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CNN This Morning

Israel, Iran Launch New Waves Of Missile Attacks; Iran Says Nuclear Talks With U.S. Meaningless As Trump Pushes For A Deal; "No Kings" Protests Against Trump Planned Nationwide To Coincide With Military Parade; 4 Detainees Escape From Newark Immigration Detention Center; Jury Begins To Deliberate In Karen Read Murder Retrial; Abrego Garcia Pleads Not Guilty To Human Smuggling Charges; Trump Shifts Deportation Focus, Pausing Raids on Farms, Hotels and Eateries. New York Times: Immigration Target-Shift Came After Complaints from Hotel Industry and Farmers; Israel, Iran Trade Attacks After Israel Targets Iranian Nuclear Sites; New Weather Report Indicates a Possible Storm for Washington During Parade Hours. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired June 14, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:31]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It's Saturday, June 14th. I'm Victor Blackwell and here's what's happening this morning.

Iran launched a new wave of missiles toward Israel. This morning continued a night of attacks between the two sides. It caused destruction across both Tel Aviv and Tehran. We're live in the region with the latest.

Also, President Trump's military parade set to roll through Washington, DC. 7 million pounds of military hardware will hit the streets. It's happening this evening as the president celebrates the Army's birthday and his birthday.

And as that parade is happening in Washington, more than 2,000 protests are planned across the country. Organizers of the so called "No Kings" protest say that demonstrations are a direct response to the military parade and ICE raids.

Also, heavy rain flooded parts of Indiana Friday. In Evansville, cars look at this, were stranded. Several inches of rain caused flash flooding on the roads. We're tracking the threat for more heavy rains and storms this weekend.

We're beginning this morning though with the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Israel is reporting a new wave of strikes on Iran this morning. That's after a night of mutual missile and drone attacks between the two nations.

Both sides claim to have intercepted incoming drones. As the exchange of fire intensified overnight, casualties are mounting. Israeli officials report that now three people have been killed, dozens more injured. Meanwhile, Iran is reporting more than 100 people have been killed, hundreds more wounded from Israeli strikes, most of them civilians.

In Israel, search and rescue efforts are underway south of Tel Aviv, where an Iranian missile struck a residential area and emergency crews are working to locate residents feared trapped beneath all that rubble.

And on Friday, Iran's supreme leader issued a warning for Israel's leadership while the Israeli prime minister addressed the Iranian people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The Islamic regime, which has oppressed you for nearly 50 years, threatens to destroy my country, the state of Israel. The objective of Israel's military operation is to remove this threat, both the nuclear threat and the ballistic missile threat to Israel.

And as we achieve our objectives, we're also clearing the path for you to achieve your objective, which is freedom. In the past 24 hours, we've taken out top military commanders, senior nuclear scientists, the Islamic regime's most significant enrichment facility and a large portion of its ballistic missile arsenal. More is on the way. The regime doesn't know what hit them. They don't know what will hit them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is live in Tel Aviv for us. Nic, what's the --

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. Israel is right now, in the words of the prime minister, hitting Iran. They seem to be some more rural targets. Some appear to be around nuclear facilities. We're only beginning to get the details from the Israeli Defense Forces about those strikes.

But it was the early morning strike here in the south of in a suburb in the south, to the south of Tel Aviv that really seems to have triggered strong words today from Israel Katz, Israel's defense minister, he says Tehran will burn. The people in Tehran will pay a heavy price.

Two people were killed in that strike in the sort of to the south of Tel Aviv, dozens of -- dozens others injured, another person killed in previous strikes. So far, Israeli citizens have faced one large wave of drone strikes. That was Iran's initial response to Israel strikes.

And since then, four separate barrages of these ballistic missiles and one of the ballistic missiles overnight in the nighttime hours hit in the center of Tel Aviv behind me here. So this is now in a -- it feels like tit for tat is not the right word, but there is strikes from Israel, strikes in Iran, strikes from Israel, strikes from Iran. [06:05:06]

There doesn't appear to be an off ramp. Israel continues to target nuclear facilities. Iran says that those facilities have only been lightly damaged in the case of two today, Fordow and Isfahan. The Iranian officials are saying those are only -- those nuclear facilities are only lightly damaged.

