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Sen. Padilla Forced to Ground, Removed After Asking Question at DHS Event. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 12, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHING BUREAU CHIEF AND POLITICAL DIRECTOR:... in that moment, because what is going to be seen is an image of a United States Senator being treated in --

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: He's taking questions, let's listen.

SEN. ALEX PADILLA (D-CA): There is a lot of anxiety, and a lot of people are beginning to make plans for what they may or may not do come this Saturday. I encourage everybody to please peacefully protest, just like I was calmly and peacefully listening in that press conference and preparing -- attempting to ask a question. No violence, no vandalism, please continue peacefully protesting, and that's all I will have to say today. Thank you very much.

KEILAR: David, back to what you were saying.

CHALIAN: And just listen to how many times, I think he said it in a statement and now a couple times, urging peaceful protests. Repeatedly using the word peaceful but urging people to get out and protest against these ICE enforcement actions that we're seeing on the streets of Los Angeles, and as our Priscilla Alvarez was reporting, we are soon to see beyond California.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And there's new polling, David, indicating that the country is pretty evenly split on the question of having these military, these federalized troops enter the area and participate in immigration enforcement.

CHALIAN: They are -- when you look at the overall, Boris, right? Like, yes, the country is pretty evenly split in opposition to President Trump's actions here with the National Guard and the Marines, and in support for it. But if you look at those critical independent voters when we, you know, that we look to as we observe American politics, because you would imagine where the partisans are, the independents are significantly more opposed than in favor of the president's actions here.

They are also, by a smaller margin, but still more independents are in support of the protests than are opposed to them. And I think that's a political warning sign for the administration.

On the other side, one of the other things that we learned in the polling today that I think is so interesting, and we saw this in the 24 election, guys, those voters that are tuned out, that don't really pay attention to news and aren't really focused on all the details the way we are, they're far more in support of what President Trump is doing on these enforcement actions.

Those that are dialed in and really focused on the developments, they tend to be more Democratic, independent, and they are far more in opposition to the president. And that is going to be a challenge for Democrats, which is why moments like this may be so politically valuable to them, because it maybe gets into the bloodstream in a way that even those tuned out are going to see a United States senator treated that way.

KEILAR: If we go back to what we're hearing from Secretary Noem, we have to remember she was a member of Congress. The Senate is a pretty small club. There's only 100 members.

You would kind of expect that a secretary of a department, especially one that is going to California, would know who the senators are from California, and he was yelling. By the way, he's Senator Alex Padilla. Are you surprised by how this kind of turned out?

He was like 10 feet from Secretary Noem.

CHALIAN: I am surprised that she didn't recognize him as a United States senator that you're saying, but our politics have also become so -- it's not just tribal out in the country. It is here in Washington, too, with officeholders. Those relationships across the aisle are few and far between these days, and that is not the way it used to be, but it is now, and they sort of keep to their own.

And again, I don't think any of that is an excuse for the way the law enforcement treated a totally non-threatening, non-dangerous sitting elected United States senator trying to make a political point, but I do think that that gets at the reality of our politics right now, which is that there's not a lot of interaction.

KEILAR: Yes, that's such a good point.

SANCHEZ: David, I don't want to invest too much in trying to dissect certain social media posts from President Trump because often he says things, and then we see different results, but the post today that caught my eye -- you know what I'm talking about.

CHALIAN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: He says our great farmers and people in the hotel and leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long-time workers away from them, and those jobs are almost impossible to replace, and at the end he says changes are coming.

I mean, should we interpret that to mean that there's going to be a softening?

CHALIAN: I don't know that we should interpret any action out of it, but I do think we can safely interpret somebody has gotten to him in his ear, and we've seen this. Some Republican members of Congress, especially like David Valadao, a true battleground district in California, was publicly making this point recently. We know other business owners are concerned that their labor force is going to be adversely impacted here.

[15:35:00]

And what you see President Trump doing there is all of a sudden, after sort of just black-and-white issue, mass deportation, grouping everyone together, it doesn't matter violent criminal or not, all of a sudden at least giving voice on public -- social media to the notion that perhaps some people who are here in an undocumented fashion should be treated differently than gang members and murderers and rapists.

