'We have to look in the mirror,' Erika Kirk says in town hall series

SALT LAKE CITY — Erika Kirk, the widow of assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk, sat down with CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss as the outlet's first guest in a new town hall series interviewing compelling figures.

The pre-recorded event aired Saturday night on CBS News' website and showcased topics surrounding political violence, conspiracy theories and bringing up children in the age of social media — all issues Kirk has been heavily put in the spotlight for, given the tragic nature of her husband's death and the reactions that followed.

Ahead of the release, Weiss sat down with "CBS Mornings" to discuss why she chose Kirk as her first guest, especially someone who is considered so polarizing. But that's a key reason Weiss said she chose her, labeling Turning Point USA as the "most important conservative organization in the country."

"Agree with it. Disagree with it, but Turning Point USA is a powerhouse of an organization, and it will have so much to say and influence over the direction of the right, especially after Trump," she said.

But the other reason Weiss wanted her was because of what Kirk became on Sept. 10 — a victim of political violence.

"Erika Kirk is a victim of what could be a very, very disturbing version of America," Weiss said. "Her husband was speaking on a college campus, whether you agreed with him or not, he was practicing the most fundamental of American rights. He was trying to persuade people with words, and then he got a bullet to his neck as he was speaking to someone that disagreed with him."

What turned the tragedy into further disturbance in Weiss' eyes is the reactions justifying the killing, not just by random fanatics online, but by prominent figures. Justifying Kirk's death "with the idea that words are violence rather than violence being violence, I think, signifies something quite alarming," she said.

In one of the clips, Kirk speaks to this concern of the town hall, Weiss asked Kirk what she would say to those people who celebrated her husband's death and praised the suspected killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.

Kirk's response was simple: "You're sick."

"You want to watch in high res(olution) the video of my husband being murdered, and laugh and say he deserves it," she said with tears in her eyes, "There's something very sick in your soul, and I pray that God saves you."

She said that kind of behavior is the result of the internet and its ability to "dehumanize us."

Since his death three months ago, Weiss told "CBS Mornings" that her other great concern is how social media has become an endless feed of conspiracies that have ensued.

"You talk to many seemingly sane people (and) they do not believe that the 22-year-old named Tyler Robinson, that has been arrested and charged with his murder is the actual murderer," Weiss said. "They believe any number of theories. They believe that Erika Kirk was his Mossad handler and that he was killed by a foreign government. They believe that she was tracked by Egyptian planes. They believe that the rings on her hand are signs of Illuminati. The theories themselves are absurd."

Weiss said Kirk speaks to this concern in the full interview. "Brain rot that social media is allowing to spread," Kirk said, "the way that it is detaching us from humanity, from our ability to talk to one another, and our ability to discern the truth from just out and out lies is something that is incredibly important."

It's the responsibility of everyone, she said, to deescalate the political tension, and specifically for parents, to protect their children.

"I will never agree with political violence. My husband is a victim of it. I'm a victim of it, but what I'm trying to say here is that we can blame everyone else," she said. Instead, "We have to look in the mirror."

"When you become a father, when you become a mother, how are you raising your kids? Are you taking responsibility, or are you giving them a device and saying, 'Go down that rabbit hole.' ... Do you want your kid to be a thought leader or an assassin? That's where we're at."

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