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LAPD Declares All of Downtown L.A. an Unlawful Assembly Area; Trump's Sweeping New Travel Ban Takes Effect; Carlos Alcaraz Completes Epic Comeback at Roland-Garros. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 09, 2025 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. The breaking news, intense clashes between protesters and law enforcement in Los Angeles, an unlawful assembly has been declared in all of downtown. Dozens of arrests as President Trump deploys the National Guard. We're going to have the very latest from the ground.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And a new front in the president's immigration crackdown, a sweeping travel ban is now in effect, blocking or heavily restricting foreign nationals from 19 countries from entering the U.S.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And Israeli forces of season aid boat bound for Gaza, detaining several activists, including climate activist Greta Thunberg.

I'm Kate Bolduan with Sara Sidner and John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. And the breaking news this morning, all of downtown Los Angeles declared an unlawful assembly area as police and protesters clash in the streets after President Trump deployed National Guard to the city. This was the third night of protests following immigration raids all across the state.

Officials in riot gear could be seen firing flash bangs, and tear gas to disperse the crowds there. Police say at least 27 people were arrested on Sunday. Protesters said at least two self-driving cars on fire, and some of that activity spilled onto a major freeway.

Now, police say they are investigating reports of looting from business owners. About 300 National Guardsmen are on the ground after the president called them to protect federal personnel and property, and he did it over the objections of California's governor. This is the first time a president has deployed the National Guard without a state's request or consent in 60 years.

Let's get right to CNN's Julia Vargas Jones on the ground in Los Angeles this morning for the very latest on what you're seeing there now. Julia?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Yes, Los Angeles is soon going to wake up to reckon with just what happened over this weekend. We saw so much anger with crowds that said that they were angered over this overreach by the federal government. They said that that was the carrying out of these sweeping immigration raids across Los Angeles.

But that feeling of powerlessness and that anger that took so many people to the streets to protest peacefully also spilled into violent acts and acts of depredation, and showed some disturbing scenes that we've been seeing over the past few days.

I want to just stress to you just how quickly this all developed and how it all escalated. You know, this is not a protest movement that had been growing organically over the past few weeks or even days. These protests erupted after, on Friday, these immigration enforcement raid took place, and then escalated after the president announced the deployment of the National Guard.

The chief of Los Angeles Police Department, he talked about these two different kinds of protesters that they have been encountering, John.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JIM MCDONNELL, LOS ANGELES POLICE: When I look at the people who are out there doing the violence, that's not the people that we see during the day who are legitimately out there exercising their First Amendment rights, and to be able to express their feelings about the immigration enforcement issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Now, the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, called this intentional chaos. She says she blames the president for the escalation of tensions here in Los Angeles, and she says that the local police could very well have handled all of this on their own. Governor Gavin Newsom was echoing her sentiment as well, saying that the presence of the National Guard is only adding fuel to the fire and saying that now they plan to sue the federal government over the very legality of that act. John?

BERMAN: Yes. Again, a lot of developments overnight is 4:00 A.M. in the morning there. So, over the next several hours, as the sun comes up, we'll see what damage has been done, and if we face another day of this.

Julia Vargas Jones on the ground there, thank you for that update. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John.

The National Guard's mission for now is to protect federal property in Los Angeles, but President Trump is pushing to use them to crush the protest.

[07:05:00]

Overnight, he posted this. Jim McDonnell, the highly respected LAPD chief, just stated that the protesters are getting very much more aggressive and that he would have to reassess the situation. As it pertains to bringing in the troops, he should right now. Don't let these thugs get away with this.

Joining me now is CNN Senior National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem. I do want to give you what the LAPD chief actually said for his part, saying that the nature of these protests fit a pattern where the second and third days of protests generally do become more violent. He wrote, refute the idea that protestors were responding to the National Guard because, as he put it, there aren't enough to make a difference.

What are your concerns about how you're seeing this play out and how you're seeing this handled so far?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I. Well, I mean, I think the primary concern is the decision by the White House on Saturday to federalize under Title 10 the State National Guard based on no request, nor really an operational need at that stage. There is violence. There is unruliness that can be contained, maintained, and people arrested by local and/or state authorities.

