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"No Kings" Protests Against Trump Underway Nationwide; Trump Rejects Tomahawk Missiles For Ukraine; Interview With Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D); Trump Commutes Prison Sentence Of Former Representative George Santos. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 18, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: More than 100 protesters gathered there yesterday to face off with police and federal officers. At least 15 people were arrested. A judge has ordered the head of ICE's Chicago field office to answer questions about whether his agency is violating rules on crowd control and the use of tear gas.

And Colombia's president is condemning what he calls an unacceptable attack outside the U.S. embassy in Bogota. Officials say four police officers were hurt when demonstrators used explosives, flares and arrows against security forces. The U.S. embassy is open but running with limited staff and warning Americans to avoid the area.

The next hour of the NEWSROOM starts right now.

Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right. Nationwide "No Kings" rallies protesting President Trump's policies. And all of these protests are unfolding right now across the country from coast to coast. More than 2500 demonstrations are taking place in all 50 states. Organizers say they're opposing what they call Trump's authoritarian agenda, including immigration raids and the push to deploy National Guard troops to American cities.

Today's rallies may become the largest organized protest since President Trump returned to office.

We've got team coverage across. Let's get started now in Chicago where we find Whitney Wild.

Whitney, bring us up to speed on what's happening there.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Tens of thousands of people are marching along the most iconic street in Chicago. This is Michigan Avenue. It is full of people who are here to make their voices heard, to take a moment to be what -- on what they say is the right side of history. They look at this like a moment that is incredibly important. This is a watershed moment. And they say that they want to be a part of it.

I spoke with a teacher from Chicago. She's a civics teacher, and she said she wants to give her students who are terrified by what they're seeing with the ICE actions throughout the city. The firsthand account of what it is like to be here and be part of a movement to say no to the Trump administration.

What is so striking when you're out here, Fredricka, is how many people, I mean, the mass of people here, again, we are talking about tens of thousands of people who are coming from all across the country. I spoke with one family who came from Nashville, who is here today to march. The other, you know, immediate thing you notice when you're out here, Fredricka, is all of these signs, the costumes people are making their messages heard above their heads with these homemade signs.

One sign here saying, do something, one sign here saying, resign now. Others saying, hands off Chicago. Others saying resist fascism. This is meant to be the loudest rebuke possible of the Trump administration's policies and actions, especially here in Chicago, where you said this has really become the epicenter of the Trump administration's ICE crackdown.

There are a very wide range of the types of people who are here, Fredricka. I spoke with one person. You will know him very well. He is actor John Cusack. He's from Chicago. Here's what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN CUSACK, ACTOR, "NO KINGS" PROTESTER: The whole country was founded on no kings.

WILD: This is your city. What do you see happening to your city right now?

CUSACK: Everyone knows the score, right? The authoritarians divide and conquer, and they create an other, and then they pick on it and then pick on the person and harass them, jail them. And that's all used as a distraction so they can steal as much as they can, maintain power. Right? We all know history. So that's what he's doing. And we have masked goons roaming the streets, hiding their faces, abducting people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: I also spoke with people who are from the neighborhoods who are most affected. One man from Little Village, and two other women whose parents are from Mexico. And they say their neighborhoods have changed. The streets are quiet, the vibrancy is gone as they are trying to move through this very terrifying moment where ICE is coming into their neighborhoods. But they say, and what I've heard from so many people here today is that you can do something.

And they say that it's moments like this, seeing how many different types of people here care about their personal experience, that is what gives them hope. I spoke with another man who said, in this moment it is hard not to feel hopeless, but it is rallies like this, it is marches like this, it is the camaraderie he feels here on the streets of Chicago that make him feel like there is hope -- Fredricka.

[15:05:10]

WHITFIELD: All right, Whitney Wild in Chicago, thank you so much. We'll check back with you.

All right. Off to Los Angeles we go now and that's where Julia Vargas Jones is.

