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Judge To Hear California's Lawsuit Against Trump's Troop Deployment; Dem Governors Slam Trump's Military Deployment To Los Angeles; Police: At Least One Survivor In Deadly Air India Plane Crash; Air India Plane Crashes In Western India With 242 People On Board; David Hogg Out As DNC Vice Chair After Months Of Intraparty Fighting. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired June 12, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Today on Inside Politics, the deportation divide. We're following a showdown on the streets, the halls of Congress and a federal courthouse as protesters, lawmakers and top Democratic governors sound off on the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

Plus, is it big and beautiful or a bus. We have exclusive new reaction to President Trump's massive domestic policy bill from the voters who helped put him back in the Oval Office. And disaster in the sky. Officials fear more than 200 people are dead after a Boeing flight bound for London crashed into a residential area in western India. CNN is tracking all the breaking developments as investigators rush to determine what went so tragically wrong.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

You're looking at live pictures of Capitol Hill, where key blue state governors are defending their immigration policies amid intense questioning from Republicans. And of course, these policies are diametrically opposed to the White House mission to increase deportations. Protests over President Trump's crackdown expand across the country.

You can see large demonstrations in Indianapolis, San Antonio, Raleigh, St. Louis, among others. Majority of these protests are peaceful, but there have been isolated incidents of unrest. And today, the constitutional clash between California and the Trump administration goes to the courts.

A federal judge will hold a hearing over California's lawsuit, challenging the president's decision to deploy National Guard troops in Los Angeles. A decision -- an announcement that the governor did not ask for.

CNN's Paula Reid is following this case. So, Paula, is that what the crux of California's attempt to get this changed in in the court is, are they saying, this is not the way supposed to happen if we want National Guard troops, we ask. PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Dana. They are describing this as, quote, an unprecedented power grab. And we're going to see these arguments play out in court today. Now, as you know, they're usually not cameras inside federal court, but we're going to get to see a little bit of this through zoom. So even though it's not full camera in the courtroom, this is a win for some transparency in a federal court hearing that has enormous implications.

Now, of course, most legal experts. They argue that Californian Governor Newsom have an uphill climb here, but they have filed a lawsuit here trying -- and they're going to try to convince this judge that deploying the National Guard was again this unprecedented power grab, and that Trump unlawfully bypass Governor Newsom by putting the National Guard troops under federal control without the governor's permission.

And we will hear today from lawyers both for the state of California and for the Trump administration. Now, California had already asked for a temporary restraining order so to stop the deployment of the National Guard. The judge in this case denied that he wanted to give the administration more time to prepare ahead of today's arguments.

And Dana, some fun facts about today's judge, this is Judge Charles Breyer. He is the younger brother of retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. He's a former Watergate prosecutor who was appointed to the bench by former President Bill Clinton. Now this hearing will take place at 1:30 California time.

BASH: That's amazing. Paul, thank you so much. Appreciate that reporting. I'm joined here by a really terrific group of reporters today, CNN's John King, Kristen Holmes, also of CNN, Zolan Kanno- Youngs of The New York Times and CNN's very own David Chalian. Hello everybody.

I do want to start with something we saw from President Trump on his social media platform today that was quite noteworthy. Here is what he said. Our great farmers and people in the hotel and leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good longtime workers away from them.

[12:05:00]

With those jobs being almost impossible to replace. In many cases, the criminals allowed into our country by the very stupid Biden open borders, policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our farmers but get the criminals out of the U.S.A. Changes are coming.

John, I want you to speak to that but also want to say that Gavin Newsom responded to that. Saying, turns out, chasing hard working people through ranches and farms and snatching women and children off the streets is not good policy.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The president is trying to say the farmers are complaining about illegal immigrants, farmers and meat packing plants in the heartland, a lot of them in red states won by Trump quite comfortably. Think he's going too far here, that they are all for rounding up, undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of crimes or who you can prove are doing unlawful things.

