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White House Deploys National Guard Troops Amid California Unrest; Kharkiv Reels From Russian Strikes; Colombian Presidential Candidate Shot; Gaza Aid Group Cancels Saturday Food Distribution. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 08, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:24]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Brian Abel.

As we begin this hour, all eyes are on the Los Angeles area, after a second consecutive day of protests against immigration detentions.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

ABEL: This was one of the scenes earlier Saturday in Paramount, a city in Los Angeles County. Late Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump deployed some 2,000 National Guard troops to the area, and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has threatened to send in active duty marines.

Demonstrators Saturday endured tear gas and flash bang grenades, just as they did during protests Friday in the city of Los Angeles. One demonstrator, who was hit by a rubber bullet, described what he experienced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISAAC SIOVA, PROTESTER HIT BY RUBBER BULLET: I was on top of an electrical box on the corner across from the agents, and the crowd was moving in, so they employed the crowd control tactics like the tear gas, and it was too close to me. So, I decided to get down and kick it away. And as soon as I kicked my second can, I got hit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: CNN correspondent Julia Vargas Jones has been on scene all day, and reports from downtown Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am in downtown Los Angeles, where protesters have been gathering outside the federal building that houses ICE and USCIS. It is also a detention center. They are saying release the 118 people that were arrested in ICE operations this week. They're saying there is no room for ICE in Los Angeles. And they just moments ago cheered, saying that the National Guard will not make a difference. They will continue to resist.

And we have been seeing some scenes of defiance, both here in downtown Los Angeles as well as in Paramount, California, where earlier on Saturday, ICE had a staging area and then clashed with protesters there. Deploying some tear gas in a scene that developed for hours and hours later across the highway in Compton, California. We saw a car set on fire by protesters holding a Mexican flag there. As they set that vehicle on fire, that's, again, about an hour south of where we are now and where we saw action today.

But last night, this was also a scene of protests. It seems that Los Angeles is responding to this. And that is being echoed by the officials here as well. The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, saying that she was angered by this, calling it a terror tactic. Governor Gavin Newsom saying that these were cruel operations that were taking place here in Los Angeles, and saying that bringing the National Guard would only fan the flames of these protests that are so far under control.

The LAPD issuing a statement later on Saturday saying that the protests in L.A. City were peaceful.

Now, President Donald Trump did speak about this on truth social. He posted saying that there were looters across town and that the National Guard was needed in order to bring back the order to this town. And these authorities here pushing back on that narrative, saying things are under control. Peaceful protests are taking place, but people have the right to protest.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Senior -- CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem joins us now live.

And, Juliette, we know in some other deployments that what we are seeing in L.A. may remind us of Ferguson. For example, when the sun went down, the situation deteriorated. Given your background, can you just give us some behind the scenes of what conversations may be like with this new federalized force about how they are preparing for any potential escalation?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. And just to be clear, this is an unprecedented use of what we call Title X. That is that appears to be what Donald Trump did tonight federalizing 2,000 California National Guard for -- it's a complex web of sort of types of deployments and types of titles.

But generally, the National Guard does report to the governor, Governor Newsom in this case, and Donald Trump invoked or authorized under Title X, what we call federalization. So why does that matter?

So in the United States and in democracy, there are protests. Most are peaceful, most are lawful. And we go on as a democracy. In this case, there were unlawful and in some instances not peaceful protests. Unlawful in the sense that you cannot, no matter what your opinions are about ICE, disrupt a federal law enforcement action.

[00:05:07]

No one -- so that's what's on the ground. What's at debate or concern today is the response, because you know, you want to respond to the threat level. California has dealt with this unrest and has said so because generally we allow local and state authorities to address civil protests and civil unrest.

But Donald Trump determined that what he was seeing would justify in his mind the federalization of these troops. This is unprecedented in the sense that you almost never and in my memory, I've been in this field. I oversaw a National Guard. I understand military, civilian operations, does a president federalize a National Guard in with a protest by governor for a situation on the ground that while unrestful is not to the level where you would want to deploy federalized troops, they report to the president of the United States now.

So, what kind of conversations are going on? What kind of training has happened? What kind of rules of engagement? What's the mission? What kind of weaponry will or will not be allowed given rules around the use of the military and civilian society, something called the Posse Comitatus Act. We haven't seen any of that. And so, we will wait overnight to see how real this is.

