– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Good evening. I'm Maurice Dubois.

>> I'm John Dickerson.

>> Conservative activist and commentator

Charlie Kirk was shot and killed today

during an appearance at Utah Valley

University just north of Provo, Utah.

>> Kirk, a 31-year-old influential ally of

President Trump was speaking to a crowd

on the campus when he was shot in the

neck area.

>> Kirk was the co-founder of the

conservative youth organization Turning

Point USA. He had a popular podcast and

millions of followers on social media.

President Trump had credited him with

mobilizing young voters in the 2024

election. This evening, the president

broke the news of Kirk's death, calling

him a truly great American patriot, and

flags were lowered to half staff at the

White House in honor of Charlie Kirk.

>> CBS News justice correspondent Scott

McFarland has been speaking with his

federal law enforcement contacts and

leads us off tonight. Scott, what have

we learned?

>> Several hours after the shooting, it's

still unclear who pulled the trigger.

The FBI director gave shifting

information tonight. At first, saying a

subject had been taken into custody for

the shooting, then saying that subject

had been released.

Just minutes into Charlie Kirk's event

on campus at Utah Valley University

after he tossed hats to the crowd, he

began taking questions from the

audience.

>> Do you know how many mass there in

America over the last 10 years counting

or not counting gang violence?

Someone then fired a gun and the shot

struck Kirk in the neck.

>> Oh my god.

>> The crowd ran for cover.

[Applause]

>> While Kirk was carried away.

>> Roughly two hours later, President Trump

posted on social media that Kirk was

dead, saying he was loved and admired by

all, especially me.

>> 24 hours.

>> Utah's Republican Senator Mike Lee.

>> I'm devastated. I will miss him. My

heart goes out to all those who mourn

his passing today.

>> Reporter Brian Schne is with our CBS

affiliate KU TV in Salt Lake City. He

spoke to eyewitnesses.

>> We finally got up and followed the crowd

and I just kept holding her. I don't

even have my shoes on. I left my keys

like and everyone's just like scared.

Like it it's traumatizing like you know

it it scares like I don't even want to

go to school tomorrow. A student I spoke

to said they were there to exchange

ideas and get a better understanding of

the dialogue in today's country. But all

of that shattered as soon as Charlie

Kirk was shot.

>> I heard a loud bang which I figured a

shot would be a little bit louder, but

uh I just saw it hit him and then he

like fell over and slumped down and

everybody got down and was screaming and

then we all ran.

Sources tell CBS News the shot that

struck Kirk appears to have been fired

from an elevated position in an academic

building 1 to 200 yards away. Federal

agents blanketed the scene along with

local and university police canvasing

the area. Kirk spoke last week on his

podcast with Senator Lee about the tense

atmosphere at the university ahead of

his appearance.

>> Senator Lee, this is already making a

lot of headlines. People are very angry.

They're calling for my cancellation.

They think our permit should be pulled.

What? This is a greater response than

when I go to Berkeley.

>> The 31-year-old was married with two

young children. His daughter turned

three two weeks ago. In recent years,

Kirk had become one of the most

influential conservative figures,

rallying young voters to the Republican

party.

>> I run the largest pro-American student

organization in the country, Turning

Point USA, fighting for the future of

our republic.

>> He appeared multiple times with then

candidate Trump during the last

election. We're grateful to be joined

tonight by the founder of Turning Point

Action, a gentleman named Charlie Kirk.

>> The governor of Utah characterized this

as a political assassination. At one

point this afternoon, Utah Valley

University police were going building to

building and doortodoor to get students

off campus and away from campus. Maurice

John.

>> Okay, Scott McFarland, thank you.

>> Moving fast. We are joined now by our

chief Washington analyst, Robert Costa.

He spoke frequently with Charlie Kirk

>> and our senior White House

correspondent, Ed O'Keefe, can tell us

more about Charlie Kirk's friendship

with President Trump.

>> Bob, let's start with you. What can you

tell us about Charlie Kirk?

>> Charlie Kirk was someone who was a

father, he was a son, he was a husband,

and he was also a political force. So

many Republicans today are stunned to

see a rising star gunned down. On paper,

an activist, someone who was influential

with many young Americans, especially

those who are more on the right. Yet,

this is someone who has built

relationships in his 20s and early 30s

with some of the most powerful people in

this country, most notably President

Trump. They trusted Kirk as someone who

really knew how the country was mapped

out on college campuses, where the votes

were, where the power centers could be

for the next generation of the

Republican party. And so, it's not just

about a friend being lost, and someone

who's a confidant to those in the party.

But this was someone who was seen as the

leader for the party as it looked to the

future.

>> And Ed, Donald Trump gave Kirk a lot of

praise for helping him win reelection.

Just how important was he?

