I said, oh my God, what a horrible accident.
		And she said, no, this was done on purpose.
		And we just all just went numb and froze.
		And from then on, I always said that I was going to have love in my heart.
		And I'm a Democrat to the other Nebraska lady that called in and asked a Democrat to explain, ma'am, I have love in my heart.
		I talk to God every day.
		And real quickly, is that love what Trump has been doing?
		Is that love?
		Is that the kind of love that you think is all right?
		Enough of that.
		On the Charlie thing, I prayed last night for his family, and I'm so sorry that happened to him.
		I'm not totally surprised because there's so much division, and there's so many people are hurting because they're afraid they're going to lose their Medicare or their Social Security.
		I have a wonderful husband that I'm not worried about it, but there's so many people that are worried about it.
		And also, I would like to say, you get a lot of compliments on how nice you look.
		Well, you're my very favorite, and I like you because of your intelligence.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Thank you very much, Vicki.
		And we will continue taking your calls on the death of activist Charlie Kirk and the 24th anniversary of 9-11.
		But we will pause our calls just for a few minutes to talk to Representative Mike Bost.
		He is a Republican from Illinois' 12th District.
		He's also chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee.
		Congressman Bost, welcome to the program.
unidentified		Thank you for having me on.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		I'll just start with your reaction to the killing of Charlie Kirk.
unidentified		You know, it's very upsetting, you know, for a time when, you know, our free speech is our nation's pride.
unidentified		It's part of our Constitution.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		And for someone to be brutally assassinated for actually free speech is a real problem.
unidentified		You didn't have to agree with Charlie, but Charlie actually, I think it was a strong Christian.
unidentified		I know it was a strong Christian man.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		We are all, whether Republican or Democrat, praying for his family, praying for two small children that have lost their father, for our lovely young wife that is now left to raise those children on her own, all because of an assassin's bullet.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		You know, I think that the movement of the conservative millennials will now probably rise because of the frustration that they feel whenever a voice like his has been silenced, trying to silence a voice whenever all he did was speak truth.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You're chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and I just wanted to get your thoughts on the anniversary of 9-11.
unidentified		Well, let me tell you that I'm also a Marine.
unidentified		But let me also say this.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		Everyone remembers exactly where they were if you were alive at the time when 9-11 happened.
unidentified		I was a firefighter and a state legislator at the time.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		I was leaning forward because my wife said in a small TV that was in the kitchen, she said, a plane's hit the towers.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		And I went, and I walked over and I held the TV and said, well, the firefighters are going to have a hard time because they've got to go here, they've got to do this.
unidentified		And while I was holding the TV, the second plane hit the towers.
		I then looked at her, and like I said, I was already, had been out of the Marine Corps by then, and I turned to her and I said, we're under attack.
		From then on, American lives changed.
		You saw a long, drawn-out war.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		And that is also, this corporal never thought he would be chairman of the VA committee, where we now, because of that long-drawn-out war and the wars that were before, we want to make sure we provide for those veterans who stood up at that time and stood in the gap for we as Americans to hold up for our American dreams.
unidentified		9-11 is something that, as an earlier caller said, he remembered Pearl Harbor.
		He remembered the shooting of John F. Kennedy.
		I remember the shooting of John F. Kennedy.
		I was only four years old.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		And those things, and even Charlie Kirk's shooting, we will remember where we were at, and our lives are permanently changed and impacted because of it, especially 9-11.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And Congressman, I'll just give you a few numbers.
		2,300 American service members were killed in the 20-year Afghanistan conflict.
		4,400 U.S. troops died in Iraq from 2003 to 2011.
