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Today is Thursday, September 11th. What's known so far about the assassination of a conservative activist on a college campus and a shooting at a suburban high school. Also, why NATO's defenses were activated and what's expected to happen next in an escalating war. Plus, we're talking about some of the strongest hints yet that there may have been life on Mars. Who made more money yesterday than any human has ever made in just one day. And what to expect from this year's New York Fashion Week. Those stories and even more news to know next. Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Newsworthy. All the day's news in around 10 minutes. Fast, fair, fun and on the go. I'm Erica. Mandy, thanks so much for being here. You ready? Let's do this. As of early this morning, a manhunt is still underway for the person who shot and killed a well known conservative activist who's a close ally of President Trump. Charlie Kirk was the leader of the country's most prominent right wing youth activist organization called Turning Point usa. He was doing one of his Prove me wrong events at Utah Valley University and answering a question about mass shootings when a sniper fired a single gunshot that hit him in the neck. Thousands of spectators ran in a panic and Kirk was rushed to the hospital where he later died. A couple of people were taken into custody but have since been released. Authorities say they were found to have no ties to the shooting and the actual shooter is still at large. Kirk rose to prominence as a conservative voice who never shied away from provocative opinions. He he joked in the past about how woke guys wanted to kill him. Even before this event, an online petition had been circulating calling on the university to ban Kirk from speaking. It received nearly 1,000 signatures. As of this morning, authorities have not announced a motive for Kirk's killing, but Utah's governor called it a political assassination. And the shooting has been condemned by politicians on both sides of the aisle. President Trump released a video where he blamed the radical left. As he put it, violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree. Last night, several vigils were held across the US in honor of Kirk and flags have been lowered to half staff. Unfortunately, we have even more acts of violence we have to tell you about this morning, including a shooting at a suburban Denver high school. Authorities say a student shot two of his classmates and then himself. The shooter died. The two other teenagers were originally listed in critical condition. As of this morning, doctors say at least one of them is expected to survive. So far, details about a possible motive and whether the students knew each other are under investigation. Separately, outrage is growing over a stabbing in Charlotte, North Carolina that happened last month. A 23 year old Ukrainian refugee, Aryna Zurutska, was attacked on a commuter train. Video of the killing was released over the weekend showing a passenger stabbing her without any provocation. Now the suspect has been identified as having a violent history as well as diagnosed schizophrenia. His sister told CNN her brother attacked Zyrutska because he believed she was reading his mind. Well, now some Republicans are blaming the Democratic leadership in Charlotte. President Trump said the suspect would have been in prison if not for left leaning policies. Charlotte's Democratic mayor Vi Lyles mentioned the suspect's mental health troubles and urged people to do better for those in crisis. She also ordered a stronger police presence on the public transit system. The suspect has now been charged with first degree murder in North Carolina. Prosecutors also filed a federal charge against him and President Trump is calling for him to receive the death penalty. The biggest conflict in Europe since World War II may have just escalated even more. More than a dozen Russian drones entered Poland earlier this week and now NATO confirms it scrambled fighter jets to shoot them down. It was the first time in the history of the alliance that its fighters engaged enemy targets in NATO airspace. Since then, nine drones have been found and Polish authorities say they were all unarmed dummies. It's still not clear if Russia meant to send them to Poland though, since it actually came during a large scale drone and missile attack in Ukraine and it's not uncommon for Russia to send those unarmed dummy drones to fool Ukrainian air defenses. Russia seems to keep changing its story about what exactly happened now. Poland and other NATO officials say they're waiting for the results of a military assessment before deciding how to respond. Back in the U.S. former senior FBI officials say the White House has been directly meddling in decisions at the bureau that's been independent for the last century. They were all fired last month despite being three of the FBI's most experienced leaders. In a new lawsuit. They say they were part of a so called campaign of retribution because they didn't demonstrate the kind of political loyalty that's now required. The suit says FBI Director Kash Patel even acknowledged that the Trump administration told him that to fire anyone who worked on investigations of President Trump, even if they were just assigned the cases. The former senior officials are now trying to get their jobs back as part of the lawsuit, as well as some back pay and more. At this point, no response from the FBI or the White House. Remember how this time last week we told you about a cold front moving through the middle of the country. Well, now the opposite is happening. 90 plus degree temperatures are expected today across the Southern Plains as far north as St. Louis, Missouri. By tomorrow, about 130 million Americans will be dealing with temperatures 10 to 15 degrees above average, so it will feel more like the middle of summer than the end of it, at least until Monday. That said, the Northeast will stay slightly cooler than average and today the Northwest is expected to get some storms. Flood watches are in effect across parts of the region, but the rain could bring some relief in the face of drought. To be continued. More news still coming up, but first a break to talk about our sponsor Lunch and Dinner at home don't have to be boring or a big time consuming project that you have to plan days in advance. With CookUnity, I can enjoy chef crafted meals where the chefs hand pick their ingredients to get the freshest seasonal flavors. And yet I don't even have to leave my house or spend much time at all. Meals are delivered fully cooked, so I just heat up in as little as 5 minutes. Quinoa crusted salmon, a Moroccan chickpea and feta bowl, and a Mediterranean shrimp grain bowl are just a few of the examples of dinners and lunches I never would have made on my own but but I really enjoyed and could feel great about eating. Who knew I could get that much variety in flavors and nutrition in just a regular work week. There's no shopping, no cooking, no cleanup. Just heat up in minutes and enjoy a meal that balances flavor and nutrition