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CNN This Morning
Dozens Arrested in L.A. and San Francisco; L.A. Police Urge Businesses to Report Vandalism and Looting; Donell Harvin is Interviewed about the L.A. Protests; Trump and Newsom Clash. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired June 09, 2025 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:32:51]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They could not kidnap people in our community today because the people came out to resist.
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AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news, immigration protests continue a fourth day in Los Angeles continued overnight.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. And I want to thank you for being with us here on CNN THIS MORNING.
It's half past the hour on the East Coast, and here's what's happening right now.
President Trump has deployed the National Guard to L.A. as thousands of protesters flood the streets. The unrest began Friday after immigration raids in the area. Police declared all of downtown L.A. as an unlawful assembly area and at least 27 people have been arrested. That happened on Sunday.
Overnight, President Trump's new travel ban went into effect. It bars people from 12 countries, mainly in Africa and the Middle East, from entering the U.S., and it puts more restrictions on those from seven other nations.
Today, officials from the U.S. and China will resume trade talks in London. President Trump's economic adviser said he is, quote, very comfortable with a deal closing between the two.
All right, we're going to return now to those protests. There's some polling that shows Americans were not opposed to the president's immigration policies. Interestingly enough, according to a CBS News and YouGov poll, a majority of Americans approve of the Trump administration's deportation program. Another 42 percent say they believe it's making people in the U.S. safer. And it's also exposing a weak spot for Democrats as they try to figure out how to get their message across on immigration.
Scott Peters, a Democratic congressman from San Diego, told "Politico" over the weekend, "we were wrong on the border."
And here's what Senator Amy Klobuchar said this weekend on the matter.
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SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): So, Democrats believe in public safety. As a former prosecutor, it's been a lot of my life work working with law enforcement. And that means you don't inflame things and make it worse. And that is that you make sure that violent criminals aren't in our midst.
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CORNISH: The group chat is back.
I want to finish that quote from Congressman Peters, because he went on to say, even though he said Democrats had been wrong on the border, he said, "it's not hard to explain to average Americans why what's happening here is unproductive." He called it "un-American" and also "cruel."
[06:35:10]
We talked about the split screen effect. But, Stephen, can I start with you about how you think Americans are going to see this now? Because that poll was done before this round of riots and government response.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Right. I think the problem the Democrats have is that there is a long political hangover from the previous administration's management of the border and immigration issues. Their continual insistence that there wasn't a border crisis, that does give the president, I think, some significant political leeway. It's always been a safe haven for him, this issue.
But in that CBS poll, people did start to register concern about the way that the crackdown is being implemented. I think there's going to be a battle of imagery between scenes that can be presented on conservative media and by the White House as scenes of massive unrest and disorder, which is traditionally a way that conservative politicians can create some political traction. But troops on the streets is a fearful image. And I think that has the potential to change things.
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I mean we've seen Senator Ted Cruz using an image on social media that was from 2020 of a police car on fire. There have not been, to the best of my knowledge, police cars on fire.
BRIAN TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Plenty of cars on fire yesterday though. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes, way more, but I'm not --
CORNISH: Yes.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: But there's a difference between imagery of police cars on fire and -- and other --
TODD: Police were -- police were attacked. They had things thrown at them.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Well, but -- but it was -- but it was not the right image. And -- and he was --
CORNISH: It was also a driverless car.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes, also a driverless car. But I'm not saying any of this is -- I'm not saying that --
TODD: I mean there's no car we should want burned.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I'm not saying that any of this is right. But what I am saying, I'm trying to -- what I am calling out here is that there is, I think, to your point, a desire to portray this in a certain way that feeds the narrative that calls for troops.
Listen, the big problem here is, do you want to see U.S. Marines shooting U.S. citizens on the streets of an American city?
TODD: No. No, I don't And -- and -- and the -- the way to avoid all of this confrontation would have been to enforce the law. The Biden administration did over a half a dozen executive orders that encouraged people to come. We were seeing 165,000 people a month crossing the southwest border illegally when Joe Biden was president. That's now about 8,000 a month. It's because of the failures of the Biden administration that we have this many illegal immigrants in America.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: A hundred percent -- a hundred percent true. There was a huge --
TODD: Well, then -- then we have to fix that problem.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Wait, wait, there's a huge -- there's a huge -- but there's a huge issue that is about what is happening at this moment because, yes, the failures of the --
TODD: We're cleaning up the mess. We're cleaning up that mess.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: The failures -- the -- the -- the failures of the Biden administration, 100 percent, the border was a mess.