		What do you think the nation learned from that sacrifice?
unidentified		Well, I really believe that they understand that freedom isn't free.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		However, I think that my hope is that we've learned to not draw out wars, but to actually go in with a mission to, and I think, and let me understand that, explain this.
unidentified		We have put up for war fighting on terrorism is what we did.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		And I hope that we have learned that when someone attacks, we do need peace through strength, but we don't always have to have someone right there on the ground, but we have to have our troops available to be on the ground if need be in the worst case scenario, but not for a long, extended period of time.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		But we also know and need to remember, and I do that with the VA committee, is that once those veterans have served, we need to make sure that if things have happened to them and they are not at the same condition they were when they raised their hand to go into that service, that we need to make sure that they're provided for.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And I do wanted to talk about the vets.
		There's 16 million vets in the country as of 2023.
		What are the particular challenges that our latest vets from the so-called Global War on Terror are facing today, and what are your priorities?
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		Well, let me tell you what our priorities are: making sure that their health care is available to them when and where they need it.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		The decisions being made between them and their doctors, so much so that if you remember, when I first came to Congress, we worked on a thing called the CHOICE Act, which allows them to either go to the VA, because of the lines and wait lists that were manipulated, that they can actually receive their health care when and where they need it.
unidentified		Also, we did then pass the Mission Act.
		Now we're working on the Access Act to make sure that they have that health care and it's available to them.
		We also need to make sure we continue to work on mental health.
		We lose 17 veterans a day to suicide.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		And let me tell you that 988 is a number that our veterans can call if they're feeling down alone and feeling suicidal.
unidentified		988 and then dial one on top of that and there's help available for them.
		We've got to stop that.
		But we also then need to make sure that we continue to provide them with other things.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		We actually passed a bill just recently that the president signed into law that made sure certain people after COVID, certain veterans, were having trouble that their houses were being foreclosed on, they'd missed payments.
unidentified		We got an act together that can help them.
unidentified		That doesn't mean that they can go on and never pay for their house.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		It means that the low-interest homes, that they can get through the veterans' home loans, they have another opportunity to make sure if they got in a little trouble to get them through that.
		These are the type of things we want to make sure that the veterans have the best life they can.
		We also do it with the education we do through the GI Bill and other education programs that allow a veteran when they leave the service to have the best life they can possibly have.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And you mentioned the Veterans Access Act.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Could you give us a little bit more information and specifics and where does that stand?
unidentified		Sure, right now we're moving that through committee for markup.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		And what it does is the Choice Act was the idea behind the Choice Act and then the Mission Act as well is that when a veteran either can't get services or they're so far away from a VA that there's way too much distance for them and they can't get access that way,
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		they can go into the community, receive community care with the doctor they choose and the services they need and get it as quick as possible, not after a long wait time or a lot of travel time.
unidentified		And access expands on that.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And what's the status of the PACT Act, which was passed in the previous administration?
unidentified		So we passed the PACT Act, the PACT Act, and here's the importance of the PACT Act.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		So for years, if you remember our Vietnam veterans, our Vietnam veterans suffered through with Agent Orange and unfortunately, and then Blue Water Navy, too many, actually two-thirds of our Vietnam veterans died off before services were provided for them.
unidentified		We didn't want to go down that path.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		So what the PACT Act did was it provided for our 9-11 veterans, post-9-11 veterans, and some Vietnam veterans, but it actually gives them health care services they need if they have been involved with a lot of people who said burn pits.
unidentified		It's toxic exposures, any toxic exposures.
		So they're not denied services while waiting on their claims to be processed.
		That is being implemented.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		Our job with the committee now is to give oversight to the VA to make sure it's being implemented correctly.
unidentified		We're doing that.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		We've got boots on the ground with the VA, making sure that they're implementing the PACT Act at the level that we need and at how Congress wanted it to be.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And Congressman, are there any plans to try to privatize the VA?
unidentified		Absolutely not.
		I'm glad you asked that question.
		We are not privatizing the VA.
		The VA does a great job.
		We need to have oversight to make sure they do that great job.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		But also, we shouldn't deny services to people based on the fact that they want to go out into the community or that they're so far away from AVA.
unidentified		We don't have a VA on every corner, and nor should we have a VA on every corner.
