Transcript

9.11.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post. It is
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nine eleven, twenty twenty five, twenty four years after the
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tragic fall of the Twin Towers in Washington, the downed
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plane in Pennsylvania, and that at the Pentagon twenty four
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years ago, memories still linger. And will Your reader is
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Alice Dainer, with the reminder that RADIOI is a reading
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service for those blind with disabilities making it difficult to
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read the whole printed material. And I will start with
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the front page of Today's Washington Post. On the far left,
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Russian drones sent into Poland are drowned down. NATO scrambles
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jets in unprecedented breach of airspace by Moscow. And it
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is article by David Stein. And I'll read that later,
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it's too much for me. Across the rest of the
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front page of the is the headline Charlie Kirk shot
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dead at the Utah campus and there are two articles
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affiliated with that. Trump ally Voice of Youth on right,
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no suspect yet identified. Political World Left Dazed by Jeremy Roebuck,
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Natalie Allison, Evon, Wingate Sanchez, and Ryan Davis. To the
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left of that is a picture of Charlie Kirk, founder
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of Turning Point USA, who is interacting with the crowd
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Wednesday at Utah Valley University before the shooting. He is
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in a white shirt with the word freedom across the front,
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and he is tossing hats to a group of students
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that are separated from him with two barriers. One is
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around him and the other looks like it might be
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a flag of some sort, not a flag, but a
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banner of some thought. In front of the crowd, there's
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a speaker and there is a tent set up to
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the right of him, and there are white hats on
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a table that say forty seven And this hat says,
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what does it say?
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Speaker 2: I can't make it out. I can't make it out anyway.
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Below the picture is an article Turning Points founder quickly
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became a force in GOP politics. It is by Natalie Allison,
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Drew Harwell, Matt Venner, and Visser and kat Zerzuski. Below
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the fold, to the left, Nasa Rover discovers the clearest
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sand of life on Mars Bakasha Patel in the middle,
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escalating Israeli's story attacks free force, impossible choice. Escalating Israeli
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attacks Force impossible choice by Kiarum, Fatima Fahim, Miriam Berger
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and Scham Schamala and then to the right Biden. Harris
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says deference to Biden's was reckless. By Patrick Siffkirk, the
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first article making headlines everywhere is trump Allah Charlie Kirk
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gunned down in raising act of public violence. Your two
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Governor Spencer Cox condemned the assassination of the prominent right
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wing influenza, which took place at a college event. I
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believe the red hat was Make America Great Again because
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there's a picture of crowd after the Charlie Kirk CEO
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and founder of conservative youth organization Turning Point shot at
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the Utah Valley University Wednesday, and it is just a
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picture of Pandemoni and someone carrying a child on the back,
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someone with the red make America Great hat Again on
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someone holding up a cell phone carrying a flag. Just
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looks like bicycles in the background. Obviously chaos by Jinny
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Jeremy Robut Natalie Allison, Yvon Winget Sanchez and Angie Orleana Hernandez.
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Speaker 1: Charlie Kirk, a key ally of President Donald Trump and
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founder of the influential young conservatives organization Turning Point USA
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was fatally shot Wednesday during a campus event out of
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Utah University, a shocking slaying that shook the worlds apoliticies,
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politics and media, and horrified a fast audience who watched
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viral video of the attack on their phones. Utah Governor
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Spencer Cox, Republican, called the act of political assassination, and
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in the hours after the shooting, officials took two men
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into custody that as of late Wednesday evening, both had
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been released after state and federal authorities determined neither had
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any current ties to the shooting. According to his statement
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released by the Utah Department of Public Safety, the hunt
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for a suspect remained ongoing. Official said a motive for
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the shooting was also not clear Wednesday evening, Though Cox
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had investigators believed Kirk had been specifically targeted in the attack,
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Footage shared on social media appeared to capture the moment
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Kirk was struck during his presentation at Utah Valley University,
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roughly forty miles south of Salt Lake City, addressing a
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crowd from under a tent emblazoned with the slogan the
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American Comeback. Kirk suddenly jolted backward as the sound of
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a single shot rang out. The footage showed his head
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long to the side as blood poured from his neck.
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Other videos showed a chaotic scene as stunned spectators fled
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from a campus courtyard and Kirk was rushed to a hospital.