>> Oh, incredibly important to the Trump

re-election. Among other things, he was

among those pushing now President Trump

to pick JD Vance as his running mate,

arguing that he would help reflect the

next generation of the MAGA movement uh

should he uh run for president himself

one day. Very close with Donald Trump

Jr. went with him to Greenland earlier

this year when that was an issue for the

White House. and is someone who in the

during the presidential transition was

meeting on a regular basis with

President-elect Trump to pick cabinet

secretaries and other senior government

officials. In essence, saying to him,

"Pick this person for that job. Send

this other person to this other agency

and then making sure that Republican

senators would provide the votes

necessary to get them confirmed and put

pressure on a handful of Republican

lawmakers who raised concerns about some

of those picks. The thing to keep in

mind though, if you're someone who

doesn't know who this guy is, who who

Charlie Kirk was, and given the age we

live in where your algorithm may be

different than your neighbors or one of

your relatives, this was somebody who

that eyewitness said tried to help get a

better understanding of the dialogue to

like-minded conservatives across the

country. And in doing so was convincing

younger conservative voters across the

country to support President Trump last

year made him so essential to his

re-election campaign. Bob, you've

covered the conservative movement for a

long time. Kirk rose as the movement was

changing. Was he a product of that

change or was he a driver of that

change?

>> John, he he was certainly a driver of

that change. This is someone who you see

in Charlie Kirk, someone who saw Mitt

Romney's defeat in 2012. And he was able

to say, "Yes, maybe the traditional

Republican party was moving in that

direction, but he was open to new

arguments, open to nationalism, to

populism, to the rise of then

businessman Donald Trump in 2016. And he

saw an opportunity for the Republican

party to go in a new direction. And

that's why he was able to build a bond

with Tucker Carlson, with Donald Trump

Jr., and with President Trump. But it's

notable that Charlie Kirk was not just

one of so many conservative activists.

John, at the end of the day, this is

someone I observed up close at event

after event. He had joy. You may

disagree with Charlie Kirk's political

views. You may march in the streets

against them. You may be a major

supporter of his and count him as an

ally. At the end of the day, whether

it's California Governor Gavin Newsome

or others, they saw him as someone who

is a real competent conservative and

worthy of the arena he was in.

>> Robert Costa and Ed O'Keefe in

Washington for us. Thank you both.

>> We mentioned Charlie Kirk's work with

his conservative youth organization,

Turning Point USA.

>> Chris Van Cleave is outside Turning

Point headquarters in Phoenix.

>> Yep, guys. We've seen an elevated

security presence here. Phoenix police

on scene. Although Phoenix police also

say there are no indications of any

specific threats here locally against

the organization. A number of officers

have arrived in the last couple of

hours. That white van is blocking the

driveway. Still, we were here as we

watched as employees brought the

American flag and the Arizona state flag

to half staff. Most employees were sent

home this afternoon and we have watched

as a steady stream of people have come

to pay their respects dropping off

flowers. We've seen a lot of emotion.

People in tears embracing each other and

praying. Noticeably a number of young

people are among the folks coming to pay

their respects. Kirk did a lot of events

on college campuses as you've heard Bob

Costa say. One young man we talked to

said he felt that Kirk created a forum

that was welcoming for him and gave him

a voice. A voice that has now been so

violently silenced.

>> Chris Van Cleave for us. Thank you,

Chris.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
activist /ˈæktɪvɪst/ C1	noun - a person who campaigns for political or social change
conservative /kənˈsɜːrvətɪv/ B2	adjective - favoring traditional views and values noun - a person who holds conservative political views
shot /ʃɒt/ B1	noun - the act of firing a gun; a bullet wound verb - to fire a weapon
kill /kɪl/ B1	verb - to cause death
president /ˈprɛzɪdənt/ B1	noun - the head of state or organization
university /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːrsɪti/ B1	noun - an institution of higher education and research
campus /ˈkæmpəs/ B2	noun - the grounds and buildings of a university
crowd /kraʊd/ B1	noun - a large group of people gathered together
gun /ɡʌn/ A2	noun - a weapon that fires bullets
violence /ˈvaɪələns/ B2	noun - use of physical force to cause injury or damage
political /pəˈlɪtɪkəl/ B2	adjective - relating to the government or public affairs
movement /ˈmuːvmənt/ B2	noun - a group of people working together to achieve a common goal
election /ɪˈlɛkʃən/ B2	noun - the process of choosing someone for public office by voting
media /ˈmiːdiə/ B2	noun - the means of communication, such as TV, newspapers, and internet
podcast /ˈpɒdkæst/ C1	noun - a digital audio program made available on the internet for streaming or download
organization /ˌɔːɡənaɪˈzeɪʃən/ B2	noun - a group of people with a particular purpose or structure
flag /flæɡ/ A2	noun - a piece of cloth with a distinctive design used as a symbol verb - to mark something with a flag
follow /ˈfɒləʊ/ A2	verb - to go after or pursue; to pay attention to