The sense here is, I look around me, the streets are way, way emptier than they would be. The parks here would be thronging with people over a normal weekend. It's not like that today. People are concerned about what's here, about what's going to happen next.

But there is also, and I think it's worth understanding this from people here in Israel, there is still a feeling of support for what the government is doing, that this was something that needed to be done, even though at the same time people here don't know where it's going to end. I don't think anyone in this city today or across Israel at the moment believes that they have seen the last of the Iranian missiles.

And traveling across the country in the early hours of this morning, I got a sense of just how many missiles are being fired. We came across people hiding behind rocks in the middle of the desert. There were intercepts going on in the skies above. Less than half a mile further on, we found a burning rocket lying in the road.

It looked like it may have been an interceptor missile, defensive missile fired by Israel. But it gives you a sense, even if you are not under the direct impact of one of the deadly ballistic missiles in Israel, as people were in the southern suburb of Tel Aviv, there is still the chance of a heavy amount of debris, dangerous debris falling.

And that's why the government here is continuing its warnings for people to stay close to shelters and when they warn them to get inside to follow those warnings.

BLACKWELL: Nic Robertson reporting from Tel Aviv. Nic, thank you for that. Now, Iran's foreign ministry says that they still have not decided whether they will attend the talks with the U.S. on Sunday for a nuclear deal. One Iranian official called the negotiations meaningless after Israel's largest military strike against Iran.

President Trump, however, says that he's committed to salvaging talks and told CNN that Iran should come to the table to make a deal in his characterization before it's too late. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more. Kristen?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Victor, much of Friday was learning exactly what the U.S. knew and when and what the United States was doing moving forward. And just a reminder that on Thursday we saw this statement from Marco Rubio that really distanced the administration from these strikes that Israel had launched into Iran, saying that this is a unilateral decision and stressing the point that any U.S. personnel or target should not be hit. But by Friday, we started to see and learn a little bit more about

what the United States knew. And we do know that Donald Trump and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu had been in touch a number of times on Thursday, including before those strikes actually took place. They also talked on Friday, although we didn't get any details of what exactly that call entailed, who was on it or how long it lasted.

But we also learned that U.S. officials were helping Israel with the Iranian strikes coming back into Israel that are helping protect Israel from those various missiles. That is an interesting point. And I will tell you that in a U.S. administration official or U.S. official who told me that specifically said that this was because there are tens of thousands of American citizens that live in Israel. There are U.S. military assets trying to point to the fact that they are protecting Americans.

But it's also a little bit of splitting hairs here if you're talking about a unilateral action and the United States involvement because they are, in fact, currently protecting Israel, who is an ally of the United States. So, of course, you know, the big question is how exactly this is going to unfold.

And one of the things the White House is focused on is what's going to happen with that six round of talks on the Iran nuclear deal. They were supposed to be in Oman on Sunday with the Middle Eastern envoy Steve Witkoff. I am told by administration officials that they are still really hoping that this takes place.

But of course, there's a lot of doubt as to if this is going to happen, if the Iranians are going to show up. And Donald Trump, for his part, has been really pushing and essentially even issuing loose threats at a certain point, saying everything's on the line, you had a chance, everything's going to be gone. It might be too late if you don't come to the table now.

And I have spoken to a number of administration officials who believe that Iran will still come to the table. Of course, that's one thing. We're waiting to see how that plays out. Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right, Kristen Holmes for us at the White House, thanks so much.

Seven million pounds of machinery and weaponry are set to roll out in Washington, DC. Today for the military parade in honor of the U.S. Army turning 250 years old.

[06:10:00]

But not all are ready to celebrate, as you might imagine. Some veterans organized a rally on Capitol Hill in protest. They say that money should go back to the people. Instead. The parade could cost up to $45 million.

Now outside the Capitol, millions of people are expected to march to as part of the "No Kings" movement. At least 2,000 protests are planned across all 50 states. Michael Yoshida is in Los Angeles with details of the security measures being taken in those cities.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ask your blessing on our immigrant sisters and brothers.

MICHALE YOSHIDA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Multiple religious and civil rights organizations coming together Friday condemning recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw people being detained without due process.

