Kirk Suspect Charged, Trump Visits The King, FBI Director Patel Testifies

0:00It's very exciting to be in the same studio with A. Martinez, instead of having you on the other coast. Glad to have you here. This is too big of a space. It's too big of a space. Too much light. You'd like to have more of a kind of... Too many people. You want to have more of a cocoon in the dark? A personless cocoon, yes. Okay. With no light, natural or otherwise. You've been thinking that ever since you were born. I never wanted to leave. Prosecutors file murder charges against the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk. roommate, why? Robinson. I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out.

0:40What do his texts reveal about his thoughts? I'm Steve Inskeep with A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News. President Trump received a rare honor in Britain, a second state visit full of pageantry and some business, too. They want to see if they can refine the trade deal. We made a deal, and it's a great deal. And I'm into helping him. Will the royal welcome sway the president on trade in Ukraine? And U.S. Senators grill FBI Director Kash Patel and his handling of the Kirk investigation and his leadership of the Bureau. You claim that you have a suspect in a serious assassination? Whoops, then you don't have a suspect.

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3:02He also faces obstruction charges for trying to cover his tracks. NPR's Tovia Smith is following developments from St. George, Utah. Tovia, I saw that Robinson only spoke to state his name. Was this his first time in court? Yes, first since he was taken into custody. And he appeared yesterday remotely from jail where he's being held without bail, and he was wearing a suicide prevention smock. Prosecutors say Robinson had implied to his parents that he'd rather take his own life than go to jail, though his parents did eventually convince him to turn himself in. Yesterday during the hearing, he really showed no emotion at all as the judge read the charges against him.

3:39Those include the main one, aggravated murder that carries the death penalty, and also several others, including obstruction of justice for allegedly hiding what's believed to be the murder weapon and for allegedly telling his roommate to delete their texts and not to talk to authorities. So on that text exchange, what more did prosecutors say about it? Well, they showed really a stunning string of texts. These are still allegations, let's remember, but the stream that prosecutors laid out does appear to have Robinson confessing. The roommate allegedly writes to him, you weren't the one who did it, right?

4:15And according to prosecutors, Robinson replies, I am. I'm sorry. What was also stunning was another exchange that county attorney Jeff Gray read aloud to reporters that speaks to a possible motive. Roommate, why? Robinson, why did I do it? Roommate, yeah. Robinson, I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out. Prosecutors say Robinson also told his parents that he thought Charlie Kirk was, quote, evil. The parents said their son had recently shifted politically to the left and became very, quote, trans rights oriented about the same time he started to date his roommate, who authorities describe as a biological male transitioning to a female.

5:00I'll note that the evidence shared publicly, at least so far, suggests that the roommate had no advanced knowledge of the shooting and has been cooperating with investigators, according to authorities, though the prosecutor yesterday declined to say whether the roommate might face charges at some point. Mentioned that Robinson hasn't really said much. Is he cooperating at all with the investigation? Early on, authorities said he was not. Yesterday, Jeff Gray, the prosecutor, would not say one way or the other. He also declined to say whether other people may be involved. He would only say the investigation is ongoing.

5:34and separately FBI Director Cash Patel said yesterday his agency is investigating quote anyone and everyone who was involved in a gaming chat room on discord with Robinson. You've been to a Robinson's hometown in Utah talking to people there what are you hearing? Well lots of mixed emotions. I spoke to neighbors who know and love and support the Robinson family who say they also support the death penalty in this case. An eye for an eye as one told me And one person I spoke to, a self-described liberal in this quite conservative community, she is unsure how she feels about the death penalty, but she says she opposes the views expressed by Charlie Kirk, and she spoke about his death as almost some kind of karma.

6:19She was quick to acknowledge that that may make some people think she's a terrible person, but she said that's how she feels. That's NPR's Tovia Smith in St. George, Utah. Tovia, thanks. Thank you.

6:39President Trump is in the UK where he's on a state visit. Which means a big ceremonial appearance, hanging with the royals and so forth. And he's the only president ever to get this twice. NPR White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzlaven is in London. So, Danielle, what will he be up to while he's in England? Well, there are really two parts to this visit. There's the spectacle part and there's the policy part. Now, today is all about the royal spectacle. There's the carriage ride planned around the Windsor Castle grounds, weather permitting. There are going to be military bands. And tonight, there's a big banquet at Windsor Castle with the king and the queen.

7:15Now, Trump's mom was born in the UK, Scotland. And it seems like he's always felt a fondness for the place. I got to imagine he's very excited. It sure seems like it. Now, talking to reporters ahead of the trip yesterday, he said it would be a beautiful event, a good time. He was pretty effusive. And all of that makes sense. Like you mentioned, his mom was born here. And over the years, he's talked a lot about how she loved Queen Elizabeth. And when he met her in 2019, he seemed to be in awe in a way he really isn't about anyone else. And earlier this year, when Trump met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, he was also really complimentary about King Charles.

