Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump's Military Parade; No Kings Protest; Manhunt In Minnesota; Air India Crash. Aired 11-12p ET

Aired June 14, 2025 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:02:55]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm John Berman live in New York. Multiple breaking news stories this hour.

In Washington, Trump, President Trump just presided in Washington. President Trump just presided over the Army's 250th birthday parade. At the same time, across the United States, thousands rallied at anti- Trump demonstrations.

In the Middle East, Israel and Iran are carrying out new strikes and we are getting new reports of fatalities. But we're going to begin in Minnesota where a manhunt is underway after two state lawmakers and their spouses were shot. Two people were killed there. Governor Tim Walz says, it looks like a politically motivated assassination.

The FBI released photos of the suspect, 57-year-old Vance Boelter. Authorities believe he may have been disguised as a police officer during the attacks. They're investigating the possibility he was wearing, you can see it right there, kind of a rubber mask during the attacks.

SWAT teams and officers from multiple agencies have been searching his property. The sheriff says he was not there at the time. Officials say the suspect targeted state Senator John Hoffman and his wife. They survived the shooting. They have now undergone surgery.

Melissa Hortman, who was a top Democrat in the Minnesota House, was killed in her home Saturday morning along with her husband. One of her colleagues spoke to CNN earlier, remembering the lawmaker as a friend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYDNEY JORDAN, MINNESOTA STATE HOUSE DEMOCRAT: Just an absolutely gut wrenching day for myself, for everyone in Minnesota. And to answer the question of what's going through your mind, it's almost like there's no words. It's no real way to think about this. It's just a devastating loss for those of us that knew her as our colleague, those of us who are lucky enough to counter as her friends, for her family and for every single Minnesotan whose life she undoubtedly made better. I sat next to Speaker Hortman this year. Most of my memories of her are actually on top of the speaker's dais. She did lead us through, you know, as our leader above our House floor, making sure that everyone in the House had their voices heard and weren't able to represent their constituents.

I think about her guidance when were struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, when she gave personal guidance to us as were (inaudible) from the murder of George Floyd, and the civil unrest that impacted my city of Minneapolis. What we've done when we had strong political debates. But sitting next to her, I think about my friend that was very funny. I think she had a very wry sense of humor and was a very direct person.

She could tell you very -- she was not someone who was going to candy coat what you needed to do. She was somebody who gave you that direct advice and told you what you needed to hear in that moment. Some of that guidance and that gentle but firm ideas that she would give people is the kind of leadership that is rare and is so needed. And it's an unspeakable loss.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: An unspeakable loss. With us now from Blaine, Minnesota, CNN's Whitney Wild. Whitney, what's the very latest on this manhunt on the investigation?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, law enforcement is working overtime to try to find Vance Boelter. Our CNN investigative team has done a really fantastic, in a short amount of time, done a really deep dive on him. And this is what our team has found out, John.

Boelter had worked as a director of security services for a company called Praetorian Guard Security Services. And this critical, John, because this company provides, "random armed patrols," which suggests that's how he got access to this uniform, that's how he got access perhaps to this car that he was driving that had police lights on it.

What we have learned is that, the firm was registered to Boelter's home address, enlisted a woman who is apparently his wife as the CEO. She has not responded to messages from CNN.

We've also known personally that he was in outstanding spoken Evangelical Christian who traveled all over the world to give sermons. He had traveled to Africa, John, to tell his faith story, and in at least one sermon had pointedly questioned American morals on sexual orientation. This is according to videos and social media posts that were reviewed by CNN.

Law enforcement is still trying to figure out the exact motivation for this attack. But as you heard Governor Walz say earlier today, they believe that this was a politically targeted attack.

[23:04:08]

This was a politically -- a political assassination, as Governor Walz called it. He had this list of 70 people that they believe he intended to target. Largely they were Democratic lawmakers, largely they were people who are associated with Planned Parenthood or the abortion rights movement.

