Charlie Kirk Memorial Service at State Farm Stadium Glendale Arizona with Super Bowl Level Security

[00:00] [Music]

[00:00] We're learning that Charlie Kirk's

[00:02] memorial service will be in Glendale,

[00:04] Arizona this Sunday at 11:00 a.m. I

[00:06] think that's noon Utah time. Security is

[00:08] and it's going to be at the uh the

[00:10] football stadium there, I'm told. And

[00:12] that the security is reportedly at Super

[00:15] Bowl levels as preparations uh continue.

[00:18] The stadium, I think, holds something

[00:20] like 70,000 people and they're expecting

[00:22] a 100,000. Um Trump, Vance, other White

[00:25] House officials are expected to be

[00:27] there. Uh we do have News Nation's

[00:29] national correspondent Alex Capriello

[00:31] who is going to talk to us about what a

[00:33] high level event this is. Alex, thank

[00:35] you for joining us.

[00:36] >> Hey, thanks so much for having me.

[00:38] >> And what are we what are we hearing

[00:39] about the level of preparation for this

[00:41] and am I correct that it's going to be

[00:42] at the stadium?

[00:44] >> Yeah, you're right. State Farm Stadium.

[00:45] It's where the Arizona Cardinals play.

[00:47] Uh the last time they had a Super Bowl

[00:49] there was Super Bowl 52. I think that

[00:51] was Chiefs and Eagles uh 2022. I was

[00:54] actually at that uh stadium for that

[00:56] Super Bowl and I can attest to the level

[00:57] of security that's there. I mean, when

[00:59] you have that many people uh from all

[01:02] around the world coming, it's it's a lot

[01:04] of pressure for law enforcement. Uh you

[01:06] were close to the capacity size. It's

[01:08] about 63,000. It's unclear uh how many

[01:12] if they're going to go to like a soldout

[01:14] capacity level or if they're going to

[01:15] tame it down a little bit. That's going

[01:16] to really be at the discretion of the

[01:18] United States Secret Service and of the

[01:21] State Farm Stadium staff. Uh but

[01:23] regardless, obviously this is a massive

[01:25] event that a lot of people want to

[01:26] attend. Uh so security really has to be

[01:29] buttoned up. The big difference here is

[01:31] that when you know State Farm Stadium uh

[01:33] chooses to have a Super Bowl, um the NFL

[01:36] gives them about a two years advanced

[01:38] notice. And so they literally take every

[01:40] single day of those two years to plan

[01:42] and prepare. Uh now they're trying to

[01:45] have the same type of security but only

[01:47] have a week to prepare. So, um, you

[01:49] know, it's it's a lot of pressure, like

[01:50] I mentioned, on these law enforcement

[01:52] partners, but they feel like they got,

[01:54] um, everything at least underway in prep

[01:57] in preparation for Sunday.

[01:58] >> Can we ask about what those preparations

[02:00] look like? I've never attended a Super

[02:02] Bowl. What What does it look like?