It's the first time it seems that he's giving at least some public airing to the thinking through that this may be more nuanced than he presents it on a day-to-day basis. Again, it's Donald Trump. Whether or not that continues tomorrow or an hour from now remains to be seen, but it's certainly a noteworthy post.

KEILAR: Yes, really interesting. David, if you could stand by for us, we'd appreciate it.

And just in a sign of what is now this back-and-forth between DHS and Senator Alex Padilla, DHS out with a new video of the same incident involving Senator Padilla there.

Let's take a watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PADILLA: I'm Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the Secretary, because the fact of the matter is a half a dozen violent criminals that you're rotating on your -- hands off.

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: How many of our ICE agents have been doxed for doing their duty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: This, again, is video from DHS, and you hear him very clearly identify himself.

KEILAR: Even more clearly in this video.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I believe we have Stephanie Elam who was in the room when this happened. And Stephanie, what was your interpretation of how these law enforcement officials responded to him? It didn't seem like anyone actually listened when he was saying, I'm Senator Alex Padilla, I have a question.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As soon as he started talking, there were hands on him. It seemed almost immediate to me. I don't know that anyone was digesting the fact that this was a United States senator that was coming in to ask the question. Now, he did walk in after the press conference started. He did just start asking his question while the secretary was speaking. That is true. That is how that happened. And the immediate response was to wrestle him out. He just said here, as you heard, that he -- and I saw this -- he was pushed back out the door while he continued to try to ask his question.

And that is when afterwards he was taken to the ground and then handcuffed, not detained, not arrested. Right. But it did seem that it was very much he was taking the opportunity to have this interface with her in front of the media.

Obviously, we were there. We did know about that. But his point that he made here is that if this is how they treat a U.S. senator, how are they going to treat other people when they're going out for these DHS moves and these ICE raids, right? So that is a question that we heard.

At the same time, you heard very unforgiving conversation, as far as Noem was concerned, in her press conference about the fact that and as she said, quote, they're here to, quote, liberate the city and that we are not going away. So this was a bit of the friction here.

Now, afterwards, when the secretary did come outside, we were able to catch up with her. Producer Jason Kovarik was able to ask her a question and she did answer him about like -- she said, I wish he would have engaged differently with this, but I did have a conversation with him afterward.

Same thing he said here. They said that they -- she said that they swapped phone numbers and they would continue to communicate here. So it seemed to resolve more calmly than what it looked like at the time there.

But definitely it was very dramatic in the moment when all of a sudden you heard this booming voice coming in from the side, coming in from behind us. And as he was approaching her to see him forcibly pushed back by multiple hands and removed from the room.

KEILAR: Yes, and let's take a look. Apparently there is a new still picture of the senator -- if we can put that up.

This is where he was forced -- he said he'd been forced to the ground. We hadn't seen that in the video, but here we're seeing law enforcement having kind of pushed him to the ground, at least three of them. And he says that he was handcuffed.

This is tweeted by Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives. We are going to continue to follow this story. Obviously, a lot happening in Los Angeles with this interaction between Senator Alex Padilla and Secretary Kristi Noem.

And we will be right back with more news.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KEILAR: More reaction now from Capitol Hill after Senator Alex Padilla

was forcibly removed after attempting to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press briefing in Los Angeles.

Tense moments playing out moments ago here in Washington during a House oversight hearing. This is an exchange that just happened between Democrat Maxwell Frost and Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. MAXWELL ALEJANDRO FROST (D-FL): In handcuffs in his own --

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Reclaiming my time.

FROST: In handcuffs in his own --

GREENE: Oh, Oh, Democrats can't follow the rules, can't follow the rules, can't follow the subpoena.

FROST: We need to subpoena Kristi Noem. Will commit on the record --

GREENE: Thank you.

FROST: -- to subpoenaing Kristi Noem because a U.S. senator was just thrown to the ground and detained in his own --

GREENE: Democrats can't follow the rules --

FROST: Out of order.

GREENE: -- can't follow the law, can't follow the rules.

FROST: Shut up. Just shut up. No you don't -- no you're not going to tell me to shut up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju joins us now live on Capitol Hill. Manu, what other reaction are you hearing up there?

[15:45:00]

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This caused an immediate reaction on Capitol Hill and swift condemnation from Democrats who expressed their outrage. One Democratic senator after another going to the floor of the United States Senate to demand more answers, to demand an investigation.