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Witnesses said Kirk was hit shortly the event started and
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had been answering an audience member's question about transgender mass
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shooters when the shot rang out. A video posted to
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social media and enhanced by The Washington Post shows a
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person who appears to be in dark clothing running across
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a roof overlooking the courtyard where Kirk had been shot
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seconds earlier. Trump condemned the slaying in a video message
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from the Oval office Wednesday night, calling it a dark
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moment for America. I am filled with grief and anger
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at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk. Charlie inspired millions,
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and tonight all who knew him and loved him are
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united in shock and horror, Trump said, even as he
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called for unity and an end to the polarized political
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rhetoric that he asserted had led to the attack. Trump
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sought to blame the radical left and suggested its attack
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on Kirk and other right wing figures were directly responsible
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for the terrorism we're seeing in this country. He went
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on to list a string of recent incidences of violence,
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almost all involving Republican political figures a law enforcement. He
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did not mention some of the high profile incidents of
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political violence, including the targeted slayings in June of a
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Democratic Minnesota state law maker and her husband. The President
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posted his message on social media as the search for
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a suspect and motive continued. School officials initially reported that
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a suspected shooter had been detained at the scene, though
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they later walked back that claim. Authorities said hours later
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that the man was not the gunman, though he had
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been charged with obstruction of justice. They offered no further
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details on what led to that arrest. FBI Director Cash
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Betel announced hours later that a second person identified as
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a person of interest had been taken into custody. He
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later posted on social media that law enforcement had released
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that person after questioning. There are no current ties to
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the shooting with either of these individuals. There is an
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ongoing investigation and man hunt for the shooter, the Utah
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Department of Public Safety said in a statement late t
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Wednesday night. Kirk's death comes amid a recent wave of
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high profile political violence, including the June firebarming of a
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parade in Colorado calling for the release of Israeli hostages,
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and the slaying in May of two Israeli embassy staffers
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in Washington by a suspect who allegedly expressed sympathy for
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Hamas Trump himself survived two assassination attempts as he ran
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for his second term last year. Kirk thirty one and
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was known as one of the rights most prominent and
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polarizing figures after amassing a significant following through Turning Point USA,
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his conservative youth organization he founded in twenty twelve that
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has chapters on more than three hundred, three thousand, five
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hundred college campuses three thousand, five hundred college campuses. His
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pension for tussling with the Rubles in academia earned him
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a widespread social media following, with more than seven million
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TikTok subscribers. Kirkspear headed to Get out the Vote Operation
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for Trump in twenty twenty four, mobilizing thousands of field
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workers in swing states and advised the president on potential
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cabinet picks before the start of his second term. May
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he be received into the merciful arms of our loving Savior,
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who suffered and died for Charlie, Turning Points said in
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a statement, asking for privacy for Kirk's wife and two children,
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urging supporters to keep them in their prayers. The attack
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that resulted in his death Windsday drew widespread condemnation from
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allies and political rivals alike, but like Trump, some of
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the most prominent voices on the right went further, accusing
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Democrats and liberals of fomenting violence. Trump vorted all American
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flags to be lowered to have staff until Sunday in
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Kirk's honor. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller
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called Kirk one of America's greatest champions. A loving family
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has lost the most extraordinary husband and father. All of
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us must now dedicate ourselves to defeating the evil that
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stole Charlie from this world, Miller added. Former Presidents Barack Obama,
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George W. Bush, and Joe Biden all issued statements denouncing
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the attack. Biden wrote, there is no place in their
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country for this kind of violence. It must end now.
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Gun control advocates also decried the shooting and encourage conservatives
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to back their calls for tighter gun restrictions. Former Congresswoman
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Gabrielle Giffids Gabby Gifford's Democrat of Arizona, who was shot
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and severely wounded at a constituent event near Tucson in
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twenty eleven, said she and her husband, Senator Mark Kelly,
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Democrat of Arizona, were praying for Kirk, but that committee
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did not fully extend the Capitol Hill despite efforts from
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican Louisiana, to lead a moment
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of silence in Kirk's honor on the House floor. This
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is detestable what happened. Political violence has become all too
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common in American society, and this is not who we are.
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We need everyone who has a platform to say this
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loudly and clearly. We can settle disagreements and disputes in
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a civil manner, and political violence must be called out
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and has to stop, Johnson told reporters beforehand, But as
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soon as the memorial moment was over, House members erupted
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into a partisan shooting match. Representative Laura. Representative Lauren Bobert,
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Republican of Colorado, demanded that Johnson was cite a prayer
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in honor of kirk siment players get results, Bobert yelled
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from the rear of the chamber. Bobert was immediately interrupted
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by Democrats, who showed it down the request, with one
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member calling for a change in gun laws. The seconds
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long exchange resulted in Representative Anna Paulina Luna, Republican of Florida,
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storming out of the chamber shouting expletives at Democrats. Wednesday's
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air it was the first in a series of university
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visits Kirk as schedule for the fall semester as part
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of what he had dubbed the America Comeback to Him.
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He was scheduled to visit several other schools in September
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and October, including the University of Minnesota, Utah State University,
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the University of North Dakota, and Louisiana State University. Kirk's
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campus programs have developed a reputation for occasional raucousness, drawing protesters,
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with whom Kirk was never shy abate engaging. He frequently
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fielded questions from reporters while on stage and eagerly debated
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detractors on cultural and political issues. Kirk's TikTok account posted
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a video minutes before the shooting showing him commenting on
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the size of the crowd at the Utah Valley event.
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There's a lot of people Utah. I tell you what
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he said. We're going to be here for a couple
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of hours. Get comfortable. Bring the best lips that Utah
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has to offer. Many students in the audience came straight
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from class and brought their backpacks, said Sarah Heywood, a
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nineteen year old student who witnessed the shooting. There was
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no bag check or metal detractors, Hayward said, although uniform
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police were present alone with Kirk's private security. Kirk had
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just begun his program when violence erupted. He had thanked
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the students for their political involvement and had taken one
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question before the conversation turned to gun violence. A loud
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shot suddenly reverberated through the courtyard and hit Kirk in
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the neck. Hayward said she barely registered the pop of
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the gunfire before she saw Kirk's head swing backward and
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blood spew from his neck. She said it just dumped
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like blood just dumped from his neck. I've never seen
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that much blood that fast, Heywood, said Tanner. Johnson, twenty,
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had practiced what to do in case of his shooting
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once or twice a year since elementary school, but the
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computer science students said he panicked when he heard what
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he initially thought was a firecracker, then saw Kirk Kiolovu.
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All of that training went out of the window, and
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everybody was running around trying to get out, Johnson said.