ABEL: Juliette, what is the difference here historically, from going from state control -- you know, the state troopers, the local troopers, county officials, to now National Guard control, regardless of if it's a National Guard, is controlled by the state or the president? What's the difference here? Are there more resources? More money?

KAYYEM: Yes. All of the above. Look, the National Guard is a is a strong asset. Let's just put it that way. For even for a governor to have. And that's why they exist under our Constitution, a governor can deploy the National Guard generally.

You know, examples would be after 911 to protect critical infrastructure, nuclear facilities, a major sporting event, an Olympics like the L.A. is hosting to allow, in a few years to allow for that or just to have stronger support in in times in which people are out on the streets protesting. That's normal.

And I know that may be odd to people, but our Constitution and our laws actually envision this, so we don't need to lose. We don't need to go to what I'm calling Defcon One, which is essentially now you've moved to a federalized military asset and, and as, as you reported, as Secretary Hegseth has said even active military that aren't even trained for this.

And I worry, as someone who's been in this field about sort of, you know, operational rules, weaponry in a civilian society, but also you worry about our troops not knowing what their rules of engagement are, and that's why we take this very serious -- this very seriously tonight, because it's unprecedented. To give a historical example you know, Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago,

the governor asked for the National Guard to be federalized so that the president, President Bush, could help hurt the state, which was and the city, which were essentially not functional, literally not functional. Courts weren't open. Police department barely existed.

We've seen it in the in the past when a governor has defied a court order, say, the Little Rock desegregation case. But not in an instance like this, and this is where the debate comes in, is looking at what's happening on the ground, is this the floor that that you actually want to or the situation that you actually think is, is justified, a president, let alone a secretary of defense, to threaten active military? I've been in this field a long time. My answer is no, just based on the -- just even based on some of the violence or some of the looting that you've seen, we know how to deal with this without going to this level of assertion by the federal government.

ABEL: All right. Juliette Kayyem, appreciate your expertise. Thank you.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

ABEL: Raul Reyes, attorney and immigration analyst, is now joining us from New York.

Raul, thank you for being with us again here.

I want to get your take. We have an idea that, you know, protests peaceful, protected under the First Amendment. But you cannot interfere with immigration enforcement. What qualifies for interfering with immigration enforcement? What's the definition there?

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RAUL REYES, ATTORNEY AND IMMIGRATION ANALYST: Well, generally, for the layperson's definition of interfering with federal immigration actions is pretty simple. If you -- if a bystander, for example, tries to get in between an immigration officer and a potential person who is being arrested, if they try to hold officers back, it is all right. It is legal to film operations, but you cannot be too close. Although that judgment is often left up to you know, immigration officers.

So, we see like it's a balancing of the right, First Amendment rights, with also -- with also the protections that federal officials have. What is very concerning to me in this situation, we have the president basically usurping the governor of California's authority, which is, in a sense, an expansion of executive power, because Governor Newsom has said he does not want the president to activate the National Guard for these incidents.

So I'm concerned that the chain of command is being muddied. Also in the sense, we've seen back and forth between Los Angeles sheriffs and police and the feds about the timing of their responses, who should be responsible for certain actions. And so, when you don't have clear cut leadership and line of command at the top, for me that creates a tremendous, I see it as creating a tremendous possibility for chaos, confusion, or once we bring in more armed officers, potentially even worse and more tragic outcomes on the ground.

ABEL: Juliette actually hinted on that a little bit when we were talking at the 10:00 hour. That that when you introduce more troops, more police, law enforcement, you introduce more instances and opportunities for clashes to happen. Given what we've seen in previous national deployments here like this, what are some of the situations that have unfolded from a legal standpoint that remind you of what you're seeing now?

REYES: Some of the situations, you know, I think back to in Los Angeles, back in the early 2000s when we saw in L.A. downtown tremendous immigrant rights protests and rally at that time in support of immigration reform, which was then on the table in congress and the LAPD responded with such force. And there were so many collateral events that it really became a citywide scandal. And I'm also thinking of more recently, we've seen, for example during Black Lives Matter and in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing, President Trump, reportedly had toyed with the idea of doing what seems to be happening in California, federalizing the National Guard, but he was talked out of it.