Some, including Senator Adam Schiff, who is a fellow California Democratic senator, saying that Kristi Noem should resign her position. And some Republicans had concerns, more moderate Republican senators, saying, telling our colleagues, quote, it's horrible, it's shocking at every level.

That's what Senator Lisa Murkowski said. Senator Susan Collins of Maine called it a very disturbing incident.

But not all Republicans reacted the same way. Some of them were cautious in their initial reaction. Senator John Thune, the Republican majority leader, told our colleague Ted Barrett that he wanted to get the facts and find out exactly what happened before we make any comments on it.

John Borrasso, who's the Republican whip, the number two Republican, told our colleague Ali Main, said, quote, Padilla has a responsibility to his constituents to show up to work, not make a spectacle of himself.

And other Republicans also pointed the finger at Padilla, including Steve Scalise, who's the number two House Republican, who I just caught up with and I asked him about if he had any concerns about the way Padilla was treated. He didn't express any concerns about that. But then he criticized Padilla for being in California and not the United States Senate on a day that the Senate was voting.

We have yet to hear from the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, who is expected to talk to reporters here in just a matter of minutes. So we'll get a sense of his reaction to all of this. But Democrats are planning to confront the speaker himself.

Some members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which is a Democratic group here in the United States House, plans to confront the speaker about this. So no doubt about it, this has caused a lot of immediate reaction, not just in those hearings where you saw the fireworks, but on the floor of the Senate as well as in the hallways of the Capitol. We'll see ultimately what this leads to here.

And whether the speaker himself offers any concern about the incident or if he criticizes Padilla, as some of his Republican colleagues have done -- guys.

KEILAR: All right, really interesting. Manu Raju live for us on The Hill. And Kristi Noem taking to Fox just moments ago following this interaction with Alex Padilla coming into her press conference in Los Angeles.

Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: This man burst into a room, started advancing towards the podium, interrupting an opening statement, elevating his voice, shouting questions. People tried to stop him from interrupting the press conference. He refused and continued to lunge towards the podium. And that is when he was removed from the room.

So the way that he acted was completely inappropriate. It wasn't becoming a U.S. senator or a public official. And perhaps he wanted the scene.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: The video certainly contradicts the idea that Senator Padilla did not identify himself, attempt to identify himself at least several times. We're going to keep monitoring this story and bring you the latest as we get it. Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We are continuing to follow the breaking news into CNN. California Senator Alex Padilla forcibly removed from a press conference by HHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Of course, the backdrop of all of this are the ICE raids across the country that we've seen and the sometimes violent protest in response to those raids.

The backdrop of all of this comes as Democrats have been trying to refine their message not only on the issue of immigration, but also how they speak to men.

Joining us now is Michael Hirshhorn, founder and owner of Ish Entertainment. Michael just wrote a piece in The New York Times called "The Achingly Simple Lesson that Democrats Seem Determined Not to Learn," talking specifically about this issue of connecting with male voters.

Michael, I'm curious to get your reaction seeing what unfolded this afternoon as Democrats have been calling -- or Democratic voters, I should say, have been calling for lawmakers to be more aggressive in their response to the Trump administration's moves. Here you have a senator forcibly removed from a room while he was trying to make a political point. What did you make of that?

MICHAEL HIRSCHORN, FOUNDER AND OWNER, ISH ENTERTAINMENT: I mean, I would say if I'm the Democrats, I think this is a very good thing. I think part of the problem that I diagnosed in my piece is that the Democrats are kind of stuck in an old mode of communication. And most people aren't watching the news. Most people aren't reading newspapers.

It's just people -- it's really hard to break through and get anybody to care about anything. So you have to do things like what Senator Padilla did today. And I think it sort of forces a spotlight on this issue. And people can then make up their own mind. So I think, you know, if I'm the Democrats, more of this, please.

SANCHEZ: You also in the piece sort of shatter the idea that came up after the result of the last election that Democrats need a Joe Rogan of their own. You describe it as an attempt to sort of astroturf a Joe Rogan. I'm really curious about this.

What is it that you think Democrats would be losing if they attempted to go on a show like Joe Rogan's?

HIRSCHORN: I don't think they lose anything by going on a show like Joe Rogan's, right?