The man who is coming to light now is very different from the man that many people believed that they knew. Here's one person who knew Vance Boelter well. Here's what he said, John.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CARLSON, SUSPECT'S FRIEND AND ROOMMATE: Maybe dead shortly. So I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn't gone this way. I don't want to say anything more and implicate you in any way because you guys don't know anything about this. But I love you guys and I'm sorry for all the trouble. This is Carlson.

He, I mean, he was a loving, caring guy, you know. Loved his family, loved his friends and loved God. And I don't know why he did the what he did. It's just -- it's not Vance. No one will believe this. No one that grew up -- he had lots of friends, trust me. I wish I could have been there to stop him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: John, law enforcement really wants people to take special care to remember what this man looks like, because so often in cases like this where there's a manhunt that is, you know, statewide, nationwide, it relies on the public to call in tips. We've seen that in many, many cases, those tips really work.

So they want, again, they want the general public to remember his face, remember what he's wearing. The last photo that law enforcement has was from earlier today, and he's in a cowboy hat in civilian clothing. Again, they've not said much about how they're tracking him, if they' able to track him in real time. But they're again, they're really relying on the public's help here.

And then, John, finally, what I think is so important is because people are probably listening to the story and wondering, well, how did he get inside the home? Did he just -- did he break in? Did he knock?

He looked so realistically like a police officer, John. I mean, one of the law enforcement officers who was briefing the media today said, if he was standing in this room, in a room full of cops, you would think he was a real cop. That is how realistic his clothing looked, that is how realistic his SUV looked.

And so, they believe that when he knocked on Senator John Hoffman's door. He answered in good faith, believing he was a police officer. And that is what is just so chilling, shaking people to the core here. You know, in some ways, John, because there's also this concern that it undermines law enforcement. And so, you know, a really horrifying case, a really chilling case.

And this moment, though, the top priority is finding Vance Boelter and bringing him into custody, John.

BERMAN: Yes. Look, he had a list of names along with him, so obviously a lot of concern about the safety of the people on that list and in the area in general. As you said, the manhunt very much continues. Whitney Wild live in Minnesota, thank you very much for your reporting.

So in Washington, DC, a huge military parade celebrating the Army's 250th birthday, Saturday, also coincidentally or not, happened to be President Trump's 79th birthday. And he spoke at the event a short time ago. Thousands of soldiers, dozens of military vehicles were part of the parade, which highlighted eras of army history going back to the Revolutionary War.

CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes was there and has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: On Saturday, President Donald Trump, delivering apolitical remarks when he celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Army, came over from the White House to stand by as a parade of really hours went by showing all of the military's hardware. We saw eras of different soldiers in uniform, from the Revolutionary War, World War II to modern day. The last thing we saw were robotic dogs and drones, all of that showcasing what the armies was best at or its best gear, and what the future really looked like.

Now, there were a lot of questions and really controversy around this parade in general, particularly given that it is falling on Donald Trump's 79th birthday. Now, the White House pushed back on that, saying there was always going to be a celebration for the Army's 250th anniversary, but were told by officials that this is a much larger scale.

President Trump has wanted a military parade of this scale since he was in office back in 2016. In 2017, he went to France. He saw a military parade there. And our reporting has that he told President Macron, president of France, that they were going top it in the United States. But during that first term of Donald Trump's, it never really came to fruition. There were generals and aides and staffers, all of whom really pushed back on this idea, saying that it would look too political.

[23:10:06]

But that itself gave lent credence to the fact that this was an opportunity for Donald Trump, the 250th anniversary of the Army, to actually go through with this parade. And what we saw, again, hours of the best of the military come by. And I talked to a number of veterans who emailed me saying that they were honored that Donald Trump was doing this.

Again, his remarks, there was a lot of looking and focus on those remarks that he gave because there were questions as to whether or not he was going to make it political. We've seen two recent speeches he gave at the graduation in West Point, both at Fort Bragg, where it became political, something that the army -- the military tries to stay out of.

