Richard Arnold: US Correspondent shares the latest updates from Charlie Kirk memorial service

Thousands have gathered in Arizona for the memorial service of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.

Among those in attendance is a number of Republican politicians and high-profile names including The President, Vice President and Elon Musk.

US Correspondent Richard Arnold says that the rise of political discourse around free speech has grown alongside the grieving.

'Seen by most as completely abhorrent alongside the grieving, we've also seen a growing political debate over freedom of speech.'

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Richard Arnold's in the States. Good morning to you, Good
morning make There's a few gaps in the front there,
but reasonably big crowd.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
I guess, oh yeah, it's almost a capacity crowd. More
than hundred thousand gathered at this Arizona Football Stadium in
Phoenix for the memorial now under way for the murdered
political activist Charlie Kirk. Security tight. Who's the president and
the vice president attending? Will hear from him shortly? Ilin
Muskell so as showner. It is eleven days since the

(00:26):
murder of Kirk, which has been seen by most is
completely abhorrent. Alongside the grieving, we've also seen a growing
political debate, of course, over freedom of speech. That is
something Kirk himself might have focused on, since he spent
so much of his time in debates. Proved me wrong?
Was his tagline, wasn't it? He was a high profile
advocate of challenging people and seeking to persuade them politically

(00:47):
and in terms of his Christian thinking. Says one of
the women in the crowd right now.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
PAULA good and righteous and hopefully it'll hit people who
have negatively about just our nation and maybe we can
argue down because that's what we need.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Well.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Events, of course, led to the suspension of TV host
Jimmy Kimmel after the head of the FCC, Brendan Carr,
seemed to call on television station owners to take action,
saying this could be dealt with in either quote easy
way or the hard way. That's been followed by a
social media post by Trump coming into this memorial today,
where he pressured his Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute

(01:30):
his political enemies. He wrote this, in part, quote Pam,
I have reviewed over thirty statements and posts saying that
essentially sam or stories last time, all talk, no action,
Nothing is being done. We can't delay any longer. It's
killing our reputation and credibility. They impeach me twice, they
indicted me five times over. Nothing. Justice must be served

(01:51):
now in quote Pam bonding And says she is cracking down.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
We will absolutely target you, go out through you if
you are targeting anyone with hate speech.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
Well, a few Republicans are responding to some of this,
amid a backlash by some Kimel supporters sending around. Paul
says the FCC chairs threats to the American ABC network
of a Kimmel were quite absolutely inappropriate. The government's got
no business in it, he says. Republicans Senator ten Ted
Cruz says of the FCC boss.

Speaker 4 (02:23):
But he said there is dangerous as hell. He says,
we can do this the easy way, or we can
do this the hard way.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:33):
And I got to say, that's right out of good Fellows.
That that that that's right out of a mafiosa coming
into a bar going nice bye, you have here. It'd
be a shame of something happened.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Deed, Hollywood, not on the line. Keep your day job,
as they say Trump's re actions of this.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
I think Brendan Carr is a great American patriot. So
I disagree with Ted prison that.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
The Pentagon has just issued new restrictions for journalists covering
the Defense Department and requiring them to sign a pledge
not to report on any information unless it's been authorized
for release. Not the way of things, says Democratic Senator
Chris Murphy.

Speaker 5 (03:07):
This is one of the most dangerous moments America has
ever faced. We are quickly turning into a banana republic.
This is what happens in Iran. This is what happens
in Cuba. This is what happens in China, deeply repressive
states in which if you have the courage to stand
up and speak truth to power, you are silence.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Meantime, a judge is a smith Trump's fifteen billion dollar
lawsuit against the New York Times ruling the courts are
not quote a platform to rage against an adversary. As
for one other Trump multi billion dollar lawsuit, the one
against the Murdoch Wall Street Journal for describing the alleged
birthday doodle for Jeffrey Epstein, the Murdock feud might be easy.
Trump now saying Rupert and Laughlin Murdock are likely part

(03:47):
of the US investor group buying into TikTok.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
On you might see you Wednesday, appreciate it. Original On
states that I read about the TikTok thing over the weekend,
and the Americans may not be getting everything that they
want out of that particular the deal. The Chinese might
be winners. But I'll come back to that other related matter.
As California's Governor Newsom has signed a bill and they
will ban local and federal law enforcement offices, including ice,

(04:11):
from wearing face masks while on duty. Comes in first
of January twenty six. Newsome calls it secret police roaming
the streets. We don't want it, so there are exceptions
for undercover agents, masks used to protect against disease or wildfires,
and tactical gear, but mainly it's the masks thing, as
they've had the Feds in town lately and they didn't
like it.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
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