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Johnson said he ran to a nearby campus cafeteria, but
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when no more shots were fired, he wandered back to
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the courtyard where the event was held and was met
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by the site of scattered papers and discarded backpacks. Utah
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Valley University Police Chief Jeff Slong said six officers, some
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in playing clothes, had been assigned to Wednesday's event, which
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drew more than three thousand attendees. A security team that
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regularly travels with Charlie Kirk was also president. Long said
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in Scottsdale, Arizona, near Kirk's home in the Phoenix area,
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his friends, family members, and employees were beginning to process
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his death. A vase of white roses and baby's breath
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sat on a bench at sad one home associated with
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his family. An envelope accompanied the flowers and was addressed
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to the Kirk family. A man who identified himself as
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Kirk's father in law said, we don't have anything to
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say right now. We're still settling into this. Sanchez reported
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from Scottsdale, Arizona, Ryan Davis, Mark Berman and Pravina Somemer,
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Suddarum Kadia Gooba, Paul Cain, Angie Orleana Hernandez, Michael Breenbraum,
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Jonathan Edwards, Agmumacour, Amy b wang Renee Merle, Theodoreic Meyer,
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Paul Meghan Velasquez, Daniel u Ben Brush, Azia Braba, Joanna
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Slater and Susan Za, all in Washington contributed to this report.
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Also on the front page and connected to that article,
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Charlie Kirk, Fiery Voice and Conservative Politics Killed at thirty one.
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Kirk started Turning Point USA when he was eighteen and
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built the group into a youth oriented force in Republican politics.
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There's a picture of the young man in front of
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an American flag, holding a microphone in a sort of
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grayish black blue suit in a pale blue open collar shirt.
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He's on his sideways with his face turned toward us
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and his hand out as if making a point. By
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Natalie Alison, Drew Harwell, Matt Weiser, and Kat Zerzuski. Charlie Kirk,
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the founder of Turning Point USA, leveraged an audience of
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millions of fervent conservative fans and fierce liberal critics to
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create a youth oriented movement on the right, emerging as
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one of the most prominent voices in the age of
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Donald Trump. He specialized in debates, especially at college campuses,
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in which he took on liberal opponents, often creating moments
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that went viral and captured audiences across the political spectrum.
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He was during one session Wednesday at Utah Valley University
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in orm Utah that mister Kirk, thirty one, was shocked
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and killed, sending shockwaves through Trump's base, supporters and beyond.
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Trump confirmed mister Kirk's death in a statement on social media,
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a sign of his importance to the president's political movement.
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He later recorded an Oval office address in which he
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called mister Kirk's killing a heinous assassination and described Kirk
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as a martyr for truth and freedom. This is a
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dark moment for America. Trump said, Charlie Kirk traveled the
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nation joyfully, engaging everyone and interested in good faith debate.
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His mission was to bring young people into the political process,
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which he did better than anybody ever. The shooting happened
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on the first stop of mister Kirk's latest series, The
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American Comeback Tool, which during which mister Kirk sat with
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a microphone under a tent labeled prove Me Wrong. That
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was a regular format for mister Kirk, one in which
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groups of young people thousands at times, would gather to
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listen to him debate students on issues such as affirmative
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action and transgender rights. The attention generated by those debates
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helped Turning Points rapid growth from a controversial student movement
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rebuking feminism and diversity initiatives to one of the most
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active groups in conservative politics. That growth came as once
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mighty right wing forces such as the Conservative Political Action
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Conference and National Rifle Association suffered leadership scan and diminished followings,
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while attendance at Turning Points student summits skyrocketed. There is
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a picture of Kirk in front of that tent American
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Comeback at the top proved me wrong, proved me wrong.
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Around the edges, he's again in his same freedom white
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t shirt, Freedom with people around him, and you can
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see some law enforcement around him. As his influence expanded,
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so did mister Kirk's relationship with mister Trump, which had
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long been warm, but deepened after the November election. During
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the twenty twenty four campaign, he spearheaded a pro Trump
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get out of the vote operation, get out the Vote
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Operation that mobilized thousands of field workers in swing states
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turning points actions. Field operation was one for several that
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Trump's team relied on as it slimmed down its own
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canvassing effort during the presidential transition. After the election, mister
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Kirk was a regular presence at mar Lago, at times,
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taking part in meetings about potential cabinet picks. According to
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people who were present at Trump's estate at the time.
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Vice President DJ jd Vance on Wednesday praise mister Kirk,
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saying on X that his events were one of the
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few places would open an honest dialogue between left and right.
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Kirk would answer any question and talk to everyone. He
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also freakily generated outcry with provocative statements, saying last year
22:37
that women in their thirties are not at their prime
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for dating, and commenting that he thought twice about flying
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on planes with black pilots because he questioned whether they
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had the job because of the airline's diversity, equity and
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inclusion goals. After Trump re entered the White House, mister
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Kirk remained in touch with the President and top aides,
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particularly read issues that were dividing the megabase, such as
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efforts to avoid deporting undocumented immigrants in certain industries, including
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agriculture and hospitality. That was among topics mister Kirk regularly
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fired up his audience to raise their voices about warning
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that Trump administration should not grant amnesty to any immigrants
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in the country unlawfully, while also keeping in touch with
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Trump and his team seeking to calm tempers among MACA followers.