They would like a system in which they don't like to admit, many of them employ undocumented workers. They would like a system in which those people could get some status, whether that's citizenship or legal or whatever. Welcome back to the Clinton administration or the George W Bush administration. This has been a Washington problem for a generation.

But so, -- to my question here, though, is OK, so -- is the president United States saying, he's actually opening the door to an adult conversation about immigration reform that includes new status for undocumented immigrants. He has consistently said no to that question.

I will just say this that, you know, we have to be careful not to believe what he says in one post, because it often turns out to be -- he's trying to answer some questions, change the subject, win an argument for five minutes. But if he's actually opening the door to a conversation about what to do about the undocumented who are committing no crimes but actually providing essential services across the country, that would be huge.

BASH: Yeah. So, whether or not he's opening the door, he's opening a window into what he's hearing --

KING: Yes.

BASH: -- from his supporters, from farmers -- for farmers, I would just say, and from, I'm sure, his allies in Nevada and other places where they have -- they really rely on these workers, undocumented workers, in many cases. I don't mean to single out Nevada, but I'm just thinking of places where there are people who he listens to.

KING: I could list --

BASH: Florida.

KING: I could give you 10 of the most competitive congressional districts of the country that have Republicans in those seats right now that have this problem.

(CROSSTALK)

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: (inaudible) in California, just an example. As recently, just last week, he gave voice to this very argument that Trump is now putting --

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This is a long- term issue for Donald Trump and his immigration policy, because we have seen this time and time again. People who are Donald Trump supporters, who own these various businesses, farms, avocado farms in California, branches in Texas. They do use undocumented immigrants to come in, usually seasonal, do the work that they really truly believe. They cannot get anyone, any American to do the job. BASH: These people are Trump voters.

HOLMES: And then they go back to their home countries generally. And this has been an issue since Trump's first administration that they were trying to solve for, but clearly here, something has happened turning the wheel. We always talk about this, of course.

Donald Trump always listens to the last person in the room. That's why you should never take any post. He says to heart in terms of policy, because clearly, he's posting after he's met with someone. But at the same time, whoever it is, and we'll obviously be making calls about this today, had enough impact on him to kind of at least have him look at this in different way.

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES & CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: And we know one thing that's happened already, which is that this immigration crackdown by Trump started out at least they stated that one phase would be against undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds. We are in a new phase now. That's what administration officials say as well.

They're very clear about this. They are now expanding to work site raids that we've seen in California that spurred these protests and it's impacting employers. So, there is a primary reason that we can point to where this pressure is coming from. It's this new phase that's expanding this crack down to a broader population of the document.

CHALIAN: And I think we sometimes forget that -- what's so noteworthy about the post, and why you're starting with this, is that this is just a totally different note that he doesn't play in this entire immigration space. And yet, if you look at the 2024 electorate, where he won, as he'll tell you. All seven battleground states and won the popular vote and had a substantial victory.

In our exit polling, that same electorate that voted for Donald Trump also prefer and not by a small margin, I think, was like 56 percent to 40 percent, prefer a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants here, then support deportation.

Now we've seen -- when you pull, we've seen a rise in support for deportation or mess, and it all depends on the question wording. But that same electorate that voted Donald Trump back into the Oval Office also saw nuance in this, in a way that Donald Trump doesn't normally put forth, but today started doing.

BASH: But I want to -- while you're why? Well, I have you, David. I want you to talk about the point that I heard you make this morning to a lot of us, which is that what we're seeing on the streets in opposition to the president's policy, the new phase, as you called it, Zolan.

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And what we're also seeing mostly on social media and non-conservative media as well, is support for him. Those are people who are paying attention. What about the people who have lives and aren't necessarily paying close attention? But did vote for him, generally speaking, and they thought that other policies, including immigration maybe, we're OK with them.

CHALIAN: Yeah. And in fact, I mean, the Washington Post did this one- day survey, so you know, but --

BASH: Can I put it up?

CHALIAN: Sure.

BASH: OK.

CHALIAN: I don't know if you have that --

BASH: The troops?