YOSHIDA (voice-over): The ICE raid sparking outrage and triggering protests that have now stretched into an eighth day.

CROWD: We know the brightest will never be divided.

YOSHIDA: As the Trump administration cracks down on undocumented immigrants.

UNDIENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not going to step back and we're not going to back down from this administration.

YOSHIDA (voice-over): Local police and federal agencies clashing with protesters on the streets of LA.

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The rule of law will be followed.

YOSHIDA (voice-over): The anti-ICE protest spreading across the country. And now cities are bracing for anti-Trump protest Saturday. Organizers calling it No Kings. It's in response to President Donald Trump's plans to hold a military parade in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Military. It also happens to be Trump's 79th birthday. Major cities bracing for possible violence.

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D) NEW YORK: The ability to peacefully protest with maintaining law and order in the city.

YOSHIDA (voice-over): More than 2,000 protests across all 50 states are planned. Millions of Americans are expected to participate. And what organizers predict will be the strongest display of opposition to Trump's administration since he took office in January.

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON (D) CHICAGO: We're absolutely ready and we're calling on all people who are assembling and protesting this weekend to do it peacefully.

YOSHIDA (voice-over): In Los Angeles, I'm Michael Yoshida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, Michael, thank you for that. Listen, we talk a lot about the politics and some of the logistics of ICE enforcement and the National Guard being deployed. But for a second, let me just talk to you about some of the real lives that are being impacted, turned upside down.

And just for this next minute and six seconds, sit aside. Just what you think about the -- how people came into the country, a path to citizenship. And think about this young woman named Beverly Juarez. She's now dealing with things. She didn't choose this. She's 21 years old. Her father was recently deported back to Guatemala. Her mother could be deported today. She's now taking care of her three younger siblings. In a moment she's a single parent of three. I spoke to her about how she's feeling in this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now that your mother has also been detained and you have three minor siblings. What -- we'll get to the logistics and all that later. But what are you feeling in this moment?

BEVERLY JUAREZ, FATHER DEPORTED BY ICE: Well, most of all, I'm feeling defeated. I'm feeling defeated and I'm feeling very sad, you know, because it's -- as a child, you know, I grew up also with the fear that, you know, one day this would happen. And up until now, things were tracking in the right direction. My parents were following every appointment, they were coming in, they were complying. They were doing things the lawful way. And, you know, up until now, this kind of just came out of nowhere for us. And so I'm feeling a little -- it's a lot.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

JUAREZ: It's a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: You watch that full interview with Beverly Juarez later this morning on First of All, that's at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.

Still to come, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, was in court on Friday, details of charges that he's facing and how he's pleading. That's next.

Plus, Washington is expecting rain this late afternoon and evening. This is during the time of that military parade. We have a live weather forecast ahead and a miraculous story of survival. We'll hear from the only person who survived that Air India crash this week.

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[06:19:18]

BLACKWELL: Headlines for you now. The fate of Karen Read is once again in the hands of a Massachusetts jury. Now she's the woman accused of hitting her police officer boyfriend John O'Keefe with a car and then leaving him to die in the snow back in 2022. Read's first trial ended in a hung jury. A jurors deliberated for an hour and a half on Friday. They'll be back at it on Monday. A major storm dumped as much of 5 inches of rain across Evansville,

Indiana on Friday. Several roads were flooded and our affiliate WFIE reports first responders carried out several water rescues. One man says he had to swim away from his flooded car. And more rain is expected today.

[06:20:02]

Homeland Security and the FBI are offering a $10,000 reward in the hunt for four ICE detainees who escaped the detention facility in Newark, New Jersey. The escape happened on Thursday from Delaney Hall. Now, that detention center has been the focus of protests in recent months. Immigration advocates say poor conditions there have led to chaos.

The Salvadoran national returned to the U.S. after being mistakenly deported to a notorious South American detention. Cent has pleaded not guilty to charges of human trafficking. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was in court on for a hearing on Friday.