		But we do need to make sure that they're providing the services.
		VA is doing a wonderful job on so many things.
		There's research they're doing on everything from trying to get, we have the exoskeleton research that's going on to try to get paraplegic and quadriplegic where they can move.
		We've got studies.
		People don't realize what all the VA does.
		And so, no, it's not going to be privatized.
		And remember, it's not just a healthcare.
mike bost ▲ ● ▼		VA is over every veteran cemetery in this United States and every veteran cemetery and memorial around the world, as well as your GI bill, but your GI Bill, you're talking about other education programs, veteran home loans.
unidentified		All of these things are part of the VA.
unidentified		We're not privatizing VA.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		That's Representative Mike Bost.
		He's a Republican of Illinois' 12th District and chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee.
		Thanks so much for joining us today.
unidentified		Thank you for having me on.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		We will go back to your calls.
		Thanks for holding on the line.
		We are taking your calls on two topics, the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the 24th anniversary of 9-11.
		Here is Lily calling from Alexandria, Virginia, Independent Line.
unidentified		Hi, I actually just passed Pentagon stuck in traffic on the parkway and just got immense chills.
		I was one when 9-11 happened.
		My brother was a month old, so I don't remember it.
		But what I think a lot of people, my age and in my generation, do remember are all these isolated acts of violence, like shootings or stuff like that.
		And we didn't have a 9-11 or something like that to where as it's us as a country being targeted to where we need to look out for our neighbors and like just fellow Americans.
		We haven't had that experience.
		And we've had all these isolated experiences that are politically charged or against certain groups.
		And that's just something I kind of wanted to bring to others' attention because it's all just kind of sad.
		Yep.
		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Ricky in Kentucky, Republican line.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I just want to first off say that Charlie said if he was to be remembered for anything in this life, it would be for his faith.
		And above all, all Americans should believe and have faith in what is right.
		Now, Charlie, when he spoke, most of what I could get out of what he spoke about was the unborn children.
		It is sad that people had so much hate in their heart that they would take a really good man out of this world just to satisfy their own demons because he did not believe the way they believed.
		He was just telling the truth on exactly what was going on in this country.
		He spoke about free speech.
		He spoke about the difference between men and women.
		It's just a sad state of affairs in this nation.
		I'm just so heartbroke for his family.
		I was at a funeral last night whenever I got the news about Charlie, and it just made the day just so much worse.
		And basically, that's about all I have to say.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Ricky, and here's Kathy, a Democrat in Radcliffe, Kentucky.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi.
		I would just like to say, first of all, I am a Jesus-loving American, and I just beg all of us to stop hating each other.
		I didn't agree with a lot of Charlie Kirk's opinions, but he had, he didn't deserve to die for those opinions.
		And lastly, I would like to say that his organization was called Turning Point, correct?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yes, Turning Point, USA.
unidentified		I just would ask that we would all maybe try to honor Charlie Kirk by making this, this time, a quote-unquote turning point for America by making peace with one another.
unidentified		And that's all I have to say.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		In Whitefish, Montana, Independent Line, here's Mike.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, Kimberly.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Nope, it's Mimi.
unidentified		Can you hear me, Kimberly?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, it's Mimi.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Mike, it's Mimi.
unidentified		Oh, I'm sorry, Mimi.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		That's all right.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead.
unidentified		I apologize.
		Yeah, it reminded me of 9-11.
		I felt like puking.
		Excuse my language.
		I felt like throwing up.
		And that's what happened when I heard about Charlie Kirk yesterday.
		He represented everything that was good and innocent in America.
		And the Democrats are so out of control.
		You know, they got their way again, like Madonna and Kathy.
		But you know what?
		Alex Jones is so right.
		He's been predicting this and warning people.
		And I blame President Trump.
