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Hugo Soto-Martinez is Interviewed about Tensions Flaring in L.A.; Hegseth Testifying on Capitol Hill; Trump Comments on L.A. Decision; Storms Linger Over Northeast. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 10, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Aren't been -- haven't been met. And also, he did not acquiesce to this. So, that is something that's going to play out in court.

We'll see because, you know, we've seen this before with the federal government. And, you know, a judge will have to decide whether the -- President Trump has followed the law in activating these troops.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: That's right.

Evan, great reporting. Thank you so much to you, your team.

PEREZ: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: As always, I really appreciate it.

Let's go back to the ground in Los Angeles with Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, great. Thank you so much, Kate.

We are now joined by Hugo Soto-Martinez, a council member here in Los Angeles.

Thank you so much for being here with us, Mr. Martinez.

Just, first off, do you think the protesters, the small group of protesters who ended up vandalizing and destroying property, are helping the cause or playing right into the hands of President Trump and his administration?

HUGO SOTO-MARTINEZ, LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL: Well, you know, it's certainly taking us off our message because, you know, among all the different protests that are happening, something that is very clear is that we're fighting to keep families together. We're trying to uplift the stories of people who, you know, lost their parents when they went to work or children that were at school and I.C.E. agents visited them. That's the message that we're trying to get across.

And so, we want to continue to uplift that. Obviously, this becomes a -- a -- a distraction and as an excuse to try to federalize or have an overreach of our laws. So, we want to get back on message. We want to take a lot of the lessons we learned from the civil rights movement. Protest boldly. We can be confrontational, but we don't have to be violent. We can just make sure that we don't lose the message among all this anger that we're feeling.

SIDNER: You were born and raised in -- in south L.A. Your family immigrated here and worked as street vendors. A story that is very near and dear to a lot of people's hearts here in Los Angeles. How would you like to see federal immigration laws enforced?

SOTO-MARTINEZ: Well, I think that -- certainly not the way that this president is doing them now. You know, if -- if you live in Los Angeles, you understand that immigrants are part of the very fabric of our society. When you go to the doctor and receive health care, most of the people you interact with are immigrants. When you go and buy, you know, some street food, those are immigrants. For many of the folks that are able to afford nannies to take care of their kids, those are immigrants. We don't see them the same way that Donald Trump is seeing them.

But I think what we're seeing right now is just a complete unleashing of -- of his white nationalist agenda. But if I were in his position, I would value the -- what makes the city rich, what makes the country rich, what helps run the economy. Many of these folks are -- are working -- are hard-working, you know, people of the United States. So, I would not be treating them the same way. I would be welcoming -- welcome -- welcoming them to this country and having -- making sure that they have the ability to have the American dream, like many immigrants have had since the birth of this country.

SIDNER: I'm curious what your thoughts are on the fact that President Trump is sending in 700 Marines to the streets of L.A. to protect buildings, sending in -- going to be 4,000 troops from the National Guard here, some of whom are already standing here outside of the federal buildings here in downtown Los Angeles. What do you think this is doing for your city, or is it hurting the city?

SOTO-MARTINEZ: Yes, it is -- it is certainly not helping. You know, it's pretty unprecedented that we have a president turning the military on its own people. You know, in -- in most times we ask for the support, either from the city or the state, and the federal government has come in, in the past. I believe the last time it happened was during the civil unrest of 1992.

But this is not the same situation. We have not asked for support. We have asked -- we have not asked them to come in. And so what the president is doing is -- is adding gasoline to the fire. And so we are hoping that, you know, better senses come to him, although I won't be holding my breath.

But, you know, the way -- the way to achieve peace here is to let us do our job. We know how to handle when people are protesting, when they're upset. And so, you know, just -- if you want to help, just get out of the way and let us do what we need to do.

SIDNER: Well, we are seeing the street sweepers out. We are now closer than we have ever been able to get in the last few days to the federal detention center and to the federal court. So, clearly, some things have changed.

Thank you so much, council member Hugo Soto-Martinez, for your comments today and for taking the time to speak to us at a very busy time in your city. Really appreciate it.

Back to you guys.

BOLDUAN: Coming up still for us, from heavy rains to record heat, we are tracking some big storms that could be headed your way, you should know about.

And also, breaking news out of Austria.

[09:35:01]

Police say at least nine people were killed early today in a school shooting, including children. We have an update on this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will testify on Capitol Hill for the first time since he was confirmed as defense secretary. No doubt the deployment of Marines to Los Angeles will be a focus, but also his role in the signal-gate leak. Remember, he shared details of military operations before they took place. And he will also no doubt be asked about these general reports of dysfunction within the Pentagon.

Let's get right to CNN's Natasha Bertrand for the latest on this.

This could be some interesting testimony.

[09:40:02]

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, there are so many questions that lawmakers have for Secretary Hegseth, particularly because, as you've said, he hasn't actually testified under oath on the hill since his confirmation hearings back in January. And so much has happened since then. Of course, the most recent deployment of marines to Los Angeles and the activation of the National Guard, there is going to be top of mind for lawmakers as they're questioning him today.