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In an interview in July with The Washington Post, mister
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Kirk warned that the Republican Party needed to do more
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to address the financial troubles of young adults to better
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compete with the economic message pushed by progressive populists like
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Zoron Mundani, New York City's Democratic mayoral nominee. We have
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a serious problem of massive debt, sports gambling debt, credit
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card debt, medical debt of a generation that I speak to,
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Mister Kirk said, this is going to be on us.
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We have to deliver. We have to deliver a better
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economy materially for them, with better wages, higher incomes, hopefully
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more affordable housing. And I think we can, and whether
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we will or not is a probability thing. He called
24:20
for the party to take dramatic action, such as announcing
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that we're going to build ten million homes Marshall planned
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type thing. Mister Kirk told the Post he was loyal
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to Trump because he's a friend, but noted that on
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occasion he would push back on Trump's decisions. Charles James
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Kirk was born October the fourteenth of nineteen ninety three
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and grew up in the Chicago suburbs of Prospect Heights, Illinois.
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His father was an architect and his mother was a
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mental health counselor. Mister Kirk said he experienced a polic
25:00
political awakening in middle school when he began reading books
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by free market economist Milton Friedman. By the time he
25:07
was in high school, he was debating classmates and teachers
25:09
whom he considered militant leftists. He also began making YouTube
25:14
videos and speaking to tea party groups, where he caught
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the attention of Bill Montgomery, a conservative activist and retired
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restaurant tour Montgomery encouraged mister Kirk to skip college and
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helped him launch Turning Point USA in twenty twelve, just
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after mister Kirk graduated high school. In twenty twenty one,
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mister Kirk married Erica Franzeve, an entrepreneur and forma Miss
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Arizona USA. They had two children. Turning Points to annual
25:45
America fest, among a slate of periodic conferences held at
25:49
convention centers around the country, has drawn large crowns of
25:53
college students as Trump and top right wing officials and
25:56
influences have taken the stage. Powrotechnics, loud dance music, and
26:01
an energetic crowd have been the markers of the conferences,
26:04
where mister Kirk and others in the organization have urged
26:08
students to embrace not only conservative politics, but traditional family
26:13
values too. In July, mister Kirk told of the crowd
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of young attendees at his Student Action summit that they
26:22
should marry and have children as young as possible. Stephen K. Bannon,
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a former Trump adviser and another leading voice in the
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MAGA movement, on Wednesday, calling Turning Points conferences the most
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important events of the calendar for the conservative movement. Charlie
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Kirk is a casualty of the political war going on
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in this country, Bannon said on his War Rooms show
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Wednesday evening after mister Kirk's death was confirmed. Mister Kirk
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turned college campuses for combative public debates in which he
26:55
jested on stage with mostly liberal questioners. He started a
27:01
viral debate video on the YouTube channel Jubilee titled can
27:07
twenty five liberal college students outsmart one Conservative that has
27:12
been viewed more than thirty million times. On TikTok, where
27:16
he had more than seven million followers, mister Kirk's account
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posted a video taken minutes before the shooting showing him
27:24
commenting on the side of the size of the crowd.
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That's a lot of people, Utah. I tell you what,
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We're going to be here for a couple of hours.
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Get comfortable. Bring the best libs Utah has to offer,
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he said. Heisen Pika, a left wing influencer, scheduled to
27:44
debate mister Kirk, in two weeks at Dartmouth College, processed
27:48
the shooting in real time Wednesday on his Twitch stream.
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This is the ultimate fear for a political commentator. This
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is it. This is the thing you don't want happening.
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This this is a thing you never want happening. This
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is what a lot of people fantasize happening to me
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all the time, he said, adding an expletive for emphasis.
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On a video posted to social media depicting the moments
28:14
before the shooting, mister Kirk was shown responding to a
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question about gun violence. Do you know how many mass
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shooters there have been in America over the last ten years?
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The questionnaire asked, counting or not counting gang violence. Mister
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Kirk responded just before the shot and rang a Mister
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Kirk reached millions of followers through his Charlie Kirk Show
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podcast on Instagram, Rumble, and YouTube, which he spoke often
28:42
about gun violence and American crime. His friends and allies
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described mister Kirk's daily videos as part of a technological
28:50
and political revolution that has transformed the country. He's almost
28:55
as close to monoculture as gen z Gets, said conservative
29:00
media commentator Emily Jaczinski on Megan Kelly's show, Everybody felt
29:07
like they knew Charlie Kirk, even if they didn't like
29:10
Charlie Kirk. In a sign of his broad cultural reverence,
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mister Kirk's debates style was parodied last month in an
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episode of South Park. Mister Kirk called the lampooning a
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badge Evama and said, we as conservatives need to be
29:26
able to take a joke right. Mister Kirk this week
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spired with CNN commentator Van Jones after the former Obama
29:34
administration official accused him of racemongering with his commentary on
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the stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Arena Zurutska in Charlotte. Mister
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Kirk responded that the attacker racialized the incident when he
29:50
said I got the white girl following the stabbing. The
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Post could not independently verify that de Carlos Dowane Brown Jr.
29:59
Who is charged with the killing, said those words. Mister
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Kirk called Jones a Marcus and a race hustler, then
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invited him to appear on his show. He fought with words,
30:12
not weapons. Jones wrote on social media offering his prayers
30:16
to mister Kirk's family and calling the shooting horrifying and
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heart breaking. Mister Kirk grew up in a household that
30:25
was not particularly political. He was always more clear on
30:29
his surroundings and always better at questions, always better able
30:34
to understand what's happening than your typical kid. Robert Kirk,
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his father, told the local Daily Herald in twenty thirteen.