I also remember the situation where the president had had troops, had troops clear -- had the National Guard clear peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square, and that there was much outcry over that. What to me is particularly volatile in this situation in Los Angeles, you know, my hometown, L.A. is about 50 percent Latino, right? The city of Paramount is 80 percent Latino. One in 10 people in L.A. County are undocumented.

So, you have a community already on edge, already experiencing tremendous anxiety over this administration and the ramp up in immigration enforcement. And just for context, I think it's important to remember that these large-scale protests downtown and in Paramount did not happen until ICE agents began conducting arrests in courthouses when people were doing their immigration hearing check-ins and in other workplace raids. And these are the types of actions that are not going after serious, dangerous criminals or drug traffickers. They're targeting just everyday folks who have been here, most of them a long time, who are undocumented.

So, it doesn't surprise me that there's this pushback from the communities when they feel that their schools, their hospitals the courthouses are not safe and they're concerned about friends, family, loved ones who may be undocumented. And now this is now my sense, I'll tell you, this is just based on speaking with my relatives in Los Angeles.

My sense is that many of the people we see in the streets protesting, they are not actually undocumented, because I'll tell you, undocumented people live a very precarious life. They are -- they do their best to stay away from law enforcement. So, my sense is this is really a community movement stepping forth, just in anger and frustration at the pace and the intensity of these attempts at mass deportations and the ICE raids.

[00:15:07] ABEL: All right. Raul Reyes, we'll have to leave it there. Raul, thank you.

REYES: Thank you.

ABEL: And we will check some of the days other news when we come back, including Ukraine's second largest city taking fire from Russia twice in a single day.

Still ahead, the aftermath of deadly strikes on Kharkiv, which Ukraine's president says show Moscow's real goals.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ABEL: Ukraine's second largest city is trying to get back on its feet, following two waves of back to back strikes by Russia. Officials say Kharkiv was pounded by Russian glide bombs Saturday night, just hours after the city saw its worst attack since Moscow launched its full scale invasion. Five people were killed on Saturday and more than a dozen wounded. Witnesses described the chaos that broke out at as residential buildings were hit and people scrambled to get to safety.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the strikes pure terrorism and said that they show the Kremlin's real face.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): So no matter what anyone says, these Russian attacks are not retaliatory. They are intended for destruction, complete destruction of life. That is their goal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: And meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia are trading blame over a prisoner swap that failed to materialize. Moscow said it would have been the largest such exchange since the war began, and would have included both living POWs and the remains of dead soldiers.

[00:20:05]

Sebastian Shukla has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: A prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine has descended into a blame game and left the whole process in utter disarray. On Saturday, Russia accused Ukraine of failing to keep their word following agreements made in Istanbul on Monday over an arranged prisoner swap, the second between the two warring nations. The Russian ministry of defense, posting graphic videos and statements on telegram, said they had arrived at the location with 1,200 frozen bodies of Ukrainian soldiers in refrigerated trucks.

Videos from the exchange site, which are graphic, show the ministry of defense. Workers opening the doors of those trucks where white body bags are clearly visible. Where the ministry claimed that those are just the first bodies of Ukrainian servicemen, with thousands of others following behind.

ALEXANDER ZORIN, FIRST DEPUTY CHIEF OF INFORMATION, RUSSIAN ARMED FORCES; There are 1,212 bodies in the convoy. Three more echelons, each with 1,200 bodies and one motorized echelon, which will also carry 1,200 bodies, are being prepared for departure in the near future. The total number will exceed 6,000 people. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian side has not confirmed the exchange today. It has been postponed indefinitely.

SHUKLA: The Ukrainians, for their part, have responded to that accusation by saying the two had agreed to a swap, but that the date had yet to be agreed. Ukraine's coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war warned the Russians to stop playing dirty games and return to constructive work, but the fact it didn't happen and the trading of accusations may be the most telling of all efforts to bring a stop to the fighting showed no signs of being heeded, and over the last two nights, Ukraine has been pummeled by Russian attacks. The latest on the second largest city of Kharkiv, just 20 miles from the Russian border.