And I should note that this is actually a budget hearing. But, of course, it's going to touch on so many different subjects.

But there's also going to be, you know, the first opportunity for lawmakers to question him under oath about signal-gate, in which he disclosed classified information about an ongoing military operation in Yemen in a Signal chat. And so they are going to have the opportunity to ask him why he did that, what he was thinking, what the consequences of that have been.

And, of course, there is a lot of, you know, unknown -- unknown answers as of now about all of the drama that was swirling around his office earlier in the spring when he fired three senior Pentagon officials, accusing them of leaking. Of course the episode where he invited Elon Musk to the Pentagon for a classified China briefing without first telling the White House. Expect lots of questions about that as well.

And, of course, you know, the idea that he has fomented chaos and dysfunction at the Pentagon under his leadership. Something that the former Pentagon spokesman, John Ullyot, wrote in a very public op-ed earlier this spring, saying that the Pentagon had descended into chaos under Hegseth's leadership.

So, all of this is likely to come up today. But, of course, the most pressing topic is going to be the deployment of the U.S. military on U.S. soil to help confront these protests that we have been seeing in California. Secretary Hegseth has remained very defiant on that topic. He posted on X last night that the Marines are there to restore law and order and to protect federal personnel, as well as federal property.

And we should note that when we wrote a story last night previewing this -- these hearings that Secretary Hegseth is going to participate in, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, reiterated to us that the White House still has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth.

John.

BERMAN: It will be a busy morning full of questions.

Natasha Bertrand, at the Pentagon, thank you -- or in Washington, I should say, thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And on just that, we are standing by for another day of protests in Los Angeles against ICE enforcement raids that have been playing out there as President Trump is escalating his feud with California's leaders, even more by sending in more military. Seven hundred Marines now called up, activated thousands more National Guards -- National Guardsmen have been activated as well.

This morning, the president is also taking to social media for the first time today to talk about it, defending his decision, saying that L.A. would be burning to the ground if he did not send in the National Guard.

Joining us right now is CNN's senior political commentator Ana Navarro, and Christine Quinn, the executive committee chair of the New York State Democratic Committee.

There are real policy issues that are being -- that are at the center of this, and there is a whole lot of politics that is playing out. Look no further than the president very clearly wanting credit for what he has done. To read it further, his -- his social media this morning, "if I didn't send in troops to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great city would be burning to the ground right now."

And to add -- just to add a little bit more to this wanting credit, a spokesperson for DHS was just on with John Berman and said this.

I'll read it to you. She said, "I think that things have calmed slightly overnight, John, because of the leadership of President Trump. That's real leadership to actually put more resources on the ground to make sure that things don't spiral further out of control and no lives are lost."

Why does credit matter here so much? Does it?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, if it's Donald Trump, does credit matter?

BOLDUAN: Right.

NAVARRO: Is that really a question? He always wants credit.

But also, look, what -- I think that when dealing with Donald Trump you've got to always remember two things. One, he is a distractor in chief. And while we are talking about this, we are not seeing the very compelling, heartbreaking stories of immigrant children being zip-tied like hogs. We're not seeing the mothers and fathers that are being torn away from families. We are not seeing the things that are breaking America's hearts when they see those stories. We're not talking about the big, beautiful bill that's going to leave 11 million people without health care. We're not talking about the disaster between Ukraine and Russia. We're not talking about the yo mama is so ugly contest between Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Instead, we are focused on this one way escalation, manufactured crisis. This wag the dog situation that Donald Trump has created in L.A.

[09:45:00]

So, he's always a distractor and he's always a TV producer. And here he's doing both things, producing a crisis to distract us from the very real things that are happening in America.

BOLDUAN: Say that those elements are absolutely at play. Also at play, though, this is just like chapter I don't know what between Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump.

NAVARRO: Right.

BOLDUAN: And Gavin Newsom seeming ready for that fight and ready to do interviews and to get out there almost as if both seem to see political benefit in taking the stance that they are -- they -- they are taking. Do -- do you think that Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump, which one benefits from this very real problem that needs to be dealt with, but clearly there's so much politics wrapped up in this.

CHRISTINE QUINN, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, WIN: You know, at the end of the day, I honestly don't know if either of them benefit from this, because Americans don't like to turn on the TV and seeing major leaders fighting with each other.

BOLDUAN: Right. QUINN: Although, that's all we seem to see with President Trump. It doesn't give people confidence. People understand there's protests. People understand that there are deep and appropriate emotions in response to these horrible I.C.E. raids, but they want to know that things are under control. And having the president threaten to arrest a sitting, duly elected governor, you have to respond if you're Gavin Newsom. That is just gone too far.

And also, let's not forget that calling out the National Guard without the request of a governor, without there being extreme situations which L.A. does not rise to as defined in the Constitution, is unconstitutional. And that's getting lost in this.

