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Trump Sends More National Guard, Marines to L.A.; Trump & Hegseth to Visit Fort Bragg to Boost Military Recruitment. Aired 6- 6:30a ET

Aired June 10, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:15]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: It's Tuesday, June 10. And here's what's happening right now on CNN THIS MORNING.

Protesters detained on buses overnight in Los Angeles. President Trump sends in more Guard troops and U.S. Marines.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't keep sitting by, watching my brothers and sisters getting -- getting taken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Protests are spreading beyond Los Angeles from coast to coast, and they are demanding an end to ICE raids.

And the showdown between the president and the California governor. Why Gavin Newsom is daring the Trump administration to make good on a threat to arrest him.

It is 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look this morning at the White House.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for waking up with me.

We are going to start with the news overnight about those arrests in Los Angeles, as clashes between police and protesters spill into another day and the demonstrations are now spreading beyond California.

Overnight, L.A. police filled up buses with detained protesters, who had their hands zip-tied behind their backs. Officers gave them an ultimatum: go home or get arrested. They also used flash bangs, tear gas, and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds.

We also saw CNN correspondent Jason Carroll and his crew briefly detained as they covered the protest last night. He was not restrained, but his hands were behind his back. Police ended up escorting them out of the protest zone.

People in cities including New York, Seattle, Atlanta, and Dallas took to the streets, as well. And San Francisco police say thousands marched last night in peaceful protest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've seen videos of people, a family being torn apart, and you know, it -- it should break anybody's heart to the point where you want to stand up for those people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: President Trump deployed another 2,000 National Guard troops to L.A. Plus, 700 Marines are now on the way.

California's governor pushed back, saying, "U.S. Marines serve a valuable purpose for this country: defending democracy. They're not political pawns."

I want to bring in CNN law enforcement analyst Jonathan Wackrow. Good morning, Jonathan. Thanks for being with us.

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning.

CORNISH: As we see these protests spread, you have city leaders who are accusing the Trump administration of escalation. Just the act of bringing in more and law enforcement at that level, somehow changing things. But do you see that?

WACKROW: Yes. No, absolutely. I think what we're witnessing right now, in L.A. specifically, really underscores this delicate balance between federal enforcement authority and ongoing action in maintaining civil order, which today and last night is being upheld by the LAPD and their supporting law enforcement partners.

And this, to me, really just reinforces how current immigration enforcement operations, not just in L.A. but across the country, can quickly mobilize protests requiring, really, tighter operational awareness and situational awareness by local officials in communities that really are sensitive to this ICE activity that is ongoing today. And it's going to continue.

And, Audie, to me there's a backdrop here, and the backdrop is this significant political tension between the state, you know, the state of California right now, and the administration.

And there's a tough question that is being raised with very competing narratives from the White House and, you know, Governor Newsom, is really who is the steward for the preservation of constitutional rights and maintaining the -- the public safety today in L.A.?

And we're going to see this expand across the country, is my assessment.

CORNISH: The pretext around this is also about protecting federal property, right? The border czar has defended the president's decision to federalize the National Guard. We know a lot of this broke out around immigration court buildings. Here's an example of what he said.

[06:05:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, TRUMP'S BORDER CZAR: The military's role is to protect government property and protect our officers. But, you know, again, local law enforcement needs to step up and control public safety.

I mean, and -- and President Trump deployed these people, because the the state of California, the mayor of San Diego [SIC] -- excuse me, the mayor of Los Angeles and the governor weren't simply acting fast enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: As you said, this is a complicated moment. People were actively trying to stop ICE. Right? They are -- they are against these raids. So, how do you look at this balance? And are we at a tipping point with the federal government?

WACKROW: Well, you know, Audie, when you -- when it comes to protest operations, civil unrest operations, from a law enforcement perspective, this is about balance and proportionality.

And really, what law enforcement's primary role -- and again, I'm going to talk about, like, the LAPD. Their primary role remains facilitating the First Amendment rights while ensuring public safety and civil order.

So, what the federal government is doing is they're deploying these troops to, you know, protect federal facilities. But is that proportionate to what we see going on right now? Is that an escalation?

And again, time will tell. But I think that across the country, the -- the mobilization of the National Guard, the Marines in L.A. is really being utilized as a, you know, call to action by protesters. It's a trigger or a catalyst for further escalation of these protests.

It's not proportionate to what we're seeing the -- the issues being raised right now.

So again, this is a -- this is a balance. And to your point, are we at a tipping point? We may be very soon.

CORNISH: That's CNN law enforcement analyst Jonathan Wackrow. Thank you.

WACKROW: Thank you, Audie.

CORNISH: Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, as the president calls in the Marines to L.A., he's ready to praise military achievements today. How has the armed forces -- how have they changed under Trump 2.0? Plus, complete vindication. That's what Blake Lively's legal team says about a major win against her former co-star.

And Californias governor has a message for the Trump administration, and what he says next might surprise you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: Get it over with. Arrest me. Move on. If you need some head to scalp, do it with me.