TODD: So, shouldn't California help enforce immigration law right now to clean up that mess.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: So -- So -- but the question is how -- the question -- I'm not here to say whether they should or they shouldn't. I'm not a Californian.
TODD: That's the question. That's the question.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: But -- but -- but I -- I'm a reporter. I'm trying to --
TODD: It's an American -- it's an American law.
CORNISH: Hold on, you guys, let me --
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I want to just say this.
CORNISH: Yes.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I want to just say this issue, which is this. This all started -- this particular issue started because there were enforcement operations outside of Home Depot from day laborers. And -- and so the idea was that, you know, initially what Donald Trump was saying was, we're going to get criminals, we're going to get people who are terrible in this country, who have committed atrocities. And instead what the people of L.A. have seen is you're going after people who are just looking for a job and who are here in this country who haven't done anything today.
CORNISH: Yes. And we've had some clips today of some protesters kind of referring to this.
TODD: Fifty-six percent of Americans in our poll, in CNN's own poll, 56 percent of Americans say that everyone who's here illegally should be deported.
CORNISH: Yes.
TODD: I mean that's --
CORNISH: Do you -- do you see raids happening in, like, agribusinesses in South Dakota? Do you --
TODD: No, I --
CORNISH: Like, what's your sense of this?
TODD: I -- I -- I think that they're -- the approach Lulu is suggesting is actually correct. I agree with you, start with criminals and move on to that. But we should --
CORNISH: Do you think they're doing that?
TODD: We should -- yes, I think that's their priority. That is their priority.
CORNISH: So, how do you think we ended up here?
TODD: Well, first off, there are -- if you're a deportable person under the law, you don't have any recourse. You -- you -- if the -- if the Immigration and Customs agency wants to deport you, they can. They can. That --
CORNISH: Yes.
TODD: We have immigration laws for a reason. You're either here illegally or you're not.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: But don't you think that incites this -- I mean the -- the point that Democrats are making is that this kind of action, you know, at a Home Depot in L.A., 50 percent Latino, where everyone is -- is related to someone who might be here illegally, who -- and none of them have done anything wrong, is going to propel this kind of reaction?
TODD: Well, hang on too. We also had an administration that said, if you're here illegally, you should go home. You should self-deport.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: We're talking about this administration, though.
TODD: You should self-deport. This administration has said that.
CORNISH: OK, so, let me let you guys pause for a second, mainly because we actually have someone from L.A. here. I want to get this reporting in so people have an update on what's going on.
At this point, police say they're investigating reports of looting overnight in L.A.'s financial district. They're also urging businesses to report any vandalism during the protests going on there.
Now, yesterday, as those protests were escalating in the streets of L.A., officers used flashbangs and tear gas to disperse crowds.
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One reporter, who was from Nine News Australia, unfortunately, got hit by a rubber bullet while she was doing her job.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The LAPD moving (EXPLETIVE DELETED) back, firing rubber bullets at protesters, moving them on through the heart of L.A.
Ah!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just (EXPLETIVE DELETED) shot the (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) I got hit. I'm good.
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CORNISH: She said she was good.
I'm going to bring in now CNN's Marybel Gonzalez. She's also on the ground in Los Angeles. Marybel, I -- I hope you're staying safe. What are you seeing now so
early in the morning?
MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Audie.
So, here in downtown Los Angeles area, we are right by the Metropolitan Detention Center. This was the building that was at the heart of all the chaos that erupted just a few hours ago. Of course, we know that downtown Los Angeles has been declared an unlawful assembly area. And right now those crowds that were here just hours ago have dispersed, at least here.
But as we've seen, law enforcement presence is not letting up. Just moments ago we saw more reinforcements coming in, including an armored vehicle from the sheriff's department and from several agencies in the Los Angeles area.