And the president himself, five years ago, said he couldn't call out the National Guard unless he had a gubernatorial request. And now, as Anna said, he doesn't want us talking about all the terrible things that are going to happen to Medicaid and poor people and sick people. And he wants us to focus on how he saved Los Angeles.

Look, there are serious protests and people are acting, some, a few number, in a violent way, and that is unacceptable. But Los Angeles, writ large, is not burning to the ground. And Americans need to know that.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. That -- that -- that is 100 percent accurate what you're saying right there,

And it is also just pretty wild because you -- you see -- you see this -- the social media tweet. You hear what the DHS spokesperson said. And then you also have a Republican-leaning member of the -- of the -- of the county government in L.A. saying, like, LAPD's got it under control. Like literally just said it. And the chief -- the -- the chief of police also saying that having the National Guard coming in --

QUINN: Right.

BOLDUAN: Having more federal troops coming in, that is cause for confusion. It risks confusion on the ground. It's not like they're being really quiet about, we've got this at this point.

NAVARRO: This is why, you know, this is why the fact that he's now got this cabinet of unqualified, inexperienced, sycophants, right? Instead of having a -- a -- a Mattis, like he had in the first term, a General Mattis in charge of DOD, he's got Hegseth.

QUINN: Right.

NAVARRO: Instead of having John Kelly in charge of DHS, he's got Kristi Noem.

And so, these people, you know, these sycophants that he has put there, for no other reason than that they are loyal to him and they say yes to any hairbrained idea that crosses his mind, are doing what he wants. Are actually putting into effect these things. Whereas before there were adults in the cabinet who would have stopped him and said, no, it's crazy to send I.C.E. agents to the vicinities of schools to scare schoolchildren. It's crazy to send Marines to protests where there's a couple of dozen protesters and that are getting smaller by the day.

BOLDUAN: Right.

NAVARRO: But this time, you know, yes, sir, tell me how many. Seven hundred. OK, you want more now? Let's -- send more.

BOLDUAN: But who -- but even -- who's going to be the -- where is the adult going to be in how this is actually going to -- the temperature is going to come down. I think organically it seems that it may be. Let's hope today that that temperature is coming down, but it's not clear.

QUINN: Right.

BOLDUAN: Because it does seem that people are -- a lot of the electeds are happy for -- are happy to get their -- their -- their say in on this.

QUINN: And the LAPD was doing a very good job last night. They were breaking the protesters into smaller groups.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

QUINN: It was, you know, winnowing down. And they're trained for that. The Marines are not trained to deal with protest distribution. It's not their job.

BOLDUAN: They are great at what they do.

QUINN: Right.

BOLDUAN: Let's see if it -- it doesn't need to be -- all be combined into one.

NAVARRO: Well, I guess at least those Marines are not going to be at the parade celebrating his birthday on Saturday.

BOLDUAN: We'll get into that. We've got plenty of days to discuss the parade coming up.

Thank you, guys.

John.

BERMAN: All right, severe storms could bring travel disruptions to many major airports in the northeast. If you have any travel plans, you're going to want to hear this.

And the American Civil Liberties Union slamming President Trump's decision to deploy the Marines and National Guard to Los Angeles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:54:23]

BERMAN: All right, this morning, potentially major travel disruptions to airports in the northeast. Also severe storms set to sweep across Texas. We're talking about damaging winds and the possibility of tornadoes.

Let's get right to CNN's Derek Van Dam, who is tracking all of this.

What are you seeing this morning, Derek?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, important information to pass along this morning. Philadelphia, Newark and LaGuardia all reporting ground stops at the moment as heavy rain starts to move in across the northeast. Here's a live look over the Hudson. There's Manhattan in the distance. And, yes, New York City shrouded in clouds. That is ahead of an approaching cell, which you'll see on the current radar right now.

[09:55:00]

So, activity really stretching along the eastern seaboard from the Delmarva right through New England. And we'll zoom into Philadelphia because the airport, located just to the southwest of the city, you can see this cluster of heavier rain, non-severe at the moment, moving through and impacting the airport there. That's why they have a ground stop. And then again, LaGuardia, that is about to receive some heavier precipitation as showers and thunderstorms move through the region.

Now, we do have severe warm storms approaching the Charleston area. So, we're heading into South Carolina now. You see that purple box. That is actually a tornado warning that's valid through 10:15 this morning. It's moving in a general northeasterly direction. No one has confirmed the tornado. Its radar indicated. But we want to keep a heads up if you're in and around Charleston.

Here's the chance of severe weather today along the eastern seaboard. Better chances, though, over west Texas. And the time frame really this morning through about the evening hours. And then we die things down across the northeast. And we focus our attention across the deep south as a round of showers and storms move through and bring a chance of flooding to central Texas as well.

So, heads up, LaGuardia, Philadelphia, and a few other airports across the northeast. Double check your flights.

BERMAN: All right, a few flashpoints. Keep your eyes on Derek Van Dam. Thank you very much for all that.

BOLDUAN: And thank you all so much for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" up next.

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