And overnight, the mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said that 40 explosions had rocked his city and left three people dead. And that was followed by fresh attacks on Saturday afternoon that appeared to have taken place, with at least one person dying after an attack on a children's playground. And those attacks come after a huge barrage. One of the largest of the war was launched across Ukraine with 400 drones and 40 missiles launched to all parts of the country.

These consecutive attacks seem to be the retaliation for the audacious and meticulously planned Ukrainian intelligence attack launched from deep inside Russia, that President Putin vowed to retaliate against. He even told President Trump, inasmuch in a phone call between the two men earlier this week.

What remains unclear, though, at the moment, is whether this prisoner swap will get back on track and whether president Putin has finished sending his response, or if more attacks may or should be expected, forcing innocent Ukrainians to run for shelter once again.

Sebastian Shukla, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: A Colombian presidential hopeful, Senator Miguel Uribe, was shot at a campaign event in Bogota on Saturday. He is reported to be in hospital in critical but stable condition. A suspected attacker has been arrested.

Uribe is 39 years old and a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Center Party. He was hosting the event in a public park in the capital when his party says armed individuals shot him in the back.

We are joined live now from Bogota by CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon.

Stefano, thank you for being with us.

Give us the latest on where things stand right now following this assassination attempt and what it could possibly mean for Colombia.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, Brian. Well, the latest is that Senator Uribe is still fighting for his life at a hospital here in Bogota, the hospital of the Fundacion Santa Fe, just about a couple of kilometers from where I'm standing.

The president of Colombia was on live television addressing the nation just minutes ago, saying that no effort is being spared and that the priority for today is to stabilize the situation and for Uribe to survive the night. We understand that the senator and presidential candidate is being -- is being treated by a neurosurgeon because he was he received a shot at his head.

This is clearly a dramatic moment in the history -- in the recent history of Colombia, the images that we received on Saturday afternoon are indeed quite graphic, as the attempted killer was able to reach very -- very, very close, frankly, to the senator and was able to shot him -- to shot at least eight bullets. And we understand from authorities that he hit the target at least twice.

The police have said that they have apprehended one minor, only 15 years old, Brian, as the attempted killer.

[00:25:01]

But looking at taking a step back and looking at what it means for Colombia -- well, this is indeed a return to an era that Colombia frankly hoped to leave behind. Its back an era when bullets, rather than ballots used to be the rule here in Colombian politics. Take a listen to what one analyst told me just hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGIO GUZMAN, POLITICAL RISK ANALYST, COLOMBIA RISK ANALYSIS: It had been a couple of decades since any Colombian presidential candidate had been assassinated on the campaign trail, and Miguel Uribe's assassination attempt today reveals that we are going back in time, significantly. The question now is how the different political factions react, the effect that this assassination attempt will have on the presidential race, and the tone with which the president and the ruling party take this further.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: The attack has drawn universal condemnation, Brian. The secretary of state of the United States, Marco Rubio, tweeted out his vicinity and closeness to the family of Miguel Uribe and called on the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, to unite the nation. We're still more than 15 months away, frankly, from the presidential election, which are due for the summer of 2026, but unfortunately, the campaign is now already tint with -- tinted with blood, Brian. ABEL: Stefano Pozzebon in Bogota for us -- Stefano, thank you.

President Trump is activating the National Guard because of immigration protests in Los Angeles. Protesters and authorities clashed Saturday for the second day in a row. But some say the president is going too far. We'll have an update, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:24]

ABEL: Welcome back. I'm Brian Abel.

Let's take a look at today's top stories.

Ukraine's president has condemned what he calls Russia's pure terrorism after the city of Kharkiv was hit by two waves of attacks on Saturday. Officials say at least five people were killed and more than a dozen injured. The strikes are seen as Moscow's retaliation for Ukraine's attacks on air bases deep inside Russia last weekend.

Colombian senator and prospective presidential candidate Miguel Uribe was shot at a campaign event in Bogota on Saturday. The 39-year-old Democratic Center Party member is reported to be in hospital in critical but stable condition. A suspected attacker has been arrested.

A controversial U.S.-backed aid group in Gaza says it's closed a distribution site multiple on Saturday, allegedly because of direct threats from Hamas. The group did not give details about those threats. A Hamas official told Reuters News Agency that he has no knowledge of such alleged threats.