Los Angeles Police Department also here blocking the street. And right behind them, we're seeing several -- a line of National Guardsmen patrolling the area. Up above we've heard and seen the Los Angeles police chopper staying vigilant of this zone.
Now, we know, Audie, that at least 27 people were arrested on Sunday here in this area. Some of those alleged crimes include throwing a Molotov cocktail at a police officer and also ramming a motorcycle into a police line.
Now, all of this happening as these protests are taking place on the streets. We know that the state and federal government are at odds with governor - -California Governor Gavin Newsom, threatening to sue the Trump administration for their deployment of national troops. We know that it's been decades since the White House has deployed National -- or the National Guard without the consent or request of the state. So, things definitely heating up, not only on the streets of Los Angeles, but also between the governments as well.
CORNISH: Marybel, I have one more question, because we're hearing the word looting, which I think has pretty serious connotations when people hear the term L.A. and riot. What is the extent of what you've heard so far?
GONALEZ: Yes. And, you know that I'm very glad that you pointed that out. You know, right now we're not hearing much about the specifics of the looting. We have only heard that Los Angeles Police Department is asking businesses to document any sort of damage that they incurred during these protests. They want to keep track of them.
But I can tell you that here in the downtown area, while we haven't necessarily seen, quote/unquote, looting, we have seen a lot of destruction of property, of some vehicles, and lots of graffiti that, unfortunately, we cannot show you because a lot of it is profanity just scribbled on the walls of the freeway and along the streets here in downtown.
CORNISH: OK. CNN's Marybel Gonzalez reporting in Los Angeles. Thank you. Next on CNN THIS MORNING, we continue to monitor this breaking news.
And a homeland security expert is here to talk about things from a tactical standpoint. Was the deployment of National Guard troops necessary?
Plus, President Trump versus California Governor Newsom, a long- standing rivalry. Is this fight -- is this a fight that both men have been waiting for?
And more from the group chat after this.
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LT. GOV. ELENI KOUNALAKIS (D-CA): He did not have the authority to -- to call in the National Guard for 400 people protesting in a way that local law enforcement could clearly handle it. And I believe that we are likely going to see a lawsuit.
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AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: That's the lieutenant governor of California on the state's plans to sue over President Trump's deployment of the National Guard there.
Governor Gavin Newsom claims the deployment was completely unnecessary.
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GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Donald Trump has created the conditions you see on your TV tonight. He's exacerbated the conditions. He's, you know, lit the proverbial match. He's putting fuel on this fire ever since he announced he was taking over the National Guard in an illegal act, in a immoral act, an unconstitutional act.
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CORNISH: I want to bring in Dr. Donell Harvin. He's a homeland security and public health emergency expert.
First, I just want to tackle what the governor said, the idea that this escalated things, that it was fuel on the fire. What's your response to that?
DR. DONELL HARVIN, HOMELAND SECURITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY EXPERT: Well, I can see how that's possible. You know, they're playing a game of what if. But I will tell you, having trained with CD units, civil disturbance units, and knowing those tactics that they use, you know, the -- the more armor, the more people you put out there, the more that it riles up the crowd.
I was on the phone yesterday with the mayor's office -- officials from the mayor's office, and they could have handled this. Important for context. These state and local authorities have a robust, what we call memorandum of agreement, or memorandum of understanding with local and statewide law enforcement. California has the largest access to police. Almost 80,000 police officers. They certainly could have handled this from a tactical standpoint on their own. And so, all -- in all assessments, the -- the deployment of the National Guard was unnecessary for this type of civil unrest.
CORNISH: I want to play for you a response here from Senator Markwayne Mullin.
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He's a Republican from Oklahoma and is supportive of the efforts the White House has been making. We also know the defense secretary is wanting Marines on standby. But here's what he had to say about what you were seeing in the riot images.
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SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): You saw rioters throwing rocks, throwing fireworks, being extremely aggressive towards, not just federal agents, but even the county and the local PD that was there. So, does it look like it's under control? Absolutely not. The difference between what you're seeing during the riots back in, what was it, '96, I forget what year that was, to what we are today, or '92, to where we are today, is that the governor was actually working with the president of the United States. Now you have a governor that isn't.
