Officials detail Kirk shooting probe

OK, Sam Vinograd, thank you so much for joining us. Now, CBS News correspondent Carter Evans is in Utah and was at that press conference. Carter, what stood out to you about this? Well, first, I want to pick up on something that Sam said about motive because I asked the governor if he was cooperating and talking with authorities, and he said he couldn't discuss that. Then I asked him if he talked about a motive, and he said he wouldn't discuss that either. Yes, of course, his political leanings were certainly part of this, but what was it exactly that drove him to go find that gun, get in the car, drive 250 miles north, and actually follow through with this crime? And that's one thing that we still have unanswered right now. What we do know is that authorities have a tremendous amount of evidence linking him to this crime. Of course, they have the gun. They have all of this video evidence. I would presume, at this point, they've probably got fingerprints and DNA. FBI Director Kash Patel mentioned how they had flown that evidence back to Quantico to be tested right away, and so it looks like they have a handle on that right now. The question that I have and another question that I asked the governor was about these Discord messages. He mentioned that the suspect here had been communicating with his roommate over Discord about the gun and actually asked him to go retrieve the gun in this wooded area where we know authorities found it. When did that happen? Did that happen on the day of the shooting? Did that individual report it to police? Could they be considered an accomplice? I asked the governor that, and they said, right now, they presume he acted alone, but this investigation is still ongoing, and they've got a lot of evidence to go through right now. So those are a couple of questions that I have. Also, they mentioned that 11,000 tips came in. That's a lot, and they've been following up on a lot of them. They have an army of people here to follow up on this. And I'm curious. Were they on his trail already, or was it just simply that he turned himself in? Either way, he's in custody right now, but that's some answers that I would like to have, and we'll probably get them next week when we get these charging documents. They've got three days to put those together, and then we'll see a preliminary hearing next week, and we're going to get a lot of information there. Oh yeah, I'm sure we will. And, Carter, I want to stay on that because we heard from FBI officials during that news conference that it was the father who persuaded the suspect to turn himself in. And then you also mentioned just now that they've got so many tips on this case, but again, it does seem like having that relative push the suspect to come forward really helped officials arrest him, right? Right, but what were those tips that came in? I mean, you saw those images that they released, especially the enhanced ones last night. I mean, he was wearing sunglasses, but those pictures were so clear that if you knew that person, I mean, you'd be able to recognize them right away. So I'm wondering if some of those tips came in where people who are saying, I know who this guy is, and here's where he lives. So were they hot on his trail? I mean, with all the information that was coming in and all the evidence they had, it's likely they were already on his trail. Wow. Yeah, CBS News correspondent Carter Evans, thank you so much for your time today. And CBS News Justice Correspondent Scott MacFarlane joins us now for much more. Scott, what have we heard from the Justice Department so far about all of this? This is going to shift from a federal investigation into a federal prosecution, potentially over the course of the weekend and into early next week. You'll get a criminal information, a charging document initially charging Tyler Robinson, potentially with multiple federal felonies. Then there's a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing where the Department of Justice will make an argument to the judge as to why they want Tyler Robinson held in pretrial detention pending trial in the case. That's almost certainly going to happen from the Department of Justice's purview. The investigation was both local and federal in nature. You had the state governor. You had state Department of Public Safety officers there. You had the federal investigators there and the FBI too. So this was a multilevel, multilayer investigation. So it's also possible there's some local charges filed here. Carter mentioned the 11,000 tips and the open-ended question whether any one of them was distinctively helpful in this case or whether this simply was a person who confessed to a family member who turned to a family friend who turned to law enforcement, and those questions weren't declaratively answered today. We could find out more when those court proceedings begin as early as Monday. And, Scott, I think it's safe to say there were some missteps with the FBI from the very beginning, especially when we have FBI Director Kash Patel who took to social media and said, hey, we've arrested a suspect. That, obviously, turned out to not be the case. We know the Trump administration gutted much of the FBI. So how has that influenced these investigations, if it even has at all? Well, it's led to criticism of the FBI director, who has been taking heat publicly and, of all places, on social media for the communication strategy used in the initial hours. The FBI director, who you heard from during the news conference, Kash Patel, had posted Wednesday night on social media that a subject was in custody for this shooting. Later, he had to post about 90 minutes later that that person had been released and was not connected to the shooting. But any of this happening on social media before law enforcement was to announce it in a more traditional setting, that's a change. And there's been criticism that if you announce somebody is in custody prematurely or incorrectly, you give a false sense of security to the public, which is a problem. Now, the president going on cable TV this morning to be the first to announce an arrest, that's untraditional as well, to put it mildly. Does it mean there's any issue there? But legal analysts immediately responded, saying that is fodder for pretrial motions about jury pools, about defense strategy. All of that is a variable. We're not sure how that plays out because this is the first time that's ever happened.