[02:05] >> Yeah. So, it's really a a huge effort

[02:07] from a lot of different agencies. So,

[02:10] from the outside looking in, uh, outside

[02:13] of the stadium, it's going to be the

[02:15] Glendale Police Department, who is the

[02:18] lead agency, uh, and they will

[02:20] coordinate with other local law

[02:22] enforcement, think sheriff's offices and

[02:24] various police departments that are in

[02:25] the nearby area because they're all

[02:27] volunteering their own officers also as

[02:29] help. Uh, and then Glendel PD. So, in

[02:31] addition to this, several hundred

[02:32] officers that'll be outside either on

[02:34] foot or in their patrol cars, some of

[02:37] them in their uniform, some of them in

[02:38] plane clothes blending into the to the

[02:41] general population. Then they'll also

[02:43] have drones that are flying at all

[02:45] times. They will have um advanced

[02:48] security cameras that are being

[02:51] monitored 247 by officers offsite uh

[02:54] that are constantly looking for

[02:55] suspicious activity. Uh, and then, you

[02:58] know, maybe you'll also see some other

[02:59] aerial assets like helicopters and and

[03:02] whatnot just kind of doing looking all

[03:04] around. And then from the inside of the

[03:06] stadium, it's no longer the police

[03:08] department's jurisdiction, but now it

[03:09] becomes the jurisdiction of the United

[03:11] States Secret Service. And that's only

[03:13] because, you know, President Trump, Vice

[03:15] President Vance, uh, and then various

[03:17] other levels of the Trump administration

[03:18] are going to be in attendance. So, that

[03:20] has to really be buttoned up on the

[03:22] inside. Alex, about 20ome years ago, we

[03:25] had the Olympics here in Utah. And I

[03:28] recall at those venues, we had almost

[03:31] like a cordoned off area that where you

[03:33] had to get through a fenced area where

[03:34] there were metal detectors. I am sure

[03:36] that no one's going to be allowed into

[03:38] this or near this stadium without

[03:39] passing through a metal detector and

[03:41] other kind of security like that.

[03:42] Correct.

[03:43] >> Yeah, absolutely. And um speaking from

[03:46] experience, you know, covering the

[03:48] campaign trail uh last year when United

[03:51] States Secret Service is is in charge of

[03:53] the event, uh they take it very very

[03:55] seriously. Um you have to absolutely

[03:57] pass through those metal dete metal

[03:59] detectors. If for whatever reason you

[04:01] have a bad heart or you choose that you

[04:04] do not want to do that, well then that's

[04:05] okay, but you're going to be pat down

[04:07] and you're going to be pat down pretty

[04:08] thoroughly. Uh, in addition to that, you

[04:10] know, there are certain things that you

[04:12] you can't bring in water bottles. So,

[04:14] like think about the um the, you know,

[04:17] those metal I can't remember what

[04:19] they're called nowadays, but you know,

[04:20] the metal water bottles everyone carries

[04:21] around. Those can be considered a

[04:23] weapon. Uh, so can't bring that in.

[04:26] Clear bags, uh, I think is the rule this

[04:28] Sunday. uh you're allowed a a small

[04:30] clear bag that you can see all your

[04:32] items, but no backpacks uh you know,

[04:35] nothing of that nature that might be

[04:36] able to hide a sort of weapon or

[04:38] something that could be used to harm

[04:40] others.

[04:41] >> Let me ask you about uh showing up. So,

[04:44] if the funeral is planned for 11:00 a.m.

[04:47] and you have tens of thousands of people

[04:50] trying to get in through really

[04:52] heightened security, what time are

[04:54] people going to be showing up and ready

[04:55] to go into the stadium?

[04:57] I wouldn't be surprised if there's

[04:59] people already outside State Farm

[05:00] Stadium right now. I can't say that for

[05:02] sure because I'm in Salt Lake City right

[05:04] here with you still at the university

[05:06] covering uh students back to school. But

[05:08] but with something like this that has

[05:10] drawn such um emotional responses from

[05:15] people uh that want to pay their

[05:17] respects and honor the legacy of Charlie

[05:19] Kirk. I I would not be surprised if

[05:21] they're lining up right now. They're not

[05:22] going to get into State Farm Stadium

[05:24] until Sunday. Uh, but I expect several

[05:27] uh thousand people really to be outside

[05:30] waiting to get in. And again, I don't

[05:32] know the final number of how many people

[05:34] of the general population will be

[05:35] allowed in, but you know, at the very

[05:37] least, you're going to need uh to be

[05:40] there hours ahead if you want the

[05:42] opportunity to be inside there for that

[05:44] event. I

[05:44] >> I hadn't thought about that, Alex, but I

[05:46] it's it's not like you get a ticket for

[05:48] it. It's Is it first come, first served?

[05:50] and and we're also reading that there's

[05:53] a suggested dress code.

[05:56] >> Yep. That that's my understanding of it.

[05:58] First come, first serve. And uh I don't

[06:00] have uh much to report in terms of dress

[06:02] code at this time. Sorry.