What is the turnout there and what are people saying?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, it's been growing over here. But what I'm seeing a lot as people are arriving is more and more of these flags that I want to show you. Excuse me, Gilberto. Pardon, is like these flags, half American flags, half Mexican flags. Gracias. Pardon. Where, you know, people carrying these are saying that these have become a symbol of what it means to be against the crackdown of ICE here in Los Angeles which we've seen over the past few months.

You know, half the population of Los Angeles basically is Latino or Hispanic. These are people saying we feel targeted. This man, Roberto, he says he works in construction. He said, I feel like my people specifically are suffering, and I just want Donald Trump to be a regular president. I just want him to be a normal president and return to normalcy. I love this country.

We spoke to another man who said that that flag to him meant basically the embodiment of his mother, who was a Mexican immigrant who came to this country. And after taking the "Pledge of Allegiance," became the most American person that he knows he said. There's also a lot of music. There's some Portland imports, I'll say, here. We're starting to see some folks dressed up as unicorns. Let me see if I can find a unicorn for you.

Some turtles, minions, all sorts of still very fun and very lighthearted ways of calling attention to issues that people are very angry about. Main here, of course, it's Los Angeles, it is immigration. I'm counting several signs that say abolish ICE, ICE, "No Kings" Trump take over, but a lot of it has to do and it's very much pointed criticism of the president.

Now, the organizers here, Fred, are expecting, they say, 100,000 people to show up. I'll say the turnout is still very much a fraction of that number. It is still quite early here in Los Angeles. We should see this number grow bigger. And then to march, these people will march through the streets of Los Angeles for around two miles.

We have also seen, I will add, folks with some gas masks, helmets and shields saying that even though they're really hoping that they don't have to use that at any point today, they are ready. And that also they are very much upset about the militarization of several American cities. Democrat leading cities like Los Angeles, like Portland, and like Chicago, as Whitney I'm sure has mentioned.

And that's why they're getting ready, although it hasn't really been -- there hasn't really been a history of violent protests in the past few weeks here in Los Angeles. But they're saying at least we want to be ready in case there is a clash with police or other law enforcement later -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much there in Los Angeles.

All right. Let's go to the nation's capital now. Brian Todd is there in Washington, D.C.

What's happening?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, you're kind of looking at the after party of this rally here, a little side rally that sprang up spontaneously. These people are rallying in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue protesting against the President Trump's administration and some of his recent moves, and what we can tell you, though, is that this place was just packed just a short time ago.

The program of speakers ended just a short time ago, and there were tens of thousands of people here in this space constantly pressing forward with a lot of different outfits, signs and things like that. Part of the pageantry you can see right here. Look at the street art that this lady that's going to talk to me now. Look at this. She's been selling these signs and doing pretty good business here.

This is Monica Curca. She is an artist and activist.

Monica, all right, what motivated you to come out here and peddle your wares here and just be part of this rally?

MONICA CURCA, ARTIST AND ACTIVIST: Yes. Thanks. Yes. So we're a nonprofit called Activate Labs, and we work with social movements in the United States and around the world. And as we're seeing in Peru, Ecuador, Nepal, Myanmar, so many places rising up right now that the U.S. is also, you know, seeing rising authoritarianism and autocracy. And so the same way we respond in other countries, we see that this is something that's needed right now and nothing like narrative or art to kind of create that culture that gives people, you know, the feelings of what needs to change in the world.

TODD: What's bothering you the most about what the Trump administration is doing? Is it the ICE raids? Is it the deployment of the National Guard? The government shutdown? I mean, both sides blaming each other for that of course. What bothers you the most about what's going on right now?

CURCA: Yes. I mean, I think all of those are just symptoms of a bigger thing, that it's almost like an upside down world. The world, I mean, the system we have is collapsing, and we know that. Many of the young people know that and that right now we need to rebuild a new one.