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CORNISH: Now, should we -- we should be clear, from what I remember of that, I think upwards of 60 people were killed in those riots.
But can you talk about that, that aspect of it that, you know, he's saying like this is meriting this kind of response.
HARVIN: Well, it's difficult to make an equivalency between civil unrest. But I will say that, where has he been for the last decade? I mean I've been involved in these type of operations for over 30 years. They're never pretty, right?
One of the issues that, and this is not to be critical of the media, but, you know, the images that you've seen, regardless of whether it's on this channel or others, are really the same burning car. And we need to put context to that.
L.A. has almost 470 square miles, right? And so, we really don't understand watching television the extent of the rioting and the -- and the civil unrest that's going on. Who knows? The people on the ground. And that's the mayor's team and the governor's team. You really have to lean on that, because that's how our system is built.
CORNISH: Military parade is coming up this Saturday. I was reading the paper and saw an advertisement for protests, counter protests. No Kings Day. Can you talk about how homeland security departments around the country might be thinking about demonstrations going forward?
HARVIN: Well, I've been on the phone all weekend with some, some counterparts and colleagues. And they're concerned about contagion from this. There was already an effort, as you have mentioned, to have counter protests to not necessarily the 250th anniversary of the Army. I think most people can celebrate the Army. But the fact that it's happening on President Trump's birthday.
And so, what you're going to find in many of these other cities that don't have ICE deportation operations going on is, you know, people have been out there peacefully protesting against a whole host of things, right? This is a confluence of protests. So, DOGE, you know, Gaza. We saw people with Gaza flags and, you know, free Gaza yesterday in L.A., as well as against President Trump.
So, a true concern about contagion and violence spreading and potential for overreaction from the federal government.
CORNISH: Dr. Donell Harvin, homeland security and public health emergency expert, thanks for being with us.
HARVIN: Thank you.
CORNISH: It's now 52 minutes past the hour. Here is your morning roundup.
Israel stopped an aid ship heading for Gaza carrying climate activist Greta Thunberg and others. Video from Israel's foreign ministry shows those on board being given food and water. The group, Freedom Flotilla Coalition, says Israel unlawfully boarded the ship. The foreign ministry says the passengers were taken to Israel and will be returned to their home countries.
And this morning, court will resume in the Sean Combs federal trial. An alleged victim, who's only identified by the name Jane, will be back on the stand. Over the weekend, Combs' defense team has asked for a mistrial.
And "Wicked" star Cynthia Erivo hosted last night's Tony Awards, where the show may be happy ending dominated with multiple trophies, including best musical. A big highlight also, of course, the "Hamilton" reunion.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): I am not throwing away my --
CHORUS (singing): Just you wait Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton. Just you wait.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am not throwing away my shot.
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CORNISH: Members of the original Broadway cast performed a mashup of the show's biggest songs to mark its 10th anniversary. The last time the cast performed together was in 2016.
OK, we want to talk about the context for this showdown in L.A., also the political showdown between President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom. It's over an issue that's right in the presidents wheelhouse, immigration, and his decision to send in the National Guard without coordinating with the governor is the latest in a back and forth between them.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Los Angeles, we watch it very closely. There was a lot of violence there.
[06:55:00]
There was a lot of violence. And it could have gotten much worse. And you have an incompetent governor.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): There's no working with the president. There's only working for him. And I will never work for Donald Trump.
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CORNISH: The group chat is back.
Stephen, can -- can we talk about that response, there's no working with there's only working for?
COLLINSON: Yes, and these two politicians, with their own big egos, Newsom looks like he wants a political future on a national stage, have a long history of antagonism. We saw it suspended a little bit during the wildfires earlier this year. But I think the political back and forth here is a reminder of why immigration is such a treacherous issue because bad things can happen when politicians weaponize this issue.
I was overseas last week/ And it's not just in the United States. Every country in Europe is facing this decision of how to deal with migration, how much power to use against them, whether to use, in some cases, the military to intervene to stop migration, which is going to become a massive issue in the -- in the decades going forward.
You know, liberal democracy can be very badly damaged when immigration, as an issue, is mishandled. And it looks like, in this situation, you have politicians on all sides who are doing that.
