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Police Pull Aside Barricades, Move Into UCLA Protest Camp; Protester Arrests On UCLA Campus. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired May 02, 2024 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00]
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL SECURITY ANALYST: These are not -- these are human beings. They are students. They are peaceful protesters. And I hate to see this coming of escalation without the -- without the possibility of giving some of these students an off-ramp. Where are they supposed to go? Can they -- can they -- can they get out?
So I blame UCLA on this. I blame the thugs last night.
But as I've been saying the last couple of weeks, let's not lose our minds over the heat of the debate between Israel and the war, and just remember we know how to do this. Peaceful protests are part of our culture. They're part of university and college culture.
And my warning to the colleges and universities in the weeks ahead is this saying prepare to protect, prepare to de-escalate because this -- to me, this is a sign of failure. This is -- we're already at failure. And now, as I've been saying, as a mother of college students and a national security analyst, my only hope or my -- the -- what I'm judging now is can we -- can they de-escalate without any students getting harmed.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: If we could take the aerial shot for one moment now so that we --
KAYYEM: Yeah.
BERMAN: -- can describe to viewers what's happening here. OK, so our viewers can see a line of white helmets right there.
KAYYEM: Yeah.
BERMAN: I believe those are the protesters.
KAYYEM: Yeah.
BERMAN: Those are protesters. Directly in front of them a line of law enforcement. Directly behind them a line of media. An extraordinary three lines --
KAYYEM: Yeah.
BERMAN: -- right there. Media, law enforcement --
KAYYEM: Yeah.
BERMAN: -- and then this is a closeup of the white-helmeted protesters right there. Standing around behind the white-helmeted protesters are the tents -- the encampment. Again, if we're on the wide shot you can see that.
KAYYEM: Yeah.
BERMAN: You can see the tents there at the bottom there.
Juliette, if the goal -- and I would -- don't know what it is right now. I think you correctly say we don't know --
KAYYEM: Yeah.
BERMAN: -- is the goal to clear the encampment? Is the goal just to calm things down for a few hours? But if the goal was -- or were to clear out the encampment, how do you explain what law enforcement is doing right now? What do you think is happening at this moment?
KAYYEM: And so that's -- it's a great question. So it's 4:30 in the morning in Los Angeles and dark. So this already is stressful from a law enforcement perspective because people are tired. People are not themselves at 4:30 in the morning. And this does not strike me as a way to engage students for de-escalation.
And you have -- for all we know -- and this is now -- this is where I want to be careful. For all we know, it was status quo, right? Unless there was some sort of threat that the police got in which they felt sufficiently -- that it was sufficiently credible that they needed to come in like this. But this does not strike me as a -- as a moment in which anyone is sort of in a position to de-escalate.
And this is where I can't -- I keep saying -- I repeat myself. This is where communication is key. What does the LAPD -- what are they saying? What are they saying to the students? Where is academic leadership? Why are they just handing this over to police officers. Like, this is -- you know, this is not ideal from the perspective of the community that exists there and the community that has been peaceful for the last week until others came in to escalate it.
So, hopefully, we'll hear from, sort of, leadership that can communicate across these different stakeholders. But 4:30 in the morning does not strike me as -- you know, unless a threat came in, it looks like that the plan is get these -- some kind of police action, but we'll see.
BERMAN: Yeah.
Just to be clear, there was an alert that went out that said the University of California --
KAYYEM: Yeah. BERMAN: -- Los Angeles has declared the encampment and all unauthorized tents and structures at Dixon Plaza to be unlawful. The university requires that everyone must leave the encampment and adjacent areas, as well as the unauthorized structures and tents immediately until further notice.
So that was the alert that went out. As of right now, law enforcement doesn't seem to be enforcing that, although as we're looking at this right now -- again, you see the people in riot helmets.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah. It looks like they're more reinforcing. I don't know what --
BERMAN: Yeah. There are people moving --
KAYYEM: Yeah, yeah.
BERMAN: -- the barriers. Law enforcement there --
KAYYEM: So --
BERMAN: -- moving the barriers with guns pointed right there. And the people with the white helmets simultaneously trying to reinforce the encampments. A pretty tense situation.
[07:35:00]
KAYYEM: Right, yeah. And that alert, right -- so that has been a -- that has not been -- that has been consistent. In other words, they've been saying it's unlawful. So now what, right? In other words, is there a certain time in which people have to be gone? But what happens -- what are the consequences for this? I mean, to be clear about -- or is everyone about to get arrested? If everyone's about to get arrested, that seems like a very vulnerable situation not only for the protesters but for the police.
And since it has been peaceful, except for these out -- the people -- I want to be careful. The people claiming to represent pro-Israel interests -- since it has been peaceful -- 4:30, 5:00 in the morning -- what is triggering this in Los Angeles time --
BERMAN: Um-hum.