[15:10:05]

And so I think the -- there's a quote by Antonio Gramsci that he was in prison in 1930s and he said, by Mussolini, he said, the old world is dying, the new world is being born. This is the time of monsters. And so what's bothering me is all the monsters that are coming up. Mass surveillance, autocracy, deportations, you know, fascist ways we're treating each other, how we treat immigrants, how -- I'm an immigrant and refugee myself from Romania. And so to me, these are just monsters that are coming out. I think what bothers me the most is that we need to realize and see

they're monsters. And so we're here understanding that the system is collapsing and we want to support those and help this movement see that this is something we need to fight for and that it's not -- this has to be a shift in our mindset in the way we see the world because the other side is naming it and really creating a narrative.

And we need to create a strong one about that, you know, I'm saying like love or perish. This is a quote by Howard Thurman that was the spiritual father of Civil Rights Movement, and he was mentoring Martin Luther King. And, you know, much harder times than we are having now. And his, you know, his idea was love or perish. That's it. So either love each other or we perish.

TODD: Thank you very much. Thanks for talking to us, Monica. Good luck with the art.

All right, guys, so that's kind of what a lot of spontaneous events like this and rallies like this kind of, you know, side events to this, to this rally.

Ezra Levin, he's one of the co-organizers of the "No Kings" rallies. He told CNN earlier this week that they have two goals in mind for these rallies. One is to burst the bubble of inevitability, he said. The idea that no one can challenge President Trump. Another goal he told CNN earlier this week is to use events like this to create more of a grassroots movement to do more events like this. He calls the Trump administration an authoritarian regime.

Now, Republicans, for their part, have said that people who come to these rallies are anti-American. They're America haters. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who works just a few feet from here on the capitol, he said that a lot of these people are pro-Hamas and antifa supporters. The organizers here deny that. So regarding the rally here in Washington, D.C., a lot of those kind of political themes on both sides circulating around these rallies -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Brian Todd, in the nation's capital, folks are pretty fired up, even though collectively in some of the major cities, the protests are wrapping up. But people still congregating, very much expressing their concerns and thoughts as it pertains to the Trump administration.

Brian Todd, Julia Vargas Jones and Whitney Wild, thanks to all of you. Appreciate it.

All right. We'll stay on top of this breaking news. More live coverage straight ahead. Plus, disgraced former congressman George Santos out of prison after President Trump commuted his sentence. Hear what the president says led to his decision.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:28]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. We continue to monitor all of the "No Kings" rallies taking place from

coast to coast across the country. That shot that's somewhat freezing there in Chicago outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower building. This has been a nonviolent protest across the country. But some 2500 different locations across the country have gotten quite the representation of people who are protesting against the Trump administration policies and agenda.

Also new today, Ukraine's hopes for new long range U.S. weapons are dimming after sources describe a tense and at times uncomfortable meeting between Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and President Trump. The two leaders met yesterday for several hours at the White House, with Trump making it clear Zelenskyy would not be receiving the Tomahawk missiles that he hoped he would be getting to counter Russian attacks. Trump now says peace is the priority.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They should stop the war immediately. You go by the battle line wherever it is. Otherwise it's too complicated. You'll never be able to figure it out. You stop at the battle line and both sides should go home. Go to their families, stop the killing. And that should be it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Betsy Klein is joining us now from Florida, where President Trump is spending the weekend.

Betsy, the president seemed to be open to the idea of giving Zelenskyy those weapons at first. Now seemingly has changed his mind. What are you learning?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, it's been a remarkable week for diplomacy in the Middle East. And President Trump is now trying to transfer some of that momentum to Russia's war in Ukraine, where peace has proven so elusive. But sources describing that meeting on Friday between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as tense and at times uncomfortable.

Zelenskyy pressing Trump, making a direct appeal for those long range Tomahawk weapons he says are so critical to his battle plans. But just to back up a little bit, this comes just over two months after President Trump met face to face with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Since that meeting, the president has become increasingly frustrated with Putin. He is very frustrated by the lack of progress in those peace negotiations so far.

And Putin, for his part, has been pushing boundaries in recent weeks as he has launched strikes in Ukraine.