CORNISH: One of the things that's interesting is I think the history politically. So, you have a Trump administration that the first time around did overstep and face backlash from the public with its child separation policy. We know during the protests, Black Lives Matter, people at first did object to the militarization of police. And for Democrats, the abolish ICE movement hurt them for a very long time. And I argue they weren't able to actually get traction with even the Latino community on talking about immigration in some ways. So --
TODD: Donald Trump didn't -- GARCIA-NAVARRO: Latinos don't like open borders.
CORNISH: Yes.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Let me just be clear.
CORNISH: But, I mean, the politics, it's not easy.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: The election showed that.
CORNISH: Yes, to figure out here how -- how to respond.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes.
TODD: Donald Turmp improved his standing in 2024 with Latinos over -- over his previous two races and immigration largely drove that.
Also, I think you have to look -- California, Gavin Newsom is a -- he wants to be a national figure, but it's an ungovernable mess.
CORNISH: Yes.
TODD: They can't recover from the fires because government entities won't let people rebuild their homes. People -- taxes are --
CORNISH: Well, Newsom has talked a lot about deregulation. Yes.
TODD: Right, but -- but he's -- but he's slept while all these regulations stayed in place before they --
CORNISH: Yes.
TODD: And let them become a problem. People are leaving California. They're losing congressional districts. This next decade, when the census comes, California might lose two to three congressmen.
CORNISH: But can I -- something you said earlier about winning Latinos made me -- made me think of this. I have to hold this up again because on one side it talks about thugs being arrested, but the other thing was about waving Mexican flags. And the idea of backlash is very real in a lot of Latino communities. Some of the protest clips we've heard today were people saying, we are here. We were --
TODD: These are -- these are -- these are protesters --
CORNISH: Yes.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Let me -- let me just -- let me say something. I'm from Miami. And you are -- and you couldn't have a more conservative, Trump-loving part of the -- of the country as -- as the demographics have shifted. And there is an enormous sense of betrayal. In fact, the head of Latinas for Trump has just come out condemning some of the immigration actions. You're seeing that because of -- of what they're doing with Venezuelans, what they're doing with Cubans. You know, trying to expel them and taking away their -- their temporary visa status. And so, what I would say is, this is a very, very present issue for
the Latino community. The border issue was terrible for Biden. The way the border was dealt with was an absolute catastrophe. Having people --
TODD: On purpose.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Having --
TODD: On purpose.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: You know, I'm not going to get --
TODD: They -- they take it to the --
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I'm not going to -- I'm not going to get into that. But -- but it was a -- but it was catastrophic.
CORNISH: Yes, do you have evidence for that or you saying it --
TODD: Yes, it -- the executive orders.
CORNISH: GARCIA-NAVARRO: But this equally is -- has the potential to be very damaging for President Trump.
TODD: Well, I will just say, if -- if -- if you're taking to the streets to argue that we should not be enforcing immigration laws because you would like to become an American and you'd like to stay here, you should probably be waving an American flag and not waving of a flag of a country where you're asking to not be sent back to. That's the politics of this.
CORNISH: Stephen, can I give you the last word to you on this? How should we -- how are you going to be thinking about this going forward this week?
COLLINSON: The two concerns I have to your guest's point is whether this does create a contagion. And we see rolling protests in other cities that could turn violent. And we have a summer of discord which I think is a possibility.
TODD: I hope not.
COLLINSON: I hope it doesn't happen. And -- and then there's the question of, you know, to your point, this is a good spot for the administration. I think it feels it's in a good spot because when everyone says, OK, this is wrong, you're militarizing the situation, they can turn it back and say, you're soft on immigration, and they think that they have a sweet spot there.
So, there's no incentive, I think, for them to back down.
CORNISH: Yes.
COLLINSON: But, you know, you could get to a point where you're putting a young American soldier in a position where they're on the streets and they're facing American citizens. And that is a very dark prospect.
CORNISH: Yes.
[07:00:00]
And we should say in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter protests, also the protests on campuses in Gaza, state and local authorities have a very different approach to protests, peaceful or not. So, we're all going to be watching that going ahead.
I want to thank you guys for the discussion this morning. I want to thank you for being with us. I'm Audie Cornish and "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.