Certainly is. Scott MacFarlane, thank you. Now, as we mentioned earlier, President Trump was the first to break the news of a suspect being in custody for the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. You heard Scott talk about that. Here's a bit of what the president had to say. I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him--

Right now? --in custody-- in custody. Everyone did a great job. We worked with the local police, the governor. Everybody did a great job. Well, I hope he's going to be found guilty, I would imagine, and I hope he gets the death penalty. What he did-- Charlie Kirk was the finest person. He didn't deserve this. CBS News correspondent Natalie Brand is following all of this for us from the White House. Natalie, what else did the president say about this shooting? Yeah, Mugo, he went into detail about what he knew about the investigation, the suspect being taken into custody before it was announced in that news conference, and that really speaks to the closeness of the relationship between the president of the United States and Charlie Kirk, who he really described as kind of a member of the family. He had a direct line to President Trump. He was a close ally, advisor, and friend, and that started years ago on the campaign trail. President Trump really crediting Kirk for helping to mobilize/turn out young, conservative voters, and I just can't overstate just the grief that has overtaken the White House this week. And, the president giving more details about when he learned about the shooting and also confirming this morning that he will attend Kirk's funeral in Arizona. And we know Kirk's casket was flown from Utah to Arizona just yesterday on Air ForceTwo. Can you talk to us about the significance of that moment? Yeah, the vice president, JD Vance, went on social media late Wednesday night and really detailed the closeness of the relationship and the friendship he had with Kirk. He credits Kirk for helping to launch his political career, for advocating for him to become Trump's running mate. So he personally flew to Salt Lake City yesterday, changing plans. He was supposed to be at a 9/11 remembrance and, instead, went to Salt Lake to meet Kirk's family and wife and personally fly the casket from Utah to Arizona, where Kirk lived, where his political group, Turning Point USA, was headquartered, and where he will be laid to rest. The vice president reacting to the breaking news this morning on social media. I think you saw that social-media post. He called this a "big breakthrough" but also went on to say that, "in some ways, the investigation is still in its early days, but I do believe we have the shooter in custody." And he ends by saying, "Say a prayer for Erika Kirk and those two beautiful babies." Everyone, really, an outpouring of support and condolences to the wife and young children that Kirk leaves behind.

Natalie, I want to go back to that press conference really quickly. The governor of Utah talked about political violence. What did he have to say? Yeah, and Governor Cox earlier this week in the hours after the shooting said the nation seems broken right now, and he really stressed that message again this morning after news was revealed about the arrest, saying that the very act that Charlie championed, freedom of expression, having his life taken in that very act makes it more difficult for people to feel like they can share ideas, calling this an attack on all of us, an attack on the ideals of democracy. And he compared this time to the late '60s, the political violence and turmoil of that period, and also had a message for younger people, saying, "We are at a turning point here." Let's take a listen to what he had to say in his own words. Right now, if I could, I need to talk to the young people in our state, in my state, and all across the country. As President Trump reminded me, he said, you know who really loved Charlie? The youth. He's right. Young people love Charlie, and young people hated Charlie, and Charlie went into those places anyway. And these are the words that have helped me. Charlie said, "When people stop talking, that's when you get violence." He said, "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive. Welcome without judgment. Love without condition. Forgive without limit." He said, "Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much." A few months ago-- I referenced this last night-- Charlie posted to social media, "When things are moving very fast and people are losing their minds, it's important to stay grounded. Turn off your phone. Read scripture. Spend time with friends. And remember, internet fury is not real life. It's going to be OK." He again said, "When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to commit violence." He said, "What we, as a culture, have to get back to is being able to have a reasonable agreement-- being able to have reasonable agreement where violence is not an option." Now, again, to my young friends out there, you are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option. But through those words, we have a reminder that we can choose a different path. Your generation-- Governor going on to say that, "this is our moment. Do we escalate or find an off-ramp?" And it comes, Mugo, as we've learned a number of elected officials and lawmakers who are going to have political rallies over the weekend are now choosing to postpone them, trying to come up with security plans in light of just the shock and grief that has really overtaken the nation, Mugo.

Yeah, certainly. Natalie Brand, thank you.