[15:55:00]

I think part of the broader Democratic problem is, A, they don't necessarily have the courage of their own convictions. And I think you saw Padilla today kind of change that narrative a little bit.

And two, they're kind of focused on policy and politics and process. And especially for like an audience like Joe Rogan's, they don't care about that stuff so much. So I think the Democrats need to learn how to speak like normal human beings. They need to learn how to be relatable.

And one of the things about podcasts like Rogan's, and there's now a whole new generation of younger male podcasts that are aimed at a younger male audience, it's really about relatability, authenticity, humor. They don't trust politicians in general on the left or right. So you need to go on there and show that you're a real person.

And you need to chop it up with them for like three hours. I don't know why these podcasts are all three hours long, but they're three hours long. And you get on there and you tell stories. You laugh at the jokes. They make fun of you. It's OK.

So I don't think they really lose anything by going on a Joe Rogan.

SANCHEZ: Yet -- and this ties to what we're watching unfold in California. We've seen Governor Gavin Newsom seem to attempt to try to do that and broaden his reach with an audience that probably isn't very supportive of his policies. When he interviewed, for example, Charlie Kirk and Alex Jones, he got a lot of blowback for that.

I wonder what you make of his approach.

HIRSCHORN: I mean, I don't love his approach. It feels a little bit like too smart for its own good. I think the thing about podcast world is it takes years to build up an audience and it takes years to build a connection with your audience.

And once you've built that connection with your audience, that connection is deep and people really will follow you anywhere. So I think Democrats first need to learn that language and go on the existing podcasts. My understanding is, you know, Rogan may not be open to left-leaning folks, but I know that a number of the other podcasts would be happy to have people on of different political persuasions.

I think one of the problems is these podcasts kind of started at a time when young men were pissed off by all the woke stuff. They felt like, you know, they were being taken for granted. They were being vilified.

The whole podcast movement of the last, I don't know, decade or so is a response to woke. And now that basically you catch a whiff of woke and Trump is getting you arrested means that that line of humor, that sensibility doesn't work so well anymore, or at least it's not as brave as it used to be. So they need a new thing. And I think Democrats need to get on those shows, speak to a massive audience that they have. That's just the first part, right? And listen to the podcast. Go talk to them.

SANCHEZ: Yes, unfortunately we don't have the three hours that some of these podcasts do, so I hope that you'll be quick with this final question. But you highlight Pete Buttigieg and Senator Bernie Sanders as Democrats who handled these sort of bro podcast space as well. There's a very fine line between attracting a new audience and alienating your current supporters.

How do you walk it?

HIRSCHORN: I think my message to kind of my lefty friends is kind of get over yourselves, understand that the world has changed, and it's time to really engage with that kind of vast middle of people that don't really know where they stand yet. And they need to hear from Democratic politicians.

SANCHEZ: Michael Hirschorn, thanks so much for sharing your point of view.

HIRSCHORN: Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

I do have to correct myself. We actually do have three hours on this show every afternoon. It's just that we like to cover a number of different things.

KEILAR: But not at the very end. That was at the end.

SANCHEZ: It's true. It's true. And what a number of things to cover, especially this scene where we saw a sitting senator forcibly rushed out of this room.

We're set to hear from House Speaker Mike Johnson about this. He's apparently going to gaggle with the press shortly.

KEILAR: Yes, and they have DOGE cuts that they're dealing with, so he may be talking about that as well. But you were watching what happened not long ago when Senator Alex Padilla interrupted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference in Los Angeles. And he identified himself as Senator Alex Padilla, Noem seeming to indicate afterward to cameras and then on Fox as well that he had not identified himself.

He does identify himself. Perhaps she could not identify him. That may be possible. But he is one of two obviously sitting senators there in California and a very prominent politician in the state. He was pulled out of the room, forced to the ground, handcuffed, not detained, not arrested.

[16:00:00]

SANCHEZ: Yes, important to point out, too, in her descriptions, she suggests that he's lunging for the podium. I'm not sure he got close to the podium just based on that angle of the footage.

Nevertheless, this obviously comes at a sensitive time not only for Southern California, but for the country as we are watching these protests unfold in city after city with more expected this weekend.

Obviously, a lot to cover. THE ARENA with Kasie Hunt is going to do just that in only a few seconds. Thanks for joining us this afternoon.

END