Federal prosecutors argue he should remain in detention while the case moves forward. Chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid is following this one for us. Paula, good morning.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Victor, this hearing lasted almost an entire day in Nashville on Friday and ended with a cliffhanger. We didn't get answer on whether Kilmar Abrego Garcia will be detained. Now, his lawyer did say he likes to be referred to as Mr. Abrego. And, of course, he was dramatically brought back to the U.S. earlier this month to face these charges after mistakenly being deported several months ago.

And in this hearing, the first thing was that he entered a plea of not guilty to the charges that he is facing. These charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop where he allegedly drove a Chevy Suburban with nine male passengers through Tennessee. And prosecutors alleged that he was transporting undocumented migrants on more than 100 trips between Texas and Maryland. But the purpose of this hearing is whether he needed to be detained.

While these charges are pending, it was up to the judge to assess the evidence. In most detention hearings, the judges are focused on whether this individual poses a risk to the community and if they pose a risk of flight, what kind of ties do they have to the community?

Now, the Justice Department put on an FBI agent who testified about that 2022 traffic stop and also about talked about what cooperators have allegedly told investigators about him allegedly trafficking people, children, drugs and firearms.

Now, this was not a hearing about whether he's guilty of these charges. This is just supposed to be about his, again, risk to the community. So even the judge at one point wasn't quite clear on what some of this evidence had to do with his detention. They also brought in allegations about soliciting photos, naked photos from a minor. Now, again, the judge pressed prosecutors on what exactly they were

doing bringing in that evidence. And defense attorneys tried to undermine this information, saying it was coming from, quote, snitches who had an incentive to drum up dirt on Mr. Abrego because they were getting something in return from the government.

Now they argue that their client is someone with close ties to the community. They noted how he fought his deportation all the way to the Supreme Court. They noted he has no history of convictions, never even been charged with a misdemeanor, no history of drug use. And they said that the Justice Department has exaggerated who he is.

Now, the judge noted, and I would agree that it's rare for a detention hearing to take all day. So there was no final decision on Friday. Judge said that a decision will be issued soon. Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Paula Reid, thanks so much. So a parade will roll down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. today, a look at what to expect and how President Trump got the parade he always wanted. That's next.

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[06:28:00]

BLACKWELL: New this morning, the Trump administration tells ICE to stop raids on farms, restaurants and hotels. Now, this is a shift in their targets for the immigration crackdown. This is all according to the New York Times, which reported on the new guidance, sourcing an internal email and three officials with knowledge of it.

CNN has reached out to DHS for confirmation. Now, of course, this is after several days of clashes in Los Angeles after protesters demonstrated against immigration raids. Let's discuss this now with Errol Louis. He's the political anchor for Spectrum News, host of the Big Deal and columnist for New York Magazine.

There's something added to that every time you come on, Errol, just add another job. Another job. All right, Good to have you this Saturday.

Let's start here because this exception or the guidance seems to acknowledge the reality that so many people discussed before the election at the start of the administration of the reliance on some of these ministries on undocumented workers and just how it challenges the basic premise of a mass deportation.

ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL ANCHOR, SPECTRUM NEWS: Good morning, Victor. Yes, there was always going to be a logical and political contradiction, and I think we're now starting to see that play out, which is that if this administration was going to seal the border and simply go after criminal gangs, as they would put, really was always at odds with, you know, hanging around Home Depot parking lots or, you know, chasing food workers and agricultural workers through the fields. And also sort of claiming that somehow these criminal gangs were here to take jobs, you know, picking strawberries, and none of it really made a lot of sense. And trying to do all of that and also find 3,000 people to deport per day. That's the very high number that Stephen Miller put out there. It was never really going to happen.

[06:30:00]

And so I think they're starting to realize there's been a lot of blowback. People didn't sign up for that. Even people who want borders to be secure, and people who want there to be a more coherent way to bring people into this country. Nobody wants to see agricultural workers and families terrorized in the name of going after gangs, because we understand just from looking at the images that that's not who's being targeted right now.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: Yes, so, this guidance is to stop raids at farms, restaurants, hotels, these kind of agricultural spots. And the "New York Times" is reporting that it came after the AG Secretary alerted the President to the complaints that she was getting from farmers.

But this doesn't say anything about construction, and that industry relies heavily on undocumented workers manufacturing as well. I wonder, is that quota that you cite, 3,000 a day, is that possible? And we know how the President has paid attention to the numbers and the comparison with the previous administration.