		I put a lot of blame on him because his very weak selections for Department of Justice, FBI, DHS, CIA, they're killing us now.
		Those agencies were supposed to be disbanded.
		They're so corrupt.
		They're still assassinating our leaders.
		Charlie was a future president.
mike in alaska ▲ ● ▼		This is going to be more profound to our history than Martin or John's assassination.
unidentified		Excuse me a second.
unidentified		Let me take a breath here.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And some news for you to share.
		We had initially said that the Vice President JD Vance would be at the 9-11 Memorial, but we've just gotten news from the Washington Post, Vance to visit Charlie Kirk's family, canceling 9-11 memorial trip.
		And it says the vice president and the conservative activist who was killed Wednesday had a friendship that went back eight years.
		So Vice President Vance will no longer be traveling to New York and will be visiting Charlie Kirk's family instead.
		We're going to, again, pause our calls.
		We will come back to it, but we will talk now to Representative Mark Veace.
		He's a Democrat from Texas and member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
		Congressman Vesey, welcome to the program.
unidentified		Good morning.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And your thoughts on the killing of Charlie Kirk.
unidentified		My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
		I did not agree with anything that Charlie Kirk said, but he absolutely did not deserve to be killed that way.
		And it just, it makes me sad to think about the way that he lost his life and that the fact that his, that that's something that's, that those images are going to be something that are that are shared for years to come and that his family has to endure that.
		It makes me sad.
		And I really am very sincere in saying that I am going to be praying for his family.
		I think that it's sad and I think that it's an unfortunate day for America.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And also today marks the 24th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Your thoughts on that?
unidentified		Yeah, as we think about the 9-11 attacks, aviation is much safer than it has ever been before.
		But we still need to keep making improvements in honor of those people that lost their lives.
		I mean, it's sad to think back.
		And I think I was a congressional staffer back then.
		I was working for Martin Frost and I was working in his Texas office.
		And I was actually on my way to NASA when I heard the news.
		It's something that I'll never forget.
		And we have to keep the memories of those that perished in both the towers and on the airlines and on the ground, our first responders whose lives were lost and changed forever because of 9-11, 2001.
		And so I also keep them in my prayers and want as a legislator to keep working in a bipartisan way to make our airlines continuing to be the safest in the world and to make our country safer.
		We want to make sure that Americans here and abroad can always feel safe.
		And that is going to take bipartisan cooperation, and we should always keep that in mind as we think about 9-11.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And Congressman, there was a lot of national unity after those attacks on 9-11.
		What do you think happened?
		Why do you think that that wasn't, that we weren't able to stay at that level of unity?
unidentified		I think like anything else, when something like that happens, it's shocking and it brings people together.
		But, you know, after a certain amount of time, people, you know, go back into their everyday daily lives and into their routines.
		And, you know, that's really unfortunate.
		I hope that when we have tragedies that we can actually sit down and come together.
		There are always going to be forces that want to pull us apart.
		But I really do hope that we can get back to a point in time in America where people can disagree with one another, but still be able to share the same stage, still be able to be neighbors, still be able to cohabitate with one another.
		We've really, really gotten away from that in this country, and we should be concerned about a lot of the political violence and the fact that we're probably more divided now than we have been in a very, very long time in this country.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And Congressman VC, your district, the 33rd district, covers Dallas, Fort Worth, Carrollton, and Irving, Texas.
		Governor Abbott signed a law recently to redistrict several five seats, and yours did have some geographical shifts.
		Can you tell me what's going on with your, I mean, is your house in the new district or what's happening with the 33rd?
unidentified		No, my house is actually not in the new district.
		My house is in Tarrant County, and the district that I represent has been shifted entirely into Dallas County.
		And I do believe, though, that the maps are not going to be upheld.
		I think that they won't be enacted.
		You know, speaking of division and divisive times in our country, you think about pre-1965 Voting Rights Act, and that's basically what this map is.