They were cheering President Trump at times. They were booing President Joe Biden. But this was a focus on the Army as it should have been the anniversary. And I will mention one part here, because again, the pushback from the White House saying it just happened to fall his birthday.

There was a mention of Donald Trump's birthday at the very end of his speech. They came up to him, they sang Happy Birthday to him and presented him with a flag. But overall, the people we spoke to on the ground, the people who are watching at home, they said that they were in support of this kind of parade to honor the men and women who risked their lives. Kristen Holmes, CNN, Washington, DC

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Thanks to Kristen for that. We're looking at now is video from a short time ago from Portland, Oregon, where protests have turned violent. Police declared a riot there after protesters gathered near a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.

Police earlier declared the protest an unlawful assembly. They are warning protesters to leave the area or be subject to arrest or the use of force. You can obviously see the tension there in Portland.

Across the entire United States, there were thousands of demonstrations, almost entirely peaceful that took place over the course of the day. These demonstrators denounced what organizers describe as President Trump's authoritarian policies. Happened at thousands of locations, organizers emphasized they intended the demonstrations to be peaceful, and they largely were. It canceled planned protests in Minnesota for safety reasons after the assassination of the state representative there and her husband.

Now, in Los Angeles, the atmosphere was tense as well. Police used chemical irritants to try to clear areas as the nighttime curfew approached. Police say people have been throwing fireworks and bottles at officers. City officials say more than 20,000 people rallied in Los Angeles during the day.

CNN's Michael Yoshida has been out all day in Los Angeles, joins us live now as, I guess, the curfew just went into effect, Michael. What are you seeing?

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN REPORTER: Yes, it has, John. And at this point, we're continuing to move through Downtown Los Angeles, watching the Los Angeles Police Department continue their efforts to push some of the protesters that we saw turn more confrontational, turn more violent further away from city hall, from some of the federal buildings.

You can see this is something we've watched throughout the last few hours, LAPD lining up in the street. You can see some of their vehicles as well. They have their riot gear, other equipment with them at this point. And it's just been a slow, steady push.

They'll create their lines. They'll have law enforcement on all of the streets that intersect here. And then every so often, we'll hear them start to make a command. They'll push forward. If there are some protesters that remain, some of them we have seen taken into custody, apprehended. Others continue to just obviously move further away.

I will point out one thing. Obviously, we're in the downtown area. I just want to look up. You can see we're in the middle of all of these buildings. It was just a short time ago that we did actually have to stop and they moved media off to the side because we had some, whether they were protesters or just individuals who were living there, deciding to throw things down onto the streets.

So again, all day, all morning, early afternoon, we marched with all of those thousands. That was a very peaceful situation. It was in the afternoon when we started to see the mood change just a little bit with certain groups within the larger gathering.

And then it's probably been about two hours or so now that we've had some of those unlawful gathering orders been given by law enforcement, seen that them start using rubber bullets, tear gas, other less lethal options as they've interacted with some of these protesters. Some of the protesters picking up rocks, bricks, other items. We've seen fireworks several times tonight being thrown in the direction right near where these officers stand. So obviously you can see a heavy police presence here, very visible in Downtown LA.

[23:15:00]

That curfew now has gone into effect. That's been impacting us roughly about 1 square mile area in Downtown LA. I believe this is the fourth or fifth night now, all the days, John, starting to blur together. But if we look further down, again, it's just all law enforcement as far as we can see. And if were able to get further up and look to the side streets, you'd see other officers just kind of moving alongside us just a block over.

So obviously compared to earlier, much different scenes, but. But again, something we're continuing to watch and we'll update you as we see a change throughout the night, John.

BERMAN: Yes. The curfew now in effect, which means that people are on the streets there, people who shouldn't be there, they can get arrested very, very quickly. The situation very different than it was just 15 minutes ago. Michael Yoshida on the ground there in Los Angeles, thanks for all the work you've been doing. Appreciate it.