[06:03] >> It's okay. We're seeing it's supposed to

[06:05] be Sunday best, red, white, or blue. Um

[06:07] but I we didn't realize you were here in

[06:09] Utah, so we're so sorry that you're out

[06:11] here for that, but you're down in our

[06:13] neck of the woods and you're covering my

[06:15] neck of the woods. You're covering the

[06:16] students going back to school. Let me

[06:17] just ask you h how have uh your

[06:20] responses been as you've asked students

[06:22] about that?

[06:24] >> Yeah, it it's really is heartbreaking.

[06:26] Um and candidly, I I I do a very good

[06:31] job of sort of um leaving my thoughts

[06:35] and opinions out of everything I do for

[06:37] my job. That's that's my professional

[06:39] code. But, you know, walking into this

[06:41] university, it's hard not to get choked

[06:43] up. Um, I can feel the sense of

[06:45] heaviness inside here when I look at the

[06:47] students faces that are standing outside

[06:50] the sort of gated fence that's

[06:52] protecting the area where Kirk was

[06:54] assassinated. You could see that this

[06:56] was a a heavy traumatic moment for so

[06:59] many of these students. I mean, keep in

[07:00] mind there were several thousand of them

[07:02] that were literally there watching the

[07:04] moment that the bullet shot through

[07:06] Kirk's neck. So, they are all dealing

[07:09] with just this heavy trauma. um to the

[07:12] university's credit, they are doing a

[07:14] great job in providing resources and

[07:16] outreach and opportunities for folks to

[07:19] talk about what they saw or if they just

[07:21] don't feel like talking about it, but

[07:22] feel like watching a movie, uh you know,

[07:25] I just walked past that a a classroom

[07:27] here on the university campus that's

[07:28] been designated with stuffed animals and

[07:31] a movie, an anime movie playing just so

[07:33] that way people can just decompress and

[07:35] and feel some level of comfort. Um, so

[07:38] most certainly it's it's a tough time

[07:40] right now at this university. Uh, but if

[07:42] I could take a look and and describe the

[07:44] students, I would say that they're

[07:46] rather resilient at this time. Um,

[07:48] somber and and really thoughtful about

[07:52] what happened, uh, but also working

[07:54] through it together.

[07:55] >> In our last minute, Alex, how would you

[07:56] describe that cordoned off area where

[07:59] the actual shooting took place?

[08:02] >> So, we saw some work here. I believe it

[08:04] was Monday afternoon. Uh it was the

[08:07] first time that the university was open

[08:10] to staff. They also opened it up to the

[08:11] media. Uh they gated off the

[08:14] amphitheater. And I'm not sure how

[08:16] familiar you are with Utah Valley

[08:17] University, but sort of in their main

[08:19] quad area, they have several tiers of

[08:22] grassy sort of seating areas, and that's

[08:25] where Charlie Kirk was having his his

[08:27] event. Um so they've gated that off. And

[08:30] in the actual section where his canopy

[08:33] was and where he was sitting, they had

[08:35] completely tore up the grass and the sod

[08:38] and instead were putting fresh pavers uh

[08:40] down. And it was a all day construction

[08:43] effort where we saw them lay these

[08:44] pavers down. And and the university told

[08:46] me that was just them sort of cleaning

[08:48] up the area and making it more

[08:50] presentable for when students return to

[08:53] to campus. Um, so now that all that

[08:56] construction is done, students are on

[08:57] campus. They are allowed to see this

[09:00] this quad. They're able to look at the

[09:01] amphitheater. Uh, they're able to see

[09:03] the new pavers that are on the ground.

[09:05] And also, they unfurled a pretty massive

[09:07] American flag directly above it. Uh,

[09:10] that sort of is been there since Monday.

[09:13] So, it really has become sort of a

[09:16] memorial of sorts. nothing long-term uh

[09:18] so to speak in terms of a statue or

[09:20] something to memorialize the the area,

[09:23] but it has been sort of deemed a sacred

[09:26] place at least in this moment for people

[09:28] to come reflect, observe it, pray,

[09:31] whatever that they need to do in order

[09:32] to process their grief.

[09:33] >> Thank you so much. We've been speaking

[09:35] with uh NewsNation's national

[09:37] correspondent, Alex Capriello.