		This map takes us back to 1960.
		And I don't think that it's going to be upheld.
		I think it's illegal.
		I think it's unconstitutional.
		I think it violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
		And I think that we're going to run under the current maps.
		I think the governor knew that he was intentionally violating the law.
		He's practically said that much.
		And I think that this is a way for him to put a feather in his hat so he can be one of the first governors from the old Confederacy to say that he struck down the Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
		I think this was about bragging rights for Greg Abbott because he wanted to be the guy that took down the Voting Rights Act.
		I think that a lot of the states in the old Confederacy, whether, you know, Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbott, other people in the South are sort of in this contest to see who can discriminate against black and brown voters the fastest.
		And it's unfortunate, but I think that that is truly where we're at right now.
		And I think that we're going to run under the current maps.
		I think that the maps that they pass in the state legislature are a blatant violation of federal law.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		You host, you co-host a podcast called The Fly-In.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Can you tell us about that and what the mission is for that podcast?
unidentified		Yeah, no, absolutely.
		Greg Lansman out of Ohio and I host a show called The Flying Inn.
		So basically the way that what that means is the fly-in, the way how we got the name was that is the day that all members of Congress fly into D.C. As you know, we are on an abbreviated schedule here during the week.
		We normally fly in on a Monday or Tuesday, and then we fly out on a Thursday or a Friday.
		And so we came up with the idea to call this podcast the fly-in to designate the, and we do it on the day that we fly in and get ready for votes on a Monday or Tuesday night at 6.30 p.m. Eastern here in D.C. at the nation's capital.
		And it's a center-left podcast.
		We talk about a lot of issues that moderate Democrats are interested in because we wanted to give voices like ours an opportunity to be more prevalent out there in the political debate.
		Because right now, obviously, you know, we have a lot of debate from progressives and we have a lot of debate from the far right.
		But we really wanted to have a podcast that sort of focused in on center-left politics.
		And that's why we started the podcast.
		And it's called the Fly-In, and we did such a good job that one of the news outlets here decided that they were going to host a podcast called The Fly-Out.
		And so, as they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery.
		And so, I think that the fly-in is catching on.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, that's Representative Mark Veacee, a Democrat of Texas's 33rd District and member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Thanks so much for joining us today.
unidentified		Thank you.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And we will get back to your calls.
		There is several things for you to be aware of on the C-SPAN networks happening today.
		The House comes in at 9, so we will take you there here on C-SPAN.
		They will be considering legislation to increase criminal penalties for undocumented immigrants who illegally enter the U.S. or re-enter the country after having been removed or denied entry.
		The Senate comes in at 10 a.m.
		That's on C-SPAN 2, as usual.
		And they plan to hold votes to change its precedents for considering certain presidential nominations.
		Back to your calls now to Jerry, Forked River, New Jersey, Republican.
		Good morning, Jerry.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I know the left has been saying a lot that how violent we are on the right, but wasn't it Elon Musk when he helped Trump that his stores were bombed and his Teslas were burned?
		And there were very violent violence around Elon Musk.
		He got hundreds of death threats.
		Charlie Kirk was just murdered.
		There were two attempts on Trump's life where an innocent father was killed.
		800% increase in ICE threats and attacks.
		Tim Wals, when Trump rumored was dead, Tim Walz got on and was like, I know, we were all hoping, but maybe in the future he will be.
		And I don't see how, I mean, Trump will say, Trump will say he was, they're dumb or stupid, but we were called Nazis and he was called Hitler a thousand times.
		Now, I don't see the Republican Party bombing anything or no attempts on Biden's life or an 800 increase in the ICE threats when Obama and Clinton, they moved millions of illegals out with not any protest.
		So how can they do that?
		9-11, I'm worried about 9-11 happening again with the thousands of violent illegals in our country.
		What do you suggest?
		I mean, the head of the FBI posted shows that said, you know, get rid of 47, 38, 47, or whatever it was.