LOUIS: Yes, it's a problem. There were members of the administration who were saying, we're going to do the best we can, or we're going to have mass deportation, but they wouldn't put a number on it. Then Stephen Miller goes on "Fox News" and other places and says, minimum 3,000 per day.

And so, what we're hearing is that ICE agents and other people who were supposed to enact this and get that number, are hanging around schools, and they're hanging around courthouses, and they're hanging around Home Depot parking lots, and they're doing everything they can to try and satisfy him.

But then, that sort of knocks the whole policy off kilter. The idea, again, was to find these dangerous criminals that are supposed to be this main threat. And you know, they kind of walked themselves into a corner. And I think this "New York Times" reporting suggests that they're going to have to try and find their way out of it pretty soon.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the big parade today. Two hundred thousand people expected in Washington -- "AP" poll, let's put it up, 60 percent of respondents polled say that the military parade is not a good use of government money, but less than a third actually disagree with the decision to hold it.

Now, we've got these 2,000 or so, no kings day protest across the country. But with these numbers, does it suggest that the parade comes with any additional political cause for the President? LOUIS: Well, I think we're going to have a split-screen. I mean,

that's going to be the headline tomorrow morning, right? You and me and everybody else in this business is going to be looking to see on the one side of the screen, there will be this military parade, and on the other side, there will be people in cities in every state in the country who are protesting, and they'll be very elaborate, very creative, very interesting, kind of commentary and parody, saying, this is not what the nation needs.

If you want to celebrate the nation's birthday, we've got a big 4th of July coming up, as we always do. This, however, is something else, and to the extent that people want to defend democracy, they've made this a target and an apt symbol of people's concerns about federal overreach and about changing our way of life here.

So, it's going to be very interesting to see how many people turn out, what kind of signs they're waving, what it all looks like. And you know, look on the other side of the screen, it's very cool to see military hardware that we, the taxpayers, have bought over the years. But I don't know if it's going to have the kind of thrill and political support that the President is hoping for.

BLACKWELL: Yes, let's talk about what's happening between Israel and Iran and the President's influence and leverage here. The President said of the war, Russia's war on Ukraine, that it might be best to just let them fight it out, and that the U.S. might walk away. This, though, is not a conflict that likely, the U.S. will walk away from. So, what is next for the U.S. here? Your expectation of the influence the President has, and the leverage that he's likely willing to use.

LOUIS: Well, I mean, that's the question, Victor. And this is, by the way, the flip side of isolationism. You know, there's been a lot of complaints in the Trump movement. The MAGA movement has certainly capitalized on it, saying that why are we sending all of these troops? Why are we sending all of these billions of dollars overseas?

Why aren't other countries paying more? Well, this is the reason why we have done this over the decades. This is why we have struggled to try and keep the peace, even by putting American lives and treasure on the line. Because when you look up, and you see bombs are falling in Tel Aviv, bombs are falling in Tehran, that lives are being lost, armies are being mobilized in a very delicate part of the world.

[06:35:00]

You have to wonder, it's like, OK, what's the United States role here? Can we get it back? And that's going to be the question for this administration. Do they want to play peacemaker? Do they want to try and mediate? Do they want to try and step in? We've heard a lot of rhetoric from this President that he can't be bothered or he doesn't want to do it, or he doesn't think he should do it alone.

Well, then, you've got to rally the nations of the world behind you. And that's --

BLACKWELL: Sure -- LOUIS: Diplomacy, that's sport. And it's certainly not social media.

BLACKWELL: And we'll see if the Iranians show up in Muscat tomorrow for those nuclear talks. Although one official said that, I mean, at this point, those are meaningless. Errol Louis, good to have you to start us, Saturday. Thank you.

LOUIS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, it's going to be a wet weekend along the east coast. Boston expected to see rain today, its 13th straight Saturday with some precipitation. And in the nation's capital, both spectators and protesters for the military parade, they should expect some downpours. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is with us now.

So, let's start in Washington because, you know, rain on a parade is uncomfortable, but lightning --

ALLISON CHINCHAR, METEOROLOGIST: Yes --

BLACKWELL: Is a different thing. Are they expecting that severe -- that severity of a storm?