There is nothing that rose to the level of the kind of -- because it wasn't even the deployment, the kind of language you saw from the White House, things like insurrection and chaos. That doesn't only add fuel to the fire. The deployment made everyone rightfully very nervous. 2,000 troops is a lot.

We now understand that they're protecting federal buildings. That's very different than what was being stated by the White House. And it just seems like Donald Trump is getting his narrative and his understanding of what his role is through television. He's not talking to anyone, the local authorities nor the state authorities really know what is going on.

You heard that from all of them, including a police chief. And that's nerve-wracking because you don't generally want to deploy a military asset into local and state law enforcement without a chain of command, without a mission statement, without rules of engagement.

SIDNER: Just out of curiosity from your standpoint, logistically, because there is a communication issue, because the governor doesn't want the National Guard there or hasn't agreed to call them up, as would be normal, and because the mayor is also saying we don't need to have this brought into the city, that basically we've got this with our local authorities, what happens logistically? How do they all work together on this and what are the problems that could ensue?

KAYYEM: Yes, well, there's not much history here. I mean, the best or the last example really was the L.A. riots, but the distinction, of course, was then Governor Davis and the Democratic mayor both wanted the federalized National Guard troops. Even in that instance, for those of us who know what happened, even in that instance, it was chaotic. There was a lack of communication. There were instances of near friendly fires, in other words, that law enforcement and military were engaged and really didn't have the communication. And that was when they were voluntary.

I think because of the National Guard right now is at federal buildings, that could have been done by state National Guard. But the president wanted to deploy that right now you're not seeing the need for that integration. But standing out there, I just want to say, because these threats are meaningful because people don't know how to respond as both Secretary Hegseth and a variety of people is really talking tough on air and on Twitter about deploying active military for circumstances that under no fair operational assessment would you say you need active military forces. That would be a very different beast and unprecedented. And so that kind of talk is unnerving to local and state police who are sort of like are the Marines about to show up and what do we do with them, or what's their mission.

SIDNER: Yes. I mean, those make really good points. And, look, you know, I've been in these protests before, and looking at the size of them, they do not compare to, for example, what happened in Minneapolis or other places where, eventually, the governors did bring in the National Guard.

Juliette Kayyem, it is always a pleasure to have you. Thank you for walking us through all that this morning. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Also the president's new travel ban on a dozen nations went into effect overnight with another seven countries facing new travel restrictions. Details on the impact, coming up next.

And also breaking overnight, Russia launches an unprecedented drone attack on Ukraine.

[07:10:00]

We have the details on the latest there.

And a runaway pet zebra was on the loose for more than a week finally now captured.

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BOLDUAN: New this morning, President Trump's sweeping new travel ban is now in effect. As of midnight, citizens from 12 countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East, are now barred from entering the United States. And people from seven other nations now face new travel restrictions.

[07:15:03]

So, what is the impact?

CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House tracking this one for us. And, Kevin, what are you hearing from the White House about this so far?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. This could potentially affect tens of thousands of foreign nationals from those countries on that map, which the White House says has deficient screening and vetting processes for their passports. They've also identified a number of these countries as having a high rate of visa overstay in the United States. There are an additional seven countries whose nationals could face some type of travel restriction when coming to the U.S.

Now, the State Department says that this ban would apply only to those who are outside of the U.S. and don't have a visa on the effective date, which is today. They say that visa applications would continue to be reviewed as appropriate, but that applicant would be rejected unless they met some of the criteria for the exceptions to this ban.

And there is quite a lengthy list of exceptions, including dual nationals, diplomats, coaches, and athletes who may be coming to the United States to participate in major sporting events, like the World Cup, like the L.A. Olympics. You also see exceptions for adoptions, special immigrant visas for Afghans who assisted the U.S. in the war effort and for certain people facing persecution in Iran.

Now, you'll remember the president originally announced this ban, framing it as necessary to protect the U.S. from terrorist attacks. He announced it after that anti-Semitic attack in Colorado last week. We should note that the perpetrator of that attack, the alleged perpetrator, has been identified as an Egyptian national. Egypt is not included on this list. Of course, this is all coming amid high tensions over the president's immigration enforcement agenda.