But a closer look now at the goals of the No Kings protest and organizers of one of the rallies will join us live. Iran and Israel increasing their missile strikes as damages and casualties mount.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:20:46]

BERMAN: All right. Happening now, Israel and Iran trading heavy fire for a third straight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Those are scenes from Northern Israel as a new wave of Iranian missiles started to come down. Officials say the latest barrage killed at least seven people, left more than 100 injured in Israel.

So that came on the heels of heavy Israeli strikes across Iran. You can see a huge fire at an oil depot in Tehran. Iranian military media says Israel also hit the country's Defense Ministry in the capital and the world's largest natural gas field in Southern Iran. US and Israeli sources are saying the Israeli operation is expected to take weeks, not days.

Meanwhile, a town in Central Israel took a devastating hit from an Iranian missile. Clarissa Ward went to the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If you look behind me, you can see the scale of the destruction of the impact of that missile. Now, according to authorities here, two people were killed, a man and a woman. The Israeli police also put out a photograph earlier that appeared to show a baby being rescued from the rubble.

Rescue workers were here all night long trying to get people out. There are a number of injuries. Some of them were people who were trapped inside. Some of them were people who were wounded by the debris. And if we just pan over here, and if you look at the street and the cars in particular all along this street, and many of the houses, too, you can see the extent of the damage that the blast that impact caused.

And, you know, it's worth underscoring for people who live under Israel's bombs, whether they be in Gaza or Lebanon, or Syria, they're used to seeing this kind of devastation. But for Israelis, they are not used to seeing devastation or damage on this scale in terms of firepower. And there's a lot of anxiety here about what happens next this continuing escalating conflict.

A lot of people have gathered here. If we pan around this way, you can see they're coming to take a look because as I said, this is something unusual. This is something unprecedented. Even further down, you can see people at the sort of cordon area craning their necks to get a look.

Now, Israel has said that it's slightly changed its alarm system now, that basically people will get the first alert on their phone. They've got 15 to 30 minutes to try to identify a shelter nearby. Then they will get another one about 10 minutes out. And then when they hear the sirens, they've got about 90 seconds to take cover.

So fewer people out on the streets, people we've spoken to certainly feeling anxious about further tit for tat between Israel and Iran as this entire region really stands on a knife edge. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: We're joined now by Behnam Ben Taleblu, Senior Director of the Iran Program at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. He joins us now from Washington. Thank you so much for your time, sir.

One more day of this increasingly intense exchange of missile fire, where is this headed next?

BEHNAM BEN TALEBLU, SENIOR DIRECTOR, IRAN PROGRAM AT THE FOUNDATION FOR THE DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Great to be with you. Yes, indeed, one more day, but yet one more history making day. The Islamic Republic is continuing to target and, in fact, widen its targeting civilian population centers.

There are some videos floating online right now that appear to show the Islamic Republic may be using its heaviest warheads ever. It's between one and two tons of against these population centers. Again, these are videos floating around on Israeli, Iranian and American social media.

[23:25:02]

Where the war is headed is that, even Israeli officials, allegedly, if you believe the latest report from the Wall Street Journal, are even considering escalating to even target the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei.

BERMAN: Obviously that would be an extraordinary escalation. Israel also saying this will take weeks, this operation. What is Israel, do you think, learning about Iran's current capabilities?

TALEBLU: Well, given that the conflict started by the Israelis already having a pretty good intel and operational map of how the Islamic Republic would respond in the event of the strategy, it does make sense that the regime is throwing all they can at the Israelis to get them to go off balance. And as much as this is a war of capabilities where the Israelis certainly have the technical edge and the military edge, it also will be a war of wills.

And in this instance, the Islamic Republic, by turning on and turning off the fire, is trying to break the will of the Israelis. You just saw in the previous segment the issue of the sirens at night, the home front command app. The Islamic Republic is literally normalizing this act of terror in a bid to break the confidence of the Israelis to keep their targeting campaign against regime sites and military facilities going.