CHINCHAR: Yes, it's possible because it's a lot of those Summer time thunderstorms which can sometimes come with torrential downpours. They can come with lightning and thunder. They can also come with very gusty winds, which is not what you want to have at a parade either. So, yes. So, let's take a look. Here's a look at what D.C. looks like right now.

You've got some showers in the vicinity of Washington D.C., you can see from the live look at the radar right now, again, that line -- that first line starting to begin to move through. Here's the thing, though. Once we get into the afternoon, we're going to start to see more and more of those showers and thunderstorms fire up, especially about 3 O'clock-4 O'clock this afternoon.

You've got these rain chances going through the rest of the day today. Again, it's not going to be a washout per se in D.C., but we do have the potential to see several of those showers and thunderstorms beginning to fire up, especially around that key 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 p.m. timeline, leading up to the parade and during the parade.

So, here's a look at this morning. Again, you've got some of those scattered showers and thunderstorms already. Here's where more of them begin to fire up that 4:00, 5:00 p.m. timeline. But again, look around D.C., you've got some of those clusters, 6:00, 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. So, even if it doesn't necessarily rain right at the start, it's very possible it could at some point during the parade itself, a lot of those showers and thunderstorms will be ongoing even through the late evening hours.

So, as many people are packing up and heading back home too, you could encounter some of those strong-to-severe thunderstorms. It's also not the only place we're going to see rain. It's already raining near the Boston greater area, which means this will be the 13th Saturday in a row that they have had rain.

You have to go back all the way to March 22nd, before they ended up actually having a dry Saturday. And we know this, I mean, if you want to have a dry day, you want it on the weekend --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

CHINCHAR: You don't care if it rains during the week, you want it on your weekend.

BLACKWELL: Feel for you, Boston. All right, Allison, thank you.

CHINCHAR: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: The Marines are now guarding federal buildings in Los Angeles, as the questions remain over whether they should be involved in the first place. I'll speak to the former head of the California National Guard about the military presence there. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: All right, the Marines are now guarding the federal building in Los Angeles after President Trump deployed military troops there in the aftermath of protests. Joining me now, retired Major General David Baldwin; former Commander of the National Guard Forces in California. General, good to see you this morning.

So, let's talk first about the Marines now taking over security there at the Wilshire Federal Building in downtown L.A. That takes the question of state versus federal control off the table. But is that de-escalatory?

DAVID BALDWIN, RETIRED MAJOR GENERAL & FORMER COMMANDER, CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD FORCES: Well, first, Victor, thanks for having me on the program. I think moving the Marines to replace the guardsmen was a prudent move as the fate of who is going to command and control the National Guard Forces remains in the balance until Tuesday, when the Ninth Circuit does their hearing to review Judge Breyer's decision to restore control of the National Guard back to the state of California.

Having the Marines continue to do the mission, many people believe that is, you know, continues to add tension to the situation by the mere fact that it's a military. In my mind, it doesn't matter what military force is in there. That always adds an element of tension when you deploy the military to the streets of the United States.

But in this case, the President and the administration have decided that that's the only way that they can accomplish their mission to enforce federal immigration law.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and there are -- as we've said throughout the show, 2,000 protests that are planned in cities across the country today, the No Kings Day branding. The President said that he's prepared to mobilize and federalize National Guard troops or service members in other places, if he says that those protests get out of hand.

You've said that the use of these National Guard service members for domestic use without the support of the state is suboptimal, a suboptimal solution. Explain that, why?

[06:45:00]

BALDWIN: All the National Guard's first and foremost mission is to fight and win our nation's wars overseas. But as everyone knows, we have a very important domestic mission. And that domestic mission works best when the National Guard is under the command and control of the governor or working in support of local and state civil authorities in order to save lives and property.

And in the case of civil disturbances, to protect property, and on the other side, to protect the First Amendment rights of the people that want to protest. When you take control of the National Guard away from the state, the -- all of the relationships that we've built at the local level kind of get yanked out as the new chain of command, which is a federal chain of command, comes in that's not used to working in the community like the National Guard is, and doesn't have those relationships.