[15:20:05]

And President Trump is now looking for ways to increase pressure on Russia. We've seen that as the U.S. has begun sharing additional intelligence with Ukraine about Russian energy infrastructure, as well as President Trump publicly and privately considering sending these Tomahawk long-range missiles to Ukraine. But that would be a major escalation. It is something that is of deep concern to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And President Trump ultimately telling Zelenskyy that for now the U.S. will not be providing Ukraine with those weapons. The president after that meeting pushing for a ceasefire along the current battle lines. Now, for some perspective, that would mean that Ukraine is ceding territory roughly the size of Pennsylvania to Russia. But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt hinting at some of the tension in that meeting yesterday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The United States of America is growing very weary and tired of this war. Enough is enough. Both sides need to recognize the reality on the ground right now and come to a peace agreement because President Trump's patience and the patience of the American people is growing very thin with this war. And so he was very frank and direct. But President Trump will never give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, looking ahead to next steps, President Trump says that he could be meeting within the next two weeks with Putin in Budapest, Hungary. He also suggested that Zelenskyy could be present for that meeting, but is unlikely to be meeting face to face with Putin. Trump says there's too much bad blood between those leaders -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Betsy Klein, thank you so much.

All right. We're staying on top of the thousands of people who have turned out for these anti-Trump protests underway right now in major cities. Live coverage with reporters across the nation straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:26:23]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back as we continue to watch massive protests against the Trump administration's agenda. All of these demonstrations underway right now. The so-called "No Kings" rallies are taking place in all 50 states. More than 2500 demonstrations are planned, and millions are expected to take part. It may become the largest organized protest since President Trump returned to office.

Let's go to Chicago right now where just moments ago we saw a number of demonstrators walking right past the Trump International Hotel and Tower. Our Whitney Wild is there in Chicago.

What's happening?

WILD: There are thousands of people who have made the turn. We're on Wacker now, and we are right outside Trump Tower. So if you can hear, I'll let you just listen to the crowd. You can make out what they're saying.

(CROWD BOOING)

WILD: Fredricka, if you can hear that, as people are marching past Trump Tower, they're giving the middle finger. They are shouting boo. They are shouting shame. This is, you know, as they make this turn, the place where they can vent their frustration they feel directly to the president as the letters of his last name adorn in huge letters right on one of the most iconic streets in Chicago. Again, we're right on Wacker.

There are tens of thousands of people here, Fredricka, and it's notable because there was a "No Kings" march in June, and it was not this big. This is enormous. And what is so striking when you come out here is how many different types of people are here. The real range of experiences. I've -- we've spoken with famous actors. We have spoken with people who grew up in Chicago. We've spoken with people who are from Nashville, whose adult children live here and who came to visit them and saw what was happening and decided that they needed to be a part of this.

One of the takeaways here, Fredricka, is that people look at a way to do something. When I ask them, why are you here? Why make the drive all the way down to the city on a Saturday to come out here, you're just one person? And they say you have to do something, and it is in the power of the individual they feel that sends the biggest message. And when I'm speaking with people here about what their message is to the Trump administration, they say obey the law, obey the Constitution.

Other people are saying that it's hard as it is right now for their communities. People whose parents are from Mexico, for example, told me that it is hard to not feel hopeless, but seeing how many different types of people are here, this is what gives them hope. It gives them hope to know that other people feel their pain and are willing to do something about it, but it does not end with, you know, immigration related issues, Fredricka.

People are here to say no to the Trump administration's policies surrounding women's rights, surrounding abortion. They are here to make their voices heard -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Whitney Wild there in Chicago, thanks so much.

All right. There have been protests in a number of cities across the country, including in Minneapolis. And joining me right now is the mayor of that city, Jacob Frey.

Mayor, great to see you. You've been out in the crowds today. What are protesters saying to you? What have been amongst their biggest concerns?

MAYOR JACOB FREY (D), MINNEAPOLIS: Well, loud and clear they are rejecting the Trump agenda. They are standing against hate. They are standing up for love. They're making sure that our neighbors are protected. And when I say neighbors, I'm saying everyone, whether you are documented or not, regardless of where you came from, what ethnicity or background you are, your religion, in Minneapolis, we love you.