		What is happening here?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Maria in Atlanta, Georgia, Democrat.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Maria.
unidentified		Good morning, Maria, Chief and Family.
unidentified		Can you hear me?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yes, we can.
unidentified		9-11 is always heartfelt and also wants to send my heart out to the children near Denver since I can't get any information on that.
		And about Charlie Kirk, I hear a lot of people, I read about him, I heard the things he said.
		I watch enough news, very diverse with it.
		I'm sorry for his wife and his children.
		You're lowering flags.
		Everybody's saying how a wonderful, beautiful person he is.
		He has the right for his freedom of speech and say what he wants.
		Okay, Minister Louis Farrakhan have a right to say his freedom of speech, and he says a lot of highly intelligent things, but you won't put him on this show.
		If something happened to him today, you won't lower any flags for him.
		You ban him off TV.
		But he said intelligent things.
		People thought he was a racist.
		Ever since Charlie Kirk got killed, everybody is going on about this racist man like a racist.
		This is why America can't get together.
		A racist man, lowering flags and talk about him almost all day and all night.
		We wouldn't do this to Minister Lil Farrakhan, and he's way high more intelligent than talk his cat and anybody.
		You would never dare bring him on T-Span.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Maria, and take a look on your screen.
		This is New York City.
		The ceremony is getting underway.
		You can see a procession there with the American flag.
		And we will come back to that ceremony and show you images from that while we take your calls.
		Andrew in Staten Island, New York, Independent Line.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, Mimi.
unidentified		That call of Yiki sounded a lot like the Kennedy Kennedys W. As far as Chris is concerned.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Andrew, I am really having a hard time making out what you're saying.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Do you have a better connection, maybe?
unidentified		Yes, ma'am.
unidentified		You see me once that.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Sorry, try again.
unidentified		Hello, can you hear me?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Can you call?
		No, it's not better.
		Can you call back, Andrew?
		Okay.
unidentified		Hello, can you hear me now?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		No, it's still the same.
		Joe in Bedford, Virginia, Republican.
		Good morning, Joe.
unidentified		Good morning, Mimi.
		Yes, I'd like to say several things that, you see, you had the left-wing socialist woke-tart party.
		I put the blame at their doorstep because they practiced hatred and divisiveness.
		They preach hatred.
		They practice hatred.
		They condone hatred.
		And they hate the right because we love America.
		And they blame Trump for everything when he's the best president this country's ever had.
		He did not create these problems, but he's the only one that's taking action instead of just talking like the rest.
		And, you know, it's not right.
		You know, we put up with Biden.
		We put up with Obama, et cetera.
		You don't see Republicans acting like rabbit animals let out of a cage, but that's how the socialists are.
		Get their way.
		They want to commit acts of violence, hate, and all they do is lie and attack the best president in America's history with lie after lie, slander against him and his family.
		And anyone like Charlie Kirk, who's brave enough to stand up and tell the truth, someone with morals and values, which the left apparently don't have, they hate and they want to do everything they can.
		You know, look at all the violence in Trump's first term and this term.
		Republicans didn't act that way when they were in charge of everything.
		So it shows right there.
		You got the party of everything.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Joe.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		We're going to go to New York City, take a look at what's happening there at the 9-11 memorial.
unidentified		You saw
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		there in New York City the moment of silence when the exact moment that Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
		And we will keep coming back to that, but take your calls in the meantime.
		Omar, Brooklyn, New York, Independent.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
unidentified		Can you hear me?
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Yes, go right ahead.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
		This is amazing.
		I just can't believe that I'm listening to the bell that told for me almost, and I'm online to speak my piece.
		I was there on 9-11, but I guess that's not really important.
		But maybe it'll be a little important.
		I know it's on C-SPAN.
		We talk past each other a lot.
		And I'm trying not to talk past everybody.
		I listen every morning.
