CBS News will broadcast a prime-time town hall with Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, on Dec. 13, the news outlet said on Thursday.
The special, which will focus on faith, grief, and the national conversation following Charlie Kirk’s killing in September, will air at 8 p.m. ET. The program will preempt the previously scheduled Family Film and TV Awards, which has been moved to the following week.
The event will be recorded in a New York studio and televised later. It will be moderated by Bari Weiss, the recently appointed editor-in-chief of CBS News, and audience members will include evangelical leaders, clergy, and figures from across the political landscape.
Weiss, who joined CBS News in October under the network’s new ownership structure, said she was deeply struck by Erika Kirk’s public expression of forgiveness in the aftermath of her husband’s death.
“Like so many people around the world, I will never forget the moment that Erika Kirk forgave her husband’s killer,” she said. “I am eager to speak to her—and thrilled to be doing so in front of a group of Americans who I know will elevate the conversation.”
Her move into television news leadership comes as CBS News undergoes a broader effort to expand the ideological range of its coverage. Weiss has described her mandate as restoring trust among viewers who feel underserved by partisan media environments.
Erika Kirk has become a prominent public figure since the Sept. 10 assassination of her husband, who founded Turning Point USA and was fatally shot while addressing students at Utah Valley University.
“If you really want to heal this country ... you’re going to have to do it by talking to each other,” she said, adding that open dialogue is central to the First Amendment and to the country’s civic health.