President Donald Trump is deploying some 2,000 National Guard troops after a second day of protests against immigration detentions in the Los Angeles area. He's accusing state and local officials of failing to do their jobs. And Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth says active duty marines at Camp Pendleton are on high alert for deployment if violence continues. Californias governor called on protesters to avoid violence and warned that federal authorities want a, quote, spectacle.

This was the scene earlier Saturday in Los Angeles County. Demonstrators facing off with law enforcement in riot gear, and they endured tear gas and flash bang grenades just as they did during protests Friday in the city of Los Angeles. Officials said at least four people were arrested on Saturday.

CNN's Brian Stelter is joining us live now in.

And, Brian, the president gave this order not from the White House, but while in New Jersey. Give us the backdrop of this decision.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: That's right. I was in Newark earlier this evening. That's where the president is right now. He's cage side at a UFC fight. This is the popular mixed martial arts phenomenon. This is the second time he's been to a UFC fight since taking office again. He also attended one at Madison Square Garden last fall.

So, this is one of the president's favorite sports. It's a combat sport. It's, of course, all about fighting. It's incredibly violent, also incredibly popular.

It gets a lot of money for his friend Dana White, who runs the UFC. And the parallelism here. The symbolism is so striking. The president was at his golf club in Bedminster earlier today, maybe watching pictures of the very scattered, very isolated episodes of unrest around Los Angeles. And then on the way to this UFC match, we learn about this order for the National Guard.

So, you have him attending a fight on the East Coast while potentially stoking a fight on the West Coast and citing what he calls rioters and looters. Even though from all that we've seen, from the visual evidence, what has happened has been very sporadic.

You know, it is notable how Trump has been very present about this on social media this evening, posting on Truth Social, posting on X, literally interspersing images of him walking out of the UFC fight with his messaging about California. And so that's going to give even more grist to critics who say he is trying to stoke conflict, trying to cause actual fighting on the West Coast -- Brian.

ABEL: And, Brian, you mentioned social media there and the president being pretty active on it. What -- what is the response from other corners of social media to this new deployment?

STELTER: Well, that's -- yeah, there's two things that stand out to me. Number one, just the sheer volume, the number of social media videos. You know, we've seen this in recent years. It's only becoming more prominent that virtually everybody who shows up at these protests is holding a camera phone, is wanting to document it for himself or herself. And so were able to see it from every angle.

And that is helpful in multiple ways. You know, we have seen today FBI officials, for example, point to social media videos and say that they see isolated individuals throwing rocks at police cars, at border patrol cars. And, of course, FBI Director Kash Patel and others saying that those people will be found and will be held accountable.

So those videos are in some cases, helping law enforcement to track down what has happened on the ground.

[00:35:02]

Those videos also show that the vast majority of these actions have been peaceful, and that there are lots of folks just trying to be heard on the streets in and around L.A.

So, number one, the volume of the social media videos. Number two, it is notable how many California Democrats are trying to bring the temperature down, trying to bring the volume down tonight, whether that's California Governor Gavin Newsom saying, hey, they want a spectacle. Don't give them one or it's Congressman Ted Lieu saying this is purposely inflammatory by the Trump administration. You have California Attorney General Rob Bonta saying there is no actual emergency in California.

So, yes, there are those isolated video clips that are being cited by the FBI director and by other officials. But for the most part, you have California Democrats saying, hey, it's the Trump administration that's trying to be inflammatory here. Don't fall for it.

I know some other senators as well, Democratic Senator Brian Schatz calling this, quote, authoritarian madness, and again saying Trump wants the visual spectacle. He's going to want to see members of the military on the streets in L.A.

We do know the president, of course, a former reality show star. He thinks in terms of those visuals, he thinks in terms of the pictures that he can create. And, you know, you have to wonder about whether that's a factor in this particular situation. I would also call out the number of scholars, folks who have studied authoritarianism in other countries, people like Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of the book strongmen who says fake emergencies to justify crackdowns, has a long history around the world.

You have a number of scholars who believe this has echoes to undemocratic countries in other parts of the world. But like I said, for now, notable how California officials are using social media to try to lower the volume and cool temperatures right now, Brian.