KAYYEM: -- in terms of the timing.
So give it time. In the daylight -- and it's not like anyone's not going to see this. We're here --
BERMAN: Right.
KAYYEM: -- right now. And figure out how to de-escalate. But --
BERMAN: All right, Juliette.
KAYYEM: Yeah. BERMAN: Stand by for a moment if you will.
BOLDUAN: Yeah, absolutely.
KAYYEM: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: We're going to continue watching these live pictures. We have a lot more coming in. And we're going to continue to watch at what the situation is playing out on the campus -- on UCLA's campus. Much more after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL)
[07:40:25]
BOLDUAN: We are following breaking news. We're going to show you these live pictures out of Los Angeles. We've been tracking all throughout the early morning protesters in a standoff with police in tactical gear in UCLA's campus from protesters we've seen arrested. And police have started to move in to begin dismantling the protest encampment that's been on that campus for a week now.
And this is one of so many campuses seeing similar protests engulf campus life, shutting down operations, in some cases.
And this is bringing new pressure also on the White House and on President Biden to respond to all of this.
CNN's Arlette Saenz is at the White House. Let's bring her in on this. Arlette, what is the White House saying about these protests now and these developments?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, President Biden has stayed relatively quiet relating to these protests unfolding across college campuses across the country. When it comes to these law enforcement actions to try to disrupt and quell some of these protests, the White House really has refrained from commenting on the specifics. They've yet to weigh in on these developments at UCLA overnight. And what they have said is that ultimately, these are decisions that are up to law enforcement, up to the college campuses and the leadership there to decide how to handle these protests.
But, really, what this two-week-long episode has shown is that President Biden is really trying to strike a very careful balancing act as you have seen this growing frustration over his handling of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The president last weighed in on these college protests on April 22, a time where he decried antisemitism but also said that there are people who do not understand the concerns of the Palestinians at this time.
For the most part, they have relied on written statements and comments from spokespeople here at the White House. What the White House has tried to do is acknowledge the right of Americans and these young people to protest peacefully while also saying there should not be -- BOLDUAN: I'm sorry, I'm just going to interrupt because we're going to go back to UCLA right now as there's -- as things are -- things are changing on the ground there.
Camila, what are you seeing and hearing?
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it appears that the CHP officers pushing into that encampment. Just moments ago, we did see them firing what appears to be rubber bullets -- so these non- lethal bullets.
We saw a group of officers going in through the side of the Royce Hall, which is the building directly next to this encampment. So it appears they're going through the building to come into the encampment. And then you are seeing that line being pushed further in as police officers try to move these protesters out.
You are also seeing people being detained -- people on the ground-- right now, as police officers put those zip ties and even handcuffs. I am seeing someone in handcuffs now. And then they're using those handcuffs to then put those zip ties around their wrists.
But again, these officers are now moving in. Just moments ago, we were still hearing those protesters be extremely defiant, using a loudspeaker to say that they were not moving. But the reality is that they cannot stop this line of police officers now moving closer and closer into that encampment.
And then you're seeing tents and just a lot of debris coming out as police officers essentially just shove everything out of the encampment.
Like you're seeing here, another person being walked out by an officer who was just detained. So little by little, you're seeing more and more people coming out detained. Over on this side, I'm going to show some images. I'm going to tell my photographer to move closer this way where you're seeing more people being walked out in those zip ties after being detained.
So, again, just really tense moments here as police continue to move into the area of the encampment. You know, there are still some that are defiant. It's the people who you are seeing with the white helmets. Some of them have yellow helmets. They have masks on. And they are trying to stick together.
You hear some of the protesters that are getting detained still screaming and still trying to get their point across. And yet, they are being taken away by police officers.
So take a look at the line over there. You are seeing protesters again trying to link arms, trying to create that barrier, but police officers continue to push in. At times, it sort of stalls and police officers sort of stop moving further. And then, all of a sudden, you see them charging through and moving these protesters and escorting more and more people out as they are being detained.
[07:40:18]
Again, just a very active scene. A lot of high tensions. A lot of high energy here. And you're still seeing the flashlights that are being used by those protesters to try to put the light on the police officers' faces to try to make it difficult for them. But again, there's just way too many police officers.
This is a scene that UCLA did not want to see but it is now at the point where these officers are moving closer into these protesters. We'll see how long this lasts but, of course, you're still seeing people more defiant and you're seeing just the line of officers as they continue to try to get stuff out of this encampment -- not just their belongings but also the protesters themselves being arrested and taken out, Sara.
BOLDUAN: Yeah. Guys -- control room, can you pull up the KABC aerial shot again because you can see where -- thanks, guys -- where -- what appears to have happened is we had a line of police kind of starting to move around what I'm going to describe as just like the square kind of area where the encampment and the tents were set up. And as they moved around to a different part of that encampment clearing people.