But stop messing with these kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[06:11:54]

CORNISH: California Governor Gavin Newsom says he's ready for a fight with the White House as the president deploys more National Guard troops, along with hundreds of Marines, to L.A. because of the protests there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWSOM: Get it over with. Arrest me. Move on. If you need some head to scalp, do it with me. But stop messing with these kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: And here's what President Trump said yesterday about the idea of arresting the California governor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gavin Newsom is -- he's daring Tom Homan to come and arrest him. Should he do it?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I would do it if I were Tom. I think it's great. Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The border czar told CNN last night so far, Newsom hasn't done anything to warrant an arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOMAN: You can protest if you want. You have that First Amendment right. But when you cross the line of putting your hands on an ICE officer, impeding our enforcement operations, knowingly harboring concealing illegal alien, that's a crime.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: But Governor Newsom has not done anything to warrant an arrest, in your view, right now? Correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't see him.

HOMAN: Not at this time. Absolutely not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Joining me now in the group chat this morning: Jerusalem Demsas, contributing writer at "The Atlantic"; Chuck Rocha, Democratic strategist; and Ashley Davis, former George W. Bush White House official.

So, I want to come to you, Chuck, first, because we have talked a lot about the idea of immigration overreach, not necessarily being some sort of unifying political thing for the multitudes of communities within the Latino vote in the U.S.

This does seem like a remarkable moment where we're seeing Mexican flags, where we are seeing people in the street, talking about their communities.

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: If this was about immigration and we were talking about how the system is broken and what ICE is doing right now, this protest would be warranted, if it was doing that.

But what this plays into -- and listen to me, Democrats -- right into Donald Trump's hand.

In the last election, Audie, the Republicans spent $800 million telling the American public that we were being invaded by immigrants from other countries. They made it the central theme of their campaign.

This checks all the marks of what Donald Trump wants to be talking about, which is immigration, protests, cops being beat, folks burning cars. This is the chaos that he loves.

Because guess what we're not talking about. We're not talking about the Big, Beautiful Bill. We're not talking about 13 million people being kicked off of health care. We're not talking about anything in Washington.

We're talking about the sweetest spot of all of his issue sets, which is immigration, law and order and Los Angeles. And when you throw in Gavin Newsom, it's just a cherry on top for this administration.

CORNISH: That's a lot to unpack. Ashley, Jerusalem, what are you thinking, hearing that?

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL UNDER GEORGE W. BUSH: I mean, I agree with Chuck 100 percent on this. I mean, he -- President Trump wants this fight all day long, and especially with Newsom.

But it is making Newsom, Governor Newsom, a little bit more relevant today than he was, actually, a week ago. So, that's helpful. I don't know if this public tit-for-tat of being arrested or not is

something that's kind of, like, a joke more than something serious, in my opinion.

[06:15:06]

But one -- one thing I want to flag is 75 Democrats yesterday voted for a resolution in the House that condemned what happened in Boulder, Colorado, with the attacks, antisemitic attacks, as well as praises ICE for what they're doing.

And I think that that's an important vote, because it shows that some of these Democrats -- exactly what Chuck was saying -- do understand the importance of law and order and kind of the losing issue that is for -- for Democrats.

CORNISH: Jerusalem.

JERUSALEM DEMSAS, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": Yes. I mean, before I get into, you know, the second-level order political analysis, I was just looking at the first-order question of what's going on here, is that the president of the United States is deploying the military domestically to aid in law enforcement.

This is something that is -- it's quite an extreme decision to do this. And I think it's important to recognize that people who are largely exercising their First Amendment freedoms and the people who are involved, who are -- who are engaging in violence or property damage, of course, like local law enforcement should be used to -- to quell that, to quell that problem.

But largely, what we want to see are our elected officials do is allow that process to play out locally unless an elected official says, Hey, I need help; I need the National Guard to come in.

The last time a president did something like this was, again, in L.A. in the Rodney King riots, and that's a very, very different situation than what we're seeing right now.

So, I think it's important to keep our eyes on the fact that right now, the vast majority of people protesting are doing so peacefully. They're exercising their First Amendment rights to push back on something that's gotten more and more unpopular in this regime.

Now, on the second-order question that, you know, that Chuck raised here about the political ramifications, I think it's really important that -- that protesters who want to raise the salience of -- of the harms that that -- that immigrant families are facing, do so peacefully, so they don't create the photo ops that Trump is looking for.

Part of why he's sending the troops in here, why he's having the military parade in D.C. this weekend, is this -- this -- this focus on law and order is helpful for him politically.

So, I think if people are trying to draw his -- the attention to -- to other causes, they should think carefully about that.

CORNISH: OK, group chat. I want you guys to stay with me. We're going to talk a little bit more about some of the angles of this, this hour.

OK. It's now 16 minutes past the hour. Here are five things you need to know to get your day going.

Activist Greta Thunberg is now on her way to Paris after being deported from Israel. She had been detained, along with others, on an aid ship that was bound for Gaza but was intercepted by Israel.

The group backing the aid ship said the IDF unlawfully boarded their boat today.

Today, cross-examination is expected to begin for one of Sean Combs's accusers, who is testifying under the name Jane. She told jurors Monday that she had become a, quote, "sex worker" in her relationship with Diddy, describing the drug-fueled sexual performances called "hotel nights."