[15:30:11]

We welcome you, and we stand against this very hateful Trump agenda.

WHITFIELD: So what opportunities do you think these rallies offer to either open the dialogue, you know, around immigration concerns, ICE enforcement? Is it influential at all to legislation or policies that this administration is pushing?

FREY: What these rallies are showing is that it's not just one background or ideology or perspective that are standing against Trump. You have a range of people from a thousand different backgrounds saying, hang on a second, like we care about our democracy. We care about our republic, and we love our neighbors. These are really simple and common truths that people have, regardless of their even partisan background at times.

And I think what you're seeing is a real moment in time right now. And, you know, Minneapolis, we are a city where we're going to stand up for one another. We're going to push back on a very hateful agenda. And by the way, we also stand up for our Constitution of the United States. When you see constitutional violations that are taking place left and right, when you see a president that is trying to take the National Guard and deploy them in cities, when you see people's due process being avoided, and people literally being ripped away from their families, that's a time when we all got to be speaking up.

We all got to be speaking with one accord. Here in Minneapolis and around the country, people are coming out in droves. I mean, I was at the Commons Park not too long ago, and it was thousands and thousands of people all rallying around a common cause. And that common cause is each other. That common cause is our republic because this is about a whole lot more than just ideology right now. This is about all of us.

WHITFIELD: And what would you like to see following these demonstrations today?

FREY: Well, I think there's a whole lot I would like to see. But what more and more needs to be happening is people from different political stripes need to be standing up for our republic. We need Republicans telling some of these MAGA supporters what they don't want to hear. We need people pushing back on this Donald Trump extremism. We also need to make sure that elected officials from local city councils to Congress to the White House, recognize that this country wants to make sure that we have a future together.

This country wants to stand up for free and fair elections. I can't even believe I'm saying some of this stuff out loud because this should be some of the most obvious stuff that is just baked into the fabric of who we are as American citizens.

WHITFIELD: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, glad you could be with us. Thank you so much. FREY: Thank you so much for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. Right now, hundreds of "No Kings" anti-Trump rallies are happening across the country. Our breaking news coverage continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:38:07]

WHITFIELD: All right. Live pictures of the Twin Cities right now where people have converged for the "No Kings" rally. They are taking place across the country from coast to coast. Some 2500 organized protests. People voicing their outrage against a range of Trump's policies and agenda.

We've got team coverage across the country, and we're reporting in with our reporters.

Former New York congressman George Santos is now a free man today. The disgraced Republican was released from a prison in New Jersey last night after receiving a commutation from President Trump. In a post on social media announcing the decision, Trump said he believes Santos's seven-year sentence was excessive, even suggesting Santos's politics played a role in this decision.

I want to bring in now former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani. He is also the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers.

Neama, good to see you. So what's your point of view on George Santos receiving 87 months for wire fraud, identity theft, serving only three months in the end in prison?

NEAMA RAHMANI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Fredricka, great seeing you, too. And the president is handing out presidential pardons and commutations like Halloween candy. And it just goes to show that flattery will get you everywhere. Santos wrote a letter to the president and his sentence was commuted shortly thereafter.

And let's be clear, this wasn't just about lying during an election. This is someone who defrauded the government and who defrauded the Republican Party as well to the tune of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

WHITFIELD: So what are the potential ramifications from this?

RAHMANI: Well, the president's pardon power is absolute, Fredricka.

[15:40:02]

So there's nothing that can be done about it. Obviously, we saw some criticism of President Joe Biden when he pardoned his son Hunter Biden. So these pardons are controversial. There's not much anyone can really do about it because it's just politics and it's not the law. And I wouldn't be surprised if the next big pardon is Sean "Diddy" Combs because I know his team is angling for one as well. WHITFIELD: Does it in any way undermine the judicial process?

RAHMANI: It's certainly a problem when you're a prosecutor. You spend months, sometimes years, working up a case in the investigative phase. You present it to the grand jury, then to a trial jury. You get your conviction, you go through sentencing. And in this particular case, Santos was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. And then, with a stroke of his pen, he's released from prison. So certainly demoralizing to the rank-and-file prosecutors who are handling these types of cases.