7:54He's a great guy, great person. He looks really well to me. He looks great. So we look forward to coming over. It's going to be, it was one of the most beautiful evenings I've ever seen. I hate to say it, but nobody does it like you people in terms of the pomp and ceremony. All right. So that was the spectacle part. You mentioned earlier a second, more policy-focused part of this trip. When does that happen? Well, that comes on Thursday, but it's not entirely separate from the pomp part of it. The serious part of this trip goes hand in hand with the spectacle. As one UK foreign policy expert told me, the thinking here is to use Trump's clear love of the monarchy to try to leverage him on these other issues.

8:35So tomorrow, Trump is headed to Chequers, the prime minister's country residence. He's meeting with Starmer there, and they're going to meet with some CEOs to talk about US investing in the UK. And the two countries will sign what they're calling a tech prosperity deal. That's a partnership across AI, quantum computing and nuclear power. And one example of that partnership, U.S.-based NVIDIA is going to build AI infrastructure in the U.K. Okay. So what else are they going to talk about? Well, foreign policy for sure. Remember that Starmer is part of that group of European leaders who want Trump to give greater support to Ukraine in its war against Russia.

9:08Well, there hasn't been movement on a peace deal. Russia has continued to just bombard Ukraine. So Starmer may try to push Trump to do more, but Trump is suggesting that it's up to NATO allies to first stop buying Russian oil. For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he told the UK's Sky News this week, he really wants Starmer to press Trump on specifics, on security guarantees, and also for some firmness on new Russia sanctions. There were pretty big protests in the UK when Trump visited in his first term. Are we seeing or expecting that kind of reception again? Very much. Trump is not popular here, and his tariffs here have only made Brits angrier, as our colleague Lauren Frayer has reported.

9:50In fact, the protests have already begun. Earlier this week on the lawn outside of Windsor Castle, protesters unfurled a giant photo of Trump and the late Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and sex offender. Now, all of that said, it's a gray and drizzly morning here so far. So that may bring down both Trump's day and the protesters. All right. That's NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben. Thanks a lot. Thank you.

10:41He was defiant from his opening statement onward. I'm honored to be the ninth director of the FBI. I'm not going anywhere. If you want to criticize my 16 years of service, please bring it on. Senators did harshly criticize his remaking of what has been the nation's premier law enforcement agency. Patel responded by raising his voice and name-calling. NPR political reporter Elena Moore was watching. Elena, four hours, more than four hours of this hearing. A lot came up. A lot of tensions were pretty high. So what stood out to you? Well, we really heard two starkly different messages. You know, Democrats provided a litany of reasons why they think Patel isn't fit for this job, drawing on what they see as recent missteps he's made.

11:22Here's how New Jersey Senator Cory Booker put it. You swear to release the Epstein files, but now you're withholding the Epstein files. You claim that you have a suspect in a serious assassination. Whoops. Then you don't have a suspect. You know nothing about plans to remove FBI agents yet. you're directly involved in those plans. And you know, this moment devolved into a really heated exchange with Patel, who called Booker's comments a rant and false information. Republicans, for their part, largely defended the FBI director. But beyond that, they focused their time talking about the issue of political violence, given that this previously scheduled hearing occurred less than a week after Charlie Kirk was assassinated.

12:04And what was that message that we heard from Republicans. Well, much like what we've heard from the White House, many GOP lawmakers allege that the far left is to blame for fueling a larger culture of political violence. Missouri Republican Senator Eric Schmidt really focused on that. We are lying if we think that this is a both sides thing. It's not. And we should say investigators have not produced evidence connecting the suspect to any larger group or movement. And Democrats heavily rejected that narrative, given they've also been the targets of recent acts of political violence. Now, Kash Patel is also facing allegations that he carried out politically motivated firings at the FBI.

12:43What did he say to those accusations? Well, during his confirmation hearing, Patel said he wouldn't dismiss anyone on political grounds, but a lawsuit filed by three former FBI officials last week alleges he did just that. Democrats repeatedly raised concerns about that case, but when Patel was pressed on whether political retribution is happening at the FBI, he pushed back. Any termination at the FBI was a decision that I made based on the evidence that I have as a director of the FBI, and it's my job, and I'm not going to shy away from it. The Epstein case has been such a big, big topic of conversation on Capitol Hill.

13:19Did we learn anything new about it? Well, short answer, no. Patel stressed that he and the administration more broadly have worked to be as transparent as possible on this. But A, you know, it remains unclear if that'll be enough for lawmakers. And Patel will likely have to answer more questions about that today when he heads back to Capitol Hill. That's NPR reporter, political reporter, Elena Moore. Elena, thanks. Thank you.

13:48And that's up first for Wednesday, September 17th. I'm E. Martinez. And I'm Steve Inskeep. Thanks for joining us. You'll find more in-depth coverage of the stories we talked about today and lots more. by turning on the radio. NPR's Morning Edition is the show that A. Martinez, Michelle Martin, Leila, and I host. You can find Morning Edition on your NPR station at stations.npr.org. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Gigi Duban, Roberta Rampton, Jason Breslow, Mohamed Elbardisi, and Olivia Hampton. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Carly Strange.

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