CHALIAN: Go for it.

BASH: OK. So, I'll put the one on the troops up, and then you can make the broader point. OK. This is a question of, views on Trump sending the military to Los Angeles. Nationally, 41 percent that say they support it. California, 32 percent, independents, 33percent, and then you see the opposed and unsure.

CHALIAN: Yeah. So, you see a country that's pretty divided about this. If you flip it and ask about the protests, they're pretty equally divided there, too. The independents is something to watch there, obviously he -- this action is opposed by 15 percentage points, 48 to 33 among independents. That is a political warning sign to watch.

But to your point, Dana, when the post also broke down, the tuned in folks that are really paying attention to this, they behave more like Democrats or some of these independents, which is that they are more in opposition to what the president is doing in California than in support of it.

The tuned out folks that are not dialed in, not really paying attention to the news, they are overwhelmingly in support of what the president is doing, and this is a fundamental modern day political challenge for the Democrats as they try to find their footing in this Trump era, because if you're only talking to tuned in people, you're not talking to enough people.

HOLMES: And just one thing on top of that. Donald Trump's team is incredible at marketing. They are out there every day talking to those people, the people who are tuning it out. And that's why you see Donald Trump saying things like, look, two nights of peace in L.A. because I sent the troops. We know, we've talked about this a number of times. Barack Obama deported more people than Donald Trump has.

You did not see this kind of messaging around -- we're deporting rapists and murderers. That stuff is going to those people who aren't paying attention, who are tuning it out, and they're only seeing that messaging and that is effective. KING: I'll make one point. Never invest in just one poll, right? But if you show it, put those poll numbers up again. Nationally support for what Trump is doing is at 41 percent. Generally, and especially with Donald Trump support our opposition with what he's doing, he follows his approval rating, right?

His approval rating is right around 40, 43 to 38, depending on who you want to believe. Right now, it's in this span right there. In October 2018, his approval rating was 41 percent. They got shellacked in the midterm elections. That's what Republicans will worry about as we get a month from now, three months from now, six months from now.

BASH: I just want to bring up another point, which is very much related, and I don't want it to go under reported, and that is another thing that the president put on his social media platform. This was last night, and this is about the Trump card. For $5 million the Trump card is coming.

So, he's going around, and he is getting rid of -- aggressively getting rid of undocumented immigrants who have no criminal, no history of a criminal background at all, talking about young people others. And now, at the same time, he is reminding people that he wants the wealthiest people in the world to come on in if they're willing to pay for it.

KANNO-YOUNGS: Right, right. This would be a massive evolution of what's the EB-5 visa, and it's another example of a president that we have talked about being transactional, both on the global state, both in domestic policy and clearly here as well.

You know, he has made immigrant -- he has made very much this campaign and his second term in office about a -- about mass deportations and removing a record amount people. But if you have enough money to pay, you can get an entrance into the nation. That that wow also cutting off refugees around the world, and at this point, putting pressure also on seasonal workers contributing to the economy.

KING: The people who work in the meat packing plants in Omaha, Nebraska, and Riley, Colorado and Bucks County, Pennsylvania, can't afford that. That is a bigger issue than that.

BASH: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And that's why I wanted to bring this up because this is still happening while he's -- Stephen Miller is getting every -- all the ICE agents to increase their numbers in order to get these quotas up.

Don't go anywhere. Coming up. We do have breaking news on the crash of a Boeing plane with more than 200 people on board. First responders are coming through the site and the wreckage there in India.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BASH: We're following breaking news in India, where police say, at least one passenger has survived after an Air India flight carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed, just after takeoff into a residential neighborhood. You can see the tail of the plane intact, resting on a building that housed doctors.

Officials say that some of the injured have been transported to hospitals. At least four people are missing on the ground. The London bound flight issued a mayday call shortly after takeoff. Its final moments of the flight captured on video. You can see here the plane's nose is pointed upward, but then less than a minute into the flight at only 625 feet, the aircraft just sinks over the horizon. And next, you see the fire explosion, terrible.