30:44
He was a multi sport athlete at Wheeling, a high
30:46
school in varsity based basketball captain and an Eagle scout
30:51
who had ambitions of attending the United States Military Academy
30:55
at West Point. I saw something in Charlie that I
30:58
knew down the road more than likely would be hearing
31:01
his name seeing him, Wheeling football coach Jim Golden told
31:06
the Daily Herald, Sure enough, he's on Fox News and
31:11
c SPAN. I happened to turn on the television the
31:14
other day and there he was. As a high school student,
31:18
mister Kirk volunteered for the campaign of US and Anda
31:21
Mark Kirk, Republican, a candidate whom he bore no relation
31:26
but joked that he worked for because they shared last name.
31:30
At the start of his senior year, mister Kirk and
31:32
some of his friends protested the school's cafeteria's decision to
31:36
double the price of a cookie to fifty cents. Together,
31:41
we can show the establishment the power of our generation,
31:45
he wrote on a page of a four hundred member
31:48
Facebook group he created. According to the Chicago Tribune, cookies
31:53
are the highlight of the most school days, only to
31:55
be doubled in price without our consultation. No, enough of
32:00
the manipulation. We must stand together in this fight. Fight
32:05
the power cheaper cookies returned. Also on the front page,
32:13
Harris said it was reckless to defer to Biden's on
32:18
re election decision. In her forthcoming memoir, Harris also writes
32:23
about not feeling supported by Biden's staff, who she said
32:28
rarely defended her. And there is a picture of President
32:33
Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in twenty twenty
32:37
four at the White House, and he's leaning down and
32:41
she is leaning towards him with her hand up. She's
32:44
in a white top with a red, white and blue
32:48
scarf around her neck. And behind the hand that has
32:52
raised is her husband dog Doug him off. And I
32:56
think it's Joe Biden's hand to the right of him,
32:59
is he leans ford in a blue suit and a
33:02
blue and white checked open colla shirt by Patrick's Fedik Fuller.
33:10
Vice President Kamala Harris writes in an upcoming book that
33:14
it was reckless to leave President Joe Biden to decide
33:18
with First Lady Jill Biden whether he should have sought
33:22
re election at age eighty, a decision between the two
33:25
that ultimately unraveled in last year's White House race. The
33:30
stakes were simply too high, Harris said in an excerpt
33:34
from the book published Wednesday by The Atlantic. This wasn't
33:38
a choice that should have been left to an individual's ego,
33:41
an individual's ambition. It should have been more than a
33:44
personal decision, Harris described as she wrestled with whether to
33:49
advise Biden to consider not running for a second term.
33:53
She said she perhaps should have waged in, but she
33:57
worried it would have looked incredibly self serving and disloyal
34:02
for her to do, as his vice president and a
34:05
likely front front for their party's nomination if he stepped aside.
34:09
When asked for reaction to Harris's book excerpt, a spokesman
34:13
for Biden declined to comment. The book One hundred and
34:18
seven Days is set for release on September twenty third,
34:22
and promises to recap the abbreviated campaign that Harris waged
34:26
and lost after Biden abandoned his reelection be it in
34:30
the summer of twenty twenty four. In the excerpt, Harris
34:34
also writes candidly about not feeling supported by Biden's staff,
34:38
who she said rarely defended her against Republican attacks. The
34:44
book's release is poised to revive uncomfortable questions for Democrats
34:48
who continued to contemplate whether Biden should have literally initially
34:52
run for reelection. Harris disputed the notion there was a
34:57
cover up of Biden's ability to serve the premise of
35:00
a book by two journalists released earlier this year, but
35:04
said that by the time he was eighty one, Biden
35:07
got tired and it showed in physical and verbal stubbles.
35:12
I don't believe it was the incapacity, Harris said. If
35:16
I believe that, I would have said so. As loyal
35:20
as I am to President Biden, I am more loyal
35:22
to my country. Both Biden and Harris have kept a
35:26
low profile since leaving the White House. In January, Harris
35:30
considered running for governor in her home state California, but
35:34
said in July she would not do so, keeping the
35:36
door open to another presidential bid in twenty twenty eight,
35:42
Harris is said to follow up the release of the
35:44
book with a nationwide promotional tour that will mark her
35:47
most extensive reemergence in the public spotlight since she left office.
35:52
The tour will come on the heels of President Donald
35:55
Trump's decision to cancel the extended Secret Service protection Biden
36:00
had discreetly granted her before his presidency ended. In the excerpt,
36:06
Harris also writes extensively about what she saw as a
36:09
lacklust to effort by Biden's staff to promote her work
36:12
and push back against Republican efforts to undermine her. Biden
36:17
had a huge team of communications to aids at his disposal,
36:22
Harris wrote, but it was almost impossible to get them
36:26
to help her. Harris cited a number of moments in
36:30
which she felt white eyed staff as did not adequately
36:33
defend her, including when there was a string of reports
36:36
about turmoil in her office and when the GOP derided
36:41
her as the borders are After Biden put her in
36:45
charge of studying the root causes of migration to the
36:48
United States. Harris also accused Biden's advisers of feeling threatened
36:54
when she received positive public attention, citing as an example
36:58
of the March twenty twenty four or speech that she
37:01
gave in Alabama calling for a ceasefire in Israel's war
37:05
in Gaza. They're thinking she said was zero. So if
37:09
she's shining, he's dimmed. My success was important for him,
37:14
she wrote. His team didn't get it. Sabrina ro Druguez
37:19
contributed to this report. Let's step back from politics and
37:25
go to Mars. NASA discovers clear sign of life that
37:30
we've ever found on Mars. Detailed analysis of images of
37:36
speckled rocks found about NASA's Perseverance ROBA has found a
37:42
potential bio signature. And there is a picture of Roba
37:47
on what really looks like a muddy red surface while
37:53
it explores an area of Mars known as the Zero Cradle,
37:58
which scientists believe was once a lake bed. And the
38:03
Mars Perseverance looks like it blends right in with the
38:08
surface of Mars, the rocks, the red red clay look
38:14
and it's got its up top rover camera that is
38:22
facing foward by Kasha Patel. Rolling across the rugged, rusty
38:28
red terrain on Mars, NASA's Perseverance rover came upon some
38:33
rocks with peculiar green, blue, black, and white dots. After
38:40
detailed image analysis, scientists have come to a potentially encouraging conclusion.