And now you see on the left side of your screen right on top of those steps -- that's where the police line is now building. And protesters have then moved their line of linked arms to stand in front of them. We've seen some more protesters being pulled out -- being pulled out by police, going into custody. And you can see very clearly police now moving in to disassemble, to take the tents down.
Let's watch this because they're now moving, it seems, further than we have seen as they're moving in to take these tents down one-by-one looking for people who are inside and taking them down, John.
BERMAN: Yeah. Before, what we saw was static police lines versus the protesters.
BOLDUAN: Look, they're moving right in now.
BERMAN: Now what you have is you have the police moving through and taking ground or retaking the ground --
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
BERMAN: -- from the protesters, including the dismantling of tents. I mean, clearly, this is the action now from the police after several minutes, if not an hour, of just a staring contest. Oh, you can just see right there.
BOLDUAN: It's unclear what's a firework --
BERMAN: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: -- or something else coming from the police, but you do hear those booms again.
We're going to keep an eye on this. We're going to get right back to it. We're going to get a quick break. We have, clearly, action as police stand off with protesters on UCLA's campus, and police now moving in. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL)
[07:52:26]
BERMAN: All right, live, breaking news. Let's get right to the pictures from UCLA so we can see what is happening at this moment. I'm just going to look at the pictures right now. These are aerial shots from KABC.
The white helmets are protesters, the blue around them law enforcement. Law enforcement is now moving into the encampment of protesters at UCLA. The ground that the protesters control -- it is getting smaller and smaller by the minute. Law enforcement is going into this encampment. They are removing the tents, and they are sort of taking the ground inch by inch -- constricting, I would say, around the area that the protesters control and the encampment.
Now, all the lights you see around them are media, by and large. There are some people watching as well. But the main group of protesters and demonstrators there were inside the middle of that encampment that we were looking at just moments ago.
We have some other shots as well from the ground where you can really see police right there face-to-face moving inch-by-inch into the encampment.
BOLDUAN: That's exactly right.
As we're watching this, let's bring back CNN senior national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem. Juliette, we've been watching -- John and I have kept this -- been able to keep the aerial shot up while we were in commercial break and you really saw this -- kind of the strategy and the tactic of the police. And John perfectly says it's the retaking this grassy area --
KAYYEM: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: -- inch-by-inch.
What do you see here?
KAYYEM: So this is the action, or the effort has now begun, which is basically, they're going to constrict the space that the students can stay in, and with that restriction will come arrests.
And so, I really want to focus on not sort of how we got there -- that's another debate for another time -- but the goal now or how --
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
KAYYEM: -- can we judge success at this stage and see whether this action can occur without any -- without two things happening. One is, of course, any interaction or hostile or violent interaction between police and the protesters that results as harm to one or the other, of course. And then secondly, is to keep outside -- outsiders away from this.
We know that UCLA -- that these peaceful protesters, as of last night, were attacked last night. So there's clearly a lot of tension in the crowd so you want to be able to disperse that.
So if you -- you know, if we talk in three hours or I'm likely to talk to someone on CNN in three hours -- if in the next couple of hours it's just a massive arrest or detention, or some sort of suspension -- schools do have academic punishment allowable -- this will be a good morning.
[07:55:11]
So this -- I was about to say I like what I see. I'm not saying that at all. I am --
BOLDUAN: Right.
KAYYEM: I am just basically saying if peaceful protesters are willing to get arrested, that's what protest is.
BOLDUAN: Right.
KAYYEM: I mean, we shouldn't be -- you know, I watch -- I'm watching and I'm sort of like we shouldn't be surprised. Like, protest is meant to -- in some instances if unlawful, end in arrest. And that would be an expected resolution. But right now, the cops are going slowly. Sunrise is relatively soon. We'll be able to see more.
And it looks like people -- this is look -- this looks like people are willing to get arrested and then -- and then the consequences will come. We'll see what the charges are. We'll see what happens after that.
But as I said earlier, this is -- this is a situation that -- as we've seen throughout these universities, these situations tend to get escalated when basic safety and security precautions by the -- by the institutions are not taken. They lose control of a building or not having access controls. They're not protecting or having as founding (PH) protesters.
And so, it's also a lesson for colleges and universities about what works. There's plenty of evidence out there of what's working at some of --
BERMAN: Right.
KAYYEM: -- these colleges and universities. And this is -- this is failure already.
BERMAN: All right, Juliette. Again, as we are seeing right now, law enforcement has moved into the encampment at UCLA. They are retaking this ground inch-by-inch. All that grassy area you see right now was under the control of the protesters 25 minutes ago. Now it is not. Our live breaking news coverage continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL)