WHITFIELD: So Santos received a commutation, not a pardon from Trump. What are the distinctions here?

RAHMANI: So the distinction is that he is still a convicted felon, and he's going to have all the ramifications and consequences of that. So, for instance, probably can't own a weapon, for instance. But other than that he's going to be a free man. We may see one of his infamous cameo appearances any day now.

WHITFIELD: Could he run for office again?

RAHMANI: He could run for office. Now there's nothing preventing a felon from holding federal office. Obviously, the president himself has several felony convictions, 34 I believe. So aside from the, you know, gun ownership and other restrictions, potentially not being able to vote depending on the state, he can run for office again.

WHITFIELD: All right. I also want to talk about the president's former National Security adviser, John Bolton. This week, Bolton was indicted on 18 counts of mishandling classified information. Bolton has pleaded not guilty.

From what you know about this case, does the government have a solid case?

RAHMANI: I do, Fredricka, and a lot of people are critical of this indictment because, of course, Bolton is a vocal critic of the president. But this isn't U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan in the Eastern District of Virginia, who brought the case or the Letitia James case. This is Kelly Hayes in the district of Maryland. And Bolton's homes were raided in August. His home and his office in D.C., excuse me. And apparently had a lot of classified documents on an AOL e-mail server. And there were e-mails sent to two individuals. A lot of folks believe it was his wife and child.

But John Bolton, Fredricka, should have known better. Here's someone who's the former National Security adviser, who's been very critical of folks like Hillary Clinton and how she handled classified information, current Secretary of War Hegseth and the Signal chat. So certainly can't do this. And again, very different case than the Comey and James case in my opinion.

WHITFIELD: All right. Neama Rahmani, great to see you. Thanks so much.

RAHMANI: Great to see you, too, Fred. Talk soon. WHITFIELD: All right.

Stay with us for more live coverage of today's "No Kings" protests around the country throughout the day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:47:56]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

We're watching a growing sea of people carrying signs, you see, from coast to coast. Philadelphia, Memphis, Tennessee, Charlotte, North Carolina. It's serious business for most people, even though some are coming with a sense of humor, wearing costumes, some inflatable costumes to kind of get their point across.

This is the "No Kings" protest that you're seeing unfolding across the country. Outrage over Trump administration policies is fueling a number of these demonstrations. We have both coasts covered.

CNN's Brian Todd is in Washington, D.C., Julia Vargas Jones is in Los Angeles.

Brian, let's begin with you. What's happening?

TODD: Well, Fredricka, just a short time ago, we had a huge crowd here. Now, the program of speakers ended a short time ago. The crowd started to clear out of here a short time ago. You've got some rallygoers still hanging around. You've got a law enforcement presence here on Pennsylvania Avenue. People taking selfies still over here.

The law enforcement component was very strong here because there had been an alert issued by the Department of Homeland Security that they were concerned about possible violence from counter-protesters and from people who are known to go to these rallies and start trouble. That did not occur here in Washington. But we are seeing crowds picking up in other cities like the Twin Cities, Seattle, Chicago, crowds of "No Kings" protesters picking up in those cities.

We had people here coming to us, and we talked to all sorts of people with all sorts of motivations for coming to this rally today. People were fed up with the ICE rallies and arrests of immigrants. They were tired of the National Guard deployments. That was an issue here in Washington in August and September. It's been an issue in Chicago and Portland. A lot of people here are calling out against those National Guard deployments, and those still are going on. So people are still very upset about that.

Of course, this city has the added component, and not just Washington, other cities, too, but have the added component of mass furloughs of government employees during the government shutdown. A lot of people speaking out against that and how frustrated they are. We talked to a lot of federal government employees who are furloughed right now.

[15:50:01] They talked to us about the hardships they're going through, not getting paid for weeks, and the uncertainty of their jobs being available to them when the government shutdown ends, and the government shutdown in this town does not look like it is near an end. So a lot of protesters here very, very frustrated over that component.