ABEL: And hopefully, cooler heads will prevail.

Brian Stelter, appreciate your time. Thank you.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The man mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March is now back in the United States, but he's facing new criminal charges, including transporting thousands of undocumented people to the U.S.

Our Rafael Romo has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kilmar Abrego Garcia remains in federal custody after he appeared in court Friday night here at the federal courthouse in downtown Nashville. He will have his next court appearance next Friday for his arraignment and detention hearing.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday afternoon that Abrego Garcia has been indicted on two criminal counts in the middle district of Tennessee. According to the indictment unsealed Friday, Abrego Garcia and others are accused of being part of a conspiracy going as far back as 2016, in which they, quote, knowingly and unlawfully transported thousands of undocumented aliens who had no authorization to be present in the United States, and many of whom were MS-13 members and associates.

But Abrego Garcia and his family say he fled gang violence in El Salvador and have denied allegations he's associated with MS-13. This is part of what Attorney General Bondi said about the case when she announced Abrego Garcia had been returned to the United States. PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Our government presented El Salvador with

an arrest warrant and they agreed to return him to our country. Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring. They found this was his full-time job, not a contractor. He was a smuggler of humans and children and women.

ROMO: In March, when Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official told CNN he was sent there due to what the official called an administrative error. Multiple Trump administration officials have said it was not up to them, but the government of El Salvador to return him to the United States.

An attorney for Abrego Garcia told CNN how his legal team found out he was returned to the country.

SIMON SANDOVAL-MOSHENBERG, KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA'S ATTORNEY: We learned about it on TV just like the rest of the country. What's clear? This just makes crystal clear. What we've been saying, frankly, for the past two months is that they've been playing games with the court. Just goes to show that they've been more interested in dragging his name through the mud than in actually sort of going through with proper court proceedings, just like it's been since day one.

ROMO: In a new development Saturday afternoon, President Trump said it was not his decision to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States. The Department of Justice decided to do it that way, and that's fine, Trump said in a phone interview with NBC, adding that he expects it will be a very easy case for federal prosecutors.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Nashville.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: When we return, what a new CNN analysis of video, audio and ballistics evidence reveals about who fired the deadly shots last weekend near a food distribution site in Gaza that, according to the Palestinian health ministry and hospital officials, left at least 31 people dead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:43:41]

ABEL: A controversial U.S. backed aid group in Gaza says it closed its distribution sites on Saturday, allegedly because of direct threats from Hamas. The group did not give details about those threats. A Hamas official told Reuters News Agency that he has no knowledge of such alleged threats. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was contracted to deliver aid and food after an 11-week Israeli blockade of Gaza, but the group has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations for an alleged lack of neutrality.

The GHF halted operations on Wednesday, following three straight days of Palestinians coming under deadly gunfire on their way to a food distribution site. The group said it would take the day to focus on logistical work to better handle the massive number of Palestinians seeking food. Also, the foundation said, to give Israeli forces the opportunity to make preparations on the access routes to the centers.

The first shooting was last Sunday. Palestinian health ministry and hospital officials say it killed at least 31 people.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has new expert analysis of the sound, video and eyewitness accounts of what happened. First, a warning. What you are about to see is graphic.

Here's his exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Palestinians take cover as pulses of automatic gunfire, crackle overhead.

[00:45:03]

Others try and crawl to safety as explosions ring out.

For several hours on Sunday, this was the terrifying reality hungry Gazans faced as they tried to reach an American-backed humanitarian aid site in Southern Gaza, I can up.

We are bringing our food drenched in blood. We are dying to get food, Amin Khalifa (ph) says, amid a hail of gunfire.

The aftermath is grizzly. Bullet riddled bodies lie scattered on the beach as others emerge carrying sacks of aid these men died trying to get. Health officials and doctors report at least 31 were killed.

Seventeen eyewitnesses told CNN it was the Israeli military that opened fire on the crowd. A CNN analysis of video from the scene, audio of gunfire and ballistics evidence all point to the Israeli military.

In Gaza, more families made to mourn. They lure us in just to kill us there, this man says. What's happening is wrong. Wrong. Why? Why are they doing this? We go there just to get our daily bread and they kill us.