BERMAN: So short of targeting the supreme leader, which you noted, there are some outlets suggesting that Israel would be willing to do that. If Israel were going to escalate its retaliation, I guess counter retaliation to what Iran is now doing, what could they do? Do you think Israel, we've heard Israeli leaders say they'd burn Tehran to the ground, or is that something you would think we would start to see in coming days? TALEBLU: Well, you are seeing targeting of critical infrastructure,

critical infrastructure needed to keep a war effort going as well as to keep essentially a government functioning. That I think is what the Israelis were considering when they went after oil storage and oil refineries and those depots, as well as, of course, the targeting of gas facilities in Iran's south.

The Iranians are also "responding in kind." They've allegedly targeted oil facilities in and around Haifa in Northern Israel. And both the fact that both countries are using high flying and fast flying projectiles, plus of course the targeting of energy, reminds at least Iranians were old enough to remember of the Iran-Iraq War where there was both again a missile war and an energy.

BERMAN: Sure. Any potential for off ramps? What would those off ramps even be?

TALEBLU: Well, the real X factor, both for an intensification of the fighting as well as for a significant off ramp there, I even say a deal, is the United States of America. The question is to what degree is diplomatically, militarily is the US willing to get involved? Does it see, for instance that the Israelis have had success against some nuclear sites, but not all? Does that mean America comes in and "finishes the job," or does that mean America comes in and gets both sides to deescalate, and then perhaps even turns that into leverage at the nuclear negotiating table to get previously what the Iranians would say were not up to their red lines?

BERMAN: We'll see what happens in the coming days. Behnam Ben Taleblu, thank you so much for your time. Have a great night.

TALEBLU: Thank you.

BERMAN: So thousands of protests these one in every US state. The protesters have been demanding an end to the Trump administration's crackdown on civil liberties and what they call authoritarian executive orders. The so-called No Kings protests ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:23:37]

BERMAN: All right. Happening now, police in Minnesota are searching for a man accused of impersonating an officer and shooting two state lawmakers along with their spouses, killing one of the couples, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband. They identified a man named Vance Boelter as the suspect and investigators have been searching his property.

As we said, Melissa Hortman, who was the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband were killed in their home. The governor, Tim Walz, is calling the attack a politically-motivated assassination. A state senator and his wife survived a second shooting.

It's been a day of protests across the United States. Earlier, Los Angeles police threw teargas canisters into crowds of protesters. Some protesters began throwing them back toward the officers. This was one of the few outbursts of violence around the country. These really mostly peaceful protests took place in all 50 states. Organizers say they were the strongest display of opposition to President Trump in this second term.

CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter joins me on this Saturday night in the US. Brian, you've been writing that you saw today as a test of free speech in the United States. How so and what were the results of that test?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Right. Every day lately has been a free speech stress test, as the First Amendment guarantees for free speech and free expression have been under pressure, in part due to the Trump administration, in part due to other factors. Well, today it was a huge show free speech rights. It was a huge test for free speech rights, and everybody passed the test.

Despite some of the rhetoric in recent days, President Trump's comment that demonstrators in DC will be met with a very large force. Some of the other pressure points that existed in recent days, despite all of that, this was a historic day of protest in the US. And there, as you said, almost no major clashes.

[23:35:07]

We saw a little bit of that on the West Coast, a couple of dust ups in cities, but those were very much the exception to the rule. The rule was both small in scale in lots of towns with groups of dozens gathered at street corners, even in a lot of red cities and towns. And then also very large in scale with a lot of thousands, a lot of events with thousands of people in various suburbs as well as cities.

A lot of signs saying refuse fascism. A lot of jokes on signs as well. This was very joyous in nature, even though it was in opposition to Trump and describing what they say are No Kings, calling for No Kings.

So it was almost like a left wing tea party today, John. Deeply patriotic in nature and clearly larger than what we saw two months ago. The last version of this was back in early April. That one also exceeded expectations. And so you see kind of a growing movement here in the US. Notably, despite all of the rhetoric in recent days, a successful day in terms of free speech rights.