And you have to rebuild all that. Plus, the mission sets for what the National Guard is capable of doing when called up for an emergency are severely truncated when you put them on Title 10, they're not allowed to enforce the law. They can't arrest people. They cannot detain people for long periods of time. They can detain them temporarily, but not for long periods of time.

And they can't conduct searches. So, they become almost more like armed security guards rather than acting as adjunct law enforcement officers to support the peace officers that have the mission they have to do on the ground.

BLACKWELL: All right, Major General Baldwin, thank you so much for your time this morning. The only survivor of that deadly Air India crash this week recounts what happened on the flight in those final moments. He tells his story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

BLACKWELL: Investigators are studying the wreckage of Air India's Boeing 787 Dreamliner that crashed moments after takeoff this week. They say two black boxes they recovered could reveal more about why the plane crashed, nearly 300 people were killed. And now we're learning new details about the sole survivor of the crash.

Giving his first interview after walking away, cellphone in hand from the wreckage. CNN's Tom Foreman has his remarkable story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Everything happened in front of my eyes! I don't believe how I survived." In his first televised interview since the catastrophic crash, the sole survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, told his harrowing tale of walking away from the wreckage to Indian public broadcaster "Doordarshan", describing the first signs of trouble on a packed plane beginning its long trip to London.

"After the takeoff, within a minute, it felt like the plane came to a standstill for 5-10 seconds", he says. The green and white lights turned on in the flight, I could feel the engine thrust increasing to go up, but it crashed. Ramesh is a British national who was returning home from India, traveling with his brother, who some reports have seated on the opposite side of the plane, a cousin thinks otherwise.

AJAY VALGI, COUSIN OF SURVIVOR: Yes, they were sitting next to each other, but we don't know what happened to his brother.

FOREMAN: He is now being counted among the at least 290 people lost on the plane and ground. So, how was Ramesh alone spared? Evidence points to his window seat in the first row of the economy section 11A. There he had a clear view of the flight attendant service area, where he says he saw crew members and others trapped and dying on the right side of the plane, which he believes was crushed up against a building.

But his seat, critically, was at an exit door on the left. "When my door broke", he told Indian TV, I tried to escape through a little space and I did. I don't know how, and the fireball that followed impact, Ramesh notes he burned his hand, otherwise, doctors say this man who miraculously emerged from an inferno is doing remarkably well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is very comfortable and under strict observation. No issues.

FOREMAN (on camera): This man will undoubtedly be a huge help to investigators, two, who often have no eyewitnesses to such events, let alone one who literally fell from the sky. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Wow, Tom Foreman, thank you for that story. Still to come, we'll have details of golfer Gary Woodland's inspiring courage as he battled through a brain tumor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:00]

BLACKWELL: Six years ago, golf star Gary Woodland won the U.S. Open, celebrated his first major title. But then came a devastating setback. He had to have surgery to remove a tumor from his brain. CNN's Don Riddell caught up with today's difference maker ahead of this week's U.S. Open.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR (voice-over): Gary Woodland is a major

champion who suddenly found himself with a major problem. In 2023, a lesion on his brain was inducing so much anxiety that he was constantly scared of dying.

GARY WOODLAND, GOLFER: It was hell for me. I mean, it was -- it was hard every day. It was very fear-related into the world death every day.

RIDDELL (on camera): What was the hardest thing about having to face this head on?

WOODLAND: To not be present with my kids. I got three little kids in the morning who are full of life, and when they got excited, I had to leave the room because my brain couldn't handle the simulation. I'd have to leave and go lay in the bed in a dark room to slow everything down. And that was -- that was devastating for me.

RIDDELL (voice-over): Woodland underwent surgery to remove the lesion, and now he's getting his game back together. But he says the hardest part of it all was writing to his wife and children, just in case he didn't make it.

WOODLAND: It was the hardest thing I've ever done, and to write letters for my kids, for their future, because I -- there's a chance I wouldn't be there. It was -- it was brutal, but at the end, when I did it, it did give me some comfort the last couple of days leading up to saying, if something does happen, at least they'll know.

And it's made me realize how precious life is, how precious it is to be a father, and how fortunate I am out here to live a dream and play golf for a living.

(END VIDEOTAPE)