Now, as for the broad range of motives and the broader messaging regarding the "No Kings" rallies, Ezra Levin, he is the co-founder and one of the co-organizers of the "No Kings" rallies. He spoke to CNN earlier this week, and he said that basically, it's kind of a twofold set of goals here. One is what he called bursting the bubble of inevitability, the idea that no one can challenge President Trump and what he's doing.

Another main goal is to use events like this to kind of gather grassroots momentum to, again, resist President Trump and his administration. So they hope to take the momentum from this event, which had tens of thousands of people here not long ago, and carry it on to other events to resist this administration, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Brian Todd in Washington, D.C., thank you so much.

Let's go to Los Angeles now, Julia Vargas Jones is there.

Julia, what's going on?

JONES: Fred, the scene is changing a little bit here outside of city hall behind me here. I'm not sure that you can actually see what's happening as we have indigenous groups who are leading a ceremony to basically bless this rally. This, they're saying, is former Tongva Land and this is a Tongva ceremony to kick off this demonstration. We have been walking around this crowd and talking to people in the process.

You know, I've talked to you earlier about how many Mexican flags we've been seeing, how many people saying that immigration and the actions, immigration enforcement actions from ICE here in Los Angeles were a big catalyst for them to be out here today. Not -- careful. Not only that, we're also seeing a lot of people in the costumes that you've mentioned. We're seeing inflatable costumes. We just saw a group of dinosaurs, a group of -- a group of horses, and unicorns around here.

I'm trying to keep some of the signs that have some foul language out of our shot as we're walking through this crowd, Fred. So please bear with me here. But the general consensus that everyone that we spoke to here is that this protest, this day today is giving them something to do, some kind of action as they're watching actions that they disagree with deeply from the Trump administration.

They're saying that this is the kind of action that gives them hope ahead of, you know, short of actually casting a vote in a ballot, that's still a long time away. But they're saying that this is also a wakeup call to try and instill another people their sense of outrage. Walk a little bit longer with me here as we take a look at some more of these signs. Some of the other people that we spoke with said that, you know, it is the presence of militarized forces in major cities that have brought them here today.

Los Angeles has seen that so closely with the National Guard and with ICE over the past few months. Again, so many of these Mexican and American flags. I saw a Brazilian flag earlier. I saw an Ecuadorian flag earlier. A lot of modifications of the U.S. flag. But this sense of trying to be patriotic at the same time, that's really interesting to me. A lot of people have said that, you know, they're coming here to -- out of love for their country and trying to protect some of the values that they cherish in America.

We spoke to a handful of people who were naturalized American citizens who have come here because they think that that is so important, and that's what's bringing them out here today, that they said, you know, we spoke to a man who said that that Mexican American flag is the embodiment of his mother, a Mexican immigrant who loved America so deeply that she talked about it into, well, into her later years.

And I think that Los Angeles being, you know, almost 50 percent Hispanic or Latino, that is the main message that we're hearing here today is that discontent with immigration actions and with the federalization of National Guard troops that we've seen in such great numbers here in Los Angeles -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much, in Los Angeles.

And, of course, stay with us for more live coverage of today's "No Kings" protests around the country. Our coverage continues right after the break.

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[15:59:13]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. We're continuing to monitor today's "No Kings" rallies across the country. Right now live pictures out of Seattle, Washington. We have seen celebrities, lawmakers and thousands of protesters gathering in all the major cities of this country. Many are voicing outrage at a range of Trump's policies.

Stay with CNN for continuing coverage of the protests.

And now this investigation is underway after a Pablo Picasso painting vanished right before it was set to go on exhibit at a cultural center in Spain. The center says it believes the 1919 work, called "Still Life with Guitar," was safely delivered to them last Friday, along with other paintings. But on Monday morning, the exhibit's curator discovered the painting was missing.

The center says surveillance video over the weekend showed no issues. The painting is owned by a private collector and insured for an estimated $700,000.

All right. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "SMERCONISH" starts right now.