38:47
If those speckled rocks were formed like they are on Earth,
38:51
they might be evidence of past life on the dusty planet.
38:56
The rocks very well could be the clearest sign of
39:00
life that we've ever found on Mars, which is incredibly exciting.
39:05
Acting NASA administrators Sean P. Duffy said in a news
39:09
conference on Wednesday. The findings were published in the journal
39:14
Nature on Wednesday. The rocks, or mudstones, are composed of
39:19
finally packed sediment and covered inspects resembling poppy seeds and
39:24
leopard spots. The colorful features the study found or minerals
39:30
that on Earth have traditionally been created from microbio activity.
39:36
The research team would need to investigate pieces of the
39:40
rock in person to confirm if a Martian microbe was
39:44
behind the unusual patterns. That's far easier said than done,
39:50
but Joel Hurwitz, lead author of the study, called the
39:54
rocks probably the most astrobiologically exciting samples identified by the
40:01
Perseverance roba since it landed on Mars in twenty twenty one.
40:09
The sample contains what we believed to be a potential biosignature,
40:14
a feature that could have biological origin. He said, I
40:18
don't think we can say that about any of the
40:21
other samples that we collected on the rova's journey. The
40:26
rova has been exploring an area known as the Jazero Crater,
40:30
which scientists say was once a lake bed with aspects
40:33
that made it conducive to life. The rocks were found
40:37
inside the Retivo vallis, an ancient river valley that shuttled
40:42
water to the crater billions of years ago. The thing
40:47
I found most exciting about this sample is that it
40:50
contains features large enough to be seen with the nekead
40:53
eye that could be examined to test for past life,
40:58
said Michael Tye, a study a COOTHA and member of
41:01
the Mars twenty twenty Perseverance Science team searching for signs
41:05
of life. That's surprisingly rare when you are studying evidence
41:11
for ancient microscopic life. One idea of how the rocks
41:16
may have accumulated here or there, Horowitz said, is that
41:20
the river valley may have been temporarily dammed up, perhaps
41:25
by a landslide. He said the ancient scene may have
41:28
looked similar to the Mississippi River today, with mud settling
41:33
to the bottom of turpid brown water. There is a
41:37
picture of markings akin to leopard spots that can be
41:42
seen in an image of rocks captured by NASA's Perseverance
41:46
Mars robot. And the image has the dark red area,
41:50
but it's got white rocks around it, and then big
41:54
circles around the pieces that look like leopard spots, and
42:03
another bigger one called Alla olvern Well. I can't read it,
42:12
but to be red circles. And there are some bigger,
42:16
different colored rocks around this area. As sediment accumulated. He recounted,
42:21
the muddy rocks seem to have brought in iron, phosphorus,
42:24
and sulfa as well as organic matter. The organic matter
42:28
is exciting in itself, Horowitz said, because the carbon based
42:32
molecules are the building blocks of life. It could have
42:35
come from a life form long ago, or it could
42:37
have served his food for other living organisms, or it
42:41
could be tied to a non living source such as
42:43
a media rite. We don't know where that matter came from,
42:47
but we detected in the mud. This is really the
42:51
first compelling signal of organic matter that we've had since
42:55
we landed in this zero crater, Horrowitz said. But the
43:00
colorful speckles on the rocks pose and even more alluring mystery.
43:06
These features are two well known minerals made of iron,
43:09
phosphorus and sulfur. One called it vivianite and some also
43:14
sometimes referred to as corpse crystals, forms during the decay
43:20
of organic material and as blue green. The other, called grigite. Oh,
43:26
that might be the word I couldn't read, shows up
43:30
as a dull brown. But when these two minerals are
43:33
found together in sediments on Earth, Horrowitz said, it's usually
43:37
a result of microbial metabolisms. Microbes will eat the organic
43:43
matter and react it with the mud, and the byproduct
43:47
of that reaction is these minerals. That's kind of why
43:50
we're as excited as we are about this, Horowitz said.
43:55
The authors acknowledged that these minerals could have formed without microbes,
44:00
with the involvement of heat, for instance, but the News
44:03
study determined the Martian rocks don't appear to have been heated.
44:08
The available evidence collected by the robe seems to point
44:11
more strongly towards the possibility of microbio activity. Horowitz said.
