WSJ What’s News - America Grapples With Rising Political Violence

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

A.M. Edition for Sept. 11. The hunt for Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk’s shooter is underway with no one currently in custody. WSJ editor Aaron Zitner, who interviewed Kirk late last year, reflects on Kirk’s outsize influence on the Republican party and how growing animosity between the parties may be fueling political violence in the U.S. Plus, top Trump advisor Stephen Miran moves one step closer to joining the Fed. And, oil giant Saudi Arabia bets that sunshine can transform its economy as it builds some of the world’s biggest solar farms. Caitlin McCabe hosts. Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Viking, committed to exploring the world in comfort. Journey through the heart of Europe on an elegant Viking longship with thoughtful service, cultural enrichment, and all-inclusive fares. Discover more at viking.com. The hunt for Charlie Kirk's shooter is underway as America grapples with the realities of rising political violence. Partisan animosity is very high, and while we can't connect that directly to, let's say, the killing of Charlie Kirk. Many people are concerned that it's creating an environment where these things can happen. Plus, top Trump advisor, Stephen Myron moves one step closer to joining the Fed. And Saudi Arabia

bets that sunshine can transform its economy as it builds some of the world's biggest solar farms. It's Thursday, September 11th. I'm Caitlin McCabe for the Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today. A manhunt is underway after conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was shot on stage during an event at Utah Valley University yesterday. No one is currently in custody after Utah law enforcement released two people, saying neither person was connected to the shooting. The state's Department of Public Safety called it a targeted attack and said the agency, along with the FBI, were leading the investigation. Videos of the attack show Kirk going back and forth with a student about mass shootings involving transgender people when he was. was shot. In a video posted on true social, President Trump said, quote, radical left rhetoric contributed to

Kirk's death. Radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives. Leaders from both parties have decried the shooting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying he was, quote, heartbroken and outraged, while former President Barack Obama said, quote, this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy, unquote. In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson called for a moment of silence on the chamber floor. The chair would ask that all members president in the chamber and those in the gallery, please rise for a moment of prayer for Charlie Kirk. Which quickly spiraled into a shouting match between the parties

about whether the observance was too little or too much. The House of Be an Order. We will join prayer right after this, okay? Journal editor Aaron Zittner says Kirk's killing follows several instances of political violence in the U.S. in recent months. Today, many Americans are in shock. Political violence has just become a fact of life. We had not only two assassination attempts on Donald Trump, but we had the Speaker of the House

in the state of Minnesota and her husband murdered at their home in the past year, and we could enumerate many acts of political violence from Steve Scalise, a Republican, who was shot on a baseball field in near. killed, to Nancy Pelosi's husband being attacked in her home, and what we're hearing in Washington is great concern about that, not any action around it, but also there's an undertone of the political animosity that some people think is fueling this creeping up. We have people saying in each party that it's the other party's rhetoric and language that's demonizing political figures who they don't agree with and fueling political violence.

the journal's polling efforts and spoke to Charlie Kirk in December of last year. He told us that Kirk was one of the most influential figures on the right and played a prominent role in Trump's outreach to young voters during the 2024 election. He was shot doing what he has done for more than a decade, appearing on college campuses, talking directly to college students, usually under a sign that says, prove me wrong. His slogan for saying, come debate me. Let's have a conversation. And I will persuade you of the conservative point of view. This kind of direct engagement with college students gave Charlie Kirk the credibility and authenticity that made him a star in Republican circles. He became the leader of what was considered the fastest growing conservative group of college

students and the head of a group called Turning Points USA, which branched out from talking to college students to create a big media arm producing podcasts and videos, a church outreach, group and an electioneering unit that actually started door-knocking, electioneering and trying to get candidates elected. This all made him one of the most important people in Republican politics and in the circle of MAGA influencers who help propel Donald Trump to a second term. We have left a link to Aaron's interview from last year with Charlie Kirk in our show notes. And for continued coverage of this developing story, check out WSJ.com, where we will have all of the latest updates throughout the day. Coming up, the rest of the day's news, including a tense

call between Washington and Israel over this week's strikes on Qatar. Plus, a look at how Saudi Arabia, the world's largest petro state, is turning to solar power. That story and more after the break. This message comes from Viking, committed to exploring the world in comfort. Journey through the heart of Europe on an elegant Viking longship with thoughtful service, destination-focused dining, and cultural enrichment on board and on shore. And every Viking voyage is all-inclusive with no children and no casinos. Discover more at viking.com. We now go to Washington, where Senate Republicans have voted down a measure to release more material related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, dealing a blow to minority leader Chuck Schumer,