There are some important parallels, I think, to what's happening in L.A. Both of these represent, historically speaking, quite extreme actions that the president either attempted to take or tried or thought about taking during his first term in office. Both were stymied, either by aides who rein him in or by the courts. But when it comes to this travel ban, the administration clearly learning some lessons from the first time around, really trying to button up the justification and the rationale, legal experts say that that can make it more difficult to challenge in court. Kate?

BOLDUAN: That's a great point and very interesting making those parallels as you do so well. Kevin, thank you so much. It is really good to see you. John?

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, clashes between protesters and law enforcement's on the streets of downtown Los Angeles, we've got the very latest as this stretched into the early hours of the morning there.

And it is all tied up, the NBA finals. We have got all the highlights that took place well after you went to sleep last night.

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[07:20:00]

SIDNER: 5.5 hours, that's how long it took to seal one of the wildest comebacks in French Open history. Carlos Alcaraz took down world number one Jannik Sinner in a five-set thriller, the longest final ever played at Roland-Garros. CNN's Coy Wire joining me now. Holy smokes, wild.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Amazing, one of the greatest Grand Slam finals ever. Sara, this slug fest started when I ate breakfast. I took my daughters to the park. We swam in the pool there. We had lunch and the match was still going on. 5 hours, 29 minutes, second longest major all-time.

Sinner hadn't lost a single set all tournament. He won the first two sets against Alcaraz and had him down 40 love in the third. But Carlos says, don't call it a comeback. He fights to win that third set and he gestures to the crowd. You hear that?

Alcaraz would go on to win the fourth and a tie break. And in the fifth and final set also going to tie break, Carlos says, knock you out. He secures his historic comeback, first player in the open era to win the men's French Open final. After saving three match points, the now back to back champ snapping Sinner's 20-match win streak at Majors. He's now won his first five Grand Slam finals. No man's ever done that.

And Alcaraz wins his fifth major of his career at the exact same age as his idol. Rafael Nadal won his fifth to the day, both at exactly 22 years, 1 month and 3 days.

Here's Alcaraz after that epic marathon Roland-Garros thriller.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLOS ALCARAZ, WINS SECOND STRAIGHT FRENCH OPEN TITLE: Going point after point, and putting my heart into it, and, you know, give my whole energy into it. That's why I just -- I try not to give up. Just -- I mean, we were in a final of a Grand Slam. It was it wasn't time to be afraid. It wasn't time to give up. I just tried to fight until the last ball.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right. Game two, the NBA finals saw no Pacers come back this time. Oklahoma City storming their home court with the MVP leading the way. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander going off for 34 points. He had eight assists. That means, Sara, he is now tied with LeBron James and Michael Jordan for most 30-point, 5-assist games in a single postseason. 11 of them, that's pretty good. 123-1 0 7 was the final. It ties this series at one and this series now goes to Indiana for game three on Wednesday.

I hope you had an awesome weekend, Sara, and you got to see Coco Gauff win as well, her second ever Grand Slam title.

[07:25:00]

Congrats to her, an awesome, awesome weekend of tennis.

SIDNER: Yes, I saw her laying on the court like this. I was like, oh, that looks nice, although I wouldn't want to play all those games. I did notice, Coy Wire, that you used at least three references to L.L. Cool J's raps. Don't think I didn't see that. I got you. Don't call it a comeback.

WIRE: I may not have put that in there specifically for you.

SIDNER: Maybe. Thank you so much, Coy Wire.

WIRE: You got it.

SIDNER: Hello, darling.

BOLDUAN: Hello, darling. Shall we continue?

SIDNER: I think we shall.

BOLDUAN: We shall or we shan't. We shall.

Breaking overnight, we're continuing to follow what's been happening and playing out in L.A. Chaos in Los Angeles after a third straight day of protest over the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Protesters clashing with police cars set on fire. Why the governor there says he now plans to sue the Trump administration.

Also breaking overnight, Israeli soldiers intercepting a gossip-bound aid ship, and detaining several activists on board, why Israel's portraying the voyage as a public relations stunt and what happens now to the aid and the activists.

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