		I was even there at the town hall meeting for the Yvette Clark.
		That was awesome.
		I was there when you had that.
		That was really awesome.
		It was terrible for me because I just watched a, seemed like a Caribbean Fest.
		No offense, but I was there to ask a question, but I wasn't able to get to that question.
		But C-SPAN, thank you for doing that.
		I really enjoyed watching the journey.
		But let me get to my point.
		Okay.
		I was there at 9-11.
		Fortunately, I didn't go to – I hate to say this.
		I didn't go.
		It's nerve-wracking, so please bear with me.
		I didn't go up to Windows of the World to have breakfast before I went to work that day.
		So that's basically why I'm here.
		And my children are here.
		Thankfully, I made that choice, and my ancestors helped me make that choice.
		So I want to give respect to my ancestors on that note.
		But getting back to Charlie Kirk, Charlie Kirk is nothing but a white supremacist who spewed anti-black rhetoric all the time.
		He spun it off into xenophobia.
		Anybody you could label as, I don't like you because whatever you want to say is the law.
		They're doing it right now to a lot of immigrants right now.
		What black people, black Americans, foundational black Americans like me, what we're doing is we're sitting back and we're watching all of this stuff, how everybody needs somebody to go and help them.
		Now, everybody needs black people to help them.
		With this new election, that's what they're going to come to us for.
		They're going to say, oh, we need you black people to vote with us so we can change things.
		They've been talking about housing forever.
		Lindani's talking about housing.
		They've been talking about housing in the month of the year.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Omar, we're getting off the subject.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Let's go back to New York City for the reading of the names for a few moments.
unidentified		Sabir Ahmed, Terrence Andre Aiken, Godwin O. Ajava, Trudy M. Alighero, Andrew Almino, Margaret Ann Alario, Gary M. Albero, John Leslie Albert, Peter Gregg Alderman, and my father, the aforementioned John Leslie Albert.
		He was a great man to those who knew him, missed by everyone.
		But we feel his presence with us to this day.
		One other note I wanted to make about the 20 names I read: these were people who the median age was 37 years old, the youngest was 22, fresh out of college.
		These were people who had their whole lives in front of them, a lot to live for.
		They simply went to work one day and never came home.
		And we must always remember them.
		And our brother, T.J. Hargrave, we miss him.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		And back to your calls now.
		We will take your calls on the two items: the killing of Charlie Kirk and the 24th anniversary of 9-11 that we're marking today.
		Mike, Indianapolis, Indiana, Democrat, good morning, Mike.
unidentified		Yeah, I think because of Charlie Kirk, that the rhetoric on the right is just out of control.
		They vilify Democrats.
		They call us evil, satanic, baby eaters, whatnot.
		But if you look at the facts and call us violent, but if you look at the facts, the people that did the assassinations on Trump and bombed his building, they were former MAGA people that woke up to the alternative facts and the lies that they're spitting, and it turned them crazy.
		And then they went and they do these attacks.
		And like with Paul Pelosi, they said that it was his gay lover.
		Well, what if that was Charlie Kirk's gay lover that killed him?
		They don't like it.
		They don't like the sting when it comes to them.
		But they need to knock.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Here's Ralph, Murphy, North Carolina, Republican.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Ralph.
unidentified		Good morning, Mamie.
		I'm just calling to say, you know, America, I know, is divided, but here's the big picture, okay?
		We failed at the beginning with racism and that, but the Emancipation Proclamation set people free.
		And if we hadn't changed that course and written that document, there's no saying where this country would be and any other country would be and whether slavery would have stopped.
		We have to look at the big picture of everything.
		We're moving forward in life.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		So, relating this back to our two topics?
unidentified		Okay.
		Then I want people to Google Communist Party of America if you really want to understand what we're looking at.
		Now, I say it's between God and Satan.
		I said that last year.
		You know, if you follow God, then things might turn out right.