44:18
The involvement of microbes is plausible, said Nicholas Dolphus, a
44:22
planetary planetary scientist who was not involved in the research,
44:27
but to be more certain would require direct measurements or
44:31
detailed mineralogical and chemical analysis, and that would mean bringing
44:36
the samples back to Earth. These rocks are prime targets
44:40
in the search for ancient life on Mars, said Dolphus,
44:44
a professor at the University of Hong Kong, in an email,
44:48
adding only a Mars sample return can answer the billion
44:53
dollar question, was there ever life on Mars, but that
44:58
journey between the plant and it is uncertain. Last year,
45:02
NASA put its Mars sample return mission on a bare
45:05
bones budget. In January, the agency said it will entertain
45:10
two potential approaches to grab the samples. One is a
45:14
previously used skycrane technique demonstrated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
45:20
and the other would be a less clear option from
45:23
the commercial sector. NASA is expected to confirm which strategy
45:28
to pursue in the second half of next year, but
45:32
President Donald Trump's physical twenty twenty six budget request, if
45:36
approved by Congress, ends the Mars sample return mission, deeming
45:41
it financially unsustainable. In Wednesday's news conference, Stuffy said the
45:45
administration is still committed to human exploration and therefore scientific
45:50
research like this. He said, the goal is to find
45:54
better and faster ways to bring back the samples. What
45:58
we're going to do is look at our budgets. We're
46:00
going to look at our timing and how do we
46:02
spend them the money better and what technology do we
46:06
have to get samples back more quickly. So that's a
46:09
current analysis that's happening right now. Duffy said there are
46:15
ways to remotely learn more about how these speckled rocks
46:18
were made. Horowitz said scientists could try to mimic the
46:22
Martian conditions in labs on Earth, and we create the
46:25
processes that form the minerals, which could help them understand
46:29
if microbes were required. But the most fruitful and perhaps
46:35
the only really definitive investigation would happen by analysis and
46:41
now analyzing the rocks directly, the authors agreed, and if
46:46
the minerals were created by microbes. The search for life
46:49
on Mars could become a lot more interesting. If microorganisms
46:55
once existed on Mars, there is a possibility that their
46:59
descendants could still be there, just living in different environments,
47:05
Tye said. NATO says it scrambled fighter jets shot down
47:12
Russian drones over Poland. The military called the breach of
47:16
Poland's airspace unprecedented and it triggered a request by WARSAW
47:22
to consult with fellow NATO members by David L. Stern,
47:28
Sabahan O'Grady, Aaron Weiner, Michael Bernbaum, and Andrew Jones at
47:35
a Kiev, NATO fighter jets shot down Russian drones that
47:40
violated Poland's airspace while Russia was attacking targets in Ukraine,
47:46
NATO officials in Poland's military said Wednesday, in a rare
47:49
clash between Moscow and militaries from the US led Western Alliance,
47:55
the Russian action amigs to an unprecedented violation of Polish
47:59
air scace imposed a real threat to Polish citizens, the
48:04
Polish military's Operational command said in his statement. NATO Secretary
48:10
General Mark Rut said that F sixteen's Dutch F thirty
48:16
fives and Italian Awalks surveillance aircraft were involved in responding
48:21
to the breach of Polish airspace, as well as NATO
48:24
air to air refueling tanker and the German Patriot Air
48:28
Defense System. Under Article five of the NATO Treaty, an
48:34
armed attack is on one ally is considered an attack
48:38
on all. The country under threat has to request that
48:43
the Common Defense Clause be invoked, and the other thirty
48:46
one allies must unanimously agree to do so. Polish Prime
48:51
Minister Donald Tusk said Poland, in coordination with NATO allies,
48:56
had instead requested to activate Article four of the treaty,
49:01
in which members states will consult on whether the territorial integrity,
49:07
political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened.
49:13
Senior European policymakers, many of whom said they believed that
49:17
indications pointed toward the Russian incursion being deliberate, said it
49:22
may have been a test of NATO resolve and readiness.
49:25
One said it may have intended to check NATO air
49:29
to anti aircraft response times. It lasted seven hours and
49:34
there were nineteen breaches, both from Belarus and Ukraine. Polish
49:39
Foreign Minister Rada Sikorski said in a text message, Belarusians
49:47
seem to have advanced knowledge. Sikorski said Polish aircraft were scrabbled.
49:53
According to a statement from Polish Defense Minister Wadle Sinisk
49:58
commenced country's territorial defense forces were activated to conduct ground
50:04
searches for the downed thrones. He added, there's a picture
50:09
of the placement of Poland right on the Baltic Sea,
50:13
with Germany and the Czech Republic on its western edge,
50:17
Slovakia on its southern edge below Krakow, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania,
50:23
and a little area called Russia which I had known
50:27
of on the eastern border. Warsaw is on the western
50:32
edge of Poland inland from Belarus, and Gadansk is right
50:39
there on the Baltic Sea, in a little area that
50:42
looks like a little U shaped cove. In an address
50:48
Wednesday morning to the Polish Parliament, Tusk said the first
50:51
violation of Polish airspace was recorded around eleven thirty pm Tuesday,
50:57
and the last was detected around six thirty eight. That
51:00
gives you an idea of the scale. He said. It
51:03
lasted all night. Tuss said six nineteen violations were recorded,
51:08
though figures were not final, and that three drones were
51:12
confirmed shot down, with a fourth probably downed as well.
51:16
According to Tusk, this was the first time drones entering
51:20
Polish airspace came from Belarus rather than Ukraine. What is
51:24
new is the direction from which the drones violating Polish
51:28
airspace came. For the first time in the history of
51:31
this war. They did not come from over Ukraine, but
51:35
a significant portion of those drones flew over Poland directly
51:39
from Belarus, he said. The Russian charged affair in Poland.