and frees up my time. Fuel your day with the freshest, best tasting meal delivery made by award winning chefs. Go to cookunity.com newsworthyfree or enter the code Newsworthy Free before checkout for free Premium Meals for Life that's free Premium Meals for Life by using the code 2newsworthy free or going to cookunity.comnewsworthy free. Now back to the news. Oracle's founder, Larry Ellison became more than $100 billion richer in just one day. It was actually the biggest one day increase ever recorded and Bloomberg reported he even briefly surpassed Elon Musk as the world's richest person. It came after Oracle reported quarterly results that surpass analysts expectations and the company announced more growth to come. With that, Oracle's stock rose about 36% and Ellison owns more than a billion shares of Oracle, so his total net worth reached more than $383 billion. The Wall Street Journal gave some more details about exactly where Oracle's next growth might be coming from the company just said it recently signed three different contracts. While the Journal says one of them was a historic cloud computing deal with OpenAI, it cites sources who say OpenAI signed a contract to buy $300 billion in computing power over roughly five years from Oracle and and that should give it four and a half gigawatts of power capacity. To put that into perspective, it's roughly comparable to the electricity produced by more than two Hoover dams, or the amount used by about 4 million homes. Former Vice President Kamala Harris is sharing her most pointed criticism yet of her last boss. She called former President Biden's decision to run for a second term reckless in his advanced age, and Harris admits she and other Democrats were reckless in letting it happen. That, quote, this wasn't a choice that should have been left to an individual's ego. Harris also described moments during Biden's term where she felt sidelined by the president's team and not given credit for her work. But she also called the former president a smart guy with long experience and deep conviction, and defended his ability to lead the nation while he was president. This all comes from an excerpt from her book that was published yesterday. It's called 107 days, in reference to the length of her presidential campaign. So far, no one else in the Biden administration has responded to Harris's take on things. The book will be published in full later this month. NASA has found the clearest sign of life so far on Mars. The space agency's Perseverance rover uncovered rocks in a dry river channel that could possibly hold signs of ancient microscopic life. Now, to be clear, scientists are not actually saying they found fossils of Martian microbes, they're just raising the possibility. But before reaching any real conclusions, they'll have to do some in depth analysis, ideally in labs back on Earth. And for now, they're stranded on Mars. Since the return mission has been put on hold over the rising cost estimate, the Trump administration wants it canceled entirely. But for now, NASA says it's still looking for a faster, cheaper way to get it done. Meanwhile, China is planning a similar mission, launching in 2028, to collect Martian rocks and drop them off on Earth three years later. To be continued. Amazon Zoox now has its own unique robo taxis rolling out to the public. These are actually the first robotaxis in the US Designed from the ground up to operate like a robo taxi with no steering wheel pedals or any way for a human driver to take over, whereas competitors like Waymo and Tesla are using regular cars retrofitted with autonomous technology. Zoox Robo taxis really look more like a boxy silver pod than a car. For now, Zoox is offering trips in and around the Las Vegas Strip for free. Riders just need to summon them with an app. Zoox has also been testing a similar service in San Francisco, and it plans to expand to even more cities soon. New York Fashion Week officially kicks off today in the Big Apple with the biggest names in design coming together to showcase new looks. The six day event will feature shows for 100 brands, including fashion staples like Michael Kors, Calvin Klein Coach, Tory Burch and so on. There are Runway events, parties and pop ups. And it's not just the designers and models showcasing their best looks. They Many people who attend also dress to impress. That includes buyers, stylists and celebrities who are often paid to go and wear a certain brand. New York Fashion Week runs through next Tuesday. Then designers are on to the rest of Fashion Month with weeks in London, Milan and Paris. Well, that's it for the main news today. So now it's time for Thing to Know Thursday. But first, this episode is sponsored by HoneyLove. The right outfit can make you feel great, but the right foundation layer that can take your confidence to the next level. When I have a special event coming up, like a wedding or a big night out, honeylove shapewear is what I trust. It smooths and supports in all the right places so my dress or skirt can lay perfectly and I don't have to spend the night worrying about adjusting anything. Honeylove's targeted compression is designed to work with your body, not against it. It gives shape where you want it, but still feels flexible enough to wear for hours. I can move, sit, dance and just feel comfortable, which is not something I ever expected to say about shapewear. The designs also have a beautiful look, so they feel elegant and well made. Treat yourself to the most comfortable shapewear on earth and save 20% off site wide@honeylove.com Newsworthy Use our exclusive link to get 20% off honeylove.com Newsworthy after your purchase, they'll ask you where you've heard about them, so please support our show and tell them we sent you. Experience the new standard in shapewear with Honeylove. Now back to Thing to Know Thursday It's a day of mourning and remembrance here in the US today marks exactly 24 years since the September 11 attacks, which when terrorists hijacked four planes, crashing two into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, one into the Pentagon and one into an open field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The 911 Memorial and Museum in New York City will hold its annual memorial service today to bring together survivors and families of those who were killed. The names of the nearly 3,000 people who died will be read. VA cemeteries will also hold remembrance events today and there will be many more vigils, ceremonies, memorials and tributes happening around the country. Also this year many volunteers have decided to make this a day of service. In New York yesterday teams put more than 2 million meals together to be donated. It was just one of 25 large scale volunteer service projects being organized around the country in places like Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle. Today there are plans for food and clothing drives, neighborhood cleanups, blood banks and more. Thank you so much for listening today and for making us part of your daily routine. Thank you. We'll catch you up on more news to know tomorrow. Until then, have a great day.