		If you follow the other side, there's no telling where it's going to lead you.
		It's like my shirt says, if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.
		So I just want Americans to say a prayer for everybody because we should love everybody.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Kingsport, Tennessee, Independent Line.
		Rich, you're on the air.
unidentified		Hi, Mimi.
		I have three quick points.
		I'll try to get to as many as I can on the Charlie Kirk assassination.
		First of all, the social media should just be avoided.
		It's a cesspool right now.
		There's so much gloating over the killing.
		But even in the mainstream media, you might want to comment on the firing, MSNBC, firing Matthew Dowd for his comments.
robert gaylon ross ▲ ● ▼		And I just read that Middle Tennessee State has fired their dean of students for similar victim-blaming comments.
robert gaylon ross ▲ ● ▼		I believe I haven't read her comments, but that's the sort of reactions we're seeing.
unidentified		As far as the callers, point number two, the rhetoric that they keep mentioning, they talk about hateful rhetoric, racist rhetoric.
		Please ask them to specify what they're talking about.
		I have watched a lot of Charlie Kirk videos.
		I don't agree with everything.
		I think sometimes the people he's debating have really good points, and maybe he learned something from them.
		But generally, he's talking about things like the nuclear family.
		He's using statistics.
		He talks about just very traditional values.
		I'm really curious as to what Representative Vesey, he says he doesn't agree with anything that Charlie Kirk said.
		But when he talks about having a mother and father, the stability being important and showing statistically how the children fare better, does he disagree with that and other things?
robert gaylon ross ▲ ● ▼		And Stu on the left goes to campuses to debate in open debates, a back-and-forth exchange, respectful, except for the times.
unidentified		And I've seen videos of students cursing out Charlie Kirk, saying they hope he gets beaten up when he leaves the campus, that sort of thing.
		And he responded very civilly and with good humor.
		And our third statement.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Okay, go ahead.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Third thing.
robert gaylon ross ▲ ● ▼		Okay, one thing is it's about what you read about his statement about guns, and I'm seeing that over and over in memes about being worth it, some deaths.
robert gaylon ross ▲ ● ▼		And please read the preface to that statement right above where it was bold-faced.
unidentified		And he makes it clear that these deaths are unfortunate, but he said that in a society such as ours with the Second Amendment, we will never have zero deaths.
unidentified		But he's talking about the cost of this versus the alternative of an unarmed populace.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right, Richard.
		And the president is set to be arriving at the Pentagon soon.
		We're keeping an eye on that in case he does talk.
		It looks like he has arrived.
		And if we will continue taking calls and show that to you on the screen.
		Cookie and Schools, Indiana, and Democrat, good morning.
unidentified		Yes.
		Hi, Mimi.
		It is a sad day, and I'm watching the 9-11 ceremonies, and it just brings tears to my eyes.
		I remember that day well.
		You know, I thought we were being attacked.
		And so it was a horrible, horrible day.
		And I appreciate you putting that on.
		But I just wanted to say you are very, very fair.
		You let both sides have their say.
		And these people complaining about you, I don't know what they're listening to, but you give both sides a chance.
		And I'm sorry.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		No, I was just going to say I appreciate that.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		Was that it?
unidentified		Well, I just wanted to say about Charlie Kirk.
		That was a horrible thing that happened to him.
		But I didn't even know him.
		So I looked it up.
		And apparently he was pretty much of a grifter and made millions.
		And they also, what I read was it was in the Los Angeles Times that they put young kids on the internet pushing the election was abroad.
		So I don't have much respect for what he stood for.
mimi geerges ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		And here's Bob in Franklin, Indiana, Republican.
		Hi, Bob.
unidentified		Yeah, it's good morning.
		I would probably agree with most of what Charlie Kirk believed because I am a conservative.
		But I think, you know, just assuming that this was like a political thing, we don't know.
		It appears to me so far that this guy just wanted to kill and disappear.

▲