Another person has been arrested in connection to that jailbreak in New Orleans. A former corrections center employee is accused of helping Derrick Groves, according to Louisiana attorney general's office. She's believed to be his girlfriend.

Groves and one other inmate are still on the run.

And Health Secretary RFK Jr. defending a decision to remove and replace all 17 members of a crucial government panel of vaccine advisers. He says a clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.

And a judge dismissed Justin Baldoni's $400 million defamation suit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. He accused them of trying to destroy his career.

Lively's attorneys called this ruling a complete vindication.

And next on CNN THIS MORNING, President Trump is set to display the military this week in D.C. with a parade. One of his defense secretaries says that it's now more lethal than any other. What's his definition of lethal?

Plus, we continue our live coverage from L.A. as we enter a fifth day of protests against immigration raids. Where things stand this morning.

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[06:23:40]

CORNISH: More lethal, less woke. You hear that a lot from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth when he discusses his vision for the U.S. military. You'll likely hear it again today when he joins President Trump at Fort Bragg Army Base in North Carolina.

Their goal: boosting recruitment ahead of Saturday's big military parade in D.C.

Now, the parade will feature dozens of tanks and other vehicles rolling through the streets. Nearly 7,000 soldiers will be there.

Joining me now to discuss: CNN senior military analyst, Admiral James Stavridis.

Admiral, thank you for being here with us this morning.

ADMIRAL JAMES STAVRIDIS, CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: My pleasure, Audie.

CORNISH: I want to talk about the changes to the military. I have to come, though, to this idea of the Marines being called into Los Angeles. Right?

Because this military parade is going to be happening right after this kind of show of force, where you're going to have soldiers facing off with American citizens on U.S. soil, potentially. What's significant about this moment?

STAVRIDIS: It's very significant. And personally, I wouldn't advise it on the part of the administration.

Active-duty troops, particularly U.S. Marines. Audie, these are the most experienced, highly-blooded shock troops in the world. We use them to take down militias in the Middle East. These are fighters. And, boy, you do not want to put them in a position of confronting largely peaceful demonstrators. It's just not their role. They're not trained for it.

[06:25:12]

And National Guard, we could probably have a discussion about. But putting active-duty U.S. Marines into this situation, I think, is -- is dangerous. And they're not well-trained for the mission that perhaps they're going to be thrown into here.

CORNISH: Yes. You know, a few years ago, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper wrote about a moment he had had with Trump in the White House. This was back during the riots over George Floyd's death.

And he suggested bringing in military, using force against protesters. And Esper wrote that "We reached that point in the conversation when he looked frankly at General Milley and said, 'Can't you just shoot them in the legs or something?' And it was not just a question" -- in the form, he's saying, of a question. "It was more of a suggestion." And he said, "Esper said, 'We were all just taken back at that moment as this issue just hung very heavily in the air.'"

I thought back to this almost immediately heading into this week. Is this now something hanging in the air?

STAVRIDIS: Absolutely. And we'll do a little Latin lesson this morning. It's posse comitatus. It's a Latin term for not using active- duty military for civilian law enforcement purposes. The Founding Fathers hated that idea. That's what, by the way, led to

the start of the American Revolution, when British shock troops shot down American protesters in Boston.

So, we've got a long, bad history here. And the idea of doing that would violate that Posse Comitatus Law.

There is a narrow exception, and that's to be used in the case of an actual insurrection or invasion. Nothing I've seen in Los Angeles remotely rises to that. Therefore, active-duty troops should not be involved in this.

CORNISH: Now, we've got this military parade coming up to celebrate a major anniversary for the armed forces. Something to be celebrated.

It's actually quite unusual to have a major military parade in the heart of the capital, as you and I have discussed earlier. Does this affect how that's seen for the public? Right?

Instead of celebrating the military more generally, it's Trump's birthday, and now you've got the Marines being called in against demonstrators.

STAVRIDIS: For me, it's a negative split-screen moment. Let's start with the parade in Washington.

You're correct. The United States typically does not do this kind of big national capital, parade the hardware through the downtown type of thing that you see North Korea do. Russia does it routinely. France does it, one of our allies.

It's not something we do, because it consumes a lot of resources. It's very expensive. It takes away a nice weekend from thousands of troops, who are going to have to rehearse and march along.

And above all, I think the American military has an ethos that we're pretty good at what we do. We don't need to show it to you by parading tanks through the downtown.

Now we get to the split screen. You're doing this pretty unusual visual of tanks rolling through our capital, and across the country in Los Angeles you're putting U.S. Marines, as we talked earlier, the best combat shock troops in the world, except problem: They're being deployed against, again, largely peaceful protesters.

I think that's a troubling split screen. And it will be difficult -- appropriately difficult for the American people to digest what they're looking at.

CORNISH: That's CNN's senior military analyst, Admiral James Stavridis. Thank you so much.

STAVRIDIS: You bet, Audie.

CORNISH: Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, California is now suing the Trump administration over deploying those troops to L.A. without the governor's signoff. Do they have a case?

Plus, what is an insurrection? The internal battle at the White House over how to define the protests.

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