51:44
Andre Ordash dismissed the allegations of violations of Polish airspace.
51:49
We consider the accusations groundless, he told Russian news agency
51:54
Ria Novosti. No evidence that these drones are of Russian
51:59
origin has been presented. Russia's military Ministry of Defense said
52:05
no targets on Polish territory were planned when asked tobate
52:09
the incident, but said that it had launched a major
52:11
assault in western Ukraine. President Donald Trump on Wednesday offered
52:16
a cryptic expression up aut the airspace violation, writing on
52:21
Truth's Social what's with Russia violating Poland's airspace? With drones.
52:26
Here we go. The White Hose did not immediately respond
52:30
to rare requests for comment about whether Trump planned to
52:33
speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin or take other action.
52:37
One senior US official focused on security issues said it
52:42
was unclear what Trump meant, but Republican hawks and Congress
52:46
sought to capitalize on the moment to push a toughest
52:49
stance on Russia. I completely agree with President at real
52:54
Donald Trump's settlement in response to Russia's insane violation of
52:59
Polish air space for hours deploying multiple drones. Senator Lindsey Graham,
53:04
Republican of South Carolina wrote on X, adding, mister President,
53:08
Congress is with you. We stand ready to pass legislation
53:12
authorizing bone crushing new sanctions and tariffs that can be
53:16
deployed at your discretion. Our goal is to empower you
53:19
as you deal with this mounting threat. Representative Joe Wilson,
53:25
Republican of South Carolina, called the incursion an active war
53:29
in a post on X and said he had introduced
53:31
legislation to punish Russia by cutting off all trade with
53:36
this terrans dictatorship. Wilson urged Trump to respond by providing
53:40
more arms to Ukraine. At NATO headquarters in Brussels, Root
53:46
commended the very successful reaction by NATO to the Russian incoursion,
53:53
including actions by Polish, Dutch, Italian and German forces. Root,
53:58
speaking Wednesday morning after a meeting of the North Atlantic Council,
54:01
the alliance's political decision making body, said that Allies expressed
54:07
solidarity with Poland and denynced Russia's reckless behavior. An assessment
54:12
of the situation is ongoing, he said. Allies are resolved
54:17
to defend every inch of Allied territory, route added. Ukrainian
54:23
President volodimyr Zelensky, writing on social media, said that the
54:27
violation of Polish airspace was an extremely dangerous president for
54:32
Europe and reiterated calls for Ukraine supporters to increase sanctions
54:36
against Moscow. He said that at least eight Iranian designed
54:42
Shahi drones were aimed in the direction of Poland, not
54:46
just one Shahib, which could be called an accident. He said,
54:52
Moscow all the ways tests the limits of what is possible,
54:55
and if it does not need a strong reaction, remains
54:58
at a new level of escalation. As the investigation continued,
55:03
better Jack Janowski a spokeswoman for the Regional Prosecutor's office
55:08
in Lublin, Poland, said at a news conference that so far,
55:15
no explosives have been phoned in the recovered drone debris.
55:19
According to Polish media, sik Jankowski described the downed UAVs
55:25
as Gerber drones, a cheap dummy version of the shahed
55:29
attack drones in Ukraine. Even as many express solidaria with Poland,
55:36
some commentators noted that Poland had experienced only a small
55:40
taste of the war that has unfolded in Ukraine since
55:43
twenty twenty two, and was able to respond with the
55:46
full backing of NATO and his powerful weaponry. Ukraine shot
55:50
down hundreds of Russian drones during the same night, in
55:53
many cases relying on adequated machine guns because of shortages
55:57
in advanced air defense systems. All these statements about the
56:02
success of shooting down four drones in Poland look ridiculous
56:06
compared to the fact that Ukraine shot down one hundred
56:09
times more targets during the same attack. Yes, thanks to
56:13
weapons from NATO countries, weapons that are in very short supply,
56:18
said Maria Kavika, a Ukrainian defense consultant who works on
56:22
foreign military assistance. The US military maintains ten thousand troops
56:29
in the western Polish city of Poznan, and the incident
56:32
prompted to by partisan chorus of criticism against Russia in Washington.
56:38
Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, said Putin was testing
56:42
the resolve of the United States to protect Poland and
56:45
the Baltic nations. After the carnage, Putin continues to visit
56:50
on Ukraine. These incursions cannot be ignored, Durbin wrote on x.
56:56
Kajak Kallis, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, said that
57:01
this was the most serious European airspace violation by Russia
57:06
since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional,
57:12
not accidental. In November twenty twenty two, a projectile that
57:17
NATO determined to be an air to the Ukrainian Air
57:19
Defense missile launched in response to Russian air strikes landed
57:23
on Polish territory, killing two people. Romania also reported fragments
57:28
of Russian drones landing its territory in twenty twenty three,
57:32
but did not invoke Article five. The incidents over Poland
57:37
came as Moscow has escalated its air attacks on Ukraine,
57:41
launching its largest to date on Sunday with more than
57:44
eight hundred drones and thirteen missiles. The hours long attack
57:49
hit the main government building in Key for the first
57:51
time in the war and killed at least three people.
57:55
And I have to end on this with thank you
57:59
for listening. Please continue listening to programming on radio. I
58:04
thank you, have a good, warm day, and I'm back
58:08
on Saturday. Bye.