who'd used a rare legislative maneuver to force a vote on the matter. In a close 51 to 49 vote, Republicans killed the effort with only two Republican senators, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Josh Hawley of Missouri, defecting to join with Democrats. Schumer proposed the measure as an amendment to the sweeping annual defense authorization bill, echoing an effort in the House of Representatives to compel Attorney General Pam Bondi to release the files. There's been so much lying, obfuscation, cover-ups. people need to see everything that's in the Epstein file, and my amendment will make that happen. Ongoing calls to release more information on Jeffrey Epstein have increasingly become a thorn in the

side of President Trump. Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune called Schumer's effort, quote, a political stunt. Meanwhile, one of President Trump's top advisors, Stephen Myron, moved one step closer to joining the Federal Reserve yesterday, after the Senate Banking Committee advanced his nomination to the full chamber. That raises the possibility that Myron May be able to join next week's pivotal Fed meeting, where officials are widely expected to cut rates for the first time since last year. Myron was nominated by Trump to replace Adriana Coogler, who resigned unexpectedly last month. Myron's nomination comes at a chaotic time for the central bank, with Fed Governor Lisa Cook

facing a fight to keep her seat after Trump tried to remove her. As we reported earlier this week, a federal judge granted Cook an injunction that temporarily halted Trump's removal attempt. Journal Markets editor Alex Frango says that if Mirren is fully confirmed before next week's meeting, investors will be closely watching to see if he votes to cut rates by a quarter point, as most traders expect, or whether he'll move more aggressively. He hasn't said whether he supports a half point cut, but a lot of people are expecting that he's so aligned with the president. The president wants, you know, as at times talked about having three percentage point cut.

So the expectation is that he would be aggressive, but we don't 100 percent know. There's also a possibility that he comes in and tries to be collegial and votes with the crowd. The journal is exclusively reporting that President Trump had a heated call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the strikes in Qatar on Tuesday. Senior U.S. officials said that the president conveyed deep frustrations over the attack that targeted Hamas representatives and that the decision wasn't wise. Netanyahu said there was a brief window to launch the strikes and took the opportunity. The attack by Israel comes amid Trump's efforts to strengthen his relations with the Gulf as part of his Middle East strategy.

And while the president has historically been a supporter of Israel, this attack has been seen to be undermining his peace agenda. Meanwhile, taking a cue out of Trump's trade playbook, Mexico has announced plans to raise tariffs on imports of key goods from countries with which it doesn't have an existing trade agreement. The move is expected to affect some 1,500 products and $52 billion of imports, including Chinese-made cars, steel, textiles, toys, and home appliances. While Mexico has trade packs with more than 50 nations, countries including China, Russia, and South Korea do not have agreements. Mexico's economy ministry said the move seeks to protect more than 300,000 industrial jobs and shore-up domestic industry. The country also acknowledged that the plan is related to ongoing and future trade discussions with the U.S. and Canada. An oil giant Saudi Arabia is making a surprising new bet on

solar power, with the kingdom aiming for 50% clean energy by 2030 to power new projects. The shift to renewable energy comes as the U.S. continues to turn away from green energy sources and is driven by the falling costs of Chinese solar panels and batteries that make it a more cost-efficient alternative to burning oil. Journal Climate reporter Ed Ballard says Saudi Arabia's rising power demands is driving the rollout. Saudi Arabia is embarking on this really quite epic investment program to try and transform its economy with things that you might have read about like Neon, this giant city in the desert.

And AI data centers, new luxury resorts, all of this infrastructure needs electricity, and solar panels especially. Solar and batteries are a very quick way to deliver it. Another reason is Saudi Arabia is very unusual in that it burns a lot of oil to generate electricity, and that's really inefficient. And also that's the key commodity that Saudi Arabia sells to the world. So to conserve those barrels so they can be exported at a profit, and generate electricity in other way is kind of a no-brainer. That said, Ed says fossil fuels still remain an important part of Saudi Arabia's economy. So it's actually quite a nuanced picture because in the long term,

there is a recognition that there is a need to diversify the Saudi economy and so renewables can help them do that. But at the same time, the funds to pay for that transformation all have to come from oil. So this isn't about turning away from the commodity that made Saudi Arabia rich. It's really about squeezing as much value from that as possible. and ensuring that all of the oil in the ground can be exported profitably. And that's it for What's News for this Thursday morning. Today's show is produced by Kate Bolivant and Hattie Moyer.

Our supervising producer is Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Caitlin McCabe for The Wall Street Journal. We'll be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.