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CNN's aviation analyst, Miles O'Brien joins us now. Miles, thank you so much for being here. What will investigators focus on when it comes to -- what we just saw those final moments?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, Dana, I think they'll be looking very closely at the configuration of that aircraft. It's difficult to tell with certainty from looking at the video, but there's no clear evidence that the flaps, the trailing edge flaps, which increase the lift of the wing, crucially during takeoff and climb out, were deployed.

Now if that were the case at that low speed, it would be impossible for the aircraft fully loaded with passengers and fuel for a nine to 10-hour flight on a hot day, incidentally, in order to attain enough air speed and lift to climb out.

What's also interesting, Dana, is the landing gear were still down. So, what put that aircraft in that odd configuration, that's going to be on their list? I'm pretty confident they will get the black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, which will have a lot of data there for them.

BASH: And Miles, we are getting some brand-new CCTV footage that shows the full take off. It's roughly 59 seconds. We're seeing this for the first time. So, as we watch it, I want you to -- I believe you can see it as well, Miles, tell me if you can't.

O'BRIEN: Yeah, I can.

BASH: You can. Okay, so describe what we're seeing.

O'BRIEN: Well, it's a routine take off by all accounts, although I -- again, I don't see evidence there that the flaps would be at the five or 10-degree setting, depending on the situation. But what I don't see, which was something we were, you know, been thinking about as pilots is, could this have been yet another bird strike scenario where they lost both engines.

But I don't see birds and I don't see a flame out from either of those general electric engines. So, it did not appear to be any sort of catastrophic engine failure. To have two engines fail is unusual. We've seen it read -- a horrible accident there not too long ago, but there's no evidence that that happened in this case.

So, we're back to an aircraft that took off with what appears to be not the proper takeoff configuration, which is very -- there's all kinds of systems and checks and balances and warnings which would indicate that that was not the case to the crew.

BASH: And I do want to ask you about Boeing, because this is a Dreamliner model that has a, I believe, a pristine safety record, at least before this incident. But this is another Boeing crash, and the average person is going to hear that and think, OK, what does this mean? I want to emphasize, I know, we know, we haven't found the black box. There's so many variables that we need to learn, but that isn't sort of natural instinct for people to ask that question.

O'BRIEN: Yeah. And it's certainly something that the investigators will not discount. You don't put your blinders on in a situation like this. There's nothing I see right now that tells me this is a screaming fundamental design problem with the Boeing aircraft. The 787 does have a sterling record up to this day. It did have some problems with its battery systems when it first rolled out, grounding the aircraft for some time, but that was rectified.

The more recent allegations are that there are difficulties and problems with how they are seaming together or bonding the carbon fiber fuselage. That would probably not come into play in this particular incident, but again, this is something that will be looked at as well as, you know, were those general electric engines operating properly? So, people will perhaps jump to conclusions too soon. It's never a good idea to do that.

BASH: Well said, very well said. Miles, thank you so much for being here and walking us through that, particularly with that new video. Appreciate it.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome, Dana.

BASH: We'll be right back.

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BASH: David Hogg is out as the DNC vice chair after just over four months, bookmarked by intra party turmoil sparked by Hogg threatening two primary safe elected Democrats, but Democrats he called, quote, ineffective. 25-year-old Hogg first got elected in politics, co- founding the march for our lives after he survived the Parkland school shooting.

In a tweet last night, he made it clear that he would continue to pressure leaders in his own party. Posting in a tweet, quote, if we don't show our country how we are dramatically changing and provide an alternative vision for the future as a party, we will continue to lose. And Hogg made clear, he sees that change coming from new leaders as he promises to continue his effort to primary ineffective elected Democrats.

My panel is back here. David Chalian, things seem to be going really well for the Democrats.

CHALIAN: Yeah. I don't think this is how Ken Martin wanted his chairmanship to kick off as the new chair of the Democratic Party, while their problems are already so vast in terms of actually formulating a viable opposition to Donald Trump.

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