BERMAN: You know, it's interesting you bring up a couple months ago. I was speaking to one of the organizers earlier, and I brought up the fact that in President Trump's first term, it was like the first day of his administration. The week of the inauguration, you saw some of the biggest protests.

During the second term, it's taken some time for, I think, some people who oppose President Trump to figure out how they want to do it and how to organize it. Why has it taken so long and where does it go from here?

STELTER: One of the differences is the R-word, retaliation or retribution, something that Trump promised on the campaign trail. As a result, some elements of fear, some concerns about a chilling effect. And that was a real issue, especially in January and February, as these liberal movement organizers try to figure out what the path forward was.

I think what we've seen now is that, some of Trump's threats, some of his attempts at intimidation have caused more people to turn out. And that may ultimately why today is important as a data point going forward, because these organizers can celebrate a victory today and say that they're organized -- they organized a peaceful event, that there were not confrontations with police, that people brought their trash home. And all of the sort of Chinese talking points that you'll hear on the right against these protests don't work very effectively at the end of this particular day, you know.

So that is a important part of the messaging going forward for these organizers. Furthermore, you know, you look at some of the other infringements against free speech, recently, arrests of Palestinian activists, campaigns against universities. It seems to me some of those efforts by the Trump administration have organized -- have caused some of these folks to turn out in greater numbers. And at least for one day, that's a notable sign for this protest movement, John.

BERMAN: Yes. Sometimes when you push back against the notion of some speech, what you get is more and louder speech. Brian Stelter, appreciate your work today. Thank you for staying up for this conversation. All right.

The No Kings protests brought thousands together as were just talking about. We'll hear more about what they were asking for. An organizer speaks to us just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:42:51]

BERMAN: The No Kings protesters across the United States say they were targeting what they call creeping authoritarianism. Thousands of people attended the demonstrations all across their country. Their goal, sort of a split screen view, contrasting their gatherings with the military parade in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The protests were meant to be friendly, inclusive and good natured. These are pictures from a demonstration in Jamestown in Western New York State. Justin Hubbard was the league organizer of that protest in Jamestown. He joins us live. How do you think it went?

JUSTIN HUBBARD, COORDINATOR, JAMESTOWN JUSTICE COALITION: John, thanks for having me. I think our protest went great today. We are a small town of under 30,000 located south of Buffalo in Western New York. And we had about 600 people out in the park today in the pouring rain to express their First Amendment rights and speak against these authoritarian policies of the Trump administration. BERMAN: So it's interesting because there were protests at different

sites all across the country. Some big, you know, we saw pictures from Philadelphia with tens of thousands of people on the streets. Why do you think it's important to also hold events in places like Jamestown?

HUBBARD: Because Jamestown is America, too. Small towns and rural towns and, you know, small communities, diverse communities all around the country are America, too. And these policies aren't just affecting the big cities like you see in LA and like you see in New York and Chicago, they're affecting our congressional district, New York 23rd, and they're affecting our small towns like Jamestown in Chautauqua County as well.

There are a number of policies that have a direct impact on impoverished cities like my hometown in Jamestown, as well as the surrounding communities. So we absolutely need to be in the streets and speaking out.

BERMAN: One of the words that you've used tonight and which we've heard from organizers around the country is authoritarianism. What do you mean and what specifically are you pushing back against?

[23:45:05]

HUBBARD: So by authoritarianism, we mean exactly that. This idea that we should have an expanded executive branch that has powers that are against the Constitution and against what the Founding Fathers initially intended. We're talking about 161 executive orders in just over 140 days, many of which have been ruled unconstitutional already.

See, these policies are not made just to be unconstitutional and to try to expand this power. They're actually anti-constitutional. They go directly against the intent of what this country is supposed to be. This administration is not only testing our constitutional boundaries, but purposefully breaking them. And doing it at such a rate where we honestly can't keep up.

And the only way that we can prevent this is through standing up and speaking out, and providing that direct pressure that only the people can do.