In the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, masses of Palestinians began trekking down Al-Rasheed Street, hoping to be among the first to reach the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation site in Tel Al-Sultan before limited aid supplies run dry.

But as they reach the Al-Alam roundabout, a hail of gunfire forces people to the ground. Eyewitnesses say much of the gunfire came from tank mounted machine guns.

We asked a forensic audio expert to analyze the gunfire in that video, and this analysis shows bursts of gunfire at a rate of 15 rounds per second. Weapons experts say that's consistent with the F.N. MAG, a machine gun used by the Israeli military and commonly mounted on Israeli tanks. Those experts say that rate of fire also appears to rule out weapons used commonly by Hamas.

And then you have bullets like this one, which doctors at Nasser Hospital pulled from the bodies of the dead and the wounded. Weapons experts also say this bullet is consistent with the F.N. MAG.

The Israeli military said they did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the aid site. But that statement is misleading. An Israeli military official acknowledged Israeli troops did fire toward people about one kilometer away from the aid site. The Al-Alam roundabout where people were killed is also about one kilometer away from the site.

This entire area with an Israeli military base right here is under Israeli control.

This post warns the Israeli military would be active in the area at the time of the shooting. It's from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates the aid site and closely coordinates with the IDF, alerting Palestinians that using the passage before 5:00 a.m. is prohibited. But they posted it at 4:00 a.m., as people were already being fired upon.

Eyewitnesses described volleys of Israeli military gunfire from snipers, tanks and drones beginning as early as 3:00 a.m. on Sunday. More were shot at 4:30 a.m. Others described being shot as late as 6:30 in the morning.

They were shooting directly at us everywhere, this man says, from the sea, from snipers and from all directions.

Four people were injured and one was immediately killed. I tried to stand up and escape or go back, but I was hit in my left side.

I've seen a lot of soldiers in this war. When they want to clear an area or warn you, they shoot around you. But yesterday, they were shooting to kill us.

At Nasser Hospital, fear and pain are still etched across the face of 13-year-old Yazid Musleh (ph), who was wounded by gunfire from a tank his father and brother say was stationed near the aid site.

I saw the tank from afar, Ihab says. He was standing, waving his hands to the tank. And within seconds, gunfire was directed at him and he was lying on the ground.

Two days later, despite the dangers, tens of thousands of Palestinians continued to stream towards that same aid site, a testament to the hunger and desperation, still gripping so many.

And once again, in the early hours of Tuesday, dozens were killed en route. This time the Israeli military acknowledging it fired warning shots, and then opened fire, claiming suspects advanced towards troops in a threatening manner.

The military said it was looking into reports of casualties.

It need look no further than this boy crying out over his mother's body, begging her to wake up.

[00:50:07]

Today, she went to get aid. She went to get aid to feed us, he cries, and this is what they do to us? The Americans said, come to the safe area to get your aid. Who should trust them?

As for Amin Khalifa, the man who documented Sunday's gunfire, his quest for survival ended abruptly on Tuesday. He was killed while trying to reach that aid site once again. He was 30 years old.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND (on camera): The Israeli military declined to answer questions related to our findings. But as recently as Tuesday, the Israeli military's top spokesman, General Effie Defrin, categorically denied that the Israeli military opened fire on Sunday, saying it, quote, simply didn't happen. But after a week during which more than 60 people were killed while trying to make it to that aid site, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation now says it is having conversations with the Israeli military to, quote, support civilian safety.

Among them, a spokesman tells me that they are asking the Israeli military to, quote, enhance force training, and refine internal IDF procedures.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

ABEL: We are covering breaking news in Los Angeles, where President Trump has activated the National Guard because of protests over immigration raids. An update is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:55:15]

ABEL: We are looking at live images here from Los Angeles. The White House has mobilized the National Guard after a second consecutive day of protests there against the ongoing immigration crackdown. Late Saturday, President Donald Trump took the unusual step of deploying some 2,000 National Guard troops to the area, a move criticized by the governor. And Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has threatened to send in active duty marines.

Demonstrators Saturday faced off with law enforcement in riot gear and endured tear gas and flash bang grenades, just as they did during protests over the migrant detentions on Friday.

Thank you for joining us. I'm Brian Abel in Atlanta.

We'll be right back with more of our breaking news right after this break.