BERMAN: Has it taken some time to mobilize opposition during this second Trump administration?

HUBBARD: Absolutely. Because the despair and the sense of loss that came out of the last election was something was very hard for people to get over. When you see someone who had such a honestly disastrous first presidency, and then when you see him come back after being convicted on 34 felonies, after honestly trying an insurrection on January 6, it was extremely disheartening for people.

There were organizers like myself that, you know, the next day after the election, I woke up early. I woke up ready to go, knowing that eventually the people would be with me and would be with others in the streets because there was just so long that people would sit and take it. And now I think that we have a unified message. And now I think that our leaders are getting the idea of where we need to go and what we need to do.

BERMAN: Now that you have your sea legs, to use another term, what do you think is next?

HUBBARD: Well, one, in all major cities in the United States, I think we need to demand a moratorium on ICE raids. These raids are being done in an extremely disruptive and violent way. We are ripping families apart. We are taking people from their places of work. We have ICE raids that have detained legal citizens, legal residents of this country.

After that, I think we need the Democrats to really start pushing to prevent and disrupt this administration in any way possible. When we're talking about executive orders, like ending birthright citizenship, something that's guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, and you don't have as many of our leaders speaking out against it. That is a, honestly, I'm failing in morality.

We need our leaders to step up and do this. And honestly, the people need to be the ones sending out the message. Today was to stand up against authoritarianism, against, honestly, the fascist policies that we see the Trump administration doing to get the military out of our streets and to get the military to stop trying to police our citizens.

BERMAN: Of course. And it was held in contrast to the military parade in Washington, the 250th birthday of the US. Army. Justin Hubbard up in Jamestown, New York, thank you so much for your time. Thank you.

HUBBARD: Thank you very much, John.

BERMAN: And still to come, as the investigation into the Air India flight continues, why India is ordering inspections into their entire fleet of Boeing 787s. That's next.

[23:49:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Investigators in the Air India plane crash are focusing on the engines, flaps and landing gear with hopes of finding out why the plane went down moments after takeoff. The crash killed at least 290 people, leaving one sole survivor. CNN's Ben Hunt has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: It's painstaking work. A crane lifts the tail section of the crashed Air India passenger plane from a debris field in Ahmedabad, one piece of a puzzle that could help investigators determine why the London bound flight crashed into a residential area just seconds after takeoff, killing all but one of the 242 people on board and others on the ground.

The flight data recorder has been recovered, which could shed light on the plane's final moments. Investigators say they're looking into possible issues with engine thrust, flaps and the landing gear. And all of India's remaining Boeing 787s are undergoing urgent inspections.

RAM MOHAN NAIDU KINJARAPU, MINISTER OF CIVIL AVIATION OF INDIA: There are 34 in our Indian aircraft fleet today. I believe that eight have already been inspected and with immediate urgency. All of them are going to be done.

HUNTE: But some family members say it's an agonizing wait for answers, and are growing angry and frustrated over the time it's taking to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones.

RAFIK ABDUL AJEEZ MEMON, UNCLE OF VICTIM: There are two very young children among the crash victims and I want to know where they are. One of them is Ion (sp?). He is a London boy. How will we answer his grandmother? She lives in London. What will we tell her?

[23:55:09]

HUNTE: A hospital official says many of the bodies are badly burned. It's a slow, meticulous process to identify them, using DNA samples and dental records. But it's been a rapid recovery for the sole survivor of the crash.

RAJNISH PATEL, HEAD OF SURGERY, AHMADABAD CIVIL HOSPITAL: He's absolutely out of danger, absolutely stable. He can walk around. He's having his own normal routines.

HUNTE: Air India says it will give an interim payment of about $29,000 to each victim's family, many of which can't begin to grieve yet as they wait to bring their loved one home. Ben Hunte, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: I'm John Berman, thanks you so much for joining me. NEWSROOM with Brian Abel is up next. Stay with CNN.